The War On Cops

"A spate of shooting attacks on law enforcement officers has authorities concerned about a war on cops.  In just 24 hours, at least 11 officers were shot. The shootings included Sunday attacks at traffic stops in Indiana and Oregon, a Detroit police station shooting that wounded four officers, and a shootout at a Port Orchard, Wash., Wal-Mart that injured two deputies. On Monday morning, two officers were shot dead and a U.S. Marshal was wounded by a gunman in St. Petersburg, Fla. On Thursday, two Miami-Dade, Fla., detectives were killed by a murder suspect they were trying to arrest.  'It's not a fluke,' said Richard Roberts, spokesman for the International Union of Police Associations. 'There's a perception among officers in the field that there’s a war on cops going on.'  With the Florida deaths, the nation is on track in 2011 to match the 162 police officers killed in the line of duty in 2010.  The 2010 toll ended a two-year drop in fatalities and spiked 43 percent over the 117 killed in 2009"
Source: MSNBC

From my most popular post of all time:
"When the bottom is at hand or already in place, the rage will be greater and more widespreead, and there will be no question what the rebellion is about."

Robert Prechter - Elliott Wave Financial Forecast - April 2009

The Brazilian Onion

Brazil as a country has been doing extremely well the last few years.  It appears that not all people participated in that growth.  Remember the "peeling onion" theory?  "The weakest fall first with more to follow. The onion gets peeled back one layer of a time."

"Brazilian police in Rio de Janeiro say they have taken control of the Vila Cruzeiro slum after five days of violence that left at least 23 people dead.  Authorities say military armored vehicles carried the hundreds of officers into the slum, as gunmen fled into nearby shantytowns. Federal security forces are expected to move into the slum Friday.  Officials say 30 vehicles were burned in the violence leading up to the the police takeover. Brazil is trying to seize control of Rio's slums from drug gangs as it prepares to stage the 2014 soccer World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. As part of the crackdown, more than 150 people have been arrested in raids on Rio slums.  The city of 6 million has high crime and murder rates. Heavily armed drug trafficking gangs control many of Rio's poor areas, making the city among the most violent in Latin America."
Source: VOA News

Legitimate Use of Violence

“Legitimate use of violence can only be that which is required in self-defense.”
Ron Paul

"Never swing first, but if he swings at you, knock his lights out."
Robert F. Barrell

"Humanity should question itself, once more, about the absurd and always unfair phenomenon of war, on whose stage of death and pain only remain standing the negotiating table that could and should have prevented it."
Pope John Paul II

Can our initial and continued efforts in Afghanistan be categorized as "self-defense"?
Can any of our efforts in Iraq be categorized as "self-defense"?
And now, Iran??