WasE61

==Sarcasm Section== Man up and take control! Uniforming is the only part of Scouting that matters! A the next meeting, have the boys line up at attention and snap down the line with full gunny attitude and dress down every boy at length. Those that can't maintain focus because of low blood sugar, meds wearing off, etc., get to drop and give you 100 pushups ... one arm, fingertip. ==================== Reality Check! Are the boys (not lads, or young men) having fun and learning something? If yes, bite your tongue...permanently. All you'll do with a uniform speech is ups

"Wow, I couldn't imagine being inactive in summer. That's when all the fun stuff happens. " Not in Central Arizona, unless you want to travel a long distance to get out of the heat. No open flames in the forests for most of the summer...too hot, too windy, too dry. Forests were even closed a good portion except for the Scout camps.

Moral Conundrum - The act of discriminating against a group or groups based on a societal code, while shielding criminals from prosecution in order to shield oneself from financial harm.

So, dropping the "legal" aspects of marriage for a moment (which is an affliction of government). Let's try a Yes/No Quiz. In your opinion, which of these relationships fall positively under Scout Law/Oath? 1) Plural marriage (one male/multiple females, or vice versa)? 2) Group marriage (multiple males/multiple females)? 3) Same sex marriage (monogamous)? 4) Same sex marriage (plural or group)? 5) Open marriage (traditional marriage but openly having other sex partners)? 6) Adulterous relationships? 7) Bisexual relationships?

The simple fact is that BSA has had this problem since it's inception. The files go back to 1919, right, and one of BP closer friends was a pedophile, right? The problem is that BSA had decided long ago to shield itself (and by extension the pedophiles) from justice, thereby making BSA a collection point for those "bad apples" (I don't know why we pick on apples...bad tomatoes are far more disgusting.) Here is to hoping the lessons from Penn State will open the eyes of all youth programs to immediately turn over all known cases for prosecution...both past and present.

Generally, other than non-troop functions like Philmont, the troop is inactive in the summer.

Hmmm...the overpowering smell of jerky in poorly ventilated college dorm room. That might cause an issue...especially with Vegan roommate. LOL

So, I thought I'd toss this out as and see what happens. We all know the official position of BSA regarding those engaged in same-sex relationships. Given the huge influence the churches on BSA, this is not particularly surprising. But what about polygamy? Original LDS (the largest supporter of BSA) teachings embraced plural marriage, which was not altered until pressured by the government. Even today the FLDS practices polygamy and I personally know of plenty of LDS members who not-so-secretly support the doctrine of plural marriage although they to not practice it. I su

"Natural law was adapted and adopted by Christianity most clearly in the writings of Thomas Aquinas, a man well acquainted with the vices of the late Roman Empire." The Catholic Church did not formally embrace Aquina's writings as theological doctrine for some 600 years AFTER his death. I submit, that this adoption is more of a populist acceptance by the Church due to social-political pressures, rather than some divine revelation.

"I do not discuss the life styles of adults with the scouts..." I beg to differ.... every time you stand with your troop and say "...Morally Straight..." you are discussing life styles and your specific opinion of it. Or is the meaning of "Morally Straight" a local option?

I'm sure that any case where one spouse is involved with a high maintenance hobby and the other isn't that there will be issues. Scouts, Sports, Band... DW (Dear Wife) used to be heavily involved in Cubs and Scouts... it definitely had it's moments ... but I was involved in Youth Baseball...so we each had our gripe points. Of course, baseball didn't involve overnight trips ...

I would think that being as high maintenance as what a Troop is, that the adult leaders would become burned out pretty quickly. The only static position in our troop appears to be the SM. All of the other Adult positions, including ASM's seem to flux every year or two.

My thought is that he probably wrote the letter because he could no longer stand the hypocrisy of being gay in an organization that is openly anti-gay. It would be the same for a non-believer as well. I've burned many a personal bridge for myself over the years solely because not doing so made me feel like a hypocrite.

"...So if you are the COR of a unit chartered by a church, only the pastor can overrule you." Rarely is the Pastor the final say in a Church. There are usually governing boards that have the ultimate authority, including firing the Pastor.

