Two unsatisfying articles about the 2016 Democratic sweep in Harris County

The Democratic sweep in Harris County has drawn some national attention, as writers from the left and right try to analyze what happened here last year and why Hillary Clinton carried the county by such a large margin. Unfortunately, as is often the case with stories about Texas by people not from Texas, the results are not quite recognizable to those of us who are here.

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Sen. Tom Cotton , a leading GOP senator, is warning his friend House Speaker Paul Ryan to “take a pause” and slow down when it comes to healthcare reform. Cotton told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview when asked what he would say to Ryan were he speaking directly to the embattled Speaker: Take a pause, lower the stakes, we don’t need to meet arbitrary legislative deadlines.

Dashcam video: Opelika police cleared of wrongdoing in 2014 officer-involved shooting

An appeals court has analyzed the evidence in a lawsuit filed against the City of Opelika in connection to a 2014 officer-involved shooting and determined there was no wrongdoing by the officer. On March 6, 2014, Michael Davidson was shot by Opelika police officer Phillip Hancock after he exited his vehicle along Interstate 85. Davidson was holding his black wallet, which the officer believed was a gun.

Trump administration slow to name deputies

President Donald Trump still hasn’t named a number of key deputy secretaries to back up his Cabinet – posts that experts say are essential to smooth functioning of the government. The lack of nominees for the key positions comes as Trump still needs to fill nearly 2,000 appointed positions in governments – and as Democrats continue to slow-walk confirmations of the nominees he has named.

On Trump trademarks, China says it treats applicants equally

China assesses all applications for trademarks equally in a transparent process, a top Chinese regulator said Friday, after Beijing awarded U.S. President Donald Trump preliminary approval for a trove of trademarks in a move that has drawn scrutiny. The process by which Trump and a related company were granted provisional approval for 38 trademarks “strictly conforms” to Chinese regulations, said Zhang Mao, chief of China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce.

Americans oppose bathroom laws limiting transgender rights: poll

The majority of respondents to a new U.S. poll opposed laws barring transgender people from using bathrooms consistent with their gender identities and indicated growing acceptance for gay rights, a nonpartisan research group said on Friday. Fifty-three percent of the Americans surveyed oppose laws requiring transgender people to use bathrooms that correspond to their sex at birth, according to the national poll by the Public Religion Research Institute.

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Legal challenges against Trump’s revised trave… . Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin speaks at a news conference Thursday, March 9, 2107, in Honolulu.

New administration seeks resignations of 46 US attorneys

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is seeking the resignations of 46 U.S. attorneys who were holdovers from the Obama administration. Many of the federal prosecutors who were nominated by President Barack Obama have already left their positions, but the nearly four dozen who stayed on in the first weeks of the Trump administration have been asked to leave “in order to ensure a uniform transition,” Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said Friday.

Japan bats away U.S. complaint on autos

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga speaks to media during a news conference in this photo taken by Kyodo February 12, 2017. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via Japan rejected U.S. demands for more access to Japan’s car market on Friday, casting doubt over whether it can avoid friction over autos and agriculture imports at high level bilateral talks on economic relations next month.

Threats to Jewish groups in U.S. and UK linked: investigators

PanARMENIAN.Net – Scotland Yard and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are investigating more than a hundred bomb threats made to Jewish groups in the United States and Britain since Jan. 7, U.S. and UK law enforcement and Jewish community officials said, according to Reuters. Investigators said there is evidence that some of the U.S. and British bomb threats are linked.

Which Side Is Gen. Mattis On?

Aa debate over the military’s budget is emerging between defense hawks on Capitol Hill and fiscal hawks in the Trump administration. The fiscal hawks, chief among them Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney, want the next annual defense budget set at $603 billion, a 3 percent increase from the last Obama budget request.

Today in Trump: March 10, 2017

Most election forecasters found themselves in a social media buzzsaw the day after Donald Trump stunned the country with his triumph over Hillary Clinton. Major political oddsmakers had predicted a Clinton win, and famed numbers savant Nate Silver announced the day before the election, “Clinton is a 71 percent favorite to win the election.”

EPA chief unconvinced on CO2 link to global warming

The Senate confirmed Scott Pruitt to run the Environmental Protection Agency over the objections of Democrats and environmentalists worried he will gut the agency, as the administration readies executive orders to ease regulation on drillers and miners. Photo: Reuters/Carlos Barria The new head of the Environmental Protection Agency said on Thursday he is not convinced that carbon dioxide from human activity is the main driver of climate change and said he wants Congress to weigh in on whether CO2 is a harmful pollutant that should be regulated.

