Miami Lakers rally in support of Joshua Dieguez
Published on 10-05-2024
Eduardo Vidal, a lawyer and political activist. His family brought him when he was nine years old from Cuba to the United States of America, but now the rule of law has been eroded in the USA as well, and we are turning into Cuba and the rest of Latin America.
Article: https://miamiindependent.com/liberty-authoritys-voter-guide-to-general-elections-in-november/
Doral, Florida - The Liberty Authority of Miami-Dade County is an alliance of local grassroots conservative groups. These groups are made up of registered Republican voters who operate independently of the official Republican party.
Now this group has produced a Voter Guide for the upcoming general elections on Tuesday, November 5, as set forth below. The preferred candidates are mostly Republicans in Miami-Dade County and its environs:
Below are the recommended votes for the six Florida Constitutional Amendments and the Miami-Dade County referendum. A full explanation of the pros and cons follows:
Amendment 1 – Recommend Vote Yes
Amendment 2 – Recommend Vote Yes
Amendment 3 – Recommend Vote No
Amendment 4 – Recommend Vote No
Amendment 5 – Recommend Vote Yes
Amendment 6 – Recommend Vote No
Miami-Dade Referendum – Recommended Vote No
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#1: Florida Constitutional Amendment 1 proposes making school board elections partisan, meaning candidates would run under a political party affiliation (Republican, Democrat, etc.). Currently, school board elections in Florida are nonpartisan.
RECOMMEND VOTE YES
Pros:
1. Increased Transparency: Proponents argue that adding party labels gives voters more information about a candidate's political ideology, helping them make more informed decisions. They claim that partisan views already influence school board elections, so it would be clearer to make these affiliations explicit.
2. Higher Voter Engagement: Supporters believe that partisan elections could boost voter participation by aligning school board races with more prominent political issues, thus drawing more interest and debate.
Cons:
1. Politicization of Education: Opponents argue that making school board elections partisan could increase political division, shifting the focus from what is best for students to party politics. This could make school boards more contentious, mirroring the polarization seen in state and national politics.
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#2: Florida Constitutional Amendment 2, proposes adding the right to hunt and fish to the state constitution, declaring these activities as the preferred means of managing wildlife.
RECOMMEND VOTE YES
Pros:
1. Preserves Tradition: Supporters argue that hunting and fishing are integral parts of Florida’s cultural heritage and economy. This amendment would protect them from potential future bans or restrictions.
2. Wildlife Management: Advocates claim that regulated hunting and fishing help control wildlife populations, contributing to sustainable conservation practices. The amendment would protect the use of traditional methods for managing wildlife, ensuring that these activities continue in the future.
Cons:
1. Unnecessary: Opponents, including the Sierra Club and the Humane Society, argue that hunting and fishing are already protected under existing state law, making the amendment redundant. They fear it may prioritize hunting over non-lethal management methods.
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#3: Florida Constitutional Amendment 3, seeks to legalize the recreational use of marijuana for adults aged 21 and older in Florida. This amendment would allow individuals to possess marijuana for personal use and would legalize the sale of marijuana.
RECOMMEND VOTE NO
Pros:
1. Economic Benefits: Supporters argue that legalization could generate substantial tax revenue, potentially $200 million annually for the state and local governments.
2. Personal Freedom: Proponents claim that legalizing marijuana enhances personal freedom, allowing adults to make their own decisions without fear of criminal penalties.
3. Regulation and Safety: Legalization would regulate the marijuana market, ensuring that products are free from harmful chemicals and provide a safer alternative to illegal purchases.
4. Reduction in Criminal Justice Costs: Legalizing marijuana would reduce the number of arrests and prosecutions for marijuana-related offenses.
Cons:
1. Health Risks: Opponents argue that marijuana use could pose public health risks, particularly in terms of respiratory issues from smoking and the potential for marijuana use to impair cognitive function. Regular use of marijuana has been linked to mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and, in some cases, psychosis.
2. Increase in Use by Minors: Increased availability and normalization could eventually lead to higher rates of use among minors. Governor DeSantis and others have expressed concerns about the potential for marijuana products to become more accessible to underage users despite regulatory measures.
3. Gateway to Other Drugs: Marijuana use might lead to the consumption of more dangerous substances. Marijuana increased exposure, and the normalization of drug use could lead to the use of more harmful drugs.
4. Public Health Concerns: Opponents argue that legalization could lead to increased public exposure to marijuana, with concerns about the impact on community health, such as secondhand smoke and higher rates of usage.
