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Col. Flagg

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Everything posted by Col. Flagg

  1. Well, that's the rub, isn't it? BSA *thinks* they know how to fix the problem. Yet they've been tinkering with the program for decades and nothing has stopped the slow and steady drop, drop, drop of membership. It's the Chinese water torture of membership loss...no cultural appropriation intended. I'm not sure BSA knows what's trendy. We are talking about a company that uses 1990s technology. Do we really want them trying to figure out what's trendy? Does BSA have a good track record of developing successful changes to their core program? Even their spin offs are floundering. I feel they h
  2. You forgot, "You'll be able to keep your physician", "No new taxes" and "What difference does it make?"
  3. I think we all lament the loss of scoutcraft, bushcraft, White Stag, etc. But I would argue that those defending "tradition", as you put it, are trying to stop what they see as the further erosion of that very tradition. I would add things like STEM, patch proliferation, merit badge colleges, worksheet MBCs, not using the PM, meddling adults (parents and leaders) and ineffective youth training as additional windmills which should be tilted in the name of "tradition". Simplicity should be the name of the game. But that's my traditional, outmoded sense talking again.
  4. While I would agree that is what "cultural appropriation" should mean (furthering a negative image of x culture), that is often not the case. Many times people using the term do it for shaming others for using cultural things from a culture of which they are not part...even if those using cultural item are doing so respectfully and correctly. Ironically, it also seems to never apply to western European "cultural appropriations". When's the last time you saw a riot or protest about stereotyping Irish as drunk gingers eating potatoes and fighting all the time? Or Germans as all Nazis or funn
  5. When I was looking for Scout troops many years back, experience and training was one of my questions of each troop. Fast forward many years later when I became an SM, and one of the things we provide to the visiting parents is a detailed summary of each's leaders' training and years of service. This has helped us a great deal in recruiting because we require all SMs to have the usual (YPT, IOLS, Lader-specific) training, but also require all the other online courses (x Safely, weather, etc.), and CPR/AED. We make sure we have at least 4-6 valid WRFA and ARC first aid trained folks too, whi
  6. Spot on! The Scout's book is signed, he's earned the rank. All the new SM has to do is drive to the Scout Shop to pick up the rank, award it to the new Scout and welcome him warmly in to the new troop. Done.
  7. I wouldn't think they could hold another Key 3 role. In a small unit you almost cannot avoid wearing more than one hat, so I would think DL would be okay. Best to ask your district.
  8. Man, talk about lighting the fuse and running...
  9. Somewhere, a student at a university is trying to figure out how we are culturally appropriating the 4-H event to feed our privilege.
  10. Well, I hope you never run in to the guy with the Cat Detector Van from the Ministry of Housinge. [someone will get this...I hope.] National Geographic had a great special on the human genome and how we as a species spread all over the globe. It was part of their project to map the human genome and how we moved around the world. The special was called the Human Family Tree. It was pretty interesting to see color and race stereotypes blasted away when a black man had more in common with a white Norwegian man than he did with his alleged African ancestors. Or the white guy who thought h
  11. In my area it is big. 4-H is nothing but outdoors for the most part. Spend a weekend farming. If you've never heard the Paul Harvey bit on a farmer it is good. The next town over has a 4-H gig next month. The meeting time? 4:30am...its a calf birthing class.
  12. I don't have the national stats in hand but I found this and thought it was interesting. The drop in wrestling certainly mirrors what you are saying. I don't have time to get the details on boys versus girls by sport, but that would be an interesting set of stats to see. Given how much time kids spend inside in front of consoles these days, it would not surprise me that there may be an overall drop in sports participation across all sports. I am sure someone here has that stat somewhere. All girl Boy Scout troop? Why not just be a Venturing crew and be done with it? That way
  13. I agree the knot should suffice. Too often very few people know what it means. Also, I think wearing 10,000 knots on one's chest defeats the simple purpose of the knot. We have a guy who is a looooong time Scouter. Has upwards of 10 knots; wears three. Eagle Scout, AOL and his religious knot. That's it. Don't disagree. I'd rather things be simple and clear, not just to us but to those who may have no idea what a patch may mean. All I am saying is that if we want to simplify and call attention to Eagles, having something obvious and simple would work. It would require some thou
  14. Other cultural appropriations: St. Patrick's Day. Irish and green beer. Oktoberfest. Everyone in Germany wears lederhosen. Mexican Food Chains. As if Mexican food is even close to what you get at On the Border. Chinese Food. See Mexican food entry. @@EmberMike I think you are right. If you borrow from a culture with reverence, you are celebrating it, not desecrating it. Heck, nearly everything in life is based on something that came before. Even those crying about negative appropriation should realize that often they thing they think is being exploited or illegally borrowed came fro
  15. Don't have to imagine that...I've lived it. Know what? My daughter waited until she could join Venturing. She found a GSUSA troop that had a great outdoor program in the mean time. The system works if one lets it. There's no reason to force units to become coed if they don't want to. Other sports have actually increased...dramatically. Look at the total pool of kids involved in sports...not just a few sports. While kids may not be wrestling that much, the boys are doing other sports.
