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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Empire Strikes Back: Attack of the Drones
"The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home." --James Madison
Drones -- unmanned aerial vehicles -- come in all shapes and sizes, from nano-sized drones as small as a grain of sand that can do everything from conducting surveillance to detonating explosive charges, to massive "hunter/killer" Predator warships that unleash firepower from on high. Once used exclusively by the military to carry out aerial surveillance and attacks on enemy insurgents abroad, these remotely piloted, semi-autonomous robots have now been authorized by Congress and President Obama for widespread use in American airspace. The military empire is coming home to roost.
While there are at least 63 active drone sites around the U.S., the Obama administration is calling for drone technology to be integrated into the national air space by 2015. By 2020, just eight short years from now, it is estimated that at least 30,000 of these drones will be crisscrossing the nation's skies, serving a wide range of functions, both public and private, governmental and corporate. The end result, however, will be the same: we will find ourselves operating under a new paradigm marked by round-the-clock surveillance and with little hope of real privacy, a paradigm foisted upon us and from which there will be no escape, short of living in a cave, far removed from the reach of modern technology. Caves, by the way, are rather scarce.
While the legislative vehicle for this rapid transition into a surveillance state came in the guise of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill, passed by Congress and signed into law by Obama in February 2012, it was steamrollered into place after intense corporate lobbying by drone makers and potential customers hoping to capitalize on the $12 to $30 billion per year industry.
Drones -- unmanned aerial vehicles -- come in all shapes and sizes, from nano-sized drones as small as a grain of sand that can do everything from conducting surveillance to detonating explosive charges, to massive "hunter/killer" Predator warships that unleash firepower from on high. Once used exclusively by the military to carry out aerial surveillance and attacks on enemy insurgents abroad, these remotely piloted, semi-autonomous robots have now been authorized by Congress and President Obama for widespread use in American airspace. The military empire is coming home to roost.
While there are at least 63 active drone sites around the U.S., the Obama administration is calling for drone technology to be integrated into the national air space by 2015. By 2020, just eight short years from now, it is estimated that at least 30,000 of these drones will be crisscrossing the nation's skies, serving a wide range of functions, both public and private, governmental and corporate. The end result, however, will be the same: we will find ourselves operating under a new paradigm marked by round-the-clock surveillance and with little hope of real privacy, a paradigm foisted upon us and from which there will be no escape, short of living in a cave, far removed from the reach of modern technology. Caves, by the way, are rather scarce.
While the legislative vehicle for this rapid transition into a surveillance state came in the guise of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill, passed by Congress and signed into law by Obama in February 2012, it was steamrollered into place after intense corporate lobbying by drone makers and potential customers hoping to capitalize on the $12 to $30 billion per year industry.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-w-whitehead/attack-of-the-drones_b_1464244.html
How much of our freedoms should we sacrifice to these invasive drones and how much money should be wasted on building worthless drones for worthless reasons?
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The Empire Strikes Back: Attack of the Drones (Original Post)
The Northerner
Apr 2012
OP
AtomicKitten
(46,585 posts)1. 7 threads posted by you on the very same topic.
I think you definitely need 8.
8 is the number.
First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to 8, no more, no less.
8 shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be 8.
Nine shalt thou not count, neither count thou seven, excepting that thou then proceed to 8.
Ten is right out.
Once the number 8, being the eighth number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it.
okieinpain
(9,397 posts)2. I'm pretty sure they are already doing it. n/t.
msongs
(67,193 posts)3. foreign terrorists have nothing on domestic ones...and the droning of the US is terrorism IMO nt
Unaccountable
(30 posts)4. Spam deleted by gkhouston (MIR Team)