I don't see much need for the "Disneyland" rides at camp. Just a way to give kids opportunities to be stupid and hurt/kill someone...maybe themselves. Training or no. Mine would likely not partake in it, since one of his all-time favorite teachers was turned into a paraplegic in an ATV accident several years ago. Darn shame.

Hmmm...sounds like lawyers and BSA brass in panic mode. Whenever you tell people to shut up, you're usually preparing for a "Shaving Cream" storm. Sounds like a marketing guy was involved as well...any time you "engage your stakeholders" ... There is clearly a storm brewing around BSA and the "files" ... part of the aftermath of the Penn State fiasco. Eventually, all the records are going to get pulled out of BSA's hands, without any redaction.

Good for Scouting and Scouts.... ... I for one will be happier that my Scout is in a *less* discriminatory organization. He might even be able to wear his Scout shirt to school without catching crap for it...

"Boy am I disappointed. Somehow a discussion on gays got hijacked into one about religion. What a shame." Well, hopefully, you are surprised by that, since most discriminatory practices have some origin in religion...or more specifically, perturbations of religions by factions or sub-leaders with their own power agendas. "We got big trouble! Right here in River City!" - I don't know God, or what he said, but I'm kinda suspicious of the idea he told it to King James.

"... but I just don't get why once you label the condition, it "frees" the patient from the responsibility of the symptoms." Not in my house it doesn't! I've always maintained with my two boys (one ADHD, one ADD) that the condition was never an excuse for poor performance or misbehavior at any level or in any setting. While the medication provides relief from the negative effects, it is still their responsibility to achieve and succeed. I truly despise those parents that give the kid a pass because "he's off his meds" (at the end of the day)...if it's that's the case, switch me

I don't know if it's the norm or not, but our Cub pack was the ad poster for most of the ADD/ADHD medications. It was 100% chaos, 100% of the time....even with heavy parent involvement. I could only imagine that adding and ODD or OCD to the mix would have made the situation even more unbearable. If the parents aren't there...that's bad. ODD kids can become violent when allowed. I'd say you have to mandate that the parents be there or they need to find another activity for the boy.

My wife is the (now departing) AC for Scout's troop. Troopmaster is OK software ... but it has it's quirks... 1) Only one user can have the database open at a time, (it is stored in the cloud) so sharing the AC position is really NOT an option. 2) If you crash while the database is open, you can have a lockout situation. 3) For large troops, it takes a lot of time to maintain all the data...especially for active troops. There are weeks where she would log 40 or more hours. 4) It has a few quirks when setting it up...getting the multiple passwords and some firewall iss

We aren't walking about traffic lights here. Or traffic law. Running a traffic light (provided you are not drunk and do not kill someone) is a civil, not a criminal, matter. Failure to report is a criminal felony in Arizona. And I do have more than enough first-hand experience with the workings in my state (Arizona) to know that failure to report child abuse *is* a felony...they are VERY cut and dry about it. Either you reported your suspicion or you did not...you do not have to have proof of abuse to be mandated to report it. Intent is not a factor. Of course, BSA doesn't care one w

"So 40 years ago where were all of these ADD kids?????" Some were in your classroom...other's were in Special Ed. Others still were in mental institutions, abandoned by their parents. Many were in jail. Other's managed to find a way to cope...usually by self-medicating with "reds".

Ok...what the heck... from the BSA website.... "The general liability policy does not provide indemnification or defense coverage to those individuals who commit intentional and/or criminal acts. The Boy Scouts of America does not have an insurance policy that provides defense for situations involving allegations of intentional and/or criminal acts." So, it seems to follow that in those states (like Arizona) where failing to report act of child abuse (by the State definition of what constitutes an act of abuse) is a felony, the BSA will not cover the Adult, because he has in fact

"I would like to propose that BSA ban fat people. Fat people are clearly not doing their best. They are eating more food than is their share. They are spending the rest of our money on their health problems. They are getting diabetes and heart disease and making our insurance rates go up. Fat people are immoral." Ah, you must be an O-blame-o Care fan!