*EXAMINER-VACCINE CHECK-IN:

This current list shows the number of Covid-19 doses administered per 100 people in every country. Here’s the top 10 as of January 27th evening: Israel: 49.1 doses per 100 people UAE: 27.9 United Kingdom: 11.3 Bahrain: 8.5 US: 7.1 Italy: 2.6 Germany: 2.4 France: 1.8 China: 1.6 Russia: 0.7 Bottom line: The public health world is looking to Israel for signs of vaccine effectiveness. And the early results are encouraging: Vaccines (even after just one dose) appear to be causing significant drops in Covid infections. But for now, the new coronavirus strain is keeping Israel’s economy shut down—the government temporarily banned all international flights.

*RUPERT MURDOCH CONDEMNS ‘AWFUL WOKE ORTHODOXY’ AND SOCIAL MEDIA ‘CENSORSHIP’ IN SPEECH:

Rupert Murdoch, head of News Corp. said that media organizations are facing widespread “censorship” that seeks to “stop individuals and societies from realizing their potential. Murdoch made the statement in his pre-taped acceptance of a lifetime achievement award from the Australia Day Foundation, the New York Times reports. Murdoch, whose News Corp. Australia properties reach more than 17 million Australians monthly, and whose Fox News Twitter account has 20 million followers, also referred in the video to “rigidly enforced conformity, aided and abetted by so-called social media” as being a “straitjacket on sensibility.”

“For those of us in media,” Murdoch says in the video, “there’s a real challenge to confront: a wave of censorship that seeks to silence conversation, to stifle debate, to ultimately stop individuals and societies from realizing their potential. This rigidly enforced conformity, aided and abetted by so-called social media, is a straitjacket on sensibility. Too many people have fought too hard in too many places for freedom of speech to be suppressed by this awful woke orthodoxy.”

*RFK JR. FALSELY TYING HANK AARON’S DEATH TO VACCINE:

Anti-vaccine pseudoscience peddler Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. used baseball legend Hank Aaron’s death in a desperate attempt to fan hysteria over the coronavirus vaccine late Friday. Kennedy, whose fact-free work has been rebuked by his own family, tweeted Friday, “Hank Aaron’s tragic death is part of a wave of suspicious deaths among elderly closely following administration of COVID vaccines. He received the Moderna vaccine on Jan. 5 to inspire other Black Americans to get the vaccine.” Aaron died at age 86 on Friday morning. There has not been a wave of irregular deaths among the elderly after receiving the Moderna vaccine, which has been declared safe for use by older people by the World Health Organization, the Food and Drug Administration, and dozens of governments.

*PETA CALLS ON HUMANS TO DENOUNCE ANIMAL INSULTS LIKE ‘CHICKEN’ OR ‘PIG’:

This is animal advocate abuse. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals demanded this week that people stop using “speciesist” terms such as “chicken,” “pig” or “rat” as insults for humans — and promptly got ripped as dodos for the stunt. The PETA tweet was so widely mocked online that it soon boasted an embarrassing ratio of almost 11,000 comments to just over 3,000 likes as of Thursday morning.

“Calling someone an animal as an insult reinforces the myth that humans are superior to other animals & justified in violating them,” the animal-rights advocacy group said in its earnest call to action. “Stand up for justice by rejecting supremacist language.” PETA social-media reps also included a chart detailing the human “supremacist” terminology and suggesting alternative language such as using “coward” instead of “chicken,” “snitch” in lieu of “rat,” “jerk” rather than “snake,” “repulsive” rather than “pig” and “lazy” to cast aspersions onto someone with sloth-like tendencies. Needless to say, the majority of commenters deemed the directive a bit cuckoo.

*ANTIFA MILOTATS SMASH UP ORIGINAL STARBUCKS DURING ANTI-BIDEN POTEST:

They really don’t want Joe. Antifa militants chanted “f—k” President Biden during a rampage through Seattle after the inauguration — and smashed up the historic site of the very first Starbucks. Seattle cops made at least three arrests as at least 100 protesters scrawled graffiti, smashed windows and even set fire to an American flag, according to the Seattle Times. Videos showed the mob chanting their allegiance to “Antifa” and repeatedly decrying the election of a left-wing president, Biden. “F—k Trump, f—k Biden too, they don’t give a f—k about you,” a large crowd chanted in one clip. Some said they took to the streets because they were disgusted that the new president had called for unity rather than attack their right-wing opponents. “Calling for unity with people who actively want to harm people is disgusting,” a woman named Anna told the Seattle Times.

