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By BERNARD CONDON /The Associated Press
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second in a series on the loss of middle-class jobs in the wake of the Great Recession, and the role of technology.
While millions of jobs in developed countries have been lost due to the economic downturn and the increased use of technology, developing economies have been spared the technological onslaught – for now.
Countries like Brazil and China are still growing middle-class jobs because they're shifting from export-driven to consumer-based economies. But even they are beginning to use more machines in manufacturing. The cheap labor they relied on to make goods from apparel to electronics is no longer so cheap as their living standards rise.
One example is Sunbird Engineering, a Hong Kong firm that makes mirror frames for heavy trucks at a factory in southern China. Salaries at its plant in Dongguan have nearly tripled from $80 a month in 2005 to $225 today. "Automation is the obvious next step," CEO Bill Pike says.
Sunbird is installing robotic arms that drill screws into a mirror assembly, work now done by hand. The machinery will allow the company to eliminate two positions on a 13-person assembly line. Pike hopes that additional automation will allow the company to reduce another five or six jobs from the line.
"By automating, we can outlive the labor cost increases inevitable in China," Pike says. "Those who automate in China will win the battle of increased costs."
Foxconn Technology Group, which assembles iPhones at factories in China, unveiled plans in 2011 to install one million robots over three years.
A recent headline in the China Daily newspaper: "Chinese robot wars set to erupt."
Candidates for U.S. president last year never tired of telling Americans how jobs were being shipped overseas. China, with its vast army of cheaper labor and low-value currency, was easy to blame.
But most jobs cut in the U.S. and Europe weren't moved. No one got them. They vanished. And the villain in this story – a clever software engineer working in Silicon Valley or the high-tech hub around Heidelberg, Germany – isn't so easy to hate.
"It doesn't have political appeal to say the reason we have a problem is we're so successful in technology," says Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist at Columbia University. "There's no enemy there."
Unless you count family and friends and the person staring at you in the mirror. The uncomfortable truth is technology is killing jobs with the help of ordinary consumers by enabling them to quickly do tasks that workers used to do full time, for salaries.
Use a self-checkout lane at the supermarket or drugstore? A worker behind a cash register used to do that.
Buy clothes without visiting a store? You've taken work from a salesman.
Click "accept" in an email invitation to attend a meeting? You've pushed an office assistant closer to unemployment.
Book your vacation using an online program? You've helped lay off a travel agent. Perhaps at American Express Co., which announced last month that it plans to cut 5,400 jobs, mainly in its travel business, as more of its customers shift to online portals to plan trips.
Software is picking out worrisome blots in medical scans, running trains without conductors, driving cars without drivers, spotting profits in stocks trades in milliseconds, analyzing Twitter traffic to tell where to sell certain snacks, sifting through documents for evidence in court cases, recording power usage beamed from digital utility meters at millions of homes, and sorting returned library books.
Technology gives rise to "cheaper products and cool services," says David Autor, an economist at MIT, one of the first to document tech's role in cutting jobs. "But if you lose your job, that is slim compensation."
Even the most commonplace technologies – take, say, email – are making it tough for workers to get jobs, including ones with MBAs, like Roshanne Redmond, a former project manager at a commercial real estate developer.
"I used to get on the phone, talk to a secretary and coordinate calendars," Redmond says. "Now, things are done by computer."
Technology is used by companies to run leaner and smarter in good times and bad, but never more than in bad. In a recession, sales fall and companies cut jobs to save money. Then they turn to technology to do tasks people used to do. And that's when it hits them: They realize they don't have to re-hire the humans when business improves, or at least not as many.
The Hackett Group, a consultant on back-office jobs, estimates 2 million of them in finance, human resources, information technology and procurement have disappeared in the U.S. and Europe since the Great Recession. It pins the blame for more than half of the losses on technology. These are jobs that used to fill cubicles at almost every company – clerks paying bills and ordering supplies, benefits managers filing health-care forms and IT experts helping with computer crashes.
"The effect of (technology) on white-collar jobs is huge, but it's not obvious," says MIT's McAfee. Companies "don't put out a press release saying we're not hiring again because of machines."
Historically, new companies and new industries have been the incubator of new jobs. Start-up companies no more than five years old are big sources of new jobs in developed economies. In the U.S., they accounted for 99 percent of new private sector jobs in 2005, according to a study by the University of Maryland's John Haltiwanger and two other economists.
But even these companies are hiring fewer people. The average new business employed 4.7 workers when it opened its doors in 2011, down from 7.6 in the 1990s, according to a Labor Department study released last March.
Technology is probably to blame, wrote the report's authors, Eleanor Choi and James Spletzer. Entrepreneurs no longer need people to do clerical and administrative tasks to help them get their businesses off the ground.
In the old days – say, 10 years ago – "you'd need an assistant pretty early to coordinate everything – or you'd pay a huge opportunity cost for the entrepreneur or the president to set up a meeting," says Jeff Connally, CEO of CMIT Solutions, a technology consultancy to small businesses.
Now technology means "you can look at your calendar and everybody else's calendar and – bing! – you've set up a meeting." So no assistant gets hired.
Entrepreneur Andrew Schrage started the financial advice website Money Crashers in 2009 with a partner and one freelance writer. The bare-bones start-up was only possible, Schrage says, because of technology that allowed the company to get online help with accounting and payroll and other support functions without hiring staff.
"Had I not had access to cloud computing and outsourcing, I estimate that I would have needed 5-10 employees to begin this venture," Schrage says. "I doubt I would have been able to launch my business."
Technological innovations have been throwing people out of jobs for centuries. But they eventually created more work, and greater wealth, than they destroyed. Ford, the author and software engineer, thinks there is reason to believe that this time will be different. He sees virtually no end to the inroads of computers into the workplace. Eventually, he says, software will threaten the livelihoods of doctors, lawyers and other highly skilled professionals.
Many economists are encouraged by history and think the gains eventually will outweigh the losses. But even they have doubts.
"What's different this time is that digital technologies show up in every corner of the economy," says McAfee, a self-described "digital optimist." ''Your tablet (computer) is just two or three years old, and it's already taken over our lives."
Peter Lindert, an economist at the University of California, Davis, says the computer is more destructive than innovations in the Industrial Revolution because the pace at which it is upending industries makes it hard for people to adapt.
Occupations that provided middle-class lifestyles for generations can disappear in a few years. Utility meter readers are just one example. As power companies began installing so-called smart readers outside homes, the number of meter readers in the U.S. plunged from 56,000 in 2001 to 36,000 in 2010, according to the Labor Department.
In 10 years? That number is expected to be zero.
NEXT: Practically human: Can smart machines do your job?


text:
Skull Candy Smokin' Buds Earphones Black Rubberized
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Skull Candy Smokin' Buds Headphones in Purple / Purple- Ships in ''24'' Hours!
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subset: commoncrawl


