The Daily Moth 9-17-19
Georgia homeowner fatally shoots three masked teenagers; Father accused of murdering wife and four children; Two suicide bombings kill 48 in Afghanistan; Top News Briefs: Hurricane Humberto; Cokie Roberts; U.S. sues Edward Snowden; Interviews with the creators of Deafverse: Duel of the Bots
[Transcript] Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth! It is Tuesday, September 17. Ready for news?
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Georgia homeowner fatally shoots three masked teenagers
In Georgia, a homeowner shot and killed three teenagers who apparently tried to rob him and two other people in his front yard.
This happened early Monday morning in Conyers, which is near Atlanta. The home was on the end of a cul-de-sac.
The Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office said the three teenagers were aged 15, 16, and 16. They were wearing masks. They approached the homeowner, who was with two other people in his front yard. One of the teenagers had a handgun and fired shots towards the homeowner.
The homeowner returned fire and killed all three teenagers — one died at the scene and the other two died at a hospital.
Family members identified two of the teenagers as brothers. One was 16 and the other was 15. Family members said they were “aching for answers” on what happened and wondered why they were out there during the middle of the night and wondering if they were shot in the back as they were running away.
Sheriff Eric Levett said they are investigating the case and that this could be a “stand-your-ground” type of case, where it is allowable for a person to shoot and kill someone to defend their property.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/georgia-homeowner-shoots-teens-masks-burglary
https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/conyers/conyers-attempted-robbery/85-d344d527-7110-4d98-b06e-d655c76c7ab0
https://www.facebook.com/rockdalesheriff/photos/a.299176606825804/2490559727687470/?type=3
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Father accused of murdering wife and four children
A 38-year-old father and husband from Florida was arrested and accused of killing his 32-year-old wife and four young children aged 10, 5, 2, and 1.
The man’s name is Michael W. Jones. He was driving a van that crashed in Georgia on Sunday. When police responded to the crash, Jones told the officers that he should be handcuffed because there is a dead body in the van. Sure enough, police did find the remains of the wife, Casei Jones.
The husband then led police to a site in Georgia where the remains of the four children were found. They have not been positively identified.
Police said they believe Jones killed all five people at their home in Summerfield, Florida, stored their bodies in the van for several weeks, and then brought the remains to Georgia.
On Saturday, Casei’s mother reported her missing, saying she has not heard from her or seen her for several weeks. Police in Summerfield went to the family’s home and discovered that it was vacant for several weeks and when they entered, they smelt decomposition. It’s not clear if there were remains in the home.
Jones is in custody in Georgia but will be extradited to Florida. There are investigations in both states. Police did not give a motive for the alleged murders, but said “Evil did something. Evil needs to pay for what he did.”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/09/17/home-deceased-florida-mom-casei-jones-4-kids-possibly-empty-weeks/2349863001/
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Two suicide bombings kill 48 in Afghanistan
In Afghanistan, the Taliban claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings that killed at least 48 people and injured at least 80 people.
The first bombing was at 11:40 am Afghanistan time. A suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew up as people were lined up to attend a re-election rally for President Ashraf Ghani. 26 people died.
The New York Times said the Taliban had issued warnings that they would attack anything connected with the election, which is in two weeks.
The second bombing was an hour later in which 22 people died.
A Taliban spokesman said the attacks targeted Afghan security forces and said if civilians died, it was their fault because they were already warned to not attend election events.
President Ghani vowed to proceed with the election on September 28.
The U.S. had been working on peace negotiations with the Taliban and were close to a deal, but those talks ended on September 5th after a car bomb killed an American and a Romanian soldier.
In separate but related news, an American Special Forces soldier in eastern Afghanistan was killed in action today. He is the 17th U.S. service member to die in combat in Afghanistan this year.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/17/world/asia/afghanistan-bombing-ghani.html?action=click&module=News&pgtype=Homepage
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/06/politics/pentagon-identifies-soldier-killed-in-afghanistan/index.html
https://www.axios.com/us-service-member-killed-afghanistan-taliban-bf57858c-a814-47ef-a14c-2a5e6be28022.html
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Top News Briefs: Hurricane Humberto; Cokie Roberts; U.S. sues Edward Snowden
Here are three top news briefs.
The first — Hurricane Humberto has strengthened to a Category 2 storm with winds up to 100 mph. It is moving eastwards away from the U.S. coast and towards Bermuda, where it could turn into a Category 3 storm before passing near Bermuda Wednesday night.
Weather forecasters are now tracking a Tropical Depression Ten in the central Atlantic Ocean that is predicted to become a tropical storm and then a hurricane this week.
The second news — Cokie Roberts, a journalist and political commentator, has passed away at the age of 75 from complications from breast cancer. She is considered a pioneer for women in journalism and won three Emmy awards. She started her career in radio in the 1970s and was a co-anchor for ABC’s “This Week” from 1996 to 2002, and worked with ABC until her death.