*CHICKEN IS BLOWING UP:

In the year through November 2020, there were 213 chicken sandwich announcements across America’s top restaurant and convenience chains, up 22% Year over Year. Some recent chicken sandies you may have seen or eaten:

· Shake Shack’s Korean-style iteration
· McDonald’s chicken McGriddle
· KFC’s new “best chicken sandwich ever” (we’re calling false advertising here)

Fast-food burgers actually still outsell chicken sandwiches 3-to-1. However, America’s broader dietary habits have skewed toward poultry since the early ’90s, with 1.4B more units of chicken sold than beef last year. Chicken looks to be the future of fast food: It’s less costly than beef, which appeals to budget-conscious consumers. But restaurants do have to install new equipment to batter the chicken fillets.

*EXAMINER – SEE IT:


The Israeli series “Losing Alice,” starring Ayelet Zurer as a filmmaker caught in a tangled psychosexual web, is one of several acclaimed foreign shows arriving on American TV this week.

*EXAMINER – INVESTIGATES:

Robots are able to manipulate human emotions. In one experiment, when a robot begged participants not to turn it off, about 30% obeyed the robot rather than the researcher.

*EXAMINER – A LOOK BACK:


Los Angeles circa 1954-57. “Anacin: Faster, safer relief from tense, nervous headaches.

*WHY READ LBN EXAMINER – “Fearlessly Independent” and “Unbiased” since 2002


“More and more people are seeking media outlets that affirm their beliefs, not inform them. News outlets have become echo chambers that tailor their content for a specific partisan audience.” —– Acclaimed presidential pollster, Frank Luntz
Now you can invite your friends and family to sign up to receive the LBN Examiner for free (if you’ve got the guts) —– www.LBNExaminer.com

*EXAMINER – LENS:


President Joe Biden conducts a virtual swearing-in ceremony for members of his new administration in the State Dining Room at the White House.*THINK FREELY – BE INDEPENDENT – MAKE UP YOUR OWN (DAMN) MIND: READ LBN EXAMINER


Now you can invite your friends and family to sign up to receive the LBN Examiner for free (if you’ve got the guts) —– www.LBNExaminer.com

*EXAMINER – READER QUESTION:

Thirty years from now, what will historians consider the most consequential event of January 2021 — the storming of the U.S. Capitol by an insurrectionist mob, or Aleksei Navalny’s heroic return to Moscow, followed by his immediate arrest?

Please send your reply to: LBNExaminer@TimeWire.net .

*WHO READS LBN EXAMINER?:

Senator Rob Portman along withalong 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 – HEALTH: SMOKING’S LONG DECLINE IS OVER


The decades-long decline in U.S. cigarette sales halted last year as people in lockdown lit up more frequently and health concerns around e-cigarettes caused some vapers to switch back to cigarettes. Before the pandemic, U.S. cigarette unit sales had been falling at an accelerating rate, hitting 5.5% in 2019, as smokers quit or switched to alternatives like e-cigarettes. The pandemic put the brakes on that slide. In 2020, the U.S. cigarette industry’s unit sales were flat compared to the previous year, according to data released Thursday by Marlboro maker Altria Group Inc. MO +2.15%

People had more opportunities to smoke because they spent more time at home and had more money to spend on cigarettes because they spent less on gas, travel and entertainment, Altria said. They drank more liquor, too, buoying spirits makers. At the same time, some e-cigarette users turned back to combustible cigarettes because of increased e-cigarette taxes, bans on flavored vaping products and confusion about the health effects of vaping, consumers and industry officials say. Altria on Thursday didn’t offer a projection for cigarette sales in 2021, saying it would depend in part on the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine and how consumers’ behavior changes after they are vaccinated.

*EXAMINER – A DIFFERENT VIEW:….

LBN Examiner Disclaimer: 1.) The LBN Examiner accepts no liability for the content of this email, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. The LBN Examiner is not associated with any commercial or political organization and is transmitted via the web for the sole benefit of its subscribers. 2.) Unfortunately, computer viruses can be transmitted via email. The recipient should check this mail and any attachments for the presence of viruses.

*SIGN OF THE TIMES: ORWELL’S DYSTOPIAN NOVEL ‘1984’ SOARS TO THE TOP OF AMAZON’S LIST OF BEST-SELLING BOOKS:

“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” — GEORGE ORWELL, “1984”

Twitter has banned President Donald Trump. Google, Amazon, and Apple shut down Parler, a conservative social media site. No one knows what’s true or false anymore. And the language police are running rampant, with lawmakers on Capitol Hill going so far as to ban words like “father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister.” So, it makes perfect sense that Orwell’s famous book “1984” is once again the best-selling book on Amazon. Orwell, whose real name was Eric Arthur Blair, wrote the book in 1949, his last completed novel before his death.  An opponent of totalitarianism, Orwell served in the Loyalist forces in the Spanish Civil War. And as fascism began to sweep the world, he was inspired to write a novel about what would happen should it win.

