Whiting: In This Political Season, Civil Discourse Takes A Beating

Trump-supporting conspiracy theorist Jim Hoft posted a message to his readers saying they are filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection claiming it is as a result of the progressive liberal lawfare attacks against our media outlet. Hoft didn't say exactly who, what, or why this is happening now, but Will Sommer from the Washington Post has some information. While he didn’t name which lawsuits he was referencing, the site is being sued for claims of defamation and infliction of emotional distress by Ruby Freeman and Wandrea Moss, two Georgia election workers who say they faced threats after the site leveled baseless accusations of ballot fraud against them. That sounds about right.

Self-declared Governor of the Terrible Sand Kingdom of Arizonastan Kari Lake, talking to some IDAHO newspaper, flipped again. I guess she was hoping that the Terrible Sand People of Arizonastan don’t read the papers from there: In an interview with the Idaho Dispatch on Saturday, Lake described the recent court decision upholding the 1864 law: “The Arizona Supreme Court said this is the law of Arizona.

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Arizona doctors could give their patients abortions in California under a proposal announced Wednesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom to circumvent a ban on nearly all abortions in that state. It would apply only to doctors licensed in good standing in Arizona and their patients, and last only through the end of November.

U. S. health and agriculture officials are ramping up testing and tracking of bird flu in dairy cows in an urgent effort to understand — and stop — the growing outbreak. So far, the risk to humans remains low, officials said, but scientists are wary that the virus could change to spread more easily among people. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The virus, known as Type A H5N1, has been detected in nearly three dozen dairy herds in eight states.

Actor and climate activist Jane Fonda called for Americans to vote for “climate champions” up-and-down the ballot on Wednesday at the TIME100 Summit. “Joe Biden provides us a context in which we can fight and he can be pressured,” Fonda said. “The orange guy, forget it. There’s no space to fight or disagree.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] While Fonda did not explicitly touch on Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, her comments seemed to be targeted in part to those on the left frustrated with the Biden Administration’s reluctance to call for a permanent ceasefire and its continued military aid to Israel as it carries out what critics see as a genocide.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry said at the TIME100 Summit Wednesday that the effort to ween the world off fossil fuels is in a “profoundly” better place now than it was three years ago under Donald Trump. President Biden’s predecessor put the climate agenda on a “bleak pathway,” says Kerry, who was named the first Presidential climate envoy by Biden in 2021, and spoke onstage with TIME senior correspondent Justin Worland.