John-in-KC

The Internet Wayback Machine doesn't always have the best links, but... http://web.archive.org/web/20080405065653/www.geocities.com/cybercubber/ Hope this helps.

Yahoo ended its Geocities service on 26 October 2009. Anything referring to geocities is, as Dr McCoy would put it: He's Dead, Jim!!!

What ScoutNut said. I would, however, contact your Unit Commissioner and find out who the District/Council special needs resource person is. He or she can provide you education, support and local guidance.

I agree with Lisa. And as soon as we lowly volunteers get a vote, I'll cast one. Involve yourself. Do so at District and at Council levels. Someday, you may get a chance to be involved at Regional and National levels. I know the President of my faith community's Scouter organization. He sits the National religious relationships committee. His vote makes policy, and I have a chance to directly share my concerns with him, as do others in our organization (that would be you, Ken). I also know a Regional Associate Adviser to OA. I can ask about policy with him as well. So, I don't buy this fully.

Chai: You asked: Read John 14:6-7 and Revealtion 2:12-18. As a Scouter, I will support your right to worship in your faith tradition. Do not ask me to participate within your faith tradition, allow me the right to worship in my faith tradition. Would you ask the Jew to worship the risen Christ? What would you ask of the Muslim? Within the context of Scouting, our duty is to support the families of youth. We embrace faith, we do not provide substitutes.

Brent, Remember, I am countering Stosh's argument: Hmmm, I wonder what would happen if a boy showed up for a football game without his uniform pants, or a soccer game, or a parade if his band was marching? Or if the police wore blue jeans, or combat soldiers had Wal-Mart knock off" The argument is about personal equipment, not collective equipment. Not only does the band provide the collective, it provides the personal. As far as money, in my school district only the head coach is paid more... the others are volunteers, as are the boosters. So the time commitment delta isn't quite washed out. But wait! Scoutreach SMs are PAID. If you provide the uniform, you can require its wear. If you don't you may simply encourage and peer pressure its wear.

Huzzar, Brent has the right of it. If he's a no-show, why did you renew him a year ago? He can always rejoin if he's interested. Rejoining gives the Scoutmaster a tool ... "We expect you active. If you're not active, we'll package your records up and send them to whatever troop you want to join."

And the time of the band director, sectional leaders, band boosters, ad infinitum (and at HS level, only the band director is paid) isn't valuable? SR-Beav is right, apples to oranges, but if you look at time, there's a similar level of commitment by volunteers. I'm not against uniforming. As a youth I had full uniform, as an adult my major concession is Cabela's gray field trou vice Supply Corporations'. I'm just showing the fallacy of Stosh's argument.

Eagle and Brent... I saw the other way, 2 years ago. Kid, an SPL, came in from campout for a parade. He tried to put on his uniform over his camp gear. His pants stuck out. His band director, a Marine (once a Marine, always a Marine) docked him points for being out of uniform. The kid tried to appeal to me; I simply said "what's our motto?" He was crestfallen.

Hmmm, I wonder what would happen if a boy showed up for a football game without his uniform pants, or a soccer game, or a parade if his band was marching? Or if the police wore blue jeans, or combat soldiers had Wal-Mart knock off" Stosh, this argument has fallacies in it: The football team or the band: At HS level, the kid has his uniforms and equipment furnished. The exception is his/her shoes and gloves in band. The instruments can be furnished as well, particularly for the larger items, such as bassoons, tubas, and percussion. The rental fee is nominal for the cost of the instrument. Same thing for the athletic squads. What do we do in Scouting? Make them buy it. I don't know of very many Troops who furnish. EagleSon is now a university sophomore, in a Big 12 marching band. Here's the package the band gave him this year: - 1 Semester Hour Tuition scholarshipped by the University ($260) - Band Camp week extra dorm time fees paid by the University (~$100) - Meals during band camp furnished by the University (~$65) - Uniform fitted and altered as needed by the University (~$50) - Game Day meal provided by the University (~$32) - 1st Band polo furnished by the University (~$25) - Annual Away Game Trip furnished by the University (~$100 for a 3 day weekend, quad occupancy) The Armed Forces provide the Trooper with his uniform and equipment, free. He's given an annual allowance to replace items wearing out. What do we make Scouts do? Buy it all No, this argument is spurious. HS and college programs furnish the items in kind, in turn there's a reasonable expectation of wear. Ditto the Armed Forces.

