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Disney executives announced an upcoming installment in the popular Star Wars franchise that will feature a female Jedi who mysteriously turns to the Dark Side at the same time every month. "We think female audiences will relate to a character who becomes moody and homicidal once a month," the film's director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy told reporters in a press conference this week. "I mean, our target demographic is definitely women, right? So featuring an empowered, self-assured female Jedi who just sort of goes on a Dark Side-y type rampage once a month for…reasons…will click with the millions of women who flock...

They’re meant to be heroes within the Star Wars universe, but the Jedi are inappropriate symbols for justice work The acronym “JEDI” has become a popular term for branding academic committees and labeling STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine) initiatives focused on social justice issues. Used in this context, JEDI stands for “justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.” In recent years, this acronym has been employed by a growing number of prominent institutions and organizations, including the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. At first glance, JEDI may simply appear to be an elegant way to explicitly build “justice”...

The Pentagon is slamming the brakes on its mega-competition to award a $10 billion cloud computing contract after President Donald Trump suggested the Defense Department might have rigged the contest in favor of Amazon, a frequent target of his criticism. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who assumed his post July 23, is now reviewing accusations of unfairness in the fiercely fought competition, the Pentagon announced Thursday, marking the president's latest incursion into the arcane world of Defense Department contracting. Oracle has reportedly waged an aggressive lobbying campaign to push back on the competition, now pitting Amazon against Microsoft, including talking with...

[Mark] Hamill can't officially confirm or deny whether Luke died a virgin, it does bring the expanded Star Wars universe into question. Star Wars Legends of course introduced Luke's wife named Mara Jade, who is a fan favorite character from the Star Wars novels. Together they had one child named Ben Skywalker, although neither Mara Jade nor their son have been introduced in the movies thus far and Star Wars Legends was removed from canon following Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm. After the title reveal of Episode IX and the fact that J.J. Abrams recently said there is more to learn about Rey's parentage, the truth behind Luke's...

The marketing for Star Wars 9 is due to begin at this week's Star Wars Celebration in a dedicated panel on Friday, April 12 at 9.00am-10.00am PT (12.00pm-1.00pm ET, 5.00pm-6.00pm GMT). It's here we're expected to get the title and first trailer for Episode IX, likely at the end of the hour if the approach taken with Star Wars: The Last Jedi is anything to go by. The Star Wars 9 Celebration panel, as with all major Star Wars events over the weekend, will be live-streamed on the official Star Wars YouTube channel and also on StarWars.com..

When we learned of Darth Plagueis, also known as "The Wise," in Revenge of the Sith, his apprentice Palpatine (Darth Sidious) told Anakin that his mentor could manipulate the midichlorians (the life force of the universe) to control life and death itself. This is what lured Anakin to the Dark Side, as such a talent could allow someone to heal and even resurrect people. Since then, the going speculation has been that Plagueis used the Force to manipulate midichlorians and impregnate Shmi years later, creating the Chosen One -- not to be a savior, but a destroyer. As Vader goes...

“Star Wars” creator George Lucas used his expert opinion to compare some of his famous characters to famous politicians Tuesday morning. Lucas, who was on Capitol Hill to testify at the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Telecommunications and the Internet subcommittee hearing on universal service, was totally nonpartisan when it came to President Bush, declining to weigh in on our question: “Who is President Bush more like: Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader?” “It’s up to the viewer,” he responded. And, of course, we had to ask him what he thinks of Vice President Dick Cheney’s nickname — “Darth Vader.”...

Star Wars fans at a Burbank theater went to the Dark Side when a screening of “The Last Jedi” played without sound for 20 minutes. Moviegoers were ready to stage a new rebellion when an AMC Theater in Burbank either could not or would not restart the 10 p.m. showing of the film. ... Burbank police were called to the theater at about 10:21 p.m. to disperse “an unruly crowd.”

In our galaxy, quite far away NASA have confirmed that astronauts onboard the International Space Station won’t have to miss ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi‘ as a copy is being sent up to the ISS. The second part of the Star Wars sequel trilogy is out today (December 14) and its reach won’t even miss the astronauts orbiting a few hundred miles above the surface of the Earth. NASA have confirmed to Inverse that a copy of the movie will be transported to the space station in the near future. NASA Public Affairs Officer Dan Huot said: “[I] can confirm...

