GaHillBilly

Actually, that title is a bit misleading, but only a tiny bit. I cannot prove that Scouter.com is DOING the spamming; only that they provided the email addresses to the spammers. How could I possibly prove that? By using a totally unique email address that has ONLY been given to Scouter.com, and never used or published any other way. The address is sufficiently unique so that there is NO chance of a spammer randomly, or accidentally stumbling across it. There's a little more to it than that, but the bottom line is . . . Scouter.com's sysadmins are feeding spam into my inbox, an

I started investigating Scouting, as an opportunity for my (then) 11 year old son two years ago. We joined a troop about 20 months ago. Since then, I have learned a lot about Scouts and Scouting -- as it is in the literature AND as it is in practice. I've been grateful for this forum, for it has given me a place to ask questions I dared not ask locally, and a place to vent, when the pressure got to be too much. I've mostly tried to avoid being specific about local details, to avoid raising a ruckus or hurting feelings. But, I'm getting beyond that now. I'm again in the middle of a m

Comments, based on my own local observations: 1. The comments about email & texting are dead on, at least with my Scouts. But, they don't have all have text, for various reasons, but commonly $$$. And, they don't listen to voice mail. Texting isn't very useful even with those that have it, because those that do text tend to relate to it in a 'fire & forget' mode aka "OMG tisc!" or "OMG tisl". My own son uses his email only for outgoing email and replies, mostly from teachers. So, I've got an education process to work through in teaching the new PL *and* his patrol to contact each

I believe that if you check (Google's your friend) you'll find that FrontPage licenses are still available. Microsoft's latest web tool product offering is useless (IMHO) to non-pros, and probably even to them. I have an Action Pak license (10 licenses of all the software MS makes) and installed it (can't remember if it was Sharepoint or Expression Web, and I'm not gonna go dig out the CD!) briefly, and then spent 5x as long get it all eradicated from my system. Yuck, and double yuck! Other options include Linux tools, such as Bluefish and Quanta, both of which are preferably to the morbi

Packsaddle, that was my wedding photo! My beard and hair are shorter (and thinner) now. GaHillBilly(This message has been edited by GaHillBilly)

Goldwinger, if you know knots, and restrict yourself to that . . . I think that's great. The problem is Scouting is about the outdoors. B-P's reasons are ones I can't accept: I don't worship nature; I don't believe in the 'church of the outdoors'; I'm not a Wiccan / nature worshiper; and I certainly don't accept the 19th C ideas about the sublimity of nature*. The fact is, I don't know *why* the outdoors matter so much. I have my suspicions and theories, but I don't *know*. But, it's still there. I also don't think nature is just a place for an ordeal. I don't think the Pioneer

Goldwinger, I can only hope you never work on outdoor skills with any Scouts. Somehow, I feel the common B-P quote (there's a right way and a wrong way to tie a know, and a Scout should know the right way!) is pertinent here! Eagletrek, the problem that it's more complicated than you suggest. To start with, the bur oak -- a member of the white oak group -- is not common in my area (N. Ga) so it would not be a good choice for a list of plants Scoutmasters could ID in my area. But, to suggest that one can ID the "red oak" sort of misses the point, because 'red oaks' are a group that i

Whew! I don't agree with Packsaddle on lots of things, but this is one where I'm in complete agreement: reliable species identification is often very hard, and often got wrong. The sarcastic response offered by uz2bnowl, "for my iggggnoorince I never earned the merit badge or I may have known that. My low brow view is that there are good bugs and bad bugs. Pack, how do you bear to share the planet with us cretins?" is, I'm afraid all too typical. My son was told to 'shut up and learn', after pointing out that a stand of river cane (probably Arundinaria gigantea) was just

B4 I start, I should say I respect Beavuh's advice on this Forum probably more than anyone else's here But . . . Beavuh wrote "It takes honor and character to stand up to your own party. To tell your friends "No!" and stand on principle, eh?" Frankly, I'm not sure Scouter's have a leg to stand on, when it comes to talking about OTHER groups who aren't honest and who don't stand up to their friends! Almost from the beginning of my son's and my entry into Scouting, we've been dismayed by the bogus ranks and bogus MBs. I've mentioned before the Star Scout w/ Canoeing MB who held a

