John-in-KC

Since one of my Skill Identifiers in military service was "Target Analyst." I think you need to read this wikipedia article before you even joke about nuclear weapons: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_%28nuclear_device%29 I am that upset.

You mentioned rivalry. I'm still confounded by "Win All You Can." The beginning of the game reinforces the teamwork concept, within the Patrol, and doesn't allude to the Troop or even the middling team of the 1/2 Troop. There's a reverse psychology going on here; I do not yet "get it."

Indeed sad. In the right environment (learning something of science or marksmanship), with the right supervision (range officers, safety folks, reviewing G2SS up front), and with the right RANGE (read: Impact Area away from people), this could have been a great learning activity with lots of take aways (F=M*A, normal distribution of a population, wind deflects objects in flight).... Instead, poorly supervised youth had a dumb attack. I lay this one first at the feet of the PLC, then at the feet of the SM, his assistants, and the Committee. ... and yes, the SE needs to hear about this...(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

Peer pressure can be both a positive and a negative. One option for the young man is to see if this is the only Troop in the area that fills the bill. Sometimes a young man needs peer pressure from a different peer group; one that celebrates the Scout uniform. I also like another idea presented a few posts back about the SM holding back on "Scout Spirit" if the boy doesn't understand "A Scout is Brave" and have the moral courage to wear the uniform.

I need a day job to support my Scouting habit. There's also band boosters and getting my pitch for citizenship in the world ready for merit badge college... I used to be an Owl C-40-05

Concur with what ScoutNut and anarchist say. Further, IF you are in that wonderful National boil called "internet recharter", ScoutNet will kick out an error if it detects multiple CORS across units of the same Chartered Partner (at least it did with me last year as we used it for the first time). (This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

By and large, agree with Sue! There are a few things that require adult undivided attention: Any YP issue, theft, fire-play ... you can think of others. Now, if we're talking about general youth rowdiness, then SPL, ASPLs and PLC need some tools in their toolbox. If it's an issue of SPL not receiving reasonable respect from the youth, then there may need to be some training in "a Scout is Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheeful"... Sometimes a "good cop/bad cop" works well. Maybe one of the ASMs can be the guy who backs up the SPL. Leaves the SM free to do the things he's good at. One observation: None of us are perfect. We form teams to deal with our strengths and weaknesses.

This is a time for the young man to take a mature and introspective look at himself. This could be teen rebellion, it equally could be he's developing a faith that takes him outside the common established religions (Chritianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Hindu, etc). If he makes it to Eagle, he'll need a well-founded and well grounded personal view on faith in a Supreme Being. IDEALS are the Scouting method in use, supporting the CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT aim. That's how faith fits into the program. Help him in this journey. It's not quite a "blinding flash of the obvious" he's somewhat adrift.

I'm with the many who've said courteously inquire to the nature of the parents objection. If the parents are indeed hard over on this, and if the parents understand what the source of their objection is, then the choice is either to support them, and gain the Scout, or to be rigid, and lose the Scout. My thoughts.

There are times for the Supreme Chief of the Fire to lay down the law. THIS IS ONE OF THEM!!! Council Camping Committee responsibilities (what is OA: The Honor CAMPING society of Scouting??? Hmmm...) include Cub day camps, family camping opportunities and Webelos camps. OA falls under purview of council camping. There is a systemic failure if the Lodge *ISN'T* supporting Cub Scouting, whether it be Arrowmen in the Troop reaching back to the Pack, the Chapter reaching back to Day Camp, or the Lodge reaching back across the Council camping program.

We just had Pow-Wow today. We had a really cool tandem presentation: W-S transition from the adult POV, and "What is a Boy Scout?" presented by two young men from our local OA lodge. We need to remember those 16-18 year old Life and Eagle Scouts, as well as the Venturers who have "been there and done it." They may have more to say (and to listen to) than us geezers who pushing 40 years away from our Tenderfoot patches. YIS/ICS/F&W

