Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check

Iran:

The Pentagon is still keeping mum (very mum) on whether it had anything to do with a computer worm that's dug itself into the control system at an Iranian nuclear power plant. The Stuxnet worm has reportedly settled into the command and control portion of the plant, and is very difficult to get rid of.
   The worm hasn't shut the plant down, but it has reportedly slowed its operations significantly.
   Many cyber warfare experts say the worm likely originated in a country --or countries-- with a vested interest in  seeing Iran not develop a nuclear weapon. (Pacelli)

Idle gossip & unconfirmed rumors:

MICHAEL JACKSON's son, PRINCE MICHAEL, is a chip off the old block. TMZ.com reports the thirteen-year-old volunteered with his class last Thursday to lend a hand to folks that are less fortunate. The charitable young man and his buddies put together over 500 boxes of rice, beans, canned goods and pasta that will be sent to people in Peru. (Lee)

Broadcast, cable and video news:

ABC announced during last night's "Dancing With The Stars" that former "Bachelor" BRAD WOMACK will be back for another try on "The Bachelor," which will be back for another try during the show's 15th season, which begins in January.
   Brad was the guy who couldn't choose between DeANNA PAPPAS and JENNI CROFT on the finale of the show's 11th season, which aired in 2007.
   DeAnna went on to star in "The Bachelorette," choosing JESSE CSINCSAK over JASON MESNICK, but they broke up six months before their wedding was to take place.

KATY PERRY may have been evicted from "Sesame Street," but she is more than welcome in Springfield. MTV says Katy will appear in a live action segment on "The Simpsons" this winter. She'll play herself and the girlfriend of Moe the bartender in an episode called "The Fight Before Christmas." Look for it on December 5th. (Marino)

Making the rounds in Tinseltown:

Update: It was last year at this time that Disney Studios CEO DICK COOK confirmed that JOHNNY DEPP would be playing Tonto in an upcoming big-screen adaptation of "The Lone Ranger." Deadline.com now says the film is on and it looks like GORE VERBINSKI --whose last flick was 2007's "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"-- will be the director. No word on who'll play the Ranger yet.

Grace notes:

Another member of the JONAS BROTHERS is going solo. Middle brother JOE JONAS will release his solo debut in early 2011. Hollywood Records says Joe is working with different writers and producers hoping to get an edgier sound than the tunes he records with his brothers. His little brother released a solo project last year as NICK JONAS & THE ADMINISTRATION. But don't worry, the Jonas Brothers have not split up. (Marino)

Going Geek-dot-com /Caught in the Web:

Twitter had to deal with a second worm virus over the weekend. If you clicked on any tweet beginning with "WTF" containing a link, you got nailed.
   The link automatically created a post from you declaring your love for sex with goats. You wouldn't have known it. All you'd have seen on the link was a blank page. Meanwhile, the worm sends out the goat message.
   This is the second bug in the past week. Last week a worm known as onMouseOver redirected you to third-party websites including hard-core porn pages.
   Editor's note: New Twitter worm creates goat sex tweets. Imagine trying to explain that to someone in 1983. Kind of like trying to explain a TV with no remote to my kids.
   --Sex with goats? There's an app for that. (Maiman)