#prepper network

[yearzerosurvival]

See more rain harvesting ideas.

[heathersdesk]

So I don't know how much of a reputation the Church has for food storage and emergency preparedness anymore. We used to(?) have prepper levels of infrastructure people could buy to store all kinds of food and water in their basements and doom bunkers, with lessons and messaging to back it up. But I haven't heard anything about it in over a decade.

That said, there is one thing I have always found to be super important. It doesn't really cost anything and pretty much anyone can do it regardless of their money, time, or space constraints. And for the most likely emergencies a person will encounter, it's the thing you'd need first/most.

Water.

Whether you get cases or gallons of water from the store, wash out and refill some two liters, or keep a couple of filled pitchers or spare water bottles in the fridge, have some excess water you can access just in case.

"Emergency preparedness" conjures mental images of zombies and dystopic societal collapse. What it should conjure instead are things like busted pipes and power outages, job losses and injuries, adverse weather and illness. You know, things that will probably actually happen to you at some point.

The only time I've ever had to use my water storage was in college when the pipes downstairs busted and flooded the lower apartments. We didn't have water for days. Everyone made fun of my water storage until it came time to brush their teeth and they needed some of that water. And of course I shared. That's what it was there for, and I had more than enough set aside for each of us.

All this to say: emergency preparedness is a useful way to think about more than just catastrophic societal failures. It's also things like having an In Case of Divorce fund, wearing a medical alert bracelet, and forming a support network of who would take care of you if you suddenly had to have a tooth pulled. The common, stupid stuff that makes life overwhelming but isn't going to kill you.

Emergency preparedness means having that kind of stuff in place ahead of time.

[lilithism1848]

What are some advice you give to a young communist?

Hit the gym.

Delete time-waster social media (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) - organize face-to-face with real people. A bit of political discourse online is fine.

Arm yourself. Get guns, and learn how to shoot them. Don't get museum items because "Mosins are cool" or some nonsense, get whatever combat-worthy AR and sidearm is a military standard in your geographic region, depending on where you are that's probably something like an M16, G36, AK-12, or AK-47.

Organize with trustworthy individuals. In case of civil war or anti-socialist genocide, you need people you can rely on (and the reactionaries WILL eventually come for people like us in the West, capitalists never give up without a fight).

Organize a meeting point where you will meet your comrades in case of conflict.

Get good military-grade or better marching/combat boots and always have a full bug-out bag ready. Long-lasting rations for at least a few days, water filter/purification equipment, first aid kit, sleeping equipment, heat blanket, tinder and mechanical lighter, tarp, basic tools like knife, are, rope, etc. (try and stay below 10kg weight without water, add as much water as you can comfortably carry). Do regular training marches with your simulated backpack (10km with 10kg of weight minimum).

Study how to organize at work and build a mutual aid network. Help found unions.

Focus hard on education. The better educated you are the better.

Society is not ready for revolution, yet. So, get a great career that makes money. Yes, participating in capitalism is good, actually. Become as rich and powerful as possible. Make use of all the tools capitalism gives you. Preferably find a collectively owned business but don't be shy about participating in capitalism. Use the power and money you gain along the way to fund and support revolutionaries.

Always remember: It is not your personal responsibility to change the world or jeopardize your own wellbeing by acting according to ideals nobody else shares. As long as you don't personally stand in the way of revolution, your priority should be bettering your own life. Societal change can only be achieved at a societal level, personal responsibility is a liberal myth. Lead the best life you can while promoting socialism.

I know that some of this sounds like paranoid prepper bs and LARPing and will continue to feel like LARPing the entire time until the revolution starts but if you are a revolutionary communist you need to be ready... this is part of any revolution.

Know these "funny" videos where right-wingers stand in a line and make Nazi salutes then "train" by doing 10 push-ups before falling over wheezing, then trying to march in a line completely out of tune with each other while some skinny guy with a swastika tattooed on his face is swinging an SS flag? Yeah, those idiotic-looking guys are more organized more disciplined, and more committed than the overwhelming majority of self-proclaimed Marxist-Leninists in the West.

