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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Jun 1, 2012
June 1, 2012
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Health and Medical Briefs:
Congratulations, couch potatoes: New data might give you ammunition to rationalize your lack of exercise.
A review of six studies found that 10 percent of regular exercisers ended up with worse levels of blood pressure or insulin, two indicators of heart disease. On the other hand, about the same percentage ended up drastically improving on at least one measure.
Still, the finding that some people actually worsened is "bizarre," says a lead author of the analysis. And a co-author --who happens to have contributed to the national guidelines on exercise-- says people should continue to work out, but maybe get heart disease factors checked regularly.
"I am an exercise guy," he says. "I believe in exercise for health. I would rather have everyone exercise. But you can't ignore the data." (Maiman)Animal Stories:
A scarf-wearing pig has become a minor celebrity after it was spotted crossing a busy Pennsylvania highway.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says the pig safely navigated rush-hour traffic before disappearing into the woods. Several passing commuters pulled over to snap pictures of the animal, while others called police because they were afraid the pig would get hit by cars.
Police say they don't know who owns the animal or why it was wearing a scarf. However, the animal now has its own Twitter account at Twitter.com/SharpDressedPig. (Still)Grace notes:
MADONNA opened her MDNA world tour last night in Tel Aviv. Billboard.com says the show opens with Madonna inside a confessional and breaks through the glass window with a rifle, which she then points at the audience. Madonna's live mashup of her own hit "Express Yourself" with LADY GAGA's "Born This Way," is also part of the set. She heads to Abu Dhabi next, and then Istanbul before arriving in the USA. Madonna's last tour took in more than 400-million dollars. (Marino)
Ratings:
Really good ratings for that History Channel miniseries, "Hatfields & McCoys," The show actually beat its Monday night ratings record on Wednesday night, which was the show's finale, picking up an estimated 14.3 million viewers.
That's a new record for the most-watched entertainment broadcast --not a sporting event-- which has ever been on cable TV. "Hatfields & McCoys" averaged 13.8 million viewers for all three parts of the miniseries, and since most regular broadcast TV shows are now into re-runs, the miniseries was the most-watched shows on regular TV as well.Graduation, Dep't:
A new National Retail Federation poll finds that a third of consumers plan to buy gifts for graduates this year, up from 31 percent a year ago.
Among those, a third are choosing gift cards, but clothing, greeting cards, cash and electronics also all saw a gain in popularity. On average, consumers say they plan to spend $100 on gifts this year, $9 higher than last year. (Kaye)Like you really care:
KAREN GRAVANO --daughter of mobster SALVATORE "Sammy the Bull" GRAVANO-- is going straight. The reality "star" from "Mob Wives" brags to In Touch Weekly that she's nabbed an eight-to-five gig as an esthetician at a MedSpa in New York and is "very interested" in skin care. (Lee)
GOTYE would like to clear up a few things. The "Someone That I Used To Know" singer tells Us Weekly that his name is pronounced like designer JEAN PAUL GAULTIER, so gaul-tee-ay, and he didn't hate the "Gleeking" of his song. "No it's good! Two estranged brothers singing put a very different spin on it." (Myers)
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