The State Fears Drones

Why The US Government Is Terrified Of Hobbyist Drones

 

 

Photo credit: Daniel Herbert

 

 

” If you want to understand why the government freaked out when a $400 remote-controlled quadcopter landed on the White House grounds last week, you need to look four miles away, to a small briefing room in Arlington, Virginia. There, just 10 days earlier, officials from the US military, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FAA gathered for a DHS “summit” on a danger that had been consuming them privately for years: the potential use of hobbyist drones as weapons of terror or assassination.

  The conference was open to civilians, but explicitly closed to the press. One attendee described it as an eye-opener. The officials played videos of low-cost drones firing semi-automatic weapons, revealed that Syrian rebels are importing consumer-grade drones to launch attacks, and flashed photos from an exercise that pitted $5,000 worth of drones against a convoy of armored vehicles. (The drones won.) But the most striking visual aid was on an exhibit table outside the auditorium, where a buffet of low-cost drones had been converted into simulated flying bombs. One quadcopter, strapped to 3 pounds of inert explosive, was a DJI Phantom 2, a newer version of the very drone that would land at the White House the next week.

  Attendee Daniel Herbert snapped a photo and posted it to his website along with detailed notes from the conference. The day after the White House incident, he says, DHS phoned him and politely asked him to remove the entire post. He complied. “I’m not going to be the one to challenge Homeland Security and cause more contention,” says Herbert, who runs a small drone shop in Delaware called Skygear Solutions. “

 

Wired has the whole scoop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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France Facing An Epidemic Of “Evil Clowns”

France Evil Clowns: 14-Year-Old Latest Arrested In Terror Wave

 

 

 

 

 

 

” As a wave of “evil clowns” terrorizing passers-by spreads over France, a 14-year-old dressed as a clown was arrested Monday near Paris for attempting to attack a woman.

  Another teenager in the southern city of Montpellier was sentenced to four months in prison for hitting a passer-by 30 times with an iron bar overnight Saturday, reported AFP. The teen was also dressed as a clown.

  Complaints have poured in recently over “armed clowns” wreaking havoc in various parts of the country – some carrying pistols, knives or baseball bats – and police have detained several people over the violent trend.

  The phenomenon has even prompted anti-clown vigilantism, forcing police to step in to try and quell the hysteria by saying there have only been a few sightings of the grotesque pranksters.

  On Monday, a woman who had just got out of her car in Chelles, near Paris, called the police, saying two clowns – one of whom was armed with a fake axe – had attacked her, a source said.

  They escaped when a passer-by armed with a baseball bat tried to stop them, and one of the pranksters was subsequently detained when police spotted him, white make-up still all over his face.”

 

NewsMax

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Dealing With Your Fears When The Chips Are Down (Video)

How To Overcome Fear When Facing Real Danger

 

 

 

 

 

 

Published on Oct 8, 2014

” This is the method I use to manage fear. It has helped me in life or death situations. I hope it helps you.

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Another Podunk County Sheriff Arms For War

Small Town In Florida Obtains MRAP Armored Vehicle

 

 

 

 

 

 

Justin King | The Anti-Media

” The Walton County Sheriff’s Department, a department formerly known for community-oriented policing, has joined the ever growing list of departments across the country that have chosen to abandon common sense and deploy an IED resistant armored vehicle. 

  Walton County is a part of Florida that is so crime free you can leave your doors unlocked. When Hollywood location scouts were looking for a community so perfect that it appeared to be fake, they came to Walton County. The Truman Show, staring Jim Carey, was filmed on location in a small Walton County community. The twins in the movie, were both Walton County lawmen on set to direct traffic. They were so personable and friendly, they wound up in the movie. Yes, they are really named Ron and Don.

  It’s hard to imagine that community being policed by the 30,000lbs International MaxxPro MRAP. The weapon, just back from the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, was recently acquired by the department. Now that it is painted black and labeled as a SWAT vehicle it is ready to be used not against Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah, but against Americans on Main Street.

 

  Sheriff Michael Adkinson, Jr. made a statement on the department’s Facebook Page.The American Civil Liberties Union sees this as a problem, and has launched a nationwide investigation into the militarization of local law enforcement. The ACLU believes the mentality created by the presence of weapons of war causes an escalation in violence.

