T2Eagle

It does seem pretty inefficient to recheck everyone when probably only a small number of boys actually need it at that time. On the other hand, the coordination of paperwork would be pretty timely also, and there would probably be some kid from every troop that wasn't around at the troop's test now you would have to separate them and a buddy from whatever their troop was otherwise doingat that time. My understanding for my son's Jambo troop is that he's supposed to keep his tag from summer camp to take to Jambo with him. So if that works for them why not for the rest of scouting?

I would not take this to the PLC. Absent some compelling argument that none of us imagines (I suspect the first part of CalicoPenn's post is the most likely explanation), this is a dumb idea that should be killed in committee where it originated. If whether the scouts are wearing a shirt at 11PM in the campsite at summer camp is your biggest problem, you have no problems.

I cant think of any inherent reason a UC shouldnt give the FOS presentation in his own or other units. The FOS presentations should be given by folks who are competent doing that type of public speaking and interaction. If the UC is competent than she should do them. Sure not all UCs are going to be able to do this or be effective doing it, but fundraising shouldnt be seen as an unfriendly act that someone helping a unit shouldnt soil their hands with. In fact, if a UC is really good at their role they should have exactly the kind of credibility that would enable them to explai

The question of when and whether to charge people for rescuing them is a complicated one. I think the threshold question is whether were talking about charging everyone or just those whose foolishness was so far beyond the pale that its unreasonable to expect the rest of us foot their bill. I would say its only folks in the latter category who we should even consider charging. We should, as a society, be willing to allow folks to participate in somewhat risky activities and be willing to bail them out of them even at a cost to the commonwealth. Go for a hike in the mountains and get at

I see two separate issues here. The first is whether this particular young man was negligent, and the second is how to pay for rescues, especially rescues of the foolish. On the first Im with RememberSchiff, this kid was negligent. Ive spent some time in those mountains and they can be notoriously difficult. Backpacker Magazine computed Americas 10 Most Dangerous Hikes, Mt. Washington was number 4. If you google lost hiker found in White Mountains you have to wade through a lot of stories to find this particular one, including several that are BODY of lost hiker found I dont think an

One possibility is to get in touch with a Boy Scout Troop and see if you can have an activity or two together on a weekend. That can be a chance for the timing to be right for the dads to take the boys and meet some other men who will be very welcoming and give a pretty good sales pitch on why they (dads) should be involved in this stuff. Coffee around a campfire is about as male bonding as you can get. Our Cub Pack and Scout Troop are sponsored by the same organization and each year we do a campout trip together. No matter who might be runnng the den or taking the boys to the meetings

Moggie, I just went to that site. When you say "here in the UK" do you mean just your group or most of the scout groups? That type of tent is almost unheard of here. Here is a link to a page from REI, most of the scout troops I've seen use tents of this type of design. http://www.rei.com/category/4500029 Our troop was recently given an old canvas "patrol" type tent, it came with its own pot belly stove. We are going to put it up on our next trip, but I think we're going to save the stove 'til next winter.

I dug out my merit badge sash to take a look live. SWMBO says its a zoidberg, like the guy on Futurama. Turns out I have had mine hanging oriented incorrectly for several decades. I had it turned a quarter turn counter clockwise from the picture so that it looked like the fish was on a line and the cat was munching on it. The blue thing looks like some sort of parasite to me.

Here's a nice bit of news I picked up from NPR earlier today. Georgetown Fraternity Wins National Service Challenge April 09, 2010 - By Rebecca Sheir, WAMU A co-ed fraternity at Georgetown University is among the winners of a national contest geared toward community service. Phi Omega will use its winnings from the Pepsi Refresh Project to mentor scout troops. Pepsi is doling out $1.3 million to fund dozens of service projects nationwide. Alpha Phi Omega has received $25,000 to mentor one Girl Scout troop and one Boy Scout troop in Washington, D.C. This summer, the frater

Even if we disagree with them I dont think its necessary to vilify the other side. It's not hard to think of agreements that might have been made back then that we wouldnt want to continue today. If you purchased a house and promised not to sell it to anyone Asian, African-American, or otherwise undesirable I would hope we wouldnt consider it a matter of honor to not break that promise. Here the good people of Philadelphia, using proper democratic processes, have, through their duly elected representatives decided that they dont want to continue to provide any support to groups that d

When the troop is camping and all the cooking is by patrol, with whom do the SPL and ASPL cook and eat? Currently ours mess with their former patrols and it works for us, but I was wondering what other ways are out there?

