*SIR ANTHONY HOPKINS ON CURRENT EVENTS: ‘I DON’T KNOW…ACTORS ARE PRETTY STUPID’
In an interview with fellow actor Brad Pitt, Academy Award winner Sir Anthony Hopkins, who has appeared in at least 80 films and dozens of television shows, said that when people ask him about current events, he replies that his opinion does not matter because “actors are pretty stupid.” Hopkins’ interview with Pitt was published in Interview magazine on Dec. 2. During the exchange, Hopkins, 81, said, “People ask me questions about present situations in life, and I say, ‘I don’t know, I’m just an actor. I don’t have any opinions.” “Actors are pretty stupid,” said Hopkins, 81. “My opinion is not worth anything.” “There’s no controversy for me, so don’t engage me in it,” he added, “because I’m not going to participate.”
*WHERE DOES THIS END? – PORTLAND WANTS PRIVATE PROPERTY OWNERS TO ADD ‘MANDATORY REST SPACES’ FOR THE HOMELESS
Portland, Oregon, like many other notably “blue” cities, is not immune to a growing homelessness problem. Like San Francisco, California, and Seattle, Washington, Portland is overrun with people sleeping rough, many of whom suffer from drug addiction and mental illness. There are humane ways to handle the homelessness problem but, it seems, a Portland city commission would rather change Portland’s building codes in order to force private property owners to accommodate members of Portland’s homeless population, according to local media.
The city’s “planning and sustainability commission,” which writes and enforces the city’s building codes, approved a change to building guidelines in November that would require new construction to feature “opportunities to rest and be welcome” for those who do not number among that building’s residents or customers. The requirement can be read a number of ways, but at least one member of the Portland planning and sustainability commission was clear to local reporters that the requirement is to the benefit of the city’s “unhoused,” who are often kicked off of private property for loitering, sleeping, or camping — as is (typically) a private property owner’s right.
“Just one of the realities of Portland right now is that we have a lot of folks who are unhoused who benefit from some of these spaces that provide weather protection,” she said when introducing the idea at a recent meeting. Business owners obviously took issue with the new requirement, badgering committee members to be more specific about the rules — particularly whether the Portland planning and sustainability commission was mandating that private property owners accommodate beds, tents, and full camps.
*JUDGE: ‘MIRACLE ON ICE’ HERO MARK PAVELICH SHOULD BE COMMITTED OVER MENTAL ILLNESS:
A Minnesota judge has ordered that Mark Pavelich, a member of the “Miracle on Ice” U.S. 1980 Olympic hockey team, should be committed because he’s mentally ill and dangerous. Pavelich, 61, was charged with felony assault in August for allegedly beating a friend with a metal pole after he accused the friend of spiking his beer. A judge found Pavelich incompetent to stand trial, and the criminal case was put on hold while the state sought to have Pavelich committed. According to Judge Michael Cuzzo’s order, one psychologist found Pavelich had delusions and paranoia, including a delusion that friends and family were trying to poison him.
Another psychologist found he suffered from a mild neurocognitive disorder due to traumatic brain injury, likely related to repeated head injuries. Pavelich’s family have said they believe he suffers from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a brain disorder after repeated concussions from his time in the NHL. They said they started seeing changes in him a years ago, but he was unable to get any help. Pavelich had two assists in the critical game in which the U.S. beat the loaded Soviet team 4-3.
*STEROID INHALERS MAY NOT BE WORKING FOR MILD ASTHMA SUFFERERS: STUDY
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that it may be time to rethink traditional treatments for mild asthma. Citing a 42-week, double-blind trial involving 295 patients over the age of 12, researchers found that the type of inflammation most synthetic corticosteroids target is not as common as earlier thought. Among the patients with mild, persistent asthma, more than half responded as well to a placebo as they did to the traditional inhaler.
“We’re suggesting that it’s time to reevaluate what the standard recommended form of treatment is for these milder patients,” said Stephen Lazarus, a pulmonologist at the University of California who led the research. “We may be giving people steroids, subjecting them to potential adverse effects and the increased costs, without a significant clinical benefit. For many years, I think we’ve attributed their poor asthma control to the fact that they weren’t taking their medicines and it may be that many of them were taking their medicines—they just weren’t working.”
