Union press release on border patrol changes. October 27, 2011 - In yet another move aimed to handcuff the effectiveness of Border Patrol agents, orders have been sent out from Border Patrol headquarters in Washington, D.C. to Border Patrol sectors nationwide that checks of transportation hubs and systems located away from the southwest border of the United States will only be conducted if there is intelligence indicating a threat.
Bill Brooks, southwest border field branch chief for Customs and Border Protection in Washington, D.C. stated, “We are refining the way we operate by managing risk.” According to an article appearing on the KRGV.com website on October 21, 2011, Brooks explained how agents will only be at commercial transportation hubs if intelligence justifies the operations. Stated plainly, Border Patrol managers are increasing the layers of bureaucracy and making it as difficult as possible for Border Patrol agents to conduct their core duties. Read the official press release. Border patrol cutbacks in the north. A newbie's guide to UAVs. What is an amateur UAV? An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is an aircraft that has the capability of autonomous flight, without a pilot in control.
Amateur UAVs are non-military and non-commercial. They typically fly under “recreational” exceptions to FAA regulations on UAVs, so long as the pilots/programmers keep them within tight limits on altitude and distance. Usually the UAV is controlled manually by Radio Control (RC) at take-off and landing, and switched into GPS-guided autonomous mode only at a safe altitude. (Confused by all the acronyms and unfamiliar terms in UAVs? A glossary is here.) What do I need to make one? ---1) An RC plane, muticopter (quadcopter/hexacopter/tricopter, etc) or helicopter (see good starter plane options here). What does DIY Drones have to offer? The DIY Drones community has created the world's first "universal autopilot", ArduPilot Mega (APM).
A full setup consists of: You can buy Ready-to-Fly UAVs (both planes and multicopters) from 3D Robotics: Targeted killings backgrounder (CFR) Introduction The United States adopted targeted killing as an essential tactic to pursue those responsible for the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency have employed the controversial practice with more frequency in recent years, both as part of combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as in counterterrorism efforts in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia.
Since assuming office in 2009, Barack Obama's administration has escalated targeted killings, primarily through an increase in unmanned drone strikes on al-Qaeda and the Taliban, but also through an expansion of U.S. Special Operations kill/capture missions. In recent years, the White House has made notable efforts to clarify its legal justification for targeted killings amid calls from lawmakers, rights activists, and legal scholars for greater transparency and oversight of the lethal drone program. What are targeted killings? The George W. CFR's Matthew C. Drone Strikes Daniel L. Former US chief prosecutor condemns 'law-free zone' of Guantánamo | World news | The Observer. The former chief prosecutor for the US government at Guantánamo Bay has accused the administration he served of operating a "law-free zone" there, on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the order to establish the detention camp on Cuba.
Retired air force colonel Morris Davis resigned in October 2007 in protest against interrogation methods at Guantánamo, and has made his remarks in the lead-up to 13 November, the anniversary of President George W Bush's executive order setting up military commissions to try terrorist suspects. Davis said that the methods of interrogation used on Guantánamo detainees – which he described as "torture" – were in breach of the US's own statutes on torture, and added: "If torture is a crime, it should be prosecuted. " The US military, he said, had been ordered to use unlawful methods of interrogation by "civilian politicians, and to do so against our will and judgment".
Davis was speaking at a conference on human rights law at Bard College in New York state. Why Military Whistleblowers Fear Reprisal: When Taking Adverse Personnel Actions, the Chain of Command Often Gets a Pass. Blue Coat Acknowledges Syria Used Its Gear for Internet Censorship Amid Arab Spring.