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qwazse

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Everything posted by qwazse

  1. View from the goyim side: many decades ago, I began to get my head around Jewish culture once I left my small town to attend Pitt. I met folks who identified as conservatives, orthodox, reformed, etc... . One day, at lunch, I introduced a reformed young lady to a Christian Jew . I didn't bring up religion, but the last names kinda gave it away, so she asked about his story (which was mixed marriage parents, pretty devoted but never pushing their kids one way or the other, so in high school he came to the conclusion that he could be both). As soon as she found out, she lit into him (not in a
  2. Don't knock yourself, DFS. There is no amount of polite that makes youth-led easier for folks with narrow gullets to swallow. They just have to shape up or ship out. When I started as a crew advisor, I made that very clear by not accepting a youth application if it looked like any part of it besides the signature was completed by a parent. (There were some folks who wanted me to just automatically enroll every eligible scout in the troop!) That was the "yank back" that some folks needed to realize that their meddling hands in the lives of my youth were gonna be slapped if they kept it up
  3. If you have a local paper, taking out an ad might be good. "The family of Eagle Scout would like to publicly thank the following for contributing to his successful project, : ." Some small papers would probably accept a letter to the editor from the boy. Keep in mind that donors sometimes want a little anonymity. You know your contributors better than any of us to make that judgement.
  4. I think at some point you need to tell the Mom that advancement is only one method of scouting! The fact that he said "no" on his own does say something about the him. Now a lot of times I do get kids who are overly self-critical. They may make too many goals for themselves, or they may think that once they hold that patch their rough edges will magically disappear. But regardless, they were able to say something for themselves.
  5. I can't answer for the cub program, but I have gone through the paperwork to apply for alternate requirements for a kid with a clear physical disability that prevented him from swimming and surviving. I am pretty sure that as a cub, he simply didn't earn aquanaut. For Aspergers, we generally take aquatic instruction slowly. We get other scouts to leave the swimmers area and spend time with the boy in non-swimmers area. Scouting is about overcoming psychological barriers. Generally scouts with this disability don't want special accommodation anymore. It makes their award seem "fake" to them.
  6. The definitive response against iconoclasm was written in the 8th century. You can find an excerpt of it on the wiki entry of that term. ... we declare that we defend free from any innovations all the written and unwritten ecclesiastical traditions that have been entrusted to us. One of these is the production of representational art; this is quite in harmony with the history of the spread of the gospel, as it provides confirmation that the becoming man of the Word of God was real and not just imaginary, and as it brings us a similar benefit. For, things that mutually illustrate one another
  7. Not sure why anyone would expect NYLT to be a slam-dunk qualification for SPL. I'm also not sure why it's a problem if all of your trained kids take non-SPL positions. If the non-SPLs truly have NYLT koolaid in their blood, they ought a be servant-leaders regardless of the patch on their sleave. They will help the SPL be successful. Maybe the one kid who was not NYLT trained was busy being a den chief, going to camp with the troop and the pack, and being a camp counselor at his church. Son #2 and a buddy wound up taking the VLST (yes, the adult leader course for venturers, long story)
  8. How sad. An aweful way to learn how important it is to spread out if you don't have a grounded structure to shelter in.
  9. Definitely the primary way to configure the tent. Bugs fly in one way and fly out any of three others. Perfect shade and ventilation for siesta. Still enough open at your head to enjoy the evening stars. Only problem: when you lay down for the night and discover some over-zealous scouter left the latrine lantern on and it's shining in your eyes!
  10. This is a topic covered at some point in most Christian education curricula that I've seen. (I've only worked with a small sample, so I don't know how pervasive it is, but I think the case that Merlyn sites was a motivation to make sure mainstream denomination members were prepared when the Jehovah's witnesses knocked at their door.) In a nutshell ... The pledge in its current revision calls for allegiance to the "one nation under God". That is, inasmuch as the nation is subservient to (and not a replacement for) God, a Christian's allegiance should not be torn. Jewish thought falls al
  11. A couple of years ago, I met a troop from Michigan hiking the North Country Trail/Minister Creek loop in the Allegheny National Forest. They packed in 3 boys to a fly (maybe 2 older scouts) and seemed to be having a great time. My family, we get tents on sale (never spent more than $200), or at garage sales (Mrs. got me two pup tents for a dollar, I replaced the flimsy poles with cut-down scraps from a dining fly -- best pieces of nylon I ever had.) Keep in mind that I'm a tenting optional kinda guy.
