LBN – Special Report – Tuesday, May 30th, 2017

*‘Shocked’ S. Korea Leader to Probe U.S. Missile Expansion

Moon Jae-in, the new South Korean president, has ordered a new probe into the U.S. THAAD anti-missile system after more launchers were brought into the country without warning, his spokesman said. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system battery had just two of its maximum six launchers when it was deployed in March. Four more launchers were recently added. The system was brought in to the southeastern region of Seongju to handle the growing North Korean missile threat. Moon said it was “shocking” to hear the four new launchers were installed without being reported to the new government, his spokesman, Yoon Young-chan, reportedly said at a media briefing. Moon campaigned for president on a more moderate political approach to dealing with Pyongyang.

*Former Panama Strongman Manuel Noriega Dead at 83

Authorities in Panama have announced the death of former military ruler Manuel Noriega. He died in Panama City on Tuesday at the age of 83, after recently undergoing a brain tumor operation. President Juan Carlos Varela announced the news on Twitter. “The death of Manuel Noriega closes a chapter in our history; his daughters and their families deserve a burial in peace,” he said. Prior to his reign from 1983 to 1989, Noriega worked with the CIA as an intelligence source, despite being a known cocaine trafficker. American forces ousted him from power in 1989 and he was later convicted on drug-trafficking charges in the U.S. before being extradited back home in December 2011. At the time of his death, he was serving out a 20-year sentence for murdering opponents during his rule. During his time as military ruler, Noriega was accused of numerous human-rights abuses, including jailing and beating protesters, murdering political opponents, turning the country into a hub for drug trafficking, and cracking down on free speech.
*LBN-WHERE THE ELITE AND UNDERDOGS MEET

*Trump Communications Director Resigns From The White House

President Trump’s communications director, Mike Dubke, is resigning from his post at the White House at the beginning of a reported wave of changes to the scandal-plagued administration. Dubke only served for about three months before resigning May 18, but had offered to stay on through the president’s first overseas trip. A senior administration official told Axios that the two are “parting on good terms.” His last day on the job has not yet been set. As has been widely reported, Trump is considering many broad changes among his staff. On Monday, two of his former top campaign officials, Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, met with Trump and allegedly discussed joining the White House’s new crisis communications “war room.”
*Tiger Woods Blames Medication for DUI Arrest

Golfer Tiger Woods has blamed prescription medication for his DUI arrest early Monday in Florida. Once the world’s top golfer, Woods said in a statement late Monday that he was not intoxicated when police arrested him on suspicion of driving under the influence but had experienced a reaction to his medication. “I want the public to know that alcohol was not involved,” he said. “What happened was an unexpected reaction to prescribed medications. I didn’t realize the mix of medications had affected me so strongly,” he said, adding that he would take full responsibility. Woods, who underwent surgery last week for a lingering back injury, was held by Palm Beach County Police for several hours Monday morning before being released on his own recognizance. He thanked police for their professionalism in his statement explaining the incident, promising he would “ensure this never happens again.” After rising to fame in the golfing world, Woods suffered a public fall from grace in 2009 after a sex scandal cost him his marriage and put a major dent in his golfing career.

*LBN-INVESTIGATES: Redheaded women report bruising more easily than other women of different hair colors.

*THINK FREELY – READ LBN:


*LBN-SEE IT:…Ari Graynor, left, and Melissa Leo in “I’m Dying Up Here,” which makes its debut on June 4 on Showtime.

*LBN-MUSIC INSIDER:   ***Bruce Springsteen surprised concert-goers in New Jersey with a performance during the encore of a Steven Van Zandt show. Count Basie Theatre executive Jon Vena said Monday the crowd “erupted” when Van Zandt introduced Springsteen during the Saturday show as “a friend who’s out of work.” Springsteen emerged on stage during the encore and played four songs, including “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” and a cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Can I Get a Witness.”

*LBN-NOTICED:   ***John Mayer and Andy Cohen sitting together at the Sunset Tower Hotel in West Hollywood.   ***Film producer Mike Flint having dinner last night at Izzy’s Deli on Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica.   ***DJ Stretch Armstrong andKareem “Biggs” Burke at a Parajumpers cocktail party at Urban Cowboy in NYC.   ***Alessandra Ambrosio andCandice Swanepoel at Corey Lane and Roberto Buchelli’ssunset sessions party at the Penthouse on Rivington in NYC.   ***Emma Watson at the Walker Hotel Greenwich Village in NYC.   ***Ne-Yo at Beautique in NYC.    ***Andre 3000 eating chicken noodle soup at Esther & Carol in NYC.   ***Jessica Lange seeing “War Paint” on Broadway in NYC. Gliada De Laurentiis and Bobby Flay dining together at Gato in NYC.   ***Noted hypnotist Kimberly Friedmutter hanging withMartha Stewart at a party for Stewart’s wine brand.   ***Ian Mellencamp and his girlfriend Princess Jasmine Grace Grimaldi of Monaco, locking lips at the Montauk Beach House during a poolside party celebrating Ian’s birthday weekend on Saturday.   ***John Lennon’s psychic Frank Andrews at “paranormal artist” Ivy Supersonic’s East Village studio in NYC.   ***Days before the 50th anniversary of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” The Beatles’ remaining members were spotted celebrating with some fellow legends in Hollywood. Spies said that on Friday night, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were sitting at a corner table at LA Italian eatery the Ponte with Eagles rocker Joe Walsh, country star Vince Gill and Jack Nicholson. McCartney and Starr were next to each other in the group. The Ponte is the new hot spot opened by NYC chef Scott Conant.

