Pope: 'Ashamed' of clergy abuse scandal

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE - Pope Benedict XVI said Tuesday he was "deeply ashamed" of the clergy sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church and will work to make sure pedophiles don't become priests.

Benedict was answering questions submitted in advance by reporters aboard a special Alitalia airliner as he was flying from Rome to Washington to begin his first papal pilgrimage to the United States.

"It is a great suffering for the Church in the United States and for the church in general and for me personally that this could happen," Benedict said. "It is difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betray in this way their mission ... to these children."

"I am deeply ashamed and we will do what is possible so this cannot happen again in the future," the pope said.

Benedict pledged that pedophiles would not be priests in the Catholic Church.

"We will absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry," Benedict said in English. "It is more important to have good priests than many priests. We will do everything possible to heal this wound."

Benedict's pilgrimage was the first trip by a pontiff to the United States since the scandal involving priests sexually abusing young people rocked U.S. dioceses. The church has paid out more than $2 billion in abuse costs since 1950, with hundreds of millions in settlements just since 2002. Six U.S. dioceses have declared bankruptcy in recent years because of the financial toll of the scandal.

Pedophilia is "absolutely incompatible" with the priesthood," Benedict said.

Vatican officials selected four questions to be read by the journalists to the pontiff aboard the plane.

Benedict described his pilgrimage as a journey to meet a "great people and a great church." He spoke about the American model of religious values within a system of separation of church and state.

From a presidential welcome, to two Masses at baseball stadiums, to a stop for prayer at ground zero in New York, Benedict will get a heavy dose of the American experience.

President Bush planned to make the unusual gesture of greeting him at Andrews Air Force Base — the first time the president has greeted a foreign leader there.

The pope said he will discuss immigration with Bush, including the difficulties of families who are separated by immigration.

While the pope and Bush differ on such major issues on the Iraq war, capital punishment and the U.S. embargo against Cuba, they do find common ground in opposing abortion, gay marriage and embryonic stem cell research.

White House press secretary Dana Perino, asked about the pope's comments about the clergy sex abuse scandal, said she wouldn't rule out that the topic would come up in conversation between the pope and the president.

But she added that "I don't think it's necessarily on the president's top priorities" for his agenda in talking with the pope.

Perino said the two leaders would likely discuss human rights, religious tolerance and the fight against violent extremism.

As for the war in Iraq, Perino said, "Obviously, there were differences years back." She downplayed those, emphasizing instead a strong bond between Bush and the pope.

Peter Isely, a board member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the pope should go further and establish child protection policies for the worldwide church. He said penalties should be established for church leaders who fail to discipline predatory priests.

"It's easy and tempting to continually focus on the pedophile priests themselves," Isely said. "It's harder but crucial to focus on the broader problem — complicity in the rest of the church hierarchy."

Although a few bishops accused of molestation have stepped down, no bishop has been disciplined for failing to keep abusive clergy away from children. Cardinal Bernard Law resigned as archbishop of Boston in 2002 after church files were made public showing he and other church leaders had allowed accused clergy to continue in public ministry.

Benedict will give a speech at the United Nations during the second, New York leg of his six-day trip.

A crowd of up to 12,000, larger than the gathering for Queen Elizabeth II, is expected at the White House Wednesday to greet Benedict on his 81st birthday. Aides say he is in good health.

After making little headway in his efforts to rekindle the faith in his native Europe, the German-born Benedict will be visiting a country where many of the 65 million Catholics are eager to hear what he says.

A poll released Sunday by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University found eight in 10 Catholics are somewhat or very satisfied with his leadership.

Benedict is expected to stress the importance of moral values and take on what he sees are the dangers of moral relativism — that is, that there are no absolute rights and wrongs.

Also, while in New York, Benedict will visit the Park East synagogue, part of his efforts for close relations with Jews. Like his predecessor John Paul II, he has referred to Jews as "our older brothers in faith."

He also will celebrate Mass at Nationals Park in Washington and Yankee Stadium in New York, his last major event of the trip.

The Pope's Sex Abuse Challenge

Pope Benedict XVI's trip this week to the United States will include high-profile visits to the White House, United Nations and Ground Zero. But no matter what political issues or media angles may be buzzing before take-off, the Vatican tends to stress the pastoral aspect of any papal journey. The six-day itinerary is above all stacked with church services, baseball stadium masses and Catholic institutional encounters to allow the pontiff to tend to his flock, and to the priests and bishops who do the ministering when he's back in Rome.

