JoeBob

BSA24: Bullseye!

Adding to the requirements? I don't think so. It's written in the bloody book! Swim tests are an annual requirement for BSA water activities anyway. It is not that hard. As an MBC, I would be worried by a scout getting mad about being asked to swim 100 yards. Makes you wonder what he doesn't want you to know.

With respect to Israp's exception, I have to emphasize Eagle732's point. A typical scout (who has not just completed a tipped canoe class) is apt to find an unexpected swim more stressful than a swim test. I'm all in favor of making the swim test as stressful as possible. Neither a hidden eddy wall, a boat wake, nor a wind blast are going to give you five or ten minutes to get ready to take a controlled swim a known distance...

For summer camp, I would recommend AGAINST trying for both shotgun and rifle in the same session. A .22 rifle has virtually no recoil, and boys shooting just the rifle don't flinch or jerk the trigger. They can shoot accurately. A 12 gauge shotgun kicks, even with light target loads, and small framed boys learn to fear that kick, which negatively affects their trigger pull, even when it's just a .22 rifle that they are shooting.

I would advance him, but I'd take his situation as a challenge to improve the program. Boy led is fine. But maybe some adult creativity light a fire for this boy, say mentoring?

Corporations don't really pay taxes. They pass it through to their owners, i.e. you and me.

Escape from New York: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/escape-new-york-high-taxing-empire-state-loses-34-million-residents-10-years Nationally: Top 1% pay ............38% of all taxes Paid Top 2% to 5% .... pay...20%of all taxes Paid In the 6%-10% you pay ..12% of all taxes Paid Between 11% -25% (15% of Taxpayers) pay.. 16% of all taxes Paid The folks between 26% - 50% (25% of Middleclass) pay 11% of all taxes Paid The proud Bottom 50% pay............................... 2.7% The kind of tax reform we need will never get past the bottom 50%.

PapaDaddy stole my answer: Little Johny got Eagle. So EVERYBODY gets Eagle! Yipee!

I get a kick out of my Caucasion friend who immigrated from South Africa. He IS African-American, whereas few of our dark-skinned brothers can trace their ancestory so accurately. I guess you could split the hair and say that he's 'South African-American', but that would segue too easily into Tampa Turtle's comment about 'Southerners."

New leaders don't have a clue! Tiger leaders are just trying to get through the next den meeting. 1- If they have other leaders in their pack who wear knots, the Tiger Leaders don't really know what the knots are for. 2- They aren't sure if they are going to survive this year, much less be around next year to wear fancy awards on their uniform! 3- They probably don't have the time to care, much less invest in 'RoundTable?' To expect new leaders to be aware of an award program aimed at them (BTW - you've gotta fill out your own paperwork...) is not realistic. The Pack has to have a support structure to do that.

I've got a wide foot, but maybe not as wide as yours. I absolutely love Raichle Montagnas. My first pair lasted ten years through three sets of Vibram lugs before the leather gave out. I tried some off brand next, and they fell apart. Back to Raichles for 6 years now, but not clocking the miles I used to. This pair will probably accompany me to my casket in another 20 years. And still be comfortable!

eisley: ROFLMAO!

Not here to hurt any feelings. If being overweight makes you feel bad about yourself, you know what to do about it. From a Scouting point of view: What would you say to a scout who was that out-of proportion?

6- Construct at least two useful gadgets from duct tape, one simple and one complex. (NOT acceptable for completion of this requirement are the old-standy duct tape crafts: Belt, band-aid, or coffee cup. 7- Explain the history of duct tape, and contrast the properties of Duct tape, Duck tape, Gaffer's tape, and Gorilla tape.

Beavah: Methinks thou doest protest too much! SeattlePioneer's comment was an historically correct observation; not a threat. It is entirely germane to this discussion to point out that crapping on police cars, raping girls inside their tents in parks, breaking massive quantities of windows, blocking public access to businesses, and picketting private residences are provocative actions that might invoke a violent response. I'm not worried about a bomber. I'm worried about a lone sniper deciding that an OWS rally is a target rich environment. Remember the ten deaths attributed to the Beltway Sniper in 2002? (BTW - Is an act of violence motivated by the religion of Islam considered Left-wing or Right-wing?)

BS-87: Totally agree with your analysis above. The 'Gay Rights' movement has become the 'Gay In Your Face' movement. Don't you love our un-biased media? For Obama to change his position is a 'thoughtful evolution'. For Romney to change his position is a 'flip-flop'.

