Gold Winger

"We had nearly a dozen Venture Scouts . . ." What's a "Venture Scout"?

"I'd like to hear on what kind of scientific research this belief is founded upon." Hmmm . . . morals and science. Sounds a lot like intelligent design. I think that it was Colin Powell who said, "men don't like to shower with men who like to shower with men." Even if he didn't say that, it is still profound.

What's legallity have to do with it, they all show bad judgement. And bad judgement is bad judgement.

We'll oust someone if the get busted for DUI. We'll oust someone for using drugs. Why? The usual reason is that they've shown bad judgement and that may carry over to there work with the boys. BUT we gladly accept a smoker who has shown equally bad judgement by continuing to use something that is not only addictive but has also been connected to a host of health problems. Why?

"5. Can the snack. A boy will not starve during the course of an hour to hour ''n half den meeting. The 10-15 minutes or so of feeding time is not necessary - they can eat when they get home. " I have yet to understand why we need to accompany everything with a snack. Play basketball for an hour and you need a snack. Eat dinner and then go to a den meeting and you need a snack. An hour long flight and you need both a drink and a snack. Don't get me wrong, I like a snack as much as the next guy but I won't die if I go an hour without eating and I'm sure that most kids won't either.

It's played by a rock band, what can you expect? The only rock song that I can think of that has bagpipes is "Sky Pilot" by the Animals. Anyone else name another? We'll be coming, we'll be coming! We'll be coming down the road.

"those geezers are gay," If they're saying that about you there's probably a reason other than a willingness to sing at campfires. " Teens want to be seen and treated as grown-ups." That's true but they still want to be kids. Because they know that the adults are a little bit crazy, the older guys in my son's troop sing the dining hall songs as loudly as anyone and love doing campfire skits. The older boys do come up with better skits than the invisible bench. Under the old regime, the boys eschewed fun because the Scoutmaster thought that everything involved with Scouting was silly and the boys usually dropped out by 14 unless their parents were intent on them getting Eagle. Treating them like an adult means that you let them know that they have a job to do it is expected to be done. Treating them like an adult means that you talk to them about life, the universe and everything. Treating them like an adult means that you expect them to take responsibility for their actions. Silliness is all throughout the manly world. There was something on the news the other day about a high school football team that does the Hakka, the Maori war dance, before every game, that's pretty silly. Hoo-ah and Hoo-rah are silly. Fraternity handshakes are silly. The shriner's fez is silly. Putting your hands together and yelling, "Go Hamsters!" before a game is silly. As silly as any of these might be to outsiders, the provide a tangible bond to tie the group together.

" If the problem is an incompetent counselor, delete that counselor from the list. " Hard to do at summer camp. We should be able to expect the boys to do the right thing but all too often their parents encourage them to take shortcuts because the prize is more important than the process.

I know the area where she'll be hiking and there are plenty of opportunities for bail out. This side of the street, that side of the street. This park, that park. The McDonalds's. Burger King. Kids can walk all day long at Disney World, it is just a matter of them being interested in what they are doing.

You can question the card if you have reason to believe that fraud was involved. "Johnny, give me $100 and I'll sign off on Citizenship in the Galaxy." Or if you know that the boy didn't do any of the work. A few years back the Sports merit badge was offered at Summer camp. The requirements for Sports involve playing organized sports. But at camp they just said, "have you ever played a softball game?" Boom! Boys who were never on a team of any sort or competed in any sport got a signed blue card. The SM called the boys together and said, "I know that you didn't really earn these so I'm not going to accept them and pass them on to the Advancement guy."

I used to be able to walk to the grocery store where I used to live. When my son was in kindergarten, he'd claim that he was pooped out before we had gone a block. Strangely, he could run around like an idiot for three hours straight not run out of energy. Bail outs are best saved for medical emergencies. Hypothermia. Bleeding feet. A meterorite hitting a Scout. If you let them bail out just because they are "pooped" they'll never find out what they can do.

Trappings and Man Scouting are two separate things. Men in general, across the world, like to adorn themselves with momentos of their accomplishments. Tribal tattoos to recount bravery. Scalps. Coats of arms. Look at uniforms of soldiers. Ribbons, braids, brass buttons. Of course there are the exceptions that say, "I'm soooo good that I don't have to wear anything" but they are rare. Some men like to wear momentos for vicarious accomplishments like wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers necklace or getting a NY Rangers tattoo which I think is incredibly silly. Others like to decorate themselves with brand names of products that they like such as Budweiser of Harley-Davidson which I think is equally silly. Women folk, on the otherhand, like to decorate themselves to either enhance their attractiveness or to show off how powerful their mate is or both. Big diamonds serve NO useful purpose unless you get trapped in a glass room, all they do is show that the associated man had enough wherewithal to buy a useless and overpriced piece of shiney rock. It is just the way that we are wired. You'll find Man Scouts with few decorations, saying "I don't need awards" and doing their best to disrupt the program and you'll well decorated adults that are the embodiement of Baden-Powell. To a large extent, I think that the leaders who go a bit over the top are good for the program if they let the boys run the program. When the boys see the troop committee out there in the woods with a Rocking Chair Patrol flag and singing about being a hamster, they say, "If these geezers are willing to do some of this goofy stuff, maybe it isn't that bad." When I do Cub Scout leader training, I always stress that if the adults don't buy into the silliness of the program, the boys won't. The songs, the skits, the games. I know a former den leader who thought that the whole Cub Scouting program was silly because it wasn't like it was when he was a Boy Scout. I tried until I was blue in the face to explain that Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting were different animals. His attitude carried over the boys and none continued to Boy Scouts. I've been at pack meetings where a Den leader will sit there glowering the whole night because of the goofy songs and skits. His den always follows suit. The same is true in Boy Scouts, if the adults that the boys see aren't willing to have fun and go a bit over the top, the boys won't either.

