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Clint Eastwoods American Sniper the Oscar-nominated military film that stars Bradley Cooper as Navy SEAL sharpshooter Chris Kyle remained atop the box office for the second consecutive weekend, earning more than $64 million, according to estimates.

The R-rated biopic is on a remarkable pace and has already brought in more than $200 million after two weekends in theaters. It also grabbed six Academy Awards nominations, including one for best picture and another for Cooper, whose performance as Chris Kyle earned him a best actor nod.

In case you havent heard about it (somehow?), the film tells the story of Kyle the deadliest sniper in U.S.history and has stirred old debates about the Iraq War and the marksmans celebrated career and unverifiable legacy.

Heres a look at some of whats been said so far about the film and Kyle, who was fatally shot in 2013 by veteran Eddie Routh. Routhstrial is set to begin next month.

Gary Sinise tells off Howard Dean

Chris Kyles friend, a former Army Ranger: There is an inherent anti-military bias in Hollywood.And I think if Hollywood could just get past that bias, youd see more military blockbusters that celebrate American exceptionalism, selfless service, honor and integrity on the battlefield.

Bill Maher: This one is just American Hero. Hes a psychopath patriot and we love him.(Warning: Some of the language in the video is NSFW.)

Former Marine Corps sniper: Hollywood makes movies to make money. Its not propaganda. Its [a] very touching movie to me and my family.

Director Clint Eastwood: One of my favorite war movies that Ive been involved with is Letters from Iwo Jima.And that was about family, about being taken away from life, being sent someplace. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Eastwood, continued: In World War II, everybody just sort of went home and got over it. Now there is some effort to help people through it. In Chris Kyles case,, no good deed went unpunished. (THR)

The rest is here:
A guide to the American Sniper culture wars controversy

ATLANTA (AP) A Texas lawmaker would strip the salaries from government officials who honor same-sex marriage licenses.

Other states would protect government officials who opt out of performing gay nuptials.

In Georgia, where lawmakers are considering a bill that critics fear could allow businesses to discriminate against gay customers, the former head of the country's largest Protestant denomination recently urged lawmakers to rein in "erotic liberty."

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in April and could decide by June whether gay couples can marry, and national opinion polls show U.S. voters increasingly unopposed to gay rights. Yet lawmakers in a handful of states are backing longshot legislation targeting gay rights, doubling down on the culture wars. Most, if not all, of the efforts are led by Republicans.

The bills are more political theatre than serious policy. Few seem to have widespread support among lawmakers, and senior Republicans are not adopting these efforts as their own. In Georgia, well-funded business groups oppose them.

Still, the legislation remains popular with vocal and organized voting blocks in states or parts of the states where they've been proposed. But any political points they score could come at a price.

If the bills' backers manage to force a sharp debate in coming weeks, and the Supreme Court rules in favor of gay marriage a few months later, supporters of the bills would be exposed to criticism that they've been fighting for a fringe issue.

"On no issue during my 40-year career have opinions moved as rapidly as they have on the issue of the morality of gay relationships and ultimately gay marriage," said Whit Ayres, a Republican consultant for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and the National Rifle Association. "When you have conservative organizations like the U.S. military and the Boy Scouts openly accepting gay members, the debate is close to being over."

Not in Georgia. In a devotional delivered to newly convened lawmakers, the former president of the Southern Baptist Convention urged them to defend the freedom to act on religious beliefs, though he stopped short of endorsing legislation that supporters say would do precisely that.

"We are a living in a society that is on a collision course with a choice between erotic liberty and religious liberty," the Rev. Bryant Wright told lawmakers. "... Your role in government is about restraining sin."

Originally posted here:
GOP presses state bills limiting gay rights before ruling

Then this morning, with a cheeky little wink, who should pop up, but Nicole, 22, from Bournemouth. Cue jubilation from the burly, breast-embracing guardians of free speech. Or 40p nipples. And cue splenetic outrage from the heroic superwomen of feminisms crack no boobs at breakfast brigade.

I like culture wars. I think we need culture wars. The alternative to conflicts over culture is conformity over culture. And any society that finds itself practicing cultural conformity, either by accident or design, has serious issues to address.

