packsaddle

Thanks guys. I guess it's time to begin constructing those 'wireframes'.

Me too. Mine was almost done with Life (or maybe it was Star, can't remember really). He wanted to call it quits. I told him that he was mostly done with whatever rank he was working on and that I would support his decision to call it quits IF he agreed to finish the rank he had started. I told him it was important to follow through on things that you start, if possible. So he completed that rank and in the process...decided to go the rest of the way to Eagle. This was the time in his life that he was making a lot of decisions academically as well. I might have been just lucky but from that t

Yes, yes, and yes. And at 10am tomorrow morning when 'the flag' is finally taken down, there will remain all the issues of this society that were in place prior to taking it down. The symbol will remain in a museum setting and on any private property that any owner wishes. (See: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/109640682) The 'heritage' which occupies the minds of the people will remain. BTW, the NAACP just announced it is lifting the boycott. That's good.

That may be. But you must keep in mind that at the bottom of everything, including the institution of slavery, is(was) greed. And that still works. In this case the choice of taking down 'the flag' was something that I think everyone recognized was inevitable and this event merely provided the best context for completing the process. In my opinion, I seriously doubt that many of those legislators who voted to remove 'the flag' will have much trouble getting re-elected. The Republican Party was urging this action and will provide backroom protection. These days, the actual election is pretty mu

Bad Wolf: "....the flag is BOTH a symbol of heritage AND racism..." Yes and they are one and the same for many of the people who announce their interest in 'heritage'. And yes, they have admitted this to me on many occasions. They wink with the word, 'heritage' and smile. and then: "Let's not re-write history or try to over simplify things." Well, there's Haley Barbour, "Slavery was the primary, central, cause of secession,†in an interview with Politico. “The Civil War was necessary to bring about the abolition of slavery,†he continued. “Abolishing slavery was morally imperative

94 to 20 on the third reading. I sort of agree with the 'heritage' argument except it's not the kind of agreement that those who tried to keep the status quo would like. The 'heritage' IS one of racism and desire for the days of segregation, all based on a solid and tragic foundational 'heritage' of slavery. And the vote, after at least 60 attempts to amend the bill, rejected that argument. I give the governor credit for taking the lead on this. If she hadn't taken that lead when she did, this issue might have been delayed to the point that it withered politically and the status quo might hav

Thank goodness for Illinois.

Sheesh, I was hoping this topic would give me some ideas for a new application for my son's new 3-D printer.....bummer.

Egad, I was really hoping that somewhere, someplace...there might be something better........ I'd like to think that there are states with better standing with regard to things like domestic violence, infant mortality, education, standard of living, poverty, (need I go on?)...or as I sometimes mutter to myself, 'well at least there's Bolivia'.

Bad Wolf, the house will not be as clear-cut as the senate was. That debate is ongoing. A few days before the shooting, if anyone had polled the senate, there would have been scant support for taking down 'the flag'. So do you really think they changed their minds in the course of a couple of weeks? Unlikely. If someone thinks in those simple terms, I believe they do not understand THIS state government. What I think more likely happened is that suddenly, 'the flag' became...NOT a toxic hot button of which to dispose....but rather it represented a profound threat to the structure of state go

Referendum? That's easy. It's against the law. The legislature wrote strict legislation giving themselves the ONLY authority to change 'historical' or other symbols displayed in the state. That also applies to the names of buildings, etc. A referendum is forbidden by law. Here's the irony. The legislature passed that legislation IN ORDER TO PREVENT any such referendums and to completely control the disposition of such symbols. Don't like that? Tell it to them. As for majority? Keep in mind that the vast majority of the state senate just voted to remove 'the flag' - no substitutes. The hous

OK, removing 'the flag' from in front of the statehouse infringes on what freedom? Its presence is symbolic of that 1962 desire to continue to infringe on the freedom of black people so I'm guessing.... its removal would be infringing on the freedom to infringe on black people's freedom? And that's a bad thing?

Depends. On the trail, I despise gps. OTOH topos are kind of unwieldy. I study the topos and then work from memory mostly. Dead reckoning, use of distant landmarks, a compass if needed...and memory. Someday I may forget. They'll find me with my boots on.

I can see her point if 'the flag' is flown on someone's front yard. It's different if that symbol is embraced by a government. In our case, this is even more troubling when considering the reason for the original embrace. As you say, there have been real changes for the good. So why cling to symbols of the bad?

I can write with some authority on this 'flag' thing. In SC 'the flag' has not flown on the top of the statehouse building since 2000. It was placed on the top of that building in 1962 as a blatant symbol of opposition to desegregation. In 2000 a political compromise was reached in which it was taken down and flown on a mast near the Civil War memorial out in front of the statehouse. The NAACP called for a boycott of conventions and sports championships which began in 2000 and took a serious bite out of revenues for cities like Charleston. The mayor of Charleston sued to have the flag taken do

Twocubdad, you only have yourself to blame for this thread.

I admit that BSA put itself into the political light...that happened a long time ago. But regarding enrollment, I admit no such irony. There is no one who has produced causal evidence of much of anything. It's all correlation and speculation. Which is why, to me at least, such endless discussions about enrollment numbers are both fruitless and boring. As far as scouting being for every boy, the issue was WHO made the decision: the boy and his family, or Irving, TX. I continue to be an advocate for personal liberty and local option.

This steers my thoughts once again to "The Ghost Map" by Steven Johnson. You can read it online - I have linked the title to a text version - or preferably in the form of a paper book. But I recommend just starting the book and see if, after reading the first chapter on 'The Night Soil Men', you can put it down. That first chapter is a masterpiece. My personal favorite passage, "It's true enough that the Victorians were grappling with heady issues like utilitarianism and class consciousness. But the finest minds of the era were also devoted to an equally pressing question: What are we going

Mmmmmmm......steaaaaaaakkkk........

I'd be good with watching a lot of the adults I know try to pass the personal fitness aspects of these rank and MB requirements. Deeeeelicious! Otherwise, agree with Bad Wolf. Leave it as a boy's program.

Shhhhhhhhhhh..........................

Point taken in theory.. but in practice, lol? Edit: OK, I'm thinking about the t-shirt I have from Click and Clack which is in Latin but loosely translates to "Unencumbered by the Thought Process". Maybe..."A scout is 'encumbered'"? How many of these kinds of problems could be eliminated or at least improved if people just thought about it little more?

Thing is, the really great aspect of a successful administrator is that not only do you get to create all this paperwork, you get to make others do that work for you. Until THEY have to deal with all the red tape there will never be any incentive to cut it and that steaming pile will just grow and grow.

Maybe the 13th should be ' A scout is polite'?

This is the natural tendency for ALL administrative structures and administrators. As just one example, there are few things that are more professionally gratifying for an administrator...than to create a new form that people are required to complete.