Mr. Boyce

The whole octoplet case to me is an interesting study in media attention. Because our nation is so divided on family-related issues, the media fashioned this particular event into one about the "right size" of families. When obviously the real issue is medical ethics. Doctors are more than auto mechanics and need to take some responsibility for what they are doing... the mother here should not have been given this procedure. Perhaps it speaks also to our general public reluctance to put any controls on such things as cloning, abortion, artificial reproduction, etc. As long as it makes a buck, it's good.

I think LisaBob's comment about training is apt. More than this, one underreported benefit of adult training is just spending some time together in a room. . . after a few hours of this, people start talking, ideas get discussed and issues get a bit more tenderly, sensitively dealt with.

GernBlansten: I agreed immediately with your definition. If you can keep them more than a passing year or two, that says something good. Also, of course, older boys have different interests than younger ones, so it also suggests that the troop is delivering well on program.

It's a shame locating this out on the East Coast and in a part of the U.S. where summers are often said to be "sweltering." For my dime, really southwest Michigan would be ideal. Close to O'Hare airport, reasonable railroad access, major interstates, the fabulous Great Lakes ("Lake Michigan seems like a sportman's dreams. . ."), and close to a good many large cities.

I agree that abortion is murder and must be actively prohibited by law. But it is in my book the murder of human potentiality, which we must deeply cherish because we value our basic humanity and human integrity.

This reminds me of a newspaper column by a woman who does PR for an all-girls school. For many of the same reasons that she cited, which I believe are valid, it's a good thing for an all-male environment. This is probably even more useful than before, given the many single mothers out there.

Count me in as a codger. I'd like to see Boy Scouts with fewer females simply because there are so few opportunities for males to be together without the whole sex thing involved. AND the whole "I gotta make sure I look good/my fly is up/my beard is shaved/my shirt is tucked in" kind of thing). It's a lot more relaxing without women around. You can let your hair down.

It is worth reading, and has stimulated a lot of conversation among various nonprofit outdoor and conservation groups around Chicago. I've corresponded (briefly) with the author, who is not very up on scouting, likely due to a progressivist bias. The actual science supporting his claims is very thin. I would not make as many definitive assertions as he does based on this. . . but to be sure, not much research as been done on "nature deprivation"!

J-dawg: what you say is true. The nasty little secret here is that coaches DON'T want to tell the truth about the fall-out rate in sports! And they propagate myths about there being tons of scholarships out there for sports, when in reality this is not true. And the big myth? that manliness is only built through the (few) major sports.

I think neckerchiefs look sharp. They don't if they're tiny things, so it's worth the effort to have your wife make you a couple.

This has been cited above, and is a real factor: Kids, even older teens, have the opportunity to fantasize about being a professional. . . and all the gobs of money and adulation this brings. This fanciful thinking really can infect youth. Heck, anyone can be beguiled by beautiful visions rather than schlepp through the daily grind of school.

I'm always impressed by the large number of parents who get their kids involved in sports, in order to win a college scholarship. This would not matter much to a 12 year-old, but would to a 14 year-old, especially if his father kept citing the importance of it. One great advantage the HS sports people have is simply that it's a seamless web: just walk out of the classroom, go over to the gym and changeout for your sport. To be fair, we should note that only a few sports get really substantial attention, and a lot of sports do not. Curiously, more teens are involved in the latter than the former.

OP, IM-Kathy: At his age, let him decide for himself. In my book, it kept me active as a scout and meant a lot because we could see we were doing tangible projects that had value. I would be apprehensive of a boy who (a) didn't much care if he was elected, or (b) pushed himself forward. Either one kinds of destroys the feeling of receiving a genuine honor from your peers. I liked the OA as a kind of mini-fraternity. It's okay for the older boys to associate with themselves.

Abortion is murder, plain and simple. The real deception here is allowing murder because no one wants to get women upset; abortion is an evil that finds its protection under the guise of "women's rights." Have you ever noticed how men have been shut out of the debate? As if the father (or, heck, any man) has absolutely no say in whether society should permit this evil to exist?

You know the real way to really make an immediate dint here would be for scouting to institute 10 all-expenses paid college scholarships in each state. "Why be a scout?" Because I can earn a scholarship.

Hal_Crawford: I'm not sure what you're saying about scouts being embarrassed to wear the uniform in school is anything new. I do recall in the 70s, wearing my uniform a time or two to junior high school. Nobody said boo or made fun of it. But I didn't wear it in high school. . . I suppose because scouting is a non-high school activity. This was long before the 90s brouhaha over the 3Gs. Kids are always willing to find reason to pick on kids who are different, and a scout uniform can do this to you. Kids have been embarrassed to wear the uniform in school for a long time, perhaps since 1910. And also, all those badges and patches are things are undecipherable to the uninitiated! But everybody knows what varsity letters and jackets are.

I don't know if it's yet been said, but when you wear the colors of your high school, you assume the responsibility of representing that school and its students and even your town. . . you're more than an individual and more than that particular club or sport. In Scouts, you don't get public acknowledgement as being the embodiment of your particular school or community.

In times like these, perhaps the words "In God We Trust" should be made even larger on our currency!

The motto "In God We Trust" should be on American currency.

roguedawg: nice post.

The checks can be useful things, an aid to judgment. I would be reluctant to simply allow whatever record was before me to wholly influence my judgment. They do contain human assessments, which can be mistaken or flawed or biased. I think you take a look at that, and talk to a few people as well.

Everyone's taking a stab at pulling out the truth. There are many trends going on. Some of these help the BSA, others do not. The biggest factor is likely the sheer competition for youth's attention: from other organizations (especially the intensification/professionalization of recreational sport) as well as from other kinds of activities that better fit into personal schedules. It's easy to turn on a computer for a minute or two; hard to round up people for a game of baseball outside. The Boy Scouts have a huge opportunity to market the program to single mothers. I think a large percentage of them eventually realize that they can't do it alone, and that their interests would be extremely well-served by the BSA program. One abiding factor---but with a larger impact now than in the past, since we're all moving at such greater speed between places, things and relationships---is the perceived lack of coolness of scouting. But this will always be the case. What's tough now is the extreme media harping and blasting that youths have to be street fighters and sports heroes to make the cut. Unfortunately, the noise from our nonstop, omnipresent media totally overwhelms any rebuttal from parents, friends, relatives, etc.

It's events and situations like this that show the long and slow death of the idea of political correctness. At this late date, it is whomever shouts the LOUDEST and with the most CONFIDENCE that wins. This is fine. The idea of political correctness wasn't clearly thought out to begin with. We will end up returning to the concept that feelings and sentiments should not be actionable in court.

It's sad the homosexual cause is popular just right now. Homosexual organizations of various ilk get public support in many different ways, and I hate to see my tax dollar supporting this immoral behavior. I don't see any public benefit.

I ordered the LL Bean Cresta boots, mainly since Bean makes good stuff and these come in narrow. They should come in the next few days, we'll see how it goes. I feel like a traitor to my old Vasques---rather than bury them with a proper ceremony I think I'll hang them in the basement. Hard to give them up.