*WOKE BARBIE: Mattel Releases Gender Neutral Dolls To ‘Meet Demand From Children’:

Toy company Mattel on Wednesday launched a new line of dolls that are “gender inclusive” because, you know, kids everywhere are demanding them. Called “Creatable World,” the line allows children to interchange hair, clothes, and accessories on the dolls — meaning they can be both male and female. “We see this line as an opportunity for us to open up that dialogue around what dolls are for and who dolls are for,” said Kim Culmone, senior vice president of Mattel Fashion Doll Design. “And also as the world begins the celebrate the positive impact of inclusivity, we absolutely fundamentally believed it was time to launch a doll line free of labels and free of rules for kids.”

The company says the new line is in response to demand. “Kids don’t want their toys dictated by gender norms.” Mattel consulted pediatricians on how to make the dolls gender-neutral — including pediatrician and author Cara Natterson. Natterson praised Mattel, saying “A collection like this just knocks down every barrier to play,” the Daily Mail reported. “Through research, we heard that kids don’t want their toys dictated by gender norms. This line allows all kids to express themselves freely which is why it resonates so strongly with them.”

“We’re hopeful Creatable World will encourage people to think more broadly about how all kids can benefit from doll play,” she said. The toy company said it worked alongside a “dedicated team of experts, parents, physicians, and most importantly, kids” to come up with six different kits with varying skin tones.The doll kits sell for $29.99.

 *Why Are Marriage Rates Down? Study Blames Lack Of ‘Economically-Attractive’ Men:

Marriage rates have steadily declined over the past few decades, and now researchers from Cornell University are offering up a possible explanation: there just aren’t as many economically-attractive men for unmarried women to meet as there used to be. Previous studies had attempted to answer why marriage rates are on the decline, but most focused solely on gender ratio discrepancies as opposed to looking into the specific socioeconomic characteristics that make a particular man and woman a good match.

First, the study’s authors examined data collected on recent marriages between 2007-2012 and 2013-2017, gathered as part of the American Community Survey’s cumulative 5-year marriage statistics. That data was used to estimate the financial and sociodemographic characteristics of unmarried women’s potential husbands by creating economic profiles that resembled real husbands who had married comparable women. These potential husband estimates were then compared to actual population data on unmarried men across national, state, and local locations.

Researchers found that these estimated potential “dream” husbands had an average income about 58% higher than the actual unmarried men currently available to unmarried women. These synthetic husbands were also 30% more likely to be employed than real single men and 19% more likely to have a college degree.

 *STILL UNSURE? – Extreme Weather Displaced Seven Million People in First Half of 2019:

This year’s weather is set to be one of the most disastrous on record after new figures showed that weather events displaced a record seven million people from their homes in the first six months of 2019. That’s more people than during the same period in any other year in history. The number comes from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, which compiled data from governments, the United Nations, and media reports.

“In today’s changing climate, mass displacement triggered by extreme-weather events is becoming the norm,” the group said in its report. The New York Times reports the numbers show two main developments—that extreme-weather events are becoming even more extreme, and that governments are becoming better at preparing for them with evacuations. The numbers don’t include Hurricane Dorian’s devastation of the Bahamas.

 *’An App My Cat Could Have Written’: Larry Ellison Reportedly Says Uber’s Business Model is ‘Almost Worthless’:

The billionaire entrepreneur Larry Ellison, who cofounded Oracle, didn’t mince words when it came to Uber and its cohort of ultravaluable tech companies, according to a new report in Barron‘s.  The financial magazine reported that the 75-year-old hosted a small cohort of entrepreneurs at his home in a posh neighborhood of San Francisco, where he spent an hour answering questions about topics as varied as the gig economy, WeWork, and Tesla.

Uber, despite a $57.5 billion market capitalization following its May IPO, is “almost worthless,” Ellison reportedly said, adding that the company didn’t own cars or control its drivers and had an “app my cat could have written.”

