Fat Old Guy

" had a Eagle scout and Venturer on staff at Philmont tell me that Silver was always a higher rank in the military because when all the ranks were developed, the world was on the silver standard. " Too bad that you can't direct that Eagle to https://www.perscom.army.mil/tagd/tioh/ROTC%20Misc%20NGB%20page/Silver%20and%20Gold%20Insignia.htm

" silver oakleaves over bronze. " In all my time in the Navy, I never saw any bronze oakleaves. "When palms were introduced they followed the military with bronze at the beginning and silver at the end, gold was chosen for the center." Still trying to figure out how you came to the conclusion that the military considers silver to be the highest award. Can you cite an authorative source for your assertions?

In my troop we have a continual battle about wearing the uniforms on trips, especially among the adults. Evidently, the uniforms are made of lace and satin because travelling in them "messes them up." The ironic thing is how many of the anti-uniform people comment on the positive things that happen when they are travelling in uniform but it doesn't change their minds.

" I can tell you from firsthand experience with both programs, the planning, effort, and communtiy service she had to put in for that Bronze Award, as a ten-year-old, far exceed what we ask of our 2nd Year Webelos Scouts to earn their AOL...my observation. " It doesn't surprise me considering what I've observed by having one of each type of child. When my daughter goes camping, she gets the official list of what to take and goes through it meticulously, making sure that she has everything. My son goes through his list and doesn't pack half the stuff because "I didn't know where it was a

"FOG, lets try to keep this in perspective. I offred an explanation as to why Eagle palms go bronze, gold, silver and Venture awards go gold then silver with silver being the highest." I then disputed and refuted your explanation. Explanations like yours, without anything to back them up are how myths get started such as "one year to complete a merit badge."

I'm not much on camping, prefering to stay in a hotel with 24 hr. room service. However, since my son has gotten involved with Scouts, I've bought three tents. We seem to always camp in heavy downpours so I have some experience with my tents and water. The first tent was a $30 dome tent from Wal-Mart and it didn't leak but it didn't have any electrical outlets. The next tent I bought for backpacking at Sports Autority for $20. It is a 6'x6' dome tent (I sleep diagonally). The rain fly was too small so I use disposable drop cloth ($.93) as a rain fly. This one has survived t

"Or as He once described Himself, "I am". " Oh no! God is Neil Diamond! :-) (running from the lightning bolt . . .)

That dog's still in the kennel. Gold Stars indicate a very high honor as any "Gold Star Mother" tell you. BTW, the Victoria Cross is gold www.chapter-one.com/vc/images/site/n_vcbig.jpg(This message has been edited by Fat Old Guy)

"My reason for the post was to explain why in the BSA silver is placed above gold." I not sure that dog hunts. The Silver Star was created on 9 JUL 1918 which is long after the BSA was founded and really long after the Olympics were restarted. However, we are just guessing. I've been searching but I cannot find anything near an authoratative source for why the palms are the colors that they are.

Hops, you are most unusual, at least in my corner of the globe. Very few walk to the local high school, even though they may live only a mile or less away. Fewer still ride the bus. Most drive. I know one girl who lives across the street from the high school and SHE DRIVES to school. It actually takes her longer to get to school by car than it would if she walked but "hey, walking is so lame."

The Silver Star is not the highest award for heroism awarded by the Armed Forces. The Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross and Air Force Cross are all higher awards than the Silver Star. Of course we also have the Medal of Honor which is a star and arguably gold in color.

hops, I really don't care about your name. It may be because you have one leg or you are a hopscotch champ, it don't make no nevermind to me. Bob, I wouldn't classify hops_scout as a young boy. A young boy is still in Cub Scouts. Hops is a young man. BTW Bob, you did compare your car and your boss' car or else you could have never concluded that his wouldn't suit your needs. (This message has been edited by Fat Old Guy)

You see, the differences between things can also be the basis for comparison. Making assumptions based on your apparent age, I would say: I am a college graduate and you're not I am married and you're not I am a parent and you're not I am a veteran and you're not I've been audited by the IRS and you haven't If you still want to compare my son and your web page, we can start: My son is a living creature and your web site isn't (Tron not withstanding) My son can earn Eagle Scout and your web site can't You see, you can compare anything if you want. Comparisons

