Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Apr 30, 2018

Sucking the life out of the wire services:

The jury in the BILL COSBY trial found him guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting ANDREA CONSTAND last Thursday and the disgraced comic could be spending up to 30 years in the clink. So how is he coping? Sources tell the NY Post's Page Six gossip column that his longtime wife, CAMILLE, who met him at the door of his home when he returned and gave him a hug and a kiss.
Mr. Cosby refused to agree to a plea deal, is adamant he is not a sex offender and his attorney plans to appeal the case.(Lee)

Meanwhile, with the guilty verdict in the BILL COSBY trial, Temple University has taken back the honorary doctorate that it had awarded him back in 1991.
Several other schools that had awarded him honorary degrees have already taken them back, but Friday, Temple --where Cosby graduated in 1971 with a bachelor's degree in physical education-- said they were rescinding the honorary doctor-of-laws degree because of the "guilty" verdict.
Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, and Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, all announced last Thursday they were revoking honorary degrees for Cosby as well.

On, off and way-off-Broadway:

The musical "Hair" opened on Broadway 50 years ago yesterday at the Biltmore Theater. The original cast included DIANE KEATON, MELBA MOORE, PAUL JABARA who went on to be a songwriter and record producer, and RONNIE DYSON who sang "Aquarius" and had a later pop hit with "(If You Let Me Make Love To You Then) Why Can't I Touch You?" Over its initial Broadway run, BEN VEREEN, KEITH CARRADINE, MEAT LOAF, TED LANGE, BARRY McGUIRE, VICKI SUE ROBINSON and others appeared in the show. A few major hit songs came out of the show, including "Aquarius," "Hair," "Easy To Be Hard," "Good Morning Starshine" and "Let The Sunshine In." (Marino)

Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places:

When did sneezing become sexy? A boy in Japan reported to police that a man in his mid-30's walked up to him on the street and asked him to sneeze into a napkin for him in exchange for one thousand yen (about nine U.S. dollars).
The boy did, but was freaked out enough to report it to police. Oddly, they had a similar report from a boy about two years ago, saying a man in mid-twenties wanted the same thing. Police are warning people that although they don't know what the problem is here or what these men want, they are concerned and asked people to not accept this offer. (Myers)

The President at play:

CNN reports that PRESIDENT TRUMP is expected to speak at the National Rifle Association's annual meeting this week, coming up in Dallas. He's also delivered remarks at each of the past two annual meetings for the gun rights group.
The White House has denied that the president is back-pedalling on gun law reforms in the wake of the recent mass shooting at a Parkland, FL high school. (Pacelli)