Reblogged from freedombytheway:
I warned you months ago that the Drones were coming to a government entity near you.
This week, the FAA is issuing permits to local law enforcement, US Military, universities and federal agencies across the country, granting permission for drones to be used in US airspace. Thanks to a Freedom of Information lawsuit filed by The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the FAA released this preliminary list:
Arlington Police Deparment, Arlington, TX
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
City of Herington, KS
City of Houston Police Department
City of North Little Rock, AR Police Department
Cornell University
DARPA
Eastern Gateway Community College, Steubenville, OH
Gadsden Police Department-Narcotics, Gadsden, AL
GA Tech Police Department
GA Tech Research Institute
Kansas State University
Mesa County Sheriff’s Office, Grand Junction, CO
Miami-Dade County Police Department
Middle Tennessee State University
MS Department of Marine Services
MS State University
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department, Montgomery County, AL
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffet Field, CA
New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology
New Mexico State University, La Crucus, NM
Nicholls State University, Thibodaux, LA
Ogden Police Department, Ogden, UT
Ohio University, Athens, OH
Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Orange, TX
Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Winter Haven, FL
Seattle Police Department
Texas A & M University, Corpus Christi, TX
Texas Department of Public Safety, Austin, TX
Texas State University-San Marcos, San Marcos, TX
University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
University of Florida, Gainsville, FL
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, MI
Utal State University, Logan UT
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
VA Tech, Blacksburg, VA
Washington State Department of Transportation, Olympia, WA
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
US Airforce
US Army
Department of Homeland Security
Department of Energy, Idaho Falls, ID
National Energy Technology, Morgontown, WV
Department of Agriculture-US Forest Service
US Forest Service
US Department of Agriculture
US Navy
NOAA
Drone use by local law enforcement has already begun. In Lakota, ND, Rodney Brossart was arrested by a local swat team, assisted by a Predator Drone, on loan from the DHS, for stealing six cows. (The case hasn’t gone to trial yet, so I don’t know if he’s guilty of cow hustling or not…but that is REALLY BESIDE THE POINT).
Take a close look at that list above. Every one of the entities that is being issued a permit is a taxpayer-supported institution. You can argue the point for firefighting. You can maybe argue the point for agriculture (but couldn’t spotted beetle be spotted just as easily from a helicopter?)
No doubt the universities have all kinds of programs in mind for predator drones, including educating students in the new technology. But it begs the question: Do you trust a 20-year old with a spy camera on campus where your child attends?
There is no doubt in my mind that DHS and local law enforcement will abuse drone technology. Look how well they use other forms of technology control, such as Tasers and airport screening.
What’s the average American to do?
At the local level, demand answers from your local officials about drone use–raise a stink.
At the federal level, demand that our representatives stand up for our 4th Amendment Rights and limit the use of predator drones on American soil against Americans.
The list above is just the beginning…of the end of privacy and FREEDOM
Drone Wars Begin
Who will become America’s First Drone Killing Folk Hero?
Your Treading on U.S. Barack…
BIG MISTAKE
Related articles
- Gov’t Spies in our Skies. FAA Issues Drone Permits. (freedombytheway.com)
- Gov’t Spies in our Skies. FAA Issues Drone Permits. (twighlightslastgleaming.wordpress.com)
Good Afternoon America………..Look, in the Sky. Its a Bird, no a Plane, no its an Obama Drone………… What will he think of next?
This is all despicable!
Hi there Roxannadanna. It is despicable and the Media will not report on this very much. It will be played down as usual per the Obama White House and it is up to us bloggers to get the word out.
You HAVE to market the oops logo. O would buy anything with that
Good Morning John and lidsamy
New Voting American Post is out for Wednesday
http://votingamerican.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/have-the-last-remnants-of-the-ole-republic-been-swept-away/
New post is up at Twilight’s Last Gleaming:
http://twighlightslastgleaming.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/obamas-record-on-the-economy-proves-his-incompetence/
Good Morning America
Russia’s military threatens pre-emptive strike if NATO goes ahead with missile plan
MOSCOW – Russia’s top military officer has threatened to carry out a pre-emptive strike on U.S.-led NATO missile defense facilities in Eastern Europe if Washington goes ahead with its controversial plan to build a missile shield.
