And So It Begins - The New Associate Justice

White House sources have "signaled allies over the weekend to be prepared for a nomination this week, according to the strategists, who asked not to be named because the process remains officially confidential. "We've been told to be ready," one strategist said."

The White House had earlier indicated they would make an announcement at the end of July. I think Rehnquist's anouncement last week changed their plans a bit. Rehnquist was clearly throwing cold water on the jubilation over two potential nominations.

The President has to rethink his strategy based on having only one vacancy to fill. Does that mean he will choose a rightist or a centrist? I'm not sure. He is also obviously under pressure to nominate a woman as well. Will Karl Rove be around to help shepherd the nomination? We'll see...
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Karl Rove Quietly Arrested At The White House

[All This Is That Wire Service] 7-16-05 Wash. D.C.

In a stunning turn of events, White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Political Strategist Karl V. Rove was arrested last night by Capitol Police and taken to an undisclosed location.

A senior official at the White House spoke off the record, saying The President "was fed up with that lying, duplicitous piece of dogs***." Another White House staffer speculated that Mr. Rove would be incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay or the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq for an extended period of "debriefing." The White House official could not say with any certainty whether the debriefing would include dog collars, electrodes, or naked human pyramids.

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Painting: Chief Justices of The Supreme Court Of The United States: No. 1, John Jay

Click painting to enlarge

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The Godfather Part III Chapter Titles: The Rest Of The Story

El Snoozo commented today that my Godfather chapter titles left out the third movie. It's true. When I first saw Godfather 3, I disliked it. Over the years, I have begrudgingly come to like it more and more. It is almost Shakespearean. . .more so than the other two films. It is a apt end to the saga and contains some of Al Pacino's best acting. Unlike many people, I also liked Andy Garcia. Joe Mantegna was good. Talia Shire is just right. George Hamilton is perfect in his role. Sofia Coppola, not so much. And I doubt if she would disagree either. Her direction is another story (I really like both of her films so far).

One problem is that these titles are neither so evocative nor slyly humorous as the previous ones. How can you ever top "how's the Italian food in this restaurant?" spoken by the crooked Lieutenant played by Sterling Hayden. . .moments before Michael Corleone assassinates him? Or "I'm Moe Green," or the chapter with the touching scene between Michael and the Don "I never wanted this for you"?

What about "You can have my answer now," to The Senator in Part II, or "I know it was you Fredo..."? "You can kill anyone," one of the last scenes in Part II, spoken by Michael as they try to find a way to assassinate Hyman Roth, who is in federal custody.

In Part III, Coppola lost all sense of humor or the DVD titling job was relegated to a studio functionary with no imagination all:

1. Michael's Letter
2. Party at Michael's Apartment
3. Anthony's Decision
4. The Trouble Between Vincent and Joey Zasa
5. Who Sent You?
6. The Archbishop asks for Michael's Help
7. Shareholder's Meeting
8. The Vatican Bank, Rome
9. Atlantic City Massacre
10. Just When I Thought I Was Out
11. Mary Visits Vincent at the Club
12. Street Fair
13. Michael at the Hospital
14. Returns to Sicicly
15. Michael Tells Vincent His Plan
16. Confession
17. Michael Shows Kay Sicily
18. Pope John Paul I
19. Give Me A Chance to Redeem Myself
20. Teatro Massimo
21. Cavalleria Rusticana
22. Revenge
23. Finale on the Steps
24. The Death of Michael Corleone
25. End Credits
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The Godfather Chapter Titles

My family gave me The Godfather box set for father's day. I have probably seen the movies fifty times since they came out, and it's great to actually own them now. I am utterly fascinated by the chapter titles Coppola gave the scenes.

If you know these movies, the chapter titles are totally evocative of the movie, and just four words can bring the entire scene flooding back into your mind. This must be one of the most fun parts of creating DVDs for movies.

The Godfather:

1. I Believe in America
2. The Wedding
3. Johnny Fontane
4. Tom Hagen Goes to Hollywood
5. Meeting With Sollozzo
6. Shooting of Don Corleone
7. Luca Brasi Sleeps With the Fishes
8. Michael at the Hospital
9. It's Strictly Business
10. How's the Italian Food in This Restaurant?
11. The Don Returns Home
12. The Thunderbolt
13. Sonny Gives Carlo a Warning
14. Michael Marries Apollonia
15. I Don't Want His Mother to See Him This Way
16. Apollonia's Murder
17. We Are All Reasonable Men Here
18. The Don Puts Michael in Charge
19. I'm Moe Green
20. I Never Wanted This for You
21. Baptism and Murder
22. Don't Ask Me About My Business, Kay
23. End Credits

Godfather Part II (DVD 1):

1. Funeral in Sicily
2. It's Not His Words I'm Afraid Of
3. Ellis Island, 1901
4. Party at Lake Tahoe
5. You Can Have My Answer Now
6. Frankie Pentangeli's Complaint
7. Bedroom Shooting
8. New York City, 1917
9. Vito Meets Clemenza
10. Keep Your Friends Close, But Your Enemies Closer
11. I Remember She Was Laughing
12. Welcome to Havana
13. I Know it Was You, Fredo
14. Was it a Boy?
15. Fanucci Wants to Wet His Beak
16. Murder of Fanucci

Godfather Part II (DVD 2):

1. You Can Never Lose Your Family
2. The Dog Stays
3. Senate Hearing
4. You're Nothing to Me Now
5. Pentangeli Sees His Brother
6. Michael, You Are Blind
7. My Father's Name Was...Antonio Andolini
8. Mama Corleone's Funeral
9. You Can Kill Anyone
10. Like the Roman Empire
11. Kay With Her Children
12. Hail Mary, Full of Grace
13. Surprise Party
14. End Credits
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Chief Justice Rehnquist Says He'll Stay On SCOTUS

Bursting the media bubble, and stilling all the hot air coming from the blogs and web sites, including All This Is That, Chief Justice Rehnquist announced last night that he is not going anywhere!

