Military grade sonic weapon is used against protesters in Serbia • Hacker News Board

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

#451

Post by asdf6969 » Mon, Mar 17, 2025, 3:05 PM UTC

mmooss wrote: post #448

asdf6969 wrote: post #382

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The operator deserves to be killed for this. Stop defending evil

> The operator who? > for this for what? > deserves to be killed Who are you to say? What if someone else disagrees, as they likely do? Should any one person have the authority to kill another? Maybe that's why someone is attacking you (in the hypothetical scenario).

Every reasonable person agrees with me. It’s obvious. Would you ever write a unit test to assert true is true? Sometimes you can just look at the problem and the right answer is so clear that everyone knows it

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

#452

Post by jq-r » Mon, Mar 17, 2025, 3:24 PM UTC

EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK wrote: post #431

hayst4ck wrote: post #424

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have a lot more faith in technology than me. There is a strong history of compromising data at rest (such as in phone backups) and getting metadata either directly or through side channels. It's not very hard for me to imagine a system that tells you who is talking with who, when, and with what IPs no matter how anonymized you think you are. That all assumes good opsec too. My understanding is that Tor was compro…

It's easy to encrypt the backups (don't use g$$gle or apple clouds, of course).

That well might be true. But what about the people upu communicate with? They have messages from you, and probably don't have airgapped backups. So your ironclad backups don't matter much.

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

#453

Post by shadowgovt » Mon, Mar 17, 2025, 3:27 PM UTC

timewizard wrote: post #261

ta1243 wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes because Trump's lot are too stupid to break down windows and doors https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2021/01/06/jim-himes...

You really believe the security of those windows in the Capitol comes down to the glass? That you're even willing to accept this proposition says something. Anyways, to my point, clearly observable in that picture are security shutters, on the sides of the window, left open and unlocked. I might have closed and locked those.

Egg on the faces of the Capitol security team for not drilling on a mob riled up by the sitting President storming the US Capitol I guess.

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

#454

Post by cue_the_strings » Mon, Mar 17, 2025, 3:35 PM UTC

pjc50 wrote: post #403

impossiblefork wrote: post #30

It really isn't smart to do this kind of thing. Once an organization actually attacks you, it's very easy to decide that any legitimacy they view themselves as having is irrelevant and to come back next Monday with mortars and machine guns.

> come back next Monday with mortars and machine guns Where the heck are they going to get those in Serbia? Weren't they rounded up after the war, especially mortars ? Also that sort of thing tends not to last very long against the regular army, who have a much larger supply of materiel and are better trained. It only really works if the army flips politically against the regime (think Ceaucescu, or less violently th…

There's a huge amount of weapons hidden away in attics, even after several campaigns to get rid of illegal weapons, no questions asked. There's also a huge amount of it in the region (Montenegro, Bosnia). I used to live first in Serbia, then Montenegro.

I've personally been to weddings in both Serbia and Montenegro, in the early-mid 2000s, where they fired full auto weapons with live rounds into the air. AK variants and such. I remember us kids collecting shell casings and stripper clips.

I'd say that it's mostly handguns and hand grenades, some AK and SKS variants, obsolete 40s-50s SMGs given out to territorial defense decades ago, some bolt action rifles and some Zoljas (anti tank rocket) and AP mines from the war.

I remember a guy in Podgorica, Montenegro (local football hooligan and drug dealer) firing a Zolja at a department store at night. He had obtained it for 200 euros in Belgrade, Serbia and "had to try it out". [1]

I also remember them catching a 15 year old with an AK in 2017 in Podgorica, Montenegro. [2]

I loved frequenting the local flea market and you could regularly see stuff like helmets for sale, also some magazines (I remember seeing one for an MP40 or similar SMG). I also witnessed a transaction, a guy buying a small pistol from another guy at the flea market. The gun quickly changed hands and dissapeared in his jacket, but I saw it beyond doubt.

Anything else I could write would just bring into question my credibility, so I'll keep these stories for us who lived through it. It recently happened to me that I started quesioning my childhood memories (age 8 or so), like "did that really happen or did I imagine it", so I asked people I remembered were there with me, and yep it sure as hell did. I even forgot some details and people involved. But I'd have a hard time beleiving it if I heard it.

Also bear in mind that a lot of the people who have these weapons actually support the government and loved Vučić's old party from the 90s. For example, one of the people firing an AK at his son's wedding was a policeman, and his grandson is now a policeman and Vučić sympathiser in Belgrade.

[1] https://www.b92.net/o/info/vesti/index?nav_id=211841

[2] https://volimpodgoricu.me/novosti/podgorica-uhapsen-petnaest...

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

#455

Post by ty6853 » Mon, Mar 17, 2025, 3:37 PM UTC

mrob wrote: post #406

Aloisius wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's peak power at 1 meter for a large LRAD, not what someone 75 or 100 meters away experiences.