Our scout shop will sell you extra rank insignia if you tell them why you need them: lost, new shirt, etc. What they don't want is a troop "stockpiling" insignia and then not turning in forms. Since every scout going to Jambo has to have at least two complete uniforms they're going to have to allow people to buy extra insignia, and they're going to have to accept Jambo as a reason.

Looks kosher to me. There is a tenderfoot cooking requirement also; I don't think you can count the same meals for that requirement. But assuming he did three meals on a Saturday and one more on Sunday he should be able to have that signed offf also.

Wilderness Survival was my favorite, First Aid was a close second. I'm going to go down the basement and see if my merit badge sash clues me in to which one was first.

I have tried to find the Oregon Supreme Court opinion giving the files to the plaintiff's attorney, but I haven't been able to find it. All the press reports reference it. I don't have access to any of the commercial legal databases but nowhere on the web can I find it. I'd love to see what legal theory the scouts were using. People can talk about confidentiality, protecting reputations, etc., but unless some sort of privilege can be asserted: attorney-client, attorney work product, etc. most records that an organization has can be pried lose by subpoena in the right lawsuit.

I won't put words in his mouth, but I given the rest of OGE's post I took his remark as mostly tongue in cheek and the Pediatrician's "prescription" as an urge to address the cognitive side of ADD/ADHD.

Thanks for the responses. While I was reading them I went back and checked the sources I originally cited. Something I never noticed was that they don't agree on the process. The Handbook says hot soapy water, hot water rinse, cold bleach rinse. The Fieldbook says hot soapy water, cold bleach rinse, then hot water rinse. So I think Ill go with the Fieldbook order and one teaspoon (or less) per gallon.

Both the handbook and fieldbook list a three part process for dishwashing: hot wash, hot rinse, cold rinse. My question is about the third step. Both books say to use a few drops of bleach or a sanitizing tablet. I am talking here strictly about front country camping where we have an ample supply of clean sanitary water. Does anyone have a reference source for how much bleach or what kind and how much of a sanitizing tablet to use? Or a reference demonstrating the necessity of this? When I do dishes at home I don't feel the need to perform step 3, and even on a family campi

Every time I wash my uniform shirt I have to take out my name tag and replace it when the shirt is done. Now my name has been the same all my life, and I'm trying hard to not grow out of my shirt --that's why I stopped reading the pie thread. So why can't I just get a permanent name tag and sew it on? Does anyone have a source? Will the uniform police come after me if I do this? Thanks,

I love that they're up. I love the idea. And I don't want to be too acerbic, but does anyone see anything here that couldn't have been completed a week after the first announcement in Scouting magazine?

yeah John-in-KC, Reminds me of my professor who used to say "be patient, I'm not used to teaching law to more than nine people at a time." Let nothing I ever post be construed as agreeing with Merlyn. Even when I agree with him I don't agree with him.

Is that a trick question Beavah? They cannot give him extra tutoring because he is an immigrant, and they cannot give him extra services because he's Vietnamese. But they can offer him special tutoring, etc. because he is behind his peers. Just like they would give him or the scion of the Mayflower if either one of them was dyslexic, or went to some crappy school system before, or if for any other reason he was not in line with where he should be. What they couldn't do is deny the benefit to the Mayflower kid because he's a Mayflower kid And although it is not as strong an argument

I should add to my previous posting that what I most want to do is work with the family to determine what's best for the individual scout. I would be more than willing to take responsibility for a medication if a parent, or even the scout, thinks that's what's best for that scout. Some scouts are more responsible than others, some medications are more critical than others.

Thanks Gentlemen, I'll look for that video and see what our chapter does. I don't want to do anything like mess with the vote count, but a looong time ago I was Vice-Chief of my lodge and I think there are potentially some very good brothers in our troop but they have to get there first.

I am skeptical that these requirements are going to be adopted as listed here without more changes. The most glaring absence is safety and first aid. There is no way Carpentry will be able to be earned without discussing first aid, eye protection, etc. The other thing that is unclear is whether you can use power tools. I do almost all the things described in Carpentry with power tools. Is this going to be OK to earn the merit badge or will they restrict them to hand tools? For those out there who have already started working on these how did you handle these issues?