Jul 14, 9:21 PM (ET)
By RON FOURNIER and GINA HOLLAND

WASHINGTON (AP) - Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, denying rumors of his retirement, said Thursday he will continue heading the court as long his health permits. "I'm not about to announce my retirement," he said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press.

"I want to put to rest the speculation and unfounded rumors of my imminent retirement," said Rehnquist, 80, and ailing with thyroid cancer. "I am not about to announce my retirement. I will continue to perform my duties as chief justice as long as my health permits."

Rehnquist released the statement hours after being released from an Arlington, Va., hospital after being treated for two days with a fever. [click on the title to link up with My Way and the full Associated Press story].

In Support Of Karl Rove

Whitehouse.org, that fascinating site with a web address oh-so-close to the White House's, today put up this letter you can email to Karl Rove in his time of trouble... go there if you'd like to let poor beleagured Karl Rove that you're behind him 1001%.





-----Original Message-----
From: [YOU]
Sent: [NOW]
To: Karl C. Rove [karl_c._rove@who.eop.gov]

Subject: AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU KARL!

Dear Karl Rove: I just wanted to tell you that no matter how much indisputable evidence those fact-obsessed intellectual reporters release about you betraying America, I join the President in not caring diddly-squat about so-called national security when the only war that matters is the one we're waging against Democrats. So that makes you TOPS in my book!

Anyway, however it happened, that bimbo Valerie Plame got what she deserved for marrying a moron who spouted crazy talk about Saddam bin Laden not having all those Nukepox Laser Deathrays you made President Bush promise we'd find. Heck, she should be happy that you only assassinated his CHARACTER!

Well, I would say don't let this 'Plame Game' get you down, but I'm sure you're already orchestrating your greatest-yet Machiavellian stratagem (replete with Clintonesque legalistic parsings) to slither out of doing any prison time - especially since you were polite enough not to use Mrs. Wilson's first name.

So good luck with the indictments and likely cover-up conspiracy investigation, and next time you're whispering him sweet nothings, please tell Bob Novak I think his waxy tufts of silver ear hair are massively SEXY - in a totally non-homosexual way, of course!

Sincerely,

[YOU]

The Alien Resistance Movement

While the rest of us are sucked into The Hive, the The Spread the Word Alien Resistance Movement has fought against "abuses toward humanity demonstrated by so-called alien entities."

One of their tools in this fight, besides education, is the dissemination of free stickers. Send them a couple dollars and they'll send you a roll of 1,000 stickers. Maybe you will sleep better?

Painting: The Battle For Rohan

* Click painting to enlarge *

News Flash From Italy: Men Like Seeing Naked Women!

ROME (Reuters) Mon Jul 11, 9:15 AM ET - Most Italians think nude sunbathing is perfectly natural and don't mind crossing paths with bottomless beach-goers -- even when those bottoms are unsightly, survey results released Sunday said.

While topless sunbathing is widely practiced in Italy, bottoms are usually required and nudists can face fines of more than 500 euros ($595) on some beaches, the Italian Naturalist Federation said.

But the federation said a poll it commissioned from a mainstream media outlet found nearly 70 percent of those surveyed said they would sunbath nude if everyone else did it. More than 80 percent said nudism was not erotic, but natural.

Women were more frequently bothered by nude sunbathing than men. Just over 40 percent of women said they did not like seeing other naked females on the beach, while just 5 percent of men shared their opinion about nude women.

The survey found nearly two-thirds of men said they weren't bothered by nude male sunbathers.

When it came to unattractive or "brutto" sunbathers, most of those surveyed in the country that champions physical beauty said they didn't object to seeing them naked either.

Only about 16 percent said they were vexed by unattractive women nudists and 9.7 percent objected to unsightly men.

The Federation said the survey would bolster their hopes of getting more beaches set aside for nude sunbathing.
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Pope Benedict XVI Does Not Like Harry Potter And The Book's Ability To Warp Formative Young Catholic Minds

It seems that Pope Benedict is no fan of the Harry Potter series of books. He apparently wrote a series of letters in response to reports that Pope John Paul II was a fan of the books...



















Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Vatican City March 7, 2003

Esteemed and dear Ms. Kuby!

Many thanks for your kind letter of February 20th and the informative book which you sent me in the same mail. It is good, that you enlighten people about Harry Potter, because those are subtle seductions, which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul, before it can grow properly.

I would like to suggest that you write to Mr. Peter Fleedwood, (Pontifical Council of Culture, Piazza S. Calisto 16, I00153 Rome) directly and to send him your book.

Sincere Greetings and Blessings,

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

Photo: Claire And Del In Victoria

click photo to enlarge