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OK Representative Jay Steagall Talks DRONES

Wednesday morning during our regular podcast, Rep. Jay Steagall was with me to talk about drones.

Right before Christmas, you’ll remember, there was a flurry of reported drone activity over the East Coast. Reel after reel of video taken from various places of items identified as drones was posted to social media and the news media was having near hysterics that they could be foreign in nature. I guess when you have an enormous ‘weather’ balloon known to be Chinese flying over air force bases, anything could happen, right?.

Like most good US citizens today, Rep. Steagall wasn’t buying any nonsense. He not only flies planes, he flies drones, so he knows a little bit about the issue.

During the podcast, he told us that he is part of a group that investigates similar incidences and that their investigations indicated that all the drones flying were registered with the FAA. The only reason it looked like there were so many of them was that because many people were filming the same thing from different angles and uploading it to social media. He explained that if there had been as many drones flying as the media made out, they would have been flying into each other and falling out of the sky!

Interestingly, yesterday – just before today’s show – President Trump’s new Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt held her first press conference and the first thing she addressed was the drone ‘freak out’. She said that the drones were all authorized by the FAA – some were being flown by hobbyists, but others were performing research. Now, she didn’t delve deeply into what the ‘research’ was, but the point of the matter was that it wasn’t another ‘Chinese weather balloon’ saga.

In the clip below, Rep. Steagall gives us some background on drones before we started talking about Governor Stitt’s Executive Order to have the Department of Public Safety buy ‘drone protection equipment’ – which they did, at a cost of $30k.

We talked for quite a bit about why Oklahoma would want to have ‘drone protection equipment’ and about how the equipment that was purchased by the Department of Public Safety purchase wasn’t going to do much other than to identify where the controller to the drone was. You’ll want to watch the full live video either here on YouTube or on our Rumble channels.

Because we’d had a run-in with a drone on our property back in 2020, I asked Rep. Steagall about what to do if that ever happened again. Seriously, as tech gets better, we have to understand what great surveillance capabilities these things have – and with cameras, pictures and video can be taken and uploaded to the internet – not good things for privacy! Below is our discussion about what to do if you find a drone flying on your property without permission because, since 2022, that is a misdemeanor. It’s a short video, so watch and then put that info in your back pocket in the event you ever need it…

Weekly News Headlines and Commentary – Week of 1.6.25

Speaker-Elect Hilbert’s Legislative Priority Personifies Everything Wrong With Oklahom Government

ROPE2.org – After reading about our Speaker-Elect’s legislative priorities for the upcoming session, I thought it important – not only to write about it – but to talk about it in a live video (1.3.25). According to the Speaker-Elect, if he passes a cell phone bill and a budget, the House will have been more productive than in previous years.

So what’s wrong with a cell-phone bill? Watch the video, or read the article, either way, I’ve outlined it in bullet points, so it’s easy to follow and understand. Please, explain to those you know who will listen, exactly why this is bad. Oklahomans truly need to understand why we send legislators to the state Capitol, and it’s not to usurp local control and individual liberty.

Oklahoma Government Is Turnign Our Kids Into Commodities – The Women of Broken Trust Speak Out

ROPE2.org – In case it’s hard to share videos, I’ve put together an outline of our interview with Sherrie Conley, Roberta Lewis and Dayna Mooney of Broken Trust. It has three clips embedded and links to the live podcast and might be easier to share with others…

Social Media Post Calling Out Gubernatorial Politics Gets Tons Of Pushback – Makes Point Of Post

ROPE2.org – Though I’ve been at this investigation/writing gig for nearly 20 years, I have been known to publish some stinkers, but this wasn’t about what readers thought it was about…

Here’s the Real Hockey Stick

Robert Bryce Substack – One of the members of one of my ‘climate change is a hoax’ groups turned me on to Robert Bryce. Wow. This guy makes debunking climate change look like a child’s game. He is so easy to read and makes so much sense that I almost order you to read this article and then surf some others.

In this piece he shows that the amount of money going into climate change today is 21 times more than it was 10 years ago. Guess where all that money is coming from? YOUR POCKETS! Again, you’ll want to be with us live to talk to CFACT’s Peter Murphy on Friday (1.10) to hear more and why we’ve got to make this STOP.

Wyngard Files Bill To Eliminate Wind Energy Tax Credit, Save Taxpayers Money

Oklahoma Senate Media – File under “Really Great News”. Although Governor Mary Fallin in one of her few acts of conservative sanity, stopped wind turbine tax credits in 2017 a whole lot of wind energy companies were grandfathered in.

“Senate Bill 239 would eliminate the zero-emission subsidy for wind production after tax year 2025. Eliminating this tax credit will save taxpayers up to $16 million annually.”

It may not be on my timeline – of course I want them all gone next week – but this is a great start and this bill deserves the support of ALL Oklahomans!

