KoreaScouter

FOG: Okay, your son may not be from WV, but you're certainly eligible for honorary citizenship if you ever paid for any professional services using any kind of livestock as currency. KS

Everything you've been advised to do, has come your way in most cases because the person advising you did the opposite and paid the price in blood pressure, gray/lost hair, or both. In my case, I made the mistake early on of placing the "Leadership Development" method on a pedestal or in a "supernumerary" position over the other 7. You know, the admonition to "...let 'em fail, it'll teach them how to be leaders". Sure, and in the meantime, if those failures include failure to execute the monthly program, failure to delegate within their patrols, failure to instruct younger Scouts, then your other methods will suffer, or you won't be using any methods if Scouts quit because they're not getting what they were promised on page 1. I saw that happening at first. So, while Leadership Development is an important method, it's no more important than Advancement, the Outdoor Program, the Uniform, etc. I won't allow a Scout's shortcomings in Leadership Development to adversely affect other methods. Even while providing all the BSA training, stand-up PLCs, reflections, etc., I keep a "safety net" stuck in my backpack so that a Scout's stumble or oversight doesn't knock the rest of the Troop over like bowling pins. In a nutshell, don't confuse "boy led" with "boy led into the ground", or subordinate the other methods in order to say you have a "boy led Troop". Adult Association's a method, too... KS

Mark, Absolutely, and you bring up a dynamic in your Troop that I've had to deal with too. As FOG mentioned, the polling of other adults in a Scout's life to determine SS isn't required, and certainly doesn't happen like it was expected to in days gone by. Yet, if a Scout's parent is a leader (or even, much to their chagrin, the SM), or if he pals around with one who is, or if the community's small, or if the CO is a church, private school, or has some other "hook" in the Scout, the SM will almost by default know a lot more about the Scout's life during the 166 1/2 hours a week he's NOT at Troop meetings. So, how do you keep the playing field "level"? In other words, I know almost immediately if one Scout in my Troop has had a bad day at school, dogged it on his chores, fell asleep in church, pestered his sister, or given his mom a "pushback" on the yard work. Yep, mine (great kid 99% of the time, but no different from any other 13-year old in the end). I don't have surveillance cameras on the others, so how do I treat this "insider information"? What I've come down to is trying not to put him at an "unfair disadvantage" because his life with the roses and the thorns is playing out full time before my eyes. It must be working okay, because he doesn't feel like he's oppressed or constantly under the microscope. The approach I use is that Scout Spirit is a journey that probably doesn't have a destination; I'm not insisting on perfection, but that they do their best and show continuous, even if gradual, improvement. I, too, have used the "how do you think you've done?" approach in counseling, and find that the counselee is usually much tougher on themselves than I would have been. KS

SA; That's the idea; use it any way you can! Safety admonitions can be heavy-handed and monotonous -- I like those because they get the message across, and keep your interest, and even entertain. Bottom line, if people are paying attention, that's half the battle. I especially like the fact that even though these accidents happened to military people, so many are directly applicable to us in Scouting that little to no "word smithing" is required for them to be 100% relevant to any of us, too. KS

As a SM, I pay very close attention to Scout Spirit, and except for my own son, sign off that requirement along with the SM conference, myself. I even annotate the Troop Record Book when any of our Scouts have SS breaches that come to my attention -- you can be sure that it will be a topic of discussion at SM conference time. While I appreciate Mark's approach as an Advancement Chair and the fact that they're not "rubber stamping" the BORs, I'd like to ask a question that is in no way intended to question the dedication of the unit leaders or assume I know anything about his unit. Here goes: If Scouts are "recusing" themselves from their BORs for Scout Spirit, is there a disconnect between the committee and the Scoutmaster regarding what "Show Scout Spirit" means? Many advancement requirements are cut/dried -- you earned the MBs or you didn't; you had ten activities or you didn't, and so on. However, with the requirements that are subject to interpretation (active, POR, Scout Spirit, for example), I try to ensure, before the SM conference, that the committee and I are consistent in how we apply these requirements, across all the ranks. I like to think that unless a Scout "melts down" at his BOR, if he makes it past me he'll complete his BOR with a rank advancement. Needless to say, we haven't "bat a thousand", but I don't recall a Scout having to re-do his BOR because my definition of the requirement was different from the BOR's... Perhaps it's just a difference in technique; I prefer to make tough judgements at my level -- I discuss SS with the SPL and ASMs, but haven't bumped "grey-area" Scouts up to the BOR for them to make or force the call. I have a couple Scouts right now who are otherwise complete or near-complete on requirements for advancement to their next rank. But, they're deficient in Scout Spirit, they know it because we've discussed it, and they know what they need to do to fix it. The rest is up to them. I'm not going to waste his time or the BOR's time by scheduling him for a BOR, unless it's one of those "special" ones that's intended to discuss why he's not advancing. Again, I don't mean to stick a pin in anyone's hiney; please don't take it that way. I'd like to know if I'm out in left field here, though. KS

