SSScout

Vandalism has gradations... ""Lockheed Martin CEO cited for cutting trees along the Potomac"" ""...after Daniel Snyder, the owner of the Washington Redskins, was penalized for cutting down 130 trees to improve the view from his Potomac estate, one of his high-powered neighbors is coming under fire for clear-cutting nearly an acre of protected land ..."" http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-10-08/local/35498891_1_scenic-easement-trees-compensation-package

Juli's calender? Just a fad. It'll never catch on. Now those Mayas, they have a calender. Automatically take account of the eclipses, and it's circular, not linear. No need for them leapin' years...

It takes dedication, determination and a large amount of cooperation among the Troop parents. And Scouts. The Troop of my youth went to Council camps AND a Troop camp. Somebody's uncle's brother's family owned some wooded property and the Troop would go up there to hike and camp on weekends. Someone noted that it had a year round natural spring. This was capped and plumbed (plumber dad)and tested. The creek thru the property was mapped for the Surveying MB (another dad). When the long term camp was suggested, the Troop started in September of the year before. Telephone company dad got old utility poles. Contractor/carpenter dads hauled in the logs with tractors and old Jeeps. Scouts helped build a three side shelter,( Carpentry MB) which served as the Qmaster shack.. We dug a ten foot deep privy, and the shack over it (sack of lime beside it). The creek was dammed about 6 feet deep by a hundred feet long for splashing. Campsites (four Patrols) were cleared , two on each side of the creek. Fire places of loose rock were built. A campfire ring was cleared. Trails established. Patrols built lashed up tables and shelves for supplies (Pioneering MB) at their sites. Tents were bought by Patrol, so they all looked alike. I think they were called "Baker" tents.(canvas!). Each Patrol was expected to create a "Gateway" and gussy up the Patrol site, like a small town. Trails were named for "streets". Flagpoles were raised. Since the Patrols were across the creek from each other, we would try out our Morse code with flags and at night with flashlights. The site was laid out, as I remember, more than a mile in from the nearest dirt road. Everything had to be walked in. We hauled most of our firewood in from an area we called the "Dead Forest", because of the large amount of down and dead trees, mostly American Chestnut(!!), which burned with a blue hot flame. Even the Patrols that were furthest from this area made the trek for the Chestnut, as it was great for cooking coals. The older Scouts ( I eventually became one of these) laid out a compass course and tracking trails. We had to hike out some distance to find an open field to see sky at night to learn about the North Star and astronomy (another MB). Out of Camp trips to sites and places were rare. "Camp Freedom" was our camp. Looking back, I don't emember any other group using it, but I could be wrong. I still have the "CF" dangles (made ourselves) of burned wood cookies. I say go for it.

"Why not", indeed. I doubt seriously if anyone would object. However... "Officially", the only Cub Scout award that should be worn on the Boy Scout uni is the Arrow of Light, under the left pocket. The proud Scout can wear the Religious Award square knot above his left pocket, and if he wants to get really proper, attach the "device" appropriate (a silver pin) for his Cub awards to the Square Knot. I guess that means there are two Cub awards that can be acknowledged on the Boy Scout Uni. When he earns the Boy Scout award from his faith, he can then add another "device" (or two?) to the Square Knot. As an adult (time enough to consider this!) , he can wear the youth square knot on his adult uni and then earn (as appropriate) the Adult Award appropriate to his faith AND add another square knot for that!(This message has been edited by SSScout)

OOPS.(This message has been edited by SSScout)

You've got to be taught To hate and fear, You've got to be taught From year to year, It's got to be drummed In your dear little ear You've got to be carefully taught. You've got to be taught to be afraid Of people whose eyes are oddly made, And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade, You've got to be carefully taught. You've got to be taught before it's too late, Before you are six or seven or eight, To hate all the people your relatives hate, You've got to be carefully taught! = Rogers and Hammerstein =

My name is not Iago Montoya, I don't think you killed my father, you can keep on living.

