Since each lady gave $10, which makes $30 total, the waiter only took $5, to make $25 for the total of the bill. Which means he can only take two dollars from two of the $10 and one from the other $10. Which makes one lady paid $9 and the others $8. 9+8+8= 25. The other $2 kind of went has a tip. Thinking as if only two of the ladies gave a $1 tip. Since each lady received a dollar back, then one lady paid $9 for her food, and two ladies paid $8 for their food, and $1 for a tip. 9+8+8+1+1=27. The other three dollars have been distributed equally back to the ladies.

Despite what the paradox might say, there is no missing dollar. The wording of the paradox makes you want to believe that the equation for the missing dollar is simply 9×3+2=29. It is purposely misleading as to confuse the reader. The equation is wrong. The real equation is 10(the number of dollars per person) x 3(the number of people) = 25( the total value of the bill) + 3(the number of dollars returned to the lades) + 2(the number of dollars the waiter took as a tip.) This makes the equation 10×3=25+3+2. Both sides equal 30 dollars, meaning there is no missing dollar.

To make this even simpler: The price of the meal plus the waiters tip is 27 dollars. The last 3 dollars are returned to the men.

For my research essay I will be researching the intuitive action of handing over personalized firearms for the safety of the people. In 1776, our founding fathers called a motion for the separation from Britain. Although dangerous, they were aware the act was treasonous. Our founding fathers needed a militia with firearms in order to escape their cruel government. Our militias succeeded and we are now the United States of America. As a result of our militias fighting for us to gain freedom, we have the right to bear arms and to form a militia in the case that our military goes the wrong way and we need to fight for our independence.

Theoretically, keeping guns out of the possession of people sounds like a good idea; It should stop accidental suicides, armed robbery, murder, and all sorts of crime. However, there are very large variables that are at play; such as, the importation of unmarked guns from Mexico, self protection, and the largest problem of how do we take away all the guns that are in America already? After all, there are over 300 million guns in America. According to the Congressional Research Service, there are approximately twice the amount of guns per capita than there were in 1968. If guns were accidentally not taken from government officials, then we have citizens who are unable to defend themselves with others who have dangerous weapons.

Although gun are dangerous weapons, they are needed for self defense as well as to protect our rights from a possibly corrupt government. Many people do not understand the evil that resides within the world, and as a result, do not recognize the danger in what they are doing.

 

Injuries to young athletes is a rapidly growing issue in the united states. Athletes are taught to be tough and to play with courage. Sometimes this means knowing they are injured and still going out to the field. These kids are young, all they want to do is impress their coach and teammates so they play through their injuries. They think it will not affect them in the long run but in reality it does, they just don’t know it yet. They wont know until later in life when they are getting constant headaches from a concussion that they did not give the proper resting period. There needs to be more regulation to letting injured players continue in the same game. Usually they don’t even realize that they are injured because of all of the adrenaline going through them. It is the coaches job to notice when something is wrong and take the player out of the game. These coaches need to held accountable.

Kids’ Sports Injuries – the Numbers are Impressive: http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/kids-sports-injuries-numbers-are-impressive:
The essential content of the article- With youth sports getting more and more popular as the years go on, the number of sport related injuries to young kids climbs with it
what it proves- as the numbers of athletes rises, so does the injury rate. Here we learn some precautions on how to handle and prevent injuries.

1.35 million youths a year have serious sports injuries: 1.35 million youths a year have serious sports injuries:
The essential content of this article- We are shown how common certain injuries are in certain sports and which ones are the most serious.
What it proves- Head and ankle injuries are the most common areas to get injured. Which is scary because the head is the most dangerous area to be injured.

Preventing Sports-Related Injuries: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/articles-and-answers/prevention/10-tips-for-preventing-sports-injuries-in-kids-and-teens:
The essential content of this article- We are explained how to try and lower the injury rate in sports to protect our youth.More than 46.5 million children participate in sports each year in the United States.
What it proves- One in three children who plays a team sport is injured seriously enough to miss practice or games.
Girls are up to eight times more likely to have an ACL injury than boys.

High School Sports Injuries: http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00056:
The essential content of this article-

High school athletic departments need to start being held accountable for the increase of injuries to players. The coaches need to be teaching the players how to play their role in a safer way. Along with that, they need to know when the player should sit out of a practice or game.
What it proves- The players are usually too unaware when they are injured to make the proper decision to sit out. the coaches are more responsible than they player who are injured.

Working For Change:
The essential content of this article- Informing the public about the seriousness of injuries is essential. Some people may just be uneducated about whether they are injured or not.
What it proves- The clinics that are offered should be mandatory for a certain age group to attend. Players need to know how to tell if themselves or a teammate may be injured.

