DanKroh

To answer your question, we only have one elementary school in town. The town is fairly small, so we have never divided it up geographically or any other way. There is no "turf". We have always had a joint open house, and divide up the scouts evenly at the end of the evening, although if the boy has a preference (because of friends or whatever reason), we respect that preference.

Our town has two packs, the other pack split off of ours something like 20 years ago, I''m not quite sure how long, other than longer than anyone else who is still around in either group. Cooperation between the packs has waxed and waned. Over the last couple of years, the CC and CM (a husband and wife team) of the other pack were rather competitive, and relations between the packs were not great. Well, they moved on last year when their youngest son moved on to Boy Scouts (about the same time I became CM), and they have a new CC and CM. Over the last year and a half, our CC has real

Fred, I think what Money did was beyond despicable. David Reimer was not a transgendered person, and the fact that Money lied to help cover up a botched circumcision rather than try to get Reimer help through phalloplasty is disgusting. He should never have treated Reimer as if he were transgendered. Beavah, I believe the youngest record of transitioning is 6. There was publicity recently (via Barbara Walters) about Riley Grant (formerly Richard Grant), a young MTF who began transitioning at 7 years old. She is now 10 and quite happy, after being suicidal from living in the wrong bod

"I almost forgot about that ''gender reassignment'' comment. I have tried on several occasions to get some discussion on this topic to see how BSA would view the issues surrounding it. It is an interesting topic that''s still unexplored....but I''ve already been under the knife enough times in my life, no thanks." Ok, Packsaddle, my friend, I guess that makes me the logical one to throw myself into this breach, seeing as how working with transgendered people is pretty much my bread and butter. So what is the BSA policy on transgendered people (pre- or post-transition) as leaders or

Acco40, The Heritage Award is offered by an organization called "Nations Trails". http://www.nationstrails.com/awards/index.html "Nations Trails" also keeps a listing of historical trails and the awards you can get for hiking each of them. The Heritage Award actually has nothing to do with hiking or any specific trail. It is an award given for learning about US history and heritage.

"But because you work in the field and not in research is why I trust the folks I work with more than you. It is not politics that sway me because many of these guys are as liberal as you, but research is what they do. Also, it is not the studies I question so much, although Ive learned they should be questioned, but it is the interpretation of the results by nonprofessionals (media for one example) for personal gain like politics that nauseates me." I''m not sure why you think I don''t "do research". Many of us continue to "do research" as part of our private practices. Plus there was th

"Not true Dan. I am an engineer (thank goodness) but I work in a dept. of psychologist and this is a long discussed topic every spring. There are many studies that show homes with a mother and father are the most stable for raising children. What digust the folks around here is how the results of studies are manipulated to support a different conclusion then the studies suggest. Most of these folks here are liberal in their politics, but they are professional." Well, Barry, I am a psychologist who actually works in that field. We''ve gone back and forth on this before, and will get no whe

"Maybe packsaddle is into self-loathing -- if he thinks men are such losers, maybe he should look into gender-reassignment options." Now who is slandering a segment of the population? MTF TGs (male-to-female transgenders) do not seek gender-reassignment because they think men are losers or because they hate men. Amazing how easy it is to twist a casual comment into "slander" and take offense at it, isn''t it?(This message has been edited by DanKroh)

"Studies show that children do better in two parent male and female homes." No, they don''t. At least, not ones done by anyone other Focus on Family.

I would say I probably average about 50 books a year for pleasure reading. Mostly science fiction and fantasy. Authors tend to go in groups; lately it has been Orson Scott Card (getting around to all the other books he's done besides the Ender series), Sherri Tepper, and Sharon Shinn. I've got a stack of Tanya Huff up next. And of course, the last Harry Potter book, which I had to wait for my son to finish first, since he now reads faster than I do. Sigh.

Aquila wrote "We have an Aspie in our family; this doesn't sound like it at all. Aspies are largely compliant (just clueless sometimes!), generally on the quieter side except when talking about their "one thing", and aren't prone to outbursts of inappropriate language (Tourette's is something completely different). Frankly, it sounds more like poor parenting to me -- and Scouts is NOT about being these kids' parent." At the risk of dragging the thread off topic, please let me clarify a few things. Asperger's Syndrome is part of the Autism Spectrum. That says two things there; first, as pa

"Let me just say that in most cases, these scouts got better after puberty. Natures chemical change is amazing to watch." "as he reached puberty, his strength increased and his mood swings increased and he tendency to violence increased." While the first statement is often true for kids who have ADHD (many of them no longer need any sort of medication after puberty), the second is more typical for kids suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorders like Asperger's. Puberty makes things worse, not better.

