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I spent a week in Colorado, exploring part of the Rocky Mountains! The scenery was so beautiful and it's definitely a place I'd like to visit again! But for now, I want you to take a good look at my twin peaks as I strip out of my cute, red bandana-print bikini and small denim shorts! This outfit isn't very practical for hiking but hopefully we can think of other ways to get a good workout in together.
Featuring: Kayla Kiss
Tags: Big TitsStrip Tease


Welcome to our daily news updates, where you can stay informed about the latest events happening in the United States of America. We understand the importance of being up-to-date with current affairs, and that’s why we have curated this platform to bring you the most relevant and trending news from across the country.
Our team of dedicated journalists and reporters work tirelessly to gather accurate and reliable information on a wide range of topics including politics, economy, technology, entertainment, sports, and more. Whether you are interested in the latest political developments, business trends, or cultural happenings, we’ve got you covered.
Each day, we will bring you a selection of top news stories that are making headlines in the United States. From breaking news to in-depth analysis, our aim is to provide you with a comprehensive overview of the most important events shaping the nation.
Our news updates are designed to be concise yet informative, allowing you to quickly grasp the key details of each story. We understand that your time is valuable, so we strive to deliver the news in a format that is easy to digest.
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Most inauguration speeches are forgotten and Trump has never been known for his soaring rhetoric.
All eyes are now on Donald J. Trump’s impending inauguration, which takes place in Washington DC, on January 20, and whose centrepiece is the inaugural address. But despite the attention lavished on these speeches by aides, speechwriters, newspaper columnists and pundits, few of them earn a place in history.There are, of course, some magnificent exceptions. Think of Abraham Lincoln’s (futile) 1861 appeal to “the better angels of our nature”, or his pledge, in his second …read more

domain: news


TNRD Tirupathur District Recruitment 2020 02 Village Secretary postsLast updated on: November 8th, 2020 at 1:40 pm
Edited by: Sathish Kumar
TNRD Recruitment 2020 | Various 02 Village Secretary posts | Last date: 13-11-2020 | Apply Offline @https://tirupathur.nic.in/
TNRD Recruitment 2020: The Tamilnadu Rural Development & Panchayat Raj Department has been released a notification for 02 Village Secretary Posts in Tirupathur on 07-11-2020. The interested candidates who are looking for TN Jobs can apply before the last date of the application.
Basic information about TNRD recruitment 2020
|Organization Name||Tamilnadu Rural Development & Panchayat Raj Department|
|Job Type||TN Jobs|
|Post Name||Village Secretary|
- Indian Bank Recruitment 2021 – 01 Consultant Vacancies
- Southern Railway Recruitment 2021 – 30 Computer Operator And Programming Assistant Vacancies
- CUTN Thiruvarur Recruitment 2021 – 01 Junior Research Fellow Vacancies
- JIPMER Puducherry Recruitment 2021 – 01 Research Assistant Vacancies
- BECIL Recruitment 2021 – 04 Business Executive, Marketing Supervisor Vacancies
Eligibility Criteria to Apply for TNRD Recruitment 2020
|Post name||No of Posts|
|Post name||Post Qualification|
|Village Secretary||10th pass|
|Post name||Age limit details|
|Village Secretary||Not mentioned|
The TNRD department will conduct the selection process by Interview.
|Post name||Salary details|
|Village Secretary||Rs.15,900 Per Month|
- Submit the application to sankarapuram or Thekkupattu Panchayat Office.
Steps to Apply for TNRD Recruitment 2020
Steps to apply your application in Offline postal
Candidates open the Official Website of
Read the Notification and verify your details.
Fill the Offline Application with required fields.
Paste your Photo and Signature and Send it to the Above given Postal Address.
We are Hiring!, We need some peoples for our team. Send your resume to Jobzseeking@gmail.com


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Edward Gilbreath is the author of Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical’s Inside View of White Christianity and Remembering Birmingham: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter to America—50 Years Later.
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail and the Struggle That Changed a Nation
Jonathan Rieder surveys the events that gave rise to King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and offers a fresh perspective on the letter's substance.
The Century's work relies primarily on subscriptions and donations. Thank you for supporting nonprofit journalism.
Support us by buying books:

domain: library


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Altitude: 1950 m.a.m.s.l.
One of the many entry points into mount Kilimanjaro national park
, situated in the north-eastern foothills of the mountain and close to the Kenya - Tanzania
It also exclusively serves as the starting point for the Rongai trekking route to the mountain's summit, Uhuru peak
The compound onsite also has a waiting area, toilets and a small but not long term parking area.
There are a few offices onsite belonging to the park authorities - TANAPA that serve as an administrative checkpoint for all tourists intending to get into the park.
Normally, every prospective trekker would be required to complete the necessary documentation and inspections, including:
Location of Rongai gate
- Verification of passport and/or visa
- Proof of an itinerary for every day spent on the mountain
- Proof of use of a registered tour guide
- Proof of resources to support their stay on the mountain such as porters, tents and food
Rongai gate sits in a remote area near the border between Kenya and Tanzania, which also is the north eastern foothills of mount Kilimanjaro.
Much of this area has plantations, filled with trees of different ages.
Their sole purpose is the continued afforestation of the park's northern side.
There is a small town nearby and another north of it, though in another country — Kenya.
The area near the gate has several rivers, which originate from further up the mountain.
One of these runs close to the gate and is crossed on your way up the mountain.
The pathway to the first campsite — Simba camp
goes through plantations on either side of the route.
The rain forest only occupies a short length of the hike there, before reaching the heather region of the mountain, which holds several big game animals.
Rongai gate is seldom used because of its location, far from any major tourist cities such as Moshi (2 hours drive) or Arusha (3 hours drive).
Due to this, it is small in size, although much of the roads that lead up to it are tarmac paved, except for the final 500 or so metres, which is a well maintained gravel road.
The drive to the place goes though the eastern foothills of the mountain, offering beautiful scenery
There are several places you could visit on your way there from Moshi, such as Lake Chala.How to get there
By vehicle, whether private or rental.Abbreviations
m.a.m.s.l. - metres above mean sea level
TANAPA - Tanzania National Parks

domain: geography


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BATLEY BULLDOGS are looking to build on their 34-6 home win over Doncaster, says coach John Kear.
The victory, ended a run of seven straight defeats lifted Bulldogs two places to ninth in the Kingstone Press Championship and Kear reflected: “They played well, there were some really good signs.
“I think we would have posted a more comprehensive score had the rain not come.
“We were 30-0 up at that point, five minutes into the second half, but we continued trying to play dry weather football in the wet
“That was the only disappointing thing about it. I thought Doncaster adapted to the conditions a lot better than we did. But I was very pleased with the first half performance and the defence.”
Kear added: “We got some reward for performances, which was the big plus point.
“We’ve been playing well and getting nothing for it in certain games, but this time we played well and got rewarded.
“It moves us up the table, but we need to keep picking up points to get into the play-off positions, which shows how tight it is in this mini-league at the bottom.”
Alex Bretherton missed the game due to a sternum injury, but Kear said: “His replacement, Brad Day, came in and played really well, so that has given me a bit of a conundrum for Sunday’s game at Halifax.”


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Oscar Acoustics, a specialist in decorative acoustic finishes, has released findings from a detailed study, revealing the detrimental impact noisy and disruptive workspaces are having on London employees, driving them to increasingly work from home. The study revealed that 15% of workers believe employers are not taking the issue of excessive noise seriously.
A recent survey conducted among 440 office workers across various industries and company sizes in London has shed light on the detrimental effects of excessive noise in the workplace. Astonishingly, a quarter of white collar workers reported making formal complaints about noisy colleagues, while 11% felt compelled to leave their jobs altogether.
The research underscored the situation at hand, revealing that only 5% of employees work in a quiet office environment, leaving one in six workers convinced that employers are not taking the issue of excessive noise seriously. Nearly two-fifths (37%) of respondents confessed to struggling with concentration in high-volume workplaces, with 16% indicating that persistent noise levels have impeded their ability to meet deadlines. Furthermore, over one in six admitted to delivering subpar work due to the impact of noise, resulting in disrupted workflow and compromised productivity.
The consequences of excessive noise extend beyond productivity, as the research highlighted the alarming fact that 23% of employees have suffered from hearing damage as a result. Additionally, working in the fast-paced city has led to heightened stress levels for 30% of respondents, with more than one in four having to work late nights, or arrive at the office early, in order to maintain productivity.
When probed about the measures employers are taking to address this issue, 18% of employees revealed that no action has been taken thus far. However, 39% acknowledged positive steps taken by their employers, such as the implementation of quiet zones to support focused work.
The findings of this study emphasise the urgent need for employers to address the problem of excessive noise in the workplace, not only to boost productivity but also to safeguard the well-being of their workforce. This report is part of a wider whitepaper issued by Oscar Acoustics that aims to advocate acoustic health in workspace design from the outset.
Ben Hancock, Managing Director at Oscar Acoustics, said: “For far too long, the acute issue of noise in our workplaces has been ignored, yet its consequences are undeniable. With discussions surrounding hybrid working models continuing to gain momentum, the lasting effects on employee health, productivity, and quality of work have now become a glaring issue.
Our research shows that creating the ideal environment for people to flourish and feel at ease, is a crucial step in helping businesses to encourage staff back into the office. With health and wellbeing now at the top of the agenda, addressing the issue of excessive noise should be front and centre for employers.
It’s evident that acoustically balanced workspaces alleviate stress and contribute to a contented and efficient workforce. Specially designed acoustic sprays can prove to be the most effective in eliminating the negative impact of harmful noise levels. Choosing the right acoustic solution will, ultimately, result in quiet and appealing workspaces that employees will want to return to time and again.”

