yknot

There can be no doubt that BSA refusal to include homosexuals or girls until forced to do so due to social and financial pressure has had an impact on membership. It might not have affected it in terms of scouts immediately withdrawing, but it has definitely had an impact on recruitment and image. Its recalcitrance definitely cost BSA financial support from such high profile donors as the United Way to Levi Strauss. Why would that happen if not a reflection of increasingly negative public opinion? In the nearly 20 years I've been involved in scouting, I've seen schools gradually cut involvemen

Where's a moderator when you need one, LOL?

I sense we are not communicating effectively here on some very basic level and you're descending once again into questionable territory with comments that sound more like insults than discussion. I am not insulting you. I am merely disagreeing with you. You somehow interpret that as being offensive. I've given reams of facts and research. I can't help it if you don't want hear what I have to say.

Camping rates are actually slightly down and flat but what has increased exponentially is spending on gear. Exhibit A: Boy's Life. I am a practical person, so if your goal is try to return to some version of scouting from 1970 or 1990 or even 2010, I personally don't think there is much point in discussing that much because it won't happen. Thinking we know best what people need vs. what they want is by definition bound for failure. History is always good for context but there is a reason why buggy whip manufacturers went out of business after the Model T. I have advocated in multi

It's called disagreeing, not bias. I am disagreeing with you.

I absolutely agree. And if I'm wrong, please correct me, but it seems like the answers that keep being delivered up on this site are connected to returning to or at least harkening back to practices from decades ago. I've been on this forum for years and have yet to see many threads truly examine what modern families and scouters need or want. Every time the topics come up, people freak out. I've read some of the long posts on this particular thread about training and traditional organizational structure and I feel like it is so disconnected from what modern day families are interested in

Look, the stuff you and some others are talking about from 30, 40, 50 years ago is just not terribly relevant today. The comments you process as negative really are not. Scouting is the Titanic and some people like me for years have been shouting iceberg dead ahead. Maybe try listening instead of getting perpetually offended?

I feel that to some degree we are discussing things that are wishful thinking and not reality. Yes, it would be helpful if some higher power swooped in and absolved BSA of responsibility for questionable or unprovable claims from 60 years ago. However, in the current environment where we literally have states and some national voices considering how to assess reparations for events that happened 200 to 400 years ago, I would not hold my breath over expecting anyone on the federal level to get involved in reducing statutes of limitations. Or, in legislating some good will measure that exonerat

Your comment raises an interesting question. Any work I've ever done for federal or state government has had to meet all sorts of standards for non discrimination. Even though it's pretty much unlikely, If Congress were to actually examine the charter, how would BSA fair? Until recently, the organization has not exactly been welcoming to large and politically important categories of the nation's youth. And while girls are now allowed, they are still segregated into separate dens/troops,. There is also the problem of church involvement and the fact that atheists are not welcome. There have been

The old animal trainer I worked for trained the MGM lions and he taught them to snarl and roar on cue. Here's a fun commercial with the Mercury kitty.

I remember that cat. I would have loved to have met him. He had a fabulous snarl.

Congress will only do something if it is connected with votes or hot button issues but the numbers just aren't there for us. We're too small, on the politically wrong side of most issues and have no common core. A couple decades ago you might have been able to rely on support from a conservative Christian voting bloc but today the religious aspects of scouting are too fragmented and miniscule. LDS has pulled out. Catholics oppose LGBTQ issues. Methodists endorse LGBTQ issue, etc., etc. Congressional leaders will never step into that. This past decade, BSA should have been burnishing a less co

Momma was not happy lol. Back in the days when parents were less concerned about childhood death and dismemberment, I worked for a guy who had exotic animals for the movies, including big cats. I definitely learned some interesting things that are not in G2SS.

Refreshing and much appreciated.

