RememberSchiff

http://www.scouting.org/MembershipStandards.aspx Here is the full list of questions sent to scout leaders and parents from http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/03/11/boy-scouts-of-america-distributes-survey-on-gay-ban/ 1. The current Boy Scouts of America requirements, stated above, prohibit open homosexuals from being Scouts or adult Scout leaders. To what extent do you support or oppose this requirement? (Scale: Strongly support, Somewhat support, Neutral, Somewhat oppose, Strongly oppose). Following are some possible scenarios that could happen if the Boy Scouts keeps or changes its policy. Please tell us the degree to which you believe the actions taken in each scenario are acceptable or unacceptable. (Scale: Totally acceptable, Somewhat acceptable, Neutral, Somewhat unacceptable, Totally unacceptable) ROTATE QUESTIONS 3-8 2. Tom started in the program as a Tiger Cub, and finished every requirement for the Eagle Scout Award at 16 years of age. At his board of review Tom reveals that he is gay. Is it acceptable or unacceptable for the review board to deny his Eagle Scout award based on that admission? 3. Bob is 15 years old, and the only openly gay Scout in a Boy Scout troop. Is it acceptable or unacceptable for the troop leader to allow Bob to tent with a heterosexual boy on an overnight camping trip? 4. Johnny, a first grade boy, has joined Tiger Cubs with his friends. Johnny’s friends and their parents unanimously nominate Johnny’s mom, who is known by them to be lesbian, to be the den leader. Johnny’s pack is chartered to a church where the doctrine of that faith does not teach that homosexuality is wrong. Is it acceptable or unacceptable for his mother to serve as a den leader for his Cub Scout den? 5. David, a Boy Scout, believes that homosexuality is wrong. His troop is chartered to a church where the doctrine of that faith also teaches that homosexuality is wrong. Steve, an openly gay youth, applies to be a member in the troop and is denied membership. Is it acceptable or unacceptable for this troop to deny Steve membership in their troop? 6. A gay male troop leader, along with another adult leader, is taking a group of boys on a camping trip following the youth protection guidelines of two-deep leadership. Is it acceptable or unacceptable for the gay adult leader to take adolescent boys on an overnight camping trip? 7. A troop is chartered by an organization that does not believe homosexuality is wrong and allows gays to be ministers. The youth minister traditionally serves as the Scoutmaster for the troop. The congregation hires a youth minister who is gay. Is it acceptable or unacceptable for this youth minister to serve as the Scoutmaster? 8. After reading the scenarios in the previous question, please answer one question again. The current Boy Scouts of America requirements prohibit open homosexuals from being Scouts or adult Scout leaders. To what extent do you support or oppose this requirement? (Scale: Strongly support, Somewhat support, Neutral, Somewhat oppose, Strongly oppose). 9. Different organizations that charter Boy Scout troops have different positions on the morality of homosexuality. Do you support or oppose allowing charter organizations to follow their own beliefs when selecting Boy Scout members and adult leaders, if that means there will be different standards from one organization to the next. (Scale: Strongly support, Somewhat support, Neutral, Somewhat oppose, Strongly oppose). 10. What is your greatest concern if the policy remains in place and openly gay youth and adults are prohibited from joining Scouting? (Open end) 11. What is your greatest concern if the policy is changed to allow charter organizations to make their own decisions to admit openly gay Scouts and leaders? (Open end) 12. Do you believe the current policy prohibiting open homosexuals from being scouts or adult scout leaders is a core value of Scouting found in the Scout Oath and Law? (Yes or No) 13. If the Boy Scouts of America makes a decision on this policy that disagrees with your own view, will you continue to participate in the Boy Scouts, or will you leave the organization? (I believe I can find a way to continue, I do not believe I can find a way to continue, I have not yet made up my mind)

Some local councils are doing membership policy surveys, a few others are now hosting education sessions about Boy Scout membership standards. Some sessions are open, some by invitation only. http://www.herald-mail.com/news/local/hm-national-council-of-boy-scouts-of-america-reviews-membership-standards-20130308,0,1774614.story http://www.northplattebulletin.com/index.asp?show=news&action=readStory&storyID=24998&pageID=3 http://www.michiganscouting.org/SouthernShores/Events/03MembershipStandards Will volunteer feedback affect their respective council vote in May?

