Drones in the Southwest Skies

[Warph]

Two years ago I bought a wonderous thing called a Celestron's SkyMaster 25x100, large-aperture astronomy binoculars to view the night sky.  They are quite heavy... weigh close to 10lbs. ... and takes a heavy-duty tri-pod for viewing.  These things are amazing.  It brings the Weather () Satillite (that we see by the naked eye each night) up close and personal. 

What I'm getting at is this.  While viewing stars last night, I'm 99% sure that I saw a Drone pass over the house.  I was surprised it was this far north.  I know they are being used in the southern part of AZ... (on the border and the southern part of the Sonoran Desert) ...flying out of Sierra Vista, Arizona from Libby Army Airfield.  I have all ideas we will be seeing more of these in the future.

[Warph]

                               


Now that Pres. Barack Obama may be granted far more power than any president ever has been given (outcry from liberals? Nah, they only scream about government tyranny if the president is a Republican), by being permitted to kill anyone he wants with a government spy drone, many Americans fear what this means for our nation's liberties and privacy for law-abiding citizens, fear for our nation's future and the Fourth Amendment, fear for future decisions made by the "Assassin in Chief" as unmanned drones fly high above America, watching all of us below.

And they should be afraid. Or at the very least, troubled and outraged.

                               


ABC News: License to Kill: Government Authorizes Drone Strikes on US Citizens

Alex Jones Channel: DOJ: Drones Can Now Target Americans!:

Posted this morning at New York Times by animator, filmmaker, and illustrator Drew Christie — 'Drones for America!' — on the NYT's online page, Christie's animated satire video of a former K.G.B. agent welcomes a future in which Americans live under the watchful eyes of drones is posted:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/19/opinion/drones-for-america.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130219&_r=1&

[Warph]

Terrifying Video Demonstrates Bug-Sized Lethal Drones Being Developed By U.S. Air Force


Looks like we have the makings of a new arms race at hand. The winner will develop the tiniest lethal drone capable of blending into a crowded cityscape.

                       

The Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf points to a National Geographic piece on the future of drone technology, including one fascinating passage on how the U.S. Air Force is developing "micro-drones" the size of tiny creatures, capable of flying through major cities unnoticed.


The science writer, John Horgan, described what information he was able to access from the government:

The Air Force has nonetheless already constructed a "micro-aviary" at Wright-Patterson for flight-testing small drones. It's a cavernous chamber—35 feet high and covering almost 4,000 square feet—with padded walls. Micro-aviary researchers, much of whose work is classified, decline to let me witness a flight test. But they do show me an animated video starring micro-UAVs that resemble winged, multi-legged bugs. The drones swarm through alleys, crawl across windowsills, and perch on power lines. One of them sneaks up on a scowling man holding a gun and shoots him in the head.

The Air Force describes these new "micro-air" weapons as "Unobtrusive, pervasive, lethal."

Yikes.

I share Friedersdorf's sentiment that this video is "horrifying" — namely because it signals that drone warfare is the next arms race.

Terrifying Video Demonstrates Bug-Sized Lethal Drones Undoubtedly Coming To A Town Near You –
Whether They're Supposed To Or Not... At:
<iframe src="http://videos.mediaite.com/embed/player/?content=CYKV731XH9KJCYX9&content_type=content_item&layout=&playlist_cid=&media_type=video&widget_type_cid=svp&read_more=1"

http://www.mediaite.com/online/terrifying-video-demonstrates-bug-sized-lethal-drones-being-developed-by-u-s-air-force/