Government invading privacy?

                          May 7th an AP story was leaked about a foiled terror plot in Yemen. The govt. followed their phone conversations for a couple months. Do I think the government acted properly in this case, and does it have the right to seize journalists' records in matters involving terrorism, or did it overstep its bounds? No, I don't think they acted properly. It's like the Patriot Act (which states if the govt. suspects you have anything to do with terrorism they can invade your privacy because it could be a threat to national security). In my opinion I think they shouldn't have done that. I mean they should have to be 100% sure that the phone conversation they're looking to get is a legitimate threat to the country. If they aren't completely sure then they can find other ways to figure out how to establish if something is a threat. I do understand that they did it to try and protect our country but it still isn't right. I mean think about it like this: you're having a conversation with your friend or someone and even it's just gossip someone could be listening to you. I don't know if it's just me but no matter what your conversation is about it's still PRIVATE.....and private usually means that no one else will know or have the access to it. The government might want to protect us but it's an invasion of privacy.

A British Invasion

                             

Lately in the U.S British bands and artists have become more and more popular. Bands including One Direction and the Wanted. Some singers include Ed Sheeran, Adele, and Jessie J. All of these artists have had a song that almost everyone in the U.S had heard at least once on the radio.

                            Adele, a British pop singer who has won over fans internationally in recent months, has reportedly described her musical style as a “heartbroken soul.”   It’s hard to ignore her soulful, contagious voice, along with her classy style and new songwriting skills. You can’t help but notice this in her hit songs: “Someone Like You,” and “Rolling in the Deep.” Since January, the release of her second album, 21, Adele has sold out her entire North American tour.

                            As for bands I would say the most popular in the U.S is One Direction. Members that make up the band include Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. They are an English-Irish pop boy band that's based in London, England. They signed with Syco Records, Simon Cowell's record label, after forming and finishing third in the seventh season of the British singing competition The X Factor in 2010. Some of their most popular songs include "What Makes You Beautiful" from their first album Up All Night, and their song "Live While We're Young" from their second album Take Me Home.

                             If history keeps repeating itself then I think every generation will have their own British invasion. Whether it's a small one or a big one (like The Beatles, The Who, and The Rolling Stones or One Direction and Adel). Some of today's best artists are British. Also some of the greatest bands of all time are British such as The Beatles.

Boston Strong: A Nation United

              On Monday April 15th a traumatic event happened on Boylston Street in Boston. Not only was it the day of the Boston Marathon but now a memory that will remain in the minds of all that were there, everyone in Massachusetts, and all Americans. The bombing at the Boston Marathon occurred four hours nine minutes and forty three seconds after the marathon started (2:50 p.m). Three were killed and two hundred and eighty two people were injured. The suspects of the bombing were two brothers; Tamerlan Tsarnaev (26) and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (19).The motive for the bombing was said it was because of their "religion".

               Everyone was horrified by the events. Basically every single news station was reporting on the massacre and talking about what happened. The thought of someone bombing our beloved city was just mind blowing to most Bostonians. No one would ever think that someone would try to harm the city for no reason, especially when it involved so many innocent people that did nothing to deserve it. The three that were killed included Krystle Campbell, a 29 year old restaurant manager from Medford Mass,  Lu Lingzi, a 23 year old Boston University graduate, and Martin Richard, an 8 year old boy from Dorchestor. Who would ever want to kill innocent people and scare an entire nation?

              In my opinion the effort the police put in to catch the two brothers was incredible. They didn't stop until they found them. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed and his younger brother Dzhokhar was found in Watertown, Mass and immediately arrested. The police were brave, fearless and showed how much they cared for our city, Boston. No matter what part of the country you were in the news would be covering the updates of what was happening in Massachusetts. My thoughts throughout the whole time was that I wanted everything to be okay. I just wanted everyone to be okay and the terrorists to get caught and for our city to be safe and peaceful again.

              The scariest thing for me was being in a different state. I was in Florida at the time for school vacation. Immediately when we heard of the incident we were shocked. All week we would watch the news to catch up on what was happening. Not being home was scary, you didn't know if someone you know was there, if they got hurt or anything like that. Going back to the airport to go home was the scariest thing. Security was so overwhelming, they were making sure to check everything carefully and there were a lot more security guards there than when we first left. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get home. It was scary to hear that so many people I knew were there. I feel that even though this is a truly tragic event, it brought our nation closer. Everyone would make posts on social media about how they pray for the victims and their families. I never realized how something so big could impact a whole nation.


