rdclements

Scouting uses many elements that are similar to the military and I know some military veterans who are excellent scouters. I have also seen problems when adults with military experience try to make scouting too militaristic. Then there are the adults who were never in the military but wish that they had been and that can have some troubling impacts on their scouts.

The campaign to get SYG laws on the books is a tactic from the NRA to outflank any federal regulation of guns. The SYG provisions encourage people to shoot first which only increases the level of violence and they make it more confusing to the authorities on when to prosecute.

The juror interviewed by Anderson Cooper specifically mentioned the stand your ground law even though it was not highlighted as part of the legal arguments in court. This indicates that the jurors were at least aware of the law. The problem with the stand your ground laws is that they are not needed. Self defense has been an acceptable use of force for a very long time. The stand your ground provisions only serve to increase the motivation for violence. Self Defense: "I tried to get away from him but he kept after me so I had no choice but to defend myself." SYG: "I felt threatened so I

I highly doubt that Zimmerman shot the Trayvon Martin because he was black. I think folks are forgetting a few things and not thinking analytically. One, as jblake47 and others have tried to point out - jury trials such as these do not have an objective to prove someone innocent. The judges direction to the jury was to determine if George Zimmerman acted in self-defense or in legalese - if the death of Trayvon Martin resulted from the justifiable use of deadly force and that a person is justified in using deadly force if he reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent i

Yes, judging folks by race happens all the time. I try to be intentional to avoid making that error. The media reaction to the Paula Deen mess, and all the companies racing to dissociate from her, was an overreaction. It would have been more beneficial to acknowledge that Mrs. Deen recognizes that the racial attitudes that were common in certain places 20 years ago are not acceptable today. But here's the challenge: If it is offensive for a white woman to use certain racial terms, why is it acceptable (common) for a black rapper? To say that certain words are acceptable when spoken by one

I believe that it is wrong and foolish to judge individuals based on race. As a southern white male, I do not have much experience being the recipient of racial or gender discrimination. At the same time, it is possible and probable that my judgement is influenced by race due to my heritage and life experience, even though I would prefer that it was not. I have been in situations where black people have accused me of being racist due to a decision that I had made. It is easy to excuse comments made in the heat of the moment. The fact is that there is racism in our country and accusing peop

Protecting the right of gay people to get married should be a conservative issue. You've go two people, in a committed relationship, who want to get married and raise a family together, taking equal responsibility for their children. This is what conservatives have campaigned for for many years.

Zimmerman decided to follow and confront Martin - in his own words, "This guy looks like he's up to no good". This was based on observing what Martin looked like. Martin had not been involved in any criminal activity. He was walking along, minding his own business. Zimmerman decided that Martin looked suspicious. How are black teenage men supposed to walk so that they won't get shot?

Zimmerman chose to exit his vehicle and confront Martin. Zimmerman knew only what he told the dispatcher on the phone, that the person he was following was dark skinned, wearing a hoodie, walking slowly - Zimmerman decided in his mind that these characteristics were suspicious. He decided that Martin was a bad guy and appointed himself to do something about the bad guy. He chose to make the confrontation and is therefore responsible for the outcome. Maybe the prosecution blew the case, I don't know. I do know that is Zimmerman had stayed in the car, Martin would not have been killed. Marti

Years ago I took the Camp Director training from National Camping School in order to qualify to run our district Cub Scout Day Camp. One of the publications that I received was the guidelines on what is an appropriate skit for a campfire. I don't have that anymore, but some of the topics to stay away from were: killing, suicide, bullying / humiliation, alcohol / drunkenness, sexual acts, bathroom acts, cross-gender impersonations, underwear / nudity, and inside jokes. That list would eliminate pretty much all of the skits that I can remember from when I was a scout, but with the experience

Some years ago, I had a scout who needed to earn some dough to pay for summer camp, so I hired him to move and stack some firewood. He did a fine job and make exactly what he needed for camp. Of course a few weeks later I needed to hire another camper to move it back. I liked it better over there anyway.

dedkad, why are they staying away? Intimidated, too busy, program not attractive to them? As a unit leader, there is only so much you can do.

