BklynEagle

Living in NY, I have to agree with all those posters who cite the zany Northeastern focus of the national media. Watching some of the national broadcasters - CNN, MSNBC, etc. (CBS, NBC, etc. were pre-empted by the locals) - you'd have sworn NYC was looking at widespread destruction. When Irene arrived, it rained a little, a few tree branches broke, but that was largley that. Now, don't get me wrong, within NYC a few neighborhoods experienced flooding and lost power, and within the metro area there was some significant damage (certain towns in Long Island, New Jersey, and Connecticut are still under evacuation orders), but the effects, by and large, in no way met the hype, largely considering that the hype focused on the city. Now, I get the local media getting a bit antsy, particularly seeing as how the mayor had massively screwed up the response to our last major weather system, a post-Christmas blizzard that left everything outside Manhattan snowbound and on its own from at least 2 days to well over a week (I'm pleased to say that the response was far superior this time); but the NATIONAL media was deficient in its duties to the NATIONAL audience by not reporting the NATIONAL stories. Could you imagine if some of the current broadcasters had been reporting at the time of the London Blitz? Ed Murrow must be rolling in his grave. I would ask one small favor, though - let's tone it down on Al Roker; he and I went to the same high school.

I gotta agree with BadenP here - there's something hinky about the OP, given the registering-posting-leaving. Furthermore, even if BSAMomWW is legit, there's still a serious problem with her spreading information she shouldn't have in an effort to discredit the scout. If, as BadenP suggests, the lad is attempting to turn his life around and views Scouting as an effective tool for that, then more power to him. I think that part of the problem that later parts of this thread have exhibited is that some have stuck with the case described in the OP, while others have gone on to a hypothetical situation based upon the OP. In a hypothetical, I again reiterate that IF a troubled Scout is trying to right his course through life, then we, as Scouters, should help him as best we can; HOWEVER, if a troubled Scout is clearly not trying to improve himself, is disrupting the Troop operations, is causing some sort of trouble for his fellow Scouts, and is only in the Troop because his parents are forcing him, then we, as Scouters, have an obligation to the other Scouts, who presumably are trying to do good, to remove the problem. I too have seen first-hand what SeattlePioneer and jtswestark described in their posts, about good Scouts leaving due to bad Scouts. Believe me, there are few things more disheartening than watching a Troop's membership get cut in half because certain leaders felt that some bad apples could be "de-molded". I'm not Torquemada, but I'm not Fr. Flanagan either.

I think I speak for just about all of us who contributed to the "Star Wars Geek" thread, including Star Wars geeks, Trekkies, Whovians, or in my case a combination of the last two plus a few others, in saying that the one I liked the most was BMW's Darth Vader ad. I spent all of Monday humming the Imperial March, which seemed to confirm to many that I am probably certifiable...

A few things... OGE, I didn't know your grandfather was Lawrence Welk Calico, obviously anyone who thinks that a parsec is a unit of time measurment is inferior to James T. Kirk, they'd even be inferior to James R. Kirk (listed on the headstone from "Where No Man Has Gone Before"). The issue I must take with your post, however, is the suggestion that Kirk is the be-all-end-all of Starfleet captains, when obviously Jean-Luc Picard is superior in so may ways. (Not the least of which is his acceptance of going bald, unlike a certain Captain/Admiral/Captain/Police Sergeant/nutty trial lawyer that we all know...)

Hey Beavah, I thought "no eponymous threads"... Seriously, though, my neck of the woods, there is generally a hiatus amongst most troops for December, not so much due to the weather but due to the varied holidays. However, just about everybody gets back into the swing of things in January.

I think that the chief difference between the State Dept. Cables and Valerie Plame is that the Cables have decidedly more far-reaching consequences. Ms. Plame was a single agent with only so many connections; these cables encompass a much wider purview. That being said, I think, speaking as a Conservative, not a Republican (and therfore without any feelings of fraternal loyalty for persons like Scooter Libby), that the releasing of Ms. Plame's identity did have the potential to damage US interests, and therefore all those responsible should have faced the harshest penalties, much as I think that the PFC responsible for the Cable releases should also face the harshest penalties. Now, the interesting question in this matter is "How do we classify Mr. Assange?" There are those who feel that Mr. Assange should be named as a terrorist. It's interesting that BS-87 compared him to a Bond villian, because I am reminded of the media mogul Elliot Carver from "Tomorrow Never Dies", who had commented that "Words are the new weapons". In releasing the cables for all the world to see, Mr. Assange has essentially thrown a gas tank onto the campfire of international relations. Now, in some instances, the effects will be minimal: for instance, the Iranians already knew that the Saudis didn't like them, and Pyongyang already knew that Beijing considered it to be an inferior. However, other reactions are sure to be violent; I don't envy the position of the Yemeni government right now. All in all, though, the chief effect that Mr. Assange has had is to compromise the diplomatic position of the United States, which then, in my view, makes him an adversary to this country.

