WAKWIB

Thank you for the reminder!!

I suspect that all the celebration gave those in the administration a warm and fuzzy feeling all over. They are finally feeling some love right now.

I haven't seen too much of any military commander giving an explanation of the raid...just the White House spokesman who seems to alter his story every time he steps to the podium. Maybe I've missed the military reporting,so if anyone has a link I would appreciate it.

The photos will get leaked sooner or later. If nothing else, Obama will let the conspiracy theorists rant and rave for a few months till it builds to a certain pitch and at the right time release the pictures so he can have a "here's the proof, you dummies" moment.

(This message has been edited by WAKWIB)

acco: I googled and was surprised to some extent. Although, it seems that many notable men and women of great faith have intense struggles with the will and character of God.

I won't claim the quiz 'cuz I peeked at the answer

Gee, we might actually have a case of resurrection. It was widely reported (assuming if Fox reported it, so did dozens of other news outlets) in late 2001 that Bin-Laden died from an illness.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,41576,00.html

I guess he came back to life for one last and futile stand-off with America.

You know, Scouts don't automatically come to us at the beginning fully understanding or working the points of the Oath and Law. They are likely not to be very kind, thrifty, or obedient etc... either. We shouldn't look for fruit on seedlings. The points of the Law and Oath are, in my opinion, there as goals to be worked on constantly. We never arrive at perfection in all of those areas.

I would say that it is likely this Scout in question will eventually find an adequate resolution to his Duty to God over the next few years.

I've been a member of 3 local Scouting Yahoo groups for about 10 years. They work very well.

We'll still camp monthly. However we have been in a process of camping closer to home and leaving the trailer behind and doing more out-of-a-backpack type camping and cooking.

As one poster noted any and every election is to some degree a "popularity contest." Aside from a good election team and some discretion in terms of the Scoutmaster endorsing the ballot there is another factor.

How is the overall troop culture reflected in it's use of OA? Is it regarded by the troop as a honor, a calling for greater service, or just another piece of bling? Does the troop have special activities or meetings just for OA members? Not talking lodge or chapter stuff here, but things done within the troop. Does OA have a degree of mystique attached to it within the troop?

Just throwing out some things to think about. Especially as adult leaders we can do a lot to set the tone as to how membership in the order should be treated. Not just at election time but throughout the year.

It sometimes seems to me that technology has a mind of it's own and will come together properly on it's own terms and not exactly according to the letter of the instruction manual, the genius of the technical support geek, or our own brute strength.

It just happens.

diogenes:

Your Chapter Chief, with his penchant for creating a heavy-handed and totally bogus rule like this, will likely be working in your Council office someday.

Both he and his Chapter Advisor need to have a needle stuck into their power-trip balloons.

The part about ruining it for the boy is all bugle oil!!! What you are saying is our District and OA does not know how to properly organize a Scouting Event.

Well, Thunderfox, in some cases that may indeed be the problem. We all want to follow the rules, but there needs to be a way to ensure some procedure and decorum. That can be frustrating without a plan. You have provided a pretty solid and workable plan.

I'm trying hard to figure out why some posters keep misunderstanding Eagle92. His position is clear. But his detractors position is not so clear.

To them I ask for some clarification. Maybe you just want a ceremony that looks and feels like a 5 yr-olds birthday party. Bring on the grandparents, aunts and uncles, dog and kitty-cat.

Remind them to bring the video cameras.

Should the Lodge provide ballons, cake, and clowns and ponies too?

Almost every day you can read a negative comment on these forums, in one thread or another, about "helicopter" parents. When the precious 11 year-old daughters of America join Scouting, expect a helicopter invasion of apocalyptic proportions.

Of course, if we can get those thousands of helicopters registered and uniformed the coffers of BSA National will be filled to overflowing.

Scout Summer Camp:

I'd estimate between $200-$300 per camper, scout or adult.

There is likely some under $200. There is some variation in program and accommodations (for example dining hall vs. patrol campsite cooking).