Saints72 Proposal

For my essay I will be investigating the claim that the repeated hits to the head and concussions of football players are causing Chronic Traumatic Encephalopothy, otherwise noted as CTE, and killing very notable NFL veterans. A concussion, defined by the online Merriam Dictionary, is a jarring injury of the brain resulting in disturbance of cerebral function. The Brain Injury Research Institute describes Chronic Traumatic Encephalopothy as a progressive degenerative disease which afflicts the brain of people who have suffered repeated concussions and traumatic brain injuries

I will compare football hits in the National Football League (NFL) to the head and the strikes to head during boxing matches in leagues such as the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxing Federation (IBF), World Boxing Organization (WBO), and etc. as well as the  and mixed martial art matches in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Looking at the violent nature of boxing and mixed martial arts compared to the hits in football it is not the repeated concussions in football that are causing CTE, it has to be something else because boxers and mixed martial artists are not reported to have CTE.

1. Concussion in Professional Football: Comparison with Boxing Head Impacts

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16331164

The Essential Content of the Article: Scientists study the impact bio-mechanics from boxing punches causing translational and rotational head acceleration. Boxers in ranging weight classes threw punches at a dummy and the data were compared with laboratory-reconstructed NFL concussions.

What it Proves: This study proves that the hits themselves are not causing the extreme concussions, leading to CTE. Football hits seem worse because defending players’ hits have more acceleration than the boxers’ strikes. Ultimately the boxer’s strikes measure with more force than football hits.

2.What is CTE?

http://www.protectthebrain.org/Brain-Injury-Research/What-is-CTE-.aspx

The Essential Content of the Article: This article explains what CTE is, it’s symptoms, how to diagnose an athlete. The article groups CTE with Dementia Pugilistica in Mild/Traumatic Brain Injuries.

What it Proves: The articles proves that this disease can be confirmed and diagnosed. It gives us a formal definition of the disease and classifies it in a bigger class of injuries similar to it.

3. Concussion

Movie, Dec 2015

The Essential Content of the Article: Dr. Bennet Omalu, played by Will Smith, is a forensic neuropathologist. He makes the first discovery of CTE in a pro football player and the movie portrays his fight for the truth to be known against one of the most powerful businesses in the world, the National Football League.

What it Proves: This movie helps prove that CTE is a dangerous disease. The movie shows the symptoms of CTE while Dr. Omalu tries to connect the multiple concussions to CTE.

4. The N.F.L.’s Tragic C.T.E. Roll Call

The Essential Content of the Article: This article explains again what CTE is and declares dozens of former NFL players that has been diagnosed with the degenerative brain disease. includes the 12 most notable cases of NFL players having CTE and dying. Not dying from the disease, but mostly of overdose and suicide.

What it Proves: This article proves that CTE is not the deciding factor in the deaths of these NFL veterans, it is something else factoring into these deaths.

5. Dana White on concussions: UFC is safer than NFL

http://www.mmamania.com/2013/1/8/3852326/ufc-president-dana-white-mma-concussions-nfl-mma

The Essential Content of the Article: Dana White, the President of the UFC, declares that the violent sport of Mixed Martial Arts is safer than football. He believes this because how the league proceeds with concussed fighters. Their rules are there tp protect the athletes and is what he thinks makes it safer than the NFL.

What it Proves: This article proves that the rest between concussions can stop or slow down the oncoming of CTE and its symptoms.

 

Other Works Cited

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/concussion

For my research essay I will be examining how African American citizens fear being killed by the police who suppose to be protecting them from harm and serving the community. Over the past few years there has been major police shootings especially in the Black communities.Over the past year the police has killed 102 unarmed black men. Data has showed that in the year of 2015 police officers has killed 5 times the amount of white men. Based on the killings that were done by law enforcement, in their cases no officers where found guilty and didn’t face any jail time or was convicted of murder.

While researching I found that in this year alone, 708  people have been shot by the police. But out of 708 there was 173 who was African American, unarmed and killed. Also majority of the police shootings are more men then women . Finally, reports has also shown that police shootings had increased over the past years. Policemen are suppose to protect citizens from harm, instead of killing them for what seems to be no reason.  With the shooting and death rates increasing each year it makes people rethink if they can trust the officers.

Sources:

1.” Mapping police Violence” –  http://mappingpoliceviolence.org/unarmed/

The Essential Content of  the Article: This article shows the statics on the year of 2015 and how many unarmed African American men was killed.  This article shows  each African American including women who was killed by the cops.

