JoeBob

One forum member to total the numbers of bulb changing participants so far offered. 256 (including this member's bright idea). Start you totals from here .I V

Interesting to find so much tolerance for an activity that I regard as so dangerous. I've had a little bit of training throwing knives, and never got good at it. When we practiced, the chief skill needed was to be quick enough to avoid the rebound of a poorly thrown knife. (The weigh forward designs weren't as dangerous as the more slender styles sold in sets for penetration and concealment. Those blades were springy as heck and always came back if you didn't stick them!) But the OP was about a first grade boy, 6, and his younger sister throwing 8 inch knives at a tree stump, which I presumed means into the vertical side of a round tree. (As opposed to the end grain of a cross cut log.) So, an organization that won't teach boys to open a pocketknife and whittle a stick until he is 8; forbids paintball; forbids lasertag because a boys might learn to think about shooting another person; discourages sheath knives; won't allow you to walk through camp with an exposed blade in your hand.... Nevermind. If you don't seriously question the judgement of a parent throwing knives with his six year old kids, I'm not going to be able to convince you that a sharp blade spinning eratically through the air near children is bad idea.

At our pack campouts the opening ceremony includes a refresher on "The Rules". One of the most important rules is 'No throwing rocks or sticks'. A throwing knife can certainly be a sub-category of rocks and sticks, and prohibited under that rule. A first grader throwing knives? With familial participation? That's so over the top that I'm having a hard time reacting to it. That's almost grounds for calling DFACS... And I'm no nanny-stater.

You can stop arguing about the severity of the head wound. Any abrasion on the back of Zimmerman's head supports his contention that he was on his back as the result of Martin's actions. Ergo: Self-Defense. Of course there are a still plenty of people who would prefer to believe that Zimmerman got a scratch on his head when he tripped on the body doing a victory dance...

Trayvon Martin was not a child. He was 17. The photos used by most of the media were of a younger, smaller Trayvon. And why not? The media can't sell stories that they can't sensationalize. Remember that the liberal media are hugely biased against guns. The righteous use of a firearm in a self-defense scenario is never reported fairly, if at all. The Martin-Zimmerman confrontation may or may not be a justified shooting. On the scale of Black and White judgements, this one is looking dark gray. So you can expect the media to ignore that Zimmerman is half Hispanic and that Martin is almost 18. If the media thought that they could get away with it, this story would be reported as a stark white skinhead neo-nazi mowing down African American kindergartners with a full auto Uzi during recess so that he could steal their PB&Js.

For an twist on the Square Knot, check out the Thieves Knot: http://www.rcarchive.com/scouts/thief.html

Baloo wuz a bar.

TrainerLady: Thanks for nailing it. If you require academic merit badges, how can you complain about having them done in a classroom? Move your requirements outside, and your classroom will follow. We've got badges for Home Repair, Electricity, and Plumbing. No Air Conditioner Repair?

Had one. Same parents, too. After being nice didn't work, I resorted to publicly embarrasing them: ""Mister, I hope there's not onions on my sandwich because I can't eat onions!" "You certainly have my persmission to take off any onions that might be on your sandwich." "Mister, how far is it now?" "28.6352 miles." "Mister, how long until we get there?" "48 hours, 92 minutes, and 123 seconds. And my name is Mr. JoeBob." "Can you stop the bus and let us off in front of our house? We're gonna drive right by it." "Yes; but your luggage will be at the school with everyone elses." It took a while, but eventually the sarcasm began to sink in. Make 'em pay a price for being rude.

I second Quaze's first post: If you fire the CC, I'll be SM. Maybe the new 'SM Rising' has time to be CC?

Current wording in G2SS: "Scout units may plan or participate in paintball, laser tag or similar events where participants shoot at targets that are neither living nor human representations" http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/HealthandSafety/GSS/gss08.aspx#e So, targets aren't living Cub Scouts, dogs, cats or goats; shooting is approved. Targets aren't human representations like Palin, Obama, Hitler, or Tebow; shooting is approved. G2SS DOES NOT SAY no shooting at representations of living things. If that was what they had meant, they would not have listed representations of humans separately, since humans are living things and would have been included as 'living'.

Pack: You're right! Viagra should not be covered either. Especially mandated Viagra. Except maybe for sailors, who may need Viagra if they lose their mast in a storm...

Hey Calico! "obesity is specifically excluded as a disability, as is owning a boat in the first place.) Are we saying that obese people can be their own boat? ;^)

There's a guy mowing the grass next door wearing an Alabama t-shirt. I am offended! And his mower is loud and kicking up dust. I pay taxes, dang it; so I want the US Army to send me a sniper to shoot this sum-gum. And that sniper better have a silenced rifle, because loud noises disturb my gerbil.

For River Rescue School, you just can't beat Nantahala Outdoor Center: http://www.noc.com/noccom/outdoor-school/river-leadership-courses/water-rescue/ I took this course 30 years ago as a private citizen. Dynamite knowledge, well explained, demonstrated, practiced and tested. Forceful presentations, like how to recover a body from a foot entrapment drowning. Z-drags and rope-work.