The American visit, however, poses an unprecedented pastoral challenge for the 80-year-old pontiff. Benedict's is the first papal trip to the United States since the priest sex abuse crisis erupted in 2001. It is a controversy that has left much of the American laity bitterly disillusioned with their Church's leadership. For many of the 67 million American Catholics, how the Pope confronts the lingering fallout from the pedophilia scandal may largely determine the success of this visit.

Benedict's arrival in the U.S. is being seen as a make-or-break moment for Rome to regain the trust of its American flock, the third largest national contingent within a worldwide Catholic Church of 1.1 billion faithful. In recent days, the Vatican has confirmed that on at least one occasion Benedict will specifically address the issue. The Vatican's No. 2 official, Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, told FOX News that the Pope will confront the "open wound" of sex abuse during the April 19 morning mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral for New York-area clergy. It is unclear whether his words will amount to a mea culpa similar to those pronounced by John Paul II back in 2000 for the sins of the Church over past centuries, including persecution of Jews and heretics. Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, who heads the Vatican office for the clergy, sent a letter to bishops around the world in January, urging special prayer sessions for the victims of sexual abuse by priests.

Some Catholic lay groups say, however, that words and prayers are not enough, and have called on the Pope to personally meet with victims of priest abuse. Though it is not part of the official program of events, the Vatican has not ruled out such an encounter, and may be holding on to the option as a possible surprise stroke of spontaneity where the Holy Father's human contact might help assuage some of the lingering pain. It will be important to follow closely both the words and any potential gestures to see if the reserved pontiff manages to address the suffering of victims, and Catholics in general, with both sincerity and substance.

The American flock requires much mending. Kevin O'Toole, a lawyer and devoted churchgoer from Manchester, Vermont, says "there's still a disconnect" in the way top Church officials see the issue. "They still don't get it," he said. "They are trying to do the right thing, but it's still a measured response. And I think the time for being measured is gone." Like others, O'Toole says that senior Church officials, including bishops who transferred known abusive priests to other dioceses, have not taken responsibility for the crimes committed against children.

Some of those most directly involved with the issue remain deeply skeptical of a Vatican leadership they say has largely washed its hands of the pedophilia scandal, calling it an "American problem" and blaming the media for blowing it out of proportion. David Clohessy, head of the SNAP sex abuse victims group, said the Vatican continues to lack real measures for combating sex abuse within its ranks. "[Benedict] will totally avoid reference to the ongoing complicity and duplicity and recklessness of top church officials," he said "That's the scandal." Clohessy also called on the Pope to use the U.S. visit to announce the extension of new Church policies for combating the problem worldwide, noting that even the measures taken by the U.S. Church, which he considers insufficient, are better than nothing. "For 94% of Catholic kids on the planet," he said, "there's not even a pretext of a minimal set of standards for clergy sex abuse cases."

Of course, for Benedict to win over American Catholics, responding to the crisis is just a start. Two open-air masses, on April 17 at the Washington Nationals' baseball stadium and on April 20 at New York's Yankee Stadium will show the shy Pope is improving on the public stage. With a reputation as a doctrinal hardliner, Americans may be pleasantly surprised that Benedict tends not to wag his finger at the faithful on these pastoral missions. But with the recent history in the U.S. church, he can focus on what's best in the American church only if he is sure not to avoid what is worst. View this article on Time.com

BSG and David Letterman top 10

w00t. BSG was on the top 10 like a month ago. i have some of the screen caps. sorry for the bad res by the way





the BSG cast



Aaron Douglas
Petty Officer Chief Tyrol

Lucy Lawless
D'Aana Biers (Number 3)

James Callis
Gaius Baltar

Grace Park
Sharon Valerii

Tricia Helfer
Number 6

Michael Hogan
Colonel Saul Tigh


Jamie Bamber
Lee Adama

Katee Sackoff
Kara Thrace

Mary Mcdonnell
Laura Roslin

Edward James Olmos
Admiral William Adama

it’s yet more ‘Doctor Who’ with ‘The Sarah Jane Adventures’

There are three Law & Order shows and three CSI shows, so why not three Doctor Who shows? Hell, why not three hundred Doctor Who shows? Russell Davies doesn’t need to sleep, does he?

You might not have heard, since it’s been kinda low-key, but there’s a third Doctor Who series on the air in England: The Sarah Jane Adventures. And now it’s coming to the Sci Fi Channel, debuting tomorrow, Friday, April 11, at 7:30pm Eastern. It’s a 90-minute premiere, with ten more half-hour episodes to follow. Next Friday, April 18, there’s one SJA at 8pm followed by the 90-minute Doctor Who premiere at 8:30pm; after that, it’s two SJAs at 8pm followed by DW at 9pm. Battlestar Galactica follows at 10pm every Friday. Like my Friday nights weren’t dorky enough already.

