Aliens attack Earth, hit moon!

September 11th will always hold special meaning for Captain "Watchman" Talbot, Team Leader at SPEARHEAD Observation Station Matador in Rota, Spain. Like many young Americans, Talbot enlisted in the military following the 9/11 attacks in 2001. He first worked as a Command & Control systems technician in the USAF before making the jump to officer. His first officer promotion to 1st lieutenant in 2009 also came on September 11th, and four years later as a newly minted captain he was assigned to what was then UNETIDA. But September 11th, 2013 will be the day Capt. Talbot will never forget as he was a real-time first-hand witness of an alien attack against Earth that could have wiped out several buildings - somewhere, were it not for the fortuitous position of the moon.

Brigadier General "Whopper" Creedon, SPEARHEAD Assistant Commander for Intelligence and Information briefed the UNSC on Monday on what took place at 20:07 GMT, 11 September 2013. He detailed the impact of small but fast apparently low-yield projectile which struck the moon causing a bright flash of light for almost 10 seconds. The projectile, according to the General “was approximately one meter wide and propelled at a tracked rate of over 60,000km/h as it impacted on the lunar surface.” General Creedon did not, or could not reveal the source of the alien projectile and was not forthcoming in speculation, but was adamant that it was "a belligerent alien projectile and not an benign errand meteorite.”

General Creedon also briefed the council on the public information being released concerning the thwarted attack. "SPEARHEAD is ceding primary credit for the observation of the attack to Spanish astronomers operating the Moon Impacts Detection and Analysis System (Midas) of telescopes in southern Spain. This of course is to protect PROJECT: MOONSHIELD which vitally must remain completely classified. We obviously also needed to reclassify the attack, to the more acceptable natural phenomenon of a meteorite hitting the moon's surface." informed the General.

SPEARHEAD’s redacted and replaced information [complete with expertly doctored video evidence] was reported in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, appeared in the science and technology section of BBC News and was posted on popular space phenomenon an pop-culture website IO9.

Sources: IO9 / Mr. V.

Space rock lost, but MEEOWS scores hit

Described as an astronomical event not to be missed and would have been live streamed all over the world; 2000 EM26, a 900-foot asteroid, was supposed to streak by the planet Tuesday night, close enough for us to see it as it zoomed by. Somewhat alarmingly however, it never showed up, sending astronomers into a blind panic as they came to the realisation that it had vanished and they have no idea where the asteroid has gone.

There are many theories as to how the thing just disappeared. It’s most likely that it’s orbit was originally miscalculated - but surely not by everyone who did so? Did no one double check? It’s not the kind of calculation you’d want to get wrong, especially if an asteroid was coming close enough to Earth for to us to see. The Slooh observatory is trying to track down the asteroid using robotic telescopes, and has also asked amateur astronomers to help out with the search.

In an announcement that appears unrelated, Major General “Spiker” Lurd, SPEARHEAD Deputy Commander for Planetary Defences, announced that there was a successful test firing of the Microwave Energy Earth Orbital Weapons System [MEEOWS] developed by DARPA, the The Russian Federal Space Agency and Google. “We had as successful test firing on an unidentified space object about the size of 3 football fields” announced General Lurd excitedly. “The object superheated and we believe it silently fragmented into granule sized debris,” he said grinning from ear to ear. “We can’t wait to try it out on the alien mothership when it…” but apparently before he was finished the General’s microphone was cut and his assistant thanked reporters for attending before dismissing them.

Source: IO9 / Slooh / Mr. V.

Movie review catch up 19-02-14

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Anchorman is without a doubt one of the best, some say 'the best' single comedy movie of all time. No sequel could hope to match it and there was even a dark fear that a sequel would detract from the original. Well I can verify that it’s true that it couldn’t match it for laughs and quotability for likely the next 50 years, Anchorman 2 is an ‘acceptable’ sequel to the magnificent original. I would have to describe it as a dear old uncle whom you have not seen in years but you’re now just a bit too old for him to give you money anymore. All the laughs and the charm is there and you enjoy the company – but there’s no payoff.

The movie pretty much follows the theme and tone of the original as perhaps they were afraid of deviating too much from the formula with which they struck gold before but everything now is a lot more rehearsed, dare I say ‘forced’ and certainly more visually expensive on screen. Ferrell, Rudd, Kocher, Carell and Appelgate all return and are joined by Kirsten Wiig and James Marsden. Cameos from the likes of Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson, Will Smith and Vince Vaughan certainly didn’t keep the budget down but did keep the laughs up as the “finale battle” degenerated into am epic farce of apocalyptic proportions. Certainly worth a look if you’re a fan of Anchorman or Ferrell but missed if you don’t tolerate either.

Whopper's Rating: ***1/2

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Ben Stiller directs himself, taking the daydreaming character for another silver screen spin after Danny Kaye did for Norman McLeod in 1947. This time out, there is the advantage of digital effects to make Walter’s daydreams more [un]believable. While there is no shortage of laughs I wouldn’t put this into the same basket as Stiller’s other comedies like Dodgeball or even Meet The Parents, instead it seems to veer into Oscar-chasing territory in it’s themes, scope and vision which is a bad thing as most Oscar-chasers are shit. It would have been far more in Stiller's favour veer away from reality and deliver more crazy antics of Mitty’s daydreams.

