skeptic

The solution G.E. is really obvious; but for some reason, no one wants to make it.

Yes Sherm, you could join the team; you just would not be allowed to swim. Help with timing, shallow water exercises, and so on. Nothing says someone cannot do things out of the water, or in shallow water, as a member of the team.

While we have a few here that simply will not accept anything as possible, I find this whole thing to be the proverbial "smoke and mirrors", whether referring to the LDS, or the related subject. Parents "in" the program have "chosen" to be here; and it only makes sense that most of them chose with at least "some" agreement that this was acceptable to them. The people, for the most part, that continue to harp about the Gay issue are outside the the organization; though there are a few apparently here that are not happy, and have an agenda. That is a separate discussion of course. As far

Young flatulators have more stamina I fear.

http://scout.org/en/information_events/news Lots of interesting stuff going on outside our little world.

Scouting on Tiananmen Square We, Scout Association of Hong Kong are lucky to have the blessing of the Chinese Central Government Liaison Office in Hong Kong, and have their utter trust and confidence in conducting scouting activities in China in scout uniform. These functions are under the invitation and with full support from the Chinese Government and the All China Youth Federation (another name for Communist Youth League in external affairs). We were provided with special pass, train and transport arrangement. It speaks so much of the close cooperation of the two youth bodies. Eve

Beavah; You seem to have forgotten the new doctrine: The majority no longer means anything if it is deemed "politically incorrect".

Because of the sets of supposedly controlled and restricted centennial patches showing up on eBay, National issued "very strict" dictates regarding following the letter of the rules on these types of items. I was told about this action at Jambo by one of the National Supply people with whom I was working. So, that is what I meant by "some greedy" individuals ruining things for others. And, as pointed out by someone else, local people might be more flexible with people they are confident will not misuse the items for personal gain. If anyone, with an Eagle card, could buy restricted i

"The sky is falling!!" "The sky is falling!!"

Does not matter which rank it is; paperwork is "supposed to be" furnished to support it. And yes, part of the problem is just that; too many people have been buying them and then trying to profit from them on eBay. It only takes a few greedy idiots to make things more difficult for others.

From a coal mining site newsletter in November, 2009. Do I read this correctly; the mineral rights are part of this? That could be much like the income from the Philco Tower. Massey Energy Co. said today that it worked with the Boy Scouts to transfer mineral and surface property rights to the land that was acquired for the new Scouting site. Additionally, Massey Energy pledged a $500,000 contribution to support construction of the project.

Here in So Cal, if the fire hazard is at the highest level, you can have no fires period, including liquid fuel stoves and lanterns. Gas stoves have to be canisters. Makes it very limiting, and make overnights far less enjoyable. For backpacking, it is okay, other than not having any fires after dark, which curtails much evening activity. Only so much you can do with battery powered lights. Better than burning the forest down though.

You smaller critters need to watch out for those swooping eagles. And, I'm going to work my ticket if I can.........

Not sure if this is the real place to put this, but certainly is related. Just got off the phone with a contact at Vandenburg AFB on the central coast of California. Was trying to see what we could do as a unit there on a weekend trip. The nice young woman told me that they no longer offer weekend tours to scouts or other groups; supposedly due to staffing issues. But, there was a time when you never had a problem staying on base, often in the gym, or some specific area set aside for youth groups, which generally were scouts or similar organizations. At least she was able to confirm t

OGE; That is a matter of opinion.

Pack; I can guarantee, you will know. Try catching piglets to castrate them, while the mother is in the pen. Keeping her occupied long enough to grab them a few at a time is an adventure to be sure; and she lets you know her feelings very loudly. The same goes for catching a 300+ lb hog to ring it, so it will quit rooting the gardens. When you finally corral it long enough to get the ringer on its snout, you think its previous noise was minor. Fun and games on the farm.

Yes, it does appear that there likely are a number of high profile type patches that may very well be "made up" ones. Right now on eBay, one guy is selling one that supposedly is real that says "I saw the president of the United States". I somehow do not think this is an authentic issue, as there was no sign of it until a week after the event was over. The same guy is also selling a "black" staff medallion which is supposedly authentic. But, it was never offered in the catalog as far as I know, and also I do not remember seeing it offered in the TP. I bought the official event one, so kno

You can only order if you were a participant, as you need your Jambo number, as well as logging into Scoutstuff. Hopefully, this will put the brakes on the nonsense on eBay, at least for these. There are a few other restricted, or limited items in demand there, such as the Mike Rowe patch, which only ran $3 in the trading post. Guess I should have grabbed the last few there, instead of just one. Also, the fancy embroidered rounds, and the triangle are popular. I never saw the triangle at all, but did get the jacket and shirt versions of the round. Hope they learned a lesson from th

Yes, you need to ABSOLUTELY USE "IE" when doing the on-line courses in order to get the completions. For whatever reason, they will not complete with other browsers.

Agree with Eagle92 overall. I do, personally, count additional summer camps as two camping days towards the camping merit badge and OA, just like a long weekend camp. But, they still only get one whole week counted towards that merit badge.

"For homosexuality to be fully accepted as moral behavior, the culture will have to restrict, discriminate against and eventually out law the practice of religion. The culture will sacrifice one for the other. It wont be the first time in history, it was how our county was founded." Anyone care to compare to Greece or Rome? Just asking!

Scoutgroove; If you can find a copy, look at the now defunct "Rank and File"; I still have it, but it no longer is viable except for a few areas, as they opted to quit fighting to get things approved with National. But it had/has many of the things already noted, including the ability to export to Excel and Word. Was really quite flexible, and overall a good program, or at least so I felt. I lost my records unfortunately when I had a hard drive issue. Thought I had backed it up, but did not. That was one of the areas in which it was hard to use, and I tended to not make the effort due to

"While there really are aggressive, in-your-face, atheists"; Where?? :-}

I would wager that a large percentage of those complaining the President did not attend would be complaining just as loudly had he done so, and security related issues had made the show unbearable in some manner. Let's be honest; most of the ones upset are not happy with "anything he does". Time to drop it, and try to remember what is really important; living the Oath and Law to the best of our ability, and teaching our wards the same if possible.

Trevorum; I would say it is more interpretation of "religion" skews some people's thinking. There is no indication that the suicide bombers' religion says kill people; it is their warped understanding of the writings, or the misguided directions by their leaders.