*Flu Season Alert: Hand Sanitizer Not Very Effective Against Virus Strain, Study Warns:

Flu season is fast approaching, which means millions will be using hand sanitizer more often in an effort to protect themselves from a flu infection. Most people, including medical professionals, believe that flu viruses are quickly neutralized after coming into contact with an ethanol-based sanitizer, but a new study finds that isn’t the case for at least one flu strain. Researchers from Kyoto Profectural University of Medicine in Japan have discovered that the influenza A virus (IAV) remains active and infectious within infected wet mucus even after being exposed to an ethanol-based sanitizer — for two full minutes. According to their research, it took nearly four minutes of exposure to a sanitizer to completely deactivate the virus.

 *Emmys Audience Falls to Record Low:

Sunday night’s Primetime Emmys Awards show posted the worst initial ratings in the program’s 71-year history. Airing on Fox, television ratings for the Emmys continued their downward spiral, Deadline Hollywood reported Monday: “TV’s biggest night had its worst night ever. The 5.7/10 in metered market results that the Emmys snared is the lowest rating the annual ceremony has achieved in early metrics – coming off successive years of new lows in an age of endangered awards shows.” The host free Emmys is down 23% from last year’s Monday evening ceremony of September 17, 2018.” Ratings were also down 34.5% from 2015, the last time the show aired on Fox.

 *Megan Fox Defends Letting Her 6-Year-Old Son Wear Dresses To School:

After revealing her appreciation for motherhood last week, “Transformers” actress Megan Fox then defended her decision to let her 6-year-old son Noah wear dresses to school. Speaking with “The Talk“, Megan Fox said that her son sometimes wants to wear dresses to his “liberal, hippy” school, and she allows him to pick the outfit he desires despite the ridicule he faces from other boys. “Sometimes, he’ll dress himself and he likes to wear dresses, sometimes,” Fox said, as reported by Fox News. “And I send him to a really liberal, hippy school, but even there – here in California – he still has little boys going, ‘Boys don’t wear dresses,’ or ‘Boys don’t wear pink.'”

“So we’re going through that now, where I’m trying to teach him to be confident no matter what anyone else says,” she continued. Fox went on to say that her son stopped wearing dresses for a while before resuming the practice again. She claims it stems from his profound love of fashion.” He had stopped wearing dresses for a while. He just wore one two days ago to school, and he came home and I was like, ‘How was it? Did any of the friends at school have anything to say?'” Fox said. “And he was like, ‘Well, all the boys laughed when I came in, but I don’t care, I love dresses too much.'”

 *FACE THE TRUTH–READ LBN EXAMINER:

An incredible 84% of LBN Examiner readers in all 50 of the United States and 26 foreign countries find the news in LBN Examiner —- “fearlessly independent” and “unbiased”.

 *EXAMINER – INVESTIGATES:

The Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area report on the impact of legalization in Colorado is devastating for those pushing legalization. The report found:
•    Traffic deaths where drivers tested positive for marijuana increased 109 percent.
•    Traffic deaths involving drivers who tested positive for marijuana more than doubled between 2013 and 2018.
•    The percentage of all Colorado traffic deaths that were marijuana-related increased from 15 percent in 2013 to 23 percent in 2018.
•    Marijuana use in the past month for children ages 12 and up increased 58 percent, and is 78 percent higher than the national average.
•    Adult marijuana use increased 94 percent, and is 96 percent higher than the national average.
•    The yearly number of emergency room visits related to marijuana increased 54 percent after legalization.
•    Marijuana-related hospitalizations increased 101 percent after legalization.
•    Suicides where toxicology results were positive for marijuana increased from 14 percent in 2013 to 23 percent in 2017.

 *EXAMINER–SEE IT:

Weird animals in the airline cabin even include pigs. Emotional support animals are different from service animals, in that they do not help their owners with a disability. Instead, they provide help for problems including PTSD, anxiety or depression.While a number of airlines are banning some emotional support animals, many still allow them on.

 *EXAMINER–A LOOK BACK:

An exotic dancer arrested by undercover cops testifies in court, Florida 1983.

*EXAMINER–VIDEO LINK:

Welcome to Episode #2 of the “Best of Without Notes,” with Susan Estrich, an American lawyer, professor, and author  – Episode 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQXPvgxeX8g

 *EXAMINER–SPOTLIGHT:

I Was A Playboy Rabbit and Other Adventures is a best-seller (on Amazon) by award-winning writer, director, producer, actor and comedian Jeff Rector.

