Fat Old Guy

"violence is the last resort of the incompetent." An inane comment made by a pacifist atheist. To allow oneself to be pounded without responding is the mark of a fool. To continually run away is the mark of a coward.

"If you had read my post from sunday . . ." I had read it, I just didn't realize that you were the BSA Archivist that was researching the question.

Being the open minded guy that I am, I listened to the NPR broadcast to see what was said. I had been under the impression that the "ban" was not on homosexual Scouts, only on homosexual Scouters. NRP kept saying that the ban is on homosexual Scouts. Score one for NPR for spinning the story. The comments from the Council "board" member were interesting but said nothing about COL's original change, if indeed one occurred. Who knows what he said first. Score another for NPR. They also make it sound as if the Scouts in COL would be abandoned. That isn't likely, they'd simply be absorbed by neighboring councils.

Couldn't he have said that? I've had similar conversations with my kids "Are you going to play basketball this year?" "I thought that I'd buy lunch because we're having pizza." "Okay. Makes sense."

I think that I must have missed something because it looks like the Archivist didn't say anything about the Star Scout badge.

I suppose that the troops don't have patrol outings and the question should be, "How many troops have patrols that schedule patrol outings?" We cannot get the Scouts in my troop to be interested in going on patrol outings or even going camping as a patrol.

"How do the Boy Scouts manage to keep this stuff quiet?" All organizations have an inner circle and most even have a secret circle that controls the inner circle. Unless you a part of the inner circle or are close to it, you may never have any idea of what goes on in your organization other than what you read in the paper. You may think that the transition from past-Chairman A to new-Chairman B was smooth because all reports were of "cooperation." Quite often the inner circle knows of the fights, sabotage, and vandalism that goes on. Is this a good thing? Yes and no. If the real goings on in an organization were made public, many would head for the door. The bad part is that when it comes to light, many are shocked and outraged at the clandestine behavior.

"I don't think the Cub Scout medals are awarded anymore." More by custom and economics than by official policy. I've read elsewhere that Supply has big stock of all medals so if you want one, all you have to do is make a phone call.

I don't know how you can drink Scotch. Now for a civilized whiskey . . .

OGE, you let the cat out of the bag. BSA's phone number is 972-580-2000(This message has been edited by Fat Old Guy)

Power tools? Like the Binford 8587 Belt Sander with ducted exhaust, auto belt tensioning, and self adjusting traking? Urh,urh, urh! Actually, the omission was by intent. Power tools aren't a common gift of appreciation. Although if someone gave me the Binford 6447SP Self Powered Impact Wrench capable of generating 150 ft-lbs of torque, I'd be very appreciative.

In another forum, there is a thread about gifts. My contention is that men prefer gifts that are useful rather than decorative. I'd like to see how others think. Let's ignore the cost issue and how the money may be better spent. Oh yeah, ladies please refrain from skewing the results by indicating your preferences. We can do another poll to see what women want (hey, that sounds like an idea for a movie).

I'd guess that most men would want a useful gift than a dust collector. Not a bottle of Irish whiskey because that will vanish with time. However, if you are given a nice pocket knife or pen, everytime that you use that item for the rest of your life, you'll be reminded of those who gave it to you. On the other hand, the chunk of glass goes on a shelf where it is rarely seen and eventually the wife puts it in a drawer because it either doesn't go with the decor or she wants the shelf space for a Lladro.

"I do think that the requirements need to be updated - taut line hitches are nice, and useful if you have old-style tentage or are doing historical work" Taut-line hitches are still very useful. What do you do if you lose those toggle things on the lines for your rainfly? What do you use if you need to rig a tarp as a fly? Clothesline? I'd like to see more rope work, like splices but that won't happen since it seems that requirements are eliminated more often then they are added.

As Scoutldr said, unless your unit has someone to track progress toward these awards, it is the Scouter's job. Bear in mind that one two year period cannot be used for different awards. For example, as Cubmaster you can earn the Cubmaster award and the Cub Scouter award but that would require four years of service.

