Today all I did was work - it rained most of the day, matching my mood which grew gloomy as the day progressed, in contrast with yesterday's jubilation. Had hoped she'd call so we'd set something up for tomorrow; as she'll probably split Monday; that's it. 'Tis to be expected, this frustration at inability to effect communication - she wouldn't or couldn't give me the phone number for these relatives with whom she's staying (although I've got all the numbers for back home). Well we'll see.

I read that the Boy Scouts have been put down in their efforts to keep gays out - a New Jersey court has ruled it illegal for the BSA to ban gays. From the court's decision: "There is absolutely no evidence before us... supporting a conclusion that a gay scoutmaster, solely because he is homosexual, does not possess the strength of character necessary to properly care for, or to impart BSA humanitarian ideals to the young boys in his charge." The case involved an Eagle Scout and Assistant Scoutmaster who was expelled from his troop after the Scouting authorities learned of his orientation from a college newspaper story - I guess he was "outed" by that article. I'm pleased and rather surprised with this enlightened decision - I'd assume a court would go with the conventional uptight conservative "wisdom" equating mere homosexuality with a wide spectrum of perversion including the extremes of the pederast, a la the NAMBLA. The BSA's current intolerance at its most ridiculous, in my opinion, manifests itself in their desire to exclude not only "gay" boys but also the non-religious - there was that incident from a year or two ago where a couple of professed atheist scouts were turned out from their local troop. (My suspicion was their loudly stated beliefs (or lack thereof) were actually a product of parental indoctrination, perhaps even coercion.) My skepticism about "gay" boy scouts runs along similar lines, to wit: early adolescence is a time of experimentation as an individual gradually discovers his true identity. I doubt that a 13- or 14-year-old boy knows his real sexual orientation any more than he does his eventual religious persuasion; ie is his faith genuine, or is his church attendance merely a parental decision? <1> Likewise their sexual identity at that age could conceivably just be a result of peer pressure. Kids that young don't know, and they shouldn't be forced to declare these subtleties at such a young age, or at any age. (In fact, nobody should be forced to declare this sort of stuff, any more than they should have to declare their "race".) The fact that the BSA may require this is nauseating - and I'm a former Boy Scout who looks back on my scouting experiences as richly educational, important and fun. Of course, that was before the BSA busybodies started changing the uniform - I never had to wear one of those silly red berets.