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See more here: Rand Paul Walks Fine Line to Prove He is Not His Dad; Reflections on Pragmatic Pandering
More: A (very) hypothetical conservative party not biased in favor of the rich over everyone else
Please consider Japan PM’s ‘stealth’ constitution plan raises civil rights fears Shinzo Abe makes no secret of wanting to revise Japan’s constitution, which was drafted by the United States after World War Two, to formalize the country’s right to have a military – but critics say his plans go deeper and could return Japan to its socially conservative, authoritarian past. Now he is seeking to lower the hurdle for revising the constitution as a prelude to an historic change to its pacifist Article 9 – which, if strictly read, bans any military. That would be a symbolic shift, loosening restrictions on the military’s overseas activities, but would have limited impact on defense as the clause has already been stretched to allow Tokyo to build up armed forces that are now bigger than Britain’s.
Additionally, The New York Times in its article, " Arms Airlift to Syria Rebels Expands, With C.I.A. Aid ," admits that: With help from the C.I.A., Arab governments and Turkey have sharply increased their military aid to Syria’s opposition fighters in recent months, expanding a secret airlift of arms and equipment for the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, according to air traffic data, interviews with officials in several countries and the accounts of rebel commanders.
Increasingly bizarre US terror-racket inspires human misery from Boston to Damascus. Image : FBI’s latest entrapped patsy, Abdella Ahmad Tounisi, a U.S.
See the original post: Boston Highlights the Illusion of Terror & Security
Links Key to Peace in Korea – Remove US Presence April 14, 2013 ( AltThaiNews-Tony Cartalucci ) – On March 26, 2010, the ROKS Cheonan is hit by what appears to be a German-made torpedo , sinks while claiming the lives of 46 South Korean sailors. The world, America at the lead, was quick to point its finger at North Korea before South Korea itself ruled them out as a suspect. North Korea adamantly insisted it was not behind the attack, and despite their paranoid and isolated posture, little beyond insanity could serve as a motive.Despite evidence adding up otherwise, to no one’s surprise a joint "international" investigation by the US, UK, South Korea, Australia, Canada, and Sweden would later conclude that a North Korean submarine was the culprit, leaving even most South Koreans skeptical.During this period of time, America’s position in Asia Pacific was already waning
AP reported specifically in their article, " Officials: Arms shipments rise to Syrian rebels ," that: US Secretary of State John Kerry said on the sidelines of a Syrian opposition meeting in Italy last month that the weapons are ending up in the hands of secular groups. "I will tell you this: There is a very clear ability now in the Syrian opposition to make certain that what goes to the moderate, legitimate opposition is in fact getting to them, and the indication is that they are increasing their pressure as a result of that," he said, without elaborating.
Links Chavez & Thaksin: A Tale of Two Socialists and Western Hypocrisy March 6, 2012 (LD) – Confounding was the Australian’s (newspaper) recent op-ed titled, " Death of a ruthless autocrat ," in regards to the late Hugo Chavez.
My friend Tim Wallace pinged me today with a few thoughts.