02/26/12 "Head Up - Drones Are Going Mainstream"

Check out the following excerpts I copied & pasted from an article
I read this morning about all the Drones that will be large in numbers
in America's skies in the not-too-distant-future:

February 26, 2012—WASHINGTON(AP)— "Heads up: Drones are Going Mainstream."

"Drones come in all sizes, from the high-flying Global Hawk with its 116-foot
wingspan to a hummingbird-like drone that weighs less than an AA battery
and can perch on a window ledge to record sound and video. Lockheed Martin has developed a fake maple leaf seed, or "whirly bird," equipped with imaging sensors, that weighs less than an ounce."

Civilian cousins of the unmanned military aircraft that have tracked and killed terrorists in the Middle East and Asia are in demand by police departments, border patrols, power companies, news organizations and others wanting a bird's-eye view that's too impractical or dangerous for conventional planes or helicopters to get.

Along with the enthusiasm, there are qualms. Drones overhead could invade people's privacy. The Air Traffic Controllers Association worries they could collide with passenger planes or come crashing down to the ground; concerns that have slowed more widespread adoption of the technology.

The hungriest market is the nation's 19,000 law enforcement agencies. "We have had interest from law-enforcement entities for deployment of nonlethal munitions from the aircraft," Michael Buscher said; he is the CEO for "Vanguard Defense Industries of Conroe, TX; who manufactures "The ShadowHawk", which can be equipped with a 40mm grenade launcher and a 12-guage shotgun.

A recent ACLU report said allowing drones greater access takes the country
"a large step closer to a surveillance society in which our every move is monitored, tracked, recorded, and scrutinized by the authorities."

The possibility of armed police drones someday patrolling the sky disturbs Terri Burke, executive director of the Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. "The Constitution is taking a back seat so that boys can play with their toys," Burke said. "It's kind of scary that they can use a laptop computer to zap people from the air."

The "Electronic Frontier Foundation", which focuses on civil liberties threats involving new technologies, sued the FAA recently, seeking disclosure of which agencies have been given permission to use drones. FAA officials declined to answer questions from The Associated Press about the lawsuit.

An agency that the zealots for mass Drone use should be paying strict attention to, is the 'National Air Traffic Controllers Association'. Dale Wright, the head of the agency, has some things to say about the issue:
"Even a small drone can be "a huge threat" to a larger plane," said Dale Wright, head of the 'National Air Traffic Controllers Association's' safety and technology department. "If an airliner sucks it up in an engine, it's probably going to take the engine out," he said. "If it hits a small plane, it could bring it down."
Controllers want drone operators to be required to have instrument-rated pilot licenses — a step above a basic private pilot license. "We don't want the 'Microsoft Pilot' who has never really flown an airplane and doesn't know the rules of how to fly," Wright said.

The full article can be read at this URL that you can copy & paste:

http://www.mail.com/scitech/news/10...ian-drone-flights.html#.7518-stage-subhero1-0

One Of The Difference
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"The purpose of the United States government is to protect the privacy,
the freedom, and the liberties of it's citizens. It is not to protect the
secrecy of the government; not to run their personal lives; not to run
the economy and take their money; and not to tell the rest of the world
how they ought to live." ....... Ron Paul