Signs of the Times

Many Christians were disappointed and surprised by the elections. However, they still cling to their hope that a “great awakening and reformation” still will occur and transform America. I do not believe that this will occur and I stand by the word I received from the Lord on June 23, 2007:

• The LORD says: “I cried out to My Church, but she would not listen. I cried out to America, but she would not respond. Although there are a few who listen and obey, it is not enough to turn the ship of state. Judgment begins in My House, and My judgments will now start to unfold. America, I now pluck out your eagle’s wings and remove the covering of my own wings over you. Where once you were the hope of the world, you have sold out to Babylon and the shame of your harlotry is now uncovered for all to see. But still they won’t see, blinded by reason, tempted by riches, motivated by self. And so the countdown begins. Prepare ye the way of the LORD.”

Does this mean that we give up hope and stop praying? Of course not. In fact, we need to redouble our efforts to become those lights in the darkness that “will cover the earth” (Isaiah 60:2) so that unbelievers will “come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising” (Isaiah 60:3)

Arizona Legislature Retains Strong, Pro-Life Majority

CENTER FOR ARIZONA POLICY — During the intense legislative battle over placing the marriage amendment on the ballot, opponents alleged the marriage amendment would cause state legislative candidates to lose their elections. To be sure, liberal interest groups spent an estimated $1-2 million to defeat state legislators who voted for the marriage referendum and other candidates who support timeless family values. Exactly the opposite happened! In race after race, values voters turned out for pro-life and pro-family candidates. Today, even Planned Parenthood was forced to acknowledge in an email to its supporters that the Arizona Legislature retained a strong, pro-life majority. Candidates who stand strong in defense of timeless values like life and marriage can and will be rewarded at the ballot box with victory. A positive, pro-family message does indeed appeal to a wide majority of Arizonans.

California Same-Sex Marriage Ban Faces Three Lawsuits

SAN FRANCISCO — Defenders of same-sex marriage filed three lawsuits Wednesday challenging California voters' passage of a constitutional amendment banning it. Proposition 8, defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman, was approved by 52% of 10.2 million votes counted. Arizona and Florida passed similar measures. The American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed one suit. A statement by Lambda said "the initiative process was improperly used in an attempt to undo the constitution's core commitment to equality for everyone by eliminating a fundamental right from just one group — lesbian and gay Californians." The counties of San Francisco, Los Angeles and Santa Clara filed a joint lawsuit. Civil rights attorney Gloria Allred filed one on behalf of lesbian clients married in Los Angeles. Pizer said the lawsuits are necessary to protect the rights of minorities. "The point of equal protection is that everybody is supposed to have the same rights, and minorities are protected against a majority that would abuse the minority."

• JJ Commentary: Such arguments can appear to make sense when there are no absolute moral values to uphold. Just as in the Old Testament, many people are doing “what seems right in their own eyes” but not in God’s eyes.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Outside the gates of a Mormon temple, Kai Cross joined more than 2,000 gay-rights advocates in a chorus of criticism of the church's role in a new California-wide ban on same-sex marriage. The protest came amid questions about whether attempts to overturn the prohibition can succeed and whether the 18,000 same-sex marriages performed in California over the past four months are in any danger. The temple protest was organized by the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center. Its chief executive, Lorri Jean, announced a Web-based effort, InvalidateProp8.org, to raise money to fight the constitutional amendment.

Poll: Hopes are High for Race Relations

WASHINGTON — Barack Obama's election has inspired a wave of optimism about the future of race relations in the United States, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken the day after the first African American won the White House. Confidence that the nation will resolve its racial problems rose to a historic level. Two-thirds of Americans predict that relations between blacks and whites "will eventually be worked out" in the United States, by far the highest number since Gallup first asked the question in the midst of the civil rights struggle in 1963. Optimism jumped most among blacks. Five months ago, half of African Americans predicted the nation eventually would solve its racial problems. Now, two-thirds do.

Unemployment Jumps to 6.5%, Job Loss Worse than Expected

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's unemployment rate jumped to a 14-year high 6.5% in October as business payrolls dropped 240,000 jobs. The new figures, released by the Labor Department, show the jobs market deteriorating at an alarmingly rapid pace. Unemployment has now surpassed the high seen after the last recession in 2001. Employers eliminated 240,000 jobs in October, the 10th straight month of payroll reductions. Job losses in August and September also turned out to be much deeper as the Labor Department revised its figures. It now says employers cut 127,000 jobs in August, compared with 73,000 previously reported. A whopping 284,000 jobs were axed last month, compared with 159,000 jobs first reported. So far this year, a staggering 1.2 million jobs have disappeared.

