- A new medal for drone pilots is causing uproar among veterans organizations. They argue that the pilots, operating from the safety of an American Air Force base, should not be awarded a medal category that outranks the Purple Heart.
- The military is considering scaling back purchases of drones due to budget constraints due to the sequesters.
- It’s getting more tense on the homefront. Seattle has banned the use of drones by their police and the Sheriff of Alameda County (California) has faced protests over his proposal to buy a drone to supplement his tank.
- The FAA is seeking ‘test site’ areas for drones; unmanned systems on the way to becoming integrated into US airspace by 2015. A Congressional hearing on drones reflected the privacy concerns many hold concerning the proliferation of domestic drones. A NYT editorial proposed a special court for drone cases.
- Two congressmen submitted a bill to regulate the uses of drones. The bill “would require warrants for drone use in criminal cases, with the exception of emergency situations like fires or drought monitoring.”
- When it seems like the entire country is hyperventilating about drones, Nancy Pelosi may be the only person who is ‘ambivalent’ about whether the public should know when the Government kills an American citizen.
- Drones remain somewhat unreliable. The communication technology not yet being perfected, there have been frequent crashes and losses among the British drone fleets.
- German artist Dirk Skreber speaks about his paintings of drones in a HuffPost interview.
- If you are not already familiar with Black Sheep videos, I highly recommend them. Here they fly an FPV RC plane over NYC.
- Finally, for some drone entertainment check out these videos, if only for the comedic value. Some interpretive dance “Drone Warfare Dance: The Things We Make” and if you were not already weirded out by drones, this might just put you over the edge.
Recommended blogs for commentary on drones and related issues. This week will focus on blogs relating to drones/war/natl security.
Law and National Security: Lawfare, Opino Juris
Geography/Technology/War: Geographical Imaginations, Progressive Geographies
Technology and Nat’l Sec: Danger Room (Wired Mag.) Robot Central
Nat’l Sec Strategy and Counter-terrorism: Abu Muqawama (CNAS), Selected Wisdom
Arms Proliferation: The Gun (CJ Chivers of NYT)
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Image courtesy of The Examiner.