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Horizon

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Everything posted by Horizon

  1. Monroe Doctrine was Monroe's statement that we would stay out of Europe, and that Europe needed to stay out of the Americas. He did not want the European powers having any more colonies, and did not want them to try to regain any of their colonies either. Part of this was in hopes of not having to watch our Southern border while were were trying to get control of the Oregon territories. So on one side it was more isolationism (we would stay out of Europe), but on the other side we were becoming a cop ("protecting" the nations of Central and South America).
  2. I agree with you on the complexity (another problem with forwarded net glurge like the OP). I would not consider Barbary to be world's cop, though. We went there in defense of our OWN direct interests, rather than pay tribute. That is different from, say, Kosovo, where the US was NOT directly threatened and had zero merchant interests either.
  3. Barbary Pirate actions is analogous to Afghanistan. You will also note that we did not stick around with occupation forces and try to implement a Republic. We took them down and gave the Corps their distinctive sword! It was also in direct response to attacks on the US merchant fleet. War with France around New Orleans was our border - it was NOT an alliance or war on the other side of the globe. It also did not happen. The analogy there is more than suspect.
  4. A second analogous error of the original post is that they use Washington to defend the War in Iraq. This is an error since Washington was one of the Founders who warned us of getting in bed with foreign nations: "Against the insiddious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow citizens) the jealousy of a free people out to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government." The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is in extending our commercial relation
  5. The unsuccessful occupation of Algeria is certainly one of the factors that took down a few French politicians. I really do recommend reading the book. You can see how well torture, bombing, rounding up suspects, etc. did them when fighting the people of Algeria in their own country. The parallels to what we are dealing with in Iraq are certainly striking. There is a reason the book is so popular among the officers in Iraq and Afghanistan right now.
  6. Rules are society's way of codifying generally agreed upon ethics (the good old Social Contract as explained by Rousseau). We come from different backgrounds, and even people of the same faith in the same church can find disagreement on ethical decisions in certain situations. From these debates we get rules. Rules should reflect ethics. e.g.: It is ethical to be safe. However, each of us has a different definition of safety. The rule is that you need a Tour Permit. The Tour Permit reflects the BSA's thoughts regarding safety (along with the G2SS). Now, if we all were in 100% agre
  7. Twocubdad: Patton: His Spymaster: My Great Uncle (CounterIntel in the European Theater) : Me or Patton: Macarthur : My Grandfather (Intel in the Pacific Theater, Intel for Korea): Me Pretty short connection! We might find it shorter from other paths as well, though. I have been to Reagan's offices in LA after he left the White House, and met with him. Reagan gets me to a LOT of people, obviously.
  8. The French have a better recent understanding of occupying and trying to pacify a similar nation than we do. I recommend the book: A Savage War of Peace by Horne.
  9. scoutldr: THANKS! I might try to take Grandad out there on my next visit to VA (he is in his mid-90s, but still doing well). I appreciate the tip.
  10. We are thinking about having Geneology MB over the winter, using www.geni.com as the primary site for the Scouts to use to put together their family tree. I have also found it fun to play 6 degrees of separation with famous people, and not just using family ties. For Example - my grandfather was on Macarthur's staff - so I have sat on the lap of a man who worked daily for General Macarthur. I am two from Mac, and therefore 3 from a slew of famous WWII and Korean era leaders. It can be fun to get the boys to play this with their parents and teachers, it makes history a little more "real
  11. My wife earned her Gold in GS, and I have my Eagle. I won't say that this had much to do with our marriage, but it certainly was there in the background. Consider it one more check-off on the mental list regarding whether we were right for each other!
  12. Based on my read, it seems that the Troop SPL (and sometimes the SM) determines activity. Those positions that are served at the request of the SPL should be managed by the SPL. If the SPL does not remove the Scout, then the Scout has served the role. To tell the Scout at the end of 6 months that it did not count helps train our boys to be the types of managers we all hate in the working world! When I worked for a University, I wanted to fire a poorly performing employee. I went to HR, and they asked me for any documention of poor performance. I had none, nor had my predecessor ever d
  13. Happy to have the debate, but it will have to kick off next week (off camping this weekend and I need to leave to get my truck packed!). Happy Scouting.
