Many will fondly remember Bethany Hamilton from the memoir and 2011 film adaptation “Soul Surfer” – the true story of Hamilton’s recovery and faith-based journey to return to professional surfing after losing her arm in a shark attack. Hamilton has been an inspiration to millions for her courage and resilience in the face of tragedy and hardship. In 1999 when she was just 9 years old‚ Bethany signed with popular Australian surfing brand Rip Curl and has been a central figure for the brand since. However‚ that 24-year relationship just ended in November 2023‚ when Hamilton spoke out against the World Surfing League’s new policy that would permit men to compete in women’s surfing divisions as long as their testosterone levels were below a certain level. "I personally think that the best solution would be to create a different division so that all can have a fair opportunity to showcase their passion and talent‚" Hamilton stated in a video‚ being careful also to say that she loves and supports everyone. But the mere suggestion that trans-identifying men should have their own division to protect the integrity of women’s sports was enough to get her dropped from the label and replaced with trans surfer Sasha Jane Lowerson. “I’m fired up about this‚” says Allie Beth Stuckey‚ who thinks Hamilton deserves “kudos” for “using her platform … to speak up on behalf of women.” “Even if you go through estrogen therapy‚ even if you change your name‚ you grow your hair‚ you start wearing a skirt and lipstick‚ you're still a man‚ [and] you will always be a man. The fact that you went through male puberty means that you will have a physical advantage when it comes to athletics‚” says Allie. Not only is Lowerson clearly a biological man – “you see the jaw‚ you see the shoulders‚ you see the biceps‚ you see the chest‚” says Allie – but he was also a professional athlete before his transition‚ giving him an undeniable advantage in the women’s surfing division. In one picture‚ Lowerson poses holding a first-place trophy next to his female competitors‚ and it’s obvious “how much bigger he is than these other women.” Further‚ according to Allie‚ it seems that what Lowerson is really dealing with is well beyond gender dysphoria. “If you look at this person's social media‚ you can see that this is a fetish for him; you can see the kind of sexualized pictures that he is posting of himself” revealing that he “sees womanhood as objectification‚” says Allie. “I don’t know if that’s the case with [Lowerson]‚ but it certainly looks to be the case if you look at his social media‚” which features several highly sexualized images. To hear more about Sasha Jane Lowerson and how other athletes‚ including professional swimmer Riley Gaines‚ are responding to the situation‚ watch the video below. Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture‚ news‚ and theology from a Christian‚ conservative perspective‚ subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America‚ defend the Constitution‚ and live the American dream.

Yes‚ the Lankford-Biden immigration bill to codify the invasion into law is dead. But we still have an uncodified invasion that is transforming our country into a primitive cesspool. It isn’t enough merely to oppose a bill that pours lighter fluid on the fire. We need policies that will douse the flames. Fortunately‚ Republicans still have ample power to leverage against the invasion if they so choose. If Republican governors were serious about securing the border properly‚ they would demagnetize their own states. While Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was right to block Oklahoma Republican Senator James Lankford’s compromised immigration bill in the House and to push for impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas‚ let’s not lose sight of the fact that the power of the purse is the most effective weapon in checking Joe Biden’s malfeasance. With the federal government’s funding slated to expire on March 1 and March 8‚ Johnson has one last chance to harness the popular sentiment against the invasion and refuse to fund the Department of Homeland Security until it stops. Along with waging a federal funding fight‚ states can add to Johnson’s leverage by enacting their own immigration policies to demagnetize their own borders. Much has been said about the unity of Republican governors behind Greg Abbott in Texas over the past few weeks. That support‚ however‚ has amounted to little more than photo ops at the border with no concrete plans to cut off benefits to illegal aliens‚ to say nothing of organizing a state-based deportation program. The invaders don’t remain at the border. They fan out to all the states. If Republican governors were serious about securing the border properly‚ they would demagnetize their own states. Yet very few red states are even considering legislation similar to laws passed by Texas and Florida. For example‚ South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem made a high-profile pilgrimage to the border last week‚ which included the usual photo ops and cable news interviews with tough talk against Biden. She even delivered a speech to a joint session of her legislature updating lawmakers on what she saw at the border. But what is the point of a speech if not to drive support for specific legislation? Still‚ despite South Dakota’s very quick legislative session‚ there is no sense of urgency on the part of Noem or