JoeBob

Double Tapped

A good use for our new drone technology:

Adult instructors at a prestigious council event. I count one that might meet the BMI standard. What a fine example we are for the boys.

And to show up a week early to finish prep and train...

Doing it this year. Combo High Adventure and Summer Camp. Rafting 6 rivers and camping 5 nights in 4 sites: Sunday Ocoee Monday Ropes Course pm Nantahala Tuesday Chattooga 4 Wednesday Chattooga 3 Thursday Pigeon Friday Nolichucky Older boys are assigned Tenderfoot and 2nd Class topics to teach. Some areas taught during the ride to our next site. Schedule and duty roster looks like this: Tuesday Flag Markus xx-Jun 50 mi Breakfast David Chatooga 4 8.45 - 3 KP Nigel 2C 1,2 (Hike Map) Carson Lunch Nathan 2C 3ab 6 (LNT, Site, Animals) Dinner A James KP A Fish 2C 3cdefg (Fire tools) Ethan Dinner B Markus Chattoga Snds KP B Alex SMC Beason Fire Ryan Boy SMC Carson Flag Kyle Wild MB Overnight ? BORs Chattooga 4 is minimum age 13, so the younger boys will get in their 5 mile hike down to 5 Falls and watch the rest come through. Lots of camping and cooking credit. Offering 3 MBs. Wilderness Survival, Nature, and Woodcarving. Worked a deal with the outfitter, NOC, to get better rates by avoiding their busy weekends. Cost is right at $600 per boy, $500 younger. This is heavily Adult planned. The PLC did the duty roster and menus, and are responsible for seeing that it all happens.

I have to ding Troopmaster. Their messaging app had a hiccough last year, and it's never recovered. Mysterious dropping of some eMails to some people. We have to use spreadsheets to be sure that everyone gets troop communications. New advancement chair taking over. He'll get to decide if we switch.

You have to watch those French caterers. They'll put the weirdest things on the menu...

Nah. Stosh just has more ideas.

It would be interesting to see who paid the most money to sell their ideas. Being incendiary: If you charged by the word, liberals will go broke first.

Correct. But that means that the professional staff would have to have enough competent people to do that work. That increases payroll and hurts the bottom line. The bean counter mentality finds it much more efficient to guilt the units into providing volunteers to do that work.

Calico - Thx I was looking at the Audubon but was not sure that I could focus it to local birds that the boys might see. I'm liking the 'App' concept while teaching 'Nature MB' this summer. Makes them use their screens for something besides Halo IV, Revenge of the WaterPistoles!

JoeBob is not Texan, but did compete in Cowboy Action Shooting back when he had spare time. Hence the cowboy hat in the avatar and your understandable misconception. On topic: Does anyone know of a good app for bird-calls? Preferably one that can be localized. We're going to be in the southern Appalachians and I'd like to get samples for the birds common to the area.

O. v. borealis – northern (woodland) white-tailed deer (the largest and darkest white-tailed deer) I can vouch for Wisconsin deer being bigger than what I usually collect in Georgia. And it's hard to shoot an arrow straight with a tab and your fingers when it's been 20 degrees all morning! ScoutSon (12) collected his first this year. And ScoutWannaBeDaughter (14) collected her first 2 on the same day. Whereas I got skunked for the first time in 35 years. Thank goodness the kids are bringing home the meat!

I'm thawing venison as I type. We grind with no added fat 75% of our harvest (aka- kill), 20% sausage for spaghetti sauce, and a few butterflied tenderloins. I like to swab them with liquid butter, flop 'em on the grill shortly, and let them melt in my mouth.

Well, you made me learn something. I thought that Blacktail deer were a sub of Whitetail. Nope. They're more related to mule deer. Based on appearance and geography, a scout might be expected to identify: Odocoileus virginianus - Whitetail Odocoileus hemionus - Mule deer Odocoileus hemionus columbianus - Blacktail deer Odocoileus virginianus clavium - Key Deer But are you really going to expect differentiation to this level: North America[edit] O. v. acapulcensis – Acapulco white-tailed deer (southern Mexico) O. v. borealis – northern (woodland) white-tailed deer (the largest and darkest white-tailed deer) O. v. carminis – Carmen Mountains Jorge deer (Texas-Mexico border) O. v. clavium – Key deer or Florida Keys white-tailed deer (found in the Florida Keys an example of insular dwarfism) O. v. couesi – Coues white-tailed deer, Arizona white-tailed deer, or fantail deer O. v. dakotensis – Dakota white-tailed deer or Northern Plains white-tailed deer (most northerly distribution, rivals the northern white-tailed deer in size) O. v. hiltonensis – Hilton Head Island white-tailed deer O. v. idahoensis – white-tailed deer (western Canada, Idaho, eastern Washington)[8] O. v. leucurus – Columbian white-tailed deer (Oregon and western coastal area) O. v. macrourus – Kansas white-tailed deer O. v. mcilhennyi – Avery Island white-tailed deer O. v. mexicanus – Mexican white-tailed deer (central Mexico) O. v. miquihuanensis – Miquihuan white-tailed deer (central Mexico) O. v. nelsoni – Chiapas white-tailed deer (southern Mexico and Guatemala) O. v. nemoralis – (Central America, round the Gulf of Mexico to Surinam further restricted to from Honduras to Panama) O. v. nigribarbis – Blackbeard Island white-tailed deer O. v. oaxacensis – Oaxaca white-tailed deer (southern Mexico) O. v. ochrourus – (tawny) northwest white-tailed deer or northern Rocky Mountains white-tailed deer O. v. osceola – Florida coastal white-tailed deer O. v. seminolus – Florida white-tailed deer O. v. sinaloae – Sinaloa white-tailed deer (mid-western Mexico) O. v. taurinsulae – Bulls Island white-tailed deer (Bulls Island, South Carolina) O. v. texanus – Texas white-tailed deer O. v. thomasi – Mexican lowland white-tailed deer O. v. toltecus – Rain Forest white-tailed deer (southern Mexico) O. v. venatorius – Hunting Island white-tailed deer (Hunting Island, South Carolina) O. v. veraecrucis – northern Vera Cruz white-tailed deer O. v. virginianus – Virginia white-tailed deer or southern white-tailed deer O. v. yucatanensis – Yucatán white-tailed deer

