Military Drills and Black Helicopters - scheduled without even bothering to inform Local Officials let alone residents..... and note the huge buying of military grade weapons and equipment in Georgia as one example - what are our " Authorities " getting ready for or ready to roll out ?

http://www.blacklistednews.com/Super_Bowl_XLVII_to_Receive_Enhanced_Security_Including_NORAD/24000/0/38/38/Y/M.html

Super Bowl XLVII to Receive Enhanced Security Including NORAD

February 2, 2013

Print Version

By Joe Wright
Activist Post

When the 47th Super Bowl commences tomorrow evening at the New Orleans Superdome, it will receive full security coverage from the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

NORAD has been conducting drills under a security exercise labeled Exercise Falcon Virgo 13-Super Bowl.

According to Government Security News:

The Falcon Virgo exercise, said the command, is a series of training flights in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, FBI, Customs and Border Protection, Civil Air Patrol, the 601st Air and Space Operations Center, and the Continental U.S. NORAD Region’s Western Air Defense Sector. The agencies are part of America’s team for defense of the air space around the nation, including events like the Super Bowl. (Source)

NORAD's presence will be among a bevy of enhanced security measures that will put stadium-goers through unprecedented screening and surveillance, as well as the general traveling public caught in its web.

The official NFL Super Bowl website alerts attendees:

Super Bowl Screening Procedures For Spectators

Security screening at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome will be significantly heightened for the Super Bowl. Many items usually permitted in NFL events will not be allowed into the Super Bowl. The National Football League and the Police Department strongly recommend that spectators minimize the number and size of all items carried into the Dome.

All items carried by spectators will be carefully inspected and potentially not allowed into the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Spectators are urged to bring nothing larger than a very small purse or bag. The NFL, the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and the New Orleans Police Department will not hold prohibited or excluded items for spectators. (Source)

Among the normally prohibited items such as fireworks, camcorders, lasers, knives and other weapons, baby strollers and umbrellas will not be permitted. Highlighting the increased screening process, the NFL states that:

SECURITY SCREENING ON GAME DAY BEGINS AT 1:00 PM PLEASE COME EARLY TO AVOID DELAYS AND SPEED THE ENTRANCE OF ALL SPECTATORS.

While F-15's and customs and border protection agents fly overhead, this Super Bowl is sure to have the latest security gadgets on hand inside the venue as well as the airport and the surrounding area, much as they did for the previous event including smartphone-wielding undercover police sending livestream data to local headquarters, X-ray trucks, and radioactive threat detection, amid the low-tech gropedowns.

This year nearly 70 agencies will combine forces to heighten security with snipers, HAZMAT teams, and an array of land, sea, and air protection according to a CBS report. The video , featuring Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, goes behind the scenes with the FBI to show some of the integrated systems that will be on display for this Super Bowl.

The TSA will once again be inside the venue, and their site states that they will double their presence inside the airport and out on the streets with VIPR teams covering mass transportation:

TSA will be fully staffed and anticipates efficient and safe screening operations at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) checkpoints this weekend. Additional security officers are also being brought to the airport to support the screening of the 50,000 passengers expected over the busy weekend . . .

Super Bowl fans may encounter TSA Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) teams on local transportation venues, including commercial and general aviation facilities and mass transit. Teams augment other federal, state, and local transportation and law enforcement to reduce potential terrorist risks to the traveling public.

TSA assets will also work with law enforcement at Mercedes-Benz Superdome during the high-profile game.

Fans are encouraged to report potentially dangerous situations to law enforcement or someone in authority. The Department of Homeland Security’s“If You See Something, Say Something™” campaign reminds the American public that security is a shared responsibility.

"If You See Something, Say Something™" used with permission of the NY Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

(Source)

Every year since 9/11, we have seen a justification to employ the very same agencies that failed (or supported) that day including the unprecedented stand down of NORAD. Taxpayer dollars continue to pour in for increased military-grade security around entertainment venues and sports. Until people get fed up en masse and boycott these events, we will continue to be looted and groped based entirely on the War on Terror hoax, giving implicit approval for these agencies to expand their activities to any area of America they wish.

http://endthelie.com/2013/02/01/georgia-police-acquired-200-million-worth-of-military-grade-vehicles-and-weapons-through-dod/#axzz2JejFA3nx

Georgia police acquired $200 million worth of military-grade vehicles and weapons through DoD

By Madison Ruppert

Editor of End the Lie

Cobb County Police Department’s armored personnel carrier (Image credits: End the Lie compilation/CrooksandLiars/CobbCountyGA.gov/TheRealIsraelites)

Some 600 police departments and sheriff’s offices in Georgia have joined the many law enforcement agencies nationwide using military-grade equipment, once again raising concerns around local law enforcement’s need for such heavy duty weaponry.

