This was pretty spectacular.

Northern elephant seals are pickin' up good vibrations.

“We know what it isn’t, but it’s unclear what it could be.”

In March of 1996, forty-eight year old Albert Morrow spent several days recovering in a Georgia hospital bed after a successful kidney transplant. Relegated to a strict diet and regimented liquid intake, his multiple requests for a glass of cold milk were denied by the attending health care personnel. Even in his sleep, the nurses would hear him muttering about drinking milk and eating chocolate chip cookies. During a visit, Albert’s wife, Joyce, learned of her husband’s desire for milk and complained that it must be some kind of reaction to the medication as Albert was lactose intolerant and had avoided dairy in any form for over thirty years. A few days prior, on a cool night outside of the family farm, Shaun McGregor and his pal Bobby sat outside Shaun’s barn feeling the heavy weight of a small town’s boredom in rural Alabama. Fueled by thirst and an endless desire to speed through the mostly empty dirt roads, the teen boys decided to make a run to the town’s lone gas station and store. Bobby chose a small, two-wheeled motorcycle while Shaun opted for the three-wheel all-terrain vehicle. During their ride, Shaun chose a short-cut through the trees along a very narrow path created by the very wheels beneath him. Arriving to the store seconds before his pal, he declared himself the victor of their unofficial race and his prize would be the purchase of his drink. The boys sat on the curb at the far end of the store. Bobby drank a carbonated beverage and Shaun characteristically gulped whole milk as the hour of nine o’clock arrived. The grumpy store owner flipped the sign hanging behind the glass to display the word ‘closed’. Before locking the entrance door he yelled impatiently at the boys to go home, as if their presence had any effect on his ability to close the store and retire for the night. He cited their presence out after dark as a violation of the town’s curfew yet the tone and volume of his voice would suggest their crime was much more egregious. The teens ignored the continued rant of the old man and enjoyed their drinks. A moment later the boys observed a law enforcement car pull into the parking lot. The sheriff often patrolled the local businesses and observed the stores for signs of vandalism or a burglary. Excitedly, the store owner waved down the officer and came out of the glass entrance door muttering and pointing to the boys. Fear instantly struck the teens and they ran to their bikes. For no other reason than he had reached the three wheeler first, Bobby jumped into the seat, turned the key that Shaun had left in the ignition and sped off down the road. Shaun quickly climbed onto the two wheel motorcycle and chased after his friend. They were still gaining speed when the red flashing lights filled the night around them. Had they paused to consider their infraction, perhaps the officer would have simply told them to go home and at worst, escorted the boys there. With their adrenalin high, the scared teens acted out of instinctual fear rather than sound judgment. Bobby made use of his off road vehicle and disappeared down the narrow path that winded through dense trees and growth. Forced to remain on the main road, Shaun reached the cycle’s maximum speed of fifty miles per hour and maintained it until the sheriff’s patience had waned. Calling his dispatch to report the pursuit he was asked if he was able to stop the cycle. “If I bump him.” His response was also his immediate action. He accelerated and clipped the back wheel of the bike with his front fender. The bike crashed down on the road and then flipped several times after sending Shaun’s body into the air where it would eventually land almost forty feet further down the dirt road. An ambulance soon arrived to find a lifeless boy amidst torn metal. Albert spent the next eleven years in fairly good health as a result of Shaun’s donor status. While tragic, Shaun’s accident saved Albert’s life and with very little time to spare. The doctor’s had projected a very short life unless a kidney could be found. While thrilled to have her husband alive and well, Joyce observed curious personality traits, previously non-existent, that presented him as a very different person. Fully recovered from the transplant, Joyce found her usually mild mannered and stoic husband much more youthful, carefree and even childlike. For example, the self-proclaimed couch potato purchased his and hers bicycles and they enjoyed evening rides together. Joyce was surprised at his new interest but eventually decided that her husband was understandably making the most of his extended life on Earth. Additionally, despite his system’s resistance to dairy, Albert consumed milk daily. He would often complain of the irritating gas that resulted from the intake but would still continue to consume dairy products. The once quiet, reserved man adopted a second language with the use of profanity. Joyce was hardly a prude, but found it unnecessary and unattractive from her loving husband. Joyce almost fell over when Albert brought home an adopted kitten. Her husband had owned over a dozen dogs throughout their years together and would allow them to chase the neighborhood feral cats while snickering at their feline fear. However, his irreverence for the species was not completely abandoned as he named his new pet, “Dummy”. Albert’s death in 2007 was sad for Joyce but she found solace in the gift of the additional eleven years she enjoyed with her longtime companion. She had long wanted to thank the mother of the young boy who so graciously allowed his kidney to be used to save her husband. Feeling that sufficient time had passed to offer such gratitude, Joyce wrote her a letter. Unable to obtain Shaun’s mother’s confidential name and contact information, she asked the organ donor network that transported Shaun’s lifesaving kidney to deliver her letter and they agreed. Shaun’s