So it worked out. The majority of folks voting did't want Romney as president, and HE didn't want to be president... http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/latest_rom_shell_he_didn_want_to_5EluB5LlOXnqdMTes1pVFL and http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/12/24/167955525/romney-didnt-want-to-run-son-says

* powerpoint show of pictures from the past year's fun. * have Cubs come up and demonstrate the "Cub Dance" (if they had one) from summer camp. Our Webelos learned one to Jimmy Buffet's 'Volcano Song'. The next year, they came back with "Cotton Eye Joe". Taught it to the parents! * See various skit compendiae: http://www.boyscouttrail.com/skits.asp http://www.scoutorama.com/skit/ scoutmaster.org/dchiefmaterial1.doc * BALOO'S BUGLE: http://usscouts.org/bbugle.asp * Ask your Troop's Bugler to give a recital. After that, everyone will REALLY enjoy what ever your entertainment is! KIS MIF!

Suddenly I am reminded of "Ender's Game".

If anyone can suggest this to the PTB, I have heard of such a case where the organization repaid all the individuals contributions to the retirement plan, and said ta-ta. Alternatively, they could withdraw the BSA's contributions, and effectively "sell" him his own , somewhat reduced, retirement plan.

Waaaallll, this mite be a mite fer away fer y'all, but here tis: http://www.boyscouts-ncac.org/openrosters/viewnewsletters.asp?newsletterkey=5979&OrgKey=1988 Goshen Scout Reservation bein' down in south west Virginia...

Thank you. If all they have is "Mortal Kombat", then to what do they compare their own behavior to? I think that is what Mr. Moten is trying to say. His memories are dated, true, and his organization was tainted by mismanagement, but is the article's premise so wrong or false? If the only excitement a boy has is fantasy, and his life is so untenable, what does he think is his solution? What is the "game with a purpose" that we speak of? And what kind of "game" is being sold in video? Money is being made by the selling of killer training. We volunteer to train boys in "adventure" and "ethical choices" do we not? If "GTA lll" is JUST a game, than what kind of a game are we offering? We play Monopoly as a practice for capitalism. We play poker and chess and scrabble for the mind challenge they offer. If no one challenges the purpose of the games, they will be accepted as a viable practice. But practice for what? http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/housingcomplex/2012/01/19/a-year-after-peaceoholics-renovated-buildings-theyre-mostly-still-empty/ http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/12/17/do-video-games-make-kids-violent/ Please note I do not say violent video games MAKE kids violent, but as with anything else, what one does MORE, one gets BETTER at. And if there is no other comparison, to what does the player refer their own behavior with?

Here's an article about one man's experience with how kids learn one solution to their problems: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/violence-on-the-screen-violence-in-the-streets/2012/12/28/894a6e20-5069-11e2-839d-d54cc6e49b63_story.html I have had much the same experience with my kids and their video games, except that we (mom and I) had the opportunity to challenge the idea they had that "it's just a game". To speak Scoutese, "a game with WHAT purpose"?

Cambridge: Suggested itinerary: Heathrow to Buffalo NY, bus to Niagara Falls (see the sites), cross to Canada (stay in Youth Hostel, become a member before you leave home), bus to Toronto to your Scout Pen Pals, stay with Scout families (I presume), fly home direct Toronto to Heathrow. Are any of your group member of the Auto Association in the UK? See what travel agent services they can offer such a deserving group as the Scouts. I can vouch for the Hostel in Niagara, nice place. And the boys will love the action at the falls , both American side and Canadian.

I was a carpenter's helper for a couple summers. One of my bossses was an old time carp, the kind that could've framed a roof with a square and a hand saw by eye. He once sent me down into the area around the foundation of the basement before it was backfilled to throw out all the garbage that we had thrown in at lunchtimes. When I asked why, he said that the junk might make voids in the fill-in and that might lead to leaks in the basement. When I pointed out that when the dirt covered it up, no one would know it was there, he said "yeah, but you and I would know it was there. Pick it out".

Almpost 280 people were killed by the use of a gun since Sandy Hook... As heard about on NPR today: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/crime/2012/12/gun_death_tally_every_american_gun_death_since_newtown_sandy_hook_shooting.html And they are absolutely right: Guns don't kill people. People USING guns kill people. And here in Murlin, there is a favorite Youth Hostel by the name of Sandy Hook. I'll never be able to visit there again without a new reference.

