Beau of the Fifth Column: Let's talk about Zelenskyy taking over the media....

Beau of the Fifth Column: Let's talk about Rule 303 Belorussian style....

Abortion funds in Texas take legal action

Even after passing Senate Bill 8, anti-abortion activists are still yearning to take their extremism to a new level by targeting abortion funds in Texas. Now, two abortion funds in Texas have filed their own lawsuits as a legal counter.

Last week, the Lilith Fund and Texas Equal Access Fund announced that they had filed a series of lawsuits against two rightwing organizations and two private citizens. The two organizations they are suing are the Thomas More Society and the America First Legal Foundation (AFLF), which was started by several members of the Trump Administration including Stephen Miller and Mark Meadows.

Earlier this year, lawyers with AFLF filed investigatory depositions against two employees of the Lilith Fund and TEA Fund arguing that they had helped individuals obtain abortions when SB 8 had a temporary injunction. In the suit against AFLF, lawyers working on behalf of the abortion funds argued that they were facing, “imminent and existential threats to the fundamental and constitutional rights of plaintiffs, their staff, their volunteers and their donors.”

SB 8 is not just an abortion ban, it’s also a law based on citizen vigilantism and bounties. It allows virtually anyone to file a lawsuit against an abortion provider or any person they believe aided or abetted an abortion.

Read more: https://texassignal.com/abortion-funds-in-texas-take-legal-action/

Beto O'Rourke and Texas leaders blast Abbott for inaction in the foster care system

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) is in the hot seat after a recent sex-trafficking scandal showed just a sneak peek at injustices against children in the foster care system.

Earlier this month a report out of Bastrop County accused employers at The Refuge, a residential treatment center contracted by the DFPS of sex trafficking girls ages 11-17.

Despite the Texas Rangers releasing a statement on Thursday denying the claims at the facility for lack of evidence, Jamie Masters, commissioner of DFPS confirmed the facility’s employees were sending nude photos of the young girls for money and or drugs in January of this year.

According to Masters, a Child Protective Services supervisor was supposed to report the incident higher up the chain of command, but was “disengaged.”

Read more: https://texassignal.com/beto-orourke-and-texas-leaders-blast-abbott-for-inaction-in-the-foster-care-system/

Capitol riot trial opens for Cowboys for Trump founder

WASHINGTON (AP) — An elected official from New Mexico went to trial with a judge — not a jury — set to decide if he is guilty of charges that he illegally entered the U.S. Capitol grounds on the day a pro-Trump mob disrupted the certification of Joe Biden's presidential election victory.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden is scheduled to hear attorneys' closing arguments Tuesday for the case against Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin, whose trial in Washington, D.C., is the second among the hundreds of people charged with federal crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, siege.

The judge heard testimony Monday from three government witnesses. Griffin's lawyer said he doesn't plan to call any defense witnesses.

The case against Griffin is unlike most of the Capitol riot prosecutions. He is one of the few riot defendants who isn't accused of entering the Capitol or engaging in any violent or destructive behavior. He claims he has been selectively prosecuted for his political views.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/article/Capitol-riot-trial-opens-for-Cowboys-for-Trump-17019457.php

Ex-wife accuses top Missouri GOP Senate candidate of abuse

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, now a leading Republican Senate candidate, was physically abusive and demonstrated such “unstable and coercive behavior” that steps were taken to limit his access to firearms, according to new allegations from his ex-wife revealed in court records on Monday.

A sworn affidavit from Sheena Greitens is part of an ongoing child custody dispute in Missouri. A public affairs professor at the University of Texas, she sought divorce from Eric Greitens after a sex scandal which led to his resignation as governor in June 2018. She's now asking the court to move the custody case to the Austin area, in part to spare her children from renewed public attention as Eric Greitens tries to mount a political comeback.

Eric Greitens called the allegations “completely fabricated" and "baseless."

"I am seeking full custody of my sons, and for their sake, I will continue to pray for their mother and hope that she gets the help that she needs,” he said in a statement issued from his Twitter account.