[ckret2]

I need to know: how you think bill would be in chat if he ever got the priviledge to get a phone or use a PC?What social networks would he use?

Types in all caps at all times. Punctuation optional. If someone asks him to turn off caps he instead doubles the font size. He can do this even on sites/apps that don't allow you to change the size. He won't say how.

Considering this is 2013? He's probably a pioneer in spreading misinformation and bullshit on twitter. He's one of those "MANIFEST LOVE and $$$ get your DREAM JOB through the POWER of the LAW OF ATTRACTION" cultish New Age grifters making money off a website selling self help PDFs. He's building an internet cult.

Anyone who knows him IRL gets to hear him laughing about how stupid his followers are. However it sounds like he kind of buys some of his own New Age BS to a degree that worries people.

He gets in stupid drama and then spends all night digging up something to cancel his opponent over and sic his followers on them, not because he thinks he's justified, but sheerly for the thrill of the hunt. It makes him feel powerful. His twitter has been banned four times. People run webpages dedicated to documenting his heinous bullshit. He reads them regularly.

He's waiting til 2014 when bitcoin prices drop to like $50, buying as much as he can, spending six years waiting, and selling them in 2020 for like $69,000. He runs a blog telling people to buy crypto. He can actually foresee when the prices are going to peak and fall. He doesn't share this info. He makes bank himself and gleefully ruins everyone else's finances with no regrets. (He would encourage Mabel to buy and tell her exactly what day to sell.) (He would not tell Dipper when to sell.)

He hangs out in doomsday prepper forums so that he can make up new conspiracies and see if he can make everyone even more paranoid.

He's got a youtube channel that's a mix of all of the above BS. New Age self-help buy-crypto buy-gold our-universe-isn't-real access-the-higher-planes doomsday conspiracy mishmash. You can imagine the viewers he attracts. He disdains them all and tries to make them worse on purpose. Never shows his face, every video is a slideshow of psychedelic & pseudo-religious art (mostly stolen) with a voiceover and mystical-sounding music.

Mabel gets him on tumblr, because if Mabel has any social media of course it'd be 2013 tumblr, and probably a deviantart. She's posting her art and really badly photoshopped gif edits of her favorite cartoons and musicians, and generally acts like a normal person online.

Bill's tumblr is completely divorced from all his other horrible online activity. All he posts is cryptic rhyming couplets and terrible local photos of things that fascinate him. The photos could be anything from a car with a really sweet flaming paint job to a stunningly beautiful double rainbow over pine-covered mountains to a literal pile of dog shit because he thought it was interesting how it was drying out unevenly. Once he gets investigated for arson because he posted a picture of the house in flames within three hours of the crime. (He was, in fact, guilty, but he wheedled an alibi out of friends before they knew what he was being investigated for.)

He has like eight followers. The only content he reblogs is Eye of Providence images and pyramid images, which he tags #LITERALLY ME and thinks he's hilarious for; and also every single thing Mabel posts without exception until the end of time.

[melonbear51]

i love your vtm concepts!!! would you happen to have any more gangrel ideas from any angle? i think that a good argument could be made for gangrel anarchism/independence/savagery being the 'truest' expression of vampirism in a way, they get looked down on a lot by other clans unfairly i think </3

FRIEND I LOVE THE GANGREL SO MUCH YOU HAVE NO IDEA! They are so damn underrated and it KILLS me how so many players, old and new, overlook them or think of them as Brujah with werewolf powers. And they TOTALLY get looked down on by other clans, but that's part of what makes them interesting; much like the other "low clans," they're underestimated, and that makes them DANGEROUS. But enough of my fangirling. Let's get to business: 1. A Gangrel who formed a coterie with a Salubri, Cappodocian-Hecata, and Tzimisce SPECIFICALLY as a giant fuck-you to the Tremere. Whether or not they make a good team is up to you, but regardless, the local anarchs find the whole thing HILARIOUS and make it a point to send this motley crew in whenever the Tremere are involved. 2. A writer and narrator of a podcast noted for their distinct storytelling style who was turned into a Gangrel because of this. They are currently being groomed by their sire and elders to become a lorekeeper and storyteller of the clan, and while some aspects are enjoyable, the weight of expectations and the pressure is beginning to get to them. 3. A college kid with a very controlling family who put extreme pressure on them to succeed who was embraced coming home from a student government meeting. Faced with a new reality and tasting true, wild freedom for the first time, they've kindly told their parents to suck a fat one and have begun to carve their own path. They are also searching for their sire, who they wish to thank for granting them a way out. Whether or not they stay grateful is up to you and the events of the chronicle. 4. A highly-educated Gangrel who purposefully conceals their intelligence and expertise by leaning into the whole "Gangrel are wild savages" stereotype. Their clothes are ripped or the least fancy items you've ever seen, they motel-hop or live out of a trailer, the whole shebang. Many Camarilla scoff at them and even some Anarchs look down on them. The Gangrel doesn't care: do the others have hundreds of thousands of dollars from smart investments and an animalism-driven information network that spans the entire state? No? Fuck em'! 5. A Gangrel who either fakes being a caitiff or fledgling to gain the trust and pity of other kindred. After weaseling their way into their target's unlives, they either steal their valuables and hit the road, or straight up murder those that gave them charity. For extra symbolism, make it so that they have two protean beast forms: a sheep, which they show to others, and a wolf, which only comes out when they strike. 6. A Gangrel DJ who stalks the rave and club scene for prey, gathering a herd from their dedicated and ever-growing fanbase. Some of the more traditional Gangrel look down on them but hey, a party animal is still an animal! 7. A Gangrel doomsday/Gehenna prepper. They could be the traditional survivalist/resource gathering prepper, or they could go to another extreme: attempting to gather animals à la Noah, waiting for some great ecological disaster. 8. A young anarch Gangrel with a Camarilla sire. Mistrusted because of their sire's loyalties, they are desperately trying to prove themselves to the other anarchs and their clanmates, all the while trying to resist the tempting bait their sire offers them to try and get them to come back home.

I hope you enjoy these! I also hope this gives other players some inspiration to look at the Gangrel a bit differently! As always, feel free to use any of these ideas for pcs/npcs, and don't hesitate to shoot me a message to chat about VTM!

[bidonica]

Me: I love this part of the map!

This part of the map:

(Previous adventures in pizza delivery: a Death Stranding playthrough blog)

Speaking of, today I went on a light hike with my father who's the actual mountaineer in the family and completely unprompted he asked me to explain Death Stranding to him. I am becoming afraid of my own influencing powers

Incredible insights about Neanderthals from acclaimed director Nicolas Winding Refn

Man it feels good to do these missions... look at the breathtaking scenery

What the FUCK

"If it's not too late" well it is! The Mountaineer is an npc I'm fond of but I wish he had better timing (btw it's ironic that Die Hardman warns you that preppers in the mountain area might be hard to convince to join the UCA while they're generally very nice and eager to enter the network)

Oh wow well

I guess I'll ignore that and the lightning and the loud cracks and go do other allegedly story-advancing missions. This is productive procrastination

Like this rookie porter needed saving (and for some reason was nearly impossible to find despite being a darker silhouette on a white background... first time I had to look up the solution to something in this game I kid you not) (yes I had skipped this one in my first playthrough) (I'm realizing I cut A LOT of corners the first time around)

A still untested hot spring?!? NOT on MY watch

Oh, so unlike Mama and the Chiral Artist this guy doesn't join you for a health restoring bath? Mh. I wonder why

Me: Deadman, you better not be in a chiral vortex when I get there to retrieve my beloved BB

Deadman:

The FUCK are you saying man (you read this in Norman Reedus' voice)

siiiiigh

[manorpunk]

Post-Bailout America

Right, I never told the second part of the story.

In case you’re just joining us, America has just spent the 2030s in the depths of the Polycrisis until China had to bail us out to keep the world economy from crashing yet again.

