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Food Network Reneges on Boy Scout Troop by Aaron Atwood, assistant editorTV's Food Network takes Boy Scout idea off the table.When the Food Network asked "How do you Iron Chef?" on its Web site, Boy Scout Troop 99 of Colorado Springs responded. They were accepted—then rejected because they pledge to "being morally straight."The troop had been doing Iron Chef competitions at campouts and Scoutmaster Dave Maher thought a vignette of his troop cooking up a storm would make a great promo for the company. The competition gives two chefs an identical cache of food and challenges each to outdo the...

The year 2007 would have marked the 100th birthday of Boy Scouting in England. Unfortunately, the British Boy Scouts, founded by Lord Robert Baden-Powell as the first Scouting group in the world, is now a dead organization. The recent decision by U.K. Scout Association executives to make chaos of the Scout Oath mangles the program far beyond anything Baden-Powell might recognize. Instead of being required to pledge their loyalty to "God and the Queen," members of the Scout Association can now opt to swear allegiance to any combination of things. Muslims can pledge to Allah, Hindus to Dharma, and atheists...

PARK CITY, Utah — Search and rescue crews are looking for an 11-year-old boy who hasn't been seen since last night at a Summit County (search) scout camp. Few details are available. The Summit County Sheriff's office says the search is still going on this morning. The boy was last seen yesterday at the camp near the east fork of the Bear Lake River (search). The sprawling, eastern Utah county includes the rugged Uinta Mountains, where 12-year-old Boy Scout Garrett Bardsley (search) was lost last summer.

ATLANTA - An independent investigation of the Atlanta-area Boy Scouts found that the organization inflated its number of black Scouts by more than 5,000 in a program for inner-city youth. The executive director of the Atlanta Boy Scouts resigned after the report was released.Auditors said Scout officials assigned to inner-city areas may have felt pressure to demonstrate membership growth, which is a part of their performance evaluations. Membership numbers also are used to help determined funding from the United Way, a major Scouts donor.The audit found that former Scouts too old to participate remained on the memberships lists and that...

A school resource officer arrested an 11-year-old Rawlinson Road Middle School student Wednesday after the boy went to school with 10 nails in his pocket. The boy produced the three-and-a-half-inch-long nails after Dianne McCray, the school's assistant principal, asked about a jingling sound in his right pocket. McCray asked to see what was in his pocket, and he gave her the nails. The boy first said the nails were from a project about 10 days before, according to the police report. He then said the nails were for self-defense because a suspicious man had been seen in his neighborhood. He...

'To support and defend... So help me God' Mark Alexander May 27, 2005 "I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is worth more than all the means...." --John Adams Monday is Memorial Day, set aside to honor our fallen Patriots -- generations of American Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coastguardsmen -- who served their country with honor from 1776 to this...

ACLU threat causes Boy Scouts to drop public school ties; churches urged to fill void NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--The Boy Scouts of America is removing the charters of thousands of scouting units from public schools after an American Civil Liberties Union threat to sue taxpayer-funded institutions that charter BSA units. The ACLU sent a letter to the Boy Scouts of America in February threatening legal action against public schools and other governmental agencies that charter Boy Scout groups on grounds that their sponsorship amounts to religious discrimination and violates the separation of church and state. Boy Scouts open their meetings by...

Appeared in The Catholic Virginian February 4, 2002Frank ParaterMost people in our diocese never heard of Frank Parater. If you were around in the late Sixties, you might recall that the diocese sponsored a camp named for him in Caroline County called Camp Parater. On Oct. 25, 2001, I received a letter from Jose Cardinal Saraiva Martins, the Prefect of the Congregation of the Causes of Saints authorizing me , with a “ nihil obstat” (“nothing stands in the way”) to initiate a process for the “Cause of Beatification and Canonization of the Servant of God, Frank Parater, Seminarian.”...

FBI investigates allegations of false Boy Scout numbers Thursday, December 30, 2004 The FBI is investigating the Greater Alabama Council of the Boy Scouts of America to see if membership numbers have been inflated, board members said Wednesday.Exaggerating membership numbers could lead to greater financial support, board members said.The council is said to serve 50,000 youngsters in 22 counties in central and northern Alabama. This includes 30,000 enrolled in traditional scout units and 20,000 elementary school students receiving in-class character education using resources provided by the Boy Scouts, said Randy Haines, vice chairman of the council, which is led...

Allegiance, with the Boy Scouts and with marriage. The results of the Nov. 2 election tell us the majority of Americans want our laws to reflect the moral values which govern our lives. We live in a nation governed by law. A society governed by law. Our U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of our land, our society. Without law, a bloody riot could have taken place in Dallas that day when something so dear to the heart and soul of all true patriots was spit upon and burned. However, our emotions, no matter how strong and right they are,...

