Proud Eagle

And if all the civil rights protesters are correct, the police in the city of Louisville have executed 7 people in the last 2 years for being the wrong color, and that the justice system then conspired to make all but 2 of those appear clean. Do I believe that? Not entirely. Do I think at there was something a bit odd about a few of those events? Yeah, but I am not certain I would call it an execution. Should someone be held accountable? Yes, both those directly responsible, and if fault if found in policy, procedure, training, or leadership, then at least someone up the chain of com

You are welcome. If you contact one of 558's lodge officers or advisers, they can probably check around and see if they know anyone from that time period. It is quite possible on of those people you are hoping to get in contact with is now in some adviser position in the lodge. Back when I was White Horse Lodge Chief there were several people who came forward wanting to renew their memberships because of sons entering Scouting, or finally settling down after a long string of moves, or other such things. While we would always ask if they had an old membership card, we knew that gene

What if a council actually did issue a tour permit for laser tag? I know the prevailing wisdom is that they won't, but what if they did? Particularly what if they issued one to a unit where no one had figured out that a rule that addresses firearms also covers laser tag?

That would be the bombshell of the year if it turns out some officer or NCO was staging all this for the purpose of creating (or having the ability to create) such a scandal. I don't think it is likely, but it is certainly possible. I can also see the Army deciding to cover up such an event, since it really doesn't benefit anyone for that to be the explanation. More likely however was that there was serious problem in communicating the standards to these MPs. From what I have heard, these MPs were basically loaned out to MI folks. It is quite possible that through the combination of o

I would imagine there are still some members in the new lodge that were in the old lodge during that time period. They may or may not be active, but there should be at least a few still registered. If not that would be a bit odd. As for finding membership records from that time period, you will likely find that to be next to impossible. I suppose someone may have kept a copy of the old lodge roster, or someone may have an old newsletter collection or something of that nature, but that isn't very likely, and even if such a person exists, you still must find them. It shouldn't be ve

Bob, I think we aren't really very far apart, we are just applying terms a bit differently. Why is pointing a firearm at someone unnacaptable? That is pretty easy to answer. It is unsafe to point a firearm at a person. Now the more difficult question is why have they decided that laser tag equipment is an example of a firearm? That is more difficult to answer since a firearm is a very well defined device and that definition does not under any normal circumstance include laser tag equipment. Also, there is no clear danger from pointing a laser tag device at someone. Or why have t

I can't see any way that you can require a peer review. You could strongly encourage it, but I can think of no way to force someone to go through a peer review after all requirements are signed off. It might (or might not) be a good policy to include a peer review, but it isn't the BSA policy. Now on the other hand, I guess you could require that all requirements be deomonstrated to a peer review group to have them signed off. That would be a bit unusual, but I think it would be within the rules.

Bob, I can say that quite easily and without any reservations. That is an example of WHAT the rule is, not WHY the rule was written that way.

If you do some searching on the board you will find a couple of old threads that went over this very heavily. I won't go over all those arguments again, but here is the core of it: http://www.scouting.org/nav/enter.jsp?s=ba "Pointing any type of firearm (including paintball, dye, or lasers) at any individual is unacceptable. However, law enforcement departments and agencies using firearms in standard officer/agent training may use their training agenda when accompanied with appropriate safety equipment in the Law Enforcement Venturing program." Many have determined that laser t

I have never seen any published limits or guidelines. However, there are some things that must be kept in mind when planning hikes or backpacking trips. The physical condition of both the youth and adult participants must be taken into account. Nothing should be done that would endanger the health or safety of any participant. Also, consider not just the single day mileage, but also the mileage for other days of the trek. Someone may be able to handle a 20 mile single day trek, but may only be able to handle 10 miles per day for a week long trek. Keep in mind that if someone gets hur

He needs to be removed from leadership entirely. The Charter Organization Representative can do this. The Institutional Head of the charter organization can do this. The both have the responsibility to maintain proper leadership standards. This includes enforcing BSA policy and enforcing the policies of their organization. I would say the Scout Oath and the Scout Law could both be used as reasons if this guy demands an explanation for why he is being removed. "to obey the Scout Law", "help other people at all times", and "keep myself... morally straight" from the Law: trust

What do you plan on using it for? Also, remember it is always a bad idea to cut a rope, cord, or string unless necessary. It is easy to make a long cord short but it is a good bit more trouble to make a short cord into a long one, particularly if you want it to retain its original strength and not become easily tangled on knots.

Unfortunately the stoll to be worn is not usually the decision of the wearer. Most schools mandate that only certain items may be worn during graduation. I think an Eagle stoll would be a fine idea, but such things are usually limited to school related activities and awards, and I have no idea what you would use for such. Perhaps you should discuss this with someone involved in planning the graduation such as a principal.

