LoHud.com

   "Man disguised as armored truck guard tells NYC business he's making a pickup, steals $15K." These headlines caught my attention while I was looking through LoHud.com. He was pretty smart because he used a GARDA Armored Courier uniform and an armored truck that looked like the real thing. The cash-checking store was fooled. The suspect got off with 15,000 dollars. Lorenzo's Enterprises didn't realize it until the real guy came by hours later. 

   Another article I stumbled across was actually a video about a great grandmother who was shot in the face by a stray arrow. Margaret Shofner was sitting with her granddaughter enjoying a chocolate doughnut when the arrow went through the window into her upper lip and lodged in her jaw. It's unfortunate it happened. The criminal Robert Joiner was charged with two felonies. The perpetrator said it was accident, but I think it was too accurate for an accident. To see the video, click this link http://www.lohud.com/videonetwork/1082564939001?odyssey=mod|tvideo|news           

LoHud.com

                   Today, I read an interesting article about a mountain lion killed in Connecticut by a sports utility vehicle. What really surprised me about the article is that the lion made a journey of 2,00 miles from his home in South Dakota to Connecticut to find his death unfortunately. I want to know why no one found him, or spotted it during its extensive journey. Biologists say that this shows it can adapt to a new environment.

                 I'm still amazed how it survived for such a long journey! What did it eat? Where did he sleep? To learn more about this article go to http://www.lohud.com/article/20110727/NEWS01/107270331/Mountain-lion-killed-Connecticut-traced-2-000-miles-South-Dakota?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|News
                                   

Problem of the Day: 7/26/2011

              45% of the workers in a factory wear spectacles. There are 165 workers in the factory who do not wear spectacles. How many workers are there in total in the factory?

	200
	350
	330
	300	Explanation: I multiplied .45 times 165= 300. That's the answer I got.

LoHud.com

            Football is finally back! After about 134 days of private negotiations, court filings and rulings, of players and owners fighting over more than $9 billion per year, NFL fans finally saw the handshake and heard the words they awaited: "Football is back." I was sure glad to wake up this morning and hear the news. Both sides said they didn't get everything they wanted, but the deal was pretty fair. I'm just so happy that it's a ten year deal so there won't be a lockout for another decade. The player reps voted unanimously for the deal to be passed. It was the moment everyone waited for.

  As soon as tomorrow, free agents and rookies will be able to sign with teams. Trades will be made and practice sessions will begin. One bad thing about the lockout is that the Hall of Fame Game will not be played this year, but I'd rather have that than miss a whole season.                                                       

Problem of the Day: 7/25/2011

   A football team won 10 matches during the last season. If their win percentage last season was 40, how many matches did they play in all?

	24
	30
	20
	25		Explanation:  I set up an proportion and cross multiplied. to get 1000/40= 25 matches.

LoHud.com

          Did anyone hear about the New City teen mauled by grizzly bear in Alaska? I was surprised when I saw the headlines. He is 17 years old, and right now is in critical condition at a hospital in Anchorage. He was partaking in a 30 Day camp where you learn survival skills. It was Day 24 of the camp and the participants were in the back-country alone without an instructor because they had learned enough skills to be alone. Unfortunately, at 8:30 p.m. the grizzly bear attacked four teens, two seriously injured including, Josh Berg from New City, and 17-year-old Samuel Gottsegen of Denver. I hope that everyone is okay. Do you think it was the instructor's fault for leaving them alone?

 To learn more about the article go to or click this link http://www.lohud.com/article/20110725/NEWS03/107250347/New-City-teen-mauled-by-grizzly-bear-Alaska?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage


                                    

LoHud.com

    I'm excited for new and fourth comic book movie of the year. Critics say it will the best one and it opens in theaters everywhere today. "Captain America: The First Avenger, " starring Chris Evans as the leader of the super soldiers. As you might have seen from the previews, Steve Rogers(Chris Evans) is scrawny, young man looking for a spot in the military. He is rejected because of his outward appearance.

                            After being injected with the serum that makes stronger, he becomes the first avenger. Here's a link to the movie trailer http://captainamerica.marvel.com/

           

LoHud.com

   I couldn't believe it when I read the article about the women pulled out for the burning SUV just seconds before it exploded. It sounds like a scene from a Hollywood movie. Annamaria Badenchini, 41, when fully recovered should thank the four men for saving her life. Todd Pezzementi and the other three men acted fast enough to save the fortunate woman.

                 Read about this article at http://www.lohud.com/article/20110720/NEWS03/107200351/Woman-pulled-from-SUV-Palisades-Parkway-seconds-before-explodes?odyssey=mod|mostview

    I came across another article about a Westchester doctor accused of stealing a box of candy from a movie theater.  Dr. Stuart Zweibel is top notch doctor appearing many times on New York's magazine for Best Doctors. He is accused for charge of sixth-degree larceny, but I don't think he did it. He has too much money to steal something that's only two or three dollars. If you are intrigued by this article read more at  http://www.lohud.com/article/20110719/NEWS02/107190324/Westchester-doctor-accused-stealing-candy-from-movie-theater?odyssey=mod|mostview

                                                 

The NFL Lockout

     We are getting closer and closer to end of this power struggle between the owners and players. The damage is already done because the players have lost a lot of preseason training time. They have discussed some key points in the matter, like the rookie salaries. The top picks get paid way too much money, leaving the others with minimum wage. I think the conflict is over how much percent of the money that is earned is shared between the two.                                        

 

      I just hope this whole thing is resolved and over very soon.

