scoutldr

It was the FBI's own internal affairs division, the "Office of Professional Responsibility" which investigated McCabe and recommended he be terminated, same as any other agent accused of the same crimes. A 27-year veteran agent was interviewed on TV and he stated that "Lack of candor" is the one thing that can result in a sure termination of employment and that is drilled into every agent from their first day at the FBI Academy. Whatever you do, don't lie...always tell the truth and take your lumps and you will probably keep your job. If you are found guilty of "lack of candor", then every case you've ever been involved in or testimony in court you made under oath, then comes into question and convictions can be overturned. The fact that he was days away from a pension is irrelevant. It was not Trump's fault...it was not Session's fault...it was FBI policy. BTW, these were the same charges that lost Flynn his job and landed Martha Stewart in prison.

One of the methods of Scouting and the MB program is "adult association"...the SCOUT is expected to take the initiative to contact an adult he may not know, who is supposed to be an "expert" in the field by vocation or avocation (not just Billy's mom), set an appointment and meet with the MBC to complete the requirements. MB fairs or "getting it done in the troop" circumvents that and shortchanges the Scout of a valuable life lesson. MB were never meant to be a troop activity during meetings. Too much spoon-feeding led us to where we are to day with today's youth.

Price should have known better than to ring up a private Lear jet every time he wanted to go somewhere. Tillerson had been a CEO too long and had apparently forgotten the most basic tenet of leadership...first be a good follower.

OA Troop Representative is a youth position. ASM is the only adult position open to 18 year olds and what their function is is at the discretion of the SM. Why not have him advise the youth OATR?

First of all, thank you for stepping up to serve the youth. What I see missing here is TRAINING. Everyone needs to get Basic and Position Specific training for their respective positions ASAP. The Pack Committee (including Treasurer) works for the Committee Chair (CC). The Cubmaster ("Pack Master") recruits and leads the efforts of the Den Leaders. Everyone serves at the pleasure of the Chartered Organization (CO), normally delegated to the Chartered Organization Representative (COR). While this incident may not itself be a "big deal", a set of groundrules needs to be put in place as to how the Pack funds are approved and expended. No DL should be expending Pack funds without pre-approval, or set an amount that can be reimbursed without pre-approval. The fact that she held a $700 fundraiser (without approval?) is a separate issue. All unit fundraising efforts require the pre-approval of council and your CO via the Unit Fundraising application form. It is, after all the CO's funds.

Zuse describes the BSA program (LDS or not) as I always understood it should work. Thanks for upholding standards!

I see that one of the newest MB, "Composites" is one of the least popular. When it was announced, I thought "Really???" It was suggested, developed and pushed through by an industry trade association. My cynical side wonders how much they paid the BSA to put it into production.

I am never one to second-guess police officers on the scene. Their decisions need to be instantaneous based on what they know at that moment. The first thing that came to my mind was that perhaps he was trying to assess how many shooters there were and where they were. Aren't they supposed to wait for backup rather than charging in blindly as the Sherriff suggested he should have? Or have I been watching too much TV? The fact remains the school was a soft target, there was no "security" in place, and there was only one resource officer assigned for a 3000 student, multiple building campus. He was a 33 year veteran...certainly not a rookie.

You were surprised because it isn't true. Fake news.

Duly noted. But that's how forum threads work.

Being responsible to your obligations is a part of growing up. Or, as the kids say, "adulting". I have a 20-something nephew whose parents are no longer around, and is living with another uncle. He fancies himself a "grownup" who doesn't have to follow our advice, return calls or texts, or bring over necessary paperwork so I can do his taxes and wife can file his trust paperwork. He wants all mail going to him, not us. He failed to renew his license plates on time, in spite of many reminders from us, and my offer to bring him over so we can do it together online (a 10 minute process). Now, he got a notice from the insurance company for the second time, that his payment is overdue and his insurance will be canceled. Oh, well... The moral of this is, at some point you have to quit spoon-feeding and let consequences happen. Hopefully, the light will go on when they realize they missed a deadline and therefore WON'T be going to summer camp, Philmont, or whatever. Life is hard...it's even harder when you don't pay attention.

Don't blame OSHA. Does not apply here. The rules are BSA. Maybe RichardB could shed some light...

BSA and Councils have rules about Unit Fundraising. We were always forbidden from soliciting corporate donations, because that is the job of the Professionals and is the Council tier of Friends of Scouting. Whatever your fundraising idea is, you are required to complete and submit the Unit Fundraising Application and have your proposal approved by the Scout Executive. Council would prefer you stick to the official popcorn campaign, since they get a cut.