Applicable to Scouts, Scouters, and Scouting, adapted in part from military safety lessons learned. It's long, but you'll probably find something you like. KS ______________________________________________________________ Some safety words of wisdom Take a minute to read the G2SS section, and the rules that apply to the activity youre planning. Sometimes they aim at the lowest common denominator, but they aren't casting aspersions on your I.Q. or your common sense. They keep us from learning the hard way. And if you're tempted to ignore them, take an additional minute to consider how it will look when someone replays the video Next time you're tempted to "repair" something with a single layer of electrical tape, ask yourself how the damage got there in the first place. At least use duct tape. Just kidding. It says something when you search the internet for skateboard slang, and of the 14 words on the very first site you visit, seven have to do with falling and crashing. Kinda lets you know what to anticipate when you take up the sport. Every major labor-saving device meant to help us subdue the great outdoors seems to offer yet another opportunity to slice, dice, chop or puree parts of our anatomy. For example, the ability of the common lawn mower to reduce the number of little piggies available for such tasks as going to market and having roast beef has been well-documented. Be careful with anything that has moving parts. The good news is that it always happens to the guy from the other unit. The bad news is that to everyone else, you are the other guy. If the sound of your personal vehicle shedding paint and broken glass while crumpling into a wad with you inside isn't the world's worst alarm clock, I'd like to know what is. I hereby propose that the English language dispense with the word "siphon" altogether, by removing the "h" and making it "sip on," because that's what the human suction pump often does to whatever noxious liquid is in the hose. Two simple equations that apply to everyone. First, initiative plus knowledge equals kudo. However, bright idea plus overconfidence equals booby-trap. Bad habits and risky behavior don't qualify as "experience." Experience is when you take the time to learn how to do something the right way, practice, pay attention, keep learning, and follow the rules. Deciding that because you got away with doing something stupid means you will always get away with it, well, that isn't being "experienced," it's being a future ambulance passenger. In the line of fire is a dangerous place to be. When a Scout with a weapon points it at you, assume something very small, hard, fast, and painful will emerge. Lets all assume that common sense is increasingly uncommon (trust me, we arent exactly going out on a limb here, what with the demise of the family farm). Lets actually read the instructions and the warnings. Precautions should not generate their very own emergencies. As Dirty Harry said, "A mans got to know his limitations." Add to that this salient quote from Alexander Pope: "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." If you dont take this advice, you run the risk of self-inflicting some other limitations, such as how well your arms and legs work. The accident report said, "Alcohol was a contributing factor." No foolin'. Thats like saying sunset contributes to darkness, or rain contributes to puddles. Also, thats why its not allowed where Scouts are present. Granted, some safety devices on tools make it harder to cut wood. Theyre awkward, but thats fine, because they also make it much harder to lop off parts of your extremities, which many tools find much too easy. If theres one word that brings a shudder to someone who has read several thousand mishap reports, it is "self-taught." You have to ask yourself, how much does the person youre learning from know? Regardless of how fast they can cover a hundred meters, no Scouter in the history of the movement has ever been able to outrun the fireball that blossoms when they throw a match into a pile of wood they've just doused with gasoline. Three things you should never mix: a snow-covered hill, an inner tube and a tree. The buddy system requires more than one buddy to stand on the shore and point to the other buddy's hat floating in the water and say, "I think he sank about right ... there." So, what's a seatbelt cost, anyway? Nothing, right? Comes with the car, and most people never consider the cost of the thing. But it's priceless, isn't it? Unless you can put a price tag on the value of human life, there's no way to determine what you'd pay for a buckled seatbelt one nanosecond after you simultaneously realize you need it, and discover you don't have it on. Probably, you'd give everything you have for one right about then, wouldn't you? But, you'd be too late right about then, wouldn't you? They just call it "softball"--it really isn't. If you're still riding bicycles, there's a couple of laws you have to be mindful of. Law of gravity--that's important to pilots and most of the rest of us. Then there's the law of unintended consequences, always something to keep in mind, as in "What are the unintended consequences of me zipping through this intersection on this yellow light?" But the one law that should remain uppermost in your consciousness at all times is the law of gross tonnage. Ahhh ... dads and lads. A sure formula for disaster--especially when one of them is ten years old and the other acts like he is. About the