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Category: Culture
May 22, 2024
Ed Kozak
Culture

Elvis Heiress Battles to Protect Presley Legacy From Forced Graceland Sale.

Riley Keough, the granddaughter of Elvis Presley, is challenging plans to auction the Graceland estate in Memphis. A company has moved to sell the property, alleging that a loan using Graceland as collateral was not repaid. Keough’s lawyers say the alleged loan in question is fraudulent.

Scheduled for auction this Thursday, the sale was blocked by a Memphis judge following Keough’s request for a temporary restraining order and her filing of a lawsuit, according to court documents. The public notice for the foreclosure sale posted earlier in May stated that Promenade Trust, which oversees the Graceland Museum, owes $3.8 million after failing to repay a 2018 loan.

Keough inherited the trust and ownership of the property after the death of her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, last year. The lawsuit indicates that Lisa Marie Presley had used Graceland as collateral for the loan. Naussany Investments and Private Lending claims Lisa Marie Presley did not repay the loan and thus sought to auction the estate on the courthouse steps, according to the foreclosure notice.

FRAUDULENT DOCUMENTS.

Keough filed the lawsuit last week on behalf of the Promenade Trust, alleging that Naussany presented fraudulent documents related to the loan and the amount claimed unpaid. “These documents are fraudulent,” Keough’s lawyer stated in the lawsuit. “Lisa Marie Presley never borrowed money from Naussany Investments and never issued a deed of trust to Naussany Investments.” W. Bradley Russell, a lawyer representing Naussany Investments, declined to comment on Tuesday.

An injunction hearing is set for Wednesday in Shelby County Chancery Court.

“Elvis Presley Enterprises can confirm that these claims are fraudulent. There is no foreclosure sale. The countersuit has been filed to stop the fraud,” said Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. in a statement on Tuesday.

Graceland has operated as a museum and tourist attraction since 1982, honoring Elvis Presley, the rock ’n’ roll legend who passed away in August 1977 at age 42. The site attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

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Riley Keough, the granddaughter of Elvis Presley, is challenging plans to auction the Graceland estate in Memphis. A company has moved to sell the property, alleging that a loan using Graceland as collateral was not repaid. Keough's lawyers say the alleged loan in question is fraudulent. show more
May 22, 2024
Jack Montgomery
Culture
Immigration
UK

English Courts Consider Scrapping Traditional Barristers’ Wigs After Black Lawyers Cry Racism.

English courts may no longer require courtroom lawyers to wear the traditional horsehair and, occasionally, hemp wigs they have donned since the 17th century to appease black barristers who complain the time-honored tradition amounts to “hair discrimination.”

“Following questions from barristers about wigs and hair discrimination, the Bar Council set up a working group to consider court dress in the context of all protected characteristics,” said a spokesman for the Bar Council, the approved regulator of barristers — specialists in courtroom representation within the English legal system.

Black barrister Michael Etienne sparked a miniature controversy after being instructed to wear a wig for a trial in 2022, as he sports an afro hairstyle, claiming the tradition was racist.

Despite ceremonial dress being highly valued in many African and indigenous traditional settings, black barrister Leslie Thomas KC insists England’s traditional wigs, or perukes, “certainly should go.”

“There isn’t any place in a modern society for barristers to be wearing 17th-century fashion,” he claimed, adding that win collars and other “archaic” court dress should also be scrapped.

ERASING ENGLISH CULTURE. 

Leftist activists have been gradually erasing traditional English dress for some years. Speakers of the House of Commons traditionally wore wigs, black stockings, and silver-buckled shoes until Labour politician Michael Martin — later forced from the speakership by an expenses scandal — scrapped the tradition in 2000.

Wigs were dropped by the civil and family courts in 2007 and were kept out of the Supreme Court established by Tony Blair in 2009. They currently survive only in criminal court.

Other traditions have also been dropped in the name of accommodating minorities, such as saying grace before meals at the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, one of four Inns of Court to which all English barristers must belong. The Inn dropped the 600-year-old tradition in favor of saying  “a non-Christian ‘thanks’ because of our diverse range of members with a different range of beliefs.”

