Uncle Ben’s Rice Finally Has New Name After Old Moniker and Logo Deemed Racially Insensitive

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Uncle Ben’s rice finally has a new name after its old moniker and instantly recognizable logo was deemed racially insensitive amid the George Floyd rioting and a flurry of similar moves to amend the names of other products in the name of political correctness.

The brand now will be called Ben’s Original and no longer will use the image of a black man on its boxes, the New York Daily News reported, citing a Wednesday announcement from the product’s parent company Mars Inc.

The new logo simply reads “Ben’s Original” in blue lettering over an orange background — which are the longtime colors of the rice brand.

“We listened to our associates and our customers, and the time is right to make meaningful changes across society,” Mars Food executive Fiona Dawson said in a statement, according to the Daily News. “When you are making these changes, you are not going to please everyone. But it’s about doing the right thing, not the easy thing.”

In June, Mars Inc., announced it would change the rice’s moniker in order to stand against racial stereotypes in advertising. (Read more from “Uncle Ben’s Rice Finally Has New Name After Old Moniker and Logo Deemed Racially Insensitive” HERE)

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Mask Fanatics Have Officially Abandoned Science to Control Your Life

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It’s nothing new for political religions to produce radicals that develop their own sects or cults. This time around, rigid devotion to enforcing mask compliance has produced runaway fanaticism based on nothing but blind faith that more mask-wearing is always better. Even the public health experts, whom these followers all promoted as great prophets just months ago, can’t tame their fervor.

That’s a problem, because a return to normalcy will require subduing radical factions that agitate for oppression. Restrictions such as mask mandates are like oxygen to followers of radical fundamentalist Covidianism — the abiding belief that only lockdowns, social distancing, and masks can deliver us from the deadly pandemic. The longer mandates stay in place and experts continue promoting mask use — “My mask protects you! Your mask protects me!” — the stronger and more widespread the extremism will grow, and the less influence experts will have over their behavior.

The evidence is abundant, but consider these three cases of radical Covidianism and how they trace back to an abandonment of the scientific standards necessary to maintain public health and a functioning society. . .

First, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order last week requiring all nonprofessional sports players to wear masks. Athletes, except for swimmers, must wear masks while “training for, practicing for, or competing in an organized sport” if they cannot “consistently maintain 6 feet of distance.” There are no age-specific exceptions in the requirement, so it appears Whitmer’s mask mandate for children five years old and over applies.

Not only does this order contradict guidance from so-called experts, who say that people exercising should not wear masks because sweat can clog the mask fibers and make breathing difficult as well as “promote the growth of microorganisms,” but it overwrites Whitmer’s own order specifying that masks do not have to be worn during exercise “when wearing a face covering would interfere with the activity.” (Read more from “Mask Fanatics Have Officially Abandoned Science to Control Your Life” HERE)

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You Can Now Tell Barack Obama Exactly How You’re Feeling via Text Message

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Former President Barack Obama appeared to open up lines of communication to the public on Tuesday when he tweeted out a phone number with a Chicago area code asking how people were doing and what they were thinking about the election. . .

A simple test text to the number yielded an invitation to join Community.com, a service that enables celebrities and other high-profile personalities like former presidents to broadcast messages under the guise of personal conversations. The service was popular with lots of people who drew in fans via popular videos on social media as well as actor Ashton Kutcher, Diddy, Paul McCartney, and former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau.

Community is a tech startup that launched in early 2019 after raising $35 million. They stated their mission as wanting to connect stars, athletes, and other high-profile personalities with their fans in the vein of Twitter’s earliest days before it was invaded by swarms of bots and trolls. Earlier this year, Community said it was not working with politicians; clearly, things have changed.

The initial automated response from Obama shared a hopeful message of keeping in touch and promising to share what he was thinking.

