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pic.twitter.com/uiT7ArqfWb — trutherbot (@trutherbot) January 20, 2015 Japan approves record defence budget, record $42b budget is to boost defences of disputed islands amid China's assertiveness in the region Japan's cabinet has approved the country's largest defence budget, with plans to buy surveillance aircraft and F-35 fighter jets to improve defences of disputed islands amid China's increasing assertiveness in the region. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet endorsed on Wednesday a nearly $42b defence budget for the year beginning in April, a two percent rise. The budget must still be approved by parliament, but Abe's coalition holds majorities in both houses. The...

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Saturday, January 24, 2015 The Hollywood Jihad Against American Sniper Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog American Sniper is the movie that should not have existed. Even though the book was a bestseller, nobody in Hollywood wanted the rights.  And why would they? The Iraq War already had an official narrative in Hollywood. It was bad and wrong. Its veterans were crippled, dysfunctional and dangerous. Before American Sniper, Warner Brothers had gone with anti-war flicks like Body of Lies and In the Valley of Elah. It had lost a fortune on Body of Lies; but losing money...

Rob Lowe can't believe that Obama won't meet with Netanyahu, but will meet with YouTube star. How is it that a woman famous for eating cereal in a bathtub can get an audience with US President Barack Obama, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to do so? asked Rob Lowe on Twitter. Among the Hollywood actorÂ’s famous roles, is that of Deputy White House Communications Director in the television show The West Wing. On Friday Lowe entered a real-life diplomatic drama, when he weighed in on one of the most serious crises in the often infamous series of political battles...

No political summit involving people who at least claim that they want to run for President would be complete without an appearance by Donald Trump. I’ll give the man one thing… he knows how to put on a show, and I’m not just talking about Celebrity Apprentice. After initially coming out and saying that he would have demolished Barack Obama if he’s stayed with the race the last time he ran, The Donald knew just what sort of red meat to throw to the crowd. Trump told that crowd that if he runs in 2016, his first order of business...

News broke Friday evening that one of the greatest baseball players to ever play the game, Ernie Banks, had passed away at the age of 83. The man lovingly known as “Mr. Cub” spent his enter major league career with the North Side franchise, slugging 512 home runs and winning two NL MVP awards. The 14-time All-Star started his playing career in the Negro Leagues and was the first black player to put on a Chicago Cubs uniform. Despite playing for the perennially bottom-dwelling Cubbies, his optimism and love of the game never wavered, as evidenced by his famous quote,...

Dear Leader Barack Hussein Obama has been on an education kick of late. On January 20, 2015, he proposed in his State of the Union speech "free tuition" to Community Colleges for anyone. To make sure that community college is accessible for everybody, put simply, what I'd like to do is to see the first two years of community college free for everybody who's willing to work for it. Obama announced a series of tax proposals that would raise taxes on financial institutions and wealthy individuals, and simplify education tax credits to pay for his plan for free community college...

Obama: Is he irrelevant, or an advocate for Iran-backed terror? Even as President Obama gave his State of the Union address to the joint chambers of Congress Tuesday night, another domino was falling in Iran’s line-up of nation-state influence. Yemen’s leadership was on the brink of capitulation just as Obama was gloating over a failed foreign policy as being effective. Others have already pointed out how facts of Yemen and Somalia’s chaos contradict the president’s previous glorying in those states as testaments of his policy’s success. His idea as to what qualifies as success appear to deviate from that of...

How long will it take Obama to understand that Islamic State can only be comprehensively defeated by military action undertaken on the ground by a properly equipped, authorised United Nations international force? There are some 60 States in the American-led coalition pledged to degrading and destroying Islamic State—but only 21—regarded as “key members” were at the Conference in London on 22 January—which UK Foreign Minister Philip Hammond described in these terms: “Today, 21 key members of the global coalition met in London to review and discuss our efforts to degrade and defeat ISIL not just through military force, but by...

President Obama has changed his scheduled departure on his trip to India so as to personally meet the new Saudi King Salman (according to CNN).  The POTUS is literally running to be among the first world leaders to genuflect to the new Saudi leader, only days after he was appointed. Vice President Joe Biden was originally set to have led a delegation to Saudi Arabia on Obama's behalf. However, the schedule for the President's departure from India has been adjusted to allow Obama to stop in Riyadh himself on his way home, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. King Abdullah passed away Friday, at 90...

Most armed robbers are reluctant to shoot.   There can be many reasons for this, including additional scrutiny from the authorities, drawing attention to the crime in progress, even a reluctance to inflict harm.   Often, this will give the victim an opportunity to feign compliance in order to gain an advantage. It happened in this case in Florida yesterday, the 22nd of January, 2015.  The victim in this case was Fabian Rosario.  He is a surveyor who was working with a colleague on a land survey when he was approached by a suspect who pulled a gun and demanded money. ...

