DML Morning Briefing, Nov. 16

Today is November 16. Below are some of the stories grabbing headlines this morning. I hope you share this briefing as doing so will make you the smartest person in the room.

1.US missile defense requires greater investment, modernization, expert says
FoxNews–The U.S. must invest more in its missile defense system to prepare for the growing and advancing threat of weapons capabilities as China and other nations start to acquire hypersonic weapon capabilities, a missile defense advocate told Fox News Digital.

“We’re below one and a half percent of our defense budget on defensive capabilities,” said Riki Ellison, former NFL linebacker and founder of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance. “That’s pretty ridiculous. The most vocal is the Department of Defense because that’s what it is. So, we are way off balance with lack of defensive capabilities.”

Ryan Lynch: With our current administration, Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea I do think we should allocate some of our defense spendings towards more defensive capabilities.

2.NATO chief says Poland blast likely caused by Ukrainian missile — but not Ukraine’s fault
CNBC–NATO said there was no indication that the missile strike that hit a Polish border village on Tuesday night was deliberate, saying that Russia was ultimately to blame as it continues to bombard Ukraine with missiles.

The military alliance’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, said the missile incident took place “as Russia launched a massive wave of rocket attacks across Ukraine.”

While the investigation was ongoing into the incident, he said, “there was no indication this was the result of a deliberate attack” and no indication it was a result of “offensive military actions against NATO.”

Preliminary analysis, as previously reported, suggests the incident was caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile fired to intercept a Russian missile.

Ryan Lynch: Every day this war continues to go on the possibility of a full-blown conflict increases. Poland is a NATO nation, attacking one is an attack on all. This entire situation could have created a domino effect of decisions that could lead to WW3. The story is now being changed from Russian missiles to Ukrainian ones, is that by coincidence?

3.FBI is planning to EXTRADITE Sam Bankman-Fried from Bahamas – as crypto contagion from FTX collapse spreads to $20BN BlockFi that is preparing for bankruptcy
DailyMail–American and Bahamian authorities are discussing the possibility of bringing FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to the United States for questioning, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing three people familiar with the matter.

SBF’s collapsed crypto exchange FTX, which filed for bankruptcy in the United States last week, has fanned fears about the future of the crypto industry after it outlined a ‘severe liquidity crisis’.

Since then regulators have opened investigations and lawmakers have called for clearer rules on how the industry operates.

Ryan Lynch: Bankman-Fried should be brought back to the states to be investigated. A lot of people lost money and there are a lot more shady things going on revolving around FTX. Bankman-Fried also donated tens of millions of dollars to PACs that funded Democrat candidates in this year’s midterms.

4.Artemis I mission takes flight in historic leap forward for NASA’s moon program
CNN–The historic Artemis I mission took flight in the early hours of Wednesday morning after months of anticipation. The milestone event kicked off a journey that will send an uncrewed spacecraft around the moon, paving the way for NASA to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time in half a century.

The towering, 322-foot-tall (98-meter-tall) Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket lit its engines at 1:47 a.m. ET. It emitted up to 9 million pounds (4.1 million kilograms) of thrust to haul itself off the launchpad in Florida and into the air, streaking vibrantly across the night sky.

Atop the rocket was the Orion spacecraft, a gumdrop-shaped capsule that broke away from the rocket after reaching space. Orion is designed to carry humans, but its passengers for this test mission are of the inanimate variety, including some mannequins collecting vital data to help future live crews.

Ryan Lynch: What are your thoughts on going back to the moon? and would you rather see NASA sending rockets to Mars?

5.Yuma families forced to hire armed guards amid migrant surge, local official says
FoxNews–llegal immigrants have flooded Yuma hospitals and have caused some residents fearing their safety to hire armed security, a Yuma city official told Fox News.

“Two of these families down here actually had to hire private security guards — armed security guards — to keep people out of their yards,” a Yuma county supervisor, Jonathan Lines, told Fox News. “They were constantly having people come into their homes, into their yards, and they were not very respectful.”

Nearly 1 million of the 4 million migrants who have crossed into the U.S. since President Biden took office traveled through Arizona’s southern border, according to Customs and Border Protection. Border Patrol’s Yuma sector saw a 171% increase in migrant crossings between 2021 and 2022.

Ryan Lynch: The border is UNHINGED! We are seeing a record number of illegal aliens crossing the southern border every day. It’s so bad we now need American families to hire private security. This shouldn’t be the America we live in.