JOIN US IN STOPPING DRONE WAR AND SPYING
Doação protegida
WHAT'S HAPPENING?
Drones, remotely controlled aircraft, have become the cutting edge of US strategies for international and domestic political control. Failure to comply can bring death from the sky.
In 2012 America's attention was drawn to escalating killings by US drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and even the Philippines. The impact of drone strikes is described in the report "Living Under Drones".
In 2013, it has become clear that our government is increasing drone and electronic surveillance of the American people, as noted in "The Coming Drone Attack on America", by Naomi Wolf.
The following video shows the potential power of drone surveillance to essentially "imprison" communities anywhere on the planet by placing them under continual watch.
THE WORK OF THE REAPER REPLICA
In spite of the coverage of drone war, and now of US government surveillance in America, we find that many, many people know little or nothing about weaponized and surveillance drones and the profound issues they raise, not only with respect to assassination and war, but with respect to privacy, freedoms of speech and assembly, self-determination and control of resources, including human labor.
The weaponized and surveillance drones are a critical focus for public education because they are the only visible evidence that the public has of the expanding US global apparatus of monitoring and intimidation.
These drones are deeply disturbing not only for what they are doing but because they symbolize the fantastical will of government to dominate through technological, impersonal means in which personal responsibility and risk are minimal or non-existent. The drones are icons of faceless, soulless, fascistic, sociopathic crushing power.
A group of organizers in upstate New York began two years ago to confront the public's lack of drone knowledge by building five, 1/5 scale replicas of the MQ-9 Reaper drone, the workhorse of drone warfare and surveillance. (A Reaper is depicted in the video referenced above, carrying an Argus camera array.) This replica-building work was continued by www.knowdrones.org so that today there are 21 Reaper replicas being used in protests and sidewalk teach-ins across the United States, including two in Hawaii.
The steel grey, eight-foot-long replicas, with an 11-foot-wingspan, are of a size that commands attention and cause people to stop to ask questions. Once that happens education can begin. The replicas invariably attract cellphone and press photographers.
(Photo by Tykos)
In addition, and this is extremely important, the replicas can evoke empathy. The picture above, taken at a protest on April 3, 2012 at Rockefeller Center in New York City, suggests how the mass and color of the replica can give people standing under it a sense of the reality of war and suffering that is otherwise well-hidden and rendered invisible in America.
"Challenging Dronopobia", a report of a KnowDrones speaking tour in 2012, will give you an idea of the variety of places where replicas have been used. Here are photos showing the replicas in action.
Protesters from Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland at Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia in January, 2013. (Photo by TED)
World Can't Wait organizers do street education at the 2013 Honolulu Chinese New Year's parade. (Photo courtesy Carolyn Hadfield)
Code Pink protests the appointment of John Brennan to head the CIA outside the Dirksen Senate Office Building, February 7, 2013. (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)
THE CHALLENGE OF MEETING DEMAND
Because of the popularity of the replicas, we have been challenged to make more of them more quickly, and stronger, lighter and easier to transport. To accomplish this, we decided that we must begin molding the replica fuselages from fiberglass.
The photo below shows the drone body used for molding undergoing final smoothing and finishing before the silicon mold is built around it.
The photo below shows how the new fiberglass fuselages come in half for easier transport.
The fiberglass fuselages will enable us, as an optional feature, to install a small video camera in the nose. The camera will transmit to an iPad images of people as they would appear in the cross-hairs of a drone targeting screen. The iPad will also contain drone war related videos, such as one produced by Lockheed Martin to show the killing power of the Hellfire missile, the current weapon of choice for US drone attacks.
YOU CAN HELP EXPAND THE REAPER REPLICA CAMPAIGN
As noted above, we are asking your help in raising $18,600 to build six fiberglass replica fuselages in addition to the four we have just completed.
Local organizations will be paying $500 or more for the new replicas, but we must raise the balance to be prepared to cover costs that are beyond what most local organizations can afford.
It is imperative that we get more replicas into the hands of organizers as soon as possible so that we can seize this historic moment to stop drone killing and to stop the spread of weaponized drones and drone spying before they become permanent parts of our lives and the lives of people around the world.
YOUR HELP IS ESSENTIAL IN GETTING MORE REPLICAS INTO THE STREET.
Please click onto KnowDrones.org and take one or more of the actions suggested there. We need your financial help, but we also need you to get involved in education and action if there is any way that you can. This is an historic moment when we can turn this thing around.
Nick Mottern, Coordinator, KnowDrones.org
The photo at the top of this appeal shows people in San Diego, California as they gathered in April, 2013 to begin a four-day campaign of drone war protest and education. Photo courtesy of Dave Patterson.
