A new AIDS memorial in Palm Springs, California is stirring controversy, due to its similarity to an orifice which is often people’s first point of contact with the disease.
From one side, the $500,000 memorial looks like a generic, donut-like modernist sculpture engraved with a swirling pattern – but from the other side it resembles an anus.
“The backside of the proposed memorial looks like a graphic depiction of the backside of a human being,” said local activist Gene Brake.
“That’s definitely a butthole,” remarked one social media user.
While HIV and AIDS can be contracted through vaginal sex and needle-sharing, they are most commonly contracted through male-on-male anal sex, with gay and bisexual men accounting for a grossly disproportionate share of the infected.
The lifetime risk of contracting HIV for gay men is one in six, rising to one in four among gay Latino men and an astonishing one in two among gay black men, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). show less
A new AIDS memorial in Palm Springs, California is stirring controversy, due to its similarity to an orifice which is often people's first point of contact with the disease.
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England’s second-largest city is erecting a 16-foot tall statue weighing a metric ton and depicting a woman in a hijab, in celebration of Islamic veils that are often compulsory in Muslim-majority states.
“The Strength of the Hijab is a piece which represents women who wear hijabs of the Islamic faith, and it’s really there because it’s such an underrepresented part of our community, but such an important one,” said sculptor Luke Perry, a white, non-Muslim man.
“They need visibility, it’s so important,” he added.
The sculpture shows a grim-faced, strangely geometric, and mostly disembodied woman wrapped in a headscarf, perched upon a plinth reading: “It is a woman’s right to be loved and respected whatever she chooses to wear.”
It has drawn criticism online because wearing the hijab, or more restrictive face veils such as the niqab and burqa, as often not a choice in Islamic countries, with women facing arrest for wearing hijabs improperly or not at all, or vigilante attacks by Muslim men throwing acid in their faces.
The Strength of the Hijab was designed by renowned sculptor Luke Perry and will be installed in the Smethwick area of Birmingham in October pic.twitter.com/aawbAMhFsz
While the BBC and other establishment media outlets have avoided disclosing the cost of the piece, local reports say an estimated £25,000 (~$31,000) was spent on it. Legacy West Midlands, which commissioned the sculpture, is a registered “charity” that receives much of its funding from the state, including around £130,000 (~$160,000) in government grants and contracts over the last three years.
Birmingham is one of several English cities where the white British population is now in a minority, along with the capital of London, Manchester, and Leicester.
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England's second-largest city is erecting a 16-foot tall statue weighing a metric ton and depicting a woman in a hijab, in celebration of Islamic veils that are often compulsory in Muslim-majority states.
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Editor’s Notes
Behind-the-scenes political intrigue exclusively for Pulse+ subscribers.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has set his sights on the Joe Biden regime after an impeachment effort led by state house Democrats and enabled by their RINO colleagues ended in total exoneration, allowing him to return to work and continue executing a MAGA law enforcement agenda.
“I can promise the Biden Administration the following: buckle up because your lawless policies will not go unchallenged. We will not allow you to shred the Constitution and infringe on the rights of Texans. You will be held accountable,” he vowed after he was cleared, a point he reiterated on Monday:
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, who ordered House impeachment managers to disclose previously withheld “evidence” against Paxton after reporting by The National Pulse, has now ordered a full audit of the investigation and trial of the Attorney General.
“Millions of taxpayer dollars have been wasted on this impeachment,” the Lieutenant Governor complained immediately following Paxton’s trial, which he presided over in his capacity as President of the Senate.
“The Speaker [Dade Phelan] and his team rammed through the first impeachment of a statewide official in Texas in over 100 years while paying no attention to the precedent the House set in every other impeachment,” he lamented.
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has set his sights on the Joe Biden regime after an impeachment effort led by state house Democrats and enabled by their RINO colleagues ended in total exoneration, allowing him to return to work and continue executing a MAGA law enforcement agenda.
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Ron DeSantis’s “rapid response director”, Christina Pushaw, has viciously attacked a leading pro-life campaigner – Frank Pavone – for supporting Donald Trump, saying it “makes sense” that he is no longer a priest after a campaign by the far-left saw the Vatican defrock him for being an outspoken conservative.
Pavone, 64, is one of the highest-profile pro-life campaigners in America, and as director of the Priests for Life group was one of the highest profile Catholic clergyman in America prior to being removed from the priesthood. Pushaw, despite claiming to be a pro-life Catholic, now says she had never heard of him.