And after THAT sales pitch, every parent and boy would head for home and LOCK the DOOR!

Scoutfreakdad, I know that type of terrain: Eglin AFB has a few topos that contain nothing but the four frond symbol for swamp. You and your buddy belt yourselves to trees to sleep! Not a good place to get lost, day or night. I'm scouting now in the rolling hills of GA. Lots of terrain features to mark.

If your site has terrain features (hills, trees, streams, etc.) they'll enjoy land navigation after dark. With lights off, take them 3 or 4 legs (straight lines of travel, with direction changes between legs)into the wilderness. No GPS or compass. No Google maps on an Android! Then let them find their way back, using their lights, if they wish. Turning on your lights after your eyes have adjusted to the dark usually isolates you in your little cocoon. The world looks totally different. It's much easier to evaluate terrain features without a flashlight. You can see them in the distance against the night sky. This a great way for the boys to learn that for themselves. Caveats: 1- If your site is featureless like northern Canada, flat with all the trees looking the same, this won't work. If backtracking the route in daylight isn't a piece of cake, you can't do it in the dark. 2- Tell them what you're doing so that they'll know to look at the terrain going in, so that they can backtrack. 3- A savy adult should stay silently attached to the patrol. You don't want to lose them overnight. 4- If they disagree on the return route, DO NOT let them split up.

OGE, I support the 300 feet concept, and boy led troops. But I'm getting the impression that many in leadership and in training are too lazy to walk 300 feet in the dark to listen quietly to what's going on. "That would interfere with boy led. You don't want to know..." The OP cited a classic example of where boy-led was headed to a cliff.

Absolutely yes! Even without a re-schedule. We've had kids check in their cars before having to go to a basketball playoff. They didn't even get to see their car run. It's about building the car, learning the tools, and working with your dad. Not about being available for 4 hours on a Saturday morning. What would you do if a kid put 20 hours into his car and got sick on PWD day? Save it for next year, kid?

Jay K: The fact that you even have a DI mode, satisfys my inquiry. Good for you. My reluctance to swallow the "Boy-Led / No Adult Interfence" mantra has it's foundation in a little personal experience. Weeb 2s and their dads were invited by troop to an overnight lock-in at a climbing gym; scouts stayed awake all night hollering with the lights full on; making dang sure that no-one else could sleep, either. I approached the SM at 5am about having a word with the SPL. The dads and Weebs were hostages to the troop, and had not been forwarned that they were expected to stay awake all night. Being that inconsiderate of others because they could wasn't the most productive way to recruit new members. The SM replied that "It's their show." and declined to talk to the SPL. Weekly game time became organized 45 minute gang fights on the back field ala "Braveheart." The troop culture got so out of hand, that last month the law was called on someone. No details; all of that is correctly being kept confidential. But the leadership is using having called the law as a recruiting point attesting to their efforts to improve the troop... In the case of the OP, and in my experience, "Boy Led" has become distorted to mean that adults shouldn't even observe because they don't want to know what's going on. ******* To all the Scouters who use Kudu's 300 feet as a shield from reality: ignorance of what is going on will not shield you from liability or moral responsibility. Be sure that you keep in touch with where 'Boy-Led" is leading your men.

JayK: Since no one bled in this scenario, you think adult intervention is not appropriate? Really?

Isn't this an example of 'Boy-led' gone bad? Trainerlady: "IMHO 17 is a kid that could have benefited from scouting if the adult leadership had gotten their heads out of their collective butts before we arrived. But things seemed to have gone for a long time without being corrected and now we have a 17 year handful that likes picking on 10.5 to 12 kids. This isn't a good thing." 17 is a natural leader. Look how many boys he convinced to follow him. Even onto thin ice! 17's leadership overcame any effort at control the current SPL was able to put forward. Alpha leaders in a pack don't step down because of a pre-determined election cycle. He's just leading others in the wrong direction. Probably for his own amusement. Your adults have allowed 17 to stay in the troop? Trainerlady: "17 and his fellow duct taper will be banished from camping and outings for 4 months, not allowed to run in troop elections and will not be passed on Scout Spirit for at least 4 months." So he's got to do something more spectacular? I wonder what that will be... Your adult leaders think that this boy cares about making Eagle? I don't think they understand his motivation. I'm not opposed to boy led troops. Don't take it there. But I do think that the mantra, "The boys are in control" has been taken too far. Adults are using 'boy-led' to hide behind. Maybe the Adult BSA Scouters' Motto should be "Until it bleeds, no adult leads."

Set a good example.

I think we've got two kinds of troops. Youth led troops who use adults for chaffeurs, credit cards, and safety supervision. A little coaching (advice) from an adult may smooth over a bumpy spot. Adult troop. The national organization seems to be based on adults having a place to play boyscout while pretending to support the youth troops. But National has become more about obstacles than opportunities. If we really believe in "Trust them, train them, let them lead." then the National Adult Troop needs to get out of the way.