Fat Old Guy

"FOG, I dont have to cry to win arguements" That's what all women say, right before their lip starts to quiver and the tears begin to well up. "From what I understand there's no crying in Boy Scouts anyway." I don't know about that. We encourage our Scouts to cry during reflections if they want to do so. We tell them that they need to get in touch with their emotions. We also tell them that if they feel the need to dance around the campfire in lace underwear, do so but make sure the adults have left because if the adults are arund that would violate the Youth Protection Guidelines.

"You and several other regulars approach things consistently. The program is there. Execute it. Train the youth leaders, etc.." That sounds wonderful but too many parents stick their noses into the process. They become merit badge counselors for their sons and just gloss over them. If the son has a POR and can't do it, the parent does it and lets the son take the credit. Society gets goofy when teenagers are involved. First we're told that they are "young adults" and need to be allowed to make decisions about their lives such as smoking, having sex, and what foul music they listen to. But when they screw up and some one says that they need to take responsibility for their actions, we are told, "they're kids, they make mistakes." Too bad that mistake weighed 8 lbs 4 ounces or that mistake cost someone their life. "I would prefer to credit this increase to more quality programs and increased encouragement." It is too bad that there is no way to quantify why there are more Eagles. Encouragement is an interesting idea. "Go son go! Work hard, son." is encouragement. What I've heard parents say far too many times is, "I won't let him get his drivers license until he gets his Eagle." It seems that many parents push the son toward the Eagle for the same reasons that they push their children to be sports stars. The parent wants the gratification of being able to brag about their child. Too many parents do the same thing with academics as well. They want to brag about thier child's accomplishments. My son gets mostly Bs with a couple As thrown in. I'm sure that he could get straight As but it isn't worth the cost. I'd have to ride him constantly, my stess level would go up, his stress level would go up and no one would be happy.

"they go becuase they are interested in them. No kid should be forced to take a merit badge that they don't want to do." You must live in Pleasantville. I'd bet that the majority of these kids are there because their parents said, "Hey look, you can knock out a couple more merit badges." "if there not learning anything i'm sure the kids can go to another adult and inform they aren't donig a good job as a counselor." Oh sure, a bunch of 12 year olds are going to do this. A couple years ago, an Indian Lore counselor was doing a crappy job. Did the Scouts care? Not at all, they thought that it was great that they didn't have to do all the "hard stuff." "In Boy Scout summer camp you can't learn much after your first year." I don't know about that . . . a wimpy as some merit badge sessions are at summer camp, you can continue to do new things at summer camp. One Scout told me this summer that this was his fifth summer camp and he was having a ball and still doing new things.

Gee, Bob, I've been to two county fairs and a pig . . . okay, I won't finish that but I have been to Scoutmaster School, University of Scouting and more Roundtables than I can count and I've never heard of the idea that EVERYBODY NEEDS a position of responsibility. What do you do if a Scout doesn't WANT a position of responsibility? Force him to take one? What if a Scout isn't qualified to do anything except light himself on fire? Do you force him into a position?

"As a private organization, why should a sitting President attend a Jamboree?" For the same reason that he goes to MLB or NFL games. "As a private organization, why should the military support it with their resources?" Because BSA is good source of recruits. "As a private organization, why should tax dollars support the Jamboree?" As our district chair pointed out to the State park commission, the value of the volunteer hours that our Scouts put into upkeep of public facilities far exceeds any revenue that they could gain by charging us to use the parks. It's a quid pro quo which is Latin for "you scratch mine and I'll scratch yours.

"ecause they make $$$ when the boys lose them and think they have to have them with 1,005,592 Boy Scouts/Varsity Scouts (per national web page)they make $703,914.40 at 7 cents a card." It always comes back to money.

I'd never tell an Eagle that he couldn't wear his palms on his patch.

"Fat Old Guy -- you are correct. There are obligations of confidentiality on the part of the Scout Executive." Sounds like BSA is headed down the same slope that the Catholic Church went down.

"The District Chairman does not have to be a uniformed member, so you are the top uniformed volunteer in the district." This statement confuses me. No one has to be "uniformed."