Oklahoma Judge Issues Split Decision In Student Pronoun Case

The Oklahoman – So, on one hand, the Board created a rule that was, as the judge said, “valid and enforceable”, but then found that the Bord violated the student’s right to due process by not providing the student an opportunity for a hearing before the Board denied the student’s request to change their pronouns in their school records.

Gosh, is it just me, or does it seem like so much to do with education is simply off course?

Oklahoma To Obtain Drone Monitoring System After Mysterious Sightings In Other States

The Oklahoman – Without any kind of public discussion, Governor Stitt instructed public safety commissioner and homeland security adviser, Tim Tipton, “to procure the systems to support state and local law enforcement in responding to recent unmanned drone activity.”

“Drones and unmanned aerial systems are an exciting new industry here in Oklahoma,” Stitt said. “We want to make sure that industry has room to thrive.”

Awesome. They also collect TONS of information about American citizens as well thanks to all kinds of run-amok federal laws that allow the government to spy on its citizens.

Then, you have renown psychologist Peter Breggin warning that the drones people have reported seeing are “part of a psychological operation to justify a huge power grab by the federal government” likely as a way to control Americans.

Only a select few – and certainly not us plebes – really know what’s going on, but I can say this; as so many other comments our Governor has made in the press, his justification for spending tax dollars on equipment that would help the police ‘respond’ to drones is nothing less than concerning. What does this mean? How would they be used?

Again, our Governor justifies something that could affect all Oklahomans via the idea that ‘it’s good business’. At some point, I sure wish he’d see our liberty as ‘good business’.

Nailing Normal and New Narratives

David Arnett Substack – Really a great article about how Oklahoma ‘news’ tilts left though people like the Editor at the Tulsa World will kick and scream and say it doesn’t. What’s that old saying about, ‘you can’t fix a problem you won’t admit to having’ or some such thing?

This is why ROPE Report will constantly call attention to local substacks/blogs/reporting. The only really great reporting is the reporting done by locals who have skin in the game. Make sure you’re following these people – like David, and our friend V1SUT, Restore Liberty (Wendi Montgomery Dial), Oklahoma State Capitol (former Rep Jason Murphy) and the Sooner Sentinel (former Logan County Commissioner, Marven Goodman) –

Investigative Report: A Bold Bid to Reshape Oklahoma’s House of Representatives

Sooner Sentinel – Here, Goodman dissects and discusses Tom Gann’s filed legislation to change the way business is done in the Oklahoma House. Please read and then let’s support Gann’s effort. It’s the only way to put the power back in the laps of ‘the people’ where it belongs.

Government Strangles The Economy; Each Fed Regulator Kills 100+ Jobs

PJ Media – This has to be put into your internet savings bank and used over and over and over again anytime government wants to see themselves as ‘helping’ us.

Here’s an excerpt from the article: from a 2017 Auburn University study – Each $1 million change in the regulatory budget is associated with a change of about four regulator jobs. With our new update, we now find that a 10% cut in the regulatory budget results in a loss of 21,756 regulatory jobs. Given the average jobs impact of 3 million jobs over the five-year horizon, our updated analysis finds that one regulator costs the U.S. economy the equivalent of 138 private sector jobs per year. Each regulator costs the U.S. economy $11 million annually.

New Feature: Weekly News Headlines And Commentary – Week of 12.30.24

Every week for our newsletter, I compile a list of news articles and add a bit of commentary. Because I just need another thing to do in the week, I’m going to begin posting those here on the website as well. Hopefully, this posting will make it easier for readers to share!

PS: HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Are state report cards too good to be true?

KTUL Tulsa – A really good story about how Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters has allowed school report cards to be changed to show students performing MUCH better than they are in reality. This is truly awful and yet, not only has it happened, but even after the public has been notified, nothing appears to be in the works to restore transparency and solve the problem.

The New House Committee System of Consolidated Power: A Death Blow To Real Wind Turbine Reform?

Jason Murphey – Recently, our new speaker-elect, Kyle Hilbert, chose to make sweeping changes in the way committees in the House are constructed. Murphey explains the problem with the new system – basically that the people will be locked out (which is what Representative Tom Gann warned when he ran against him for Speaker). Please read and share.

Gann Proposes Sweeping Reforms To Restore Transparency To House Of Representatives

Oklahoma House Media – Tom Gann essentially explains what he would have done if he were speaker and what SHOULD be done now that speaker-elect Hilbert will take the reins of the House (unless there is a mutiny and the House members turn on Hilbert and vote for Gann – I suggest we all get on our knees and pray for that outcome). Again, please read and share. Knowledge can translate to power if it is used correctly.

Oklahoma To Obtain Drone Monitoring Systems After Mysterious Sightings In Other States

Oklahoma Voice – From the article: “Drones and unmanned aerial systems are an exciting new industry here in Oklahoma,” Stitt said. “We want to make sure that industry has room to thrive.”

