Mueller begins Indictments in the Russian Investigation

Jennifer Abele

Editor

The head of the Special Counsel investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections Robert Mueller III began indicting members of the former Trump campaign beginning with Paul Manafort Jr. and Richard Gates III on Oct. 27.

 Paul Manafort pleaded not guilty to nine counts of money laundering. He used the money to fund a luxury lifestyle. He also failed to register as a foreign agent while working as a lobbyist overseas.

 Richard  Gates also pleaded not guilty to seven counts. Gates was a lobbyist and political consultant who worked with Paul Manafort with the Ukrainian political party “Party of Regions.”In the 1980’s Manafort co-founded the Washington D.C. based lobbying firm Black,Manafort, and Stone. Rick Gates had interned at that particular lobbying firm. Gates then continued to join Davis and Paul Manafort’s lobbying firm in 2006. Both men started their partnership in 2006 and ended in 2015 after generating over tens of  millions for their work on the Ukraine. Both failed to register as foreign agents, and according to the indictment also failed to report work and fees.  From 2006 to 2016 Gates and Manafort allegedly laundered their funds from the Ukraine through corporations, bank accounts, and partnerships.

 The U.S. government alleges Gates and Manafort continued the schemes by laundering money to foreign nominees, companies, and foreign countries. The money was laundered to these foreign countries that they currently work with; Cypress, Grenadines, Saint Vincent, and Seychelles. After the partners were asked by the U.S. Government about foreign bank accounts, companies, etc. the pair falsely said there weren’t any; to avoid paying taxes.Between 2008 and 2017 Gates and Manafort attempted to defraud the United States by providing false information to tax accountants, financial bookkeepers, and legal council by devising a scheme to obtain money and property.

 Michael Flynn Sr. is currently being investigated for money laundering and pleaded guilty to lying to the federal agents about his overseas contact with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak back in December 2016. There is a two-page list of false statements made to Mueller about his interactions and communication with  the Russian Ambassador filed on Nov. 30. Additionally, there is information that Flynn was offered a deal by Turkish officials to attempt to remove, Fethullah Gülen, a chief rival of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, from the U.S. to Turkey for $15 millions.

 Michael Flynn Jr. was part of the transition team staying close to his father Michael Flynn Sr. Michael Flynn Jr. could be arrested during or after Flynn Sr. is indicted.  Michael Flynn Jr. continues to be most known for the tweets he produced about the “pizzagate” conspiracy theory and defending his father on the Twitter platform.  

 George Papadopoulos pled guilty to lying to the F.B.I. about his connections to Russia. Papadopoulos knew that the Russian services were holding thousands of emails on Hillary that were promised to provide the dirt on Hillary Clinton. Papadopoulos has continued to cooperate with the FBI. Through the English-based professor, Joseph Mifsud, he then attempted to arrange a meeting with the Russians and Trump campaign to collect dirt on Hillary Clinton.

 Jared Kushner is also being investigated currently under the Russian Probe. Howard Dean, Former DNC Chairman, predicts Kushner will be charged with money laundering. He has had four undisclosed meetings with Russians and Trump campaign members, and he stated it didn’t mean he colluded with the Russians. A single source told Andrea Mitchell, that the White House Staffers and former Trump transition team members have been deleting calls and texts in attempt to prevent themselves from being subpoenaed. After debating whether or not Kushner scrubbed his Twitter account. Kushner has not yet tweeted any tweets after joining in 2009. Kushner was also aware of Donald Trump Jr being in contact with Wikileaks. Kushner gave Mueller the documents of the conversations between WikiLeaks and Donald Trump Jr.

 Donald Trump Jr. was in contact for ten month with Wikileaks. Trump Jr. passed the WikiLeak messages to Kellyanne Conway, Jared Kushner, Steve Bannon, and Brad Parscale. Trump Jr. began corresponding with WikiLeaks two weeks before Podesta’s emails were leaked. Donald Trump Jr. submitted the direct messages between himself and WikiLeaks to Mueller’s team. “Here is my entire chain of messages with wikileaks(with my whopping three responses) which is one of the congressional committees has chosen to selectively leak. How Ironic!” Donald Trump Jr. tweeted.   

 Mueller’s investigation team continues to discover new information everyday for the public. The committee describes their investigation as incomplete and continues to lay out their schedule. Mueller’s team has at least 25 interviews to go, 2 hearings; one with Trump’s lawyer, the other with social medias, and 100,000 more pages of documents. Chairman Burr and Vice Chairman Warner suggested that if there is a case against Trump’s obstruction of justice charge to fire FBI Director James Comey, that it would be more appropriate for Senate Judiciary Committee or  Department of Justice special counsel Mueller. The Mueller investigation has now topped over five million dollars since the investigation kicked off  in July 2016.

Doctors Will Perform First Head Transplant On a Human

Eric Locke and Georgia Pappas

Staff Writers

This December, a Russian man by the name of Valery Spiridonov, was going to receive the world’s first ever human head transplant. This may seem like a story out of a science fiction novel to some, but to Italian Neuroscientist Dr. Sergio Canavero it’s a reality. Dr. Canavero made headlines back in 2015 when he announced that he will perform the multimillion dollar operation.

