Hal_Crawford

I am a firm believer that every scout--actually every person--who can learn to swim should. I believe that every scout who can earn Swimmer MB should. Even though I am an Emergency Preparedness counselor I encourage every scout who can to earn Lifesaving instead. I feel strongly about this but I accept that not every scout can do these things and that does not make him less of a scout. There is so much more to scouting than swimming and other water activities.

With a diagnosed phobia I think the scout would have a case as a "Scout with disabilities" and should have been able to complete alternate requirements. This is clearly not a case of "being a little scared".

I have a problem with the idea that without swimming it is not scouting. We have had two scouts in my 12 years with our troop that could not swim. One had ear surgery(ies) that left him unable to submerge his head. He completed alternate requirements for First Class and went on to earn Eagle without any further accommodations.

The second is a scout with multiple physical and intellectual disabilities. Swimming is one of a number of things he cannot do. Scouting for him is different than it is for most boys but he remains active as a 21 year old Life Scout working on Eagle. He does his best and works harder for advancement than many more "abled" scouts. Is he less of a scout because he had to earn alternate requirements and substitute some required merit badges?

I sure hope not.

Hal

"Some people said she cast a curse on the Rolling Stones and turned them all into dull, ugly, wizened, used-up old men"

Nah... it was the drugs. If they don't kill you you first you end up looking like Mick and Keith. Now that is a cautionary tale.

Hal

OGE wrote:

"How did the colonials ever survive without such required information?"

Actually, in both the Jamestown and Plymouth colonies, roughly half the colonists perished the first winter. Maybe they needed the Action XX Weather Team to sort it out for them. They probably needed more than winter weather advice as they didn't fair much better in warm weather.

Actually, I agree that the coverage was pretty over the top. One local station preempted all network programming Friday night to provide continuous coverage of the storm. Not much point to say don't go out--the dumb ones were already out so they weren't seeing the warning. Besides, with closings scrolling across the top of the screen and updates scrolling across the bottom there wasn't much picture left in between.

Still and all, there were a lot of stupid people out there but again, I don't think the TV teams were going to impact Darwinism in action.

A note on the clearing of snow. How fast the snow gets plowed is proportional to how much local and state governments budget for snow removal equipment and personnel. In the Twin Cities they budget a lot, here in DC not so much and when 4" of snow hits Atlanta civilization collapses! How much is budgeted affects how much is paid in real estate and other taxes. I have friends in the Twin Cities who pay twice the tax rate that we do in Northern Virginia. Of course they wouldn't have had schools closed for six days in a row. If we paid the kind of taxes it would require it would be money wasted most years.

Department of irony: Our district has postponed this year's Klondike Derby--twice--due to snow.

My street's plowed--one lane--back to work tomorrow.

Hal

Great article. I just forwarded it to our troop's leaders. Don't think I would have expected an article about scouting in Wired.

Thanks,

Hal

Whether this movie is pro or anti scouting; pro or anti Obama doesn't really matter. I doubt that this film will ever make it past You Tube or maybe a limited DVD release. Looking at the trailer and the film maker's credentials--or lack there of--I can't imagine that we will be seeing this on the marquee at the local multiplex. Nothing about it has the sort of commercial appeal that would make distributors or theater owners see dollar signs. It looks low budget, low quality, and it lacks any star power to make it marketable.

We've never camped inert; we camp intense.

Sorry.

Hal

We had a scout a few years back who came to summer camp each summer but after reaching 1st class he rarely ever camped with the troop or attended meetings. He served as a Den Chief (his dad was the DL) from the time he earned 1C until he aged out. Based on that and merit badges earned at camp he earned Star and (if I recall) Life but never finished Eagle. He probably showed up enough to meet these new requirements. At about the time he aged out he delivered a full den of cross overs (including his younger brother), most of whom have remained active scouts by any definition. That was a surprise.

His brother camped a few times, attended summer camp and then disappeared without having earned Tenderfoot. He was dropped at the next recharter.

About a year ago at age 15 he returned and rejoined the troop. His old Den mates were all 1C, Star or Life and most were active in high adventure. They convinced him that what he really wanted to do was go on the summer trek. Of course he needed to be 1C. He spent the next six months leaning into the requirements with his buddies coaching, teaching and encouraging. Four weeks before the trek he earned Tenderfoot and Second Class. A week later he earned First Class. He did great on the trek and has been active ever since. I doubt that he will earn Eagle, advancement does not seem important to him but who knows? That could change as well.

