News Stories

[RRW]

To mark the milestone 75th anniversary of DC Comics’ Batman, Warner Bros. Entertainment and DC Entertainment have revealed plans for a year-long celebration befitting the world’s most popular Super Hero. Highlights of the anniversary program, which starts today, include a new commemorative 75th anniversary Batman logo and an exclusive “Cape/Cowl/Create” art exhibit, featuring 20 contemporary artists’ interpretation of The Dark Knight’s iconic cowl headpiece and cape from the upcoming Batman: Arkham Knight videogame. There will also be 75th anniversary-related activities across all of Warner Bros. Entertainment throughout the year.

First appearing in the comic book Detective Comics #27, which hit newsstands on March 30, 1939, featuring artwork by Bob Kane and a script by Bill Finger, Batman emerged from the shadows to become the world’s most popular Super Hero and dominate all media. In feature films, TV shows, radio, video games, publishing and merchandise, this most human of Super Heroes has battled some of fiction’s greatest villains using his intellect, cunning and an arsenal of gadgets to further his quest for justice.

http://www.dccomics.com/blog/2014/03...th-anniversary

[AnimeFan188]

'Star Trek' Fan Film Hits Warp Drive on Kickstarter:

"Set phasers to stunned: A Kickstarter campaign for a new "Star Trek" project has
already quintupled its original $10,000 goal to fund a fan film by veteran science
fiction actors.

The short fan film, called "Star Trek: Prelude To Axanar," takes place decades before
the famous exploits of Captain James T. Kirk and his Enterprise crew of "Star Trek"
lore and is scheduled to warp into release this May. As of Friday (March 28), the
Kickstarter project had raised $58,362, with three days left in the campaign.

What's more, its makers promise "Axanar" will foreshadow the most epic Trekkie fan
film ever: a full-length movie with a $250,000 budget that will focus on the Battle of
Axanar, which was won by Starfleet captain Garth of Izar about 21 years before the
original "Star Trek" series took place."

See:

http://news.yahoo.com/star-trek-fan-...125056235.html

[Ithekro]

Originally Posted by AnimeFan188

'Star Trek' Fan Film Hits Warp Drive on Kickstarter:

"Set phasers to stunned: A Kickstarter campaign for a new "Star Trek" project has
already quintupled its original $10,000 goal to fund a fan film by veteran science
fiction actors.

The short fan film, called "Star Trek: Prelude To Axanar," takes place decades before
the famous exploits of Captain James T. Kirk and his Enterprise crew of "Star Trek"
lore and is scheduled to warp into release this May. As of Friday (March 28), the
Kickstarter project had raised $58,362, with three days left in the campaign.

What's more, its makers promise "Axanar" will foreshadow the most epic Trekkie fan
film ever: a full-length movie with a $250,000 budget that will focus on the Battle of
Axanar, which was won by Starfleet captain Garth of Izar about 21 years before the
original "Star Trek" series took place."

See:

http://news.yahoo.com/star-trek-fan-...125056235.html

Part in that one already. Over $90,000 with over 1900 backers, and 13 hours left.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

Part in that one already. Over $90,000 with over 1900 suckers, and 13 hours left.

fix that for you.

[Ithekro]

Hopefully not. It looks nice, at least on the special effects front and with some of the more experianced actors involved.

Also there is about an hour left and they are closing on $100,000. This is from a kiststarter looking for $10,000 to make a proof of concept 20 minute short to fund their film later in the year. The short is to debut at a Star Trek convention in Germany in late spring. The benefit (if this all works out) is that all this extra funding can go to the costume and other departments to get things made in advance for the film.

[Yu Ominae]

This is old news from the peacekeeping forces in South Sudan after Japaense troops supplied some of their ammo to help South Korean troops in Juba, but I'll share these with you.

http://www.koreabang.com/2014/storie...demnation.html

http://world.time.com/2013/12/26/in-...-rivals-japan/

http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Econ...ope-to-exports

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/201...ly-to-s-korea/

http://japandailypress.com/new-arms-...nment-2641504/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...n-south-sudan/

[MrTerrorist]

Ok that's petty and idiotic.
Even within the British Forces, where the English, Welsh, Scots and Northern Irish units don't like each other, all sides always put aside their differences to work together.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

Ok that's petty and idiotic.
Even within the British Forces, where the English, Welsh, Scots and Northern Irish units don't like each other, all sides always put aside their differences to work together.

