OldGreyEagle

If you don't allow women, how do you handle BSA's statement that all aspects of the program are open to parents at any time?

You could have a Troop newsletter with all the announcements on it distributed by the patrol leaders at the end of the meeting along with the news letter posted on your troop website. Course that means you need to be computer literate but if you arent, I am sure someone in your troop can help the computer challenged in your troop. Then you dont need to devote as much time to the announcements

WHile I have been blessed with enough storage room in the house to keep things out of sight, my badge of honor as a scouter has always been my yard. In a suburban enviroment where almost all lawns are a pristine green with nary a blade out of place, mine is usually rife with dandelions and crab grass and maybe a tad longer than the others. I would rather be out on the river running the rapids than applying weed and feed, and would actually prefer a 20 mile hike to pulling weeds and cutting grass. Used to have a vegetable garden, and maybe someday when I retire from scouting (can it be done?) I will be growing vegetables again

Actually I always thought the terms dolls/action figures comes the comfort level of the parents, what would you rather say, my son and daughter play with dolls or my daughter plays with dolls, but my son plays with action figures. Then again, what is a doll? Miniature lead soldiers were a staple of revolutionary youth, were they dolls or action figures?

While I have been to a lot of hospitals, I havent been to them all, all I can say is all of the ones I have been to and the ones I worked at regarded gay partners as family. It is indeed distressing to know this attitude is not shared by all. But then again, the fault seems to lie within the hospital, the answer may not be to have gays marry as much to have hospitals change visitation regulations. Wouldnt that accomplish the health issue without such venom?

Seeing as how Massachusetts started to recognize Gay Marriages AFTER 9/11 I don't think changing Massachusetts recognition of Gay Marriages will stop Jihad against us.

I don't know if this will clarify things, but I need to say it. The excuse that Gays bring to the table that they have to be alowed to be married because of the health issues is completely false. If our gay married couple from Mass. wants to go to Florida and is afraid that other states won't recognize their union, why are hospitals always brought in the mix. Very few governmental unit hospitals exist today. (with Cook County hospital a notable exception). If our married couple has done the prudent thing, something I would encourage all married couples to do, gay or straight and that is have a "living will" with them and then the issue of marriage is moot. The Living Will designates who has the power/authority to make medical descisions whether or not there is a marriage or disputed marriage involved. Next the visitation thing. I am not sure where people who say you must be married to visit someone in the hospital live, but it must be somewhere I havent been. I have been in hospitals from Key West, Florida to the big island of Hawaii and I havent been in one that has a rule against unmarried co-habitants visiting each other. The American Hospital Association long ago put into its rules for Accreditation that hospitals were supposed to allow the "significant other" of the patient special access. Whether its the mother of the child, the spinster sister of the spinster sister or gay partner, it all means the same so lets get off the issue you have to be married to exist as patient and visitor in a modern hospital. The rules of hospitals have changed tremoundously over the past decades and it would be great to have society's arguments catch up to them. Then again I am not sure how Bob and Bob getting married effects me nor do I see how it effects society. Bob and Bob are living together and have lived together since civilization was formed. Having the church Bob and Bob go to and the government say yeah, you guys can live together don't change that Bob and Bob live together. Maybe we could move off this emotional hot button and on to greater public policy such as what to do about people who want us dead and our civilization eliminated?

better watch those beers as well, you have a few and someone pulls out some bingo cards and before you know it a K of C meeting could break out

Hey now trev ol' buddy, don't be dissin' the Unitarian Universalists else they may come and burn a question mark in your front lawn

Polo merit badge? Hey guys, quit horsin' around!

Guess maybe having cell phones on an outing is a good idea after all

Not sure of some of the terminology used here, but the Eagle Board of Review's "charge" ends when they either accept or reject the Eagle candidate. If they accept the scout as an Eagle, and National verifies the scout is an Eagle, then he is an Eagle and the ceremony recognizing that rank is up to the scout and his family. Beavah may have another take on this, but tell the old coot to chill and let the ceremony go as planned

How do you propose such a volunteer communicate the results back to us?