Wow, Lisabob, that's a tough one. I can't say I have any easy answers to your question, but here are some experiences and thoughts that might help. First, you could easily be describing my son. Which makes me think that this boy has more going on than just ADHD. He displays many of the symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome, as well. Unfortunately, there is no medication regimen for AS, which may be part of why he doesn't respond well to medication. As such, I would approach the mother and let her know my concerns about the possiblity of AS, and mention that if it hasn't happened already (a

Thanks for the explanation, Merlyn. Personally, I really despise this kind of semantic shenanegans. Calling duck a swan is not going to keep it from waddling and quacking. So do these "participants" have to fill out any sort of form to register their "participation"? It's really sad that someone at National had to think up these word gymnastics to be able to work a loophole in the system.

"For a perhaps less cynical way of parsing it, perhaps LFL is a way for BSA to provide service to people who otherwise wouldn't get it, even if those people don't ascribe to all of BSA's principles...just as we don't ask the recipients of the food that is gathered in Scouting for Food to sign the DRP." Well, except that people who receive food that is gathered in Scouting for Food are not signed up as members of the BSA, while the LFL members are. Or perhaps I am confused. Are or are not the youth in the LFL program registered members of the BSA? If they are, is it not strange that t

"So how mnay of you guys watch Top Chef?" Every episode!

"She makes a really good Ham Pot Pie, using a ham bone, potatoes and the "Pot" is some kind of a dough all this is simmered on top of the stove and really does stick to your ribs." Eamonn, I completely forgot about PA Dutch Pot Pie. It can be made with any meat, I've had ham and green bean, chicken, turkey, beef. The dough is an egg noodle dough, rolled thin and cut into big squares. The first time I ever made if for friends up here in Boston, they wanted to know where the pie crust was! But I have made a few converts. Oh yeah, and speaking of libations, don't forget birch beer.

Brent, just as an aside, since your comment caught my attention: "Regarding trained leaders, who here would send their kids to a school with untrained teachers?" Actually, lots of people do. It's usually called homeschooling.

We set a goal for each Cub to sell $250 worth of popcorn. If he reaches that goal, he gets two rewards. First, he gets a "campership" of $50 that he can use toward summercamp or any overnight activity that the pack goes on that year. The other reward (and of more interest to the boys) is that they get to throw a pie at an adult leader of their choice. If they sell more than $500, they get to throw 2 pies, but that's the upper limit. The pie throwing is really quite an event among the boys, as they cajole and bargain with each other over which leader/parent each will pie. Now, THAT's an in

Never had fried dough before moving to the Boston area, but I don't know if it is specific to here. From my college days in Cambridge, I remember Buzzy's Roast Beef, and Toscanini's ice cream. But I am more fond of the delicacies from my childhood in south-central PA... funnel cakes and shoo-fly pie....mmm, feel that diabetic coma coming on. Gotta love a pie where the main ingredients are molasses and brown sugar.

"Would you also support the teaching that the political views and positions of who ever is in power are the proper views? No opposing views can be taught? Primary school children don't understand nor are they curious about the gay issues UNLESS they are directly exposed to them in their daily life as your children are. The explanations need to come from parents not government." Actually, LongHaul, I never said that I supported the use of the books in a public classroom, I just said that they were "age-appropriate" tools for teaching diversity and tolerance. I happen to think that they are

"Have you heard about the books some school systems are using to teach "cultural diversity?" Kindergarten students get "Who's In A Family" while 2nd Graders get "King & King", a fairy tale about two princes who fall in love and marry, and kiss at the end." Don't miss the sequel, "King & King & Family".... "Age appropriate? I don't think so." What exactly in the books did you find to be NOT age-appropriate, Brent? You have read them, right? Although I thought the writing was a bit sub-par, I thought the ideas were presented in very age-appropriate language. It is

erickelly writes: "While often used to refer to relationship among various Christian denominations, Ecumenical's definition is "involving or promoting friendly relations between different religions" (Encarta) and that is the definition to which I was refering." That's fine if that's what you mean with it, but most people are going to read it and think you mean "Christian only". Just saying. YMMV. "As for the boy in your example that grows up to not believe in a higher power, why would he want to remain a group that had that belief as part of its tenants?" Well, because: that's

erickelly writes: "Personally, I think the BSA has it right on Religion and needs to rethink its stance on sexual orientation." Eric, I was once where you are now. "The belief in a higher-power is a central and explicit part of the BSA program included in elements of both Scout Oath and Scout Law. I personally don't want the program to consider dropping the Scout Oath's "Duty to God" nor the Law's "Reverent" components. There are a plethora of youth organizations that are comletely secular in nature. Why can't the BSA retain this element of ecumenical faith without being vilified as

erickelly writes: "Although I dont have a definative list of groups who are exclusionary but arent the PC presses "whipping boy", one that springs to mind immediately is Girl Scouts of America. They have no program for boys at any age, even supporting programs for male siblings. While men can technically be adult volunteers they are, in my opinion, extremely limited in role and not typically welcomed. It is also my understanding they can not hold certain leadership positions." I think that if the BSA's exclusionary policy that the public mainly objected to was about girls, then you would