Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Sep 3, 2021

Comedian JOE ROGAN tested positive for COVID-19, and posted the news to his Instagram account with the news that he's begun taking the drug ivermectin, typically used to treat or prevent parasitic worms in animals. You should know before adopting the same treatment that the FDA has not approved the drug for use in treating or preventing COVID-19 in humans. Joe also said he'd used a monoclonal antibody treatment, taken a Z-Pak, the steroid prednisone, done a NAD drip and a vitamin drip as well. And while he said he feels good now, it should be noted that the FDA has only approved the drug remdesivir for use in treating patients with COVID-19.

Walmart says they're gonna up the average hourly wages for 565-thousand of their store employees so they'll get at least $1 more per hour starting September 25th. CEO JOHN FURNER told employees they'll be upping the average hourly wage to $16.40 to thank employees for their efforts during yet another "trying year."

Labor Day weekend is here, and one unexpected detail about the long weekend is a memo from the government to businesses urging them to be careful of potential cyberattacks and hackers. Although bigwigs in Washington say there's no specific threats that have been placed, holiday weekends are traditionally a time when "attackers have sometimes focused on security operation centers that may be understaffed, or a sense that there are fewer key personnel on duty as they may be on vacation.” That includes ransomware attacks in which the cyber bullies want you to pay them to get the use of your computers, software and network filing systems back. So be careful opening that e-mail!

Do you think gas prices will soar over the Labor Day weekend because of the damage caused by Hurricane Ida? Not so much, according to sources in the gas industry. Although oil production in the Gulf of Mexico was shut down temporarily because of the storm, the national gas price average was up just three cents earlier in the week and the folks at Triple-A say they expect prices to be up around five cents a gallon this weekend. We'll see.

Look for JANE KRAKOWSKI to star with TITUSS BURGESS in the upcoming NBC holiday musical, “Annie Live!” Of course, you've seen both of them on the TV show, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” Jane has also starred on “30 Rock” and “Ally McBeal” as well.

Interesting thought from Variety --they want to know whether Hollywood producers will stop using Texas as a place to shoot films or TV shows because of the new law that makes abortions illegal starting at six weeks after conception. At that point, most women don't even KNOW that they're pregnant, but if they get an abortion after that point, they can be prosecuted --and so can the medical people assisting the procedure-- including any medical staff, family members, or even the person driving a patient to a clinic!