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6/4/08 - George Lucas has created legendary film heroes like Luke Skywalker and Indiana Jones, but the US director says that in real life, his hero is Barack Obama. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/clone_wars/

"Gentlemen, comrades, do not be concerned about all you hear about Glasnost and Perestroika and democracy in the coming years. They are primarily for outward consumption. There will be no significant internal changes in the Soviet Union, other than for cosmetic purposes. Our purpose is to disarm the Americans and let them fall asleep. We want to accomplish three things: One, we want the Americans to withdraw conventional forces from Europe. Two, we want them to withdraw nuclear forces from Europe. Three, we want the Americans to stop proceeding with Strategic Defense Initiative." Quote by: Mikhail Gorbachev (1931- ) General...

In 1985, there was an article about a billion dollar project that just flushed money down a toliet. The contractors were Raytheon and IBM. One of the impacts of this failure was that the Advanced Los Angeles Class submarines put concrete ballast in its Tomahawk missile tubes instead of missiles. At that time, there was talk of another DoD project, SDI or the Strategic Defense Initiative, aka "Star Wars". Because of the failure of the IBM-Raytheon project, there was talk that the SDI project could not be done. Furthermore, this seemed to impact the SSI work. But the Ghost of...

George Lucas has created legendary film heroes like Luke Skywalker and Indiana Jones, but the US director says that in real life, his hero is Barack Obama. Lucas was in Japan on Wednesday to promote his latest film, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," as Obama clinched the Democratic Party's nomination for president. "We have a hero in the making back in the United States today because we have a new candidate for president of the United States, Barack Obama," Lucas said when asked who his childhood heroes were. Obama, "for all of us that have dreams...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3_jh2dO78U

http://movies.yahoo.com/summer-movies/Star-Wars-Clone-Wars/1809991325/trailers/133/880 Another of the summer's most closely-guarded secrets, this animated extravaganza is meant to kick off the new Cartoon Network series of the same title. It's said to be focused on Anakin Skywalker, fresh from his victory in Attack of the Clones and not yet following the path of the Dark Side. At his side is his determined female padawan Ahsoka, as well as the incomparable Obi-Wan. Together they become entangled in a plot in which the kidnapping of Jabba the Hutt's son is used to set the Hutt clan against the Jedi Knights. Three Good Reasons 1Two words: Jedi...

A man posing as Darth Vader attacked a Star Wars fan, who had founded a Jedi Church, a court has heard. Arwel Wynne Hughes, 27, from Holyhead, Anglesey, admitted assaulting Barney Jones and cousin Michael with a metal crutch. They suffered minor injuries. Hughes, who was drunk and dressed in a black bin bag, shouted "Darth Vader!" Earlier, when Hughes failed to arrive on time, District Judge Andrew Shaw issued an arrest warrant, adding: "I hope the force will soon be with him." In the event, Hughes turned up and the case at Holyhead magistrates court resumed. The court heard...

Obama Pledges Cuts in Missile Defense, Space, and Nuclear Weapons Programs February 29, 2008 :: News MissileThreat.com A video has surfaced of Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama talking on his plans for strategic issues such as nuclear weapons and missile defense. The full text from the video, as released, reads as follows: Thanks so much for the Caucus4Priorities, for the great work you've been doing. As president, I will end misguided defense policies and stand with Caucus4Priorities in fighting special interests in Washington. First, I'll stop spending $9 billion a month in Iraq. I'm the only major candidate who opposed...

The subject I want to discuss with you, peace and national security, is both timely and important. Timely, because I've reached a decision which offers a new hope for our children in the 21st century, a decision I'll tell you about in a few minutes. And important because there's a very big decision that you must make for yourselves. This subject involves the most basic duty that any President and any people share, the duty to protect and strengthen the peace.

WASHINGTON, March 12, 2008 – Vice President Richard B. Cheney commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Strategic Defense Initiative last night, pressing for a renewed U.S. commitment to a national missile defense system to protect against current and future threats. Speaking here to the Heritage Foundation, Cheney recalled former President Ronald Reagan’s 1983 proposal to create a shield of ground- and space-based systems to protect the United States from incoming strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. The Defense Initiative Organization stood up to oversee the program, which came to be nicknamed “Star Wars,” after the popular space movie series. The concept...

WASHINGTON - Borrowing a theme from the presidential contest, Vice President Dick Cheney said Tuesday that the possibility of a 3 a.m. emergency call to the White House is all the more reason for the next commander in chief to follow through on President Bush's plans for a national missile defense. "It's plain to see that the world around us gives ample reason to continue working on missile defense," Cheney told the conservative Heritage Foundation at a dinner recognizing the 25th anniversary of President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, a proposed network of rockets capable of shooting down incoming intercontinental ballistic...