                                               

U.S. Women's Team Faces a Tough Loss

       Everywhere throughout America, hopeful U.S. fans, including me, watched our team take on the Japanese in a great match. Both teams had taken the hard way  to the finals. The first half was scoreless, with a lot of close misses near the the goal post, off the post, and over the bar. Finally Alex Morgan, off a great pass, scored to put the U.S. up 1-0. Unfortunately, Japan tied it up. U.S. scored again with Abby Wambach's head for the 2-1 lead in extra time, but the Japanese returned the favor. After time expired, both teams got ready for the penalty kicks. You can watch the highlights here at  http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/highlights/video/video=1476533/index.html   You'll see how the U.S. failed to score time after time. They scored one kick, but it was to late. They fell 2-2, 3-1 in penalty kicks. Congratulations to Japanese for the victory!

       

Problem of the day 7/15/11

 16 identical books weigh 90.88 kg. How much will 9 such books weigh?

	45 kg
	51.12 kg
	48.2 kg
	54.52 kg      Answer: 51.12 kg.  Explanation: 90.88 kg/ 16= 5.68   9 times 5.18= 51.12 kg

LoHud.com

              "Cops: 4 NYC men arrested during Spring Valley drug deal" When I saw these headlines I was kind of surprised. Four New York City men are facing felony drug charges after being interrupted in an apparent drug deal involving 1,000 decks of heroin and thousands of dollars in cash, authorities said. That's a lot of drugs. The crime went down near Route 59. That was a good job by the Spring Valley Drug Enforcement for spotting the Nissan Altima containing the illegal goods. They were worth about 15,000 dollars.

                      I never thought something like this could happen so close to home. What do you think about this?

                

Problem of the day 7/14/11

   One full box of candies weighs 1.59 kg. If I take out 40 candies from the box, the weight of the box comes down to 1.47 kg. How many candies are there in the box originally? (Ignore the weight of the box that holds the candies)

	120 candies
	450 candies
	530 candies
	340 candies
Answer: 530 candies. Explanation: The weight of 40 candies must be 1.59 - 1.47 = 0.12 kg = 120 grams. So, each candy must weigh 3 grams. The original weight of the box was 1.59 kg = 1590 grams. Number of candies = 1590/3 = 530 candies.

LoHud. com

        I am outraged by this article. Same-sex marriage is just not right. Every child needs a father figure and a mother.  You just can't have both. They can't even have kids of their own. They adopted innocent kids and force this wrong culture on them. Some of these gay and lesbians say they go to church every Sunday ,but the bible says in Leviticus 18:22, which reads: "You shall not lie with a man as one lies with a woman, it is an abomination ."
 What do you think?
Read more at http://www.lohud.com/article/20110714/NEWS01/107140378/Same-sex-couples-numbers-soar-N-Y-2010-census-finds

                   On a different note I was proud of the U.S. women team for making to the world cup final for the first time since 1999. They beat France 3-1. Abby Wambach  delivered again scoring a goal with her head to put U.S. up 2-1.  Alex Morgan scored the final dagger and now the U.S. are going for it all against Japan who also had a great 3-1 victory.

                                                                               

Problem of the Day 7/13/11

A book has 125 pages. How many times does the digit '1' appear in the page numbers of the book?

	39
	45
	59
	54			Answer: 59. I counted every number including  1 and 125 that included the number 1. I added my total together and got 59.

LoHud.com

        I tried something a little different today. Instead of reading my book, I decided to take a break and read some articles. The first article was about the couple that jumped off the Tappan Zee Bridge. A 29 year old, Alfa Choice, made the wrong choice and died. 44 year old Christopher Shears survived the fall. He is in critical condition in a nearby hospital. Some of the comments on the article shocked me. Dennis305  says, "The Thruway Authorities inadequate measures to prevent such terrible tragedy's need to be addressed. The fact is, robust barriers can be built that would prevent what happened yesterday." I strongly disagree. It was the persons choice to die, and they would have found other means to kill themselves if barriers were put up.

                                          
To learn more about the tragic event visit http://www.lohud.com/article/20110713/NEWS01/107130343/Naked-couple-s-jump-from-Tappan-Zee-Bridge-investigated

Problem of the Day: 7/12/2011

   On Sunday, a record crowd of 845 people visited the Zoo. On Monday, there was a drop of 80% in the number of people that visited the Zoo. How many people visited the zoo on Monday?