Pushaw is best known for her libertarian political positions and work as a registered foreign agent for a top Zelensky ally. She is close friends with homosexual surrogate fathers Dave Rubin and his “husband” David Janet, and has declared herself as “in favor of” illegal immigrant “dreamers”. Despite this, she felt comfortable attacking Pavone for his support for Donald Trump.
The Vatican, under Jesuit liberal Pope Francis, long persecuted Pavone for his political views, ordering him to step down from the Catholics for Trump advisory board in 2020 and finally defrocking him in late 2022 for disobedience to his liberal bishop.
Pavone had often been critical of Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and other allegedly Catholic Democrats who promote abortion, and has described the bishops who lobbied against him as “Democrat loyalists”. Pavone’s supporters have often compared his harsh treatment by the Vatican to that of Rev. James Martin, another Jesuit whom the Pope has repeatedly promoted despite the fact he advocates for gay marriage and other LGBTQ priorities in defiance of Catholic teaching.
Pavone explained his position on Trump’s abortion remarks at length as Pushaw and the DeSantis campaign were attacking him, observing that Trump is “running a campaign in which he’s trying to help his party, our party, speak in a politically effective way on this issue.”
“Now, I’m not saying that justifies compromising morally – it doesn’t,” he continued. “You don’t compromise morally, you become politically wise. Jesus himself said it, you’ve got to be wise as serpents… because you look at what you’re trying to accomplish, you consider where your audience is, and you say, let me talk about this persuasively to lead them from point A to point B.”
Polls show Americans oppose abortion up to birth, supported by many Democrats and legal in Democrat-led Washington D.C. and multiple Democrat-led states – but only a minority support restrictions earlier than 12 weeks with no exceptions for rape.
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Ron DeSantis's "rapid response director", Christina Pushaw, has viciously attacked a leading pro-life campaigner – Frank Pavone – for supporting Donald Trump, saying it "makes sense" that he is no longer a priest after a campaign by the far-left saw the Vatican defrock him for being an outspoken conservative.
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Ray Epps – a key January 6th figure who has bizarrely escaped justice for years despite admitting to having “orchestrated” much of it – has finally been charged by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
On or about January 6, 2021, within the District of Columbia, JAMES RAY EPPS, SR. did knowingly, and with intent to impede and disrupt the orderly conduct of Government business and official functions, engage in disorderly and disruptive conduct in and within such proximity to, a restricted building and grounds—that is, any posted, cordoned-off, and otherwise restricted area within the United States Capitol and its grounds, where the Vice President was and would be temporarily visiting—when and so that such conduct did in fact impede and disrupt the orderly conduct of Government business and official functions, and attempted and conspired to do so. (Disorderly or Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building or Grounds, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1752(a)(2)).
Violation of 1752(a)(2) can be a simple misdemeanor, with a maximum sentence of one year in prison. The charging document, however, states the charge is a felony charge, significantly raising the maximum jail time. NBC News reports the charge is a misdemeanor with Epps likely planning to enter a plea deal.
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Ray Epps – a key January 6th figure who has bizarrely escaped justice for years despite admitting to having "orchestrated" much of it – has finally been charged by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
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A retail theft epidemic sparked by soft-on-crime policies has driven stores like Walmart and Whole Foods out of Chicago. Now, the city’s radical left-wing mayor, Brandon Johnson, is taking a page out the socialism handbook and exploring the idea of government-owned grocery stores to replace the departing retail giants. According to Johnson, the goal of the city-owned groceries would be to promote “equitable” food access.
Critics say Mayor Johnson is ignoring Attorney Kim Foxx’s soft-on-crime policies as part of the conversation – policies that have drawn sharp criticism from Illinois Republican and Democrat lawmakers, and even Johnson’s predecessor, former-Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Mayor Johnson joined a growing list of Democrat-run localities in exploring lawsuits against auto manufacturers, blaming them for the spike in carjackings and burglaries because their cars are apparently too easy to break into.
When Walmart announced they were departing Chicago’s South and West side neighborhoods, the store pointed to rapidly increasing losses those locations have suffered as crime in the city increased:
“The simplest explanation is that collectively our Chicago stores have not been profitable since we opened the first one nearly 17 years ago – these stores lose tens of millions of dollars a year, and their annual losses nearly doubled in just the last five years”
Johnson’s allies on the city council, meanwhile are pushing drastic cuts to policing, surveillance, and other public safety measures as the they grapple with an over half-a-billion dollar budget gap.
