News Dune: Prophecy No One Seems to Like the Sisterhood in Dune: Prophecy Trailer By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on October 17, 2024 Credit: Attila Szvacsek/HBO Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Attila Szvacsek/HBO After several tumultuous years in development, Dune: Prophecy is officially coming out in exactly one month. HBO announced during New York Comic Con today that the show would premiere on November 17, 2024 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and will also be available then to stream on Max. To further celebrate the occasion, we also got a new trailer for the six-episode prequel series, which takes place roughly 10,000 years before Paul Atreides was born and is based on the novel Sisterhood of Dune, written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Unlike the first trailer, which tees up the goals of the sisters, this one gives us more of the forces working against the burgeoning Bene Gesserit, specifically Mark Strong’s Emperor Javicco Corrino and Travis Fimmel’s Desmond Hart. Both want to see the sisterhood destroyed, with Hart in particular appearing to have some special power to do so. The clip also features many others in the stacked cast, which includes Emily Watson and Olivia Williams as the founding sisters of the Bene Gesserit, as well as Jodhi May, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Josh Heuston, Chloe Lea, Jade Anouka, Faoileann Cunningham, Edward Davis, Aoife Hinds, Chris Mason, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Camilla Beeput, Jihae, Tabu, Charithra Chandran, Jessica Barden, Emma Canning, and Yerin Ha. Alison Schapker is the showrunner of the series, with Diane Ademu-John co-developing it. Dune: Prophecy is set to premiere on HBO and Max on November 17, 2024, with new episodes dropping every Sunday. Check out the latest trailer below. [end-mark] The post No One Seems to Like the Sisterhood in <i>Dune: Prophecy</i> Trailer appeared first on Reactor.

The women of the University of Nevada at Reno volleyball team are prepared to face the consequences of defying their school by refusing to compete against a team with a biological male player. “We are risking our main goal, which is a Mountain West championship,” University of Nevada women’s volleyball team captain and outside hitter Sia Liilii told The Daily Signal. “A team is a group that bands together to reach a common goal, and that is the purpose of our spot-on the team. No one wants to lose and put that at risk, but this is bigger than wins and losses.” “It is the future of women’s sports,” she explained. The majority of the Nevada volleyball team voted to forfeit its Oct. 26 game against California’s San Jose State University, where biological male volleyball player Blaire Fleming has led an undefeated season. The Nevada women are the fifth team in the Mountain West Conference to boycott San Jose State University this season on behalf of women’s sports. Sia Liilii and her University of Nevada at Reno teammates celebrate after a point. (Nevada Wolf Pack) “Our team had multiple meetings to discuss this issue,” Liilii said. “We all have a voice that deserves to be heard. A vast majority of our team voted to stand in solidarity with the teams that forfeited, and as a team, we sent a letter to our administrators letting them know we would be releasing a statement that we will not be playing.” The Nevada women’s volleyball team sent a statement to the university saying the team stands “united in solidarity with the volleyball teams of Southern Utah University, Boise State University, the University of Wyoming, and Utah State University.” “We demand that our right to safety and fair competition on the court be upheld. We refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes,” the statement says. After the women decided not to compete against San Jose State, the University of Nevada at Reno administration released a statement expressing its intent to go forward with the game. “The University intends to move forward with the match as scheduled, and the players may choose not to participate in the match on the day of the contest,” the statement said. “No players will be subject to any team disciplinary action for their decision not to participate in the match.” Despite lack of support from their school, the Nevada volleyball players still plan to boycott the game. They are prepared to face any consequences that may come their way. “It was definitely a tough meeting to be in,” Liilii said of the team’s discussion with Athletic Director Stephanie Rempe. “We know that there will be negative consequences we will face when choosing not to participate in the match.” Rempe did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment. Liilii said the team’s stance is not about transgender player Fleming, but the future of women’s sports. “Men do not belong in women’s sports,” the college senior said. “If you are born a biological male, you do not belong in women’s sports. This is not about one individual athlete. It is about fair competition and safety for all women’s sports.” Fleming’s teammate, San Jose State University volleyball cocaptain Brooke Slusser, applauded the Nevada team for their “courage” in taking a stand for women’s sports. Round of applause to the girls of the @NevadaWolfPack volleyball team.Deciding to go against what the school was forcing on you as young women and taking a stand for what you believe takes courage! Another great step in the right direction for women’s sports!