4 USA Spot a UFO? The
4 USA Spot a UFO? The Pentagon wants to know DEFENSE DEPARTMENT The Pentagon wants to remove the stigma around reporting sightings of ‘unidentified aerial phenomena.’ mit Audiodatei und By Anumita Kaur 1 IF YOUsee an unidentified flying object in the air, let the Pentagon know – and officials have promised to take you seriously. The Defense Department wants to remove the stigma around reporting such incidents so that it can better investigate them, starting with military personnel, Pentagon officials on Tuesday told members of the House Intelligence Committee at a hearing. 2 “We want to know what’s out there as much as you want to know what’s out there,” testified Ronald Moultrie, a top Defense Department intelligence official. “Our goal is not to potentially cover up something, if we were to find something. It’s to understand what may be out there, examine what it may mean for us.” 3 The hearing focused on a Pentagon program that started in 2017 and sought to investigate reports from pilots and other military personnel who spotted what the Defense Department calls UAPs, short for “unidentified aerial phenomena” (better known to the public as UFOs, or unidentified flying objects). 4 This isn’t the Pentagon’s first attempt to record and investigate UFOs. The latest program follows another Pentagon effort, known as Project Blue Book, which discontinued its research about 50 years ago. 5 “Unidentified aerial phenomena are a potential national security threat, and they need to be treated that way,” said Rep. André Carson, chairman of the Intelligence subcommittee that held the hearing, the first to examine UFOs in five decades. “For too long, the stigma associated with UAPs has gotten in the way Übungsmaterial A highway sign in Rachel, Nevada, an area known for UFO sightings. | Photo: Getty Images of good intelligence analysis. Pilots avoided reporting or were laughed at when they did.” 6 Scott Bray, deputy director of Naval Intelligence, said that reports of such sightings are “frequent and continuous,” with more than 400 recorded by the Pentagon to date – up from the 144 reported sightings between 2004 and 2021. He attributed the rise in reports to the agency’s efforts to destigmatize the sharing of such stories. Understanding and assessing the reports is another matter. The spontaneous and often quick nature of the incidents means that officials frequently have little data to work with. 7 During the hearing, Bray pointed to footage of a mysterious object zooming by a military aircraft, appearing and disappearing in the blink of an eye. “I do not have an explanation for what this specific object is,” he said. Lawmakers asked Bray to play and replay the video so they could catch a glimpse of the puzzling visual captured through a plane’s window. 8 In another video, Navy personnel documented a triangle flashing off the coast of the United States. Several years later, Navy personnel witnessed another triangle floating off a different coast in the U.S., Bray said. “We’re now reasonably confident that these triangles correlate to unmanned aerial systems in the area. The triangular appearance is a result of light passing through the night vision goggles and then being recorded by an SLR camera,” he said. “This is a great example of how it takes considerable effort to understand what we’re seeing in the examples that we are able to collect.” © 2022 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. September 1 2022 | World and Press comment Trashing our public parks ENVIRONMENT Parks are public land, which means they are for all of us to enjoy – and to respect and protect. By Mariel Garza 1 WHAT COMPELS someone to travel to the far-off wilderness, enjoy the natural splendor it affords – and then decide to ruin it for everyone else? 2 On Sunday, officials at Yosemite National Park posted this distressing photo of vandalism along the popular Yosemite Falls Trail and asked for the public’s help in identifying the perpetrators. In all, about 30 sites were marked with blue and white paint, with some of the tagging as large as eight feet tall and just as wide. The graffiti is especially problematic because it involves rocks and plants, rather than manmade structures, and can’t simply be painted over or sprayed with chemical removers. Park officials estimate it will be weeks or months before the ugly and unnatural blemishes can be removed. 