DigitalScout

To try to make this a bit more Scouting again (a few of you seem to forgetting the Oath and Law in your interactions)...

 

If we want to balance the books, then you have to either increase revenue or cut spending. If you want to play with spending, CATO has put some information on a site:

 

http://www.downsizinggovernment.org

 

This could be a good exercise for Scouts in Cit Nation - what would you cut? Make them approach each cut from an Oath and Law perspective along with the Constitution.

 

A flip side is to ask them what things could the government do? For this debate, do they agree that there is a problem with people who have no access to affordable healthcare? How would they solve that? What is the obligation of the nation? Help educate the discussion. Show them the historical levels of deficit and debt (and PLEASE make sure that they know the difference).

 

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/debt_deficit_history

 

Then you can talk about historical taxation levels, and you can teach them about the EFFECTIVE tax rate (which is vastly different from initial rate). Lots of information there:

 

http://strata.oreilly.com/2013/01/us-tax-rates-visualization.html

 

If you want to get deeper, you can overlay these numbers with party control of the House, Senate and Presidency and try to find a pattern, anywhere.

 

There are very few scenarios that an armed victim will have any tactical advantage during a robbery. In just about all situations, the robber or robbers will have the upperhand and a victim having a gun greatly increases the chances of the encounter ending badly for the victim.

To try to make this a bit more Scouting again (a few of you seem to forgetting the Oath and Law in your interactions)...

 

If we want to balance the books, then you have to either increase revenue or cut spending. If you want to play with spending, CATO has put some information on a site:

 

http://www.downsizinggovernment.org

 

This could be a good exercise for Scouts in Cit Nation - what would you cut? Make them approach each cut from an Oath and Law perspective along with the Constitution.

 

A flip side is to ask them what things could the government do? For this debate, do they agree that there is a problem with people who have no access to affordable healthcare? How would they solve that? What is the obligation of the nation? Help educate the discussion. Show them the historical levels of deficit and debt (and PLEASE make sure that they know the difference).

 

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/debt_deficit_history

 

Then you can talk about historical taxation levels, and you can teach them about the EFFECTIVE tax rate (which is vastly different from initial rate). Lots of information there:

 

http://strata.oreilly.com/2013/01/us-tax-rates-visualization.html

 

If you want to get deeper, you can overlay these numbers with party control of the House, Senate and Presidency and try to find a pattern, anywhere.

 

To try to make this a bit more Scouting again (a few of you seem to forgetting the Oath and Law in your interactions)...

 

If we want to balance the books, then you have to either increase revenue or cut spending. If you want to play with spending, CATO has put some information on a site:

 

http://www.downsizinggovernment.org

 

This could be a good exercise for Scouts in Cit Nation - what would you cut? Make them approach each cut from an Oath and Law perspective along with the Constitution.

 

A flip side is to ask them what things could the government do? For this debate, do they agree that there is a problem with people who have no access to affordable healthcare? How would they solve that? What is the obligation of the nation? Help educate the discussion. Show them the historical levels of deficit and debt (and PLEASE make sure that they know the difference).

 

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/debt_deficit_history

 

Then you can talk about historical taxation levels, and you can teach them about the EFFECTIVE tax rate (which is vastly different from initial rate). Lots of information there:

 

http://strata.oreilly.com/2013/01/us-tax-rates-visualization.html

 

If you want to get deeper, you can overlay these numbers with party control of the House, Senate and Presidency and try to find a pattern, anywhere.

 

When congress "passes" the most sweeping social welfare program in a generation by parliamentary maneuver and with NO bipartisan support, it should be no surprise that the peoples' house would lead a revolt.

Now the Republicans stand a good chance of losing their majority in the House in the 2014 election because of their obstructionism and government shutdown. They are just slipping further into irrelevance.

To try to make this a bit more Scouting again (a few of you seem to forgetting the Oath and Law in your interactions)...

 

If we want to balance the books, then you have to either increase revenue or cut spending. If you want to play with spending, CATO has put some information on a site:

 

http://www.downsizinggovernment.org

 

This could be a good exercise for Scouts in Cit Nation - what would you cut? Make them approach each cut from an Oath and Law perspective along with the Constitution.

 

A flip side is to ask them what things could the government do? For this debate, do they agree that there is a problem with people who have no access to affordable healthcare? How would they solve that? What is the obligation of the nation? Help educate the discussion. Show them the historical levels of deficit and debt (and PLEASE make sure that they know the difference).

 

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/debt_deficit_history

 

Then you can talk about historical taxation levels, and you can teach them about the EFFECTIVE tax rate (which is vastly different from initial rate). Lots of information there:

 

http://strata.oreilly.com/2013/01/us-tax-rates-visualization.html

 

If you want to get deeper, you can overlay these numbers with party control of the House, Senate and Presidency and try to find a pattern, anywhere.

 

If you want to see what our country would look like without federal assistance for the needy, handicapped, and elderly, just take a walk through Tijuana, Mexico. The streets are teeming with people with missing limbs and a various birth defects, filthy dirty and begging for money. It's quite depressing.

Tidbit:

 

Obama in 2006: "The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure."