It was a Red October for Retailers

NEW YORK — The nation's retailers saw their sales plummet last month to what is likely the weakest October level in decades, as the financial crisis and mounting layoffs left shoppers too scared to shop. The stunning drop-off from an already weak September performance is further darkening the outlook for the holiday season and dimming hopes for any industry recovery until at least the second half of next year.

As Ford, GM Report Results, Worries about Survival Loom

Ford Motor said Friday that it lost $129 million in the third quarter as the stuggling automaker burned up $7.7 billion in cash. As General Motors and Ford Motor report quarterly financial results Friday, the cash-burn numbers will signal whether a Detroit automaker could soon be filing for bankruptcy-court protection to try to survive. In addition to reporting its earnings, Ford said Friday that it will cut another 10% of its North American salaried work force costs as it tries to weather the worst economic downturn in decades. The cash burn — in which a company spends more money than it takes in — was far higher than the $2.1 billion it burned through in the second quarter. The numbers show the traditional American auto industry is near collapse — so close that industry and labor chiefs have been pleading for a federal bailout to survive. Detroit auto executives and the head of the United Auto Workers union met Thursday with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to ask for broader access to low-interest federal loans.

What Bailed-Out Banks Spend on Lobbying

WASHINGTON — Nineteen banks taking taxpayer money from the Treasury Department have spent $32.4 million lobbying the federal government during the first nine months of this year, their lobbying disclosure reports show. Combined, the Treasury is investing in the banks $159 billion from the $700 billion financial rescue package approved by Congress last month. None of the banks has indicated it plans to stop lobbying. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., began drafting a bill to ban recipients of government help from lobbying with taxpayer funds after learning that insurance giant American International Group continued to lobby after it received $123 billion in government-backed loans. Despite its crumbling financial foundation and organizational upheaval, one thing at Merrill Lynch hasn't changing: It has continued to lobby the federal government to the tune of $4.6 million so far this year.

Electricity Bills Fall as Cheaper Natural Gas Lowers Rates

USA TODAY — Here's a bright spot in an ailing economy: Electricity prices are falling in many areas. The sharp drop in natural gas prices and, to a lesser extent, oil prices is slashing electric rates across big swaths of the USA. Utilities in the Northeast, Texas, Florida, the Mid-Atlantic and California rely heavily on natural-gas-fired power plants to generate electricity. Natural gas prices have plummeted as the anemic economy has dampened consumption. Also, natural gas resources jumped this year as producers found ways to unearth fresh supplies embedded in shale rock. Of course, the rate cuts are coming after big fuel-related increases last summer. Fuel costs can make up as much as 50% of a utility bill.

Deportation of Illegals Increases with Local Police Cooperation

ARIZONA REPUBLIC — The federal government deported nearly 73,000 illegal immigrants from Arizona in the past fiscal year, a record number that immigration officials said resulted largely from state and local authorities being allowed to enforce immigration laws. The 72,955 immigrants deported from Arizona marked a 64 percent increase from the 44,376 deported the previous year, according to statistics from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Arizona led the nation in deportations, making up about a fifth of the total 349,041 illegal immigrants deported nationwide, ICE officials said. The fiscal year ended Sept. 30. The numbers include immigrants who were undocumented when they were detained and those who lost their legal status after being convicted of crimes. ICE says their strategy is to forge partnerships with state and local law-enforcement agencies to identify and detain illegal immigrants, which in the past was almost exclusively the job of the federal government.

Massive Cleanup Continues long after Hurricane Ike

USA TODAY: Hurricane Ike produced a staggering amount of debris, and it may take months for Galveston, Houston and coastal parishes in Louisiana to dispose of what some say is record destruction waste. "This is a huge amount of debris," said Robert Isakson, managing director of DRC Emergency Services. "This is a huge amount of debris," said Robert Isakson, managing director of DRC Emergency Services. DRC, based in Mobile, Ala., is under contract to clear half of Galveston, Houston and 35 parishes in Louisiana desolated Sept. 13 by the Category 2 hurricane. "The volume that has been recovered at this stage is much greater than in Katrina," he said, referring to the 2005 hurricane that laid waste to New Orleans. The cleanup of shattered homes, appliances, cars, boats, trees and utility poles left by Ike has reached stratospheric numbers: 25 million cubic yards of debris; five thousand workers for DRC have hauled away 12,000 flooded and destroyed vehicles; 592,000 pounds of hazardous household waste; 28,000 refrigerators, ranges and freezers; 3,000 televisions and computer screens; and 13,000 pounds of animal carcasses.

U.S. to Cut Troop Levels in Iraq this Month

WASHINGTON (AP) — Spurred on by a continued decline in violence, the U.S. military will reduce its presence in Iraq to 14 combat brigades this month — at least two months earlier than originally planned. Military officials say two brigades from the 101st Airborne Division will leave Iraq this month and only one will be replaced. A brigade is roughly 3,500 soldiers. U.S. forces have also seen a dramatic decline in troop fatalities, with deaths falling to their second lowest monthly level in October. There were 14 U.S. troops killed last month, including seven lost in combat. That total was one more than the 13 deaths in July — the lowest monthly level of the war.