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My secret project is now ready to be seen. It's Codeville, a version control system.
One thing no longer nagging at my brain, a million left to go.
My secret project is now ready to be seen. It's Codeville, a version control system.
One thing no longer nagging at my brain, a million left to go.
Space travel is dangerous. Please take careful consideration before boarding any space vehicles.
The game is called Straights and Queers (this potentially uncomfortable metaphor is by far the easiest way of understanding the rules, so please bear with me). It's played on the following board -
__ __/ \__ __/ \__/ \__ / \__/ \__/ \ \__/ \__/ \__/ / \__/ \__/ \ \__/ \__/ \__/ / \__/ \__/ \ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/
There are two players, the straights and the queers. Each player has two pieces, one male and one female.
On each turn, both players move any pieces they have on the board and place any pieces which aren't on the board, which happens at the beginning of the game or when a piece is captured. Both players write down what their moves are without seeing the opponent's moves, then reveal what the moves are.
Pieces move to any adjacent hexagon. They cannot move to a hexagon which another piece is currently on, even if that piece belongs to the same side. Pieces can be placed on any empty hexagon, but may not be placed onto a hexagon currently containing a piece, even one belonging to the same side. A player may not move both of their pieces onto the same hexagon. When pieces move, they must move to a different spot, they cannot remain in the same place.
If two pieces wind up on the same spot, then a capture happens. If the two pieces are of the same gender, then the queer captures, otherwise the straight captures. Additionally, in the rare case where a piece winds up in a corner with all three adjacent spots occupied and hence no legal turn on the next move, then it is captured. Captured pieces are returned to the side they belong to be placed on the next move.
The first player to perform ten captures wins.
That's all the rules. I think this game is made interesting by the simultaneous play despite the extraordinarily small board. Perhaps I went too far on board smallness, rendering the game brute forceable. However, there are classic games involving some chance and secret information which have extremely simple positions, such as yachtzee and texas hold'em poker. Texas hold'em turns out to be completely out of brute force range, but yachtzee is emminently brute forceable in the solo case optimizing average score, and on paper looks just barely solveable for the two-player case trying to optimize chances of winning.
I'm curious to see if the entrants into the sumultaneous play competition generally have very limited board positions. I'd also like to know if anyone has actually set about brute forcing yachtzee. If anyone knows of such efforts please tell me.
The CodeCon 2003 program is now announced, and registration is open.
CodeCon 2003 will be February 22-24, noon-6pm at Club NV in San Francisco, California.
All presentations will given by one of the active developers, and accompanied by a functional demo.
CodeCon presentations will include:
Lance Fortnow links to some interesting commentary on P vs. NP.
I found out today the standard terminology for my favorite conjecture -
Conjecture: The circuit complexity of the k-sum problem is at least n ** k.
This directly implies that the 4SUM problem is quadratic. I believe that the 3SUM problem is also quadratic (as does everybody), but that the reasons for that are much deeper and more complex.
It also implies P != NP, so we can rest assured that noone has proven it yet.
Given the obviousness of this conjecture I'm sure circuit complexity people have already spent considerable time on it and just haven't gotten anywhere, although curiously googling for '3sum' and 'circuit complexity' doesn't turn up anyone else musing on the subject.
Here is a good list of open problems to spend time on.
I haven't posted much lately because I've been spending my blogging time on my new secret project, which will be unveiled when I get a proof of concept working.
XML people don't seem to realize that when I say I'm on the de facto standards committee I'm not kidding.
In the case of an auction, any price below the second price wouldn't be pareto efficient, because the seller could sell the item to someone else at a higher price and both the seller and the new buyer would be happier. Pareto efficiency isn't unique in this case, because the high bidder purchasing with any price between the first and second bids is pareto efficient.
(Yes it's possible to make more money selling on ebay by setting your minimum bid increment to a humongous value. At some point I'll get around to writing about ebay at length.)
The reason to go with the second price instead of some amount more (which is how ebay does things, irritatingly enough) is to make it less gameable, however some gameability remains. Specifically, the seller could inflate the minimum price to anywhere between the first and second price and be better off. This is impractical under many circumenstances, but is very important with only two (or one!) bidder. Note that gameability is only a problem in the situations in selecting between different pareto efficient solutions, so there's no weakness to it as a technique here.
In the case of stable marriage, there is a straightforward algorithm for finding all stable solutions based on pareto efficiency. For each person A, if A's first place choice is B, then for every C which appears below A on B's list of preferences, scratch B off C's list and C off B's list (this is justified because if B were paired with C then we could change the pairings to have B paired with A, and both A and B would be happier). Repeat until you can't simplify any more. At this point, participants will be in cycles, in which B is first on A's list, C is first on B's list, D is first on C's list, etc, until we get to A being first no somebody's list. Because of the gender difference, these cycles will always be of even length, so for each cycle we have to decide whether the males get their first choice or the females get their first choice. Note that this is a choice between different pareto efficient configurations, the appropriateness of pareto efficiency as a criterion is uncontroversial.
In practice, even on random data, this technique does such a good job of pairing up people that there's hardly any arbitrariness in final pairings. In the medical example a study was done and found that only a miniscule number of students would be assigned elsewhere in students's choice, so the algorithm was switched to that for good PR.
A bit off-topic, I'd like to point out that It's utterly stupid that 'the match' was so controversial for so long. I at one point solved stable marriage on my own because it's an interesting problem, coming up with the above algorithm, and after a little bit of testing realized how little difference male versus female choice makes. That was only a few days's worth of work. Let this be a lesson to everyone that if there's a big controversy which a simple study can shed a lot of light on, do the damn study.
The stable roommates problem doesn't always have a pareto efficient solution, for example there might be a loser who's put last on everyone else's list of priorities, but the above technique can be used to make an algorithm which works very well. Note that stable marriage is just a special case of stable roommates where all the males rank all females above all males and all females rank all males above all females.
A much simpler and more justifiable approach is to try to reach pareto efficiency, which is a situation in which no two individuals can make an exchange and both be happier. This cleverly avoids making subjective comparisons of different peoples's worth, and also yields a straightforward algorithm for maximization. The success of capitalism can be viewed as a testament to the robustness of greedy algorithms.
robocoder: I suggest setting up CVS, a mailing list, syncmail, and a todo list. Picking a bug tracking tool to begin with is like starting the construction of a bridge by digging a mass grave for everyone who will die in the building process.
There's a very difficult puzzle in the latest scientific american, it goes as follows:
Three of the nine members of the president's cabinet are leaks. If the president gives a tip to some subset of his advisors and all three interlopers are in that subset, then that tip will get leaked to the press. The president has decided to determine who the leaks are by selectively giving tips to advisors and seeing which ones leak. How can this be done by giving each tip to three or four people, having no more than two leaked tips, and using no more than 25 tips total?
There's a solution on the web site, although the one I figured out is very different.
Here's my solution. First, note that if a tip to four people leaks, the leaks can be found using only three more tips, giving each of them to three of the four.
Arrange eight of the nine advisors on the vertices of a 2x2x2 cube. Test each of the 12 subsets which are coplanar, plus the 2 subsets which are all the same color if they're colored like a checkerboard. If any of those leak, we're done. If not, we've determined that the odd one out must be one of the leaks.
Next, arrange the eight we previously had in a cube formation into a line, and test all 8 configurations of the form the odd one out, x, x+1, and x+3 (modulo 8).
If none of those hit, then the two other leaks must be of the form x and x + 4, which there are four possibilities for. Three of them can be tried directly and if none leak then the last one can be inferred.
This leads to a total of 14 + 8 + 3 = 25 tips. It's a very hard problem, it took me about 45 minutes to figure out a solution.
An additional question given is whether increasing the number of advisors included in a tip can reduce the number of trials necessary. The answer is yes. For example, to modify the technique I gave the first test could be of six of the corners of the cube except for two adjacent ones. This effectively does three tests at once, so the total number of tests needed drops to 23. If the first test turns up positive, all but one of the 20 subsets of 3 of 6 can be tried individually, and if none of them leak then the last one can be inferred, for a total of one initial tip with to 6 plus 19 others, or 20 total, so leaking on the first tip isn't the limiting case.
New HTML Parser: The long-awaited libxml2 based HTML parser code is live. It needs further work but already handles most markup better than the original parser.
Keep up with the latest Advogato features by reading the Advogato status blog.
If you're a C programmer with some spare time, take a look at the mod_virgule project page and help us with one of the tasks on the ToDo list!


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"In conclusion: an ultra-complete package for long distances where the wind can change in strength and direction, the iSonic can position itself very easily anywhere on a race course with the highest levels of performance. A reference."
+ Range of use, stability, 2 high performance fins, uniformity of its
+ performance
- A tiny bit technical and tough in the jibes in choppy water


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This Land is Sharon's Land – SXSW 2010
Broken Bells. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. Spoon. The Walkmen. Visqueen. All playing on the same night. And get this – on the same bill!
Where's this happening? Well, it could only be at the 2010 South By Southwest Music & Media Conference, held in Austin, Texas. It's where I am now, and will be, for the next 4 days.
In case you're not familiar with the music portion of annual event, it's a five-day convergence of hundreds of artists from all over the world, often playing numerous times on more than 80 stages. That Broken Bells/Spoon/Sharon Jones show I mentioned? That was just the first night.
I'm not entirely sure if I've recovered from the jet lag, two-hour time change, standing next to Country Joe McDonald while waiting for a taxi at the airport, and Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings' blistering show last night. Especially that last one I mentioned.
The Dap-Kings set the tone for a full-on soul/funk/gospel experience with their brilliant horn and rhythm sections before Sharon sauntered out and immediately set the place ablaze with her stage presence. Wearing a slinky new green dress she'd bought to coincide with the celebration of St. Patrick's Day, she proceeded to lay down some of the funkiest dancing this side of vintage James Brown. And that voice. Good heavens, what a voice. Sent chills up my back numerous times. Seriously.
I don't mention Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings just because we're carrying their new album, I Learned the Hard Way, on April 6 (even though you will want to hear it), but because she's simply one of the best live acts there is. Please see her if you get a chance.
I could expound at length upon the Broken Bells, too, but did that in a previous post. Also managed to squeeze in scintillating sets from Bowerbirds and Califone, and caught a discussion panel entitled: "How Will We Listen To Music in 2020?" Apparently we're all gonna be sharing music via telepathy. Kidding. So for now … that is all.


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Looks like the Star Wars novels are getting back on track, so instead of just all NJO dreck, we are going to get some stories from shortly after the formation of the New Republic. This one sounds pretty intresting, hopefully the book is as good as the teaser.
The past haunts Princess Leia as she looks forward to an uncertain future. The four-year old New Republic continues to grow, as does Leia's love for her husband, Han Solo. But despite his wants, Leia is determined not to have children, for fear of the uncertainty of the Skywalker bloodline.
An artifact from Alderaan containing secret codes used by the New Republic resurfaces at a shady Mos Espa auction, and Han and Leia voyage to Tatooine to secure it. While on the desert planet, Leia finds evidence of her father's past that cause her to rethink some of her firmest held beliefs.
Tatooine Ghost, a new hardcover novel by Troy Denning, is scheduled for release in February 2003.
MTFBWY and HH!!
Jar Jar Binks


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Improve your cycling skills by spending an evening with cycling experts who will teach you nutrition, mechanics, and strategies.
The 4-week prenatal class is held one night a week for 4 weeks and is for first-time moms who are planning to have an epidural. You should arrange to finish the class 3 to 4 weeks before you are due.
The Weigh to Health® program at American Fork Hospital is for overweight adults who want to lose weight, improve their health, and feel better every day.
This class is designed to provide factual information and helpful advice about breastfeeding while building confidence in women that breastfeeding can work for mom and baby.
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Anyone know the name of the CEO at Bumper Boy? I'm so disgusted by their customer service that I'm gonna send a letter right to the top. It probably won't make a difference, but at least I know I said something.
Their customer service is absolutely horribl!!!. They take a ton of criticism on all of the forums, and it still doesn't make a difference. I've tried calling and sending emails to get a return authorization number for a repair, only to get no responses.
I know they don't open until 8a PST, and so I'll call right at 11a EST, and I immediately get the voicemail that says that they are experiencing higher then normal call volume. What a crock that is!
What really torques me is that I've caught them directly in lies on multiple occasions. That goof ball, Reed, has lied to me and I've caught him on more then one occasion.