Hey, isn't this what Trevorum, Packsaddle and some others were looking for? If so, these guys have saved them a bunch of trouble. Now, they don't have to try to change BSA into the GSA for Boys: they can just join "Adventure Scouts", the "only fully nondiscriminatory Scout Programs in the United States"! But hey, what I really liked was their little appendix to their "Scout Code". They follow it with the note that "These are not just nice-sounding words. They have meaning." They must have read my mind! Imagine, I was thinking just exactly those things, that their words 'have no

OGE, on the Forums where I've acted as a moderator, one of the requirements has always been that the moderators read posts CAREFULLY, before moderating them. Perhaps, that's not a requirement here. Or if it is, perhaps that memo failed to reach YOUR desk? My statements were about how NPR -- NOT the Democrats -- were twisting the news, apparently to serve their agenda. I did not, and would not, equate the Democrats and NPR. NPR, in my observation, is far, far left of average Democrats. Obama may also be to the left of average Democrats, but even he's not that far. Also my point

OGE wrote earlier, "Funny, I thought it read, "Thou shalt not kill" Unfortunately, it was so translated in King James translation, and repeated in many subsequent English translations. But, as Rooster7 noted, it was never what was meant, and probably has always been a poor translation. The meaning of the original (and this has not, so far as I know, ever been disputed by scholars) was, "Thou shalt not kill WRONGLY", or more succinctly, "You shall not murder". OGE also questioned, "But it does give one pause to wonder what other biblical 'truths' our society honors that are mis-tran

Like so many skilled politicians she didn't exactly lie, just left out a few pesky details. Or like many local Scouters, when they say, 'Sure, he passed the rank requirements!", not that he can tie a square knot, or actually apply first aid, but he PASSED! Shoot, lets' check and see if she gained THAT skill in Scouts. Maybe in Alaska, they let hard-core girls into Boy Scouts, and then teach them Scout skills. God knows that fudging the facts is ONE skill that is constantly and successfully taught in this council. . . . from a hillbilly, who's feeling rather cynical this morning

Oooh . . . just found this one: "He added that McCain's choice of Palin as his running mate was "absolutely wonderful for the state of Alaska." http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/05/palin.trooper/index.html WHO added?? That would be Mike Wooten, Palin's former brother-in-law, who's at the center of "Trooper-gate". Gee, with enemies like that, Trooper-gate is clearly a serious threat to Palin! So . . . packsaddle, are ya gonna vote for Palin/McCain now? GaHillBilly

Back to the originally scheduled question . . . Sarah Palin did NOT advocate teaching creationism in the classroom. Instead, what she said was I dont think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class. It doesnt have to be part of the curriculum, Palin told the Anchorage Daily News in a 2006 interview. http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/05/top-7-myths-lies-and-untruths-about-sarah-palin/ Several other concerns voiced on this Forum also are apparent frauds, perpetrated by various Democratic 'sympathizers', like the professional liars at the Daily Kos.

I wasn't really criticizing -- I did think it odd, but as I noted, nothing wrong. For the record, I think scouter.com & usscouts.org are generally more useful than scouting.org. Actually, as I've noted the degree to which BSA is marketing for $$$, not integrity in the shops, Boys' Life and so on, I've found myself wondering, "What would be missed if BSA national closed up, but placed all their copyrights under Creative Commons?", including uniform design. So far, I've thought of a few things that would be missed, but many more that would not. A thread for another time, perh

Pixiewife, my point was NOT to argue that Sarah Palin did (or did not) support such earmarks. I don't trust left wing dominated media outlets such as NPR on such topics, that that only means I'm skeptical, not that I've concluded that NPR's headline was wrong. Politicians as a class have -- ever since Rome -- tried to use tax funds to buy votes. This is not a right wing or left wing activity, it is simply and unfortunately a politician type activity. But my point was that NPR was falling all over themselves to avoid highlighting a speech that was enormously successful. IF NPR's head

