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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Aug 23, 2013
August 23, 2013
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Men (sort of) in Uniform:
Army PFC BRADLEY MANNING --sentenced to 35 years in prison for assisting WikiLeaks-- says he wants to live out the remainder of his life as a woman. In a statement read by his lawyer Thursday on NBC's "Today Show," Manning said, "I am CHELSEA MANNING. I am female. Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible. I hope that you will support me in this transition."
He added, "I also request that, starting today, you refer to me by my new name and use the feminine pronoun (except in official mail to the confinement facility) ...I look forward to receiving letters from supporters and having the opportunity to write back."
Reaction from the military? In a statement, the Pentagon said, "The Army does not provide hormone therapy or sex-reassignment surgery for gender identity disorder. (Fort Leavenworth) has implemented risk assessment protocols and safety procedures to address high risk factors identified with the Prison Rape Elimination Act." (Pacelli)Sucking the life out of the wire services:
Toronto mayor ROB FORD is set to arm-wrestle WWE superstar HULK HOGAN at Fan Expo Canada this morning at the Intercontinental Hotel.
The Hollywood Reporter says it's being billed as a "friendly competition." It should provide a temporary respite from the bad publicity for the mayor, amid the allegations that he was captured in smartphone footage smoking crack cocaine.
The Expo also features appearances by STAN LEE, ALICE COOPER, DAVID HASSELHOFF, CARRIE FISHER and LINDA HAMILTON.OPRAH WINFREY blew her audition for "The Butler." The talk show queen tells Us Weekly magazine, "She smokes, so I smoked at the audition. I had an herbal cigarette, but I lit the wrong end!" Luckily they gave her the job anyway. (Myers)
Chic Sh*t:
A new study says women only wear one quarter of the shoes in her closet. A British coupon codes website polled more than 23-hundred women ages 18 and older.
The top 5 reasons women don't wear most of their shoes:
5. 21 percent of women "Didn't like them as much when I got home"
4. 37 percent say they were given as a gift and don't like them.
3. 41 percent said they were "scared to damage [them]" or they were "very expensive."
2. 55 percent said the shoes were too hard to match with an outfit.
1. 64 percent said the shoes were too uncomfortable, either too tight or too high of a heel.Grace notes:
This could be... say it with me... AWK-ward! According to a seating chart from the Barclays Center that went out last night, LADY GAGA is sitting right next to KATY PERRY for Sunday night's MTV Video Music Awards. Oh, they probably get along, but Katy murdalized Gaga on the charts with her latest single.
"Road" moved 557-thousand copies, while Gaga's "Applause" only squeaked out 218-thousand. Katy is closing the show with that new single, but not from the Barclays Center. No, she'll be live in another part of Brooklyn, New York. Gaga is set to do "Applause" on the show too --perhaps it will be the show opener?
FYI: JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE and MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS are up for six Moon Men each. MILEY CYRUS, ROBIN THICKE and BRUNO MARS all have four nominations. (Marino) -
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