I’ve seen all of SJA already, of course -- in, ahem, the usual way that we enormous Doctor Who dorks have been doing when we don’t want to wait -- but I’m still gonna watch ‘em again on Sci Fi. It doesn’t have the Doctor or David Tennant like Doctor Who does, and it’s not sexy like Torchwood, but still: it’s pretty much Doctor Who. The idea is that journalist Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen), who traveled with the third and fourth Doctors (Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker) so long ago, has been revitalized by her meeting with the Tennant Doctor in the episode “School Reunion,” and now she’s back in the fighting-aliens swing of things, working out of her cool-creaky old suburban house with the help of her 13-year-old neighbor, Maria Jackson (Yasmin Paige), and a strange boy of around the same apparent age named Luke (Thomas Knight): he’s a kind of cross between Kyle XY and Starman, and Sarah adopts him as her own child at the end of the first episode (though I’ll let you wait to see how that comes about).

As the presence of the youngsters suggests -- never mind the fact that the show was produced for Children’s BBC, or CBBC -- SJA is much more in the vein of the original Doctor Who. It’s aimed at 6- to 12-year-olds, and the stories are commensurately simpler, but its frequent bubble-gum brightness does not mask some deeper, tougher issues. Maria lives with her divorced father (Joseph Millson) -- her mother (Juliet Cowan) is a minor pain in the ass who shows up once in a while to make a nuisance of herself -- and the problems of kids and parents coping with divorce isn’t ignored. Nor is Sarah Jane’s difficulties in coping with motherhood for the first time in her 50s.

The aliens up to no good include some familiar faces from Doctor Who -- the Slitheen are back, for one -- and the stories hit some social commentary on life in the Western world in the 21st century, and offer, as well, some very perceptive insight into adolescence. But it’s Sarah Jane who’s the most interesting aspect of the show, from the perspective of an adult fan. Oh, how she still pines for the Doctor: that much is perfectly obvious. When she tells herself -- and tells us -- that “life on earth can be an adventure, too, you just need to know where to look,” it sounds an awful lot like wishful thinking, even giving all the actual adventure and danger she manages to find without leaving the planet. Poor Sarah Jane...

Neat things to watch for in The Sarah Jane Adventures:

• The first episode features a cameo from an alien race that has appeared in Torchwood.

• Sarah Jane has some cool toys -- a “sonic lipstick” and a Dick Tracy-style watch that detects alien life -- that apparently the Doctor left for her.

• Corridor running! Ya can’t have Doctor Who without it.

• Sarah Jane lives on Bannerman Road (as in “Delta and...” What, you didn’t watch Sylvester McCoy?)

• Sarah Jane’s secret attic headquarters is stuffed with mementoes of her life with the Doctor: pictures of the Brigadier and Harry Sullivan, drawings of the TARDIS, a book she wrote called UNIT: Fighting for Humanity, and more. Prepare for freeze-framing.

• With K9 off on an important mission, Sarah Jane relies on the help of a mysterious supercomputer she calls “Mr. Smith.” Is it only me who finds something just a little weird about that?

Battlestar's' Tricia Helfer inks deal with Fox

"Battlestar Galactica" co-star Tricia Helfer has inked a talent holding deal with Fox Broadcasting. Under the one-year pact, the actress will star in a series project for the network, probably a drama. Fox head of casting Marcia Shulman first spotted model-turned-actress Helfer on Sci Fi Channel's hit series, where she plays the beautiful but dangerous Cylon Number Six. Last season, Fox cast Helfer in Jonathan Mostow's drama pilot "Them." "After we saw the pilot, we were wowed by her," Shulman said.

Shulman then went to the Toronto International Film Festival, where she saw Canadian-born Helfer in the indie "Walk All Over Me." "She was so incredible in it," Shulman said. "She had a pretty remarkable range, she showed vulnerability and strength. She is a star." "Walk," in which Helfer stars opposite Leelee Sobieski, is being released in the U.S. by the Weinstein Co.

Helfer, who can be seen in the final season of "Galactica," is managed by Gilbertson Entertainment.

DEPECHE MODE - GAHAN IS SICK OF SUICIDE RUMOURS

Google News

DEPECHE MODE rocker DAVE GAHAN is angry about rumours his heroin and cocaine drug overdose in 1996 was a suicide attempt - because he didn't want to die. The former hellraiser was pronounced clinically dead after combining the drugs - known as a speedball - in a Los Angeles hotel room. He was revived by paramedics and survived, and has spent the last eleven years convincing doubters he didn't intend to kill himself. Now 45, Gahan tells Hustler magazine, "I'm painfully aware that was not what I was trying to do. All I was trying to do was disappear for a while, and that became a lost weekend." Despite dodging death, Gahan, is convinced his will to live helped him survive the overdose. The now-clean star explains, "(I survived) because I wanted to. Booze and drugs can be fun for a while, and then they're not. That's just the way it goes. There's nothing new. "What I thought I wanted to do in my life was escape constantly from whatever it was that was going on. That is not the case anymore. I'm here and I really enjoy the challenge of life."

