packsaddle

I guess I should unstick that thing. I still have maps left but the interest has waned. Any of you guys interested? I finally figured out how to get the USPO to allow them to be mailed as media mail. Now, if someone could tell me how to create a sub-forum...????

"Have you ever heard of life after death" Yep, heard of it. Mostly to me it means that some of the elements composing our bodies will end up in organisms that live after I die...or perhaps that my 'blood' line will continue somehow. Either way, at that unavoidable time I'll be beyond caring about commitments and such. Qwazse, actually I think we continue to demonstrate a superlative ability to multiply regardless of marriage. Basically, we are monkeys.

One of my favorites of all time: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=45895#axzz2ffrAcQWE "To those of you who received honors, awards, and distinctions, I say, well done. And to the C students I say, you, too, can be President of the United States." G.W. Bush's priceless commencement address to Yale

OK, I'm beginning to get the 'picture'. Fact is, from the very beginning, that avatar has always brought the words "Sturm Ruger" to my mind...yeah, I know it's not even close but that's what pops into this tortured mind.

comment about the previous comment: HUH?

The OTHER reason that I think NJ is correct is that from what I understand of those original disappeared posts, they didn't actually contain anything that warranted deletion, at least in comparison to some of the much more incendiary topics that have been 'floated' in these forums in the past. I'd bet the ranch on the 'coincidence' option.

"...smiles and whistles...." I like this. But isn't whistling against the law some places? Or am I confusing that with gum chewing?

Are you asking about the Scout Law? I can't find the word 'clean' in the Scout Oath.

In every school I have ever been a student in or a teacher in...if a student made 100% they would get an 'A', not a 'C'. Alternatively, if they only did what was necessary to pass and nothing more, they get a 'D'. A 'C' is often the required average grade in order to graduate. Just ask George Bush.

KDD, all you really need is mineral rights.

Interesting. Seems like the majority of folks seem to think just the opposite. I must admit to thinking that it seems like Scouts will be more fun as a Scouter. I sure did as a youth.... seemed like all we did in cubs was arts and crafts. Yeah, I'm often in the minority opinion. And if arts and crafts is all you did as a cub, I agree. I was also DL for much of that time and what I liked about the little guys was the completely open sense of wonder and adventure that they expressed with almost everything we did. We did a lake shore cleanup and I cut my hand on some broken glass. So they all got to help with first aid. Later, when the stitches were ready to be pulled, we had contests to see who would get to pull some of them. Those little guys were 100% into everything they did. It was all good all new. At those ages they still WANT to learn and then experience joy when they do.

When I was CM, our camping was family oriented so every cub had a responsible adult partner close by, if not involved directly in the activity. We went canoeing, swimming, splashing in streams, quests to catch frogs and turtles and snakes, hikes to the top of the mountain. We had campfire contests for the most perfect toasted marshmallow, we did games like man-in-the-moon or crossed-sticks. We had crab soccer races, flew kites (wind needed), went fishing (and sometimes caught dinner). We had family dinner competitions to see who could cook the best over a campfire (we actually had campfires). In the evenings if it was clear we watched for meteors or tried to name constellations and made up stories to tell each other. And then slept really well. Like I've written like a broken record in the past, I loved the cubs. They are far better than boy scouts IMHO.

KDD, I am just SO glad I didn't have a mouthful of coffee or something when I just read your comment.....

KDD, did that form really use the words, "...PAID adult volunteers or leaders..."? OK, I will be waiting for the check to arrive in the mail.

I just saw this and thought it might be relevant to this thread: http://www.repubblica.it/cultura/201...0/?ref=HRER3-1 In case you don't read Italian here's a synopsis: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...n-8810062.html Headline: "Pope Francis assures atheists: You don’t have to believe in God to go to heaven" Edit: Oops, here's the English version: http://www.repubblica.it/cultura/2013/09/11/news/the_pope_s_letter-66336961/

I'm kind of partial to that banner suggestion but in this case all I can say is, as my cub scouts used to shout every time we heard the sound of breaking glass, "I didn't do it!" And I have no idea who did it or even if 'someone' did it at all. I'm mystified but I remind the forums that as far as I know, the moderators agreed to self-identify (or something like that) if we took an action as extreme as deleting a thread. I have to believe that since no one has stepped forward, this is not a case of 'moderation'. That said, I don't have any other explanations. Endeavor to persevere.

