TAHAWK

Welcome on behalf of the North Coast. ^___^

Wrong neighborhoods?

There are 1000's of troop websites. How about looking at some of them and, if you like what you see, asking how they did it?

If planning starts with one or more objectives, focus is not a problem. What do the leaders want their patrols to experience? Better, what do their patrol members want to experience? Sunrise on top of a mountain or at some location on an eastern shore? Sleeping in a field-expedient shelter? Building a bridge across a stream? Bushwacking? Orienteering? Fishing? Sledding? There are really far too many things than could ever be experienced in 24 days and nights a year.

First, the rules require the discussion as a prerequisite, not the signed card. That is clear by the specific provision for pre-card work to be counted towards earning the badge. The Scout should have had the discussion. We have one side of the story of why that did not happen. The SM has said he would have (tried to) block the Scout from earning the badge even if the discussion took place, though it is very clear that the SM has no right to do so. The SM wants to create his own, personal advancement system outside the ambit of the rules he is honor-bound to uphold. So the discussion would have been an entirely futile act. As between the kid and the adult, who committed the greater offense? Trustworthy goes both ways. A Scoutmaster who shows the boys that the rules are to be ignored because he knows better (because the ends justify the means) may set an example that is somewhat outside the values and goals of Scouting. If he can't change, subtraction is addition. Do we assume that the MBC was incompetent due to his age? I don't. I've seen 16-year-olds who knew more about the topic than some MBCs This was a registered MBC. Without more, he is presumed competent. If reasonable, mature people are involved, there ought to be a way out that does not damage the Scout or the patrols. People do, however, get defensive. "Feedback is a gift" is only a nice theory.

36 mi round trip to one and 44 mile round trip to the other.

Local coverage of Ann case. http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/06/18/commentary-is-there-room-atheists-indonesia.html

Units I have been commissioned in have gone to the Sea Base and Philmont multiple times. They have also done troop high adventures to Canada, White Mountains, Rockies, Isle Royale, and several long trails in western PA. All good. The troop adventures, as noted, were much more economical and required more Scout planning. (Porkies? That makes me recall the camp raiders banging the pots and pans every half hour at one of our campsites on the Mattawa - where I finally met No-See-Ems.)

Have you ever encountered an adult who needs to hear "no" regardless of how firmly and sincerely he clings to his or her belief? I suspect the answer is "yes." An experienced Scouter with a decent relationship with the Scout can usually influence his decisions. I have talked Scouts into things - like taking Camping and Backpacking before taking Wilderness Survival (although the last is my favorite MB). At the end, if the Scout legitimately passed the MB, who was incorrect, the adult or the child? And if we say "no," and B.S.A. says "yes," what collateral damage may result?

(^___^) Sometimes "Hanlon's Razor": "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." Or as my Scoutmaster observed after a fiasco of a Camporee: "They may just not be very good at it."

Brother, you are asking not about religions but about governments. The nation with the largest number of Muslim citizens is Indonesia. Indonesia does officially recognize Islam - and five other religions: Catholicism, Protestantism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism. Nevertheless, many other unofficial religions carry on. The percentage of Christians has increased in Indonesia since 1985. The Governor of Indonesia's largest city and capital is a Christian, but he is not the first Christian to hold the position in independent Indonesia. These are not simple issues and simple "answers" are largely unhelpful. "Islam is coming": Your prediction of an Islamic armageddon closely tracks the opposite prediction that drives the fanatics of Islam to rally the Faithful against the "Crusaders." Viewing the World as a zero-sum game where someone must win and the "other" must lose pretty much ordains violence.

