Comments on Gesticulating Gibberish

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at shattuck-st mary's episcopal prep i scored two points for the minnesota school for the deaf after half time when we'd changed baskets and i forgot where to put the basketball. amazing how nobody checked references on that so-called interpreter. that was a big story in the media in its day. but now it's january and we're on to govenor chris christie and did he intentionally tie up traffic? seems to pale in comparison. south africa really had a quite the saint in mandela.

posted by Carolyn_Moe on January 13, 2014 at 5:44 AM | link to this | reply

I didn't watch the funeral ...i work too much

posted by Annicita on December 16, 2013 at 3:39 AM | link to this | reply

Setaki

I saw this chap doing his thing, and since I haven't got the slighest clue about sign language he looked convincing enough to me, LOL. And I agree with TAPS - I think Mandela would have found the whole business rather amusing, and would have laughed...

posted by Nautikos on December 15, 2013 at 8:30 PM | link to this | reply

Re: Re: Kabu and sign language

OMG. what a thought....yes it could have been worse. It is great to read from you what it was really all about.

posted by Kabu on December 13, 2013 at 6:51 PM | link to this | reply

If it had not been such a solemn occasion, I would have thought the incident rather funny.  I would like to imagine that Nelson Mandela would have laughed had he known.

posted by TAPS. on December 13, 2013 at 1:01 AM | link to this | reply

Setaki

Politics seem always. BC-A, Bill's Roost

posted by BC-A on December 12, 2013 at 1:48 PM | link to this | reply

Re: FSI keep watching the news

There is still some more crazy stuff coming, that can happen only in Mzanzi, before the end of the week when Mandela is finally buried.

posted by Setaki on December 12, 2013 at 11:12 AM | link to this | reply

Re: Kabu and sign language

It has been established that the interpreter had been hired from a 'Language Practitioners' Agency' that had not known about the man's previous Psychiatric history.This reminds us of Tsafendas, a messenger in Parliament who stabbed Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd to death right inside Parliament in 1966. Tsafendas said the snake inside his belly had instructedhim to kill Verwoerd, chief architect of apartheid. We tremble at the thought of the interpreter pulling out a knife and stabbing Obama to death at Mandela's funeral due to lax security.That would have been really appaling.

posted by Setaki on December 12, 2013 at 11:04 AM | link to this | reply

Re: Mentally Deranged Interpreter

It turns out the so-called fake sign language interpreter was interpreting what the voices in his head were saying-he says he has got Schizophrenia and he gets these attacks with auditory hallucinations when he is emotionally overwhelmed.'Buffalo Buyer Bill' also was not the one who hired him.He had been procured from an agency to interpret for some of the local speakers, including 'Buffalo Buyer Bill'.

posted by Setaki on December 12, 2013 at 10:47 AM | link to this | reply

I saw this today on the news...It is something how that happened.

posted by FormerStudentIntern on December 11, 2013 at 6:50 PM | link to this | reply

He looked so serious too and as I don't know sign language really at all I thought maybe it was an African language...then today the news here was outraged at the appalling nonsense going on at an otherwise wonderful World Uniting event.

posted by Kabu on December 11, 2013 at 5:25 PM | link to this | reply

People using well-televised and well-attended venues for their own personal gains, whatever they may be, is nothing new. I'm sure the deaf people watching were probably just as offended as they were confused. But as they say, even bad publicity is better than no publicity. It will be interesting to see if anything comes of this . . .

posted by JimmyA on December 11, 2013 at 2:11 PM | link to this | reply