  14. weep all you like, Rooster7. While you weep, I will continue to follow what I believe to be Christ's commands to minister to everyone. When we both approach the Lord, we can determine which of followed the New Covenant of love, and which of us followed the Old. When churches in America are welcoming homosexuals, including COs, I think that the BSA is going to have to adjust. We are already facing struggles with some meeting places, and we are going to face even more struggles when churches choose either not to associate or to downplay their relationship with the BSA. I have personally
  15. I think Progressive and Traditional do the best at conveying the thoughts, without carrying TOO much baggage. If you add the term "values" to either then I think you are back to having terms with negative connotations. I ALSO think that lumping together the exclusion of atheists with the exclusion of homosexuals is problematic (at least for me). There are some that would welcome atheists, and not homosexuals. Others would welcome homosexuals, and not atheists.
  16. evmori: I don't think I am that much of a rarity where I live. As for our youth director, there are many churches dealing with the ordination of gays and lesbians at this time. The Presbyterian church goes back and forth on this issue with every Assembly. The Episcipalions are dealing with it as well, as are the Anglicans. Our director's interests are no more in young boys than our female music director - so I have no concerns with him (or her). OGE: I understood your point. I personally do NOT apply the label of progressive to myself (though my church does consider itself part of t
  17. evmori: I have friends who are homosexual. I have friends who are atheists. Both groups are regularly at my house for dinner and drinks, though we do not play cards. The Youth Director at my church is gay, and he is the one working with my son on his religous award. So count me as one Scoutmaster and Eagle who could be considered progressive based on the definition thrown out here.
  18. For minorities, I assume the the CSE is talking about racial minorities. In terms of enrollment, the goal would be outreach to ensure that they know about Scouting and helping them establish Packs and Troops. I live in a mixed race area, where my white son is a minority in a classroom of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Indian classmates. I spend a fair amount of time educating immigrant parents (1/3 minimum of my Troop) about Scouting and what it can be their sons, and also what Scouting is NOT. Just telling them that Reverent also applies their religions of Shintoism, Buddhism an
  19. I would welcome more information on the web, that is also cross-indexed (maybe Wiki style). I have found myself flipping through my hard copy Handbook, G2SS and SM Handbook. However, I do not have a copy of the uniform regs nor the fundraising regs (since we only do the Council popcorn and ticket sales). I did not even THINK of the issue of Eagle Projects and fundraising, for example. However, I was interested in the statements here about the need for Tour permits. Part of the reason for a Scout Regs Wiki would be that we could create a link for patrol activities, and have links for a
  20. There is one more Tattoo provision for recruits - that is that the tat can not be offensive or gang related. That results in some local Asian language specialists being asked to translate some tats to ensure that they do not say something "bad." Of course, the wearer is not always completely clued in on the meaning - nor is the artist! http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,194732,00.html
  21. I like asking the "How will someone know you were a Scout" question. The "give back" line of questioning really does depend on the age and life circumstances of the Scout, not all of which is under his direct control. My HONEST answer (knowing now what I did not know then) would have been, "Well sir - my family just moved about 50 miles into the country, so that I will no longer be able to regularly attend my Troop meetings. At this time I am happy to have earned my Eagle, and I will be focusing on my academics for High School. Right after high school graduation I will accept the reques
  22. Our summer camp had many women on staff. The CPR instructor and leader of the First Aid area was a woman, no problems there. There were several women working as Merit Badge Counselors as well, but they were all college students studying forestry, nature, etc. These women all worked in the handicrafts and nature areas. All of them were in the camp uniform of Venture shirts during the week. In speaking with the Camp Director, they were happy to have the women simply because it was difficult for them to staff the camp. Having these women come down for a couple of months during the summe
  23. We are going to just give every Scout new numbers and epaulets when they are released. We are not going to push for new shirts initially.
  24. I have heard that some districts only approve Eagle projects that result in a permanent structure, including a plaque naming the Scout, Troop, etc. Others may comment on this - but it is not unique.
  25. It would not be that difficult to create .pdf files of all of the handbooks, and offer a subscription system for downloading them. Make it cheap enough (say, $1) and you will not get too much of a piracy problem. I would only do that if the bandwidth charges were too high. In a perfect world, the electronic versions of handbooks would be free. I believe it would INCREASE the number of boys who actually use the handbooks in merit badge classes. It would also provide a solution to the "we are all out of the books" response at the Scout shop a few weeks before Summer Camp. Worse was thi
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