I don't begin to get what Heather's gripe is concerning this episode. It felt like a sudden return to form for me, reminding me of nothing so much as the miniseries, where a sudden shock also sent the characters reeling off in all directions.

I thought Roslin's breakdown was a brilliant and brave move by the writers, well played by Mary McDonnell. Her wordless return - managing to mumble only the phrase, "Get me out of here," to her handlers - provided a stark contrast to the kind of pep speech a cardboard "leader" would give on some lesser program.

Roslin was always a reluctant leader, boosted more by prophecy and need than any personal lust for power. She was the only hope for civilian government for awhile, pitted against Adama, then the only hope for finding Earth. With that purpose cut out from under her - not only is Earth an uninhabitable wasteland, but it was populated by fracking Cylons - the responsibility for leading the human race there falls squarely on her shoulders. And unlike most self-appointed "leaders" (read: sociopaths), she knows it.

Speaking of hope, I love the fact that Tigh is now probably the one person in the fleet who has any genuine hope. He thinks the Old Man might be able to fend of Cavil and find the Colonists a new home, and he was ecstatic to learn that his beloved Ellen is the final Cylon.

I think it's great that such a twisted fucked-up romance has persisted across at least two lifespans. Talk about mythology.

Oh, and someone was grumbling about Adama pulling the fleet away from Earth without continuing their investigations of it. Well, they don't really have the luxury of remaining in orbit around a radioactive globe indefinitely - the fleet needs supplies, humanity needs a new home and Cavil is still in pursuit. Beyond that, the biggest danger to the fleet seems to be a collapse in morale - staying in orbit around a dead Earth is only gonna make that worse. Best to haul ass out of there.

Anything that follows the same set of characters over years - and wants to be more interesting than watching paint dry - is going to become "melodramatic" by definition. Saying that Battlestar Galactica is melodramatic is like saying that water is wet.

Duh!

If you want pure drama, you aren't going to get it in a long-running series with continuing characters. Period. End of discussion.

That having been said, Galactica is about the least-melodramatic long-running series concerning the apocalypse you could possibly imagine. In fact, it's less melodramatic than probably 95% of the so-called dramatic movies that have been released by Hollywood during its run. And those individual films haven't been laboring under the burden of providing about 14 hours of material a year for 4 years.

If you want to see what the next iMac form factor might look like, take a look at this keyboard PC concept Asus was showing off at CES:

http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/?p=8842

Wirless HDMI means the only cord you'd need to connect to this machine is the power cord. Everything else - from the mouse to USB to the monitor - could connect wirelessly. Although clearly there's room for a full set of connectors, if you did want to plug something in. The keyboard PC even comes with a built-in battery, so it can chug on for an hour or two even with the plug pulled.

I could see Apple going with a design like this - complete with a little multi-touch screen - for the next iMac.

To see Rick Warren stab Obama in the back during his speech tomorrow, kicking off his own 2012 Presidential campaign.

Check out this article by Max Blumenthal on the true nature of Warren's "charitable" AIDS work in Africa:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-01-07/the-truth-about-rick-warren-in-africa/full/

To quote:

However, an investigation into Warren’s involvement in Africa reveals a web of alliances with right-wing clergymen who have sidelined science-based approaches to combating AIDS in favor of abstinence-only education. More disturbingly, Warren’s allies have rolled back key elements of one of the continent’s most successful initiative, the so-called ABC program in Uganda. Stephen Lewis, the United Nations’ special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, told the New York Times their activism is “resulting in great damage and undoubtedly will cause significant numbers of infections which should never have occurred.”

Warren’s man in Uganda is a charismatic pastor named Martin Ssempa. The head of the Makerere Community Church, a rapidly growing congregation, Ssempe enjoys close ties to his country’s First Lady, Janet Museveni, and is a favorite of the Bush White House. In the capitol of Kampala, Ssempa is known for his boisterous crusading. Ssempa’s stunts have included burning condoms in the name of Jesus and arranging the publication of names of homosexuals in cooperative local newspapers while lobbying for criminal penalties to imprison them.

Yeah, this is just the kind of douchebag we want to invite to an inauguration. Well, at least he's not gay!