RememberSchiff

Regarding Lehmberg, did voters petition for a recall election?

"The Eagle Scouts Cycling Across America are members of Troop 165, based in Spotsylvania County (VA). They relied on foot power, perseverance and mental fortitude to pedal their bikes almost 3,800 miles, through mountains of California, deserts of Nevada, coal country of Kentucky to the foothills of the Blue Ridge. But read the EXCELLENT story link below. There will be a quiz on fundraising, flat tires, participants, and great people they met, http://news.fredericksburg.com/newsd...-bike-journey/

Eastern Mountain Sports has annual Club Days with discounts of 20% or more on most items. "Club" as buyer is a registered member in an organized group: Boy Scouts, school outing club, AMC, Sierra Club... REI has Member (registered with REI) discount weekends with similar discounts.

That is a very good question. What have his scouts learned from this? He may have taught them to be sheep not citizens. If his scouts made a mistake then step up and admit it. If his scouts did see a gun drawn, step up and give a statement. A scout is Brave. If the IGO investigators were prepared, they should have brought along items that could have been mistaken for a handgun - clipboard, flashlight, etc .for scouts to examine. I wonder how many of his scouts will drop out this fall as a result. Good point about their names being placed on a warning or watch list.

We ALL review first aid (Readyman) periodically. Be Prepared. It does not need to be presented the same way or by the same person. You have the opportunity to give your Webs a taste of scouting by having those that completed Readyman attempt to teach those who have not. You might arrange a class with your local town EMTs Be sure to tell your scouts and their parents, that this is their THIRD and likely last opportunity to earn Readyman and the resulting consequences. We give scouts an abundance of guidance, activities, and opportunities. Most take advantage but some will not. Good luck.

Good points. For awhile, I thought Fox might be taking the heat for either the scouts or their parents. Back in the presence of the scouts' parents, it is not his decision whether the scouts come forward. I don't buy the national security issue with the videos either.

Update 8/13/2014 The probe by the Inspector General Office has ended. According to Des Moines Register article (link below) - Nobody  not other Scouts, not the adult chaperones, not Border Patrol agents and not video recordings of the time  saw a gun drawn and held on Scouts. - Only two 15 year old Scouts claimed they saw the handgun. And those Scouts, at the advice of Scout leader Jim Fox of Grimes, declined to speak - The interaction took about 50 minutes and was recorded by four different video camera angles. The Scouts, their chaperones and the Border Patrol agents were in frame for the entire video  except for a 13-second moment in which one Border Patrol agent was out of frame. SM Fox believes that is the moment the gun was drawn and pointed. He said he stands by his Scouts' statements. - Officials have declined to make the videos public citing national security. - The Inspector General Office has not issued a final report yet. My understanding, the IGO only investigated the gun drawing. http://www.desmoinesregister.com/sto...ends/14040877/

Hmm, Maine and a 100m rifle range at a scout camp, wonder if locals will be dropping in, uninvited, to sight-in their deer rifles?

Wow, thanks for posting that interview. I disagree with Sm Fox initial lone wolf response but I am glad he now has legal counsel. Not sure his scouts have learned any citizenship lessons. Maybe they need to watch Mr. Smith Goes to Washington? My advice, it is time to play offense Hawkeyes. Both sides agree the border camera incident occurred and most scouts and their families cannot understand why it was illegal at a port of entry, You have your Senator Grassley on your side, why not propose to Senator Grassley that he sponsor a bill. Call it the Scout Border Camera Bill or the Say Cheese at Our Border Bill. Help lobby support and observe the legislative action in progress . I bet even with the most Do-Nothing Congress ever, this bill will receive bipartisan support. A lesson in active, involved citizenship. Another $0.02,

Update http://www.keepmecurrent.com/front/military-pulls-out-of-camp-hinds/article_d70bafbe-1f2c-11e4-bbc5-001a4bcf887a.html Selected extracts follow: After three months, the military has pulled out of Camp Hinds. In their wake, the roughly 420 engineer reservists that cycled through the camp this summer left a new parking lot, five new shooting ranges, three new staff cabins and more at the 87-year-old Raymond Boy Scouts camp. The reservists also built an 1,800-foot access road, renovated the John P. Messer Rotary Scout Training Center, cleared a site for a future dining facility, added electricity to buildings, built a new loudspeaker, and constructed four shooting pavilions, equipped with roofs bolstered with 10-gauge steel. Although the training program has prepared a five-year plan for the site, Benko said, the future of the program remains in the hands of Congress. Reservists will definitely return next spring to begin foundation work on the new dining facility, Benko said. But it remains to be seen whether the project will be funded beyond next year. It is exceedingly rare in the Boy Scouts of America to have a modern, safely designed, professionally built 100-meter-rifle range,†Tarbox said. “We’re not aware of any Boy Scout camps nationally that have a 100-meter rifle range. There may be. We’re just not aware of any. So for us to have one at Camp Hinds enables us to offer a learning experience with long-range, .22 rifle shooting that can’t be offered anywhere else.†Scout salute to the National Guard and Army and Marine reserve units.

Yes and I agree as I heard those views from staff. Also heard from troop adult leaders and some older scouts who wanted "the weekend" after camp back. They felt camp consumed the better part of two weekends. And if you are adult using your vacation time while your family waits at home...

Just back from a week of camp. I noticed a variety of different departure times such that the Saturday closing ceremony had about a third of troops that started the week. So when should a week of camp officially end, i.e., all troop pack up,campsite inspected, and troop leaves? I will assume most camps run Sunday through Saturday.

