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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Feb 23, 2015
February 23, 2015
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Reality Round-Up:
Today's "Diva du Jour" honors go to MADONNA, who is playing hardball with producers on England's version of "The Voice." Insiders tell the UK's Mirror that she'll only perform on the show if producers install a 24-by-24-foot bullring in the studio to accommodate her 10 dancers and dozen gospel singers. Word is it's got to be a "huge spectacle" or nothing for the material mom. (Lee)
Broadcast, cable and video news:
With the BRIAN WILLIAMS controversy winding down for the next five months, another one has sprung up --Mother Jones magazine claims FOX News star BILL O'REILLY has "mischaracterized his wartime reporting experience."
The magazine published an article last Thursday in which it says
--"as a CBS correspondent in the 1980s, ...he once claimed he had heroically rescued his cameraman in 'a war zone in Argentina, in the Falklands,' while being chased by army soldiers. Yet no American journalist reached the war zone in the Falkland Islands during this conflict. O'Reilly and his colleagues covered the war from Buenos Aires, which was 1,200 miles from the fighting."
--In a 1982 book about his assignment in El Salvador, "he described a harrowing trip to a village that 'was leveled to the ground and fires were still smoldering. But even though the carnage was obviously recent, we saw no one live or dead. There was absolutely nobody around who could tell us what happened. I quickly did a stand-up amid the rubble and we got the hell out of there.' Yet the 1982 news broadcast he filed and that aired on the CBS Evening News showed residents walking about this hamlet and only one or two burned-down structures."
There's more instances, along with Mother Jones' writer DAVID CORN's fact-checking analysis of Bill's claims HERE.Stupid people, stupid places:
Who doesn't love bacon? But six pounds in five minutes?!?? Number two world ranked competitive eater MATT "Megatoad" STONIE won the Smithfield Bacon eating contest in Daytona, Florida, over the weekend.
Matt put away 182 slices. That's 28 thousand milligrams of sodium. "The bacon was cooked just the way I like it. A little crispy because I don't like having to chew it. And if it's not warm when I get it, the fat coagulates into lard." How's your breakfast meat going down now? (Myers)
FYI: As we pointed out last Friday, the recommended daily sodium intake is 2400 mg. So Matt had a bit less than 12 days worth of sodium.Human Nature:
Last night's winner of the Best Actor award, EDDIE REDMAYNE, might be in for a rocky time on the home front when all the celebrations are over. A new study suggests male Oscar winners are three times more likely as other actors to get a divorce during their first year of marriage. And for the guys who were "honored just to be nominated" are twice as likely as non-nominated actors to later divorce from their spouses within the first year of marriage.
LiveScience.com says the University of Michigan study found that "misery that comes with certain dramatic increases in status." But getting an Oscar doesn't have the same effect on Best Actresses. Statistically speaking, female Oscar winners and nominees don't divorce at a higher rate than other actresses. (Bartha)Grace notes from Vinny Marino:
KANYE WEST talked about his next album on a New York City Hip-Hop radio station last week. He said that while "Yeezus" was (quote), "protest music," the next one is going to be about (quote), "bars, songs, cookout music that just feels good." Kanye said the new album is (quote), "80 percent done," and that he could release it at any time. (Marino)
Married:
BILLY BOB THORNTON has gotten married for the sixth time --and kept it secret for four months! The bride is his girlfriend of 12 years, CONNIE ANGLAND, whom he married last October 22 at their home in Los Angeles. He's 59, she's 10 years younger at 49, and they have a 10-year-old daughter named BELLA.
He has three children from previous marriages; although he was married to ANGELINA JOLIE --his fifth wife-- from 2000-03, they have no children together. -
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