5. Federal Legal Issues: While Amendment 3 would legalize marijuana at the state level, it remains illegal under federal law, which could create legal conflicts and enforcement challenges.
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#4: Florida Constitutional Amendment 4. Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion
RECOMMEND – VOTE NO
Pros:
1. Restores Abortion Access: Supporters argue that the amendment would safeguard abortion access in Florida.
2. Consistent with National Trends: Many proponents believe that this amendment aligns Florida with other states that have protected abortion rights following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Cons:
1. Moral and Ethical Concerns: Opponents, including Florida's Governor, argue that this amendment could lead to late-term abortions and weaken existing laws, such as parental consent for minors seeking abortions. They claim it could be interpreted broadly to allow more expansive access than currently intended.
2. Goes beyond Roe v. Wade. This amendment would allow abortions in cases where gestation of the fetus is further advanced.
3. Impact on State Regulation: Critics worry that the amendment could limit the state's ability to regulate abortions, reducing protections necessary to safeguard both maternal and fetal health.
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#5: Florida Constitutional Amendment 5, proposes to adjust the value of homestead exemptions annually based on inflation. This adjustment would apply to non-school property taxes, helping to ensure the homestead exemption keeps pace with rising costs.
RECOMMEND - VOTE YES
Pros:
1. Protects Homeowners from Inflation: By adjusting the homestead exemption for inflation, homeowners would continue to benefit from tax relief as the cost of living increases. Most helpful to seniors and low-income homeowners who face rising property values and taxes.
2. Encourages Home Ownership: Supports homeownership by reducing the property tax burden over time, making it more affordable to maintain our homes.
Cons:
1.????? Revenue Loss for Local Governments: Reduces revenue to local governments by an estimated $22.8 million in 2025, growing to around $112 million by 2028. This could lead to cuts in services or shifts in the tax burden to other property owners, such as renters or businesses.
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#6: Florida's Constitutional Amendment 6 proposes to repeal public financing for statewide campaign candidates, including those running for governor and cabinet offices. RECOMMEND: VOTE NO.
Pros of Repeal:
Cons of Repeal:
Cost Over the Last 8 Years:
Between 2010 and 2022, public financing for campaigns cost Florida approximately $33 million. In the 2022 election, the state spent over $13 million, with major candidates such as Gov. Ron DeSantis and Charlie Crist using the funding.
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Referendum Question:
Miami-Dade County election, there is a non-binding referendum question asking voters whether the county should expand free public Wi-Fi access countywide.
RECOMMEND: VOTE NO because they should give the projected costs. Having voters approve services without advising of the costs
Infrastructure and Maintenance Costs: Expanding Wi-Fi infrastructure countywide could be expensive, involving significant investment in hardware, installation, and ongoing maintenance. If the county proceeds with the plan, it would likely require substantial financial resources, potentially involving taxpayer funding.
Vote no when no costs are provided for proposed services. We all want extra services until we find out what their cost is. Tell the voters the costs of what they are voting for.
General Election Sample Ballot:
Early Voting in Miami Lakes at:
Miami Lakes Community Center: (Mary Collins)
15151 NW 82nd Avenue Miami Lakes, FL 33016
If no one wins by more than 50%...
November 26 (Registration Closing Oct. 28)
Do you realize that NO ONE in the U. S. owns their homes?
Do we really own our homes? A lot of people think they do... We take out mortgages and when paid off, we think we own our homes, but in actuality, the government does.
When we buy something and completely pay for it we get to keep it but that does not happen with a home because when you buy a house and completely pay for it, the government charges real estate taxes and if you fail to pay those, they sell the tax receipt and there goes the house we had already paid for.
We make money from a job which is taxed, then we spend money on the home, which the government taxes.
To live in our homes, we pay for utilities which the government taxes...
When we have already paid for our homes, we still pay Real Estate Taxes. We pay for repairs, upgrade and renovation, for which we have to pay permit fees and no sooner we renovate or fix a home we have paid for the last 30 years, the government increases the valuation so they can make more money out of the windows because they are now new, the renovation or repair, or the upgrade...
The American Dream is sold as if owning a home is the ultimate possession when in fact it is the single most important acquisition made during our life time and who owns it? The Government does!
Be careful as to who to vote for Property Appraiser 2024!
