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The "will they/wont' they?" dynamic that's charged "Castle's" central couple will be getting an extra jolt as a result of tonight's episode – and one that could finally jump start their relationship.
Stana Katic, who stars as Det. Kate Beckett on ABC's cheeky murder mystery, tells PopcornBiz that tonight's episode, "Kill Shot," takes her character down a dark path as a murderous sniper's reign of terror triggers her own post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from her recent shooting. But that shadowy turn may be the first step towards a brighter future.
"She faces one of her greatest fears and she says, 'I'm not going to choose this anymore," reveals Katic. "'I'm not going to choose living numbly because I want to bring justice to something that happened 15 years ago. I'm going to choose experiencing these wonderful gifts that are in front of me right now, and one of them is a relationship with Castle.'"
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"With season especially we've really invested a lot of episode time to developing each of the characters," says the actress. "It's sweet to be able to take a moment to showcase or to shine a light on each character's life, so for 'Kill Shot' we get a chance to do that for my character Beckett, and kind of address some of the things that happened at the end of season three. I think it's a real honest way of approaching what was a traumatic event. Post-traumatic stress isn't necessarily something that the person who's experiencing is aware of: It kind of creeps up on you."
Fans of the long-simmering romantic possibilities between Beckett and mystery novelist turned police consultant Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) – who professed his love for Beckett after she was shot and still doesn't know she was conscious enough to have heard him – should be prepared for the new road presented for the couple, Katic teases.
"I don't know if I would call them repercussions," the actress offers. "It's one step in the evolution of her relationship with Castle – a HUGE step. This season has been so much about secrets. She's been holding off on letting him know that she heard him say I love you because she wants to resolve her mom's murder case. She knows that without that she cannot invest fully. I think that this experience changes her mind about that. Then Castle has been holding onto the fact that he is trying to protect her and keep her from solving that case, because he knows that if she keeps going down that road she's going to get herself killed. So they both have secrets and they're both doing it in the best interest of the other."
Indeed, as the show begins shifting gears as a result of "Kill Shot," Katic's looking forward to finally breaking the sexual tension that's defined the show for three and half seasons. "I think that we're in a clear trajectory for a relationship," she says, "and I do believe that a show can survive getting into a relationship and all the complications that revolve around a new relationship, because I believe it's interesting and I believe in the romance and the sparkle of that experience. So I think that we have a little bit further to go, but I can't imagine going down the path of 'will-they-or-won't-they?' for much longer."
And she admits that, much like Beckett and Castle, she and her co-star have clashed philosophically over how such a major move will affect the show. "Nathan feels that, from how I understand it, the show banks on the tease of will they or won't they. I fall on the other side," she reveals. "I'm like, 'You know what? I don't believe that.' I believe that they will, and I believe that when they do it's still going to be as extraordinary as it has been up until now."
"Castle" airs Monday nights at 10 PM ET on ABC

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(Edmonton) Preschoolers from low-income neighbourhoods and kids who spend more than two hours a day in front of a TV or video-game console have at least one thing in common: a thirst for sugary soda and juice, according to research from the University of Alberta.
Researchers from the faculties of Physical Education and Recreation, School of Public Health and Medicine & Dentistry surveyed parents to assess the dietary habits of 1,800 preschoolers in the Edmonton region as part of a larger study on diet, physical activity and obesity.
Researchers found that 54.5 per cent of four- and five-year-olds from poorer neighbourhoods drank at least one soda per week--far more than the 40.8 per cent of kids from higher socioeconomic backgrounds. Preschoolers from low-income areas also drank less milk and consumed more fruit juice, which, like soda, is linked to rising sugar intake associated with childhood obesity.
"When you're looking at that age group, and such a large percentage of very young kids in the study are consuming a large amount of soda, it's quite concerning," said study co-author Kate Storey, a registered dietitian and assistant professor in the School of Public Health.
"If you're drinking a lot of soda and fruit juice, that can displace consumption of water and milk, which are important not just for quenching thirst, but for developing healthy bones and teeth, and health and wellness in general."
The study, part of a larger project looking at nutritional habits of preschoolers, is among the first to gather data on children of such an early age.
Screen time and sugar
Researchers found similar drinking habits among preschoolers who spent more than two hours of "screen time" per day--watching TV or playing video games. Kids from poorer neighbourhoods sat in front of screens more often, and drank larger volumes of sweetened beverages.
"Dietary behaviour and intake patterns are influenced heavily by what happens in the first few years with children, and they maintain those patterns throughout childhood and into adolescence," said study co-author John C. Spence, associate dean of research in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation.
"In addition to basic health education, this study identifies a need in how we're dealing with poverty and recognizing there's more to poverty than simply the number of dollars people have. Many families live in places that might not be very healthy for them and, as a result, they make unhealthy food choices."
A companion study involving the same group of preschoolers also looked at the types of foods they ate and whether they followed recommendations in Canada's Food Guide.
Researchers found that just 30 per cent of children ate enough fruits and vegetables, and 23.5 per cent consumed the recommended amount of servings of grain products. The same problem did not exist with milk and meat or alternatives--a respective 91 per cent and 94 per cent of kids ate recommended servings.
Poor neighbourhood, poor food choices
As with sweetened beverages, children from low- and medium-income neighbourhoods were more likely than kids in high-income areas to eat foods like potato chips, fries, candies and chocolate.
Those results presented an "alarming pattern," said Spence, who suggests it is possible families are choosing high-calorie foods because they are cheap and convenient. But, he added, the neighbourhood itself could also be a factor in food choices.
"There are cities in North America where, literally, you have food deserts. If you wanted to go out and buy some lettuce and tomatoes, you'd have to travel very far--very likely without a car. You're not going to do that every time you want to get some food, so maybe you're going to resort to the convenience store down the road."
At least one glimmer of hope is that children who attended daycare or kindergarten were significantly less likely to reach for junk. Storey said that illustrates how education can make a difference and lead to healthier eating habits, regardless of what's happening at home.
"You can start making a difference in different places. It calls for action in multiple settings, schools and communities, for example. That light-bulb moment can happen in a variety of places."
The studies were published in the August issue of Public Health Nutrition and the summer edition of the Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research.
The research was funded by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and Canadian Institutes of Health Research.


