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Tokala

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Everything posted by Tokala

  1. I have a sneaky suspicion that approximately 635 tax cheats prowl the halls of Congress. They just haven't been caught yet.
  2. Oddly enough, my business has increased since around September 2008. From January 2001-September 2008, my business was a rollercoaster. I would go 3 months without any work and then get slammed for 3 months. Luckily, I learned about "thrifty" when I was much younger. My business is in injection mold manufacturing and overall the local industry has lost about 60-70% of the companies. The Chinese, greedy corporate boards, and Americans that like cheap disposable goods, severely impacted this business. There were no bailouts for manufacturing when it became a struggling sector of the economy. Gue
  3. West Central Florida Council has charged $1500-1800 the last 2 Jamborees. It covers all the costs to attend Jamboree (national's fee, transportation, and touring). The Council typically charges the particpants for the tentage and the tentage is retained by the Council for summer camp use. The Council lost money on the 2005 Jamboree largely due to Scouts failing to pay their fees. For 2010, the Jamboree committee, which I am a member, has decided to not purchase tents again. Summer camp and the camping committee has said that they have adequate canvas for summer camp. This reduces the cost
  4. As others previously posted, the scoutmaster conference is not a pass-fail situation. However, the leadership and scout spirit are requirements that the scoutmaster can use to encourage "remedial" work. Sounds like your son has already severed ties with the troop and enjoys his time with the venture crew. Have him complete his final steps with them.
  5. As for payment schedules. There is a $100 deposit due on January 31st. I know that my Council will front that money for at least one full troop. We have been granted two troops, but I don't see us being able to find enough qualified adult leadership. We'll probably only use one troop and surrender the other back to National.
  6. I serve on our Council's Jambo committee. As for costs, I can tell you that the bulk of the additional cost is transportation and touring. It's been tradition for my Council that the Jamboree troops replenish summer camp canvas for the Council. I raised hell about it as a 17yo in 1981 when I went to Jambo and I'm making suggestions that we evaluate alternatives to make Jamboree affordable. I've also seen where the Council contigents have t-shirts, Jamboree Council strips, and dufflebags, etc. These are additional costs. Sometimes the urge to be "uniform" and create schwag adds to the
  7. Tokala