Harry Potter author goes to court

NEW YORK - Author J.K. Rowling is eager to tell a judge this week that one of her biggest fans is in fantasyland if he believes a "Harry Potter" encyclopedia he plans to publish does not violate her copyrights.

The showdown between Rowling and Steven Vander Ark is scheduled to last most of the week in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Rowling is scheduled to testify Monday in a trial that is sure to generate huge interest among Harry Potter fans and the public. Her lawyer has arranged with the judge to have a private security guard for Rowling in the courtroom and for the author to spend breaks in the seclusion of a jury room — away from any die-hard Potter fans in attendance.

The trial comes eight months after Rowling published her seventh and final book in the widely popular Harry Potter series. The books have been published in 64 languages, sold more than 400 million copies and spawned a film franchise that has pulled in $4.5 billion at the worldwide box office.

Rowling brought the lawsuit last year against Vander Ark's publisher, RDR Books, to stop publication of the "Harry Potter Lexicon."

Rowling is actually a big fan of the Harry Potter Lexicon website that Vander Ark runs. But she draws the line when it comes to publishing the book and charging $24.95. She also says it fails to include any of the commentary and discussion that enrich the Web site and calls it "nothing more than a rearrangement" of her own material.

One of her lawyers, Dan Shallman, on Friday told Judge Robert P. Patterson, who will hear the trial without a jury, that Rowling "feels like her words were stolen."

He said the author felt so personally violated that she made her own comparisons between her seven best-selling novels and the lexicon and was ready to testify about the similarities in dozens of instances.

David Saul Hammer, a lawyer for RDR Books, which plans to sell the lexicon, said the publisher will not challenge the claim by Rowling that much of the material in the lexicon infringed her copyrights.

But the judge will decide whether the use of the material by the small Muskegon, Mich., publisher was legal because it was used for some greater purpose, such as a scholarly pursuit.

In court papers filed prior to the trial, Rowling said she was "deeply troubled" by the book.

"If RDR's position is accepted, it will undoubtedly have a significant, negative impact on the freedoms enjoyed by genuine fans on the Internet," she said. "Authors everywhere will be forced to protect their creations much more rigorously, which could mean denying well-meaning fans permission to pursue legitimate creative activities."

In court papers, Vander Ark, 50, said he was a teacher and school librarian in Byron Center, Mich., before recently moving to London to begin a career as a writer.

He said he joined an adult online discussion group devoted to the books in 1999 before launching his own Web site as a hobby a year later. Since then, neither Rowling nor her publisher had ever complained about anything on it, he said.

In May 2004, he said, Rowling mentioned his Web site on her own, writing, "This is such a great site that I have been known to sneak into an Internet cafe while out writing and check a fact rather than go into a bookshop and buy a copy of Harry Potter (which is embarrassing). A web site for the dangerously obsessive; my natural home."

The Web site attracts about 1.5 million page views per month and contributions from people all over the world, Vander Ark said.

He said he initially declined proposals to convert the Web site into an encyclopedia, in part because he believed until last August that in book form, it would represent a copyright violation.

After Rowling released the final chapter in the Harry Potter series that same month, Vander Ark was contacted by an RDR Books employee, who told him that publication of the lexicon would not violate copyright law, he said.

Still, to protect himself, Vander Ark said he insisted that RDR Books include a clause in his contract that the publisher would defend and pay any damages that might result from claims against him.

He said it was decided that the lexicon would include sections from the Lexicon Web site that give descriptions and commentary on individual names, places, spells and creatures from Harry Potter stories.

In his court statement, Vander Ark still sounds like a fan, saying the lexicon "enhances the pleasure of readers of the Potter novels, and deepens their appreciation of Ms. Rowling's achievement."

But the affection no longer seems a shared experience.

In court Friday, Hammer said Rowling's lawyers did not want Vander Ark in the courtroom while Rowling testifies.

___

On the Net:

Harry Potter Lexicon: http://www.hp-lexicon.org/

Harry Potter Official Site: http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/

Legendary Map Pack Impressions

Apr. 11 8:56 AM by Dylan Duarte

The nice folks at Bungie saw fit to supply a few of us here at Gamepro with access to the new Legendary Map Pack that's due to hit Live next Tuesday. Since the maps are not yet available in matchmaking, I was restricted to goofing around all by my lonesome in a custom game. Still, I was able to get a good feel for the new content. Hit the jump for my impressions.

