packsaddle

Write a PM to Terry. The mods don't have that ability.

....heavy sigh.........thinking......nevermind

Bad Dog! Bad, Bad, Dog!

Welcome to the world of educational excellence, lol. In the USA they would be stumped by questions such as: Who is buried in Grant's Tomb?

As I read through this thread I am reminded of how we sometimes discuss the different factors that contribute to loss of membership. To me, this aspect/problem with the program (Cub Scouts) that feeds more boys to Scouting than anything else, is a strong candidate to explain the decline. When I was CM I attempted to alert the district and the council to the importance of cubs to the future of scouting. I was talking to the hand it seems. One more thing...as I read these very last responses, the finger of fate is starting to itch. Play nice.

True, I think they get HIPAA mixed up with FERPA which does restrict disclosure of all kinds of private things about students.

Individuals? Where are you getting this nonsense? It only applies to individuals if they are part of a 'covered entity'. This has already been answered hundreds of times for churches who, during services for example, call out for prayers for so-and-so who is in the hospital with so-and-so disease or malady. That's public disclosure. They're not covered by this law. For Boy Scouts, this was answered here: http://scoutingmagazine.org/issues/0801/d-flin.html

Nonsense. Here's the law: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/45/164.506 It doesn't apply unless you're a covered entity. Here's the definition of covered entity: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/coveredentities/ Scoutmasters don't even come close.

Nope, I'm with you.

I agree. If she was involved with your son's medical care she probably would have crossed 'the line'. But anyway she should have been more sensitive to the issues regarding such disclosures. It is difficult not to conclude that she intended some kind of 'warning' to the other unit. It was clearly unethical and unscoutlike. You have every reason to be disgusted by the action and I sincerely hope the unit leader of the other unit will 'spot' this on his own.

Just to note: it's HIPAA..... and this law does not apply in this case. HIPAA applies to health care providers, health care facilities and, in some cases, insurance companies. It doesn't apply to non-professional or casual exchange of information, no matter how unethically it was obtained or used. In this case the term I applied was 'gossip' and I consider the action to be unethical and worthy of criticism. But it doesn't violate laws except perhaps 'The Golden Rule'. Edit @ Moosetracker: Calling out names for medical forms is not a violation of HIPAA and you are not bound by that law in any event. That is 'incidental disclosure' and allowed explicitly by the law itself - even if you were bound by it which you're not. However, health care facilities WILL attempt to intimidate you by claiming it is a violation...but it isn't. The persons who violated a trust in this case did no more than they would have if they had advertised that 'so and so' had a case of poison ivy. It was a violation of trust, there's little question about that. But it does not cross a legal line because that line doesn't exist for a case like this.

When we've reconciled our enrollments we've found all sorts of mistakes, wrong birthdays, missing scouts, scouts from other units, etc. What's the point? The point is that units need to do this stuff for themselves. Give them an online template and if anyone wants a membership certificate or card, print the thing. Otherwise, save the time and expense.

Yeah, that copyright thing. That applies to the printed matter, not the ideas. There's no reason that some other 'program' can't use ideas from other programs. It happens all the time with every product that's successful. But I don't think that's what JoeBob is advocating, the idea that we would "walk away". Rather, I think he's looking to the idea that things do end up downsizing in a big way. What is the 'critical mass' needed for volunteers to basically take things into their own hands without the so-called 'help' from those top guys who by that time probably will have run to some other 'big money' jobs? In that case, he's basically solving the essential problems of supplies and access to other resources by employing new technologies and modern business practices. He may have some rough edges here and there but I think that at its core, there are some good ideas there. Would it be a different BSA if Irving shriveled up and went away? Maybe. Would it be better or worse? It's hard to think of how it could be worse.

