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...with my 10 year old Vietnamese student as an exercise in numeric thinking and logic. These puzzles are not so easy unless you have a little insight.

Give it a go! It is only level4. For a 4*4 square the numbers are 1-16 so each row, column and diagonal adds to 16*17/8 =34
This is an even numbered magic square so it gives some additional properties about the 4 corners and the centre quadrant which make this one much easier.
He does pretty well at these, but I think we should jump to level 6.
As a hint to start with, we know the sum of R1C1+R4C1 so we immediately know the number in R2C1.

this came up as a topic in class, and intrigued me.

If you had to choose between not being able to speak again

OR

not being able to stop yourself saying everything you thought

Which?

I'm getting used to not being able to speak here in Spain anyway. and I could see myself getting into real trouble if I couldn't stop saying what I thought. Some of the things I think but don't say are fairly volatile

But the freedom of being able to say everything because you had no choice, and people would know you had no choice - that freedom could be fun!

Bought this t-shirt recently



Maybe it's a sign from a higher power

Just As That Young Girl From Pakistan...(Malala Yousafzai).Was Shot In The Head...For Speaking Up Against The Taliban.....................
It Seems........... That It Doesnt Matter Who You Are...If You Stand up Against The Taliban..Or Print What They Dont Like?...They'll Try To Kill You..........."It Seems That This Might Be What Happened To A News Journalist In Kabul Afghanistan...Who Worked For..."Agence France-Press"...From There..He Started His Own News Journal..."Pressistan"
On The Evening Of March 20,2014...While Dining At The.... "Serena Hotel In Kabul"...(5 Star Hotel)
(Which...Might I Add..Has Over 90 Security Gaurds..And Constant Surveilance)

"Right Off The Bat...Security Was Zooming In On A Few Men...That Didnt Seem To Fit In"
Wherever They Were Walking Inside The Hotel...The CCTV Cameras.... Were Zooming In And Watching

But..After The Fact..Its Clear... That Nobody Did Anything About These Suspicious Men

Ahmad Sardar..(40) Was Having A Meal ...With His Wife...(Humaira)
("And His Three Children")
His Daughter ..Nelofar..( 6Years Old)
His Eldest Son ....Omar..(5 Years Old)
And His 2 Year Old Son..(Abuzar)

Four Gunmen Came Charging In ...Right Up To His Table
And Execution Style..And At Point Blank Range
Shot Ahmad..(And His Wife)...His Daughter..(6)..And Eldest Son..(5)
In The Head....Killing All Four Of Them
They Pumped At Least Four Bullets Into His 2 Year Old Son..(Abuzar)
(Who Was In A Coma For A Week Or So..But Miraculously...Survived

"But Did The Taliban Really Do This?"

(Continued In The Comments Section)

"The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one, he said."

.........H.G. Wells.......

Years ago, Boeta was the first child to go to university... his parents stayed on a farm and the whole community were farmers...

So, at university, Boeta met the girl of his dreams and wanted to bring her to the farm for the semester break... Prior cellphones, he wrote a letter to his Daddy, explaining his wish and request the wedding picture in the living room (where his Mom was standing and his dad was sitting), to be removed prior their arrival at the farm... Boeta didn't want his lady friend to get the wrong impression of the 'head' in the house...

His Dad received the letter, went to the neighbour (to assist with writing a letter back...)... and it went like this ...

My dear son... your mom and I are so happy you met a girl... you made us wonder for a while...she is more than welcome on our farm, but the picture will not go anywhere. She has to understand the challenges for living on a farm... .... Years ago when your mom and I got married, the photographer got lost and only got to the farm 3 days after the wedding... by then ... your mother couldn't sit and I could stand... lol...

The zodiac animal of China's coming Lunar New Year has caused much confusion in the English world, as its translation results in at least two candidates: sheep or goat.

The zodiac animal of China's coming Lunar New Year has caused much confusion in the English world, as its translation results in at least two candidates: sheep or goat.

Chinese folklorists say the animal symbol can be either a sheep or a goat but more likely goat, given the latter's popularity as a farm animal among Han Chinese.

The Chinese lunar calendar assigns an animal symbol to each year in every 12-year cycle. Yet the Chinese character for the eighth zodiac animal is "Yang", which can refer to either of the two ruminants when used without attributes.

