TAHAWK

BSA, in teaching leadership skills and concepts to youth, cites Dr. King as an example of living Scouting values. Dr. King famously won the Nobel Prize for Peace by leading a campaign of non-violent civil DISobedience against racial laws. "Obedient" should be rewritten in view of the lessons of history, starting with the Third Reich, it's duly elected leader, and it's duly-enacted laws and proceeding to American Negro Slavery, under which some duly constituted authority was as odious as the Nazis. "Obedient" is contrary to our national values. We fought the government - violently. Or we can be this guy. Me, I think we're long past the Divine Right of the State - by at least 241 years.

Twelve regions, not twelve districts. The twelve districts were in Cleveland.

Not wholly original, I am sure, and many variations:

"Classes" may not be a "bad" idea, but they are not the BSA desired way to go. Our troop Advancement Chair reminds Scouts about partials (never reminds parents but answers questions if asked) and tries to get them to plan completion. The SM may have a "conference" with the Scout on the same subject.

Today http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/HealthandSafety/TourPlanFAQ.aspx If this is a hoax - about safety . . . .

It IS the official Region XII song. For you young folk, the twelve regions were reduced to six in 1972, and then four in 1992. http://campsource.pbworks.com/f/CampfireStunt.pdf

Oh, we wear our pink pajamas in the Summer when it's hot, And we wear our woolen undies in the Winter when it's not, And sometimes in the springtime and sometimes in the Fall, We jump right in between the sheets with nothing on at all. Oh, that's the way we do in Utah, Arizona and Nevada, California and Hawaii, our western Region Twelve !

A 12 oz Coke can could carry .7 lb. of Composition B (roughly twice that of an M67 Hand Grenade) or, even worse, White Phosphorus. You would not want to be on the plane when that went off. Especially inside a purse with lots of metal parts.

Such devices have been weaponized - starting over twenty years ago.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_search_exception

He was noting, as do you, the lack of a need for warrants. " With cellphones and social media accounts being examined without a warrant at US border,..."

I take it the Girl Guides are separate from Scouts Canada, which includes female Scouts.

The teacher was from Bangladesh according to some "journalists," "Pakistani" according to others, and British-born according to yet others. I either case, he was not subject to the Executive order in question. The reason why he was "kicked," "booted," thrown," "ordered," or "pitched" off the plane in Iceland is only speculated at, according to the political or ethnic saga being advanced. He didn't like the hotel he was placed in until his return flight. (“horrendous hotel“) The story apparently stopped being "news" in about a week. I can find no explanation, if it was a U.S. decision. Anyone else?

Districts exist for the administrative convenience of Council and act by delegated authority from Council. The Council's theoretical reason-for-being is to support COs and their units just as a troop exists to support it's patrols. Training is a critical tool to meet that purpose (for councils and troops), as is providing program for units that need such service. Often, help is needed to complete the paperwork for registration as it is needlessly complex. Some units need encouragement to see to recorded advancement. I was with a unit that existed from 1908 until BSA finally permanently arrived in Orange County, California eighteen years later. (And no, we don't want to be Troop 1. We're Troop 43.) I was with a unit in Ohio that had one visit from a UC in twenty-five years, never went to Council's camp except for Klondike, and was too busy backpacking to attend Camporee. That troop did the youth leader training for the district, even when BSA abandoned district-level youth leader training in 2001. The DEs came and went to quickly that I can only recall three by name of the over forty in those twenty-five years. That unit celebrates it's 109th birthday thus Summer. So district can be important - or not - to a unit. A DE is there to support the district volunteers, but many are told by their SE's - sometimes in writing - that they are de facto in charge and, thus, are responsible for measurable results. So DEs repeatedly work to metrics and game the system. Cleveland lost it's first SE over paper membership in 1926 - not the last. Most of the things I read complaints about here are volunteer responsibilities.

We can get lists by Merit Badge in my newer Council. Not sure about the other council.

"patrol yell, cheer, or call" See "Roll Tide Roll"

Not a college football fan. Can I get a "ROLL TIDE ROLL !!" "GO BUCKS !!" https://youtu.be/rjRxdrg9BtU?t=99

So they are decades old. Might still be of interest.

