eisely

Merlyn, are you then saying that Jeb Bush is the better candidate?

The situation described by allangr1024 is interesting. I can understand the reluctance to provide information that can be characterized as defamatory. The solution you came up with sounds OK. However, if the older buy was really a danger to the younger boys and there was evidence to back it up, why didn''t the council remove him from BSA altogether? I would think that the legal liability to younger scouts who may be targets of future anticipated abuse would outweigh any fears of liability to the abuser.

At the risk of sounding too rigid or old fashioned, the complete uniform should be worn correctly or not at all. The adult leaders have to set the example. The impact of the uniform is completely psychological. The uniform has nothing to do with advancement or outdoor skills. It is a matter of building self respect and identity with the larger group. In this regard the mentality, and psychological needs, of the youth in scouting are not that far different from boys who join gangs that wear certain combinations of colors and clothing.

Uniforming should not be left to the disrection of the boys, except for the two items that are clearly discretionary, namely neckerchiefs and neckerchief slides.

A few years back our SPL addressed the troop on this subject. I wish I could remember exactly what he said, but in this one area he was wise beyond his years. To him sloppiness in uniforming showed that the wearer did not respect either scouting or himself.

Leaving aside completely questions of policy preferences and stands on issues, what kinds of experience most qualify an individual to be president of the US? Keeping in mind that there is no training program, we can only look at an individual''s prior experience to judge how they might perform as POTUS.

In my mind, being governor of a state is probably the best overall training available. Governors are elected so the individual knows what it is like to be accountable to voters. They also have to deal with a wide range of issues and independent legislative bodies and judiciaries. Granted that governors deal with a much narrower range of responsibilities than POTUS, I still think they have more relevant experience.

Secondarily, business and military experience are desirable but less critical. In fact I am dubious of people who have never run for office at any level, but think that their successes in business or a military career immediately qualify them to be POTUS. People like Ross Perot and Wesley Clark come to mind. The problem with such people is that they come from an environment of command and control and more or less instant obedience. Such people tend to have a highly inflated view of themselves, never having gone through the humbling experience of running for office. There are exceptions, such as Dwight Eisenhower, but I submit that our former presidents with basically only military experience have been at best mixed in their performance as POTUS. Andrew Jackson and Ulysses Grant come to mind.

Business and military experience are, in my mind desirable, but not critcally necessary. Business experience will make people more sensitive to the impact of government actions on the economy and military experience will help the novice POTUS deal more effectively with military policy and the use of the military.

People with only legislative experience, which characterizes most of our current crop of candidates, probably make poor presidents. These folks have typically never actually been responsible for much of anything as an executive at any level. Think of John Kerry and Fred Thompson.

People with experience as appointed government executives, such a cabinet secretaries have much to recommend them, depending on their actual performance. As with businees people and senior miliary people, if somebody coming out of a cabinet position has never run for or held elective public office, they are not as qualified as someone who has. For example, I have a high opinion of Condoleeza Rice, but her experience is not as broad as others beyond foreign policy and being chancellor of Stanford University for awhile. How she would do as a candidate and an elected official is to me still a question mark.

This why I think that Bill Richardson is in many ways the most qualified of the current field of democrats seeking to be president. Likewise Romney and Giulliani have bona fide executive experience. Granted Rudy was only a mayor, but if I am not mistaken New York City has more people in it than New Mexico.

Ironically there is one republican not running for the job who is probably more qualified than the others in both major parties and his name is Jeb Bush. I don''t know if he has presidential ambitions, but if he does he is smart enough to know that nobody with the surname of Bush has a prayer in 2008.

Pandering is what politicians do. It is a question of egregious (sp?) pandering versus simply responding positively to the demands of a constituency with which you already have broad agreement.

At least Richardson has some bona fide executive experience he can claim as a governor, as can Romney and Giulianni. If memory serves me correctly all the other candidates have been only legislators. I for one don''t think that being first lady should count as real experience, unless you want to give Hillary credit for screwing up her husband''s health care initiative.

I''m shocked - shocked that you folks are putting in so much time. I put in one hour per week. I do store up advance credits. I figure I''m good for another 10,000 weeks.

Others likely have more knowledge about BSA policies on this than I do.