text:
At 1 o'clock in the morning Carlos heaved the bulging black bags into the trunk. I herded the children in their hoodie jackets to the car – they walked down the sidewalk still half-asleep, bumping against each other like drunk puppies and rubbed their eyes with their fists.
Crammed into my husband's small 4 door car, the children and Suegra pack themselves like sardines across the backseat. On a hot day this is uncomfortable at best, but because of the sudden cold weather my younger son snuggles up next to his big brother.
"Hey! Get your cabezón off me!" My older son says, shoving his little brother in Suegra's direction.
After a last minute check to make sure she has her passport, (and returning to the house once to retrieve the flight itinerary), we're pulling out of the driveway. "Nombre de Dios," Suegra says, watching our house disappear out the window.
I turn on the music, hug myself to fight off the chill in the air until the car warms, as we drive into the darkness on empty roads. I'm not feeling as celebratory as I thought I would be only months ago. Suegra and I have been living in peace so I'm not as anxious for her to go as I was in years past.
"Escucha qué bonita canta esa muchacha," I say, turning the music up a little. It's Natalia Lafourcade singing the classic, "Amanecí Entre Tus Brazos".
"Ooo, esa canción es vieja," she says, and begins to sing along in her high-pitched church choir sort of voice. The kids groan. "Mommy, look what you did! You made her sing!" … My husband laughs when he sees my face. "Why did you put that on? You know how she is," he says without sympathy.
"I didn't know that she knows that song," I said sighing but knowing I can't skip the track now that she's fully lost in serenading us.
Out the window, a moon like the ones seen in children's nursery rhyme story books always wearing a blue nightcap, hangs low in the sky, surrounded by tiny diamond-chip stars as far as the eye can see.
"Qué cosa, verdad?" says Suegra, looking out the window, too.
The familiar swooping roof of Dulles airport comes into view. The CD mix I have playing comes to a song by Espinoza Paz. After a moment Suegra pipes up from the back seat, "Quién es ese baboso? Ni puede cantar bien!"
"Hey! She just insulted Espinoza!" I say to my husband who is unsuccessfully suppressing a satisfied smile, content that his rival has taken a hit.
"Ey, no insultes a Espinoza," I say pleadingly, turning to face the backseat. "Ese hombre tiene una historia bien bonita," I say, and tell her all the reasons Espinoza Paz es muy especial. "He followed his dreams because his mother encouraged him to," I finish. She likes this part – that the mother is an important part of his success. She nods, seems impressed. Espinoza Paz has a new fan now, just because he obeys his mother.
At the curb, we heave-drag-push-shove her bags into the airport towards the TACA counter, refusing offers of help from the valet. "N'ombre – van a querer dollars," Suegra mutters, yanking a bag over a crack in the pavement. "Cipote! Agararlo bien!" she chastises when my older son tries to help.
We wait in the high-ceilinged terminal for Carlos to park the car. Other families with similar over-stuffed bags stand around, staring openly at the gringa in line with the little old Salvadoran woman, stare harder when they hear me exclaim "Puchica!" as Suegra almost knocks me over with her bag, and harder still when Carlos arrives and takes my hand.
After the luggage is checked, we take the escalator downstairs. Here and there, Salvadoran families huddle in corners and pack more into the carry-on bags that were already approved upstairs as weighing less than 22 lbs.
We stand around for a few minutes. I pick up a complimentary copy of Washington Flyer because Soledad O'Brien is on the cover this month. (It's a nice interview.)
Finally she decides it's time to go. I hand her an envelope and tell her it's just a little letter to read on the airplane, but I know she'll read it as soon as she gets to her gate. She'll show it to the other passengers and brag about her "American daughter-in-law who can write in Spanish." Carlos says that sometimes she even tells people that I write better than her, but these are not compliments she ever offers in front of me. That's the way she is. She only tells you what she doesn't like to your face, and saves compliments as if they were the last beans in the pot in a household of 10 children.
The letter is not syrupy sweet but just tells her thank you for how much she's helped us this past year, wishes her a good trip, and of course, saludos a la familia.
Suegra becomes stoic and gives a quick hug to each of us before rushing off towards security.
The security officers don't appear to be in a good mood this morning, but maybe they're always this way. You can almost read their minds, their faces express unspoken curses when they realize they're dealing with a TACA flight. The line moves slowly as the security officers shout garbled Spanish at the passengers.
"Señor! SEÑOR! …{sigh} TAKE YOUR… NO… TAKE…{sigh} … Señor! Go back! Take your zapatos off and place them there!… No, there. SEÑOR, Zapatos THERE!"
Some of the younger generation, U.S. born English speakers, watch from the sidelines, half smiling in amusement and half feeling badly for their older relatives as they take multiple tries to make it through security as directed. (Really, a sign in Spanish at the beginning of the line, where people can read it and know what to expect, would it kill them to put one up?)
Suegra finally makes it through security, slips her shoes back on, disappears through a doorway.
"She didn't even wave good-bye!" I say to my husband. Seconds later, as if she heard me, Suegra is back in the doorway, waving and then disappearing again, off to catch her flight home to El Salvador.


text:
I am up uncharacteristically early, taking some pics for this weekend's Wheels section.
I have CNN on, and it is reporting that Chrysler will file for bankruptcy in the United States by noon today.
This may be brinksmanship, trying to force some of the company's recalcitrant creditors to make a deal - some of them refused by last evening's deadline.
It may be that Fiat, seen by many as the White Knight in this scenario, would prefer to acquire Chrysler through the bankruptcy process, figuring it would get a better deal. Time - three hours - will tell.
One way or another, everyone involved is hoping that some sort of viable enterprise will emerge from this mess - bankruptcy does not always mean liquidation.
And owners of Chrysler products apparently will have their warranties guaranteed by various levels of government.
Stay tuned.


text:
Friday, March 18, 2011
The Rift Train
Still, Rift launched almost three weeks ago, and the buzz around it is still overwhelmingly positive. I have to admit I'm starting to get curious. If the most widely followed MMO blogger is defensive because he's not playing it, and another that spends most of his time trolling the internet is gushing about it, Rift must have something going for it. At the very least it's sending out big ripples in the MMO blogosphere.
On top of that, I have seen my future in WoW. It's me running out of goals I can reach with any sort of reasonable time investment in about a month. I will have my super big glowey dragon mount in about another week if I keep going at my current pace. I could also get a glowey ghost horse that says "I've spent way too much time grinding in Tol Barad" to show off in battlegrounds a week or two after that. I'm also starting to run out of PvP gear to buy. I have a nice cloak coming tonight (win or lose I'm one battleground away from it), and a ring I will likely get early next week. After that there's no gear left I'm particularly excited about. A necklace and a trinket or two are all I'll have left to earn. That's not more than three more weeks of PvP.
There is another set of gear you can get with conquest points, but you only get 25 of them a night doing ranked battlegrounds. Even getting up the 2000+ I'd need for my staff would be a fool's errand at that rate. You can get them faster from the Arena, however I don't have much interest in Arena matches. They are pretty much straight up fights with little strategy to them apart from knowing the ins and outs of every class intimately. By itself no small thing, I will allow, but not an amount of study I'm willing to put in for a game. It's only one step removed from dueling, a form of PvP I utterly despise. "Hey, let's fight solely to see who's e-peen is bigger!" No thanks . . .
And now I come to the point of this wandering post. One day soon, I may actually be getting on board the Rift train. It will depend on a few things. First off, is the game still going strong a few weeks from now? It's already pretty clear Rift is not an AoC/ WAR style disaster launch. However, it remains to be seen whether the servers will stay well populated in month two, when the really quick players start hitting the endgame and everyone has to pay a sub fee to keep playing. It also remains to be seen how well the rift mechanic will stand up to sparsely populated mid level zones.
Second, either the price for the client would have to come down (unlikely imo) or a demo would need to be released. My PC hits or slightly exceeds the recommended specs from their FAQ, but you never know. Sometimes a game hates something random about your rig, and sometimes even the recommended specs are really too low to run a game well. I'm not very keen on the idea of spending $50 on a client to find out whether it's playable and pretty on my PC.
Finally, will some new or old shiny distract me before I get around to Rift? LoTRO has a lot of new content coming at the end of the month, it may suck me back in. I may also have a further attack of insanity [PvP munchkin is far from my usual MMO playstyle, I'm still a bit shocked I'm digging BGs so much] and take up arenas or raiding in WoW. I've also been meaning to try World of Tanks again. Then there's Star Trek Online and Champions Online. I'm a bit curious to know whether they will still melt my rig now that I have a much bigger power supply.
9 comments:
Rift is something that I might try eventually, but same as you I am curious to how the game experience will be after some months if you start out then.ReplyDelete
For the moment I have plenty of other distractions through games I already play to some extent - STO, Fallen Earth (new update just released), CoH (soon 7 year anniversary), Black Prophecy (prologue part was great, interesting to see how the rest will be), spend some tokens in CO perhaps (they are piling up), doing a bit more Guild Wars, Battlestar Galactica Online etc.
And that is just the MMOish stuff.
There are definitely a lot of choices out there now. Personally I'm enjoying Rift quite a bit, although my obsessive phase has been so intense I wonder if I'll burnout sooner or not. Hopefully not, but I guess we'll see.ReplyDelete
The good thing with Rift is that you can be pretty confident that it will still be here when you do have the time to try it. I suspect it will be around for a while.ReplyDelete
@Sente: Black Prophecy was not on my radar at all. I googled it, an it looks pretty good. Thanks for the heads up :-)ReplyDelete
@Blue Kae: it's hard to know whether obsessing out on something new means "new long term awesome" or "delightful but shallow (i.e., you'll quickly burn out)." I see it most clearly in music. Some albums you immediately like, but you get sick of them quickly. Others you seem mediocre at first, but once you "get" them you can listen to them 100x.
@Anjin: it does seem to be doing quite well. I'm hoping it will turn out to be the first post WoW million+ steady subs MMO, mainly because I think Blizzard needs some competition.
- AnonymousMarch 19, 2011 at 2:45 PM
I suspect Rift is a little more resilient as well and will still be going strong, longer than say, AoC or WAR managed.ReplyDelete
There are too many games on the market right now, I've gotten a little more choosy myself. I've given myself a new goal recently, to get to max level in any new game I sub to (hence F2Ps are excepted). It's to help me commit to a game as well as to make me choose my MMO purchases more carefully. That said, I wouldn't have gotten Rift if I didn't think it was going to be worth it. I will be playing for a while yet, and if you ever do decide to come aboard, be sure to let me know! :)
I can identify with your experiences with WoW. I think that I'll be saved from boredom by the next upgrade to LotRO which is due out soon.ReplyDelete
I have to go see if I can still play my LotRO toons before that happens.
If I had more time I'd look at Battlestar, but it's unlikely for me in the near future
@mmogamerchick: I'm still in "wait and see" mode with Rift, but if I do get going with it you'll be among the first to know. I'm glad you are still digging it.ReplyDelete
@Jomar: I won't say I'm completely done, but I see the end in sight. I'd like to at least finish out my PvP gear and get the TB dragon mount.
I suspect Rift is more fun now than it will be later.ReplyDelete
Looking at other games I know I had a blast in the early days of SWG being the only Medic in a raid or in the jungles of Stranglethorn when level 40 was the highest on the server and it was gank or be ganked against the best of the best.
Rift has that freshness now, I do see the case for waiting - and wish I had done so with AoC - but Rift is good enough now that the exhilerating game experience makes up for the small faults.
I'm taking RIFT slowly, so as to avoid the risk of burnout. You also want to stay in more populated zones, which penalizes rushing ahead of everyone else. It's an interesting mechanic that acts to regulate the overall rate of progression of the "herd".ReplyDelete