Hal

Voyageur:

Among other things, I supervise a theatrical costume shop. Our costumer often orders period shirts and the like from Jas. Townsend and Son

http://jas-townsend.com/

They show fringe (though perhaps not the fringe you're thinking of) on hunting frocks from 18th century through Mexican American War. Can't lay my hands on any of my costume history books at the moment but I think that is correct.

Colonial Williamsburg shows a similar fringe on a hunting shirt but they acknowledge that the design is largely conjectural (http://www.history.org/History/clothing/men/mglossary.cfm)

Hal

I agree that you should always know where you are and what a gesture means in that location. When I lived in Brazil I learned that the gesture that means A-OK in the US (tip of first finger to tip of thumb making a circle) means F-U down there. I knew a couple of guys who learned it the hard way.

Hal

220, 221... whatever it takes.

I think I was about 10 or 11 when I read Thirty Seconds over Tokyo. As he gets a little older Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day and A Bridge Too Far are both good. Stephen Ambrose's Band of Brothers and Wild Blue are also great. The latter is about a B-24 crew commanded by George McGovern. I have read all these books more than once.

Hal

Check out Ken Burns, The War on PBS.

http://www.shoppbs.org/product/index.jsp?productId=2784345

This may be available at your public library. I am not sure about the age appropriateness of this so you may want to preview it to make up your own mind.

Listening to live vets is even better. Try putting the word out through your cub pack and school to see who has a grandfather who parachuted into Normandy or a great uncle that fought at Guadalcanal. Some of our scouts had the privilege of listening to a former Ranger who had scaled the cliffs at Point du Hoc on D-Day. Seems that a lot of WW2 vets became scouters so look around in your district or council. We had an Eagle adviser (recently deceased) who was a Pearl Harbor vet. You might try placing a call to local VFW or American Legion maybe they have a member or two who would love to share his memories with some eager Cub Scouts (and their dads).

Good luck.

Hal

I mentioned this to some of our scouts tonight. There was a fair amount of excitement about Tracking and Signaling. I think we have some potential counselors so we might get a few takers.

Hal

Well that pretty much reduced the last year to a single post. Way to go!

Hal

So the logic is that pedestrians and automobile drivers do not wear helmets and yet there are more casualties from those activities than from cycling, hence cycling is safer? Expanding on this: pedestrians do not wear parachutes, drivers do not wear parachutes; since far more pedestrians and auto drivers suffer fatal accidents then why should skydivers wear parachutes?

It's apples and oranges or maybe smashed pumpkins.

Hal

Here's a requirement for Pathfinding:

5. Give telephone number, if any, and directions for reaching the nearest police station, fire-fighting apparatus, Court House or Municipal Building, the nearest Country Farm Agent's office, doctor, veterinarian and hospital.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Imagine a day when a police station might not have a phone number. Living in Arlington County, Virginia which has 208 thousand folks in just over 26 square miles it is hard to imagine where the nearest Farm Agent's office is.

In truth this whole merit badge would take an afternoon to complete and many of the requirements are contained in Citizenship in the Community. Compared to the other three it seems to be low hanging fruit.

Hal

Good question. There is nothing in the Guide to Safe Scouting that specifically requires helmets for horseback riding.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Horsemanship Activities

Horsemanship activities in Scouting include merit badge activities, arena rides, multi-day trips (including treks and cavalcades), and Cub Scouting familiarization rides.

Each sponsoring council should take care to design age- and activity-appropriate procedures and guidelines for each particular equine activity. It is not possible or appropriate to dictate each aspect of every program.

Requirements must also be met if the horseback riding program is provided by or at an off-site facility. The council must enter a contractual agreement as outlined in the resident camp standards.

Horseback riding activities are limited to Wolf Cub Scouts and older members.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FWIW there is a picture of a helmet (among other things) on the cover of the Horsemanship merit badge book.

Hal

"HiLo, maybe we should ship GaHillBilly to a penal colony"

I can't resist pointing out that Georgia, like Australia started out as a penal colony.

