The President's Daily Brief - February 16th, 2023. The Skies Over the U.S. Are Filled with... Mexican Cartel Drones?

Episode Date: February 16, 2023

It’s February 16th. You’re listening to the President’s Daily Brief. Your morning intel starts now. ------ A good day to you, ladies and gentlemen. I’ve got five briefs for you this morning that are shaping America — and the world. First, there’s been a lot of talk about balloons lately but we should really talk about drones. Specifically the ones being flown over America by Mexican cartels. That’s coming up. Then, for our second and third briefs, I’ve got two updates on the stuff that powers your life and our country: and that is, energy. Turns out your car is going to have lots of options for years to come on how to fill up with either oil or that Dirty Green stuff. Fourth, an update out of Japan that impacts the alliances that America is trying to build as a part of our fight with China. Finally, we’re heading back to Central Africa this morning, where three countries are talking about a new partnership that could impact our ability to make aluminum, of all things. Later, we close out the podcast with an observation of mine about affirmative action. I’ve got a new poll for you to consider, published just months before the Supreme Court announces whether it’s lawful to consider race and ethnicity when accepting kids into America’s universities and colleges.  ----- Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief. Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Hey, good day to you, ladies and gentlemen. I've got five briefs for you this morning that are shaping America and the world. First, there has been a lot of talk about balloons lately, but we should really talk about drones, specifically the ones being flown over America by Mexican cartels. That's coming up. And for our second and third briefs, I've got two updates on the stuff that powers your life and our country. And that, of course, is energy. Turns out that your car is going to have lots of options for years to come on how to fill up that tank with some gas or that dirty green stuff. Fourth, an update out of Japan that impacts the alliances that America is trying to build as a part of our fight with China. Finally, we're heading back to Central Africa this morning, where three countries are talking about a new partnership that could impact our ability to make aluminum of all things. Later, we close out the podcast with an observation of mine about affirmative

action. I've got a new poll for you to consider published just months before the Supreme Court announces whether it's lawful to consider race and ethnicity when accepting kids into America's universities and colleges. But before we get to that, folks, we got to get started with this. If you've been looking into the sky for UFOs or Chinese spy balloons, well, you might want to look for drones instead, specifically ones on the southern border with Mexico, because odds are you will see some. And unfortunately, they're operated by Mexican cartels trying to evade or even target U.S. law enforcement. So here is what we know this morning. Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives invited members of the National Border Patrol and local law enforcement officials to talk about what they are seeing on the southern border. Well, a fellow named Benny Martinez from the Brooks County Sheriff's Department down in Texas said that of the many threats that he and his colleagues face, one is drones.

State and local police, he said, have observed nearly 2,000 drones flying overhead in just the past month. His comments were echoed last week by the congressional testimony of Chief Patrol agent Gloria Chavez, who said that in her Rio Grande sector down in Texas, the Border Patrol has faced over 10,000 drone incursions and 25,000 drone sightings in just one year, all run by the Mexican cartels. Now compare those numbers to what the Border Patrol says it has, said this same Chief Chavez, quote, the cartels have 17 times the number of drones we do, twice the amount of flight hours, and unlimited funding to grow their operations. Well, this begs the question, what are the cartels doing with these drones? What's the operational advantage that they gain?

Well, according to the Border Patrol, the drones are basically scouts and spies. They help the cartels understand where the border agents are at at any particular time, also their patrol patterns. And it shows them the installation of any new equipment like cameras or sensors, all so that they can be either evaded or destroyed. So you might be wondering, how does one stop this? Well, one person who testified said, quote, we need to beef up our intel. We need to know where the drones are coming from, where they go to land, and the networks of people that operate them. With that, we can be much more successful. By the way, that was the advice of Brandon Judd of the National Border Patrol Council. So that's the latest out of Washington, D.C. this morning on this drone threat.

Let me now pivot from facts and data to my analysis and opinion based on my years of experience. So, folks, this issue can be solved, both operationally and technologically. At a minimum, there's jamming equipment that will shut down drone transmission capabilities with a snap of a finger. or if you're looking for more aggressive solutions, we can identify these cartel operators and watch where they come from and where they go to. And then with that intel, yeah, you kill them or you blow up their infrastructure. So those are just a couple of options, right? Many more. But what would you do? Because it seems like at a minimum, we ought to be jamming these Mexican cartel drones. It's fairly low risk and high reward.

