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brooklynite

brooklynite's Journal
brooklynite's Journal
August 5, 2019

Quiz Time: what does the internet promoting drugs and trafficking have to do with the shootings?

Answer: Nothing, but it lets him bring up his anti-Mexico tropes to push for an immigration law to keep his fans happy.

August 5, 2019

Kenny Marchant becomes fourth Texas congressman to retire as GOP exodus grows

Source: Dallas Morning News

WASHINGTON -- Eight-term Rep. Kenny Marchant, who narrowly won reelection last November, is now the fourth Texas Republican congressman in recent days to pick retirement over an uphill fight for political survival next year.

The growing exodus -- or "Texodus," as Democrats have gleefully characterized the parade of departures -- both reflects and accelerates the GOP's fading grip on Texas. Three of the retirements come in highly competitive districts that Democrats have a good shot of flipping.

Marchant, R-Coppell, hung onto his seat with just 50.6% of the vote last fall. So his exit, made official on Monday, likely makes it harder for Republicans to regain control of the House next year, after getting clobbered in last year's midterm elections.

The Republican, who will serve out the remainder of his term, said he was looking forward to spending more time with family after a four-decade career in public office that's seen him serve as a Carrollton mayor and city councilman, a state representative and a member of Congress.

Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2019/08/05/kenny-marchant-becomes-fourth-texas-congressman-retire-gop-exodus-grows

August 5, 2019

Axios: How the Trump White House works...

President Trump's sudden decision to cashier his choice for director of national intelligence, Rep. John Ratcliffe of Texas — five days after announcing the pick on Twitter — is a microcosm of how this White House works, Jonathan Swan writes:

• First, months ago, Trump hears from conservative friends that Ratcliffe is a loyal guy — on Team Trump.

• Then Trump is blown away by Ratcliffe’s TV performance as he hammered Robert Mueller during his House hearings.

• Trump is eager to replace a man he doesn't like or trust — Dan Coats — and starts telling staff he wants Ratcliffe.

• Nobody was ready to announce him last Sunday. But aides said that when Axios and then the N.Y. Times reported that Trump was seriously considering Ratcliffe, the president decided to move.

• He went ahead and tweeted, a couple hours after Swan's story, that Ratcliffe was the pick.

A number of senior officials were skeptical about Ratcliffe. But as far as we can tell, nobody put up much of a fight to Trump before he announced Ratcliffe.

• The White House appears to have done no vetting of Ratcliffe's résumé — assuming, perhaps, that if he'd been elected to Congress, he’d been vetted.

Between the lines: Per a source involved, it was only after Trump announced Ratcliffe that aides really scrambled to do a vulnerability assessment on their DNI candidate.

• The media did it quicker, discovering that Ratcliffe "had exaggerated his role in terrorism and immigration enforcement cases when he served as a federal prosecutor in Texas." (WashPost)

Two people close to Ratcliffe told Swan that Ratcliffe made the decision to withdraw:

• He didn't anticipate the intensity of the blowback against his potential nomination and his deceptive résumé.

• A friend of Ratcliffe's said he decided not to put his family through the ordeal, given it was far from clear that at the end of it all, he’d have enough Republican votes to be confirmed.

The end ... Trump finished Ratcliffe off on Twitter, blaming the media instead of the congressman's inflation of his own biography


https://www.axios.com/how-trump-white-house-works-93f2cdc3-324d-4636-a6c5-9e283bb9dfc1.html
August 5, 2019

The shooter in Dayton had 100 rounds of Ammo

He was stopped immediately only because a Police patrol came upon him while shooting.

The suspect, Connor Betts, was wearing a mask, body armor and hearing protection. He used a .223 caliber rifle with drum magazines that collectively held 100 rounds, Biehl said. The gun had some modifications but Biehl said he was unable to elaborate what those modifications were.

Dayton Daily News
August 4, 2019

Meanwhile, in the Ohio Statehouse..

Bill allowing concealed-carry without a permit advances in Ohio House

COLUMBUS, Ohio — After a one-week detour, a bill that would allow Ohioans to carry a concealed gun without a permit has advanced in the Ohio House.

A House committee on Wednesday voted mostly along party lines to refer for passage House Bill 178, which would allow anyone 21 and older to carry any concealed deadly weapon as long as they’re not legally barred from owning a gun.

The bill is now expected to head to a different committee for further review, something that’s unlikely to happen before the legislature breaks for its summer recess.

Ohio’s existing concealed-carry system, under which one can only conceal handguns, and only after going through a permitting process that involves mandatory training and a background check, has been in place since 2004, signed into law by then-Gov. Bob Taft following a years-long lobbying campaign by the National Rifle Association. That bill was backed by House Speaker Larry Householder, who also leads the House today.

Cleveland Plain Dealer
August 4, 2019

Proposed Ohio ballot issue requiring background checks for most gun sales shoots ahead

Cleveland Plain Dealer

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Backers of a proposed citizen-initiated law to require background checks for most gun sales in Ohio have gotten the green light to start collecting petition signatures to, ultimately, place the measure on the statewide ballot.

The bipartisan Ohio Ballot Board unanimously voted Monday that the proposal, titled “An Act to Close Loopholes in Background Checks on Gun Sales,” doesn’t contain more than a single subject. That certification means that Ohioans For Gun Safety, the group behind the proposal, can now start to gather the required 132,887 signatures from registered voters in at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties.

If they do, state lawmakers would have four months to act on the proposed law, which would make Ohio the 12th state (as well as the District of Columbia) to require universal background checks for firearms sales. Federal law already requires licensed dealers to conduct background checks before selling firearms.

The proposal, however, would allow a number of exemptions, such as gifts of firearms between family members, sales of antique guns, and temporarily giving someone a gun to use for hunting or at a shooting range.
August 3, 2019

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

Movie Producer Jason Blum is moving in on my block. He produces horror films like “Paranormal” and “The Purge”.

Ironically, he’s moving into a house where the owner recently committed suicide...

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Name: Chris Bastian
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