Speak Out: Rebels have been rebels since I don't know when

Replies (19)

• Bob Dylans' "The Times They Are A-Changin'" comes to mind.

  Amazing how much things change---but still, never do. And never will, until we leave this world behind.

  -- Posted by donknome-2 on Mon, Jul 30, 2012, at 6:57 PM

• Drones are being cloned and flown already in America. I wonder if they use Google Mapping to get directions.

  -- Posted by Old John on Mon, Jul 30, 2012, at 11:19 PM

• Rick,

  Most people don't have anything to hide but that is not the point. The point is, due they have the right to invade our privacy, the answer is no. As Charlse Krauthamer said, "The first person to shoot down a drone is going to be a folk hero"

  Drones have been used to spy on cattle farmers in the western U.S. and recently reporter Joseph Farrah, ( proprietor of WorldnetDaily.Com ) and staunch Obama critic, became the victim of drone harassment on his rural property in Virginia.

  -- Posted by mobushwhacker on Mon, Jul 30, 2012, at 11:38 PM

• If you aren't committing a crime then you shouldn't mind drones.

  This stuff is easy. No wonder so many people choose to live their lives as submissives.

  -- Posted by Rick Vandeven on Tue, Jul 31, 2012, at 4:56 AM

• You need to be careful listening to Charles Krauthead. Anyone on Fox is fair and unbalanced. Fox is such a democrat mouthpiece.

  -- Posted by Dexterite1 on Tue, Jul 31, 2012, at 5:39 AM

• I don't commit any crimes and have nothing to hide, but value my privacy and am opposed to overflights of manned or unmanned craft for the purposes of surveillance.

  I accept there can be legitimate uses or needs, but these need to be carefully scrutinized and enumerated keeping in mind the right to privacy.

  -- Posted by 356 on Tue, Jul 31, 2012, at 5:55 AM

• Sarcasm. I like to talk American every once in awhile for kicks. Sorry if I confused anyone.

  -- Posted by Rick Vandeven on Tue, Jul 31, 2012, at 5:36 PM

• Right on Easy Moneys. About the only thing left in my little bag of tricks is openly mocking them.

  -- Posted by Rick Vandeven on Tue, Jul 31, 2012, at 10:19 PM

• Aside from all the very serious Orwellian aspects of these drones, there is a literal safety issue that is being completely overlooked. These drones can fly from 20' to 15000' feet. Small private planes have no avoidance radar and the drones are small, but big enough to cause a rather massive problem if a small craft hits it. The people in the plane and whomever is on the ground below are almost certainly dead. All in the name of what? violating your right to privacy, spying on your property, searching without a warrant, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

  Another issue is the data they collect. Who owns it, and who has access, and how long is it stored for what purpose? What limitations are there on this data? Who would be held responsible if the data were abused?

  More questions than answers, but on it's face, I can't think of a more Hunger Games scenario getting ready to play itself out. Silver balloons? Eegads.

  -- Posted by Dreen on Wed, Aug 1, 2012, at 12:59 AM

• Dreen, gone to bed now...has more brains than I know what to do with. Wouldn't her for a drone full of diamonds though. ;)

  -- Posted by dchannes on Wed, Aug 1, 2012, at 2:43 AM

• Easy Moneys, with the provisions in the NDAA, the Patriot Act, etc...It's highly likely. I think an awful lot of people in this nation have had their fill of tyranny.

  Maybe not enough yet, but getting there.

  -- Posted by Dreen on Wed, Aug 1, 2012, at 7:56 AM

• New York City and San Francisco are installing 'crime prevention' computer systems, not unlike the one envisioned in the television series 'Person of Interest', which will evaluate the data from video surveillance cameras all over the city to detect suspicious activity and attempt to detect crimes before they happen.

  This, of course, sounds all wonderful in theory, but it means that every person who steps onto the streets in those cities is being monitored and scrutinized to determine if he/she is 'suspicious'. While I've always believed that what happens in public places is subject to such scrutiny, the addition of drones means that suspicion will now be extended, sans warrant and probable cause, to what happens behind your garden fence.

  The general rule is, if it can be seen from outside your property line, it's not private. Big brother is watching you. Uncle Sam has gone from being the lovable guy urging us to do our duty and buy war bonds to being the creepy uncle peeking into your children's bedroom window.

  But what care we, the public? It's more important that Chik-Fil-A is against gay marriage and Mitt Romney won't release his tax records, no? After all, good ol' Uncle Sam is peeking into your daughter's bedroom because he's concerned about her welfare, no?

  -- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Wed, Aug 1, 2012, at 8:24 AM

• "In other words , guilty until proven innocent , no?"

  Well, it's more a case of being 'guilty before the fact', which is to say guilty of a crime that hasn't been committed, yet.

  How do we treat such crimes-to-be? Can we detain people because our computer programmes say they will be guilty if we let them remain at large? Do we deprive them of their rights to acquire the tools needed to carry out the crime the computer says they are planning? Do we force them to undergo evaluation based on the computer's suspicion?

  Or, do we let them carry out the crime, with full knowledge that they are going to do so, in order to arrest them in commission of the act? Would prior knowledge of the crime not make the government accessories to the crime, in such a case?

  In normal law enforcement, I believe, we let them make all the preparations and advance towards the scene of the crime only when they have violated enough laws to make a chargeable crime a reality, but stopping them before they put lives in danger. Such tips usually come from sources outside the government, through information obtained through legitimate warrants, or from observations made in public. However, with these systems, we cross the line from casual observation and warranted searches to scrutinizing legal behaviour through targeted surveillance.

  Unfortunately, in a society that doesn't regard a distinction between tax incentives and taxes as punishment, the likelihood that our courts will see such things as improper or unconstitutional is extremely slim. Just another few feet in the handbasket...

  -- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Wed, Aug 1, 2012, at 9:11 AM

• Dear Mr. Hunter, Our expanded medical records, supermarket tracking data and aerial surveyance suggest your family may be lacking in proper nutrition and compliance with the New Agency of National Nutrition for Youth.

  Feel free to contact one of the 4,000 agents in your county for guidence to arrange for an apprasial of your health care coverage services at goodcitizen.gov

  -- Posted by Old John on Wed, Aug 1, 2012, at 9:31 AM

• -- Posted by Old John on Wed, Aug 1, 2012, at 9:31 AM

  Yeah... and he is probably watching FOX News as well. With his authority, Obama should be able to take FOX over and create an official mouthpiece for his office should he win re-election.

  -- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Wed, Aug 1, 2012, at 9:39 AM

• 'Lacking in nutrition' is not something I'm likely to be charged with...

  ... more likely they'll claim I've exceeded my 'fair share'. ;)

  -- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Wed, Aug 1, 2012, at 9:56 AM

• Now, this is not what I needed,

  as, by mail, the government pleaded:

  "To preserve the Earth,

  We're rationing girth,

  and your quota you've greatly exceeded!"

  -- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Wed, Aug 1, 2012, at 10:08 AM

• -- Posted by Old John on Wed, Aug 1, 2012, at 9:31 AM

  Good one!

  -- Posted by We Regret To Inform U on Wed, Aug 1, 2012, at 11:09 AM

• Well, none of you may have anything to hide, but then none of you probably run through the house half-dressed because the spouse is calling, "Come here, I need you. Hurry up. I need you." I don't keep the upper half of my windows covered and I don't need drones watching my fat jiggle.

  And, I don't want to cover my windows. I like sunshine, and daylight. I even like looking at stars from my easy chair. I don't want to feel like they are looking back at me.

  -- Posted by InReply on Wed, Aug 1, 2012, at 5:13 PM