Author Archives: Isaiah Taylor

Candidates seek California House seat

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By ISAIAH TAYLOR

The state of California will soon be voting for a U.S. House of Representatives seat in the 50th district.

Politics have seen an interesting turn of events this past couple of months with the introduction of Trump as president. So far, Republicans have won all four special elections since Trump was inaugurated. What do people feel about now a new face on the campaign scene trying to win back the seat for the Democrats?

Introducing Ammar Campa-Najjar, he is just one of five Democrats hoping to get a chance to fill that seat. One of the most interesting things about Campa-Najjar is that he comes from such a diverse background. He campaigns as a Arab-Latino facing the harsh treatment from just about all other sides.

Campa-Najjar has even been quoted saying that the challenges he has faced so far under the Trump administration, that “A lot of Trump supporters are not all racist or a lot of them aren’t ignorant; they are ignored.”

With the positive outlook on most recent behavior displayed by some of these supporters, California will will have bright future ahead if this man is elected into the 50th district seat.

He also plans to implement some environmentally sustainable practices, with the use of solar framing available. He has already reached out to a company owned by Elon Musk in efforts to help us and the country find better options to the use of out fossil fuels. Campa-Najjar also hopes that he can privatize space travel and the nation could create more jobs if it could build more launch sites.

Campa-Najjar will be running for the next election, which is to be held June 5.

If you believe in a new type of change needed to happen with this country, but starting off at the state level and you live in California, it is crucial that you get out and vote for who you believe in, whether it be part of the Republican Party or the new up and coming Ammar Campa-Najjar.

Muslim teenager’s death not hate crime

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By ISAIAH TAYLOR

A group of teenagers observing Ramadan traveled from the All Dulles Area Muslim Society mosque in Virginia to a local McDonald’s at around 3 a.m. on Sunday. As they left, the fast food restaurant on bikes or on foot, a car appeared behind them.

After getting into a verbal altercation with one of the teenagers, the driver, believed to be 22-year-old Darwin Martinez Torres, drove his car over a curb towards the group.

The teenagers continued on their way, but were later met by the same man who allegedly chased them with a baseball bat, hitting Nabra Hassanen before taking her into his car and leaving.

Police units from two counties, a helicopter, and search dogs banded together before 5 in the morning. A car was seen returning multiple times to where Nabra had been abducted, and the driver, Martinez Torres, was arrested. The 17-year-old Nabra was later found dead near the suspect’s apartment building.

Although officers in Fairfax are unsure about the motivation behind the seemingly random murder, they have stated that it was probably a road rage incident. However, Nabra Hassanen’s family believes otherwise. Her father, Mohmoud Hassanen, declared that the attack must have been due to religion, explaining that the suspect knew nothing of Nabra except that she was wearing Islamic clothing, yet still chose to target her.

Darwin Martinez Torres also has family members defending him. He is a construction worker and the father to a four-year-old son. An aunt of his stated that his whole family is confused about the charges, and see him as a nice man. Martinez Torres was also said to be at a park with his mother just hours before the kidnapping of Nabra Hassanen.

​Outraged citizens have spoken up on social media about the death, arguing that it was a hate crime and cannot be justified as road rage because the teenagers were pedestrians. The incident also came at a similar time to a terrorist attack outside of a mosque in London, injuring 10 persons. One post on social media cites four different crimes from the past weekend, with the caption, “Hate has devastating consequences.”

Golden State claims another NBA title

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By ISAIAH TAYLOR

Late last night, almost every basketball sports enthusiast’s eyes were glued to the television. The much anticipated game five of the NBA Finals took place in the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. Fans from both teams were wondering if history will be made that night or if the Cleveland Cavaliers would force a game six.

Before the season started, people awaited the news from Kevin Durant, who just became a free agent of what he would do leading up to the next season. Not to my surprise, he ended up teaming up with Stefan Curry and the Golden State Warriors

Kevin Durant, the most-talked about player on the Warriors, won his first NBA championship last night. There was much speculation as to why Kevin Durant would leave his former teamm the Oklahoma City Thunder, to team up with the Golden State Warriors and their powerhouse. Some people believe that, of course, he was taking the easy way out, but I feel like he saw what he wanted to accomplish and knew what must be done. Throughout the entire final series, Kevin Durant averaged 30 points or more.

