Saturday, January 25, 2014

The Sad Ending of My Quadcopter Drone Spycam


Los Angeles, CA—I thought I learned how to fly my new Blade 350 quadcopter very well.  It was now time to shoot some cool video over the trendy UCLA neighborhood of Westwood while I was in town.  I wanted video of the old movie houses and such from not so high above. 
I carefully placed and set up a brand new GoPro 3+ camera on the gimbal and sent the drone all over the area for nearly 10 minutes.  I landed it perfectly and changed the battery sending it up to the Western sky.   I sent it up really high and unfortunately this time directly into the sun. 
I was completely blinded and I maneuvered the control to the North.  However I completely lost sight of it and the advertised return home feature failed miserably.  It simply vanished from view.
The little drone should have flown until the battery discharged and the thing would have slowly descended until it made a soft landing, but where?  I don’t have a clue!  A rooftop?  The VA Cemetery?  Did it land on busy nearby street or sidewalk?  Is it somehow on the roof of the FBI building?
To me this major mystery is nearly as important as the 1937 disappearance of Amelia Earhart her navigator Fred Noonan along with their Electra plane somewhere not far from Howland Island.  
I did not place identification or a phone number on it so it is lost forever.  The camera and the 64 gigabyte SD Ram card long with the drone cost well over $400.00 and the device itself $650.00.  Then there are the tools and accessories I bought that will now remain idle. 
More that anything I want the contents of the GoPro’s SD Ram card. 
Oh well it was fun while it lasted! I am incredibly sad right now. 

Update:
I began to analyze what went wrong and how I should have handled the emergency mid flight.   In retrospect I should have been able to avoid the panic and loss of the aircraft.
First and foremost, when the sun blinded me, I should have simply let go of the controls and it would have hovered in place.   I would have had at least five minutes to think up options. 
I could have moved the thing a bit to the right or left and let go of the controls again until I could get a visual on it.  Then I could have finished my flight without the drama and heartache. 
The cause of this air disaster was pure and simple pilot error.  Inexperience and over-confidence is a killer! 
   




   

Thursday, January 23, 2014

A Thirteen Minute Peek at the 2014 Las Vegas SHOT Show


Las Vegas, NV—Firearms, and accessory manufacturers, along with law enforcement and hunting related exhibitors filled the Sands Convention Center last week.
Some 67,000 people attended and Sin City got a needed financial boost.  Local businesses benefit along with the tax coffers.
What’s so amazing is that cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC will never get that financial benefit of this or the NRA Annual Meeting, Convention and Exhibit.  If we ever came to these cites we’d all wind up wearing handcuffs and watch our property confiscated. 
With all the guns and gun toting attendees there are never accidents or any kind of violence in the cities we visit.  The crime rate goes down because the local thugs all know they are in for a serious challenge if they try and victimize these convention visitors.  More guns never brings more crime. 
The SHOT Show is huge.  Covering the show as a full time multimedia journalist is impossible for me because I have certain commitments I must keep that prevents me from getting out on the show floor with my camera gear.
This year I brought a tiny GoPro 3+ camera and shot video with my pals at Eagle Grips both in the Convention Center and after hours. 
I have put together a 13 minute video with some cool music that’s blocked in Europe and by some cell phone and mobile devices.
If you can, please enjoy the video.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

The 2014 SHOT Show in Las Vegas

Paul Huebl at the 2014 Shot Show
Las Vegas, NV--some 67.000 people came to Sin City from every corner of the globe to celebrate firearms.  Exhibitors and firearms trade professionals came to town. Most everyone was armed however there were no murders or accidents involving people associated with this event. 

I can be found hanging out with the fine folks at Eagle Grips and hope for a moment to go out and shoot and edit some video.

Rocker and gun rights advocate Ted Nugent has a little fun with his long time friend Raj Singh, President of Eagle Grips. You can see that below. 

I have a lot of video to edit and will do so as time permits. 