I'm going to echo much of what Sue M said (review of the leadership psych and soc, how fast we moved from forming to performing as a team). I'm also going to echo the key point Lisa made about the network. My fellow Owls helped me understand Scouting from 3 different Councils and seven different personal viewpoints. Often the rural Council with the humongous districts has an idea that saves time, money, and energy. Because of where I live and the wealth of resources at hand, that really smart idea just would not have hit. As a sidebar: Today I was in charge of Den Chief training at our local pow-wow. Ran into many, many good friends ... Scouters all, staffers all. That's another reason for breaking the comfort zone and going out of council for Wood Badge: I DIDN'T run into "the usual suspects." Broadening the network is a good thing. We received a commitment from our TG at the end of the 1st weekend: During the intersession, HE answered our questions. One question he did answer was why Boy Scouting was the primary vehicle ... and it had to do with maturation of the youth and the responsibility we give them in a well executed boy run troop. Venturing extends that; Cubbing is still focusing on developing primary skills. Even so, I'm glad for what our resident Fox CD said about forthcoming changes to the sylabbus; I think the additional time overviewing the Cub program will be useful to all. It really is all about people, and I'm glad so many of my good friends are Scouters. John A Good ol' Owl C-40-05

Kristi, This may be one of those times where it's worth it to contact your Council Scout Executive. Ask him for the contact numbers of the Relationships Division at BSA National in Irving. From there, ask for someone who can point you to information on Scouting in Qatar. I suspect images of Scouting in Qatar are probably best googled in Arabic.

Welcome. Here's my list of recommended training, considering you are on the District Committee: Fast Start for Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Venturing. Youth Protection ... CHECK! New Leader Essentials Common Core. New Leader Essentials Position Specific Training for: Den Leader Cubmaster Pack Committee Member Scoutmaster/ASM Outdoor Leader (or whatever we call it this month) Troop Committee Challenge Venturing Adult You are on the District Committee. You need a working knowledge of all three programs and the positions within those programs. Depending on your position, there is additional training, both in and out of Scouting, I would hope you have. For instance, if you are the Membership or the Advancement Chairman, I'd HOPE you have a working knowledge of the various software packages such as Packmaster and Troopmaster. You are a go-to person now! I know this means drinking from the fire hose, but with your registered position ... welcome to service

What would have been really neat to see, whether in Roe v Wade or even in Miranda... "We believe we see a right (of the people) OR (of the States) here. The limits of that right are for the Legislative and the Executive to carve out. We stand ready to assist them in this." Unfortunately, that would require a degree of cooperation not seen in that dismal Virginia swampland since Marbury v Madison.

Counselor, In the old days, a filibuster MEANT something: One Senator started speaking, and didn't stop (save perhaps for the essential discharges of life) until he'd either stopped the legislation in play or cloture happened. What is called a filibuster now has no resemblance to that. They do it on gentleman's hours. It needs to be a marathon to be effective, imo. No, you are right, this change in the rules will only count for Article II nominations coupled to Article I "advice and consent." Even so, we will see the day when Republicans have the weapon used against them ... and the conservative pundits of the day will have FORGOTTEN that it was conservative Republicans who crafted the weapon. Now, if I can finish my prep of Den chief training for Pow-wow this weekend, to get back to important matters. I used to be an Owl...

Since we are pole vaulting over mouse turds about two vowels, let me re-state the concept I laid upon the table early in the thread: Within a Lodge (and all the way up to the National Committee) ADULT MEMBERS act in an ADVISORY capacity. We had our shot at decisionmaking, it's not our turn anymore. The patch may say adviser, the job is giving advice, the capacity is advisory. YOUTH are the ACTORS. They make the decisions. Clear enough?

Given: Judge Alito has impeccable credentials. Judge Alito has honorable service to the Executive Branch. Judge Alito, regardless of your political POV, works hard as a Federal appelate judge. Also given: Judge Alito is human and will goof up. I refer here to when he didn not recuse himself in the Vanguard case. We all goof up. It's part of human nature. Get over it. If you do not accept those givens, please say so in your post. Now, on to opinion: We're replacing the first woman with another man. I, for one, would have preferred to see Janice Rogers Brown be the nominee. She has the personal story for the Judiciary that Dr Condoleeza Rice has for the Executive Branch. We're going to have a political fight on our hands. Silly Season for 2006 just opened. Watch your TVs and listen to your radios for hyperbole filled attack ads on both sides of the issue. We may well see the filibuster rules changed in the US Senate. As a conservative, but also as someone who learned his US History well: MARK MY WORDS: If the Senate changes its rules on filibusters, the DAY WILL COME when the Democratic Party will have the Presidency and a Congressional majority. - The Democrats will nominate someone unacceptable to the Republicans/conservatives. - The day will come when Democrats will use the rule against the Republican minority. - The day will come when Republicans will whine to TV news cameras about the unfairness of the cloture vote. - The day will come when I will write my Senators "I told you so." Let the games begin...

