 Taylor Swift is an inspiring young female country-pop artist who has made a big impact in the country music world. Taylor Swift has quite a few songs that have hit it off with a lot of the world. Some of these songs include her early hits ”love story”, “you belong with me” and her number 1 singles “shake it off” and “blank space”. Taylor mostly writes her songs about young heart ace and long lost love. She has also portrayed herself as a “good girl” until she spoke up about politics in 2016. She had some tough parts in her career including Kanye West saying some unexpectable things at the CMT Music Awards. But through it all, she had stood back up and as made a big impact in the music world and to many young girls.
Taylor Swift was born on December 13, 1989, and even from a young age, she showed an interest in music. Taylor spent most of her childhood on an 11-acre Christmas tree farm in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. But once Taylor showing real interest and potential in her country music career, her parents sold the Christmas tree farm. They then moved to Hendersonville, Tennessee so that they would be close to the country music capital Nashville. Close to her new home, she started signing records. In 2009 Swift got several awards for her work on Fearless, including Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year for "Love Story" at the CMT Music Awards. During her speech for winning the best female video of the year, she was interrupted by rapper Kanye West who protested and said that Beyonce should have won the award. Beyonce was very uncomfortable with this protest and invited Taylor on stage to finish her speech when she was awarded an award for the best music video of the year. Over the years many rumors have circulated about Taylor and various other men. Some of these speculations have included Joe Jonas, Harry Styles, and Connor Kennedy (son of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.). In her new documentary called “Miss Americana,” Taylor says that in the past she would look at photos that the press would take of her and start to starve her self. She has learned to not look at photos of her self and their criticism so that she won’t go down that road again. Another controversy around Taylor Swift is that she as portrayed as a good girl. She would always say please and thank you and never talk politics or really voice her opinion. Taylor posted saying that Blackburn is voting against the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act and accused her of opposing equal pay for women, among other issues. She then opened up more about politics and continues encouraging fans to vote. Story by Sierra Stock Sources: https://www.biography.com/musician/taylor-swift https://www.britannica.com/biography/Taylor-Swift https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/479705-taylor-swift-on-publicists-trump-warning-before-political-post  Going on vacations is always very fun and enjoyable, an easy time to sit back relax and enjoy a beautiful view so here are a few places you should consider visiting.
Bora Bora- Beaches are always a fun place to visit, especially whenever you get to wake up and look out of your window only to see crystal clear water and beautiful fish of all sorts swimming around. All the Wildlife creatures are so unique it would be so fun to see or even swim with them. You get to enjoy the heat and relax in the sun watching the beautiful water. Based of of information from Tahiti Tourisme It's a great place to go scuba diving and they are known for their astonishing coral reef. There is a smaller population so it's peaceful and typically quiet with many small town stores and souvenir shops to look around in. Overall Bora Bora is a great place to go to get away from anything unless you're scared of sharks or jellyfish! Reed Flute Cave China- This cave is an amazingly popular place to visit and is also known as the “Natural palace of art” due to its natural beauty that almost seems too real to be true. It has brightly colored limestone rocks that give off an amazing glowing effect. It's such an amazing view to see and has been around for such a long time! According to China Discovery This ancient cave is one of a kind, there's not many places like it at all. Scientists had been doing research on this cave for a while and whenever they first discovered it they realized it had been around for thousands of years before humans found it. A few years after the discovery the cave had finally opened for the public and everyone got to experience it. Old Bagan- Ever wanted to go in a hot air balloon and experience a beautiful sunset? Old Bagan is the place for you. It's known for its increasing numbers of hot air balloons and it is such a neat place to visit. It was more recently open to the public so it is new to most so you should definitely take a visit to it. It's such an enormous and empty setting with only trees and the beautiful sunsets every night. It attracts many tourists and always has many travelers so be prepared to meet new people. China Town- If you love a crowded fun area that has many shops and much to do you should love Chinatown. You’ll never get bored with much fun and always exiting stores and restaurants to check out. According to Chinatown NYC Many tourists and locals spend many hours walking up and down the crowded streets. There's always great souvenirs and fun things to look at so if you love shopping you should definitely go to Chinatown. Santorini- Santorini is such a neat place, known for its amazing history and how it came to be. As soon as you arrive here you see all the history from the past volcano and it's so cool to see. It's such a beautiful view and you get to enjoy looking out to see the beautiful water and luxurious islands. As well as seeing the magnificent red and black sand that make it such a memorable visit. Story by Stella Ballard  Who was Oskar Schindler and how did he save so many lives? Oskar Schindler was born on April 28, 1909, to the parents of Hans Schindler and Franziska Luser. Oskar Schindler grew up in Svitavy Moravia his childhood home was filled with fine linens and china. He attended many trade schools and had a variety of different jobs including working at his father’s machinery company. A few years later in 1928, he went to Alt Moletein to sell electric motors to a fellow businessman, while he was there he met Emilie Pelzl the two dated and 6 weeks later they got married.