                 


               

NHS High School Hockey Team

                In an interview with Connor Russell, a Norton High School Junior who has played hockey for around 12 years, gave some insight on his views about the Norton High School hockey team next year. "It's a good and exciting thing to experience, although I wish it was available to participate in longer since I will only be able to play on it for one year, it's cool to know that it's the start of a new sport for the school that will hopefully stay around like football and baseball." Russell said. Like he said it will be interesting to see how it all works out. Many people worked hard to get a team and now it's possible. "I feel it will be an exciting and fun new sport to add to the school" he said. In any sport you can't be sure what will happen, "I think that the team will do well, but you can't really know for sure." Russell said. When asked about his predictions for the next season and the new team he responded by saying "I can't be totally sure yet, maybe during the season after a couple games or practices, but hockey can be really hard to predict especially the first year the school has a team. I can only hope that it will be successful." This will be a great new experience for the players and for the school to get to watch a new sport, despite the cold rink. "At first, I think the support of the team will be very small, mostly just parents and siblings of the players, but it's new so that's fine." Russell said after being asked about the support of the school. "Personally I'm really excited, playing for the high school will be a good way to bring students together in a sport that they've played their whole lives." Connor Russell said. Hopefully the team will be successful and the team will be able to continue on for a long time.

Dance Moms: Dangerous or down right crazy?

         The hit T.V series Dance Moms is becoming more and more popular everyday. The show follows The Abby Lee Dance Company’s competition team.  The girls on the team are very talented. They have to be in order to win over the attention of their teacher THE Abby Lee Miller, who’s expectations are no short of perfection. The show consists of Maddie, Chloe, Brooke, Paige, Mckenzie, Kendall, and Nia along with all of their mothers. These girls go to competitions every week and are expected (by Abby) to win. It seems that winning is all she cares about. If they don’t win or forget their dance then watch out hurricane Abby is on her way. Besides the girls’ dancing the moms play a big role in the show aswell. To describe the moms in a couple words they’re sneaky, decieving, selfish, and crazy…..straight up crazy. They fight constantly and stab each other in the backs. They should probably learn by now that fighting, yelling, and getting mad at Abby won’t get their daughter a solo the next week. So next time they complain about not having a solo or a highlighted part in the group dance they should listen to Abby’s signiture saying: “save your tears for the pillow”. Is it the moms that are the crazy ones? Or is Abby truly insane and mean? Honestly, who knows……they’re all crazy!

Local Skater stays Level-Headed

        On another note local skater, Ross Minor (skating club of Boston) hasn’t let all the chaos and fame of being one of the top skaters in the U.S change his attitude. He made an appearance at Bay State Games for the figure skating portion (in Williamstown, Ma) and skated at the annual show. The competition had skaters from all around Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine (February 15-17). He wrapped the night up with an amazing performance that awed the audience.  He is a great role model for skaters of all ages, level, and ability.

Going for the Gold

The Olympic figure skating team is still yet to be decided. The 2013 U.S Figure Skating Championships occurred January in Omaha Nebraska. Skaters who did well will qualify for the 2013 ISU World Figure skating Championships in London, Ontario in March. This competition will determine the skaters that will compete at the 2014 winter Olympics in Sochi.

The skaters that qualify for the World Championships are the following (not including alternates) :

LADIES
2013 World Championships
Gracie Gold
Ashley Wagner

2013 Four Continents Championships
Christina Gao
Gracie Gold
Agnes Zawadzki

2013 World Junior Championships
Samantha Cesario
Courtney Hicks
Yasmin Siraj

MEN
2013 World Championships
Max Aaron
Ross Miner

2013 Four Continents Championships
Max Aaron
Ross Miner
Adam Rippon

2013 World Junior Championships
Jason Brown
Joshua Farris
Shotaro Omori

PAIRS
2013 World Championships
Marissa Castelli/Simon Shnapir
Caydee Denney/John Coughlin

2013 Four Continents Championships
Marissa Castelli/Simon Shnapir
Alexa Scimeca/Chris Knierim
Felicia Zhang/Nathan Bartholomay

2013 World Junior Championships
Jessica Noelle Calalang/Zack Sidhu
Haven Denney/Brandon Frazier
Britney Simpson/Matthew Blackmer

ICE DANCING
2013 World Championships
Madison Chock/Evan Bates
Meryl Davis/Charlie White
Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani

2013 Four Continents Championships
Madison Chock/Evan Bates
Meryl Davis/Charlie White
Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani

2013 World Junior Championships
Alexandra Aldridge/Daniel Eaton
Kaitlin Hawayek/Jean-Luc Baker
Lorraine McNamara/Quinn Carpenter