King’s College Unveils Alan Turing Statue

On January 22, King’s College at Cambridge in England unveiled a sculpture commemorating Alan Turing, considered the father of computer science and artificial intelligence, who received a degree in mathematics from the school.

“From the papers he published at Cambridge which are now recognised as the foundation of computer science, through his vital code-breaking work at Bletchley Park during the Second World War which is credited with the saving of countless lives, to his exploration of the idea of artificial intelligence, the importance of Alan Turing and his impact on our world are hard to overestimate,” said Professor Michael Proctor, Provost of King’s College, “It was in the College’s tolerant, open-minded and intellectual environment that Turing was able to live a fulfilled life both as a homosexual man and an abstract thinker, and we are enormously proud to acknowledge the significance of his unparalleled contribution to science and modern computing in this way. We hope the sculpture will be a great source of interest and pleasure to many.”

Turing is credited with cracking the code for intercepted Nazi messages, considered a pivotal development that accelerated the ability of Allied forces to defeat the Axis powers and end World War II. After the war, despite his immense contributions, Turing was arrested and prosecuted for having sex with another man. He was convicted of “gross indecency” in 1952, after which he was chemically castrated and forced to take female hormones.

In 1954, when Turing was 41 years old, he ate a cyanide-laced apple and died — widely considered a suicide, though some believe his death to be an accident.

In 2013 Turing was awarded a posthumous royal pardon. In June 2021, the Bank of England began printing £50 notes featuring Turing’s image, another nod to the groundbreaking scientist.

Matt Gaetz Once Again Under Investigation

Remember that Department of Justice probe of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL)? The one where, in May 2021, his friend Joel Greenberg pleaded guilty to, among other things, sex trafficking of a minor — and in December 2022 was sentenced to 11 years in prison?

The one where Greenberg said other adult friends of his had also had sex with that minor? The one where Matt Gaetz was alleged to have been one of those friends?

Last February, the Department of Justice informed the Florida Congressman that they would not charge him in the investigation. Part of the decision not to bring charges, an anonymous source told ABC News at the time, was due in part to anticipated difficulty convincing a jury that Gaetz knew the minor was underage at the time.

Well, a simultaneous House Ethics Committee into Gaetz was put on pause while the DOJ completed that investigation. That probe — into allegations of sexual misconduct, public corruption, and illicit drug use — was reopened last July, with multiple witnesses contacted for interviews and documents.

This includes the woman who claims to have had sex with the Congressman as a minor, according to CNN.

Gaetz, of course, denies any wrongdoing and is dismissive of the investigation.

Gaetz has been vocal against LGBTQ+ rights, claiming in 2019 that, if the Equality Act were allowed to pass (banning LGBTQ+ discrimination), then-President Donald Trump could declare himself the “first female President.”

In 2023, after introducing a bill to nullify restrictions on prayer in schools, Gaetz said “Our country’s education policy forbids students and faculty from praying, while endlessly promoting degenerate LGBT and anti-White propaganda.”

How Can We End The HIV Epidemic?

Despite incredible advances in medicine, the HIV epidemic is still alive and well in the United States and abroad. Why is this, and what do the numbers look like?

It is estimated that, as of late 2022, there are 1.2 million Americans living with HIV, and about 39 million worldwide. AIDS, the most advanced stage of HIV, is the point at which the body can no longer fight the infection.

In the United states, Men who have sex with men (MSM) represent 67 percent of all new HIV infections. Black Americans represent 44 percent of all new HIV infections and deaths. One in two Black American MSM will contract HIV in their lifetime, compared to one in four Hispanic and one in 11 White American MSM.

This disparity is more pronounced outside of MSM: while 40 percent of U.S. Trans women have HIV, two in three Black Trans women do.

In 2012, the Federal Drug Administration approved Truvada as Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) — this once-daily pill, when taken regularly, prevents individuals from contracting HIV from a sexual partner with 99 percent efficacy, and from injection drug use with 74 percent efficacy, according to the CDC.

A second medicine, Descovy, was approved for use as PrEP in 2019, found to be at least as effective as Truvada when taken daily. In December 2021, the FDA approved cabotegravir, an injectable form of PrEP found to be 69 percent more effective than oral PrEP, taken every two months.

Today, PrEP is a no-brainer for many. In the U.S., between 78 and 94 percent of White MSM were prescribed some form of PrEP, compared to 11 percent of Black and 20 percent of Latinx MSM.

The primary reason PrEP isn’t more widespread is, frankly, its cost. Up until 2019 there was no generic for Truvada — one month of which can cost nearly $2,000 — and many insurance providers did not cover it.

To stay on Truvada, quarterly STI tests and bloodwork are required, which can also be costly.

Gilead donates 2.4 million bottles of Truvada and Descovy each year, and multiple programs from Gilead and nonprofit organizations can cover up to $7,500 in yearly out-of-pocket costs. 12 states (including Virginia) and D.C. have additional PrEP assistance programs.

If PrEP were free and available to anybody who wanted it, paired with education and outreach programs to spread the word, that change alone could end the HIV epidemic in a generation.