CalicoPenn

"In my mythical idea of heaven, one can see just past St. Peter (who is a stunning transexual) . . ." Will drag queen do? I can picture RuPaul as St. Peter, but I've yet to meet a transexual as stunning as RuPaul. Calico

"And I wonder how all those physicists & scientists & other intelligent people became so intelligent?" Evolution.

Or Gold Winger could refer to someone who rides a particular branded motorcycle, in which case he knows as much about aviation as anyone else on the board. I actually thought Merlyn's question was pretty good as I'm under the impression that physicists are pretty much in agreement on how thrust and lift keep heavy metal planes in the air. Calico

Once your district gets one or two of these events under their belt, get creative. At one first aid meet, halfway in to a long, complicated scenario, the meet was interrupted with an announcement that while the Patrol was working on the victim (of a rockslide), another rock came lose and hit the Patrol Leader (who was usually the person doing most of the first aid anyway) in the head, knocking him out and putting a gash in his head. At the point, the patrols Patrol Leader could no longer participate and had to act as another victim - and couldn't help or tell anyone else what needed to b

I've always subscribed to the belief that man created god(s) as a way to explain the mysteries of what man did not understand. It seems to me the conflict over creationism, or intelligent design versus evolutionary and cosmic theory comes about because as we, as a species, start to understand more and more about our existence, about our planet and universe, our need for god(s) to explain the mysteries decreases (less mysteries equals less god(s)), and that the two big mysteries left is "How did the universe and humanity come into existence" and "What is the purpose of life", and that this con

As I'm reading through this thread, it occurs to me that one of the Give Meds/Do Not Give Meds dividing lines is WFA/WFR and non-WFA/WFR training, and it seems to point to a challenge to WFA/WFR instructors to do a much better job in defining when wilderness first aid skills are appropriate to be used. I became W-EMT certified in the 1980's, back when I was going to school in Maine. The state has large swaths of true wilderness - miles away from an evacuation point, multiple (over 100 or so) miles from the nearest trauma center so it becomes much easier to conceptualize the meaning of wi

Depends on how fancy you want to get - since its a first time event, you might want to be pretty basic. Here's what I've done in the past - as a basic district wide event: 1) Line up a place to hold it - usually a school or church gym, or community center. You need a place big enough to hold the number of patrols (I'll use this term with the understanding that it also means dens and crews) you think will be attending. 2) Set up your problems - we used 5 different scenarios - in story form please - each slightly more difficult than the previous one. If you're going to do three

Little Johnny comes to you complaining of pains in his stomach. You give him an acetaminophen tablet, and the pain goes away. A couple of hours later, Johnny collapses, and is out like a light. You can't get him to respond and rush him to the hospital, where it's discovered he has a nasty little case of appendicitis and needs emergency surgery now, before it bursts. Why wasn't it discovered before? The acetaminophin masked the pain. Bobby falls off a log while on a day hike then complains his arm hurts and asks for a pain killer. You give him ibuprofen and the pain goes away. That

It's only appropriate that Scouts pay serious attention to a religion founded by an Eagle Scout - though given a choice between the two religions founded by Eagle Scouts, I'll go with Pastafarianism. Calico

There is a snipe that is native to North America. Gallingo delicate, aka Wilson's Snipe, is a shorebird that is mostly found in wetlands. It is somewhat similar to the American Woodcock, though it is a bit taller and slimmer. There are states in this country that have hunting seasons for Wilson's Snipe.

I really hate the plastic sleeves - reminds me of the plastic coverings some people put on their upholstery to prevent stains - turns perfectly good looking and functional furniture into tacky looking furniture people are afraid to sit in for fear of denting the plastic. But that's just my opinion. Calico

There are many people who think it is a tradition that the sash should never be cleaned because a dirty sash shows the amount of service one has performed. Of course, most people don't wear their sashes when actually performing service - my Lodge forbids it - it's considered loose clothing and could be a danger to the Scouts when they're doing physical labor on a service project. Then there are those of us who have experience seeing a newly washed sash take on a pinkish tinge as the dye in the embroidery thread used to create the arrow on the sash (the thread isn't washed after dying and

WildernesStudent asks for advice in another thread on what kind of first aid kit to but, hinting that her outdoor club has decided to buy a big one for the upcoming year. Please chime in with your thoughts. In the meantime, here's mine: With first aid kits, bigger is not neccessarily better. First aid kits should be chosen with an eye to the expected use, activities, location, number of people, etc. A personal first aid kit may be all that's needed for one person, but not appropriate for a 6 person crew. By the same token, a larger fist aid kit thats good for 6 to 10 people is pr

Wild - I'm going to spin off the question on first aid kits to try to get a discussion going there. Calico

Sounds like the veterans are thinking about the "backwards flags" sometimes used on military uniforms and conflating that with a war time display of the flag.

