TAHAWK

No offense to the USPS, but you make my point better than I could because you know more about the facts.

"I also think yeh bungled da WW2 to 2010 deficit comparison because yeh didn't take into account general economic / GDP growth. The WW2 deficits were a vastly larger percentage of da country's economic output. It's like da difference between a fellow makin' 30K a year putting $20K on his credit card a fellow making $500K a year charging $60K on his credit card. Yah, it's three times as much in dollars but nowhere near as much in risk." Your analysis does not consider the $20-30,000,000,000,000 (different "economists" = different estimates) in "unfunded mandates." That would be Medicare a

I am not part of any "party," tea, coffee, or wine. Unlike some here, I don't like Koolaide of any flavor. I have made mistakes in who I have supported over the years, but I don't let any interest group direct me because they all have axes to grind and friends or "base" to make richer with taxpayer money. I don't believe in St. FDR OR St. Ronald. My "saints" are Wayne Morse and Gene McCarthy because they had what it takes to say the unpopular thing, even when I don't agree with what they said. (I am even starting to like Crazy Dennis a little on the same grounds, space men and all. He won'

"The spending from 2008 to 2010 was not discretionary. That was a simple choice, between Great Depression II and massive intervention. Without the rescue, the banks would have failed, the FDIC would have collapsed, unemployment would be above 20% and the deficit would be just as large, because of greater loss of revenue. It's OK to be angry about it, I reckon almost all of us are. But there really wasn't a choice, for either Bush with TARP or Obama with da stimulus." At least we know where you stand. "Simple choice": Cherry or Grape? We have tried spending money. We are spending

One may use fire and not miss it's dangers. Do you think they were trying to mislead with their constant, written warnings about the danger of government power? These were revolutionaries - dangerous people. They had killed the government's men and those who had supported the government. They were suspicious of government and saw it as an institution that, by its very nature, tended to grow in power, and in growing restrict liberty. The N.Y. Times would not have liked them at all. Confronted by such men, the VP might have fainted dead away. Attempting to reduce a position with which

Really?

Really?

Excuse me? One is a "freeloader" to not "want" to pay taxes that the transient majority wants them to pay? That's fairly "1984." Roll out the Thought Police. Dissent is not to be allowed, even inside the privacy of one's thoughts. In a society where we approach a minority being required to pay income taxes, that's more than a bit much. As for "necessary evil," that is the lesser of two evils: e.g. sacrificing our sons and daughters in a war for national survival. Thinkers have written about the concept for centuries. So you may not agree with Jefferson, Washington, and oth

I find it both interesting and fascinating that people use "interesting" and "fascinating" when they mean "wrong." While it has not happened often, the United States Supreme Court has held federal legislation unconstitutional for violation of the Tenth Amendment. Apparently someone thinks that the Tenth Amendment, adopted after the Constitution and therefore controlling over prior provisions, means something after all: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." New Y

"It seems plainly ridiculous to me that in training someone to survive in the wilderness you demand that they follow artificial "leave no trace" constraints." The MB pamphlet, as with other things, is internally contradictory on following LNT in a survival situation.

The rationale for requiring Camping MB is that Wilderness survival is advanced camping. For example, were a candidate to actually be required to meet the expedient shelter requirement, which they very rarely are, he would need a good day to construct a shelter that would actually keep out even modest rain, not to mention insulate. I have no doubt that most Scouts could erect a tent far more than twenty times in a day. He might also find that the tent keeps out wind and rain better than three feet of brush and a sleeping bag and mattress does better at insulating than leaves. Most cam

When the OP asks if Scouts and Scouters have a duty to support government spending programs, he's opening up a discussion that has to be, in material part, about political issues. You can defining "general welfare" to be "welfare" - the dole, to use an older, harsher-sounding noun. That's your right in a political discussion. I don't define "general welfare" that way. Neither did the Founders. I think of it as the general good of our country. Very appropriate in a political discussion to toss around ideas about what truly promotes "the general welfare." Like, is endlessly spending m

At times, it has been thought to be OK to promote the general welfare: "We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, and promote the general welfare, do hereby ordain this Constitution for the United States of America." We are about making good citizens. Citizens do function as part of government. Promoting the GENERAL welfare is part of the mission of government. And this thread is political.

