Thursday, June 14, 2012

Kindly Restrain Your Drone

I guess there are folks who spend every waking hour worrying about space junk fragments falling  from the sky and smashing through windshields, or maybe clobbering the family cat.  I'm just thankful we escaped Skylab's descent years ago (I know. . .sigh. . .most of you don't even remember the panic over Skylab's uncertain path).

UFO observers haven't had an easy life, either, what with so many what'sits traversing the skies these days.  Anomalous observations were so much easier to catalog in the forties, fifties, sixties and seventies.  But now? 

Is that a drone in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?

Some estimates suggest that in a few years the U.S. will host no less than 30,000 drones of all sizes, even downsized to killer bee status.  Their many talents -- okay, their spy talents -- will routinely be utilized by the military, government departments, police agencies and corporations.  Looks like privacy might become a dinosaur. 

Maybe it's just my age that makes me increasingly suspicious of computer technology as it unfolds before my eyes, but I must confess -- if I EVER find a downed drone on my property, even a cute little flying,digitally-enhanced gadget whose distant operator miscalculated and sent it soaring through a window and into my living room, I'm going to smack the bat snot out of it.

That's right, I'm not going to look for labels or numbers or insignias or logos, and I couldn't care less about its origin.  I'm just going to retrieve a big hammer and smash the hell out of it, clean up the pieces and head for a dumpster or recycling center pronto (I don’t think pawn shops would be a good idea), before somebody comes looking for it -- or maybe for laughs I'll dump the remnants in a neighboring yard, atop a pile of dog poop ("Gladys!  You gotta see this!  What the heck have you been feeding Obamamutt?!"). 

Show no mercy, take no prisoners.  Drones have the potential (certainty is more like it) to invade our lives endlessly, and I think we have both the right and responsibility to strike back with force when they invade our space within arm's reach.  Within arms' reach. 

We must not become toadies to the drone.

FROM BAT SNOT TO BATH SALTS:   I've been watching with interest sporadic cases of drug users currently indulging in "bath salts" who achieve bonkers status almost faster than with any other designer drug.  From cannibalism to super-strength, users also demonstrate another fascinating trait -- their brains literally transform them into growling, biting, snapping, clothes-shedding, vicious animal-like creatures.   The most important conclusion one may draw from such behavior is that the drug apparently takes us back to our primeval selves.  This might present a bit of a dilemma for religious folk intent upon seeing humans first as Adam and Eve and evolving into all the great human detritus succeeding that little garden story.  Me?  I think "bath salts" betray the finely-crafted human mask contrived by special interests over the centuries.  Are we merely killers intent upon the destruction of everything in our path?  Do you wish to know from whence we came and what we are?  Just watch the horror of a "bath salts" encounter for a dramatic clue.