Fat Old Guy

Rooster, don't worry about it. I have long figured that if people agree with me, they must be brilliant and if they don't agree with me, they are idiots.

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"Haven't we all said something along the lines of 'boy, I'll beat you like a drum if you ever do that again'?" I'd be willing to be a dollar that Bob White, OGE and mayb Eaamon have never said a thing like that in their life. Maybe Fuzzy Bear too. I threaten unruly children, including Scouts, with having to ride on the roof of my car on the way home. Not one has ever responded in horror and nearby adults have offered help in the form of duct tape and rope. One thing that is ommitted is the reaction of the Scouts. Did they feel threatened? For all we know, this is part of a running joke between the Scoutmaster and the Scouts.

I've been involved with Trail's End for more than a few years. We've never had bad luck with it, if the Scouts get out and sell. I know Scouts who have sold $500 or $600 in a couple evenings. For the Scout, that nets $75 or $80 in his Scout account. Including money in Scout account and his Wal-Mart gift cards, my son netted about $600. The troop got about $300. He's happy because he has his own money to spend on camping gear. I'm happy because I don't have to cough up $75 every year for new boots. However, selling popcorn door-to-door or at a booth is about more than just making money. It helps the boy learn to talk to people, answer questions and understand that sometimes the answer is no. Maybe it's the area that I live in but most people understand that 70% of the money is a donation to the organization. They also know that you can't buy popcorn this good at stores. Also, I wouldn't put out a can with "Donations" marked on it. That looks like you are soliciting contributions which is not permitted. On the other hand, I never say "no" to a donation.

Wheeler opined, "The youth are involved in the BSA. They are the patrol leaders and the SPL's. They are there leading---in an aristocratic mould. They earn the right of advancement through merit." That makes it a "program." If was really a "movement," the leadership would come from the group benefitting from the "movement."

We encourage our Scouts to travel in uniform but we're not going to keep anyone from going on a trip because they "forgot" their uniform. Call me strange but I like travelling in my uniform. I run into Scouters and old Scouts nearly every place that I stop. As KA6BSA said, the goodwill that the uniform brings is incredible.

KS understood the question. The question still stands, if it is a "youth movement" should it be controlled by adults?

We often hear Scouting referred to a the world's largest youth movement but is it? Is it large? Yes it is large, very large. The question is "is Scouting a youth movement?" If it is a "youth movement," why is it controlled by adults? Adults control the advancement process both changes in advancement and whether a Scout advances, adults chose the uniform, adults control the funding. Where do the youth come in?

" I like my SAK dearly but many of those things on the shelf in that store gave me the willies." Not to worry, 99% of the people that buy those things like Klingon battle knives don't have a clue about using a knife. They are Lord of the Rings fans who live in their own universe.

"except for an Eagle board who requires 3 committee members????? BOR's in many cases are one (1) committee member and two 'concerned Parents'" Your troop needs to move into the 21st century and read the current Advancement Handbook. Only registered committee members may sit on a BoR. How "concerned" can an unregistered parent be? What do they know of the progam and how to judge how well it is working. Most "concerned parents" are only concerned with giving out badges so Johnny's feelings aren't hurt.

The manual states that the BoR consists of three Committee Members. Is the Committee Chairman a member of the Committee and eligible to sit on a BoR?

The thread on merit badge sign-off prompted this line of thought. Is there supposed to be a procedure to let applicants know if they've been approved or dis-approved? I signed up to counsel a few merit badges, I know that the paperwork went to the District but I never heard yea or nay. Do they only contact the nays?

Leave it to Bob to quote scripture and proclaim the need to read same but not offer an explanation. Eight boys sitting around a campfire and making S'mores won't ruin the Boy Scout experience for those eight boys anymore than if they go on a nature hike. The real reason is probably buried in the secret archives of BSA and likely involves injured Cub Scouts or pagan sacrifices of goats.

We have a troop neckerchief, screened with the logo of our CO. We haven't had any longevity problems with the screened neckerchiefs. We haven't been too happy with our current supplier so we've been looking at other options. The Scout Shop is out because they want us to buy a minimum of 108. We're looking at some other options like Stadri Emblems (www.stadriemblems.com) and a company in the UK found at http://www.scoutneckers.com We wear it under the collar (when the Scouts remember to wear it. For some reason they lose them). We allow other neckers such as Eagle or OA neckers at troop meetings but not when we go someplace as a unit. Slides are just about anything. Official BSA, film canisters, camp projects, etc.. We do present the new Scouts with cap, book and necker at crossover but the parents pay for it.

"xry is the root for gold, Xri is the root for Christ." I'm not a Greek scholar but the last time that I checked, the Greeks didn't use the Latin alphabet. What are the different Greek spellings?

" Rife, gun, firearm is fine... but not weapon, because the meaning is specific to fighting." firearm (frrm) noun A weapon, especially a pistol or rifle, capable of firing a projectile and using an explosive charge as a propellant. An "arm" is a weapon, so by your reasoning "Firearm" should be taboo as well.

"If twisting a piece of leather is a source of pride for you, then more power to you. Eamonn asked for the correct way." Very profound.

Call me an old fogey but any time that you throw teenaged boys and girls together for an extended time, you're asking for trouble. Attachements will develop. Someone will be jealous. Group morale will be impacted. That's not even mentioning the possible by-products of the attachments that will be showing up March or April of the next year.

" In that specific scenerio, in my opinion, a reasonable Policeman would not hand any firearm over to a Scout." One of the most common conversations between strangers at any range goes as follows: "Dude, wotcha got there?" It's a .450 Kaboomenthumper. I just picked it up. "Killler, dude. That sounds sweet." It sure is, would you like to shoot it? "Dude! Excellent!" In a perfect world, we'd get signed releases from the parents but too often the assumption is made that since the kid is there at the range, already shooting, that he is allowed to shoot anything.

Bob White muttered, "Remember to sign-in BEFORE you open a thread so that the "squelch poster" function is engaged." Ah, the road to enlightenment followed by Khomeni (sp?) and other like him. Thoughts that I disagree with may damage my brain so I must ignore them. Of course, Bob claims that he won't read this but . . . . do we believe him?

" using the methods which were in common use by the Boy Scouts on June 15, 1916." Is BSA in violation of their charter since they are no longer using the methods that were in use in 1916?

"I would like to think that a cop would never give anyone else a weapon to fire," Why?

They are terrorists. Anytime that someone says, "Give us this or your children will suffer," they are being a terrorist.

I guess it depends on how you define "man." If you consider it to be an adult male human of good character then we are building men or maybe helping to build men. From the evil 1962 Scoutmaster's Handbook, "See to it that each boy . . . has the chance to develop himself into a MAN (emphasis original)" Today, they hid it all behind crap like "Character counts" because "building men" is not PC.

"Wasnt it a .44 mag, not a .357 mag that can make [or break] my day Yep, S&W model 29-2 with 6 1/2" barrel for the long shots and a S&W 29-2 with a 8 3/8" barrel for the close-ups looking down the barrel (as when the guy was lying on the ground looking into that huge hole).