SR540Beaver

"I submit that the success of Fox News is simply the result of more honest reporting." Yes, and a multiple vehicle car wreck is entertaining and Jerry Springer's guests and topics are thought provoking too. loudly spouting personally held opinions and brow beating guests is not news reporting, it's entertainment on the order of WWF wrestling.

scomman, I agree that most people don't think for themselves. But even for those of us who do, the media is about the only place we can get information that is "considered" reliable or credible. Sure, you can search the internet, but anybody can post anything they want without any data or source to back it up. You have to be really careful with info you pull from the internet. Since you and I are probably highly unlikely to fly to Israel and tour the West Bank or Gaza, it is kind of hard for us to know for certain where the "real" truth lies in the Israel/Palestinian conflict. What I know is what I see on the news and read in the magizines and newspapers. I frequesnt a pro-Israeli conservative website that constantly decried the media as liberal if they refer to Palestinians as rebels instead of terrorists. While there are terrorists blowing themselves up in Israeli markets, expecting reporters to refer to ALL Pali's as terrorists rather than any other term is to expose their own bias. Most reporters and editors don't sit around putting tons of deep thought into how to appease certain political minded people when writing the headline of a story. More often than not, the word rebel fits into a 3" column better than the word terrorist does. But there are people out there who will use that as proof that the reporters are "liberal" instead of "conservative" because of the choice of a single word in a headline. I read it every day on numerous websites.

eisley, The media bias goes both ways and depends on which side of the fence you are sitting on. Political talk radio is practically all conservative. Rush, Hannity, O'Reilly, G. Gordon Liddy, etc. Name one popular liberal radio talk show that gets the ratings the conservative show do. Fox News has become the most watched news channel on cable. They are staunch conservatives. They even gave Oliver North (a criminal) his own show. Many newspapers are conservative like the Wall Street Journal. Here in Oklahoma City, we have only one newspaper. They have a monopoly and always have. 35 years ago, there was another paper, but the existing one put them out of business. The paper is jokingly referred to as the Daily Republican. When it comes to politics, they don't keep their opinions on the op-ed page. They run front page editorials during election times that are basically political ads for Republican candidates. The last Democratic governor we had never could settle into the job for having to fight the daily "invstigative" stories written about him. He was hounded day in and day out just like Clinton was for 8 years by sore losers. His teenage son ended up commiting suicide over the press hounding him and his family. Yes, there are people in the media and news organizations that are liberal.........and conservative. Yes, they both have an axe to grind. The truth lays somewhere inbetween.

Littlebillie, Like I said just a few posts ago, my Congress prayer meant the opening prayer of a session that is on the schedule each day and is part of tradition in Congress. This usually is done by a Christian minister. I'm not talking about anyone praying anywhere. Anybody can pray anytime and anywhere they want because of religious freedom and 1st amendment rights. Now, if they want to stand up during a broadway play and put on their own performance, they might get booed and escorted out of the theater. I'm speaking of a place like Congress (which is a government entity) having a Muslim cleric DO prayers they're required to do 5 times a day. Many Americans would be outraged and feel that the government was endorsing Islam in a "Christian" nation and would feel that it would be inappropriate for Congress to allow. I brought this up and would like to keep this fragment of the thread in context instead of running into left field with it.

sctmom, How about talking to your den parents about starting a new troop and then approaching your CO about chartering it? It would be hard work, but why not build a new quality troop for your area?

If you go to www.propper.com, you'll see BDU trousers sewn to Military Specification MIL-T-44047E. They come in 6 different materials and a variety of solid colors and patterns. Cotton, poly/cotton, ripstop, etc.

Ed, Parapalegic? Not Quad? I thought the stories I read said he was paralyzed from the neck down. While it is still tragic, hopefully he will still be able to be active in scouting in the future if he is parapalegic.

My Congress example meant the daily opening prayer, not someone disrupting a session.

hops, I can't speak for what the military issues, but the BDU's that the general public can buy come in a variety of fabrics. Some are quicker drying than others.

