-
Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check
October 8, 2009
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
Your government at work?:
Pretty funny piece at Politico.com (HERE) about just how "hard" current U-S House members are working. Since STENY HOYER of Maryland took over as majority leader in January, the typical House "work week" starts at about 6:30 Tuesday night, and ends sometime late Thursday.
Yup, about a two-day week.
And of course, the House leadership blames the Senate for holding up bills it needs to see before any votes can be taken, and vice-versa. (Pacelli)
Culture Shock:
Where can you find America's best looking, but dumbest people? Miami. That's the result of a new survey (HERE) from Travel and Leisure magazine, which ranked Miami No.1 for the most attractive people, but 29th out of 30 citites for intelligence, followed only by Las Vegas. (Pacelli)
Some selected top and bottom listings for the Travel and Leisure categories:
- Most attractive people: Miami (1); Philadelphia (30)
- Friendliest people: Nashville (1); New York (30)
- Most intelligent people: Minneapolis /St Paul (1); Las Vegas (30)
- Most stylish people; New York (1); St Louis (30)
- Overall quality of life and visitor experience: Honolulu (1); Dallas /Ft Worth (30)
- Skyline and views: Chicago (1); Orlando (30)
- Safety: Portland (1); Los Angeles (30)
- Culture: New York (1); Las Vegas (30)
Trash talk and satellite dish:
MICHAEL JACKSON's death was certainly a tragedy, but his children seem to be enjoying a much more normal childhood since his passing. JANET CHARLTON caught the three kids --PARIS, PRINCE and PRINCE MICHAEL II-- catching an IMAX movie with their cousins the other day, where they seemed to be having a ball. They're no longer required to wear their signature masks and went to the flick like regular customers. Normally, dad would have hired extra security and shut the place down for a private screening. (Lee)
On, off and way-off Broadway:
PEE-WEE HERMAN is back! Daily Variety magazine says PAUL REUBENS is bringing his signature character back to Club Nokia @ LA Live for a four-week run beginning Jan 12. And the show biz daily says strong advance sales mean the show may move off Broadway after it wraps in LA. The show will reportedly feature many of the regulars from the original CBS series and the 1985 TIM BURTON movie "Pee-wee's Big Adventure."
Those oh-too-friendly online reviewers:
Are online reviewers too nice? Although many who express their feelings online often don't have many nice things to say, the opposite is usually true of reviewers.
In what the Wall Street Journal calls "one of the web's little secrets," the average grade for things online is around 4.3 stars out of five. This is for reviews of anything, from film to books, to restaurants to business services.
Some people are making a concerted effort to bring some negativity to the review world, but the truth is that the general positive attitude of reviewers could have more to do with culture than anything else. Even when talking about products with friends, people are much more likely to mention those they liked rather than the ones they hated.
It's like gambling," said one expert. "Most people remember the times they win and don't realize that in aggregate they've lost money." Some insist there's something more at work and accuse companies of making sure their ratings have a positive bent. Review sites obviously deny that, and some are even taking steps to compensate for this overall positive pattern in reviews by highlighting the negative or making the critical ones count more than the positives. (Maiman)
Your Body:
Doctors in the U-K say they are amazed at one patient's miraculous recovery.
The Daily Telegraph published the story of 72-year-old GORDON MOORE of Hexham, England. Gordon lost the top half of his skull in an accident over 50 years ago. So, surgeons put a metal plate in his head.
But, doctor's were concerned recently when that plate seemed to be pushing its way out of Gordon's skin. So, they decided to operate again to find out what was wrong. When they pulled the plate off --they were shocked at what they saw! Gordon says, "They took the infected plate out and found I had grown a completely new skull underneath, so they just stitched me up." Doctors say they've never seen anything like it. (Still)
-
-