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Scouting for a location to film a lavish new "Star Wars" live-action television series, filmmaker George Lucas says the Czech Republic probably won't get his business. A few years ago, it might have, thanks to a well-established reputation as a low-cost, high-quality Central European film production haven. But now neighboring countries, particularly Hungary, are offering superior tax incentives along with workers of comparable quality. "As a producer, I will always go to the country that has the best crew coupled with the most tax incentives," Mr. Lucas said in an interview conducted via email.

I'm such a nerd, I just got tickets to go see the Star Wars Concert, I couldn't help it I saw preview of it on PBS and it will be here next month. I hope it is cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eknuqWQ4-Mw

Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the "Star Wars" film saga, fans gather for Star Wars Celebration IV at the L.A. Convention Center downtown. Jasper Manning, 2, assumes the character of Yoda in the company of his father, Chad Manning. (Mel Melcon / LAT) The Force is weak in this one.... First we have Muslims crying foul when not allowed to "cover up"; and now this?! Unbelievable: Tesco has been accused of religious discrimination after the company ordered the founder of a Jedi religion to remove his hood or leave a branch of the supermarket in north Wales. Daniel Jones, founder...

Czechs are used to betrayal by their Western allies. It was at Munich in 1938 that British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain sealed their doom in exchange for a piece of paper promising "peace in our time." The fact that this further gutting of missile defense came on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland on Sept. 17, 1939, is an eerie coincidence. "Just after midnight I was informed in a telephone call by President Barack Obama that (his) administration had decided to pull out from the planned missile defense shield installations" in the Czech Republic and Poland, the...

Defense: A ballistic missile launched from Alaska is shot down by an interceptor launched from California. With threats from North Korea to Iran, it's time to ignore the skeptics and fully fund missile defense.It was the most realistic and most successful missile defense test ever in a Strategic Defense Initiative that could one day save an American city from a rogue missile strike. Yet the "yeah, but" media greeted this triumph with claims the concept is still unproven. It was as if the Wright brothers had announced man's first flight, only to be greeted with cries that they hadn't built...

Vicenza, Italy. President Obama’s decision to cancel our European ground-based missile defense system will prove to be very costly and his public rationale -- changed intelligence and improved technologies -- is far from the whole truth. This is a geopolitical disaster and risks our security as well. Last year, President Bush said “Iran is pursuing technology that could be used to produce nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles of increasing range that could deliver them.” His administration successfully negotiated with Poland and the Czech Republic to install a ground-based anti-missile defense system in those countries to counter the accelerating Iranian threat.

Defense: The Air Force airborne laser program successfully completes a simulated kill from a plane able to find, track and destroy a live ballistic missile. We can shoot down enemy missiles. Instead, we're shooting down the laser program.The Aug. 10 effort was the third such test — sort of like a sniper sighting the target with the red dot of a laser without actually pulling the trigger. In early June, the airborne laser (ABL) program engaged two un-instrumented missiles. This was the first in-flight test against an instrumented target missile. A modified Boeing 747-400F aircraft took off from Edwards Air...

Security: An Iranian mullah once said "a world without America and Zionism" was a real possibility. Our sellout of Eastern Europe and missile defense brings that dream closer to reality. It would take only one warhead."Is it possible for us to witness a world without America and Zionism?" Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asked at a "World Without Zionism" conference in Tehran in 2005. "But you had best know that this slogan and this goal are attainable, and surely can be achieved." He added that Iran had a strategic "war preparation plan" for what it called "the destruction of Anglo-Saxon civilization." A...

Strategic Defense: A new report says the United States must develop robust missile and space defenses to counter China. If you think the current economic crisis is something, imagine the effects of a nuke over Iowa.Imagine a world in which you can't get money from your bank or can't get a loan. You can't get money from your ATM even if it's within walking distance. You can't drive to one because your car won't work. No, it's not what would happen if the Congress doesn't pass a bailout bill. This is a small snapshot of what would happen if a...

Strategic Defense: With Iran on the verge of a deliverable nuke, the administration tells our allies in the dead of night that we will scuttle missile defense plans in Eastern Europe to please the Russians.Czechs are used to betrayal by their Western allies. It was at Munich in 1938 that British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain sealed their doom in exchange for a piece of paper promising "peace in our time." The fact that this further gutting of missile defense came on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland on Sept. 17, 1939, is an eerie coincidence. "Just after...