Friday, January 10, 2014

Little Camera Drones and FAA Tyranny

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 Washington, DC—The Federal Aviation Authority was created for and exists for serious public safety issues.  They regulate airships and pilots in order to keep our air space safe.   That is absolutely an honorable mission.
However they have overstepped their mission by banning the use of small drones for so-called commercial purposes. 
Hobbyists currently can fly their drones virtually anywhere without any interference.  Flying at a lower altitude than 400 feet and staying away from other aircraft makes sense.  Nobody wants to endanger anyone or anything including his or her own drone.
They will eventually formally regulate drones.  Common sense should dictate that the size and weight of these air vehicles should determine what is or is not regulated.   
The FAA will never have enough inspectors to regulate every teenager with a drone in America.  I don’t think that the taxpayers could or would pay for such government silliness.
Currently the FAA has totally banned anyone for using these machines in commerce.  Specifically they have threatened prosecution of those that would use a drone to gather video or still photos of a news event for broadcast. 
I guess the FAA thinks they are above the law and the First Amendment rights of Americans.  To ban newsgathering while allowing anyone else to operate these drones is nothing less than tyranny.
Somewhat like the old TV series about a San Francisco gentleman, hired gun called, Paladin I will offer my services with a business card that reads, “Have camera-armed drone, will travel.”
I’m additionally a licensed private investigator and need to gather atrial shots of crime and accident scenes for court I’m going to ignore the FAA.
I just got an off the cuff opinion of a very respected Arizona attorney that specializes in media and First Amendment issues.  He said, the drone commercial use ban does not seem to be based on content or expression but about the use of air space.  Therefore he thinks the FAA may win that argument.
I respect the attorney and his opinion but I think banning them for newsgathering while allowing any hobbyist to use them seems to violate at least the spirit of Equal Protection.
Of course if I’m flying my drone for any purpose and am asked by anyone from the government what I’m doing I have only four simple words for him or her, I want a lawyer.
Let me also say that I will be flying mostly for fun and as a hobby. 
Let me throw down the gauntlet and challenge the FAA!  They will only take my drone from my dead cold hands!

Sunday, January 05, 2014

The Crimefile News Spy Drone is Operational!


Van Nuys, CA—Today history was made!  I flew my Blade 350 quadcopter with a GoPro Hero 3+ camera.  The bad news is the area where I shot the video was boring.  I pepped it up for you with Gwen Stefani’s, Real Thing.
I made every maneuver and angle I could which helps me determine the best angles to shoot from.   All I need now is the right subject or action to capture. 
The idea is to find something to focus into or follow with smooth action. 

Thursday, January 02, 2014

Unlawful Government Fees and Taxes on Guns, Permits and Registration


Chicago, IL—The State of Illinois like lots of jurisdictions in America want to over-regulate our rights to keep and bear arms.  Additionally they want to make us pay or face arrest and imprisonment for not submitting to their unlawful extortion demands.
The politicians and bureaucrats want to force gun owners to pay for their bogus gun control bureaucracies that they create to invade our privacy and diminish our rights.  That’s absolutely a lawless exercise.
The U.S. Supreme Court settled a similar issue long ago.  Southern politicians placed a tax on people that were voting.  There were simply called Poll Taxes.  The detractors of these taxes argued in court that they were intended to deprive poor people from voting in elections.  Poll Taxes were outlawed after the Supreme Court ruled that the right could not be taxed.
We have a specific Constitutional and clear right to keep and carry firearms.  For governmental agencies demanding payment in order to enjoy that right is nothing less than criminal extortion and racketeering.
We must enjoin these lawless politicians and their appointed bureaucrats from their criminal and punitive efforts to rob us of our rights with these extortion demands. 
Frankly no gun registration or firearm permit law demanding payment is proper.  If our politicians had their way they tax us on each breath we take or word we speak.  There becomes a point when we must tell them, no. 




