A Friend At Apple Says They Have Research Showing The Elderly Are Deathly Afraid Of Robots-- More Than Of Anything

I guess drones count as robots, right?


Oh, everyone is writing about what a corrupt sack of turd Buck McKeon is these days. Even the L.A. Times and New York Times are rumored to have stories coming about the Countrywide scandal and his defense contractor bribes and... Queztalcoatl-knows-what-else. All the newspapers in his district have done stories and so many Beltway trade magazines have that Boehner is starting to feel pressured that maybe-- just maybe-- the guy strong-arming defense contractors into "donating" to his dizzy wife's boneheaded run for the California state legislature should step down as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. But just so you don't think all McKeon does all day and all night is squeeze money out of lobbyists and funnel it into his household through the wife, keep in mind he is also the founder and the chairman of the House Drone Caucus.

Actually they call it the House Unmanned Systems Caucus. They even have website and a statement of mission and goals:

The mission of the U.S. House Unmanned Systems Caucus is to educate members of Congress and the public on the strategic, tactical, and scientific value of unmanned systems; actively support further development and acquisition of more systems, and to more effectively engage the civilian aviation community on unmanned system use and safety.

As members of this Caucus, we:
1. Acknowledge the overwhelming value of these systems to the defense, intelligence, homeland security, law enforcement, and the scientific communities;
 
2. Recognize the urgent need to rapidly develop and deploy more Unmanned Systems in support of ongoing civil, military, and law enforcement operations;
 
3. Work with the military, industry, the Department of Homeland Security, NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration, and other stakeholders to seek fair and equitable solutions to challenges created by UAV operations in the U.S. National Air Space (NAS);
 
4. Support our world-class industrial base that engineers, develops, manufactures, and tests unmanned systems creating thousands of American jobs;
 
5. Support policies and budgets that promote a larger, more robust national security unmanned system capability.

Nothing about sucking campaign contributions out of the defense contractors who make these things. Not counting the bribes McKeon has illegally solicited for his wife's campaign, he's-- by far-- the biggest recipient of money from arms merchants this election cycle ($343,355, more than three times his closest competitor). Career-long, McKeon's $1,143,150 is surpassed only by bribes to C.W. Bill Young ($1,260,425) and Jim Moran ($1,537,596) among all current House Members. Since 1992 McKeon's 5 biggest campaign contributors, again, not counting the illegal money he's gotten out of them for Patricia, are Lockheed Martin ($185,900), Northrop Grumman ($159,300), Boeing ($87,150), SLM ($84,750), and General Atomics ($84,000). And he always puts their interests above the interests of his Santa Clarita and Antelope Valley constituents.


On the website, McKeon boasts about his role in promulgating drones.

As founder of the Congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus, McKeon is helping to educate members of Congress and the public on the strategic, tactical, and scientific value of unmanned systems. McKeon actively supports further expansion of the entire unmanned industry and hopes to continue effective engagement of the civilian aviation community on UAV use and safety.

In a study of the 26 votes Congress has taken since 2010 that involve government surveillance of citizens, which is, of course, the well-founded fear many people have about drones, McKeon scored a perfect zero. Do all Republicans score zeroes? No; civil liberties rollcalls aren't partisan votes. Reactionary, authoritarian Democrats like Jason Altmire (PA), John Barrow (GA), Jim Cooper (TN), Henry Cuellar (TX), Joe Donnelly (IN) and Larry Kissell (NC) also scored zeroes, and Republicans concerned about the intrusive nature of what Eisenhower warned about in his Military-Industrial Complex speech-- like Walter Jones (NC), Roscoe Bartlett (MD), Ron Paul (TX), Rob Bishop (UT), Raul Labrador (ID), Jimmy Duncan (TN), Chris Gibson (NY) and Michael Fitzpatrick (PA)-- scored 100%. McKeon's zero probably won't sit well in his district. I asked Lee Rogers, the doctor running against him-- who has been endorsed by Blue America-- and he had the same kinds of reservations most people in the district have:

The Unmanned Systems Caucus is an appropriately named group for McKeon to found. He's been letting the defense budget run away like an unmanned ship since he's been the chair of the House Armed Services Committee. The military industrial complex rewards him greatly, but now also rewards his wife for this. I think most people would agree that drones are very useful to our military and save the lives of our troops on the battlefield. But McKeon's vision for drone filled skies in our own country, to be used by government agencies to spy on citizens, is a violation of our most basic freedoms.

Buck McKeon, Drones And Your Rights As An American Citizen

Since he was first elected in 1992 to California's newly created 25th congressional district, Buck McKeon had never fared so badly in his reelect numbers as he did this year when he squared off against first time candidate, Dr. Lee Rogers. McKeon, losing the Antelope Valley entirely, wound up with 111,938 (55.5%) to Rogers' 89,460 (44.5%). McKeon, chairman of the powerful House Armed Service Committee and, by far the biggest recipient of legalistic bribes arms makers and war contractors, raised $1,869,645, all but 2% ($35,810) from big donors and corporate PACs. Lee Rogers raised $333,391 and faced a policy from DCCC chairman Steve Israel that Republican senior leaders, policy makers and committee chairmen were off limits. The only outside spending he got was $38,610 from Blue America, $226 from the California Teachers Association and $10 from the Sierra Club. McKeon spent $16.69 for each vote he received. Rogers spent $3.39 for each vote he received.

The tragedy of McKeon's win-- a win that could have been prevented by even a half hearted effort by either the DCCC or the equally flaccid California Democratic Party-- goes beyond McKeon's anti-Choice hysteria, behind his militant homophobia, beyond his heartless war against working families, and beyond the fact that he's clearly the most dangerously corrupt Members of Congress.

Founder and Chairman of the congressional Drone Caucus (officially the Congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus, which smoothly works out a system of bribes from drone manufacturers for its members), McKeon is responsible for passing a plan to fill America skies with tens of thousands of spy drones over the next decade. This election may have been the last opportunity votes had to put their feet down and say "no!" Wednesday the New American reported on the Department of Homeland Security's deal to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on drones for domestic spying, courtesy of Buck McKeon and his well-oiled little drone caucus. While reading this, keep in mind that drone manufacturer General Atomics has been McKeon's third biggest campaign contributor for his entire political career (just behind arms makers Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman) and that they are also the third biggest contributor to his shady leadership PAC, 21st Century PAC, which he uses to consolidate power inside the House Republican caucus by handing out checks to less well-connected Members or to Members shy about taking money from arms merchants.