Tomorrow night, a European spacecraft is scheduled to blast off from French Guiana on its maiden voyage to the international space station, giving NASA and the world a new way to reach the orbiting laboratory. For NASA, however, the launch of the Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) also highlights a stark reality: In 2 1/2 years, just as the station gets fully assembled, the United States will no longer have any spacecraft of its own capable of carrying astronauts and cargo to the station, in which roughly $100 billion is being invested. The three space shuttles will be retired...

In last week's space spectacular, a U.S. missile did more than turn a dead satellite into bits of space scrap. It also blew another hole in hopes that the world's nations could forge a treaty making outer space a weapons-free realm, analysts say.Wednesday's orbiter shootdown by a U.S. Navy missile came just eight days after Russia and China, at the U.N. Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, submitted a draft treaty to ban weapons from space.

February 22, 2008 Son of Star Wars takes out toxic satellite in $30m space hit Michael Evans, Defence Editor and Jane Macartney in Beijing Video need to know: expert opinion on the satellite operation The United States provided dramatic proof of its capability to destroy an object in space when a US navy missile scored a direct hit on an American satellite falling out of control. Missile experts said that the Standard SM-3 weapon, fired from the USS Lake Erie, a Ticonderoga-class cruiser, took about three minutes to reach the satellite 150 miles (240km) up in the sky, flew above...

<p>A HIT! A missile launched from a U.S. Navy ship in the Pacific hit the decaying U.S. spy satellite it was targeting 130 miles above Earth's surface..... Developing...</p>

U.S. officials are studying the possibility of shooting down the errant Lockheed Martin intelligence satellite that was launched into space for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The concern is that the spacecraft carries a full tank of hydrazine - a toxic propellant - that would have been used to reposition the satellite in orbit. Government analysts say the odds are that the tank will crack open during re-entry or than it will land in the ocean, which makes up 70% of the area where the breaking up satellite might land. There also is concern in some quarters that debris could...

February 1, 2008 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - If we are to believe the Hillary Clinton campaign line, the main attribute which qualifies her above all others is that, "She is ready to lead on day one." She derives this alleged standing from what can only be called political osmosis, having been the wife of Bill Clinton, serving as his "co-president." This echoes a theme which Bill stated often during the 1992 presidential campaign, suggesting that a vote for him was a bargain because the lucky voter would get "two for the price of one," thus providing a...

Hello America! As you may know, 2008 is going to be a g-rate year. I am so excited! There is to be a presidential election this year! Hoo-ray! Exciting times, exciting times. And whoa... so confusing! So much talking, so much anal-yzing, so much research to do to be sure the person who wins your vote truly reflects your values and goals for the executive of this g-rate nation. Man, it's going to be tough. Well, this is for those of you who say "To heck with that!" and are more interested in voting for a candidate based on snap...

Here is a link if you want to view the first part of the Star Wars Holiday Special: Star Wars Holiday Special..

The Japanese know all about surprise attacks and the devastation caused by nuclear weapons, and they are determined to be victims of neither. Our former foe is now a determined ally, and between us we are rapidly unfolding a missile defense umbrella over both countries and the ocean between. In Greek mythology, Zeus used a shield called Aegis. Today, another shield called Aegis is in the hands of the descendants of the samurai. The latest in a stunning string of missile-defense successes took place Monday, when a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor launched from the JS Kongo knocked out a target...

For self is a sea boundless and measureless. We shall never understand one another until we reduce the language to seven words. —Kahlil Gibran Among my mother’s books was a copy of The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. I remember still the cream color of the cover, adorned with a soft-focus drawing of a young man with a thin moustache staring, Svengali-like, into some kind of philosophical infinity. Although—or was it because?—The Prophet was so popular at the time, selling by the million worldwide, I resisted reading it. I suspected that its profundity, or rather its straining after profundity, was bogus,...

PHOTO: (Rosie O'Donnell escorts Al Gore to the Rebellion's ceremony stage.) Today, at the Massassi Temple at the hidden Rebel base on Yavin 4, Princess Leia Organa presented the Alderaanian Medal of Honor to Vice President Al Gore for his efforts in stopping universal warming: Distinguished Rebel Alliance leaders, brave warriors, ladies and gentlemen; In honor of Mr. Gore's tireless service protecting the universe from warming and helping to stop the Emperor and Lord Dick Cheney from spreading their imperial tentacles around the world, we present the rebellion's highest honor, the Alderaanian Medal of Honor to Vice-President Al Gore. Oh,...

