Marc Ramirez
@typewriterninja.bsky.social
Chronicler of Americana and issues of faith, identity and social justice, USA TODAY. Will brake for film festivals. Avid about food/drink culture and the people behind it. ❤️ in the PNW/CDMX
AI systems favor Catholicism, shun Jehovah's Witnesses -- and largely ignore faith altogether when asked about grief and other major life challenges, research finds www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
Will God speak to you through AI? No, AI doesn't go there
While such patterns are likely unintentional, researchers said they show the challenges of representing diverse belief systems consistently.
usatoday.com
listen, I don’t pretend to know this system but I mean this sincerely: what
Politics UK@politicsuk.com · last mo.🚨 NEW: Shabana Mahmood has announced members of the public will replace judges in deciding appeals from failed asylum seekers
Venezuela earthquake death toll eclipses 1,400 as rescuers race time in search for survivors www.usatoday.com/story/news/w...
Venezuela earthquake death toll climbs over 1,400 as rescuers search
Rescue teams race against time in Venezuela as the death toll from twin earthquakes surpasses 1,400 people.
usatoday.com
and this isn't just some random evil racist congressman. he's the majority whip, the third most powerful member of the house! this *is* the party.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last mo.Tom Emmer: "Minnesotans are so afraid that you're gonna call us a racist, you're gonna call us an Islamophobe. You know what? I'm done being even the least bit careful. Somalis don't assimilate. And if they don't assimilate, then they should go the hell back to where they came from."
It looks like Trump took $350 million from money meant for the Secret Service in last year’s reconciliation bill and directed it to the ballroom project. This is now my 3rd time reporting on how the admin is using last year’s big cash injection to fund pet projects.
Senators Suspect Trump Shifted Secret Service Funds to Build His Ballroom
“It’s a big problem,” says Sen. Thom Tillis of the $352 million moved from personnel and training.
notus.org
Sealant Team Six guarding our vulnerable shores against Algae-Qeada, Algaetifa. And Algae Sharpton.
“It was like we were at a movie theater in Russia or North Korea,” the Rev. Chuck Currie wrote. "Democracies do not do this." www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
Minister calls out national theater chain for showing 'propaganda'
The US War Department's 'Peace Through Strength' video also played during the White House's UFC Freedom 250 event.
usatoday.com
"The fact that nearly seven in ten Americans believe we are in danger of losing critical rights and freedoms should set off alarm bells,” said Melissa Deckman of the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute. www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
At 250, nation pessimistic about democracy, American Dream
A national survey finds Americans strongly concerned about democratic rights, divided over national pride and the country's trajectory.
usatoday.com
BREAKING: Shalit, a beloved figure in American media thanks to his distinctive, pun-filled takes on American film, was 100 years old.
Gene Shalit, legendary 'Today' show critic, dies at 100
Shalit, a beloved figure in American media thanks to his distinctive, pun-filled takes on American film, was 100 years old.
bit.ly
Southern Baptists on Wednesday took the first step toward enshrining a ban on women teaching scripture or preaching to congregations within the nation's largest Protestant denomination www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
Southern Baptists advance ban on women serving as pastors
The vote is the first step toward banning women from teaching scripture or preaching to churches within the nation's largest Protestant denomination.
usatoday.com
The Mexican cartel kingpin El Mencho spent his last days in a Jalisco villa with a makeshift altar featuring Catholic saints and a copy of Psalm 91. My story for @usatoday.com about how narcotraffickers look to Catholic and folk saints for solace and illicit success. www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
Inside El Mencho’s altar: faith amid cartel violence
Experts say cartels echo others such as Italian mafiosi who test religious boundaries by looking to Catholic saints to justify criminal pursuits.
usatoday.com
What are humans worth, when the work and thoughts they produce threaten to be replicated by technological algorithms? And what is AI worth, if in the end it does not benefit humanity? www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
'Profound, prophetic': Pope Leo warns of AI's dehumanizing effects
The pope s treatise 'asks the right questions' of an industry better at building first and considering consequences later, one observer said.
usatoday.com
The White House intervened to get a $620 million deal for a company tied to Don Jr. The request was made by top aide Peter Navarro. Of the dozens of companies the Pentagon was considering funding at the time, the Don Jr.-linked company was the only deal initiated by a top aide to Trump.