All the more ridiculous that the current elected ruler of South Korea is the daughter of the former Dictator of South Korea, who was trained in the Japanese Army and in fact fought for the Japanese. You would think that kind of background would have made her unelectable...

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

Ok that's petty and idiotic.
Even within the British Forces, where the English, Welsh, Scots and Northern Irish units don't like each other, all sides always put aside their differences to work together.

There is a difference - SK and JP both have pretty homogenous racial societies and they would hate each other to the gut through state media.

And to think their otaku and fangirls would like each others' pop media. Time to oust the racist old fags?

[maplehurry]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

All the more ridiculous that the current elected ruler of South Korea is the daughter of the former Dictator of South Korea, who was trained in the Japanese Army and in fact fought for the Japanese. You would think that kind of background would have made her unelectable...

lol, maybe that's one of the reason why she had been holding such anti-japan attitude, to show that she's different.

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

Ok that's petty and idiotic.
Even within the British Forces, where the English, Welsh, Scots and Northern Irish units don't like each other, all sides always put aside their differences to work together.

The Korea side did ask Japan for ammos, but later rejected it. Why would anyone ask for something they know they are going to reject?
It's all just for show. That's politics for ya.


But yea, it's old news. Park met with Abe last week with Obama, things should've improved between them, hopefully.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by maplehurry

But yea, it's old news. Park met with Abe last week with Obama, things should've improved between them, hopefully.

until the next politicans in Abe's party goes off about the "Comfort Women" being paid whores.

[Yu Ominae]

Perhaps if the Hanbit commander didn't ask the UN PKO command for assistance in securing additional ammo, we probably won't even hear about this.

I know Tokyo said that the situation is going FUBAR that they allowed JGSDF soldiers in Juba to provide ammo for them, but the DPJ and some parts of the public aren't liking that explanation.

And what you get is a sure and clear clause in their laws stating that SDF units in PKO ops can't supply fellow UN PKO units, even when Tokyo is getting requests.

Way to go, Seoul and Tokyo. Perhaps the JGSDF should disband any of their PKO training units if this is going to bite them in the ass every time a SDF serves overseas in a place where they can die by gunfire or whatnot. Even better, perhaps they should disband the SDF and accept and old JCP plan to have a militia-style army to make all their critics shut up.

[Fireminer]

Britain and EU: A rocky relationship

Any thought?

[KiraYamatoFan]

Anyone rejecting an offer for ammo when needing it in the middle of a peacekeeping mission in hostile territory... Here's a synonym for stupid:

Spoiler for NSFW lyrics, but love the piano:

Originally Posted by Yu Ominae

And what you get is a sure and clear clause in their laws stating that SDF units in PKO ops can't supply fellow UN PKO units, even when Tokyo is getting requests.

Way to go, Seoul and Tokyo. Perhaps the JGSDF should disband any of their PKO training units if this is going to bite them in the ass every time a SDF serves overseas in a place where they can die by gunfire or whatnot. Even better, perhaps they should disband the SDF and accept and old JCP plan to have a militia-style army to make all their critics shut up.

That's a silly clause if any. When you're on the field, things can go to shit. So what is wrong with feeding fellow colleagues with compatible ammo when a friendly unit is running short on hardware? Who the hell wrote such crap?

Like you, I'm pissed off with the complexity of the laws regarding the SDF. They should just adopt a resolution similar to what Germany adopted many years ago for the Bundeswehr and put an end to the debate. A change is necessary to get those armchair twats to shut up.

[AnimeFan188]

Iran names U.S. Embassy hostage-taker as U.N. ambassador:

"A member of the militant group that seized the U.S. Embassy in Iran in 1979 and
held 52 Americans hostage has been named the country’s ambassador to the
United Nations.

Hamid Aboutalebi was a member of the Muslim Students Following the Imam’s Line
(referring to the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini), the group that seized the U.S.
Embassy and held American staff hostage for 444 days until Ronald Reagan was
inaugurated in 1981."

See:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...un-ambassador/

[maplehurry]

North and South Korea exchanged fire.

"Some (North Korean) artillery fire landed in (the) southern part of Northern Limit Line but in the water," a South Korean Ministry of Defense spokesman said. "We counter-fired over the Northern Limit Line."
When asked what South Korea fired back at, the defense spokesman said, "We are not shooting at North Korea, just shooting into the sea."

