Eamonn

Most of the people I know are aware of my involvement in Scouts and Scouting.

At work, I do at times get teased. Of course I give as good as I get!

The teasing is more along the lines of good natured banter than any real form of teasing.

Many of our staff members are ex-military and a good many were Scouts, some have kids in the program. It's not unusual to see a notice of someone selling popcorn or Christmas trees on the Staff Notice Board.

One day this week I ran into one of my bosses.

We stopped for a chat. It wasn't by any means a formal interview or anything like that. Just two guys talking.

I really like the guy.

He is about ten years younger than I am. He really knows his job and is good at it.

I think he wants to go far and so far is doing a good job of reaching his goal.

We made small talk for a couple of minutes.

Then out of the blue he asked me if I was going to distance myself from the BSA?

This caught me a little off my guard. - I wasn't expecting it!

I asked why might I want to do that?

He said that being so close after the release of the files wasn't a good career move!

He went on to say that he had been a Boy Scout and had really enjoyed the time he spent as a Scout. (He didn't make any mention of what Troop, or rank.) I know that he has two girls that he has adopted. He kept talking saying that if he had a son, there is no way that he'd allow his son to join.

I explained to him that I really wasn't looking for any kind of a promotion, in fact I was happy where I was, so the idea of career building hadn't crossed my mind.

I went to say that it was clear that the BSA had messed up, but from my point of view the core values of the organization were very much in line with my own and that when it comes to keeping kids safe the BSA is really trying. I however do believe that parents also have a duty. They need to get to know the person and the people who they are allowing to take care of their kids.

I'm not sure if our little chat in any way changed his mind or not?

I tend to think not.

The view of one person is not enough to really make any sort of a judgment on the feeling of others.

I do however wonder if he'd said this to someone else who was setting his eyes on promotion, someone who wasn't able to give as good as he gets, if the idea of being associated with the BSA would get in the way? If they would quit and not want it known that they were members?

The BSA has a real PR nightmare on their hands.

While most of us have enough passion and love for this organization that will see us through and help us get past any mess and any mishandling.

I don't know if new parents and people who are on the sidelines will think the same way.

Ea.

I'm not a fan of Tom Corbett.

I'm not sure if the way the Sandusky case was dealt with was exactly the way it should have been?

Even Corbett now says that the grand jury hearings were risky.

However from my point of view. It seems that a lot of groups / people seem to want to score political points more than get to the real truth.

Corbett does seem to be playing a lot of fancy footwork with the constitution of the Commonwealth.

His vow not to raise taxes has and is doing a lot of harm to the poor and weak residents of PA.

I'll bet my bottom dollar that when it come time to elect a new Governor all of this will be brought up again and rehashed again.

I for one hope that he is sent packing.

However because I don't know enough about what he did or didn't do as AG? I want him gone, not for what he did as AG,but for the harm he has done as Governor.

After all these years, at long last I get it!

HWMBO thinks she is the President.

I've lost count of the times that she has given me "The Look" And said "Money".

The President got of light, I rarely get away with just a quick $20.00

Which reminds me.

A couple of months back some twit was messing with the cars in the hospital parking lot.

A few friends of my wife who also work at the hospital had their cars keyed and tires were let down.

She was worried about her car.

I came home from work and she said:

We need to go out buy some orange juice, a loaf of bread and a car!

I remember when buying a car was a very big deal!

We went out bought some orange juice, a loaf of bread and a cheap used car!

Needless to say, you can guess who ended up paying for the car>

Ea.

Great story.

I bet that the Queen never bought anything from a Boy Scout.

Ea.

Kinda looks like the best place to be during this storm is in a nice warm, well lit jail.

Bad news is that I very lightly will get mandated to stay there until the storm passes.

Good news is all that comp time!!

Ea.

A long time back we used to be able to post polls in this forum.

Being as this isn't available anymore.

I'm wondering if you were aware and knew that someone or some group was doing something wrong and you knew it was wrong. Would you confront them, telling them that it was wrong or would you try and find a policy or rule that you could show them to show that what they were doing was wrong?

For the record I'm the type that wouldn't bother finding the rule or the policy. If something is plainly wrong, I'm very much for confronting the wrong doer and letting him or her know.

Eamonn

Barry,

As I posted this has got me thinking.

In the real world and in real time, I tend to plow ahead with my own expectations, my own values and never give it a second thought.

