GernBlansten

My analogy is that of a neighborhood saloon where I swager up to the bar, order a drink, hear the last comment from the group of fellas standing next me, I offer up my opinion, down the drink and head for the pool room for an entirely different topic.

Calico, Perhaps the military could offer up Ft AP Hill to the Gay and Lesbian movement to have an annual convention. Great opportunity for training and experience for the soldiers. Also imagine the fantasaticly gala opening ceremony and parade.

Ed, I'm confused on your comment that the ACLU is a money motivated institution. What court rulings resulted in the ACLU benefiting financially? What big cash settlements have they litigated? Most of the attornys who work for the ACLU do it pro-bono. They take cases for clients that force a decision not a settlement. Am I wrong here?

Ed, I agree with you 100%. BSA has no role in teaching our scouts either theory. Leave it to Sunday school and science class to battle that out. As for Judy Tenuta, she is the poster child of why accordians are destroying the fabric of our society. Need I say more?

If this same scout had willfully violated "Clean" (being homosexual) or "Reverent" (being an athiest) he would be chucked instantly. Why would willfull violations to "Trustworthy, Friendly, Courteous, Kind" be treated with less severity? This kid stole items from another scout.

Sorry, but shouldn't this scout be tossed from BSA for violating several scout laws? We throw out scouts for violating Reverent. This one violated Trustworthy, Honest and possibly a few more. Chuck him.

Fuzz, I hate accordian music. I hate the music, not the musicians. I have a book that claims accoridan music is one of the dark arts. My parents hated accordians and my grandparents too. In fact, I think most people in the US hate accordian music with me. Playing the accordian is just against natural law and should be banned. I could never belong to an organization that allows accordian players in it, or allows accordian music to be played. I don't want my children exposed to accordian music, it might make them want to become accordian players. I don't want my tax dollars spent defending accordian players or their right to play accordians in public. I believe that if someone shows talent playing the accordian, they can be re-educated to play some other kind of music or not play music at all. I think accordian players are poisoning America with their accordian agenda. Pushing accordian music into public schools, recruiting players at every turn. I now boycott Disneyworld because I see they employ accordian players. Accordian music has permiated American culture and it must stop. Please help me.

My yacht club is a private non-profit org. Although we don't have any membership restrictions that are in contrast with the government, we definitely retain the right to have them. If a local government agency, say the park service, granted us money to build a marina on a local lake, our club would probably jump on that in a heart beat. I also would expect the general public to screamed about the grant. The yacht club would look bad, and so would the agency. The honorable thing for the club to do would be to turn down the grant in the first place. Just not a proper thing for governments to do. Now if our club restricted membership to non-Jewish only, the outcry would be even louder.

I don't see how the Scouting for Food is accepting public funds for the benefit of BSA. Sound to me like a cooperative between public and private orgs to service the public good. Does BSA gain financially from this effort?

If the BSA declares is a private organization, do they have to stop accepting funding from the government & other public sources? That's exactly what they have been doing Ed. They use the private org label for membership policy, but take public funds like a public entity. The article suggests that BSA quit taking public money and act like any other private organization should. If BSA wants to use public funds, then they must adjust their membership policies to be inclusive to the public, not discriminatory. That's the ACLU's arguement and like it or not, it's absolutely correct.

The solution is simple. The Boy Scouts should cease to accept tax-funding and cut all official ties to government agencies. The Boy Scouts should live up to its self-declared status as a private organization. This would also be living up to the Boy Scouts' principles: it is the honest and honorable thing to do. Sure seems clear to me. Could be the libertarian in me though.

$15 for a $3 box of popcorn is excessive. Especially when cost is probably about $0.75 per unit. Why not just ask for the $10 donation straight to BSA and forget the hassle of the popcorn delivery. I'm no Harvard MBA, but seems if you dropped the price to say $6 a box, you would sell three to four times the amount, mostly to people who wouldn't fork out the $15 for a single box. The people who really want to support BSA will still buy $50 bucks worth of stuff. Oh well, I guess when BSA realizes that prices are too high by not moving product, and units quit selling it, they will reassess the situation.

Local sign shops with computer controlled vinyl cutters can make up nice graphics pretty cheap. I've had several done for racing boats and are easy to apply. Just give them a disk with the image you want. Preferable one color.

"Talent on loan from God" Catchy phrase even its from a acknowledged drug addict.

Ed, I think you missed his point by a mile. You can teach someone music, but not a talent. Talent is a gift, something born with, something on loan by God. He may be able to play music but would not be a musician. Do you see the point?

I've been to a couple of these presidential events and to get close enough to be in a photo op like that, you pretty much are chosen to be there. Just wondering if OA got you a little higher up the totem pole. Good on 'em. Scouts looked excited. Something they will remember for their life. Like that picture of Clinton shaking hands with JFK!

