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SilverPalm

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Everything posted by SilverPalm

  1. As an Eagle Scout who did not suffer the impacts of CSA in Scouting, and who has not had to live with that trauma since childhood, I have chosen to stop participating in these threads. I'm not sure I really have any right to do so, not when they have become such an excellent resource for survivors to connect with and support one another. I would just like to say that I am pleased that these threads have become a rallying point for survivors. I will once more bow out, but I will continue to read. From one former Scout to all you others, I hope a little good has come from all this evil. I
  2. Is the understanding, in general, that this plan will likely be accepted? If not, why all the hullabaloo from the media? What makes this different from the prior proposed plans if people are still going to vote against this one?
  3. News outlets are reporting that a settlement has been reached after last night's announcement. Is that true? Has this $850M plan already been accepted?
  4. Your comment makes a lot of sense. If survivors are satisfied with the transaction, viewing it as payment for services rendered, who am I to argue?
  5. Once again, I'm a day late to reply. Apologies in advance for the tardiness. I think this is where many of us are coming from. Reading the eloquent posts from several of the victims here illustrates the point even further - why should a legal firm expect to take 40% of the compensation offered by the BSA to victims and survivors? Many of these men have suffered for decades, and have pointed out that the abuse they suffered has severely impacted their lives. Careers folding, earning potentials shattered, families wounded by fathers who simply cannot be all they want to be... of course
  6. He just means the topic will always be visible at the top of the forum, and new posts won't bump it down. Matt, I do think that'd be a good idea. I think that the survivors should have a resource like this on here, where they can at least come and speak with one another. It might well help them heal.
  7. Look, if we're not willing to spend a couple hours a year to help reduce the incidence of child rape, then the organization doesn't need to survive. That's a tiny price to pay to save someone a lifetime of hurt. This wouldn't even be a big deal. Set up a Saturday morning session in person or whatever. If folks aren't willing to set aside two or four hours on a Saturday to help solve this problem, then maybe they don't need to set aside their Monday nights to come to Scout meetings either. It astonishes me that people complain about something as important as YPT, considering how li
  8. Even if YPT was objectively the finest youth protection program offered anywhere in the world, that doesn't mean it can't be better. There are no downsides to working to improve YPT. None. But if one kid gets spared because one more adult leader recognizes a bad situation developing and does something to stop it as a result of the improved training, then it would have been worth it. I'm surprised BSA doesn't see this. Even if we surrender the contention that their program is the best in the world bar none end of story... that doesn't mean it can't be better. This is a really ea
  9. If we can return to the Century whistleblower for a moment: Wouldn't it be reasonable to pare down these supposed false claims now? While the point was raised earlier that that wouldn't end up changing the lump sum of the settlement, it would impact the amount of award to each survivor. The numerator doesn't change, but if the denominator gets smaller, you're left with a bigger award per survivor. Isn't it in the best interests of both sides to weed out these allegedly false claims as soon as possible?
  10. Oh, I didn't realize this either. I think it speaks volumes to the respect we hold for your work reviewing these documents that many of us did believe you were a lawyer.
  11. I do not think that those of us lucky enough not to have been abused are experiencing the same degree of distress over this case as those who were abused. No matter what Scouting means to us, no matter how much we look fondly back on our time in the Scours, no matter how much we hope it will still be there in ten years, the fact remains that our sorrow over the loss of the program is not as life-shatteringly impactful as reliving this abuse must be for survivors. They've lived with this for years, decades, or lifetimes. They've turned to drink to dull their pain. Many are in prison.
  12. Don't forget that Millennials are (still) the largest generation to enter the workforce. Some of us only did that a handful of years ago. I've been married for a few years now, and my wife and I are just expecting our firstborn this fall. I joined this forum in large part because I now wish to re-involve myself in Scouts to help pave the way for my kid(s) to enjoy the program. I was a young Eagle, and I aged out in 2009. I've been gone 12 years, and I'm coming back now - and I'm one of the first of my friends to have a kid on the way. Don't count Millennials out yet. I'm t
  13. I guess that I don't see a group of statues as key to Scouting's mission. That might matter to the donors, so there might be some political benefit to having them, but kids at camps don't care who the donors are/were.