I tend to think that I'm right enough, normal enough and maybe even good enough to act as a role model for others.

At work I sit on our mentoring committee and am a mentor for several new staff members. Most of these people are happy to have been hired and really seem to want to do their best to do a good job. There are a couple who just don't seem to get it. The most common flaw seems to be not being where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be there. While there are good reasons why someone is late and things that can't be avoided (One good worker was late due to a flat and called in.) and sometimes people end up in the wrong place due to poor communication. For the most part I just expect people to come to work to do the job that they were hired to do. I for the most part even when I know that they have problems at home expect them to deal with their home problems and not allow them to get in the way with their work.

In Scouts, I don't allow the fact that a Lad might come from a family that uses bad language be an excuse for him using it around me or around others.

Still there are times when if I'm aware of something I'm willing to cut the person a break.

In this Forum, I've posted the story about the photo of a Scout from the Troop I was Scout Leader of being on the cover of the UK Scouting magazine with a patch on the wrong pocket. The Lad's mother was blind. He was 11 years old.

Many of us have had to deal with a Lad who is acting up when his parents are going through a nasty divorce. Most of us are willing to cut the Lad a little slack and ensure that we are there for him.

So even with my own standards there are times when I'm flexible.

Most of the time things are black or white.

Clearly in the case of this pair, what they are doing is not right.

It's not right just because it's not right.

Again, in the real world and in real time, I think that I'm a big enough person that I'd confront this pair and tell them that what they are doing is not right.

I don't need to try and find a policy or hide behind some book of rules. -But that's just my way of doing things. It might not be for everyone.

When dealing with others I know that I can't help but fall back on my values and my standards. Both at work at home and in Scouting (Dealing with adults and youth members.) I like to think and do try to be fair, firm and consistent.

Still, maybe because of the time I grew up in? I do at times look at the reasons why I think and act the way I do.

Sometimes I'm willing to accept that even if something isn't maybe the way I'd do things and is something that I'd never do. It might be OK for others.

HWMBO tells a great story how I took her to Paris, the city of love and to Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love before we were married and I insisted that we have separate bedrooms!

I'm to lazy to look up what the numbers are but I seem to remember hearing that more young people today are opting to live together than get married. If this is the case, it time we are going to see a lot more Scouts join our ranks from families where the parents are not married. I'm unwilling to hold this against them. Even if I know this was something that I was unwilling to do.

Ea.

This bit about not being married is a little hard for me to swallow.

HWMBO and I have been married for 30 years.

Just before we tied the knot she suggested that we live together for a while.

I wasn't having any of it.

Looking back, I now think that maybe I was more worried about what others would think and that people might maybe gossip, than I was worried about anything else.

My younger sister who is eleven years younger than me lived with the guy she is now married to for over ten years. They had two kids who were both born before the ceremony.

Both kids are fine and as far as I can tell they have a good strong marriage.

If we believe what we hear in the media, it seems more and more people are opting not to get married.

So while this is something that I wouldn't do I think placing any kind of a barrier or in the way of people who want to volunteer on the basis of them not having a marriage certificate is wrong.

Maybe because I've been married for a while, I don't feel the need to smooch with HWMBO as much as maybe I once did?

I wonder if this pair were married, would the way they are conducting themselves be OK?

Ea.

I don't know very much about the AHG.

Fact is that until they were mentioned here by a Forum Member, I'd never heard of them.

I am very much for coed Scouting.Still, I'm not so sure that any kind of a partnership is needed or necessary.

Ea.

This thread got my little gray cells working.

While not trying to in any way hijack the thread.

I know that I'm guilty of expecting other people to behave in a way that I find acceptable. - Live and behave to Eamonn's standards.

Eamonn's standards are of course all based on the idea that Eamonn is right.

There are of course some areas, some things that I don't push for or am willing to ignore. Most of the time saying or at least thinking that whatever that might be is up to the person.

While I'm happy to toddle off to church most weeks and I think that it's the right thing to do. I'd never dream of looking down on people who don't go to church.

Some things are bigger than others. Back when I was actively involved with units, I made a big deal of having everyone sit down and eat together at the same time. I thought this was important and this has been something that I did as a kid and my family does at home.

I expect other people to have good manners. I really don't think that this is asking to much of anyone.

I tend, without thinking about it to just expect that everyone will live by the golden rule.

The hard thing is when I meet and try to understand others who don't think that the rule applies to them and don't live up to Eamonn's standards.