The Department of Homeland Security is positioning itself to assume immense domestic law-enforcement and surveillance powers. From patrolling the traffic on the Internet to consolidating local police power, DHS is accumulating all the unconstitutional authority necessary for a proper Stasi-like secret police force.

A recent story published by California Watch reported that DHS inked a new $443 million deal with über-defense contractor General Atomics to purchase 14 additional Predator drones. If (when) the new craft are delivered to DHS, there would be 24 drones in the agency’s fleet.

As we have chronicled, Predator is the preferred model of unmanned aerial vehicle of the U.S. military for prosecuting its death-by-drone program in Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan, and elsewhere overseas. What doesn’t receive nearly as much press is the domestic deployment of these remote control armed spy planes.

DHS is particularly fond of this brand of drone, having spent over $250 million since 2006 on building its Predator fleet. Reportedly, DHS is using the devices to patrol the porous border separating the United States from Mexico.

This new exclusive, exorbitant deal with General Atomics is curious in light of the scathing report on DHS waste issued in June by the Inspector General. As reported by Huffington Post: "The Homeland Security inspector general's office in a June audit recommended that Customs and Border Protection stop buying the drones until officials figure out a budget plan for the program and how to get the most use out of the unmanned aircraft, which are frequently grounded by inclement weather."

Specifically, the Inspector General found that the drones were often grounded by harsh weather conditions and were not flying enough to justify the cost on the vehicles’ outrageous price tags. Not to mention the mangling by DHS managers of the flight schedules proposed for the Predators. “CBP has not adequately planned to fund unmanned aircraft-related equipment. As a result of CBP’s insufficient funding approach, future UAS [unmanned aerial systems] missions may have to be curtailed,” the Inspector General’s report states.

This report would seem to signal the death of the DHS drone program, but just in the nick of time, a member of the Congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus rides to the rescue. As reported by cironline:

Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, who has championed drones as the Democratic co-chairman of the Congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus, said that Customs and Border Protection has to go back to the basics and come up with a sound strategic plan for its drones.

“The first thing any agency should have is a strategic plan. I assumed they had a plan,” said Cuellar. “We have to know where we are going before we start buying any more of the assets.”

Basically, rather than restrict the flow of money to the DHS which would prevent it from purchasing materiel it doesn’t need and shouldn’t have, Cuellar is buying the agency time to develop a plan that will convince congressional budget overseers to loosen the purse strings enough for a new fleet of Predators to fly through.

Never heard of the Congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus? That’s probably the way they like it, but we have some information on the group that is interesting in light of their lobbying on behalf of the drone industry that rakes in so much of taxpayer dollars.

The relationship between drone makers and lawmakers was recently reported by an Arizona radio station:

The drone caucus-- like the technology it promotes-- is becoming increasingly important in the nation’s capitol as the government looks to unmanned vehicles to help save money on defense, better patrol the country’s borders and provide a new tool to U.S. law enforcement agencies and civilians.

“It’s definitely a powerful caucus,” said Alex Bronstein-Moffly, an analyst with First Street Research Group, a D.C.-based company that analyzes lobbying data.

“It’s probably up there in the more powerful caucuses that sort of is not talked about.” And, he says, caucus members are well placed to influence government spending and regulations.

Congressman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.) is the co-chair of the caucus along with the aforementioned defender of DHS drones, Henry Cuellar. Notably, McKeon also serves as the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

It is noteworthy that the caucus includes eight members of the House Committee on Appropriations, the body that has substantial control over the federal government’s purse strings.

Many of the drone caucus members are supported financially by the industry they endorse. According to Bronstein-Moffly’s data, the 58 drone caucus members received a total of $2.3 million in contributions from political action committees affiliated with drone manufacturers since 2011.

Furthermore, 21 members of the drone caucus represent border states. These congressmen received about $1 million in deposits to their campaign coffers from top large drone makers in the 2010 and 2012 election cycles, according to information reported by the Center for Responsive Politics and analyzed by Fronteras Desk and Investigative Newsource.

For example, General Atomics is among the top three all-time campaign contributors to California Congressmen Brian Bilbray, Ken Calvert, Jerry Lewis, and McKeon.

In 2010 and 2012, General Atomics’ PAC has paid out over $140,000 in donations to drone caucus members representing states located on the border with Mexico.

A PAC largely financed by Northrop Grumman contributed about $150,000 to 16 congressmen in the drone caucus who represent districts in California, Texas, Arizona, and Nevada.

Money. That’s the obvious reason for the drone manufacturers’ siphoning of such significant contributions to the campaign coffers of congressmen, but what would explain the lawmakers’ reciprocation of that devotion?

Power. Cuellar, McKeon, and others of their ilk know that giving the green light to the growth of the domestic fleet of drones patrolling the skies of the homeland, they simultaneously assure that when the time comes every two years to buy air time for campaign commercials touting themselves as the protectors of national security, there will be plenty of money in the campaign’s marketing account to cover the cost of the ad run schedule.

Finally, it is important to remember that DHS isn’t keeping a tight fist around its fleet of never-blinking surveillance devices. And, although DHS can’t seem to keep the drones flying often enough for some advocates, the flight hours are increased by loaning the aircraft to local law enforcement and her fellow federal agencies.

Beginning in 2006, the U.S. Custom and Border Patrol (CBP) began purchasing (as yet) unarmed Predator drones to purportedly aid in securing America’s southern border. According to a report written by the DHS Inspector General, as of the end of 2012, CBP will have 12 of these aircraft in its arsenal with a total cost to taxpayers of nearly $200 million.

Inexplicably, the CBP took delivery of two drones in 2011 and 2012 despite the Inspector General’s statement that “CBP had not adequately planned resources needed to support its current unmanned aircraft inventory.” So, since they weren’t using the drones they already bought, why not buy more? Although that spendthrift attitude is typical of government agency budgeting, perhaps the purchase of Predators is motivated by a goal a bit more sinister than either DHS or the Obama administration is willing to admit.

