Rick_in_CA

I know that my council had a similar experience. For years the council had been talking to multiple groups about becoming COs (and donors), and the response was "we will once you stop being bigots". We have several Churches and Synagogs that have said they will charter multiple units when the BSA stops discriminating. Plus there are several groups that charter Explorer Posts that are interested in chartering boy scout units that won't because of our policies. Our council has been asking national to be exempt from the no-gays and no-atheist rules for years. The BSA shot itself in the foot with

Blaming it on NPR is simply silly. First, this story has been around from earlier in the week before NPR even talked about it. Second, Todd Smith wrote his letter on Monday April 30th, days before the NPR story. What you are seeing is the Governor beginning to try and back peddle from the pandering and "explaining" that he is being reasonable. As others have pointed out, the Army Times have been following this story for a while: From March 23rd: Conspiracy groups question USASOC mission in Texas. From April 29th: Utah governor: 'Jade Helm 15' training is standard exercise. To quot

I would love to see that, but I fear that it's a forlorn hope. Our society is moving in the wrong direction (look at PA's new background check law, or the hysteria over leaving children in cars), and we need big changes before we can get back to allowing youth to help in any way beyond token activities in a crises. Could you image this situation today? From the Milwaukee Sentinel - April 28, 1952: Today the boy scouts would just be moved out of the way. Plus, how many boy scouts even get any training on how to fight a wild fire now days? I did when I was a boy scout (not a lot, but we

The thing you are missing, that for many religious conservatives (not all), the beliefs of other faiths do not matter. So that Christian denomination over there doesn't believe being gay is a sin? They don't matter because they are wrong. So those Buddhists don't see anything wrong with being gay? Who cares, they are just heathens (and are wrong). The Scout Law says we are supposed to respect other faiths? Sure, but their gay minister can't be a leader because they are wrong. The BSA is "completely nonsectarian"? Well..., but those others are wrong! It's their fault for not being "proper" Chri

Republicans pandering to right-wing crazies? I'm shocked! Ted Cruise is joining in on the fun: Todd Smith is my new hero: You can read his full letter here. Of course, he is a former State Representative. In fact, all the criticism of the Governor has come either from Democrats, or former GOP officials. Where are the currently serving GOP elected officials calling the governor on this? There has to be some right? At least one? They can't be all afraid of the crazies? It's just my Google foo that is failing right?

So the message that PA is sending is "we don't want people to volunteer in our state".

Find a bank that doesn't do that? You can't because this is how debit cards work. A lot of it has to do with the merchants, not the bank. For example, most automated gas pumps will put a hold of $75 to $125 on any debit card because they don't know how much gas you are going to pump (which means if you only have $50 in your checking account, you probably can't use it to buy $20 worth of gas because the preauthorization will fail). In theory, they will release the hold when you are done and they charge the actual amount. But some gas stations will wait until the end of the day before releasi

You do know that according to the tool use guidelines, a scout has to be 14 before they can use a post hole digger (or a wheeled cart)?

Actually, one of the issues with debit cards are authorization holds. It's not uncommon to spend $30 somewhere and find that $200 is "held" for a few days. That happened to a friend of mine. While she had plenty of money in her checking account, the bulk of the funds were "held" so she couldn't pay her rent. It's why many banks recommend against using debit cards at gas stations and hotels. It's one of several reasons why I refuse to have a debit card (even though my bank really wants me to have one).

Merlyn, I haven't seen the Clarke and Dawe stuff before. Very funny! Thanks for sharing it!

To those who think that bullying "isn't a big deal", a new study shows it can be more damaging then physical or sexual abuse.

One of the problems with check handling today (and this is not new) is that no one looks at the signature. You can sign the check “Micky Mouse†and it will go through because almost all checks are process by machine. People don’t get involved unless there is a dispute.

I think you are deliberately misunderstanding the whole point. No one is arguing that we need to eliminate all embarrassment or challenges from the scouts lives, and to claim that we are is being disingenuous.