Attention, TV executives: The Force may soon be with you. Filmmaker George Lucas said Tuesday that he has "just begun work" on a live-action television series rooted in the "Star Wars" universe, which is huge news not just for fans of the science-fiction epic but also for networks looking for a piece of the Lucas magic that has grossed $4.3 billion in theaters worldwide. There is a caveat, though: The proposed series doesn't have anyone named Luke or Anakin in it, a story path that Lucas concedes is "taking chances" as far as connecting with an audience expecting the familiar...

Security: Perhaps you haven't heard, since the media would rather ignore the success of what they've derided since Ronald Reagan floated the idea 24 years ago, but America now has a working missile defense system. The news was not entirely ignored. The New York Times/International Herald Tribune covered it. But it has gone largely unreported elsewhere. When a senior military officer says that a key defense system is operative, newspapers should splash that on their front pages and television and radio should begin their broadcasts with the news. It's as if the media don't believe the U.S. is worth protecting.

Andy Woerner and his crazy rocketeer friends have built a 21-foot long X-Wing model that can actually fly. Yes, this is a real X-Wing powered by four solid-fuel rocket engines complete with radio-controlled moving wings. It blasts off in California next week, and we talked with Andy about the project, and how they expect it will do. All the details and a full construction gallery after the jump. The X-Wing model is huge. At 21 feet long and with a wingspan of over 19 feet it is, in fact, big enough to fly a kid in. However, knowing that it...

VANDENBERG AFB, Calif., Sept 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Riki Ellison, President of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA), http://www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org/, was at Vandenberg AFB to view the ground-based interceptor launch from the Ronald Reagan Missile Defense site on Vandenberg AFB, CA and got to witness the successful intercept by one of our nation's ground-based interceptor missile (GBI) deployed there against a threat-representative long range target missile launched from Kodiak, Alaska. Ellison's overall appraisal of the test was characterized as "an overwhelming success with the 7th intercept of this system gives our nation and our public great confidence that our military has the...

It all started a little over a month ago, and the very strange tale of how we wound up with a life-sized statue of Yoda in our home. Bear in mind that Brian Hodges wanted it to go in his new office at Mercer University and since he's teaching cello, he was going to replace Yoda's lightsaber blade with a cello bow. But he didn't have enough room and so Yoda came back to North Carolina from Atlanta (after already coming up from Florida) and ended up in our "foster care".The thing is that even at life-size, Yoda takes up...

OAKLAND - Luke Skywalker's light sabre, the famed prop from George Lucas' Star Wars films, will blast into space aboard the space shuttle Discovery, which is scheduled for launch on Oct. 23. In a Star Wars-studded ceremony Tuesday in Oakland, Calif., the prop was handed over to officials from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) who will put the light sabre on display at Space Centre Houston in Texas before the flight.

August 28, 2007 The Cold War might be over, but the underlying strategy that arose with Reagan’s Star Wars missile defense program in the 1980s lives on as the threat of long-range missile attack remains a global concern. Lockheed Martin have just announced successful testing of part of the Missile Defense Agency's “Multiple Kill Vehicle” program designed to be a single-launch platform to neutralize an entire fleet of incoming enemy missiles. Before Reagan’s Star Wars speech in 1983, America’s missile defense system consisted mainly of the simple and scary concept of Mutual Assured Destruction – you bomb us, we’ll bomb...

When the space shuttle Discovery launches the STS-120 astronaut crew in October, the force will be with them. Stowed on-board the orbiter, in addition to a new module for the International Space Station, will be the original prop lightsaber used by actor Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in the 1977 film "Star Wars". The laser-like Jedi weapon is being flown to the orbiting outpost and back in honor of the 30th anniversary of director George Lucas' franchise. Before it can make its trip to orbit though, the lightsaber will first fly to Houston, Texas, home of NASA's Johnson Space Center,...

The pair played Senator Padme Amidala and Anakin Skywalker Star Wars couple Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen have been voted as having the least plausible on-screen chemistry by film fans.The pair beat Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez for their performance in Gigli into second place, which was made when they were a real life couple. Former duo Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman also made the list with Eyes Wide Shut. British pairing Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom were thought "too stiff upper lip" in Pirates of the Caribbean. The 3,000 movie-goers who were surveyed for Pearl and Dean said...