Regardless, excellent performances from Stiller, with Kirsten Wiig [she gets around], Adam Scott bringing his best asshole performance since Stepbrothers and even perpetually muppet-faced Sean Penn was tolerable in his cameo. This might be one for TV to be honest.

Whopper's Rating: **1/2

Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit


Shakespeare-lover turned more worthwhile movie director Sir Kenneth [Thor] Brannagh turned his directorial attention more recently to the late Tom Clancy's most famous character - Jack Ryan. The result was a perfectly judged, excellently shot, masterfully directed but overall mediocre spy-thriller. Writer David Mission: Impossible Koepp plotted a new origin tale for the Jason Bourne wannabe that could have been something better in the hands of someone more capable like Tony Gilroy if they wanted to go down that route.

Chris Star Trek Pine plays the titular character 'adequatly', swapping his Captain Kirk cockiness for a young man who realises he's woefully out of his depth but manages to make the best of his situation. While he'll never surpass the likes of Alec Baldwin or Harrison Ford's Jack Ryans, he was certainly better than Ben Affleck although that's not hard now is it?

Pine is supported by Kiera Pirates of the Caribbean Knightly who is destined to become Ryan's long suffering wife Cathy and Kevin Costner returned from the dead last year for Man of Steel and it looks like he's decided to stay alive to portray William Harper for a couple of Tom Clancy franchise movies.

Whopper's Rating: ****

John Key not Alien Lizard!

Not a reptile

New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key responded to an Official Information Act (OIA) request asking for "any evidence to disprove the theory that [he] is in fact a... ...shapeshifting reptilian alien ushering humanity towards enslavement".

"To the best of my knowledge, no. Having been asked that question directly, I've taken the unusual step of not only seeing a doctor but a vet, and both have confirmed I'm not a reptile," said Key yesterday. "So I'm certainly not a reptile. I've never been in a spaceship, never been in outer space, and my tongue's not overly long either."

Shane Warbrooke of Aukland put in an OIA request to the PM's office possibly after reading the nonsense created by David Icke, a British author who believes many world leaders are actually part of a plot to enslave the human race, driven by reptilian shapeshifting aliens.

When asked was it true that Captain “Caduceus” Fox M.D., Assistant SPEARHEAD Surgeon General was recently called to Wellington, New Zealand to perform verification, the SPEARHEAD spokesman Master Warrant Officer “Chatterbox” Hendrickx said there was no comment. He did however deny a report that Shane Warbrooke took an unscheduled leave of absence from work because he was sent to a SPEARHEAD 'reeducation' facility in Australia.

Source: 3news.nz / IO9 / Mr. V.

Issues continue at Malmstrom

SPEARHEAD has declared it has grave concerns regarding new revelations last week that the number of US airmen embroiled in a nuclear cheating scandal has now practically tripled to almost a hundred.

During investigations into alleged drug use by personnel at other bases, 34 US Air Force officers in charge of launching nuclear missiles were suspended in January due to accusations of cheating in monthly proficiency tests. It was not immediately clear whether the additional 58 or so airmen implicated were alleged to have participated in the cheating or were involved in an indirect way.

The Air Force said that the entire team at Malmstrom AFB in Montana in charge of overseeing missile launches would be re-tested after the Air Force OSI discovered that one missile officer had shared test questions with 16 other officers. It said another 17 admitted to knowing about this cheating but did not report it. The tests in question are designed to ensure proficiency by launch officers in processing classified “emergency war orders,” received through their chain of command to launch a missile.

The scandal has led to security clearance suspension and temporary removal from duty of a substantial near 20% of the 500 strong Air Force cadre of nuclear missile launch control officers. Malmstrom is home to the 341st Missile Wing, responcible for 150 nuclear Minuteman 3 ICBMs, a third of the entire ICBM force. The Air Force has not clarified how that affects the mission, beyond requiring the remaining nuclear crew to bear a bigger share of the work. This has naturally lead to fear that the U.S. nuclear response capability is at least been temporarily diminished.

Recently appointed Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said she was “profoundly disappointed” at the alleged cheating and drug possession. The Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh, said there is “absolutely no excuse” for cheating. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered a review of the problems inside the ICBM force saying he was "deeply concerned" about morale and discipline among nuclear officers - but insisted that US nuclear arms were safe. Hagel met with senior officers involved in the nuclear force last Wednesday at the Pentagon to discuss how to attack the problems.

Questions were also raised by the UNSC about the United States ability to support SPEARHEAD’s Skyshield initiative, by where ICBMs from the U.S., Russia and China are interlinked to use their combined launches to destroy belligerent extra-terrestrial craft. SPEARHEAD’s Missile Defence Commander Brigadier General "Rockets" Thompson said should SPEARHEAD conclude that the U.S. is no longer capable of sustaining it’s third of Skyshield; they could retask and station Russian and Chineese nuclear submarines inside U.S. territorial waters to make up for the deficiency – even if there’s no imminent threat. “Something I doubt the Pentagon would be overly happy about.” he added.

