U.S. Says Its Strikes Are Hitting More Significant ISIS Targets
Nearly two years into the American-led air war against the Islamic State, military officials say they have corrected the poor intelligence collection and clumsy process for identifying targets that initially plagued the campaign, and are now hitting targets like oil rigs and secret cash coffers that finance the terrorist group’s war machine. The destruction in recent months of these targets, deep behind enemy lines — which commanders previously avoided for fear of causing civilian casualties — has seriously damaged the Islamic State’s ability to pay its fighters, govern and attract new recruits, military officials say. “We’re hitting them where it hurts a lot more than we were in the past,”Lt. Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the air war commander, said in one of two recent telephone interviews from his headquarters in Qatar. “Every bomb now has a greater impact.”
WHO READS LBN? Songwriter Steve Gunn
Alzheimer’s May Be Caused By Infections
New research has led scientists to the hypothesis that Alzheimer’s disease may stem from leftover toxic remains from the brain’s efforts to fight off infections. The Harvard team behind the study, which could explain the origin of the brain plaque, or debris, that characterizes the disease, published its findings in the journal Science Translational Medicine. If the researchers’ hypothesis is proven correct, the implications could be significant for treating—and even preventing—the elusive degenerative condition. They have so far confirmed the idea using neurons growing in petri dishes and with yeast, roundworms, fruit flies, and mice. A radiology professor at the University of California called the research “interesting and provocative.” Another, Dr. David Holtzman at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, called it “outside the box.” He added, “It really is an innovative and novel study.”
Trump: I Used Aliases for Business Deals
In a late-night TV interview with Jimmy Kimmel, presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump told the host that he’s “used aliases” to make real-estate deals. “I would never want to use my name, because you had to pay more money for the land,” he said. “If you’re trying to buy land, you use different names.” One of those names, he said, was Barron, which he eventually named his youngest son. Trump still denied using the alias John Miller in 1991 based on a recording recently publicized by The Washington Post. “You think that sounded like me? ‘Cause I don’t,” Trump said. “It didn’t sound like me.”
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LBN-INVESTIGATES: Most cats had short hair until about 100 years ago, when it became fashionable to own cats and experiment with breeding.
Thiel: I Made Plan to Cripple Gawker
Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley investor who was reported to have been backing Hulk Hogan financially in his lawsuit against Gawker, revealed that he was in fact the person doing it, in an interview with The New York Times. Thiel, a cofounder of PayPal and a delegate in California for Donald Trump, claimed that he wanted to bring Gawker down because the gossip website outed him as gay years ago.
LBN-SPOTLIGHT: Common Traits in All Super Successful People – https://youtu.be/5OjlVhuyyaU
Obamas to Lease $5M DC Mansion in 2017:
President Barack Obama and his family will reportedly lease a mansion in Washington, D.C.’s Kalorama neighborhood after they depart the White House early next year. The stately Tudor, built in 1928, belongs to Bill Clinton’s former White House press secretary Joe Lockhart, and last sold for more than $5 million in 2014. It reportedly has nine bedrooms and eight-and-a-half bathrooms.
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LBN-NOTICED: ***Sacha Baron Cohen and Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. ***Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens and Edie Falco at a Brasserie 8 ¹/₂ party for Manhattan Theatre Club show “Incognito.” ***Barbra Streisand and James Brolin at the Geffen Theatre in Westwood.
LBN-HOLLYWOOD INSIDER: ***It’s a long way from “Homeland,” but Claire Danes has signed on as the new host of Art21’s TV series, “Art in the Twenty-First Century.” Danes will helm the show as it profiles 16 artists and the cities in which they live, including LA’s Ed Arceneaux and Tala Madani, Chicago’s Nick Cave and Barbara Kasten, and Mexico City’sNatalia Almada and Minerva Cuevas. ***A huge commercial real estate deal marks the future growth of Annapurna Pictures. Purchase Price: $40,000,000.00 noted Megan Ellison’s broker:Jason Froehlich, vice-president with Teles Commercial. Originally the building was constructed as a movie studio for silent film star Norma Talmadge. Tony Duquette purchased the building in the early 1950’s as a ruin to remodel and restore the structure as his residence and studio. The gallery was opened by Margo Leavin in December 1970 in the historic Tony Duquette Studios building at the north end of Robertson Boulevard. The Gallery expanded over the years, first within the original building and then to adjacent spaces. In 1984 the Gallery acquired the former West Hollywood post office on nearby Hilldale Avenue as additional exhibition space. Megan Ellison originally leased 15,000 square feet for Annapurna Productions and quickly expanded into one of the adjoining properties.
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LBN-COMMENTARY by W.Neil Gallagher, Ph.D. (Author) : The success of Donald Trump is based on his core strength – “No B.S.! I get things done. I crush the critics. I have clear, written BIG goals and no one stops me. I don’t whine about it’s too hard or it’s not fair. I have a maniacal, raging obsession to conquer and to win.”
LBN-OVERHEARD: ***A grieving Jennifer Aniston has lost her mother — less than a year after the star left Nancy Dowheartbroken by snubbing her final birthday party. Nancy had raised Jen as a single mom, and was heartbroken after the “Friends” star had refused an invitation to attend a gathering as she turned 79 years old. ***Robin Wright is enjoying a delicious dish of schadenfreude now that her ex-husband Sean Penn’s movie “The Last Face” was savaged by critics. One insider told me, “Robin is thrilled the movie bombed. She has too much class to say so publicly, but this was her baby.” The film was a passion project that Wright tried to develop for several years. She was attached to star in it with Ryan Gosling, and then Javier Bardem, but could never get financing. When Wright divorced Penn, he optioned the script by Erin Dignam and put his then-girlfriend, Charlize Theron, in the starring role as a humanitarian doctor in war-torn Africa. ***Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are calling it quits after 15 months of marriage. Heard, 30, filed a divorce petition on Monday citing irreconcilable differences and asking for spousal support, TMZ reported. They had no prenup, sources told the website. “Johnny is a faithful guy when he’s in a relationship,” a source said. “But he can be very possessive when he’s in love.” ***Sarah Silverman delivered a raunchy routine of new material this week at a charity gala for arts education in public schools. But even the adult guests were shocked in an audience that included teen students. Sassy Silverman’s routine at the ArtsConnection 2016 Benefit Celebration — described as “considerably dirty and outrageous” — managed to include topics from vomit to semen, with gags mentioning abortion, sexual assault, her dead dog and sex with boyfriendMichael Sheen, spies said. ***And how about this for a modern-day twist to what should be a martini-fueled, star-guessing game: a gay, or perhaps female, Bond? Terrorists have secured the compound, sharpened their machetes and grabbed their prisoner. Tinged with sand, sweat and desperation — the setting’s all too familiar. But when the handcuffed one in orange is told to give their name, the bowed head lifts. “Bond,” she says with a cunning grin. Fans have been counting on Britain’s famed Secret Service agent for 54 years, thanks to Eon Productions and its 24 flicks, which have raked in more than $7 billion worldwide as six different faces have offered their inner spies on the silver screen. But now that the latest Bond, Daniel Craig, has rung the bell for last call, many are wagering on who will fill the penguin suit next. And remember: Craig was a surprise the last time around. “He wasn’t one of the front-runners,” says bookmaking giantWilliam Hill’s press officer, Joe Crilly. The character is “elastic enough to be taken in lots of directions,” contends international entertainment and brand agent Seamus Lyte, noting howDame Judi Dench raised eyebrows as M but quickly made the role her very own. So could Rupert Everett or Alan Cummingfit the bill?
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