Received from a Facebook posting:
WSJ: U.S. Investigates Intelligence Leak About Israel’s Plans for Attacking Iran... Is the US, in the person's of Biden, Harris, SecState Biden, DefSec Austin and CIA Director Burns, deliberately trying to sabotage Israel's efforts??
Iran's missile attack on Iran in April was a casus belli, an act of war.? The US counseled Israel to go light on Iran and Israel complied.? A month ago, Iran launched a massive ballistic missile attack on Israel and, once again, the US is counseling limited retaliation.
Is the US, under Biden/Harris, a reliable ally to Israel?? Yes, the US has given arms to Israel and supported Israel's Iron Dome defense.? But consider:
Is it any wonder that there are articles like this?
The Biden-Harris Administration Owes Israel's Netanyahu An Apology - Bassam Tawil, Gatestone, 10/20/24
Israel Fights Alone, Carrying by Itself a Catatonically Suicidal West - Majid Rafizadeh, Gatestone, 10/19/24
As the WSJ has noted Netanyahu was correct in ignoring Biden/Harris pressure:
Yahya Sinwar Dies as He Lived - WSJ editorial, 10/17/20
Had Israel listened to Biden, the terrorist would still be alive
President Biden issued a statement Thursday on the Sinwar news, calling it “a good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world.” He’s right, as Sinwar was a U.S. designated terrorist and had the blood of many Americans on his hands. Hamas still holds hostages who are American citizens.
But it’s worth recalling that Mr. Biden has pressured Mr. Netanyahu and his government for months to stop the war in Gaza. The U.S. counseled against a major military campaign against Hamas. Then, despite Israel’s clear early success, he tried to bully Israel against sending troops into the city of Rafah, where Sinwar was thought to be hiding.
Israel went ahead anyway, and Mr. Netanyahu has a right to claim vindication for doing so. It’s not too much to say that if Israel had taken Mr. Biden’s advice, Sinwar, Nasrallah, and the rest of the Hamas-Hezbollah leadership would still be alive.
The NYPost reports that experts agree with the WSJ.
Netanyahu’s decision to ignore Biden, Harris warnings not to invade Rafah responsible for Sinwar’s death: experts - NYPost, 10/19/24
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to ignore dire warnings from President Biden and Vice President Harris not to conquer the last major stronghold of Hamas terrorists in Rafah proved to be correct, according to military and Middle East experts.
With that as background, consider today's revelation - Israel's retaliation plans have been leaked by US sources. Two highly classified reports about Israel’s preparations for striking Iran were posted online by a pro-Iran site. From the WSJ.
The U.S. is investigating the leak of top-secret American documents that show Israel military preparations for an expected strike on Iran, U.S. officials said Sunday.?
The two leaked reports were prepared last week by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which analyzes imagery gathered by American reconnaissance satellites and other intelligence.?
Neither document indicates Israel’s potential targets, and one cautioned that the agency’s analysts “cannot definitely predict the scale and scope of a strike on Iran.”?
The reports describe the types of aircraft and munitions the Israeli military is expected to use in an attack, which the documents say could come without additional warning.?
Adding to U.S. concerns, the classified assessments were disseminated by a pro-Iran site, Middle East Spectator, which says it received them from an anonymous source.??
Among the concerns for U.S. investigators is “the potential for further leaks of highly classified documents,” said Jamil Jaffer, a former senior official in the Justice Department’s national-security division.
Jared Silverman Email:?? [email protected]
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: U.S. Investigates Intelligence Leak About Israel’s Plans for Attacking Iran
Two highly classified reports about Israel’s preparations for striking Iran were posted online by a pro-Iran site
Michael R. Gordon and Dustin Volz, Oct. 20, 2024
WASHINGTON—The U.S. is investigating the leak of top-secret American documents that show Israel military preparations for an expected strike on Iran, U.S. officials said Sunday.?
The two leaked reports were prepared last week by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which analyzes imagery gathered by American reconnaissance satellites and other intelligence.?
Neither document indicates Israel’s potential targets, and one cautioned that the agency’s analysts “cannot definitely predict the scale and scope of a strike on Iran.”?
The reports describe the types of aircraft and munitions the Israeli military is expected to use in an attack, which the documents say could come without additional warning.?
Adding to U.S. concerns, the classified assessments were disseminated by a pro-Iran site, Middle East Spectator, which says it received them from an anonymous source.??
Among the concerns for U.S. investigators is “the potential for further leaks of highly classified documents,” said Jamil Jaffer, a former senior official in the Justice Department’s national-security division.