*LBN-SITE OF THE DAY:


“Join Curious.com to learn something new every day with 20,000+ online video lessons on crafts, code, tech, music, health, food, etc. from expert teachers.”

*LBN-SPOTLIGHT: To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. – Ralph Waldo Emerson —– 

*LBN-R.I.P.:   ***Frank Deford, who mined the sports world for human stories and told them with literary grace over six decades in Sports Illustrated, a shelf of books and many years of radio and television commentary, died on Sunday at his home in Key West, Fla. He was 78. His wife, Carol, confirmed his death on Monday but said she did not yet know the cause.

*LBN-SPOTLIGHT: The Original —- 

*LBN-COMMENTARY by Kevin Fallon: Like you, like me, like most of us, Sarah Silverman is obsessed with The Handmaid’s Tale. “First of all, it’s like the best thing I’ve ever seen,” she raves. “But it’s such a horror movie.” The dystopian series chronicles what happens when a regressive patriarchy comes into power and strips away women’s reproductive rights. “It’s just terrifying that the flashbacks in the show is what we’re going through right now.”  Even crazier, I suggest, is that theMargaret Atwood book the series is based on was written in 1985.  “Listen,” Silverman says, reaching for a backpack she’s kept tucked under her seat. She points to a button pinned on it which reads “Keep Your Laws Off My Body.”

*LBN-COMMENTATY by David Brooks: Jared Kushnerdeserves a bit of sympathy. All his life he’s been serving his father or father-in-law. All his career he’s been thrust into roles he’s not ready for. His background has ill prepared him for national government. Now he is in a realm where his instincts seem to lead him astray and where there’s a chance he will end up in disgrace and possibly under indictment. The Kushner family drama begins in the Holocaust. In 1941, Rae Kushnerwas living in Belarus and was among the teenage girls selected to clean blood from the cobblestones after one of the Nazi mass executions. Rae and other family members tunneled out from the ghetto and joined an armed resistance camp. After the war they eventually made it to New Jersey, where her husband set up a successful construction business that flourished under their son. So far this is an inspiring story of family struggle and immigrant hustle. But as riches rained down on the family, so did betrayal. The feud between Jared’s father and uncle was over grabbing family money, and from the various accounts it’s hard to tell who betrayed the family most. We do know that Jared’s father, Charles, hired a prostitute to have sex with his brother-in-law so he could send a tape of the act to his sister, and ended up pleading guilty to 18 felony counts.

*LBN-COMMENTARY by Tom Sykes: Keeping up with your ex is tricky, even if they are not a Kardashian. So, no surprises that the chances of Caitlyn Jenner being invited ’round for a let-bygones-be-bygones dinner with the K-folk seems to be hovering somewhere around absolute zero.  Some of the family have already spoken publicly about the rift between Jenner and the rest of the family, but now Kim Kardashian has confirmed that relations between her mother, Kris Jenner, and her ex-husband Caitlyn (formerly Bruce) Jenner are going nowhere fast. Kris, 61, is known to be irate about Caitlyn’s decision to reveal intimate details of their life together in her newly published memoir, The Secrets of My Life, in which she detailed her long battle with gender identity and spilled the beans on her life with Kris.

*LBN-COMMENTARY by Michael Levine (Media expert and author – ): Tiger Woods lost more than $20 million in endorsement revenue following the revelations of his affairs and marriage breakdown where he lost giant sponsorships with Gatorade, AT&T and Accenture.Many companies felt ‘burned’ by Tiger back in 2009/2010, and they showed their emotions by dumping Woods as a brand representative”. Expect the same within days of today’s DUI arrest. Part of this is because Woods is more expendable these days as a brand ambassador because his playing career is in serious jeopardy of ever again coming remotely close to the greatness we all witnessed for the better part of two decades. Part of this is because he is now, with this arrest, going to be perceived by corporate America as a two-time offender of the public’s trust.

*LBN-A DIFFERENT VIEW:….

*LBN-OVERHEARD:   ***An “extremely sleepy” Tiger Woodswas passed out behind the wheel and failed a sobriety test when cops busted him for DUI in Florida, according to a new report. Woods was asleep in his Mercedes with the engine running and right blinker flashing, and had “extremely slow and slurred speech” when he was arrested around 3 a.m. Monday in Jupiter, TMZ reported Tuesday, citing a police report. The golf pro told police he was “coming from L.A. California from golfing” – but then changed his story, saying he didn’t know where he was. Woods flunked the field sobriety test after he couldn’t stand on one leg or touch his nose. When cops asked him to do the alphabet test, he bizarrely mumbled, “Yes, recite entire national anthem backwards.”   ***Speaking to a class of Brown University graduates Sunday, Robert De Nirolamented that “in movie terms,” the U.S. was once “an inspiring uplifting drama” but has now turned into “a tragic dumbass comedy,” according to sources. De Niro, who received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from the Ivy League school, urged the graduates to “work to stop the insanity” and to strive to make the world a better place.

LBN E-Lert Edited By Dan Gaylord

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