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Boy Scouts of America deflects reports of pending bankruptcy amid sexual misconduct litigation

John Bacon
USA Today
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 14:32 UTC
Boy Scouts America bankruptcy

The Wall Street Journal reported that BSA was considering bankruptcy in the face of dwindling membership and the increasing legal costs.
The Boy Scouts of America deflected a report that the youth group might file for bankruptcy protection in the face of increasing sexual misconduct litigation, saying "no imminent actions or immediate decisions" are expected.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the youth organization was considering bankruptcy in the face of dwindling membership and the increasing legal costs. The law firm Sidley Austin LLP was hired to explore options, the newspaper reported.

The law firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY.

Michael B. Surbaugh, chief scout executive, issued a statement "in anticipation of news reports that will speculate about the BSA's financial position." He said the group was working with experts he did not name to explore all options aimed at ensuring that the group's programming continues uninterrupted.

"We have a social and moral responsibility to fairly compensate victims who suffered abuse during their time in scouting," he said. "And we also have an obligation to carry out our mission to serve youth, families and local communities."

Comment: More on the scandal plagued scouting organization:

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Bullseye

Victory for Project Veritas: Judge Patti B. Saris rules Americans can secretly record public officials

Alex Swoyer
The Washington Times
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 14:56 UTC
James O'Keefe
© Blair Raughley/Associated Press
James O'Keefe of Project Veritas called the ruling groundbreaking.
A federal judge ruled Monday that Americans have a right to secretly record their public officials, including police, when they are engaged in their government duties.

U.S. District Chief Judge Patti B. Saris said a Massachusetts law banning secret recordings violates the First Amendment when it comes to government employees, rejecting the state's claims that officials need some space to be able to operate without having to worry about being monitored.

"This is not to say that police and government officials have no privacy interests," she wrote. "However, the diminished privacy interests of government officials performing their duties in public must be balanced by the First Amendment interest in newsgathering and information-dissemination."

Comment: A carefully formulated law will go a long way towards enforcing accountability for those in power, especially at the local level. The current situation is a confusing patchwork of rulings from state to state. And the bodycams worn by police seem to "malfunction" more often than not. A backup record of an incident may make all the difference.

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Cross

Orthodox Bishop Kallistos: Constantinople was unwise to break with Moscow as conflict hurts the entire church


RT
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 14:51 UTC
Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople
© Reuters / Huseyin Aldemir
Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople
Patriarch Bartholomew was wrong to declare Ukraine is no longer subject to the Russian Orthodox Church as the conflict hurts the entire Orthodoxy, believes Metropolitan Kallistos, a leading bishop of the Constantinople patriarchy.

Kallistos (Timothy Ware) is an Oxford-based bishop of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and one of the most respected Orthodox theologians today. In a recent interview with Slovo Bozhie (the word of God), a Russian Orthodox news website, he acknowledged that the escalation was initiated by Constantinople.

He is referring to the 17th century letter, which acknowledged the authority of the Russian Orthodox Church to appoint the metropolitan of Kiev, the highest bishop in Ukraine. In October, Constantinople announced it was revoking this right as part of its effort to create an independent Orthodox church in Ukraine, which would include the recognized Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which answers to Moscow, and two self-proclaimed churches that are considered schismatic by other churches.

Kallistos said that, with all due respect to Patriarch Bartholomew, he agreed with the Patriarchate of Moscow that "Ukraine belongs to the Russian Church."

"This is a fact of history that Ukraine has belonged to the Russian Church. I believe therefore, it has been a mistake for the Ecumenical Patriarch to give autocephaly to the two schismatic bishops - Philaret and Makary," he said, referring to the leaders of the two unrecognized churches in Ukraine. The same decision of Constantinople in October declared them legitimate priests in defiance of Moscow's position to the contrary.

Comment: More recent news on the schism within the Orthodox Church:

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People

Politics, humanity, and the narrative that controls the world

Caitlin Johnstone
caitlinjohnstone.com
Tue, 11 Dec 2018 14:45 UTC
earth on fire
The problem isn't just that we are ruled by tyrants, it's that our minds are full of propaganda and cultural mind viruses which cause us to consent to it.

Russophobia and an uncritical emphasis on Trump has been used to scaremonger an annoyingly large percentage of American progressives from focusing on wanting change to focusing on wanting things to go back to how they used to be. Wanting things to go back to how they used to be is wanting the conditions which created Trump.

Patriotism is like the blue pill in The Matrix. You take it and you get to feel good about your country, but you don't get to know the truth about it.

If everyone suddenly deeply understood on a gut level exactly how horrific war is, all military actions the US and its allies are currently engaged in would be forced to end due to popular revolt.

Under-discussed: secretive government agencies provide support to Silicon Valley corporations, support which they could easily have threatened to give to those corporations' competitors instead if certain agreements weren't made.
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NPC

Delusional: American University staff & students demand segregation to 'promote inclusion'

Alana Mastrangelo
Breitbart
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 12:27 UTC
diversity
© Mark Wilson/Getty Images
American University students and administrators are pushing for "spaces" on campus designated for "students of color," claiming that it will promote diversity and inclusion at the university.

