"Spy Drones Over America?"

They're he-r-r-r-e...and unless we wake up out of our stupor and do something about it--they're here to stay.

Back in February we wrote an article entitled "Kiss Your Privacy Goodbye!" about the FAA Reauthorization Act. The bill requires the FAA to open U.S. skies to unmanned drones--30,000 of them by the year 2020.

Civil liberties groups are going nuts and with good reason. This new legislation (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.658:) offers no restrictions! Says Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, "California is currently considering using surveillance drones as a means of proactively monitoring suspicious activity on the ground on the basis of (a) public safety issue." Public safety? Public surveillance, she means.

Think about it. This bill offers no clear restrictions. Do we want police and federal agencies breathing down our necks?

This month Predator drones started operations over North Dakota. These remote-controlled, unmanned military aircraft will use lasers to aim at ground targets from nearly two miles above the earth. They are capable of reading a milk carton from 60,000 feet off the ground and have strike-capability against stationary or moving targets, with a very low risk of collateral damage. Of course, they won't be using these drones against us. They're for the military or so they say.

And let's not forget the fact that drone technology is rapidly advancing. How long before they are literally "flies" on  our walls? Sound far-fetched? Perhaps. But remember police states don't happen overnight. They happen law by law; small incremental step by small incremental step.

We're not saying drone technology has no place in America. They have already proved invaluable in:

• border protection
• disaster relief
• fire fighting
• locating missing hikers, etc.

Let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater. What is lacking are rules, limitations, and restrictions.

The ACLU put it this way: "Rules must be put in place to ensure we can enjoy the benefits of this new technology without bringing us closer to a 'surveillance society' in which our every move is monitored, tracked, recorded, and scrutinized by the authorities."

Freedom is synonymous with America. But, let's face it gang, we take it for granted. And that is so-o-o-o dangerous. If we don't guard what is committed to our trust, we are destined to lose it.

Something terrible is happening in this country. But like the frog in the slowly heated pot of water, we hardly notice. Let's connect the dots. Let's do our homework.

A wise man once said: "You have the God-given right to kick the government around--don't hesitate to do so."-- Senator Edmund S. Muskie 

"Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid of them! The Lord your God will go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor forsake you."  Deuteronomy 31:6

News

• FoxNews.com: Number of Americans on Food Stamps hits another all-time record high: 46.68 million.
• Drudge Report: Hundreds pelt riot police with fire bombs as violence breaks out at Greek anti-austerity demonstration.
• Centers For Disease Control: Death toll in meningitis outbreak rises to 20 with 254 sick across 16 states.