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A computed tomography (CT) scan is an imaging method that uses x-rays to create pictures of cross-sections of the body.
Related tests include:
Abdominal CT scan Cranial CT scan Lumbosacral spine CT scan Orbit CT scan Thoracic CT scan
Alternative Names
CAT scan; Computed axial tomography scan; Computed tomography scan
How the test is performed
You will be asked to lie on a narrow table that slides into the center of the CT scanner.
Once you are inside the scanner, the machine's x-ray beam rotates around you. Modern "spiral" scanners can perform the exam without stopping.
A computer creates separate images of the body area, called slices. These images can be stored, viewed on a monitor, or printed on film. Three-dimensional models of the body area can be created by stacking the slices together.
You must stay still during the exam, because movement causes blurred images. You may be told to hold your breath for short periods of time.
Complete scans usually take only a few minutes. The newest scanners can image your entire body in less than 30 seconds.
How to prepare for the test
Certain exams require a special dye, called contrast, to be delivered into your body before the test starts. Contrast helps certain areas show up better on the x-rays.
Let your doctor know if you have ever had a reaction to contrast. You may need to take medicines before the test in order to avoid another reaction.
Contrast can be given several ways, and depends on the type of CT being performed.
- It may be delivered through a vein (IV) in your hand or forearm.
- It may be given into your rectum using an enema.
- You might drink the contrast before your scan. When you drink the contrast depends on the type of exam being done. The contrast liquid may taste chalky, although some are flavored. The contrast passes out of your body through your stools.
If contrast is used, you may also be asked not to eat or drink anything for 4-6 hours before the test.
Before receiving the contrast, tell your health care provider if you take the diabetes medication metformin (Glucophage). People taking this medicine may need to stop temporarily.
Find out if the CT machine has a weight limit if you weigh more than 300 pounds. Too much weight can cause damage to the scanner.
You will need to remove jewelry and wear a hospital gown during the study.
How the test will feel
Some people may have discomfort from lying on the hard table.
Contrast given through an IV may cause a slight burning feeling, a metallic taste in the mouth, and a warm flushing of the body. These sensations are normal and usually go away within a few seconds.
Why the test is performed
A CT scan creates detailed pictures of the body, including the brain, chest, spine, and abdomen. The test may be used to:
Diagnose an infection
Guide a surgeon to the right area during a biopsy
Identify masses and tumors, including cancer
Study blood vessels
Normal Values
Results are considered normal if the organs and structures being examined are normal in appearance.
What abnormal results mean
Abnormal results depend on the part of the body being studied. Talk to your health care provider about questions and concerns.
What the risks are
Risks of CT scans include:
- Allergic reaction to contrast dye
- Being exposed to radiation
CT scans expose you to more radiation than regular x-rays. Having many x-rays or CT scans over time may increase your risk for cancer. However, the risk from any one scan is small. You and your doctor should weigh this risk against the value of the information that will come from a CT scan.
Some people have allergies to contrast dye. Let your doctor know if you have ever had an allergic reaction to injected contrast dye.
- The most common type of contrast given into a vein contains iodine. If you have an iodine allergy, type of contrast may cause
nausea or vomiting, sneezing, itching,or hives.
- If you absolutely must be given such contrast, your doctor may give you antihistamines (such as Benadryl) or steroids before the test.
- Your kidneys help remove iodine out of the body. You may need to receive extra fluids after the to help flush iodine out of the body if you have diabetes or kidney disease.
Rarely, the dye may cause a life-threatening allergic response called

subset: commoncrawl


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Wood Lake
Cherry County
In 1882 the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad had pushed its way westward from O'Neill to a small lake surrounded by cottonwood trees. It was given the name "Cottonwood Lake," but soon the word "cotton" was dropped, and "Wood Lake" became the name of the oldest town in Cherry County.
Located south of the Niobrara River and it's formidable canyons, the low-rolling hills covered with native grass made it ideal cattle-raising country. As soon as the rails were completed, Wood Lake was the largest cattle shipping town on the line that later became the Chicago & North Western.
A large stockyard with loading chutes was built by the railroad. Cattle were driven from the ranches and loaded onto trains bound for Omaha. At shipping time, the hotel and livery stable were filled. The lowing of cattle, the whistles and yells of the cowboys, and the puffing and clanging of the trains could be heard day and night for weeks.
During the late 1940s closer markets, oiled highways, and semi-trucks changed all that. Shipping cattle by rail was abandoned in the early 1950s, and the depot and stock yards were torn down. In the 1950s, the ranchers established and now maintain truck weighing scales and loading chutes south of town, and another to the north, which are used at shipping time.
School District No.7 was organized and a one-room school built in 1883. A two-story frame school was built in 1895, with a brick building erected in 1929, still used today. The high school closed in 1963 when enrollment dwindled. The rural schools joined with Wood Lake to form a consolidated K-8 so that in 1988 there are 28 students, three teachers, 3 buses, and several volunteers.
With its easy accessibility, Wood Lake drew trade from miles around. By 1900 there were several general merchandise stores, a doctor and pharmacy, newspaper, ice house, grist mill, livery stable, blacksmith, lumber, grain, and coal business. A piece of land was designated for a cemetery.
Wood Lake reached its peak population of 500 by 1920. A municipal power plant, built in the early 1920s, was used to produce electricity until 1948 when Wood Lake elected to join the REA system. Windmills gave way to the new water system with its large holding tank, and a centrally-operated telephone system was installed.
The Union Church was organized in 1883 with a building erected in 1901. On December 6, 1964, it burned down. Services were held in the Assembly of God building that had closed earlier that year. In 1965 the O'Halloran Hardware building was acquired and remodeled into the church that is used today. The Catholic Church, built in 1915, was closed in 1987.
The town of Wood Lake was hit hard when the stock market crashed in 1929. It caused some businesses to close, however, the bank survived. During the drought and "dust bowl days" followed, many ranches were lost and more businesses closed, forcing people to seek economic security elsewhere.
"Progress" was also changing the local trade area. By the middle 1930s Highway 20 was completed. Better automobiles and trucks made it easier to travel to the larger towns with more variety and competitive prices.
World War II contributed further to the demise of our small town as young men entered the armed services and other people moved closer to the war-related jobs in factories. Most never returned to "the country."
Wood Lake remained the center for many activities during the 1950s. Main street was a good place to hold the 4-H baby-beef sale and other events of local interest. The Bank of Wood Lake moved to Valentine in 1965. More businesses closed at that time, and the one general store that had survived, good times and bad, burned in 1974.
The 1986 farm-ranch economy upheaval was the greatest threat to the area since the 1930s. With ranch foreclosures, bank closings, and business failures, it is yet to be determined what the final impact on our rural society will be.
The 1988 population of Wood Lake was 90. In addition to the school, we still have a post office, service station, small engine repair shop, a church, Masonic Lodge, a rural fire protection district, and a small park with RV hookups. The oiled main street is generally very quiet, except for the annual free barbecue and street dance held in July.
Every five years a school reunion brings back many old friends and neighbors. Our town is still "home" to many people around the country who remember the good ol' days and growing up in the wide-open spaces of Cherry County where cattle graze on the native grasses.
By Elsie M. Coble, Coordinator, Box 713, Wood Lake, NE 69221. Committee includes: Elsie Carter, Catherine Dukat, Pauline Swett, W.S.Richardson, Willa Marie Tische, Peggy Fitzler, Mildred Welker, Pearl Wilson, Del Wayne, Lena Gardiner, Phyllis Davis, and Mary Osterman. Also KBR Public Power District for information.
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL: An Early History of Cherry County, by Reese; A Sandhill Century, Book I, The Land and Book II, The People by Cherry County Centennial Committee 1985.


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Folks, it's a Christmas miracle: we've got our 2016 Letterpress Calendar up in the shop before the New Year! We've got a new crew of illustrators and fresh color palette to knock your socks off (it's seriously bright).
Illustrators include longtime friend and contributor Brian Gunderson alongside first-time calendar collaborators: Jesse Lindhorst, Invisible Creature, Tom Froese and Bill Ferenc.
Studio On Fire chose the ink colors (a blazing take on the traditional CMYK palette, subbing a fluorescent pink in for the magenta and a dark navy instead of black) and paper colors before setting the illustrators loose on our theme for the year: Home. Normally we don't expound too much on how we choose the theme, but this year with our big move we're pretty excited to have a new place to call home (our very own building in St. Paul, just a few miles from our previous Mpls location), so we were excited to see what "home" meant to all of our contributors, too.
Papers are all from French: the pages are 100# French Poptone Sweet Tooth, while the stand is made out of a stock that we custom duplexed in-house using French Poptone Blu Raspberry and French Construction Nightshift Blue. All of the months, along with the outer wrap, were letterpress printed with four inks on one sheet before getting cut down and hand collated. The stands are letterpress printed, scored, diecut and hand assembled (note: "hand-assembled" is code for "time consuming handwork" that we have a love/hate relationship with).
Ben posted some great process photos on our Instagram, so be sure to pop over there if you're curious.