National Security: The proposed missile defense system for Europe may be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Russia. Is Ronald Reagan's "We win, they lose" now "Let's make a deal"?When President Reagan began the Strategic Defense Initiative in 1983, the only ones who took it seriously were the Soviets. Their global ambitions depended on an America inhibited and even intimidated by the threat of nuclear war. They still do. Just ask Georgia. When Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev met Reagan in Reykjavik, Iceland, in October 1986, he hoped Reagan would be willing to trade SDI away in exchange for...

Alliances: The U.S. has expressed a willingness to barter away missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic. Now the Polish foreign minister says he hopes his country doesn't regret trusting the United States.The Brussels Forum is a privately organized high-level meeting of the most influential North American and European political, corporate and intellectual leaders to address pressing challenges currently facing both sides of the Atlantic. One of the pressing issues discussed at this year's conference was whether the U.S. is serious about bartering away plans for missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic in exchange for...

SDI: If you missed the news, which isn't hard given how poorly these things are covered, our "unproven" missile defense proved itself again last week, when a U.S. warship downed a simulated North Korean missile in flight.The test, conducted in Hawaiian waters by the Navy and the Department of Defense's Missile Defense Agency (MDA), was the 23rd firing by ships equipped with the Aegis ballistic missile defense system. It was the 19th success, including the shoot-down of a dead U.S. spy satellite last year. A short-range ballistic missile simulating a missile like North Korea's Nodongs or Scuds was fired from...

News comes on the 70th Anniversary of Soviet Invasion of Poland in WWII!Remember all Obama's talk during last year's presidential campaign about improving our relations with other nations? Well, today, President Obama gave a huge slap in the face to Poland and the Czech Republic, two allies who went out on a limb to support U.S. plans for a missile defense shield needed ever more so in an era when Iran and North Korea are threatening the world with these dangerous weapons.The move is a transparent bid to appease Russia, which continues to refuse every plea that it help us...

RUMOR MILL (as of yet unconfirmed since the report has not been made public yet): Per Investor's Business Daily Friday, there's a report going around that the O'admin has decided to renege on building a missile defense system in Europe to protect Poland and the Czech Republic. If it's true, Obama has... once more... indicated to our allies that Obama's "remade America" is there not to protect them, but to betray them. The U.S. has abandoned plans to install a missile defense system in Europe, according to a report. If true, this is a major strategic error that will have...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2009 – Boosted by a few strong years of testing successes, much of the United States’ missile defense technology that once was questioned is now ready to be fielded. The destroyer USS Hopper launches a standard missile 3 as it operates in the Pacific Ocean on July 30, 2009. The missile successfully intercepted a sub-scale, short-range ballistic missile launched from the Kauai Test Facility at Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii. The launch was the latest Missile Defense Agency test in conjunction with the Navy. U.S. Navy photo   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available....

A test-firing of a high-energy laser beam aboard a modified Boeing 747 has been called a success, the Missile Defense Agency said. A team from Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin conducted the Airborne Laser (ABL) test Tuesday over the California High Desert. The laser was fired into an onboard calorimeter, which captured the beam and measured its power. The test is preparation for an upcoming demonstration in which the laser will be fired through a nose-mounted turret on the aircraft toward the target. In a test Aug. 10, a low-power laser beam hit an instrument-equipped missile. "This test shows...

John Scalzi's Guide to the Most Epic FAILs in Star Wars Design I'll come right out and say it: Star Wars has a badly-designed universe; so poorly-designed, in fact, that one can say that a significant goal of all those Star Wars novels is to rationalize and mitigate the bad design choices of the movies. Need examples? Here's ten. R2-D2 Sure, he's cute, but the flaws in his design are obvious the first time he approaches anything but the shallowest of stairs. Also: He has jets, a periscope, a taser and oil canisters to make enforcer droids fall about in...

Defense: Overlooked in the defense budget cuts is the decimation of missile defense systems. As North Korea tested an ICBM, our defense secretary was scrapping a system that could have destroyed it with a single shot.We will miss the F-22 Raptor, perhaps the only plane that could evade the sophisticated S-300 surface-to-air missile defense system Russia is selling to Iran. Russia's S-300 system is "one of the most lethal, if not the most lethal, all-altitude area defense" systems, according to the International Strategy and Assessment Service, a Virginia-based think tank. But the aircraft we and the nation will miss the...