“It is important to realize that ANY rifle round will penetrate an officers body armor. This includes the common .22cal round. In the past 6 years the WCSO has come under fire from HUNDREDS of rounds during calls. We routinely take assault weapons of persons arrested. An example of this was an incident in which a man handcuffed an AK-47 assault rifle and confronted deputies. During another violent encounter over 100 rounds were exchanged during a shootout inside DeFuniak Springs. During the same time frame we have dealt with 9 barricaded subjects the majority of which had rifles at their disposal. The armored vehicle allows us to get close to the suspect without unnecessary danger. Again a rifle round can penetrate a vehicle and body armor. Certainly a $2,500 surplus vehicle is good insurance. We handle almost double the number of calls for service from a decade ago and unfortunately not all of those can be handled with customer service. This is not the federal government intruding on your civil liberties Would you really want them sent into harm’s way without the best protection available, simply because the military originally purchased this vehicle? The men and women who serve as deputy sheriff’s in this county are your friends and neighbors. This is your Sheriff trying to protect your deputies.”

 

Read on

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Portland Bus Passenger Arrested For “Interfering with Public Transportation” By Talking About Guns

Oregon Man Arrested After Allegedly Talking About Guns On Bus

 

 

 

” On Tuesday, 41-year-old Patrick O’Brien Nolin found himself on the wrong side of the law after he allegedly spoke about having a loaded gun on a bus in Portland, Ore., KATU reported.

  According to KATU, a TriMet bus driver reportedly overheard Nolin allegedly talking about being armed, and contacted police.

  As officers approached the bus, they received reports that Nolin’s alleged weapon was “cocked and loaded.”

  Even though Nolin did not have a gun, he was arrested anyway, and taken to the Multnomah County Jail on a charge of Interfering With Public Transportation, a Class A misdemeanor.”

 

Read on

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Media Drumbeat Warns Of The “Libertarian Threat”

‘Libertarian Paranoia’ Is The Newest Fad In Politics

 

 

 

” Look out: The libertarians are coming! The libertarians are coming! Never before have so many been so intimidated by so few, with so little political power.

  Salon.com offers near-daily warnings about the libertarian “threat”:

• It’s corrupting progressivism: “Don’t ally with libertarians: Ideologues co-opt an anti-NSA rally.”
• It’s even infecting your iPhone apps: “The Secret Libertarianism of Uber and Airbnb.”

“ Beware of Libertarians Bearing Gifts,” the Center for American Progress admonishes: “a bipartisan move against the NSA could kill the New Deal.”

  Anti-libertarian paranoia plagues our elected officials too: “the anarchists have taken over,” Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., wails. “This strain of libertarianism … is a very dangerous thought,” New Jersey Governor Chris Christie warned last summer in the wake of Edward Snowden‘s exposure of National Security Agency spying: “I want [these critics] to come to New Jersey and sit across from the widows and the orphans” (Pro tip: don’t take the George Washington Bridge).”

 

   The Establishment is rightfully fearful of the burgeoning libertarian movement as it is the one political ideology to come along in our lifetimes that has the potential to triumph over the Statists that occupy both sides of the aisle .

    The amount of contempt and derision displayed by the accustomed ruling class happens to be directly proportional to the degree of threat they perceive the libertarian tenets to pose to their entitled way of life .

 This quote from the TribLive explains quite succinctly why the Ole Boys SHOULD fear Libertarians and their ideals :

 

” Hyperbole and ridicule aside, one thing is true — libertarians approach questions differently than do Democrats and Republicans. Where the major parties develop “platforms” of issues they support, libertarians begin with a single assumption with which most everyone can agree — all humans are free and equal in dignity by virtue of their being human. Everything else is commentary.

  The reason for partisan scorn is that the two-party faithful do not grasp that libertarians don’t think in terms of issues. Libertarians think in terms of principles. They begin with the principles of freedom and equality and apply these timeless principles to the issues of the day. What emerges is an extraordinarily civil discourse. The civility arises because libertarians begin at a point of consensus, not a point of contention.”

 

 

 They should be afraid … very afraid … Our time has returned . Read the rest at Reason .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Schools Declare War On Halloween

From The Department Of Petty Controversies: Schools Cancel Halloween

 

 

 

” In the latest example of small-mindedness plaguing our educational system, schools around the country are attempting to ban costumes and candy on what is surely one of most kids’ favorite days of the year. The excuses range from vague concerns about “safety” to specific worries about food allergies to—get this—fears of breaching the wall of separation between church and state.