These other purposes are even hinted at in the DHS report. The tasks being performed by the CBP drones extend well beyond the patrolling of the border and into many other areas, a situation described by one reporter as “mission creep.” Here is a brief catalog of some of the ways CBP is farming out its drone fleet.

CBP Predators have been used to conduct missions for the following federal and state government agencies: U.S. Secret Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); Bureau of Land Management; Federal Bureau of Investigation; Department of Defense; Texas Rangers; U.S. Forest Service; and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

With regard to ICE’s use of the CBP drone, the Inspector General’s report indicates that the aircraft “provided surveillance over a suspected smuggler’s tunnel, which yielded information that, according to an ICE representative, would have required many cars and agents to obtain.” Yes, without the loan-a-drone program, the ICE surveillance mission would have required “many cars and agents,” as well as a warrant. With a drone, the government doesn’t need no stinkin' warrant.

In a separate report issued in April by the Department of Defense, the Pentagon revealed the locations of over 100 new domestic sites that could soon serve as launch sites for military drones.

  The list of present and proposed drone bases includes 39 of the 50 states, as well as Guam and Puerto Rico.

It seems that despite problems with the DHS’s deployment of its drones, one of the high-altitude, high-tech, snoop-and-snipe aircraft may be coming to a town near you.

The King Of Drones-- Buck McKeon Brings Home Some Disgrace Along With The Bacon

Not all that many of his own constituents have noticed, but last week the BBC called out a congressman from Santa Clarita: A lawmaker helped create the drone industry-- and has reaped the benefits. Don't expect any exposés like this in the Signal, or even the L.A. Times, but Buck McKeon's cushy-- and extremely corrupt-- deal with the drone industry has been raising eyebrows all over the world.

The story of how drones became a robust niche in domestic law enforcement-- and part of the commercial world as well-- is rooted in Washington DC. Indeed, the rise of the drone can be traced in part to one man, Howard "Buck" McKeon.

McKeon, a California Republican, is chairman of the House armed services committee and co-chairman of a legislative group he founded, the Congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus, which supports expansion of the industry.

Military officers on Capitol Hill and executives in the aerospace industry have welcomed McKeon's support.

Of the dozens of members on the Congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus in the House of Representatives, McKeon has received the most "drone-related campaign contributions"-- $833,650 (£551,689), according to a report by Hearst Newspapers and the Center for Responsive Politics.

McKeon is a case study in how a member of Congress can work within the system, operate within ethical boundaries created by Congress, and have an impact on policy-- as well as increase profits for Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, all of which make drones in his district.

McKeon, who has not been accused of any crimes or charged with any ethical violations, refused repeated requests for interviews for this article.

Years ago, Americans were shocked at the way lobbyist Jack Abramoff worked the system in Washington. But he was also convicted of bilking, or cheating, Indian tribes, and imprisoned for serious criminal offences.

After the scandal, members of Congress re-examined their ethical rules. Today, however, the system remains much the same.

Lobbyists promote clients, including the makers of drones, and contractors give money to members of Congress, who in turn work on legislation that regulates their industry. Within this world of money and politics, McKeon is one who stands out.

Not only is McKeon the recipient of contributions from drone manufacturers, but he is also one of Washington's most vocal supporters of the industry. He and members of his Capitol Hill office have close ties with lobbyists and contractors.

In a "Most Corrupt" report for 2012 compiled by researchers for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a progressive watchdog group, McKeon is one of several given a "dishonourable mention" over a mortgage he had received on preferential terms and his alleged improper use of official staff.

Another Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington report looks at the way members of Congress "use their positions to benefit themselves and their families."

The report says McKeon's campaign paid his wife, the treasurer, a salary of about $118,000 (£77,956) in the 2010 campaign cycle.

McKeon once received a cut-rate loan from lender Countrywide Financial, as researchers for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington point out. He was included in a congressional report about Countrywide's attempt to influence members of Congress.

McKeon has not been accused of wrongdoing. A spokesman for McKeon told a New York Times reporter that McKeon was "shocked and angry" to hear his loan was mentioned in the investigation.

...Drones cannot be used for commercial pursuits, though that is likely to change. At the behest of Congress, Federal Aviation Administration officials are looking at ways to introduce drones into the civilian airspace. Officials expect that 10,000 drones will be flying in the air by 2020.

The presence of drones above cities and towns has troubled lawmakers. Virginia was the first state to enact a drone ban. Idaho and Florida have since followed suit.

State legislatures in Tennessee and Montana have passed anti-drone legislation. Lawmakers are worried drones will spy on people, especially since their sensors "scoop up quite a lot of information," according to the Brookings Institution.

In addition, drones are plagued with flaws. One may have been hacked, according to media accounts. Another crashed recently near Panama City, Florida.

...McKeon and other members of the Congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus reportedly helped push through a law, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Modernization and Reform Act, in February 2012.

It sets policies for the civilian use of drones by 2015 and is designed to make things easier for journalists, filmmakers, biologists and others who want to use the drones in their daily work.

...The new law makes individuals such as the Project on Government Oversight's Winslow Wheeler uneasy. He says that McKeon and his colleagues in the congressional caucus are acting more as boosters of drones, rather than as critical observers of the industry.

When McKeon was a child in California, his parents sold meat out of a second-hand fish truck. Later they opened Howard and Phil's Western Wear, and he worked for the family business. He went to Brigham Young University in his 40s and majored in animal husbandry.

From his early days in Congress, McKeon was recognised as someone who worked hard for business owners. Jane Harman, a former member of Congress, introduced him at a 1993 event as "someone who helps me save the aerospace industry in California."

...In 2001 McKeon made the rounds at a trade fair near the US Capitol. He admired the Pegasus, which was made by Northrop Grumman, and told Helicopter News he was impressed with its "cost-effectiveness."

An executive with a company called Textron, which makes unmanned systems, started giving campaign money to McKeon that year. The following year, according to Aerospace Daily, McKeon began asking heads of the military services to issue a report about plans for unmanned aerial vehicles. McKeon continued over the next decade to push for federal money for drones and travelled to Turkey, Kuwait and elsewhere, speaking with officials about the unmanned aircraft.

McKeon is "the staunchest advocate for military power," says Thomas Donnelly, a director at the American Enterprise Institute, adding that McKeon has a "gentlemanly" manner.

