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5 People From History Who Were Absurdly Hard to Kill
#2. King Zog of Albania Finds Assassinations a Mild Inconvenience
If you thought that de Gaulle's 31 assassination attempts was some kind of world record, it's not even close. The fantastically named King Zog of Albania is the undisputed champion in that field.
Actually, that's King Zog I, Skanderbeg III of the Albanians to you. But his given name is the still awesome but less video game villain sounding Ahmet Muhtar Bey Zogolli. King Zog was a remarkably hard man, just as anyone bold enough to choose a name like that should be, and survived a whopping 50-plus attempts on his life.
There's something about tiny mustaches that just enrages armed men.
In one instance, the assassin managed to shoot him twice from close range as he was entering the Assembly Hall. Zog let his guard subdue the dude and, unflinching, walked on into the hall and took a seat at his desk, blood spurting from his wounds.
After a while, he noticed that everyone else was understandably freaking the hell out. So he stood up, covered in blood and riddled with bullet holes, and delivered them a little shruggy speech that basically said "Yeah, this happens quite a lot. You get used to it."
"Multiple gunshot wounds ain't nothin' but a thing."
His one and only foreign trip, perhaps taken in the hopes that he would find fewer assassins abroad, led to an even more ridiculous attempt. While Zog was in Vienna in 1931, an assassin struck as he was getting into his car after an opera. Zog's reaction to the impending doom was characteristically impressive. He turned to face the assassin -- and pulled a big-ass gun and opened fire right back at the guy.
And yes, if you were wondering, that made him the only member of royalty to ever unleash a can of whoop-ass back at an assassin, chasing him away.
King Zog remained unharmed by his enemies until his final days. He died in exile in 1961, 100 percent death-by-assassination free.
Mustache intact.
#1. Frane Selak Lives in a Final Destination Movie
No one was trying to assassinate Frane Selak. Why would they? He's a mild mannered, chubby music teacher from Croatia. He has never angered half a nation with his politics or been targeted by the mob. Yet his place on this list is probably the most deserved; his adversary seems to be Death itself. For over three decades, the world has tried its level best to kill Frane Selak in increasingly creative and desperate ways.
His first brush with disaster was in 1962, when he escaped certain death in a train crash. Sorry, did we say "crash?" We meant "The train mysteriously jumped the rails and plunged into the icy river below, killing 17 passengers." Frane Selak got out of the sinking train and swam to the shore, despite a broken arm.
And, we like to imagine, wearing that exact same unitard.
A year later, he had to travel again. This time, he wisely opted for a different mode of transport -- flying. A malfunctioning door caused his plane to crash. Frane Selak was blown out of the open cabin door just prior to the crash and landed safely in a haystack below.
Adding airplanes to his rapidly expanding "fuck that" list, Selak decided to stick to buses from then on. That is, until 1966, when he found out the hard way that trains aren't the only thing that can lose control and plunge into a river. Again, Selak managed to swim to safety and crossed out yet another method of transport.
This left pretty much no other options but driving everywhere himself, so that's what he did. That is, until 1970, when his car spontaneously caught fire on a motorway and exploded. Selak, in yet another movie-worthy scene, managed to run to safety mere seconds before the fuel tank caught fire and went boom. Although we understand if you'd prefer to picture him walking away slowly as the vehicle exploded in the background.
Even that wasn't enough for him to hermit up in his house and refuse to go near any kind of transportation, so he got himself another car. This one didn't explode. Instead, it turned into a flamethrower, as a faulty fuel pump sprayed gas all over the engine. The ensuing flames blasted from the air vents at Selak, who lost most of his hair and, somehow, absolutely nothing else.
Nothing starts the day off right like a face full of fire.
Now officially flamethrower-proof, Selak was now freaked out enough to lay off the driving. This served him well for years, until 1995, when death finally realized that he wasn't going to go near vehicles anytime soon. And the next thing you know, Frane Selak was hit by a bus. Again, he survived with minor injuries.
Now back in the driving business, because at least that way you have some protection, Selak managed to enjoy a whole year of glorious "everything is not trying to kill me for once" time. Then, death pulled out all the stops.
In 1996, Selak was driving his Skoda on a mountain road when a huge United Nations truck came screaming at him. The impact sent Selak's tiny car flying through the crash barrier and straight into the 300-foot gorge below. Only Selak wasn't in it.
Somehow, the now out of shape, elderly man had leaped from his skidding car seconds before it fell off a cliff and landed on a tree near said cliff.
The United Nations, dedicated to global unity and killing the unkillable.
After Selak had pulled that off, Death and he apparently reached an understanding. Maybe they finally found out they had been the same person all along, or maybe there is just no point in trying to off a guy who can pull the kind of cliche last-second rescues even Hollywood would call cheesy. Whatever the reason may be, no further attempts at his life by the universe have taken place. Another telling sign of the newfound truce is the fact that in 2003, Frane Selak won the lottery.
Read more of Pauli Poisuo's articles here or observe him in a controlled environment through the magic of Twitter and Tumblr.
For more badasses throughout history, check out 5 Soldiers Whose Horrific Injuries Only Made Them Angry and 5 Real Life Soldiers Who Make Rambo Look Like a Pussy.
And stop by LinkSTORM to learn how to make yourself hard to kill. (It involves watching Hard to Kill.)
And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get sexy, sexy jokes sent straight to your news feed.
Do you have an idea in mind that would make a great article? Then sign up for our writers workshop! Do you possess expert skills in image creation and manipulation? Mediocre? Even rudimentary? Are you frightened by MS Paint and simply have a funny idea? You can create an infographic and you could be on the front page of Cracked.com tomorrow!