This may be your problem: "awards are presented in the diocese's cathedral (not in the local church, like Parvuli Dei) in June, at a time when we can't get the troop to attend as a unit to cheer on their peers" 1- Some boys may be intimidated by going in front of a bunch of strangers at the Cathedral, and hence detered. 2- Why work for an award that's presented over the summer (when you're potentially away), not in front of your peers? A little pin on your uniform that scratches your chest? (So there's no Bronze Pelican pin on my Scout shirt.) 3- No ceremony in front of potential future recruits for the award. It's hard to get fired up about working hard to go to a ceremony you've never heard of or seen... PVD and LOC were pretty easy to promote in Cubs because of the parallels in school. (Catholic School) Thanks for asking this question on the boards, as it gives me a heads up of what is to come. Good Luck, JoeBob

SR540 - Yeah, I agree that the charts are ridiculous. I look like a cadaver at 190. But I also totally agree that many, many Scouters are really overweight. At least in the pool of upper echelon leaders that I know. There are lots of politically correct terms that coddle fatties' feelings. But I choose not to be an enabler. By refusing to acept that Waddling Woodbadgers (sorry - it's an alliterative thing...) are storing food for winter, I motivate mtself to lose a few and spare my joints the wear and tear. Related: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-05-07/obesity-projections-adults/54791430/1

A Scouters' most important job is to set a good example for his boys. If you're fat, that's the example you set right up front. Any other vice, smoking, drinking, womanizing, etc.; is not as apparent on you as being fat. It's right there for all your boys to see, all the time. If you're trying to preach 'physically strong' while waddling around the AO, what's that corpulence done to your credibility? Granted, I'm not very gravitationally challenged at 6'2" and 217 lbs. But I want to get down to 205. What's my motivation? 12 pounds! 12 pounds of extra gear I can haul in my pack if I'm carrying 12 pounds less on my arse! Buck up, men. If you can't do it for yourself, do it for your boys.

$234 - Damn! That's about half price. http://www.odcmp.com/Sales/22commercial.htm I can vouch that these Savages are tack-drivers. The .22 target ammo was also a good deal. Would not cycle a Ruger 10-22 reliably, but worked great in the single shots.(This message has been edited by JoeBob)

Savage Mark 1 FVT. Troop owns 6 purchased through CMP. We qualifed 25 boys this past weekend. Two nights of safety and instruction to be allowed on the trip. Day and a half of shooting and cleaning. And finished tonight with hunting regs. I was really impressed with how well the boys shot using sandbags and the aperture sights on the Savage rifles. By the end of the day we had 5th graders putting 3 rounds in the same hole at 50 feet. Email me and I'll send you a link for pictures.

So, a scout is sitting for T-2-1 in the same night. Have the Tenderfoot BOR. Promote him. During the Second Class BOR, do you bust him if he's not wearing his Tenderfoot badge? And during the First Class BOR, "Hey, Mr. Second Class Scout! Didn't we just counsel you about not wearing your correct badge of rank?!?!?" Tongue out of cheek....

Ah good. The discussion in this thread helped me to resolve a dilema that I was facing: Did I want to sew the handful (4) of knots that I earned as a Cub Scouter onto my uniform now that I've crossed over to Boy Scouts? I'm still registered as CM until next January (Re-Charter Lag), so I could pick a couple more RT checkmarks, and turn in JTE paperwork which would totally legitimize (In District's eyes)knots for CM, DL, and Cub Scouter. But wouldn't all that blue and gold on my chest diminish the single red white and blue knot that I like to wear? I don't want to become a chest thumper, so I'm gonna pass on the Cub Scout knots for me. But I would liked to have had more control over my ability as CM to award those knots to my leaders.

I'm on both side of this issue. As CM; I want to get my DLs, ASMs, multi-year Popcorn-Kernel, and Treasurer recognition for the hours that they volunteer. a- Having awards to wear on the uniform encourages uniform wear. b- Being recognized for hard work motivates more hard work, and helps to get your spouse to back off! c- Sets a good example for the boys. d- Helps with recruiting new volunteers. So I'm motivated to make it easy to get these folks qualified. But I'm also a stickler for doing it right. Either you qualify or you don't, right? But the qualifications keep moving. Some sources say 4 RTs, some say 3. Some Roundtables aren't fit to attend. How do you convince a volunteer leader that you appreciate his time by requiring him to waste 8 more hours of that time listening to announcements and presentations that have almost no bearing on his work? (Warning your DLs that RT is really just a captive audience for ManScouters to pontificate to, doesn't really justify their pain.) QU went away. Are we supposed to accept JTE instead? If the underlying intent of offering knots to adults is to get more and better leaders in your organization, then control of the 'knot standard' should be focused in the hands of the unit. The unit is in a position to know what service the adult has rendered. If the purpose of offering adult knots is to bribe attendance at questionable district programs for extended indoctrination, eh; you can keep 'em. If adult knots are a tightly controled measure of advancement for ManScouters... I thought we weren't doing that?

Media attempt to smear a firearm company that they can't sue out of business. To believe the underlying premise of the story, you have to believe that a major corporation, Remington, finds it economically advantageous to let their lawyers fight lawsuits instead of changing a trigger design. Since 1948. Darwin at work!