..."Very affable and well-respected," says Mackenzie Eaglen, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington.

But Wheeler provocatively counters that McKeon's judgment is coloured by a lack of knowledge. "He reads off the material his staff has prepared," says Wheeler. "He has been spectacularly clueless in looking seriously at drones."

Critics say lines between government and industry are blurred. Executives at one company, AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems, were involved in the formation of the Congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus.

"We were original plank holders in the UAV caucus," says AAI Senior Vice-President Steven Reid. Many of the defence contractors belong to the Arlington, Virginia-based Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.

..."The only changes made to the UAS"-- an acronym that refers to unmanned aerial systems-- "sections of the House FAA bill were made at the request of AUVSI. Our suggestions were often taken word-for-word."

..."We're not members of Congress," Gielow says. "We don't necessarily get anything passed into law." Still, he says they were involved: "As the industry advocacy group, we made suggestions, and our suggestions were incorporated into the bill."

Sarah Binder, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, says: "The question is will it pass the sniff test of how we think policy should be made?"

"An average person would wonder, 'Are these decisions that would be made in the absence of lobbying by the defence industry?'"

"You make sure money gets to the key contractors in your district," says Gary Bass of the Center for Effective Government.

"In the case of drones, the question-- 'Is this the smartest thing?'-- may be secondary," Bass says.

McKeon is one of the figures who are behind the growth of the drone industry, and money is given to him for that reason. With backing from the industry, he has become influential in Washington and in this way is better able to help them obtain funding for drones.

"He is propelling business as usual," says Wheeler, "an apparatchik in a broken system."

What the BBC didn't take into account is that McKeon and his sleazy family have been working full speed ahead on setting up a private lobbying firm for drone manufacturers and other purveyors of the instruments of war. McKeon plans to retire from Congress and enrich himself and his brood as a lobbyist. He'll have a lifetime of chits to cash in by then.

When Corrupt DCCC Chair Steve Israel Put Buck McKeon Off Limits This Year, He Also Put Drone Policy Off Limits

Dr. Lee Rogers ran a more robust campaign against Buck McKeon than anyone had ever even tried before. And the results were predictable-- Rogers came closer to defeating McKeon than any Democrat ever had since the 25th CD was first created. But with DCCC Chairman Steve Israel not just ignoring an opportunity to win the Los Angeles area seat-- the last one held by a Republican-- but actively urging donors to not give to Rogers' grassroots campaign and helping to undercut it with the media, there was never a real opportunity for McKeon to lose. Israel wouldn't allow the DCCC to take on any Republican leaders, policy makers or committee chairmen. [Note: the GOP always goes after Democratic leaders and committee chairs and sometimes defeat them. In 2010 they beat several but if you don't try, you never succeed. And some very bad news: Nancy Pelosi just reappointed Israel-- who is completely delusional and has been defining his disastrous performance as a "victory"-- DCCC chair again for 2014, pretty much guaranteeing that the Republicans will keep their House Majority at least until 2016. McKeon is only one of many vulnerable Republicans breathing a deep sign of relief.

McKeon, however, might still go down to defeat in 2014, particularly if Rogers can be persuaded to run against him again. McKeon has a number of corruption cases pending against him and his role in the expansion of domestic drone spying is souring not just Democrats and independents, but even Republicans. McKeon, founder and co-chair (with reactionary Blue Dog and fellow warmonger Henry Cuellar) of the House drone caucus, is swimming in drone industry bribes-- more than any other member of Congress by far. Yesterday, the San Francisco Chronicle connected the dots between the push to expand the domestic use of drones and the immense sums of money drone makers are paying corrupt Members of Congressmen, particularly McKeon.

Growth in UAS technology and operations is encouraged by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, or AUVSI, which represents drone and systems manufacturers.

AUVSI firms have been far more generous to Republicans than Democrats when it comes to campaign donations. According to CRP analysis, GOP drone caucus members received 74 percent of the group's donations.

In the House, the top recipient was Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Santa Clarita (Los Angeles County), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. He received $833,650 in drone-related campaign contributions.

McKeon and Cuellar are co-chairmen of the caucus.

Other California Republicans - Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Vista (San Diego County); Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands (San Bernardino County); Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine (San Diego County); and Ken Calvert, R-Corona (Riverside County)-- each received more than $200,000 from drone firms.

CRP's analysis also showed that companies with drone aircraft currently used by the military, but with potential civilian applications, were among the largest donors to caucus members.

Those firms include BAE Systems, which makes the Mantis and Taranis drones; Boeing Co., maker of the hydrogen-fueled Phantom Eye; Honeywell International, RQ-16 T-Hawk; Lockheed Martin, RQ-170 Sentinel; Raytheon Co., Cobra; and General Atomics, Predator.

Some lawmakers remain skeptical. Along with civil rights advocates, they worry about government eavesdropping, surveillance photography and other potential privacy violations.

"The drones are coming," Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, shouted from the House floor as he warned of encroachment by government into the rights of citizens.

...The Fourth Amendment governs when, where and how the government can gather information on an individual, including whether officials need a search warrant before acting. Courts have given the greatest protection to people when they're in the privacy of their homes. For instance, in a 2001 Supreme Court case, the justices nixed the Interior Department's use of thermal imaging to detect heat patterns coming from the home of someone suspected of growing marijuana indoors using lamps, saying it was an illegal search and required a warrant.

Outside a home's walls, though, privacy rights decrease. Courts blessed an arrest after a flyover by police revealed marijuana growing in someone's back yard.

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Tenn., have crafted legislation to put a tight rein on drone use.

Privacy advocates note that not just the police, but individuals and commercial enterprises will be using the devices. TMZ's application for a permit is an illustration. Paparazzi are already using small drones on the Riviera to shoot photos of celebrities in otherwise hard-to-access areas. TMZ "does not have a permit" yet, FAA officials said last week.

Texas' Poe has offered another bill, which would ban private citizens from using drones to spy on other citizens and strictly limit law enforcement use of drones. "The Constitution limits eavesdropping, snooping and spying on American citizens," Poe said.

...Are unmanned aircraft, known to have difficulty avoiding collisions, safe to use in America's crowded airspace? And would their widespread use for surveillance result in unconstitutional invasions of privacy?

