le Voyageur

Sad, but true. I own a collection of MB booklets from the Jim Crow era stamped "Gates County Negro Library". However, imho... I think the racism was also driven by economics, with Scouting principles tossed aside for the bucks. No DE of the Jim Crow era, with his job on the line would consider trolling minority populations who lived hand to mouth during this time to meet goals. (This message has been edited by Le Voyageur)

Although totem poles are specific to the Northwest, the Carolina's and Virginia Algonquins had effigy poles also as part of their culture.... John White's circa 1584 Weapemeoc Green Corn celebration http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_icVv32o1A58/SnPLM4_pVnI/AAAAAAAABm8/6Ve4Jt6Ar8Y/s400/JohnWhite_s_DanceCircle-600x462.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_icVv32o1A58/SnPDObnWl4I/AAAAAAAABmk/og3cOgQzWrw/s400/DSCN1845.JPG

I'll remember that the next time we have an Eagle project that builds an observation deck at the local nature preserve, or puts up a pavilion in the park, or makes bleachers at the local ball diamond, cuts railroad ties for steps on a nature trail, or... All these use treated wood as well. Stosh... These woods are not a problem, if the user knows what precautions are needed to be followed. As I see it a little homework,will go a long way to protect the long term health of our Scouts. Here's a read.... http://www.cpsc.gov/phth/ccafact.html

The use of telephone poles should never be considered as they are pressure treated with chromated copper arsenate, a carcinogenic. Any process which produces dust such as cutting, sanding, or sawing will require the wearing of an EPA approve dust mask respirator. Area clean up, contaminated tools and clothing, and waste material removal are other factors to consider when working with these poles.

If I had Cubs working on the project, I would go with Tulip Poplar. It's a soft wood that's forgiving of mistakes, and won't chip. Ideal for wee ones learning how to use handtools. With a totem pole different types of wood can be added in the process to enchance features of the pole. You don't have to be stuck with using only one type of wood. Without Cub help, I would go for Maple, or Red Oak. If I was using Pine, then Loblolly, or Yellow, avoiding the more pitchy Jack pines. Needless to say, all woods in the Carolina's tend to rot fairly fast. However, of the pines, Yellow pine tends to fare better here. If plans are to set the pole into the ground, then tar that section, plus several inches or so above ground level before setting.(This message has been edited by Le Voyageur)

For North Carolina....Tulip Popular, Hemlock, Red Maple, Oak, Cherry, Cypress and Ash. Locust is too tough unless using sharp tools kept sharp. Pine is often to pitchy, and rots much to quickly...

I think you have a teachable moment that you're not taking advantage of. Often times when National fervor is the highest with folks falling in line, the highest form of patriotism becomes dissent

There's no shirt that can get sweated through during the day, snagged by branches in the afternoon, spilled on by dehydrated potatoes at dinner, dusted up by campfire ashes at night, rinsed out before bedtime and be dried out and ready to go by the morning. Believe it or not, there is a shirt that can do just that and more, and which I use as my main paddling shirt as it dries very quickly...after 8 years, it's about worn out, but still useable for another few years.... http://www.railriders.com/men-eco-mesh-shirt-p-963.html?cPath=104_111

