No, the statement that it was local authorities who cancelled the event is incorrect. The local authorities did not cancel the event. They did communicate information regarding the concerts being...
Exemplary
No, the statement that it was local authorities who cancelled the event is incorrect. The local authorities did not cancel the event. They did communicate information regarding the concerts being the target of a planned attack to the organizers (Barracuda Music) and Taylor Swift's Management, who then decided to cancel the concert, despite assurances that the risk had been minimized.
I have been following this rather closely (and have actually watched the live press conferences by local authorities), as (1) my brother had Tickets for one of the concerts, (2) I am from around here, and (3) there are federal elections in Austria this fall, so all official communication in this matter should be considered with this context.
So what happened is, that yesterday morning a few hundred people were evacuated in a small Austrian city called Ternitz, and an arrest was made following a tip from a foreign intelligence service. Initially everyone was kept in the dark about what had actually happened for 12 hours or so. Media only reported that something was going on, but police didn't clarify why exactly everyone was asked to leave. So it was already pretty big story before around here before it was revealed what exactly had happened.
In the late afternoon police held a press conference, where they revealed that two people (19 and 17 years old) had been arrested and another person (15 years old) had been detained, because they were planning an islamistically motivated terrorist attack at big events in or around vienna, specifically the Taylor Swift concerts. They also found several knifes and chemicals to create hydrogen peroxide to build bombs. They also stated, that they do not believe further unknown perpetrators were on the loose, and that the risk had been minimized. When specifically asked wether they would order or recommend to cancel the concerts, they stated that they would not give any recommendations, but increase security measures and provide information. A cancellation would be up to the organizers.
Investigators further found out that at least one of the perpetrators had secured a job with a facility management company hired for the concert. Police hence conducted a search of the stadium grounds where the concert was to be held while the information embargo was still in place, in case something had been deposited there, but nothing of interest was found. This information and several additional details that were only disclosed publicly today were already communicated to the concert organizers yesterday. Swift's management considered these infos and decided to cancel the concert.
Of course especially parties on the right of the political spectrum are doing their best to carefully craft the communication in the aftermath of this incident in order to convert fear of terrorists into political gains, as the Austrian federal election is only a few months away. Unfortunately it looks like the decision to cancel the concerts will greatly help the extremely right (currently opposition) party FPÖ in the upcoming election, as a lot of people were directly affected by this and keeping the attention on fear of terrorist attacks and redirecting that fear to ethnic and religious minorities has just become a lot easier. Simultanously the conservative party ÖVP (which is part of the current government) is also trying to use the situation for their advantage, by communicating how an attack has successfully been prevented, and lobbying for more surveillance powers for law enforcement. Ironically I've also already read several comments from sources close to FPÖ, complaining about how it is a disgrace that a hint from a foreign intelligence agency was needed to make the arrests, which completely disregards that just a few years ago, when FPÖ was briefly part of the austrian government, their officials were the ones to initiate a politically motivated raid of an austrian intelligence agency, effectively dismantelling them and greatly damaging their international relationships with other agencies.
Edit: I just realized, that it's around midnight already (local time that is). So just to clarify - when I said 'yesterday' I meant Wednesday 7 Aug.
I really don't want it to seem like I'm making fun of your English--it is very good; there are only a couple words (infos) that make it clear you aren't a native speaker--but I do want to...
islamistically
I really don't want it to seem like I'm making fun of your English--it is very good; there are only a couple words (infos) that make it clear you aren't a native speaker--but I do want to congratulate you on creating a word with four suffixes added on the end. But I'll also note that most people would consider "islamistically-motivated" to be synonymous with using "islamist" as an adjective.
Using -istic when either just -ist or just -ic is what a native speaker would do is something I've noticed German speakers doing a few times. I think the equivalent in German is more common than...
Using -istic when either just -ist or just -ic is what a native speaker would do is something I've noticed German speakers doing a few times. I think the equivalent in German is more common than in English.
