funscout

Our troop has endless opportunities for patrol (or self) cooking. The boys can cook at every troop meeting if they choose to, and of course they cook at every campout. Our boys prefer the dining hall for summer camp, because it allows them the time to take 5 or 6 merit badges or have free time for open swim, open rifle, etc. The boys can cook anytime, back home, but can't do rifle shooting, swimming, etc. at every troop meeting. As a parent, I would rather see my money go towards my boys learning new skills and earning merit badges at camp, rather than time focused on cooking and clean

I forgot to comment on Horizon's post. So, didn't you appreciate Nancy Reagan standing in for her husband? LOL Yeah, not all presidents did attend a Jamboree, but this is the only time we'll ever have a 100th anniversary of BSA. It's kind of like a parent saying to his kid, sorry I can't go to your birthday party, but I have a scheduling conflict. (when it's something that could be done any other time)

Many of these scouts will be of voting age by the 2012 election and they will remember that Obama chose to spend time with Whoopi and friends rather than help the Boy Scouts celebrate a once in a lifetime event. If Obama had skipped Jamboree for an important reason, then there would be no controvery. But to skip it for a day time T.V. show that he could appear on anytime he wanted to - now that sends quite a message to our boys. It's too bad Obama didn't give very much notice on his no-show, because just maybe former presidents Clinton, Bush Sr., and Bush Jr. could have stepped in to fi

Crossamwedge, that's too bad about your son's car being DQed when it wasn't even his fault. Whenever we had a scout who made an honest mistake or in your case, a factory design flaw, we had the boys vote as to whether the car should be allowed or not. We made sure the cubs knew that the boy in question did not purposely break a rule, and we had them think of how they would feel if their car hadn't been allowed. I'm proud to say that each time, our boys voted to allow the "illegal" car to race. If it had been a situation where a boy broke the rules year after year, then we wouldn't have bee

I, too, worked with deaf and hearing impaired kids. I only have one thing to add, since you have already gotten good information. I hate to even have to bring this up, but you might want to learn a few of the common "naughty" words in sign language, so you'll know if the kids start using them. Kids will be kids, and if they think they can pull a fast one over the non-signing leaders, they just might do it. Also, be sure you really know the signs that you end up using. Just like in any foreign language, it can sometimes be embarrassing if you use the wrong word. I know my studen

As a Republican, I guess I should be pessimistic, but I continue to have faith in the American people. I am optimistic that people will see through Obama's false promises, and I continue to pray that all of our leaders will let God guide them to make the right decisions. I have been dismayed over Obama's talk of gloom and doom, because he was supposed to be the candidate of Hope. He and the media fostered the pessismism, I suppose, so that any small improvement would look like a miracle. So, is my disappointment and worry considered pessimism? Perhaps. I think I am being a realist,

A friend of mine had a very strict father who was a minister. He wouldn't allow his family to say any slang word, if it was a substitution for a swear word. That cut out pretty much every slang word you can think of... shoot, darn, dang, golly, gosh, gee, etc. She finally started saying, "oh naughty words, naughty words" as her substitution for the slang words.

Well, BadenP, you'll have to add me to your list, because I trust Rush Limbaugh's ideas way more than any Democrat I know. That doesn't mean I follow him blindly, it just means that I agree with his conservative viewpoints. If I didn't agree, then I wouldn't listen to him. By the way, I laugh when I hear people say that Rush is the voice of the Republican party! He is very disgusted with the Republican party right now. Rush stands for conservative politics, not necessarily the Republican party. Getting back to the original post, my husband and I are still spending, so we are do

There is one good thing about having Geithner as "boss" of the IRS. If any of us ordinary people make income tax mistakes, then we can just point out that the IRS' boss made mistakes without penalty, and we expect the same treatment.

Scoutldr, you are right that many pro-lifers do not put their money where their mouth is. Much more is needed to help pay for the care of women with unwanted pregnancies. My family has very little extra money since we have chosen for me to be a stay-at-home mom. The ONLY charity, besides church, that I give money to, is to help unwed mothers. If I were rich, I would "adopt" as many of these women/babies as I could afford, but alas, I can only responsibly afford to provide for the 2 children that I chose to have. I wanted more kids, but knew I would need to work in order to afford more

I know several people who got pregnant before marriage. Some of them chose abortion, and lived to regret it. Others chose to get married, and are still married 20+ years later. Each one of these friends who kept their babies and married the baby's father can not imagine not having their first child. My friends who had abortions lament the fact that society back then did not do much to educate people on the reality of abortion. My friends take full responsibility for their decisions, but would likely have made a better choice if provided with better information. Each of my friends who cho

This mother made several tragic mistakes. First, in having so many children that she already can not afford (and with no father in the picture.) Next she sought fertility treatment to have MORE babies that she could not afford! The moral thing to do now would be to give all eight of those babies up for adoption. Of course, she won't do that, because, as her mother said, she is obsessed with children. That woman needs psychological counselling. I am appalled that there are doctors who are willing to enable women like her. Laws will never be passed that force irresponsible women to b