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By Blake Long/Special to the Journal
SPRINGVILLE – A wet and muddy pitch caused by six inches of snow and rain last week could not slow down the Mills and Kitchens sisters of South Pontotoc.
The two sibling combinations were big contributors to a 9-0 victory over Forest in the first round of the MHSAA Class 1A/2A/3A playoffs.
Sophomore Mattie Mills scored three goals for a hat trick and seventh grader Judith Mills knocked in the game's first goal off the left post in the 17th minute.
Anna Mills set up three of her younger sisters' scores and had four assists total to help South Pontotoc (10-4) advance to the state quarterfinals at Choctaw Central.
"This is the first time that all three of us have been out here," said senior Anna Mills, a Jones County signee. "It's nice to get to play together and I like being able to watch them score and be a part of it."
Tristan Kitchens sandwiched a nice goal in which she outraced Forest's Lori Cox down the field between two Mattie Mills makes to help the Lady Cougars lead comfortably 4-0 at halftime.
Kitchens added a second goal in the 49th minute. Her sister, Breanna, made some nice hustle plays from center defender to anchor a defense that did not allow the Lady Bearcats (1-6) a shot on goal the entire contest.
"We've got several kids that could play at the next level," said South Pontotoc coach Horace Kitchens. "I think people overlook us or underestimate us, but I think we can play with anybody if we're playing."
Kayleigh Sims, Shelbie Kidd and Heather Berry scored second half goals for the Lady Cougars.
(B) South Pontotoc 3, McLaurin 1: Dylan Johnson made the game's opening goal 19 minutes in for the Tigers (3-8), but Matt Collums scored twice before halftime to put South Pontotoc up 2-1.
The Cougars (11-5), which travel to Southeast Lauderdale on Saturday, got some breathing room with a 44th minute goal by Cole Caples.


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We would like to plan on going to this hunt test in on Dec 7 & 8. However it has been listed as "not finalized" on entry express. Is this test going to be cancelled? Thanks
We would like to plan on going to this hunt test in on Dec 7 & 8. However it has been listed as "not finalized" on entry express. Is this test going to be cancelled? Thanks
They are probably having trouble finding judges. Sorry I can't offer any insight. Keep watching EE or contact the club directly.
Same info on the AKC event search although an email address has been added that I did not see before.
John Cottenham aka jacduck in many circles before the internet
"Duck hunter's minds are like concrete. All mixed up and permanently set."
Yea... Looks like the Brazosport test is a go. Master and Junior listed on entry express & AKC now.
I was looking for this info this evening. I assume they are only having it on Saturday even though the premium says 7th and 8th.. Saturday is the only day available on entry express.
Back in Oct, we were chopping at the bit back to enter this event. The test would give us our last shot at finishing the Junior title this year. Figured we be the first to enter, but then came the cut foot, stitches and multiple trips to the vet. Weeks of duck season lost and lots of good training weather too. Never the less we are thankful to be able to run another day! It's so easy to take that for granted. Also, thankful for people who volunteer their time to make hunt test happen. Happy Thanksgiving y'all.
The Brazosport RC AKC Hunting Test will be held this weekend in Giddings, Tx. We are aware of the weather conditions in the area. Expect all tests to be true goose hunting tests. The scratch policy as listed in the premium will be followed. If you are scratching your entry(ies), please contact HT Secretary before Saturday. December 7, 8 am CST. We are a non-profit organization; there is no refund for no shows.
Rex Gibson
Katy, Texas
Brazosport Retriever Club
Greater Houston Golden Retriever Club
Love me a good goose hunt! See ya' tomorrow Rex!
Goose hunt sounds like fun! Wish we didn't have to scratch because of poor road conditions. Starring out the window looking at the 4 inches of ice and snow (4 deg F wind chill) in North Texas. Sigh, should be getting out of the crate and heading to the holding blind about right now……… Oh well, next time. Good luck y'all.
Master A will not start before 9am. Master B has 6 more dogs to run on the test you are moving to. Be careful as the bridges are freezing. Two wrecks on the Colorado River bridges tonight -- 77 north and I-10. Wreck on the Brazos River bridge coming in from B-CS too. Temps supposed to be above freezing after 8am. Be safe.
Rex Gibson
Katy, Texas
Brazosport Retriever Club
Greater Houston Golden Retriever Club


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Spider "realvoice" Vertical in the Ear Headphone
" First off the disclaimer, the Realvoice IEM'S were given to me a month or two back for reviewing. I would like to thank Spider Cable for the review sample and my apologies for taking so long in writing this review. Since I have had these I have used them about 75% of the time when I am using earphones, which probably averages about two hours per day. So I have put quite a few hours..." --Carlsan
WETBUDS Sweatproof earphones earbuds for all activities. Sweat proof
WETBUDS are extremely lightweight earphones that offer excellent resistance to sweat for a music-powered workout or for other activities that may cause the body to sweat. Most earphones can't take the added moisture and will eventually short out, causing you to miss out on the music that often gets you pumpin', not to mention the cost of replacing them. Not WETBUDS; they keep you...


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Trip Start Dec 31, 2004
71Trip End Apr 22, 2005
"So" Nasser explained, "The Mercedes couldn't make it so I got you this guy to take you to Wadi Rum. Oh, and the admission fee for the desert is 2 dinar not one - sorry I made a mistake." Hmmm. I admit I was a bit disappointed mainly because of the comfort level of five people in a car for a long drive but I've been through worse so I didn't complain. We waved back at Nasser wondering if somehow this entire excursion that he'd planned for us was somehow a sham
A couple hours later we pulled into the entrance. A lanky stick of a man in white galabia and Jordanian kefieh branded with a black birthmark that resembled a smashed beetle approached the car. Our driver spoke to him in Arabic and I right away assumed that we were being setup. He introduced himself and we immediately if not so slyly grilled him. "It's 20 dinar each, yes?" "And you know Nasser, right?" "The 20 dinar includes the jeep ride through the desert, right?" "For how long?" "Can we see everything we want to see today?" "The price includes accommodation, dinner and breakfast in the morning. Is that correct?" "So there are no extra or hidden charges are there?" "Awrighty then, let's give this a shot."
While Mohammed organized some things behind the scenes we handed over our money to Thomas who was taking care of our admission fees for us. He handed over a ten dinar note for the four of us. The reception area didn't have any change
Mohammed took our luggage and put it in his office and after some minor pestering consented to having it delivered to our tent. We lathered up with sunscreen, Peter riding shotgun his head completely obscured by his kefieh and Thomas, Daniel and me in the back of the open-air jeep.
Our first stop to see the Lawrence Spring that he purportedly used was crammed with tour buses and we worried we'd be fighting the tours all day. Mercifully it was the first and the last of them however. The rest of the long day until sunset we would not see more than a handful of tourists after we'd left their caravans at the first attraction. We pulled up to some dunes and Thomas and I ran up them and snapped some shots. I lied down and looked out across the desert and dug my feet down low to the cooler sand. I'd have been content to stay there much longer but the others were more content to hide in the shade of a large boulder
Mohammed pointed to the top of a mountain to a natural rock bridge tiny in the distance, "That's it up there. You want to go?" We confirmed that that was the same rock bridge we'd seen in the photos and I was crushed. It was way too high a climb for me in leather slides and I was cursing myself for having sent back my tennis shoes when I was in Rangoon. The guide without hesitation told me that he wouldn't advise me to attempt the climb in my sandals. The boys all wanted to go and I certainly couldn't begrudge them the opportunity and encouraged them to go up and to leave me with a strange man whom I felt certain was going to rape and murder me. "Are you kidding me? Y'all have got to go up there, I bet it's amazing" I assured them. An hour up and an hour down he told them and they started their assent.
Mohammed and I were heading to a shady spot when he offered to let me drive the jeep. I don't know how to drive but that didn't stop me. The car was 15 years old and it bore the scars of hundreds of dessert excursions. Trying to learn how to drive a stick shift in desert sand is asinine I've since decided. After practically destroying the gears in my overly zealous and feckless attempts he seemed content to let me drive it in a low gear loudly and slowly over humps and in the paths of previous vehicles. We parked and he began the inquisition that all the guidebooks advise you to lie about if you're traveling solo. I was winging it and making it up as I was going along. Here's what I came up with: My husband's name is Alexander, he's very handsome like a young Julian Sands, he's in Cairo on business and for some damn reason he's an artist
A little over an hour passed when I looked up and saw some minute specks moving across the bridge. I zoomed in as much as I could but even then you couldn't even make out which of them it was on the bridge nor could I even see what color the person was wearing. As promised an hour later they descended.
As we were heading back to pick them up I asked Mohammed what was next on the agenda. "A smaller rock bridge" he told me. I asked if it was one that I could climb and he answered the affirmative adding that it was very easy. When the guys came down from what they all agreed was a difficult climb I told them where we were heading next. They thought I was joking.
We pulled up to a one story rock bridge and they seemed incredulous. I was thrilled to be able to go up my own baby-sized bridge and even then I was so terrified that Mohammed had to help me every step of the way
The sun was slowly starting to set so we began to head toward the campsite stopping along the way to play on another sand dune. Had the prospect of an overnight tent stay in the desert presented itself at the beginning of my journey I'd have been a bit hesitant. Now however I figured that it couldn't be any worse than some of the hotels I've slept in.
It was a large black Bedouin tent made of goat hair and filled with pillows, cushions and rugs, a hookah and a hearth overflowing with used coals and ashes. It was tall enough to stand upright in places and the d�cor was similar to my old Moroccan room I had when I lived in Chicago. It was more comfortable and better decorated than I'd anticipated and I was thrilled. Mohammed brought us tea in little glasses on a tray and we relaxed before heading out to snap up the sunset.
As darkness spread across the desert our guide lit a gas lamp and went to cook our meal for the evening. He returned with a gigantic steaming pot of stewed chicken and vegetables, a large bowl of rice and some yoghurt. Afterward he started a hypnotic fire in the metal hearth and we sat around and talked for hours
There was a so-called toilet out back but I conjured up everything inside me to remain calm and to stay put until I'd found a proper toilet. I was successful but Peter wasn't as lucky and went half the night across the cold sands of the desert to that dark hole. Each time he returned he was thrilled to regale us with fully detailed reports. I was far from envious.
After a better sleep than I thought possible I awoke to the subtle scratch of sand blowing against the tent like tiny pelts of ice. I wrapped my kafieh around me and stepped out to the rising sun, feeling the cold sand under my feet and stepped up on a boulder. Surveying the desert landscape in complete silence I brushed my teeth. What a way to wake up.
Moments later we gathered around a low table topped with a Bedouin rug as Mohammed's brother entered with a tray of pita bread, jams and cheese and a kettle of hot tea. We planned out our onward journey. We would share a taxi to the port city of Aqaba. Daniel would stay there and venture back north upward to Amman then onward to Syria
In the cab ride out of Wadi Rum the driver asked if we liked Arabic music. He turned up a warbled cassette of what sounded like very angry men singing under water with a strong pronounced beat. It was like a road movie playing the feel-good hit of the summer as the credits rolled. There we were crammed in the back of a taxi speeding past desert scenery dancing the spastic Nasser Dance as hard as we could and laughing ourselves mad.
It was great.


