As Russia’s virtual war against the United States continues unabated with the midterm elections approaching, the State Department has yet to spend any of the $120 million it has been allocated since late 2016 to counter foreign efforts to meddle in elections or sow distrust in democracy.

As a result, not one of the 23 analysts working in the department’s Global Engagement Center — which has been tasked with countering Moscow’s disinformation campaign — speaks Russian, and a department hiring freeze has hindered efforts to recruit the computer experts needed to track the Russian efforts.

The delay is just one symptom of the largely passive response to the Russian interference by President Trump, who has made little if any public effort to rally the nation to confront Moscow and defend democratic institutions. More broadly, the funding lag reflects a deep lack of confidence by Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson in his department’s ability to execute its historically wide-ranging mission and spend its money wisely.

Mr. Tillerson has voiced skepticism that the United States is even capable of doing anything to counter the Russian threat.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/03/04/world/europe/state-department-russia-global-engagement-center.html?referer=https://t.co/5Uq3C6hrDU?amp=1#click=https://t.co/5Uq3C6hrDU

The best available evidence suggests two major National Rifle Association gun policy prescriptions — what are known as “stand your ground” self-defense laws and permissive concealed carry laws — increase homicides and violent crime.

That is according to a massive new study by the RAND Corporation, an independent think tank. The group's experts scoured thousands of academic papers on gun violence in an effort to make definitive statements about how gun policies affect crime and safety. They winnowed that list down to only the highest-quality studies — just 62 in total — containing evidence capable of establishing a causal link between a gun policy change and a specific outcome.

Because the RAND researchers' criteria for including studies in their final analysis were rigorous, for the majority of policies and outcomes, there was not enough good research to make any definitive statements — a clear indication of how little we know about how to prevent gun violence. But there were notable exceptions.

There is moderate evidence, for instance, that “stand your ground” laws, which remove the requirement for gun owners to attempt to retreat from a situation before using lethal force, increase total rates of homicide. A 2013 study, for instance, found that states passing such laws saw 6 percent to 11 percent increases in their total homicide rate. Another study found that Florida experienced a significant 24 percent increase in total homicides and 32 percent increase in firearm homicides following enactment of the stand-your-ground law in 2005.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/wonk/wp/2018/03/02/the-best-available-evidence-suggests-nra-backed-gun-policies-are-making-crime-worse/?__twitter_impression=true

Hope Hicks is gone. H.R. McMaster may be on the way out. Who remains, it is difficult to say. The ranks are getting sparser and sparser every week and have to be combed more and more carefully into place. Here, as best as I can determine, are the people still at the White House:

Chief of Staff John Kelly, who committed a sin and is being punished, doomed to walk the Earth until every scrap of goodwill he accrued by seeming even vaguely level-headed is eroded away by his continued presence in the Trump administration and remarks in favor of Civil War-averting compromises or in defense of men accused of abuse.

A Russian intelligence official who came in months ago to drop off some misleading papers, but was given something important to hold and now considers everyone family and cannot bear to leave.

“Fox and Friends.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2018/03/01/who-is-still-working-in-the-white-house/?utm_term=.d058bbe70587

OVERLAND PARK, KS (KCTV) -
Police say a racial slur was hurled at a child at a Hooters off Metcalf Avenue.

KCTV5 News spoke to a witness who was at the restaurant and he said he was dumbfounded by a statement the firefighter made to police.

“He basically said get that little ‘blank’ up off the floor,” the witness recounted. “The n-word started to get thrown around.”

The comment left the witness speechless.

http://www.kctv5.com/story/37627894/child-called-racial-slur-spat-on-by-firefighter-at-overland-park-hooters

Here are the 16 most insane Trump scandals that erupted over the last month alone

February is the shortest month of the year, but it was nonetheless a month that was jam-packed with scandals for the Trump White House.

As documented by Washington Post reporter Dan Eggen on Twitter, the past 28 days have seen the Trump administration produce a fire hose of nonstop scandals and controversies ranging from alleged cover ups of domestic abuse to shady loans benefiting presidential son-in-laws.

As recapped by Eggan, here are the most insane Trump scandals that erupted in the last month alone.
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/16-insane-trump-scandals-erupted-last-month-alone/amp/?__twitter_impression=true