SeattlePioneer

I would suppose that this failure to track people has helped contribute to people banned from BSA being able to get back in as adult leaders again.

Hello Fred, I see no reason not to shop around for services among neighboring districts if a unit chooses to do so. Making an official switch to a different district is probably going to be refused by the council in most cases. Your suggested method of dealing with unsatisfactory district service is unlikely to be practical. But there is nothing to stop units from adopting a neighboring district if they wish to do so. That is probably quite practical for a good many units that might be unhappy with their current district.

Personally I found it amusing that liberals, great supporters of a "growing and evolving constitution" that can be freely re written by a 5-4 majority of the Supreme Court, have gotten a little dose of what that means with the "Citizens United" and "Bush V Gore" decisions. Both liberals and conservatives have abused the power of the courts when they had the chance to do so. My preference would be to permanently prune back that power by providing a term of office for judges of 12 years or so, renewable if re confirmed by the Senate. In my opinion, the reason for judicial abuse of power is rooted in the lifetime appointments of Federal judges. They need to be brought to heal by the political branches in a moderate way.

I would suggest making your own unit flag, which can be an excellent project for Cub Packs, Scout Troops and Crews.

Cynical. VERY cynical! But very fun for Republicans! Liberals got a dose of that "growing and evolving" constitution and discovered they didn't like it.

Hello Fehler, > OK, I'll bite.

> Well, I'm sure that would be discouraging. You might consider making an appointment with the council President to state your complaints --- even asking for an opportunity to speak at a council executive board meeting. IF the council isn't susceptible to being influenced, I'd consider a campaign of passive resistance and non cooperation. How 'bout delaying a Friends of Scouting presentation as long as possible and then scheduling it for a Committee meeting when the DE can be grilled about his objectionable policies and take back $0.00 or perhaps a contribution of twenty dimes for his efforts? There are lots of alternatives to school recruiting, and ginning up brochures is easy to do. Similarly, I'd start picking events from other districts that you want to do. If those dismissed district leaders are unhappy, they could be doing similar things ---- have you been in contact with them to decide what to do? Something might organize their own FOS campaign aimed at reducing the take from the district. I'll bet that would get the attention of the council, and there really not a lot they could do about such a campaign that would stop it. This again makes me count my blessings. My district is a home for me and the council as well. I don't know of any districts that are being badly run. You might also consider making an appointment with the council President to state your complaints --- even asking for an opportunity to speak at a council executive board meeting. As noted elsewhere ---- the DE will be gone before long.

The two party system has been a force for national unity. In the end, national unity is a LOT more important than pandering to those who want a "horse race". From time to time both political parties have split and formed third parties ---- usually causing their political opposition to win. That usually causes the abandonment of 3rd parties for another generation. Personally I think the current system serves us well, despite the fact that the ******** elected the wrong guy as President in the election just past!

It doesn't just "go to the House." If the electoral college fails to produce a majority for one Presidential candidate, then the House votes by a special procedure: The House members of each state select a President to vote for among themselves. Each STATE then gets one vote to elect the President. So the election for President by the House would have a maximum of fifty votes. A small state with one House member would get the same vote as California or New York. A state with an equal number of Republican and Democratic House members might not be able to cast a vote for President. That could produce some interesting results. I'd like to see an analysis of how that might play out with the House members elected this November. If someone asks the minimum number of votes needed to be elected President, the correct answer would appear to be -----26! Anyone care to vote for a 3rd party? >(This message has been edited by seattlepioneer)

If we ever get the effective 3rd political party some want, one that gets enough Electoral College votes so that no Presidential candidate gets a majority, who knows what happens then?

What are the issues you have with your current district and the attractions of the other district? Usually you can attend activities and events of any district your wish. Depending on your concerns you might be able to "adopt" the other district informally.

Imbibing on legalized marijuana where you live moosetracker?

As an example of that, here the post above translated into text speak: ignore it. almst NEfin maks "text speak" l%k lk somit by a fmos ritR. http://www.lingo2word.com/translatetxt.php

Just ignore it. Almost anything makes "text speak" look like something by a famous writer.

Great story, ntrog8r!

http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2019655705_bbcscandal11.html

Sorry, but complaining about what the government is or isn't doing sounds to me like one of our most fundamental liberties.

Running a popcorn sale is very much like running a small business. Indeed, I would be inclined to sell the Popcorn Kernel position as an opportunity for people to learn the skills needed to operate their own small business. Not surprisingly, a lot of people have a lot to learn when they are thrown into that job with little or no training an experience. A well managed Scout unit is going to conserve their experience with the popcorn sale and pass it on to new sale managers, and have adequate support for those new leaders so they can do the job efficiently and effectively. I think Basement is wrong when he describes Scout leaders as "idiots." The units with problems are usually going to be people trying to do a good job with a lack of sufficient training, experience and support.

This is a classic "goo goo" issue --- good government. Goo goo issues are usually treated rather derisively by politicians, who are practical people interested in keeping costs down, job security and in general keeping people happy. Right now both parties benefit from gerrymandered districts in various ways at various times. Most Congressman are in safe districts. That means they have a degree of job security. If they wish, they have more freedom to vote on issues the way they wish, rather than being driven by needing to appease every interest group in order to squeeze out the last vote in a competitive race, which might occur at EVERY ELECTION! Also, Congressmen in safe districts don't need to spend as much time begging for campaign funding. Furthermore, since most voters are in safe districts, they are represented by a Congressman who is likely to be someone of the party representing a large majority of the people in the district. Do we REALLY want to sharply increase the volatility of Congressional elections and cause Congressman to need to raise a lot more campaign funding at every election?

I'm with eisely. I live in Wqashington State, which narrowly passed gay marriage. I live in Seattle, which passed gay marriage by a large majority. Makes no difference to Scouting, which has a constitutional right to maintain its values, or change them should it decide that's the right thing to do.

In my experience, the key to getting Tiger Cubs and Tiger Cub partners working together as a team is to have program that NEEDS that participation by the Tiger Cub partner. I look for activities that are a little too sophisticated for Tiger Cubs to do by themselves. If the participation of the Tiger Cub partner is needed, they naturally step into that. Other activities Tiger Cub partners are invited to participate. When doing a flag ceremony or Law of the Pack ceremony, parents are invited to participate in holding the American flag or den flag right along with the Tiger Cubs and the Den or meeting leader. They get in the HABIT of participating, starting with the first activity and meeting.

> My district has often had quality Cub Scout Roundtable since I began attending them circa 2004. Unfortunately, attendance has continued to decline in a fairly straight line fashion over those years. Even a good quality program tends to not attract a reliable audience from what I see. That's too bad. It leaves people buried in their units with little idea of what other units are doing. But it's a fact of life.

One option to consider would be making a complaint to the management. They might or might not do something. But if they chose to do so, they would probably handle it in a tactful way and they could use an office that would tend to avoid issues. Worth a try, I would say.

I'd be shopping around for a new treasurer.

Hello Travis, Your troop returns most of its fund raising money to Scouts. That's fine, but you need to charge enough to stay afloat. Perhaps you should plan on charging $100 dues for 2013. Perhaps $200. And there is no reason not to charge $20 or more for monthly outings. Charge what you need to to meet your expenses and retire any deficit. I use Quicken for our Cub Scout pack financial records. Each Scout Account shows as a separate account and liability, so our net position after Scout Account liabilities is always known.