mother, Andrea, read Joyce’s words of gratitude and immediately called her phone number enclosed in the letter. The women talked for nearly an hour. She asked Andrea to tell her about her son. What she learned left her speechless. Shaun loved milk. He drank it all day, every day. When asked if he had any pets, Andrea replied that he had several cats. One in particular of which he was quite fond lived inside the house while the others resided outside on the farm. He affectionately called the cat, “Dopey.” She explained that he loved riding all kinds of bikes. Andrea told Joyce of the accident and lamented over the lack of justice served to the sheriff for his actions. Joyce asked why the young boy had chosen to be a donor at such a young age. Andrea explained that Shaun was close to his grandfather, Albert, and when he had decided to be an organ donor, he took Shaun along as a bonding moment and registered him as well. They had a close relationship and strong friendship but Andrea disliked the grandfather’s excessive use of profanity that Shaun quickly adopted as daily speak. Joyce tried to lighten the mood a little by remarking that her husband’s name happened to be Albert. Andrea paused before remarking that Shaun’s middle name was also Albert. Having previously watched a transplant themed television program, Joyce had entertained the notion that some of her husband’s new likes and habits were, possibly, connected to the transfer of the kidney, more specifically the person to whom it once belonged. In 2011 when Albert passed, there were 28,535 organ transplants performed, according to Donate Life America’s statistics. The most common included the heart, cornea and kidney. A study published in the journal of Quality of Life Research found that twenty-one percent of the cornea and kidney transplant patients studied reported significant changes in their personality, with six percent citing a drastic change having received a new heart. The storing of memories in organs is knows as combinatorial coding by nerve cells and works directly with the sensory system. The cell memory phenomenon is still supported by many scientists and physicians. By Gare Allen The post Man Shows Personality Traits of a Child Organ Donor After Transplant appeared first on Anomalien.com.

President Biden says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not doing enough to win the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza by the terrorist group Hamas. As the saying goes “with friends like these, who needs enemies?” In his first statement since the recovery of six hostages murdered by Hamas, including American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Netanyahu refused all entreaties by the U.S. administration and other governments and protesters in Israel and the U.S. to agree to a ceasefire as a way to gain the release of the other hostages. What critics forget is that Hamas has refused all ceasefire offers, largely I suspect, because it knows the world will keep pressuring Israel to“do more” and not the terrorists to do less. Too many seem to have forgotten, or ignored, the real culprits. It was Hamas that kidnapped and murdered innocent Israelis and took hostages last October. It is Hamas that has a covenant which calls for the creation of an Islamic state in all of Palestine and the obliteration of Israel. How do you negotiate with an enemy who believes their god has given direct orders to eliminate the Jewish state by any means necessary? The answer should be obvious, but it isn’t to many who have the false view that what Israel does or does not do matters to her enemies. Pressuring Israel has also been the incorrect approach over several U.S. administrations and Labor governments in Israel. Hamas and other terror groups get land, ceasefires, prisoner exchanges and financial help, but give nothing in return. A Wall Street Journal editorial puts the blame where it belongs: “(the hostages) were killed in Rafah, where Biden and Harris delayed Israel’s entry with threats and by withholding weapons.” Before World War II, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler offered a phony peace deal that included his keeping most of Czechoslovakia. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned to London from meeting Hitler in Munich and claimed to have made a “peace in our time” agreement with the German dictator. We know how that turned out. There’s a great line in the movie “Batman Begins” Liam Neeson as Henri Ducard says: “Crime cannot be tolerated. Criminals thrive on the indulgence of society’s understanding.” This could also apply to those who would use terror to achieve their ends and to American presidents and secretaries of state who have wrongly tried accommodation and negotiation, rather than pursuing victory over evil. This admonition to ancient Israel from the Old Testament should be applied to the current situation and to future ones: “You must purge the evil from among you.” (Deuteronomy 17:7) Not to do so allows evil to grow. If a ceasefire were to be agreed to before Hamas is destroyed, it would live to fight another day. The same applies to Hezbollah which now occupies Lebanon. Not pursuing victory would be like a surgeon only removing half of a malignant tumor. When it comes to the blame game, remember that Gazans elected Hamas. Hamas and all other groups that seek Israel’s destruction must themselves be destroyed. Misinformed U.S. college students who chant “from the river to the sea” without knowing which river and which sea and nothing about the history of the region, are enabling antisemites and others who seek the same goals as the terrorists. Only when the terrorists realize they have no hope and no help from America might they be persuaded that their goal is unachievable and then might possibly make a peace deal with Israel. Until then, Netanyahu is right to fight on and President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are wrong to pressure him into making a deal that is not in the interest of Israel or America.