  14. In truth, I have no real idea what Summit is now or what it is intended to be. What about Summit is so integral to the Scouting experience that the BSA is willing to risk the very survival of the program over it? What does Summit have that the other HABs do not, that the local camps do not? And, frankly, I'm not on the East Coast, which might also bias me toward keeping the sites which are geographically closer to me. There is already one HA base on the East Coast, one near the West, and one in the extreme upper Midwest. Ditching these traditional HAB to save the new one on the East Coast
  15. It also seems like selling Summit is the obvious solution to everyone not at National... which, perhaps, explains the delay in providing documents. Purely speculation on my part, of course, but I would guess these documents do not support BSA National's argument that Summit is totally underwater. I would sell Summit in a heartbeat if it meant we could keep Philmont, Northern Tier, Seabase, or any arrangement of the above, and I imagine many other Scouters would do the same. I also believe National knows this. But for some reason, some folks at National are digging in to save Summit,
  16. Honestly, it's those same BSA professionals that are clinging on to Summit for dear life. Summit seems like the obvious sacrificial lamb to me. Philmont, Northern Tier, even Seabase have something to offer. But Summit is the least popular of the sites, the most expensive, and only BSA National seems to give a damn about it. At least then they could actually say they're contributing to the survivor's fund, and contributing seriously. If everyone else knows that BSA National isn't getting out of this intact, why doesn't BSA National know that? For heaven's sake, save Philmont;
  17. No need to apologize at all! My post should've been clearer to avoid any confusion.
  18. I wasn't really speaking to anyone in particular, in truth. I think that there's just some surprise from us non-legal folks at the amount of money changing hands without going to the survivors. I think we can all agree that we want to maximize the payouts to survivors in the hopes that it at least starts to make up for the injury you've suffered. This happened in Scouting, and Scouting shouldn't have been about that, and it's up to Scouting to make you whole - or, at least, more whole. I would also guess that many of us also hope to minimize the damage to the BSA program. These goals are,
  19. I think we've got a couple of lawyers in here who feel it is their duty to defend their profession from anyone who might attack it. I don't think anyone is really intending to attack the legal profession, fellas - nor is anyone saying lawyers have never had any value to anyone whatsoever who ever lived in any society throughout all of history. I guess my question is this - to a lot of us on the outside, it looks like the legal teams are just billing, billing, billing, and nothing's getting accomplished. In the legal profession, is there any reward at all for efficiency? Why haven't the
  20. I think going after the CO's is a bad move. Public opinion is going to sour quickly when Great Aunt Martha's congregation gets sued for something that happened fifty or sixty years ago.
  21. This strikes me more as a systemic issue with the program than an issue with the Scouts who are currently earning Eagle Scout. Is the argument here that my Eagle Scout somehow means less than one earned ten, thirty, or fifty years before? If that's the case - an argument I fervently disagree with, incidentally, just knowing what sorts of hurdles I had to jump over to achieve my rank - then where does the blame lie? Is this National's fault for revising the standards? Is it the parents of Scouts for pushing their boys too hard? Is it helicopter Scout Leaders who promote Merit Badge fa
  22. I earned my Eagle Scout in 2008, and I do get the impression now that the trail has been broadened somewhat from what it once was. That's not to say it's easier, per se - it's more that I think there were more resources in place when I went through the program than there probably were in the 1970s. More adults had a better understanding of the advancement process, I think - and that made the trail a little easier to follow. It's not as though the requirements are all that different today then they were then. I still had to do nearly all of the same stuff as would have been required in
  23. Now, wait just a minute. I'm a page or two late here, but if I'm understanding this correctly, is the current estimation some $102B? And, if as the document says, that valuation is low, then is the argument being made that the approximate valuation of these claims falls around $100 - 150B? I have no right to comment on whether that's an appropriate figure, none at all. I can, however, do basic math. Isn't $102B something like twenty or twenty-five times the entire valuation of the BSA, National and Local Councils included? Let's say that all the campsites are liquidated, that e
  24. For reference, I was involved in the Scouts as a Youth member in the early and mid 2000s. I will admit, when I heard that girls and young women were to be allowed into the program, I was torn about it. On one hand, letting everyone participate in Scouting activities is exactly what Scouting is about - but on the other, my all-male troop experience was extraordinarily valuable to me as I grew up in the Scouts. I saw it mentioned here on this message board that the BSA was one of very few areas where boys could have an all-boy experience... and as we all know, boys tend to act diffe
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