— Brooke Slusser (@BrookeSlusser) October 15, 2024 Between now and Oct. 26, when Nevada is scheduled to face San Jose State, the players are taking things game by game. “We have other matches to focus on at the time, so that is the center of our attention and enjoying playing together,” Liilii said. High-profile politicians, including former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii; Senate candidate Sam Brown, R-Nev.; and Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., attended Nevada’s Tuesday game, in which the team beat Utah State University 3-2. “I am so proud of you,” Gabbard told Liilii, according to the Reno Gazette Journal. In 2020, Gabbard, while still in Congress, and Mullin introduced the Protect Women’s Sports Act to keep males out of women’s and girls’ athletics. Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, a Republican, also expressed his support for the Nevada team, saying, “No student athlete should ever be pressured to play a game where they don’t feel safe—period.” The student athletes at the University of Nevada, Reno have determined that they do not want to play against San Jose State, and I wholeheartedly respect the decision of the players.No student athlete should ever be pressured to play a game where they don’t feel safe — period. pic.twitter.com/YuDtq8eAcV— Governor Joe Lombardo (@JosephMLombardo) October 15, 2024 Biological males competing in women’s sports is expected to be a “sleeper” issue in the 2024 elections. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of registered voters think biological males should not be allowed to participate in women’s and girls’ sports, according to new national polling from Scott Rasmussen shared with The Daily Signal. Republicans have highlighted Democratic support for males playing women’s sports in ad campaigns against them. An ad against Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, says Brown is “too liberal for Ohio” because he voted “to let transgender biological men participate in women’s sports.” An ad in Wisconsin says Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin “voted to let biological men into women’s sports.” Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., “voted to let men compete against our girls,” and “those aren’t Montana values,” another ad running in Montana says. Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump pledged to “ban” transgender-identifying biological males from competing in women’s sports in a town hall with only female voters hosted by Fox News’ Harris Faulkner on Wednesday. Trump referenced an incident last week in which San Jose’s Fleming spiked a volleyball in the face of a San Diego State women’s volleyball player, knocking her to the ground. SJSU’s male player, Blaire Fleming blasts another strike to the face of a female opponent in tonight’s match up with @AztecVB pic.twitter.com/hbw9iC6SxH— ICONS (@icons_women) October 11, 2024 “I saw the slam, it was a slam. I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head,” he said. “But other people, even in volleyball, they’ve been permanently—I mean, they’ve been really hurt badly. Women playing men.” North Carolina high school volleyball player Payton McNabb suffered a concussion and neck injury in November 2022 after a transgender opponent spiked the ball in her face at an estimated 76 mph. The net in men’s volleyball is more than 7.5 inches higher than in the women’s game to compensate for the increased velocity, jump height, and power men have. Even men would be more likely to get concussions if they played volleyball against each other with a women’s net height, according to Marshi Smith of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports.  The mother of a Nevada women’s volleyball player told The Daily Signal she is proud of her daughter’s team. The mother asked to remain anonymous for her daughter’s privacy. “I’m dumbfounded how the trans group asks for ‘tolerance,’ yet when biological females ask for safe places in our locker rooms (which is supposed to be a given under Title IX), fair competition, and safety on the court,” the mother said, “we are denied and labeled hateful and transphobic.” The post ‘Bigger Than Wins and Losses’: Nevada Women’s Volleyball Captain Says Team Risking ‘Consequences’ to Defend Women’s Sports from Transgenderism appeared first on The Daily Signal.