This thread, IMHO, was still-born from the beginning and just as I was thinking that some kind of special grace had finally sent it to well-deserved oblivion, someone rolled away the stone and now it's threatening to stay undead, stumbling through the forums like a zombie. Please don't let zombies into this forum. Don't reply to this thread any more. Don't feed the zombie. Thank you.

Bibles, 3 versions including KJV which is the only one I take seriously - the others are just cheap knock-offs of the real thing - not even sure why I have them or where they came from. Glancing across the room: GB Shaw, Lyell, Darwin, Crick, Watson, Wallace, Bronowski, de Duve, Dickens, Chapman's Piloting, Aesop, Plato, various textbooks and history books and a bunch of novels by authors I can't quite make out at this distance. I'm fairly certain I don't own anything by Nietzsche or Hitler or Rand. Having any of these books in possession is irrelevant if the owner doesn't read them or (better yet) understand them. I also have Book of Mormon, Koran, Confucious, books on Buddhism, Mao's little red book (but can't read the Chinese), several on native American belief systems, and yes, Huxley, Harris, and Dawkins. No HDTV. So what! Edit: post-natal confusion of Richard with Edward My vote RE: Edward Abbey....Desert Solitaire, that would be my choice. Three good, well-used canoes, one of them is a classic wood-and-canvas Old Town...my baby.

I have no idea what happened...can't find it squirreled away anywhere. I'm going to vote for glitch until someone else comes up with a better explanation.

RichardB is a member of the forums who is also one of the 'dreaded' professionals in BSA. He has defended some unpopular official policies strongly enough to become an icon in these forums, one that is representative of what some view as overprotective policies (I'm being kind here). Anyway, he's shown that he can take a hit and come right back. So some of us go ahead and swing away, sometimes when it's just at his 'shadow', lol. Edit: RichardB is one of the reasons I think of 'official' policies in terms of 'smoke and mirrors'. There's just not much of an element of reality.....

Heh, heh, I 'get' what you're saying and I agree. But unless I'm wrong about the guys in this unit, those best of the best leaders in this unit are also the ones most likely to 'light up'. That said, the incidents I'm thinking about were instigated by other units at camporees. 'We' were just close enough to be able to step over to their campsite and put an end to the activity (while their most mature and gifted leaders slept).

In my experience, being within sight doesn't diminish their pyromaniac tendencies. We just can respond in a more timely manner and, once in a while, prevent it from happening.

I wonder if BSA (Birmingham Small Arms Company) ever sued BSA over their trademark? At one time they were the largest motorcycle manufacturer and their optics are still popular.

I don't smoke, don't drink coffee or alcohol, or even cuss (at least not out loud), and I'm not overweight. So I compensate by tormenting incompetent administrators. Yes, I know it's probably going to shorten my professional life but I feel a LOT healthier for the effort. Eamonn, you just caused a terrible flashback from my early youth. I was 4 or 5 years old. My grandmother would make me eat stewed prunes (I have no idea why but I assumed I was being punished). It scared the heck out of me because at that time I was convinced that eating that stuff was how she became all wrinkled and I just knew it was going to happen to me too. Plus..I was RIGHT! It IS happening, right now...ohhhh nooooo! But you know, that whole patrol camping thing to me, is just a lot of smoke and mirrors. We can stand around complaining about it, OR we can just do it anyway. Ignore that CYA nonsense and apply some local control over the program. True scouting is and always has been, something that has a local home, not in some corporate HQ in Texas.

So the potential solutions take on a familiar appearance: 1) do nothing and just whimper along like we're doing right now 2) 'can' the rank. Do away with it because it has attained a status of little or no meaning on average 3) figure out how to make it more meaningful, even if this results in disappointing some boys who thought it would be easy The first two options have the advantage of being the 'easy way out'. My guess is that on the whole, we'll take door number 1. The third option is the hard road, the one that the kind of Eagle we think everyone ought to be would take. Like that irony? But it has the disadvantage of being ambiguous and risks ending up as a matter of local interpretation....kind of like door number 1.