Philip Seymour Hoffman 1967-2014

Hollywood was shocked yesterday as the tragic news of the death of Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman [46] broke. The actor apparently died of a drug overdose, police said, and envelopes containing what was believed to be heroin were found with him.

Hoffman had a heavy-set build and often looked dishevelled. He was equally at home with either comedy or drama and he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 2005 biographical film Capote oft mentioned in the classic podcast 2IGTV. Hoffman was nominated for three other movies, The Master [2012], Doubt [2008] and Charlie Wilson's War [2007] and received three Tony nominations for his work on Broadway, including the role of Willy Loman in Death Of A Salesman [2012].

Despite such accolades, the aforementioned movies and the majority of the movies Hoffman appeared in are in all honesty – boring drivel. If you’re not a beard-stroking pretentious twat however, you will better regard Hoffman for his supporting role in Twister [1996] while horror/thriller aficionados will be more familiar with his role as Freddy Lounds in Red Dragon [2002]. Nevertheless it’s almost certain he will be most regarded for his portrayal of the villainous Owen Davian in J.J. Abrams’ Mission: Impossible III [2006], easily the greatest villain Tom Cruise has ever sent to his death throughout his career. Hoffman brought an air of true villainy to the Mission: Impossible franchise that I have very little doubt will ever be matched and he even got to fight himself thanks to the series' signature mask-play. The hatred the audience eventually felt for Davian was so palpable that his on-screen death brought a cheer for all who observed.
 

While he may have portrayed many intelligent characters throughout his career, Hoffman himself wasn’t so mentally gifted as evident from the foolishness of his drug use. He revealed in a 2006 interview that he had suffered from substance abuse after graduating from college, and went to rehab. He relapsed over 20 years later, and checked into a program in May 2013 because of problems with prescription pills and heroin, the substance that apparently ultimately killed him.
 

Hoffman's body was discovered in a bathroom at his Greenwich Village apartment by his assistant and a friend who made the emergency services call. He is survived by his partner of 15 years, Mimi O'Donnell, and their three children.

Papal blood stolen for clone?

SPEARHEAD is on the trail of a radical militant Catholic sect called the "Paladins of Yahweh” whom they suspect are behind the theft of a precious reliquary containing the blood of John Paul II from a remote mountain church in Italy on Saturday.

The stolen reliquary. In the centre of the medallion is a piece of cloth on which Pope John Paul II's bled after an assassination attempt in 1981.

World news reported the reliquary and a crucifix, were stolen from their location in the Church of St Peter of Ienca in San Pietro della Ienca, Abruzzo, Italy. On Monday a team of aboiut 50 Carabinieri police officers, aided by sniffer dogs, searched the area close to the church at the foot of Gran Sasso, a 9,550ft- high mountain in the Apennines east of Rome in in the belief that the thieves might have immediately dumped the stolen objects as was the case in a similar theft of the pontiffs blood stolen from a priest while he was travelling on a train north of Rome, but alas there has been no such luck here.

It’s believed that because John Paul II is due to be canonised by Pope Francis in April, that the reliquary, one of only three in existence, will increase exponentially in value and this may be simply a tale of old-fashioned greed. Nothing other than the crucifix and reliquary were stolen from the church, not even the collection box, which might indicate that this was a “commissioned” robbery.

Meanwhile, Giovanni Panunzio, head of Osservatorio Antiplagio an anti-occult group suggested that the theft might be linked to Satanism. “This period of the year is important in the Satanic calendar so this sort of sacrilege often takes place at this time of the year.” Some cults see the period of January 20-27 as a time for the “abduction, ceremonial preparation and holding of a sacrificial victim for Candlemas”, a feast day celebrated along with other “satanic revels” on February 2nd.

However, SPEARHEAD is currently only investigating because the Paladins of Yahweh have become a noteworthy and “highly motivated threat” according to Major General "Jäger" Brandt, SPEARHEAD Deputy Commander for Security and Surveillance. This is believed to be due to Pope Francis’ extremely moderate views uncharacteristic of a person in his station, which include but not limited to: eschewing the traditional trappings of his position for mundane accommodation and vehicles, general acceptance of homosexuals, debunking the traditional interpretations of hell and purgatory, assuring atheists will have a place in heaven and making a blood-sacrifice to Falconus, God of Birds. “It’s almost certain that groups like the Paladins of Yahweh would be incensed by Pope Francis' actions” said General Brandt “and we must draw to the inescapable conclusion that their theft of the relic was for the sole purpose of developing a clone of Pope John Paul II to somehow ‘rise from the dead’ and get the Catholicism back on their track.”

During question time General Brandt said that while there was absolutely no evidence supporting the theory that the Paladins of Yahweh were even involved, let alone possessing the scientific knowledge or technology associated with human cloning, he assured the press that “it was still the most likely scenario” and added “It just really has to be ja?”  In response to a final question Brandt said “As a matter of fact I’ve just finished reading ALL of Dan Brown's novels, but I fail to see what this has to do with anything. We’re finished now ja?” and he just left the podium.