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Top 10 New Year's Resolutions for Families
8 of 11
Save Money
Squeezing more out of your income can feel impossible. Start the year off right by managing your debt and saving money every way you can. Stick to a budget, and teach your teens and younger children how to manage money, too. Establishing good financial habits and goals with your kids will make them better with their money down the road.
Next: Live Green
More on: New Year's

subset: commoncrawl


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Which sex is the worst about washing up? Why is it so important? We've got the dirty truth on how and when to wash your hands.
Dense Deposit Disease
It is possible that the main title of the report Dense Deposit Disease is not the name you expected. Please check the synonyms listing to find the alternate name(s) and disorder subdivision(s) covered by this report.
- MPGN type II
- membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis type II
- mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis
- mesangial capillary glomerulonephritis
Disorder Subdivisions
- None
General Discussion
Dense deposit disease (DDD) is a rare kidney disease that stops the kidneys from correctly filtering waste from the blood. The name is descriptive of the electron-dense changes that transform the middle layer (lamina densa) of the glomerular basement membrane (GBM) in a segmental, discontinuous or diffuse pattern. The glomeruli are the filtering units of the kidney. Blood flows through very small capillaries in each glomerulus where it is filtered through the GBM to form urine. When DDD is present, deposits in the GBM lead to disruption of kidney function. Because damage to glomeruli is progressive, about half of all persons with DDD experience kidney failure after living with their disease for 10 years. The development of kidney failure means that dialysis or transplantation must be started.
In addition to dense deposits in the GBM, persons with DDD can develop deposits in their eyes along an interface called the choriocapillaris-Bruch's membrane-retinal pigment epithelium. This region is very similar to the capillary-GBM interface in the kidney. The eye deposits are called drusen.
National Kidney Foundation
30 East 33rd Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel: (212)889-2210
Fax: (212)689-9261
Tel: (800)622-9010
Email: email@example.com
Internet: http://www.kidney.org
The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation
324 3rd St. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA 52401
Email: email@example.com
Internet: http://www.healthcare.uiowa.edu/kidneeds/index.htm
Genetic and Rare Diseases (GARD) Information Center
PO Box 8126
Gaithersburg, MD 20898-8126
Tel: (301)251-4925
Fax: (301)251-4911
Tel: (888)205-2311
Internet: http://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/GARD/
For a Complete Report:
This is an abstract of a report from the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD). A copy of the complete report can be downloaded free from the NORD website for registered users. The complete report contains additional information including symptoms, causes, affected population, related disorders, standard and investigational therapies (if available), and references from medical literature. For a full-text version of this topic, go to www.rarediseases.org and click on Rare Disease Database under "Rare Disease Information".
The information provided in this report is not intended for diagnostic purposes. It is provided for informational purposes only. NORD recommends that affected individuals seek the advice or counsel of their own personal physicians.
It is possible that the title of this topic is not the name you selected. Please check the Synonyms listing to find the alternate name(s) and Disorder Subdivision(s) covered by this report
This disease entry is based upon medical information available through the date at the end of the topic. Since NORD's resources are limited, it is not possible to keep every entry in the Rare Disease Database completely current and accurate. Please check with the agencies listed in the Resources section for the most current information about this disorder.
For additional information and assistance about rare disorders, please contact the National Organization for Rare Disorders at P.O. Box 1968, Danbury, CT 06813-1968; phone (203) 744-0100; web site www.rarediseases.org or email firstname.lastname@example.com
Last Updated: 2/7/2013
Copyright 2005, 2010, 2013 National Organization for Rare Disorders, Inc.
WebMD Medical Reference from the National Organization for Rare Disorders
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QUINLAN (December 3, 2012)—Off-duty Dallas County sheriff's Sgt. Kenneth Riggins, 52, of Quinlan, died at a hospital after a traffic accident that left the 15-year-old girl who was driving the truck in which he was riding with minor injuries.
Riggins died of injuries he received when the pickup truck the girl was driving left the road and hit a tree Monday night near Quinlan, about 40 miles northeast of Dallas.
He was pronounced dead at a Greenville hospital.
Riggins, who most recently served in the sheriff's office of strategic planning, had been with the department for 20 years.
It wasn't immediately clear how Riggins and the teenager who was driving were related.
Conflicting Dallas media reports identified the girl both as his daughter and his niece and one report said he was giving her a driving lesson at the time of the accident.
Department of Public Safety Sgt. Sgt. Lonny Haschel said the girl was taken to the hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries, but no other details were released.


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I would like to hear community opinions on reasons to switch, to utilise, or when one should consider a x64 platform. Plus are there any additional benefits of running 64-bit Windows 7? over 64-bit Pre-Win7 OS's?
There are security benefits when running a 64 bit version of Windows. Basically Microsoft was able to restart with more of a clean slate and implement some extra safe guards. It is partially enabled by improved hardware support in the 64 bit CPU.
32 bit Windows is limited to max 4 GB of RAM
The benefit is that each process can then address over 4GB of memory per process. Technically the OS can have more than 4GB of RAM with 32-bit (but limited to 4GB per process) but in practice no modern OS actually implements that so a second benefit is that the OS can have more than 4GB of RAM.
Also, on 32 bit OSs, the upper part of the 4GB address space is used by device drivers and other things (like GPU RAM mapping), reducing the actual memory to about 3-3.5GB. That goes away with 64 bit OSs.
Certain applications, particularly photo and video related, will use more than 4GB per process. Photoshop on large images, video editing, 3D modelling, etc can all benefit from more than 4GB per process.
The main advantage is for the memory space: much more than 4Go.
That means I can allocate 4Go to a virtual machine (one process, with for instance an Ubuntu inside), while having more than enough for my current Win64 session.
Probably the most evident advantage over the 32bit version is the ability to use more than 4GB of RAM (well, actually more than 3.x since part of the AS is used for MMIO). x86_64 ISA also doubles the number of GPRs from 8 (and some of them are non that general...) to 16, likewise XMM registers are raised to 16. And of course when in LM the CPU can handle 64bit integers directly (which can be a big win for certain workloads).
When it comes to Windows XP running 64 bit allows the use of 4gb of RAM or more. In 32 bit XP there is a total of 4gb RAM shared between the motherboard and the graphics card.
Therefore if you have a 512mb graphics card the maximum memory available to Windows is 3.5gb.
On Windows 32-bit, each process is permitted to access only 2GB by default. This is much worse than being able to use 4GB. The system gets to use the remaining memory, but as noted the video card takes its share from that.
32-bit Windows has a 4gb address space. You cannot use more than 4gb of physical ram.
Even if you have only 4gb of physical ram, Windows x64 will use that ram more efficiently. With Windows x86 by default only 2gb of the address space is set aside for applications, the other 2gb is reserved for the OS. You can change this split to 3gb apps/1gb OS, though not every app. is flagged to take advantage of this.
Also, there are holes in memory address space which have been set aside for device IO (transferring data to hds, video cards, USB devices, etc.) You can't use the physical memory which shares these addresses. Depending on various configuration settings this can account for as much as half a gig of unusable RAM. So on 32-bit Windows with 4gb of physical ram you'll actually end up with maybe only 3.7gb of usable ram, and at most 3gb of that usable by applications. Whereas with 64-bit Windows all of that 4gb can be used by applications (or the kernel).


