as drones grow more common in U.S. airspace, they are likely to grow larger

Public safety agencies are cleared to fly small drones under 25 pounds.(Credit: Aeryon Labs, Inc.)

Public safety agencies can now get expedited permission to fly drones weighing up to 25 pounds in U.S. airspace, according tonew rules approved Monday by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The size of the craft was the most significant change made by the FAA in responding to a congressional mandate to integrate unmanned aviation vehicles into domestic airspace. In February, Congress passed legislation calling on the FAA to expedite approval for law enforcement and first responder agencies that want to use drones smaller than 4.4 pounds.

FAA officials decided to boost the size of the largest permissible public safety drone after meeting with federal, state and local law enforcement representatives, a spokesman said. The officials “determined that small unmanned aircraft systems under 25 pounds would be the most cost-effective, easiest to manage and overall most appropriate to carry out the various first responder missions.”

The decision opens up the market to American drone manufacturers seeking customers in the public safety sector, according to  Ben Gielow, general counsel for Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, a trade group. An industry survey of drones under 4.4 pounds found 79 different models for sale by 54 companies, Gielow said. Now public safety agencies shopping for North American-made drones to fit the FAA regulations will be able to choose from 146 models  manufactured by 69 different companies. The larger drones will be able to carry more sensors to improve “situational awareness,” he said.

Missy Cummings, professor of aeronautics at MIT, says the larger vehicles “will be more maneuverable and stable in high winds. They’ll be able to get a clearer and steadier picture of whatever they’re looking at.”

But don’t expect to see a law enforcement drone overhead right away. Public safety organizations must first apply to the FAA for approval to establish a drone training and performance evaluation program. Only when the agency has shown proficiency in training and evaluation of unmanned airborne vehicles will it receive a certificate of approval to fly drones.

Other congressionally mandated conditions will remain in effect. The drones must stay under 400 feet while flying and must remain in sight of the operator at all times.

In February, Congress ordered the FAA to develop plans to open up U.S. airspace to “small” drones for commercial purposes by mid-2014. The legislation defines a “small drone” as one that weighs less than 55 pounds.

So as drones grow more common in U.S. airspace, they are likely to grow larger.

Jefferson Morley is a staff writer for Salon in Washington and author of the forthcoming book,Snow-Storm in August: Washington City, Francis Scott Key, and the Forgotten Race Riot of 1835 (Nan Talese/Doubleday).

U.S. soldier driven insane by violence against Afghanis, convicted of bomb plot

A Muslim soldier has been convicted over a failed plot to blow up a Texas restaurant full of US troops, in a religious mission to get “justice” for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Jurors in US District Court in Waco deliberated little more than an hour before finding Pfc Naser Jason Abdo guilty of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, attempted murder of US officers or employees, and four counts of possessing a weapon in furtherance of a federal crime of violence.

Abdo, 22, did not stand with his lawyers when jurors and the judge entered the room, and showed no emotion when each of the six guilty verdicts was read by the court clerk.

Abdo, who has been accused of spitting blood on authorities escorting him and a jailer, wore a mask covering his nose and mouth throughout the trial. He faces up to life in prison.

US District Judge Walter Smith will sentence him in July.

Prosecutors said Abdo had already started making a bomb when he was detained at a Killeen motel last July after going absent without leave from Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Authorities also found numerous bomb-making components, a loaded gun, 143 rounds of ammunition, a stun gun and other items in his backpack and motel room.

In a recorded police interview, Abdo said he was planning to pull off an attack in the Fort Hood army base area “because I don’t appreciate what my unit did in Afghanistan”. He told authorities he planned to put the bomb in a busy restaurant filled with soldiers, wait outside and shoot anyone who survived – and become a martyr after police killed him.

Abdo told an investigator that he did not plan an attack inside Fort Hood because he did not believe he would be able to get through security at the gates, the court heard.

During the four-day trial, a recorded jail conversation was played for jurors in which Abdo told his mother his religion inspired his actions and he was seeking “justice” for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. “Their suffering is my suffering,” he said.

via U.S. soldier convicted of bomb plot – World News, Breaking News – Herald.ie.

women’s healthcare clinics in georgia burglarized, info on providers stolen – updates on war against women

A series of break-ins and arson incidents have workers and patients at women’s health clinics in Atlanta on “heightened alert,” according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The FBI and ATF are conducting a joint investigation of what appears to be a sharp escalation in a campaign to intimidate and threaten providers of women’s health care, including abortion services.