I Was A Playboy Rabbit chronicles the five-year period (1982-1987), when Jeff worked as a “Rabbit“, the male version of a Playboy Bunny for Hugh Hefner at the NYC Playboy Empire Club and contains over 30 color photographs from that period. Also during that time, Jeff was Charlie Sheen‘s stand-in on Oliver Stone‘s film Wall Street and Tom Cruise‘s stand-in on the film Cocktail. I Was A Playboy Rabbit is chocked full of humorous stories and anecdotes, from hanging out with Charlie, going to parties at The Playboy Mansion, crashing the very first MTV Awards at Tavern-On-The-Green and partying with David Lee Roth of Van Halen and Huey Lewis and more. Jeff also talks about dating, being a waiter to support himself and several “wins” along the way.

I Was A Playboy Rabbit is also inspirational for actors and performers that struggle to achieve their dreams of working in Hollywood and that hard work and persistence can indeed pay-off.  Jeff has over 100 film/television credits and is an award-winning filmmaker and public speaker with Toastmasters.

I Was A Playboy Rabbit and Other Stories is available through Amazon and Victory Publishing. 

 *EXAMINER–SPOTLIGHT:

Jeffrey D. Hatchell, Acclaimed Author, Gives a Fresh Perspective on How to Manage Change at Work

If you ask most people in business if change is good, they would respond in the affirmative. Many understand the importance of change to grow, develop and improve results. After all, many businesses that don’t grow or adapt with current times face a bitter end, something seen every year inside business circles. However, according to a Forbes article, 62% of people surveyed about change prefer the status quo.

“I recognize that most of us may say, ‘change is good’ but do we really feel that way?” asks Jeffrey D. Hatchell, an established author and motivational speaker, “If you get a little anxious about the prospect of change you are normal. However, learning to reframe how we perceive change can make a big difference in how we handle those situations. We’ve all heard comments like control the controllable and not to worry about things outside of our control. It’s important to also look in the mirror and determine what we need to do to change ourselves or create a paradigm shift to believe change is good for us.”

Hatchell is a certified executive coach, a corporate facilitator and a motivational speaker. He focuses on leadership development through executive coaching, team building workshops and motivational speaking. His company “Over the Top Coaching” won the prestigious award of Supplier of the Year by the Northern California Supplier Development Council.

*EXAMINER–COMMENTARY by Charlie Daniels:
It will only stop when people in authority in this country gain enough common sense and courage to say “NO.” We have come to the point that when politicians find it expedient to their political career they completely forsake common sense and say it’s alright to break certain laws, to encourage certain behavior, to allow certain brown shirt-type groups like Antifa to hurt citizens and destroy property without punishing them. It’s alright for Black Lives Matter to shout slogans about frying policemen like pigs in a blanket or wanting dead cops.

It’s alright for certain cities to ignore federal immigration laws and give sanctuary to people whose backgrounds, criminal records or health conditions they know nothing about. It’s alright to turn sections of some of America’s greatest cities into garbage piles, to scatter feces on the streets and to create scenarios that could, at any time, cause an epidemic of disease that could spread like wildfire and sicken and kill thousands of people. It’s alright for United States Congresswomen to deride and insult the only real ally we have in the Middle East and defend terrorists and radicals.

Such is modern-day liberalism – the unwillingness to say “no,” the godless fallacy that anything goes, the notion that there is no right or wrong, no ethics, no genders, no respect for unborn life, no proven paths of civility, no laws that can’t be bent or broken, and if it feels good, do it.There is a word for it. It’s called anarchy, and it is a one-way path to chaos.

 *WHO READS LBN EXAMINER?:

Actress Lindsay Lohan along with 12 members of the White House staff, 3 Nobel Prize winners, over 100 Academy Award winners, 6 U.S. Senators, and over 300 Grammy Award winners.

 *EXAMINER–A DIFFERENT VIEW:….

