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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Mar 6, 2013
March 6, 2013
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Your tax dollars (not) at work:
You can forget about touring the White House for the time being, thanks to the federal budget sequester. The White House announced Tuesday that it was canceling all public tours due to anticipated spending cuts.
In an e-mail, the White Housesaid, "Due to staffing reductions resulting from sequestration, we regret to inform you that White House Tours will be canceled effective Saturday, March 9, 2013 until further notice. Unfortunately, we will not be able to reschedule affected tours." (Pacelli)Big Money, Big Problems:
J-C Penny and Sears have pulled their ads from "Saturday Night Live."
The stores apparently caved to pressure from the American Family Association, which was outraged over a recent "SNL" parody of QUENTIN TARANTINO's movie, "Django Unchained," called "Djesus Uncrossed," which they said mocked Jesus.
The skit, which aired Feb 16, Jesus (played by host CHRISTOPH WALTZ) appeared after the ressurrection to slaughter a bunch of Roman soldiers with a sword. "He's risen from the dead," the announcer said, "And he's preaching anything but forgiveness!"
The AFA said portraying Jesus "as a revenge-seeking murderer is an affront to all people of faith, especially Christians."
The AFA President, TIM WILDMAN, later told FOX411 "NBC would never do this to any other religious group, but it's popular in Hollywood circles to go after 'crazy' Christians."The Internet:
Marketing agency Weber Shandwick surveyed two-thousand women aged 18 and over in the U.S. and Canada about their social media habits, and find that nearly four in 10 (38 percent) had decreased or stopped their use of one or more social networks within the last six months.
The top reason (59 percent) was that they were "just not interested/lost interest" while 35 percent said they were too busy.
Some aren't quitting but defecting to other networks, especially younger women (18-24 years of age). Other key findings from the survey include:
--86 percent of women in North America have a social media account;
--North American women on social media recommend or "Like" a product or service 10 times a month, on average;
--Women on social media enjoy their online networks (75 percent) almost as much as their real-life social activities (77 percent);
--Women enjoy their online social networks (75 percent) more than dating/spending time with their partner (72 percent);
--A quarter (24 percent) of women prefer to socialize online than in person. (Kaye)Fashion Emergency:
Gucci is putting out a line of leather pocketbooks that will include a biography on the life of the cow that died to make your expensive handbag! (Moo!) And if you think that's weird... the project is being done in partnership with the National Wildlife Federation! (Wha- Huh? Moo!)
Gucci says each handbag in its new "eco-ethical" line will be sold with a "passport" that describes "the precise history of the chain of supply, from the birth of the cow to the beautiful final product."
The idea behind the so-called cow passport is to show that the animals were raised in a way that causes "zero deforestation to the Amazon." Fashionista.com says all the cows are raised on Rainforest Alliance-certified ranches in Brazil. Their goal is to make sure the cattle don't eat up all the plant life in Brazil before meeting their destiny as designer bags.(Bartha)Grace notes:
The "Harlem Shake" has become a politial powerkeg in Tunisia. BBC News says after all the unrest in that North African nation, to shake or not to shake can get you arrested, or even killed. Tunisia is pretty evenly split between secular citizens and conservative Muslims. The first "Harlem Shake" video there came out of a high school with students wearing all sorts of costumes, including a few in their underwear. The secular community thinks it's funny and representative of Tunisian humor, while the Muslims are marking those who in the video for death.
Editor's note: Good thing YouTube wasn't around when "The Curly Shuffle" was the big craze... (Marino)Spotting Mister alligator-arms:
(Arms too short to reach for the check...) Dating in these wild, modern times can be very exciting --and excruciating! Any woman worth her salt will tell you there's nothing worse than a cheap date, but how you can tell if he's a diehard penny-pincher? Here are ten tips to spot a true-blue cheapskate from eHarmony.com!
1. He Does the Asking, But Not the Paying. If he wants to split the bill or lets you pay be prepared for a relationship without any generosity.
2. He Already Ate. Did he grab a bite at home or have a big lunch? This is a sly way to pony up as little cash as possible at the restaurant.
3. He Asks for a Discount. It's never a good sign if he finds imaginary problems with his dinner to score a freebie.
4. He Pays With Coupons. All The Time.
5. He Asks for Two Spoons. A man that won't let you have your own dessert is either cheap or controlling. Yuck.
6. He Doesn't Like Paying for Parking. Walking a mile to your destination in heels to save a few bucks is far from chivalrous.
7. At Pay-By-the-Weight Buffets, He Only Selects Lightweight Items.
8. He Talks About Money A Lot and is Obviously Anxious About Spending It. Complaining about anything on a date --especially prices --is big, fat red flag.
9. His Dream Date is a Walk Through the Park. Yes, he'd love to bring flowers, but why buy something that's just gonna die?
10. He Finds an Excuse Not to Tip. Don't expect this knight in shining armor to spiff the Girl Scouts or throw some change in the UNICEF jar, either. (Lee) -
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