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-Details about the most recent TX mass shooter is painting a picture we have seen in bits and pieces before with other mass shooters. Rolling Stone reports the shooter (I will not post his name) was discharged from the military in 2008 amid "mental health concerns" and spend much of his social media time on far-right sites. The terrorist also was associated with a neo-Nazi group and wore a badge on his person with the initials "RWDS" - which, if you are not a Proud Boy or Q member or Oath Keeper, is short for "right wing death squad," and of course used the mass murder weapon of choice, the AR-15 assault rifle.
-That the terrorist was also Hispanic did not escape right-wing media or TX Republicans, who led with that (and mischaracterized him as an illegal immigrant) along with their standard thoughts and prayers - including one unctuous TX GOP Representative who only called for more prayers despite a question that more prayers is only making 2023 a record year for mass shootings in the United States, thus implying that perhaps all the prayers are only generating ... more killings?
-Because the TX legislature is too busy with more important matters than any kind of gun control or gun reforms. For example, one bill being pushed by the GOP supermajority in that state would end no-fault divorce, which goes well with many abortion bans rampant in the state. The TX Senate also passed a bill that, if enacted, will allow the State to declare elections invalid in counties with populations larger than 2.7 million if 2% of the polling places run out of ballots - and, in a remarkable coincidence, the only county in TX with a population over 2.7 million JUST HAPPENS to be Harris County, home to Houston and the largest batch of Democratic votes in the state! So as you can see, TX Republicans just can't get to stopping their mass killers from being the most well-armed mass killers in the country - because THEY’RE BUSY.
-In what looks to be better news, the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial goes into final arguments today. They occur after a judge gave Ex-President Trump until 5 pm yesterday (Sunday) to file a motion to testify after Trump boasted that he would do so while on a trip in Scotland last week, and 5 pm passed without Trump doing so. That means the only thing the Carroll jury saw was Trump on a video deposition (released to the public) which, in addition to seeing Trump classify himself a star and that stars "get away" with things saw Trump sneer that Carroll was not his "type" ("and neither are you, no offense" he added without prompting to Carroll's attorney doing the questioning) only to misidentify Carroll as his then-wife Marla on the tape. The jury is likely to get the case by midweek.
-Tomorrow is a big day in a couple of places. In Moscow, Victory Day celebrations will take place but greatly curtailed amid fears that the celebrations of the end of World War II and Russian/Soviet military might may degenerate into protests over the continued wobbly invasion into Ukraine (SLAVA UKRAINI!) and public-appearing rifts amid different Russian military factions.
-And in Washington tomorrow, Congressional leaders will meet amid the looming budget crisis being created by the UltraMAGA House majority who are demanding President Biden agree to draconian social service budget cuts in exchange for a vote to extend the debt ceiling which will allow the American government to continue paying its bills (at least 1/3 of which were created by Trump and Congressional Republicans who passed three clean debt ceiling bills when Trump was President) and Biden continuing to demand a clean vote on extending the debt ceiling decoupled from the budget demands.
-There are strategies being plotted should McCarthy get what is likely a command from GOP Party Leader Marjorie Taylor Greene not to cut a deal with Biden - including a Democratic House run-around-Kevin-McCarthy legislative option that could force a vote with four Republicans (if they can be found) to join all Democrats, and the Biden Administration reportedly considering using the 14th Amendment as justification to essentially kill the debt ceiling legislative option and just give the executive branch power to pay the debts - an option that could trigger a Supreme Court intervention or ruling (and, y'know, THIS Supreme Court ...).
-The Westminster Dog Show competition begins today, and as luck would have it, a French Bulldog - the new #1 dog breed in the U.S. - is among the favorites to win Best in Show in New York. Interestingly, if that happened it would mark the first time in the 115-year history of the show that the #1 dog in the country would win the competition, as most recently neither a Labrador Retriever nor a Golden Retriever won when they were the most popular dogs.
-FUN FACTS: the favored Frenchie, Wilson, is owned in part by Morgan Fox, an offensive lineman who just signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Rams - and if you're looking for wagertainment, the French Bulldog's main competition for Best in Show are last year's winner Trumpet the Bloodhound, a Maltese named Hollywood, and a German Shepherd dog named River. Place your Milk Bones on the table!
-On this date in 1824, Beethoven's 9th Symphony was played in public for the first time. On this date in 1915, a German U-boat sunk the ocean liner Lusitania. On this date in 1945, Nazi Germany surrendered to Allied forces, marking the end of World War II in Europe. On this date in 1960, Leonid Brezhnev became the leader of the Soviet Union. And on this date in 1999, Nancy Mace - now a Congreswoman - became the first woman to graduate from The Citadel.
-Happy Birthday to Edward Gibbon, Harry Truman, Fulton J. Sheen, Roberto Rossellini, Robert Johnson, David Attenborough, Don Rickles, Doug Atkins, James R. Thompson, Mike Cuellar, Thomas Pynchon, Toni Tennille, Ricky Nelson, Peter Benchley, James A. Trafficant Jr., Gary Glitter, Keith Jarrett, Chris Frantz, Mike D'Antoni, Beth Henley, Alex Van Halen, Lovie Smith, Ronnie Lott, Bill de Blasio, Melissa Gilbert, Enrique Iglesias, and Joe Bonnamassa.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to King Kamehameha I, John Stuart Mill, Paul Gaughin, Elmer Rice, Avery Brundage, Gilles Villeneuve, Pam Ewing, Robert A. Heinlein, George Peppard, Dana Plato, Dirk Bogarde, Eddy Arnold, Dom DiMaggio, Maurice Sendak, William Schallert, George Deukmejian, Bo Obama, Helmut Jahn, and Fred Ward.
-Feed the Worms: Evil Horrible No-Good All-Bad Black-and-Gold Football Turncoat Bill Cowher entered Earth on this date. Watergate banker Bebe Rebozo departed Earth on this date.