David CO

We do. We have found that the church-owned camps offer more activity for the older scouts. Our Church is making a real effort to engage the older kids. There are several church-owned camps that are within our travel distance and budget. Many of my older scouts already have part-time jobs that pay a lot better than BSA. When they go to summer camp, they want a vacation ...not another job.

Bummer.

What is the point of teaching a boy to do something (merit badge) if you're not going to let him do it (open time)?

Water skiing/water boarding is one of the most popular activities with my older kids. The speed boat is out on the lake most of the afternoon on nice days.

Swimming. Fishing. Boating. Water Skiing. I know it's rough, but somebody's gotta do it.

The framers did envision the need for change. That's why they included a process by which the Constitution can be amended. My objection isn't to change. My objection is to those who would wish to change the Constitution without going through the amendment process.

The 1856 Paris Declaration outlawed the issue of Letters of Marque and Reprisal. The United States refused to sign it because it contradicts the U. S. Constitution. Yet, the United States has not issued any Letters of Marque and Reprisal since the Paris Declaration. The Confederate States of America did issue Letters of Marque and Reprisal during the Civil War. The United States did not. I am not up on current maritime law. It is my understanding that the United States still holds to the position that it cannot sign a treaty that contradicts the U. S. Constitution.

The United States is not a signatory to that "law".

If that is the case, then we need to arm teachers. You can't expect people to rely on the police for their protection if the police are going to stay outside the building and wait for shooter to run out of ammunition.

I saw a news report today that said the armed deputy sheriff who was working at the school took a defensive position outside the school instead of doing his job protecting the students from the shooter. I am disgusted.

Your edit was both sufficient and funny.

Skeptic, please correct your post. You attributed something to me that was posted by someone else. In answer to your question, an explanatory clause is not usually seen as limiting or expanding the functional parts of a rule or law. The example I was given, when studying school law, involved firecrackers. The rule stated that students may not explode firecrackers at school, as they might frighten the horses and cause them to bolt. In later years, they no longer had horses, but the rule still applied because there were also other reasons why they might want to prohibit the use of firecrackers. The explanation did not limit or negate the rule.

Civilian ships often carried cannon. Some of the Illinois militia units had 2 pounder "grasshopper guns" in their arsenals. I've seen one in a museum. Individual civilians could own punt guns, which were huge shotguns or small cannons.

Not Bozo. He never put me into a clown suit. He took his clowning very seriously, and felt that only skilled actors should don the fright wig and big red nose. His clown character had a pet chicken, so I would often be assigned to the big beak and yellow feathers, where I was less likely to lay an egg.

Don't blame the COR for it. The COR is supposed to represent the CO and follow the lead of the IH. If the CO wants to boycott council, the COR doesn't go. Most of my unit considered my long-time COR to be a bit of a clown. In fact, he was a professional clown. He also did super heroes and holiday characters. He didn't attend district meetings, but he had a standing offer to entertain the kids, free of charge, at any boy scout/cub scout function. The boys loved him. He was a great guy. He also had a Pedro costume. I'll give you two guesses who got to be the back side of the donkey. Some people felt it was type-casting.

I suppose, if you're the only one, it makes you the chairman.

Nope. I'm not a district folk either.

20 years experience? You're practically a rookie. I have almost twice that. And I've been thinking all along that you were one of us old-timers.

Unfortunately, it is not realistically possible for a COR to avoid the council altogether. Some council interaction is unavoidable, but it usually takes place behind the scenes, and unit scouters are often unaware of it taking place. The CC should never step in and do the COR's duties.

The COR appoints new unit leaders, so it is entirely appropriate for a COR to attend a meeting to introduce a newly appointed leader. I think that is often enough. More often than that and people are likely to feel that the COR is micromanaging the unit leaders.

A two year transition? Isn't that a bit much? I think the webelos program, as it was originally designed, was a more appropriate program than what we have now.

Fair enough. I like a man who can compromise.

I don't think so. My point is that there are so many boys who don't make a successful transition from cub scout to boy scout, that they are being ill served by unit leaders who see that transition as the main goal of the last two years of cub scouts. So, the numbers do matter. I am pretty confident that my statement is correct. It is less than half.

You've completely lost me on the dreamer comments. I have no idea what you're saying. Yes, my unit opposes OA because of the cultural appropriation issue, but I can't see how that has any relevance to this conversation. I am all for letting boys choose between scouting and sports. I don't have any preference for which program they choose. One way or the other, it's fine with me. I think I have made that clear.

I probably have about the same amount of experience, so playing the age card doesn't work on me. It is not a question of optimism or pessimism. It is about wanting what's best for each kid. Sometimes that's scouting, and sometimes it's not. Boys might love flag-football, but not like full-contact football. Boys might love little league, but not like playing baseball when the pitches get faster and the base-lines get longer. It happens all the time. The same is true of scouting. Many boys who like cub scouts will never enjoy boy scouting.