What it Proves : This proves that black men are 5 times more likely to be killed then white men.

2.”Police shooting 2016 data”- Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/police-shootings-2016/

The Essential Content of the Article: This article shows that 719 people have been shot and killed this year by the police. It also shows that 991 people were killed by the police in 2015.

What it Proves: This proves that so far the most killings occurred in 2015 however 2016 is not over yet and the number of killings for this year so far is a lot.

3.” Police Shooting Statistics 2016: Are More Black People Killed By Officers Than Other Races ” – Janice Williams

http://www.ibtimes.com/police-shooting-statistics-2016-are-more-black-people-killed-officers-other-races-2421634

The Essential Content of the Article: This article shows that not only was 991 people was killed in 2015, but out of that total 258 were black. This year, out of the 719 people who was killed, 178 were black .

What it Proves :  This proves that since last year it has increased. Also more men are being killed by the police then women.

4. ” One Map Shows How Many People Police Have Killed In Each State So Far this Year?”-Tome Mckay

https://mic.com/articles/122161/one-map-shows-all-the-people-police-have-killed-in-each-state-so-far-this-year#.7roh7VK7Q

The Essential Content of the Article : This article shows the map of the United States where the most police shooting has occurred in 2016. Out of  the 50 states, in 47 of them, at least one or more people have been killed by police shootings.

What it Proves :  This proves how many people been killed in certain states.

5.”People Police have killed so far in 2016″ –

https://thinkprogress.org/this-is-how-many-people-police-have-killed-so-far-in-2016-7f1aec6b7098#.dla738ajc

The Essential Content of the Article: This article shows how many people have been killed this year even though the year not over yet. This article reports that 855 people have died at the hands of police officers.

What it Proves: This proves that Native American and African Americans are being killed at the highest rate in the United States.

 

Caleb has been home since 2006, way more than enough time for Brannan to catch his symptoms.

Caleb has been home from Iraq since 2006.

McClelland has implied that since Caleb’s homecoming in 2006 there was enough time allotted for Brannan to catch Caleb’s PTSD symptoms.

This statement further implies that Caleb does have PTSD and the symptoms are in fact contagious.

The house, in a subdivision a little removed from one of many shopping centers in a small town in the southwest corner of Alabama, is often quiet as a morgue. ou can hear the cat padding around. The air conditioner whooshes, a clock ticks.

The family’s house is in a little quiet neighborhood in the southwest corner of Alabama

The family’s house is is so quiet sometimes, it is like a morgue.

Due to the PTSD there can not be any random or loud noises or it will send Caleb into a fit.

The house is so quiet you can hear the small cat walking around the house, air condition pushing cold air throughout the house, and the ticking of a clock.

When a sound erupts—Caleb screaming at Brannan because she’s just woken him up from a nightmare, after making sure she’s at least an arm’s length away in case he wakes up swinging—the ensuing silence seems even denser.

The only abrupt sounds in the house is Caleb’s random screams.

Usually Caleb is screaming at Brannan for waking him up from a nightmare.

Brannan accidentally wakes Caleb up after checking if he is at least a arm’s length away so she doesn’t get hit when Caleb wakes up swinging.

Even when everyone’s in the family room watching TV, it’s only connected to Netflix and not to cable, since news is often a trigger.

Watching TV is supposed to be a calm family activity, with Caleb and Brannan.

They can only watch television on Netflix, a program with prerecorded shows and movies without the availability of the interruption of breaking news.

Breaking news is often dealing with some aspect of war, or comes along with surprising noises. These such things can send both Caleb and Brannon into a fit.

Their German shepherd, a service dog trained to help veterans with PTSD, is ready to alert Caleb to triggers by barking, or to calm him by jumping onto his chest.

Caleb and Brannon own a German Shepard.

The dog is a service dog trained to help veterans with PTSD.

Part of it’s traing os to alert Caleb to supposed triggers by barking.

The service dog can also calm Caleb down by jumping onto his chest.

This PTSD picture is worse than some, but much better, Brannan knows, than those that have devolved into drug addiction and rehab stints and relapses. She has not, unlike military wives she advises, ever been beat up. Nor jumped out of her own bed when she got touched in the middle of the night for fear of being raped, again.

Looking at the household from the outside it looks bad.

There are some cases of PTSD that are worse, and some cases of PTSD that aren’t as bad.

Some cases of PTSD has led to drug addiction, luckily for her and Caleb this is not the road they are traveling.

Brannon advises a group of military wives.

These wives are also dealing with their husband’s PTSD.

These wives have been beat or raped, luckily for Brannon, she has not been beat or raped.

