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SiouxRanger

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Everything posted by SiouxRanger

  1. That is a VERY TOUGH QUESTION and I am glad you asked. I am not a survivor, had a good experience with Scouting, and with my sons, had no idea of abuse issues in Scouting until some contact with articles about the Oregon case, but not quite recognizing the depth of the issue. THEN, a high school friend of mine called me about 6 years ago and told me of his abuse by a SM. I was stunned. This was my friend from high school, camped dozens of times together in the woods behind my parents' house. Dozens is 30 or 40, every third weekend-some years. Camped at the local scout camp to
  2. "And so Grasshopper, a house catches fire...do the authorities and community rush to extinguish the fire and limit the damage...or do they lay back, content in the knowledge that their house is safe, and that house fires are rare and though they have been spared, and the damage to the homeowner and family is severe, few will suffer it, so no action is required and they speak not of it ever after?" "And, if the authorities and community never speak of the loss, is the sense of loss and actual damage to the homeowner and family reduced to zero?" "And if the authorities and community fa
  3. Well, @fred8033I think you do yourself a disservice. I have not always agreed with you but always thought that your positions were well reasoned.
  4. Scoutmaster of defunct troop: "Would your organization be willing to sponsor a Scout Troop-we've been a troop for 64 years?" Prospective Chartering Organizational Head: "Who sponsored your troop before?" Scoutmaster of defunct troop: "A Catholic parish now concerned over liability for abuse and molestation claims." Prospective Chartering Organizational Head: "Well, do you have insurance insuring against abuse and molestation claims that might be asserted against my organization?" Scoutmaster of defunct troop: "We don't know, we asked, but have no answer." Prospect
  5. It is official, our Catholic Diocese will not charter ANY BSA units. Somewhere between 30 to 50 units being dumped. ("Well, our Troop Committee can count about a dozen in our immediate area, and the Diocese is huge, so 20 to 60?) Lots. Worst fears realized. (Started the inquiries in October, 2021, guidance issued 4-19-2022.) Thanks. Nearly 80± years of sponsorship tradition DEAD. Still possible to enter into a Facilities Use Agreement with the Parish, but with conditions, specifically, certain insurance requirements (details yet unspecified-inquiries being made re details), and
  6. Child abuse is a crime. Then. Now. Failure to report it consitutes being an "accessory after the fact;." Quod est demonstrandum. Q.E.D. "And for all the rest, I vote that Carthage be destroyed." (Some Roman Senator.)
  7. National KNEW child abuse was problem for about a CENTURY, DEMANDED that local councils send ALL abuse-related paperwork to National (so as to avoid embarrassment-whose? Lovely), SEALED all the records, AND APPARENTLY TOLD NO ONE. "TRUSTWORTHY." When was it last seen, and where? Just what does "Trustworthy" look like? Apparently, "Character Counts," but only selectively so. Us volunteers were led by the "Judas goat." And we are left with a hat full of rain.
  8. Not sure this is entirely responsive, but my Catholic Diocese sent an email to my troop that our Diocese was NOT part of the Catholic Ad Hoc Committee's "resolution" (such as it might be) and that the Parishes in my Diocese will not recharter units UNLESS Facilities Use Agreements are signed, (the Catholic version not the BSA version) and abuse and molestation insurance coverage is provided-and there were specific insurance requirements. Maybe Catholic sponsorship of BSA Scouting units is over. Seems to be so for us. Does anyone know of an insurance carrier offering abuse and moles
  9. Not for profits generally don't pay taxes. They do solicit donations and grants and a perhaps a poorly performing financial stratements-would that be a plus for soliciting funds? Our council's financial statements are not prepared according to GAAP so it is impossible to tell if summer camp made a profit, or lost money. Same with cub day camps. The Council Executive surely knows, and perhaps the Council President. I doubt anyone else knows. The #2 in command does not know.