only thing I can imagine you could do to make riding in the bed of a pick-up truck any more dangerous than it already is, is to be back there and be holding on to a poisonous snake. Sport parachuting--two words that spring most readily to mind whenever anyone asks me to define "oxymoron." You know, the wonderful thing about these extraordinary human beings we call Scouts and Scouters is that, regardless of the obstacles they may encounter, they will do what ever it takes to get a job done. We as leaders, need to keep that in mind lest we engender a false sense of urgency into routine tasks. Nothing we will ever do is worth the risk of one member's life--nothing. And don't let anybody tell you different. Being young, strong, pretty, handsome, or a nice person counts for nothing. Being aware, alert, thoughtful, and sober counts for everything. Every act has its consequences. Everything costs, either in coin or kind. The question should always be, "What am I willing to pay?" Before your next road trip, plan to get plenty of rest. Find your blanky, climb into your Doctor Denton's, zip up the front, button up the back, crawl into bed and get a good night's sleep. Come to think of it, thats great advice even if youre not taking a trip. We come far too late to the realization that life plunges invariably and inexorably onward, regardless. You must prevent tragedy--you cant change it, erase it or rewind the tape and try again once it's happened. Most mishaps start with what folks considered a "minor oversight" or an "acceptable chance" just seconds before the pain started. They were doing things that they had done hundreds of times before without any problem. And they got just comfortable enough to let their guard down. Bad things don't happen just to bad people. No watchmaker markets a wristwatch that sounds an alarm right before you do something stupid. That's what the little bell in the back of your head is for. Why do people pouring Coleman fuel onto a campfire always have enough time to spend 15 minutes waiting for the ambulance, 30 minutes for the ambulance ride, two and a half hours getting treated at the hospital and four hours writing up the accident report, but they never have enough time to read the G2SS and take the precautions that would have prevented all that pain and wasted time in the first place? Just because you can't see the bottom of the pond doesn't mean it is deep enough to dive. Next time you are thinking of doing something ingenious, first make sure it isnt "ungenius." Ego has no place on the interstate, it's just excess baggage. Slow down, take a deep breath and, as you let the loon who's trying to cut across nine lanes of traffic before the last exit to Whackosville slide in front of you, smile. You'll feel better and he'll be befuddled for a week. It's not only the best-laid schemes o' mice and men that gang aft a-gley. The worst-laid fare no better. There's this little town in Spain where they have a free school that will teach you everything you need to know about bulls in under fifteen minutes. Go to Pamplona. When they let the bulls into in the streets, do what everyone else does: run like a scalded dog. Trying to insert a key into the keyhole of a door of a van whilst running alongside it in the dark as it bounces downhill backwards over rough terrain is not a skill that matures quickly. Safety belts onsmart. Very smart. Taking your eyes off the road while driving seventy in a rainstormdumb. Very, very dumb. Don't make the mistake of assuming that because you cannot save the whole of mankind, you have failed. I'm not asking you to save the world. Just to change one life for the better--just one. I believe that in the times to come we're pretty much going to have the BSA we deserve and my heart tells me that all it will take for BSA to be as good and as strong as it can possibly be is for each of us to practice being accountable to one another. Our answer, when someone asks the ancient question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" ought to be, "if you're not, you're in the wrong program." In a clash of titans, young bones always win. Remember that when the geese fly south and the chill wind makes you think you've still got what it takes. You don't. Personally, every time I get to feelin' sort of invincible, like nothing bad could ever happen to such a neat guy as me, I recall the last words of General John Sedgwick, who said, as he watched the rebs and his yankee troops skirmish in the distance around the Spotyslvania Courthouse, "Don't worry none. They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist--." Every time someone dumps two gallons of gasoline on a pile of wood (wet or otherwise), then asks you to light it with your cigarette lighter, the results will never vary: you'll catch your face on fire--every time. Three rules for long life: 1. All guns are loaded. 2. All snakes are poisonous. 3. All circuits are hot. How to tell that Autumn has arrived: Simply tally the number of human torches racing around their lawns--with their pants legs and their shirts on fire--busily engaged in an expanding square search for a garden hose. Pier to waterline, 10 feet. Top of the water to the bottom, 2 feet. The 10-foot leap is the easy part. As the man said, it isn't the fall, it's the sudden stop at the end. Ospreys and pelicans, equipped with brains the size of walnuts, plummet into water all day long and end up with fish, not fractures. Can't we humans do a little better?