her allies in legislative leadership to push any bills banning employment of illegal aliens (which is quite robust in her state’s agriculture sector) or outlawing the transport of illegal aliens into the state. The same can be said for most other GOP governors.If Republican governors followed their words with deeds‚ they’d be able to solve the immigration problem overnight. Do they want illegal aliens in their states or not? Here is what they can do this month to either demagnetize their borders or at least keep illegal aliens out of red states: Make illegal immigration a state crime: Texas has already criminalized illegal entry into Texas‚ and Florida has criminalized the transport of illegal aliens. Every red state should pass these bills this session and even go a step farther by criminalizing illegal aliens’ presence in the state. Either way‚ we need to place several statutes on the books making illegal immigration a state crime. Leverage criminal penalties against voluntary deportations: Once illegal immigration‚ transportation‚ or at least illegal re-entry becomes a state crime‚ then states have leverage to threaten illegal aliens‚ if caught‚ with prison time. As a means of leveraging prison time against self-repatriation‚ states could set up diversion courts similar to what we have for drug offenses. Illegal aliens could be given the choice of a year in prison for committing a crime or time served if they agree to leave the country. Obviously‚ if an illegal alien commits a serious crime against a citizen‚ justice dictates that the person stays in prison. But illegal aliens are often arrested for crimes like driving without a license or drunk driving. Most of those people remain in the country indefinitely because the Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau refuses to deal with them. Under the Biden administration‚ there has been a 71% decline in ICE arrests of illegal aliens charged with drunk driving. In general‚ there has been a 67% decrease in deportation of all criminal aliens. Now Biden is threatening to reduce deportations even further. Although this problem is the fault of the federal government‚ states could encourage illegal aliens to leave the country by holding prison sentences over their heads. Cut off their ability to work: What none of these GOP governors will tell you is that they have no interest in getting rid of illegal aliens simply because corporate agriculture and other industry lobbyists will not permit it. We all know that if red states actually enforced laws against working without a permit‚ illegal aliens would avoid those states. Clamp down on labor contract organizations: Part of the package that illegal aliens get from the smugglers is a guarantee of under-the-table employment from labor contract organizations that work with the cartels to pay off the smuggling debts. This is straight-up human trafficking‚ yet employers of big farms and factories work with these recruiting and staffing companies to import illegal workers. States need to hold them liable for working with these organizations‚ in addition to passing mandatory E-Verify checks. We constantly hear that Republicans lack control over immigration policy. But they do have the majority in the House‚ a filibuster-enabling minority in the Senate‚ and control of half the states. They could engage in a knock-down‚ drag-out fight over the budget while states implement a shock and awe campaign to coordinate demagnetization laws just like they are coordinating photo ops at the border. The problem is not simply the Democrats’ recalcitrance. It’s because the Republican Party has‚ let us say‚ a complicated relationship with illegal immigration.

Two moms from Kentucky are warning others about their harrowing experience at a resort in the Bahamas during a Carnival cruise. Longtime friends Amber Shearer and Dongayla Dobson went on a kid-free vacation earlier this month. During their Carnival cruise‚ the duo went to a beach in the Grand Bahamas on Sunday. The Kentucky moms said they were relaxing on a beach in Freeport when a resort staffer offered them a two-for-one drink deal. Around noon‚ the pair ordered one pineapple and one coconut drink and took a photo with the tropical libations. However‚ the women said that the drinks were far stronger than they expected. "Less than a few [sips] into the second drink‚ we knew something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong‚" Shearer told NewsNation.The women said that they had only had one drink at the resort that day. Dobson said loved ones back home noticed that they appeared to be highly intoxicated just 15 minutes after their first sips and questioned whether they had only one alcoholic beverage. The women said they were looking for shells on the beach when a male resort staffer pointed them to an area with plenty of shells. But the next thing Shearer could recall was waking up while she was being assaulted by a uniformed male resort worker. "I came to in the process of my rape‚" a teary-eyed Shearer said. The women claimed that the local authorities didn't administer proper sexual assault test kitsOnce back on the Carnival cruise ship‚ the women had rape tests administered. They also had a breathalyzer test‚ which showed them to have little or no alcohol in their systems. However‚ toxicology tests showed that they had benzodiazepines‚ among other drugs‚ in their bodies.Police identified two male suspects in the