The National Security Council referred questions to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which declined to comment. House Speaker Mike Johnson said in an interview with CNN that he has been informed that a U.S. government investigation is under way.??
The leak comes as Israeli officials say they are planning a retaliatory attack on Iran and the Biden administration is renewing its push to bring an end to the fighting in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment on whether the disclosures might affect Israel’s plans for its strike, which is intended as a response to an Iranian attack against Israel earlier this month with about 120 ballistic missiles.
The U.S. has urged Israel to avoid targeting Iran’s oil and nuclear infrastructure and has moved to buttress Israel’s defense by sending its ally an advanced antimissile system.
?The leak raised concerns among some Israeli officials about the U.S. ability to protect closely held information that affects its ally.?
The documents began circulating online last week after Middle East Spectator posted them within a Telegram channel and on X. It described them as a disclosure about the steps “the Zionist regime” is taking to prepare for an attack on Iran.
Middle East Spectator describes itself as an “open-source news aggregator” that is staffed by independent journalists. A number of Middle East officials and experts say that it is known for promoting pro-Iranian information.?
Several former U.S. intelligence officials said the documents bore hallmarks of authentic classified files, including their verbiage and formatting. But some said they might have been edited or pasted together from different pages.
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The Israeli Air Force preparations for a strike on Iran involved air-launched ballistic missiles and covert drones, which are use to carry out surveillance over Iran and throughout the region, according to one of the documents. The Israeli military, one noted, sought to conceal some of this activity by placing screens over shelters for F-15 aircraft, among other steps.?
The Israelis conducted a large-scale air exercise on Oct. 15, which one of the documents said was likely intended to practice midair refueling and search and rescue, in the event pilots are shot down. Other steps taken by Israel include dispersing naval vessels and some of its military aircraft.?
Middle East Spectator said it first became aware of the files when they were shared in a Telegram channel with 7,000 members, where it believes the source was likely a participant. It added: “We have no connection to the original source, which we assume to be a whistleblower within the U.S. Department of Defense.”
In a statement late Saturday evening on X, Middle East Spectator said it was “not aware of any additional leaked classified U.S. documents.”
Nancy A. Youssef, Brett Forrest, Lara Seligman and Summer Said contributed to this article.
STANLEY KRIEGER:
Biden-Harris admin spied on Israel to learn Iran attack plans, leaked them to Iran | World Israel News
Biden’s Iran envoy is under FBI investigation for mishandling classified documents. Much of the State Department covered for him, lying to Congress and foreign officials.
By Daniel Greenfield, Frontpage Magazine
The media has been filled with anonymous ‘leaks’ and ‘quotes’ from Biden-Harris administration officials regarding Israel’s attack plans on Iran. It was all too obvious that these leaks were deliberate and orchestrated.
The leaks now appear to have escalated to directly passing material on to Iran.
Senior American officials voiced serious concern on Saturday following the leak of two US intelligence documents allegedly outlining Israel’s preparations for a potential strike on Iran. These documents were published by a Telegram account linked to Iran.
While both the US Department of Defense and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment on the leaked documents, they did not deny their authenticity.
The leak occurred on Friday when the Middle East Spectator Telegram channel claimed it had received documents about Israel’s strike preparations from a source within the US intelligence community.
Is that an impossible scenario?
Rob Malley, Biden’s Iran envoy, is under FBI investigation for mishandling classified documents. Much of the State Department covered for him, lying to Congress and foreign officials.
And then there’s Ariane Tabatabai, the Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations, an Iranian immigrant who was collaborating with the Iranian Foreign Ministry back in 2014 and ran her congressional testimony past Iran.
Ariane Tabatabai was already the subject of extensive scrutiny and according to Jennifer Van Laar of RedState, there’s a source saying that the leak came out of the same office.
But those are just the obvious red flags with links to Iran. There’s a whole army of radicals, Islamists and anti-Israel activists now deeply embedded in the NSC, the intelligence community, the Department of Defense and just about everywhere else.
And it’s entirely plausible that the leak was deliberate because it follows on the heels of a raft of deliberate leaks.
The important part here is really twofold.
First, this information was obtained by spying on Israel.
The documents included an alleged report from the US Department of Defense’s visual intelligence agency, which had been circulated within the US intelligence community three days earlier. The report detailed alleged recent actions at Israel Air Force (IAF) bases, including the movement of advanced munitions believed to be intended for a strike on Iran. The report also noted that intelligence obtained through wiretaps indicated that the IAF conducted an exercise this week involving fighter jets and drones as part of its strike preparations.
