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The DTX and revamped Transbay Terminal were planned since long before the high speed rail project, to better connect Caltrain and the peninsula to San Francisco and the east bay. Long starved of funds, the project was finally approved by San Francisco voters in 1999, with the creation of a new Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA) charged with designing, building, operating and maintaining the DTX and the new Transbay Transit Center.
Fast-forward a decade, and Caltrain is playing second fiddle to the California High Speed Rail Authority, which (despite some past theatrics) fancies the Transbay Transit Center and its all-important underground train box as a northern terminus and veritable Grand Central of the West. Officials from the respective agencies are now squabbling over the design of the rail station, with the CHSRA's chairman Quentin Kopp calling the TJPA's design inadequate. (As it turns out, he may be right!) The disarray threatens the project's prospects for receiving economic stimulus funds, which has California politicians in Washington increasingly concerned that the appearance of "shovel readiness" is eluding their grasp.
The TJPA and CHSRA have developed a memorandum of understanding to govern future collaboration on the design of the DTX and Transbay Transit Center--not a moment too soon, since the TJPA plans to award construction contracts for Phase 1 of the project (possibly including the $390 million train box) starting in October 2009.
In this post, we'll discuss the rail component of the Transbay Transit Center and the DTX tunnel. We'll begin with a summary of the current train station design, as presented at the TJPA's March 12th board meeting (the source of most of the illustrations in this post), followed by some thoughts on what makes a good train station, and conclude with a discussion of shortcomings in the current TJPA design.
2013 Update: since this post was written in early 2009, the design of the TTC has evolved in small ways. These are discussed in a 2010 update and 2012 update.
Many thanks to Richard Mlynarik for his advice and enlightening discussion of these issues.
Current Train Station Design
A cross section of the TJPA's design for the Transbay Transit Center (as of late 2008) is shown at right. It is a long, narrow building that occupies approximately the same footprint as the Transbay Terminal and its ramps (see location map).
The underground train station is reached via a tunnel which starts a bit before the existing Caltrain terminal at 4th and King Streets. After a ramp down and a sharp right turn onto Townsend Street, the tunnel takes a sharp left onto 2nd Street, then a sharp right into the terminal building.
Station Layout. The Transbay rail station has two levels: a mezzanine level (immediately below grade) and a second basement level with platforms and tracks, as shown in the plan at right by TTC architects Pelli Clarke Pelli. The mezzanine level does not extend for the entire length of the station; the south end contains a Greyhound bus terminal, and a large portion is reserved for 'program space'. What remains of the mezzanine level is further subdivided: a central area concentrates passenger access and contains ticketing facilities and some retail shopping, and is flanked by a Caltrain waiting area on one side and a larger HSR waiting area on the other side, which will likely feature airline-like passenger security screening.
Track Configuration. The station has six tracks, tentatively numbered 21 through 26, from south to north. The two southernmost tracks (furthest from downtown) are dedicated to Caltrain. The remaining four tracks are dedicated to HSR. Due to differing platform height and passenger security requirements, the tracks are permanently assigned to Caltrain or HSR and cannot be switched. Adjacent tracks are placed on 16 ft 6 in (5 m) centers. Two tail tracks were originally planned to extend beyond the end of the terminal; their layout has changed several times, but they are now "deferred until operationally required." Of the many tail-track options evaluated (including a loop tunnel back to 4th & King), one configuration required the southern track to pinch inwards to avoid building foundations, cutting the Caltrain platform short. The only vestige of the tail tracks is a bulge in the end of the train box, with knock-down panels where a future tail track tunnel might be built, if they ever turn out to be "operationally required."
Platforms. The station is planned with three island platforms flanked by a track on each side, 1300 ft (400 m) long and 30 ft (10 m) wide, curving sharply at the entrance to the station. The curvature (500 ft or 150 m radius) opens gaps in excess of one foot (0.3 m) between the platform edge and train doors. The platform height is 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm) for the level-boarding HSR tracks, and 2 ft 1 in (639 mm) for Caltrain-- the latter value seemingly picked to match the floor height of a Bombardier car. A row of columns supporting the terminal building above runs along the length each platform, spaced on 42 ft 6 in (13 m) centers. The assumed HSR schedule turn-back time is 30 minutes, with a nominal platform dwell of 20 minutes, giving the four HSR tracks a total throughput of 6 high-speed trains per hour (after accounting for the delay required for another train to re-occupy the platform). The Caltrain schedule turn-back time is 20 minutes (nominal dwell of 18 minutes), giving the two Caltrain tracks a throughput of about 4 trains per hour (or 6 tph with tail tracks). The TJPA claims it can accommodate Caltrain's planned TTC ridership of 31,700 passengers per day (versus ~8000 per day at 4th & King today).
DTX Tunnel. The downtown extension tunnel is designed with three tracks. The portions of the tunnel close to grade level are built using cut-and-cover methods, with the middle portion mined under Rincon Hill, until Folsom St. (curved section shown in TJPA drawing at right). The tunnel includes a new underground Caltrain station along Townsend St. between 4th and 5th, adjacent to the existing 4th & King Caltrain terminal. This station has two short 800-ft (240 m) outside platforms, with the center track used for overtaking trains stopped at the station. Since rolling stock choices for Caltrain and HSR are yet to be determined, the engineering drawings show clearances sized for Bombardier cars. Like the TTC, the new 4th & Townsend station features a mezzanine level above the tracks, requiring the entire alignment to be built at sufficient depth to allow for the requisite clearances.
4th & King Station. The DTX project preserves the existing 4th & King station location as a Caltrain terminal and train storage yard, since the TTC's two platform tracks will not support Caltrain's anticipated service levels or allow diesel trains (diesels may be used for Dumbarton service). Caltrain is planning for eight platform tracks at 4th & King. Their Caltrain 2025 plan, Appendix D, issued before Caltrain was assigned just two platforms at the TTC, assumes that fully 60% of Caltrain services will terminate at 4th & King. None of the platforms at 4th & King will accommodate HSR, due to the difference in platform height.
Curve Radius. The 1.4-mile DTX features three extremely sharp curves that allow the tracks to conform as best they can to the San Francisco street grid. The minimum curve radius is just 500 feet (150 m), the sharpest allowable radius for European off-the-shelf trains, and too sharp for some Japanese high speed trains. In theory, such curves can be navigated at a maximum safe speed of 35 mph (55 km/h); in practice, slower speeds of 25 to 30 mph are likely. Regardless of the exact speed, such tight curves will elicit deafening screeches from the stiff, long-wheelbase bogies that are a technical necessity for high speed rail.
Station Throat. The track schematic above shows the configuration of the tunnel and underground station tracks, with the new underground Mission Bay station (under Townsend St.) also featured. The throat of the station, where the three tracks of the DTX tunnel divide into the six platform tracks of the TTC, begins all the way back at Bryant St., about 3800 ft (1150 m) before the bumpers at the end of the station platforms. At 25 mph, a train takes nearly two minutes to snake its way through the throat of the station. Most of the track switches are according to US freight (i.e. Caltrain) standards, AREMA #14's.
Passenger Access. The TJPA is sizing the station for simultaneous peak passenger flows of 5000 pax/hour for Caltrain and 4000 pax/hr for HSR. All vertical access (escalators and stairs) is oriented lengthwise along the station axis. Rather than accessing platforms directly from the street, passengers are funneled through a grand entrance and waiting areas in the mezzanine level. After accessing the platforms, passengers must walk some distance along the quarter-mile platform to their correct boarding location.
Grade Separations. Between the existing Tunnel #1 and the entrance to the new DTX tunnel, the Caltrain tracks cross 16th St. and Common St at grade. After the latter grade crossing, the tracks descend underground via a 1960 ft (600 m) open cut. A later grade separation of these streets would require demolishing this U-shaped open cut ramp and extending the DTX tunnel.
So What Makes a Good Train Station, Anyway?
Designing a train station for efficient operations is not rocket science, although space constraints can considerably complicate the exercise. The extremely constrained location of the TTC, combined with the very high level of train traffic envisioned by 2030, demand an intelligent station design.
We can draw up a simple list of three key requirements for a good terminal station design:
- High train throughput. By definition, all trains arriving at a terminus must reverse direction. The station must be able to turn back trains at the highest possible rate; otherwise, the station itself becomes a worse bottleneck than the tracks leading to it.
- High passenger throughput. The flows of passengers into and out of trains must be made as simple and direct as possible. This involves an optimization of street access, ticketing facilities, and vertical access to station platforms. Limited and circuitous passenger throughput can become a bottleneck at peak hours.
- Operational flexibility. The station must provide flexibility to adjust service patterns in response to real-time conditions. It must degrade gracefully in the event of a service disruption, minimizing the possibility of cascading delays.
Shortcomings of the TJPA Rail Design
Throat Cancer. The TJPA station throat design is a bottleneck that promises low speeds, long traversals and frequent conflicts (when a key piece of track is occupied by one train, preventing other trains from passing.) The train throughput of a station throat, which sets a limit on the throughput of the station itself, is related to its overall length (shorter is better), train speeds (higher is better) and most importantly, topology (track switches thoughtfully laid out to allow conflict-free parallel moves.) The station throat begins a full 3/4 mile (1150 m) from the end bumpers, causing trains to occupy the throat for far longer than necessary and increasing the delay required for a platform to be re-occupied by the next arriving train, thus limiting
Different Platform Heights. With Caltrain's fleet due for a complete replacement with the advent of electrification, and with Caltrain's platforms due for complete reconstruction with the track expansion for HSR, the opportunity exists to make HSR and Caltrain share the same standard platform height. (The shared use of the same platform by HSR and commuter trains is common practice in Europe.) Designing the two systems for different platform heights makes this already-constrained station design even less operationally flexible because platform tracks cannot be assigned as needed to (a) minimize conflicts in the station throat, (b) accommodate service peaks, and (c) recover from disruptions. While this isn't TJPA's decision to make, the TJPA, CHSRA and Caltrain should agree on a single existing standard that is based neither on California's outdated safety clearance regulations, which were written for freight trains in 1948, nor on the floor height of Bombardier cars. Inventing new platform standards will hinder the ability of both operators to procure trains
Mis-Oriented Passenger Flows. The dominant pedestrian flows, especially for Caltrain, come from the center of San Francisco, which lies along the flank of the station (unlike traditional European terminals, which are often oriented toward the city center). Vertical access to the station platforms should be oriented perpendicular to the station, towards Market Street, to make use of the inherent horizontal reach of stairs and escalators to bring passengers closer to their destinations. Funneling all passengers through a grand entrance, concourse, fare gate, etc., all along the skinny axis of the building, while perhaps architecturally spectacular, does nothing for passenger throughput. Caltrain monthly pass holders need to get from the street to the platform, pronto, without any scenic detours.
Extremely Tight Curves. While curve radii at the location of the TTC itself are dictated by the street grid and surrounding building foundations, the two curves in the DTX tunnel approach (to turn from 7th onto Townsend and from Townsend onto 2nd) are much sharper than they need to be, and beyond the capability of some off-the-shelf high speed trains. High speed trains aren't MUNI street cars and won't turn on a dime; they are longitudinally stiff to provide good stability at high speeds. At these two curves on the 1.5-mile approach to the station, the radius could be
Odd Tail Track Arrangement. Among the various design options considered before trail tracks were de-scoped, no clear function can be ascribed to the tail tracks under Main Street. They could theoretically have been used to increase HSR train throughput by (a) performing cleaning and resupply of trains without tying up a platform and (b) switching departing trains to the northern platform, to minimize conflicting moves in the station throat during departure. In practice, none of the TJPA's attempted tail track layouts exploited these possibilities; they amounted to very expensive train parking.
Oversized DTX Tunnel. Despite the high level of train traffic, a simple two-track tunnel into the station would do just fine. Because trains are limited to the same homogeneous speed by the sharp curves, a two-track tunnel could easily support 15 to 20 trains per hour, each way, or far more than the terminal could feasibly handle. The third track makes the tunnel needlessly expensive, and requires fancy construction techniques like the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM).
Suggestions for Improvement
All of the design issues enumerated above have been analyzed by San Francisco rail advocates, who have suggested numerous possible improvements for the DTX and TTC rail station in order to exploit the constrained site as efficiently as possible for both Caltrain and HSR. These detailed suggestions will be the subject of an upcoming post.
The rail infrastructure of the Downtown Extension and Transbay Transit Center is not nearly as sexy as sweeping glass towers and roof gardens: it's invisible, and for now, it's just a box. We can only wish that the architects realize the extent to which that simple, invisible box will determine the operational efficiency of San Francisco's train station for decades to come.