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A Christian apologetics ministry dedicated to demonstrating the historical reliability of the Bible through archaeological and biblical research.
The following is a review of the book In the Beginning... We Misunderstood, written by Dr. Johnny Miller and Dr. John Soden. This book presents an "Old-Earth Creationist" view of origins, contrary to ISBR's [and ABR's] "Young-Earth Creationist" view. The word "fuzzy" in the review title applies to the conclusions of the book, not to the facts which the authors cite.
The reason for abandoning a literal understanding of Gen 1 and 2 is not new. Sometimes the plain, simplest, most natural reading of the text is, indeed the best. Such is the case with Gen 1, despite all the attempts to explain it in some other, more complicated way...
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A good indicator to measure the vibrancy of Catholic life in the United States is the parish. While not exclusively, for U.S. Catholics the parish has been and remains a privileged space to celebrate and share the Faith, to experience community and live our discipleship.
Catholic parishes in the United States have experienced many transitions during the last two decades. Closings and mergers have decimated the number of parishes in the country by 11 percent. In the meantime, the total U.S. Catholic population has increased nearly 20 percent.
The decline in the number of ordained ministers has led to conversations about whether parishes can or should remain open without the presence of a resident priest, or at least one available to celebrate the Eucharist and other sacraments on a regular basis.
The aging of large sectors of the active Catholic population and the scant participation of young and young adult Catholics in many of these faith communities are serious reasons for concern. Is the Catholic parish in the United States on its way to extinction? Will we experience the fate of thousands of parishes in Europe?
My answer to these two questions is a hopeful "no." At least, not yet — if we take into consideration perhaps the most significant transformation of parish life in the past few decades, one many Catholics often miss: the fast-growing presence of Hispanic Catholics and Catholics of Asian background. In numbers, this is how the Hispanic presence is profoundly transforming the entire U.S. Catholic experience, with major implications for parish life:
Hispanics account for 71 percent of the growth of the Catholic population in the United States since 1960.
In the 1960s, about 10 percent of the Catholic population was Hispanic. In the 1980s, 25 percent. Today, 40 percent of all Catholics in the country share a Hispanic background.
Of the more than 50 million Hispanics living in the country, 59 percent self-identify as Catholic.
Approximately 55 percent of all U.S. Catholics under the age of 30 are Hispanic.
The Hispanic population is expected to triple by 2050.
Twenty-five percent of all Catholic parishes in the country have Hispanic ministry (only 15 percent did in the 1980s). This percentage is expected to increase.
I hope that these numbers have gotten your attention. U.S. Catholicism in what remains of the first half of the 21st century will be largely shaped by the Hispanic experience. The vibrancy or decline of thousands of Catholic parishes in our country will be closely linked to how these communities embrace Hispanics with their joys and hopes, griefs and anxieties. In turn, the future of thousands of parishes will depend on how much Hispanic Catholics commit to bringing them to the fullness of their potential. After all, the character of the parish is determined by the people who belong to it.
Tall order, isn't it? The cultural and demographic transitions transforming our parishes call for serious discernment on the part of the entire U.S. Catholic community to envision how to best serve Hispanic Catholics in our parishes in the spirit of the New Evangelization. But to do so, we need to do pastoral planning that leads to envisioning creative ways to passionately bring people to an encounter with Jesus Christ in the everyday of their lives. And to do such effective pastoral planning, we do well studying and learning more about the faith communities where Hispanics are present.
In 2011, Boston College's School of Theology and Ministry launched a three-year research project called the National Study of Catholic Parishes with Hispanic Ministry. This is the first time a comprehensive national study focuses solely on Catholic parishes with Hispanic ministry. The effort was possible thanks to several organizations — including the Our Sunday Visitor Institute — committed to supporting initiatives that lead to a stronger Catholic experience in the United States. I had the privilege of leading the project as its principal investigator working in close collaboration with the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA).
In 2011, 4,368 parishes were identified as having Hispanic ministry, mostly defined by pastoral leaders as communities with Spanish-language liturgies. All parishes received three comprehensive questionnaires designed for pastors, directors of religious education directly working with Hispanics and parish directors of Hispanic ministry. Also, all diocesan directors of Hispanic ministry or their equivalent in the territorial, Latin rite U.S. dioceses where these offices exist were invited to participate. We identified 178 directors in 172 dioceses and all received a questionnaire specifically designed for them. All materials and communications were available in English and Spanish.
The generous participation of pastoral leaders in these parishes, as well as the diocesan officers, has yielded a wealth of information that allows us to better assess life in parishes serving Hispanic Catholics. This information gives us a good sense of what Catholic life in the United States is like in many places where Catholicism is growing vibrantly — of course, not without challenges. Considering current demographic trends and the steady growth and influence of Hispanic Catholics, these communities also provide us with glimpses of what U.S. Catholicism will look like in vast regions of the country in the near future.
The first summary report has been released and is available at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry website. A number of specialized reports looking more closely at parish dynamics and pastoral leadership will follow.
The following are some preliminary observations based on data collected from responding parishes. Upcoming articles will address other areas of parish life in communities doing Hispanic ministry throughout the country.
Most Catholic parishes (61 percent) in the United States are in the Northeast and the Midwest. These are the regions that have experienced most of the parish closings and mergers. Only 39 percent of all parishes are in the South and the West. Yet, it is in these regions where the vast majority of parishes with Hispanic ministry (approximately 61 percent) are located; only 15 percent are in the Northeast and 24 percent in the Midwest. The geographical distribution of parishes with Hispanic ministry is consistent with the distribution of the Hispanic Catholic population in the United States.
From a historical perspective, it is worth noting that the strong Catholic presence in the Northeast and Midwest led to the establishment of very important structures such as parishes, schools, universities, social service institutions and networks. For many decades these structures served not only the Catholic population in these regions, but also allowed Catholicism to exercise an influential voice in the immediate social context where those structures thrived. A good number of these Catholic institutions will remain in these regions. However, given the current demographic changes, their future will largely depend on how Hispanic Catholics — and Catholics from other ethnicities — benefit from them and eventually are invited to lead them.
In the South and the West, however, the existence of similar structures and networks is not as strong as in the Northeast and Midwest. But this might change in light of the increasing growth of the Catholic population in these regions, mainly due to the Hispanic presence. For this to happen, Catholics need to invest in the emerging communities with a spirit of solidarity, build necessary and efficient structures to continue the work of evangelization and remain open to shifting understandings of what it means to be Catholic in the United States.
We must invest in parishes serving Hispanic Catholics. In some places, investment is needed to strengthen those communities already doing so. Many of them didn't begin serving Hispanic Catholics until very recently and are still adjusting their structures and cultures to do this well. Parishes with Hispanic ministry typically began celebrating Masses and baptisms in Spanish in 1995. In others places, Catholics must build new parishes to meet the needs of the Catholic population there. All we need to do is look at our local demographics.
Hispanic Catholicism is a gift for the Church in the United States, as our bishops have repeatedly indicated. When parishes intentionally serve this population, they enter into a unique process of transformation. What is clear from the experience of parishes with Hispanic ministry is that such transformation is not reduced to uncontested assimilation into pre-existing models of pastoral life. We are witnessing the birth a new way of a being a parish and with it, a fresher way of redefining the U.S. Catholic experience.
Most parishes doing Hispanic ministry today channel their resources and energy to meet the immediate needs of immigrants. Consequently, nearly all of these communities define Hispanic ministry as ministry done predominantly in Spanish. These Hispanic immigrants embody a world of experiences from all Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America, Puerto Rico (U.S. territory) and Spain — mostly Catholic nations. When all these experiences coincide, including the experiences that have shaped the lives of those Catholics who have been there longer, parishes, guided by their pastoral leaders, must develop the appropriate intercultural sensibilities to be places that all can call home.
But we need to keep in mind that Hispanics as a whole are hardly an immigrant population; nearly two-thirds (61 percent) were born in the United States.
Parishes need to develop creative approaches that simultaneously meet the needs of the immigrant and U.S.-born Hispanic Catholics. Some of these efforts are advanced, for instance, through religious education programs for Hispanic children in parishes with Hispanic ministry.
Fifty-two percent of parishes with Hispanic ministry conduct their religious education programs for Hispanic children primarily in English; 12 percent indicate that these meetings are conducted primarily in Spanish; 36 percent indicate they run bilingual meetings on an ongoing basis. But there are significant regional variations as to language preferences: parishes in the West are least likely to conduct meetings only in English (38 percent) while those in the South are most likely to conduct meetings in this language (60 percent). Parishes in the West (44 percent) and Northeast (40 percent) are most likely to offer bilingual catechetical programs. Something similar occurs with other faith formation programs for children and adults.
As we can see, to adequately respond to the complexity of the Hispanic Catholic population in parishes it is necessary that these communities have well-trained bilingual and bicultural pastoral agents. It also requires the development of catechetical and spiritual resources that appropriately connect with the experience of the various Hispanic subgroups.
Worship services for Hispanics in these parishes are largely conducted in Spanish. The higher the number of Hispanic Catholics who attend Mass in the parish, the more likely they are to go to a service celebrated in Spanish. Needless to say, we should not assume that all Hispanics attend Mass said in Spanish. Also, a high percentage of Hispanic parishioners does not indicate that these parishes are exclusively constituted by Spanish-speaking Catholics. In fact, only in one-quarter of these parishes' Hispanics are more than 75 percent of total active Catholic population.
Most parishes with Hispanic ministry are "shared parishes" or "multicultural parishes." The group with whom Hispanics typically share their parishes is non-Hispanic white parishioners — about 80 percent of the cases.
About 84 percent of the parishes with Hispanic ministry celebrate Mass and other services bilingually (English and Spanish) a few times a year, mostly on major holy days.
Weekend Mass attendance in parishes with Hispanic ministry is 22 percent higher compared to all Catholic parishes in the country. On average Hispanics constitute 48 percent of all parishioners going to weekend Mass in these communities. However, it is interesting to observe that weekday Mass attendance tends to be very low among Spanish-speaking Hispanic Catholics. Thus, most parishes (65 percent) do not offer weekday Masses in Spanish.
Parishes with Hispanic ministry usually have to do more with less. On average, these parishes receive $7,744 in weekly parish offertory collections (median of $5,000). This is 15.7 percent lower than the average of $9,191 collected in all parishes nationally.
However, the average weekly offertory in responding parishes that is received from parishioners at Spanish language Masses is merely $1,502 (median contribution of $840). In our study, we found that the higher the percentage of Hispanic parishioners attending Mass in a parish, the smaller the total of revenues and expenses (see chart). These numbers are worrisome. The financial stability of parishes with Hispanic ministry will certainly depend on creative approaches to stewardship among all Catholics in these communities, Hispanic and non-Hispanic.
On a more positive note, apostolic movements play a very important role in Catholic parishes with Hispanic ministry throughout the United States. The Catholic Charismatic Renewal is the most widespread apostolic movement in these communities, with exactly half of all responding parishes indicating that it is active in them. Note that this number refers to presence of the movement in parishes, not overall affiliation of Hispanic Catholics to this particular spirituality. One-third (34 percent) of all parishes report the presence of the Knights of Columbus. Three in 10 reported that the Cursillo movement is active and 1 in 5 notes the same about the Legion of Mary. Jóvenes Para Cristo and the Movimiento Familiar Cristiano are equally reported as being active in 13 percent of all responding parishes.
When the Catholic Charismatic Renewal is present in parishes with Hispanic ministry, it is typically the largest movement in the community. Though widespread throughout the country, it has a stronger presence in the Northeast and the West.
It is the apostolic movement most likely to form small groups, choose its own catechetical materials and celebrate Mass on a regular basis inspired in its spirituality. The movement has been significantly instrumental in fostering vocations to leadership among Hispanic Catholics.
Based on data collected through this national study, we can estimate that about 25 percent of all active Hispanics in parishes with Hispanic ministry are somewhat associated with an apostolic movement. Aware that 40 percent of self-identifying Hispanic Catholics attend Mass on a typical weekend, we can say that close to 10 percent of all active Hispanic Catholics are somewhat associated with an apostolic movement at the parish level.
The above findings and observations are glimpses of a reality that the National Study of Catholic Parishes with Hispanic Ministry has aimed to study more deeply. Hispanic Catholicism will continue to transform profoundly the U.S. Catholic experience.
The first Catholic parish in what is today U.S. territory was Hispanic. This is true whether one looks at the first church erected in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1523 or the oldest Catholic mission established in 1566 in St. Augustine, Florida. Hispanic parishes have been part of our common tradition all this time. It is one of the anomalies of history that the Hispanic parish, which came first for American Catholicism, is often viewed as a new creation. In what is left of the 21st century, nonetheless, Catholics in the United States cannot ignore what is happening in Hispanic parishes. We simply cannot afford it as a Church.
Hosffman Ospino is an assistant professor of pastoral theology and religious education at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. He is a national consultant for OSV. Email him at email@example.com.
Copyright © 1996-2019 Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.


