Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check

Afghanistan:

2010 is now the deadliest year in Afghanistan.
   Nine coalition soldiers died in a helicopter crash yesterday, bringing this year's foreign troop death toll to a record 529 surpassing last year's record 521 deaths.
   Reuters reports that violence is at its highest levels since the war began in 2001, and that this latest disaster caps off a weekend of escalated violence as Taliban forces attempted to throw parliamentary elections into chaos. NATO reported that there were "no reports of enemy fire in the area" of the crash.
   The crash occurred in the Taliban-dominated south, where U-S and British troops constitute the majority of NATO-led forces. Americans make up about 60 percent of the 2,097 foreign troops that have died in the conflict so far. (Maiman)

Trash talk and satellite dish:

PARIS HILTON can't go a day without some sort of legal trouble. TMZ.com reports the heiress barely made it into Japan when she was approached by immigration officials at Narita airport in Tokyo.
   As of press time they haven't decided whether to let her roam free throughout the country, but did allow her to stay in a local hotel while they make a decision.
   This --of course --is all due to the drug charges she racked up in Las Vegas and the conservative country handles things on a case-by-case basis. (Lee)

Idle gossip & unconfirmed rumors:

Uh oh. Looks like JUSTIN BIEBER's found his first love on the road. TMZ.com posted pictures of the flat-ironed heart throb smooching up a storm with a gal named JASMINE VILLEGAS --another aspiring singer who nabbed a gig as the opening act on his concert tour. Apparently the photos were obtained by a Canadian tourist who noticed the two swapping spit in the back of a Honda. (Lee)

Reality Round-Up:

Not bad... Monday night's "Dancing With The Stars" pulled in nearly 21 million viewers. Interestingly, after the judges gave high marks to KYLE MASSEY Monday night, last night it was down to DAVID HASSELHOFF and Kyle before the final elimination... and after the first round, the Hoff was off.

Grace notes:

ARETHA FRANKLIN's son, EDDIE, was beaten by three unidentified attackers Monday night at a gas station. The Detroit News says Eddie needed surgery, but left the hospital yesterday. Police reports say the suspects were two males and a female who were all around 19-years old. The motive for the attack is also not known. Aretha had Eddie when she was just 16-years old. (Marino)

Jedi mind tricks:

A man in rural Louisiana claims the face of JESUS appeared to him --on a telephone pole.
   KPLC-TV reports RICKEY NAVARRE was driving through the town of Hathaway when he just happened to glance up. That's when he noticed a bunch of vines growing at the top of a telephone pole. And --according to Rickey --they were shaped just like the face of Jesus himself.
   Rickey says, "I said to myself, that sure looks like an image of Jesus hanging from the telephone pole." ... "He might just be telling us something, you know."
   Officials with the local electric company got a different message from the holy vines --'Danger'. Apparently the foliage created an extreme fire hazard and risk of electric shock. So, they immediately tore it all down.
   Editor's note: Something tells me anyone who got shocked would immediately be healed. (Still)

Health and Medical Briefs:

Most of us could list at least a few health risks associated with obesity. But researchers say your health isn't the only thing that suffers from a large waistline. Obesity is also bad for your bank account.
   A study conducted at George Washington University added up the costs of being severely overweight. Things like higher medical bills, sick days, short-term disability, insurance prices, lost productivity and the need for more gasoline can really add up.
   For men, being obese costs more than an extra $26-hundred dollars each year. It's even more than that for women. Extra large ladies are paying more than $48-hundred extra dollars a year.
   Researchers say the disparity between the genders comes from the fact that obese women tend to earn less than their thinner counterparts. There is no wage gap between obese men and skinny men. (Page)