The movement that propelled Donald Trump into the White House is not isolated to the United States. It is a global phenomenon. All over the West, a populist backlash is brewing against the elites of society. And that backlash all too often takes the shape of authoritarianism and ethnonationalism.
If so much weren’t at stake in this matchup between these two warring factions, I’d be tempted to reprise Henry Kissinger’s infamous phrase about the Iran-Iraq War: “It’s a pity both sides can’t lose.” The global elite has been on an extended vision quest up its own derrière. It has been responsible for countless dramatic failures, and still seems unable to question itself and its own failed paradigms. At the same time, the special mix of fear mongering, incompetence, and corruption that the Trumps and and Nigel Farages and Marine Le Pens of the world promote is just as bad, if not worse. Continue reading
“A high-level whistleblower at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has revealed that the organization published manipulated data in a major 2015 report on climate change in order to maximize impact on world leaders at the UN climate conference in Paris in 2015. According to a 
Vatican City, 
Pope Francis appealed Wednesday for the Rohingya, a Muslim minority group forced to flee violence and persecution in Myanmar.
“A great-grandmother has been accidentally praying to a figure of Elrond, an elf from The Lord of the Rings, after mistaking it for a figurine of Saint Anthony, every day for years. …The captions on the images translate to: ‘My daughter’s great-grandmother prays to this figure of Saint Anthony every day, but looking more closely…’, before the big reveal was made. …The next day we explained again and she understood and we got her a new figure of Saint Anthony.” –
Seven percent of Catholic priests in Australia between 1950 and 2010 allegedly sexually abused children, according to data provided by church authorities in a major investigation.
“After his weekly 
VATICAN
“Pope Francis told participants at a Vatican gathering on religious life that the exodus of clergy and religious men and women is weakening the Church and must be addressed. “We are dealing with a ‘hemorrhage’ that is debilitating to consecrated life and the very life of the Church,” the Pope said, noting that the number of desertions from the consecrated life is “worrisome.” –
“A leading Egyptian cleric irked his Christian compatriots when he said on television that the Islamic figure Muhammed would marry the Virgin Mary in heaven. …The Quran said: ‘Allah will give [the Prophet] women preferable to his wives, Muslim, pious, pure women.’” One, he said, referred to Asiya and the other to Mary. Egypt’s Christian community was enraged by Galil’s remarks. The community’s youth movement issued a statement demanding an apology. The movement’s chairman, Nader Soubhi, said: “We Christians don’t recognize any aspect of the Virgin Mary except her sanctity, her purity and her virginity. The Virgin Mary will never lose any of these.” –