Eagledad

>>Most of what you're complaining about sounds like those internet warning e-mails, a grain of truth (maybe), 99 44/100 percent hooey. No, you cannot beat the kids into submission. "Cannot touch"?

>>I have spied on one such Patrol who did a three day paddle down a local river.

>>It'd be nice if positions on issues actually matter, but I'm well and truly cynical anymore.

Yes, you are right that Palin is changing the rules, which is precisely my point. Obama and the media started attacking her experience and all that really did was force more discussion toward the Presidental nominees experience. They dont want to go there. If Obama and the media push the Bridge to Nowhere, the discussion will boomerang back at Obamas earmarks. Even though McCain has earmarks as well, he also has the reputation of reducing porkbarrow. Palin appears to be bullet proof, so Obama and the media have to shift the focus away from her if they want a chance. They have to make it an election for president, not vice president. Right now they are loosing that vote. Lets look at this for a moment. There are a lot of folks who are digging hard for a Palin scandal. Palin is popular because she basically is one of us who has made it to the top. How many of our families have that level of a scandal. True, we have divorces, kids who get in trouble and even pregnant teenagers, but how many of us have a scandal in our families that the media is trying to find that would take Palin down? Media and Obaman need to turn the focus back to Obama vs McCain, or they will loose. Barry

>> Where does National draw the line? Right now, I think where it is isn't too bad.

>>I don't have a problem with Alaska dropping the bridge project and keeping the money for other infrastructure needs - except that earmarks are earmarks.

>>The question your COR should be asking your District Chair and Council President is how convenient are you going to make training for volunteers?

>> That's aside from her actual views and policy preferences on those issues. Given her obscure background and limited experience, first she just needs to show she understands the issues, then we can talk about what she wants to do in regard to the issues.

>>What I want to know is, what does she actually know, how does she think on her feet, and what are her true beliefs (as opposed to what some speech writer scripted for her).

Im a little embarrassed that I will sound like Im preaching the same point over and over, but I will just throw out one more suggestion. The boys arent really going to except the program as boy run as long as the adults keep preventing the boys from feeling independence. There are a lot of good suggestions that I think you can follow, but it is human instinct to go the path of least resistance. In this case, changing into a different direction is a lot of resistance because the adults just dont know that different is better. So at the risk of sound repetitive and preachy, give every active scout and adult the SPL Handbook and PL Handbook. Required everyone to read them then have a meeting to discuss how your troop is different? Guide the discussions toward a small list of program changes from both the scouts and scouters. The books are really easy to read and pretty clear on running the troop. Every time a situation like this comes up, have both the SM and SPL sit and find the answer in the books. Troops Ive seen use this technique like it because everyone starts on even footing and the program becomes surprisingly simple for both the scouts and adults. It is in our human nature adults tend to complicate processes where as boys work toward simplifying them. Working off the same set of guidelines and instructions braces everything down to simple easy program with a path everyone can vision. Once you get on that path, then you can push for additional training so the program can grow. Just another suggestion. I love this scouting stuff. Barry

>>Eagledad, you're totally mischaracterizing packsaddle's argument with TheScout.

>>It is a cowardly approach and, I might add, transparent to everyone who has ever engaged in discussions of ideas.

>>My guess is that sooner or later he drops out.

>>"As for myself, I could never understand those who proclaim to be "pro-life & pro-capital punishment" or "pro-choice and against capital punsihment." Making such blanket statements seems mutually exclusive to me. "

>>shaming someone for getting pregnant out of wedlock is crying over spilled milk.

>>What I'm talking about is the example it sets

>>two words: Dan Quayle

>>If a QM approached me with this idea I think I would guide him in the direction of something more patrol oriented like others said above. Something where the Patrols select there gear before the campout and put it in their section of the trailer. Then the QM and AQM don't have to hang around the trailer waiting for some Scout to come and check out some piece of equipment instead of having fun with the rest of the troop..

In my view, Vice Presidential nominee Palin's experience equals Presidential nominee Obama. If you get into the details, Palin pulls ahead because Obama has been running for president since he became a senator. Barry

Happy Labor Day All Sometime we dont see all the changes of our everyday life until it gets personal. My dad called me Saturday night and told me that my uncle had died. While that is difficult in its own right, my uncle lives in Mississippi near the gulf coast. My dad lives in Orlando and was told he cant go to his brothers funeral because they were having it Sunday afternoon (yesterday). The funeral director told my cousins that they didnt have power for two week after Katrina resulting in the freezers not being able to preserve the bodies. So they were burying all they had and there was an opening Sunday afternoon. There was no way for dad to get to the funeral in time, and even if there was, they would be at risk not getting out. Add to that my cousins were needing as much time as they could get to prepare their properties for the storm. All is well for our families and while we are far away, my sisters and I have been checking in with dad to make sure he is OK. Strangely, he is also closely watching another Hurricane in the Atlantic that is presently heading toward central Florida. I know we are a family here and your thoughts are with my family and all the families in harms way. I just wanted to show how a storm so far away can effect so many of us. Our prayers are with all those effected by the hurricane. Barry

LOL Barry

>>3) Some financial support for the individual unit when it is first started (to provide events and uniforms)

I'm impressed, let your Quartermaster try his ideas and see how they work. Some of the ideas won't work well which is what you want because you want him to struggle in figuring out changes to make them work. Our troop works like Stosh describes, but that is something your scouts will have to work there way toward because they don't see that kind of process right now. Forcing it now would only be the SM making his ideas work through the boys, right Stosh? Only our Quartermaster and CC have they only keys to our trailer. Nothing goes in or out of the trailer or storage room without the Quatermaster's attention. No need for a SM to have a key, he just stands and watches. And from my point of view, it forces the scout to figure out how to get a key to someone when he can't make it. Our QM is also responsible for working with the driver of the tow vehicle for hitching up the trailer properly. I would respond with "Sounds good, lets go with it". Barry

>>Eagledad, I think you can relax. Nobody is calling the cops.>But it isn't every day that you see a blatant violation of BSA regs on live national tv.

>> I know that sounds odd, but most of the scouts in our troop wear their activity t-shirt under their field shirt.