(Via Drudge)
Well, we can now have a new hobby. At random intervals, look up into the sky and raise your middle finger in salute:
Global Hawk to Fly 1st Mission Over U.S.
I really like this quote:
This landmark flight has historic implications since it’s the first time a Global Hawk has not only flown from Beale, but anywhere in the United States on an official Air Combat Command mission,” base spokesman Capt. Michael Andrews said in a statement.
Air Combat Command, huh? I’m feeling less warm and fuzzy by the second…
(For those who haven’t been following aerial drones, Global Hawk is an “Unmanned Aerial Vehicle provides Air Force and joint battlefield commanders near-real-time, high-resolution, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance imagery”.)
We can hope that these things are only being used against suspected terrorists or similar miscreants. (We can really hope that they were being used to protect our borders and help stop illegal immigration, but that wouldn’t be hope–that would be delusional.) However, given our government’s history with surveillance technologies, I doubt that it will be long before your local SWAT team will be requesting Global Hawk support before they execute that “no knock” warrant on a suspected drug dealer.
Let’s hope they get the address right.
Of course, they could just call up and ask for Predator support instead. It is, after all, the next logical step in our journey to Empire.