As I reported in 2011, the Pentagon gives away military equipment to law enforcement agencies under the 1033 program in addition to military robots provided by the Department of Defense, police use of armored surveillance vehicles provided for nearly nothing by corporations, law enforcement use of tanks and armored personnel carriers and drones.

According to Georgia’s Department of Public Safety, the military equipment and weaponry owned by law enforcement agencies in the state is worth some $200 million, some of which is possessed by tiny departments with less than 20 officers.

In an attempt to justify this militarization, Bloomingdale Police Chief Roy Pike told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that “officers ‘are armed to meet any threat,’ so criminals should just stay away.”

“Having the equipment precludes having to use it,” Pike said. “In the 20 years I’ve been here, we haven’t had to use deadly force against anybody.”

Yet Pike’s department, with a mere 13 officers, acquired a grenade launcher for shooting tear gas, two M14 semiautomatic rifles and two semiautomatic M16 rifles all through the Pentagon’s 1033 program, according to the Journal-Constitution.

The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, which had 117 sworn law enforcement officers as of 2010, according to their most recent annual report on their website, similarly obtained four grenade launchers.

Highlighting the absurdity and complete lack of necessity behind these acquisitions, the Journal-Constitution reported, “Several local law enforcement officials said if their agencies had to buy the stuff, they’d just do without most of it. But since it’s donated, they find a place for it.”

In other words, they really don’t need it, but since the military is giving it away, they take it anyway and simply “find a place for it,” whatever that means.

Emphasizing the absurdity of this type of activity, Tim Lynch, the director of the Cato Institute’s Project on Criminal Justice said, “When this equipment is given away, police departments start saying, ‘Let’s grab it.’”

Once the military equipment is in the hands of law enforcement agencies, “we have militarized units going into the community in situations where they aren’t warranted,” Lynch said.

Lynch is also the editor of two books, has published articles in law journals and major newspapers, made appearances on national news shows, a member of the Wisconsin, District of Colombia and Supreme Court bars and is heavily involved with the Cato Institute’s National Police Misconduct Reporting Project.

“This is one of the most alarming trends in American policing,” Lynch said, referring to the increasingly common militarization of local law enforcement.

“We used to call them peace officers and they would treat people … with more respect and civility,” he said to the Journal-Constitution. “We’re getting away from that. We’re getting into these military tactics and mindset that the people they (police) come into contact with are the enemy … and part of this is the militarized units in police departments.”

Indeed, it is only logical that the militarized training and military-grade equipment would create a military mindset officers who should be trained to protect and serve.

According to Georgia state records, some of the acquisitions include:

• One armored truck, 106 M16s and eight M14s for the Cobb County Police Department (in addition to a second armored vehicle purchased using federal grant funds)
• One armored personnel carrier, 15 M16s and 12 M14s for the Newnan Police Department
• Two armored personnel carriers and 16 M15 rifles for the Waycross Police Department
• One armored personnel carrier and 17 M14 rifles for the Cartersville Police Department
• One helicopter, one armored truck, 11 M16s and five M14s for the Clayton County Police Department
• One armored personnel carrier for the Doraville Police Department
• One armored truck for the Georgia Department of Corrections
• Seven armored vehicles for the Georgia Department of Homeland Security
• Armored trucks for the Sandy Springs Police Department and Pelham Police Department along with the Gordon, Morgan, Oconee, Pickens and Walton county sheriff’s offices

Overall, some 600 law enforcement agencies in Georgia have obtained 3,532 military-grade rifles, eight grenade launchers, 26 armored trucks/personnel carriers and 26 “unaccounted for weapons,” according to the Journal-Constitution.

According to state records, the U.S. Department of Defense values each of the armored personnel carriers at nearly $245,000 and each of the armored trucks around $65,000.

State records did not list a value for the rifles or grenade launchers, although one can assume that they’re not all that cheap.

