Sunday, February 15, 2015

The FAA Just Proposed New Rules For Commercial Drone Use.

Washington, DC--The FAA finally came out with a proposed rule for commercial drone use.  They were far less draconian and created a somewhat reasonable approach to regulation than expected by most observers. 
The “FAA Guidelines for Model Aircraft” for non-commercial hobbyist fights will remain unchanged. 
The new rule would make Electronic Drone News Gathering possible in most situations.
The period of public comment must pass and after some tweaking the final rule will be established.  This could take up to three years.  By then the technology will change for the better and this will be liberalized somewhat.  
Below is the UAS (drone) Commercial Use Press Release for the Rule the FAA is sending out for public comment.
HIGHLIGHTS:
The FAA will require a minimal pilot UAS ground license testing requirement with recertification every two years.
No drone night flights.
No flying drones over the heads of people unless they are part of the shoot.
Drones must stay under 500 ft. maximum flight altitude.
Drones must yield to all manned aircraft.
Drone is not to exceed 55 lbs. in weight.
Maximum drone speed shall be 100 MPH.
Since public comment is required the news media clients must make their concerns known.  Because of the rapid loss of TV and Newspaper consumers and budgets drones are a salvation as helicopters are the single largest cost to TV stations. 
We can capture images without flying over the heads of people by shooting the scene from along side at a 45-degree angle.  That angle also provides for better images.  Remember the drone has the distinct advantage of flying at much lower altitudes than helicopters.
This is great news for TV and all news media organizations since they will be able to cover news from the air at a fraction of the cost of helicopters.
Until the rule becomes final commercial uses must still apply for waivers from the FAA.  I suspect that that procedure will become simplified considering the new proposed rules. 
Here is the FAA press Release:


Saturday, February 14, 2015

Liberals Need to Understand Why Millions of Americans are willing to Fight and Die to Preserve Their Gun Rights.

Washington, DC—In the seat of American political power, gun rights have been unlawfully compromised away by our politicians for more than four decades. 
The anti-gun rights attacks have almost exclusively come from the far political Left.  I see dark and nefarious motives here since the political Left detests self-reliance, liberty and freedom except for of course, abortion. 
The Left insists the Constitution needs to change with the political wind without that difficult amendment process.  The idea of the founding fathers had was to prevent our Capitalist form of government from being hijacked by those who would corrupt and destroy the system with a simple majority.
Frankly, many of our Presidents, Representatives and Senators are or have been Socialists, Communists and of course criminals.  Unfortunately most politicians have the desire to control, exploit and loot the property of others programed into their DNA.
Don’t let all those broad similes and firm handshakes fool you.  They carefully craft their images to that of offering benevolence to their constituents, but they are in this for themselves.  They all enter office as middle-class people and manage to leave or retire as multi-millionaires. 
Politicians hate running for reelection and they have conspired at every opportunity to rig the political process.  They invented extensive and complicated gerrymandering and campaign finance schemes they sold voters as necessary for “fair” elections.  Their only goal has been incumbent protection at all cost. 
Governments work better for the citizens when politicians are fighting among themselves.  When they all get along the red flag of corruption is waiving. 
Look out when a Conservative suddenly votes for excessive taxation or compromises our freedom away.  That is a sure sign that bribery or extortion is involved. 
Too many of our politicians would end elections in a flash if they had the power to do that.  They are afraid of the voters especially when they push extortionate taxation, over-regulation or curb our freedom.  They all fear revolution as a reality.
The Right to Keep and Bear Arms:
There has never been a despotic dictator in world history that did not order draconian weapon laws or ordered weapon confiscation.   Our founding fathers understood this and the necessity for an armed well-regulated population to fight tyranny.
Our politicians created our formal police agencies during the mid-nineteenth century.  Unfortunately the cops were not there to protect anything but the corrupt politicians, their business operations and wealth.
Police officers were strictly hired on the patronage system and were too often used exclusively to victimize their sponsor’s political opposition.   Cops became the bagmen for politicians, extorting from businesses legal and otherwise. 
To legitimize the cops they had to be given an active role in public safety.  In the large urban areas citizens were told to abdicate their responsibilities of defending themselves and families to these “much better qualified” armed government strangers wearing uniforms. 
Americans were told never to take the law into their own hands but to let the cops handle public safety.  Police professionalized their image and training however when responding to urban violence they still have a huge disadvantage.  They can’t tell the criminals from the good guys unlike you and your family members.
That failed and pathetic, “leave it to the authorities” mindset was never so evident, then when a group of skinny Islamic hijackers took over four passenger jets on September 11, 2001. 
When cops respond to calls involving life-threatening violence they still have a tendency to take the losing injured parties to the hospital while arresting the uninjured winners.  The cops are not clairvoyant and we have thousands of wrongful convictions to make this fact abundantly clear.
Our law enforcement system is way over-rated by films and television.  The fact is they only arrive after the crimes have occurred just in time to clean up the mess.  Then they conduct an investigation but again they are forced to guess what the truth may be. 
The only way to insure actual protection for you and your family is through aggressive and positive self-help.  Weapons, training in their use along with the law and liability of the justifiable use of deadly force are your only option for survival. 
That brings us to the National Rifle Association and Second Amendment Foundation.  They are supported by millions of members just like me.  The gun manufactures and dealers have their own National Shooting Sports Foundation to service their political needs.
The NRA’s millions of dues paying members simply demand that our interests and gun rights be zealously and uncompromisingly protected. 
Some on the political Left will suggest to follow the NRA money like there is something evil going on.  The fact is the NRA members and their sympathizers care much more about their safety and liberty than money.  Without liberty money is meaningless.  Our money is far better spent on lobbying for and supporting politicians that protect our rights.
Gun ownership has never been higher in the USA and the crime rate has been steadily declining.   
Since the Supreme Court landmark Heller and McDonald cases, gun laws have been struck down and repealed nearly everywhere. The sky has not fallen. The fact is we are safer than ever.  The guns our in our hands are far more effective than some 911 operator on the phone.  
American gun owners will never again tolerate a Waco or Ruby Ridge holocaust conducted by bucket helmeted, jackboot wearing government thugs.  
The Supreme Court has reaffirmed our rights and those politicians that foolishly try to violate our rights will do so at their peril. Americans have always shown their willingness to shed blood for precious liberty.