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English courts may no longer require courtroom lawyers to wear the traditional horsehair and, occasionally, hemp wigs they have donned since the 17th century to appease black barristers who complain the time-honored tradition amounts to "hair discrimination." show more
May 21, 2024
Culture

Bill Maher Calls Transgenderism ‘TikTok Trend’ That Went Too Far.

During an appearance on Fox News, liberal broadcaster Bill Maher compared transgenderism to a “TikTok challenge that got out of hand.” Maher stressed that being liberal is not the same as being “woke” and argued that the United States is now an “outlier” on the issue, “doubling down” as European countries move away from practices like prescribing puberty blockers to children.

“Is there such a thing as trans? Of course, there are sometimes people who are, let’s just say there’s a mix up at the factory and you don’t feel in your head the way you do in your body, but some of this is also just a TikTok challenge that got out of hand,” Maher said.

“Liberalism is not the same thing as woke, woke they would like to think they’re an extension of liberalism, they’re not, I’m an old school liberal, it’s very often the opposite,” observed Maher. “And [the woke] think they’re going so far in the right direction, and it actually turns out that they’re in the wrong direction, and they’ve actually reversed it,” he said.

“Most of the countries in Europe now — England, the Scandinavian countries… they’ve all reversed themselves on this. They don’t do the puberty blockers anymore, they don’t do this stuff,” Maher continued. “America is just doubling down on this stuff, so we are the outlier country on this stuff.”

Maher’s comments highlight a growing division within the left, underscoring debates between traditional liberalism and what is often termed as “woke progressivism.” This schism is playing out while other Western nations are reevaluating practices related to gender transitions among minors, leaving the U.S. increasingly isolated in its current approach.

 

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During an appearance on Fox News, liberal broadcaster Bill Maher compared transgenderism to a "TikTok challenge that got out of hand." Maher stressed that being liberal is not the same as being "woke" and argued that the United States is now an “outlier” on the issue, "doubling down" as European countries move away from practices like prescribing puberty blockers to children. show more
May 21, 2024
Ed Kozak
Culture

‘Home Alone’ Star Says Trump Picked Up $7,000 Bar Tab.

A new memoir by actor Daniel Stern, slated for release on May 21, reveals an interesting anecdote involving former President Donald Trump during the filming of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. According to Stern, Trump offered to cover the group’s bar tab after making a cameo in the popular 1992 sequel.

Stern, known for his role as Marv in Home Alone and its sequel, cult classic C.H.U.D., and also as the narrator of The Wonder Years, writes in “Home and Alone” that Trump’s real contribution was allowing the production to use the opulent Trump Plaza as a filming location. Stern notes that the meeting with Trump, arranged by the film’s producers, was noteworthy but that Trump was “not a great conversationalist.”

During one night of production, Stern and some crew members were drinking at the Plaza’s Oak Room. Trump entered with his then-wife Ivana Trump and began interacting with guests. Spotting the film crew, Trump made a public offer to pick up their tab. According to Stern, this prompted the group to have multiple rounds of drinks, eventually shutting down the bar at 4 AM. Stern estimates the total spending to be at least $7,000.

In an interview with Page Six, Stern said, “We still feel really good about that,” reflecting on Trump’s current standing as a divisive political figure.

Director Chris Columbus claimed in a 2020 Business Insider interview that Trump had “bullied” his way into the film as part of the conditions for using the Plaza as a location. Columbus noted that Trump was originally not intended to remain in the final cut, but positive reactions from test audiences secured his brief appearance in the film.

Trump has refuted Columbus’ claims, stating on his Truth Social platform that he did not bully his way into the movie.

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A new memoir by actor Daniel Stern, slated for release on May 21, reveals an interesting anecdote involving former President Donald Trump during the filming of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. According to Stern, Trump offered to cover the group's bar tab after making a cameo in the popular 1992 sequel. show more
May 21, 2024
Ed Kozak
Culture
Data

TIME BOMB: Gen Z is Godless, Unpatriotic, and They Don’t Want Kids.

