It’s Monday, December 5th, 2016.
By Adam McManus
Oakland Fire Kills 30 People.
Firefighters have found 30 bodies in the ruins of a makeshift nightclub in Oakland, California from a 3-alarm fire that ripped through the former piano warehouse dubbed The Ghost Ship on Friday night at 11:30 p.m.
The Los Angeles Times reports that partygoers recalled a labyrinth series of rooms cluttered with beds, rugs, old sofas, pianos, paintings, antique furniture, and salvaged doors as well as a staircase built partly with wooden pallets. Wooden rafters were adorned with hanging lanterns, Christmas lights, bicycles, stereo equipment and exposed wiring. And no sprinklers were present.
Authorities could not safely access key parts of the building, bringing in cranes, bulldozers and excavating equipment, along with cadaver dogs.
Two Ugandan Christian Converts on the Run
Two Ugandan teenage boys, aged 16 and 17, who converted to Christianity from Islam have been forced to go on the run in fear of their lives, reports Morning Star News.
Already, Muslims in their village in eastern Uganda’s Kibuku district have set fire to the home of a Christian adult who had given them refuge. This man’s house has been completely gutted. The Muslim arsonists left threatening leaflets behind, warning: “Be informed that we are not yet finished with you. Expect more, worse things are on the way.”
Christian Pakistani Boy Attacked for Drinking from Mosque Fountain.
On November 30th, a Christian boy in Pakistan was shown to be brutally beaten up in a video for allegedly drinking water from a fountain located inside a mosque, reports Persecution.com. The video shows the boy yelling and screaming from pain after being whipped with wooden sticks and being beaten with shoes.
Psalm 10:2 says, “In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.”
Muslims Demand the Jailing of Christian Indonesian Governor
Last Friday, 200,000 Muslims dressed in white poured into Jakarta, Indonesia, chanting, praying to their false moon god named Allah, and demanding that the Christian governor of the city be jailed after allegedly insulting the Qur’an, reports ABC News.
The protest ended peacefully, though 10 people were arrested. A similar demonstration held in November turned violent, with one person killed and dozens injured.
The protesters were calling for Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, to be arrested following a complaint of blasphemy lodged against him in October. Purnama, who is an ethnic Chinese Christian, delivered a speech in September during which he accused his rivals of using the Qur’an to deceive voters. This speech was then posted online, where his words were edited to make it look as though he was directly criticizing the Islamic book.
Blasphemy is a criminal offence in Indonesia and dozens of people have been convicted in the last decade, some sent to prison for as long as five years.
Islamic State Group May Carry Out More Attacks
The Islamic State group is likely to carry out new attacks probably targeting countries that are members of the U.S.-led coalition fighting the extremist organization in Syria and Iraq, the European Union police agency Europol said in a report published last Friday. Britain, the Netherlands, France and Belgium are among European nations that have joined the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State group. Germany’s military also is involved, but not in combat operations.
Italy’s Prime Minister’s Constitutional Amendments Defeated.
First Britain left the European Union, then America elected Donald Trump. But Sky News reports that the populist wave hit a brick wall yesterday in Italy. Matteo Renzi, Italy’s energetic, 41-year-old Prime Minister who wanted to defang the upper house of the Italian Parliament by cutting its numbers from 315 to 100, lost his hope of amending the state constitution by possibly 20 percentage points yesterday.
Donald Trump and American Manufacturing Jobs
Donald Trump isn’t even president yet and he’s already living up to his promise to save America’s manufacturing jobs. First, he pressured Carrier Air Conditioning to keep 800 jobs in Indiana instead of closing their plant and opening one in Mexico.
And now, according to the Wall Street Journal, the president-elect is threatening Rexnord, a manufacturer of industrial bearings, with a 35% tariff if they move their 300 jobs from Indianapolis, Indiana to Monterrey, Mexico. Shares of Rexnord have tumbled more than 10% from Wednesday’s close.
New York Times Angry Over Donald Trump’s Communication with Taiwan
The New York Times is about to lose it. After they couldn’t elect Hillary Clinton president, now they are apoplectic over the Taiwan leader calling President-elect Donald Trump, claiming Trump has “broken with decades of diplomatic practice in freewheeling calls with foreign leaders.”
