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Hello Jeff, and readers....

 -=> Quoting Jeff Snyder to All <=-

 JS> The other day I read an article in the New York Times called "For
 JS> Explorer Scouts, Good Deeds Have Whole New Meaning", which you can
 JS> access here: 
 JS> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/us/14explorers.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

 JS> The article is about a program within the Boy Scouts of America,
 JS> called The Explorers, which aims to train "thousands of young people in
 JS> skills used to confront terrorism, illegal immigration and escalating
 JS> border violence". One of the opening paragraphs states:

  They have the same thing in other countrys Jeff ....after club, to
scouts and whatever they can go to other affiliations.   Even Sea Scouts
which is interesting.

  I think you will find, that those with the aim of training for as you
listed are Ex-Service who have lost their bearings in what the movement
is all about.

 JS> ----- Begin Quote -----

 JS> The responding officers -- eight teenage boys and girls, the youngest
 JS> 14 -- face tripwire, a thin cloud of poisonous gas and loud shots --
 JS> BAM! BAM! -- fired from behind a flimsy wall. They move quickly, pellet
 JS> guns drawn and masks affixed.

 JS> ----- End Quote -----

 JS> I found the article absolutely outrageous! One fellow even said that
 JS> he was willing to accept kids as young as thirteen and a half into the
 JS> program. Excuse me, but I thought that the Boy Scouts of America was
 JS> supposed to be about camping, hiking, camp fire sing-alongs,
 JS> marshmallow roasts, helping the sick and the elderly, and learning
 JS> lessons about honesty, morality and human decency.

 They still are Jeff ... and same here, and the gatherings of Guides and
Scouts at Jamborees reflect this very nicely.  Some communitys, have
great volunteers in these teens, and ...well others.....but then it
depends on the adults too.

 JS> Since when was the Boy Scouts about teaching children how to use guns
 JS> and go into dangerous life-threatening situation and apprehend people,
 JS> and potentially even kill people? This sounds more like they are trying
 JS> to raise up a national teenaged army. The next thing you know, they'll
 JS> have kids spying on their own parents. Sound familiar?

Hope not.  I think those who are carrying this out are not tapping the
Scouting movement.    I use examples of child soldiers in Africa.

 JS> Well, if it has now become acceptable for American children as young
 JS> as 13 and 14 years old to learn these so-called "new
skills", then the
 JS> US Government no longer has the moral high ground, and cannot complain
 JS> when the armies of other nations fill their ranks with children also.

I seem to remember one country having a lad ...9 ....with a automatic 
weapon, and trained as a soldier, and that wasn't in Africa, so
already happened.   Scout or not, I have no idea.

 JS> In short, America has become what it has criticized in other nations.
 JS> To continue complaining about child armies in other nations is the pot
 JS> calling the kettle black. It is hypocrisy, plain and simple.

If ...lets say the USA recurits teens, then isn't that in their high school
whatever program?   Not necessaryly scouts, but then they too are targets
and they have ways of convincing them to join up, knowing some scouting
know-how ...not values can be used for war.

 JS> While America now has a so-called "volunteer" military
force, I can't
 JS> help but wonder if this Explorers program is a sign that the various
 JS> branches of the US military are having a difficult time filling their
 JS> quotas of new "gun fodder". In fact, I do recall reading
some time ago
 JS> that this problem does exist, and I even commented on it on our EDGE
 JS> mailing list. They are already sending members of the National Guard
 JS> overseas to fight in America's wars. 

They are also overdrawn and tired, and need rotation.   I accept that
they might be looking to anywhere, and Scouts and advanced Scouts
are targets, as well their leadership.

 JS> And if you are wondering why I put the word "volunteer" in quotes,
 JS> think about it. When young American men and women join the military due
 JS> to economic hardships, is it really a "volunteer army",
or have they
 JS> been subtly forced and pressured into joining it by those who control
 JS> and manipulate the American economy?

Oh yes, that word "volunteer".    My ship's Captain, told me once that
there is no such thing as a "volunteer".  A volunteer he went on, is
one who has not understood the question.

The rest is also interesting as to economic hardship, and explains to
me why a segment of the citizens have to ...and I mean have to, excell
at sports to get a scholarship for a college....if not to learn, but to
play and turn Pro ...OR at the same time

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