The Daily Moth 4-23-19 (Full Story)
Trump vows to fight Democrats in court; Federal court says chalking tires is unconstitutional; Former pro hockey player and mother of two found dead; Texas couple enslaved girl for 16 years; Sports journalist accuses NBA coach of sexual assault; Mark Medoff, creator of “Children of a Lesser God,” dies at 79; Guest #DeafBing: ASL injuries and throwing for attention
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Hello, welcome to the Daily Moth! It is Wednesday, April 24. Ready for news?
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Trump vows to fight Democrats in court
President Trump said he would fight against all subpoenas issued against him and other White House staffers.
Trump and his business, the Trump Organization, sued Rep. Elijah Cummings (D), the chairman of the House oversight committee, to block a subpoena for several years of Trump’s financial records.
In a separate case, Democrats from the House judiciary committee have issued a subpoena for former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify. The Mueller report said that McGahn did not follow a Trump order for him to ask the Department of Justice to remove Mueller. The subpoena is about this.
The Washington Post reported that the White House wants to block this because they have “executive privilege” and do not have to comply.
Democratic leaders of another House committee, the Ways and Means, made a formal request for the Treasury Department / IRS to give them six years of Trump’s tax returns this month, but Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said they needed more time to check if this was legal and would make a decision by May 6.
President Trump said Democrats are trying to win 2020 and are constantly going after him on nonsense.
But Democratic leaders are not backing down and are set to continue pressing Trump and the White House.
An analysis from Axios said it is Trump’s legal strategy to resist, delay, and sue to run out the clock.
It will be up to federal courts and maybe the Supreme Court to decide the results of those battles.
Subpoena Battles: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/04/24/trump-congress-broad-fights-over-investigations-and-subpoenas-mcgahn-census/3552103002/
http://time.com/5575367/trump-sues-to-block-congress/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/white-house-plans-to-fight-house-subpoena-of-former-counsel-donald-mcgahn-for-testimony-on-mueller-report/2019/04/23/2d48732a-65f1-11e9-83df-04f4d124151f_story.html?utm_term=.9fed95497133
Treasury Dept: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/23/us/politics/trump-taxes.html
https://www.axios.com/donald-trump-legal-strategy-subpoenas-investigations-f472ed47-988b-4762-824b-6578dfbedc3f.html
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Federal court says chalking tires is unconstitutional
Have you ever experienced parking your car for a few hours and when you return, you see a chalk line on one of your tires? A woman named Alison Taylor from Michigan, got 15 parking tickets from a single parking officer. What the parking officer did was to mark one of Alison’s tires with chalk. Why mark it with chalk? To indicate if the car has moved or not. If it has not moved for hours then a ticket would be given-depending on what the parking rules are. So, Alison decided to go to court to fight against this. Alison’s lawyer pointed out that when a parking officer marks the tires with chalk, it violates the 4th amendment. The federal court agreed to this that now parking officers will not chalk people’s car tires as it is unconstitutional. This decision affects Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. One university professor from Southern California, Orion Kerr, tweeted a simple solution – take a photo instead of chalking. What do you think?
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/04/23/chalking-tires-parking-tickets-unconstitutional-court-rules/3549631002/
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Former pro hockey player and mother found dead
A perplexing incident happened this past weekend. A former professional hockey player, Darren Partch who was 38, and a mother of two, Wendy Miller, who was 48, were both found dead at Darren’s condo in Newport Beach. The authorities suspect that it is a double-homicide. There was no sign of forced entry, What we know so far is that Wendy’s son mentioned that Wendy was shot. Wendy was last seen Friday night leaving a bar with Darren because Wendy said she would drop Darren off at his home. It seems that Wendy and Darren met on that Friday night and “hit it off.” Wendy did text a few friends on Saturday morning then after that no one heard from her. Their bodies were found on Sunday night at 9:30pm after Darren’s roommate arrived and called 911. Wendy was the CEO for Wings for Justice. Darren was a finance and credit consultant. Friends and families are shocked that this happened. This incident is still being investigated.
https://people.com/crime/amazing-loving-mother-found-dead-with-ex-pro-hockey-player-newport-beach-condo/
https://www.foxnews.com/us/hockey-player-mom-found-dead-california-homicide
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Texas couple enslaved girl for 16 years
Mohamed Toure and Denise Cros-Toure were found guilty and sentenced to 7 years in prison and pay $288, 620 in restitution for keeping a young woman, Djena Diallo, from Guinea as a slave for 16 years in Texas. The couple is originally from Guinea and lawful permanent residents of USA. The couple is wealthy and grew up with servants in their houses. Mohamed’s father was the first president of Guinea. So, this victim, Djena, is from a rural village in Guinea. The couple decided to buy her when Djena was 5 years old and brought her to their home in Texas. Djena was put to work everyday such as cooking, cleaning. She also had to take care for the couple’s children. All without pay. If Djena did not do something the couple liked or did not meet their expectations, they would beat her. One time they beat her up with an electric cord and ripped her earlobe in half by tearing off her earring. Djena was not sent to school and was not allowed to eat with the family. After 16 years of suffering, Djena escaped with the help of some people around the area. These people knew about the situation. The couple may be deported back to Guinea.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/juliareinstein/texas-couple-slave-girl-guinea
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/04/23/texas-couple-who-enslaved-young-girl-sentenced-years-prison-then-deportation/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.fc63163cbfa1
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Sports journalist accuses NBA coach of sexual assault
Sports Journalist Kelli Tennant accused and sued NBA coach for the Sacramento Kings, Luke Walton for sexual assault. Kelli claims during that time when Luke was the assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors, Luke pinned Kelli on the bed, forcibly kissed her, groped her while Kelli was in his hotel room for a business related matter. Kelli said this action is not acceptable and should not be ignored. Kelli said she finally found the courage to speak up about this situation. Luke’s lawyer mentioned that Kelli’s claim was not credible and she was seeking an opportunity to be in the spotlight. The executives for Sacramento Kings said they are aware about this and still collecting information before a decision needs to be made.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/kelli-tennant-i-thought-nba-coach-luke-walton-was-going-to-rape-me?source=cheats&via=rss
https://sports.inquirer.net/346921/report-kings-coach-luke-walton-sued-for-sexual-assault
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Mark Medoff, creator of “Children of a Lesser God,” dies at 79
Mark Medoff, who wrote the play “Children of a Lesser God,” passed away at 79 in New Mexico from cancer.