Brooklyn congressman recites Biggie lyrics on house floor

‘It was all a dream!’ Brooklyn congressman recites Biggie lyrics on the house floor to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the rapper’s death A New York City congressman recited Biggie lyrics on the House floor on Thursday in a tribute to the rapper on the anniversary of his death. Thursday was the 20th anniversary of the legendary Biggie Smalls’ murder, and Brooklyn Congressman Hankeem Jeffries took the opportunity to honor him on the Congress floor.

Top generals testify against proposed State Dept. cuts

The two top U.S. generals in charge of military operations in Africa and the Middle East told the Senate Armed Service Committee on Thursday proposed budget cuts at the State Department could hamper the joint departmental effort to fight extremism. “We work very closely with various agencies,” said Marine Corps Gen.

Japan, US conduct navy drill in East China Sea as – warning’ to North Korea

The Japanese and US navies are conducting joint exercises in the East China Sea as tension intensifies in the region following North Korea’s missile tests , local media reported on Friday. The two sides launched the drill earlier this week, involving Japanese destroyers and a US Navy carrier strike group, the Sankei Shimbun daily and Kyodo News said, quoting unnamed Japanese and US government sources.

Huntsman in exile: Did appointment make way for Hatch?

For a second time, a president is sending Jon Huntsman overseas on an assignment that could block his political ambitions. President Donald Trump’s decision to tap the Republican former Utah governor as the US ambassador to Russia puts Huntsman on the sidelines the day before veteran Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch announced his plans Thursday to run for another term in 2018.

Poll: Alpharetta democrat leading in conservative district

Georgia’s 6th district seat, which is traditionally Republican dominated, was held by Tom Price before he was sworn in as Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Trump administration in February. Ossoff has never held an elected position, but his online campaign titled “Make Trump Furious,” led to nearly $3 million in donations.

Trump vs. Trump: President’s credibility gap like Grand Canyon

The contradictions in both the president’s rhetoric and his approach to governing were there from the beginning of the speech. He started, somewhat oddly, by conflating the last day of Black History Month with the attacks on Jewish cemeteries and community centers across the country and saying that bigotry had no place in American life.

Sean Spicer, barred from Air Force One, avoids the cameras

He is the US president’s most prominent political spokesman but his high profile didn’t protect Sean Spicer from being temporarily banished from Air Force One. Spicer was among a group of Donald Trump’s senior aides who were banned from the presidential aircraft a week ago after Trump erupted in frustration at his staff during an Oval Office meeting.

Fire ravages home in Harvest

Some say it’s a big headache, others say it’s a big fix to traffic backups on one of Montgomery busiest roadways. A construction project on Chantilly Parkway is in its final stages and officials say it should make traveling the road safer.

Politics fire up late-night

Not even two months into Donald J. Trump’s presidency, and it’s clear his administration and the conservative tilt in Washington has fired up the monologues of late-night television. On Tuesday, for example, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel took a jab at the just-unveiled and much-anticipated health-care plan by House Republicans: “This is the one that’s supposed to replace Obamacare, they’re calling it the American Health Care Act.

Nominee for elections director lacks clear experience

Anson P. Bowe, the former tugboat engineer nominated for the post of Lucas County elections director, has had a variety of jobs, but little on his official record that directly relates to the job of overseeing the 140 full and part-time staffers who run elections here, a Blade investigation shows. Mr. Bowe, 53, who just transferred his address from a house in Fulton County’s Delta owned by his mother, Ann F. Mather, to a house in South Toledo owned by a friend, said he has experience in elections, managing employees, and handling financial and legal documents that isn’t necessarily spelled out in his resume.

Trump’s better ban

As written, the old order banned travel into the United States by citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries, even if they had green cards. The administration backed down from that quickly, but didn’t change the text of the order.

Michigan’s indifference toward Flint continues to defy logic

You might have thought the Snyder administration would have learned trying to keep information about Flint hidden doesn’t work. Last week, state officials refused to take part in a scheduled meeting in which a team of university researchers were to present their preliminary findings about a mysterious outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Flint.

Noel J. Francisco, Trump’s solicitor general pick, fought Obama on recess appointments

President Trump ‘s pick for solicitor general – the government’s chief lawyer to the Supreme Court – has been there before. Noel J. Francisco won a 9-0 spanking of President Obama over his illegal recess appointments, fought the administration to a draw on the Obamacare contraceptive mandate and won the release of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell after convincing the justices that the corruption charges were bogus.

China Says It Followed the Law in Approving 38 Trump Trademarks In ‘Unusually Quick’ Fashion

China on Thursday defended its handling of 38 trademarks it recently approved provisionally for President Donald Trump, saying it followed the law in processing the applications at a pace that some experts view as unusually quick. Democrats in Congress were critical of Trump after The Associated Press reported Wednesday that the potentially valuable trademarks had been granted, raising questions of conflict of interest and political favoritism.