domain: sociology


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Storytelling class with award-winning Jesse Berdinka will culminate with event in spring
NEW CASTLE – The seventh- and eighth-grade students at Serviam Girls Academy have stories to tell. And they have one of the region’s best storytellers around to help them.
Since the fall, the students at the all-girls middle school have met once a month with Jesse Berdinka, a former Marine and movie producer who last year won Philadelphia’s Moth Story Jam GrandSLAM, a premier storytelling contest sponsored by WXPN radio and Reader’s Digest. It is part of teacher Blair Borish’s English language arts class.
After each of the stories, Berdinka and the girls offered constructive criticism to improve the story. Add more detail here, expand on that emotion there, the girls were told.
“The way you expressed it, that is who you are,” Berdinka told one student.
A good story will interest people even if they have no connection to the event being discussed, he told the girls.
“People are interested in this,” he told one girl whose story is about a funny incident that occurred at the church she attends. “They want to know a world that they’re not used to.”
Another student read about playing as a child and how that has changed over the years.
“It only gets better every time I hear it. Any notes I have are miniscule. Love it, love it, love it,” Berdinka said.
Berdinka “retired” from his storytelling hobby after winning the Moth last year, but friends asked him to read at a fundraiser at Serviam. He talked to staff members, who suggested he visit and talk to the students.
“Instead of a talk, it ended up being a once-monthly thing to help these girls tell their own stories,” he said between classes on Feb. 28.
From the initial task of choosing a story topic, the girls have reached the stage of fine-tuning their narratives and are moving on to cadence, inflection and timing.
“How to make it conversational, how to make it for emphasis. That’s what we’re really trying to do right now,” said Berdinka, the chief creative officer for a virtual-reality company.
Eighth-grade student Zoe Abe said she likes writing and grammar, as well as talking in front of crowds, so the class is right up her alley. Her story is about how she fell at Serviam’s talent show when she was in sixth grade. Berdinka has helped her expand on the emotion she felt that night, not just on the fall itself.
“He wanted me to spread it everywhere else, and I did that,” said Zoe, who will attend Padua Academy next year. “So the story’s looking great now, but he also wanted me to work on how I gave the story and read it because when I read the story I read it as if I just typed it up like a robot. I need more emotion.”
The class will culminate in a storytelling evening sometime this spring, and Berdinka can’t wait to see his students steal the spotlight.
“Their stories, they’re really good. They’re natural-born storytellers. You can see their skills develop. They’re really, really good.”


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Posted by HKestenholz on March 07, 2007 at 12:30:28:
In Reply to: Steam boiler cycle - about right? posted by george on March 07, 2007 at 07:04:08:
That's pretty good cycling.
Shows that the boiler isn't undersized, because it is cycling on thermostat or pressure switch and it is keeping temperature. If it were undersized, it would just keep running.
Post a Followup


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In Wednesday’s VMworld 2009 keynote Steve Herod discussed VMware’s plans to extend virtualization into the mobile phone space. While at first it seemed odd to me to virtualize such small iron after seeing the demo I saw how it could be useful. Virtualization could be used to give your mobile phone multiple personalities. For instance, one personality could be for work and another could be used for home. Each personality complete with their phones number and customizations.
In the demo Steve and his demo partner Mike demonstrated using mobile phone virtualization to seamlessly combine applications from different mobile platforms. In the demo they showed a Fusion like capability of seamlessly running an Android application on a Windows Mobile phone. Then they showed Android running in mobile device VM.


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Robert V DiGregorio
Affiliation: Long Island University
- Rhabdomyolysis caused by a potential sitagliptin-lovastatin interactionRobert V DiGregorio
Arnold and Marie College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Long Island University, and Pharmacy Department, Division of Pharmacotherapy Services, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, Brooklyn, New York 11201, USA
Pharmacotherapy 29:352-6. 2009..In the meantime, however, clinicians should be aware of this possible drug interaction...
- A randomized clinical trial of nebulized magnesium sulfate in addition to albuterol in the treatment of acute mild-to-moderate asthma exacerbations in adultsOlga Bessmertny
Long Island University, Arnold and Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy, Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11212 3198, USA
Ann Emerg Med 39:585-91. 2002..We sought to compare the efficacy and safety of nebulized magnesium sulfate (MgSO(4)) plus albuterol with that of albuterol alone in adult patients with mild-to-moderate acute asthma exacerbations...

domain: chemistry


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2nd amendment research paper
Frequently asked gun rights questions: a quick primer on the second amendment the second amendment how does the 2nd amendment apply to modern-day facts and statistics gun control about guns gun laws and crime references. Disclaimer: free essays on gun control posted on this site were donated by anonymous users and are provided for informational use only the free gun control research paper (2nd amendment argument essay) presented on this page should not be viewed as a sample of our on-line writing service. 2017-10-26 second amendment research papers examine the right to bear arms, as determined by the united states constitution research paper help on the us constitution presents argumentative essays that are original and convincing.
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2018-7-10 click the button above to view the complete essay, speech, term paper, or research paper how to cite this page the 2nd. Published academic scholarship on the second amendment 1 - amar, akhil r, the bill of rights as a constitution, 100 yale lj 1131, 1162-1175 (1991)  572 . Oral communication 2nd amendment outline the 2nd amendment research paper i believe in the 2nd amendment because american citizens have a.
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2nd amendment term papers, 2nd amendment research paper, book reports 184 990 essays, term and research papers available for unlimited accessoct 05,. 2017-2-8 the second amendment foundation (saf) we are dedicated to promoting a better understanding about our constitutional heritage to privately own and possess firearms to that end, we carry on many educational and legal action programs designed to better inform the public about the gun control debate. Gun control term papers (paper 10861) on the 2nd amendment: one of the most controversial amendments is the second amendment, dealing with the right to bear arms. The second amendment essay writing service, custom the second amendment papers, term papers, free the second amendment samples, research papers, help.

domain: politics


text: Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) is an aliaen plant originating from the western Himalayers. It was introduced to Britain in 1839. It escaped from gardens and spread to river banks and areas of damp ground. Himalayan Balsam grows in dense stands stopping the growth of native grasses and other plants. In autumn it dies, leaving the riverbanks bare of vegetation and susceptible to erosion.