text:
Speak with a lighting specialist
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SKU: U1000337 | Ordering Code: ENX, JCR82V-360W
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Once a product has been added to My BulbTrack, ordering it is as easy as entering the quantity
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Ushio brand MR16 halogen special purpose lamp. 360 Watts for more power and light. 82 volts for special optical voltage systems.
3300K color even whiter than ordinary halogen
Dichroic reflector reflects visible light out the front while letting heat escape out the back, resulting in a cool beam of light
NOTE - this is not a general purpose lamp. Light output is greater and color is brighter than equivalent halogen lamps, but rated life is only 75 hours. Generally used in photgraphic or scientific applications.
NO LENS - enclosed fixture recommended
Energy Used
Bulb Shape
Bulb Color
Color Temperature (Kelvin)
Bulb Finish
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Osram Sylvania
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[...] they had what I needed.
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text:
I needed to write a that behaves correctly with nasty (spaces, braces, etc..) filenames.
scp -rv "$1" shiny:/Volumes/Seagate3To/\"$1\"
This function works, but I don't understand why the quotes need escaping in the second argument of
Let say $1 is
We escape the double quote because we want to pass the target directory (part after colon) as a whole (including the double quotes) to the target machine.
Following is what we want to past to target
Without the escape, the double quote will be consumed by the local machine and following string is sent, which become 6 strings separated by space
Resulting an error.


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The sounds coming from a guitar cabinet are synonymous with the memory of going to your first big rock show. A guitarist's stacks are part of the overall theme of showcasing a really carefully crafted song or solo. As you're finding your way in your musical career, it's certain you're going to want to have that power as well.
If you decide to choose a head and cabinet configuration instead of a combo amp, it's likely you are looking to play in larger spaces. Reason being is that guitar cabinets have a much better ability to project volume due to their huge speakers. It's unlikely your neighbors will be happy with your cabinet even if it's on low, but your fans will love it.
Guitar cabinets come in two basic constructions: open back and closed back. If you prefer some serious volume an open back cabinet is your best bet. The exposed speaker back allows the sound to go further but can also end up having a more loose tone than the closed option. Closed back cabinets offer a tighter sound but can't get to the same volume as the open-back. It all depends on what you're playing and what decibel levels you want to reach.
The types of speakers contained in cabinets go by size and quantity of speakers within for good reason. Speaker cones with a large diameter offer optimal bass frequencies, while small cones produce better treble tones. If you're a grungy power chord fan, you may want a large cone, whereas a guitarist who loves shredding might prefer some extra treble.
There are an array of sizes and speaker configurations available to suit your needs. Once you decide how you want to present your signature sound to a bigger audience, you'll be able to figure out which cabinet is right for you. When you find the speaker cabinet that's right for you, you'll feel like you did way back at that first show.
Our product catalog varies by country due to manufacturer restrictions. If you change the Ship-To country, some or all of the items in your cart may not ship to the new destination.


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Psychologist Michelle Watson explains from years of experience in witnessing this. read more
Charisma Magazine
Page 5 of 122
11 Ways for a Man to Keep Himself Pure
A FivestarMan is gallant in his relationships with women. read more
10 Ways to Plan a Romantic Getaway
The key word here is getaway. read more
What Makes Godly Character?
Character flows from our heart. It's who we really are at our core. read more
Spiritually Happy Men: Habit No. 3
We were made for so much more than what society can give us. Here is habit No. 3 of spiritually happy men. read more
Put On Your Raincoat: Why Family Support Is Crucial in a Storm
The Bible says two are better than one. read more
What Is the Secret of True Greatness?
Hint: It has nothing to do with ego. read more
5 Secrets That Can Ruin a Marriage
What other secrets do spouses commonly keep that hurt the marriage? read more
Spiritually Happy Men Do This
This is habit No. 2 of six habits of spiritually happy men. read more
As Men, What Does God Want From Us?
God calls us to do this one thing, not another. read more
Prophetic Warning: Confederacy of Dark Forces Planning Olympic Terror Attack
The Lord also showed me He is calling undercover intercessors to press into new realms of prayer to ...
5 Ways to Cultivate a Discerning Spirit
Even people who walk closely with God and hear His voice accurately can—and ...
Free Ebook: The Ultimate Guide to Reaching Millennials
Position your church to reach millennials by discovering what makes them tick
Pastor Prophesies a 'Spirit of Assassination and Murder' Will Overtake RNC
Fast and pray that this dark spirit will be thwarted.
5 Truths to Understand When Leading Leaders
If you are in leadership for any length of time, there will probably come a time where you will need to lead other leaders.
7 Reasons Your Organization Suffers from Marketing Malpractice
Receive Dr. Steve Greene's 7 Reasons Your Organization Suffers from Marketing Malpractice, plus 3 Things to Do Now to Prevent Further Damage as your FREE download.
10 Things I Wish I Had Known When I Was 30
I often tell the guys I mentor: "I wish I had known this when I was your age."
How the Death of This Pastor's Son Sparked Personal Revival
Listen to these podcasts to gain insight on how the head of the Church of God of Prophecy turned ...
Why You Need to Pray in Tongues Now More Than Ever
The answer is found in Isaiah 60.
The 3 Stages of Satan's Last Days Strategy Against Us
Here's how we can avoid falling for Satan's setup.
6 Reasons This Popular Meditation Trend Is Dangerous for Christians
This is not what God meant when He spoke to Joshua.
When Thousands of Pro-Trump Bikers Rolled Into Cleveland
The easy riders wound up helping beef up security.
Can You Be Rejected by God?
Hosea 4:6 clearly holds the answer to that question.
Free Ebook: The Ultimate Guide to Reaching Millennials
Position your church to reach millennials by discovering what makes them tick
5 Truths to Understand When Leading Leaders
If you are in leadership for any length of time, there will probably come a time where you will need to lead other leaders.
How God Defines Success in Your Walk With Him
In His eyes, this is much more important.
Lisa Bevere: When You Don't Make the Cut
The following account is a sadly true and embarrassingly ridiculous story about me.
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A Sobering Prophecy About the Spirit of Judgment and Burning
"The remnant church will not experience the outpouring of the glory required for the awakening ...
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The ERISC (Environmental Risk in Sovereign Credit) methodology focuses on the development of metrics and methods for quantifying natural resource and environmental risks so they can be incorporated into country risk assessments used by insurance companies, investors and credit rating agencies.
ERISC Phase I demonstrated for the first time that natural resource-related environmental issues can affect the economic and sovereign credit risk situation of countries in ways that can be identified and quantified.
In partnership with UNEP FI and 14 leading financial institutions, Global Footprint Network examined resource trends and their economic implications for five countries.
As part of this project, we distilled the country risk profiles of Brazil, France, India, Japan and Turkey into four dimensions:
- Resource balance graded the ratio of the country's Ecological Footprint to its biocapacity.
- Trade-related risk evaluated the country's exposure to natural resource price volatility as well as its exposure to supply disruption.
- Degradation-related risk assessed the country's exposure to declining productivity of its ecological assets as a result of resource overharvesting.
- Financial resilience appraised the ability of a country to respond to adverse macroeconomic shocks.
This comparative assessment was developed as a starting point for comparing risk profiles and for further exploration and development.
On Nov. 19, 2012, the key findings of the ERISC: A New Angle on Sovereign Credit Risk report were unveiled at an interactive event hosted by Bloomberg in London
The research demonstrated how importers and exporters of natural resources such as fossil fuel, timber, fish and crops are exposed to the increasing volatility that accompanies rising global resource scarcity. Meanwhile, the economic consequences of environmental degradation can be severe. For example, we estimated:
- A 10 percent variation in commodity prices is equivalent to changes in a country's trade balance amounting to more than 0.5 percent of GDP.
- A 10 percent reduction in the productive capacity of soils and freshwater areas alone is equivalent to a reduction in the trade balance equivalent to more than 4 percent of GDP.
The methodology relied on Ecological Footprint and biocapacity metrics to assess a country's resource risks in order to identify how they might affect sovereign credit risk. The traditional focus on renewable biological resources by Global Footprint Network (such as fisheries, forests, cropland and grazing land) was supplemented with data on non-renewable natural resources including fossil fuels, metals and minerals to provide a more comprehensive definition of natural resources.
For the figure above, the X-axis shows sovereign credit ratings (foreign currency) for five countries (source: Standard & Poor's, 2012) and sovereign credit default swaps (source: Markit, 2012). Sources for data shown on Y-axis: A) Global Footprint Network calculations based on UNCTAD data for 2010; B) Global Footprint Network calculations.
ERISC methodology has now been applied to over 100 nations.
Learn More
Towards a New Framework to Account for Environmental Risk in Sovereign Credit Risk Analysis: Co-authored by Global Footprint Network policy analyst Martin Halle, this article was one of the top three most downloaded articles in the Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment in 2014. As a result, it is available for free download until June 30, 2015, courtesy of publisher Routledge.
November 2012 Blogpost: Launch of ERISC Report