The story, written in 1979 and first shown on Broadway in 1980, helped to launch acting careers for several Deaf women over nearly four decades.
The first was Phyllis Frelich, who won a Tony Award for Best Actress in 1980. The play also won Best Play and Best Actor that year.
The second is Marlee Matlin, who became an overnight Hollywood star with her role on the 1986 film, eventually winning a Best Actress Oscar.
The third is Lauren Ridloff, who was in a Broadway revival of the play last year. She would later go on to have a role on “The Walking Dead.”
The New York Times reported that Medoff was inspired to write the play after Phyllis Frelich told him that there was a lack of roles for deaf actresses.
Frelich passed away in 2014.
Matlin tweeted a tribute to him.
@MarleeMatlin: “Mark Medoff, the brilliant mind behind the Tony Award winning play, “Children Of A Lesser God,” has passed at 79. He insisted and fought the studio that the role be played by a deaf actor; I would not be here as an Oscar winner if it weren’t for him. RIP Dear Mark.”
Matlin said Medoff fought with the studio to ensure the role was cast by a Deaf actor.
Shoshannah Stern and Nyle DiMarco also tweeted tributes to him, saying he made a difference in their careers.
@Shoshannah7: “Mark Medoff, who wrote Children of a Lesser God, changed my life. His creation of Sarah allowed Phyllis Frelich and @MarleeMatlin to inspire me to take the path I’m currently on. Forever honored to have played Sarah for the 30th anniversary revival at @deafwest. Rest In Peace.”
@NyleDiMarco: “Rest in Peace, Mark Medoff.” [Includes an image of DiMarco posing for a picture with Medoff and a text screenshot where DiMarco writes, “…Thank you for believing in me and allowing me join as Producer for your Broadway revival of Children of a Lesser God last year. It was my very first time as Producer…”
DeafinMedia tweeted an image of a page in Medoff’s play where he insists that any professional production of the play should have deaf actors for the roles of Sarah, Orin, and Lydia.
@DeafInMedia: “‘Children of a Lesser God’ came about when deaf actress Phyllis Frelich told Mark Medoff that there were no substantive roles for deaf actresses, and he vowed to write one. Later, @MarleeMatlin said, he “fought the studio that the role be played by a deaf actor." RIP Mark Medoff.” [Image of a page from a play with the text, “…The author insists that—in any professional production of this play—the roles of Sarah, Orin, and Lydia be performed by deaf or hearing impaired actors.”
Medoff was a professor at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces for over 50 years and wrote more than 30 plays.
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) tweeted her condolences to his family and to the students who loved him.
https://www.markmedoff.com/
Matlin: https://twitter.com/MarleeMatlin/status/1120913390434603008
NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/obituaries/mark-medoff-dead.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytobits
Nyle: https://twitter.com/NyleDiMarco/status/1121090550365470720
Stern: https://twitter.com/Shoshannah7/status/1121103274419953664
Deaf in Media: https://twitter.com/DeafInMedia/status/1121114896391921666
Gov Grisham: https://twitter.com/GovMLG/status/1120881334006628357
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Guest #DeafBing from Marie Philip School and Two Guests
[Transcript] Here is a Deaf Bing video from elementary students at the Marie Philip School in Massachusetts.
Julissa: Hi, my name is Julissa. I’m from the Marie Philip School.
Ellis: My name is Ellis. I’m from the same school.
Julissa: We will film Deaf Bings!
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Julissa: Ellis!
(throws pillow)
Ellis: What?
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Ellis: Last night there was a very strong storm!
Julissa: You’re injured!
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(Indistinct conversation)
Teacher: You know, that’s hearing way.
(Indistinct conversation)
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Alex: That’s right, Deaf people can just walk past two people signing to each other. It’s not a war zone. Thank you for the video.
I have two more guest Deaf Bings on the same topics as the students. Here is one from Kay.
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Kay: This morning I was mad at my student. As I yelled, “what did you say” I scratched myself here.
Deaf Bing.
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Alex: That’s painful. I wonder if that is covered by workers compensation?
The next is from Scott.
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Scott: Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
Hi!
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Alex: Nice aim! I’m relieved you didn’t use a piece of wood or a stone.
Thanks all for the videos!
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That is all for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!