RememberSchiff

Update Feb 27,2017 Michael N. Kelsey, 38, a Dutchess County lawyer and former county legislatort, was automatically disbarred last May when he was convicted of sexual assault charges in St. Lawrence County. On Feb. 22, the state Appellate Court, second department, affirmed the disbarment and ordered that his name be removed from the state roll of attorneys. A county court jury found Kelsey guilty of sexual abuse, attempted sexual assault, forcible touching and endangering the welfare of children. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, and for the past four months he has been an inmate at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora. Kelsey was admitted to practicing law in 2009. He was serving as a county legislator for the 25th district when he was arrested in 2014. http://westfaironline.com/86290/ny-state-court-upholds-disbarment-of-dutchess-county-lawyer/

Sportsmen (shooting sports) clubs around here removed their bars years ago. Bad mix.

The CO is responsible for providing a meeting place, but the unit can meet elsewhere. Meet elsewhere.

Indeed.

Okay lets stay scout-like. Regarding the "dweeb or nerd factor", and lets use those words, should the BSA also ditch - the left hand shake (The BSA adopted the necker and left handshake from the world scoutimg movement in the 1920's) - knee socks - adults wearing the uniform - badges and other insignia (Unit numbers have subdued, earthen colors, why not drop altogether) - camo ban - other? to make Scouts more "cool"?

http://www.wkow.com/story/34670481/2017/03/05/terminally-ill-boy-gets-special-chance-to-learn-how-to-ski See video in above link. Family and friends showed up to Cascade Mountain in Portage on Sunday to watch as 12-year-old scout Frank Carpino finally got his chance to ski down the mountain. "I'm just excited, really excited," said Carpino, moments before heading down. According to Carpino's family, he suffers from Desmoid Tumors, a rare intermediate type of cancer. "He has never known a time in his life when he wasn't having radiation or surgery," said Frank's mom Kathy Carpino, who says he's been suffering from the tumors since he was a baby. "I think he needs this [ski ride] at this point of his journey right now, he needed this to help him get the rest of the way." To make sure Frank can ski down the hill safely, he strapped into specially-made skis that included a seat, padding, and straps for a skier following behind him to be able to steer him in the right direction. The specially-made skis were provided by Adaptive Adventures, a group that helps those with disabilities be able to achieve what they never thought was possible, through special equipment. "What we try and do is make sure the families ski together or friends get to ski together," said Linda Tomsevics of Adaptive Adventures, who steered Frank the whole way down the hill. "All it takes is the right equipment and anybody out there can ski, it doesn't matter if they were injured or quadriplegic, anybody can ski." After Carpino arrived at the bottom of the mountain, he brought down with him, a smile on his face. "Being able to feel the wind on your face, while whole experience was fun," said Carpino, who ended up going back up the mountain again for a couple more rounds downhill. "It's even greater that everyone could ski next to me." The group of skiers included snow patrol members of Cascade Mountain, members of Carpino's Boy Scout troop along with others (16 other Boy scout troops?) across Wisconsin, and plenty of family and friends. "It was incredible, it was an amazing blessing," said Kathy Carpino, as she held back tears and thanked everyone for making the ski ride possible for her son. Well Done.

The law referenced is The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (N.J.S.A. 10:5-12) (LAD) http://lis.njleg.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/om_isapi.dll?clientID=732536957&Depth=4&TD=WRAP&advquery=%2210%3a5-12%22&headingswithhits=on&infobase=statutes.nfo&rank=&record={3ADB}&softpage=Doc_Frame_Pg42&wordsaroundhits=2&x=24&y=12&zz= section f, subsections (1) and (2) I am not an attorney, but my read, there was a concern a LAD violation occurred because the scout was already a member of a private club (Cub Scout Pack) when denied continued membership because of gender identity. (2)Notwithstanding the definition of "a place of public accommodation" as set forth in subsection l. of section 5 of P.L.1945, c.169 (C.10:5-5), for any owner, lessee, proprietor, manager, superintendent, agent, or employee of any private club or association to directly or indirectly refuse, withhold from or deny to any individual who has been accepted as a club member and has contracted for or is otherwise entitled to full club membership any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities or privileges thereof, or to discriminate against any member in the furnishing thereof on account of the race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, marital status, civil union status, domestic partnership status, pregnancy, sex, gender identity, or expression, affectional or sexual orientation, disability or nationality of such person. The local BSA Council apparently chose not to or could not argue that the initial membership was fraudulent and this law should not apply. Anyway that is my research and best guess.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/mar/05/veradale-boy-scout-among-the-survivalists-featured/ In “Kicking & Screaming,†10 expert survivalists, including 52 yr old Terry Fossum, are paired with pampered partners as they compete in challenges and live in a tropical jungle in Fiji. The winning team splits a $500,000 grand prize. Filmed last May, executive producer Anthony Dominici said in addition to the pairings of survivalists and divas, “Kicking†differentiates itself from CBS’s “Survivor†in tone, too. “There’s a sense of humor that’s not typical of cutthroat reality shows,†he said. That’s apparent in casting Fossum, who wore part of his Boy Scout uniform on the series. (Fossum said wearing the uniform was producers’ idea, though he was happy to oblige after clearing it with the national office of the Boy Scouts of America.) (Schiff warning note: In photo Mr. Fossum is wearing a necker. ) ... Fossum, who went on a 6,000-mile driving, boating and backpacking trip to the Arctic Circle a few years ago, prepared for “Kicking†by traveling to Guyana for about a week to learn jungle survival techniques from South American experts, swimming with piranha and picking ticks off himself. “It helped me an immense amount,†Fossum said of his prep work. What he couldn’t be prepared for, necessarily, was the person he would be paired with: Natalie Casanova, a 29-year-old, pink-haired, tattooed gamer and YouTuber. “Imagine her reaction: She’s looking at nine studly people, many young, with buff muscles, and she gets the old Boy Scout,†Fossum said, laughing. “Imagine what she’s thinking: ‘I got the old guy.’ †Now that's funny - 52 is old!