Source: Irish Times / The Telegraph / BBC / Mr. V

Movie review catch-up 29-01-14

Homefront

This movie is based on a book which Sylvester Stallone purchased the movie rights for years ago because he wanted to make it into Rambo IV. However what must have happened was that someone must have reminded Sly that John Rambo wasn’t a former DEA agent, nor had he a daughter so this was totally the wrong book to buy for Rambo IV and he went in a different direction for that sublime masterpiece and shelved Homefront for later.

Another reason why Homefront wouldn’t have worked for Rambo IV was that it’s basically Commando and Raw Deal rolled into one and to be fair, even Sylvester Stallone is above knocking off old 1980’s Schwarzenegger movies for his second most famous character. However with the likes of Jack Reacher and 2 Guns proving that Hollywood seems to be in an 80’s/early 90’s fad at the moment, Homefront is not out of place. Jason Statham is Phil Broker a former DEA agent trying to make a peaceful life for himself in Louisiana with his young daughter but his violent past catches up with him when their lives are disrupted by both local hoodlums [great performance from James Franco]  and the desire for revenge by a man whom Broker put away.

Whopper's Rating: ***

Gravity

Children of Men is one of the few British movies I own, so when Alfonso Cuaron set his next movie in space, but not sci-fi space, I became quite intrigued. Cuaron crafted a gripping,  at times frightening and deliberately claustrophobic tale of a female astronaut [Sandra Bullock] and her quest to survive in the cold darkness of space and return to the Earth.

Now despite what the complaints from Niel Degrasse Tyson “buzzkill of science” would have you believe, over 99% of the audience either won’t know or won’t fucking care that you wouldn’t be able to see space debris in the manner depicted in the movie. The realism of the movie is nevertheless far above the Hollywood norm for this type of film and eschews the customary sounds in space that are often added for theatrical reasons and favours instead Steven Price's score to aurally punctuate the events on screen. The result is indeed a bleak representation of the otherwise exciting realm of space but not entirely without it’s own excitement. See it in 3D if possible.

Note: This movie was seen in 3-D as exemption clause [D] was enacted, negating the DECLARATION OF REJECTION FOR MAINSTREAM THREE-DIMENSIONAL CINEMATIC PROJECTION AS A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE TO TWO-DIMENSIONAL IN ITS CURRENT FORM made in July 2012

Whopper's Rating: *****

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Peter Jackson's fifth epic middle-earth movie won’t disappoint those that enjoyed the first past of this new trilogy begun last year. Here however we have a much more cohesive adventure, less exposition, more neck-breaking action and a rather large dragon!

Tolkein purists will get their noses in a knot with the addition of Legolas and the creation of Tauriel but I’m not going to stand here and complain about Orlando Bloom representing the finest screen depiction of an elvish ranger and certainly not feign disgust the hot red-headed elven totty in the form of the delectable Evangeline Lilly because I couldn’t convincingly do so. As far as I’m concerned I’m sure that if Tolkein had been writing for a Hollywood movie and not the greatest fantasy books of all time then Peter Jackson wouldn’t need to make the alterations he is now.

I think I’ll chalk up Desolation of Smaug to be an excellent middle part of the story, but as we all know the endgame is the most important, and I’ll reserve final judgements until then. The Hobbit: There and Back Again is released December this year.

Whopper's Rating: *****

SPEARHEAD: "No unidentified craft or structure on moon"

SPEARHEAD today denied what it called “ridiculous” reports of an enormous spacecraft, or structure apparently lodged in the surface of Earth’s moon.

Reports emerged last week that a large object of unknown origin was visually verified as having landed or was constructed on the moon. The reports claim that as a result, three Terrier-Orion rockets were launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility last Wednesday on undisclosed missions for the DoD.

Apparently they believe that in 2011, NASA began tracking what a source described as “an array of massive, three-dimensional, black structures in space, in straight-line formation, advancing in direction of planet earth” and in 2012 the source [identified only by an assumed name “Dr. Eric Norton”] was shown photographs of them taken over several months. As the objects got closer, Norton confirmed that "They were shaped in the best way I can describe, as a three-dimensional L-shaped craft."

It was reported that once the objects had reached a point 200,000km beyond Mars in January 2013, they vanished, but their assumed trajectory brought them in close proximity, or direct contact with the moon. It is said that in response, the U.S. launched a previously Obama-cancelled project LADEE [Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer] in September to supplement NASA's existing Lunar Reconnaissance Orbital Camera [LROC] to assist in locating and photographing the objects and “by December, 2013, both LADEE and the LROC found at least one of the two enormous objects had landed on the moon, in a crater the size of the City of Chicago.”

No source was specified, but it was reported that LROCs high resolution images were classified by the U.S. government, however it’s low-resolution photos were “accidentally” uploaded to Google Moon, a Google Earth-type application that plots the lunar surface, and of course the objects were seen by members of the public – revealing the incredible secret!

