by Matthew Ruiz

El Chapo – otherwise known as “Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera” – is a Mexican drug lord who is the world’s most notorious drug lord since Pablo Escobar’s empire was run down.

El Chapo was born on April 4th, 1957 and is currently 61 years of age. He has thirteen children and has been married to Emma Coronel Aispuro since 2007.

Chapo – as of right now – “has been captured three times.” His second escape from federal watch was back on January 19th, 2001.

“With help from bribed guards – one identified as Francisco Cambrios Riviera – they opened El Chapo’s door,” according to The New York Times.

His last escape, which went viral on social media – as even rap artist 2 Chainz made a song titled “El Chapo Jr” about it – is easily his most famous.

“On July 11th, 2015, Chapo escaped through tunnels under Mexico’s top security prison with help from his wife –  Emma Coronel Aispuro,” stated Mexico News Daily.

Chapo went into trial for transporting drugs to the US. He has been in trial for the past three months in New York, being exposed for his inner sprawl cartel. This trial has ended the rain of the kingpin known as El Chapo.

“As Judge Brian M. Cogan read the jury’s charge sheet in open court, ten straight guilty verdicts on all ten counts of the indictment. Mr. Guzmán sat listening to a translator, looking stunned,” reported The NY Times.

The jury’s decision took a week to come up with the official verdict. Chapo is now facing life in prison at his sentence hearing scheduled for June 25th, were he will be sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.

Authorities are now getting El Chapo’s sons involved as well.

“A week after the conclusion of the three-month trial of ‘El Chapo,’ two of his sons were indicted yesterday on drug conspiracy charges by the United States Justice Department,” stated CNN.

Joaquín Guzmán López, 34, and Ovidio Guzmán López, 28, are being accused for importing cocaine, methamphetamine, and weed to the United States. Chapo’s sons have been found guilty and are said to have been importing these drugs since 2008.

El Chapo’s lawyers are now fighting for a retrial, stating that there was alleged jury misconduct.

“Attorney Eduardo Balarezo, in a letter Friday, informed US District Judge Brian Cogan of the defense team’s intention to file a motion for a new trial. He cited a Vice News report this week that quoted an unnamed juror who said several panel members followed media accounts despite the judge’s instructions to ‘stay away’ from media coverage,” stated CNN. 

Ultimately, the evidence is against Chapo and is clear, so it is extremely unlikely he will be freed of his rich and alarming past actions.

by Nikolas Molina

Social media images surfaced last week of teenagers performing the Nazi salute at a party in Newport Beach, California while gathering around red plastic cups arranged in the shape of a swastika.

Picture from Newport party (cups arranged to form swastika)

The party this Nazi salute took place was at a Newport District High School party.

According to The Los Angeles Times, the Newport School District will cooperate with law enforcement to identify each of the students in the images. The pictures first surfaced on Saturday night all over social media. People reposted it and attempted to make it go viral so that the students could be punished.

“We were recently made aware of social media postings involving some students who created inappropriate Anti-Semitic symbols, and possible underage drinking,” the schools’ spokeswoman stated.

“While these actions did not occur on any school campus or school function, we condemn all acts of Anti-Semitism and hate in all their forms,” she continued.

Other pictures surfaced from that night of students toasting over the swastika made from red solo cups that had a caption on the picture that stated “ultimate rage.” Another picture that surfaced was a picture of the swastika and the caption read “German rage cage.”

According to The Washington Post, a report from the ADL (Anti-Defamation League), incidents of Anti-Semitism in the United States went up 57 percent between 2016 and 2017 and the dramatic rise is largely attributed to a “significant increase” in cases in schools or on college campuses.

“I am appalled that Nazism is still present in today’s society,” said Nicholas Guggiana, a senior at St. John Bosco High School.

Personally, I do not think that any form of hate should still be prevalent in today’s society. Generations in the past have fought way too hard for equality, have had too many wars, and have been discriminated more than enough times to have acts of hate still existing.

“I think that it is immaturity at its finest, and that the youth of society does not respect the 6 million plus Jewish lives that were lost during the Holocaust,” said Derek Delgado, also a senior at Bosco.

These students were fully aware of what they were doing. Some may say it was a joke, but when 6 million lives are being mocked, there is nothing to joke about.

by Joshua Adoh

The Deepfake phenomenon is a great technological advancement and can even be seen as an evolution in cintimatic effects, however the application of this technological advancement can be quite alarming, being named the internet’s most latest moral crisis.

For those of you who do not understand the concept of the “Deepfake,” they are videos manufactured by artificial intelligence in order to make people appear to say or do things they did not do in the original video. 

