Monday, August 12, 2013

merit badges


Earn any of these?  

44 comments:

rhhardin said...

Most useful knot : the hitchhike.

rhhardin said...

They don't have useful ones, like wall paint.

Dark colors hide dust bunnies.

rhhardin said...

I know that if you can eye-splice ropes, you can splice a friend's airplane to the ground in the tiedown area.

Trooper York said...

Lets see. I got Nature, Indian Lore, First Aid, Citizenship in the Nation and Insect Study of the ones posted.

Also a whole bunch of other ones like Cooking, Camping, Hiking, Personal Fitness, Swimming and a bunch of other ones that I bet they don't have anymore.

Could never quite get Lifesaving though. That was a tough one.

Trooper York said...

I bet RH got the one with the chicken.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

What's the stoplight badge for?

Trooper York said...

Drunk Diving.

rhhardin said...

The stoplight one is for bicycling.

You go right past them.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Trooper - lol

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

In many Hollywood movies, the term/philosophy "boy scout" is used with derision. I might not have that entirely right, but that's the impression I have.

"Boy Scout Diplomacy" for example.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

rh - wow. I'm not sure why I don't have a drawer full then?

Cody Jarrett said...

I bet Trooper's got
this one

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Lem. I like the answer.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Bad example?

Too late. AprilAple read it.
(I should have read that)

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

As I was saying before I was blindsided by my linking prowess, Hollywood has it in for the Boys Scouts.

That's my impression and I'm sticking to it until demonstrated with slides and satellite photographs and go to meetings presentations that I'm wrong.

Dante said...

These need to be replaced, naturally. Here are some new ones to consider:


1) Did 10 hours of community service, all four years of high school.
2) Thought well of an illegal, on multiple occasions.
3) Attended gay and bi-sexual school events, and felt their pain.
4) Advocated for gay marriage.
5) Got an underage girl pregnant, and paid for my half of the abortion.
6) Dropped out of HS, but got my GED.
7) Took massive loans to get a social sciences degree.
8) Advocated for the "Dream Act, Pt. 1", and for amnesty, the second part.
9) Prayed to Obama, and would have voted for him.
10) Gave my college slot to a lesser qualified minority.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

It wouldn't be the first time I was proved wrong. so maybe I shouldn't have brought it up and be so forceful about it.

chickelit said...

@Lem: Hollywood has applauded the BSA's latest decisions but still chafes that pederasty is still not enabled.

Freeman Hunt said...

So those of you who participated in Boy Scouts, would you recommend it?

ndspinelli said...

I drove past the Boy Scout National Camp in Philmont, NM. It's near Taos. There's a hotel nearby where Doc and Wyatt stayed when they were in the area. A beautiful part of he country. When I was coaching baseball a player was going for his Eagle badge. He built covers for the two benches on our field as a project.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Hollywood has applauded the BSA's latest decisions but still chafes that pederasty is still not enabled.

Well, if you put it that way... I was tip toing around that.

Cody Jarrett said...

So those of you who participated in Boy Scouts, would you recommend it?

Yes.

But that was a long time ago.

chickelit said...

Oh, I'm tiptoeing too, Lem. "Enabled" is a very nuanced term.

chickelit said...

@Freeman: You should become a den mother for the Cub Scouts, and go from there.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

My tiptoeing avoided the issue all together. So tiptoeing was not really what I was doing.

XRay said...

Don't ask my why, please, as I have no answer to this day.

I was 11 or 12, or something. It happened after an inspiring speech by the ScoutMaster, re... well, you know how those are.

Perhaps because I had just finished reading Shirer. Nonetheless I half raised my arm in the (no Godwin's alert here) salute.

So, short story shorter, I was immediately expelled, expunged, exciorated to the very basis of my DNA.

I thought it was an overreaction at the time, though on the other hand it felt a Groucho moment.

Chip Ahoy said...

I had a bunch of them that fit on my sleeve not so many as my brother had sewn on a band. All the easy ones that everyone has, of course, like first aid, and personal fitness, and public health, and citizenship, and cooking, and camping, and swimming, and come to think of it not a bad way to have time organized.

I rebelled at Barksdale because the troop was at the activity center that had a lot more interesting things happening than regimented ritualistic bullshit. And the troop was a lot worse than the one at Momote Village on NW edge of Tokyo.

But Dad wasn't having my rebellion and enrolled us both in Civil Air Patrol. Barksdale AFB has a well equipped CAP, and they are serious about it, but there we were again with the regimentation and discipline and uniforms and marching to and fro and extra curricular studies involving airplanes and equipment and worst of all the technical study of weather. I was ill suited for any of that. So I suppose perfect then for my conditioning from a custodial pov.

virgil xenophon said...

Freeman/

IMO the key is all about the local leadership--for both the Cub and Boyscouts. It makes the difference between a positive experience and, if leadership shows favoritism of allows a "Lord of the Flies" type group bullying atmosphere (however subtle) turning out an embittered, cynical child/young man. It's ALL in the local execution. The proverbial devil is in the details. As for the generic concept I still believe it to be a worthy experience even in this age of cynical ironic Sienfeldian detachment. Of course the views of others here may vary. Its been some sixty years ago in my case, so second opinions are a must...hopefully any moves to actively advance the homosexual
cause will be yet years away...hopefully. (Of course when the "fisting" merit badge appears it will be a sure sign to pull the ejection handle, lol.)

XRay said...

