Two Good News Stories For A Change

While the multiculturalists have taken over and are spreading their poison, America, the great melting pot, continues on - creating a unique AMERICAN race out of the children of legal immigrants – Americans like David Cano, who will work to better America, not tear it down.

Teen completes Herculean task of earning all 121 badges, 20 Palms

04/06/2009 Marietta Daily Journal

Eagle Scout David Cano of east Cobb will be honored for earning all 121 Boy Scout merit badges and 20 Eagle Palms, becoming one of only three Scouts to do so in the United States.


EAST COBB - David Cano, a 17-year-old Eagle Scout, has become only the third Boy Scout ever to earn all 121 Boy Scout merit badges and 20 Eagle Palms, Scout leaders say.

It's a goal Cano set for himself when he joined the Scouts at age 10.

"I did it for the experience," said Cano, a member of Boy Scout Troop 1776 in east Cobb. "With every merit badge, there's a purpose. You'll learn something new with every single badge. Some are life skills and others are hobbies that will be with you for the rest of your life."

Young men must earn 21 of 121 merit badges to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout. Very few Scouts go on to earn all 121 merit badges, Boy Scout leaders say.

However, what makes Cano's achievement even more remarkable is that he fulfilled 1,674 additional requirements to earn the 20 Eagle Palms, the last one of which will be awarded to him on May 16. An Eagle Palm is awarded for every five merit badges beyond the 21 needed to become an Eagle Scout.

Cano, who will receive his final Eagle Palm on May 16 at a ceremony in Atlanta, is believed to be the first Scout from Georgia to earn all 20.

Rich Cuervo, of the Boy Scouts Atlanta Area Council, said his organization could find only two other Scouts who had accomplished as much in the nearly 100-year history of the Boy Scouts of America: Cameron Barber of Texas, in 2007, and Travis Cochran of California, in 2008.

"David is just a very focused young man. He set this as his goal when he was 10 years old," said Troop 1776 Scoutmaster Tom Morin, who has known Cano since he was 6.

Cano is a junior at Blessed Trinity Catholic High School in Roswell. He has been a member of the school's football and soccer teams, school band, Model United Nations and is a National Honor Society member. Someday, he hopes to become a surgeon.

"I've really enjoyed the Scouting program," Cano said. "I've picked up a lot of friends and really had the time of my life being in this organization."

He said he enjoys outdoor activities with friends, and water skiing - which developed as a result of earning a merit badge. Each merit badge requires a Scout to master a complete set of skills from a counselor who has expertise in the field.

Among the fields Cano earned badges in are dentistry, geology, law, hiking, railroading, graphic arts, surveying, music, public speaking and space exploration.

Cano said some badges took him only a few days to earn, while others took him a couple of years. The bugling badge was his most difficult, he said.

"One of the requirements is to play 15 bugle calls," Cano said. "I had to learn every single call and play the notes correctly to my counselor's satisfaction."

Cano's parents, Rodrigo and Rosa Cano, said they were extremely proud of their son and can barely keep up with all the media requests for interviews he has received. David's older brother, Steve, is also an Eagle Scout.

Rodrigo and Rosa Cano are natives of Colombia who moved to the United States in 1980. Rodrigo Cano said the values his sons had learned from the Boy Scouts helped ease his family's immersion.

"It did help us to bridge between being Hispanics into the American society in a way that Scouts offers minority boys - whether black, Chinese or Hispanic - the American culture," Rodrigo Cano said. "This is something that is very near and dear to many American families."

Last week, David Cano was recognized by the Georgia General Assembly. On April 19, he will be honored at a Court of Honor ceremony at the Boy Scouts Area Council in Atlanta.

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It seems everyone wants more gun control in America except for the people who live here.

Before Recent Shootings, Gun-Control Support Was Fading

Americans evenly divided at 49% on need for stricter gun laws

by Lydia Saad April 8, 2009 Gallup.com (Excerpt)

PRINCETON, NJ –“In Gallup polling conducted prior to last week's gun massacre at an immigrant center in Binghamton, N.Y., only 29% of Americans said the possession of handguns by private citizens should be banned in the United States. While similar to the 30% recorded in 2007, the latest reading is the smallest percentage favoring a handgun ban since Gallup first polled on this nearly 50 years ago.

Public support for restricting the sale and possession of handguns to "police and other authorized persons" was relatively high in the early 1990s, with 41% to 43% in favor, but has since edged lower. At the same time, opposition to a ban has increased from 53% in 1991 to 69% in the most recent survey.

The latest figures come from the most recent installment of Gallup's annual Crime survey, conducted Oct. 3-5, 2008. It is unclear what impact, if any, the recent Binghamton incident may have on Americans' views of gun control.

Separately, the October Crime survey found just under half of Americans, 49%, wanting the laws covering the sale of firearms to be made stricter than they are now. This is the lowest percentage favoring stricter gun laws in Gallup trends since the question was first asked in 1990. While only 8% say gun laws should be made less strict, 41% say they should remain as they are now.

Thus, as of last fall, Americans were evenly divided at 49% each over whether the laws covering the sale of firearms should be made stricter, or not. This contrasts with public opinion in the early 1990s, when the balance of opinion was more than 2 to 1 in favor of making gun laws more strict.”