August 5th, 2019

The Baton Rouge Police Departments says shots were fired at an apartment complex in the 900 block of Geranium Street around 8 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 5 while officers were responding to a domestic call of some sort. An officer with BRPD was reportedly shot in the leg and transported to a local hospital for treatment. It’s believed his injuries are non-life-threatening. Emergency officials say a possible hostage situation is underway and that SWAT is responding.

A Minnesota prosecutor has charged R. Kelly with prostitution and solicitation charges for a 2001 allegation that he invited a 17-year-old girl to his hotel and paid her $200 to dance naked with him... Freeman said the girl was trying to get an autograph from Kelly, and that the R&B performer gave her his signature and a phone number. When the girl called the number, she was invited to Kelly's hotel. There she was offered $200 to take off her clothes and dance, Freeman said... "According to Victim, the defendant was rubbing her body" and fondling himself, according to the complaint. "Victim stated that the defendant touched all over her body"... The charges are felonies, each punishable by up to five years in prison.

The mass shootings. Do you have questions? I do. pic.twitter.com/6o0UX1Z67r

— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) August 5, 2019

"This pattern of actions is also a violation of China’s G20 commitments to refrain from competitive devaluation."

U.S. Rep. Kenny Marchant will not seek reelection in 2020... “I am looking forward to finishing out my term and then returning to Texas to start a new chapter," Marchant said in a statement. “For the last 40 years, I have served my fellow North Texans, starting in local government as the Mayor and as a city council member of Carrollton, then to Austin as a 9-term State Representative, and then on to serving today in Washington, DC.

David Shimp, chief executive officer at Del Sol Medical Center in El Paso, said one patient died late Sunday night and another Monday morning... Dr. Stephen Flaherty, director of trauma at Del Sol Medical Center, said one of the patients who died was an elderly woman. Both patients suffered "major and devastating" wounds that were consistent with high-velocity gun shots, he added.

“In February, the new Democratic House Majority promptly did its duty and passed the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, which is supported by more than 90 percent of the American people and proven to save lives. “However, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has called himself the ‘grim reaper’ and refuses to act on this bipartisan legislation. It is incumbent upon the Senate to come back into session to pass this legislation immediately.

Judicial Watch's lawsuit argues that unless the California law is enjoined, "states will assume the power to create their own qualifications for national candidates seeking to obtain a party’s nomination for president."

"This could lead to as many as 50 distinct and possibly inconsistent sets of qualifications regarding the only national election in the United States," the lawsuit argues. "Using rationales similar to California’s, states might come to demand medical records, mental health records, sealed juvenile records, driving records, results of intelligence, aptitude, or personality tests, college applications, Amazon purchases, Google search histories, browsing histories, or Facebook friends."

The four California voters who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit are: Jerry Griffin, a registered Republican from Los Angeles County; Michelle Bolotin, a registered independent from Los Angeles County; Michael Sienkiewicz, a registered Republican from San Francisco County and James B. Oerding, a registered Democrat from Yolo County...

The DNC sent an email to supporters on Monday, signed by former Rep. Gabby Giffords, encouraging donors to “split” a donation of $10 to $200 between the DNC and Giffords’ PAC... Asked about the email, DNC Communications Director Xochitl Hinojosa said: "Our goal is to end gun violence once and for all. The way to do that is by helping organizations like the Giffords PAC and by electing Democrats up and down the ticket who will work day in and day out to pass the reforms we need to protect our families and our children. That's the only way to ensure change." On Sunday afternoon, 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., also sent out a fundraising email citing the shootings, with the subject line: “No more thoughts and prayers.”

26 more months? Gotta wait until after the election? Everyone is already sick of the corruption in congress and the media. We should probably also wait until 2025 so we don't affect the 2024 election, too. /s

WHERE IS BILL BARR?

They were so busy that they had to shut down the ER to treat people and had to turn other people away...

Gold, now up about 15% from its low of 2019, has surged over recent sessions after President Donald Trump intensified a trade fight with China by announcing additional tariffs on Chinese goods and China pledged retaliation...

“The yellow metal is on the verge of a making for a run towards the $1,500 an ounce level and after that there is not much resistance until the $1,650 region,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda...

"The FBI remains concerned that U.S.-based domestic violent extremists could become inspired by these and previous high-profile attacks to engage in similar acts of violence," the statement said. "The FBI asks the American public to report to law enforcement any suspicious activity that is observed either in person or online."

For decades, Epstein has run some of his operations quietly out of a squat Second Avenue residential building owned by his brother, Mark Epstein, and frequently visited by the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. According to property records and court filings, Jeffrey Epstein has long housed girlfriends, associates, employees, and businesses in a handful of the 150-odd units at 301 East 66th St. owned on paper by his brother's development firm, Ossa Properties...

Some of Epstein's activity at the apartment building appears to be business-related: New York state corporate registrations tie 9 East 71, an LLC named after his townhouse, and NES LLC, which actually owns the townhouse and pays his pilots' paychecks, to the building. Over the years, he's assigned units in the building to his house managers, and used two one-bedrooms to house his pilots during New York layovers...

Over the years, a number of Epstein's friends have also called 301 East 66th St. home, including his his ex-girlfriend, the socialite Eva Andersson (who is now married to hedge fund star and Epstein confidant Glenn Dubin); and his former business partner, MC2 Models founder Jean-Luc Brunel... Then there were the underage models. Many of them were foreign and scouted by Brunel, according to a 2010 deposition given by a former MC2 bookkeeper named Maritza Vasquez. (Vasquez could not be reached for comment, but her sworn statement was supported by Epstein's former house manager, Alfredo Rodriguez, whose annotations of Epstein's address book include "Apt. for models" next to the 66th Street entry.)

Paul Dixon, 43, was charged with second-degree murder in the death of David Oseas Ramirez, 56, local media reported. While the victim was not identified by police, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said Dixon killed his cellmate on Tuesday. Dixon, who police said was serving time for a murder he committed when he was 17 years old, was reportedly involved in a verbal altercation with his cellmate which eventually led to a physical confrontation.

A South Carolina city's highways, seaports, airspace and railways are all part of a large military exercise this week.

The Charleston area exercise has been named "Dragon Lifeline." The Post and Courier reports that it involves more than 200 soldiers from more than 114 job fields. It also involves dozens of Humvees, ships and airplanes arriving in the Charleston area.

Plans called for the exercise to get started Monday with a massive convoy of soldiers...