MrsSmith

Not being a mass murderer myself, and not knowing any to ask personally, I'll repeat what I have read (probably on the internet, so it must be true!). Those who are killing in the name of Allah think they have a religious obligation to rid the world of infidels (non Muslims), either through forcing conversion or killing them. Children, are better off dead than growing up to be infidels by choice. They believe the children are innocent and therefore, killing them sends them straight to heaven. I actually think I read that in connection with one of the Israeli/Palestinian suicide/murders involving children. Where do they come up with beliefs like that while other more moderate Muslims deny those obligations exist? Well, read through the book of Judges sometime. Jehovah ordered the Hebrews to slay entire cities of pagans: men, women, children, born and unborn, and even their animals. Does that mean we should be killing unbelievers, too? HIS ways are incomprehensible to us.

Thank you all for the information. I tried to research this issue on my own. I am reading thread through "Let's play Unit Commissioner", but it wasn't quite what I needed to know. "Too often unit commissioning is used as a bullpen for scouters who were not the right fit for any other position". Does that include volunteers you want to get out of the way or subtly render ineffectual? In other words, does this usually end up being just a title without any influence? Also, can one be a UC and committee member, too? Finally, with whom does the UC directly interface at the unit level, the COR, CC, or the SM or none of the above.

Thank you for your insight, Fuzzy Bear.

And why would one want this job. Or why not. Does anyone out there speak from experience.

WOW. Its about time FOG got spanked. Goodbye FOG. Welcome back Bob White.

Thanks for asking. He had fun and he finished summer camp with Lifesaving, Environmental Science, Wilderness Survival and election to Order of the Arrow. He had a partial in Camping. That prompted a patrol camping/canoe trip to complete requirement #9 by the merit badge makeup day. With that out of the way, summer was a huge success for our house. Ready for fall. Personal Fitness is on the agenda.

This issue of what the BSA insurance covers and when its covered seems to be part urban legend. Is there a lawyer in the house?

nldscout, what is "scouts-L" please.

While we are on the subject: Warning: as of July 27th BoyScouts.com had a link to porn in its Troop Websites section. A very unpleasant experience to say the least. That's one problem you don't have here.

"Patrol planned and executed activities where no adult is present or required to be present" Would these scouts be covered by the BSA medical and liability insurance?

I believe this is a problem in our modern society in general. I don't know if we are ruder than we used to be or just busier. My experience in the last 20 years has been that no one RSVPs to written invitations anymore, people say they will come on the phone and then don't or they show up unannounced. Many times these party crashers want to come and go as they please and don't want to pay for the event. My son's patrol had been planning a weekend camping trip for a month and he had difficulty getting 3 out of the 6 boys to commit. It was finalized 2 days before the event, and only after he called them every night. One boy wanted to back out at the last minute because a friend invited him to a party. Thank heaven, his dad balked because they had already paid for this trip. I think Silver Shark is right - next time offer an incentive to reserve early.

Google this phrase for several interesting articles discussing this theory. The gist is that the stage of development called "adolescence" was unknown until the 20th century; actually 1904. For thousands of years of human history, when a young person reached age 12 or 13, they "put away" childhood and became young adults with adult responsibilities. Compulsory education and child labor laws which made young people unproductive burdens on the poor and middle class required social re-engineering and, hence, the invention of adolescence. The experiment of age-segregation in school (as opposed to the one room school house of the 19th century) and Darwinism (micro-evolution) were touted as proof of the need for this interim phase of personal development. Organizations sprang up to keep idle adolescents busy. Voila: Boy Scouts.

I filed one. It was actually painless; the ladies at the office were very helpful and sympathetic. Thanks for the ammunition.

Under 12 years of age, child endangerment. Over 12, unfortunate accident.

I know you all think I am a nitwit (are we permitted to call ourselves names under the new rules?) for asking these questions. In How to get Rid of the Scoutmaster I jumped into this forum, desperately seeking help to correct the problems our troop has, chiefly, Old Guard who are used to running things their way (a camping club). Filing a Tour Permit would cramp ones style if one were not following BSA guidelines for Safe Scouting, Youth Protection, etc. That pretty much sums it up. Thanks for all the information.(This message has been edited by MrsSmith)