CalicoPenn

This was signed into law by President Bush on January 5, 2006 (which was a Thursday, by the way). It obviously hasn't had a big impact in our lives over the past two years. Since it was signed into law in 2006, that would have been a Republican-controlled Congress that allowed the law be snuck into the legislation and passed. On the other hand, all it really did was add e-mail and the internet to an existing law which already made anonymous phone calls and letters a crime so it probably could have been inserted even if Specter hadn't snuck it into the bill. Oh, and the bill it wa

You could try your local State Representative or State Senator's office. They may have access to both US Flags and State Flags that have been flown over the State Capitol. Calico

Is a Taser a firearm? If not, since it's not prohibited in G2SS, could a Boy Scout Troop have a game of Taser Tag? Calico

Back when I worked as an OKPIK instructor at Maine National High Adeventure Base, we rarely spoke about wind chill factors - we based all of our decisions on the static temperatures. When we expected -20F weather we said the temperature could get to -20F. We always gave the crew's adult leaders the option of coming back in to sleep in the bunkrooms at night if it would get that cold, and suggested that the crew build multiple quinzhees for the night, rather than use the tents (temps in a nice snow igloo would be very comfortable, especially in -20F weather. In my experience, a quinzhee was

Since I'm the one who started us off in a different direction (though at least I didn't go way off track and bring up football (not the soccer kind) in a baseball thread), I suppose I should explain myself. Ya see, Pete Rose, Ty Cobb? Who cares?? Neither of them had a big impact in my life. I was raised on the Chicago Cubs - America's Team (I know, I know "what about the Yankees, what about the Mets, what about the Giants"). The thing is, radio and TV broadcasts of the Chicago Cubs reached more people throughout the country than radio and TV broadcasts of any other team. WGN Radio ha

I always shake my head when I hear the term "War of Northern Aggression". The fact is that the Confederacy fired the first shots of the war when they attacked Fort Sumter with 50 cannons at 4:30am on April 12, 1861. Wouldn't that mean that it was the Confederacy that was the aggressors and that it could be called the "War of Southern Aggression" and that the "North" (ie the "United States of America") entered into the war defending itself? But like the writer of this article who hopes that people won't actually dig out the statistics he used to write his disingenuous article,

"The question I have is what is considered digital file?" I think it's safe to say a digital file is any file you would receive on a CD/DVD (or for those still in the moderately light ages - a floppy disk), or any file which you would receive as an attachment in an e-mail. Calico

Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs - because he actually played the game because he loved playing the game, not because of the money, the fame, the records, or anything else. Calico

This is the wording of the closing benediction for a Boy Scout's funeral, as suggested by the Manual for Chaplain Aides and Chaplains on Scouting.org (the official site of the BSA). "May the Great Scoutmaster of all Scouts be with us until we meet again, and may our footsteps lead unto Him." The Manual also provides the following as a sample "interfaith prayer or benediction" May the great Scoutmaster of all Scouts be with us until we meet again." Note that the BSA's own website, in their own Manual for Chaplain Aides and Chaplains" uses the term "great Scoutmaster", NOT "g

Can't the program be run through a local community college or a local 4-year university or college? Wouldn't that solve the illegality problems if the drivers were all over 18? Calico

"...in the final year of "peace-loving" Jimmy Carter's term, he caused 2,392 deaths" Did you really mean to say "HE" (meaning Jimmy Carter) "CAUSED" those 2,392 deaths? Or perhaps that's just the impression you took away from the article because that was the impression the writer of the article hoped you would come away with. Let's look at the statistics behind those 2,392 deaths. The breakdown is 1,556 deaths by accident, 174 deaths by homicide, 419 deaths by illness, 231 deaths by suicide (aka "self inflicted"), 11 undetermined and 1 by terrorist attack. Not one by hostile actio

Thanks Dan, I was indeed using the same source as mentioned in the article (I should have been more clear - mea culpa) Calico

Always check the sources offered by people claiming that the mainstream media is avoiding certain statistics, and that this is some great conspiracy that needs to be exposed. The author of the article is quick to state that the average military deaths every year has been 1,531 and includes various terrorist attacks and military actions and then claim that this is indicative that the deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq aren't as bad as folks make it out to be when looking at the whole picture. It's what he leaves out that weakens his argument - to the point where his argument teeters on no

