FScouter

What version(s) of Adobe Acrobat Reader allows fillable forms to be saved?

Our district charges a $130 annual bus fee. Students may walk, bike, carpool, or take the bus. Just be in your places with bright shining faces when the bell rings.

"The willingness to pay a higher price does not equal a higher demand." Inelastic demand is still demand. When you pay the price, you have "demanded" the product. When your tank is empty you demand it be filled. There is speculation taking place in futures, and in tankers floating on the sea, waiting. The speculation is the see how much "demand" is out there. Ed, it's all about demand. There is no hidden conspiricy. Demand is when you insist on your right to solo drive your SUV to work. Demand is when you drive to the grocery store 3 times a week to pick up a loaf of bread, instead of once every 2 weeks. Demand is when you drive your kid to the bus stop instead of letting him walk. As long as you "demand" your right to have gas when the price goes up, it will continue to go up.

Thanks for the lesson Ed. So if I understand you correctly, the buyers and sellers in the marketplace (NYNEX or NYSE) set the price. But the supply of the seller and demand of the buyer has nothing to do with the price they agree upon. What is it that they use to determine a price?

Ed, NYMEX is a commodities exchange marketplace. Willing sellers and willing buyers go there to buy and sell commodities futures contracts. They basically gamble what the future price will be at some time in the future. NYMEX is simply an infrastructure, a building in which the buyers and seller make trades. The building does not set gasoline prices. If you want to claim that the price of gasoline has nothing to do with supply and demand, state your case with some facts.

This would work if gas prices were determined by supply & demand. However, they are determined by NYMEX - New York Mercantile Exchange - the same folks that determine pork belly prices. Right. And NASDAQ sets the price for Google shares.

A max of nine boys is allowed. If a tenth boy wants to join, then the den needs to be split in to two dens. Policy set by National. Please post the reference for that policy, Id like to read more about it. I do agree with Barry. The committee chair blundered badly, however noble the intention. Wondering though where the two boys removed from the den of 9 went? If a second den had only 2 or 3 boys it makes sense to try to boost the size of that den. Moving boys around involves both den leaders, the Cubmaster, the parents, and the boys. The CC should be the facilitator, not the dictator. Training would help.

"Anyone know where I might find out what the correct answer is?" So far we have 3 personal opinions with no BSA citation anyone else can refer to. Mike Waltons opinion makes reference to some internal memos and magazine blurbs from 20+ years ago Ed states his opinion as fact. GW qualifies his statement with I believe The current uniform inspection sheet doesnt comment on old parts but does say All troop members must wear the headgear chosen by vote of the troop. Similarly, regarding belts and buckles it appears that any Scout belt or buckle is OK saying of your choice, worn only if voted by the troop/team. Members wear one of the belts chosen by vote of the troop/team. That supports GWs comment. http://www.scouting.org/boyscouts/adults/~/media/legacy/assets/forms/34283.pdf.ashx Its clear from the lack of direction in the Insignia Guide or other books that BSA has not made a big issue about wearing old uniform parts or mixing with current parts. The new brochure about the upcoming uniform indicates the new parts may be combined with current parts: Transitional pieces to mix and match with your current uniform. http://www.scoutstuff.org/BSASupply/info.aspx?page=bsauniformmain My personal opinion is that any uniform looks best when worn complete, without mixing and matching old pieces. I would not forbid a boy from wearing an old garrison hat. The boy sees it as cool and shows he has an interest in Scouting history.

There's a great topic in the Summer Camp forum about this called Lighting a Campfire. http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=192106

See pictures: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bobgeier/BSA_newuniform.pdf http://www.bsauniforms.org

Surely there are adults in the outlying area that serve these patrols / troops? They do have troop meetings? Outings and campouts? Somebody must be signing their books for rank advancement. They have moms and dads, and church members and former Scouts. There you have the folks to serve as board members for the board of review. It's not rocket science; all they need to do is read over the BSA material on the BOR and go through the BSA on-line material. http://www.scouting.org/boyscouts/trainingmodules/board%20of%20review%20training.aspx

I don't see any particular problem with it. But I do wonder why the SPL would select his brother to serve as ASPL. We've had brothers in our troop that we don't allow to ride in the same vehicle lest they strangle one another. Brothers or not, I don't think it is ever a good idea for others to select the assistant and thrust him on the SPL. It's the SPL's assistant and it should be his choice. Kinda like United States VP - how would it go over if Hillary Clinton was elected VP for John McCain? Or if the new president could not select his cabinet; they were appointed by Congress.

Please respond in the other CPR topic.

Every district must fulfill the four district functions: membership, finance, program, and unit service. The program function includes four sub-committees: Camp Promotion, Activities and Civic service, Advancement and Recognition, and Training. The Unit Service function is the commissioner service. It includes the unit commissioners and Roundtable commissioners. The committee for each function should have enough committee members as are needed to carry out the function. Each committee is staffed by district members-at-large, elected at the district annual meeting. Each committee chair selects and recruits members to serve on the respective committees from the pool of district members-at-large, elected at the district annual meeting. There is no limit to the number of district committee members. These are all volunteer positions. Refer to The District #33070 available at the Scout Shop.

I was looking out the window and saw a very big white bird circle around the front yard and come in for a landing on the driveway. Ive seen this bird now 3 or 4 times. It is an egret or something like that; long thin neck, long yellow bill, very narrow head, and long thin legs. He likes to wander around the house and out amongst the apricot trees. I cant imagine what he finds interesting. He doesnt seem to be looking for anything or doing anything, just observing. He stays for 30 minutes or an hour, maybe longer. It must be the same bird; theyre not common in this area. Obviously the bigger attraction is the lake. Maybe he gets bored wandering around the lake and comes here to see some of the surrounding countryside. But why to this house, and why does he keep coming back? Over the years weve had a number of visitors I feel sure they are the same individuals. There was a roadrunner that would hop up on the wood box by the front door and admire his reflection in the window. He would also come around to the patio and peer into the house through the sliding glass door. We saw him numerous times over a couple of years but I have not seen him now for a very long time. The back yard is occasionally on the beat of a bobcat making the rounds. A very beautiful animal. Ive seen him many, many times. Great horned owls were frequent visitors, either on the power pole out front or the clothes line pole in back. Where are they now? I havent seen one for maybe two years. The last time I saw them there were 5 or 6 hanging out in the same general area. I think they were interested in one another, I cant imagine why. This winter for several days running I heard and observed a woodpecker working on the bugs in the apricot trees. After about two weeks he left. The quail come through daily, in coveys of a dozen to 25 or more. This time of year they seem to have paired up. I watched one pair yesterday evening for about 20 minutes. The male, with a prominent top knot hopped up onto a log I had upended in the driveway ready to split. The female wandered around the front yard in amongst the poppies, head to the ground, looking for seeds and what not. The male seemed to be simply standing guard while his mate gathered food without fear. Soon we will see a mother, followed by 8 or a dozen tiny chicks, so small 2 or 3 could easily fit in the palm of your hand. Ive seen at least two rattlesnakes this year, but no gopher snakes. I have not seen a king snake for a long time. I do wish there were more kings and fewer rattlers. I quit killing the rattlesnakes; never could seem to put a dent in the population. After 15 years of killing them there were always more. They are completely non-aggressive and always go the other way given half a chance. Just dont step on one. The deer are frequent visitors; they come down off the hill for easy pickings. And the rabbits are always present, year around. I suppose they keep the bobcat fat.

"Our troop has been slowly, excruciatingly learning about the Patrol Method. What do you guys think about setting up Patrols for Summer camp alone." I think it is great whenever a troop chooses to implement the patrol method. Too often everything takes places as one big group, with "patrols" being nothing more than the line boys stand in for the opening of the troop meeting. A patrol is not an animal uniform patch and shell structure that we fill with boys and a patrol leader. A patrol is 6-8 individual specific named boys that do Scouting together. They camp together, work together, eat together, support one another, and go to summer camp together. It is the basic unit in a troop, the "troop" being nothing more than a collection of unique patrols. The patrol method does not involve adding or subtracting patrol members or shuffling patrols for an event, or for every challenge or difficulty that comes along. The patrol does not end because one or two boys miss an event. We dont populate patrols to make things run smoothly or to make things easier for adults. A patrol does not need an experienced member to lead it and mentor it. It needs 6-8 boys committed to one another. If a patrol has a patrol leader that is young and inexperienced, and the patrol flounders, the SPL can assign a patrol guide to help the PL and the patrol. Event-based "patrols" are ultimately destructive to the patrol method. My suggestion is for the boys to form their patrols without any thought about summer camp. Its the job of the SPL and adult leaders to help these patrols be successful.

John-in-KC says Not having firm and formed opinions is part of life at this stage. On its face, I dont agree with that either. Persons of ANY age or stage of life can have firm opinions and firmly formed beliefs. I will say though that a lot of strong beliefs and opinions I had several years ago Ive strengthened, refined, or completely cast off. And I do not think my age should play a significant role in this discussion. A 10 year old can have an intelligent thoughtful discussion about atheism too. If for example you are 15, youve had an extra 5 years to develop a lot of thought about it and consider lots of different angles a 10 year old hasnt even yet dreamed about. A 15 year old has all the wisdom a 10 year old has, plus an extra 5 years of accumulated knowledge.

12 cookies for $4.00 is reasonable? I can make 200 cookies (good ones) for $4.

I'm wondering why they wasted valuable legislative time on such a trivial "issue". I'd have voted NO just to protest the waste of time even thinking about it. I just hope they had sense enough to price the thing to FULLY recover all the expense involved, AND to generate a profitable revenue stream. If they have some kind of preoccupation with coins, they could do something GOOD for the country by eliminating the penny AND the nickel.

Oh no, please spare us! The first guy that thought up that cutesy idea back in the early days of computer bulletin boards was brilliant. The next guy that copied it, so-so. After that its not cute anymore, in fact it's downright annoying. They are interesting to read the first time (maybe), after that you may as well write "yada, yada, yada". One notable exception out of hundreds and hundreds I've read, is Barry's, because it almost always relates to what he has to say. Sign me, Frank FScouter, your humble servant "He who writes trite sayings at the end of his message is clever only in his own mind." - FScouter, philosopher, author, and scholar (With a few blank lines at the end to set off my masterpiece, use up more bandwidth, and force 10,000 forum members to scroll down more that should be needed)

See "Library of Literature" : http://www.scoutstuff.org/BSASupply/Forms.aspx

PDF files may be downloaded by right-clicking on the link and selecting "Save Target As..." Perhaps add a line or two at the bottom of the page with instructions for those that don't know how to do it. A CD sounds great, but would quickly become out of date as publications are added or updated. I'd rather download specific files than an entire zipped collection. I've downloaded collections of clip art for example, 95% of which I don't want and it clutters up the HD.

Linda Ronstadt wore a Cub Scout shirt a few times while performing. She goofed and got one about 2 sizes too small which forced her to leave the top 3 or 4 buttons undone. Oh well. I'm not sure, but I don't think she was trying to to endorse Scouting.

"The SM has final approval on all POR's." One of the primary duties of the senior patrol leader is to appoint Scouts to serve in youth leader positions. How does the SM in your troop interact with the senior patrol leader in advising and counseling the SPL in his role?

Immediate recognition and court of honor recognition is discussed in the Troop Committee Guidebook and the Scoutmaster Handbook. It also happens to be mentioned in the Advancement Committee book, (which is a recommended resource listed in both the Scoutmaster Handbook and the Troop Committee Guidebook.)