After radio celebrity plugs Chesterfield troop's booth, popcorn orders top $28,000 A friendly jab at the American Civil Liberties Union has turned into a financial bonanza for a tiny nine-member Boy Scout troop from Chesterfield County. Troop 828, with an unexpected boost on Wednesday from nationally syndicated talk show host Glenn Beck, watched its struggling popcorn sales explode. Scouts at a downtown booth had to call for fresh supplies. A Web site was flooded with orders from buyers in 39 states. At last count, sales had topped $28,000. That set a record for the Boy Scouts' Heart of Virginia Council.

Proof of the Boy Scouts Policy [on Homosexuality] By Michelle ParkerAs a practicing Roman Catholic, I cannot write about the advance of the Homosexual Activist Agenda without a look at the current scandal overshadowing the Catholic Church. At first, the news media continually wrote about the “pedophile priest” problem. And then, almost overnight, it became the “sex abuse scandal”. But, when the title changed, no one in the media reported why the issue had become one of “sex” and not “pedophilia.” Why? Frankly, I believe the liberal press didn’t want to have to report that the Boy Scouts of America...

A pro-family organization has issued an alert to those who may be considering giving to one of the nation's largest charities this holiday season. The group's spokesman is warding donors away from United Way, and he also wants shoppers to know a thing or two about Target stores. Bob Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute, says the United Way has been crossed off his gift list. That is because the well-known charity refuses to share its money with the Boy Scouts of America while it openly supports numerous pro-homosexual groups with its money. "I don't know why people...

November 23, 2004Bill to Help Scouts Introducedby Steve Jordahl, correspondentBoy Scouts get help in bill that would grant specific protections.With opposition to the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) on the rise—from groups like the American Civil Liberities Union (ACLU) and, most recently, from a court ruling requiring the Pentagon to cut the group off from meeting on military bases—the group is getting help from Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn. Frist has introduced the "Save Our Scouts" bill which will offer the beleaguered organization some protection. The bill states that no federal law can be interpreted to limit federal agencies...

The encounter last weekend between three bears and two Boy Scouts at a camp in Warren County was more harrowing than originally reported, as the bears pawed at the teenagers for an hour, bit one of them and attempted to bite the other, according to a report by state wildlife investigators.The boys, who were later vaccinated for rabies, cowered on a rock as they fended off the two 60-pound cubs and the mother bear at the Yards Creek Scout Reservation in Blairstown on Saturday night, wildlife investigators said.One of the boys was bitten twice by a cub. The animal first...

The Democrats win one for a change. Seething about their openly gay constituents being denied access to the Boy Scouts the legal arm of the left wing, the ACLU, has continued to dog the youth organization. In an effort to force the Scouts to put homosexual predators into leadership positions the ACLU has sued Department of Defense, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Chicago Board of Education. It looks like they aren't going to stop until they can get their hands on those kinds. From the Indy Star. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/D/DEFENSE_BOY_SCOUTS?SITE=ININS&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT Pentagon to cut off Boy Scouts from bases...

I have created a public register of "bump lists" here on Free Republic. I define a bump list as a name listed in the "To" field used to index articles. Free Republic Bump List Register

<p>MILLVILLE, N.J. (AP) — An 8-year-old boy who safely stopped his aunt's sport utility vehicle after she went into diabetic shock will be recommended for Scouting's top lifesaving award.</p> <p>Cub Scout Brandon DiMatties of Monroe will be nominated for the Honor Medal with Cross Palms by Ron Pierson, assistant executive of the Southern New Jersey Council of the Boys Scouts of America.</p>

GAINESVILLE - A former Scout master with the Boy Scouts of America who also works for the state's child welfare agency was arrested on charges of raping a boy in his troop. Hugh Eric Self, 35, was charged with sexually abusing the child, now 12, several times between November 2002 and July, Alachua County Sheriff's Sgt. Keith Faulk said. Self was held in the Alachua County jail with no bail set Saturday. He was arrested Friday. According to the arrest report, Self met the boy, then 8, through Scouting events and the boy was later in his Scout troop. The...

<p>VINELAND -- When Kyle Brandon arrived for classes at Cumberland County College one night last spring, he didn't expect to come face to face with dozens of members of the Boy Scouts of America.</p> <p>But that's what happened when Brandon, a 36-year-old openly gay Vineland resident, walked into the college's Frank Guaracini Jr. Fine and Performing Arts Center. The stress of witnessing the start of a Boy Scouts award ceremony for the college's president, Kenneth Ender, was so intense that he broke out in cold sweat, Brandon said.</p>