text: Grid2D can be used to build a web gallery, advanced accordion interface, act as a replacement for slider, splash screen, or even a site navigation user interface with child menu for each tile. It's highly customizable, fast and optimized. It can transform any HTML list to a sophisticated grid interface with just one line of command.


text:
Alongside launches of a new iPad and Apple TV yesterday, there was one other announcement that had Pocket-lint's ears prick up like a meerkat's. The iPhoto app for iPad and iPhone is a brand new way to edit and manage all your images on your Apple portables. Very much along the lines of the Photoshop app, it has quite a lot to go up against.
We have had iPhoto running on both our iPhone 4S and iPad 2 since the moment it was sent out to the app store yesterday. A lengthy enough play has us convinced of a few things. First, it doesn't quite feel like a native Apple application, something is just slightly out of place in the UI and while it is massively slick, it's just not quite Apple. Second, we sort of feel iPhoto should have just been an update to the included iPhone photos app, not a paid-for application. The number of features available more than justifies the price tag, but it would have just been a nice bonus along with iOS 5.1.
So how does iPhoto handle? Well the first thing about it, which is quite frankly brilliant, is the speed at which it operates. In fact the application runs even quicker than iPhoto on our MacBook Air. Scrolling through your entire image library and switching between edited versions is lightning quick.
On the app's home page is a selection of all your photo albums, including your iCloud-synced Photo Stream. Open an image and you get access to all the editing options, as well as being able to flick between shots and pinch to zoom.
In terms of image manipulation, there is quite a bit you can do. Auto enhance just works its magic without your needing to do anything. If you prefer, you can go in and tweak individual parts of the image, such as saturation, contrast and hue.
Shots can also be cropped and rotated. Apple has handled the issue of selective sharpening and saturation very cleverly, offering up different brushes for different effects. The same applies to instant effects, which works on a sliding scale by just dragging your finger to add more or less of the effect. It is all very intuitive and a much more straightforward experience than Adobe's offering.
So is the new iPhoto app worth a download? As a native photos app replacement and a way to view your shots, it's so damn quick, that we would grab it just for that. The added bonus of all the quick-fix stuff for your stills makes it a no-brainer.
If you are after the new iPhoto, you can grab it here.
Going to grab iPhoto on the iPad and iPhone? Let us know in the comments below ...


text:
Exercise is an important part of home treatment for people
Parkinson's disease. It has benefits in both early and
advanced stages of the disease. Regular exercise can help you:
Exercise also can promote a sense of well-being and improve
your mood.
physical therapist can help you learn exercises and
stretches to do at home to improve posture, strength, flexibility, and
A physical or occupational therapist can also help you
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text:
Monster is living inside of me
behind my ribcage,
she curls herself around my spine
draws her fingers to my throat
to stroke my collarbone,
to deliver raspy breath to my ear
repeating the words
on which I always choke –
my name, my wants, my needs,
my apologies, my fury –
and the dust from the bones
she's grinding with a gummy jaw.
Sometimes she sinks down
to bask in the darkness of my womb,
recline in my pelvis
and drag her nails up my thighs
and down my calves, towards my feet
where she binds me with manacles,
shrieking maniacally
words garbled with my sins –
breathing, praying, hoping,
talking, waiting –
for this torture to end,
for Monster living in my head
and the hollows of my heart,
to vanish and leave me
to play dead.
Kristiana Reed day dreams, people watches in coffee shops, teaches English and writes. She is a curator on Blood into Ink, a collective member of The Whisper and the Roar and blogs at My Screaming Twenties. She is 24 and is enjoying the journey which is finding her voice.


text:
Mary A. Lyon-Kepler, 91, of Kane, passed away on Wednesday, October 6, 2010 at the Sena-Kean Manor, Smethport.
She was born on June 5, 1919 in Kane, a daughter of the late Dominic, Sr. and Grace Tornatora Vito.
She was employed by the former Shirt Factory in Kane for a number of years and by the former Anderson Bar as a waitress from 1969-1970.
She is survived by five sons, Gene (Luella) Vito, Albion, PA, Robert (Pam) Lyon, Indianapolis, IN, William (Ramona) Lyon, LaJara, NM, Thomas (Carole) Lyon, Erie, PA, Richard (Julie) Lyon, Kane, one daughter, Grace (Terry) Yasurek, Kane, three brothers, Frank (Bonnie) Vito, New Mexico, James (Sharline) Vito, Kane, Anthony Vito, Levittown, PA, twenty grandchildren, thirty six great grandchildren, one great great-granddaughter, and numerous nieces and nephews.
In addition to her parents she was also preceded in death by three brothers, Pat Vito, Theodore Vito, Dominic Vito, Jr., and two sisters, Dorothy Visciz-Vito, and Anne Leghton-Vito.
At the family's request there will be no visitation. Private services will be held at the convenience of the family.
Memorial contributions in her memory can be made to the VFW Post #1132, 95 Wetmore Ave., Kane, PA 16735.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Mascho Funeral Home, Inc.
Online Condolences can be expressed at www.maschofuneral.com.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Mary A. Lyon-Kepler, 91, of Kane, PA
Mary A. Lyon-Kepler, 91, of Kane, passed away on Wednesday, October 6, 2010 at the Sena-Kean Manor, Smethport.
Posted by Solomon's words for the wise at 10/07/2010 11:07:00 AM