The White House Intervened to Get a $620 Million Deal for a Company Tied to Donald Trump Jr.
About three months before the Pentagon announced plans to lend money to Vulcan Elements, Trump Jr.’s venture capital firm took an undisclosed stake in the company.
propublica.org
I talked to “exvangelicals" about why they left the church. "At some point, the preaching became more and more ‘us vs. them’ focused with the church’s fight in culture wars becoming a central topic more often, and always alluded to no matter what was being preached."
Many Of The Christians You Know Aren't Actually Going To Church Anymore. Here's Why, In Their Own Words.
Former churchgoing Christians reveal what pushed them to step away from their places of worship.
huffpost.com
They make an average $18 an hour, but when a gunman bursts through the door of a church, Walmart or government office, they’re often the first line of defense before police arrive. A look at what can be an underpaid, underappreciated profession. www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
$18 an hour to stop mass shooters: US workplaces' first line of defense
In a culture plagued by mass shootings, security guards work the front lines with little fanfare, invisible until the moment it matters most.
usatoday.com
The state's ACLU chapter called the move "another troubling move by the federal government to target transgender people." www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
DOJ probes Washington prisons' transgender inmate policy
The Justice Department is investigating Washington state prisons over allegations that female inmates are unsafe with transgender women.
usatoday.com
Mark Fuhrman’s testimony in O.J. Simpson's 1995 trial transformed what was already a sensational murder case into one nearly as much about racial injustice and law enforcement as the practices and culture of the Los Angeles Police Department came into question. www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
Mark Fuhrman, detective in O.J. Simpson trial, dies at 74
Revelations about the former LAPD detective during O.J. Simpson's trial were considered key to the jury's not-guilty verdict.
usatoday.com
“As soon as you start thinking of yourself as a machine, only not as good, then you’re just a commodity and have no other reason to live,” said John Cavadini of the University of Notre Dame. “It’s a pathway to desolation.” www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
'AI has no soul': Pope Leo expected to address AI's ethical challenges
Observers say Pope Leo will likely speak on AI's impact on human labor and worth as the technology develops at a breakneck pace.
usatoday.com
The spoils of their digital plundering funded lavish parties, luxury splurges and Lamborghinis. But when the operators of a sprawling cryptocurrency racketeering ring needed old-fashioned muscle to steal from their victims, they called on GothFerrari. www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
'GothFerrari' cybercriminal sentenced in $263 million crypto theft ring
Ring members persuaded victims to give up access to their digital wallets. When remote access wasn't possible, they leaned on 'GothFerrari.'
usatoday.com
The FBI reportedly raided her state senate offices and business. Who is Louise Lucas? www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
Who is Louise Lucas, Virginia's outspoken state senator?
According to news reports, the FBI raided Louise Lucas' offices and a cannabis retail business she co-owns on May 6.
usatoday.com
Not since Pope Boniface VIII got roughed up by King Philip IV's goons have the pope and a secular leader been at such odds. But Trump's war of words with Pope Leo XIV and his reckless use of religious imagery have put conservative Catholic supporters in a tough spot. www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
Trump's clash with Pope Leo XIV divides Catholics
President Trump's religious posturing and rocky relationship with Pope Leo threaten to alienate his Catholic supporters.
usatoday.com
Prosecutors alleged his attack on a historic civil rights center in Tennessee was inspired by the 2019 mass shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
Tennessee man admits to firebombing historic civil rights center
Prosecutors said the attack was inspired by the March 2019 mass shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.
usatoday.com
Pope Leo condemns President Trump's threats to annihilate Iranian infrastructure as 'unacceptable' www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
Pope Leo XIV calls Trump's Iran threats 'unacceptable,' urges peace
Pope Leo's rebuke is unusual as the leader of the Catholic church rarely responds directly to a world leader.
usatoday.com
Trump orders DHS employees get pay, benefits during shutdown www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
Trump orders DHS employees to be paid amid shutdown
More than 35,000 federal workers have gone without paychecks during the seven-week-long partial government shutdown, the longest in US history.
usatoday.com
