Is it possible that your list is a list of problems we need to solve?

In the business world, a string of losing seasons seldom produces  continued tenure, much less raises, for the top management.  (I live east of Cleveland, and few seem to want to be Mayor of Cleveland.  The "opposition" to the incumbent Mayor last election consisted of two convicted criminals - a grafter who served his prison sentence for taking bribes and a chronic drunk driver.  The incumbent easily "won."  "Victory," a "New Beginning," etc.  is proclaimed every 2-3 years as the population, physical safety, and average standard of living falls. ) 

In wilderness survival, the consensus is that admitting there is a problem is a precondition for doing anything to improve odds of survival.

Depends on what really happens and, then, where you are.  Could Greenland be green again?  Wheat grown in Canada?

By 2020, "millions will die" from climate change 

Reuters newswire ran this headline in 1997: "'Millions will die' unless climate policies change."

The report said 8 million people would die by 2020, citing a prediction in the Lancet medical journal.

The mass death prediction was clearly way off.

“None of these predictions came true, and aren't even close to coming true,” said Roy Spencer, a climatologist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. “It's amazing that the public can continue to believe apocalyptic predictions despite a 95 percent decline in weather-related deaths in the last 100 years.”

Some modern studies claim to find mass deaths; the Daily Beast covered a “shock report” that “Climate Change Kills 400,000 a Year,” but Human Progress' Marian Tupy said such estimates are grossly inflated."

1 hour ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

While I agree some salaries do need to be cut, I can tell you that I had former coworkers leave the profession, and double, and in one case triple, their salary based upon the DE experience alone.  So we do need to be competitive to keep good professionals.

But some of the salaries do seem outrageous.

 

The ones you most want to keep have the most marketable skills, and so are most able to leave when abused, frustrated, or overworked.  Another example of incompetent leadership by BSA "professionals."  Over 38 years here I have consistently seen those regarded by the customers as the best employees leave, although one left to rise to No. 2 in Chicago.

Our consensus best DE was recently canned for insufficient servility to the new SE, a younger man who opposes both "traditional Scouting," which he cannot explain or define, and training of volunteers, youth and adult.

Leadership is almost always the critical ingredient in success.  I hope BSA just got some.  

32 minutes ago, mds3d said:

Predictions are often wrong.  They are also often predicated on nothing changing from current environment (not the case over the last 30 years).   The news does all these things a disservice by always reporting on the extreme of whatever was said by the scientific community.  

Academia is rarely in agreement so well as it is on climate change, and that should tell you something.  

Richard Mueller might not be disingenuous but I think he is at least taking his stance in the way that will make him the most notable.   

Muller?  If so, he now is a convert to the Green position - if not 100%,  at least substantially.

Truth is not a matter of "consensus."  We don't vote on what's true.  A scientist tests a hypothesis.  In the real world, "scientific consensus" is like faith.  Heretics are attacked.  So those proposing that ulcers were primarily caused by bacteria or that stress causes disease were outvoted and hooted at by the orthodox  "scientific" community.  But they were right.  And the oceans rose 100 meters before individualization when the World population was 1/7 of what it is now.  Link That to the notion that Homo sap. is the only significant driver of climate change.  

2. Oil will effectively run out by 2020

" CNN [ that paragon of objectivity]  ran a headline in 2003 titled 'World oil and gas 'running out'.'

The New York Times [ once the 'newspaper of record'] reported in 1989 that 'untapped pools of domestic oil are finite and dwindling," and that 'William Stevens, the president of Exxon U.S.A., said ... by the year 2020 there would not be enough domestic oil left 'to keep me interested.'

But doomsayers underestimated American ingenuity, and the opposite happened. Both U.S. oil output and U.S. proven oil reserves are dramatically higher now than they were in 1989, thanks to technology allowing deeper oil to be discovered and extracted.

 New technology in natural gas ("'fracking') also allowed the U.S. to become an energy independent net oil exporter for the first time in 75 years in 2018.

 Reached by phone, Phillip Shabecoff, the former New York Times reporter who covered the disappearing oil in 1989, said that the Exxon CEO’s 2020 prediction was off."  

Do you think?

