scoutldr

Kinda explains why the rest of the world hates us, as we sit here heatedly discussing proper patch placement.

The official BSA policy is the "Decaration of Religious Principle" available on every application form. I would have the COR or CC send her a letter, stating that troop activities will not be altered to accomodate one family and if that doesn't agree with her, attach a list of other troops in the area. Same as if she were LDS...she is more than welcome to come pick up her kid on Sat night, but the whole troop will not be forced to adhere to LDS policy. It's usually not productive to argue with the "defiantly ignorant". Just send a letter and make it clear that's the final answer.(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

I noticed most floats are corporate-sponsored. Marriott Corp and Edy's Ice Cream come to mind. Maybe something to honor Steve Fossett? (I got my Eagletter today) An all-Scout marching band would be awesome! Take some talented high school band members who are also scouts...I would contribute!

Some of the things we have done: Pot of chili with fixins...sour cream, shredded cheddar, sliced jalapenos Pot of chicken noodle soup made from scratch Grilled brats and teriyaki chicken skewers

Maybe Merlyn was sent to us for a reason...

No, I'm not kidding.

For District and Coucil recognition dinners, we are encouraged to wear "full dress". Those are the only occasions that I wear them for. We once had a Unit Commissioner show up to present our charter and do a uniform inspection. He looked like a North Korean General, complete with every award, medal, badge, that he had ever earned since age 8...even wore his merit badge and OA sashes. We showed him the door.

Bienvenue, Florian! Yes, most of us are American, but we have some Australians, a German, and a transplanted Englishman among us. It's always good to hear about Scouting in other countries. Hopefully you will stay awhile and join us around our virtual campfire.

The first thing that jumped out at me were silver loops on a unit level scouter. (Or, if you like, unit numbers and position patch on a District level scouter). There's lots more on the cover and throughout the issue, but I'll let others have some fun.

GW said, "BSA claims that boys who make first class in one year are more likely to stay in Scouting. I have a feeling that their data and analysis is horribly skewed." I think the real story is that the data showed that most boys who dropped out were not yet FC. Therefore, the solution from Irving was to spoonfeed them FC as soon as possible, ignoring all the other variables. Now we're scratching our heads, "I don't know why he got bored and quit...he got FC by the time he was 12, and all he had left to get Eagle were troop-taught merit badges." Advancement should be a by-product of the program, not vice versa. Just because boys are advancing and you're cranking out Eagles doesn't mean you have a good program.

I've been around a long time and have never seen a youth BOR. BOR is the job of the Troop Committee, and is a chance for the committee adults to do a QA check on the SM's program. It also serves the method of Adult Association.

Seems to me that if the Lodge/Chapter has a good program, Scouts will want to be active Arrowmen. They will be urged to seal their membership through active participation, fellowship and service. 30% Conversion is hard to get when you only have 10% participation.

I just took a look at the Scouts Australia website to see the uniforms...which I didn't find. I did notice a few things, however... - Co-ed - Division by age levels Joeys, Cubs, Scouts, Venturers, Rovers - Cub scouts rappelling! (apparently "age appropriate" has a different definition down under!) - Rovers goes to age 26 Maybe BSA could learn a few things...

I agree with Owl. Unnecessary and goes against LNT. I think a conservation service project could be an excellent team building exercise.

When I reentered scouting as a Den Leader, I also renewed my membership in the OA lodge. All I had to do was fill out the form and send in a check. The only situation you mention that I would have doubts about is the Exploring example...since Exploring is a part of Learning For Life, and not the BSA.

The legend patches are available on eBay, but are not authorized for wear on the sash. As far as I know, the ONLY things allowed on the OA sash are the anniversary patches...if earned.

Wherever you go...there you are.

I'm not familiar with "TANF". I, too used to work in the inner city (health department). I used to see it every day. There's a difference between being poor through no fault of your own and making poor choices all your life (which you can control). One I can help with. But, as they say "you can't fix stupid" no matter how much charity you throw at it.

From what I have seen, "most people" don't have a clue what the BSA membership policies are and since it doesn't affect them, they wouldn't care. That applies to most subjects and current events.

