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NOAA warns staff a militia group thinks its radars are 'weather weapons' (www.engadget.com)

submitted 3 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

50 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.today/post/28977252

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has warned the National Weather Service of possible attacks from an armed conspiracy group targeting Doppler radar stations, according to a report from CNN. The group, Veterans on Patrol, is going after government radars because it believes they're being used as "weather weapons."

CNN learned of the possible attacks through NOAA emails warning NWS staff that Veterans on Patrol was planning to conduct "penetration drills on NEXRAD sites to identify weaknesses," with the ultimate goal of destroying NEXRAD. Despite its cooler-than-average name, the NWS uses NEXRAD or "Next Generation Weather Radar" for a fairly mundane purpose: detecting precipitation in the atmosphere. NEXRAD plays a vital role in locating thunderstorms and tornados, making it easier to evacuate vulnerable communities before disaster strikes.

Archive link: https://archive.is/GVsgP

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

@CrayonDevourer It's a combination of "I don't understand this fully and immediately myself" (without appreciating one's own vast ignorance about MOST things), with happening to catch something spoken or written that's wrong, but SOUNDS sensible (also due to that same ignorance), and thinking, "That sounds reasonable, and it harmonizes with my feelings, so it's probably right."

It's a child's grasp of reality. But also typical of far too many legal adults.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I can’t imagine how scary it must be to not understand how most things work honestly.

I guess George Carlin said it best….

Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

@billwashere I realized sometime back that actual intelligence isn't very relevant to good reasoning. It comes down to good thinking HABITS, which nearly anyone can develop with enough effort and practice. But it doesn't come naturally for most people, and instead must be taught and learned. And the later in life you learn those skills, the more you have to UNlearn to do it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

But critical thinking and intelligence have to be 2 fruits on the same tree, right? I can’t think of a single person I’ve ever met that had one and not the other. I can understand that critical thinking skills can be taught, but I’d argue that that skill creates more intelligence or at the very least awareness.

And I can testify that bad habits are very hard to unlearn.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

@billwashere More specifically, I come from a realm of scientists and academics, and I've by now seen MANY highly intelligent, very well-educated people who have demonstrated astonishing stupidity.

At the same time, I've also personally known people with clinically diagnosed neurological deficiency who can nevertheless reason very well, even very wisely.

What you're staying is true in broad statistics, but it's not a rule.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

Totally agree. There are exceptions to everything.

I will also acquiesce to your major point though. I work in academia so I have seen my fair share of phd students that run with scissors.