Drones, remotely controlled aircraft, have become the cutting edge of US strategies for international and domestic political control. Failure to comply can bring death from the sky.
In 2012 America's attention was drawn to escalating killings by US drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and even the Philippines. The impact of drone strikes is described in the report "Living Under Drones".
In 2013, it has become clear that our government is increasing drone and electronic surveillance of the American people, as noted in "The Coming Drone Attack on America", by Naomi Wolf.
The following video shows the potential power of drone surveillance to essentially "imprison" communities anywhere on the planet by placing them under continual watch.
THE WORK OF THE REAPER REPLICA
In spite of the coverage of drone war, and now of US government surveillance in America, we find that many, many people know little or nothing about weaponized and surveillance drones and the profound issues they raise, not only with respect to assassination and war, but with respect to privacy, freedoms of speech and assembly, self-determination and control of resources, including human labor.
The weaponized and surveillance drones are a critical focus for public education because they are the only visible evidence that the public has of the expanding US global apparatus of monitoring and intimidation.
These drones are deeply disturbing not only for what they are doing but because they symbolize the fantastical will of government to dominate through technological, impersonal means in which personal responsibility and risk are minimal or non-existent. The drones are icons of faceless, soulless, fascistic, sociopathic crushing power.
A group of organizers in upstate New York began two years ago to confront the public's lack of drone knowledge by building five, 1/5 scale replicas of the MQ-9 Reaper drone, the workhorse of drone warfare and surveillance. (A Reaper is depicted in the video referenced above, carrying an Argus camera array.) This replica-building work was continued by www.knowdrones.org so that today there are 21 Reaper replicas being used in protests and sidewalk teach-ins across the United States, including two in Hawaii.
The steel grey, eight-foot-long replicas, with an 11-foot-wingspan, are of a size that commands attention and cause people to stop to ask questions. Once that happens education can begin. The replicas invariably attract cellphone and press photographers.
(Photo by Tykos)
In addition, and this is extremely important, the replicas can evoke empathy. The picture above, taken at a protest on April 3, 2012 at Rockefeller Center in New York City, suggests how the mass and color of the replica can give people standing under it a sense of the reality of war and suffering that is otherwise well-hidden and rendered invisible in America.
"Challenging Dronopobia", a report of a KnowDrones speaking tour in 2012, will give you an idea of the variety of places where replicas have been used. Here are photos showing the replicas in action.
Protesters from Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland at Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia in January, 2013. (Photo by TED)
World Can't Wait organizers do street education at the 2013 Honolulu Chinese New Year's parade. (Photo courtesy Carolyn Hadfield)
Code Pink protests the appointment of John Brennan to head the CIA outside the Dirksen Senate Office Building, February 7, 2013. (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)
THE CHALLENGE OF MEETING DEMAND
Because of the popularity of the replicas, we have been challenged to make more of them more quickly, and stronger, lighter and easier to transport. To accomplish this, we decided that we must begin molding the replica fuselages from fiberglass.
The photo below shows the drone body used for molding undergoing final smoothing and finishing before the silicon mold is built around it.
The photo below shows how the new fiberglass fuselages come in half for easier transport.
The fiberglass fuselages will enable us, as an optional feature, to install a small video camera in the nose. The camera will transmit to an iPad images of people as they would appear in the cross-hairs of a drone targeting screen. The iPad will also contain drone war related videos, such as one produced by Lockheed Martin to show the killing power of the Hellfire missile, the current weapon of choice for US drone attacks.
YOU CAN HELP EXPAND THE REAPER REPLICA CAMPAIGN
As noted above, we are asking your help in raising $18,600 to build six fiberglass replica fuselages in addition to the four we have just completed.
Local organizations will be paying $500 or more for the new replicas, but we must raise the balance to be prepared to cover costs that are beyond what most local organizations can afford.
It is imperative that we get more replicas into the hands of organizers as soon as possible so that we can seize this historic moment to stop drone killing and to stop the spread of weaponized drones and drone spying before they become permanent parts of our lives and the lives of people around the world.
YOUR HELP IS ESSENTIAL IN GETTING MORE REPLICAS INTO THE STREET.
Please click onto KnowDrones.org and take one or more of the actions suggested there. We need your financial help, but we also need you to get involved in education and action if there is any way that you can. This is an historic moment when we can turn this thing around.
Nick Mottern, Coordinator, KnowDrones.org
The photo at the top of this appeal shows people in San Diego, California as they gathered in April, 2013 to begin a four-day campaign of drone war protest and education. Photo courtesy of Dave Patterson.
Organizadora
Nick Mottern
Organizadora
Hastings-on-Hudson, NY