Is it really your place to put him in or not let him serve as PL? He was elected and you approved the election results. On the other hand, there is nothing to prevent his patrol from having a new election and replacing him. If they've lost confidence in him already, might it not cause more damage by allowing him to try to lead when other won't follow. If his mom pulls him, is that so bad? Sure, you may not want to lose a Scout but what does it say about the Scout that he would let his mom pull him. Sounds like mom is the driving force here. In any case, is it not better to lose him

"The Eagle badge and the Gold Award have soooo little in common as well. " They actually have quite a bit in common. They are both earned by youths. They both require service projects. They are both awarded by national youth organizations that hold Congressional Charters. They are both Scouting awards. The are both the highest awards for their organizations (okay, we can argue about Quartermaster but that isn't Boy Scouts, it's Sea Scouts). Sooooooo there.

If your SPL is doing his job, the adults should be anything but busy unless they are volunteering at some special station like the waterfront. There is paperwork to be done and a few meetings to attend but the paperwork is done at night and the meetings can be attended by those who aren't doing other pressing things.

hops_scout, you make no sense. Perhaps this explains your name.

As I said, everyone but Bob . . .

Why compare? Everyone (except Bob) compares nearly everything. Cars, yards, girlfriends, houses, jobs, stock portfolios. It is pretty much human nature. Even if you are happy with what you have now, you want to see what others have for future reference. Why compare Eagle and Gold? Why not? Most people think of the two programs as being similar so it is only natural that they'd compare the two highest awards. Maybe if kcolarusso completes her fact finding and can present it, people will have a better understanding of the actual differences and understanding is always a good th

"3rd..Why is Mom at summer camp?" We have many parents who go to summer camp as a form of vacation. Most of them stay out of the way, they go fishing or find someplace to help out like the shooting range or waterfront. A couple insist on following their kids around which usually embarassed the kid but we've found that other than tying the parent to their chair, we can't dissuade them from being a pest.

NW Scouter said, "FOG, that's less than one percent of the over 5,000,000 Scouts registered." According to BSA's web site, there's just over a million Boy Scouts/Varsity Scouts. Maybe if you include Cubs and all Venturers, you might get 5 million but they all can't earn Eagle. NWScouter also asked, " Here is another knot question when my daughters get around to having kids in the BSA and as leaders will they get to wear a knot for the youth religious award they earned as Campfire?" Yes, they can wear the knot, they can also wear the medal. The knot is simply recognition for e

What I want from the District Chair is leadership. Our District Chair never shows up at Roundtables and has never been seen wearing a uniform but everyone says that he does a great job. I think that what he has done has been let the District Commissioner pick great people to run things. It could be that I just don't know what he does do. I'd like to see the District Chair at Roundtables, perhaps talking about the state of the district, where the district is going, etc. He may do much behind the scenes but he should let people know what he looks like.

I had never heard of the Gold Award until my daughter joined Girl Scouts. Eagle is probably more well known just because Boy Scouts have always had a higher profile than Girl Scouts. Girl Scouts sell cookies and Boy Scouts build sandbag walls in flood zones, or so it seems. I don't know the specific requirements for the Gold Award but I do like the idea that to earn it, you need to stay involved for a much longer time than you do to earn Eagle. 45,000 Eagles? Wow! That's a lot. However, comparing the two is really apples and oranges. Much more needs to be looked at before y

Get a rope! :-) This mom is the classic pushy parent that I've mentioned before. You see them in all aspects of youth activities. She isn't worried about the kid actually learning anything, she just wants the badges. Now, he's First Class and she'll be hunting a leadership position so he can become Star by Christmas. Of course, any leadership position will probably be done behind the scenes by her. Life will come before the next Summer camp and the Eagle project idea will be presented soon after. Eagle by next Christmas and the kid will be done. Two years in Boy Scouts, he's a

"A person who has not been classified as a "swimmer" may ride as a passenger in a rowboat or motorboat with an adult "swimmer" or in a canoe, raft, or sailboat with an adult certified as a lifeguard or a lifesaver by a recognized agency." Does this apply to commercial water transportation? Let's suppsose that my Scouts and I are going to take a water taxi. Neither I nor my assistant leader are swimmers. Do we need to ask the captain of the water taxi if he is a certified swimmer or lifeguard? What if we go out on a day excursion on a destroyer? Do we need to verify that there is a