Godzilla: Opens Friday, May 16

Every generation suffers through trial and tribulations. War, famine, economic collapse - for people of a certain generation, one injustice still stings to this very day. We all remember well where we were, sitting in a cool theater in the summer of 1998, as a chilling realization washed over us, taking with it our innocence and faith in the universe: "Oh my god," we thought, "this Godzilla remake is awful."

Understandably, Roland Emmerich's Godzilla is still a sore spot for many dewy-eyed nerds. Its transgressions are innumerable, but here's a brief recap: fat, slovenly mayor named "Ebert," as a not-so-subtle jab; the big lizard herself revealed to be an overgrown iguana, and her babies to be blatant ripoffs of Jurassic Park's raptors; Matthew Broderick firmly establishing the nebbishy loser character that would then rule his career; thin characters stretched to the breaking point on the wings of woeful slapstick.

No one would blame you for being wary at the prospect of another American take on Godzilla, but the pedigree with this one is outstanding. Director Gareth Edwards is most well known for Monsters, his understated, ground-level take on the genre picture, and his Godzilla features a stunning cast (Bryan Cranston, Ken Watanabe, and David Strathairn, to name three). That ominous first trailer with its triumphant SKREEEONK was enough to get anyone's blood pumped.

Nothing can erase the damage caused by the shameful Iguanazilla, but here's hoping this is a step in the right direction.

Gathering of the Juggalos

Speaking of getting your blood pumped, I know we all got a charge when a certain fake news site reported that the Gathering of the Juggalos would find its new home at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds. Sadly, it was not meant to be.

However, the commercial for 2014's Gathering just premiered, and it's everything you'd hope for from this utterly unique cultural phenomenon. For anyone not familiar with the Insane Clown Posse's official festival for all things clown and shameful, the Gathering of the Juggalos is mostly what it sounds like: neck-bearded ladies and gentlemen paint their faces and convene in the middle of nowhere for a terrifying week of low-culture, mostly culled from the late '80s and early '90s.

The ICP's cult of personality is rich enough to justify the hundreds of thousands of digital ink that has been spilled on it. What Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent J have managed to do is, frankly, impressive. They've created a religion based on the very specific things that they happen to be into - old school rap, wrestling, and hacky comedy, to be specific - and have convinced a staggering number of people to be into it as well.

The lineup for this year's Gathering features regulars like Kottonmouth Kings and Cannibal Corpse, as well as requisite left-field head-scratchers like Gilbert Gottfried and Mick Foley - both of whom, frankly, are way too good for this.

Where will you be when the Gathering goes down? As far away as possible? Me, too.

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U.S., China spar again on South China Sea dispute.

The VA health care system has so many perverse incentives that it may have actually given rewards to those who treated veterans the worst.

Iran's purported reverse-engineered copies of the Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel unmanned aircraft are nothing but cheap mockups, industry sources told USNI News.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wants to rebalance the use of military power.

A small group of U.S. Special Forces troops will arrive in Nigeria later this month to advise on combating Boko Haram.

Former Sgt. Kyle White will receive the Medal of Honor for valor today at the White House.

The Navy's cost-saving plan to lay up 11 cruisers is being met with skepticism on Capitol Hill.

Combat veterans of the 2nd Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, will mark the 10th anniversary of the U.S. Army's historic first operational deployment from South Korea, this August.

Legislation introduced by Reps. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) would extend maternity leave for women serving in the military.

The Defense Department has reinstated two-week rest and recuperation leave in nine countries for troops who deploy before June 1.

Reda Hicks, an Army wife and attorney who works to improve the lives of military families, was recognized Friday as Army Spouse of the Year.

U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command recently developed a "We Care" app that can be used by victims of sexual assault, someone who witnesses sexual harassment or assault, and those in need of suicide prevention help.

The Cold War is over, but the risk of atomic miscalculation is not.

600-day trip around the world makes us dizzy.

A home in Brentwood, New Hampshire, exploded live on TV as an ABC News helicopter was flying over the area, filming as it was burning.

West Antarctic Ice Sheet had begun its inevitable, unstoppable collapse.

Twitter quietly debuted a handy "mute" feature to silence users without having to unfollow them.

Strange: Casey Kasem's whereabouts are unknown.

Strange:  A Kenny G song is hugely popular in China.

Morrissey has released the first single off his new album, due July 15.

A is for the A-Team, B is for the Brady Bunch and so on.

LINK: Original photo by Sgt. Benjamin Tuck

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Ukraine rebels claim victory.

Militants carried out a deadly attack on a government building in eastern Afghanistan and fired rockets near Kabul's main airport today as the Taliban began their annual spring offensive.

The Defense Department is calling on Congress to authorize another round of base realignments and closures because of excess capacity that is cutting into funding for troop readiness and other higher priority needs.

