Gold Winger

" I would suggest there is no dedication to the program or to the boys. " This is a good thing, "Wow! That coach is great! He makes the boys work on basics for hours and if they screw up, they have to run laps." This is a bad thing, "Boy that SM is a hard case. MY son is the SPL and the SM acutally expects him to go camping and comes to meetings. And he expects him to wear his uniform." Sports are IMPORTANT. Scouts is just Scouts. Got it?

I suppose that they contract with LFL because they probably fill out a form and pay a registration fee for every Post. I'm wondering about the status of LFL with regards to BSA. It's often referred to as a subsidiary. Can you have a non-profit subsidiary? Non-profits aren't owned by anyone in the way that a stock corporation is. So is it owned by BSA like Philmont is or is it a seperate entity with ties to BSA.

Typo correction. 100/200 = .5

FYI, the Good Turn for America patch does not go above the right pocket, that space is reserved for Jamboree patches. The GTA patch is a temporary patch that is worn ON the right pocket. http://www.goodturnforamerica.org/about/faq.html

Not think you clueless? Most of us are clueless except for one and I'm pretty sure that it's not me.

"I have a parent who has suggested that I stop looking at outside activities and has said that most of the Ship members only want to do advancement in Ship meeting." What have the ship members said? It's likely that the parent thinks that ship meeting should focus on advancement and views other activites as interferring with his goals. "If I get them and dont send them out and he goes to them, I think this might upset even more parents." Got a point there. "Why does HIS son get to do the fun stuff?" Send out the info. If people go, they go. If they don't, they don't.

I can't see wearing an underlayer that looks baggier than my pants.

There's also freeware available that will convert MP4 to WMV. My copy of Nero will allow me to make DVDs with menus, splash screens and even add a sound track to the menu. BUT, I just looked at that MP4 and if you want to blow it up much, the quality will be horrible. Even at 640x480, it isn't that good.

Hops, you need to go back to arithmetic class. 4,000/1,000,000 = 0.004. To find that as a percentage, shift the decimal two places to the right, .4%. For example 10/100 = .1 = 10% or 100/200 = 5. = 50% You see, per cent comes from the Latin per centum, literally meaning "by the hundred." So 10 per cent (or percent) is "ten out of one hundred" which is 1/10, or .1. 4 out of 1,000 would be .4 out of each hundred or 4/10%.

" Would you object if LA refused to sign any contracts with the KKK due to the KKK's racial discrimination, even if the contract was for services that the KKK would supply in a nondiscriminatory way?" Of course.

They don't look like they have a fly which is a BIG problem. Also, I don't care for pants with elastic waistbands, put your car keys in the pocket and you spend your time hiking them up.

What's wrong with group hugs? I'm pretty warm and cuddly for a cantankerous and grumpy middle aged guy.

" Thats .04 percent of the membership," 4/10% or .4 percent.

. . .(This message has been edited by Gold Winger)

IMHO, people are too anxious to get home at the end of meetings. For the most part we're talking about teens who aren't going to be going to sleep at 9 PM no matter what we want. Our meeting were scheduled to go from 7-830 and parents would start yanking their kids out promptly at 830 or sometimes before. It's just a symptom of how little importance is put on Scouting, those parents would wait for an hour outside of Joe's Pizza if Johnny was being paid. Someplace in the Scoutmaster's handbook is the idea of a "Stand-up PLC," to briefly go over the meeting. Sounds like your guy wants to do it with just the SPL. It's part of the job. If dad doesn't like it then maybe he'd be SM. BTW, you don't need a second adult. To avoid one-on-one, the third person can be another Scout. This is also a situation where car pooling helps. Oddly, I could never get parents to go for that. They'd insist on driving to the meeting and then whine about being there. Go figure. In short. Go for it.

Contact a local troop and visit them on a campout.

As strange as it may sound, I concur with Bob.

I thought that BSA and Red Cross had reached an agreement to recognize each others certifications.

Strange how despite the admonition to keep a Scouter's uniform simple and uncluttered, people and BSA keep adding patches to the uniform. For example, why do we need a "Trained" patch? Your CC should know if you are trained and there's no need to broadcast it to the rest of the world. I like the "I was there" patches because they are converstaion starters, epsecially at functions outside of your unit. I don't care for the common custom of wearing a billboard to advertise your son's advancement record. Wear that on your civvies.

There aren't any nationally approved patches to be stacked below the right pocket. Of course, local custom and tradition may be different and may even be authorized by the SE.

" It just seems to me we diminish the meaning when we make it easier to achieve." That's happening to just about everything in this world. A bunch of Scouts from my son's troop didn't bother to show up for the call out. I asked the chapter advisor what happens with them. He said that they could just show up for the ordeal. No problem. Think about all the "no-cut" teams that exist out there because it is hurtful to tell someone that they aren't good enough for varsity. Look at the way so many Scouts don't know their basic skills at 1st Class. They got there because too many adults figure that the badge is more important than the skills. When I was in high school, honor roll was at least a 3.5 average for the semester (I never got higher than 3.4 :-( ). At my kids' school, honor roll is 3.0 so nearly everyone can brag that their child made honor roll. Yep, too much is being watered down.

I think that's been answered with the explanations of what is covered in the wilderness courses. Also, as I said in my last post, call Philmont and talk to them. They probably have very valid reasons for the requirement just like they have valid reasons for not letting fat guys climb mountains or people over 300 lbs, no matter how fit they are.

I resemble that remark!

I'm not asking him to do anything. Maybe instead of asking his EMT instructor or us, he should call philmont and chat with their health officer guy, a W-EMT named Gavin Falkner. I exchanged emails with him and had a few telephone chats before I went. Very approachable fellow. I'm sure that he's fielded my questions a thousand times before but he took the time to answer my questions. Philmont (575) 376-2281 camping@philmontscoutranch.org

"hey are about useless, having to put a rain cover on a hat? Just seems silly to me. They require far more care and attention than a hat should ever need." Why would you ever put a rain cover on your campaign hat? If you're worried about it getting wet, just spray it with scotch guard. Otherwise, the wet is what gives it character. In the good old days, the Scout uniform was tough enough to take what you could throw at it. It was built like work clothes. Heavy cotton that could take thorns and abrasion and come up laughing. Now we have that lightweight stuff that will disintegrate if you are clearing any brush. Everyone is yelling for Nylon. Nylon, nylon, nylon! Why? BDUs are still mostly cotton. It shouldn't be that difficult to come up with a uniform that is durable enough to be worn for arduous work but is still comfortable.