Unsurprisingly, proponents of the program claim they save lives – even though, as shown above, agencies say they could do without it if they had to actually buy it – and there is a waiting list of agencies itching to get their hands on armored vehicles and military weapons.

“It gives the … SWAT guys a protection to where they can get closer to the folks shooting at them,” said Don Sherrod.

Sherrod is the Director of Excess Property for the Georgia Department of Public Safety and overseer of the program for the Department of Defense.

According to the Georgia Department of Public Safety, “Excess Property was formally created in 1991 to provide a coordinated means for state and local law enforcement agencies to obtain excess Department of Defense (DOD) equipment.”

Excess Property also assists law enforcement agencies in purchasing equipment using Federal government contracts.

“When you pull up in something … and the bullets start bouncing off, they (criminals) give up,” Sherrod said.

While the Cobb County Police Department said their SWAT team uses their armored vehicles to remove people from a “hot zone” or get officers closer to a “volatile situation,” other agencies have not even used their equipment.

Captain Craig Dodson of the Carroll County Sherrif’s Office, for example, said they haven’t used their grenade launchers or any of their 65 M16 rifles.

“Our goal is to try to equip every patrolman in the law enforcement division with a rifle,” Dodson told the Journal-Constitution.

“The M16 … gives you more capability to penetrate body armor or to make long-distance shots if you are not able to get closer,” Dodson continued. “It’s a safety blanket. We ask people to go out and do a job, and we want to give them the tools to be safe and do the job.”

The Journal-Constitution cites several local residents who are quite concerned by this military buildup.

“What are we headed to?” Asked Candace Garrett Daly, a Cobb County resident. “Whatever it is seems to be already in motion at a breakneck speed. The police are preparing for an enemy. My question is, ‘Who is the enemy?’”

What do you think of the increasing militarization of law enforcement agencies? Let us know in the comments section of this post, on Twitter or on our Facebook page.

Did I forget anything or miss any errors? Would you like to make me aware of a story or subject to cover? Or perhaps you want to bring your writing to a wider audience? Feel free to contact me at admin@EndtheLie.com with your concerns, tips, questions, original writings, insults or just about anything that may strike your fancy.

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http://www.blacklistednews.com/Military_Drills_and_Black_Helicopters_in_U.S._Cities_Spark_Panic/23995/0/38/38/Y/M.html

Military Drills and Black Helicopters in U.S. Cities Spark Panic

February 2, 2013

Print Version

By Alex Newman, The New American
A series of recent military exercises in major cities including Miami and Houston have alarmed residents and even local officials, many of whom were reportedly unaware that the drills would be taking place in their jurisdictions. The Obama administration’s controversial “urban-warfare” scenarios included low-flying black helicopters firing blanks out of machine guns, heavily armed troops rappelling onto buildings, and more.
More than a few commentators have expressed concerns about the true purpose of the training exercises — especially in light oftroubling anti-constitutional political developments in Washington, D.C., and the increasingly unstable economy. However, authorities assured media outlets that there was no cause for alarm and that the drills were just “routine” operations to keep Americans forces ready for urban warfare.

The most recent military exercises to spark mass panic and terror were held this week in Texas — one over Houston and another in Galveston. In southeast Houston, U.S. Army Special Operations forces working with other agencies used unmarked military helicopters to “take over” a local high school in the area as heavily armed men in fatigues ran around firing what most terrorized residents assumed were live rounds.
“When you see this, you think the worst. When you hear this, you think the worst,” area resident Frances Jerrals told a local ABC affiliate after witnessing the highly controversial exercise. “I felt like I was in a warzone. … It was nonstop. I was terrified.” Other residents who spoke with reporters expressed similar sentiments, and emergency services reportedly responded to multiple reports of gun fire throughout the operation.

Police officials later apologized for not warning people about the exercise, though the Army claimed it had at least notified the city’s public safety director. Still, local authorities, including the city council and the mayor, were never informed of the plans. “They should have notified us on this magnitude. They should have let somebody know,” complained Houston Council Member Wanda Adams, who represents the district where the drill took place. Authorities also refused to tell reporters exactly what they were doing, according to local news reports.
In Galveston, meanwhile, residents suffered from a similar simulated military invasion by U.S. Army Special Operations forces working with other agencies; although there, at least, citizens were given advance warning in news reports. According to local media, some 80 soldiers and an unknown number of law enforcement agents firing “simulated ammunition” were involved in the “urban combat” operations. A military spokesman attempted to justify the scheme in a statement e-mailed to reporters.