 Valery Spiridonov, who planned to have the surgery performed this December, decided to back out after two years of planning. Spiridonov acknowledged that he lost hope for a new body free from disabilities and said his dreams will never happen.

 Spiridonov suffers from Werdnig-Hoffmann Disease, which breaks down muscles and causes the destruction of nerve cells that help mechanical functions. Spiridonov states in an interview with Daily Mail, “I cannot rely on my Italian colleague, I have to take my health into my own hands.”

 Spiridonov says that he will take his health on a different route and receive a conventional spinal surgery that will not cure his rare disease but at least improve the quality of his life.With about 12,500 spinal cord injuries occurring every year in the U.S., Dr. Canavero is not the only scientist searching for a way to fix them. In the 1960s, L.W. Freeman experimented on various animals including dogs and rats, testing whether spinal cords would ever repair themselves naturally, which was found to be possible in some cases.

 The discoveries by Freeman were quite impressive and have impacted Canavero’s research and ideas for the procedure. Canavero stated that Freeman’s work “shone light on the path,” inspiring and providing him with a better idea about less-popular spinal cord research.

 After researching, Canavero believes that the main idea to a successful procedure is polyethylene glycol, or PEG. which is a type of gel that drastically increases spinal cord fusion. By making a clean cut and applying the gel, Canavero hypothesizes that the gel will allow the cords to fuse, which would create the necessary pathway for brain signals to travel throughout other areas in the body.

 With all of these positive factors about the surgery come negatives. Many individuals, including Jerry Silver, a Case Western Reserve University professor of neurosciences, have concerns with the transplant.

 Silver worried about the pain that the patient will undergo even if the procedure is successful. "Every muscle, the bones, everything has been severed," Silver said to Newsweek. "Can you imagine the pain from all those cut things? That's the worst."

 No matter what the critics are stating, Canavero is prepared to perform this transplant and get positive results. "Let's not be stupid-this is a risky surgery. But informed consent means that whoever goes under knows full well what lies ahead and is in such a crippling condition that there is no other strategy for them." he says. Canavero has figured that if the procedure is a success, he will go down in the history of medical research as a huge impact. If it fails, he says he will try it again, believing that is the only way to move forward.

Breaking Down the Iran Deal

 

Graphic created by Stephen Prager

California Wildfires claim dozens of lives and leave thousands homeless

Vanessa Northrup & Charlotte Taylor

Staff Writers

The month of October was not easy for the citizens and wildlife of California. Since the middle of October, multiple wild fires have come ablaze throughout many  counties in Northern California due to the extreme dryness in the area. According to the Washington Post, as of Nov. 1 about 42 people are dead, and over 100,000 people are displaced. More than 8,400 homes and buildings have been destroyed, with more than 160,000 acres burned; and the fires aren’t all out yet. The fires in Tubbs, Sonoma, and Napa counties have now been ranked as the deadliest wildfire disaster in California history by SFGate.

 While most of the flames have been contained, firefighters are still tirelessly working to put out the remaining fires and make sure the state is in the clear. Though the next big problem for Californians will be the ash. Scientists and Americans are currently trying to figure out how badly soil and water will be contaminated because these fires burned more than just vegetation. The fires burned through the wildlife land and into parts of cities. Associate Director of environmental health for the US Geological Survey, Geoffrey Plumlee, told Mother Jones: “For how many structures that were burned in fairly small areas in these fires, I think that’s a first-of-its-kind event. The concern is, can they get it cleaned up before the heavy rains come?” There will be more updates on this as the days go on.

 There are many websites to donate to help people in California who are out of houses and jobs, such as the California Fire Relief Foundation, which is on GoFundMe.com. There is also the Napa Valley Community Foundation, which is one that has been recommended to send money for families in need. Napa County officials ask for people to stop sending food and start sending money for supplies. Multiple Facebook groups are open to give updates on the survivors as well as status of the fire. The city of Santa Rosa is working with the United Way to help distribute funds for when insurance money runs out. Overall, this natural disaster has ripped across California leaving many without shelter, food, or water. With donations, the state will be able to come back together as one.

Interstellar Asteroid Zooms Into Our Solar System For the First Time Ever

Caroline Donado

Staff Writer

On Oct. 19, astronomers sighted an asteroid that they discovered to be from another solar system, its fast pace forcing researchers to scramble for any information they can get before it leaves.

 This is the first object of appreciable size that has entered this solar system from another. In a NASA news release, the manager for the Center for Near Earth Object Studies, Paul Chodas, said, “We have been waiting for this day for decades. It's long been theorized that such objects exist . . . but this is the first such detection.” This asteroid will provide scientists with a myriad of new knowledge about space and how solar systems function. Furthermore, in the future it will be easier to find more of these visiting interstellar objects.

 What was first believed to be a comet because of elongated path, is actually an asteroid as it has no tails made of gas and dust, a key characteristic of comets. Most objects follow an elliptical pattern and orbit around the sun, however this asteroid is going extremely fast at about 98,000 miles per hour, causing an altered path. It’s strange trajectory is considered a hyperbolic orbit, signifying that this asteroid has enough speed to escape the gravitational pull of the sun.

