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USAF Taps ESPN To Compile Drone "Highlight" Video

mbstone writes "The Air Force has a problem: Its drones generate thousands of hours of video (I almost said 'footage.') And most of it is miles of endless desert. USAF needs to distill the highlights, if you will, and nobody does it better than ESPN, the TV sports network. Air Force officials have asked ESPN for help in analyzing the 327,384 hours collected just this year. What we really need in times like these is sportscaster Warner Wolf. 'Let's go to the videotape, pick it up right here, Taliban in the home black.'"

22 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. This is good news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    The ESPN guys will carefully add the yellow first down markers so us home viewers will be able to make sense of each operation as it unfolds.

    1. Re:This is good news by anagama · · Score: 2, Insightful
      • Biggest prison system in the world. Check.
      • Due process free detention. Check.
      • Due process free execution. Check.
      • Glorification of the murder of "savages". Check.
      • Entertainmentification of the murder "savages". Check.
      • Destroying the war powers act so that the president has sole ability to engage in war. Check.
      • Persecution of whistleblowers. Check

      Authoritarian America, brought to you by the Adam-Lanza-in-Chief, president and leader of the New GOP (aka, Obama).

      And yeah, some of you may be offended, but do note that Obama killed 14 women and 21 children exactly three years to the day prior to the Newton masacre using cluster bombs in Yemen under with the blessing of its dictatorial asshole leader, then managed to convice (personally contacted the Yemeni president) to keep the reporter who broke the story in jail. FN1. About cluster bombs, Obama tried to undermine a treaty banning, they're about as effective as landmines in blowing up innocents years after their deployment. FN2.

      So the title fits: Obama is the Adam-Lanza-in-Chief. You think his tears were those of compassion? Maybe they were tears of guilt because in that masacre, Obama would play the role of shooter.

      FN1: http://www.salon.com/2012/03/14/obamas_personal_role_in_a_journalists_imprisonment/

      FN2: http://news.antiwar.com/2011/11/10/us-moves-to-overturn-ban-on-cluster-bombs/

      --
      What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
  2. get madden to do the commentary by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 2

    get madden to do the commentary

    1. Re:get madden to do the commentary by steppedleader · · Score: 2

      Marv Albert did something like that 20 years ago, except when he did it, it was just satire: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amused_to_Death

      Apparently, like with with Orwell's work, some people seem to be confusing a warning with an instruction manual.

  3. It's time for our plays of the week! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Reaper connects to Assam deep across the middle... Bam!
    Beast of Kandahar throws down the over the horizon hell fire jam... in your face Azim!
    Head drone in the red zone. Easy over the middle dump-off to Al Queda, called back by the UN for innocent bystander. Damn replacment observers.

    In the not top ten we have a village of children catching a bomb as the clock runs out. Poor situational awareness there Steve.

    Captcha: hammered

  4. The Drones by NettiWelho · · Score: 2

    One thing I cant understand about this whole thing; how is it possible they blanket label everyone on the receiving end of the hellfire missile as 'enemy combatant' or 'a dog', even if theyre just civilians and or children. There used to be this country that stood up for human rights and had war criminals executed over something called the 'command responsibility' and 'war crimes' and 'crimes against humanity'. Can't remember what country that was but I bet theres someone here who can.

    1. Re:The Drones by CrankyFool · · Score: 3, Informative

      "The death toll in Germany and Austria due to Allied strategic bombing was estimated at 500,000 by the West German government." from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_casualties_in_World_War_II

    2. Re:The Drones by Charliemopps · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I don't like our government very much right now... but you do not understand the history of war. In the past, even 30 years ago, most countries would have carpet bombed large sections of Afghanistan to fight the Taliban. The bloodshed would have been far far worse. Prior to Arial bombing, in the WW1 era they would have used mortars with chemical weapons. Prior to that, they would have just shelled major cities with artillery. Go back further to the civil war era and they'd have stormed the city with calvary and burnt it to the ground. During the middle ages they'd have taken the cities, raped the women, killed the men... then you have the roman era in which they'd do all of the above, and then also salt the fields of the enemy so their crops wouldn't grow for years. Prior to that, they'd again, do all of the above, and also enslave the populace.

      War sucks. It sucks less now... but now it's all on video for you to see so it's more in your face.

    3. Re:The Drones by NettiWelho · · Score: 3, Funny

      ...Does the taliban present an existential threat to the US? Why is it ok to label civilian casualties as 'enemy combatants' and 'continue your day as nothing went wrong and no apologies or reparations paid? What does the history of war have anything to do with my main grievances? Am I stoopid to hold the 21st Century US fighting stone age goat herders in mountains to a higher standard than Nazi-Germany or Soviet Union? 'Oh, and I must have missed when US declared war on Pakistan, or Afghanistan Or Iraq for that matter...

    4. Re:The Drones by amiga3D · · Score: 2

      War is hell. It always has been and always will be. It's impossible to conduct a war without killing non-combatants. Hell, a lot of the time friendly fire gets our own troops. People should understand that when you go to war it's going to be messy and expensive and it should always be a last case, no choice scenario when you do it. It's bad for everyone. I felt like something needed to be done about Saddam and really I am glad the bastard and his sons are dead but it ended up costing a fortune and I don't think we are any safer now than before. I do feel the Iraqi people are better off but I don't know if that will last or not.

