The controversy surrounding transgenderism and women’s sports has been a hot topic in the media and politics. But the debate has also played out in corporate advertising‚ as major brands like Target‚ Starbucks‚ and Bud Light raced to embrace the LGBT agenda. Dove‚ the soap and personal care brand‚ boarded the rainbow train in 2021 when it praised Laurel Hubbard‚ a male weightlifter who competed as a woman in the Olympics. Dove posted on X‚ then Twitter: “History in the making. Congrats to Laurel! Here’s to more trans representation in sports.” Perhaps that post wasn’t surprising three years ago‚ when more brands felt comfortable using social media to promote their ideologies. However‚ after this year’s Dove ad during the Super Bowl (the company’s first since 2015)‚ Americans are left confused about where the soap giant actually stands. Dove is currently trying to build a “body confidence in sports” campaign‚ using the hashtag #KEEPHERCONFIDENT. In the latest commercial‚ Dove featured only biological girls and capped off its message with a floating body bar blimp in Las Vegas and a banner that read‚ “Let’s help keep girls in sports.” But has Dove changed its views on trans-identifying men in women’s sports? Or is it looking at the impact of these yearlong boycotts and thinking better of being Bud-Lighted? Some argue that’s still up for debate. Riley Gaines‚ a former 12-time All-American NCAA swimmer‚ isn’t convinced that Dove’s stripes truly have changed‚ posting on X that this likely was an act to make more money. “But even that is a stunning shift for corporate America‚ whose CEOs—until recently—have literally banked on their progressivism to win over customers‚” said Suzanne Bowdey‚ editorial director and senior writer at Family Research Council’s The Washington Stand. “Just one year after Bud Light’s collapse‚ companies like Rip Curl are actually offering public apologies for their trans activism‚” Bowdey said. “Fed-up Americans are starting to realize they’re making an impact—and that’s not only motivating more consumers‚ it’s also forcing a sea change in the way major brands do business.” Although Dove still has plenty of LGBT ties (it made a video at the end of 2023 to “shine a light on the stories and experiences of activists within the queer and trans communities”)‚ this reversal is an indication of how radioactive the trans takeover of sports has become. Dove spent money to make a statement about girls sports at the biggest football game in the world. The question‚ then‚ is why? “I think what [we’re seeing] here is what happens when you’re not really interested in the truth‚” Joseph Backholm‚ Family Research Council’s senior fellow for biblical worldview and strategic engagement‚ hypothesized. The bottom line‚ Backholm pointed out‚ is the bottom line. “Dove is trying to sell soap‚” he said. “Sometimes they think the thing that will help them do that is celebrating women. Sometimes they think the thing that will do that is virtue-signaling on LGBT issues.” Backholm said we see brands flip back and forth because “people who believe feelings determine truth are often comfortable holding contradictory positions if those positions‚ independently‚ make them feel virtuous.” As for Dove’s 180 on transgenderism in sports‚ Backholm added: “I think the reason Dove chose to market to girls rather than the LGBT community in their Super Bowl ads is probably explained by economic interest. Women are a significantly larger market than men who think they’re women.” “Given what has happened to Disney‚ Bud Light‚ and others in recent years‚” he said‚ “Dove has probably decided they should avoid advertising campaigns that will destroy their stock price. It’s a rational decision.” Originally published by The Washington Stand Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com‚ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post Has Dove Changed Its Stance on Transgenderism in Sports? appeared first on The Daily Signal.

