Scouting: Lifestyle Choice

No one gets into Scouting halfway. 

You either are or you aren't, involved in Scouting.  There is no "Scouting is skirting the fringes of my life" thing.  You may not be an active participant in scouting at some periods of your life, but the fabric of your life has blue and gold threads running through it: you know the lingo:

"Arrow of Light"

"Order of the Arrow"

"Eagle Scout"

"Woodbadge"

"Merit Badge"

"Little Philmont"

Just a few weeks ago, my stepson attended "Little Philmont".  Attended is probably too mild of a word.  It's a learning experience, a test of your patience and skills, a primer for Leadership-ness.  Mark is a grownup man with three jobs and a family, but he has chosen to make Scouting a part of his life.  The ranks of Scoutmasters, Committee Members, and Merit Badge Counselors are filled with just tha kind of dedicated people.   People who carve out a little time each week to develop and carry on a successful Scout program are people just like you and me--they are special because of their volunteership spirit, because they enjoy helping boys and girls be productive and engage. 

You primarily remember the "bad" campouts.  The ones that were held with the rain pouring down, with cars getting stuck in the sand, the ones when things didn't go perfectly.  Scouting mimics life.  If you can get through scouting, you are better prepared for the challenges ahead.  Even if you think you were a half-hearted Scout, try attending an Eagle Court of Honor.  The memories will flood back and a lot of them will be positive. 

I'm the mother of Scouts (all grown up Scouts); my husband was a Scout Master and I was a den leader and committee member.  I remember the night that I sat in a forest of trees at EucheeAnna Scout Camp.  There was a blazing bonfire.  There were whispers mingled with rowdy interruptions of restless Scouts.  But when the ceremony began, you had better take it seriously.  There was a solemnity about the occasion.  Afterwards, jubilation and relief.  Relief that another year was under your belt, sadness that tomorrow would be going-home day.  The crickets are chiming in, the bonfire wanes, and the parents and other visitors are getting in their cars, laughing, talking, hugging their sons goodbye. 

Posted via email from Margaret's posterous

House rejects bill penalizing doctors for sex-selective abortions - The Hill's Floor Action

The House on Thursday rejected a Republican bill that would impose fines and prison terms on doctors who perform abortions for the sole purpose of controlling the gender of the child, a practice known as sex-selective abortion.

The Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA), H.R. 3541, was defeated in a 246-168 vote. While that's a clear majority of the House, Republicans called up the bill under a suspension of House rules, which limits debate and requires a two-thirds majority vote to pass. In this case, it would have required more support from Democrats.

Twenty Democrats voted for the bill, while seven Republicans opposed it. The bill would have needed 30 more yeas to pass.

Suspension votes are normally used for noncontroversial bills, but the GOP-backed measure was clearly controversial. Republicans have occasionally put controversial bills on the suspension calendar in order to highlight that Democrats oppose certain policies.

In some cases, Republicans have rescheduled these bills for regular consideration after they have failed, allowing for passage by a simple majority. But Republicans gave no sign that they would try again with PRENDA.

Earlier in the day, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) indicated that the issue of stopping sex-selective abortion is important enough that they would try again, but he was not specific.

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"This is an important issue to the American people," Boehner said to reporters off the floor. "This type of sex selection most Americans find pretty repulsive, and our members feel strongly about it. That's why it is being brought to the floor."

During debate on the bill Wednesday, Republicans said the bill is consistent with the broader U.S. position that sex-selective abortion should be condemned around the world.

"In 2007, the United States spearheaded a U.N. resolution to condemn sex-selective abortion worldwide," said Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), the sponsor of the bill. "Yet, here in the land of the free and the home of the brave, we are the only advanced country left in the world that still doesn't restrict sex-selective abortion in any way."

While some Democrats made it clear that they oppose sex-selective abortion, they indicated that they oppose the bill's enforcement provisions, which they said would put in place an unacceptable limit on women's rights to choose abortion.

"We can all agree that women should not choose to terminate a pregnancy based solely on gender, but this bill criminalizes a legal procedure," Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) said Thursday afternoon.

"The bill includes a provision that would allow a women's husband or parents, by merely alleging that an abortion is because of gender, to seek injunctive relief to prevent the doctor from performing abortion procedures, sending an incredibly private and personal decision into the courts," Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) added Thursday.

"It is another Republican intrusion into a woman's right to choose," said Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) of the GOP bill on Wednesday. "Women should be able to make such sensitive and private decisions with their families, their doctors and their god, free from the fear of the police."

Republicans voting against the bill were Reps. Justin Amash (Mich.), Charlie Bass (N.H.), Mary Bono Mack (Calif.), Robert Dold (Ill.), Richard Hanna (N.Y.), Nan Hayworth (N.Y.), and Ron Paul (Texas).

Democrats voting for it were Reps. Jason Altmire (Pa.), John Barrow (Ga.), Dan Boren (Okla.), Jim Cooper (Tenn.), Jerry Costello (Ill.), Mark Critz (Pa.), Henry Cuellar (Texas), Joe Donnelly (Ind.), John Garamendi (Calif.), Tim Holden (Pa.), Larry Kissell (N.C.), Daniel Lipinski (Ill.), Stephen Lynch (Mass.), Jim Matheson (Utah), Mike McIntyre (N.C.), Collin Peterson (Minn.), Nick Rahall (W.Va.), Silvestre Reyes (Texas), Mike Ross (Ark.) and Heath Shuler (N.C.).

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via thehill.com

House rejects bill penalizing doctors from performing sex selective abortions. (thehill.com).

How did this happen? Do we really think we can expect God to bless our country if this type of practice is coddled?!!

How can our congressmen and women (7 Republicans among them) vote no on this bill? When did it become an option in the USA to choose sex (gender) over a child's right to be born? I have looked to see who (which of the congress reps) voted not to support the bill. I haven't found a list, yet, so if anyone can tell me how to find that out, I would be very apprreciative.

I appreciate life. It's both beautiful and difficult. Sometime when we're not paying attention it can get pretty hum-drum. I'm so proud that my mother and father didn't say, "Whoops, it's gonna be a girl", and rush off to find a way to keep me from coming on board the bus whose destination was EARTH. What sacrifices did they make in their lives for the joy of having me? How do I know it was joy? Because they took a lot of pictures. Because they took the time to teach me stuff, to share themselves with me. I like being a girl and I like being alive.

Posted via email from Margaret's posterous