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by KiraYamatoFan

Anyone rejecting an offer for ammo when needing it in the middle of a peacekeeping mission in hostile territory... Here's a synonym for stupid:

That's a silly clause if any. When you're on the field, things can go to shit. So what is wrong with feeding fellow colleagues with compatible ammo when a friendly unit is running short on hardware? Who the hell wrote such crap?

Like you, I'm pissed off with the complexity of the laws regarding the SDF. They should just adopt a resolution similar to what Germany adopted many years ago for the Bundeswehr and put an end to the debate. A change is necessary to get those armchair twats to shut up.

Well the Americans are still cursing that you guys beat Hathcock with an American-made round (American rounds supposedly have more powder so it flew further).

The UN peacekeeping force is a united force. When a fellow peacekeeper runs short of ammo, why not lend some to him? It is not like you can't ask him back for it.

And here is a way overdue article :

America is not broke

Spoiler for long:

“We’re broke.” House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Tea Party groups have repeated that phrase so frequently that it must be true, right?

But America is not broke. Our short-term budget outlook is stable, and our long-term challenges are manageable if both sides are willing to compromise. So why would politicians falsely claim that we’re broke? To justify radical changes to our nation’s social contract that Americans would never accept any other way.

This may be surprising, given how much we hear about a looming “debt crisis.” But annual budget deficits have fallen by almost two-thirds over the past five years. The total national debt is actually projected to shrink in each of the next three years as a share of the economy.

Exaggerating our debt does not advance smart fiscal policies. It does, however, undermine the social programs created by the New Deal and the Great Society by making their successes appear hopelessly unaffordable and doomed to failure.

If our debt is out of control, then Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid would seem like unrealistic pipedreams. Feeding the hungry, rebuilding our infrastructure and educating our children would sound like nice ideas, but too much for the government to handle.

That’s where the Republican budget comes in. For the past few years, House Republicans have passed a budget that radically reduces support for healthcare, economic opportunity and a safety net for hard times. By claiming to address an urgent “debt crisis,” it dismantles the social contract that Americans have made with their government for decades.

These Republican budgets replaced Medicare with a voucher to help pay for health insurance. But that voucher would fail to keep up with the rising cost of healthcare, so those expenses would just shift from the government to senior citizens. Many elderly Americans would no longer be able to afford healthcare, which was why President Lyndon B. Johnson and Congress passed Medicare in the first place.

Medicaid beneficiaries fare even worse. Recent Republican budgets have sought to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion and then cut what is left of Medicaid by roughly one-third. Millions of the most vulnerable Americans would lose their health insurance.

Last year’s Republican budget also required enormous cuts to education, research and infrastructure, all of which are responsible for widely expanding economic opportunity. These cuts would have been so destructive that the House Republicans would not be able to follow through with specific spending bills that would have implemented their own budget.

It is true that the United States has long-term fiscal challenges. But these problems can be solved. An aging population and rising healthcare costs will make Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid more expensive. Today’s tax code is inadequate for our national needs. A balanced mix of spending cuts and tax increases, as proposed in a Center for American Progress plan, would address these long-term budget challenges.

Bipartisan proposals from the Bowles-Simpson and Domenici-Rivlin commissions also use this balanced framework.

We need to cut spending by slowing the increase of healthcare costs. The good news is that healthcare cost growth has slowed dramatically over the last few years, which may be due, in part, to the cost control provisions in the Affordable Care Act.

But there is more work to be done. President Barack Obama’s budget proposes additional changes to federal health programs that would cut spending by more than $400 billion in the next 10 years.

We cannot stop the population from aging — which is why politicians will need to look to our tax code if Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are to survive for future generations. The federal government now loses more than $1 trillion annually because of the many tax breaks, loopholes and subsidies created by Congress over the years.

Some tax breaks are worthwhile. But many others flow primarily to the wealthiest households — the people who need government assistance the least. For example, low tax rates for capital gains and dividends increased the budget deficit by $161 billion in 2013. The bulk of that money — 68 percent — went to those with incomes in the top 1 percent.

With a bit of compromise, the triumphs of the New Deal and the Great Society can remain a cornerstone of American economic security for generations to come. But instead of compromising, the loudest proclaimers of national bankruptcy are often the same politicians calling for the deepest cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

America is not broke. Politicians who claim otherwise are just using scare tactics to sell an unpopular, unnecessary and deeply destructive conservative agenda. Don’t buy it.

Cutting social care for defense spending is too obvious. The Russians cut their military and are still able to invade Crimea plus tap diplomatic lines; don't you think that it is about organisation rather than the amount spent?

