To the moon and back

in response to a mass shooting, Virginia lawmakers abruptly adjourned Tuesday and postponed any movement on gun laws until after the November election. But not a single vote was cast on the legislation. Republican leaders said the session was premature and politically motivated. They assigned the state’s bipartisan crime commission to study policy proposals that might have prevented the shooting. It was a familiar outcome in a stalled debate that plays out yearly in Virginia on an issue that has divided the nation for more than two decades. “This is just a complete, disgraceful act of cowardice by the Republicans … And I think it’s going to backfire on them,” he said. Richard Keene, a 51-year-old gun owner from Chesterfield, …

Joao Marcelo said his father had been battling health issues though no official cause of his death in Rio de Janeiro was given. “His struggle was noble. He tried to maintain his dignity in the light of losing his independence,” Marcelo posted on Facebook. Self-taught, Gilberto said he discovered music at age 14 when he held a guitar in his hands for the first time. With his unique playing style and modern jazz influences, he created the beat that defined bossa nova, helping launch the genre with his song “Bim-Bom.” “It was Joao Gilberto, the greatest genius of Brazilian music, who was the definitive influence on my music,” singer Gal Costa wrote on social media. “He will be missed but …

Derrick Halsey, a wildlife capture specialist known as a “mugger,” hands off a kid mountain goat to Olympic National Park Wildlife Branch Chief Patti Happe Tuesday, July 9, 2019, after airlifting the goat and two others to Hurricane Ridge in the park near Port Angeles, Wash. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) COLORADO OFFICIALS WARN HUMANS TO NOT FEED WILDLIFE AFTER MOUNTAIN GOATS ENGAGING IN ‘UNNATURAL BEHAVIORS’  There are six designated goat sites that the animals will be released to. “Mountain goat relocation will allow these animals to reoccupy historical range areas in the Cascades,” Jesse Plumage, a U.S. Forest Service wildlife biologist, said in a news release.

Kamala Harris’ attack on former Vice President But another moment revealed a different source of tension inside the Democratic Party, one that may play a significant role as the top contenders for its 2020 nomination seek to distinguish themselves from Biden: the legacy of the president he served as a loyal lieutenant, NBC News moderator José Diaz-Balart prefaced a question about whether Biden would deport immigrants whose only offense was arriving in the U.S. without papers by noting that the “Obama-Biden administration deported more than 3 million Americans.” Donald Trump] is doing is absolutely … immoral.” Biden went on to say that undocumented immigrants who have not committed a crime would not be “the focus of deportation.” “On this issue, …

Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has issued a surprisingly scathing attack on the cadre of progressive freshmen women who have established high profiles among the chamber’s Democrats, dismissing them as having a “public whatever” but lacking significant political backing. greatest threat to mankind is the Along with Ocasio-Cortez, frequent Pelosi critics among progressive Democrats elected in 2018 include Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and  Pelosi dismissed the women’s political clout in an What The Hell Is Nancy Pelosi Doing?”) that she too often caves to the Republicans on legislative matters. increased funding to deal with conditions at the U.S border with Mexico but lacked humanitarian guarantees for detained immigrants, particularly children. Pelosi insisted that the bill — which the squad of four “All these …