JoeBob

You made the right decision to cancel.

Flat water canoe training on a lake barely prepares you for a river at normal levels. In the river you have to add the skills of reading the current, eddying out, downstream brace (Upstream will flip you...), ferrying, swimming in a current (Toes up - feet downstream) and river rescue.

High water levels will kill beginners. The increased volume of water makes the river more violent because it is now pushing through obstacles that it hasn't worn smooth over a few thousand years. The swifter current separates the boats more quickly. Swimmers risk entrapment in strainers (debris fields trapped upstream of trees). In many places you'll be denied access to the shore because the water has submerged the beaches. Ever tried to land a canoe through thick trees while the current pushes you downstream?

Now you can go back and have a good whitewater initiation at normal river levels. That will be a much better memory that slogging through dense undergrowth alongside a swollen river in the approaching dark hoping to find a lost scout clinging to a tree.

Thanks for the link Mr. Leroy.

So it would seem that the law enforcement program for Explorers has changed little since established in the 50's. The notable change is the increasing intolerance of the Politically Correct New York Times.

May I share with you the easiest way to remove any glue residue from labels or duct tape?

WD-40. I kid you not! I use it all the time on camera gear; just spray a spot on a paper towel and rub off tape residue.

And anybody who uses duct tape on a regular basis is bound to have a can of WD-40 within reach!

AKDenldr gave me what I needed from the leader book.

The parent allowing his son to count multiple book readings as 1/10th of an arrow point is in the leadership of our pack (he's actually my boss). I needed to provide him with a written reference to refuse his highly motivated son's counting every book read in school as an elective.

Done.

Thanks AKDenlder

;^)

JoeBob

How about a little help with this one:

Wolf elective 6B:

"Choose a book on a subject you like and read it. With an adult, discuss what you read and what you think about it."

In the leadership book it says that a Cub can repeat an elective, but needs to do a better job the second time to receive credit towards arrow points. We have an Akela who credited his son with 15 to 20 elective points for books read as schoolwork. Since the books were progressively more difficult (we're talking 2nd grade here - books aren't long or hard), an argument can be made that each book was 'a better job'.

We both know that we need to draw a line somewhere, and I'd appreciate suggestions on how to tell a scout that he's sorta cheating, when he's following the letter of the law.

Now that we've moved up to Bears, reading books no longer qualifies as an elective; but I can already spot some Bear electives that can be repeated more than once:

"1a: Identify two constellations and the North Star in the night sky."

One elective for every two constellations? And oh, by the way, that's still the North Star.

"1f: Find a picture of another planet in our solar system. Explain how it is different from Earth."

One elective for each of the eight other planets?

etc...

Did you like that softball?

"The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says that approximately 1.5 million {Auto-Deer} crashes happen each year, but the numbers are on the rise. Urban sprawl has humans invading animal habitats and compounding matters are hunting regulations that have led to an increase in the deer population. All in all, $1.1 billion in property damage and 150 deaths are caused each year by deer-vehicle crashes."

http://www.carinsurancerates.com/news/150-worst-states-for-deer-vehicle-crashes.html

GA is number 5 on the list of ten worst states for Auto-Deer collision.

JBlake: Whenever I go deer hunting in WI (we have a small cabin near Minocqua) my Georgia friends harass me to clean my boots so as not to import the prions from CWD. How's that going?

Many states prohibit the sale of meat from game animals to protect those species from poaching. Hence there is no venison or bass in the meat department. The restaurants that offer venison in my state are serving you frozen venison from New Zealand. No wonder people think it taste like cardboard!

180 rabbits in a day is some work! My record was about 140, but that was with 6 boys shooting behind a pack of beagles. Rabbits eat a lot of soybeans. And they multiply like, well, rabbits.

Farmers in south Georgia regularly get depredation permits from the DNR to shoot deer with spotlights in their fields at night. They let 'em rot on the ground because there are just too many. Feral hogs are a growing monster. Look for a Discovery Channel program call 'The Pig Bomb'.

Be patient with us BP, we'll do our best to enlighten you.

;^)

JoeBob

Mark me down as a 'backwards and archaic' Southerner, and damn proud of it.

