Third-graders in Missouri selling raffle tickets for AR-15

A group of third-graders in Missouri are selling raffle tickets for an AR-15 — the type of rifle used in the deadly Florida shooting last week.

The third-graders are selling the raffle tickets to raise money for their traveling baseball team, The Kansas City Star reported.

The coach of the baseball team, Levi Patterson, said the idea for the raffle was thought of before the shooting occurred last week at a Florida high school.

Patterson said he thought about changing the item for the raffle, but decided to "turn it into a positive thing" after "getting the hate."

After the Star published its report, Patterson said he mistakenly said critics on social media were part of a hate group. He added he knows they are concerned and have “every right to stand up for what they believe in.”

Patterson said the team has received many donations since the Florida shooting, according to the Star.

“Gun raffles have been going on for years," Patterson wrote in a comment on Facebook. "Evil has and will always exist. Our hearts break for those involved, and we do not take that lightly.”


http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/374505-third-graders-in-missouri-selling-raffle-tickets-for-ar-15

Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL) will not seek reelection.

Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL) announced “he will not seek reelection, making him the latest in a growing list of incumbent Republicans who are not going to compete for their House seat,” Politico reports.

He did not cite a specific reason for not running for reelection, but only said he was looking forward to “serving Florida again in the future.”

Donald Trump won the district by 27 points in 2016.


https://politicalwire.com/2018/02/19/rooney-says-wont-run/

Republicans launch smear campaign against Parkland shooting survivors.

White House Official Says Shooting Was a Reprieve

A White House official told the Washington Post that the mass shooting as a Florida school last week gave a White House struggling with a domestic abuse scandal a break.

Said the official: “For everyone, it was a distraction or a reprieve. A lot of people here felt like it was a reprieve from seven or eight days of just getting pummeled… But as we all know, sadly, when the coverage dies down a little bit, we’ll be back through the chaos.”



https://politicalwire.com/2018/02/19/white-house-official-says-shooting-reprieve/

Bob Mueller is closing in on a sanctions policy for money and Trump/Russia coordination

BREAKING IN PA: Court-drawn Congressional map is "Democrats' dream come true"

Republican candidate in tomorrow's Wisconsin State Supreme Court race has active support of the NRA

Three candidates are running to be on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court this spring — and one of them received an endorsement this week from the National Rifle Association, just one day before the deadly shooting at a Florida high school.

That candidate’s name is Michael Screnock. He’s decidedly conservative; the two other candidates for the state Supreme Court, Tim Burns and Rebecca Dallet, are considered to be the more liberal/progressive choices for the seat.

The candidates have to make it through two elections. Their first test comes this Tuesday, February 20, in the primary election. The top two vote-getters in that race will compete against one another in the general election, which is slated for April 3.

“It’s important that all pro-Second Amendment voters get to the polls on Feb. 20 and elect Judge Michael Screnock to the state Supreme Court,” Chris W. Cox of the NRA Political Victory Fund said Tuesday, the day before Wednesday’s deadly shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school that left 17 dead.

Screnock labels himself an “originalist.” But the original interpretation of the Second Amendment was that it protected the rights of militias, not individuals. That was the standard up until very recently.


https://www.50statesofblue.com/2018/02/wisconsin-supreme-court-primary-florida-shooting-michael-screnock/#.Woo12uEFxLI.twitter

Black Panther' Opening Weekend Box Office Rises to $201.8 Million 3-Day, $235 Million 4-Day

Black Panther's box office dominance continues to expand as the numbers from Sunday roll in and new projections are made.

Black Panther earned $60.1 million on Sunday. That’s the second-highest Sunday box office total of all time behind the $60.5 million that Star Wars: The Force Awakens made on December 20, 2015.

Black Panther’s three-day box office now stands at $201.8 million. That’s still the fifth-highest opening of all time and the second-highest opening for a Marvel movie behind Marvel’s The Avengers, which made $207.4 million in 2012. It's also the biggest President's Day weekend opening and biggest February opening of all time, stealing both records away from 2016's Deadpool opening.

Black Panther is now projected for a four-day opening total of $235 million. That would surpass the four-day totals of both The Avengers ($226.3 million) and Jurassic World ($234 million) to make Black Panther the third-largest four-day opening of all time. Black Panther would still trail behind Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($241.6 million) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($288 million).



http://comicbook.com/marvel/2018/02/19/black-panther-box-office-opening-weekend-2/

Trump Reportedly Fixed the Miss Universe Pageant, Favoring Countries With Whom He Had Business Ties

Did President Donald Trump rig the Miss Universe pageant in favor of contestants representing countries with whom he conducted business?

In a lengthy piece for this week’s New Yorker authored by Jeffrey Toobin, several former contestants went on the record to allege that Trump handpicked his top choices in the days leading up to the competition. And he made sure to note his business holdings in the nations being represented by his favorites.

Adwoa Yamoah, who participated in the competition after winning Miss Canada 2012, told Toobin that Trump would drop by during rehearsals, chat up the contestants, and then note his preferences to Miss Universe Organization president Paula Shugart.

“He made comments about every girl,” Yamoah told Toobin. “‘I’ve been to that country.’ ‘We’re building a Trump Tower there.’ It was clear the countries that he liked did well. He’d whisper to Paula about the girls, and she’d write it down. He basically told us he picked nine of the top 15.”

Kerrie Baylis, Miss Jamaica 2013, added, “the list [of Miss Universe finalists] looked like the countries that Donald Trump did business with, or wanted to do business with.”

And Shi Lim, Miss Singapore 2013, also told Toobin, “The finalists were picked by Trump. He was really in charge. We called it the Trump card.”

Toobin noted that a Miss Universe spokesperson said it was not against the rules for Trump or any other staffer to help select the finalists.


https://www.mediaite.com/online/trump-reportedly-fixed-the-miss-universe-pageant-favoring-countries-with-whom-he-had-business-ties/

Tomorrow is Election Day in Wisconsin, Kentucky and Mississippi.