'Joe Biden Is Not On the Ballot': Kamala's Biggest Dodge

Bret Baier’s interview with Vice President Kamala Harris on Fox News was nothing like the gushfest she was treated to by her super fans on ABC’s The View; because she was asked tough, important questions, and wasn’t allowed to filibuster or lie. So, of course, that made Baier sexist according to the haters on Thursday’s episode of The View. They also smeared Fox News host Dana Perino by suggesting she was racist because she dared to criticize Harris’s nasty attitude during the interview. Staunchly racist and anti-Semitic co-host Sunny Hostin (the descendant of slave owners) praised Harris for going on Fox News and insisted she managed to get Fox viewers to vote for her. “I think that there will be people that will change their minds. I think there will be people that were very shocked at that,” she proclaimed. “So the reason she appeared on Fox News is because she knows that there are openings for her there.” She then lashed out at Baier, and laughably claimed he was a puppet of the “pro-Trump audience”: But, you know, Bret Baier, he did himself a disservice by doing what he did. He is known for doing the bidding of Fox News. But he ends his show every night as fair, balanced, and unafraid. Well, that was not fair and balanced and he has this history of appeasing the network's pro-Trump audience. That was rich coming from a Harris interviewer whose idea of a pressing question was: “What do you think would be the biggest specific difference between your presidency and a Biden presidency?” Harris may have given an answer bad enough to be clipped for campaign ads, but the question was obviously meant to be a softball.     The untruthful accusation of sexism against Baier came from pretend moderate Sara Haines. According to her warped reality, not allowing Harris to filibuster, lie, and spew platitudes (all things The View allowed) were only done “because she's a woman.” “So, it got hard to watch at times,’ she griped. Ironically, Haines made that false assertion after first interrupting her co-host, faux conservative Alyssa Farah Griffin. So, was she sexist? As for Farah Griffin, she huffed that Baier asked “the questions Fox News viewers want answers to” and falsely claimed he was “misrepresenting Trump's words” to spin them in a positive light; when in reality, he teed the clip up by noting it was Trump’s reaction criticism of what he said. Near the end of the segment, Hostin was back to lash out at Perino for daring to criticize Harris’s obvious anger at actually being asked tough questions. Hostin suggested Perino was trafficking in a racist “trope.” “Dana Perino right after this panel offered this very predictable assessment. She said Harris came in hot and then got angrier. It’s the angry black woman trope,” she decried. Hostin has a history of racism on the show and she particularly hates white women, who she described as “roaches” if they vote Republican. She’s also repeatedly lashed out at the interracial marriages and relationships of black male Republicans with white partners, even suggesting the white women were puppeteering them. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s The View October 17, 2024 11:06:07 a.m. Eastern (…) SUNNY HOSTIN: I think that there will be people that will change their minds. I think there will be people that were very shocked at that. I was shocked in real time because you have people that are never-Trumpers that watch Fox News. You have independents that watch Fox News. You have Democrats that watch Fox News. So the reason she appeared on Fox News is because she knows that there are openings for her there. But, you know, Bret Baier, he did himself a disservice by doing what he did. He is known for doing the bidding of Fox News. But he ends his show every night as fair, balanced, and unafraid. Well, that was not fair and balanced and he has this history of appeasing the network's pro-Trump audience. (…) 11:08:28 a.m. Eastern ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: But on the Bret Baier of it. I think the questions he asked were the questions Fox News viewers want answers to but I think he did himself a huge disservice by using that clip which was misrepresenting Trump's words. HOSTIN: It was misinformation. FARAH GRIFFIN: It was wrong and I think he interrupted her way too much. It was just not -- SARA HAINES [interrupting]:  That – That to me looked – The constant jumping in, I couldn't help but feel it’s because she's a woman that he’s going to keep doing this. So, it got hard to watch at times. But I think she did a huge service to herself going exactly where people are. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is canceling interviews from 60 Minutes to CNBC, NBC – JOY BEHAR [Interrupting]: He’s scared! HOSTIN: He’s in hiding. BEHAR: He’s scared! HAINES: -- and she's going to Fox where – I said this the other day – you allow yourself to define who you are. If they hear it from your mouth people aren't just talking about it. So people are going to watch and see how she held her own. (…) 11:11:25 a.m. Eastern HOSTIN: She looked presidential! She was strong. And I think most importantly, this notion of humility. You need to be humble. You can't be passionate. What I was really distressed at -- BEHAR: You can't be passionate? HOSTIN: You can't be passionate. It's described as aggressive. BEHAR: Who said that? HOSTIN: Well, Dana Perino right after this panel offered this very predictable assessment. She said Harris came in hot and then got angrier. It's the -- BEHAR: She did not! That's baloney. HOSTIN: It’s the angry black woman trope. The bottom line – BEHAR: She never was angry. HOSTIN: -- she was showing passion and a command of the facts. BEHAR: He was angry. To me Bret was acting like the prosecutor. HOSTIN: And came in hot. BEHAR: She's the prosecutor. We have to go. We'll be right back. I'm sorry.