I would say he's not "in charge" of anyone. Being "in charge" connotes, imo, being the boss. An SPL isn't a boss, he is a leader. As such, he is the leader of the PLC, of the "Senior Patrol" (if your unit uses this concept - ie older youth leaders who do not belong to any specific patrol but still have leadership responsibilities (ASPL, Instructors, Troop Guides, etc.)and through the PLC, the Troop as a whole (overseeing the Patrol Leaders to get the work of the Troop done). Calico PS: Ed - I humbly suggest that there is one Youth Leadership POR position that does not report d

Merit Badge Counselor is not a Troop-level position. It is a Council-level, non-Leadership position (some may state it is a District-leve position, but thought a District may coordinate an MBC list for the District, the approval comes from Council). It is not a Troop Committee or Troop Leadership position. I think the confusion stems from the recruitment process for MBC's. Most MBC's are recruited from Troops, and the BSA allows MBC's the option of only serving the unit that recruited them. But anyone can be a Merit Badge Counselor, as long as they become a member of the BSA and are a

He has more important things to do than to be active in his own son's life? What a sad, little man. Calico

Why shouldn't the Scouts be involved - and not just involved - run - the COH? It's their Troop after all. It's their time to show off for their parents. Calico

When I was a lad, we ended every meeting with "May the Great Scoutmaster, of all Good Scouts, be with us until we meet again". At first, I thought the Great Scoutmaster was the Scoutmaster in the Norman Rockwell painting "The Scoutmaster" because that was the image of a Scoutmaster I had (a print was hanging on the wall of my home when I was a young lad). Later on, as I started learning more about the history of Scouting, I realized I was completely wrong about the Great Scoutmaster. I just knew the Great Scoutmaster had to be Lord Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts, an

To build on Local's comment - I've heard more than a few Scoutmasters and Committee Chairs express frustration over the OA election process in the past, especially when candidates they have deemed worthy aren't voted in by the members of the unit. Not only do they express disappointment in the members of their unit who don't vote for some of the Scouts, they express much frustration over the whole election process that puts them in a position to be disappointed in their boys. These leaders then tend to react in one of two ways (that I know of). They either tell the election team they'

We have no one who is interested in doing the job and we won't push someone to do it. There are POR's that I believe are essential - SPL, ASPL, PL, Quartermaster, and Scribe. There are POR's that I think are great to have if you have the numbers to support them: Troop Guide, OA Troop Rep, Librarian, Den Chiefs, JASM and Instructor. Then there are the POR's that should be filled only if the other POR's are filled, or only if someone has a real interest in it: Chaplain's Aide, Historian and Buglar. Calico

Seems to me there is much more at play here to try to pass it off as bias. The size of the newspaper plays a major role. A small town paper is more likely to cover Scouting and School and Church, etc. activities than larger newspapers. The major metro newspapers - New York, Chicago, LA, Boston, Philadelphia, etc. are the least likely to cover Boy Scout stories unless there is some other hook involved - a controversy, or a major challenge met. A major metro isn't likely to cover a story that Billy Scout earned his Eagle badge unless perhaps Billy Scout is a quadriplegic, or some other f

Local, Yep - as I stated, the Order would frown on it - I certainly wouldn't recommend it. However, I have heard of it happening - and not just in my home lodge but elsewhere as well. Calico

The trigger for starting work towards Eagle is being awarded the Life rank. Nothing else. Not Life + 2 months for this boy and Life + 6 months for that boy. ANY boy can start working on their Eagle, on ANY parts of the Eagle rank, the day they are awarded their Life rank. It has nothing to do with any individual lad - it's all rank driven. That 13 year old that just earned his Life rank can start working on putting together his project right away - whether anyone else think's he's ready or not. If you don't think he's ready to start working on the Eagle? Then the time to hold him up is

What are the other two lads like (the two that might also be eligible for nomination this year)? Are they sympathetic? I ask because I was witness to a similar situation many years ago, when I was working on election teams for my Chapter. One of the units had 3 lads that were eligible for election, one of whom had been eligible the previous year but was not voted in. This lad had mild physical and mental disabilities (it may very well have been autism). There were rumors that a couple of Scouts from his school had actively campaigned against electing him into the Order the year before

Of course the neckerchief isn't cool anymore - too many adults are wearing it. There was a time in the not too distant past that proper uniforming for adult males included a tie, either standard or bolo - not a neckerchief. Out in public, that's how people found the adult leaders for a group of Scouts - they were the ones not wearing the neckerchief. Adult leaders just didn't wear neckerchiefs, except for Woodbadge neckerchiefs - and then only for Woodbadge or Training occasions. Now, adults want to recapture their youth and wear the same neckerchiefs as the lads. And we wonder why the Sc