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The world's largest volcano has until now been lurking undiscovered in the depths of the Pacific Ocean, according to a team of scientists who identified the massive object and reported their findings in the latest issue of Nature Geoscience.
The newly revealed Tamu Massif volcano — located about 1,000 miles east of Japan and 4 miles below the ocean's surface — is about the size of New Mexico. It not only outclasses previous record holder Mauna Loa in Hawaii by about 60 times, but it's in the same league as Olympus Mons on the planet Mars, the largest known volcano in the solar system.
It's "a gee-whiz moment, where we say, 'There are volcanoes here as big as any we've seen elsewhere in the solar system,' so it's sort of like discovering a new whale or something like that," William Sager, a professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Houston who began researching Tamu Massif two decades ago, tells NPR's Christopher Joyce.
"If what they are saying is correct, that is truly a massive volcano," Brian Jicha, a geologist at the University of Wisconsin, says in an article published by National Geographic.
Nature.com reports that the mega-volcano has been inactive for millions of years, but "its very existence will help geophysicists to set limits on how much magma can be stored in Earth's crust and pour out onto the surface."
The 120,000-square-mile shield volcano took a few million years to take shape when it formed about 145 million years ago at the transition between the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, according to Sager.
It's not tall, but it is extremely wide — a veritable undersea behemoth compared with land-based Mauna Loa, which measures just 2,000 square miles. Tamu Massif comes close to matching the geographic size of Olympus Mons.
The volcano is part of a larger underwater feature known as the Shatsky Rise, but only in the past few years has Sager's team been able to determine that it's a single volcano. "We knew it was a big mountain, some sort of volcanic mountain, but oceanic plateaus are very large features hidden beneath the ocean and it's very hard to study them," Sager says.
"The main thing was the imaging we were able to do a few years ago, but without sort of the ground truth provided by samples that we drilled out of this thing, we wouldn't have had nearly as compelling a result," he tells NPR.
Sager says before the discovery that Tamu Massif is a single volcano, scientists had expected that "something this big must be made up of a large number of volcanoes, two, three, four dozen, you just don't know."
"[We] really had no idea until we started to look at the seismic data that the lava flows all come from one place at the top of this thing," he says.
[Update at 3:30 p.m. ET: NPR's Joyce cautions that Sager's team has only surveyed a small part of Tamu Massif and that it will take further examination to convince the scientific community it's deserving of the "world's biggest" title.]
And if you're wondering what Tamu means, it's an acronym for Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas — that's where Sager worked before joining the University of Houston.
"I think the Aggies are very happy about this," Sager tells Joyce. "In fact, all the stories up in College Station lead with that fact. ... It's the world's biggest volcano, of course ... but the fact that it's named after the Aggies is the most important thing."
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