*Vinyl Is Poised to Outsell CDs For the First Time Since 1986:

Sales of vinyl records have enjoyed constant growth in recent years. At the same time, CD sales are in a nosedive. Last year, the Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA) mid-year report suggested that CD sales were declining three times as fast as vinyl sales were growing. In February, the RIAA reported that vinyl sales accounted for more than a third of the revenue coming from physical releases. This trend continues in RIAA’s 2019 mid-year report, which came out on Thursday. Vinyl records earned $224.1 million (on 8.6 million units) in the first half of 2019, closing in on the $247.9 million (on 18.6 million units) generated by CD sales. Vinyl revenue grew by 12.8% in the second half of 2018 and 12.9% in the first six months of 2019, while the revenue from CDs barely budged. If these trends hold, records will soon be generating more money than compact discs. 

*HBO Fails to get $100 MILLION Suit Against Michael Jackson’s Estate Tossed Out of Court After it Sued the Network for Airing ‘Leaving Neverland’:

Michael Jackson‘s estate looks like it could be heading into arbitration with HBO over its airing of the documentary Leaving Neverland, which it argues violated a 1992 non-disparagement clause signed by the King of Pop. Judge George Wu denied a motion Thursday to dismiss the estate’s case against the cable network, indicating that he may decide to grant a request for arbitration when he issues final ruling by September’s end, reports Variety. The estate, in a $100 million lawsuit it filed against HBO, accuses the broadcaster of breaching a contract that was signed by the Jackson back in 1992 when his Dangerous World Tour aired on the premium cable channel.

The suit argues that the documentary does this by suggesting that Jackson molested children while he was on the Dangerous World Tour. ‘It is hard to imagine a more direct violation of the non-disparagement clause,’ declares the suit. It also calls the two men at the center of the documentary, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, ‘admitted perjurers,’ and mocks current HBO president Richard Pepler, calling him a ‘failure’.

 *Marijuana Use by US College Students Up, Highest in 35 Years:

U.S. college students are using marijuana at the highest rates in 35 years, according to a report released Thursday. About 43% of full-time college students said they used some form of pot at least once in the past year, up from 38%, a University of Michigan survey found. About 25% said they did so in the previous month, up from 21%. The latest figures are the highest levels seen in the annual survey since 1983.About 6% of college students said they used marijuana 20 or more times in the past month. For adults the same age who weren’t enrolled in college, the figure was 11%.

“It’s the frequent use we’re most worried about” because it’s linked to poor academic performance and can be detrimental to mental health, said John Schulenberg, one of the Michigan researchers. College-age adults are the biggest users of marijuana than any other age group. Use among high school students has been flat for a few years. The 2018 findings are based on responses from about 1,400 adults age 19 to 22, including 900 who were full-time college students and about 500 who were not. The survey only has comparable data on college kids going back to 1980. So it doesn’t say how common marijuana use was in the 1960′s and 1970′s — a time when marijuana use on college campuses was considered widespread.

 *STEP RIGHT UP – A New Zealand Man Brought an Emotional Support Clown to a Meeting Where He Was Fired:

A New Zealand man hired a clown to give him emotional support during a meeting in which his bosses told him he was fired. The New Zealand Herald reports the man had a feeling he was going to be let go so paid $200 to have Joe the Clown cheer him up by performing amusing tricks as he received the bad news. According to the report, the clown blew up balloons during the meeting and made them into an array of animals—including a unicorn and a poodle—and mimed crying when the redundancy paperwork was handed over.

The newspaper published a picture of the clown attending the sombre occasion. The man, Josh Thompson, said: “It was rather noisy him making balloon animals so we had to tell him to be quiet from time to time.” Thompson admitted his choice of support person was a “touch unusual” but said his bosses saw the funny side. And it had a happy ending—he said he’s already secured new employment and will start next week.

 *Video Games Are More Likely to Be Blamed for Mass Shooting if Perpetrator Is White: Study:

People are eight times more likely to blame violent video games for a mass shooting if a perpetrator is white than if the shooter is black, according to a new study published in the Psychology of Popular Media Culture. The researchers analyzed more than 200,000 articles from the past 40 years and found that video games were far more likely to be mentioned in stories about white shooters. A second part of the study tested the biases among a group of 169 students, and found “a small but statistically significant difference between the number of people who strongly agreed that video games were a factor in the case of the white shooter and those who said the same of the black shooter,” according to the MIT Technology Review.