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Proctor & Gamble Eukanuba German Shepherd
Date of last review
Thu January 10, 2008
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Feeding guideline:
A 50lb dog should be fed 2 1/4 cups
Metabolizable energy:
351 kcal/cup
Chicken, Corn Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Chicken By-Product Meal (Natural source of Chondroitin Sulfate and Glucosamine), Brewers Rice, Fish meal, Natural Chicken Flavor, Dried Beet Pulp (sugar removed), Dried Egg Product, Brewers Dried Yeast, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Flax Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid, Beta-Carotene, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B2), Inositol, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of Vitamin B6), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Fructooligosaccharides, Choline Chloride, Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate), DL-Methionine, Dried Chicken Cartilage (Natural source of Chondroitin Sulfate and Glucosamine), L-Carnitine, Rosemary Extract.
Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein not less than 23.00%
Crude Fat not less than 13.00%
Crude Fiber not more than 5.00%
Moisture not more than 10.00%
Copper not less than 22 mg/kg
Zinc not less than 197 mg/kg
Vitamin E not less than 140 IU/kg
L-Carnitine not less than 30 mg/kg*
Omega-6 Fatty Acids not less than 2.4%*
Omega-3 Fatty Acids not less than 0.3%*
Glucosamine not less than 375 mg/kg*
Chondroitin Sulfate not less than 35 mg/kg*
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Posts: 3953
Review Date:
Thu January 10, 2008
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First ingredient is a named meat product
Inadequate meat content, byproducts, low quality grains, controversial filler
The first ingredient in the food is a named meat product. This is not a meal ingredient. It is inclusive of water content (about 80%). Once that is removed, as it must be to create a dehydrated product, the ingredient will weigh around 20% of its wet weight. Ingredients are listed in order of weight, and the dehydrated ingredient would probably be more accurately placed much further down the ingredient list. It is highly unlikely that this ingredient makes any significant contribution to the overall meat content of the food. The main meat ingredient in the food is byproducts, 4th on the ingredient list. It is impossible to ascertain the quality of by-products and these are usually products that are of such low quality as to be rejected for use in the human food chain, or else are those parts that have so little value that they cannot be used elsewhere in either the human or pet food industries. The AAFCO definition of chicken by-product meal is a meal consisting of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice. Since the glucosamine and chondroitin are sourced from cartillage and bone (present in all meat and meat meal ingredients, unless de-boned), we consider advertising of this to be a gimmick. The amounts of these substances in the food are far below useful or therapudic levels, as is the case in all dog food products.In addition to this being a very low quality ingredient, we note that since it is the main meat ingredient and only 4th on the ingredient list, this food is extremely light in meat content. It is primarily a collection of grain.
The main grains in the food are corn, sorghum and brewers rice. Corn is a cheap grain that is difficult to digest and commonly associated with food allergies. Brewers rice is a further low quality grain and byproduct. Sorghum is decent quality, as is barley amongst the minor ingredients. Beet pulp is controversial filler which appears to be used in large quantities in this food. It is a by-product, being dried residue from sugar beets which has been cleaned and extracted in the process of manufacturing sugar. It is a controversial ingredient in dog food, claimed by some manufacturers to be a good source of fibre, and derided by others as an ingredient added to slow down the transition of rancid animal fats and causing stress to kidney and liver in the process. We note that beet pulp is an ingredient that commonly causes problems for dogs, including allergies and ear infections, and prefer not to see it used in dog food. There are less controversial products around if additional fibre is required.
Fish meal is a further meat ingredient in the food, but it is far too far down the ingredient list to make any significant contribution to the overall meat content of the food. We find no sign on the manufacturer's website of a guarantee that only ethoxyquin-free protein ingredients are used in this food (ethoxyquin is a chemical preservative, commonly added to fish ingredients, and that is banned or heavily regulated in human food due to the belief that it is carcinogenic). We would prefer to see the use of whole eggs rather than egg product in the food.
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Wine Plus Chocolate is Happiness
Okanagan Valley
15 Aug, 2019
The Okanagan Valley is the premier grape-growing region in the province of British Columbia. Surrounded by its verdant mountain ranges, clear lakes, and reserves, it is no wonder how the Okanagan Valley became a centre of fruit production and industry.
This valley stretches more than 250 km., and each area within the valley features different climate and soil conditions that suit the growth and cultivation of various fruit trees and agricultural products.
While fruit plantations continually provide the country with the …


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Summer Trip: Shenandoah Mountains
Ah the summer trip, the weeklong trip where you can escape your parents and roam free. This year our troop went to the Shenandoah Mountains for seven days. On this high adventure trip we paddled 28 miles in a canoe went on a 12 mile hike and still had time to get lost. On the first day of the trip, after the four hour drive and setting up camp, our group of adventurers went to a Tractor-Truck pull. At this pull a truck or tractor had to pull block as far as it could or 350 feet which was considered a full pull. The pull was boring until trucks started to break down and fall apart. Then black smoke poured out of their engines blocking out the sun. To finish off the day we wiped up some cheese steaks for dinner.
Awaking to the smell of French toast and bacon we prepared for another day. Shortly after breakfast we packed into the cars with our destination being Skyline Drive. Skyline Drive showed the unspeakable beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains. After some grilled cheese at Skyline Drive we departed to Luray Caverns. In the caverns we saw Pluto's Ghost and heard America the Beautiful on the stalagmites and stalactites. This finished our second day out in the wild.
The third day was the beginning of the overnight canoe trip. We rented canoes for the 28 mile journey and packed our gear up in the boats. The Shenandoah River had no current that first day as we paddled for what seem like an endless amount of time. We couldn't seem to avoid the rocks that continually caught our canoe. With lunch on the side of the river and freeze dried dinner we retired for the night to begin paddling again tomorrow.
The next day of canoeing was more adventures then the first. As we trudged through the Comton rapid someone lost their paddle but it returned to him by a kind leader. A little later in the trip we reached The Ledge which was a 2 foot straight drop. After that, nothing much else happened, except we were relieved that we didn't need to paddle anymore.
On the fifth day we were there the rain ended our plans, so we decided to go into town. This day was more like a do whatever we feel like day, so we went and saw the Dark Night, how Boy Scout like. After the movie, filled with popcorn, we headed towards the good will store, to terrorize, I mean, browse through there items. When our excursion at the store it was time for our final meal of the day, and we didn't have to make it! The meal was pizza, and who doesn't like pizza? With a full stomach of delicious pizza we left the town ending our do whatever you want day.
Day six, the last day of the trip before we left to return home back to our boring lives in New Jersey. It was the day of the twelve mile hike up and down the mountains. On the hike we stopped at an amazing sightseeing spot called Signal Knob. It overlooks the beautiful state of Virginia from the mountains. To end the last day, we had good old fashion tin foil meals. Then the next day we left, leaving the great National Park of the Shenandoah Mountains just as it was when we got there.


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Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2006 12:41 ami'm new...hi there everyone.. i am new, and have some news... i live in NZ and i read this in the paper the other day http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/manawatustandard/0,2106,3787292a6869,00.html apparently it was leaked and no supposed to be released... so today being the day it mentioned, we went to check it out... and we saw a numbr of teams.. however this confuses me, as you all say there were sightings here in NZ earlier on? i dont get it... they had to get a number of 'kiwiana' items from local shops in Bulls i believe! coffeeman the world is waitingJoined: 14 Sep 2006
Must not be allergic to Dogs/pet dander.
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11 Myths about KDE
As a response to recent negativity on the Internet, we've been working with Groklaw to get a story running detailing facts about questions such as "Releasing KDE 4.0 was a mistake", "I am forced to use the kickoff menu", "The whole KDE4 desktop interface is radically new". among others. Thanks go out to Pamela Jones for giving the KDE community a chance to rectify certain points that have recently been said in public. This way, we hope to make it easier for journalists to put KDE's direction, recent decisions and put simple myths into the right light.
Re: Plasma is a rampant mistake...
It's not enough by a mile! The problem persists as this solution would hide my main application in large parts. How is anyone supposed to discover this short cut anyway? May I cite one of the main paradigmas of designing an UI: "discoverability/intuitivity". A function that is so well hidden in an UI that it needs the manual to find it is as good as not implemented...
By Karl Günter Wünsch at Mon, 2008/07/14 - 5:00am
The only mistake
The only mistake was version numbering. People are used to see 3.99.12 when a 4 version in incomplete. This generated a lot of confusion because they thought kde was way more complete when 4.0.0 was released.
The second half-mistake is that people still don't understand where plasma is going. Maybe an update to the plasma site would help a lot to understand what's the developers vision. I guess it's intended to be more than a platform for desktop toys, but at the moment this is the only thing people can see.
By Picander at Mon, 2008/07/14 - 5:00am
Re: The only mistake
"I guess it's intended to be more than a platform for desktop toys, but at the moment this is the only thing people can see."
By Karl Günter Wünsch at Mon, 2008/07/14 - 5:00am
keep up the great work
I want to add a positive voice here (mine). KDE4 is really a great step and especially plasma is an innovation with much potential.
I trust, that the kde team knows about the importance of stability on the long term.
Keep up the great work, I'm sure many (maybe particulary new) users will like KDE4.
By a computer scie... at Thu, 2008/07/17 - 5:00am
11 Myths about KDE
Hey, I have a crazy radical idea...
Why not post your story on the front page of the KDE website instead of on Groklaw? Don't you think more people will look to the source (www.kde.org) to check out your response?
By Mark W. Shelby at Tue, 2008/07/22 - 5:00am
KDE 4.0 is a revolution
I personally love where KDE 4.0 is going. Its like having the best of Microsoft, Apple, and Linux mixed. My opinion on bitches is to ignore them. They are the same lame ass bitches that complain when Microsoft wants to change something because they got a lot of request for it, and same goes for Apple. They are also the same assholes that bitch for McDonald's giving them hot Coffee.
There are lots of good ideas out there and as developers I say to to get as many as you can in. People like to bitch because it makes them feel better, hell, even I feel better now because I'm bitching about the bitches. Seriously though, keep up the great work, someday KDE 4.X will be done and people will start to notice why its awesome, especially the computer illiterate that only knows what Windows is and found out they can get a OS that is not much more of a learning curve and is free vs $1000 for Microsucks Winblowz and Office Ultimate suck.
I am not currently using KDE 4.X because I'm waiting for it to get more stable, but I'm keeping watch on the news and in a Virtual box. At the moment if you need a few ideas, I am using Linux Mint 5 and really like it. On of my biggest pet peeves I'm still waiting to see a cure for in nearly all Linux is Network Transparency and being able to play media without needing them to copy first(Gnome is fine on that). This is a good feature of Microsoft that is making it difficult for me to get rid of them completely. Basically, I can mount/map a share and it works the same a folder and all apps can use it equally. I can also have that share/map start automatically with Windows. Great feature to have for Songbird and any related program, and to have that program use your server as its working location. Fuse sorta helps, but I would like to see something that is natural to KDE/Gnome and any desktop linux. Supposedly GIO/GVFS is suppose to help cure this problem, don't know what the plans are for KDE.
Again, keep up the great work and I hope my two cents meant something.
By tehsagemaster at Thu, 2008/07/24 - 5:00am
Re: KDE 4.0 is a revolution
There is the kio-fuse project which allows you to add arbitrary KIO locations (i.e. http://, fish://, imap://, and so on) to your file systems. I do not know whether KIO itself supports streaming, but from what I know about IO devices in Qt, I think it should be possible.
By Stefan Majewsky at Fri, 2008/07/25 - 5:00am
Thank you for the article
THANK YOU! It is about tie someone made these points. Question, does Sebastian write often from Groklaw? I would not have expected a KDE "clarification" article to be on Groklaw.
By Cobb at Thu, 2008/07/24 - 5:00am


