Joseph LaFave

About the author

Joseph LaFave writes about finance, maritime issues, healthcare, the National Guard, and conflicts around the world. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as an EMT in Florida and as an ESH engineer for Lockheed Martin supporting several DoD and NASA satellites. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Florida State University and a Master of Science in Management from Southern New Hampshire University.

Militants again attack Ebola treatment center, killing peace officer

An Ebola treatment center in North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was attacked over the weekend by an armed militia, leaving one Congolese police officer dead. According to a report from the Associated Press (AP), an untold number of staff members working at the center were also wounded in the attack. […]

Former Green Beret reportedly trained fundamentalist Mormon militia in Utah

A former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier is thought to have trained and equipped an armed militia-type organization in Utah. Scott Mangels, a former Green Beret and part of the Army National Guard’s 19th  Special Forces Group (SFG), allegedly worked with the Apostolic United Brethren (AUB), a Mormon fundamentalist organization based in Bluffdale, Utah, to […]

The Army believes the secret to faster aircraft might be shark skin

In the never-ending quest to improve the performance of military aircraft, the U.S. Army is testing an unusual material that may make airplanes and helicopters faster and stronger: the skin of the mako shark. New research currently being done at the University of Alabama is exploring why mako sharks can reach unbelievable speeds underwater. According […]

North Korea’s Jong-un ramps up missile activity after Trump Hanoi summit collapse

Just days after the collapse of the Hanoi summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Supreme Leader of North Korea Kim Jong-un, there are reports of Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) activity on the north side of the Military Demarcation Line. According to information from Reuters and the South Korean press, supply trucks were seen entering […]

Living in Dubai as an American expat

I recently spoke with Jayna Jervey, 28, from Melbourne, Florida. She moved back to the U.S. after spending several years living in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. I asked Jervey about her experiences there. NEWSREP (NR): What brought you to Dubai? Did you speak the language? Jayna Jervey (JJ): I always had an urge to travel […]

US Coast Guard cutter slams into dock during Mardi Gras in New Orleans

The U.S. Coast Guard “black hull” cutter USCGC Cypress, which was taking part in Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, crashed into a dock early Monday morning before the celebration began. Local reports from 4WWL claim that royalty from the Krewe of Zulu, one of the largest Mardi Gras krewes in the city, were on […]

Opioid kingpin Purdue Pharma may consider bankruptcy in the face of lawsuits

Purdue Pharma, the maker of the popular painkiller OxyContin, may soon file for bankruptcy in the face of an onslaught of lawsuits. Reuters broke the news Monday morning, citing a source that said the company may try to use bankruptcy protection laws to extricate itself from nearly 2,000 lawsuits. The suits claim the pharmaceutical company […]

Trump and Jong-un talks collapse in Hanoi with no new deal

The recent meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Supreme Leader of North Korea Kim Jong-un, which took place in Hanoi, Vietnam, has reportedly resulted in no deals or agreements regarding denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. According to Reuters, President Trump blamed the dissolution of talks on North Korea’s unrealistic demand to lift all U.S.-implemented sanctions […]

Navy to retire USS Truman aircraft carrier 25 years earlier than expected

The U.S. Navy announced on Wednesday the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman would be retired from active duty sometime in the next several years, bringing the total number of operational aircraft carriers in the U.S. arsenal to ten. The Truman was expected to undergo a major overhaul operation in or around 2024, which […]

India launches airstrikes against suspected terrorist training camp inside Pakistan

As tensions between India and Pakistan build in the aftermath of the February 14th suicide bombing in Kashmir, the Indian Air Force launched a sortie against suspected “terrorist training camps” inside the Pakistani border near the town of Balakot. According to a report from the BBC, the strike was directed at Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Pakistan-based […]