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UTSA falls to Samford, 2-0
SAN ANTONIO — Samford scored one goal in each half and kept UTSA off the scoreboard en route a 2-0 victory on Sunday afternoon at Park West Athletics Complex.
Laylla da Cruz led the offense with three shots, while goalkeeper Bubba Makela made four saves for the Roadrunners (1-5), who closed out a four-match home stand.
Meanwhile, Katie Peters recorded a pair of saves for the Bulldogs (3-2) and recorded her third shutout of the season. Amanda Abbott and Hallie Georgi supplied the offense with their first goals of the season.
Samford controlled the action for much of the first half and out-shot UTSA, 8-5.
After Makela made three saves in the first 16 minutes, the visitors broke through in the 18th minute on Abbott's strike. The Marrietta, Ga., native was set up by passes from Anna Allen and Michelle Moll before slipping past the defense and beating Makela to her left.
The score remained 1-0 until the 52nd minute, when Georgi stole the ball from a Roadrunners defender and she cashed in on a one-on-one opportunity for the final margin.
The match was halted in the 75th minute due to lightning in the area and UTSA nearly sliced the lead in half just after the delay.
Da Cruz looked to put the Roadrunners on the board in the 80th minute when she sent a free kick from 25 yards out that hit off the crossbar. The Bulldogs cleared the rebound and drained the final 10 minutes off the clock for the victory.
UTSA kicks off a three-match road trip on Friday, Sept. 13, at Kentucky (4-1-1).


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I usually use Dual boot with WinXP and UBUNTU 11.04, but few days ago,one colleague made a mistake by installing again Ubuntu 11.04 on same partition where already it was present.
And Before that I had updated the Ubuntu 11.04,but in new installation,I had to do again, as Prompted by the system.
And In Grub Boot Loader,The list of OS shows following: 1.Ubuntu 2.previous linux 3.winXp.
So, how can I clean up my ubuntu Disk space by removing Duplicates files from New ubuntu installation ,caused by previous linux installation.


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Please enter a maximum of 5 recipients. Use ; to separate more than one email address.
The plant will install UOP's Tatoray process technology to boost yields of certain petrochemicals by more than 70%, along with adding flexibility to produce petrochemicals or gasoline as demand changes.
Honeywell's UOP has been selected by Japan's Taiyo Oil to
supply technology and catalysts to improve
operational flexibility and increase petrochemical production at the
Shikoku complex in Ehime, Japan.
The plant will install UOP's Tatoray process technology to allow it to boost
yields of certain petrochemicals by more than 70%, and
give the plant more flexibility to produce petrochemicals or gasoline as demand
Demand for petrochemicals in Asia is growing,
while gasoline demand is expected to decrease due to stricter
fuel specifications and increased demand for fuel-efficient
vehicles, said Pete Piotrowski, senior vice president and
general manager of UOP's process technology and equipment
The Tatoray process will significantly increase
mixed xylene and benzene production, allowing Taiyo to respond
to the regions growing petrochemical demand, and it will
give them the operational flexibility to also produce
high-quality gasoline as needed," he added. "We look forward to
continuing our longstanding relationship with Taiyo as we work
to complete this project.
UOP noted that it has worked with Taiyo for nearly 30
years, and has provided almost all of the process units for its
Shikoku site.
The new Tatoray unit is expected to produce 300,000
tpy of mixed xylene and high-purity beneze, which will require
no further processing. The unit is expected to start up in
The Tatoray process converts toluene and C9
aromatics to mixed xylenes and high-purity benzene without the
need for sulfolane extraction, according to UOP
officials. The process can more than double mixed xylene
production from a given naphtha feedstock, while significantly
reducing the overall cost of production, making it one of the
most economical ways to increase xylene and benzene yields in
an aromatics complex.
UOP says the latest-generation Tatoray
catalysts have also demonstrated superior activity and
stability in multiple commercial applications. These catalysts
enable higher on-stream efficiency with minimum cracking and
the lowest hydrogen consumption for petrochemical-grade benzene and
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Engineers and designers are highly skilled individuals. Forcing them to enter design changes using tables, forms and spreadsheets is unproductive and uneconomical, and it increases the likelihood of human error—this is the way that most instrumentation software systems currently work. For too long, software vendors have denied engineers and designers the simple practicality of a graphical visual engineering interface with "drag and drop" capability and inbuilt intelligence, ensuring changes are automatically replicated into all the associated data and databases.
Is 2016 the peak for US gasoline demand?
Too soon to tell
July 2016