Girl Scouts Fight Utah Tax Break for Boy Scouts Only! (sorry I still cannot create new topic posts so appending here) Utah State House Rep. Steve Eliason, R-Sandy, sponsor of the tax break measure and a scoutmaster in Boy Scouts, vowed to try to revive it later by amending his bill to also benefit the Girl Scouts and possibly other youth groups. Eliason already passed his bill through the House, but said in debate there only that any youth group meeting criteria in his bill would split money donated to a new "Youth Development Organization" fund. Taxpayers could check a box on forms to donate any amount they wish to it. But the bill would only give to youth groups that have at least 180,000 members in the state -- which happens to be how many Boy Scouts are in traditional units in Utah, according to information Scout councils provided to The Tribune in 2011. Girl Scouts membership is about 6,000. Boy Scouts are the largest youth group in the state by far, with most Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' congregations sponsoring units. After the earlier House vote, Eliason acknowledged that his bill was designed so that the fund would benefit only the Boy Scouts -- and news stories about that appeared..." But the Girl Scouts showed up Tuesday to fight the bill as it appeared before the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee. Tuesday also happened to be "Girl Scout Day" at the Legislature, when young Girl Scouts distributed boxes of cookies to lawmakers. Read more: [url=http://www.kypost.com/dpps/news/national/girl-scouts-foil-effort-to-give-tax-break-only-to-boy-scouts-donors_8307139#ixzz2N2vQQuo3'>http://www.kypost.com/dpps/news/national/girl-scouts-foil-effort-to-give-tax-break-only-to-boy-scouts-donors_8307139#ixzz2N2vQQuo3]http://www.kypost.com/dpps/news/national/girl-scouts-foil-effort-to-give-tax-break-only-to-boy-scouts-donors_8307139#ixzz2N2vQQuo3[/url=http://www.kypost.com/dpps/news/national/girl-scouts-foil-effort-to-give-tax-break-only-to-boy-scouts-donors_8307139#ixzz2N2vQQuo3] http://www.kypost.com/dpps/news/national/girl-scouts-foil-effort-to-give-tax-break-only-to-boy-scouts-donors_8307139

Game Design Merit Badge "DALLAS, March 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Games are an important element in every culture around the globe. Simple games give structure to children's playtime and help enforce basic social skills like courtesy, sharing, and taking turns, and more intricate games can help children hone their logic, strategy, and even mathematics skills. Through Game Design, its newest merit badge, the Boy Scouts of America is opening the door for Scouts to put their creativity to the test. BSA representatives will introduce the new title at the SXSW Gaming Expo in Austin, Texasâ€â€a three-day event that provides gamers and game designers alike an opportunity to interact and learn from one another." http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/boy-scouts-of-america-introduces-game-design-merit-badge-195845361.html Still cannot create a new topic.

Plan B: Scouts lead and sing John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. Thriftiness saves on entertainment expenses. My $0.02 saved (wonder how much we were paying both entertainers?)

Can we just do a Dallas with Bobby-in-the-shower and the last month was just a bad dream? old.scouter.com is online and read only I tried to create a new post about the Annual Report to Nation 2013 and still got the error that I was not authorized to post? Has anyone seen the Annual Report to the Nation that was delivered to Washington last week? Only saw one news article (small wonder with sequestration). http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/03/03/boy-scouts-of-america-present-annual-report-to-the-nation/ Wonder if this will work with creating a new topic? (Nope failed)

Unable to find the Jambo thread about entertainment, anyway, I read today that the rock group Train decided NOT perform at Jambo due to "scout policy barring openly gay people from joining". http://wreg.com/2013/03/02/rock-band-wont-rock-with-the-boy-scouts/

I have the same problem. My workaround is select Filter then select either o Today o Last Week If I move to another topic, I repeat the above.

My guess. The barn door was left open. Some vagrant wondered in and knocked over a lantern, setting the barn on fire. Horses running out of the barn...slower mules are next. My $0.02.