Oh Good Lord! If the facts are indeed as presented, this requires another "Oh Good Lord!" Inappropriate touching? That describes half of my dates from the parents' perspective. Were they smooching and and he put his hand somewhere? Did he ask her to play "radar"? Did he on her seat before she sat down so she's sit on his hand? (as an aside, many of the things that boys do to attract the attention of girls only serves to convince the girls that boys are idiots) Child molestation? For once, it seems that the government got things right. This seems to be a classic example of how our society has developed some severe knee-jerk reactions to "inappropriate actions." Second grader kisses a second grade girl and the world is about to come to an end (why is no one would care is the girl had kissed him?). Point a chicken finger at someone and say, "Bang!" and the world collapses around your shoulders. Depression? Poor kid. Of course he's depressed. He's having a wonderful time and, BOOM!, all hell breaks loose. Do I condone it? Not at all. If I was my daughter, I'd be talking to her about reputations, behavior and such things. If it was my son, I'd be making sure that he was thinking about the dangers and how life would change if he became a 12 year old dad. Be sure that I'd have some conversations with the other party's parents. Oh Good Lord! Maybe the Scout should sue the sister of the girl and the Scoutmaster.

"My guess would be that the same reasons you are doing a act of kindness for them are the reasons they want to do one for you." A big difference is that Eamonn's gift is useful and the chunk of glass is . . . well, it really serves no purpose other than to collect dust.

" We may not always like the results, but I'd prefer the courts to stick to the letter of the law and apply it evenly to everyone. That is the only way justice can even begin to approach being fair." That's a really frightening thought.

"I refered to him with that acronym prior to him asking he not be refered to as such. Since, I haven't and Fat Old Guy, if I did, I apologize. " Ed, the only person that I asked to not call me "FOG" was Bob White. You and others may continue to address me as "FOG" and I won't be offended.

"What is the real purpose of learning to knots? First Aid?" Does it really matter what the purpose is? They are requirements. We could argue about the need for learning important skills for use in the outdoors but we won't. They are requirements, not recommendations. "In most cases, their honesty and effort will presently surprise you." You're right. Most of the time, kids will hold each other to a much higher standard than adults will and, in a perfect world, Scouts will be testing other Scouts. Unfortunately, in too many troops the adults are doing the teaching and testing or the parents are looking for special treatment for their kids and trying to get the adult leaders to intervene. "FOG, get over it." Get over what?

Continue trying to make your feeling known and then when they hand you the chunk of glass, dash it to the ground so it breaks into a thousand pieces. :-) KIDDING! Just smile and say thanks. Too many people feel compelled to waste money on gifts. I feel sorry for elementary school teachers who get inundated with gifts from students every year. On second thought, I believe that it is women who are fixated on the gift giving. How many father's worry or even care about what to get Junior's 3rd grade teacher? If men were in charge of wedding gifts they'd all be cash, cigars, and few power tools. If your "course director gift" was up to guys, you'd get your beads and a bottle of Irish whiskey but if a woman isn't involved directly, she's behind the scenes says, "how can you get him that? Does he even like Irish whiskey? You really need to get him something meaningful like a chunk of glass that will collect dust for the next 50 years."

"Or did you think they came about by wishing them on an internet bulletin board?" Maybe not on an internet forum but I'd expect that more than a few of them were brought up and kicked around over brandy and cigars.

Maine Scouter asked, "What does this mean? " In another thread, Bob White & co. have determined that for advancement to demonstrate tying the bowline, the Scout could have the book open and follow the directions or even follow a leader step by step through the process. Bob White, you're almost comical. You say, "someone who does not follow the scouting program?" but you have no idea how I implement anything. You only know that I don't worship Texas. In days gone by, I thought that balks and infield flies were absurd but I called them. Maybe someday I'll become your worst nightmare and get a position on the National Advancement Committee. If I do, I'll work to get Ed a seat too.

Still with the "FOG," your rudeness astounds even me. You are fond of pointing out how much Scouting has changed since 1911 and how much the requirements have changed. Do you believe that these changes came about because the Angel B-P came down with tablets of gold with the new program written on it? All change starts with an idea, likely many ideas for change were shared over brandy and a cigar. You keep living in your fixed world where all good things come from Texas and the rest of us will stay here in reality.

"But we have posters who want to determine advancement by age or maturity," Ah-ha! There we have it. The inability to distinguish between desire and execution. I want want to date Claudia Schiffer but I haven't done it yet. Evidently, Bob White would consider that I have dated Ms Schiffer simply because I want to. Many of us would like to see an age requirement but since there isn't one, we talk about it and advance boys who have learned little and are ready for less.