Still.

Just one word implies that Brannon is not troubled by the worst symptoms of PTSD. On the other hand, she is still dealing with symptoms that make her life very hard.

“Sometimes I can’t do the laundry,” Brannan explains, reclining on her couch. “And it’s not like, ‘Oh, I’m too tired to do the laundry,’ it’s like, ‘Um, I don’t understand how to turn the washing machine on.’ I am looking at a washing machine and a pile of laundry and my brain is literally overwhelmed by trying to figure out how to reconcile them.”

Brannon suffers from her symptoms so badly daily duties such as doing laundry becomes a whole ordeal. Her mind is so cluttered and busy she sometimes can not figure how to turn the washing machine on.

She sounds like she might start crying, not because she is, but because that’s how she always sounds, like she’s talking from the top of a clenched throat, tonally shaky and thin. 

Whenever Brannon tries to talk she sounds like she is about to start crying.

Her voice sounds like she has a clenched throat with a shaken tone.

She looks relaxed for the moment, though, the sun shining through the windows onto her face in this lovely leafy suburb.We raise the blinds in the afternoons, but only if we are alone. When we hear Caleb pulling back in the driveway, we jump up and grab their strings, plunging the living room back into its usual necessary darkness.

Sitting in the living room Brannon is relaxing and has the sun beaming through the windows.

She can only sit and relax like this if Caleb is not home.

When Brannon hears Caleb pulling into the driveway she must jump up, pull the blinds down and make sure the living room is back to the darkness that Caleb needs.

 

 

 

Brennan sent Katie to the school therapist, once.

• Katie goes to school.
• Katie’s school has a therapist.
• Katie has been sent to said therapist, but only once. The addition of the word “once” makes it seem like Brennan wanted it that way, she was not sent again on purpose.
• Brennan is the one who made Katie see the therapist. The phrasing suggests that it was Brennan’s decision, not Katie’s to see the therapist.

 She hasn’t seen any other therapist, or a therapist trained to deal with PTSD—Brannan knows what a difference that makes, since the volunteer therapist she tried briefly herself spent more time asking her to explain a “bad PTSD day” than how Caleb’s symptoms were affecting the family.

• Katie has only ever been to the school therapist. This is most likely because other therapists cost money, which the Vineses do not have.
• Katie has never seen a PTSD-specific therapist.
• Brennan has seen a PTSD-specific therapist.
• PTSD therapists are different than regular therapists, but in a good way. They “make a difference,” specifically to Brennan.
• Brennan saw a volunteer, not a paid therapist.
• Brennan only went to the therapist “briefly”, in fact, she only “tried” her, meaning that she is no longer seeing her.
• Brennan’s PTSD therapist asked her about her own experiences rather than the experience of the family.
• Other therapists have only asked about the family.
• A “bad PTSD day” is a unique experience and a valid one.
• Caleb’s symptoms are affecting the family.

 When I visited, Katie was not covered by the VA under Caleb’s disability; actually, she wasn’t covered by any insurance at all half the time, since the Vineses aren’t poor enough for subsidized health care and the Blue Cross gap insurance maxes out at six months a year.

• The author visited the Vines family.
• Katie is not covered under VA insurance. The VA most likely doesn’t believe in Katie’s symptoms, because they mainly treat veterans and have no experience with how they affect their families.
• The Vineses are poor, but “not poor enough.” That says a lot about how our government classifies who it wants to help and who it doesn’t. There are some people worthy of subsidies, and some who aren’t.
• The Vineses are some who apparently don’t deserve subsidies.
• Their insurance is Blue Cross.
• Their insurance maxes out at six months a year. Maxes out like a credit card? With all the pills and procedures that Caleb has taken and undergone, it seems the Vineses are using their insurance too much.

 She’s never been diagnosed with anything, and Brannan prefers it that way.

• Katie has never received a formal diagnosis.
• Brennan doesn’t want Katie to receive diagnosis.

“I’m not for taking her somewhere and getting her labeled. I’d rather work on it in softer ways,” like lots of talks about coping skills, and an art class where she can express her feelings, “until we have to. And I’m hoping we won’t have to.”

• Brennan doesn’t want Katie to be “labeled.” This wording gives a negative connotation to a diagnosis, as if it immediately puts Katie in a box labeled “mentally ill” that she can’t escape from.
• There are hard and soft ways to work through mental illness. Brennan makes standard treatment seem harsh, ignoring the fact that the things she later describes are a part of standard treatment.
• Katie goes to and art class to express her feelings.
• Katie has coping skills.
• Brennan doesn’t want to “have to” get Katie diagnosed, but acknowledges that there is a point when it is necessary.