You wrote, "You know, I thought I made it clear about Nazi references. To make Nazi references when people in no way are approaching the horror the absolute horror of the Holocaust is reprehensible and repugnant." OGE, I don't know what you made clear -- somehow that memo never arrived on MY desk. I realize that the cultural iconic force possessed by the Holocaust, that makes it familiar enough for me to use illustratively in an general audience, is related to the mythology of the Holocaust as "absolute horror". But while my reference to Nazi movement as acquiring social acceptabili

My older son, who has surprised us all (including himself) by turning out to be a whiz at things like organic chemistry and biochemistry, surprised his biochemistry professor by asking her what she thought of Michael Behe's work (he's the biochemist behind the idea of "irreducible complexity"). Like a good little post-modern scientist, she recoiled, and expressed tremendous skepticism. He then asked her if she'd read either of his books on the topic, and she sheepishly acknowledged that she had not. So, he loaned her Darwin's Black Box, and she read it. Her observation afterwards was

Gotta do this, even though it's a waste of time . . . So, the news EVENT of the day is, "Sarah Palin delivers major speech at RNC". This would, of course, be the un-spun version of the news. Possible spun headlines: - "Sarah Palin's speech doesn't meet all expectations." (Certainly true, even though the implication is false ) - "Sarah Palin's speech is a home run." (Seemed to be the consensus of even Democratic talking heads this AM, so it's probably true, but a hard core Democrat might consider this spun.) - "Sarah Palin takes on role of RNC pit bull." (You could conflate s

Packsaddle, to vote against McCain solely because Palin has been reported to support teaching "creationism" in public schools -- a charge which may or may not turn out to be true -- is to take an rather naive and unsophisticated view of things. First, even the President is unlikely to have much influence over what is taught or not taught in high school science classes. The VP is virtually certain to have no influence whatsoever. To reject McCain on this issue suggests to me that you were already looking for a PC excuse for doing so. Second, all press reports on this topic, from all

I think it depends on how fundamental a method you consider "outdoors" to be. I know this has been (and is) an issue in our troop. In fact, paint ball has recently become an issue because an older Scout, who doesn't really like camping or hiking or swimming or canoeing or climbing or biking or . . . . . . does like paint ball. If "Scouting is 3/4 outing", well then "Sc" isn't about enough to bother with. While I don't buy into B-P's 'religion of nature', I do think that there is something fundamental about actually experiencing nature, in the sense of nights and bugs and dust an

Thanks for all the responses -- gives me something to think about, for the future. For now, it seems more expedient to focus on the troop. Once things are running better, maybe I should reconsider what to do about OA. Regarding my own son, I'm going to have to think some more. I only have the two data points (local ASM babysitting his son; miraculously advanced (fm Scout rank on Nov. 1 to 1st Class on Dec. 31) Scout elected to OA from another troop), but it would appear that the local OA is not too impressive. I'm leaning toward the idea that he has PLENTY to do within troop, and in the c

Having had work trailers stolen myself, I'm partial to tongue locks. Chains and padlocks -- not so much! Long story short, in years past my work crews had reason to carry 36" two-handled 'master keys' for Master padlocks. Believe me, unless you've been VERY careful in your padlock AND chain selection, a chain or lock can be popped in less time than it takes to find your key. There's another technique that works pretty well, too: do something to disable the trailer (or vehicle). My father had one of the original US VW beetles with a reserve gas tank, but no gauge. The valve had 3 pos

Back in 2001, OGE asked: "I was an Ordeal Member as a scout, and recently made brotherhood, but aside from impressive ceremonies, and they are very impressive, what else does the OA do? I know what they are supposed to do, I just want to know what they actually do in your area?" http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=2419 EagleWB answered: "Its purpose is to recognize campers who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives." Mike Long responded: "The OAs purpose is Service and to promote camping. . . . We do have a problem with member