Stosh

When my brother-in-law worked for the YMCA, 1970'1s, many of his "perks" for being the program director was he had many of the benefits given to clergy as if the organization was a church. I don't know if that still holds true today.

Sorry for the huge pictures, I didn't know how to make them smaller, but it does show the detail. Having trouble with the pics. Nope, the forum isn't going to accept them. I compressed them, cropped them and still won't work.

I was out target practicing with a buddy who had a Thompson Center Fire with exchangeable calibers. He had me shoot the .22. It was no big deal. Them he switched over to .36 cal. Oh, kinda hefty. Then the .38 cal. Okay we/re getting serious. Then the .45 cal. Impressive but needed 2 hands and locked elbows. Then we went a bit smaller, with more powder. .357 magnum. Okay, we're really serious now. .44 magnum. Ouch. then he said, how's about going really small to the 30-06? That's where my crease came in. All with the same gun! That's the reason for the shoulder when shooting a long-gun and the reason 8 gauge shotguns are fired off the thigh.

Seriously, @@TAHAWK how come you know so much about large handguns? Do you have a crease in your forehead, too?

With all the membership changes (drop out the rank/Eagle argument) doesn't it change the whole scope and mission of Boy Scouts of America and all it's promotional branding? Is it not logical to assume that it is iossible to have co-ed Boy Scouts? Is this not why we have a program in the BSA that is not Boy Scouts but Venturing, LFL, Exploring, etc? The Young Men's Christian Association has over the years have in fact pushed the Young Women's Christian Association out of existence? To day the brand just says "the Y" It is no longer male/female, nor is it Christian and there's no real association. Members really don't "associate" as much as it is just a programmatic place to recreate. They even have gone so far as to indicate they are a Family Y. Now older people can join and they can just drop the Y eventually. The Boys and Girls Clubs are at least a bit more honest about it in their branding. As basically an after school day care, the family doesn't really mean much to them. Yet even these organizations have sub groupings within their organizations. Activities for boys, for girls, for families with vague lines differentiating them. These "lines" are not set in regulatory stone like BSA's Cub, Boy, Venturing, LFL, and Exploring program. But now the push is to allow the lines to become blurred just like they did with the Y. Eventually BSA is headed in the direction of a semi-outdoors oriented Y and the only distinction between the two is the BSA program will expect uniforms and will promote and define "success" with bling and prestige rather than just hanging out with friends having fun at the Y. I don't know as if that will be enough of a draw to compete with the Y. It was 40 years ago I worked with troubled youth in the NYPUM program run by the YMCA. NYPUM stands for National Youth Program Using Minibikes. We rode minibikes, and as long as they did well in school and stayed out of trouble with the law, they could stay in the program. I have no idea whatever happened to that program, but yes, we did go camping as a group many times and sat around the campfires at night talking about the problems they faced growing up. It was co-ed. Did we have trouble with the co-ed part? Nope, they remembered that as long as they stayed out of trouble, they could stay in the program. They policed themselves.

The Lion's program is intended to increase sagging membership. Elementary kids don't want a bunch of kindergarteners hanging around so BSA doesn't encourage them to really participate in the full program. Even Tigers are too young. Boys at this age are very class level focused and are not interested with kids not of their class. It isn't until adulthood that ages don't matter as much. A little of it occurs at the high school level, but even then mom and dad don't like their freshman daughter hanging around senior boys. I always tease my wife about trading her in a newer model, but then in all seriousness, who wants to go through the changing diapers and hauling around toddlers when one is 66 years of age? Occasionally as Grandpa I can handle it, but 24/7 is out of the question. There are far more negatives to this idea of Lions and Tigers than all the hoopala that is going around about it. Lions and Tigers should be their own program, designed for their age appropriate interests, not part of the Cub program. This is why we have Venturing, not many high schoolers really want to hang out with elementary and junior high kids.

I have 3 bugles at my disposal. A Brutish duty bugle (small, coronet sized bugle), a US military Conn G/F bugle (what we would consider a regular bugle), and my prized trophy, a mint, BSA, silver, G/F bugle that has no scratches or dents. Looks literally brand new. Yes, the silver bugle does not go in the field, that's what the US Conn is for.

It also makes it kinda hard to conceal carry those guns. The most powerful handgun on the market is a .44 magnum, and that is one huge piece of weaponry not even criminals want to haul around. The six round, black powder, .45 cal dragoon pistol (think Colt Walker, when you ran out of guns, it could still be used as a club) and the 9 round black powder, .42 cal with a .60 cal shotgun chamber (think 20 gauge) handguns were not worn on the belt during the Civil War. They were too heavy, they horse carried the gun in a holster on the saddle. Today's hand guns are meant to be discrete and not many people have horses to haul around their guns. .