“Hey! It’s Barack,” the message read. “Click the link to sign up so I can respond directly to you. I won’t be able to get to everything, but I’ll be in touch to share what’s on my mind and I want to hear from you, too. Let’s do this.” (Read more from “You Can Now Tell Barack Obama Exactly How You’re Feeling via Text Message” HERE)

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Louisville Police Confirm One Officer Has Been Shot on Night of Breonna Taylor Protests

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A Kentucky grand jury brought no charges against Louisville police for the killing of Breonna Taylor during a drug raid gone wrong, with prosecutors saying Wednesday that two officers who fired their weapons at the Black woman were justified in using force to protect themselves after they faced gunfire. . .

Police in Louisville, Kentucky, said Wednesday night that an officer had been shot. It’s not clear if it happened during the protests and no other details were immediately released.

Scuffles have broken out between police and protesters, and some were arrested. Officers in riot gear fired flash bangs and a few small fires burned in a square that’s been at the center of protests, but it had largely cleared out ahead of a nighttime curfew and demonstrators marched through other parts of downtown Louisville. Dozens of police cars blocked the city’s major thoroughfare. (Read more from “Louisville Police Confirm One Officer Has Been Shot on Night of Breonna Taylor Protests” HERE)

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Judge: Eric Trump Must Testify in New York Investigation Before Election

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Eric Trump must testify in a New York investigation into his family’s business practices before the November presidential election, a judge ruled Wednesday, rejecting his lawyers’ claims that his “extreme travel schedule” on the campaign trail warranted a delay.

State Judge Arthur Engoron said President Trump’s middle son, a Trump Organization executive, must comply with a subpoena to give a deposition under oath no later than Oct. 7, adding that the court is not “bound by the timelines of the national election.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James went to court to enforce Eric Trump’s subpoena after his lawyers abruptly canceled a July interview with investigators in her office’s investigation, which is focused on whether the Trump Organization lied about the value of its assets in order to get loans or tax benefits.

Trump, the company’s executive vice president of development and acquisitions, was first served with the subpoena in May. James, a Democrat, said in a statement after the ruling that “justice and the rule of law prevailed today.”

“To be clear, no entity or individual is allowed to dictate how or when our investigation will proceed or set the parameters of a lawful investigation,” James said. “The court’s order today makes clear that no one is above the law, not even an organization or an individual with the name Trump.” (Read more from “Judge: Eric Trump Must Testify in New York Investigation Before Election” HERE)

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WATCH: ESPN Host Claims ‘Extreme Right-Wing Agitators’ Carrying Out Violence ‘to Make Protests Look Bad’

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ESPN host Max Kellerman claimed Tuesday that “a big percentage” of the violence that has occurred during the ongoing protests in the U.S. for the past several months has been carried out by “extremist right-wing agitators,” who are trying “to make the protests look bad.”

According to The Hill, Kellerman, who co-hosts “First Take” with Stephen A. Smith, told the show’s audience that “93% of the protests are peaceful,” arguing that “the 7 percent [that] are not, there is a very broad definition of what’s not quote-unquote peaceful. For example, if you block traffic or something like that. Or if you respond to police provocation.

“And even then,” Kellerman continued, “a big percentage of that that wasn’t peaceful is actually outside agitators, extremist right-wing agitators posing as protesters to make the protests look bad.”

Politicos on both sides of the aisle reacted to Kellerman’s comments on social media, with conservative Ian Miles Cheong tweeting, “There is no evidence to support this claim, and it dismisses the unrest Antifa itself is proud of.” . . .

The sports pundit was reacting to UFC star Colby Covington, a fan of President Donald Trump, saying in a post-victory speech over the weekend, “I’m sick of these woke athletes and these spineless cowards like LeBron James.” (Read more from “ESPN Host Claims ‘Extreme Right-Wing Agitators’ Carrying Out Violence ‘to Make Protests Look Bad'” HERE)

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Senate Dems Block Intel Hearing on Chinese, Russian Election Interference

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Senate Democrats blocked the chamber’s Intelligence Committee from receiving a classified brief on efforts by Russia, China, and Iran to interfere in the 2020 presidential elections.

