back to article We did Nazi see this coming... Internet will welcome Earth's newest nation with, sigh, a brand new .SS TLD

The internet will make space for South Sudan this month, with plans to create a new top-level domain (TLD) for the world's newest nation. There's only one catch: the new country-code TLD is .ss, which is formally listed as a hate symbol thanks to its use by the Nazi party's Schutzstaffel (or SS) in the 1920s through to the …

  1. Chris Miller

    ICANN officially follows the ISO 3166 list

    Except for .uk when ISO says it should be .gb

    1. jake Silver badge

      Ah, but ...

      ... the British are entitled simply because they are British. Ask any of 'em.

      1. Geoffrey W
        Happy

        Re: Ah, but ...

        Oooh, bitchy! Though it's a bit rich coming from a citizen of the USA where American Exceptionalism is an actual thing. ;-P

        1. Martin-73 Silver badge

          Re: Ah, but ...

          To be fair, most of my American friends believe it means 'exceptionally silly, exceptionally fucked over by the government' and above all 'exceptionally tarred with the same brush as trump voters lol

        2. jake Silver badge
          Pint

          Re: Ah, but ...

          We learned from the best :-)

          Seriously, as a Yank who has spent ~20% of his life in Blighty, you lot are slightly worse than we are. Not by a lot, mind. IMO, the GreatUnwashed on both sides of the pond need to pull their collective heads out. Neither side is exactly Humanity's gift to the Universe. One wonders if most people contributing to this kind of spat has ever traveled more than 40 miles from where they were born.

          Ah, well. There is always beer. This round's on me ... the hand pump marked "Ale" is a rather nice homebrewed Bitter that I just tapped. Cellar temperature, of course.

          “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness ..." --SLC

          1. Geoffrey W

            Re: Ah, but ...

            Cheers Old Chap! Very nice but don't you have a good champers? If you have any I'm entitled to it you know.

            Tally Ho, old bean! :-)

            1. BillG
              Joke

              Domain Expre.ss

              As in something to pi.ss on? That's gro.ss

              Or a rock band might register ki.ss

              And if you don't like it, you have no cla.ss

              Can anyone gue.ss what domains the Swi.ss and Cypre.ss might register?

              And the Church might like to register cro.ss and ble.ss.

              Sorry I'm being such a bada.ss and a wisea.ss but don't be such a wu.ss

              According to my fitne.ss watch it's getting late. Time to stop this madne.ss before I make a me.ss. With a .ss domain addre.ss the possibilities are limitle.ss!

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: Domain Expre.ss

                I would think that Schutzstaffel.ss would be a bit of an overstatement. Not that it won't be tried (and other, more or less creative and meaningful variants (fuck.ss, etc.)

                1. Anonymous Coward
                  Anonymous Coward

                  Re: Domain Expre.ss

                  Wouldn't the modern trend indicate they would use Schutzstaff.el ?

                  1. PeterM42
                    Pirate

                    Re: Domain Expre.ss

                    Or waffen.ss surely?

                2. A.P. Veening Silver badge

                  Re: Domain Expre.ss

                  I see your Schutzstaffel and I raise with Secret Service (those people charged with protecting Trump, now not getting paid).

                  1. Alumoi Silver badge

                    Re: Domain Expre.ss

                    Yeah, but that SS is from the good old USofA, so it's OK.

                    /le: Secret Service also protects the president, so it's something like a protection squadron (Schutzstaffel), right?

                  2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

                    Re: Domain Expre.ss

                    "I see your Schutzstaffel and I raise with Secret Service (those people charged with protecting Trump, now not getting paid)."

                    He just caved (at least for 3 weeks) and not only claimed victory, but called all the poor saps who've lost out "heroes and patriots". Like they had a choice in the matter. So the Secret Service will now be back on the payroll.

                  3. Jaybus

                    Re: Domain Expre.ss

                    "those people charged with protecting Trump, now not getting paid"

                    Certainly not true. The Secret Service has two missions; protection of the Pres, Vice Pres, foreign dignitaries, and others, as well as an investigative function to protect US payment and financial systems. Guess who would be the last US government entity to stop receiving their pay.

                3. Anonymous Coward
                  Anonymous Coward

                  Re: Domain Expre.ss

                  "fuck.ss, etc."

                  Wouldn't that be ...a.ss?

              2. caffeine addict

                Re: Domain Expre.ss

                Thanks.

                Now I feel the need to register showhimyourcro.ss just to host a picture of a nun in a car shouting "fuck off"...

            2. jake Silver badge

              Re: Ah, but ...

              "don't you have a good champers?"

              If you mean Champagne, no, I don't. But I do have a rather nice dry sparkling white wine made with the méthode champenoise from grapes grown here in Sonoma Valley, California. It's a rather nice vintage, one of the best in recent memory from our little AVA. Usually beats similar French stuff in blind tastings, much to their deep dismay.

              Cheers!

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: Ah, but ...

                I do have a rather nice dry sparkling white wine made with the méthode champenoise from grapes grown here in Sonoma Valley, California.

                I took a bicycle trip around Napa valley while working in San Francisco back in 2000, and stopped off at various vineyards on the way. One was the Mumm vineyard, where they were calling their sparkling wine "champagne" at the time. I was quite surprised at the naming, since the "Champagne" name is strictly controlled. Turns out the reasons that US made sparkling wines could still be called Champagne is quite a fascinating one (well, at least I found it fascinating).

          2. Geoffrey W

            Re: Ah, but ...

            Out of interest, who or what is SLC?

            I always thought that quote was from Mark Twain.

            1. GerryMC

              Re: Ah, but ...

              It is. His real initials (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Ah, but ...

              "I always thought that quote was from Mark Twain."

              His real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens.

              My recollection of his travels in the world is that they often gave him the opposite conclusion. Which I paraphrase from my experiences as "Travel narrows the mind". However - don't quote me on that.

              For many nationalities the ones you meet outside their own country are atypical. They are often the ones trying to escape some conservative parochialism. (There are many exceptions though). When you live and work in another country it is often a see-saw emotion of like/dislike of aspects of the actual culture.

          3. Jamie Jones Silver badge
            Trollface

            Re: Ah, but ...

            You are right!

            Up until now, our lot largely remained quiet.

            Whilst your lot were whipped into action because they have been made to feel shitscared of commies and mexican immigrants, our lot were content to sit on the sofa aatching jeremy kyle, dreaming of the day they "make it" by appearing on the show.

            Now our lot have been awoken by being made scared of Muslims enforcing Sharia law, and east europeans taking our jobs/welfare/hsalthcare/houses/wives.