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A retail theft epidemic sparked by soft-on-crime policies has driven stores like Walmart and Whole Foods out of Chicago. Now, the city's radical left-wing mayor, Brandon Johnson, is taking a page out the socialism handbook and exploring the idea of government-owned grocery stores to replace the departing retail giants. According to Johnson, the goal of the city-owned groceries would be to promote "equitable" food access.
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Congressional Republicans are still stuck negotiating with themselves despite the appearance that a deal had been struck between the conservative and moderate wings of the House Conference to avert a government shutdown late Sunday night. It was announced at the time that the Freedom Caucus and Main Street Caucus had reached an agreement on a 30-day Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government while Congress continued work on passing the 12 major appropriations bills to fund the government for the next fiscal year.
Despite receiving backing from some of Washington D.C.’s biggest center-right institutions, the deal was already on the ropes by Monday morning. As of the last count, 18 Republican House members have announced they will not support the agreement, leaving House Speaker McCarthy without the votes to pass the CR. The deal is not expected to receive any Democrat backing.
Congressman Chip Roy (R-TX), a prominent leader in the Freedom Caucus who had previously promised to use ‘every tool’ to stop a short-term CR was one of the deal’s chief architects along with Reps. Byron Donalds (R-FL) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD). The conservative Heritage Action quickly backed the deal, stating, “The proposal cuts spending and seeks to end a worsening, self-inflicted border crisis.” The more libertarian FreedomWorks also backed the deal, telling Congressional Republicans: “We support the negotiated spending cuts and urge all members of the House to get behind the CR.”
Despite the pressure from both within the Freedom Caucus and from outside political groups, a handful of House conservatives still oppose the measure. On Sunday, former President Donald Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker that House conservatives shouldn’t back a CR unless they think they’re getting a fair deal – even if it interrupts the House impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
Among the members who’ve announced they will not support the CR: Reps. Dan Bishop (R-NC), Wesley Hunt (R-TX), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Tim Burchett (R-TN), Bob Good (R-VA), Tony Gonzales (R-TX), Matt Rosendale (R-MT), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Victoria Spartz (R-IN), Ralph Norman (R-SC), and Andy Ogles (R-TN) all appear to oppose any deal that doesn’t include significant spending cuts – with some wanting to return sending to pre-COVID levels.
Others, aligned with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) object because the deal’s eight percent spending cut would only last for 30 days; it fails to defund Jack Smith’s prosecutions of former President Donald Trump; and there is no mechanism to force Biden to actually secure the border. These members appear to include Reps. Corey Mills (R-FL), Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA), Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), and Lauren Boebert (R-CO).
In the case of Rep. Ken Buck, it is speculated that he will simply oppose any measure pushed by the Speaker – including opposing the Biden impeachment inquiry – because he was snubbed as chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust. The chairmanship was given instead to the Big Tech-friendly Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY).
Without the passage of a Continuing Resolution, the federal government is set to run out of money on Oct.1.
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Congressional Republicans are still stuck negotiating with themselves despite the appearance that a deal had been struck between the conservative and moderate wings of the House Conference to avert a government shutdown late Sunday night. It was announced at the time that the Freedom Caucus and Main Street Caucus had reached an agreement on a 30-day Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government while Congress continued work on passing the 12 major appropriations bills to fund the government for the next fiscal year.
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Editor’s Notes
Behind-the-scenes political intrigue exclusively for Pulse+ subscribers.
GUEST EDITOR’S NOTE FROM WILL UPTON: At this morning’s House Republican Conference meeting, Speaker Kevin McCarthy told members an anecdote about downhill skiing
GUEST EDITOR’S NOTE FROM WILL UPTON: At this morning’s House Republican Conference meeting, Speaker Kevin McCarthy told members an anecdote about downhill skiing show more
British Home Secretary Suella Braverman reminded the police that their job is to prevent crimes from taking place rather than to dance around at pride events in the House of Commons on Monday afternoon.
Braverman – known for her fierce rhetoric rather than action on issues including immigration and policing – responded to a question from her fellow “Conservative” Member of Parliament Nick Fletcher regarding police officers returning to the streets instead of “promoting unscientific ideologies,” to which she stated:
“We pay the police to fight crime, whether that’s a focus on anti-social behavior, the nuisance bikers or burglaries as he’s mentioned. They are there to keep people safe Mr. Speaker. We do not pay them to wave flags at parades, to dance with drag queens or to campaign. That’s why I finally ended all association with Stonewall at the Home Office and why I expect all PCCs and Chief Constables to focus on cutting crime and rebuilding confidence, not playing politics.”
