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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Jan 30, 2013
January 30, 2013
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Drugs and drug companies:
Dieters may soon be able to take a little blue pill to help them lose weight. Researchers say Viagra may have another use beyond erectile dysfunction.
Writings in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology explain how Viagra plays a role in turning white fat cells --those responsible for creating the "spare tires" on overweight people-- into beige ones, which burn energy. Researchers noted that mice that are given the drug have lower rates of obesity despite their fatty diets. (Page)Trolling for IQ points:
An ounce of cocaine can fetch as much as $13-hundred dollars on the streets of Miami, or a three-year mandatory prison sentence in criminal court.
But it ended up helping fourth grader EMMA BARTLETT win first place in the science fair at her school.
Of course, she had some help: Her dad's a cop for the Miami-Dade Police Narcotics Bureau. He provided her with three drug-sniffing dogs, two other officers and 28 grams of cocaine powder her "Drug Sniffing Dogs" experiment.
The goal was to find which dog would find the cocaine fastest using its sense of smell.
FYI: A district spokesman explained that cocaine is not specifically banned as a material by district science fair rules.
Editor's note: I hear she won first place by a nose. (Maiman)Ratings:
Not good news for TNT. The season opener for "Dallas" was down by more than 50 percent over last season's premiere, according to overnight Nielsen ratings.
Before the beginning of the episode, there was a short tribute to star LARRY HAGMAN, who passed away during the filming for this season, but he remains in the show until later this year.
But the second season opener Monday night only pulled in 2.9 million viewers --pretty good for a cable series, but much less than the 6.8 million the show's premiere last June pulled in.No show for court date:
Don't expect LINDSAY LOHAN to show up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in court today. TMZ.com reports her new attorney, MARK HELLER, filed papers claiming that she's under strict medical instruction not to fly due to an upper respiratory infection and can't leave New York. Unfortunately, the note was filed last Saturday --when Lilo was spotted doing a bit of shopping in the Big Apple. The rehabbed redhead is facing charges of giving false information to a police officer, obstructing or resisting a police officer in the performance of his duty and reckless driving --which could land her in the clink for up to eight-months! (Lee)
Chic Sh*t:
New mom DREW BARRYMORE has a secret for getting her make-up on in just 60 seconds. She told InStyle magazine she uses a little concealer, some color on her eyes and she doubles her lipstick as a blush. Her daughter is five months old. Her new make-up line, Flower, is being sold at Wal-Mart. (Bartha)
Looking at Logos:
Goodbye Hostess Twinkies, hello Apollo Twinkies? Or maybe Pabst Blue Ribbon Twinkies?
The Wall Street Journalreports that two private-equity companies --Apollo Global Management and C. Dean Metropoulos, which owns Pabst-- are close to a deal worth more than $400 million to buy the Twinkies brand from bankrupt Hostess. The bid would serve as the one to beat in an upcoming bankruptcy-court auction, and it now seems unlikely any other suitor would do so. (Maiman) -
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