Over the last several generations, Americans have undergone a stark and profound transformation in their beliefs and values. According to a recent poll, Gen Z — those currently aged 18-26 — are significantly less patriotic, less religious, and less likely to want children than the Baby Boomers who came three generations before them. This historic shift carries significant implications for the future.

The poll, by Public Opinion Strategies on behalf of NBC News, found that just 32 percent of Gen Z think patriotism is very important compared to 76 percent of Baby Boomers, ages 59-76. Only thirty-three percent of Gen Z agree that America is the best place to live, compared to 66 percent of Baby Boomers.

Gen Z is even less religious than it is patriotic. According to the survey, 26 percent of Gen Z say that a belief in God/religion is very important, compared to 65 percent of Baby Boomers. In 2000, just 14 percent of those ages 18-34 never attended a religious service. Today, that number has more than tripled, with 45 percent of those ages 18-34 never attending a religious service.

Similarly, just 23 percent of Gen Z think having children is very important, compared to 52 percent of Baby Boomers.

The poll shows that this seismic shift in core social values has come hand-in-hand with a change in political beliefs. The poll found that whereas just 51 percent of those over the age of 65 favor gay marriage, 84 percent of those ages 18-34 are in favor of it. More than half of those ages 18-34 — 55 percent — think society hasn’t gone far enough to end “gender discrimination,” compared to just 24 percent of those over 65. While 81 percent of those over 65 think America should address immigration with increased border security funding, just 54 percent of those 18-34 think so.

CHANGING VALUES. CHANGING PEOPLE.

Several developments can explain this profound shift in values. Much of America’s transformation into a less traditional, less conservative, and more liberal society began with the Baby Boomers in the 1960s. Three generations on, Gen Z’s beliefs are arguably the natural and inevitable consequence of decades of feminism, the sexual revolution, and anti-Americanism.

Demographic change is also a key factor in explaining these shifts. The Baby Boomer generation was born into an America that was still largely White Ango-Saxon Protestant, both in terms of values and ethnic makeup. But now, Americans’ values may be changing because Americans are changing.

According to a 2020 Pew survey, 22 percent of Gen Z have at least one immigrant parent, compared to 14 percent of Millennials. In both the West and the South, fewer than 50 percent of Gen Z are non-Hispanic white, and according to Census Bureau projections, Gen Z will be majority non-white by 2026.

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Over the last several generations, Americans have undergone a stark and profound transformation in their beliefs and values. According to a recent poll, Gen Z — those currently aged 18-26 — are significantly less patriotic, less religious, and less likely to want children than the Baby Boomers who came three generations before them. This historic shift carries significant implications for the future. show more
May 21, 2024
Culture
Politics

Iranian Director’s Anti-Trump Film Featuring Ivana Rape Scene Gets 11-Minute Ovation in Cannes.

Iranian director Ali Abbasi premiered his anti-Trump film “The Apprentice” at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday. The film stars Disney-Marvel actor Sebastian Stan as a young Donald Trump striving to make his mark in New York City under the influence of Roy Cohn, portrayed by Jeremy Strong of “Succession” fame, and includes a scene in which Trump rapes his then-wife Ivana. Following the screening, Abbasi left little doubt that his intent was to create a work of pure anti-Trump propaganda.

“When we did this movie, everyone said, why do you want to make a movie about Trump? If you want to tell something about the world, do it in a nice way, in a metaphorical way,” Abbasi said, adding: “There is no nice metaphorical way to deal with the rising wave of fascism.”

The Trump campaign announced its intention to sue the “pretend filmmakers” responsible for the movie, which includes a highly controversial and disturbing scene depicting “Trump raping his wife and asking: ‘Did I find your g spot?'” according to the Daily Mail.

“We will be filing a lawsuit to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers,” said Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung. “This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalizes lies that have been long debunked. As with the illegal Biden Trials, this is election interference by Hollywood elites, who know that President Trump will retake the White House and beat their candidate of choice because nothing they have done has worked,” Cheung continued.