I am NOT a "climate change denier."  I believe in climate change.  As a gardener, I note the warmer - and longer - Winters in NE Ohio.  It plays hob with my vegetable garden with short growing seasons, and the less-severe Winters facilitate pine bark beetle damage to the extent that I have lost twenty-seven trees.  Its role in the diseases exterminating Oaks, Sugar Maples, Birches, and Hemlocks is not established.  

Where I sit was a mile deep in ice 15,000-17,000 years ago, and the oceans have risen 100 meters since - all before industrialization. 

99% of all species that ever were are extinct - most before the first primate. 

Greenland was so green it supported cattle-raising and grain crops - before it got too cold for either - all in the Middle Ages.  SUVs?

I also believe we need big changes or things will get worse.  We can always make it worse.  We have more people than the carrying capacity of Earth given current technology, space, and water.  When people are so desperate that they build houses on bamboo stilts out over the Bay of Bengal, we are running out of room.

None of this amounts to "drinking" the Green "Kool Aid," a program of spin, lies and obfuscation justified to its authors by the ends sought -- saving us from our own profligacy and reproductive drive, the latter scarcely mentioned any more since the "Zero Population Growth" program failed decades ago when World population was less than half of what it is now.

In their effort to scare us "straight," the Greens deprive conservation of much of its credibility.  Some recall the results of the "Reefer Madness" offensive, but most are too young.  Efforts to curtail marijuana use with exaggerated claims about the neurological effects of "Mary Jane " became regarded as a joke - literally joked about on main stream MSM programs such as Tonight.  And look where we are now - marijuana advertised on network television as a cool economic opportunity.  It's still a federal crime to grow and sell, but there is no political will to stop the spread of illegal  "legalization." 

And the entire field has become a political football, weaponized by some so intellectually vapid as to stun objective observers.  Close the fossil fuel industry?  No problem . Coal miners can become computer programmers, "for God's sake."  Software, after all, is so easy. 

FAILED DOOMSDAY PREDICTIONS

1. The U.S. may warm 6 degrees F from 1990 to 2020

 In 1990, The Washington Post reported in a front page story: "Carbon dioxide is the gas most responsible for predictions that Earth will warm on average by about 3 degrees Fahrenheit by the year 2020."

WAPO further warned: "The United States, because it occupies a large continent in higher latitudes, could warm by as much as 6 degrees Fahrenheit."

Thirty years later, 2020 has finally arrived. The Earth has warmed approximately 1 degree Fahrenheit according to NASA. The United States also warmed roughly 1 degree. An inconvenient truth.

Elliott Negin, a spokesman for the Union of Concerned Scientists, which issued the 3/6 prediction declined to comment.

Generally, Geren "modeling" has been uniformly and substantially incorrect.

I wish him luck.   He ought to be given some "credit" against future problems.  Turning a dying organization around is not something that is often accomplished quickly. Expectations should be reasonable.

A challenge will be making decisions for BSA  that the current crop of BSA bureaucrats do not support.  

She said she had "differences" with the Board members.  I wasn't in the room and neither was the LA Times or CBC.

Is it your "understanding" or your acceptance of the media understanding?

Plaintiffs' lawyer Rob Talach of London, Ont., who has represented victims of childhood abuse, said "The KPMG report was 'simply a documentary review' and it would be "bold" to draw conclusions about whether there was a coverup."  Imagine, a plaintiffs' lawyer with more class than the media,  Shocking!

Sorry, but my attitudes are based, in part, on having to defend newspaper and TV "journalists" in defamation cases in state and federal courts.  Their lack of concern for fairness or simple accuracy was disappointing, to say the least.  I did not regret leaving that practice.  The Richard Jewell media lynching has been much studied in the defense bar, and little to the credit of the media emerged.  To the "rush to publish" has been added overt political prejudice that casts doubt on much that the media "reports," one way or the other. 

10 minutes ago, prof said:

I like that he was a volunteer for 33 years.

Hope.  Bill was a volunteer until the day he died.  Also an paid volunteer for many years.

Accusations by the media do not amount to facts.

From a  Canadian plaintiff's law firm site, soliciting cases:

"Scouts Canada categorically denies that its files are similar to the secret records kept by its U.S. counterpart and stresses that the two agencies operate separately.

