Mysterious Drones Spotted Over Paris
Dan Kedmey
Flights over U.S. embassy and landmarks raise surveillance concerns
French police are searching for the pilots behind several mysterious drones that were seen cruising over Paris landmarks and secured compounds on Monday and Tuesday nights.
Unmanned aerial vehicles are already prohibited across the French capital, the Wall StreetJournal reports, but the flights spotted this week have raised surveillance concerns in a city that is on high alert after the January terrorist attacks. The drones were seen flying near the Eiffel Tower, the U.S. Embassy and the Interior Ministry.
Police have not yet established how many drones were involved, or whether there was any connection between the flights.
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Followup Correspondence:Dear B,
I hope you are right and that terrorists do not even speculate about drone technology.
In any event, I do not see the parallel between model planes and the kind of drones that are wildly popular with Parisiennes.
Just now, I google-queried to see how much structural damage plastic explosive can do and one guy (who seemed both knowledgeable and calm) pooh-poohed the ability of 5 pounds of a standard plastic explosive (apparently called "C4") to do much damage if an attack drone simply "struck a building."
Apparently half the explosive force would discharge away from the building.
However, the same fellow went on to say that 5 pounds of C4 might collapse the Capital dome in D.C.
Here is an article concerning the current use of drones by Mexican narcotraficantes to carry illegal drugs into the U.S. http://motherboard.vice.
Excerpt: "The Undersecretary of the SSP, (Public Security Secretariat of Mexico), Francisco Gonzalez, told the Post that the drug-toting drones weigh about 100 pounds and can transport 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of cocaine per trip."
220 pounds of payload is not insignificant. That's 44 times the explosive needed to collapse the Capital dome.
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As for fascism...
I do not see storm troopers in the streets.
But I do see our rapidly-militarizing police becoming very intolerant, not just of black and brown guys but even white guys who trigger slight suspicion.
Plus the threshold of suspicion would plummet in the wake of a significant terror attack.
Even without another attack, I am nervous discussing this matter with you even though my purpose is to brainstorm ways to forfend possible attack.
"The F Word" - Family Physician Of The Year Acceptance Speech By D. Stoltze, M.D.
George Soros: On The Coming Class War In The United States
I hope your studies are going well.
Pax tecum
Alan
On Tue, Feb 24, 2015 at 9:04 PM, B wrote:
Alan-
As you have guessed, I have a lot of thoughts on this topic.
Let's start with drones. Drones are currently getting a lot of press, probably due in large part to Jeff Bezos's idea to deliver Amazon packages to our citizenry. Note that the FAA has put the kibosh on that for the time being:
http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-faa-drone- regulations-2015-2
I don't really see drones as much of a widespread terror threat. I realize that the US Air Force uses drones as instruments of terror on a daily basis around the world:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Atomics_MQ-1_ Predator
Unlike the Predator, the 'Quadcopter' versions that were likely used in the below breaches could be taken out with a well aimed bullet. The issues with using commercially available drones as weapons, is that their payload is highly limited, and their ability to carry defensive mechanisms is limited. I could see them being used as a method of 'pinpoint terrorism,' but I don't think the widespread threat is there. After all, model aircraft have been around since the '50s and haven't been used for much notable nefariousness.
I tend to agree with you that another 9/11 size attack could conceivably usher in fascism. However, I trust that our nation will remain nicely divided into Red States and Blue States and that good ol' fashioned sectionalism would stall the implementation of a fascist government.
I've always thought that every year that goes by without another major terrorist attack strengthens the argument that the Bush administration planned the 9/11 attacks. Obviously, I don't believe they did, but it makes you wonder when a down-on-his-luck man like Timothy McVeigh could so easily rent a Ryder truck and blow up a Federal building, yet the extremely well-financed and sophisticated al-Qaeda has not managed anything on American soil other than a loose connection to the Boston Marathon bombings in the 13.5 years since. B
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Drones Spotted Over Paris Again
For the second time in two days
Drones were again spotted overnight hovering above Paris on Wednesday, prompting an investigation in the city just a day after they were first spotted.
Between 11 p.m. Tuesday and 2 a.m. Wednesday, the unmanned aerial vehicles were spotted above Rue de Vaugirard, the Assembly, the city’s east train station, Porte de Saint-Ouen and Porte de la Chapelle, CNN reports.
Its unclear whether the drones are recreational and to whom they belong, but they’ve put authorities on edge following the terrorist attacks in the city last month.
Just a day earlier, five drones were seen over the Eiffel Tower, the Bastille, Place de la Concorde, Les Invalides and the U.S. Embassy, said Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre, a spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor’s office.
Amazon Drone Delivery Video: http://time.com/3721798/paris-drone-sightings/?xid=gonewsedit&google_editors_picks=true
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