Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check

Those @$#%* Middle Easterners:

Amnesty International has urged the Saudi Arabian government not to go through with paralyzing a man as punishment for having paralyzed another man during a fight.
   A Saudi judge apparently sent letters to several hospitals in the country asking whether they could medically sever someone's spinal cord, "as the man he allegedly stabbed had requested and, under sharia law, was his right to seek." At least one hospital seems to have said the procedure could be done.
   Amnesty International warned Saudi Arabia the punishment would amount to "nothing less than torture" and constitute "a breach of its international human rights obligations."
   Retribution sentences in Saudi Arabia have included eye-gouging, beheadings, and tooth extraction, to name a few. Notably, this sentence has been met by outrage by many inside Saudi Arabia. (Maiman)

Shoppin' Around:

Here's an eBay bargain --J-D SALINGER's toilet.
   J-D's john is up for grabs for a million bucks from a guy in Winston-Salem, NC, who claims he bought the fixture from the couple who bought the home that was once owned by the late "Catcher in the Rye" author.
   And here's the best part --the seller claims the toilet is "uncleaned and in its original condition." Oh, boy! "Who knows how many of [his] stories were thought up and written while Salinger sat on this throne!"

Trolling for publicity:

WHITNEY PORT will be showing off her naughty side on the pages of Maxim magazine. The good girl from "The Hills" dished to In Touch Weekly that she's nervous about stripping down for the men's mag but is certain it will be an "empowering and liberating" experience.
   Editor's Rant: Ever notice that women who show off their goodies for a quick jolt at fame always call it "empowering" and "liberating?" Seems every female in Hollywood is willing to shake what their mama gave 'em and simply excelling at your craft is no longer good enough --fercryinoutloud JENNIFER ANISTON even posed au naturel on the cover of GQ!
   Phone starter: How do you raise young women to be moral, upright ladies in this culture where teenage gals worship the "Girls Next Door," the KIM KARDASHIANs and PARIS HILTONs? No matter how "nice" or "sweet" they may be on-camera, the brutal truth is they're all millionaires thanks to a quick stint in pornography. (Lee)

Reality Round-Up:

You don't have to love "Jersey Shore" to watch it. That much is obvious, after the reality show pulled in huge numbers last Thursday night. Overnight Nielsens show "Jersey Shore" got 5.5 million viewers --which is just as much as NBC's top-ranked "America's Got Talent." Even more impressive when you consider "Jersey Shore" is on a cable channel.
   Two other Thursday night shows picked up big ratings as well --USA network's "Burn Notice" and "Royal Pains."

The Reel Deal:

The Addams Family is on the move again.
   The creepy and kooky, mysterious and spooky family started out as a series of New Yorker cartoons in the 1930s which were then used to base the 1960s TV series on. Then there were a couple of movies, and NATHAN LANE and BEBE NEUWIRTH are currently on Broadway as Gomez and Morticia Addams in a musical.
   Now, Hollywood trade publications say TIM BURTON will be adapting the wierdos for a stop-action film kind of like his 1993 film, "The Nightmare Before Christmas."

Grace notes from Vinny Marino:

WYCLEF JEAN is officially out of the presidential race in Haiti. Thirty-four contenders, including Jean, filed documents to run for the Haitian presidency this month. Election officials in that earthquake-ravaged nation disqualified the former FUGEES' leader on Friday because he has not lived in Haiti for the last five years. Wyclef said he disagrees with the decision, but he accepts it and wants his followers to do the same. But, now comes word that Wyclef will try and have that ruling overturned. (Marino)