3 Sadly, this is not the first time that a national park has been vandalized in such a brazen fashion. In 2014, Casey Nocket visited seven national parks in the West, including Yosemite, where she defaced rock formations with her “art.” She was caught because she Vandals spray-painted graffiti on rocks along the Yosemite Falls Trail in Yosemite National Park. | Photo: National Park Service/TNS mit Übungen | Sprechen posted her rock paintings on social media. Her punishment after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges was probation, community service, financial restitution, and a temporary national park ban – and of course plenty of public shaming. It was an appropriate consequence for the wanton desecration of priceless natural treasures. 4 But no less dismaying is the smaller scale, but exponentially more frequent ways that we trash our public parks – from dumping garbage to removing and destroying plants, animals, artifacts, signs, buildings, and landscapes. I hiked the same Yosemite trail in August 2020, and though I didn’t spot any graffiti, I did come across a depressing amount of litter, which included no small number of discarded disposable medical masks. Sadly, it’s the same sight in every park, preserve, wilderness area I’ve encountered in and around L.A. These little acts of disrespect add up to a major trashing of natural spaces. 5 This is a good reminder that parks are public land, which means they are for all of us to enjoy – and to respect and protect. © 2022 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. 0 – 1 DEFENSE DEPARTMENT (AE) Verteidi gungsministerium — sighting Sichtung — unidentified “ÆønaI"dentIfaId‘ unbekannt — aerial “"e´ri´l‘ Luft- — phenomena “fI"nÅmIn´‘ Phänomene — official Mitarbei ter(in); s.w.u. intelligence o. Geheim dienstmitarbeiter(in) — mili tary personnel “Æp‰…s´n"el‘ Militärangehörige — House Intelligence Committee Geheimdienstausschuss des US-Repräsentantenhauses — hearing Anhörung 2 – 5 to testify “"testIfaI‘ aussagen — to cover up vertuschen — to seek to do s. bemühen zu tun — effort Bemühung — to discontinue “ÆdIsk´n"tInju…‘ beenden — Rep. = Representative; s.w.u. lawmaker Abgeordnete(r) — chairman Vorsitzender — subcommittee “"søbk´ÆmIti‘ Unterausschuss 6 deputy director stellv. Leiter(in) — Naval Intelligence “"neIv´l‘ Marinenachrichtendienst — to date bis heute — to attribute to s.th. “´"trIbju…t‘ auf etw. zurückführen — agency “"eIdZ´nsi‘ Behörde — to destigmatize s.th. “di…"stIgm´taIz‘ e-r S. das Stigma nehmen — to assess “´"ses‘ bewerten 7 footage “"fUtIdZ‘ Aufnahmen — to zoom by vorbeisausen — blink of an eye (fig) Augenblick (b. Zwinkern) — glimpse kurzer Blick — puzzling “"pøz´lIN‘ rätselhaft — visual “"vIZu´l‘ Erscheinung 8 Navy personnel Marineangehörige — triangle “"traIœNg´l‘ Dreieck; s.w.u. triangular “traI"œNgj´l´‘ dreieckig — to flash aufleuchten — to float schweben — reasonably ziemlich — confident sicher — to correlate to “"kÅr´leIt‘ zus.hängen mit — unmanned unbemannt — night vision goggles Nachtsichtbrille — SLR (= singlelens reflex) camera Spiegelreflexkamera — considerable “k´n"sId´r´b´l‘ erheblich 0 – 1 TO TRASH(AE, coll) verwüsten — to compel s.o. to do “k´m"pel‘ jdn. dazu bringen zu tun — far-off entlegen — wilderness “"wIld´n´s‘ Wildnis — splendor “"splend´‘ Pracht — to afford bieten 2 official Verantwortliche(r) — Yosemite “j´U"semIti‘ — distressing erschütternd — falls Wasserfall — perpetrator “"p‰…p´treIt´‘ Täter(in) — tagging Graffiti-Tag — eight feet ca. 2,43 m — manmade von Menschen errichtet — structure Bauwerk — blemish “"blemIS‘ Verunstaltung 3 to vandalize mutwillig beschädigen — brazen unverschämt — to deface verunstalten — to plead guilty to a charge s. e-s Vergehens schuldig bekennen — misdemeanor “ÆmIsdI"mi…n´‘ geringfügiges Vergehen — probation Bewährungsstrafe — community service gemeinnützige Arbeit — financial restitution “ÆrestI"tSu…S´n‘ Schadensersatz — shaming Anprangern — wanton “"wÅnt´n‘ mutwillig — desecration “ÆdesI"kreIS´n‘ Schändung 4 – 5 dismaying bestürzend — to dump; s.w.u. to discard wegwerfen — garbage “"gA…bIdZ‘ (AE) Müll — to hike wandern — disposable “dI"sp´Uz´b´l‘ Einweg- — preserve “prI"z‰…v‘ (AE) Naturschutzgebiet — wilderness area US-Naturschutzgebietskategorie — disrespect Respektlosigkeit
