What is the government doing?! More on the ACGP / Power pilot problems from Harper

Just a quick update: A recent document that appeared on the "Save Air Cadet Gliding" web site revealed e-mails between cadets and officers. According to the Officer staff, this year, the program will be experimenting with giving 5 cadets per flight center their "recreational pilot permit" instead of giving them their full fledged private pilots license. They want to get ten times more cadets flying, but at the cost of the countries best scholarship. I wont be surprised if this "experiment" goes well, that they will scrap the power pilot scholarship all together, and replace it with this cheaper, easier permit option. These seem to be VERY dark days for the Air Cadet flying programs, as Steven Harper spends money on purchasing ads for things that aren't even passed by parliament yet, instead of giving the millions of dollars to support Air Cadet flying. Way to go, money pants :^P

Drones = Debate!

An MQ-9 Predator drone taxing. Source

Today, technology has come such a large way in a mere hundred years. For example: flight. Starting off with a little wood and canvas, the flying machines then gained larger fuselages, better engines and eventually weapons as a tool of war. Throughout time, the airplane has become such a remarkable feat of human engineering. Being able to take people around the world, transport cargo anywhere you want, send relief supplies around the globe and of course, be a means of military air superiority.

Today, drones are being used by countries around Earth, most notably the United States. While it is remarkable what they can do while not putting a human pilot's life on the line such as having the drone fly over Afghanistan while the pilot drinks coffee at home in the good 'ol USA. Drones are becoming today's keepers, but without the human element.

It is a very scary thought that these machines can have a mind of their own. Executing orders without human interaction. The loss of the human element of decision making means that it basically comes down to the numbers. When human judgement can save lives, a drone only has programming that serves as its morals. One day, the US may be in the situation when drones such as the MQ-9 predator drone (see photo above) may be authorized to patrol across the United States. It is a very scary thought that a government can have so much control with machines.

A big concern is a sense of "Battlestar Galactica Syndrome."  While the machines may not start thinking for themselves, hackers can basically hack into any computer. It has already been proven that hackers can hack into, and control US drones.

While they can provide protection, drones can also become the bars of the cage that can hold the world under fear.

Source