Boy Scouts say NO to the Bro-zeir.

I came across which is about the Boy Scouts of America placing a new weight restriction on counselors or parents who wish to take part in "high adventure" hikes. The new restriction? If your fat, you can't.

First thing, I am an Eagle Scout, so keep in mind I was in scouts, I did all those crazy hikes, got the crazy merit badges, helped old ladies cross the street. I've also take part in a few high adventure hikes. What counts as a high adventure hike? According to the news article, it's being 30 minutes away from a hospital by ground transportation, which would technically make almost all of my scout meetings "high adventure," as I grew up on the cross roads of Nowheresvill and Cowcud, USA.

Anyway, the scouts have decided that "obese people" probably should not be taking part in, you know, mountain hiking, or being more than 20 yards from a defibrillator. And this story is basically about how outraged people are about this. One quote from the site follows:

'"This is nuts," one poster wrote. "Guidelines are welcome, not mandatory policy. Risk and ability to participate should be a matter between the boy/parent and trained medical staff, not an arbitrary table." '

Little known fact, I was a Mountain Man
man for a few years.

I just came across this article by ABC. Apparently with the downward slump in the economy, AKA recession, some have taken to the centuries old practice of heading to the hills with salad spinners and looking for gold in streams and rivers. It's not a bad idea, considering the price of an ounce of gold is around $1,000. Find four or five ounces and your doing fairly well.

The thing that made me laugh is when I first saw the news article my mind instantly went to an old man with a wide brimmed hat sitting over a river and finally jumping up yelling "EURKIA, I dawn gone and stuck gold! ODALLAY!"

With the return of prospectors I'm sure the return of gold towns and taverns can't be far behind. And with those come songs like "oh my darlin' Clementine." Clementine being a girl and not to be confused with the orange of the same name.

I personally am waiting for the return of mountain men. As you can see by the picture at the left, which may or may not have been photoshopped, I am all set for the return of mountain manning. I mean, look at that beard. Do you know how long it took me to grow that thing? It literally took me 5 minutes to find a picture and clip my face on to it. I know, an eternity, but really it's nothing to mountain men.