83Eagle

Last time I checked, George III wasn't popularly elected, nor was he subject to reelection. I suspect if the citizens of Wisconsin don't like what's going on, he will be defeated, or recalled.

See what I get for not searching back 4+ years in the forums? :-)

I'm with moosetracker on this one. I would not have given an alternative because they still get something fun, that you will end up doing by yourself. I'm not meaning to be critical, it is just not the approach I would have taken. I noted in another thread that you mentioned "Scouting would be fantastic if you could exclude the parents." Now, I get the gist of what you are saying there, and here, but think of the fact that these two thoughts do not reconcile. On one hand, you want more parents involved, on the other hand, you want to exclude them. As I said, I get the gist of it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kxc6kzH-uI(This message has been edited by 83eagle)

Last time I checked, Wisconsin had a legislature, albeit one where Democrat members are AWOL, and a judicial branch. If there was truly a king Scott, proclamations would be all that is necessary to effect any legislation being proposed.

It is a revenue shortfall. Pretty much same as the last time Why not covered this time around? Two main reasons: Reason #1: No massive federal stimulus infusion this time around (not sure of the exact amount, just going from memory, at least a billion I think) Reason #2: Public hue and cry about raiding segregated funds to pay for the general funds. Folks got a little miffed when the previous guv used the transportation budget plus who knows what else to balance the ledger. Some of that was taken to court and found to be unconstitutional and the state is in the midst of paying fines/

I don't know, could be! All I know is in my experience with the teachers' union, the priorities are, in order: union interests, teachers' interests, students' interests, parents' interests. I taught in middle school, but now I am in the private sector. As a teacher, it was frustrating to know that there was no opportunity for merit/performance-based pay. As a parent it has been frustrating to see mediocre or even poor teachers protected because of seniority. I am painting with a broad brush here admittedly, but I can give specific examples. Here's one: we (parents) used to be recru

>>How do we increase the effectiveness of Public Education, are Unions needed or not? Do they help or hurt or are a non-factor? I recognize the need for Unions, but do they have a place in Education or again, is this just a red herring? I prefer to let Bob Chanin, former NEA General Counsel, answer that question: "Despite what some among us would like to believe it is not because of our creative ideas; it is not because of the merit of our positions; it is not because we care about children; and it is not because we have a vision of a great public school for every child.

Calico, you'll have to call the previous governor to get it explained: http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/109275069.html Again, this deficit is NO SURPRISE to anyone paying attention. Regarding the "surplus" in the remaining budget as was widely and erroneously reported by the likes of Rachel Maddow, it NEVER existed. It was contrived by looking at money in the bank, but without looking at upcoming liabilities. In other words, if you have $100 in the bank and you write a $200 check with no income coming in, do you have a surplus at that point in time? Apparently i

>>To my mind, none of what you have said justifies a sitting Governor taking upon himself the unitary powers of a monarch. Do you disagree? I agree.

One more thing as it relates to the WI situation in specific. The state union contract has been expired since mid-2009 if my understanding is correct. Over 16 months, and with a 100% Democrat-controlled legislature and executive branch, a contract could not be agreed upon which would make this whole issue pretty much moot at this point. As has been said, the unions played chicken with the budget and lost. This time around there is no massive infusion of federal "stimulus" funds to make up the state budget shortfall.

>>The workers have given Walker what he claims to want in cost-cutting. The right to collectively bargain doesn't affect the budget under those conditions. Simply not true. The big problem is the 3.5 billion dollar budget shortfall. That is being made up in the budget almost exclusively by reduction in expenses at both the state and local (revenue sharing) level. Now before you argue "Tax the rich!," Walker campaigned on a platform of balancing the budget with no tax increases. So his course of action is no big surprise, despite the hue and cry being made now. As a matter of fact,

"Gay" will never again be "happy." Saying that someone left a "niggardly" tip will probably get you tossed out of the restaurant. You might be tempted to "smoke a fag" but someone might turn you in for a hate crime. Language evolves--or devolves--and unfortunately some terms are best left on the pages of the dictonary.

Unions institutionalize mediocrity by preventing performance-based rewards and demanding termination based on seniority rather than merit. When I worked at a union shop I was warned not to be too productive or I'd "break the rate." Public sector unions are especially bad because they sit on both sides of the table, negotiating with people who they've paid to put into office. Get rid of 'em all.