In 1935 Schindler Joined the pro-nazi party, the next year he started collecting counterintelligence for the Abwehr. In 1938 he was arrested by the Czechoslovak authorities for espionage. In February of 1939, five months after the Germann annexation* of Sudetenland Oskar Schindler rejoined the Nazi party. In 1939 while Poland was being torn apart by the holocaust Schindler took his first steps toward heroism. Oskar Schindler was quite an unlikely war hero, he truly believed that the Nazis were morally correct. Schindler operated 3 factories, 2 were in Krakow and one in an area of town called the Ghetto. The Factory in the Ghetto was called Emilia and most of the workers were Jews. In 1944 Emilia Schindlers largest factory reached its peak of 1,700 people, 1,000 of them were Jews forced into labour by the Germans. The workers will still subject to the brutal work and beatings that were waiting for them back at their concentration camps but many times Schindler stepped in and said they had things to do for him and sometimes even let them spend the night at the factory. The SS which is the German Protection Squadron moved the concentration camp Plazlo in Agust of 1943, Schindler convinced the SS to convert the Emilia into a subcamp of Plazlo There were over 1,000 Jews who were put into this subcamp and Schindler put many Jews into factories near Emilia this saved them from all the brutality and murder they would’ve endured. While he was doing all of this business he led the SS and Police authorities to the think he was corrupt and giving aid to Jews. Schindler’s list began in October of 1944. Oskar Schindler convinced Nazis and German authorities to let him open an armament* factory in Morovia. He and one of his assistants made a list of 1,200 Jews they wanted to hire for the factory this did not come at a small cost, Oskar Schindler paid 2.2$ million dollars for his factory workers. Schindler made sure that the weapons that his factories were producing did not work and that no one found out about that. Oskar Schindler left Brünnlitz on May 9, 1945, the day that Soviet troops liberated the camp. After ww2 Oskar and his wife moved to Argentina where their marriage fell apart and his wife moved back to Germany. Schindler later said, “If you saw a dog being crushed by a car wouldn’t you help him?” No one is quite sure why Oskar Schindler did what he did but everyone can agree he did by far the right thing. Oskar Schindler died on October 9th 1974 he had no money and was all alone. Many of the Jews who survived because of him and their descendants paid to transfer his body to Israel and bury it there. Twenty years later the movie Schindlers list was created it tells the story of his life and how amazing he was. “Power is when we have every justification to kill, and we don’t.” ~Oskar Schindler *annexation: to take land or territory for one’s own use or to add for personal gain *Abwehr: was the German military intelligence service for the Reichswehr and Wehrmacht from 1920 to 1945. *Armament: Weapons guns cannons etc. Story by Charlotte Ross Sources: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/oskar-schindler https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/oskar-schindler-dies https://www.britannica.com/biography/Oskar-Schindler  What are autonomous vehicles and how do they work?
