Mr. Boyce

collarless shirts.

In business, elites are the CEOs and the financial industry ringleaders who (a) preach a "free market", and then (b) externalize their losses onto the American taxpayer, and then © deliver massive bail-outs to their gang members. In media, elites are those who went to fancy schools and work for national media. They know each other and party with each other, date each other, etc. The media elite usually are the ones that stir up concerns about "elites" because they own the pipeline: if they believe bigamy is a good idea, then it's stuffed into our ears how great bigamy is, and people eventually say, "bigamy's great." (example) In academia, elites are a self-perpetuating group of amazingly lefty liberals. You don't get hired if you have a differing opinion (true!), or get nowhere unless you join the huddle. You bounce your ideas to media, and media repeats them back to you in a nice-feeling, self-confirming circle. The academic elites work all over the place, not confined to the leafy domains of the majors.

Knee socks work for me. I'd add making a chenille fleur de lis, for HS guys to put on their letter jacket.

I think it would be nice to see professional book designers work with the handbooks. I remember a scout handbook a few years back where the text ran into the gutter; the Cub books are too disorganized in presenting information: too zippy and not linear enough.

I'm looking for a family tent that is actually waterproof. And relatively inexpensive. Any suggestions?

You might want to point out to him that going to a scout meeting or event makes for a very nice break from the ongoing college scene: a breath of fresh air, a change of pace.

Here's my nutshell definition: The "elite" is that group which knows what Julliard is.

""""A populist believes that da populace as a whole somehow possesses magical, unearned skills that they never had to work for. Somehow the fellow at the bar knows as much about diplomacy as da professional diplomat who speaks da language and has worked 30 years in the field. But they don't, of course. That's why just about every populist movement in history leads to dictatorship, and why da most despicable despots like that twat in Libya always base themselves in populist ideology. So long as yeh keep denigrating hard work and competence, yeh can justify foolishness. Hand da government over to that Bedouin who just graduated military school, eh? He's for the people! He's one of us! Competence not required. Yep, sign me up as an "elite." I believe in hard work, earned experience, and personal competence. """" That really misses the point of the populist revolt, which was small-scale farmers who felt they were being crushed by the high cost of farm credit and cost of transporting their products to market. I think historically you find a theme that connects them to the progressive movement, which attempted to fight the problems of monopoly capitalism. The populists were for the small businessmen/small farmers/open market as opposed to a controlled market run by a handful of dominating businesses.

No, I've read a few biographies of Justice Louis Brandeis and a few histories of the progressive era, and I support the collective bargaining right. I'm generally pro-Union, though not a member of a union. Unions on occasion do make themselves criticizable. In SO many instances, we see business agreeing to a contract with labor. . . and then, further down the road, make a big squawk about it. What's to squawk about? You made a contract. Stick to it. That's Business 101.

Just to keep up with everyone/everything else, National should have auto bumper stickers: two types, the first being a white oval (like the European nations) with a fleur de lis in the middle, and the second being a white scout sign (like the soccer van moms have for soccer).

To me, the elites are those joined by high incomes and diplomas from "prestigious" universities. So I think the "meritocracy" is the elite. The REALLY RICH people duck out entirely from politics, except in rare situations. They're busy in Monaco playing backgammon.

"Collective bargaining" is the equivalent of top drawer CEO's pointing to "what the other guys got" when they demand a huge salary. Studies consistently show minimal relationship between performance and pay at the top levels; we know this much. In both cases, it's a demand. If collective bargaining goes, I say we toss out the argument that "hey, the other bank presidents make this much, so I should, too."

I'd add uniform pants without the guerilla warfare pockets. Just basic plain front pants.

The most stunning "handwritten note" I ever saw was a short scrip of paper, and written, in pencil, was Lincoln authorizing the resupply of Ft. Sumter. This was where the rubber hit the road.

. . . are letters from "Boy Scouts of America" strip still falling off the new shirt? Or has this problem been fixed?

Tell him I say he's fortunate (or just very intelligent) to be sticking in: I wish I had at his age! So much good stuff missed. . .

It is a rhetorical trick to call it a "death" tax. Instead it is a tax on unearned windfalls.

OP: I tend to see a great deal of wisdom in BSA's approach to this subject. Have you considered you might be wrong?

Wear it. National needs to change this one. When I was 11-12, it was a bit inspirational to see my SM's medal; he'd wear it every so often. Damn fine medal!

OP: I'm tremendously impressed, and encouraged, by your tenacity. You honestly deserve a medal! I'm at that reflective midstage of life, and I can more clearly see that scouting was far more valuable than the sports I did. You're to be congratulated for your perseverance. Keep calling the council: they'll get the knack, wake up, and help you.

It's always part-amusing and part-frightening to see the psychic energy Mr. Merlyn has in these issues. If atheist, why stay in BSA? (why go to Sunday School?, etc.) I agree with people who say that the teen years are years of individual exploration of ideas and the general world around them. I know I was a BSA member and questioned God's existence: for many, it's a normal phase, sometimes prolonged through the college years. It's been interesting to me to see that polls of significant scientists show they have more religious belief than the general public.

The BSA organization would immediately suffer if avowed gays were accepted, because parents would, reasonably enough, fear predators, in the same way that parents are concerned about their sons becoming altar boys! And while it is true that not all homosexuals are pedophiles, there is a far greater percentage of pedophilia among homosexuals than there is within a comparable cohort of heterosexuals. So it's a somewhat reasonable fear.

I have to say it is curious to me, and I wonder the financial cost, of so many scholars, etc., working up rewritings of the Bible, interpretations that turn away the obvious point and develop huge, intricate schemas which are said to indicate that homosexuality is not a moral evil. How many of your tax dollars have paid for this intellectual finagling? I am sorry, saddened and stupefied when I learn of denominations that somehow believe the Bible okays homosexuality. It's incomprehensible to me, and I've read some of those twisted efforts at justifying the practice. NO I don't "hate" homosexuals. I'm tired of hearing this rant whenever a person disagrees with a gay spokesman/propagandist.

For my two cents of free cyberspace, the OP is not a good role model. . . where's reverence? and where's the morally straight/clean aspect? OH DON'T FRET! I UNDERSTAND GAYS HAVE FEELINGS. I'm not saying the OP should be treated badly at all. It DOES strike me as odd that an atheist would feel interested in becoming a scout (or an altar acolyte, for that matter), or odd that a gay would also do so. BE careful about bashing those who disagree with the PC-mantra here; disagreeing with PC doesn't make one an awful person.

Life's tough enough: (a) female camp staff are too diverting to the scouts; (b) they also drive off possible male staffers (girls this age are more mature, better organized, more motivated; this means the boys suffer or get fewer opportunities to develop).