On the other side, there was LeBron James, who averaged a triple double throughout the series. LeBron James and the Cavaliers were not giving up easily as they put up a great first half keeping the score close until the final minutes. It was one of the most exciting games that I have seen in basketball in a while although I know many other people got tired of seeing those two teams in the finals.

The last three NBA championships have been fought between the Golden State Warriors in the Cleveland Cavaliers. Just like the previous two the teams did not disappoint. They provided an insane caliber match between the two rivals.

12 persons dead in terror attacks in Iran

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By ISAIAH TAYLOR

​At around 10:30 in the morning on Wednesday, six armed terrorists attacked the Iranian Parliament building and the tomb of the 1979 revolutionary, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

All six of the attackers were killed in the attack, two at the mausoleum and four at the Parliament building in Tehran. Twelve deaths have been confirmed, only one of which taking place at the shrine, and 46 people were injured.

​The attacks on the two locations happened almost simultaneously and lasted for hours. Due to this, many people believe that it must have been planned long in advance, Randa Slim, an analyst at the Middle East Institute in Washington, being one of them. “[This group] must have had a network inside the country … an infrastructure that took time to develop,” she stated.

The Islamic State group took credit for the attacks, posting a video with footage from the inside of the building. They also warned of further attacks against Iran. President Trump had visited the Middle East and met with a leader of Saudi Arabia, Iran’s rival, just a week before the terrorist attacks on Iran, leading Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to accuse the United States of being allied with the attackers.

Not helping this accusation, President Trump issued a statement after the attacks taking a jab at Tehran. He said, “states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote.”

However, the White House had also issued a sincerer and more sympathetic statement. Saudi Arabia had also responded to Iran, their Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir stated that he was not sure who was responsible for the terrorism, and that his country condemned the attacks.

It is likely that Iran will have increased public support and calls for tougher action in the aftermath of the attacks. But, despite the terrorism that rocked the country, there would be ‘no effect’ according to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Workplace shooting kills five in Orlando

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By ISAIAH TAYLOR

On Monday, June 5, just a week before the anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, another shooting occurred.

An Army veteran identified as John Robert Neumann Jr., shot five people at his former business. He was fired for “unspecific reasons” from Fiamma, Inc. in April, and it has been suggested that the motive was issues in the workplace.

The five victims ranged in ages from 43 to 69, and were identified as Brenda Montanez-Crespo, Kevin Lawson, Kevin Clark, Jeffrey Roberts and Robert Snyder. Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings stated that the shooter had multiple charges on his record, but they were minor. Neumann was also said to have lived alone in Orlando with no relatives in the area.

Demings said that some of the victims had multiple gunshot wounds and others had taken shots directly to the head. Four of the deceased were pronounced dead at the scene, while another passed away after being taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center. There were another eight people present at the business at the time of the attack who escaped injury. After what Demings determined to be a “premeditated plan of action,” Neumann committed suicide with the same gun just before deputies arrived.

Sheila McIntyre, a woman who was in the building at the time of the shooting, had reportedly been on the phone with her sister, Shelley Adams, during the attack. She assured her sister that she was alright, but kept repeating that her boss was dead. Two witnesses who owned businesses near Fiamma gave statements on their sight of law enforcement swarming the location, both expressing their disbelief that something so tragic could happen so close to home.

The Pulse shooting, which happened on June 12 last year, saw 49 deaths and another 53 injuries. Although the two tragedies were not similar in motive or magnitude, they are tragedies all the same, and have both rocked the Orlando community.

Both Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs have issued statements about the shooting, with prayers for the victims and their families as well well as a call for all citizens to keep their eyes open and be aware for their safety.

Cleveland, Golden State ready to play

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By ISAIAH TAYLOR

The much-anticipated arrival of the third consecutive match up between Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors is making NBA Finals history. This match-up is so significant because no two teams have ever made it to three appearances in the Finals back to back to back.

Upon completion of the earlier playoff rounds, the Golden State Warriors turned out 12-0. LeBron and Company finished their series out of the Eastern Conference with a record of 12-1 only losing the one game to the Boston Celtics.