Huang Yang, a prominent researcher on the role of sheep/goats in Chinese culture, says tracing the origin of the zodiacal Yang could be difficult, as the Chinese zodiac first appeared after the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC), when the Chinese people did not differentiate between sheep and goats in language or in sacrificial offering.

Both species have a long history of domestication in China and have appeared on oracle bone scripts and other artifacts since prehistoric times, according to Huang, who in 2012 challenged the saying that Chinese are "descendants of the dragon" by arguing that the earliest Chinese actually worshipped the meek ruminants.

"But if we judge from the fact that the Chinese zodiac is a Han tradition, Yang are more likely goats, which are more common livestock for the Han Chinese," he tells Xinhua in a phone interview.

Shaggy sheep are a common sight in north China's prairies and were domesticated by Chinese earlier than goats, but goats are more commonly raised in areas populated by Han Chinese, Huang says.

Images on China's zodiac stamps and papercuttings are often bearded goats. The replica of the Yang bronze statue that once formed part of a zodiac fountain in the looted Old Summer Palace also has a goat head.

Fang Binggui, a folklorist based in southeast China's Fuzhou City, says the image of the zodiac Yang is open to regional interpretation. "People depict the zodiac animal based on the most common Yang in their region. So it's often sheep in the north while goats in the south."

Few ordinary Chinese are troubled by the sheep/goat distinction.

"I've never thought about that question before. Do we have to tell them apart?" asks Chen Xufeng, an office clerk in Beijing.

"I've seen more goats in zodiac images, but I prefer to buy a sheep mascot, as sheep are more fluffy and lovely," he says.

However, the ambiguity has whipped up discussion in the West. A story run by the Associated Press said this year's animal "is subject to interpretation".

"We just had this discussion a few weeks ago. What exactly is it?" AP quoted a worker in Brooklyn Chinatown as saying. "It can be a ram, sheep or goat -- any ruminant mountain animal with horns."

In England, the Manchester Evening News also posed the question: "Later this month, we will enter the Chinese Year of the Ram. Or should that be sheep? Or even Goat?"

Other media outlets, including Bloomberg, have described the coming Lunar New Year as the Year of the Sheep, Goat or Ram.

Xiang Daohua, a teacher of Chinese language and culture at China Foreign Affairs University, believes cultural connotations should be taken into consideration in translation.

"The English word 'sheep' better fits the Yang image in traditional Chinese cultures, which is meek and even a bit weak," he says.

One Two?................Buckle My Shoe..................................................................Three Four?............Shut The Door
Five Six?....................Pick Up Sticks.............Seven Eight?.............................................................Lay Em Straight
Nine Ten?......Stop Asking When

Well..Ive Been Secretly Preparing To Leave For The Last Week Now...And Im Not "Leaving On A Jet Plane" Either...But I Am Leaving..Just Look At The World You Live on...From Outer Space it is A Ball Floating In Space..And On That Ball There Is A Race Of beings Called Humans..Such A Sorry And Sad Race They Are...While men Women And Children Were being Killed..Crucified..Raped..Cut In Half And Beheaded..Other Parts Of This World Were Eating Ice Cream In The Park..Going To Ball Games..Having Barbecues..Parties..And going On With Life As If This Wasnt Happening(Im Speaking Of Those With The Power To Do something About It)All They Had to Do Was Drop An Overwhelming force Down There And It Wouldve been Done And Over(And A lot of Innocence Would Still Be Alive Today)But No..They Will Bleed it While Others Still Pay With The Atrocities Still Going On..So From The prospective From Beings From Another World?(We Are A Sorry Race Of Beings)..No Wonder There Has never been An Alien Space Craft Found When Someone Saw it Land(They Get Ta Hell Outta Here After They See What We Are...The Biggest Problem In The World Couldve Been Taken Of When it Was Small..But The Human Race Waits Til Its Overwhelming To Finally try To Remedy it......You Can Have Your World...Im Getting Out While The Getting Is Good....Theres No Time Now to See If Anyone Wants to Go(As Time Is Short)..(Take Off Is Coming Within A Short Period Of Time)..The Ship Is packed With Everything Ill Need To Get To "Pluto"..2 Billion 300 Million Miles from Here(Id Say Thats Far Enough Away).."Canine" And I Are Heading For The Ship Soon..
And Why?........"We Got To Get Out Of This Place"

...............

ENJOY!