Deepfake has been around for sometime now. The artificial intelligence of this software has the capabilities to affect our society negatively as well as foreign affairs. This high-tech deception technology was first spotted and reported in December 2017 in the technical and scientific section of the magazine Vice. Following this incident, a widespread bunch of fabricated videos were created of celebrities from websites to magazines.

According to AINews (Artificial Intelligence News), one of President Trump’s speeches was the first Deepfake video to be televised and it can be understood that it will not be the last.

“The station, Q13, broadcasted a doctored Trump speech in which he somehow appeared even more orange and pulled amusing faces. You can see a side-by-side comparison to the original video,” stated AINews.

The employee stationed at Q13 was found and apprehended, yet it is still unclear who created the clip and how it was allowed to air. There is a questions regarding this phenomenon: How will this technology influence our society as well as foreign decisions?

“Just five percent of Americans have ‘a lot of trust’ in the information they get from social media. This is much lower than in national and local news organizations,” according to Pew Research.

This is not the first time and will not be the last we have hear of these ‘sophisticated disinformation campaigns,’ which at one point in time the US was the main creator and influencer of these campaigns. Russia has been linked to these campaigns as well with their infamous Twitter Bots.

With this new ‘copy and paste’ video technology, it is not far-fetched to see an increased number of fabricated videos that seem like they are from reliable sources. These ‘trusted’ outlets of information together with the combined help of the subtle yet powerful influence of social media can cause an uproar of epic proportions.  

Deepfake is also affecting celebrities’ reputation. As you can imagine, this kind of publicity can be rather unflattering and offensive to rising and or plateaued celebrities. These realistic face-swaps are relatively easy to use and has created a community on Reddit, where creators can compare and swap notes of their latest projects.

Although these Deepfake videos are seen as funny and amusing now, if they begin to harm and artificially corrupt Trump and other major figures, these videos may not be so harmless.

by Gabriel Botello

The 91st Academy Awards proved to be astonishing without a host but with many amazing nominations, performances, and presenters.

2018 was definitely the year where diversity between race and gender flourished within the films and the production of these films. This showed as many different actresses, actors, producers, directors, and designers received awards for their excellence.

Rami Malek won the award for best actor due to his role in “Bohemian Rhapsody.” This was a big win for him and his family as he dedicated his award to his parents and his cast for helping him through the difficult journey.

“I am the son of immigrants from Egypt, I’m a first generation American, and part of my story is being written right now and I could not be more grateful to each and everyone of you and everyone who believed in me,” Malek mentioned in his speech.

Olivia Colman later won the award for “best actress” for her role in the film “The Favourite.” This was an emotional win for Coleman, as she expressed her emotions of joy and gratitude in her speech for her supporters and family in England.

Mahershala Ali won “Best Supporting Actor” because of his role in “Green Book” and Regina King won “Best Supporting Actress” for her role in “If Beale Street Could Talk.”

One topic that seemed to receive a lot of backlash was the movie “Green Book” for winning the award for “Best Picture.” Many people disagreed how the director, Peter Farrelly – also the director of Dumb and Dumber and Dumb and Dumber 2 – was even qualified to receive such an award.

There was also more backlash because most people thought that other nominations were more qualified for the award for Best Picture. Celebrities such as Spike Lee and Chadwick Boseman expressed their emotions during the ceremony as Lee tried to leave and Boseman made a disappointed and displeased look.

As for what most expected, the song “Shallow” won “Best Original Song,” as it touched many people’s hearts in the movie “A Star is Born.” During the ceremony, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper performed their song, touching the hearts of everyone in the room.

Of course, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” won “Best Animated Feature” because of its vibrant picture, diversity, and soundtrack. This movie appealed to many kids of different race because of its main message that “anyone can wear the mask.”

Although the 91st Academy Awards didn’t have a host, special guest presenters that brought elegance, fame, and comedy to the ceremony made up for it.

Special guests like Trevor Noah and Serena Williams and comedians Melissa McCarthy and Mike Myers truly brought the ceremony to life. 

by Gabriel Botello

The government shutdown is over and President Donald Trump is still extremely serious about a potential border wall, to the point where he is willing to build a “human wall.”

Throughout his presidential term, President Donald Trump has shown time and time again his true intentions regarding the proposed US-Mexican border wall. Although this is one of the President’s top priorities, his proposals have been continuously rejected by Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi has shown that she will not budge for the funding of this border wall during the government shutdown and after.