Goes to show there are no such thing as a new joke. Only updated ones. When I first heard the "heckling" joke, it was Abraham Lincoln. (Reps and Dems reversed) And no, I was not in that audience. I have no doubt that Kufu and Imhotep were mentioned previously, only the heckler would've been dealt with without humor. As for the Truman camel-ass-shovel reference, the first time I heard that one, it was FDR being given the Biblical comparasion. And no, again, I was not in the original audience. Heard about the priest, rabbi, G.W.Bush and Boy Scout in the crashing airplane?

And so Jesus was placed in a foster home, because his real father couldn't raise him as a human baby?

Happy Jesus' earhly birthday observed, because we don't really know when it happened. Y'all be good, now, hea' ?

Well, the advertising connections are working well, Lots of "support the 2nd amendment" and "body armor" and "shooting instruction" ads, but nary a llama ad in the bunch.

The District is a creation of the Council. The Council is a franchise of the National BSA. If you are of a mind to, you can look up the incorporation papers of your Council, should be public record in your jurisdiction. The CORs are, by usual definition, the voting board of that corporation. That is where you have leverage, that is where the legal foundation of the Council lies. There is very little you can do excpt raise stink where you can and make sure as many others know of this as you can. The hypocracy of the Council leaders (if any) when compared to the SLaw and SP/O should be noted. Is there a News item here? Could a local news reporter be interested in it? Work for the boys. Forget FoS. Godspeed.

The major news hasn't picked up on this , I think, because it isn't very exciting... Dateline 18 Dec. 2012 ""NICKEL MINES, Pa. Members of the Amish community where a gunman killed five girls in a one-room schoolhouse in 2006 are writing letters to reach out in sympathy to parents in Newtown, Conn."" http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/12/amish_near_nickel_mines_school.html " The only way to stop a bad man with a gun is a good man with a gun." Didn't seem to work in Columbine. So where is our faith? How do we show it? With bigger weapons? Or with active forgiveness? Something in between? GPS chips in the weapon? People watching people who watch other people? Maybe we should make it a law that requires every child to have a stable, sane, loving and caring parent (or two, where possible), and if that child cannot produce proof that their parent meets those requirements , then that child is arrested and put in jail... wait, maybe not... ummmm. Let me rethink that...

Friend LeRoi is right, in that we are fortunate to have lived in a country where (by law) no one can be co-erced to worship (or not) God(s) in any particular way. He and I are both, I dare say, grateful for that. Many other nations around the world have taken the US of A's lead in that and adopted similar requirements or guides or what ever thay may be called. Their populations benefit and prosper thereby. And there are many countries where the jealousy of some over the freedom of others denies the ability to worship (or not) as one pleases. The result is not a peaceful if heated debate, but the torture and death of many. If the only thing we have to worry about is whether or not our chidren are forced to see their teacher adorned in a fuzzy red and white hat, I say God bless'm. The King James Bible is studied as the great english writing that it is, and the human ethicist movement will be allowed to remind us that it is good to be logical, and to question, even if the answers are not terribly easy to discern. Some will trust to their senses, some to their intellect, some to whatever seems to inspire them. Ultimately, as the carny barker said, "Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer cherce". That all anyone can do. Muslim, Hindu, Jew, Christian, Athiest, Zoroastrian, we all have our choices to make. Some were offered by our family, some by folks we met along the way, some we figured out ourselves. The laws we inherit or agree to or help enact are there so we don't all try to drive on the same side of the road at the same time. If they are felt to be unfair or not appropriate to the situation, then here, at least, we have the right and ability to point them out and see if they can be changed or re-interpreted. In the mean time, I say where thy fuzzy red and white hat as long as thy canst. It is part of human nature, afterall.

Well, the NRA just announced their solution: Post an armed guard in every school. Would this be a "protection"? or an invitation for another "challenge"? I have heard of "suicide by police". How many of these sick individuals expected to come out alive? I do not remember any that did. How many shot themselves before someone else did it for them?