            We managed to keep them quiet, but now that's changed. We even now have our own tea-party types with mis-spelt signs spouting historical and political inaccuracies. ( Brexitter Tea Party )

            Two countries seperated by a common bunch of loonies!

            1. jake Silver badge

              Re: Ah, but ...

              A similar bunch of loonies. Perhaps we should work together to make the 'B' Ark a reality. Maybe build two halves, one on each side of the pond, and load 'em up to a great fanfare about meeting in the middle to link up for the great adventure.

              1. A.P. Veening Silver badge

                Re: Ah, but ...

                I strongly suggest that great adventure after meeting in the middle consists of going down, more unknown things down there. Besides that, it will be a lot cheaper.

                1. Evil Auditor Silver badge
                  Trollface

                  Re: Ah, but ...

                  Dual 'B' Ark and stuff... I like the idea! And would strongly suggest to include in the right-poddian half also a whole lot of other loonies. They are aplenty! I've spent enough time on the continent to confirm.

                  Mind you, I am not going to join you on the Ark. But remain in calm and peace after all others left.

          4. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: both sides of the pond need to pull their collective heads out

            in other words, what my Hungarian friend, who lived and worked in London used to say: "They need a hitler, you know". And by that, she meant an image of a German truck parked across the street and armed people putting random passers-by against the wall, getting ready for the obvious, not a little hitler at the helm (which is always possible anyway). Misery brings wonderful clarity to people's minds and re-sets their level of expectations and entitlement. For a couple of generations.

          5. Maty

            Re: Ah, but ...

            “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness ..." --SLC

            Um ...no? I recall once being abroad teaching at an international EFL school. One of the older teachers was explaining to a newbie that until you travel, forrigners are a single undifferentiated mass. One you get to know them, you learn which habits among which nations are the most disgusting, irritating or simply incomprehensible. Eventually you get rather good at knowing which foreigners to hate for what.

            At this point,unprompted but with perfect timing, a teacher stormed in, flung a pile of textbooks onto a table and snarled 'God I hate the f*ing French!'

            1. oddie

              Re: Ah, but ...

              As someone who has recently returned to base, I can offer an additional insight - when you are traveling around you do indeed start to realize and find the annoying, stupid and ridiculous sides to the natives.. the real eye opener however is when you return home... and suddenly you see your "own" people for what they really are as well.

              Travel opens the mind and removes prejudices and enables you to spot the assholes and the plain annoying everywhere. And then you cant un-see them. Of course the next step is some very careful searching of your own soul in front of a mirror :)

      2. P. Lee

        Re: Ah, but ...

        Great Britain and the U.K. are not the same thing. One is a superset of the other.

    2. Number6

      The trouble is that .gb excludes Northern Ireland. Given the huge efforts currently being made not to exclude it in other ways, this is an important point. The full title is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, so using .uk is reasonable. One could argue that ISO got it wrong, but it as probably discussed at great length and the UK probably agreed to it.

      1. Timmy B

        We have both - which I think is the best way to deal with it.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.gb

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        terminology

        I don't think so. Most of the time "Britain", "Great Britain" (GB) and "United Kingdom" (UK) are all just different ways of abbreviating the cumbersome expression "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".

        "Britain" can also refer to the island comprising (today's) England, Scotland and Wales. I think it would be somewhat unusual to use the expression "Great Britain" to refer to the island: Julius Caesar arriving in "Great Britain"? I don't think so. That would be "Britain".

        1. jake Silver badge

          Re: terminology

          The Romans would have used Britannia ... or perhaps Albion.

          1. caffeine addict

            Re: terminology

            The Romans would have used a boat...

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: terminology

              ... and made the Britons pay for it.

        2. A.P. Veening Silver badge

          Re: terminology

          Britain used to exclude Scotland. There is still a wall up there, named after a Roman emperor, dividing the civilized world from the uncivilized one. However, it seems that in the past two millenia (give or take), civilization switched to the other side of the border.

          1. Wellyboot Silver badge

            Re: terminology

            >>>a wall up there, named after a Roman emperor, dividing the civilized world from the uncivilized one However, it seems that in the past two millenia (give or take), civilization switched to the other side of the border.<<<

            Yes, Northumberland is a lovely place. :o)

            1. The First Dave

              Re: terminology

              Presumably he was referring to the Antonine wall?

              1. A.P. Veening Silver badge
                Pint

                Re: terminology

                "Presumably he was referring to the Antonine wall?"

                Frankly, I was referring to the better known Hadrian wall, but thanks for bringing it to attention. Have one --->

            2. John Presland

              Re: terminology

              Two walls, named after two Roman emperors.

              1. jake Silver badge

                Re: terminology

                Three walls. Everybody forgets the Wall of Severus ... to the point of misplacing it.

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: terminology

          In December a Belgian bank was set on fire for someone's choice of the word 'British' when evicting an Irishman.

          It's not really a topic that linguists win.

        4. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: terminology

          There's no formally-defined meaning for the term "Britain" on its own (or "British" for that matter) even though it's often used as a synonym for the United Kingdom.

          And if I wanted specifically to refer to the island, I *would* say Great Britain- or more likely "the island of Great Britain", since even though that name does have a defined meaning, it's often treated (wrongly) as a synonym for the United Kingdom.

        5. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

          Re: terminology

          Julius Caesar arriving in "Great Britain"?

          I wouldn't think so either. He arrived in Britannia - a Latin name because Caesar, being Jonny Foreigner, didn't speak English. There are a couple of versions of why the island is called Great Britain.

          One is that is was a coinage to include Scotland after the Act of Union.

          The other is that it distinguished the original island from Little or Lesser Britain, Brittany which Caesar didn't call Brittany, either, he called it Armorica. It got its later name because it was settled by refugees from Britannia after the Anglo/Saxon[/Jutish/Frisian] settlement.

        6. Dan 55 Silver badge

          Re: terminology

          I guess you're posting from Team GB, who got it wrong as well?

        7. Jamie Jones Silver badge

          Re: terminology

          "I think it would be somewhat unusual to use the expression "Great Britain" to refer to the island:"

          But that's exactly what "Great" means. It refers to the bigger, or "greater" island.

          "Great" doesn't mean spiffingly brilliant...

          <Obligatory brexit comment>

          If it did, the brexit-aware world would sue us for misrepresentation.

          </Obligatory brexit comment>

      3. Someone Else Silver badge

        he full title is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, so [...]

        I thought Wales was in there somewhere....