Orissa Violence is 'Religious Genocide,' Says Ministry

The Christian Post reports that one Christian leader in India has called the unceasing violence against Christians a "religious genocide" with no signs of stopping. "This has been a religious genocide according to the U-N definition of genocide, where persistently and systematically it is planned and not stopped," maintains Ramesh Landge, founder and director of Cooperative Outreach of India (COI), according to Mission Network News. Landge has been working to help displaced Christians in Orissa state through Partners International. According to CP, more than 50,000 Christians have been displaced. Only about 30,000 have found refuge in relief camps, as many are still hiding in the jungles out of fear. "There has been a lot of intimidation. There has been a lot of persecution. People have not been able to go back [to their homes]," Landge said. "If they do go back, the Hindu fundamentalists parties want them to reconvert."

Airstrikes in Afghanistan Increase 31%

WASHINGTON — Air missions to back U.S. troops on the ground have increased by 31% in Afghanistan this year, as fighting in the country spreads. The growing reliance on air power raises the risk of injuring civilians and their property and reflects a shortage of ground forces needed to protect civilians and root out insurgents, ground commanders and military experts say. Ground commanders in Afghanistan have asked for an additional three combat brigades and an array of support forces, which could amount to about 20,000 more troops. Insurgents pounce on reports of civilian casualties, often exaggerating or fictionalizing the number of injured or killed in an effort to turn public opinion against the coalition, officials say.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A coalition airstrike in northwestern Afghanistan killed 13 Taliban militants and seven civilians, Afghan officials said Thursday, a day after President Hamid Karzai demanded a halt to U.S. and NATO operations that kill average Afghans. The report of civilians deaths in the northwest comes one day after villagers and officials in the south said U.S. fighter aircraft killed some 40 Afghans at a wedding party, including 33 women and children. The latest bombing occurred in Ghormach district of Badghis province, where a three-hour long clash between militants and Afghan and foreign troops preceded an airstrike that hit the house of a provincial council member, said Abdul Ghani Saburi, the province's deputy governor.

Rice Concedes Mideast Peace Unlikely this Year

There is little hope for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by the 2008 deadline, Condoleezza Rice finally conceded on Thursday while en route for possibly her last trip to the Middle East as US secretary of state. Rice arrived in Israel this afternoon in a bid to ensure the 'momentum' of the Annapolis peace process launched by the Bush administration will carry over into the Obama presidency. But on the flight over, she told reporters, "Obviously Israel is in the middle of elections and that is a constraint on the ability of any government to conclude what is the core conflict for Israel and the Palestinians… [Still] I think we can sustain momentum.” Nonetheless, she vowed to "work on this with the parties until the day that we leave [office]," which will be on January 20, 2009, when Democratic president-elect Barack Obama will be sworn.

Georgia Opposition Plans First Protest Since War

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Opposition leaders in Georgia are planning the first major protest against President Mikhail Saakashvili since the country's August war with Russia. The United Opposition coalition's protest Friday marks a year since riot police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse peaceful demonstrators calling for Saakashvili's ouster. Anger over Georgia's losses in the war has added to the dissatisfaction among Saakashvili's opponents. But at least two significant opposition parties are staying away from the protest, citing the need for unity against Russia following the war.

Zimbabwe Returns $7.3 Million to AIDS Group

NEW DELHI (AP) — Zimbabwe's central bank has returned $7.3 million to an international aid agency that it confiscated last year, an official said Friday. The agency, the Global Fund, had announced a day earlier that it would not give any new funds to Zimbabwe to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria until the money was returned. The group's board, which was meeting Friday in the Indian capital, was expected to consider a request by President Robert Mugabe's government for an additional $400 million in health care funds. Zimbabwe has an extreme economic crisis, including one of the world's highest inflation rates. Last year, the central bank confiscated U.S. dollars being held in local bank accounts, including about $12 million belonging to the Global Fund, Kazatchkine said in a statement.

Blizzard Pummels South Dakota

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — As snowfall neared 4 feet in the Black Hills and winds gusting higher than 50 mph continued to howl, state officials had a simple message for anyone thinking of trying to drive in western South Dakota's blizzard: Don't. And they stressed that the storm, which stranded an unknown numbers of motorists and knocked out power to thousands, would keep causing problems as it moves eastward Friday. Officials closed a long stretch of Interstate 90, where dozens of vehicles were trapped. Some motorists have been stranded for more than 24 hours. Search teams can't get to them because of zero visibility. The storm already has dropped 45.7 inches of snow near Deadwood, in the northern Black Hills.