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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Jul 3, 2012
July 3, 2012
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The President at play:
After relaxing for a few days at Camp Davidin the Maryland Mountains, PRESIDENT OBAMA returns to the White House tomorrow for Independence Day. He'll then set out on a two-day bus tour of Pennsylvania and Ohio --two key swing states in his re-election bids. (Pacelli)
GQ Magazine reports that PRESIDENT OBAMA will turn his attention to America's "War on Drugs" if he's re-eleted for a second term. Short of actually legalizing any drug --which a president cannot do-- it's expected that the president will move to relax some long-running penalties aimed at drug users.
He's likely to address the possible return of voting rights to drug offenders who've been jailed, and loosen current regulations that prevent many of them from moving back into public housing. (Pacelli)State Politics:
The Sacramento Bee reports that California is looking at a law allowing a child to have multiple "parents." Under the bill, if three or more people who acted as parents could not agree on custody, child support and visitation, a judge could split those things up among them.
Supporters say the bill is meant to eliminate the "limit" of two parents per child and is aimed at legal protections for same-sex couples with children, unmarried couples who might be raising a child with a biological mother or father outside the relationship, and divorced biological parents where one parent and their second spouse were legal parents of a child, but the other biological parent maintained close ties as well.
The bill has already passed the state Senate, and awaits action in the state Assembly. (Pacelli)That Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest:
This year the contest will be broadcast in a one and a half-hour special on ESPN, beginning at 3 pm, (EDT). The actual contests --there are two, one for men and one for women, begin at 11:30 for the women and 12 noon for the men at the Nathan's Famous on Coney Island.
This is the second year for the women's hot-dog eating contest, which is relatively new.
Editor's note: Don't go there. I know you want to, but don't. It'll be better for all of us. (RB)
Winners receive the traditional mustard-yellow championship belt, competitive eating's greatest prize, like golf's green jacket for the Masters winner or football's Vince Lombardi Trophy and... a $20-thousand cash prize for each division (Men and Women). Last year, JOEY CHESTNUT of San Jose, CA, held onto his title for the fifth straight time band will attempt to break his own world (and stomach turning) record of 68 Nathan's Famous hot dogs and buns in the 10-minute regulation match.
SONYA "The Black Widow" THOMAS is the favorite in the women's division. A 105-pound champ, she is currently the female world record holder with 41 hot dogs and buns. Last year she ate 40.
Joey Chestnut, who's 28, was "Rookie of the Year" in the International Federation of Competitive Eating (which registers challengers) in 2005. In previous competitions, he's eaten seven and a half pounds of Buffalo Chicken Wings in 12 minutes, 103 Krystal hamburgers in eight minutes, and 118 Jalapeno poppers in 10 minutes. He also had 23 six-inch Cheesesteaks in 10 minutes.Bottom feeding:
What's a girl to do when she's acquitted of killing her own baby girl? Star in a reality show --of course! RadarOnline.com reports CASEY ANTHONY has changed her course, stopped attending spiritual and grief counseling and wants to focus on rebuilding her image. Word is the troubled young lady "loves being notorious," gets a kick out of being famous and hopes to follow in the footsteps of KIM KARDASHIAN. (Lee)
Gossip Central:
What's hot in Hollywood from Star magazine:
--Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream for Camp Wonder funded by the Children's Skin Disease Foundation, $15 bucks at Walgreens stores
--Band-Aid brand Beach Sports kit with bandages by designer CYNTHIA ROWLEY
--isaay.com, website that carries vintage Chanel, Oliver People's sunglasses and Rebecca Minkoff handbags, just to name a few!
--actress OLIVIA WILDE teamed with Alternate Apparel to create the Message Bag, with a portion of the proceeds going to "join the movement against poverty" in Haiti (Myers) -
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