JoeBob

Merry Christmas, y'all! I put this in the 'Issues and Politics' forum in case some of you wanted to suggest that we say 'Happy Holidays' instead of 'Merry Christmas'. Masticate my hiney!! 1- I wish that every girl scout troop finds enough female members and adult leaders to successfully launch their own scouting adventure. 2- I hope that all Scouters find satisfaction in their efforts, and that their visions of Scouting's gifts are fully realized. I appreciate that you are giving of your time. 3 - I freely share with all Scouters who are carrying forward with the new vision of Scouting, that I am jealous of your zeal; and no matter how misguided that I think that you are, I do wish you success. I just could not do it any more. 4 - If you should find your stocking full of switches on Christmas morning, remember; it makes good kindling. 5 - Nevermind... My 19 year old daughter is home from school tonight and cajoled me into watching what she remembers as a her favorite Christmas movie with daddy : 'Die Hard'. It was great! Beethoven wrote some great sinister rifts. In the spirit of 'Die Hard', "Yippe Kye Yea, Mother Pluckers! And to all a good night!" Legal Caveat: In case any of you should ever quote anything that I have said in this post and use it against me in a future thread, I shall deny that I wrote it and claim that my account was hacked.

Really, @FireStone ? Moderate voices on the forum have been drowned out by the cacophony of "Times change. BSA must change, too." We politely disagreed. Once it became obvious that closed minds were not listening, we retired to a less vocal status with the caveat "We'll see." Now we are seeing. Part one. In 1,542 posts, I've never whined about being treated unfairly; or chastised the moderators for allowing viewpoints differing from my own. My beliefs are strong enough to withstand scrutiny, disagreement and criticism. I truly hope that National's abdication of its strong leadership position leads to a more localized version of Scouting. But I fear that councils where abuse occurred will not escape being payees to settlements within their bailiwick. Funds will diminish. There is no way to spin this as good news for recruitment numbers. I lurk on this forum not with morbidity as drawn to a train wreck; but with hope that somehow Scouting will pull it off, and survive to teach and inspire youth as Scouting inspired me. I don't think that any of the changes recently imposed can be reversed; BSA as I knew it is dead. Please prove me wrong. Firestone, several impolite responses come to mind that the Scout Law prohibits me from saying. So I'll leave you with one piece of advice: grow a sense of humor; you're going to need it.

Yep. I find myself bemused that Irving is blaming their Chapter 11 considerations on the one thing that is NOT their direct responsibility. Diminish nature and the outdoors in the core program - No harm - No foul. Gay Members - No harm - No foul. Gay Leaders - No harm - No foul. Diminish God - No harm - No foul. (Did we really need Mormons? Guess not...) Bechtel (Did we really need Bechtel?) - No harm - No foul. Undercut the value of Eagle - No harm - No foul. Add girls and eliminate boys' safe space - No harm - No foul. Sexual abuse lawsuits... Oh the cost! (We didn't do it! We've put YPT on steroids! We're blameless!) The foul cost! Money pouring down the drain! Dastardly foul lawyers! Punitive damages most foul. And fowl droppings.

See Liberals! There is a Santa Claus! Can't you just hear the wine-coolers clinking together?

I can't do 'Susans', but I can do SUSA. Especially if we make Mr. Potato Head our national spokesman: Then he can be the savior of Irving's membership numbers, the Re-SUSA-tater. I can sink no lower...

My father drove a Higgins boat during D-Day. He said it was just like 'Saving Private Ryan.'

What Eagle Dad said. But make it a couple of years. Every time I visited, looked in on my son, or showed up to speak at an EBOR; the boys or fathers would sidle up to me and say "We miss you." Okay. Too soon to be back here,

To know which trees are best to hunt under. Persimmons and locust bean pods early in the season. Red oak acorns next. White oak acorns once they start falling, the whitetail's favorite mast.

I'm of the opinion that this candidate failed on the Scout Motto: 'Be Prepared'.

Let's differentiate from Girls Scouts by sharpening our nomenclature: Female And Male Scouts: FAMS. Or has family camping already trademarked that?

Lyft and Uber offer ride alternatives to absent parents.

Free volunteers cost so much less than paid lower level staff. Free labor equates to higher salaries in Irving. (Back to your hole, JoeBob! Back!"

I used my role as Scoutmaster to motivate myself to stay fit. "I gotta set a good example for the boys!" Whenever we had a physical challenge ahead, I'd scarf down a handful of chondroitin for the knees, and happily soldier on. I liked being able to make 2 trips up Mount Yonah hauling water(1000 feet of elevation in 2 miles), paddling solo on the Flint and the Blackwater as lead or sweep, and coaching the younger boys halfway up the wall in the climbing gym. I think that that is what being a Scoutmaster is about. Not to say that I never doubled up on s'mores, and heated my own hammock afterwards; or had a 4th hot-dog, when 2 would have sufficed. In my world, only about 10% of Scouters over 35 would be considered fit. I just really wish that more Scouters would push themselves to set a better example. I wonder if part of the friction I have with District and Council bigwigs is them being intimidated by the difference in our levels of fitness. (Probably not; that sounds like my ego talking.) I'm 6'2", 210 lbs, and 64. I have a physically active job, so I can still suck it in and display a sixpack. (It's actually an 8 pack, and the two on bottom are 16 ouncers.)

Which one of these District level scouters do you want your child to emulate?

Weapons platoon, Alpha Company, 2nd BN, 75th Rangers, Ft. Lewis, WA You?