Weapons

Credit Johnny Depp and his pirate pals. Or thank Viggo Mortensen and the inhabitants of Middle-earth, or all those lightsaber-wielding Jedis. But the bottom line is that even after the advent of more advanced weaponry, swords are simply cool. Enter the Academy of Arms. Barely 2 months old, the nonprofit "Knightly Martial Arts" school is already offering instruction on three different forms of swordplay: English Broadsword, German Longsword and Italian Longsword. Known to historical re-enactors and Renaissance Faire performers everywhere, these are not the namby-pamby instruments used by the glove-smacking, satisfaction-demanding dandies of the 18th century.

Two men charged in state court in connection with the brutal beating of San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow will each face federal charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, authorities said Tuesday. Marvin Norwood and Louie Sanchez were arrested last year and charged with felony assault and mayhem in the attack on Stow in one of the parking lots at Dodger Stadium on March 31, 2011. The U.S. attorney's office added the weapons charges in a 14-page indictment. If convicted of the charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, each man faces up to 10 years in federal prison.

"Battleship"is not the first major motion picture to be based on a board game - who could forget 1985's benighted "Clue"? - but it is surely the most expensive. With every superhero more celebrated than Amazing-Man or the Chameleon already spoken for (ditto for hot toys like Transformers), Hollywood has fallen back on popular games as likely fodder for action epics. If "Scrabble: The Movie" or "Qwirkle or Death" appears on a future marquee, don't say you weren't warned. As its north-of-$200-million budget indicates, "Battleship" has been expanded considerably from its origins as a pre-World War I pencil and paper game to include a major alien invasion that puts the very fate of the human race at stake.

It was a tough week for the Transportation Security Administration, but on at least one issue the federal agency may have scored a small victory. The TSA was on the defensive during congressional hearings last week over charges that it has wasted money by storing hundreds of pieces of screening equipment, including full-body scanners, in warehouses in Texas. The TSA's top financial officer, David Nicholson, defended the agency, saying it has cut its warehouse costs from $7.6 million in 2009 to $3.5 million in 2011.

Vikramjit Singh stands in the parking lot of a posh club in Chandigarh discussing one of his favorite subjects: guns. He owns 10 or so; he can't remember exactly. They may come in handy if the old family feud resurfaces. In a Hatfield-versus-McCoy saga that haunts the 25-year-old student, his grandfather was shot to death here in the western state of Punjab and his father imprisoned for a retaliatory murder. Although the two clans signed a truce a few years back, Singh isn't taking any chances.

Mitt Romney on the stump, singles at the bar, car salesmen on the lot: All sorts of people are practicing the art of persuasion, with varying degrees of success. We like to think that we make our own decisions, that we're in control. But we're all open to persuasion by others, says Robert Cialdini, professor emeritus of psychology at Arizona State University and author of "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. " Humans have been testing their own trial-and-error persuasion techniques forever, Cialdini says.

Under mounting pressure to keep its massive budget in check, the Pentagon is looking to cheaper, smaller weapons to wage war in the 21st century. A new generation of weaponry is being readied in clandestine laboratories across the nation that puts a priority on pintsized technology that would be more precise in warfare and less likely to cause civilian casualties. Increasingly, the Pentagon is being forced to discard expensive, hulking, Cold War-era armaments that exact a heavy toll on property and human lives.

I was nursing our new baby the other day when guilt--the amphetamine of the working-mom set--prodded me to turn to my attention-starved 4-year-old son with an offer. "Tell ya what, hon," I said, my voice a little too eager, "when the baby is finished eating, we'll read a book. OK?" "Nah," Taylor responded with that boyish shrug, the swaggering shuffle passed on like a bad suit from one generation of preschool boys to the next. "I have a better idea. . . . Let's fight bad guys !" Bad Guys.

The gig: Alton D. Romig Jr., 58, is "chief skunk" at Lockheed Martin Corp.'s famed Skunk Works secretive weapons development facility in Palmdale. It's one of the most coveted jobs in aerospace. For more than 70 years, workers at the shadowy site have designed and built the world's most innovative military aircraft, including the U-2 spy plane, SR-71 Blackbird and F-117 stealth fighter. About 2,000 people work on 600 programs at Skunk Works, which got its nickname in 1943 at its original Burbank headquarters that was located next to a manufacturing plant that produced a strong odor.

Simon Atherton and his team crafted more than 900 swords, shields and other weaponry for "Clash of the Titans," but he's always been a pretty peaceful guy. "I don't really like shooting animals and things," he said. "And even though weapons like firearms and swords are functional, there is a lot of artistic input that goes into the weapons as well. People decorate them and make them into things that are quite beautiful. So all of these crafts that come into it fascinate me -- engraving, working with wood to make the stocks and the handles for swords."