169 people

676 people

200 people

400 people

My Answer: 169 Explanation: I found 80% of 845, .80 time 845= 676. Then I subtracted 845-676: 169

The Eagle Party

          Every year chum salmon go back to the river they where born in to reproduce. Shortly after they reproduce, they die. The eagles easily scoop up the dead fish and eat them. That's why it's called a party, because they eat how much they want.

               Mark took Clearie on a boat ride to the chum salmon's breeding spot. They fished and ate what they caught. I thought it was little romantic. They saw that someone was shooting the eagles. They checked it out thinking it was probably someone drunk, Henry Jonee.  I would say he is the main antagonist of the story. He sells whiskey and has a "Devil's Night" every Friday night. He was shooting the birds for fun. Mark confronted him, took his gun, and left with Clearie back home. When everyone else in the village found out about the problem, they hated Henry even more.

Problem of the Day: 7/11/2011

When Moses multiplied 2100 by a 2 digit whole number, he got a square number. Which of the following is the smallest number that gives a square number when multiplied with 2100?

	84
	48
	21
	24
My Response : 21       Explanation: I tried each possible solution. First, I multiplied 2100 by each number. Then, I square rooted each number for a perfect square. 2100 times 21= 44100 the square root of 44100 is a perfect number 210.

The Eagles's Shadow by Nora Martin

      I have finished my previous book and I'm now reading this one. It is similar to Dogsong because it involves Native Americans fighting to keep the old ways of their Tlingit heritage. Clearie, a young girl, has just relocated to a small town in Alaska. She moved there from Tacoma, Washington because her dad was assigned overseas to Japan. She moved into a small house with her relatives. She found out how much her Aunt Ivy hated her mother. Aunt Ivy complained about how her sister was such an angry person. Clearie felt like her Aunt hated her because she reminded her of Dora, her mother. So far it seems like Clearie hates her new house.

   What really surprised me was that the school only had 14 students and went up to the eight grade. I would hate that.

Problem of the Day: 7/8/2011

Which of these is the result of (2x+5)2 - (2x-5)2?
1. 40x2
2. 40x
3. 50x
4. 40
The correct answer is 2.

First, I simplified the problem,(2x+5)2 - (2x-5)2 = (4x2 + 25 + 20x) - (4x2 + 25 - 20x). Second, I solved for the answer, (4x2 + 25 + 20x) - (4x2 + 25 - 20x) = 40x.

Explanation: (2x+5)2 - (2x-5)2 = (4x2 + 25 + 20x) - (4x2 + 25 - 20x) = 40x.

Book Summary: Dogsong by Gary Paulsen

   I finished the book. I wish it was longer than 173 pages. It was an excellent way to spend my time. After where I left off on the previous posts, Russel continued to ride with the dogs and hunt with them. He brought back meat to eat and talked with Oogruk.  One day Oogruk told Russel to take him with the dogs on a ride. Russel was confused because the old man is blind, but he listened and off they went. They reached  about 15 miles off land and stopped near the sea. Russel thought that Oogruk was going to help him hunt, but was shocked by Oogruk's decision. He wanted to see the ocean once more before he died, so he sent Russel off away from home forever.  Russel left on his journey about a mile and came back only to find the old man dead. Russel went on a journey of a lifetime that could only be described by reading the book and especially Part 2: The Dreamrun. In this part Russel learned to hunt and survive solely on his skills and his dogs. Also he became more in tune with the pack. When they reached the far north, they encountered a pregnant girl laying in the snow. Russel saved her life, but was out food. All he could find was an old polar bear. The fight cost him a dog and he was knocked unconscious by the bear's paw. It was worth it because now he had food for a month. In Part 3: Dogsong, there were only a few pages. It is the song that Russel was aiming for the whole time. He finally received the song that would change him forever.

                    I would highly recommended this book to anyone. It shows a lot about life and tells us we should hold on to our moral values and never be ashamed of our heritage.

                                                                                                        

Part 1: The Trance

          This book is divided into three separate parts. I think the first part is called The Trance because the villagers have forgotten the old ways and are using the technology available. The men hunt with snowmobiles, rifles, and .22. They don't have the "songs" anymore. Despite that the old man Oogruk has decided to keep the ways before the white man came. He doesn't use electricity and has a vast collection of the weapons. clothes and other things that the people used to use.

        Russel finally used the sled and took a ride with the dogs. I thought the dogs wouldn't listen to him but they cooperated with him. They were still fat after sitting and eating for two years. I could imagine how amazing it would be to ride in a dogsled.

Dogsong by Gary Paulsen

           After reading a summary about the book, it seems it is about Russel Susskit. He lives in a small village probably somewhere far north where the seals swim. He doesn't like the snowmobiles and all the new technology. It makes the use of dogs less important. He wants to get back to the old ways and the songs that celebrated the old ways. He takes the last team of dogs and takes a journey that will change his life forever. I can't wait to find out.

          So far I've read about ten pages and haven't gotten very far into the story. Russel talks about how he hates the sound of the snowmobiles and likes the eat raw meat rather then cooked.