So that's how we're going to play this one out, it is? I'll see your Zyzzyva (a tropical American weevil) and raise you Zyzzyx (the name of a road in Nevada - yes, it's the name of a real road - not just the name of a movie about a road named Zyzzyx). Calico

Yeah, unfortunately for most lawyers, they're always going to face what I call "The Shark Problem". There are about 350 species of sharks. Most don't pose a danger to people. Yet because of a few species of sharks, such as white, tiger, bull, hammerhead, mako, and maybe about 7 or 8 more, that have proven to be dangerous to man, ALL sharks get the reputation of being dangerous. Such is the stereotype of sharks, and such is the stereotype of lawyers. Calico

I sometimes feel as if I've had the last word on a lot of threads in the past - but not taking it in a negative way. More like a feeling that I'm somehow a line of borax poured around the foundation of a house to prevent ants from getting any farther than the line. Calico

I was all ready to agree with everything Beavah mentioned - the APL is not a troop position, and only troop positions qualify as POR's (btw - Patrol Quartermaster, Patrol Scribe, etc. don't qualify as POR's either - only Troop QM, Troop Scribe, etc. do). Then he said "And if a Librarian or Bugler really don't need to show anywhere near the responsibility of a PL, they should not be recognized for those positions." Librarian and Bugler are listed POR's. IF your Unit has appointed a Librarian or a Bugler, then they get recognized for their time in a POR, just like every other POR - even i

Maybe when Lawyers start telling idiots that stand on the top rung of a ladder then fall off and break a bone that they are idiots, instead of blaming ladder manufacturers for not clearly stating that the top rung of a ladder is not for standing on, Lawyers will get more respect. Maybe when Lawyers tell potential clients that, "No, it is NOT your neighbors fault that your allergies are acting up just because he doesn't remove the dandelions from his yard - now go away and stop being so stupid", Lawyers will get more respect. Maybe if Lawyers drag Lawyers who sue dry cleaners for mill

You could modify the flint and steel event. Instead of timing the Patrol on how fast it gets a fire started (and a string burnt through??), time them on how fast it takes them to prepare and get the tinder started. It could be done over an open metal pan of some kind. Here's what I would do - provide each patrol with an equal length and width of rope - hemp rope - not cotton or polyester. Maybe 12". The patrol should cut the rope into tinder size (like perhaps 3 lengths at 4" - but let them make that choice) then pull it apart to make their tinder. Then use the flint and steel to get

I guess in my long winded reply, my source got lost. It is the Insignia Guide, under the Special Regulations section - Two Badges with the Same Meaning. In our Council, that clause is interpreted to include Den Chief Cords and Den Chief Badges, which mean the same thing - that one is a Den Chief.

I went ahead and answered the post my-post questions in the thread that Beavah was kind enough to spin off. I did want to say, though, that I was a little surprised - I figured I'd get much more grief for stating that my Vigil Honor tops my Eagle as the best award I received in the BSA. CP

As I am the one that opined in the first place, it makes sense that I state my reasoning, and where it comes from. I was about to do so in the other thread but as Beavah has been kind enough to spin it off, I'll do so here, along with the clarification that was asked of me. First the clarification - I stated that the Den Chief Cord should not be worn with the Den Chief Badge and was asked if that meant that the Den Chief Cord shouldn't be worn. The answer is no, that is not what I said or meant. What I said and meant was that the Den Chief Cord shouldn't be worn when the Den Chief is a

I'm sorry to see Margaret go. I hope she's still at least lurking in hopes of getting an answer to her question. First off Margret - congrats to your son on being elected as Patrol Leader. That's an important position in the Troop(one of the most important, in my opinion) so your son should wear his Patrol Leader badge on his uniform. Now the simple answer to your question is "No, he can only wear one POR badge at a time on the uniform). (All that folderol about the Musician badge can be ignored - unless his Troop has put together its own little band, it's not even something to think a