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Contrary to popular opinion, the key to financial freedom isn't solely based on the amount
of money you bring into the household each month. It's about learning how to manage
your money and prioritize your spending. This is also known as living beneath your
Below, you'll find some great suggestions for living beneath your means in order to build
savings. You won't have to move into a shoebox or completely forgo entertainment and
shopping – but the tips below will help you learn how to make better spending
Consider these strategies:
1. Have a slice of humble pie. If you're constantly in a competition with your neighbors, coworkers or friends, you're never going to stop spending. In the back of your mind, you'll always try to "beat" them by having the newest car, biggest house, most expensive clothing, and more.
• Once you eject the competitiveness from your mind, you'll be able to effectively trim the fat from your budget.
• If you're a smoker, now is the time to quit. If not for your health, do it for your financial future. In some states, a pack of cigarettes can cost $10. If you're a pack-per-day smoker, you can save $300 per month by ditching this harmful habit.
• Work with what you have. There's no need to upgrade your car if the one you're driving now gets you from point A to point B. If your current home isn't to your liking, make some updates or redecorate – it's a far less expensive fix than purchasing an extravagant estate.
2. Trim your grocery budget. Coupons aren't the only way to save money on your grocery bills (though they certainly help). You just need to be conscious of your purchases. It's possible to feed a family of four for under $10 – with a high quality meal to boot!
• Never go grocery shopping hungry or tired.
• Three nights per week, cook up something very inexpensive for dinner, such as beans and rice or homemade soup. It'll be a nice change of pace, without feeling deprived. And of course, the biggest bonus is that you'll save money!
3. Make savings a priority. Savings isn't optional. It's necessary for financial emergencies – and they always come up in some form or another. Treat it as any other bill each month. Place this, as every other bill, in your budget workbook. You do have a budget workbook, don't you?
• If you'd like, break it up into pay periods. In order to save $800 per month in a 2-income household, each partner would have to set aside $100 per week. A $400 goal would be just $50 per week. When a savings goal is broken into manageable pieces, it's a far less daunting figure.
• When you're unable to meet your savings goals, either find a way to make more money or spend less money each month. If you're able to trim the fat from your monthly expenses, there will always be a way to meet your savings goals.
• Budget your "fun money" as well. When you budget a set amount for unnecessary shopping trips and entertainment, you can't shop until you drop. When the money runs out, you're done.
Your entire life doesn't need to change in order to live below your means. It's all about minimizing your expenses where possible and refusing the urge to live larger – even if you have the means to do so. By implementing these simple tips, you can slash hundreds of dollars – if not more – off your monthly bills and stash it into your savings account!


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At Hygeia Hospital, a team of specialized doctors with great experience in the field of dental implants, has placed a large number of implants with great success, both in the functional and in the aesthetic department.
This information is intended for general information only and should not be considered as medical advice on the part of Health-Tourism.com. Any decision on medical treatments, after-care or recovery should be done solely upon proper consultation and advice of a qualified physician.
Who is a general dentist?
This is a surgeon who specializes in dentistry, a subspecialty of medicine that involves the study, diagnosis, prevention, treatment and management of diseases, conditions and disorders of the oral cavity. This involves the dentition, oral mucosa and associated tissues and structures especially in the jaw and facial (maxillofacial) area. Although a general dentist usually deals with issues affecting the teeth, they also deal with issues affecting the craniofacial complex.
This is the branch of dentistry that provides a wide array of dental services that are vital to health. These include preventative services, restorative service, cosmetic services and overall health.
In addition to completing their undergraduate education, general dentists complete four years of dental school.
It is recommended to visit the dentist every six months for preventative services.
Apart from the regular visits to your general dentist the following are signs that you need to visits the dentist:
Dental needs vary and your general dentist will discuss with you any concerns that you may have. He/she may then perform tests such as an oral exam or x rays to diagnose diseases in the moral cavity. Dental procedures vary from simple preventative services such as teeth cleaning to full mouth restoration.
Cleaning and preventative procedures include:
Copyright © 2008 - 2020 Health-Tourism.com, All Rights Reserved