text:
Tradução de Francês de of little consequence
of little consequence
It's of little consequence. Cela n'a pas beaucoup d'importance.
Copyright © by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
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Tradução de of little consequence do Collins Inglês para Francês
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text: How to Secure Your Company's Video Conferencing System Mar 30, 2012 eSecurity Planet | Jeff Goldman David Morrison, senior product manager at videoconferencing provider Lifesize, says it's crucial to keep in mind that none of this is particularly complex. "It's like your front door – it has a key and a lock, and if you choose not to use it, or if you don't know what it's there for, people can walk in," he says. "It's pretty much the same situation with videoconferencing – you have all these tools available to you to lock down your system and make sure nobody can get illegal access to it or call into it without your knowledge."


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As I look around the unit I see a million different jobs that need doing; the floors need to be done, there are about half a dozen items from the Ikea spending spree on the weekend that need to be unpacked and I swear if I leave the pile of washing in the laundry any longer it will come alive like some creature and sneak out into the night, never to be seen again.
So as I contemplate the myriad of chores that should be completed from the lounge, I think to myself... "Nahhhhhhhh..... I'm too lazy" And herein lies the death spiral of a full time student who also works a full time job.
I'm a sucker for the current fitness craze and the ideal of the perfect body. To be honest I have two gym memberships running at the moment. The convenience of +Anytime Fitness because it's open 24/7! (Although I have never been outside of normal gym business hours) and some little local council run gym because it's not as far to walk as the other. But do you think I go.... NO! $120/month down the drain. Thank god I'm a young gay male with disposable income.
Although I've bought into the world of 'Getting Fit' and 'Toning Up' - the reality is that I work 9-5 Monday - Friday, and when I'm not at work, I'm trying to fit 40+ hours of study in per week. I know I know.... there are more hours than that in a week - but you give it a go and see how you fair.
Almost 80 hours of my life per week is spent with my ass glued to an office chair staring at 2 computer screens (the remainder is spread like a cheese platter over the lounge or counting sheep in the comfort of the king size bed)
…cue light bulb moment… *BING*
The human body wasn't designed to sit around all day and do nothing. I'm intelligent enough to know that sitting around all day without any physical activity will ultimately lead me to having no energy… the solution… MORE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY!!!!!
I get up from the lounge, get a glass of water, and stare out the window thinking to myself "Tomorrow… not today… tomorrow I will start", and so the cycle of lazy continues, the wideness of my ass expands, and the list of chores continue to pile up.


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Danny Phantom Info:
Plot Summary: Danny Phantom centers on the life and adventures of 14-year-old Danny Fenton, an unpopular boy attending Casper High. He lives with eccentric ghost hunting parents and an overbearing older sister, Jazz. Upon pressure from his best friends, Sam and Tucker, he wanders inside his parent's Ghost Portal. He accidentally presses a button that zaps his entire body, infusing his DNA with ectoplasm, transforming him into a half ghost boy. Danny, who calls himself 'Danny Phantom' in ghost form, develops the ability to fly, become invisible, and turn his body intangible. Over time Danny becomes more powerful and develops other powers which he has to learn to control.


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By Matthew Heimer
When a state wants to convince a manufacturer like, say, Toyota or Boeing to build a factory within its borders—or keep it from pulling up stakes and leaving—it often offers a big tax break as bait. And on a smaller scale, retirees often get the same treatment. Florida's lack of a state income tax has long helped it lure older, affluent types, as Catey Hill points out today in MarketWatch's "Retire Here, Not There" guide to the state. And in total, 27 states and the District of Columbia exempt Social Security from income tax, while most states also cut their older residents some slack on property taxes. (The Retirement Living Information Center has a state-by-state tax guide here.)
As Encore contributor Anne Tergesen reports this week in the Wall Street Journal, not every state can afford to keep the largesse flowing. "Some states are starting to limit or even rescind tax exemptions for these residents," she writes, "and experts say others may follow." You can blame their stinginess on the combination of persistent budget problems—states, unlike Congress, usually have to balance their budgets–and the fast growth of the retirement-age population. Then again, not all the news from the statehouses is bad. The nifty interactive graphic that runs with Tergesen's story lists seven states that are raising taxes on retirees, eight states cutting them, and one –Iowa – doing both.
Interestingly, of the 10 states with the largest percentage of residents over 65, Iowa is the only tax scrooge; it recently limited a tax exclusion for pension and other retirement income, though it's also phasing out its Social Security tax. And if you're still fantasizing about retiring to Hawaii and you're worth more than $5.25 million, bear in mind that the state legislature there recently enacted an estate tax. Mahalo?


