Fuzzy Bear

It is fairly easy to predict where disasters will occur. People love to build along fault lines and next to oceans to view the beauty and horrors of nature. One place would be California (i.e., a combination of sin and natural disaster just waiting for the hammer to fall). The next Jambo could be held in the desert just east of the state. There is plenty of room for people to sit and stand in such an emergency. A large structure could be built and left there just in case 30 million people are homeless. Since most of the land will fall into the ocean anyway, the BSA could purchase a large chunk of it and sell it to the new occupants as ocean front property and make a killing to boot.

1027, The UC is more ghost than human and has feet the size of trash can lids. Don't be disturbed if one ever shows itself at your door because they mean no harm. Have the boys practice looking confident but back slowly away especially if they are between it and the coffee pot. Another tactic is to give them something to eat. Simply lay it on the floor and keep backing away. While it is diverted, make sure everyone exits safely. Nobody has ever been attacked by one of these creatures but it is better to be safe than sorry. The reason we know they are real is because they have left tracks in various locations thought to be places where they would perform their "duty". I hope this helps, FB,UC(This message has been edited by Fuzzy Bear)

Incompetence would mean rushing to the wrong city in a different state, unless that is the reason they were so late.

I may be insensitive but I cannot make any sense of the choice of a half-million people that would willing live below sea level next to an ocean that has a yearly hurricane season and next to a large river that will inevitably overflow it's banks and will flood the below sea level city no matter how high or how long the levees are extended and next to a very big lake that will come in anytime the levees are breached in a big storm. The only back-up are the large pumps that are known to be able to take out an insufficient amount of rain water and if the rain is a little too much, the pumps will stop altogether. I am supposing that it doesn't make any difference to the people of that fair city or maybe the attraction and the fun of living there is worth the risk, I don't have a clue. That being said, when I see a drowning person, I am going to figure out, find, work at or jump in and rescue immediately. I am not going to scratch my head and wonder about the reason they are in the water when I know full well that they cannot swim. My judgment must be suspended, if I am going to be of service. Now, it may take 48 hours to respond to a disaster but three days is a little slow on the draw by any standard and everyone knows it. Even if communications are mixed and few working radios are to found while politicians are jockeying with each other for a picture, somebody has to do something or the victim will drown for sure or maybe that is the idea, I dont know. I also want to point out that after this is all over, there will be another massive effort at rebuilding a city below sea level next to an ocean with yearly hurricane season, etc., etc., etc. but I guess none of that is important. Our family is and will continue to help. FB

Several things are happening. The first is one's personal perspective of what is liberal. It is fashionable to call anything a person disagrees with as being liberal these days, so it may depend on who you are speaking with as to what is liberal. Many even like to think of themselves as being conservative until some of their hidden liberal laws are tampered with and then they find a way to call it even. The next is that some laws that were thought of as liberal have become acceptable and are no longer thought of as liberal but as good laws. Then there are laws that are liberal and many think of them as being liberal but they have been accepted as being "the law" and few want to change them. The Supreme Court is made up of individuals not political pawns that only think with their political party. Some consider the law as being a way to make society better and politics and labels do not always fit. Some know that the law represents society as a whole and believe that it should reflect those values or it is no longer law. Justice Rehnquist made it his personal goal to make abortion illegal and remained steadfast until the end. It just happens that the justices are not simple minded but intelligent, independent people with families and goals of their own. I consider it a very good thing that "stacking the court" does not sweep away all laws at once that one feels is wrong. If it did, people would recognize those changes and would feel that our government is unstable and unreliable. FB

Jkhny, Our people were told to leave if we didn't like the management. In a volunteer situation it is easier accomplished than in a paid job. One is not relying on an income to pay for one's life. So, the same advice applies, if you don't like the Boy Scouts, join the Girl Scouts. I guarantee that nobody will notice or think twice about your absence.

Council offerings are political and not for the faint of heart. If you get queasy on the first downhill slope, then let others ride that can hold their noses through the loop de loop all the way to the end. There are plenty of jobs in Scouting where one does not need to think about the shenanigans downtown. It is a big world and if you think about what you want out of it, it is possible to find true happiness.

I would like to share with you a method to insure that people do the barest minimum and skip out for any incidental reason. I work for an agency that has a boss that is a political appointee. His agenda is driven by a certain ideology. He has rammed several of his ideas through, fired people, hired political pals and gave them big salaries, kept the wages low for the rest and used fear as a means to keep the group in check. On occasion, he glad hands people and asks them what they think. He then quickly exits and that is the last anyone hears from him or their ideas. It is also a method that a certain political party has been using now for the last few years to achieve their ends. Needless to say everyone loathes the sight of this individual. It has become the kind of job where one gets down on their knees and hopes and prays everyday for another election. The brightness of the lights doesnt seem to affect our production either. I think the Hawthorne experiment must be working. FB

Last evening at Rdtbl, our D.E. gave everyone popcorn samples. I wasn't paying attention so I got a box of the micro butter pop. I had a bag when I got home and it was awful. I couldn't even finish it. I don't mind selling a product that is good but this stuff needs to be reexamined. It is expensive and it should not be, "let the buyer beware". This is something that is being sold by the Scouts and there should be a higher standard for the product.

