Scoutfish

Whoops! When I said the rest of this year, I meant scout year. ...Ending in May or June . I'm not saying do absolutely nothing at all, but meant I wouldn't try to make any huge changes or switch things up until June (or after school starts) and the new scout year ( based on rank) starts. Let them finish out this rank as they are doing, then impliment changes at the very beginning of the new rank. At that time, they are expecting something diferent at the "beginning" of the year. Yeah, I so wasn't thinking about calendar year - especially with this being January!

I'll start off by saying we have a great group of volunteers who run our pack. Our COR is a former cub scout and boy scout and is very active and helpful. Our CC is a former leader and is familiar with both sides of leadership. I am trhe CM and been active 4 years overall. Even our Tiger DL has continuous experience as he stepped down from being a Bear DL when his youngest joined as a Tiger- and his ADL took over as Bear DL. WE have a very helpful and active bucn of parents on our committee too. But. we have this one parent who is great except for one detail: She gets carried away when it comes to food planning. For pack campout, she thought we should have Boston Butts and barbeque potatoes and yeast rolls. Yeah, I love that kind of food too, but the scouts don't. For B&G, she talked about cooking a whole hog ( we did this in past at pack campout too) and hot wings and sourkrout (spel that right?) I have to keep reminding her that the whole reason we are here is for the scouts and that our menues...while not having to be PB&J all the time - need to remember our focus......which is a group of boys aged from 6 to 10 years old, not college boys or grown men. Now, I am not suggesting that we never eat more "grown up food", but it seems that this woman has no concept of what the scouts really enjoy...or any kinf of $$$$ restraint. So for B&G, I told her that we could have spaghetti and salad and bread for a meal. She was okay with this , but still wanted to cook a few Boston butts as well. Do you have any people like this? Almost thinks this is a dining club instead of a cub scout pack? LIke I said, she's a great volunteer, but her sights are high. I love having her as well as the other leadrs do to...it's just we keep having to reel her in when it comes to food. And if you are wondering, she's very fit and not an overweight food junkie. Very attractive. So it's not an eating disorder. It's more like a "Lets go big, let's go glam, let's go all out with no restrint" kinda thing. Might as well ask all the scouts to wear tuxes and dance the tango too.

Hey Moose.... Well, I only gleemed over the responces and didn't read with much detail except trhe first page, so - I don't know if anybody else may have said what I am going to say: In my opinion, I think the only thing you can do THIS YEAR is just start telling this person what needs to be done. Kinda like prep sheet or pre list. I doubt anything will really happen worthwhile this year. NEXT YEAR Have that roundup you are talking about. Get a bunch of new scouts as well as their parents and then start mentoring what this woman ( who is gonna be CM now? ) as she starts fresh and new. Thing is, either their previous roundups and recruitment were just misses or they did rcruit but lost due to lack of anything that resembles a program -or as far as the scouts would be concerned; fun! I also think MIB might just find a great niche as being a ACM. He is still young enough to remember what cubs should be inside and out. He remembers what was fun for him and what wasn't..as well as what might not have been fun but necessary - at which point you make that as fun as you can. Biggest thing here is that whatever they are doing...they need to scrap it completely, cut off any thoughts of whatever they used to do, and start completely fresh. Either meet seperate from the boy scouts or met on a different night. Of course, I think you know all this. What needs to be done is explain this to the mom . Tell it is a matter of must, not maybe. If she wants this to work, this is what she is going to have to do. Take the remainder of this year and float along as there will be no gain from rocking a mostly empty half sinking ship. Next year, bring out a new ship ( all new program) and set sail.

johnponz, My district has a great DE. Nice guy, scout at heart. But as gteat as the guy is...as much as we get along great, can laugh and joke, etc.. How many service projects my pack does, the advancement of our scouts, how many cross to Boy Scouts, and how many Pack meetings ( since we do not have courts of honor) we have have absolutely nothing to do with our DE doing a great, or horrible job. The DE has no input or affect on our pack doing service projects, advancement, or Pack court of honors I can tell you how many times I have seen our DE at our pack or visiting our sister troop: 0 I do see him every month at Rt, at camporees and council camping events (although usually only dropping in for less that 1 hour for the entire weekend). And speaking of...our pack does participate in alot of service projects. So does ours sister troop. WE both have excellent budgets, both regular meetings recognizing scouts wether it is a pack meeting or CoH. So, what that part of the JTE is supposed to say about a DE is no more relevant than what the ingredients of Girl Scout cookies say about the girl scouts who are selling them.