In June of 2022‚ in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization‚ the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 50-year-old Roe v. Wade and clarified that there was no constitutional right to abortion. Within minutes of the court’s ruling‚ hard-line liberals  across the nation were howling about restricted access to abortion and devising new and novel ways to ensure its protection. The latest creative effort to secure abortion access‚ mounted by a group of satanists in Idaho‚ was just defeated in federal court. In September of 2022‚ the Satanic Temple sued Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador and the state of Idaho on behalf of its female members who were “involuntarily pregnant” (either because they were too young to consent or because their birth control had failed) over the state’s abortion law. The Idaho Fetal Heartbeat Statute makes the act of aborting a protected unborn child a crime when a fetal heartbeat has been detected. The law allegedly conflicted with the satanists’ belief that “one’s body is inviolable‚ subject to one’s will alone.” The Satanic Temple threw every legal claim it could against the wall in hopes that something would stick. The organization sought relief under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 (a law permitting citizens to sue government officials for violating a federally protected right) for violations of certain constitutional rights‚ including the Takings Clause of the 5th Amendment‚ which prohibits the government from taking “private property … for public use‚ without just compensation.” It argued that the uterus of a pregnant woman was a physical thing in which she had property rights‚ and the government couldn’t take away those property rights without compensating her.    Yes‚ you read that right. They argued that the commercial value of surrogacy in Idaho proved the economic value of the uterine property rights of its female members‚ and the state had interfered with those rights in violation of the Fifth Amendment. The satanists also sought relief pursuant to the 13th Amendment‚ which states in relevant part: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude … shall exist within the United States‚ or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” The plaintiffs claimed that forcing women to carry their pregnancies to term instead of aborting required them to provide the unborn child with oxygen‚ nutrients‚ antibodies‚ body heat and more‚ without compensation or consideration—something they said amounted to involuntary servitude. Next up? A claim that the state abortion ban unconstitutionally discriminated between women who became pregnant by accident and those who became pregnant by rape or incest. Under the Idaho law‚ the latter group of women were allowed to abort‚ but the former were not. Here‚ the satanists advanced a claim that the state had violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment‚ which states that no state “shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” They argued that because both sets of women had not wanted to become pregnant‚ but were treated differently‚ the state had violated the satanists’ constitutional rights. Lastly‚ the satanists brought a claim under Idaho’s Free Exercise of Religious Protection Act for violation of the Satanic Temple members’ rights to partake in the “Satanic abortion ritual.” They claimed that the state was forcing them to violate their “religious belief” that an embryo or fetus was part of a woman’s body with no humanity of its own. They also claimed that pregnant satanists exercise this “religious belief” by engaging in the “Satanic abortion ritual.” And what is this ritual? Well‚ it’s an ordinary chemical or surgical abortion—but with the repetition of certain personal affirmations regarding a satanic woman’s “autonomy and free will.” In his opinion dismissing the satanists’ case‚ Chief Judge David Nye of the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho came just short of calling their legal claims ludicrous. As an initial matter‚ Nye addressed the Satanic Temple’s claim that the state had “eviscerated a woman’s fundamental right to engage in protected sex.” He wrote: “Defendants do no such thing. The statutes at issue do not discuss the right to engage in private sexual activities in any way … the challenged regulations here deal with abortion. … [T]here is no longer a federally recognized constitutional right to abortion. There is no right to abortion in the state of Idaho‚ either.” Nye then turned to the defendants’ procedural arguments. He dismissed the state of Idaho from the case since Idaho had not waived its sovereign immunity‚ and the state could not be sued in federal court without its consent.   