        1. Jamie Jones Silver badge

          No. Wales is part of Great Britain.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            I think that, technically, Wales is part of England, since Wales is "just" a principality whereas England, Scotland and Ireland (prior to the 1920s) are/were kingdoms.

            However, I'm "from around here" and so I'm not stupid enough to put my name to such a statement.

            1. Jamie Jones Silver badge

              Sort of. Wales *used* to be part of England, which is why we weren't represented on the union flag.

              Now, however, this should be the British flag (though there's not much point now, it won't be around too much longer if brexit goes ahead [Oglitatory brexit dig])

              https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Union_Jack_Wales_Dragon.png/800px-Union_Jack_Wales_Dragon.png

              1. Ken Hagan Gold badge

                Nice flag, but a bit too red. Maybe if you ditch the St George cross...

                1. Jamie Jones Silver badge
                  Happy

                  Even better! :-)

    3. Timmy B

      "Except for .uk when ISO says it should be .gb"

      We have both and can use either.

      1. caffeine addict

        We have both but (IIRC) there's only one website on the gb tld - dra.hmg.gb

        Does anything happen to a tld if there are no domains on it? I mean, is DRA there because it's forgotten about, useful to someone (seems unlikely) or because removing it would have consequences?

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        After BRexit we may need to change it to .lb

    4. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge

      Strictly speaking, the UK stands for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (at least, that is what my passport says, so .uk actually refers to a wider area than .gb. Adopting .gb would probably give the DUP a fit

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        worth it!

        Speaking of, have the Italians registered a Brex domain yet?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: worth it!

          Yes, but I'm not visiting to see what's there.

        2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

          Re: worth it!

          brex.it

          I just had a look. It looks like some sort of "music venue" with overtones of Mad Max Guitarists facing off to medievial bagpipe players.

        3. aqk
          WTF?

          Re: worth it! Brex it?

          Hey!

          You brex it, you pays for it!

          According to http://www.brex.it/wp/

      2. ibmalone

        More than just the DUP, it would simply further confirm to somewhere between 900 thousand and 1.8 million people that the English really had comprehensively abandoned them. (Range is because numbers 900k-1.8M will take varying positions on whether that had already happened before the famine or the relationship had always been purely exploitative.)

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          regardless of whether the people of NI would like to merge with those of Ireland, that confirmation would be a good step to convincing them that the EU is more likely to look after their interests than the UK. Is there an equally straightforward way the English could pass that message to Scotland?

          1. Ken Hagan Gold badge

            You think that recent events in Westminster have not engraved that message on the inside skull of every Scot on the planet, living or dead?

            Come to think of it, the same probably applies to every English person too. Only this week we've had the "take back control" lobby suggesting that Parliament should be suspended in order to protect the principle of Parliamentary sovereignty.

            1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

              "You think that recent events in Westminster have not engraved that message on the inside skull of every Scot on the planet, living or dead?"

              You're probably right, but many people seem to think that because all constituencies of Scotland voted remain, that all Scots voted remain. 38% of Scots voted to leave the EU. It's no where even close to a "win" for Scottish Brexiteers, but it's still a sizable portion of the voting population at the time.

    5. Peter2 Silver badge

      Except for .uk when ISO says it should be .gb

      Yes, somebody there screwed up there in not knowing their British constitutional history/trivia, or looking up the name used internationally at the UN etc.

      There are four countries in the UK. England, Wales, Scotland and (northern) Ireland.

      England & Wales The Normans invaded England around a thousand years ago and took most of Wales at the same time, and their descendants kept successively chipping away at the increasingly small remaining bits until they basically ceased to exist, hence for constitutional purposes Wales is part of England.

      Great Britain is a combination of England + Scotland, under the 1707 act of union.

      If you don't abbreviate the UK's title then it's self explanatory without further explanation,The United Kingdom of Great Britain and (northern) Ireland, which came about in 1801.

      Hence, if your from England or Scotland then you can correctly refer to your country as being England/Scotland as appropriate. You can also correctly say your from Great Britain, and you can also correctly say that your from the United Kingdom.

      However, internationally speaking the UK is the name of our membership of the UN etc, not GB.

      As I say, the ISO screwed up there, but it was then just quietly fixed it by assigning us the .uk domain name so life carries on without anybody caring about minor constitutional trivia.

      1. jake Silver badge

        "so life carries on without anybody caring about minor constitutional trivia."

        The same could be said about written English in you're country, apparently.

      2. Jamie Jones Silver badge
        Angel

        "The Normans invaded England around a thousand years ago and took most of Wales at the same time, and their descendants kept successively chipping away at the increasingly small remaining bits until they basically ceased to exist, hence for constitutional purposes Wales is part of England."

        That's either because we're (sheep) lovers, not fighters... or as Irish comedian Andrew Maxwell once said:

        The Welsh slowed down the aggressors with confusion:

        "sorry. I can't fight youse. I'm busy fighting me mate, Barrie"

        1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

          "sorry. I can't fight youse. I'm busy fighting me mate, Barrie"

          What? The whole "island"?

          1. Jamie Jones Silver badge

            :-) One bit at a time!

    6. Piro Silver badge

      well, if Northern Ireland doesn't count

      gb would specifically exclude Northern Ireland, uk includes it..

  2. jake Silver badge

    "the South Sudanese government will need to invest in abuse mitigation domain services or it could find itself become neo-Nazi central online."

    Given what's going on in that neck of the woods, I rather suspect that whoever is in charge of such things will make a small fortune offering "bullet proof" domain services to hate groups world wide. It's easily blockable, should anyone wish too. Note that actual people in South Sudan can still communicate with the rest of the planet's Internet population without going anywhere near the .ss TLD.

    1. Jellied Eel Silver badge

      Given what's going on in that neck of the woods, I rather suspect that whoever is in charge of such things will make a small fortune offering "bullet proof" domain services to hate groups world wide.

      I don't think South Sudan has the best infrastructure, and not just because it's on it's way to becoming an island. It has the potential to make a lot of money given the number of English words ending in 'ss'. Like busine.ss

      Who ends up being the registrar could get interesting. I doubt nutjobs would try registering facist .ss domains unless they're exceptionally dumb, but if so, take money & registrant's details which can then get requested by TPTB who can give'em the hairy eyeball.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        What infrastructure do you believe is required to host a top level country domain? Check out .tv for example which requires no Internet infrastructure in Tuvalu and is operated on the countries past by Verizon...

        While .ss may scare away companies that are worried about reputational damage, I'm sure there will be someone to fill the void.

        1. Jellied Eel Silver badge

          What infrastructure do you believe is required to host a top level country domain?