I don't like what electronic games are doing to our kids ability to concentrate: they can't!

The impersonal nature of the internet has enabled rude and boorish behaviour online that one would never abide face-to-face. I'll take Southern manners.

It's hard to find a neighborhood where the inhabitants even know the folks next door; they're too absorbed in 'American Idol'.

I thought scouting hoped to preserve some of the good qualities of the past, but ceded ground to newfangled concepts in order to attract the kids into a character building organization. Can anyone tell me of ONE kinder and gentler custom that has emerged from our modern fray?

Using exciting firearms training to teach older kids to evaluate shoot/no-shoot situations (JUDGEMENT) and how to use cover fire and movement (TEAMWORK) sounds like a great way to keep good children on the right side of the law. The good guys are serious and competent. If I become a bad guy, these are the ones that will be coming after me.

Weaponry has always appealed to boys. It's the testosterone. The BB guns and archery that are always the biggest draw at Cub Scout day camp should naturally evolve into something more serious like airsoft pellets and paintball as the kids get older.

Guns are tools that you have to learn to respect and use properly. To demonize such a tool or try to pretend that they don't exist indicates either ignorance or cowardice. Please accept my apologies in advance if that belief offends you.

There's nothing wrong with being a little backwards and archaic. My daydreams are of the days when women were WOMEN, men were MEN, and the sheep were afraid...

'Scuse my uncouth. I admit that I hesitated before clicking 'submit'.

If I could have spun off the newly developed chili recipe thread so as to protect your sensitivties, I surely would have done so.

But I wanted to poke at the the namecaller to see if he wuz still lurkin', and we've only seen him here, on this thread about Bigotry in the BSA.

You do know that too many habaneros in your chili can cause 'pinkpooj', right?

Never said I was nice.

Haven't seen hide nor hair of 'Pinkpooj' lately.

I guess his hemorrhoids quit leakin'.

(That was the basis for his screen name, wasn't it?)

Dang Skeptic!

I'm working late here with no dinner yet. (Checked the forum while waitng on a large file to save...) That chili recipe has got me salivating on my keyboard. My typing is challenged enough without all the slipping and sliding that you've caused me.

Although I do like fresh jalapeno in my chili, that sweet recipe might turn the key for the kids.

'Preciate it!

Just another Slobbering Bigot

Have y'all ever noticed that secure people who are comfortable with who they are don't mind what other folks think. Scouters are in fact a rather tolerant lot.

It's the people who aren't very happy in their life who want everybody else to be just like them...

Slice of Pi:

1...... 3.141592

1..... 65358979323846264338

1.... 3279502884197169399375105820974

1... 94459230781640628620899862803482534211706798

1.. 21480865132823066470938446095505822382148086513282306

1.. 64709384460955058223172535940812848111745028410270193852110

1... 5559644622948954930381964428810975665933446128475648

1.... 2337867831652712019091456485669234603486104

1..... 543266482133936072602491412734

1...... 5870066063155881748

1....... 81520920

If I'm going to waste time playing with trolls, I want it to look good!

Pi r rectangular:

3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993

751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421

170679821480865132823066470938446095505822382148

086513282306647093844609550582231725359408128481

117450284102701938521105559644622948954930381964

428810975665933446128475648233786783165271201909

145648566923460348610454326648213393607260249141

273458700660631558817488152092096282925409171536

436789259036001133053054882046652138414695194151

Can you send us a link to a picture of yourself?

I want to know if trolls still have warts...

http://www.fotosearch.com/CSP056/k0567087/

Yup. And Georgia's suit seems to be about 2nd amendment infringements.

Other than seccession, what other forms of leverage do the states have to force adherance to the 10th Amendment? Withhold tax payments?

Texas has plenty of company:

(There is) "a Georgia state Senate resolution that appears aimed at opening the door for secession.

This seems to be a bit of a trend: Oklahoma's Legislature this week overrode Gov. Brad Henry's veto to pass a "sovereignty" resolution, and similar moves are afoot in Georgia and South Carolina.