If this happened with a student and 'teachers' were involved, it would be a violation of law and someone's neck could be on the block for it. But there's not much you can do about volunteers in a 'gossip' situation though and that's what this appears to be. It makes me angry to hear of situations like this because there's nothing constructive about it...only harm to everyone involved. When you do make contact with the other troop, try to make it as congenial as possible and try to sense if they've been 'set up' already by this behind-the-back activity. If they have, inform them that you are aware of it and how saddened you are that as a result an innocent boy, your son, could be hurt by it. See if they soften any and if so, be frank about the needs and challenges associated with his membership. If the new unit is worth anything they'll take your comments seriously and sympathetically. If they have already made up their minds, you didn't need that bunch in the first place.

"It's ALIVE!!!!!"

Are we ignoring the possibility that she's the 'real deal'? Edit: I mean, how do we know she's NOT getting the direct message from God? Why assume that she's loopy? The OP didn't give any detail on her background so how do we know?

Why is it necessary to have huge numbers of members? Why is it necessary to have a gargantuan, bloated, overpaid superstructure? Why does a pack or troop need anything more than a CO and good local leadership and enough boys to form a patrol? Yes, it's good to have the badges and pamphlets but how much 'size' is really required to have those things in these days of 'online everything'?

AlwaysGolden, welcome to the forums. Wow, something like this happened to me...about 20-25 years ago...h'mmmm maybe longer. At that time, after I indulged in some maniacal laughter, I asked the person if, since they knew this sure enough to warn me, if THEY were planning to do the deed? Followed by more laughter. Sometimes laughter really is the best response. In my case I just peppered the person with followup questions about dates, time of day it might happen, what the weather was going to be like in the coming days, that sort of thing (the person was wrong about the weather too). The boys caught on right away and they had nothing but sympathy for the 'crazy' person. After that I didn't hear much from the 'clairvoyant' anymore. (Got one call, complaining they hadn't been informed of some meeting whereupon I asked if they were admitting that they really were NOT clairvoyant?....CLICK) As COR, I think you should just watch the situation and take notes. It's likely to just go away but if it persists you might consider some of the other comments. But personally, I'd enjoy having someone tell me something like that...make my day. Edited to remove: details of the fun we had with this on outings the following year or so, planning the 'burial'.

Welcome to the forums, angler. It isn't often that one first-time member challenges another first-time member. I hope you will take the opportunity to join other threads as vigorously. As noted to the object of your comment, the Issues & Politics forum can sometimes be rough around the edges. I hope you'll come to enjoy the more-positive areas of the forums as well.

6'2", 200lb. I'm quite a bit older than JoeBob. I have just as much appetite as always, but it doesn't take that much to satisfy it. No alcohol, period. That's a 'hidden' source of a huge number of calories, not to mention my rant about the other aspects.

Muuuddddbuuuuugggsss....mmmmmmm. Time for dinner. Volunteers are always a scarce commodity. People are not blind. They look at the current volunteers who put in so much time and, in many cases, personal treasure as well, that it is hardly a model that will naturally generate more volunteers.

Eagledad needs to sit down..now. I agree. Also with the other comments.

Adamcp, welcome to the forums. Please be advised, Issues and Politics sometimes can be rough around the edges. The other forums, on the other hand, offer help and support for a wide variety of scouting topics.

LOL, I was expecting something else. I still meet the standard myself but I can understand how middle-age delivers a 'smack-down' for any adult male who thinks he's still a 'twenty-bopper'. At least I didn't see any 'generals' in there.

This state will never ratify it. It was founded on the plantation/Lords Proprietor system of government and that spirit is alive through and through the state even today. The structure of this government was set in place during the times of slavery and then reinforced after reconstruction in a so-far-successful attempt to keep the white 'elite' in power. And it has been very successful in doing so. I like to think of it as "visiting the iniquities" of one generation upon subsequent generations long after. I thought about these parallels the other day as I viewed the 'Old Market' where slaves were traded on this island and which was the site of unimaginable sorrow, misery, and despair. Today there are descendents of slaves with little souvenir stands selling baskets and hot sauce and other items as souvenirs to the sweaty fat white people who occasionally visit. There is only one such place that I know of in the United States that today is an almost perfect parallel: Charleston, SC.