Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Oct 20, 2011

Christmas shopping:

The National Retail Federation’s 2011 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey finds that shoppers plan to spend about $704 on holiday gifts and seasonal merchandise, down from last year’s $719. Increasingly, consumers say their holiday spending is less about the holidays and more about bargain-hunting. Six in 10 holiday shoppers plan to take advantage of retailers’ sales and discounts to make additional non-gift purchases for themselves and their families. (Kaye)

In search of a little holiday extravagance, are we?
The Neiman Marcus Christmas Big Book is out. This is the annual catalog with gifts targeting the nation's wealthiest shoppers. Some options this year include:
--The new Ferrari FF Bespoke, a 651 horsepower, four-seater for $395-thousand
--A $420-thousand-dollar tour of European flower shows on your own private jet
--A quarter million dollar hand-crafted mahogany speedboat
-- A pair of his-and-hers decorative dancing water fountains for a cool million bucks, the most expensive item in the catalog.
With a nod to the recession, the Neiman-Marcus folks prove they're sympathetic to those hammered by a struggling economy: Half the items in the catalogue cost under $200-thousand.
   Editor's note: Wow, just in time to outrage the Occupy Wall Street crowd! (Maiman)

Top talkables of the day:

Judgment Day: tomorrow: That freak, HAROLD CAMPING, and his Judgment Day followers (from "Family Radio"), now say that Judgment Day will take place tomorrow and the Rapture (the taking up into heaven of God’s selected people) will begin.
Of course, back in May, Harold had said Judgment Day was set to be May 21, and on this Friday (Oct 21) the world would be destroyed by fire (7000 years from the Great Flood; 13,023 years from Creation).
After nothing happened in May, Harold revised everything and said Judgment Day really did happen and that the earthquakes he had warned of actually meant that people were shaken by fear at the thought of the world ending. You were shaken, weren't you?
So tomorrow is the big day, according to Harold, who wrote earlier this week on his Family Radio blog: "We can be sure that the whole world, with the exception of those who are presently saved (the elect), are under the judgment of God, and will be annihilated together with the whole physical world on October 21, 2011."

Basically:

Don't make plans for Christmas break yet. And when the knock at your door comes tomorrow, make sure you've done everything you need to do before answering. And tonight... party time!

More God Squad news:

Televangelist PAT ROBERTSON is the latest target of satirist ANDY BOROWITZ, who lampoons the news on a daily basis with his online Borowitz Report.
Borowitz jokes that Robertson told his viewers that God released scores of exotic animals from an Ohio farm so they'd bite gay people.
Robertson used the Book of Revelation to back up his statement, making explicit references to, “escaped lions, tigers and bears running around Ohio biting gay people,” calling it a prelude to the Rapture. Robertson contradicted local authorities who warned residents to stay inside until all the animals had been accounted for. Robertson told his viewers they had nothing to worry about unless they were gay.
Authorities believe fifty-six animals including Bengal tigers, mountain lions, bears and wolves were released by their owner before he took his own life Tuesday. Six of the animals were captured alive; all but one of the rest had to be put down. The only animal not accounted for was a monkey, which officials believe was eaten by one of the other larger animals. Officials are warning Zanesville residents to stay indoors; they suspect the monkey may have the herpes B virus. (Page)

Bottom feeding:

Warning: note sexual content.
Those funny folks over at NuVo condoms weren't happy to hear that ASHTON KUTCHER didn't wear protection when he allegedly got busy with SARA LEAL. CINDY ADAMS of the NY Post reports the company decided to take matters into their own hands and sent the "Two and a Half Men" star a few samples of their product. (Lee)

Models:

All eyes will be on MIRANDA KERR next month. After taking a year off to have her baby son with her husband, ORLANDO BLOOM, Miranda’s starring in Victoria’s Secret’s annual runway show. She told Fashionista.com that she got her body runway-ready by doing yoga and pilates for the last six months. She also “been doing more squats, because you gotta get that booty up-you really can’t hide anything when you’re up there on that runway.”
This is the first time Miranda’s had the honor of wearing the jewel-encrusted, $2.5 million dollar Fantasy bra that’s the centerpiece of the show. She said that the bra is comfortable, but heavy. But she also said the wings all the Victoria’s Secret “angels” wear are even heavier. (Bartha)