By Nathan Barton

Good morning. Or is it?  Last night, I found a whole bunch of killer-cop stories that totally disgust me.  Disgusts AND frightens me, because while we are all worried about Islamic terrorists, we hold a far more deadly serpent in our bosom.

Murder, Inc. on rampage across nation

Richard Perez in Richmond, California, was unarmed and according to eyewitnesses not threatening, but simply declined to show ID to cops who then gunned him down.  The cops claim that he fought with them and threatened them, so they HAD to kill him.  This same week, in Northern California, we have another similar case.

Tommy McClain in Eureka was enjoying a smoke and looking at Facebook when cops arrived.  Family says that a gang surrounded Tommy, one yelled that he had a gun (his smartphone or tablet, maybe?) and they all gunned him down (in some bizarre bonding ritual?).  Moving across country:

Cameron Tillman, age 14, in Louisiana, was shot by cops four or five times in the back, according to his family, but according to cops, a “gun was found nearby” in the abandoned house he and friends were playing in.  Obviously, they feared for their lives and just HAD to shoot.

Elijah Woody’s arrest for open carry in Detroit was protested by 20 armed people. Cops claimed he was illegally carrying a weapon concealed when he was arrested: he now faces five years in prison.  Actually, the protestors, openly carrying, are fortunate that they weren’t doing the protest a few miles to south, apparently.

The death was several weeks ago, but a grand jury declined to indict two police officers involved in the fatal shooting of a black man carrying a toy gun at an Ohio Walmart store. One of the officers shot 22-year-old John Crawford at the store Aug. 5 after a 911 caller reported he was pointing what appeared to be an assault rifle at other shoppers at the Beavercreek retailer.   The nannylover who called 911 should be tried, as well as the cops who didn’t bother to check and see what they really had, but instead responded in fear and haste to kill an innocent man.  And as for this grand jury…

In recent months, an Oklahoma Highway Patrol officer and an Oklahoma City Police officer have been accused of repeatedly raping women, often during traffic stops. After a Tulsa County sheriff’s deputy was arrested last week for sexually assaulting a woman while responding to a 911 call, Tulsa NBC News affiliate KJRH decided to ask the Oklahoma Highway Patrol how to stay safe during a traffic stop.  During the interview, the state trooper said the best way NOT to get raped by cops is to follow the law.  Apparently, in Oklahoma, police officers are permitted to punish female lawbreakers on the scene by raping them?  And apparently ANY traffic violation can be used as an excuse. He talked about a few bad apples, but if so, why do the entire forces rally around the bad apples?  What is a woman to do?  Refuse to obey the officer, and end up like McClain or Perez, dead?  Or fight back and end up dead in the electric chair as a cop killer (or in front of a firing squad, I think Oklahoma like Utah still has execution by firing squad)?

In a story/commentary in The Atlantic magazine, Conor Friedersdorf asks why we are so het on the NFL and its wife/girl/child-beating scandal and policy, when the cops are much worse? He quotes a recent paper: “Two studies have found that at least 40 percent of police officer families experience domestic violence, in contrast to 10 percent of families in the general population. A third study of older and more experienced officers found a rate of 24 percent, indicating that domestic violence is two to four times more common among police families than American families in general.” He points out that the NFL actually has a LOWER rate than the general public, for domestic violence.  (He also points out something that I am embarrassed that I didn’t catch on the Ray Rice knocking out his wife business.  How come Rice isn’t out on bail (maybe) and facing assault charges in a Nevada court, with that video readily available?  That wasn’t a matter of “she won’t press charges” and “he said, she said,” but proof that violence was used.  It should be a jury deciding if his violence was in self-defense or aggression.  NOT the NFL, and NOT the media.)  But as far as cops are concerned, it seems that a number of the “mass shootings” that the FBI is so concerned have been increasing in the past six years nationally were COPS killing their families (and, I admit, usually themselves).  And 40% is a LOT of bad apples.  Conor also points out that cops RARELY get charged for wife and child abuse, or even get disciplined, much less fired.  These are the kind of people that will go out and almost randomly (“when they get the chance”) gun down strangers under dubious circumstances.  And that doesn’t include a growing number of police officers who actually rape and assault the very people who call them for help.

As I have pointed out (citing many others), an American is FAR more likely to be killed by an AMERICAN cop than by either a foreign, Islamic or other, terrorist or the greatly-feared “domestic terrorists.”  Indeed, the cops ARE the REAL domestic terrorists, more and more.

Is it any wonder that cops and their bosses are supposedly alarmed by the new level of smartphone encryption offered by more and more cellphone providers and software firms in response to the NSA spying on millions (if not billions) of people.  Apparently they fear that they won’t be able to erase incriminating photos and video after they are caught killing, raping, beating, or torturing the citizens that they supposedly are sworn to protect.

I don’t think we can wait to finish dealing with the foreign or domestic Islamic terrorists before we address the far more serious rot in our society: the domestic terrorists that are a standing army occupying the Fifty States.  Enough IS enough.

On to other stories:

India puts spacecraft into Martian orbit “India has triumphed in its first interplanetary attempt by successfully putting a satellite into orbit around Mars. Scientists broke into wild cheers Wednesday morning as the orbiter’s engines completed 24 minutes of burn time and maneuvered into its designated place around the red planet.”

Mama’s Note: Yes, it is sad that the government of India uses stolen goods to do this sort of thing (like every other government), especially on the backs of so many millions of desperately poor people… The space ship from India image just won’t come into focus for me because my greatest impressions of life in India come from Kipling and the “Kim” story. They have come a long way in some respects, but are still stuck in the hive/borg tyranny. Just imagine what they could accomplish if they could be free individuals.

Nathan: The entire reason for this sort of venture is the ego and desire for adulation on the part of the politicians and “leaders” of India.  Compare this to what a private company is doing, FOR PROFIT: not a single dime (or rupee) stolen to do it:

Google’s Loon Project will put balloons around the globe in the SOUTHERN Hemisphere within a year, to provide cellular service and internet links to millions of people in the poorest parts of the world.  The balloons float on fairly steady wind currents at 60,000 feet for 100 or more days, using solar panels for power.  This is a descendant of a test project  done in North Dakota more than a decade ago, unfortunately by government, which died a silent death.  I think about that failure often when driving across Wyoming, the Nebraska Panhandle, Eastern Colorado, and many parts of South Dakota where we have no service; therefore I am very envious that Africa and South America will be getting this and we will not.