Posted on 05/27/2015 8:53:14 PM PDT by OK Sun
Coming soon to a Capitol skyline near you: Giant blimps at 10,000 feet?
The woman at the helm of the House Administration Committee thinks the Capitol needs eyes in the sky, after authorities failed to detect Florida mailman Douglas Hughes’ April 15 gyrocopter flight.
Chairwoman Candice S. Miller, R-Mich., visited U.S. Customs and Border Patrol ground stations along the Southern border in January and was amazed at the clarity of the Tethered Aerostat Radar System, or TARS. She is suggesting the “sophisticated technology” might suit the Capitol.
That would mean giant blimps stretching along the Washington, D.C., skyline at around 10,000 feet. Deployed by federal law enforcement, the aerostats contain 2,000-pound radars in their bellies, capable of detecting aircraft at a range of 200 miles.
“They’re going to be using drones to deliver your taco here pretty soon,” Miller said during a May 20 hearing featuring Capitol Police Chief Kim C. Dine. She suggested the department might be able to get “surplus stuff” from the Department of Defense. “I mean, this is what’s coming, so how can you be able to assess using technology that’s available, as quickly as you can?”
Other lawmakers take the suggestion of jumbo aeronautic balloons seriously, pointing to Hughes’ flight as justification for investing more money into surveillance of Washington’s skies.
(Excerpt) Read more at 3.blogs.rollcall.com ...
Or they could just pump Gov. KrispeyKreme full of helium and tether him to a garbage truck circling the beltway.
They got plenty of gasbags in DC already.
Is that really a good selling-point? That they have been so effective protecting and securing our southern border?
Regards,
We should never forget the huge manatee.
They were tested in Arizona and we’re very effective. Of course after the successful test they never came back.
My my. They do worry about protecting themselves. The rest of us, not so much. Bastards.
NOW
We've come a long way, baby.
When they do turn to think about protecting the citizen at large, it usually involves serious inconvenience and serious violations of Constitutional rights, all at enormous cost. And, more times than not, they do not proactively stop anything but rather say “we had them under surveillance but.........” in the aftermath.
Imposition, inconvenience, excessive mistreatment and condescension at a bloated cost all by people who couldn't find their butts with both hands and a flashlight.
There is one of those way out in the desert north of Marfa (I drove past it just yesterday). It’s a good 80 miles from the border, and it’s run by the Air Force- I’m not sure exactly what it’s purpose is.
And when an air liner hits one?
I go through Marfa on a fairly regular basis- I’ve really got no use for the pretentious “artist” types who hang out there. I did take my kid out to see the Marfa lights once, but they didn’t show that night (and it was bitterly cold, so we didn’t stick around long).
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