Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Sep 6, 2011

Your tax dollars at work:

Will the next big partisan dust-up in Congress revolve around the U-S Post Office? The New York Times reports that the Post Office might not be able to make a legally-binding $5.5-billion-dollar payment toward future retiree benefits later this month, raising the specter that the entire American mail service might shut down unless Congress acts quickly.
If that payment is missed the Post Office would not shut down right away, but the clock would start ticking. About 80-percent of the Post Office's total costs are spent on labor, putting it at a worsening disadvantage against other services like UPS (53-percent) and FedEx (32-percent). (Pacelli)

What's the Buzz:

The Labor Day Weekend is over and so is the tenth annual National Buffalo Wings Festival in Buffalo, NY. And with it, a new champion for the Buffalo Wing Eating Contest, SONYA "The Black Widow" THOMAS, a member of the International Federation of Competitive Eaters.
Sonya downed 183 chicken wings in 12 minutes, beating JOEY "Jaws" CHESTNUT (who was only able to manage 169 wings), and breaking her own world record that she set just last year at the festival.
For her efforts, Sonya takes home $15-hundred.
By the way, the next big competitive eating contest is the Oktoberfest Zinzinnati World Bratwurst-Eating Championship in --you guessed it-- Cincinnati, OH, on Sep 17. Joey Chestnut holds that record, downing 42 brats in just 10 minutes last year in front of a sea of lederhosen-clad spectators.

Idle gossip & unconfirmed rumors:

JESSICA ALBA is serious about her traffic-stopping figure. The brunette bombshell left the maternity ward just three-weeks ago, but sources tell AbsoluteNow.com she's already resumed her hard-core fitness routine. Word is the new mommy has been eating healthy, running, cycling, doing yoga and still finds the time to mother two little girls. (Lee)

Fashion Commando:

So you know how Vogue's editor ANNA WINTOUR is worshipped by fashion-watchers? Well, Anna better watch her back because a 15-year-old girl is on track to become the next generation's style-setter.
Her name is TAVI GEVENSON and her new web magazine launched yesterday. She started blogging about fashion when she was only 11-years-old. But her fashion taste and commentary has garnered a very influential following, so much that the suburban Chicago teen has started showing up in the front row of major runway shows.
Women's Wear Daily says her web magazine, called rookiemag.com is an offshoot of the personal blog that made her famous, The Style Rookie. The target audience is teenage girls, but contributors will include ZOOEY DESCHANEL, JACK BLACK, FRED ARMISEN, DAN SAVAGE and JOSS WHEDON. (Bartha)

Grace notes:

Proving that reality TV is stranger than fiction, "Jersey Shore" star PAULY D just signed a three-album deal with 50 CENT's G-Unit label, which also includes merchandising. As a DJ, Pauly D gets 40,000-dollars a gig, and he opened for BRITNEY SPEARS on her Femme Fatale tour. To show you the kind of guy he is, Pauly has offered to spin records for free at the KARDASHIAN family's DASH boutique in New York City during Fashion's Night Out tomorrow. TMZ.com says it's Pauly's wedding present for KIM KARDAHSIAN...even though no one invited him to the event in the first place. MTV will give Pauly his own spinoff show soon called "Pauly's World." (Marino)