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I wish National would NOT call this the "Family Scouting Pilot Program." Maybe to National, "family" means sons and daughters, but to most people "family" includes the parents as well. As far as I can tell the role of parents is not changing, either in Cub Scouts or Boy Scouts. There also are some statements in that article that are misleading, at best. Such as: They cannot earn the same ranks as Boy Scouts, "now." They will be able to starting sometime next year. I don't think the writer of the article knows the difference between Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts.

1941 Jan.bmp

Ok, Big Spoiler Alert for anyone who hasn't seen it. SSF, it is obvious that you have strong feelings about this and there probably isn't any point in debating it with you, so I won't try. We each see things "from a certain point of view," but it's not the same point. I do want to take issue with your characterization of Luke, and I realize that I am probably in the minority among Star Wars fans on this. Yes, for the vast majority of this movie he was a real downer, having basically given up on the galaxy and just living on his island catching fish and rejecting Rey's efforts to ge

I don't use the the word propaganda lightly, but this extreme force feeding of feminism and anti-male, anti-capitalism, anti-religion, social justice, was most definitely propaganda and social engineering, aka indoctrination. Whether you loved or hated this movie, you have to appreciate that scores of longtime Star Wars fans were nothing short of disgusted by this movie. Yes, lots of movies have a message, and that's all fine and good, as long as that message is in-line with the story arc, but there was no basis for any of the crap that Kathleen Kennedy and Rian Johnson insisted on shovin

That was after the destruction of the Jedi Order, even if the books were written before the prequels. Besides, the Expanded Universe is now "unofficial." As for other's claims of "propaganda." Most movies are trying to tell a story, teach a lesson, something like that. For example, Jurassic Park, like it's much source material, is about the dangers of science separated from "Yes we can, but should we?" Another favorite of mine is Ender's Game, where bullying, racism (specism), and "do ends justify the means?" are key aspects of that novel (and it's much worse movie adaptation.) Another fav

Without debating which of two ridiculous things is more ridiculous, I agree that the Jedi-celibacy thing is ridiculous. I think that was done simply to make the Anakin-Palme relationship “forbidden,” and therefore more interesting, without considering the wider implications. i didn’t like the prequels much either, but I have liked the sequels.

Until the late 1300's, the equivalent term for Girl referred to any child of any gender - girl or boy. If you were a "boy" in 1320, you were publicly called a girl. So how about we just keep the name as Boy to make up for all those years boys were once known as girls? Or keep it as Boy since I suspect most girls that will want to join the Boy Scouts will be those girls stereo-typically called Tomboys anyway. Or how about we just call it the BSA, or take a page from the US YMCA, that since 2010 has called themselves the Y, and call the BSA the B? No one told the YMCA or the

As a parent/sub teacher/Scout Leader/MBCounselor/First Day Teacher/Work Leader I have always known that if someone is given a standard to meet, they will either try to meet that standard or go to someone whose standard is lower, less stringent. Why does anyone complain that they did not "get" the award? Is it the "bling" or the skill and pride of ownership of that skill? Do we really want to fly to our vacation on a plane that is maintained by a mechanic that does "gudnuf" work? "Oh, just sign the card." How many Astronomy Belt loop Cubs have at least been brought outside on

I am waiting for this forum's founder to write his biography of Bill. It would be great to add it to those of the other greats of our program. Also would like to find one on Robinson, even though he was more YMCA overall. His short-term assistance in those first few years were critical. Probably a few other pretty important names buried in those first couple of decades, but they tended to stay in the background.

"When I was a scout we were sent off looking for smoke shifters and sky hooks. That is now called hazing or bullying. It is neither. Sure, it could go bad but if done right It is an opportunity for the younger scouts to learn how to take some discomfort with a smile, the older scouts to learn how to watch for where the line is on each scout, the adults to bite their tongues, and everyone to have some fun." For years, T22 took sky hooks, smoke shifters (Acme Universal Abishifter). elbow grease, (USP), snipe, and a couplr of other things of that ilk to every camporee. The joke was o

Forest for the trees. Adults who don’t have a childhood Scouting experience are changing the program. The touching taboo of today’s generation can’t understand how it calms confusion, soothes anger, and encourages confidence. It’s now viewed as inappropriate acts with indecent intentions. Still, I know of nothing better to calm the out of control ADD Scout than a gentle touch on the shoulder. I cant help but feel that future leaders will struggle to know the satisfaction of helping a boy grow to be a better person. Barry

Around here, we were still spinning Bobcats about 10-15 years ago. No QC issues, heads stayed attached.

I remember it as a new Cub. They hold you upside down and pin the Bobcat pin on upside right. When you have done your first Good Turn, then the Cub turns it right-side up. After 35 years of intensive therapy, I turned out okay.

@WisconsinMomma, while there are plenty of opportunities for conflict resolution, why waste this one? I mean, learning how to do a practical joke when you're 13 and among people that understand how to do practical jokes is a lot better than waiting until you're in a frat and people are forcing you to drink shots. This may sound extreme but a lot of kids do not have any opportunity to screw up before they're sent off to college where they suddenly have much more freedom and no experience on how to deal with it. This is the whole point. The adults telling the scouts not to do something beca

True, but there is a difference between a friendly practical joke and hazing. Sadly hazing has become a pop culture trigger word to imply hostile intent when in reality it was just the opposite. The intent of the person who acted is just as important as the response of the person who was on the other end. It is much easier to teach the values of the Oath and Law when intent of the actions are measure, as apposed to the method of the actions. Another example of using politically correct trigger words inappropriately is the BSA statement that holding a scout up-side-down during an awards ce

This wasn't a movie. This was propaganda masquerading itself as family entertainment. This is how real social engineering occurs.