Nye then turned to standing—the requirement that a plaintiff show it has suffered a concrete injury‚ traceable to the defendants’ action‚ that would be redressed by a favorable decision from a court.He wrote that the Satanic Temple had no standing as an association on behalf of its members‚ or even on its own behalf. That was because it had not identified any specific individual who had suffered or would suffer the harms it alleges defendants’ actions were causing—in short‚ any Idaho members of the Satanic Temple who would be adversely affected by Idaho’s abortion law. The Satanic Temple also lacked standing on its own as an organization—even though it ran its own “Samuel Alito’s Mom’s Satanic Abortion Clinic‚” with a network of providers that prescribed abortifacients. The judge held that in order to establish standing as an organization‚ the Satanic Temple would need to prove that its providers were licensed in Idaho‚ and that one of its members had become “involuntarily pregnant” and wanted to obtain an abortion from the clinic‚ a causal chain that the court concluded was “too attenuated.” Nye then did something he didn’t need to do‚ but seemed to enjoy doing anyway: Even though the satanists had already lost on standing‚ he went on to address and dispatch their claims on the merits. As for the Fifth Amendment takings claim‚ Nye wrote that the American legal tradition has consistently viewed abortion as a crime—not a property taking. None of the “traditional property law principles‚” historical practice or Supreme Court precedent had ever recognized a property right for a woman to abort her unborn child‚ and in fact‚ no authority recognized a woman’s uterus as traditional “property” at all. Regarding the 13th Amendment involuntary servitude argument‚ Nye called it “blatantly absurd.” He wrote: Women who conceive children through consensual sex do not suffer “the very essence of involuntary servitude outlawed by the Thirteenth Amendment.” … [Plaintiff’s] argument here goes too far. Were the Court to take this logic to its end‚ it could find that any obligations the law imposes on parents for the support and upbringing of a child would constitute involuntary servitude and justify the termination of the child. Such a result is blatantly absurd. [The satanists’] involuntary servitude claim must be dismissed. Nye then turned to the satanists’ 14th Amendment equal protection claim that Idaho had treated rape victims better than involuntarily pregnant women in violation of the Constitution. The court held that women “who engage in sex just for the pleasure and intimacy it brings” are not a protected class‚ but that even if they were members of a protected class‚ which would subject the law to a heightened level of scrutiny‚ the defendants would have met their burden of establishing that the state’s abortion law was narrowly tailored to achieve its compelling interests in protecting unborn children and preventing abortions. Nye never addressed the merits of the satanists’ claim that the Idaho law violated the Idaho Exercise of Religious Freedom Act. This was because the satanists had already had a chance to amend their complaint‚ had seemingly abandoned their state law religious freedom claim‚ and then asked the judge in a late-in-the-game brief to allow them to assert a free exercise claim under the 1st Amendment. The judge‚ clearly out of patience‚ wrote that if the satanists want to allege any new claims‚ they would have to do so in another lawsuit. This isn’t the first run the Satanic Temple has made at federal court in an effort to enshrine abortion as a “constitutional right.” In October of last year‚ Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson dismissed the Satanic Temple’s claim that Indiana’s abortion ban violated the satanists’ rights under the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Magnus-Stinson wrote that the satanists “failed to demonstrate that its alleged cost of compliance or threat of prosecution amounts to injury‚” and having had an opportunity to submit evidence to establish their claim‚ they “failed on all fronts.” Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the url or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post Hell‚ No: Federal Court Banishes Idaho Satanists’ Abortion Lawsuit appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Independent Voters Dislike Trump‚ but Hate Biden's Presidency

Awkward: Joe Biden Brings Fried Chicken to Black Family in North Carolina