It sounds like they are against the proposed change so they UMC will not be making any changes whether the proposed local option is approved or not. No delay needed. My $0.02

35 years ago, Kathy Hall was a single mother of three in search of a male role model for her then 7 year-old son. She decided to enroll him in her neighborhood Boy Scout troop, under the Grand Towers district. When she found out that there were no parents whatsoever involved in the troop, she took it upon herself to carry the gauntlet, and became the den mother to about 15 young cub scouts. ... “She just didn’t play about the Boy Scouts. She’ll check your grades from school, she’ll call your mama on you," he says. "You do boy scouts on top of what your job is, on top of what your responsibilities are at home. So for you to give that much time to somebody else and still have 3, 4 kids. That’s the one thing they show you. If you’re going to do something, stick to it. See it through.†In 1985, she began a week of advanced leader training in a class called Wood Badge. At a dinner one evening, she walked in to a standing ovation, and found out she had been named as the first female scoutmaster in the country. But the title was bittersweet. ‘The night that I was told that I had just became the first female scoutmaster in the country, I was also told that it would not be out because I was black. That was the bottom line," she says. She was upset, but chose to not rock the boat. "We’d had Miss America – she was black. We’ve had other black females that has succeeded, and I could not really understand.†It was never in the papers or the news, and for years, she kept it to herself – until just a few years ago, when she read a story about another woman who declared herself to be the first female scout master. In November, the Board of Aldermen recognized her 35 years of service with a public declaration." Read the whole story at this link http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/after-35-years-first-black-female-boy-scout-master-gets-her-due My understanding is that Catherine Pollard was the first female scoutmaster circa 1973, though not "BSA officially". In 1988 Boy Scouts of America abolished gender requirements on all volunteer positions, and made Ms. Pollard the first woman Scoutmaster. http://timpanogos.wordpress.com/2006/12/16/first-woman-scoutmaster-catherine-pollard/ Thank your for your service and perservance, RS

Don't fix what isn't broken. Be satisfied in having executed a fun, safe outing. My $0.02,

Perhaps some will advertise, use word of mouth, or it will just be apparent from the membership. It doesn't take long to feel unwelcome. Back in the "60's I attempted to join my church's troop but was turned as were all "public school" Catholics. I was welcomed by a Presbyterian unit down the street which accepted all denominations but not all races. Neither unit would accept blacks due to "safety concerns". One Monday night, another spawn of the devil arrived, a "public school" Catholic. He wore leg braces. He asked to join our troop. The reception was mostly cold. What activities could he participate in, what happens if he gets hurt, how could he advance (they were no alternate requirements)? He said he would do just do his best. That response gave our adult leaders pause and we had our first handicapped scout. A few other handicapped scouts joined in following years but none stayed long. Someone proposed that if there were alternate rank requirements, handicapped scouts might stay in Scout longer in order to advance. They did stay longer but I think because they felt more welcomed by the alternate requirements. I wonder there are countries where any boy who wants to be scout may join any unit without mention of denomination, race, handicaps, or orientation. My $0.01 for rambling,

Which raises the most money?

BP (Robert Baden Powell) had one son Peter and two daughters. Peter followed in his father's military footsteps and also was involved in Scouting. He died in 1962 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Baden-Powell,_2nd_Baron_Baden-Powell Peter had two sons Robert and Michael. Both were/are involved in Scouting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Crause_Baden-Powell,_3rd_Baron_Baden-Powell http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Baden-Powell

This weekend, the groundhogs with their heads in the ground are snowed in. Their lawyer spokesman stated that the groundhogs will now reconsider when Spring starts at a meeting in May. "This time we want to be certain of our decision by making it after all the facts are in. Expect our formal decision on the start of spring by mid-summer." Last week no snow for Klondike, this week another District's Klondike postponed due to TOO MUCH snow and WIND and okay, the state of emergency driving restrictions too. The Blizzard of 2013, now this is more like it.