With the rising tensions in the middle east, long term effects of social media, isolation during the pandemic and the recent riots in the UK I can't help but feel were inches away from some...
With the rising tensions in the middle east, long term effects of social media, isolation during the pandemic and the recent riots in the UK I can't help but feel were inches away from some disaster involving racism and xenophobia.
I really hope I'm wrong here but the atmosphere on the continent in general is turning darker. Problems are being blamed on migration when they're not.
Can you clarify a bit on this? I'm aware that hydrogen peroxide can be used to build bombs, but it's something that's easily accessible with almost no government oversight due to its use as a...
chemicals to create hydrogen peroxide to build bombs
Can you clarify a bit on this? I'm aware that hydrogen peroxide can be used to build bombs, but it's something that's easily accessible with almost no government oversight due to its use as a cleaning product, so I don't understand why the terrorists would need to synthesize it. Or is this meant to be interpreted as "chemicals to build bombs, including hydrogen peroxide"?
Hydrogen peroxide is hilariously dangerous when undiluted. Most retail brands of it are at a 6% concentration, most laboratory formulations top out at around 30%. Once you start getting to a...
Hydrogen peroxide is hilariously dangerous when undiluted. Most retail brands of it are at a 6% concentration, most laboratory formulations top out at around 30%. Once you start getting to a 60-70% solution you have to start being really careful handling it; pure or nearly-pure hydrogen peroxide is not a bomb ingredient, it is an explosive on its own - albeit not an ideal one. It can be used to create several other compounds that magnify that effect.
For those reasons, buying high-purity H2O2 is something that typically requires some licenses, inspections, etc. It is not something you could do as a private individual, to say nothing of a teenager who wanted to remain under the radar.
I know hydrogen peroxide is very unstable when not diluted, but you can make TATP by mixing it with acetone (which is easy to get undiluted) and my understanding is that the hydrogen peroxide...
I know hydrogen peroxide is very unstable when not diluted, but you can make TATP by mixing it with acetone (which is easy to get undiluted) and my understanding is that the hydrogen peroxide doesn't even need to be that concentrated for that reaction if the acetone isn't diluted.
They're concerned with solutions over 12%, which have been regulated as precursors in the EU for a while. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02019R1148-20190711 They may...
They're concerned with solutions over 12%, which have been regulated as precursors in the EU for a while.
They may have felt the need to make their own because of the laws requiring documentation for purchase of any reasonably-concentrated peroxide solution.
The chemicals have initially been reported as 'Vorläuferstoffe von Wasserstoffperoxid' which translates to 'precursors of hydrogen peroxide'. Not every detail has been made public yet, but I've...
Can you clarify a bit on this?
The chemicals have initially been reported as 'Vorläuferstoffe von Wasserstoffperoxid' which translates to 'precursors of hydrogen peroxide'. Not every detail has been made public yet, but I've since read something about 12% concention. They also found fuses, instructions on how to build a bomb, and other related stuff.
Afaik it's usually sold in pretty low concentrations, but since H2O2 boils at 150⁰C you can just boil off some of the water to strengthen the concentration.
Afaik it's usually sold in pretty low concentrations, but since H2O2 boils at 150⁰C you can just boil off some of the water to strengthen the concentration.
Right, I'm wondering if they were a) concentrating it and b) not making pure H2O2 but was simplified in the media. I know nothing about bomb making so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Right, I'm wondering if they were a) concentrating it and b) not making pure H2O2 but was simplified in the media.
I know nothing about bomb making so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I'm pretty sure it forms an azeotrope with water, which boils at a different temperature than either by themselves, therefore they mostly boil off together. It's also really unstable and when...
I'm pretty sure it forms an azeotrope with water, which boils at a different temperature than either by themselves, therefore they mostly boil off together. It's also really unstable and when exposed to heat it'll split into water and oxygen. At the very least you need vacuum distillation but even then I don't think you can get much farther than say 40%, whereas it only starts to get interesting around 70%.