First, I understand your frustration Pack. The reason is that you, and nearly every American is being lied to about this war. That's my frustration, as this war, and the reason for it, is more complex then many are aware of. However, If I may digress, let me state that I used the term "pretext" correctly. The best way to understand this mess is to head down the rabbit hole....ready or not, here we go.... 1. The 9/11 attacks were planned in Germany,and Spain and conducted mainly by US-based Saudis to punish America for supporting Israel's repression of the Palestinians. The 9/11 attacks were planned in apartments, not camps in Afghanistan. 2. Pakistani intelligence sources knew that the CIA was planning to use Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida to stir up Muslim Uighurs against Chinese rule, and to employ the Taliban against Russia's Central Asian allies. Most of the so-called "terrorist training camps" in Afghanistan were being run by Pakistani intelligence to prepare mujahidin fighters for combat in Indian-held Kashmir. http://www.worldaffairsboard.com/war-terrorism/53447-pakistani-army-ran-muslim-extremist-training-camps-says-anti-terrorist-expert.html http://nafeez.blogspot.com/2009/01/norwegian-daily-terrorists-working-for.html http://www.zimbio.com/Grassroots+Organizing+and+Activism+in+China/articles/V1eFvuKSFUe/CIA+RAW+create+Uighur+riots+China http://story.irishsun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/45d771c7290844e9/id/552160/cs/1/ http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/KH28Ad01.html http://www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net/Geopolitics___Eurasia/Afghanistan/afghanistan.html http://islamicterrorism.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/muslim-uighurs-riot-in-china-156-dead-800-injured/ http://www.nps.edu/academics/sigs/ccc/conferences/recent/may02Kargil_rpt.html http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers3%5Cpaper236.html http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?id=20612 http://www.islamawareness.net/Asia/China/cn_article002.html http://www.town9.com/indian-army-general-runs-terrorist-camps(This message has been edited by le Voyageur)

having backpacked a wee bit in that area, all I will say is, is that hiking in that terrain will make Philmont backpacking look like a cakewalk. Tough terrain overall, will take years of trail work to create a net work of hiking trails and outpost camps...needless to say, I'm keenly interesting in how National will tranform that area for the better; or worse, when the bucks don't roll in, call it quits as they did with Matagamon ...

Pack... The pretext for the Afghan war to avenge 9/11 was to eliminate the Taliban, and capture Osama Bin Laden. Even with the world's best military, that has failed, and the direction of this war has takened a different bent and a life of it's own. Instead of this, and the Iraqi war, the better choice would of been a global shadow war working in alliances with other nations revamping the Viet Nam era Igloo White, and Red Watch/Phoenix programs with today's technologies, and providing operatives with diplomatic standing to hunt down terrorists. Had this been done we would not be eight years later bogged down with this Bush/Cheney tar baby in which over 100 000 souls, who were not responsible for 9/11, were snuffed out to avenge the death of 3000 plus! My question for all hawks, and war mongers is this.... just how many more deaths, and how many more years of warring will it take to wipe the 9/11 slate clean, and even the score for you? (This message has been edited by le Voyageur)

The Soviet Union wasn't attacked within its sovereign territory. Apples and Oranges. A war is a war is a war no mater the reasons. All wars cost money, and every nation state has finite resources that can't be breeched, no matter how desperate they are to continue the fight. It moved into Afghanistan for purely geopolitical purposes to prop up their own puppet government. As we are now doing due to mission creep, and the fluidity of the Taliban. Their enemy wasn't an identifiable group, it was the idea that another form of government should govern the country. Soviet intervention was at the behest of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, the PDPA, a marxist government, against the Islamist Mujahideen Resistance. The Soviet Union wasn't just fighting insurgents, it was fighting insurgents equipped and funded by guess who? Besides the US, other players were Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. Egypt and Israel played in the shadows. The Soviets had the support of India, and Iranian observers. US involvement was code named Operation Cyclone. The Soviet Union was fighting from the low moral ground and they knew it. We aren't. We should know that too. ??????....I've no clue where you got that information concerning the Soviets. Please remember, I was working military intell at the time observing this war (Key Hole), and much aware of what was happening in that arena. Not sitting in from of the tele, being fed misinformation by the media, so please source this with some facts. As for moral grounds for war, there's no such animal. It's all propoganda, and spin by the State, there is always a hidden agenda or two wrapped tight in lies masquerading as truth by warring governments, including ours. (This message has been edited by Le Voyageur)

Have to disagree, as such a tack is folly. Having been an eye witness to the pickle that the Soviet Union got itself in using those means didn't work then, and it still won't work now. Bankrupt the taxpayer, and the war is over, it's that simple on why this war will eventually end in a withdrawal....

