Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check

Haiti sidebar #1 --Clooney telethon:

GEORGE CLOONEY has stepped up to the plate and --together with MTV Networks-- will be spearheading a telethon Jan 22 to raise money for aid to victims of the earthquake in Haiti.
   The Hollywood Reporter says several other networks, including ABC, NBC, CBS, HBO and CNN, have reportedly also agreed to carry the program from 8-10 pm (Eastern).
   This is not the first telethon George has helped organize --he also did one for Tsunami Aid, after the Christmas Eve disaster in 2004. JOEL GALLEN, who produced the 9/11 telethon, "America: A Tribute to Heroes," will also be producing this one.

Haiti sidebar #2:

WYCLEF JEAN has already raised over a million dollars to help the victims of Tuesday's earthquake in his native country of Haiti. MTV News says the ex-FUGEES singer and his nonprofit organization, Yele Haiti, took in that money from cell phone text donations alone. Wyclef says he hopes to continue raising a million-dollars a day for as long as it is necessary to do so. (Marino)

Haiti sidebar #3:

An interesting and very positive sidebar in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake has been the success of donation via electronic charity.
   The viral success of text donations to the relief effort in Haiti helped raise over $3 million in just the first 36 hours. Texting, Twitter and social networking sites like Facebook have helped make this the largest mobile phone giving campaign in history.
   TONY AIELLO is CEO of MGive.com, which is providing the mobile service to Red Cross free of charge. He says its so successful because in age of social networking and 24-hour news, it allows people to donate on impulse anytime, anywhere.
   But it's not without downsides. The money typically takes about 90 days to reach the organization you donated to. And it also paves the way for fraudulent campaigns, so it's important to make sure the organization you're donating to is legitimate.

Haitian Aid (Clip and save):

   --Text HAITI to 90999 donates $10 to the American Red Cross. The $10 deduction will appear on your next phone bill.
   --Text YELE to 501501 donates $5 to a fund that (Haitian-born) WYCLEF JEAN set up. Wyclef has already raised over a million dollars to help the victims. See Music, below. 
   --Red Cross: Go to www.redcross.org, or call 1-800-RED-CROSS.
   --Doctors Without Borders: Go to www.doctorswithoutborders.org or call (212)-763-5779.

Culture Shock:

The hands of the Doomsday Clock have been turned back.
   The clock was invented in 1947 by the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists as a way to measure how close the world is to nuclear destruction. That was two years after the US dropped the first atomic bombs. And back then, the clock was originally set at seven minutes to midnight.
   The "latest" recorded time was two minutes to midnight back in 1953 during the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union. The Board --composed of scientists including physicist Dr STEPHEN HAWKING-- praised PRESIDENT OBAMA for causing "a change in the U.S government's toward international affairs," and cited new arms reduction talks with Russia and negotiations with Iran to close its nuclear enrichment program. 
   The clock is only being pushed back one minute but people in Washington take their victories where they can get them. The clock now stands at six minutes before midnight. (Maiman)

Casting call:

JENNA FISCHER, who's best known as Pam Beesly on NBC's "The Office," is reportedly in negotiations to star as OWEN WILSON's wife in the upcoming comedy, "Hall Pass."
   Directed by THE FARRELLY BROTHERS, the plot line will be about two married couples in which each wife gives her husband a "hall pass" --the OK to engage in extramarital encounters.
   The Hollywood Reporter says "things get complicated when the wives also begin exercising their 'hall pass' power."