TAHAWK

I hope not. I don't think parraffin fits the definition of "chemical fuel." If it did, there goes the Buddy Burner. http://scoutingmagazine.org/issues/9411/a-tcan.html

My former troop went to Canada every other year. We always gave them a serious talk about speaking when spoken to, answering respectfully, and not making "clever" remarks. Ditto for crossing back into (sadly) Litter Land. We once passed a U.S. tour bus being disassembled by Canadian Customs because a passenger had made a joke about having "pot" in his bag. Who said ignorance is not rewarded?

That minimalist tendency, while not universal, is a problem aggravated by Merit Badge millism. In the setting described by BSA - the Scout and the Counselor - there is at least the chance that the Counselor can get the candidate excited about the Merit Badge. There is almost zero chance of that happeneing in the mill (or mint) setting. As for POR's, so few troops allow youth leadership that being a leader is often not possible or, to the extent possible, discouraged. The QM in our ARCCFB had to come to me for any suggestion about what he should actually do as QM. Neither the the title-only SPL or the adult SPL had given him a clue. That is actually an improvement. When I joined threee years ago, the QM - by title - was an adult. Baby steps.

Our closest council camp offers what they call "IOLS" in seven total hours. That is one symptom of the reality that training is in a shambles in that council. The merit badge mill my troop attended offers all of Scoutmaster basic training, including IOLS, in twelve hours. (4 x 3). It is a real opportuinity - for real training.

Some Texas local governments have recall. Some do not.

Thank you.

Do you think?

The council for my present troop is in dire condition due to lack of funds in this economically-devistated area. The volunteers are starting to understand that they are on their own. They are putting on a Wood Badge program. The only activities we see driven by council are for fund-raising. The district has a decent Klondike Derby largely becasue one of the troop's SA's, disgusted because he is given no work at the troop (one man band) took it on as a personal project. The district roundtables are OK We have an excellent and very active district training team. One of the other three districts also has lots of training going on. When our troop had had no PLC's in twelve years and even the "Patrol Leaders" didn't all know what patrol they were in, the district named our adult SPL "Scoutmaster of the Year" for 2011. Have only seen Unit Commissioner at Eagle Courts of Honor. He does not have a clue - in any sense. In my old council, where I still help, they changed out all the top leadership in the course of combining eight districts into three (east, west, inner city) two years ago. No Training Chair over all or for Scouts in east district. Brand new District Cub Training Chair had never staffed training before. Since then, there has been almost no training (One indoor [?!} Baloo with two staff. I was recruited 72 hrs in advance as one of the two.) We have had two District Klondikes the first Winter because they could not get together to put on a single district event. Awful roundtables since there are no Roundtables Chairs - overall, Cub or Scout. A couple of us on the "Steering Committee" tried to warn them how easy it is to say "No" to strangers, but all the old leadership had to go, in the opinion of the paid personnel.. Of the orginal five DE's, lead was fired and the other four quit. Sorta messed up. But at least we got ride of the old district leaders, one team of which perenially led the council in all metrics. I am told the west district is better off, if worse than before the changes. The inner-city district exists on paper.

Imagine driving into a town and seeing this sign on eveyr other house: "We don't sell drugs here." What is going on in that town?

At least one federal court has found in a suit managed by the ACLU that the policy of prohibiting photographing or videotaping certain areas at the border are not unconstitutional due to the duty of the Border Patrol to secure the border. The plaintiffs represented by the ACLU were two persons who were arrested for photographing such areas. Askins, et al v. Department of Homeland Security, SD Cal 12 Cv 2600 W (September 30, 2012).

I dunno'. What happens when a CO refuses to follow the policies of the B.S.A. for their Scouting unit? For that matter, what happens when a Scoutrmaster decides he's the SPL and all the PL's all rolled into one ball of ignorance? It depends. Sometimes B.S.A. looks the other way. Sometimes the policies get enforced. Whatever happens, departures from the rules do not change what the CO and the unit adults promise to do. It is not the Troop Committee's job to dictate the rules posted above. Some parts? Sure. What we read? No. The CC is showing way too much desire to micromanage tenting and, in the process, tramps all over the roles of the uniformed Scouters and the troop and patrol leaders. Save what you can decently save so the CC can save face. To confess a prejudice, I dislike unit bylaws. We already have bylaws - written by B.S.A. We already have Law - 12 part. Somehow, I Scouted forty-two years in three troops with absolutely no bylaws. Now, for my sins, I work with a slowly improving, still largely adult-run, infrequently camping club for resumes with twenty-two pages of bylaws (inclusive of forms). Fortunately, their only effect is to scare away Scouts because not a soul can recall a line once they have been read at the first meeting attended by the newly-crossed-over. Not even the "required" forms are used. They do, however, so please the structural engineer who is CC (like the SM, totally untrained).