domain: biology


Potential heavy rain could cause issues in Central
CENTRAL - Central Resident John Winkler's front yard is currently being dug up by the city. He says in the decades that he's lived in Central, his home only flooded last August.
"Last August, everything plastic that I had floated away so I know it ended up in all of the ditches. So it's me and everybody," he said. "Everybody had to have a new garbage can so you know that that is in the ditches somewhere between here and wherever."
But with all the construction going on in his drains, he's not positive about it staying dry if Tropical Depression Harvey turns out to be serious.
"I don't know that the city can be prepared that quick," he said.
Currently, crews are working the second area of nine around the city at 17 different drains. So far they've removed around 91 tons of debris.
Mayor Junior Shelton is optimistic about the $4 million improvement plan.
"As they're continuing to work, they're finding new sites along the way that they were not able to access to begin with. It's a long way to go, but they're making progress," Shelton said.
But residents like Winkler are getting impatient while they await results.
"I get the updates on facebook and I know they're north of here but I haven't seen them down here," Winkler said.
For now, Mayor Shelton says the city should be fine with next week's rainfall.
"I'm not worried if we're going to get the rainfall that they're predicting now, because we've had some rain of this same type going on and we've had some success with the work we've already done, so I'm not terribly worried about it. However, with any rain you do worry that something new is going to crop up so we will have crews on standby 24/7," said Shelton.
Shelton says they should have a more definite plan in place, including where to get sandbags, on Thursday.
Desktop NewsClick to open Continuous News in a sidebar that updates in real-time.
Police: 2 dead, 4 hurt after gunfire broke out as people left...
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Cytokine-induced killer cells promote antitumor immunity
1 Department of Tumor Biological treatment, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 185 Juqian Street, Changzhou, 213003, China
2 Department of Immunology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 200 Lothrop Street E1047, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA
Journal of Translational Medicine 2013, 11:83 doi:10.1186/1479-5876-11-83Published: 28 March 2013
The number of immune cells, especially dendritic cells and cytotoxic tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL), particularly Th1 cells, CD8 T cells, and NK cells is associated with increased survival of cancer patients. Such antitumor cellular immune responses can be greatly enhanced by adoptive transfer of activated type 1 lymphocytes. Recently, adoptive cell therapy based on infusion of ex vivo expanded TILs has achieved substantial clinical success. Cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells are a heterogeneous population of effector CD8 T cells with diverse TCR specificities, possessing non-MHC-restricted cytolytic activities against tumor cells. Preclinical studies of CIK cells in murine tumor models demonstrate significant antitumor effects against a number of hematopoietic and solid tumors. Clinical studies have confirmed benefit and safety of CIK cell-based therapy for patients with comparable malignancies. Enhancing the potency and specificity of CIK therapy via immunological and genetic engineering approaches and identifying robust biomarkers of response will significantly improve this therapy.

domain: medical


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Category: holiday gift ideas
Gifts? Look no further!
I encourage you to take a look here at my most beautiful photographs, each available in the form of products from phone cases to t-shirts to puzzles and canvas prints! Click on the word “here” (above) or on this graphic, which captures something of the range of photos available on my fineartamerica page!
T-Shirts With Beautiful Designs!
Promoting Other Artists’ Work (and my own) Click on lower case “t-shirts” below to see the wearable art! t-shirts Can’t see my t-shirts? Try this: https://jim-wilce.pixels.com/shop/tshirts
Moon “shot” : For upcoming Lunar New Year
Check out this video: A lovely game of cat and mouse between moon and clouds, otherwise described as the moon flying in the cloudy sky. Here is a link to products that carry my moon shots (moon-photo-products) for sale. Lunar New Year arrives Sunday January 22, and is celebrated in many Asian countries. Whatever sort…
Thanksgiving Cactus Flower: FAA-Featured Photo
I am delighted to announce that my photo, “Thanksgiving Cactus Flower,” has been featured by two great groups on Fine Art America — Macro Marvels and Daily Promotion”! Contact me at firstname.lastname@example.org for more information! Thank you for your interest!
Puzzles galore, by others and myself!
Tomorrow is International Crossword Puzzle Day. I know, I know, that’s SO not the same as jigsaw puzzles. But hey, my photos made into jigsaw puzzles are for sale, and I thought I would share others’ puzzles as well. jigsaw puzzles Once again you should see some of mine in slots 17-20, but just in…
Way Cool Photos By Others!
Recently sold on Fine Art America Pirate Ship in the Bay by David Thompson https://fineartamerica.com/saleannouncement.html?id=4bfb876b0f7eb193c6a04d59d996e257 Good Thunder in Summer By AJ Dahm https://fineartamerica.com/saleannouncement.html?id=bdad9e86b5092bc801ff66d821b1ff89 Afton Villa Drive by Susie Hoffpauir https://fineartamerica.com/saleannouncement.html?id=76c53e540bf06daa8856ba5eb0f64f1d Oh, and in case you’re interested in acquiring MY photo products, please visit my store. Choose from several items as free gifts on offer with…

domain: artistic


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In San Francisco, a family would need 4.7 full-time minimum-wage jobs to afford a two-bedroom apartment.
In more affluent metros, higher housing prices can lead to higher concentrations of poverty.
A first in the seven-year history of the Global Financial Centres list.
Where the rich live with the rich, and the poor live with the poor.
They're still largely concentrated in the older suburbs of just a handful of metro areas.
The Boston-Washington corridor, home to 18 percent of Americans, produces more economic activity than Germany.
How U.S. cities stack up economically worldwide.
MIT's Zeynep Ton explains the theory behind the Good Jobs Strategy.
Home value is disproportionately concentrated in just a handful of U.S. cities and towns.
The places creative, service, and working class jobs will grow the most by 2022.
High rates of intentional violence are strongly associated with inequality, both in terms of class and gender.
Can we possibly prepare?
We're still limited in our ability to track the U.S. LGBT population, but there does appear to be a connection between gay neighborhoods and some of the markers of gentrification.
Hint: It's not favorable tax rates.
As eyes turn to Sochi, a look at the countries where it's worst (and best) to be gay.
High cost of living hasn't stopped British Millennials from flocking to the city.
There are tremendous differences in what it takes for workers to get by in different parts of the country.
Yes, there are still plenty of places that are unlikely to rebound until 2018 or later.
Half of the nods for this year's biggest awards went to artists living in L.A., New York, or Nashville.


