OldGreyEagle

I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV and I didnt stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but why would BSA need liability insurance, wouldnt any damage be on Choice Point ? (assuming BSA did due diligience and Choice Point showed evidence of it doing all the normal precautions to safeguard personal data)

Ed, you posted "Don't expect the ACLU to get involved. They only support atheists when their rights are stepped on." now you say the above expresses your opinion, can you explain how I can tell your words are an opinion, and not an assertion of fact (as you understand them) in the future?

Happy Birthday to You Happy Birthday to You Happy Birthday Lord Robert Baden-Powell and Olave Happy Birthday to You! (This message has been edited by a staff member.)

The distance to a given campsite remains constant as twilight approaches. The area of level ground in a given campsite diminishes as the need to make camp becomes finite. Tent stakes come only in the quantity "N-1" where N = the number of stakes required to stake down a tent. Water bottles that are full when packed, will spontaneously deplete prior to arrival at campsite.

On a related topic, well actually, its the topic of the thread, it will just seem unrelated http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=14851 All charges were dropped against the biblical readers and First Amendment Rights were upheld. YoungSpikedEagle feels better, as do I. I am not sure I would preach against Homosexuality publicly, but who knows, some day I may want to make my opinions known about a topic on which I am on the unpopular side. I don't want to have to worry about going to prison because I voice an unpopular opinion.

In another thread the laws of Thermodynamics and the Einstein equation E=mc2 is being discussed and it reminded me of a few "Laws of Scouting". Here are a few I have seen, do you have others? Waterproof clothing isn't. (However it demonstrates 100% effectiveness at containing sweat.) Under any conditions, everything meant to be kept dry will find a way to get wet. And an associated Rule To get something clean, something else MUST get dirty, however, just because something gets dirty does not mean something else got clean! (This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

Then again there are "traditional sources" such as a Troop Libruary, Public Librury, the individual merit badge book and the 2005 Requirments book. For that matter, a merit badge counselor, one would think, would know the requirements as well.

(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

I ask because I am going

The Northeast Region Quest Weekend is to be held at Camp Tuckahoe, Dillsburg, PA Friday evening, May 6, through Sunday Noon, May 8, 2005. Anyone going?

If the allegations in Alabama prove to be true, lets not get to upset. Any organizaiton made by man and run by man will be subject to human fraility. The way I hear it, most major cities in our country have depts in their police depts. called "internal Affairs" whose sole purpose is to detect crimes committed by those who are sworn to serve and protect, and they are kept quite busy, doesnt mean every cop is dirty or that there is a major problem. Ever wonder how many catholic priests never did assault, abuse or otherwise pester anyone? Dirty laundry gets the press, if we press on with good programs things will resolve itself

The point that I see, is that they were arrested. It doesn't matter the venue. The KKK and Neo-Nazis have a right to express themselves in our country. I used to live in Bloomington, Illinois which is a sister city to Normal, Illinois and Normal is the birthplace of George Lincoln Rockwell, the founder of the American Nazi Party. Every year on the date of his birth you could see brown shirts and black SS uniforms at his birthplace site extolling the virtures of White Supremacy. This was back in the early 80's and I saw anti-Nazi demonstratotors, some with Christian messages. No one was arrested unless there was physical violence, which did occur every year. The Nazi's would hold a ceremony, place a wreath on the ground where Rockwell's house had been (now the campus of a hospital) and would leave. The wreath would be destroyed rather quickly thereafter. No one was ever arrsted for speaking their minds, and it got hot I can tell you. Have we changed so much from the early 80's?

Ok, I may have to change my name to OldWetBlanket, but here goes, While I realize this is all in fun, have you considered the personalities of the boys involved or the effect this could have on the Troop. For the patient, what kind of boy is he? Will he be able to stand up to attention which he clearly did not invite? Even if he an amiable sort and takes the prize with gusto, what about the rest of the troop? Do you establish a policy of making a laughing stock out of anyone who fall ills or becomes injured. Can you see a boy not revealing symptoms of a severe illness because he is terrified of receiving the same attention? As for the messenger, what type of boy is he? Obviously he was in a harried state and burst out a rather confusing message. Will he see any reward as punishment for not being able to phrase the ill scouts condition better? Will future scouts not want to report anything for fear of being humiliated if their excitement impedes their communication skill? That being said, I think at the next Court of Honor it could be mentioned that a scout fell ill and thanks to the efforts of (name scout here) the ill boy received the treatment that was needed. The reporting boy should be treated as a hero, not as the butt of a joke. Now, down the line, as memories of the incident fade and the ill scout makes SPL, or Eagle, maybe during that ceremony mention could be made of the time he broke up a campout with a hospital stop, with perhaps the props so far mentioned. I think giving him the Operation Game, as an Eagle present would be great. But not now. BTW, did the hospital operate with the info on the physical form? Or did they require communication with the parents? How did that go?