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Please post your VOTE for up to 2 {two} of the questions provided in this thread, letting us know which ones you most want to see asked on August 19th. Keep in mind that your votes in round 92 do not count in this round, so if your question is still on the list you may want to vote for it again.
Also, feel free to suggest new questions, but please keep in mind that due to the now extra-limited nature of the program, we cannot use every suggestion.
Current questions (vote for up to 2):
- - Force FX has entered a new phase with the removable blade series, and so far we've seen the first couple waves. Thanks to Clone Wars, female characters are back on the rise in Star Wars and bringing in more female collectors - Ahsoka especially has been selling very well. What does the future of Force FX look like? What are the chances of Ahsoka's lightsaber being added to the Force FX line, better opening that market up to female consumers and getting Clone Wars main character recognizability?
- - A few years ago, we asked about the chance for updating the role-play Han Solo Blaster and Stormtrooper Blaster accessories, and your response was a not at that time because they weren't supported by then-current entertainment. The existing role-play Stormtrooper and Han blasters are molds from the late '70s, now technically 5 decades old. While they do have some pretty decent design for items from that era, compared to Hasbro's newer role-play blasters, they come up a bit lacking in accuracy and features. We don't expect all-black movie accuracy due to safety concerns, but on those 2, the seams are a bit uncomfortable to hold, the lights and sounds don't deliver all that effectively and don't rapid-fire nicely; and on the Stormtrooper blaster, the stock is still missing in action, and there's never been a clip. With ANH being re-released next year on Blu-Ray, and in theaters in a few years, it seems like there are going to be opportunities to deliver updated versions of those 2 iconic blasters in the role-play lineup, so is there any chance of seeing that happen?
- - Sgt. Bric's initial cartoon outing turned out to be kind of a bust. The character was an unmemorable jerk and didn't really add anything to his storyline. In fact, if not for the action figure you guys did, he'd be a complete nobody in 2010. And on top of that, the postage on his set when it arrived in Los Angeles was a whopping $5.15, so after the cost of the box and the handling, just getting it out the door probably ate the entire $6.99 right there. Combine that with the fancy packaging and the battle mat, and the fact that he's 100% new tooling with some pricey-looking (for CW) paint, and it seems like Bric's quite an expensive promotional venture for Hasbro to have undertaken... all for a minor jerk of a character. What is it about Bric that made you choose him for a big Clone Wars mail-away promo figure?
- - The new R5-D4 figure does not have the painted red panels on his back. That might sound like a minor issue, but the panels are clearly visible in the film when the droid's motivator blows up, and they help give the little guy a bit more visual pop. Neither the 1996 nor the 2006 versions of R5-D4 had these painted either, so it's disappointing to see that the third time is not the charm (though it remains a detail that the original vintage figure got right). Given the number of running changes we've seen so far in The Vintage Collection, is it at all possible that this oversight might be changed on future shipments?
- - The Force FX lightsabers are targeted at adult collectibles, for a group who generally desire accuracy in their prop collectibles, and yet the latest ROTS Obi-Wan's lightsaber with removable blade suffers a big inaccuracy due to the blade needing to be securely anchored. However, with your removable-blade designs, you've started using dummy parts to fill in the removed blades, and we wonder if you'd consider for future thin-necked lightsabers like Luke ROTJ and Obi-Wan having the removable blade take the entire thick "neck" with it and having a more accurate thin-necked dummy design replace it. That much weight anchoring has been accomplished before in the thick metal coupler for the Maul saber halves that screwed together, on these thin-neck sabers the neck could screw down to the top part of the grip. That would let collectors have their cake and eat it too by giving an accurate hilt prop display with the thin neck, while still having the light-up blade play using the thick neck. So has there been any consideration for that sort of thing, and might it be seen in future Force FX sabers when needed?
- The plethora of white clones and sandtroopers that have shipped with every wave so far this year are having some problems getting out the doors of major retailers. Also, repainted clones such as Gree and the orange clone trooper do not seem to have the same problem building up on the pegs. A while back you told us that Hasbro bean counters were cracking down on running-change figures, but having different pauldron colors for the sandtrooper in different waves, and repainting the episode 2 (sergeant and officer colors) and episode 3 clones (many different units to choose from) in different color schemes for different waves would have almost definitely helped alleviate the oversupply/under demand problems for these figures. Please don't read this as us asking for more clones and sandtroopers as right now we do think it's overkill, but since recent and future waves still seem to be pushing these stalled figures, do you think the recent issues are enough to give the "no running changes" policy another look for troubled trooper figures?
- - The 2009 Count Dooku with Speeder Bike figure featured a fabric cloak with a sculpted plastic clasp, meaning he had the free range of motion provided by the cloak with the accuracy of the clasp. This year though, instead of a plastic clasp, your TVC General Lando Calrissian figure has a thick elastic strap that doesn't really look anything like the fabric braid the character wore in the film; it seems like that is a case where a plastic clasp would have been preferable. The plastic clasp holding closed a fabric cloak solution could also be a possibility on future Darth Vader figures, or movie-based Count Dooku figures, or other figures where appropriate and the material allows it. Will the plastic-clasp-and-fabric approach be taken more in the future? Why wasn't it with TVC General Lando?
- - Since the release of the ROTJ wave last Fall, there really hasn't been much product for either line making a big appearance on shelves at any major retailer. Many waves have come and gone in very small, sporadic, scattered numbers. Your recent answers about some figures slowing things up doesn't fully account for what seems to be extremely-low retailer orders or problematic case assortments that continued even a year after figures were showing problems to continue pushing slow-moving product rather than focusing on newer and more popular stuff. Beyond the slow-moving figures, what is happening with the spotty distribution and case assortment planning for this year so far? You've always told us that you monitor what's selling and adjust future case assortments to address problems, yet we haven't seen that lately, why not slip in Wedge and the Gamorrean and the like, truly sought-after figures, instead of just another pass at recarded figures?
- - Last Fall, Hasbro finally had to bite the bullet and raise pricing across the line, both movie product and Clone Wars. Retailers seemed to take an odd approach with the raised prices, showing many instances where they'd set a price even a dollar or two higher than what Hasbro was aiming for. Now the main line Vintage Collection figures go for $9 to $11 at the major retailers, Clone Wars figures go from $7 to $9.50 at the major retailers, and pricing on bigger stuff that was still key to the line, like Starfighter Vehicles and 4-figure Battle Packs, are jumping up around $25 to $30 at the big retailers. Pricing has always been a challenge, it's even part of what killed the original Kenner line back in '85, but it seems to some collectors like right now that pricing has gone beyond what the market will bear for little 3.75-inch Star Wars figures. Saga Legends, once a powerhouse for the Star Wars line with casual collectors and kids, now seems to be struggling, and throughout spring through the summer reset, both Target and Walmart stores in many areas were clearancing them out and taking the SKU off their shelves. Both casual collector interest and even fan interest seems to have finally found the "make or break" point with the new pricepoints, or at least making them far more discerning about what they were considering buying. Does Hasbro view the pricing situation for Star Wars anywhere near the view we collectors are seeing?
- - Lucasfilm is all of a sudden talking about the February 2012 cinema release of Episode I in 3D as an experiment, one that, should it not live up to their expectations will end the Saga's re-release train then and there. They've also said that the live-action TV series is on hold a few more years. Should the 3D release not pan out, that would leave only the Blu-Ray release coming up this Fall as major entertainment support for the realistic incarnation of the brand. Granted, Hasbro's Star Wars line has survived plenty of waves without entertainment support, but the state of the toy industry seems more brutal, more dire than before. What is Hasbro looking forward to using as support for the main Star Wars movie line should the 3D movie release not pan out? Hasbro hasn't done any major advertising for the main Star Wars movie line in a while, might there be a renewed push into that realm?
- - Most collectors still haven't really gotten a significant experience with the new Vintage Collection waves that do away with theming. Can you touch a little more on how those new non-themed waves are planned out? Is it harder to find a "voice" for creating a wave that way, or is it freeing not to have to come up with a bunch of figures all centered around a single concept that have to be ready to go at the exact same time?
- - At the SDCC panel, Hasbro talked about the new Battle Droid and even a new ROTJ Speeder Bike in the works. Both these items are ones that previous iterations have suffered significant wilting on, their plastics were too soft to support their long, thin designs for any real amount of time. Dave Vennemeyer during the Convention mentioned the Battle Droid, that he slightly thickened up the legs to accommodate the transformation scheme and to add a little more articulation, but he did not not specifically say it was to counter the wilting. The wilting, we've been told by Hasbro, is softer materials being used by the factories, and that team Hasbro Star Wars has been talking to them for some time about addressing the soft plastics issue. So, with the new Battle Droid and Speeder Bike, is something going to be done to avoid that frustrating wilting?
- - In the foreseeable future, can we expect to see the Neimoidian Separatist Shuttle released, seeing how it's appeared in three films, and in 12 Clone Wars episodes so far? It has a unique shape and certainly seems as useful as a Mandalorian Shuttle, which is getting a release.
- - Concerning the Clone Wars Battle Droid figure, will you ever release a regular infantry version that sports the Firefighter Battle Droid's extra-articulated arms, and the Class 1 Fleet Separatist Speeder Pilot Battle Droid's extra-articulated legs, so that we'll have a more articulated animated Battle Droid?
- - At 2010 SDCC, we interviewed Derryl and asked a question about the philosophy behind the very successful Hasbro Star Wars Q&A, to which he responded:
"It does take a lot of time to answer questions and not be glib. It's actually very easy to be glib, with Star Wars we set out from the very first session to try and solve a problem we had with the fan base, which was a real wall that seemed to exist. So we wanted to smash down a wall which had built up between corporate Hasbro and the fanbase at large. Our mission to do the Q&A was really precipitated by kind of a lack of insight or understanding into our actual processes that we used when creating the line, when making the decisions we do, and balancing the fact that we're fans but at the same time we're working at a company and we have financial obligations to the company to deliver on a certain target, what was promised, and we have to balance that. We hope that we've made that kind of corporate financial aspect almost invisible to the way we approach the line, it's a necessity that's always behind us. But that's why you see things, I talked about, like, we had to balance the costing and here's what goes into costing. We'll make a character selection or wave selection or vehicle selection based on balancing all the aspects of how big these characters are, how much deco they're gonna take, how much tooling - you know, that's always a big one - how much tooling a wave consumes, and by doing so we're able to give fans the ability to communicate, to write and talk about things in the same way that we do, and we've seen an evolution in the way fans perceive the line, which means that we've done a good job helping fans understand the things that we have to balance. So my appreciation goes out to the fans too for responding to that, which means that we can move on to other questions of character selection or things like that that we know people really want to get to. [Q&A as an education,] you're right, and getting back to the point where it would be easy to be glib to answer questions, to be short and say "no" or "yes" to some questions. The Star Wars fanbase is the most passionate fanbase on the planet. We exist, our jobs exist because of the fans. Our approach to the Q&A is when somebody asks an impassioned question, to respect that question, right? Sometimes they may not be things we want to be asked, but it's our job to answer them, to not show an emotional response, to answer them with the respect the question deserves, and we treat everything equally. Some people want very specific answers, some people very broad, but everything really deserves an answer, and that's we approach it. So, our answer back to the fans is to show an appreciation of the passion and respect that they bring to Star Wars."
Derryl's comments there impressed us quite a bit and showed a stark contrast to what we had been experiencing at the time with Hasbro's Transformers Q&A, where answers did come off seeming glib and lacking repect for those fans. This year, with Jeff taking over SW Q&A from Derryl, the first few batches of answers have come off with somewhat of a brief, glib, vague, even mocking tone - more PR-styled answers than giving fans a real understanding of how the brand works. We hope this is a misunderstanding of each other, just a breaking-in period and not a repeat of the ultimately pointless Transformers Q&A. If so, what can we fans do to help smooth this transitional period? If not, what's the new intention of this Q&A, what's the point?
- - The issue of characters appearing in the Saga Legends line around the same time that they appear in The Vintage Collection is something that in the past Hasbro said they were trying to avoid, but lately has changed gears on. For the Saga Legends figures under the TVC line, out of 32 figures 15 of them were repeats of TVC figures on shelves around the same time, such as Anakin, Obi-Wan, Luke ESB Pilot, the AOTC and ROTS Clones, the Stormtrooper, C-3PO, Vader, Grievous, Jango Fett, Mace Windu, and the Super Battle Droid (who is identical aside from a slight change in deco, and a pistol). The Saga Legends versions are often $2 cheaper than their TVC counterparts, and sometimes are even superior in some ways - look at the helmet situation on the TVC Episode III clones compared to the properly-sized, never-green, correctly-painted Saga Legends clone that's also cheaper and comes with a stand. What is the cause of those counter-planned characters, and are they cannibalizing sales from each other as we suspect? Is there any concern that having the same figure out in 2 movie-based lines accelerating its market ceiling being reached?
Vote now, and suggest new questions too. Thanks for participating.