Working in a jail, I meet a lot of people who seem to think that the rules just don't apply to them.

While it's easy to just think that these guys are just no good for nothing and are just a waste of time. Trying to understand why they think and act like they do is something that I have a hard time with.

Of course many of these guys are just down right greedy. They want what they want and they want it now! Some are of course just plain nasty.

Still there are some who never really were given the opportunity and were never given any real role model that they could follow. This does not by any means mean that what they did is not their fault. They are guilty for the crimes they committed.

But when it comes down to Eamonn's standards I wonder if it's fair that I have the same expectations from them as I do from my son?

My kid was raised with Eamonn's standards. He didn't come from a one parent family where his mother was fighting her own demons, he wasn't allowed to run the run the streets, get in gangs or sell drugs.

I know this all seems a long way from two people who seem unable to keep their paws off each other.

But, I'm thinking more about how we (Me!) React to others who do stuff that fails to meet the standards that we set.

While many of us might agree that what this pair are doing is a bad example. I kinda think that at the end of the day they are not doing anyone any real harm. No one is being hurt and then it all comes down to the expectations and the standards that each of us sets.

Ea.

Horizon

The very idea of having to go through the entire "Hanging Chad" thing again is not one that I'd look forward too.

All this talk about polls has got me thinking.

I have never been involved in any sort of polling.

My guess is that a lot of polls are done by phone.

Just about everybody I know has caller ID and most of these folks only answer the phone if they recognize the name or the number of the person who is calling.

With this in mind I now question all these polls.

Of course not being born and breed on this side of the pond. The Electoral College seems a strange way of doing things.

Apart from the four or five swing states, it kinda looks like everyone else can take the day off and stay home on election day.

With the big storm coming they all might be sitting in the dark, trying to keep warm.

DeanRx

I'm thinking maybe the ad for erectile dysfunction which shows the couple in two separate bath-tubs might be something that could be used to show the pair of Scouter's who are guilty of PDA that there is a time and a place for everything.

Ea.

If what they are doing is inappropriate and is upsetting the normal flow?

Then it needs to be addressed.

The best person to do this would be the COR who I'd think would have the backing of the CO.

What anyone thinks or doesn't think really doesn't matter.

The final word is the CO's. All unit leaders serve at his pleasure.

While allowing him to know what's going on is OK.

Once is aware of the situation, the best thing for everyone is to leave it with him and then when he decides, it is what is going to happen.

Some people might be happy and some might be unhappy. What they decide to do? Is their choice.

While most of us are aware of what the G2SS has to say about married couples.

The definition of what married is? Can vary from State to State.

Here is PA there is no such thing in law as a "Common Law Wife or Husband". But even still there are couples who have lived together as husband and wife who are accepted as being as such.

In fact we had a fellow who worked for the Council who lived with a Lady who was very active in Cub Scouting.

He served for a few years as Camp Director and when his "Wife" wasn't working she spent time with him. I of course don't know what the sleeping arrangements were? But, being that they were very much a couple having bought a home together, raised each others kids together and the kids called them Mom and Dad. I'm guessing that they didn't sleep apart.

And of course the BBC doesn't have any ads!

I'm not sure what's worse the political ads or that foul mouthed chef who never cooks anything?

Maybe all he can cook is fowl?

Tampa Turtle,

Back in the day it was flared pants for me and of course platform shoes!

At college I had a full bead and very long hair.

I sometimes have to laugh when people go off about how the kids of today look like scruffs!

I was in my time the poster child for Scruffs! - Me and Mike Oldfield.

Ea.

Strange how some things stick with you.

Many years back there was a play on the BBC. - I don't think I ever knew the title and if I did I forgot it long ago.

It was about two men, one who loved classical music and the other loved pop music.

When they died both went to hell.

The Hell the classical music lover went to played pop music all the time and the other guy got stuck with the classics.

Growing up, I used to wear some very way out socks, bright colors and patterns.

My brother who wore only black socks used to say that his idea of Hell, was having to be wear my socks.

I don't spend a lot of time thinking about Hell, but I now think my Hell would be having to sit through all the political ads that are now running endlessly on the TV.

This week all the local and State ads kicked in.

No one seems happy to just say "Hey, I'm Joe and I'm running for office and I'd appreciate your vote." It seems that unless they paint the other guy as a no good, useless person who really can't be trusted. They are not happy.

I'm not sure how telling lies about someone else ever makes you trustworthy?