My church gives its employees a cash gift every Christmas. But it is a dedicated donation from the members, and it's clear that it is not a tax deductible donation to the church. Checks are made out to the person collecting the money. That being said, I agree $600 is outrageous. Dedicate a Pack Meeting to his honor...similar to a Blue and Gold banquet...have each den have a skit ... have lots of fellowship and signed cards from the scouts. If the Pack leadership wants to take he and his wife out for a nice dinner and adult beverages, that would be nice too...on their own nickel.

I do judge grammar and spelling errors. It indicates a lack of attention to detail. I used to have a professional colleague who had business cards printed up listing his name as "John Doe, PhD (candidate)". There was another one who listed himself as "John Doe, MS, ABD" (all but dissertation). We laugh at guys like that...and certainly didn't hire them. Humility is an admirable trait.

Probably. Her g-g-Grandfather was Joseph William Clem, b. 1855, Indiana, d. 1894, Louisville.

Clem, now you're just showing off (my wife's maternal line is Clem, out of Louisville, KY) The ribbon bar above is the Explorer Silver Award.

"I was made redundant"....I love the British language! Here in the Colonies, we get "fired" or "laid off". Question, SKip: when you say the time is "Half eleven"...what time is it? Wife and I watch more British telly on PBS now than we do the American mindless sitcoms. Our current faves are "The Durrells of Corfu", "Call the Midwife", "Midsomer Murders", and "Doc Martin".

When I was District Training Chair about 15 years ago, the Council collected a registration fee for all training courses. Scouters would register directly with the council, who would cash their checks and send me a list of names. As I recall the fee was around 10 bucks. When I asked what the fee was for, I was told, "Insurance(?), admin support (cashing the checks?), materials (I went to Kinkos and paid for copying myself)". I never saw a penny of the fee. Most courses were in the evenings, so we did not provide a meal. I usually used the local elementary school library or cafeteria, since my wife was on the faculty there, and it was free to non-profit groups. So, the answer is obvious...it is a revenue stream for the Council.

Agree with Sentinel. You have an obligation to report it, but keep it low key, and at the same time tell the DE what you have done to correct it. There was no ill intent, and the rules have been reinforced with all troop leadership. Perhaps have a refresher training class at your next Committee meeting. We, too have done the blanket thing to divide the room...this was at a Council camp in cabins that were built in the 40s. It was no big deal to string a rope across the room and hang tarps.

The SM does not sit on the EBOR and has no vote. However, if the EBOR has not convened yet, the SM can decline to sign off on the project and decline to sign the scout's Eagle Application. Hopefully, there was an SM Conference in which the SM clearly explained what he thought were deficiencies and told the Scout how to "fix" it. That being said, the time to discuss expectations was when the Scout's Eagle Project proposal was submitted to the troop SM and DAC for approval to begin. So, the EBOR is not convened until the SM is satisfied that all requirements (including project approvals) have been met. HOPEFULLY, this can all be accomplished before the scout's 18th birthday. This illustrates the risk of procrastinating and waiting until your 18th birthday is approaching...always allow time to make adjustments if necessary. Edit: Upon re-reading your post, i realized you are already aware of all this. I will leave it as info for others.

Besides $300 for a wooden box, did anyone notice the rank badges are out of order?

Well, that's useful ^^^^^^^

A couple of families getting together to camp is their business. No BSA rules, no BSA insurance. But I would insist that each "camper" have a responsible parent or legal guardian present...and do not promote it as a troop function. It's still a free country...mostly.

I always have conflicting emotions when it comes to this. My own son struggled in middle school...I think most do. It is a time of transition with the onset of puberty and raging hormones, testing the limits with independence, and moving from a more structured classroom to one in where kids are expected to take more responsibility and initiative for their own stuff. The first reaction is always, "no more scouts". To me, Scouting was an integral part of the overall developmental agenda of a boy...taking him out of scouts was the same as saying, "ok, no more church" or "you need to work harder in math, so I'm taking you out of English class"...or PE, or you name it. The boy will view it as punishment, and he will resent it, when grasping the concepts of math is not necessarily his fault. The middle school counselor told us not to worry...most boys struggle with 8th grade and you just need to write it off. Seeking a tutor is a great idea...someone near his own age who has been taught the new methods...I could not tutor my own kids because the terminology was all different ... one example was there was no more "borrowing and carrying", it was called "regrouping". With the new Common Core math, I'm sure I would be speaking a foreign language to them. Some schools have tutoring programs with student volunteers...check with his Guidance Counselor.