I have to echo pchadbo comment: " We kept doing what we had been doing all along and near as I can figure, the only thing we learned was how to fill out a new form. " Out of a possible 3,000 points, we scored 2,600 points by doing what we have already done. But, I can see where it would be a guide as well as a goal for start up or new break away units.

BSA24< I have to ask based on what you said: "It isn't like dressing up like police officers or soldiers, knights or jedi, or other generalized roles which existed across cultures. We're picking a nation of people, and mocking them." Which people? Native Americans is not a single group or identity. There are many different groups and tribes of NA. That mother you spoke of said you dressed like her enemy. Well, it seems that she assumed that you were only supposed to dress as her group or tribe did. Suppose yoiu dressed perfectly to her culture, would you not offend another tribe or NA heritage? But let's go further, if you dress as a Jedi Knight.....isn't it possible you might offend the ultra religeous ? Jedi's use the force which can be construed as witchcraft or sorcery . A soldier? Uh oh! Now you are a paramilitary grouip? Or maybe a militia? Or how about a small anarchist faction? Wait just a minute! You dress up? The fact you dress in anything at all may offend nudists! You have a leather belt or shoes? Might offend vegans! You use electricity? Might offend a Puritan or Amish family. Plastic? Greenpeace might put you on their list! The fact you have a Native American who is not caucasion European might offend the Arian Nation. Man, if you even wake up and breath - you are offending somebody. Might as well fold your unit and just be more careful. Or, you just do what you can with good intentions and tell people that imitation is the sincerest form of flatery. And tell them the program is bout the youth, not the parents.

My son is allergic to nuts. ANY nuts. Luckily, he doesn't pass out or have breathing trouble...he just vomits and then turns red in embarassment and in less that 2 minutes - is completely fine> Now, I do not expect his future patrol to ban nuts just because he is allergic to them> I eat nuts and peanutbutter as well as my wife> Matter of fact, I don't have to worry about sharing my Reeses cups with my son! But step back and look at the bigger picture for a minute: Why are our sons in scouting? What is the outcome we expect from this? More mature, smarter, wiser, better able to take care of themselves and show that are responsible? Unless one is alergic to nuts...then we ban them? WHY? Because we do not expect our child to be responcible to find out what he is eating or what the ingredients are? Unless we plan on having every place that ever serves food to ban peanuts...then all we are doing is setting that kid up for failure> No, I do not suggest a patrol could plan peanut omletts for breakfast with pecan waffles with almond syrup, and PB&J for lunch and then cashew crusted salmon with pecan pie for supper - and tell the allergy scout tough luck. But what I am saying is during the planning process, the patrol can say: "Hey look, we all want "X" dish which has peanuts in it for lunch, what can get for you that is reasonable in cost and preperation? And the allergy scout should prepare his own meal in that case. This way, the roop has compromised in accomidating special meal scout, and the special meal scout hasn't hijacked an entire patrol or troops meals to suit his own needs. Wah Lah! They are working together, they are being responcible, they are also being courteous to each other>

The fact that you earned it anyways is awesome. or normal. But the fact that it is now mandatory is a crock of s***! I'd call your SE and ask him to mail you the documantation stating it's m,andatory> I'd also tell him that you need written verification from National. Then I'd go to a teacher supply store and buy a pack of smiley face stickers - and the next time you see your DE, start sticking a bunch on his shirt , since that is all he is looking for anyways..... and a big patt on the back!