Autonomous vehicles are vehicles (mainly cars) that drive themselves. These vehicles have a history behind them, and also a future. Self-driving cars use sensors, processors, algorithms and more. They create a map of their surroundings made from sensors. They also use cameras to detect stop signs, pedestrians, etc. It is predicted that over half of the vehicles made by 2025 will be autonomous. How, when and where did self-driving vehicles begin? In GM's 1939 exhibit Norman Bel created the first self-driving car. It was controlled by electromagnetic fields. By 1958 Gm made this exhibit a reality. The car’s front end has sensors that pick up coils so the car knows if it is about to hit anything. In 1977 a Japanese man improved on that and put a camera system to relay info to a computer. The improvement came from a german a decade later the car can drive by itself safely at 56 mph. Autonomous vehicles now In 2009, Google started its self-driving car project. In 18 months, Waymo was launched. In 2016, it had its first crash. Which seems bad, but it took 7 years until it crashed. So they are very efficient. This year, Honda might release a near-fully autonomous car. Also, in a year, BMW is projected to release the BMW iNext, a fully autonomous car. Many other companies are making self-driving vehicles as well. Autonomous vehicles in the future. Experts say we are decades away until everyone will be driving autonomous cars. However, with all these companies getting in on self-driving, these experts could be wrong. GM already has self-driving vehicles. Ford is planning to make some too. Same with Honda, Renault, and Toyota. These cars will not be fully autonomous, but soon they might be. Other self-driving vehicles Not only cars and trucks are self-driving. In Boston, an experimental boat spent the summer of 2017 in Boston Harbor. Autonomous drones are also a thing. Could we get other self-driving vehicles in the future? Pros and cons of self-driving vehicles While autonomous cars can be a huge improvement, they do have some risks. Here are pros and cons of self-driving vehicles: Pros
Story by Maxwell Jones and Rowyn Esslinger  Common animals always steal the spotlight. For example, everyone knows what a mountain goat is, but not many people know what a markhor is. Here are 5 animals, including the markhor, that you’ve never heard off.
Number 1, the lowland streaked tenrec. The lowland streak tenrec is a small animal. It is 12-16.5 cm and weighs 200 grams. The lowland streaked tenrec also, ives 2 ½ years. Number 2, Aardwolf. An aardwolf is a relative of the hyena. Its diet mostly consists of termites. Unlike many other animals, the aardwolf is really shy because it rarely comes in contact with other animals. Number 3, Sunda flying lemur. Where the Sunda flying lemur gets its name isn’t very hard to spot since it describes what it looks like (a winged lemur). However, the Sunda flying lemur cannot fly nor is it a lemur. People who have spotted it say that it is very clumsy on the ground. Also, it moves mostly by glide. Number 4, Ili pika. The ili pika looks like a teddy bear. Not much is known because it is rarely ever spotted. When the ili pika is spotted it is found in northwestern China. The ili pika also can live in altitudes up to 13,450 ft. Number 5, Markhor. The markhor is the largest type of wild goat. It is found in the mountains of Afghanistan and can live in altitudes up to 13,000 feet. Story by Anabel Kehoe Sources: Source 1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4J6NsM2Cco Source 2) http://animalia.bio/lowland-streaked-tenrec Source 3) https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/03/150319-china-ili-pika-animals-conservation-science-rare-species/ Source 4) https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/blogs/creatura-blog/2015/04/the-sunda-flying-lemur-not-what-it-seems/ Source 5) https://www.hoglezoo.org/meet_our_animals/animal_finder/turkmenian_markhor/  School shootings are some of the scariest things to think about for youth in schools. School lockdown drills can help alleviate fears. But some go too far. Some schools have allowed “realistic” drills to take place. These include staff members with air-soft guns shooting at students and teachers. Some incorporate fake wounds painted on by top-quality makeup artists. In some schools, these drills happen unannounced. Some students suffer panic attacks during these drills. They are simply too much. And school psychologists agree.