I didn't notice slang, just words that Americans don't use very often. An extensive vocabulary is frowned upon in this country. Most people consider you "high falutin'" when you use words that they don't know. A magazine editor once told me that most periodicals are written at a sixth grade level. Real world example. I was in a store the other day and I heard a teenager ask his mother "what does intermediate mean?" His mother explained that it meant that the item went in between two others. The boy asked, "Why don't they just say 'this one goes between two others?"

I got up to level 47 then I started missing words. I thought that I had a good vocabulary but they were throwing out words that I'd never heard.

I looked up that guys website, he does those as fundraisers.

Sex with sheep or little girls being wrong is a widely held belief. Are you saying that those are going to fall by the wayside? For that matter it used to be very common for teenaged girls to marry men in their 30s and 40s. Now that is considered very wrong by most of society. Mabye when half of the world has embraced homosexuality as a lifestyle choice, it will cease to be fundamentally wrong.

I think that this song makes a much better song for Wood Badgers than "I used to be a hamster . . . " http://www.tartanspecials.com/well-be-coming.html Warning, the song will get stuck in your head.

The merit badge is earned when a registered counselor signs the blue card. The SM's signature is just an acknowledgement that the card was turned in. " (as an aside, is that kosher?)." Not really. There are no rules about parents couseling the children. Like most BSA things, interpretations are hard to find but if you read the cards and advancement rules, things become clear.

The people that watched paid, it was a fund raiser. I'm sure that you're familiar with fund raising activities.

http://www.boyscoutstuff.com/Galleries/Other/absbut.jpg

People today think that five miles a looooooong way. Figure that you'll probably do about 2 miles per hour. So don't say that you'll be doing FIVE MILES, say that you'll be walking around Cincinnatti for about 2 1/2 hours. Make sure that everyone has water, enen in the cold you can get dehyrated. Also have a plan for a snack or lunch. Encourage proper dress for the weather. I know that many kids today have no idea of how to dress warmly and their parents say, "I have bigger battles to fight." Having someone get chilled to the bone won't do anyone any favors. Sweatshirt, windbreaker, knit hat, and gloves are probably essential. Be sure to rein in the parents who just want to "get there as quickly as possible." This is for the boys and boys like to look around. Let them stop and look over the side of the bridge. If there are interesting birds, stop and look. Etc.

Is that the Dan Beard hike?

"7) New ideas are "modern" and therefore better than "old-fashioned" traditional ideas." I love this one. I hear it all the time in Scouting and out. New has to be better or you're not relevant or "in touch with the times." Classical music isn't relevant but most is wonderful. Rap is allegedly relevant but is mostly about violence and disrespct to women. Relevant is good? Good leadership hasn't changed since the days of Gengis Khan. Seminars might teach management but leadership is something that comes from within, classwork can hone leadership skills but can't create them. I haven't seen the need to invest the time and money in Woodbadge because I haven't been impressed by the new Wood Badgers that I know (most old ones are a different story). However, as an outsider looking in, most of what Kudu says makes sesne except for his love of nylon clothing.

What is meant by "simple"? What is bad taste? I consider wearing shorts that are two sizes too small and a shirt with the buttons popping to be in bad taste. Or a hirsute leader who doesn't wear an undershirt and has hair poking out between his buttons to be in bad taste. Simple? We start off with four patches on the left sleeve and two on the right. Add the OA flap. Put on the purple WOSM emblem. You're already at eight patches. That's pretty unsimple. Beavah said "Dat's why in most publication photos, you'll find fairly simple and "clean" adult uniforms, not bespangled by multiple rows of knots." I've been looking through my SM Handbook and as far as I could tell, all but one have knots. One is wearing nine knots and his beads (I used be a hamster and a good ol' hamster too). If BSA didn't want adults to wear knots, they wouldn't hold up these guys as shining examples of Scoutmasters. Of course, one could argue that since so many in BSA publications have patches in the wrong places, they want us to do that too. Most of the time in BSA pubs, the uniforms are unadorned because they are brand new. Look closely, the pants are usually not hemmed and the shirts look like they came right off the hanger. Just my thoughts.(This message has been edited by Gold Winger)

The youth is in the middle. Just like the baseball player is caught in the middle when the coach tries to sneak in illegal equipment. Should we advance the boy who hasn't done the work just because the SM signed off? Nooooo. In the Troop Committee Guidebook the first enumerated purpose of the BOR is to make sure that the work has been learned and completed.