John-in-KC

In the Lodge I'm currently in, all the information was available, but attendance was discouraged. In my youth Lodge (1970 or so) all the information was available, but attendance was strongly discouraged.(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

My Scouter Brothers and Sisters in the Arrow: Have you taken the online YP training from MyScouting in the past couple months? If not, you may want to do so. It explicitly covers the situation of non-Arrowman parents attending an Ordeal ceremony. Bottom Line: Explicitly says yes. From my read, no wiggle room.

A participation award I've seen is the "Gold Spark Plug." Someone gets used plugs from a shop, cleans them, and paints them gold. Plugs are then inserted in a simple wood base. I like the idea of PWD license too.. especially if home-made.

I completely endorse Lisa's advice. Hers is the approach that closest resembles the Scout Law.

You're 26 years old. You had already had at least two exposures to your District/Council Advancement Committee: When you presented your ELSP, and your EBOR. You own a share of this as well: As your unit kept deferring palms after Eagle, you didn't get it in touch with someone from the District. Given the facts I see, this is a dead letter. Many of us have missed opportunities in life. Press forward, vice looking backward.

From my limited understanding... We first serve the youth we are given charge over. Without kids in our programs, we may as well go join Masonic, Kiwanis, Rotary, ... Our Chartered Partners are supposed to be licensing Scouting to serve the youth in their community. See Lisa's comment about a relationship gone sour, with a 2d order consequence that the CP doesn't want to give up the unit. Then you have a mess We're supposed to be agents of our Chartered Partners in serving the youth. Once a relationship goes South, it really is difficult to rebuild it.

Kahuna, You're also dealing with your State's non-profit corporation law. That can be far more sticky than the Federal wickets. I've seen some folks try to organize charitable non-profits, again outside the BSA community. More failed than succeeded, because they did try to it themselves. Beavah? Your thoughts?

Let me be blunt. Even assuming earliest possible Eagle age of 13 in 2000, You're way over 18 now. You can ask your District Advancement Chair, but I think you're going to find this train left the station several years ago. One responsibility on your part was to be timely about declaring your disagreement with unit decisions. ACP&P from my reading does not support a delayed advancement for this reason.

From having observed the creation of a couple of non-profits outside Scouting: A unit will need: - Access to a decent tax attorney, to get through the Federal/State filing wickets to qualify for status. - Access to a good CPA with bookkeeper support, because 501©(3) books are subject to IRS audit. - The ongoing services of a superb Troop Committee Secretary, as the records of unit business meetings are subject to inspection. From my experience, it's a best practice to build and maintain a good relationship with a Chartered Partner. As an aside, good "Plan B" Chartered Partners are area VFWs and American Legions: Both have defined national missions to charter BSA units whose "former" partners no longer want them.

TheScout: When the United States has resorted to agencies other than US District Courts or War/Navy/Defense Department impaneled courts-martial, we have generally had a declared state of war we were fighting under. Not so these past seven years. While the Iraqi authorization was tantamount to a declaration of war, we have since concluded treaties with the Successor State. That's off the table. What we've done with other enemies is outside the realm of a properly declared war. I'll let Beavah discuss the law (he's rather better equipped to do so than I), but from my small and somewhat limited study of the military arts and sciences, our jus ad bellum/jus im bello is just a tad to the shaky side.

Please allow me to make this real simple: My father shares a status with Senator John McCain: They were both prisoners of war. Dad was held by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II, Senator McCain by the North Vietnamese. Dad has introduced me to other former US prisoners of war. The ones I know, while certainly not being a huge sample, nor necessarily a statistical sample, say this simply: The United States of America needs to be the Gold Standard of holding prisoners captured in wartime. Period. Let our enemies be the ones who use and abuse prisoners. My thoughts.

From my observation, We would not need women in employ at our Scout Reservations, in terms of the sheer quantity of seasonal youth staff, if sufficient young men stepped up to the plate of that employment. Unfortunately, sacking groceries at the local store, doing a shift at the convenience store, lifeguarding the municipal pool, all pay more than Scout Camp. As you move to 18+ seasonal staff, those young people have to look at Scout Camp next to internships and real jobs that pay real money... particularly if they are undergrads in a four-year program. The Scout Reservation is competing with all those jobs, and $30 a week + room and board doesn't always cut it. IMNSHO, a goodly chunk of the young women BSA Councils hire to staff are due to not having sufficient young men. So, whether a Scout Reservation is a great place for a young woman to be an employee does not matter much ... she's needed to fill an assignment on the staff. You already have most of the altruistic Scouts and transitional Scouters staffing Scout Camp. When you've completed appeals to values, the next step is to look at the package.

http://www.house.gov/writerep http://www.senate.gov (find your senator, he/she has an e-form to use) I've been doing this for a decade now. Since 9/11, my Congresscritter has advocated email over snailmail. Another option is not to call your Senator/Congresscritters in DC, but rather their local offices. (I teach this to Scouts doing Cit in Nation )

The Scout, Then I suggest your Council Scout Reservations pay enough and have enough other enticements to attract sufficient young men to staff employment.

