>“It’s just a really bad time to be working here,” one news producer told The Daily Beast in the wake of bombshell legal filings on the network’s inner machinations.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-journos-sound-off-on-soul-crushing-dominion-legal-filings

“I think no regular person could read this and look at Fox like a news organization at this point.”

In the wake of bombshell legal filings showing that Fox News executives and stars seemingly sought to pacify their disgruntled MAGA viewers by airing election lies, while punishing and censoring the employees attempting to deliver the actual truth, the above observation has become commonplace within media circles.

But some of the shots are being fired from within the conservative cable giant.

According to nine Fox News staffers and insiders, the pre-trial filings in Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News further impugn and sully the reputation of the network’s “straight news” journalists, especially since they show Fox was “operating out of fear” over losing viewers to smaller right-wing competitors following its Decision Desk’s early (and accurate) Arizona election night call for President Joe Biden.

“We are not happy,” one reporter told The Daily Beast.

At the same time, five sources familiar with the situation say that despite the very public reputational harm resulting from the Dominion documents, the news side has been kept in the dark on the filings, with no communication from Fox’s corporate management or human resources department.

“It’s just a really bad time to be working here,” one news producer said.

The network, on the other hand, defended its treatment and handling of the news division.

Woman moment?
>Lawyers for Hyejeong Shin said she longed for the sense of safety she felt as a teenager at a Massachusetts boarding school.

>NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - The mystery of the 29-year-old woman who pretended to be a teenager to enroll in a New Jersey high school seemed to capture the imagination of the country, drawing millions of viewers to news articles, TikTok and YouTube.

>Parents questioned the seeming ease with which she had tricked school officials and been able to wander the hallways, attend classes and meet with guidance counselors for four days in January. Students at the school, New Brunswick High, said they feared that the woman, Hyejeong Shin, had malicious, possibly criminal, intentions after she tried to set up meetings with them at a location outside of school.

>But on Monday, two lawyers hired by her family laid out a far less sinister explanation for the odd behavior: Recently divorced and far away from her family in South Korea, she was trying to recreate the sense of safety she had felt as a student at a Massachusetts boarding school.

>"It's very bizarre," Darren M. Gelber, one of the lawyers, said in an interview. "And it may be difficult for people to understand."

>"There are personal issues that she needs to resolve," added Henry Hong Jung, another lawyer. "She's been away from home a long time."

>On Monday, at her second court appearance, she entered a not guilty plea to charges that a prosecutor said carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Her lawyers told the judge that she intended to apply to a program that diverts first-time offenders from the criminal justice system and enables them to wipe their record clean after a successful period of probation.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/20/nyregion/new-jersey-high-school-woman-student.html

https://www.vice.com/en/article/7kxpky/leaked-emails-reveal-an-anti-trans-holy-war

A trove of leaked emails between South Dakota legislators and anti-trans lobbyists read like excerpts from "The Handmaid's Tale," according to a new report.

The communications between lobbyists, state Rep. Fred Deutsch and other South Dakota legislators use deeply religious language that shows Christian nationalists are pushing restrictions on LGBTQ rights as part of what they believe is a holy war, reported Vice News.

“Know that many have prayed and are praying for you this day," wrote Vernadette Broyles, a lawyer and president of the Georgia-based Children and Parental Rights Campaign in a 2020 email. "Do not back down, nor should you be afraid. Know that the Lord is with you. The children of South Dakota belong to him. He is jealous over them. Let his jealousies be spoken forth in the House of Representatives of South Dakota today so that his children would be made safe. Know you are HIS representative today. Do not be afraid. Stand firm in what is right."

The emails were shared with Vice by Elisa Rae Shupe, a trans woman who had de-transitioned and become an anti-trans advocate before re-transitioning and renouncing her ties to Christianity.

“I fell prey to the belief that if I did what they suggested that I would be cured of my gender dysphoria," Shupe said. "I was encouraged to confess my sins, ask for forgiveness by Jesus, and turn my plight over to the Lord Jesus Christ. I was also asked to accept that my transgender status was a sexually motivated sin and to cure myself by attending a religious 12-step program, which I did for approximately a year."

The messages are peppered with references to blessings, prayers and apocalyptic warfare.

N.J. Democrats fast-tracking bill critics say will gut independent election watchdog
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/n-j-democrats-fast-tracking-bill-critics-say-will-gut-independent-election-watchdog-is-it-politics/ar-AA17VjSj
Democratic lawmakers are fast-tracking a bill opponents say would take the teeth out of an independent state agency that monitors and enforces campaign finance rules in New Jersey.
The bill, revamped at the last minute on Thursday and up for votes in the Senate and the Assembly on Monday, is drawing controversy.

Republicans say last-minute changes will weaken critical oversight of political campaigns by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. And the attorney for the commission’s executive director has charged the real reason the move is being made is the Murphy administration wants the official removed because of alleged anti-gay comments made in an email.
The election watchdog, commonly known as ELEC, would lose a significant amount of independence if the proposal is passed by the Democratic-controlled state Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy.

