SiouxRanger

"Trustworthy" And has anyone been paying attention? TRUSTHWORTY NOT.

And so, I'll just jump in to the discussion of a female wearing a Gold Award on her BSA uniform. (And I've posted with respect to other topics following this in the same thread, so I am "backing up" a bit.) Once one earns a patch and it is awarded to you, it is YOURS. You can wear it according to provisions of the organization that awarded it to you, throw it way, glue it to your windshield, give it to a younger sibling. Feed it to a pet. It is yours to do with as you like. So a young lady earns Girl Scouting's highest rank, and us BSA folks presume to tell her to remove it f

BSA has wasted somewhere in the nature of 2 Billion dollars.

The point of my posts: I just don't care-these are pointless semantic discussions that add nothing to the forward-looking discussions of this forum. A waste of time. There are critically important things to discuss, expose, and understand. Typos aren't it.

And so, As an SPL of a Junior Leader Training Troop, 1967 or so, I was told that I needed to know the names and tent assignments of every scout in the troop. Such stress. I got that job done. And on Philmont Ranger Staff-we had to learn every Scout's name. And we did so. And, so as a lawyer. Names ARE IMPORTANT. Everyone expects to be addressed by their first name. As they should. And in legal documents, it is critical. Seton's legacy will thrive or diminish, not on the occasional spelling of his name, but on his actions.

Well, is is one thing to note a misspelling. And, not all misspellings are created equal, this is a misspelling based on a phonetic identicality, but really unnecessary to point it out twice. Might be one thing were the misspelling intentional and intended to mean disrespect, but Seton does have a name which is amenable to several spellings (Seton, Seeton, Seaton) all of which are phonetically identical. The mistake is understandable, and, I have made it myself on a camp map, inadvertently reverting to the spelling of the last name of a realtor I was familiar with. "Ask not for whom the

I agree. Auto correct (disconstruct) has laid waste to more than a few sentences of mine, and many others, and I have spent effort to double check, correct and edit. And, just for the technical record, as a lawyer who has made nearly ZERO known typos (to me or mentioned to me) in 45 years (20 to 40? on nearly 1 million pages of work product at 300± words per page???) which have "escaped" the office, auto correct is a veritable minefield. Homer nodded. Chess Blindness. In this environment, the BSA Survival Epoch, content is considerably more important than form.

A Philmont Ranger, during the height of discussions in HQ a long time ago about ghosts on Urraca Mesa, reportedly all in some way related to the "Blue Lights" reported seen there by "someone some time ago," told me, "I'm going to the DMZ Korea at the end of the Summer and will face real threats-I've no time to worry about trifles." Now I struggle to spell Uraca, Uracca, Urracca, Urraca... And does it matter? The Mesa is still there. Folks who claim to have seen Blue Lights, and connected them to ghosts, well, those tales are not erased. "Gravity is just a theory," but

Don Letarmen’s Top Ten Responses… 10. I was texted by another granddaughter of Mr. Seeton and was told that E.T. couldn’t spell his own last name. “He ‘phoned home’ to the wrong number. And, got bad advice.” 9. Auto correct is a failed concept. 8. What is the only sentence in the English language that cannot be written? Try typing “There are three (and then phonetically, (to, too, two)’s in the English language.” 7. Roger does not complain that his name is spelled as “Mudd.” 6. Contestant: “Who is Earnest Thompson Seeton?” Alex, “Correct-$200.” (It’s an AUDIBLE-H

As a BSA Certified Angling Instructor, there are many freshwater lakes which have little to no structure in them to nurture fish populations. There are likely all manner of artificial fish reefs that could be made to improve fish habitat from all manner of things otherwise destined for landfills. This whole concept needs serious thought by folks with more credentials than me.

Yep. 1. Scouts hear skills and get to practice them. (Once) 2. Write them down. (Twice) 3. Review to meet with MB Counselor ((Thrice) 4. Explain to MB Counselor (???) (Ah ha-this is a "look-before-you-leap" situation..." 4th"? That's not really a good answer...FRICE. (Well, the suggestion of one source-apparently no accepted term for 4th in the sequence. )) Scouts have to work though the material about frice times-lots of rehearsals of the material to aid in recall. Not perfect but better than having to wake them up to give them their Blue Card. Every time

Doing the 'right thing' is what it is all about. "Kind" is 6th on the Scout Law, but should be second behind Trustworthy.