Rooster, I wasn't dangling any bait, just giving my personal opinion. I respect you and your views, I just find them very rigid sometimes and don't always agree. I know you probably find this hard to believe, put I'd say that you and I share the same views and beliefs about 90% of the time. I feel I understand and know where you are coming from with my 45 year background of being active in a conservative, evangelical church.

Yes to what Ed said......and take the former Program Chair with you for back up. When someone willingly volunteers and then is given the cold shoulder, it does put a damper on your wanting to pitch in. If the offer was extended, the offer accepted and a plan put in place, it should be honored unless a valid reason can be given for why it has now changed. I think you and the former Chair could aproach the subject at a District meeting in a polite way asking for an explanation and understanding. I would assume that the rest of the folks there would be supportive of someone who was willing to take up the task and had already begun preparations for it. For crying out loud, most Councils, Districts and Units are clamoring for help. Someone has some explaining to do!

Ed, My point was that many people in our "Christian" nation would find it offensive. Yes, the Muslim would be within his rights to worship as he sees fit. But many Americans would feel that the government was endorsing Islam if a Muslim cleric conducted their required prayers 5 times a day in Congress. Many non-Christians feel the same way when government run schools, courts and legislatures open with Christian prayers, display the 10 commandments, etc. It gives the appearance of recognizing one religion over another and endorsing it. Personally, since I am part of that Christian majority that basks in the glow of government support, it has little effect on me and I'm happy. I can however put myself in the shoe of the other guy and see why they have a problem with it.

Try some of these sites for native american recipes: http://www.winchesterstar.com/TheWinchesterStar/021127/Life_recipes.asp'>http://www.winchesterstar.com/TheWinchesterStar/021127/Life_recipes.asp http://www.winchesterstar.com/TheWinchesterStar/021127/Life_recipes.asp http://directory.google.com/Top/Home/Cooking/World_Cuisines/North_American/Native_American/

Ed, Since most of us here in the US were brought up in a Judeo-Christian environment, we see a prayer said in a school or Congress that uses the phrase, "in Jesus's name we pray" as normal and not offensive. It is part of our norm and we don't think twice about it. What if 5 times a day a Muslim cleric walked into Congress, put down a prayer mat, turned to the East and started reciting his required prayers? We'd be asking why our Congress is endorsing this religion and allowing it to happen on the Senate floor!! Why, it has no place there, it's the government for crying out lound, not a mosque!! This is why many people who are not religious or of the Christian faith have a problem with overt Christian influence supported by government entities.

ASM7, What....are you lazy?! LOL It is a card game. It seems to be more for older kids and teens than Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh. There are a number of these type card games out now. The cards are collectible and some are considered rare, making them worth more of course. You have to build a deck of your best cards for battles or duels with other players. There are clubs and leagues all over the world. We have a collectibles shop a couple of miles from our house that sells everything from Coca Cola memorabilia to beanie babies to all of the various card games. They have a section of the store set up with tables and have a schedule of certain hours on certain days that certain games will be played. They do a lot of tournament play on the weekends. The place is packed with kids from 5 or 6 into their late teens and even some adults. It could be a great recruiting tool.

FYI, there is a website that can supply all of your pine car needs. I'm fortunate enough to have several Hobby Lobby's in my town and they carry many of these products. http://www.pinecar.com/

OK, OK, OK.....I got it....once the background was provided. I will say that while Bob is rather rigid in his following of procedure, I don't see any spin in it at all. 99% of the time, he presents the facts backed up in black and white with chapter and verse provided. Where there is a gray area in the black and white, he usually has always applied well thought-out, reasoned logic to draw a conclusion of what the gray intends to mean cross-referenced with other policy. I do have to agree that Rooster is just as Phariseeical in his religious views as Bob can be about the BSA methods. There is nothing wrong in either one being so as long as they respect other's rights to differ from their views. It is when you say something is this way and only this way (as both do) that you start knocking heads with other people. That is why Rooster has had differences with Bob and others have differences with Rooster.