Note: I have no background in chemistry I am talking squarely out of my ass. Here's a youtube video of a crazy Australian concentrating it to the extreme. I recall it was quite the process getting it to be a useful oxidizer.
It definitely can get interesting well before 70% if you aren't using it by itself but using it to synthesize something like TATP. That's absolutely doable with even less than 40% concentration...
At the very least you need vacuum distillation but even then I don't think you can get much farther than say 40%, whereas it only starts to get interesting around 70%
It definitely can get interesting well before 70% if you aren't using it by itself but using it to synthesize something like TATP. That's absolutely doable with even less than 40% concentration (though idk for sure if the 3% you get at the store would work without any distillation -- I'm not exactly gonna test that at home). A paper I found says in its abstract that using 3% dilute hydrogen peroxide and 7% dilute acetone in sequence when cleaning is unlikely to form TATP, but idk if that's the case when it's 100% acetone.
I have no background in chemistry either so I'm also talking out my ass though.
Edit: See below
No, the statement that it was local authorities who cancelled the event is incorrect. The local authorities did not cancel the event. They did communicate information regarding the concerts being the target of a planned attack to the organizers (Barracuda Music) and Taylor Swift's Management, who then decided to cancel the concert, despite assurances that the risk had been minimized.
I have been following this rather closely (and have actually watched the live press conferences by local authorities), as (1) my brother had Tickets for one of the concerts, (2) I am from around here, and (3) there are federal elections in Austria this fall, so all official communication in this matter should be considered with this context.
So what happened is, that yesterday morning a few hundred people were evacuated in a small Austrian city called Ternitz, and an arrest was made following a tip from a foreign intelligence service. Initially everyone was kept in the dark about what had actually happened for 12 hours or so. Media only reported that something was going on, but police didn't clarify why exactly everyone was asked to leave. So it was already pretty big story before around here before it was revealed what exactly had happened.
In the late afternoon police held a press conference, where they revealed that two people (19 and 17 years old) had been arrested and another person (15 years old) had been detained, because they were planning an islamistically motivated terrorist attack at big events in or around vienna, specifically the Taylor Swift concerts. They also found several knifes and chemicals to create hydrogen peroxide to build bombs. They also stated, that they do not believe further unknown perpetrators were on the loose, and that the risk had been minimized. When specifically asked wether they would order or recommend to cancel the concerts, they stated that they would not give any recommendations, but increase security measures and provide information. A cancellation would be up to the organizers.
Investigators further found out that at least one of the perpetrators had secured a job with a facility management company hired for the concert. Police hence conducted a search of the stadium grounds where the concert was to be held while the information embargo was still in place, in case something had been deposited there, but nothing of interest was found. This information and several additional details that were only disclosed publicly today were already communicated to the concert organizers yesterday. Swift's management considered these infos and decided to cancel the concert.
Of course especially parties on the right of the political spectrum are doing their best to carefully craft the communication in the aftermath of this incident in order to convert fear of terrorists into political gains, as the Austrian federal election is only a few months away. Unfortunately it looks like the decision to cancel the concerts will greatly help the extremely right (currently opposition) party FPÖ in the upcoming election, as a lot of people were directly affected by this and keeping the attention on fear of terrorist attacks and redirecting that fear to ethnic and religious minorities has just become a lot easier. Simultanously the conservative party ÖVP (which is part of the current government) is also trying to use the situation for their advantage, by communicating how an attack has successfully been prevented, and lobbying for more surveillance powers for law enforcement. Ironically I've also already read several comments from sources close to FPÖ, complaining about how it is a disgrace that a hint from a foreign intelligence agency was needed to make the arrests, which completely disregards that just a few years ago, when FPÖ was briefly part of the austrian government, their officials were the ones to initiate a politically motivated raid of an austrian intelligence agency, effectively dismantelling them and greatly damaging their international relationships with other agencies.
Edit: I just realized, that it's around midnight already (local time that is). So just to clarify - when I said 'yesterday' I meant Wednesday 7 Aug.