At that time the National Debt was a mere $9 trillion. Have you heard any Dem say by how much they want to increase the debt ceiling? One trillion dollars to get them through the 2014 election cycle (I rounded up from $988 Billion...). Are we going to let Obama double the debt before he's out of office? ($9T in 2006, $14.4T in 2013, add $1T for 2014, $1T for 2015...)

 

Frustration:

This is like arguing with a teenager who refuses to believe that their bank account is overdrawn: "I can't be out of money! I have more checks!"

Liberal members of the media, congress, and this forum are all relying on emotion to make their argument. All emotion and personal vitriol, no ability to face facts.

"It's never been done before!" Wrong - 27 times since 1976.

"Federal workers are going without a paycheck!" Yes. I feel bad for them. But many of them really need to start looking at the private sector and adjusting their long range plans. Hopefully they're smart enough to realize that, mathematically, the Fed cannot keep spending money at the current pace. There are not enough rich people to punish to pay the bills.

 

To my fellow conservatives: I'm pretty sure that we're not going to change any minds in here. They're not thinking.

A bad practice is borrowing money for a negative return like the Iraq war which did nothing to protect our security, or allies or our overseas investments (i.e., oil) and added $2.2 trillion to the debt.

By the way, I'm not saying that government should be run like a business per se because it is unique in that they own the printing presses. The US government can carry debt and not worry about paying their obligations as long as you have low inflation (currently less than 2%) and low 30-yr T-bill rates (3.7%).

There are probably very few Democrats who are completely unwilling to compromise on ACA - are they' date=' too, "extremist ideologues"? [/quote']

Why should the Democrats compromise on a bill that was already written into law? It's a done deal. That's like the Patriots trying to negotiate the Superbowl victory after they were beaten by the Giants. Game over, move on. The majority of Americans support the ACA and want the shutdown to end. I'm sorry that a minority of people disagree but that's how democracy works.

 

Again' date=' that the ACA is the law of the land, for now, does not at all imply that it can't be debated, defunded, revoked, etc. It wasn't that long ago (1974-1995) that a 55 mph speed limit was "the law of the land."[/quote']

​41 House bills to repeal ACA have been debated, voted on and defeated. That's democracy in action. They can revisit repealing ACA in a new Congress/Senate/President in a few years but it's extremely shortsighted and foolish to think that Obama will sign a bill that would make major changes to his presidency's keystone legislation. The Republicans should stop wasting everyone's time.

 

I'm baffled how our constitution allows a minority in Congress to shut down the entire government. These minority Tea Party Republicans are holding our entire country hostage and the mainstream Republicans are going along and allowing them. They are extremist ideologues who, by definition, have promised not to compromise and have vowed to dismantle, not modify or fix, the ACA.

The fact is that the ACA is the law of the land, passed by the House and Senate, signed by the president and upheld by the Supreme Court: all three branches of government working as our constitution intended. And now the very constitution-obsessed Tea Party Republican folks are trying to usurp the constitution by blackmailing the country into revoking the ACA. If the Republicans get their way, then they will be handed a very powerful tool to do get whatever they want outside the legal process of making laws.

There are some extremists who WANT the US to fall into financial ruin. It's their sick way of proving that they are right for hording guns, buying up gold, building underground bunkers and stocking up on 20-year supply of high-energy biscuits. There were a lot of preppers and tea party folk who were very upset that the end of the world didn't come in 2009-11 so they see this as their last shot at it. If the apocalypse never happens, they look like a bunch of fools and who wants to look like a fool. It's like those cults who predict the end of the world and when it doesn't happen they kill themselves.

The NY Time reports ... "56 percent of Americans say they prefer that Congress uphold what has become known as Obamacare and make it work as well as possible. Just 38 percent of the public wants Congress to stop the law by cutting off funding."

 

So about 50% more support Obamacare than are against it.

I checked out the ACA/Obamacare website for California and I have to say, for the first time I can actually understand medical insurance plans. They did a really good job showing you exactly what you pay for doctor copay, emergency copay, medicine copay, deductibles, etc.

The NY Time reports ... "56 percent of Americans say they prefer that Congress uphold what has become known as Obamacare and make it work as well as possible. Just 38 percent of the public wants Congress to stop the law by cutting off funding."

So about 50% more support Obamacare than are against it.

There are so many other names that a youth group of 'hackers' could use. Why choose 'Scouts' if they weren't trying to get mileage from BSA's brand?

 

(Note: This is probably the first and last time that I'll ever agree with Irving on something!)

Well, the original significance of the pledge was to sell copies of "The Youth's Companion" and American flags, and promote international socialism.

 

By the way, the pledge's author's cousin's book "Looking Backward", a vision of the coming Socialist utopia published in 1887 and set in the year 2000, is oddly entertaining, if a bit dry (since it's an author tract).

The Pledge of Allegiance was accompanied by the "Bellamy Salute" which consisted of an outstretched, straightened right arm with the palm facing the flag. If this sounds like the Nazi salute, you're right. But the Bellamy salute started in 1892; the Nazi's adopted the same salute in the 1930s. The Bellamy salute was dropped in 1942 when Congress amended the Flag Code. On the Internet you can find some interesting, if not disturbing, pics of American kids doing what appears to be the Nazi salute which is in reality the Bellamy salute.