Avalance

Check out Bungie's interactive map here to get an idea of what the map is like visually.

I never got into the online Halo scene until this latest installment, so I'm not familiar with Sidewinder, the map which Avalanche is supposedly based on. I'm judging it with fresh eyes. While the feeling of nostalgia is lost on me, I can't imagine it greatly hindered my enjoyment of what is all around a solid map.

As I've noted on this site before, I'm a fan of big, open maps; bonus points for lots of vehicles. Avalanche fits this description quite well. The entire map is laid out in a horseshoe shape, but it's a horseshoe big enough to shoe the horse of a god. The setting is a large forerunner power station that pulls its power from within the ice. However, I've renamed the map Man Cannon Emporium and I like to describe it as a winter wonderland of death and destruction.

If you couldn't guess from the new title that I've given it, Avalanche has man cannons placed all around the maps. While they serve an aesthetic purpose, looking like vents for the power station, they perform the same task as a man cannon, which is flinging your character threw the air. Some of them are poking out of the mountainside and are near impossible to reach, but this makes the setting all the more believable. It's set on a glacier, so the entire map - with the exception of a few structures - is a snowy white. Expect a lot of people to use white armor, as darker colors will stick out like a sore thumb.

Fans of maps like Valhalla and Stand Off will find a lot to like here. You have a couple structures that allow for some close-quarters combat, but to get to them you have to trek across a frozen field of death with warthogs and mongooses sliding around while pelicans duke it out in the sky. I can see the map lending itself well to two equally awesome scenarios: small battles where there's a lot of frantic running and searching, or huge, epic battles where explosions fill the sky and you can't afford to drop your guard for a second.

While Avalanche will make for some awesome vehicular battles, don't think that running around on foot is a bad idea. There are plenty of places that vehicles can't reach, where a lone gunmen with a spartan laser could easily dominate. The middle also contains a few sniper rifles, which could help you control the map. Each base is set up in a way that would be relatively easy to defend, so it might not be a bad strategy to grab a sniper rifle and hightail it back home, where you can wait for your opponents to come to you.

Black Out

Black Out is a re-imagining of the Halo 2 map Lock Out. Check out the interactive map here, towards the bottom of the page.

Black Out immediately reminded me of the Halo 3 map Guardian. It features a series of twisting corridors that ultimately lead to a big, open center platform. It's also the kind of map that you won't fully appreciate until you memorize some of the aforementioned twisting corridors. Black Out takes place on a UNSC weather station in the antartic and that big center platform is a helipad. One of the first things I noticed is how visually appealing the map is. If you look up, you'll see the aurora borealis (or it could be the aurora australis), which is an amazing sight to behold. If you look below the station, you'll see ice fragments covering most of the water. And if you look to the north of the station, you'll see an icy cliff glowing in the moonlight. It's all very appealing to the eye.

I'm not crazy about small maps. In fact, Guardian is probably my least favorite map. However, Black Out is something of a mystery to me. It definitely looks like a smaller map, but it feels wide open. There are pathways everywhere, but you're not restricted to them. I found myself bounding to and fro across platforms and climbing on top of walls. This is dangerous because one could easily fall to a frozen death, but it also gives you a lot more freedom than you would initially think the map offered. Black Out does offer a sniper rifle which you could put to good use if you find a nice perch, but you may be better off grabbing the shotgun or plasma sword and tearing ass through the hallways. You're going to see a lot of hectic, fast-paced battles.

Ghost Town

Check out the overhead at the bottom of this page.

Unlike the other two maps, Ghost Town is brand spankin' new, not based on any previous content. Like Black Out, it's a fairly small map that feels much bigger due to how open it is. However, unlike Black Out, which featured a series of small corridors and one big central location, Ghost Town features a series of small passageways broken up my several medium-sized locations. There isn't one centralized battleground. The middle area is big enough to drive a mongoose around (the map features two), but that's about it. In fact, vehicles fans should note that this map is basically some sort of mongoose stunt arena, filled with all sorts of ramps and jumps.

One of my favorite things about Ghost Town is that you can pretty much skirt the entire perimeter of the map undetected by using various passageways made from run-down buildings. Many of the routes are very unconventional, as you're basically carving your own path through these ancient ruins of what use to be a water purification facility. Thematically, the map bears some resemblance to the Sierra 117 mission, as the location of the ruins is supposedly just north-west of the hydroelectric facility where that mission takes place. While there is some scaffolding and other obvious paths to take, you'll spending a lot of time jumping over piles of rubble and walking through broken pipes. There are also quite a few nooks and crannies - made from years of slow destruction - that you can hide in and wait for your prey.