  12. Okay, maybe I'm biased. But, at a certain point you have to prepare a kid to count positives. Sure, he did precious little, but always bring him to what he DID accomplish. Who knows? That one troop tradition might outlast all of that management training we cherish so highly. Here's hoping at least one more "yes" is on the checklist in the next few weeks.
  13. Then he contributed! (Can you guess my favorite scouting game?)
  14. Those "conveniences" are not enough. It is the advent of home entertainment that is the key convenience. You can't lay blame at the foot of a program that boys did not even know existed or notice as different. I was a boy scout throughout the change in one direction and then the other. I did not see any difference in any of it. I still don't see anything signficant until the ODR uniform came about (an atrocity). What happened in the early 1970's was that TV exploded. It went from flickery, B&W lone ranger re-runs and test patterns at night to 19" color screens being in multiple rooms
  15. FWIW, just came back from a week with boys who were having a great time. Even a senior scout who made it his point to "do nothing" the whole week, got sucked into a little service project I "volunteered" us for, got his fellow scouts involved in games, and genuinely had a good time trying to be obnoxious but failing miserably at it. This was not a kid swimming against culture, but he liked his scout buddies, and if it meant bunking in the woods, then so be it. On the other hand, some of the more rugged boys who went on a 5 mile hike after an evening meal came back with flowers in their
  16. The problem with the argument that modern conveniences keep boys at home, is that we know from membership numbers that at the same time that TV, air conditioning, suburban life and all its comforts were exploding, so was BSA membership. A/C, shag carpet, arcade halls, and TV didn't keep boys at home in 1965, we can't assume that's what keeps them home today. In fact, as Rush fans know all too well, it may be the case that suburban life actually pushes boys right into our arms (nerd time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu9Ycq64Gy4) because it denies their nature. But, perhaps the growth in m
  17. Aw shucks, BD. Nice paraphrase. The line was from my introduction to the boys about the sandwich principle: "Safe scouting: bringing you as close to your creator as possible without making it a permanent stay."
  18. Agreed that this is not in compliance with the policy. It seems that they are trying to skirt it using BD's reference which mentions housing, but they are using tents. Doesn't wash with me because in my mind campsite=house. However, this is where the policy shows its frayed edges. Are those boys or those adult females at any greater risk because they couldn't find a male leader? I don't think so. Would they be at less risk if an adult male were provided? Doubt it. As far as camp management is concerned, if possible, I would provide an adult male "site guide" to share the campfir
  19. DW, if you cuss. You secure my contentment at National's dismissal of your claims. For the other folks that may be in your predicament. I'm just a guy in the trenches. Just thinking about the depiction of events: .... At one point, the BSA attorney asked me about "God". ... I said that I was confused by his question and I needed to know the official BSA definition of "God" that he was applying, .... I saw the plaintiff attorneys wake up just then, though sadly too late. I also saw the BSA defendent attorney back-pedal furiously to get himself out of that quagmire .... Ag
  20. You've just gone to great lengths to say that "God" probably does not mean to you what it means to me. Well, take a number. I did not ask if you believe in the definition that Christians have attributed to a very ancient word to great effect. What's wrong with just speaking English at face value? If your assertion is that you revere something more elevated than anything else in the universe of things to revere, it seems you've arrived at the end of an ontological proof for God.
  21. Sounds like a good plan. Especially since your patrols are letters and not numbers. (My rant to my troop: "Dens have numbers, patrols don't.") Was bullying an issue before? Or was it a hypothetical? (Or something in between. Sometimes you can look at a cluster of boys and think "Oh, this is not gonna turn out good." Happened to me on the bus ride home last night.)
  22. Stosh -- even the church I attend (which should know better because of it's Scottish roots, and more recent history with the pain of "untouchable" funds sitting idle) got in the habit of "holding over" funds for a particular annual youth activity. I had no idea until I took charge, income and expense report to the treasurer, and she asked "what about the $400 from last year?" Some elders forgot (or came on never knowing) how to read budget and finance reports. I made it clear, that unless our activity was in the budget, we should have $0. It took me explaining that I knew our youth leaders
  23. I was not asking for a definition. I was asking about your stance. Let me rephrase: Do you have a duty to God?
  24. Yep. It's down again. Hold that thought until this round of server failure passes.
  25. So this is a pack event? I'd be more inclined to accept the family pooling all resources together to go. I would try to get into their heads that you find this unusual and that those ISA funds now won't be available for other things they boy may want (e.g., new uniform, gear after crossover, etc ...), but leave it as their call. (Again, if the CC or Treasure should take this communication on for you. You have bigger fish to fry with camp coming up.) It would be nice if these are the kinds of parents who are there for the entire pack when they are there, but sometimes you don't know that
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