The Mind of Ashkir

A challenge from my uncle Butch. I have a ten pack of root beer, of ten different brands of root beer. I am on the search to see which is the best root beer of them all! So for number 1 this is the result:

BRAND:
Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer

TASTE:
Good, and something of an aftertaste, but a pleasant aftertaste.

PHOTOGRAPH:

Secret Service: Tracks down contierfeit and protects officials and federal dignitaries. They have full rights to investigate threats recieved by those whom they protect.

US Marshalls: These guys transport federal prisoners to and from courts, serve arrest warrants for most wanted federal fugitives and protect federal witnesses crucial in delicate court cases which can cost the witness or victim's life.

CIA: Spies, and intelligence on foreign countries including enemies and allied. These guys investigate threats and protect witnesses needed for cruical international cases. Basically, these guys protects the United States' interest and borders. They can even

FBI: Even though they're an investivgated unit, but they're like the CIA inside the United States. They investigate crimes that cross the state borders or are involved in special cases that interests the government or the agency. They investigate cases that are sometimes turned over by State Police or city/county police. The types of cases they investigate are usually robbery, homoicde, fraud.

Okay I paid attention to Allods Online at GamesCom and got information from the PAB, so this is all public. ! LIST TIME BABY! This is a rough list of changes, and can be changed. But these were confirmed at GamesCom :O. GamesCom is an English interantional game conference, hosted by GameSpot on August 25th. ! Today! It was in Europe this year.

Astral
- The chances of finding allods in the Astral has been increased.
- Astral demons aggression is nowhere near as dangerous as they are now.
- They hope for these changes will reinvigorate the Astral exploration.
- Quantity of items INCREASED.
- Astral itself improved.
- Demons are not as aggressive.
- Demons health reduced.
- Ten new battle Allods added.
- Teleport to allods, without ship added as a reward for winning a guild battleground.

Guild Changes
- Guild Leaders now will get tabards. These tabards are tradable to guild mates.
- New sector added to the Astral. Raids of 24 persons with a tabard will be able to fight against another guild on an allod. Details of this exact system are not clear yet. So battlegrounds perhaps? The winning guild will get a bonus. There will be loot drops, direct teleports.
- Guild experience now exists! At speficic levels of your guild you will unlock more tabards and effects.
- For example: Alchemists with the tabard equipped can create potions with a BONUS duration.
- Around guild level level 15 to 20 you can unlock the emblem of your guild, to create a custom logo on your cloak. Other locations coming soon.

Dungeons
- We can expect NEW DUNGEONS by the end of this year.
- Gorluxor's Tower at the moment will have loot for all archetypes with legendary equipment.
- Bosses 6, 7 and 8 unlocked in Gorluxor's.

Items
- Stats of common and uncommon items slightly increased.
- New backpacks being released.

Item Shop
- XP scrolls available through a daily quest.
- Incense blessing available through a daily quest.
- Some bags & banks are now tradable. These will not be bind upon equip, or bind upon use. So when you're done using them when you upgrade... you can sell it, give it to a friend, guildmate or an alt!
- Expiration timers on item shop extended to 30 days.
- New backpacks being released.

PvP
- New zone added. Only accessible through Gipat. It is a free for all zone, which means you can kill even your own faction unless grouped. During certain times and if ten players are present an event is triggered that will spawn chests for five minutes. These chests will be of different sizes and can contain EPIC or LEGENDARY loot. If you are hit while opening a chest you have to start over. So... REWARDS FOR PVP!
- Arena of Death revamped. New chest that provides loot added, but 24 players from each faction that gets teleported inside has a chance at the chest. Good luck!

Zones
- New Imperial zone is being added, so that progression of the Imperial zones will be equal to League. This zone will be roughly level 20ish.
- New zone added. Only accessible through Gipat. It is a free for all zone, which means you can kill even your own faction unless grouped. During certain times and if ten players are present an event is triggered that will spawn chests for five minutes. These chests will be of different sizes and can contain EPIC or LEGENDARY loot. If you are hit while opening a chest you have to start over. So... REWARDS FOR PVP!
- One of the above zones will be called 'Dream Factory'.

Other:
- Next major patch will be 'soon'.

90% of the world's population is not developed. However, if they do develop such as we are in the modern countries there would be no resources left and the countries with the most resources become the most powerful.