Operation Interloper was a government program set up to “trap” UFOs/UAPs — and expert Luis Elizondo has the inside scoop. “In essence, we do know through our observations that UAP seem to be very interested in our nuclear equities and also seem to be found in and around bodies of water. So, no bigger nuclear footprint than a carrier strike group,” Elizondo tells Pat Gray of “Pat Gray Unleashed.” “You have a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, you have aircraft that are also capable of potentially delivering nuclear capabilities, you have boats and submarines in the area that may be nuclear powered and may also themselves have some sort of nuclear capabilities on board,” he says. Elizondo explains that the idea behind the operation was to set a “honeypot” that created “this irresistibly large nuclear footprint in the ocean” that was “bigger than the entire state of New York.” “We would wait for the UAP to show up and then spring the trap,” he says. “At a certain point, turn on all the collection capabilities we have in the area from the various sources, forces, and try to collect telemetry and other information to give us a better sight picture on their capabilities.” However, the operation was “killed at the highest levels.” “We were never told why, but so the actual trapping never happened,” he says. “We had to correct, we had the plan established, and it was getting coordinated through the Pentagon with various agencies as well. Other agencies, intelligence agencies, but at the last minute, at the very last second, it was turned off.” Elizondo isn’t sure why the government shut down the operation, but he has a theory. “We have some speculation that we were getting too close to another, perhaps, UAP program that was being run simultaneously in the government.” Want more from Pat Gray?To enjoy more of Pat's biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

A new federal lawsuit from a legal foundation with strong ties to former President Donald Trump alleges that all 15 counties in Arizona have "failed" to purge foreign nationals from their voter rolls, leaving elections vulnerable to foreign interference.On Wednesday, America First Legal filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, claiming that the counties and their respective recorders "failed to take the actions required by law to ensure that foreign citizens are removed from their voter rolls."Arizona has a unique system by which prospective voters in federal elections may register using a federal form that does not require documented proof of citizenship. Documentation is required, however, for those casting ballots in state or local elections. The U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld this bifurcated system, as Blaze News previously reported.According to the new lawsuit, county recorders are obligated by state law to perform monthly maintenance of their voter rolls to ensure that those who register to vote via the federal form are in fact U.S. citizens. County recorders also must furnish the state attorney general with a list of and applications for all registered voters who "have not provided satisfactory evidence of citizenship," the lawsuit said, citing state law.The lawsuit claimed that all 15 county recorders have "failed" in these regards and that such failures "cause voters to lose confidence in the integrity of our election system." The best possible means of ensuring that registered voters are U.S. citizens is by submitting a request to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to verify their citizenship status under Sections 1373 and 1644 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the lawsuit argued."It's about making use of every available legal authority to tighten down and make sure that you are confident that no noncitizens are going to be on the voter rolls or are going to be voting in any election," AFL executive director Gene Hamilton told Blaze News in a recent interview.The lawsuit further alleges that the current process is "discriminatory" against naturalized citizens who are subjected to additional scrutiny when registering to vote. One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Yvonne Cahill, is a naturalized citizen.'We don’t have to respond to this, correct?'Early last month, America First Legal — led by President Stephen Miller, a former senior adviser to Trump — first filed the lawsuit in state court and against Maricopa County only, as Blaze News previously reported. Maricopa County — which has a history of "employing procedural maneuvers to delay election cases and keep them from being heard on the merits," according to a press release from AFL — then reportedly elected to move the case to federal court, opening the door to litigation against the other 14 counties in Arizona as well. AFL apparently took advantage of that opportunity.AFL insists that noncitizens registering to vote is a pressing issue, noting in the lawsuit that nearly 1% of likely voters admitted in a recent survey that they are not U.S. citizens. Plus, more than 16,000 