Experts say neither question has been answered satisfactorily. Yet the federal government is rushing to open America's skies to tens of thousands of the drones-- pushed to do so by a law championed by manufacturers of the unmanned aircraft.

The drone makers have sought congressional help to speed their entry into a domestic market valued in the billions. The 60-member House of Representatives' "drone caucus"-- officially, the House Unmanned Systems Caucus-- has helped push that agenda. And over the past four years, caucus members have drawn nearly $8 million in drone-related campaign contributions, an investigation by Hearst Newspapers and the Center for Responsive Politics shows.

...An FAA official, who spoke on background, said "one of the main safety issues" with drones is lack of ability to "sense and avoid other aircraft."

A September report by the Government Accountability Office identified the same concern: "Obstacles include the inability ... to sense and avoid other airborne objects in a manner similar to manned aircraft."

In addition, the GAO report said, "Concerns about national security, privacy and interference with Global Positioning System signals have not been resolved."

...House members from California, Texas, Virginia and New York on the bipartisan "drone caucus" received the lion's share of the funds channeled to lawmakers from dozens of firms that are members of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, Hearst and CRP found.

Eleven "drone caucus" lawmakers from California, where many aviation firms are located, received more than $2.4 million from manufacturers during the 2012 and 2010 election cycles, according to CRP tabulation of Federal Election Commission reports.

Eight Texas House members in the caucus received more than $746,000. And five caucus members from New York got more than $400,000 from companies connected to the business of unmanned vehicles. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, said drone manufacturers contribute just as other interest groups do.

"We get contributions from media PACs, from teachers, from doctors and from a whole lot of companies that produce drones," Cuellar said.

And a whole lot more from companies that produce drones than from teachers and doctors. Two things you can count on for 2014: Blue America will be helping Rogers beat McKeon in the midterms and Steve Israel will not. And if a progressive Democrat wants to take on Steve Israel in a primary...

Why Aren't Drones Over American Skies The Defining Issue In This Election?

There are people talking about voting for a third party candidate or just sitting out the election because they're unhappy about tens of thousands of drones being green-lighted to fly over American skies-- not over Somalia, Yemen, the badlands of Pakistan and Afghanistan, but right here over Tampa, Phoenix, New Hampshire and Montana. I have a better idea... how about helping defeat the members of the Congressional drone caucus? The official name is the Congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus and it's really just a way for the drone manufacturers to pay off some of the most corrupt Members of Congress, ones who have been willing to push through their agenda. Needless to say the founder and chairman of the caucus is Congress' most corrupt member, Buck McKeon of Santa Clarita, California. McKeon (AKA- Congressman Drone) has taken more in legalistic bribes from arms manufacturers and war contractors than any TWO other Members of Congress combined-- and that doesn't even count the large sums of money they've funndeled into his personal bank account by backing a fake bid for California state Assembly by his ditzy wife Patricia. (She lost her primary badly, of course, but not before he solicited and she accepted large bribes from major arms manufacturers who had never before contributed to a local legislative race.)

These are the 15 most notoriously corrupt members of the drone caucus:

Buck McKeon (R-CA)- founder and co-chair 
Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)- co-chair 
Todd Akin (R-MO) 
Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) 
Rick Berg (R-ND), running for U.S. Senate 
Shelley Berkley (New Dem-NV), running for U.S. Senate 
Brian Bilbray (R-CA) 
Ken Calvert (R-CA) 
Joe Heck (R-NV) 
Darrell Issa (R-CA) 
Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) 
Mike Pompeo (R-Koch Industries) 
Silvestre Reyes (D-TX), already defeated in a primary 
Mike Rogers (R-MI) 
Joe "You Lie" Wilson (R-SC)

The Senate version was co-founded by two of the most corrupt warmongers in that body, Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Joe Manchin (D-WV). The drone manufacturers are paying off Members of Congress-- McKeon more than anyone-- to allow for a barely regulated humongous expansion in their business. Some activists around the country have been protesting, but most people are barely aware of the drone industry and their paid shills in Congress.

[P]rotesters think the drones will really be used to spy on the public, including folks like themselves. "The prospect of having drones flying around, spying on people, is kind of horrific," said Nate Adeyemi, one of the local organizers. "It's such an infringement upon the human right to privacy." The group is also protesting the university for its involvement and the local officials who gave the company a loan.

Another target for activists has been the organization that lobbies on behalf of the industry, the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). The group created in 1978 "to promote and support the unmanned systems and robotics industry." The organization has ballooned to include 1,400 members-- all anxious to feed at the government trough. Activists have crashed their press conferences, conventions and fairs.

Given their close connections in Congress-the companies give millions in campaign contributions and get, in return, billions of tax dollars-- AUVSI can even show off its wares right inside the Capitol. At an exhibit hosted by the Congressional Drone Caucus in September 2011, activists broke up the lovefest, unfurling white sheets covered in fake blood and falling to the floor, moaning and writhing in pain. "Stop the killer drones," they wailed, while another protester carrying a large cardboard drone made a loud buzzing noise as he zoomed around the room. Startled, the Congresspeople, staffers and corporate employees were forced to stop their conversations-- until the police arrived and escorted the group out of the building.

Buck Mckeon is-- by far-- the biggest recipient of money from arms merchants this election cycle ($497,600, more than twice times his closest competitor). Career-long, McKeon's $1,297,200 is surpassed only by bribes to C.W. Bill Young ($1,352,275) and Jim Moran ($1,587,096) among all current House Members. Since 1992 McKeon's 5 biggest campaign contributors, again, not counting the illegal money he's gotten out of them for Patricia, are Lockheed Martin ($186,400), Northrop Grumman ($171,800), Boeing ($87,150), SLM ($86,250), and General Atomics ($94,300). And he always puts their interests above the interests of his Santa Clarita and Antelope Valley constituents.