Lisa, you're right ... that was a goof. The Obama Transition Vetting Process ...

The Osama Transistion Vetting Process : IT WORKS...not. It's a PR check-a-block! Between Beavah, Lisabob and their respective peers and (in Lisa's case) students), they could do a better job reading the questionairres than the current clowns are.

I had mine at RT, but RT was also a major ticket item of mine. I'd talk to your CD before you have the beading at a Pack meeting ... if he's able to make it about the kids, and you being their servant leader, and giving them some time to have some fun with it, well, go for it. There's always the option of doing it at a Committee meeting or the annual Pack planning session (ours was a dinner/raingutter reggata/pool party).

ACP&P has no rule against us counseling our own children. I've known parents who MB counseled their kids... and it sure looked like they pencil-whipped the app. Yes, I did the counseling and facilitated EagleSons learning for a couple MBs, but when it came time for test and signoff, another counselor did that. Frankly, Adult Association Method works better if another adult can do the MB with one's own son. Good safe Scouting practices mean working with at least 2 kids, and working someplace where 2-deep is clearly in evidence. I've done more than a couple MBs at IHOP just for that reason. As someone else noted, when a boy says he wants to begin a MB, the SM has the responsibility to assign a Counselor.

Congratulations to Matt!!! Now it's time for planning the ECOH. Get with your units Committee Chair, and see who provides what in terms of ECOH support. Get with Matt, get his input about where to have it. Late spring can (if you have a backup indoor site) mean an outdoor ECOH , especially if there's some special Scouting place to your son.

I'm not going to explain. I'm a volunteer on a District level, and well below the Key 3. I have a friend who is on the Council Executive Board, on the Compensation Committee. They set targets, and pass them to the Exec Committee. The Executive Committee signs off on those recommendations, or doesn't. Every member of the Executive Board and Executive Committee is a volunteer. I trust them to do the right thing. I get to have the occasional friendly cup of coffee with one or two of them, I know in my case they've had long talks with the SE. Volunteers set the compensation packages of the CEO, COO, and CFO. I trust them. BTW, Jim Terry, the current CFO, was my last SE. He recapitalized the Heart of America Council. He's good people and worth every dollar he makes. If he were on the motivational circuit, he'd not be in 6 digits, but 7. So, if you want to complain, get to a position where your voice counts. Otherwise, it's time to take care of the youth entrusted to us.

Trev, Way cool and congratulations to all of them I thought the six EagleSon went through with was a fantastic number (especially since most of them had been together for over five years), but nine surely trumps six

Hi Scoutldr, I agree, personal responsibility is also part of the equation. Part of that personal responsibility is pregnancy within the context of marriage. Fertilization therapy is a Godsend for some parents, but the quantities we see in Ms California? I don't think either side of the debate calls that right. BROAD responsibility, with each layer taking its part (personal, family, church, community, State, Nation) requires a certain pullback from the broad attitude that "anything is right, anything is OK, I can do whatever I want." It's one of the reasons I'm involved in Scouting.

Moxieman, 1) You can get a WB syllabus. The last time I talked with our Supply Division Scout Shop manager, it's not a restricted item. 2) According to my CPA, training (such as PTC) is tax deductible. Since I am NOT a CPA, I recommend you contact yours. As for me, this is a deferral year. My money and EagleSon attend Mizzou.(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

I had a lovely dinner of baked Sea Kitten a la Cod tonight. Politically correct???? ME??????????????? NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lisa, I also have to weigh in with Beavah on this one. That said, I believe the pro-life movement has not done its full share of the heavy-lifting: We don't have as many options for helping a young lady in trouble make it through pregnancy, keeping her baby either to be its mother or to offer it in adoption. We don't fund, through Medicaid, sufficient pre-natal care for a young woman who has been rejected by her parents. And yes, we can get rather stupid on other aspects of life, too, including what to do with the most heinous of felons. As for me, I've been a member of the "rape, incest, and LIFE of the mother" exception school for some time now. If some other pro-life folk don't like that, tough. Finally, we also have to wrap a handle around our social services such that having a child is not a winning lottery ticket for $$$ from the State. I've seen the families in my neck of he woods where there are 4 generations inside of 60 years old.