 Certainly she seems better than some other PTSD vets’ kids Brannan knows, who scream and sob and rock back and forth at the sound of a single loud noise, or who try to commit suicide even before they’re out of middle school.

• There are other PTSD veteran kids at Katie’s school.
• Katie is “better than” them. That seems harsh. Brennan obviously has a very low regard for people with mental illness, and doesn’t want her child to be considered one of them. Is this a form of self-hatred coming out, as Brennan is mentally ill herself?
• Other PTSD kids’ symptoms include screaming, rocking, and attempting suicide.
• PTSD kids have triggers, including a single loud noise. Only one, singular loud noise. Not multiple loud noises. The word singular is unnecessary and draws from the meaning. I get what Brennan means, but it just doesn’t come across the way she wants it to.
• Some PTSD kids attempt suicide at a young age. There is no reason given for this, just that it happens. Could it be that their parents never got the proper treatment, Brennan?

Caleb spends enough time worrying that he’s messing up his kid without a doctor saying so.

• Caleb worries that he is “messing up” Katie. Obviously people with mental illness are “messed up”. They are some kind of subspecies, not fully human because their brains don’t work the same.
• A doctor could definitively prove that Caleb is indeed “messing up” Katie. So PTSD could be confirmed to be contagious, or at least picked up on, by a doctor.

Mind Over Money

Money is what makes the world go round; it is a valuable item that is worth so much since there is only a finite amount of it circulating. This idea has never been challenged in my mind until reading the various articles pertaining to this subject. Now, as if a one way window were destroyed in front of me, I am able to see the truth on the other side. Money having worth is a figment of the human imagination.

The people of Yap use gargantuan limestone boulders as money, which quite frankly sounded completely ludicrous to me. Money in my mind should always be able to be carried with you. The fact that there are gigantic pieces of money in their society baffled me, but once compared to our money in the U.S., my mindset began to skew from left to right. Our money can be represented through paper checks, plastic cards, and a special material we call bills. They leave large pieces of limestone at different locations and use them as a bartering tool just as we use paper, plastic, and bills. The paper and plastic of which Americans use as bartering tools are not actual forms of money. They are a gateway to using the money without it actually being present on the individuals person. This is much like the Yap’s and their gigantic limestone boulders located at various different locations around the island.

The people of Yap still have their limited number of limestone they consider precious to regulate how much the stone is worth for use of bartering, but American money is a little different. Gold originally was used as a bartering tool by many Western countries and later was represented by the bills we know today. The bills today however do not represent gold. This idea is very similar to that of Brazil. Brazil came up with this idea, because they had an inflation epidemic. The way used to correct the inflation issue was in fact genius. Using the legitimacy of the country to back the currency was clever, because the government did not need to worry about finding gold or limestone, but rather just focus on amount of money being exchanged. This showed me that money can be backed by anything as long as that anything had value. A country is a great example such a thing of great value.

Money does not have value because it just does like many people believe, but rather because everyone wants it. This idea can be translated to one of the newest forms of currency today, the bitcoin. Bitcoins still to this day do not make sense to me. It’s a made up currency not connected to any government or backed by gold. It is literally just a form of currency people agreed upon to barter created by an individual. For Places like Brazil or America to back their currency by their country made enough sense to not question it too much, but the thought that a legitimate form of currency could come from nothing with but an idea is insane.

Money is for lack of a better phrase, a figment of our imaginations. It only has value because everyone wants it. If no one wanted money, everyone would barter using another item or items. A million dollars is only valuable because everyone else in this country wants it to. If everyone had a million dollars, no one would think it was significant or strive for it for that matter. Due to this fact, the concept of currency having value only because people want it, is very unsettling. Any boat that can be tipped that easily is not a good one and should be replaced.

Works Cited

Friedman, Milton. “The Island of Stone Money.” Diss. Hoover Institution, Stanford University , 1991.

“The Invention of Stone Money.” 423: The Invention of Stone Money. This Is American Life, WBEZ. Chicago . 7 Jan. 2011.

Joffe-Walt, Chana . “How Fake Money Saved Brazil.” NPR.org. 4 Oct. 2010. 30 Jan. 2015. <http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2010/10/04/130329523/how-fake-money-saved-brazil&gt;.

Renaut, Anne . “The bubble bursts on e-currency Bitcoin.” Yahoo.com. 13 Apr. 2013. 30 Jan. 2015. <https://sg.news.yahoo.com/bubble-bursts-e-currency-bitcoin-064913387–finance.html&gt;.