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Last week we discussed mitigation stat weights for warriors using a Monte-Carlo simulation. While the results were interesting, the simulation was very limited, and left a lot to be desired. Since then, I've been having detailed discussions with a number of protection warriors, both in the comments and on tankspot, to try and improve the modeling.
For starters, I've fixed a number of bugs in the initial simulation. I was mistakenly using the wrong mastery conversion factor, generating block and crit block values that were far too low. The Sword and Board proc rate was also too low, and Berserker Rage was being treated as on the global cooldown. The mastery error made mastery much weaker than it should have been. And all three of these errors reduced the average rage generation rate, which artificially propped up the value of hit and expertise.
The absence of Shield Barrier was another major point of discussion. The original model only included Shield Block, whose cooldown mechanic put an effective cap on the usefulness of hit and expertise. As a result, it was no surprise that hit and expertise performed very poorly once it neared the theoretical maximum of Shield Block uptime. While the results we obtained are correct for that model, it's a fair criticism that the model doesn't do a great job of modeling a real situation. So one of the major improvements I've made to the model is to implement Shield Barrier.
I've also made some minor improvements to the queue code. We now have independent choice of generator and finisher priority. The generator code handles Shield Slam, Revenge, Devastate, Thunder Clap, Battle Shout, and Berserker Rage, and we have two choices for our generator priority. The first is a "long" scheme designed for steady-state single-tank fights. It prioritizes SS>Rev>BS>TC>Dev, and uses Berserker Rage off-GCD whenever it's available and won't over-cap rage. The second priority is a "short" scheme, designed for tank swap fights. It assumes you'll only be tanking for 20-30 seconds, and that your co-tank will be keeping up Weakened Blows. As such, it prioritizes SS>Rev>BS>Dev, and ignores TC entirely. It uses the same Berseker Rage logic as the long version.
For finisher priority, we have several choices. The first is the one we used previously, a "Shield Block only" scheme. We also have a complementary "Shield Barrier only" scheme. Neither of these need much explanation. The third scheme is a combination queue that uses Shield Barrier to bleed excess rage. The logic is pretty straightforward: use Shield Block if we can (i.e. we have rage and it's not on cooldown). After trying to cast Shield Block, if we still have more than 100 rage, use Shield Barrier to bleed some off.
These improved models should give us a much better idea of how the stats perform in realistic scenarios, where Shield Barrier usage gives an outlet for the excess rage that hit or expertise provide. Now let's take a look at the data.
"Long" generator queue, "Bleed" finisher queue:
N=50, tau=10000, stat=1500 | | dodge | parry | hit | exp | mastery | | mean | 0.0078 | 0.0078 | 0.0057 | 0.0058 | 0.0102 | | std | 0.0006 | 0.0005 | 0.0005 | 0.0006 | 0.0006 | | std_mean | 0.0001 | 0.0001 | 0.0001 | 0.0001 | 0.0001 | | | | | | | | | mean | 0.7594 | 0.7589 | 0.5568 | 0.5668 | 1.0000 | | std | 0.0553 | 0.0447 | 0.0445 | 0.0538 | 0.0598 | | std_mean | 0.0078 | 0.0063 | 0.0063 | 0.0076 | 0.0085 |
This is the realistic "steady-state" simulation. Again, the first three rows reflect the raw difference in damage taken, and the second three rows give the results normalized to the mastery value. There are a few big things to notice here. First, the corrections to the sim have vaulted mastery ahead of dodge and parry as the top stat. That's not too surprising – we expected it to get at least 2.2x better due to the conversion rate, and that's before the extra rage income from critical blocks is considered. So it's fairly safe to say that mastery, not avoidance, will be the king stat for warriors.
More importantly, note that hit and expertise have a fairly significant TDR value now. They're a little over half as good as mastery, but lag behind dodge and parry a bit. The corrections to the sim have put us above the "rage cap" (at which Shield Block uptime nears its theoretical maximum) even at zero hit and expertise. So apart from a small smoothing benefit, all of this value is from Shield Barrier usage. This also means that there's no intermediate point at which hit and expertise drop in value – they should maintain roughly this level of effectiveness all the way up to their hard-caps.
"Long" generator queue, "Shield Barrier Only" finisher queue:
N=50, tau=10000, stat=1500 | | dodge | parry | hit | exp | mastery | | mean | 0.0101 | 0.0099 | 0.0050 | 0.0050 | 0.0060 | | std | 0.0006 | 0.0007 | 0.0007 | 0.0007 | 0.0006 | | std_mean | 0.0001 | 0.0001 | 0.0001 | 0.0001 | 0.0001 | | | | | | | | | mean | 1.6633 | 1.6429 | 0.8347 | 0.8274 | 1.0000 | | std | 0.0956 | 0.1139 | 0.1218 | 0.1222 | 0.1048 | | std_mean | 0.0135 | 0.0161 | 0.0172 | 0.0173 | 0.0148 |
A Shield Barrier priority shifts things around quite a bit. First of all, mastery loses significant value thanks to the lack of Shield Block uptime. It still gives block, crit block, and resource generation. But without all of the guaranteed blocks from Shield Block, it just can't keep up with avoidance, which vaults ahead in the TDR race. hit and expertise also gain ground on mastery, though in this case they don't eclipse it. The boss damage we've chosen is high enough that it should favor Shield Block over Shield Barrier in terms of finisher use, which also means that dodge and parry will retain strength over hit and expertise.
For a boss that hits more weakly or a boss with a significant amount of unavoidable damage we'd see a reduction in the dodge/parry/mastery values and a significant jump in hit and expertise. The sim doesn't support unblockable/unavoidable damage yet, but it doesn't take data to recognize the dominance of Shield Barrier in those situations.
"Long" generator queue, "Shield Block only" finisher queue:
N=50, tau=10000, stat=1500 | | dodge | parry | hit | exp | mastery | | mean | 0.0071 | 0.0071 | 0.0004 | 0.0003 | 0.0079 | | std | 0.0005 | 0.0005 | 0.0005 | 0.0004 | 0.0005 | | std_mean | 0.0001 | 0.0001 | 0.0001 | 0.0001 | 0.0001 | | | | | | | | | mean | 0.8957 | 0.9008 | 0.0556 | 0.0438 | 1.0000 | | std | 0.0626 | 0.0675 | 0.0677 | 0.0544 | 0.0580 | | std_mean | 0.0088 | 0.0095 | 0.0096 | 0.0077 | 0.0082 |
The "Shield Block only" queue is essentially the model we used last time. I'm only including it here to provide contrast and confirm our earlier results with the more accurate mastery modeling. And indeed, we see again here the weakness of hit and expertise, and the dominance of mastery/dodge/parry for TDR. We also see the residual value of hit and expertise is next to nothing in the absence of Shield Barrier.
"Short" generator queue, "Bleed" finisher queue, front-loaded 30 sec sim:
N=1000000, tau=0.5, stat=1500 | | dodge | parry | hit | exp | mastery | | mean | 0.0068 | 0.0066 | 0.0069 | 0.0070 | 0.0111 | | std | 0.0787 | 0.0787 | 0.0783 | 0.0780 | 0.0777 | | std_mean | 0.0001 | 0.0001 | 0.0001 | 0.0001 | 0.0001 | | | | | | | | | mean | 0.6116 | 0.5950 | 0.6231 | 0.6306 | 1.0000 | | std | 7.0751 | 7.0736 | 7.0364 | 7.0122 | 6.9847 | | std_mean | 0.0071 | 0.0071 | 0.0070 | 0.0070 | 0.0070 |