This has ultimately resulted in the Trump’s persistence and willingness to go so far as to declare it a national emergency to fund the border wall. Not only is this an extreme declaration to announce, but President Trump is also debating on removing funds from other government owned organizations to aid him in his quest to build the Mexican border wall.

“[President Trump] continues to threaten that he will divert funding for other military and infrastructure projects to build the wall, with or without congressional approval,” says The New York Times.

President Trump has expressed in many tweets how extremely important this wall is for the United States. In many of his tweets, he has clearly illustrated his thoughts and feelings for how the wall should be built, funded, and why it should be built.

“Tremendous numbers of people are coming up through Mexico in the hopes of flooding our Southern Border. We have sent additional military. We will build a Human Wall if necessary. If we had a real Wall, this would be a non-event,” said Trump recently.

“With Caravans marching through Mexico and toward our Country, Republicans must be prepared to do whatever is necessary for STRONG Border Security. [Democrats] do nothing. If there is no Wall, there is no Security. Human Trafficking, Drugs and Criminals of all dimensions – KEEP OUT!” the President stated two days ago.

There has been lots of controversy over Trump’s time as President in regards to the border wall. During Trump’s campaign, he has mentioned many times that he will make Mexico pay for the border wall and that the wall will be “enormous” and “huge.”

Currently, the President is finding this plan to be more difficult for him to pursue than he may have thought.

With Nancy Pelosi constantly denying funding, and Mexico also refusing to pay for the border wall, our Trump is trying every possible option, but running out of time to build this border wall.

by Gabriel Botello

The measles outbreak in Washington has reached the highest number of infections since 1996, and has now spread to California.

The disease known as measles has again reached the U.S and is spreading across the country. With rates low on people who take vaccinations for measles, many have been infected. The case of measles began with an international traveler who had contact with communities with low vaccination rates. This led to many outbreaks in the US, first starting in Washington.

According to the Washington Department of Health, “officials identified 11 health care facilities, 13 schools and child-care centers and over 100 public places, including stores, where people may have been exposed to the virus.”

In order to contain the infection from spreading, Washington declared a state of emergency where many nursing programs were put in place to encourage families to receive vaccinations and check-ups. This led to the increase of vaccinations throughout Washington and the beginning of controlling the disease within the state.

Unfortunately, diseases and bacteria spread rapidly and tend to become difficult to control when many people fly and travel from state to state on a daily basis. This led to the disease reaching California. Measles is continuing to spread within the state today.

According to information from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments: Washington, Hawaii, Oregon, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Colorado, California and Georgia have reported cases of measles in 2019.

Measles is a disease in which a person develops a high fever and rashes throughout the body. This disease can easily spread through a cough or a sneeze and can remain in the air for about two hours, easily infecting a person without a vaccination. Sadly, this disease is very dangerous towards young children and has been known to hospitalize many who weren’t vaccinated.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “One or two out of every 1,000 children who get measles will die from complications.”

The measles vaccine is known to be very effective towards a human and is highly recommended within states that are infected. One dose of the vaccine is known to be 93 percent effective in preventing the infection and a second dose increases that resistance to 97 percent.

According to reports by CNN, “Vaccination rates are low in certain communities, with as few as 60 percent of children having been vaccinated.”

This measles outbreak is putting unvaccinated children and adults at risk and is continuing to spread across the US. With protocols being put into place, many people are vaccinating their children, hoping that this disease will be controlled soon.

by Elliston Ospina

Government workers returned to their posts this week after 35 days of our government being on pause. President Trump and the Democrats have begun discussing plans to work on the “wall” bordering the United States and Mexico.

The Senate and the House passed a bill that allowed for government workers to be paid for their 35 days of work where they worked without pay. They also reopened the government until February 15th, according to The New York Times. 

Trump is using this time to allow for the government to make a plan to fund the wall, otherwise he threatened to close the government down again. He also threatened to declare a national emergency to get by Congress without their input, according to The New York Times.

However, the reopening of the government marked a major victory for Nancy Pelosi, the new majority leader of the house. Pelosi has gone toe-to-toe with Trump these last few weeks.

On the other end of the spectrum, this marked a major defeat for President Trump, who had previously refused to let up on his demands. Trump is asking for a wall that stretches across the entirety of the United States-Mexico border.

The Democratic party has acknowledged the necessity of a wall and has proposed the creation of a wall across certain boundaries. However, the President made his demands very clear and wants the wall to stretch all the way.

If Trump’s demand is not met and the wall is not completely funded, our country risks an even longer government shutdown and more turmoil from government workers and political parties in the future.

