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Floods and Landslides in Indonesia Kill over 800

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Indonesian officials said on Tuesday that the death toll from flooding and landslides, caused by months of heavy rain and multiple devastating typhoons, has exceeded 800. More than 700 of those casualties were reported on the island of Sumatra.

The Indonesian disaster relief agency initially reported 753 fatalities on Sumatra over the past week, although it revised the number down to 708 later on Tuesday, without explanation. The combined death toll across Southeast Asia is over 1,350.

Local officials on Sumatra said downed power lines, blocked roads, and fuel shortages were complicating efforts to deliver food and medicine. The Indonesian military has provided support by airdropping supplies, but some of the supplies they delivered were damaged on landing.

The flooding in Sumatra’s northwestern province of Aceh was so severe that supplies of drinking water are running low, forcing local residents to clean and drink muddy flood water.

A hunger crisis is looming in the hardest-hit areas, and the public is increasingly frustrated that the central Indonesian government has not declared a national emergency. Indonesian social media is filled with complaints about the insufficient disaster relief budget, which was cut in half from last year’s funding. (Read more from “Floods and Landslides in Indonesia Kill over 800” HERE)

Mom Forces Son-In-Law to Strip, Finds Out He’s a Woman. Wife Sues: Report

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An Indonesian woman filed a lawsuit against her former husband of ten months after learning he is actually a woman—despite engaging in intimacy several times, according to local media reports.

NA, 22, first met her ex-husband — who used the name Ahnaf Arrafif on a dating app — in Jambi City, the capital and largest city in the Indonesian province of Jambi. However, local media reports Arrafif’s real name is Erayani.

Erayani and NA developed an online relationship before dating in person. . .

Tribun News reported, NA’s parents gave Erayani permission to marry their daughter after several weeks of dating. However four months after tying the knot, the family became suspicious of the NA’s “husband” questioning why they never met Erayani’s family or why “he” never removed clothing—even when bathing. . .

At some point during the short marriage, NA confronted her ex-partner’s lumps on Erayani’s chest, which “he” claimed was a hormonal problem. That’s when NA’s mother forced Erayani to remove her clothes to prove she is, in fact, a man. (Read more from “Mom Forces Son-In-Law to Strip, Finds Out He’s a Woman. Wife Sues: Report” HERE)

Photo credit: Picserver.org

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Submarine Carrying Over 50 People Randomly Vanishes

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By Associated Press. Indonesia’s navy is searching for a submarine that went missing north of the resort island of Bali with 53 people on board, the military said Wednesday.

Military chief Hadi Tjahjanto said the KRI Nanggala 402 was participating in a training exercise when it missed a scheduled reporting call.

The submarine is believed to have disappeared in waters about 60 miles (95 kilometers) north of Bali, he said. (Read more from “Submarine Carrying Over 50 People Randomly Vanishes” HERE)

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UPDATE: One of History’s Worst Sub Disasters, Indonesia Declares Missing Vessel “Sunk”

By Peter Aitken. Indonesia’s navy declared Saturday that the missing submarine has most likely sunk, with no hope of finding survivors, after rescuers discovered several items believed to be from the vessel.

“With authentic evidence we found believe to be from the submarine, we have now moved from the ‘sub miss’ phase to ‘sub sunk,'” Margono said at a press conference in Bali, where the found items were displayed.

The items included parts of a torpedo straightener, a grease bottle believed to be used to oil the periscope and prayer rugs from the submarine. Officials said the oxygen supply for its 53 crew ran out early Saturday. . .

Family members of the crew had held out hope that the search effort would locate the vessel before the limited oxygen supply ran out, but Navy Chief Yudo Margono provided evidence that the Indonesian navy believes is irrefutable proof of a worst-case scenario.

“We keep doing the search until we find it and whatever the result,” Indonesia military spokesperson Djawara Whimbo said. (Read more from this story about the missing submarine HERE)

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Country Set to Criminalize Sex Outside Marriage

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Indonesia’s government is pushing through a sweeping new penal code aimed at cracking down on behavior determined to be offensive to the country’s majority-Muslim culture, and is set to outlaw consensual sex outside marriage as part of the package. . .

Reuters reported that four parliamentarians confirmed the new criminal code “is due to be adopted in the next week,” and the final version includes a law that would make it illegal for citizens to have sex with a person other than their spouse. Violators could be sent to prison for up to one year.

According to the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, millions of Indonesians could face prosecution under the pending law. The organization pointed to a study showing that 40 percent of adolescents in the country have had pre-marital sexual relations — and that’s just the young people in a country with a population of more than 250 million.

