SR540Beaver

If you'll note, McCain was on the program to discuss steroid use. Obviously, he must know something about it to be invited for an interview. I think his comment was an attempt to steer the conversation back to it's original purpose. He was not there to discuss running on a Kerry/McCain ticket. McCain has always been a fly in the ointment. I'm a registered democrat, but don't consider myself liberal. I would have voted for McCain in a heartbeat in 2000. As usual, we were stuck with the lesser or two evils in 2000. I think McCain could have gone the distance and I think he would have received more votes than Bush and the elecrtion would not been decided by the Supreme Court. Unfortunately for him, people in high places didn't give him the nod and worked against him. I doubt seriously that McCain would be offered the VP spot by Kerry, but it would be a gimmick that could actually knock Bush out of office. It looks to be a very close race like last time. I wouldn't coast on this one if I were Bush.

yawn.....meow

I know it is against the rules and I have not questioned the powers that be about it, but our district camporee is a major recruiting tool for transition. Troops are encouraged to invite Webelos dens to camp with them at camporee and just about every troop does. The Webelos sleep with their parents, but are assigned to a patrol and help cook, do KP and participate in the events with the patrols. It is highly successful and is even being extended to Bears now. I personally think that is pushing the envelope a little. In fact, I think it should be limited to Webelos II's. The bad news is it is against the G2SS. The good news is that our den had 100% crossover to Boy Scouts. The district also does a Webelos Woods campout in the fall that pairs troops with Webelos dens. It follows the basic camporee format with competitive activites run by the scouts for the Webelos. Both events offer the Webelos a real taste of Boy Scouts and allows them to get a feel for the personality of a troop to see if they are a good fit for each other. Without it, I don't think the transition numbers would be nearly as good.

My son just crossed over to his troop and we went on our first campout with them a week ago. Our troop has 15 to 20 boys. I'm not sure of the exact number. I don't know if it is due to financial concerns or not, but our troop does not provide tents. To me, a tent is like a house or car and is a matter of personal preference. I'm a big guy and there are a number of tents out there that do not interest me at all. I find it much easier to get dressed (especially if it is hot and I'm sweaty) standing up. I don't want to crawl into my clothes and try tucking my shirt in laying flat on my back. I also like ease of set up. Some tents look like they require a degree in engineering to erect. I also prefer a tent where the footprint and fly can be set up seperately so you can put the tent up under it if it is raining. There is nothing like setting up a tent with a lot of mesh in a rain storm and then trying to fight the fly on and ending up with an inch of water in the tent. I also snore and know it. So do some of the other scouters. I could write a book about my Wood Badge bunkmate. I prefer my own tent and privacy. Now, if we are backpacking, I'll obviously go with a smaller, lighter tent and share. Part of the thinking in our troop is that pride of ownership goes a long way towards boys caring for the tent. If they don't own it, some boys will trash a tent in ten minutes. Then there is the problem of more seasoned scouts sticking the newbies with the old leaky tents. I think it is fine for a troop to provide tents if finances allow it. Uniformity does look impressive. But I like to pick the features I want and tend to take better care of what I worked hard to purchase. I use a 4 man Coleman Outdoorsman. It is similar to the Eureka Timberline. My son and I shared the tent when he was a Cub. I can almost stand up straight in it. It is big enough to put a cot in and still have room to move and store equipment comfortably. At Wood Badge, it was known as the Taj Mahal. I can also put a Coleman queen size air matress in it and open my bag in a bag out into a double size bag in warm weather. I do appreciate my comfort and a good nights sleep out in the woods. My son has a Sierra Design Gamma. It is a great introductory level tent for backpacking. It is a 2 man tent with a super easy set up, full rain fly and vestibule. The footprint and rainfly can be set up seperately for light weight backpacking. It comes in at around 5 to 6 pounds when bags, stakes, etc are all included.

