JoeBob

LisaBob, I can't agree with you that the Democrat Party isn't pleased about the current state of affairs. Google 'Never waste a good crisis". The Obama Bear Market: Never waste a good crisis http://www.independent.org/blog/?p=1496 Financial Crisis - Courtesy of Barney Frank and Chris Dodd Healthcare Crisis - Courtesy of ambulance chasing lawyers Global Warming Crisis - Courtesy of Al Gore's Carbon Footprint ponzi scheme, despite ten years of cooling... The Dems have gleefully leveraged 'crisis' into abosolutely monsterous spending: "Mr. Obama's $3.6 trillion budget blueprint, by his own admission, more than doubles the national debt held by the public, adding more to the debt than all previous presidents -- from George Washington to George W. Bush -- combined." http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123629969453946717.html Tax and spend. If I were in the financial advice business, I'd be setting up a program to help big companies and wealthy individuals move out of the US. Haliburton has already gone to Dubai. BTW, LisaBob, are we related? ;^) JoeBob

GernBlansten: "Did the UAW ask for tax dollars?" Yes! Gettelfinger lobbied hard for the bailout to be passed. Who do you think GM is writing checks to with our tax dollars? UAW members. I contend that the main reason that UAW was so intractable about serious concessions (they did sacrifice lesser paid new hires), was that they knew that the Dems in congress would bail them out. "We will work with the Obama administration and the new Congress," said Gettelfinger. http://www.uaw.org/auto/12_19_08auto1.cfm Although needed at one time, unions have devolved into legal gangs. Without legislation specifically covering their activities, the UAW would be in violation of RICO statutes. Card Check anyone? I fault the Big 3 CEOs for not standing firm against their labor unions during contract negotiations, but I'm not sure what recourse thay might have had. I agree that part of that labor cost is legacied because of retirees pension and health care. But that cost is again the fault of the unions who extorted those extravagant benefits from the company. Looks like I might be a Ford man in the future.

Why doesn't the Comunity Organizer in Chief fire the UAW chief? Inflated union wages are the underlying cause of US automakers failure. In 2007 GM and Toyota sold virtually the same number of vehicles: 9,370,000 Vehicles sold by GM 9,366,418 Vehicles sold by Toyota $38,730,000,000 Lost by GM ($4,055 loss per car) $17,146,000,000 Made by Toyota ($1,874 profit per car) The three American automakers generally pay about 30 percent more per hour in wage, pension and health care costs than Japanese automakers. Ford - $70.51 per hour in wages and benefits GM - $73.26 per hour Chrysler - $75.86 Toyota, Honda and Nissan - $48 hourly cost Oh, I forgot. The unions have the Dems in their pocket, so P-BO will force GM into a 'structured bankruptcy' that protects the union's contracts. I love my Suburban. It's great for scout outings and my business. But I'm not sure I'll ever buy another one, because I don't want to subsidize the UAW.

How about a little public exposure? Consider sending an eMail with a link to this forum discussion to the Scout Master and relevant district/council personnel. This should accomplish two things: 1- Pressure on a SM who thinks his actions are not being observed outside of his close circle of associates. So far you have politely kept the names and troop identity anonymous. What do other forum members think about naming names? How big a concern is liabilty? Is there a chance that someone in the chain of command for this troop is monitoring this topic and doesn't recognize the players? 2- Knowing that we are talking about him might encourage this SM to log onto the forum and share his point of view. This would give forum members the other side of the story, and provide you with the written explanation your scout needs to overcome this SM's objections. Shining a light in the dark woods can help you tell if you're dealing with a coyote or a raccoon. JoeBob

Snipe and Grits for my family. Who care about calories when they taste that good!

I can't render a judgement on this scenario, but I would like to toss out some mitigators: 1- Having a difficult to control group earlier in the day, would incline the instructors to be more firm with subsequent groups. 2- Making an example of the first minor violation of safety protocol encourages the rest of the group to be more attentive for the rest of the session. 3- A quiet word aside with the berated individual would go a long way to healing any potential emotional damage. (This message has been edited by a staff member.)

From the rules that come in the box: 7. The wheels supplied with the kit must be used. The wheels may not be cut, drilled, beveled or rounded. You may remove the seam from the wheels. http://www.abc-pinewood-derby.com/pinewood_derby_rules.htm The box doesn't contain 30 year old wheels. The narrower front wheels were probably an innocent attempt to make the car look like a drag racer, not an insidious attempt to gain competitive advantage. Who should have their 'fun stolen'. The Cub who broke the rule, or all the other Cubs who lost to an illegal car because they read and followed the rules?