I am becoming skeptical that the public will learn the truth of this matter. I wonder if the Freedom of Information Act can be used to release the Customs videos? Maybe Congress will drop the photo restrictions, which started this incident, as they are silly (Customs posts port of entry videos on Youtube), unnecessary, and unenforceable (smart phones, Google glasses, etc.) My $0.02

Some scouts don't even wear pants. Not to worry, a scout is a scout whether he is wearing the uniform or not, which is optional

According to link below "The agents, Hopper said, had spoken with another one of the four adults chaperoning the Scout trip." Hopper added, "The investigators have been very clear they are only looking at whether Border Patrol drew a gun on the Scouts. They're not going after the Scouts or their leaders." What about the alleged: prison term/$10K fine threat, 4 hour detention (or was that to change a flat tire?), and questioning scouts about packing knives and matches? The issue of SM Fox not giving permission to interview scouts may be that he is just not naming who they are and so the investigators do not know exactly who to interview unless scouts step forward on their own? This is getting more and more odd. http://www.desmoinesregister.com/sto...rded/13450109/

Here's another special person, U.S. Army Maj. Glenn Battschinger In 2010, he started Afghan boy scout Troop 1 with 40 scouts. Today, there are dozens of troops in five eastern Afghanistan provinces, funded with a $100,000 grant secured by Battschinger from the Department of Defense and serving more than 10,000 boys and about 1,500 girls. http://www.people.com/article/afghanistan-boy-scouts-army-hero

I'm puzzled that other adult leaders who were on the trip are not speaking and did not view the video yesterday. SM Fox now has legal representation, John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute (Virginia). SE Hopper had a reassuring observation "I've been impressed with the investigation and how serious and courteous they have been," Hopper said. "One of the investigators is a scoutmaster back in Seattle. They understand how our organization works. And we both want the truth." http://www.desmoinesregister.com/sto...outs/13395149/

7/30/2014, Updated with USA Today Investigators from Homeland Security met this morning with SM Jim Fox and SE Robert Hopper at Mid-Iowa Council http://www.midiowacouncilbsa.org/ "They said four cameras at the border recorded video of the incident. (SM) Fox told KCCI that after reviewing it, he said for him the video is inconclusive. The investigation is ongoing." According to the USA Today article, SE Hopper after viewing video, said "(video) doesn't match the story that's been presented (by scouts).". "At one point, one of the officers shined a flashlight into one of the vans," Hopper said. "It was after 9 at night, so maybe that was when somebody thought they saw a gun. I don't know." "Hopper said federal investigators would be in town through Friday and had requested to meet with the Scouts who witnessed the incident." http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/07/30/scout-leader-maintains-agent-pointed-gun-at-boys/13393267/ http://www.kcci.com/news/feds-open-i...ident/27184948

I like the video interview with the scout who was in the park to remove bush honeysuckle. Maybe today's scout needs to know leaf identification of this too? http://www.fox28.com/story/26144728/2014/07/29/boy-scout-finds-marijuana-plants-in-city-park

Not the point, my relatives tend to have the opinion that their scouts, among other youth groups, are their best kids and they protect all their kids. But if this is how you treat our best ...and the emotions take off. Sorry that my wording was not clear. Latest news from KCCI http://www.kcci.com/news/feds-open-i...ident/27184948 "The Office of Inspector General (OIG), Department of Homeland Security, has opened in investigation into the allegations made concerning a July 7 incident along the U.S. –Canadian Border involving Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel and members of an Iowa-based Boy Scout troop. The OIG is taking the lead in the investigation, which is being conducted in conjunction with the CBP Office of Internal Affairs." Too bad the Alaska State Troopers are not the lead investigators.

T2Eagle that's a good explanation of the border realities. I will take a stab at realities in Iowa. My relatives in Iowa live outside of the supposed "100 mile Constitution free zone" and hence still live in America proper. They don't understand this "zone" that a Federal judge affirmed. They don't understand how the US border suddenly grew 100 miles wide inward. They also don't understand why American citizens would be so treated (detained for 4 hours) at the entry point to their own country (allegedly) because of pocket knives and matches. You are back in the land of the free and home of the brave and should be welcomed home where your constitutional rights not a gun greet you at the door. And yes, they are livid about an American law enforcement officer (allegedly) pulling a firearm on one of their Boy Scouts at that door. Another $0.02,

Tree Climbing was a Cub Scout rank or arrow elective requirement back in 60's. I think it was for Wolf. I remember climbing a neighbor's tree as high as her roof.

Like nature, outdoor education is somewhat cyclic. Some of the events along that timeline: learning nature, agriculture from the American Indian as we "settled" West, colleges offer degrees in Agriculture, Scouting/4H, recycling for war effort, victory gardens, colleges offer degrees in Forestry/Land management, Earth Day Movement (ecology), recycling for the environment, Outward Bound/NOLS, colleges offer degrees in Environmental Science, community gardens...Last Child in the Woods (1998), colleges offer degrees in outdoor recreation. So periodically, some adults wake up and realize what has been forgotten from the past and re-institute it. LNT is but one example. In recent years, I have found that many local middle and high schools have developed successful outdoor programs. To me it seems ironic, that the schools are offering outdoor programs and the BSA is offering STEM programs, each attempting to fill a void created by the other. Go figure. My $0.02

Update: 7/26/2014 http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/ca...tml?akmobile=o San Diego,CA police are unable to determine if gunshot(s) was intentional or accidental, but believe scout got the unregistered gun in Las Vegas and brought it to San Diego summer camp. Scout was then shot inside his tent while camping on Fiesta Island Monday, June 30. "San Diego police say another boy was in the tent and a third boy was outside when the shooting happened. The investigation has now been handed over to the Las Vegas Police Department." Clark County, Nevada which includes Las Vegas requires handgun registration.

No. I have family in Nebraska and Iowa and we stay in touch.