I dont know if I have said this lately but being a Boy Scout was the most fun I ever had growing up. Amoungst going to the Grand Canyon and Glacier National Park and the weekends, I had a blast! Its this joy I want to pass along to the scouts. When I first started, I did it the way I was used to, adults ordering the scouts around and getting things done right. It took a few of the other adults to bring to my attention that as dual quad Holley carburators had gone the way of Dinosaurs, so had my style of "scouting". I had to adapt to a boy run unit. it was hard and I can tell you just as the scouters in the initial post say boy run troops dont work, I didnt think they could either. And in a way they dont, I mean they dont work the way an adult troop would run. Then again, they arent supposed to because it is a boy run unit. There are errors, there are mistakes, there are teachable moments that are much more powerful because the boy has experienced it, not because he was told it. When you live a leasson you tend to learn it better than when you are told a lesson. Anyway, take small steps and push ahead, the more allies you can assemble, the beter

Not being acclimated to all the groups that do legal things for groups I apologize if I misunderstood the ACLU mission, I thought it was for everyone. At the very least the ACLU gets the most publicity I think we get in a slippery slide if Free Speech isn't free, it cant have restrictions on it as far as what is hate, taunting, whatever, they had a right to speak and the other side had a right to ignore or speak back.

Hunt, I don't want to get into a quote and pick war, mostly because I am pretty sure you and I agree on this, but, you posted "... I still agree with you that a more subjective approach is better if the leaders are well-trained, reasonable, and sensitive the boys' scheduling issues--but if they aren't, I can see why some parents might like a more specific guideline..." so, is it valid to say that if leaders are ill-trained, or not trained at all and unreasonable and have no sensitivity to the boys schedule then having attedance requirements are ok? I dont think the parents need guidelines, I think the boy needs a new troop, with well-trained, reasonable and sensitive to a boys schedule leaders.

Ed, you said "I really see nothing wrong with having Troop guidelines in place to help define active. This puts everyone one the same playing field." I also want everyone on the same playing field, and if in a single District there is a troop that requires 50% meeting and 50& activity attendance, and another has 80% meeting and 75% activity and another that has 50% and 25% and another that has none, how is the playing field level for anyone?

Eammon, do you know what that song is about? (funny though)

Ok, this is not scout related, so I want to be sure I sa that up front. YoungSpikedEagle brought this story to my attention and I assured him there had to be more to the story, the question is, is there? Does anybody know anything about this story? It would seem this would be tailor made for the ACLU to be brought in on the side of the Christians. Anyway, here it comes http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/inpublic.asp

thats the point Jo, thats the point...

If the uniform is the hinderance to retaining boys, then shouldnt all the boys who leave Boy Scouts because of the uniform join a Venturing Crew, because as its been pointed out countless times Venturing Crews get to design/make up thier own uniform? Of those with Crew experience, what kills a Crew quicker, a lousy uniform or a boring program, if one at all?

As far as sports go, the only thing Pennsylvania lead the nation in is upchucking QBs

...What benefit is there to society from athletic scholarships anywase?... I guess you didnt notice the commotion in around the Uniersity of Southern California or the following Duke, NC and a few other college teams have. Then again, I am not sure Maryland plays basketball anyway

A receeding hare line... The troop I serve has several disabled scouts, from the Cerebral Palsy SPL who always uses a walker, to the one with spina bifida who has the "arm crutches" to another who also uses a walker and many ADD/ADHD scouts we the leaders have learned every kid is disabled, or abled in ways we never considered. I need to remind readers our Committee chair is a pediatrician who thinks the world of scouting as therapy for many ills. Making sure the family is aware of the BSA policies can only be a good thing.

Being the maven of ceremonies I fancy myself to be, I have seen scripts for OA styled Eagle Scout Courts of Honor. And the names of the priciples are used in the script and during the ceremony. Given there will likely be non-OAscouts in attendance and members of the gerneral public present as well, does this mean the scripts should be expunged of the priciples name? BTW, do a google search for the priciples, if its supposed to be a secret, YIKES!(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)