The BSA website says:

Repeat the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

While the promise, scout law, etc. says:

Understand and agree to live by the Scout Oath or Promise, Scout Law, motto, and slogan, and the Outdoor Code.

 

It looks to me like he doesn't have to "take" the pledge, just repeat what it is. He could e.g. start out "the wording of the current US pledge of allegiance is blah blah blah" and he wouldn't be taking the pledge.

Best answer.

Wait wait wait. Before you talk to the boy or his parents and tell them the "rules" based on what a few anonymous people told you on the Internet' date=' I would call my friendly local council office and talk to one of the executives about this issue. I am SURE this is not the first time this has come up, if not in your council, then in other councils. Your question might get bumped up the chain of command somewhere, but someone has to know the "official" answer. I would do that before you tell this enthusiastic young man, or his parents, what is and is not absolutely required of him if he is to remain a Boy Scout.[/quote']

 

Thanks, NJCS -- that's a really good idea. I'll start there (and report back for the benefit of others).

Here's the problem involving the council. If the person answering the phone is a kindly, maternal person, she will probably tell you in the spirit of scouting to make whatever accommodations necessary for the boy to feel welcome. One the other hand, if a crusty overzealous patriot type answers the phone, he's going to tell you to give the kid the boot then show up at your next meeting to make sure the kid is not there.

What is their argument for having the pack spend the money for dinner and childcare? If I had to guess, I would say that the pack has a lot of money and they feel that they can afford this luxury.

Our pack financial philosophy is to spend as much money on the kids as the budget allows and leave around $1500 in the account by the end of the year as a cushion for the following year (we have about 35 scouts). When you have a large bank balance, that's when trouble occurs: people get tempted to steal or someone decides to go after the deep pockets.

Ham radio was the only communications link in many parts of Colorado immediately after the flooding over the past couple of weeks. The local ham radio emergency services group has been heavily involved in assisting the Red Cross communications and providing the only communications to towns and areas where power and cell towers were offline.

http://www.eham.net/articles/30867

This is like watching a train wreck. TLUSA is going to have conversion therapy for gay Trailmen? For a group that wasn't going to be about sex, it seems they are neck-deep in it. From the Orlando Sentinel:

Source: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-09-17/features/os-trail-life-boy-scouts-20130917_1_gay-boys-gay-scouts-the-bsa

It's not too surprising that not many want to join. TLUSA sounds like a great program if you are in the aristocracy (Southern Baptist, Pentecost, Church of Christ) but not so good if you are peasant (everyone else).

Let's see: the TLUSA was started mainly by Southern Baptists and they get to make the rules and decide the leaders. They devised rules such that the CO and unit leaders must believe in the Triune God and belong to "pure" churches. Catholics, Methodists, Episcopalians, Mormons and others are not "pure" since their churches allow gay members and/or clergy; they are welcome to join but are prohibited from leadership positions and decision making. They've set up two classes of membership. Why would anyone join if they are stuck in the lower class?

 

​Also, the way I read their Statement of Faith, divorced men and women are also excluded from leadership. They sure are fishing with a small net.

(emphasis added)

Nowadays most of the hacking is done by automated bot. Websites will be hacked so a criminal gang can sell nefarious goods (i.e., pharmaceuticals), run scams, or to host malware for phishing scams. Regardless of it's purpose, all websites need to follow proper security protocols, constantly install the CMS system updates, delete unused user accounts, enforce a complex password policy for system admin and users, implement password retry lockout, etc. Good luck!

Let's see: the TLUSA was started mainly by Southern Baptists and they get to make the rules and decide the leaders. They devised rules such that the CO and unit leaders must believe in the Triune God and belong to "pure" churches. Catholics, Methodists, Episcopalians, Mormons and others are not "pure" since their churches allow gay members and/or clergy; they are welcome to join but are prohibited from leadership positions and decision making. They've set up two classes of membership. Why would anyone join if they are stuck in the lower class?

​Also, the way I read their Statement of Faith, divorced men and women are also excluded from leadership. They sure are fishing with a small net.

It's not too surprising that not many want to join. TLUSA sounds like a great program if you are in the aristocracy (Southern Baptist, Pentecost, Church of Christ) but not so good if you are peasant (everyone else).

It's not too surprising that not many want to join. TLUSA sounds like a great program if you are in the aristocracy (Southern Baptist, Pentecost, Church of Christ) but not so good if you are peasant (everyone else).

When there is more revealed about TLUSA's actual program and organizational structure , it might be interesting to have a topic where there is some comparisons made between their operation and the ours in BSA. There may be some good ideas floating around in a new and forming group that we could borrow and modify to make our program better.

Hopefully if that more positive and constructive topic is introduced it will not get deleted by a moderator or the site owner. Yeah, I know this topic that survived the purge about TL being "confused" about who they are makes it easy to take shots at them and makes us real Scouters feel so much better about ourselves. I do think a more objective study of the nuts and bolts of a potential competitor could be more constructive and helpful to us as we do our jobs of serving youth.