I probably won't hit all the questions, but I'll try for my opinion.
First you need to decide if you want quarter sawn strips.
These would be the strongest, but do not provide the same grain "figure" as any other angled cut to the grain.
If you want quarter sawn you need to look at each board before you saw and then plan the cuts.

Same thing if you want another grain pattern.

Personally I saw everything on a 10" saw.
Given 2" boards I just don't plane the boards unless they are really damaged.
I'm assuming 3/4" strips, so if you had a flat sawn board and wanted quarter sawn strips I just trim up the edge, then saw strips at whatever thickness you choose until I cut the entire board.
Then I trim one edge off each 1 3/4 strip, then cut that strip into 3/4 widths.

If you had a 1/4 sawn board to start with, then I cut 3/4" blocks off the board, then rotate the block to cut the proper width strip, then cut each 1 3/4 strip into 3/4 widths.

Personally I don't scarf finished strips, I only butt join them on the boat.
If you want to scarf the strips, then do the scarfing at the biggest size stock that makes sense, so that each individual finished strip does not have to be glued together (creating a potential flaw in the strip).
Vertical or horizontal scarfing is purely an astetic choice, to me. Not a structure issue.

Don't ever use CA glue for scarfing. Thin stuff soaks into the wood and may not join, thick (like Nick shows using) is so thick that you can get the glue joint consistently thin and uniform. Just use Titebond or equivilent.

IMHO.

You should get lots of other opinions, soon.