In a written statement, Janet Yale, Scouts Canada's executive commissioner and CEO, described the U.S. system as 'pink files' that track 'incidents, reports or even rumours concerning volunteer leaders.'

'Unlike the Boy Scouts of America, Scouts Canada has no history of keeping so-called 'pink files,' 'pink folders,' 'secret lists' or 'secret files,'' wrote Yale. 'To be clear, we keep no file, folders, lists or records of any kind that detail suspected instances of misbehaviour, policy violations or abuse on the part of volunteer leaders.'

Yale stressed the organization does not monitor volunteer leaders "'in the face of concerns or complaints,' but rather suspends individuals and then looks into the complaint.

Scouts Canada spokesman John Petitti sent CBC an email later stating that the organization does keep records of suspension and termination, but information is shared with police and youth protection services.

'This is our policy and practice,' he wrote. 'And it has been our policy and practice for as long as we are able to determine. Furthermore, we are unaware of any exceptions to this policy and practice.'"

From CBS: "The records documented sex abusers barred from scouting and sit in its national headquarters, a square, two-storey grey building in Ottawa’s west end."

From the LA Times which "broke the story" : "Scouts Canada Chief Executive Janet Yale denied that her organization kept confidential records. She resigned abruptly in November after the CBC published proof of their existence."  (See her statement above from plaintiffs' lawyers where she claimed that Scouts Canada maintains that it  keeps no records of suspects, having  automatically suspended all accused pending investigation.)  Post hoc ergo propter hoc is a classic logical fallacy regularly indulged in by the media.  Who abruptly resigned from Enron?

From NBC:  "The speculation is that the FBI is close to making the case. They probably have enough to arrest him [Richard Jewell] right now, probably enough to prosecute him, but you always want to have enough to convict him as well. There are still some holes in this case"  [Those "holes," amounting to a total lack of evidence of guilt, proved very expensive to NBC  and CNN.]

Boy Scouts of America

Guide to Advancement

"9.0.1.7 References Contacted

Council advancement committee members—or others designated—have the responsibility to secure recommendations from the references appearing under requirement 2 on the Eagle Scout Rank Application. This may be done by letter, form, or phone call. For reasons of privacy and confidentiality, electronic submissions are discouraged. It is acceptable to send or deliver to the references an addressed envelope with instructions, and perhaps a form to complete. Scouts may assist with this, but that is the limit of their participation. Scouts are not responsible for followthrough or any other aspect of the process.

It is up to the council’s designated representatives to collect the responses. If after a reasonably diligent effort no response can be obtained from any references, the board of review must go on without them. It must not be postponed or denied for this reason, and the Scout shall not be asked to submit additional references or to provide replacements.

Completed reference responses of any kind are the property of the council and are confidential, and only review-board members and those officials with a specific need may see them. The responses are not to be viewed by or returned to the Scout. Doing so could discourage the submission of negative information. For the same reason, those providing references do not have the option of giving the reference directly to the Scout and shall not be given the option of waiving confidentiality. Once a review has been held, or an appeal process conducted, responses shall be returned to the council, where they will be destroyed after the Eagle Scout credentials are released or the appeal is concluded.

In Scouts BSA, advancement references are required only for Eagle Scout rank. The council determines methods of contact."

"9.0.2.0

The Eagle Scout Service Project While a Life Scout, plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community. (The project must benefit an organization other than the Boy Scouts of America.) A project proposal must be approved by the organization benefiting from the effort, your unit leader and unit committee, and the council or district before you start. You must use the Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook, BSA publication No. 512-927, in meeting this requirement. —Eagle Scout requirement 5"

1 hour ago, ParkMan said:

A chief executive needs to be both a good idea person, but also someone capable of leading the organization.  The right candidate will understand the challenges going in and develop strategies to address them.  

It sounds to me like Scouts Canada picked someone who could not effectively deal with the challenges and as such was a poor choice.  I do not think that should deter the BSA from making the right decision.

Right.  A correct decision should not be avoided.  😉

She got a very warm reception at the Wood Badge regional reunion at Blue Springs when she was new.  Sounded promising.  She was gone before the next annual reunion.