Well, I forgot. No merit badges for me. Lucky I was not tied to the yardarm and given 600 lashes.

XRay said...

I also, later, served my country well.

Aridog said...

Freeman Hunt said...

So those of you who participated in Boy Scouts, would you recommend it?

Yes. But my time was in the 1950's, not today. No idea of what BSA is all about today. I doubt it is as simple and honest as in my time.

john said...

Freeman Hunt said...
So those of you who participated in Boy Scouts, would you recommend it?


Like politics, Boy Scouts is local. The adults involved can make or break a troop, IMO. Find ones that are keyed into prepping and sending some of the kids to Philmont each year. Make sure the adult/kid ratio isn't high, as too many adults involved in trips will sap the enthusiasm of the older kids, who are supposed to step up and lead the trips.

Don't get excited about badges. BS have a badge for everything, including nose picking. Trooper probably has that one too.

Finally, popcorn: deal with it.

Aridog said...

XRay said...

I also, later, served my country well.

As did many of us, here, too, who enlisted in the midst of an ugly war and did so because...shut up. Just did. You just stood up.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

As many as I needed to.

Yes, I recommend it.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Yes, it's about the same thing today. Or was in the 1980s, thirty years after most respondents'. Not sure what could change all that much about it.

XRay said...

"You just stood up."

I had to.

Someone said freedom.

Trooper York said...

I think it exactly right to see who the leader of your local troop is and how it is set up. Parent involvement is a must. Of course it should be the man involved and not the Mom. Moms are for Cub Scouts not Boy Scouts.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

After years of heavy involvement including troop leading by yours truly, we abandoned Girl Scouts a couple years ago. Why, you ask?

1. they abandoned merit badges in favor of idiotic consultant-written workbooks/indoctrination manuals about feminist heroes called Journeys. Because what young girls want to do at Scout meetings is NOT try out fun activities and earn corresponding badges, but fill out workbook pages about Babe Didrikson.

2. the rallying cry of current Girl Scouting is 'change.' As in, girls have to 'change' their communities, their country, their families, their cultures, blah blah blah. There is no room for people who think that those things are pretty much awesome as they are.

3. their partnerships with organizations such as Planned Parenthood.

4. spending the entire months of January and February hawking cookies in order to pay the salaries of the fatasses down at the council office.

Simon Kenton said...

Ms Hunt -

I was a cub scout, skipped boy scouts, and was an explorer. Both my experiences were positive, very positive. Even got a formative job as a professional river boatman based on the activities of our explorer post. (Incidentally we did merit badges but as a step to learn the skills we kids would need for other activities like rafting, kayaking, and cave exploration/mapping. We thought merit badges were dweeby, but I use what I learned in "Pioneering" daily, 50 years later.)

I now have contact with the scouts as a shooting and shotgunning merit badge instructor, and because my brother led a troop. My vote is "yes," with the conditions cited by others: investigate the leadership of the local troop. When I wrote the guidelines for Coaches for the local rifle club, I leaned on the Boy Scouts' program, the most thorough and the most effective I could find. They have had sad experience of pedophiles. See here, and maybe take the online course. I make our coaches take it, and advise the parents to do so. Shows you what to watch for, and how to behave.

Incidentally, when my own kids were growing up the YMCA had an Indian Guide program that they liked a lot.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Pants - wow. That's really sad. Sounds like the Girl Scouts has been co-opted by the hope-n-change machine.

test said...

Freeman Hunt said...
So those of you who participated in Boy Scouts, would you recommend it?


I was not a scout but I have a son in Boy Scouts and another in Cub Scouts. They both love it. The younger cubs love the uniforms, belonging, and just having fun. The requirements are sometimes weak (1st graders do leaf rubbings, although it's matched with discussions about types of trees), but they love the events (museums, visiting a fire station). As they get older they do more physical activities and many like it better as they age through.

We like it because it gives the boys an alternate social venue, which is important where I live because elementary schools are broken up amongst middle & high schools. Having a stable social group can be very reassuring in an otherwise unsettled social environment. We have several home schoolers in our pack & troop, and they've made similar comments.

The other important feature is teaching the boys how to reach a goal. Schools don't do this: it's entirely possible to slide by without ever planning anything. My 7th grader has planned and cooked camp-meals including buying the groceries on a budget. Plus the boys decide which activites they will schedule for the coming year. All this plus deciding which badges you want to earn for advancement. It's quite empowering.

I've also noted a marked difference between scouts and others in their ability to apeak in front of a crowd and the quality of their engagement with younger kids. It's nice to see.

I recommend it, and don't be afraid to be a Den Leader. It's not that difficult or time consuming: there are online materials to follow.

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

Do you have bong etiquette?

Mitch H. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mitch H. said...

That was unnecessarily terse, let's try that again...

I drove past the Boy Scout National Camp in Philmont, NM. It's near Taos.

I still wear my Philmont belt buckle, it's outlived four or five belts.

Frankly, I've forgotten how many of those badge things I collected - I think I still have the sash shoved in a drawer somewhere, if it didn't thrown out in the last move. Never made Eagle, I was too lazy to do all the project-stuff.

My troop had a pair of brothers who were the natural leaders, a year and two years ahead of me. The sort of hard-chargers who would hike the whole length of the Laurel Highlands trail (over a hundred mountain miles) in three days, just because. They went straight out of Scouts into the Army, I think at least one of them made Ranger. Then they came back home for some Church youth group thing and both died in the same car accident. Such a damn shame.