For the last few years our 10-day council camp has been $275. Many councils operate 7-day sessions and certainly cost less. Your local council will likely have those fees posted on their website.

Sometimes it just seems like a strange religious organization that I've joined here.

It has only been regarded as "strange" for the last 20 years or so, and only mainly by those outside of the organization.

Views #1-#6 you outline above were quite normative for any and all (within and without the organization)for nearly the entire history of BSA.

The "desireable role model" thing is, of course, a bit debateable as throughout BSA history there have been, no doubt, closet homosexuals that were outstanding leaders.

maybe i use bad spelling to help hide who i am???

Dang! I knew it was just a matter of time before Chief Bob Mazzuca infiltrated our virtual campfire.

I guess my question was in response to the comment that some parents thought that there was a more or less automatic pool of money ($500 - $5000) that materialized upon completion of Eagle.

I kind of doubt if that is true. But I'm wondering if there really is such a perception.

A number of colleges do have such scholarships for Eagles. Two private colleges in Missouri have such. They are automatic. One is $500/year renewable. The other is $1500/year (or maybe more, I can't recall exactly) renewable.

Also, ditto to what John-in-KC said. Scouting in this town is highly favored. A young man with an Eagle award, and especially with some over-and-above type of involvement via camp staff, Mic-O-Say,and Order of the Arrow, has a key to many doors of opportunity.

Just 'cause I wanted to see, I repeatedly clicked the refresh button (about 10 times in a minute) and the number of active users changed every time. I know, I'm easily entertained.

The big point of this is to realize that this forum is very public and is visited often. Which, in turn, should govern our behavior on it.

So with no good rationale behind it, to me the change is yet another indication of the gradual wimpification, indoorization, Cubification and overall dumbing-down of Boy Scouting.

This might be a stretch, but I think you could possibly add "coed-ification" to that list. Perhaps this policy change is part of laying the groundwork for that. Would the classic scenario of a patrol outing be able to exist in a coed 11-17 year old program? A patrol of 8 girls hiking 10 miles by themselves to a state park and spending the night with no adult supervision? Or a mixed gender patrol of 14 year olds doing the same?

It just seems that eliminating the unsupervised patrol outing removes an obstacle to the path of coed "Boy Scouts."

This probably doesn't completely answer Beavah's question, but I did a little google homework and this popped up.

http://www.auburn.edu/~johnspm/gloss/elite_theory

This whole thread seems a little queer to me.

I certainly think asking specific questions about "current events" is a bit strange. It would be sort of difficult to really set the parameters for what current events should be brought up. In a round-about way, it might tie into a discussion concerning Duty to Country.

shortridge,

At least for our unit an ECOH is just that and only that.

And in the event I described in the previous post, due diligence is given to the Scouts getting awards at the regular COH before other things come into play. The Court is technically ajourned before other business takes place. The brief, and I do mean BRIEF, presentation is given by a familiar and friendly face. Our COR is actively engaged with our unit.

NOT A STRANGER BARGING IN ON AN EXCLUSIVE EAGLE COURT OF HONOR

(which was the point of the original post in this thread)

It is obviously a matter of the right time and place.

Also SMT224 has a very good point about whether it's even appropriate at all to hit up families with active Scouts for FOS. I know that I am not a heavy FOS giver, and I'm very sure many other families give little, if at all.

We have an event every year sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is sort of a combination regular COH, Annual Meeting, Holiday dinner. The COH comes first. After the SPL concludes that, it dove-tails into a business meeting of sorts. SM, CC, often the UC, and COR usually talk about the overall troop business of the past year and vision and plans for the future. Summer camp and possibly a High Adven. trip are promoted, news of council and district activities etc... It is during this time (business meeting portion NOT COH) that our COR makes a brief pitch for FOS. Then we break for a good time of feast and fellowship. The COR mingles during the fellowship time and gets an FOS brochure into the hands of adults. This is a unified event for Pack and Troop along with guests (ie extended family, troop alum etc).

Congrats to him! Now that he is a scouter, he can jump on these forums and set all of us old geezers straight!