This year‚ Valentine's Day is being clouded by pro-abortion groups who insist that abortion is a way of showing love.  Though the left agrees that Valentine's Day is all about love‚ many outlets and groups are using the holiday to promote something that’s completely antithetical to the idea of love - abortion. Last week‚ the Carolina Abortion Fund put out a tweet indicating that people could send a love note to someone and donate $14 for “abortion care.” Supposedly‚ this is the third year in a row that the group has pushed this campaign where people donate money for others to get abortions in their loved one’s name. ONE WEEK until Valentine's Day and you know what that means...it's #LetCAFBeYourCupid time! For the third year running--and fill out the form linked (and donate $14 for abortion care) to send a special message to someone (or multiple people!) you love. https://t.co/cB2qcVn521 pic.twitter.com/y8TEAeTCEo — Carolina Abortion Fund (@CarolinaAbtnFnd) February 7‚ 2024 The group continued promoting the pro-abort campaign in the days leading up to the 14th insisting‚ “let’s spread the love‚ and fund abortion care in the Carolinas!” Similarly‚ the Palmetto State Abortion Fund released a graphic last week gearing up for Valentine’s Day. In honor of Valentine’s Day next week we’re thanking some of our favorite legislators for fighting for not just “choice” but for ABORTION rights so naturally we are gonna start with our girl 4 life @MiaforSC 💘💘💘 pic.twitter.com/8Hi1rjhBID — Palmetto State Abortion Fund (@PSAbortionFund) February 7‚ 2024 Abortion Fund Ohio cut straight to the point when its group tweeted: “Girls don't want flowers for Valentine's Day. They want flowers AND abortion on demand‚” and later added “birth control &; chocolate &; plan b‚ oh my!” Hey‚ at least the group is clear that it wants women to be able to abort their kids throughout all nine months of pregnancy.  We Testify‚ which is a group dedicated to giving women the opportunity to talk about how much they loved killing their kids through abortion‚ made Valentine’s Day cards to post on its social media accounts. One was a poem that read‚ “roses are red violets are blue abortions are cool I’ve lost count of mine‚ I’ve had quite a few.” The group‚ like most of the left‚ wants to make abortion so normal that women can “lose count” of how many they get. That Valentine’s Day card also featured a woman’s hands holding five abortion pills. Other cards started with the same “roses are red” phrase but changed the end of the poem. One shared on Monday said‚ “anyone that has an abortion‚ know that I love you!” Another card said‚ “your reason for having an abortion ain’t nobody’s business but yours boo!” We Testify also released what it called “Abortion Love Letters” that moms could read either before or after killing their kids as a sort of encouragement to keep up the infanticide. The National Network of Abortion Funds added to the mix when it tweeted “Roses are red‚ violets are blue. Support abortion funds; it's the hottest thing to do!” Valentine’s Day is supposed to celebrate love‚ romance and joy. Not the brutal destruction of innocent babies. These groups are sickening.

The liberal media had given themselves the title of the defenders of democracy‚ but they didn’t want to see democracy play out. That was obviously the case on Wednesday’s Today when NBC anchor Craig Melvin tried to bully former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley out of the Republican nomination race for president. As he should‚ Melvin got an earful when Haley called him “ridiculous” and told him off for pretending to be concerned about the GOP for the general election. “He is clearly head and shoulders above the rest in terms of front-runner status‚ right now you would concede. What does that say about the party? Why has your message not broken through so far?” Melvin sniped at her. She pushed back‚ suggesting‚ “Well‚ I think my message has broken through. Not only are we getting Republicans we're getting independents‚ we’re getting Reagan Democrats. The people who want the anger to stop‚ the people who want the division to stop‚ and the people who want us to stop having 80-year-old candidates.” Melvin’s poking continued with him feigning concern that she was hurting the Republican Party’s chances in November by supposedly gobbling up resources and essentially telling her to drop out of the race. She responded by calling him “ridiculous” and noted that Trump was gabbling up resources with his court cases:     MELVIN: Some have suggested you might be hurting the potential GOP nominee the longer you stay in. HALEY: I mean‚ how ridiculous is it that you're literally saying that I'm hurting him by staying in? MELVIN: Diverting resources. HALEY: No. When -- Okay. Resources. From a man who spent $50 million of his own campaign contributions on his personal court cases. Where the RNC is broke. I'm the one hurting in resources? I don't think so. I'm the one that saved the Republican Party. Look at every general election poll‚ look at any of them. Trump loses by five‚ by seven. On a good day he's even‚ margin of error. I defeat Biden by up to 17 