Oh well it will soon be over and maybe I'll be able to turn the TV back on!

Next election, I think that I'll form a super pack and buy lots of air time to just show how cute my dogs are.

Ea.

How very sad.

While I was never a great fan of Jimmy Savile, he was very much a fixture on the BBC.

Not only as a DJ, but also for his "Jim Will Fix It!"Show. A show very often about making the dreams of kids come true.

I met him fairly often when I worked for the BBC. - He seemed to me to be a nice enough fellow.

Life would be so much easier if people who molested children had a dress code and were all really creepy looking characters.

What is really sad is that it looks like the BBC knew what he was doing but choose to turn a blind eye. This sadness is starting to sound all too familiar.

My heart goes out to all the people who were in any way harmed.

Ea.

Maybe it's just me?

I know that when it comes to advancement and boarding the advancement train I can get a little out of sorts. -Maybe even grumpy??

Still when Scouting is talked about in terms of falling behindand homeworkI start to think that maybe this isn't the same organization I thought it was?

As I say it might be just me?

If you really think and believe that a Lad hasn't acted in a trustworthy manner? Then you need to have a little chat with him about it.

Not doing so isn't doing him any favors.

Scouts and Scouting should be about helping Scouts make ethical choices not about collecting merit badges.

Tackling the matter of not being trustworthy, if done the right way will teach the Lad a life lesson far greater than the Environmental Science badge ever will.

What he might or maybe might not have done? Offers you a great opportunity to bring up a lot of the good stuff that Scouts spurt out at almost every meeting. The Oath and Law. Talking and discussing it when something has happened gives the words true meaning.

Of course it needs doing with great care and with only the best interests of the Lad in mind.

Never miss an opportunity to allow a Scout to learn a life lesson. It's better that he learn stuff like this in a setting where people care about him and want only the best for him than almost any-other place.

Ea.

About ten years back, I very briefly looked over some of the training syllabuses used by the Scout Association. I wasn't that impressed.

I did like how they managed to cut out a lot of the stuff which I seen as being unnecessary fluff. Of course that was just my own personal opinion.

I met with the Director of Leader Training at Gilwell Park. He shared a great story how at one of the Gilwell Reunion Campfires the song "Back To Gilwell" was being sung. Some of the Japanese and American leaders had tears rolling down their cheeks, they were emotionally moved by the song, while at the same time the English Scouter's didn't know the words!

This story of course made me smile. I have been a staff member on a lot of courses, presented a lot of beads. But for the life of me, I can never remember the pecking order in which the critters are supposed to go. I know that the Beavers go first and after that I just pray that the others will follow in the right order. That or I use a cheat sheet.

While the song does help bring the group together and is at times fun. I just never thought of it as being that important and really never thought that I'd be condemned to Wood Badge Hell for getting the order wrong! I do however know that for some this song is very important. These people are the same group that on one development weekend wasted 90 minutes of my life discussing if the staff would wear long socks or short socks!

I do and have done a lot of training presentations both for work and for Scouting.

My approach has been "I know what I'm talking about and I'm not going to waste your time."

When selecting others to be presenters, I have tried to find people who will follow that.

Sadly, there have been times when I've been caught with my pants down! People who I felt sure would do a good job. Let me and the participants down.

As a Council Training Chairman, I at times bored myself repeatedly telling people to follow the syllabus. Some people had a very hard time with this. Some felt that they were honor bound to add bits that they thought were important or skip bits that they didn't like or thought were not important.

While I didn't always agree with parts of the syllabus, I needed to try and ensure that we had some sort of quality control and the easiest way to ensure this was by having people follow the syllabus.

Councils and Council Executive Boards do need to actively support adult leader training and ensure that they make the needed resources and funds are available.

I don't see any need or reason why professionals should be involved. Most times they just get in the way. Training should be about volunteers training other volunteers.

While, as I posted I'm big on following syllabuses a lot of training happens when the presenter gets the chance to mingle with the participants during breaks. At this time he or she can pass on what works or what doesn't. This is one reason why I always pushed for training staff members to sit and eat with the participants.

Experienced level headed volunteers know the lay of the land, and can relate to what's happening in the area and are a wonderful resource for people taking training's.

Under the heading "I'm not going to waste your time"

I do think that there is a place for on line training.

I also think that while making training's available and as user friendly as possible we need to try and ensure that all training's do what they are supposed to do. Wasting time is wasting time no matter if it's wasted sitting in front of a screen or wasted by participating in a presentation where the presenter doesn't really know what he or she is talking about.