Friday, February 13, 2015

Drone Disaster--The DJI Inspire 1 Marketing Rollout Nightmare

San Francisco, CA—The camera drone industry is growing at breakneck speed.  Engineers especially in China are competing to make most reliable, safest, and easiest to operate drones.
DJI is the undisputed leader of the pack.  They put out the wildly successful Phantom and Phantom 2 consumer models multi-rotor drones.
They either use the great little GoPro Cameras or their own built in offering.  DJI should stick to drone making and there is now evidence that they are partnering up with Panasonic and at least one other company to make photography history.
I’m beyond delighted with my Phantom 2 and GoPro unit.  I learned how to fly it through the generosity and kindness of an American Airlines pilot pal along with my drone hobby shop proprietor Sergio of PiroflipRC in Van Nuys, CA. 
There is a learning curve and the drone engineers are not writers but still must write the instruction manuals nonetheless.  When you add in a Chinese to English translation, things tend to become, lost or scrambled.
Thankfully there are lots of helpful YouTube tutorials to watch but there is still nothing like an experienced pilot personally guiding you through your flight checklist.  The excitement of having that drone too often causes the new owner to rush out and fly alone rather than wait for some assistance.   The results are often needless crashes and broken parts. 
When a brand new drone model hits the streets there are often a few bugs waiting to be discovered and corrected.  There are complicated software and hardware issues that must undergo beta testing.  The competition to get any new model out robs the makers of sufficient time to discover problems.
It was just a few months ago when DJI and the Public Relations people unveiled the all new Inspire 1 at Treasure Island to an invited group of dronie VIPs. 
DJI hired two terrific photographer pilots to make epic demonstration  films.  One was in Germany and the other in Southern California.  The films were incredible eye candy or what I like to call drone porn to drool over.
The California pilot photographer was so rightly proud of his work he put it up on YouTube days before the planned Inspire 1 unveiling.  That mistake in judgment cost that pilot dearly. 
There was another noticeable problem in that the Inspire 1 camera and gimbal.  It could be seen visibly shaking from vibrations during flight.  That seemed simple enough to fix but it was a definite turn off for many potential buyers.
There was yet another issue with the camera using European 4K rather than the USA version.  Frankly they should offer a new modular gimbal for the superior GoPro cameras.  Also most drone owners already have them anyway and they should not be forced to buy an arguably second rate camera they don’t want or need. 
The Inspire 1 is a dream machine in every other respect.  It returns to the controller rather than the take off location allowing it to be operated from a moving boat or vehicle.  Its parts positioning prevents the propellers or landing gear from ever being in the camera shot.  Unlike the Phantoms the Phantom 1 can fly indoors safely without GPS.
The Inspire 1 allows for using two operators,  one for the device and the other for the camera.  It’s well worth the additional $1,500 over the Phantom 2.
DJI decided to simply hand out their new Inspire1 to bloggers like me.   Well not exactly, because sadly, I did not get one.  DJI needed some good reviews published by the unveiling date. 
When you send out a product for review you must be prepared for anything.  One lucky recipient reviewer had the Inspire lift off from his driveway and then as luck would have it, it crashed right into his garage door.
DJI quickly took responsibility saying the problem was fixed by a firmware update.  Whatever the reason was, that YouTube video was really rude and cost DJI a bundle after getting 650K viewing hits. 
DJI has not been normally been brave enough to eat the financial losses of crashed or lost drones and there is no insurance for consumers. The risk of a sudden $3000 plus loss can be a frightening and real possibility.
My personal strategy is to wait a few months and let others go through the experimental difficulties with the new products so I can suffer less pain.  Of course these Inspires were provided by DJI.
I’d say the DJI leadership and marketing people learned a hard lesson.  Perhaps that photographer that jumped the gun deserves a second chance?   Who knows more then he does now to never release the client’s video until its time? 
Next time DJI should let me get the product and write the review. 
Let me say again that my DJI Phantom 2 is an incredible part of my growing multi-rotor camera air force.  I also want their S100O to use with a Panasonic GH4 and a live broadcast quality transmitter for TV news or streaming video broadcasts.
Then, I want a spare S1000 incase the other needs servicing for whatever reason. 
DJI must hire lobbyists and lawyers to fight off FAA and legislative tyranny.  I know how to lobby the various legislative bodies effectively and would want to take that assignment on if I ever had a chance to do that.
In the meantime, the drone competition is red hot and DJI has the lead, but for how long? 
Sit back and watch a brand spanking new DJI Inspire 1 attack a perfectly good garage door!


