JoeBob

Sorry to Hijack. KDD: you started this!

TAHAWK: Plus 1 on your rant.

It pays to read the material. Here it is again. "The IRS has told the House Ways and Means Committee that six other employees who had communicated with Lerner also had hard-drive crashes. They include Nikole Flax, the chief of staff to the acting commissioner and Michelle Eldridge, an IRS spokeswoman, and four agents working on exempt organization cases." http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...ails/10695507/ Maybe the Chief of Staff and the Spokeswoman were not working on the exempt organization cases, but Lerner and the four agents definitely were. So five out of seven are definitely hard drives that contained incriminating information. IRS had to crash those hard drives because they had copies of Lerner's eMails. And the agents responses and actions. That is a little different from your '7 out of thousands' distraction.

Eh, no. The NYT can no longer be quoted with a straight face. First I gave you USAToday; now CNN: The IRS admitted there was unfair targeting of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status starting in 2010 http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/24/politics/irs-targeting/index.html "The IRS has told the House Ways and Means Committee that six other employees who had communicated with Lerner also had hard-drive crashes. They include Nikole Flax, the chief of staff to the acting commissioner and Michelle Eldridge, an IRS spokeswoman, and four agents working on exempt organization cases." http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/06/17/how-the-irs-lost-lois-lerners-e-mails/10695507/ That makes it SEVEN convenient hard drive crashes. No body believes that. Right?

What is not true? The IRS has apologized for their targeting - blamed it on 'rogue agents in the Cincinnati office'. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/05/10/irs-apology-conservative-groups-2012-election/2149939/ You believe that Lois Lerner losing her eMail was incompetence and not malice? Awfully convenient isn't it? I might even buy that it was an accidental loss of data that businesses are legally required to keep and backup. But when you tell me that SIX other IRS employees who were in communication with Lerner about targeting conservatives ALSO had unfortunate hard drive crashes and loss of backup tapes......... "But it's not just Lerner's e-mails that are missing. The IRS has told the House Ways and Means Committee that six other employees who had communicated with Lerner also had hard-drive crashes. They include Nikole Flax, the chief of staff to the acting commissioner and Michelle Eldridge, an IRS spokeswoman, and four agents working on exempt organization cases." http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/06/17/how-the-irs-lost-lois-lerners-e-mails/10695507/ I'm just not willing to pretend to be that stupid. But you can choose otherwise!

Really? Then it must be bad luck that only conservative groups filing for 501©(4) status were stalled and targeted for ridiculous levels of scrutiny . "Mrs. Lerner, were you trying to sway an election? "Nope. I'm retiring so I don't have to answer congressional questions. And I plead the 5th. And by the way, my computer crashed with no back-up so you can't see my eMails for 2 years..."

It doesn't have to be a confrontation. Ask the scout. Talk with him about what they did in class, what he liked about the merit badge, what was hard for him, which of the elective requirements he did and why. If there really are shortcomings, a good leader should be able to convince the scout to complete the work in order to avoid having a 'hollow' merit badge on his sash.

Salsa is a vegetable. Is catsup?

Sorry. I admit to making my first post glaringly insensitive. But in reading your comments, I've become more uneasy with this concept. If one of our boys commits suicide and had previously experienced anything negative related to scouting, are we gonna be liable? Failed to advance, last in a competition, hurtful words, teased, bullied; etc. Parents are going to accept no responsibility and look for someone else to blame. Lawyers will look for money. BSA has deep pockets and a history of settling. Troop and scoutmaster are going to be named co-defendants. What's THAT going to cost? After the first lawsuit, how much challenge are you going to be willing to put into your program?

Parity? "I've nicked an artery and am in danger of bleeding out!" (If you can't stop the bleeding or get me to hospital in the next 3 hours.) Deserves to be on pare with: "My feelings are hurt." (Johnny said I was horizontally challenged, but he really means I'm fat and it's not my fault that Snickers bars will melt in my pack if I don't eat them first...) Are we now in danger of being sued for failing to practice correct Mental Health First Aid ?

Just reviewed the entire thread. Nobody wants to talk about Eric Holder. Good.

But wait! I thought that homosexuals were NOT pedophiles..

It's hard to get worked up over anything that Eric Holder has to say. Now if it had been someone with a shred credibility, like Charles Schulz, I might have paid attention.

Adirondacks have no 'doors' to be 'out of' , so sleeping in an Adirondack is certainly not 'indoors'. I'd even argue that a tent is more 'indoors' regarding bugs and driving rain. You can't zip the flap on an Adirondack. Although I can see the grey area, I come down on the side of the boys. They can only use Summer Camp as 6 of their 20 nights total. If you don't count the nights spent in Adirondacks, you're probably the type that likes 22 pages of paper to apply for Eagle.

Three sides enclosed, one side open to the stars? I'm saying those nights count. Just because you're a little sideways to the stars, doesn't mean that you're not still under the stars.

Scout Daddy - I'd recommend you check with your district folks, either advancement chair or DE. Your write up above clearly described a situation that district would like to know about, and correct.

The news finally made it to People Mag - an hour ago: http://www.people.com/article/ann-curry-breaks-ankle-rescued-by-boy-scouts Bing (Not Google) 'Ann Curry ankle.

Put him to work. Assign him to be in charge of the craft portion of your meeting (set-up, do, breakdown and clean up...) Vent his energy, and keep him out of your way.

BLME: "Most of the comments in this thread are truly disappointing to read knowing they come from adult Scouters who are supposed to build boys up," ​'Judgmental' must be the 14th scout law, since 'Hungry' is 13th. Notice that the 2 posters most offended by 'Paper Eagle' are also ardent defenders of the the 'requirements as written' mentality that produces paper eagles. I don't like looking in the mirror either; but I'm ugly. So let's quantify. ​Characteristics of a Paper Eagle : Lazy - Puts in the least effort, and only when an adult is looking. Manipulative - Works harder at knowing the minimums than meeting the requirements Self-centered Pompous Shallow - Likely to fold at the first strong wind. Good Eagle: Always helps Looks for challenges - Advancement is a byproduct of the journey, not the destination. Eager to teach others Good moral character - because it's the right thing to do. Experienced - Because of the challenges he's faced and overcome Confident in himself - because of his experience. Good Eagles are growing into men of good character. Paper Eagles are learning to game the system. If the politically correct part of your psyche insists on being offended by 'Paper Eagle', just remember: a Paper Eagle is only origami.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Not gonna put that much detail online. What the PLC decided works for me. They are aware. Big kids intimidate smaller kids. In the real world, you and I are not going to change that. I see no 'big gray area between accountability and punishment'. If it makes you feel more comfortable, call it 'consequences'; I'm not that politically correct. ********** To all that made suggestions: THANK YOU. Whether I agreed with or used your ideas, they all made me think and gave me avenues to explore. JoeBob

Update: PLC did just fine. 2 youngest members were opposed to any punishment, because "Eagle Scout really holds a grudge." He's not owning it, yet. "You're doing this to me just because I'm an Eagle, right?"

MattR, using the PLC to administer penalties would be our first choice. But the victim wants it to go away. If we share with any of the boys what we're doing to correct the behavior and why, the whole troop will know in about 10 minutes. I'm concerned that that would make it more difficult for the victim. (We have verified the event from 3 sources.) My SM minute last week was about rough-housing turning into physical bullying. This week I'll talk about verbal/mental abuse. But I think that we need to respect the victim's desire to not be fingered as a 'rat'. Verbal abuse leaves no visible marks. It's going to be hard to monitor. Any suggestions on how to teach a 'change of heart'?

Is there some secret meaning hidden in spelling 'feeble' incorrectly?