You can use Eastern Emblem, or any one of the patch advertisers in the back of Scouting magazine or as mentioned above, go to your council service center> The councils order ribbons for most council events or camps> Think of all the unit awarrds, council awards, patro and unit awards handed out. Contact whoever runs your district camporees as they get alot of ribbons too. Probably through the council - which is also probably at a better price due to being a regular customer.

it's $12.00 a year through the councils. Or $1.00 an issue> You sucribe yourself and outside of the council, It's $2.00 an issue. At least in my council, anyways.

I clicked on the link, and didn't see a price at all, unless I wanted to log in. Not a member and wasn't going to join just to see a price...but...I did see that (according to the site) people who looked at the Boy's Life ad also suscribed to Wedding Gown magazine for $11.99 or bought an aluminum step ladder fopr n$49.99

Yeah. posting pictures would be great! Maybe videos, or audio so that you could hear my favorite song whenn you read one of my posts. Or ......wait, I used to be on a site that had that...what was it called? Oh yeah, Myspace. I like this site way better. no pictures that would have some members arguing about how innapropriate they are> Nobody busting on somebody else for wearinga knot too high/low/too many. No " why is that scout doing that in the background" comments> It's bad enough when a site gets hung up ocvcasionally due to a error involving text, worse when videos and pictures are involved. Maybe the reason tis site is so awesome is because it's more old school than any other site and doesn't have all the bling and glitter that other sites shove in your face. Maybe I'm just getting old?

Of course< i always remember what my 9th grade science teacher told us: Most scientists are firm believers in God, but have a curiosity that just won't sit still. They have no doubt God created it, they just wnt to figure out why hi.s creations work. They start out taking their fathers watches apart to see how they work. Soon, they take their mom's toasters apart to see how they work, then their older brothers bicycles. Then they keep getting more advanced and more complicated> befoe you know it, they have a pretty good grasp on things when they discover God has a great sense of humor....... How do they know this? The DuckBilled Platypus!

Nah, what I said about the whole universe was completely made up on the fly, but I'll explain a little deeper: Suppose you had a working model of a bicycle. Inside the frame where the pedal's axel is - is a hidden motor to cause the pedals to rotate which cuses the chain to work which in turn causes the rear tire to rotate> Now, the motor isn't hidden to be hidden, but just hidden to not disrupt the look of the bicycle> Okay, let's say this bicycle is on diplay at an engineering mueseum. So anyways, the pedals are turning and the chain is moving and the rear wheel is turning too. The hidden motor is slow, but very a strong, hi torque motor. This bike is also suspended by very thing wires. Now, you reach out and grab one pedal and cause it to stop it's pattern of movement> But since the motor is strong and high torque, the bike suddenly starts moving - keeping with the p[revious movements of the pedals> If you are standinga few feet away from the bike, you can now see that the bike is revolving based on a stationary pedal. But if you were a fly who always lived on the bike seat, from your viewpoint and perspective , everything is still moving like it always has been - the same before the pedal was stopped. So, what if a hundred yeasr from now, we "grab the pedal" ? Again, I do not believe this, but want to explain that my example is not the same as suddenly thinking the earth was flat as that would be thinking backwards and digressing in our veiwsa> besides, that would also include ignoring our current knowledge based on discovery> Discovering that the while solar system actually revolved around the earth in a way as to make it appeare that the earth revolved around the sun from out viewpiint would be a step forward in discovering new things based on observation beyond what we do now> Of course, we know the sun doesn't revolve around the earth. It revolves around Jupiter . HAL told me!

