Drones are a fact of life in modern warfare.  In Sundays Minnesota Star Tribune, columnist Aaron Brown wrote a most interesting column on the topic, with focus on Ukraine and Russia: Drones Aaron Brown June 8 2026.  The column is very much worth your time.

It got me to thinking about the Drones topic in my own little corner of the world.  Searching the word “drones” in my archive, I found 25 posts in which the word appears.

Among them, the one I most remember was December 13, 2011 “The Drones” (see also link to December 20, 2011).  That was 15 years ago.  It was just an honest expression of opinion at the time, and ignited a small firestorm of comments about the technology.

At the time I wrote the 2011 piece, Drones were becoming part of the conversation, but few knew much about them.

Personally, I remember some guy in Hibbing who liked to fly his model plane by remote control (radio) back in the 1980s; and a few years later, just off off Cedar Avenue by the Mall of America, seeing another guy sailing a model boat on a small pond, also radio controlled.

In April, 2016, I saw a thought-provoking film on the issue of drones.  It was “Eye in the Sky”. and my post at the time is here.  As noted, there have been many more posts, just in my space.  Drones are not a new thing….

I’m sure there were people thinking of more military grade uses of drones at the time I first observed them, but at that time in history the internet technology was still in the thinking stage, and likely very hard for any of us to even imagine the days when somebody could accurately and remotely control a tiny flying bomb from hundreds or thousands of miles away.

We live in that future.  Think of the boats off the coast of Venezuela, killed by drones.  Etc.

Back in 2011 I suppose we could imagine that we could prohibit these weapons of destruction.  But now they are useable everywhere, domestic or foreign, and no longer abstract.

I offer the articles just for personal discussion and reflection.

We will never get rid of Drones, and as sophisticated as they are now, we’ve not seen the end of their evolution.

I’ll reserve my own comments for a future post after July 4, and I invite you to join in on the conversation.

POSTNOTE: We are at a crucial fork in the road for our country.  I urge you to not only be informed, to be in action wherever you live.  I’m part of the huge majority of ordinary citizens who can make or break their democracy by action or inaction.  The citizens power is the right to vote for officers at all levels, from local to national.  In November we vote for every one of the 435 representatives in the national Congress, plus numerous U.S. Senators, Governors, state legislators etc.  Know your candidates, contribute to them and vote.

There is so much credible information out there, and so many outrageous actions by the current administration, that it is all but impossible to keep up – getting a drink from a fire house seems appropriate.

June 11, 2026, came a post from Robert Reich whose entirety is a statement by two men who were long time elected representatives at the state and national level.  They articulate the alarm about the present and future of our democracy.  Take the time to read their thoughts, here.   If nothing else, read the last three paragraphs.

For those who wonder about Social Security, June 12 from Robert Reich.  Persons younger than I will not only be the victims of what is happening today, but are the ones who will have to be responsible for the solution.  This is an important post to read.

Paul Krugman: Elon Musk, Human Ponzi Scheme June 12.  As I was adding this link, an e-mail from a friend came in with Krugman’s post.  I wrote the friend as follows: “In a rational world, I could envision an end game, but in the current environment, I’m not sure, except to say that this is a house of cards and at some point we are going to be badly hurt.”  To which he responded: “Indeed,  rebalance one’s retirement portfolio to safer stuff, and right now index funds might not be that.   Otherwise exercises for balance are good for the mind and body.   A nice weekend is upon us, no ungodly heat….enjoy.”

June 6, I did a related post: “Happy Man“.

And this is Pride Month, and June 9 the Weekly Sift is worth your time.