It would make for such a nice, clean dividing line between the generations - “America went crazy and ate itself, and then the Bailout happened and everything got better” - but it was a long, complicated, and violent process. It was also the origin of the Global Logistics Network.

There is an old saying that all empires are accidental. Such was the case of the GLN - China was so busy celebrating their victory in the Second Cold War that it took them a minute to realize America was now a massive bone in their throat. There had always been a master plan behind the Bailout: even with light controls over both ends of the Chinese-American market, China could manage their gradual transition to a service economy by fiddling with the levers whenever there was an imbalance between production and consumption. There were a couple problems though:

1. even with the modern internet and AI tech, this would require a mind-boggling amount of constant international coordination,

2. the enormous task of managing most of the world economy had been dropped into the lap of a couple of Qingdao-based construction firms,

3. insurrections were already brewing in America, but we’re gonna put a pin in that for a minute.

The GLN emerged as a hasty attempt to make the process easier, taking all of the shipping and production systems previously owned by major American corporations and just kinda duct-taping them together and hoping it would work. On paper it was under direct management of the CCP, which now stood for the Chinese China Party - winning the Second Cold War made China start to go a little crazy, with an immediate rise in nationalism and a lot of rhetoric to the effect of “now that the Century of Humiliation is over it’s time to reclaim our rightful status as the unquestionable global hegemon.” Party officials started competing with each other to see who could troll America the hardest.

wait what the hell was I talking about

right

on paper, the GLN was just another part of the Chinese government, akin to a second Belt and Road Initiative, but this was exposed as a polite fiction during the Sheriff Insurrections.

So remember that pin I mentioned a minute ago? Well, this is that. Sheriffs across America - ‘sheriff’ here is shorthand for local police officers, right-wing militias, modern rural gentry, doomsday preppers, and actual sheriffs (but I repeat myself) - Sheriffs across America launched rebellions attempting to ‘resist China and the GLN’ and ‘regain their local power.’ In reality most of these rebellions took place in rural areas that were far away from any GLN activities, and if you scratched the surface of their rhetoric they’d admit that it was because they just really hated Chinese people.

Still, as the violence and chaos from the Sheriff Insurrections spread from town to town, the GLN began independently hiring mercs military contractors to protect construction crews, and small skirmishes regularly broke out between the contractors and sheriffs.

This put the Chinese government in a bind: they could either let the GLN operate as an independent organization, which would destroy all those grand plans of economic control and unleash an unprecedented new psuedo-state upon the world, or they could continue claiming ownership of the GLN, which would mean that China was kinda sorta technically launching a ground invasion on foreign soil. The Chinese government blinked, and the rest is history.

Anyway, the sheriffs lost. Badly. As a brief aside, far be it from me to revel in punishment and violent revenge, but if one wishes to take a moment and imagine a montage of bloated, out-of-shape sheriffs fumbling with their tacticool handguns before getting vaporized by actual professionals, well, I wouldn’t judge.

And anyway, it’s nice to find a silver lining to things like that. Cause uh. Those goddamn sheriffs probably set us back another decade. The way that the rest of America was pretty cool with the GLN taking over makes a lot more sense when you remember the alternatives.

I mean, yeah, there were the economic impositions, gas and meat and plastic got a lot more expensive, but it was a small price to pay.

And yeah, there would occasionally be scandals, like when the GLN allegedly tried to break the remaining power of the conservative evangelicals by infiltrating religious cults and encouraging mass suicides, or the-

some nice men have politely informed me that I should immediately end this post. Bye everyone, see you next time!

[infotrendtimes]

***HAPPY AMATEUR RADIO DAY***

Calling all tech-tinkerers and apocalypse preppers! Dust off your rigs, folks! It's World Amateur Radio Day! Celebrate by going on-air... legally! No cat pics, just pure, unadulterated radio waves and maybe some exciting static.

So, ditch the social media drama and join the real social network – the one that still works when the internet goes kaput !!

