GernBlansten

Realistically, if I really cared about the best emergency device, I'd get a Sat phone. With that, you have two way comms and can relay coords directly for help. They are expensive though and the price doesn't seem to be coming down. I've heard some companies are doing rentals though. NTiers supplies each crew with one, but is to be used for emergencies only. I'm comfortable with that. Still might get me a SPOT. Got a few REI gift cards burning a hole in my wallet.

Yes, the SPOT is fire and forget. Not all messages go through due to the need to send the message to an available sat. Terrain can interfere. If you instruct your family that not all OK messages transmit, they shouldn't overreact. From what I read, SPOT sends 3 messages then stops. Except in 911 mode, it transmits for 24 hours. You surely will get at least one message through then. Why would SAR be any more difficult using the SPOT 911 feature? They have your coordinates. Should be good to 100 ft just like the GPS enabled PLB. The biggest difference is the PLB uses the EPIRB system that has been in place for years by mariners. It receives the beacon and alerts SAR. The GPS enabled PLBs also send your coordinates so SAR can narrow the search, just like SPOT.

I agree the PLB is a superior emergency only device (homing beacon). But I disagree with the SPOT being more expensive. At $600 for the PLB, it will take 5 years before the SPOT surpasses it. In that time-frame, the PLB and SPOT will probably be obsolete and newer better tech will be available. I'm also not sure the 911 feature of SPOT is a cute gimmick. It relays your position to a command center (granted when it gets a clear signal). What else does SAR need? Sure a beacon would be nice, hence the PLB is a better emergency device. The OK feature is peace of mind for those we leave behind. No news, is not necessarily good news. OK news, is always good news.

Last year, I got the bug to get a PLB (Personal Locator Beacon). The problem with PLBs is that they are for emergency only. You push the button and helicopters descend to save you. So I was in the reading room checking out the latest Outdoor Mag, and there's an ad with Les Stroud pushing the SPOT. I go the website and man, this thing is pretty cool. http://www.findmespot.com/en/ It has three functions, I'm OK, Help and 911. You turn it on, it uses GPS to acquire its location, then you hit one of the three buttons. OK sends a message to the satellites which is then relayed to their systems and emails your coordinates and I'm OK message to your loved ones. Help does the same, but the message indicates you need help, but non-emergency. 911 activates the emergency system. They (SPOT) sends help. You can't use it for navigation, nor can you send custom messages. Just OK, help and 911. The system is $149 at REI and requires $99/year subscription. I think the price is cheap considering the value. Scenario 1, we are heading to NTier Bissett, MB with two adults and 7 youth this July. Deep wilderness. Every parent is configured into the system to receive messages. When we get to camp, we send a message, I'm OK. They sleep well that night. They can also check google earth to track our trek. Scenario 2, a patrol wants to do a patrol backpack trip. No adults. They have the SPOT and send a message when they reach camp they are OK. If they have a problem, they hit 911 or Help. Might smooth some ruffled helicopter parents feathers. Scenario 3, my son is type 1 diabetic. When he camps without me, I don't sleep well. But he's becoming independent and I don't want to camp with him all the time. He is staffing NYLT this summer. Its out of cell range. He is instructed to send an I'm OK every night before bed. This is more for me than him. I sure don't think this should be mandatory. But I do see value to scouting here, especially in our helicopter parent society.

JoeBob, you lost me when you think the Chinese are drilling Florida oil off the Cuban coast. You do realize that Cuba is 90 miles from Florida. In order to do that, it would require slant drilling the likes never seen before except in the blockbuster movie Armageddon. The deepest offshore oil well is under 3 miles deep. Just don't work out to drill 90 miles away for oil that's at most 3 miles deep. Now if you base your opinion on something as fantastically fictional as that, well, we have nothing to discuss.

Beware, origami bowls do not respond well to Philmont branding irons.

Revenge is a dish best served cold. After the appeal and the EBOR, make sure you send every leader in the troop a nice invitation to the Court of Honor.

Origami bowl, nylon spork, plastic travel coffee cup. Everything you ever need.

Denver Area Council sends a postcard to the SM. Someone then has to go to the office to pick up the packet. Nothing is sent to the scout.

I too don't like the idea of 13 year old Eagles, nor do I like the idea of scouts who check out at 13/14, come back at 16/17 as a Star and rush to finish up right before their 18th Bday. I have felt that the 6 months as a Star and 6 months as a Life scout were too low. If you bumped them to 12 months each, it would eliminate the 13 year Eagles, but still allow a gung ho scout to get eagle by 15. It would also eliminate the deathbed Eagles who wait until 17 to move beyond Star. But for the majority of scouts, it wouldn't have any effect as they usually spend at least 12 months at each upper rank.

Summer, that requirement is so subjective that it has caused numerous threads here. I view it as a rubberstamp unless the scout has demonstrated a measurable gross violation of scout spirit (like a criminal conviction). The problem is, scout spirit is based on one's subjective opinion, not an objective criteria.