points. Melvin ended the interview by pressing Haley on becoming former President Trump’s vice president if he became the nominee again. “Hypothetically‚ if your former boss is the nominee again. Would you serve in another Trump administration?” he said. Obviously‚ the question didn’t sit well with her: I don't want anything. I don't want vice president‚ I don't want anything. I am running because yes‚ while I thought he was the right president at the right time then‚ I do not think he's the right president at the right time now. I know what the American people want. They want to be heard. They've been through a lot. They don't see enough money in their wallets. I'm doing this because we have to do something. We can't just sit back and let it happen. This was another instance of the liberal media trying to meddle with the Republican nomination process and force it to end when they wanted it to. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: NBC’s Today February 14‚ 2024 7:11:03 a.m. Eastern (…) CRAIG MELVIN: He is clearly head and shoulders above the rest in in terms of front runner status‚ right now you would concede. What does that say about the party? Why has your message not broken through so far? NIKKI HALEY: Well‚ I think my message has broken through. Not only are we getting Republicans we're getting independents‚ we’re getting Reagan Democrats. The people who want the anger to stop‚ the people who want the division to stop‚ and the people who want us to stop having 80-year-old candidates. MELVIN: Is there one state you can say right now‚ “We can win there?” HALEY: You need 1‚215 delegates. Coming out of New Hampshire‚ he had 32 I have 17. We got multiple states. After South Carolina within ten days we're going to hit 20 states. Let it happen. As long as we keep it competitive. MELVIN: Some have suggested you might be hurting the potential GOP nominee the longer you stay in. HALEY: I mean‚ how ridiculous is it that you're literally saying that I'm hurting him by staying in? MELVIN: Diverting resources. HALEY: No. When -- Okay. Resources. From a man who spent $50 million of his own campaign contributions on his personal court cases. Where the RNC is broke. I'm the one hurting in resources? I don't think so. I'm the one that saved the Republican Party. Look at every general election poll‚ look at any of them. Trump loses by five‚ by seven. On a good day he's even‚ margin of error. I defeat Biden by up to 17 points. MELVIN: But President Biden is not in the primary. HALEY: No. And we’re going to continue to work on the primary. Don't discount that I defeated a dozen fellas. Don't discount that I ended up with 20 percent in Iowa when y'all said I wouldn't make it. Don't discount that I got 43 percent in New Hampshire and don't discount me now. MELVIN: Hypothetically‚ if your former boss is the nominee again. Would you serve in another Trump administration? HALEY: I don't want anything. I don't want vice president‚ I don't want anything. I am running because yes‚ while I thought he was the right president at the right time then‚ I do not think he's the right president at the right time now. I know what the American people want. They want to be heard. They've been through a lot. They don't see enough money in their wallets. I'm doing this because we have to do something. We can't just sit back and let it happen. (…)

It is a commonly accepted axiom that in politics the buck stops with the president or‚ if you like‚ his cabinet‚ but for PolitiFact applying this standard to the border and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is “false.” At the same time‚ PolitiFact will go to great lengths to insist that gender is something completely different from sex. In a Tuesday article on Rep. Michael McCaul declaring Mayorkas to be “personally responsible” for the fentanyl crisis‚ Bayliss Wagner writes in a series of bullet points‚ “Border policies are shaped by the Homeland Security chief‚ the president‚ and Congress‚ not just by Mayorkas” and “Although Border Patrol agents seize a small percentage of illicitly produced fentanyl‚ the vast majority of fentanyl enters the country in vehicles driven by U.S. citizens‚ Customs and Border Protection and sentencing data show.” That‚ of course‚ doesn’t mention all the unseized fentanyl‚ as Wagner writes: In House testimony that McCaul’s office referred to as evidence for his claim‚ National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd stated that Biden’s border policies have led to a historically high number of ‘got-aways‚’ or people who were found to be crossing the border illegally but evaded apprehension. However‚ the estimated annual apprehension rate of undocumented migrants under Mayorkas has averaged 78%‚ identical to that of the Trump administration‚ per a Jan. 28 DHS memo. Judd