However, we fund the development of the third world. Is it ethical for us to do so in the effort of it may strip ourselves of our power as one of the top nations on this Earth.

Let alone, is it ethical for us to spend our tax dollars on helping the under developed world develop when there are pressing issues inside our own country such as dropping education standards, lack of funds in the education sector? We may be overspending on our military contractors, but we have troops stationed in nearly every country on this Earth and actively helping secure borders, etc. It's been fifty years since Korea, and we're still there.

Though, the military men have the right idea. It is becoming increasingly difficult to keep our military up in the latest technology and advantages. Several other countries on this Earth can pose a significant threat to the United States.

There are several millions of Americans in need. There are Americans going hungry. The conditions of the housing projects it outrageous. Controlling the security inside of our own nation is becoming increasingly difficult. Gang activity is rising, violence is rising while education is dropping. The amount of technology the average American has access to is dropping.

The United States is dropping out of the competition on the global level. We're no longer the most educated nor the most advanced. Our internet speeds are now slower then a majority of the standard for the world, but much more expensive. Law cannot keep up with technology. Medical care is a bankrupter of many millions of Americans. It's sad a person cannot seek treatment for something that can kill them because they cannot afford to pay. If they seek treatment they're in debt for their life.

What do you think? Should we refocus our tax dollars on taking care of our country's neediest and hungry? Or should we continue trying to fund the undeveloped world.

Edit: I have no idea why this was bumped up. It was kind of written in 2004.

Tabitha was a sweet twenty year old woman, whom believed in a life lived to the fullest. This interview was conducted on September 16, 2006! It has been quite a while since this was done, but it was the first interview I have ever done. Now, today and as of late I have interviewed some of the greats of the internet, the people behind the scenes and people whom changed the world. But, it had to start somewhere. This is where I started.

Please note, my style of writing has changed over the years, but at one time this is what I did. I'll be adding the more recent interviews soon.

--

This is the first interview we have to offer, the person interviewed has Duchenne muscular dystrophy. This is a heart touching interview, please respect it and share it, and note that this was taken right before Tabitha passed away. This interview is copyright to Hope for Another Day

The following is an excerpt of which Tabitha posted at a forum:

Hello to everyone here. Most of you probably don't know me, but I've been here for a while. I'm not around a lot because I'm usually in the hospital. I have Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, which affects only boys, but in some very rare cases can affect girls, too. I happen to be one of those very rare cases.

During my lifetime, I've kept up with the latest news and updates to see what has developed for people like me, but alas, no cure has been found yet. So I am asking you to help them.

http://www.muscular-dystrophy.org/

This is a site where you can donate if you so desire. There is a lot of information about each type of muscular dystrophy, news about what has been going on, and any updates about medicine that has been discovered.

My very last wish is that someone finds a cure for this horrible disease. I can no longer think about myself, for I am too far along. But I'm posting this for everyone else out there that is suffering and may have a chance to live if a cure is ever found. I say my last wish because I have only a month or so left to live, as told to me by my doctor. I plan to make the most of it by spreading the news that this needs to be stopped before it claims any more lives. This is most likely the last post I'm going to make here. I'm not intending this to be an "I'm leaving" thread, because to me, saying you're leaving gives the impression that you have the option to come back, which I don't.

So instead of saying goodbye, I'm going to say please help. Not me. But all the other MD patients who have a chance. And do it for those who don't, because that is their wish as well.

Thank you, and good luck to everyone in all of your future endeavours.

Tabitha

The interview here was done in two parts. The first part hits straight to the topic, the second part is about Tabitha.

Part One

What was your parents reaction when they first found out?
I'm actually not sure. They found out when I was young, about three I suppose, and I grew up with them knowing about it, so I don't know what their reaction was.

How were you diagnosed?
My parents told me that they did several muscle tests, along with a few other things that they didn't go into detail about. I guess it was the standard testing for muscular dystrophy, which can be found on numerous sites.

What is one things you wish to do but cannot?
Growing up, I really wanted to be a gymnast. But by the age of eight, I couldn't walk well and had to use support crutches, until I was permanently put in a wheelchair.

Having this condition surely must have impacted how you see the world, correct? Do you think it's a valid statement or not.
Actually, I don't think it has impacted how I see the world. The people in it would be the same whether I had this condition or not. My family would most likely react differently, but the actions of my country and other countries, along with actions of other politicians and other high public officials, would not be changed in the least. But I do believe that people take advantage of what they do have and don't appreciate it as much as they could.