“The novel is set in Airstrip One, formerly Great Britain, a province of the superstate Oceania, whose residents are victims of perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance, and public manipulation. Oceania’s political ideology, euphemistically named English Socialism (shortened to ‘Ingsoc’ in Newspeak, the government’s invented language that will replace English or Oldspeak) is enforced by the privileged, elite Inner Party,” Audible says in its summary of the book. “Via the ‘Thought Police,’ the Inner Party persecutes individualism and independent thinking, which are regarded as ‘thoughtcrimes.’ The tyranny is ostensibly overseen by a mysterious leader known as Big Brother, who enjoys an intense cult of personality.

The Party ‘seeks power entirely for its own sake. It is not interested in the good of others; it is interested solely in power.”
The book’s “Big Brother” is the omnipresent government that sees everything. “Always eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you. Asleep or awake, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or bed—no escape. Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimeters in your skull,” Orwell wrote.And Orwell also created “Newspeak,” a vocabulary limited by the government and replete with ironies, like the Ministry of Peace, which wages perpetual war, and the Ministry of Plenty, which rations food, not to mention the Ministry of Truth, which controls all information. “Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it,” Orwell wrote.

*MORE THAN EIGHT-IN-TEN AMERICANS GET NEWS FROM DIGITAL DEVICES:

The transition of news from print, television and radio to digital spaces has caused huge disruptions in the traditional news industry, especially the print news industry. It is also reflected in the ways individual Americans say they are getting their news. A large majority of Americans get news at least sometimes from digital devices, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted Aug. 31-Sept. 7, 2020. More than eight-in-ten U.S. adults (86%) say they get news from a smartphone, computer or tablet “often” or “sometimes,” including 60% who say they do so often. This is higher than the portion who get news from television, though 68% get news from TV at least sometimes and 40% do so often. Americans turn to radio and print publications for news far less frequently, with half saying they turn to radio at least sometimes (16% do so often) and about a third (32%) saying the same of print (10% get news from print publications often).

*THE STATE OF ONLINE HARASSMENT:

Stories about online harassment have captured headlines for years. Beyond the more severe cases of sustained, aggressive abuse that make the news, name-calling and belittling, derisive comments have come to characterize how many view discourse online – especially in the political realm. A Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults in September finds that 41% of Americans have personally experienced some form of online harassment in at least one of the six key ways that were measured. And while the overall prevalence of this type of abuse is the same as it was in 2017, there is evidence that online harassment has intensified since then.

To begin with, growing shares of Americans report experiencing more severe forms of harassment, which encompasses physical threats, stalking, sexual harassment, and sustained harassment. Some 15% experienced such problems in 2014 and a slightly larger share (18%) said the same in 2017.¹ That group has risen to 25% today. Additionally, those who have been the target of online abuse are more likely today than in 2017 to report that their most recent experience involved more varied types and more severe forms of online abuse. In a political environment where Americans are stressed and frustrated and antipathy has grown, online venues often serve as platforms for highly contentious or even extremely offensive political debate. And for those who have experienced online abuse, politics is cited as the top reason for why they think they were targeted.

*CHINA’S ECONOMY IS GROWING FASTER NOW THAN BEFORE PANDEMIC:

A year ago, the coronavirus began spreading rapidly in China. Today, China’s economy is bouncing back hard, and expanding faster than it did before the pandemic. Economic data published Monday showed that China logged 2.3% growth for 2020, becoming the only major economy that grew during a year that exacted a generational toll on swaths of the world. As other major nations and geopolitical competitors, from the United States to Europe to India to Japan, struggle to beat back a winter wave, China’s containment success has buoyed its economy and the ruling Communist Party’s claims to global leadership in the post-pandemic world. In a sign of how quickly China has managed a turnaround, the National Statistics Bureau said gross domestic product rose 6.5% during the fourth quarter of 2020, exceeding the 6% pace at the end of 2019, before the pandemic took hold.