voters have recently been removed from voter rolls in Alabama, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia because they are believed to be noncitizens, the lawsuit said. Of those 16,000, at least 2,000 have cast a ballot."We are taking emergency action to secure our elections," Stephen Miller told Blaze News in a statement. "In addition to Maricopa, we are now suing 14 additional counties in Arizona for refusing to remove illegal aliens and noncitizens from their voter rolls. America First Legal will do everything in its power to fight mass illegal alien voting and foreign interference in our democracy."Blaze News also reached out to all 15 Arizona county recorders for comment.Josh Heywood, spokesperson for Maricopa County recorder Stephen Richer, gave the following statement:The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office prioritizes and prides itself on maintaining accurate, up-to-date voter rolls. Under Recorder Stephen Richer’s leadership, voter list maintenance has remained a top priority, removing more than 400,000 voters from the rolls since January 2021. As an administrative office, we will continue to follow the letter of the law.On behalf of Pima County recorder Gabriella Cázares-Kelly, spokesperson Michael Truelsen — who provided his preferred pronouns in his email signature — shared with Blaze News a July letter from Cázares-Kelly to AFL. The letter indicates that Cázares-Kelly's office "performs daily list maintenance to ensure compliance with applicable federal and state laws regarding citizenship" and that its "current list maintenance procedures are thorough and address many" of AFL's "concerns.""As a general rule, those who are not citizens do not register to vote. In rare cases where someone who is not eligible actually attempts to register to vote, there are safeguards and laws to ensure that only eligible persons can vote," Cázares-Kelly's letter said.In an apparent mistake, recorder Polly Merriman of Graham County sent Blaze News an email that read: "We don’t have to respond to this, correct?" The email was addressed to "Jean."Michelle Burchill of Yavapai County declined to comment.Recorders in Apache, Cochise, Coconino, Gila, Greenlee, La Paz, Mohave, Navajo, Pinal, Santa Cruz, and Yuma Counties did not respond.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

President Donald Trump joined Sean Hannity Wednesday evening for a town hall interview in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania — a state where Trump appears now to be eking out a slim advantage in the polls. While the Republican set out a bold vision for international peace and American prosperity, self-described fact-checkers worked furiously to cast doubt on virtually every sentence Trump uttered. In the case of the Poynter Institute's PolitiFact, this meant fine-tuning the definition of "coup" and suggesting that American presidents can't actually prevent or stop wars. Broad strokes Trump hammered Kamala Harris on her record, over the "coup" that resulted in her becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, and on her reluctance to engage meaningfully with the fourth estate. Hannity, too, had some fun at Harris' expense, pretending to end the interview after roughly 16 minutes — a gibe over the brevity of Harris' softball interview last week with CNN's Dana Bash, which was the vice president's first interview following several weeks spent dodging questions and the press. Although Trump's frequent barbs resonated with the thousands of audience members who had gathered for the event and whose energy ostensibly made Hannity's job at times difficult, the president also made the case for why his re-election would bode well for the commonwealth and the country at large. Meanwhile, fact-checkers were projecting error from afar. Peace is impossible, apparently At the outset, Trump characterized the world as "sick and angry" and vowed to "heal" it — in part by "get[ting] rid of all these wars that are starting all over the place because of incompetent American leadership." Trump reiterated that the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine "would have never happened" had he been office — repeatedly referencing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's recent suggestion that Trump was effectively an antidote to the prevailing chaos, particularly in Eastern Europe. Orbán told Politico's parent company Axel Springer in July that Trump "is the man of peace. Under his four-year term he did not initiate a single war, and he did a lot in order to create peace in old conflicts in very complicated areas of the world." After noting Wednesday that he went "four years without any blowups," Trump suggested to Hannity that his leadership now might be the difference between nuclear holocaust and relative peace. Trump said, "We're heading into World War III territory," indicating this is all the more troubling "because of the power of weapons — nuclear weapons in particular, but other weapons also, and I know the weapons better than anybody because I'm the one who