subset: commoncrawl


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Restoring A Pre-Production Austin-Healey 100
If you know your 'healeys – really know your 'Healeys – the sight of AHX 11 on this page may have caused you to take a deep breath.
Sure, it looks basically like any other 'Healey 100 at first glance, but this is special: this is the sixth road car made, the 1953 Turin Show car, one of a batch of 19 that was built at the Healey Motor Company's modest base in Warwick rather than at Austin's Longbridge factory, and a piece of history so significant that it's now valued at over £100,000. Not that you'd have known that from the restoration it was subjected to a decade ago, which took three years to put right.
But let's start from the beginning. When Donald Healey famously shook hands on a production deal with Austin's Leonard Lord at the 1952 Earls Court Motor Show, he was taking on a workload that the modest Healey Motor Company team was only just capable of fulfilling – that of developing the prototype into a production-ready car in less than six months, while simultaneously promoting the new model worldwide, on a shoestring budget.
And when it became clear that the planned 20-cars-a-week production rate would be more like 100-plus a week, the pace really hotted up. The plan had been for Tickford to build the bodies, but Tickford wasn't geared up for such high production numbers, and so the contract went to Jensen, already involved with Austin via the deeply underwhelming A40 Sports.
Austin needed time to lay down a new production line, but the Earls Court appearance had started something that couldn't be stopped. So the Healey engineers had no choice but to begin the dual tasks of building cars for publicity tours as well as working with the Austin engineers to move the design from a prototype intended for eventual low-volume production to a car that could be turned out in much greater numbers on a major manufacturer's factory line.
Healey set out to build 50 pre-production cars but, as it turned out, just 19 were assembled before Austin was ready to take over manufacture, in March 1953. The significance of the first cars has increased over the years, as experts began to understand just how different they were, and
how the differences (all 49 of them) effectively document the development of the Healey 100 from the Earls Court prototype to the highly successful production model, and provide an insight into the mindset of the 'Healey engineers – Geoffrey Healey, experimental department head Roger Menadue, chassis designer Barry Bilbie, stylist Gerry Coker and works manager Harry Brandish, to name but a few.
All the Warwick-built 'Healeys received commission (or build) numbers prefixed with 'AHX' (or 'AHR' for the four Special Test cars), often remaining unregistered to avoid purchase tax on the condition that the cars were scrapped rather than sold off once finished with.
Consequently the survivors are few and far between, though their initial destinations say much of how Healey planned its publicity campaign. The first three were shipped out to the USA, and only one of those is known to survive. AHX4 was built for the Frankfurt show, AHR5 for Geneva; only the latter is still around, having been later rebuilt as a 100S and relocated to the USA.
AHR6 was registered as NOJ 392, to become the famous press car for The Autocar and The Motor, and it still exists, while AHR7 was registered NOJ 393 and became the 1955 Le Mans entry, as a 100S, also still surviving (and due for sale at Bonhams on 1 December). It's not until the ninth Warwick car built, AHX9, that we find the first right-hand-drive 100, but sadly that's known to have been scrapped in 1955, having been used as a test car at MIRA. AHX10 is a mystery, almost certainly never actually built at all – hence the 19 cars built out of 20 apparent commission numbers.
And so we come to 'our' car, AHX11, which was registered – with its build number, as you can see – on 1 April 1953 so it could be driven to Italy by Geoff and Margot Healey for the 1953 Turin motor show. (Curiously, its build number is AHX10, overstamped AHX11, backing up the theory that AHX10 was never built.) It was finished in the same light metallic blue as all the Warwick road cars, a colour copied from a Jaguar shade admired by Donald Healey, and fitted with an internal trunk release rather than an external handle, apparently a request from Geoff to prevent his and Margot's possessions from being stolen at the show.
The three cars that followed AHX11, originally shipped to the USA, have also survived, though the next along, AHX15, is missing without trace. AHX16, still around today, was registered NUE 854 and sold to racing driver Betty Haig, but nothing is known of AHX17 and AHX18, nor of AHX20. Fortunately AHX19 – registered NUE 855 – is not only alive and well in Bournemouth, UK, but is thought to be the most original of all the survivors.
So, just ten left, and AHX11 the oldest known 'Healey 100 in Europe. The Healey engineers were honing the production processes, tweaking the design a bit at a time, and learning what worked and what didn't. Meanwhile, the bodies were being farmed out to Jensen, who also seemed to be changing the design – without the knowledge of the Healey engineers – by finding shortcuts where they could get away with them.
AHX11 was no different, and it went on to endure a typical lifecycle for a British sports car, living in the USA for much of its life, used hard, suffering the usual corrosion and rough repairs. When it was finally returned to the UK it was in need of serious restoration, but what it received instead was a horrific series of bodges by a now thankfully defunct specialist. In 2004 it was sold
at auction for a not insignificant £36,000. Even then, the owner was aware of problems with the car, but it was only when he delivered AHX11 to Cape International in Coventry that the full horror of the restoration began to emerge.
Cape's Steve Norton knows 'Healey 100s, including the Warwick cars, inside out and is now involved in the restoration of the 1955 Earls Court car. He had already noticed plenty of discrepancies and problems, some as basic as the engine having been painted the incorrect colour (Warwick cars should have duck-egg-blue engines). But some faults ran much deeper: the doors didn't open and close cleanly, the shape of the rear shroud was incorrect, and the car drove badly. The Cape team began to dig deeper, and it was soon agreed with the owner that another restoration was needed.
'The dilemma was that each Warwick car was different,' says Steve, 'so it was difficult to find a reference point. Was I looking at someone's hack job in the 1970s, the restoration work from 1999 or some last-minute factory revision? You've just
got to hold stuff and say "Bloody hell, this feels quite honest."'
In fact, Steve went well beyond the 'honesty' test, and commissioned Coventry Prototype Panels to analyse the welding techniques and the age of the welds to ensure that none of the original Warwick work was destroyed.
What a shame that the previous restorers hadn't been so conscientious. As Steve points out, Healeys are difficult to get badly wrong, because the chassis mounts act as datum points. And yet AHX11's sills had been fitted at the wrong height, and to overcome this the bottoms of the aluminium wings had been cut, overlapped with the sills, riveted (yes, riveted!) into place and filled over.
The rear end was wrong, having suffered accident damage at some point and then been fitted with a new rear end that was (incorrectly) attached with odd little fillets of metal.
The rusty chassis outriggers, just £25 each to replace entirely, had instead been roughly plated, the chassis brackets were wrong, the engine mount brackets were fitted so badly out of line that the rubber mounts had torn, the uniquely shaped inner wheelarches were badly patched, the original trunk lid was missing, the body was full of spray filler… it's a long and saddening list, topped off with the most badly worn wire-wheel splines Steve had ever seen on a 'Healey.
But it wasn't all bad news. The majority of the most important original features had survived intact, including the chassis (welded flush, without the production chassis' central raised lip), the hand-folded steel front substructure, the fabricated scuttle, the floors with '100' pressed in at a smaller size than on the production cars, the smaller footwells, and the signature Warwick three-piece sills complete with wooden formers to form the step for the alloy sill finishers.
The engine was original, and retained its distinguishing Warwick features such as castellated nuts on the main and big-end bearing caps, different flywheel, clutch mechanism and timing cover, and curved cooling fan blades.
Now clearly this is for the true 'Healey anorak, but isn't it satisfying to know that those little differences are still in place?
And they carry on, to greater significance, in the bodywork.
The production cars used machine-pressed panels, with (after a short changeover period) steel wings, doors, hood and trunk, and aluminium alloy front and rear shrouds. The Warwick panels were all hand-formed aluminium, and the difference can be seen in the crispness and depth of the swage lines.
With skilful repair work AHX11's original doors and front and rear shrouds were retained; the front wings had to be replaced, but the swage line was remade to match the Warwick shape. As for the missing trunk lid, remarkably it was tracked down to Chicago, and reunited with the car.
And then there were the touches designed for the Turin show. The wire wheels were chromed rather than painted, as were the brake drums, the cockpit trims and even the wiring loom P-clips.
Every aspect of AHX11's rebuild required detective work, and Steve was assisted in this by other Warwick car owners. The result is a stunning restoration, with as much original metalwork retained as possible – and all 49 of those special Warwick features either kept or replicated.
Intriguingly, NOJ 393, one of the 19 cars built alongside AHX11 at Warwick, is thought to have the potential to become the first million-pound 'Healey due to its race history. Where will that leave AHX11 and the other Warwick cars?
Restoring AHX11
How crucial historical features were retained and replicated
Stripped to the bare structure
The outer panels were removed and the chassis structure cleaned off to bare metal (and then primed, as shown). The rear inner arches, seen here in front of the car, were junk, the rear end having been damaged and replaced years before. The front inner arches are original, with unique stiffening grooves, a distinguishing Warwick feature.
New rear panels
Warwick-built trunk floor, rear bulkhead and rear arches were different from the Longbridge cars' panels, having been hand-folded from flat sheet, without the pressed details that would follow. Although the chassis was original, AHX11's rear end panels were Longbridge-spec, so they were replaced with replicas of the Warwick panels. Note the remains of the bodged sill ends still visible here.
Original shrouds, new wings
The original front and rear shrouds were battered and filled, but the craftsmen at Coventry Prototype Panels were able to repair them. All four wings had to be replaced but they were first reworked to replicate the deeper swage lines of the Warwick cars. The metalwork of the front substructure was retained intact – a crucial point because it's quite different from those of the Longbridge cars.
Practice assembly
Before AHX11 could go for paint, the body went through a complete mock build. All mechanical parts were stripped and rebuilt, revealing many more unique-to-Warwick touches, including a 32% overdrive (production cars were 22 or 28%), redundant starting handle hole in the radiator, adjustable joints on the steering outer links, and more.
1953 Austin-Healey 100
Engine 2660cc four-cylinder, OHV, twin SU H4 carburetors
Power 90bhp @ 4000rpm
Transmission Three-speed manual with overdrive, rear-wheel drive
Steering Burman steering box
Suspension Front: coil springs, wishbones, anti-roll bar, lever-arm dampers. Rear: live axle, leaf springs, Panhard rod, lever-arm dampers
Brakes Drums
Weight 914kg
Performance Top speed 107mph
Published Dec 7th, 2015


