A Scoutmaster's Blog

Wow! I was surprised to see that my new venture, Melrose Scout Productions Podcast (MSPP), has already been accepted by the iTunes Store to be listed under it’s podcast heading. It only took two days to get listed. I did not think I would hear from them for at least a week.

This means that it will now be easy for people to download the videos about Scouting that I have made over the years. Anyone can watch them on their computers any time or put them on their iPods to take with them wherever they go. It gives me as a video producer another outlet, besides Youtube, to get these films out to the pubic. And, unlike the videos on Youtube, I can make these videos longer then ten minutes. No more breaking videos into two parts!

The worst part of this is that the videos need to be transferred to another format, and that I had to learn a little html/xml, something I once vowed that I would never do. Oh well, times change and I guess that I have to change with them, at least a little.

I want to thank Mr. Bob of the “A Cub Scouting Adventure” for his assistance in getting this set up. You can see his blog here. I would also like to thank Dave H. for providing the server space to post these videos. Dave has also been a great help in setting up our troop’s website. And last, but not least, I wish to thank all the Scouts over the years who are the participants in the videos you will be seeing posted on the new podcast. If they would not have participated in the filming of these videos then you would not be seeing them.

In case you have not noticed already, this blog will now serve two functions. One, it is still my blog to write about my thoughts about Scouting. And two, it will serve as a place to post show notes for the videos on the podcast. Gosh, I guess that gives you two reasons to check on the blog every once in awhile.

Yo dude! That’s right, this is the second entry in this new podcast. And the name is now Melrose Scout Productions Podcast, not the Buttons Presents name. I wanted a name to cover all the videos I plan to put on this podcast, not only the Buttons videos.

This entry is once again about Buttons trying to recite the Scout Oath. That’s right, TRYING to recite it. It makes the same mistake that thousands of Boy Scouts have made over the years and starts to recite the Scout Law.

By the way, how do you like the logo for Melrose Scout Productions Podcast?

Here is the link to this podcast:
http://melrosetroop68.org/QTmov/ButtonsMessesUp.m4v

With the help of Mr. Bob, I am trying to set up a video podcast on iTunes. Unfortunately, I am not very smart when it comes to this type of thing. I have spent the evening trying to get the links up but the files are not working. The first file will be Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, reciting the Scout Oath. Oh well, I just have to keep trying I guess.

Hmmmm…. Maybe it is working. Here is the video:
http://melrosetroop68.org/QTmov/ButtonsScoutOath.m4v

It seems the ACLU is still filing lawsuits against the Boy Scouts of America. This latest case was actually the ACLU filing a case against the Department of Defense, trying to stop the BSA from having the National Jamboree at Fort AP Hill.

Here is an excerpt from the statement from the BSA:

    "The United States Congress has found that the military's logisticalsupport for the National Scout Jamboree is an incomparable trainingopportunity for our armed forces. The Jamboree requires the construction,maintenance, and disassembly of a "tent city" capable of supporting tens ofthousands of people for a week or longer.  Nevertheless, the ACLU sued the Department of Defense in 1999 over itssupport for the Jamboree. In 2005, a federal district court in Chicagoconcluded the Jamboree statute (10 U.S.C. section 2554) wasunconstitutional under the Establishment Clause because Scouting has anonsectarian "duty to God" requirement. DoD appealed the district court'sinjunction against military support under that statute for the 2010Jamboree.  In today's ruling, the federal Court of Appeals in Chicago reversed thedistrict court's decision, concluding that the taxpayers named as theplaintiffs in the lawsuit did not have standing to sue DoD in the firstplace."

I would like to thank Fred Goodwin for posting this link in a Scout forum that I belong to. I think it is time to stop the ACLU from filing such frivolous lawsuits and wasting taxpayer’s money. I do not understand why the ACLU has such a problem with the BSA, an organization that has been great for this country for ninety years.

Here is a great story from MSNBC that you should read. It features Boy Scout, James Calderwood, who has attained all 122 merit badges. When only two to four percent of all Scouts ever reach the rank of Eagle Scout, finding a Boy Scout who attains all the merit badges is a rare thing indeed. You can read the article at:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17902427/
(The picture is from the MSNBC article.)

Update – The article has been removed from the website.