          Strictly speaking, none as that's the done by the root servers, as in x.root-servers.net. Comment was more around infrastructure to run name servers for the 2nd level domain, ie x.ss or any content hosting. Those would be easily blocked, or ICANN could act if the operator's in breach of their ToS. See also ICANN vs EU and GDPR issues about providing registrant's details.

          While .ss may scare away companies that are worried about reputational damage, I'm sure there will be someone to fill the void.

          Again that'll be busine.ss .tv's been run by Verisign, who paid a lot of money to host it.. and has never seemed bothered about reputational damage in pursuit of .$$

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        > It has the potential to make a lot of money given the number of English words ending in 'ss'. Like busine.ss

        Or maybe it will just become an albatro.ss?

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Devil

        Single letter domains?

        I want to register a.ss, just to be one.

        1. NeilPost Silver badge

          Re: Single letter domains?

          Get behind me in the queue and kiss mine :-)

        2. bombastic bob Silver badge
          Trollface

          Re: Single letter domains?

          how about 'pi.ss' ? OK let's start a contest

    2. Ken 16 Silver badge

      as the article itself says

      they may not be greatly concerned about European sensibilities and besides it's very hard to avoid hitting on an acronym with multiple meanings.

      I like the idea of three letter domain names to avoid problems, lots of possibilities like;

      Oracle.ibm?

      Brexit.wtf?

      Ireland.dup?

    3. Eddy Ito

      If wikipedia is correct, I actually find it amusingly ironic to think that some neo-nazi or white supremacist would use it to find online refuge.

      The name derives from the Arabic bilād as-sūdān (بلاد السودان), or "the lands of the Blacks".

    4. P. Lee

      Re being neonazi central

      1. Neonazis are not a serious political force. They are so irrelevant that most people don't even know what they stood for and think those in favour of reduced state power are nazis. And Shapiro too.

      2. Dns registrars should not be editing the Internet. Their job is to be bulletproof services in every country. What if the .com registrar decided cnn's, buzz feed, washpo, and Twitter's politics were unacceptable and cancelled their domains. Is that the kind of Internet stability we want? Like what happened to gab? Remember the gay marriage argument, if you don't like it, don't do it. If you don't like it, don't go there.

      3. Why would neonazi domains need blocking? Are people so stupid they a need big brother to take the decision to visit a site out of their hands? How elitist and condescending is that? If I were a nazi I'd point to the censorship and suggest that my opponents were afraid of my ideas and couldn't refute them. Stop social engineering. Persecution never works. People end up dead when you do that. You can't beat hate with censorship. That is a dangerous lie.

      4. As the article points out, why would South Sudan care about avoiding the name of the German secret police 70 years ago. That's insane.

      1. M.V. Lipvig Silver badge

        Re: Re being neonazi central

        Yup, and there's another reason to not censor hate groups - when people have no outlet for their frustrations, pressure builds until they pop. Let them have their corner of the internet to bag on those who aren't part of the Aryan Nation. They blow off steam where they're safe so they don't blow up and go on a killing rampage, law enforcement knows where they hang out and can keep an eye on them, and the rest of us can ignore them.

  3. Oengus

    Three letter code

    With SSD as the South Sudanese three letter country code maybe they should lobby ICANN to have their tld changed and offer it to drive manufacturers.

  4. Mark 85
    Big Brother

    Political correctness running amok?

    I guess then that Chevrolet will have to kill off the SS branding of some it's cars and the ones out and already branded won't be allowed on the streets? I feel sorry for someone with those initials say someone named Steven Smith. Any documents he initials will need to be burned. But on the bright side, the SJW's, etc. will be happy as the final bits of the SS will be expunged from Earth.

    1. Martin-73 Silver badge

      Re: Political correctness running amok?

      Chevrolet branded some of their cars 'SS'? What the hell?

      1. jake Silver badge

        Re: Political correctness running amok?

        It is short for "Super Sport".

        We must also ban all x86 processors. They contain a Stack Segment register.

        1. Stoneshop
          Mushroom

          Re: Political correctness running amok?

          We must also ban all x86 processors.

          Fully agree. Those architectural abominations should not have seen the light of day.

      2. Kurt Meyer

        Re: Political correctness running amok?

        Martin, it is an abbreviation of "Super Sport".

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Political correctness running amok?

        It's a sport trim level on many models (Impala SS, Camaro SS, Malibu SS, Monte Carlo SS), and every so often they release it as a model unto itself. The last Chevrolet SS in the US was actually a rebadged Holden Commodore.

      4. fishman

        Re: Political correctness running amok?

        And Chevy started using SS (Super Sport) starting in the 1963 model year - less than 20 years after the end of WWII.

        1. jake Silver badge

          Re: Political correctness running amok?

          I know a guy with a 1961 Impala SS who might take exception to that.

          1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

            Re: Political correctness running amok?

            "I know a guy with a 1961 Impala SS who might take exception to that."

            Has he tried mounting rockets on the roof yet?

    2. Adrian Harvey
      Go

      Re: Political correctness running amok?

      Juguar famously did. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Cars

      Whole company name was changed to that of their most popular model to avoid the branding issues the old company name acquired. Though that was in 1945.

    3. Zog_but_not_the_first
      Facepalm

      Re: Political correctness running amok?

      Er, yes. What the hell is a hate symbol?

      Hell, I suppose for starters.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Political correctness running amok?

      In Australia, the popular V8 Holden (GM) Commodore is also an "SS".

    5. big_D Silver badge

      Re: Political correctness running amok?

      Using SS is actually illegal in Germany, you can't have a car registration with the combination.

      At a previous employer we had 2 letter usernames, apart from Simon S. he had to have a 3 letter username, because it would have been illegal to use double s as a username...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Political correctness running amok?

        On the other hand: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_(Begriffskl%C3%A4rung)

      2. stiine Silver badge

        Re: Political correctness running amok?

        Couldn't he have just been given 'B' ?

        1. big_D Silver badge

          Re: Political correctness running amok?

          You mean an ß? Not allowed on many systems as a username character. Many systems only support normal ASCII.

        2. big_D Silver badge

          Re: Political correctness running amok?

          And to add that ß is not equivalent to "ss" in a word, they are subtly different, you can't just use one form or the other willy-nilly.

          And in the case of a username, that would be two S from two different words, so grammatically impossible to replace with ß.

    6. Potemkine! Silver badge

      Re: Political correctness running amok?

      Considering all the sufferings these scums inflicted, I don't see that as political correctness.

      The article states that "many were hanged in the aftermath of the Second World War", sadly it isn't true, many of these bastards didn't get the punishment they deserved.