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Rising water temperatures due to climate change are putting coral reefs in jeopardy, but a surprising discovery by a team of marine biologists suggests that very similar looking coral species differ in how they survive in harsh environments.
"We've found that previously unrecognized species diversity was hiding some corals' ability to respond to climate change," said Iliana Baums, associate professor of biology at Penn State. A scientific paper describing the team's discovery will be published in the print edition of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B on Feb. 7, 2014.
Coral reefs protect shorelines from battering hurricanes and generate millions of dollars in recreation revenue each year. They also provide habitat for an abundance of seafood and serve as a discovery ground for new drugs and medicines.
Baums led an international research team that included Jennifer Boulay, a Penn State graduate student; Jorge Cortes, professor at the University of Costa Rica; and Michael Hellberg, associate professor of biological sciences at Louisiana State University. The researchers sampled the lobe coral Porites lobata in the eastern Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Central America and genetically analyzed the samples to reveal differences among various sample locations. When the scientists analyzed their data, they found an unexpected pattern: one that suggested two separate lineages of coral that look deceivingly similar and sometimes live together in the same location.
Genetic data confirmed that the samples were not all Porites lobata, as the researchers initially thought. Instead, some belonged to the species P. evermanni.
"That surprised us," Baums said. "These two lineages look identical and we thought they were all the same coral species, but evermanni has a very different genetic makeup. We knew about P. evermanni — it's not a new species — but we didn't expect to find it in the Eastern Pacific, which is a suboptimal environment for coral. Typically you find P. evermanni in the waters of the Hawaiian Islands."
Boulay wondered if the two species differed in the way they live. She found that P. evermanni was less susceptible to bleaching than P. lobata. Bleaching occurs when the symbiotic relationship that corals share with single-celled algae breaks down as a result of an increase in water temperature.
"If water temperatures continue to rise, and they surely will, coral species that succumb to bleaching more easily will die," Baums said. "So we're going to see a shift in the relative abundance of these two species."
Boulay found other important differences: P. evermanni had many genetically identical clones, which means that this species is reproducing asexually by breaking apart, although P. lobata did not. Further, the clonally reproducing P. evermanni, on average, housed many more tiny mussels that lived within the coral colonies' skeletons. The mussels poke through the surface of the colonies and form keyhole-shaped holes.
The researchers then wanted to determine the connection between P. evermanni's ability to clonally reproduce and its interactions with the mussels and other members of the reef community in the eastern Pacific. Cortes remembered that several years ago a colleague had reported a finding that some corals are a target of biting triggerfish.
"That was the missing piece," Baums said. "We realized that triggerfish were eating mussels inside the coral skeletons, and to get at the mussels the fish have to bite the coral. Then they spit the fragments out, and those fragments land on the ocean floor and grow into new colonies.
"This is what's fascinating," Baums continued. "No one has ever realized how important fish might be in helping corals reproduce, and here we have evidence that triggerfish attacks on P. evermanni result in asexual reproduction — the coral fragments cloning themselves. Conversely, the other coral lineage, Porites lobata, has fewer mussels and reproduces sexually through its larvae."
The benefit of asexual reproduction, Baums explained, is that corals living in a harsh environment such as the Eastern Pacific might have a hard time finding partners for sexual reproduction.
"It takes two to tango so you need a partner," she said. "In areas of the Eastern Pacific that are so harsh that only a few individuals can survive, it might be easier for the coral to clone itself, ensuring that the offspring can survive as well."
As for the difference in bleaching, there are two possible explanations. One possibility is that the types of algae living in the coral species are different, and one of them can withstand a hotter temperature. "Just like in your garden — the tomatoes like the heat more than the cauliflower does," said Baums.
Another possibility is that the difference is not in the algae but in the corals themselves.
"In the literature there's been a lot of attention paid to how different algal species react to increases in temperature and whether, if a coral species could switch to a hardier alga, it could survive hotter temperatures," Baums said. But what the researchers found suggested a different scenario. Even though the two coral species have the same algal species, bleaching still differs. That suggests it's the coral host that contributes to bleaching.
"The good news in all of this is that some of these corals are true survivors, especially in the eastern Pacific," Baums said. "It's a rough place for coral to live but they are still hanging around. So if we can figure out how to slow down climate change and keep identifying some hardy corals, we can do something about preserving coral reefs."
The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, Grant #OCE-0550294.
Source:- Rice University
Published on 17th December 2013


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This course is aimed at Under Graduate and Post Graduate students with an interest in this topic area.
Our course explores what can be done to solve the complex problem that half a billion people worldwide do not have improved water supplies and two billion do not have improved sanitation. We look forward to you joining us. We want to help you develop the skills you need to address this major global challenge of the 21st century.
Our course has informative video lectures and guest interviews with leading water policy scholars and practitioners. We will provide you with discussion forum topic prompts, which will invite you to engage with other learners from around the globe. Our MOOC will also ask you to attempt weekly quizzes and a challenging assignment that tackles a real water and sanitation problem in a difficult setting


text:
The Greenbelt
Language Liberalism Freethought Birds
Verbing Weirds Language only if you're expecting it to work in a simple way. This is a special case of the more general truth that Language Weirds.
Only when a republic's life is in danger should a man uphold his government when it is in the wrong. There is no other time.
The church says Earth is flat; but I have seen its shadow on the moon, and I have more confidence in a shadow than the church.
If we can't find Heaven, there are always bluejays.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
1 Comments:
- At 9:42 AM, April 18, 2009 Delson Roche had this to say...
Nice blog- u got a nice long blog roll too and years of Archive.
Pretty cool
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About Me
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I used to teach Russian and Ukrainian, and some basic English, to civil servants. Now I teach Russian at a local continued-learning institute. I dabble in Gaelic and Welsh. I'm am amateur photographer and I love birding (in a small way). I'm a Progressive, and a Freethinker, and I know Evolution is a fact - that's FCD, Friend of Charles Darwin (look down the sidebar). I read a lot, and follow women's college basketball. Also I love astronomy, though I'm a rank amateur at it. Most of all, I like living in the reality-based community...
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You cannot leave. You cannot drop the armor now. Why? Because you are needed, more than ever. You are mandatory to keep the energy flowing, the karmic vibrator buzzing, to keep the progressive and lucid half of the nation breathing and healthy and awake and ever reaching out to the half that's wallowing in fear and violence and homophobia and sexual dread, hoping to find harmony instead of cacophony, common ground instead of civil war, some sort of a shared love of a country so messy and internationally disrespected and openly confused its own president can't even speak the language.
After all, you don't hand over all your children the first time the flying monkeys bang on your door...
It's far from over. The tunnel is just a little darker -- and longer -- than we imagined.
Mark Morford


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The Writers at Rutgers Reading Series fosters an exchange between well-known writers of diverse backgrounds and the Rutgers students and faculty. Since 1990 Writers at Rutgers has sponsored readings by distinguished writers such as Adrienne Rich, Miguel Algarin, Temple Grandin, Derek Walcott, Junot Diaz, Oliver Sacks, Caryl Phillips, Rebecca Solnit, Tina Chang, Brenda Shaughnessy, Tracy K. Smith, Jayne Anne Phillips, Mark Doty, Joyce Carol Oates, Sherman Alexie, James Surowiecki, Colson Whitehead, Alison Bechdel, Li-Young Lee, Richard Wilbur, E.L. Doctorow, Jamaica Kincaid, Czeslaw Milosz, W.S. Merwin, Chang-rae Lee, June Jordan, Richard Howard, Linda Gregg, Yehuda Amichai, Toi Derricotte, Charles Simic, Edwidge Danticat, Alicia Ostriker, Paule Marshall, Maggie Anderson, Jhumpa Lahiri, Edmund White, Maxine Hong Kingston, Jean Valentine, C.K. Williams, Wesley Brown, Michael Cunningham, Marilyn Hacker, Jonathan Lethem, Susan Wheeler, Jonathan Franzen, Jay Wright, Azar Nafisi, Amitav Ghosh, Brenda Marie Osbey, Kalamu ya Salaam, Selah Saterstrom, Russell Banks, Susanna Moore, Salman Rushdie, and Zadie Smith, among many others.
This year's series will feature readings by Chris Abani, Kathleen Graber and Robin Robertson, Kathryn Davis, Toi Derricotte, Juan Gabriel Vasquez, and Andrew Solomon.
Writers at Rutgers strives to nurture a community of writers of fiction and poetry and is co-sponsored by the Department of English, the Office of the Vice President for Undergraduate Education, the Office of the Associate Vice President for Academic and Public Partnerships, the Friends of Rutgers English, the Plangere Writing Center, and Writers House.
Mark Doty
Director, Writers at Rutgers Reading Series


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The Best Mini Pumpkin Muffins
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
This recipe makes between 24 and 28 mini pumpkin muffins, depending on the exact size of your mini muffin pan and the amount of batter you add to each. Overall, this recipe is very flexible, and I have tried a few different variations: you can substitute brown sugar for some of the white sugar, applesauce for some of the vegetable oil, and you can add or subtract the amount of spice you use. I also decided to sprinkle turbinado sugar on the top of mine, but you could think about using crumbled nuts or extra spices. Oh, and don't hesitate to buy the big 24oz. can of solid-pack pumpkin - then you will have enough on hand to make multiple batches of this recipe, because trust me, you will want to.
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp ground ginger (optional)
1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
About 1 tbsp turbinado sugar for sprinkling on top (optional)
About 1/2 tsp extra cinnamon for sprinkling on top (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and grease the cups of a mini muffin tin very well.
In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, all spices, baking soda and salt. Then whisk in the flour until the batter is just smooth.
Divide the batter among the greased muffin cups, filling each one just a bit more than 3/4 full. Sprinkle the top of each mini muffin with a bit of turbinado sugar and bake in a preheated oven for about 10-14 minutes, or until they are golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Watch them and check them often, because they go from still wet in the inside to fully baked in just a matter of minutes. Mine were the most moist at about 12 minutes.
Cool the mini muffins on a rack until cool enough to handle, and then remove them to cool fully. Eat immediately or store muffins in an airtight container and keep refrigerated if storing longer.


