Justices, spies and the In-ter-net

Something else to consider in this presidential election: Given william Rehnquist's surgery this weekend, it's very likely that the next president will appoint a new chief justice of the Supreme Court. The chief justice is the major determiner of the court's docket and, if someone young enough (relatively speaking) is picked, the choice could determine the direction of the Supreme Court for decades. That's a big deal.

Now onto a few things less serious:
1) For the scoop (including some spoilers) on the coming season of Alias, check this out: http://www.darkhorizons.com/news04/041024a.php
2) For an incredibly funny view of how real life is different than the Internet, check out www.ifilm.com under the "Viral Video" section and look for "Red vs. Blue: Real Life vs. the Internet." Good stuff.
3) I really hope Ashlee Simpson's 15 seconds of fame are up starting tomorrow. I admit to putting her "Saturday Night Live" faux pas into Monday's people column. (Again, see www.ifilm.com for the clip. Quick synopsis: Ashlee was lip-syncing and the wrong song started up. She hopped around a bit and then walked off stage.) It was funny and a talker. And I saw several stories about it come across the features wire Monday, which was fine. But I started to get concerned about the news media's infatuation with entertainment after seeing it repeatedly on CNN Headline News all night. But the icing on the blown-out-of-proportion cake came in the form of a 20 inch story by the NEW YORK TIMES that moved on the NEWS wire. Come on, people! While I think she handled the situation like an idiot, the fact that she lip-syncs is not news to make anyone stop the presses. A lot of people who are actually capable of singing better than her do it all the time. Not a big deal. (Although the New York Times story did have my favorite line of the night, referring to her appearance Monday on the Radio Music Awards: "Ms. Simpson's panting performance of the song made it clear that she was indeed performing live.")