DugNevius

There is always hope. I have have a few scouts that had been, at one point, major problems in the troop and at school that, overtime and with some guidence (As well as something specific to do) become very solid scouts. It just takes time.

>> If it isn't too much trouble can you tell us the political leanings of those 34 Eagle Scouts who responded? what does that matter?

-Accountability -Initiative

In our troop the PL leaders sign off the requirment for the scoutmembers of his patrol. The testing is done by a panel of scouts in leadership roles from outside the patrol. We try to give as much responsbility to the scouts as possible.

Yesterday our troop had a trip for the older guys (Patrol leaders, SPL ASPLs) as sort of a expanded greenbar as well as a fun time just for them. We ran into another troop from the town over and one that had many friends of our scouts. It didnt take a minute before the challanges were thrown: Football ot Ultimate Frisbee? What followed was over an hour of football. It reminded me of when i was a scout, at summer camp challanging every troop to water polo or ultimate and starting an annual tradition of Camp staff vs our troop in Ultimate. Currently our troop spl is talking to another troop

If a scout is homesick and his father comes on the trips and sleeps with the patrol, how does that help the scout in the long run grow?

I have to say i had the same reaction to that original topic concerning a mother attending every trip until her son was 16. It is important that scouts in the BSA learn self reliance and become able to function and make decisions without their parents around or direct input. We are teaching them to become young men capable of life without mom and dad. It is hard to become self reliant with mom and dad always there, which, in the real world, isnt always going to be the case. Yes, the BSA can not forbid parents to go on any trip. A long while ago i mentioned that our troop tries to hav

The way we did it is everyone had seperate clothing just for sleeping to eliminate getting cold from damp sweaty clothes. For us we all used thermol underwear which allowed us to all have bags of around 30-35 degrees because the thermols allowed for 10 degrees less, plus having some insulation between the sleepingbag and the tent floor also helps. I dont remember a night being cold but a few where i was warm and took off my thermol top.

Our troop does almost all backpacking, with the exception of a ski trip. If we can work in a way to backpack on a trip we do it.

By just asking this question makes me think yu need to do a lot of prep work before yu go out to Philmont. A weekend hike is not a Philmont trek.

"Take advantage of this unique opportunity" Actually dont. If your troop is heading out to "scouting paradise", otherwise known as Philmont, there is no greater advice to be heard then AVOID THE BURRO'S at all cost. This used to be an easy thing. Up until this year, a crew had the option of just saying no when offered the Burro Packing. Now it is mandatory, although it is only stated in one piece of literature Philmont sends you, page 12 of the Itinerary list, a small blurb. Not in the 2005 handbook. The reason? Its bothersome for the Philmont staff to have to bring them from on

"Those are all very good observations. My son is in pretty good shape and has never had any trouble at all with 10 mile hikes. However, this is ten 10 mile hikes!" dont forget this is also at a high elevation and with large elevation changes. Your son and all those that are going to philmont should have been and are still doing solid training. Our troop leaves saturday for Philmont and we have been training for over a year.

Meamemg- yes unless the extend of the PL's ineptitude was so great that the adult leaders would have to step in.

in a democratic system, a true one, when one elected leader does not preform up to task he doesnt win a re-election. We have had a few poor PLs that just couldnt get a second term. The boys are aware of who is doing what and how well they are doing it.

there are recommended weight limitations for philmont. A guy 6'4" is recommended to be in the range of 156-222 according to the official Philmont Med form. (have you not recieved this yet?!?) The issue of being as under weight as he is can cause medical issues and may be brought up during the health check at base camp.

I never ask another person, youth or adult to do something that i am not willing to do myself. Lead by example is vital in life and scouting. Last weekend,while on a trip i wanted to check out a lean-to that was only 50 yards from our campsite, but i took along some scouts. At summer camp we have our boys in the buddy system as in every scouting activity, and I as an adult follow our own rules.

Self-reliance is a huge part of the program in my veiw and there are many ways in which to teach it. The patrol method is a great way for the youth to learn it and the first steps in teaching self relaince is to teach them to be able to not need to rely on adults. "Ask your patrol leader" is a staple in our troop. We also ask parents of new scouts to sit out of the first two camping trips so their son gets accustomed to being away from dad. The ideas presented by this ASM are interesting but i dont see them as the only way to do it. To do something like this once in a blue moon would be

Crazy Creek camp chairs. Half our troop including adults have them. we use them on backpack trips like Philmont in place of a sleeping pad. Very light, very comfortable.

we keep a duffel of old patchless uniforms from the 70's in our QM room. When a scout comes without uniform he is to find one that fits from the bag.

well there is a difference between a private film made for movie theaters and news programs airing segments on the "benifits of the new medicare law" as just another story when it was GOP that had paid people to pose as reporters praising it and the veiwers were unaware that they were watching paid advertising funded by taxpayer money. CBS and other channels began to pull it when it and several journalists went under federal investigation.

this scout fixation on BDU's and camo has got to be a rural thing. 15 years of scouting ive never seen a kid bring them on e trip.

Prairie pretty much hit the nail on the head with that one. as for the media, objectivity has long ago been forgotten, afterall its hard to be objective when your income in large comes from big time corporations advertisments that support one side or the other. Compound this by the fact that the FCC has become a tool of the republican party and the current president, during his re-election campain was feeding news programs "news reports" that his party had scripted and filmed to promote the president and selling them as objective news. As the great comic strip Non-sequitor once said

Badget, how exactly does one canoe while talking on the cell phone or playing gameboy? Why go camping if you absorb yourself in the things you have everyday of your life? The boys can play PSP and listen to 50Cent nearly everyday, but those monthly outings take them to beautiful places around our country that they miss if there noses are buried in a portable instant messenger and their ears clogged with hiphop. Are your campouts that boring?

"As to your question - It's simply a double-standard that the media (yes, the liberal media) has been employing since the early seventies. They've made it their job to portray Republicans in the worst possible light. And more recently, they seem to turn a blind eye to even the most inane comments and actions made by liberals." Lets be honest here, two words: Fox News. Politicians in every party say and do stupid things and all the subjective medias decide how they want to spin it. remember, when you point your finger at someone you are pointing three back at yourself.

well, as a white christian male, are you outraged to be grouped with republicans? Honestly, its no different then the countless other politicians since the dawn of politics, and VP Dick Cheney has been spitting back all along. Also, its probably safe to say that MOST republicans are white and chirstian and the G W Bush republicans are becoming a seperate party then the republicans, how long can that course maintain before there is a division in the GOP?