Second, Israel has refused to notify the Biden-Harris admin of its attack plans on Hezbollah, including the pager bombings and assassination of Nasrallah, until the operations were underway, and even then without specific details.
The Israelis were providing information about the Iran attack. But the Biden-Harris admin clearly didn’t trust it. Instead, it went ahead and leaked the results of its spying to Iran.
There were multiple ways to do that.
Standard tradecraft is if you want to leak information, you allow an agent inside whom you can leak to. It’s terrible treasonous behavior, but it’s also not new.
Why would a former Iranian associate be inside the Pentagon? That’s one potential answer to that question.
What that means is that whoever leaked it, was kept there for that purpose providing plausible deniability for the entire system that kept them there.
The Obama administration leaked Israel’s attack plans on Iran to the media. The Biden-Harris admin has done even better by finding a way to directly leak them to Iran.
Netanyahu Says Hezbollah Tried to Assassinate Him, Vows ‘Heavy Price’ - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called a drone strike on his home an assassination attempt by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah, vowing retaliation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 27, 2024. Pamela Smith/AP Photo
By?Tom Ozimek, 10/19/2024
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called a drone strike on his northern Israel home an assassination attempt by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah, saying it was a “grave mistake” and vowing that the perpetrators would pay a “heavy price.”
The drone targeted Netanyahu’s residence in the coastal town of Caesarea on Oct. 19, while the premier and his wife were away, according to his spokesman. The attack, for which no group claimed immediate responsibility, resulted in no casualties.
Earlier, the Israeli military reported that a drone had been launched from Lebanon and struck a building, though the exact target remained unclear. The military added that two additional drones that crossed into Israeli airspace were successfully intercepted.
In response to the attack, Netanyahu issued a warning, pointing to Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group, as the perpetrator.
“The attempt by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah to assassinate me and my wife today was a grave mistake,” the Israeli leader said. “This will not deter me or the State of Israel from continuing our just war against our enemies in order to secure our future.”
Netanyahu added that the attack would not go unanswered and that Israel remains determined to achieve all of its objectives in its war against Hamas.
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“I say to Iran and its proxies in its axis of evil: Anyone who tries to harm Israel’s citizens will pay a heavy price,” he said. “We will continue to eliminate the terrorists and those who dispatch them. We will bring our hostages home from Gaza. And we will return our citizens who live on our Northern border safely to their homes.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry echoed Netanyahu’s statement, reaffirming Israel’s determination to neutralize terrorist threats, return hostages from Gaza, and restore security to its northern communities.
Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defense minister, condemned the drone strike, vowing retaliation and insisting Israel’s military remains undeterred in its mission to eliminate Hamas.
A member of Israeli security personnel stands at the entrance to a street, following a drone attack from Lebanon towards Israel amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, in Caesarea, Israel, on Oct. 19, 2024. Rami Shlush/Reuters
The drone strike has generated speculation online that it might be a response to the recent death of Yahya Sinwar, the top leader of Hamas, at the hands of Israeli forces.
Sinwar, who had topped Israel’s most-wanted list since the Oct. 7, 2023, deadly incursion into Israel by Hamas operatives, was killed on Oct. 16 during a military operation in Gaza. The Israeli military described the operation as the culmination of a year-long pursuit, indicating that Sinwar had been hiding in Hamas’s underground tunnel network.
Sinwar’s death marks a significant blow to Hamas, which has been the target of Israeli military action in response to last year’s attack against Israel, which resulted in over 1,200 Israeli casualties and the capture of more than 250 hostages, of whom about 100 remain in captivity.
Netanyahu hailed the elimination of Sinwar as a key development, saying: “We have come to terms with Sinwar, this is an important moment in the war.”
The apparent assassination attempt of a sitting Israeli prime minister by an Iranian proxy is a rare escalation, possibly signaling a willingness by Tehran’s allies to engage in more aggressive cross-border actions. Iran has long supported Hezbollah as a strategic ally in the region, using it as a conduit for operations against Israel.
Saturday’s incident occurred nearly a week after a Hezbollah drone attack killed four soldiers and wounded dozens at a military training base in northern Israel, not far from Caesarea, where Netanyahu’s summer home is located.
WSJ: Mystery Drones Swarmed a U.S. Military Base for 17 Days. The Pentagon Is Stumped.