ABC’s Good Morning America illustrated all anyone needed to know Thursday about what it made of Vice President Kamala Harris’s Wednesday night throwdown with Fox News host Bret Baier by the fact that it spent far less time (three minutes and two seconds) on this than they did browbeating former President Trump (four minutes and 11 seconds) over their preferred topics for this election, abortion and January 6. Co-host George Stephanopoulos understood the assignment, claiming in a tease Wednesday’s 2024 discourse was about “January 6, mental stability and immigration” with Harris trying “to win over Republicans and blasts former President Trump as unstable and dangerous” and Trump “push[ed] claims about the 2020 election and the January 6 attack on the Capitol” and “abortion bans.”     Mary Bruce — chief White House correspondent and resident North Korean news lady for the Harris regime — must have received the message about our daily lambasting and decided to tone it down a smidgen, noting “she was pressed on her record” in a “heated” sit-down. Bruce even admitted Harris never “pinpoint[ed] any major policy shifts” she’d have from President Biden (click “expand’): BRUCE: Kamala Harris overnight in some unfamiliar territory. Her first interview with Fox News as she tries to win over Republicans and this was contentious. She was pressed on her record, on the economy, on immigration and on many of Donald Trump’s attack lines. But Harris pushed back, trying to cast herself as the candidate of change and Donald Trump a danger to democracy. The interview heated from the start. [BAIER-HARRIS CLIP] BRUCE: After struggling in recent days to show how she would govern differently from President Biden, the Vice President trying to put a clear stance between herself and the administration she still serves in, but not pinpointing any major policy shifts. HARRIS: Let me be very clear, my presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency and, like every new president that comes into office, I will bring my life experiences, my professional experiences, and fresh and new ideas. BRUCE: Fox’s Bret Baier pushing her on the administration’s record on immigration. [BAIER-HARRIS CLIP] BRUCE: Speaking to an audience traditionally of Trump supporters, Harris blasting the former President as unstable and dangerous, calling Trump out for increasingly threatening his political opponents, and what he calls the enemy from within. This gave way to Stephanopoulos tossing to virulent Trump hater Rachel Scott with this swipe: “No matter what the planned subject is that day, it always comes back to January 6.” “It always comes back to January 6, George,” Scott replied. No, George and Rachel, everything about this election does not, in fact, come back to January 6. Try the economy, something neither has to worry about. Scott giddily proclaimed Trump “is on defense about his record on abortion rights and also about January 6” and busy “doubling down on his anti-immigrant rhetoric” instead of “appeal[ing] to new voters.” She cheered a Univision town hall attendee asking about January 6 before lecturing Trump about what happened that day before going to the other top issue of wealthy liberals who don’t have to worry about where their next meal comes from: killing babies. Scott twice made sure to tell viewers that Trump “appointed three of the Supreme Court justices who supported overturning Roe v. Wade” and fear-mongered that his side of the aisle could, maybe, possibly ban IVF. Over on CBS Mornings and NBC’s Today, they took a different approach by trying to make fetch happen and insist Republicans could swing the election for Harris by joining her in droves. Chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa talked up his native Bucks County, Pennsylvania and the surrounding areas as fertile