Dave Foulk News

Thanks to my son-in-law Adam for sending this very nice song:

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.

A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly,
courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty,
brave, clean, and reverent.

I was a Cub Scout.  My mother was a Den Mother.  When I became old enough, I was a Boy Scout.  My father was a leader in the Scouts.

I can hold part of my father’s love for Scouting in the palm of my hand.  That’s because when he was a boy, he saved his pennies until he was able to buy a Boy Scout knife.  The blade is as shiny as it was when he got it.  The handle shows wear, but not abuse.  My dad took care of his belongings.  He didn’t have a lot of anything when he was a kid… except character.  Looking back on it, daddy was the Scout law his entire life.

There are a lot of men like that.  Men who learned about character, decency, and how to “Be Prepared”- think ahead and be ready for the unexpected.

It was fun to study for those merit badges, even though I am still hopeless with knots.  I had a good time on camping trips even though my idea of roughing it these days is when the power goes out.

I’m sure I exasperated my mother with some of my craft work in Cub Scouts.  When I got through with some of my projects, there was more Elmer’s glue on me than anything I had worked on.

But I was always a strikingly handsome young man in that uniform.   I still have the hat and kerchief from Boy Scouts, plus a couple of pieces of painted plaster-of-Paris items and my handbooks.  Scouting does not teach you to become a pack-rat.  I learned to save everything all on my own.

At Scout-A-Ramas (I still have a patch from one of them) scores of Scouts would converge on a big building, such as one of the exhibition halls at Chilhowee Park.  Some troops would build intricate wood bridges by lashing sticks and limbs together.  Some Scouts would always have some outdoor cooking underway.  I never knew warm Kool-Aid could taste so good.  We would spend hours at all of the activity booths and exhibits, then walk outside into the fresh, cool air.. our Scout Uniforms soaked with sweat and our young brains marinated  in an atmosphere where resilience was taught, character illustrated, and kids learned they were part of something larger than themselves.

I had fun as a Boy Scout.  And even though I didn’t realize it at the time, I was learning some things I could take with me into adulthood.

Oh, and there was that time when we had to make up a “skit” to perform at some Pack Meeting at Fair Garden School.

I made a “control board” out of a cardboard box painted gray with black dials and knobs.  I made some headphones out of black construction paper.

My role in the performance:  a radio broadcaster.

This story has either been buried beneath a mound of other news, or editors and producers in The United States don’t think it’s a very big deal.

I sent some web research on it to Hallerin Hilton Hill, and he’s going to talk about it Monday morning.

Here are some web links:

The Sydney Australia Morning Herald

Fox News

MomLogic

AsiaOne

I found several more articles on “My Minx”, and you could too.  Just use any search engine such as Google or Bing.

I have interviewed several computer experts and law enforcement experts on Internet crimes against children.  Over and over, they tell me parents should know where their child is surfing on the Internet, which chat rooms or forums they’re visiting.

” My Minx” appears to me to be one more website where it’s possible for youngsters to learn.

But the lesson plan could be all twisted.

Click on the links and see for yourself.

Kim Komando  is a nationally syndicated computer expert, and the mother of a young son.  I have a lot of respect for her knowledge, and her commitment to protecting children from some of the dangers of wide-open surfing.  Here is a link to her site that has some good, practical, common-sense advice for parents… and grandparents, too.

Click here.

The Internet is a wonderful thing.  It can bring a big world and just about all of the information in it…literally to our fingertips.

A chain saw is also a wonderful tool.  It can do a job that used to take hours… in mere minutes.  But a chain saw used un-wisely is a dangerous thing.   If we allow children un-restricted and un-supervised access to the Internet, we’re allowing them to fire up, and play around with an emotional, sometimes physically dangerous chain saw.

And if you don’t believe me, you can call your local law enforcement, the FBI, or any number of computer experts and arrange for a public session or speaker for your club or organization.  I know of at least three individuals in the Knoxville area who would arrange a speaking engagement.

Some law enforcement agencies have mandatory rotation out of the squads that try to catch predators.  Some of the things they see are life changing, emotionally wrenching .. I have been told it’s a rough on them as homicide investigations…maybe tougher in some cases.

While this “minx” website might not break any laws.. I sure it breaks down some barriers and sensitivity that some young people have.

It sounds trite, but let children — be children.

God knows, that innocence will be erased soon enough.

This is the story of an amazing relationship. Click here.

You couldn’t make up a better children’s story of discovery, sharing, and the wonders of life.

Enjoy.

( Just spoke with Bert Rosen at Knox Area Rescue Ministries: Their overnight total population was 392- a little lower. — Crossroads served 219 people- and it’s designed for 125 maximum per day. — And KARM served 1,100 meals yesterday .)

I wonder if the “ten year plan”  to end homelessness in Knoxville was ever possible.  There are those who are intractably homeless, and those who  choose that lifestyle rather than being clean or sober.

There are people who have mental illnesses, some undiagnosed, some diagnosed where the patient will not take the meds, and some who fall into a category for which I have no name. Others are people I call “takers” who live off others one way or the other.

But there’s another category, too:

Like the mother and children who have no home because of domestic fighting, abuse, or their spouse incarcerated and not providing a living.  Or the man who has lost his job, his home, and a big part of his dignity.  Or the person who is fighting their personal demons, and working to regain employment, and maybe even their family.

It’s not an issue that we will decide here.

I know that some of the homeless represent the lazy, and the shiftless. The tormented…

You know…

The wretch.

Like me.

The one in that song.

Someone sent me these tool definitions….they have apparently watched me work on something.    -df

DRILL PRESS:
A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, denting the freshly-painted project which you had carefully set in the corner where nothing could get to it.

WIRE WHEEL:
Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprints and hard-earned calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say, “Oh, %$%@!”

SKILL SAW:
A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.

PLIERS:
Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of blood-blisters.

BELT SANDER:
An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.

HACKSAW:
One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle… It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS:
Generally used after pliers to completely round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXYACETYLENE TORCH:
Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside the wheel hub out of which you want to remove a bearing race..

TABLE SAW:
A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood projectiles for testing wall integrity.

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK:
Used for lowering an automobile to the ground after you have installed your new brake shoes, trapping the jack handle firmly under the bumper.

BAND SAW:
A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops to cut good aluminum sheet into smaller pieces that more easily fit into the trash can after you cut on the inside of the line instead of the outside edge.

TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST:
A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of everything you forgot to disconnect.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER:
Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids or for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads.

STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER:
A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws and butchering your palms.

PRY BAR:
A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

HOSE CUTTER:
A tool used to make hoses too short.

HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the object we are trying to hit.

UTILITY KNIFE:
Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles, collector magazines, refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts. Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while in use..

By the way, the smoking skull’s name is Henry.