From an NPR interview, Melissa Reeves, a school psychologist, states, “Well, what you're doing is you are creating a sensorial experience, which really heightens all of our senses. And what these drills can really do is potentially trigger either past trauma or trigger such a significant physiological reaction that it actually ends up scaring the individuals instead of better preparing them to respond in these kinds of situations. And there's actually examples of where these drills have been done very irresponsibly and they have traumatized individuals or have actually led to bodily harm.” In short, she says that these realistic drills can both trigger students’ fear and not help them learn, or hurt a student if they are reckless. Another point made says that you don’t light a fire in a hallway during a fire drill. You don’t get a person to grab your kid while teaching them about stranger danger. So why would something like this need to be done? Information from Fox 8 News also says that the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association, two major teacher’s unions, say that these sorts of drills need to be stopped. Kara Wernar, child psychologist, says, “These drills, what we’re seeing is it inhibits the child’s ability to learn, to feel safe, and it affects physical and mental health.” In fact, during the writing of this article, I felt worried when looking back at the lockdowns from 2019. Having to sit at the wall for hours. Putting kids in the same situation will be scary for them, no matter if it is or not a drill. Realistic lockdown drills can take a huge mental toll out of students. Being stressed that the place you thought was safe for years could be shot up can make it very hard to concentrate. Melissa Reeves, Kara Wernar, and two major teacher unions cannot be wrong. These realistic drills actively harm student’s wellbeing. These drills need to be stopped. If you are in a school that uses this type of drill, tell them to stop. They are helping nobody. Story by Nash Klein  Social media affects a lot of people and their mental health. Many parents worry about it because it causes a lot of self-confidence and low self-esteem problems. Toddlers having access to an iPad and a screen doesn’t help either. In fact experts worry that social media and text messages that have become so integral to teenage life are promoting anxiety and depression.There was a survey about this in the U.K and asked 14- 24 yearolds if and how social media impacted their lifes and what it did.of over half a million eighth through 12th graders found that the number exhibiting high levels of depressive symptoms increased by 33 percent between 2010 and 2015. In the same period, the suicide rate for girls in that age group increased by 65 percent.
A lot of people use social media social media like twitter to vent about politics. When people do it can cause alot of stress.Researchers in washington D.C did a survey to find out if social media induces more stress than it relieves. In the survey of 1800 people, women said they were more stressed out than men on social media. But twitter could also be a copeing meconism and the more women used it the less stressed they were. The survey also said that men typicly are not attached to social medias so they have less stress.Stress is a way of life because we can't avoid it but social media can increase stress levels. Many people use their phones before they go to sleep witch can cause sleep problems. Social medias can also effect sleeping and how late you stay up.Research has found that loss of sleep can inhibit the body’s production of the hormone melatonin, which facilitates sleep. Blue light, which is emitted by smartphone and laptop screens, is said to be the worst culprit. Researchers from pitsburg collage surveyed 1700 18-30 year olds and they all said that blue screen was involved. The bright lights from our devices can delay circadian rhythms. Try to set a limit before bed to have 40 minutes without a screen and see if it helps. Story by Hazel Wiesner  We have entered a new decade and there are a bunch of new things to look forward to in 2020. Let’s go and talk about some of these things!
A medley of new movies: There are a bunch of new movies coming out this decade. Some include, Wonder Woman 1984, Black Widow, Fantastic Beasts, Top Gun: Maverick, West Side Story, Junction, Mulan, Sonic the Hedgehog and lastly who’s excited for the new Fast and Furious 9! Some of these movies are new meaning this is the first movie and some are old meaning they are coming back with the next movie of many! A newly opened Washington Monument: In Washington DC they have been working on a monument for a while now because its so tall and it requires a bunch of work to get everything working and to make sure its safe for people to use. Its so tall there is an elevator in it so that you don’t have to walk up all those stairs. For almost three years it has been closed to the public while they have been getting a new security screening area and elevator system. People think it has been taking a long time but when it comes to elevators its always good to err on the side of caution. They say it should be back up and running for tourist in September! TV like you’ve never seen it before: This 2020 there will be a bunch of new TV show coming on! They will stream on streaming services like HBO, Peacock and more! Riverdale is a very popular show and it is spawning a spinoff with the CW's Katy Keene! Stephen kings: The Outsiders is going to be on HBO, Nine perfect strangers is coming to Hulu, and westwood fans be ready! Season three is coming back and will premiere on HBO in the spring. So get ready and be prepared for