The more I think about this, the more rediculous it sounds to me> The boy's private , non scout affiliated facebook page shows something that people in the same scouting unit do not like. WEll, my wife has a couple thongs she wears on occasion, and I bet you a few ladies in the local church would have a fit if they knew. I bet some of you have said a word or two in public, around people , that would not fit in the scout oath or law. I bet quite a few of you drink on occasion, including Eamonn's odd drinks . But wait, drinking is not something scouting wants to associate with right? Uh oh....somebody's in trouble. Maybe we should step down from our scouter positions and apologize. Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts are not co-ed activities and sex is a BIG nono, but I'm sure that most of trhe cub scouts and all the boy scouts stopped believeing in the stork when it comes to where babies come from> Both mom and da scouters? Well, tere you have it, some non- scouting activity happened between scouters. Better step down and apologize! NOw, not having seen this video myself, as I am sure most of us haven't...what is the exact tone of the vidoe? Is it a person making fun of people who make fun of interracial marrages, relationships or offspring? Is it satire? Or maybe it';s one of those cases where it is something that pertains to this scout where he laughs at other people's arrogance when it comes to interracial people>> And really, of all the people who are upset, how many are interracial? Maybe they do not have the intellect, depth or understanding to even come close to trying to make a judgement. Personally, I'd rather these parents leave as they might end up becoming some sort of thought police. Parents: "We don't like your humor, the type of music you listen to or even the brand of shoes you wear." Scout: "But that stuff was all in my closet, how do you know about that?" Parents: "We went snooping and prying into your personal life to make sure you are of a good ethical and moral character!" And as a CubMaster, I will say this: I am a CubMaster when ever my leaders or scouyts need it, but I do hang up my hat on many occasions, including right now..while at home> I might listen to some Metallica, whatch Eddie Murphy on tv, or catch me some Saturday Night Live to see how much fun we can make of anybody and laugh at them. Where I am from, it's called relaxing, letting off steam, or stress busting. And making this scout apologize is absolutely stupid, It's basically saying: " We know you do not mean it, you know we know you do not mean it, but we want to hear it anyways to show we still have power over you. "

I mean, supposed you had an exact scale , minature working model of our solar system> Maybe it is operated by an electric motor and there are various arms that connect it all together kind like a mobile. You reach up and grab earth and hold it stationary> Now look at the pattern the rest of our solor system is making around earth, which is now stationary. I guess it would be an asymetrical , eliptical, oblongated, etc... So, suppose that in 100 years, we travel beyound our own galaxy with GPS sattelites that tell us that depsite all previous thought, the solar system actually revolves around our earth...it just trurns out we didn't have the proper equipment and instruments to figure it out. Again, I have belief in that happening, but other things have happened in that way in science.

Nah, what I meant was that maybe one day, somebody will discover that the earth is actually stationary, and the univers - including the sun - actually revolves around the earth in a pattern that makes it look like the earth revolves around the sun. Kinda like how lightning looks like it travels to earth, but in reality, the static charge actuallu shoots up from "feelers" that start out from earth. Do I believe it? No, but at one time, I also believed that lighning shot down from teh sky....because that is what I was taught in school. But wether people understood which way lighning traveled or not, it still taveled whichever way it traveled because that is the way it traveled due to whatever forces caused it to.

Let's toss in a 3 point of veiw: There will be both religion and science developing as the people develop too. Religion: No telling what it wil be. Might end up worshiping grasshoppers and cats or follow the Greeks in thinking there are a handfull of god on a mountain i the sky who send brass owls and iron bulls and giant scorpions to screw with us. I'm almost sure Medusa had a bunch of grandaughters who I see on occasion! REligion will change from time to time and like a river, will end up being completely different than how it started out. Religion changes as the people who use it need change. Religion's flavor changes to suit the needs of those who use it or as in some cases, to help those who use it for power. SCience, well. science will never actually be finished> But the laws of science are pretty much set in stone - even if we can't tell the difference betweena stone, rock, boulder or mountain> Science does not change per se, but the way we understand it does> And by this I mean, the mechanical reasons gears work in a transmission will be the exact same reasons wether we fully understand that reason or not. Science doesn't grow, but our understanding of things does: DNR, RNA, cloning, super computers, etc. Used to, the laws of areodynamics said a bumble bee could not fly. The bee didn't care about those laws and flew off anyways. Then the laws admitted that the bee knew somethin g the laws didn't. Now the laws tell us why the bee can fly> Truth now is that the laws themselves knew, we just didn't understand the laws. SO, lets say that the population is wipred out and all of evolutuion starts all over from scratch. A million years from now, humans find themselves at the same place on the food chart and whatnot> Will there be cars? Will language be the same? Will there be a God, gods, or only godesses? Maybe all god are animals? Scioence may actually prove that there sun revolves around the earth in a pattern that we cannot detect right now with our best equipment> But in the end, somebody will eventually figure out the laws of science wether by a differnt name or not. Religion on the other hand, will be as people need it to be.