text: I saw the commercial for this. The one scene that I saw with E.T. walking to the edge of the hill looked STUPID!!!! The CG E.T. was horrible! Yeah... it LOOKED like him, but compared to the scenescape, he stuck out like his glowing finger! Bad, bad, evil, terrible. I'll have to see the whole thing with the reincorporated scenes. They don't look like they will really add a different aspect to the storyline. The effects on E.T.'s ship are pretty standard. They really could have just left those effects alone. Oh, well. Anyone else see this commercial?


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3' Pre-Lit Red Artificial Pencil Tinsel Christmas Tree - Red Lights
Supplier Details
Verified Supplier (2016)
[ Buffalo, New York, United States ]
Business Type: Manufacturer, Wholesaler, Dropshipper
Supplier has 24,617 products
Product Description
This pre-lit tree is an exciting designer red color the light sets are also a designer color with matching red wire and red bulbs Tree features a mixture of red tinsel and red holographic laser tinsel tips that add extra sparkle! Product Features: 109 branch tips Pre-lit with 50 red mini lights If one bulbs burns out the rest stay lit 30" red lead cord Pencil profile tree Light sets on tree are UL listed for indoor or outdoor use however the tree itself is recommended for indoor use No assembly required - tree comes in 1 piece Comes with spare replacement bulbs fuses and a plastic tree stand Dimensions: 3' high (from the base of stand to the top of the tree) 14" base diameter (at the widest point) Material(s): holographic laser tinsel/metal/glass bulbs/wire/plastic
Basic Information
About Us
Northlight is a manufacturing, importing and wholesale division of the family owned and operated Gordon Companies Inc.
Northlight, which has showrooms in Atlanta, GA., and Buffalo, N.Y., offers an extensive variety of seasonal and gift decor - including holiday accessories, patio furniture, lawn and garden necessities, and pool and spa equipment.
Northlight-branded items can be found in boutique retailers across the U.S. As a family-owned company, we have nearly 40 years of retail and wholesale experience. We take pride in offering the highest quality products at the lowest possible prices.
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Interview with John Humphrey (Professor of Law, McGill University and cousin of artist Jack Humphrey)
(12 min 7 sec), National Gallery of Canada.
Interview with John Humphrey (1905-1995), 18 September 1973, in preparation for the National Gallery of Canada's 1975 exhibition Canadian Painting in the Thirties. All interviews for the exhibition were conducted by Charles C. Hill, curator of the exhibition and Assistant Curator of Post Confederation Art. Between 1972-1974, Hill accumulated over 50 hours of audiotape interviews with the artists, their colleagues, friends or family members. Written transcriptions in English and French are available in PDF format for all audio recordings. Permission to publish this interview was granted by the rights holder. This interview was recorded while conducting research and the information it provides should be verified. The interview is presented as it was originally recorded with fluctuating sound levels and ambient noises and it may contain offensive language.


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Norwich Campus
Roger W. Follett Hall
Roger W. Follett Hall is home to Morrisville State College's Norwich campus, and is located in Norwich, NY., approximately 30 miles south of the campus in Morrisville. Students at the Norwich campus can earn degrees in Early Childhood, Human Services, and Criminal Justice. In addition, degrees in Business, Accounting, Computer Technology, Liberal Arts, and the first year of the nursing program are also offered.
Norwich Campus
Morrisville State College's Norwich campus offers associate degree programs in select career and technical areas and liberal arts transfer programs. Students wishing to enroll in Morrisville programs not offered at the Norwich campus may take general education or elective courses that can be applied to Morrisville State College associate or bachelor degree programs. The Norwich campus of Morrisville State College also offers classes that lead to a bachelor of technology degree in criminal justice, and technology management. Plans are to expand offerings into other degree programs in the future.
Norwich Campus students enjoy a highly personalized and supportive learning environment. They are also greeted with an infusion of technology that promises to take them places when seeking employment or advancing in their career. Campus highlights include a wireless network, ThinkPad University integration and "smart classrooms," with ceiling-mounted video/data projectors that can interface with VHS, DVD and document cameras. This allows students and faculty to project from a wide range of media onto the retractable, ceiling-mounted screens.
Roger W. Follett Hall is located at 20 Conkey Ave., Norwich, NY 13815 and offers students close proximity to downtown services, housing, shopping, cultural and recreational activities.


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- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 1 tablespoon very finely chopped shallot
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 ounces Point Reyes blue cheese, crumbled
- 2 romaine hearts, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
- 1/2 fennel bulb, cored and finely chopped
- 2 carrots, finely chopped
- 1/2 seedless cucumber, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch dice
- 1 Fuji apple, cut into 1/2-inch dice
- 1 Hass avocado, cut into 1/2-inch dice
- 2 tablespoons thinly shredded basil leaves
- Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add the walnuts and toast them for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until they are golden.
- Let the nuts cool, then coarsely chop them.
- In a large bowl, whisk the shallot with the Dijon mustard and sherry vinegar. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add the olive oil and whisk until smooth. Add half of the blue cheese and whisk until the dressing is creamy.
- Add the lettuce, fennel, carrots, cucumber, apple, avocado, basil and walnuts. Season with salt and pepper. Toss the salad well to coat with the dressing.
- Top with the remaining blue cheese and serve right away.
Prep time: 20 minutes
I rarely follow a recipe exactly, but saw no reason not to follow this one. The toasted walnuts are a must -- I'll likely increase the quantity next time. The cheese was pungent, the avocado creamy. The lettuce added crispness, the apple sweetness and the carrots a nice crunch. The fennel was completely lost, and I am not sure the cucumber added much. I'll cut that out or decrease the amount next go-round. That said, this is a dandy salad that would work well with simply spiced and grilled pork, chicken or beef.
This post is linked to It's a Keeper Thursday.


