skeptic

Do I discern a bit of bitterness and animosity in these things? Sorry, this is mostly just a diatribe of someone with a bone to pick. Its also five years old. JMHO

In regard to Philmont being put up for sale somehow; I believe that is not possible under the granting of the property. I could be wrong, but I think it cannot ever be sold. Any attempt would cause its reverting to the Phillips family. Basically, it belongs to all the scouts and scouters in the program, not National directly. Surely someone has more specific info on this.

"Her daughter is also a really good dancer." Really?? Hmmmmmmmmm;seems to me that the judges did not think so!

To those who cannot pray. To those who cannot walk upon the ground. To those who cannot see and those who cannot hear the world around them. To those who cannot speak. To those in misery and discomfort. To those poor of means or poor of spirit to those who feel oppressed or put upon. To those who have not yet found a God or someone they can pray to or someone with whom to pray. Oh lord, for these our sisters and our brothers who do not pray and will not pray, we ask that you provide enough wisdom and compassion in all of us to pray for them . . . and for ourselves that we find better ways of caring for and helping one another. - Rod McKuen 11/21/98. Adapted from "A Prayer For Our Special Brothers & Sisters" from "An Outstretched Hand.", 1980

"If there was a spec of dirt in this woman's past, we already know about it!" Don't bet your future on this!

Broken bags give you egg-soup. Actually, you often can salvage most of the leakage with a good spoon with holes. Those of us that have less inhibition will eat what the others might not.

Learning to reach beyond themselves is part of the strength of Scouting. Over the years, I have had a number of boys who had swimming issues; but they were able to run and jump and wrestle, so there was no reason to look for an out. And, yes, in at least one case, it likely kept a boy from making Eagle, since it took him four years to make First Class. But he swam the mile using the elementary back stroke when he was 16, and he stayed with us til he went away to college out of town. It took me literally months to finally pass signaling as a scout. But the effort and struggle were to my benefit. We might be better served if we had a few more big challenges in the early ranks. But we do not usually hear complaints about boys having trouble with knots or lashings; yet that can be just as hard for many, especially ones who are dyslectic or have other similar issues. Scouting is NOT about the ranks. It is about hopefully helping boys grow into young adults, and meeting challenges beyond their everyday encounters. It is also about simply having fun sometimes. Too much focus on advancement does not make the best program. They have enough pressure put on them already in our over programmed society.

If you are referring to the full color patch, then the dates noted are pretty close; but the predecessor r/w council patch (as opposed to individual city and state)started much earlier, circa 1960. We had one for our jamboree troop from the old Arrowhead Area Council in San Bernardino.

Whoa!!!! "Old Fossil?" Speak for yourself.

Camilam; You will not get far with reason on this; you simply cannot really separate the emotion from the subject. But, you certainly have put some things out to consider.

Would not meet the current PC plateau.

No one doubted what Bush meant; lets not stretch it too far.

And this is inappropriate why? Sorry, but this has been around forever, and I fail to see a problem. JMHO

Any comment on the Pol reality first installment?

Thank you Calico for the info on California roofs. I have thought exactly that for a while now; and it is simply common sense. Then, again, we cannot forget the "common sense" seems to be very uncommon. But, having a house in the desert, I am quite aware of how fragile that environment is; and it is the transmission grid that is the larger issue, as it would require huge grading and other disruptive processes in the corridors to the cities. But the people actually living in the desert are beginning to flex their muscles, and have won a number of recent battles in their environmental defense efforts. Interesting thing about wind is that it was the primary source of energy for decades, and still is in parts of the more remote areas. They simply called it a windmill.

Are we so dependent on 4 letter words now that we cannot use vocabulary at even a moderate level of intelligence? Just asking.

It should not surprise anyone that the awards reflect the school graduation rates and so on. All kinds of reasons can be bandied around, but the pool of applicants for any scholarship is going to be made up of the output of the educational system. While it may not have an effect, there is also the tendency of Eagle applicants to be too close to 18 and graduation to make the application datelines, and of course, the fact that many possible applicants are not even aware of the opportunities. We can help in that regard, and we remind our local applicants during or after the boards, especially if they are young enough to take advantage of the whole group of offerings. But I am continually surprised how many adult leaders are not aware of the scholarships and grants available to Eagles, and even simply scouts in a few cases.

Hope you are not including A.C. in those comments. Her attitude erases any physical pluses. JMHO of course.

Amen Beavah.

Pack; Isn't that then, "anti-social insecurity"?

Somehow, find a way to get the so called fringe parties more of a chance. The way it is right now, even if you have a strong candidate appear outside the R and D stranglehold, you feel like your vote is wasted, should you actually vote for them. So, it is vote your conscience and basically throw it away, or choose the lesser of the two evils that have a chance. Not the way to succeed.

Beavah; "Two!" SR; We are also told he hates BSA, is not a citizen, is a "fill in the blank", and so on. Yes, I did see the emoticon. Maybe we need another John Stewart rally immediately.

Would seem to be "t0!", not two, indicating hand to its original place while at attention. Or, it might relate to a number in a manual of commands; but I think it is more likely the first. Someone out there likely has better resources or memory.

Gosh Stosh, you must have a great council camp, if that is what it is. Unfortunately, many of us have to deal with struggling plants that have to find ways to focus on program with limited funds. As far as tents being hot or cold, the canvas tends to be suffocatingly uncomfortable in temps over 80 degrees every day, which is common in our area. And most dome or similar tents have better ventilation, while still protecting from the elements; don't have to worry about the "touching the wet canvas" syndrome. Of course, time is also a factor many years, as the camps are so 4-6 hours of driving sometimes, at least in our area. Am glad you are happy with your camp, and that you have satisfied scouts. Keep up the good work.

Since the scholarships are country wide, and have other requirements than being Eagle, I would think not really. Frankly, in our area, fewer LDS get Eagle than others. Now, percentage wise per unit, that may not be the case, as they are always small units. If you read through the recipients in the EAGLE NEWS, it seems as if your query would be in the negative, as the sponsors are not heavily weighted in favor of LDS in my opinion.