In a study of the 26 votes Congress has taken since 2010 that involve government surveillance of citizens, which is, of course, the well-founded fear many people have about drones, McKeon scored a zero. Do all Republicans score zeroes? No; civil liberties rollcalls aren't partisan votes. Reactionary, authoritarian Democrats like Jason Altmire (PA), John Barrow (GA), Jim Cooper (TN), Henry Cuellar (TX), Joe Donnelly (IN) and Larry Kissell (NC) also scored zeroes, and Republicans concerned about the intrusive nature of what Eisenhower warned about in his Military-Industrial Complex speech-- like Walter Jones (NC), Ron Paul (TX), Rob Bishop (UT), Raul Labrador (ID), Jimmy Duncan (TN), Chris Gibson (NY) and Michael Fitzpatrick (PA)-- scored 100%. McKeon's zero probably won't sit well in his district. I asked Lee Rogers, the doctor running against him-- who has been endorsed by Blue America-- and he had the same kinds of reservations most people in the district have:

The Unmanned Systems Caucus is an appropriately named group for McKeon to found. He's been letting the defense budget run away like an unmanned ship since he's been the chair of the House Armed Services Committee. The military industrial complex rewards him greatly, but now also rewards his wife for this. I think most people would agree that drones are very useful to our military and save the lives of our troops on the battlefield. But McKeon's vision for drone filled skies in our own country, to be used by government agencies to spy on citizens, is a violation of our most basic freedoms.

McKeon's drone bill, which will allow 30,000 drones to fly over America in four years passed Congress 248-169, 24 Blue Dogs and New Dems joining all but 12 Republicans to take another giant step into Big Brother Land. All the usual suspects-- corporate whores like Cantor, Ryan, Rogers, Upton, et al-- joined McKeon to push this through. Interestingly enough so did several Tea party-supported Republicans who were elected by people who aren't interested in drones snooping into their lives. Remember, the problems with the drones isn't just about killing in other countries. There isn't enough of a market for that. And Lucky Bucky and his band of whores stepped in to help the industry solve that by pushing to have drones flying all over a sky near you... very soon. That bill McKeon was paid very well to see passed was approved by the House and by then by the Senate "to open U.S. skies to unmanned drone flights within four years."

The FAA is also required under the bill to provide military, commercial and privately-owned drones with expanded access to U.S. airspace currently reserved for manned aircraft by Sept. 30, 2015. That means permitting unmanned drones controlled by remote operators on the ground to fly in the same airspace as airliners, cargo planes, business jets and private aircraft.

Currently, the FAA restricts drone use primarily to segregated blocks of military airspace, border patrols and about 300 public agencies and their private partners. Those public agencies are mainly restricted to flying small unmanned aircraft at low altitudes away from airports and urban centers.

Within nine months of the bill's passage, the FAA is required to submit a plan on how to safely provide drones with expanded access.

Forcing Congress to look out for basic civil liberties of American citizens, rather than weapons manufacturers' unquenchable thirst for more and more profits isn't going to be furthered by sitting out the election. It's going to be furthered by defeating corrupt Members of Congress like Buck McKeon, Henry Cuellar, Todd Akin, Rick Berg, Darrell Issa and Mike Rogers. There's nothing someone serious about stopping the proliferation of drones over American skies can do more useful than helping Lee Rogers replace Buck McKeon in California or helping Lance Enderle replace Mike Rogers (chairman of the Intelligence Committee) in Michigan.

Buck-- monetizing our tax dollars for himself... as usual

Will Drones End Buck McKeon's Disgraceful Political Career?

I don't want to give people the wrong impression of Buck McKeon, the foul old Republican congressman from Santa Clarita in northeast L.A. County. Yesterday we spent a lot of time talking about his corruption case in regards to the mortgage meltdown and the bribes Darrell Issa discovered he had taken from Angelo Mozilo in return for voting for Mozilo's predatory agenda. As serious as that is for McKeon from a legal perspective, it barely touches the eye-popping corruption McKeon is involved with when it comes to the Military Industrial Complex.

There is no Member of Congress-- neither in the House nor in the Senate-- who has taken the amounts of bribes McKeon has from weapons manufacturers and war contractors. He's the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and he seems to see his primary function as one of shoving expensive, unwanted, unneeded weapons systems down the Pentagon's throat. The corporations making these over-priced and ineffective systems pay McKeon well for his trouble. The 30,000 spying domestic drones flying over American skies starting in 2014 will be McKeon's lasting legacy for our nation.

Recently I spoke with one of McKeon's major donors off the record. He told me that he's not only expected to give McKeon maximum allowable contributions but that McKeon directs him to other congressmen all over the country that he's supposed to contribute to. The donor is on the verge of going to the authorities with a story that will send McKeon right to the federal penitentiary next to his old comrade Duke Cunningham-- the Duke and Buck, reunited again... as they should be. But he's afraid. He told me McKeon is very vindictive and very connected, far more embedded in the Romney money-raising machine than anyone knows and far more involved with Sheldon Adelson's organized crime activities than anyone suspects. Let's hope the man does the right thing for his country.

Meanwhile, though, we have a regular flow of reports showing how McKeon wheels and deals with weapons companies for partisan gain. This week the latest report comes from KBS-- and it's all about McKeon's pet caucus, the Drone Caucus he founded and chairs... and gets gigantic bribes from. Notice the name on the top of he chart on he left. The first three are three of Congress' all-time corrupt members-- all buds of Duke Cunningham's, you may recall. They were all in business with Cunningham before he was sent to prison and his crimes were neatly sanitized to protect other Members of Congress, especially these three gonifs. Oh, but there are Democrats on the list so it's bipartisan. Well, it is-- all Republicans and a tiny handful of sleazy ConservaDems and Blue Dogs who would sell their mothers for a campaign contribution. I'm very happy to reiterate that the top recipient Democrat, corrupt conservative Silvestre Reyes, was just defeated in his primary bid and will be replaced by a progressive reformer, Beto O'Rourke.

McKeon's Drone Caucus-- officially the Unmanned Systems Caucus we've been reporting on all year-- just passed a sweet deal for the companies that have been supplying all this cash. McCain included a provision in the National Defense Act that will allow 30,000 spy drones to fly around American skies-- so not the drones in Yemen and Pakistan and Afghanistan... these are drones that will spy on Americans in Florida and Texas and California and Ohio and Virginia.

The drone caucus-- like the technology it promotes-- is becoming increasingly important in the nation’s capitol as the government looks to unmanned vehicles to help save money on defense, better patrol the country’s borders and provide a new tool to U.S. law enforcement agencies and civilians.

