Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Jun 24, 2013

Political Racket:

Will we see another Senate vote on a gun bill anytime soon? VP JOE BIDEN seems to think so.
Biden told a Friday gathering at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Las Vegas that "at least five senators" have told him they want to reverse their "no" votes on expanded background checks. He said, "I've had at least five senators call me and say, 'Can't we do something about this?' ...The calculus has changed, and so we're in an effort to try to work out how we can provide another opportunity for those who voted no to change their vote." (Pacelli)

Bid'ness is *not* just Bid'ness:

These are the kind of studies that make un- or under-employed people nuts. A new study from research company Captivate finds more and more workers are catching up on household tasks while at work: compiling grocery lists, researching gifts or looking for new carpenters or plumbers while on the job. The study calls it "Homing From Work."
According to the Captivate Office Pulse report:
--93 percent of people "home from work" --or work on home projects while working at the office
--"Homing from Work" activities include online shopping/surfing, running errands and in-store shopping
--These workers are most likely catching up on financial matters, buying gifts or doing personal mailing/shopping
--These workers justify the non-job tasks as making them better employees because it helps them keep a better work/life balance, which can make them more productive
--30 percent of respondents say they put in more than nine hours at the office each day. (Kaye)

Like you really care:

Interesting sidebar to the commonly perceived notion that MARTHA STEWART really DOES know how to do just about anything. At a recent talk at New York City's 92nd Street Y, Martha told host ANDY COHEN (the same one who's on Bravo) she knew how to roll a joint.
"I was driving here tonight," she said, "...and there was this stupid ice cream truck in front of me. 'Something Good Cream' or something. And we pulled up right next to it ...and a girl and a guy were smoking joints ...I said, 'Boy, those are sloppy joints'."
So Andy asked her if she knew how roll a joint, and she replied, "Of course I know how to roll a joint," the implication being that she did know how to do it --perfectly-- like everything else in her life.
Editor's note: She's even spent time in the joint. (Jail. It changes a person. --Maiman)

Models:

JENNIFER ANISTON is the new face for Saks Fifth Avenue's Key to the Cure campaign. All proceeds from the $35 t-shirts sold at Saks will be donated to the Women's Cancer Research Fund. Women's Wear Daily says the limited edition shirts were designed by PETER DUNDAS for Emilio Pucci. The white shirt with a gray heart-shaped design goes on sale in the fall. Jen is following in the footsteps of PENELOPE CRUZ, JENNIFER HUDSON and UMA THURMAN. They'veall previously spokes-modeled for the cause. (Bartha)

TV Briefs:

"Under the Dome" debuts tonight at 10 on CBS. The show --adapted from the novel by horror-meister STEPHEN KING-- is about a small town called Chester's Mill whose citizens find themselves trapped inside an invisible, impenetrable dome --and what happens afterward.

Global warming update:

New figures are in from the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland: Escalating temperatures are the equivalent of four Hiroshima bombs in a week.
The condition is being attributed entirely to human actions, especially our use of carbon dioxide. "All these heat-trapping greenhouse gases in our atmosphere mean our planet has been building up heat at the rate of about four Hiroshima bombs every second --for several decades," says researcher JOHN COOK of the University of Queensland.
Cook noted that upwards of ninety percent of global warming was going into our oceans, which are basically our natural thermometers. The oceans regulate transformations in land, ice, and animal species by controlling the temperature, which is why the current change is so important. (AB)