But whatever the motivation, the end result is the same as what Charlie Brown used to get every time he went trick-or-treating: a big old rock in the candy bag. What sort of lesson are we teaching our kids when we ban even a tiny, sugar-coated break in their daily grind (or, even worse, substitute a generic, Wicker Man-style “Fall Festival” for Halloween)? Mostly that we are a society that is so scared of its own shadow that we can’t even enjoy ourselves anymore. We live in fear of what might be called the killjoy’s veto, where any complaint is enough to destroy even the least objectionable fun.”

 

 

Related:  Schools Cancelling Halloween Parties over ‘Cultural Differences’

Elementary Schools Cancel Halloween, Blame ‘Religious Overtones’

                Grownups in Costumes: Have Adults Ruined Halloween?

 

 

 

 

 

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America , IEDs And The Future … What Price Security ?

 

Boston, And The Future Of IEDs In America

 

 

 

 

” In the aftermath of 9/11 and the run-up to the Iraq war, the Bush administration raised the specter of terrorists using weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). Indeed, then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice made the case for toppling Saddam Hussein’s regime by ominously stating, “We don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.” 

Yet, the bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon is a tragic reminder that the more likely terrorist threat has been (and will continue to be) old-fashioned explosives — otherwise known as improvised explosive devices or IEDs.

And unlike WMDs, IEDs are relatively cheap and easy. McVeigh’s truck bomb is estimated to have cost him $5,000 for the truck and all the materials. Backpack IEDs probably cost a few hundred dollars, if that. None of the component parts needed to build an IED are illegal (the Boston backpack bombs are believed to have been built using pressure cookers as the containers, black powder or gunpowder as the explosive charges, and nails, BBs, and ball bearings as shrapnel). And the know-how to build IEDs is pervasive.

So what should we do now that threat has come to roost at home?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Terrorists Are Winning … Now We’re Scared Of GI Joe’s

 

Operation Overkill: Armed Cops Swoop On Action Man Looking For A Mortar After Owner Posts Picture Of TOY Weapon On Facebook

 

 

 

” There were five police officers at the door, two of them carrying submachine guns.

And they were ready to smash the door open so it was fortunate Ian Driscoll was in when they pulled up outside his home.

They had come in search of a deadly mortar tube – spotted in the background of a picture that Mr Driscoll had posted on Facebook.

Mr Driscoll, 43, did indeed have a mortar in the home and promptly showed it to the squad.

It was a toy.

After inspecting the model mortar, the rather embarrassed team of officers apologised and took their leave.

‘I couldn’t believe someone thought it was real,’ said Mr Driscoll, a model maker, at his home in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.

‘It’s tiny and quite clearly a toy. I can’t stop laughing. I think it’s hilarious.’

The mortar, or at least part of it, was featured in a picture Mr Driscoll took of an Action Man figure and a toy Alsatian dog.

He posted the picture on Facebook ‘as a laugh’ because he says he looks rather like the Action Man figure and owns an Alsatian.

The mortar was near to a TV remote control which showed how small it was. Nevertheless, someone called in the police.”

 

Just how cowardly have we in the west become ? 

 

 

 

 

Related articles

• “It’s tiny!”: Man’s home raided by armed cops because of TOY mortar picture on Facebook (mirror.co.uk)
• Armed police storm house fearing owner Ian Driscoll had mortar after he posted picture of 6in-tall Action Man weapon on Facebook (dailymail.co.uk)

Fear And Submission , Tools Of The State

Lawlessness or Armed Citizens

 

” Are you beginning to get the picture? Anti-gun laws are not and never have been designed to disarm a citizenry for the purpose of public safety. They are a precursor to far more nefarious laws and actions by government agents all of which have been and will be designed to drive individuals into fear and then submission. ”

 

 

 

 

” If you really want to know what you are dealing with when you talk to friends, family members or neighbors who are of the anti-gun persuasion I highly recommend you read and take to heart the wisdom that Rabbi Bendory imparts in his article.

We are dealing with individuals within the executive, legislative, and judicial branches at both the state and federal level who have conspired – along with their money power brokers – to deliberately subdue any group or groups to which they feared loosing their power; hated because of their moral persuasions; or stood as a force against illegal proclamations which included murder and overt acts of theft. This egregious assault on any human’s natural right to self defense is always draped in the palatable lie of “public safety”.

