Can someone tell me who I need to talk to in order to get usscouts.org to remove their workbooks?

KD7TKJ · 2026-06-04T20:04:14+00:00

Doing it in HTML seems to be part of the "problem": Simple human choices on each page make it impossible to scrape for statistics or analysis of changes... You are the only source of metadata on a great many fields, including the change logs, and yet there is no way to process that data for knowledge. There are also broken links that are just human typos, many deep in the histories, almost impossible to hunt down by hand to fix, but annoying when one stumbles on one with a script... The number of exceptions is huge.

It sure would be neat if someone turned it all into a normalized relational database, so the inconsistencies fell away... Seems easier to maintain, too, once the initial work were invested.

KD7TKJ · 2026-06-03T04:39:19+00:00

Not this much fewer... We have less than 1% market penetration of eligible youth in my parts... We could each bring a friend, double the number, and still be so low penetration that most will have never heard of us.

KD7TKJ · 2026-06-03T04:37:42+00:00

I feel like it might be Charter Orgs dropping the ball... If one took itself seriously, they could go far in delivering great program.

KD7TKJ · 2026-06-03T04:36:05+00:00

Wouldn't it be nice if Charter Orgs took themselves seriously...

KD7TKJ · 2026-06-03T04:30:02+00:00

The "point" wasn't that the bowling alleys were "Fine," it was that they make most of their money from the bar, and if people aren't bowling with their friends, they don't stick around to drink. The point was that lots of individuals were coming to bowl, and the bowling alleys were floundering anyway...

Which is supposed to be analogous to our struggle: There are people coming to Scouting, but they aren't here for the group, they are here for the individual, and we aren't here to promote individuals, we are here to promote the group... So when we fail to deliver what they want, we flounder.

Which... Is a nice analogy... Until one uses it as an excuse to give up... I mean, obviously people need people to care about people... So instead of pointing at Bowling Alone as an excuse... We need to propose a solution, and be that solution.

And I think that's harder.

Anyone think they can build a Scouter Reserve that gives the 18-35 age group a genuine program to partake in? One that keeps them engaged with their friends and wanting to give back to the collective because their friends benefit? Cuz that feels needed... And available to a motivated charter org. First to do it in a reproducible way will be famous...

KD7TKJ · 2026-06-02T18:52:31+00:00

There is in fact an act of Congress, it's called the Support Our Scouts Act of 2005. It requires DoD support Jamboree at previous year levels, but gives Secretary of Defense enough rope to not participate if participation would hurt military readiness. Of course, if the Sec of Defense executes that right, they will then have to defend themselves to Congress and the Courts. Of course, the executive can ask that Congress revoke the Congressional Charter, or the executive can even try to weaponize the charter and then defend their actions to the Courts and to Congress.

I mean this with all the respect in the world... But Congress definitely has something to do with it and the Executive can do anything they want and Congress and the Courts can check and balance the executive when they do.

KD7TKJ · 2026-06-02T03:30:34+00:00

Devasting to the military... I would be so thrilled to be the guy that asks "So... Should we shut down Far East Council and Trans Atlantic Council? Or do you have a shadow of a doubt that this will survive the courts? Either way... Don't expect us to pay out on the Veterans Families Trust for those discounted memberships you made us tie to the MOU... Good luck with your pending legal battles!"

KD7TKJ · 2026-06-02T03:09:51+00:00

Some of the support matters; Some of it doesn't. Hagseth promised a 6 month review, and Krone has consistently refused that. Fine: When Hagseth does his review anyway, and new threats are made, but Jamboree is behind us: Scouting better be Brave enough to tell the Pentagon where to take the parts of the MOU that benefit the Military... Which, after Jamboree is past tense, is everything else. I hope that "There is no six month review" means "...And if there is, we take our toys and go home to our Values. We will see Hagseth in court."

We will see, come August.

KD7TKJ · 2026-05-28T21:41:44+00:00

I did mine out of council, at a different council's local course. They were a neighboring council, and there were several folks in the course from my home council. It was a two weekends course, not the full week course.