– Suella Braverman, September 2023.
While the British police continue to take political stances on social issues, crime across the country has skyrocketed. A mere one-in-six criminal offenses involving a knife, including those involving murders, rapes, and grievous bodily harm, resulted in a prosecution as of last year.
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British Home Secretary Suella Braverman reminded the police that their job is to prevent crimes from taking place rather than to dance around at pride events in the House of Commons on Monday afternoon.
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An average of over two pubs a day were shuttered in the first half of 2023 in England and Wales, with fully 383 closing down amid high inflation and an energy crisis exacerbated by the net zero agenda and sanctions war with Russia.
Britain’s governing Conservative (Tory) Party previously offered pubs — traditionally one of the central parts of local communities — a 75 percent reduction in local property taxes to help them cope with the damage inflicted by COVID-19 lockdown policies, but this is set to expire in March 2024. Worse still, rates are set to be hiked from next April, parallel with inflation, with real estate company Altus Group estimating this will add six percent to publicans’ bills.
“With energy costs up 80 percent year-on-year in a low-growth, high-inflation and high interest rates environment, the last thing pubs need is an average business rates hike of £12,385 next year,” said a spokesman for the group.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor of the Exchequer are opposed to reducing the historically high tax burden in the short to medium term.
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An average of over two pubs a day were shuttered in the first half of 2023 in England and Wales, with fully 383 closing down amid high inflation and an energy crisis exacerbated by the net zero agenda and sanctions war with Russia.
show more
Editor’s Notes
Behind-the-scenes political intrigue exclusively for Pulse+ subscribers.
The small Mediterranean island of Lampedusa has witnessed surging numbers of illegal migrants arriving on small boats and vessels from the African coast over the past week, causing tensions to grow between the migrant population and natives.
Lampedusa – situated between Malta and the Tunisian coast and belonging to Italy – saw some 7,000 migrants arrive on its shores over the past week alone, more than the number of permanent residents living on the island – around 6,000. The island itself is a tiny 7.8 square miles in size, which is around one-third of the size of the island of Manhattan, with the entire city of New York stretching 468.9 square miles.
The island’s migrant reception center has a total processing capacity of 400 migrants, requiring authorities to declare a state of emergency. The vast majority were quickly transferred to the European mainland by the Italian government to assist with the administration, with over 1,700 transferred to Germany. Around 3,800 remained on the island on Friday, with another 500 arriving on Saturday.
The migrants arriving on the island are predominantly from sub-Saharan Africa and embark across the Mediterranean from the Tunisian coast and also Libya. Around 90 percent of those crossing illegally into Europe pay people smugglers and criminal gangs to assist them. The price often varies depending on the longevity and risk of the journey, but gangs usually charge anywhere between €3,000 to €10,000.
The invasion of Lampedusa in the last few days spells catastrophe for the EU and for us.
I warned them all in 2015 but no-one listened.
These young men must be sent back or millions more will come.
Local residents were quick to protest plans to house illegal migrants in tents across the island, highlighting the need for Italian and European authorities to introduce meaningful policies to limit the flow of migration, which has consistently plagued the island for going on three decades and seen way over 250,000 people landing on its shores.
A number of residents even protested the visit of European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday, with one telling the BBC: “Lampedusa says stop! We don’t want tent camps. This message is for Europe and for the Italian government. Lampedusa residents are tired.”
“We want to preserve the little piece of life that touches us, the little piece of dignity that we have. We want to enjoy it, otherwise we have to change the country,” said another.
The EU chief was joined by the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, who has demanded the European Union take action. “If somebody here in Europe were to think that this crisis that we are tackling and facing could just be solved within Italian borders, then it would be a very big and huge mistake,” Meloni said on Sunday.
Whether forthcoming measures will be effective remains to be seen, however, they are widely recognized as a last resort for the inhabitants of the island after the mayor of Lampedusa, Filippo Mannino, explained, “We have now reached a point of no return and the island is in crisis.”
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The small Mediterranean island of Lampedusa has witnessed surging numbers of illegal migrants arriving on small boats and vessels from the African coast over the past week, causing tensions to grow between the migrant population and natives.
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