Respectfully, B.S.A. does not say so. It says what is says, Advising on policy is not dictating policy. The word "rule" does not appear in any description of the role of the Troop Committee that I can find.

Having been to the Denver Mint and seen how it turns out pennies -- now debased, I see your point ___________________________________________________________________________________________

The B.S.A. Guide to Advancement says that all requirements have to be passed by individual performance by each candidate with a registered Merit Badge Counselor determining if the requirements have been passed. Otherwise, the Merit Badge has not been earned for any purpose. As you apparently know, the "project" requirement for Family Life reads: No Counselor and no Local Council may change this requrement. I have been a district and council Advancement Chairman, and I feel that cooking dinner for another Scout does not meet the requirement even if it was approved by the candidate's parent(s). I would get him another Merit Badge Counslor to meet any not-completed requirements. This one does not understand her role or the rules she swore to uphold. Merit Badge classes (and merit badge insituttes and colleges - and Summer Camps) are routinely subject to abuse and deprive the Socut of the opportunity to call an adult and make an appointment - something he is likely to need to know how to do.

Your CC might want to read and think upon the following from B.S.A. Beyond making such rules not being a Committee role: A 7' x 7' tent is not a "two-man" tent in the trade. It's pretty near a "four-man tent." A Timberline Two is 5'3" x 7'2" How does he propose to measure a hexaginal or octagnonal tent? Does a vestibule count? If not, why not? He is requiring a Scout one day under his 14th birthday to tent with another Scout or non-parent unless there is an "odd number" at the event. Does he know B.S.A. policy on parents tenting with Scouts? Does he know about patrols? Does he realize his rules will doubtless require Scouts from different patrols to tent together? Has he had any training whatsoever? http://scoutmastercg.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/troop_committee_guidebook.pdf

Camp Tahquitz:

I cannot recall an IOLS course where I didn't learn something valuable from a "participant." Collective experience is a wonderful thing. Attending is an opportunity to share. It is my opinion that IOLS should be a course on how to teach TSF outdoor skills so Scouters can teach the leaders in their troop. (Otherwise, why the "Leader" in the title?) If it were such a course, then someone believing they had mastered outdoor skills might be more open to taking the course. A common observation is that the time allocated allows only a relatively superficial coverage of the topics, even by TSF standards.

Not sure where the marrket is for the item being spammed. The % of those ever registered as Scouts who obtain Eagle rank is 700% of what it was in 1965 and has more than doubled in about the last decade, Send your Scouts to a Merit Badge Mill Summer Camp. Many take solo campers for their "Trail to Eagle" programs. You can stay as many weeks as you want and obtain all 21 Merit Badges in one summer - say four-five weeks. Look for the local Merit Badge Mill troop. One local troop has "Eagled" every Scout who stayed to his 18th birthday over the last thirteen years. None had any chance to exercise leadership or experience the Patrol Method, but good for the resume. Can I flog products here? I have a new portable solar distiller, but the profit margin is pretty poor since it's free.

I see no blue on the flag to the view er's left-front.. It could be the so-called First Navy Jack - seven red and six white stripes, a rattlesnake diagonally and "Don't tread on me." The national colors are to the right-rear. The campaign hats at $9.99 ay nour local Army-Navy - cheaper than jeans. Not sure if they want accolades from any of us when they have them from the B.S.A. I like uniforms too - if we only had one (1).

Article linked referred to "Oath and Law," which do change, but not everything. Not to deny that things keep changing.

There are wars going on in ________ 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11, . . . . Ebola is spreading. The war in the Ukrane is seemingly reigniting the Cold War. China says the China Sea belongs to China. North Korea has nucs and Iran is close. The government can't account for over $900,000,000,000.00. The executive branch was (is?) hacking the legislative branch's data bases to read emails. The executive branch has been recording your emails and your conversations that go over the air since the 1960's, screening them for key words, and reading/listening to any "kicked out." (Think, "fertilizer" within 100 words of "bomb.") (Next to which, gathering call detail is nothing.) Whatever the IRS is doing. Even the story that we narrowly missed a solar flare that would have cooked almost all electronics on the planet came and went in a week in 2012, reemerged recently, went away again in a week. No big deal, merely TEOTWAWKI. So I'm with CP. If it bleeds, it leads, but the blood dried up. It's known as "old news" for a reason.

Cubs don't change salute, sign or handclasp. Venturers change to Scout salute, sign, and handclasp. Scout sign and salute are with first three fingers.

Not a mixed metaphor but mixed somethin'. ^___^

I stick to policing my own uniform, especially since I came (late) to the recognition that BSA has no "uniform," simply a varierty of clothing items sold by BSA that it wishes us to wear and uniformity be hanged. Having said that. skeptic, I do so admire someone who can be wrong and get indignant about it.