As President-elect Joe Biden enters office this week, he’ll be confronted with a China that does not seem at all diminished in economic health or international stature. Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, struck a bullish tone during his New Year’s Eve address, when he told his countrymen that he was “proud of his great motherland” and the sacrifice and unity its people displayed to quickly beat back the coronavirus through lockdown measures and a mobilization of medical and manufacturing workers. In recent weeks, Chinese state media and the nation’s globe-trotting foreign minister, Wang Yi, have told world leaders from Myanmar to the European Union, as well as global investors, that China’s fast recovery could lift the rest of the world. Under Xi’s leadership and through his diplomacy through online video calls, Wang claimed this month, China “has brought hope for the world economy to step out of the doldrums. “China’s economy continues to power ahead with remarkable momentum, leaving other major economies, most of which are still struggling to register some semblance of growth, in the dust,” said Eswar Prasad, a professor at Cornell University and former China director for the International Monetary Fund. “With its outstanding growth performance, China has cemented its position as the primary driver of what has so far been a dismal global economic recovery.”

*ELIZABETH STANTON, HOST OF THE CW’S “WORLD’S FUNNIEST ANIMALS”, REVEALS 10 WAYS TO HELP YOUR LOCAL RESCUE SHELTER:
 

Elizabeth Stanton, host of The CW’s “World’s Funniest Animals”, wants to encourage of her TV fans to help local animal and rescue shelters. Animal shelters and rescues are amazing! Usually with limited resources and very little publicity, they help untold numbers of animals and people. Give back by choosing one or more of the following ways to show your appreciation for the groups that do so much for animals, people and your community.
 

1. Adopt a pet

If you’ve been thinking that it’s time to add a pet to your family, consider adopting from a local shelter or rescue group. Search for available cats and dogs near you at the Shelter Pet Project. Be sure to find out from the group you are considering adopting from what their adoption process is like and, if it doesn’t feel right to you, move on to another local group.

2. Donate

Every animal shelter and rescue organization has bills to pay and your generous monetary donation will be gratefully accepted. Donations may be used to help cover the costs of daily operations, supplies, staff training, animal housing upgrades, community outreach programs, animal enrichment and much more.

3. Volunteer

Even if you can’t adopt a pet just now, you can help make life better for animals in your community by volunteering with your local shelter or rescue organization. Do you have experience as a carpenter or electrician? Are you a marketing or dog walking whiz? All of these skills are valuable! Or be open to learning something new that is needed, such as trap-neuter-return for unowned cats.

4. Say thanks

Take a minute to express your gratitude to the people who work at your local shelter or rescue groups. Did you adopt a pet from one of them? Did they provide affordable spay/neuter? Perhaps they helped reunite you with your lost pet or provided behavioral advice that made it possible for your pet to stay in your home. Give them a shout-out on social media, drop off lunch or cookies for the staff and/or mention to municipal leadership what a value they bring to your community.

5. Become a fan

Like and follow your local animal shelters and rescue groups on Facebook, then invite your friends and family to like and follow them too. Also like and follow the Shelter Pet Project, which directs people seeking to adopt a cat or dog to their local shelters and rescues. Engage by sharing and commenting on posts.

6. Get crafty

Combine fabric, recyclables and imagination to bring much needed fun into the lives of local shelter and rescue pets. You can fashion cage curtains to help shelter cats get some privacy (and stay healthy) or play matchmaker by creating attention-grabbing “Adopt-Me” vests to spotlight available pets at adoption events held by shelters and rescues.

7. Make wishes come true

Shelters and rescue groups always need towels, toys and other supplies. Check their websites for wishlists; if they don’t have one, call them to find out what’s in short supply and offer to create an online wishlist for them.

8. Become a foster

The value of fosters can’t be overrated. They can be lifesavers for pets who can’t adapt to shelter life, those who need to be nursed back to health and orphaned kittens who need someone to step in for their mom (or whose needs are beyond what busy shelter staff can often provide). Foster homes are the backbone of many rescue groups—without a strong network of foster providers, rescue groups simply could not take in as many animals. Foster homes can also become adoption ambassadors to friends, family and colleagues who otherwise may not visit the shelter. If you already have pets of your own, fostering is also often very fun for the resident pet.

9. Help at your own home

Make the jobs of shelters and rescues easier: Outfit your cats and dogs with collars and proper ID (a microchip and ID tags) at all times. As soon as you bring them into your family, have all of your pets spayed or neutered. Keep your cats indoors, where you can keep them safe (though it’s great to take them on walks if they are comfortable on a harness and leash or provide them a catio for safe outdoor enrichment) and keep dogs on leashes when off your property.

10. Help your shelter make positive changes

The work your local shelter does may be hindered by an outdated animal control ordinance or, for municipal shelters, an inadequate budget. You can help by rallying support from your elected officials and working with shelter and rescue leaders to make necessary changes. If you see or hear anything at your local shelter that concerns you, follow our guidelines for addressing that concern in the most effective way.