Is Shug Knight being Railroaded on a Bogus Murder Rap?

Compton, CA—I was simply curious as to why cops charged Rap mogul, Marion “ Shug” Knight with Murder, Attempted Murder and two counts of fleeing the Scene of an Accident.
Just what was the crime here I wondered? 
I carefully watched the news reports and understood at least I think may have happened.  I also went to the scene at daybreak looked for surveillance cameras, took photos and overhead drone video of that Tam’s Burgers drive in where this happened.
Even at daybreak Tam’s was open for business.  On a Friday night this place is jumping and the small parking lot is always congested.
Very simply some kind of argument broke out and Knight who was inside of his truck and clearly wanted to escape from Tam’s Burgers.
Knight has been shot and wounded on at least three occasions.  He was also in the car with Tupac Shakur when he was murdered in Las Vegas. 
What I can’t help but notice, is that Knight never seems to have a gun but he’s a wildly popular target for lots of very violent armed men.  I think it sucks to be Shug Knight simply because danger follows him everywhere.
When soldiers are sent into combat they become hypersensitive to movement, sounds and of course weapons.  They sometimes become irrational because they are suffering from PTSD.  Considering what a bullet magnet Knight has become over the past few years is he somehow immune from this kind of phenomena? 
Arguing Knight’s own criminal past has no real relevance here since he like all of us understand fear and our own instinct for survival. 
When we think we are under a deadly attack we all will become desperate and will do whatever it takes to survive.  
Were there deadly weapons in that vicinity on the night in question?  If you understand Compton, the African-American culture and the local crime rate the answer can only be yes!  Just because some witnesses claim there were no weapons does not make it so! 
What really matters is what Shug Knight believed he saw!  None of us are inside of Knight’s head and can know that for sure.
Is it that difficult to believe that any of the weapons present in the drive in just disappeared before the cops arrived?
Do we really think that the young men present would simply somehow confess to having weapons and or threatening Knight once the police arrived on the scene? 
What happened is obvious at least to me.  Knight felt he was under attack and understandably panicked. He had no time or room to safely drive away from the danger.  He raced the vehicle forward, backward and the unfortunate souls in the way were struck by Knight’s truck. 
Did Knight deliberately kill or injure anyone?  I just don’t see even the hint of intent.  The lot was congested, and it’s surrounded by a brick wall but for the narrow driveways. Knight was unable to escape in the heat of things without accidently running over the two victims.
An additional question must be begged and that is why didn’t the victims move away from Knight’s truck?   
None of us were there and can only guess what happened. 
As for video of the event, I’m convinced there is none that will make a case for murder.   Whatever the cops have they are hiding from everyone.  If they really had video that made their case the cops would have gleefully released it to the media.
Let’s examine the fleeing the scene of an accident charges.  The law only requires us to stop and exchange information as well as rendering aid to the injured. 
Knight is a well-known celebrity in Compton.  His information was exchanged to everyone present merely by his appearance. Knight is no physician and knew that people present would be calling 911 to get help for anyone injured.  Everyone present had cell phone.  
Knight had no legal duty to call or wait for police!  He had and still does a right to remain silent!  The hit and run allegations are preposterous especially if you understand that Knight felt threatened.  
I don’t think any of us would be foolish to stay in that parking lot waiting for cops to show up under those frightening conditions.   
This is clearly a case of cops and prosecutors hoping they can use the illusion of a crime to put someone they hate behind bars for life.
We live in a nation that boasts about its liberty and justice for all.  We claim that our justice system is fair and that the accused get’s the benefit of the doubt.
The Shug Knight murder prosecution will be a serious test of that system.  Will Knight get the benefit of the reasonable doubt?  Will the state be forced to put forth evidence of Knight’s actual intent to harm?  I don’t think they have any sufficient proof of intent.
We will all have to slowly watch this evidence and testimony unfold in various hearings and perhaps at a trial.  As a long time licensed defense investigator,  I must find my way through lies and twisted evidence.  There will be no shortage of that here!
The Shug Knight case promises to be a challenge for the defense.  Frankly I’m disappointed that the cops did not investigate further before making the arrest.  
I will keep an open mind for some convincing evidence but I just don’t see any on the horizon.  I certainly would be able to help Knight if I was his defense investigator. 
The lot was nearly empty at daybreak when I made my visit and we can only assume the driveways were blocked with cars coming and going in this popular place during the altercation. 
Check out my drone video:

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Ron Dean, the Cop Killer That Became a Successful Actor

Chicago, IL—It was a typically hot summer Chicago day in July of 1955 when a troubled 16 year-old Ron Dean was detained in the Shakespeare District lock-up.   He wanted out and found a can opener in his cell.  With a little luck he was somehow able to open the cell door. 
Dean wandered out to the booking area and found the unoccupied desk of the lock-up keeper, Chicago police officer Albert Brown, 57.  In the desk he found Brown’s loaded service revolver.  Officer Brown surprised Dean who then shot and critically wounded the cop.
Dean was able to flee the station and Brown was removed to the Alexian Brothers Hospital where he died some ten days later. 
Two days later Dean was spotted at the North Avenue Beach where he was arrested. Brown was a juvenile and paid the low price juveniles paid for murders.  Dean was given his freedom perhaps much earlier than any cop killer would deserve.
I hate cop killers and have attended and been part of the honor guard for too many fallen officer’s funerals.  I’m still horribly haunted by the unbelievably hysterical screams of two-time police widow Johanna Crowley when she buried her second cop husband Pat Crowley in 1976.  She married and buried both cops in that same Catholic Church. Her first husband was the fallen police hero, Mike Kelly. 
Ron Dean somehow was able to turn his life around and was never again involved in that kind of sordid behavior. 
Dean found he loved acting and was lucky enough to land an agent and an acting career that began in the mid-1970’s through today.
The irony here was that Dean actually landed roles as Chicago cops!  Including one in the wildly successful Andrew Davis film, The Fugitive starring Harrison Ford.  Dean was believable in that film and worked alongside of real cops hired as extras all unaware of his shocking past.
Dean’s dark and distant past soon surfaced understandably angering many Chicago cops.  Some took it in stride and others expressed hatred for the cop killing thespian.
I have to ask; if Dean paid his debt and left his criminal past doesn’t he deserve to enjoy life with the law-abiding?  After all it’s a rare event when a criminal emerges from the dark side to become a productive citizen.
I really wonder what the surviving members of Brown’s family would have to say about this?  I also would love to land an interview with Dean. 
Can a juvenile delinquent and cop killer get forgiveness some 65 years after such a horrific crime? 
Dean is 80 years old today and has enjoyed the fruits of a thriving acting career.  I know cops universally loathe any cop killer.
Can and should Dean be recognized for turning his life around for becoming a productive and taxpaying citizen?  If not, who can?
Could Dean have done anything that would have somehow undone the damage aside from changing his ways?
Dean easily could have stayed in the abyss of career criminals.  Somehow I can forgive Dean and applaud both his acting performances and important personal achievements.