John Kerry: Climate Change as Big a Threat as Islamic State

At an international meeting on global warming Friday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry compared the effects of climate change to the horrors of Islamic terrorism, suggesting that the two pose an equivalent danger to the world’s population.

“Yesterday, I met in Washington with 45 nations – defense ministers and foreign ministers – as we were working together on the challenge of Daesh, ISIL, and terrorism,” Kerry said at the Vienna summit. “It’s hard for some people to grasp it, but what we – you – are doing here right now is of equal importance because it has the ability to literally save life on the planet itself.” Continue reading

Attorney: Archdiocese ‘Cover Up’ Leads All The Way To The Vatican [ Video ]

View image on TwitterST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) – An attorney in Minnesota is calling on Pope Francis to take action after documents released Wednesday show that, in his words, a “classic cover up” took place in the Twin Cities archdiocese, involving the former archbishop and top Vatican officials.

Jeff Anderson, an attorney who has represented hundreds of people claiming sex abuse by priests, told reporters Wednesday afternoon that documents recently made public show that former Archbishop John Nienstedt had a “sexual interest” in former priest Curtis Wehmeyer, as well as other priests.  Continue reading

The Church of Global Warming

What role, if any, should the church play in combating climate change?

It was this kind of question former Vice President Al Gore answered over two decades ago when he wrote that men should harness religion as a political tool. “The fate of mankind,” he wrote, “as well as of religion, depends upon the emergence of a new faith in the future. Armed with such a faith, we might find it possible to resanctify the Earth.”

Fifteen years later, in his Nobel Peace Prize speech, he quoted himself to reiterate his belief that global warming was a spiritual issue that needed to be addressed by faith. Continue reading

Filipino guillotine: The crusade against drugs and the backlash

by Yen Makabenta

I TITLE this piece “Filipino guillotine” to sound a warning that if we, Filipinos, do not wise up to what is happening in our country—state-sanctioned killings, crazy politics, corrupt generals—we could wind up without our democracy, our leaders, and even our republic.

I am haunted by the lesson of Italy, which went through an agonizing crusade to wipe out the mafia, organized crime and corruption and wound up with a monstrous national breakdown. Continue reading

United Methodist church elects first openly gay bishop despite marriage ban

The western district of the United Methodist church (UMC) elected an openly gay bishop on Friday, despit3629e its ban on same-sex relationships. The Rev Karen Oliveto was elected late in the evening at a meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, of the church’s western jurisdiction.

In remarks published on the UMC website, Oliveto said: “Today we took a step closer to embody beloved community and while we may be moving there, we are not there yet. We are moving on to perfection.” Continue reading

Venezuela army deployed to control food production and distribution

Venezuela’s military has taken control of five ports in an effort to guarantee supplies of food and medicine.

In a decree, President Nicolas Maduro has ordered the army to monitor food processing plants, and co-ordinate the production and distribution of items.

Venezuela is going through a deep economic crisis despite having the world’s largest oil reserves.

Basic products are increasingly hard to find and many say they struggle to feed their families. Continue reading

Pokémon Go: Into the real world, with real crime

The game is getting its players off the couch, which already wasn’t safe from the bad guys

Pokémon Go sneaked up on me. One minute, I knew nothing about it, and the next, just about everyone was talking about it.

The twist with Pokémon Go is that players can catch Pokémon in real life, out on the streets and away from their couches. I love the idea that a smartphone game not only can be played anywhere, but actually requires its players to get outside. But because security is always on my mind, I quickly wondered what crimes Pokémon Go would enable. The answer wasn’t long in coming.

Criminals are quick to exploit new opportunities, and they have been targeting video gamers for a long time. Many games encourage in-app purchases, and they often allow players to trade tokens with other players. That creates an incentive for criminals to get their hands on people’s tokens, which they can then sell for financial gain. One major online gaming company hired me to strengthen its user authentication mechanisms, since criminals had been using social engineering to get help desk employees to reset passwords, thus granting them access to players’ in-app assets.  Continue reading…

300 denominations meet for ecumenical gathering in Munich

Some 1,700 Christians from around 300 denominations have met in Munich for a ‘Together in Europe’ gathering of the Ecumenical Congress promoting unity between Catholics, Protestants and Evangelicals.

In a meeting supported by Pope Francis and Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, leaders of the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, several Orthodox Churches, Protestant denominations and free evangelical denominations including some Baptists and Pentecostals debated for three days about how to walk towards “encounter, reconciliation and hope in a better future.”   Continue reading