Bill Evanina, the nation’s top election security official and director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, was scheduled to give a briefing Tuesday to members of the Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence. That closed-door hearing, however, was canceled by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who reportedly stopped the briefing due to frustration over GOP efforts to confirm a new Supreme Court justice following the death of liberal stalwart Ruth Bader Ginsburg. . .

Evanina earlier this year identified both China and Russia as waging active campaigns to sway the November election. In addition to Beijing and Moscow, Evanina said in an August security alert that “Iran seeks to undermine U.S. democratic institutions, President Trump, and to divide the country in advance of the 2020 elections.”

Each of these countries has enlisted hackers and others in a coordinated campaign to influence the election’s outcome. This includes creating scores of fake social media accounts meant to spread propaganda about the coronavirus pandemic and President Donald Trump. Their hope is to sow further discord among the American public in the lead-up to the election. (Read more from “Senate Dems Block Intel Hearing on Chinese, Russian Election Interference” HERE)

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Murkowski Backtracks on RBG Vacancy

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. . .Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) said he wouldn’t block the nominee. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) is a ‘no,’ but as we’ve said before—Maine is an oddball state. She gets a pass. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), a runner up in the biggest pain in the a** contest among the GOP, did initially say that she’s opposed to filling the Supreme Court vacancy left by Ruth Bade Ginsburg, but is now changing her tune. The last justice passed away last Friday making the 2020 election even more interesting. And now, Murkowski is changing her tune (via Alaska Public Media):

If Democrats were counting on Lisa Murkowski to vote against President Trump’s next nominee to the Supreme Court, they should think again.

Sen. Murkowski said Tuesday she could not rule out that she would vote to confirm a Trump nominee if the Judiciary Committee approves one before the November election.

“I know everybody wants to ask the question, ‘will you confirm the nominee?’” she said outside the Capitol, as her Republican colleagues were gathering for their weekly policy lunch. “We don’t have a nominee yet. You and I don’t know who that is. And so I can’t confirm whether or not I can confirm a nominee when I don’t know who the nominee is.”

Editor’s note: typical of Murkowski’s duplicity, just days ago she said she would oppose Ginsburg’s replacement this close to an election.

(Read more from “Murkowski Backtracks on RBG Vacancy” HERE)

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Police: Portland Rioters Start Shooting Each Other (VIDEO)

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Late Tuesday night, another demonstration took place outside the Penumbra Kelly Building and during the gathering, police said two people associated with the group were involved in a shooting nearby.

Around 10 p.m., a march of about 75 people began at Laurelhurst Park in southeast Portland with the Kelly Building, located in the 4700 block of East Burnside Street, as its destination. . .

During the early part of the demonstration, at 10:30 p.m., police responded to a shooting reported in 4400 block of Northeast Glisan Street, about half a mile from the Kelly Building.

When officers arrived at the scene, they learned there had been a fight between two people, which led to one of the people firing a gun toward the other. . .

Police said the two people involved in shooting were the associated with the demonstrating group. (Read more from “Police: Portland Rioters Start Shooting Each Other (VIDEO)” HERE)

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Joe Biden, 2008: John McCain an ‘Angry Man’, a ‘Sidekick,’ a Coward

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Former Vice President Joe Biden is touting the endorsement of Cindy McCain, the widow of the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). Biden claimed Monday — falsely — that President Donald Trump had disparaged soldiers as “suckers” and “losers.”

Biden actually said far worse about McCain while he was still alive, and the two were on opposing sides in the 2008 election.

After the McCain’s running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, pointed out then-Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) ties to unrepentant former domestic terrorist William Ayers, then-Sen. Biden (D-DE) attacked McCain as a coward who would not dare say that to Obama directly.

“In my neighborhood where I came from if you got something to say to a man, look him in the eye and say it,” Biden said.

In addition, Biden belittled McCain: “You can’t call yourself a maverick when all you’ve ever been is a sidekick,” he said in a speech in Florida. Biden also called the Vietnam War hero “an angry man, lurching from one position to another.” (Read more from “Joe Biden, 2008: John McCain an ‘Angry Man’, a ‘Sidekick,’ a Coward” HERE)

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