Back in the day, I recall scouts who wore BSA official uniform slides, the brass turk knot, were razzed. As a Bear, I made an ambitious first attempt at carving a kit slide - Cochise, which ended poorly. My second attempt was an arrowhead which was somewhat recognizable as such the further back the viewer stepped.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/jersey-boy-scouts-pay-18k-transgender-boy-45883121 http://www.northjersey.com/story/news/new-jersey/2017/03/02/boy-scouts-pay-18000-apologize-9-year-old-transgender-boy-thrown-out-pack/98665342/

The uniform is also optional, so in part or whole, it does not make a scout. BTW, the Uniform Method was not a Method until the mid 80's. If your unit wears the uniform, there is a guide to wearing it correctly. Well sort of, when the necker was required some Nationalista's stated the necker is worn under the collar. My point is the necker makes one look like a scout and if it is a real necker it has many functional uses.

Same page When engaged in Scouting activities, members may wear the neckerchief with appropriate nonuniform clothing to identify them as Scouts. http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2015/08/21/scout-neckerchiefs-now-approved-wear-nonuniform-clothing/ "One uniform piece unites Scouts in all 223 countries with a Scouting program. It’s not the button-up uniform shirt. It’s not the purple World Crest. It’s the Scout neckerchief." I am sure some will make the argument, that if they are at a Scout activity then they must be scouts so there is no need for a uniform in part or whole to identify them as scouts.

I have wondered what percentage of scouts do not turn in their completed blue cards.

Shemaghs anyone?

Has anyone heard of more provisional weeks at HA camps? As I understand, Philmont has provisional weeks for NAYLE?, STEM , and trailwork but not treks.

EMT and WFA are different worlds, so this is an incomplete answer. EMT training is about emergency care within the Golden Hour. You might treat a patient for 20-45min. With WFA, the ER is hours away. Stabilization is up to you, immobilization of spinal injuries more critical. No collars or backboards in woods. EMT's have the gear on the unit, WFA's may have to improvise splints and patient carry in the field. Self-sticking bandages, duct tape, blood-clotting dressings are in our first aid kits. WFA teaches complete patient assessment ABCDE, my EMT CPR training was just ABC leave the rest to ER. With WFA, you re-certify in 2 years but many take advanced WFA (AWFA?) instead. WFA covers the more treatable wilderness injuries - bug bites, altitude sickness, dehydration, heat and cold injuries... I found it worthwhile, hopefully you will never need it.

CPR certification is separate from WFA. I strongly recommend SOLO WFA courses.

Perhaps this Troop Committee is still in Pack Committee mode?

All made in the USA. https://www.buckknives.com/collection/bsa/

I saw that Zinke rode a horse to work on his first day, seems a green transportation solution.

A few years ago, the BSA forced Hacker Scouts to change their name which is now Curiosity Hacked. http://articles.latimes.com/2013/aug/20/business/la-fi-tn-boy-scouts-threaten-hacker-scouts20130819

Yes, but IMO the "challenges" in the adventure of Scouting should go deeper - solo leadership challenges. But thrill is relative, consider https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb4oW-plc0I

In a 68-31 vote, the Senate confirmed Ryan Zinke as the next Secretary of the Interior. A former boy scout turned Navy SEAL in the Iraq dessert, Zinke grew up 30 minutes outside of Glacier National Park in Montana, an experience he cites as the impetus for his interest and dedication to environmental stewardship. He has promised to “restore trust†in the department and address the $12-billion maintenance backlog in America’s national parks from Alaska to the beaches of Maine. Republicans hope Zinke will also usher in a “culture of change†to the Interior by repealing many of the Obama administration’s land management policies seen to favor environmentalists over local interests. http://glacierhub.org/2017/03/01/zinke-trumps-pick-for-interior-talks-glacier-retreat/

About 14,000 new Eagles in 1950 when total BSA membership was around 2.8million about same total membership as today. Fewer programs back in 1950, so I would suspect there were more Boy Scouts in 1950 than today. Last year, as I recall, there were over 55,000 new Eagles. It is relatively easy to determine if any scout earned his requirements or his parents worked the system for him - just ask him.

College applications are certainly on the radar of these parents so they push. Hard to say if being an Eagle is/was a factor. I would be disappointed in a scout who didn't stand up proud of his accomplishments. What will happen in a job interview if the interviewer says "Well, it would have been impressive if you had graduated from an ivy league school."? No silence, no head-nod, with vigor and authority speak of the path you took and what you accomplished and learned. So far, I know only of one of my scouts where his Eagle was a factor in college admission; that college was West Point.