Don't agree with you on anything else and think your views on education are more destructively populist/proletarian than you recognize, but this is a pretty legitimate issue to draw attention to.
With drones, like a host of modern innovations ranging from Google to cell telephones, there are boons and banes at hand. I'm not keen about random aerial / electronic snooping but a court approved aerial "search warrant" seems reasonable if there are strict, structured legal procedures in place. Drones are cheaper and more efficient than other forms of aircraft. I look forward to the day when all military aircraft are pilotless and controlled from the ground. With no pilot the aircraft could become smaller, faster, more manueverable (no G-force inhibitors), more durable with greater range and operational capability -- and less expensive to build and operate. For border patrols the drones could spot launching points so the border patrol could arrive before illegals could even cross the border to become illegals. They could virtually end car chases because they are even more effective than helicopters. For military applications the runways are shorter and the armaments are just as effective or more so with no risk to our service personnel. If the drone loses signal from home, it can be programmed to blow up before it hits the ground. Drones are the way to go -- and we already have a generation of game-trained "pilots."
The problem is you have to trust the government to not violate the rules you put in place. They are currently fighting for NO KNOCK warrents and No warrent to listen in on Cell Phones what makes you think they would be ok with some kind of 'aeral warrents'? Rocket River
"Give us more power ... because we need it to keep you safe. And you should be very, very afraid of the things we need to keep you safe from ... so give us more power. Wait, nevermind. We'll just take it. It's for your own good. Vote Democrat or Republican in the upcoming elections! Oh, and always be a responsible citizen .... you know what we mean. Obey."
Yeah, I'm not too happy about that either. It's a little better than drones though, because the drone's pilot must film his surroundings to navigate, especially when it's used in some kind of reconnaissance mission. So, there's a person looking in realtime and a video record. A satellite can see and record, but it isn't used in the same way as a drone with a realtime pilot combing your neighborhood as a general course of business. Even so, I still don't like it.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/17/us/colorado-plane-probe/index.html?iref=obnetwork Highly doubt it was a drone, as the pilot would have said something like "WTF is that a drone?" instead of "A remote-controlled aircraft, or what, but something just went by the other way. ... About 20 to 30 seconds ago, and it was like a large remote-controlled aircraft."