*EXAMINER – A LOOK BACK:


The singer-songwriter Phil Ochs added a larger-than-life spirit of protest to the folk music of the late 60s and early 70s.

*EXAMINER – INVESTIGATES:

 Even when buying a single item from the pharmacy, customers have long received multi-foot long CVS receipts. Why? According to Vox, all that paper real estate is a way for CVS to target customers with ads, surveys, and instructions on how to use their rewards program. The company responded to the criticism by cutting down the length of the receipt by 25% in 2013 and using more digital receipts thereafter.

*EXAMINER – LENS:

A rioter attempts to smash a window of the Capitol Building with his fist.

*STOP THE NONSENSE – READ LBN EXAMINER:


A large portion of Americans continue to rely on social media sites for news, even as these companies struggle to deal with misleading information on their platforms about the election, the COVID-19 pandemic and more. About half of U.S. adults say they get news from social media often or sometimes. Since 2002, over 84% of LBN Examiner readers in all 50 of the United States and 26 foreign countries find it “fearlessly independent” and “unbiased”.
  Now you can invite your friends and family to sign up to receive the LBN Examiner for free (if you’ve got the guts) —– www.LBNExaminer.com

*EXAMINER – CARTOON:



“No, I ordered the lifetime of doing whatever I want.”

*EXAMINER – BUSINESS INSIDER:


Shell’s gas station network has 45k retail sites… that is more locations than either McDonald’s (39k) or Starbucks (32k).  Incredibly, over the next 5 years, Shell wants to add 10k more branded retail sites. Why do this at a time when oil is on the downswing?  Well, the gas stations are very lucrative.  “Selling coffee, food and other household items at gas stations is an attractive business,” writes the WSJ, “because profit margins are typically higher than the oil business and returns are more stable because they aren’t linked to volatile energy prices.” Each year, Shell sells 450m snacks, 350m cold beverages and 250m cups of coffee. These purchases flow to the bottom line, and Shell’s marketing division — which includes retail sites — earned $1.6B last quarter (50%+ of the company’s total profit). While that share may fluctuate if oil prices rise, the gross margins for gas station products won’t stop being insane.

*THINK FREELY – BE INDEPENDENT – MAKE UP YOUR OWN (DAMN) MIND: READ LBN EXAMINER

Now you can invite your friends and family to sign up to receive the LBN Examiner for free (if you’ve got the guts) —– www.LBNExaminer.com

*EXAMINER – SPOTLIGHT:

 Actress, Drew Barrymore

*EXAMINER – HEALTH: TOTO WELLNESS TOILET

Toto Wellness is creating an internet-connected toilet that has sensors in the plumbing to examine your fecal matter… and provide you with a health analysis. This is apparently many years in the future. 

*WHO READS LBN EXAMINER?:

Erika James, the Dean of the nation’s oldest business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania 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.

*LBN COMMENTARY:
Dr. John Aplin and I developed a model of organizational change a few years ago. We suggested that organizations go through three phases: entrepreneurial, followed by administrative, then creative/innovative. Transitions occur between phases and mature organizations cycle between periods of dominant administration (efficiency/cost control) and creativity/innovation (effectiveness and new products/services). This model, when operating in a free market spawns reasonably priced innovative new products and technologies. However, without free markets and competition, found in highly regulated and oligopolistic markets, organizations become lodged in the administrative phase and without needing to change become inefficient and overly bureaucratic.  

Richard Cosier, PhD
Dean Emeritus
The Krannert School of Management
Purdue University

*EXAMINER – A DIFFERENT VIEW:….

LBN Examiner Disclaimer: 1.) The LBN Examiner accepts no liability for the content of this email, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. The LBN Examiner is not associated with any commercial or political organization and is transmitted via the web for the sole benefit of its subscribers. 2.) Unfortunately, computer viruses can be transmitted via email. The recipient should check this mail and any attachments for the presence of viruses.

*EXAMINING FROM THE INDEPENDENT CENTER:

If your politics lean left, you likely didn’t hear that the City of Detroit is suing BLM activists alleged to have engaged in disorderly conduct, incited riots, and destroyed public property.

If your politics bend to the right, you probably didn’t hear that four of President Trump’s recent pardons went to former private security contractors jailed for killing 14 Iraqi civilians without cause.