The "short" simulation runs a million 30-second encounters, and front-loads the initial conditions so we start with 120 rage. The idea is to simulate a tank swap situation and see whether the short time frame and unusually-high Shield Block uptime changes the stat priorities at all.
And as we see, it does have a pretty significant effect. Because we start with both Shield Block charges and full rage, we can keep Shield Block up for 27 of those 30 seconds. Extra rage generation doesn't have a large effect on Shield Block uptime; in fact, in the short simulations I ran using a "Shield Block only" finisher queue, hit and expertise were nearly worthless. But it does help generate more Shield Barrier uses with rage bleed, and as a result we see very similar hit and expertise stat weights to those we obtain from the steady-state simulation.
What change significantly is the dodge and parry valuations. The high uptime of Shield Block means that our dodges and parries are less effective – we're turning blocks or crit-blocks into full avoids, which is a significantly smaller damage savings than turning a full hit into an avoid. As a result, the dodge and parry TDR values fall behind hit and expertise. Being able to get up another Shield Barrier is just more valuable under these conditions.
This is an interesting result for another reason. It's usually the case that "RNG" stats like dodge and parry are better for raw TDR than "control" stats like hit and expertise. But in this specific case, the control stats give you the best of both worlds.
Damage Intake Mapping
This is a feature I've had implemented for quite a while, initially intended to look at damage intake patterns in my paladin modeling. The idea is to try and quantify the benefits of "control" stats by analyzing how it affects the "smoothness" of damage intake. I still intend to do that, but this warrior modeling has taken more time than I expected, so I haven't gotten to it. However, I think there's something to be gained in this article by including some basic results.
The code calculates the moving average of damage taken per second over 5 attacks (7.5 seconds) for the entire encounter. This 5-attack moving average represents a potential spike window. The assumption is that "control" stats smooth the damage intake patterns and reduce the representation of high-DTPS values in the moving average, shifting the distribution to lower-DTPS values.
What I want to address here, though, is the disparity between Shield Block and Shield Barrier. Under certain conditions, a Shield Barrier cast will prevent more overall damage than a Shield Block cast, even against blockable damage.. Some have suggested that this will lead warriors to simply spam Shield Barrier as a finisher.
I don't know whether that's true or not, but my gut feeling is that it won't be optimal even if it is better for TDR. And the reason is simply spike damage and control. To explain, let's look at the damage intake pattern for the "Bleed" finisher strategy. We'll use a raw boss damage of 250k per attack, which is around 93k after mitigation (armor, spec, Weakened Blows). That attack size with a 1.5-second swing timer gives about 67k Vengeance AP, or a 150k Shield Barrier absorb per cast.
The first plot to consider is a histogram of hit size:
The statistics on this plot require a bit of explanation. The stats for avoids, crit blocks, blocks, and full hits are just what you'd expect – the percentage of each of those event types. Beneath that, I'm reporting some absorption information, which gives the (absolute) percentage of each type of attack that is absorbed. In other words, 0.54% of all attacks were rolled as hits but partially absorbed, and 0.95% were hits that were fully absorbed. So while 22.3% of all attacks were rolled as hits, only 22.3-0.54-0.95=20.81% were actually taken as full sized hits.
However, note the distribution of hit sizes here. There are very few full hits, and a lot of partial mitigation events. That's the point of damage smoothing: whittle as many of those full hits as possible down into smaller-damage chunks. This idea is further reinforced if we plot is a histogram of the 5-attack DTPS moving average:
You can see that this is a very smooth distribution. We have a lot of events in the middle of the plot, in the 50% average DTPS range. Remember that all of the DTPS values in this sim are normalized, so "0.5" or 50% average DTPS means half of the DTPS you'd get if the boss hit you for 93k on all 5 attacks. Most importantly, you'll note that there are very few events at the upper end of the spectrum, above 90% DTPS. That's the advantage of a smoothing strategy – you minimize the number of high-DTPS periods you'll experience, reducing the chance you'll die to a spike and making you easier to heal.
Now let's see how this changes if we use the "Shield Barrier only" strategy:
Note that most of the events have moved to the extremes. We have very few events in the middle, which are the small, slow hits. Instead, we have about 40% of our events doing zero damage (avoids and full absorbs) and another 40% at the high end doing full damage. The binary nature of this will generally mean that damage intake is spikier, even though we're actually taking less damage overall (note that DTPS drops from about 53% to 49% by switching to this strategy).
If we plot the 5-attack DTPS moving average histogram, we see a similar story:
Even though the mean of this distribution is smaller, the standard deviation is considerably larger. We have a much wider distribution of damage spike sizes. And while we have more near zero intake, we also have more at the extreme upper end. Rather than 1-1.5% of our events falling above 90%, we have closer to 4% of our events in that range. That's a 2x-3x increase in dangerous spikes that you or your healers have to react to.
Now, you could make the argument that a smart player will use Shield Barrier on alternating attacks to make sure they don't take two full-sized hits in a row. That's somewhat limited by rage income, which is where the events above 90% intake come from. However, you could make the same argument for the "Shield Block bleed" strategy. A good player will be trying to minimize those upper 10% of events in either strategy. But the player using the Shield Block strategy has fewer of them to deal with to begin with.
It's perhaps unsurprising that we're seeing some parallels to paladin gearing strategies in both the stat and finisher choices here. There's the high-TDR Shield Barrier strategy that gives spikier damage profiles, and the lower-TDR "Bleed" strategy that smooths the damage profile at the expense of about 10% increased damage intake. You could make a similar argument for hit/exp/mastery gearing vs. dodge/parry gearing. The inclusion of Shield Barrier in the sims has given a new level of validation to hit and expertise as reasonable defensive stats.
All things considered, I think that Blizzard has done a pretty good job of balancing the stats for warriors. All of the different stats are within spitting distance of one another, and there's some valid reasoning for choosing the lower-TDR stats.


