- For those who just can't wait until the next Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, hits theaters in July, there may be a temporary fix. A brief sampling of o the movie will be played in 32 IMAX theaters across North America before select screenings of Tom Cruise's Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, beginning December 16 in the U.S. and Canada. British movie fans will get their shot to see the extended preview, which director Christopher Nolan said is "basically the first six, seven minutes of the film" that serves as "an introduction to Bane, and a taste of the rest of the film," five days later. The PG-13 rated prologue was partially shot using IMAX cameras, fitting because Nolan has confirmed he did utilize IMAX technology more for The Dark Knight Rises than in his other Batman films. "Our experience on The Dark Knight shooting and projecting IMAX 15 perf 65mm/70mm film was inspiring," he said in a statement. "The immersive quality of the image goes beyond any other filmmaking tool available, and in revisiting Gotham, we were determined to shoot even more of the movie in this unique format." The director offered no word on which of the characters will appear in the prologue, but the film stars Christian Bale as Batman, Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, and Tom Hardy as Bane. Morgan Freeman will reprise his role from the previous film in the series and Marion Cotillard, Miranda Tate, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Caine and Gary Oldman are also in the movie. Showing a few minutes of a movie that is already generating plenty of buzz is a smart play on the part of Nolan and the studio, even if it will be another seven months before Dark Knight hits theaters for real……….
- There may be new answers for what causes attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)…..ooh look, a butterfly! Cool! But anyhow, a new gene study may help to explain…..hey, is that bubble wrap? I love bubble wrap! Let me pop some of it! Again, back to the point, which is…..man, am I thirsty, can I get something to drink? The point…..oh yeah, the point is scientists at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia believed they've identified variations in four genes involved in so-called "brain signaling pathways," which could offer clues on how to treat the disorder. ADHD, one of the most common behavior disorders among kids, is characterized by short attention spans, difficulty staying on tack and excessive energy when trying to sit still. More than 5.2 million children in the United States ages 3 to 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD, according to the Centers for Disease Control. For this study, researchers analyzed the whole genomes of 1,000 kids with ADHD and compared them with those of 4,100 kids without ADHD, searching for differences in the number of deletions or duplications of DNA. Dr. Hakon Hakonarson, director of the Center for Applied Genomics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and his team discovered that children with ADHD had a significant number of differences on four particular genes involved in a pathway that's thought to relay information between the neurons and the brain. "At least 10 percent of the ADHD patients in our sample have these particular genetic variants," Hakonarson said in a written statement. "The genes involved affect neurotransmitter systems in the brain that have been implicated in ADHD, and we now have a genetic explanation for this link." While there could be literally thousands of genes that contribute to ADHD risk, Hakonarson’s team believes that identifying a gene responsible for 10 percent of cases is a "robust" finding that can help others because it could allow for the development of new drugs to target these pathways and provide a more effective treatment for ADHD. "This research will allow new therapies to be developed that are tailored to treating underlying causes of ADHD," study co-author Dr. Josephine Elia, a child psychiatrist and ADHD expert at Children's Hospital, said in the statement. "This is another step toward individualizing treatment to a child's genetic profile." The findings truly are exciting and…..wait, is that some shiny tin foil? Sweet……………..
- You can’t come home again, Donovan McNabb, at least not right now. After being released by the Minnesota Vikings last week, his second departure from a team in the past year and third in the past three years, rumors began swirling that the Chicago native was a candidate to return home and help the Bears after starting quarterback Jay Cutler went down with a hand injury. Even though many around the league believe McNabb lacks the dedication and discipline to prepare and play at a high level, he is a former All-Pro who was a borderline hall-of-famer just a few years ago. Coming back to boost the faltering Bears, who have lost two in a row in ugly fashion after a lackluster 10-3 loss to the Chiefs on Sunday, seemed like a possibility at least worth discussing. Ask Bears wide receiver and kick return ace Devin Hester about that possibility and the take is decidedly different. "It's going to be tough right now to add a quarterback that hasn't played in a Mike Martz offense," Hester said. "It's one of the more difficult offenses to run, so to get a quarterback that hasn't been in that offense, right now it's going to be a waste of time. I guess we'll stick with the guys we have right now and hope we get better with those guys." To be fair to Hester and McNabb, Hester wasn’t necessarily calling McNabb a waste of time (although he wouldn’t be alone at this point if he did). However, the comment shows in part how far McNabb has fallen since his Pro Bowl days in Philadelphia. He spent one underwhelming season with the Redskins in 2010, was traded to Minnesota for a sixth-round draft pick prior to this season and lost his starting job there to rookie Christian Ponder after six games. That Hester wouldn’t have any hope for McNabb being able to help the Bears after Caleb Hanie threw three interceptions Sunday and stud running back Matt Forte suffered a strained medial collateral ligament in his knee is a striking indictment. "Whatever we are doing is not working and we need to fix it fast before it gets too late," Hester declared. As for McNabb, he cleared waivers over the weekend and his agent, Fletcher Smith, said Saturday he was talking to "a couple of teams" during the weekend. His chances of landing anywhere before the end of the season appear extremely minimal at best…………..
- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! Everyone’s favorite overview of social dissidence around the world is back and in Moscow, where several thousand people took to the streets Monday to protest against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his party, which won the largest share of a parliamentary election that the protestors (and many outside observers) believe was rigged. Believed to be the largest opposition rally in Russia in years, the demonstration ended with police detaining some of the activists and a group of several hundred then marching toward the Central Elections Commission near the Kremlin, where they faced off with riot police and taken away in buses. The number of demonstrators was estimated at 5,000 to 10,000, with the masses chanting in chilling fashion, "Russia without Putin." Their rage came after Putin's United Russia party took about 50 percent of Sunday's vote amidst allegations of ballot stuffing and other vote fraud. Even with the results, Putin's party saw its majority in Russia's parliament weaken sharply and calling into question his iron grip on the nation of nearly 12 years. Even with the lower-than-expected vote total for Putin’s party, opposition politicians and election monitors still alleged voting fraud. International observers backed up those claims and pointed to procedural violations and serious indications of ballot stuffing in favor of United Russia. "To me, this election was like a game in which only some players are allowed to compete," Heidi Tagliavini, the head of the international observer mission, said at a news conference. Fraud or no fraud, United Russia is still expected to retain its majority in the lower house and Putin is a lock to steal, er, win next March's presidential election. The results of the balloting did underscore growing public frustration with the lack of political competition, rampant government corruption and a widening gap between rich and poor. Central Election Commission chief Vladimir Churov predicted that United Russia will get 238 of the Duma's (parliament) 450 seats, much less than two-thirds majority in the State Duma that allowed to change Russia’s constitution and help bring Putin officially back into power. Putin attempted to do a typical spin job on the disappointing results, saying late Sunday that "we can ensure the stable development of the country with this result." Nearly 60 percent of Russia's 110 million registered voters cast ballots, representing a 64-percent decline from four years ago and further punctuating the public’s discontent with the state of the current regime…………..
- Bears in and around the state of New Jersey have now been officially warned. The state’s Department of Environmental Protection has declared open season on bears residing in a 1,000-square-mile hunting area north of Route 78 and west of Route 287. DEP estimates place the number of black bears in New Jersey at about 3,400 and to help thin the population, a controversial bear hunt is underway as of Monday. The usual suspects have already weighed in against the hunt, with the Animal Protection League of New Jersey claiming the state's bear management policy is flawed. These kooks took the predictable route by going to court in an attempt to block the hunt, but their motion was dismissed. The court sided with state wildlife officials, who maintained that having one of the highest black bear densities in the nation is a problem that necessitates a hunt. In lieu of stopping the hunt, activists have instead decided to go back to court again to get permission to stage protests at the Franklin bear check station in Sussex County. Why they won't just take the approach of their tree-hugging enviro-lover cousins and chain themselves to bears the way environmental activists chain themselves to trees is unclear at this point. However, these tools do clearly love bears….perhaps too much. "The bear is a symbol in New Jersey that we still have wild places. That not all of New Jersey has been paved over with subdivisions and strip malls," said Jeff Tittle of the New Jersey Sierra Club at a protest in Trenton. This is the second consecutive year the DEP has staged a bear hunt and in last year’s campaign 20 percent of the bears killed were considered nuisance bears, according to the department. Hunters have until Dec. 10 to bag and tag a bear, with an unfortunate limit of one kill per licensed hunter the limit. Hunters must register the kill at a bear check station, where they can drink a celebratory beer and do a touchdown dance in the face of any animal rights knobs who have gathered to protest…………
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