Pointing any type of firearm or simulated firearm at any individual of human likeness is against the rules in order to reduce accidents and encourage the development of a safety mindset, sort of like 'always assume that a gun is loaded'. Gun violence involving children is a national crisis. In 2010, 496 American military personnel were killed in Afghanistan. That is a tragic figure and a costly sacrifice. In the same year, 606 people in the US were killed in unintentional shootings and 15,576 children in the US were injured by firearms. Pretty much every Scouter that I know would take a b

Sorry Brew, I'm not going to go out on the extreme with you. Social progress is like this with a few steps forward and a step back, moving in lurches and not with predictable steadiness. I understand that some people oppose equal rights for certain groups of people. Some of these opponents even believe that their religious beliefs have legal relevance. Of all of our contemporary social topics, Jesus is quoted most often speaking about money. If he was as worried about homosexuality as today's conservatives would like to believe, I think that he would have had more to say about it. Despite

Malcolm Gladwell's book, The Tipping Point (http://www.gladwell.com/tippingpoint/) provides a really interesting analysis of how trends build slowly and then suddenly reach the critical mass needed to 'tip' and become mainstream. He uses the term 'social epidemic'. Much of what Gladwell describes in his book applies to the progress made in gay rights. I do not agree with Scouter99 that our society has been manipulated in some sinister way. We are seeing the recognition that essential human rights should not be denied to any group. When on man's rights are taken away, we all lose something

Is there any connection between the end of mandatory military conscription (1973) and the decline in outdoor skills? When I was young, my buddies and I had dads, uncles, and brothers in the military and even though I was not of draft age in 73, I grew up in the cultural context that military service was a real possibility. Part of the motivation in learning our outdoor skills as kids was that was what soldiers did. The dads that are in scouting and a bit younger than me grew up in a different climate.

Related to this discussion, I have noticed that the adults joining the program with younger guys have significantly less experience in outdoor skills. Is this something that others have seen as well?

Our Council camps use a section of 4 foot concrete culvert buried in the ground - river gravel inside for drainage. They hold up very well. Your scouts could likely get a section from a local contractor that does big drainage projects. The tricky part is safely moving a beast like that. A similar commercial concrete product is called a maintenance hole. It is a short section of concrete pipe that is used to form the structure of manholes and access hatches. These things are available in many sizes and lengths. If a contractor has a chipped one, it is useless for his business but can be

There is a lot of overlap between the First Aid Merit Badge and the BSA standards for Wilderness First Aid training. If a scout completes a Wilderness course and CPR/AED, he will have covered the merit badge. Eagle92 - The BSA partnership with the American Red Cross offers significant cost discounts for BSA members to complete Red Cross training. This includes instructor certification courses. You should be able to complete the lay course instructor requirements at ARC for very little $. Your council program and safety folks might not know the full details, and it might take some digg

Look through the requirements for Venturing's Ranger award. It has more focus on development and application of knowledge in these areas.

The Secret Service Presidential Protective Division is part of the Department of Homeland Security, whereas the Personal Assistant to the President (aka Body Man) is a White House employee. It may be that the agents occasionally do stuff for the President, but it is the Bod Man's primary responsibility. Incidental expenses come out of the President's salary. I wonder how they plan to deliver the popcorn?

Maybe the President likes popcorn. As far as "Money" as a command goes, the guy with the cash was probably not a security agent, but the President's personal assistant. That's the guy who carries the stuff like cell phone, briefcase, wallet, luggage, etc. that any busy traveling executive would have with him. The security agents cannot let something like that distract them from their surveillance, and they cannot have anything occupying their hands while they're on the job.

I took the time to review a few of the files that are related to back home when I was a scout. Even though a couple of them were from my neighborhood, they didn't cover my time. As far as I can tell, I don't know the men involved. In reading through some of the materials - letters, notes from meetings, etc. - there were many references to people who had noticed behaviors but did not feel confident or empowered enough to act. Someone chose to not call the police because they didn't want to cause trouble, or the social worker at the school decided not to escalate the issue, and so on.

According to the American Psychological Association, "Despite a common myth, homosexual men are not more likely to sexually abuse children than heterosexual men are." http://www.apa.org/pubs/info/brochures/sex-abuse.aspx The APA is the largest professional and scientific psychological organization in the US. Is that "good substantive evidence" for you? There are people out there who, if given the opportunity, will hurt children. Most of them are not gay. Working to keep gay people out of scouting is a waste of resources because the real problem is identifying and dealing with ch

I read Chai's comments and then went back and read your original post. Think about perspective and expectations. What you're describing is a normal dynamic in a group of boys that age. This is a challenge for the PL to learn from. When you bring in the big hammer of the SM, you seriously risk undermining the PL's authority and learning opportunity. Another perspective is that you say this SMC will be next week, but you're already on this board discussing your plans to reprimand the scout for a relatively minor behavioral issue. Maybe you're over thinking it a bit? The much more v