On 12/17/2019 at 11:49 PM, Eagle1993 said:

I’m starting to hear rumors that there will be more changes at National after the year end and work will start transferring to councils.  Not sure what work but should be interesting to see where this goes.

Scouts Canada tried that. They reached out for a CEO to private enterprise and recruited a new leader for the challenging times.  She had new ideas.  Good speaker.   The bureaucrats and grey backs, who rarely agree about anything, resisted her ideas and proved to be more than she wanted to deal with, and she resigned after a few months.

Holy YPT, Snowman!!!  😶

“De gustibus non est disptandum”

BRYAN ON SCOUTING:  A BLOG FOR THE BSA'S ADULT LEADERS

 April 23, 2013

"The most- and least-popular merit badges of 2012, and what that info tells us"

 "Four lessons learned

          . . .

       Most, but not all, of the badges in the top 30 are offered at council summer camps, meaning it’s easier for a Scout to earn one even if there isn’t a qualified counselor in his troop."

"A Scout is Trustworthy."  👀

["Hold on, this is waiting to be approved by Bryan on Scouting."    Indeed.       Run, don't walk.]

Yes, the definition of "boy"  - even "of person" - is being litigated.  An Orangutan was held to be a sentient person in Argentina. 

The Congressional charter is for a boy's organization.  Not sure it has any application to Scouts BSA.

B.S.A. Guide to Advancement (2019)

7.0.0.1 The Benefits of Merit Badges

There is more to merit badges than simply providing opportunities to learn skills. There is more to them than an introduction to lifetime hobbies, or the inspiration to pursue a career—though these invaluable results occur regularly. It all begins with a Scout’s initial interest and effort in a merit badge subject, followed by a discussion with the unit leader or designated assistant, continues through meetings with a counselor, and culminates in advancement and recognition. It is an uncomplicated process that gives a Scout the confidence achieved through overcoming obstacles. Social skills improve. Self-reliance develops. Examples are set and followed. And fields of study and interest are explored beyond the limits of the school classroom.

 . . .

7.0.0.3 The Scout, the Blue Card, and the Unit Leader

A few merit badges have certain restrictions, but otherwise any registered Scout, or qualified Venturer or Sea Scout, may work on any of them at any time. Before beginning to work with a merit badge counselor, however, the Scout is to [note absence of "must"] have a discussion with the unit leader. That a discussion has been held is indicated by the unit leader’s signature on the Application for Merit Badge, commonly called the “blue card.” Although it is the unit leader’s responsibility to see that at least one merit badge counselor is identified from those approved and made available, the Scout may already have one in mind with whom he or she would like to work. The unit leader and Scout should come to agreement as to who the counselor will be. Lacking agreement, the Scout must be allowed to work with the counselor of his or her choice, so long as the counselor is registered and has been approved by the council advancement committee. However, see “Counselor Approvals and Limitations,” 7.0.1.4, for circumstances when a unit leader may place limits on the number of merit badges that may be earned from one counselor.

 . . .

7.0.3.0 The Process of Counseling

Earning merit badges should be Scout initiated, Scout researched, and Scout learned. It should be hands-on and interactive, and should not be modeled after a typical school classroom setting. Instead, it is meant to be an active program so enticing to Scouts that they will want to take responsibility for their own full participation

. . .

The sort of hands-on interactive experience described here, with personal coaching and guidance, is hardly ever achieved in any setting except when one counselor works directly with one Scout and the Scout’s buddy, or with a very small group. Thus, this small-scale approach is the recommended best practice for merit badge instruction and requirement fulfillment. Units, districts, and councils should focus on providing the most direct merit badge experiences possible. Large group and web-based instruction, while perhaps efficient, do not measure up in terms of the desired outcomes with regard to learning and positive adult association.

. . .

Because of the importance of individual attention and personal learning in the merit badge program, group instruction should be focused on those scenarios where the benefits are compelling. There must be attention to each individual’s projects and fulfillment of all requirements. We must know that every Scout—actually and personally—completed them. If, for example, a requirement uses words like “show,” “demonstrate,” or “discuss,” then every Scout must do that. It is unacceptable to award badges on the basis of sitting in classrooms watching demonstrations, or remaining silent during discussions.

