Trevorum

(psst! Brent! remember my comment on satire?)

I always enjoy the unexpected twists and turns these threads can take. Sort of like a real conversation. Greg, I think that would get all the Archeology merit badge counselors up in protest, including me! Brent, yes - our entire calendric system is in fact entirely arbitrary. It's quite an interesting subject if you care to look into it. The Hebrew calendar says this is year 5766. This is also year 2758 according to the Romans and year 1426 according to the Islamic calendar. There are lots of others.

OK, here's where I part company with ya, Kahuna ol' buddy. Myth heroes are a VERY important element in the cultures of every society. They are literally larger than life and always carry an important moral message. Wheaties boxes with sports 'heroes are all well and good, and yes, we have lots of real life heroes to look up to. But, man, none of 'em can compare to John Henry, to Pecos Bill, to Paul Bunyan, to Robin Hood, to King Arthur, to Roland, to Pheidippides, to Achilles! And that's just one very narrow slice of culture-history!

Adam, welcome! (wow, what a great first post!) I am very interested in your statements about type 1 diabetes being triggered by a virus. This confirms what I was told just last month when my son was diagnosed. What research supports this hypothesis? Are there any parallels in oncology?

I used to be a Bob White, and a Good 'ol Bob White too! But now I'm finished Bob Whiting, I don't know what to do. I'm growing old and feeble and I can Bob White no more, So I'm going to work my ticket if I can. Back to Gilwell, happy land; I'm going to work my ticket if I can. SR-503

Semper and Ed, There are many Corn-Woman stories, just as there are many "Great Flood" stories (Noah is one of many such). Ed's sounds to be perhaps Hopi. The Cherokee have one that goes like this ... Corn Woman is a spirit that is sent down from heaven every year to come and walk in the fields of the Cherokee. And when she walked in the fields the corn began to grow, and it grew tall and beautiful. And the Cherokee corn is a corn that is very, very special, because it is a corn that has ten rows of kernels on it. Most other ears have thirteen, that we are familiar with today. So the Cherokee corn will grow ten, almost ten feet tall, and on those stalks it will have three or four ears of corn, where most other kinds of stalks have one or two, and it's beautiful in color. It's all the colors of the rainbow. And many people ask, "How did you paint that?" And the Cherokees ate it. It's a very good corn. Anyway, this Corn Woman would walk in the fields, and the corn would grow beautifully. One year they planted their corn and had gone out to watch it come up, and it didn't come up. And they waited a week, and then two weeks, and it still hadn't come up. So they prayed to the Great Spirit and asked where the Corn Woman Spirit was. And he said that he had sent her down two weeks before, and she was missing, evidently. And so the people began to look. And they looked all over the earth known to them at that time, and they couldn't find her. So they began to ask the animal kingdom if they would help search for her. So all the animals were searching for this beautiful Corn Woman Spirit when all of a sudden the raven dived down into a dark cave and was looking for her. And he found her in the bottom of the cave, all tied up. She was captured and prisoner of the evil spirit Hunger. And he was dancing around her and laughing, knowing very well that if she didn't get out, that the Cherokee people would starve the coming winter. So raven went back and reported to the people that he had found the Corn Woman Spirit. And they told the raven that only he and his family could get her free. So they told him to go down into the cave and perch on the ledges and hide from the evil spirit, and he did. He took all of his brothers and sisters into the cave, and they were so black they couldn't be seen by the evil spirits, and they perched on the ledges and the rocks. When the signal was given they all leaped down and pecked the evil spirit and made such terrible noises that they frightened him out into the sunlight. And like most evil, when he hit the sunlight he just melted away and disappeared. They freed the Corn Woman Spirit with their big strong beaks, and when she walked out into the sunlight the corn of the Cherokees began to grow. From that day forward, the Great Spirit in the heavens would not let her come down in person. And so it is today. So when you look out at the cornfields and see the stalks of corn and their leaves saving in the wind, you'll know that the Corn Woman Spirit is walking through the fields of today. And the Cherokees give the raven a very special place: that he was the one that saved the fields of the Cherokee. So therefore they feel that if he takes a few kernels of corn, that's ok. But if the raven is in the fields, and an animal comes into the field, the crows and the ravens will pitch such a fit that the people will know that someone is stealing their corn, so they can go down and chase them away. So I imagine it's all in the way you look at animals and the circle of life as to whether they're necessary or need to be destroyed.

But a Scout has an obligation to be courteous. Courtesy is going out of your way to avoid offending others and to make others comfortable. I agree with Kahuna. The BL feature, while perhaps not intending to be offensive to anyone, is nonetheless thoughtless. I personally am not offended by the obvious Judeo-Christian-Islamic bias, but I completely understand how another person of a minority faith might be. I further feel that they are good stories and should not be eliminated from BL, but just supplemented with comparable stories from other faith traditions. I think scouts of all faiths would enjoy reading stories about Shambala, Corn-Woman, or Akupara just as they like the stories of Noah and Jonah. This solution would be a "win-win".

