Friday, May 25, 2012

Remembering: Star Wars

May 25, 1977 Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope hits theaters and the world would never be the same.

It came with the newest forms of special effects and the superb soundtrack composed by John Williams. Those and the story line brought about an opening of imaginations throughout the world.

Though only released in forty-two theaters, the movie would make what was then, huge dollar amounts. Adjusting for inflation it is still the second biggest grosser in history.

A New Hope would be nominated for ten Oscars, winning six of them.

Star Wars is credited with reviving a sci fi genre that had all but died out, and was til then totally unprofitable.

Combined with Jaws, it began a new idea of the summer blockbuster, that is such a huge part of today's Hollywood.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in For Bad Boys 3

Will Smith has confirmed that he and Martin Lawrence will both return for Bad Boys 3.

At this point they're going over screen plays, looking for the right one.

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has released that Smith has had a big hand in developing the film.

Director Michael Bay is set to return to the film series as well.

No release date has been announced yet.

Police Attacked in Northern Ireland

Bricks, stones, and petrol bombs were thrown at police in Newry, Northern Ireland on Thursday.

One officer was injured by the blasts. He has been released from the hospital.

For awhile part of the town was shut down, as police did a controlled explosion on a suspicious device.

Chief Inspector David Beck said a "small criminal element" was "intent on bringing mayhem and disruption".

Local assembly member Micky Brady complained about the police disruption of the town's day. "Once again we have seen Newry brought to a standstill while a suspicious device is investigated. Local people, like myself, are sick and tired of these pointless exercises."

Facebook Camera For iPhone and iPod Touch

Facebook has announced a new app for iPhone and iPod touch.

Facebook Camera works much in the same way as Instagram does, except for that it is completely linked to Facebook itself.

This linking makes it a whole lot easier to see, use, edit, and share pictures.

Sometime Thursday evening, the free app is supposed to be available.

Questions are abounding as to whether or not the app will become available for Droid phones, and when.

Another big question is what this means for Facebook and Instagram. The app comes less than two months after Facebook announced it was buying Instagram for $1 billion. That deal has yet to go through.

Iran Nuclear Talks Stall

Talks over Iran's nuclear program stalled when Iran demanded that EU sanctions be cancelled. The sanctions are set to go in place June 1, and are the toughest ever handed down by Europe. A new set of talks are set for June 18-19 in Moscow.

This unsuccessful set of talks, in Baghdad took place between Iran and the P5+1. The P5 are the five permanent members of the UN Security Council: the US, France, Great Britain, Russia, and China. The +1 denotes the addition of Germany.

Iran vows to not halt any kind of nuclear production until the sanctions be cancelled. The other nations stated that sanctions would only be cancelled once Iran has proven it is halting production.

Many countries have accused Iran of working towards nuclear weapons. Whilst Iran says it is all for energy research. But Iran's own released statistics show that they are enriching uranium far beyond what is necessary for energy production.

Israel accuses Iran of holding the talks simply to stall for time so that nuclear weapons can be achieved. The delay of almost a full month before talks resume would give credence to such worries.

Solar Impulse on First Transcontinental Flight

Solar Impulse took off on it's first transcontinental flight, Thursday morning. Accomplishing the mission would set it as the first solar powered aircraft to do so.

Andre Borschberg is flying the experimental solar powered airplane to Madrid, Spain. Bertrand Piccard will then fly for the second leg of the trip, to Rabat, Morocco.

Takeoff was delayed for two hours by fog in their home field of Payerne, Switzerland; showing the weakness of such a craft.

With a cruising speed of around forty-three miles per hour, the aircraft with a wingspan of just over 200 feet, hopes to reach Morocco Friday evening.

In 2010, the plane was flown for twenty-six hours straight, to show that it's 12,000 solar cells could absorb enough energy to last through the night.

The pilots hope to take a new and improved plane in an around the world flight, in 2014.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

G I Joe Retaliation Pushed Back 9 Months

Paramount has announced that they will be moving back the release for the second G I Joe movie.

G I Joe Retaliation was to hit theaters June 29, 2012. It is now scheduled for March 29, 2013.

The theaters made the decision as they are moving to a 3D format.

It is unlikely that the movie will be hurt by the move. Paramount hopes that it will double it's gross gain internationally.

South Korea and Australia About to Hold Naval Drills

Starting on Monday Australia and South Korea will hold joint naval drills.

This is the first time that the two countries have held joint drills.

The two day drills will take place north east of Jeju Island.

Government officials have stated that the focus of the drills of will be detecting and tracking enemy submarines and torpedoes.

Officials continued to say that they made the decision to hold the drills due to concern that North Korea is planning a nuclear test.

33 Years of Prison for Doctor Who Helped Find Bin Laden

Shakil Afridi, a Pakistani doctor, has been sentenced to thirty-three years in prison by the Pakistani government. His crime? Aiding the US in locating Osama bin Laden.

"The doctor was never asked to spy on Pakistan. He was asked only to help locate al Qaeda terrorists, who threaten Pakistan and the US," said a senior U.S. official with knowledge of counterterrorism operations against al Qaeda in Pakistan. "He helped save Pakistani and American lives. His activities weren't treasonous, they were heroic and patriotic."

But Pakistan sees it differently. As tensions with the US increase, over drone strikes and other incidents, Pakistan is arresting various people who have helped the US in it's war on terror. Pakistani officials sentenced the doctor in a secret trial in the Khyber region.

The US State Department has been pressing for Dr. Afridi's release, since his arrest last year. They pledge to continue to do so until he is released.

Obama Struggles in Primaries

On Tuesday primaries took place in Arkansas and Kentucky.

President Obama, running unopposed in Kentucky only managed to get 57.9% of the vote. Forty-two percent of Kentucky Democrats, who voted, listed themselves as uncommitted.

In Arkansas, he's not faring much better. Only fifty-nine percent have gone for Obama. Forty-one percent went for his opponent there, who promises to repeal Obamacare.

These states follow West Virginia's primary, of two weeks ago. In that state, a Texas inmate took forty-one percent of the vote away from Obama.

Tuesday's primaries were disappointing for Romney as well. Kentucky gave him sixty-seven percent, and Arkansas sixty-nine.

Both states saw many votes still going for Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul; none of whom are actively campaigning.