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The city of Brookfield Common Council adopted its 2013 municipal budget Tuesday.
The council held a public hearing for its proposed $38.7 million operating budget before voting, 14-0, to adopt it. The total city budget is $74.7 million.
Increases in 2013
The budget includes a property tax levy of $35.6 million, a 1.05 percent increase from the 2012 budget levy of $35.3 million.
"The increase is the fourth lowest in 22 years," Robert Scott, director of finance, said.
City of Brookfield homeowners will pay $5.51 per $1,000 assessed value in property taxes.
An owner of a home with an assessed value of $335,000 will pay $1,845 to support the city's 2013 budget.
"The city's tax impact remains quite sensible in comparison to other communities against whom the city is measured," Mayor Steve Ponto wrote in a letter to Brookfield residents in September. "Especially when taking into consideration the advanced level of services and support (full-time Fire Department, expansive park systems, and tax levy allocated for wastewater operations) funded in the Brookfield budget."
Scott said that of the expenditure issues affecting next year's budget, adjusting to Wisconsin Retirement System changes was one of the largest obstacles.
"There was an unexpectedly high increase in the contribution rate for the retirement system beyond what we were thinking," Scott said. "Even though the city is paying the employer share for all employee groups except sworn police officers, we are still subject to the increases mandated by the state."
An increase of nearly 9 percent in the city's contributions across all departments was established by the state Employee Trust Funds board.
Capital Improvement Fund
The city adopts an annual capital improvement program. Included in the 2013 plan is a $450,000 renovation for the Brookfield Public Library parking lot. The project includes resurfacing the lot and adding parking spaces. The current design was configured in the 1990s.
Public safety radios used by emergency management personnel will be replaced next year at a cost of $750,000. The radios departments use now are 12 years old and hard to repair because parts are hard to find. Chris Petterson, Waukesha County radio communications administrator, said the new radios are vital in emergency management situations.
"Public safety radios are often used for a decade or more on a 24/7 basis in police and fire service, subjected to rain and water, repeated drops, heat and smoke, and general rough usage," Petterson said. "Many of these (new) radios are also designed to operate safely in flammable and explosive environments."
Other capital improvement projects for 2013 include development of the Greenway Trail System, squad car video cameras for police and completion of the two-year St. James Street/Bermuda Boulevard storm sewer.
Looking for sustainability
Scott acknowledged that maintaining service levels will become difficult with new revenue restrictions. Act 32 of the state budget tightened property tax levy limits.
"If you were to draw it on a graph, the revenue line is increasing at a much slower rate than the expenditure line, even assuming nominal wage and cost increases," he said. "This means to meet the fiscal restraints we will have, we will have to deal with changes in our service levels."
Scott couldn't say which, if any, services would be changing in the near future, but said Brookfield residents are not in favor of reductions in service levels. A 2012 survey of residents, which included questions about service levels and budget choices, indicated that 86 percent of respondents felt their quality of life stayed the same or improved compared to 2006.
"There was very strong support for raising revenues in some fashion to maintain services as opposed to reducing services," Scott said.
Finding non-levy sources of funding is a continuing issue for the city. In 2013, Brookfield will lose an estimated $168,000 in transportation aid payments from the state, the mayor's letter said.
"The reduction disproportionately affected cities such as Brookfield who are paid on a share of cost basis," he wrote.
The full budget is available to the public for viewing at City Hall and on the city's website, www.ci.brookfield.wi.us.
More from News and Features
- The Corridor development in Brookfield announces three new tenants
- Brookfield/Elm Grove Ask Now: Why did a tornado siren go off last week?
- Brookfield council to vote on adopting park-naming process
- Brookfield/Elm Grove News and Notes: July 28
- Brookfield and Elm Grove Police Report: July 28
- Brookfield and Elm Grove Meetings: July 28
- Mystery Photo Contest: July 28
- 'Missing' swimmer in Brookfield park was likely not missing
- Brookfield's Linx Club project gets OK despite concerns
- Supporters line up to push Brookfield beekeeping


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About Mountain Running
International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF)
Mountain running is a worldwide sport and branch of traditional athletics.
Traditional athletics was defined in the past as Track and Field, Cross Country, Road Running and Race Walking.
In 2002 after the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA), born on 1984 as International Committee Mountain Running (ICMR), had staged, since 1985, a successful event entitled 'the World Trophy', attracting entries from more than 30 countries, the IAAF Congress added Mountain Running to that definition (IAAF Rule 1).
IAAF recognises WMRA as the controlling body for international mountain running competition.
IAAF also gave the permission to WMRA for changing title of 'the World Trophy' into 'the World Championships', starting on 2009.
International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF)
Mountain Running -
Athletics or Mountaineering
or Orienteering?
Mountain Running Courses
What makes a Mountain Runner
Tweets von @WMRAmountainrun
© 2017 WMRA | Design by
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What does Entangled primarily publish?
Entangled Publishing is a boutique publisher of romantic fiction for adults and teens.What do you acquire?
I'm acquiring works for adults and young adults. I have a serious weakness for a fantastic voice, quirky characters, and high concept plots. Send me your sci-fi, urban fantasy, contemporary romance, women's fiction with a strong romantic element, suspense, and mysteries. Anything that can make me laugh is great, and strong heroines are a must.What would you give your firstborn to find in your editor inbox?
Oooh! Asking the tough questions, I see! Well, because I haven't seen anything like this come my way yet, I'm going to have to ask for something along the lines of TRON, Transformers, or The Terminator. Give me a high-tech adventure, complete with geektastic heroes and heroines, electronic super-baddies, motherboards, and lasers. *fans self*What makes you want to cut a bitch when you see it in a submission?
A book with zero conflict…or worse, contrived conflict.What book do you constantly buy new copies of because you use it to proselytize the genre to newcomers? And they never give it back. Even when you threaten them.
Even though I do have a wicked front snap kick, Karen Marie Moning is the absolute shiz, so I should just get over it, right? She has a voice that makes demons weep, humor that makes me all endorphin-y for weeks, morally ambiguous characters I'd gladly sell my soul to (helloooo, Adam Black!), and her romance is top notch. Buy her books. Study them. Sweet dreams are made of this, people! A close second? Julie Garwood's historicals. I've worn all of her books out, I've read them so much. They're things of beauty.Favorite song to edit by.
I can never pick just one! Soundtracks are my thing, and I'm all about matching the music to the book so I get the full method editing experience. I've got Harry Potter, TRON, Transformers, Last of the Mohicans, Pirates of the Caribbean, and it's not really a soundtrack, but Rodriguo y Gabriela. The exception is Britney Spears. I edited Patricia Eimer's Luck of the Devil to Britney, and it turns out Patricia wrote quite a bit of that book listening to her, too. Freaky.Favorite outfit to wear to fight club and/or while editing.
Kevlar, leather, and anything with reinforced seams (which is actually code for sweaters, flannel, and fuzzy socks).Favorite movie.
I am such a Transformers geek it's not even funny. But Bridesmaids (and anything Judd Apatow has made) and Thor are way high up there, too.What social issue compels you?
Bullying. It seriously just breaks my heart, whether it's a kid or an adult who's on the receiving end.Your favorite recipe (preferably for an alcoholic beverage, but we'll accept cupcakes if that's how you roll)?
I brew my own beer, but let's keep it simple. I love cherry bourbon. It's lovely on the rocks with Pepsi. I even mix it with brown sugar and use it to baste my Thanksgiving turkey (bonus: shingle your turkey with thick-cut hickory-smoked bacon and you have the best dang thing since cream cheese, my friends).Where do you plan to hole up when the zombie apocalypse comes?
Hole up? I don't need to stinking holes! I'm taking those b@stards down!Machete or flamethrower?
I'm a Leo, so I'm going to have to go with the flamethrower.It's badass smackdown! Who wins and why?
Thanks so much for having me! Thanks for joining us, Libby! Have questions for the awesome Libby? She'll be around today to answer whatever you bring. Interested in submitting your short works to her? Check out the submissions guidelines at Entangled, and if you think Libby's the right editor for you, shoot your query letter to libby (at) entangledpublishing (dot) com.
- Buffy Summers vs Rachel Morgan: Buffy. She's got the whole sneak attack thing down. You'd look at Rachel and expect bad things to happen, but Buffy? She'd take a bad guy down before he had a clue what was happening.
- Edward Cullen vs Buffy: Buffy would turn Edward to ashes before he could stop angsting over another pretty girl wanting to get close to him. Poor Edward.
- Snape vs Spike: Yeah, I'm going with Snape here. Spike has to bite you, but Snape could take you out merely by overpowering you with his awesomeness. I'm not exactly sure how strongly it radiates, but if I were Spike, I'd stay at least 50 feet away if I wanted to be safe.
- Chess Putnam vs Mackayla Lane: One can see dead people but the other can see way more…well, things. So I'm going to suggest they get together with Buffy and start some unholy trinity of smackdown power.
- Pick your own! Megatron vs. The Terminator (let's go with the model in T2: Judgment Day). Discuss amongst yourselves.


