George Clooney's spy satellite

[Lodestar]

I just heard Clooney mention this satellite in a recent interview and thought he was kidding. He was not. So I went googling
to learn more and found that this was not 'new' news. Just new to me. I thought it might be new to many DUers too so thought
I'd post anyway. While I support Clooney's cause I'm horrified that private satellites are legal!!! I think we need to redefine "human rights abuses" to include privately funded spying. What say you?


Actor and activist funds a hi-tech project that is tracking troops and warning civilians of attacks

... Raymond is director of the Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP), which aims to use advanced satellite imagery to monitor potential human rights abuses in Sudan. And it was all Clooney's idea, turning him from just another Hollywood liberal with a pet cause to a genuine expert and campaigner on Sudan. Together with John Prendergast, another campaigner, Clooney has sneaked repeatedly into the country to document the random bombing of civilians and other atrocities.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/mar/24/george-clooney-spies-secrets-sudan

[jakeXT]

1. To quote Ben Affleck "Probably Hollywood is full of CIA agents"

CIA on recruiting Jennifer Garner

http://www.spyculture.com/cia-on-recruiting-jennifer-garner/

[OnyxCollie]

2. If George Clooney is so concerned about civilians being bombed,

he should look at Pakistan, North Waziristan, Yemen, and Somalia.

'Course, that might taint the image of his good buddy, Barack.

[Desert805]

4. derp

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[OnyxCollie]

5. With 42 posts in 3 years,

it's DU's loss that you don't post your in-depth analyses more often.

[Desert805]

6. That's an outrage!

Double derp.

[undeterred]

3. I heard he raised the money by auctioning a chance for a date with him

Last edited Fri Mar 21, 2014, 03:21 PM - Edit history (1)

$10 a chance. $1.2M

Win a Night With George Clooney for Only $10?! It's Possible—Get the Details!

http://www.eonline.com/news/497177/win-a-night-on-the-town-with-george-clooney-for-only-10

[bananas]

7. Telstar was a private satellite, launched in 1962

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telstar

Belonging to AT&T, the original Telstar ...

Launched by NASA aboard a Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral on July 10, 1962, Telstar 1 was the first privately sponsored space launch. ...

Telstar 1, which had ushered in a new age of the commercial use of technology, became a victim of technology during the Cold War. The day before Telstar 1 was launched, the United States had tested a high-altitude nuclear bomb (called Starfish Prime) which energized the Earth's Van Allen Belt where Telstar 1 went into orbit. This vast increase in a radiation belt, combined with subsequent high-altitude blasts, including a Soviet test in October, overwhelmed Telstar's fragile transistors;[13][14][15] it went out of service in November 1962, after handling over 400 telephone, telegraph, facsimile and television transmissions.[8] It was restarted by a workaround in early January 1963.[16] The additional radiation associated with its return to full sunlight[clarification needed] once again caused a transistor failure, this time irreparably, and Telstar 1 went out of service on February 21, 1963.