It appears the rest of the world has begun to ignore the phony charges of Islamophobia which are still tossed about in Washington, DC. -The United Arab Emirates placed the Council on American-Islamic Relations and others on the terror watch list in their country. -Egypt is looking to arrest a spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, as President Abdel el-Sisi has spoken of a reformation of Islam to become part of the modern world. And then there is our administration, which admittedly has no strategy. President Obama displays Yemen as a success story, while the murderers of the Charlie Hedbo...

Hopes that a political wedding between former governors Jeb Bush (R-Fla) and Mitt Romney (R-Mass)--both potential Republican contenders for the presidency—would sweep aside other rivals fell through this week. While both the Bush and Romney camps were loath to release many details, insiders say the chief sticking point was who would be on top. Romney spokesman Richard Butz laid the blame on what he termed "Bush dynastic aspirations. It was our feeling that Mitt ought to be the one at the top of the ticket. Our polling shows that a substantial number of voters wish they had voted for Mitt...

Volunteers cleaning the streets of Raipur, India.In cities all over India, anonymous men and women are picking up trash, fixing potholes and painting dirty walls. They’re not paid to do this; in fact, they pay for their tools themselves. These citizens are part of a growing movement of “spot-fixers”, volunteers who use their free time to clean up ugly parts of their city, and then post before-and-after pictures on social media. While teams of volunteers like this have operated steadily in big cities like Bangalore and New Delhi for several years now, dozens more have sprung up over the past...

Jason Kinsey, found justified in self defense shooting. I have written about the concepts of disparity of force before, and of the fact that a punch to the head is a deadly threat.   Disparity of force can come into play in a number of ways.  The assailant can be much younger, stronger, bigger, faster, there can be multiple assailants, the element of surprise, or, an assailant with known martial arts skills.  The concept is that the attacker or attackers are a serious threat to a person's life or bodily integrity because of factors that give them unequal power outside...

The invitation House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) issued to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress has the Obama Administration in a state of apoplexy. "The Speaker did not have President Obama's permission to issue such an invitation," complained Press Secretary Josh Earnest. "Prime Minister Netanyahu did not have the President's permission to accept the invitation. It's a major breach of protocol that undermines Executive Supremacy." House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) characterized Boehner's move as "a critical blunder. I wouldn't be surprised if the President were to use this as an excuse to disband...

I know. They could be siblings. There are times when you in your life when events transpire which are not just puzzling, but confounding. This is one of them. Michael Moore called Chris Kyle a “coward.” The rotund coward Moore is accompanied by nine bodyguards.Moore cornered, pressed and embarrassed an aging and failing Charlton Heston, who was kind enough to grant Moore an interview. Subsequently, at the 2005 National Board of Review Awards, Clint Eastwood had a warning for Moore: “Michael Moore and I actually have a lot in common – we both appreciate living in a country where there’s...

A national correspondent for “The Atlantic Magazine” who gained attention for an article calling on the United States to study possible reparations for slavery was in Iowa this week to speak at Grinnell College’s Martin Luther King Junior Day events. In an interview with Radio Iowa, Ta-Nehisi Coates says the idea of reparations for slavery is as old as the country itself. “Immediately after the Revolutionary War you had black people who had been enslave by the British making that argument that post-colonial, not really colonial government, reclaimed the property of British slave holders that African Americans who had been...

Invasion biology theorists, Government land grabs and Agenda 21, the UN-sponsored Wildlands Project, Reserve and Corridor System Homeowners along the coast, beware! Anti-exotic advocates (invasion biology theorists), aka nativists, are in control at State Parks and the California Coastal Commission. They also control the National Park Service. They’re implementing Agenda 21’s land- grab goals by tearing out sand dune-stabilizing non-native grass proven by a 1960s USDA study to be the only sand stabilizer capable of withstanding heavy tourist abuse that destroyed most of Northern California’s native grass and foliage beginning in the mid-20th century. This grass removal in Point Reyes,...

Perhaps the thought of those cries and screams will haunt Reps. Blackburn, Ellmers and Walorski for the rest of their days in office They ought to rename the Republican Party that gained majority control of both the House and Senate in November’s midterm elections only to turn around and renege on campaign promises immediately after being sworn in, the Pontius Pilate Party, PPP for short. No other name better suits a party that staged an 11th-hour revolt against the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, the 20-week abortion ban that had already got a green light in the last Congress with...