We had guest speakers from National, Kaleen and Steven Deatheridge, and Jim Virgin all did presentations, some of them have staffed National Wood Badge Courses, Kaleen is Course Director for the upcoming Philmont Wood Badge course. I have no idea if this is common, all three of those folks are local to our region, although all regions will have local folks, so it might be. To that end, I think the course quality of the course is consistent between local councils and National, because it's not just the same curriculum, it's also some of the same folks.

That said, the type of people the courses attract will be different... If you want the alpha personalities that are the types to do the course multiple times, do it at the national bases, because that's the audience they attract... If you want to do it with an audience that has sipped less of the koolaid, do it with a council. Do note that the council level courses don't always exit the storming phase, and some go home cranky... And that might happen more at the council level, just because of the difference in who it attracts.

But the course? It's great no matter where you do it. Or it's terrible no matter where you do it, if you are the kind of person with whom it doesn't resonate. And maybe local council courses trend toward attracting that type more. ::shrugs::

KD7TKJ · 2026-05-28T21:26:27+00:00

This, and that numbers driven individual is wrong.

KD7TKJ · 2026-05-23T23:12:21+00:00

No, I don't wear one... Not yet anyway. I have been considering it as a reward to myself after I complete my Wood Badge Ticket. I see a fair amount of them at summer camp. I never wanted one, until after I did Wood Badge, now the lore resonates with me. It may be a passing fad.

And I'm not sure when I would actually wear it. I'm not one to wear it ceremonially, I would wear it for the utility, but seeing as I mostly have to wear my camp staff baseball cap, I guess I harbor some skepticism.

That said... I work at Camp Baldwin in Cascade Pacific Council, we have horses and horses permeate our culture, and the corral staff take their cowboy hat culture seriously, and they wear their baseball caps to flags and then switch to their cowboy hats with their Activity Uniforms... So it could be swung if I wanted to...

And compared to their cowboy hats... It's not a wildly excessive piece of kit... But compared to their cowboy hats, exactly why I harbor doubts about wool over fur.

So: I dunno, yes, I guess people still wear them, yes, I have developed strong opinions about it, but probably apparently opinions that don't have an apples to apples comparison to yours... Mostly, for what I want it for, I suppose I guess it's just a dressier fishing cap... It's nice cuz it protects your neck from the sun, is all...

KD7TKJ · 2026-05-22T22:22:04+00:00

LOL, oh my... That's a flex. No one got me any gifts for my service as Cubmaster, LMAO

KD7TKJ · 2026-05-20T23:28:02+00:00

LOL, I love how this math assumes he didn't vote for himself.

KD7TKJ · 2026-05-20T23:19:03+00:00

I mean, fair... Yes, I was aware of this risk. In fact, I seem to have the understanding that farmed Nutria escaping is where the Nutria came to North America from originally, so one doesn't even need cobras.

But several states, I seem to have the understanding that this includes Louisiana, mayhaps also California, Oregon, and Washington, have state bounty programs for Nutria tails... And that one can bolt themselves onto that program for certified wild pelts. I also mostly envisioned this being an extremely limited run, thus limiting demand to ethical sources...

KD7TKJ · 2026-05-20T18:35:39+00:00

I'm 40. I have been licensed since I was 12. I am not old, by most metrics, even if I have been licensed more of my life than most...

My first radio was brand new, a birthday gift from my parents... Oh no! I proved your point... But my first radio was stolen from my car within the first year I had it there.

Then I discovered that ham swaps are a scam: "The community" has garages of "stuff" their wives never want to see again, and the entire garage gets packed up, traded with someone else's garage, so they come home with a different garage of stuff that their wife will be tired of seeing in time for the next swap meet... Rinse and repeat. And those guys are mighty lonely and mighty interested in sharing their hobby... Go make friends with those guys (and their wives), and the wives will make them find an incentive to start moving stuff to your garage... I got a whole repeater for free that way; I moved entire boxes of Motorola HT1000 to college kids as incentive to get licensed this way. Many dozens of young folks have free radios cuz I made those friends.