[vyragosa]

i think if fragile actually became power-hungry it would be so interesting

it would be such an interesting parallel to higgs too, being power-hungry is what made them meet and collaborate but fragile was not into actively seeking this kind of expansion (she builds a network of trust rather than service since preppers sided with her rather than bridges) handled, with love

so for fragile to become a captain with so much more responsability, as well as being there when louise was "taken" and the failure to protect her, would it make her begin the journey? toward more power and the elevated responsabilities that comes with it

[braintasting]

First thoughts on The Last of Us

I've only seen the first four episodes, but I think I've got a handle on what makes THE LAST OF US different from previous zombie fiction. I'm not sure how to string these thoughts together yet, but I want to jot them down to see what patterns emerge (like fruiting bodies from a mycelial network, of course).

* It's firmly lodged in the apocalypse-as-family-dynamic subgenre of zombie films, like the first few seasons of THE WALKING DEAD, 28 WEEKS LATER, and even moreso TRAIN TO BUSAN (previously discussed here).

* Rather than extending out of melodrama like... well, most zombie movies from NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD on; lots of repressed anguish, psychological subtext, close-ups on sweaty faces making bad decisions... and rather than borrowing dynamics or settings from war movies like DEAD SNOW, DAY OF THE DEAD, OUTPOST, or the final third of 28 DAYS LATER... this series is pretty consciously taking its cues from Westerns. It's not exactly TRUE GRIT in the zombie apocalypse, but it's close.

* The Western trappings change the deeper themes at play. Westerns are always about remarkable individuals making existential decisions, whereas nearly all zombie movies are about social systems and the breakdown of interpersonal hierarchies. The zombies (or fungally infected) in THE LAST OF US don't seem to travel in herds. It's an epidemic, but in this story, the infected are all networked together. We're told early on that what one perceives, others will react to even over a distance of miles. This isn't a mathematical or statistical model; it's biological. Rhizomatic.

* The design work is outstanding, and unlike nearly every post-apocalyptic fiction I've seen (with the possible exception of STATION ELEVEN) the photography seems to take real joy in life. This isn't THE ROAD WARRIOR as much as it is AFTER MAN. Cars aren't burnt and blackened as much as they are green with moss and weeds. City streets have been reclaimed by wilderness. Of course, this visual choice is a natural extension of a schema in which the infectious agent is a fungus rather than a virus. A virus is a biological machine, not even truly alive. Cordyceps fungus is alive, too alive; it only wants to dominate a brain and an animate creature's neurology in order to reproduce itself. The horror of THE LAST OF US is that everything grows, not that everything breaks down.

* Because it is a family story, and a story about life, the triumph of life over society itself, it is also a love story. The third episode with Nick Offerman is ... well, I won't spoil it, but it's really about emotional life flourishing in the face of a world that is unkind, crude, and dismissive of the value of the individual. That value is developed not just for every person in their own right (in true Western fashion) but also expressed in the value people find in each other. Humans are networked too, only by emotional bonds, not by mycelium. (Of course one of two main characters is a prepper. Who you let into your bunker makes for a great character-shaping tool.)

Looking forward to where this fiction goes next.

[yearzerosurvival]

[tonyrossmcmahon]

Preppers - is the world really about to end?

Preppers are a growing movement who believe the world is about to end - so, what are they up to?

What if the world we know comes to a halt? No electricity, no law and order, or a disease that wipes out millions. Maybe the implosion of our economy reducing the population to abject poverty. Everybody forced to rely on their own resources to survive. This is the world that Preppers believe is just round the corner. And a network of Prepper communities can be found on social media making all the…

[peaches-and-honey-and-the-moon]

I really recommend you start a communal sustainability network. Going down the rabbithole of paranoid preppers is going to lead you in circles to nowhere. Your time is better spent learning how libraries and public schools work.

I had to look up what a communal sustainability network was because I'm tired, but that is a wonderful idea. I also had a connection error reading that last bit and took it way too literally lol. But i do see what you mean and do plan on learning that stuff. I'm very active with my hometown library. Thankfully, its pretty easy for the most part to differentiate the paranoid gun freaks from genuine articles and blogs just trying to put out information. I'm mostly just clicking around to continue to bulk up my information hoard. My dude is helping me stay grounded in reality and chill while I'm clicking around so there's no worry I'll go off the deep end at this time. I do really appreciate the suggestions though. I believe that my gathering of information will greatly help my community should it ever need to be called upon. Hopefully I'm making sense.