“This ‘film’ is pure malicious defamation, should not see the light of day, and doesn’t even deserve a place in the straight-to-DVD section of a bargain bin at a soon-to-be-closed discount movie store, it belongs in a dumpster fire,” he said.

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Iranian director Ali Abbasi premiered his anti-Trump film "The Apprentice" at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday. The film stars Disney-Marvel actor Sebastian Stan as a young Donald Trump striving to make his mark in New York City under the influence of Roy Cohn, portrayed by Jeremy Strong of "Succession" fame, and includes a scene in which Trump rapes his then-wife Ivana. Following the screening, Abbasi left little doubt that his intent was to create a work of pure anti-Trump propaganda. show more

Editor’s Notes

Behind-the-scenes political intrigue exclusively for Pulse+ subscribers.

RAHEEM J. KASSAM Editor-in-Chief
Straight up election interference by the Hollywood types in conjunction with an Iranian filmmaker
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Straight up election interference by the Hollywood types in conjunction with an Iranian filmmaker show more
for exclusive members-only insights
lgbt policy
May 17, 2024
Jack Montgomery
Culture
Education

OBEY THE GAY: Parents Can’t Opt Children Out of LGBTQ Lessons, Federal Judges Rule.

A federal court is upholding a Maryland district policy barring parents of young K-5 children from opting them out of lessons on gender identity and sexuality. The mandate, implemented by the Montgomery County Public Schools board in March 2023, was upheld by a 2-1 panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Christian, Jewish, and Muslim parents argued through their representatives from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty that the new policy infringed upon their rights to direct their children’s education and freely practice their faith. They highlighted books involved in the LGBTQ curriculum such as The Pride Puppy, Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, and Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope, which were argued to be unsuitable for young children.

The parents also took issue with how staff were directed to handle questions or concerns about the LGBTQ content in the curriculum. Teachers’ guidance suggests that, for example, if a student says “a girl… can only like boys because she’s a girl,” a teacher can “[d]isrupt the either/or thinking by saying something like: actually, people of any gender can like whoever they like.”

Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum, Jr., dissenting against the two judges who upheld the opt-out ban, said the school board was forcing parents to compromise their religious beliefs or forego a public education for their children, infringing their constitutional rights.

“I also find that the board’s actions, at least under this record, were neither neutral nor generally applicable,” he said.

The parents’ representatives say they intend to appeal to the Supreme Court, which is mainly comprised of conservative justices thanks to Donald Trump.

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A federal court is upholding a Maryland district policy barring parents of young K-5 children from opting them out of lessons on gender identity and sexuality. The mandate, implemented by the Montgomery County Public Schools board in March 2023, was upheld by a 2-1 panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. show more
May 16, 2024
Jack Montgomery
Culture
Media
UK

Queer Black ‘Doctor Who’ Gets Terrible Ratings.

Ratings for Doctor Who, the iconic British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) sci-fi show that has been running since 1963, have crashed following the introduction of the first “openly queer” black Doctor, played by Rwandan migrant Ncuti Gatwa.

Ratings have plummeted by around 50 percent since Gatwa’s debut episode and are near the all-time low viewing figures set in 2022. The BBC, funded by a television license fee all Britons are compelled to pay if they watch live programming — even if none of it is BBC content — insists this does not account for viewers who watch on streaming services. However, the new series has already thrown away much public goodwill, with Gatwa having told viewers unhappy with the show’s woke direction: “Don’t watch. Turn off the TV. Go and touch grass, please, for God’s sake.”

Showrunner Russel T. Davies, a gay man, has declared it is his “job to open doors and let the next people through and to let trans and queer stories through,” setting the tone for the direction of the publicly-funded series.

It is not an entirely new direction, however, with Davies having suggested that, in the future, straight people will not exist when he first revived the show in the 2000s. His successor and now predecessor, Steven Moffat, also said they had an agenda to insert ethnic minorities into British and European history during time-traveling stories to promote the narrative the West has always been diverse.