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For this author, creative endeavors have been sorely tested by motherhood. But also transformed, and in ways she wouldn't have imagined – couldn't have, without her life "rewritten" as it has been, by her children. So linger here, to read all things weaverly, writerly and motherly.
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A Writer Weaves a Tale...: New display now up in Sandra's Fiber Cybershop!
A Writer Weaves a Tale...: New display now up in Sandra's Fiber Cybershop!: "On a monthly basis, I rotate a display of fiber folk's work that I admire -- fiber artists submit their links so I can browse their ow..."
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After the last LP with Prince Jamo, Roots Injection label is coming back this month with a batch of 10'' releases.
2x 10'' on Roots Injection (RI10025 & RI10026) featuring 2 veteran singers from Jamaica, Pad Anthony and Sluggy Ranks on two Ras Muffet riddims remixed in a dubplate style.
Just click on the links for sound clips:
******** Pad Anthony 10'' *********
Pad Anthony - Buss It --> RI10025_A1_PadAnthony_BussIt.mp3
Ras Muffet - Buss It Dub --> RI10025_A2_RasMuffet_BussItDub.mp3
Pad Anthony - Call My Name --> RI10025_AA1_PadAnthony_CallMyName.mp3
Ras Muffet - Call My Dub --> RI10025_AA2_RasMuffet_CallMyDub.mp3
This time some nuff Jamaican artists released on Roots Injection label!
The first of the batch is featuring singer Pad Anthony best known for his digital 80's tracks this time in fine style on some Roots Injection riddims!
Still very active from his studio in Kingston (Jamaica) Pad Anthony recorded 2 tracks 'Buss It' and 'Call My Name' on 2 wicked riddims arranged and dubbed by Ras Muffet in Bristol, UK.
Don't miss it !! .. and check the next 10'' on the same riddims with singer Sluggy Ranks!
Limited US Pressing on good quality 10''.
******** Sluggy Ranks 10'' *********
Sluggy Ranks - Strictly Reggae Music --> RI10026_A1_SluggyRanks_StrictlyReggaeMusic.mp3
Ras Muffet - Strictly Dub --> RI10026_A2_RasMuffet_StrictlyDub.mp3
Sluggy Ranks - Badman --> RI10026_AA1_SluggyRanks_Badman.mp3
Ras Muffet - Badman Dub --> RI10026_AA2_RasMuffet_BadmanDub.mp3
Next Roots Injection this month is with Jamaican dancehall vocalist Sluggy Ranks. Born in Kinston, he was part in the 90's of a growing dancehall movement which emphasized cultural roots and positive messages instead of "slack" artists' obsessions with sex and violence.
He is now back with 2 tracks on Roots Injection label 'Strictly Reggae Music' and 'Badman' on the same riddims as the previous release with Pad Anthony and with additional dub cuts by Ras Muffet.
Don't miss it !
Limited US Pressing on good quality 10''..
(produced & published by Roots Ambassada - music by Ras Muffet songs by Pad Anthony and Sluggy Ranks )
All infos/ record sales / any enquiries : [email protected] ... and of course my Facebook profile Roots Ambassada for more news and updates
You are more than welcome to check Muffet and ask for more dubplate cuts on his myspace : http://www.myspace.com/rasmuffet or Ras Muffet aka Steve Johnson on Facebook.
Give Thanks for your support !
Love + Guidance
Roots Ambassada


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Simple Machines Community Forum
Archived Boards and Threads... => Archived Boards => SMF Feedback and Discussion => Topic started by: [Unknown] on October 20, 2003, 06:53:00 PM
READ ME: About this board / Common Questions
Post by:
October 20, 2003, 06:53:00 PM
What is the purpose of this board?
This board is for anything SMF related that doesn't fit elsewhere including your opinions on the software.
Please note that support requests should be posted in SMF 1.x Support (http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?board=9.0) for SMF 1.1 and SMF 2.x Support (http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?board=147.0) for SMF 2.0 support. Requests for new features go in Feature Requests (http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?board=3.0), of course
Where can I download it?
You can download right here:
When will the next version of SMF be released?
Programmers don't like to give out dates. Why don't you register, if you haven't yet, so we can send you an email when we release it?
Can you add this feature?
Perhaps - please start a new topic in Feature Requests (http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?board=3) and we will respond as soon as we can. And thanks for contributing!
Can I convert from YaBB SE to SMF?
Yes, you can. A converter has already been written. And, yes, it's easy to use and quick... it has also been optimized to be used with large and small forums without crashing the server.
What happened to YaBB SE? If I need help with YaBB SE, do I post my questions here?
No. YaBB SE is no longer being developed, and because SMF 1.0 has been released it's no longer being supported. You may find help here, but you'll probably just get people telling you to upgrade to SMF.
Do you have any banners or logos? I'd like to post one on my own site!
Sure - look at this topic. It contains a lot of banners, logos, and the like:
Charter Member? What is that?
A Charter Membership is a way you can support Simple Machines and SMF and get something back. There are actually three methods - Donation (http://www.simplemachines.org/about/donate.php), Advertisement (http://www.simplemachines.org/banner.php), and a Charter Membership (http://www.simplemachines.org/charter.php). A charter membership gives you priority support, access to a help desk, and special boards for fifty dollars a year. (whereas before if you were to donate you would get nothing in return.)
Wait - I have to pay $50?!? I thought this was free!
It is free and open source. We offer free (unpaid) support as well. A Charter Membership only gives you more focused support, installation and upgrade services.
It's just our way of thanking those who donate.
Does this forum support different languages? How about Chinese, Arabic, and other bidirectional ones?
Yes, SMF supports it well, and from the downloads area you can get the appropriate language packs.
Simple Machines


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So this is what it has come to. After 60-plus days on the job at Ohio State, there's no avoiding it.
Either the Big Ten bows to Urban Meyer, or Urban Meyer bows to the Big Ten.
"I can tell you this," says Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema. "We at the Big Ten don't want to be like the SEC—in any way, shape or form."
Just so we're clear: Bielema wasn't talking about winning national championships. He was talking about Meyer's recruiting tactics—and how after a little more than two months on the job, Meyer already is getting under the skin of his colleagues.
Just how much, you ask? Bielema, whose teams have won more games than any other Big Ten team in his six seasons in Madison, says Badgers athletic director Barry Alvarez will speak Friday with Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany about Meyer's recruiting methods during the league's athletic director meetings in Chicago.
During his National Signing Day press conference, Bielema hinted that Meyer was using "illegal" recruiting practices. He said as much again Thursday when contacted by Sporting News, and without getting into specifics offered this:
"I called Urban and we spoke about it," Bielema said. "We talked about it, and he said it would stop and it did. I'll let our commissioner deal with anything else. That's not who we are (in the Big Ten). We settle things among ourselves as coaches."
— SN's Top 25 recruiting classes | Conference-by-conference rankings | Where SN's Top 125 are headed | Recapping National Signing Day
One issue Bielema would talk about—and it's perfectly legal under current NCAA rules—is Meyer's recruitment of players who already had given verbal commitments to other Big Ten schools. It has been a longstanding "gentlemen's agreement" in the league that coaches wouldn't recruit players who had publicly given commitments to schools.
And here is where the two roads meet—where the Big Ten's long history of playing nice could succumb to the SEC's 21st Century pressure of winning it all. Someone, somewhere once said the most sincere form of flattery is copying the SEC.
Or something like that.
There's a reason the SEC had 10 of its 14 teams in the Sporting News Top 25 recruiting rankings, and how that directly correlates to the SEC being the clear No.1 in on-field performance. Look, Vanderbilt—for love of God, Vanderbilt—had a better recruiting class than 10 of the Big Ten's 12 schools.
Only Ohio State and Michigan had better classes. And now we know why Ohio State did: a little Deep South flavor to Midwest recruiting.
— Meyer's first Buckeyes class stellar
— Something more sinister afoot, perhaps, with the Urbanator?
Meyer got four-star DE Se'Von Pittman to switch from Michigan State, and four-star OL Kyle Dodson to switch from Wisconsin. Four others—including the best player in Ohio State's class (DE Noah Spence)—switched from Penn State. In fact, eight of the 10 players Meyer landed since accepting the job were already committed to other schools.
So what does Urb have to say for himself? He called the criticism "nonsense" on his Wednesday night radio show, and pointed out that his philosophy is simple: call and ask. That's where he comes into direct contrast with the "gentlemen's agreement"—and where the Big Ten differs from the SEC.
The SEC has no such agreement, and Meyer's ability to flip recruits forced an already chippy group of SEC coaches to fall in line or fall behind—and in the process turned recruiting in the SEC from a heavyweight fight to a bloodbath.
"If they're interested, absolutely (you recruit them)—especially from your home state," Meyer said. "Is it gratifying to take a guy from another school? Not at all."
The reality is Meyer is paid to win games; paid to elevate the Ohio State program beyond the point where Jim Tressel got it with the help of a back judge. He doesn't have time to worry about gentlemen's agreements or offending other coaches.
A year after Meyer arrived at Florida, the SEC's string of six straight national championships began. The Gators manhandled heavily-favored Ohio State in the BCS National Championship Game in 2006, and the talent discrepancy was as stunning as it was significant.
It's only greater now.
So the question then becomes: What's more important—an agreement or a championship? Either the Big Ten bows to Urban, or Urban bows to the Big Ten.
"There's a common thread in this league," Bielema said. "Every time we walk into a coaches meeting in the offseason, there's a mutual sign of respect."
That and a nine-year streak of watching someone else hold up the Waterford crystal trophy at the end of the season.
Fall in line or fall behind.


