Thursday, January 07, 2021
The Girl V. Boy Scouts War Is Heating Up Again
In February of 2019, the Boy Scouts (now officially known as Scouts BSA) changed their name and began accepting membership applications from girls. A lot of people opposed that change, with some parents pulling their sons from the program. It was particularly unpopular with the Girl Scouts, who were already having enough trouble recruiting new members without this sudden appearance of competition from a larger and better-funded operation. The hurt feelings haven’t really abated since then, and now the Girl Scouts are taking Scouts BSA to court in an attempt to sue them for “infringing” on their recruiting efforts and using false or misleading marketing tactics in targeting girls for membership.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I was an assistant scoutmaster for over ten years, and my daughter was in Girl Scouts.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with Girl Scouts was that the group was made up with girls from one grade, which meant that the leaders moved along with their daughters, so qualified leaders would age out with their daughters and be lost to the troop. I stayed for many years with our troop after my son aged out, this leads to cross training the new leaders, and a better experience for the boys.
Agreed.. those experienced leaders show the new parents and leaders that it is quite possible to take 10 year old scouts out winter camping (in Minnesota) as possibly their first camping experience.
DeleteThe experienced adult leaders also convince the new adult leaders that it is time to step back from active (Cub) leadership and move into more of an advisory role and let the youth do more, even all, the planning.
Also in Boy Scouts, outdoors is specifically part of the program. It is the basis for all the learning and application of skills. In Girl Scouts, the outdoor program appears to be optional.
I also love pointing out that BSA has been coed since the 70s. The Exploring (now Venturing) and Sea Scouting programs, youth 14-21, coed since the 70s.
It occurs to me most of this stupid bullshit is all around us because of out of work or greedy lawyers. Sue everything back to the stone age, destroy the culture, etc. Lawyers have Fubar'd this country when you think about it
ReplyDeleteExcept that's not how it works. Lawyers only represent people who file the lawsuits, they can't just go around filing lawsuits, unless they have some claim on their own.
DeleteExcept lawyers don't have to take every lawsuit that comes along.
DeleteAn example: Guy falls off ladder, thinks gee am I stupid or what. Enter lawyer who hears about people falling off ladders ad puts ad on TV - have you fallen off a ladder? Or some woman hits the gas pedal instead of the brake and rams her child or husband against the back wall and blames the car. Extrapolate that across everything people do in life that results in a negative.
DeleteThat's exactly how it works. They used to call them "Ambulance Chasers" back in the days when they couldn't advertise. Now, they send out ads that basically say: "Are you too lazy to work? Do you want free money? Contact us and we'll find someone to sue!"
Delete...and lawyers never, ever encourage people to file a lawsuit.
DeleteIn SOCAL the law firms found willing participants to sue the daylights out of every business they could for non-compliance with the Americans with Disabilities act and it wasn't harmless. They'd file notice with the company/business that they could escape the lawsuit to follow if they paid up to $10,000. Places like Alpine and other rural areas were eaten alive before the judges put an end to it.
DeleteBut they can create the environment that encourages frivolous lawsuits with advertising, lobbying for legislation that makes it easier to be lucrative, engaging with the ridiculous government over site in the name of "protection" of everyone from every single negative eventuality. So yeah, people may suck, but lawyers can certainly create the environment for their suckage.
DeleteHow many billboards do you see saying, "Let the lawfirm of ----- handle your case. You might be entitled to significant compensation. Or on the radio at on the 1/2 hour, "The law firm of ------ can handle your ------- case."
DeleteYou mean to tell me that those lawfirms aren't drumming up 'business'?
There is a difference between "drumming up business" and lawyers suing. CLIENTS sue. Now, are there are lots of lazy, greedy fuckers out there looking for free money, and lots of greedy bottom-feeder lawyers happy to exploit them? Sure. But there's no shortage of people anywhere happy to exploit the stupid.
DeleteAnd the biggest problem isn't even the grubby clients or the scummy lawyers who feed on them: judges don't throw the cases out, and juries - i.e., people in the community - hand out big paydays, rather than awarding tiny amounts that would end most of it.
As former chair of my scout troop, father of Eagle Scouts, I say to the BSA, “screw you.” The entire family wants to have nothing to do with the woke BSA and their gender-bender bullshit any more.
