Pack18Alex

Stand Your Ground only made two major changes: 1. The obligation to retreat was removed 2. The option for a Stand Your Ground Hearing Obligation to Retreat: The problem with the obligation to retreat is it is evaluated in slow motion depending on how aggressive the prosecutor is and how bad the defense council is. I mean, if you're pinned down, irrelevant, if someone is charging you with a knife and you shoot them, you then have to defend in open court how long it takes them to run at you vs. the time for you to get to the door and run... Basically, the standard is warped be

Yes and no... There are definitely abuses of the law, but most of the abuses don't really concern the government. Sure plenty of gang fights get claims under stand your ground, but the powers that be are generally okay with them killing each other anyway. Prior to the Castle Doctrine being codified, Florida had a mess of crime and lawsuits in the 1980s. Burglars falling through skylights and suing homeowners, tripping on pools, fences, etc., during break-ins and suing. Homeowners getting caught up in urban violence spreading, etc., so the legislature codified the castle doctrine (which

"Now put Travon with the gun and Zimmerman with the skittles and ice tea.. Ask if Trayvon would have gotten off with reasonable doubt." Probably never goes to trial. The police and prosecutors haven't liked bringing ambiguous shoot out issues to trial since Stand Your Ground, too hard to prove. Hence the initial decision not to prosecute the latino man in Seminole County Florida for shooting the unknown black teenager. Remember, this was a SMALL gated community, nobody thought to ask the neighbors if the deceased lived there because they knew all the residents and he wasn't one. As far

The woman going to 20 years for firing a warning shot isn't going to jail for being black, it's for firing warning shots. You may not use a gun in Florida to "scare someone." You may only use a firearm to kill someone. If you reasonbly fear your life is in danger, you may fire, otherwise, you may not fire or brandish a weapon. Using a firearm to "scare" someone is a serious violation of Florida gun laws, regardless of skin color.

Council rule perhaps? I was informed by my wife from training that if I go with them on a Camp Out, I can't share a tent with my wife. So the girls all Share a Tent, my wife needs to tent with another female leader, and I should be in another tent? And unclear if my son is even permitted to be there... Much easier to do our Family Campouts as BSA Camps, and someone in your family needs to be affiliated with our unit... it can be your son in the Pack, or a parent on the committee, but someone needs to affiliate with us so we can follow our guidelines. Or my wife was told incorrect po

BD, Very new and in over my head... but having fun and Doing My Best!

On paper, two 18 year old college freshman can sign up as girl scout leaders, recruit 8 five-year old pre-K girls, sign them up as a Daisy Troop, and go camping... In practice, nobody really takes the Daisy Troops camping... and several of my wife's Daisy's have been family camping with the Cubs for 1-3 years. However, since GSUSA doesn't permit family camping, it means realistically no camping when they are little. In BSA, Tigers/Cubs, soon to be Lions-Cubs, family Camp. Once they hit Webelos in 4th grade, they can do a Den Overnighter. I believe that the parents are supposed to be

perdidochas, So why were you burnt out? Was it the Den Leader work or was it other work? I actually really enjoy the Den Leader side. When we started our Dens late this past year and ran every week, it was a bit of a burn out. When we got formal Pack Meetings going and it became every other week, I enjoyed it much more. If the Cubmaster was distinct from the Den Leader, you had Den Chiefs at all levels, the the Committee handled the responsibilities correctly, I think that Den Leaders would be way less of a burn out. Also, I'm not sure that Den Leaders are necessarily what you wan

For those of you following the proper approach... Packs and Troops are distinct, my proposal doesn't really solve them directly... What I would say in your Case: The Elementary School's CO Charters a Cub Pack and Webelos Patrol. The Webelos Patrol does their Pack stuff with the Cub Pack. Since you don't have a Joint Webelos Patrol / Scout Troop under the CO, the GTSS should provide guidelines for visiting Webelos Patrols, which should be different from a unified Scouting setup. I think that with Lions you need some separation for Webelos. I believe a big part of why I have dro

That may be the direction we take this in... One committee, conceivably with identical positions. The Units will have their own leader (SM/CM), and Patrol/Den Leadership (ASM/DL), and take it from there. My concern is that right now the Pack is bigger than the Troop, and if the Troop runs as an adjunct to the Pack, the boys will lose interest. OTOH, if the Webelos become more integrated with the Troop... well, that would be ideal, I'm just not sure how to arrange that. If you are running things jointly, I could arrange more joint responsibilities. How do you handle finances if you

But I love the Cub Scout program, and wear 10 hats with it. When the Troop level comes, I do NOT want this level of involvement. It doesn't interest me. I think that the program will be great for my son, but I do not want to run the Troop the way I've been rnning the Pack. Other people that did not do front line leadership in Cubs can take that over, and maybe I'll find an interest in Troop leadership. Is it possible for me to want my son to be a Boy Scout without my wanting to be Scoutmaster? After 5 years of Cub level leadership, including getting my Den ready to cross over, why can'

Okay, down here, our Cub Scouting is camping intensive, and in a short window when the weather is great. And they increasingly want us to set up the Boy Scout style Camp Sites, but with a single patrol model for cooking. And cub aged boys can't really cook without a ton of supervision (and certainly not for 40 people). It's a fun awesome program, but it's nothing like being a Troop level leader. So are we tired and burnt out of Cub Scouts, sure, but it's a ton of fun and we're (for the most part), enjoying it. It's just that after doing that for a few years, we're not ready to jump righ