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Robyn Meredith
Recent and archived news articles by Robyn Meredith of The New York Times.
Playing Chinese Chess
In return for leaning on North Korea, China wants the United States to lean on Japan.
May 11, 2013, Saturday
Road From Prison to Jobs Gets Smoother
Most job applicants have butterflies. People who have just finished serving time in prison have more than usual. They dread the inevitable question about what landed them in prison. Some parolees say they try to keep their ankles out of sight...
April 3, 2000, Monday
Former G.M. Executive Forms Web Site for Minority Suppliers
A former General Motors executive announced today that he had formed an Internet company that would aim to make it easier for the largest American companies to buy parts and supplies from minority-owned companies. ''We want to ensure that minority...
March 22, 2000, Wednesday
Marketing Executive At G.M. to Retire
Philip Guarascio, General Motors' vice president in charge of advertising and corporate marketing, will retire effective May 1 after 14 years with the company, the world's largest advertiser. Mr. Guarascio, 58, recently underwent successful triple...
March 21, 2000, Tuesday
Marketing departments are turning to poets to help inspire their companies' clientele.
IT turns out there is more of a connection between poetry and business than ad jingles like ''Plop plop, fizz fizz, oh, what a relief it is.'' Increasingly, marketing departments at companies nationwide are distributing books of poetry, hoping...
March 21, 2000, Tuesday
Pharmaton Natural Health, Ridgefield, Conn., a division of Boehringer Ingelheim, to DDB New York, part of the DDB Worldwide Communications Group unit of the Omnicom Group, as agency of record. The account, with estimated billings of $15 million to...
March 21, 2000, Tuesday
Wieden & Kennedy Shifts a Manager
Tom Blessington, the managing director at the New York office of Wieden & Kennedy, is returning to the agency's headquarters in Portland, Ore. Mr. Blessington, 37, helped open the New York office in 1997 after helping open the agency's office in...
March 21, 2000, Tuesday
BMW Will Shed Rover, Selling Sport Utility Vehicle Line to Ford
Six years and nearly $6 billion after buying the Rover Group, BMW of Germany abandoned the British automaker today. BMW essentially gave Rover's money-losing car business to a little-known group of British investors. And it negotiated a deal to...
March 17, 2000, Friday
They Hope to Move Up By Learning to Log On
Small hands shot up when Daniel S. Varner asked his after-school class of mostly poor, mostly African-American children here, ''Who can tell me what the Internet is?'' ''It's like a big dictionary,'' said Jordan Nichols, 9. ''A new way of...
March 13, 2000, Monday
Illegal Immigrants Find Danger and Appeal in Northern Route
In the winter, the frozen river here creaks and moans as if lost souls were being swept along by the relentless current underneath the ice. It is this unlikely spot, where the St. Clair River separates this rural Michigan region from Canada, that has...
February 27, 2000, Sunday
Rss Feeds On Robyn Meredith
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At Pottery Barn, we take great pride in the quality and craftsmanship of our products. Attention to design, materials, safety and construction is our priority. We carefully inspect your order prior to shipment. Upon receipt, please inspect your purchase and notify us of any damage; we will arrange for a prompt replacement. If, within 7 days for Quick Ship upholstery and 30 days for all other products, you are dissatisfied for any reason, you may return your purchase for a refund of the merchandise value.
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Extra-cranial Stereotactic Radiosurgery
John Han-Chih Chang, MD and Kenneth Blank, MD
Last Modified: November 1, 2001
Dear OncoLink "Ask the Experts,"
Is stereotactic radiosurgery used for inoperable tumors in non-brain areas? If so, where can I find further information about it, and where is such work taking place?
Thanks for your consideration,
Kenneth Blank, MD and John Han-Chih Chang, MD, OncoLink Editorial Assistants, respond:
Dear A.S.,
Thank you for your interest and question.
Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is a modality that utilizes external beam radiation therapy. Its proposed benefit over conventional externalbeam radiation therapy is that higher doses of radiation can be given to tumors and some benign lesions without damage to the surrounding normal tissues.
With any external beam radiation therapy, the highest dose of radiation develops at the intersection of multiple beams. Thus, the less beams there are, the more dosereaches the other areas the beam traverses. For example, a treatment that only includes two beams, such as an anterior and posterior field, would distribute the dose tothe front and back of the patient. The highest dose would be in the middle, but dose would be distributed from front to back. If a four-field technique was utilized, the dose again would be highest at the middle. The "extra" dose would be distributed from front to back and laterallymore area would receive radiation, but the dose wouldbe diminished in each of those areas respectively.
SRS uses the above principle to tightly conform a maximum dose around a small target and minimize dose to surrounding structures by employing many fields simultaneously. The key to SRS is immobilization of the patient so that targeting can be accurate and precise, since conforming the radiation dose to the target leaves little margin for error. This has been successfully performed in brain lesions, both benign and malignant, with the assistance of the head frame (immobilization devicethat "screws" into the skull). The head frame allows reproducibility of patient positioning between the planning/targeting and treatment sessions.
SRS has been attempted in extra-cranial areas. It continues to be investigational. As we alluded to earlier, SRS relies on reproducibility of positioning. With the extra-cranial sites, reproducibility and immobilization are difficult to come by, since just normal breathing can move a pulmonary or abdominal tumor more than 1 cm. A body frame has been utilized to immobilize patients for such treatment. Reports are few and far between on the success of such treatment. One articlefrom Stockholm, Sweden reports on 31 patients treated for solitary lesions in the liver, lungs and retroperitoneum. They stated that there was a 50% response rate. In the United States, Dr. Gil Lederman at the Staten Island University in New York and possibly the University of Florida in Gainesville have the capability to perform suchSRS on extra-cranial sites. No data has yet been reported from these two institutions on SRS on the other areas of the body, but trials are underway.
I wish u knew... Understanding prostate cancer screeningby Timothy J. Hampshire
December 06, 2012
3 Great Reasons To Have Gratitude On Your Cancer Teamby Marlys Johnson
July 25, 2016