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Debate has picked up on what exactly the U.S. strategy in Yemen is all about. John Brennan, the Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, recently came out to explain the Administration’s policy, which had been accused of focusing narrowly on counterterrorism. Continue reading
A coalition of public interest groups asked the Senate and House Intelligence Committees to preserve an existing requirement for the Intelligence Community to produce an annual report on the number of security clearances. “We believe the annual report on security clearances provides exceptional value to the public and should continue to be published,” the groups wrote. The Senate Intelligence Committee markup of the 2013 intelligence authorization bill would repeal the reporting requirement.
Last week the Senate confirmed four of the five nominees to the long-dormant Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. The nominations of James Dempsey, Elisabeth Collins Cook, Rachel Brand and Patricia Wald were unanimously confirmed. For unexplained reasons, the Senate did not act upon the nomination of David Medine to serve as Board chairman.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service contacted the Wired Danger Room blog to inquire where its reporter obtained a certain unclassified document five years ago and to ask that the document, which was marked “for official use only,” be taken offline. “Danger Room, through its attorney, declined to provide the information, or to answer any questions related to the reporting of the story. The document has not been removed.” A government information security official not involved in the matter said it was possible there was more to the story than appeared on the surface. “If the [NCIS] investigation is about the FOUO document, then it’s ridiculous. If it’s about something else, we might not ever know.”
The House Intelligence Committee filed its report on the extension of the FISA Amendments Act. Like its counterparts on the Judiciary Committee, the Intelligence Committee rejected amendments that would shorten the extension of the law and increase public oversight of its implementation.
With little fanfare or self-congratulation, the National Reconnaissance Office and the National Security Agency have been steadily declassifying and releasing historical intelligence records. “This tremendous amount of information released in the past year is credit to an impressive declassification program within the intelligence services,” wrote historian Dwayne Day in an assessment of the latest NRO releases. “The US military and intelligence space programs during the first couple of decades of the space age can now be described in incredible detail and understood far better than before.”
Thousands of Americans who have a gross annual income of more than a million dollars have also been collecting unemployment benefits, according to IRS data compiled in a new report from the Congressional Research Service.
That description fits only a tiny fraction of a percent of those receiving unemployment benefits, and is obviously not typical of recipients of unemployment insurance. But neither does it violate any law. The issue has prompted pending legislation to restrict benefits based on income. See Receipt of Unemployment Insurance by Higher-Income Unemployed Workers (“Millionaires”), August 2, 2012.
A persistent controversy in Japan concerning a U.S. Marine base in Okinawa is reviewed in another new report from the Congressional Research Service. See The U.S. Military Presence in Okinawa and the Futenma Base Controversy, August 3, 2012.
Other new and updated CRS reports that CRS is not authorized to release to the public include the following.
U.S.-China Relations: Policy Issues, August 2, 2012
Uzbekistan: Recent Developments and U.S. Interests, August 3, 2012
Department of Homeland Security: FY2013 Appropriations, August 3, 2012
Anniversary of Hiroshima, sanctions on Iran, anti-leak measures in Senate Bill and much more.
FAS Perspectives on Hiroshima
To commemorate the 67th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city of Hiroshima, FAS has invited members and distinguished experts to submit an opinion or reminiscence of Hiroshima and its lasting impacts for nuclear security and safety. FAS also invites your comments at the bottom of the page.
To read the essays click here.
From the Blogs
- Defense, Critique of NSA Classification Action Released: A persistent controversy involving allegations of overclassification reached a new level of intensity on Friday when the National Security Agency released its explanation for the disputed classification of an NSA email message that was used to support an Espionage Act prosecution. The dispute concerns the validity of the classification of an internal NSA email message entitled “What a Wonderful Success!” that was found in the home of former NSA official Thomas Drake and that served as the basis for a felony charge against him, which was ultimately dismissed. The email message, which was formally declassified in 2010, was itself publicly released the week before last.
Ordinarily, critics of government secrecy focus their ire — and their strategy — on executive branch agencies that refuse to release certain national security-related information to the public. But to an extent that is not widely recognized or understood, it is Congress that has erected barriers to greater openness and has blocked efforts to improve transparency.
Increased FISA Disclosure Blocked in House
The phenomenon of congressionally-sponsored secrecy was starkly illustrated in a new House Judiciary Committee report on the FISA Amendments Act, which governs intelligence surveillance for purposes of counterterrorism.
Despite well-founded concerns over the implementation of that law — even the DNI acknowledges it has been employed in an unconstitutional fashion “on at least one occasion” — the Committee voted to renew it until 2017 while rejecting amendments that would have provided increased public disclosure and accountability regarding the law’s use.
It is a simple fact that under the FISA Amendments Act “the government can and does intercept the communications of U.S. citizens, even in the absence of any particularized warrant or showing of probable cause,” stated the dissenting members of the Committee in the new report.
“The public has a right to know, at least in general terms, how often [this authority] is invoked, what kind of information the government collects using this authority, and how the government limits the impact of these programs on American citizens,” the minority members wrote. But an amendment to require unclassified public reporting on these topics, offered by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), was defeated 10-19.
Another amendment introduced by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) would have required publication of unclassified summaries of decisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that have interpreted the law in significant ways. “This amendment aimed only to make the legal reasoning of the FISA Court available to the public. It also sought to ensure that the United States should not have a secret body of law.” It was rejected by a vote of 13-17.
A third amendment would have required the Inspectors General of the intelligence community and the Justice Department to produce a public estimate of how many Americans have already had their communications collected under this law. The amendment, by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), failed by a vote of 11-20.
All of these amendments “would have left the underlying authorities of the FAA [FISA Amendments Act] intact, but would have required the government to make basic, non-sensitive information available to the public,” the dissenting members wrote in the new report. “The FAA is an important tool for intelligence gathering, but classified reports and secret court opinions are no substitute for public oversight.”
Remarkably, that is a minority view today. The majority in the House Judiciary Committee, and most likely in Congress as a whole, favors classified reports and secret court opinions, and it has little use for public oversight or public consent.
Congress Has Outlawed Bulk Declassification
The problem of congressionally-mandated secrecy is also manifest in the difficulties facing declassification of valuable historical records. The National Declassification Center was tasked by President Obama in 2009 to eliminate the backlog of nearly 400 million pages of 25 year old records awaiting declassification by the end of 2013.
By all indications, that goal will not be met and the President’s instruction will not be fulfilled. As a result, the Center has been criticized, by myself among others, as inadequate to its task. See, most recently, “Obama administration struggles to live up to its transparency promise, Post analysis shows” by James Ball, Washington Post, August 3.
But on closer inspection, much of the criticism directed toward the National Declassification Center is unfair. It misdiagnoses the problem. The Center and its director, Sheryl Shenberger, have been working energetically and creatively to develop improved declassification procedures and greater productivity. Records that were mistakenly believed to have been made public in the Clinton Administration are finally now becoming available in actuality. The pace of declassification is increasing. But not fast enough.
The primary reason that the Center will not meet its presidentially-assigned goal is not some latent preference for non-disclosure among the Center staff. Rather, the main problem is an obstacle created by Congress in the form of a 2000 statute known as the Kyl-Lott Amendment. That Amendment makes it impossible to perform bulk declassification of government records, no matter what their age or subject matter, unless they have been certified as “highly unlikely” to contain nuclear weapons-related information. In the absence of such certification, declassifiers at the Center and elsewhere have no choice but to conduct what amounts to page-by-page review.
Because this Kyl-Lott review requirement has been written into law by Congress, it trumps any “order” or goal that the President of the United States might set. No alternate set of procedures to protect classified nuclear weapons information would suffice to satisfy the law.
In effect, Congress has vetoed the possibility of bulk declassification of government records. Unless and until the Kyl-Lott Amendment is repealed, it is hard to see how the laborious, time-consuming declassification process can ever be transformed into something more sensible and efficient.
SSCI Giveth and Taketh Away?
One of the handful of genuine breakthroughs in national security transparency lately has been the public reporting on security clearances, and particularly the disclosure of the unexpectedly high number of cleared persons eligible for access to classified information.
The release of this information was not voluntary, but was the result of a statutory requirement in the FY 2010 intelligence authorization act. Thanks are due to the House and Senate Select Committees on Intelligence for legislating this precedent-setting disclosure.
Now, however, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) has moved to repeal this two-year-old reporting requirement (in section 308 of S.3454), as requested by the intelligence community (h/t Emptywheel). Although it is consistent with recent Committee steps to curtail press and public access even to unclassified intelligence information, the logic of this move is hard to fathom.
If the Senate Committee’s repeal provision is adopted by Congress, this most basic measure of the size of the national security bureaucracy would cease to be updated and made publicly available. The secrecy and obscurity of the recent past would be restored.
Exercising the Power of the Purse
Every now and then, Congress does behave as the textbooks would lead one to expect. It pushes back against executive branch secrecy in order to protect its own institutional prerogatives, if not specifically the public interest in transparent and accountable government.
Last week, the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee imposed a $13 million cut on secret Pentagon missile defense programs because it said that DoD did not provide the information that Senators had expected to receive:
“The Committee notes the poor briefing materials in support of classified programs despite requests made by the Committee for the inclusion of specific information. Therefore, the Committee does not believe that the budget request for these programs was fully and appropriately justified and recommends an undistributed reduction of $13,600,000. The Director of the Missile Defense Agency is directed to submit a list of classified projects against which this reduction is levied not later than 90 days after enactment of this act.”
* * *
Overall, the strange congressional propensity for executive branch secrecy presents a conundrum and a challenge to advocates of greater openness and accountability. It is probably unrealistic to expect executive agency officials to take significant steps to provide greater public disclosure of national security information if a majority in Congress is on record opposing such steps.
The Department of Justice told Congress recently that it would not disclose the number of state secrets cases involving alleged government misconduct, if any, that have been referred to an Inspector General for investigation.
Under a revised state secrets policy that was announced by Attorney General Holder in 2009, the Department committed to referring credible claims of government wrongdoing that could not be adjudicated in court because the state secrets privilege had been invoked to the Inspector General of the relevant agency for further investigation.
So have any such state secrets cases in fact been referred an Inspector General? That question was posed for the record by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse following a November 2011 hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In newly published responses to this and a wide range of other questions that were transmitted to Congress in June, the Justice Department said it would not answer directly.
“The Department’s policy is not to disclose the existence of pending IG investigations. Consistent with that policy, we could not provide the number of cases, if any, that may have been referred to an IG pursuant to the Department policy on state secrets privilege.”
“However, to the extent IG investigations are undertaken, the Government has typically released public versions of final IG reports,” the DoJ reply stated.
No such public versions of final IG reports have been released in the Obama Administration, as far as could be determined. In 2008, a redacted version of a DHS Inspector General report concerning the Maher Arar state secrets case was released.
The number of polygraph examinations performed by the Department of Defense more than doubled over the past decade to over 43,000 tests in a one-year period, according to a study performed last year for the Under Secretary of Defense (Intelligence).
The large majority of the tests were for pre-employment or periodic reinvestigation employee screening purposes. The remainder were conducted in the course of criminal or other investigations.
Most employee screening polygraph exams are uneventful, yielding “no significant response” to predetermined questions. But a fraction of them produce a “significant response” which prompts the examiner to ask the subject for an explanation. Placed in such a circumstance, many people will volunteer derogatory information about themselves.
In 2010-11, the DoD tests resulted in “3,903 admissions of misconduct, ranging from security violations and failure to disclose foreign contacts to counterintelligence and criminal violations,” the DoD study said.
“Most often the derogatory information, ranging from relatively minor security infractions to serious felony offenses, would not have been known were it not for the employment of the polygraph,” the study said.
In a small subset of cases, the polygraph test generates a “signficant response” but the subject is unable or unwilling to provide a satisfactory explanation. In such cases, the individual may be tested repeatedly until the issue is resolved or, if already holding a clearance, may be placed in a conditional access status.
The DoD polygraph report provides hard-to-find numerical data about DoD polygraph testing practices, including the number of tests performed by DoD intelligence agencies, which has risen sharply from past levels.
That 2002 figure did not include exams conducted for the NSA or the NRO, so it cannot be directly compared to the latest of 43,434 polygraph exams in 2011, which did include numbers for both NSA (10,824) and NRO (8,404). But subtracting those figures — which yields 24,206 tests — reveals that polygraph testing at DoD more than doubled over the past decade.
The DoD report on polygraph testing, which is marked For Official Use Only, was not authorized for public release. A copy was obtained by Marisa Taylor of McClatchy News, who reported on it in her recent series on polygraph testing at the National Reconnaissance Office.
In its pending legislation (section 504), the Senate Intelligence Committee asked the Director of National Intelligence to consider expanded use of polygraph testing, and to report on “the practical feasibility of extending the use of the polygraph to additional Executive branch personnel.”
Among scientists, the polygraph is generally viewed with skepticism bordering on disdain. Polygraph testing is “intrinsically susceptible to producing erroneous results,” according to a 2002 report from the National Academy of Sciences.
In a floor statement yesterday, Sen. John McCain reiterated his criticism of the Obama White House for allegedly leaking classified information that endangered national security, and he repeated his call for appointment of a special counsel to independently investigate the claims.
Sen. McCain cited a particular incident in 2009 described by David Sanger of the New York Times in which a senior National Security Council official arranged a special briefing for Sanger in the Presidential suite at a Pittsburgh hotel about a secret nuclear site in Iran.
“I wonder how many people have the key to the Presidential suite in that Pittsburgh, PA hotel? We might want to start there” in the search for the leakers, Sen. McCain said.
But it turns out that the resulting news story that appeared in the Times did not include classified information, and the discovery of the Iranian nuclear site was the subject of a public briefing the very next day. See “John McCain swings at White House over 2009 Iran leak to David Sanger,” by Josh Gerstein, Politico, August 1.
An ongoing FBI investigation into leaks of classified information is “casting a distinct chill over press coverage of national security issues as agencies decline routine interview requests and refuse to provide background briefings,” writes Scott Shane in the New York Times.
The congressional response to leaks of classified information is disingenuous or hypocritical, wrote Walter Pincus in “Lawmakers, media are duplicitous on leaks,” Washington Post, August 1.
“While the Pentagon insists it’s not doing anything that should alarm reporters, it has yet to offer a direct response as to exactly what it means when it says it’s going to monitor news reports for unauthorized disclosures.” See “Defense vague on plan to plug press leaks” by Austin Wright and Leigh Munsil, Politico, August 1.
A correction: Secrecy News stated yesterday that “the Senate Intelligence Committee bill would not apply to White House officials.” That’s not quite right. While most of the proposed anti-leak measures apply only to “elements of the intelligence community,” a few provisions such as Section 501 (requiring notification of authorized release of classified information) would apply to the entire executive branch, including the White House.
The Congressional Research Service has not been authorized to publicly release the following new and updated reports.
Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress, August 1, 2012
Mountaintop Mining: Background on Current Controversies, August 1, 2012
Budgetary Treatment of Federal Credit (Direct Loans and Loan Guarantees): Concepts, History, and Issues for the 112th Congress, July 27, 2012
When Congressional Legislation Interferes with Existing Contracts: Legal Issues, May 31, 2012 (published July 31)
Comparing Compensation for Federal and Private-Sector Workers: An Overview, July 30, 2012
Medicaid Financing and Expenditures, July 30, 2012
Correction added below
The anti-leak provisions proposed by the Senate Intelligence Committee in the pending FY2013 intelligence authorization act have been widely criticized as misconceived and ill-suited to achieving their presumed goals.
But they also suffer from a lack of clarity and an absence of definitions of crucial terms.
For example, there is no clear definition of “the news media” to whom unauthorized disclosures are to be prohibited, as noted today by Josh Gerstein in Politico. Certainly a reporter for a national news organization is a member of the news media, but what about a blogger who produces original reporting? Or a tweeter who spreads previously undisclosed information?
Nor is the term “classified information” defined in the new bill as precisely as one would wish. By contrast, the Freedom of Information Act, for example, limits withholding of information on national security grounds to records that are “properly classified.” Merely being “classified” is not enough to warrant an exemption from disclosure under FOIA. (In a pending lawsuit, a court has ordered the US Trade Representative to publicly release a classified document that the court said was not properly classified. The government has so far refused. Which position is “authorized”?)
The new Senate bill does not make any practical distinction between properly and improperly classified information, though it directs the DNI to address the issue in a report to Congress (section 504).
In fact, the very concept of an “unauthorized disclosure” is not clearly articulated in the bill. What is it, exactly? Though the answer may seem obvious, it is actually subject to conflicting interpretations.
According to a May 8, 2004 FBI interview with then-Vice President Dick Cheney, “it is possible to talk about something contained in a classified document without violating the law regarding declassification [sic].”
“For example, the Vice President has made numerous public statements about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction which were based on and, in some cases tracked, his reading of classified information…,” according to the FBI record of the interview.
“However, he did not violate any relevant laws or rules in making these statements because he did not reveal the confidential sources or methods involved in gathering the classified information,” the Vice President told the FBI (at p. 26).
“Vice President Cheney advised that he believed it was justifiable to rely on classified information to shape and inform what one says publicly.”
This is not a particularly orthodox view of classification policy. But would such reliance on classified information in public statements constitute an unauthorized disclosure in the eyes of the Senate Intelligence Committee? It’s unclear.
In any event, the Senate Intelligence Committee bill would not apply to White House officials [see correction below]. Nor would it penalize unauthorized disclosures originating in Congress.
The inconsistency in the Senate approach was highlighted today in two articles: “Bill to plug leaks doesn’t reach White House” by Josh Gerstein, Politico; and “Senate’s anti-leaking bill doesn’t address the real sources of information” by David Ignatius, Washington Post.
Correction While most of the proposed anti-leak measures apply to “elements of the intelligence community,” a few provisions such as Section 501 (requiring notification of authorized release of classified information) would apply to the entire executive branch, including the White House.