*FORMER FEMA DIRECTOR: ‘WE’VE GOT TO STOP LOOKING AT FEMA AS 911’
As Hurricane Dorian leaves devastation in the Bahamas and now threatens the Southeast coast, the Federal Emergency Management Agency says its team of 4,000 people is ready to respond.But former FEMA Director Brock Long, who dealt with hundreds of emergency events, including the record flooding in Houston and the hurricane devastation in Puerto Rico in 2017, told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, “I think FEMA faces unrealistic expectations by Congress and the American public.”
Long said FEMA’s emergency managers “bust their rear ends to serve other people.” But he also said the criteria for what constitutes a major disaster needs to change, along with people’s expectations about what FEMA can do: You know, if you look at 50 percent of the disasters that FEMA has historically declared, they’re less than $7.5 million. And, in some cases, you know, we’ve got to stop looking at FEMA as 911. This is a partnership. You know, if we want to get better and become more resilient and respond better, then we have to refocus the training upon how we ask citizens to be prepared, not just going out and having supplies for five to seven days, but be — you know, teaching them how to become more financially resilient, teaching them that insurance is the first line of defense, not FEMA, teaching them tangible skills like CPR, that when they face active shooter events. But we also have to bolster state — state and local capabilities. But, more importantly, until Congress starts to incentivize putting building codes in place, land-use planning in place, incentivizing states and locals for insuring their public infrastructure, FEMA’s job is impossible. So it wasn’t a knock on FEMA, it’s just we have to set realistic expectations for the agency and really bolster the capability from neighbor helping neighbor, all the way to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
*ACTOR GARY SINISE CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF VETERANS ADVOCACY
Gary Sinise, the actor famous for portraying Lieutenant Dan in the movie “Forrest Gump,” is celebrating 25 years advocating for the non-profit organization Disabled American Veterans (DAV) this week. Sinise began advocating on behalf of veterans after receiving an award from DAV commending him for his performance as Lieutenant Dan, a wheelchair bound veteran who struggles with alcoholism and mental illness after coming home from Vietnam, according to a press release by the Gary Sinise Foundation.
“Your superb performance brought awareness of the lifelong sacrifice of disabled veterans back into public consciousness in a remarkable positive way,” read the award.The press release also notes that since receiving the award, Sinise has supported the DAV in a variety of capacities, including as the spokesperson when the organization was advocating to construct the Americans Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial in the nation’s capital. “The memorial honors veterans of the armed forces of the United States who were permanently disabled during the course of their national service,” the release continues.
*THINK FREELY – BE INDEPENDENT: READ LBN EXAMINER –
*EXAMINER–INVESTIGATES:
Robocalls are at an all-time high. On average, Americans received more than 2,000 robocalls every second in October, up 25% from the previous month. With 49 billion robocalls so far this year, all four major U.S. phone carriers now offer some form of blocking or screening service. T-Mobile, for example, uses a “Scam Likely” label. Congress and state officials passed new robocall regulations in recent months and have seen an uptick in successful cases against the scammers. Meanwhile, hundreds of tech start-ups are developing new ways to tackle the problem.
*EXAMINER–WHO IS A FREE THINKER?:
A person who forms opinions on the basis of reason, independent of authority or tradition, especially a person whose religious opinions differ from established belief.
In this day of spin, parsing, plausible deniability and partisan media, it’s hard to, not only separate truth from lies, but it’s hard to separate precision from hyperbole. Some talking heads and television personalities are so vicious and hateful that practically every statement is over the top, not meant to inform but incite. Many of our politicians of today are little more than human tape loops, repeating the same tired rhetoric, as predictable as the sunrise and as informative as experiencing somebody having a gas attack.
*EXAMINER–A LOOK BACK:
Marianne Williamson and Baby, Beverly Hills, 1991
*EXAMINER–VIDEO LINK:
Welcome to the first episode, Part 1, of the revealing TV interview show, “Without Notes,” featuring Scott Ross, acclaimed Hollywood Private Investigator.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7BXy43-aa4
In Episode 1 Part 1, we invite you to meet Scott Ross as he explains his fascinating upbringing of how he got on the road to become a Private Investigator. His early years and methods in the business are touched on in a way you don’t want to miss out on.
*WHO READS LBN EXAMINER?:
Veteran agent Phil Kass 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:….
LBN Examiner Edited By: Aurora DeRose
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