If he's that Type A that the kids need to be at Wolf by B&G, he should be more than welcome to take over your Den...

As usual, Congress walks away from its own mandates... Cue John Adams... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HD1x_kZRQQ

Ken, Congratulations to your son!! May all enjoy his ECOH day, may he embrace that Eagle is forever part of him now

What a Friend We Have in Jesus God is So Good I Will Call Upon the Lord, Who is Worthy to be Praised Day by Day By interfaith I trust you are talking inter-Christian. If you are talking mixing outside of Christendom, I cannot help you, as that is anathema.

" ... but fails to keep the Law and Oath, that is reason to keep him from advancing." Actually, requirement 2 for Star and Life is: Demonstrate Scout spirit by living the Scout Oath (Promise) and Scout Law in your everyday life. ... and for Eagle it is: Demonstrate that you live by the principles of the Scout Oath and Law in your daily life. List the names of individuals who know you personally and would be willing to provide a recommendation on your behalf, including parents/guardians, religious, educational, and employer references.

I'm more concerned about mandatory single payer in 2013.

As far as the professor is concerned, as Colonel Sherman T Potter says: "HORSEHOCKEY!" EagleSons' major professor just took a week going to eight other universities, giving eight masterclasses and recitals. He made up his lessons to his studio; he had another professor come in and cover the weekly all-hands class. At a different university I know a tenured full professor who will be going to Britain for 17 days in about a week. He is using several techniques to make up his lessons. The professor can invite a guest lecturer on a special topic, can have a promising TA give a lecture on a special subject within the course, can even cancel class. As far as the HS student, you're not willing to go and visit with his Principal? As a Plan B, what about sending him to (I hope PTC has gotten better about this...) NAYLE at Philmont for a week in summer? There's always more than one way to skin the cat, if you think outside the box.(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

Let's look at the minimums for a moment... "Be active in your Troop and Patrol for at least N months..." That great Scout Executive, and later Mayor of Kansas City, H Roe Bartle, said it for all time: "If you give them great program, they will come." If the program gives youth age appropriate challenges, they'll be there. If not, who is the principal program officer of the Troop? Mr Scoutmaster. Why isn't he mentoring the PLC to "kick it up a notch?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Earn 12 specified merit badges. Earn at least 9 other merit badges, for a total of 21. In each of those merit badges, the Scoutmaster should have assigned the Counselor, so the Scoutmaster understands the quality of the work which will be required. No more/no less doesn't mean the kid can't, as Requirements #33215 says... SHOW YOUR STUFF! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For a minimum of sixteen months (4 1C to Star, 6 Star to Life, 6 Life to Eagle): Demonstrate Scout spirit by living the Scout Oath (Promise) and Scout Law in your everyday life. Let's be honest, though, most kids take much more than 16 months from the day they hit 1st Class to the day of the EBOR... The ethic is not time driven! Mr Scoutmaster, you're the guy that makes the call... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For a minium of sixteen months, serve actively in one or more of the following positions of responsibility ... (Star and Life only: (or carry out a Scoutmaster-assigned leadership project to help the troop)). Again, Mr Scoutmaster is the guy who makes the call. Part of leadership, Mr Scoutmaster, is when you delegate the responsibility, you also delegate the authority. If you choose to delegate POR signoff responsibility to an ASM or worse your SPL, you box yourself in to underwrite his decisionmaking. The implied task there is you persnonally train your ASM/SPL on your standards of execution. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While a (First Class/Star) Scout, take part in service projects totaling at least six hours of work. These projects must be approved by your Scoutmaster. The Scoutmaster approves what the Scout will do, be it go to the food bank and help, paint a shed at the church, be part of a Troop conservation day at Scout Camp... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While a Life Scout, plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community. (The project should benefit an organization other than Boy Scouting.) The project plan must be approved by the organization benefiting from the effort, your Scoutmaster and troop committee, and the council or district before you start. You must use the Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project Workbook, BSA publication No. 512-927 , in meeting this requirement. Here the Scoutmaster is one of a team: He has a chop, the supported organization has a chop, and the District or Council Advancement Committee has a chop. Of note, both the Scoutmaster and the supported organization has a chop on the backend as well"This project was planned, developed, and carried out by the candidate."). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What is the common word among every upper rank requirement? Scoutmaster. Just as I say the Scoutmaster is the Gatekeeper on merit badges, the Scoutmaster is the mentor of his youth. It's the single indispensable duty of his position. Barry (Eagledad) says it even better: In a different thread, Barry said "I looked at job as the guardian of Scouting's Ideals. The SM is the primary judge for interpreting the Scout Law, Oath, promise, and motto for that troop for everyone in the troop." The minimum is only as easily low, or as unattainably high, as the Scoutmaster chooses it to be. The goal is to find the right point. YIS

