NYT pull quote: The Times [...] uncovered Brazilian court records showing that Mr. Santos had been charged with fraud as a young man after he was caught writing checks with a stolen checkbook.

Oh they have been talking about it and they are looking into it.

Keep seeing "vandalized" and "vandals" everywhere. There have been repeated attacks on the power grid throughout the country intending to disrupt it. Far right groups have a track record of having a fixation on this approach. This is terrorism and sabotage, not vandalism.

that'd be a Bingo
Dr Feelgood:

Reich wing terrorists:
BIGGEST THREAT
TO DEMOCRACY
not Fraudsters
claiming 'vot-
ing irregular-
ities!' let us
keep that
Straight.

Good comment @4. As you say, the proper terms are terrorism and sabotage. This isn't a bunch of taggers. The Tacoma strikes are eerily similar to the North Carolina power grid attacks just a few weeks ago:
https://www.npr.org/2022/12/09/1141937948/north-carolina-attacks-highlight-the-vulnerability-of-power-grids

"60 Minutes" was out ahead of all this with their remarkable report from August 28, "Vulnerable U.S. electric grid facing threats from Russia and domestic terrorists:" https://www.cbsnews.com/news/america-electric-grid-60-minutes-2022-08-28/.

I really appreciate that, even in the headline, the report linked Russia and domestic terrorists. While I doubt these domestic terrorists are actively working with Russia, you just know that they are very sympathetic to Putin's Russia. And this gets to the point I really wanted to make.

I just can't help but feel there's a connection between Russia's recent coordinated attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure and this recent upswell in attacks on America's infrastructure. No, as I said, I doubt these domestic terrorists are actively working with Russia, but it's hard not to see these attacks here as being inspired by Russia's attacks on Ukraine.

Thank you Jaz ... I can get all of those other shitty headlines from the major networks, but unexploded ordinance up some old Dude's asshole is what I come to The Stranger for!

@5: Also plausible are far left groups, e.g. climate action terrorists. We need more facts before blaming.

hokay dewey

your Equivocations
whilst Amusing're
seldom Accurate

were they Bombings
of Oil Refineries
your comment
might have
merit

@10: What you disparage as equivocations is actually open mindedness and circumspection. But hype if you like. We'll see. I mean after all, attacking a power substation for the cause of climate action is a tad more "relevant" than attacking priceless works of art.

@8: I wonder if he had help. (shudder)

Regarding the response @5 to @4 as to whether we should be calling these attacks terrorism... Yeah, I suppose that we don't whether this is terrorism yet because we don't have any suspects yet from whom we can find out a motive.

But even if terrorism is not the right word, vandalism is still the wrong word. If a group is making a series of deliberate attacks on an electrical facility to knock out people's power, that's not mere vandalism. The best, and most precise, word for now is sabotage, which both @4 and I @7 used as well.

Even so, the Department of Homeland Security has already been raising the alarm over the threat of terrorist attacks to our electrical grid, which NBC News ties in nicely in their report on the Tacoma attacks:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/three-substations-attacked-washington-state-rcna63214

these acts of Sabotage're
merely Practice for Reich wing
Militias. when shit hits fan look for
Co-ordinated Attacks on the power grid

shutting down Communications
is just whatchya gotta Do when
it comes to Insurrections and
Drowning the hated
Government -- or
'Democracy' as it
usta be Known.

@4 came to say the same. If grafiti is mere “vandalism” and must be tolerated, you need another word to describe destruction of public infrastructure that downs critical services SMH

speaking of shit hitting fan
the Chinese Tyrant shan't
be for Long when the
Death Toll becomes
Unbearable or will
Xi take China to
War elsewhere
to Cement his
Rule at Home

it worked Well for the dick
Cheney and the gee dubya so
why Not? 'interesting times' indeed.

If the substation attacks were "left-wing" groups, they would have taken responsibility. That's in their DNA. I think these are weirdo right-wing freak jobs and/or disgruntled utility workers.

We've known for close to 10 years that Pierce County has hillbillies looking to bring down society and prey on the rest of us. Those would be the kind of people it would be good to lead off an investigation of power station vandalism.

https://komonews.com/news/local/buckley-doomsday-prepper-facing-gun-charge

I can't tell if Tyler Smith ever went to jail but he does currently have an open assault charge against him.

Don't count on corrupt Pierce County and white supremacist Sheriff Ed Troyer to investigate the terrorists attacks on power stations.

Whether or not the substation attacks are terrorism is dependent on the perpetrators' skin color. If they are white it is just vandalism. Isolated incident. Boys will be boys, etc.

@17 - "sabotage" is already in my original comment. Yes, we don't know if it's intended as terrorism, but it's going on in multiple places and far right groups have embraced it as a tactic, so seems possible, maybe even worth mentioning.

@21: Such a blatantly racist comment from someone who assumes he would never be accused as being racist.

@2 Asylum seekers are not "illegal immigrants." They are following the law. You may not like the law, and that's your prerogative, but they are not breaking it and this is why they aren't being summarily deported.

Personally, I would not object to Texas busing asylum seekers who are willing to relocate to more tolerant and civilized parts of the country (I'm fine with WA taking as many as want to come here) if only they would coordinate in advance with local officials at the destination instead of just dumping people God knows where in the middle of the night unannounced. That is not going to have the political effect you and Gov. Abbott think it will.

Welcome to Slog JamieK dear. Are you a new fascist, or a fascist retread?

@28: no, that doesn't count as Fascism.

the definition is readily available at the start of the wiki page:
"Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement, characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation and race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy."

Nothing in there about "no one wants to work anymore".

I miss blip.

@29 is correct. Tone police here.

Why the name calling anyway? Why don't we reserve the word 'fascist' for those who have shown in documented public appearances that they really are. There has never been anyone on Slog even remotely approaching fascism.

Let's be nice to one another.

@30 is correct also. JamieK is not a fascist despite what @27 said.

I just think that it's fun when conservatives get their feelings hurt when called names when they promote crackpot theories about the border and "elites"

And I still think Our Dear JamieK is a retread (aka a troll with a new name)

@25 No one is asking or expecting the U.S. alone to take in every impoverished or otherwise oppressed person in the global south. But it is undeniable that the population imbalance between north and south is extreme and unsustainable, particularly in light of accelerating climate change, and we in this country (along with the rest of the global north) have to be prepared to take in a much larger number of refugees than ever before. Four billion in the U.S alone? Of course not. That's a ridiculous idea. But with sufficient infrastructure and smart policies I think we can handle several hundred million over the next century. That seems about our fair share and would still leave the U.S. population density less than that of China, India, Indonesia or most of Africa. The alternative is never-ending border war and people dying prematurely by the tens of millions every year, and I don't think the developed world is prepared to accept either of those scenarios.

@29: "...belief in a natural social hierarchy..."
Doesn't this describe every high school student?

@2, @26, @28, and @30 JamieK: Dude--how many screen name changes have you made in the past six months? I'm just asking for a friend.

@27 & @33 Catalina Vel-DuRay: +1 BINGO! My guess is that our newest SLOG neofascist retread, JamieK is really David in Shoreline under a new alias. One would think changing screen names more often than undies would get tiresome after a while.

Rest in peace, Keema. 28 years is a good longevity for a grizzly bear.

@20 Cheesehead NW: +1 BINGO! I wouldn't be surprised if Ed Troyer himself ordered a couple of hillbilly nitwits to do the sabotage for him. Boss Hogg would be proud.