[acommonloon]

to bicycles and a shopping cart on our way from the EMP

Was unhappily reminded of our reliance on electronics and the vulnerability of our power grid, twice this week. The first was easy to repress as I've been aware of this "one more thing" for years, and starting yet another post-apocalyptic series on my kindle was...a familiar reminder. It was the second thing I'm still thinking about.

When my phone suddenly stopped receiving a signal, I didn't think of the scenario where the North Koreans sneak a few old Russian Ilyushin jet bombers, into the US commercial traffic pattern squawking Chinese commercial airliner codes, then climbing them high and setting off nuclear bombs to create electromagnetic pulses devastating our nation's power grid.

Nope, I didn't think that because I'm not living in a constant state of terror that at any moment the world or just my world (same thing) is about to come crashing down. Yeah living in a state of denial isn't the constant address of only Trumper's. We all fend off the vagaries of life with barricades made of hope, faith, repression, nihilism, etc.

Personally, I cope mostly by...nevermind. Even though I've seemed to notice more of those Emergency Broadcast transmissions on the radio than usual, and even though, the world's most prominent Darth Vader seems to be going down in an insane egoists death spire and taking us with him, my first thought was...yeah Android Auto really sucks. It does.

It wasn't until I pulled into the parking lot of the supermarket and unplugged my phone from the car, that I realized, not only wasn't I not getting any cell signal, I wasn't getting an icon to represent a cell signal. When I tried to make a call or send a text I got the most disturbing message. "Phone not connect to a network. No number associated with this device. You can only make Emergency calls."

WTAF!!! In this day and age, when an emergency happens, you use your phone to call for help. Really when nearly anything happens you use your phone. When the emergency is - your phone is no longer a phone, I repeat, What the actual fuck?!

Not an emergency you say? Well here I was sitting in a primo parking spot on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, temp in the low 80's, sorry world, all ready to go in to get a long list of food items when I realized, I'd forgotten the list!!! Ikr? Yeah big time Emerg!!!

So, I shakily restarted the car and drove a white-knuckled fifteen minutes in heavy traffic to the Verizon store. I could think of three Verizon stores off hand. As a former member of an AF tactical communications unit, I've been conditioned to always know where all emergency egress routes are and the nearest White Castle and Verizon stores.

What? Some of you savvy preppers might ask, "Shouldn't I know where the gun stores are?' For when the sky is covered in contrails and the dead have begun to walk? Nah, I live in Indiana. You can't swing a dead zombie torso without hitting a gun shop. But MF if you've just finished a hard day of drinking and your stomach has begun to cry like Nancy Keriggan Why Why Why, a WK crave case is survival.

Anyway, as I walked in the Verizon store I noticed OMG, every single person was currently looking at a hand-held screen. Every customer and every Verizon team member. Most of the team members were looking at two screens, a tablet and a computer screen. Yeah, one EMP and I might as well have been trapped in an Escape Room!!! Okay, not a very good one as the whole front of the store is windows but... <whispers> the horror!

Quickly, a team leader approached me. To some extent I imagined what the energetic young man (Dean) might be seeing as he approached. A tallish, older man, not quite fit but not quite gone Homer Simpson, and okay he probably was just seeing customer number 286 and wondering if the geezer could remember his own phone number. So when he greeted me cheerily and asked for my phone number, I said.

Umh, I was just driving along and my phone stopped working and now it says there's no number assigned to it! Okay??? he replied.

I gave him my phone number and he said, the next rep will be with you as soon as possible.

When Terrence came over, about ten minutes later, I handed him my phone and raddled off my number. Okay, what can I help you with?

