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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check
August 26, 2010
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Anniversaries:
90 years ago today: The 19th amendment was signed, giving women the right to vote (1920).
--Also, on this day back in 580, the Chinese invented toilet paper.
However, some sources disagree (there's a surprise). In fact, toiletpaperworld.com -yes, there's a web site devoted entirely to TP- says 1391 was the first year that China's Bureau of Imperial Supplies began producing 720-thousand sheets of toilet paper a year, each sheet measuring two feet by three feet. Those huge sheets were ONLY for use by the Emperor at the time (of course), and not by the common citizen of China.
Here in the U-S-of-A, New York City inventor JOE GAYETTY used his plant in New Jersey to produce the first actual toilet paper back in 1857, although back then it was called "Theraputic Paper" and contained aloe to make it soft on your butt.
When it was originally (ahem) rolled out, it was 50-cents for 500 sheets. Scott Paper in the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, was the first to manufacture rolls of toilet paper in 1890. And by 1925, they'd become the leading manufacturer of toilet paper in the world under the brand name, Waldorf. And that's the, er, poop on TP.Recall:
Char-Broil is recalling its vertical gas smoker because it could explode.
The company warns an explosion could cause the door to burst open and hurt anyone standing nearby. The problem is with the fuel hose. When the temperature is set to low, it doesn't get enough gas flow. The flame goes out and propane builds up inside the smoker. When the flame is reignited, an explosion occurs and the door blasts open. There have been five reports of injuries.
The Char-Broil smoker was sold at Walmart and other retailers from March 2008 until June of this year.
FYI: You can call Char-Broil at 1-866-671-7988 or visit them online for more information. (Page)LINDSAY LOHAN is outta treatment and on the loose --where's she headed next? Her mom, DINA, tells Us Weekly the rehabbed redhead will be relocating to New York while her lawyer, ED McPHERSON, maintains she'll undergo "fairly rigorous outpatient" care.
Basically, that means she'll have to participate in psychotherapy four times a week, meet with counselors five times a week and also comply with random drug testing twice a week, under orders from the judge in the case.
Plus, she's still on probation until November, and if she misses or fails a drug test, LA County Superior Court Judge ELDEN FOX says she'll go back to jail for 30 days.
Meanwhile, TMZ.com discovered Lilo got a bargain at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital. Seems her insurance doesn't cover treatment at the top-of-the-line facility and her treatment rang in at a cool forty-grand-per-week. Luckily, she saved a few hundred-thousand-dollars by getting out early. (Lee)On, off and way off-Broadway:
Let's give it up for the BBC, which has decided to broadcast the latest Royal Opera House production by the co-creator of "Jerry Springer: the Opera."
The new production, about the life of former stripper, Playboy model and D-list actress ANNA NICOLE SMITH, called "Anna Nicole," will have its world premiere at Covent Garden on February 11.
The musical will reportedly cover her marriage to 89-year-old oil tycoon J-HOWARD MARSHALL, her battle to get her hands on the money from his estate after he died and her tragic death from a prescription drug overdose.
But don't think it'll be a complete downer: The Royal Opera House is billing Anna Nicole as "a celebratory story of our times that includes extreme language, drug abuse and sexual content."Reality Round-Up:
Warning: potential spoiler.
First it was "Jersey Shore's" MIKE "The Situation SORRENTINO. Now, more names are leaking out as potential contestants on the next season of "Dancing With the Stars." In Touch Weeklyreports KIRSTIE ALLEY will be teaming up with resident studmuffin MAKSIM CHEMERKOVSKIY while KARINA SMIRNOFF revealed that she's keeping her fingers crossed that DAVID HASSELHOFF will join the cast.
Other names being bandied about include AUDRINA PATRIDGE, singer MICHAEL BOLTON, FLORENCE HENDERSON and "Dirty Dancing" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" star JENNIFER GREY. (Lee) -
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