Everyone seems to be busy.

The goal of District and Council Training Chairs should be to get leaders trained, not just arrange and present courses.

This can be very difficult. In the area where I live the most knowledgeable volunteers tend to also be leaders involved with strong units. They are busy people, taking them away from their units for one or two weekends a year? Is sometimes OK but asking them to do much more just isn't fair to them or the youth that they serve.

Testing? Sounds like a wonderful idea, but find volunteers who have the time to work with new volunteers, test them and maybe have to start over from scratch at times? Might prove to be more difficult.

I like the way that the UK was willing to look at what was wrong and took steps to fix things.

I'm not sure if all the fixes might work in other places?

So while I'd welcome the idea of someone, some group taking a long hard look at what's happening here in the USA. It's worth remembering that what works or what's happening there isn't the same as what might work here or what's happening here.

Ea.

Seems that saving the good name of churches, organizations and some public people used to be the way to go.

I think it's fair to say that it happened in the R.C.Church, Penn State and now the BSA.

Used to be that the media in the UK was OK with turning a blind eye to some of the things the royal family used to get up to.

Earlier this year inmates at a State Correctional facility accused the staff members of abuse. Very soon after the Superintendent and his two deputies were let go (Fired.) While there is still an ongoing investigation, it's starting to look like some of the allegations are just not true. Sadly it does also look like some are true.

Most of the people I know who don't work in corrections have no idea what really happens on the "Inside."

At the facility where I work, most areas are covered by CATV and there are cameras all over the place. When they first started to install them, I wasn't that keen on the idea. My thinking that they were more about catching staff members not doing their job than any idea of protecting staff from being abused and protecting staff from being accused from allegations of abuse. Needless to say my view has changed.

I really couldn't care less what the royal family does. If they are silly enough to do stuff and get caught doing it? Then that's up to them.

The R.C. Church has taken a very big hit.

People have lost trust in the church and I think that a good many will never ever feel that they can trust the church again.

Penn State? Will move on but the black mark, the stain of the cover up is going to be there for a very long time.

I watched the CBS evening news last night and my feeling was that the BSA got off very lightly.

Still in light of what's happened, I'm willing to bet that more cases of abuse will come along and millions of dollars will be awarded. -Maybe I'm wrong?

I suppose if I were a parent and I knew nothing about Scouts and Scouting, I very well might not want my kid to join a organization where he might be at risk.

The damage has been done and I don't think that there is any way of undoing it.

Covering things up is never a good idea. Once you start on that path, there is no good that ever comes from it.

While organizations and churches very well might have a good name? I also have a good name, one that I'm never going to put at risk in order to protect a church or an organization.

I tend to think that when it comes to what we have in YP works fine.

I worry if we add a lot more it will become a complicated mess that no one understands.

I also think that we could do more to train the youth that we serve so as they are better equipped to recognize and manage any perverts that might be out there.

Ea.

I haven't taken any time to look at or read the files.

My take so far is that there were times when we as an organization maybe didn't do all that was needed.

If there are wrongs that can be fixed or need fixing we ought to to move on this ASAP.

I don't see that these files will in any way change the way that I act or will in any real way impact me.

The idea that anyone ever would want to harm or hurt a kid? Is something that I see as just being plain wrong.

People who do things that harm or hurt kids should have the book thrown at them.

I'm not sure what else needs to be said other than saying how very sorry we all are that this did happen.

Ea.

Dean,

You will I hope note that I never said if I agreed or didn't agree with any of the things that I pointed out.

I kinda think that you might also have noted that I was born in the UK, earned my Queen's Scout in the UK and was a Scout Leader there for almost 12 years.

Someone a lot wiser than I once said that "Money Talks"

When it comes to finance and financial support the BSA and the USA is where just about everybody turns to when they need money.

Back in the very early days of Scouting it is a well known fact that BP and James E. West didn't get on, didn't see eye to eye and BP wasn't very happy with what the Americans were up to.

There are a few Forum Members who have looked at this and some of the reasons for it.

I of course welcome any input that they might have.

I tend to think that as far as the end user (The youth members) are concerned, the basics in just about every country I've visited remain the same.

Kids join to have fun, go camping and with a bit of luck come away having learned something.