*2020 WAS SO BAD, 1 IN 6 AMERICANS ENTERED THERAPY FOR THE FIRST TIME:

From health to the economy, it’s no secret 2020 will go down as one of the most stressful years in recent memory for people around the world. So just how difficult was 2020? Enough that more than one in every six Americans entered therapy for the first time, according to a new survey. A OnePoll study of 2,000 adults reveals these new patients joined the 31 percent of Americans who either continued or returned to therapy during the last year. Researchers find 15 percent also began taking medication for mental health issues for the first time in 2020. Another 15 percent changed or increased their prescription dosages during the pandemic.Despite the surge in Americans asking for help, the poll finds there’s still a negative perception about going to therapy. Forty-seven percent believe that entering therapy is a sign of weakness. The survey, commissioned by Vida Health, does note that just a quarter of respondents (27%) have never visited a therapist in their lifetime.

Three in 10 people who are not in therapy say it’s because they don’t believe their problems are “big enough” to need professional help. Another 32 percent say they can “handle their problems on their own.” “Americans often place other priorities above their own mental health needs, not just because of stigma but because of time,” says Vida Health’s Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Chris Mosunic in a statement. “They often see work, home and social responsibilities as being more important than their personal health and well-being. But just as they tell you on airplanes when the oxygen masks come down, we can’t help others if we don’t take care ourselves first.”

As you might expect, the coronavirus pandemic was a major reason why Americans are now seeking a therapist’s help for their issues. Forty-five percent of respondents say they considered seeking treatment due to COVID-19. Just 15 percent of Americans think the pandemic did not damage their mental health. Entering 2021, the winter weather is now adding to the problems of many people. Over six in 10 adults (62%) say they feel more depressed during the winter months. One in three (32%) call winter the worst season for their mental health.

*ROWAN ATKINSON, STAR OF “MR. BEAN”, CONDEMNS CANCEL CULTURE:
A ‘MEDIVAL MOB LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO BURN’

British superstar Rowan Atkinson, who will forever be immortalized as the iconic “Mr. Bean,” has joined Ricky Gervais and John Cleese in the fight against cancel culture. Speaking with U.K.’s Radio Times, Atkinson said that the modern act of destroying people in an instant due to past or present sins is the “digital equivalent of the medieval mob roaming the streets looking for someone to burn.” “The problem we have online is that an algorithm decides what we want to see, which ends up creating a simplistic, binary view of society,” he said, as reported by Variety.

“It becomes a case of either you’re with us or against us. And if you’re against us, you deserve to be ‘canceled.’” “It’s important that we’re exposed to a wide spectrum of opinion, but what we have now is the digital equivalent of the medieval mob roaming the streets looking for someone to burn,” Atkinson added. “So it is scary for anyone who’s a victim of that mob and it fills me with fear about the future.” Atkinson joins the ranks of several British comedians who have condemned cancel culture, including “Monty Python” alum John Cleese and Ricky Gervais.  Speaking with Reuters this past July, Cleese said that cancel culture, often fueled by political correctness, “misunderstands the main purposes of life, which is to have fun.”

*CHINESE SOLDIERS’ COMBAT GEAR INCLUDES NEW
“SELF-DESTRUCT” MODE:

We’re learning more and more about China’s rapidly growing military capabilities. In addition to the huge growth in China’s Navy and Air Force, the CCP’s soldiers are being outfitted with new, high-tech equipment that includes a satellite link to every soldier and a “self-destruct” function. “There was mention that self-destruction mode could even be triggered remotely by the commander, allowing the soldier to ‘maintain military dignity’ and prevent information leakage.” — ZeroHedge.com. We note this new technology is akin to the classic “suicide pill” we often see in spy movies and James Bond films. A soldier would be able to use the “self-destruction” mode in a grim situation. What is really concerning is the ability for a commander to trigger that mode remotely.

*CARTOON NETWORK TELLS CHILDREN ‘THERE ARE MANY GENDER IDENTITIES’:

After telling children about the scourge of systemic racism, the Cartoon Network is now telling kids about the many different “gender identities” they can partake in. In a social media post on Monday, the children’s channel shared a comic strip about the supposed importance of not guessing someone’s pronoun or gender identity based on appearance. “Here’s to not only normalizing gender pronouns, but respecting them, too. Whether you use he/she/them or something else, we acknowledge and LOVE you!” Cartoon Network captioned the post.

“Gender pronouns describe a person’s gender identity,” says one comic strip. “Examples of pronouns are she/her, they/them, and ze/zir. A lot of people are learning about gender. If you’re comfortable, you can share your own pronouns.” Another comic featured two characters teaching a girl about different pronouns like “they/them.” “I’m Alex! Mine are they/them too! I feel seen,” one character says. “Using someone’s pronouns shows respect. We all need to be seen and loved for who we are,” says the final comic strip.