Since we are talking farb, Showtime is re-running The Tudors a steamy pot boiler that makes total hash of the history of Henry VIII (reign 1509-1547) and his 6 wives and numerous girlfriends.

Some examples:

A flint lock pistol (17th century invention but it looks like an 18th century model).

Carriages with leaf spring suspension (19th century).

Many of the costumes are Elizabethan, a later period with a different silhouette. (Tudor think squares, Elizabethan think triangles).

A bishop wearing his hat (biretta) sideways.

King Henry wearing his pumpkin pants to bed as if they were boxers. That's silly.

King Henry still looking buff and not a day over 30 at a point in his life where he would have been 45 and fat.

Of course everyone too clean.

Can people be farb? The characters of Henry's sisters Margaret and Mary are combined into one. "Margaret" marries the King of Portugal (never happened) and after murdering him (?) she marries Charles Brandon who was the real Mary's second husband (the first was Louis XII of France who reputedly died from overexertion in bed). Since the real Margaret should have married James IV of Scotland then I guess this series eliminates the rest of the Stuart line including James V (Margaret's son), Mary Queen of Scots (her granddaughter) and James VI of Scotland (geat grandson) who would have succeeded Elizabeth to the throne of England as James I but I guess couldn't because his great grandmother never meets his great-grandfather.

Various characters and time lines are drastically changed for dramatic purposes. There is lots of sex and nudity at least when they are naked they aren't wearing farb.

Oh yes, and in this version Cardinal Wolsey commits suicide. Who could blame him?

Hal

That's great! While not purely scientific jargon I would add:

STATE OF THE ART EQUIPMENT

It was when we specified it but now it's obsolete.

Hal

It was great; best piece of PR for scouting I have seen in a long time! I wonder how many million people were seeing that on the various channels. The announcers on HGTV all professed a current or past affiliation with Scouting (a former Cub, a former foreign scout and the mother of a Cub). One said "everyone should be a scout".

Great start for the centennial year!

Happy New Year.

Hal

The scouting.org list is a summary of changes, not the exact wording of the requirements. The requirements page has not been updated to the current requirements, probably because today is a holiday. I would hope that by Monday the 2010 requirements will be posted and they will hopefully match those in the Handbook. If it is an issue between now and Monday I would go with the Handbook.

I am certain that the intent is that by the time he reaches FC the scout will have given examples of how he has lived each point of the scout law not twelve different ways in which he has been "clean".

Happy New Year,

Hal

Don't forget that a scout needed to know how to stop a run-away team of horses and how to rescue people from a house full of gas or a burning building. Things were a lot different before phones were common place.

Also, skip to the merit badge requirements and check the requirements for Inventor MB. It was discontinued by 1916 because only an handful of scouts had completed the two simple requirements to earn the badge. Requirement one was to invent something and secure a patent for the invention.

Hal

"HIV/AIDS was and is a disease primarily of IV drug abusers and homosexuals."

True, those are the two largest catagories of infected individuals. Next in line is women who contract it through heterosexual contact (>102,000) and then men who fit into both of the first two categories followed by men who contract it through heterosexual contact (>60,000, still significant).

http://aids.about.com/od/dataandstatistics/qt/exposure.htm

So Vol, the largest number of new AIDS cases are African American men (49% for 2006).

Would you say that this would justify barring African Americans from membership in the BSA? I hope not. Or could it be that AIDS is just a convenient excuse for demonizing and excluding gays?

As to the women victims you have treated. It is truly tragic that they were deceived by their husbands or boyfriends and now are faced with this dreadful disease. In the case of those who were infected by men who also slept with men, how many of the women knew that their partners slept with men? I suspect that number is very small. Of course the men who pretend to be straight even though they are actually engaging in homosexual sex are not barred from being scout leaders. As many have pointed out, they are already among us.

Hal

No matter how much attention is paid to period detail most reenactments leave you with the impression that the Civil War was fought by men in their forties and fifties (or even older). You see precious few of the teenagers who made up the bulk of the combat troops.

Visit Colonial Williamsburg and ask yourself what the city and the people would look like if the streets were historically accurate (not paved), especially after a day or two of rain.

A certain level of inaccuaracy is pretty much inevitable.

Hal