But if we are going to have culture wars, could we at least go to war over something substantive? Or heroic? Or maybe even just marginally relevant?

When the scrapping of Page 3 was first reported, it was as if we had witnessed a second Charlie Hebdo. In fact, people literally claimed it was a second Charlie Hebdo. Wheres the 'Je suis Page 3' movement? asked Brendan ONeil, in Spiked. As surely as Islamists want to crush blasphemy, so they want to crush the Sun. I know, not with guns, but certainly with pressure and harassment and shame. And as Ray Bradbury said, Theres more than one way to burn a book.

Yes, but thats the point isnt it. The anti-Page 3 campaigners havent burnt anything. Or shot anyone. You may not agree with them. But they got organised, made their case and won. The Sun is currently having a laugh at their expense. But one day soon Nicole, 22, will put on her top for good.

And will it matter? Will the fact that in 2015, a national newspaper doesnt have a semi-naked woman adorning its pages really usher in a new dark age of press censorship?

If the pro-Page 3 lobby want to wage a culture war or a cultural rearguard action on behalf of the oppressed British male, great. Im with you brother. But why not pick a fight worth having? How about the way the debate about maternity rights constantly overshadows the debate over paternity rights. Or challenging the focus on breast cancer, rather than prostate or testicular cancer. Or question the absence of public awareness campaigns to tackle violent crimes committed against men, when a man is twice as likely to be the victim of such a crime as a woman?

I suspect its because fights like that require a bit too much heavy lifting. Which is why the anti-Page 3 lobby have picked their particular cause as well.

A couple of years ago I wrote about the superficiality of modern feminist campaigning. All nipples, notes and internet trolls. Well, the trolls have been jailed. We have Jane Austen on our ten pound notes. Page 3 is on the way out.

And whats happened? Nothing has happened. Yes, the longest march begins with the smallest step. But 87 years ago feminism was securing universal suffrage. Today its engaged in a game of peekaboo with Rupert Murdoch. So what precisely is the direction of travel here?

Continue reading here:
Page 3: If Britain's going to have a culture war, can it be about something serious?

8 p.m. EST January 22, 2015

Abortion(Photo: Getty Images/Hemera)

WASHINGTON There they go again. Given control of Congress and the chance to frame an economic agenda for the middle class, the first thing Republicans do is tie themselves in knots over ... abortion and rape.

Im not kidding. In a week when President Obama used his State of the Union address to issue a progressive manifesto of bread-and-butter policy proposals, GOP leaders responded by taking up the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. But a vote on the legislation had to be canceled after female GOP House members reportedly balked over the way an exception for pregnancies resulting from rape was limited.

The whole thing was, in sum, your basic 360-degree fiasco.

At least there are some in the party who recognize how much trouble Republicans make for themselves by breaking the armistice in the culture wars and launching battles that cannot be won. It looks as if the nation will have to stand by until GOP realists and ideologues reach some sort of understanding, which may take some time.

Its important to understand that the Pain-Capable bill was never anything more than an act of political fantasy. The only purpose of the planned vote was to create an event that the annual anti-abortion March for Life, held Thursday in Washington, could celebrate.

You might think the demonstrators already had reason to cheer. The abortion rate is at historic lows, having dropped by 13 percent in the decade between 2002 and 2011, according to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The main reason is that there are fewer unwanted pregnancies, which suggests logically that if Republicans really want to reduce abortion, what they should do is work to increase access to birth control.

More to the point, according to the CDC, only 1.4 percent of abortions take place after 20 weeks. This means the bill, if it somehow became law, would have minimal impact.

But it wont become law, as everyone in Congress well knows. The White House has announced that Obama would veto the measure, if it ever reached his desk. To get that far, the bill would have to pass the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would have to win over enough Democrats to cross the 60-vote threshold, which is highly unlikely.

Read more here:
ROBINSON: GOP still fighting waron abortion

Far Cry 4 - Walkthrough Part 34 - Culture Wars
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Far Cry 4 - Walkthrough Part 34 - Culture Wars - Video