GernBlansten

Our local YMCA offers ARC lifeguard training. There is no YMCA lifeguard anymore. At least in my area.

The ARC course seems to be the Gold standard that most every aquatic operation recognizes. Country clubs, YMCAs, public community pools, waterparks all require ARC certification. Nobody but BSA camps accept BSA Lifeguard. If the goal is to get a job outside of summer camp, seems ARC is the only thing going. It would be nice if there were some reciprocal agreement. If we are going to go through the effort to get a cert, its gonna be ARC. I got my ARC certification back in the late 70s. We had combat training. Actually used it on a few saves. Those little kids can be stronger than y

Any word on whether there has been an agreement made between the Red Cross and BSA on cross recognizing lifeguard certifications? #1 son is getting his ARC lifeguard next month to work at the community pool this summer. Would be nice if he could also do boy scout lifeguard stuff too.

Our district has a very large number of LDS units and a lot of the district volunteers are LDS. However, the LDS units are very small and the majority of scouts in the district are non-LDS. Every event, Camporee, Klonderee is set up to start Friday night, end before sunset Saturday. Non-LDS are welcome to stay Saturday night but there is no program. This isn't necessarily bad, it gives our unit some time to work on stuff we want to, but it does limit the amount of activity with other units. Our summer camp also reserves two weeks for LDS units only. It starts on Monday and goes t

Sure Trev, but then the entire campout is your sanctuary. is that fair?

And those sects who interpret the Bible that way should not be required to engage in the sacrament of marriage for homosexuals. Why impose your religious interpretations on the rest of the general public? Marriage goes beyond the church.

Ed, re-read what you are asking Merlyn for. You want him to prove a negative. You can't do that. If he thinks the Bible isn't clear on the issue, there will be no supporting verse to prove his point. He could produce any random verse that would demonstrate his claim.

Yeah Ed, but where in the Good Book does it ban cousins from marrying, or siblings or polygamy? I never did understand who Cane and Able married. So if we are going to base who can marry who on the Bible, not sure if that will be consistent. Many states do allow cousins to marry, but on the condition of genetic counseling. Same should be true for siblings. Heck, as far as I'm concerned, two consenting adults who want to get married should be allowed to. But if there are health concerns like genetically mutations, then at least the couples should be aware of it. It is a free country

I use an MSR with polar pure tablets as a backup. The MSR is fine for one or two people, but too slow for anymore and cloggs quickly. I guess that means its really filtering eh? I do like the ability to field clean it, where the Katadyn require a new cartridge. I've seen the UV pen in action. Just seems wrong. I know it sterilizes but doesn't clarify the water. We don't pump cooking water since we are boiling it.

I think the "right" thing comes from equal treatment under the law. You can't have one set of laws/benefits/penalties for one segment of the population and another set for another segment. You have a right to that.

So if BSA went the local option route, the LDS and Catholics would still leave BSA even though they would be allowed to restrict membership? I find that hard to believe.

Pack, the congregation of our UMC is also getting very elderly. I think younger families are gravitating to the non-denominational mega churches in our area. They are thriving. Going to one of their services is like going to a rock concert or Amway convention.

Having worked in grocery stores and meat markets, the general public is better off not knowing what goes on behind those swinging doors. Trust me.

The American standard of living has steadily increased due to cheap imported stuff. We have multiple TVs, multiple cars, all kinds of electronic dodads and thingamajigs because they can be made cheaply overseas. In order to level the playing field, we will need to impose import taxes on those products. That will make them more expensive and lower our standard of living. I don't think Americans will except that. We are too selfish.

I'm not sure there is a policy that district or council events must have a religious service. I've been to plenty without them.

Nothing teaches self reliance, preparedness, physical fitness, planning and cooperation like backpacking. Car camping just doesn't do it. Being able to charge into camp, unload the troop trailer and setup a mini city in under an hour doesn't teach any of the above like backpacking does. Executing a backpacking program is tough though. Many leaders and parents simply don't support it and would rather car camp. Its just easier. I've tried for 5 years to get our unit more backpack oriented, but we still car camp 95% of the time.

I think I understand what Beavah is getting at. But I disagree. Units that focus on leadership instead of being primarily a camping club seem to become parlor scouts, sitting on benches in church basements getting lectured on how to lead. IMHO, Baden Powell recognized the urbanization of our youth and created scouting to counter it. His primary method was to extract those youth from the urban environment (the church basement) and put them in a place they can thrive (the camping club). A natural outcome from doing this is leadership and self reliance. I don't bristle at the term

Looks like happy hour is early in hadies.

Rhubarb!

One wonders the value of a breathalyzer interlock on keyboards.

Tahosa High Adventure. Like Philmont, only in real mountains. http://www.denverboyscouts.org/openrosters/ViewOrgPageLink.asp?LinkKey=11107&orgkey=51

I think the SPOT doesn't use as nearly the power as your handheld GPS because it doesn't need to process all that information for display on the mapping screen. That consumes tremendous power. All the SPOT is doing is getting its GPS fix (really just a radio receiver, a computer and a clock), then sending the coords to the commerical comm sats via high freq radio. No display. Where did you get your SPOT for under $100? On Amazon, the cheapest I've found was $125.

Our unit is chartered by the UMC. Our COR is part of the UMM. We never see him or hear anything from the UMM. Our finances are completely separate from the UMM, but technically owned by the organization. Never audited. Our relationship is not adversarial, just not cooperative.

It seems that gay marriage bans are unconstitutional without amending the state constitutions. Doesn't that seem to be an indicator that the bans perhaps are not good for all Americans?

Nor should the courts reflect the values of the society. They should interpret the laws. Period. Its the representative government that should reflect the values of society.