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"(A) recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, found that 60 percent of respondents support increasing taxes on incomes more than $250,000 a year, including a meaningful 39 percent of Republicans. ... However, when you ask the public what the top tax rate should be, you get a completely different picture of reality. In a survey conducted by The Hill in February, 61 percent of likely voters said the top tax rate should be 25 percent or less, a rate that is substantially lower than the present top rate, demonstrating majority support for lowering taxes below what they are today. ... Only 4 percent supported a top tax rate of 40 percent, which is closest to the proposal of President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats to increase the top rate to 39.6 percent. This is worth repeating: Only 4 percent of the public supports the tax rate Democrats are trying to force successful small businesses and individuals to pay."
— Let Freedom Ring President Colin Hanna and Executive Director Alex Cortes, Roll Call op-ed, "Public support of tax increase is a myth," Dec. 10
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NYC's Hoop Dream Frenzy
New York
Two playoff games, one town, one train. Had a certain romantic appeal, didn't it? But only so romantic. If you are charmed by the subway in New York City, you have not spent enough time on the subway in New York City. Ride underground often, you see things. You smell things.
You encounter crowds and sweat and occasionally someone eating soup without a shirt on. Don't get me wrong: The subway is the engine of New York life, a miracle of engineering. Just don't sit in that seat over there. Trust me. You don't want to know why.
But this was irresistible. The New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets were each playing first-round openers within hours of each other Saturday. Could a rich basketball city feel any richer? Game one was in Manhattan at Madison Square Garden, the second game across the bridge at Brooklyn's billion-dollar armadillo called the Barclays Center. It was the first time anyone could remember basketball happening like this, probably because basketball like this had never happened before.
The Knicks went first. They were hosting the Boston Celtics, ordinarily a nemesis at the Garden, but given the marathon tragedy—and the capture of the surviving suspect Friday night—there was a respectful vibe from the crowd. Before the game, Knicks star Carmelo Anthony joined Boston's Paul Pierce at center court to recognize the bombing victims and the first responders. As Pierce spoke, a knot of boos began to collect in the upper deck, only to be shushed away by the crowd. Anthony was irritated by the jeers. Not today. "I don't think that was the right thing to do," Anthony said after the game.
The Knicks won 54 games this season, their best record since Bill Clinton's second term, and for a team that hasn't won a playoff series in 13 years, there are heavy expectations. Anything less than a conference-final showdown with Miami will be considered a disappointment, and there are even some tinfoil hats who believe the Knicks will vanquish the LeBron James and the Heat. The Garden doesn't buzz with happy-to-be-here contentment. Saturday was more like the first day of exams. Boston, then onward. Knicks fans want to be here for a while.
Of course, the Celtics are the Celtics, wrinkly and experienced, and they will not be an easy out. They led at the half, and it appeared the Knicks were falling into familiar traps: poor one-on-one defense and too much one-on-one offense, specifically from Anthony, who if asked to pass the butter might launch it for three instead. But in the third quarter, the Celtics began to cough and sputter. They were aging on the spot, and their turnovers had turnovers. The Knicks weren't great, but they were better. It was enough for a win, and the first Knicks playoff series lead in more than a decade. "It's going to be a battle," Anthony said. "We didn't really do anything."
Then it was onto the choo-choo, below the water and into Brooklyn, where the Nets were bracing for their inaugural playoff at the Barclays. There was an undeniable thrill to it—the trip took all of 15 minutes. Playoff game to playoff game, in the time it takes to wait in the beer line at an NFL game.
If the Knicks had treated their opener as business as usual, the relocated Nets were like eager parents throwing a birthday party for a 1-year-old. Guests were instructed to arrive in head-to-toe black, like '90s fashion editors, or mimes. There was a drum corps rattling away at the stadium entrance, and inside, free T-shirts and black-and-white cookies with HELLO PLAYOFFS scribbled in frosting. Jerry Stackhouse—the Nets player—sang the national anthem. Jay-Z arrived courtside. Before the opening tip, Russian owner Mikhail Prokhorov, dressed sleekly in a black blazer, took a microphone and addressed the crowd. "Thank you for your passion," he said. "It is only the beginning." He looked like he was about to tell everybody to put their coats on the guest-room bed and help themselves to the hors d'oeuvres.
It was all a little much, but you can't blame the Nets for rolling out the red carpet. The Brooklyn team itself is energetic but a little charisma-deprived, and the new hometown is still getting comfortable with its first pro franchise in more than a half century. (At the artisanal-obsessed Barclays, the food remains more famous than the players.) But the basketball was impressive Saturday night. Propelled by re-energized point guard Deron Williams, the Nets raced to a lopsided win, routing the Chicago Bulls, who looked listless and in need of a nap. It was the first playoff victory in Brooklyn since 1956, when the Dodgers beat the Yankees in Game 6 of the World Series at long-gone Ebbets Field.
One day, two teams, two wins. The Knicks and the Nets aren't exactly antagonists—it's often been an asymmetrical rivalry, with one club up as the other struggled, or both rattling around the ocean floor of the Eastern Conference.
But real energy has been gained with the Nets' move from Jersey to Brooklyn. It feels like the beginning of something. There's a slim chance the Knicks and Nets could meet each other in the playoffs—it probably involves the Nets beating the Heat, so don't bet the mortgage, or even a ballpoint pen—but something has already been proven. New York basketball is rising again. Hold the subway door.
Write to Jason Gay at firstname.lastname@example.com
The WSJ projects Team USA to win the overall medal race in Rio—thanks largely to its dominant contingent of female stars.
Perfect, Freaky Olympic Bodies
We focused on four types of athletes—cyclists, weightlifters, swimmers and high jumpers—to imagine just how different 'faster, stronger, higher,' could look.
The Olympic Fantasy Confronts Reality
The scrutiny facing Rio epitomizes the changing perception of the Games.
Brazil Calls in the Military to Win Olympic Gold
Brazil has enlisted athletes in its military to boost the country's chances for gold.
How to Make Olympic Basketball Interesting
Team USA's dominance means the most intriguing thing to watch in Rio is how the subtle differences of the international game
Rio Olympics 2016


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D'Artagnan for dessert: Black Truffle Ice Cream with Truffle Honey Florentines
It's no secret, we love to eat. And while 99% of the time you'll find us posting about our various, in-office meaty adventures, we also make time to enjoy the sweeter treats in life. So last week, when there was a rogue truffle floating around the D'Artagnan kitchen, we put it to good use by mixing up a batch of Black Truffle Ice Cream.
While sweet fungus-studded ice cream may sound strange to some – it was absolutely delicious. The earthy truffle aroma was subtle and nicely balanced by bourbon vanilla. We started with the best vanilla ice cream recipe we know of, David Lebovitz's version from his brilliant book, The Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments. (If you have an ice cream maker and don't have this book – run, run, run out and get it – it's the only one you'll ever need!) David's recipe starts with a traditional French custard, to which we added a couple of extra yolks. (You could actually substitute duck eggs for an even richer custard – next time!) We added a splash of the aperitif, Lacheze Liqueur a la Truffe, a holiday gift from Chef David Malbequi. We crowned the finished glace with crisp, truffle honey Florentine cookies which we adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies book. Very, very good and super easy. Recipe is after the jump… Read more