I actually watched several hours of the House and Senate hearings yesterday. It was very interesting to see what actually happened. The Secretary of Defense didn't see the pictures until 7:30 p.m. the night before the hearings. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff saw them at the same time. However, the chairman had been made aware that pictures of some sort existed as far back as January. (Remember, the abuse took place sometime last fall, by most accounts.) You also have to understand a bit about the military justice system to figure this out. CENTCOM had total and comp

I suppose it is possible he knew of them ahead of time. I don't think he was behind either. It is possible he was involved in some nebulous, indirect sort of way. Actually, the Oklahoma City case has some interesting evidence that points to foreign involvement of some sort. It is actually possible there may have been some connection with Islamic terrorists in the Philippines. Unfortunately there was never conclusive proof, and being so far after the fact it is difficult to find any further evidence at this point. Like any other major case, there will always be crazy theories.

I watched Gods and Generals on HBO yesterday. Good movie for those that like war movies, the Civil War, or American history related films. It was actually the second time I had seen it. I went to see it when it came out to theaters. First time I had ever seen a film with an intermission. Lee is certainly not politically correct, but I would take him over a raft load of Congressmen any day of the week. As to weather the war would have happened without slavery, that is nearly impossible to determine. Would the Republican party have been formed and succeeded in placing a presid

This won't do. You can't serve drinks at an event with kids. It is clearly a violation of the Guide to Safe Scouting. Now if at an adults only event some un-invited guests show up, then I would say you don't really haven any choice but to go on. Chances are the contract for the facility included the bar being open, and so closing it would be a breach of contract. It would be far better if these youth were recognized in some other way. In our council there is a recognition/awards/Eagle dinner. All the Eagle's for the year are recognized, as are any Silver Beavers, and any

So now any contract of any sort reached between a government entity is a violation of the United States Constitution unless it was subject to competitive bidding? Can anyone tell me what article and section contain open competitive bidding clause? Oh, wait, there is none. Can anyone find a federal law enacted by the Congress that says this? Something tells me the answer is again a no. This is one of the greatest farces I have seen lately. I doesn't surprise me. In fact, this is the sort of thing I have come to expect, particularly those out on the west coast. Invent s

My first real watch was a little Timex digital with indiglo, second time zone, complete date, day of week, stop watch, timer and alarm, and a plastic band. At a OA Lodge fellowship a couple of years back I had volunteered to be head cook/menu planner/purchasing agent (that was a real challenge for youth new to the lodge that had never planned anything larger than a troop outing) and I was sleeping in the dining hall pantry. I did this so I could keep tabs on everything that went on in the kitchen that weekend and to make certain I woke up in time start cooking breakfast. Unfortunately, I wo

FOG, Try this- let them know that the way to volunteer to be in charge of planning next months patrol activity is to be the next person to complain about not having anything to do. Then they will start complaining about how unfair you are or some such thing. Its kind of like when someone complains about a headache and you offer to take their mind off it by kicking them in the shins or some such thing. (not that a good Scout would ever do something like that...)

First I would like to say I am not a lawyer nor am I an expert on this particular case. I have however been an observer of politics and the law since I was in 7th grade and I think I have a pretty good mind and a fair amount of common sense. I tend to try to keep my arguments and thinking from becoming too complex and legalistic. I really can't stand some of the case law that is based on legal theories that are based on other legal theories that are based on case law based on a legal theory that is itself not directly based on the law as originally written. It is such irrational thinking t

I must say that both the rule and the reason given for it both seem very odd. It also seems that this was done in a somewhat rude manner. I have a feeling there is something we don't know about this situation, either because you don't know or don't think it is relevant enough to pass on. Otherwise it sounds like you have about enough specimens to start a funny farm between the unit committee and the charter organization. I must however, make one other comment. I think it is a very good idea for there to be at least one male adult on every overnight outing of a Boy Scout troop. I

I think my post has been misunderstood. I am not suggesting anyone should be removed from their position or the outcome of an election be changed. I am suggesting the SM could possibly discuss, in general terms, the issues of proper ethics in campaigning and elections with the PLC and suggest they consider coming up with some guidelines for how to conduct a campaign. Another possibility would be to use an SM minute to discuss, again in a generic way, ethical decision making in a democratic forum. No corrective or disciplinary actions are needed as far as I can tell. However, a

I think many of us here are probably not the fence sitters, but rather the more entrenched supporters of various policies, positions, parties, and candidates. Usually the well informed voter that takes time to find out a bit about the issue, and actually is able to decide what position they prefer, is able to make a decision independent of very much advertising. Unfortunately, many don't bother to find out about the issues on their own, so all they hear is how candidate X slept with so and so and candidate Y stole money from a real estate venture, and candidate Z is un-American because he ha

I looked at that site quite a while back while gathering some intelligence on the various foes of the BSA. (Which I then compiled into a report that I presented at a secret meeting I attended at a unacknowledged facility I was flown to in the unmarked black BSA helicopter.) :-) The site was quite informative about the true motiviations and desires of the BSA's opponents. It makes it quite clear that the objective of these people is not some sort of reform, but rather to destroy the BSA entirely. Though I must say, this is by no means the most passionate or extreme of the anti-BSA