If you're set on leather, call a local upholsterer. They typically have remnants or you can take advantage of their bulk purchase power. And, the leather they get for upholstery work is typically thinner and better suited to book covers than what you might find in a kit. The punches, awls, laces, etc., you should be able to get from your District/Council if they offer crafts MBs at summer camp. Lowe's and Home Depot stores have always been very accomodating to Scout groups doing woodwork projects, and will normally provide the materials gratis if you work on the projects during their "workshop" periods on weekends. Good luck. KS

No thanks necessary for being a Scouter DS, I often think I got a much better deal than they did! Here's an irony; my Girl Scout daughter's at Pearl Harbor as I write this, with her Troop, dropping flower leis at the Arizona Memorial, just like she ought to be doing. Our Troop could have been doing one of several flag ceremonies out there, today, too. However, majority of leaders are military guys, and we're on duty up to our ears in a command post exercise and couldn't participate. BSA is represented though, and that's the important thing. As I walked into work at 4:30 this morning, in a building that was here on Dec 7th and took tremendous hits during the attack, I looked at the lovingly- and deliberately-maintained bullet holes and shrapnel gouges in the side of the building with special reverence. KS

Hang on a second, I'm confused. Are these students being herded into an existing, already-chartered Crew, or are they forming a start-up? If it's the former, I understand what he's doing (smells bad, but I understand the technique). If it's the latter, I thought you had to have a CO, 3-person committee, and leaders in order to get out of the starting blocks. If they're pencil-whipping that, doesn't this rise somewhat above bad judgement? KS

If you're in a cold-weather area, by all means, use sleds for each patrol, with or without snow. The physical activity of pulling that thing between stations will help them keep warm. Publish a provision list that they have to carry on their sled (blanket, first aid kit, water bottles, trail mix, whistle, etc), for attention to detail and so they have it if they need it. For the stations, anything skill-related that's age appropriate is fine; just make sure it's something that requires physical activity (gross motor skills vs. fine motor skills), not just answering questions. Same rationale, keep 'em warm. You can award "gold nuggets" (spray painted rocks) at each station, or something that maintains the theme. Needless to say, don't design stations that depend on snow for them to work. If it's an overnighter, make sure they're properly outfitted. You've got someone in your district who knows what's right for your area -- follow their advice. If they're Cubs, you'll have parents, too, and they know their sons to include their strengths and weaknesses. Make sure the parents are helping to monitor their sons. Keep soup on simmer on the stove all day, and pour it down their gullets. Give 'em all the hot cocoa they want, too. Insist they use the bathroom right before they zip into their bags, and don't let 'em sleep in the same clothes they wore all day. Disposable 99-cent toe and hand warmers are worth every penny -- toss one in the bottom of your bag a half hour before you get in it, and your feet will be toasty all night long. Nothing like a Klondike to spike up the self-confidence of a boy, especially if he didn't freeze to death out there. Have a great time, we always did! KS