bought them." "You need a president that's not going to be taking you into war. We won't have World War III when I'm elected, but with these clowns that you have in there now, you're going to end up having World War III," continued the president. "It's going to be a war like no other." The Poynter Institute's PolitiFact, among the many liberal outfits "fact-checking" Trump's remarks at the town hall, did its best to suggest that an American president cannot stop or prevent a war. Seizing upon Trump's suggestion that he would "heal our world" and address the wars "starting all over the place," PolitFact's Louis Jacobson claimed that supposed experts told him "there's a limit to how much influence U.S. presidents have over whether a foreign conflict erupts into war." Jacobson shared a quote from Richard Betts, a Columbia University professor emeritus of war and peace studies, stating, "American presidents have scant control over foreign decisions about war and peace unless they show their willingness to commit American power." Jacobson also quoted an associate political science professor from Muskingum University who suggested Trump would have been unable to prevent Russia's invasion of Ukraine "without simply selling out the Ukrainians and giving Putin what he wanted, or putting American armed forces in Ukraine." Harris is not a communist, apparently Trump criticized Harris, the daughter of a Marxist economist and advocate for "equality of outcome[s]," over her proposed wealth redistribution scheme and her presently vague economic agenda. "This country will end up in a depression if she becomes president," Trump told Hannity. "Like 1929, this will be a 1929 depression. She has no idea what the hell she's doing." "I gave you the biggest tax cuts in the history of our country. If you let them. If you let the Trump tax cuts expire, which she wants to do, she wants to terminate them. If you do that, you will suffer the biggest tax increase in history. There's never been a tax increase like it, on top of which she wants to add a lot of tax," added Trump, referencing Harris' proposed 28% tax on long-term capital gains. At one stage, Trump referred to his opponent as "Comrade Harris." 'Harris is neither a Marxist nor a Communist.' In his recent interview with Lex Fridman, Trump explained why he has taken to characterizing Harris and other radicals as communists, noting that "she came out with price controls. ... It leads to communism. It leads to socialism. It leads to having no food on the shelves, and it leads to having tremendous inflation." Trump is evidently not alone in thinking Harris' proposal is a little red. The Washington Post recently published an article titled, "When your opponent calls you 'communist,' maybe don't propose price controls?" Nevertheless, PolitiFact's fact-checker Amy Sherman would not let the nickname stand. Referencing her previous "fact-check," Sherman noted that "experts told us Harris is neither a Marxist nor a Communist. She is a capitalist." Sherman added: The Trump campaign has pointed to Harris' plan to ban price gouging by implementing price controls. That proposal is vague, but its scope falls far short of communist policy, which advocates a political system of government or a party that abolishes private property. Harris has not called for seizing private homes or businesses. Trump campaign spokeswoman Caroline Sunshine previously told PolitiFact, "Kamala Harris has literally suggested price controls as a matter of economic policy." "Would encourage you to inspect the well documented list of Marxist and communists who've suggested the same," added Sunshine. A coup by another name During the town hall, Trump criticized the way by which Harris became the Democratic nominee, noting that it was "very unfair." Referencing the 2020 election, Trump said, "She ran against [Biden] in the primary. She got no votes, and she was the first to leave. ... He got 14 million votes [in 2024], and they threw him out." "It was really a coup when you think about it," continued Trump. "And the woman who came in last, the person who came in last [became the nominee]." PolitiFact's Amy Sherman and Jeff Cercone swooped in to reassure their readers that once again, Trump was mistaken. "A coup d'etat is a French term that means the overthrow of a government, usually by illegal means and with the threat of violence," wrote the so-called fact-checkers. "Experts previously told PolitiFact that Democrats persuading President Joe Biden to drop out of the race for president doesn't meet that commonly used definition." Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines a coup d'etat as "a sudden decisive exercise of force in politics." The Online Etymology Dictionary defines it thusly: 1640s, from French coup d'étate, literally "stroke of the state" (see coup). Technically any sudden, decisive political act, especially an important and unexpected change in the form and methods of a government, but in 20c. popularly restricted to the overthrow of a government. 