The report’s authors gave participants a fictional story about an 18-year-old male shooter said to be obsessed with video games. Half of the group was given the mug shot of a black man while the other half got a mug shot of a white man to accompany the report. Researchers asked the students whether the perpetrator’s history of playing violent video games played a factor in his committing the crime. The study shows that students were more likely to believe video games were a factor if the mug shot was the white man. Gun researchers say there is no established link between video games and violence.

 *THINK FREELY–READ LBN EXAMINER:

An incredible 84% of LBN Examiner readers in all 50 of the United States and 26 foreign countries find the news in LBN Examiner —- “fearlessly independent” and “unbiased”.

 *EXAMINER–INVESTIGATES:

The most popular erectile dysfunction (ED) supplements sold on Amazon contain ingredients that have no proven effectiveness in treating ED.

 *EXAMINER–SEE IT:

In yet another twist for worried parents: Meet the vaping hoodie. This high school fashion mainstay — defined by a hood with drawstrings — is now available as a vaping device, ready to deliver a puff of nicotine (or marijuana) anywhere, anytime. Including in the classroom. It marks an addition to the fleet of discreet — some would say camouflaged — vaping devices that have teachers and parents struggling to monitor the usage of a product that has surged in popularity among high school-aged kids in the past two years, despite laws in most states that allow sales only to people 18 and up. (In California, it’s 21.)

 *EXAMINER–A LOOK BACK:

Gregg Allman and Cher on their wedding day in 1975.

 *EXAMINER–VIDEO LINK:

Welcome to Episode #2 of the “Best of Without Notes,” with Susan Estrich, an American lawyer, professor, and author  – Episode 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQXPvgxeX8g

 *EXAMINER–SPOTLIGHT:

I Was A Playboy Rabbit and Other Adventures is a best-seller (on Amazon) by award-winning writer, director, producer, actor and comedian Jeff Rector.

I Was A Playboy Rabbit chronicles the five-year period (1982-1987), when Jeff worked as a “Rabbit“, the male version of a Playboy Bunny for Hugh Hefner at the NYC Playboy Empire Club and contains over 30 color photographs from that period. Also during that time, Jeff was Charlie Sheen‘s stand-in on OliverStone‘s film Wall Street and Tom Cruise‘s stand-in on the film Cocktail. I Was A Playboy Rabbit is chocked full of humorous stories and anecdotes, from hanging out with Charlie, going to parties at The Playboy Mansion, crashing the very first MTV Awards at Tavern-On-The-Green and partying with David Lee Roth of Van Halen and Huey Lewis and more. Jeff also talks about dating, being a waiter to support himself and several “wins” along the way. I Was A Playboy Rabbit is also inspirational for actors and performers that struggle to achieve their dreams of working in Hollywood and that hard work and persistence can indeed pay-off.

Jeff’s has over 100 film and television credits, is an award-winning filmmaker and public speaker with Toastmasters.

I Was A Playboy Rabbit and Other Stories is available through Amazon and Victory Publishing. 

https://www.amazon.com/Was-Playboy-Rabbit-Other-Adventures/dp/1733194169/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=i+was+a+playboy+rabbit&qid=1568809545&s=gateway&sr=8-1

 *EXAMINER–SPOTLIGHT:

Nicole Brandon, Acclaimed Writer, Speaks About the Power of Writing

Words affect us all. A word of discouragement, criticism, bigotry, hatred, separation, bullying or scorn can crush a soul in a single moment with its power and vengeance. A word of encouragement, support, pride, optimism and love can change the world, to a world of unity, peace, communication and oneness. Words mark our lives. They are cheered out loud and written on parchment to be read hundreds of years after we’re gone.

I’ve had the rare opportunity to work on three recent projects dealing with the state of mental health. Each story is a journey and a secret elixir to heal. The authors reveal and uncover challenges of their life in deep and intimate details. Their truth and honesty soothes, captivates, and champions the human spirit and heart. These words can change the course of history and time. The first was a book written by a former District Attorney, who tried to commit suicide in his Law Office. His parents emotionally forced him into the law, and he stepped into a career that was miles away from his heart and soul. His unhappiness consumed him, until he devastatingly tried to end it all on his law office floor.