Our SM recently started his own business, focusing on ways to make places "green", through solar panels, reinsulation, etc. He's been decidedly aggressive in trying to get the other troop leaders to provide him with business, to a point that gets beyond comfort levels, and has met with limited success. I heard through the grapevine that he plans on giving a talk to the Scouts at our next meeting about the services he provides, and will finish up by giving the Scouts forms to take home to their parents which advertise what he does and how they can sign on for it. Now, as I said before, he gets very aggressive with other adults, so I'm more than a bit concerned about how he's going to present this to a group of young boys. It seems to me that there must be some sort of policy against a leader trying to solicit business from the Scouts and their families in the context of a Scout meeting, but I can't find anything concrete. Given the in-house politics of the troop, I can't go in with just the gut-feeling that this is of a questionable ethical nature - I need hard documentation to back me up if, in fact, I am correct about this. Thank you in advance for your replies. BklynEagle

Hope your Lodge is doing better than mine, Platypus. Here in Kings County, we ended up dissolving the chapters. Yours in Scouting, BklynEagle

Eagle92... Did the strip actually say "tlhIngan" in "pIqaD" (that is, did it say "Klingon" in the "Klingon writing system") or was it merely Terren phonetics? Qapla' BklynEagle

Nice to see that not everybody here hates Catholics. The proposed revisions, as has been stated here, are chiefly a more precise translation of the Latin text into the vernacular. Now, I will be the first to admit that some of the phrases, when translated into English, do become something of a mouthful. That being said, some of the imagery that is suggested by the stricter translation is actually quite pretty; for instance, there is a line that refers to God's spirit descending like the morning dew. Admittedly, does that sound, at first blush, moderately odd? Perhaps. But, if you take a minute, the image suggested is rather thought-provoking; I mean, we're all Scouters here, right? Who here hasn't seen the morning dew while on a camping trip and found the sight to be inspiring? I do know that several organists are looking forward to some of the new melodic settings that the revisions are bringing about. Et cum Spiritu tuo, BklynEagle

Yeah, the Bernard Law situation is one royal example of a FUBAR, as well as pretty poor politics, not to mention a lack of common sense or decency, on the part of some in the Curia. Ideally, and I say this as a fairly uptight Catholic (as BadenP can confirm), Bernie boy should have met a situation similar to that which the Boston priest Geoghan ended up meeting. Somehow I don't think St. Peter was there to greet the latter, nor will he be there to greet the former...

My mistake, BadenP - you don't demean Western post-Reformation Christian churches, just the pre-Reformation one. Two graduate degrees in Theology and Religious History and an ordination in an unspecified fairly large Christian denomination, and you still haven't managed to get it through your skull that some reasonably intelligent people might actually happen to believe in Catholic doctrine. My understanding of the fore-mentioned is something we've gone back and forth on in other forums, so I'm not going to repeat myself here. As far as my humor goes, it has always been described as fairly dry, bordering on acerbic, though I'm compelled to point out that the last comedic endeavor to incorporate Zuul grossed $291,632,124 in the U.S. alone (1984 dollars). At any rate, this forum is not designed for our old discussion, so it is my intention to refrain from further debate with you on our religious issue here. I invite you to join me in this effort of restraint. Yours in Scouting, BklynEagle

>>>I know what has been told to me by your church elders, I have read your churches publications on not only scouting but the precepts of your faith, you can dance around all you want saying LDS scouts are the same as all others but you know as well as I that is not entirely true

Calico, I wouldn't get too heated up over Owl's comments; let's just say that I think that the fact that he/she/them/it/what-have-you joined up a few months after the parent thread got started up, and the fact that 50% of their posts as of 4/21/2010 has been to continue to suggest that something remains rotten in the state of Denmark (Hello OGE!) speaks volumes. As for myself, I am pleased to hear that National has determined that there is yet another young man in this country who has distinguished himself. As one whose EBOR was a less than pleasant occasion, due to the Council rep, I can appreciate mdsummer's and her son's frustrations. (Admittedly, of course, the stories differ at this point, because I got ok'd by the EBOR while mdsummer's son got the run-around). None the less, I offer mdsummer and her son the heartiest of congratulations.

Matter of opinion when it comes to "It's A Wonderful Life". I for one like it. But I like most Jimmy Stewart films. On a related note, I'd suggest "Flight of the Phoenix" (1965) - A community is forged together, works together, endures common tragedy, etc. (Never saw the 2004 remake, so I can't offer an opinion one way or the other) "The Keys of the Kingdom" (1944) would be a good choice too - A community is forged together, works together, etc., etc. "To Kill A Mockingbird" (1962) would probably work too.