Terrence was great. He confirmed my query that sometimes people's numbers are in fact stolen (no missile contrails so) but he would just check out if my sim card was working properly...first. A new sim card later and my phone began to work. I assured Terrence when I chose to replace my phone, I'd let him know and I walked out into the day in full possession of a working phone, comfortably connected to the hivemind network.  A short while later, I was in the supermarket when D texted me a photo of the grocery list I'd left on the counter. <sigh> yeah, I should have got a bigger shopping cart.

[beardedmrbean]

Bundeswehr soldier Franco A. has been found guilty of planning terrorist attacks. He had also been posing as a Syrian refugee. His case has raised concerns about German immigration authorities and the military.

Bundeswehr soldier Franco A.* was found guilty of preparing a "serious violent offense endangering the state" in Frankfurt on Friday, following one of the most-watched far-right terrorism trials in German history.

He was sentenced to five years and six months in jail. He was also found guilty of illegally possessing weapons of war, including two assault rifles. The defendant has refused to reveal where he acquired those weapons, or where they are now.

Bearded, with long hair, and wearing a red shirt, the defendant appeared relaxed ahead of the verdict, chatting amiably with his defense attorneys after having his handcuffs removed.

He did not visibly react as the sentence was read but kept his bowed as Judge Christoph Koller read the explanation of the judgment.

Later, as the judge listed all the evidence illustrating his racist National Socialist ideology, the defendant appeared to mutter something to himself.

"The defendant harbored a nationalist, racist and antisemitic ideology," the judge read from the court's explanation. The court also established that Franco A. espoused anti-Semitic conspiracy theories involving the systematic extinction of "the German race," and admired Adolf Hitler. 

At one point, the judge also read out one of Franco A.'s voicemail notes in which he described his urge to "do something" about the immigrants he saw on the streets talking to "German girls."

The judge said the defendant also feared a major catastrophe, such as a war with Russia or China, and had joined, and twice met up with, prepper networks who exchanged strategies for how to prepare for such a disaster.  

The court found that this ideology had inspired his plans to carry out an attack, even if it could not be established how concrete those plans had become. Afterwards, court spokeswoman Gundula Fehns-Böer clarified that the court did not have to establish concrete plans in order to find the defendant guilty: It was enough to establish his intention.

But it was clear, the court said, that he intended to "send a signal" by attacking politicians and activists he deemed refugee-friendly. He had illegally acquired semi-automatic assault rifles, practiced shooting them, made lists of potential targets, and researched where those targets might be.

Federal state prosecutor Karin Weingast called the verdict "a big success" for the authorities, though the jail sentence was below the six years and three months the state had asked for. "I am satisfied, and I see it as an important success in the fight against far-right extremism, racism, and anti-Semitism in Germany," she told reporters outside the courtroom.   

But defense attorney Moritz Schmitt-Fricke described the trial as "highly political" and expressed disappointment in the verdict. "I still look in vain for a clear proof that my client was planning and determined to carry out an attack," he said afterward, before announcing that his client would appeal.

Schmitt-Fricke dodged questions on where his client had procured his guns and said Franco A. had credibly asserted he could not say where they are now.

[heartmans-lost-cargo]

The worst seems to be over now, so I'm working on reaching the maximum chiral network connection with every prepper and facility that I can. 😬 Nothing compares to making deliveries for Heartman, though — he gave me my first Five Stars, you know. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Just hadn't cared enough to focus on one person like that before. 😢

Luckily, whether I'm in Lake Knot City or at Timefall Farm, I've adopted a routine that keeps me going: I diligently scan for Heartman's lost cargo, and — even if it's in BT territory — I go get that lost cargo. 💪 Nothing happens anymore when I deliver, except for receiving a few more likes, but just knowing that I've reunited Heartman with his belongings is gratification enough. 😎 (One of these days, however, I'd like to sneak a peek at that 'Beach-related Art'...🧐)

I will admit, something's been bothering me lately: Cargo belonging to Heartman keeps reappearing in the exact same place where I found it originally — same place, same type of cargo. I've also seen pinged containers vanish before I can reach them, almost as if someone else got there first. 🫣 No solid theories yet, but this shit sure is freaky...👎

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