Eagle Scout Project (2013-05-16 @ 6:30p)

Aaron Camiling’s Eagle Scout Project

> What: Talent Show and Blanket Making Live Event!

> When: Thursday May 16th @ 6:30p

> Where: 5520 Topeka Dr, Tarzana, CA 91356

> Why:  (From the Scout Project Proposal paperwork)

My name is Aaron Camiling. For my Eagle Project, I propose to design and deliver a project that will serve the San Fernando Rescue Mission. This is a nondenominational outreach Christian Ministry that helps to provide refuge, recovery, and restoration for the homeless in our local community. They provide refuge specifically by providing food, clothing, and shelter for 30 homeless families for up to six months, while helping them recover spiritually and socially. Fifty percent of the guests who stay at the mission center are twelve years and younger. The Mission’s goal is to help these families get back on their feet and able to have independence again and they assist in finding these families longer-term living situations. The Mission also goes out in trucks daily and offers a shower, clothing, and food for the homeless that they are unable to provide shelter for that are actually on the street. In order for this charity to continue to operate, they need donations and help from the donors and volunteers in the community. They are dependent on any assistance they can get. I found this to be a worthy cause.

My plan is to hold a canned food and hygiene drive in the community over the course of the next two and a half weeks, culminating on Thursday, May 16th, where I will organize and host a dinner and Talent show at the Tarzana Ward building for the community as a way to bring people together to help donate towards this cause. The talent will be from among the community from various wards and my school, and the dinner will be open to the community via an open Facebook event, phone calls, personal invites, and flyers. On the night of the dinner, we will additionally be making forty no sew double thick fleece blankets to donate to the San Fernando Rescue Mission for the families that stay there. I expect about 100 people to attend.

> How: Admission to the tallent show requiers a donation of either your assistance in blanket making at the event or a donation of food or hygiene item.

Items that will be accepted for this project:
All donations listed below Must be undamaged, unopened, and in the manufacturers original packaging.

Personal Items:

• Razors (men & women)
• Socks Men’s/Women's/Kid's
• Toothbrushes
• Deodorant
• New men’s underwear (boxers 34, 36, 40)
• New women’s underwear (Sizes 5 & 6 or XS & Small)
• Women’s bras (34B, 34C, 36B)
• Diapers (sizes 4 & 5) & Baby wipes
• Baby Shampoo
• Shower Gel/Foam
• Sunblock
• Lotion
• Umbrellas / Panchos

Food:

• Cooking / Vegetable / Olive Oil
• Barbecue Sauce
• Pasta Noodles / Sauce
• Garlic Salt
• Tomato Sauce
• Italian Seasoning
• Canned Raviolis
• Salt / Pepper
• Soy Sauce
• Canned Meats (Chicken / Beef / Tuna)
• Cream Soup
• Pinto Beans
• Refried Beans
• Fruit Juice
• Baby Formula
• Granola Bars
• Canned Fruit
• Whole Grain Crackers
• Healthy Cereal
• Salad Dressing
• Peanut Butter
• Jelly

Also remember that you can make monetary donations to the San Fernando Rescue Mission site directly.

To Vaccinate or not to Vaccinate...

A friend posted an interesting photo on Facebook:

Caption:

CDC Vaccine Schedule.
What do you guys think about this?

This lead to my post:

Ivan Lawrence What are the dates that each of the vaccines became available? And to people who don't vaccinate, please don't fill up the hospital I only go to for non preventable emergencies... (Yes this is a low blow)

Which was met with the response:

Everyone needs to do their own research and not just blindly listen to what their pediatrician tells them. I have done a lot of research on them and decided that I did not want that poison in my child's body. I spoke to our pediatrician, and he too, does not believe in the new vaccine schedule. He said that the child's immune system CANNOT process it all. Some of the dosages that they give are enough for 2 GROWN men. and yet you want to inject that into a small child; no thanks. So, say what you will about me (low blow and all) but I would rather have my children the way that God made them then with out the crap the scientists make. And I have seen 1st hand a completely normal child become autistic after receiving their MMR vaccine.

Which lead to my rebuttal:

Ivan Lawrence I agree that we should all do our own research... Well, I think we should research the plethora of information that exists from reputable scientists whom have documented and reproducible findings.
For example, I saw a Penn & Teller show where they covered Vaccines, that lead me to ScienceBlogs.com's verification of most of what they said (http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2010/08/16/penn-teller-deconstruct-the-anti-vaccine/) and ScienceBlogs.com came from a group of experts to help us average joes learn more science (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ScienceBlogs).
I also looked into the answer of my question about when the different vaccines were released thinking that most of the new vaccines since the 80's were new since the 80's (http://www.immunize.org/timeline/).
And this all comes full circle for me when I see the old guy at church who has walked with a limp most of his life after winning his childhood fight with polio, a fight that people who are vaccinated don't have to fight. Remember, because of vaccines there are some diseases that no longer exist, they are just gone!
I agree somewhat with your statement about wanting kids to be "as God made them" but I also believe that science is a blessing from God and not using it is like not looking at the serpent on Moses's staff (http://goo.gl/pKQbR). We do not have a full understanding of all things, and I am not a scientist or biologist, but I do try to observe and think for myself.
Prior to the 1900's life expectancy was 30's, now its 60's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancy) which correlates to a bunch of things (science advances, religion restoration, etc.) but remember correlation does not equal causation... if correlation DID equal causation then we should all begin to pray to the great FSM (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster) as the creator and begin to wear full Pirate Regalia.
These are my opinions, you are allowed to have your own. Please don't take things too personally... You think you're right and I think I'm right, but mostly I hope that all of our kids remain heathy and live long lives regardless of their parents opinions.

