SAN NARCISO, Calif. (Bennington Vale Evening Transcript) -- Batman fans, at least those of the film variety, have endured a roller coaster ride of terrific highs and pitiful lows as various directors have taken the helm. Tim Burton's two-picture outing with Michael Keaton as the Caped Crusader breathed a fresh and decidedly darker life back into the cowled vigilante, who had been familiar to most moviegoers as only a campy 60s icon -- much to the dismay of diehard comic fans accustomed to a grittier hero. But that franchise suffered mightily when new directors took over and reintroduced, by slow and painful degrees, the campiness of Adam West via Val Kilmer and the stiletto-nippled George Clooney. But just when all hope seemed lost, Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale crept from the celluloid shadows and transformed The Dark Knight into a cinematic triptych of nouveau noir art and sincere passion. Unfortunately, history is cyclical. Zach Snyder dropped a bomb Friday when he revealed Ben Affleck as the next Batman. After three days of incurring incessant hate from fans, Snyder defended his decision on Monday with a surprising confession: "I chose Ben because I needed a Batman people could despise."

SAN NARCISO, Calif. (Bennington Vale Evening Transcript) -- After more than two years of condemning Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the bloody conflict his regime launched in retaliation to the rebel uprisings in March 2011, the U.S. government finally threatened military intervention on Monday after al-Assad's use of chemical weapons against civilians became incontrovertible. The catalyst occurred on August 21, when snipers targeted U.N. weapons experts on their way to investigate an alleged chemical attack. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters that President Obama is now seeking to hold al-Assad accountable for deploying "the world's most heinous weapons against the world's most vulnerable people." And those vulnerable people, according to Edward Kraftstofflieber, a senior analyst with the State Department, are consumers living in oil-reliant nations to the West. "For the first time, the Syrian conflict seems poised to disrupt oil transport," Kraftstofflieber warned. "With gas prices soaring and the Labor Day holiday fast approaching, we must act now."

SAN NARCISO, Calif. (Bennington Vale Evening Transcript) -- Now that the slaying of an Australian baseball player in Oklahoma has become old news, the contentious debate of gun rights has once again given way to the contentious issue of gay rights. Much of the uproar stems from Russia's renewed sense of homophobia, which has resulted in the passage of recently ratified anti-gay laws that threaten to disrupt the 2014 Winter Olympics being hosted in Sochi. On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin shocked the global community anew by announcing that two cosmonauts would be arrested under the law upon their return to Earth for "propagandizing non-traditional sexual actions" during their attempts to repair a camera on the International Space Station.

SAN NARCISO, Calif. (Bennington Vale Evening Transcript) -- A mass shooting spree was averted Wednesday when a bookkeeper at a Georgia elementary school notified police of an armed gunman on campus and eventually talked him into surrendering. The one-on-one conversation, in which the employee sympathized with the would-be killer's psychological troubles and offered assurances of help, was captured on 911 tapes. This incident followed the tragic and unconscionable shooting death of Christopher Lane, 22, in Oklahoma on Friday. The Australian baseball player, in the United States on a sport's scholarship, was gunned down in cold blood by three teens who told authorities their only motive for the murder was boredom. Representatives from the National Rifle Association (NRA) expressed "absolute disgust" and outrage over Lane's death, calling for the U.S. government to "stop ignoring the serious and deadly problem of bored youth in the nation."

SAN NARCISO, Calif. (Bennington Vale Evening Transcript) -- Russia's stance toward LGBT rights has been checkered and tenuous throughout its history. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the new Russian Federation decriminalized male homosexual acts in 1993, but laws protecting people against discrimination and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation remain nonexistent. Same sex unions are also unrecognized in the country. In June 2013, Russia took another step backward in defending and promoting the rights of gays by passing a federal bill that bans the distribution of "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" to minors, using heavy fines, threats of imprisonment and overly broad interpretations to punish violators. The new law, signed by President Vladimir Putin, will be enforced during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The announcement provoked outcry from athletes around the world. On Thursday, the situation soured further when the Russian Sports Ministry declared its refusal to allow a series of traditional events at the competition.