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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — As two state troopers struggled to arrest his father, a 19-year-old man armed himself with an assault rifle and shot them seven times, killing them outside his home in a remote Alaska village, authorities said in charges filed Saturday.
Nathanial Lee Kangas appeared in a Fairbanks court two days after Trooper Gabriel "Gabe" Rich and 45-year-old Sgt. Patrick "Scott" Johnson were shot to death. He was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and a count of third-degree assault. Bail was set at $2 million.
After bail was set, the judge asked Kangas if he had anything to say regarding the bail.
After a long pause, Kangas replied only, "I'm sorry," the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported.
Kangas, wearing an orange jumpsuit, was escorted by officers into the court. Every seat was full, and the walls were lined with law enforcement officers of several agencies as Kangas faced his charges. Officers hugged and consoled each other at the hearing, the newspaper reported.
Kangas' mother, Judy, and younger brother, Albert, each gave brief apologies.
"I want to tell everybody, the families, from the bottom of my heart that I am sorry," Judy Kangas said as she choked back tears.
The slayings of Rich and Johnson on Thursday in the isolated community of Tanana underscored the challenges law enforcement faces in this huge state.
Like many troopers assigned to patrol multiple villages, Rich and Johnson were not based in the interior community of 238 people. They worked out of the troopers' four-person rural service unit in Fairbanks 130 miles to the east, and they had to reach Tanana by plane.
Rich and Johnson, who had recently appeared on a national cable TV show about the Alaska State Troopers, had traveled to Tanana to arrest Kangas' 58-year-old father, Arvin, on charges of driving without a license and threatening the village's unarmed public safety officer, Mark Haglin.
Haglin had received reports that the elder Kangas was driving around the village, even though he doesn't have a valid driver's license. After Haglin approached Arvin Kangas at his home, the elder Kangas pointed to a rifle and suggested he would use it if Haglin did not leave, according to the charging document.
Haglin then contacted state troopers, who obtained an arrest warrant and accompanied him to Arvin Kangas' home a day after the confrontation.
Arvin Kangas refused to cooperate with the troopers after being informed of his arrest warrant and tried to run inside his home, according to the charging document. The troopers pursued, and a scuffle ensued, according to the document.
That's when Nathanial Kangas appeared with an assault rifle and shot them, according to the charging document. He then pointed the weapon at Haglin, but lowered it and Haglin was able to flee, the document says.
Haglin called for help, and with the aid of other community members, was able to detain Nathanial Kangas until more troopers arrived, the charging document says.
Once Haglin had him, Kangas "spontaneously stated that he was sorry for doing 'it' and that he shot troopers because the troopers were wrestling with Arvin," the documents say.
Arvin Kangas was also arrested and is being held in Fairbanks.
"These are serious crimes, killing two Alaska State Troopers, two of my Alaska State Troopers … I would support the recommendations of the district attorney and hope that you put the maximum amount of bail possible," said trooper Col. James Cockrell during Saturday's hearing.
Meanwhile on Saturday, processions were held for the bodies of Rich and Johnson, which were taken from Anchorage to Fairbanks following their release from the medical examiner's office.
The procession in Fairbanks accompanied the bodies from the airport to the funeral home.
Village public safety officers are unarmed, but a bill passed by lawmakers this year would allow for the arming of the officers, who serve as first responders in rural communities that can be located hours or days, depending on the weather, from the nearest state trooper.
Rich and Johnson were occasionally featured on the National Geographic Channel show "Alaska State Troopers," which features multiple troopers patrolling the state's wild terrain.
The troopers were not filming at the time of their deaths. Filming in the fifth season is currently being done with other troopers.
Tanana resident Ruby Cruger, who is related to the Kangas, said the shooting has deeply affected the entire community.
"They're all shocked," Cruger said of the town's reaction.


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Friday night in Memphis: Grizzlies build early lead and defeat Nets, 101-77
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis Grizzlies are adding a better scoring offense to complement one of the league's best defenses.
Marc Gasol had 20 points and nine rebounds as the Grizzlies built a 30-point lead in the second half en route to a 101-77 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night.
Gasol was 10 of 15 from the field, all of his points coming in the first half, as Memphis, which had seven players in double figures, won for the fourth time in the past five games.
It also marked the second straight game Memphis has topped the century mark after reaching 100 only twice in the 24 games before Wednesday's 106-93 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
"One thing that we have had all season is our defense," said Rudy Gay, one of three Grizzlies who finished with 11 points.
"We're defending teams and getting turnovers. That makes it easier for us to score on offense, but we're not forced to score each time in the half court set because we get so many points off the fast break."
Mike Conley made six of seven shots, including 2 of 3 outside the arc, for 14 points, while Zach Randolph had 12 points and matched Gasol's nine rebounds.
Jerryd Bayless, Tony Wroten, like Gay, scored 11 apiece, while Chris Johnson, on a 10-day contract with Memphis, had 10 points.
Wroten, Bayless and Johnson's contribution were part of the Memphis bench, a troublesome spot at times this season, outscoring the Nets reserves 38-24.
"The bench has been great," said Randolph, the day after he was selected as a Western Conference reserve for the All-Star game. "For us to win, we need our bench. They understand that. The way they've been playing has been great. They've been stepping up."
Brook Lopez led the Nets with 18 points, while Deron Williams scored 12, adding six assists before leaving late in the third quarter with a quad contusion.
Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said Williams could have returned, but there was no need because of the Memphis lead.
"It just seemed like more sense to let the (reserves) finish it out," Carlesimo said.
Joe Johnson and Reggie Evans scored 11 points each, with Evans grabbing 10 rebounds.
Brooklyn's starting backcourt of Williams and Johnson both were 4 of 10 from the field, part of the Nets shooting 41 percent.
"They just came out and played better than us," Williams said. "They played tougher than us. They outrebounded us and out-toughed us. .This is a game where we didn't come out and play the way we were supposed to play."
Memphis' dominance on the inside was set early and continued through the game. The Grizzlies held a 62-40 advantage in the paint and outrebounded Brooklyn 45-37. The 62 points in the paint were a season high for the Grizzlies.
Memphis had 15 offensive rebounds, leading to 27 second-chance points.
"We didn't match (the Grizzlies) physicality or aggressiveness on defense, especially their aggressiveness on the boards in the first half," Carlesimo said. "That was the game."
Memphis, which is second in the league in allowing 89.5 points a game, played one of its best halves of the season in carrying a 67-44 lead into the break. Gasol had 20 points, while Randolph had scored 12 in the first two quarters.
The 67 points were the most scored by the Grizzlies in a half this season.
Memphis connected on 60 percent of its first-half shots as it worked the offense through Gasol early, and the Grizzlies center was 10 of 15 from the field in the first two quarters.
"Our game plan early was to get Marc being aggressive and getting him some scoring opportunities," Conley said. "Marc did a great job of taking advantage of it.
"… We did as much as we could to help Marc both offensively and defensively, and I think as a team we all played off of each other well. We were able to take advantage of things that Marc was opening up for us because of his aggressiveness early."
The lead got to as many as 25 points before intermission.
The Nets, who have had trouble handling the ball recently, committed only five turnovers in the first half, but shot 43 percent from the field, not near enough to keep pace with the Grizzlies.
"We think we're a better team than we showed in the first half," Carlesimo said. "Actually, I thought in the second half, we did a good job. We competed on the boards, and we defended really well, but we dug too big of a hole."
He later added: "We got beat up is what we did. They just took it to us."
Memphis extended the lead to 30 in the early stages of the second half, but the Nets had a 13-3 run to get their deficit to 79-59.
Memphis could not maintain its shooting touch from the first half, and turnovers were hurting as Memphis had four miscues in the period.
Memphis held an 85-67 lead after three quarters, despite being outscored 23-18 in the period.
The Nets actually could have cut into the lead at the start of the fourth as Memphis continued to commit turnovers, missed its first two shots and was scoreless through almost 3 minutes.
Problem was, Brooklyn also was scoreless during the span, missing its first six shots to start the fourth. In the end, Memphis outscored the Nets 16-10 in the fourth.
"They turned it off, and it really didn't matter," Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said. "We only scored 34 points in the second half, but the first half is where we won the game."
NOTES: Grizzlies F Jon Leuer, obtained earlier in the week from Cleveland, dressed for his first game with Memphis and played 2 minutes without scoring. … The Grizzlies' previous high for a half this season was 62 points in the second half at Sacramento on Jan. 7. … The Nets are 12-3 since P.J. Carlesimo became interim coach, all three losses coming on the road, each by double digits. … The Grizzlies are 13-0 when scoring 100 points, 5-1 when shooting 50 percent and 20-2 when outshooting their opponents. … The Nets' four-game road trip ends Saturday night in Houston. … The Grizzlies made 47 field goals matching their season high in that category. … Evans with 11 points and 10 rebounds recorded his first double-double of the season.