As I hope I am accurate in my data and conclusions I also feel very strongly that both parents (me and the other poster) are just trying to do what we think and feel is best for our kids.  And if we feel that one way is best we would then feel we need to share these opinions with others to help their kids.  So really I think we should just all focus on the greater concept of helping our children be strong, healthy, and enjoy long lives!  I hope the decisions I make are right just like others hope their decisions are right... and I am glad that we can all freely share our opinions with each other!

UPDATE:
There is more info and opinions:

With a link: www.regardingcaroline.com/pubmed

My thoughts:

Ivan Lawrence Did you read through any of these studies? I just read through some and have to say I am VERY glad I am not a research scientist Also, almost everything is a non committal conclusion "May cause", "sugests a link", etc. Additionally, some of those paper were written in the 90's, where is the followup?

The main problem: there is no hard data in either direction! Meaning, it is a gamble, your kid might get a debilitating desease that kills them or causes extra chalenges throughout their life... or... they might have a debilitating metal desease that can cause extra chalenges throughout their life. Or your child might be like the vast majority and have no negative effects. One real tough part about being a parent seems to be making the call and having no regrets, even if you made the wrong choice, did you make the best choice you could with the info you had at the time?
What about other factors like technology. The advent of cell phones or WiFi and the increased amount of radio waves penetrating our bodies? Air pollution, for example, has recently been proved to cause heart desease... what are the odds that vaccines either have nothing to do with it or are simply a catalyst?

Science is hard...

Are You Tough Enough for Whitsett?

Are YOU Tougher Than a Boy Scout?

Make sure you tune in this Monday, March 4th at 8PM to watch the new National Geographic realityseries in which adults who never reached the rank of Eagle test their mettle against young Eagle Scouts at the top of their game. In the show, contestants compete in challenges drawn from Merit Badges and outdoor Boy Scout skills to see if the adults can match the skills and traits required to be an Eagle Scout. Producers of the show, who are also behind Deadliest Catch and Ice Road Truckers, had to find a location to host the show for activities such as Whitewater rafting, rappelling, wilderness navigation and canoe jousting (admittedly a new addition to the Boy Scout skill set). They chose our own Camp Whitsett, which rests in the heights of the Sequoia National Monument near Lake Ida and the mighty Kern River, because its traditional Mountain Camp ambiance and rugged terrain could challenge even the most practiced outdoorsman.

Test Your Mettle This Summer at Camp Whitsett!

Campers at Whitsett this summer will get to see if they are tough enough for Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout by taking on the Tough Enough Challenge. In order to earn the Tough Enough patch, campers will have to complete several challenges from Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout. These events will pair skills tested on the show such as Climbing, Shooting, natural navigation, obstacle courses, and pioneering. Make sure you take advantage of this opportunity to take the challenge in the very same location where the show was filmed!

Eagle Scout Project (2013-02-23 @ 8a)

William Ducourant's Eagle Scout Project

Please join us in serving our community:

 United Cerebral Palsy of Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties

and helping William Ducourant earn his Eagle Scout Rank.

When: Saturday February 23rd @ 8:30am - 1pm

Where: 11051 Old Susana Pass Road, Chatsworth, CA 91311

What to bring: work gloves, clothes to paint in, safety glasses, hat, sun screen, and a friend.

Weather should be mid 40s to mid 60s so dress in layers.

PDF

Before Pictures

DOCX

A view from the yard of the patio that will be updated.

The shed in need of repair.

The fence needing paint and sealant to protect from environment.

More of the fence needing protection from the environment.

My Dead Relative

This is kinda cool, some ancestor of mine who did some important Mormon stuff is being remembered with a blog... and a big family reunion which all seems kinda cool!  Check it out:
http://www.alfredcordon.org/

Green Smoothie - Day 15

I found that using Limeade and Orange Juice was very convenient, it added zing and liquid all at the same time.  The down side was the sugar.  So I decided to ditch the limeade and use an actual lime.  I also changed to Organic apples to skip the waxy feeling left in my mouth after eating/drinking the apple.  I've added carrots to the mix, and I love adding blueberries.  The fun got punched up a notch by freezing the blueberries which makes it much easier to deal with and makes it more smoothie like because of the cold.

All said, I think removing limeade was a big fail!  This was the most gross smoothie I have made yet!

The other down side to all this is it is taking me twice as long as usual to prep my "food" as it did when making oatmeal.  That means instead of 10mins for cooking, eating, and cleaning up my oatmeal it now takes me 20mins to wash, blend, and cleanup... then I drink it in the car on the way to work.  Maybe if I got a bigger blender (BlendTec) it would be faster.

For the time being, I will be moving back to limeade and embracing the sugar!

Green Smoothie - Day 8

The pounds are just melting off... no, not really.  In fact, there has been no change to my waist line.  I do feel better all around though!  Both Heather and Connor got sick and I was left relatively unscathed so that's something too.  I'm not sure if I will begin to see weight loss since I might be eating more at other times to "make up" for eating lawn trimmings.

I've tracked my nutrition and am surprised at the results.  By the time I eat my peanut butter oatmeal lunch I will have 50% or more of my RDI of most nutrients!  I'm still way light on some items like B12.  Sardines seem to be a good source of B12, but yard clippings, oatmeal, peanut butter, and sardines hardly sounds appetizing.  Don't get me wrong, I like sardines when prepared like tuna, otherwise, crunching through bones and guts are not a great prospect.  And no, I will not be adding sardines to my blender!

Most people I've talked to have asked why I don't just take a multi vitamin or eat some nice cooked veggies... I don't like to take pills and I don't like all the chewing required for veggies.  I guess it doesn't make sense to some, but the best part is, it doesn't have to make sense!  I am increasing my nutrition and thats not a bad thing!  Now, where are those sardines...