Saturday, December 28, 2013

Conditioning Humans for Slavery and Genocide is a Snap

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Los Angeles, CA—I just finished watching the film, “12 Years A Slave.”  I found the acting superb.  The cast and crew behind the film were as good as it gets.  As for the film it was little more than the historical revision of American slavery. 
In the film every Black was a hero or victim and every White (except Brad Pitt’s character) was evil.   Dramatic entertainment license trumps truth every time. 
Make no mistake slavery was and will always be a terrible stain on America’s honor and sensibilities. The film ignored the realities.  Africans were kidnapped and sold to slave traders by other Africans.  Jungle savages were bought here and sold as property. 
The enslaved Africans soon embraced American Christianity and simply became a menial and somewhat willing workforce.  When the slaves were freed the vast majority found themselves in non-union jobs on the same plantations where they were enslaved.  Did anything really change? 
The freed slaves universally had no interest in returning to Africa.  The grandchildren and succeeding generations of African slaves have since enjoyed opportunities and wealth that they or their fellow Africans never envisioned. 
The evolution of that workforce can be seen today is at fast food and Wal-Mart.  These workers become conditioned and convinced that this is their place in life and simply adapt.  Rather than seek education or more profitable skills these workers become trapped in their crappy lives sometimes for multiple generations.  
When humans are given absolute power over other humans unthinkable atrocities always occur.  The rapes, beatings and murders of slaves were reality but thankfully the exception rather than the rule.
The truth is Southern plantations would have had to operate as maximum security prisons if the kind of abuse that this Hollywood creation was commonplace.  Rebellion and escape would have brought productivity and the Southern economy to a standstill if the plantations were anywhere nearly as miserable as depicted in this film.  Productive slaves by necessity were well fed and humanely treated.   
The reality is when you remove humans from their homes and introduce them into utter dependence they adapt quite well. Those in control can easily recruit slaves to police and control the others.  American slavery and the Nazi Holocaust could never have succeeded without near total cooperation by those victimized! 
After World War Two’s end Jewish people worldwide chanted, “Never Again!”  The suggestion was that they’d never allow anyone to dominate and abuse them again.  That rings so hollow today.
After abolishing slavery we added the 14th Amendment protecting everyone on American soil with, “Equal Protection Under Law.” Then we spent the next 200 years watering down and creating exceptions to the original Bill of Rights. There is little freedom left so the meaning of Equal Protection today is dubious at best.
Freedom is no longer popular particularly among Democratic Party voters who are overwhelmingly Black and Jewish.  They redundantly elect politicians that want nothing less than to eviscerate every protection in the Bill of Rights.
Victimized African’s and Jews accepted their fate and knew their place in society.   They meekly accepted orders to board various implements of transportation and resettled as they were told. They did not revolt as long as they were given rules and barely minimal food.  As long as the enslaved were convinced they could not be beaten, staved or murdered they’d totally cooperate with their imprisoners.   
The best people control tool in this setting is community punishment for any individual’s supposed transgression.  If one person tried to escape or resist everyone would be denied food or would suffer some form of punishment.  That makes slave’s self-policing an easy fact of life. 
The Nazi’s could have never succeeded with their Final Solution without the thousands of capos who sold out fellow Jews and policed them for better food and conditions.  The capos were often very bit as if not more evil than the Nazis.  When the allies liberated the Nazi concentration many capos were simply beaten to death by fellow inmates.   Too bad the inmates did not kill the capos as they were given power over fellow prisoners.
If we have not learned from the past we are doomed to repeat it. What’s past is prologue.  Holocausts have happened since the beginning of the human race and they will continue until he humans evolve or become extinct.
Evolution seems unlikely.
Man will continue to dominate other men under the guise of government or social democracy.  A simple clock dictates when there will be good times and bad.   After each rebellion things improve until the victors begin to visit the same tyranny on the population that caused the last revolution.  Never say, “Never Again!”
We are all conditioned to slavery.  Anyone claiming they’re not merely has to remember their meekly submitting to detention and search by TSA screeners.  Of course while we are preparing tax returns and writing checks to pay for Obama’s “Nanny Government” and his extravagant vacations slavery does enter our minds. 
When our government invents a crisis and tells us to board the buses to various shelters history says we will all quietly line up and do as we are told.







Thursday, December 26, 2013

Is there Life After Reporting for Phoenix Television News? Eileen Faxas shows us the answer!