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The end-of-term decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that ruled Hobby Lobby and other "closely held" for-profit companies do not have to comply with the Affordable Care Act's contraception mandate spawned a storm of criticism from some liberals as an attack on the rights of women; many conservatives, however, touted the ruling as an important First Amendment religious freedom victory.
"Hobby Lobby is a total victory for for-profit companies," Martin Nussbaum told Our Sunday Visitor. Nussbaum is general counsel for the Catholic Benefits Association, an organization of Catholic employers that provide either group health insurance or self-funded health plans that are in accord with Catholic teaching to their employees. "This is very positive for the nonprofits. This [the federal mandate that the companies must provide insurance coverage to employees that includes 20 abortifacients/contraceptives] was a burden on their free exercise of religion."
Nussbaum and the Catholic Benefits Association are fresh off a win in the U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City, where it won a temporary injunction against the federal Department of Health and Human Services mandate. The insurance company represented more than 400 Catholic employers and nearly 2,000 Catholic churches that claimed the mandate violated their rights provided by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The judge in the case found that they would likely prevail on the merits of their claim in a trial.
"It is not for the court to decide if someone is not substantially burdened by a federal regulation if there is not a less restrictive option," said Nancy Matthews, a consultant for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty. "It is not for the court to substitute its own theology."
Critics assert that a religious corporation has a way out of the contraceptive mandate by the accommodation permitting it to use a federal waiver form — Form 700: Certification for Safe Harbor Exemption from Coverage Mandate. The form states: "This form is to be used to certify that the health coverage established or maintained or arranged by the organization listed below qualifies for an accommodation with respect to the federal requirement to cover certain contraceptive services without cost sharing."
Under the federal accommodation, if a religious corporation objects to the contraceptive mandate, its insurance company would provide the contraceptives to the corporation's employees at no cost to the employer, provided it makes the request. The payment instead would come from taxpayers.
Not so fast, said Nussbaum.
"I don't think [the Hobby Lobby decision] is at all determinative whether or not the mandate continues to burden [nonprofits'] religious freedom," Nussbaum told OSV. He pointed to a preliminary finding by the Supreme Court in early July that Form 700 is not required in order for a nonprofit to deny insurance coverage for abortifacients/contraceptives based on religious belief.
The accommodation, a fail-safe in the eyes of the Obama administration, is akin to the Civil War conscription exemption that permitted the wealthy or those with religious objection to warfare to pay a surrogate to fight in their place, Nussbaum said.
"The form triggers the engagement of a third party" on behalf of the company to provide the insurance to do that which the company objects to, and that is "immoral," Nussbaum said. "That constitutes material cooperation with evil, because it is still triggering the delivery of those services."
The critics of the decision, including the three female associate justices of the court, construe the outcome as part of a continuing "war on women," a shibboleth wielded by the media, politicians and activists, said Teresa Collett, a constitutional law professor at University of St. Thomas Law School.
Collett, who is currently in Rome to teach a summer session and to serve as an adviser to the Pontifical Council for the Family, contends that one of the dissenters, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, holds a view of women's equality shared with pro-abortion and pro-contraception advocates.
"They believe that a woman's fertility is a barrier to their equality with men," Collett said. "Ginsburg believes that contraception and abortion provides that knowing consent for women to achieve equality with men. Authentic equality must be grounded in an acceptance and valuing of a woman's fertility in the creation of a workplace where women are not hindered by bearing children and men are not held back by observing their roles of fathers and husbands."
The religious liberty issue was narrowly crafted in the Hobby Lobby decision, legal experts said. The court noted that appeals courts have adjudicated claims by religious nonprofits like hospitals, colleges and charities.
"It seems the court is open to a fresh look," Nussbaum said. He said that nonprofits have been winning religious liberty cases in the lower courts and he expects that the Supreme Court will weigh in again.
A fresh look involving a nonprofit would inevitably raise the objections to the accommodation, perhaps along the lines of the brief that Nussbaum filed in the Oklahoma case. In response to the defense, it was asserted that a nonprofit "must no more sign and deliver the form than Eve should have tasted the serpent's fruit. ... Plaintiffs see the signing and delivery of the form as material cooperation with evil because of the cascading effects."
Here are those effects of having to submit Form 700 for the accommodation, according to Nussbaum's brief:
• It amends the employer's plan, creating a second binder of contraceptive/abortifacient coverage.
• It makes the third-party administrator the plan-and-claims administrator for the second binder of the services.
• It requires the third-party administrator to provide free services.
• It requires the administrator to give employees notice of the availability of free contraceptive/abortifacient services.
• It reimburses the administrator for providing the services and guarantees it a 10 percent profit for doing so.
• It gags the employer from communicating with the administrator about not providing the services.
• It gives rise to scandal because the employer so blatantly acts contrary to the Catholic values it espouses.
The seven cascading effects of submitting to the accommodation is tantamount to dancing with the devil as far as the religious nonprofits are concerned. The Supreme Court will decide who will pay the piper.
Joseph R. LaPlante writes from Rhode Island.
Copyright © 1996-2019 Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.


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Easy Gluten-free Plum Cobbler with Pamela's Baking Mix Recipe
Welcome to pie and cobbler week! This week I'll be sharing two cobbler recipes with you and hosting a cobbler, pie and crumble linky on Friday, so get ready for some flaky, fruity goodness. At this time of year, the farmer's markets and even the conventional grocery stores are overflowing with delicious stone fruits just begging to be made into a cobbler. I have a rather interesting idea I'd like to try out for a rather unusual tart that I hope to get to for Friday, but let me start with a very easy plum cobbler recipe that I made using Pamela's Baking Mix. I usually make things from scratch, but sometimes it is nice to get out a mix, add a few ingredients, and pop something in the oven without the hassle of mixing up flour. Pamela's contains both dairy and nuts (almonds) in their mix, but never fear, my from-scratch cobbler recipe that I will post on Wednesday is potentially vegan and naturally gluten, dairy, and nut-free. You could easily swap the fillings in these recipes as well, so you can pick your favorite topping recipe and go from there.
I was inspired to make these cobblers because for the first time, we are living in our own home with a proper yard that came with proper fruit trees. To be specific, we have productive avocado, apple, cherry, plum, and apricot trees, with a persimmon tree dipping in over the neighbor's fence for good measure. Right now the apricot and plum trees are covered in fruit, and we are scrambling to find ways to eat them up before time re-claims them for the compost. I'd never had plum cobbler before, but when my Mother mentioned that she'd once had some, I was intrigued. The resulting recipe made my mouth very happy, especially paired with some vanilla ice cream. One note, though. No matter how much you want cobbler, you definitely want to wait until the fruit is fully ripe. I like a tart plum for snacking, especially in preference to a mushy, over-ripe one, but for cobbler, you really want to harness the natural sweetness of the fruit so you don't have to dip too heavily into the sugar jar to compensate. My plums were a tad under-ripe. I've learned my lesson, and next time I'll use only ripe, sweet, toothsome fruits.
Baby Yum and I recently celebrated our birthdays in a joint, gluten-free birthday party ladybug-themed feast with a ladybug pinata, butterfly and black and red polka dotted balloons and of course, more food than you would think could fit on one (ok, two) tables. It was lovely and I hope to share pictures soon. I got a new camera for said birthday (the Nikon D5000). Thanks, kisses and loves to all of you for your patience while I befriend my new camera. Who knew light could be so much fun (and so challenging!)
Gluten-Free Plum Cobbler with Pamela's Baking Mix
3/4 cup white sugar*
4 cups fresh plums, pitted and sliced into wedges
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp corn starch
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, cloves, and allspice
1 1/2 C Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix
Take a deep pie pan or 2 Q. casserole dish and preheat oven to 350F.
Combine your plums, sugar, vanilla, corn starch and spices in a large bowl. If you like you can then fill your pie pan or casserole dish and use it for your biscuit topping.
Combine your Baking mix, sugar, and melted butter or margarine in a bowl and stir together. Fold your milk in gently. Use a large serving spoon to drop the dough on top of your plum mixture. Cover the surface but leave a little space around the edges. Sprinkle with your raw sugar for some pretty baking sparkle and bake at 350f for around 35 minutes or until lightly browned and firm on top.
Serve with your favorite vanilla ice cream or enjoy plain. Yum!
*I actually used 1/2 cup sugar, but the DH said it was too tart. Our plums were a little under-ripe, so we needed the 3/4 cup. Your mileage may vary.
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When you right-click an email address and select "Report on Address" you see in which address books this address is listed. Also, you can remove (or add) the address from an address book.
In previous Barca versions this worked fine. Now, with Barca 2.8 it doesn't work anymore - you can not add/remove the address anymore.
I have several poco scripts that add email addresses to certain address books and these still work fine - so my address books are OK (not read-only).
Is this feature still working for you?


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Dear Reality Club,
I am an atheist and a naturalist. In other words, I do not try to limit our understanding with notions of incomprehensible entities.
Like you, I am deeply concerned with the state of science education today.
Like many of you, I think religion is best understood scientifically, as a natural phenomenon. As I will argue shortly, the idea of religion and science as non-overlapping magisteria (NOMA) is a hindrance to a better understanding of humanity.
Unlike you, I have spoken out in favor of the recent Louisiana legislation which supports teachers who wish to take a critical approach to evolutionary theory in the public classroom. (Much to my surprise, my first article on the subject was heralded by the Discovery Institute. However, I am not surprised that they failed to link to my second article, which details my views on the role of religion in public education.)
My reasons for supporting the legislation are simple. Despite the questionable intentions of its designers, this bill is a call for critical thinking, objectivity and logic. Challenging such a call is not likely to improve science education in America. On the contrary, it will make science and scientists look bad, and will thus aggrandize the mistrust of our opponents.
This is a fight against ignorance, and you and I are on the same side.
Our opponents regard science as a religion. They do not understand or recognize the difference between knowledge and faith. To them, this is a religious war and we are guilty of censorship if we try to keep their ideas out of the classroom.
We all know that this legislation was designed to justify the presentation of Intelligent Design as a legitimate scientific alternative to Darwinian evolutionary theory. And we all know that Intelligent Design is decidedly not a legitimate alternative.
Rest assured that I am not in favor of propagating misinformation in America's schools. The problem is, misinformation is already being propagated in America's schools. If we are going to change things, we need a better strategy.
According to a recent Penn State study on Creationism and evolution in the public classroom, evolutionary theory is widely neglected in public education. The authors of the study conclude that fighting legislation in the courtroom will not bring about the desired results. Instead, they say, we need higher teacher standards.
They observed that teachers who have taken a course in evolutionary biology are more likely to give it the emphasis it deserves in the classroom. However, it is quite possible that teachers who already believe in evolution are more likely to take such a course. In other words, this could merely be a correlation, and requiring a course in evolutionary biology may not change much.
While improving teacher certification standards is surely a good idea, we need to do more. We need textbooks which make evolutionary theory a central, organizing principle in biology education. We also need to change our philosophical approach to science education.
The 1996 National Science Education Standards (NSES) embraces the need for a well-rounded, relevant approach to science education, which includes critical thinking. It acknowledges the unifying role evolutionary theory has in the field of biology. Yet, it makes one mistake: It tries to respect NOMA.
The problem with NOMA is that it regards religion and science as involving distinct areas of life without offering any means of recognizing the distinction. Scientists cannot see the dividing line, because what is supposed to separate science and religion is not scientific. Similarly, religious knowledge cannot define the line. NOMA would thus have us believe in a line that cannot be observed by either of the forms of knowledge it champions. It is thus supposed to be taken as a matter of faith. The impotence of NOMA is hard to deny.
Religion is a very human, very tangible phenomenon, and we place the future of humanity at great risk if we do not teach our children to better understand it. Evolutionary theory is not the only relevant scientific area here, but it may be the most important.
To understand evolutionary theory, biology students must be taught about relevant issues. This means they must learn the historical and scientific significance of Darwin's work.
It was once widely believed that the earth was the center of the universe. Thanks to public education, we are all aware of that great error and remember Copernicus for helping us better understand our place in the cosmos.
Darwin should similarly be remembered for helping us overcome the misguided view that the appearance of design in human beings is the result of a designer.
The idea of an intelligence behind order and complexity has been perhaps the single most prevalent and influential concept throughout history, and remains dangerously influential even now, over a hundred years after the first publication of Darwin's Origin of Species.
Darwin's greatness is in helping us discover how the appearance of design—even such marvelous complexity as the human eye—can be created without any guiding intelligence. We owe it to our children to teach them this stunning fact. Yet, this requires allowing discussions of Intelligent Design in public science classrooms.
Intelligent Design is distinguishable from Creationism in one important respect: It does not invoke any notion of the supernatural. Scientific discussions of supernatural entities are impossible, because "the supernatural" is defined to be beyond scientific comprehension. The term "supernatural" is used specifically to safeguard ideas from scientific inquiry. This is why people who believe in the supernatural say it is a matter of faith, not reason.
We cannot meaningfully discuss the theoretical possibilities of supernatural entities. However, we can meaningfully discuss Intelligent Design.
It is theoretically possible for intelligent beings to guide the evolution of life on a well-suited planet. Indeed, human beings have helped guide evolutionary processes on earth for a great many years. So, the idea of an intelligence guiding evolution is not inherently unscientific.
If there had been an intelligence guiding the evolution of humanity on earth, we would theoretically be able to find evidence for it. So far, all of the available evidence—and it is quite a lot of evidence—shows that no such guidance has taken place. Every high school graduate should know this.
Furthermore, we must teach our students that the notion of an intelligent designer does not answer any ultimate questions about the meaning of life. Rather, if there had been an intelligent designer responsible for human evolution, it would remain yet one more event in need of an explanation.
Students must learn that, if there had been some intelligence guiding life on earth, we would be able to approach an understanding of that intelligence scientifically, and Darwin's theory of natural selection remains our best tool in that respect.
The conclusion here is apparent. The issue of Intelligent Design can and should be addressed in scientific terms, and has everything to do with a relevant and comprehensive education in biology.
Opposition to the Louisiana legislation is guided primarily by understandable fears.
First, we are afraid of subjecting our students to misinformation. Second, some of us are afraid of directly challenging religious faith. It could make students, teachers, and scientists vulnerable to criticism and even violence. Some of us want to keep a safe distance from religion, and not be accused of infringing on anyone's personal beliefs. NOMA is a handy tool in that respect.
These fears are justified, but they cannot replace our principles. Acting on the basis of emotions alone will ultimately favor immediate gratification, not long-term results.
We must accept that misinformation is an ongoing problem, and our children are going to remain at risk for a long time. Fighting this legislation is not going to change that.
We must also accept that we have no choice but to challenge religious faith.
Faith is unique in its reliance on the absence of evidence and reason. When scientific evidence and theory challenges religious faith, faith is often strengthened. Thus, subjecting religion to scientific criticism in public schools might inadvertently strengthen the irrational volatility of faith.
This is a danger that can only be solved with better education. The solution here is to educate people to better understand how faith works so they can learn to think critically about it when they are still young.
The battle between science and religion is traditionally drawn with atheists on one side and theists on the other. Agnostics and religious moderates are in the middle, hoping that each side will leave the other in peace and let belief remain a private matter.
Yet, the fight against ignorance is not drawn along those lines. The fact is, many theists and atheists are fighting against a common enemy: NOMA.
Supporters of ID want to see it (and other religiously motivated ideas) as part of a science education. They don't like NOMA because it prevents them from challenging the legitimacy of scientific theories. They think NOMA unfairly privileges science, which they say is just another religion.
Many atheists oppose NOMA because it prevents us from better understanding religion. We should not be forced to give religion any special protection against scientific scrutiny. Science and religion are similar in that they are both human enterprises; however, it is the former which strengthens our understanding of nature, and it is the latter that creates institutions and authority in the name of ignorance. This difference must be taught to our children.
Supporters of NOMA say that science is just one way of knowing, limited to what can be measured and observed. Yet, every realm of nature and human experience is potentially measurable and observable—if one were not, we would not be able to regard it as a facet of nature or experience. Science is thus not merely one way of knowing; rather, it is the formalization of all ways of knowing.
If we want to improve the quality of science education in America, we must overcome the philosophically untenable view of science as "just one way of knowing." We must establish an education system which does not protect religious belief, but rather gives it the critical, scientific attention it deserves.
Embracing the new Louisiana legislation might seem too dangerous, and opposing it surely satisfies the emotional need to do something, anything, to make a difference. Yet, opposing it ultimately does more harm than good.
Today, most high school graduates are unable to speak intelligently about the difference between science and religion, and they do not understand the full significance of our scientific achievements. Yet, they are afforded the right to vote and thereby shape public policy. This is the danger we are confronting, not just as a nation, but as a species.
We must focus on the true enemy here, which is neither critical thinking nor the introduction of discussions of Intelligent Design in schools. Rather, it is the unjustifiable view that says scientists must remain impotent as religion continues to cloud our children's minds.
I hope you will join me in helping better focus our attentions in the fight against ignorance. If we pay closer attention to how we choose our battles, maybe one day naturalism and atheism will be more widely respected for the intellectual integrity and honesty they define.
Respectfully yours,
Jason Streitfeld


text:
Monday, March 14, 2005
SANS Ends Practical Requirement for Certifications
GIAC was originally the Global Incident Analysis Center, a Web site to disseminate information on Y2K rollover threats. From a February 2000 archive of the site:
GIAC began December 21, 1999 as a service to support Y2K watchstanders all over the world, watching for cyber attacks and Y2K problems. We've come a long way since then, but the orignial pages are archived here.
I was an original incident handler and had some of my work posted. I also taught the IDS track several times, until I decided their material was too out-of-date and irrelevant to IDS practitioners. I was tired of scrapping SANS material on stage (aside from some of Judy Novak's TCP/IP slides and Marty Roesch's Snort tutorial) and teaching what students really needed to know.
SANS turned the Global Incident Analysis Center into the Global Information Assurance Certification when they realized they had created a powerful GIAC brand.
The SANS announcement states the following:
"Starting immediately, all new students will be authorized to the exam only GIAC Certification.
The forces that drove us to this change are numerous, but the single most important is the need to move to more modular, adaptable, courseware and certificates and certifications to stay abreast of the current threat. Additionally the marketplace has voted with its feet in favor of exam based certifications.
No practicals or drafts will be accepted after April 15th, 2005."
My take on this statement, and my conversations with SANS faculty, leads me to believe that grading practicals simply became too onerous for the SANS staff. Their margins are higher when they can automate the certification process.
This next statement is disappointing:
"We will issue a new logo design for all future 'exam only' certifications so that there will be less chance of confusion between 'exam only' and the more prestigious, original, practical oriented certifications."
In other words, SANS has admitted to devaluing its certification -- the new 'exam only' certifications are not as 'prestigious' as the original.
SANS has now created a market where holders of the "original" certification are more highly valued than those that follow.
SANS will also no longer be able to offer practical assignments to the community. Although the original practicals will remain online, that source of knowledge will dry up. This is doubly unfortunate as SANS practicals were one of the best aspects of the certification from the perspective of other security students.
While I believe that viable exam-only certifications exist (like the CCNA, CCNP, etc.), I fear SANS has removed a feature of their certification that made it unique and valuable.
11 comments:
Three simple letters: NKC
- Richard Bejtlich said...
I seem to remember this same NKC holder helping to teach SANS in San Antonio...? :)
Well, this kind of sucks. I have signed up for the online training some time ago and it won't start until late april early march. On one hand, I have to admit I am sort of happy I can get the cert without the time investment of writing the paper. With how limited my spare time is this was going to be tough for me to push though, but I had committed to doing it. I think I would have learned a lot from the effort, and I am sad to learn that my money I have spent won't go to as good of a Cert as it would have otherwise. Be nice if I got some money back or something at least. Free iPod?
Glad to see your response Richard.
I responded to their email as soon as I received it last night and expressed my dismay at their decision. I received a response this evening which frankly, didn't impress me.
The practicals did set the GIAC apart from other certs. It also clearly gives the CISSP a big advantage over the GIAC, as if it didn't already in the eyes of the world.
The biggest problem to me, as you noted, is the enormous resource the practicals provide to the community at large.
Thanks again for your blog, Richard.
Very disappointing development. Richard, I was lucky enough to have taken the Intrusion detection class from you in San Antonio. I learned a great deal in that class, however I learned even more by doing the practical. Eliminating the practical may be a good financial move by SANS, but it will be bad for the students.
- Don Parker said...
Well when I received this mass email I was to say the least pissed off. To be told that one of the reasons they dropped the practical was because some FBI Expert couldn't find the time to write is truly pathetic. This smacks of a money grab to just certify more. It has vastly devalued the two GIAC certs I hold. I cannot adequately express my disappoinment here. I know a good deal of the SANS faculty as well and quite a few of them are not in the least impressed with this.
This is quite troubling. I was actually planning on taking the Incident Handler certification this year. One of the major reasons I wanted this particular certification is that it sets itself off by requiring something more than just passing a test. Hands on experience is a great way to display the grasping of knowledge, and they've hurt themselves by making this change. As you so aptly pointed out, they've admitted as much about degrading their certification when referring to the original as "more prestigious".
- Richard Bejtlich said...
A friend forwarded the original email sent from SANS describing the change:
> From: The SANS Institute firstname.lastname@example.com
> Date: March 13, 2005 9:34:29 PM EST
> To: Security Professional
> Subject: Significant changes in GIAC
> Hello,
> If you are receiving this note, our records show you now hold or
> have held a GIAC certification. I write to share with you some big
> changes coming in the GIAC program that we believe will allow us to
> meet the overarching goal of GIAC - to improve the practice of
> security throughout the network-connected world.
> GIAC has differed from other certifications because of two main
> elements: (1) its focus on measuring mastery of technical skills
> essential to the effective practice of security and (2) its requirement
> that people prove those skills through a practical exercise.
> The first of these elements is critical to the success of the mission;
> the second is standing in the way. More than 20,000 people who have
> started the certification process were unable to complete it because
> they were not able to carve out the time when they returned to work to
> complete the 30 to 200 hours required for the practical. Here's one
> example: one of the top FBI cyber experts completed the training (and
> told us how extraordinarily valuable it was) but when he returned to
> work, four new cases came in to the office and he couldn't carve out
> the time to finish the practical. There are thousands and thousands
> of other people who have great skills and knowledge but for whom the
> time required to finish the practical was too much
> You might be saying to yourself, "I was able to do it, so you should
> make everyone do it." We agree except that the world is moving to
> test-based certifications and the value of your GIAC certification
> will not continue to grow unless we eliminate barriers that block 80%
> of the candidates.
> We believe that we can upgrade the testing process, through
> scenario-based testing, while we terminate the need for a practical
> assignment to complete GIAC certification. On balance the program
> will have more value because it touches more people. We will issue
> a new logo design for all future "exam only" certifications so
> that there will be less chance of confusion between "exam only" and
> the more prestigious, original, practical oriented certifications.
> All practicals already submitted will still be graded and returned
> to students with feedback from the grading team.
> Starting immediately, all new students will be authorized to the exam
> only GIAC Certification.
> The principal force that drove us to this change is the one I discussed
> above: we can not accomplish the mission of improving security broadly
> without the change. But there are others. One big one is the immediate
> need to move to more modular, adaptable, courseware and certificates
> and certifications to stay abreast of the current threat.
> We will move rapidly to deploy the state of the art in exam delivery
> including scenario based testing, additional psychometrics, and
> skills assessment.
> Additionally, we intend to simplify the recertification process and
> upgrade its testing to require the same exams for recertification
> that are being used for new certification at the time you recertify.
> Any feedback concerning these changes can be emailed to
> firstname.lastname@example.com. A new FAQ to answer a wide variety
> of questions you may have is available at
> http://www.giac.org/overview/faq.php#practical.
> I want to thank all the advisory board members and graders and the
> GIAC staff that made the practical system possible. I will be in
> touch via a second note to outline future opportunities. There are
> a number of exciting new projects underway and there is a place at
> the table for everyone who wants to be part of the team.
> Respectfully yours,
> Stephen Northcutt - Director of Training and Certification
> The SANS Institute
> 808.823.1375 (f) 808.823.1374
posted by LonerVamp
This is certainly disappointing, even to me, a fairly new professional still shopping around for certs to chase.
1) I loved the wealth of information that new and established practioners provided in those practicals. I loved reading them, and it gives many, many people a taste of writing, in an industry that should encourage writing and the goal of being published.
2) The practicals set the GIAC certs apart from the rest in a good way. The practicals help demonstrate that someone knows a subject, and also offer up a deliverable that makes the cert a discussion topic. "Just curious, what have you done for your practicals?" It makes the cert challenging and rewarding, and greatly increases the prestige. Take away the practicals, and the cert diminishes in stature. I've know people who have gone through CCNA certifications and passed...yet they cannot demonstrate even simple concepts. Similarly with the MCSE/MCP trees. That is nothing against those two certs, but it does illustrate that an exam-based cert is not more prestigious.
3) The practicals themselves help promote community with the assumption of sharing information and the posting of the practicals on a central site.
4) It is insulting that people who were able to attain their certs with practicals get a certain distinction. Why do you give certain people distinction and not allow other people to achieve it? This is very extreme, but this makes me think about race and discrimination based on something you cannot physically achieve (black becoming white, being able to achieve a cert with a practical).
5) SANS does want to make their certs worthwhile, but making them more accessible to the masses and increasing the overall number of recipients does not accomplish this. Stephen Northcutt, in his message about the change, states that barriers block 80% of applicants. Let's say of those 80%, 50% would have passed. Let's also say that of all applicants who meet these barriers, 50% of them pass. That means that for every 100 applicants, previously only 10 would pass. Now, 10+40 would pass. That's a 400% increase in your user base. Yes, you will have more of your certs out there, but because there are more, they will be worth less.
5) I disagree with the logic of Stephen Northcutt. He states that one of the main reasons for the elimination of the practicals was due to the barriers the practicals create, namely the time it takes to do the practical. By that logic, we should not be requiring or promoting special week-long SANS bookcamps. We should not be requiring extraordinary studying. We should not be requiring applicants to take time out of their day to attend the exam.
6) Mr. Northcutt also points that the overarching goal of GIAC is to "improve the practice of security throughout the network-connected world." This change itself does nothing to further this power statement; in fact, it lessens it, based on the points made above. Security is not something you can just test and nod your head "yes" you know it; security is not a state, it is a process. It is something ongoing that requires more than just being able to answer questions on a test. It is this dangerous mindset that a test will prove that individuals make better security professionals, that really scares me. A company will look at a GIAC certificate-holder and hire them thinking they have demonstrated abilities, but if they don't, then you've cheated the company, the individual, and the industry by souring the opinion of the cert and the abilities of all people in the industry. All just to get this in the hands of more people?
I think the reasons Stephen's gives did not create this change; the change created the need to formulate the arguments. I think the reasons probably lie in the overhead of grading practicals and probably the pressure to not get swept under the rug of other certs that everyone is achieving. They want to not lose that "80%" who don't make it past the "barriers" to competing certs. People want shortcuts, they want quickness, they want achievability; they want tests. I think that's a dangerous way to promote and certify a professional, and encourage them to measure success.
Maybe SANS is just being economical. A company has a market base, but we have to admit they need to increase the market base because everyone that attends conferences and takes exams are that many fewer people who may need to do it next year. If a company needs to continue growing revenues, it needs to diversify or grow its market base. SANS is growing its marketbase.
I think this decision probably means I will pursue my CISSP in April when I become officially eligible. If SANS just wants a test, then CISSP becomes more important to me because it "proves" experience of 4 years or more.
To be fair, maybe we should all wait to see the caliber of the new GIAC tests before we make judgements. As someone who holds both GCIA and GCFA certifications, I know exactly how tough the practical assignments can be, but the tests themselves are NOT EASY. To be able to complete the average SANS exam is quite a task: one or two 90 question exams each within 2.5 hours that require a good grasp of hex math, IP addressing, and many other in-depth technical subjects. As a security professional and a SANS affiliate, I would still have a great deal of respect for anyone able to pass a SANS exam (or two, for the more challenging certs). If SANS replaces the practical with a "scenario-based exam", the end result will be an exercise of the candidates ability to think on their feet in a limited amount of time. Considering that fact that it is easy to have someone else write a practical *for you*, maybe a battery of exams is even harder. And if this makes SANS certs more obtainable, so what? Since the real acid test of Information Security is in the field (and not the classroom), a practical isn't really much more than a take-home exam....
As far as economical arguments are concerned, don't forget that certification only costs $200 - $400 per cert...it is the week-long training that costs $2000-$4000.
I think SANS is trying to make the certification more accessible to security professionals that aren't necessarily uber-gurus.
- Richard Bejtlich said...
SANS is devaluing its own new certification standards with this statement:
"We will issue a new logo design for all future 'exam only' certifications so that there will be less chance of confusion between 'exam only' and the more prestigious, original, practical oriented certifications."
I think a certification can be tough and respected without a practical -- but not if the certifying body tells candidates their 'exam only certification' is not as 'prestigious' as the original.


text:
Combine 2 cups of the cream, the milk, 1/2 cup of the sugar, the vanilla bean, and the vanilla seeds in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a gentle boil, whisking to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat.
Combine the egg yolks, eggs, cornstarch, and 1 cup of the sugar in a medium bowl, and whisk pale yellow in color. Set aside.
Whisk 1 cup of the hot cream mixture into the egg yolks. Gradually add the egg mixture to the hot cream, whisking constantly. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly with a large wooden spoon to cook out the cornstarch and the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. (The mixture may separate slightly. If so, remove from the heat and beat with an electric mixer until thick and smooth.) Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a clean bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing down against the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill in the refrigerator for about 4 hours.
To assemble, spread 1/2 cup of the custard over the bottom of the prepared crust, smoothing with the back of a large spoon or rubber spatula. Arrange enough banana slices (not quite one-third) in a tight, tiled pattern over the custard, pressing down with your hands to pack them firmly. Repeat to build a second layer, using 3/4 cup of the custard and enough bananas to cover, smoothing down the layer evenly. For the third layer, spread 3/4 cup of custard over the bananas and top with the remaining bananas, starting 1-inch from the outer edge and working toward the center. Spread 1 cup of custard evenly over the bananas to prevent discoloration. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.
In a medium bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons of sugar and the vanilla extract and whip until stiff peaks form.
Remove the pie from the refrigerator. With a sharp knife dipped in hot water, cut the pie into 10 equal slices. Transfer the slices to dessert plates. Fill a pastry bag with the whipped cream and pipe onto each slice. (Alternately, spread the whipped cream evenly over the pie before cutting.)
Drizzle each slice with the caramel sauce and chocolate sauce, sprinkle with the chocolate shavings and confectioners' sugar, and serve.
Combine the graham cracker crumbs and sugar in a medium bowl and mix well. Add the butter and mix well. Press the mixture into a 9-inch pie pan. Top with aluminum pie tin and with a circular motion, press the crust tightly into the pan. Bake until browned, about 25 minutes. Cool for 10 to 15 minutes.
Combine the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a medium, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Let boil without stirring until the mixture becomes a deep amber color, 2 to 3 minutes, watching closely so it doesn't burn. Add the cream, whisk to combine, and remove from the heat. Add the milk, 2 tablespoons at a time, until the desired consistency is reached. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature before serving with the pie. (The sauce will thicken as it cools.)
Scald the half-and-half and butter in a small, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Remove from the heat.
Place the chocolate and vanilla in a medium, heat-proof bowl. Add the hot half-and-half and let sit for 2 minutes, then whisk until smooth. Serve slightly warm. (The sauce can be kept refrigerated in an airtight container for several days, but it must be returned to room temperature before serving.


text:
ST. MARY'S CITY, MD – Junior guard Julian Watson hit a go-ahead jumper with 31 seconds left in regulation, giving the York College men's basketball team a lead they wouldn't relinquish as the Spartans defeated top seed St. Mary's College 61-58 in the Capital Athletic Conference semifinals on Thursday night in St. Mary's City.
The victory puts the Spartans into the conference tournament championship game for the first time since 2005 and extends retiring head coach Jeff Gamber's career at least one more game. The Spartans captured their lone tournament championship in that 2005 contest against Catholic.
Watson's heroic shot is his second game winner in the CAC Tournament as he gave the Spartans the lead late in the dramatic Frostburg State win on Tuesday. Watson's shot was preceded by some dramatic basketball by both teams.
The action heated up in the last four minutes of the game as the Seahawks took a 55-53 lead on a Chris Hutchinson jumper only to have Adam Earle come up big with a lay up, tying the game with 3:31 remaining in regulation. After a steal and a missed three by the Spartans, St. Mary's turned it over as guard Nick Laguerre was called for a charge, giving the ball back to York. Senior Paul Kouvaris then did what he has done all year for York, hitting a big bucket with the shot clock winding down, giving the Spartans a 57-55 lead.
St. Mary's Devin Spencer answered with his fourth three of the game, giving the hosts a 58-57 lead with 1:34 remaining in the game. York's Todd Maciejewski was called for a player control foul but Spencer missed a three on the Seahawks ensuing possession and Maciejewski came down with the board, giving the Spartans life with 47 seconds remaining in regulation. That set the stage for Watson's huge game-winner as he hit a jumper just outside the lane for the lead.
The Seahawks had one last chance down one point and 30 seconds left. St. Mary's went to Spencer again and for the second consecutive time, he missed the three and Kouvaris pulled down one of the biggest rebounds of his career. He was fouled and calmly sank a pair of free throws with 0.6 seconds left, giving the Spartans the final three-point margin of victory.
The opening five minutes of the game was heavily tilted in the favor of St. Mary's as the Seahawks opened the game with an 11-4 burst. The Seahawks maintained the lead between five and seven points before the Spartans put together six quick points, cutting their deficit to just one at 15-14. The St. Mary's lead bounced between one and three points over the next five minutes until Maciejewski hit a lay up, giving York a 22-21 lead. The Seahawks answered with five straight points, pushing the lead to four. After a Mitch Kemp jumper, Christan MacAuley hit a triple give the Seahawks a five point lead. The Spartans answered with four straight points from Watson just before the break as the Spartan halftime deficit stood at one, 29-28.
The Spartans opened the second stanza right where they left off. York put together a 10-0 run, 14-0 if you include the small spurt at the end of the first half. The run was highlighted by a pair of big Mo Oursler three-pointers as the Spartans found themselves with a game-high lead of nine.
The Seahawks finally caught the Spartans at the 9:42 mark when Spencer hit the second of consecutive threes, tying the game at 46. The Spartans answered with buckets from Watson and senior Andrew Pawlyk as the York lead grew back to four. The Seahawks tied the game at 53, setting the scene for a fantastic final four minutes of basketball.
Kouvaris powered the Spartans as the senior poured in a game-high 19 points while he also grabbed a team-high seven boards. Kouvaris was 7-for-11 from the field while he also drilled all five of his free throw attempts. Watson added 12 points, two rebounds and four assists in the victory. Earle played another steady game as the senior had four points, six rebounds, four assists, a blocked shot and a steals in his 27 minutes of action.
MacAuley led the Seahawks with 13 points and game-high eight rebounds. The talented sophomore was 6-for-11 from the floor while he also had a game-high four blocked shots. Spencer added 12 points with all of his tallies coming on three point field goals. Spencer handed out a game-high five assists while he also pulled in three rebounds. Mike Fitzpatrick was the third Seahawk in double figures with 11 points.
The Spartans shot a blistering 54.3% in the win, the seventh time this year they broke the 50% barrier. York tied a season-low with eight three-point attempts as Oursler converted York's only two triples. The Green and White was excellent at the free throw line, nailing 9-of-11 from the stripe. The 11 attempts at the line was the second-lowest number of attempts for this year for York.
The Spartans held the Seahawks to 38.6% overall shooting but St. Mary's did bang nine three pointers in 25 attempts (36%). The Seahawks had just eight free throw attempts in the game, making five of them.
The win at St. Mary's snaps a few streaks for the Spartans. They had lost five straight to St. Mary's, including the two regular season games this year by a total of four points, while York had lost four straight in St. Mary's City. York's last victory at St. Mary's came on January 9, 2008 as the Spartans escaped with an 85-84 win. The last overall win against the Seahawks came on December 12, 2009 when current assistant coach Nick Brady hit a game-winning three to lift the Spartans to a 64-61 win.
The victory for York is the 492nd of Gamber's storied career and he will get the chance to coach in his 917th game on Saturday at Mary Washington.
The Spartans improve to 17-10 overall while the Seahawks fall to 19-7 as they must now wait to see if they will earn an at-large bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
The Green and White will play for a ticket in the big dance on Saturday, traveling to Mary Washington to take on the second seeded Eagles in the CAC Championship game. The winner earns the CAC's automatic bid to the national tournament. Game time will be determined on Friday morning.
Julian Watson photo courtesy of Mike Zortman