It is my general understanding that troops can decline membership to anybody and really are not obligated to provide any explanation. Clearly one wants to avoid membership decisions based on clearly discriminatory criteria such as race, religion, etc. However, in the circumstances where there is a clear history that indicates incompatibility among the youth in question, I would think that you would be perfectly within your rights to turn these applicants down, and would be prudent to do so. It does not matter that the other parents disagree that any abusive behavior ever occurred. Youth take care and are smart enough to avoid adult notice. Denial is more than just a river in Africa. You are faced with a "he said" vs "he said" situation. This is not a disciplinary situation where you are faced with possibly having to suspend a youth member or come up with a sanction of some kind and justify your action. You are faced with a situation where you are trying to prevent a repeat performance. I think that all you need to say is, "We think your boys will be happier elsewhere," and you are not obligated to provide any explanation whatsoever.

I was fortunate enough to go to this jamboree and we also went by train. While the jamboree itself lasted only seven days, each unit spent 10 days in Valley Forge. The reason was that the railroad facility for handling the trains could not handle but a third of the scouts in a day.

We boarded a car in Moberly Missouri and were attached to another passenger train enroute to St. Louis. In St. Louis we were put into a special train with other scouts from other parts of Missouri. We did our touring enroute to Valley Forge, visiting many of the same places mentioned in the article.

I put up my life''s savings to date of $250 into this, which covered everything. The Roman Catholic mass I attended on Sunday was in the main ampitheatre mentioned in the article. The mass was celebrated by the archbishop of Philadelphia. It was the largest religious gathering I have ever attended in my life.

Being less than totally obedient scouts, I and my patrol, went through the fence on the turnpike not far from our camp site, crossed the turnpike to visit a Howard Johnson''s that had been calling to us the entire time we were there. The jamboree staff had adults with vehicles there to greet us and return us to camp. They were gracious enough to let us buy and eat our ice cream. Somehow they knew we were coming.

I can relate to this. I am among those whose feelings of piety tend to vary in direct proportion to the square of the distance to the church. The further I go into the back country the closer I get to god.(This message has been edited by eisely)

The more I learn about the governor of New Mexico, the lower my opinion goes. He is far from the worst of the candidates vying for the nomination, but his statement regarding BSA is nothing more than pandering to a particular constituency. He may find that he needs BSA more than BSA needs him.

I was diagnosed as Type II diabetic about seven years ago. Initially I took no medication but now take Metformin (generic for Glucophage) twice daily. I too have found that my main problem in the back country is variability of blood sugar since I am doing more physically that I typically do at work - pounding a computer keyboard just as I am doing now. What I found out regarding myself echos one of the earlier posts. I may get weak and woozy from low blood sugar late in the morning. So I make sure to have sufficient snacks that I can munch while walking available for my personal use.

I interpreted Merlyn''s comment differently. Perhaps he can clarify what he meant.

Color me naive, but the idea that "lawsuits are used to to establish that (the law)" means that judges write the laws. I thought that was what the legislature was supposed to do. I certainly do not expect to always agree with everything the legislature does, but at least I have a voice through my elected representatives at the local, state, and federal level. Unfortunately many judges have arrogated to themselves the power to create social policy. It is the highly undemocratic nature of this process that infuriates a lot of people.

One of the nicest things anybody has said to me in recent years revolves around Philmont. The last time I went in 2002 my son and I were part of a three crew council contingent, which by the way held the transporation cost down quite a bit. Anyway, we had people from four different units in our crew. The youngest guy was a pretty skinny fourteen year old and the only scout from his troop, but he was a great scout. Apparently he had some confidence issues going in, but grew a great deal during the trek. A few years later I ran into his dad who commented that his son had come back a "changed kid" and he really appreciated the opportunity to go to Philmont.

Our troop reimburses for fees paid upon completion. We do not reimburse for transportation and additional food costs. So far we have not found it necessary to restrict these reimbursements. It would be nice to have so many adults go to training that we had that problem.

Definitely not the OA sash. However, he should wear the merit badge sash. Don''t forget to add as many of his excess "temporary insiginia" on the back of the sash as you have room for (summer camp patches, high adventure patches, camporee patches, etc.).

Maybe someday you will re register as "double eagle mom".