 “This is the most extreme orbit I have ever seen,” said Davide Farnocchia, a scientist at NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, in a statement. “It is going extremely fast and on such a trajectory that we can say with confidence that this object is on its way out of the solar system and not coming back.”

 Due to its high speed, scientists are trying to obtain all the information they can about the asteroid and its origins before it exits our solar system and is no longer able to be seen with telescopes. “We immediately started studying it that night with the William Herschel Telescope in the Canary Islands, then on Thursday night with the Very Large Telescope in Chile," says Alan Fitzsimmons, a professor studying the asteroid. They approximated it to be around 400 meters in diameter and are now attempting to find its rate of spin and exact shape. Moreover, researchers can get a better glimpse of its composition by examining the colors of light that are able to be absorbed and emitted by it. This will aid scientists in getting a better understanding of the makeup of other planetary systems.

 This asteroid’s assigned title, A/2017 U1, was soon changed to the Hawaiian word “'Oumuamua” since it was first spotted by the Pan-STARRS Telescope in Hawaii. Gareth Williams from the Minor Planet Center states, “Due to the unique nature of this object, there is pressure to assign a name.” The title translates roughly to “messenger” or “scout.”    

 This extrasolar asteroid is a monumental scientific discovery which will help scientists gain further knowledge about the great mystery that is space. While 'Oumuamua teaches us that we still have much to learn about our universe, this asteroid finding is substantial progress that should not be ignored.

26 dead in Texas shooting

Victoria Siano

Co-Editor-In-Chief

On Nov. 5, 2017, a gunman with a military style rifle opened fired in the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, killing 26 people. The gunman, who was later identified as 26-year-old Devin Patrick Kelley, died shortly after the attack.

 The shooting is considered to be the deadliest mass shooting the state has ever seen. The victims ranged in age from 5 to 72, and among the dead were a pregnant woman, several children, and the pastor’s 14-year-old daughter. Twenty others were wounded.

 According to reports, Kelley had first stopped at a gas station across Highway 87 from the church. He then proceeded to drive across the street, get out of his car, and begin firing from the outside of the church, moving to the right. He then made his way into the building, shooting the parishioners before fleeing the scene.

 Once he had emerged from the church he had a shooting exchange with a neighbor whom was able to hit Mr. Kelley, who fled in his vehicle shortly after. The neighbor followed him in his pursuit into the next county - Guadalupe County - where Kelley had managed to crash his car. He was found dead, but how he died still remains unclear, officials report.

 After hearing about the affair, President Trump, who was on his 10-day tour of Asia, had called the shooting a “mental health problem at the highest level,” while adding that Kelley was a “very deranged individual.” Subsequently, he ordered that the flags be flown half-staff at the White House and  all federal buildings through Nov. 9.

 As of right now a motive for the shooting has not been discovered, although the FBI is attempting to hack into his phone to see if it can gather any useful information. It is important to note, however, that he was dishonorably discharged from the military due to assault charges, according to Air Force records, and had repeatedly beat his wife and toddler stepson - fracturing the baby’s skull. The only reason he was able to obtain a gun was that the military had failed to enter this information into their databases.

Allegations Made Against Harvey Weinstein upend Hollywood

Riley Brennan

Co-Editor In Chief

Recent allegations made against Hollywood film producer, Harvey Weinstein, have shaken the media, and hopefully spurred real change within the film industry.

 Many women have come forward with claims that Weinstein had sexually assaulted/harassed them, the total number reaching over 50 women. Weinstein responded to allegations following the publication of an Op-Ed piece by Lupita Nyong’o, published in the New York Times. The allegation was addressed through a representative of Weinstein’s, saying, “Mr. Weinstein has a different recollection of the events, but believes Lupita is a brilliant actress and a major force for the industry. Last year, she sent a personal invitation to Mr. Weinstein to see her in her Broadway show Eclipsed.”

 Following the release of further accusations, Weinstein has since made a statement apologizing for his behavior. In his statement he wrote, “I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it.”  

 While the sheer number of women accusing Weinstein is alarming, it has spurred a movement, and encouraged other victims to speak out about their own perpetrators. Many of these women stepping forward have inspired the hashtag #MeToo, where both men and women come forward about their own stories and show support for others. Now more than ever, victims have been given a platform to highlight just how prevalent sexual assault and harassment is, as well as how damaging it can be.

 A common trend in many of Weinstein’s accusers stories is the fact that they chose to wait years to finally expose the perpetrator. Actress Katherine Kendall is one of Weinstein’s victims, who waited years to speak on her personal encounter. She addressed her own feelings toward her experience in a statement, saying, “I think that when people perpetrate against you, you are the one that feels the shame,” she said. “You think that it’s just you.”

 Weinstein is not alone in his status of a powerful man in Hollywood accused of sexual assault. There’s an increasing number of people coming forward with tales of abuse at the hand of other prominent figures. The range of other men accused stretch across a variety of professions, proving that this is not solely an issue in Hollywood. Rather, it’s an issue virtually everywhere.