Phoenix, AZ—A while back when I was doing a great deal of investigative TV news producing there was this KPHO-TV general assignment reporter I was working with, Eileen Faxas.  Faxas was not your typical cookie cutter reporter.  She stood out with her wild red hair and statuesque showgirl figure from all the rest.  You’ve seen a lot of her in the 1990s on CBS5 news reports.
Faxas was dedicated and disciplined but was too often assigned to less exciting news stories perhaps because she found ways to make them interesting.  She managed to pick up a few Emmy Awards along the way.  Faxas was a stickler for using proper English and I soon was surprised to learn she was a Cuban commanding two languages!  One day Faxes moved on. Frankly this lady did not really belong in TV news but had a higher and more demanding calling.
Faxas showed up in Miami, FL and put herself out for theater, commercials and as a singer.  I never envisioned her as a singer, actress and dancer.  Faxas developed as a consummate triple threat performer.  Soon Faxas was hitting the New York and national stage tours in Musical productions like Mama Mia and Cats

More surprises were found on the Elieen Faxes YouTube Channel!  There you can see lots of her in action pursuing her obvious dream and making a living!  You can subscribe to this channel as see just what this former newsie has been doing.
TV news prepares performers by getting them used to the stage and public display.   When reports wind up in films it’s always a cameo role as a reporter.  Not Faxas, she finds and creates her new characters in whatever she’s doing.

TV news has hit the hard times because of cable and the Internet.  I’m really thrilled to see Eileen having the time of her life bring joy to audiences wherever she performs. 
You can check out just what this multi-talented lady has been up to on her website:
I will leave you with a really nice duet with a fellow cast member from Mama Mia, Justin Berkobien singing, A Christmas season offering, Oh Come Emmanuel.





Wednesday, December 25, 2013

End the Drug War Before it Kills us All


Washington, DC—The ultimate Nanny Laws are the drug prohibitions.  Drug laws are intended to prevent stupid people from harming themselves with nature’s chemicals and compounds.  
The idea was to protect the children.  There are better ways to do that than making the incredibly expensive and un-American police state and the deadly and vast torrent of crime and violence associated.   
First of all the cost of manufacturing the dangerous drugs that plague our society is really miniscule.  Creating the drugs costs no more that tea, soft drinks or Twinkies.  The price of drugs is driven by police enforcement and the associated risks involved. The risk associated with drug trafficking is exactly what inflates the profits.
Addicts pay incredible amounts of cash for illicit drugs simply because they are illegal!  The cost is so high and their addiction is so overpowering in the process we created a new class of thieves, robbers, burglars and even killers.  If drugs were not so expensive most addicts would not be involved in crime just to raise drug money to feed their habits.
We created another very ugly crime class of corrupt cops, prosecutors, judges, lawmakers and government contractors that shamelessly exploit and cash in on the Drug War.  They gleefully pose as, White knights but are the evil villains laughing all the way to the bank through every form of corruption.   
The suggestion that prohibitions stop or even slow down drug abuse is a sick joke.  If anything the prohibition makes the drugs more attractive.  Human nature tempts people to engage in risky behavior and to take walks on the wild side.  Sky diving and extreme sports have a similar attraction.  No matter the risk people are only too willing to gamble with their lives.
Drug treatment has been reduced to a scandalous scam.  It’s nothing more that a profitable way for crooks to help convicted drug addicts avoid jail. It’s not about meaningful treatment.  The only way for an addict to get admitted into a treatment program today is by court order after an arrest and conviction!  That’s beyond outrageous.  It’s not about treatment but obscene profits.
Parents are misled by the Drug Czars that their children will all be sticking needles in their arms but for the Drug War. That propaganda hogwash works to convince parents that they are incapable of raising their children without government intervention.  They become brainwashed into believing that if they don’t support the Drug War they’re bad parents! 
No right-minded parent wants their children tempted by anything harmful including drugs.   Government is not a third parent for your child!  Parents need to be parents.  Nobody said being a parent is an easy job.
Hundreds of billions of dollars are wasted on the Drug War every year.  Liberty and freedom has been compromised to the point of no return.
Taxing illicit drugs is just another way to inflate the price and invite every form of crime and corruption.  Let the FDA regulate only legitimate medicine and food purity.  Illicit drugs don’t need or deserve regulation.  For recreational drug users it should simply industry regulated and subject to buyer beware.  
Charles Darwin told us long ago that some people were just not meant to live.  Man’s law can’t change Darwin’s.
If we took a mere ten percent of the cash we waste on the Drug War and used it to treat the addicted that actually wanted treatment we could make vast progress against this cancer.
As for children we must protect them by making it a serious crime to furnish or introduce drugs to them.  
There is nothing positive about the Drug War.  It has killed more than all of the illicit drugs combined.  The fact is the Drug War is killing us.