Despite the fact that the most previous shutdown was the longest our nation has ever endured, it may have just been a warm-up for what could ensue in the near future.

by Kyle Moats and Sele Pemasa

California Senator Kamala D. Harris is the first Democratic senator to announce her candidacy for president. At age 54, she is California’s third female senator to date.

She is a first term, or junior senator and has been a United States Senator representing California since 2017. Prior to that, Ms. Harris served as the 32nd Attorney General of California from 2011 to 2017 and was the District Attorney of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011.

Since she has been in politics for several years, many of her supporters in the democratic party, to say the least, were thrilled for her that she declared her candidacy. She is the first of many women set to declare their candidacy for President.

During her launch speeches, Harris has come out supporting many platforms. A few of her more pressing issues that she has said that she will be running off are: medicare for all people, populism, preserving sanctuary cities, passing a DREAM Act, and lowering taxes for the working and middle classes while raising taxes on corporations and the wealthiest top one percent of Americans.

Kamala Harris announced her run for presidency on January 27th, 2019 at a campaign rally in Oakland. She started her campaign with the moniker “Fearless.” She is claiming to espouse the core concepts of truth, justice, decency, equality, freedom, and democracy.  In the same speech she told potential supporters that her campaign will not be about “negative attacks.”

Since Kamala Harris is the first Democrat to announce her running for presidency, it is way too early to call if she will be the Democratic nominee. Although, there are some speculations that some prominent Democrats could run. According to the Washington Post, former Vice President Joe Biden, Beto O’Rourke, former First Lady Michelle Obama, and Elizabeth Warren are other likely candidates to run. 

Harris’ other campaign positions are consistent with her liberal voting record, as over her lengthy political career she has also supported the following: Abortion rights advocacy groups, death penalty opposition, legalization of Marijuana, climate change protection, LGBT rights, and gun control among others.

Ms. Harris symbolically chose to announce her candidacy on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Being born and raised in Oakland, she found the plaza outside city hall a fitting place to launch her campaign. She also gave her first news conference as a candidate at the historically black college – Howard University – where she attended.

Currently, Ms. Harris serves in her capacity as a U.S. Senator on several committees. She will be drawing on some of her experiences as she continues to develop her campaign platform.

To date, no complete, formal campaign schedule for appearances and fundraisers has been confirmed, but it has been suggested she will spend extensive time traveling in the next year to expand her base and further her cause.

by Christian James

Famous singer R. Kelly is under FBI investigation for flying a minor across state lines, one of many accusations in his controversial career. 

Robert Sylvester Kelly, famously known as R. Kelly, has already had many accusations of sexual assault with minors throughout his career. Although there is multiple counts of evidence against him, he has never been found guilty. 

R. Kelly went from a beloved American R&B singer to a social outcast in many societies. He started his career in the year 1990, where he signed his first contract with Jive Records. The next year, Kelly released his first album, “Born in the 90s,” with Public Announcement. This album began to give R.Kelly some recognition in the music industry.

In 1993, he decided to go solo and make albums on his own. Throughout the years, he would be known for his hit songs, “I Believe I Can Fly,” “Ignition” and “Bump N Grind.” R.Kelly would also become sort of an intimate icon in the music industry. While he was rising in success, so were the many accusations against him.

At age 27 in 1994, Kelly would marry another Jive Record singer, Aaliyah Haugton, which caused a good deal of controversy.

“Aailyah’s age is listed as 18 on the falsified marriage certificated, she is underage when she secretly married the R&B singer at a Sheraton Gateway Suites in Chicago,” accused The Cut.

Her real age would eventually be revealed to the public when she sadly died in a plane crash on August 25th, 2001. Aaliyah’s birth certificate determines she was 22 when she died, thus making her 15 when she married R. Kelly in 1994. While she was still alive, Kelly and her both denied ever being married to each other even though many sources had a copy of their marriage certificate from the annulled marriage. R. Kelly would not be charged with anything, but even more accusations against him would come to light.

More accusations of Kelly being with minors and having his own intimate club would begin to form, but he would still continue to be found not guilty. These accusations are now starting to catch up to the infamous R&B singer.

In 2017, a movement labeled #MeToo would emerge, causing many women to share their darkest secrets with the world. During this movement, many women would accuse R. Kelly of being intimate with them while they were minors.

Since then, multiple investigations have been in progress to determine the fate of Kelly. A groundbreaking documentary titled “Surviving R. Kelly” is not helping his case. In this documentary, there are even more women sharing their stories and experiences with the famous singer.

His once famous life of freedom has come to an end and now every move he makes is being monitored closely by the public.