eisely

As readers may know, Jimmy Carter visited North Korea again this week. Tough to keep up between Royal weddings and releases of presidential birth certificates, to say nothing of first ever press conference by any Chairman of the Federal Reserve...but I digress.

Carter invited himself to North Korea again. Hard to know what he expected to achieve. Even the North Koreans didn't want him to visit, as Carter was snubbed by Kim Jong Il. Anyway, Carter now blames the US for food shortages in North Korea and declares that we, as a country, are committing a human rights violation by not feeding the people of North Korea. Every time I think this man cannot embarrass himself any further, he fools me (exceeds expectations). See link below.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53868.html

The story about the pack with the husband wife team deserves more discussion.

Non profits are always getting ripped off -- much more than other types of organizations. There is always a high level of trust, but separating financial functions and responsibilities is a common sense measure. I have always recommended that the committee chair, unit leader, and treasurer all come from different households. I also recommend having dual signature control on the bank account. Requiring frequent treasurer reports also is an important internal control mechanism. Anybody who is offended by this should be disqualified from the leadership position.

The nastiest job I ever had was one semester as a college student working as a short order grill cook. The guy in the shift ahead of me always left a mess so I had to clean up not just after myself but after him too. I was covered in grease and showered and shampooed every night after I got home.

The most physically demanding was one Sunday "bucking bales" at a nickel per 75 lb bale of hay. This guy had a truck and would pick up hay from a farmer's field and move it to a barn somewhere and store it. I was on the crew that walked behind the truck and picked up the bales and threw them up onto the truck bed. Fortunately I was young and fit and up to the job, but I would not want to do it again.

I don't recall when the legislation was passed or the exact legal cite, not being an attorney, but the timing sounds about right. This came up in Florida shortly after the 2000 election fiasco there.

Saying grace at mealtimes is an easy way to start.

I would consider tying LNT principles to duty to god as well. After all, it is god's house in which we live and we shouldn't be messing it up.

Do not forget the Jesse Helms amendment. I don't know what part of the federal code was amended, but the law sponsored by Helms required that public schools receiving federal funding not discriminate against the boy scouts in either access to or fees charged for use of facilities. There were a variety of local school districts at the time actively excluding scouting groups completely on the grounds that BSA units discriminate against homosexuals. As I understand it, the Helms law essentially took that issue off the table.

G2SS is much more than just a guide. It is my understanding (and I believe it is stated up front in the G2SS document) that the language in bold face type is policy that must be followed.

I don't think anyone has ever held up G2SS as divinely inspired scripture. I can see how some adult who is new to scouting and who does not have a great deal of experience with outdoor activities might be intimidated. Certainly following the letter of the law is always the least risky course. There is still enough flexibility to have a great program and a lot of fun.

Just as with the Darwin Awards there is a web site dedicated to the achievements of really stupid criminals. One of my favorite stories of several years ago involved an aspiring bank robber.

A guy goes into a bank and shoves a note to a teller demanding $100,000 in small bills. The teller informs the robber that they really don't keep that much cash in the bank but that she could write him a check. He thinks for a brief moment and agrees. The teller then requests some ID which the robber provides. The teller and bank officers then issue a chashier's check to the guy for $100,000. The police were waiting for the robber when arrived at home.

I don't know when the G2SS was first published under that name as a comprehensive compendium of safety policies. There have always been safety rules. The parts with which I am most familiar involving aquatics have been in place since I first went to summer camp in 1953. Those particular rules have evolved, but the idea of classifying participants by swimming ability and the buddy system have been around at least that long.

I like the idea of having all the rules in a single place(This message has been edited by eisely)

Our troop has had such a role for an adult for some time. I performed that function for our troop for about five years.

I think that the position has to be pretty well defined. First of all, since there is no such position, that person does not sign anything. I suppose in some close situations the SM or CC might turn to the eagle advisor for his or her opinion, but the eagle advisor has no real authority other than that created by the troop.

My main function was to make sure the boys approaching 18 understood the process and to advise them in how to go about it. I did not supercede either the SM or CC in the formal approval capacities, for either the service project or the eagle rank application.

The one thing I did pro actively was to act as a collection point for the references to ensure that they all came in and were in turn delivered to the right person at the district level.

I also offered an annual briefing for both parents and boys who were entering the process to explain to all of them what was involved. It is hard for me to evaluate the benefit of doing that, but everybody involved found it worthwhile.

This just in ...

It turns out that our activities in Libya do not amount to war but have been renamed a "kinetic military action."

I'm certainly glad that got cleared up. We can all relax now.

Ironic isn't it. Bush the cowboy invades Iraq with numerous UN resolutions in his pocket along with formal congressional backing and is deemed a war criminal. Obama gets the Nobel Peace Prize for doing absolutely nothing, attacks Libya with only one UN resolution in his pocket and no congressional resolution even submitted, and no clear mission at all.(This message has been edited by eisely)

This situation as described is clearly out of control. The merit badges are merely part of the problem.