President Dmitry Medvedev said last year that Russia will retaliate militarily if it does not reach an agreement with the United States and NATO on the missile defense system.
Chief of General Staff Nikolai Makarov went even further Thursday. “A decision to use destructive force pre-emptively will be taken if the situation worsens,” he said at an international conference attended by senior U.S. and NATO officials.
Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov also warned on Thursday that talks between Moscow and Washington on the topic are “close to a dead end.”
U.S. missile defense plans in Europe have been one of the touchiest subjects in U.S.-Russian relations for years.
Moscow rejects Washington’s claim that the missile defense plan is solely to deal with any Iranian missile threat and has voiced fears it will eventually become powerful enough to undermine Russia’s nuclear deterrent. Moscow has proposed running the missile shield jointly with NATO, but the alliance has rejected that proposal.
Makarov’s statement on Thursday doesn’t seem to imply an immediate threat, but aims to put extra pressure on Washington to agree to Russia’s demands.
The two-day conference in Moscow is the last major Russia-U.S. meeting about military issues before a NATO summit in Chicago later this month. Russia has not yet said whether it will send top officials.
In a candid, lively exchange during a conference side session, officials talked about the high level of distrust remaining between the two sides.
“We can’t just reject the distrust that has been around for decades and become totally different people,” Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said in addressing U.S. and NATO officials. “Why are they calling on me, on my Russian colleagues, to reject distrust? Better look at yourselves in the mirror.”
U.S. State Department special envoy Ellen Tauscher responded that neither country can afford another arms race.
“Your 10-foot fence cannot cause me to build an 11-foot ladder,” Tauscher said. “It’s going to have to take a political leap of faith and it’s going to take some trust that we have to borrow, perhaps, from each other and for each other, but why don’t we do it for the next generation?”.
At a later news conference, Tauscher played down Makarov’s comments on pre-emptive measures
“We’ve heard it before,” she said. “We think that’s off on the horizon.We think they were showing us what could happen. I think we’re far from there, but we’re aware of what they’re saying.”
The Obama administration tried to ease tensions with Russia in 2009 by saying it would revamp an earlier Bush-era plan to emphasize shorter-range interceptors. Russia initially welcomed that move, but has more recently suggested the new interceptors could threaten its missiles as the U.S. interceptors are upgraded.
The U.S.-NATO missile defense plans use Aegis radars and interceptors on ships and a more powerful radar based in Turkey in the first phase, followed by radar and interceptor facilities in Romania and Poland.
Russia would not plan any retaliation unless the United States goes through with its plans and takes the third and final step and deploys defense elements in Poland, Antonov said Wednesday. That is estimated to happen no earlier than in 2018.
Russia has just commissioned a radar in Kaliningrad, its western outpost near the Polish border, capable of monitoring missile launches from Europe and the North Atlantic.
On Thursday, at the start of the conference attended by representatives from about 50 countries, Russia’s Security Council secretary reiterated Moscow’s offer to run the missile shield together with NATO. Nikolai Patrushev said such a jointly run European missile defense system “could strengthen the security of every single country of the continent” and “would be adequate for possible threats and will not deter strategic security.”
NATO’s deputy secretary general, Alexander Vershbow, told the conference that the U.S.-led missile shield is “not and will not be directed against Russia” and that Russia’s intercontinental ballistic missiles are “too fast and too sophisticated” for the planned system to intercept.
Meanwhile, U.S. Senator John McCain, on a visit to Lithuania, lashed out at Russia’s plans in Kaliningrad.
McCain said using missile defense as an “excuse to have a military buildup in this part of the world, which is at peace, is really an egregious example of what might be even viewed as paranoia on the part of Vladimir Putin.”
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/05/03/russian-military-ups-ante-on-missile-defense/#ixzz1v3O7Iztg
New Post is out for Voting American
http://votingamerican.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/obama-compares-himself-to-real-presidents-gets-ridiculed-on-twitter/
Thanks for sharing Tom
New post is up for Village of the Banned
http://ireporters.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/is-government-mom-enough-to-get-barack-obama-re-elected/
Next: Police Drones—Recording Conversations In Your Home & Business To Forfeit Property?
Police are salivating at the prospect of having drones to spy on lawful citizens. Congress approved 30,000 drones in U.S. Skies. That amounts to 600 drones for every state.