The best thing about this one, is that I didn't have to say a word. Our Troop Court of Honor late yesterday afternoon, under the outdoor pavilion at our Charter Org'n, the Coast Guard Air Station. Along with the pot luck, advancements, etc., CC has planned a "passing of the flag" from the SPL to the COR, to symbolize our recharter. Everything's greased; COR's already out there, since he's got Search and Rescue alert duty for the weekend (C-130 pilot). These guys are very involved with us; one's at every meeting, they sit on our BORs, they know many of the Scouts and the Scouts know who they are, too. He goes back to the hangar; I'm going to ring him up on his mobile when it's time. We're about 15 minutes away from when he needs to be there, so I ring his cell phone; no answer. Coast Guard C-130s are parked just a couple hundred feet from the pavilion, and when this Air Force guy hears a ground power cart start up on the ramp, I get the feeling the COR won't be joining us, and it's because someone's lost and needs to get found -- right now. Another Coast Guard pilot shows up, confirms that our COR is flying a SAR mission in a minute, and he's there as a stand-in. C-130's aren't that loud when taxiing and taking off, compared with fighters on full afterburner. But, it's loud enough, when it's close enough, that conversation is near impossible. The timing was perfect. CC tells everyone that the COR is flying out momentarily to search for a lost boater, and had to send a substitute. Right as his words tapered off, engine noise rose and forced all of us to pause and watch as the COR's orange and white SAR bird gradually (it's a -130, after all) lifted off the runway behind the pavilion. Nobody could say anything because of the noise, and afterward, nobody said anything because that was one picture that was worth a thousand words. Every time we meet, we drive past the big sign out front that says "United States Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security". I hope that like a Chinese Water Torture, what's going on out there drips into their heads a little at a time. When I saw them watching that airplane bank toward the South Pacific, and them knowing what he was going to do, I couldn't help feeling we have a leg up on two of the Aims. What did I do do deserve a gig like this? KS

To paraphrase other posters, Wood Badge will not turn poor leaders into good ones. Remember, it's not really competitive enrollment, it's open qualified enrollment. In my Wood Badge class (the new corporate/wimpy inferior one), we had Scouters who didn't get it coming in the door, and were more clueless going out the door, if such a thing were possible. One thing I'd be careful with is equating correlation with causation. That is, to say: "Skeezix went to WB and he's a poor leader, therefore, WB is useless." Or: "Sluggo went to WB and he's a great SM -- that WB training could turn a Beetle Bailey into a Baden-Powell." The fact that two things happen sequentially doesn't necessarily mean that the first one caused the second one. My hunch is that good Scouters who happen to be WB alumni, would still be good Scouters if they hadn't gone to WB. The reverse is true, too. KS

I chalk it up to the "we had it tough" syndrome, in which anybody who did something after you did had to have an inferior experience, simply because their experience followed yours. There's probably a more complicated name for this human dynamic, but I don't know what it is. What I do know, is that it's absolutely universal. My school was tougher than my kids', my football training camp was worse than yours, the first deployments to base X were worse than those that came after. Why do we do this? I don't know, but if you think about it, you see it all the time. KS

1. Read the book and follow it. 2. All the methods are equally important; no one is more important than the other 7. 3. Go to Costco or Sam's Club and get the BIG bottle of St. John's Wort from the vitamin/supplement section. 4. Don't let little things like a bad meeting or outing ruin your outlook. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Your measure of success is how they turn out as grownups, not whether every APL brought a pencil to the PLC with him. 5. Do you remember your Scoutmaster from when you were a boy? They'll remember you, too. What memory do you want them to have? Conduct yourself accordingly. 6. Don't do committee work if it's in someone else's lane. Read the Troop Committee Guidebook so you know who's supposed to do what, if you haven't already. 7. The Scouts won't drive you nuts, the adults (primarily parents) will. Mostly, they do what they do out of ignorance, not malice -- don't take it personally. You can invite them to get enlightened, but can't force them. When I run into someone who's really cranky, I assume they just had a death in the family -- helps me temper my approach/response to them. Good luck... KS