The Associated Press reported last year that the revisions to Indonesia’s criminal code were pushed by the country’s Islamic political parties, who are using “moral conservatism’ to “rouse their base.” (Read more from “Country Set to Criminalize Sex Outside Marriage” HERE)

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Massive Earthquake Devastates Indonesia

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By Townhall. A 7.5 earthquake hit Indonesia’s central coastline in Sulawesi. The earthquake then triggered a 10 foot tsunami. Both events occurred back-to-back on Friday night, the Associated Press reported.

The capital of Central Sulawesi providence houses more than 380,000 people and is built arround a narrow bay that magnified the force of the tsunami waters.

According to disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, in Palu alone, 48 people have been reported dead and hundreds are injured, although he says “many victims” have yet to be accounted ford. (Read more from “Massive Earthquake Devastates Indonesia” HERE)

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Indonesia Earthquake: Dozens Dead in Palu

By BBC News. . .Last month, a series of deadly earthquakes struck the Indonesian island of Lombok, with the biggest, on 5 August, killing more than 460.

Indonesia’s disaster agency said at least 48 people have been killed from the latest quake but that the figure could rise.

“We have not received comprehensive reports yet because communications are cut. Many bodies were found along the shoreline because of the tsunami, but the numbers are still unknown,” Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the agency, told Reuters.

It is not clear whether the deaths came in the quake or the resulting tsunami.

Palu is home to more than 300,000 people. Rescue operations have started but a minister said that communications had been disrupted and that the runway in the city was damaged, although it was hoped that helicopters would still be able to land. (Read more from “Indonesia Earthquake: Dozens Dead in Palu” HERE)

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Teen Survives Seven Weeks Adrift at Sea Reading Bible, Catching Fish

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An Indonesian teen survived seven weeks at sea drifting on a wooden fishing hut from off the coast of Indonesia to the waters near the U.S. territory of Guam, a distance of approximately 2000 miles.

Aldi Novel Adilang, 19, was working on a floating fishing trap (known as a rompong) anchored some 77 miles off Indonesia’s Sulawesi island when the rope tethering him to the seabed broke on July 14 due to high winds, sending him adrift, the BBC reported.

“My rompong’s rope snapped after it rubbed against my friend’s rompong,” said Adilang, who spoke to BBC Indonesian from his parents’ house near the city of Manado in North Sulawesi. “Unfortunately he was asleep so he didn’t know I was adrift.”

The rompong didn’t have a motor or paddle, and the teen drifted off to sea. His supplies consisted of about a week’s worth of food and water, a two-way radio, and a Bible.

“Rice, clean water, spices, cooking gas, and other supplies ran out. To survive I caught fish and burned the rompong’s wooden fences to make a fire for cooking. I even ate raw fish,” he told the BBC.

Adilang drank seawater to stay hydrated, filtering it through wet clothing he had on board to make it safer and more palatable.

The teen said he offered many tearful prayers to God that he would be rescued so he could see his mother and father again.

He also read his Bible and sang Christian songs.

He despaired at one point and considered committing suicide by jumping into the sea, but his faith helped him overcome the temptation.

Fajar Firdaus, a diplomat at the consulate in Osaka, Japan, told The Jakarta Post that more than ten ships passed Adilang during his time on open waters until on Aug. 31 he was able to get the attention of Panamanian flagged freighter.

He managed to dial his radio to the vessel’s frequency and signaled for help.

“According to video posted by a crew member, (Adilang’s) distress message — ‘Help Help Help’ — reached the cargo ship’s chief mate, Emmanuel Soriano, who informed the captain, Narciso Santillan — who ordered the ship to change course to carry out a rescue operation,” NPR reported.

Once aboard, the teen received food, water, clothing and a haircut.

The ship’s crew took him with them to their next stop, the port of Tokuyama, Japan, on Sept. 6,

From there he was flown to Tokyo and then on to Indonesia, where Adilang was reunited with his family.

The teen has no plans to return to his old job. (For more from the author of “Teen Survives Seven Weeks Adrift at Sea Reading Bible, Catching Fish” please click HERE)

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Christian Governor in Jakarta Sentenced to Prison for Blasphemy Against Islam

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An Indonesian court sentenced the minority Christian governor of Jakarta to two years in prison on Tuesday for “blaspheming” the Quran, a jarring ruling that undermines the reputation of the world’s largest Muslim nation for practicing a moderate form of Islam.