Because the technology is new, the state doesn’t have all the measures in place to ensure protection from those who wish to cause harm, Stitt said.

“The activity happening in New Jersey and across the country is unsettling,” Tipton said in a statement. “While we’ve only had a few reports of drone activity in Oklahoma, we want to be ready in case the need arises.”

If you don’t see how absolutely RIDICULOUS the nonsense in yellow is, I’m not sure what to do to help you. Drones are absolutely the WORST for breaching personal liberty/privacy and here is our Governor using unknown tax dollars for unknown surveillance purposes. FILE UNDER REALLY BAD FOR OKLAHOMAN’S PERSONAL LIBERTY AND PRIVACY.

‘Godfather of AI’ Geoffrey Hinton Warns of Existential Threat to Humanity Within A Decade

Breitbart – If you’ve not seen the movie Terminator (and if you haven’t, where have you been?) you’ll not really understand the horror AI can become. Once Skynet became aware, it declared war on humanity, creating robots with titanium skeletons covered in human skin, to seek out and destroy any humans who had survived the nuclear war it started to remove them from the earth.

I get it. It was a movie. But I would like to draw attention to one thing – a person actually – George Orwell. If Orwell could so accurately predict the hell of authoritarian government that today we’re able to describe many government programs as ‘Orwellian’, let’s not be so quick to overlook Cameron and Gayle Hurd’s tale of computer programming gone awry.

Not only that, but AI is a HUGE energy hog and will require “even more energy than we thought“. Where will that come from? Wind turbines? Solar installations? Toxic lithium batteries? Oklahoma legislators must get a handle on this NOW and we must make sure they do.

Osage Tribe Wins Again, Federal Judge Orders “Ejectment” Of 84 Wind Turbines By Next December

Robert Bryce; Substack – While this is certainly a win for the Osage tribe, who have been fighting this fight for years apparently, this is also a spectacular win against WIND ENERGY if for no other reason than this; Enel (the Italian wind energy company responsible for the turbines) has said it will take 300 million dollars to remove 84 turbines. That’s 3.6 million dollars per turbine.

Now think…you are a landowner who signs a contract for a wind turbine on your property. Are you going to be required to come up with 3.6 million dollars to remove that turbine once it’s broken beyond repair? Food for thought, huh?r

Blue Whale Materials Bartlesville expansion moving forward

FOX 23 News – So THIS is why Governor Stitt was in South Korea recently – to sign yet ANOTHER OUT OF STATE company to come here. So glad Oklahoma is “open for business”, Governor Stitt. Thanks to the dispersal of MORE tax dollars to new, private businesses – this time by the DOE in the amount of 100 million dollars – Blue Whale Materials can come into Bartlesville and recycle lithium batteries. Lithium is toxic to humans and the environment and has been the cause of numerous fires from solar installations to airplanes. Why do we keep chasing the GREEN AGENDA and putting Oklahomans at risk? I’m gonna guess dollars, because Blue Whale is – at best – only going to employ 100 people. But then, isn’t that what Canoo said, only to leave Oklahoma high and dry on every one of its promises?

What Homeschoolers Need To Know About the “Make Homeschool Safe Act”

HSLDA – Representative Amanda Swope and former Representative Joe Dorman of the Oklahoma Institute For Child Advocacy (I won’t help them out by providing a link to their organization), spent an entire interim study warning legislators about the hidden dangers of homeschooling, more than likely in preparation for legislation to curtail the practice in order to ‘make Oklahoma children safe’. Of course this is nonsense. Oklahoma is the only state in the union that promises unfettered homeschooling by way of its constitution and if you don’t believe me, visit our friends at the Constitutional Home Educators Alliance. Homeschoolers aren’t the ones in the news on a continual basis facing allegations of sexual – and other – misconduct with students. We need to watch out for this kind of legislation that would stifle the liberty Oklahoma homeschool students are famous for. Amanda Swope has since left the legislature, but OICA will not rest until the practice of schooling our own children has been hamstrung in the name of…wait for it…’safety’. Please continue to follow us for updates.

Recent Studies Freeze Climate Alarmist Claims

PJ Media – Just another reason why Governor Stitt should abandon his whole, “more of everything” approach to energy in Oklahoma. CO2 is good. Climate changes on a regular basis. End of discussion.

Seifried files bill empowering schools to adopt ‘bell to bell’ cell phone policies

Oklahoma Senate Media – Legislators to anyone asking them for public school legislation that would stop Common Core, or SEL, “We believe in LOCAL CONTROL. That’s for the school board to decide.” Oh, okay, WELL WHAT ABOUT THIS THEN? Massive overreach. Individual school boards should decide cell phone policy. What a giant bunch of baloney! Let’s make sure to tell Ms. Seifried that school boards decide school policy and that she should quit meddling in school board business.

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