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Judging by the universally glowing reviews and the spitfire personality overhaul of Don Draper — now finally impervious to the dead-eyed glare of that vapid bitch Betty — Sunday's Mad Men season premiere proved the show won't be relinquishing its status as must-see-TV anytime soon.
But while the newly minted Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce agency affords us more Pete Campbell screen time (always welcome), it also forces us to trudge along with them through the tedious setbacks plaguing their new venture. Jai alai and glazed ham? Really? That's the best your supposed super team of ad execs could land?
In the face of all this excessive handwringing, it seems like Madison Avenue could stand to learn a thing or two from us New Englanders, who are well aware that the big money lies in iced coffee and baseball. Luckily, last week also marked the return of "MA Men" — a Web parody of the AMC hit that answers the burning question "What if Mad Men took place in Boston?"
Conceived by Massachusetts native Jamie Denbo, the first episode debuted last fall at funnyordie.com and featured Sterling Cooper's Boston doppelganger landing a new campaign with Fenway Park, eventually settling on a commercial featuring a Sox player "balls deep in Derek Jeter's asshole."
To coincide with the season-four premiere, they dropped a second episode last week in which the brash collective of Massholes land their own Lucky Strike–size campaign with Dunkin' Donuts. Running through a list of potential successors for Fred the Baker and cramming every stereotype ever associated with Boston into four minutes, they eventually pin Tom Brady as the next Dunks spokesperson. No spoilers here, though — you'll have to tune in to see whom he ends up balls deep in.
While the most recognizable member of the "MA Men" team is New Kid and actor Joey McIntyre (as Rogah Sterling), there is also a considerable amount of under-the-radar talent on display with Nate Corddry, Nat Faxon, and Rob Delaney, begrudgingly handpicked by Denbo to fill the role of Don.
"I was initially enemies with Jamie. Her being from Swampscott and me from Marblehead. We had a built-in rivalry," says Delaney. "But I eventually warmed up to her, and she really is one of the funniest people I know and the mastermind behind this whole thing."
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Please note: Use of third party vendors for photography or other services that are offered by Sandals is strictly prohibited.


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'Dawgs win third straight against Ripley
This year, the season opener was about more than just beating a rival, it was also about beating the critics.
Carrying their reloading theme, New Albany held on to defeat Ripley, 19-14, making it three straight against one of their biggest rivals, eight out of the last ten in the series.
"It thrills my life because all I want to do is win as many games as possible, and I really dislike Ripley a lot," senior Josh Creekmore said. "They're great people, but when it comes to football, it's war. To beat them three years in a row, it really means a lot to me and hopefully all of my teammates as well."
New Albany scored 19 first half points off two touchdowns from Creekmore on runs of five and 84 yards. Junior Boston Newsome added the third score from five yards out late in the second quarter, capping a half that was dominated by the 'Dawgs.
"We came out in the first half and did everything we were supposed to do to be a successful football team; we took care of the football and made the plays when we had the opportunities," NAHS Head Coach Ron Price said. "Josh Creekmore did a good job of taking the ball to the end zone, and the offensive line was doing a good job of executing up front and the defense was making play after play."
Knowing one play can change the tempo of the game, the Bulldogs watched as Devin Jones took the opening kickoff of the second half to the New Albany 15-yard line, followed shortly after by a touchdown run from Isaac Bails.
The Tigers later converted on a fourth and eleven play, and Jones cut the deficit to five with his nine-yard run.
"In the second half, we talk about one play can turn the game around, and the opening kickoff in the second half did that," Price said. "Ripley got the momentum there, and they did a great job of not laying down, and they came out and gave us their best shot."
Despite three turnovers off fumbles in the second half, the Bulldogs' defense held the Tigers in the fourth, and getting the ball back with six minutes remaining, New Albany ran out the clock to pick up their first win of the season.
"They had the momentum the entire second half, but that final drive, our offense sealed the deal because we were able to make the plays to be winners," Creekmore said.
"Coach Cox, Coach Kelly and Coach Monroe do an outstanding job with our defensive team," Price added about the defense. "We kept putting those kids in tough situations, but they kept making plays, so our defense did an outstanding job tonight."
The win marks the 13th straight New Albany has won in the regular season dating back to their 2009 win against Tishomingo County, and this year's team made one thing clear: they are not backing down for anyone, and they can be just as successful as last year's squad.
"We've overcome what everyone's said that we wouldn't be as good as we were last year," junior Trey Smith said. "Stuff like that can hurt you, but it also builds up momentum in your head, and it makes you want to go out and play harder and prove people wrong. That's what we did tonight."
"I've been playing for three years now, and we've been able to beat Ripley every year. I just can't explain it," junior Kachius Clay added. "This is the result of everything we've endured in practices leading up to the season. We just have to go out now and keep working hard."
Next for the Bulldogs is another road test at Itawamba, but before they begin to prepare for the Indians, they want to spend some time enjoying this win.
"Our seniors can go out tonight knowing that they've never lost to Ripley, and that's a huge accomplishment for them," Price said. "These seniors are special, and they haven't gotten a lot of recognition, but we know they're a special group of kids. We just have to come back now and prepare for Itawamba, but we're going to enjoy this win until about three o'clock Monday afternoon."
About Chris Elkins
- East Union stuns Mantachie; wins fast-pitch division title April 20, 2017
- Hawks fall to Lions in extra innings in 1A series April 22, 2017
- Suggs shackles the Bulldogs on one-hitter April 22, 2017
- West Union wins series game one over Houlka April 21, 2017
- Cavender leads Lady Bulldogs to win over Ripley April 21, 2017
- West Union takes game one of series in battle of Lady Eagles April 25, 2017
- Hawks fall to Lions in extra innings in 1A series April 22, 2017
- Suggs shackles the Bulldogs on one-hitter April 22, 2017
- West Union wins series game one over Houlka April 21, 2017
- Cavender leads Lady Bulldogs to win over Ripley April 21, 2017
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Reports are USC reps are sniffing around Sumlin. I hope he tells them to go pound sand.
Wayne Nutt
Go Nutts with dog training
HRCH Patton's Parker Co. Shadow "Shadow"
HRCH Clineline Hijacker "Jack"
HRCH Marks a Lot Midnight Hudson, SH "Hudson" RIP (5/26/01-6/18/15)
Castile Creeks Rawhide, MH "Rowdy"
LSU/Georgia was The Instant Classic I said it would be. "Are you not entertained??!!", applies for sure. If there's a pro style QB that goes higher than the 2 QBs who played in that game, I have yet to see one who deserves it. Mett was smooth as silk & I maintain if the TE hits the blitzing LB straight up instead of trying to go low on that 4th down, it's a completion to OBJ & LSU is in FG position. No doubt he throws a game winning TD. As is, great play to have pressure under his feet where he couldn't step into the pass @ all. Looking forward to that game in Atlanta with the same 2 teams playing.
Holy Buckeye!! Way to protect the house.
The gumps played their best game of the year. The game was closer than the score showed, but still wasn't close.
Stanford is real. I maintain they win The PAC 12 with 1 loss. Oregon loses to them in Palo Alto.
Bark for Sark!! He has Udub playing well.
Down goes Okie Lite!!
OU is getting better with ole Blake Bell as the QB.
"The game was closer than the score showed, but still wasn't close."
Your knowledge of football and the english language are unparalleled amongst us simple folk. Bama had um totally shut down (Rebels only managed 46 yds rushing), who knows what you are talking about...??? You on the other hand....... lost.
But I don't want to give Jacob too much credit - not until Nov. 9, when he can prove himself as always the ace prognosticator by picking 'Bama to lose because (pick three or four): Saban can't make halftime adjustments against LSU; 'Bama ain't got half the wide receivers as the 'Whos; the La. players on 'Bama's roster will dog it against their one-time state school; Le Smiles likes Bermuda grass better than zoysia, and it's always in stock at the Tuscaloosa Agway; Huey P. Long foretold it in a three-way dream sequence he, Jacob and BP conducted from one of Phil Robertson's La-Z-Boys.
Otherwise, he's assessing himself proud.


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Belek-Antalya in 2 Days: Discover the best of the Turkish coast with RIU Hotels
During your vacation in Belek you are no doubt intending to enjoy intense days on its beaches, spent soaking up the sun and practicing numerous sports in the water or on land. Either way, we recommend you spend a few days exploring the charm of the Turkish Mediterranean, its impressive archaeological remains, its cities and its natural wonders.
Day 1: The Old Section of Antalya
An interesting option would be to spend at least half a day visiting nearby Antalya, and more specifically its historic district known as "Kaleici", an oasis of historic buildings in the middle of a large modern city. It contains a maze of winding streets and old buildings. Your visit must include a short stop at the old Roman port which is now a recreational port. If you like to sail, you can make the most of your visit by taking one of the boats which depart from the port to enjoy one of the sea routes which take you by the areas closest to the Turkish coast. Another option is to walk through its beautiful Karaalioglu Park and visit Hidirlik Tower, two spots where you can enjoy the beautiful sea views.
When you return to Belek we suggest you make a stop at the historic village of Perge, which has remains from the Byzantine Empire. Those who are more interested in ancient history, should first visit the Antalya Museum, which contains most of the pieces collected from the site.
Finish off your day enjoying the best gastronomic specialties at the Hotel Riu Kaya Belek and Hotel Riu Kaya Palazzo restaurants, where you will also find excellent night time entertainment programs offered by the RIU hotels in Belek-Antalya.
Day 2: What to See Near Antalya
Enjoying the area's natural beauty is a pleasure which should not be missed by any visitor to Belek-Antalya. We suggest you take an excursion with stops in two of the most beautiful places in the area. After leaving Belek, our first destination is the Kursunlu waterfalls. The falls are located in a nature park through which you can take a wonderful walk to get to know the local flora and fauna first-hand. When you have completed the first visit, continue on your way to the incredible prehistoric cave of Karain Magarasi, where you can admire remains from those who inhabited it during the Paleolithic age.
Another option to bring us in contact with Turkey's natural riches is to embark on one of the multiple hiking trails which run through the Beydag mountain range. The trails have different difficulty levels and for the most adventuresome, certain trails include rock climbing. Likewise, those who are seeking to combine sports and nature have the option of choosing a morning of scuba diving, since there are multiple spots where you can take part in organized immersions together with an expert guide. For beginners, the island of Paloma and for the more advanced the Travetina area.