Cluttered thoughts from a cluttered mind. It's a apparently a violation of the insignia rules, but , if so, surely a less significant violation of rules than violations that go to the integrity of the program, such as Merit Badge mills or an adult-led troop. Sorta' like a nameplate other than white on black, wearing a square troop neckerchief with the Uniform, or those foreign Scouter brushes that some wear on the Campaign hat. All are violations that no one seems interested in pursuing. If you make yourself a member of the Uniform Police, you had better follow the rules yourself. Isn't it one of those priority things? I had a Scoutmaster once who wore an Eagle rank patch on an OD baseball cap. He had the best troop in the district any way you looked at it. I thought that troop was worth the violation. If uniforming were of critical importance, we'd have a uniform instead of a brand of various clothing items that we mix and match with no uniformity.

This was new when the site locked up for me last night. Still . . . ​Merit Badges are a Council program to be run according to BSA rules The unit does not control the program or make the rules. The Scout is to discuss his desire to work on a Merit badge before seeing the Merit Badge Counselor. Neither the Scoutmaster or the Committee have authority to deny a Scout the opportunity to earn a Merit Badge after the discussion. No age or length of registration requirement may be applied. "A few merit badges have certain restrictions, but otherwise any registered Boy Scout . . . may work on any of them at any time. Before he begins working with a merit badge counselor, however, he is to have a discussion with his unit leader. That a discussion has been held is indicated by the unit leader’s signature on the Application for Merit Badge, No. 34124, commonly called the “blue card.†Although it is the unit leader’s responsibility to see that at least one merit badge counselor is identifi ed from those approved and made available, the Scout may have one in mind with whom he would like to work. The unit leader and Scout should come to agreement as to who the counselor will be. Lacking agreement, the Scout must be allowed to work with the counselor of his choice, so long as the counselor is registered and has been approved by the council advancement committee. However, see “Counselor Approvals and Limitations,†7.0.1.4, for circumstances when a unit leader may place limits on the number of merit badges that may be earned from one counselor." BSA Guide to Advancement at p.45. The Merit Badge Counselor may accept work done before the Blue Card was issued as counting towards earning the badge, It is not clear that work done before the discussion is counted, but the Council is likely to allow it if it feels that the Scout made a goof faith effort to have the discussion. "Typically after the unit leader signs the blue card, the Scout contacts the merit badge counselor and sets an appointment. While a boy may begin working on a merit badge at any time after he is registered, it is the counselor’s decision whether to accept work or activities completed prior to the issuing of the signed blue card." BSA Guide to Advancement at p. 44. Be gentle but contact your Council office. Calm is good. Think about what outcome is best for your Scout. What's the lesson for him? Another troop may be in order. Guide to Advancement http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/33088.pdf

But, as it turned out, there is a double standard. One for favored religions and another for a less-favored religion. As for Franklin Graham, we could establish a Chair of Demagoguery in his name.

BSA went the first twenty years without the Patrol Method. Many of the leaders of the "Golden Age" could not have experience TPM as Scouts. When it finally arrived at BSA, it had talented and convincing advocates, If it is true that BSA still supports the Patrol Method, the message is being poorly and weakly conveyed. However, the reality that the Patrol method was moved forward largely by people with no experience gives us hope that nit might survive, and even again flourish, despite the demographic realities that you point out. As for the changes of 2000 being due to women coming into commissioned positions,they were in those positions in in 1988 and at Scout Wood Badge at least by 1984, two in the Course I took that year. There were conspiracy theories in 1972 as well -- and in 1960 when the First Class Badge disappeared as Scouting's symbol ("They're deemphasizing advancement !") We may be extending too much credit to what is simply less-than-stellar leadership.,

So is the Crimea to Russia as Alta California is to Mexico? (No, because Alta California was taken from Mexico by conquest and the Crimea was given to the Ukrainian S.S.R. by the U.S.S.R. under Khrushchev.).

Barry, I am not sure what you mean. The article in Scouting clearly supports the Patrol method as an option. In the two councils in which I Scout, it would be an improvement is as many as 20% of the troops use the Patrol Method. B.S.A. will not even say what "the Patrol Method" means, although all the pieces parts are laid out here and there. Scouters routinely tell me that, so far as they know, the Patrol Method is "one way" to run a troop. What was once very clear is increasingly murky.

