I’m relatively new to the whole podcasting thingamajig, but I have to say the The Onion’s Radio News podcast is on the one hand very profane, and on the other extremely hilarious.

My results:
I am  An Expendable Character (Redshirt)

An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 65% Geordi LaForge 50% Jean-Luc Picard 45% Will Riker 35% James T. Kirk (Captain) 30% Worf 25% Chekov 20% Beverly Crusher 20% Data 20% Deanna Troi 20% Mr. Scott 15% Uhura 15% Spock 10% Mr. Sulu 10% Leonard McCoy (Bones) 0%

Since your accomplishments are seldom noticed, and you are rarely thought of, you are expendable. That doesn’t mean your job isn’t important but if you were in Star Trek you would be killed off in the first episode you appeared in.

Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Test

The willingness of this administration to use whatever means to silence dissent still amazes me.  V.A. nurse, Laura Berg, is being investigated for sedition — sedition! — because she wrote a letter to the editor criticizing the Bush administration’s handling of the Iraq War and the Hurricane Katrina disaster.  Sedition!  According to dictionary.com, sedition is "Conduct or language inciting rebellion against the authority of a state."  Even the most "inflammatory" snippets mentioned in this article would not fall under this definition.  It truly is a sad time for our country.

Via Huffington Post.

Maybe it’s just me, but Battlestar Galactica really seems to be off its game lately.  After a great first half of season two and a fantastic return for the second half with the "Resurrection Ships" episodes the show has really fizzled out.  It’s almost as if the writers are already running out of story ideas!  Granted, I don’t expect space battles and major plot twists every episode, but it just seems like the recent "filler" episodes have been heavy on the filler and light on the plot.

**SPOILERS**

This week’s episode, Sacrifice, was hostage drama that seemed poorly written and poorly directed.  In addition, it brought about the death of one of the more interesting supporting characters, the president’s assistant Billy.  Totally unnecessary.  I don’t know if the producers needed to cut the budget, but they never really found a way to utilize this actor and his character; that is, until his final episode when they finally gave him great dialog and showed us that did indeed have a backbone.  It’s a shame the writers chose the easy way out.  Of course, I could be wrong; maybe Paul Campbell need an out for another project.  In addition, they got a great guest star in Dana Delaney and gave her such a poor character to play.  I would much rather have seen her as a political rival to Laura Roslin.  She and Mary McDonnell together on the screen would have been fun to watch.

I’m also disliking the back and forth between the characters and their development.  In one episode they’ve come to terms with one issue or another and by the next episode they’re back to the way they were before.  This is especially annoying with Starbuck.  This characte has changed so much since the mini-series and first season, yet with each step forward she seems to take three steps back.  The writers have such great potential with both the character and the actress and I just wish they would learn to work better with it.

Then there is Apollo.  Once again, a great character and a great actor in Jamie Bamber, yet the writers dither between making him a wimp and making him a great military man.  Moreover, can we stop with the near-death experiences.  I think it’s enough for one man, don’t you, writers?

Of course, it’s not all failures.  The writers seems to be at their best when it comes to their Cylon characters.  Both Tricia Helfer as Number Six and Grace Park as Sharon are very well-written characters helped by actresses who’ve really embraced their roles.  One would never expect a pretty face like Helfer to have such range, but in this season she has shown more potential than any other cast member, with the possible exception of Katee Sackhoff.

Oh, well, these last few episodes have not been that great, but BG is still one of the best dramas on television and deserving of a hell of a lot more recognition and viewers than it currently gets. By the way, if you’re interested in behind-the-scenes stuff, Executive Producer David Eick presents a weekly video blog of the show.  I should point out, however, that Eick and fellow Executive Producer Ronald D. Moore often come off as pompous and condescending. 

Sorry, I just couldn’t resist.  I’m sure this isn’t humrous for the man hit with the buckshot, but that doesn’t mean the late night comedians aren’t going to have a field day.

Looks like the NY Times finally woke up.  Too little, too late in my opinion; not to mention no one really cares what the Times thinks anymore.  That being said, it paints a pretty accurate picture of the Bush II Administration — and it’s not a pretty picture.  I really think it’s starting to sink in to many Americans that President Bush’s "plan" to keep us safe comes with a high price.  Don’t get me wrong; I want our elected leaders to do what they can to keep us safe.  However, I do not believe we have to give up our rights and freedoms in order to be safe.  To many of our sons and daughters have died to ensure we still have those rights and freedoms.  Granted, I understand there may be more hoops to jump through in order to maintain those freedoms, but if we just blithely allow any elected leader, regardless of party affiliation, just unilaterally decide he or she can ignore the law of the land, then we don’t deserve those freedoms.  Moreover, if we just look the other way then the terrorists have won.