OA was once a " national brotherhood of honor campers" and, later, "The National Society of Scout Honor Campers." Those descriptions seems to have gone away. Still . . . We know what is required by National Council. http://www.oa-bsa.org/pages/content/membership-and-induction Within two years of being a candidate for election, each candidate must have experienced fifteen nights of "Boy Scout camping," which is also "overnight camping" " approved and under the auspices and standards of the Boy Scouts of America." While OA is not going to audit the unit records, that does not mean that whether a candidate for election has his fifteen nights should be a matter of the Scoutmaster's discretion. The Scoutmaster's role should be ministerial. The Scout has the fifteen nights or he does not. The burden should not vary from unit to unit. But what is "Boy Scout camping"? As in other things, BSA leaves questions where there should be clarity. BSA has various definitions of "camping." Individual Scouts and Scouters Application for National Camping Award What Counts As Camping ? >Sleeping in tents. >Staying in rustic cabins (no electricity). >Under the open skies. >You participated in setting up and breaking camp. >You participated in camp chores. >You participated in camping activities (hiking, swimming, nature exploration, conservation projects, etc) Advancement to First Class What counts as camping? On at least five of the six overnight campouts used toward First Class, the Scout must “spend the night in a tent that you pitch or other structure that you help erect (such as a lean-to, snow cave, or tepee). Camping Merit Badge tSleep each night under the sky or in a tent you have pitched. If the camp provides a tent that has already been pitched, you need not pitch your own tent Journey to "Excellence" Then we have the program designed to "encourage excellence." Really. That what it says. In this bubble, a "weekend campout" may be a weekend spent indoors watching videos or playing electronic games. This is said to encourage excellence in "short-term camping." It, of course, does nothing of the kind. The method is the "Outdoor Method": Even the bureaucrats of the Journey to Mediocrity bubble cannot turn "indoor" into "outdoor" and "nature" into video games. Nine "lock-ins" is a joke as "excellence" in "short-term camping." (JTM also does not require any actual use of the Patrol Method - such as Scouts selected by their peers who plan or lead anything or who are responsible for anything -- to "earn" the status of "excellence" in the Patrol Method.) LTM's definition ought to be rejected out of hand for demonstrated lack of knowledge of the Boy Scout program. The Outdoor Method The description of the Outdoor method quoted above out to also be taken into account. OA is part of the Boy Scout program. It recognizes excellence in participants in the Boy Scout Program, a program designed to take place outdoors." So "camping" under that standard out to be seen as an outdoor activity. BSA should clear this up, and now would be good.

"Special neckerchiefs, the same size as the official ones, may be authorized by local councils. Such neckerchiefs may include identification of the chartered organization. The standard designed neckerchief may be personalized with troop number, city, and state. By troop approval, an Eagle Scout may wear an Eagle Scout neckerchief." BSA, Guide to Awards and Insignia, "Special Regulations," "The Neckerchief." This has been the regulation forever and ignored systematically just as long. I don;t know of a single unit that got Council OK for a non-official neckerchief (nor does either council where I scout) or bothered about whether their special neckerchiefs were "the same size as the official ones." I have been in four troops since 1983 and they each had a special neckerchief without council consent that was not the same size as the official ones. The language should be eliminated.

"Has the time come for the BSA to consider a more formal reduction of the neckerchief in uniform wear?" How do you formally reduce from optional? Prohibit them? "Just wanted to hear some thoughts on this. If your unit wears neckerchiefs, why? And if not, also, why? " Thoughts expressed. Accepted. Rejected. Rants. Why is this thread going on?

I am missing the argument, Col. They "push" BSA brand trousers or shorts as part of the "uniform." The neckerchief has been optional for decades. Why is this a big deal one way or the other?

Newspaper account "Every organization has its internal politics, but you might not expect the Boy Scouts Hudson Valley Council and Camp Bullowa Trust Fund to top the list of intrigue. Yet, it’s up there at the moment. Camp Bullowa of Stony Point was bequeathed a trust 73 years ago and that trust has grown to nearly $4 million over the decades. The trust clearly states all monies are to be used solely for Camp Bullowa and entrusts three trustees with keeping that promise. Camp Bullowa itself, however, is owned by the Boy Scouts of America Hudson Valley Council and its chairman Howard Hellman, better known for being CEO of All Bright Electric, and executive director David Horton, as well as a majority of the Hudson Valley Council would like to see those $3.8M in funds reevaluated. The Council has been having difficult financial times. Back in 2003 the Council actually borrowed $500,000 from the Bullowa Trust, and for about a decade continued to make minimal payments, never paying down the loan itself but keeping up with interest. Then the Council stopped paying. Hellman and allies attempted to negotiate a new deal with the Bullowa Trust trustees, who are led by local attorney Ralph Heavner. When that failed, the Council continued not to pay and eventually Heavner filed a legal action against the Boy Scout Council. This amazed the Council, who in turn have made moves to have the Trust trustees removed from their positions. In that event it seems the Council has other ideas for the $3.8 million besides what the Trust Fund’s mission statement indicates. There is no clear procedure laid out for how to elect new trustees to the Bullowa Trust, so if the Hudson Valley Council should get allies in those trustee positions, they could in reality fund other parts of the Boy Scout operation with Bullowa Trust’s money. A judge upheld Heavner’s request for a stay on his removal as trustee, as all prior trustees had simply died or retired and there never had been a power struggle litigated before over the Trust. No precedent. The fate of the Trust lay in the court’s hands. If the HV Council appoints their allies to the Bullowa Trust, expect to see that money spread around the entire Hudson Valley." The council is seeking to give the camp property to some sort of nature conservation group. And the camp program? The trust presumably cannot force the council to operate the camp. That means meeting the purpose of the trust ails. I wonder what reversion clause, if any, is in the trust document.

There are a number of Boy Scout museums that would love to go through your papers to see if they would add to their collections. Training materials are especially useful in tracing BSA policy on various topics. I am in NE Ohio and there are four Scout museums within an hour of where I am sitting, each operated by volunteers who elect to work, at least in part, on the district or council level to preserve the history of Scouting.