Yeah, just because it's reported doesn't mean you have to say they are a wino unit who walk around soused out of their minds having orgies and pouring liqour down the boys throats. You can call the IH, DE, SE, or whoever and simply say: "I have a transfer from a family who claim that the reason for the transfer was the use of alcohol during camping and other scout activities. I do not know it it';s true or not, but thought it was in the best interest of all of us to let you know and let you decide how to procede." Simple as that! All you are doing is passing along the info and concern. You are not accusing or slandering. Once that conversation is done...your part in it is done. Now it's time to show the transfer why your unit and program was the right choice!

" I talked to the SM and he thinks that we do not need to hang the boy. He wants him to offer a deep apology and learn his lesson and move on. He says if the other Scout leaders want to walk away over this then so be it." Sounds like the SM has a handle on it.

We used to have a BUCK STOVE brand wood buring stove when I was growing up. IT was cool too. The delux model with the fan motor that blew hot air out of 4 seperate outlets> Had an auto thermostat that would cut the fan on and off depending on the temperature in the stove. Woke up many times at 3 am to hear whirrrrr.....whirrrrrr....whirrrrrrr.....whirrrrr as the fan cut on and off repeatedly since the temperature was right at the switch point. My mom used to put a metal bread pan on top of the stove to keep the air in the house from drying out, but all it really did was show us how hard our water was by the scale and limestone ring around the pan. Now, that stove did heat the house...I will not dispute that! Woke up many a mornings and had to stick my fingers in my mouth to pry my tongue off the roof of my mouth where it dried - along with my sinuses, and the interior of my lungs. I guess I miss the romace of having a nice warm fireplace to sit in front of when it's 31 degrees outside and the wind blowing. Except teh part when you finally walked over to a chair and when you sat down, you suddenly realized how hot a shirt can get without actually catching on fire! Of course, it got to a point it was harder and harder to find wood, and with rthe cost of gas and oil going up and the cost of electricity being stable at the time...it ended up making more sense to just get a heat pump.

You know...I have many times wondered about Chinese and Japanese tattoos when the wearer does not speak a lick of it. "The artist told me that this tattoo means brave warrior in Japanese!" Or it could mean dork, idiot, fool, poop, chicken salad, garden hose, or that it's cold in the dominoes happy crab cake!

WEll, that one works too, but if you read further down on my link, you see it covers several countries/ cultures. Some pre bible. So, I'm not trying to justify or encourage anybody to get a tattoo, that was just a counter point to seattles claims( assuming I understood her post) about tattoos being an offspring of of prision culture.

I tried to find a specific instance of a religious tattoo, but this was the best I could do: http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/tattoos_designs_symbols_religious.htm And the only reason I would know about any religious reason was the occasional show on TLC, History Channel or whatever..where teh tattoo itself wasn't the main topic of the show, but just happened to be included in a small part of the show.

"Let the free market decide if Scoutcraft is defined by the First Class Journey or the EDGE method. " Yeah, but looking at the fact that BSA is still going on, that people are still joinging up from cub scouts to crossing over to Boy Scouts...and the fact that BSA is not a "used to be" organazation.... well. it seems the market has decided> If BSA was really that horrible, the membership numbers would be ZERO.