This is the droid you're looking for ...

We know that Star Trek director J. J. Abrams is a Star Wars fan. Abrams, who's also the man responsible for Lost, include dozens of Star Wars references in that show. His new incarnation of Star Trek recalls Star Wars in more ways that one. I’m not talking about the ice planet, the superweapon powerful enough to destroy a planet, the very Han Solo-ish Jim Kirk.

Check out the piece of debris flying to port.

For those of you who stumbled upon this blog without knowing that a basic knowledge of Star Wars is required in order to appreciate nearly all the blog entries, that droid is R2-D2.

R2-D2 is Star Wars. Not Star Trek. Star Wars. Got it? Let's move on, then.

Now what would our favorite astromech droid be doing in orbit over Vulcan? I'm by no means the first person to pick up on this, but I sure do enjoy reading what others have to say about it.

Look at this post from a bunch of Star Trek nerds, who call it "blasphemy." Take that, Roddenberry.

For a list of Star Wars references in Lost, check out my blog post here.

Afghanistan and the Death Star

If the Rebels had relied on the same strategy our government is applying in Afghanistan, Yavin IV might just be a smoking asteroid field. At least that’s the message comedian Jon Stewart tries to convey in a new clip.

Stewart displayed an exaggerated version of the US government’s plan to bring stability to Afghanistan, mocking the chart as he tried to make sense of phrases like “western affiliation backlash” and “perceived security.”

He then showed how other famous warriors throughout “history” had employed charts to explain battles to their troops.

He brought up, as we all remember, the time when General Dodonna explained to rebel fighter pilots how to blow up the Death Star using a PowerPoint presentation.

Other mentions from the annals of history were when General Patton used a Venn diagram and when William Wallace calmly explained the cost of freedom using a simple chart.