alleged sexual attack through surveillance footage. Both were employees at the resort‚ and one of the men reportedly had only worked there for about a week. On Sunday night‚ Royal Bahamas Police arrested two men – a 40-year-old of South Bahamia and a 54-year-old of Eight Mile Rock – in connection to the alleged sex crimes‚ the department said in a press release.Police said the investigation is ongoing. WLEX-TV reported‚ "The pair is now receiving medical care at home‚ which includes thousands of dollars of preventative care‚ including HIV prevention medication which costs nearly $4‚000."The women are demanding justice for the alleged sexual assault. "We want justice for what happened to us. We want to raise awareness for others‚" Shearer wrote in a Facebook post.The women are upset with Carnival Cruise Line for not making them aware that the U.S. State Department had recently increased its travel advisory level for the Bahamas and advised travelers to "exercise increased caution in The Bahamas due to crime."“The majority of crime occurs on New Providence (Nassau) and Grand Bahama (Freeport) islands‚” the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs stated in the "level 2" travel advisory posted on Jan. 26. “In Nassau‚ practice increased vigilance in the ‘Over the Hill’ area (south of Shirley Street) where gang-on-gang violence has resulted in a high homicide rate primarily affecting the local population.”"Violent crime such as burglaries‚ armed robberies‚ and sexual assaults occur‚ but generally not in tourist areas‚" the advisory noted. Shearer said‚ "You need to be aware because our cruise line did not make us aware of a travel advisory. We had no idea what was going on in the Bahamas."The women said they didn't know about the travel advisory until "four hours after we were raped."The mothers are warning other women of the potential dangers of traveling. "Be safe. Two is not a group. Do not buy any drinks that come unless they come in a sealed container‚ in a bottle‚" Dobson said. Like Blaze News? Circumvent the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here! Kentucky women raped in Bahamas warning others about travel dangers | Cuomo www.youtube.com

An Indiana county clerk's office discovered what appear to be fraudulent signatures and addresses on hundreds of petition papers last month‚ the Federalist reported Thursday.Last week‚ the Indiana State Police launched an investigation after St. Joseph County Clerk Amy Rolfes and her staff alerted law enforcement and state elections officials about a potential petition forgery plot.A volunteer for Democratic presidential candidate Dean Phillips‚ a United States representative from Minnesota‚ may have submitted petition papers with seemingly fraudulent signatures and addresses.The county clerk stated that on January 25‚ the campaign volunteer attempted to turn in approximately 80 petition documents to help get Phillips on the state's presidential ballot. However‚ the papers could not be accepted because they lacked key information. According to Rolfes‚ the volunteer was advised to complete and return the forms for submission. The next day‚ the volunteer came back with 53 completed pages."Curiously‚ there were addresses that simply did not exist. The streets did‚ but not the house numbers‚" Rolfes told the Federalist. She noted that her staff attempted to compare the signatures on the petitions to the ones in Indiana's statewide database‚ but they could not find matches. "We would look through and compare the signatures‚ but there was nothing like them in the statewide system‚" Rolfes added. She called the documents' discrepancies "glaringly apparent‚" noting that they even included fake zip codes."We kept saying‚ 'That's not valid. That's not valid‚'" she remarked."They thought‚ 'They're never going to look.' That had to be the mindset. It's like cheating on homework‚" Rolfes continued. "What I know is we were doing our jobs. … I feel that's the first line of defense in election integrity: Do your job. If more people did‚ maybe we would see more of this stuff coming to light." Rolfes told the Federalist she knows the Phillips campaign volunteer's identity but cannot release those details.After notifying Indian's Election Division‚ Rolfes and her team were instructed to complete the processing of the documents and to contact the police‚ she told the Federalist. Law enforcement arrived a few days later to assess the situation.The county clerk explained that the investigation is still under way‚ and local officials are "making progress.""I know it's not sitting. They're taking it very seriously‚" she added.Indiana State Police Sergeant Ted Bohner told the Federalist that he could not comment on a pending investigation but noted it "is probably going to be lengthy."Submitting fraudulent campaign petitions‚ requests‚ declarations‚ or certificates is a Level 6 felony in Indiana. If found guilty‚ the campaign volunteer could face two and a half years in prison and a $10‚000 fine. "Election fraud is not a conspiracy theory in St. Joseph County. It is real. This incident demonstrates why signature requirements and photo identification are essential elements of ensuring our elections are honest and fair‚" Rolfes remarked.Phillips' campaign did not respond to requests for comment‚ the Federalist reported.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

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