ground to help Harris win. He even added “Democrats are feeling very good about” how she did on Fox News (click “expand”): DOKOUPIL: So, you’ve got Donald Trump going on Univision, you’ve got Kamala Harris going on Fox News. They’re kinda out of their comfort zones. What’s the strategy here? COSTA: Just a few minutes before she sat down with Fox News, Vice President Harris had a big event in suburban Philadelphia making an overture to traditional Republicans. There’s a real belief inside the Democratic Party that Trump support is soft among some Republicans who have concerns about her character. That’s why she’s sitting down with Fox News. That’s why she’s going to Republican groups. KING: How do you think she did? Some say she held her own. Other others say she fell apart. I think it depends on what — do you think it changed anybody’s mind going in? COSTA: Democrats are feeling very good about her performance. They say she needs to make inroads in this closing lap. They think Trump’s support is soft, so why not try to eat into it by showing some engagement? Prior to that sucking up, correspondent Ed O’Keefe admitted “Harris was pressed on what she’d do about immigration”, but also played into this narrative in touting Harris “us[ing] her time to bring up issues Fox News viewers don’t normally hear about, like how former Trump administration officials are speaking out against” Trump and “criticism of his rhetoric.” Earth to Ed: Have you watched Fox News? You do know Democrats exist there? As for Trump, O’Keefe said the former President “defended what happened on January 6, 2021” during the Univision town hall “and stood by spreading false claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating pets”. Regarding the Fox town hall, he too focused on IVF. On NBC, co-host Hoda Kotb called the Baier interview “combative” and said Harris “[made] her case to undecided voters while putting distance between herself and President Biden.” Chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander said this was a chance to speak to viewers on “conservative Fox News” “who rarely hear her unedited.” Alexander didn’t acknowledge Harris never answered Baier’s questions, but instead boasted she “slamm[ed]” Trump on immigration and “seiz[ed] on Trump’s repeated comments attacking his political opponents[.]” Before correspondent Garrett Haake came along to sing the same regime talking points on abortion, January 6, and “controversial comments about Democrats and immigrants,” Guthrie and Alexander played up Republicans for Harris as real and significant (click “expand”): GUTHRIE: So tell us about this strategy, courting maybe undecided and potentially Republican voters who haven't signed on to Donald Trump yet. ALEXANDER: Yeah, Savannah, that’s right. A Harris campaign official tells NBC News that the campaign really believes that movable voters here move late. They think that there are a number of Republicans, independents, as well, that are put off by Trump, including some who voted for former presidential candidate, Nikki Haley. Notably, she got nearly 17 percent, I think it was, of the primary vote in Pennsylvania. That’s why Harris campaigned with about 100 Republicans there in Pennsylvania yesterday, recently with Liz Cheney, vowing to put a Republican in her cabinet. To be very clear here, though, this is not going to change the minds of the vast majorities of Republican voters, who are locked in for Trump, but in our latest NBC News poll, about nine percent of Trump voters say they might change their vote, and Harris only needs, obviously, a sliver of those votes in key states like Pennsylvania, here in Wisconsin, where of course, the margins are so thin. To see the relevant transcripts from October 17, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), here (for NBC).

