New US spy blimb to be mooned by Canucks

[artmonkforHOF]

This is where your Homeland Security money is going, and this is what some upset Canadians are going to do about it.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/07/30/10311216-sun.html

Sarnia, Ont. -- A Sarnia man is planning a “moon the balloon” demonstration to protest the surveillance camera a private security company has aimed at Sarnia from a dirigible hovering 1,000 feet over Port Huron, Michigan.

“Canadians are known for their sense of humour about stuff and I think a good old touch of mass mooning is the way to deal with this,” said Eli Martin, a 49-year-old city musician.

Martin, a former teacher, said the 50-foot surveillance balloon launched last week shows a lack of respect for Canadian sovereignty.

Willing participants are invited to Centennial Park on Aug. 15 for a co-ordinated mooning of the aircraft at 5 p.m., said Martin, who plans to videotape the protest and post it on YouTube.

“No cheeks will be turned away.”

The balloon, owned by the Sierra Nevada Corporation, is shaped like an airplane wing and carries a $1-million camera sensitive enough, U.S. officials say, to read the name of a ship from a distance of nine miles.

The company is testing it at the at the St. Clair River international boundary and hopes to sell the technology to U.S. Homeland Security.

click link above for rest of article.

I get the fact that you guys want to protect your boarders, but if you plan something like this, how about letting your neighbours know about it instead of us finding out when the thing is in the air for a trial.

They can all say it's for tracking ships, but we all know, that if that thing goes up, they will take pictures and gather information on whatever they can see clearly.

If they really wanted to track ships in the Great Lakes, I can give them the phone number to the Canadian Coast Guard.

[Larry]

How about testing the thing over Key West?

I bet they'd get a lot better pictures.

[ACW]

Or if the Canucks were Elisha Cuthbert, Pam Anderson, Natasha Henstridge, Trish Stratus et. al. :cloud9:

[artmonkforHOF]

How about testing the thing over Key West?

I bet they'd get a lot better pictures.

would be a good idea, since that border is essentially unprotected and many drug boats come to the US through the Keys, but I guess that would just be too logical.

I guess they are more interested in seeing fat, pale Canadian butt cheeks than catching terrorists.

Or, how about testing this thing along the Mexican border? then maybe you can kill 2 birds with one stone, test the cameras, and monitor refugees as they try to cross into your country illegally.

[MurrayH81]

would be a good idea, since that border is essentially unprotected and many drug boats come to the US through the Keys, but I guess that would just be too logical.

I guess they are more interested in seeing fat, pale Canadian butt cheeks than catching terrorists.

Or, how about testing this thing along the Mexican border? then maybe you can kill 2 birds with one stone, test the cameras, and monitor refugees as they try to cross into your country illegally.

Alas, that would be a bad thing to monitor actual illicit activity. It might make those who have already snuck over feel like their ethnicity is being unfairly treated/singled out, etc... :doh:

[artmonkforHOF]

Or if the Canucks were Elisha Cuthbert, Pam Anderson, Natasha Henstridge, Trish Stratus et. al. :cloud9:

their all in LA. move the blimp to Beverly Hills.

[GoSkins561]

Whatever, it's a private company doing a demo in US airspace,eh, I wonder if the mooners would like some whine with their cheese, eh. I think the mooning part is hilarious,though, eh.

[Larry]

Whatever, it's a private company doing a demo in US airspace,eh, I wonder if the mooners would like some whine with their cheese, eh. I think the mooning part is hilarious,though, eh.

Then why aren't they doing the same demonstration some place where they aren't conducting espionage against another country?

[GoSkins561]

Then why aren't they doing the same demonstration some place where they aren't conducting espionage against another country?

If I was the owner of a company and no one has purchased anything yet, I would probably ly the blimp in my back yard. If you owned a telescope and could look across the canadian border would you? The company is doing a demo to see if the United States will consider puchasing their product.

They will probably put the blimp up, get some pics of some fat canadian asses and a few cats, done. Nothing more, nothing less, no big deal here move along. Just a bunch of Frenchies getting upset over nothing.

[Stophovr6]

What makes you think we trust you Canucks?

[jpillian]

Then why aren't they doing the same demonstration some place where they aren't conducting espionage against another country?

I think espionage requires that its target is something the opposition is trying to keep secret. And usually you'd want to do so in a manner which is itself clandestine (i.e., undetected).

I'd be extremely surprised if: 1) if Canada had anything worth keeping a secret :silly; and 2) whether a dirigible as such would have better capabilities than a normal US spy satellite for actually spying.

It seems straightforward to me that such a capability is really meant for real-time surveillance. I'd be surprised if there was much in the way of ulterior motives in this instance. :whoknows:

[skinfan133]

I get the fact that you guys want to protect your boarders, but if you plan something like this, how about letting your neighbours know about it instead of us finding out when the thing is in the air for a trial.

I'll be sure to let you know next time my country decides to secretly test something, because I and my countrymen here certainly have to power to find out about and tell you of these things :thumbsup: