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Scouting is proving to be an increasing source of tension at Catholic parishes nationwide following the Jan. 1 implementation of the Boy Scouts of America's decision to lift its ban on gay membership.
Several evangelical-backed scouting organizations are reporting increases in membership, and a brand new one — Trail Life USA — was founded in response to the policy shift.
Still, in many places, the decadeslong affiliation between the Church and the Boy Scouts isn't going away.
"We have a million Catholics involved in Boy Scouts of America," said Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone of Charleston, S.C., and the liaison between the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Catholic Committee on Scouting. "Our Catholic kids are going to stay with scouting. Some are going to go with alternative troops. But if the (Boy Scouts) allows us to live our faith in ways that are consistent with our faith, we're going to stay with the program, because our kids are going to stay with the program."
Bishop Guglielmone said that while the May 2013 decision by the Boy Scouts doesn't put it at odds with the Church, many Catholics are switching to alternative groups due to uncertainty.
"I know there are some parishes saying they will not charter (Boy Scouts) units in the future," he said. "Some are going with alternative (programs) and some are having nothing at all."
He added that he knows of no individual bishop who has banned the Boy Scouts in their diocese, though a few have questioned it. The USCCB has taken no official position, Bishop Guglielmone said.
For parishes who have decided to explore alternatives, one of the newest such is Trail Life USA, launched Jan. 1 largely in response to the Boy Scouts' policy change, officials said.
"I was very discouraged by the Boy Scouts of America's decision to change its membership policy," said John Stemberger, Boy Scout veteran and founder of Trail Life USA. "That was a significantly motivating force — (their) apparent general philosophical shift from Christian values and more of a secular look at the public-opinion-polls mentality. That really was the impetus for thinking about a Christ-centered scouting organization."
Trail Life USA, which so far is comprised of more than 500 troops in 44 states, is open to boys from kindergarten to 12th grade and welcomes all denominations, though the mission statement is Trinitarian — Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant.
Its structure parallels American Heritage Girls, which has a proven record of success, Stemberger said.
"It is focused on an outdoor adventure program of achievement, adventure and leadership, while instilling and intertwining Christian compassion, servant leadership and biblical moral values as the foundation for fun and adventure," said Richard Mathews, general counsel for the organization. "All adults are required to subscribe and adhere to a Christian statement of faith and values. Trail Life teaches character and leadership based upon Christian biblical principles of morality, but invites boys of all faith beliefs, or no faith belief, to experience outdoor adventure under the guidance of Christian leaders."
One of the new troops is based at St. Gregory Catholic Church in Marysville, Kan., and Daniel Faulkner is the charter organization representative.
"We started with Trail Life because we care about our sons and daughters," said Faulkner. "We have watched what is happening in the world today, and we knew that they needed to be part of something that would teach faith-based values and not compromise with or capitulate to the pressure from secular groups. 'Faith-based' says it all. Trail Life impressed me as an organization that would prepare our sons and daughters for life while keeping them grounded with God."
Trail Life USA, though, isn't the only option. Christian Service Brigade is among alternative scouting organizations seeing a growth in membership in recent months, with a reported 15 to 20 percent increase in new members, officials said. Other programs include the Columbian Squires, a Knights of Columbus organization for boys ages 10 to 18 founded in 1925; Pathfinders, the Seventh-day Adventist coed program for grades 5 to 10 that got its start in 1907; and the Southern Baptist-based Royal Ambassadors for boys in grades 1 to 6 that was started in 1908. The Calvinist Cadet Corps and the Royal Ambassadors reportedly have also been seeing more membership inquiries since the Boy Scouts of America's membership policy change.
Despite the influx of other scouting organizations at Catholic churches, Bishop Guglielmone is clear that the Boy Scouts' tenets do not conflict with those of the Church.
"The Church teaching on same-sex attraction is basically that we treat these folks with dignity and respect," he said. "Certainly, that's what the policy is saying we should do. It does condemn, very clearly, any kind of sexual acting out."
Father Dennis O'Rourke, pastor of St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church in Cave Creek, Ariz., has voiced his support of Boy Scouts of America throughout the policy shift. He has been an active member of the Boy Scouts of America for more than 50 years.
"I believe in the programs of the Boy Scouts of America," Father O'Rourke said. "They have a proven track record of forming good citizens who recognize an obligation of duty to God, country and others."
With its recent changes, the priest said he believes the policy of the Boy Scouts has "only been strengthened."
"The policy isn't to allow 'openly gay' scouts into the program," he said. "The phrase 'openly gay' indicates an active sex life with those of the same sex. (The policy) is to prohibit dismissing scouts who have same-sex attraction."
"The prohibition on any sexual contact outside marriage is still in place," Father O'Rourke added. "That includes gay and straight members — adults and youths. The programs are such that scouts ordinarily won't have the opportunity to discuss their sexual attraction unless they, themselves, initiate the discussion. The way I read it, the only way a same-sex attracted youth can be dismissed is when it becomes active within the scouting program."
The challenge for the Boy Scouts this year, Bishop Guglielmone said, will be to stay committed to the new policy.
"I think people are fearful that folks would not live up to it," he said. But "we believe that the attraction in itself is not wrong, but any kind of action based on the attraction is unacceptable."
Anna Maria Basquez writes from Colorado.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Coalition mobilizes to protect climate-friendly farming
With tobacco, lead and alcohol we ultimately acted with precaution when the science on human health effects raised red flags – and we've saved millions of lives.
So what do you call it—wise, fiscally responsible, necessary?— when we act to promote farm practices that protect the natural resources that allow us to produce abundant, healthy food, even though the science on just how this is accomplished is not yet complete? Organic or ecological agriculture promises to do this and more. It also helps maintain vibrant rural economies and save lives by providing nutrient-rich food and eliminating the use of highly hazardous pesticides. Scientists now know that it can also help mitigate climate change.


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By Jose Fernandez Villasenor
Originally posted on Freescale's Medical by Design, The Embedded Beat blog
Early stage detection of potentially life-risking disease conditions, as well as easily accessible, low-cost detection devices for the general population, challenges our healthcare services. Why wait until you need a triple or quadruple coronary cardiac bypass surgery if you could easily detect at an early stage the genetic risk factors for diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, obesity or arterial hypertension? Early detection can lead to correction with appropriate medical treatment and changes to the patient's lifestyle.
How the testing is done
The reality is these tests are not commonly screened in patients worldwide. Sometimes it is because the patient does not have regular visits to the doctor's office and they wait until they have an annoying symptom. Other times it is because these tests are not available to the general population or doctors only screen when they are suspicious of a condition.
Think about a suspected pregnancy. Most women do home testing before confirmation of the pregnancy by their obstetrician and gynecologist (OB/GYN) doctor. They prefer to do a simple urine test (by the way, this does not confirm the pregnancy at all). These tests are low cost and available to everyone without the need of a prescription. The way these home tests work are simple. The protein, antigen or antibody you want to detect, in this case human chorionic gonadotropin (better known as hCG), reacts to the chemical in the testing strip and changes its color. The problem is that this is a YES/NO test, whether you have the particle or you do not have it. However the amount or quantity of this particle is useful for the diagnosis as well, i.e. an abnormal high level of hCG could also mean other potentially serious pathologies like molar pregnancy (an abnormal form of pregnancy wherein a non-viable fertilized egg implants in the uterus and converts a normal pregnancy into an abnormal one which will fail to come to term), multiple pregnancy, whereas low levels can indicate a possible miscarriage or blighted ovum or ectopic pregnancy.
Delivering both qualitative – and quantitative results
A new generation of sensors should be available to the general population for not only giving qualitative results but also quantitative results.
Freescale is working on a new generation of biochemical sensors that help to solve these issues. This technology is based on Ion Sensitive Field Effect Transistors (IsFETs). In these sensors, we show that by using Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) structures integrated in series to the gate of submicron Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor (MOSFET) devices, highly-sensitive and ultra-low power consumption pH sensors can be obtained. One MIM capacitor enables external polarization of the MOSFET device while a second MIM capacitor is connected to a sensing plate whose surface is either a thick polyimide layer or the last metallization level. The electrochemical response of these surfaces to pH buffer solutions resembles that of ISFET devices whose pH sensitivity is dependent on the type of surface material being exposed.
The IsFETs are then used to create Immunological sensitive FETs ImFETs, which can be used to detect not only pH, but also to detect antigens and antibodies of specific pathogens that cause a wide array of infectious diseases that could be markers used to detect chronic degenerative diseases.
New needs in the world need to be solved with a new generation of medical sensors. This means breaking the paradigms of optical tests and moving to the electrochemical space, with more reliable sensors that can give you detailed results of the quantities of the specific particle you want to measure. Semiconductor companies should and must turn their eyes to this and enable the OEMs with new products of low cost and low power specifications.
Original post: http://blogs.freescale.com/2012/07/10/breaking-paradigms-in-biochemical-sensing/


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|Santa Monica, Calif.
|High School:
|Santa Monica
2010-11 (Senior): Stroked the club four that finished fourth at the Head of the Charles… Rowed in the 2V that won against Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Penn and finished sixth at Eastern Sprints… Rowed bow seat in the 1V at Harvard-Yale and IRA's.
2009-10 (Junior): Rowed with the Yale lightweights in the fall… Rowed in the four that finished third at Eastern Sprints.
2008-09 (Sophomore): Rowed six-seat in the varsity lightweight eight that finished fifth at Eastern Sprints.
2007-08 (Freshman): Rowed four-seat in the freshman lightweight eight that won a gold medal at Eastern Sprints.
National Team: Represented the U.S. at the 2007 CanAmMex regatta in St. Catherine's, Ontario.
Before Yale: Rowed for Marin Rowing Association for four years.
Personal: Member of Calhoun College… Biology major… Former Yale lightweight.


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Group accuses FBI of harassing 2nd Todashev friend
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A civil rights group has accused the FBI of threatening to deport the friend of a Chechen man shot to death in his Orlando apartment by an agent during questioning about a Boston Marathon bombing suspect.
The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Wednesday said Tatiana Gruzdeva, a friend of Ibragim Todashev, was arrested Tuesday when she showed up at an immigration office to sign papers for an extension of her work visa.
The group said Gruzdeva was told she was being deported for talking publicly to Boston Magazine about Todashev.
FBI spokesman Paul Bresson declined to comment on Gruzdeva's arrest. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Carissa Cutrell, didn't return an email and phone call. Her voicemail said she was out because of the government shut down.
Todashev was killed last May while FBI agents and others questioned him about his friendship with suspected Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Officials originally said the Chechen man lunged at an agent with a knife. They later said it was no longer clear what happened.
The group also said a friend of Todashev who was arrested last month on an unrelated charge was questioned for six hours by FBI agents about Todashev. When Ashurmamad Miraliev was arrested, he asked to have an attorney present during questioning but was denied the request, Shibly said.
"It's clear the FBI is taking retaliatory action by going after the family and friends of Todashev who have spoken out against the FBI for killing the unarmed Florida resident," CAIR-Florida executive director Hassan Shibly said in a statement.
Last month, Bresson said FBI interviews are done "either with his/her consent or with an attorney present."


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He was aboard a boat near Belle River Landing in the southern part of the state when he appeared to have a seizure, said Assumption Parish Sheriff Mike Waguespack, citing an unidentified man who was with Guist.
The reality show star then fell on the boat.
The man who was with Guist towed both his boat and Guist's boat back to the landing, called 911 and performed CPR, said Waguespack.
Guist was transferred to the Teche Regional Medical Center in Morgan City, where he was pronounced dead.
"We are extremely saddened to report that our friend and beloved member of the 'Swamp People' family, Mitchell Guist, has passed away earlier today. Mitchell passed on the swamp, doing what he loved. We appreciate your respect for the Guist family's privacy and hope you join us in sending our thoughts and prayers to his brother, Glenn, and the rest of the Guist family," the History Channel said in a statement.
Glenn Guist is also a cast member on the show.
"Swamp People" is the popular History Channel TV series that chronicles the lives of alligator hunters in Louisiana.