“It’s definitely a powerful caucus,” said Alex Bronstein-Moffly, an analyst with First Street Research Group, a D.C.-based company that analyzes lobbying data.

“It’s probably up there in the more powerful caucuses that sort of is not talked about.” And, he says, caucus members are well placed to influence government spending and regulations.

“You have members that are tapped into sort of key places," he said. “You also have members who have been around for a long time."

The caucus is co-chaired by 10-term Congressman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, a Republican from Southern California who also chairs the House Armed Services Committee. He shares the drone caucus chair with Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar [Blue Dog] of Texas.

The caucus includes eight members who also sit on the House Committee on Appropriations, which largely controls the government’s purse strings.

Many of the drone caucus members are well supported by the industry they endorse. According to Bronstein-Moffly’s data, the 58 drone caucus members received a total of $2.3 million in contributions from political action committees affiliated with drone manufacturers since 2011.

Twenty-one members of the drone caucus are from border states. These members collected around $1 million in campaign contributions from top drone manufacturers during the 2010 and 2012 election cycles, according to campaign finance data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics and analyzed by Fronteras Desk and Investigative Newsource.

Some of those companies are among the biggest contributors to drone caucus members. The political action committee of San Diego-based General Atomics is among the top three all-time campaign contributors to California Congressmen Brian Bilbray, Ken Calvert, Jerry Lewis and McKeon.

These two charts show McKeon's biggest campaign contributors so far this cycle and so far in his entire miserable political career. A scandal in his district is also brewing about how he hit up this companies to illegally finance his batty wife's spectacularly unsuccessful state Assembly run this year. He illegally damnded and got thousands of dollars in campaign funds from weapons makers for a state legislative race-- her big issue was plastic shopping bags-- the first time any of these corporations had ever spent money in a state legislative race. Quid pro quo? McKeon just fired Bob Haeuter, his district director and deputy chief of staff (whose salary is paid by the taxpayers), because he didn't deliver a victory for the batty wife.

For its part, the drone caucus helps convince the government that unmanned vehicles are a smart investment. The Obama administration has said drones, and other advanced technology, are key to creating a cheaper, more effective military, with fewer troops on the ground.

In February, President Barack Obama signed a law making it possible for police and fire departments to operate surveillance drones over U.S. skies. Under the same law, the likes of real estate agents and news organizations will soon be able to fly their own drones.

As the Federal Aviation Administration drafts the rules for domestic drone use, members of the drone caucus can throw around some weight.

“They can hold hearings, generate publicity and put public pressure on the FAA,” Bronstein-Moffly said.

But where they really hold sway is in appropriations.

Since 2005, the federal government has awarded at least $12 billion in contracts for drones and drone supplies and maintenance. That includes at least $270 million for U.S. Customs and Border Protection's drone program.

Of course, not everyone is excited about the rise of drones. In the U.S., there are privacy concerns. With their use abroad, there are moral ones.

Speaking in February at a conference sponsored by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International-- the main drone industry group-- Congressman McKeon was interrupted by anti-war activist Medea Benjamin. Conference organizers promptly cut the sound system.

Benjamin was escorted outside, where she joined a group of protesters denouncing the killing of suspected foreign insurgents by U.S. military drones, and the use of taxpayer money to fund drones to patrol the U.S. border.

“This is another example of a big business trying to create a niche for itself,” Benjamin said. The activist published a book earlier this year called Drone Warfare.

“It’s overspending the taxpayer’s dollars and I think we’re going to see everybody, the border patrol, the police department, everybody wants to get in on these fancy toys,” she said.

Even among the industry’s biggest customers, like the CBP, there are now some questions being raised.

A report from the agency’s Inspector General released in late May found its drone program was poorly organized and wasn’t completing its mission.

Perhaps it is his entanglements with the drone industry that has turned southern California Tea Party activists against McKeon. The Republican Party in his district is split right down the middle, with the Tea Party picketing his events and vowing to defeat him in November. Not only do they despise his wasteful and corrupt military spending and his dronemania, but they opposed his TARP vote and the fake fiscal conservatism that has always been a hallmark of his self-serving political career. The local Tea Party has handed McKeon several resounding defeats in the past few months. One of his closest allies, the mayor of Santa Clarita, was voted out of office and the new Mayor Pro Tem, who McCain campaigned against, has been vocally opposing his Washington antics and his refusal to assist the district grapple with its most pressing concerns. McKeon's allies have lost control of the Republican Central Committee, replaced by Tea Party members who despise him. And even more embarrassing, the Tea Party handed McKeon's wife a resounding defeat for state Assembly.

Did You Know The House Has A Pro-Pandemic Caucus?

When I first met Earl Blumenauer, he was proudly displaying an oversized bicycle shaped badge on his lapel. That's because he's the founder and chairman of the House Bike Caucus, which encourages municipalities to build bicycle lanes and otherwise support the idea of making it convenient for citizens to get around on bikes. There were over 180 members when I met him. Buck McKeon also founded and chairs a caucus, the House Unmanned Systems Caucus (AKA, the Drone Caucus). It encourages drone manufacturers to bribe Members of Congress. McKeon doesn't wear anything on his lapel. But he has a bulging wallet to show he's, by far, the biggest recipient of bribes from arms manufacturers and war contractors. Congress has dozens and dozens of caucuses-- from an Addiction, Treatment and Recovery Caucus, an Animal Protection Caucus and an Armenian Caucus to a U.S.-Mongolia Friendship Caucus, a Victory in Iraq Caucus and a Zero Capital Gains Caucus. They're registered with the House Administration Committee and are all supposed to abide by certain rules, although encouraging bribery isn't one of them.

One caucus that isn't registered and doesn't abide by any rules we can call the House Pro-Pandemic Caucus. Unlike the Bike Caucus or the Animal Protection Caucus, it isn't bipartisan. All 28 Members are Republicans. Monday they were out in full force, doing their best to prove that not even Michele Bachmann's Tea Party Caucus can hold a candle to them when it comes to sheer stupidity. What brought them together this week was a roll call vote on Mike Rogers' Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act of 2013 (H.R. 307), which seeks to strengthen national preparedness and response for public health emergencies. Rogers, a very conservative Michigan Republican had 5 co-sponsors: Michael Burgess (R-TX), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Gene Green (D-TX), Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Henry Waxman (D-CA). No very controversial, right? It passed 370-28. All 178 Democrats in attendance voted yes and so did 192 Republicans, including their whole leadership. So who would vote against this?