  10. Lightning can strike as far away as 60 to 100 MILES from your location (depending on your source of info). And the phrase, "bolt from the blue" is true. You can be in total sunshine and get hit by lightning. If you are ANYWHERE on Philmont and hear thunder, (ANYWHERE ON PHILMONT) there is lightning which created the thunder and you are a potential target. Philmont is small considering the enormous reach of lightning. Scatter, get off ridges, provide only one point of contact to Earth. Sit on a foam sleeping pad, knees in the air, arms locked under your knees, with one's f
  11. Well, that's a thought. Our council is poor compared to many. I suppose it could pledge unrestricted assets on which it is earning 7-8% (invested in a fund managed by National, I think) and borrow at 2-4%, and attempt to pay back the loan from future donations and fees. Not enough unrestricted, invested funds to cover the whole settlement contribution, but maybe 2/3rds of it. Perhaps borrow the remaining 1/3rd against the unimproved part of the camp. The unimproved part is mostly timber, some tillable (maybe 5 to 10%) and much of that under 6 feet of water in the spring flood. I don't thin
  12. Maybe progress with the Catholic Church? https://missoulian.com/news/national/scouts-reach-deal-with-catholic-committee-in-bsa-bankruptcy/article_06a6c79c-6d92-5488-8fca-d079972d59b9.html
  13. Sorry-no ugly hatred intended, just trying to imagine what a council can say that would induce a lender to lend, and what a lender will see if they look at the available data. It appears that the SE here does not believe a loan is likely (unless the lender is "very accommodating"-whatever that means). I don't see how a commercial lender can simply ignore lending standards and practices. Using available cash is apparently out. so that leaves a sale of part or all of camp. I am given to understand that the council's contribution is due by the end of April or mid-May at the latest. Th
  14. My council is looking to sell of about a third of our only camp. But maybe we will be merged out of existence, regardless.
  15. Just who would lend that kind of money to a council that has lost 40% to 60% of its customers (% generally of councils)? And, considering that 100% of the dues paid by those customers goes to National, not the council. A council has no guaranteed revenue stream, just donations, and some fees. What am I missing? My best guess is that friendly lenders will make the "loan" with little expectation that it will be repaid, and someday write it off. (The lender's shareholders will likely never know that they have been duped.) And the BSA will continue to benefit from the "pa
  16. Well, my posts, just doing my due diligence after my SE reassured me (yesterday at a face-to-face meeting along with others from my unit) that I need not question whether us volunteers were covered by insurance for abuse and molestation issues. "Why would we ask?" Yeah, well, I AM a lawyer, and yeah, where is the PROOF we are covered? No proof offered. (SE offered to look into it.) At my age, and hating THE LAW as I do, (and as everyone should-I am a professional) the prospect of spending my retirement years at a counsel table in a courtroom, at my expense, defending myself as a
  17. Has anyone received official confirmation, from National, that us volunteers are now insured against abuse and molestation claims? Why should any of us register if the liability of the past is not fixed for the future? Why is National not reassuring us volunteers that regardless of the neglect (or worse) by National of the past, National has our back in the future? Is anyone familiar with any reassurances by National to that effect?
  18. Is anyone aware of abuse cases where unit leaders, not the alleged abuser, were named as defendants? Thank you.
  19. Sorry for any confusion, some have raised issues that my TONE was frivolous on other matters, so many posts ago.
  20. So, seriously: 1. Just boil water and have a bottle of some brand of "coffee flakes or crystals." Folks can add as little or as much as their taste demands boldness. There are a number of brands of coffee flakes or crystals and they have different tastes. Take two or three different brands. Let the coffee drinkers choose the one they prefer best. (Or just ask them, and buy what they want, or tell them to bring their own.) 2. There are "coffee packets" similar to tea bags. Perhaps multiple brands. Get a selection. Any adult not satisfied should consider a career in the French Fo
  21. Change your name. Plastic surgery. Dye your hair. Change your fingerprints. Learn a foreign language (with the appropriate accent). Change continents of residence-Antarctica is recommended. NEVER make coffee for anyone. Other than that, you are doomed. (Oh, and why aren't the coffee lovers making their own coffee?) (Sorry to someone so long ago who criticized me for frivolous comments, but the topic of COFFEE is an exception.)
  22. Well, I think that there are. Any deviation of official rules is seen as a "violation" whatever that means. It is not uncommon in statutes for there to be rules, with NO consequences. Well, and one might ask, why are there rules (enacted by the Legislature which ought to know better than to make rules with no consequences) with no consequences? Shoot somebody, there are consequences-severe. Well, there is this concept in the law of "aspirational." Essentially, the idea that the Legislature is suggesting that folks meet certain standards that have no penalties but folks sho
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