I too am having a hard time watching the scouts try to push 15 buck boxes of popcorn with a fair market value of 3 to their friends and relatives. Just doesn't seem right. Might as well just give the boys a cup of pencils and have them beg on the street corner.

Thats what I expected. It's not that I don't trust our CO but I want to make sure that any donations made are directed to the purchase of the trailer and not to some other function the church deems appropriate. Our troop has a 50 year relationship with the church, but the current relationship is rather week from my POV. The COR has shown up to only one of our committee meetings in the 18 months I've been active. They give us space to hold our meetings and some storage space but otherwise are pretty hands off. Also, I don't belong to the congregation so I don't have much exposure to the leadership of the church. I'll call the COR and get his opinion on the issue. I have some high dollar donors who would like tax receipts. I didn't think the troop could issue them independantly.

Saw the picture in the local paper today of Bush shaking scout hands. Is it just me or did every single scout in that picture have an OA patch on their uni?

I'm putting together a program to raise funds for our troop to buy a trailer. We are chartered through a church. My question is are contributions to this unit level effort tax deductable? I know that any equipment purchased through the troop belongs to the charter org. Since it's a church, I figure it could be considered deductable. Am I right or way off base?

I didn't choose to be hetero, I just am. I'm not attracted to men or boys in a sexual way whatsoever. I doubt I could be trained or swayed to. Thinking about how two men might copulate gives me the same willies as someone scratching their fingernails on a chalk board. Just ain't natural for me. But I don't cast judgement on those who might be that way. Live and let live is my motto. What's a motto with you?

When one ventures outdoors, one must accept the risks presented and mitigate them as best they can. In my years of mountaineering, I've been "caught" in places that literally would make your hair stand on end. I remember on one climb we were traversing a boulder field at 14,000 ft and a sudden storm engulfed the mountain top. Static electricity was buzzing in my ears and the smell of ozone was everywhere. Not to mention the instantanious flash/booms in all directions. We crouched down on the balls of our feet amounst boulders and waited it out. Did our actions save us? Don't know. I do know if I stood up with a golf club above my head, I probably would have been fried. We had no choice, retreat was not feasible. Did we dance with death? You bet. Was I scared? DUHHHHH! Did it keep me from returning the the alpine slopes? No way. Most lightning mitigation is just common sense, but its never 100%. Don't stand in an open field during a storm or next to an isolated tree. Minimize your contact with the ground. Most lightning accidents are not direct hits to people but ground surges. Don't lie down, it gives the potential electricity a path through your heart. Could any of these techniques have mitigated this tragedy? Doubtful we will ever know.

My 12 year old son is also type 1 diabetic. Insulin pump. We plan on going to Philmont when he turns 14 and I too have had concerns over managing his insulin. The biggest concern I have is how to refrigerate his Humalog. If it doesn't require refrigeration, then its really not an issue for us. We will carry a vial with us and give a backup to the staff. One thing I've tried to make happen is not restrict any activity for my son due to his diabetes. Since he's still not quite there to self manage 100% of the time, I have to attend each event. But its fun for me too. Once he's 100% self managed, I hope to be confident enough in him to send him with educated adults without "dad" looking over his shoulder and reminding him to test. This summer we both did the OA Ordeal (we were both elected by our troop) and complied with the silence, eating and exercise requirements of the ordeal. Made me very nervous, especially the night alone. But he just tested frequently and turned his pump way down.

Well, since we are talking sins, let go the big ones. The 7 deadly sins. (BTW, homosexuality is not listed in them) Pride - well, I have to admit, I have shown pride when my son made Star last COH. So I have sinned. I've also displayed vanity making sure my uniform was pressed and perfect for that COH. Envy - sorry, at the last scout camp, I was envious of the neighbor troops trailer. It was so nice, all the stuff neatly packed. I really wanted one for my troop. I have sinned. Gluttony - lets just say the dutch oven peach cobbler was to die for. Lust - Pretty good on this one. Married 20 years and the itch hasn't needed scratching. Anger - sinned pretty good here when those dang christmas lights just wouldn't come untangled. Greed - did I mention that dutch oven peach cobbler? Sloth - after the cobbler, didn't feel like doing much. So call me a sinner here too. So as sins go, I'm pretty far up the pole. Guess from a BSA standpoint, I still make the cut because I don't commit the BIG one.

It all comes back to homosexuals to you doesn't it Rooster. You seem fixated on that topic. This topic is about the religous aspects of the OA ceremony. I guess you could conclude that some of the costumes used during the ceremony is also sported by one of the Village People and that OA is promoting homosexuality. I don't think so, but then again, I'm open minded.