narcissa

No - it honors the soldier and what he/she did. War is not pretty, not likeable but it has happened in the past, is happening right now and will happen in the future. In all such battles - some individual actions will stand out. Some markers will recognize that - placing a cache nearby noting the marker should not be a big deal. Placing the cache noting the marker isn't a big deal. Using the cache description to provide an interpretation of the historical facts is promoting an agenda. What the soldier "did" is subject to interpretation. To some people, that soldier is a hero who should be honoured, to others that soldier is an enemy who should be forgotten, to others the entire war is a disgrace that shouldn't be honoured in any way. Geocaches are not the place to make these determinations. Geocaches can and should lead people to places of interest, and that's it. The geocache should not be placed with the intent to promote a particular interpretation of history.

Um, the cache description was "filled up" with a straightforward typing out of the historical citation issued, not an interpretation of it. It's a fine point, but a valid one. But is it necessary to put it there? What is the motive behind using the cache page for that? Honouring a soldier is glorifying the war, and that's an agenda. Geocaching is a game that everyone should feel comfortable playing. Using caches as a platform for any kind of political or social agenda means there's a risk that people will be alienated. Everyone thinks their cause is worthy. Geocaching is not the place for these battles.

So if a cache is placed near a historical site should it only talk about how pretty the flowers are in spring? If anything is mentioned about the historical site then it is promoting and agenda? If I was making the call, much detail beyond "there's a historical plaque nearby with information about the site" is getting into iffy territory. Filling up the cache description with a particular interpretation of an event is promoting that viewpoint. I don't know what this business about flowers is about, but creating strawman arguments and being snarky is unnecessary. The "agenda" guideline is a tricky one, and I was simply stating how I would interpret it.

This, exactly. Additionally, the glorification of war is, in and of itself, promoting a political and social agenda. I think caches should be placed near historical sites when possible, but the cache page should not be used to tell people who is a hero, who is an enemy, etc. History isn't black and white, and geocache descriptions are not an appropriate avenue for interpreting history and politics.

So you think a cache hidden in honer of a soldier and teaching about history from a global war shouldn't exist? Wow, based on that there are 52 caches honoring obama that should be archived immediately, every one of them offend me. The cache can point to a historical marker or memorial, but the cache itself should not honour a soldier or political figure. Caches are supposed to be free from any political or social agenda. Caches honouring Obama would count as having a political agenda, imo.

In my opinion, if the cache description says that the cache itself is hidden in honour of a soldier, that's over the line.

It's just a pun. It doesn't make fun of the religion, or make any kind of comment about the religion whatsoever.

Holy crap you guys must be really dedicated to cache in those conditions. I was out caching on Saturday and it was about 72 degrees and I was complaing about how cold it was. What? 72 is swimming weather!

I, for one, would really love to learn more about geocaching in Michigan.

Spring is the worst season for caching, in my opinion. Everything is muddy and wet, but also cold enough that it really sucks when your socks get soaked through. Then, just as it starts to warm up and the ground gets a little firmer, the mosquitoes come out. I love caching in the late summer and throughout the Fall. The last two Novembers have been great for caching, here.

Geocheckers are hosted by external websites. Why would Groundspeak *require* a cache owner to use one? Getting the wrong coordinates is part of the risk you take when you attempt a puzzle cache. If it bothers you so much, just ignore caches that don't have checkers. Nobody's forcing you to look for a cache, and not all caches are for all people.

I lost my old Magellan eXplorist 500 several times and found it again before finally leaving it on the roof of my car in North Carolina. We've lost a couple of toys while geocaching. My son loves Thomas the Tank Engine, but the wooden toys are $15 and up. I've bought some older ones second hand at garage sales and flea markets for $1 or $2 each, and I let him bring those when we go out.

Reviewers in our area usually waive the proximity guideline for library caches.

There's a cacher in our area who throws a hissy fit and accuses people of cheating whenever he doesn't get FTF, especially on puzzles. When he does get FTF, he waits to log it - sometimes for weeks. He berates people for working together or using unconventional methods to find caches, but he'll sit at work and write computer programs to solve other people's puzzles. His behaviour has kind of tainted the whole idea of FTF for a lot of people who've encountered his nonsense. Friendly competition is one thing, but this guy insists on turning every aspect of caching into an unfriendly competition.

Unfortunately, too many real coins get lost or stolen when they're released to geocaches. If you're not interested in logging/moving these, that's fine, but understand that there is a good reason behind this and the insults are unnecessary.

There are only 21 of these coins left for sale. Three Antique Nickel coins are available for US and International buyers at GeocoinDesign.com. http://www.geocoindesign.com/store/index.p...products_id=173 I have 9 Antique Gold and 9 Antique Nickel available for Canadian buyers. I can sell these to buyers outside of Canada, but I can't offer the same rates on shipping as the coin designer can, so check there first.

That was a choice made by the cache owner, and an unfortunate one at that. The owner of the Earthcache certainly didn't force the cache owner to do that. There's no reason why a multi-cache and an Earthcache can't exist in close proximity. Archiving a cache in a snit is an immature and unnecessary reaction to a non-issue, and certainly doesn't warrant a change to the guidelines. If the Earthcache is of questionable quality, that's a separate issue. Don't conflate them.

The same could be said of this forum...

I think I've read everything Sammy wrote. While I find his books wonderfully appealing, (read the covers off of several of them), I wouldn't call him a master of punctuation, syntax or grammar. His Adventures of Tom Sawyer was written to reflect the speech patterns of folks living along the Mississippi backwaters, and in places, can barely be considered English, yet it is still a beautiful tale, readily understood. If an editor had butchered it till it was grammatically perfect, it wouldn't have been nearly as appealing. Of course not. A good editor respects the intent of the writing. Sometimes this means artistic license with grammar and syntax, sometimes this means rigorous editing for clarity and precision. In the case of the magazine we're discussing, there was very little editing of any sort, and most of the articles suffered as a result.

I'm with narcissa on this one. Go read some Mark Twain. He was a master at writing the way people talked, yet he still managed to use proper punctuation. Absolutely. It took a lot of editing to get those dialects into print in a way that made them authentic, but still pleasant to read. Every good writer knows the value of a good editor.

I wholeheartedly agree. Far too many cachers don't take time to familiarize themselves with the guidelines, and that's where many of these conflicts begin.

All I can say is, vote with your wallet. If, like so many of us in here, you are OK with folks typing a story in a manner that reflects their speech, then you would likely enjoy the magazine. If you are not OK with that, then don't buy it. A free market is a beautiful thing. While I certainly respect your expectations, I simply can't adhere to them. Writing to reflect a type of speech still requires editing. As I mentioned before, good editing brings out the best of the writer, and preserves the intent of the writing. Simply leaving pieces unedited is a disservice to the writers AND the readers. Besides, when it comes to homonyms, using the correct word isn't going to detract from a folksy style. In a "free market" that is very tough for print magazines right now, speaking up about where the magazine fell short is far more productive than simply buying or not buying the magazine. The magazine should be edited to include, not exclude readers. Better editing could make the magazine a joy for ALL to read.

I have the Dakota 20 and love the smaller size since I have small hands. I don't miss the Wherigo function because Wherigo caches are pretty rare.

I think it's rude for a CO to delete a DNF log. I log DNFs, in part, to keep track of caches I've failed at so I can go back to them later. When a CO deletes a DNF log, he/she is deleting my own record of my visit.

Not all caches are for all people.