also noted that Border Patrol seized about 3‚243 pounds of fentanyl in Biden’s first two years in office‚ which means hundreds of millions of lethal doses of the synthetic opioid were brought into the country outside of legal ports of entry. Having an identical rate of apprehension only matters if the quantity of apprehensions remains the same‚ which‚ as Judd notes‚ it has not‚ making a “false” rating excessive. Wagner would also attempt to defend Mayorkas by blaming House Republicans for not passing the recent Senate bill‚ but that would not have affected anything in the past. She also claims that “Mayorkas does not completely control other factors that affect fentanyl smuggling‚ such as negotiations with China” and “The opioid epidemic began in the 1990s‚ long before Mayorkas became DHS secretary.” While Wagner played defense for Mayorkas‚ “LGBTQ issues” writer Grace Abels came out with an explainer piece on a new Florida policy that reversed a previous policy of allowing residents to change “whether a ‘M’ or ‘F’ appears in the gender field of their driver’s license.” There wasn’t much to fact-check‚ but the piece does highlight PolitiFact’s approach to transgender issues‚ “Although 'sex’ and ‘gender’ are often used as synonyms‚ medical experts and most major medical organizations define these terms differently.” The idea that “gender” is a synonym for “sex” is centuries old‚ the politicized definition Abels references is merely decades old. It is a fact that gender comes from genus‚ meaning “kind‚” but Abels appealed to those politicized authorities‚ which claim it is actually the believers in the old and correct definition that are seeking to redefine the term: Florida’s physical license labels the ‘M’/’F’ field with the term ‘sex.’ But the law on licenses uses the term "gender" to describe what is required on a license application. University of Florida law professor Berta Esperanza Hernández-Truyol questioned the interpretation. ‘While‚ to be sure‚ agencies issue regulations‚ it is very arguably beyond their purview to single-handedly reinterpret statutory law‚’ she said. ‘Especially with the attempted redefinition of ‘gender’ which‚ as a term of art‚ has a different meaning from ‘sex.’ Republicans citing “got-aways” on the border aren’t enough to save them from false ratings‚ but the official position of PolitiFact is that gender is something that can be changed. Make that make sense.

Rachel Dolezal‚ former NAACP chapter president known for pretending she was black‚ has popped up again for working at an Arizona elementary school while posting sexual content on subscription website OnlyFans.Photos have surfaced — obtained by OutKick — of Dolezal working at Sunrise Drive Elementary‚ where she reportedly has worked as an after-school instructor.Dolezal officially changed her name in 2018‚ however‚ to Nkechi Amare Diallo‚ which reportedly means "gift of God‚" according to Bustle.The educator is seemingly sharing that gift on the website synonymous with pornography‚ OnlyFans. For $9.99 per month‚ subscribers are promised "creative content" and a more "intimate look" into Dolezal's life. "Meet Rachel Dolezal‚ former leader of the NAACP who resigned in disgrace after pretending to be black. She changed her name and is now a teacher in Catalina Foothills School District‚ AZ.‚" wrote popular account Libs of TikTok on X. "She’s also very active on OnlyFans and links her OF in her public Facebook profile. Would you want this person teaching your kids?" Meet Rachel Dolezal‚ former leader of the NAACP who resigned in disgrace after pretending to be black. She changed her name and is now a teacher in Catalina Foothills School District‚ AZ.\n\nShe\u2019s also very active on OnlyFans and links her OF in her public Facebook profile.\n\nWould\u2026 — (@) According to an alleged personnel report from the school district‚ Dolezal is employed under the name "Nkechi Diallo" for $19 per hour as an "After School Instructor."Other images have revealed the details of some of her explicit content she has posted to her subscribers. These included a "double penetration video" and a "butt plug" video. Similar video descriptions — which are troubling given that she appears to work with small children — included "oral dildo simulation‚" along with "the FOOT video."Images acquired by the New York Post show Dolezal's racy photos as well as her working with small children who appeared to be studying earth and/or soil.Dolezal‚ now Diallo‚ was entrenched in scandal in 2015 after she was exposed as being a white women allegedly pretending to be black.Appearing on the "Dr. Phil" show in 2017‚ she told the famous psychiatrist that she believed "race is a lie" and that she couldn't take sole responsibility for her scandal."As much as I'd like to take ownership for everything‚ I can't because I didn't actually start the narrative of 'she's a liar‚ she's a con‚ she's a fraud.' I mean think that really is what blew it up. How I was living my life was not some kind of open invitation for people to kind of just initiate their hate and pick on me‚" she told host Phil McGraw."It's like I try to go back and think is there something I could have done differently? Is there a point where I could have said 'this is my whole backstory'? I can't go back and point to one thing that I would have done differently‚" she added.