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Military grade sonic weapon is used against protesters in Serbia

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Re: Military grade sonic weapon is used against protesters in Serbia

#331

Post by pclmulqdq »

seabass-labrax wrote: post #119
laweijfmvo wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

are they against the Geneva convention because of the direct effects, or because in a war you’d then proceed to kill everyone while they’re coughing?

It's because of the direct effects; chlorine gas for instance will almost instantly blind anyone exposed to it, and tear gas can also be fatal. My great-grandfather was gassed in the First World War and only narrowly survived. Chemical weapons were technically already banned by this point, but it was WW1 that prompted the modern Geneva Protocol (not the Geneva Conventions; these are slight different). Unfortunately,…

Many people don't realize this but many of the banned weapons are ones with a decent chance of maiming people but leaving them alive. This is worse for everyone involved in a war (everyone here meaning politicians and generals, not soldiers) than killing them. Cluster munitions, flamethrowers, and anti-personnel mines all fit in this category, too.

Re: Military grade sonic weapon is used against protesters in Serbia

#332

Post by Nursie »

defrost wrote: post #330
Nursie wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we now have 3 countries with the ability to erase entire cities or make the world functionally uninhabitable by humans If we're talking the Russia, the US and China then they certainly have the largest arsenals, but there's an order of magnitude difference between the stockpiles of the first two and the third. China doesn't have that many more nukes than France, and only has about double the number of warheads of t…

Chinese nuclear weapons, 2025 from: Nuclear Notebook, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists ~ Hans M. Kristensen, Matt Korda, Eliana Johns, Mackenzie Knight | March 12, 2025 The modernization of China’s nuclear arsenal has both accelerated and expanded in recent years. In this issue of the Nuclear Notebook, we estimate that China now possesses approximately 600 nuclear warheads, with more in production to arm future deli…

Fair enough, thanks :)

I imagine France is now starting to polish everything up more fervently as well, after Macron's speech about putting the nation onto a wartime economy last week, and there are other nations now talking about wanting to be under the French nuclear umbrella...

We certainly live in interesting times, to abuse that old chinese curse.

Re: Military grade sonic weapon is used against protesters in Serbia

#333

Post by ruined »

orochimaaru wrote: post #325
camilo2025 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are aware that these LRAD systems have been used against US citizens, aren't you?

They have been used against US citizens in the United States? That is news to me. If they have been used in other countries against US diplomatic corps that is an act of war. Now if a US citizen uses a visit to a foreign country to protest against a government they’re on their own. I’m sorry, but US citizens shouldn’t be engaging in that and the US state department has no obligation to protect that condition.

it's actually quite common. i have personally experienced use of LRAD by police as a weapon.

the first actual use of LRAD by police as a weapon in the united states was possibly in 2009

https://www.aclupa.org/news/2012/11/14/city-pittsburgh-settl...

though it is known to have been deployed but not used as a weapon earlier than that.

Re: Military grade sonic weapon is used against protesters in Serbia

#334

Post by guhwhut »

orochimaaru wrote: post #325
camilo2025 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are aware that these LRAD systems have been used against US citizens, aren't you?

They have been used against US citizens in the United States? That is news to me. If they have been used in other countries against US diplomatic corps that is an act of war. Now if a US citizen uses a visit to a foreign country to protest against a government they’re on their own. I’m sorry, but US citizens shouldn’t be engaging in that and the US state department has no obligation to protect that condition.

[dead]

Re: Military grade sonic weapon is used against protesters in Serbia

#335

Post by guhwhut »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #137
sa46 wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Geneva Convention bans all chemical weapons. Part of the rationale for a total ban is to avoid escalating to more dangerous chemical agents. Helpful r/AskHistorians thread: https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/gwtj89/the_c...

> Part of the rationale for a total ban is to avoid escalating to more dangerous chemical agents Chemical weapons are tactically useless for modern militaries [1]. You’re pretty much always better off pounding with high explosives. And there isn’t a known path to escalation potential. If there were, everyone would be developing it. [1] https://acoup.blog/2020/03/20/collections-why-dont-we-use-ch...

[dead]

Re: Military grade sonic weapon is used against protesters in Serbia

#336

Post by mitthrowaway2 »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #309
mitthrowaway2 wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think they were?

> don't think they were? Yes [1]. [1] https://fs.blog/an-old-argument-against-writing/

I'm very familiar with that argument, it's almost a trope at this point; however it is completely logically unrelated to the OP's take.

Unless you think hayst4ck was lamenting the plight of the dictators who have it too easy these days and won't learn to properly internalize the fine essence of clearing peaceful protests the old-fashioned way, when it needed riot shields and teargas?

Re: Military grade sonic weapon is used against protesters in Serbia

#337

Post by int_19h »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #328
int_19h wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ukrainians didn't leave, and they ended up taking their country back. Twice.

> Ukrainians didn't leave, and they ended up taking their country back I'm struggling to remember any rioting in the Maidan .

I mean, they have literally built a catapult on Maidan to throw molotov cocktails at the police. And used said molotovs to set fire to an APC.

Re: Military grade sonic weapon is used against protesters in Serbia

#338

Post by JumpCrisscross »

mitthrowaway2 wrote: post #336
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> don't think they were? Yes [1]. [1] https://fs.blog/an-old-argument-against-writing/

I'm very familiar with that argument, it's almost a trope at this point; however it is completely logically unrelated to the OP's take. Unless you think hayst4ck was lamenting the plight of the dictators who have it too easy these days and won't learn to properly internalize the fine essence of clearing peaceful protests the old-fashioned way, when it needed riot shields and teargas?

> it is completely logically unrelated to the OP's take

The point is people have been arguing that their era is the last for freedom because after the invention of writing or phalanxes or cannons or blue-water navies or industrial warfare or nuclear weapons or AI and drones the powerful will have all the chips. It's not true, and you'll almost always find a balancing meme around how those same technologies are going to empower anarchists.

Drones, AI and all of the aforementioned technologies make projecting power easier. That says nothing about who holds that power. The same surveillance tools that make identifying protesters easier also make e.g. determining where particular riot police live possible.

Re: Military grade sonic weapon is used against protesters in Serbia

#339

Post by JumpCrisscross »

hayst4ck wrote: post #250

It's the most important time in human history to protest/fight unchecked power because it's likely the last era of humanity that we are going to be able to. We are getting to the point where the technology that fuels oppression, including extremely pervasive surveillance, privatized intelligence services with no oversight, scalable AI agents that do as they are told, and crowd "maiming" or other forceful dispersal te…

> we now have 3 countries with the ability to erase entire cities or make the world functionally uninhabitable by humans

Nuclear war is horrible enough without requiring hyperbole. Each of the U.S., Russia and China have the ability to functionally end industrial civlisation as we know it. None has the power to make the Earth uninhabitable by humans (outside hypothetical asteroid redirect capabilities).

Re: Military grade sonic weapon is used against protesters in Serbia

#340

Post by JumpCrisscross »

int_19h wrote: post #337
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ukrainians didn't leave, and they ended up taking their country back I'm struggling to remember any rioting in the Maidan .

I mean, they have literally built a catapult on Maidan to throw molotov cocktails at the police. And used said molotovs to set fire to an APC.

> they have literally built a catapult on Maidan to throw molotov cocktails at the police. And used said molotovs to set fire to an APC

I guess I wouldn't characterise such focussed use of violence as "starting to get a bit rowdy." Rowdiness specifically implies unruliness, a lack of discipline. I'd also say that escalating from peaceful to violent protest is not a decision one should take in the moment--catapults and molotov cocktails imply preparation.

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