Kudu

Here is an account of the Plano situation from a Scouter in the area: > If it is true, was it written by an evil atheist whose only joy comes from > stealing the icing from little children's' Christmas cupcakes, or by a > Christian martyr intent on proving his or her victimhood? :-/ Ok, now I've gone and read the suit, which you can yourself find at Liberty Legal's website, here (pdf file) http://www.libertylegal.org/pdfs/Plano%20Case.pdf I've lived in Texas all my life, as a non-christian, (which is one of the reasons my daughters will never go to public scho

Patrol Competitions generated a lot of excitement and Patrol identity for us! My Scouts' favorite prize was always a trip to play laser tag :-/ We ran our Patrol Competitions for two months to cover one season with a month between competitions (when we ran them back to back). It helps to have physical objects to hang on the Patrol Flags to count the number of points earned. You can structure the colors of these feathers or bits of ribbon to represent the skill for which it was won, with a bead to represent the season in which it was earned and the color yarn to represent the

Same with the cupcakes. OK, I haven't been paying attention to that stuff. Your version seems to be consistent what John Gibson (Fox News) is saying. I think its a great story, and I'm surprised that the urban legend Websites haven't picked up on it yet. The cupcake icing detail is just too perfect. You know what they say about "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't." I can see having these discussions with you is not going to be easy. *Shrug* You really don't like Christians, do you? It depends on the Christians. I don't like political re

It is listed on a National Catholic Committee on Scouting order form for $2 at the followig URL: http://www.nccs-bsa.org/business/nccsItemsForm.php

The Plano schools did not allow green and red plates and napkins, and icing on cupcakes. The way I heard it, the Plano schools did not special order red & green napkins, and instead used the white ones they already had on hand. This was interpreted as not allowing them. From here in Dunwoody, how much evidence do you want? Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Since your wife is an employee it shouldnt be hard for her to get something on official stationary. Send it on to Bill OReilly. Still waiting for the numbers on those Aztec webpages. Well, I

There are extremists who would homogenize the holidays into a secular "end of year" celebration The whole reason that Christians chose December 25th is that it was the solstice, which used to mark the end of the calendar year. The holidays/holy days have always been an "end of year" celebration. - ridiculously manifested by such petty nonsense as removing poinsettias and banning red & green decor. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence! This sounds suspiciously similar to the O'Reilly Factor story about a Texas school district that told students they co

Why should the airlines say "Merry Christmas" on December 25th? For the same reason the federal government and most businesses are closed today. Can you figure that one out, or do I need to explain further? I guess you need to explain further :-/

airlines who say "Happy Holiday" even on Christmas Day (I flew yesterday) Holiday means "Holy Day" which would include Hanukkah, which started yesterday, didn't it? It is also Saturnalia, and a few other holy days. Why should the airline recognize only one particular holy day? Kudu

I'm so proud of you, being able to perform simple Internet research, sitting in front of your little computer. Or do you maintain all this knowledge in your head, same as Cliff Claven? Yeah, like it is just a coincidence that 564 Websites all tell the story in exactly the same words as yours :-/ Call me old-fashioned, but I get nostalgic for the good old days when Christians denounced all symbols of Christmas that did not include a manger as pagan. Nothing says "Christmas" like the old annual newspaper wirephotos of Christians circled around an effigy of Santa hanging from the

I hunt, and I'm also a member of PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals!). Most of us who are concerned with the ethical treatment of animals make a distinction between hunting and, say, the prolonged suffering caused by forcing food down the throats of geese and ducks with a funnel for months to enlarge their livers for foie gras. Years ago, our politically incorrect "Red Skins Patrol" hunted when they went on Patrol campouts almost every week. Their favorite prey was rabbit, but often they had to settle for the fried squirrel they added to the Patrol's staple "Campbell's Pork & Bea

From that day on, the bright red flowers were known as the Flores de Noche Buena, or Flowers of the Holy Night, for they bloomed each year during the Christmas season. Silly me, I thought that because the pre-Christian Aztecs in Mexico prized the plant as a symbol of purity, your elementary school was anti-Aztec. But if the creationist botany textbooks in Georgia state that prior to the eighteenth century the poinsettia did not change color, then you are correct. Kudu

Is that a war on Christmas, or just my imagination? Just your imagination. Red (and gold) were the pagan colors for the active or male aspects of the gods, and green (and silver) were the pagan colors of the female aspects. As for poinsettias, aren't they associated with the solstice because the green leaves naturally turn bright red this time of year? Proof of Intelligent Design, I'm sure, and the war on sun gods. I've been trying to find something in the New Testament about this, but so far no luck. Of course it is possible that Jesus said "Giveth thou the poinsettia to th

1) Since when do most people act in their own economic interests? :-) 2) Scouts and their parents don't vote on BSA policy. That is done by the institutional heads of the sponsoring organizations. So if the majority of the institutions that sponsor BSA Troops are conservative churches, then it stands to reason that the vote of these institutional heads will be consistent with their church's official policy. Someone who understands the inner-workings of BSA national policy can explain this more accurately, but my guess is that even if the families of the Scouts in a Troop sponsored by

