BrentAllen

"Is it just that people are slow? Ordinary voter cluelessness,..."

Boy, those Boston colors are sure showing. But being as how you are so smart, you should be able to figure this out all by yourself. It really isn't that hard. Well, maybe hard for someone who thinks they are a conservative...

Gern,

If the Tea Party is about racism at its core, explain why they were involved in the Senate races in Kentucky, Connecticut, Delaware, Colorado, Nevada and Alaska. Please explain Rubio in Florida. Where was the racism in those races?

pack,

SC was not looking good for McCain in 2000. From David Broder:

The effect was to dramatize how far McCain had come, in eight years, in co-opting the heart of the Republican establishment, with several of the state's most popular Republicans -- including the senior senator, Lindsey Graham, the state attorney general and the speaker of the state House of Representatives -- all vouching for him.

Graham had been almost alone in backing McCain in 2000, when the establishment Republicans who looked to former Gov. Carroll Campbell for guidance all lined up behind Bush.

The campaign that unfolded back then was notably ugly, including anonymous slurs on McCain's behavior in a North Vietnamese prison camp and unfounded rumors that the child his wife had adopted from a Bangladeshi nursery was actually the product of an extramarital relationship between McCain and another woman.

No one can be certain how many votes were shifted by this underground campaign. Last week, McCain told reporters he attributed his 2000 defeat not to the sneak attacks, but to the depth and breadth of establishment support for Bush.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/01/south_carolina_a_different_pla.html

I'm sure you were equally disgusted when the liberals made all those nasty claims about Sarah Palin's son Trigg, right?

No, Gern, the anger started with the $700 billion financial bailout that was voted on (and failed) in September, 2008. That was what started it all. The phones in Washington were ringing off the hook from constituents telling Reps and Senators to vote against it - that's why it didn't pass. We were against the bailouts from the start, which began before Jan. 20, which began before the election on the first Tuesday in November.

Anyone who thinks the Tea Party is racist, or has racism at it's core, is STUPID.

Anyone who thinks the Tea Party is all about racism is just plain stupid.

And Beavah, being a Boston conservative - well, those two words don't fit together very well.

A true conservative wouldn't have to ask, "why all the anger?" after everything Obama has done. Not only ramming through ObamaCare, but also the way it was done. Transparency, everyone at the table - yeah, right. Backroom deals, changing the rules on voting. Now, waivers of this wonderful ObamaCare are being sought and given to political cronies. If it is so good, why are the unions asking for waivers? (And if you don't remember all the feathers flying about HillaryCare, I suggest you go read some history)

How about the way the stockholders and bondholders for GM were treated? Unions put ahead of them, given preference.

Stimulus money used as a slush fund.

Villifying Fox News, saying they aren't a legitimate news channel.

Yeah, your right - none of that would anger a true conservative - it's all about the color of Obama's skin.

Again, anyone who thinks the Tea Party is all about racism is just plain stupid.

And, yes, I consider myself a member of the Tea Party. So, please Beavah, keep the insults coming. I'm keeping a list.

Many of the boys in our Troop are interested in the knots. One even told me at Summer Camp that I needed to earn some more. I think that was because he knew I had one coming (I didn't know about it) at the next COH. Some of the boys wear the religious award knot, so they are on their radar.

In our Troop, all costs for trips are spread among the participants. Gas for vehicles is figured into the cost. The church has two 14-passenger vans/buses we use, which really helps keep costs low. If adults have to drive, they are reimbursed at .20/mile. If someone tows the trailer, they are reimbursed at .40/mile. Sons traveling in their parent's vehicle aren't charged for gas. Adults pay their part of other costs on trips - campsite fees, food, etc.

The Troop picks up BSA registration fees for adults. Adults do currently pay for any training classes they attend. I hope we can get to a point in the next year or two where the Troop will pay at least part of training fees.

For Summer Camp, we usually are allowed a couple of adults to attend for free. There is a reduced charge for the others. We add up the fees for the adults and divide the total by the number of adults attending.

The SM is the one who determines who can sign off on rank advancement. The Advancement Committee Policies & Procedures points this out, though I understand they are currently being re-written, so you may not be able to obtain a copy at this time.

I also don't allow ASM parents to sign off on their son's requirements. Even though I know they would do a good job, I don't want the issue to ever come up that Johnny was given preferential treatment by his father. Plus, this helps develope Adult Association, another of the Methods.