Cosmetically, the map is about on par with Black Out. It's the early evening and the light from the setting sun looks fairly breathtaking. The buildings look old and decrepit, like they should, and the foliage really helps the composition amidst the drab gray and brown of the concrete and dirt.

To be honest, Stand Off from the heroic map pack still holds its place in my heart as the best Halo 3 map. That being said, the Legendary Map Pack features some solid content - Avalanche especially - that is easily worth the ten bucks if you're an avid Halo player.

Pre-order The Ark of Truth soundtrack

The soundtrack to Stargate: The Ark of Truth is now available for pre-order on composer Joel Goldsmith's Web site, FreeClyde.com! The CD will begin shipping April 18.
"Recorded live with the Seattle Northwest Sinfonia, this CD underscores the conclusion of SG-1's struggle with the Ori ...," Goldsmith's site says. "Along with this epic score is a 16-page full-color booklet that includes articles by Robert C. Cooper, Brad Wright, and Joel Goldsmith.

"Stargate Fans will be thrilled by the original artwork designed by the FreeClyde team and exclusive photography from the film."

FreeClyde includes five samples from the soundtrack in full fidelity, now available for listening. If you have yet to see the film beware SPOILERS in some paragraphs!

Pre-order your copy at FreeClyde.com. Watch for GateWorld's review of the Ark of Truth soundtrack in the coming weeks!

The newest season of Atlantis is coming to DVD July 8, with all 20 episodes and tons of bonus features. Order now at Amazon.



Click Here to Pre Order

Nicole de Boer cast in Stargate Atlantis

Actress Nicole de Boer has been cast in an upcoming episode of Stargate Atlantis, executive producer Joseph Mallozzi told readers of his blog. de Boer will play Dr. Alison Porter in "Whispers," expected to air as the seventh episode of Season Five.

The actress is a veteran of the science fiction genre, having played Ezri Dax in the final season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. She also played Sarah Bannerman for six years on the USA Network series The Dead Zone.

In "Whispers," Alison Porter is a scientist described in the script as a "cute nerd." She strikes up a friendship with Carson Beckett (guest star Paul McGillion) when he and Sheppard arrive on the planet which Porter's team is exploring.

The rest of the all-woman Atlantis recon team has also been cast. In addition to Leela Savasta as Captain Alicia Vega (story), the team will consist of Christina Cox as Major Anne Teldy and Janina Gavankar as Sergeant Dusty Mehra.

Christina Cox

Cox, 36, Cox has appeared twice on Stargate SG-1. She played the alien T'akaya in Season Two's "Spirits," and rogue N.I.D. operative Lieutenant Kershaw in Season Five's "The Sentinel." The actress has also appeared on such series as Blood Ties, Andromeda, and House M.D.

Gavankar has had a recurring role on The L Word, in addition to other projects.

In other news from Mallozzi, executive producer Brad Wright's script for the upcoming season has been renamed from "The Shrine of Talus" to "The Shrine," due to legal clearance issues.

Finally, the second half of the mid-season two-parter now has a working title: "The Lost Tribe."

Learn more about "Whispers" and the rest of Season Five in GateWorld's growing episode guide! New episodes kick off this July in the United States.

BOOOOOOOO: High School Musical back for 4

Disney Channel exec says that as third edition of hit TV movie is set to begin filming, work has already started on a fourth.

High School Musical, the hit TV movie that has spawned multiplatinum soundtracks, blockbuster DVDs, a sold-out tour, and thousands of screaming preteens, isn't going away anytime soon.

That's the word from Disney Channel Worldwide president Rich Ross, who told the Hollywood Reporter yesterday that work has already begun on a script for High School Musical 4, even though filming has yet to begin on High School Musical 3.

"We are writing High School Musical 4," Ross said after a presentation at a midtown Manhattan recording studio.

The cast, including stars Vanessa Hudgens, Zac Efron, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu, and Monique Coleman, are currently preparing for High School Musical 3: Senior Year, which is set to begin filming in two weeks in Utah.

Although Disney is already looking past the third edition of the series, which is scheduled to hit theaters in October, some of the cast members might not be back.

"[High School Musical 3 is] "going to be the farewell to the East High Wildcats for a while," Efron told MTV News in January. "It's the third act. This is the legacy that we leave... I think it's going to be a good way to go out with a bang."

Ross hinted at the possibility that some of the cast might not return. "Are we going to have all the cast back? Probably not," Ross said. "Will we have some of them? I hope so."

The premiere of High School Musical 2 was watched by 18.6 million viewers, shattering cable TV record.

ewww. people say that the movie industry is going down i think i know the reason now.