 . . .

If, after consulting with those involved in the merit badge program—such as an event coordinator, the camp director, or a merit badge counselor—it becomes plainly evident that a youth could not have actually and personally fulfilled requirements as written, then the limited recourse outlined below is available.

. . .

In most cases, with a fair and friendly approach, a Scout who did not complete the requirements will admit it. Short of this, however, if it remains clear under the circumstances that some or all of the requirements could not have been met, then the merit badge is not reported or awarded, and does not count toward advancement. The unit leader then offers the name of at least one other merit badge counselor through whom any incomplete requirements may be finished. Note that in this case a merit badge is not “taken away” because, although signed off, it was never actually earned.

. . .

For example, the recourse could be allowed when it would not have been possible to complete a specific requirement at the location of the class, event, or camp; if time available was not sufficient—perhaps due to class size or other factors—for the counselor to observe that each Scout personally and actually completed all the requirements; if time available was insufficient for a “calendar” requirement such as for Personal Fitness or Personal Management; or if multiple merit badges in question were scheduled at the same time

. . .

Upon encountering any merit badge program where BSA standards are not upheld, unit leaders are strongly encouraged to report the incident to the council advancement committee, preferably using the form found in the appendix (see “Reporting Merit Badge Counseling Concerns,” 11.1.0.0)." [But they very seldom do so.]

 [emphasis added]

Sorry about repeating many of the valid points made above, but perhaps it might help to build a wall.

"Efficiency"

"Efficiency" - whatever that means to the reader - is not an objective or method of Scouting.

Advancement is a method of Scouting, not an objective of Scouting.

Advancement meets the goals of Scouting if it helps Scouts develop their character, citizenship, leadership, mental fitness, and psychical fitness.  "Success" is measured in development of character, citizenship, leadership, mental fitness, and psychical fitness, not numbers of baubles, bangles, and beads handed out.

 Recognition is awarded, when earned, to encourage the Scout recognized, and other Scouts witnessing the recognition, to further development of character, citizenship, leadership, mental fitness, and psychical fitness.

 Sadly, Advancement has become a metric for measuring counterfeit "success" because it lends itself more to bureaucracy.  So at Philmont, I, an adult, or an Eagle Scout's fifteen-year-old brother, had to tie his boots and carry his share of crew gear. Although his mother, the CC, got him Eagle, he had no Scout skills anyone ever noticed, was horribly obese, and cried several times each day.  His true success was unrelated to his Eagle badge or thirty-one Merit Badges - it was getting up the side of Urraca Mesa, and his Life Scout brother's great success was the physical and emotional accomplishment of getting Bernie up that section of trail, an act of love and kindness that I will never forget.  Having accomplished that, the next day Bernie got up the Tooth, partially on hand and knees.  Efficiency had nothing to do with it.  Thank God.

 B.S.A. Guide to Advancement (2019)

 "The current edition of the Guide to Advancement is the official source for administering advancement in all Boy Scouts of America programs: Cub Scouting, Scouts BSA, Venturing, and Sea Scouts. It replaces any previous BSA advancement manuals and previous editions of the Guide to Advancement. 

 . . .

Policy on Unauthorized Changes to Advancement Program

No council, committee, district, unit, or individual has the authority to add to, or subtract from, advancement requirements. There are limited exceptions relating only to members with special needs. For details see section 10, “Advancement for Members With Special Needs.”

[Do people cheat?  Sure they do.  Do districts and councils cheat? Absolutely.  And what do the Scouts learn when they witness adults cheating?]

 2.0.0.2 Advancement Is Based on Experiential Learning Everything done to advance—to earn ranks and other awards and recognition—is designed to educate or to otherwise expand horizons. Members learn and develop according to a standard.  This is the case from the time a member joins, and then moves through, the programs of Cub Scouting, Scouts BSA, and Venturing or Sea Scouts.

