Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check

Stars and their movies:

Another day, another reboot at the movies. This time it's MATT DAMON who claims there'll be a back story about Jason Bourne, the hero he's played through three "Bourne Identity" flicks.
   The British film magazine, Empire, says Matt told them that although he will be doing another film in the series, Universal is casting another actor for the prequel they're working on.

Grace notes:

RINGO will get his STARR on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this coming Monday. The former BEATLES drummer logs in as star number 2,401 and his will be outside the Capitol Records Tower building near GEORGE HARRISON and JOHN LENNON. That leaves Sir PAUL McCARTNEY as the only solo Beatle without a Hollywood star. Oh, he was approved for one years ago but has yet to claim that honor. The Beatles' star is on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea. (Marino)

Pet Patrol:

You think kicking a cigarette addiction is tough? Try doing it with a snake.
   According to an unlikely story out of Taiwan, a three-year-old viper became hooked on nicotine thanks to its owner's 20-cigarette-a-day habit.
   Owner SHO LAU says "one day when I threw a cigarette butt away he went for it and seemed to enjoy having it in his mouth." (Photo of the snake smokin' a butt.)
   The rest is hisssstory. The snake now enjoys one cigarette in the morning and another at night. And if he doesn't get his fix, "he gets very agitated."
   Editor's note: Where does a snake stick a patch when it decides to quit? (Maiman)

Fake Braces:

Thailand's Health Ministry is ramping up its PR battle against a five-year-long teen fashion trend that shows no sign of fading anytime soon: bogus braces. "We just think they're cute. Nice and cute!" 22-year-old Bangkok art student SUPAPICH KONKAYAN tells MinnPost.com. Her teeth sport metal wiring and electric purple fittings, though she says the orthodontia is genuine. "Some of us have real dental problems. And for the others it's just, well, fashion."
   But fashion braces are medically worthless and potentially deadly, applied in flea market stalls or at home from internet sites. Beyond the canker sores and sliced inner lips even legit braces offer, Thailand's Dental Council warns of blood poisoning, infected dental tools, nerve damage and swallowing dislodged fittings.
   Last August, an amateur braces job left a 17-year-old girl in Thailand's northeast city of Khon Kaen with an infected thyroid, which led to fatal heart failure. Police in Chon Buri province have also connected an open-air, illegal braces stall to the death of a 14-year-old girl.
   A recent Thailand Dental Council report describes long lines in front of quack dental stalls, sometimes disguised as laboratories. "Teenagers shouldn't be deciding whether to get fashion braces, for they only think of what's hip," it states. "All this reflects that Thai society ...takes advantage of the ignorance of teenagers." (Kaye)

Broadcast, cable and video news:

The "Daily Show's" JON STEWART will sit down with BILL O'REILLY on his Fox News program for a two-part interview tonight and tomorrow night.
   This marks the second time Stewart has entered the "No Spin Zone." Last time, Stewart was on --in September, 2004-- he  made fun of O'Reilly's call for a boycott of France and O'Reilly mocked the "stoned slackers" he said watch Stewart's program.
   Topics on the table: The president, the political landscape and media bias. (Maiman)