text:
Since early May, we have watched Matt Kemp spiral down from his otherworldly start this year toward a decidedly mortal coil. His OBP has gone from .405 on April 22 to .315 today; his batting average has sunk from .333 to .258, and his home run last night in a losing cause was his first in 17 games (giving him 12 total on the year). And yes, he had the Dodgers' only run of the night; yes, he's got prodigious power and tons of potential; yes, he's dating Rihanna.
But getting picked off second base, in the ninth inning, representing the game-tying run with one out (and a man on first), is simply inexcusable. And then, after Russell Martin walked to put men and first and second with two out, Jamey Carroll hits a single to right which would have rightfully scored Reed Johnson from second--except for the fact that Russell Martin--0-for-3 and batting .250--inexplicably turned wide on second base and was tagged out before Johnson could cross the plate. With the tying run INCHES away from home, Martin absolutely blew it. Just as Kemp had blown it minutes earlier.
We've now lost five of five games to the Angels, we slip to four games behind the Padres in a TIE for third place, and the season looks hopeless once again as we are absolutely pathetic when the game is on the line. I know we've got a young team, and that young teams are prone to errors. But Joe Torre sure as hell had better be making the team run windsprints and suicides all night long, until they're puking up rally monkeys, after this performance.
Me, I'm just getting drunk.


text:
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text:
Hello lovelies!
I live almost by the sea but the weather so far has been nothing else than cold and rainy :( UK is experiencing lots of rain and flash floods and NO SUMMER! So I was quite pleased to do this Summer Challenge - Sea Shells. It totally reminds me holidays in Italy and Croatia, picking up sea shells and having a great time :)
Anyway...for this manicure I've used KIKO polishes #295, #352, #299 and one without the label which has greenish teal colour. I've sponged the polishes in patches to create shimmering sea background. Then I painted the sea shells and starfish with acrylic paint.


text:
UFC Store
Unbeaten welterweight prospect David Mitchell makes his UFC debut on Wednesday against fellow newcomer TJ Waldburger on the UFC Fight Night card in Austin, Texas. Meet one of the UFC's newest signees below.
"I want to be a fighter."
With that sentence, uttered by David Mitchell as he stepped into David Terrell's Nor Cal Fighting Alliance gym in Santa Rosa, California for the first time in 2005, we could just say "and the rest is history," considering that "Daudi" is making his UFC debut on Wednesday in Austin, Texas.
But nothing is ever that cut and dried, and from the time of those first fighting words, Mitchell has gone through a lifetime's worth of experiences to prepare him not only to become a fighter, but a UFC fighter. And as far as the 30-year old Berkeley native is concerned, his Octagon debut is coming right on time.
"I feel like it's just right," he said. "There were times early in my career when I thought I was ready to go, but I think having more experience is better and I'm not getting any younger, so later wouldn't be an advantage either. I feel like this is the perfect time."
Getting here wasn't going to be easy though, and Mitchell, who was first inspired by Chuck Liddell's knockout of Tito Ortiz in 2004, found that out the hard way. And what better teacher could he have than Terrell, a grappling wizard who was seen as one of the best middleweights in the world midway through the first decade of the new millennium? Terrell, who had seen more than his share of wannabe fighters, was about to give a dose of tough love to his newest student. If Mitchell made it through the training gauntlet and still showed up at practice the next day, maybe he had what it took.
Mitchell made it, banged up and bruised, but still standing. In fact, standing was pretty much all he could do after those early training sessions.
"I had a very strong spirit about it," said Mitchell. "I would take the most unreal beating to the point to where I couldn't sit down on the couch. I had to have someone help me take my shirt off. It was a really fun time for me."
When Mitchell talks about it being a fun time for him, he isn't being facetious. He enjoyed this new way of life and the idea of learning new things every day. Learning mixed martial arts saved him from going down the wrong path and gave him new goals that, oddly enough, clashed with his upbringing on the Hog Farm, which Wikipedia describes as "America's longest running hippie commune."
Needless to say, there was no peace and love in Terrell's gym, and Mitchell's parents weren't exactly thrilled about his new "hobby."
"I think they weren't very happy about what I was doing, but as I progressed in the game, and now that I'm going to the UFC, it's like 'mom, you want to go to Austin, Texas? I don't think you really want to go.' 'Oh yeah, I want to go, I want to be there,'" he laughs. "Everybody wants to be there, and everybody wants to see the fights. Every single person out there is just one hundred percent behind me. There are a couple people that are doctors and nurses who are like 'oh God, be careful,' but that's understandable, and that's just out of love. But there's huge support."
That's not surprising, considering a spotless 11-0 pro MMA record that includes nine wins by submission. But before he earned his purple belt in jiu-jitsu under Terrell and signed a UFC contract, he had to prove himself in the gym, and there weren't always victories there.
"When I have tough days, he (Terrell) says 'everybody's been here,'" said Mitchell. "And I know when he says something, I listen, because he's been there. Some days you don't have a good day and you just want to give up or you think you're doing something wrong, but it's just the peaks and valleys of the training and of the game, and sometimes your game is up and sometimes it's not. All that really matters is that when you come into the cage, you can perform."
In July of 2006, Mitchell made his pro debut with a first round submission win over John Corstorphine. Before the bout, Terrell calmed his nerves by telling him, "Imagine it just being another day in the academy. Be that relaxed, it's just another sparring day."
The advice worked, and eventually all the former middleweight title challenger has told him has come to fruition, but it was far from an instant thing. Just ask him how long it took him to implement his teacher's advice, and he chuckles.
"It's taken the five full years we've been training together to be able to implement it and step into the big leagues here, and it's still difficult to do," admits Mitchell. "Every day is a challenge, especially when you're training with such tough guys. It can get discouraging, but at the same time you've got to think, I'm training with the best guys in the world, so keep training hard and I'll eventually get to where I want to go."
The first step was winning his first fight. The next was building up an impressive enough resume on the local circuit to get a call to the UFC, and with his 11 wins, including victories over UFC vets Jon "War Machine" Koppenhaver and Tim McKenzie, that mission is accomplished. Now it's time to get that first UFC win, and hoping to keep him from that goal is fellow debutant TJ Waldburger.
"He fights a lot like I do," said Mitchell of his foe. "He's got a good jiu-jitsu game, but he's willing to fight anywhere the fight goes, and he doesn't have any gaping holes in his game. He's a solid, well-rounded fighter, and he looks to be tough as nails. I've seen him get caught a couple times in videos, but other than that, he looks to be pretty tough and very similar to my game, so it's gonna be pretty interesting."
It's also going to be interesting to see the reception Mitchell gets in Austin, considering that Waldburger is a native of the Lone Star State. But the Californian is far from worried, as he's bringing his own army to Texas.
"The support behind me now and the way people feel about it is enormous," he said. "It's this huge push, I've got all these people behind me, and when I go into the cage, they'll all be there with me. TJ Waldburger's gonna be fighting a hundred thousand people, not just me – that's how I feel about it."
And when that bell rings, Mitchell expects to show the world that he's made good on the words he spoke the first time he set foot in the gym.
"I hope I leave a strong impression as a finisher," said Mitchell. "I want to finish this fight in the first round, I'm coming to fight like it's a war, and I want to win this war as fast as possible and go home to my family. Hopefully people will respect that. I'm gonna get in there, I'm gonna get the W, and don't blink because you might miss something."
Power Slap


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FAWC: Wisconsin Teen Retains Title Of Fastest Texter In America
Update at 5:11 p.m. ET. Back-ToBack:
For his second year in a row, teenager Austin Wierschke has earned the title of fastest texter in the United States.
"Weirschke of Wisconsin, won after eight rounds at the texting competition Wednesday in New York's Times Square," the AP reports. "He gets $50,000 in prize money."
Our pal and colleague Tanya Ballard Brown has more on the story on All Tech Considered.
Our Original Post Continues:
FAWC, BTW, means "for anyone who cares," in texting shorthand.
The news, if we can call it that, is that the 2012 LG U.S. National Texting Championship is being held today in New York City.
According to the Wausau Daily Herald, Austin Wierschke of Rhinelander, Wis., is "looking to become the first texting competitor to win back-to-back titles" and to take home another $50,000 prize.
Among those he'll be matched against:
-- Kent Augustine, 16, of Queens, N.Y., who the Daily News says can "type 3.5 characters per second."
-- Olivia Fagan, 16, from Clermont, Fla. She can do 40 words per minute, according to Central Florida News 13.
-- Alyssa Podwell and Rachel Armstrong of Illinois. TimeOutChicago says the 18-year-olds " have been exercising their nimble fingers to prep for the big day."
Long-time Two-Way readers might recall our post about the 2009 winner, Kate Moore of Des Moines, who told NPR's Michele Norris that she got good by ... texting a lot. "If you do it enough, you get really good at it," she said.
Speed and accuracy play into the competition, as this video shows.
We'll keep an eye out for news about who wins.
Wouldn't it be something if a certain secretary of state shot a gratz to the champion? (Gratz=congratulations.)