EDWARDS AFB, CA - The Boeing Company and the US Missile Defense Agency successfully completed the Airborne Laser's (ABL) first in-flight test against an instrumented target missile, achieving a historic milestone.During the test, the modified Boeing 747-400F used its infrared sensors to find a target missile launched from San Nicolas Island, Calif. The battle management system aboard ABL issued engagement and target location instructions to the beam control/fire control system, which acquired the target and fired its two solid-state illuminator lasers to track the target and measure atmospheric conditions.ABL then fired a surrogate high-energy laser at the target, simulating a...

Strategic Defense: The Air Force's airborne laser program passes yet another test, proving "unproven" missile defense once again. The question is not whether we can get it to work, but whether we can afford not to.The news that Iran has enough nuclear material to build a nuclear weapon in relatively short order and is well along on missiles to deliver its nukes has put a sense of urgency on the proposed missile defense system slated for Poland and the Czech Republic. Fortunately, another answer to the threat posed by rogue regimes like Iran and North Korea has just passed a...

Russia is developing new missiles to counter space-based missile systems that could soon be deployed by the United States, Russia's air force commander was quoted as saying on Tuesday. "We are building new missiles that will be capable of defending not only against air-defence systems but space-based systems," General Alexander Zelin said, quoted by Russian news agencies.

The plucky kid with the pod racer from "Star Wars: Episode I" is not a kid anymore. And Jake Lloyd wants you to know that having a major role in a George Lucas film really put a damper on things when he was growing up. OK, fine: The guy doesn't really deserve our pity, but think of it from his point of view. Ten years old, getting blamed for ruining the Star Wars series. (Well, that was mainly the fault of George Lucas, but the kid was there, wasn't he?) And people just won't let it go. The Sci-Fi Australia...

(Japan and its role on the international stage grow increasingly important by the day. As North Korea accelerates its nuclear and missile threats and China builds its military at a frantic pace. the role of Japan as one of American’s premier allies in the Pacific becomes even more critical and the byzantine internal politics of Japan are gaining more attention. On Sunday, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party lost the latest in a string of municipal elections to the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, this one in the capital city of Tokyo. Almost immediately, Prime Minister Taro Aso called a national...

The Obama administration is reacting to the anticipated launch of another North Korean long-range ballistic missile, expected to fly over the Pacific toward Hawaii sometime soon, by putting missile defense on alert. That's a big change from last time. Back in April, in advance of North Korea's last missile test, the administration pretty much pooh-poohed the threat posed by the Taepo Dong launch, characterizing Pyongyang's saber-rattling as bluster. Indeed, from all outward indications, Team Obama did just about nothing but bloviate to defend U.S. territory and interests from the missile that, by almost all accounts, has the potential to reach...

As Defense Secretary Gates tours our missile defense site at Fort Greely, Alaska, Gov. Sarah Palin calls for restoration of the missile defense cuts. Meanwhile, North Korea points another missile at the U.S. Robert Gates' visit to our missile defense facility at Fort Greely on Monday was a pointed reminder to the North Koreans that while we have been talking softly, we still have a few big sticks in the ground ready to turn the North Korean missile program into so much scrap metal.

Call this coming July Fourth Dependence Day -- the day marking prudent and responsible America's realization that we do indeed depend on the diplomatic power and technological capability of anti-missile defensive systems. North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il is threatening to fire a ballistic missile "test shot" at Hawaii on July Fourth. Kim's hyperbolic bombast and paranoid theatrics likely engage Pyongyang's opaque domestic intrigues. Still, the missile and the moment are dangerous -- and instructive. The first decade of the 21st century has made it clear that we are engaged in a global battle between the constructive and the destructive...

Defense: As we prepare to celebrate our independence, North Korea wants to remind us of Pearl Harbor. Fortunately, we can make use of assets dreamed of by Reagan and deployed by Bush to defend our 50th state. Japan's Yomiuri newspaper reported Thursday that North Korea would launch a long-range Taepodong-2 missile at Hawaii on or about July 4. This would be the anniversary of the first Taepodong-2 test on July 4, 2006. It would also mark the 15th anniversary of North Korean President Kim Il Sung's death.Those who know have stopped laughing at North Korea's increasingly credible nuclear and global...

A day following his Cairo Speech, US President Barack Hussein Obama toured Buchenwald Concentration Camp accompanied by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Holocaust survivors Elie Wiesel and Bertrand Herz. The four entered the camp, now a museum to a bygone era, with a throng of reporters recording their every move and expression. They were given four long, white roses they later laid on a tombstone on the ground. The perfect photo-op: Each in turn stepped forward, approached the flat inscribed stone and laid a single rose. Dues were paid, President Obama’s tour had to continue. Six million Jews exterminated only...