ReplyDeleteThere is also the fact that both organizations are *supposed* to teach valuable outdoor life skills, and reinforce core american values (respect folks, honor ones family, respect and follow the constitution.) But now days instead either are focused on selling overpriced cookies or getting merit badges for *useless* 'skills' (the girl scouts have a 'social media badge' for crying out loud.).
ReplyDeletePoint of fact, our local scout leader has decided that even on camping trips no one is allowed to be armed (either with a firearm *or* a large (bigger than a pocket knife) knife.). His claim is that "only NRA instructors, or law enforcement, are allowed to carry a weapon, and the instructors are only allowed to be armed during archery or air rifle events". Of course *he* is allowed to be armed, since he is the county constable (which our here means he is the one who serves eviction notices, for which he does carry a pistol and has a badge, but has *not* gone through AZ POST certification (our law enforcement training and certificate class), which means that while he might technically be a LEO, he has no proper training with firearms. In fact he doesn't even count as a LEO as far as the 'police protection act' that allows LEOs to essentially have nation wide CCW.)
Theoretically a licensed concealed carrier could carry a weapon and not tell anyone about it on a Scout camp out and break the rules without breaking the law. Theoretically. Just sayin.
DeleteUnless the Scout agency has specifically prohibited it on the camping land, or they are on local, state or federal property that excludes carrying arms.
DeleteEven then, it's more of a non-criminal violation until some nosy LEO gets involved and screws it up.
Still, what part of 'the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed' can't any of these asshats understand?
Out here in AZ we have constitutional carry, so I could have done a "don't ask, don't tell", but I have a hard time with 1. Being told I can't do a constitutionally protected action, not just in public but in the literal boon docks. And 2. Being told that the person who *is* 'allowed' to do an activity that *anyone* should be able to do, is allowed because of his job, despite having little to no training.
Delete(What really pissed me off is I *have* the training, having gone through AZ POST for a guard license, having been a firearms instructor for a couple of companies I used to work at, having gone to *multiple* classes on my own dime/time, and working in the firearms industry for *years*. But because I am not a 'NRA certificate' holder (cause the NRAs training was mostly outdated in the '80s) I am told I cannot be armed.)
When I worked at a public range, I saw a LOT of unsafe handling, but the very WORST of it, the MOST serious bad examples, were always by NRA trained "instructors" giving private lessons. Bubba usually endangered only himself, but the NRA guys endangered everyone on the range. And they were generally the only ones too arrogant to listen to the RSOs.
DeleteGrowing up I thought girl scouts were boys with bad acne and binoculars.
ReplyDeleteAgree with Scoutmaster Rick. I was a Wood Badge ASM and Cubmaster when the kids were young.
ReplyDeleteIn addition the Gender BS:
1. Council sitting on a $20 Million endowment and letting the Scout camps rot.
2. Corruption in the Council Leadership - Shutting down the camps periodically in the fall so council leaders and their buddies could go deer hunting - and you ain't invited.
3. Certain religious group based troops running Eagle Factories.
4. Man hating "Karens' running the Troop Committees.
I've never been so happy to be done with something that I started with good intentions.
The best thing that came out of it was what the Boy's learned at Philmont but other than that it seemed like babysitting for a bunch or ritalin addled kids whose parents couldn't care less.
I am glad that my son and I were involved with scouting before all the gender crap got started. Involved is the key word in scouting, as with any child activity.
ReplyDeleteTinnerman, up in Canada, was our adventure camp.
That's exactly how it works. They used to call them "Ambulance Chasers" back in the days when they couldn't advertise. Now, they send out ads that basically say: "Are you too lazy to work? Do you want free money? Contact us and we'll find someone to sue!"
ReplyDeleteAnd you just proved yourself wrong. It's the clients who make the decision to sue. And again, it's the juries, your friends and neighbors, who hand out the big paydays.
DeleteHa !
ReplyDeleteBit them in the ass, didn't it ?
Kinda like the "trans" in sports thing.
Trail Life USA. Our name is weak, but the org. is amazing.
ReplyDeleteIt's what I remember scouts being like back in the early to mid 90s. True, we don't have Philmont (if you've been, you know why I count that a loss), but every other part of the program is better. I've been a leader in it for 4 years now, and have another 7 to do before my son is done with it.
-Just A Chemist
It USE to be Boy Scouts. Now, it's Fag Scouts and Bitch Scouts.
ReplyDeleteLiberals destroy everything theytouch.
ReplyDeleteProve me wrong.