The Daily Moth 1-23-2020
Hello, welcome to the Daily Moth! It is Thursday, January 23. Ready for news?
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3 U.S. firefighters die in water tanker plane crash in Australia
Three American firefighters died today in Australia when a C-130 Hercules water tanker they were flying to battle bushfires crashed.
CBS News said the crash happened in a mountainous area in New South Wales.
The plane was owned by a Canadian company named Coulson Aviation. They confirmed that one of their planes was “lost” after it took off in Australia with fire retardant.
Officials in Australia said the plane went into a valley to drop the retardant and did not emerge. They said there was a large fireball, that they have located the wreckage, and have not been able to find any survivors.
It is not yet known the three firefighters’ identities. It is also not known exactly what caused the plane to crash.
NSW’s Premier (similar to a governor) Gladys Berejiklian, said flags will fly at half mast in NSW tomorrow out of respect to the three Americans.
The plane has four propellers and is capable of dropping more than 4,000 gallons of fire retardant.
The death toll from the wildfires is now up to 31 since September.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/01/23/australia-wildfires-americans-die/4550882002/
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Utah bans conversion therapy
Utah has officially banned conversion therapy and is now the 19th and the most conservative state in the U.S. to ban it, according to an NPR article.
Gov. Gary Herbert (R) issued the ban after a proposal for a ban failed to make progress in the state legislature.
Conversion therapy is when people try to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The “therapy” is often directed towards minors.
The American Psychiatric Association said they have long been opposed to the practice and said they do not believe that same-sex orientation should or needs to be changed and that there are significant risks of harm with conversion therapy.
Researchers at San Francisco State University said that rates of attempted suicide among LGBTQ youth are more than double if their parents try to change their sexual orientation, and those rates triple if their parents and therapists and religious leaders try to change it.
Utah’s ban exempts clergy, religious counselors, parents, or grandparents if they do not act like a psychologist. The new rule has the support of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because it exempts clergy.
A 20-year-old activist, Nathan Dalley, said he is grateful to live in a state like Utah where “we say you matter to everyone.” He said he went through conversion therapy as a teenager and it caused him to attempt suicide.
A PBS article explained that there are opponents on the ban because they are concerned that parents might not be able to get help for children who had “unwanted” gay feelings.
In separate but related news, the Virginia Senate has voted to prohibit health professionals from conducting conversion therapy on anyone under 18.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/22/politics/utah-conversion-therapy-ban-trnd/index.html
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/utah-bans-conversion-therapy-for-lgbtq-children
https://www.nbc12.com/2020/01/22/va-senate-votes-prohibit-conversion-therapy-create-transgender-school-policy-repeal-gay-marriage-ban/
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Utah teenager charged with murdering 4 family members
A 16-year-old Utah teenager was charged with murdering four family members last week in their home in Grantsville. This news story will have graphic details.
KUTV 2 News said Colin Jeffrey “CJ” Haynie is accused of killing his 52-year-old mother and 12-year-old sister by shooting them with a handgun when they entered the home at 1:00 pm on Friday.
At 2:00 p.m., a 15-year-old sister was shot and killed when she arrived home from school.
At 5:17 p.m., a 14-year-old brother was shot and killed when he arrived home from school.
At 6:15 p.m., CJ’s father arrived home and was shot in the leg. The two got into a struggle and the father was able to grab the gun away.
At 7:00 p.m., a neighbor went to the home. CJ told her that he killed his family. The neighbor called 911 and then drove the father and son to a medical center, and CJ was arrested there. It is not clear how the neighbor was able to drive both the father and son together after the killings and the struggle.
There is another son, who is 24 years old, who was not at home on that day.
Police said they don’t know “why” but are investigating computers and cell phones to try and understand what led to the shooting.
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert tweeted that parents and grandparents should “secure your firearms!” He also reminded people that “love, not hate, will heal broken individuals and families.”
https://kutv.com/news/local/timeline-01-23-2020
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Updates on Wuhan coronavirus outbreak
Here are updates with the coronavirus outbreak in China.
The death toll is now up to 18. There are now more than 600 people infected, and there are new cases in Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam.
Beijing, China’s capital city, announced they are cancelling all major Chinese New Year celebrations to prevent the spread of the virus.
The city of Wuhan and its 11 million people are in lockdown. There were several pictures and videos on Twitter that showed what it looks like there — medical staff that were covered from head to toe in protective clothing carrying a patient on a stretcher, law enforcement wearing masks blocking a transit station, and an emergency vehicle blocking a highway. There was also an image of a man in a small, glass box being wheeled out of an airport.
There are no trains or planes in or out of the city. Supermarkets are empty.
A doctor at a Wuhan hospital told BBC News that hospitals are flooding with patients, that “there are thousands” and that she’s never seen so many before. Patients have to wait for hours before they can see a doctor and there is not much information because it is a new virus.
The incubation period — the time it takes from being exposed to infection to when symptoms show up — is usually seven days, but it can be as short as 2 days and up to 12 days.
The main symptom of the virus is fever. Other symptoms include dry cough, shortness of breath, and diarrhea. The virus can progress to cause severe respiratory problems, septic shock, and death.
Many fear that this strain of coronavirus could turn out to be the same as the SARS outbreak in the 2000’s that killed almost 800 people.
The virus is believed to have originated from a seafood market that illegally sold wild animals. The market is shut down. Some think the virus came from snakes.
An article on NZ Herald said the market sold live foxes, crocodiles, wolf puppies, salamanders, snakes, rats, peacocks, porcupines, and koalas.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51222384
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51217455
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12302979
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Impeachment Trial Day 2 Recap
Here is a recap of day 2 of the impeachment trial against President Trump from Axios.
Democrats’ lead House impeachment manager Adam Schiff (D-Calif) opened the Democratic side’s case for Trump’s removal by focusing on what Trump did on July 25, which is when Trump had his phone call with the Ukrainian president and requested an investigation on Joe Biden’s son, Hunter.
Schiff said it showed Trump tried to solicit foreign election interference and used his powers to try and cheat in the 2020 election.
Schiff also said there were many gaps in what the Trump administration did with regard to Ukraine because they couldn’t get documents or statements from witnesses.
There were some rumors that Democrats and Republicans were having discussions on a “witness trade” — some kind of agreement to have Hunter Biden come in to testify in exchange for calling former National Security Adviser John Bolton to testify.
Schiff and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said this was off the table, that it would not happen. Joe Biden also said he would not do this.
President Trump tweeted that they don’t want a witness trade because it would cause them problems.
The Democrats’ arguments will continue today and tomorrow, then it will be President Trump’s legal team’s turn.
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That is all for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!