Got notice of a new raingutter kit, a trimaran: http://www.scoutstuff.org/BSASupply/ItemDetail.aspx?cat=01RTL&ctgy=PRODUCTS&c2=NEW&c3=&c4=&lv=2&item=612513&SRC=ET&ET_CID=ET_trimiran_03012011&Page=online&ET_RID={6b7fc908-a77f-4ca7-8c34-2a7db5b46b60} The online specs say not to be raced in the same class as regular regatta boats but I haven't seen the box to see if this is printed on it. I can see this being an issue if some boys show up having built this kit that says "Raingutter Regatta" on the box though.

"Sorry, Johnny. I know you worked very hard to earn these badges. You helped the community by doing scouting for food and got a really cool patch from the council. You went to summer camp and got a patch for being a chaplain's assistant. You built a pinewood derby car, rocket, and boat and got patches for doing your best in all those activities. And your parents bought you a vest where you can proudly display these patches. But you see, at this very important event, you can't wear your vest and patches, because as it turns out they're really not 'official.' Hope you understand. Keep worki

But I am so dense about sewing, this looks to me like you need to cut TWO of these patterns and sew them together? Is that right? No, you only cut one because the material is folded where it says "fold" The fold ends up in the middle of the back of the vest. Cut out the pattern and sew it along the top, turn it so the seam is on the inside and you are done. You probably want to try pinning it together where you are going to sew, before you sew it, to make sure you're sewing in the right place. :-)

Felt the need to bump this now for some reason.

Yeah, but the program is Cub Scouts, not Parent Scouts. Enthusiasm is infectious. Obviously not everybody can make every camp so I end every pitch with, "don't worry, if you can't make winter camp, come to spring camp," etc. You don't want to punish kids who have uninvolved parents, but at the same time parents are supposed to be involved so we're not going to strip down the program to the detriment of families who want to jump in feet first. And our parents and committee are on board with the direction being taken. Also, when we have activities, I try to find ones where I can give parent

One more thing Seattle, since I guess I completely stole this thread. I go over the parents heads...to the boys. There aren't too many boys in a Pack that don't want to go camping. So make them sell it to the parents. For instance, interest in a winter camp was running a little light. So I brought in a golf club, a whiffle ball, and an orange cone. Who can guess what this is for, I asked. Lots of answers. I'm not telling, you gotta come to winter camp to find out. Who wants to go sledding? Who wants to go snowshoeing? Who wants to sit in the cold snow around a warm campfire and eat s'more

There is no secret. Start small and build. Actually our first was a "day into night" camp for our den a few years back where we started at lunch, outdoor flag ceremony, did campfire cooking, earned the flag football and hiking belt loops, and ended with a big bonfire after which everyone went home. Made a big billboard of photos to display at the next pack meeting and all the other den boys said, "wow, I wish we could do that." I then volunteered to be the leader to take a group to district camp and we had just a few boys go. So, I did a multimedia presentation for the first pack meeting

I know that one shouldn't get too worked up about things said online, and even less so when said by people you don't know personally, yet I woke up this morning trying to figure out why I still felt so insulted by this whole characterization of Cub Scouts. I mean, it's only natural when you've spent several years of your life putting in how many hours into something you know has value and then people use a broad brush to completely disparage what it is that you do and say that life would be so much better if only the program you're in didn't exist. Well, as I sat here planning some final

Well, Kudu, if that scouting thing doesn't pan out for ya, I think ya got a future in politics.

But then he couples that with what a good idea it would be if Cub Scouting wouldn't exist I never said that! Baloney! And I quote, with elipses for ease of reference, but you can see it all in context at: http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=300190&p=1 SeattlePioneer writes: If we weren't going to do anything except the program as it existed in 1916 we would: ... 2) have no Cub Scout program To which Kudu writes: Good riddance. I for one value the years I have spent with my son in the Cub Scout program, and he feels the sa

I think 83Eagle's baseball analogy fails in that when yeh look at Cub Scouting, da major features of boy scouting aren't present. Even in T-ball, yeh swing at balls and run bases and field grounders. It's recognizable as baseball, with accommodations for younger fellows. The disconnect in many cub packs from boy scoutin' is that, aside from uniforms and promises, the rest isn't recognizable to youth or adults as scouting. So in Cub Scouts, you go camping, work on advancements, and learn some simple scoutcraft like knot-tying. But with accomodations for the younger fellows like havin