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Boston residents have recently begun welcoming illegal migrants into their homes after the city's overwhelmed shelter system prompted local Democratic officials to ask for volunteer hosts‚ WBTS-CD reported this week.In November‚ Massachusetts Democratic Governor Maura Healey announced that the state's homeless shelter system had reached maximum capacity after providing accommodations to 7‚500 families. Since then‚ local officials have called on residents to volunteer to host illegal migrants in their personal residences. On Monday‚ WBTS reported that Boston resident Lisa Hillenbrand welcomed a Haitian family of three into her Brookline apartment. Wildande Joseph‚ her husband‚ and their 2-year-old daughter were sleeping on the floor at the Boston Logan International Airport before Hillenbrand opened her home.Hillenbrand told WBTS that she feels like she has her own personal chef because Wildande enjoys cooking. She noted that a number of people in her neighborhood are considering hosting families in their homes as well."It's a delight‚ and it's really fun having them. What I realized is there's so much prejudice against refugees mostly because people don't know them‚" she stated. "They are hardworking‚ they want to learn‚ they want to be successful‚ and I feel great helping and I get to understand the refugee crisis from the inside."Colin and Jessica Stokes told WBZ that less than an hour after they signed up to host‚ four migrants were dropped off at their doorstep."I was like I have to get sheets on the beds. How many people are coming? Where are they from? What ages? We really knew nothing‚" Jessica told the news outlet.The Stokeses called the experience "wonderful" and encouraged other residents to consider hosting.Democratic Boston City Councilwoman Julia Mejia is also pushing for more residents to volunteer."Dedham‚ Wellesley‚ Brookline – cities and towns that have so much more resources than the city of Boston. People who actually have more financial support‚" Mejia told WBTS. "We need to do everything in our power to make sure that we are setting them up for success‚ or whatever success looks like. I think everybody should be opening their doors because this is a shared responsibility." Healey stated that her administration is helping approximately 3‚000 migrants obtain work authorizations. The governor's office plans to launch an $8 million pilot program that the state will fund to provide 400 migrant families with longer-term housing outside the shelter system. Last month‚ Healey came under fire for her decision to shut down a community center located in Roxbury‚ one of Boston's poorest neighborhoods‚ to convert it into a temporary migrant shelter. Within a week‚ the overflow shelter reached capacity.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Much has been said in response to the “He Gets Us” Super Bowl commercial‚ which‚ as heretical as it was‚ perhaps did all of us a favor as Christians who are now just beginning the penitential season of Lent. For it raises the following question: Are we at all serious? I mean‚ do you even gospel‚ bro? Notice the scam: The grace only goes one way‚ and it always goes to the left. First a bit of history to set the scene. A decade ago‚ the city of Houston elected its first openly lesbian mayor. And guess who the pastor was who showed up to bless that nonsense? That would be Joel Osteen. You mean the same Joel Osteen who just had his church shot up by a possibly gender-confused terrorist? Yep‚ the apostle of washboard abs and prophet of $100 million loans himself. Houston’s lesbian mayor took the pastor’s blessing and promptly tried to turn public restrooms and other places in Houston into some of the very first gender-bending islands of Dr. Moreau in the entire country‚ deep in the heart of Texas. Osteen offered no opposition‚ but many other pastors in the city of Houston did‚ in fact‚ do their duty. They called for a citywide referendum‚ and the mayor’s trans madness was shot down by a hefty 22-point margin in a very blue city. And so how did Houston’s mayor respond? She attempted to subpoena the sermon notes of pastors who stood against her in a clear act of retribution and intimidation‚ hoping to find