Democrats got rid of some groups from their massive donation portal after reports that they were scamming people for political donations and then misusing the money to enrich themselves. Three of these political action committees were jettisoned from ActBlue, according to the Bulwark. 'ActBlue has previously deplatformed users that failed to comply with our account use policy and terms of service.' “ActBlue has a responsibility to ensure the entities on our platform are using our technology appropriately and in line with our terms of service,” said Megan Hughes, the spokesperson for the donation portal. “We are committed to building a sustainable grassroots movement and take all issues related to our user standards seriously.”Scam PACs pressure people to donate millions with the promise that the money will go to help the campaigns of their favored politicians and political causes but instead funnel the money to themselves and make large business expenses for lavish accommodations. The practice is not limited to one party. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz warned Democrat supporters about the alleged scam PACs in a donation email sent out from the campaign on Oct. 11. “A bunch of groups that purport to be our campaign, well," he wrote, "they just aren’t. They’re scam PACs.” A spokesperson for ActBlue told the Bulwark that the group dumped the PACs over issues with how they were using the information on the donation portal. “When we identify potential violations, we work with [users] to correct them or move to enforcement action," said Hughes. "ActBlue has previously deplatformed users that failed to comply with our account use policy and terms of service." A previous Bulwark report documented some of the alleged misuse of donation money to ActBlue. “It’s really brazen,” said Josh Nelson of Civic Shout, a left-wing digital advertising platform. “Scammers and grifters have been engaging in these kinds of practices for years. But the examples here are some of the most egregious and brazen I’ve ever heard.”Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

CNN's chief media analyst sang high praises for Vice President Kamala Harris in her interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier released on Wednesday.The reason Brian Stelter said Harris came out on top is because she "walked into a Trump campaign field office because anchor Bret Baier, who is a solid journalist, he is also incredibly sympathetic to Trump. That's what his fans want.""So it was almost as if you had a Trump surrogate interviewing Kamala Harris," Stelter continued. 'That's to be expected from Fox because it is an extension from the Trump campaign.' — (@) Stelter was far from the only CNN personality who said Harris looked good during the interview.CNN's Jim Acosta told Stelter, "The vice president was prepared for that moment. It seems as though she was able to catch Bret Baier on the fly playing the wrong clip. ... That is an extraordinary moment." "'[Trump's] town hall was softball. The Harris interview was hardball. That's to be expected from Fox because it is an extension from the Trump campaign. That's why it's so notable she showed up for the interview. ... She was trying to get information through to a pro-Trump audience that rarely hears it," Stelter added.While some in the mainstream media applauded Harris' performance, her staff did not seem to think it went well since they reportedly cut it short."Madam Vice President, they're wrapping me very hard here. I hope you got to say what you wanted to say about Donald Trump. ... There are a lot of things that people want to know about you and your policies. That's why we invited you here," Baier said to end the interview."I'm talking, like, four people waving their hands like, 'It's gotta stop!'" Baier recalled after the interview aired. "I had to dismount there at the end."Harris spent much of her time dodging Baier's questions on the Biden-Harris administration's record, sticking to blaming former President Donald Trump for the country's woes."More than 70% of people tell [pollsters] the country is on the wrong track," Baier told Harris."And Donald Trump has been running for office," Harris replied."But you've been the person holding the office, Madam Vice President," Baier noted.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

An Alabama woman was arrested for allegedly assaulting a passenger on a cruise ship. Meanwhile, the woman's son was kicked off the ship after allegedly striking the same senior citizen victim. Kelli Lyn Ryan, 49, and her 23-year-old son Dylan Ryan sailed on the MSC Seascape cruise ship on Oct. 5. A day after leaving Port Miami, the mother and son from Huntsville allegedly got involved in a physical confrontation with a 65-year-old woman in the ship’s two-deck theater. Authorities did not specify whether the victim and alleged assailants knew each other or what ignited the altercation.WHNT-TV reported that the ship's deputy chief of security informed the Miami-Dade Police Department that Kelli Lyn Ryan was seen "hitting the victim with an open hand" after an argument around 9:30 p.m. Oct. 6.The Miami-Dade Police Department said the altercation