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There has been a lot of talk in the last couple years about the importance of Social Media, and it is important. However, for wineries, having a website that is attractive and provides useful information to consumers is equally important if not more critical than Social Media. Unfortunately, 90 to 95% of winery websites stink.
Before I go into why so many of the sites I see are so terrible, let me first make the argument for why I believe it is important for wineries to have a good website. If you work in a winery, think about the ways that people interact with your brand. Generally people either 1) see your bottle on the shelf 2) hear about your winery through a review, Social Media, etc or 3) try your wines at the tasting room, event, or through some other channel. Unfortunately in two of those three cases, the next step many consumers will take is to go to your website.
Let's say a person sees a bottle of your wine on the shelf and knows nothing about the winery. Where are they likely to go for information? Better yet let's say that a person decides to buy a bottle of your wine either on a whim or on a recommendation and, lo and behold! They like it! Again, what is a logical next step? Or let's say someone has been hearing a lot of buzz about your winery. Perhaps they have heard people talking about the winery or perhaps they have heard you talking about the winery on Twitter or Facebook. Again, where are they likely to go? To your website to try to find out more information about the winery and see what other wines you make. And this is where the vast majority of the time things get ugly.
90-95% of winery websites stink because they say little about the winery and even less about the wines. They provide largely generic information rather than specific information about who you are and what differentiates your winery. Here is example of what I often read. I apologize in advance if this reads verbatim from someone's site. It was not intentional I assure you.
"(insert your winery name here) is a small family winery. We are dedicated to producing super premium wine from Washington's finest vineyards. We believe that wine is made in the vineyard and strive to express each of our sites in our wines."
Why is this so bad? "We are a small family winery…" All right. You've told me you're not a mega-corporation, but why should I care? Many of these sites subsequently go on to say nothing about the family or the people involved. Some don't even give their names! The site might as well says, "We are a small family winery but please respect our privacy. We do not like to give out information about ourselves."
"We are dedicated to producing super premium wine from Washington's finest vineyards." First, almost no one knows what super premium means. Second, you're in luck! Everyone else is looking to make plonk from vineyards that are producing 20 tons an acre! Again, some sites talk up their vineyards and then don't say what these vineyards are or why they are special.
"We believe that wine is made in the vineyard…" Yada yada yada. I wait for the day I read, "We strive to make Frankenwines that are created in the winery and have nothing to do with the place that they came from."
Don't get me wrong. Each of these ideas is important. However, to throw them out there without providing further information to make them relevant to the reader is completely worthless. Worse, it just sounds like everyone else which is exactly what you don't want to do.
All right, so we've gotten past the gobbledygook on your website and for some reason we are still with you. We've decided to move on to looking at the wines themselves. Here things are going to get even worse.
The vast (vast) majority of winery websites are not up-to-date. Here's brief series of examples from the past week:
– Go to winery website looking for a bottleshot. None to be found/picture is of low resolution.
– Go to winery website looking for prices on current releases. Current vintages not listed and/or prices not listed.
– Go to winery website looking for prices on current releases. Links to external site that does not work.
– Go to winery website. Click on 'Enter' and goes to dead link.
– Go to winery website looking for information and it says 'Under construction.' It's said this for years by the way.
– Go to winery website looking for contact information. None found.
– Go to winery website looking for blend and technical information. None found.
Some of these issues may be less important to most consumers than they are to me, but most of them are not. You want to hear the worst part? Many of the sites that had these issues were considerably better than most of what I come across. These are the guys who are doing well!
Again, all the talk these days is about Social Media and with good reason. Social Media can be an important tool. However, part of its strength is wasted if you engage with people and then they disengage because your website either a) says much of nothing or b) looks like the winery went out of business several years ago and no one turned the lights off because the information/look and feel is so out of date.
Want to do a better job? Make your website say something about you and your winery, not generic boilerplate information. Talk about what makes you unique from the other 700 wineries in the state. Talk about why you started the winery in the first place. And for goodness sake, keep the information up to date!


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Tracks: The Railroad in Photographs from the George Eastman House Collection
Tracks: The Railroad in Photographs from the George Eastman House Collection
January 15 – April 24, 2011
Organized by the George Eastman House, this exciting exhibition explores 160 years of railroad and photographic history. Both trains and photographs emerged around the same time in history and can be credited with changing how we perceive the world. Trains offered access to places that seemed impossible to reach by foot while photography captured details often missed by the human eye. In the United States, the railroad and photography played an important role in opening the West and in the development of national identity. Even today, when cars and airplanes have become the preferred methods of travel, trains continue to hold sway over our imaginations. We continue to cherish memories of playing with model railroads and of waiting on a train platform for a glimpse of an oncoming train, hearing its far-off warning whistle.
In this survey of railroad images from around the world, trains appear as potent emblems of the modern industrial age. They played a crucial role in transforming the social and physical landscape. William Henry Jackson's heroic visions of trains rumbling through majestic mountains celebrate the technological advances that allowed mankind to tame the previously uncharted wilderness of the American West. Robert Misrach similarly embraces the awesome beauty of nature but endows his scenes of lonely, inhospitable places with an atmosphere of unease that calls into question the presumption that technology can conquer nature. Alvin Langdon's photograph of a train rushing past the smokestacks of Pittsburgh's factories also offers a more ambivalent view of technology, while L. Wright's and Lori Nix's scenes of a train wreck serve as more cautionary statements about technology and its effect on nature. Lewis Hine and Aaron Siskind, on the other hand, interpret modernity in more human terms. Hine focuses on the workers who oiled the Machine Age and shows how industrial revolution changed the very nature of work. Siskind represents the African-American porters who worked for the George Pullman Railroad Company and successfully formed a union that anticipated the later civil rights movement.
The range of photographs and concerns represented in this exhibition is sure to please a variety of audiences, including history buffs, lovers of the American West and train enthusiasts. Tracks will be accompanied by a companion exhibition that will explore the history and significance of the railway in the Quad-Cities area.
Organized by the George Eastman House Collection
Sponsored by
This program is supported by Humanities Iowa and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The views and opinions expressed by this program do not necessarily reflect those of Humanities Iowa or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Watch a classic movie about trains in March and April at the Figge. Different films each week, and films are free with museum admission.
Learn more about the companion exhibition Crossing the Mississippi: The Quad Cities, the Railroad, and Art.
2011 is the year of the train in the Quad Cities. Find out more about other Quad Cities events to be held throughout the year.
image: Lewis. W. Hine, American 1874-1940, {Man working on steam boiler} from the series Railroad Workers and Rail Photos (detail), ca. 1920, toned gelatin silver print, transfer from Photo League Lewis Hine Memorial Committee, ex-collection of Corydon Hine, courtesy of George Eastman House 1978:0993:0073.
image: Lewis W. Hine, American 1874-1940, {Man cleaning lenses on signal light} from the series Railroad Workers and Rail Photos, ca.1920, toned gelatin silver print, printed from original negative 85:0279:0033, transfer from Photo League Lewis Hine Memorial Committee; ex-collection of Corydon Hine, courtesy George Eastman House 1978:0993:0033.


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KENNEBUNK, Maine (AP) — The dance instructor accused of turning her Zumba studio into a place of prostitution was an honors high school student who attended college and ran dance classes for the local parks and recreation program. She hosted charity events benefiting Toys for Tots and breast cancer research.
That's why some who know Alexis Wright say she's the last person they thought would get caught up in a headline-grabbing scandal.
The prostitution case involving the bubbly fitness instructor and more than 100 accused clients has made international headlines from this seaside town of 10,000 known for its beaches, charming homes and Tom's of Maine toothpaste, as well as the nearby "Summer White House" while President George H.W. Bush was in office.
For local residents, the criminal case has been evolving in slow motion, with police releasing more names of accused clients every two weeks. Fifteen more names were released Friday, bringing the total to 54.
Police said Wright videotaped many of the encounters without her clients' knowledge and kept records suggesting the sex acts generated $150,000 over 18 months. Explicit sex videos also surfaced online.
While she is portrayed as Zumba instructor gone wild, those who know her say that there's another side than the one in the news coverage.
Andrew Scherzer, a longtime friend, said Wright is a great mother to her 7-year-old son and has lived a life full of Hallmark-style moments, with camping and canoeing trips and outings to the Portland Children's Museum and the New England Aquarium.
"If you were an outsider and spent time with her and her kid, the last thing you'd suspect is that she had this side business going on," said Scherzer, who went to high school and reconnected several years ago with the salsa-loving Wright, who attended concerts given by his Afro-Cuban band.
Others feel the same way.
Evelyn Barbour, who met Wright, 29, in the fifth grade and remained friendly through high school, said classmates at Mount Ararat High School were genuinely shocked by the charges.
"I thought she was a really nice person. I never, ever saw her be mean or rude to anyone. She was extremely kind," said Barbour, now a science teacher at the high school.
Wright was an honors student at Mount Ararat, where she played field hockey and participated in the concert band, wind ensemble and chamber singers.
She played clarinet and left a favorable impression on her band director.
"She was really nice kid, a sweet kid. She worked hard. She did what was expected. She blended in with lots of kids. She didn't stand out in any bad ways. She was just a nice, sweet kid," said Allen Graffam, the director.
After high school, Wright took classes at Keene State College and Southern Maine Community College before earning a natural sciences degree in 2010 from the University of Southern Maine's Lewiston-Auburn College.
Around the same time, the single mom was becoming known around Kennebunk for her Zumba classes, first offered in the auditorium of the Town Hall.
She hosted Zumba charity events for earthquake victims in Haiti, the Susan G. Komen foundation for breast cancer and Toys for Tots, among others. Those who attended her fitness classes remembered her as fun and energetic.
But police said there was more than Zumba going on after she opened a dance studio on Main Street, and later rented an office across the street.
Wright, of nearby Wells, has pleaded not guilty to 106 counts including prostitution and invasion of privacy for acts performed in her dance studio and in the rented office. Her business partner, insurance agent Mark Strong Sr., of Thomaston, pleaded not guilty to 59 misdemeanor counts.
Sarah Churchill, Wright's lawyer, said the media have presented a one-sided view of her client. Churchill anticipates more information about Wright's good works will make its way into the public's eye as the case proceeds to trial.
Wright lives in nearby Wells with her husband, whom she married over the summer. Both have declined to comment, as have other family members.
A lawyer who has seen the complete list of Wright's alleged clients says it contains the names of more than 150 men, some of them prominent. The 54 men who have been summoned so far on suspicion of engaging Wright's services include a former mayor, a planning board official and the local high school ice hockey coach. New names released Friday include a former Church of the Nazarene minister, several small-business owners and a South Portland firefighter.
The remaining names will trickle out for weeks to come.
As for Scherzer, he said he'd heard that there were sex videos posted online, but he said he figured what Wright did behind closed doors was her business. He knew her as an attentive mom who always had time and energy for her son. He said her husband is a contractor who has supported Wright throughout the ordeal.
Regardless of what criminal penalties she faces, she's already paying a steep price because she fears losing her son, Scherzer said.
Scherzer said her son was removed two weeks ago from her custody, but Churchill, her attorney, denied Friday that there was a change in status with her son. The Maine Department of Health and Human Services declined to say whether its child welfare agents were involved.
A judge on Wednesday dismissed a complaint from the boy's father — not her husband — seeking full custody. The father, Benjamin Hopkins, alleged she posed nude in pictures with the boy, who was partially covered with a sheet.
The judge dismissed the complaint when neither the father nor Wright showed up for a court hearing on the matter, The Portland Press Herald reported.
Scherzer said he worries about his friend. "Under the circumstances, she's doing what she can, which is to not break down and go crazy and give up," he said.
Follow David Sharp on Twitter at https://twitter.com/David_Sharp_AP