U.S. Air Force faces more tough choices in 2016.

Japan to take major step toward collective self-defense.

Cold War 2.0 at Sea.

Brad R. Carson is the Army's new undersecretary.

Slowing the growth of military pay and housing allowances, reducing commissary subsidies and adjusting TRICARE costs will save $31 billion over the next five years and enable readiness to be maintained, said Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno.

House lawmakers shot down most of the Pentagon's proposals to cut costs.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says Fort Bragg will need to make adjustments as the military prepares for downsizing.

Hagel: Military should review transgender ban.

Debate grows over proposal for CIA to turn over drones to Pentagon.

Tomorrow's submarines could sink America's Navy.

Sailors drive potent new riverine boat in Persian Gulf.

Army designing next-generation protective mask.

"Arlington at 150" is the theme for sesquicentennial celebrations at Arlington National Cemetery, slated to run from tomorrow to June 16.

Service academy nominations often withheld from public.

The Navy has an e-reader for submarines: The NeRD.

A high-speed robot arm that snatches objects out of mid-air.

Why settle for snake skin boots when you can have the entire snake?

Cool: Jack White and Neil Young are appearing together on The Tonight Show tonight.

Yep: NBC canceled Community.

Parks and Recreation will end next year.

Larry Wilmore will take Stephen Colbert's slot on Comedy Central.

Finally: Eleven Comic-Book Superpowers the World Could Do Without.

Awesome: Mother's Day Game Show.

How Star Wars would be if it were a Tarantino film.

LINK: Original photo by Lance Cpl. Joey Mendez

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A large-scale military operation is underway as Iraqi government forces attempt to reclaim the embattled city of Fallujah.

U.S. Special Operations Forces leaders are shifting their strategic posture to the Pacific and regions where Al Qaeda affiliates are seeking safe haven.

The Pentagon says Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is not pleased with a budget bill in the House.

U.S. Army's Africa is preparing to send soldiers and special operations forces to Nigeria to train that nation's forces for combat operations.

Camp Leatherneck/Camp Bastion complex has undergone a security renovation that officials with the base's force protection unit compare to a Las Vegas casino.

After ordering audits of clinics, the VA said it was investigating a worker's claim that he had manipulated waiting list data.

The price of storing the A-10 in Type-1000 storage.

Apache helicopters, teamed with Gray Eagle and Shadow unmanned aerial vehicles, are a winning combo.

Finally: A handy pocket guide for soldiers is now available to explain the specifics of their annual Clothing Replacement Allowance.

DoD to launch massive MWR survey Monday.

Seinfeld Computer Game: "The Junior Mint."

Sunday's Simpsons couch gag because it's really dark comedy - like life itself.

Musician John Doe has a film, Pleased to Meet Me, and upcoming record, The Best of John Doe, out May 20. Get tour dates and more at theejohndoe.com.

Watch this guy ride his bike completely parallel to the ground.

Finally: Andre the Giant graphic biography.

How to repair a monument. ...

>

LINK: Original photo by Tech. Sgt. Jeremy T. Lock

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The Taliban have announced their 2014 "spring offensive" will begin imminently.

Putin marks victory in Crimea, more bloodshed in Ukraine.

CIA, U.S. military at odds over Afghanistan pullback plan.

House Republicans rammed through a measure opening a new investigation of the deadly assault in Benghazi, Libya.

U.S. commandos head to Baltics, Europe for training.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki ordered a nationwide health care access review as frustration continued to mount over VA's response to allegations of care delays leading to patient deaths.

New manual to shift Army aviation focus to air-guard.

The Future Vertical Lift will be Army aviation's golden egg.

Army's testing of foreign mine boots yields valuable data.

Female British soldiers could soon be allowed to fight on the frontline.

Medal of Honor recipient Staff Sgt. Ty Carter's digs karaoke.

Dick Move: North Korea unleashes racist slurs against Obama.

Army National Guard kept sponsoring NASCAR for a decade without looking into why active branches found it ineffective.

No matter how fast you're driving, no matter the weather conditions, if someone fires a Brimstone missile from a MQ-9 Reaper drone and you're the target, you're dead.

A pretty and rather unusual selfie of an F-16 pilot as he was diving and spinning perpendicular to the ground.

Prepare for the onslaught of tiny hamsters eating tiny everything.

How to fight a bear and win.

List: A good roundup of all the TV marathons and specials airing this weekend.

Rolling Stone rounds up 20 good comedy podcasts.

There's talk of a Morrissey biopic ...

David Lynch cooks quinoa in a weird, surrealist video...

LINK: Original photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Peavy

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The House Armed Services Committee unanimously approved a measure that would authorize just over $600 billion in 2015 U.S. defense spending and block plans to retire the A-10 attack plane.