  16. It's funny, i thought the same thing. How could an Eagle knot NOT be obvious, right? But to most in Scouting they honestly don't know what the knots are for, let alone which signifies "I am an Eagle". The medal cannot be worn with the uniform, so it must be with a blazer. Wearing the Eagle necker all the time I think is like wearing your dress blues in the Marines; sure you look great but it is hardly practical. The shoulder patch would be great but not every council has one. I was a soccer referee for a long time. When I retired I became an emeritus referee. Same patch, just with oli
  17. Unless you are a TG boy, er girl, then you could join Venturing at 11. See, we can find a way to make this work for everyone AND still keep Boy Scouting for boys. Imagine what the new membership for will look like...and the spinning heads of the council registrar.
  18. I would support this. Lower Venturing to 11 and allow girls to join. Let's see how that changes membership numbers...but in Venturing. The problem is outreach in my opinion. Councils and districts don't really have a decent, workable, realistic program for reaching out to various communities. For example, there is a large Indian (sub-continent India) population in my area. Scouting is a foreign concept and largely misunderstood. The council had an all day session on how to reach out to that community. I attended hoping to get some information that was useful. At the end of the ses
  19. I chuckle every time I hear the phrase "stick to the code"...for obvious reasons. I agree with you. The Eagle knot, special council strip, Eagle necker are all ways an adult Scouter can show he's an Eagle. There's also the NESA lifetime member knot. I'd be in favor of a change if the BSA made it to allow adults to wear something that more obviously signifies they are an Eagle Scout.
  20. Hyperbole much? Rank advancement alone does not meet the aims and methods of Scouting, otherwise those other two aims and seven methods would not exist. All that you mention can ALSO be done in Venturing. Ever taken a look at those awards? I've met a few Venturing Scouts who could plan better than most adults I know. But service, citizenship, leadership, training and all that you mention BESIDES EAGLE are all things you can get in Venturing. Please don't compare what goes in in Cub Scouts as any type of big deal that girls are missing out on. If you spend any time helping an active
  21. So enlighten me. What am I missing that Boy Scouts offers that Venturing does not BESIDES rank advancement...specifically Eagle? OA is mostly about sash and dash. I cannot believe we are actually counting OA as something girls can get boys can't, but I will grant you that. So besides rank advancement (specifically Eagle) and OA (which is not very active in the majority of the areas I've lived), what else are the girls being denied that they can't get in Venturing that is offered in Boy Scouts?
  22. First, not sure what Boy Scouts covers that Venturing does not. The main difference I see is rank advancement. Am I missing anything else substantial? Since less than 2% of Venturing crews use the rank advancement method, that tells me they don't join Crews for rank advancement, but more for the activities. Second, while BSA does not have a program for girls, GSUSA does...and it is pretty good. Sure you can get a bad troop that does scrap-booking and home economics type stuff, but you can also get Dens and Packs that do very little too. The point is the OPPORTUNITY is there. It is not incu
  23. I think units have been focusing local of a long time. Numbers keep dropping. The program is working, boys are joining, but they are joining in fewer and fewer numbers despite the local-first attitude of many units.
  24. Does not say who the unit committee is comprised of. It that the troop committee? If so, they might want to say that to be clear. I am with @@fred johnson, we have the SM and OA ASMs make the recommendation. From the OA Guide to Elections Adult Candidate Form: "The camping requirement for youth candidates must be fulfilled by adults for them to be considered. To be eligible, the adult must have completed 15 nights of Boy Scout camping during the two years immediately prior to nomination. The 15 nights must include one, but no more than one, long-term camp consisting of five consecutiv
  25. If boys are coming to you because you have a good program, why would you want to direct them away? It's the boys' choice where they want to go. Now, if your troop decides that they can only accept (x) boys per year, then that's another thing. You may not have enough gear, drivers, volunteers to handle the sudden increase. That might be an excuse you can use. But this could back fire and you could get the reputation as having set limits in the past, so why join you guys next year. It is nice that you worry about the other troops, but IMHO it is not your responsibility to collude with ot
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