      Some examples:

      [Heinz Lammerding] was sentenced to death in absentia by the court of Bordeaux, but he was never extradited from West Germany[1] nor was he ever sentenced by a German court.

      [Wilhelm Höttl] Höttl was released from confinement in December 1947 and the US Army refused his extradition to the Austrian People's Courts, which at the time took action against Nazi perpetrators.In March 1948 he got in contact with the CIC and became subsequently control chief of two espionage operations, namely "MOUNT VERNON" and "MONTGOMERY".

      As part of his duties during World War II [Emil Augsburg] was responsible for planning the SS executions of Jews and other "enemies of the Reich" in occupied Poland [...]. He escaped punishment because from 1947-1948 he was employed by an American military counter-intelligence agency as an expert on Soviet affairs.

      Polish authorities announced [...] that they will seek the arrest and extradition of Michael Karkoc, a 98-year-old U.S. citizen allegedly exposed as a former Nazi commander of an SS-led unit responsible for burning Polish villages in WWII and executing any civilians caught trying to escape.

      Gerhard Sommer (born 24 June 1921) is a former SS-Untersturmführer (Second Lieutenant) in the 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS who was involved in the massacre of 560 civilians on 12 August 1944 in the Italian village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema[...] In May 2015, Sommer was declared unfit for trial by prosecutors in Germany.

      Helmut Oberlander (born 15 February 1924) is a Canadian citizen who was a member of the Einsatzgruppen death squads of Nazi Germany in the occupied Soviet Union during World War II

      1. codejunky Silver badge

        Re: Political correctness running amok?

        @Potemkine!

        "Considering all the sufferings these scums inflicted, I don't see that as political correctness."

        What bothers me is the absolute hatred for the nazi (understandable) but the love for the communist (confounding). The hammer and sickle flag is flown with pride. People wearing tshirts with the face of communists and marxist symbols are available with no uproar. Yet for all the damage inflicted by the nazis it was still less than that socialist mess.

        Perpetrators are still hunted for their actions in death camps but no such effort against those who ran gulags. The UK opposition has turned into a parody after their marxist shift. But dont receive the same kind of hatred as someone viewed right wing.

        1. Wellyboot Silver badge

          Re: Political correctness running amok?

          Civilisation generally works on the premise that you live longer by getting along with the crowd but killing opponents (actual or presumed) has been the norm since a handy rock was the method involved and is intrinsically understood by any group of three year old children, which is why we don't leave them alone or let them have anything dangerous even when they appear to be playing nicely with each other.

          In this respect communism is an equal opportunity killer (at least in all the countries where it has been tried).

          Nazi ideology on the other hand kills people based a racial ideal that precludes most of the planets population from having a right to exist. (as well as also subscribing to the terminal removal of political opponents). Other reasons for genocide are also available and receive similar general opprobrium. None of this is intrinsically understood by a three year old.

          You can change your ideology to survive under communism, but you can't change your racial features if a Nazi kicks your door down.

          So while both are best avoided as a method of government, communism probably appeals the general notion of fairness (as mad as this sounds) in individuals that haven't been subjected to it.

          As the grandchild of someone who was given medals for shooting at both varieties I'm happy to believe I've had a fairly unbiased upbringing.

        2. This post has been deleted by its author

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Political correctness running amok?

        Yes, indeed. I'd also recommend checking out the BBC podcast 'The Ratline'.

  5. Graham Dawson Silver badge

    An entire article's worth of concern trolling about a non-issue. The reg continues to plumb new depths.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      You plumb new depths.

    2. A.P. Veening Silver badge

      Plumbing new depths

      In line with plumbing new depths, you got a downvote, let's see how low you can go ;)

    3. TRT Silver badge

      Plumbing new depths...

      With Stainless Steel fixings? SS grade is preferable over zinc passivated for moist environments.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Your Mum is always plumbing new depths

  6. Kev99 Silver badge

    In the States, the SS still exists as the president's personal body guards. What a coincidence considering who we're stuck with as president. But as was said during The War, "You voted for him" (present writer excluded).

    1. jake Silver badge

      Yeah, but ...

      The Secret Service existed long before the Schutzstaffel.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    oh my god yes I need a sssssssssss.ss domain I'll have the worst and most annoying email address ever which makes it the BEST :D :D

    1. AIBailey

      For an annoying email address, have you thought about registering a atdotcom.com domain?

      AC@atdotcom.com? Try giving that address out over the phone!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        That's where Slashdot.org got it's name from.

      2. Missing Semicolon Silver badge

        Way too late

        atdotcom.com was registered before 2000

      3. quxinot

        That's why I've got commadotcomma.com, of course. :D

      4. Thorsten

        Try this:

        ACatdotcom@dotcomat.com

        Much more ambiguous than AC@atdotcom.com

    2. MrMerrymaker

      Kissmya.ss

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "I can't see hitler-was-misunderstood.ss being an issue."

    Nah, the 4chan kiddies need *something* to piss on.

    1. jake Silver badge

      4chan still exists? Who knew?

  9. Allan George Dyer

    I wish South Sudan every success...

    Imagine a future where a neo-nazi pulls out his boot-knife and someone says, "was that made in South Sudan?"

  10. coconuthead

    EU was in ISO 3166 before ICANN added the TLD

    A quick search of the ISO 3166 registry shows that EU was added as an "exceptionally reserved" code in March 1998, at the request of the ISO 4217 maintenance agency, so it could be used in ISIN numbers. Those are the numbers which the finance industry use to identify share holdings.

    This is 7 years before ICANN launched the .eu TLD in 2005.

    If you're going to write (yet another) anti-ICANN polemic, you should take the trouble to research your points. (I'm not a fan of ICANN, BTW.)

    "Exceptionally reserved" codes are the ones in the standard that don't meet the criteria for being countries. For example, some are for islands, requested by the International Postal Union. "UK" is another such code, requested by the UK government.

  11. RichardB

    Anyone for A.ss?

    1. IceC0ld

      OMG Sorry aout this

      TITSUP.SS

      1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

        Re: OMG Sorry aout this

        MyPrecious.ss...

        1. Version 1.0 Silver badge

          Re: OMG Sorry aout this

          Let me edit the mail server blacklist

          blacklist_from *.ss

          done

  12. Uncle Ron

    NAZI is already Not See

    Headline is wrong: It should read, "We did NAZI this coming."

  13. Number6

    I've seen social services abbreviated as SS before now, as a deliberate reference to the behaviour of some of those who work for the service.