SPEARHEAD responded to the media reports at a press conference where the SPEARHEAD Assistant Commander for Intelligence and Information himself, Brigadier General “Whopper” Creedon in his first full press conference since assuming the post in November, was quick to rubbish the claims of the media reports. The General described the media as obviously having a “slow news day” where they were behaving “like barnacles” latching onto the totally refutable claims  of “some irresponsible quack, who is obviously high on drugs” in reference to Dr. Norton and that they should adopt a more stringent policy when vetting sources.

The General issued concrete assurance that there was no unidentified spacecraft or structures on the moon and that the people who are looking at the photos have equal judgement to the “bunch of time-wasting freaks who saw rats and lizards” in the recent photographs of the Martian surface. Responding to questions, Creedon also stated that many NASA projects had received special funding from "elsewhere" to proceed as planned and the DoD frequently launches craft at a moments notice for secret surveillance purposes and to increase drone range across the planet. "There's nothing to be concerned about," he assured.

According to SPEARHEAD's senior scientist Dr. "Quantum" Pataal, who assisted Creedon "there are several far more rational explanations for the moon photo anomaly including but not limited to: space debris passing by, tricks of light, meteorite impacts or the more likely scenario which is simply stitching artifacts from applying hundreds of square images onto a three dimensional spherical object". The latter phenomenon is often seen in Google Earth itself and is common in modern 3D video games.

Unfortunately, General Creedon's press conference was cut short by what appeared to be an emergency as his aide-de-camp handed him a cellphone. Nearby microphones picked up him saying: "Jade Rabbit is dead?.... How?.... It found WHAT?..... Dear God!"

Source: Turner Radio Network / Space.com / The Daily Mail / The New York Daily News / Mr. V

Movie review catch-up 21-01-14

Escape Plan

Stallone and Schwarzenegger have teamed up before but that was really only for the last act of The Expendables 2. In Escape Plan they get near equal billing and screen time in this glorious homage to The Great Escape, er I mean that other epic prison escape movie Fortress!

It’s fairly bizarre seeing Schwarzenegger actually act for a change playing an intelligent individual rather than just grunting as shooting, although there’s plenty of both including his appropriation of a Helicopter-mounted machine gun which he fires from the hip. Stunning performance also from Jim Caviezel as the prison warden with Vinnie Jones as the over-eager head guard lapdog.

Whopper's Rating: ****

Ender’s Game

Based on controversial homophobe Orson Scott Card’s classic sci-fi novel, Ender’s Game is the tale of a child prodigy trained to become the supreme battle strategist for the human race as it prepares to defend itself against attack from an insect-like alien race.

I’m probably going to dump this in my disc collection with the likes of Wing Commander, the movie based on the game, as I wouldn’t consider this a potential classic science fiction movie by a long shot but I’d certainly watch it again. Sir Ben Kinglsley shows up to support Asa Butterfield [Ender] with Abigail Zombieland Breslen, Hailee True Grit Steinfeld and Harrison Ford as Colonel Graff.

I’ve been told to read the book to fully appreciate how much Hollywood has “butchered” this classic science fiction tale, but from what I’ve read so far, the decisions the producers made seem to be entirely understandable. 

Whopper's Rating: **** 

Thor: The Dark World

Worthy sequel to a movie that I originally thought would fail because I think the character is a bit silly to be honest. However Branagh made it work and now Alan Taylor gets to deliver a tale of epic proportions as Thor imprisons Loki in the aftermath of The Avengers but must learn to work with him against an ancient enemy to save his beloved Jane from being consumed by darkness [along with the rest of the planet].

Here the ground work is laid for “phase 2” of the Marvel Super Heroes arc that will continue in Captain America: Winter Soldier and on to Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers 2. Everyone from Thor returns for The Dark World, so no surprises. Christopher Eccleston [who wants to be a ‘real actor’ so much he snubbed Doctor Who's reunion] is the woefully substandard villain. Natalie Portman still looks like she just doesn’t want to be in the movie but a tip of the hat goes to Stellan Skarsgård for bringing even more life to Prof. Selvig this time around. Cameo alert: You will recognise Chris O’Dowd you may not Benicio Del Toro, you have been warned!

Whopper's Rating: ****1/2

Ignorant cinema texter taken out!

As this did not involve a currently serving law-enforcement official it can't be added to my Shoot First... series, but it nevertheless highlights a justifiable, if a tad overdramatic, response to something that ought to be considered a heinous crime.

Earlier in the week, a dispute over the use of a cell phone inside a cinema “escalated quickly” to quote Ron Burgundy, leaving the cell phone user dead and a smoking gun belonging to a former police officer.

The dispute began around 13:30 at a showing of new Mark Wahlberg movie Lone Survivor at The Grove 16 Theatre in Wesley Chapel, Florida. Curtis Reeves Jr., a 71 year old retired Tampa Bay police captain, asked Chad Oulson 43 to stop texting on his cell phone. According to media outlets Oulson apparently refused, telling Reeves that he was sending text messages to his young daughter. Reeves subsequently alerted the theatre staff, an act which seemed to escalate the confrontation.

