Yes, you read that right: Real Spoofs. Most of us know what spoofs are. They’re patches produced by private individuals for trading purposes, often with pop culture or humorous themes.

However, sometimes lodges get into this game themselves, producing flaps of their own with similar themes. Here are a few of my favorites.

In 1996 Tschitani 10 issued a simple bi-color NOAC flap, making fun of the various “Home of the National/Region Chief/Vice Chief” flaps produced by the lodges of newly elected national officers. Think about it, every lodge could issue their own flap!
Ajapeu 33 decided to encourage brotherhood conversions while making fun of those ubiquitous “Got Milk?” commercials. Unfortunately they didn’t think this idea through completely and instead of making an hilarious flap, created one of the few “text only” flaps.

Imagine if they produced a flap with their deer totem with a milk mustache, wearing a brotherhood sash, and the “Got Brotherhood?” logo either above or below it! (Anyone from this lodge reading this? )

Gabe-Shi-Win-Gi-Ji-Kens 374 also produced a text-only flap parodying the “Got Milk?” campaign for their 2005 Jamboree flap, but in a slightly more colorful manner. They chose to poke fun at the punctuation of their lodge name.

Tahoma 348 is the last lodge highlighted here. They issued two flaps showing their pride in their own lodge, but in a definitely PG manner. I wonder how these issues got past the advisers… and whether there was any fallout from it. Nothing more needs to be said.

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I saw this earlier this evening online at http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1157003492148600.xml&coll=1.

The article begins:

It was 1926. Queen Elizabeth II was born, the first liquid-fuel rocket was launched and a pair of men’s pants cost less than $6. It also was the year Charles Soldi joined the Boy Scouts.

Continue Reading »

Popularity: 5% [?]

A while ago I was talking with a friend of mine about travel plans. We both want to take a vacation next year. He wants to go the UK and since I’ve been twice we started talking about itineraries and how I would be his travel guide. I’ll write more about this later if we decide to go.

He then makes an off-handed comment about how he’d like to visit a World Jamboree. He’s been to two national jamborees and in fact that’s where we first met (back in 1981). He then asked if there was a World Jamboree anytime soon or near. Well! I had just the answer or him: Great Britain… 2007.

It seems visiting the World Jamboree next year will be quite a bit different for those of us from the US who are used to relatively unfettered and unrestricted access to the site. See http://www.wsj.scouting2007.org/english/dayvisitors/ for details.

Day visitors are required to purchase a ticket which costs £20.00 for adults and £15.00 for those under 14. Also visitors are restricted to only one day of visiting. You cannot visit the camp sites. You cannot visit on the days of the opening and closing ceremonies.

This is very different from the BSA’s National Jamboree. There the days of the opening and closing ceremonies are the biggest days for visitors. Visitors are also free to go about the whole Jamboree site.

Keep this all in mind if you plan to visit the World Jamboree next year! Don’t get caught by surprise by the restrictions and remember… “Be Prepared!”.

Popularity: 4% [?]

I don’t understand the outrage many of the Islamic faith are displaying over the recent speech by Pope Benedict XVI. Frankly I don’t want to understand it.

The full text of the Pope’s speech, translated into English, can be read at http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=46474. It’s not easy reading. I wonder how many currently expressing outrage have bothered to read this. I would be willing to be very few have.

He qoutes a from a conversation between the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus , one of the last emperors and who reigned in the early 15th century. This is what folks are objecting to:

In the seventh conversation edited by Professor Khoury, the emperor touches on the theme of the jihad (holy war). The emperor must have known that surah 2, 256 reads: There is no compulsion in religion. It is one of the suras of the early period, when Mohammed was still powerless and under threat.

But naturally the emperor also knew the instructions, developed later and recorded in the Qurà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢an, concerning holy war. Without descending to details, such as the difference in treatment accorded to those who have the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Bookà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  and the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“infidels,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  he turns to his interlocutor somewhat brusquely with the central question on the relationship between religion and violence in general, in these words:

Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.

Those fomenting the recent violence take the emperor’s quote out of context as if it were the words of Pope Benedict. They disregard the topic of the pope’s address, “Faith and Reason”. The Pope continued:

The emperor goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul.

God is not pleased by blood, and not acting reasonably is contrary to God’s nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats… To convince a reasonable soul, one does not need a strong arm, or weapons of any kind, or any other means of threatening a person with death….

The decisive statement in this argument against violent conversion is this: not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God’s nature.

This reminds me of the previous outrage over a cariacature of Mohammed where his turban was rendered as a bomb, implying that Muslims were terrorists who will riot and bomb in the name of their religion. Many protestors howled this was blasphemy to depict their prophet thusly and that they were a peaceful people. How was this expressed? They responded with riots and bombings, thus confirming the stereotype depicted in the cartoon.

Now the radicals are demanding the Pope apologize… or else. Riots have broken out in many places. Several churches have been burned, none of which were Roman Catholic! An elderly nun has been killed. Islamic leaders in Gaza have demanded the Pope accept Islam… or else. Al Qaeda in Iraq has vowed jihad over the Pope’s comments. A Somali cleric is urging the assasination of the Pope.

None of these people are denying the veracity of what the Pope said in his speech, or even his quotes of Manuel II. Their outrage is over his daring to repeat a comment made 600 years ago that Muslims act in violence, and deliberately taken out of context and atributed to Benedict XVI. Well, to paraphase the emperor, show me what Islamic culture has produced in modern times and there you will find things that are evil and inhuman.

Should a Islamic leader care to deny that he can be asked several simple questions. Where are the technological breakthroughs created by Muslims? Where are their great works or art, music or literature. Show me their great universities. Show me their centers of culture and prosperity. Where are the great works of this “Religion of Peace”? Naming works of a Muslim living in the West does not count. This applies only to those living in the various Islamic countries of Asia and Africa. Even the great engineering works in Dubai are the work of Western-educated architects and construction companies, rather than natives of that region. Instead we get war zones, poverty ridden countries, oppressive regimes, and suicide bombers.

Once again our enemies, the islamo-fascists of the world, are showing themselves for what they truly are: Evil. These are folks who want us dead, not because we invaded Iraq and Afghanistan but rather because we simply live and are not one of them. When will we be wise enough to see this?

Popularity: 6% [?]

The collecting of section conclave patches is widespread. Some parts of the country are collected, though, are collected with more passion than others. In the area known as “Dixie”, currently the section called SR-5 (western NC, SC, and parts of GA), this is almost a religion!

Currently there is a 1948 Area Z fellowship patch on eBay. With over 4 days to go, the current bid is $1,450.

The Area Z meetings were the precursor to what was to become the Dixie Fellowship. As such this item would be one of the key pieces in any Dixie Fellowshp collection. The patch is in very good shape, but is unfortunately marred by a significant threadbeak in the word “Meeting”. I can only wonder how the bidding would be going if it weren’t for this threadbreak!

Popularity: 7% [?]

Welcome to my new blog on OAImages.

I have started this blog, in part, to post news about the patch collecting hobby, patches, or this site.

While these topics are a major reason for this blog, I do not plan to confine posts here to items about patches. I plan to use this sounding board to write about anything that interests me at the moment, including such things as current events, history, or even silliness about my garden or my pet cat… Just about anything will be fair game. Some posts are sure to be controversial or rankle some feathers.

Have fun and read on…
John Pannell
Webmaster, OAImages.com

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