Is there any doubt that all of this is being driven by the LGBT lobby? Does the LGBT lobby have a history of being good? (I initially typed 'behaving', but didn't want to get sidetracked.) Here's my prediction: 1- Gay Leader Local Option will be allowed 2- COs that opt to not allow gay leaders will be attacked, and pressured to allow gay leaders. 3- Somewhere, one allowed gay leader will be openly flamboyantly gay, forcing the CO to dismiss him. 4- The dismissed leader will sue the CO, because that is why he became a BSA leader. (I really don't mean to impune all gays. Gays are not bad people. Period. But there is a rabid element that needs to destroy something to serve their 'cause'. A few activists will join and flaunt just because they can.) 5- Many COs will drop their charters. CO's don't want to be sued and attacked. The LGBT lobby doesn't like BSA. Dirty boys running through the woods being uncouth and macho is anathema to well-groomed suave suburbanite sensitive gays. LGBT hasn't lost a fight yet. They have the media on their side. Photographers? Florists? Bakeries? If you owned a pizza parlor, would you tell a TV crew that you'd rather not cater a gay wedding? BSA is doomed. Get it while you can!

Once the bean counters are in place, the organization is doomed. Bean counters are comfortable with other bean counters who think the same way that they do. They hire more bean counters. Bean counters are NOT comfortable with people who know their stuff, because bean counters fear being found out. So they attack, diminish and try to marginalize subject matter competent folks. Bean counting becomes more important than growing beans. How do you ever get rid of the BSA bean counters? I fear they are entrenched beyond the ability of C4.

Oh pooey. I have to get serious again: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/05/20/hey-boy-scouts-don-t-squirt.html?intcmp=latestnews Boy Scout officials all wet "Don’t be surprised if the BSA bans campfires and replaces them with simulated flames on portable smartphones. Can’t risk the kids burning their marshmallows Oh, how I fondly recall those carefree days – learning how to tie a knot, building a pinewood derby car and running through the woods playing cowboys and (culturally insensitive word referencing an indigenous people-group deleted). At this rate it won’t be long before the Boy Scouts are teaching kids how to do needlepoint and make milk foam butterfly art for their lattes. It’s no wonder thousands of kids are dropping out of the Boy Scouts. That’s why I recommend that parents get their sons involved in Trail Life USA. It’s a faith-friendly and family-friendly alternative. Trail Life also wholeheartedly endorses Super Soakers and water balloon fights.They even let their kids play paintball. In other words – they let boys behave like boys." ******* Bold red emphasis added. The truth hurts, don't it?

Add feathers, snail shells and spider webs. There is wild animal sign all over. Other scouts do not count, no matter how much they try.

"Mommy, he made me wash a pot! And it was DIRTY!!!" KP is unkind bullying. Especially if you use a water pistol to rinse.

Being shot with a water pistol is unkind bullying... When it's 95 in the shade, "Bully me! Please! More here..."

There goes another 500,000 potential new members. Our embarrassment has hit the national media: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/19/boy-scouts-of-america-bans-water-gun-fights/ Girl Scouts have more balls.

Does anyone else see 'NYLT' and think 'New York Lite'? Sorry for the non sequitur.

ParGolf, I agree with your observation. And I think there are at least 4 dynamics involved. 1- Overscheduled - time crunch. 2- Don't care - self-centered - different parenting style (MY kids). 3- Less interest in scouting. City dwellers don't need no stinkin' camping! 4- Less prestige in being a Scout volunteer. But I had never applied it to what BSA is going to do down the road. Based on a few other threads, it seems like BSA is doing their best to run off volunteers, not retain and recruit. The mystical 'servant leadership' only goes so far.

From Mozart's source: *** Scout Executive The Scout executive: • Provides support and guidance in following the council’s strategic plan • Serves as the council’s commissioned professional and the CEO/executive director • Serves as a member of the council Key 3 • Acts as secretary for all council committees • Hires and supervises all employees of the council, subject to approval by the council executive board • Works with volunteer Scouters on all levels to achieve the council’s mission • Maintains standards in the operation, program, and administration of the council • Executes the decisions of the council within the national BSA guidelines *** I don't see where the SE has the authority to remove a Scouter. You're a volunteer, right? Not an employee. The SE may pressure other volunteers to not use you. But they don't work for him, either. If the Council Exec board decides to lose you, you're gone; from volunteering in that council. Kicked out of scouting? Seems like there would have to be a disciplinary process or something to revoke your membership. Can BSA choose to not renew you? I think you could at least ask for a public hearing. And if you're denied a hearing, you can make that denial public. Here's another place to put y our zeal to work: http://www.traillifeusa.com/connect/forum/nebraska/nebraska/