I got my son big-time at Wal-Mart in Kunia the other night. We're on a mission, to find a couple items on his sister's Christmas list. One of them is a Lizzie McGuire game for her Game Boy (girl?) Advance. Wal-Mart keeps that stuff locked up, so we had to wait by the case for a clerk with the key. She asked which one I wanted, and after I told her, I immediately swiveled around to the boy and said "That was the one you wanted, right buddy?" He recoils in horror, cries out "NOOOOO!", and backs away like this game has anthrax spores on it. The clerk, who had to be a mom herself, smiled and told him she knew it was for his sister and told me Santa was going to bring me a lump of coal for what I did. He gave me "the business" all the way out to my truck. Good thing he doesn't hold a grudge. KS

On the magazine labels, I think it's probably more a "subscription theft" than identify theft thing. Most magazines require the label if changing the delivery address by mail, or a subscription number code and you can change the delivery address right at their web site. Scoundrels can be pretty resourceful... KS

I'm a former "Mubcaster", and dens doing the B&G decorating is the only way I've ever seen it. If they didn't, what would those critters do at the den meetings leading up to it if they weren't making place mats and napkin rings? I think the Cubmaster has a screw in serious need of tightening... KS

Go ahead and check it out, but her e-mail address appears to be of the Army Medical Command variety -- my guess is that it's legit. DoD does provide the standard "3 hots and a cot" (actually much more than that to hospitalized service members). But, the items listed in Scoutldr's initial post are comfort items. Most of these are and historically have been, donated or purchased with donated funds, by private organizations such as USO and Red Cross. Congress does not appropriate funds for these types of items, and unlike most of us who have family in the local area when hospitalized, these troops are on their own -- no local family support network. That's why the Red Cross and in other settings, the USO are the surrogate family. Specifically, DoD will typically allow phone access; local calls are free. Most troops don't live in the D.C. area, and unless you can get a local patch from a base near your parents' home, it's a long distance call. Donated phone cards bridge the gap. Also, the food's good, and plentiful, but on a schedule. There are vending machines, too, but if a troop is not ambulatory, or was medevac'ed without his money, that's not an option and that's where the individually wrapped snacks come in. Next item, magazines. Where do the magazines in your doctor's office come from? His personal subscriptions, after he reads them, probably. Our hospitals are no different. The staff normally brings in their own copies, with the address labels cut out. In my last troop, we had a recurring service project that involved Scouts getting undeliverable magazines from the post office, obscuring the address labels, and putting them in the hospital and USO lounge at our passenger terminal. And so on, and so on. If you want a real eye-opener sometime, look for the USO lounge at a major U.S. airport that also serves as a military hub (Denver, Seattle, LA, St. Louis, Baltimore, etc.). You'll have to look for it; they're not revenue-generating spaces for the airport, so they're not in high-traffic areas. You'll see families with kids moving halfway around the world in there, nervous young troops moving for the first time, etc., all being looked after by volunteers who are mostly senior citizens, who are operating the place on donations. What they're able to do on such a shoestring and in near-anonymity is inspirational, and a far cry from the frequent-flyer lounges and $5-a-cup Starbucks that most of us hang out in when waiting for a flight. Honestly, I don't think this is one of those "kidney harvesting" stories... KS

Sure, and there are different cultural standards, too. I've lived in the Netherlands, which is a lot less inhibited and more "anything goes" than anywhere else I've lived. Korea was a different matter, other end of the scale. By the time they're in their early 20's, their values and standards are formed -- you're not going to change them at that point. Hopefully, we'll influence them while they're in their formative years...their Scouting years. Will teenage boys be curious about these things and sneak peeks at them if they have a chance? Sure, I think we all did, or would have if we could have. But, importantly, at least in my case, there was a burden of guilt or shame that went along with it that, for the most part, kept my friends and I away from that stuff, even into our adult years. And, in my adult years, I understand why those social norms and stigmas were there. I think in part they were meant to encourage more wholesome approaches toward social relationships with the opposite sex, and help ensure we were grounded in reality vs. fantasy. That stigma's largely eroded in our country, and you can see the results. I can't think of a single redeeming value from condoning this with adolescent boys. I think it sets a dysfunctional pattern in motion that will repeat in more destructive ways as they get older. BTW, I also don't buy into the argument that porn is an outlet or "release valve" that prevents illegal or immoral behavior. If that were true, then why does everybody guilty of child sex abuse have kiddie porn at the house, on his computer, etc? KS

