Free Republic

Residents of Palm Springs, California, are a bit butt-hurt over a proposed AIDS memorial sculpture looks suspiciously like a human anus. The design, which is meant to honor individuals who have lost their lives to HIV and AIDS, is facing backlash for its “inappropriate connotations,” according to KESQ. Palm Springs residents are not fully convinced that this should be the artistic representation of these deadly diseases, according to the outlet. Mock-ups of how the Downtown Park installation might look show a nine-foot-tall wheel of limestone with striations converging on a hole in the center. The donut-shaped sculpture by Phillip K....

[Video 7:38] Human Feces, Other Biohazards on San Diego Sidewalks Cost City Nearly $1 Million Every Year NBC 7’s Alexis Rivas takes a look at the issues behind filth on public streets, and the price tag for cleaning it up. NBC Universal, Inc. Taxpayers in San Diego spend nearly $1 million each year sanitizing sidewalks from biohazards, including needles, personal hygiene waste and human feces. It’s a problem that is not only gross, it's also a major public-health threat some say the city isn’t doing enough to fix. “Maybe this is really gross,” said Sherman Heights resident Essence McConnell, “but...

North Carolina’s State Ethics Committee has just opened up a major problem for their state — they just made it legal for lobbying firms to purchase prostitutes to service politicians. The Committee’s determination that sex had no value and that sex between a lobbyist and politician was nothing to report or in any way questionable means that a major loophole has opened up for lobbying firms. Now lobbying firms can hire people with the explicit goal to seduce and fornicate with politicians in order to garner favor. In other terms, lobbying firms can hire people who can offer sexual services...