There has been controversy leading up to the opening Finals game to be hosted on June 1 on ABC-TV. The issue focuses on so many different players being hurt throughout the playoff runs during the past two seasons.

Lebron James has just recently passed Michael Jordan on the all-time playoffs scoring list  and is undeniably one of the greatest players to ever pick up a basketball. Currently James has 5,995 points in total while Jordan is at 5,987. These stats are incredible to accomplish, so the bar is set extremely high for an outstanding performance from the King himself.

With many skeptics thinking that the super teams have had an easy run to the top-seeded spot due to multiple injuries from the contending teams in the respected conferences. Of course, if you’re a fan of the game, then regardless of the conversation about the teams, it is easy to say that we will be enjoying a high-caliber basketball series hosted at the Oracle Arena.

Tiger Woods arrested for DUI

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By ISAIAH TAYLOR

Since his career began 20 years ago, Tiger Woods has been involved in multiple scandals including a car crash and adultery. However, his most recent journey into news headlines is by far the worst.

At 3 a.m., on Monday, Woods was pulled over in Jupiter, Fla., and charged with driving under the influence. Woods spent eight hours in custody and released a statement on Monday night explaining the issue.

In his statement, he acknowledges his behavior and assures the public that he was not under the influence of alcohol, but “prescribed medications.” He then apologizes to his fans and thanks the police department and sheriff’s office that dealt with the matter. He also stated that he cooperated fully with them, yet there have been reports that Woods refused to take a Breathalyzer test after the police who arrested him smelled alcohol.

The medications in question were prescribed after he underwent surgery one month ago, for unbearable pain due to back issues. This was his fourth back surgery, yet he claimed in his statement that he had an “unexpected reaction” to the medications he was given.

Whatever the cause of his state, Woods was not the first athlete to get in trouble due to a DUI and he certainly will not be the last, although he may have been the most famous. Other high profile DUIs in the athletic community include Abby Wambach, an Olympic women’s soccer player who won two gold medals, and Bernard Pierce, a running back for the Baltimore Ravens.

Woods had kept mostly under the radar since his affair scandals years ago and hadn’t played competitive golf for months due to his back problems. He is still remembered for his amazing accomplishments, but only time will tell what will happen to his legacy after this arrest.

Manchester bombing inquiry continues

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By ISAIAH TAYLOR

All around the world, news of the Manchester bombing is taking precedence as everyone tries to comfort the affected as well as explain the appalling attack.

On Monday, May 22, thousands of fans attended an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester arena. When the concert ended and the fans were leaving, they were greeted by a loud explosion and debris flying through the air.

Twenty-two people have been confirmed dead and more than 100 others were injured. Those killed in the horrific event range in age from eight years to 51. As of Thursday, May 25, eight men have been arrested as they are believed to have been connected to the attack. The attacker, Salman Abedi, was determined to have been killed when the bomb went off.

Many have shown their support for the victims of the attack, having a moment of silence in St. Ann’s Square in Manchester as well as donating more than 80 percent of the £2 million goal on a fundraising page created by Manchester Evening News, which equates to more than $2.5 million.

Tensions were high after the terrorist attack and a brief hostility occurred after U.S. broadcasters reported information that had apparently been leaked from British officials. The British police temporarily began to withhold information about the investigation from United States agencies, but this only lasted until Thursday evening.

President Trump responded with a statement during meetings with leaders of NATO that promised to launch an investigation of the leaks and punish those responsible “to the fullest extent of the law.”

New information also points to the likelihood that the Manchester bombing was planned at least a year in advance, as receipts show that Abedi opened a bank account and purchased items to make the explosive dating back 12 months. A flat was rented in Manchester as well and it is believed to have been the site of the bomb’s creation.

Currently, the investigation is ongoing as officials believe that conspirators of the attack may still be at large. The motive behind the attack is also still being determined. Many believe that it was a premeditated action with a clear plan to target young children.

This is supported by the idea that ISIS plans to terrorize Western women, children, and elders as theirs were killed. I am hopeful that this new low encourages officials even more to find and disarm ISIS, and other terrorist organizations that harm the safety of the worlds’ citizens before more innocent lives are taken.