House panel pulls BRAC from budget.

Powerful factions in Congress are moving to set up an independent commission that would examine the sweeping force structure changes the active duty Army says are necessary.

The U.S. House Armed Services Committee called on U.S. national security officials to report back on the threat posed by Russian satellite monitoring stations.

A U.S. House panel approved provisions restricting the Air Force's ability to retire its E-3 warning aircraft, encouraging the Navy to build two F/A-18E/F Super Hornets each month, and ordering the Pentagon to hand over reams of information.

The House Armed Services Committee approved legislation that prevents the Defense Department from retiring a nuclear aircraft carrier.

The House Armed Services Committee added language to prohibit the department from enforcing the new hair rules.

The House Armed Services panel rejected the Army's plan to transfer the National Guard's Apache attack helicopters to the active side. 

Three crashed drones were launched from North Korea for spying purposes and had been programmed to fly over South Korea.

U.S. Army sends its best tanks to European war game.

Five Chinese weapons of war the U.S. should fear.

Recruiting fraud is "pervasive" across Army, Guard according to a vocal Guard advocacy group.

Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki said he would not resign amid charges that the department attempted to hide long wait times for appointments at VA health clinics.

Inside the Army's growing Artic Circle mission.

Researchers just published findings from the first ultra-realistic simulation of our universe's growth. And it covers 13 billion years.

Inside the Boeing capsule that could take you on a space vacation.

Climatologist, author, and former NASA scientist Dr. Roy Spencer offers ten good skeptical arguments against global warming.

Five crowdsourcing projects that defy all logic and reason.

Fox has canceled three comedies: Dads, Enlisted and Surviving Jack.

Big news, Sweathogs: Welcome Back, Kotter: The Complete Series is coming to DVD.

WTF?: Tommy Lee will play drums on the next Smashing Pumpkins album.

Finally: A chart of the most overrated and underrated movies of all time.

It's finals week at the U.S. Naval Academy. ...

LINK: Original photo by 1st Lt. Alun Thomas, 1st ACB, 1st Cav. Div. PAO

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NATO turns to airlift following increased convoy attacks in Pakistan.

Vietnam and China face off in South China Sea.

The commander of U.S. air forces in the Pacific is reporting a significant increase in activities by Russian planes and ships in the region.

Every country will have armed drones in 10 years.

The military's top leaders tried to sell Congress on the pay and benefits changes they proposed in the 2015 defense budget.

A quartet of powerful U.S. senators are warning that anything less than keeping the A-10 fully active in the Air Force is unacceptable.

White House to give senators access to drone assassination memo.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno talks about the future of the Army and the threats posed by an unstable world.

Pentagon funding for space programs is projected to fall 37 percent over the next four years.

The House Armed Services Committee is opening the door ever so slightly to the possibility of another Base Closure and Realignment Commission.

Bomber-plane budget by U.S. Air Force projected to double.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III: After 23 years of high-tempo operations, the Air Force is in a precarious position.

Army's vice chief of staff Gen. John F. Campbell: Army aviation needs its innovators to stay, despite the fact that funding is down to bare bones.

The Federal Aviation Administration has determined a U-2 spy plane did not cause computers at Los Angles International Airport's control center to crash.

The Army is reclaiming the lost art of jungle warfare, and soldiers who make it through the new 21-day school can earn a tab and big bragging rights.

Picatinny engineers have devised improvements to the packaging of 60 mm smoke and illumination mortars.

Raytheon is making a bold move: it's dumping the proprietary operating system Solaris in favor of Linux for the control systems of its U.S. military drones.

Too Much Free Time: This guy collected 75,000 McDonald's items over 50 years.

Man foils attempted arrest by knowing his rights better than cops.

There's a new Tori Amos song.

Charles Grodin talks about his weirdo doctor role on Louie.

It wasn't all war, war, war in the Galactic Empire, as Malaysian photographer Zahir Batin reminds us with these curious images of Star Wars miniature figures going about their everyday lives.

Finally: Man makes giant 27.5-foot-long space station with 282,000 matchsticks.

Don't forget the tickets ...

LINK: Original photo by Sgt. John Crosby

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Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier, civilian earn 2014 Secretary of the Army Awards.

House lawmakers released a $521 billion blueprint for the 2015 defense budget that rejects most of the Pentagon's cost-saving proposals.

The U.S. House Armed Services Committee wants to shift billions of dollars from things such as service contracts and museums to Pentagon weapon programs.

House Bill calls for $100 million slash to the annual commissary operating budget, which is two-thirds, over three years.

Iran will target American aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf should a war between the two countries ever break out.