“We were invited by the city of Galveston to conduct joint training exercises to enhance the effectiveness of both services in order to better protect the residents of Galveston,” claimedArmy spokesman Sgt. 1st Class Michael Noggle without touching on posse comitatus — legal restrictions on the domestic use of the armed forces. “The purpose of the realistic urban training is to give our Special Operators an opportunity to hone their skills in a controlled, but unfamiliar, realistic urban environment that cannot be replicated with the bare-boned facades found on military installation ranges.”

Before simulating “urban warfare” in Texas, the military was also conducting similar drills in Miami, Florida. Multiple videos have emerged online, some from news agencies, of U.S. military Black Hawk helicopters swarming around downtown last week — similar to late-night drills conducted in the city in 2011 without warning that left thousands of residents terrified. Prior to the latest exercises on January 24, however, local authorities issued a statement urging locals not to be alarmed.

“This is routine training conducted by military personnel designed to ensure the military’s ability to operate in urban environments, prepare forces for upcoming overseas deployments, and meet mandatory training certification requirement,” local police claimed in the statement cited in news reports, adding that the locations and times “were carefully selected to minimize negatively impacting the citizens of the City of Miami/Miami-Dade County and their daily routines.”

Still, more than a few residents in the area panicked during the drills. “I heard the machine gun fire and then I hit the deck,” saidJosh Epperson, an artist who was visiting Miami and captured video footage of black military helicopters flying over the freeway firing blanks out of machine guns. “I didn’t know what to expect, and it was one of the loudest things I’d ever heard.”

While the frequency and intensity of such operations have been increasing in recent years, similar controversial military exercises on American soil are nothing new. In fact, as far back as the 1990s, U.S. military personnel have been training with foreign troops serving various governments inside the United States in exercises simulating citizen disarmament and other operations.

More recently, the Obama administration even invited “Airborne Assault” terror troops from Russia to train on U.S. soil in Colorado last year. “The Russian soldiers are here as invited guests of the U.S. government; this is part of a formal bilateral exchange program between the U.S. and Russia that seeks to develop transparency and promote defense reform,” Cmdr. Wendy L. Snyder, U.S. Defense Press Officer for policy, told The New American in an e-mail at the time.

“Aside from typical military training, the exchange will include discussions on the rule of land warfare, developing appropriate rules of engagement, and employing cultural literacy and competency in the tactical environment,” Snyder added. “This type of training is routinely conducted by 10th Special Forces Group.”

Of course, federal law prohibits the use of the U.S. armed forces for domestic law enforcement. But with Washington, D.C., becoming increasingly lawless while expanding its size and scope wildly outside constitutional limitations, citizens and analysts have become quite concerned. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which purports to authorize the arrest and indefinite detention of Americans without charge or trial by the military, has added to the fears.

The latest controversial “urban warfare” drills come in the wake of mass ammunition purchases by the U.S. government that have analysts concerned about what the Obama administration may be preparing for. Combined, civilian federal agencies and departments ranging from “Homeland Security” to the Social Security Administration have purchased hundreds of millions of rounds of ammo in recent months — much of it hollow-point, designed to inflict maximum damage and death.

Also concerning to analysts is the increasing federalization and militarization of local law enforcement, which is supposed to be independent of federal control and accountable to local citizens. As The New American has documented extensively, Washington unconstitutionally handing out U.S. taxpayer money with “strings” attached while offering military weaponry to state and local police forces is becoming increasingly common.
Meanwhile, the federal government is also training law enforcement agencies nationwide to equate peaceful political activism,even displaying mundane and popular bumper stickers, with domestic terrorism. The Justice Department, Homeland Security,military think tanks, and so-called “fusion centers” have all been caught in recent years painting regular Americans — pro-lifers, veterans, Second Amendment supporters, opponents of world government, constitutionalists, and more — as potential terrorists.

Analysts had varying thoughts on the true purpose of the increasing number of military drillsbeing conducted in U.S. cities and communities. Some said the purpose was likely to acclimate Americans to seeing heavily armed troops in their midst despite posse comitatus, which prohibits the use of soldiers in domestic law enforcement. Others suspect somethingeven more sinister. For now, however, the real reason for all of the “urban warfare” training remains uncertain.