The Daily Moth 4-22-19 (Full Story)
New anchor and Moth updates; Explosions in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday; 7 puppies thrown in trash in Coachella, CA; 5-year-old boy missing in Illinois; Clarke School sends checks to Deaf survivors of abuse
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Hello, welcome to the Daily Moth! It is Monday, April 22. Hope your weekend was good. Ready for news?
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New anchor and Moth updates
An update: “The Daily Moth” will have a new news reporter who will sign news daily, Renca Dunn. She has substituted for me in the past and I think she has done a great job. I’ve always wanted to expand “The Daily Moth” to have more people on this team and this is a step.
Renca Dunn: Thank you Alex! I am excited to be part of The Daily Moth team and to support the vision for this team to grow in the future. I look forward working with Alex to deliver you daily news!
Alex: Thank you, Renca, for taking on this role! I look forward to her contributions to “The Daily Moth” and to the community.
The second update is about captioning. Last week I added burned-in subtitles. I’ve received a good amount of feedback about that. A large number of people did not like it because they preferred to watch it without any captions and felt that it was distracting. Another group of people said they liked the captions and were happy about it. So after thinking about this, I am simply going to allow you to make the decision, to turn them on or off. If you don’t want it, turn it off. If you want it, turn it on. I’m going to go back to before, allowing you to choose, and not burn it in.
We still might post videos with burned-in captions for other social platforms, but on Facebook and YouTube, you can turn them on or off. You can also read transcripts in the comments or on www.dailymoth.com
The third update is about new t-shirts. We made a new design!
[Images of new t-shirt]
Nice, right? Those are printed by Inka’s Screen Printing, which was founded and run by Randy Pituk, an Austin-area Deaf business owner. Those t-shirts are $20 each. Go to the store on www.dailymoth.com to buy yours. We also sell other t-shirts and coffee mugs.
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Explosions in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday
A sad incident happened in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday (yesterday). There was explosions that happened in 8 different locations which were churches and a few hotels. The attack seems to be aimed on Christians which is a minority religion in Sri Lanka. So far we know that about 500 people were injured and 290 people were killed including foreigners in the area which two of them were dual citizens of US-UK. Right now the Sri Lanka government has blocked all social media including Facebook and Instagram and set up a curfew for the people there for further investigation. The authorities suspect that a local group named National Thowheed Jamath is responsible for the explosions. We will have to see and wait for more information to be updated.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/21/asia/sri-lanka-explosions/index.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-asia-48002165
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7 puppies thrown in trash in Coachella, CA
In Coachella, California, someone was going through the trash and this person noticed a plastic bag next to the dumpster. This person realized that inside the bag were 7 puppies. So, this person took the bag and gave it to a store worker nearby who called the animal services. A security footage caught a woman driving in a white jeep and dumping 7 puppies by the dumpster. The 7 puppies seem to be a terrier mix. The puppies could have not survived since the weather was over 90 degrees, but thankfully someone found them. Right now, a local non profit organization in Riverside, California is taking care of the puppies. The authorities are on the hunt to find the woman.
https://people.com/pets/puppies-rescued-after-woman-tosses-them-next-to-trash-bin/
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5-year-old boy missing in Illinois
Yesterday, the authorities searched for a missing 5 years old boy, Andrew, who vanished since last week. Andrew’s parents said that they last saw him on April 17th around 9pm. The next morning, they could not find him anywhere so they called the police. Yesterday, the authorities searched about 1,000 acres on foot, with drones, and with underwater cameras since there is a lake nearby. The authorities did not find Andrew. So, they brought in dogs to pick up the scent, but the scent was only picked up in the house so it seems that Andrew did not leave the house. The authorities suspect that the parents had something to do with the disappearance of Andrew. His parents were investigated twice last year for neglect and abuse. Andrew is still missing and the police are continuing this investigation.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/andrew-freund-5-missing-illinois-police-focus-boy-s-home-n996846
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Clarke School sends checks to Deaf survivors of abuse
Kim Rock, a former student at the Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, Massachusetts, told “The Daily Moth” that she received a letter from the Clarke School Board of Trustees with an apology and a check for her experiences of physical abuse. She said about 15 other alumni also got letters and checks two weeks ago.
The school hired a law firm to do an independent investigation on physical and sexual abuses during the 1950’s to the 1970’s and completed a report last year. Lawyers then reached out to alumni in later years, including Rock.
KIM ROCK:
The lawyers reached out to us and asked us if we’ve suffered physical and sexual abuse. Some of us said yes.
We filled out a form and I did as well then I sent the form back.
I don’t know how many people did, but those who filled out the form received a check.
There was no court proceedings or any trials since the lawyer said that what we said is considered valid proof.
Maybe it’s to shut us up or they recognized us. I don’t know, but it was related to only sexual and physical abuse.
ALEX:
Did you…
KIM:
It wasn’t focused on language deprivation.
ALEX:
Understood… these are separate things.
Did you have to sign a nondisclosure agreement to not discuss this? Were there terms listed before you could receive the money?
KIM:
There was nothing in the letter. The lawyer just told me they recognized that I was abused and apologized. That was it. And sent a check.
[Text: “… the Clarke Board… established a limited fund for those who were abused.”
“We, on behalf of the Board, sincerely apologize for any abuse you suffered while at Clarke.”
Mary Ellen Nevins and Theodore Mason]
ALEX:
How did you feel getting that? What were your thoughts and reaction to that?
KIM:
I had mixed feelings.
First of all, the amount of money awarded to me was small, but I was satisfied.
I thought there should have been more, but then again, I thought it was fair for based on my personal experiences with physical abuse.
When it comes to language deprivation, I consider that (abuse) with long term effects.
Physical abuse causes short-term effects.
I thought that amount was fitting for me.
Language deprivation has long term effects.
I could have lived differently.
Why? I went to college with no idea of what I wanted.
Because people tried too hard to “fix me”.
I felt that I had to do what others expected of me.
I hadn’t had the chance to figure out who I was.
I was chasing after other people’s goals for me.
After years and years of language deprivation, I finally figured out my identity in my 40s.
When it came to having goals, a career and sense of individuality; it was too late.
I feel that language deprivation was more harmful more than the physical abuse.
Alex: Thank you for sharing, Rock. She also explained that one alumni sent back a check because the individual felt there should be three checks, one for each dorm the student was abused in. One check for each.
There is a detailed news article about the investigation and the abuses in the “Daily Hampshire Gazette.” I did a summary of those articles in a news report a few months ago. Links are in the transcript.
https://www.gazettenet.com/Clarke-School-alumni-detail-abuse-they-suffered-19985099
https://www.gazettenet.com/Report-found-history-of-abuse-at-Clarke-School-19626679
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2475653975809513
http://www.clarkeschools.org/about/board-of-trustees
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That is all for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!