Maybe I'm just being really dense this morning....nothing new there. Let's define what we mean by the word "endorse". By endorse, do we mean that XYZ Candy Co. has met the BSA's standards of quality and the BSA has put their stamp of approval on that product to the exclusion of all other candy companies? When a boy is selling XYZ candy as a fundraiser for his unit, does the unit or the customer think that is what is happening when they buy the product? Especially because the boy has on a uniform? Or do they just think they are buying some candy from a Scout to help support his unit? How do we define a "commercial" product? Car washes and breakfast/dinners aside, what product for sale is not a "commercial" product? If you are selling candy, nuts, sausage, fruit, wreaths, fertilizer, etc.; it had to come from a commercial company that manufactures the product. What is the purpose of the Unit Money Earning Project form? If your unit wants to sell a product, you have to fill out the form and get it approved by the council. At that point, you have the councils approval to sell a product to raise funds for your unit. Why would they give you approval and then tie your hands by saying you can't let people know you are part of the BSA? That just doesn't make sense. I have people come to my door all the time selling something. Everyone of them tells me what they are raising funds for. Their school, dance group, sports team, church youth activity, scouts, etc. I'll buy from almost everyone of them because I know it is a good cause and because the kid is putting forth the effort. The 30 year old guy who is selling magazines to win a trip gets the boot. So, why can't you mention you are with scouts or wear your uniform when the council has reviewed your plan and approved it?

Part of the wording on the form says, "The official uniform is intended to be worn primarily for use in connection with Scouting activities. However, the uniform may be worn in connection with council-sponsored product sales programs." I and many other Scouters read that to mean that if the council approves your fundraiser, you are approved to wear the uniform. If you are not going to wear your uniform or even mention scouting while selling a product to raise funds, why even bother to get permission to raise the funds? How would the council know if you don't ask? One would assume that the council wants you to make the request for approval for the express purpose of making sure you are not selling something that could make the BSA look bad. If you can't mention scouting while selling, how can you make them look bad? I guess the question is what does the form mean by "sponsored"? Does it mean a council wide fundraiser or does it mean ANY fundraiser approved by the council?

Wheelie, Everything I needed to learn about being a real man was taught to me by my Dad. Lessons to long, deep and numerous to discuss in this forum. It was undergirded by other men in my life such as teachers, coaches, Sunday School teachers, ministers, bosses, neighbors, Scouters, etc. I'd venture to say that few of them gave Socrates, Aristotle or Plato more than a passing thought. A quick search on the internet gave much evidence that all of those philosophers were homosexual. Effiminate. Just what is your obsession with these men? What kind of "manhood" is it that you are interested in teaching boys based on these "men's" teachings?

OGE, But, but, but.......that has nothing to do with classical literature or thought! What does B-P have to do with understanding the purpose of Scouting? You obviously don't understand Scouting. Stick to the topic.

Eamonn, You've hit on something that does bother me about Scouting. Just as I explain things about our faith to my son, I talk to him a lot about what the purpose of Scouting is. I don't think it gets explained to parents or the boys enough. I think there are those out there that think if you just follow the program and recite the oath and law, it eventually seeps into the boy. I'm sure it does. However, if you want to build a rocket to go to the moon, shouldn't everyone working on it know what the destination is? Do we just tell someone to build a rocket motor and hope they build one big enough to lift a heavy rocket into outerspace? What about fuel requirements? We all need to be pulling in the same direction and that requires that parents and boys know what the purpose and mission of Scouting is so they understand fully what the oath and law means. Why do it by osmosis?

Wheeler, Nice analysis skills! Could you now give me a count on the word "knot" in all forms of Scouting literature? After that, I'd appreciate a count of "camp", "it" and "tent". Oh yes, also "badge". I'll let you know if there is anything else I need. Thanks!

Evmori, Wheeler = Yaworski? Nah, Wheeler's writing and "knowledge" is too polished. I have always suspected that FOG was Yaworski. It might be all coincidence, but FOG showed up after Yaw left and the attitude, writing style and many elements of their background are very similar. I could be wrong, so I won't be taking any bets.