areas where they had violated their nonprofit status and could be prosecuted. Now it’s one thing to give a blessing the way Daniel blessed the king of Babylon with his interpretation of dreams. But then when the king asked Daniel to do things that Daniel knew were wrong‚ did Daniel do them? Or did he condemn them? Apparently‚ Osteen’s Bible says it is the former. The man with the largest platform of them all in America‚ the man with his own SiriusXM channel‚ the man who could have brought all kinds of sunlight to the curse being cast upon Houston instead gave the witch issuing her nefarious incantations his blessing. But as it always happens when you try to dance with the spirit of the age‚ his kindness and generosity would not be reciprocated. Maybe‚ just maybe‚ we were only one Alistair Begg sermon about the importance of attending trans weddings from changing the heart of the possibly gender-confused individual who started firing at Osteen’s church. But now we will never know if the person would have beaten the AR-15 into a plowshare. If that sounds demonically ridiculous to you‚ it is. Such is Osteen’s repayment for betraying his true calling and bringing comfort to those who would slander the brethren. He has received his reward in full. So with this as the backdrop‚ let us now dissect the “He Gets Us” commercial that aired during what turned out to be the most watched event in television history. Put another way‚ this is the presentation of Jesus that will be seen by more Americans this year than any other unless the Lord Himself returns. And you want to know what the dead giveaway is about the feet-washing propaganda you received instead of the real thing? Does anybody in the commercial wash the feet of the redneck in Alabama who drives a truck with a MAGA sticker on the back and spends a lot of time in strip clubs? Where’s David French washing his feet? Or how about the burned-out Boomer grandma who watches Fox News all night and by day takes her kids’ inheritance and pous it into the nickel slots at the casino? Any grace to be had for any of these lost souls or not? Notice the scam: The grace only goes one way‚ and it always goes to the left. But remember‚ I have come not to bury Caesar but to praise him. Because that commercial is the greatest test of discernment we could possibly have asked for. “He Gets Us” has proven to be a failure at best and a damnable liar at worst. I’m often asked‚ “What church should I join?” Well‚ now you have your Rosetta stone! Take that commercial and show it to the pastor. If his reaction is anything other than a mixture of confusion and disgust‚ don’t ever go back. The salt has lost its savor. It’s of no use for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. The true instance of Jesus washing people’s feet in the scriptures has a much different story to tell. Whose feet were they? The deniers? The harlots? Did he wash Pilate's feet? Did he wash Herod's feet? Did he wash Caiaphas’ feet? No. It was the disciples‚ those in closest fellowship with him‚ those he specifically called to leadership‚ those he had poured his grace into and who were now to pass that grace on to others in return. Grace that comes from what? The hearing of the word. And what is that word? You must repent of your sins. But who repented of his sins in the commercial? Nobody. Who was told she was a sinner in need of repentance in that commercial? Nobody. “He Gets Us” has proven to be a failure at best and a damnable liar at worst. None of it contains the sacrifice of the cross that years ago thrust me face-down on a concrete floor at Kemper Arena in Kansas City‚ crying what seemed like years of tears of regret for the things that were done to me and even more for the things I justified doing to others as a result.Having a group of wealthy “Christians” and their diversity apparatchiks come together to fund an expensive Super Bowl ad that gives our current zeitgeist the exact caricature of Jesus it already has from the likes of Osteen’s church is hellishly poetic. All your comforting of their sin still didn’t pay off. You’re still a bigot and may actually deserve a bullet for it. At least Esau got some porridge. You got nothing. Because no matter how you justify this bizarro version of “outreach” to yourself‚ you’re not smarter than those trying to bring the word of God — even the salty parts — to a world in desperate need of it. You’re not more nuanced than those old-time religionists are. You’re not more winsome than God. You’re just dumb. You lost your anointing and your testimony for absolutely nothing. The world that hates our Lord saw your genuflection and raised Smiling Joel an attempted massacre. There’s a lesson in there; I’m sure of it. Just as sure as I am those needing to learn it the most won’t before it’s too late.