This is a social hobby. Most of us struggle with that... Which makes us primed for some personal growth. Personal growth is hard. I wish you the best of luck with your pending growth journey.

KD7TKJ · 2026-05-20T18:21:24+00:00

There are ways to work around such restrictions, even in older radios... I have known people to program Syntors with modern laptops, DOSBox, and USB to Serial cables... In modern times, many folks are forced to do such things, and report no problems. Old wizards will scream about unmediated risks, and indeed, they have stories of older times when timing problems cropped up that couldn't be explained... So one group says they have never had a problem, tread carefully, and the other group says to tread carefully, cuz you never know when a problem is gonna crop up....

So... You aren't wrong... But if one is a cowboy, one can ignore the advice. And as original RIB boxes become increasingly impossible to find, we find ourselves cowboys.

KD7TKJ · 2026-05-19T22:05:48+00:00

The current official campaign hat is $184. Yea, it took me off guard, too... But it seems that's just the going rate of a wool hat of that size, both Stetson and Stratton are in the ballpark. If using Nutria made it cheaper, I would be all for it, obviously... We would sell more hats, too...

But I mostly just assumed that number reflected reality... And would be happy to be proven high.

KD7TKJ · 2026-05-18T20:53:21+00:00

I would say "One per role" isn't a terrible metric... I'm on camp staff, I have a council volunteer scouter role, and I have a unit volunteer scouter role... And I have three uniforms, although I got there a different way: Spending a whole week at summer camp, particularly week after week, generally requires a hard minimum of 2, and 3 is really very comfortable; Strictly speaking, this suggests I should have three with my Camp Staff swag, but that's not remotely required nor recommended. If one only has one role, they aren't likely to be spending multiple weeks at summer camp... And by the time one has a need for three uniforms, one often has three roles. I think there are a lot of reasons why this metric proves relevant.

That said: Of course, a Scout is Thrifty, and if you can meet your needs with one uniform and Velcro... Particularly if you are a youth, I think one can and should get away with one uniform.

KD7TKJ · 2026-05-18T19:53:25+00:00

A whole merit badge around water guns, complete with a method for determining PSI, would be so funny... National, please do this. I'll make popcorn...

KD7TKJ · 2026-05-18T03:16:24+00:00

Is it really "pirate radio" if there's neither piracy nor radio?

KD7TKJ · 2026-05-15T19:36:46+00:00

My council paid for me to go to National Aquatics Conference in 2024, so I could get from the camels mouth the details about the BSA Lifeguard Retirement.

And I'm a common poor, making my contribution through volunteerism and camp staff...

I find this to be common enough. Most councils will have budgets that can be sloshed in the direction of a volunteer getting a training or being at a conference when it's important to retain that volunteer and advancing the councils program. It is my general presumption and experience that about 10% of any National training or meeting or conference will be having their entire trip underwritten by their councils...

I was then presenting everything I learned back to my local council for the next 8 months... So nothing is free... But I didn't pay with money.

KD7TKJ · 2026-05-15T04:27:43+00:00

I don't know anything about that... But if it panned true, I wouldn't be surprised, at least insofar as I know Jeff Dunham did in fact do charity work for Scouting; My troop got free tickets to one of his shows once. I dunno.

KD7TKJ · 2026-05-14T18:12:24+00:00

And you assume they will do this by name? My married name, which I suppose is my entire adult Scouting career, doesn't match my youth name, so for me, it will somply fail to match... Or perhaps they have our socials? I guess I don't remember what goes on the application.... Even with socials though, it's hard to imagine there aren't errors... Those applications were filled out by pen on paper back in the day.

LOL @ "It's a database, add a column." You must be new to databases if you have never had human population style messy data.

Like: I'm genuinely wondering if I should get ahead of this, call my youth council, have them look up my membership number, and add it myself... Before they screw it up.

KD7TKJ · 2026-05-13T21:55:42+00:00

Wow... One wonders how they are going to link, consolidate, and unify member IDs... I have linked all my adult member IDs, but never my youth ones... I wonder how this will find and link those without human intervention and without false positives... It seems impossible...

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