"Get over it?" That rather effectively trivializes the other position, don't you think? I'm very glad you won't be taking offense at this. Your post reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw yesterday. It simply said "He died in A.D. 33. Get over it!" Somehow, I think both that driver and yourself are missing the whole point(s). And from completely opposite ends of the field.

BP, I think Brent was trying for satire.

Semper and OGE have good ideas (as always). Let me add that even though the Eagle requirements do not explicitly prohibit a family from donating the entire budget, approval of a project must always be obtained from council, and what they say usually goes. In our council, there is an unwritten rule of thumb that a family "should not" fund more than about 20% of a project budget. I suspect they want the scout to get the experience of fundraising and designing and sticking to a budget rather than having all supplies being magically provided by daddy. Our scouts have been successful using a mix of tactics. A letter writing campaign to the "Christmas card" list is often very productive of many $10 and $20 donations. A yard sale can be organized and managed by the scout and can yield hundreds of dollars. Often the building supply mega-stores will donate up to 20% of the materials. The fundraising effort is sometimes a mini-project in itself. It's good experience. Good luck to your son!

emb021, You are correct on both counts, but that is not the point. Boy's Life does indeed promote all religious awards equally. However, the point here is that the Bible Stories feature prominently promotes ONLY the Judeo-Christian-Islamic religious heritage, to the exclusion of equally valuable stories from the Buddhist, Hindu, Confucian, and Native American traditions, just to name a few. Even if you are Jewish or Christian or Islamic, don't you think it would be interesting and enlightening to learn about the stories from other religions as well?

page back and, WOW, those are the first photos I've seen of the Double HH! Thanks! I love New Mexico!

Who can tell me the number one rule for safe swimming? Yes, thats right. Always swim with a buddy. Like many rules, its very easy to ignore but there is a very good reason behind it. Mr. H. has told me about one of his former students at UT who happened to be a scout in our troop about 10 years ago. His name was David and he used to come to troop meetings in this very room where we are now. Mr. H. told me that last week, David drowned while swimming alone in Thailand. He was swimming alone. That is tragic. Please, dont let it happen to you.

For the record... Our UU congregation was recently the benefactor of a wonderful Eagle project. The Scout designed and installed in a quiet section of the church grounds a "memorial garden" including a stone bench and granite marker in memory of a friend and classmate who tragically died several years ago. The official position of the UU Church on social issues had absolutely no bearing on the troop's or the council's approval of the Eagle project.

Beav, that's a very interesting observation. I have to admit I ahve not thought of PETA issues in those terms before. However, I think it is less of a "Christian" POV than one rooted in Western Philosophy.

My thoughts, exactly

I missed Teddy yesterday, but I was lucky enough to hear about 45 minutes of Alito this morning. He sounds like a thoughtful jurist. I predict he'll be confirmed and will eventually turn out to be a surprise to the far right.

Cubs, you're absolutely right! I just dropped an email message to Boy's Life suggesting that. If anyone else thinks that scouts would enjoy stories about the myth-heroes from other faith traditions, you too should let Boy's life know! http://www.boyslife.org/about/contact/askus/index.html

Seabear and Scoutnut, Can't he wear the medal to Courts of Honor? If not, why is this rule different than an adult wearing his Eagle medal to a CoH?

Our district Eagle advisor said to simply find out if they have a tax-free number for state sales tax purposes. If they do, then they will qualify as a charitable organization. I guess that's why he gets paid the big bucks!

fishsq, You can have the panhandle, but I've got dibs on the hill country...

It sounds like you are just missing some inexpensive jewelry "findings". You can probably replace them good as new for less than $1

Gern, that's rather a bald statement. I can totally see the fellow kicking back on the shores of the Galilee after a hard day in the carpenters shop, picking woodshavings out of his beard as he dangles a line into the water.

OakTree, You are correct. If we count councils which overlap into a second state, then Pennsylvania moves into second place, with Mason Dixon, Allegheny Highlands, Hudson Valley, and Baden Powell. (My records don't show Five Rivers as overlapping into Pennsylvania, but maybe I'm wrong.)(Again.) However, I suppose that Texas cound be in second place with 20 councils if you count National Council in Irving. And, the New York folks could argue that they have 24 councils, if you count the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. No matter. It all makes for more fun collecting patches!

Yes, OGE, I'm thinking this, too. But them someone tells me that if the home accepts MedicAid then they have to be operating (at least partially?) as a non-profit. huh? I admit I don't understand the fine points here. I do know that the old folks sure appreciate having young people visit and do stuff fo them. Do we have a accountant or lawyer here who can help me understand?