World and Press | September 1 2022 Immigrant communities push for more non-English ballots VOTING RIGHTS For Americans whose native language is not English, navigating a jargon-filled ballot can be intimidating. mit Audiodatei By Matt Vasilogambros 1 WITH primary elections well underway across the country, voting rights and immigrant advocates are raising the alarm about a lack of language assistance for voters who are not fluent in English. 2 While federal law requires counties with a certain percentage of non-English-speaking citizens to provide ballots in a limited number of languages, advocates contend the federal threshold is too high and does not cover enough languages, leaving voters in many immigrant communities unable to fully understand election materials. 3 This struggle is on display in Hall County, Georgia, a community that is 29% Latino but does not have to provide ballots in Spanish because it does not meet the federal lack of English proficiency criteria. Local officials also have refused to voluntarily provide Spanish ballots for voters, which has been frustrating for Jerry Gonzalez, CEO of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, a nonprofit based just outside of Atlanta that advances civil engagement in the Latino community. “There’s no reason why counties can’t better serve their changing demographics with the tools they need for a better voting process,” he said. “We all stand to benefit when those who are not fluent in English have meaningful access to cast their ballot in an informed way.” 4 Tom Smiley, chair of the Hall County elections board, opposed this effort because of cost concerns. In an interview with the ‘Gainesville Times,’ he said: “There’s a large budget that would accompany that, and so it’s good for us to know that we did not meet that [federal] standard for this time.” He did not respond to requests for comment from Stateline. 5 For Americans whose native language is not English, navigating a jargon-filled ballot can be intimidating; it’s already complicated for the average English-speaking voter. But adding new language assistance can be challenging for many counties that might not be able to afford printing ballots in several different languages. Still, more voting rights and immigrant advocates are calling on local jurisdictions to voluntarily provide language assistance. A multilingual general election sample ballot from Miami, FL. | Photo: Getty Images 6 Voting rights advocates have been able to make slow progress. While Gwinnett County, northeast of Atlanta, is the only jurisdiction in Georgia federally mandated to provide non-English ballots and other election materials – it offers them in Spanish – DeKalb County does it voluntarily. Prior to the 2020 presidential election, leaders in DeKalb County, which is just east of Atlanta, decided to provide ballots in Korean and Spanish. “Every voice deserves to be heard, regardless of what language you speak,” said Phi Nguyen, executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Atlanta, a nonprofit advocacy group that lobbied the county to make the change. Federal coverage, she argued, does not go far enough. 7 In December, the U.S. Census Bureau released the list of 331 jurisdictions that meet the threshold laid out in Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act, which guarantees language assistance in the voting process. The number of jurisdictions covered by federal protections jumped by 68 – the largest ever increase. California, Florida, and Texas also must provide Spanish-language ballots in every statewide election. 8 Every five years, the census updates the list of counties that meet specific federal criteria: Either more than 5% of voting-age citizens or more than 10,000 voting-age citizens must have limited English proficiency, according to American Community Survey data. To qualify for language assistance, counties also must have a higher rate of voting-age citizens with limited-English proficiency and a lower rate of people with a fifth-grade education, USA 5 both compared with the national average. 