Teach the Scouts to look at all the spiders in the leaves and pinestraw, by seeing their eyes reflecting light. I have found using a headlight works well. The reflections look like water drops reflecting light. When you learn to see them, it is amazing how many spiders are out there - most are very small.

I didn't get to see it, but it comes on again tonight at 10:00 PM. Will record it in case I don't get to watch it. I'm mildly interested in it.

The first episode of the eight-part series was the most-watched program launch in TLC's history.

I noticed some of our Scouts were playing "Push-Up Poker" during the lunch break on our backpacking trip this weekend. Yep, they bet with push-ups, and the loser has to do the number he lost. I'd never heard of it until then. I have mixed feelings about gambling, but I do like to see them working in some physical excercise.

Beavah wrote "Scoutin' can be "fun" much more of the time, but if yeh want lads to grow it also has to be hard. We have to push 'em a bit. Make that 5.9 climb. Do the mile swim at camp. Paddle a 50-miler afloat. Bike a century. Win da patrol obstacle course relay."

While I agree with the general thought, our boys working on Tenderfoot haven't had much opportunity to do these things. It has been my experience that the boys don't start developing the upper body strength to do pull-ups until 7th grade, on average. Here are some numbers for our Troop, initial test counts for Sit-ups (in 2 minutes), Push-Ups, Pull-ups. The first two are 6th graders in good shape, active in soccer:

A. 55, 10, 0

B. 40, 5, 0

Two of our 8th graders, run Cross-Country and swim:

C. 50, 10, 5

D. 61, 32, 9

I don't think we will see a lot of improvement in pull-ups until later, but there's no reason they can't start working on them as soon as they join.

Yep, be careful what you ask for. I was pulling for Obama to win the Democrat nomination, thinking there was no way that empty suit could win the presidency. If his winning resulted in the birth of the Tea Party, it is a high price, but one I'm willing to pay. He will be gone in 2012, and the Tea Party will be even stronger.

I love how the Democrats claim to be the big tent party, but I now read that many are happy most of the moderate Dems lost this past election. The liberals blame them for not having that real socialistic health care program, with single payer. I wish the Democrats much success in purging their party of all but pure liberals.

"...Arlen Specter, who in my opinion is one of the best lawmakers this country has had for more than 25 years."

Are you kidding?? He is the epitome of the spineless politician willing to do anything to keep his seat in Washington with all the perks. Very glad to see him gone, along with that loser Alan Grayson. Luckily Grayson's 15 minutes are just about up.

OK, got it - Mr. Fusion - how could I forget that?

After using the Coleman Exponent Feather stoves at NTier, we have switched over to using them. Most of our Scouts have lighter options for backpacking, but some do use these if they don't have a personal stove. They are a little heavy for me for backpacking. I personally use a JetBoil Group cooking system for our adults. Several of our boys use the personal models (Jetboil Flash), in all the cool colors. My son uses an MSR Pocket Rocket. Most of our patrols opt for buddy-cooking on backpacking trips, instead of cooking as a full patrol.

Coleman Stove - pretty good price: http://www.meijer.com/s/coleman-exponent-feather-dual-fuel-stove/_/R-130490?cmpid=goobase&CAWELAID=341874527

No, I was thinking about the flux capacitor model at the end of the movie, from the future. It looked like a Cuisinart. Doc Brown went over and pulled a few things out of the garbage to fuel it up, IIRC. I'm sure GE just needs more stimulus money and government incentives to figure that thing out.

Wait! I have the answer! I just remembered it - the Flux Capacitor! It runs on just about anything!

Or, wait - was it the Continuum Transfunctioner? I get those two so confused?!

Gern,

That is a problem. Ya'll probably haven't developed culinary tastes for fried pork skins, either, I bet. Yep, I can't stray too far from the South for too long.

Wind turbines are estimated to kill between 100,00 - 300,000 birds per year. Have the greenies factored that into their costs?

Alternative fuels... yeah, right. We've only been hearing about alternative fuels since Carter. And look what we got - the Chevy Volt, which will be an absolute failure. The only buyer of that piece of junk will be GE, using tax-payer stimulus dollars. Who wants to pay $41,000 for a car that gets 25 - 50 miles on a charge, and takes 10 - 12 hours to recharge? Oh, and that "electric" car has a gasoline engine, as well, to charge the battery and drive the car at highway speeds. Running just on gas (after that initial 25 - 50 miles of your trip), the Volt gets around 30 mpg. Woohoo!

