Nuclear Leaks 37: Citizen Journalists, Plutonium, and the Hanford Tunnel Collapse

Hanford:a site crucial to the secret Manhattan Project. Plutonium for weapons produced there for 4 decades. NOT nuclear power plant. pic.twitter.com/Uq2Pce0QX4

— Susannah Frame (@SFrameK5) May 11, 2017

On 9 May 2017, a 20-foot-long section of a nuclear waste storage tunnel collapsed at the Hanford Site in Washington State, USA. The collapse occurred at the 20-foot-wide join of two tunnels, possibly exposing the contents to the open air, although Hanford denied this. Hanford is famous for producing plutonium for nuclear weapons during the Cold War. It is also famous for its contamination and leaking tanks of waste, making it one of the most toxic sites in the United States.

Memes in the Chaos: The Plastic Landscape of Reality Journalism

"Cernovich didn’t own a car, much less a satellite truck or a video-editing suite. But he did have sources." https://t.co/CdAkbuO9nV

— Mike Cernovich 🇺🇸 (@Cernovich) April 6, 2017

One of the hotbeds where a new technological ideology is forming is alt-journalism. Alt-journalists operate with a post-tabloid, kinetic style which exploits that consciousness and assaults the senses. This blowhard style - exemplified by pro-Trump Periscoper and Youtuber Mike Cernovich - wins alt-journalists popularity among their Youtube, Reddit, Twitter, Gab, and 4chan fans. Cernovich sure doesn't have any fans at liberal outlet Media Matters! You can read their coverage of his work here; and similar hatred for him is here and here. When attacked, Cernovich gives as good as he gets.

In a 2 April article and 3 April 2017 video, Cernovich asserted that Susan Rice was at the centre of the Russian-Trump wire-tapping intelligence scandal. It was Cernovich's scoop, not because others did not also have the information, but because others in the MSM chose not to report it.

In appealing to his youthful audience, Cernovich made much of both points. His message: watch him to get the lowdown first on what is happening; and watch him because he has the guts to tell you what others won't. He also builds his brand through bragging, bluster, and brawling with other social media personalities in ways that wear down resistance to him as an unknown quantity:

"I'm starting to like this mythos created about me. The media has turned me into this James Bond villain who has connections to Russian hackers and foreign governments, and can lead hacking campaigns across the world and influence elections. I'm not even going to argue with that shit. I'm going to be like, 'Yeah, you caught me. You're right. I'm a fucking James Bond villain, you know? Thank God.'" 

He introduces his audience to his wife and daughter, and discusses random topics on Friday evening Youtube cigar nights from his patio. Compare this to Anderson Cooper at CNN or Stephen Sackur at the BBC, and you see Mike Cernovich - a late Gen Xer - operates in a Brave New World.

A caveat: my discussion of controversial symbols and ideas in this post in no way indicates my personal belief in, or endorsement of, those symbols and themes. This is an apolitical blog, and my intent in the current series of posts is to uncover the nature of an emerging technological ideology, not to take sides in political debates or support offensive content.

The Rush to Colonize Cyberspace

It would be a mistake in this environment to assume that leaders of the anti-establishment or underground are alienated from the old establishment. This is Julian Assange on the cover of Forbes, for a 29 November 2010 interview with Andy Greenberg. Surprise! He's flashing a Masonic hand sign. This is the sign of a Mark Master Mason (examples here, see Hillary in the same pose - information on the degree and oath is here). Image Source: Forbes.

Technology is not neutral and neither are the people striving to wield it to greatest effect. It is hard for liberals and non-liberals to understand that technology, not liberalism, is the real driver of globalization.

The liberals are not the only ones with a vision of internationalism. Technocrats and crypto-anarchists have visions too; and they are very different. As for non-liberals, nationalist and populist talking points against immigration and refugees fail to recognize that communications and travel capabilities have improved so much over the past 100 years that for the first time in history, millions of people can move all over the globe. They can do this; therefore they will do this, no matter what crises or policies are or are not driving them.

Of course, wars and disasters provoke migrations; and policy-makers will involve themselves in that process. But despite their efforts over the past generation, they are not in control of the evolution of internationalism.

In the long term, any ideology of internationalism will align with the ideology of the Internet and of technology. So far, that ideology is undetermined. Silicon Valley may be liberal, but in the virtual spaces tech giants provide, there are a lot of competing political and post-political groups from many cultures. Some few people in Silicon Valley are conservative or libertarian. Hacker and open-source cultures are more politically adventurous.

The addiction to the left-right paradigm to understand these problems is misleading. This blog is apolitical. I want to understand what is happening and how it works, regardless of ideology. In several posts over the remainder of the year, I will explore how ideologies of the Internet are evolving and which ones may or may not come to dominate the virtual nexus with real reality.