The chairman of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee has drafted legislation that would require the Defense Department to re-write a major military strategy review that was sent to Congress in March.

U.S. signs new lease to keep strategic military installation in the Horn of Africa.

Pentagon pressured to show progress on assaults.

Report: LAX control center's computers crashed while tracking U-2 - the plane, not the band.

The American Legion is demanding the immediate resignation of Veteran Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki and two other top VA leaders.

King Stallion: Newest Marine helicopter gets a royal rollout.

In July, the U.S. Army will make its first big decision on how to proceed with the ambitious, decades-long developmental project to replace up to 4,000 Apache and Black Hawk helicopters by the mid-2030s.

DARPA's Warrior Web project may provide super-human enhancements.

A small study that has shown results using the drug MDMA and conventional therapy to treat PTSD could be of significant value.

Cool: A video that clearly explains the dimensions of the Moon in relation to other things.

It's hard to believe these paintings are not 3D images.

Preview Arcade Fire's new video which stars Andrew Garfield.

Weird:Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig sings the theme for a new Seinfeld-themed video game.

Take a cruise with Wes Anderson, Jason Schwartzman and Tilda Swinton.

Finally: Weird sketches they cut from SNL.

LINK: Original photo by Lance Cpl. Sullivan Laramie

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The deaths of more than 40 pro-Russian activists in a burning building during clashes in Odessa last week have injected new venom into the fight for Ukraine.

Bipartisan call for more Russian sanctions as battles rage in Odessa, Ukraine.

The CIA is dismantling its frontline Afghan counterterrorist forces in Afghanistan, leaving a security vacuum that U.S. commanders fear the Taliban and al Qaeda will fill.

This summer, nearly 50 ships from at least 16 navies will gather at Pearl Harbor for the Rim of the Pacific exercises, but notably absent - again - will be the newest type of U.S. warship, the littoral combat ship.

Memorial at Fairchild Air Force Base has been dedicated to three crew members who were aboard an American tanker refueling plane that crashed last year in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan.

Congress' chance to fix aircraft carrier drones.

One year into a controversial experiment, what the U.S. military is learning about women training for combat duty.

About nine in 10 active-duty troops oppose DoD proposals to reduce their pay raises and basic allowances for housing.

DoD personnel costs could force program cuts.

Army researchers measure quality of life.

Knowledge Management Centers roll out Air Force-wide.

DNA sequences can trace your ancestors to within 30 miles.

Simulation of Saturn passing by Earth on a collision course to the Sun.

A story about the return of 24.

What is this secret code hidden in so many films and TV shows?

Remembering The Cure's Disintegration on the occasion of its 25th anniversary.

Nice: Chewbacca selfie.

List: 100 best comic-book characters.

Then there's this ...

LINK: Original photo by Sgt. John Crosby

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At least 42 people were killed in street battles between supporters and opponents of Russia in southern Ukraine, bringing the country closer to war. 

The Kremlin is receiving "thousands" of calls for assistance from Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine.

The United States has warned its citizens of a plan to attack one of two Sheraton hotels near Lagos, Nigeria's main commercial hub, which so far has been spared by the country's violent Islamist militants.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel urged large NATO nations to step up their defense spending and contributions to the alliance as Russian military movements have shown Europe "still lives in a dangerous world."

What Obama should tell Americans about Ukraine.

Obama vowed to continue using his executive authority whenever possible this year, but Republicans countered that the commander in chief's lack of action on Ukraine hurts the U.S. at home and abroad.

Why American can't contain China.

Army prepares new tack for deploying forces in Pacific.

With lawsuits and mergers, U.S. space market primed for changes.

It took 18 months for Judicial Watch to unearth the emails on Benghazi.

Over the past four years, the Defense Department's logistics agency threw away a significant portion of the spare parts it purchased via a $21-million contract with the manufacturer of Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected trucks.

The Navy and Raytheon are looking at starting planned Tomahawk missile re-certification and modernization efforts at least one year ahead of the 2019 planned time frame.

Learning more about China's new massive warship plan.

Nine of the 10 Medals of Honor from the Afghanistan war have been earned in Nuristan and Kunar Provinces.

Army (and Boston) Strong: Colonel awarded for heroism at marathon.

Science has finally figured out how to win Rock-Paper-Scissors.

Passenger films one of his airplane's engines on fire.

Make some room on your periodic table, there's a new metal in town.

Don't forget Sunday is Star Wars Day. Why not celebrate with some Chewy cufflinks?

The five best new songs of the week.

Hundreds (if not thousands) of copies of a badly reviewed Atari E.T. game were found buried in the New Mexico desert.

How many days of your life would it take to whip through all of the TV that's worth binge-watching?

Cool ...

LINK: Original photo by Cpl. James Gulliver