There will be some attenuation, but the output is focused into a beam, so you don't get the usual inverse square falloff with distance.

You do, there is just a greater gain factor constant.

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

#456

Post by h2zizzle » Mon, Mar 17, 2025, 4:07 PM UTC

hayst4ck wrote: post #189

tpm wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be rational if you would think killing a few (or a lot of) protesters will intimidate the rest of the country into submission. It didn't, but it could have.

Timothy Snyder put his history of Ukraine class on YouTube. The lesson on the Maidan was done by a guest speaker. The presentation is mostly dry and the person isn't the best speaker, but the content was quality and very worth watching, especially if you have any beliefs in "color revolutions" or American imperialism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg_CLI3xY58&list=PLh9mgdi4rN... It was now a revolt against произвол…

>it became an insistence on being treated as a person and not as a thing, as a subject not as an object

At the risk of inflammation: sounds like Black Lives Matter.

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

#457

Post by oooyay » Mon, Mar 17, 2025, 4:41 PM UTC

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...

> Chemical weapons are tactically useless for modern militaries [1]. You’re pretty much always better off pounding with high explosives.

Maybe you know something I don't but in country we were always MOPP Ready:

    MOPP Ready – Protective mask is carried. First set of suit, gloves, and boots are available within two hours, second set within six hours.

My mask was usually in the truck or in my pack. We qualify with our masks on a yearly basis. It could be argued that the chance of chemical deterrents that require MOPP 0 and above is negligible due to the our current landscape but that can honestly change based on the opponent or geography.

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

#458

Post by s1artibartfast » Mon, Mar 17, 2025, 4:57 PM UTC

_carbyau_ wrote: post #321

s1artibartfast wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Serbia is currently using it on its own people, and yet we here we are reading about it and discussing, with no small amount of outrage.

I similarly condemn such actions. But unless we are in a position to enforce any change in behaviour on Serbia then being unhappy on a web forum doesn't count. It's as useful as "thoughts and prayers". Take some meaningful action away from this forum and we'll see. I am not in a meaningful position to do so unfortunately.

Action isnt the only measure of meaning or the only determinate of caring.

Caring exists on a spectrum, and isnt black and white.

Thoughts and prayers are a form of caring as well, and an important one. It isn't always what a utilitarian wants, but it is part of a package deal when working with real humans with emotional and social lives.

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

#459

Post by ryandrake » Mon, Mar 17, 2025, 5:06 PM UTC

h2zizzle wrote: post #450

red-iron-pine wrote: post #439

Earlier quoted context omitted.

to paraphrase another person: if you're posting it online on a public social media channel, it doesn't matter. the stuff that's going to change the government, for the better or worse, is going to get the FBI and Secret Service on you, and you're not saying on that on the front page of reddit. every twitter meme that makes the rounds, every sneering HN post is a sign of impotence. if there was real opposition DOGE wo…

It drives me crazy that none of the people targeted by DOGE have locked themselves in their office and called WaPo and CNN. If you want to keep your job, the image of jackbooted thugs dragging you out can't be better for raising alarms and drawing sympathy. Everyone is complying in advance. Someone made the comparison between SK politicians shoving their way past guards to impeach their corrupt president, and Congres…

I don't know why people still think yelling and waiving signs around is going to do a single shred of good. Protesting means "doing nothing, loudly." You're not going to change anything, you're just doing performance art.

> It drives me crazy that none of the people targeted by DOGE have locked themselves in their office and called WaPo and CNN.

Nobody who is capable of opposing DOGE is willing to even lift a finger. As a flaming liberal, the most infuriating thing I've seen in the news all year was: Democrats sitting there impotently waving their stupid little signs during the President's address to Congress. Yea, your little sign saying "Save Medicaid" is doing next to nothing. Thank you, my elected representative, for being totally useless.

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

#460

Post by matthewdgreen » Mon, Mar 17, 2025, 5:14 PM UTC

fc417fc802 wrote: post #233

matthewdgreen wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tear gas and more lethal gasses were extensively used in WWI. Afterwards the various belligerents came to an agreement on which weapons were acceptable, and they specifically decided to include tear gas in that ban. There were various reasons they did this (fear of escalation to lethal gasses was the biggest concern) but one specific reason was the indiscriminate nature of the gas as well as the fact that it can caus…

I largely agree with what you wrote. > Rationalists like to ... But then you tacked this on to the end and it's entirely unnecessary. The linked article is actually a very good one about recognizing bad faith use of labels. It just doesn't really apply in this case because the original point (at least by my reading) wasn't a gotcha relying on the definition of a label but rather was using a label that the author beli…

My problem with the linked argument -- and specifically, with the idea of linking it and not so much the argument -- is that it takes a statement with validity and then tries to use a kind of rhetorical trick to argue that it's false. It is not false, which is the entire point of my post, and those rhetorical cookbook tricks harm understanding and lead us away from truth, because the world is full of nuance and complexity.