Now, as for the lethal options, killing the cartel members or blowing up their infrastructure, well, reasonable people can disagree on this one, but I will say that America's politicians have largely avoided doing this because they're afraid. They're afraid of upsetting the Mexican government or escalating the fight with cartels that could cause potentially more violence on the border or an increase in asylum applications by scared locals down in Mexico. But that fear in Washington, D.C., however reasonable, actually gets to the heart of the problem. The cartels do this with drones or they just come across the border illegally, because y'all, they don't fear a response by the U.S. government. In fact, they don't fear the U.S.

government at all, not really. And that's because they know we are afraid. So until that, changes until your leaders change, the cartels will keep using drones or whatever technology to do as they please. Just keep that in mind the next time you vote. For our second and third briefs today, we've got some big news in the world of energy. So let's start with the announcement yesterday from the Biden administration about electric vehicles, specifically about a billion dollar plan to build out a national electric vehicle charging network. So to refresh our memories on this one, Mr. Biden's Inflation Reduction Act,

which was really about dirty green energy, it had $7.5 billion to help build out an electric vehicle or EV charging network. So his goal is 500,000 charging stations by the year 2030, which is quite aspirational. The largest owner of existing charging stations, which is the company Tesla, They only have around 7,000 these charging stations right now spread throughout the country.

But Mr. Biden is not deterred, and that is because he has $7.5 billion of your money to incentivize companies to get these things built. And if companies want a slice of that billion dollar pie, they have to follow some new rules, all that were announced yesterday. So let's talk about a few of them. First, all new charging stations who want these federal dollars, must support something called the combined charging system plug standard. All right, basically, that means that instead of each electric vehicle company having their own standards of plugs,

well, think about, let's say, an American appliance versus a European appliance. Well, from here on out, there can only be one style of plug, and that's called this CCS plug. And that'll be a change mostly for Tesla, because they have one standard as compared to everybody else, who has a different one. Now, second, there's a new rule that these federally funded charging stations must be up and running at least 97% of the time once installed. And that's actually been a problem nationally. Some stations have been down for days or weeks at a time with software glitches or power outages. So third, and this rule, by the way, is effective immediately. All of these federally funded charging systems must be assembled in the United States. And there are.

steel enclosures, which are sort of like the gas pump, those must be made in America too. Meanwhile, the guts inside of these charging stations, the electronic gadgetry and software, well, that must be 55% made in America by the year 2024. So there are some other interesting developments related to this announcement, namely that Tesla has agreed to open up its private network of those 7,000 chargers to non-Tesla owners. But the big takeaway, is that this dirty green revolution, folks, it is underway whether we like it or not. One last thing to mention here, there was no conversation yesterday with this announcement and all the new rules about the electric substations that will need to be built to support all these 500,000 charging stations.

So you might remember that issue from a brief that I gave you on November 30th, where I shared that these new power stations, especially at the truck stops, need as a much electricity as required by a small city. And that, in turn, requires new infrastructure like substations to be built, which can take years and millions of dollars. Anyway, lots more on this to come. Personally, I'm wondering where we are going to get the technicians to install and service these new charging stations. Might be a new career if you're looking for one. At any rate, that is why I will be watching this issue, folks. And I'll That's why I will keep you posted.

For our third brief this morning, we are going to move from dirty green energy to traditional energy. And the headline here is the need for oil is not going anywhere. In fact, according to the International Energy Agency, the world will burn more oil this year than ever before. And a big reason for that is China. And that's because, as PDB listeners know, China threw off its zero COVID policies this past winter. and let the virus run just wild to get on with it. Well, that outbreak has come and gone, and the country is now reopening. And that means more energy is needed, which includes oil and coal, too, by the way.

