These are two great American opportunities for kids 3 to 20 yrs.old to learn about - crafts, skills, the wilderness, camping, and moral values, etc! The Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts! The experiences that these youth learn will stay with them forever and develop their character for the good of society and their belief in God - the creator of our universe. Over 3 million girl scout members and nearly 3 million boy scout kids get and need their teaching! Their great looking uniforms and their upstanding value to our communities can only be applauded forever!

Can you imagine anyone wanting to hurt these kids? Well guess what - evil has entered into the girl scouts with 'Planned Parenthood' and their obscene agenda. These innocent girls are being robbed of their God given rights to a happy girl life. 'Planned Parenthood' distributes graphically sex information that should be only provided by their mother, father or religious instructors.

I love the great taste and selection of the Girl Scout cookies. This sale begins Feb 9th. Sadly, this drive only gives back to each troop ten cents of each dollar, on each box of cookies that they sell. Ninety cents go back to the main headquarter which has' Planned Parenthood' advisories. Now, the Boy Scouts are under attack to let 'homosexual' Scout leaders and Scouts that proclaim their right to be homosexual, and be admitted as homosexuals and be awarded any awards. Guess who agrees to these changes? Ms. Sebelius, the Health and Human Secretary, appointed by President Obama, and agreed to by Sen. Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats.

The Scouts take an oath to be loyal to God and their Country and to be morally straight and to help their neighbor - that is us! The LBGT or lesbian, bi- sexual, gay, transgender groups make up less then 5% of our population. I believe that these groups have the right to live their lifestyles as they choose, but not to force their policies on the other 95% of us that strongly disagree with groups destroying our boy and girl Scouts! They are the future of a decent America!

Sincerely,

Bruce Moorhead

Susquehanna,Pa.

Move over boys; here come the girls. They traded in their heels for combat boots, exchanged dresses for camo pants and shirts, abandoned an attractive coiffure for a bun hidden under a Kevlar helmet. And real soldiers don't wear makeup---at least not too much.

But a military uniform doesn't transform a woman into a miniature man anymore than a satin gown would remake a man into an oversized woman. Between helmet and boots there remains a woman hidden under an Army burka.

And therein lies the problem for Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta: How can a woman, so oppositely constructed from a man, be equally qualified for combat?

But Panetta is convinced that women are qualified for combat assignments. He points out that 152 women in uniform have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Apparently the “ability” to be killed somehow makes women qualified for front-line duty.

If his logic seems a bit fuzzy, that's because Panetta is an ideologue. His reasoning is dictated not by practical considerations but by a body of beliefs, to wit: men and woman are equal. Well, most of us have learned by age 13 that women are not little men. This revelation seems to have eluded Panetta and his fellow doctrinaires.

But to belabor the obvious, men and women are different. It is here, at the beginning of life, that the uncompromising hand of Mother Nature rules supreme.

At the moment of conception every human fertilized egg will be either male or female. Thereafter, every cell in the body will be influenced by the male hormone, testosterone, or the female hormone, estrogen. These hormones determine how the body and mind will form.

Women will develop a body designed to have and nurture children. This requires a highly specialized body type and fitting psychology. Men will acquire a generalized physique suited for a variety of physical tasks with a compatible psychology. The differences are profound.

A bit of exaggeration brings home the point. Imagine a woman on the Pittsburgh Steelers' line alongside of a 250-pound bruiser in an ill-tempered state of musk. It just doesn't work. Nevertheless, Panetta's task is to design a “gender neutral” physical entrance exam for combat.

But a gender neutral test measuring physical ability guaranteeing equal results for both sexes is impossible. The men will always outscore the women.

A man's lung capacity is 30 percent larger than a woman's. In a like volume of blood, a man has 13 percent more oxygen-carrying red blood cells and his heart is 80 percent larger. This gives a man far more endurance than a woman.

Men have a third more muscle mass than women and are about 50 percent stronger.

Soldiers are routinely required to carry 90 pounds of equipment (ammo, water, batteries, body armor, etc.). At an average weight of 170 pounds this is a little more than 50 percent of his body weight.

On the distaff side, at an average weight of 120-pounds, 90 pounds is 75 percent of her body weight. This places a greater demand on a body that has considerably less physical reserves than a man.

A man's skeleton at age 25 is 10 percent denser than a woman's. He has a narrow pelvic and straight, column-like femurs ideal for load bearing and running. A woman's bone density decreases every year. By age 60, the difference widens to 24 percent. Her pelvic is wider to facilitate childbearing and her femurs are slightly bowed.