those to come out!! The opening of Yahoo: In 2006 yahoo invited people to place digital artifacts in a time capsule. They submitting tens of thousand files and they put them in the capsule and then they handed it over to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC, for safekeeping. The plan is to open the capsule on Yahoo’s 25th birthday which is November 8, 2020. A total Eclipse: Who remembers the Great American eclipse? Well the Great South American Eclipse is coming! Eclipse watchers are planning to congregate to Argentina and stare up and watch it. It will shade the region on December 14 but it will only be there for a brief darkness. But that’s not the only thing that will be in the sky, The Geminid meteor shower will be up in the sky the night before and a special alignment of Jupiter and Saturn will be there a week later! So get ready for them they are coming!!!! Historical anniversaries: There are a ton of historical anniversaries that have happened but there are some really important ones! Some include, January 10 marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles, which officially ended World War I, August 18 is the 100-year anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which recognized women's federal right to vote, September 6 will mark 400 years since the sailing of the Mayflower, November 28, 500 years ago, Ferdinand Magellan became the first European to cross from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Strait of Magellan, December will mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of legendary German composer Ludwig van Beethoven. So lets remember them and celebrate them! A Saturated soccer scene: The UEFA European Football championship will go down all around Europe this summer. Their final game will be at Wembley Stadium in London and that will happen in July. In South America the Copa América will also be doing it at the same time. These two major championships don’t usually fall in the same year but it is happening this year! Ever four years they happen simultaneously. A new hope for Peanut allergy sufferers: Every year the Cleveland Clinic counts down the most anticipated advances in medical technology. This 2020 there is a new immunotherapy treatment for peanut allergies. It won’t get rid of the allergy all together, but it will train people’s immune system’s to help avoid serious reaction to accidental exposures. An innovative year in Dubai: The glitzy Arabian City will host the 2020 World Expo and it will be happening for half of the year. It’s like the world’s fair and 192 countries showcase art, technology, science, and many other things. It will be in an area between Dubia and the northern border of neighboring Abu Dhabi. The theme’s of it is happiness and environmental stability. A menagerie of new music: This 2020 there will be a ton of new music coming out! Some new albums include, Cardi B’s new song “Tiger Woods”, Lana Del Ray’s song “White Hot Forever”, J. Cole’s song “The Fall off”, Ozzy Osbourne’s song “Ordinary Man” , and the 1975’s song “Notes of a conditional Form”. New album releases are coming out from Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna, Haim, The Strokes, Pearl Jam, Justin Bieber, Drake, and Lady Gaga. Taylor swift, Celine Dion, Kenny Chesney, and Niall Horan are hitting the road to perform live music! So get ready for it all! The next generation of video game consoles: Who likes video games? Well there are two new consoles coming out, the PlayStation 5 and the XBox Series x. There are also some new games coming out, Halo Infinite and Hellblade 2 for the XBox, and a new Call of Duty and Final Fantasy for the PS5. The baseball game of your "Dreams”: On August 13th the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox will meet in the middle of the corn field in Dyersville, Iowa so that they can play a special “Field of Dreams:. Eight thousand fans will get to experience the full rural splendor in person. For everyone else there will be all kinds of special programming and events surrounding the game. The rise of high-speed rails: People are making high speed rails for people to travel on and some have already been made and up and running and some are in progress. They go 170- miles per hour and it cost $4..8 billion. The places they travel to are Victorville, California to Las Vegas, Miami to West Palm Beach and will eventually expand to Orlando, and last Houston to Dallas. The company headquartered in Redwood, Washington shelled out $223,000 in October 2019 to finish the project for 2020! A bustling Broadway scene: Some of the movies from 2019 are being remade and turned into stage musicals. Most of them will premiere on the Great White Way. Some that are coming are: 13 going on 30, The Bodyguard, The Devil Wears Prada, Some Like it Hot, 17 Again, Magic Mike and Bombshell. So get ready! A new Decade: According to CNN.com we have 10 years to get shape with the new trends, events, and questionable hairstyle choices that will always be a part of 2020. So let’s get to it! Happy 2020 hope its amazing!!! Story by Sydney Dickson  Here are 5 of the top snow day shows. How I Met Your Mother came to American audiences on September 19th, 2005 and came to came off the air on March 31st, 2014. HIMYM is a sitcom that ran from 2005 to 2014. The show is about Barney Stinson and his group of friends living in Manhattan. This shows jumps all around from 2001 to 2030 there are flashbacks and flashforwards. In the year 2030 Ted meets his children and recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to how he met their mother. In the words of Barney Stinson, “whenever I’m sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead.”