    1. TRT Silver badge

      Indeed DHSS.

      1. Wellyboot Silver badge

        I did ask one once if their Hugo-Boss uniform was at the cleaners. (They didn't get the reference)

      2. Spanners Silver badge
        Happy

        @TRT

        I still have a badge for them.

        "Department of Stealth and Total Obscurity"

  14. a_yank_lurker

    A Hunnish Meaning of SS

    SS is also short for Stosstruppen, German WWI assault infantry. They basically took all the developments in offensive infantry tactics everyone was developing and brought them together in a coherent whole. BTW, the first major, modern combined arms attack was also in WWI but the BEF.

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: A Hunnish Meaning of SS

      The German Stosstruppen had lots n' lots o' grenades. Bags of the things. I'm not sure how safe it is running round with a sack of high explosives - but then I guess "safe" is a relative term.

      Not only did the BEF do a lot of combined arms - but they also had a plan that was basically WWII Blitzkreig. It was called Plan 1919 or something, and devised in Haig's HQ by JFC Fuller. Who I think was a colonel in planning at the time. It called for re-constituting some of the cavalry units (that had been fighting on foot since 1915), plus lots of tanks and armoured cars. And the plan was to blast a hole in the German front lines with tanks and creeping artillery barrages - so the troops were just doing mop-up with much lower casualties. Then leapfrog more units through the hole to do the same to the secondary lines. Then break cavalry and armoured cars into the German rear (tanks were way too slow) - and send them off with lots of air support to interdict reinforcements and attack artillery and HQs - while the heavy forces expanded the breach in the German lines and slogged on slowly trying to capture troops.

      Not sure it would have actually worked against a decent opponent. As the technology wasn't quite there yet. Radio comms weren't yet up to it - and there was none of the relatively fast mobile artillery, ammunition and fuel resupply trucks that you really need for an effective offensive armoured unit. Plus the planes at the time had very light weapons loads.

      But interesting that the cliche of Haig as an incompetent dinosaur isn't actually true. Despite what Blackadder says. Turns out he had a cunning plan...

  15. Amorous Cowherder
    Facepalm

    Wacky world

    Some severe irony that right wing nutters and Neo Nazis would use a TLD from a predominantly black nation.

    What about tourism for South Sudan?

    WeLoveThe.SS

    ComeEnjoyThe.SS

    Not going to end well

    1. Stoneshop
      Go

      Re: Wacky world

      WeLoveThe.SS

      ComeEnjoyThe.SS

      Youretakingthepi.ss

  16. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    IT Angle

    One of those things you need to consider if you want to be really global

    I sometimes wonder how many databases and bespoke software systems would be easier to use to support international customers if their developers had actually checked what the ISO/UN standards on things like telephone numbers (mobile or landline) are.

    2 and 3 letter abbreviations are available, as is telephone number length and IIRC standards for name lengths as well. as opposed to using roll your own homebrew versions.

    1. Jellied Eel Silver badge

      Re: One of those things you need to consider if you want to be really global

      2 and 3 letter abbreviations are available, as is telephone number length and IIRC standards for name lengths as well. as opposed to using roll your own homebrew versions.

      The 3 letter option may not be as lucrative. Or cause different 1st world problems. So SS is strictly the Republic of South Sudan, so should be .rss Or they're keeping their options open and can be r.ss for now, pending outcome of various civil and not so civil wars & coups.

    2. J.G.Harston Silver badge

      Re: One of those things you need to consider if you want to be really global

      I've recently applied online for a job with a very high profile semiconductor IP business, and their address dropdown included "state/province" .... which listed a random non-complete collection of English and Scottish counties, plus 'Wales', and a handful of cities. None of which were suitable for my address.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Do they have a Nazty party

    in Southern Sudan ?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReIAna459sg

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Do they have a Nazty party

      I couldn't say (possibly because ICBA to follow your link) but various flavours of non-democratic nationalist socialism have always been prevalent, and still are, and are adaptable to any local ethnography. Arguably China is our current best example, since they're running some top notch non-optional holiday camps for selected peoples, execute dissenters with mobile killing vans, build lots of physical infrastructure as a big job creation scheme, have a top grade internal surveillance and secret police, vice like grip of state administration etc etc.

      And on the point of state administration, that is largely what the Nazi SS was - an all encompassing state administration service used to effect party controls on the economy and society. The Waffen SS who have the reputation as brutal but effective soldiers were only a small part of the whole (and not all of the Waffen SS achieved that standard). For those fascinated by such things, there's a very good book by Chris McNab on the history here. Don't worry, you won't finish it and start fashioning your own armband.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    initials

    I worked with a German, in Frankfurt, whose initials where SS he was always a bit sensitive about initialing documents. There was also a time when a colleague, British, and myself were looking out of the office window and they remarked about all the modern (i.e. post war) buildings in the area...

    1. Roj Blake Silver badge

      Re: initials

      I recall Jurgen the German doing something very similar in London during a Harry Enfield sketch.

    2. Mage Silver badge

      Re: initials

      UK had been arguing how to manage slum clearance since maybe 1870. Luftwaffe solved it.

    3. A.P. Veening Silver badge

      Re: post war buildings

      "they remarked about all the modern (i.e. post war) buildings in the area..."

      That is also the point of a joke about German tourists asking in Rotterdam where to find the old city center (Wo ist dann die Altstadt).

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: initials

      I was working with a German transport company at a time when England was playing Germany at football, and everyone was gathered in the canteen to watch the game. As always England lost at the football. I had a 6'7" ish drunk German shout in my face that "ve has beaten you at your national sport", I turned away retorting that "we have beaten you at yours, twice!" I was escorted off-site for my own safety and was transferred back to Blighty the next day.

      [This was a long time ago, before PC ever raised its head.]

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: initials

        Two world wars and one world cup, do dah, do dah

        Two world wars and one world cup, do-de-do dah day

        Kermon you Ingerland!

  19. W.S.Gosset

    We did Nazi see this coming

    First time I saw this line/phrase, in some comment thread or other, I laughed like a drain.

    Then I saw it a lot.

    Realised it was a cliche.

    But, you know, it never gets old. It's spot on.

    Well, except in this instance. Topic's nothing directly to do with veiled totalitarianism. But still... still made me laugh...

  20. Teiwaz

    I have to conclude...slow news day???

    That this concern may well be empty fear-mongering.

    We've had a .SA for some time, and there has never been a squeak of concern for it being co-opted due to the former existence of the Sturmabteilung

    I have to admit, personally I think it's because it's so much harder a word to spell, never mind pronounce.