The gig: Alton D. Romig Jr., 58, is "chief skunk" at Lockheed Martin Corp.'s famed Skunk Works secretive weapons development facility in Palmdale. It's one of the most coveted jobs in aerospace. For more than 70 years, workers at the shadowy site have designed and built the world's most innovative military aircraft, including the U-2 spy plane, SR-71 Blackbird and F-117 stealth fighter. About 2,000 people work on 600 programs at Skunk Works, which got its nickname in 1943 at its original Burbank headquarters that was located next to a manufacturing plant that produced a strong odor.

The 17-year-old football star's skin was black and his backpack red. Were it not for those colors, a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday, Jamiel Shaw II might never have been murdered by an 18th Street gang member eager to earn his stripes. Deputy Dist. Atty. Allyson Ostrowski said Pedro Espinoza, now 23, shot Shaw execution-style in 2008 thinking he was a Bloods gang member because he was African American and was carrying a red Spider-Man backpack. Shaw, who played for Los Angeles High School, was killed in March of that year just a few houses away from his Arlington Heights home.

The tales of survival almost strain belief. There's the off-road endurance race car that rolled down a steep and rocky slope, but the drive team's gear was undamaged inside their plastic storage cases. Then there's the military helicopter brought down by missile fire where, after the pilot and passengers escaped, the only thing salvageable inside was a plastic storage case. And when an improvised explosive device detonated under an armored vehicle in Pakistan, ripping apart the engine compartment, a U.S. Army combat engineer was able to walk away because of the plastic case that sat beneath his feet.

Mitt Romney on the stump, singles at the bar, car salesmen on the lot: All sorts of people are practicing the art of persuasion, with varying degrees of success. We like to think that we make our own decisions, that we're in control. But we're all open to persuasion by others, says Robert Cialdini, professor emeritus of psychology at Arizona State University and author of "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. " Humans have been testing their own trial-and-error persuasion techniques forever, Cialdini says.

In "The Hunger Games,"actress Leven Rambin plays a teenage girl who has trained since childhood to fight to the death in a post-apocalyptic arena. To embody the role, Rambin, 21, had to look the part of the young warrior and also be able to wield weapons convincingly - her character, Glimmer, is versed in sword fighting and archery. Rambin talked with us about going beyond her physical comfort zone to prepare for the part, learning to fight in the wilderness and discovering what she's really capable of. You had to get in excellent physical shape for "The Hunger Games.

SAN DIEGO — A Marine staff sergeant pleaded not guilty Thursday to a charge of murdering the 22-year-old wife of a fellow Marine as the prosecutor announced that the victim's blood and a possible murder weapon were found in the defendant's car. A judge ordered Staff Sgt. Louis Perez, 45, held in jail on $3-million bail in the killing of Brittany Dawn Killgore, whose body was found dumped near Lake Skinner in Riverside County. Killgore had been set to attend a dinner cruise in San Diego with Perez and his girlfriend on April 13 but instead sent a text message to a friend saying she was in "distress" and needed help, Deputy Dist.

  At a small table in a hotel restaurant where elderly men drank coffee and played speed chess, Abu Ismail's phone rang. He picked it up and squinted at the caller ID. "Allo," he said. "A 16? How many? $2,000? If it's clean, bring it, yes. " With that, Abu Ismail bought one M-16 assault rifle for the Syrian rebellion. For months, arms merchants such as Abu Ismail have been buying black-market weapons in Lebanon for the insurgency against Syrian President Bashar Assad.

OK, aside from that ? ESPN's Chris Mullin , on the Boston Celtics: "You know the key to their team? There's too many keys. "The opposing team comes in and says, we're going to shut down [ Rajon ] Rondo and KG [ Kevin Garnett ] and then Paul Pierce and Ray Allen explode. Shaquille O'Neal is a great fit. [ Glen ] 'Big Baby' Davis is wonderful.... "The biggest thing is Kevin Garnett's health has improved drastically and he's back where he was two years ago. " Letdown II Sam Smith of bulls.

Former star center fielder Lenny Dykstra will not be allowed to post or solicit on social networking or e-commerce sites over the next three years as part of a plea deal with city prosecutors, authorities said. Dykstra pleaded no contest Wednesday to misdemeanor charges of lewd conduct and assault with a deadly weapon involving women who responded to housekeeping ads he placed on Craigslist, authorities said Wednesday. Prosecutors said he would receive nine months in jail. Under the plea deal, Dykstra also was placed on three years' probation, including provisions to prevent him from misusing the Internet, which he used to lure women who traveled long distances and were desperate for work in the bad economy.

The radar-evading F-35 fighter jet, a nearly $400-billion weapons program under development for more than a decade, is facing its worst turbulence since Washington decided to buy it in 2001 - when it was billed as the most affordable, lethal and survivable military aircraft ever built for the U.S. and its allies. At a time when federal spending is under a microscope, the plan to develop and build 2,443 airplanes is hundreds of billions of dollars over budget. The F-35, known as the Joint Strike Fighter, has been delayed by glitches in its onboard computer systems, cracks in structural components and troubles with its electrical system.