The Office debuted on March 24th, 2005 and came to a close on May 16, 2013. The office is a mockumentary sitcom about a group of employees that work for a fictional company called Dunder Mifflin Paper Company in Pennsylvania. Micheal Scott is the boss. He believes he is the funny one of the office and a cool friend. He has no idea that his employees only tolerate him because he is their boss and pays them. He once said, “I am Beyonce, ALWAYS.” Lorelai is known to talk fast, but as she always says, “life is short, talk fast.” Gilmore Girls is a dramatic comedy following the lives of a mother and a daughter. Gilmore Girls aired for the first time on October 5th, 2000 then ended on May 15th, 2007. Then nine years later, the producers decided to create Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life which was debuted November 15th, 2016 and ended later that year. Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, also known as the Gilmore Girls, live in a small town in Connecticut (Stars Hollow) where everyone is family. The show takes you through their relationship as Rory goes to college and how Lorelai gets closer to her parents. The show teaches so many lessons but at the end of the day, the family bonds never fade. Friends first aired on September 22, 1994, and ended on May 6th, 2004. Friends is a sitcom about 6 friends living in an apartment building in Manhattan. Over 10 years this group of Chandler Bing, Rachel Green, Ross Geller, Monica Geller, Joey Tribiani, and Pheobe Buffay go through many hard times. The show takes you through family troubles, romances, laughs, and tears but in the end, you learn what it means to be real friends and always have each other’s back. “It’s all a moo point. It’s like a cows opinion, it doesn’t matter, its moo.”-Joey Tribiani “It's a beautiful day to save lives” was once said by Doctor Derek Shepard. Grey’s Anatomy was debuted on March 27th, 2005 and is still going strong 16 seasons later. Grey’s Anatomy is a medical drama. The show follows Meredith Grey, who you meet on her first day as an intern at Seattle Grace Hospital. Meredith and 5 other interns grow close throughout the show. You follow Meredith on her path through family, love, and friendship. Meredith goes through a lot in her life but in the end, she discovers she has good friends to always support her. Story by Charlotte Ross Sources: Ranker IMBD.com complex.com  Dungeons & Dragons, or more commonly known as D&D, is an intense role-playing game that started in 1974 by two people of the name Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. They started D&D by personalizing their war games. After a while, D&D started to get popular and update. Now you create a character of a certain race and class. Of these classes, the most basic is a wizard, fighter, and rouge. These determine your proficiency in weapons and tools. As you level up, you gain skills and magic that can help you fight many creatures and races. Of the strong races are the Dragonborn and half-orc. Of the magical races are the Elf, Gnome, Half-elf, and Tiefling. And the mucilaginous races are the human, dwarf, and Halfling. These races all go well with what class you choose. Making a character is more about the backstory of your character than being stronger. For example, if you were a human Warrior then your backstory could be that you were in a group that slew a very powerful dragon.
D&D is a role-playing game where you play as a character and go on a quest. The people who make this quest is the dungeon master. The dungeon master, or DM, is the one who creates and writes the story in which the player’s play. Spencer Crittenden is one of the best known DM’s in the world. He has DM’ed since he was little and lives in Moorpark, California. He first got famous when doing a campaign called Harmon quest on the show Harmontown. Harmontown is a famous show lead by dan Harmon, it is a show that does a podcast and occasionally D&D. Spencer Crittenden says, “Part of being a dungeon master involves figuring out multiple outcomes for each situation, the hypothetical diverging paths each player might end up on with every roll of the 20-sided die.” DM’s work hard to create their campaigns and make sure that there is no mistake. Lastly, the die is the most important part of D&D, the die determines your attack and damage. The D20 and the D6 will be your best friend and your worst enemy, the D20 you use for almost anything such as skills, perception, attacks, saving throws, ability checks, etc. D&D is played all over the world and is most popular for it’s imaginative role-play. Role-play is acting out or perform the part of a person or character. These characters are all special in there own way, no character is the same because you have to choose almost everything your character has is chosen by you. Each character is yours to play. Story by Leon Hill |