So all told, said this International Energy Agency, or IEA, the world will consume a record 101.9 million barrels of oil a day this year. But that record won't stand for long. The IEA says the demand for oil will increase for the next 25 years. And then, depending on the dirty green revolution, demand might start to taper off. So all in all, folks, it looks like you are going to have options for a very long time to come when you fill up that car, whether it be electric or gas. With that, ladies and gentlemen, let's take a quick break. When we come back, I've got two more critical pieces of news for you.

So hang tight, and we will be right back. Kayak gets my flight, hotel, and rental car right. So I can tune out travel advice that's just plain wrong. Bro, Skycoin, way better than points. Never fly during a Scorpio full moon. Just tell the manager you'll sue. Instant room upgrade. Stop taking bad travel advice.

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First up, we've got a brief about Cold War II, but this one's a little unusual. It's about nuclear waste and how an accident almost 12 years ago in Japan is creating some problems today, all as we gear up for a fight against China. So here's that story with a bit of history. Next month marks the 12-year anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, where an earthquake damaged the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Now, as you probably recall, three of the nuclear reactors were damaged, creating all sorts of environmental crises.

Now, since then, it's largely been cleaned up. For instance, atmospheric radiation levels have dropped to normal. The damaged reactor buildings have been reinforced, and robots have located the melted fuel for future decommissioning. But one challenge that remains is what to do with the contaminated water. because what the Japanese have had to do is pump in millions of gallons of water to those damaged reactor cores, all to keep them cool. And then, once it's done cooling, well, the water gets pumped into storage tanks.

Along the way, the water gets contaminated with about 62 radioactive elements. But what's interesting is that the Japanese have been able to treat that water and remove virtually all of the toxic elements. but a trace of one called tritium remains. Still, there's been a lot of anxiety about this treated water and what to do with it. And so that's why it all now sits in a massive expanse of storage tanks, tanks that are about 96% full. And so that's why the Japanese government says it is time to release this very safe, treated water back into the Pacific Ocean. Now, slowly, over time, they say, but release it. Well, other governments in the region, to include our Cold War II partners, South Korea,

and island countries like Micronesia and the Marshall Islands, well, they are all saying, yeah, we're not so sure about that, prove to us that this water is really, truly safe. So over the past six months, the Japanese have been doing just that. So for instance, they've created tanks with fish, where some are put into this treated water and others into pure ocean water. And then, well, they go fishing and they test the meat of these, well, nuclear fish to determine it that, yeah, that fish are perfectly healthy. Well, those efforts by the Japanese government has, in fact, persuaded some otherwise reluctant governments to support the release of this treated water back into the ocean.

So, for instance, Micronesia, about one week ago, dropped their very very, very, fervent opposition after months of protesting. But others like South Korea mayn a little bit more leery. Now, guess who is taking advantage of this division? Yeah, the Chinese. The government of China released a statement a week ago saying, quote, China and the international community are seriously concerned about Japan's unilateral decision to discharge nuclear polluted water into the sea. And we hope that Japan will effectively handle it in a more open, transparent, scientific, and safe manner. Right. The point, folks, is that Beijing, as ever, is using whatever leverage they can to separate the growing alliances of Pacific Asian countries, you know, to peel them off from the American herd.

At any rate, I will be watching how this affects our battle for the Pacific. And that's because Japan plans on releasing this treated water at some point earlier this spring or early summer. Get the most out of your vehicle with GM genuine parts and AC Delco original equipment. The only parts designed, engineered, tested, and backed by General Motors. You can find your perfect fit for most makes and models and choose from three tiers of parts, including GMOE or gold and silver aftermarket parts. Visit gmparts.com for more information. Who cares about your poops?

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Switching gears for our last brief of the morning. We focus now on Central Africa and the great city names like Owoogadougou. So we've got an interesting development on two of the countries that we've discussed, Burkina Faso and Mali. Plus one country that we haven't, and that is the country of Guinea. So let's talk about these folks, because they are really interesting. Now, if you look at a map on your computer or your phone or in your mind, I want you to find Western Africa, specifically looking at the coast that hugs the Atlantic Ocean. So if you zoom in, you will see a city called Connacry.