A Marine Vietnam vet and eyewitness in the theatre, Charles Cummings [68], told reporters that the men started raising their voices and popcorn was thrown. According to authorities Reeves allegedly drew his .38-calibre semiautomatic pistol in front of about 10 people and shot Oulson.  According to the arrest report, Reeves claims that the victim struck him in the face with an unknown object and said that he was in fear of being attacked and the shooting was self-defence. Judge Lynn Tepper rejected the notion that second-degree murder charges were too severe and refused to let him out on bond.

Personally, I think that people who use their mobile phones in a cinema deserve to be shot. It’s a darkened room and cell phones are bright with increasingly bigger screens nowadays and are very distracting. Chad Oulson was given ample warning by Curtis Reeves to cease and desist but was too much of a dickhead to comply. Interestingly, he was also allegedly sending a text to his daughter whom different media reports are saying is aged between 22 months and 3 years, in any case – too young to have a cell phone, so if true, Oulson was apparently a bad parent as well as an asshole.

However, perhaps surprisingly I don’t think Reeves was entirely justified in his actions in this event; this is because the trailers were still showing. You see, the main feature hadn’t actually started yet and I think it should be OK to use your phone up to the point where the movie proper actually starts. Regardless of the lack of justification, we now live in a world there this has happened; of course the lesson here is if you use your phone during a movie from now on, you should be prepared to go down like a punk.

Paul Hellyer reveals undisputable alien presence

Canada’s former defence minister The Honourable Paul Hellyer PC spoke on Russia Today recently saying that alien species have been visiting earth for thousands of years and they’re worried that humans are going to wreck the planet. He said up to 80 different species regularly visit earth; some are the familiar “grays” seen in popular culture and caricatures while others pass as humans.

Hellyer explained that they come from all over the galaxy but while one or two of the species were benevolent and wanted to help humans, we haven’t seen more of them until very recently because they’re bound by a code of conduct from providing superior knowledge to us, presumably similar to Star Trek’s 'Prime Directive'.

Hellyer said military investigators had found strong evidence that at least four species had been visiting earth for much of human history, and their visits had become more frequent since our discovery of atomic technology. He explained their fear that we would start using atomic weapons again.

He said aliens had accepted that humans had a right to run their own planet, although they were concerns about our stewardship of it and while aliens wish they could share more technology with humans, they’re afraid we’d use these advances for warfare.

Unusually, SPEARHEAD were not quick to denounce, or even prevent Hellyer from being broadcast. Master Warrant Officer “Chatterbox” Hendrickx of the SPEARHEAD Public Affairs office said in a press event that former minister Hellyer did great service to his country in the 60's and some of the very model that he used to unify his country's armed forces into a single organisation was used by UNETIDA to do the same with international forces in the early 1970's.

MWO Hendrickx was keen to point out that although Mr. Hellyer did not speak for SPEARHEAD, his "wise and level-headed counsel would be welcome at any negotiation table" between the people of Earth and the beings from [in Hellyer's own words] "near one of Saturn's moons" in due course.

2013 The year in review

Time to say goodbye to 2013.

President Obama's second inauguration ceremony

A year of a Royal Baby, Civil War in Syria, the Horse-meat scandal, The Boston Marathon Bombings, Lance Armstrong coming clean, a new Pope, Ed Snowden, The Gathering, Lee Rigby, Obamacare, Costa Concordia, the iPhone 5S, The Washington Navy Yard, The U.S Government Shut-down, Chris Hadfield, Miley's Twerking, Typhoon Haiyan and "Whopper"'s first star.

As always we must acknowledge those we lost in 2013, especially;

The American novelist Tom Clancy [66]. 

Colm Murray [61] Irish sports journalist and broadcaster. 

Ray Harryhausen [92] American stop-motion animator famous for Clash of the Titans

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher [87] Prime Minister of Great Britain (1979–1990)

American film critic Roger Ebert [70]

Wojciech Kilar [81] the Polish composer of the score to Bram Stoker's Dracula and The Pianist. 

American actors Paul Walker [40], James Gandolfini [51] and Dennis Farina [69]

Irish actor Milo O'Shea [86] and British actor Richard Griffiths [65],

and British-Irish actor Peter O'Toole [81].

We also acknowledge the passing of the following individuals who made the history books:

Milton Olin, Jr. [65], American businessman, Chief Operating Officer of Napster (2000–2002),
Mikhail Kalashnikov [94], Russian weapons designer (AK-47, AK-74),

Kadir Nurman [80], Turkish-born German restaurateur, inventor of doner kebab,
Doug Engelbart [88], Inventor of the computer mouse

Ray Dolby [80], American audio engineer and inventor (Dolby NR, surround sound),

Seamus Heaney [74], Irish poet, laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature (1995),

Itaru Ishida [33] Japanese Magic: The Gathering player. Level 48 Planeswalker & Japan's 1st Pro player.
William C. Lowe [72], Former IBM executive credited with helping to bring personal computers to the masses.