The Tenth Amendment Center (tagline: "the powers not delegated ..."), which supports and tracks these move, lists bills introduced in 35 states, most a bit less blunt about dissolving the union than Georgia's. They've passed at least one body of the legislature, according to that list, in 10 states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Georgia, Indiana, Idaho, Tennessee, Missouri, Montana (where it eventually failed) and Alaska, where Gov. Sarah Palin will decide whether to sign."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0509/Red_states_seek_sovreignty.html

A Yankee comes to visit south of the Mason Dixon Line, spends his money, and goes home.

A Damn Yankee! comes to visit and likes it so much that he stays.

acco44: Soldiers may enlist for politics or ideals, but they die for their friends. It's an honor thing, like treating the flag that represents dead warriors with respect.

Packsaddle: I married my Yankee because no self-respecting Southern girl would have anything to do with me. What's your excuse?

Green shorts might not hide skid marks as well as khaki would...

I'm a Rebel, but I've learned to avoid re-fighting the War of Northern Aggression. The even-toned historical observations of many of y'all Northern Scouters have made me right proud.

I'd like to hope that if that conflict had ended differently, and this discussion was about retiring the Yankee Colors alongside a victorious Confederate States of America flag flown over a battelfield where both sides had lost warriors; that the South would have enough class to treat the Yankee flag representing their dead with honor.

Soldiers don't die for nebulous causes they don't understand; only 6% of Southerners even owned slaves and 120 New Yorkers were killed in the anti-conscription riots of 1863. Soldiers die for their friends and fellow warriors.

I married a Yankee from IL, but my kinfolk view it as a hostage situation. My wife and I aren't sure who is holding whom hostage. But it's fun to swap...

And here I thought y'all were gonna get into too DEEP leadership in the caves...

Having a Park Commission meeting to vote to evict BSA and a City Council meeting to approve that eviction, without even having BSA present to explain their side of the issue would seem to be a pretty hostile act. Can we call that an attack?

The lawsuit is merely a defense against that attack.

Any untruths in the BSA suit can be challenged in court, and the matter adjudicated much more fairly that at sneaky meetings designed to circumvent public scrutiny.

From the text of the lawsuit, page nine: The City demanded, received, and accepted a non discrimination statement from CoL that has been in effect since Jan 2004.

" 34. Neither the City nor anyone else has alleged that Cradle of Liberty has ever violated the Non Discrimination Statement, or that Cradle of Liberty has in any way violated the agreement reached in January 2004."

The City loses because it is violating it's own agreement reached earlier in this dispute. They later held a park commission meeting to vote to suspend CoL'c lease without telling CoL of the meeting. Then one councilman, without notice to the other members of the council or CoL, introduced a resolution approving the eviction of CoL. (Gay activist groups were notified and invited to the meeting.) Not very Trustworthy...

The City loses under 'Equal protection under the Law'. Other groups with similar membership policies and similar lease arrangements are not being evicted.

The City loses under 'Unjust enrichment' by stealing from the scouts the property that the scouts have paid to construct, renovate ($1.5 million in 1994), and maintain ($60,000 annualy). The proposed rent to City asks ($200,000) is twice the most expensive office space in Philadelphia...

If BSA membership policies are okay with the Supreme Court, why should the City be allowed to ride over BSA's contitutionally guaranteed rights to satisfy some activist group?

They are only trying to do this because the Scouts are iconic of a culture they despise.

Where's the agrument?

John in KC

You made me look it up!

GENERAL ERIC SHINSEKI, ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF:

"Now, many different units have worn berets throughout our history, and in the case of the black beret, other formations, to include armor units, cavalry units, other infantry units, have worn it over time. And because of that shared history in our Army, the black beret remains the most relevant color for wear Army-wide today.

And so at the time of our decision last fall to expand the wear of the black beret, the Ranger regiment was invited to consider, if appropriate, another distinctive color that it might select to designate its formations. And after considering several options over these intervening months, the regiment requested and the Army has approved the tan beret for wear by Rangers."

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0103/16/se.04.html

A beret in a clank-clank makes sense. Eyes to scopes, heads turning in close quarters and a cushion against bumps.

When I was in, the Rangers had just started wearing the black and enjoyed the recognition of being another special op force.