Security: As Defense Secretary Gates tours our missile defense site at Fort Greely, Alaska, Gov. Sarah Palin calls for restoration of the missile defense cuts. Meanwhile, North Korea points another missile at the U.S.

Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon said Sunday that "Iran's long-range missiles can reach the US' East Coast." Attending the annual pro-Israel march in New York, Ayalon, was interviewed by Fox News and said that Iran was aspiring to increase its influence in Latin America and the Gulf states. (Roni Sofer)

The background to this 30-minute film is that about two years ago, director Bob Parks (http://www.black-and-right.com/) and I got a small grant to develop a demo/pilot DVD based on my book, A Patriot's History of the United States. I chose the Reagan chapter, specifically his "Star Wars" speech. The resulting film is "Reagan: The Cold War and a Speech." We ran out of money before we could do a final edit, and there are a couple of minor hiccups, but it was, after all, a demo. Overall, I was very pleased with the result.

Naturally all Bush's folks are the Evil Characters In a transparently unhinged and partisan hit job against several Bush administration officials, Newsweek thought it would be amusing to compare the Bush era and the Obama era by analogizing them with Star Wars and Star Trek respectively. Naturally Newsweek's Bush Derangement Syndrome was given full throated expression -- phasers set to kill not to stun -- as the Bush administration officials were noted as representing one or the other of the evil Star Wars characters while all the Obama officials were compared to the good guys in Star Trek. What we...

A couple's obsession with Star Wars inspired them to theme their wedding on the blockbuster films – with the groom playing Han Solo and the bride Princess Leia.Duncan Thomson, 41, and Sammi Gardiner, 39, got married in an unusual ceremony surrounded by friends and family all dressed as characters from the sci-fi movies. In a pun on the films' famous phrase, "may the force be with you", they chose Monday as the date for the service, so they could bill it as "May the 4th be with you". The couple, from the Isle of Wight, even invited the movie's director...

It's been a question discussed by liberal bloggers for years, and the creator of "Star Wars" has finally settled it once and for all: Former Vice President Dick Cheney is Emperor Palpatine, and former President George W. Bush is Darth Vader. Phew...glad that's settled.

Eight police officers serving with Scotland's largest force listed their official religion as Jedi in voluntary diversity forms, it has emerged.

On Saturday, April 5, North Korea launched its Taepo-Dong-2 ballistic missile in what was described as an attempt to put a satellite into low earth orbit. The missile launched successfully, and as the missile traveled over the Sea of Japan, its first stage was jettisoned, falling within the area previously designated by North Korea. The missile's flight path then continued over Japan before its remaining stages and payload fell into Pacific Ocean, approximately 800 miles off Japan's eastern coast. The distance the Taepo-Dong-2 traveled is being reported as 2,000 miles (3,200 km). The missile and its payload seem to have...

Obama and the case of the missing 'thesis' By Jim Popkin, NBC News Senior Investigative ProducerJuly 24, 2008 excerpt: The hunt for Obama’s senior “thesis” began with a throwaway line in a newspaper article last October. The New York Times story, on Obama’s early New York years, mentioned in passing that the presidential contender had majored in political science at Columbia and had spent his time “writing his thesis on Soviet nuclear disarmament.” Journalists began hounding Columbia University for copies of the musty document. Conservative bloggers began wondering if the young Obama had written a no-nukes screed that he might...

Science fiction fans and generals alike have long fantasized about what it'd be like to have a laser weapon at their command. Now at last such dreams are nearing reality. After years of steady milestone progress, military contractor Northrop Grumman has reached a significant mark -- the first 100 kW steady-state laser. The laser is part of the Joint High-Powered Solid State Laser Phase 3 Program, which combines 8 lasers in chain fashion to create a "superlaser" of sorts. Each laser can deliver up to 15.3 kW individually and is about the size of a large briefcase. Together they form...

Scientists in the U.S. are developing a laser gun that could kill millions of mosquitoes in minutes. The laser, which has been dubbed a "weapon of mosquito destruction" fires at mosquitoes once it detects the audio frequency created by the beating of its wings. The laser beam then destroys the mosquito, burning it on the spot. Developed by some of the astrophysicists involved in what was known as the "Star Wars" anti-missile programs during the Cold War, the project is meant to prevent the spread of malaria. Lead scientist on the project, Dr. Jordin Kare, told CNN that the laser...