hmmmmm....wonder how they are going to obtain the permit to raft the Gorge? Additionally, will National be kicking in a few bucks for road improvements to get crews from the take out? And, where will they be getting their raft guides? Wonder if we'll be seeing HA crews on other sections of the New (North Carolina/Virginia)? Going to be interesting....

weren't the Native Americans also immigrants to this land? Didn't later waves of them push out the earlier waves? Not all Hispanics are illegal aliens. Many were already in this land for generations when John Smith landed at Jamestown. Both terms, Latino, and Hispanics are modern constructs, with the term Latino being adopted in 1997 by the US Government to replace the term Hispanic (a person from Hispaniola). Either term can be used to denote a person of Latin America, or of Spanish speaking descent. Within Mexico, there are 62 indigenous groups, as well as groups that are a mix of these indigenous people with Europeans, which makes Mexico a modern Babel. In a nutshell, the immigration bruha in progress in nothing more then an other Indian war, and a continuation of apartheid America's Manifest Destiny protecting it's colonial boarders. It's ironic that Americans of European descent who's ancestors flooded this continent, pushing out the orginal inhabinets are now the beseiged. What goes around, comes around....(This message has been edited by Le Voyageur)

Give the Grand Canyon Council a call. They have an excellent trail award program for the Canyon (I've earned the Rim to Rim, Rim to Rim to Rim, and the Havisupi to River segments of the Patch). In Flagstaff, across the tracks from the Amtrac station are two youth hostels if you need a place to stay for an evening. A simple websearch will provide you with the phone numbers.

Wow!!! What are you talking about????? Your post is rambling, fragmented, and incoherent!!!!!(This message has been edited by Le Voyageur)

I refuse to be made to feel petty and uncaring because I expect the laws of the land to be obeyed and enforced....scoutldr Protecting the status quo with laws under the nativist banner of jingoism is wrong when it infringes Constitutional rights. The 14th Amendment trumps. Laws without Constitutional foundations must never be obeyed....

Sadly, I keep seeing the radical right wing memes being echoed by nldscouts postings. The problem with these arguments for such draconian actions will require the complete over haul of the Bill of Rights (read the 14th Amendment), and the creation of a fascist state where everyones rights, and civil liberties will be absent. It's past time to start turning a deaf ear to these simplistic solutions, and the vomiting of the Rush's, Beck's, Coulter's, Savages and etc., and consider what is written at the base of the Statue of Liberty....

nldscout... ....a quite shadow war, such as the one now in progress for the past 30 years

Where the Bush Administration blew it, was electing to use the full weight of our military after 9/11 when it wasn't needed. There were other options, none of which were considered, or put on the table. Bush's so called "war on terror" should of been a quite shadow war...(This message has been edited by le voyageur)

There'll be no "cut and run". Just a readjustment to National Policy to keep the oil flowing to prop up our petro dollars, and our economy from tanking... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Afghanistan_Pipeline Like it, or not...this war was lost from the get go.(This message has been edited by le voyageur)

we ran the classic "Gully Crossing" event at our district Klondike, stretching a rope across two trees and tying off to a hitch on a pick up truck to make it easy to loosen or tighten the slack. Jersey Scout Wow!!! Tying off to a pick up truck to adjust slack. Sorry, but that is so wrong, and teaches nothing. The better solution would of been a z drag, or 3 to 1 using prusiks, or even a garda knot z'd and locked down with a mariner hitch.

Sounds like you need either the Climbing Director, or Climbing Instructor cert more than COPE. If you can find a CD either in your Council, or an adjacent one then opt for the Climbing Instructor since you'll not need to attend a NCS course for it. Additionally, with two having been former CI's, a CD can refresh them fairly quickly. However, in the meantime, I would suggest doing ground level training such as belaying, climbing knots, anchor systems, protection, hauling systems, etc...

Since we are all "made in God's image"....I declare that Quetzalcoatl with a touch of Hephaestus are the Gods from whence my image was contrived...