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Services We Offer
VAT Assessment Consultants in Kanakapura
MS Legal Associates:
We are VAT Assessment Consultants in Kanakapura.A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of general consumption tax that is collected incrementally, based on the surplus value, added to the price on the work at each stage of production, which is usually implemented as a destination-based tax, where the tax rate is based on the location of the customer. VATs raise about a fifth of total tax revenues both worldwide and among the members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
VAT Assessment
(1) Every dealer shall be deemed to have been assessed to tax based on the return filed by him under section 35, except in cases where the Commissioner may notify the dealer of any requirement of production of accounts before the prescribed authority in support of a return filed for any period and such authority shall proceed to assess such dealer,- (a) on the basis of the return filed where he is satisfied that the return filed is correct and complete, or (b) to the best of its judgment, where the return filed appears to be incorrect or incomplete, after giving the dealer an opportunity of showing cause against such assessment in writing and any additional tax assessed shall be paid within 1 [thirty days] 1 from the date of service of such assessment on the dealer
(2) Where a registered dealer fails to furnish his monthly or final return on or before the date provided in this Act or the rules made there under, the prescribed authority shall issue an assessment to the registered dealer to the best of its judgment and the tax assessed shall be paid within ten days from the date of 1 [service of such assessment on the dealer.]
(3) Where an assessment has been made under sub-section (2) and the dealer subsequently furnishes a return for the period to which the assessment relates, the prescribed authority may withdraw the assessment but the dealer shall be liable to penalties and interest as applicable.
(4) Where the dealer furnishes a return under sub-section (3), such return shall be furnished within one month of 1 service of such assessment on the dealer.
You need to submit the following details for Sales Tax Assessments.
1) Trading & Profit / Loss A/c
2) Balance Sheet
3) Income Tax copy
4) Sales Bills & Purchase bills
5) Monthly VAT Return
6) Way bills (if any cst purchase or sales)
7) VAT payment details
8) Issued of Form "C/H/F"
9) Total Sales details, as like Taxable, Exempt Taxable, Export,Branch Transfer, etc., with related output tax % in excel format
12)Total Purchase details, as like Taxable, Exempt Taxable, Import,Branch Transfer, etc., with related input tax credit % in excel format
13) Finally, to be arrive zero balance difference between you and sales tax. If refundable or payable, you need prepare revise return for whole year.
from the above said details and along with letter copy for assessment completed to be submit by the time of sales tax assessment.


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As we celebrate our nation's 237th birthday, a crucial facet of American life has all but vanished. We have forsaken, in any systematic and deliberate public manner, one of our most fundamental duties: fostering civic virtue in each and every one of our citizens.
What does it mean to be an American? Politicians in both parties keep pushing to create a new "path to citizenship" for millions of illegal aliens. But if sovereignty and self-preservation still matter in Washington, citizenship must be guarded ferociously against those who would exploit and devalue it at every electoral whim.
The pavers of the amnesty pathway think illusory requirements of paying piddling "fines" and back taxes will inculcate an adequate sense of responsibility and ownership in the American way. Other fair-weather friends of patriotism satisfy themselves with shallow holiday pop quizzes on American history to fulfill the "well-informed" part of the "well-informed citizenry" mandate of our Founding Fathers.
But Thomas Jefferson said it well: "No government can continue good but under the control of the people; and ... their minds are to be informed by education what is right and what wrong; to be encouraged in habits of virtue and to be deterred from those of vice... These are the inculcations necessary to render the people a sure basis for the structure and order of government."
John Adams said it better: "Liberty can no more exist without virtue ... than the body can live and move without a soul."
And Thomas Paine said it best: "When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary."
Civic virtue cannot be purchased with token gestures or passed down in perfect form like a complete set of family china. A life of honor, honesty, integrity, self-improvement and self-discipline is something you strive ever to attain. Being American is a habit of mind, but also a habit of heart and soul. Abraham Lincoln spoke of the "electric cord in that Declaration that links the hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving men together, that will link those patriotic hearts as long as the love of freedom exists in the minds of men throughout the world."
Calvin Coolidge, profiled in Why Coolidge Matters, a terrific new book by Charles C. Johnson, echoed the Founding Fathers' emphasis on virtue, restraint and work ethic. "If people can't support themselves," he concluded, "we'll have to give up self-government."
The failure of public schools to impart even rudimentary knowledge of self-government principles, natural rights theory and the rule of law is compounded by the suicidal abandonment of civic education. As Stanford University education professor William Damon notes: "Our disregard of civic and moral virtue as an educational priority is having a tangible effect on the attitudes, understanding and behavior of large portions of the youth population in the United States today."
Add militant identity politics, a cancerous welfare state, entitled dependence and tens of millions of unassimilated immigrants to the heap, and you have a toxic recipe for what Damon calls "societal decadence—literally, a 'falling away,' from the Latin decadere." Civilizations that disdain virtue die.
Independence Day sparklers will light the skies overhead this July 4th, but George Washington's "sacred fire of liberty" belongs in the breasts of Americans every day of the year.
How to rescue citizenship and civic virtue?
Let's start by sending a message to politicians in the nation's capital who imperil our sovereignty.
Citizenship—good citizenship—is not just a piece of government-issued paper. It is not merely a bureaucratic "status." It's a lifelong practice and propagation of founding principles. A nation of low information is just half the problem. A nation of low character cannot long remain a free nation.
Michelle Malkin [email her] is the author of Invasion: How America Still Welcomes Terrorists, Criminals, and Other Foreign Menaces to Our Shores . Click here for Peter Brimelow's review. Click here for Michelle Malkin's website. Michelle Malkin is also author of Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild and Culture of Corruption: Obama and his Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks & Cronies


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(I'll pause here to allow those of you whooping for joy to catch your breath.)
Well, if you're like me, this means you might want to get started on your taxes sometime today, or this weekend, or maybe even Monday morning. After all, as a wise man once said, "[remember to insert procrastination quote before post goes up]!"
So, in our eternal quest to help you readers in the most sincere way possible using funny cakes, here is a complete, comprehensive guide for doing your taxes.
Step 1. Mix 2 ounces ea. of vodka, tequila, rum and gin - with a splash of Coke - and drink immediately.
(Note: if a poo-shaped fountain explodes from drink, you're doing it right)
Step 2. Pull shoebox of receipts from laundry hamper and take wild guess as to how much you spent last year.
Now add a zero.
This is your Adjusted Gross Expenditure Allowance Total Income Bracket, Article 1. Write this number down somewhere. Preferably on something that won't run off.
Step 4. Write down all information in a legible manner:
Step 5. Go to the nearest ATM and empty your checking account, savings account, and pockets. This is what you owe.
It's always a good idea to send your payment in cash, and stuck to a cupcake. The IRS enjoys playful pranks like this, and will doubtless credit your account several hundred dollars in exchange for the laugh.
Well, we hope you've enjoyed our comprehensive tax guide. Now, if you need us, we'll just be vacationing somewhere you've never heard of outside U.S. jurisdiction.