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It’s a bumper Easter schedule in Round 4 of the NRL, with the grand finalists of the last two years going head-to-head on Good Friday, and the 2013 decider combatants squaring off in a key match on Saturday. Buckle up for a tri-city marathon on Easter Monday, with the traditional Tigers-Eels encounter in front of a packed Homebush crowd the pick of the bunch.
Friday, 4.00pm: South Sydney Rabbitohs v Canterbury Bulldogs @ ANZ Stadium
It’s impossible to avoid the memories of 2015’s ‘Bad Friday’ clash, and while it’s unlikely we’ll see anything as dramatic as that, it shapes as a massive showdown – although Sam Burgess’ absence has taken the sting out of it somewhat. Still, there should be a crowd in excess of 40,000 at Homebush, and the victor will really solidify their position in the top four.
I can’t wait for… livewire halves Cody Walker, Luke Keary, Josh Reynolds and Moses Mbye to come to the fore after the ferocious forward battle settles down.TIP: Bulldogs by 6
Friday, 8.05pm: Brisbane Broncos v North Queensland Cowboys @ Suncorp Stadium
Neither side wants to acknowledge it, but the epic 2015 grand final looms large over this Queensland derby. There’s storylines, subplots and match-ups laced throughout this clash – not least of all the fact that these two teams are unequivocally the standout title favourites this season. The Broncos are smarting from a poor loss at Penrith last week, while the Cowboys are coming off an authoritative 40-0 spanking of the Roosters.
I can’t wait for… Ben Hunt to stand up. He’s had a slow start to the year, but he will be fired up after last year’s grand final shocker.TIP: Broncos by 2
Saturday, 5.30pm: Canberra Raiders v Gold Coast Titans @ GIO Stadium
Two surprise packets who can really push their top-eight claims by ending March near the pointy end of the ladder. The Raiders are one of only two unbeaten teams, but would be disappointed with their draw at Newcastle after jumping out to a big lead. The Titans have won two from three and continue to show character that far outstrips the quality of their roster.
I can’t wait for… another bout of golden point – this clash has extra-time written all over it.TIP: Raiders by 1
Saturday, 7.30pm: Sydney Roosters v Manly Sea Eagles @ Allianz Stadium
The Roosters are in a funk and are odds-on to be left alone in last place on the table at the end of Round 4. They’re lacking direction, aggression and confidence – the Tricolours are a shadow of the side of recent years, in attack and defence. The Sea Eagles were far from perfect on Monday, but they toughed their way back into form to get off the mark at the Sharks’ expense. Expect the Roosters to come ready to play after being embarrassed in Townsville, but the guile of Cherry-Evans and Stewart will steer Manly to back-to-back wins.
I can’t wait for… old hard-head Nate Myles trying to stamp his authority up against young bucks Dylan Napa and Kane Evans.TIP: Sea Eagles by 8
Sunday, 4.00pm: St George Illawarra Dragons v Penrith Panthers @ WIN Stadium
Both sides pulled off a heavyweight upset last weekend, showing off their own finals aspirations with character-filled performances. The Saints will be primed for their first match in Wollongong this year, while the Panthers need to work on a 80-minute effort after fading late against the Bulldogs and letting the Broncos get out to a big lead.
I can’t wait for… Te Maire Martin’s follow-up appearance – I’m so excited about this kid.TIP: Panthers by 8
Monday, 2.00pm: Warriors v Newcastle Knights @ Mt Smart Stadium
The winless Warriors can’t get the critics off their backs, despite a vastly improved display last weekend. Plagued by Henry Perenara’s dreadful officiating, they still came within an ace of toppling the Storm. The punters know what’s coming from the frustrated Auckland-based side, installing them as the biggest favourites of the weekend, although the Knights were super-gutsy in grabbing a draw with in-form Canberra after two horrid outings in the opening fortnight of the premiership. The Warriors should have too much firepower and too much desire.
I can’t wait for… Shaun Johnson and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to take advantage of an unsettled Knights line-up.TIP: Warriors by 20
Monday, 4.00pm: Wests Tigers v Parramatta Eels @ ANZ Stadium
We’ve been in this position several times in recent seasons – the Tigers and Eels facing off in an Easter Monday blockbuster after encouraging starts to the year. Neither side has gone on to make the finals in the past four campaigns, but both have again shown early-season signs of being able to break the drought. There’s so much attacking class on show here, so the better defensive unit will win the day…which means an Eels victory over the leaky Tigers.
I can’t wait for… Radradra and Tedesco to continue their blistering tryscoring form.TIP: Eels by 7
Monday, 7.00pm: Cronulla Sharks v Melbourne Storm @ Shark Park
Following yet another loss Brookvale, the Sharks confront another big bogey – the boys from the Shire just haven’t had an answer for the Storm in recent years. Their combinations are still taking time to gel, and question marks are still hovering over whether Shane Flanagan has his positional selections right. Meanwhile, Melbourne continues to hum along like the well-oiled machine it is, taking the only 3-0 record in the NRL into Round 4.
I can’t wait for… the wily old rakes, Ennis and Smith, pulling the wool over the refs’ eyes and trying to get one over the other.TIP: Storm by 8
ROUND 4 MOST AT STAKE
The only two winless clubs remaining in the NRL, the Warriors and Roosters, simply must come away with a win this weekend.
THE SELECTION TABLE
-Nathan Brown will start at lock for Souths after the neck injury suffered by Sam Burgess.
-Greg Eastwood is back in the No.13 for the Bulldogs.
-An eye injury to Jack Reed sees Jordan Kahu move to centre and Lachlan Maranta play his first game for the Broncos on the wing.
-Brendan Elliot replaces the injured Dale Copley in the Roosters’ centres.
-Trent Merrin and Waqa Blake return for the Panthers, with Tyrone Peachey and Elijah Taylor dropping back to the bench.
-Konrad Hurrell and Sam Lisone have been named on the Warriors’ bench, with James Gavet and Nathaniel Roache making way.
-Robbie Farah makes his first appearance of 2016 for the Tigers.
Hurrell named for #EasterMonday clash at Mount Smart.
— Vodafone Warriors (@NZWarriors) March 22, 2016
-The Cowboys have lost their last four against the Broncos at Suncorp.
-The Roosters are aiming to avoid becoming just the second reigning minor premiers (after Brisbane in 1999) to go 0-4 to start the following season.
-The Warriors are hoping to avoid a club-record 12-match losing streak.
-Cronulla has lost its last five – and 10 of its last 11 – against Melbourne. The last four matches have featured margins between 18 and 42 points.
That is a club record 11 straight losses for the Warriors #NRLWarMel
— 1895 (@1895blog) March 20, 2016
-The English front-rowers, George Burgess and James Graham.
-A grand final rematch within a grand final rematch, Thurston v Hunt.
-Locks Greg Bird and Shaun Fensom are the beating heart of their respective teams.
-Blake Ferguson and Steve Matai will engage in a fascinating centre duel.
-Penrith sensation Te Maire Martin goes up against Saints captain Gareth Widdop.
-A couple of enigmas in the No.6, Shaun Johnson and Jarrod Mullen.
-Mitchell Moses and Corey Norman have been on fire in 2016.
-Andrew Fifita and Jesse Bromwich will lead the way for their respective packs.
— NRL (@NRL) March 19, 2016
-Josh Morris lines up for his 200th NRL game, while Bulldogs teammate Josh Reynolds reaches the 100-game mark. Morris boasts a career winning percentage of 56%; Reynolds is sitting on an impressive 60% win rate.
— NRL Bulldogs (@NRL_Bulldogs) March 23, 2016
Shaun Kenny-Dowall will become just the seventh player to bring up 200 first-grade appearances for the Roosters. The Kiwi stalwart has scored 112 NRL tries – second in Roosters history and equal-47th all-time.
— Sydney Roosters (@sydneyroosters) March 23, 2016
THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
2010: The Warriors pummelled the Broncos 48-16 at Suncorp Stadium, with unheralded half James Maloney bagging a club record-equalling 28 from three tries and eight goals.
2003: In a preview of that year’s grand final, unfancied Penrith scored a rousing 23-22 win over defending champs Sydney Roosters.
1995: Phil Blake scored four tries as the Warriors notched their first-ever win, 46-12 over Western Suburbs, but they later had the competition points stripped for fielding an illegal fifth interchange player.
1979: St George hammered defending premiers Manly 34-9 in the opening round of the ’79 competition, with the likes of Graeme Wynn, Mitch Brennan and Robert Finch bagging tries, and George Grant slotting eight goals for the victorious Dragons.