    NOAC 2009

    National has the NOAC 2009 website up and running. Applications for NOAC staff are available through the website. Although they have not had the National meeting yet, I heard from a Nat'l Committee member a week ago that the fee has increased. NOAC will cost $395 in 2009. Here's the link: http://event.oa-bsa.org/events/n2009/
  8. "If it's your business, are't you one of the stockholders? So the hit that you're taking gets redirected into your own pocket." I'm the only shareholder. I also only employ 1 person: me. I used to have enough work to subcontract and hire parttime help. That hasn't occurred since January 2001.
  9. I have my own business and the best years I had were from 1993-January 2001. Since then, it's been a struggle. I'm in manufacturing and we've taken the hit so shareholders get a bigger dividend check. I'm amazed at all the mass hysteria today about how Obama is going to have carte blanche to make all of these changes. Let's face the reality that government is much more complicated. Back in August, the GAO released a report that revealed this gem: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most U.S. and foreign corporations doing business in the United States avoid paying any federal income taxes, des
  10. scoutingagain wrote: "This is a "crisis" because the "haves" are losing what they have. Not because the "have nots" are losing something they didn't have. As I said before, the loss of over 200,000 manufacturing jobs, over the last 8 years was not a crisis. The foreclosure of thousands of homes was not a crisis. Maybe to the individuals involved, but not to this government." The loss of manufacturing jobs was not a crisis, but it was a symptom of the current crisis. The loss of manufacturing jobs was driven by the desire of the American public for cheap, disposable "gadgets" and the des
  11. For 8 years the President has repeatedly told the American people to shop their way out of economic hiccups. It's a horrible way to manage the economy. Advertising and government urges people to spend instead of living within their means. If people used common sense instead of feeding the urge to have the latest gadget or "hottest" car, there wouldn't be such an issue. Of course, if the banks, investment banks, and governments (whether local, state, or federal) used the same method, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
  12. I was a youth at the 1981 Jamboree. Two things stand out: #1) My parents receiving a letter from the National Office of the BSA after the Jamboree disclosing the incident of the leaking drum of dioxin that was stored immediately adjacent to the merit badge midway. I still have my button claiming "I Survived A.P. Hill's Spill" #2) I served as the SPL and on the bus ride to Jamboree, my ASPL declared that he was going to take over as SPL. At our next stop, I dismissed the troop, including the adults, except for the ASPL and his cohort. Once everyone was off the bus, I carefully and pointe
  13. "If you have a Troop Committee that has no idea what OA is, then how does one become a member of OA? I am trying to get some eagle scouts involved with OA, but the troop committee does not want them involved unless one of the leaders are involved." It depends on the age of the Eagle Scouts. Those under the age of 18 are elected by the youth in the troop and the Scoutmaster requests the election. Those over the age of 18 are subject to the 1 adult per unit nomination by the troop committee. The Scoutmaster contacts the OA directly and requests an election. The troop committee is not part o
  14. "The old course required the patrols to plan plan their patrol gear, the new course does not. The old course required the the patrols to plan for an overnight hike, the new course doe not." I suggest you check the syllabus. The patrols do hike to the outdoor experience upon their arrival on Day 4. In preparation for that they spend time on Day 2, 3 and in between the weekends planning for their hike and their outdoor experience. You are correct in that there really is no need for the 30-day pre-course gathering.(This message has been edited by Tokala)
  15. rdcrisco, that's great that you're making the effort to get trained. I was a troop guide on the last course my council held. One of the patrol members is a Scoutmaster of an LDS unit. I learned a lot about LDS units and he learned a lot about what options he had to get his Scouts more involved with non-LDS Scout events. Good luck!
  16. "I found it interesting that the OAImages blog has an ad for dianetics.org" I don't. My council has a sizeable number of units and members chartered to Scientology.
  17. nolesrule is correct about the origination. National has stripped the old numbers from the lodges and has replaced them with the council numbers. They do allow the lodges to use the old numbers, but paperwork and forms all refer to the lodge using the council number. For example, Timuquan 340 is technically now Timuquan 89. Patches and merchandise still use "340", but paperwork from Region or National uses "89".
  18. The training required is dependent upon your PRIMARY registered position. Primary is the one that you pay the registration fees. Many people are dual-enrolled. Den leaders, whether they're Tiger, Cub or Webelos, need Den Leader specific training. The only positions that require Intro to outdoor Skills are SM, ASM, Varsity Coach, Varsity Asst. Coach. Wood badge uses the patrol method through the majority of the material. I would get a basic idea of how that works and how a troop is supposed to function before attending.
  19. The OA is a very important part of my life. While it's disheartening to read about the closure of Treasure Island to camping, it makes sense to me given the financial situation and building codes/environmental situation. What makes the most sense to me is to close it and see about selling/donating it as some type of park/preserve to some organization other than BSA (deeper pockets). If people, especially OA members, still have access to visit, the only thing lost is the ability to camp there.
  20. Glad you're OK 1hour. I was at our first weekend of wood badge so was largely uninformed of when/where Ike made landfall. I've looked at some of the pictures of the destruction along the beaches. I strongly suspect that when the Tampa Bay area gets hit, that's the same type of destruction you'll see along our beaches.
  21. Perhaps, it's more related to the country that they did wood badge or Cub Scout Wood badge? A member of my local council has completed wood badge in a couple countries other than the USA and his critter/patrol is not the typical US critters. We also have a member who is a raven from a Cub Scout wood badge course.
  22. All I want to hear is candidates outlining their plans. Get over the attack ads/swiftboating...that's so Rove. I await the debates in hopes that I'll hear something, anything from a candidate talking about their ideas or plans, rather than how utterly inept their opponent appears. As for the lipstick comment, I couldn't count how many times I've used the same comment about politics, Scouting, ad naseum. Politicians are all pigs feeding at the lobbyists' trough.
  23. I agree it's not a catastrophe to disregard the "veto" rule. It's not a health or safety issue. I was elected and inducted in March 1977. The rule regarding SM approval prior to the vote and no "veto" power has been on the books since then. We read many threads in these boards concerning leaders ignoring/violating rules, or just plain confusion/misinterpretation of BSA policies. The SM veto concept just seems to be wrong on 2 very different levels: #1) violates policy, and #2) violates the concept of a youth led program.(This message has been edited by Tokala)
  24. belayer wrote: "To ASM915 and others about Shawnee and the post election veto issue: I truely can't give the history of when the lodge started this procedure. It could very well have been the process recommended by national way back then and changed several times. National OA leadership must not be too worried about it; kids from Shawnee have been elected as region and section chiefs." The thing that leaps out to me is the idea of ignoring the rules. Not just because of the rules, but because we're involved in an organization (BSA) that promotes good citizenship and character developmen
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