In recent weeks, clinics specializing in women’s health services have been the scene of three burglaries and now two fires. The first fire took place at a private OB/GYN office in the north Atlanta suburb of Gwinnett on Sunday, the second just Wednesday at the Alpha Group GYN offices, a large and bustling facility in Marietta.

Raw Story asked Jaime Chandra, Communications Manager for Atlanta’s Feminist Women’s Health Center, if she believes that the attacks are related to Georgia’s recent passage of stringent new anti-abortion measures. “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,” she said, “I would love to believe that it’s not related and that we live in a civil society, but, no, I don’t think it’s coincidental.”

Chandra pointed out that all of the doctors targeted so far are part of a group of OB GYN physicians who spoke out against the state’s controversial HB 954, a so-called “fetal pain” bill that placed tight new restrictions on late-term abortions and was passed into law on March 29. Under the new rules, physicians and other health care workers who provide abortion services outside the confines of the law are subject to criminal prosecution.

It was after the physicians’ group had made their resistance to the law known that the first break-in occurred. On Sunday, March 4, the North Atlanta Women’s Specialists’ offices were burglarized by a thief who stole two laptop computers that contained employees’ names and personal information. A second break-in took place on Saturday, March 17, when a suspect broke into the offices of The Georgia Obstetrical & Gynecological Society, again stealing laptop computers with staff members’ personal information.

Dr. David Byck, president of the Georgia Obstetrical and Gynecological Society told The Suwannee Patch, “The police officers said that the break-in looked well planned, and it’s frightening that the personal and family information of our membership has been stolen. There cannot be a good intent behind such a crime.”

via FBI steps in as attacks on Georgia women’s clinics escalate | The Raw Story.

group forms to seek abortion coverage for the thousands of military women raped by fellow soldiers 

A servicewoman who has been victimized by rape does not have health insurance coverage should she decide to terminate a resulting pregnancy. Current law allows coverage of abortion only when the woman’s life is endangered. I, and no doubt many others, am disheartened that our servicewomen and military wives and daughters lack the same insurance coverage civilian women have during such a traumatizing period of their lives. Federal employees — including any member of Congress and his or her family member — along with women in prison and women enrolled in Medicaid are appropriately shown compassion and provided access to care. But not women in uniform or the loved ones of men in uniform. To them, Congress has said, “you’re on your own.”

The existence of the current policy boggles the mind. There is simply no justification for providing these women patriots less care than civilian women. The policy is shameful. Worse, it is disrespectful of the service and sacrifice of every military woman.

see much more, at stand with women

can’t find a job because of background as a rapist? the TSA is hiring!`

The security checkpoint between Terminals D and E is a busy place where thousands of people – including lots of kids – pass through every day. But you might not believe who the I-Team observed working as a TSA supervisor at that checkpoint this week: Thomas Harkins.

Until 2002, Harkins was a Catholic priest working at churches across South Jersey. But the Diocese of Camden removed him from ministry because it found he sexually abused two young girls. Now, in a new lawsuit, a third woman is claiming she also is one of Harkins’ victims.

The I-Team asked Harkins about the suit as he was leaving his shift at the airport.

“I have nothing to say,” was Harkins’ reply.

The new lawsuit, filed in federal court against the Camden Diocese says quite a bit. It accuses Harkins of sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl 10 to 15 times in 1980 and 1981. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the alleged victim, claims the abuse occurred while Harkins was a priest at Saint Anthony of Padua parish in Hammonton, NJ, with one assault even occurring in Harkins’ bedroom at the rectory.

The I-Team asked Harkins if the traveling public should be worried.

“No, they shouldn’t be,” he said.

“The public should not be worried with you in a position like this despite your past?” reporter Ben Simmoneau asked.

“I have nothing to say,” Harkins repeated.

He then used his TSA badge to walk into a restricted area where our cameras could not follow.

“They should know who they’re hiring,” said Karen Polesir, a Philadelphia spokeswoman with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). She believes Harkins’ TSA job is inappropriate.

“As the public, we are screened to our underwear getting on a plane, and yet they hire a man like that.”

via I-Team: Priest Removed From Ministry Due To Sex Abuse Allegations Now Works At PHL « CBS Philly.

to see a list of the hundreds of priests publicly accused of raping children in the u.s., see bishop accountability.org.