was captured on surveillance video.The ship's deputy chief security officer said Dylan Ryan was caught on video striking the victim multiple times.The police report said the senior citizen victim suffered multiple injuries on her face and head.Dylan Ryan was booted from the MSC Seascape at the first port of call in Falmouth, Jamaica. Authorities said he was removed from the ship for unspecified “excessive behavior.”Kelli Lyn Ryan was allowed to remain on the week-long cruise as it made stops in the Cayman Islands, Mexico, and MSC Ocean Cay — the cruise company’s private island in the Bahamas.However, Kelli Lyn Ryan was arrested once the ship docked in Miami. She was taken to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center and charged with battery on a person 65 or older.Authorities did not specify whether the victim and alleged assailants knew each other or what ignited the altercation. MSC Cruises has not commented on the incident.The FBI said it had received 180 reports of alleged criminal activity on board cruises in 2023.FBI Tampa Special Agent Mat Pagliarini and FBI Los Angeles Special Agent Matt Parker noted that incidents of sexual assault were the most common crime on cruise ships, followed by physical assaults.The Department of Justice said there were 24 physical assaults with serious injury on cruise ships in 2023 — 14 physical assaults happened on Carnival cruise ships. There were reportedly 33 sexual assaults on cruise ships last year. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

British Army veteran Adam Smith-Connor of Southampton traveled to the English county of Dorset in 2022 to silently pray near an abortion clinic for his son Jacob and "for other babies who have lost their lives to abortion, for their grieving families, and for abortion clinic staff." A pair of officers then accosted the grieving 51-year-old father and notified him that in his silence, he had breached a Public Spaces Protection Order. Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council subsequently charged and slapped Smith-Connor with a hefty fine, which the veteran challenged. Bournemouth Magistrates' Court ultimately found Smith-Connor guilty on Wednesday, claiming his prayer amounted to "disapproval of abortion." The faith-based freedom advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom International, which represented Smith-Connor, indicated that Smith-Connor was sentenced to a conditional discharge and ordered to pay prosecution costs amounting to nearly $12,000. The condition of his discharge is that he must refrain from similar behavior for the next two years. He will have a criminal record regardless. 'Thoughtcrimes are now being prosecuted in the U.K.' In response to the ruling, Smith-Connor said, "Today, the court has decided that certain thoughts — silent thoughts — can be illegal in the United Kingdom. That cannot be right. All I did was pray to God, in the privacy of my own mind — and yet I stand convicted as a criminal?" "I served for 20 years in the army reserves, including a tour in Afghanistan, to protect the fundamental freedoms that this country is built upon," continued Smith-Connor. "I continue that spirit of service as a health care professional and church volunteer. It troubles me greatly to see our freedoms eroded to the extent that thoughtcrimes are now being prosecuted in the U.K." Smith-Connor said in an ADF International testimonial last year that "22 years ago, I drove an ex-girlfriend to a facility where I paid for her to have an abortion. Many years later, I came to realize what I had done, and it has been a source of great grief to me in my life." "I now pray for my son and to God for forgiveness," added Smith-Connor. Blaze News previously reported that the penitent approached a British Pregnancy Advisor Service abattoir on Nov. 24, 2022, to pray for his son. He did so positioned behind a tree with his back turned to the clinic. The BPAS is the top provider of abortions in the U.K. and boasts on its website that one in three British women will "have an abortion by the time they are 45 years old." Standing nearby the BPAS clinic, Smith-Connor slightly bowed his head, clasped his hands, and prayed. This caught the attention of law enforcement. Footage of the incident shows a male and female officer press the Christian father about his intentions. 'I'm sorry for your loss. But ultimately, I have to go along with the guidelines.' "What is the nature of my prayer? I'm praying for my son," Smith-Connor tells the officers. The female officer states that there is "a clause within the Public Space Protection Order around prayer and around disapproval around the activities at the clinic here." In areas where Public Spaces Protection Orders are in effect, the "Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act" prohibits protest, "namely engaging in an act of approval/disapproval or attempted act of approval/disapproval, with respect to issues related to abortion services, by any means. This includes but is not limited to graphic, verbal or written means, prayer or counselling." Anyone found in violation will face "an unlimited fine." In the footage, Smith-Connor admits to