We mourn the loss of the following members of the entertainment industry:

James Avery [68], American actor, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air (Uncle Phil) / Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (voice of Shredder)

Joseph Ruskin [89], American actor, Star Trek ("The Gamesters of Triskelion") / Deep Space Nine / Voyager / Enterprise

Marty Hornstein [76], American film producer, Star Trek VI / Insurrection / First Contact / Nemesis

Lewis Collins

Lewis Collins [67], British actor, The Professionals / Who Dares Wins

Marcia Wallace [70], American actress, The Simpsons (voice Edna Krabappel)

Ed Lauter [74], American actor, Star Trek: The Next Generation ("The First Duty")

Lou Scheimer [84], American television producer, He-Man and The Masters of the Universe, co-founder of Filmation

Otto Sander [72], German actor, Das Boot (Kapitänleutnant Philipp Thomsen)

Ann C. Crispin [63] American science fiction author, Star Wars: The Han Solo Trilogy / Star Trek: Sarek

Lee Thompson Young [29], American actor, FlashForward

Michael Ansara [91] Syrian-born American actor, Star Trek / Star Trek: DS9 (Kang)

Joe Conley [85], American actor, The Waltons (Ike Godsey)

Mario Machado [78], American news anchor and actor RoboCop (Casey Wong)

Michael France [51], American screenwriter, GoldenEye / The Punisher

Richard LeParmentier [66], American actor, Star Wars (Admiral Motti)

Quinton Hoover [49], American artist and trading card illustrator, Magic: The Gathering

Michael Gray [77] American director, screenwriter, writer/producer for Star Trek: The Next Generation

Jane Henson [78], American puppeteer, co-founder of The Muppets

Malachi Throne

Malachi Throne [84], American actor Star Trek "The Menagerie" (Commodore Mendez) / Star Trek The Next Generation (Senator Pardek)

Derek Watkins [68], British trumpeter, played on every James Bond soundtrack Dr. No to Skyfall

Peter Duryea [73], American actor, Star Trek "The Cage"/ "The Menagerie" (Lieutenant Jose Tyler)

Jim Mees [57], American Emmy-winning set designer, Star Trek: The Next GenerationStuart Freeborn [98], English make-up artist, Star Wars

Michael Winner [77], British film director, Death Wish

Leslie Frankenheimer [64], American set decorator, Star Trek: Voyager

and we thank them for their talents.

We also acknowledge the passing of those who dedicated themselves to military, science and public service:

Cpl. Rodolfo Perez "Rudy" Hernandez, U.S. Army [82], Medal of Honor recipient, Korean War

Sir Christopher Curwen [84], British Head of the Secret Intelligence Service (1985–1989)

Nelson Mandela [95], South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, President (1994−1999)

BGen Margaret A. Brewer, USMC (retired) [82], First female USMC General Officer

Sgt. John Druse "Bud" Hawk, U.S. Army [89], Medal of Honor recipient, World War II

Denis Foley [79], Irish Fianna Fáil politician, TD ('81−'89, '92−'02), Senator ('89−'92).

Noel Davern [67], Irish Fianna Fáil politician, Minister for Education ('91−'92).

MSgt. Nicholas Oresko U.S. Army [96] Medal of Honor recipient, World War II

Cmdr. Scott Carpenter USN Ret. [88], test pilot, astronaut and aquanaut, 4th American in space

Maj. Martin Drewes [94], German military pilot, World War II flying ace [52 victories]

Michael J. Noonan [78], Irish Fianna Fáil politician, Minister for Defence (1987–1989)

Wg Cdr Kenneth Horatio Wallis DSO MBE CEng FRAeS PhD RAF [97], 28 bomber missions over Germany, Autogyro Stunt Pilot James Bond: You Only Live Twice

Adm Sir John Forster Woodward

Adm Sir John Forster "Sandy" Woodward GBE, KCB [81], Royal Naval Commander, Falklands War Task Force

William P. Clark, Jr. [81], U.S. National Security Advisor (1982–1983),

Gen. David C. Jones USAF Ret. [92], Chief of Staff of the Air Force (1974–1978), CJCOS (1978–1982)

Col. Bud Day, USAF Ret.[88], POW, Medal of Honor recipient, Vietnam

Oberstleutnant Otto Schultz [93], German Luftwaffe ace, [73 aerial victories]

Thomas G. Clines [84], American CIA agent [Iran-Contra]

Adm. Frank Kelso, USN Ret. [79], American naval officer, CNO (1990–1994)

Col. Jack Hawkins USMC Ret. [96], aka "John Haskins", Battle of Bataan, POW, Military Commander Bay of Pigs Invasion

TSgt Vernon McGarity U.S. Army [91], Medal of Honor recipient at the Battle of the Bulge

Marshal of the Soviet Union Viktor Kulikov [91], Warsaw Pact CinC (1977–1989).

Maj. Tom Griffin USAAF [96], American aviator, member of the Doolittle Raid

Flt Lt Sir Alan Smith, CBE, DFC [95], British World War II Spitfire fighter ace

Wg Cdr Peter Olver, DFC [95], British World War II Royal Air Force Supermarine Spitfire ace, Battle of Britain

CPO Christopher Scott "Chris" Kyle [38], Navy SEAL sniper, [160 confirmed kills]

we thank them for their service.