Once recovered it was imperative for him to write about his journey and to create a book for college kids to teach them to follow their own dreams. The book is an expose on loneliness, and the correlation to unhappiness and of course the heroic and arduous climb back to joy, bliss and unbridled glee. The second is a new and creative TV Series created by Scott Seargeant. Scott grew up with a family member that was marinated in the mental health system. Here he found the love and the humor of living in one’s own private world. His new show focuses on the genius of therapy and the healing when you’re in a shared community. Now I am working on “Never Alone” a new movie and movement with Deepak Chopra, Gabriella Wright and Michel Pascal for Suicide Prevention Worldwide.

 *WHO READS LBN EXAMINER?:

Veteran music attorney Peter Paterno along with 12 members of the White House staff, 3 Nobel Prize winners, over 100 Academy Award winners, 6 U.S. Senators, and over 300 Grammy Award winners.

 *EXAMINER–A DIFFERENT VIEW:….

*EXAMINER–INVESTIGATES:

 *Whole Foods CEO Says Plant-Based Fake Meat Is Bad For Your Health (But Good For Environment):

The media may have fallen in love with plant-based fake meat like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods (who produce the Beyond Burger and Impossible Burger, respectively), but one high-profile super vegan doesn’t think the “meat” is good for anyone’s health. John Mackey, co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods, recently told CNBC that while the plant-based meat is better for the environment, and is more ethical than eating animals, it is made from processed ingredients that aren’t healthier than actual meat.

“The [brands] who are capturing the imagination of people — and I’m not going to name these brands because I’m afraid I will be associated with the critique of it,” Mackey, who has been a vegan for more than 20 years, told the outlet, “but some of these that are extremely popular now that are taking the world by storm, if you look at the ingredients, they are super, highly processed foods.” “I don’t think eating highly processed foods is healthy. I think people thrive on eating whole foods,” he added. “As for health, I will not endorse that, and that is about as big of criticism that I will do in public.”

CNBC listed the ingredients for Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods burgers: According to Beyond Meat’s website, ingredients for its plant-based patties include water, pea protein isolate, expeller-pressed canola oil, refined coconut oil, rice protein and other natural flavors, including apple extract and beet juice extract (for color). Ingredients for Impossible Foods burger include water, soy protein concentrate, coconut oil, sunflower oil, potato protein, soy leghemoglobin (a group of protein found in animals and plants) and other natural flavors, according to its website.

 *The Coming Death of Just About Every Rock Legend:

Behold the killing fields that lie before us: Bob Dylan (78 years old); Paul McCartney (77); Paul Simon (77) and Art Garfunkel (77); Carole King (77); Brian Wilson (77); Mick Jagger (76) and Keith Richards (75); Joni Mitchell (75); Jimmy Page (75) and Robert Plant (71); Ray Davies (75); Roger Daltrey (75) and Pete Townshend (74); Roger Waters (75) and David Gilmour (73); Rod Stewart (74); Eric Clapton (74); Debbie Harry (74); Neil Young (73); Van Morrison (73); Bryan Ferry (73); Elton John (72); Don Henley (72); James Taylor (71); Jackson Browne (70); Billy Joel (70); and Bruce Springsteen (69, but turning 70 next month).

A few of these legends might manage to live into their 90s, despite all the… wear and tear to which they’ve subjected their bodies over the decades. But most of them will not.

 *Upcoming Kate Spade Biography Sets Nerves on Edge:

Top fashion critic Vanessa Friedman is penning a biography of tragic designer Kate Spade for Random House. But we’re told that — a little more than a year after Spade’s suicide — still-raw nerves and concern for her family are making the project a challenge. Insiders say that Kate’s widower, Andy Spade — who has a good relationship with the New York Times’ fashion director and chief fashion critic — is aware of the project, but he’s anxious about its progress.

We’re told that Andy has already made some attempts to influence the book, but it’s not clear exactly how. The Spades have a 14-year-old daughter, Frances Beatrix. Andy — who had been separated from Kate for 10 months when she died on June 5, 2018 — gave his first, much-sought-after interview after the death to Friedman.