This is a scout from the troop I serve and yes, its the 12 year statement, I read it as 12 years old as well. Chris is 17, a great kid and like I said, dont beleive everything you read

So, lets say the lawsuit is succesful, does that mean the troop needs to have 2 leaders "trained" in the care of a "high-functioning autistic"? Who pays for the training? If the scout ends up getting injured, or injurying someone else, is the Troop now culpable? The CO? The BSA? How about the Troop settle with the provision the family is financially responsible for any damage the scout does as well as any medical bills due to the scouts behavior. We are a volunteer organization and to expect volunteers to accept everyone without parental support is as ludicrous as anything I have heard. Troops should be willing to accept anyone they can, but not forced to go beyond their comfort zone

Please read: http://www.pennlive.com/news/expresstimes/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1154837190215670.xml&coll=2 And let me know what you think, just a hint, don't believe everything you read!

Perhaps I should have presented my question better, what was the lesson of the movie Taps?

Anybody here see the movie "Taps" ?

Had a campout where a kid said he wanted to make an egg mcmuffin for breakfast. The other kids in the patrol laughed and said it was way to complicated. One of the troop adults overheard the conversation and for breakfast cooked an egg and canadian bacon, placed them on an english muffin and topped it with a slice of cheese and showed it to the patrol. Its a staple now

1. Orthodox Quaker (100%) 2. Eastern Orthodox (90%) 3. Roman Catholic (90%) 4. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (83%) 5. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (77%) 6. Seventh Day Adventist (77%) 7. Liberal Quakers (68%) 8. Hinduism (57%) 9. Unitarian Universalism (57%) 10. Orthodox Judaism (52%) 11. Sikhism (50%) 12. Bah' Faith (46%) 13. Islam (46%) 14. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (42%) 15. Reform Judaism (39%) 16. Theravada Buddhism (36%) 17. Mahayana Buddhism (35%) 18. Secular Humanism (34%) 19. Jainism (33%) 20. Jehovah's Witness (30%) 21. Neo-Pagan (29%) 22. Taoism (29%) 23. New Age (25%) 24. Nontheist (24%) 25. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (22%) 26. New Thought (17%) 27. Scientology (17%)

First of all, dont be dissin' the red berets, they were the coolest thing going until Curtis Sliwa outfitted the Guardian Angels in them and Boy Scouts had to take them off. Next, Mission Statements are as much fluff as people allow them to be. If your company has a Mission Statment because somebody read every succesful compnay needs a Mission Statement then maybe all that statement is is fluff. But companies that do live their mission statments tend to be succesful. Then there are companies whose owners never bothered to develop a mission statement, they figured they would take care of the customer and every thing else would work out fine. (That works as well, ) One of the recordings I have of B-P's speeches talk about what is Boy Scouts, and he sums it up as the boys are trained to be "good men". Men of character, good citizens and "healthy" (Phyically fit) I dont think todays BSA is all that far from those ideals. The Outdoors program is the vehicle that delivers Scouting. We have a Model Railroad Crew in the Council who teaches many of the same characteristics through model railroading although I am dubious in the physical fitness part. But leadership, self confidence, problem solving, etc are all part of what they do.

When the SPL comes running up with cell phone in hand and says "How many bars do you need for 9-1-1 to work?

One of the best things about a Wood Badge class is you are surrounded by people who are as nuts about scouting as you are and in such an environment Patrol Spirit is almost a natural outcome. When you transplant yourself from training, whehter Wood Badge or Scoutmaster Essentials and go back to your unit, you may or may not be surrounded with people who are as nuts about scouting as you are so it may be tough to bring in the same spirit as found in Wood Badge classes

It may be a good idea for the scout to sit down and collect his thoughts on what he will do in the future, then call the scoutmaster and make an appointment and lay out his action plan, taking control of the situation and acting rather than reacting. I am not sure a call from a parent helps

"course the oldest Drive in in the country is where I live, more or less http://www.shankweilers.com/