skeptic

You know, it is sad the negativity of a small group of regular posters on the boards. If everything in the program is either already going to pot, is likely to do so with National direction, or is over priced and hyped, then why are you involved at all? If the attitude expressed on here is what it seems, you should not be a leader anyway, in my opinion; and I would not expose my youth to you. Think about this, please, before your biases and fears rub off on the youth and other adults with whom you come in contact. JMHO

So, what IS NOT covered by the Outdoor Code? Why do we need to continue to add more verbal approaches to things with which we already have dealt? Here it is, in case some have forgotten. LNT is nothing more than an expansion of part of this. The Outdoor Code: As an American, I will do my best to Be clean in my outdoor manners Be careful with fire Be considerate in the outdoors Be conservation-minded Be clean in my outdoor manners I will treat the outdoors as a heritage. I will take care of it for myself and others. I will keep my trash and garbage out of lakes, streams, fields, woods, and roadways. Be careful with fire I will prevent wildfire. I will build my fires only when and where they are appropriate. When I have finished using a fire, I will make sure it is cold out. I will leave a clean fire ring, or remove all evidence of my fire. Be considerate in the outdoors I will treat public and private property with respect. I will follow the principles of Leave No Trace for all outdoor activities. Be conservation-minded I will learn about and practice good conservation of soil, waters, forests, minerals, grasslands, wildlife, and energy. I will urge others to do the same.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Boy-Scouts-Classic-Raquel-Welch-Scout-Uniform-Fox-Patrol-Patch-PRINT-/260899605088?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cbed40a60 This is on eBay right now. Maybe this could be used as a recruitment aid?

When Reagan was shot, I had just gotten in my car to go find a place for lunch, and the news was broadcast. I simply had that sinking feeling in my stomach, thinking "not again". Pretty much ruined my lunch. I cannot help but wonder how what affect these series of events had on my views today. I was not sure about my feelings about President Reagan at the time, but the idea that another president was attacked, in the United States, really hurt somehow, emotionally. The idea that our "free society", where everyone had a right to their opinions could allow this to happen was difficult to understand. Whether or not I liked President Reagan, he was still "our" president, and deserved respect and the chance to put forward his and his parties ideas. That is probably why today's attitudes by so many is, for me, almost unimaginable. The levels of enmity espoused against President Obama is truly scary. What is even scarier, to me, is that so many of those with these beliefs appear to be accepted, even when they are encouraging, directly or indirectly, violence against our President, as well as lockstep obdurate negative responses to "just about anything" proffered by this administration.

There is a place for the Venture patrol in many troops. But, National could look back again at how the old Explorer patrols worked in the 50's. Other than the lack of coed involvement, they were able to often work on a viable level, while still being part of the larger troop unit. But, they were allowed to earn Explorer awards, even though they were only patrols. Their greater challenge opportunities often worked to an advantage, reenforcing many primary skills for use within the troop structure, while extending the depth of knowledge in broader related areas. One rating was about like earning 5 or so merit badges, as the detail and advanced levels of learning required considerable effort. I could see a similar alternative of Venture patrols being viable in many troops that do not have the numbers or adult leadership to support an actual crew.

Honestly, the assassination was more traumatic for me as college freshman, than 9/11 was as a late middle aged adult. When you added on the killings of Robert Kennedy and MLK a few years later, my once optimistic outlook on what could be was destroyed. Ever since I have been a bit of cynic and, as the name implies, a bit skeptical about most things on a political level.

But it says dismissed, not settled. Does that not mean the case was simply determined without merit, or not good enough for trial, since jury was requested?

Not really understanding legal jargon, I am confused by your statement about settlement. Doesn't it say it is dismissed with prejudice, then finally dismissed and closed?

Boy Tahawk; you must be the oldest scouter here! You scouted in 1916? Wow!