Also :

[UPDATE] Critically injured OCBC Cycle rider dies

A cyclist who was in critical condition after fracturing his skull on Sunday's OCBC Cycle Singapore event has died.

"We are deeply saddened by the passing of Mr Chia Wee Kiak. We would like to express our deepest condolences to the family. Spectrum Worldwide and OCBC will continue to extend all the support needed to Mr Chia’s family in this very difficult time," said event organisers Spectrum Worldwide in a Facebook post on Wednesday afternoon.

24-year-old Chia Wee Kiak, a full-time National Serviceman, underwent 13 hours of surgery at Singapore General Hospital on Monday to relieve blood clots on both sides of his brain but failed to recover from his coma.

"We have respected the family’s wishes to only post this message after their official announcement," it added.

Chia began cycling three years ago and was taking part in the 59km Super Challenge category in Singapore's biggest cycling event which started at the F1 Pit Building, reported local media.

He reportedly crashed 15-20 minutes after the 5:15am flag-off from the F1 Pit Building and fell while on a downslope from the Benjamin Sheares Bridge towards Tanjong Rhu. It's still unclear if he fell on his own or was involved in a crash with others.

The accident has raised concerns if there were adequate emergency services on standby at the mass cycling event, currently in its fifth edition.

Event organisers Spectrum Worldwide said in a Facebook post on Monday they were notified of the accident at approximately 5.39am and medical personnel attended to him within three minutes. It added that he was then sent to SGH by an ambulance and arrived there at 5.55am, although it later apologised and clarified the ambulance arrived at SGH at 6.14am.

However, a Facebook reader Matthew Chin disputed this and said it took much longer for the first responder to arrive.

"OCBC, get your facts straight. You did not respond in 3 minutes. It took more than 20 minutes for the medic on the scooter to arrive. How do I know? I arrived at the crash site just minutes after Mr Chia fell. We waited for what seemed like forever for someone to arrive. That's my story and I'm sticking to it," he said.

Spectrum Worldwide is still "gathering facts from eye witnesses to understand what happened to Mr Chia including obtaining the footage from LTA (Land Transport Authority)".

They also said there were six event doctors and 16 event medics, 10 ambulances and nine fast response paramedics on duty at the event, which drew close to 12,000 participants.

The serious accident resulted in delayed starts for the other ride categories on Sunday, which meant some riders could not complete their events on time.

"We have also received feedback from participants on other aspects of this year’s event, including the route and safety, as well as the delayed starts of certain ride categories. Whilst our current priority is the above incident, we thank you for your feedback and will respond as soon as possible," said the organiser.

[solomon]

Originally Posted by Fireminer

Britain and EU: A rocky relationship

Any thought?

I'm no expert but I wonder what the financial kings in London have to say about the prospect of breaking off from the EU, cause really THAT'S all that matters in the end isn't it?

[Irenicus]

Originally Posted by solomon

I'm no expert but I wonder what the financial kings in London have to say about the prospect of breaking off from the EU, cause really THAT'S all that matters in the end isn't it?

Annoyed, mostly. The EU is their biggest market and I think they prefer the ECB to the whims of whatever the local populist of the day comes up with.

That said, the British Daily Mail Readers(tm) are being bloody stupid -- xenophobes generally are. Their own government is leagues worse than Brussels'. The European Parliament just passed a landmark Net Neutrality law because high-tech modern populism is good for everyone. The Tories...well, the dear Tory cohort seems to be trying very hard to destroy everything that was ever good about the British Empire. David Cameron, Stephen Harper, Tony Abbott...a very prestigious bunch. Reminds you of Bush the Second.

The smart ones among the bankers would really rather work with Merkel.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Irenicus

Annoyed, mostly. The EU is their biggest market and I think they prefer the ECB to the whims of whatever the local populist of the day comes up with.

That said, the British Daily Mail Readers(tm) are being bloody stupid -- xenophobes generally are. Their own government is leagues worse than Brussels'. The European Parliament just passed a landmark Net Neutrality law because high-tech modern populism is good for everyone. The Tories...well, the dear Tory cohort seems to be trying very hard to destroy everything that was ever good about the British Empire. David Cameron, Stephen Harper, Tony Abbott...a very prestigious bunch. Reminds you of Bush the Second.

The smart ones among the bankers would really rather work with Merkel.

Are you calling for the demolition of Eton to curb elitism in UK?