That's the capital of the country of Guinea, which is a former French colony that, well, to put it mildly, has been a bit of a wreck over the past 50 years. There have been dictators and coups and then another dictator, some tribal warfare. It's horrifically sad. Thousands of people displaced or killed. Not exactly a place where you'd buy a retirement home, that's the point. But it's a shame because it's quite beautiful and blessed with natural resources of all kinds like bauxite, which is smelted to form aluminum. In fact, Guinea has one of the largest bauxite reserves in the world.

And as it turns out, the United States really needs that bauxite. We import upwards of 99% of the bauxite that we need for the aluminum that we create. which is why, my friends, we should care about this. Last week, the governments of Burkina Faso, Molly, and Guinea, which, by the way, are all led by militaries and all very friendly with Russia, they met in the city of Uwagadugu, and they announced that they would form a regional partnership, maybe even a new federation of some sort.

Now, exactly how this would work remains unknown, but the idea is that the two landlocked countries of Burkina Fovina, and Mali, would benefit from the port access provided by Guinea on the coast. In other words, they would fuse their railroad networks to better exploit the region's minerals and agricultural products and then export them out of Guinea. Plus, these governments said, they could better coordinate and share resources when targeting the Islamic militants who are attacking all three countries. So that's why I'm watching this closely, because depending on how this shakes out, we could see an uptick in operations against Islamic radicals that in turn scatters those terrorists

to different parts of Western Africa or beyond. Plus, it's also worth watching to see what the Russians do here. And that's because, as PDB listeners know, Moscow and its paramilitary organization called the Wagner Group are very active in this region. In fact, they even secured mining rights to gold and other precious metals. But you know what? I'm going to be honest with you. I like briefing you about Central Africa because it gives me the chance to say Tim Buktu and

whoogadugidugu. And you know what, now you get to say it too. And with that, ladies and gentlemen, we conclude your morning brief. But I've got one more thing before I let you go. We'll be right back. Welcome back to the PDB folks. I've got one more thing before I let you go. So over the next few months, the U.S. Supreme Court will rule in a couple of cases

regarding affirmative action, which, as you all know, are the rules and quota systems that say that people should be chosen or hired because of the color of their skin, all in an attempt to remedy past racial discrimination. Now, on the PDB, I generally avoid talking about these kinds of combustible social issues, but I've got a poll on this one that asked Americans what they thought of affirmative action, and I wanted to share it with you, not to debate it or even offer an opinion, but to help inform you and those that you love as you all consider what to think about the issue and the upcoming Supreme Court rulings. So yesterday, the news service Reuters released a poll that asked over 4,000 Americans what they thought of affirmative action, either for or

against it, when it comes to admissions to colleges and universities. Sixty-two percent, six-two, said that affirmative action is wrong. And that's quite remarkable, especially in one sense, to get 62% of Americans to agree on anything. But there was also this. 52%, 5% of folks who are minorities were also opposed. In other words, a slight majority of black and brown folks said that they would rather people be judged on their merits or their abilities, not the color of their skin. And to me, that was pretty remarkable. To me, it's a barometer of the character of the American people, of all races and ethnicities.

So I don't know how the Supreme Court will rule on this. The cases involve lawsuits against Harvard and the University of North Carolina. Both promote the applications of black and Hispanic students over white and Asian students. At least that's the allegation. And so while I don't know what the rulings will be, I do know this. if the court strikes down affirmative action, especially in higher education, a majority of the American people folks will agree with them. So just keep that in mind as this debate kicks up and the rhetoric around race and equality gets really nasty. Just as it does, you now have the facts on where America really stands on this issue, no matter the color of their skin.

So if you're interested, I would love to know what you think about this. Email me through my website, which is Brian Deanewright.com. That's B-R-Y-A-N, D-E-A-N, W-R-I-G-H-D-H-D-C-O-N. Or send me the email at The First as always. And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes your morning brief. As always, we close out the show, reminding each other of why we are here, talking about our country and our world. It's the creed of every good spy and every smart American.

It's from John, chapter 8, verse 32. And you shall know the truth. And the truth shall make you free. Good day. Some follow the noise. Bloomberg follows the money, whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion-dollar swings. There's a money side to every story.

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