Students and staff at American University (AU) are calling for "the creation of more spaces for students of color," so that minority students can have an area on campus where they can go to be separated from the rest of the campus body, in the name of "diversity and inclusion," according to the university's student newspaper.

AU students are criticizing the university's Hub for Organizing Multiculturalism and Equity (HOME) for being "marketed to students of all backgrounds rather than to students of color."

Comment: Is there anything more deluded than 'Social Justice Warriors' thinking a return to the Jim Crow era will promote inclusion? If there is, then the university system is probably where we'll find it.

Check out:

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Star of David

Video shows IDF murder mentally challenged Palestinian in cold blood

Yonah Jeremy Bob
Jerusalem Post
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 12:27 UTC
IDF video shoot Palestinian Muhammad Habali
Videos publicized by B'Tselem on Tuesday portray as illegal the IDF's shooting to death of Palestinian Muhammad Habali in Tulkarm on December 4.

The military has already ordered a criminal investigation, and on Tuesday responded that while the probe was ongoing, the overall context of the incident was one of a public disturbance in which dozens of Palestinians threw stones at IDF forces.

The human rights group said that Habali was a mentally challenged 22-year-old and the videos they distributed showed that he was about 80 meters from soldiers and walking away from them when he was shot.
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Arrow Down

Motel 6 caves to Open Borders pressure tactics

Matt O'Brien
Immigration Reform
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 12:27 UTC
ICE immigration police migrant
As FAIR reported in January, Washington's attorney general filed suit against Motel 6 for cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when the agency was investigating hotel guests. The Evergreen State claims the motel chain's cooperation with immigration authorities constituted both a discriminatory business practice and a violation of privacy rights under state law.

That absurd lawsuit was followed by a separate class-action filing in Phoenix, Arizona, by former Motel 6 guests whose information was shared with ICE. Rather than contest the class-action claim, Motel 6 has agreed to pay $7.6 million to the plaintiffs. According to Fox News:
"As part of the agreement, the motel has agreed to pay up to $5.6 million to patrons who 'were placed in immigration-removal proceedings' while paying up to $1 million to guests who were interrogated and up to an additional $1 million to patrons whose information was shared with authorities, court documents stated, according to the Washington Post. The motel will cover the former patrons' legal fees."
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Hardhat

The indiscreet charm of the Gilets Jaunes

CJ Hopkins
OffGuardian
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 11:57 UTC
Yellow vests
So it appears the privatization of France isn't going quite as smoothly as planned. As I assume you are aware, for over a month now, the gilets jaunes (or "yellow vests"), a multiplicitous, leaderless, extremely pissed off, confederation of working class persons, have been conducting a series of lively protests in cities and towns throughout the country to express their displeasure with Emmanuel Macron and his efforts to transform their society into an American-style neo-feudal dystopia. Highways have been blocked, toll booths commandeered, luxury automobiles set on fire, and shopping on the Champs-Élysées disrupted. What began as a suburban tax revolt has morphed into a bona fide working class uprising.

It took a while for "the Golden Boy of Europe" to fully appreciate what was happening. In the tradition of his predecessor, Louis XVI, Macron initially responded to the gilets jaunes by inviting a delegation of Le Monde reporters to laud his renovation of the Elysée Palace, making the occasional condescending comment, and otherwise completely ignoring them. That was back in late November. Last Saturday, he locked down central Paris, mobilized a literal army of riot cops, "preventatively arrested" hundreds of citizens, including suspected "extremist students," and sent in the armored military vehicles.

The English-language corporate media, after doing their best not to cover these protests (and, instead, to keep the American and British publics focused on imaginary Russians), have been forced to now begin the delicate process of delegitimizing the gilets jaunes without infuriating the the entire population of France and inciting the British and American proletariats to go out and start setting cars on fire. They got off to a bit of an awkward start.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

Police arrest man swinging axe in Toronto subway station


blogTO
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 12:05 UTC
axe suspect subway toronto
© R Pelletier
Commuters in Toronto often have huge headaches during their travels, between late buses, subway closures and streetcar diversions.

But commuters this morning had a very different experience, as they were stuck on a train with a man wielding what's been described by witnesses as a large axe.

Comment: Toronto is quickly getting the reputation for having a lot of crazies. Could the city be becoming unhinged?

See also:

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Question

Two technicians dead after being found unconscious at US research station in Antarctica


Reuters
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 02:01 UTC
McMurdo Station
© Reuters
FILE PHOTO: General view of McMurdo Station operated by the United States on Antarctica. Picture taken January 1 2000.
Two technicians performing maintenance at a U.S. research station in Antarctica died on Wednesday while working on a building that houses a generator for a nearby radio transmitter, the National Science Foundation (NSF) said.

The pair, both employed as subcontractors at the NSF-managed McMurdo Station in Antarctica, were found unconscious on the floor of the building after a helicopter pilot flying over the area saw what appeared to be smoke coming from the structure and landed to investigate.

One of the technicians was pronounced dead by medical personnel called to the scene. The other was pronounced dead a short time after being flown to the McMurdo medical clinic, the NSF said in a statement.

Comment: See also:

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