Courtesy of my Congresscritter: http://graves.houseenews.net/mail/util.cfm?mailaction=clickthru&gpiv=2100049242.35843.35&gen=1&mailing_linkid=17673 (you'll have to cut and paste the link, sorry about that folks...) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Commentary below from the House Republican Conference: Page 94Section 202© prohibits the sale of private individual health insurance policies, beginning in 2013, forcing individuals to purchase coverage through the federal government Page 110Section 222(e) requires the use of federal dollars to fund abortions through the government-run health planand, if the Hyde Amendment were ever not renewed, would require the plan to fund elective abortions Page 111Section 223 establishes a new board of federal bureaucrats (the Health Benefits Advisory Committee) to dictate the health plans that all individuals must purchaseand would likely require all Americans to subsidize and purchase plans that cover any abortion Page 211Section 321 establishes a new government-run health plan that, according to non-partisan actuaries at the Lewin Group, would cause as many as 114 million Americans to lose their existing coverage Page 225Section 330 permitsbut does not requireMembers of Congress to enroll in government-run health care Page 255Section 345 includes language requiring verification of income for individuals wishing to receive federal health care subsidies under the billwhile the bill includes a requirement for applicants to verify their citizenship, it does not include a similar requirement to verify applicants identity, thus encouraging identity fraud for undocumented immigrants and others wishing to receive taxpayer-subsidized health benefits Page 297Section 501 imposes a 2.5 percent tax on all individuals who do not purchase bureaucrat-approved health insurancethe tax would apply on individuals with incomes under $250,000, thus breaking a central promise of then-Senator Obamas presidential campaign Page 313Section 512 imposes an 8 percent tax on jobs for firms that cannot afford to purchase bureaucrat-approved health coverage; according an analysis by Harvard Professor Kate Baicker, such a tax would place millions at substantial risk of unemploymentwith minority workers losing their jobs at twice the rate of their white counterparts Page 336Section 551 imposes additional job-killing taxes, in the form of a half-trillion dollar surcharge, more than half of which will hit small businesses; according to a model developed by President Obamas senior economic advisor, such taxes could cost up to 5.5 million jobs Page 520Section 1161 cuts more than $150 billion from Medicare Advantage plans, potentially jeopardizing millions of seniors existing coverage Page 733Section 1401 establishes a new Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research; the bill includes no provisions preventing the government-run health plan from using such research to deny access to life-saving treatments on cost grounds, similar to Britains National Health Service, which denies patient treatments costing more than 35,000 Page 1174Section 1802(b) includes provisions entitled TAXES ON CERTAIN INSURANCE POLICIES to fund comparative effectiveness research, breaking Speaker Pelosis promise that We will not be taxing [health] benefits in any bill that passes the House, and the Presidents promise not to raise taxes on families with incomes under $250,000 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Let the games begin...

General Eisenhower/President Eisenhower actually wrote two books: Crusade in Europe is his account of Operation OVERLORD. AT EASE: Stories I tell to friends is his autobiography, more in the form of stories he tells on himself through the years.

