BulldogBlitz

"So what would you have the editors of Boy's Life do? Start printing a list of banned books? "

Since they were "trying to get the boys to read", BL should encourage reading of Das Kapital, Mein Kampf, and whatever "anti" book we can promote. Let's not let the atheistic view be the only one read.

I don't think it is disturbing at all. I became a scout in 1981. I idled at both Tenderfoot and Second Class. I wasn't interested at all in certain aspects of the ranks. I was even less interested in being "one of the boys" who were getting ranks at the semi-annual CoH - there was just something about being drug up there and made the center of attention that this introvert really couldn't appreciate. However, in the time that my advancement was in a holding pattern, I managed to earn 30+ merit badges. I loved our camping program. I liked getting out and doing the specialty things that merit badges provided. One day, the Scoutmaster sat me down and said "Jon, why are you still Second Class?". I had lost track of the requirements, and really was but was a short way from First Class. All the merit badges needed for Star, Life, and Eagle were taken care of. I went from Second Class to Life in the bare minimum of time. Is that apathy? I'm apathetic then.

This weekend, I pulled all my scout memorabilia down. I read letters that I had received congratulating me on Eagle. One statement in particular stands out with regards to this post:

"Not all boys are scouts, and only 2% of those that are scouts attain the rank of Eagle".

Press release here:

http://www.colbsa.org/openrosters/ViewOrgPageLink.asp?LinkKey=2308&orgkey=541

bleh, brain is non-functioning this AM, can't make a hotlink.(This message has been edited by BulldogBlitz)

you could campaign for obama. i hear he's considering making pot legal.

"Government funding for medical research? Do we really need cures for everything? Let them die and decrease the surplus population. "

[sarcasm]by all means, let's promote sex to 6th graders and give them abortion vouchers. then the government researchers can have all the study tissue needed to give a more deserving individual one more day. [/sarcasm]

"As for myself, I could never understand those who proclaim to be "pro-life & pro-capital punishment" or "pro-choice and against capital punsihment." Making such blanket statements seems mutually exclusive to me. "

that'd be a big part of the reason why i won't proclaim myself a supporter of either party.

-how many people die from capital punishment each year in this country?

-how many abortions are performed?

"We talk a good talk about high-minded morals regarding single cells but in practically the same breath turn our backs on that organism once it has reached a multicellular stage. "

i've never heard that stance. where is that platform spelled out?

"Pro-life belief - oops, sorry - she believes in capital punishment. "

A person that habitually poses a real threat to society should be locked away, but that person has made the choice to commit crimes against others. What crime has an unborn child committed?

"Who among us hasn't? "

I haven't and no one can prove it.

(now back to the topic at hand).

" Why should access to quality health care be something that must be "earned?" Would you seriously suggest that the child of low-income parents, or of some middle/upper-middle income parents whose jobs suddenly disappear from underneath them for that matter, doesn't deserve health insurance because they haven't "earned" it? Do you feel that people who work their whole lives but are diagnosed at some point with serious illnesses and who have exhausted the benefits offered by many less-than-wonderful health care plans, deserve to be bankrupted by health costs because they haven't "earned" the right to more comprehensive coverage of their illness? "

the scenario that you describe, lisabob, is called life. it happens to the best of us. it has happened to me. not even one time did i even think "i wish the government would step in and save me". i picked myself up by my bootstraps and have turned things around. it is my life to turn it around.

"I agree with SMT224, I think this has to be handled so as not to glorify it all. While I think it is an advantage for McCain because the subject reflects the struggles or fears of average parents, it could easily be turned into something that should be considered normal and not to be shamed if it isn't hangled correctly. "

shaming someone for getting pregnant out of wedlock is crying over spilled milk. i've been hearing a different spin on this situation in that this was a "decision" (i.e. "pro-choice"), but this is a little different situation as this girl is a little better off than most that choose death.

" Further, Obama has been campaigning for about 18 months now and has been under intense national (and international) scrutiny that whole time, forcing him to clarify and further develop his understanding and views on issues. In that sense, the grueling Democratic primary battle was probably good for Obama."

obama has been campaigning 18 months of his tenure. does he actually do his job... or just vote "present"? and he's been under this "intense national scrutiny" and still hasn't clarified his stand on anything. if anything, he's had to gravitate back towards the middle.

two words: Dan Quayle

" I understand that the GOP believes that Palin is a good addition to the McCain ticket and will pull in the support of a number of conservative groups, including the religious right. But do they know what they are doing by pushing this aside as if it normal behavior and no one should worry about it? Getting pregnant is not ok! Getting pregnant out of wedlock is not ok. But now all this is ok because they want McCain/Palin to get elected? "

what would you have them do? send palin's daughter to the electric chair? revoke palin's citizenship? draw and quarter mccain? if having a naughty relative were enough to negate a person's ability to be in office, there wouldn't be many choices for voters. seems that we elected a president in the recent past who had done cocaine. we also elected another one that was a womanizing pot head. why struggle so hard to find something to be mad at the GOP ticket (daughter of the VP candidate)? michelle obama's actions are reach a greater number of people. the grandchild of Palin won't be on welfare or any other government tit.