At a climbing silo, (a former grain silo now a technical climbing facility), a scout was looking down to rappel. He was terrified. He fiddled around, looking down many times, clearly reluctant. He wanted to rappel but was afraid. Maybe 10 minutes of hesitancy. I told him he did not need to rappel-it was OK not to. (I don't like heights.) He finally got up the mental gumption and did the rappel. Huge smiles all around. A huge milestone.

I saw a scout in tears attempting to re-enter his swamped canoe for his merit badge, half a dozen attempts, with the greatest camp-staffer-of-all-time watching patiently in another canoe, calmly encouraging the scout. The scout finally got the job done. It was painful to watch. But a milestone accomplishment in that Scout's life.

So, of all the bugs, rain, heat and sweat (and, hello, frustration), what are THE moments that rewarded you most for your efforts?

At a troop meeting not long ago, I was showing the Scouts how contours worked/meant on a map using 3D models I had made of selected areas on Philmont. One particularly bright Scout looked up at me from the map and models and said, "That is cool." I replied, "It IS cool!" No cellphone. Just knowledge. And wonder, and the Epiphany. (What is this new world I see?) A highlight of my adult leader years.

Fred8033 is a treasure here. Among a choir of voices of reason. I thank Fred8033 and all of you for your guidance, wisdom, and balance.

OK, I'm in for 4 Upvotes, 2 Thanks, and a dozen chuckles.

Actually, you probably are closer to or in the majority. As a small town lawyer, well, I also have a degree in Psychology. The field of counseling has advanced far beyond my studies 50 years ago. Many clients, and more broadly, members in their families, have psychological issues, which dramatically affect the course of legal proceedings. "Just a mere lawyer here," but psychological issues are about 80% of what I do. No kidding. Counselors now have a much more refined understanding of issues, and I would strongly recommend you meet with a counselor, and if that meeting is

This world is filled with the ignorant, the distracted, the uncaring, the self-satisfied, mightier-than-thou types, the bullies, the abusive, and the downright cruel. It is difficult, once traumatized by one or more of them, to recognize that that they are in the minority, and further to recognize that once one has suffered the brunt of their assaults, that the vast majority of folks do not have those emotional failings and are your friends and do treat you kindly. A police detective friend of mine once said that his dad advised him about my friend's work, "Son, don't go where there

Gee, seems like a threat to me. But, probably more like an inexperienced scouter believing he is doing a proper job by working on merit badges so scouts advance, not realizing that advancement is secondary to learning leadership by doing. And that failures from which lessons are learned are more valuable than a series of successes where the scout has no clue why things succeeded. And, in 25 years of attending virtually every troop meeting, never seen one where the entire meeting was entirely merit badge instruction. And, in all that time, maybe only a dozen where there was any merit

And that is why Scouting is so valuable. Not lost in the woods in a blizzard, nor a survivor of a canoeing accident in Canada, or airplane crash in the Andes. But just right here where I sit, in a house in South Texas. CRISIS! The Program develops/instills knowledge, insight, judgment, and wisdom. For reasons I do not understand, I have never seen an instructor mentioning WHY the information they present is important.

In the middle, Eisenhower? And who would portray anyone or anything larger than him? So, if it isn't Eisenhower, isn't the pinnacle of scouting an educated, benevolent, self-sufficient scout? So, who are the other two? Appearing to coddle the scout. Did someone at National approve this?

I have 4 grandchildren, the two oldest are girls. I find no comfort in the idea that one of them may die because they could not make fire to warm themselves because they could not learn the skill that would save their life, being precluded from being a scout. "Truth is the most valuable thing we have. Let us economize it. Mark Twain." Twain facetiously makes my point. So, why spread knowledge? Because spreading ignorance kills people.

If the "benefits" of "Scouting" are considered to be so valuable WHY would we even think to deny them to one-half the population of our kids? (females).