The third news — the United States Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against former CIA employee and NSA contractor Edward Snowden to recover all profits from Snowden’s upcoming memoir. The U.S. said his book violates non-disclosure agreements that requires CIA and NSA to review his book before publication. The lawsuit will not try to stop the publication, but wants to take all the money. Snowden has been in asylum in Russia after he leaked many secrets related to how the U.S. surveils and spies on the rest of the world.
https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2019-09-15-hurricane-humberto-forecast-bermuda-southeast-coast-rip-currents
https://abcnews.go.com/US/legendary-journalist-political-commentator-cokie-roberts-dies-75/story?id=65633507
https://www.axios.com/edward-snowden-lawsuit-nsa-cia-surveillance-book-e8e40af9-d1ec-4235-a7b8-9c44ded2171d.html
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Interviews with the creators of Deafverse: Duel of the Bots
Last week a new online game was released. The game was designed and created by deaf people for deaf people. Check it out!
Alex: I’m here at the University of Texas, home of the Longhorns. I’ve come here to film a group consisting mostly of deaf professionals. This group is called the National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes. They research how deaf people can be successful after finishing high school.
Stephanie Cawthon, PhD (NDC Director):
The reason for this center’s existence is really based on our desire to understand the gap between the Deaf and hearing people within achievement, work and education in order to reduce that gap.
Carrie Lou Garberoglio, PhD (NDC Associate Director):
One thing we do here at NDC is to distribute data that is current and accurate relevant to deaf people. That data will help people all over to advocate for themselves, those in need of programs and services. We want people who write grants to use the numbers, the data that we share. That can be really beneficial for people who want to use it as a negotiating chip, advocating for changes, offer more services and allocating more funds.
Kent Turner (Game Designer):
In Deafverse, you can choose your own adventure. It’s an online game where you can pick your own path through what we call the “Deaf experience”. Here at NDC, we’ve collected different stories that make up who we are including our daily struggles, daily events, positive experiences, growth, school, families and many different circumstances. We’re presenting this gaming experience through virtual ASL holographic experience. The filming and everything has been done by a team of all-deaf people that made this game what it is now.
Chase Burton (Media Coordinator):
With any film, or games in this particular situation, we’ll always have a lot of moving parts. So, it’s really important to try to pull everything together so it becomes a story that can be clearly presented. It’s always the case for these stories, it’s best to learn something new like new skills. I think Deafverse is a good place for students to make mistakes so they can learn from these mistakes. When they go out into the real world, they will feel more comfortable and familiar with what to do in that particular situation.
Andrés "Flash" Otalora (Senior Videographer):
Students who play that game and watch the videos will experience some impact on self-advocacy skills like acquiring interpreters, captions and CART.
Carlisle Robinson (Cartoonist):
I’ve been drawing comic strips that reflect events that occur in chronological order. Certain situations may arise and you’ll have a CatBot, a robotic cat, to provide support to the players in making the best decisions, empowerment, make an impact, address accessibility needs and many more! Pretty cool, huh?
Brigette Gros (Costume Designer) This is my inspiration. It’s an electric circuit; it helped me understand how to work with the geometry, lines, holes, bumps and wires.
Justin Perez (Narrator):
Is my experience the same as yours? Not likely. I know that right now we’re making serious progress. Everyone’s really into this game, they’re comfortable with being guided into a virtual journey. Now, while we’re doing this, we can use it as a learning tool to simulate what you might encounter in the real world. I can become more comfortable with answering certain questions or solving certain situations or feel comfortable taking risks. With these new skills, we can go back to the real world where it can be tough, but you’d have the tools to recover and respond by seeking out resources, resolutions, some kind of help and numerous other resources. Getting comfortable is the key goal. We can through these virtual experiences and apply what we’ve learned in future scenarios.
Kent Turner (Game Designer): The game can be really beneficial for those who don’t have enough support at home, or in the school environment. Like with a deaf child who has hearing parents, goes to a mainstreamed school in a city that’s isolated and not in the urban region. There might be a lack of resources and support for deaf people. Hopefully, with this game, we can reach out to this specific audience. For those who already have these experiences, having gone to a residential school for Deaf students and having plenty of support, they might not have a need for this game. There will still be benefits to playing this game either way. It’s one nice way that we can hit on these important areas of concern that schools might not be able to provide. Some schools might cover math, science and STEM, but what about self-advocacy and especially understanding the Deaf experience. Not many teachers have the time or resources to teach that so that’s why we at NDC are developing this game. We want to make this experience fun for all, but educational as well.
https://www.nationaldeafcenter.org/deafverse/
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That is all for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!
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Supported by:
Convo [https://convo.click/2mVhM8h]
Gallaudet University: [gallaudet.edu]