9 The U.S. Department of Justice informs jurisdictions when they qualify for the ballot language requirement and provides guidance in fulfilling it. But the agency does not ensure that local officials are following the rules. An individual or group would have to file a complaint to get the federal government to intervene. However, several voting rights advocates interviewed by Stateline could not cite an example of a jurisdiction flouting the requirement. 10 The federal criteria can be confusing, said Gabe Osterhout, a research associate at the Idaho Policy Institute, a research organization housed at Boise State University. “It’s an imperfect science,” said Osterhout, who, along with others at the institute, is studying the effect that language assistance has on voter turnout. “Some counties don’t quite check all the boxes [to meet the federal standard].” Since new census designations happen every five years, they often do not correspond with election years. Additionally, counties may be dropped or added to the federal requirement because of margins of error in the census data, he said. This concern may be more pronounced in coming years, since the 2020 census undercounted Black, Latino, and Native American populations. 11 Some voting rights advocates argue the federal criteria for language assistance should be expanded. The Voting Rights Act provides language assistance only to voters “who are American Indian, Asian American, Alaska Natives, or of Spanish heritage.” That leaves out voters who are from Africa or the Middle East. … © 2022 The Pew Charitable Trusts. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. | Infographic: Statista 0 – 1 BALLOT“"bœl´t‘ Stimmzettel; s.w.u. to cast one’s b. seine Stimme abgeben — voting rights Wahlrecht — to navigate s.th. “"nœvIgeIt‘ s. in etw. zurechtfinden — jargon-filled “"dZA…g´n‘ voll mit Fachausdrücken — intimidating “In"tImIdeItIN‘ einschüchternd — primary election Vorwahl — well underway in vollem Gange — advocate “"œdv´k´t‘ Vertreter(in); Fürsprecher(in) — to raise the alarm Alarm schlagen — to be fluent in … … fließend sprechen 2 federal law Bundesrecht — county Landkreis — percentage “p´"sentIdZ‘ Prozentsatz — to contend argumentieren — threshold “"TreS´Uld‘ Schwelle 3 (language) proficiency “pr´"fIS´nsi‘ Sprachkenntnisse — official Behördenmitarbeiter(in) — voluntarily “"vÅl´nt´r´li‘ freiwillig — CEO = chief executive officer Geschäftsführer(in) — nonprofit gemeinnützige Organisation — to advance h.: s. einsetzen für — civil engagement bürgerschaftl. Engagement — demographics h.: Bevölkerung — to stand to do wahrscheinlich tun — informed fundiert 4 – 6 chair Vorsitzende(r) — elections board Wahlausschuss — cost concerns Kostengründe — challenging schwierig — jurisdiction “ÆdZU´rIs"dIkS´n‘ Gerichtsbarkeit; h.: Wahlbezirk — mandated verpflichtet — prior to “"praI´‘ vor — regardless ungeachtet — executive director Leiter(in) — advocacy group “"œdv´k´si‘ Interessenvertretung — to lobby s.o. bei jdm. dafür werben — coverage “"køv´rIdZ‘ h.: Gesetzgebung 7 – 8 Census Bureau “"bjU´r´U‘ US-Volkszählungsbehörde — to lay out festlegen — section Artikel — Voting Rights Act Wahlrechtsgesetz — statewide innerhalb e-s US- Bundesstaats — voting-age citizen Wahlberechtigte(r) — American Community Survey “"s‰…veI‘ jährl. stattfindende Erhebung in den USA zur Ergänzung der Volkszählungsdaten — fifth-grade education Grundschulbildung 9 Department of Justice Justizministerium — guidance “"gaId´ns‘ Richtlinien — to fulfill erfüllen — agency Behörde — to ensure “In"SO…‘ gewährleisten — to file a complaint e-e Beschwerde einreichen — to intervene “ÆInt´"vi…n‘ einschreiten — to cite anführen — to flout “flaUt‘ missachten 10 – 11 research associate “´"s´USi´t‘ wissenschaftl. Mitarbeiter(in) — to house unterbringen — voter turnout Wahlbeteiligung — to check all the boxes (fig) alle Kriterien erfüllen — designation “ÆdezIg"neIS´n‘ Festlegung; Bestimmung — to correspond with übereinstimmen mit — margin of error Fehlertoleranz — pronounced “pr´"naUnst‘ ausgeprägt — to undercount s.th. e-e zu geringe Anzahl von etw. zählen — heritage “"herItIdZ‘ Herkunft