If one takes this to mean that women are physically inferior to men, you missed the point.

Picture a majestic eagle soaring high searching with his telescopic eyes for prey to devour. He is an aerial killing machine. Below him is a swan, a creature of beauty and grace. She glides serenely across a lake followed by her cygnets.

No one would suggest that either bird is superior, just different. Or as the French would have it about us: Vive la Difference.

Yet the secretary of defense would recast the swan into an eagle and give mothers, wives, and sisters an opportunity to be killed and maimed alongside of men. While this is viewed by some as a great leap forward for sexual sameness, for others it is seen as a jump in the wrong direction.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA

I live in a rural school district. Susquehanna County is home to probably more livestock than people. Our students come from decent, hardworking families. You know that farmer ad everyone raved about during the Super Bowl? That’s the Mountain View School District.

We don’t have a lot of money. Sadly, many of our kids live below the poverty line. Our grade point averages don’t stack up very well across the state. In fact, I believe we are near the bottom.

I’m not going to say we don’t have drugs, but we don’t have a lot of the drug and violence problems you see in more populated areas. We don’t have football, and some sports we barely field a team.

I tell you all of this because it goes to show just how amazing it was for our Mountain View High School Eagles soccer team to win the State Championship. The final two playoff games were against two private schools from affluent areas. Our boys won. They won because of their skill, and the extraordinary coaching of Roger Thomas.

You may have read the story in the paper last fall, about how Coach Thomas was suspended after a high scoring game against Old Forge. Perhaps when you saw it, your first reaction was that he deserved it. Like every story, you need to get the full picture before you make a decision.

I don’t claim to have the answer, or evidence that changes your mind. I still struggle with whether I would have allowed the score to get that high. However, I’ve never coached a team.

As I learned more about the details behind the situation, I’ve been disturbed by a few facts. The soccer team was placed in a division where it was obvious they would be overwhelming their opponents. There were concerns that the players would not get the necessary competition to hone their skills for future playoff games. There were concerns that opposing teams who could not play up to the level might be overly aggressive and injure our players. That has happened in the recent past. Those concerns fell on deaf ears.

During the entire season, the Eagles outscored their opponents 104-4. In the final two games to the State Championship they won each by just 1 goal. I’d say the evidence shows that the team and the school was right to argue for a different division.

Let’s fast forward to the game against Old Forge. As reported by Coach Roger Thomas, the opposing coach stated at the beginning of the game that his team was playing for fun. Coach Thomas had upcoming playoffs to consider and wanted to make sure the team was prepared. Here’s where you and I and others can argue about whether he should have allowed the score to get to 24-1.

What I have a real problem with is how this situation was handled. At the game, the School Board President took it upon himself to walk over to the Principal to tell the coach to stop the scoring. If you don’t know, a school board member has no power outside of the boardroom. In fact, they are supposed to stay out of issues that could come before them, so they are as unbiased as possible. As relayed in the board meeting last night, the Principal then goes to the coach and tells him there will be repercussions if he doesn’t stop. You may wonder why a school board member would get involved. This one has a player on the team.

The Superintendent later decides to implement a suspension. The board is only notified of her decision after the fact. Remember, she answers to the board, a board who’s President was the one who instigated the issue.

We are now hearing that the League may be taking action of its own. A large group of parents and taxpayers attended the School Board meeting Monday night. They were crammed into the boardroom in the seats, standing along the walls, sitting on the floor, streaming out the door. I don’t know what the maximum capacity for that room was, but I’m pretty confident we far exceeded it. It was about 2 hours before their voices were heard.

These parents and students and players wanted answers, but mostly, they wanted to know that their School Board would support Coach Thomas in any possible action by the League and that he will be back at the helm for the coming season. The Board gave no such assurances. The Board President actually said he was not in favor of rehiring the coach. Imagine that, a man who takes your school’s team to the State Championship, tossed aside due to petty mean-spiritedness.

I believe education is the top priority of a school board. That is why this is so perplexing to me. Roger Thomas is an excellent teacher, and he inspires the kids in his class and on his team. His soccer team is ranked #5 in the nation. Some of his players will get scholarships they sorely need to further their education. At a time when most schools, and school boards, would be bursting with pride, the Mountain View board is doing everything it can to throw the team and the coach under the school bus. It’s a real shame.

Sincerely,

Nancy Kman

WILK Newsradio

Lenox Township