 *Hurry the F Up! Modern Patience Thresholds Lower Than Ever Before, Technology To Blame:

Patience is a virtue, but it’s becoming an exceedingly rare quality in modern society. According to a new survey of 2,000 British adults, all of the luxuries of modern life have made most people incredibly impatient — across pretty much every aspect of their lives. Three quarters of those surveyed said they believe the dominance of digital technology, such as smartphones and on-demand TVs, are to blame for this ever growing lack of patience. Respondents reported becoming frustrated after just 16 seconds of waiting for a web page to load, and after 25 seconds of waiting for a traffic light to change.

Commissioned by stationery supply company BIC, the survey revealed that 38% of respondents had lost their patience while trying to take notes and keep up with a speaker during a class or work meeting. Often times, all it takes is mere seconds of waiting for people to lose their cool. For example, respondents reported losing their temper after just 20 seconds of waiting for ink to dry on a greeting card. Additionally, it only takes 22 seconds for people to start cursing their computers or TVs if a show or movie doesn’t immediately start streaming correctly. Surveyed Brits also reported losing their cool after just 18 seconds of searching for a pen. Even a cup of tea, an undeniable symbol of British leisure time, incited anger among respondents if the kettle took more than 28 seconds to boil.

 *LOVELY L.A. – Union Rescue Mission CEO Will Never Walk Again Thanks to Bacteria Crawling on Skid Row:

Life on L.A.’s Skid Row – the only area of its kind in the country – is worse than ever before. Just ask Andy Bales, CEO of the Union Rescue Mission. About two years ago, he contracted three different kinds of deadly bacteria – E. coli, strep and staph. Now doctors say he’ll never walk again, and he may have to get his leg amputated. He spends much of his time in a wheelchair. “Conditions on Skid Row are worse than they have ever been in the 11 years I’ve been here,” Bales says. “And I would venture to say that they are the worst and the most violent and the most lawless they have ever been.”

Bales has a long history of health problems. He has Type I diabetes and received a kidney transplant — from his wife — in 2013. Five weeks after the transplant, he took part in a triathlon, a decision that he now admits wasn’t his best. A blister from the race turned into the wound that, in his opinion, made him vulnerable to all manner of bacteria festering on Skid Row, despite the fact that he wore a special boot to protect himself.He guesses he became infected while on a “water walk,” where he and members of his staff walk the streets handing out water bottles. A few days later, on a flight to Raleigh, North Carolina, his foot began to ache, and he started to feel feverish.

The infection spread horrifyingly fast. “If I showed you the pictures, you’d be sick,” Bales says. “My foot looked like [something out of] The Walking Dead. I went in [to the hospital] and showed them the foot and said, ‘Please cut this off.’”

 *Lawsuit: Mentally Ill U.S. Prisoner Kept in Solitary Lost His Ability to Speak:

A U.S. prisoner with a long history of mental illness was allegedly held in solitary confinement for so long that he lost his ability to speak. A new lawsuit reported by The Guardian alleges that Tyquine Lee, 26, spent more than 600 days in solitary confinement at the Red Onion state prison in Virginia. During that time, he spent at least 22 hours a day in a concrete cell. The lawsuit states that Lee lost a significant amount of weight and can no longer recognize his mother or remember his own name.

A psychiatric review conducted in January 2018, after Lee’s time in solitary, diagnosed him with schizophrenia and an unspecified personality disorder that were allegedly left untreated and worsened in prison. The review also said Lee now spoke in numbers and invented words.

 *THINK FREELY–READ LBN EXAMINER:

An incredible 84% of LBN Examiner readers in all 50 of the United States and 26 foreign countries find the news in LBN Examiner —- “fearlessly independent” and “unbiased”.

 *EXAMINER – INVESTIGATES:

Frustrated by getting an out-of-office reply to an email? Google is rolling out a feature that lets you know someone is OOO before you hit send. If your recipient has an OOO on their calendar, when you address an email you’ll see a banner showing that they’re OOO and when they’ll be back.