ED! YOU'RE KILLING ME MAN! I'm down to 2.5 stars.

Ed, I'm not complaining, I've got a 5 star rating!

We have 7 Webelos II's and 5 are crossing over with their AOL. Four will go to one troop and 1 will go to another troop. The other 2 just joined Cubs in September as Webelos II's and we will hold them until May to try to get their AOL before they cross over. Last year we had about 13 or 14 Webelos 1's and lost a number of them this year. They were marginal members who just didn't really seem to like scouting. Plus, our den leader was working full time and going to school and Friday night was the only available night he could hold den meetings. We lost several because Friday's were not convenient to their parents. I wish we could have held onto all of them and crossed all of them over.

What? You mean we don't get to vote them off of the island? Dang it!

VentureScout, Including Cubs would not be pratical. The Jamboree is expensive to attend ($1900 per person in our contingent), lasts for 10 days, requires using the patrol method and patrol cooking in the campsites. Flying a bunch of 6 to 10 year old Cubs a thousand miles from home for 10 days to live in BSA wall tents without parents would be asking for nothing but trouble. A contingent is made up of troops. The size of the council determines how many troops are in your contingent. My council will have 4 troops. There will be 4 patrols of 8 boys each and 4 adult leaders per troop. Cubs just don't fit into the mix.

http://www.scouter.com/archives/Scouts-L/199511/0831.asp

My son crosses over to Boy Scouts on 2/19 and his birthday is on 2/26. I'm in the market for a tent since his troop does not provide tentage and he can't sleep in mine anymore. Does anyone have any experience with Eureka's Mountain Pass EXO? It is fairly unique in that the rainfly is suspended from the poles and the tent body clips under the rainfly. The poles are connected by a hub, so you don't have to sort poles in the dark or rain. They claim the hub makes set up 40% faster. The frame and rainfly can be set up as a shelter only by unclipping the tent body. I hope I'm expalining it well enough. It is a double wall tent, but instead of hooking the tent to the poles and then stretching the rainly over the frame; you suspend both the rainfly and tent under the frame. The tent has a door and vestibule on each side. The advantage I see to this is that so many tnts today have large mesh panels that can lead to a soaked tent during set up in wind and rain. With this tent, the rainfly is already in place. The 2 man version weighs 6 lbs 8 oz. I think it goes for around $149. you can see it here: http://www.eurekacamping.com/mpexo.asp

Pack, I think you've been overcome by skunk fumes! Put the dog back outside and breathe deeply.

Big Dog, Red Green rules! I wish he would get off of PBS. I never know if or when he will be on and rarely see it. He could give a talk on 1,000,001 uses of duct tape.

Trail Pounder, I believe the hostages had pretty much outlived their usefulness to the Iranians. They had got their point across. I believe (and this is just my opinion) that the only reason they were not released prior to Reagan taking office was to rub salt in Carter's wounds. If you'll recall, Carter ordered a rescue operation that went very badly operationally. Carter was man enough to let the buck stop at his desk and took full responsibility for the failed attempt. On the other hand, Reagan, Bush and North broke the law, negotiated with terrorists and sold arms to our enemy. Not something to be proud of. I appreciate North's service to his country as a soldier. However, I have no respect for the way he disgraced his uniform by his later actions. He should have done hard time and was lucky enough to get off on a technicality. If you watch him on Fox News (I turn the channel when he comes on), you'll notice that he has a political axe to grind. That is his schtick. That is what he will speak on at a BSA function. He is an imappropriate speaker for a BSA function just as Bill Clinton would be too.

OGE, On one hand, a lie is a lie. But are you actually going to equate lying about an extra-marital affair to taking a nation to war for ulterior motives. Both would be wrong, but the consequences of one are much greater than the other.

TwoCub abd Pack, The acid in tomato juice and ladies products preaks down the oil from the spray and allows it to be washed away.

OUCH!!!

Pack, http://www.allsands.com/HowTo/skunkodorpets_wcl_gn.htm