For the past year, I've invited the SPL to attend troop committee meetings. The premise is this: If we are "boy run," then the head of the PLC has an obligation to report the PLC's program plans and desires to the Committee. SM provides mentorship in how to talk "peer to peer" with adults. It also allows the Committee to give tasks to the PLC: Our troop is doing a HA at Packerd next summer. It started when one of the results of an annual program planning meeting was "we want to do a high adventure trip." OK, great ... Committee charged the PLC with finding at least five camps with HA programs, their session windows, and their approximate costs. We also asked them to tell us which camps they wanted to go to, in what order. As far as doing a MB on the troop time, folks here are right: Teach the SKILLS on the Troops' meeting time. With the exception of CPR, youth can do much of the skill teaching themselves. Do the MB testing and COUNSELING outside the troop meeting. My thoughts, others will differ. That's ok.

I have a couple of thoughts: First, it seems to me the youth in committeechairs' Troop need some training on the Scout Law: A Scout is Helpful A Scout is Friendly and a Scout is Cheeful In fact, I would go so far as to say: The SM and committeechair need to put their heads together and have a few out-of-cycle Scoutmaster Conferences and Boards of Review. If it were my Troop, I might even have parents sitting "in the bleachers." I'd ask some very pointed questions about how a SM could sign off on Scout Spirit for their next advancement if they are not honoring the Scout Law. Right now, given the information at hand, these youth are not honoring the Scout Law. Arm twisting is a method to be used judiciously, but it does get results. No, an Eagle project is NOT a Troop project, but it's not unreasonable to expect the youth and leaders of a Troop to support an Eagle project. It's a simple concept, really: TEAMWORK!

Kristi, Believe it or not, the 2d weekend will be better than the first!!! Predatory Birds: The TOP of the food chain Beavers: Targets. John A Good Ole Owl... PS: How did the powers that be resolve the missing Pinewood Derby car???(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

My thoughts: Historic Americans: Any list which does not include George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjaming Franklin and Abraham Lincoln need re-evaluation. My personal list includes: Dwight D Eisenhower John F Kennedy John J Pershing John McCain (not so much for his Congressional activity as for his example to all as a PW of the North Vietnamese). Jonathan Wainwright ... and some guy named WD Boyce...(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

Ask your local OA Chapter to bring in several skits on camp. They are the Brotherhood of Cheerful Service, and the Honor Camping program of BSA

Here's my take: She's a litigator. She probably knows more of the commercial and contract law issues that rise to the Supreme Courth than any five law school instructors in the country. She was successful in a time when the barriers were steel rather than glass. Both sides seem to dislike her. I like what both Kahuna and Jerry Schlienig said. So... two weeks ago I emailed both my Senator-critters, recommending they confirm Miss Miers.

By and large, agree with Jerry. The leadership psych and soc, for many of us is indeed, well plowed ground. Even so, it's worth plowing again. The RELATIONSHIPS are the valuable thing from this course. The curriculum without the relationships (a la a business seminar) would have had me asking for my money back. Jerry hit a nail on the head: In the Armed Forces, folks get to make one decision: Do they join, or do they not? Once a trooper has joined, he or she is part of a hierarchy, and while there are some incentives to obedience and superior performance, there are more DISINCENTIVES to disobedience and inferior performance. Advancement is a matter of time served and not making your commander angry at you, until you make buck sergeant. Then, you have some more responsibility for your own advancement. In Scouting, the youth, and their parents, can tell the leaders to go fly a kite, and walk away from the program. We're here to develop these young men and women, not to use them. We use far more coaching and far more encouraging. We have more celebrations of success. Advancement comes from learning.