Yes; disqualify the car for using the wrong wheels. To not do so would be totally unfair to the other Cubs whose cars followed your rules. But you have highlighted a weakness in our own Derby procedure. We only had one inspector manning a highly accurate scale. Despite scheduling an hour for 65 scouts to check-in, our race started 50 minutes late. Cars were taking 3,4 and 5 turns at the scales to get their weight correct. We should divide the inspection process into 3 steps, and have a seperate person for each step: 1- Legality: check the wheels, wheel base, axles, ground clearance and dimensions before worrying about weight. 2- Weight is where most cars will flunk inspection and be sent to the workshop table for fine tuning. We need to make a poster for the weight shop with examples of different weights. i.e. a penny = .0x ozs, a nickel = .0x ozs, a fishing sinker = .0x ozs, and a drop of hotglue = .0x ozs. This way the dads can get closer to 5 ozs with fewer trips back in line for the scale. For cars that are over weight, we can use small blocks of pinewood to give them an idea of how big a hole they need to grind into the bottom of the car. 3- Sign in paperwork and impoundment. Hopefully these changes will keep us on schedule and prevent a situation like the one you had to face. Thanks for making me think.

Starlaisme, Please excuse my bad manners in hi-jacking your topic. While checking reponses tonight, I realized that I eclipsed your request for basic campout tips with my own need for swamp adventure tips. Not very useful in AZ, huh? I should have started another thread. My Wolves really liked Baden Powell's Deer Stalker game: "1. DEER-STALKING. The Scoutmaster acts as a deer, not hiding but standing, and moving occasionally now and then. The Scouts go out to find the deer, and each tries in his own way to get up to it unseen. Directly the Scoutmaster sees a Scout he directs him to stand up as having failed. After a certain time the Scoutmaster calls "Time," and all stand up at the spot which they have reached, and the nearest wins. " http://www.inquiry.net/OUTDOOR/games/b-p/stalking.htm Maybe they just like my whitetail imitation.. JoeBob

The plastic egg will keep the puzzle pieces dry in the rain. I like it! Now I just have to find the Commander's Easter box. We'll be in NE Georgia enjoying the same rain storm as you. We'll be thinking of you. Thanks.

Cabin? It's a state park pioneer site with 4 Adirondack shelters. Not even a tropical deluge will get me to sleep in an Adirondack. Been there, done that, spent two weeks getting the critters out of my gear and hair... We'll be in tents. We've eMailed parents an EQ list: Extra boots, shoes, socks, clothes; rag towels, rubber boots if possible, plastic bags for wet clothes, etc. Thank you for: camp manager's projects fish net boat-catcher positive parental attitude Even though I like the mud-racing uphill idea, the silt in the trout fishery is too politically incorrect, even for me. Disasters are some of my best memories. ;^)

Nah. The nails in the Cubs' hands and feet that you have to use to keep them on the logs make the logs top-heavy. The logs roll upside down and the Cub's head bumping on the creek bottom slows the race to a crawl.

My Pack is camping in the mountains this weekend with a 70% chance of rain. The woods will already be a soggy mess, since the forecast calls for 4-6 inches between now and then. I need suggestions. 'Stomp the Puddle' and 'Dodging Raindrops' are going to result in wet cold scouts and muddy gear going home on Sunday. Log boat races in swollen creeks might be interesting, if the ground is stable enough to stay dry and the creeks aren't too big. Erosion control projects are fun to do in the rain (since you don't have to imagine the water flow), but that's only fun until your boots get soaked through. The usual scavenger hunts, woods games, and nature activities that entertain Cub Scout aged boys won't work in the rain. So far the best I can come up with is a relay race filling a bucket with water from the tarp runoff. Help appreciated.

How is that pronunsciated? 'Are' 'Err' 'Eer' 'Arah' 'Rrrrrrr' ? And I thought Ini-To was hard...

For how long does this patch belong on the uniform? Should it migrate off next year? (How do you get hot-glue out of khaki?) If we earn QU again in 2009, do we swap them, or stack them? I'm a new ignorant Wolf leader. Thanks, Joe