IMO, Requirement 4 is campsite cooking (two burner suitcase stove or campfire), however for one meal of the four meals in this requirement: "Use a backpacking stove to cook at least one meal. (Where local regulations do not allow you to do this, the counselor may change the requirement to meet the law.)" . For us, this is usually a quick breakfast on Sunday. I think the intent is to practice with a backpacking stove for the next outing and Requirement 5. If the location allows it, practice the wood fire too. My $0.02,

When my post was transferred during the software upgrade, the italics were lost. The first sentence is a quote from someone else. "If you think that the Scoutmaster isn't testing your Scouts correctly, then you need to bring that up with the Scoutmaster, it isn't the Scout's fault and you don't punish the Scout by retesting them." I don't agree with this as I stated.

Using Firefox 18.0.2. Logged in The default filter ALL Time is not working correctly. Only one page of posts (earliest first) is returned. Switch filter to Last Week and results appear correct (3 pages of records in last week). Sort order by time still quirky. I wonder if individual posts are now timestamped with local time instead of all posts being timestamped with server time (Central Time)? I still have not figured out how to list all my past posts. In the previous version, I could click on my listed number of posts and get a chronological listing, now I go into My Profile and see just one page of my most recent posts with no filter option. I appreciate the time and effort in doing this upgrade. So far I have not encountered any virus/malware issues.

Raise his self-esteem and consider the scout before poking fun. Remember. it is not fun unless EVERYONE thinks it is fun. Here's a link about building self-esteem through scouting, it's focus is towards scouts with disabilities. http://www.stlbsa.org/programs/special-needs-program/Pages/Building-Self-Esteem-Through-Scouting.aspx My $0.02

Troop Quartermaster stores patrol gear. Each patrol has a kitchen kit, stove, and 3 or so insulated coolers with blue cold packs. We don't use ice, too many problems. If any patrol member wants to work on rank cooking requirements or Cooking mb, he (Grubmaster candidate) asks PL if he can do menu planning, otherwise patrol plans. Either way a Grubmaster is selected. Grubmaster writes up food menu, estimates quantity and cost, determines gear needed. Menu must be approved by an ASM who sanity checks that food allergies have been taken into account, nutrition, gear needed, amount of food, cost estimate. If ASM approves, Grubmaster draws gear from Troop Quartermaster and collects food money (usually $15) from patrol members. Note the Patrol Quartermaster handles tents, tarps. If the Grubmaster is FC or above, he should be able to handle food purchase though an ASM is available to help with driving. My experience, you do not want a parent saddled with this, better an experienced adult leader. If Grubmaster is TF or 2C, we schedule a shopping time (always seems to be a Thursday night) with a ASM and his PL. There is much to learn. Smart food shopping and handling can not be left to chance. Patrol Grubmasters arrive with food and kitchen gear at Friday departure point. Patrol kitchen gear was either taken home or left with Troop QM After campout, leftover dry or canned food is split among scouts, the rest is discarded. No hot chocolate or oatmeal packs, condiments, spices are kept in the troop storage closet. Fresh is good. At no time are scouts trusted with buying coffee, making, or even pouring coffee. I believe this is in the GSS. That's more or less what we do for a weekend campout. Others likely do it differently. On occasions, our CO has allowed us to store campout food in their large kitchen fridge My $0.02

Scott Pelley: Next week, the Board of the Boy Scouts of America is going to vote on whether to end their national ban on gays in Scouting. Should Scouting be open to gays? President Obama: Yes Scott Pelley: Why so? President Obama: ...My attitude is that gays and lesbians should have access and opportunity the same way everybody else does, in every institution and walk of life. The Scouts are a great institution that are promoting young people and exposing them to opportunities and leadership that will serve people for the rest of their lives. And I think nobody should be barred from that. Link with interview video segment http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-34222_162-57567357-10391739/obama-yes-boy-scouts-should-allow-gay-members/

Without the double-dipping restriction, Pets and Dog Care merit badges are an easy 2 badges for 1 effort . There is also a little overlap with Veterinary Medicine. Dog Care is definitely the most challenging of the three.

THANKS! MUCH APPRECIATED.

Fixed thanks!!!! Though maybe the problem was on my end. I cleared my browser's (Firefox) history including cookies again this 2/3/13 am.