  21. Claverhouse Silver badge
    Black Helicopters

    Farewell to Registrars

    'My dear children,

    By the time you read this I shall be dead, my dear hosts, for whose kindness in resuscitating me I assign all rights in any and all registrations I hold, will be taking care of my funeral obsequies, and at my request burying me in an unknown grave, saving you any agonies of visiting my tomb --- remember me well !'

    Come to think of it, and I may say how refreshing to hear all that new stuff about the Nazi Republic --- especially since high-minded newspapers like the Mail in England and scholarly cable networks in America have a vow of silence on that unpleasantness --- I recall that in a book on WWII in Italy our Security Service ( prolly M15 ) took over an Schutzstaffel station somewhere in the hills, but inadvertently put their own initials up, leading to some mistrust from locals...

  22. Marco van de Voort

    The Nazi SS used runes. As long as it is not an unicode domain, we're safe :-)

    The Nazi SS used runederived characters for its SS notation, like U+16CB, not normal latin characters. As long as it is not an unicode domain, we're safe :-)

    p.s. it might still be a good idea not to do it. Neo Nazis are not very literate, and the subtleties might be beyond them

    1. jake Silver badge

      Re: The Nazi SS used runes. As long as it is not an unicode domain, we're safe :-)

      "Neo Nazis are not very literate"

      I think we have a candidate for Understatement of the Month.

  23. clyde666

    It's time

    Time to let go. Europe has moved on - that's what the EU has always been about. Time to accept that bad things happened but we can work together to be better in the future.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: It's time

      Here we go again, another subject of EU propaganda.

      Of course it's a customs union that's kept peace in Europe since WWII, absolutely nothing to do with NATO, move along, move along, nothing to see here...

      What is now the EU has always been a protectionist, socialist, federal European dream, a bit like that of the National Socialist German Workers' Party one could argue.

      Yours,

      Not a socialist,

      a Former Soviet Socialist Republic

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: It's time

        NATO was set up only two years before the birth of what became the EU and both military co-operation and trade is what has kept the EU more or less together since. I suspect neither alone would have worked. What the EU has become might be open to debate, but what it's achieved in keeping negotiations at a talking level instead of possibly a shooting level should not be underestimated.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: It's time

          The forerunner to the EU who's president was a former Nazi you mean?

          The forerunner that was to protect German coal mining?

          Yeah, fuck the EU because "we've" gone from being a member of the USSR to a member of the EUSSR.

          My local politicos will never give us the vote, but straw poll, more than 50% want out of the EU for that very reason. The rest see shiny, shiny, [nice big "paid for by the EU signs", that are a mandatory propaganda exercise with fines if not displayed!] and would stay

    2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: It's time

      "Time to let go."

      Maybe next generation. There's still a lot of people alive who suffered under the Nazis. And they made sure their children knew all about it. Maybe their grand children might begin to forget and "move on".

      Having said that, most of Europe and her allies of the time have just spent the last 4 years remembering all the significant event of WWI as each 100th aniversary came and went. This year sees the start of the 80th anniversary of the start of WWII. I can't see the media outlets passing that up after the "bonanza" of the last four years.

  24. Hans 1
    Windows

    Fake ?

    Except the US government managed to supply a one-paragraph letter signed by Mr Razeeq several months after he had disappeared authorizing the handover. He then promptly disappeared again and has not been heard from since. You can still view the letter [PDF] because it makes up a part of the formal redelegation documents.

    You are not meaning to say that the US produced a faked document to ICANN, do you ... because that would be felony, would it not ?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: the US produced a faked document

      I'd instead presume somebody "spontaneously" delivered the letter, and they didn't check its authenticity too hard. But that's just a wild guess, I really have no idea.

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    prior to the US invasion

    Repeat after me, please: WE liberate, THEY invade. WE help out freedom fighters to bring peace and prosperity, THEY sponsor terrorists to invoke fear and spread destruction, etc. (This is what I learnt from having lived for many years in one of those countries "liberated" by the Red Army :)

  26. Hemmels

    Bin Laden was as afghanistian af

  27. Jamtea

    Poe article?

    Is this seriously an article about the usage of .ss as a tld being evocative of Nazis? Looks like 2019 is going to be a rehash of 2015/16/17/18.

    Get a grip, honestly.ss

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Oh FFS

    Let’s ask the South Sudanese to rename their country shall we, in case it offends some white people thousands of miles away?

    1. ibmalone

      Re: Oh FFS

      Or some slightly less white (on average) people just under 2000 miles away?

      That said, I don't see any indication in the article that the Nazi association is actually the thing that's holding it up at ICANN. No quotes from ICANN or South Sudan about the matter, or what past objections have been. Could just be ICANN being slow, which makes most of the article just conjecture.

      Edit, or a lot closer, nearly forgot this too, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-43702764

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: Oh FFS

        "Or some slightly less white (on average) people just under 2000 miles away?"

        Well, the Italians mounted attacks on Sudan during WWII, so not all that far away.

  29. Efer Brick
    Thumb Up

    "Suffering succotash"

    Sylvester

  30. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    You'd think the writer could use sailing for positive spin instead

    .SS

    Sailing Ship

    Adler was right - we're attracted to our insecurities / fear projection

    1. holmegm

      Re: You'd think the writer could use sailing for positive spin instead

      .SS

      Sailing Ship

      Adler was right - we're attracted to our insecurities / fear projection

      Nuke submarines ... SSN ! Even worse!

  31. holmegm

    Presumably as an African nation, they weren't all that bothered by a 70-year-old European problem

    This.

    It's a two letter identifier ... and there are only so many of 'em. For how long can we not use this one?

    S is the 7th most common English letter, and not exactly rare in other languages.

  32. M. Poolman

    By a funny coincidence the tld for Sudan is "sd" (Sicherheitsdienst)

  33. CatW

    Got it all wrong

    SS stands for Steam Ship, probably very useful for maritime types.

    Probably best stop writing such stupid articles when all the old boys I knew who fought Hitler's regime took a great deal of pride in laughing about it - We won after all! :o)

  34. Maty

    Rehabilitate, don't exclude

    There's not that many letters in the alphabet. If we keep dropping some because they offend we are going to have to go back to cuneiform. (Until someone realizes that the root word of cuneiform is 'cuneus' anyway.)

    Personally I'd like to see 'SS' applied to everything from Sam's Sandwiches to Space Shuttles, until the abbreviation is so common that it is no longer azzociated (I'm being very careful here) with a murderous order of thugs from the previous century. So yup, the South Sudan TLD is for me a step in the not-left (still being careful) direction.