Try calling BSA Supply Division at 972-580-2131

"The moment you guys get pregnant, you get the chance to decide whether to carry to term or not." You made your choice when you opted to have sex.

"pow-wows" are fine the only take place once a year and it gives boys a new opprunity to rtake a merit badge that iusn't" "Take" a merit badge? That the foundation of the problem. Merit badges shouldn't be taken like a class, they need to be earned. I talk to Scouts who go through "merit badge classes" and most of the time they haven't learned squat. A Scout should pick a merit badge because it interests him or it involves something that he does in his regular non-Scout life. He then should pursue the requirements on his own, seeking help from the counselor if he needs it.

"YOU are now the top uniformed volunteer in your district. " Not to diminish the positon of District Commissioner but I thought that the District Chair was the top dog.

Man O'Steele, let me get this straight. I go to the SE and tell him that John Binkledorfer (a ficticuous character created for this scenario) has a conviction for fondling small boys. The SE says, "Thank you" and that's all I hear about it? I don't hear back that the SE looked into it and found out that it was a different John Smith? The SE doesn't let me know that Smith has been banned from Scouting so when I hear of a John Binkledorfer who is an SM in the next county, I can't say to my friends there, "Hey look into this, we had a John Binkledorfer who was banned for life."?

Well, the most civilized thing to do would be to wait until he's out of prison, grab him, take him out into the wilderness, castrate him with a dull knife and let him crawl home.

OGE, in more enlightened societies two things can happen with a murder conviction. The first is that the victim's family picks the punishment. The second is that the murderer is responsible for the victim's family and must care for them. So the next best thing is to make the murderer feel the horror that his victim felt. Unfortunately, we use "humane" methods to execute people so the horror is only in the waiting and the long, last walk. If we really wanted justice, the punishment would fit the crime and murderers could be stabbed, shot, or beaten to death.

So kasane, it should be legal because women are going to do it anyway? Hell, drunk driving should be legal because people are going to do it anyway. Tax fraud should be legal because people are going to do it anyway. Sorry, that woman made her choice when she spread her legs.

" strong as the dickens " How strong is the dickens?

"They will be the majority and if not, they are more skilled in debates than many of my male venturers" Women win arguments because they cry and, for that, we have no defense.

" I am in possession of all of the police records and the court transcripts so I'm not sure how we could be accused of making false statements as long as we stick to the facts??" How do you have those? It's been my understanding that records like those are not available to the public. If you are hit with a defamation suit, those records might not be admissible. I'd like to know what the nature of the crimes were. Today, kissing a girl can be considered a sex crime.

If they don't do it, they gain nothing, neither money nor wisdom. If they do it and lose money, they still gain. If they do it and make money, they win twice. It's only $40. I don't know about the financial status of your troop but we could handle a $40 loss without a problem. I say, go for it.

"you use the strictest and most literal interpretation of the Constitution." If we can't accept what the writers said as being what they meant then the whole document is useless. "and not one that I find intellectually compelling or politically attractive." I get it, the Constitution is to be ignored unless you can use it for your own purposes. Very Humpty-Dumpty.

If you involve the Scout in the process, it will be a great learning experience for them, no matter what happens. They'll learn about return on investment, cost of advertising, risk, etc..

"Of course, the down side is if you guys keep doing that, I won't be needed" That's okay, you're moving to Chilli, Guacamole, some other food related country.

I can't speak with authority but I believe that it came about in the late 80s' It is a good idea for CYA but creates a whole new set of problems. For example, you live two doors away from a Scout who usually rides to troop meetings with you and your son. One day your son is ill and can't go, so now what to do you do with the other kid? His parents aren't around to take him. Ask someone else to go 15 minutes out of their way to pick him up? Our Venture Patrol had to cancel a great hiking expedition this summer because the second adult had to bail when a major crisis at work happened. How about you're in the bathroom at the troop meeting hall doing what you do in there and a Scout or two come in to take a whiz. "Wait outside guys!" There are ten urinals.