domain: sports


The Costanera Sur is an area on the east side of Puerto Madero. In 1918 it was inaugurated as a seafront and over the following decades restaurants, bars and dramatic statues brought a level of decadence to the previously run down location. It was one of the favourite spots for residents of Buenos Aires to come to, for the fresh air and to bathe in the river. During the 60s this decadence turned to decay and establishments started to close and signs appeared warning people not to swim in the increasingly contaminated water.
During the 70s and 80s, in a period when the military government was expanding the urban road system by building monstrous highways leading into the city, a large amount of rubble was left to be disposed of. It was decided that it would be dumped in the river, in a land reclamation project which reached from the north of the city all the way down to the port of La Boca. Originally there were grand plans to use this new land to construct an administrative centre for the city, as well as developing the city further eastwards. These plans were soon abandoned, although debris continued to be dumped until 1984.
The water which had been largely drained from within the rubble embankments formed ponds and grasslands. Seeds, which were present in the silt from the river or deposited by the wind and animals, started to grow into a variety of plant communities. This provided food and refuge for animals to settle down, which led to an ever-increasing biological diversity.
Attracting naturalists, joggers, students and bird-watchers, the area began to regain popularity, while environmental organisations were calling for the government to protect the land. In 1986 the Buenos Aires government unanimously voted to do so, leading to what is now the Ecological Reserve, visited by more than one million people every year. Located in a prime location, the area is envied by property developers who continue to build towering skyscrapers alongside
The area is well maintained by a group of workers, who provide protection against invasive species of plants and animals. Open during the day to city visitors, the reserve provides a haven of tranquillity which many take advantage of. The wide dusty paths are continuously strolled along, while bike riders also like to cycle in an area free of cars, buses and motorbikes. The paths lead down to an area on the edge of the river with picnic tables and trees for protection from the sun, although the wind comes charging in from the river and helps to create the impression of a genuine seaside location.
The reserve is open every day except Monday, from 8am to 6pm. Guided tours are offered at 10.30am and 3.30pm on Saturdays and Sundays, providing a deeper experience of the nature and wildlife. Every full moon the reserve conducts a night trail as well, although this is hugely popular and a space must be reserved a few days in advance. Bird-watchers convene on a monthly basis, details of which are given in the office at the main entrance to the reserva. There are also regular volunteer days, when the general public are asked to come along and help in various tasks, such as planting new species of vegetation.
There are two entrances to the reserve, both located on the Costanera Sur. One is found by following Avenida Cordoba to its eastern end, while the main entrance is reached by following Avenida Belgrano to its eastern end.