Would that be an ethical question or a political question? Would that be conserving the Nation's resources or expending them much faster than they are created? (A Scout is thrifty.) Is a profession of good intent enough, even if you believe it?

I respectfully disagree. It should follow Camping MB (as some council camps require). The most important aspect is mental, and older, more-experienced Scouts would find it easier to stay positive, adapt, and improvise. There are simply more things they are able to do in order to keep busy staying alive and comfortable. Most newer Scouts have trouble starting a fire with matches on a sunny, dry day, much less anything harder (Although the Wilderness Survival Merit Badge does allow flame-throwers, blow-torches, and railroad flares. Seriously. Actually read the fire requirement. BSA d

Program Offerings at Camp Gorsuch One of the best reasons to attend Camp Gorsuch is the program opportunities for young and advanced Scouts. We will offer several programs that meet the needs of your Scouts. Here are some things to take into consideration when planning your camp program. Summer camp is not a merit badge mill, where you pay a fee and get four merit badges automatically. Instead camp offers merit badges as one portion of the overall program. Trying more than four merit badges in one week is not recommended. We suggest a maximum of three merit badges per

All council camps I have encountered recently, due to LNT, do not permit establishing new campsites. Wear is to be confined to existing campsites. Especially, new firesites are not to be established. The sample size is only seven (since I started keeping note of the phenomenon) and so is suspect. YMMV

Patrols, as distinct from the Troop in which they are registered, may camp if there are two adults "on" the outing. What those adults do depends on how they have been trained to behave. Their behavior can usually be determined by ear alone. For most council camps I have seen to be used for distributed troop camping -- patrols far enough apart to have some change of independent experience -- the troop would have to rent several "troop sites."

Most Americans don't know much about our civil war, much less a civil war in China. But most Americans don't hold themselves out as experts. Lots of literature on the Taiping Rebellion, but everything I have read is written by non-Chinese, so a point-of-view that is pretty important is not fully represented (or worse) in understanding a civil war that cost 20-30,000,000 lives, give or take a few million. Gordon was hardly the only colorful character. Didn't know the Sons of Daniel Boone and Woodcraft Indians existed in Scotland (the comma and all that), but one learns something eve

So nice that one does not have to be entirely accurate to write for Yale. "Baden-Powell borrows the uniform of the Boy Scouts from the frontier uniform as he imagined it in America--the cowboy hat, the flannel shirt, their neckerchief, the short pants." Ah yes, the American cowboy or frontier scout in his short pants. ^___^ D Boone kilt a bar -- in knickers. BP drew so many of those imaginary Westerners. ^____^ Actually, and this would have fit the "expert's" prejudices even more, the shorts came from the British MILITARY (gasp!) "Now, there had been groups of frontier-

Forty-seven. Thirty-seven went to Summer Camp or High Adventure (overlapped). Several were conflicted by the curse of year-around HS sports training.

May I observe that the vast bulk of merit badge counselors are volunteers. My Council has no program to invite MBC's to help at camp. In tact, when I volunteered, I was told I could be a "Camp Counselor" (Think in terms of a liason between units and staff.) but I not work with Merit badge candidates. That role was restricted to "camp staff who understand how summer camp advancement is run." (I would not want any Troop anywhere near that camp.)

In Scouting, including BSA, where the stated objectives since the beginning have been to develop character and citizenship, systematic fraud and cheating are Bad Things. Among other harms, they give the lie to "Trustworthy" and are a school for cynicism that is all too rampant in our society ("Everybody cheats.") Mills also result in Scouts with merit badges but with no, or virtually no, skills in topics like first aid and wilderness survival. Even though Scouting, including BSA, has never suggested that a merit badge represents anything like expertise, the published requirements are mo

The problem being that Scouts are not being required to demonstrate any level of knowledge or ability for many merit badges - especially in Scoutcraft. If you never ask - and the "counselors don't ask - you have no idea what, if anything, they know.

Given the uniform requirement (expressly applied to summer camp) that only Merit Badge Counselors (who must be 18 or older) may test and sign off on merit badges, in what sense have the Scouts who received a Blue Card signed by a Scout after failure to individually teat "earned" a Merit badge for any purpose? The 15-year-old's signature is just as much a nullity as if the Candidates eight-year-old brother had signed off. "The steps to follow in the merit badge program are outlined in the current Boy Scout Requirements. This book lists the requirements a Scout meets to earn each