SYDNEY, - Atheists in Australia have been urged not to register "Jedi" as their religion to prevent results from a national census from being skewed to make the country appear more religious. The Atheist Foundation of Australia shared a Facebook post, featuring cartoons of members of the fictional religion from the Star Wars films, discouraging Australians from marking their religion as "Jedi" or other "joke religions." "If old religious men in robes don't represent you...don't mark yourself as 'Jedi,'" the post read. According to the foundation, registering as "Jedi" or other joke religions makes the country appear more religious, as...

With the imminent release of the new Star Wars film, The Force Awakens, many theatergoers are re-watching the original movies to reacquaint themselves with those stories from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. This time, however, they may find themselves surprised by how much the film’s characters and themes echo the current War On Terror.

Editor’s note: The release of the new trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens reignited prior debates about the general nature of the goodness of the Jedi and the villainy of the Empire. We reached out to the author of the definitive piece making the case for the Empire, Jonathan Last, to offer reasons that the Jedi are actually the bad guys. 1. Midi-Chlorians Oh, you thought you could totally be down with the Force if you just reached out with your feelings and did-or-did-not? You thought the Force would be with you if you appreciated the worth of all...

Press "CC" in the player for the lyrics! Based on "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen and STAR WARS created by George Lucas. Performed by the Star Wars cosplayers of the Arizona geek community! Produced by the Students and Faculty of the Digital Video Program at University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, Arizona

Need your Star Wars fix? This sound track is from the popular MMO video game and is nearly three hours long with original scores. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eu2sF_kQ00

The Free Church of Scotland said the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill will allow groups promoting a belief to marry couples. The government said the change was relevant to bodies such as humanists, who are classed as religious rather than non-religious at the moment. A spokeswoman said the reputation of Scottish ceremonies would be protected. The Free Church of Scotland has raised concerns about religious and civil partnership ceremonies being joined by a third category.

I thought I could side-step the Jedi-Vulcan-mind field blowup from last Friday. Butt you know how geeks are, they just won’t let it die. The take-away from that presser was supposed to be “I AM NOT A DICTATOR” which worked pretty good for awhile. Then all the geeks, counter-geeks and presidential pundits had to weigh in. Pull your pantaloons up, my little Jedi warrior Next thing you know we’re getting analyses of whether the mix up of “Jedi mind tricks” with “Vulcan mind-meld” was purposeful, to demonstrate that Big Guy’s too cool to be a nerdy sci-fi geek. That argument...

Today's Census figures show that 176,632 people in England and Wales identify themselves as Jedi Knights, making it the most popular faith in the "Other Religions" category on the Census and the seventh most popular faith overall. The new figures reveal that the lightsabre-wielding disciples are only behind Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism and Buddhism in the popularity stakes, excluding non-religious people and people who did not answer. Following a nationwide campaign, Jedi made it onto the 2001 census, with 390,127 people identifying themselves a decade ago as followers of the fictional Star Wars creed. Although the number of Jedis...

From the journals of the video game: "The Old Republic". Your sith lord is a jerk, but how bad can it be? Sex, gratuitous violence, snappy quips, megalomania, greed and disco-grunge dancing galore!!!! Subtle jokes and a reference to the "Never Ending Story" will make you LOL. Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63vWEzqjn2U Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWrLwD2hMdk Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX4dWvLsUFQ Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d2JZj7G_60 Part 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIULbosH_f4

The force was not strong with a man in Portland, Ore., who was sentenced to 45 days in jail and a mental health evaluation after police said he attacked some toy store customers with light sabers in December. On Tuesday, 33-year-old David Allen Canterbury apologized to his victims before his sentencing on assault charges, the Oregonian reported. Portland police told the publication that during the incident, Canterbury had a Star Wars light saber in each hand and swung at three customers at a Toys R Us store. Officers said he walked out of the store with the toy swords and...

Mumbo-Jumbo Mystic Impervious To Cops' Electric Blasters For those of you who've ever wondered, like you do, whether the Jedi lightsabre or the Taser is the more effective weapon, we're delighted to report that the electric dispenser of justice is no match for Obi-Wan Kenobi's mighty glowing tool. David A. Canterbury earlier this week went on the rampage at a Portland Toys R Us store, assaulting three customers with a plastic replica of the Jedi weapon. Cue swift intervention by law enforcement operatives, who found 33-year-old Canterbury wandering in the parking lot, "talking incoherently", and still swinging his Star Wars...