When Lord Salisbury objected to the carpet bombing of German civilians, he was reminded that the Germans did "it" first. He replied that such was the case but, nevertheless, "We should not take the Devil as our example.." "Human nature" is not always something of which we should be proud - or take as out example.

JoeBob, you can't seem to accept - or deal with - the reality that the vast, vast majority of the murdered are Muslim. Tens of thousands of women and children are among them. "Martyrs" seems a correct label for these victims to the lust for power of the terrorists. And those victims have families -- typically also Muslim -- whom you want to offend. I see no hint that intentionally giving such offense will reduce the violence or that you feel that it will. I gather it meets some other objective or need. I suspect ISIS and the like would rejoice over what you propose to say and threaten. And yes, they are thugs. Why not focus on their thuggishness and viciousness and not the religion that they pervert for their own purposes, as others have perverted other religions over the centuries?

True, but his reading and comments reek of :"Christian Identity." Say that's not really Christianity? Leaders of Islam say ISIS and AQ are not really Islam. So we offend all Muslims? Even the families of the martyrs? Better to offend all politicians.

Volunteers are supposed to be in charge. Council execs are trained that they are in charge. Because their jobs are on the line, the execs accept that second view. However, they are usually bright enough and sophisticated enough not to rub our faces in it. The less sophisticated front line employees easily forget to pretend the volunteers are in charge. As a group, there's more talent among the volunteers. Not many NASA rocket scientists work for our council, but three work as volunteers in our district. I had a DC who had two Phds and was a bird in an armored cavalry regiment. A DE trying to "control" him was quite a sight to see. When we don't do our job, the employees try to do it. If they don't, the CE tells them to do so. Tremendous turn-over in the first line employees. Poor pay. Long hours. Work with adults, not kids, Long service before any decent promotion. I had three DE's in eleven days IIRC. One I never met. Hired Friday. Quit next Monday morning. (I swear it wasn't me. I never communicated with her.) The third of three lasted two months. You lose track as the years roll on. The optimal situation would be to not rely on the employees - except for that secretary in the office who has been there forever and knows lots of useful stuff about navigating the bureaucracy. (Well, secretaires. that would be Rose and Shirley.) Then they can work on their priorities (membership and money) and you can work on yours. Yes, we are a "free" resource, but it's kids who should be exploiting the volunteer's time,. And it can be an endless demand, so we need to learn when to say "No."

BP B.S.A. Guide to Advancement.

Freedom of conscience, in all its aspects, is relatively new in human affairs. Many date its origin no further back than Breitenfeld (1632). It has certainly not been a steady upwards journey since. I hope that it prevails despite all the evidence of history that coercion (not to mention nonsense) often prevails. Murdering someone because he offends you is common, and monstrous. "Thou shalt not murder." A completely honest person, were he or she ever to exist, would be a monster of another sort.

Mocking one of the prophets of Islam, others being Jesus and Moses, is likely to do more harm than good. The Muslim policeman murdered by the terrorists in Paris would almost certainly have been offended. He of course, having given his life for civilization, cannot be offended. The Muslim store clerk who hid over a dozen Jews from Terrorist No.3 in Paris at considerable risk would likely be offended, as would Muslim members of the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and U.,S.M.C. You seem to hate Muslims with no discrimination, millions of members of a group of related religions. Are you aware that the number of non-Muslims murdered by Muslim terrorists during your lifetime is a small fraction of the whole? The typical victim is, of course, a Muslim, often a women or child and almost always a non-combatant. Tim McVeigh identified himself as a Christian. He killed 168 and injured 680. Anders Breivik murdered 77 in the name of his version of Christianity. Should you then publish the statements that Jesus had a sexual relationship with Mary Magdalene? Almost all Christian leaders denounced the murders of McVeigh and Breivik. Almost all leaders of Islam have denounced the Paris (and other) terrorists and said they will burn in Hell. A more narrowly focused loathing might be more just and useful.