Is the NBA coming back? By Ethan V.

                  Is The NBA Coming Back? 7-7-20

By Ethan V.

    

    In June, the NBA announced that its season will be returning after it was suspended when Rudy Gobert, the center for the Utah Jazz tested positive for the Coronavirus. He was the first of many NBA players to test positive for the Coronavirus. I was very excited when the NBA announced that it was returning because it had been a long time since I had seen sports. But my hopes are down now because my favorite team, the Charlotte Hornets, won't be playing when the season starts up again. What I mean by that is the NBA is only letting 22 teams go to Orlando, where the games are being held, and the Hornets are not part of those 22 teams because they are terrible. 

    

    Another reason my hopes are down is many NBA players are not coming back for many different reasons. First off, Bradley Beal, a shooting guard for the Washington Wizards isn't going to Orlando because he has a shoulder injury.  Six players on the Brooklyn Nets aren't going to Orlando and they are Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Spencer Dinwiddie, DeAndre Jordan, Wilson Chandler and Nicolas Claxton. This is terrible for the Nets because these are their strongest players and it's very hard to compete without them especially against teams who have all of their players. There are 3 players on the Washington Wizards who are not going to Orlando, Bradley Beal (who I already talked about), Davis Bertans, and John Wall. Other players who are sitting out include, Willy Cauley-Stein of the Dallas Mavericks, Avery Bradley of the Los Angeles Lakers, Trevor Ariza of the Portland Trail Blazers, Kelly Oubre Jr. of the Phoenix Suns, LaMarcus Aldridge of the San Antonio Spurs, and last but not least Bojan Bogdanovic of the Utah Jazz. The reason I listed so many names is to show that there are a lot of players that are choosing not to return. Most of these players are sitting out because of injuries or testing positive for the Coronavirus, but some are holding out because of the Black Lives Matter movement. Players had until June 24th to tell their teams that they would not be playing. 

The Coronavirus is Mutating By Ethan V

The Coronavirus is Mutating 7-6-20

By Ethan V.  Total Coronavirus cases globally as of July 6th: 11,737,955 Total Coronavirus deaths globally as of July 6th: 540,61       The Coronavirus is mutating, but it is also getting less lethal. This means it is killing less people than before but infecting more people than the virus pre-mutation. In many states in the US, we are already seeing a spike in infections but less deaths. Also, it is mutating in the way that now it doesn't only attack your respiratory system (your nose, mouth, throat, voice box, windpipe, airways, and lungs). It also attacks your vascular system or the Circulatory System. The Vascular system is important because it is billions of cells that carry blood through your body.      Another thing involving the Coronavirus that has happened recently is that Broadway actor Nick Cordedo died from complications due to the virus at age 41. He had to have his leg amputated after he was sedated for 18 days in the ICU. On April 1st, he was diagnosed with pneumonia but he was actually misdiagnosed and had the Coronavirus. He had been in the hospital for 95 days before he passed on July 5th, 2020. If he had survived, doctors say he would have needed a double lung transplant because the Virus attacks your lungs and he had a really severe case of it.

Florida and the Coronavirus

                Florida and the Coronavirus 7-5-20

By Ethan V

Global Coronavirus cases: 11,562,559

Global Coronavirus deaths: 536,837

    As the Coronavirus Pandemic continues you can see some states/areas in the US getting worse or handling lockdown correctly and keeping their cases down. One of the states that's getting worse is Florida and today as of July 5th, 2020 they hit 200,000 cases. Last week Florida reported over 10,000 new cases on 3 of the 7 days and on the Fourth of July they made a new daily amount of Coronavirus cases record with 11,458 new cases. 

    As you can see in the graph below, Florida spiked in cases in March when the Virus was new to the US and many people went to Florida for spring break and partied on the beach. Then, the cases dip in late April to May when Florida was on lockdown but then they skyrocket back in June. The main reason for this is Florida reopened early. It makes it even worse since Florida has a lot of elderly residents because it's a popular for retirement. 

                                                                                                  

Interesting Facts about the Fourth of July By Ethan V

Interesting Facts About the Fourth of July 7-4-20 

By Ethan V.

    Today, in honor of the Fourth of July, I will tell you some facts about the Fourth of July.

1. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence

 

On July 4th, 1826 Thomas Jefferson died at age 83 and John Adams died at age 90. They died within five hours of each other and remain the only two presidents who died on the same day. The day they died was also the 50 year anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776.