Merry Orthodox Solstice to everyone! The holiday called "Sol Invicti," or unconquered sun, in honor of the Syrian sun god, "Sol" was celebrated on 24th & 25th of December, which was when the winter solstice fell at one time. By the fourth century, many Christians were referring to December 25 as the day of the "unconquered son," in defiance of the emperor. In 350 AD, Pope Julius I decreed that the nativity should be celebrated on the same day as all other sun gods, namely, December 25. So happy Sol Invicti to y'all too! Kudu

As developing countries suck up the manufacturing jobs tensions have boiled over with the Labor Unions and the projectionist crowd. At least in my Troop, Boy Scouts has been dominated by the children of manufacturers, unionized laborers, and tradesmen; the people that stand to be most affected by this change in the capitalist system. The potential change that stands to effect the BSA most profoundly is the YouthScouts challenge to the protectionist policies that establish the religious right with a monopoly on Scouting in the United States. If the YouthScouts challenge succeeds, it will

kahits writes: The best connection is the middle school that just happens to be across the street from the church that the troop has their meetings. No other pack is even close to this area of town, and those that are nearby, are so high profile, they don't even have to recruit. All 3 of the feeder packs has their kids going there, so it's really their domain to recruit scouts from. I wouldnt worry about stepping on the other Troops toes by recruiting Boy Scouts from the middle school domain in which their Scouts are students. The best audience is sixth-grade students as ea

When they have campouts, the boys pitch their tents in a line. The SPL and other boys in PoRs go first, followed by the highest ranking scouts without PoRs, all the way down the line to "scout" ranks. Mike F's advice is excellent. With some preparation your son will learn how to present a case to adults in a knowledgeable and respectful way. That is the lesson to be learned. Having been to Wood Badge you may think that once the trained adults realize that they are not using the Patrol Method, things will start to change. Don't bet on it. I've never seen it discussed, but over

Most adults multiple rechargeable batteries that need to be charged: cell phones, 2-way radios, weather radios, cameras, even those million-candlepower flashlights! By the time you get to the camp office to ask, they will be running out of outlets. So if you bring along a multiple outlet strip they will be very happy to see you. Kudu

I guess anything that comes close to cotton, but is more durable would be a good option. I think you are better off with the traditional material, cotton. Baden-Powell wrote somewhere that the principle purpose was to cool the neck and protect it from sunburn. As far as "durable" goes, here are the results of some stress tests: http://www.inquiry.net/images/mm088a.jpg captainron14 writes: You should be wearing the "50 year" bar between your CSP and your Troop number. Why just the 50 year bar? If the Troop was founded in 1938 they should be wearing a 65. I th

I'm with those who are against structuring free time, the next thing you know you will be pre-arranging "play dates" :-/ Scoutcraft competitions and "recreational" games like "capture the flag" are as old as Scouting itself. But there is no game that will "develop leadership and teamwork" as well as the Patrol Method. The perceived need for "leadership games" and "team-building activities" is almost always a sign that a Troop is not really using the Patrol Method as it was designed by William Hillcourt. Scouting is a game, and artificial "games with a purpose" to pick up the slack are

I must dig out my copy of the Service Library 1927 booklet Scouting With a Neckerchief or my copy of Reimer's classic Matching Mountains with the Boy Scout Uniform. Both the entire Scouting With a Neckerchief and the Neckerchief chapters of Matching Mountains with the Boy Scout Uniform can be found at The Inquiry Net: http://www.inquiry.net/uniforms/neckerchief Kudu

Besides all those nonChristians out there, where did all the people go from the millennia before Christianity? Dante took a stab at answering your question in his trilogy, but this complex theological issue is best explained on "South Park." If you don't subscribe to cable, then you will either have to rent the DVDs or suffer eternal damnation. Kudu

This year the best holiday defense is a good holier-than-thou offense. Simply explain that the word "holiday" is from the Old English "hAligdg," from hAlig holy + dg day, and that Jesus is deeply offended that he does not consider His birthday to be a holy day. Merry Christmas!

The design was certainly in style at the time. I heard that it was especially stylish among women, many of whom wore it as a blouse because it was a relatively inexpensive de la Renta original. Too bad Google wasn't archiving it all at the time. Kudu

I'm looking into high tech fabrics that can be used for these neckerchiefs Make sure that it is soft. We bought a bolt of "wrinkle-free" material that felt OK to me, but the Scouts hated how "scratchy" it was :-/ I found this bit of vintage inspiration on the stave: Here are some more diagrams and instructions on making staves: http://inquiry.net/outdoor/skills/b-p/staff.htm It sounds like you might be interested in my Kudu/Inquiry Net: 2,000 pages of Traditional Scouting information, check out the list of Scouting skills on the left side of the the above URL. Na