May they all rest in peace.

And now we embrace the future of 2014!

Happy New Year

Merry Christmas!

..because Happy Holidays is what terrorists say!!

The US Marines of Lima Battery, 3rd Batt. 11th Marines fire Lightweight Howitzers to celebrate Christmas.

RIP Nelson Mandela 1918-2013

"I concur with the statement that Nelson Mandela is a terrorist only if that's the word that defines someone who fights against a government who revokes your rights and citizenshp, forceably removes you from your home and instructs you where to live based solely on the colour of your skin."

- Major C. Creedon USMC; Combined Arms Service Staff School - World Politics paper, July 1993

Goodbye Paul Walker

The world went into shock at the weekend as the news spread of the untimely death in a road traffic accident of one of its favourite sons - Paul Walker, better known as Brian O’Conner of The Fast and the Furious franchise. He was 40. Walker’s death occurred on November 30th after leaving a charity event for victims of the recent hurricane in the Philippines, when the driver of the vehicle he was a passenger in, lost control and crashed into a street lamp post and tree and was engulfed in flames. Rescue efforts were unsuccessful and both occupants of the car were pronounced dead by the LA County Sheriff’s Dept.

An actor from a young age, his first work was as a toddler in commercials and later advanced to television when he was older with roles on Highway to Heaven, Who’s the Boss? and Touched by an Angel. His early film career spanned the late 90’s with roles in Pleasantville and The Skulls. Walker’s career properly took off in 2001 when he starred in Rob Cohen’s now-classic The Fast and the Furious in 2001. As deep undercover FBI agent Brian O’Conner the role [and the movie’s unprecedented success] established Walker as a notable movie star and leading man in other movies such as Timeline, Into the Blue, Eight Below and a role in Clint Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers. However it was still the Fast and Furious movies with which he will be most remembered, having reprised his O’Conner role in four of the five sequels currently released with a seventh entry in the franchise currently in production and due for release in July 2014 [for which he had believed to have filmed most of his scenes]. He will appear in The Hours, due for release this month.

Walker was of Irish, English and German descent, the son of a fashion model and a drainage contractor, born and raised in California and majored in marine biology in college. He resided in Santa Barbara with his daughter whom he is survived by. He was a brown-belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He was active in marine biology circles and was on the Billfish Foundation board of directors and spent time tagging great white sharks off the coast of Mexico. He also established REACH OUT Worldwide, a humanitarian aid organisation with which he flew to Chile and Haiti to assist earthquake victims. Walker was a self-confessed “gearhead”, an avid car enthusiast and racer. The car his character drove in 2 Fast, 2 Furious was in fact his own personal vehicle.

Walker leaves behind his daughter as well as millions of fans worldwide. Friends, co-stars and colleagues of the acting world like Tyrece Gibson, Dwane “The Rock” Johnson, Alyssa Milano, Jamie Bell, Idris Elba and Jessica Alba all took to Twitter to express grief. Said Fast and Furious co-star Vin Diesel: "To live in the hearts we leave behind, is not to die."

J.F.K.

In the central foyer of SPEARHEAD Headquarters, Mount Olympus, Greece, a marble engraving carries the words:

"The supreme reality of our time is the vulnerability of our planet." 

The quote is attributed to the 35th POTUS, John F. Kennedy who was tragically assassinated 50 years ago this day.

To honour those who have served

Happy 238th Birthday USMC

"America keeps an insurance poilicy... it's called The United States Marine Corps"

Source: USMC/Youtube

Indians in space!

India's Mars Orbiter Mission took off at 09:08 GMT from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre this morning. It is the Indian Space Research Organisation's aim to be the fourth such body to reach Mars and to demonstrate the technological capability to reach the Red Planet and carry out experiments.

Prof Andrew Coates of Mullard Space Science Laboratory in the UK said that the ISRO has found some interesting scientific niches to take some measurements in. These include searching for the signature of methane in the Martian atmosphere, previously detected from orbit and from telescopes on Earth but not by the Curiosity rover. Due to methane's short lifetime in Martian atmosphere, it is concluded that something must replenish it. As 95% of atmospheric methane on Earth is produced by microbes, the possibility of a biosphere deep beneath the Martian surface is theorised.

The recently appointed SPEARHEAD Assistant Commander for Intelligence and Information, Brigadier General "Whopper" Creedon warned against nations putting too much hope in these potentially dangerous probe missions to other planets, that is - unless SPEARHEAD is given full access to the project. He alluded to an event almost two years ago to the day when China's Yinghuo-1 spacecraft was piggybacked on the Russian Phobos Grunt spacecraft, which became stranded in low-Earth orbit shortly after launch in November 2011. "Yeah", he chuckled "it became stranded" he said sarcastically.

India approved $72m project in 2012 despite the country having one of the highest rankings for childhood malnutrition in the world. The spacecraft is set to travel for some 300 days to reach Mars orbit in 2014.

Source: BBC News