NEW YORK (AP) - Former CBS news anchor Dan Rather filed a $70 million lawsuit Wednesday against the network, former corporate parent Viacom Inc., and three of his former bosses.

Rather''s complaint stems from "CBS'' intentional mishandling" of the aftermath of a discredited story about President George W. Bush''s time in the Texas Air National Guard.

The lawsuit, filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, also names CBS President and CEO Leslie Moonves, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone, and Andrew Heyward, former president of CBS News.

Rather is seeking $20 million in compensatory damages and $50 million in punitive damages.

_____________________

This is rich. To quote the late Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen of Illinois, "Ha ha ha, to which I might add, ho ho ho."

Philmont is much more than just backpacking. Here in California we have numerous opportunities for backpacking in areaas that are probably more spectacular than Philmont, yet we regularly send crews to Philmont. It is worth the cost.

I guess I really am too old fashioned for this century. I thought that heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, and trans gender pretty well covered everything. Oh well.

You really are much less limited in your options on a canoe trek since weight is normally not an issue, although cube may become an issue if you are not careful. Considerations in planning:

Carrying capacity of the canoes. Most decent trekking canoes will carry over 1,000 lbs safely, but you need to be sure. If you are renting canoes, call your outfitter.

Paddling conditions. If this is a gentle float downstream then you might consider carrying ice chests.

Restrictions on fires. You mentioned this, but you need to be sure of the restrictions. You can carry your own fuel if necessary. Be sure to secure charcoal from getting wet as spontaneous combustion may become a problem.

Size of cooking groups. You say that the boys will be cooking by pairs. Why is this? It seems to me that the group would be better off to cook together.

Amount of time budgeted for cooking. The one time I got in serious trouble on a canoe trek was when the cooking detail took a horribly long time getting breakfast ready one day. As in backpacking, you want to hit the water early in the morning because that is when the air is more likely to be calm. So eggs, sausage, pancakes, etc. for breakfast may not be advisable. On the other hand, planning more elaborate evening meals may be highly desirable. Why not stretch your scouts'' cooking skills?

DanKroh,

You used another term with which I am unfamiliar. What is "pansexual?"

I concur with the other posts. Depending on the quality of the available records, the boy picks up where he left off. I cannot think of any rank advancement requirements predicated on continuous membership. I think you may have some latitude in determining prior credit for positions of responsibility, particularly if the records are not clear.

The one area that I can think of where the clock is reset has to do with eligibility for the Order of the Arrow, but that is not a rank advancement matter.

Here is a different spin on Craig''s situation.

ACLU says First Amendment protects Craig''s bathroom behavior

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MINNEAPOLIS -- Sen. Larry Craig''s foot-tapping and hand movements in an airport bathroom amounted to speech protected by the First Amendment, the American Civil Liberties Union argued in court papers on Monday.

The Idaho senator pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct after an undercover officer at the Minneapolis airport alleged that Craig solicited him for sex. Craig has denied that, and his attorneys have asked a judge to let him withdraw the guilty plea.

Craig was accused of moving his foot next to a police officer''s foot and tapping it in a way that indicated he wanted sex. He was also accused of sending a signal by swiping his hand under the divider between the stalls, and of peering into the officer''s stall before Craig took his own stall.

Even if he did those things, they''re not a crime, the ACLU argued. And even if Craig solicited sex, it would only be a crime if police could prove he was seeking illegal bathroom sex and not a legal liaison somewhere else.

The ACLU also argued that the disorderly conduct statute is too vague to be enforceable in Craig''s case.

The ACLU asked the judge to accept its arguments as a friend-of-the-court brief in Craig''s case.

Chuck Samuelson, the executive director of the ACLU''s Minnesota branch, said other police departments have prevented bathroom sex by posting signs and patrolling with uniformed officers.

Samuelson said the airport undercover work "is the kind of sting operation that at the very best borders on entrapment."

A Hennepin County District Court judge is scheduled to hear arguments on Craig''s motion to withdraw his guilty plea on Sept. 26.

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Our troop went paperless some time ago. The newsletter is distributed as a Word document.

Distributing a paper newsletter by mail can be an expensive proposition. Even if one qualifies for a lower cost postage of some kind, that typically will slow down delivery in the US as permit mail gets a lower delivery priority than full first class mail. I don''t know what the delivery options are in Australia.