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by Melissa Brunner
I sat in the Sunflower Ballroom Tuesday surrounded by some of the most accomplished women in the Topeka community. They were past recipients of the ABWA Career Chapters Woman of Distinction honor, gathered to applaud the 2014 honoree, retired Kansas Court of Appeals Judge Christel Marquardt.
I looked at her, then at the group which included former two former state cabinet secretaries, an advertising executive, hospital administrator, philanthropy leaders and more. I couldn't help but wonder if any of them had ever been called "bossy."
Bossy is a huge buzz word this week. It is thrust into the spotlight thanks to the "Ban Bossy" campaign launched by Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg, joined by Girl Scouts CEO Anna Maria Chavez. As BanBossy.com explains:
When a little boy asserts himself, he's called a "leader." Yet when a little girl does the same, she risks being branded "bossy." Words like bossy send a message: don't raise your hand or speak up.
Sandberg's campaign encourages people to stop using the word "bossy," thereby ending the negative connotation the descriptor might carry. According to the campaign, girls are twice as likely as boys to worry that taking a leadership role might make them seem bossy, so they hold back, starting a trend that could continue into adulthood and deprive the world of all they might have been compelled to achieve.
While the campaign has attracted support from the likes of Condoleezza Rice, Jennifer Garner, Victoria Beckham and Beyonce, it also has ignited a firestorm of criticism. Consider just a few of the tweets:
There are many other demeaning and stereotypical words and images aimed towards women aside from "bossy". Let's ban those too. #banbossy
— Vanessa. (@_vanessamarissa) March 12, 2014
I'm all about women being leaders, but #banbossy is beyond stupid.
— laurajean (@lauraabullard) March 12, 2014
I gotta admit, I thought the #banbossy effort was an anti-bullying campaign. Nope, it's a bullying campaign to stop us calling bullies bossy
— Theo Cloirk (@TomCrowe) March 12, 2014
And a column by Mollie Hemingway posted at The Federalist listed seven reasons why the campaign is "ridiculous. You can read it here.
So who is right? I would submit that both sides are.
To say that banning the word "bossy" is being overprotective of girls, shielding them from something that might hurt their feelings; or that it doesn't make sense because boys, too, can be called "bossy" is true. However, it is also oversimplifying the intent of the campaign.
Encouraging girls to lead does not shield girls at all. If anything, it puts them at greater risk for being hurt. Leaders are not always successful. Leaders must learn how to get back up after failing. Leaders also will face rejection. Leaders must learn, not how to be bossy, but how to rally followers around a common objective.
Critics also say the Sandberg campaign uses the terms "bossy" and "leadership" interchangeably. I agree that these two words are not the same thing. Being bossy is a negative for both boys and girls. Being called bossy can be just as detrimental to a shy boy as it is to a quiet girl. Being assertive and not hiding your skills or limiting your contributions are not actions that are bossy. They are examples of confidence in yourself and your abilities.
This, to me, is the crux of where I see people oversimplifying what #BanBossy is. It is not about banning the word, so much as it is about banning the attitude. It is not about admonishing boys to shut up; it is about encouraging girls to speak up. No, not every girl aspires to be a corporate CEO or political leader or legal great. That's okay. But girls and young women should be encouraged to develop the skills they will need to take care of themselves and succeed in whatever walk of life they might choose. If you delver further into BanBossy.com, you will find examples of how gender attitudes slip into the workplace and classroom and how we can recognize and change them in ourselves and others. You will find figures on how gender bias exhibits itself in pay and representation in corporate leadership positions. It is information that definitely goes beyond the use of a single word.
I do not think "leader" when I think "bossy" - I think "bully." Call out bossy where you see it and foster positive, effective leadership skills in children. Just make sure that what you are defining as bossy behavior is not colored by engrained stereotypes, gender or otherwise. THAT is what the Ban Bossy campaign is trying to tell us.
I did not ask Judge Marquardt if she ever was called bossy, but I did ask her why we still need to recognize the achievements of women speficially. She said it is because discrimination still exists. It may not be as blatant as when she was entering the legal profession in the mid-70s, but, she says, it is still there.


