BrentAllen

scoutldr, In our council, the CD and/or SPL sets the uniform for the staff. The staff and participants all wear the same course baseball-style hat. These are usually very popular - you see participants wearing them all the time after the course is over - so there aren't any complaints.

Gern, I'm impressed. So, are you going to be the lone ranger in your district, being the only one in complete uniform? IIRC, you said hardly anyone in your district wears anything other than the uniform shirt. As for my uniform, I have 5 shirts - 3 for SM, 1 for District, 1 for COR. I wear the 5 knots I have been awarded - AOL, CM, DAM, SM Training, WD Boyce. I wear my WB beads. I have the Emer. Prep pin on my left pocket flap, OA flap on my right. Usually have a temp. activity patch on my right pocket. I just traded in my WB Staff leather belt for a Northern Tier. I'm sewing the Loon patch on my jac-shirt. So, how big of an egotist am I? What is bling, and what isn't? Yep, your right, the program is for the boys. Please explain to me how anything I'm wearing takes away anything from the boys.

Very astute observation, FScouter.

Hmmmm.... I would have thought an "Insignia Guide bare minimum" would include Scout pants, socks and belt. Come talk to me about my uniform when you get those part right, ok?

knot envy - not (pun) a pretty thing. You know what I enjoy? Getting criticized about by my uniform by those who can't even wear the full uniform properly. Always brings a smile to my face. Does the Insignia Guide actually point out which knots only egotists wear? I can't find it in my copy. I didn't know there was a bare minimum in the Insignia Guide - which page is it on? What about wearing the Philmont Bull on a Jac-shirt - are those guys egotists? What about a SM or ASM wearing a campaign hat - are they egotists? I need to know these things. The program is for the boys, right?

JoeBob, In malpractice, they are still going to sue the doctor, not the insurance provider. packsaddle, In Georgia, you can carry on school property with a concealed carry permit - in a limited manner. If you are dropping off or picking up your child, you can carry while on school property. You can't carry while attending a program or meeting with a teacher, etc.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=8306580

Misinformation? I'll be nice and call this misinformation: Obama claims AARP has endorsed the proposed healthcare plan. AARP responded, saying they haven't endorsed anything. So, maybe we should report him to the "White House Misinformation Bureau"?

Angry Bush protests you never heard about in the press: When Bush visited Portland, Ore., in 2002 for a fundraiser, protesters stalked his motorcade, assailed his limousine and stoned a car containing his advisers. Chanting "Bush is a terrorist!", the demonstrators bullied passers-by, including gay softball players and a wheelchair-bound grandfather with multiple sclerosis. One protester even brandished a sign that seemed to advocate Bush's assassination. The man held a large photo of Bush that had been doctored to show a gun barrel pressed against his temple. "BUSH: WANTED, DEAD OR ALIVE," read the placard, which had an X over the word "ALIVE." Another poster showed Bush's face with the words: "F- YOU, MOTHERF-ER!" A third sign urged motorists to "HONK IF YOU HATE BUSH." A fourth declared: "CHRISTIAN FASCISM," with a swastika in place of the letter S in each word. Although reporters from numerous national news organizations were traveling with Bush and witnessed the protest, none reported that protesters were shrieking at Republican donors epithets like "Slut!" "Whore!" and "Fascists!" Of course, we all know there is no bias in the press. Or violent liberals.

No, it's more like "I got mine, don't take it away." Dan, I'm sure there were plenty of police and Secret Service officers there, carrying guns as well. I'm guessing that didn't bother you. They carry because it is part of their job. Well, which is more important/ sacred to you - a job requirement or a right?

Dan, I don't think it added anything to the debate - did it have to? Maybe he was just as worried as you about the debate - that it might turn nasty, violent. If so, he was ready to defend himself. So much for tolerance...

Dan, Maybe he just wanted to get noticed, and have a chance at making the local news. He appears to have done both. BTW, he wasn't "outside" the venue where Obama was to speak. He was at a nearby church, with permission to be there. According to the reports I read, he was under constant surveillance. He broke no laws. What's the problem?

I was under the impression that the age limit for the Ocoee was 12. Is there an outfitter that lets them ride at 8? I thought the Chattooga also had age restrictions, depending on which section you went on (Section III - 10, Section IV - 13). Maybe I was misinformed. I've never been to MarineLab, so I looked it up. We are going on the Coral Reef Sailing trip next year, which will probably be much easier than our NT trip this summer. The cost for that trip is $700 (week long); the cost for a similar length trip to MarineLab appears to run $795 (6 days, 5 nights), so I don't see the cost savings. Am I missing something?

I guess I'm confused - how does the number of Eagle congratulations letters requested or received affect any of you? Does it take something away from you? If the parents want to request a letter from Mickey Mouse, I fail to see how that affects anyone other than the Scout and his family. The Scout, with the support of his family, earned the award. They can request letters from anyone they want.

So, pack, what you are saying is you have never to been to any of the BSA High Adventure bases? I'm curious - what type program offered better high adventure? Was it Outward Bound? Who? What rivers were you taking 11 year olds whitewater rafting on?