That includes measures allowing the governor to directly appoint an executive director to the commission and limit the number of years it could investigate cases.

Currently, ELEC’s commissioners appoint the executive director. The commissioners are appointed by the governor, but by law there can’t be more than two members of the same political party on the commission.

The changes would give governors the ability to appoint the leader of a commission in charge of enforcing election finance laws for any public office in the state, including ones run by their political party and their own campaigns. The updated bill calls for the state Senate to sign off on the gubernatorial appointee, but the person could serve in the role in an acting capacity if the Senate does not approve.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64989112
Officials are monitoring the clean-up of a leak of 400,000 gallons (1.5m litres) of radioactive water from a local nuclear power plant in Minnesota.

Xcel Energy, the utility company that runs the plant, said the spillage was "fully contained on-site and has not been detected beyond the facility".

State officials said there was no immediate public health risk.

The leak was first discovered in late November, but state officials did not notify the public until Thursday.

The water contains tritium, a common by-product of nuclear plant operations.

A naturally occurring radioactive isotope of hydrogen, tritium emits a weak form of beta radiation that does not travel very far in air and cannot penetrate human skin, according to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

Tritium spills occur at nuclear plants on occasion, but are typically contained on-site and rarely affect public health or safety, the NRC says.

Xcel first discovered the leak on 21 November, from a pipe between two buildings at its Monticello plant. The plant is about 35 miles (56km) from the state's most populous city, Minneapolis, upstream along the Mississippi River.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/texas-abortion-law-means-woman-continue-pregnancy-despite/story?id=97918340

Kylie Beaton was looking forward to having her second child later this year. Now, she's faced with carrying an unviable pregnancy to its end due to Texas' highly restrictive abortion ban.

According to a report from her doctor, Beaton's baby has a rare, severe condition impacting the development of its brain, but she is unable to access abortion care in her home state.

"To have a woman go through so much torture along the way that's going to stay with them forever," Beaton told ABC News. "Whatever the case may be, you have to look at things from a different perspective."

At her 20-week ultrasound appointment, Beaton said her physician discovered the fetus had a rare, severe anomaly in which the fetus's brain does not develop into two hemispheres as it normally would, and the major structures of the brain remain fused in the middle.

The brain splitting into two hemispheres is a "critical stage in the development" and can impact the development of the nose, mouth and throat, Dr. Katie McHugh, an Indiana OB-GYN and abortion provider, told ABC News. The condition can result in a very painful life and death for the fetus, McHugh said.

"Often times we will offer, if not recommend, pregnancy termination," McHugh said.

The anomaly occurs in about 1 in 250 fetuses, but in just 1 in 16,000 live births, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Beaton's 28-week ultrasound shows the severity of her baby's anomaly.

Beaton said her physicians told her the baby could survive out of the womb for a couple of weeks, at most, in the event that the pregnancy ends in a live birth. Rouse agreed with this assessment, pointing to what she said is a lack of development of normal brain tissue and empty fluid filling the head.

https://apnews.com/article/florida-lawmaker-covid-relief-fraud-guilty-014bc3d2acfbafbe6648b2820cacd5f7

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The former Florida lawmaker who sponsored the controversial law critics call “Don’t Say Gay” pleaded guilty Tuesday to committing $150,000 in COVID-19 relief fraud.

Joseph Harding, a 35-year-old Republican, pleaded guilty in Gainesville federal court to wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements in connection with COVID-19 relief fraud, according to court records. He faces up to 35 years in prison at a hearing scheduled for July 25.

Harding resigned from the Florida House in December, a day after federal prosecutors announced his indictment.

According to court documents, Harding made false statements to the Small Business Administration while applying for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan for one of his dormant business entities. After obtaining $150,000 in COVID-19 relief funds, prosecutors said Harding conducted three monetary transactions, each involving more than $10,000 in fraudulently obtained funds: a transfer to his joint bank account, a payment to his credit card, and a transfer into a bank account of a third-party business entity.

The Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program is designed to provide economic relief to small businesses that are experiencing a temporary loss of revenue.

Harding became nationally known last year over his sponsorship of a law that forbids instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, as well as material that is not deemed age appropriate.

>What scientists should, or shouldn’t, research is usually poured over in funding boards and ethics committees.

>But the future of autism research is now commonly argued over on social media - as the autistic community speaks up about the type of research carried out, and the language used.

>Newsnight’s Science and Technology Correspondent Kate Lamble reports.

https://youtu.be/FbR3K4L2XnA

Moldova can be seen as one of the few European countries that have chosen not to comply with US sanctions against Russia, reflecting a shift in global power dynamics and a growing desire among countries to assert their independence in decision-making. By taking a stance that diverges from US interests, Moldova’s decision sets a precedent for other countries to follow suit, suggesting that the US may be losing its influence over global affairs.

https://usviolations.com/2023/03/21/us-santions-fails-to-stop-moldovas-gas-purchases-from-russia/

https://www.foxnews.com/us/man-admits-to-killing-missouri-woman-who-was-missing-for-a-week