When His Son Came Out As Gay, This Pastor Delivered A Sermon Of Support

The Rev. Danny Cortez is a pastor. He also has a son who recently came out as gay. And when his teenage son came out to him in 2014, he did something more than express his support: He decided to talk to his Southern Baptist congregation about it — even though doing so likely meant getting kicked out of the church.

"That morning I came to church, my blood pressure was super high. I felt so much stress, and everyone was wondering what's going on," Cortez recalls, on a recent visit with StoryCorps. "But I remember as I was speaking, I felt empowered like I hadn't felt in such a long time. I knew that what I was sharing that Sunday was important."

What's more, his son Drew was there in the pews to listen.

Spiritually motivated: How Tim Kaine navigates his faith and politics

On the campaign trail, like all running mates before him, Kaine has extolled the positives of his party's candidate, taken shots at the opponent, and shared who he is. That latter has often had him talking about his Catholic faith.

"What I've tried to do is be a religious person and just share who I am with people. Not to proselytize, not to make them be who I am … because if I tell people I like to play the harmonica, and I like to camp, I got three kids, I'm married, why wouldn’t I share what's the most important thing to me?" he said.

Kaine is the third Catholic to appear on a presidential ticket in the past two election cycles, all VP nominees. (Current Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence was raised Catholic but now identifies as an evangelical Christian).

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Rather than bury it or force it on others, Kaine said he chooses to share his faith as insight into his motivations in a life of public service, but also to allow people -- and voters -- to understand how he might approach an issue, whether the economy, foreign policy or another yet to rise to prominence.

Two nuns murdered in Mississippi

Two nuns who worked as nurses and helped the poor in rural Mississippi were found slain in their home, perhaps victims of a break-in and vehicle theft, officials said Thursday.

Authorities would not say if they have a suspect or what kind of vehicle is missing from the nuns' home. They also did not release a cause of death, but the Rev. Greg Plata said police told him the sisters were stabbed.

The nuns were identified as Sister Margaret Held and Sister Paula Merrill. Their bodies were taken to a state crime lab for autopsies.

The women, both nurse practitioners, were found Thursday morning when they didn't report to work at a nearby clinic, where they provided flu shots, insulin and other medical care for children and adults who couldn't afford it.

Omaha dad finds pot brownies, eats 4 of them, says mean things to cat

An Omaha dad who mistakenly ate some marijuana brownies didn’t enjoy the experience.

Omaha police officers were called to a house near 90th and Maple Streets about 9:45 p.m. Tuesday to investigate an accidental overdose. They learned that a 53-year-old man had been unloading groceries and found some brownies in the back seat of a car that his adult children had used earlier in the day.

The man ate four of the brownies.

The man’s wife told police that as she and her husband were watching TV, he noted that he was getting “bad anxiety.” She tried to call their children to ask them what was in the brownies but couldn’t reach them. (The woman told officers that she would rather not provide her children’s names because she thought they could get in trouble. An Omaha police spokesman said the investigation into the matter has concluded.)

Charity Sr. Paula Gonzalez, 'the solar nun,' dies at age 83

Environmentalists are mourning the death of Charity Sr. Paula Gonzalez, a Cincinnati nun who spent the last 45 years of her life advocating for renewable energy. Gonzalez, 83, died July 31 at the Charity Sisters’ Ohio motherhouse.

Born on Oct. 25 1932, in Albuquerque, N.M., Gonzalez entered the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati in 1954. She later earned a Ph.D. in cellular physiology from the Catholic University of America and taught biology at Mount St. Joseph University, in Cincinnati, from 1965-1980 before becoming involved full time in environmental ministry.

That included participating in the United Nations Earth Summit in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro – which produced a global blueprint for sustainable development and formed the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change -- and its 10-year follow-up in Johannesburg, South Africa.

According to the U.K.-based Catholic Herald, Gonzalez called the Rio conference that gathered nearly 20,000 people “a watershed moment in history,” saying “This many people coming together to choose the future: This is the beginning of the ecological era.”

Sewage truck explodes, sending contaminated water everywhere

Sometimes, sh*t happens.

Recently released dash cam footage near the Altufyevo subway station in Moscow shows an extremely stinky situation.

The clip starts with a vehicle pulling up to a group of stopped traffic waiting for the light to change. Without warning, a sewage suction tanker in the middle of the stopped traffic explodes, spewing poop water in all directions.

Ex-Mich. GOP Gov. Milliken endorses Clinton over Trump

Source: Detroit News

Former Michigan Gov. William Milliken, a Republican who in recent years has increasingly backed Democrats, is endorsing Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for president.

Milliken said in a statement he is “saddened and dismayed” the Republican party has nominated businessman Donald Trump, who “has repeatedly demonstrated” that he does not embrace the nation’s “abiding commitments to tolerance, civility, and equality.”

“Because I feel so strongly about our nation’s future, I will be joining the growing list of former and present government officials in casting my vote for Hillary Clinton for President in 2016,” the 94-year-old said. “To me, the choice is clear. The answers to our current challenges lie in unity, and not division.”

Millken’s endorsement comes as Clinton and Trump prepare to contrast their economic agendas this week in Detroit. Trump will speak Monday at a Detroit Economic Club luncheon. Clinton is expected to deliver a jobs speech on Thursday in Detroit, but the time and location have not yet been announced.

Read more: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2016/08/08/milliken-clinton-trump/88386972/

Man's wife, girlfriend place dueling obituaries in same newspaper

A man in New Jersey was loved so much that both his wife and girlfriend placed two different obituaries in the same newspaper.

NJ.com reported that Leroy “Blast” Bill Black died of lung cancer Tuesday at his home at the age of 55.

The Press of Atlantic City printed two obituaries for the man in the same edition of the newspaper on Friday. One was written by his wife; the other by his girlfriend.

One said he is survived by his “loving wife Bearetta Harrison Black” and the other his longtime girlfriend Princess Hall.