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The AMSOIL Great American CT TourWritten by on February 1, 2013 Four Days, Four Races. The Tour goes back to back at State Park and Madison International Speedways
Now that we are firmly entrenched in Wisconsin, we are about to undertake an ambitious run of four racetracks in four days. We started out from our KOA campground site in central WI, at Hixton, and traveled to State Park Speedway for a Thursday night event. SPS is located next to Rib Mountain State Park in Wausau, hence the name.
Next, we hit the road to Madison International Speedway, some 140 miles south for a Friday night show, then west to Elko Speedway on Saturday and finally wrapping up the string for a Sunday afternoon race at the high banked Slinger Speedway.
All in all, we will put 1,200 miles on the Tour bus and be on the road for six days. It was well worth it though, because we got to see some great promoting, innovative teams, and fans who would come to a race during the middle of the week and on Sundays. This issue, we will be highlighting the races at State Park and Madison Int. Speedways. Here goes.
State Park Speedway
SPS is an ASA affiliated track that is a quarter-mile in length, owned and operated by long time racers, Ron and Scott Wimmer. On this Thursday, it was very hot, hitting 94 degrees, while back in Florida, where I came from, it was only 84. The standard question when people saw where we were from was, "Did you come up north to cool off?" Evidently not.
The Wimmers are hands on owners and run this track very well. They had the services of Mike "Lumpy" Lempke on hand to oversee the tech'ing of the cars and I had the chance to finally meet Mike and talk a little bit about the current rules packages for ASA and others. The feeling among some racers and car owners is that the rules might be due for some review and changes made to reflect the way the cars are setup in this day and age.
Overall, I found that Mike was firm in his interpretation of the current rules, but fairly flexible about looking into next years and beyond wording of the rules. This is something that is ongoing with the staff at Circle Track and we find most sanctions and tracks to be willing to listen to us on various issues. And that is a start.
The Mid-American Stock Car Series was here on a scheduled appearance for their tour. This series is a very cool sanction for Sportsman car type of racing where you can bring your car to different racetracks, not spend a fortune doing that and receive a fair set of rules that allow for different engine packages and, somewhat, body styles.
This year, 28 teams have scored points in this series at 12 race events held at eight different racetracks within this region. Series co-owners, Doug and Julie Strasburg took over the series after the passing of the founder, Gary Vercauteran. The first race under their leadership was on April 1, 2006.
They came back to a series that they had left due to reasons only they can speak about, but were determined to grow the numbers of teams. As Julie explains on their website, "In being able to increase (car) counts, we are first enforcing the rules."
I can only surmise from that, that there was some problem with enforcement in previous years. As we have pushed in CT, when you enforce the rules for everyone, you stop losing teams and start growing your car counts.
The track owners here are very sensitive to the families who attend the races. A very centrally located and modern play area was setup for the kids and to help them with the heat, a water spray area behind the grandstands drew many youngsters who ran through the sprinklers to cool off. It was fun to watch and I wanted to take a trip through the spray myself, but refrained.
My notes from the event (this is written some nine weeks later) show that the racing was clean, with little or no cautions for the divisions, even with plenty of two wide racing going on.
"The feeling among some racers and car owners is that the rules might be due for some review and changes made to reflect the way the cars are setup in this day and age."
There is a very cool track bar setup where many fans gathered during and after the races. The party there went on well into the wee hours of the next morning, a Friday I do recall. The announcers were excellent, a plus we have talked about numerous times, and the race was broadcast live via a local radio station, 100.5 FM.
Despite the heat, we had a cool time at State Park and we got the feeling that everyone enjoyed coming here and being a part of the event. The track management just made it that way. So, we see a good future for SPS and it should continue to grow as does the economy. Our hats go off to Ron and Scott Wimmer for all of their hard work and thanks for having us.
Madison International Speedway
This is not the first time I visited Madison. I came here in 1999 as one team's engineer and again with Pete Raskovic and the Urban Force Racing Team from Beloit Memorial High School. I find the track to be fast, technical to a degree and where it is hard to pass, but possible with the right setup.
I met Kevin Ramsell, the Director of Public Relations for ASA, upon arrival and he treated us to a downtown tour of Madison, the state capital of Wisconsin. During lunch we discussed the track, his home track, and all that goes on with it. Kevin was a big help here and at other tracks where we would run into him at. He knows all of the teams and the story behind them.
The temperatures were up from the day before and we saw 103 degrees on the thermometer in the afternoon. Several tracks in the vicinity cancelled their programs that weekend due to the extreme heat. But once the sun went down, the temperatures came down to tolerable levels and the racing was not affected.
Plenty of race teams showed up and the grandstands were showing good numbers of fans in attendance. Madison has struggled as of late with their class structures and rules packages. But the management, including Jason Tyler, is hard at work reviewing how things have gone in the past and how they can make things better for the future.
Everything is there for success, they just have to find a set of rules and a class structure that will appeal to the teams, and then stick with it to encourage better attendance. Many tracks struggle with this and along the way on this Tour, we have uncovered various methods and tricks that other tracks have developed that have enhanced their programs. We will be sharing that information as we write about each track visit.
One thing I liked here at Madison was that the Legends class ran the shorter infield course instead of the half-mile track. I think that was both more entertaining and safer. Some tracks like Madison are too long and fast for these types of cars. They have a high power to weight ratio and can attain very high speeds. But the chassis may not be well suited for high speed impacts with concrete walls in my opinion.
In some of the classes, we saw some interesting cars. One of the late models had a true Camaro looking body on it and one of the Sportsman cars had a station wagon body style. He actually won his race in that car. It's kind of cool to see different body styles racing in these events and I think the fans feel the same way.
"The Mid-American Stock Car Series was here on a scheduled appearance for their tour. This series is a very cool sanction for sportsman car type of racing where you can bring your car to different racetracks, not spend a fortune doing that and receive a fair set of rules that allow for different engine packages and somewhat body styles."
The show was well run and everything ran on schedule. The racing was over at 10 p.m., something other tracks seems to struggle with. Most attendees, including both fans and racers, want to get home at a decent hour. Having an event run late is hard on everyone.
We were especially glad to have the opportunity to retire before midnight because we had a 305-mile run to our race the next day at Elko Speedway. And that is a convenient segue into speaking of the next issue of our Tour report for next month's CT.
The next race is indeed at Elko Speedway located just south of the Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, metropolis and we then travel east the following day all the way across the state of Wisconsin to Slinger Speedway. It's a high-banked and very fast quarter-mile racetrack that I have wanted to see for some time now, having spoken with many of the racers who run there over the past few years.
That will conclude our four racetrack run in four days and then we are off to a few more Wisconsin tracks and adventures before heading west for Montana. We are learning a lot so far and we will be sharing those lessons with you as we do our monthly report. I thought the Michigan and Wisconsin regions would be the greatest learning experience for us this year, but I was pleasantly surprised at what I saw when we moved farther west.
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Due to the high heat, the kids took advantage of a sprinkler system installed behind the grandstands at SPS. They would run through the spray of water, get soaked and be cool for a time. Then when things heated up again, they would reappear for another run.Doug Strasburg (clipboard in hand) speaks to the racers of the Mid-American Stock Car Series before the races. He, along with his wife Julie, own and run the series. It's very popular with racers in that class and they get to travel, like the Super Late teams, to different racetracks around the region. I liked the concept a lot, and there is room for variation in the body styles like using the Camaro and Mustang or Challenger bodies that will become available soon.The track management for MIS put us right in the middle of the pit action. We setup our Tour bus between the tracks turns one and two and the hot pits. Our brightly colored AMSOIL bus stands out wherever we go.This Sportsman class car at Madison was built to look like a station wagon and was a big hit. It even won its race coming from behind late in the going. Fans love different looking cars. Note that it doesn't have a spoiler. Could that roof line be an advantage? We might see more of these in the near future.There were plenty of Legends cars racing at Madison. They ran on a smaller infield track around concrete highway barriers which caused a few problems. If they tried to take too much of an inside line, they got pinched into the wall and then tore up some suspension parts.The track at Madison was technical and here we see the No. 25 Late Model team going over notes in a team meeting. The hardest thing for a team to do is practice at 110-plus degrees and then race at temps less than 80 degrees track temperature. The car will be loose off during practice from the hot asphalt, and then tighten up come race time. If the car is loose in practice, leave it alone and don't "chase" the setup or you'll end up way too tight at night.