Reading Time: 5 minutes In the past week, recent reports and investigations have revealed a damning state of affairs for the role of so-called artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms in the child sex abuse material (CSAM) market. While machine learning software, including large language models like ChatGPT, has been the subject of great scrutiny as corporations test the limits on […]
child sex abuse
Posted inPolitics
Ali Alexander and the alt-right feud that finally exploded
Reading Time: 8 minutes Colorado police revealed that they are actively investigating an alt-right agitator named Ali Alexander. He’s part of the general alt-right, white-nationalist Zoomer movement alongside Nick Fuentes (America First) and Milo Yiannopoulos (ex-Breitbart provocateur). For years I’ve been hearing rumors about all of them that should concern anybody in the movement—if not everyone outside of it […]
Posted inCrime and Punishment
Research: Child sex abuse is not more common among priests
Reading Time: 4 minutes I’ll admit that I once suspected that there was something uniquely and inherently debased about Catholic clerics—a bias that only hardened as the avalanche of priestly pedophilia scandals crashed in wave after horrifying wave across the planet during the past few decades. But solely scapegoating priests is demonstrably unwarranted. Research indicates that priests, monks, and […]
Posted inReligion
Trust in pastors is dropping, and Southern Baptists think they know why
Reading Time: 10 minutes Misplaced trust makes Christians say “Oh no, my pastor would never do that!” It grants pastors a shield they do not deserve.
Posted inPolitics
‘Freethinker’ Mark Rozzi just became the new speaker of the Pennsylvania House
Reading Time: 4 minutes Pennsylvania State Representative Mark Rozzi, a self-identified “freethinker,” is now the speaker of the State House after Republicans couldn’t use their slim (temporary) majority to elect a leader from their own party. If you’ve been following the drama in that state, you know how chaotic things have been. After years of Republican dominance in the […]
Posted inPolitics
GOP lawmaker praises pastor whose church ignored child sex abuse
Reading Time: 2 minutes On Monday, Congressman Louie Gohmert, one of the most conservative members of the Republican Party, gave a general speech on the floor of the House and recited a sermon written for him by Pastor Tommy Nelson. Gohmert explained that Nelson, a friend who runs Denton Bible Church in Texas, sometimes joked about how he would […]
Posted inLaw, Religious News
Four Jehovah’s Witnesses charged with child sexual abuse in Pennsylvania
Reading Time: 2 minutes Four members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, all in Pennsylvania, have been charged with sexually abusing a total of 19 kids (including some of their own) over the course of several years. It’s the result of “hundreds of hours of grand jury testimony” and three years of investigation. “These cases are disturbing, the allegations hard to […]
Posted inEducation
Girl kicked out of Christian school after refusing to take picture in bathtub
Reading Time: 3 minutes A second grader was kicked out of Victory Christian Academy in Jacksonville, Florida after her parents refused to participate in an assignment that involved taking a picture of their child “doing reading homework in bathtub.” When mother Misty Dunham saw the assignment from teacher Irene Castaneda, she wrote a note back to the teacher saying […]
Posted inFilm/TV
Tribeca at Home goes taboo with these 3 worthwhile films
Reading Time: 4 minutes I’ve covered the Tribeca Festival multiple times during my tenure in New York City. However, this year, I chose to remain at home and pursue their virtual offerings via their online portal Tribeca at Home. As is my typical fashion when watching a film festival, I tend to click through most offerings in search of […]
Posted inReligious News
‘Use as example’: Southern Baptist self-protection in action
Reading Time: 11 minutes The whole document is horrifying reading. But one line in it particularly caught my eye. It read, “Use as example.” Today, we’ll look at this so-called “example” that the SBC’s leaders wanted to stand out as a perfect example of sexual predators in SBC ministerial ranks. Along the way, maybe we’ll see just why the people behind this document wanted to use this particular person, Perez Blackmon, as their ur-example.