The Daily Moth 1-13-2020
Iran admits they shot down plane; Volcano Taal in the Philippines erupts; News Briefs: Cory Booker drops out of 2020 race; Pensacola Navy shooting considered terrorism; Puerto Rican deaf community complains about unqualified interpreter during earthquake briefings
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Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth! It is Monday, January 13. Hope your weekend was good. Ready for news?
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Iran admits they shot down plane
On Saturday, Iranian government officials admitted that their military shot down the Ukrainian International Airlines plane. 176 people died when the plane crashed into flames after taking off from an airport in Tehran. The Iranian military said they would hold those responsible for the plane strike in military court.
Iran initially did not admit they shot it down, but after the governments of Canada and Ukraine pointed to Iran, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard apologized for the crash. He said he wished he was on that plane and crashed and died with them. He said he is the most embarrassed he has ever been in his life.
News reports said there were street protests in Tehran by those angry with the Iranian government. They called on military leaders and the Iranian Supreme Leader to resign. There were also protests on college campuses.
President Trump tweeted in Farsi a statement of support for the protesters.
Iran’s foreign minister said he offers his apologies but said this crisis was caused by the U.S.
The Iranian military said they were not sure if the plane was a threat and only had 10 seconds to decide to shoot it down or not. The plane was headed in the direction of an Iranian military base. It was four hours after Iran fired a barrage of missiles towards two Iraqi military bases where U.S. troops were staying at.
Ukrainian investigators posted on social media images of evidence of shrapnel damage on the plane. They showed an image of a Canadian man’s passport with holes in it. The Ukrainian President Zelensky praised his investigative team, saying they were professional and did not allow the truth to be hidden.
There were many comparisons of this crash with another in 1988 when a U.S. military ship shot down an Iran Air airplane over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people. It happened during the last parts of the Iran-Iraq war.
On Sunday there were six rockets that hit an Iraqi military base north of Baghdad. Four Iraqi soldiers were injured. There are no Americans there, but Americans had recently worked there. It is not clear who fired the rockets.
In separate but related news, Iran’s only female Olympic medalist, Taekwondo athlete Kimia Alizadeh, announced on Instagram she has permanently left Iran and will live in Europe. She said it was because she was oppressed as a woman. Some reports say she is now in the Netherlands.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/11/world/middleeast/plane-crash.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/zelensky-calls-for-admission-of-guilt-justice-after-iran-admits-to-mistakenly-shooting-down-ukrainian-plane/2020/01/11/2c85cb08-33d8-11ea-971b-43bec3ff9860_story.html
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/01/12/iran-missiles-pound-base-general-apologizes-plane-shootdown/4448368002/
https://www.npr.org/2020/01/12/795727458/irans-only-female-olympic-medalist-says-she-has-defected
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Volcano Taal in the Philippines erupts
In the Philippines, there is a large eruption on a volcano called Taal. It is 40 miles south of the capital city, Manila and located in the middle of a lake.
The UN said there are 450,000 people who live within the nine-mile “danger zone” of the volcano.
Axios reported that the eruption has triggered at least 52 earthquakes and ashfall across the region. Manila’s international airport suspended flights and schools cancelled classes.
About 8,000 people live in towns around the volcano and they have been evacuated. There are no reports of casualties.
News videos show the ash cloud being full of lightning. Scientists have also released images of a lava fountain from Taal’s main crater.
There is an “alert level” that is from 1 to 5, and the Taal region is at level 4 because of a possible “hazardous explosive eruption” within hours to days.
https://www.axios.com/philippines-taal-volcano-erupting-earthquakes-f02a1430-d13e-4d64-a80b-fc9cfd6f4cd0.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51086961
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News Briefs: Cory Booker drops out of 2020 race; Pensacola Navy shooting considered terrorism
Here are two top news briefs.
The first — Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) announced he would drop out of the 2020 presidential race. He did not qualify for tomorrow’s debate and told his supporters in an email that he does not have the money to continue his campaign and doesn’t see a path to victory.
