Chinese Surveillance Balloon

Senior U.S. officials called their Chinese colleagues furiously in response to the balloon's arrival and prolonged stay over American soil, and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken's scheduled trip to China was postponed. The spy balloon began a deliberate drift towards US territory on January 28th, passing across Alaskan airspace near the Aleutian Islands. First, it seems to United States Northern Command trackers to be simply another one of China's light probes near the defensive frontiers of America. Later, on Monday, November 29, according to authorities, it left American airspace and was flying over Canada while containing its cameras and surveillance equipment as well as the solar panels that fuel its propulsion. As the month turned to February, To the amazement of Pentagon and Northern Command authorities, the balloon unexpectedly re-enters the country the next day over Idaho. President Biden is informed by Gen. Mark A. Milley, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The quick destruction of the aircraft is one of the military options that the president requests. Moreover, Mr. Biden issues an order prohibiting any sensitive unencrypted communications or activities in the balloon's path. One representative of the Military describes the balloon as an obvious and shoddy attempt at espionage. According to Mr. Biden's directive, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III convenes a conference of senior military and defense officials to discuss possibilities while he is already overseas in the Philippines. The balloon, which has an undercarriage about the size of three buses, is above land, and General Milley and Mr. Austin advise against shooting it down since there is a chance that the projectiles may hurt infrastructure and people. Once the balloon became widely known, Republican legislators and officials started criticizing Mr. Biden for not taking more action against it and against China. Some even demanded that Mr. Biden cancel his trip. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the object was a weather balloon used by civilians that accidentally crossed US airspace on Friday, February 3. An "obvious infringement of U.S. sovereignty and international law," according to Mr. Blinken. Over a week after the balloon was first registered in the air space, the balloon was downed by an air-to-air missile fired by one of two F-22 fighter planes from Langley Air Force Base while it was traveling between 60,000 and 65,000 feet in the air. Finally, the military launched its recovery operations, but most of the data was destroyed by the explosion. 

Peter Gerace

Joaquín Guzmán: El Chapo and the Sinaloa Cartel

Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán is a former drug lord and leader of the Sinaloa Crime Syndicate. He established his leadership position on June 23rd, 1995 after the former leader had been arrested by the Mexican Army. In his prime. he was worth over 1,000,000,000 USD and was thought to have killed around 2000-3000 people during his reign and here's how he did it. His reign over the border is not very well known, and our impression of the extent of their power is very stereotyped. The truth is that the cartel is at a point where they maintain a power struggle with the current government and for decades have been at a stalemate often comparable with the War on Terror in Afghanistan where we have seen that the outcome was a complete government takeover. El Chapo ruled over his cartel with an iron fist, often making brutal statements out of his opponents until his capture in 2001 by Mexican Special Forces. 

The next chapter of El Chapo’s life is one on the run. He would not only be one of the most renowned drug lords to ever be, but he would be an excellent escape artist exploiting the Mexican Government’s corruption within the federal prison system. In 2001 he would make his escape and continue to run his cartel until another capture in 2015 through a mile-long tunnel under his shower cell. He would later be recaptured 6 months later and extradited to the US. He would be transferred to Colorado's supermax prison, ADX Florence, also known as the “Alcatraz of the Rockies''. In this prison, El Chapo serves a life sentence alongside America’s most dangerous inmates and terrorists like the Unabomber, the Oklahoma City bomber, the world trade center bomber, the Boston bomber, and many other gang leaders, escape artists, and serial killers. El Chapo is sentenced to 24-hour isolation inside a cell that is safely proven so that he cannot harm himself in any way. The showers are every few days and have a 30-minute timer so that the inmate may not drown himself. In this prison, he suffers a fate worse than death and recently it showed. 

In June 2022 El Chapo would appeal to a panel of appellate judges were by the help of his wife would plead that his treatment was inhumane and that he was not properly tried. The irony of the situation is egregious, he would spend his whole life dedicated to the suffering of his own people to then appeal years later that he was being treated unfairly? No, I fear that his punishment is not actually difficult enough but this is the closest we may come in this life. The impact this man had over Central America still lives on today where his son “El Mencho” is reportedly even crueler. Bodies hang on overpasses in the country’s capital and gunfights regularly break out from the Cartel’s own “private military” that rivals that of the government itself. With an appetite for power on both sides of the war, destruction, and pain continues to plague the country and I can only help but wonder when it will ever end. Without US involvement in the country on a major scale this destructive stalemate will ensue until the government eventually breaks or their society does. The Mexican government themselves have come out and said to the public that they simply couldn't hold the cartel members captive even if they had wanted to, because they would simply start executing innocent people until they were released. This Mexican grasp for power not created by El Chapo but simply extremism by him is the cause for this and the only way to get out of the way of the destructive past he has created is to simply get out of dodge by trying to escape to America. At this point, the conflict has become a lose-lose situation with the solution being self-destructive and a result, anarchy. 

Christian Eroh

I went to Canes with my sister back in 2022 after a day at Franklin Field for the traditional LaSalle vs Prep game. It was a last-minute realization that Canes was down at Penn and I knew I had to be there to experience what the hype was all about. At first glance, I would say the location was pretty neat. Had a very modern vibe but with the artwork displayed it reminded me of a graffiti wall. 

When the time came, I ordered the Caniac Combo which came with 6 tenders, French Fries, Coleslaw, a piece of toast, Cane's sauce ad a beverage. Getting the food was a little overwhelming considering the size was massive.

My Review: I thought the chicken was pretty juicy and had good flavor. The fries weren’t anything special, to be honest, they were very unseasoned so you needed to add salt and pepper for it to even be considered mid. The coleslaw tasted just ordinary like I could have gotten from any given place that sells coleslaw. But what carried the whole meal was the toast. I have never tasted a piece of bread that was that good until I had Canes. With the sauce added too, it only made it that much better. I also discovered a good drink combo which was Sprite and Fruit Punch they have. I gotta say this meal was pretty good. I would compare their Chicken tenders to Miller's Ale House’s Zingers. They are crispy but not dry and have a similar shape but a bit of a different flavor. I still believe Chick Fil A is the cream of the crop but Canes definitely up there on the top tier.

Wengers Rating- 8.5/10

Andrew Wenger

NBA Slam Dunk Star

Some may be wondering where Mac McClung came from, some may have heard of him and some may have not so I’m here to give you the scoop. Matthew "Mac" McClung is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers on a two-way contract with the Delaware Blue Coats of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Georgetown Hoyas and the Texas Tech Red Raiders. His rise to fame quickly became noticed after he won the 2023 NBA Dunk Contest against Trey Murphy III. He’s  6′ 2″ and weighs 185 lbs which is crazy that he won the dunk contest. By winning the dunk contest, McClung joined an elite club of former champions containing some of basketball’s legendary figures including Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Dominique Wilkins. Now I can’t write much because Mr. Fonville has sports articles blocked so I can’t see anything but all I can say is that this kid is gonna be a star. 

Mick Murray

Return of the Retire

After 23 seasons in the NFL with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tom Brady made the announcement that he was leaving the league early on Wednesday morning on social media. The announcement came precisely one year after Brady said he would retire in 2022 but then changed his mind 40 days later. I know we’ve heard this all before but he said it’s for real this time. "I'm retiring. For good," Brady said in his new farewell message. He thanked his fans and acknowledged the uproar over earlier announcements regarding his plans. "I won't be long-winded," Brady said. "You only get one super-emotional retirement essay, and I used mine up last year."

Brady set a number of prestigious records during his stellar 23-year career with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He has the most Super Bowl victories (seven), passing yards (649), and passing touchdowns (649). (89,214). 

Mick Murray