This reminds me of the cute story I heard a few years ago. An elderly lady was driving down the street (at speed limit) and was impeding faster traffic. A police officer pulls her over and asks for her driver's license, registration and proof-of-insurance. She says she's has a conceal carry permit and there's a .45 cal in her glove box. The officer says he'll need to see her permit, too. She then says her driver's license and permit are in her purse, but there's a 9mm in there. By now the officer is really perplexed and asks if there are any other guns in the car and she says yes, there's a .357 magnum under the front seat, too. Totally amazed he says, Lady, what in the world are you afraid of?" to which she answered, "Absolutely nothing, Officer."

What people don't realize is that guns are not controlled by laws, but by people. How effective they are makes the difference. A criminal is generally better self-trained in the use of his weapon than the average conceal carry permit holder. They are obsessed with weapons and train constantly and have the mind-set to use them against other people, The law-abiding citizen does not, his mindset is only to protect. Both those characteristics still places the advantage with the criminal. The only deterrent is the self-preservation. The only thing that will cause the criminal to not use his weapon is if the target of his attention could in turn cause him harm. If he holds all the cards, there is nothing for him to consider. If the victim could possibly be able to resist with the same force he/she has, then there is reason to reconsider. This is why schools and movie theaters, banks, and such are easy targets. If a bank is a no-gun law and armed guards, it's not a good target. If the school has armed teachers, that might be a problem too. Why do people run from the police? It's because they are armed, probably better trained and have more firepower than they do. Not a good choice to take on the police with a gun in one's hand. What if there was a big question mark on every victim instead of a bull's-eye? Now one is into controlling criminals by altering their ability to choose. If one does it only with laws, the choice is easy, They have the guns and all the fear of citizen retaliation is off the table.

What people don't realize that if girls change, then everything the Boy Scouts ever stood for is gone and the new organization will be different. It may be the same name, same awards, but the program will never be the same again. The first time a girl "get's her Eagle", she won't be getting the Boy Scout Eagle, she'll be getting the Boy-Girl Scout Eagle. Not the same thing.

If the boy plays trumpet in school he can learn the bugle real easily. Just don't push down any of the trumpet valves and you'll do just fine. A bugle can play only 4-5 notes, the valves on a trump allow tubing to adjust such that all the notes in the scale (sharps and flats, too) can be planed. Bugling is a lot easier to play than a trumpet or coronet. Get this boy the music and he'll do just fine! You're a lucky dog @@The Latin Scot http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rexcraft-Official-Boy-Scout-Bugle-/192110601706?hash=item2cbaaf25ea:g:6E4AAOSwdGFYrJv8 Looks tough, had some hard wear, but it'll play just fine. Have him use his trumpet mouthpiece. Don't have him take his good trumpet into the field. This is a G trumpet, but the slide pulls out to the F pitch which is lower and easier to play. If the slide is stuck a music store should be able to free it and with Vaseline, it'll move very easily. The mouthpiece on this bugle is not an original and should be easier to play, he may not need to use his trumpet mouthpiece.

I have a military assault rifle in my closet as I write. It was a mainstay of a war that more Americans were killed than all the other wars combined. It's an 1853 Enfield rifle musket. Now that single shot rifle is not even considered by the ATF as a "weapon". However, it will put a .58 caliber round out that is bigger than today's sniper rifle. I also have a Mosin-Nagant, the primary weapon used by Russian forces from the late 1800's through the Vietnam era when it was replaced by the AK-47. Mosin-Nagan fired a 7.62 x 54 round. The AK-47 fires a 7.62 x 36 which means it's the same bullet but the AK-47 has less impact. The only gun in the world today that fires a 7.62 x 54 is the modern Russian sniper rifle. The Finnish woman sniper who holds the world record for efficiency in the field used an un-scoped Mosin-Nagant. Of course my WW I Turkish Mauser which fires an 8mm round is in the same case as the rest. Now, The lethality of those guns is greater per round than any modern "assault" rifle of today used by our military. What's magazine capacity have to do with the fact that one only needs one bullet to do the work. Yes an AK-47 can fire in full automatic like a machine gun. But those are illegal for anyone other than police and military to posses. But criminals don't care. The notorious Tommy Gun made famous by the mobs of Chicago back in the 20's used a 45 cal bullet, like the ones in most modern semi-automatic handguns of today. Sub-machine guns use pistol ammunition. I conceal carry a 9mm handgun that has 17 rounds in the gun and a second magazine with another 17 rounds. That's a lot of firepower. No one knows I carry that much firepower under a coat and I do it legally with the blessing of the government. What people don't realize is that the only part of the gun that is lethal is the bullet. Studies have shown that on full automatic, only the first round is aimed at the target. Because of recoil all subsequent bulltets go high. The military has found that they are far more effective leaving their guns on semi-automatic. Semi-automatic rifles are the same ones that 80% of the hunters out in the woods are using to deer hunt. Take the stock off change it out to look like a hunting rifle and it's totally legal. Leave it looking like a military assault rifle, and it's not. Go figure, the mechanics and bullets are just the same. The #1 hunting rifle today is the 30-06, it's the same round as the M1-Garrand the primary rifle used by the US Infantry in WW II, and the Israeli Uzi uses the same bullets as the gun I have on my night stand. I've fired an Uzi, my Smith and Western semi-automatic is the gun I want if needed. "Gun Control" is nothing more than political speak to get guns out of the hands of people. It works on those who are law abiding, but has no effect those that don't care. By the way, the Girl Scout in the picture has a modern US Army sniper rifle, 50 cal and yes, it's a bolt action gun, just like the Russian Mosin-Nagant and German Mauser. It's not the gun that needs controlling, it's the people using them. And yes, my wife was a Girl Scout, she carries a 9mm, too.

