Drone Arrested!!1!

What's that? A fighter-shaped drone aircraft performed an arrested landing on an aircraft carrier? Oh. Well, that's completely different. <emily_litella_voice> Nevermind! </emily_litella_voice>

Actually, that's quite a technological achievement. I wonder if anyone seriously thought about the reaction of America's potential enemies to its possession of a completely new, arguably offensive weapon. Do we really want to start a new arms race? Whether we want it or not... that's what we just did. Welcome to the post-nuclear arms race.

Manning Defense Accuses Prosecution Of Making'An Outright Misrepresentation', Refusing Disclosure

Welcome to American military justice, where the trial you get is the trial the prosecution wants you to have. From the Guardian:

...

Reports by the Associated Press, Reuters and other news outlets have suggested that official inquiries into the impact of WikiLeaks concluded that the leaks caused some "pockets" of short-term damage around the world, but that generally its impact had been embarrassing rather than harmful.

Such a finding could prove invaluable to the defence in fighting some of the charges facing Manning or, should he be found guilty, reducing his sentence.

Yet Coombs says the army prosecutors have consistently kept him, and the court, in the dark, thwarting his legal rights to see the evidence.

"It was abundantly clear that Oncix had some form of inquiry into the harm from the leaks – but the government switched definitions around arbitrarily so as to avoid disclosing this discovery to the defence."

...

Has the prosecution received a secret order, maybe from the Commander-in-Chief, to win this one at any cost? If so, the cost seems to be the protections traditionally afforded defendants in America's military as well as civilian justice systems.

It will be highly ironic if Manning is convicted, manages to appeal, and has the conviction overturned on due process grounds. But I suspect that, too, has been "taken care of". Ain't America great? [/snark]

Americans: Do You Know What Your Government Is Flying In Secret? - UPDATED

Neither do I... but if the Guardian is right, apparently it looks something like this:

Supposedly Secret Unmanned X-37B Shuttle

The Guardian has such details as are available to me (it's ironic but unsurprising that my only source is a foreign news org). The one significant thing I noticed is that the budget for the craft is "[h]undreds of millions of dollars" but the actual total is secret. If you ever wondered how much of your tax dollar is going to off-the-books projects... keep on wondering. The craft has reportedly been on two missions so far, each lasting several months. If you're wondering what it did in those months... keep on wondering.

What am I bellyaching about? Simple: there's no budget to produce a working successor to the Space Shuttle, which had a combined scientific and military mission, but "hundreds of millions of dollars" have been spent on a secret military vehicle with more limited capabilities and no known civilian mission. Can you say "aerospace/defense industry boondoggle," children? I knew you could!

UPDATE: Bryan of Why Now? provides additional information in the comment thread that leads to a different assessment of the utility of these vehicles, which he says are not secret (though their cargoes may have been). I have to defer to his greater knowledge of aerospace matters. I still don't like finding out about it after the fact, from a news source overseas.