» Brown: A Predator Drone in the USA Could Be Spying on You Commentary

» Brown: A Predator Drone in the USA Could Be Spying on You Commentary

Brown: A Predator Drone in the USA Could Be Spying on You
By Floyd and Mary Beth Brown December 19, 2011 1:55 pm
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Americans are familiar with unmanned spy drones providing surveillance of Iranian nuclear complexes and Taliban armed militants combating American troops along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Now the Obama administration has quietly authorized Predator Drone use by law enforcement officials in the United States to spy on American Citizens.

According to reporting by the Los Angeles Times, "The drones belong to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which operates eight Predators on the country's northern and southwestern borders to search for illegal immigrants and smugglers. The previously unreported use of its drones to assist local, state and federal law enforcement has occurred without any public acknowledgment or debate."

National attention has focused on a story about a sheriff in North Dakota who called in the reinforcements and an Air Force Predator Drone MQ-9 Reaper to assist in surveillance of a farm and six stray cows. The farm was owned by Rodney and Susan Brossart. And the Brossart family was known locally for being armed and apparently anti-government, hence the need for all the government resources.

This is part of a pattern by the Obama administration of bringing highly sophisticated military technology developed for war and deploying them against Americans. Law enforcement routinely uses night vision optics, heat sensors, and even armor and military grade firepower in the battle field called America's cities.

Spying on Americans by Predator in the United States could explode in the next year. Also according to the LA Times, "For decades, U.S. courts have allowed law enforcement to conduct aerial surveillance without a warrant. They have ruled that what a person does in the open, even behind a backyard fence, can be seen from a passing airplane and is not protected by privacy laws.

Drones are particularly helpful in rural areas that are not blanketed with surveillance cameras the way most major cities are today. Americans living in densely populated major cities can easily spend all day on camera. Just look up. You will be surprised to see camera domes have replaced gargoyles as the building decoration of choice. This combined with greatly improved facial recognition software means everyone can be tracked and traced.

A predator drone flies high and out of ear shot. Using the sophisticated radar, sensors and optics onboard the Predator Drone, operators can identify you, know if you are carrying a firearm, and pinpoint your location.

Currently their use is limited because of FAA regulations, but two liberal Senators are pushing to change the rules. Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore, introduced an amendment to the FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Act this past year, "to increase the number of 'National Airspace System' test sites for 'unmanned aerial vehicles' (UAV) from four to 10, and require that at least one of those test sites include a significant portion of public land."

Schumer said at the time, "drones are more important than ever to our troops overseas, our cops walking the beat and our border patrol agents keeping drugs off our streets, not to mention accurate mapping and more."

So add drones to the list of tools that can be used domestically to spy on you. The list is getting long. If you are carrying a cellphone, authorities can monitor your conversations, read your texts and emails. If you use a computer, authorities can monitor the websites you visit and the terms you search online.

With this type of technology the surveillance state envisaged by George Orwell in 1984 is here.

The question we must ask as citizens is do we trust the Federal Government with this nearly omniscient type of information and power. The history of Federal officials abusing information in earlier less technologically proficient eras is legendary. More information only increases the likelihood of more significant abuse in the future.

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©2011 Floyd and Mary Beth Brown. The Browns are bestselling authors and speakers.Together they write a national weekly column distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Floyd is also president of the Western Center for Journalism.

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15 Comments

Comment by txgoatlady
December 19, 2011 @ 2:27 pm
Gee, were the stray cows armed and dangerous? Since Napolitano considers anyone who is pro-second amendment rights a domestic terrorist, I would assume we can all count on having drones watching us. Of course, if Democrats cut the military budget as much as they would like, they might not be able to afford the surveillance.

Maybe they can watch my horses during the day to see which one is chewing up my corral fence.

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Comment by URKiddinMee
December 19, 2011 @ 2:43 pm
I can help you there. It’s usually the one with the paint chips in his poop.

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Comment by txgoatlady
December 19, 2011 @ 3:26 pm
They prefer the unpainted wood.

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Comment by honest1inva
December 19, 2011 @ 4:49 pm
GOOD, LET THE SPY ON ME–I’LL SHOOT THEM A MOON! A SMALL TOKEN OF AFFECTION FROM OUR FOUNDING FATHERS!