'The selection of Harris was done fully within Democratic Party rules.' Whereas PolitFact has previously suggested that the Jan. 6, 2021, protests at the Capitol constituted a coup, it maintains that the Russia collusion hoax instigated by outgoing Obama officials and elements of the Democratic Party that was aimed, ostensibly, at kneecapping or removing Trump from office was not a coup nor was the pressure campaign to remove Biden as the Democratic candidate in this election. Scott Althaus, director of the University of Illinois' Cline Center for Advanced Social Research's Coup D’etat Project, told PolitiFact that "to be considered a coup event, a resignation of a chief executive would need to be connected to threat or use of coercion or force that is illegal or extra-legal," adding, "Social pressure from fellow co-partisans fails to satisfy this criterion." Fresh off embarrassing itself peddling false information about Tucker Carlson, Newsweek also engaged in a "fact-checking" exercise Wednesday evening. The blog stressed that: Harris' ascension to the top of the ticket was not the result of a coup — political parties are allowed to select their own presidential candidates and the selection of Harris was done fully within Democratic Party rules. Not border czar, apparently After Hannity played a montage of Harris defending open-border policies and incentives for illegal immigration, he and Trump blasted the vice president over her shortcomings as America's "border czar" — a title and role PolitFact suggested was largely a thing of fiction. Axios reported in April 2021, "Harris, appointed by Biden as border czar, said she would be looking at the 'root causes' that drive migration." PolitiFact acknowledged that Harris was assigned "to work alongside officials in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras to address the issues driving people to leave those countries and come to the United States" and that Harris emphasized her role months later when visiting El Paso, Texas. Nevertheless, the fact-checking outfit concluded: "No, Harris wasn't put in charge of border enforcement." While prickled by allusions to Harris' "border czar" role, PolitiFact's Maria Ramirez Uribe, a former race and equity reporter, appeared more concerned with Trump's suggestion that over 20 million illegal aliens have "poured into our country." "There's never been a country that allowed 21 million people to come in over a three-year period," Trump told Hannity, apparently factoring in an estimate of the number of illegal aliens who have entered without encountering federal agents. "And 21 million people, many of whom are from prisons, many of whom are murderers and drug dealers. And child traffickers, and by the way, women traffickers." According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, at least 8.2 million illegal aliens stole across the southern border between January 2021 and July 2024. This figure does not account for the millions of "gotaways" who were not stopped or processed at the border. It appears the liberal fact-checkers found a way to trip one another up. Uribe, desperate to suggest Trump had overstated the number of illegal aliens pouring into the country under Harris' watch, suggested that: During Biden's administration, immigration officials have encountered immigrants illegally crossing the U.S. border around 10 million times. When accounting for 'got aways' — people who aren't stopped by border officials — the number rises to about 11.6 million. Citing PolitiFact, Newsweek then stated in its fact-check that: Trump may have arrived at the 21 million figure due to a further 11.6 million people who were not stopped by officials at the border, although this figure is based on a subjective and unverified count and the true number of crossings is unclear. According to Newsweek's interpretation, Trump would have been right on the money. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The World Darts Federation issued a formal warning to players, saying they could face disciplinary actions if they withdraw from a tournament after it has started. The warning is likely in response to the threat of female darts players forfeiting their spots when matched up against transgender athletes who were born male. Multiple female dart-throwers have withdrawn from competition in recent months for this reason. 