No, the entire Republican caucus did not follow President Bush. That is why so many of us tried to get a conservative on the Republican ticket. Democrats helped the moderate Republicans get McCain nominated, but that was not the choice of all Republicans. I was disappointed with McCain's nomination, but still felt he was more conservative than Obama, so I voted for McCain. Even though I disagreed with Bush's overspending, I still am thankful he kept our country safe. I can criticize him in some areas, but support him in others. Hopefully I will be able to support Obama in some ar

LisaBob, you are right that there are some middle ground issues that both sides should be able to agree on. Gern, Reagan was the first to put the restriction on, and Clinton rescinded it. GW Bush brought back the restriction and now Obama has again rescinded it. I don't see how taking govt. OUT of the equation, like Reagan and Bush did, is interfering. Providing tax payer funding for agencies that provide abortions is most certainly govt. involvement in the abortion issue. Taking away the govt. funding is taking govt. OUT of the issue. People can still have abortions, according to th

I can't quote exactly, but I think he did say, "I hope Obama fails." Those of us who listen to Rush regularly, know that he meant he hoped that Obama's policies fail. But, being the entertainer that he is, Rush chose to go more for what I call "shock value." I am not an entertainer, and I try to be kind, so that is why I would have worded it differently.

Gern, I respectfully disagree with you. True, Bush allowed spending to get out of control, but that doesn't mean that Obama's policies are the answer. Bush did not stick to a conservative playbook. If he had, then this country would be better off. Obama's stimulus package has too much pork. I am very disappointed in him. I did think he would honestly try to do better than he has so far. Maybe he will surprise me and look at conservative policies eventually. If he does, then he will have my full support. I don't care if he calls himself a Democrat, if he would be willing to use conserv

Pro-choice groups tend to want government to keep out of the abortion issue. They feel that it is a woman's right to decide what she does with the baby inside her. So how is it that Pro-choicers like Clinton and Obama think it is all right to involve government to fund abortions? Does anyone else out there see the hypocrisy of this? Here we are in a recession, and one of the first things Obama did was to take our tax dollars to help fund abortions overseas. I don't see how that is going to help the American economy. It's sad that he is more concerned with liberal agendas than helping

Although I agree with Rush Limbaugh's hopes of Obama's policies failing, I disagree on how he worded it. I disagree with most of Obama's policies, so of course I do not want those policies to succeed. Rush is an entainer, and he goes for shock value. Those of us who listen to him know that he has nothing against Obama as a person, but has much against him as a politician. If Obama held the same conservative values as Rush, then Rush would be one of his biggest supporters. My children know that I am very disappointed to have such a liberal president, but he is my president, so I will

Thanks for the post, it was very informative. I don't think areas of the country should be penalized for how their vote went, though. Every "Blue" county and state has it's share of "Red" voters, and vice versa, so it's more important to look at the businesses that support Obama's "Spread the Wealth" plan. I printed out the list of "celebrity" donors for McCain, but my computer wouldn't let me print out the "celebrity" donors for Obama! I tried several times, hmmm, what's up with that?! Oh, well, most of Obama's supporters were actors and I already boycott liberal movies. McCain'

LisaBob, I think your son is a little like mine, in that neither of my boys are progressing very quickly in scouts. My 15 year old is a Star scout, and my 12 year old is just Scout, not even Tenderfoot yet. I got so burnt out from too many positions at the Cub Scout level, that it has been hard for me to get excited about being a leader in Boy Scouts. Even though neither of my boys is in Venturing, I am going to register as a leader with the Crew. I have been on one canoe/camping trip with the Crew and I had a blast. I think the change was exactly what I needed. My boys will stay in the T

I think LisaBob is correct that some Republicans did not vote for president this year. McCain was not the best choice for our party, and I can see some people not voting at all since they wouldn't vote Democrat, but didn't want to support McCain, either.

TwoXForr for president in 2012! Great ideas!

My troop has had to cancel high adventure trips due to not enough "qualified" scouts interested in going. I can understand needing certain skills and experience, but a list of prerequisite merit badges often kept boys away, rather than encouraging them to finish the badges. Recently one of our former scouts was able to go on his first high adventure campout, because now he is a leader and no longer has to worry about the fact that he did not complete certain merit badges.

I want to thank all the men and women who have stayed on in scouting even after their kids have graduated. Those who no longer have kids at home, actually have more time to give. They do not have to run kids to various activities like those of us who still have kids at home. Also, they have years of experience that are an invaluable resource. That said, as a Mom, I would be a little concerned about men in girl scouting, just because of the stories I have heard. That doesn't mean I wouldn't allow a daughter (if I had one!) to attend scout events with men present, but it does mean I

Getting back to the original post: If ScoutMomSD's daughter looks like she's 16 or older, maybe these young men were interested in her for more than religious reasons! It's tough having kids who look older than they are. Both of my boys look several years older than their true age. When my older son was just 12 years old, he was asked what kind of car he drove! I don't see anything wrong with the LDS church giving their support to a political issue. I also don't see how that reflects on their association with scouts. Now, if these men had been in boy scout uniforms when they