Welcome, What am I missing a merit badge.net? FB

The jobs like the ones Neil U. mentioned should be well respected positions when done correctly. Quality people doing those jobs make the work seem easy because they have personal resources that fit the duties. When this happens, things get done but it is difficult to figure out the reasons, thus less appreciation. The difference is not noticed until a person without those qualities takes the position and then things do not get done. For some observers, it is difficult to understand what occurred.

Which person in the Bible comes the closest to being like Robert E. Lee? This is easy and is worth only one point. It is like shooting from directly in front of the basket.

ipso facto ipse dixit

TP, Don't rush to a conclusion but tread carefully and listen to both sides of the story. There is always more going on than we would like to think in any given situation. Even after we hear the basic information, look deeper and try to discern the hidden elements. Motive is not as easily found. FB

TP, That was a "Scouts in Action" story for sure. The only thing missing was the Life Saving Award COH. FB

"With all my devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home. I have therefore resigned my commission in the Army, and save in defense of my native State, with the sincere hope that my poor services may never be needed, I hope I may never be called on to draw my sword....." Lee in a letter to his sister, April 20, 1861

The use of randomization in statistics is a powerful method to achieve limited knowledge. Probability/statistics is not a method to achieve Truth as some might believe. Science is concerned with finding limited answers to physical problems. Science is not concerned with a spiritual analysis where there are few if any variables to experiment with in a lab, nor with saving souls. Religion is concerned with analyzing spiritual matters and their method(s) of finding truth is very weak, as compared to statistical/probability standards. When a person begins to combine the two methods, it begins to look like Weird Duck. Historically, this has happened time and again with people getting their panties in a wad and then burning somebody at the stake for heresy and then gathering all of the faithful together for a New Creed in a resort, usually on a mountaintop. The problem between the two methods is arrogance. Both camps would like to promote their method and results as a world-view when both are really trying to achieve different goals. ID and Creationism are valiant attempts at merging the two worlds but will serve little more than being a gadfly in the ointment of science. It won't do any good to tell these poor souls that they should stay at home in the kitchen either because they probably feel that the modern day crusade is to defeat the godless scientists. This cannot possibly be a struggle for Truth but a struggle for accepting the limits of one's truth and living with each other peacefully. IMHO, FB

CR, Boy Scouting is a game with a purpose. One of the ways to achieve that purpose is go outdoors. These guys are poor but do not need to be reminded weekly; most likely they are not poor in spirit and have found ways to go outside in the coldest weather already. Given insightful information and helpful ways to make their own equipment, it can be inexpensive and fun to do. Remind the SM that patience is an important personal skill for assisting boys in achieving leadership skills, another BSA method, so accepting them as they are is a good first step. Given good program, the boys will find many ways to make or purchase equipment both second-hand and from inexpensive sources. Welcome, FB

John, Thank you for your carefully studied reply. Your chosen verses are insightful and filled with exploratory temptation. FB

Stl, For the last two trips to the used book store, I have gazed at several volumes on M. Luther. I now know the reason. Thanks for the direction. FB

Kahuna, I wanted to say earlier that I would be thinking of you this next Tuesday night during meditation but it will be a shared experience instead. Distance has little effect on reality. FB

Ed, I have no idea what perfection is and I agree that God is beyond that idea. So I am at a loss for comparisons. FB

acco40, God may be making it difficult to approach Him/Her and yes it may be to increase the reward but I suspicion that it is mankind that makes it difficult. As for the reward, one second with God must be something like being with my family here on earth but I really can't think of anything better, so it must be very good. FB

Kahuna, Please forgive me for making you feel uncomfortable. It was my intention to motivate us to look deeply into questions that perplex us so as to increase our knowledge about truth and what we believe to be true. I am not a Buddhist but each Tuesday evening I meditate with a group and then we talk after listening to a prepared subject. As my clarity of thought has increased, I have connected to more insights concerning my own confusion about things that appeared only at a great distance. These questions are a mental exercise that is a spin-off from another poster, Trevorum. He posited that religion answers these three questions (and many others) while Science would not attempt these. It is my contention that answers to these kinds of questions are the basis to ones belief in God. Since most of us are Scouters and have confirmed a belief in God, I felt that by sharing truth from our sacred literature and from our own pathways to God that it would bring revelations to us individually and as a group which in turn would assist us to be better leaders. I am now in the middle of a study that has taken me into the Bible to look closely at information that has bothered me for a long time. If no other person were to share, the information that this exercise has generated in my own life has been well worth the asking. Thanks, FB FB

Ed, A perfect Being makes perfect choices, nothing less. FB