"I can tell you here in the PNW the hiking community doesn't have a favorable view of the Scouts. go to nwhikers.net and search for boy scouts. it isn't pretty, and a lot of it is just what basement is talking about. if you register to post, I wouldn't admit that you are affiliated." Just out of curiosity I went to the noted link, and it took me forever to find anything about scouts. I finally found a thread about noise in the back country that made some complaints. But, by and large, there were very few really bad comments I could find. Even in the noise thread, most people noted that kids are kids, and suggested it was better to have them out and noisy, than run them off because they disturb someone on occasion. It was also noted that kids and scouts are not the only people causing noise. As far as other issues, I did not find but one; a guy accusing some scouts of stealing stuff from his bear bag, though do not know if he actually could prove that assertion. And, here in my area in So Cal, we have very few complaints about our kids, and I have seen few that do not do far better than most "non scouts". So, make your own conclusion.

Back in "the day", in California, you had to take what was called the "Constitution Test" in order to graduate from 8th grade. Teachers were considered valid counselors for some merit badges automatically then, and Citizenship in the Nation was one of those. Almost every scout I knew passed that badge after passing his test for 8th grade. My teacher made me review a couple of items that were not specifically covered on the test or the prep; but do not know if others had that experience. It was pretty much a slam dunk anyway, due to the entire semester of study. Reading and Scholarship also were in a similar category, as was Public Speaking. There is no stricture as to where or how they learn the material; so if they did it in school, then a review should be all that is necessary in most cases. JMHO

Wilton; The situation you delineate happened in 2005. They learned a lesson, and they did as much as possible to try and make sure that did not happen again. Part of that was due to the security "required" for Bush's visit. That was one of the factors last year in NOT having the president visit directly. If you think the Bush security was severe; imagine what they would have needed with Obama, based on comments constantly seen on the internet, tv, and even on these boards. The level of "hate" by some is scary. They had water available everywhere they could in 2010, and they had piles of it at the arena as well. While walking to the arena show, I was offered bottles at least 3 times along the route. 2013 appears to be making the use of vehicles almost totally restricted. So, did they learn something? Time will tell. Are there a few individuals in the highest echelons that may be out of touch. Yes, there are. There are also a few volunteers in high positions of every level of the program who are out of touch, or feel somehow privileged. I ran into a number of "gold tabs" with really large egos and even bigger attitude, in my opinion anyway. Seldom is anything completely black or white.

"There isn't any reason they couldn't make the knots with the devices embroidered on them." While true, it would not serve the purpose then, as adding a device for each area is the point of the devices. Then they also would have to have more knots, as the embroidered device would differ on each one. Most people would not need to worry anyway, as few earn the comparative award for more than one area, and those that do mostly would wear only two devices, cubbing and scouting.

Eamonn; Always the voice of reason. Thanks.

Found this particularly interesting and applicable for those willing to look beyond their noses, so to speak. You need to read the whole piece to get the best idea as to what the author is speaking. But here are a few quotes I pulled out that I thought addressed the issue well and are food for "thought". "I no longer assume that machines can solve all of our problems for us. The task of thinking is still ours. When you are no longer engaged only in optimizing your productsand you let go of the technotopian viewyour world becomes larger, richer, more mysterious, more inviting; more human. What is the point of a comfortable living if you don't know what the humanities have taught us about living well? The thought leaders in our industry are not the ones who plodded dully, step by step, up the career ladder. The leaders are the ones who took chances and developed unique perspectives. Products must appeal to human beings, and a rigorously cultivated humanistic sensibility is a valued asset for this challenge. That is perhaps why a technology leader of the highest statusSteve Jobsrecently credited an appreciation for the liberal arts as key to his company's tremendous success with their various i-gadgets." Locally, we have a very small university (about 350), St. Thomas Aquinas, a Catholic university if it is not obvious that still teaches in the manner of the17th and 18th century. They have no majors, no texts per se, and study Latin and religion. All classes are based on the Socratic method of group discussion and interaction. Yet, the graduates tend to go on to very successful careers in many varied fields, based on the foundation of their studies there. They are so well received in the academic communities, that they are in the top 100 schools in many areas of comparison, even though they are tiny. This lends a certain amount of veracity to the discussion in this article. JMHO of course.

Jay K So, according to the current thought, not only were you guilty of hazing, but so was the guy with the oil and metal. Shame. (;-}

So Basement; is that it, or do you have a list of terrible experiences to share? That particular group would have been reported by me to their council when I got out, as they were not living to the standards of Scouting. Did you explain to them the facts of the situation, and they still were rude? Lot missing here. Perhaps you missed an opportunity to improve the leaders' skills, and set an example to the scouts.