*BOBCAT CARPET & FABRIC CARE, ACCLAIMED CARPET COMPANY, DEBUTS ITS FAMOUS “ALL GONE” CARPET AND FABRIC SPOTTER ONLINE:

After 42 years of caring for some of the finest Carpet, rugs and textiles in homes around Southern California, Al and Vickie Casas, owners of Bobcat Carpet & Fabric Care, have chosen to bring their unrivaled “All Gone” Carpet and Fabric Spotter to the internet. This is the same phenomenal spot cleaner Bobcat’s expert cleaning crews use to remove spots and stains from client’s textiles and each client is given a small bottle with every job to assist with spot treatment in between professional cleanings.

“With the COVID 19 shutdown, clients have been eager to perform small spot cleaning on their own more frequently without the cost and intrusion of workmen in their homes. We wanted to make it easier for clients to shop online,” states Al Casas. ” ‘All-Gone’ was developed many years ago in response to our clients’ needs for a safe and effective carpet & fabric spotter. We understand professional textile cleaning is a luxury service so it was important to us for our clients to have a product that could be used to treat and remove stains on their own.”

“At the time, there was nothing on the market that we could recommend to our clients that was safe for all materials, was an effective spot remover, and didn’t cause re-soiling in the areas it was used. In turn ‘All Gone’ was created,” concludes Al Casas. “All Gone” Carpet & Fabric Spotter is now available on the web here: https://buyallgone.com/.

*ACCLAIMED AUTHOR, STEVEN MARKOFF, NEW POLITICAL BOOK ABOUT GEORGE W. BUSH PRAISED BY KIRKUS REVIEWS: 

Acclaimed Author Steven Markoff has a new book, “The Case Against George W. Bush,” that was released late last year on November 13, 2020, and is available for purchase on numerous retail sites. In the small time of its availability, it has been a widespread critical success. The book won the Best of Los Angeles Award – “Best Political Book – 2020” and is now getting rave reviews by other prestigious media outlets. One such is the renown book reviewing site Kirkus Reviews.

“A sharp prosecution against the former president for the disasters of 9/11 and the Iraq War. As Christopher Hitchens did with Henry Kissinger, so Markoff does with George W. Bush…with every bit of the righteous indignation,” praises Kirkus Reviews. “A provocative, readable indictment for our time….Throughout, Markoff restrains himself from hyperbole and rhetorical flourish, at least until the very end of the book, when he asks, pointedly, ‘Did he think he was above the law or did he care?’ His answer, that we’ll likely never know, does not diminish his characterization of the offenses as ‘reckless, dishonest, and tragically unnecessary.'”

“The Case Against George Bush” is told through almost 600 sourced quotes from over 100 published books and reports. Authors quoted include those from all over the political spectrum including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; Hans Blix, head of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission from March 2000 to June 2003; President George W. Bush; former Vice President Richard “Dick” Cheney; former US Senator Russ Feingold; former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld; and writers and journalists such as Steve Coll, Frank Rich, Craig Unger, and Bob Woodward.

To check out the full review from Kirkus Reviews, see it here: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/steven-c-markoff/the-case-against-george-w-bush/

Markoff notes tragically that, “9/11, the precursor to Bush’s torture and Iraq invasion, did not have to be.” A quote in his book shows that 9/11 Commission Chairman, Thomas Kean, in a CBS interview in 2003 suggested that the 9/11 attacks might have been prevented. Markoff further states that, “My book simplifies three crimes of George W. Bush, in a way that makes it easy to read and understand. Also, reading about W.’s crimes almost 20 years later, shows how a president hiding important information from the public can lead to unnecessary death and destruction, similar to unnecessary deaths from Covid, when our current president admittedly downplayed the danger and toxicity of Covid in 2020.”

“The Case Against George W. Bush” is an important historical documented perspective. In the book, George W. Bush is accused of three crimes:

-Criminal negligence, because Bush turned a blind eye to the extensive intel he received (beginning even before taking office) that we would be attacked by Al-Qaeda while falsely telling the American people the danger to our country was Saddam Hussein and his WMD. The carnage and damage from Bush not attempting to deal with those threats came to fruition when we were attacked by Al-Qaeda on 9/11.

-Torture, because Bush, in contravention of US and international law, approved if not boasted about torturing captives and secretly sending some off to other countries to be tortured.