text:
When President Michel Martelly was elected in April of 2011 he made a promise to create space for all Haitian children at school. Soon after, he announced his intention to tax all international phone calls as well as money transfers in and out of Haiti in order to fund the policy.
Although the Haitian constitution does not give the president the power to levy taxes, Martelly launched a 'National Fund for Education' in May 2011 with the goal of collecting $8.5 million per month by taxing all international phone calls in and out of Haiti at 5 cents per minute and all international money transfers at $1.50 per transfer. Haiti's largest source of foreign revenue is the money transfers that its Diaspora sends back to family members.
For most Haitians, education is an unattainable goal. According to the UN, the cost of an elementary school education can be prohibitive--40 per cent of family income to the average Haitian family. Only about two-thirds of Haitian children were enrolled in primary school before the earthquake; less than one third of those reach sixth grade. Haiti's illiteracy rate is an astonishing 57.24 percent, the highest in the western hemisphere.
The earthquake made the situation even more desperate. According to a report by UNICEF in March 2010, "80 percent of schools west of Port-au-Prince were destroyed or severely damaged in the earthquake, and 35 to 40 percent were destroyed in the southeast. This means that as many as 5,000 schools were destroyed and up to 2.9 million children here are being deprived of the right to education."
National education plan
Martelly's ambitious promise was to subsidize school fees through a scholarship program that would provide an education to every primary school aged child (ages 6 to12). He then waived all the registration fees for Haiti's primary schools. Universal education is a laudable goal, but can Martelly's government pay for it and will he carry out the required collaboration with Haiti's teachers and other educators?
The National Education Fund (FNE) is administered by Foreign Minister Laurent Lamothe and is without parliamentary supervision. According to Haitian government estimates, the Fund ought to have approximately 60 million dollars in its account. In September, Martelly's former education advisor, Gaston George Merisier, claimed that the FNE contained 28 million dollars. Merisier's figure was contradicted, however, by the Governor of the Bank of the Republic of Haiti, who said the account only held 4.8 million dollars. Other reports say that the account holds as little as 2 million dollars.
Martelly's education advisor Dimitri Nau has acknowledged that "none of the money collected through a tax on international calls and money transfers is being used towards education in Haiti." This persuaded Digicel CEO, Denis O'Brien to demand an audit of the FNE (Digicel is one of the two, large telecommunications companies that collected the taxes for the FNE).
Nau also acknowledged that more than half the 903,000 students for whom the government claims it has covered fees were already attending Haiti's free national school system. Their $2.50 to $5 annual registration fee was paid for by the Clinton Foundation, not the FNE. The other 400,000 students are benefitting from an 'Education for All' program launched by the World Bank and other international banks.
Until recently, the FNE had yet to compensate schools for the loss of revenue as parents paid heed to government claims and ceased to pay school fees. In an interview aired on Haitian radio in January, the Secretary General of the National Confederation of Educators in Haiti said that public schools are suffering from a lack of government funding, noting teachers had not received salaries since the beginning of the school year (October, 2011), schools were unable to print report cards for lack of supplies and school lunch programs were suffering. 1
Martelly has taken full credit for claimed successes of the program. His international supporters repeat the claims.
Problems in post-secondary education
Accusations of government incompetence can also be heard among staff and students at the State University of Haiti (UEH). Students have protested several times against Martelly's closure of the Department of Ethnology and lack of funding. Professors have joined protests, claiming the Martelly administration is deliberately underfunding the university because of the democratic nature of the institution.
The UEH suffered huge losses after the earthquake. A study by the Inter-University Institute for Research and Development in March, 2010 found that the earthquake destroyed nine of the 11 UEH faculties in the capital. Three hundred and eighty students and more than 50 professors and administrative staff disappeared. Two thousand students and 130 professors in all of the institutions of higher learning in Haiti died in the catastrophe.
Currently, the majority of the 13,000 students at the UEH's faculties in the capital are squeezed into cramped sheds, struggling to learn under the intense heat. A new report by Haiti Grassroots Watch (HGW) notes that the chronic underfunding and lack of facilities was foreseen by university administrators over a year ago. The report explains that the Rectorate of the UEH submitted a proposal to the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC), the institution previously charged with approving and coordinating most reconstruction projects. Delay after delay meant that the proposal was never reviewed before the Commission's mandate expired in October 2011.
UEH administrators argue that their proposal was ignored in order to prevent the consolidation of the university's 11 departments into one location, a key demand in the proposal. The departments are spread throughout Port au Prince, making communication and collaborative work extremely difficult.
Fritz Deshommes, the Vice Rector of the University, says, "The reason that the university campus has never built is political. Because, if all the students were permanently together in one place, they would have the necessary material conditions to better organize themselves and make their demands heard. Then they would be able to turn everything upside down. The political authorities understood the importance of this. A single campus is not in their interests."
The IHRC, meanwhile, vigorously pursued funding of private universities. Haiti Grassroots Watch has revealed that the IHRC gave Quisqueya University, a private institution, "a green light for a project of the Faculty of Medicine, and more recently - last December - the Clinton Bush Fund offered US$914,000 for a 'Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation'."
Why would Martelly's administration and the IHRC withhold funding for the UEH while quickly approving funding for private universities? Evidently, a pro-private enterprise model is guiding the restructuration of Haitian education at all levels. According to a report on Alterpresse, the 2011-12 national budget dedicates only .55 percent to the UEH, down from one percent in 2006.
A study in the year 2000 by the World Bank argued that many governments have mistakenly made higher education a relatively low priority because of, "the view that public investment in universities and colleges brings meagre returns compared to investment in primary and secondary schools."
Despite the poor funding of Haiti's school system, some remarkable individuals and institutions have managed to create successful learning environments. SOPUDEP is a school that provides free accessible education to adults and children and supports women's rights and economic empowerment for the poor. Director Rea Dol is a community organizer. She directs adult literacy programs, a micro-credit program designed to increase the autonomy of women and an HIV-AIDS prevention and treatment program. SOPUDEP does not receive government funds; it is dependent on financial support from international supporters, including the Sawatzky Family Foundation in Ontario.
Another reason for hope is the reopening of the Medical School of UNIFA (the University of the Aristide Foundation). UNIFA has opened its doors to new students as a result of assistance from Partners In Health, the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund and the Cuban medical mission to Haiti. The school's mission is to "begin to break down long traditions of exclusion of the poor majority in Haiti from access to higher education."
The Boston-based global health agency Partners In Health is completing construction of a world-class teaching hospital in Mirebalais, Haiti. The 320-bed hospital will offer a level of care never before available at a public facility in Haiti.
UNIFA, SOPUDEP and other education achievements are results of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide's dedication to education. He was ousted in a paramilitary coup in 2004 with key backing from Haiti's elite and the governments of France, the United-States, and Canada. During Aristide's two terms, from 1994 to 2004, the Haitian government built or refurbished one hundred and ninety-five primary schools and 104 high schools.
In a recent interview, Aristide explained, "Learning is strengthened and solidified when it occurs in a safe, secure and normal environment. Hence our responsibility to promote social cohesion, democratic growth, sustainable development, self-determination; in short, the goals set forth for this new millennium." Aristide's views concur with those of leading educators on how to maximize learning in the classroom.
By all evidence, Michel Martelly's education policies are hindering, not helping, educators in Haiti. His apparent dedication to failed neoliberal policies stands in contrast to the successful education models already existing and upon whose success so much more can be built.
Travis Ross is a teacher in Montreal. Roger Annis is a coordinator of the Canada Haiti Action Network in Vancouver. They can be reached at [email protected].
1 Haiti's Le Nouvelliste daily recently reported that the FNE paid teacher salaries for the first three months of the school year, October to December, in three of Haiti's ten departments.
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text:
Musical Performance: Alwan Festival of Sacred Music: Arab Sufi Music With Tarab
Sat, October 6, 2007 9:30 pm at Alwan for the Arts
(View all musical performances »)
Alwan for the Arts invites you
To the last concert in the Ramadan series
Admission: $15 ($10 for students with valid ID)
Tarab, founded in 1998, is a group of New York-based musicians who focus on studying and performing the classical Arabic repertoire, instrumental (with such genres as samai, lunga, dulab) and vocal, with special emphasis on the Andalusi Muwashah and Sufi repertoire. The ensemble also explores traditional folk music from various regions of the Arab world. Importance is given to improvisation, both vocal and instrumental, to allow each musician to explore the maqamat, or scales. The sets performed are generally in the form of a wasla, which is a suite of several pieces all sharing the same maqam. Since its foundation, Tarab has performed at several venues and festivals, such as Symphony Space, The Great Hall at Cooper Union, The Joseph Papp Theater, Bowery Ballroom, The Balkan Music Festival, Club Passim, York University Toronto and The University of Michigan. Tarab also composed soundtracks for two documentaries and one play.
The Musicians:
Tareq Abboushi (Buzuq)
Tareq Abboushi is a graduate from William Paterson University with a B.M. in Jazz Piano Performance. For the past seven years he has been studying the buzuq both in New York City as well as Ramallah, Palestine. Tareq currently performs with a number of groups in the New York area, ranging from dance pop to religious sufi music. Tareq is leading and composing for his own quintet "SHUSMO," playing mostly original compositions of Middle Eastern/Jazz fusion. Since releasing their first album "One" in February 2005, the quintet has taken part in various festivals: Atlantic Antic Festival, Sounds of the City Festival, and the Jerusalem Festival. He also composed and recorded music for the film "West Bank-Brooklyn," and has also appeared on two albums of children's music with Dan Zanes "House Party" and "Night Time!" The latter has won the "Best children's CD of the year (2002)" award by amazon.com.
Taoufiq Ben Amor (Vocals, Oud and Percussion)
Taoufiq Ben Amor is a Tunisian vocalist, percussionist and oud player. Taoufiq started learning percussion at an early age, then learned the Malouf (Andalusian repertoire) and sang with ensembles and choirs for many years. Fifteen years ago, he began studying the oud and the Arabic maqam system with various teachers such as Mohamed Labbad, Jamal Aslan and Simon Shaheen.
For the last decade, Taoufiq has been an active performer in the US and Canada and played in various venues including the Joseph Papp Theater, Symphony Space, Cooper Union, the Knitting Factory as well as several campuses. He is involved in several projects including fusion with North Indian, Afro-Brazilian and Iranian musicians. Taoufiq is also an educator, who does research and lecture on the subject and conducts workshops. He founded The Columbia Middle Eastern Music Ensemble and he produces the music series at the Alwan Center for The Arts in New York City. Taoufiq is currently Professor of Arabic at Columbia University.
Ramzi El-Edlibi (Tabla, Riq, Daf and Dance)
Ramzi El-Edlibi's dance career began in Lebanon as he studied with the renowned choreographer Wadia Garrar and was a principal dancer with the Caracalla Dance Co. With Carracalla and on his own, Ramzi traveled extensively as a much sought-after performer of the Middle Eastern Folk Dance Art Form, performing in Russia, Japan, Spain, France, the U.K, Egypt, Libya, Iraq and more. Each of these locations have offered not only the opportunity to demonstrate his talents, but to extend them—absorbing influences from the various cultures that would continue to add interesting and varied dimensions to the complex tapestry of his art and his life. Ramzi is also an accomplished percussion player and teacher, mastering the tabla, riq (Arab tambourine) and frame drum.
Johnny Farraj (Percussion)
Johnny Farraj studied the riq (Egyptian tambourine) and frame drum with Karim Nagi and Fairuz's percussionist Michel Merhej. He also studied the oud with Simon Shaheen and Bassam Saba, and classical Arabic singing with Rima Khcheich and Youssef Kassab. As a percussionist, he has performed with Simon Shaheen/Qantrara (Symphony Space) and Amir El-Saffar, and recorded on the soundtrack of the play "9 Parts of Desire" by Heather Raffo. Johnny has performed and given lecture demonstrations in universities and museums throughout the US and Canada, and has taken part in several fusion collaborations involving classical Indian, Persian and Jazz. Johnny annually attends the Arabic Music Retreat, and has created the maqamworld.com web site to teach classical Arabic music (maqam) theory.
Zafer Tawil (Violin, Oud and Percussion)
Zafer Tawil is an accomplished Palestinian musician based in New York City. He is a virtuoso on oud, violin, and qanun, and a master of Arabic percussion. Zafer performs in concerts, clubs, and at private events, and holds workshops in oud technique, and in Arabic music theory – across the US and in the Middle East, including a recent performance at Zankel Hall with Simon Shaheen. Zafer is constantly exploring the boundaries of Arabic music, and has worked on many collaboration concerts involving classical Indian and Persian music and Jazz fusion.
Last updated: 2007-11-20 15:44:46
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