ASM411... That is certainly an exception to the rule, and truly so. The father/son relationship is usually so strong that it's not always objective. There will be exceptions to what I describe; the 80% solution is just that

Welcome. First, ask your Cubmaster to find out when Position Specific Training for Den Leaders is. Training will provide ideas and resources! Here are some resources to help spin you up fast: TAKE THESE FIRST Cub Scout Fast Start Training at MyScouting: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/CubScouts/Training/faststart.aspx Youth Protection Training: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/CubScouts/Training/ypt.aspx Once you are enrolled in MyScouting, YP training is online. Now, some specific resources Welcome, New Den Leader, No. 510-231 http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/510-231.pdf So Youre A New Den Leader, No. 510-239 http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/510-239.pdf Program Ideas for Your First Month of Den Meetings, No. 510-232 http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/510-232.pdf Cub Scout Program Helps for New Den and Pack Leaders, No. 331-118 http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/331-118.pdf 20092010 Program Planning Insert, No. 13-34409 http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/13-34409.pdf The Values of Cub Scouting http://www.scouting.org/sitecore/content/Home/CubScouts/resources/Character%20Development.aspx Purposes and Methods of Cub Scouting http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/CubScouts/AboutCubScouts/pandm.aspx The Cub Scout Pack http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/CubScouts/AboutCubScouts/ThePack.aspx This shows how you fit into the overall world of Scouting Welcome to the trail. OH ... Relax. Scouting is a journey, not a race. You've got all program year to get kids to Wolf. Being steady on the trail with your Cubs and their parents (parents are a huge part of Wolf and Bear advancement) is going to retain better than burst of energy. After all, Pinewood Derby takes January!! (This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

NHS has a relatively high bar for its minimum. Heck, any of the HS honor societies do. EagleSon was in Tri-M (HS honor society of Music Educators National Conference). It took a combination of grades, musical performance, and service to meet the floor. The floor for an honor society is an automatic limiting factor. It denotes a minority of excellence from the group as a whole. Even with the things we do, Eagle Scout takes work. Not every young man who walks in a Troop is going to earn it. Indeed, most do not. When I was CC, I had a 17 year old, a Star Scout, whose parents made him attend events. We were the baby-sitter on Monday nights and one weekend a month. The SM and I sat down with them. They asked about Eagle. We told them ... and they winced, because they didn't realize the investment their boy would have to make. (BTW, he was/is into cheer, and probably should have been specializing there by the point he was 17). I love the staff banquet at the end of summer camp season. When I look at the young men, they are nearly all Eagles. The values which Eagle symbolizes are part of who they are. So, to end this ramble, Eagle is closer to NHS, but to me, it's more like the next defining moment in a young mans' life ... just as his taking station in life, marriage, and fatherhood will be.

Oak Tree, I agree, there are things the SM can delegate to his ASMs ... - Overwatch of specific Patrols? Yep. - Skillset Master Trainer (the instructor resource person)? Yep - Event support person (Mr Camporee, Mr Klondike, Mr Summer Camp, Mr HA ...)? Yep - Administrivia of Life--->Eagle? Yep (I'm not talking the concept of the Project, nor am I talking the Eagle SM Conference; I'm talking knowing the Advancement Committee well enough that the Project will get "you may begin" go-ahead, and I'm talking the arcane process of the Eagle app packet itself) What I say the Scoutmaster cannot delegate is: - the duty to the PLC, - the duty of youth mentorship, to specifically include SM conferences and MB Counselor assignments. If the Scoutmaster has to delegate those, it's time to look at splitting the Troop, it's too big! I've seen, out in a server farm somewhere, several different Commish College theses which say the correct high-end youth count shouldn't be more than 50 kids. Does that make more sense?

At least 1958, when my brother was a Cub Scout and his Pack in Abilene Ks set a standard of blue jeans for uniform pants. Of course, the years of the POS de la Renta uniform, with poor quality, fit, and finish did not help any. Don't get me started on the field useless red beret...