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Unmanned drone surveillance planes patrolling Houston skies. Secret test observed by media and reported to public. HPD press conference then spoke about the matter - note: sandwiched in between apparent legitimate uses, Homeland Security is named. News bite is brief. If DHS is involved in ANY program, I am suspicious and distrustful.

To view copy of news report, click on url in email below. If picture is lost, click on trial Beta video (free)

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To:	houstonfd@yahoogroups.com
From:	"Austin" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert Yahoo! DomainKeys has confirmed that this message was sent by yahoogroups.com. Learn more
Date:	Sun, 25 Nov 2007 19:03:33 -0600
Subject:	[houstonfd] HPD Using Unmanned Surveillance Planes Over Houston

Time to put on your tin foil hat.
http://www.click2houston.com/ video/14655819/ index.html

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I do not understand the effort for secret testing. This program has been implemented in a number of places and countries (including France), and was reported in 2006 (see article below)

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Drone aircraft may prowl U.S. skies

Can unmanned aerial vehicles doing domestic surveillance safely share the skies with airplanes?

Photos: Unmanned aircraft keep watch

By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Published: March 29, 2006, 1:41 PM PST

Unmanned aerial vehicles have soared the skies of Afghanistan and Iraq for years, spotting enemy encampments, protecting military bases, and even launching missile attacks against suspected terrorists.

Now UAVs may be landing in the United States.

A House of Representatives panel on Wednesday heard testimony from police agencies that envision using UAVs for everything from border security to domestic surveillance high above American cities. Private companies also hope to use UAVs for tasks such as aerial photography and pipeline monitoring.

"We need additional technology to supplement manned aircraft surveillance and current ground assets to ensure more effective monitoring of United States territory," Michael Kostelnik, assistant commissioner at Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection Bureau, told the House Transportation subcommittee.

Kostelnik was talking about patrolling U.S. borders and ports from altitudes around 12,000 feet, an automated operation that's currently under way in Arizona. But that's only the beginning of the potential of surveillance from the sky.

In a scene that could have been inspired by the movie "Minority Report," one North Carolina county is using a UAV equipped with low-light and infrared cameras to keep watch on its citizens. The aircraft has been dispatched to monitor gatherings of motorcycle riders at the Gaston County fairgrounds from just a few hundred feet in the air--close enough to identify faces--and many more uses, such as the aerial detection of marijuana fields, are planned.

That raises not just privacy concerns, but also safety concerns because of the possibility of collisions with commercial and general aviation aircraft.....

Remainder of article here
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SIGH!
Below: Sound Familiar?

The Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolitzei) were Adolf Hitler's political police from 1933 to 1945. They had unlimited power of search and seizure and the power to arbitrarily imprison suspects without a trial. There was no appeal from their decisions.