This is for all of the HSM fans

Europe rejects anti-piracy plans

European politicians have voted down calls to throw suspected file-sharers off the net.

The idea to cut off persistent pirates formed part of a wide-ranging report on creative industries written for the European parliament.

But in a narrow vote MEPs backed an amendment to the report which said net bans conflicted with "civil liberties and human rights".

It puts MEPS at odds with governments planning tough action against pirates.

Piracy police

"The vote shows that MEPs want to strike a balance between the interests of rights holders and those of consumers, and that big measures like cutting off internet access shouldn't be used," said a spokeswoman for the European Parliament after the vote.

The amendment was added to the so-called Bono Report on the Cultural Industries. This was written by French MEP Guy Bono to inform forthcoming European parliament policy that would encourage growth in the region's creative industries.

The amendment called on the EC and its member nations to "avoid adopting measures conflicting with civil liberties and human rights and with the principles of proportionality, effectiveness and dissuasiveness, such as the interruption of internet access."

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which represents Europe's music industry, said the amendment was "badly drafted" and contradicted the rest of the report.

"We look forward to a full discussion in the European Parliament in the coming months on how best to address copyright theft online," said the IFPI.

The vote has no legal force and leaves national governments free to implement their own anti-piracy plans.

But, said the Open Rights Group, it does "signify resistance" among European law makers to the strict measures that nations such as France are implementing.

In late November 2007 France announced its intention to implement a law that turns net firms into anti-piracy watchdogs.

Information gathered about individuals who persistently share music and movies online will be passed to a government unit that will issue warnings or ask for an individual's net access to be suspended or shut off.

The British government has floated similar plans but net firms have rejected calls for them to act as watchdogs.

Life Can Be An Adventure Too

BBC does it again. they brought back a really cool show called The Sarah Jane Adventures. it was great. i saw the pilot and was very proud of the outcome. for all of you who do not know the show here is the TV.com summary.

I saw amazing things, out there in space. But there is strangeness to be found wherever you turn. Life on Earth can be an adventure too... you just need to know where to look!" The Sarah Jane Adventures features the previous companion of the Third and Fourth incarnation of the Doctor from the original series of Doctor Who, Ms. Sarah Jane Smith! Elisabeth Sladen reprises her role once again and is back in action, discovering alien plots to take over the world, or simply helping a lost one get home... Sarah Jane and her new friend Maria Jackson, and her newly (and genetically grown) adopted son Luke Smith have no problem taking on any challenge!

it was a very good pilot. surprisingly they intertwine with the Doctor Who series. i cant wait to see what else will happen in the series. check back for updates!!!!


Elisabeth Sladen Reprises her role as
Sarah Jane Smith

The Cast Of TSJA Yasmin Paige, Thomas Knight,
Elisabeth Sladen, [Fourth Unknown]

Flaming racist

wow. when we think that as people we have worked hard on rights for all races. now we apparently have to work on our cats.

so for all of you who know me, i have three cats. Hairy, Garfield, and our newest addition to the family, Slim. (me and my mom calls him Slimbert)

so to the story......


i came home from school and did my usual get something to eat and watch whatever is on Sci fi. slim of course had himself on the cable box. today Doctor Who was on. it was cool and i was pretty into it. slim decided to move to the top of the television and looked at what was making so much noise. he saw that a black actor was on the screen and started clawing at it. then they cut scene to a couple white guys talking. slim left it alone and just looked at it. then that same black actor came on the screen and slim started to attack it again. perplexed all i could say is 'Slim you racist!!!!' all he could do is look at me and jump off.


soooo any thoughts?

Stargate Worlds details emerge

WarCry has published an interesting preview of one of the more elusive MMOs currently in development: Cheyenne Mountain's Stargate Worlds, based on the cult science fiction film and TV series.

Few details on the MMO have been made public since the basics were laid out a year ago.

In the preview, studio head Dan Elggren explained that the game is influenced by both MMORPG and FPS design, but ultimately "feels not like an MMO, it feels not like a shooter, it feels like something fun and unique".

"I don't think it's an exaggeration to say it will so feel different to every other MMO that you'll begin to rethink literally renavigating the playspace," added creative director Chris Klug. He also talked up Stargate Worlds' AI, claiming it was a cut above the simple, predictable rulesets that are the MMO norm.

"The key is really that they react to you," he said. "They're a little unpredictable in a good entertaining way. You really have to think your way through the battlefield." This, he explained, brings proper cover-and-flank tactical teamwork to the fore, and moves away from the traditional "pulling" tactic that has dominated MMOs since the first EverQuest. "I am confident that our game is more fundamentally, organically logical than that ever was," Klug stated.

