Helen Wong

On Feb. 10, Jon Stewart announced that he would be retiring from The Daily Show by the end of this year. When we first heard this news, we were astonished and saddened by the fact that one of our favorite TV hosts was leaving. 

Leelah Alcorn is to be buried in a suit with the wrong name on her gravestone. She was 17, born Joshua Ryan Alcorn, and transgender. 

As the only source of fresh water on the Tumblr continent, Shipper Lake is impossible to avoid.

Here in the USA, we have a booming gun tourism industry. A family vacation can be a trip to a shooting range. We can legally hand children of any age a firearm and teach them how to shoot, without too many eyebrows being raised. Is this not problematic?

Meghan Trainor’s new breakout single, “All About That Bass,” promotes positive body image. The singer is curvaceous and she knows it — Trainor is confident and unapologetic in embracing her plus-size physique. What’s wrong with that?

There’s this recipe that’s been floating around Tumblr for a while. It’s a very popular recipe, but we had our doubts about its feasibility because it seemed far too simple and convenient. According to the recipe, all you have to do is microwave cookie dough in a mug for about a minute, then bam! Fresh chocolate chip cookie in a convenient single-serving size.  

 Who’s the better Sherlock? That’s a question being heatedly debated by fans of CBS’s “Elementary” and BBC’s “Sherlock,” both spectacular shows in their own rights.

During its meeting on Feb. 25, the district board decided to include the $99 million General Obligation bond on the June 3 ballot. Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District residents will be able to vote on the bond, which aims to renovate both Saratoga and Los Gatos High. It is estimated that $55 million would be allocated for Los Gatos and $44 million for Saratoga.

The buzz from the Winter Olympics is winding down. The Games had a good showing, everyone was safe and there were no major international incidents. On the whole it was deemed successful, but seeing as the country had four years to prepare could it have been better? Was Russia ready?

This June, district residents are likely to vote on a $99 million bond to upgrade and maintain facilities at both Los Gatos and Saratoga High Schools. The bond, an additional tax paid annually by property holders, has yet to be approved by the school board, but principal Paul Robinson believes it will receive the board’s approval within the next two school board meetings, which are scheduled to take place on Feb.  4 and Feb.  25.

Let’s take a page out of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” and compare our government shutdown to a hypothetical, disappointing zoo. The elephants would be sitting on the donkeys and refusing to budge; the donkeys would be braying up a racket; the rest of the zoo would all get tied to some posts and told to take some time off (stand still and do nothing, thus reducing zoo earnings and efficiency) until the elephants and the donkeys resolved their differences.

Last May, a British man was decapitated in the streets of London by a terrorist waving a meat cleaver with bloody hands, justifying his actions with jihadist rhetoric. He claimed his act of violence was fair retribution for the turmoil in his homeland, the Middle East, and that all he wanted was for it to end.

Cartoon Network’s show “Avatar: The Last Airbender” was a smash hit, even after the spectacular four-season series ended last year. Chronicling the adventures of a young boy with extraordinary powers and good-natured humor, it was so popular that a spin-off series was created: “The Legend of Korra,” whose first season was launched successfully last year.

We don’t know about other people, but Halloween has always been one of our favorite holidays. We have many fond memories of picking the perfect costume, draping fake webbing over a cat and consuming more sugar than was probably safe for a child.

Thanks to our modern-day obsessions with being in the know and up to date with everything, the readers of today seem to immediately grab the most popular book on the New York Times bestseller list, be it literary trash or gold. 

Pancakes are supposed to be easy to make, especially if you’ve got a box of pancake mix. Just mix, pour and cook. Bam.  However, for those of us who are culinarily challenged, making pancakes can be the prelude to creating a weapon of mass destruction. It all started one fateful summer afternoon.

This year, the administration has altered the school attendance policy, making the consequences for cuts and tardies more severe.

It’s common knowledge that crime thrillers grip the attention of television viewers. Most young Americans can name quite a few off the top of their head: Elementary, Criminal Minds, Bones, CSI: Miami, CSI: New York, CSI: Las Vegas… Well, the list goes on.

The Arab Spring, beginning in 2011, kicked off the Egyptian Revolution and wave after wave of violent protest, propaganda and political mines across the Middle East.  

There is no doubt that Facebook can be very addicting. Games, social interaction, interesting posts and pictures abound. Best of all, it never ends.

In the past, the names of students on graduation day have been listed in order of academic standing in the program. This year, that’s going to change.  On graduation day, the class of 2013 will not be ranked in very high honors, high honors, and honors in the graduation pamphlet. 

Woolly mammoths and sabre-toothed tigers, dodos and Chinese river dolphins, thylacines and passenger pigeons — these animals no longer walk the face of the Earth, but what if they could once again?

The foreign language program has offered many languages since the school was founded in 1959, including Latin, German and Japanese. All three of those languages have been phased out due to lack of sign-ups.

Twelve months have made a big difference in sophomore Charley Dutro’s life.  

Sophomore Lillian Chu won the gold medal in the junior event of cadet women’s sabre at the Junior Olympics in Maryland on Feb. 28, beating a field of 130 competitors. 

In an attempt to “connect with the people,” the U.S. government made a website, www.petitions.whitehouse.gov, earlier this year that allows the respectable, sensible and patriotic citizens of America to petition President Obama and the White House for respectable, sensible and patriotic reasons. 

So we’ve all heard about vegetables being good for your body — those miracle stories about losing 20 pounds in a week after becoming a vegetarian seem quite tempting.

The girls’ basketball team suffered a 57-39 defeat against Lynbrook on Jan. 23. Although the game resulted in a loss, it was a hard-fought contest.

For this blind date, the theme was “cross grades.” We deemed sophomore Audrey Sun and senior Harrison Su compatible due to their similar background and ready senses of humor.

The drama department is gearing up to put on their performance of “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” which will be performed Feb. 28-March 3. It is directed by Sarah Thermond, stage managed by Wren Sutterfield and its instrumental music will be provided by members of the school’s orchestra.

Envision a group of hackers, equivalent to a cyber army, using the Internet to defend freedom and liberty of the Web and its users. Romantic, isn’t it?

Few people think too long about the mysteries of the military.

America is taking a step in the right direction.

Everyone on the  girls’ basketball team knows and respects Hannah Johnson for her prowess on the court.

Few people think too long about the mysteries of the military. It is enough for most of us to know soldiers are out there protecting our country. However, joining the military is actually a relatively simple process, and hardly as well guarded as Hollywood would have us think.

Personally, I have quite a few things I’d like to do before I kick the bucket.

Can you imagine a presidential election in which the candidates don’t spew vitriol at each other, or run hate ads or just be nice to each other?

Do you have HIV, malaria, hepatitis, the H1N1 flu virus, cancer or any possibly fatal diseases? Do their well-known statuses of being incurable frighten you? Well, look no further than MMS, or “Miracle Mineral Solution,” to solve these pesky problems. A simple swig of 28 percent sodium chlorite in distilled water will surely solve any of these “incurable”  diseases!

Supporters laud him as a reformer, as the lionhearted budget-cutter, as the Republican Party’s only hope of regaining power in D.C. His name is Mitt Romney, and he may become the next president.  

The U.S.’s debt clock is, to be honest, horrifying. The numbers, keeping track of everything from the Chinese trade deficit to student loan debt, escalate as you watch, climbing from hundreds to thousands to millions and onwards.