During the course of last year's Presidential campaign, a lot was made out of Barack Obama's crossover appeal. This included evangelicals (Rick Warren), trust fund conservatives (Christopher Buckley), columnists (Kathleen Parker), rich businessmen (Warren Buffet), and even the the token RINO of The New York Times David Brooks. The recriminations of many of these people have come fast and furious, and the more so as the new Administration has begun to channel the spirit of Jimmy Carter (Dhimmi - GA): and their belated awakening to the magnitude of their own folly is insufficient penance. Did I say recriminations? Yes, from...

"33 Minutes: Protecting America in the New Missile Age" is a high-definition documentary that tells the story of the very real threat that hostile nations and rogue dictators now pose to every one of us. ### The Significance of 33 Minutes A ballistic missile from a foreign enemy would take 33 minutes to reach the United States. With each passing day, this becomes a growing danger to America, yet our government has failed to build the missile defense systems capable of defending us against such attacks. Our enemies are attempting to stockpile arsenals that threaten our freedom and prosperity. North...

In the 1980s, while the west towers were construction, Washington National Cathedral held a decorative sculpture competition for children. Word of the competition was spread nationwide through National Geographic World Magazine. The third-place winner was Christopher Rader, with his drawing of that fearful villain, Darth Vader. The fierce head was sculpted by Jay Hall Carpenter, carved by Patrick J. Plunkett, and placed high upon the northwest tower of the Cathedral.

A Star Wars lightsaber has been banned by troubled retailer Woolworths because barmy shop bosses fear it could be mistaken for a gun. Despite being in the midst of their bleakest and possibly last Christmas ever, bosses at the Midlands branch are restricting the sale of the £24.99 Christmas favourite to anyone under the age of 18. Firearms experts said the company was “going over the top” by banning the toy. Brandon Cook, who specialises in restricted sales issues with the Trading Standards Institute, said: “Some companies are going the whole hog and are banning the sale of any weapon-style...

Just when it appeared that George Lucas had finally laid to rest his epic saga of Jedis, Wookies and Ewoks, he has announced that Star Wars will return as a stadium experience. The Times has learnt that Lucasfilm has authorised Star Wars: A Musical Journey, a retelling of the story that will combine excerpts of the film with live orchestral accompaniment. Diehard fans may dream of Jedi Knights serenading Jabba the Hutt and C-3PO singing “Don’t cry for me, R2-D2” but they are likely to be disappointed. Producers for the show, which will have its world premiere in Britain, emphasised...

The US military has carried out the first test-firing of a laser weapon system housed aboard a 747 plane. The Airborne Laser (ABL) was conceived to shoot down enemy ballistic missiles in the early stages of their flight. An airborne intercept of an in-flight ballistic missile is planned for 2009. Scientists are reported to be working out other uses for the flying weapon - which could help secure continued funding. These extra missions include shooting down surface-to-air missiles, cruise missiles and even enemy aircraft. A laser beam travelled the length of the aircraft at 670 million miles per hour. It...

Soon to fry the unfriendly skies US aerospace globocorp Boeing is chuffed as ninepence today to announce the first full-power firing of its jumbo-jet-mounted, ICBM-toasting ray cannon - the Airborne Laser (ABL). The system saw "first light" in September, but this is the first time the big laser's knob has been turned up to full. ABL - if it flies, it fries "This test demonstrated that the Airborne Laser missile defense program has successfully integrated the entire weapon system aboard the ABL aircraft," said Scott Fancher, jumbo-blaster veep at Boeing. "The team has now completed the two major milestones it...

Anyone see the new Star Wars animation series (Cartoon Network...or CTV primetime in Canada)? Looks interesting. I thought Lucas was going to do a live action series as well?

The Inconsistency Of Gay Indignation Posted by Dirty Harry on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 Wait a minute… Wait a minute … Wait a minute… Suddenly this is a problem? There’s a stereotypically “gay”-seeming villain in the new CGI Star Wars movie The Clone Wars that is so offensive and over-the-top that you’re left wondering, “Is George Lucas insane?” … Hutt sounds exactly like Truman Capote — one of the most famous openly gay men of all time — who spoke with a lisping southern accent. But unlike Capote, Ziro also wears make-up, feathers, jewelry, and is covered in body tattoos....