There's a lot to be said for "staying in your lane", too. In a previous life, I had a parent, also registered as a committee member, who was very difficult to get along with, and seemed to particularly enjoy grinding the axe on my hide. Had no training, wasn't interested in getting any, and had a "notion" of how BSA units were supposed to operate that often deviated considerably from the books. It was a lot easier to force this person into their respective lane if I was in mine. KS

Councils are laid out along geographic lines, so on the face of it, you can't simply shop around for one whose leadership, infrastructure, "bedside manner", or whatever, you happen to like. That said, there are a few instances I can think of that might give you what you're looking for (there may be others, so forum members, jump in here). 1). A council consolidation, where two combine to form one, with a new name (and hopefully in your case, a change in whatever variables you're not happy with now). 2). It's recharter time; don't turn in your recharter paperwork. Then, all the members of your unit move out of the current council, into the geographic territory of another. Find a CO, and register as a new unit. New council will love you right off the bat. You may have to deal with equipment issues, though 3). If you live near the boundary between two councils, change COs from your current one, to one just over the boundary in the next council. Same equipment issues as #2. OK, #1's a remote possibility, and #2's a little farfetched, and #3's dependent on everybody living within commute distance of the next council. Maybe it's easier to try to fix what you think is wrong with the council you're in? KS

There's precedent for not letting Scouts "double dip" on MB requirements. For example, you can't count hikes you take for Hiking MB, for the Backpacking MB, too. If you follow that precedent, you can't count activities for Cit/Comm for Communications, also. Counselors need to be savvy here, cuz it could be different counselors for the two badges. We do let Scouts double dip between rank advancement requirements and MB requirements. For example, earn the Swimming MB, get signed off on your swimming reqt's through 1st Class. Ditto with First Aid. KS

Sorry, but I don't buy that. If you want to teach boys to have respect for women, insist that they practice with real women who are already in their lives, starting with their mothers, their sisters, their classmates. Accept no disrespect or shabby treatment in these critical early relationships, model respect as a father/adult when dealing with your wife and daughter(s), and it should rub off on your son or the boys you're associated with. Using porn as a substitute, even soft porn, is not something I'd ever do. My experience is somewhat jaded I guess, from years of wearing a badge. Not everyone who subscribes to or buys porn is a pervert, but every pervert I've apprehended seemed to have a houseful of it -- go figure. KS

Regarding Ethics in Action, I'm familiar with the "canned vignettes". There's another BSA pub "Youth's Frontier; Making Ethical Decisions", that's referenced in the SM Handbook edition I like to tote (the smaller one, easier to carry). My SM handbok recommends discussing ethics with Scouts at their Tenderfoot SM Conference, and I do. However, I believe a more effective way to work ethics into the program is to recognize and take advantage of the teaching moments when they come up, regardless of the primary topic. When you think about it, ethics, if you use the "code of values" definition, should already be interwoven with the program; we shouldn't have to concoct opportunities to work it in. KS

Is it nomadic? Sure, but up to a point, that's not a bad thing. Shucks, I've moved around a lot too; in 15 years together, Mrs. KS and I have moved 7 times and lived on 3 different continents. Wouldn't trade it for anything, but putting down roots is looking better all the time. You reach a point, and that point is different for everyone, where you make a tradeoff between what will be better for your career and what will be better for your life (they're not necessarily synonymous). Having grown up in Minnesota and being a die-hard Vikings fan, I don't even like slowing down when I go through Wisconsin, but I will privately admit it's a beautiful state, and understand completely why you wouldn't want to leave. I felt the same way about Montana when I lived there. In our case, though, Mrs. KS gets the majority vote on our post-retirement home after years of camp-following -- it was in the brochure when she said "I do". Looks like SE Virginia is going to get the nod. KS