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The franchise that began as a tame kiddie pleaser about four pampered zoo animals lost in the wild has matured and sharpened its teeth, perhaps thanks to Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale) collaborating on the script. Here the Punch and Judy penguins, the flamboyant lemur king, and the lion, giraffe, zebra, and hippo quartet find themselves in Europe where the latter four join a traveling circus in the hope of getting back home to the Central Park Zoo. The animation kicks it up a notch, making good use of the 3D, and the narrative in general moves at a good clip. Directed by the triumvirate of Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, and Conrad Vernon, the animated adventure also features a kid stuck in an elephant's ass, a lemur having sex with a bear, and Frances McDormand as the dogged French animal control officer Chantal Dubois, making for a witty howl that stretches the age range of its audience appeal.
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Ten Dartmouth student-athletes were honored with Academic All-Ivy recognition for the 2016-17 winter season, the league office announced Thursday.
Head coach Laura Schuler has announced the 2016-17 Dartmouth women's hockey team awards. Seven Big Green players were recognized for their performances throughout the season.
Laura Stacey '16 was named the 2017 Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) Rookie of the Year at the Awards Gala at the Kailah Mital Theatre at Carleton University over the weekend.
Dartmouth women's hockey seniors Robyn Chemago and Kennedy Ottenbreit were recognized by the Ivy League with the releasing of the 2016-17 All-Ivy Teams. Chemago was named to the second team, while Ottenbreit was an honorable mention.
Former Dartmouth women's hockey captain Laura Stacey '16 is one of three players in the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) that has been nominated for Rookie of the Year, as announced Thursday.
At a glance their names are very similar, both beginning with O, on the score sheet this past weekend their stats are very similar. Both senior athletes scored hat-tricks to lead their teams.
Senior Kennedy Ottenbreit scored her second collegiate hat trick to help the Dartmouth women's hockey team defeat Yale, 4-1, in a dramatic season-finale at Thompson Arena on Senior Day Saturday.
In its penultimate game of the 2016-17 season, the Dartmouth women's hockey team fell to Brown, 5-2, at Thompson Arena on Friday evening.
The Dartmouth women's hockey team will close the 2016-17 season at home this weekend, hosting Yale on Friday and Brown on Senior Day the following afternoon.
A goal scored with just over a minute remaining in the third period broke a tie that had lasted through 40 minutes, lifting Union over Dartmouth at Messa Rink by a score of 2-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Senior Eleni Tebano had her first-ever three-point performance, helping the Dartmouth women's hockey team defeat Rensselaer, 4-0, at Houston Field House on Friday evening.
The Dartmouth women's hockey team will head out on the road for the final time during the regular season to play Rensselaer on Friday and Union the following afternoon. After this weekend, just two home games remain on the 2016-17 schedule.


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By Ginna Parsons/NEMS Daily Journal
Jo Kathryn Prescott didn't have much experience in the kitchen when she married, but she had a theory: If you could read, then you could cook.
"I'd think of something I wanted to eat and I'd find a cookbook and get the recipe," said Prescott, 71. "Not everything I made was good."
The mother of three and grandmother of two still remembers the first cooking show she ever saw. It was when she was living in Sturgis for a short period of time and it was put on by the Tombigbee Electric Power Association.
"I don't remember the name of the show or the lady's name who did the cooking, but I remember there was a big light bulb behind her," she said. "I still have her recipe for chocolate pie that I use."
Prescott got some of her kitchen know-how from her husband's grandmother, with whom they lived for a year when they first married.
"After that, Eddy's grandmother would come to Sturgis and stay with us for three weeks at a time," she said. "I learned a lot from her."
Prescott said all the cooking she's ever done has been traditional Southern fare.
"We didn't eat fancy food," she said. "We didn't know what it was. I didn't eat shrimp growing up, but I love it now. Boiled shrimp is my favorite meal."
Prescott said she doesn't cook now like she did when she first married and when she had three children to feed every day.
"We don't eat much salt," she said. "We limit sugar and butter. We don't eat as much beef, but we eat a lot of chicken. I think most people our age have altered the way they eat from the way they did growing up."
Supper might be chicken tenders, potato salad and baked beans or baked pork chops, sweet potato casserole and green bean bundles.
"I used to cook Sunday dinner, but I don't anymore," Prescott said. "On Mondays, I pick my two grandchildren up from school and I cook dinner for them and my son and his wife. I don't ask them what they want. I just usually fix what I want to, because I know what they like."
In fact, those grandchildren – 11-year-old Meredith and 7-year-old Mayes – are getting cooking lessons from their grandmother.
"I've been doing it with Meredith since she was 3," Prescott said. "I'd measure it out and she'd dump it in. She's turning into a pretty good little cook. My grandson doesn't have that good of an attention span yet. He'll just say, 'You go ahead and finish it.' But he'll get there."
When Prescott isn't cooking for or with family, she's likely preparing meals for a care ministry at New Albany Presbyterian Church.
"We see that new moms or people who have been in the hospital have food when they get home, and we have a funeral ministry," she said. "That's a real blessing for us. It does more for us then it does for them, actually."
Do you know a good cook? Send your nominations to Ginna Parsons, Cook of the Week, P.O. Box 909, Tupelo, MS 38802. Or you can fax them to (662) 842-2233 or email them to firstname.lastname@example.com.


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NHL playoffs: L.A. Kings beat St. Louis Blues in Game 3; Blues lead series 2-1
By Allan Muir
No doubt that Jonathan Quick's teammates appreciated him stepping up to take the blame after his miscues led to the winning goals by the St. Louis Blues in the first two games of their series. But all the Los Angeles Kings really needed from him was one of those gritty, never-say-die performances that were a staple of the team's run to the 2012 Stanley Cup.
Quick came through with a gem on Saturday night, stopping 30 shots to earn his fifth career postseason shutout as the Kings snatched a 1-0 win a trimmed the Blues' series lead to 2-1.
Here are some observations from Game 3:
GAME 3: Recap | Boxscore | Highlights | Complete postseason schedule
• This was Quick at his aggressive and combative best, flipping, diving and poking to stymie St. Louis at every turn. He made several dandy stops, diverting an early David Backes breakaway and then bailing out Jake Muzzin after the rookie defenseman put a pass on the stick of Patrik Berglund right in the crease. His best save of the night might have been on teammate Rob Scuderi, who knocked the rebound of an Alex Steen shot out of the air and toward the open short side, forcing Quick to make a desperate glove stop during a tense third period when the Blues outshot the Kings 10-2.
• Slava Voynov was credited with the night's only goal, but that one was all thanks to a beastly effort by Kyle Clifford. The big winger drove to the net looking to track down the rebound of an off-angle bid by Mike Richards and started jabbing away. Brian Elliott covered up his first poke at the puck, but Clifford kept digging while both teams collapsed into the crease, eventually scooping it out from under Elliott's glove and knocking it back to Voynov, whose wrister slipped through the sea of humanity and past the prone netminder.
• Besides that blemish, Elliott was sensational again. The Kings landed just 21 shots, but that number included at least four high-quality chances. The best? Probably the post-penalty stop on Dwight King's breakaway that kept the game within reach late in the third period. Unlike the scrambley Quick at the other end of the ice, Elliott is playing with great economy and calmness, and you can see that reflected in the players in front of him. His early season struggles are a distant memory now.
• Drew Doughty had on his big boy pants tonight. The bruising defender was involved all over the ice, setting up the offense with his slick transitional passes and jumping up in the play to overload the attack. But he was especially effective in his own end, where he had his hands full trying to keep Quick's crease clear of intruders. In one memorable sequence, he took offense when David Perron bumped into his keeper, dislodging Quick's mask. Doughty knocked the intruder over, "fell" on top of him, and then took a few freebies at his head for good measure. He ended up taking a double minor on the play (which served the dual purpose of keeping Dustin Penner off the ice for two minutes), but the message was clear: no free passes tonight, boys.
• The Blues dominated the puck possession game and generated many more chances than the Kings, especially in the final two periods when they were looking for the equalizer. But their inability to score five-on-five isn't as big an issue right now as their moribund power play. The Blues have generated 13 opportunities so far, trailing only Anaheim and Detroit in the playoffs, but have just one goal to show for it. And after an 0-for-4 effort tonight that saw them land just five shots on net, they're oh-fer their last 12 chances. The Kings were a top-10 penalty kill team during the regular season, so they're not giving away any lollipops. Still, the Blues have to find a way to make hay with the extra man if they're going to put away the champs.
• There are a number of Los Angeles forwards struggling to find their offensive groove, but Anze Kopitar? The guy has been a ghost in this series. His goalless streak was extended to 19 games as he failed to land a shot on net for the second time in the opening round of the playoffs. His most notable statistical marker tonight? He led all players in the ignominious category of number of his shots that were blocked. It's not just bad luck, or a determined effort by the Blues to key in on him to reduce his effectiveness. Kopitar's biggest issue is a slow release. He's taking too long to get his shots off, and that's giving defenders plenty of time to take away the lane.
• Speaking of missing forwards, has anyone seen Chris Stewart? St. Louis' leading scorer during the regular season has seen his ice time cut over the last two games. Can't blame Ken Hitchcock. He has to reward the guys who have it going. Stewart took four shots in this contest, but he settled for low-odds chances. He needs to plant himself in Quick's crease and given him a good chance to memorize his backside. • What were there today across the NHL, five instances of delay of game called when a defender inadvertently fired the puck into the crowd from his own zone? T.J. Oshie was the guilty party in this game, putting the Blues down two men for 32 seconds in the third, giving the Kings a chance to blow the game open. He avoided the skate of shame taken early in the day by Ryan McDonagh obviously, but the call never should have been made in the first place as the puck struck the side-mounted television camera before going out of play. I'd say there's a better than even chance this rule gets put up for reconsideration before next season.