 *EXAMINER–SEE IT:

This week, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety released a new study finding that in 2017, the number of deaths caused by drivers running red lights reached 939, its highest point in a decade, going up 31 percent since 2009. AAA researcher Brian Tefft says he thinks distracted driving is one of the causes. That’s hardly surprising. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, between 2012 to 2017 distracted driving was connected to almost 20,000 fatalities. The N.H.T.S.A. notes that texting can take your eyes off the road for five seconds — at 55 mph, that’s enough for you to drive the length of a football field effectively blindfolded.

A survey published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics in May found that over half of U.S. parents acknowledge it’s unsafe to text while driving, but about the same percentage have done it anyway. And hands-free phones have been found to be just as dangerous as hand-held phones. That’s why last month a House of Commons committee in the U.K. recommended that drivers be banned from using all phones. We’ve let technology into every part of our lives, and now we’re starting to see some of the downsides — which get pretty serious at 60 mph. The problem is that our addiction to our phones doesn’t magically turn off when we turn on the ignition.

 *EXAMINER–A LOOK BACK:

Actress Candice Bergen photographs Sonny and Cher in 1967 in Bel Air.

 *EXAMINER–VIDEO LINK:

Welcome to Episode #2 of the “Best of Without Notes,” with Susan Estrich, an American lawyer, professor, and author  – Episode 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQXPvgxeX8g

 *EXAMINER–SPOTLIGHT:

Gary Alter, Acclaimed Plastic Surgeon, Travels to Chile for Reconstructive Surgery Congress

Dr. Gary Alter, acclaimed plastic surgeon, has had an incredibly busy year so far. Between teaming up with the Stem Cell Doctors of Beverly Hills to open his new state-of-the-art Biocellular Center, (https://stemcelldoctorsbeverlyhills.com/), he also recently traveled to Chile to be a guess faculty speaker at the 2019 Chilean Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Congress in Santiago, which took place August 8-10, 2019.

“It was an amazing experience,” explains Dr. Alter, “I spoke on topics such as ‘buried penis’, ‘female genital aesthetic surgery including reconstruction of botched labiaplasties,’ ‘male to female gender confirmation surgery,’ ‘reconstruction of deformities from penile enlargement surgery,’ and ‘scrotum reduction.’” “The plastic surgeons were very gracious and interested in my work.”

Dr. Gary Alter is an American plastic surgeon. His specialties include male and female genital reconstruction and gender confirmation surgery. He appeared in multiple episodes of the reality television series, “Dr. 90210” and one episode of “Botched”, both on the E! television network. He currently has an acclaimed practice in Beverly Hills, CA and Manhattan, NY.

 *WHO READS LBN EXAMINER?:

Prominent literary agent Roger Freet along with 12 members of the White House staff, 3 Nobel Prize winners, over 100 Academy Award winners, 6 U.S. Senators, and over 300 Grammy Award winners.

 *WHO READS LBN EXAMINER?:

Power music attorney Don Passman.

*EXAMINER–COMMENTARY by Walter Williams:
John Paul Wright, professor at University of Cincinnati, and Matthew DeLisi, professor at Iowa State University, penned a powerful article titled “What Criminologists Don’t Say, and Why,” in the summer 2017 edition of City Journal.

There is significant bias among criminologists. The reason for that bias is that political leanings of academic criminologists are liberal. Liberal criminologists outnumber their conservative counterparts by a ratio of 30-1. Ideology almost perfectly predicts the position of criminologists on issues from gun control to capital punishment to harsh sentencing. Liberal criminologists march in step for gun control, oppose punitive prison sentences, and are vehemently against the death penalty.

In 2012, the National Academy of Sciences commissioned a study on the growth of incarceration. It showed that from 1928 until 1960, crime rates rose slowly each year. After the 1960s, crime rates exploded to unprecedented levels of violence until the 1990s. Prior to 1980, only 40% of individuals arrested for murder were sentenced to prison and those that were served an average of five years. In 1981, less than 10% of those arrested for sexual assault were sentenced to prison. Those who were sentenced served an average of 3.4 years. Liberal criminologists probably believe that light sentencing for murderers and rapists is just.

(Walter Williams is a acclaimed professor of economics at George Mason University)

 *EXAMINER–A DIFFERENT VIEW:….