Actor MARK HAMILL believes he is the world's worst STAR WARS expert - and knows very little about the movies that made him famous. The film star - who played Luke Skywalker in the original science fantasy epics - has only seen each of the movies once, and is baffled by fans' obsession with the cult series. He tells British radio station Heart: "I have failed Star Wars trivia tests. People come up to me at conventions and use terms that I've never heard of. "Props from the film that we didn't have names for now have names - Dustbin...

What else is there to do on Thursdays besides FReep and listen to TSN?!

A MODIFIED Boeing 747 designed to be part of an emerging US antimissile shield has successfully completed an important flight test, the Pentagon's Missile Defence Agency and Boeing said today. To simulate an intercept, the prototype Airborne Laser actively tracked an airborne target, compensated for atmospheric turbulence and fired a "surrogate" for a missile-zapping high-energy laser, they said. "We have now demonstrated most of the steps needed for the Airborne Laser to engage a threat missile and deliver precise and lethal effects against it," said Pat Shanahan, a vice president at Boeing, the prime contractor. The airborne laser is to...

HOLLYWOOD - Police were searching today for a Chewbacca impersonator who reportedly sexually assaulted a Marilyn Monroe look-alike in front of the Kodak Theatre about a month ago. The Chewbacca impersonator was wanted on suspicion of grabbing the Monroe impersonator's hand and placing it on his groin about four weeks ago, said Sgt. David Torres, spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department's Hollywood division. The Monroe look-alike called police today after complaining of a seperate incident between the two impersonators, Torres said. The brown, hairy Wookiee fled just as police arrived at about 12:30 p.m. on Hollywood and Highland boulevards.

"'La force motrice' of Reusable Launcher Development: The Rise and Fall of the SDIO's SSTO Program, From the X-Rocket to the Delta Clipper" Introduction. NASA commissioned me to document the development of the X-33 in March of 1997. The X-33 is an advanced technology demonstrator vehicle intended to flight test technologies deemed critical for eventually building a reusable single-stage-to-orbit rocket transport. Those technologies include a metallic thermal protection system, an aerospike engine, and composite cryogenic hydrogen tanks. As part of the history project, I chose to write about the SDIO's SSTO Program as a predecessor to the X-33, even though...

At 5:28 PM EST on Jan. 11, 2007, a satellite arced over southern China. It was small — just 6 ft. long — a tiny object in the heavens, steadily bleeping its location to ground stations below, just as it had every day for the past seven years. And then it was gone, transformed into a cloud of debris hurtling at nearly 16,000 mph along the main thoroughfare used by orbiting spacecraft. It was not the start of the world's first war in space, but it could have been. It was just a test: The satellite was a defunct Chinese...

To implement the provisions of the Taiwan Relations Act concerning the stability and security of Taiwan and United States cooperation with Taiwan on the development and acquisition of defensive military articles. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 3, 1997 Mr. HUNTER (for himself, Mr. COX of California, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. MCINTOSH, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. SOLOMON, and Mr. SPENCE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee on National Security, for a period to...

Watching the Democratic presidential debate this week on CNN, I was reminded of the famous line spoken by Obi-Wan Kenobi in "Star Wars" when he approached the Mos Eisley Spaceport with young Luke Skywalker and two droids. "You won't ever find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy," he said. There they were: Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich and Bill Richardson – clueless, shameless, principle-less, truthless. The contest within this hive of scum and villainy is of modest interest to Americans only because the current occupant of the White...

The missile-defense plans of today's Pentagon are far less ambitious than those envisioned by the Reagan-era Strategic Defense Initiative. Out, is the concept of an impenetrable domed shield for the US. In, is possible limited security against an accidental launch or rogue power such as North Korea. Yet 30 years after "Star Wars" roiled world geopolitics, US missile defense remains a contentious issue, both in Washington and abroad. Support for missile defense in Congress remains mixed. Meanwhile, Russia continues to hammer at Bush administration plans to deploy missile-defense elements in Europe with rhetoric that harks back to US-Soviet cold war...

Star Wars Weekends Starts Today Star Wars Weekends kick off this Friday at Disney-MGM Studios in Walt Disney World and will run for the next 4 weekends in June. Click here to view an article at MagicMountain.net with details of guests and festival highlights. Here is a list of guests from the article: All Four Weekends -- Celebrity Host Jay Laga'aia ("Captain Typho") Weekend 1 -- June 1-3: Warwick Davis ("Wicket the Ewok") Kenny Baker ("R2-D2") Weekend 2 -- June 8-10: Ray Park ("Darth Maul") Daniel Logan ("Young Boba Fett") Weekend 3 -- June 15-17: Jeremy Bulloch ("Boba Fett") Peter...

