The Daily Moth 2-6-2020
Trump gives speeches after acquittal; Iowa caucus to be recanvassed; Plane in Turkey breaks in three pieces; Guatemalan Congress approves bill recognizing Guatemalan Sign Language
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Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth! It is Thursday, February 6. Ready for news?
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Trump gives speeches after acquittal
Today President Trump made two public speeches after he was acquitted by the Senate Wednesday afternoon.
The first was at the National Prayer Breakfast. He held up newspapers that had the headline, “ACQUITTED.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was seated onstage, right by Trump. They didn’t talk to each other.
Trump criticized Utah Senator Mitt Romney (R) for voting to convict him guilty of abuse of power in the Senate trial.
Yesterday Mitt Romney explained that it was the most difficult decision he’s faced — to judge the leader of his own party. He said his decision was based on his “oath before God” and said Trump corrupted an election to keep himself in power.
Trump said this morning that he doesn’t like people who use their faith as a justification for doing what they know is wrong.
He also seemed to criticize Pelosi by saying he did not like people who say ‘I pray for you’ when they don’t. Pelosi has said she prays for Trump every day.
Pelosi her own news conference today at the Capitol. She said Trump’s State of the Union address was Trump presenting his state of mind and that there was no reality in it. She specifically said Trump was lying when he said he would protect people who had pre-existing medical conditions because he tried to take down the Affordable Care Act.
She also said Romney showed courage and said God should bless him for it. Lastly, she said she does pray for Trump.
Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., said Romney is “officially a member of the resistance and should be expelled from the GOP.”
President Trump gave another speech after noon from the White House to a group of his closest allies — his impeachment legal team, several top Republican members of Congress, and his family.
Trump again proudly showed newspaper headlines that read “ACQUITTED.” He said the impeachment process was unfair.
So, I think it’s safe to say that the impeachment phase of Trump’s presidency is now history, but it will have long-lasting implications as we go into election season.
https://www.axios.com/mitt-romney-trump-impeachment-vote-note-c09e8704-0196-41e9-8d7a-5d640f06c7f7.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pelosi-holds-press-conference-after-senate-acquittal-of-president-trump/
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Iowa caucus to be recanvassed
The drama with the Democratic caucuses in Iowa is not anywhere close to being over.
The Iowa Democratic Party released results from 97% of precincts that showed Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders remaining in a very close race for first place with about 26% each, but the New York Times reported this morning that based on their investigation, there were many errors and inconsistencies with the vote totals.
For example, there were some total counts in which a candidate who was considered viable during the first alignment ended up losing votes in the final alignment, which shouldn’t be possible as they can only either have exactly the same votes or more votes after supporters for nonviable candidates move on to their second choice. There were also some instances in which a candidate did not get any votes during the first alignment but suddenly had votes in the final alignment. In short, it is a mess.
Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez tweeted “Enough is enough.” He said the Iowa Democratic Party has to immediately begin a “recanvass” of the figures from Monday’s caucuses.
A recanvass is almost like a recount. The Washington Post explained that it is a “hand audit of Caucus Math Worksheets and Reporting Forms to ensure that they were tallied and reported in the telephone intake sheets and caucus reporting application correctly.”
So, we don’t know when the end will come. Pete Buttigieg declared victory on Monday night based on his campaign’s internal data, but we can’t confirm it.
It does appear he is probably going to be a top vote-getter along with Bernie Sanders, who also declared victory in Iowa this afternoon.
There have been several conspiracy theories about the Iowa Democratic Party that has been born out of the controversy.
The next Democratic election will be the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, February 11. The state uses private ballot votes.
https://www.axios.com/dnc-chair-calls-for-recanvass-in-iowa-to-ensure-confidence-in-results-3a6343a9-8535-48ab-be0e-fa37f4d58a46.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/upshot/iowa-caucuses-errors-results.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage https://twitter.com/TomPerez/status/1225468833458245632
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Plane in Turkey breaks in three pieces
Al-Monitor reported that on Wednesday in Istanbul, Turkey, a passenger plane had a rough landing at the Gokcen Airport and skidded off a runway and fell over 100 feet down a ditch.
The plane broke in three parts and was on fire for a short time. The front part of the plane, where the pilots sit, was broken in its own piece and was upside down. The fuselage had a gaping hole in the front and a complete crack near the tail part.
Sadly, three people were killed and over 180 people were injured. The plane was a Boeing 737 and was operated by Pegasus Airlines. The weather was bad at the time with heavy rains, strong winds, and low visibility.
A passenger said the plane was shaking when it descended through thick clouds and that there was a bolt of lightning right by the plane. He said people panicked after the crash and that people were trapped by falling carry-on luggage.
There are now multiple investigations on what happened.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/02/turkey-plane-crash-kills-three.html https://news.sky.com/story/plane-splits-in-two-after-skidding-off-istanbul-runway-11926970
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Guatemalan Congress approves bill recognizing Guatemalan Sign Language
Last week, the Guatemalan Congress approved a law to recognize Guatemalan Sign Language.
I got this news from Juan Jośe Alvarado, an English Language Teaching Specialist from Guatemala.
He provided an English translation of an article from a Spanish speaking newspaper, Soy 502, that reported on the bill.
The bill, Act 3-2020, will “enable the right of every deaf and blind deaf person to be taught Sign Language as a native language.” The law will also “allow inclusion of (sign) language in public education, as well as its usage on national television.”
The law also establishes September 23rd as “Guatemalan Sign Language Day.”
There was a sign language interpreter in Congress’ chamber when lawmakers discussed the bill.
Thank you Juan for the translation and Congratulations to Guatemala.
September 23 is the official “International Day of Sign Languages” as recognized by the UN General Assembly. Why September 23? It is the date that the World Federation of the Deaf was established — in 1951.
https://www.soy502.com/articulo/diputados-aprueban-ley-lengua-senas-63338
Note: I received feedback that it should be “DeafBlind” not “blind deaf.” My newscast used an exact paraphrase of a Spanish-to-English translation. The proper term in the US is “DeafBlind.”
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That is all for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!