He said he would run for re-election to the Senate this year in New Jersey.
There are now only three candidates of color in the Democratic field — Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Andrew Yang, and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
On Friday, another Democratic candidate dropped out — author Marianne Williamson.
The second news — Attorney General William Barr said the shooting at a Navy base in Pensacola, Florida in December was an act of terrorism.
A 21-year-old pilot from Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Alshamrani, who was in a special training program, shot and killed three American soldiers and injured eight others in a classroom building. Deputies who responded to the scene shot and killed him.
Barr said an investigation found that the shooter had posted “anti-American, anti-Israeli and jihadi messages” on social media before the shooting.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/cory-booker-ends-2020-presidential-campaign-161012971.html
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/10/marianne-williamson-drops-2020-race-097224
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Puerto Rican deaf community complains about unqualified interpreter during earthquake briefings
In Puerto Rico there are still earthquakes and aftershocks that have forced thousands of residents in the southern part of the island to leave their homes and seek refuge in shelters or outside in their vehicles or tents.
In the deaf community, there was controversy on Saturday evening surrounding an interpreter during Governor Wanda Vazquez Garced’s briefing on the earthquake. Multiple people on social media complained that the interpreter was not from Puerto Rico but is a U.S. employee contracted by the FEMA, that the interpreter is not fluent in Spanish, and that she did not sign important information correctly or in the language that deaf people in Puerto Rico uses. They questioned why the organizers of the briefing did not hire a Puerto Rican interpreter.
Deaf news outlets “The Deaf Report” and “Sign1News” did reports on this.
I watched a video clip of the interpretation on Univision Puerto Rico’s Facebook page.
[Clip]
It appears she is signing in ASL/English rather than a mix of ASL/Spanish. Only ASL/English.
I reached out to two Puerto Ricans who posted viral videos about the situation and will show you clips of interviews with them.
The first interview is with César Gabriel, who lives in the southern coast of Puerto Rico.
CESAR GABRIEL:
First of all, I am grateful for the Puerto Rican government in that they did not forget the deaf community by bringing in an interpreter. That is commendable. But… she was not qualified for Puerto Ricans. She only knows English and doesn’t know Spanish. I was puzzled on why she was interpreting while using an earpiece where someone else translated from Spanish to English. The information that was delivered was not clear -- there were a lot of repetitions. I tried to lipread and could tell that it was not the same as what the governor was saying. It means she didn’t fully understand and was struggling.
Puerto Rico has plenty of interpreters here. We have Puerto Rican interpreters, absolutely. Why not request them? Is this a repeat of Hurricane Maria, but with the earthquake situation?
For myself, I know ASL and have learned English, yes, but I am thinking of my deaf community in Puerto Rico. They will not understand.
ALEX:
Thank you César for your time. The second interview is with Abdiel Reyrez, who is a hearing interpreter from San Juan, the capital city.
ABDIEL REYREZ:
The influence from ASL is there, yes, many words are in ASL. But it is not called “ASL,” so you have to be careful. We have many Puerto Rican signs. Many regions have their own signs, also for their cities. The woman did not know this, and this is during an emergency with the governor announcing which cities have to evacuate because of the earthquake. The woman just signed random things as she did not know how to sign cities or many other things. Many deaf people didn’t understand. The woman is from U.S. and doesn’t know Puerto Rican Sign Language. It’s the worst feeling, not knowing what to do. It’s unacceptable. We have a lot of hurricanes and now daily earthquakes for the past two weeks. We need a local Puerto Rican interpreter and a qualified one, not just anyone. Please check and evaluate the person so the right interpreter is present.
ALEX:
Thank you for your time, Abdiel.
The complaints have reached local news in Puerto Rico. Here is a clip of an interview on wapa.tv with Aida Matos, who is an expert in Puerto Rican Sign Language and has written a book on it.
(Video clip of Aida Matos explaining that Puerto Rican Sign Language is different and that the complaints are because the interpreter that was brought in from the U.S. was signing in English and did not know Puerto Rican Sign Language.)