George Lucas' blockbuster celebrates its thirtieth birthday this week, and, if it's a significant enough anniversary for James Lileks to mark, that's good enough for us. Over the weekend, we'll round up the rest of the series, but here's what I had to say in The Spectator in 1997 when the original Star Wars was re-released: From a galaxy far far away - the summer of 1977 - Star Wars is back with a facelift in a technologically enhanced ‘special edition’, digitally remastered, with additional computer-generated inserts. So I suppose, in order to replicate the experience, the world's George Lucas...

It really was a long time ago. This Friday, it'll be exactly 30 years since "Star Wars" blasted away all expectations after opening in just 32 movie theaters on May 25, 1977. The anniversary will be marked by commemorative items, parties and events. It's remarkable to note how, in the days before universe-filling marketing campaigns and studio tracking reports, no one, not even writer-director George Lucas, was prepared for the lines that snaked around theaters showing "Star Wars." Audiences cheered from the opening blasts of John Williams' score to the closing credits, pausing only to boo Darth Vader. Facing high...

The man behind the mask: Anthony Daniels Actor Anthony Daniels worked on all six Star Wars films as the fussy robot C-3PO. He spoke the first line of the original movie, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary. He tells BBC News about his enduring memory from that period and how he's still very much a part of the Star Wars universe. It's a good story, tremendously well told. I don't know how George [Lucas] did it, I'm not sure he knows, but there is something working underneath. It doesn't feel like 30 years. But I'm looking forward rather than...

'Star Wars' Memories: A long time ago, in a Fourplex far far away ... http://www.parade.com/features/touchstones/070514-star-wars-memories.html http://tinyurl.com/yo8ocn TOUCHSTONES By Jim Gorant Published: May 14, 2007 It was a blazing day in June 1977 when my aunt and cousin came to visit. I was 10, my brother 8, our cousin 6, an awkward playgroup to start with, and to make it worse, our house in northern New Jersey was not air-conditioned. The adults encouraged us to play outside. We made a humid and soggy attempt at wiffleball, but it was no use. We were hot. They didn’t care. We were bored. They...

The Democratic-controlled House passed its version of the fiscal 2008 defense authorization legislation May 17, including a last-minute provision pushed by conservative Republicans to further integrate the U.S. ballistic missile defense system (BMDS) with Israel. The amendment, proposed by Republican presidential contender Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), who also leads the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) minority, would redirect $205 million in BMDS funds, as determined by Pentagon leaders, for the Israeli effort. In turn, it would allocate $25 million more for Arrow missile co-production and integration between the allies, $45 million for a U.S./Israeli short-range missile system and $135 million to...

Missile defense moves ahead By John E. Carey May 1, 2007 On March 23, 1983, President Ronald Reagan announced from the Oval Office, "I've reached a decision which offers a new hope for our children in the 21st century." He explained his vision -- and his defense budget's inclusion -- of the first funds to go toward this nation's missile defense effort.     Liberals, and most of the media, derided the president's project as "star wars." Since 1983, America's Missile Defense effort has become a multinational, multi-system effort: and it has come down to earth and the sea.

Last Updated: Sunday, 29 April 2007, 13:19 GMT 14:19 UK Star Wars actor in US stamp role The 41-cent stamp featuring Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi Star Wars actor Ewan McGregor is to feature in a new set of stamps from the US Postal Service. The star, from Crieff in Perthshire, appears on one of 15 special edition stamps designed to commemorate the film series' 30th anniversary next month. The 41-cent stamp shows the 37-year-old in his role of Obi-Wan Kenobi fighting with Anakin Skywalker. The new stamps take in characters from all six movies in the Star Wars saga....

I just came across this link to what must one of the more extreme forms of Star Wars fandom to extrude itself onto the Internet in recent memory: A hot air balloon in the shape of Darth Vader's helmet. (Via SciFi Tech and Boing Boing.) It was created by a mad Belgian inventor named Benoit Lambert, who, according to StarWars.com, received permission from Lucasfilm to build the balloon as long as it was used for non-commercial activities. It can carry two passengers and a pilot. There's no indication of when Lambert will build a lighter-than-air Death Star. That's all fine,...

The United States government's intelligence community believes that by 2015 Iran will have developed an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of striking the U.S. homeland. Should Iran's nuclear program continue apace, it might also have a nuclear warhead to attach to this missile. To respond to this potential threat, the Bush administration recently proposed installing a minimal ground-based anti-ballistic missile capability in Europe with a mission of defending the United States against an ICBM attack from Iran. The U.S. has proposed bilateral negotiations with Poland and the Czech Republic to establish this system. Under the proposal, the U.S. would base...