So some people are arguing that if done right, having kids sing or dance for items or other transgressions is all fun and games. That everyone has fun, and no one gets hurt. OK, but then why does it “workâ€? How is it a deterrent? If the kids just love dancing and or singing, why is it that it deters the desired behavior? Maybe because they don’t like singing or dancing in front of the group? Look, if we had a problem with swearing in my cub pack, and we told the kids: “We don’t want you to swear. So if you do, we will give you an ice cream cone that you will have to eat!â€. I guarant

You are clearly a better man than I am Stosh, I would not have handled that garbage with such aplomb. If a camp staffer snatches the hat off the head of me or one of my scouts, my reaction would be that they either return the hat immediately with an apology, or police will be called and charges filed. I had heard of camps doing this, but I had no idea any still do. I'm dumbfounded! What stupid idiot came up with this idea? If they perceive that a scout is not showing sufficient respect, their idea is to heap more disrespect on them as an answer? By committing larceny? Have any of these idi

Wow, I'm not sure where to start. So making them dance improved things so they don't leave things around the camp? I bet beating them with a stick would have worked to, but no one (including you) would think that was a good idea. "It is all done for the fun of everyone", everyone but the scout dancing. You said: "They watch the scout that's dancing because they know it's embarrassing" so this is fun at someone else's expense? So how is that not bullying? And how does this teach scouts "how to treat someone that has a problem"? I am at a complete loss there. "...because someone thinks it's h

Bryan is completely right, it’s bullying! I have never been part of a unit that did this, nor would I be. But I do remember seeing it in another unit once at summer camp when I was a scout. If you could see the young kid singing with tears running down his face, with all the other scouts grinning at his discomfort, there is no question it's bullying. I didn’t know why his was singing then (and I actually don’t really know today, I am assuming), but I do remember thinking “thank God I’m not in that unit!†I do have a friend that was a boy scout in a unit that did that when he

A fun discussion! Is it possible for two contradictory ideas to be true? Take the following thought experiment: Given an all powerful God (true for many faiths). Assume that God created a 40 year old man five minutes ago. He created that man’s past (memories, parents, history, other people memories, current activity in progress, etc.) at the same time. So which of the following is true? a) The man is five minutes old? b) The man is forty years old? Are they both true?

True, but what if you aren’t aware of the emergency? This reminds me of a story I was told when I was a Webelos. A troop had been back packing, and were camped in a steep valley. They had no idea but a forest fire was heading their way about to cut off their only exit. It was their day-glow orange tents that saved them. They were woken up by a forest service helicopter and told to evacuate. They basically left most of their gear and ran. It was a near run thing. They were later told that the forest service had no idea a boy scout troop was there. The helicopter was flying past and ha

True, but what if you aren’t aware of the emergency? This reminds me of a story I was told when I was a Webelos. A troop had been back packing, and were camped in a steep valley. They had no idea but a forest fire was heading their way about to cut off their only exit. It was their day-glow orange tents that saved them. They were woken up by a forest service helicopter and told to evacuate. They basically left most of their gear and ran. It was a near run thing. They were later told that the forest service had no idea a boy scout troop was there. The helicopter was flying past and ha

The BSA sample projects section for the Hornaday Award, the eagle scout did four projects for his Hornaday award, one of which doubled for his eagle project. So clearly the BSA didn't object to the doubling up if they picked this scout to be the poster child for the Hornaday Award. Note, if you haven't listened to the mp3 interviews with this kid, it's worth it to take the time. It interesting listening to the issues and challenges he had doing these projects.

Maybe try increasing the contrast on your computer screen? It looks fine to me and I usually have a hard time with the modern dark gray on light gray silliness.

Welcome back! Your opinions are still valuable, so just right in.

Separate sleeping areas for the 18-20 year olds? This is getting ridiculous! Just call them adults and be done with it.

When my council discussed it, the cost to the council was $300,000. That was for one full time professional, and equipment. Maybe as GSMC was the initial pilot, all costs were born by National (it would make sense for a brand new program like this), but for the expanded pilot some of the costs are being born by the councils? Or perhaps what I was told was incorrect.