 Experiential learning is the key: Exciting and meaningful activities are offered, and education happens. Learning comes from doing.  For example, youth may read about first aid, hear it discussed, and watch others administer it, but they will not learn it until they practice it. Rushing a Scout through requirements to obtain a badge is not the goal. Advancement should be a natural outcome of a well-rounded unit program, rich in opportunities to work toward the ranks.

 2.0.0.3 Personal Growth Is the Primary Goal Scouting skills—what a young person learns to do—are important, but not as important as the primary goal of personal growth achieved through participating in a unit program. The concern is for total, well-rounded development. Age-appropriate surmountable hurdles are placed before members, and as they face these challenges they learn about themselves and gain confidence. [Lowering those hurdles is depriving the Scout of that opportunity, as opposed to encouraging him or her to achieve.]

. . .

We know we are on the right track when we see youth accepting responsibility, demonstrating self-reliance, and caring for themselves and others; when they learn to weave Scouting ideals into their lives; and when we can see they will be positive contributors to our American society.

. . .

4.2.1.1 The Scout Learns

With learning, a Scout grows in the ability to contribute to the patrol and troop. As Scouts develop knowledge and skills, they are asked to teach others and, in this way, they learn and develop leadership.

4.2.1.2 The Scout Is Tested

The unit leader authorizes those who may test and pass the Scout on rank requirements. They might include the patrol leader, the senior patrol leader, the unit leader, an assistant unit leader, or another Scout. Merit badge counselors teach and test Scouts on requirements for merit badges.

 4.2.1.3 The Scout Is Reviewed

After completing all the requirements for a rank, except Scout rank, a Scout meets with a board of review. For Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, and Life ranks, members of the unit committee conduct it. See “Particulars for Tenderfoot Through Life Ranks,” 8.0.2.0. The Eagle Scout board of review is held in accordance with National Council and local council procedures.

 4.2.1.4 The Scout Is Recognized

When a Scout has earned the Scout rank or when a board of review has approved advancement, the Scout deserves recognition as soon as possible. This should be done at a ceremony at the next unit meeting. The achievement may be recognized again later, such as during a formal court of honor.

4.2.1.5 After the Scout Is Tested and Recognized

After the Scout is tested and recognized, a well-organized unit program will help the Scout practice newly learned skills in different settings and methods: at unit meetings, through various activities and outings, by teaching other Scouts, while enjoying games and leading projects, and so forth. These activities reinforce the learning, show how Scout skills and knowledge are applied, and build confidence. Repetition is the key; this is how retention [of information and skills] is achieved. The Scout fulfills a requirement and then is placed in a situation to put the skills to work. Scouts who have forgotten any skills or information might seek out a friend, leader, or other resource to help refresh their memory. In so doing, these Scouts will continue to grow." [emphasis added]

The JTM scores are largely irrelevant to Scouting, which, for example, presumes: 1) actual use of the Patrol Method, including most program time acting as patrol teams; 2) planning BY Scouts, as opposed to planning "involving Scouts," whatever that means; 3) youth active in Scouting program, vs, merely "registered" [$$$$ for BSA]; 4) service measured by service rendered or, at least number of Scout-hours of time devoted, vs. meaningless numbers of "projects," each "participated in" by as few as a single Scout or single unit adult;  and 5) "weekend camping" out-of-doors for a defined "weekend," vs. an indefinite period indoors doing nothing in particular.  

3 hours ago, qwazse said:

Because brutal honesty is so unseemly these days ... - since of 1972 and the Improved [sic] Scouting Program.

https://www.sinclairoil.com/

Happy news that they got it back.

41 minutes ago, JoeBob said:

JTE is an artificial adult measurement.  I'd bet that less than 5% of Scouts can tell you what JTE stands for.

Advancement requirements are also an artificial adult measurement.  Trouble is, JTM measures nothing significant actually functioning, Scouting wise.

I have found that some Scouts have a canny idea of what JTM  really means.  Most haven't a clue.

Having patrols and patrol leaders tells little or nothing about leadership development, now an aim.  Having patrols democratically plan their own program, program led by elected leaders, and democratically plan the troop program as representatives of their respective patrols,  program led by elected leaders, probably has a positive effect on achieving leadership development and on leaders understanding of representative democracy - what was once "citizenship" in the USA.  So give "points" for actually using Scouting methods.