I really don't want it to seem like I'm making fun of your English--it is very good; there are only a couple words (infos) that make it clear you aren't a native speaker--but I do want to congratulate you on creating a word with four suffixes added on the end. But I'll also note that most people would consider "islamistically-motivated" to be synonymous with using "islamist" as an adjective.
Using -istic when either just -ist or just -ic is what a native speaker would do is something I've noticed German speakers doing a few times. I think the equivalent in German is more common than in English.
With the rising tensions in the middle east, long term effects of social media, isolation during the pandemic and the recent riots in the UK I can't help but feel were inches away from some disaster involving racism and xenophobia.
I really hope I'm wrong here but the atmosphere on the continent in general is turning darker. Problems are being blamed on migration when they're not.
Can you clarify a bit on this? I'm aware that hydrogen peroxide can be used to build bombs, but it's something that's easily accessible with almost no government oversight due to its use as a cleaning product, so I don't understand why the terrorists would need to synthesize it. Or is this meant to be interpreted as "chemicals to build bombs, including hydrogen peroxide"?
Hydrogen peroxide is hilariously dangerous when undiluted. Most retail brands of it are at a 6% concentration, most laboratory formulations top out at around 30%. Once you start getting to a 60-70% solution you have to start being really careful handling it; pure or nearly-pure hydrogen peroxide is not a bomb ingredient, it is an explosive on its own - albeit not an ideal one. It can be used to create several other compounds that magnify that effect.
For those reasons, buying high-purity H2O2 is something that typically requires some licenses, inspections, etc. It is not something you could do as a private individual, to say nothing of a teenager who wanted to remain under the radar.
EDIT: another example: high-test peroxide (HTP, very pure peroxide) is used as rocket fuel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-test_peroxide
I know hydrogen peroxide is very unstable when not diluted, but you can make TATP by mixing it with acetone (which is easy to get undiluted) and my understanding is that the hydrogen peroxide doesn't even need to be that concentrated for that reaction if the acetone isn't diluted.
They're concerned with solutions over 12%, which have been regulated as precursors in the EU for a while.
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02019R1148-20190711
They may have felt the need to make their own because of the laws requiring documentation for purchase of any reasonably-concentrated peroxide solution.
The chemicals have initially been reported as 'Vorläuferstoffe von Wasserstoffperoxid' which translates to 'precursors of hydrogen peroxide'. Not every detail has been made public yet, but I've since read something about 12% concention. They also found fuses, instructions on how to build a bomb, and other related stuff.
Ah yeah I suppose they'll deliberately be vague for obvious reasons
Might it depend on the strength? I'm not sure it's available at the same strength everywhere
Afaik it's usually sold in pretty low concentrations, but since H2O2 boils at 150⁰C you can just boil off some of the water to strengthen the concentration.
Right, I'm wondering if they were a) concentrating it and b) not making pure H2O2 but was simplified in the media.
I know nothing about bomb making so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I'm pretty sure it forms an azeotrope with water, which boils at a different temperature than either by themselves, therefore they mostly boil off together. It's also really unstable and when exposed to heat it'll split into water and oxygen. At the very least you need vacuum distillation but even then I don't think you can get much farther than say 40%, whereas it only starts to get interesting around 70%.
Note: I have no background in chemistry I am talking squarely out of my ass. Here's a youtube video of a crazy Australian concentrating it to the extreme. I recall it was quite the process getting it to be a useful oxidizer.
It definitely can get interesting well before 70% if you aren't using it by itself but using it to synthesize something like TATP. That's absolutely doable with even less than 40% concentration (though idk for sure if the 3% you get at the store would work without any distillation -- I'm not exactly gonna test that at home). A paper I found says in its abstract that using 3% dilute hydrogen peroxide and 7% dilute acetone in sequence when cleaning is unlikely to form TATP, but idk if that's the case when it's 100% acetone.
I have no background in chemistry either so I'm also talking out my ass though.