  5. Sensationalized headline, once again by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 5, Informative

    FTHeadline:
    USAF Taps ESPN To Compile Drone "Highlight" Video

    FTA:
    Air Force officials have met with the sports cable network ESPN to discuss how it handles large amounts of video that stream in. The visit resulted in no technological breakthroughs, but helped in developing training and expertise, the Air Force said.

    C'mon guys. Just a little bit of a clue?

    1. Re:Sensationalized headline, once again by Odin's+Raven · · Score: 4, Funny

      C'mon guys. Just a little bit of a clue?

      Slashdot Taps WWN To Compile Article "Highlight" Stories

      Slashdot has a problem: Its submitters send in hundreds of random links (I almost said "articles.") And most of it is dozens and dozens of sentences long, many with words of more than one syllable. Slashdot needs to distill something vaguely related to a few of those words that will generate page hits, and nobody does that better than Weekly World News, the "alien dingo Elvis impersonators ate my JFK love-child baby" organization. Slashdot officials have asked WWN for help in analyzing the 3,141,592 words collected just this year. What we really need in times like this is George Gilles de la Tourette. "Let's go to the story, pick up maybe three words out of it - USAF ESPN drone - and fill in the rest with whatever other random words come to mind."

      --
      A marriage is always made up of two people who are prepared to swear that only the other one snores.
  6. Re:Droning On About Drones by NettiWelho · · Score: 2

    They aren't some kind of "new evil", it just happens theyre pretty much one of the few kinds of evil being *committed right now as we have this discussion* by a country that officially claims to be the champion of human rights and protector(and chief exporter) of democracy. Nice try dodging the argument but you have to try better than that.

  7. Re:Droning On About Drones by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 2

    They aren't some kind of "new evil", it just happens theyre pretty much one of the few kinds of evil being *committed right now as we have this discussion* by a country that officially claims to be the champion of human rights and protector(and chief exporter) of democracy. Nice try dodging the argument but you have to try better than that.

    I think you miss his point.
    A 250lb JDAM dropped from a MQ-9 is treated completely differently (in the press) than the exact same 250lb JDAM dropped from an F-16.
    The only real difference between the two aircraft is where the pilot is sitting. But it is still a human pilot hitting the pickle button.

  8. Re:Droning On About Drones by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 4, Informative

    pickle button?
    is that some kind of vlassic humor or something?


    No, that's the (long term) military slang for the button on the stick that releases the bomb. Generally, it is a red button.

  9. Re:Droning On About Drones by NettiWelho · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And I hold the position that he missed my original point; just because the means of delivery are new does not make the killing of civilians any more OK than with the previous means of delivery, the drones are included in the opening argument because as of now they are the main mains of delivery currently employed, thus; the drones themselves are completely irrelevant in the actual argument, its the murder unarmed civilians going on without any type of reprisal against the aggressors I have my problems with.

  10. Re:Droning On About Drones by cffrost · · Score: 2

    The "human rights" activist tribe are just a bunch of pretentious and fickle opportunists. None of them complain about human drones who strap suicide vests onto children.

    As far as I know, the US military isn't spending my tax dollars to strap suicide vests onto children.

    --
    Thank you, Edward Snowden.

    "Arguments from authority are worthless." —Carl Sagan
  11. Re:Droning On About Drones by NettiWelho · · Score: 2

    the drones are included in the opening argument because as of now they are the main mains of delivery currently employed Not so sure about that. Yes, the percentages are increasing drove v manned aircraft (flight hours and bombing missions). But the majority of actual bombing missions? I could be wrong, but gonna have to ask for a citation for that one. They are the main ones we hear about, though.

    ...Mmmmm, you may have something there, but I cant come up with statistics with quick googling and pretty much the only US aerial attacks I've read about for pretty long while have concerned drone strikes, especially in Pakistan operated by the CIA I have made the assumption there are no conventional planes doing regular patrols/bombing runs. Still, my main issue is with all the dead collateral labeled as enemy combatants and dogs, even when theyre clearly civilian casualties.

  12. Re:Droning On About Drones by NettiWelho · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think the real outrage (in the US anyway) comes not from the strikes themselves, but rather that the average idiot (read: the general populace) believes that these drones truly operate autonomously.

    I can see you have trouble placing yourselves in the position of the victims here; theyre going along with their business in their country that as far as they no have no active wars with anyone and suddenly out of the clear blue sky a hellfire missile strikes and kills 4/5ths of the clan during whatever social gathering they were there for; the survivors wont give a fuck what fired the missile and on top of that all the aggressors label all people killed in the strike as enemy combatants regardless of age or actual stance against the US and call it a day.

  13. Re:Droning On About Drones by Lincolnshire+Poacher · · Score: 4, Informative

    pickle button?

    Developed in the mid-1930s, the Norden bomb-sight was advertised as being so accurate that the operator could put a bomb into a pickle barrel from 20,000 feet.

    It was an accurate sight, but complex to use and required skill. But "Pickling those bombs" stuck long after the sight had been retired.

  14. Re:Droning On About Drones by anagama · · Score: 2

    And of course, in classic terrorist tradition, we go for a double tap, targeting the rescuers acting on natural human instinct to help those in need, or funeral attendees wishing to say goodbye to their loved ones.

    --
    What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
  15. My tinfoil is picking up a convergence... by hoboroadie · · Score: 2

    Marco Rubio vs: Hilary Clinton 2016, sponsored by the same interested parties, with the same unsavory results.
    One of them gets elected.

    --
    They feared that it could be used to suppress protest or support unpopular rule.