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Comment by lwesson
December 19, 2011 @ 7:41 pm
Defense bill 1867 (appropriate year) has the loving likes of McCain R. and Carl Levin D. in closed door committee meetings with Administration nods, insuring that American Citizens can be held indefinitely without trial, no Habeas Corpus on US soil using the US Military.

NOTHING from the Mainstream Media, FOX etc. or the GOP. More than pathetic. Of course, this was all done during Mister Lincoln’s, tiny, itsy bitsy war. Over 3,000 journalists arrested and jailed, Legislators arrested… and this was without Congress approval! Now we have, it’s BIG fat head’s nod.

Again, nothing save from the evil net which is also going to have a kill switch. Humm? Hey, lets all be camp mates. I will bring a chess board or make one should a Lexington Concord fail big time… . So I am not surprised per Predators. Sad times indeed!

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Comment by URKiddinMee
December 19, 2011 @ 2:42 pm
And the hell of it, after reading so many reports of their successes in Iraq & Afghanistan, is to know that they circle nealy two miles high. That’s too far away for me to take one out with a 7 mm mag. Guess we need to invest in some more sophisticated arms before Obozo declares martial law.

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Comment by txgoatlady
December 19, 2011 @ 3:27 pm
You might be able to purchase your own predator drone from Iran soon.

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Comment by lhearold
December 19, 2011 @ 3:18 pm
But you know, you can’t just blame the democrats for this one. Republicans are slowly hacking away at our freedoms just as much. Look at all of them that voted on th bill that included indefinate detention of American Citizens. All are criminals and should be in jail!

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Comment by bigjohn555
December 19, 2011 @ 3:30 pm
Sometimes I think the difference between democrats and republicans is about like the difference between a dime and two nickels. The democrats want to get you there in one move where the republicans want to get you in the same place, but are willing to take two moves to get you there.

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Comment by URKiddinMee
December 19, 2011 @ 5:05 pm
As Ole Huey Long used to say before FDR had him assassinated, “They both strip the bark from the sassafras tree to give you the same concoction. One party strips from the top down and calls the concoction “High-poppa-lowrum,” the other from the bottom up and calls it “Low-poppa-highrum.” It’s the same darned STUFF and neither one of ‘em does you any GOOD!”

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Comment by honest1inva
December 19, 2011 @ 4:53 pm
THIS IS NOT USED FOR TRACKING DOWN ILLEGALS–IF IT WERE BEING USED FOR THAT PURPOSE, WHY THEN, DID OBAMA JUST REMOVE THE NATIONAL GUARD FROM THE BORDERS AND PROSECUTE SHERRIFF ARPAIO FOR DOING HIS JOB? WHY DID THE DOJ ISSUE ORDERS TO ICE TO LET THE ILLEGALS GO AND NOT ALLOW LAW ENFORCEMENT TO ASK FOR PROOF OF LEGAL STATUS UPON ARREST?

NO FOLKS, THIS IS BEING USED AGAINST THOSE OF US WHO SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE DICTATOR -IN-CHIEF! TIME TO FOLLOW IN OUR FOUNDERS FOOTSTEPS!

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Comment by gambleallen
December 19, 2011 @ 5:02 pm
If you’re not doing anything wrong, why worry?

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Comment by URKiddinMee
December 19, 2011 @ 5:09 pm
It’s all about a little thing called FREEDOM! (And the US Constitution)

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Comment by silverhairedsaint
December 19, 2011 @ 5:45 pm
We have a right to be secure from government intrusion. If you look at how the current administration looks at people who exercise their Constitutional rights, and how they are continuing to push for stronger centralized government, you had better be concerned. It is only a matter of time until they declare something you hold near and dear to be illegal. The bottom line is that the government is supposed to be under the thumb of the people, but now it is reversed–the government is holding us under their thumb, and it is because we have allowed them to slowly erode our freedoms under the guise of safety.

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Comment by lhearold
December 19, 2011 @ 5:13 pm
Its not the point of doing anything wrong. The government can make anything wrong and has in the past so today you wipe your butt with blue TP and its legal. Tomorrow it isn’t and the drone in the sky sees it. Wonder who is boing to jail! FREE means FREE, not free but with some ******* looking down at you all the time.

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