George Stephanapolous addressed the issue yesterday with Vice President-elect Mike Pence on ABC’s This Week.
PENCE: “…that was nothing more than taking a courtesy call of congratulations from the democratically elected leader of Taiwan who…
STEPHANOPOULOS: “So no implications for the one China policy?”
PENCE: “Well, we’ll deal with policy after January the 20th. This was a courtesy call.
“And plus, I have to tell you, George, it’s a little mystifying to me that President Obama can reach out to a murdering dictator in Cuba in the last year and be hailed as a hero for doing it and President-elect Donald Trump takes a courtesy call from a democratically elected leader in Taiwan and it’s become something of a controversy.”
CBS Talks About Democratic Party Brand
John Dickerson, the host of CBS’ Face the Nation, sat down with newly re-elected House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who beat Ohio Democratic Representative Tim Ryan in a vote of 134-63. Ryan asserted that the reason why Hillary Clinton lost the White House was that the Democratic Party has been co-opted by extreme leftists out of touch with the American people.
Dickerson asked Pelosi about the Democratic Party brand now.
DICKERSON: “The Democratic Party is in a moment of questioning about its identity. You were reelected to lead the Democrats in the House. What do you tell Democrats who want a new direction? And then go to you. What are you going to do differently?”
PELOSI: “Well, I don’t think that people want a new direction. Our values unify us. And our values are about supporting America’s working families. That’s one that everyone is in agreement on. What we want is a better connection of our message to working families in our country. And that clearly in the election showed that that message wasn’t coming through.”
Brazil Pro-Life Protests against Legalizing Abortions
Last Tuesday, a Brazilian court’s ruling legalizing abortion during the first trimester has caused uproar among politicians with strong ties to Roman Catholic and evangelical faiths, who have gained ground in the current government, reports the Religion News Service.
The Federal Supreme Court, Brazil’s highest, dropped charges against five people who were charged with performing secret abortions, signaling signaled it favored the decriminalization of abortion in other cases.
The World Health Organization estimates there are 800,000 clandestine abortions in Brazil each year, and 15 women die from botched operations every month.
Planned Parenthood Files Lawsuits in 3 States.
Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union have partnered with one another to file lawsuits on November 30th objecting to life-saving, pro-life regulations in Alaska, Missouri, and North Carolina, reports the World News Service.
In Alaska, they object to a law that requires a second opinion when a woman seeks to kill her unborn baby after the first trimester. In Missouri, the pro-aborts object to abortion mills having to meet the same standards as any ambulatory surgical center as well as for abortionists to have hospital admitting privileges. And in North Carolina, the pro-death crowd wants to be able to kill babies with special needs after 20 weeks gestation.
Proverbs 24:11 says, “Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.”
The American Family Association Publishes the ‘Naughty’ or ‘Nice’ List
The American Family Association, a conservative Christian group, has published their 2016 Naughty or Nice list of retailers for this Christmas season, singling out which stores celebrate the holiday, and which ones avoid it.
Ed Vitagliano of AFA said, “There are secular forces in our country that hate Christmas because the word itself is a reminder of Jesus Christ. They want to eradicate anything that reminds Americans of Christianity.”
The six companies that made the top-ranked 5-star “Nice” list are Cracker Barrel, Hobby Lobby, Kirkland’s, Lowe’s, Michael’s Stores, and Wal-Mart.
The 18 “Naughty” companies are Academy Sports, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Foot Locker, Gap, The Limited, Maurice’s, Nordstrom, Office Depot, Office Max, Pet Smart, Staples, Stein Mart, Supervalu, UncommonGoods.com, and Victoria’s Secret.
13 Deaths in Gatlinburg Fires
A total of 13 deaths have now been confirmed in the massive wildfires that have scorched 17,000 acres in eastern Tennessee and destroyed 1,000 homes and businesses according to ABC affiliate WATE.
The fires, described as the state’s largest in 100 years, are believed to be human-caused.
Twelve of the victims died as a direct result of the firestorm, and one victim died of a heart attack while trying to escape a blaze.
Over 14,000 residents and tourists were evacuated from Gatlinburg.
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