    1. Grinning Bandicoot

      Re: Rehabilitate, don't exclude

      Good thought. Make it something special and some idiot will put it on a pedestal and worship it. The divisions have grown with the amount of PC force feed to the world. Just for those that have not been informed the U S Coast Guard made a determination that the "okay" (thumb and forefinger touching fingers up) is forbidden because it denotes white power.

    2. The Nazz

      Re: Rehabilitate, don't exclude

      Yep, that's what's required.

      I'm with Samuel Jackson on this one, if you keep repeating and perpetuating the narrow issue, the perceived problem is never going to go away.

    3. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: Rehabilitate, don't exclude

      "with a murderous order of thugs from the previous century."

      "the previous century" sounds so long ago that it doesn't matter now. Except maybe to those still alive who remember it.

  35. m-k

    I find it puzzling

    if not deeply disturbing, that a piece on nazi / ss domain future is drawing more commentardation than the usual suspects, i.e.

    - apple / iphone / screen / charger / customer service / is shit / ripoff / apple fanbois suck

    - google is evil / shit

    - facebook / Zuckerberg is shit

    - Windows 10 is shit (likewise, Office, etc.)

    followed, by, much less frequently:

    - amazon is evil (they exploit people and don't pay taxes and we love them)

    - ebay is evil (they exploit bots and don't pay taxes)

    - wikipedia masters are evil scumbags sponsored by shady deep pockets (choose from the list above / below),

    - mozilla is run by evil lizards intent on destroying our ways

    (all true, more or less)

    Alternatively, SS goes along nicely with, er... Friday?

    ...

    ok, vaguely on the subject: a "war" movie, Der Hauptmann...

  36. The Nazz

    Final word.

    Dro.ss

    Sums up much of the internet/ www content.

  37. Zero Sum

    Re: Political correctness comments by code junky and bombastic bob

    Re: Political correctness comments by code junky and bombastic bob

    code junky said (and I think bob was generally referring to):

    <<What bothers me is the absolute hatred for the nazi (understandable) but the love for the communist (confounding). The hammer and sickle flag is flown with pride. People wearing tshirts with the face of communists and marxist symbols are available with no uproar. Yet for all the damage inflicted by the nazis it was still less than that socialist mess.

    Perpetrators are still hunted for their actions in death camps but no such effort against those who ran gulags. The UK opposition has turned into a parody after their marxist shift. But dont receive the same kind of hatred as someone viewed right wing.>>

    ...

    Speaking as an educator, I think that one (simplified) explanation to this is that our educational institutions from Kindergarten upwards, are dominated pedagogically, administratively, and ideologically by descendants of Marxism. As a result, the horrors of Communism are brushed aside compared to the blood-boiling hate that is inculcated against the Fascists.

    Indeed, the infiltration of our schools and universities could be seen as a central tenet of this particular branch of politics, namely, the dictum by the slogan coined by Rudi Dutschke, a student of the Italian Communist, Antonio Gramsci:

    "The long march through the institutions",

    that is, subverting social institutions such as universities to Marxist positions, not by working against them, but by learning from them and insinuating leftist ideology into institutional policy. It seems to have succeeded, which you might have noticed if you have worked at a school any time since May, 1968.

    ...

    Interesting factoid – of course, "Long March" is directly derived from Mao's long retreat of the same name that ended in victory and remains a powerful symbol of China's now Fascist ideology.

    ...

    Dutschke's 1980 posthumous work was entitled,"Mein langer Marsch (My long March)". I am being facetious, but of course, we might notice a parallel here with the work of another extremist who initially used socialism as a cloak, "Mein Kampf (My Struggle), by Adolph Hitler.

    ...

    Finally, the correspondent here who pointed out that Hitler's evil was magnified because of him targeting ethnic minorities might take time to recall Stalin's relocation of the entire population of certain Soviet, republics such as Chechnya and Kalmyks. To Siberia. Many did not survive the journey, with it being a little chilly at times. Fewer lasted the conditions when they arrived at their new homes with their new jobs. They were repatriated in Khrushchev's time.

    We are only talking around 1,000,000 people killed in this particular chapter of Soviet History, but if you claim that the Soviets were less culpable than the Nazi's on ethnic grounds, please consider what a pile of 1,000,000 corpses looks like.

  38. J.G.Harston Silver badge

    Sudd

    If South Sudan renamed itself after its largest geographical feature as Sudd, and the inheritors of the Soviet Union relinquished .su, there's a simple solution.

  39. Kiwi
    Thumb Up

    Good.

    For a long time 'SS' has been used to symbolise hate and torment, mostly at the hands of nasty little men without the guts to stand on their own.

    It has been granted some power by those who still insist on seeing what it used to stand for, rather than letting it be used elsewhere and removing the associated negativity.

    By doing this, the association with Nazism and all it stood for begins to be broken down.

    I also hope that SS has a largely 'black' population. I can think of no sweeter justice than the symbol that has been used with so much hate against 'people of colour' now is adopted as the ccTLD for one such country!

    1. M.V. Lipvig Silver badge
      Devil

      Re: Good.

      It's not only a primarily black nation, their citizens are mostly deep, deep black, not light or dark brown. Pitch black. As black as an albino Irishman is white.

      As for me, SS will ALWAYS mean Super Sport. Mine's the 1970 SS396, sadly with the slush box and not the rock crusher.

  40. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    History ?

    "The best example is probably when Afghanistan's .af was handed over to the country's US-run transitional government when America invaded the country in retaliation for the Taliban government refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden."

    Pretty sure that the Afghan government offered ObL up on a plate in preference to being subjected to "shock and awe". Hardly surprising, even for a bunch of statue demolishing nutcases. Even they were not so foolish as to ignore recent examples of US government lead mass incineration, as demonstrated in Iraq.

    I've no sympathy for ANY of the above named nutjobs, none whatsoever, but I think it's generally a good idea to try to keep history factual, rather than merely convenient.

  41. TeeCee Gold badge
    WTF?

    And the problem is....?

    After all, Saudi Arabia already have ".sa" and I can't see how the Nazi party's brownshirted thugs are any more warm and cuddly than their military colleagues.

    1. jake Silver badge

      Re: And the problem is....?

      Ah, yes. Saudi Arabia. That well known bastion of human rights, woman's rights, freedom of speech and expression, religious freedom, and generally being all 'round nice guys. Definitely the kind of system that we fought for when disposing of Hitler & his cronies; I can totally see your point.

  42. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Meanwhile,

    ...my computer has proudly been displaying the SS label for years. It's right next to the USB 3.0 port.

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