Remember the Chinese spy balloon that the Biden/Harris administration let pass over military installations in the US?
Is history repeating?
U.S. Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly wasn’t sure what to make of reports that a suspicious fleet of unidentified aircraft had been flying over Langley Air Force Base on Virginia’s shoreline.
Kelly, a decorated senior commander at the base, got on a squadron rooftop to see for himself. He joined a handful of other officers responsible for a clutch of the nation’s most advanced jet fighters, including F-22 Raptors.?
For several nights, military personnel had reported a mysterious breach of restricted airspace over a stretch of land that has one of the largest concentrations of national-security facilities in the U.S.?The show usually starts 45 minutes to an hour after sunset, another senior leader told Kelly.
Officials didn’t know if the drone fleet, which numbered as many as a dozen or more over the following nights, belonged to clever hobbyists or hostile forces. Some suspected that Russia or China deployed them to test the response of American forces.? [Military intelligence, an oxymoron?]
Federal law prohibits the military from shooting down drones near military bases in the U.S. unless they pose an imminent threat.?Aerial snooping doesn’t qualify, though some lawmakers hope to give the military greater leeway.
Reports of the drones reached President Biden and set off two weeks of White House meetings after the aircraft first appeared in December last year. Officials from agencies including the Defense Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pentagon’s UFO office joined outside experts to throw out possible explanations as well as ideas about how to respond.
Drone incursions into restricted airspace were already worrying national-security officials. Two months earlier, in October 2023, five drones flew over a government site used for nuclear-weapons experiments. The Energy Department’s Nevada National Security Site outside Las Vegas detected four of the drones over three days. Employees spotted a fifth. [And what was found out and what was done? Did the drones get the same treatment as migrants crossing our open border?? Ho-hum. Business as normal.]
U.S. officials said they didn’t know who operated the drones in Nevada, a previously unreported incursion, or for what reason. A spokeswoman said the facility has since upgraded a system to detect and counter drones.? [Do you feel more secure?]
Skipping to the end of the story -
U.S. officials confirmed this month that more unidentified drone swarms were spotted in recent months near Edwards Air Force Base, north of Los Angeles.
Jared Silverman Email:?? [email protected]?
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Mystery Drones Swarmed a U.S. Military Base for 17 Days. The Pentagon Is Stumped.
U.S. officials don’t know who is behind the drones that have flown unhindered over sensitive national-security sites—or how to stop them
Gordon Lubold, Lara Seligman and Aruna Viswanatha, Oct. 12, 2024
U.S. Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly wasn’t sure what to make of reports that a suspicious fleet of unidentified aircraft had been flying over Langley Air Force Base on Virginia’s shoreline.
Kelly, a decorated senior commander at the base, got on a squadron rooftop to see for himself. He joined a handful of other officers responsible for a clutch of the nation’s most advanced jet fighters, including F-22 Raptors.?
For several nights, military personnel had reported a mysterious breach of restricted airspace over a stretch of land that has one of the largest concentrations of national-security facilities in the U.S.?The show usually starts 45 minutes to an hour after sunset, another senior leader told Kelly.
The first?drone?arrived shortly. Kelly, a career fighter pilot, estimated it was roughly 20 feet long and flying at more than 100 miles an hour, at an altitude of roughly 3,000 to 4,000 feet.?Other drones followed, one by one, sounding in the distance like a parade of lawn mowers.
The drones headed south, across Chesapeake Bay, toward Norfolk, Va., and over an area that includes the home base for the Navy’s SEAL Team Six and Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval port.
Officials didn’t know if the drone fleet, which numbered as many as a dozen or more over the following nights, belonged to clever hobbyists or hostile forces. Some suspected that Russia or China deployed them to test the response of American forces.
Federal law prohibits the military from shooting down drones near military bases in the U.S. unless they pose an imminent threat.?Aerial snooping doesn’t qualify, though some lawmakers hope to give the military greater leeway.
Reports of the drones reached President Biden and set off two weeks of White House meetings after the aircraft first appeared in December last year. Officials from agencies including the Defense Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pentagon’s UFO office joined outside experts to throw out possible explanations as well as ideas about how to respond.
Drone incursions into restricted airspace were already worrying national-security officials. Two months earlier, in October 2023, five drones flew over a government site used for nuclear-weapons experiments. The Energy Department’s Nevada National Security Site outside Las Vegas detected four of the drones over three days. Employees spotted a fifth.?