'Women and girls deserve fair competition in darts.' "Ahead of an important period in the WDF calendar with regional cups, the World Masters and the World Championships, the WDF wishes to clarify its position on player withdrawals," the organization wrote in an announcement. "Once the first dart has been thrown in a tournament, any player that subsequently withdraws from playing a match may be considered to be bringing the game into disrepute and could face disciplinary action," they continued. "This stance has been taken to suitably protect our Member Countries, their tournaments and tournament sponsors, as well as to preserve the integrity of the WDF ranking system." The statement did not address the growing backlash the organization is facing from allowing male players to compete against women. Particularly, No. 5-ranked Noa-Lynn van Leuven, who is male, has caused an uproar among female players. In May 2024, Blaze News reported that No. 6 player Deta Hedman forfeited a match in which she was set to compete against van Leuven. After Hedman was accused of faking an illness to get out of her match, she addressed the situation and clarified her stance. "No fake illness. I said I wouldn't play a man in a ladies' event," Hedman explained. At the same time, Dutch players Aileen de Graaf and Anca Zijlstra both withdrew from the Netherlands national team over van Leuven's inclusion. "I have tried to accept this, but I can not condone or justify this," Zijlstra said at the time. De Graaf added that "at some point you have to make decisions if something goes against your feelings," ABC News reported. De Graaf and Zijlstra are No. 2 and No. 18 in the world rankings, respectively. In July, Hedman again pulled out of a tournament for the same reason. She quit the Heart of Darts tournament in the U.K. after drawing transgender opponent Sam Lewis in the third round. Hedman wrote on Facebook and said, "Not much was discussed about my being right or wrong in my decision not to play a transgender person. But more of an attack on my literacy skills and choice of words!" Hedman has been circulating petitions at darts events, including one at the Welsh Open in late August. She is asking for others to join her in her demand for a women-only division in darts. "Women and girls deserve fair competition in darts, and this means we need our own category, restricted to those born female," her petition read. "We believe a womens [sic] section in darts is hugely important for the growth of darts," it added. Hedman said that she was blown away by the response to her in-person petition and said an online version is needed. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Pro-Hamas and anti-Israel students organized a sit-in demonstration outside of former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's Columbia University course on Wednesday.Videos of the protest, obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, showed dozens of students waving Palestinian flags and chanting, "From the sea to the river, Palestine will live forever." Protesters also held up signs reading, "Resist until victory," "Resistance is justified when people are occupied," "The Palestinian resistance is alive, not dead," and "Fa[s]cist bootlicker we know [yo]u," the Free Beacon reported.'Clinton is touting her legacy of war crimes.'The former secretary of state teaches a fall semester class called "Inside the Situation Room" at the university's Institute of Global Politics in the School of International and Public Affairs. The sit-in was organized by the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs Palestine Working Group, which posted a notice about the scheduled protest on social media. The post featured an image of Clinton with crossed-out eyes and covered in red, blood-like splatters."Welcome to IGP: Israel Global Propagandists," it read, using the acronym to rename the school.The advertisement also read, "Invade Iraq," "Arm Israel," and "Bomb Syria.""We will not stand for genocide propaganda and the militarization of our campus. We call on all students to walk out of Hillary's sham class!" the organizers wrote. The sit-in was also promoted by Columbia University Apartheid Divest and the school's Students for Justice in Palestine chapter.On Tuesday, the two groups were accused of preventing students from entering campus, the Free Beacon reported. A statue at the university was reportedly vandalized. They called the disruptive protests "just the beginning."In a post on X, Columbia's Students for Justice in Palestine chapter wrote, "We're making it clear: War criminals are not welcome on campus. Hillary Clinton has actively engaged in war crimes against the peoples of Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Palestine.""Hillary Clinton has used her power & influence to cause devastation across the globe. As secretary of state, Clinton backed arm deals to bomb Yemen, interfered in Haitian elections, & lied about 'mass rape in Libya' to support a regime change," the group continued. "In a class at Columbia University, 'In the Situation Room', Hillary Clinton is touting her legacy of war crimes as 'valuable learning experiences'. We're not buying it. The more they try to silence us, the louder we will be."The group also issued a statement on Telegram praising Hamas' founder and current chairman, the Free Beacon reported."Sheikh Yassin was assassinated by the Zionists in 2004, but even in death, his legacy of unrelenting resistance in the face of oppression lives on," the group stated. "He lives on in his students, which includes the current head of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar—the man who fooled the Zionist entity—and all the Palestinian fighters who embody the steadfastness that Yassin taught."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!