Fat Old Guy

Poker is no more a game of chance than Monopoly, Magic, or Yu-Gu-Oh (sp?). So you'd rather your son sit isolated from the world, with speakers jammed into his ears than have him sit with his friends, laughing and talking? Interesting, very interesting.(This message has been edited by Fat Old Guy)

"The US constitution and federal courts supercede state constitutions and state courts." Only in the tiny brains of those who don't understand that the states, by definition, are sovereign states. Unfortunately, back in the 1800's, a lunatic named Lincoln thought that the Federal government should be supreme and murdered 10s of thousands of men to prove his point. Now, the Federal Government runs wild, trampling the rights of states and individuals.

"What is this fascination with age? It came up all over the place while doling out popcorn today. And now I read it here." Age usually isn't important with stuff that you are doing RIGHT NOW but having an idea of someone's age helps dealing with them. Music, world events and other things color the way that we look at things. Jokes that are funny to me are not funny to someone ten years younger or ten years older because their experiences are different.

Last year, someone asked a question about BORs at a Roundtable and it prompted a two hour discussion.

A novel idea, having Scouts sit on a BOR, but grossly out of line with BSA's ideas.

" But I still have to ask FOG, why do you want to be a member of the SAR?" Because they wear those spiffy hats. Wait, that's the Knights of Columbus and I can't join them either. Maybe I'll sue.

" But, what is the purpose if they are indistinguishable from scoutmasters?" Rules are often made for the ideal. In baseball, the pitcher is supposed to remain in contact with the pithcher's plate throughout his pitching motion. However, the rules state nothing about what to do if there is a two foot deep hole right in front of the pitcher's plate, dug by the last 20 pitchers. Why? The rules were written for the ideal situation where there are groundskeepers. We should strive for the ideal separation. Adults who work with the Scouts directly should probably get trained and become ASMs. Some troops have a separate advancement committee that does nothing but conduct BORs. These are all parents who don't want to work with the Scouts but are willing to help out.

Okay, I've read your stuff. Why no "Class 100"? Also, why not just number them "1,2,3, . . . "? Are there plans to create a "Class 650"? Enquiring minds need to know!

"There was no DNA test required or even offered. But that was 10 years ago. FOG may be correct that they are requiring a similar test today. It wouldn't surprise me. " People call me literal minded. Garsh! NO, they don't want blood, they still just want paper documentation that you are descended from a someone who actively rebeled against the legally constituted government (A Scout is obedient?).

Huh? Wha? Wazzappenin?

"Yes, we are a small council, but not the smallest in size. We're a class 700" Does that mean that there are more than 700 graduations of council size? Why doesn't BSA merge a few small councils to make a bigger one. I guess we could ask, why doesn't BSA split my council into about 20 small ones?

"FOG, what's the genetic test for SAR?" Your DNA needs to include the DNA from a person who either fought in the revolution, served in the Congress or a few other categories.

"Sitting on a park bench -- eyeing ittle girls with bad intent." Are these really appropriate lyrics for a Scouting activity? Might as well just sing "Friggin' in the riggin' ".

" When the last thread was going, I was watching something like the History channel and it was showing some WWII vintage footage of military planes." If you look at photos of soldiers from WW II, if they have a flag on the right sleeve, it has the union to the viewer's left. DoD didn't issue a directive regarding wearing the flag until the 90's.

"So if an Eagle candidate shows up for his Eagle BOR in cutoff shorts & a t-shirt that's OK?" Depends on the situation. If the Scout is from a "holler" in Kentucky and cut-offs and a t-shirt are his Sunday best, that would be fine. In my area, we have a good uniform bank and few really poor so no. If I sat on an Eagle Board and a Scout showed up without a uniform, I'd ask why he wasn't wearing a uniform.

" The BSA is not your church or your home, and it isn't mine either. I don't want to impose my values on you, but you want to impose yours on me. (The value in this case being whether it's acceptable to exclude gays.) " So what you are saying is that BSA isn't allowed to express its values and exclude people that it believes lead a lifestyle that is contrary to its message? I'm really surprised that you waste your time with BSA since you seem to feel strongly about this issue. Evidently the core values and the message of BSA is less important than the need for you son to have something to do for a couple hours each week. Why not take him out of Cub Scouts and join the Unicorn Scouts, Campfire, or any of a thousand other youth groups?

"Sorry Acco, but I'm 99.99% sure that the Advancemnt Policies and Procedures manual calls for Troop Committee members for all the ranks through Life Scout" This is true but, from statements in old Handbooks, it wasn't always the case. In some ways it makes sense to go outside the troop for a BOR. The grocer and police chief might be less inclined to advance a kid because "he tries hard" than the parents of other Scouts. Also, we have quite a few Eagle Scouts in my community that I think would make great additions to BORs but they aren't currently registered.

"I would err on the side of floppy." I agree. Look at picutures of soldiers from when it was the standard hat, they are pretty floppy.

"ASM use to be able to sit on boards awhile back i think but they did away with that and only allowed CMs too didn't make sense still doesn't" Actually, the SM and ASM have been excluded from BORs for a long time, if not forever. A while back, the BOR was composed of people from the community, not just committee members. There is a very good reason that the SM or ASM isn't supposed to sit on a BOR. A BOR is supposed to do much more than just rubber stamp advancements. One of the functions of the BOR is to determine how well the program is running which relates to how well the SM is doing his job.

There is a local troop that requires any parent who wants to sit on a BOR to go to Scoutmaster school I'm impressed by that. They had six in my class. We just require they they register and do Fast Start.

That's okay, we flog deceased equines on a regular basis around here.

What is it that I don't like about Gameboys, personal stereos with headphones (Walkman is a registered trademark), etc.? They eliminate socializing. Ever watch a group of boys with Gameboys? They are each in their own universe. Watch that same group playing Magic, poker or WarHammer and they are interacting. Stereos are the same way. If there is a group radio, the music becomes a shared experience. Years ago, I worked in a place that had one radio and each day a different person got to pick the station. We learned to tolerate and enjoy different music. One day bluegrass, the next day jazz, another oldies. There was a general rebellion one day when someone picked some wailing middle Eastern music that only he could tolerate (ironically, the chooser wasn't even Middle Eastern) but that was the only problem. People would sing along with songs, discuss the music, etc.. We had a happy and productive workplace. Later I worked in a place where radios had to have headphones. I dislike wearing headphones so I lived without music. Going to talk to a co-worker became an intrusion into their day because you were interrupting their music. The place was not as happy. People say, "Kids need Gameboys, DVDs, stereos" in the car. Bull. There's a world outside. Let them look out the windows.

"To me, a mentally awake person is aware of his/her surroundings, the signs of the feelings of other people around them, aware of what's going on in the news . . . in other words, they're paying attention to the world. " That excludes any carload of Scouts armed with gameboys.

I'd love to join the Sons of the American Revolution but I can't. Why? They have a genetic test and I don't pass. The Girl Scouts discriminate on the basis of sex. Do they get UW funding?

" Just saw figures where our little district sold about $10k more popcorn this year! It's a start." You guys need to start hustling. We have Packs that sell that much and more.