Rooster, OGE a.k.a. Bob White? You mean he has been pulling a ZornPackt/Yaworski on us while everyone has been asking where Bob has been for the last couple of months? Say it ain't so!

sctmom, Amen! At our last pack meeting, the Webelos II's were responsible for the flag ceremony. They sat at the back table and whispered to each other thru the whole meeting. They were oblivious to what was going on. When the meeting was over and they were to do the flag retreat, the Cubmaster had to call them three times before they figured out what was going on and came forward. They see the pack as childish and want to move on to a troop. My son is a Webelos 1 and "I'M" the one who can't wait for him to move on to the Boy Scouts!!! He has always been mature for his age and has always gotten along with and enjoyed the company of kids a little older than him. Some of our Webelos 1's act like Tigers and I'd just as soon him not be around them. He could be learning so much more and getting more out of the program if we didn't spend most of our meetings with the scout sign up or making the boys stay out of the fire during campouts. I know part of that is just being a kid, but too much is too much. I'm all in favor of the early bridge to get a boy in a troop and some skills under his belt before they hit it hard and heavy.

OGE, I don't have any idea how many troops do, but I just happened across this today on our local newspaper's website. http://photos.newsok.com/rappel/ Interestingly enough, one of the scout leaders in the pictures is an old girlfriend's brother. He was active in scouting when we were in high school. I'm not sure if he ever made Eagle or not. It appears that his troop rappels her in Oklahoma. And yes, we do actually have some places here that are not flat.

As a proud owner of a pair of camo BDU's, I think they are great for the field. Mine however are for hunting. They come in a variety of colors and I think that if a scout(s) are going to invest in them, they should stick with a solid color. I liked the outfit mentioned above of the black BDU pant with a colored t-shirt. It would make a great activity uniform. BTW, they also make BDU shorts. A pair of black BDU pants for cooler weather and a pair of shorts for warmer weather with a variety of colored long/short sleeved troop t-shirts would keep the boys looking sharp in the field.

Rooster, Actually, the BSA has not been wishy washy. Duty to God has always been a basic tenet of Scouting. The BSA has always held the position of "God or religion" to be defined by the boy, his family and his "church". BSA believes a boy should develop his spiritual side as just one facet of his whole person. Your God can be Buddha, Jesus, Allah, Vishnu, Zeus, Apollo, Mercury, nature, etc. You must believe that there is a supernatural force greater than yourself. I believe that BSA has always been fairly liberal in this approach because they knew there was a wide variety of backgrounds out there that boys would be coming from. Their job was to build men of character out of boys and religion or duty to God was only one of the facets. Beyond a belief in a supernatural being, they didn't want to dictate what the scout was to believe. I'd bet that if you are honest about it, you know many a boy who has been in scouts and never darkened the door of a church. They believed in a "god" in general, but never practiced a faith. I've known many, some of who became Eagles. The only exclusion is for those who deny the existence of a "god". I believe that the BSA purposely took a broad approach and what is wishy washy is those who now attempt to more narrowly define the policy than it was first intended.

evmori, Wishy, washy? Wasn't it stated that Lambert only needed to profess a belief in something superior to himself (even Mother Nature would do) to be able to stay in scouting? BSA's stance has been that as long as you believe in "something" (God, gods, rocks, trees, the wind) and not "nothing" (atheism), you were OK. How does that differ from GSUSA's "wishy, washy" view of leaving the determination of spirituality to the girl and her family?

It is for kids, with adult supervision. Would you turn your 7 year old loose with a power band saw or even a coping saw? Or a can of spray paint? I'm making my 9 year old build his, but Dad's fingers are on top of his when running the wood thru the saw. He was born with 5 digits on each hand and I intend for him to have all of them when he leaves home someday.

Well, you're ahead of me! Our derby is on the 25th and we are still sanding the wood. Primer would have helped in the beginning. I'd suggest getting a tack cloth from the hardware store to use after sanding. It is cheese cloth impregnated with a waxy substance that will remove all of the sanding dust. I'd give it a good sanding, tack it and put one final coat on and hope for the best. Trying to sand it all off and start over would not be worth it. You may as well start with a new block if you go to that trouble.