Because the Boy Scout Leaders are upset that we aren't showing up in 5th grade after marching our boys through 4.5 years of Scouting (while doing the Scout work ourselves because Cubs are too young) ready and raring to come and take a thankless committee job. Huge difference in the mentality of volunteering to do activities with my 6 year old and boys his age and taking a back seat to let the boys run everything. It's a different program. GSUSA Troops are defacto single rank, though they let you do whatever you want. You can run the patrol method on your older girls, treat the yo

Sasha, it's a trade off. BSA has a ton of red tape and process, but it's a standardized process that works relatively fine for all involved. If you are a Cub Scout Pack in rural Nebraska or Suburban New York, you get a roughly similar program as long as your Den Leaders are trained and follow the program. While "every Pack is different," we all follow the same trail, have the same meeting guides to start from, and the same general framework. Now, if you're a really good BSA leader, the paperwork is a headache (including the fact that I need three committees if I want to run Ages 6-20 and

Not what I've been told... been told "you can dual register" but the committees are supposed to be separate. I also think if we're adding Kindergarteners, we gotta get the 4th/5th graders far away from them.

Agreed, I find it bizarre that they are attacking a program that is 2/3s elementary school kids about sexual orientation. I'd get out of the entire structure. We have values, an oath, etc. We leave it to our Councils, Districts, and Charter Organization to define the details. Don't want gay leaders, don't charter units to churches that recognize them. Use the chartering process to control the values, and get the government back able to endorse. We do not require a religious belief for membership. But if the boy doesn't complete his religious achievements, he doesn't earn his ranks

Integrate K-12... you can solve this. I have problems with GSUSA's program, but their structure is informative: My wife is a Girl Scout Troop leader, in their program, they have two general "options." Option 1: Single Level Troop, you take your daughter and her friends, and year after year you bridge to the next level, think a Cub Scout Tiger Den walking through Eagle generally with the same leaders. These Troops don't acquire gear or any permanence, but they have fun, and they use Council/Service Unit gear/events. Their service unit offers a "Mall Campout" and a "Movie Theatre

You're right, COR can't be CM, I think maybe not CC either, but not sure. The BSA wants three people in charge. You're right about IH not being listed, but in the spirit of things... having a separate IH and COR when the IH is actually a member of the Pack is a little not in the spirit of the rules... My read on it is that the IH is the person authorized to sign, but since we don't assume they are involved, they can designate someone else as the COR. In the spirit of things, I think if the IH is involved in the Unit, the IH should double as the COR, as they don't need an intermediary.

Since your Ex is the troop leader, I highly second the suggestion of lots of loud safety equipment... Perhaps lots of lanterns that put out a lot of light would be good...

Now, probably not for this boy, but I had a boy in a Webelos Den go from no Scouting Experience to Arrow of Light from late September to March. Like I said, if he gets a bug up his ass and decides to earn it, good for him. It is totally doable to decide that you're going to earn this award in 6 months... It's almost tragic that nothing you do in your first 3 years of Scouting goes on the Boy Scout Award, and whether you do 6 months in 4th/5th grade and earn AoL or be a dedicated Scout since 1st Grade, no difference, but oh well, that's the program. However, if he's been there for two ye

May I congratulate you on all your field promotions... Whenever I get asked at Round Table why we do things a certain way, I have to respond that I was that Tiger Den leader 9 months ago... the Assistant Cub Master (now Committee Chair) badge throws them off... I tell them I've been promoted... Smarter to grab control of the CO, that gives you control of the program, but you can't be CM...

Locally, we are seeing the same with Cubs. I think we would be better off to get rid of Tiger Cubs. I think we get too much burnout of kids and volunteers with 4 1/2 yrs of Cubs. I know I barely survived my tenure of 4 1/2 yrs as a Tiger Cub through Webelos den leader (along with another year as a Cub parent). Our troop is busting out at the seams at this point. The Cub pack, which had over 100 scouts when I was involved, is down to less than 30. Cub Scouting IS Scouting. 65% of BSA Youth Members are cubs. 95% of Boy Scouts had "some prior Cub Scouting experience" -- they might not h

Here is a thought, scouting isn't more prissy, it's selection bias. The guys that are here talking about "when I was a scout" aren't a random selection of scouts, they are the scouts that thought this was an important enough program to introduce their sons to AND serve as a volunteer. I have a few adults that, like me, were cub scouts as a kid, just got our first former boy scout to join as a leader - excited for that. I found cub scouting a valuable part of my childhood and wanted it for my son. I remember civic virtues and citizenship as the core of the program, and doing arts and crafts. Th

All members of the reserve forces enlist for a period of time, just as every Scout and Scouter registers for a period of time, namely until the next rechartering. The Navy Reserve, like BSA, has membership requirements, though the Navy's requirements are more stringent. In particular, participation is a major requirement in the reserves. We take muster at the start of each and every drill (the period of time that constitutes one unit of attendance and service). We require a particular percentage drill attendance for each anniversary year (a 12-month period which starts based on the member'

All youth activities have dropped off for the less serious. My daughters do dance class, and after the very young levels (through 3rd/4th grade), it becomes serious real fast. The dance school still offers various classes in different schools, but the girls either drop out or take all of them. The middle school has some recreational girls, but the high schools are chasing a scholarship or drop out. Casual little league in my town gives way to travel baseball real fast. There isn't room for kids that aren't serious. You're chasing a scholarship or you drop out. The kids in karate n