I really don't think that any country needs to look at what's happening somewhere else and feel that they need to change just because they are doing something different. Sure it's OK to look at something and maybe see if it's better than what is on offer here?

But people are different from country to country. Attitudes vary a lot.

I don't know what the mindset of the powers that be in the BSA is?

My thinking is that having stood it's ground for as long as it has and having spent a great deal of money, lost a lot of income because of their stand. They are not going to rush into any change anytime soon.

Then of course there is the way things are set up. America and the BSA uses the charter partners, where as most other places don't.

Does anyone really think that the BSA is going to do anything that might upset these CO's?

I don't have a list of who sits on the National Board. But my guess is that there are a fair number of people who represent organizations who don't take very kindly to homosexuality. I of course might be very wrong.

Ea.

I'm willing to accept the fact (Fact in my mind!)

That we (The BSA) Are a very long way off from ever pleasing everyone.

The easy answer to the gay thing might be to allow the local option?

But I tend to think that some people might be still unhappy.

If for some reason it was ruled that discrimination on lifestyle was wrong and gays were not allowed to discriminated against.

Then the people who are unhappy about having God in the Oath might want to make a fuss. Then if we went with something like the Outlander Promise, the people who want the BSA to go co-ed and allow girls in to Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts might want to make a fuss.

Maybe if all that was sorted the people who see Scouts and Scouting as some kind of military organization might want to take a stand.

The list of unhappy people could go on and on.

I do believe that some change is needed and change will come.

I have no idea when it will come.

But the idea that everyone will be happy?

Just ain't going to happen. -Ever!!

Ea.

Here where I live, most if not all the Troops in the area have no plan, no way and no system for allowing /accepting adult help.

Just so long as the person has a warm body is able to pass the BSA check and is willing to do something, they are in.

How long they last or how involved they become? Depends on how long their kid remains interested, how involved he is and if the Lady of the house is OK with it all.

We have a few Troops that are willing and do accept any and everyone as a ASM.

Many of these guys are only interested and only there to keep an eye on their kid.

Sure they help with transportation and take the training's needed but they lack any real love of what it's all about and have no real passion.

I'd much sooner have five or six active ASM's who if they don't know what they are doing are really interested in learning and finding out how things work, than a bunch of Dads who need to be looked after and need baby sitting.

A small Leadership Team who can work well together and work toward getting the job at hand done, following the lead of the SM, beats a gang of hangers on who to my mind just get in the way and take away from the youth.

I've visited Troop meetings where the adults outnumber the youth, the extra adults do nothing all night and end up standing around talking and are just a big distraction.

I've seen Troops at summer camp where the ASM's never leave the Troop campsite and spend the entire day minding the fire. -What a waste of time!

Ea.

Natural Law?

Wow!!

Have to admit to not knowing very much about it or ever giving it a lot of thought.

I tend to like to think that I'm a fairly normal type of fellow.

I was born into a fairly normal family and had a fairly normal up-bringing.

Somewhere about the age of about 14 or 15, I found out about sex.

I had all the right equipment and kinda thought that I wanted to put it to use.

Maybe if the girls that I knew and went around with had been a little more obliging? I very well might have.

I have a cousin, the son of one of my Mother's sisters. He is one of five boys.

He is openly gay.

I don't know why? I can't see any real reason why he is the way he is.

My best guess is that he is just wired differently.

Some while back on the PBS show Nature, they followed a group of Gorillas. A group of young male gorillas were left without any female gorillas. During the time that there were no females around the males participated in what we call homosexual acts. When they were able to attract some females they returned to acting as heterosexual gorillas.

While I do believe that I'm related to these gorillas, I tend to think that no matter what happens I'm not ever going to go gay.

In the correctional facility where I work sex between inmates is against the rules as is sex between staff and inmates. We do of course have inmates who are gay. They were gay before they got locked up. We have a lot of inmates who are not gay. We also have some who maybe because they are where they are earn the title from staff as being gay for the stay.

Talking with a pal of mine who teaches in a local high school. He says that over the past few years there seems to be a lot more girls becoming pregnant and a lot more boys claiming to be gay.

I have no real idea why this might be the case?

I kinda think that back when I was a teenager, girls didn't want to be seen as being "Easy" and none of my male friends ever wanted to be called "Queer". Having said that, I know a few of the guys who I went to school with have come out and now admit that they are gay.

At first I was a little upset with these guys. My thinking that they had fooled me. But back then I think any teenager who said he was homosexual ran the risk of being very badly bullied.