ALEX:
You can that the sign language in Puerto Rico is different from what people in the United States use. There are some similarities, but there are many differences.
I was told by César that the last two government emergency briefings used Puerto Rican interpreters.
A hearing journalist who works with CBS, David Begnaud, posted on Facebook a statement from FEMA that was written in response to the interpreter controversy. The FEMA said they “expedited deployment of an ASL interpreter on Friday night” to support the governor’s press conference, but they are now working on bringing in a Spanish-speaking interpreter and working to contract with local interpreters.
However, César wonders if the deaf community’s complaints will be forgotten in the future as it has happened during Hurricane Maria.
CESAR:
I am concerned -- what if two or three years in the future -- this happens again? I am not sure because most of the time, the government here, after listening to us, says, “Yes, sure” but two or three years later, they forget all about it. It happens all the time. Please stop. You need to listen to the deaf community. It is time to stop this.
Abdiel identified the female interpreter as Shelli Holmes. I reached out to a Facebook profile with the same name and image, but did not get an immediate response.
Now, we will go back to the topic of earthquakes. I asked both César and Abdiel how the earthquakes have impacted them and other Puerto Ricans.
ABDIEL:
In the south of Puerto Rico, there are many homes that collapsed. Many on the southern coast face rockslides. Historic churches have collapsed. Schools have also collapsed. It is very fortunate that this happened before school started -- the school was hit only two days before the start of school. Everything is postponed. Right now all the schools has to be inspected in accordance with structural codes. Many schools are old and are not up to regulations. It is a disaster. Many people from the northern parts of the island are driving and causing traffic jams because they are bringing food, water, and tents. Many people don’t have roofs and have to sleep outside. There are many elderly people outside and they need breathing devices and electricity. It’s a mess. It’s very sad. Many people are crying every day and the daily earthquakes bring anxiety to everyone, children, elderly people, everyone. I feel nervous every day and today it happened again. Yesterday we had a 6.0 magnitude quake. It’s been every day and it is predicted that the “big one” will happen. We have a feeling it will come. I hope not, but it might happen. We have to be prepared, with interpreters and everything, for the deaf community of Puerto Rico. Please.
CAESAR:
I can’t even sleep. I wake up at 1 in the morning from the earthquakes. At 3 a.m., 4 a.m., or 6 a.m. Every night. Sometimes it happens during the day or the afternoon. We’re worried all the time. There are deaf people who live in the southwestern part of the island, and some of their homes are collapsed or cracked. Some of them don’t receive help due to communication difficulties. It is really serious because they can’t communicate with hearing people. For example, when trucks with supplies come to different locations and announce using voice that they have water and food and other things, deaf people can’t hear it. When deaf people see hearing people rush to gather the supplies, they feel like they can’t take part of it to take care of themselves. Also -- I am touched by this -- there is a deaf person who sleeps in his car with a baseball bat because people have tried to steal from him and take advantage of his disability. So it is still a very serious situation. From December 28 up to now, we have suffered a lot.
ALEX:
César said if people wanted to help, they can reach out by emailing him at gabicolon009@gmail.com.
He also said people can support Off-The-Grid Missions, who does work in Puerto Rico. Their leader is deaf woman Angela Maria Nardolillo. Their website is offthegridmissions.org.
David Begnaud: https://www.facebook.com/108679513654/photos/a.10152159686718655/10157266024303655/?type=3&theater
Abdiel’s Vlog: https://www.facebook.com/abdielreyrez/videos/3178222012206838/
Cesar’s vlog: https://www.facebook.com/gabi.jimenez.142/videos/vb.100001341320895/2777961088925241/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab
Wapa.Tv Interview: https://www.wapa.tv/noticias/locales/alegan-que-el-gobierno-le-fallo-a-comunidad-sorda-en-la-isla_20131122467933.html
Off-The-Grid Missions: https://www.offthegridmissions.org/
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That is all for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!