Eamonn said, "At some stage the government is going to have to face the fact that there just isn't enough money coming in to pay all the Baby Boomers who are retiring and find a way of making up for the shortfall." There's the rub. It is not the function of the Federal government to "pay all the Baby Boomers". I assume he is referring to Social Security...a system that has become so bastardized and abused over the years that it is no longer sustainable. It was never intended to provide total support for those who retire, and certainly not to pay for all the ancillary things. And it was not meant to supplement the income of corporate executives with multi-million dollar golden parachutes. The best thing to do would be to scrap the whole system, including Medicare with all its abuses. (I have 6 aluminum walkers in my shed from parents who needed them and Medicare paid for them...we didn't need them, didn't want them, but every time someone got sick, we got a new one...courtesy of the taxpayer. They have no resale value, since everyone gets them for "free"). Many corporations, and the Federal Government, are moving away from defined pension plans and placing the responsibility for financing retirement back on the employees, whcih I happen to agree with. I recently read that the average employee will need $600,000 in savings to survive retirement. Less than 10% will have that amount set aside. Why should I be expected to "make up the shortfall", with my hard-earned money, which I only have because I have scrimped, saved and sacrificed over the years, foregoing the "toys" and expensive homes and new cars. I have relatives who have lived a higher lifestyle than me over the years...but they have no savings. What will they do? They don't know...they don't care...they don't even know they have a problem...all that matters to them is today. Sometimes I wonder if they're not right...they do seem to be a lot happier and stress-free. I will probably vote for Ron Paul...let the people keep their tax money and decide where their charity should go. But I can tell you, if you are unmarried with no health insurance, have 6 kids by 5 different fathers, and can afford cable TV, fancy nails, cigarettes, cell phones and $1000 rims on your car...you won't make it on to my list. Go ask a Democrat.

Some people think anything can be fixed by throwing a square knot at it. I think a bowline would be more appropriate...Commissioner service needs to be rescued...or let it drown and forget it.

Dwight D. Eisenhower...3rd cousin, 4 times removed.

As I sat here all weekend with a fever and excrutiating abdominal pain trying to give birth to a kidney stone, I have done a lot of thinking. I went to an urgent care Friday night, and they gave me an x-ray, Vicodin and a referral to a urologist. The first available appointment is January 4. Sheesh. They said if I didn't like it, I could go sit in the ER with those without insurance who have the sniffles. I've already missed a week of work thinking it was just a stomach flu. And I have real good insurance. I can't imagine what National Health care would be like... I'm also wondering what will happen to my health insurance if the Dems don't fund the war effort and the Secretary of Defense makes good on his threat to lay off 200,000 DoD civilians without pay for 30 days or more. Saber rattling...maybe. But it's still stressful to think about. We've spent significantly less on Christmas this year, thinking that maybe we'll need that money to pay the bills without any income for a month or more. The good news is the federal exemption for estate tax is $2 million and for 2009 will rise to $3.5 million. In my family, we'll never see those amounts. I am for the fair tax...or a national sales tax. Tax consumption, not income and savings.

The ones that scare me are the "voters" who enter the voting booth and are seeing the names for the first time. Ever listen to Hannity's "man on the street" interviews? Scary.

John, respectfully agree to disagree. I think it's the Scout's job to convince the troop committee...not the SM. When you reach this level, you shouldn't need adults to step in and run interference for you. As far as we can tell, the scout has not even talked to the committee yet. At this point it sounds like he's just brainstorming and the SM is socializing the idea...not presenting a well-thought out plan. PS: The first statement is "A traffic light is needed near a school." I would not take that as a given. In my city, there are criteria which determine where traffic lights go, including traffic density, and the proximity of other lights and intersections. Traffic engineers get paid to decide these things. The first step would be to contact the traffic engineer who may just say "I don't care what you think, it doesn't meet the criteria". Or he may say "Great idea, let's run with it." Scout needs to do more homework before he presents his idea for approval.(This message has been edited by scoutldr)