-Misleading our country into unnecessarily attacking Iraq in 2003: The estimated deaths from that war exceeded 500,000, many of them women and children. The destruction of other lives, including returning wounded vets and families torn asunder was incalculable.

100% of the royalties the author would normally receive from the book are being directly donated to the nonprofit National September 11 Memorial & Museum in NYC [www.911memorial.org]. “If you know of others who may be interested in this book, we’d appreciate you telling them about it,” states Steve Markoff.

Order a copy (or copies) of the book today.

To order, simply click on any of the following links:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Rare Bird (for signed copies)
http://thecaseagainstgeorgewbush.org/

*’SHE HAS WAITED LONG ENOUGH’: JUDGE RULES FATHER WHO RAPED DAUGHTER CAN RECEIVE SEX CHANGE ON TAXPAYER DIME:

A Wisconsin man who is imprisoned for having raped his own daughter is constitutionally entitled to receive a sex change at taxpayer expense, a federal judge ruled earlier this month. Mark Allen Campbell, 49, who was sentenced in 2007 to 34 years in jail after pleading guilty to first-degree sexual assault against his daughter, now identifies as a transgender woman and prefers the name Nicole Rose Campbell.U.S. District Judge James Peterson ruled that Campbell is entitled to sex change surgery and that he should be moved to a women’s prison in the meantime. Because there is only one surgeon in Wisconsin who performs sex changes, the wait could be a while. Cambell will be the first in Wisconsin to undergo such a procedure while in state custody.

“The rights of transgender persons and sex reassignment surgery remain politically controversial, even outside the prison context,” wrote Peterson. “And some members of the public are outraged at any effort to improve the health and well being of inmates. But the true public interest lies in alleviating needless suffering by those who are dependent on the government for their care.” “I decline to impose any further prerequisites on Campbell’s sex reassignment surgery; she has waited long enough,” Peterson further wrote. First incarcerated in Racine Correctional Institute, a men’s prison in Sturtevant, Wisconsin, Campbell first requested a sex change operation in 2013, which was denied. Campbell has nevertheless been dressing as a woman while receiving female hormones and transgender counseling thanks to taxpayer money.

*EXAMINER – INVESTIGATES:

• Peloton, the company that sells $2000 plus spin bikes and charges $39.00 a month for classes has reportedly doubled its sales during the pandemic.
• About 5 million potential eligible people don’t claim the earned income tax credit annually according to the tax policy center.

*EXAMINER – LENS:

Louise Linton, the wife of Steven Mnuchin, the departing Treasury secretary, has written, directed, financed, and starred in a movie that rather cleverly and campily satirizes the femme fatale archetype.

*FACTS ARE STUBBORN THINGS – DEAL WITH IT! —- READ LBN EXAMINER:

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*EXAMINER – HEALTH: GPS OF THE MIND, SCIENTIST DISCOVER NEW DISTANCE-DETECTING ‘VECTOR TRACE’ BRAIN CELLS

Just like a car, scientists say the brain contains cells that act like a GPS. It turns out, we also have an odometer in our brain too. Researchers from Durham University in England say they’ve discovered a new “distance sensitive” brain cell. Their study finds these cells take note of how we far travel during trips and can record the locations of pertinent objects and landmarks along the way. Some people are far better at directions and finding their way than others, but everyone’s brain contains a number of “GPS-like” brain cells responsible for mapping out places we’ve already seen in the mind’s eye. These cells, for example, remember your office’s break room layout or your favorite route to take back from the mall. The existence of these cells isn’t breaking news, but these newly discovered Vector Trace cells are adding an entirely new chapter to what we know about the mind and direction.

“The discovery of Vector Trace cells is particularly important as they are found in the area of the brain that’s the first to be attacked by disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. This could explain why a common symptom of the disease, and a key early warning sign, is losing or misplacing objects,” according to Dr. Steven Poulter and his team in a release. “It looks like Vector Trace cells connect to creative brain networks which help us to plan our actions and imagine complex scenarios in our mind’s eye. Vector trace cells acting together likely allow us to recreate the spatial relationships between ourselves and objects, and between the objects in a scene, even when those objects are not directly visible to us,” adds co-author Dr. Colin Lever.*THINK FREELY – BE INDEPENDENT – MAKE UP YOUR OWN (DAMN) MIND: READ LBN EXAMINER

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*EXAMINER – A LOOK BACK:

October 1942. Washington. D.C. “Clerical workers processing forms for production requirement plan — Priorities Division, War Production Board.”

*WHO READS LBN EXAMINER?:


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*EXAMINER – A DIFFERENT VIEW:….

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