Doesn't have a dog in the fight?? Didn't you just read the Obama quote? The chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives are accounting for potentially 80 percent of the total health- care bill out here. That government bureaucrat won't just be paid to tell you no, he will be ordered to! The cost of this program is going to be astronomical. The Dems keep saying they are going to fund it without adding to the deficits. Look at that quote above to see where costs are going to be cut. I've never been denied by my insurance company any service or proceedure requested by my doctor. My wife is half Norwegian. She has relatives in Norway who have waited over 6 months (many times much longer) for medical proceedures. Welcome to government-run healthcare.

Yep. Give me an insurance accountant over a government bureaucrat ANY day of the week!

Sure, we won't have Death Panels (sorry, Gern), at least not by that name. Obama Says Grandmothers Hip Replacement Raises Cost http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aGrKbfWkzTqc April 29 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama said his grandmothers hip-replacement surgery during the final weeks of her life made him wonder whether expensive procedures for the terminally ill reflect a sustainable model for health care. Obama said you just get into some very difficult moral issues when considering whether to give my grandmother, or everybody elses aging grandparents or parents, a hip replacement when theyre terminally ill. Thats where I think you just get into some very difficult moral issues, he said in the April 14 interview. The chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives are accounting for potentially 80 percent of the total health- care bill out here. Me, I don't want Obama or any of his government minions deciding "moral issues" for me and my family. Do I have a reason to be worried about his health care overhaul? You betcha!

RE: Girl Scouts lack of outdoor program. The Girl Scouts have a canoe base in the Boundary Waters (Northern Lakes Girl Scout Canoe Base), just down from Charles L. Sommers on Moose Lake. We ran into a Girl Scout Crew coming out of one of the portages. Check it out. http://www.studio2b.org/escape/destinations/event_details.asp?eventid=302 Note: They do include a trip to the mall. :-)

The biggest problem I think most have with the health care issue is the way the whole process has been handled. We are being told it HAS to be passed now, in just a few weeks, that we MUST support it, even though no one is sure what is in it, or what will be in the final bill! This could be the opening of Pandora's Box, and the Dems want a drag race to get there. What's up with the frantic pace? It makes me think they are afraid we will have time to read it and see how bad it really is. I suggest slowing the process down, and trying to make changes incrementally. Clean up the fraud in Medicair/Medicaid. If you are going to start forcing those who can afford insurance to buy it, make that step two. Then let's see how many citizens are actually without insurance. Then maybe expand Medicair/Medicaid. Do that before opening Pandora's Box that becomes the biggest boondoggle in the history of this country. Obama is on record as saying he prefers single-payer (yes, it was back in 2003, but it is on the record). We have reasons to be suspicious.

hot-foot, I think you misread Le Voyageur's post. I haven't had any issue with the age restrictions put in by the BSA. Our boys go whitewater rafting their first year at Summer Camp, just after completing the 5th grade (11 year olds). The older boys (13) get to do a more challenging whitewater trip. Our council basically follows the same age restrictions used by the outfitters. If you think 11 year olds are ready for either a week at Philmont or NT, knock yourself out. You can do similar programs through private outfitters. I think you will find the age restrictions to be very wise, set after many years of experience. In fact, most Scouters I talk to suggest waiting another year above the age restrictions before encouraging the boys to go. Again, this is after years of experience of taking Scouts on these trips. The BSA offers more adventure than any other youth group out there. If you disagree, go pick up a copy of Passport to High Adventure and show me any group that can compare.

Yep - jealousy is an ugly thing.

Gern writes "Frankly, adult recognition is one of the bigger problems we have. It creates cliques and prejudice." You must live in a very different Scouting world that I do. This is certainly not a problem around here. If I remember correctly, B-P wore a lot of awards on his uniform.

Dan, Let me guess - you totally missed where Democtrat Rep. Brian Baird compared the protesters to the Brown Shirts. "Baird said he's using the new system because he fears his political opponents may be planning "an ambush" to disrupt his meetings, using methods Baird compared to Nazism. "What we're seeing right now is close to Brown Shirt tactics," Baird, D-Vancouver, said in a phone interview. "I mean that very seriously." http://www.columbian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090806/NEWS02/708069952

The flies were gone. The skeeters were bad in some areas. I was one of those guys the skeeters didn't like. I never wore my headnet. I did get bit a few times, but not enough to wear the headnet. Some of the boys were fresh meat - they were counting the bites on their hands, and they were into the 20's and 30's. The only time they were an absolute terror was while getting ready for that dawn paddle - they killed us. Once we got on the water, we were fine. The mosquitoes up there are much different than our's here in the south. Down here, you never feel them bite, or hear them, and the bite will itch for several days. Up there, you hear them and the bite is like a pin jab, but it doesn't really itch afterwards. The only real time I worried about them was when hitting the grumper. They seemed to hang out there, waiting for you to drop trousers. The broad-brimmed hat came in handy there, fanning them away.