There's a story behind the expression used when someone was complaining about something, "You'd complain if you were hung with a new rope." The executioner would "condition" the rope before the execution by hanging heavy bags of sand for a long period of time. The rope was manila. A new rope would have too much elasticity in it and the person would bounce around on the end of the rope as if they were "dancing". Not a pretty sight. So all the elasticity of a new rope was taken out of it before use. Isn't that a bit of pleasant cocktail conversation you'd want to slip in sometime in the evening?

I only made it to 2nd Class, but I have my old square green patch from back then. Too many years have passed, too many bad memories. I'll just stay in the box.

During the Civil War, the troops were trained in the manual of arms based on Napoleonic tactics and thus used French bugle calls. The bugle call at the beginning of the war was Lights Out as the precursor to today's modern "Taps"

I was in the reenacting world for 15 years. In all that time we had only 2 buglers. They were fantastic. At a national event where there were a number of buglers, that was the best, and functional bugling I have ever heard. As a captain of a company, I had to be on my toes to make sure I KNEW what was being called. Pushed my envelop, it was great!

One thing about a bugle, no matter how much i rains, one cannot hurt it. Rain on a saxophone with its leather pads would be disastrous. Leave the bugle out over night in a rain storm? Pull the slide, blow out the water, replace the slide and you're good to go!

The link to the full GS/USA Congressional Charter doesn't work, but here are the pertinent excerpts: http://usscouts.org/gsusa/gsusacharter.asp

I thought there was an agreement between the two organizations that they wouldn't do that. And one can add to that the U. S. Congressional charter for the Boy Scouts says: U.S. Code › Title 36 › Subtitle II › Part B › Chapter 309 › § 30902 36 U.S. Code § 30902 - Purposes US Code Notes prev | next The purposes of the corporation are to promote, through organization, and cooperation with other agencies, the ability of boys to do things for themselves and others, to train them in scoutcraft, and to teach them patriotism, courage, self-reliance, and kindred virtues, using the methods that were in common use by boy scouts on June 15, 1916. (Pub. L. 105–225, Aug. 12, 1998, 112 Stat. 1325.) LII has no control over and does not endorse any external Internet site that contains links to or references LII. Somewhere along the way things seem to have veered off course. Kinda strange for those that espouse knowledge of map and compass.

Oh oh, I'm going straight to hell, right?

When one is in a downward spiral one has a few options to reverse it. But first of all one has to quit doing what is causing the downward spiral. Then either go back to what one was doing before the spiral started, or try something new to see what happens. It's sad to say that the only one with a track record of working would be to go back to the way it was while it was fine before someone decided to "fix" it. The other hand is a crap-shoot guess as to what might stop the spiral, It may work or it may not. It's sad, but one could keep trying to find new fixes, but by then it might be too late.

One could drop all the "gun control" laws in our country and it wouldn't make one iota of difference. The bad guys will have the same guns to commit crimes and the law abiding people will still have guns to protect themselves. In this area especially, laws are irrelevant.

Thin Mints! vs. Samoans (or whatever PC name they use now) Unfortunately the problem for me is 1 box is a single serving. At least I have been able to solve the problem with not enough room in the freezer for only a once a year purchase, I have resorted to making my own. Sadly their sale at my house has gone down over the years. But, any girl that shows up at my door in uniform is guaranteed a nice sale. As far as one person liking Do-Si-Do's goes, not all GS cookies are made at the same bakery. Even the titles on the boxes vary from one place in the country to another. Maybe some really are bland and unoriginal. It might be the bakery, not the cookie.

Any boy that shows up on my doorstep with a completed EBOR in need of a ceremony for any reason, gets one. A Scout is Friendly.