The Boy Scouts of America membership controversies center on the Boy Scouts of America's policies that prohibit atheists, agnostics, and "known or avowed" homosexuals from membership in its Scouting program; both youths and adults have had their memberships revoked as a result. The BSA contends that these policies are essential in its mission to instill in young people the values of the Scout Oath and Law. These policies are controversial and are considered by some to be unfair. The organization's legal right to have these policies has been upheld repeatedly by both state and federal courts. The Supreme Court of the United States has affirmed that as a private organization, the BSA can set its own membership standards. In recent years, the policy disputes have led to litigation over the terms under which the BSA can access governmental resources including public lands.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_Scouts_of_America_membership_controversies

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1580:

The Golden Hind sailed into Plymouth, England, as explorer Francis Drake completed his circumnavigation of the globe. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Hind

1789:

For his presidential administration, George Washington appointed Thomas Jefferson as the first U.S. Secretary of State, John Jay as the first U.S. Chief Justice, Samuel Osgood as the first U.S. Postmaster General, and Edmund Randolph as the first U.S. Attorney General. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_George_Washington

1907:

Newfoundland and New Zealand became dominions within the British Empire. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_of_Newfoundland

1934:

The ocean liner RMS Queen Mary was launched in Clydebank, Scotland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Mary

1957:

West Side Story, a musical written by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim and based loosely on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, made its debut on Broadway. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Side_Story

1969:

Abbey Road, the final album recorded by The Beatles before publicly announcing their breakup, was released. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

guillemet (n): Either of the punctuation marks “<big>«</big>” or “<big>»</big>”, used in several languages to indicate passages of speech as the equivalent of the English quotation marks http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/guillemet

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

All is always now. Words strain,

Crack and sometimes break, under the burden, Under the tension, slip, slide, perish,

Will not stay still. --T. S. Eliot http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/T._S._Eliot