The heads of education for the state of Louisiana visited several local schools today. The stops centered around campuses with significant growth in student achievement.
members visited a total of four schools in Caddo Parish. They all agreed it was a good learning
The board members stopped at Cherokee Park Elementary, North Side Elementary, Caddo Parish Middle Magnet and Southwood High School.
At Cherokee Park the board learned how the school went from a campus score of 44 to 81. The board's president says because of the student makeup----teachers deal with unique challenges.
Cherokee park also earned the distinction of top gains status for 2011-12. Board members will visit four more schools in Bossier Parish Wednesday. The first stop tomorrow morning will be Curtis Elementary.


Glasgow based artists Robbie Thomson and Jack Wrigley present a brand new audiovisual collaboration for Paradigm Festival 2019. Using the dominating industrial form of the terrain’s 40 meter chimney as a backdrop, the duo have created a site specific laser mapping performance which will augment and fracture this monolithic structure. Audiences wearing silent disco headphones will be invited to watch performances of the work throughout the night.
00:00 – 04:00
23:00 – 04:00


- Min.Order Quantity:
The raw material after washed should be distributed on the conveyer belt through suitable mechanism such as star distributor, swing conveyor, crusher or granulator, the conveyer passes through the channel including of one or several heating unit. Each heating unit is equipped with air heater and circle system. Each channel has one or several damp discharge systems. When the conveyer passes through it, hot air will pass through the raw material from up to down or from down to up. In this way the raw material can be dried uniformly.
The belt dryer is an ordinary continuous drying equipment. It is widely used for chemical industry, foodstuff industry, pharmaceutical industry, construction materials industry, electronic industry and so on. Especially it is suitable for drying raw materials that are good in breathability and have the shape of pieces or strip of granule. It is also possible to dry the pasted raw materials such as filter cake after shaped through granulator or extruder.
Polyester Paper Making Dryer Belt Large Air Permeability Polyester Spiral Dryer Wire Mesh Conveyor Belt
high performance oem design polyester spiral dryer fabric belt
polyester plain mesh fabrics can operate as dryer belts conveyor belts or filter media in many industries


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I’ve written in this space long enough to have mentioned cupcakes a number of times. At first I thought, “I can’t post yet another cupcake recipe, can I?”
Of course I can. Because one can never have too many recipes for a rich and perfectly textured chocolate cupcake and this frosting really needs to be brought to your attention. While my boys may not appreciate the little green flecks covering their cake I sure do. I love that there’s a nod to spring. A fresh taste that’s not astringent or harsh. It’s soft, grassy and light – definitely mint but not toothpastey as some extracts can be. The flavor is all in the leaves, which right now is the only thing popping up in my little garden besides chives and the straggly looking kale left over from last season.
The other reason why I bring up cupcakes is to mention that I’m helping Jennifer Shea, the owner of Trophy Cupcakes here in Seattle, launch her book tour. I’ll be joining Jennifer at Williams-Sonoma this Saturday. While she whips up cupcakes and teaches us the art of the buttercream ruffle, I’ll be serving up Rhubarb Cream Soda. Hope to see many of you there.
Chocolate Cupcakes with Fresh Mint Buttercream
Makes 2 dozen (although I actually got 3)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups cocoa powder
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup boiling water
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with cupcake liners and set aside.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Combine the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the sugar and dry ingredients. Blend at low speed, then increase the speed to medium and mix until the batter is completely smooth, about 2 minutes. Remove the bowl from the stand and add the boiling water and stir with a wooden spoon, carefully so that it doesn’t splash, until the batter is smooth again. It will be thin. Let the batter rest for 15 minutes and stir gently before using.
Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full and bake until the tops of the cupcakes are firm and a cake tester inserted in the center of a middle cupcake comes out with just a few crumbs, about 20 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool for 5 minutes in the pans before removing to cool completely.
Fresh Mint Buttercream
I find that this frosting is best made the day you plan to eat the cupcakes.
4 ounces cream cheese, soft
2 sticks/ 8 ounces unsalted butter, soft
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup fresh mint leaves, finely minced
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups packed powdered sugar
In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment combine the cream cheese, butter, salt and mint leaves. Beat on low until well combined. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula then mix on medium low for one minute more.
With the machine on low add the powdered sugar. Once combined, increase the speed to medium high then beat for three minutes, until light.
Frost the cooled cupcakes then top with a sugared mint leaf if you’d like.
To make the sugared mint leaves, I chose pretty, fresh leaves that used my fingers to coat then in lightly beaten egg whites. You could use a pastry brush if you’re more civilized than I. Then I dipped then in fine sugar (regular sugar pulsed in a blender or food processor works well). Place the leaves on a plate to dry for 24 hours or so.