I'm not bright enough or clever enough to know why people are the way they are. I think that we need to accept people for what they are.

I do understand that some people are out of their comfort zone when they are faced with dealing with people who are different than they are.

Some things some of us can accept and some things are just unacceptable. It is up to each of us to work this out for ourselves.

I don't have a problem with anyone being gay. I maybe don't understand the sex part? I hope that they will allow me the fact that I don't understand it and understand that there are things that they might do which I have a hard time with.

Life isn't always easy. I work with people who have done some really nasty things, things that I can see little or no reason for. While I'm trained to be very aware of what they might do and that a good many of them are trying to manipulate me, trying to use me for their own good. For the most part, I don't allow what they have done in the past get in my way. I treat them as fairly and as consistently as I can.

The law of nature tells me that I have choices, I can fight or I can flee. It seems to forget that somewhere between the two there is a gray area.

Over the past few years the media has not only passed on the message that it's OK to be gay. But at times the message seems to be more than that. Maybe going as far as to say that it's cool to be gay?

While I think that some people are wired differently and I'm OK with that. I do worry that there are some young people who get lost in the hype.

Because of this I'm not so sure that not allowing membership to youth members is such a good idea.

Ea.

For reasons unknown to me. My employer (The State.) Had me take the ASHI wilderness first aid instructor course.

We use ASHI because it's a lot cheaper than the other big guys.

I can and do see how it can be presented in such a way that it would have real meaning and an impact on people taking the course.

Still the course I participated in was tacked on to another course. We never left the nice warm classroom in the Training Academy.

The guy who was the lead instructor, was very passionate and a first class instructor.

Looking at how I presented First Aid to Scouts, it was most of the time set in situations that were outside or in camp type situations.

Every year our District holds a First Aid Competition using scenarios that are based on outdoor, camp or travel situations.

While having Scouts attend Wilderness First Aid courses is never a bad thing. I do think that like a lot of what we do, how we teach it, where we present it and then how we offer opportunities for Scouts to put what they have learned plays a big part in what we are and how Scouts see the skill.

Ea

A couple of weeks back I posted how at times I find myself with a foot on both sides of the fence.

I find myself feeling sorry for the SM.

Just imagine being faced with a Lad that you know and care about and have known and cared about for a long time then the Lad openly admits that he no longer meets the membership requirements.

What would you do?

I'm glad that I'm not in his shoes.

We as an organization have made earning Eagle Scout rank a very big deal.

While maybe the path isn't as hard for Lads who come from well to do families? I really don't think that how well off a family is or isn't really comes into play.

In the area where I live, very few Scouts who make it as far as the ESBOR are ever denied the rank. In over 25 years living in this area I know of only four. The reasons why these were denied had nothing to do with being gay or not accepting that there is some kind of God or higher power.

I knew two of these Lads and when they found out that they weren't going to get their Eagle Scout rank they accepted the decision. I think maybe they knew that everything wasn't in place before they went for the BOR?

The expectation that a Lad who has been denied will accept the decision and go quietly used to be the norm. Maybe a parent might show up at the Council Service Center and might give the SE a hard time? Has happened. In fact I know of one Lad who was denied. His Dad went to the Service Center with the idea of giving the SE a punch on the nose! The SE for whatever reason? Maybe out of fear for his nose? Or maybe because he seen that the Lad had not been treated fairly? Asked me to look into what had happened. When I found out the reason why the Lad had been denied was just plain wrong. The Lad received the rank.

The Lad and his family in this case are not going to go quietly.

Seems to me that they think that what has happened isn't fair and they are willing to use any means available to let everyone know this. Maybe wealthy parents do have more means available than poor parents do?

I don't know what the BSA is going to do.

I tend to think that going on what's happened in the past that the BSA will do nothing.

Still I respect the fact that this Lad and his parents have every right to voice their opinion and if the media picks up on the story. It just goes to show that they are doing a good job of getting their word out.

The BSA has spent a great deal of money in court and elsewhere defending the stand that it has taken. I really don't see that this Lad and his not receiving Eagle Scout rank is going to change that.

Still, I keep thinking of the play The Winslow Boy and stranger things have happened.

This story does seem to have legs and people on both sides seem to have very strong feelings. It will in time die down, but right now it isn't going anywhere fast.

It is so easy to look at the big picture, the media coverage and forget that we have a young man who is hurting.

That for me is just sad.

Eamonn.