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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Feb 12, 2016
February 12, 2016
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Valentine's Day Overview:
Happy Valentine's Day, another holiday designed to rip you off if you participate, or feel guilty if you don't.
The National Retail Federation projects that Americans will shell out an average of $146 today on flowers, jewelry, candy, apparel and more, up from $131 last year. Total spending will reach $19.7 billion. The breakdown:
--Nearly four outta 10 celebrating the holiday (38.3 percent) plan to treat their dates to a night out at a restaurant, tickets to a show or another experience. That'll run $4.5 billion dollars.
--Another $4.4 billion will be spent on necklaces, earrings and other jewelry items, with nearly one in five (19.9 percent) planning to treat their significant other or family member to jewelry
--Nearly half (47.9 percent) of people will spend $1.1 billion on greeting cards; another $1.9 billion will be spent on flowers.
--PS: Americans will also spend $681 million to treat their favorite pets to some sort of Valentine's Day gift.
But survey data finds that only about 60 percent of Americans will celebrate Valentine's Day, making just about every other holiday except St Patrick's Day more popular.
That's true among both married couples and single people who aren't forlornly lonely, they're just not interested. It's for a combination of reasons: Some aren't looking to spend three times the price for a dozen roses, others think it's too commercialized, others are fine with just a simple card.Buy it, bring it, wear it:
Frederick's of Hollywood is out with their annual lingerie picks for Valentine's Day.
At the top of the list, a special "Hollywood Dream Corset," which can be picked up in styles including strapless, halter and full-figure. The advantage here is that it brings out "the girls' " natural beauty and you can wear it with --or without-- clothes.Broadcast, cable and video news:
This Sunday, look for an NBC special on Olympian JESSE OWENS.
Variety reports the one-hour documentary, called "More Than Gold: Jesse Owens and the 1936 Berlin Olympics" will feature interviews with three members of the US Olympic team who also competed in that Olympiad as well as Jesse's daughters BEVERLY OWENS PRATHER, MARLENE OWENS RANKIN and GLORIA OWENS HEMPHILL. The show, narrated by MORGAN FREEMAN, airs at 12:30 pm (Eastern) on NBC.For you Zombie fans, Sunday night is also the midseason premiere of "The Walking Dead" on AMC. The big question (as always): who will get killed on this episode of the show?
Grace notes:
STING will play the halftime show during the 2016 NBA All-Star Game on Sunday in Toronto. NE-YO sings the U.S. national anthem, with NELLY FURTADO doing the same for "O Canada." Before Saturday's Slam Dunk contest, WALK THE MOON will perform its new single, "Work This Body," and the big hit, "Shut Up and Dance." TNT has full coverage of the events over the weekend. (Marino)
Your Body:
Couch potatoes may have smaller brains later in life. A new study out of the Boston University School of Medicine found that poor physical fitness in middle age was linked to lower brain volume 20 years later. CBS News says brains shrink as we age, and this atrophy is related to cognitive decline and an increased risk for dementia. That means your brain ages faster if you don't exercise. (Bartha)
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