domain: food


text:
NOTICE FROM THE COURT: The slip opinions
and orders posted here are subject to formal revision and are
superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the
Official Reports. This preliminary material will be removed from
the Bulletin Board once it is printed in the Official Reports
advance sheets. If you find a typographical error or other formal
error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial
Court, Room 1407, Boston, MA 02108; (617) 557-1030.
COMMONWEALTH vs. ANTONIO
Hampden. March 7, 2000. – April
Present: Marshall, C.J., Abrams,
Lynch, Greaney, Ireland, & Spina, JJ.
Common Law Crime. Statute, Construction.
Indictment found and
returned in the Superior Court Department on April 21, 1998.
A motion to dismiss was heard by
Francis R. Fecteau, J., and questions of law were reported
The Supreme Judicial Court on
its own initiative transferred the case from the Appeals Court.
Larni S. Levy, Committee
for Public Counsel Services, for the defendant.
Thomas H. Townsend,
Assistant District Attorney (James M. Sullivan, Assistant
District Attorney, with him) for the Commonwealth.
The defendant, Antonio Colon, was indicted for
kidnapping a twelve year old girl in violation of G. L.
c. 265, Sect. 26. He moved to dismiss the indictment,
contending that the Commonwealth failed to present evidence that
the kidnapping was "against her will." A Superior Court
judge denied the motion and concluded that a twelve year old has
"no authority or capacity, as a matter of law," to
leave the legal custody of her parents without their consent. At
the parties’ request, the judge reported questions to the Appeals
Court. Mass. R. Crim. P. 34, 378 Mass. 905 (1979). We transferred
the case to this court on our own motion. The reported questions asked whether the judge’s ruling
was correct and, if so, whether the evidence presented to the
grand jury was sufficient to support the indictment.
We conclude that the judge was correct and affirm that a twelve
year old is unable to consent to kidnapping as a matter of law,
answering both questions "Yes."
We summarize the stipulated facts. The thirty
year old defendant first met the then eleven year old girl in the
summer of 1996. After a few months, the defendant began to spend
a considerable amount of time alone with her. He bought presents
for her, and she developed a "little crush" on him. The
girl’s father became concerned and confronted his daughter about
her relationship with the defendant. She broke down in tears and
told her father she had had sexual relations with the defendant,
but recanted the next day and has subsequently denied the
existence of any such relationship.
On September 19, 1997, the girl’s parents
contacted the Springfield police department to report that she
was missing. On that same date, the twelve year old and the
defendant separately purchased bus tickets to Ormond Beach,
Florida. The girl claimed that she traveled alone and that the
first time she saw the defendant was in the parking lot of a
Florida motel as the bus passed by. On December 5, 1997, agents
of the Federal Bureau of Investigation found the defendant and
the twelve year old in a motel room in Ormond Beach, where they
had been staying since the girl’s disappearance. In subsequent
testimony, the twelve year old has always maintained that she
left her parents’ custody of her own free will and that the
defendant did not force her or promise her anything to entice her
to follow him.
On April 21, 1998, the defendant was indicted
for kidnapping in violation of G. L. c. 265,
Sect. 26. He moved to dismiss the indictment, claiming that
the Commonwealth had failed to present evidence that the twelve
year old girl was kidnapped against her will. After arguments, a
Superior Court judge denied the motion. The judge ruled that the
Commonwealth did not have to present such evidence because a
twelve year old "had no authority or capacity, as a matter
of law," to leave the legal custody of her parents without
1. Capacity to consent.
Question A asks us to determine whether the
judge was correct in concluding that a twelve year old lacks the
capacity to "consent" to kidnapping. Ordinarily, the
Commonwealth must prove that a victim was kidnapped "against
[her] will"; in other words, without consent. G. L.
c. 265, Sect. 26.
The statute is silent, however, on whether, or when, children can
form the will to be able to consent to kidnapping.
The defendant concedes that very young children
are incapable, as a matter of law, of consenting to leave their
parents’ custody.  Citing to cases
interpreting other criminal statutes, the defendant argues that
when a statute does not specify an age of consent, whether a
child can consent is a question of fact for children seven years
and older. See Commonwealth v. Burke, 390 Mass. 480
(1983); note 7, infra. We disagree.
Criminal statutes are to be strictly construed.
See Commonwealth v. George, 430 Mass.
276, 278 (1999). However, statutes are to be construed in light
of preexisting common law, and we frequently look to the
common-law definition of crimes to construe criminal statutes.
See Commonwealth v. Cass, 392 Mass. 799,
801-802 (1984) (adopting common-law definition of
"person" in vehicular homicide statute); Commonwealth
v. Burke, 392 Mass. 688, 690 (1984) (common-law roots of
"breaking and entering"); Commonwealth v.
Slaney, 345 Mass. 135, 138 (1962) ("For definition of
the crime of assault, resort must be had to the common
law"); Commonwealth v. Correia, 17 Mass. App.
Ct. 233, 235 (1983) ("burglary" at common law meant
invasion of place of habitation). The roots of the common law of
kidnapping provide guidance here as well, in light of the absence
of legislative history of G. L. c. 265, Sect. 26, or a
clearly expressed legislative intent to abrogate the common law.
See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Burke, supra.
At common law, a child of "tender
years," defined as a child under fourteen years of age, was
incapable of consenting to kidnapping. See Chatwin v. United
States, 326 U.S. 455, 461 (1946), citing 9 J. Wigmore,
Evidence Sect. 2514 (3d ed.). We have long recognized that a
child of tender years is "incapable of assenting to forcible
removal" from the legal custody of his or her parents. Commonwealth
v. Nickerson, 5 Allen 518, 526 (1863). In that case the
defendants, acting on behalf of the mother, were convicted of
kidnapping a nine year old boy.
In affirming the convictions, we recognized the tender years
doctrine and held that a nine year old did not have the capacity
to consent to being taken from his father’s custody against his
father’s will.  Id. at 527.
We concluded that such a taking "away from the lawful
custody and against the will of his rightful custodian . . . is
in law deemed to be forcible and against the will of the
child." Id. at 526. See Commonwealth v.
Moyles, 45 Mass. App. Ct. 350, 354 (1998) (three year old
cannot consent to kidnapping as a matter of law).
In light of this common-law background, we hold
today that twelve year old children fall within the tender years
doctrine and, as a matter of law, cannot consent to leaving the
custody of their parents or legal guardians. This rule recognizes
the importance of protecting young children who are particularly
vulnerable to kidnappings, and acknowledges the parents’ role as
the legal custodians of their children.
The defendant argues that Commonwealth
v. Burke, 390 Mass. 480 (1983), expressly rejects the
"dictum" of Commonwealth v. Nickerson, supra.
In Commonwealth v. Burke, supra at 487, we
declined to establish a specific age of consent for indecent
assault and battery because there was no age of consent for that
crime at common law. In contrast, common-law kidnapping did have
an age of consent.
We conclude that the motion judge ruled
properly in holding that a twelve year old lacks the capacity, as
a matter of law, to consent to a kidnapping, and we therefore
answer question A, "Yes."
2. Sufficiency of the evidence.
In reported question C, we are asked whether
the evidence presented to the grand jury was sufficient to
support the indictment.
In general, "a court will not review the competency or
sufficiency of the evidence before a grand jury." Commonwealth
v. O’Dell, 392 Mass. 445, 451 (1984). We have reviewed the
evidence before the grand jury and dismissed indictments,
however, when the grand jury have not heard at least
"sufficient evidence to establish the identity of the
accused . . . and probable cause to arrest him." Commonwealth
v. McCarthy, 385 Mass. 160, 163 (1982). This standard is
considerably less exacting than the sufficiency of evidence
required to warrant a guilty finding. See Commonwealth v. O’Dell,
supra, and cases cited.
In addition to presenting evidence that the
girl was twelve years old and that she had left her parents
custody without their consent, the Commonwealth presented
evidence to the grand jury that the defendant spent a great deal
of time with her; that he bought her numerous and expensive
gifts; that the girl admitted to her father that she had had
sexual relations with the defendant; that the defendant left for
Florida on the same day as the girl; and that law enforcement
officials found the defendant and the girl in a Florida motel
room where the two had been living for nearly three months.
Moreover, the defendant was evasive with his sister about his
location and had taken steps to alter his and the girl’s
appearances, including cutting and dyeing their hair, in order to
avoid detection. This evidence is sufficient to sustain the
indictment, and we therefore answer question C, "Yes."
We answer reported questions A and C in the
 The trial judge has discretion to
report questions of law that are deemed to be "so important
or doubtful" as to require the decision of the Appeals
Court. Mass. R. Crim. P. 34, 378 Mass. 905 (1979).
 The reported questions were as follows:
"A. Whether this Court’s Memorandum
Decision and Order on the Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss is
correct as a matter of law?
"B. If not, given the recent case of Commonwealth
v. Moyles, 45 Mass. App. Ct. 350, 354 (1998) in which the
court stated: ‘if the kidnapping victim is of such an age as to
be incapable of having a ‘recognizable will,’ the confinement
must then be against the will of the parents or legal guardian of
the victim’, is there, as a matter of law, an age below which a
minor is incapable of having a recognizable will and which would
thus require, as a matter of law, that any confinement or
inveigling be against the will of the parents or legal guardian?
"C. If so, was the Commonwealth’s
presentation of evidence to the grand jury sufficient to support
Because we answer question A in the
affirmative, we need not reach question B.
 General Laws c. 265,
Sect. 26, reads: "Whoever, without lawful authority,
forcibly or secretly confines or imprisons another person within
this commonwealth against his will, or forcibly carries or sends
such person out of this commonwealth, or forcibly seizes and
confines or inveigles or kidnaps another person, with intent
either to cause him to be secretly confined or imprisoned in this
commonwealth against his will, or to cause him to be sent out of
this commonwealth against his will or in any way held to service
against his will, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state
prison for not more than ten years or by a fine of not more than
one thousand dollars and imprisonment in jail for not more than
 Alternatively, the defendant has argued that, because
nonconsent is an element of the crime of kidnapping, reading any
age of consent into the statute would, in effect, strike the
element of consent from the statute and create a strict liability
crime. By concluding that a twelve year old cannot consent to
kidnapping as a matter of law, however, we do not
"strike" the element of consent from the kidnapping
statute. Instead, we merely substitute the parents’ consent for
that of a twelve year old child.
 With minor exceptions, G. L. c. 265,
Sect. 26, contains language identical to its predecessor
Gen. St. 1860, c. 160, Sect. 30, under which the defendants
in Commonwealth v. Nickerson, 5 Allen 518 (1863),
 Though in Commonwealth v. Nickerson, supra
at 527, we discussed the tender years doctrine in the context of
forcible removal, the crucial part of our holding was that the
taking was against the father’s will and deemed in law to be
against the will of the child. The same principle applies to
kidnapping by "inveiglement" without the use of force.
 The other cases that the
defendant cites may be distinguished in a similar manner. Three
of the cited cases, Commonwealth v. Feijoo, 419
Mass. 486 (1985); Commonwealth v. Maloney, 23 Mass.
App. Ct. 1016 (1987); and Commonwealth v. Askins,
18 Mass. App. Ct. 927 (1984), all involve the crime of indecent
assault and battery. As in Commonwealth v. Burke,
390 Mass. 480 (1983), these cases rest on the absence of a
common-law age of consent for indecent assault and battery. The
other cases cited by the defendant are equally inapplicable. In Commonwealth
v. Benoit, 26 Mass. App. Ct. 641, 644 (1988), the Appeals
Court declined to establish nonconsent as an element of
G. L. c. 272, Sect. 35A, unnatural and lascivious
acts with a child under sixteen years, where the statute made no
mention of consent and in the absence of clear common-law
history. Here, though nonconsent is established as an element of
kidnapping, the common law provides an age at which a child is
incapable of consenting. Similarly, Matter of Rena, 46
Mass. App. Ct. 335 (1999), does not apply because its holding
applies only to a minor’s competence to refuse medical treatment.
 The defendant also argues that if the court affirms
that a twelve year old cannot consent to kidnapping as a matter
of law, such a rule should be applied only prospectively. Because
we merely restate the long-standing tender years doctrine, there
is no injustice worked on the defendant by applying it today.
 It is ordinarily
"improvident for a judge to report to the Appeals Court
pursuant to rule 34 the issue of what inferences a finder of fact
would be entitled to draw from the evidence." Commonwealth
v. Giang, 402 Mass. 604, 608 (1988). However, when the
parties have fully briefed and argued the matter before this
court, and when an interlocutory appeal has delayed a defendant’s
criminal trial, we have addressed the reported questions. See id.
Both parties here have fully briefed and argued question C and,
in the interest of the efficient administration of justice, we
answer the question.

domain: law


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