The records necessary to complete the Eagle application can be obtained directly through the council by you. Just go to there and ask for your scout's records. Our council has no problem with this. It will have everything that the troop has submitted. Every merit badge, advancement, significant dates. I'd do that before the meeting. I'd also have the Eagle application filled out to the point of signatures. Whether the SM has realized this or not, he has done Realistically, be prepared for the committee to back up the SM. At that point, I would wash my hands of the troop. Just politely say thank you, and leave the meeting. No further contact with them is necessary. The only way this scout is going to advance is through the appeals process and will be successful.

If they are selling out of their inventories of high profit SUVs and trucks, why are they needing a gov bailout? I saw an ad today, buy a Ram, get a Caliber for free. The big 3's business model hinged on selling high profit SUV and trucks. This works when gas prices are low and expected to stay low. But when the public saw what happened last year to fuel prices, they lost their faith that gas will remain cheap. Consumers wanted fuel efficient autos, and Detroit now had to compete with high quality Asian models. Historically, Detroit didn't produce quality economy cars and the perception of the consumers was their product line was still not at par with their foriegn competitors. So when they had to compete head to head with the Asians, they lost. Gas prices are artificially low right now because of the recession. When or if we come out of this recession, oil prices will skyrocket to their previous levels. If GM and Chrysler are not aligned with products to meet consumers demand, which they weren't last time, they won't survive. Why do you think the Asian manufacturers have done relatively well? Because the Japan PM dictates their models? No, because they produce quality models the consumers want. Now, is Obama demanding GM quit producing SUVs? No. We are telling them if they want us to loan them money, they need to align their product line to what consumers are buying. Quality fuel efficient cars. They can still build and sell SUVs. Nobody is banning that. Say you own a small business that sells buggy whips. You need a loan. You go to the bank and apply. The banker says he will loan you money, but you need to expand your product line. You can still sell buggy whips, but you need to also sell something the banker thinks is a long term viable product. That is exactly what we, the banker, are demanding of GM and Chrysler.

The UAW is just another supplier to GM et al. They supply labor. American Axle supplies axles. Delco supplies radios. None of the suppliers have asked for tax dollars directly, but they sure do support the big 3 bailouts. Its their lifeline.

You are aware that Japanese auto manufacturers get lots of support from their government don't you? Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Sorry Joe, can't let that pass. The hourly cost for GM, Ford and Chrysler vs. that of Toyota, Honda and Nissan (US factories) are disproportionate because the former have retiree costs added to them. The latter have not been the US long enough to have the retiree costs burden. Take that away, and the hour rate and benefits received by the employee are nearly identical. How can Obama fire the CEO of the UAW? Did the UAW ask for tax dollars?

The best pranks have to be plausible.

All to often, I see scouters and parents view the ECOH as a crossover, from youth to adulthood. The end of their boy scouting life as a youth. Everyone talks about how important Eagle is on a college application. If a scout,unit,parent delays his Eagle until he nears 18, possibly until his final semester as a senior, he won't have the advancement to include on his application.

Public exposure? No, too vindictive. However, if this were my son, I wouldn't hold my tongue talking about the issue to other parents, warning them of the potential situation with their boys.

My son earned his Eagle at 15. He was one of the youngest in the unit to earn it in recent history. Most of our scouts stay active until about 15, then drop out for the most part, only to return at 17 to finish up due to parental pressure. So while we have been in the unit, there have never been active Eagle scouts to mentor the younger boys. My son is the exception. He's stayed active, taking the role of JASM and being a role model for the younger scouts. Its really invigorated the younger boys and a couple of them now want to "beat" my son to Eagle by getting it earlier than he did. I think having a younger active Eagle scout is healthy for the troop. On the other side of the argument, my brother earned his Eagle by 13.5 and promptly quit. He joined the Drum and Bugle Corps and never attended another troop meeting.

Its the golden rule. He who has the gold gets to make the rules. If GM (Wagoner) didn't want to step down, he didn't have to. He just didn't have to take the tax money. If Chrysler didn't want to merge with Fiat, they didn't have to. Just don't take the money. Nobody is holding a gun to their heads. Its a business decision on their part. Thank God this administration is attaching some strings, unlike the financial bailout of last year. The gov backed warranty thing is actually quite smart. Who in their right mind would buy a car from a company going into bankruptcy? Your warrentee is worthless. Without the feds stepping up and making sure there's money to fix your GM or Chrysler auto, the companies will never have a chance to be viable again because nobody would buy your product.

I am so owned. good one Beavah.

What power did Obama use to force Wagoner out? All the Obama administration did was say, if you want more of the taxpayers money, you need to change management. Those were the conditions of the loan. Force him out. Please.

How many units out there do this? Throw roadblocks in to delay a scout from earning his Eagle until right before his 18th birthday? I know one unit in my district that will not allow a scout to earn Life before he's 15. I know that is adding requirements and is wrong. What is your experience?

I'm getting the impression that the SM wouldn't care if this were escalated or not. He clearly doesn't want to help this scout advance and he is done with it. He probably knows that the appeal process will be engaged, probably is expecting it. I just can't imagine your son has stayed in this unit for this long.