It is problematic local police will want to use drones to record without warrants, personal conversations inside Americans’ homes and businesses: Consider the House just passed CISPA the recent Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act. If passed by the Senate, CISPA will allow—the military and NSA spy agency (warrant-less spying) on Americans’ private Internet electronic Communications by using so-called (Government certified self-protected cyber entities” that may share with NSA your private Internet activity, e.g. emails, faxes, phone calls and confidential transmitted files they believe might relate to a cyber threat or crime—circumventing the Fourth Amendment—with full immunity from lawsuits if done in good faith. CISPA does not clearly define what is an element or self-protected cyber entity, that could broadly mean anything, e.g. a private computer, local or national network, website, an online service.
Despite some cities and counties banning and restricting police using drones to invade citizens’ privacy, local police have a strong financial incentive to call in Federal Drones, (Civil Asset forfeiture sharing) that can result from drone surveillance). Should (no-warrant drone surveillance evidence) be allowed in courts circumventing the Fourth Amendment, for example (drones’ recording conversations in private homes and businesses, expect federal and local police civil asset property forfeitures to escalate. Civil asset forfeiture requires only a preponderance of civil evidence for federal government to forfeit property, little more than hearsay: any conversation picked up by a drone inside a home or business, police can take out of context to institute arrests; or civil asset forfeiture to confiscate the home/business and other assets. Local police now circumvent state laws that require someone be convicted before police can civilly forfeit their property—by turning their investigation over to the Federal Government that can rebate to the referring local police department 80% of assets forfeited. There are more than 350 laws and violations that can subject property to government asset forfeiture that have nothing to do with illegal drugs.
Consider: if CISPA is passed by Congress it will provide Government, police and government contractors (without warrants) the incentive (to take out of context) any innocent—hastily written email, fax or other Internet activity to allege a crime or violation was committed to cause a person’s arrest, assess fines and or civilly forfeit a business or property. U.S. Government can use CISPA to (certify any employee) including employees that work for a Government certified cyber self-protected entity—opening the door for certified employees to spy on their employers and clients. U.S. Government is not prohibited from paying any person including Government Certified Self Protected Cyber Entities, Elements or Certified Employees part of government forfeited assets or other compensation that result from the aforementioned providing U.S. Government a corporation’s confidential information or clients’ private information—that otherwise would require a warrant. U.S. Government now contracts on a fee/commission basis with Self Protected Cyber Entities, Elements and Contractors that have security clearances to participate in facilitating arrests and Government asset forfeitures.
Currently Government can’t use evidence obtained through illegal Internet searches of e.g. private emails and transmitted files without a warrant, however that will change if CISPA or a similar bill is passed by Congress. Since CISPA, two additional cyber-security bills have been created in the Senate called, “The Cyber Security Act of 2012” and “SECURE IT Act”. Both bills appear unconstitutional; appear designed to circumvent the Fourth Amendment. The Cyber Security Act of 2012 formally known as S. 2105 was created by Senate Democrats, Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins. Similar to CISPA, the Cyber security Act of 2012 would abolish legal walls that stop Federal government and private companies sharing information.
The SECURE IT Act: S. 2151 was introduced by Senate Republicans on March 1st 2012: would require federal contractors to alert government about any cyber threats, forcing such communications between government regulators and corporations. The SECURE IT Act authorizes sharing of persons’ private Internet information (without a warrant) going beyond what is necessary to describe a believed cyber threat. SECURE Act fails to create a regulatory system at the Federal level to oversee cyber-security threats opening the door for a person or businesses’ confidential information to be misused and misappropriated by government agencies and private cyber entities.
Government should be prohibited from using independent contractors, non-profit organizations and so-call (certified self protected cyber entities) to circumvent the Fourth Amendment. Corrupt police, U.S. Government Agencies and Government Contractors may too easily use private Internet transmissions, emails and transmitted files it is free to collect without a warrant to extort corporations, politicians and Citizens; or sell confidential information gleaned from warrant-less Internet Surveillance. Confidential Information in corrupt hands can be worth more than illegal drugs.
New post is up for this Sunday at Voting American:
http://votingamerican.wordpress.com/2012/05/27/attackwatch-com-is-back-because-a-paranoid-narcissist-president-wants-to-silence-his-critics/
Pingback: Village of the Banned Resource Center Presents: Fact Checking Barack Obama with 358 Links | Village of the Banned