It all sounds quite similar to claims made this week about THQ's Warhammer 40K MMO, not to mention last year's Tabula Rasa, indicating that most science fiction MMOs are leaning towards this shooter/RPG hybrid.

However, Stargate Worlds also boasts less combat-focused classes. Krug revealed some detail on the archeologist class, based on the Daniel Jackson character played by James Spader in the Stargate film and Michael Shanks in the SG-1 TV show. The archeologist's role will involve support tasks such as lock-picking and disarming bombs, performed by completing Bejewled-style mini-games.

"We are allowing the archeologist to use mini-games to navigate the general gamespace," said Klug. "You've never seen it in an MMO before."

Klug also highlighted the importance of story to the Stargate universe. "Frankly, we have the best writing staff in the game industry and we understand how to tell stories in the interactive space," he said.

Stargate Worlds is due out at the end of this year. Thanks to Unreal Engine 3 and some nice environmental art it certainly looks the part, as you can see in our screenshot gallery. Consider us intrigued.

Monk's Kamel found dead

Actor who played Dr. Charles Kroger on USA hit dies of heart attack at age 65.

In an unfortunate loss for the acting world, psychiatrist Dr. Charles Kroger will no longer be seeing Adrian Monk.

Actor Stanley Kamel, who portrayed Kroger on the USA Network's comedy Monk, has passed away at the age of 65. Kamel was found dead of a heart attack in his Los Angeles home yesterday.

In addition to his current gig as the psychiatrist to the germaphobic Monk, Kamel starred as Cody McCall in General Hospital, had recurring roles in Beverly Hills, 90210, L.A. Law, and Melrose Place, and guest starred in dozens of popular shows.

The USA Network released the following statement to Access Hollywood over the loss: "USA is deeply saddened by the news of Stanley Kamel's passing. Stanley was an amazingly talented and extremely kind man, and an important member of the USA family. He will be sorely missed."

Monk recently completed its sixth season and has been renewed for a seventh. For more on the show, check out TV.com's previous coverage.

Watchdogs upset over Model's blurred boobs

Parents Television Council files indecency complaint over near-nudeness in America's Next Top Model.

Some of those who watched the March 26 episode of America's Next Top Model got a little more than they bargained for (although most probably got a little less than they wanted) when one of the contestants was filmed during a nude modeling shoot.

The blonde model, Anya, was posing on a white bed with a cameraman capturing her every move. Of course, Anya's naughty bits were blurred out, giving her a smoothed over Barbie doll body.

Still, that wasn't enough for the Parents Television Council, who deemed the broadcast improper for family hour, and have filed an indecency complaint with the Federal Communications Commission and are asking others to do the same.

"It is irresponsible for the CW Network to air full frontal nudity on the public airwaves at 8:00 p.m., and based upon our analysis of the broadcast in question we believe this has crossed the legal threshold for broadcast indecency," said PTC president Tim Winter.

When asked for comment, the CW said: "Our policy is not to comment on pending regulatory matters. However, there is no merit to the indecency claim against America's Next Top Model."

The PTC's goal is to keep television in line and make sure things that the group decrees "indecent" stay away from the innocent eyes of our future--the children. The group has links for concerned citizens to file a formal complaint to the FCC.

"This is not simply a matter of artistic freedom, as some might claim," Winter says. "Rather, this is about a television network intentionally pushing the envelope to establish a new acceptable nudity standard for the broadcast medium. The entire photo shoot scene, which lasted for more than a minute, is wholly gratuitous and undoubtedly intended to titillate."

Were you "titillated" by the blurry blonde? Have another look (over at YouTube) and judge for yourself.

Oh no! What has this world come to that the natural human body is a piece of taboo that we turn to disgrace when someone feels comfortable and open? (Ha! take that FCC and Conservative Republicans)

damn

Ku Won. so many people are like YAY! KU won. well it did take them until overtime to win.

soo.....

KU gonna Lose!!!!!!!! we all know that Memphis is going to take it all. its a fact of life!


heres some pictures for you Dad!

mmm Rockband.

Look! its me playing Rock Band!!!!!! i look so professional. this was like last weekend i think. it is way too addicting. i actually stopped playing Halo 3 to play Rock Band. weird huh? but still it is fun. David gave us the unlock all songs password. its way to easy. even i could remember that an i can remember much. we downloaded a couple songs from the X-Box live store. after downloading it we played the song War Pigs. heres a picture.




were so professional huh?

Battlestar Galactica

Tonight is the new season of the fan-favorite show Battlestar Galactica. with an average user rating of 9.2 on the TV.com site and very positive reviews i was glad that it was popular but sad that it is going to leave. here are some nice pictures from my hard drive that i thought i would share.