"I wonder what the National Councils stand is on the first point of the Scout Law. "

welcome!

a scout is also obedient... now do as you are told :-0

covering all bases would be a good way to run a youth oriented business - trust isn't the issue.

"Why is it that so many people think that anyone supporting Obama is merely doing so because of race or "rock star" quality, and those supporting McCain are doing so for real reasons. I'm so tired of this."

i haven't heard an obama supporter mention anything about why they like him other than "goosebumps when he (obama) gives a speech" or "yes we can" or "change is good" - this counts for the people (friends included). of course change is good, yes we can, we all know it is... obama is going to change the world, only he knows how. i gladly refer to the obama supporters as obama zombies. he is a good speaker - just as bill clinton is (do you really believe he supports obama?), but past that, he would be good in a focused committee, not as leader of the free world.

change is possible now. change was possible previously. the democrats are in charge of congress... there is no legislation that says "no change allowed". if you think we are too dependent on foreign oil, switch to an electric car, whip out a bicycle, or walk. if you think uninsured people deserve insurance... open an insurance company that gives them insurance (you'll have the same source of funding that obama will.... YOUR pocket). you can keep companies from sending jobs elsewhere in the world -- i don't know how on earth he's going to do that -- that little snowball took off under the last democratic president. it isn't the job of the federal government to control every last aspect of our lives and rescue us from ourselves

"That's what it looks like we're gonna get! Mr. Obama has done next to NOTHING for the State of Illinois during his time as a US Senator. He's pretty well been campaigning for the President spot since becoming a Senator. "

that is not exactly true.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/77500/barack_hussein_obama_jr_defends_partialbirth.html

http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0557629/

28 August 2008 5:07 AM, PDT | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

Robert De Niro and Kate Beckinsale stunned pupils at an English school by handing out a gong at their end of year awards ceremony.

Film director Kirk Jones arranged the surprise for his son and fellow pupils at Davenies School in Buckinghamshire.

The stars appeared via video link and presented a teacher with a lifetime achievement award for her work with cub scouts.

ask him (the dad) if he would be willing to put that line on his resume or on a non-ringling brothers application.

"Think of the uninsured Walmart greeter who has diabetes and foot infection. Will he dip into his own pocket to get it treated or wait until it becomes so infected, amputation is the only treatment. "

i can tell you where he isn't going:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1122691,CST-NWS-hosp23.article

the hospital where michelle obama is administrator turns away poor and uninsured. there isn't a law against them providing health care today to those they say have fallen in the cracks (and who they now pander to for votes). they don't live the way they preach. they won't. what they will do is spend your (and my) tax dollars on bureaucracy.

"These George W. "mythic personality" pieces that roam the internet are amusin' that way. Make us feel all warm and patriotic about Washington and try to project that feelin' on a completely different and much less honorable and capable fellow."

these warm and fuzzy stories are the same thing i hear from obama supporters after he speaks. that nice warm and fuzzy feeling... it is good at separating our hearts from our heads.

people switch parties because the beer is better over there. ;->

I did NCS in 1991 near Gainesville, FL. Long days and nights, it was some concentrated training. Like someone else said, be sure to clear your plate of everything else before you go.

"The only person I would over look the untucked shirt on is a pregnant lady. "

do they make maternity BSA wear? ;-P

as someone who was deathly afraid of water (over my head) until i was 13, i can claim that i turned it all around... thanks to a series of things:

the troop i was in did canoe trips (mingled in when there weren't Camporees where our skills were being tested). we went on a river that was a class 3-4. i went in the water (lifejacket securely around me). two months later at summer camp, i taught myself how to swim - since every single person that tried previously was trying to teach me the non-symmetrical american crawl. at 15, i did the mile swim. i still can't do the american crawl and would likely drown if i were "forced" to do so for any test.

the parents are a different part of the problem and might not have to be dealt with at all. pull these older boys aside (i liked that suggestion of the PLC meeting or outing) and do some refreshing - or first time learning. give these guys a chance to right themselves.