 

2. The Declaration was written on a old school laptop

And by "laptop" I don't mean the type of laptop I am writing on right now. Back in the 1700's they had little desks that would sit on your lap and you could write on. These were called laptops and Thomas Jefferson himself wrote the Declaration of Independence on one.

  

3. There is actually something written on the back of the Declaration

The founders actually did write something on the back of the Declaration of Independence. Although it doesn't lead to treasure like in the movie National Treasure it says Original Declaration of Independence Dated July 4th 1776. This is very lame in my opinion and I think that the Declaration would be way cooler if there actually was a treasure map on the back.

We are running out of fireworks By Ethan V

             The US is running out of fireworks By Ethan V

    A crazy event that's been going on during COVID-19 lockdown is a lot of people (a lot more than normal) are buying fireworks and setting them off for some fun. The main reason we are running out of fireworks is because we typically import 90 percent of our fireworks from China, but since COVID-19 hit their production has slowed and fireworks have become harder to import. It is expected that fireworks in the US will be very hard to get after July 5th because of the Fourth of July and how many people want to have their own celebrations because there towns aren't.

    I haven't had many experiences with fireworks and they are mostly illegal in California. The one experience I have had with fireworks was one time in Mexico when we bought fireworks and set them off near the beach. I remember being scared because of the loud noises and explosions . I can see how many people could get injured because they get to close to them or don't do them correctly.            

Nba 2k21 covers Ethan V.

                          NBA 2K21 COVERS   By Ethan V 

    1. Standard Edition Current Gen 

This edition of 2K21 is the normal edition for the current consoles, the PS4 and xbox 1. The next gen is the PS5 and xbox series x (get the PS5 instead its way better). This 2k has Damian Lillard on the cover who is an NBA player for the Portland Trail-Blazers who is very good.  This edition costs 60 dollars but if you get this edition for your PS4 or Xbox you will not receive 2k21 on next gen if you buy a PS5 or Xbox series x. This is the cover for 2K21 standard edition :

    2. Legend Edition Current Gen

The legend edition for 2K21 is Kobe (RIP) and you get a lot of added bonuses for buying this edition. First, you get the standard edition of 2K21 on next gen for free, with another 100k vc on top of that that you can redeem when you get 2K21 on next gen. VC stands for virtual currency and is the currency in 2k. You also get 100k vc on 2K21 current gen edition and also 10,000 myteam points which is another currency that you can buy players for your team with. Other bonuses include clothes for your created player, free players for your team and free packs to open. This edition is 100 dollars and the one I will be buying because its the best bang for your buck. This is the cover for the 2K21 current gen legend edition:

  3. Current Edition Next Gen

The next cover is the cover of NBA 2K21 on next gen. Since it's on Next gen they put Zion Williamson on the cover who is supposed to lead the next generation of NBA players. If you buy this edition it will be the exact same as the standard for current gen but you will only get the game when the next gen consoles come out and you have to have a next gen console to download it you cant download it on your PS4 when you get it. This edition is 70 dollars. Here is the cover for  standard edition 2K21 on next gen:

    4. Legend Edition Next Gen

This is the last cover and its another Kobe (RIP) cover but for next gen. This is the same thing as the legend edition for current gen, you get the same things and you get 2K21 standard edition as well but on current gen. The only thing different from the other Kobe cover is that you will not receive the 100k vc on the standard edition you get which is why the other legend edition is ultimately better. This one is also 100 dollars like the other legend edition. Here is the cover of Legend edition on Next gen 2K21: 

             

Hippos By Ethan V.

                              Hippos By Ethan V.                                  7-1-20

          Hi people. I am going to start blogging again and normally posting about the pandemic but for today I am posting about hippos because I am going to the zoo.

          First off, Hippo is short for Hippopotamus and the scientific name is Hippopotamus amphibius. They live in Africa and their lifespan in the wild is 40 to 50 years old. I put some pictures of baby hippos and you can see how cute they are. If only you were allowed to have one as a pet.  Hippos are also very fast for their size. Male hippos weigh from 3,300 lbs to 4,000 lbs while female hippos weigh from 2,900 lbs to 3,300 lbs. Even though they are this heavy they still can run up to 19 mph! Another cool thing about hippos is that they have ginormous mouths. Their mouths can open up to 150 degrees or 4 feet and they have the jaw power to crush a crocodile or split a boat in half.

Here are some of photos of me with the regular hippo and pictures of the pygmy hippos at the San Diego Zoo and the baby pygmy hippo is SO CUTE!