We could have a car now that delivers 65 mpg, for around $25,000. Unfortunately, the greenies have declared diesel "bad" and those fuel taxes on diesel make it more expensive to the consumer than regular gas.

The 65 mpg Ford the U.S. Can't Have

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_37/b4099060491065.htm

This is what we get when the government (Big Brother) chooses the winners and losers.

Both the JFK and Reagan tax cuts did what they were supposed to do - increase tax revenue. The deficits grew from increased SPENDING, not loss of tax revenue.

natter

v natter [ˈnӕtə]

to chatter or talk continuously, usually about unimportant things

Yep, MY opinion.

The term was actually written by William Safire.

Uh, Beavah, that whole section is about Scouts, not Scouters. How exactly does an award knot indicate "status?" Does a Tiger Leader only wear his Tiger Cub Den Leader Award while he is serving in that position? He won't earn it until he has served for the year, and then most likely moves up to Wolf - does he never get to wear it? What about the Cubmaster who serves two years, earns his knot and then moves on to Boy Scouts? He doesn't ever get to wear his knot? And how does the DAM or SB show "status?"

Don't let the nattering nabobs rain on your parade. If you earned them, feel free to wear them.

I'm in the Atlanta Area Council - can't say that I've ever heard about Den Chiefs being required, or even asked, to take YP. Aren't they still youths?

Moosetracker,

I haven't heard of any opt-out testing options. However, if this is a reality, or becomes a reality, you might look to your district's UCs. If you could get them trained to offer the supposed opt-out test, they could do this on a campout visit with their units. I think Mr. SM would be much more open to knocking this out on one of his Troop trips, instead of having to give up another weekend or two at a separate event. Just a thought.

sherminator,

This Democrat agrees with me on the country being center-right, and has the numbers to back it up. Interesting read.

A Center-Right Nation Again

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/11/04/opinion/main7021190.shtml?tag=cbsnewsSectionContent.13

Excerpt:

Here we reach the nub of the matter: The ideological composition of the electorate shifted dramatically. In 2006, those who voted were 32 percent conservative, 47 percent moderate, and 20 percent liberal. In 2010, by contrast, conservatives had risen to 41 percent of the total and moderates declined to 39 percent, while liberals remained constant at 20 percent. And because, in todays polarized politics, liberals vote almost exclusively for Democrats and conservatives for Republicans, the ideological shift matters a lot.

To complete the argument, theres one more step: Did independents shift toward Republicans because they had become significantly more conservative between 2006 and 2010? Fortunately we dont have to speculate about this. According to the Pew Research Center, conservatives as a share of total Independents rose from 29 percent in 2006 to 36 percent in 2010. Gallup finds exactly the same thing: The conservative share rose from 28 percent to 36 percent while moderates declined from 46 percent to 41 percent.

This shift is part of a broader trend: Over the past two decades, moderates have trended down as share of the total electorate while conservatives have gone up. In 1992, moderates were 43 percent of the total; in 2006, 38 percent; today, only 35 percent. For conservatives, the comparable numbers are 36 percent, 37 percent, and 42 percent, respectively. So the 2010 electorate does not represent a disproportional mobilization of conservatives: If the 2010 electorate had perfectly reflected the voting-age population, it would actually have been a bit more conservative and less moderate than was the population that showed up at the polls. Unless the long-term decline of moderates and rise of conservatives is reversed during the next two years, the ideological balance of the electorate in 2012 could look a lot like it did this year.

I spend a little time at two COHs per year thanking some adults - after Summer Camp and in December. At the Summer Camp COH, I hand out the mugs they gave us at camp, and thank the adults who gave up a week of vacation to attend camp. I also hand out the Scoutmaster Merit Badge that some earned during the week (a program our camp offers). We usually have an adult complete Scout Leader training during the week, so I recognize them, as well. No plaques, just maybe a mug and a patch.

At the December COH, I thank the ASMs that served during the year. No plaques or anything, just a thank you for a job well done. Other than that, I will recognize any of our adults who have completed Scout Leader training. I want the parents to see who is donating their time to the Troop. If I only do this at committee meetings, only a handful of adults will be there, and they already know who is getting trained. Our ASMs are expected to attend at least half the meetings and half the campouts. Most attend far more than that, so they have put in a significant number of days and nights. As SM, I thank them for helping me support the program.