I See It All: Drones, Part 1

The “poison pin/pill that kills you if captured” is such a trope in spy media, it’s fucking hilarious that it’s most famous involvement in real American history is not using it. Because why the fuck would you do that. Besides, “it’s embarrassing that you didn’t die/kill yourself” is sort of the general American position on wartime veterans at large

In the US the last week or two I’ve been seeing stories about Target and Walmart. It’s everything you’re discussing about surveillance the general social sphere and surprises me 0% 😭

Can we get full music credits?

Someone's on a Swans kick it seems (approvingly)

“It killed a Kennedy for gods sake.” Ah, now I remember which LLBD episode. Hahahah

Gregk, you’re the best theory-explainer 🤩 Thank you for dragging the concepts down to earth and attaching them to real events. The only thing I really know about the RAF is from Tom’s series on them over on Donks years back. Any chance y’all could do an episode or two about them being the pivot point from counterinsurgency to policing?

It’s never a good sign when Swans is an appropriate soundtrack for one’s future.

Without the declaration of war, police actions are just "sparkling armed conflict"

Deep cut on the thumbnail...

I just want to say this was a fantastic examination on the philosophical and literal implications of drone use, it’s given me so much to think on. Your description of the new era of war where the front is simulationously all encompassing, yet is simultaneously the size of a single individual brings to mind the innovation of “Smart Cities”. Which are cities driven entirely by data aggregation. Given how interconnected the disciplines of war and urban planning are, I cannot help but portent that cities will be planned in the exact same way as we wage the war on terror, through surveillance, data aggregation, and on both the macro and micro level. For both good (more advanced and precise social services) and bad (surveillance and increased capacity for state violence)

Sick as fuck music

I liked the portrayal of drone use in Apple TVs show Silo. *spoiler the season finale that aired last week shows drone operators killing 10,000 civilians including women and children without showing any emotion, well they state it was exciting so some emotions but not the ones you’d want to see. The crux that makes it sci fi is the introduction of an amnesia drug that the bad guys use to essentially wipe and reprogram people with to use as human drones to commit war crimes. I hope you get a chance to watch it and weigh in. It’s not like it’s groundbreaking or anything but it is the first instance of a genocide of any sort I’ve seen in modern tv.

46:00-53:22 Me thinks Americans have no idea how quickly the tactics you perfectly described are going to, and have already, been used on them. The music is also 🥔, I assume thats an Irish compliment. If it's not, I need you to know that I think it builds beautifully. Given what we already see, the American DOD is using Ai for targeting decisions. I worry.