U.S. officials said they didn’t know who operated the drones in Nevada, a previously unreported incursion, or for what reason. A spokeswoman said the facility has since upgraded a system to detect and counter drones.
The sightings revealed the dilemma of defending against drones on U.S. soil compared with the ease of deploying or battling them abroad. Drones have become a deadly and cost-effective tool of war, capable of carrying surveillance gear, explosives or lethal chemicals. Yet shooting down suspicious aircraft over the U.S. risks disrupting or endangering the lives of Americans the military is sworn to protect.?
Early last year, a suspected Chinese spy balloon crammed with electronic surveillance gear floated across the country for eight days, while military leaders waited for it to reach a spot isolated enough to shoot it down safely. After the balloon made it to the Southeast coast, an F-22 jet from Langley punctured it with a missile.
Ten months later, the phalanx of drones appeared at Langley.
Over 17 days, the drones arrived at dusk, flew off and circled back. Some shone small lights, making them look like a constellation moving in the night sky—or a science-fiction movie, Kelly said, “‘Close Encounters at Langley.’” They also were nearly impossible to track, vanishing each night despite a wealth of resources deployed to catch them.?
Gen. Glen VanHerck, at the time commander of the U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, said drones had for years been spotted flying around defense installations. But the nightly drone swarms over Langley, he said, were unlike any past incursion.
VanHerck, who led the military response to the Chinese balloon, ordered jet fighters and other aircraft to fly close enough to glean clues from the drones. He recommended that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin authorize a full menu of electronic eavesdropping and spycraft to learn more, though the Pentagon is limited in what it can do on U.S.?soil.
“If there are unknown objects within North America,” VanHerck said, the job is “to go out and identify them.”?
Solving that mystery, even for the world’s pre-eminent superpower, proved easier said than done. Local police were among the first to try.
For two nights, starting on Dec. 6, Hampton, Va., officers chased the drones, by patrol car and on foot, relaying momentary sightings along with information from Langley over police radios: One was seen in the area of Marshall Street or Gosnold’s Hope Park.
Three more appeared to land but returned to the air before officers could reach them. Another looked like it landed offshore. Police finally gave up.
Gen. Kelly, now retired, said the Pentagon was stumped, too.
What would the U.S. do, he asked, “if this happens over the National Mall?”?
This account is based on interviews with more than two dozen government officials and other people familiar with the events, as well as police records, court documents and photographs of the drones.
Flying blind
The drone swarm was reported to the Pentagon office of the National Military Command Center, which is responsible for dispersing emergency messages to U.S. military commanders worldwide.?
A report went to the White House Situation Room, and the president learned about it in his daily briefing.
U.S. officials didn’t believe hobbyists were flying the drones, given the complexity of the operation. The drones flew in a pattern: one or two fixed-wing drones positioned more than 100 feet in the air and smaller quadcopters, the size of 20-pound commercial drones, often below and flying slower. Occasionally, they hovered.
They came from the north around 6 p.m. to traverse the base, which sits on a peninsula at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, and continued south, beyond the reach of radar. They repeated the pattern and then disappeared, typically by midnight.
Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall convened the White House brainstorming sessions. One official suggested using electronic signals to jam the drones’ navigation systems. Others cautioned that it might disrupt local 911 emergency systems and Wi-Fi networks.?
One suggestion was to use directed energy, an emerging technology, to disable or destroy the drones. An FAA official said such a weapon carried too high a risk for commercial aircraft during the December holiday travel season.
Others suggested that the U.S. Coast Guard shoot nets into the air to capture the drones. An official pointed out that the Coast Guard might not have the authority to use such a weapon in this instance. Besides, the drones were too difficult to track closely.
Langley officials had called on U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships to keep a watch out for the drones with little luck. They were much smaller than military aircraft and didn’t always show up on radar. Military personnel had to recalibrate their radar systems, which were set to ignore anything that resembled a bird.
Analysts learned that the smaller quadcopters didn’t use the usual frequency band available for off-the-shelf commercial drones—more evidence that the drone operators weren’t hobbyists.
Langley officials canceled nighttime training missions, worried about potential collisions with the drone swarm, and moved the F-22 jet fighters to another base. Base residents shared their sightings at the local Starbucks and posted blurry photos of the drones on private Facebook groups.
Intelligence officials spotted a vessel floating in international waters off the coast of Virginia and suspected a connection. Coast Guard crews boarded the vessel but found no computers or other gear to support the hunch.
On Dec. 23, the drones made their last visit.
In January, authorities found a clue they hoped would crack the case.?
‘Worst spy ever’
During a rainy morning on Jan. 6, Fengyun Shi parked a rented Tesla near 65th Street and Huntington Avenue in Newport News, Va., 11 miles from the Langley base. The car was outside a shipyard run by HII, the company that builds nuclear submarines and the Navy’s newest generation of the Ford Class aircraft carrier.??
Shi, a student at the University of Minnesota, told nearby residents around midmorning that he was flying a drone that got stuck in a tree. As he tried to free it using his controller, a neighbor called Newport News, Va., police. Officers asked Shi why he was flying it in such foul weather, and they told him to call the fire department for help.?
Shi instead returned his rental car an hour later and took an Amtrak train to Washington, D.C. The following day, he flew to Oakland, Calif. By chance, the drone fell to the ground that same day and ended up with federal investigators. FBI agents found that Shi had photographed Navy vessels in dry dock, including shots taken around midnight. Some were under construction at the nearby shipyard.
On Jan. 18, federal agents arrested Shi as he was about to board a flight to China on a one-way ticket. Shi told FBI agents he was a ship enthusiast and hadn’t realized his drone crossed into restricted airspace. Investigators weren’t convinced but found no evidence linking him to the Chinese government. They learned he had bought the drone on sale at a Costco in San Francisco the day before he traveled to Norfolk.
U.S. prosecutors charged Shi with unlawfully taking photos of classified naval installations, the first case involving a drone under a provision of U.S. espionage law. The 26-year-old Chinese national pleaded guilty and appeared in federal court in Norfolk on Oct. 2 for sentencing.
Magistrate Judge Lawrence Leonard said he didn’t believe Shi’s story—that he had been on vacation and was flying drones in the middle of the night for fun. “There’s significant holes,” the judge said in court.
“If he was a foreign agent, he would be the worst spy ever known,” said Shi’s attorney, Shaoming Cheng.
“I’m sorry about what happened in Norfolk,” Shi said before he was sentenced to six months in federal prison.
U.S. officials have yet to determine who flew the Langley drones or why.?
“This isn’t a tomorrow problem, this is a today problem,” said Tom Karako, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a national-security think tank in Washington. “It’s not an over-there problem—it’s an over-there, over-here and everywhere problem.”
U.S. officials confirmed this month that more unidentified drone swarms were spotted in recent months near Edwards Air Force Base, north of Los Angeles.
Dayan Jimenez is proud to announce:
What: ? Future of South Florida Conference
Where: Miami Lakes Town Hall
When: ? Wednesday, October 23rd, 2024?@ 06:00 PM
How: ? ? Sign up today?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? [We do not use technology, not sure why the barcode / QR code]
Whom: ?Presented by I VOTE Nation, Dayan Jimenez
Why: ? ? Hear from informational speakers about the future of our region
Contact details collection:?QR codes can also quickly collect or confirm attendees’ contact details, which can be particularly useful for networking events where?exchanging?contact information?is often a primary goal.?
Enhanced data accuracy and attendee tracking?
With a QR check-in, data collection accuracy drastically improves. Since you automate the scanning process, you eliminate?common event registration mistakes,?like?human errors?often associated with manual registration, such as misspellings or incorrect data entry. You can accurately and instantly capture each attendee’s information the moment you scan their QR code ticket.??
Moreover, QR codes not only record the exact time of an attendee’s arrival, but they can also track the attendee’s movement within the event. Organizers can know in real-time which sessions are popular or which booths have the most traffic and can adjust the event’s logistics accordingly.?
If you resent being tracked, as we do, attend without registering, simply show up at Town Hall.
A Message from a person who prefers to remain anonymous:
Starts at 9:45 on the dial: https://cornerstonechapel.net/live/
30:40 the speech starts armed bullet proof ambulance sent to Israel!
31:45 Bible Reading, First Corinthians, Chapter 5
Youtube video Discerning the Devil's Playbook
Youtube video Discerning the Devil's Playbook
IT Director - COMEX member - P&L Leader of Data and Cloud Platform
2 个月La fin d’un règne lugubre et triste nécessite un sursaut national: votons la pétition pour un référendum proposé par le site de l’assemblée nationale: https://petitions.assemblee-nationale.fr/initiatives/i-2576
Representante Nacional
4 个月Dayan growing up! Congratulations.