An attorney for Sheena Greitens did not respond to a message seeking comment.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/politics/article/ex-wife-senate-GOP-Eric-Greitens-17018679.php

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi discusses medical costs with Dallas leaders at health care roundtable

Federal funding for COVID-19 testing and treatment is running out, potentially leaving North Texas vulnerable to future virus outbreaks, Dallas health care leaders warned Monday during a discussion with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Pelosi joined Dallas Democratic congressman Colin Allred, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins and Dallas County Health and Human Services Director Dr. Philip Huang in a health care roundtable to discuss the cost of medical care and the financial burden shouldered by community health organizations because of Texas’ high rate of uninsured residents.

Parkland Health spends $1.8 million per month treating uninsured patients for COVID-19, Huang said. As life in North Texas inches back toward a pre-pandemic normal, dwindling funds to test and treat COVID-19 could spell trouble for preventing and handling future virus surges.

“I think we need more money already because testing and things will stop that are helping us get over this,” Pelosi said. “That doesn’t mean that we stop [testing], that means we see how much of it we need.”

Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2022/03/21/us-speaker-nancy-pelosi-discusses-medical-costs-with-dallas-leaders-at-health-care-roundtable/

State child care investigations director resigns after 'insulting' texts about judge

The director who oversees child care investigations for the state's Family and Protective Services abruptly resigned Sunday after inflammatory texts from him were shared with the federal district judge who raised concerns about an ongoing investigation of a Bastrop County foster care facility.

After saying that the judge had politicized the investigation, former Director of Child Care Investigations Justin Lewis used an anti-female slur against the judge and added "she needs to get hit by a bus," according to screenshots of the texts in court documents.

U.S. District Judge Janis Jack called an emergency court hearing earlier this month to discuss allegations of criminal conduct by staff members at the Refuge Ranch as Jack continues to oversee a decade-old lawsuit against Texas officials over its foster care system. The recent development resulted in multiple state legislative hearings to scrutinize the state Department of Family and Protective Services, the agency from which Lewis resigned.

A current Refuge employee alleged neglectful supervision and sexual abuse of two girls by a former employee. While employed at the facility, the former employee obtained nude photos of the two girls and planned to use proceeds from the photos to buy illegal drugs and alcohol to be supplied to the youths, according to the current employee's report.

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2022/03/21/texas-department-family-protective-services-investigations-director-resigns-refuge-ranch-bastrop/9457562002/

Damage reported from tornadoes in Elgin, Round Rock amid severe weather in the Austin area

Several tornadoes touched down Monday evening across Central Texas, with major damage and some injuries reported near Elgin, and damage from another two tornadoes reported in Round Rock and Hutto.

At least three people were injured in Elgin, including two people inside a collapsed structure who were still being rescued Monday night, Elgin police said. One person was also taken to a hospital in Austin, though most of the damage was outside the city's limits.

The Elgin Recreation Center, 361 Texas 95 North, has been activated as an emergency shelter for residents displaced by Monday night’s storms, according to the Bastrop County Office of Emergency Management.

Two temporary shelters were established in Round Rock, at the Dell Diamond Heritage Center, 3400 E. Palm Valley Blvd., and at Redbud Elementary School, 1500 Ty Cobb Place.

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/story/weather/2022/03/21/weather-austin-tx-severe-storms-possible-afternoon/7119502001/

Senate passes critical race theory, 'divisive concepts' bill aimed at Tennessee colleges

Tennessee Republicans passed a bill targeting what they call "divisive concepts" in higher education.

The bill, supported by leadership in the House and Senate, would give college students and staff at state universities the ability to sue them for discriminating against them for not accepting "divisive concepts."

The legislation defines "divisive concepts" along the same lines as a bill passed last year, which banned public K-12 schools from teaching critical race theory and white privilege. Although last year's bill did not cite critical race theory by name, its supporter pointed to it when urging passage of the legislation.

The bill, HB 2670, will also require colleges to conduct a survey every other year to "assess the campus climate with regard to diversity of thought and the respondents' comfort level in speaking freely on campus, regardless of political affiliation or ideology."

Read more: https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/politics/2022/03/21/tennessee-senate-passes-critical-race-theory-bill-colleges-universities/9349486002/