Re Drones keep entering no-fly

["Dave Farber" <dave () farber net>]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Mark Blacknell <mb () blacknell net>
Date: Sun, Jan 14, 2018 at 4:49 PM
Subject: Re: [IP] Drones keep entering no-fly zones over Washington,
raising security concerns - The Washington Post
To: <dave () farber net>


It's extraordinarily hard to read that article with any sense of
seriousness, if you live around here.   As with so much that results in
security theatre, there's a legitimate concern involved - the very unlikely
and almost unimaginably precise physical attacks on the White House, the
Pentagon, and perhaps the Capitol.  After that?  This is so ridiculous.

Take the Fort Myer drone incursions, for example.  First, I doubt even a
handful of those claimed hits were anywhere near Ft. Myer itself.  Ft. Myer
sits in Arlington, VA, a community filled with the kind of relatively
wealthy young folks that love to play with drones.*  I'd easily bet that
they're all recreational uses, posing zero threat to the base.  And what's
on the base, by the way?  A color guard, the bands that play at the
Cemetery, the usual recreational facilities, and an oncology clinic.
There's also some public housing for the Chiefs of Staff, but they've
managed to do just fine, even a couple of years ago, when the only thing a
civilian needed to do to get on base was drive up to the gate and say "I'm
here to shop at the Thrift Store" (they have some really nice stuff from
overseas, from time to time.

It's this kind of overwrought "security" (and reporting on it) that
diminishes the importance of dealing with actual security threats.  But
then again, I'm sure it's good for a contractor somewhere.

Mark Blacknell



*True story:  I live almost exactly a mile from Ft. Myer, and the only
reason I've not purchased a drone is b/c I know I'd be too tempted to test
it out in violation of FAA regs.  My former neighbor used to fly his all
the time.  He's now working in Pakistan for the State Department (took his
drone with him, too).

mb () blacknell net
+1.202.270.5909
Washington, DC

On Sun, Jan 14, 2018 at 9:52 AM, Dave Farber <farber () gmail com> wrote:

> https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/drones-keep-entering-no-fly-zones-over-washington-raising-security-concerns-and-illustrating-larger-problems/2018/01/13/1030159a-db7d-11e7-b1a8-62589434a581_story.html



-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/18849915-ae8fa580
Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=18849915&id_secret=18849915-aa268125
Unsubscribe Now: 
https://www.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?member_id=18849915&id_secret=18849915-32545cb4&post_id=20180114170921:90EB61AE-F977-11E7-9C0A-B6FC88E02C6D
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com