the officers that he was indeed praying for his slaughtered son, and the officer replies, "I'm sorry for your loss. But ultimately, I have to go along with the guidelines of the Public Space Protection Order, to say that we are in the belief that therefore you are in breach of clause 4a, which says about prayer, and also acts of disapproval around the activities at the clinic." GBNews presenter and former parliamentarian Miriam Cates said in a statement, "This isn't 1984, but 2024 — nobody should be on trial for the mere thoughts they hold in their mind." "It's outrageous that the local council are pouring taxpayer funding into prosecuting a thoughtcrime, at a time where resources are stretched thin," continued Cates. "Buffer zone regulation are disproportionately wide, leaving innocent people vulnerable to prosecution merely for offering help, or simply holding their own beliefs." 'To offer a prayer silently in the depths of your heart cannot be an offense.' "It is disgraceful that in Britain in 2024 someone can be put on trial for praying silently in his head," said Edward Leigh, a member of Parliament and incumbent father of the House. "Unfortunately we have seen repeated cases of free speech under threat in the U.K. when it comes to the expression of Christian beliefs." Isabel Vaughan Spruce was similarly charged with violating a PSPO near an abortion clinic in Kings Norton, Birmingham. In January, a Christian singer was accosted in London for daring to sing gospel music "outside of church grounds." The backlash over the incident ultimately prompted Metropolitan Police to issue an apology. "To offer a prayer silently in the depths of your heart cannot be an offense," continued Leigh. "The government must clarify urgently that freedom of thought is protected as a basic human right." Britain is set to further curb speech rights around abortion clinics later this month. Whereas there are presently five councils across the U.K. with censorship zones around abortion clinics — officially referred to as "buffer zones" around abortion clinics — the government is imposing 492-foot censorship zones around every abortion clinic around the isles on Oct. 31. Inside these zones, it will be illegal "to do anything that intentionally or recklessly influences someone’s decision to use abortion services, obstructs them, or causes harassment or distress to someone using or working at these premises." Andrew Tettenborn, professor of law at Swansea Law School, noted in the Spectator (U.K.): Smith-Connor's case was in some ways unusual, since he actually admitted to the police officers that approached him that he was praying for his dead son. But what if it had been different? Many people, thus approached by officialdom in a public place and interrogated as to their private thoughts, would have an entirely creditable Englishman's instinct to tell the official concerned in no uncertain terms to mind his own business. Would this protect them? Possibly. One fears not, though. The lack of an admission may make it more difficult to get a conviction, but might still allow an officer to arrest that person. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Alex Stein was right. A few months ago, he called out former "Bachelorette" star Josh Seiter for faking his gender transition in order to troll the world — and Seiter is now confirming Stein’s original suspicions. “Well, I’ve got to be honest. For the last five months I’ve been conducting a social experiment online to expose how gullible and how delusional the left is,” Seiter tells Stein of “Prime Time with Alex Stein.” “You were accepted by some, you were demonized by most, and now you’re saying this was all a ruse, this was a social experiment,” Stein says. “So, what you did is arguably one of the greatest social experiments of our modern internet age in my opinion.” “Any biological man putting on woman-face and putting on makeup is pulling a stunt,” Seiter explains. “They are faking being a woman. And, so what I did was I faked being a faker. I pretended to be a pretender. We are all the same. We’re all men that were putting on makeup and dressing and claiming we were women.” “And I hope that this could help some people understand that just because you put on dresses and makeup as a man, doesn’t magically make you a woman,” he adds. Stein, who has put on tuck-friendly bathing suits in Target and pretended to be transgender for a short period of time himself in order to drive that same point home, is impressed by Seiter’s dedication to his experiment. “You actually stayed in character for months on end, did multiple interviews, went on multiple shows,” Stein says. “Behind closed doors, I’m sure you didn’t pretend to be a woman, but you stayed in character every moment even when you’re just talking to somebody casually. So really, you’re an incredible actor Josh.” “I think any trans person is an incredible actor. They’re all pretending to be something they’re not,” Seiter responds. “I hope I showed how ridiculous and absurd it is.” Want more from Alex Stein?To enjoy more of Alex's culture jamming, comedic monologues, skits, and street segments, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.