The guy was right to stare the cat in the face and back up. You should never turn and run. You should never break eye contact. You should never bend down and make yourself smaller unless you've really got some distance. Once they've decided you are a target you have the unfortunate task of trying to both de-escalate the situation while at the same time also convincing them you are too big, bad and tough to tangle with. What he should have done was put the phone away. He was obviously aiming the camera at that supremely ticked off cat -- otherwise we wouldn't have had the great footage, which I

I don't think enthusiasm is the issue. I think the issue is that fully entrenched scouters perhaps are not as cognizant of how the child abuse scandals have affected the way the general public views scouting and has created a perception that we are out of touch. I have literally sat through that song at least a dozen times. Maybe it's just our Council but those darn WB'ers bust it out at holiday meetings and COHs and Roundtables. I actually don't mind the Council events because everyone there is used to it. I don't like it at the unit level because many of our families have this image of scou

Hurt? I'm flat out annoyed. Our current situation establishes just how unreliable and arbitrary internal BSA research and data is, because it's usually self validating and self congratulating. Who cares what BSA thought in the 1970s? Over decades, it has routinely manipulated data to reinforce already presumed positions and initiatives and that has resulted in one of the most poorly managed nonprofits in existence. Does anyone seriously think more girl dads are somehow bad for the future of scouting? Why would that even be relevant when you are looking at upcoming generational cohorts that, u

Wow. I don't think the problem is girls or girl parents at all. The problem is that not enough kids are interested in the program to begin with and that not enough people of any kind are growing up with meaningful outdoor experience and common sense. The leader pool with those skills is shrinking. Franky, I'm a little insulted by this attitude. I'm a girl, and I know at least as much and to be honest probably quite a bit more about outdoor skills than any "boy" in my Troop. But your opinion explains a lot.

It was about a 10 to 15 minute ceremony -- not bad and that part was all fine. There were a bunch of WB people in attendance however from our local troops as well as guests of the person who had earned his wood badge and they all got up to sing the song that talks about what animal they are. I didn't want to say this in my original post because it is harsh but that song does not play well in this day and age with some folks. It makes scouters seem very odd to some and reinforces the perception that some have that there are some very odd, out of the mainstream folks involved in scouting. If it

I prefer to be on a horse and have a couple of large working dogs with me.

I don't know how to comment on this in the other thread, but absolutely agree. Growing problem with scouting today. BSA online training or a couple of weekends of in person training cannot turn people into competent outdoors leaders. In 20 years our adult leader corps has morphed from mostly farmers and outdoors people with a lifetime of experience in the elements to more corporate or suburban type people who are well intentioned but don't know what they don't know. We're making weather calls on phone apps that show red blobs 30 minutes away but if you look up at the sky weather is alrea

Painter may have come from a derivation of the French word le panthere, or it could have been a reference to the black paintbrush like tip of their very long tails. Catamount is a garbled version of the Spanish Gato Monte, meaning Mountain Cat. Cougar is a French translation of a Brazilian Portuguese name. Puma is also pretty well known and derived from Spanish. Ghost Cat, Shadow Cat, Mountain Screamer, Fire Cat are all obviously more Appalachian names. My favorite is Long Tail, which was the name the Erie Nation gave to it and to themselves. Apart from what they are, these animals are also a

I wouldn't hike anywhere without a stick or a pole. We don't really have mountain lions around here but we do have bear. There are also a lot of people who hike with their dogs off leash and they are not all friendly. We have also had a number of cases of rabid animals attacking hikers. That's another issue scouts could use more consistent education about.

It is an encounter though that may become more common. Cougar populations are increasing and the species has expanded. Dispersing young adults are being reliably if intermittently sighted in any number of unlikely states from Illinois to Louisiana to Connecticut. In Utah where this incident took place the cougar population has tripled in recent years. Black bear populations are also on the increase in many states. Since the U.S. population is also increasing and Covid is causing more people to look for more remote trails, this video is a good reminder to be prepared.

I kinda disagree. I think for now in this Covid world, you've got to avoid any kind of nonessential interaction. If you are talking about an industrial kitchen where someone who is trained and is cooking meals that can be individually accessed via social distancing, that's one thing. But if you are talking about a camp out or camping situation that is more in the rough, which is what I think the IP was talking about, you need to keep everyone and all their meal components separate. You cannot, for example, have a communal ice chest to store foil packed meals. Even if cooking will ultimately ki