“We’ve kind of got to tell a lie. We’ll go back into history and there will be black people where, historically, there wouldn’t have been, and we won’t dwell on that,” Moffat explained.

“We’ll say, ‘To hell with it, this is the imaginary, better version of the world. By believing in it, we’ll summon it forth,'” he added.

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Ratings for Doctor Who, the iconic British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) sci-fi show that has been running since 1963, have crashed following the introduction of the first "openly queer" black Doctor, played by Rwandan migrant Ncuti Gatwa. show more
May 15, 2024
Culture

South American Country Classifies Transgenders as Mentally Ill.

The Peruvian government has passed a resolution categorizing transgender, nonbinary, and intersex individuals as “mentally ill.” This policy decision, meant to ensure comprehensive mental health services for the transgender community, has been met with criticism, notably from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups.

Peru’s Health Ministry, defending the move, stated that the language in the Essential Health Insurance Plan would be modified to indicate that transgenders have a mental disorder. The Ministry maintained that despite the modified classification, the LGBTQ+ community will not be subjected to mandatory conversion therapies.

The decree was officially signed by President Dina Boluarte last week. The decision marks a significant shift in governmental policy, and reactions have been mixed.

The policy change has not gone down well with LGBTQ+ groups nationwide. Opponents, such as Jheinser Pacaya, director of OutfestPeru, consider this a substantial setback in the ongoing struggle for LGBTQ+ rights and safety. Pacaya expressed his disapproval on social media, vowing not to rest until the decree is abolished.

However, despite the outcry from the global LGBTQ+ community, transgenderism — or gender dysphoria (GD) — is a mental illness and is still technically classified as such in the United States. The condition was previously recognized in psychiatry and psychology as gender identity disorder (GID).

GD replaced GID as the preferred term in 2013 with the publication of an updated Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The term “mental illness,” according to the American Psychiatric Association, “refers collectively to all diagnosable mental disorders.”

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The Peruvian government has passed a resolution categorizing transgender, nonbinary, and intersex individuals as "mentally ill." This policy decision, meant to ensure comprehensive mental health services for the transgender community, has been met with criticism, notably from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups. show more
May 13, 2024
Jack Montgomery
Culture
Media

West Virginia Town May Get Transgender Mayor.

The Associated Press is pushing the mayoral campaign of Wheeling City Council member Rosemary Ketchum, the first openly transgender public official in West Virginia. While the press agency presents Ketchum as a nonpartisan figure focused on paving roads and other brass tacks local issues, he has a history of trashing Donald Trump on social media and executing far-left stunts in office.

The AP claims Ketchum’s focus is “address[ing] the community’s concerns, ranging from accessible public transit to support for small businesses,” and jabs at “GOP lawmakers’ focus on books bans and bathroom access.”

It concedes in passing that the City Council during Ketchum’s tenure declared racism a “public health crisis” in the midst of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, however, and symbolically banned “conversion therapy” of homosexual and transgender persons.

As for Ketchum’s claimed rapport with Trump voters and people “uncomfortable” with “gender nonconformity,” the official has an extensive history of attacking Donald Trump and his supporters online.

Ketchum, who was transitioned as a minor, supported Trump’s impeachment, branded his administration “hateful, vicious, and dangerous,” and claimed his supporters lack “critical thinking skills, self-awareness, and empathy.” He also attacked First Lady Melania Trump as a “complicit, lying, birther” and pushed the hoax story alleging the former president called America’s First World War dead “losers.”

After then-President Trump excluded transgenders from the military in 2018, Ketchum penned an article demanding he be allowed to serve. However, two years later, believing war was a real possibility, he posted on social media celebrating the fact he could not be conscripted, with the hashtag #NoDraftPlease.

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The Associated Press is pushing the mayoral campaign of Wheeling City Council member Rosemary Ketchum, the first openly transgender public official in West Virginia. While the press agency presents Ketchum as a nonpartisan figure focused on paving roads and other brass tacks local issues, he has a history of trashing Donald Trump on social media and executing far-left stunts in office. show more