In announcing its decision, the five-judge panel said Gov. Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama was “convincingly proven guilty of blasphemy” and ordered his arrest. He was taken to Cipinang Prison in east Jakarta. At the court, supporters of the governor wept and hugged each other amid shouts of jubilation from members of conservative Islamic groups.

Photos quickly appeared online of Ahok, who still commands immense popularity in Jakarta, the capital, being warmly greeted by prison staff. Ahok said he would appeal, but it was unclear if he would be released once that process is underway. (Read more from “Christian Governor in Jakarta Sentenced to Prison for Blasphemy Against Islam” HERE)

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Obama’s Classmate Tells PBS that Young Barry Called Himself an Indonesian prince & Kenyan royalty

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In a June 2012 PBS interview on Frontline that is just now hitting the blogosphere, Kristen Caldwell, a U.S. citizen who attended school with Obama in Indonesia, claims that young Obama called himself “alternatively … an Indonesian prince or Kenyan royalty”:

Frontline: So what do we know about Obama and his background? He wasn’t rich. Would he have needed help? How did he fit into this —

Caldwell: My understanding is that Barry — and that’s what we called him, so I’m not meaning to be disrespectful, but I’m going likely to refer to him as Barry for the most part. My understanding is that Barry was on a scholarship. And a lot of times if you’re on scholarship you had to do some work at the school. You worked in the snack bar.

My father told me — and I didn’t know it at the time — that Barry did some work at the tennis courts. We all did work at the tennis courts, those of us who hung out there. So it wasn’t unusual when the tennis pro would ask me, “Go and walk courts 1 and 2,” and that sort of thing, because he would ask any of us to do that. So I wasn’t aware of that.

When I first met Barry, when he showed up I think it was the summer before fifth grade, he was hanging out at the tennis courts. And at the time that was the very Wimbledon-like, where everyone had to wear white clothes and white tennis shoes. Very careful about the soles of the shoes because you didn’t want to scuff up the courts, mark them up.

So yeah, I can picture him as this slightly — “chubby” is too strong, but rounded, short little guy, Barry Obama. And he told us that his father was an Indonesian king and that he was a prince, and after he finished school he was going to go back, and he would be a ruler in Indonesia. And I absolutely believed him.

I understand that he told his fifth-grade class that he was Kenyan royalty, but I never heard that story until years later. My sister and I remember very clearly that he was an Indonesian prince and that he would be going back there. So there was some reference to where he had come from, and the understanding was his family was there.

Read more from the interview HERE.

Dinesh D’Souza’s 2016 Obama Documentary Blows Away Industry Estimates, Grossing Millions

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Dinesh D’Souza felt that President Barack Obama had been telling his story to Americans for years. The conservative author wanted to give them a different version. So he worked on a documentary, “2016: Obama’s America,” that put the president in a more critical light. And apparently, there’s an audience that agrees with D’Souza’s vision.

In its first week in wider distribution, the documentary grossed an estimated $6.2 million, far exceeding industry expectations, according to independent distributor Rocky Mountain Pictures. That was virtually the same amount as the major studio action film “Premium Rush” collected – and “Obama’s America” was playing in roughly 1,100 fewer theaters.

“I realized Obama was telling his own story in his own voice and thought it would be interesting to use his voice in a documentary where it would be indisputable to people that this was Obama’s own narrative,” said D’Souza, who wrote and directed the film with John Sullivan.

The film draws heavily from D’Souza’s own life, as he describes how coming to study in America from his native India helped to shape his political ideology. Throughout the 90-minute film, he often addresses the camera face-forward, pointing out the similarities between his upbringing and Obama’s. Many of the author’s arguments about Obama’s support of anti-colonialism are drawn from D’Souza’s controversial book “The Roots of Obama’s Rage,” and the movie frequently uses dramatic reenactments featuring unknown actors to depict past events.

Heading into the weekend, pre-release audience surveys suggested “Obama’s America” would gross about $4 million – but by midday Friday, ticket sales were so brisk that estimates were lifted to $6 million. The movie debuted seven weeks ago here and had raked in $2.4 million as it expanded from 169 theaters to 1,091 locations this weekend. The film currently is in 12 theaters in the Houston area. In total, the film has sold $9.1 million worth of tickets.

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: Dinesh D’Souza-No one really knows who Obama is

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Watch an outstanding preview of Dinesh D’Souza’s “2016” movie and then listen to his exceptional speech on Obama’s background. D’Souza explains why Obama is trying to destroy America.