skeptic

Okay, so the Council pays the ransom of their building. Does that not mean then that the basic maintenance of the grounds and structure are now the responsibility of the city? What might that cost the city; or will they be like too many landlords and simply ignore their responsibilities? Can see it now; "City of Brotherly Love" taken to court as slum lord due to refusal to care for property leased to the BSA.

While there is a chance that Gore may have been blind sided, the fact remains that he, and his party ran an absolutely abysmal campaign. Even a slight effort in a number of areas by his party would likely have made the Florida fiasco mute. But, that is past, and hopefully we can move forward. He has apparently, whether you agree with him or not. I would agree with all the others who note that the documentary would have been stronger if the other side had been presented. Still, at least it has brought to fore the existence of large amounts of evidence that we, as a world population, ar

The polarization of opinions on some of these issues continuously astounds me. It is a little scary to think that some posters have so little ability to evaluate possible other opinions. How does that affect their ability be fair when acting as counselor for challenges within their groups? Being able to listen and make reasoned decisions on things is one of the things I would hope we can demonstrate to our scouts. An obdurate inflexibility is not the best example we can give.

Better one, I think Funscout would be to isolate ALL the world politicians for one week in a sealed chamber, cleaning all "their" emissions before releasing to the atmosphere. What do you think?

Time to stand up for what is right and to what is PC. The leader, SM or advisor, determines the grey areas of Spirit, Leadership, and Active status. It is our responsibility to hold the scouts accountable to the highest expectation to which he is capable, with the bar being raised at each higher level of advancement. When and if the time comes that the COR or council chooses to override me, most likely that will be the last you see me in the program, unless they can show me a valid reason for their decision beyond overbearing, self indulgence on the part of parents. This nonsense of

Well, let''s try rewriting the question. Is it just me, or do others wonder why we find ourselves constantly questioning things, that when reviewed, have simple, "Common Sense", answers? Guess I need to either figure out how to edit in this forum, or simply do outside, then cut and paste. Sorry about the poor original entry.

Is it just me, or do find ourselves constantly questioning things that when reviewed have simple, "Common Sense", answers? Many of the issues that appear in these forums, and in the media in general, seem to me to fly in the face of logic in many cases. Along with this is the inability or unwillingness to make a decision on our own part based on basic review of material already available on which to base our decision. Why are we so afraid to do what "seems" right based on the guidelines in place. Why are there so many attempts to skew the meanings of straightforward logic? Is it

Here is my take on the two. The traditional program is dependent on the sponsoring institution, the group that actually "owns" the unit. As such, it is under the auspices of the COR, as directed by his church, club, or whatever. The traditional foundation of BSA fits these institutions' needs, or they would not choose to use the program. They know up front the expectations of the BSA within this part of the organization. LFL is designed specifically for community based outreach which is focussed through government oversight of one sort or another. While it strives to impart certain e

This last post made me remininse about my days in scouts as a youth. Our favorite game was British Bulldog. While it could get pretty rough on occasion, there was seldom anything more than an occasional bruise. We had a rule for bigger kids that required them to quick walk rather than run, so as to ease the of weight in motion at full throttle. The scout caught had to be completely off the ground for three BB's said outloud. I still remember laughing uncontrolably as a 15 or 16 year old under attack from a half dozen smaller boys. I would keep getting one limb to touch the floor, or it w

Sorry about the odd extra formatting. I tried to set off the part from the National related website by putting it in html; but looks as if some of the coding came with it somehow. Hope all can read it.

"It isn't so!" It is so? According to the local executive, LFL is a completely separate program, but is administered through the BSA. United Way generally appears to be willing to include it in their funding when they will not include the traditional program. If you look it up, it has the Irving address, but is not listed directly under the National Council. But they seem to include the membership as part of their stats; so you decide. Learning for Life offers seven programs designed to support schools and community-based organizations in their efforts to prepare youth to suc

LFL has had different membership requirements since its inception, mainly to stay within the schools. The change Explorers to LFL was done specifically to allow government sponsored posts, such as police and fire, to retain their sponsorships. They do not have the same leadership requirements and therefore can slide by the PC flags that were set to destroy them. So, I guess we can say they buckled; or we can say that they have two separate programs run by one umbrella organization.

