Saturday, September 18, 2010

What's that overhead?

I saw an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) or drone in the sky over Washington DC last March 20 when I was there, a brief glimpse before it disappeared from sight behind a tall building. I knew what one looked like because I'd checked out some photos in order to draw posters. It caught my eye because its movement was odd; it seemed to float more than an ordinary small airplane.

Drones that fly over Central Asia or Africa (story on CIA using them in Yemen here) dropping bombs and spying on people are far away, invisible to citizens of the U.S. Except when said citizens check their empty pocketbooks. Most people try hard not to think about them.

But now drones have come to the Mexico-U.S. border.

AlJazeera reported on 9/14 "...US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to deploy drones to monitor the entire border since September 1, along with a further deployment of 1,200 troops and other measures, as part of a $600m package for "enhanced security." Full article here .

There could be a drone in your future. Keep your eyes peeled.

Meanwhile, if you're are scared as I am, consider talking to your neighbors about the need to Bring Our War $$ Home.

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