militarization
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NASA chief backs Trump's Space Force proposal
Whatever you think of Trump's proposed Space Force, it has at least one ally in its corner: recently-installed (and Trump-selected) NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine. In an interview with Axios, Bridenstine argued that space was becoming "more contested" and that the US had to be "willing to defend" space in order to maintain it. He argued that the Chinese and Russians were developing not only anti-satellite missiles, but co-orbital satellite weapons, jammers and other spaceborne threats. Allegedly, the Chinese see the US' lack of space weapons as an "Achilles' heel" it could exploit.
A police robot disarmed a violent suspect in Los Angeles County
Last week, on September 8th, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's department successfully used a remote-controlled bomb squad robot to snatch a rifle out from under an armed and violent suspect. The standoff between the suspect and an armored SWAT team lasted for more than six hours, but concluded without a single shot fired. "The robot was a game changer here," Capt. Jack Ewell told the LA Times. "We didn't have to risk a deputy's life to disarm a very violent man."
Dallas' bomb robot sparks debate around police militarization
"We saw no other option than to use our bomb robot." Camera shutters clacked as Dallas Police Chief David Brown told a crowd of reporters how his department killed a suspect after a shooting spree that left five officers dead and seven more wounded Thursday night. Law enforcement and a hostage negotiator cornered the suspect and attempted to talk him down for several hours; they learned that he was upset about recent fatal police shootings of black men around the nation and that he "wanted to kill white people, especially white officers." Officers and the 25-year-old man ended up exchanging fire. After hours of attempted negotiations, a police surveillance robot armed with a bomb on its extending arm rolled onto the scene. The explosive was detonated in the man's makeshift bunker, and he died in the blast. "Other options would have exposed our officers to great danger," Brown said.