The convoluted thinking of those in power is brought home in the opinion expressed by Florida Justice Rivers H. Buford in the early part of the 20th century who wrote explaining a Florida gun control statute:

“I know something of the history of this legislation. The original Act of 1893 was passed when there was a great influx of negro laborers in this State drawn here for the purpose of working in turpentine and lumber camps. The same condition existed when the Act was amended in 1901 and the Act was passed for the purpose of disarming the negro laborers . . . . The statute was never intended to be applied to the white population and in practice has never been so applied. . . .[T]here has never been, within my knowledge, any effort to enforce the provisions of this statute as to white people, because it has been generally conceded to be in contravention of the Constitution and non-enforceable if contested.” ”

 

 

Related articles

• Eleven States To Jail Feds Who Violate The 2nd Amendment (fromthetrenchesworldreport.com)
• oldranger_68 liked James Φοίνιξ’s discussion Lawlessness or Armed Citizens (12160.info)
• Oligarchies and tyrants “mistrust the people and therefore deprive them of their arms.” (12160.info)
• Proposed Amendments to 18 U.S.C. 1030 (volokh.com)
• Growing Circuit Split Over Removal Statutes (circuitsplits.com)
• Arizona Legislature Attempting to Make Enforcement of Federal Firearms Law a Felony (thetruthaboutguns.com)

Fear and Gloom and Re-Elected … ???

 

As 2d Term Looms, Obama’s Hope and Change Become Fear and Gloom

 

 

 

” Faced with the prospect of 1,478 more days of empty Obama promises and speeches, at least half of Americans have now decided that America’s best days are behind us. While whopping majorities expect this year’s economy will remain troubled. That federal deficits will continue. That crime will increase. Taxes too. Along with foreign turmoil. While America’s influence and power decline globally.

Good thing these geniuses voted to return the Chicago crowd to the White House to handle all this. Again.

The post-New Year’s Gallup survey finds that less than half the population (47%) now believes the country’s best days lie ahead. Optimism about the future of the United States has been a standard popular expectation for many years and a staple of political discourse. Remember Ronald Reagan’s “Morning in America”? But half the country is sure those days are as far gone now as Obama’s promises of 2008.

A majority of independents (55%) are convinced the best is past, while three-out-of-four Republicans agree on that gloomy outlook. (Scroll down for an effective political video capturing that sense.)

Sixty-nine percent of Democrats, however, are sure the nation’s best days lie ahead, possibly due to mental damage from previous drug use. While only 28% of Dems agree with independents and the GOP.

By a nearly two-to-one margin Americans are certain that 2013 will see 12 months of economic troubles. That seems like a pretty safe expectation since that’s what we’ve had for four years of this administration, despite $800 billion-plus in wasted economic stimulus. Call it Obama Continuity. “

 

 

 

 

Related articles

• Gallup Poll: 65 Percent Of Americans Believe That 2013 Will Be A Year Of Economic Difficulty (infiniteunknown.net)
• Americans Ring in New Year Drinking Doomsday Kool-Aid At Alarming Rate! (12160.info)
• Doom and Gloom Follows Post Election Mood (usdailyreview.com)
• Christmas Cheer Giving Way to Fiscal Cliff Fears (voanews.com)

Face it , There is Only One Party of Grownups in This Race

Investors Business Daily

  ” There’s no question that a sober discussion about the proper size and scope of government would be welcome. And Ryan has proved
himself more than capable of engaging in such a dialogue. But don’t expect anything even
remotely resembling that from today’s Democrats. The party of FDR these days is only interested in one thing: spreading fear.

   To get a taste of the Democrats’ “sober” and “serious” approach to big issues, consider the ad a liberal group ran last May attacking Ryan’s
Medicare reform. That ad depicted a Ryan lookalike shoving a screaming, wheelchair bound woman off a cliff. Not one prominent Democrat decried that ad.”

The Smell of Fear

  Is panic setting in ?  Jennifer Rubin seems to thinks so .

“Why has the Obama team been publicly wailing about losing out to Mitt Romney in the money race? Why would the president accuse his opponent of not merely being wrong or unqualified but criminal ? After all, the polls are tied, so why so much worry in Obamaland? “