John K. Fitzpatrick

There's a group of (anti)political kids (nihilists, or these days what you might call terrorists) mainly in Eastern Europe, Czechoslovakia, that call themselves the Darkers. They go around cutting power and cable lines, putting stress on the system, trying to wake folks up, or simply for fun. They also have a tendency to suicide. You won't find much about them in the U.S. press.

biased report:
http://www.sme.cz/arts/art.asp?id=545

http://prague.tv/pill/article.php?name=burning-season


"Moreover, during the week immediately prior to the NATO session the police have discovered a group of "darkers" who have been damaging electricity circuits in northern Moravia. Following spraying and the activities of hackers, "darkism" is a new form of protest by vandals against the existing society. "Darkers" are as a rule educated and intelligent young people who climb onto high voltage electricity pylons in an attempt to cause a short circuit, which creates a bright arc of light. They refer to this light effect as the Elias flame. The whole thing has dire consequences: electricity cuts produced in this way put electrical appliances in entire towns and cities out of operation."
http://idee.org/nij297.html

http://www.time.com/time/europe/maga...444949,00.html

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/ma...czch-m18.shtml

- John