Many of the names are familiar to anyone who watches with amazement-- or horror-- at the sad parade of Republican Know Nothings who vote against anything that might remotely benefit the American people, crackpots like the John Birch Society Pit of Hell lunatic from Georgia, Paul Broun (see video up top), Jeff Duncan, the South Carolina secessionist who, in a deranged rant, accused Hillary Clinton of letting the Benghazi "consulate become a death trap," domestic terrorist Steve Stockman, Hate Talk Radio host Trey Radel, and the always amusing-- in the way a 20 car pile-up on the interstate is amusing-- Virginia Foxx and Louie Gohmert. Interestingly, though, one of Boehner's main cronies in the House, increasingly unstable Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, voted with the freakshow. So did his #2 on the Judiciary Committee, Jim Sensenbrenner.

Happy Near Year's-- Your Tax Dollars Are Still Paying For Predator Drones That Slaughter Innocent Civilians

We've written about Buck McKeon's Drone Caucus-- they call it the Unmanned Systems Caucus-- before. It's little more than a way of exchanging bribes from drones makers for voters from some of Congresses sleaziest and most contemptible members. And, of course, like most Beltway bribery schemes, it's bipartisan. McKeon's co-chairman is George Bush's favorite Democrat, Blue Dog Henry Cuellar. Other Democrats on the take in this particular scheme are Hawaii's most corrupt politician, Colleen Hanabusa (New Dem), Bob Brady (the Philadelphia Machine boss), André Carson (New Dem-IN), Joe Courtney (New Dem-CT), Gene Green (TX), Gerald Connolly (New Dem-VA), William Keating (MA), and, of course, Loretta Sanchez (Blue Dog/New Dem-CA). So 8 crooked Democrats and 37 warmongers from the GOP, from notorious criminals like Darrell Issa (R-CA), Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Don Young (R-AK) to low level vote sellers like Joe Wilson (R-SC), Steve Pearce (R-NM), Blake Farenthold (R-TX), Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Steven Palazzo (R-MS), Tom Rooney (R-FL), Joe Heck (R-NV), Mike Pompeo (R-KS), Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Tom Cole (R-OK) and Trent Franks (R-AZ).

Over the weekend, Heather Linebaugh, a former employee of the U.S. drone program, penned an article for The Guardian which makes the point that not only is the public in the dark, but so are most of our elected officials. Remember when you read this, though, that corrupt careerists like McKeon, Forbes, Hanabusa and Cuellar don't give a rat's ass about any of this as long as the Military Industrial Complex continues to finance their disgraceful careers and helps enrich their families.

Whenever I read comments by politicians defending the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Predator and Reaper program – aka drones – I wish I could ask them some questions. I'd start with: "How many women and children have you seen incinerated by a Hellfire missile?" And: "How many men have you seen crawl across a field, trying to make it to the nearest compound for help while bleeding out from severed legs?" Or even more pointedly: "How many soldiers have you seen die on the side of a road in Afghanistan because our ever-so-accurate UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicle] were unable to detect an IED [improvised explosive device] that awaited their convoy?"

Few of these politicians who so brazenly proclaim the benefits of drones have a real clue of what actually goes on. I, on the other hand, have seen these awful sights first hand.

I knew the names of some of the young soldiers I saw bleed to death on the side of a road. I watched dozens of military-aged males die in Afghanistan, in empty fields, along riversides, and some right outside the compound where their family was waiting for them to return home from mosque.

The US and British militaries insist that this is such an expert program, but it's curious that they feel the need to deliver faulty information, few or no statistics about civilian deaths and twisted technology reports on the capabilities of our UAVs. These specific incidents are not isolated, and the civilian casualty rate has not changed, despite what our defense representatives might like to tell us.

What the public needs to understand is that the video provided by a drone is a far cry from clear enough to detect someone carrying a weapon, even on a crystal-clear day with limited clouds and perfect light. This makes it incredibly difficult for the best analysts to identify if someone has weapons for sure. One example comes to mind: "The feed is so pixelated, what if it's a shovel, and not a weapon?" I felt this confusion constantly, as did my fellow UAV analysts. We always wonder if we killed the right people, if we endangered the wrong people, if we destroyed an innocent civilian's life all because of a bad image or angle.

It's also important for the public to grasp that there are human beings operating and analysing intelligence these UAVs. I know because I was one of them, and nothing can prepare you for an almost daily routine of flying combat aerial surveillance missions over a war zone. UAV proponents claim that troops who do this kind of work are not affected by observing this combat because they are never directly in danger physically.

But here's the thing: I may not have been on the ground in Afghanistan, but I watched parts of the conflict in great detail on a screen for days on end. I know the feeling you experience when you see someone die. Horrifying barely covers it. And when you are exposed to it over and over again it becomes like a small video, embedded in your head, forever on repeat, causing psychological pain and suffering that many people will hopefully never experience. UAV troops are victim to not only the haunting memories of this work that they carry with them, but also the guilt of always being a little unsure of how accurate their confirmations of weapons or identification of hostile individuals were.

Of course, we are trained to not experience these feelings, and we fight it, and become bitter. Some troops seek help in mental health clinics provided by the military, but we are limited on who we can talk to and where, because of the secrecy of our missions. I find it interesting that the suicide statistics in this career field aren't reported, nor are the data on how many troops working in UAV positions are heavily medicated for depression, sleep disorders and anxiety.

Recently, the Guardian ran a commentary by Britain's secretary of state for defence Philip Hammond. I wish I could talk to him about the two friends and colleagues I lost, within one year leaving the military, to suicide. I am sure he has not been notified of that little bit of the secret UAV program, or he would surely take a closer look at the full scope of the program before defending it again.

The UAV's in the Middle East are used as a weapon, not as protection, and as long as our public remains ignorant to this, this serious threat to the sanctity of human life-- at home and abroad-- will continue.

It's tricky defunding this by refusing to pay your taxes. But refusing to contribute the politicians who push this program is a much better idea. Good way to start: help Senator Brian Schatz defeat a right-wing primary challenge from corrupt, drone-crazed Colleen Hanabusa in the Democratic primary in Hawaii.