You do seem very selfless, I applaud that, do you think it's because of the condition?
No. I was brought up to be this way, and it's part of my personality. Even if I didn't have this condition, I do believe that I still would have been as selfless as I am now.

How severe is it within you?
Very severe. I can't really measure it in levels, but doctors have done all they can for me. Instead of spending my last days in a hospital, I have decided that spending them at home with the people I love would be more worthwhile. So I would say it is pretty severe, even though I don't like to see it like that.

What keeps you fighting and going?
Simple. The fact that I know one day, there is going to be a cure for this. Maybe not tomorrow or next week, but one day.

Are you still fighting?
In a way, yes. I want to see a cure found, even if I know deep down that one won't be. I won't give up until my body forces me to give in.

Who pays for your care?
Mostly my parents. Other family members have chipped in occasionally to take the burden off of my parents, though.

Has a leading hospital such as Children's Hospital or St. Jude taken you in?
I've never heard of either of them since I'm in the UK, but I've gone to many different hospitals that have taken me in and helped me when I was having a rough time.

What is your dream?
My dream since I was 10 was to grow up and become the doctor who finds a cure for all the current incurable diseases such as cancer, AIDS, MD, etc.

Without this condition what do you think your dream could've been?
Most likely to become a lawyer or a vet or something like that. I really don't know because I've never really known what life was like without DMD.

Anything else you would like to say?
Yes. I want people to become involved. I want them to know that there are other diseases besides cancer and AIDS that have no cure, and they need attention, too. Without help and donations, researches can't possibly find a cure on their own. It's important that the public get involved and try to help as well.

Part Two

What is your name?
Tabitha

What is your age?
20

Your last wish you have made it really clear, why did you choose something so selfless? I applaud this.
It wouldn't help me now if I decided to be selfish and choose something that would help me for a short time when I could choose something that would benefit many in the long run.

What is the one thing you wish to do before your time comes?
I wish I could visit the States and meet some people who I have talked to but never had the chance to meet face to face.

Have you met another person with the same condition as you? Any other female?
I have met a few others with the same condition, but none of them have been female. DMD, or any type of MD, is rather rare in females.

If you'd like, is there a mailing address of which we can send cards or the general public? This interview will be reaching thousands of people world wide, majority outside of the United States.
No. Just help out by donating.
-- Note: Now in 2010 the site gone, I feel I should state my site did get thousands of hits for the project before I scrapped it to move on to new ventures.

UPDATE! On 7 October, 2006 Tabitha passed away in her sleep. This interview was taken just under a month before she passed way. The best to her family on behalf of the staff here.

More Information on DMD | Help by Donating

If I had unlimited resources, what would I do? To be honest, this is a difficult question to think about. What would life be like with unlimited resources? How did I obtain unlimited resources?

If I obtain unlimited resources the first thing I would do is obviously buy a new computer, the best of the best. Why? Because, computer technology changes so much. My current computer is good, and plays my games, but, I'd like one that is better. Plus on top of this, it'll last far longer then the current computer. With newer computers there are more advantages, and a greater resource to try out cutting edge programs.

Now, the second thing I would do is of course, get a new and better home, away from California. I think I want to have a house some place where it's green, with forests, etc and with.. good internet. This would be a dream come true to me, to be able to have a beautiful home and good internet so I can do anything.

Then, I would go into the charities. I'd donate... but I don't think I'll show up to those 'high society' balls they have for the charities in museums and beautiful buildings. They bore me. However, I will not donate to charities that are to build countries I've never heard of because I believe that we need to take care of our own before we take care of others outside our nation. But, when it comes to the environment, etc I strongly am for those charities.

Then, I think I'll take some friends and travel the world. I so badly, want to see the great sights of Europe and Canada! Oh... and cannot forget Japan!

So... if you had unlimited resources what would you do?

Hello all! And happy late fathers' day to the fathers here. xD. I just took my dad otu to the steakhouse and got back not long ago. I then logged onto World of Warcraft and started leveling my baby Kailn again. She's only thirty two as of this post and is running back to Orgrimmar from Razor Hill.

Midsummer has started! So, everyone, Midsummer love or hate it? I think it is one of the better events for World of Warcraft.

Oh! I wore an opera tshirt today! :]. I gotta go take a picture...