There are a variety of circumstances where parents can legitimately counsel their own son or sons. I have done so myself for canoeing merit badge where there was no other counselor in the troop. I incorporated the MB into the activities on various canoe treks successfully and never looked back. I did discuss it with my district advancement chair before I did it the first time.

Learned something new today. March 25 is officially designated as "Medal of Honor Day," commemorating the date that the first CMHs were awarded during the Civil War (oxymoron that). It is worth remembering the sacrifice, courage and achievements of those who earned this award.

I am particularly impressed by the story of Pfc. Desmond Doss on Okinawa during WWII. Not only was he a hero, he was also a conscientous objector serving as medic.

Aside from a charter lapsing over lack of membership at renewal time, it is difficult to imagine what might cause a charter to be suspended. It would have to be some egregious violation of BSA policies fully sanctioned by the chartered organization. I cannot see even proven criminal misconduct by an adult leader resulting in a charter being yanked.

Now if a Sea Scout Ship were using its boats to help smugglers bring drugs into the country as a fund raiser, that might get the charter suspended - at least until the council got its cut.

We are a fully uniformed troop. It took awhile to get there, but that is what we do.

There are a number of arguments in favor of the uniform. I see the uniform as essentially playing to what I will call "gang psychology." Boys want to belong to a group. Gangs have their own uniforming to set themselves apart. We offer a different kind of gang and uniforming is part of that.

Consider youth sports. You don't see teams being allowed to play with half a uniform.

The appearance of a book's cover is important. Ultimately the content of the book is far more important, but making the book attractive and interesting looking in order to get potential buyers to pick up the book in the first place is one of the functions of the cover. So it is with the BSA uniform. A parent and a youth making a decision to join scouting at all, and secondarily which unit to join, will also be influenced by the first impression. What is it that provides that first impression? The physical appearance of the youth and leaders. Sloppy and incomplete uniforming says something.

I am not a clothes horse, but I do try to take care of myself. A youth or adult in scouting who takes pride in their appearance in uniform will be a better scout or scouter for doing so.

Scoutfish,

Did you mean to imply that all military veterans are stoners?

Beavah,

If I were Polish I would be offended at the comparison.

Returning to the original question, I get the impression that the unrest in Libya has more to do with tribal differences than anything else. Apparently Libya has more tribal groupings than any other country in that part of the world. A powder keg waiting for a match.

When one looks at where the oil facilities are located and where Qadaffi's tribe is located, one cannot overlook the desire of others within Libya for a better share of the oil wealth.

I agree that we cannot simply assume that a bunch of enlightened democrats will step forward to form a government. We have no real idea what will follow if the current regime truly goes away.

It is difficult to be too cynical about the Arab League. I was struck by the fact that the Arab League got in front on this issue at all. It is a measure of how much Qadaffi is disliked outside of Libya. It also does not surprise me that the Arab League is now saying something different.

Well we are in it now. In for a penny - in for a pound.

Personal Growth -- Doesn't that have something to do with the height/weight table in the new medical form? Is maximizing personal growth now a bad thing? I am confused.

Making a few legitimate inquiries is not the same thing as denying the transfer. If I were in the position of the receiving SM, I would be more concerned if the leadership of the transferring unit did not want to talk about it all, as another poster has noted.

While one wants to give a fresh start to a boy in this situation, I would probably initiate a discussion with the prior scoutmaster, but a carefully controlled conversation. It is important to know if the reason for departure was any behavior that created dangers to other scouts and adults and I think the new unit is entitled to know of any such behavior. In fact one would be negligent not to seek such information.

Even earlier the Bolsheviks made the word "comrade" socially unacceptable in most circles.

For as long as we have lived here, the district has had a single person reviewing and approving projects at the district level. Having the same people review the project as will sit on the EBOR is an interesting idea but I don't think it would be feasible for us. We just have too many boys completing their eagles to attempt that level of involvement by a district level board.

I have agreed to be the primary district approval authority for eagle projects for our district. I am not a stranger to the eagle process and I think I have a pretty good idea how to proceed. Nevertheless I would appreciate any insights or suggestions from anyone who has been involved in this.

Stosh,

You were treated extremely shabbily and are handling it far better than I would under the circumstances you describe. Clearly the chartered organization (if it was involved at all) is entitled to select or deselect the unit leadership with or without cause, if the CO doesn't think it likes the way the program is being delivered. Most people do not like confrontation and no one had the guts to speak to you directly. You are better off out of there.

The people who lose the most are the boys. Too often adults do not think of the larger interest when they pursue their own agendas. Too often the people up the chain, both volunteers and paid people, act shamefully in responding to parent complaints by failing to even ask the targeted volunteer what is going on before they take a precipitate action.

Good luck to you in your future scouting.