Oh, the boy who followed through was also reinstated in the OA a year and a half later.

My take on this is that council may have felt that the unit's response was inadequate for some reason. We had a similar, but not drug related, episode a number of years ago. Our SPL and ASPL were sent home from an OA event due to theft of a large amount of cds. Calling the police was considered, but since one of the staffers was off duty police, they decided to hold off and simply contact the troop and see how we approached it. I received a call from the camp personally to let me know the situation. One of the boy's father came to get them in the middle of the night, but when they g

Double speak is a wonderful skill, but it still does not answer the simple question. Of course I realize that you will never actually face the fact that you speak out of both sides of your mouth; it just depends on whether or not it something you want to push. Sorry, it is a bit cruel of me, especially since I suggested that others quit baiting you. No more on this from me.

There is no doubt that there has been poor decisions made in this Idaho situation, assuming the details given are moderately accurate. But, it appears that at least some afterthought has focussed on this not happening again, if possible. Personally, I would hope that perhaps National might consider keeping a very close eye on the Seatle area professional oversight; but hopefully the man has learned a valuable lesson and will be much more vigilent and err on the side of caution and youth protection. Of course, what sort of confuses me here is that this seems to be something Merlyn

John: I would surmise that a very large percentage of troops do not follow the National program for myriad reasons. If the boys plan the program, as is supposed to happen, then they will be far less likely to stay with the often "lame" (boys' description) program. The important thing is that the program is planned and involves scout related subjects that focus on the overall mission.

While I am never quite certain I know God, I am certain that I sense he/she regularly. There have been a few times when the sense was overwhelming, and in the "outing in scouting" environment, little doubt as I generally lie beneath the stars the weather permitting. I try to simply watch for falling or shooting stars, fighting to stay awake long enough to do so. But the still watching of a dark, infinite space reinforces the awe of "something greater" that cannot quite be described, only felt in my own quiet self.

Cowpies catch the wind better though, kind of like frizbees. But horse droppings, of the right consistency, are easier to throw accurately. Good luck.

The solution for the few who go on ad nauseum with no end in site. Everyone else can ignore or read for personal amusement or agravation.

And so we have moved the ricocheting comments to another board. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

This whole tangent is ridiculous. Ed, you seem to not understand that Merlyn will never agree with anything that you say, and he will continue to bait you with his inflamatory comments as long as you respond. On the other hand, at times it seems as if you too are baiting him, as he tends to rant to the extent it is almost comical at times. Eventually though, it just gets old. Perhaps it is time to simply block each other so that neither of you will feel the need to be overboard at opposite ends of the spectrum. Just MHO. To me, the point is that there are a few individuals

Glad to see someone else mention the "substitute" words. The past couple of years this has become a real problem as well. We have discussed the fact that a different version of an unacceptable word is the same as using it, as everyone pretty much understands that it is a substitute. It does not help that we are bombarded with constant bleeps on tv and radio programs, and even astericks in paper media. Another element that really grates on me of late is the constant immediate response of "I'm sorry", when the error is brought to their attention. I find myself recently telling the gro

Yes, there are scouters in Congress, even some Eagles. And, I am afraid that some appear to have forgotten the meaning of the Oath and Law, based on their actions, or inactions in some cases. Here in the South of California we had one State rep who is an Eagle, and he stepped down due to a major scandal. Just a couple years prior, he had been the featured speaker at an Eagle dinner. How sad. But, there are some who "do their best" still, or at least I hope so. Just tend to be a bit suspicious now adays I am afraid.

John-KC; I like your comment about exercising our right to vote. Unfortunately, choosing he best candidate is a lose, lose situation in too many instances. It comes down to choosing the lesser of two poor choices. And integrity in politics seems to be almost extinct in my observation. Another reason to try to keep the values and citizenship elements in the scouting program.