I think the merit badge midway confusion comes from the statements that it will not all be in one place. Badges related to particular activities, such as shooting or pioneering, for example, will be in an area where those activities occur. So boating would likely be near the river access area, and so on. The badges without specific active activities will still be in a midway. At least that is the way I understand it. If I could be sure that I would be working with a merit badge, I would still enjoy attending. But last time I got put in an area that almost did me in, even though I had asked specifically for a number of historical related areas or merit badges. I was a bit disappointed at the poor prep for the new Scouting Heritage badge in 2010. I ended up helping for a bit, as most of the people manning it had little real background. Since I have been focused on that area for years, and have one of the larger book and paper ephemera collections in the West, I could have done far better I felt, and likely not been as exhausted either. Still, they did okay with the material with which they were furnished. Might still consider if I can get my weight under control.

Emerald Bay has some explaining to do, if pirates are no longer allowed.

Acco You do realize that BSA paid millions of dollars to the government each time they had the jamboree. They also built things that were kept by the government. But the biggest thing was that the Army got valuable training in dealing with large crowds and events, as well as many emergencies; training that would have been much harder to do without the scouts being present. The use of the site was never free.

Yep, some of my best assistants or adult helpers were recently aged out scouts; and a couple were not even Eagles. But, I do not see Engineer giving up his bias. Whatever the REAL reason for it is, it appears to be emotionally embedded. JMO of course.

KC9DDI; Now let's not be too rational here.

Let us remember ALL those who served in the military so that the rest of us can have our lives less disrupted. While this day began as a celebration of the end of WWI, it soon became more inclusive, eventually officially becoming a federal holiday to honor anyone who served in the various branches of the military and their peripherals. So thank you to all who fit this description, including those now gone. A moment of silence with the sound of Taps in our thoughts.

While we can make all kinds of dire or glorious predictions about 2013, we cannot really know how well the new direction will work. While I may sometimes be a bit polyanish (sp), it seems to me, having attended three, 1960-85-2010, as a senior scout, 1st ASM, and staff, it sounds as if they have actually listened to those actually participating. I personally would love to give it a try, but realize it is unlikely for me because of age and health concerns; though I might still visit if possible. Restricting visitors to part of the event makes very good sense, as they were a huge part of the overload at A.P.Hill. Making the overall footprint less, but putting more "real" scouting adventure into it seems a positive. And taking staff out of the scouts' areas is also logical, as much of the staff have jobs that require very early or late time frames, and their comings and goings tended to disturb many nearby units, as well as added to the congestion in many camp areas. On the other hand, we can hope that National will do a serious appraisal of what works and what does not, then work on improving going forward towards the World and future National events. I personally would like to still see some form of merit badge area, as that was a very popular area for youth to whom I spoke over the past 20 years; and I saw many really great displays and real interactions with experts going on. We also need to keep in mind that the location will also eventually be a true high adventure base with its own unique elements, as well as a training location along the lines of PTC. As far as cost goes, the actual jambo fee pretty much covers real expenses on site. Most of the amounts of which people complain are costs above the base fee for units participating. Our local council is determined to reduce the cost by a minimum of 20%. Reality is that transportation and fees for tours and connected lodging can inflate things considerably. On the other hand, much of the jambo experience is based on the trip to and from for a large majority of participants. Also, it appears that National has made efforts to reduce the costs to attendees by changing the needs of the units. They will not have to bring tents or much else, and there will be severe restrictions on troop equipment on site beyond what is furnished. Not having to ship all that stuff is very positive; I know, as that was a major headache for me in 85. Not sure how I feel about the gateways; that has always been a true reflection of jamborees, world or national. So, let us all take a deep breath and see what happens. But, those that insist that because National is involved in the change, it has to be a disaster, and that Jamboree will go the way of the dodo, maybe you can at least give the new ideas a chance.

Glad someone thinks similarly to me. Putting some of the restrictions back, along with a bit more mystery could not hurt, as I noted earlier in the thread. But, that is unlikely to occur as long as the adults in higher levels are in charge. My encounters with them at jamboree in 2010 were to say the least, not particularly positive. If there is a higher level "good old boys club" in the BSA, this appeared to be one. Just my personal view and experience.