In 2014, my son started to ask for the popular block-building computer game known as "Minecraft." Later that year, my wife and I decided to get said game for him, and he loved it. He constantly showed us his latest creations and buildings. Little did we know, this seemingly innocent game was a gateway drug to cross-sex hormones, wrong-gender pronouns, and a replaced name. You see, while it may seem like a healthy outlet for creative expression, Minecraft is actually a very popular game among so-called "trans-identifying children." The reason for this is because the game allows for expression of dangerous ideas, and has little to no moderation, being primarily singleplayer. One of the most problematic parts of this horrible game is the ability for players to upload their own "skins" – essentially, each player can create a character for themselves in simple photo editing apps such as photoshop. This means that the selection of characters is limited only by the players' imaginations. On the surface, this seems to be a positive of the game, but it turns out that it is not. This unlimited customization dangerously blurs the boundaries of gender and sex, and, especially considering the predominantly young player base of Minecraft, can be very confusing in terms of gender. One of these confused young people is my son, now 21 years old, who, it turns out, had been using the default "girl" skin of Minecraft, often shown in marketing alongside a more fitting masculine character. While this is not concerning on its own, having done so since the age of 11 will surely have contributed to his gender confusion. However, this dangerous, confusing option is not the only element of Minecraft that contributed to my son's gender confusion. You see, while Minecraft is most often single player, or on large-scale "mini-game" type servers – essentially giant online arcades made in the block game, it can also be played in the traditional "survival" mode in multiplayer. While multiplayer games are an excellent way for kids to interact with each other, it can also provide a way for them to communicate dangerous ideas without the guiding hands of their parents. Ever technically minded, my son set up a multiplayer server to play with his boyfriend when they were 14 years old and just started dating. Unfortunately, due to Minecraft's neglectful failure to include any filters or safeguards against dangerous and confusing ideological statements, it served as a funnel for the two of them to encourage each other in their "transitions." Yes, that's right – my son's boyfriend is also gender confused. What's worse is that these two, who are perhaps the worst possible people for each other, are engaged to get married in a "lesbian" wedding later this fall. I, of course, was not invited. Heaven forbid I try to save my son from his horrible confusion. This other boy, I suspect, is the reason that my son is so confused as to his gender. And if another confused youth, with no malicious intent, was able to confuse my son through the game of Minecraft, imagine what maliciously intending adults can do to children whose parents are less vigilant about who their children are connecting with online. Not everyone has as much time for supervision as my wife and I had. And even then, we failed to save our son. So, this is a warning to parents to be very wary of Minecraft, and other such online games without strict parental controls. And if your child already has Minecraft, as it has become much more popular in the past few years, be sure to check what "skin" they are using, and to have a talk about the possible confusion that could arise from using one that does not align with their gender. Sincerely, a forgotten father.

The Republican lawmakers called for an investigation of Canada's wildfire management practices and for potential remedies under international law, saying Canada must face "real consequences."

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has signed a bill banning AI therapists into law, the first in the nation.

A string of US armory break-ins, kept quiet by authorities for months, points to a growing security crisis—and signs of an inside job.

From Atlanta to Los Angeles, no arena has been safe from neon green objects whizzing from the stands, through the air and onto WNBA courts. If there is an opportune window, a brightly colored entity will be thrown, causing intentional and symbolic chaos, according to a spokesman for the cryptocurrency group. The person, who uses the name @Daldo_Raine on social media, spoke to USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the issue. Over the past two weeks, there have been six known incidents of green sex toys being thrown at WNBA games. The latest to garner attention happened Tuesday night during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Los Angeles Sparks at Crypto.com Arena in L.A. Green sex toys were also thrown in the stands at New York Liberty and Phoenix Mercury games Tuesday, at two Atlanta Dream games last week and a Chicago Sky game Friday. Two people have been arrested on multiple charges for allegedly throwing the objects. "It’s ridiculous, it’s dumb, it’s stupid," Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said after the game. "It’s also dangerous. Player safety is No. 1, respecting the game, all those things. I think it’s really stupid."

Four Guatemalan siblings, detained as undocumented immigrants after a traffic stop, spent several days last week at the Orange County Jail before being picked up in a van and driven around for hours. Finally they reached their destination, their attorneys say: Right back at the Orange County Jail. This directionless odyssey — similar to what some other detainees across Florida have faced in recent months – happened because of rules limiting the number of days an undocumented immigrant can be held in a local facility before federal officials must take custody. With the Trump administration’s push for “mass deportation” filling federal detention beds, detainees are being transferred from facility to facility because the switch restarts the clock and gives federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents more time to pick them up. Multiple immigration attorneys described the shuffle to the Orlando Sentinel, and law enforcement leaders in Orange and Pinellas County confirmed the practice. But the attorneys say it’s a maddening tactic that often leaves them struggling to locate the immigrants, and denies detainees access to family members and due process.

The app's recent swastika push alert was just the tip of the iceberg.

He offered a big exemption: It will not apply to companies that are manufacturing in the U.S. or have committed to do so.

Exclusive: Incident raises questions of exploitation of public services, but Secret Service says it was requested for ‘safe navigation’

Many public health experts and scientists say they are stunned by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s decision to cancel nearly half a billion dollars in federal funding for future vaccine development. MRNA technology was central in the battle against COVID and can be developed more quickly than traditional vaccines. Geoff Bennett discussed the implications with Dr. Michael Osterholm.

The Trump administration wants to eliminate the energy efficiency program, but bakers, builders, and chemical companies are trying to save it.

The Department of Veterans Affairs appeared to be the first agency to begin terminating union contracts, affecting more than 400,000 workers.

Revealed: The Israeli military undertook an ambitious project to store a giant trove of Palestinians’ phone calls on Microsoft’s servers in Europe

Two 15-year-olds have been arrested in connection with the attempted carjacking and beating, the AP reported.

In the grim darkness of the far future there are only anteaters and crabs.

Italy's government gave final approval on Wednesday to the construction of what will be the world's longest single-span bridge, linking Sicily to the mainland, despite environmental, financial and other concerns that have delayed it for decades.

Long before coyotes and millions of years before wolves, bone-crushing dogs padded across North America. The prehistoric canids came in an array of sizes, from small nippers comparable to foxes to huge, skeleton-busting predators larger than the largest gray wolf. For more than 31 million years, they were among the most versatile carnivores on the continent, and remainders of their prehistoric meals indicate that they truly did eat more bones than other canids. But by 1.8 million years ago, they were all gone. Paleontologists know bone-crushing dogs by their technical name, borophagines. The short, deep muzzles of the canids have often reminded paleontologists of spotted hyenas, carnivores that are more closely related to cats than dogs. Borophagines evolved jaw specializations to crack open and consume more bone than predators like wolves do. But as experts have continued to study borophagines, they’ve found that the predators were not simply dogs acting like hyenas. The canids hunted during a span when grasslands populated by immense herbivorous mammals like camels, rhinos, horses and elephants were spreading with them, and borophagines had the ability to bust large carcasses into splinters.

Multilevel marketing companies helped produce President Trump, and he is ruining everything.

Repayment plans are supposed to help public housing tenants avoid eviction. In Maine, these deals have put evictions on their permanent records, even if they’ve fulfilled all the terms and were never actually evicted.

Local newspaper editors and journalism experts worry that flimsy news sites that rely almost exclusively on artificial intelligence, known as “pink slime” journalism are making it harder for readers to distinguish real from fake reporting.