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JBWest

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  1. Ah, fudge. Supreme Court undoes the Sackler settlement and third party bankruptcy releases. Still reading the opinion, but I was hoping to put the BSA case to bed this week. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-124_8nk0.pdf
  2. This is the way forward. Recall that in the early days of Scouting, the cities were filled with aimless youth and miscreants. Men such as James E. West (an orphan and my handle's namesake) were child advocates first, and Scouters second. You may have wished for the BSA's dissolution, or more contributions from the councils, but Scouting will never die. Our tradition is rooted in service and citizenship, and we would do well to remember the 1900s in the US.
  3. This makes sense when you think about it. Abuse reported, police or parents decline to pursue, but as a private organisation the BSA excludes the person from the program.
  4. I would suggest that it was advertised to be as easy as buying a lottery ticket. Just call the number and see what you win! Jackpot justice as they say, and the allure to those unemployed during Covid must have been powerful. Now that the Powerball number has increased, some have buyer's remorse, or wish they had bought the multiplier. This is not to take anything away from the survivors or claimants. Rather, it is an argument for sound legal advice. I am not a lawyer, but everyone should have one. (Lord knows there are enough of them in this country.) If you stand to win $3500, it is not unreasonable to spend a tenth of that on a consultation. Use a free clinic if you must, but you are unlikely to get good service from claims consolidators who are nominally in the employ of a law firm.
  5. While I share your concerns, I suggest you are missing the point of the Scouting movement. We used to have four TV channels, and Scouting was the only game in town for outdoor leadership. Now there is an LL Bean or an REI on every corner or in every smart phone, and the challenge is getting kids outside at all. They do not mature until they are older, and by then they have aged out of Scouting, having forsaken a childhood outdoors in favor of TikTok and Discord. Be Prepared to embrace outdoor leadership whatever its form. You may encounter a kid just out of college, strung out on ADHD meds and unable to focus due to eye strain. Somewhere he or she may have stopped to smell the flowers, or simply walked on grass barefoot, or endured years of psychotherapy telling him or her to just breathe and focus on the here and now without electronic distractions. Take him or her for a walk or even a camping trip. Ask if he or she wants to register as an ASM and offer to pay the fee. You might be surprised when he or she embraces the program, vowing to teach kids the benefits of turning off the phone and listening to nature. BSA will be here forever, but there is competition in the form of college level outdoor skills programs, youth sports, college prep extracurriculars, and church youth groups. Focus on the moms with your marketing. They are the ones who have to demand their sons and daughters put down the video game controllers and clean their room. They can lead us back to prominence. Stranger things have happened!
  6. Trustee sues opposing (non-settling) insurance companies in Texas. https://www.law.com/texaslawyer/2023/07/18/judge-sues-insurers-for-alleged-bad-faith-in-boys-scouts-sex-abuse-cases/?slreturn=20230619223103
  7. See the bottom of page 7: "Finding no error in the Bankruptcy Court's legal conclusions either, I will affirm the Confirmation Order." https://casedocs.omniagentsolutions.com/cmsvol2/pub_47373/c44b0ea9-73ae-42bf-90e2-f6750105fbde_11057.pdf
  8. What's interesting to me (with regards to timing) is that certain aspects of the NAM depend on the Ch. 11 appeals. Everyone wants to get started with the rebirth, and in the meantime we have lots to celebrate (our EOY numbers), but it would be nice to come out of the gate charging hard towards the fall 2023 membership goals. Regardless of what happens in Delaware, it's going to be a great year for Scouting.
  9. This particular law in Louisiana lengthening the look back period (down here we call it the prescriptive period) was ruled unconstitutional by the state supreme court. Will be interesting to see how it plays out now that the feds have taken over.
  10. Yes, that was the second one I mentioned. Lionsgate and Starz share common ownership.
  11. Apparently there are two more films in the works, one from Netflix and one from the owner of Starz. Stepping back from my role as a Scouter and looking as an investor, the subject matter is fairly compelling. Lots of mom and apple pie type "America's fall from grace" narrative, piggybacking on the MeToo movement and the CSA scandals in the Roman Catholic Church. Expect these to be more widely viewed than this one. At one of the legal briefings during the bankruptcy case an expert summed it up best. We had a sexual revolution in the 1960s, precipitated by the birth control pill's release in 1960 and culminating in the "summer of love" circa '69. It was a tsunami, and as often happens after a tidal wave the wreckage is not revealed until the water recedes. HIV/AIDS, drug resistant STDs, child sexual abuse, and the bullying of women in the guise of liberation are the unfortunate side effects of a movement that was ultimately empowering to the human race in its quest for equality. During the Ch. 11 trial the bell curve distribution of claims was clear; the majority of abuse ended in the 1980s and early 90s. Scouting will survive.
  12. It's interesting inasmuch as overall journalistic standards have declined in a way that dwarfs the membership decline in BSA. When your #1 interview subject is also a producer of the film, it is the cinematic equivalent of an infomercial. The imprimatur of Hulu and ABC News will obscure this for most.
  13. Agreed. Recall also from testimony that there is a bell curve of CSA claims, and it markedly dropped off in the 90s. We need to continue our YPT efforts, but I don't see it becoming a problem again.
  14. If memory serves the issue before the judge Friday is the sale of the scouting service center or something relatively minor. There might be an update on the ch. 11 confirmation, but probably not.
  15. One thing I noticed this week was discussion of the channelling injunction being extended. My understanding prior to this trial is that local council protection will end at the conclusion of the bankruptcy proceedings (Spring 2022) or the LC payments into the trust (Fall 2022), but if memory serves it was argued that protection should extend until the trust distribution process gets underway, or until the trust is exhausted (ten years?). Perhaps sharper legal minds than I noticed this and can comment on their recollection.
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