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A major shift from the Boy Scouts of America:
Irving, Texas – October 11, 2017 – Today, the Boy Scouts of America Board of Directors unanimously approved to welcome girls into its iconic Cub Scout program and to deliver a Scouting program for older girls that will enable them to advance and earn the highest rank of Eagle Scout. The historic decision comes after years of receiving requests from families and girls, the organization evaluated the results of numerous research efforts, gaining input from current members and leaders, as well as parents and girls who've never been involved in Scouting – to understand how to offer families an important additional choice in meeting the character development needs of all their children.
"This decision is true to the BSA's mission and core values outlined in the Scout Oath and Law. The values of Scouting – trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind, brave and reverent, for example – are important for both young men and women," said Michael Surbaugh, the BSA's Chief Scout Executive. "We believe it is critical to evolve how our programs meet the needs of families interested in positive and lifelong experiences for their children. We strive to bring what our organization does best – developing character and leadership for young people – to as many families and youth as possible as we help shape the next generation of leaders."
[...] Starting in the 2018 program year, families can choose to sign up their sons and daughters for Cub Scouts. Existing packs may choose to establish a new girl pack, establish a pack that consists of girl dens and boy dens or remain an all-boy pack. Cub Scout dens will be single-gender — all boys or all girls. Using the same curriculum as the Boy Scouts program, the organization will also deliver a program for older girls, which will be announced in 2018 and projected to be available in 2019, that will enable them to earn the Eagle Scout rank. This unique approach allows the organization to maintain the integrity of the single gender model while also meeting the needs of today's families.
I'll admit it, I was a little surprised by the announcement. As a longtime member of the BSA and an Eagle Scout, I find this extremely interesting. I know some who are dead set against it, and others who are totally for it. My personal opinion is that it will be a good thing, both for the BSA and for the young men and women who become part of the organization.
The biggest loser in all of this will probably be the Girl Scouts. I can see their membership numbers dwindling rapidly if/when this takes off.
As a side note, Scouting has been co-ed in many countries for decades.
Both the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts have seen decreasing membership in recent years, and both have been trying to find ways to increase their membership. In this context, they now seem to be butting heads:
The Boy Scouts will soon include girls, and not everyone's happy about it.
The 107-year-old organization announced Wednesday that younger girls will be allowed to join Cub Scouts and that older girls will be eligible to earn the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout.
[...] For months, Girl Scouts USA had a notion BSA would try to start recruiting girls. In August, Buzzfeed News obtained a strongly worded letter in which GSUSA President Kathy Hopinkah Hannan accused the BSA of courting girls to boost falling enrollment numbers.
From the letter:
We are confused as to why, rather than working to appeal to the 90 percent of boys who are not involved in BSA programs, you would choose to target girls.
What are your thoughts? Were you ever a boy scout, or a girl scout, or did they ever affect you in any way? And do you think the BSA should be praised for opening their doors to girls or should they be castigated for 'targeting' girls who would be better off staying with their own kind?
(Score: 1, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Friday October 13 2017, @04:27AM (2 children)
......In life, in order to be successful -- and Boy Scouts are well on the road to success -- you have to find out what makes you excited, what makes you want to get up each morning and go to work? You have to find it. If you love what you do and dedicate yourself to your work, then you will gain momentum? And look, you have to. You need the word "momentum." You will gain that momentum. And each success will create another success. The word "momentum."
I'll tell you a story that's very interesting for me. When I was young there was a man named William Levitt. You have some in different states. Anybody ever hear of Levittown?
And he was a very successful man, became unbelievable -- he was a home builder, became an unbelievable success, and got more and more successful. And he'd build homes, and at night he'd go to these major sites with teams of people, and he'd scour the sites for nails, and sawdust and small pieces of wood, and they cleaned the site, so when the workers came in the next morning, the sites would be spotless and clean, and he did it properly. And he did this for 20 years, and then he was offered a lot of money for his company, and he sold his company, for a tremendous amount of money, at the time especially. This is a long time ago. Sold his company for a tremendous amount of money.
And he went out and bought a big yacht, and he had a very interesting life. I won't go any more than that, I'm not going to tell you what he did. Should I tell you? Should I tell you? Let me tell you, I told the Boy Scouts. They’re Boy Scouts, but they know life. They know life. I look at them. Who would think this is the Boy Scouts, right?
So he had a very, very interesting life, and the company that bought his company was a big conglomerate, and they didn't know anything about building homes, and they didn't know anything about picking up the nails and the sawdust and selling it, and the scraps of wood. This was a big conglomerate based in New York City.
And after about a 10-year period, there were losing a lot with it. It didn't mean anything to them. And they couldn't sell it. So they called William Levitt up, and they said, would you like to buy back your company, and he said, yes, I would. He so badly wanted it. He got bored with this life of yachts, and sailing, and all of the things he did in the south of France and other places. You won't get bored, right? You know, truthfully, you're workers. You'll get bored too, believe me. Of course having a few good years like that isn't so bad.
But what happened is he bought back his company, and he bought back a lot of empty land, and he worked hard at getting zoning, and he worked hard on starting to develop, and in the end he failed, and he failed badly, lost all of his money. He went personally bankrupt, and he was now much older. And I saw him at a cocktail party. And it was very sad because the hottest people in New York were at this party. It was the party of Steve Ross -- Steve Ross, who was one of the great people. He came up and discovered, really founded Time Warner, and he was a great guy. He had a lot of successful people at the party.
And I was doing well, so I got invited to the party. I was very young. And I go in, but I'm in the real estate business, and I see a hundred people, some of whom I recognize, and they're big in the entertainment business. And I see sitting in the corner was a little old man who was all by himself. Nobody was talking to him. I immediately recognized that that man was the once great William Levitt, of Levittown, and I immediately went over. I wanted to talk to him more than the Hollywood, show business, communications people.
So I went over and talked to him, and I said, "Mr. Levitt, I'm Donald Trump." He said, "I know." I said, "Mr. Levitt, how are you doing?" He goes, "Not well, not well at all." And I knew that. But he said, "Not well at all." And he explained what was happening and how bad it's been and how hard it's been. And I said, "What exactly happened? Why did this happen to you? You're one of the greats ever in our industry. Why did this happen to you?"
And he said, "Donald, I lost my momentum. I lost my momentum." A word you never hear when you're talking about success when some of these guys that never made ten cents, they're on television giving you things about how you're going to be successful, and the only thing they ever did was a book and a tape. But I tell you -- I'll tell you, it was very sad, and I never forgot that moment.
And I thought about it, and it's exactly true. He lost his momentum, meaning he took this period of time off, long, years, and then when he got back, he didn't have that same momentum.
In life, I always tell this to people, you have to know whether or not you continue to have the momentum. And if you don't have it, that's OK. Because you're going to go on, and you're going to learn and you're going to do things that are great. But you have to know about the word "momentum."
But the big thing, never quit, never give up; do something you love. When you do something you love as a Scout, I see that you love it. But when you do something that you love, you'll never fail. What you're going to do is give it a shot again and again and again. You're ultimately going to be successful.
And remember this, you're not working. Because when you're doing something that you love, like I do -- of course I love my business, but this is a little bit different. Who thought this was going to happen. We're, you know, having a good time. We're doing a good job.
Doing a good job. But when you do something that you love, remember this, it's not work. So you'll work 24/7. You're going to work all the time. And at the end of the year you're not really working. You don't think of it as work. When you're not doing something that you like or when you're forced into do something that you really don't like, that's called work, and it's hard work, and tedious work.
So as much as you can do something that you love, work hard and never ever give up, and you're going to be tremendously successful, tremendously successful.....
(Score: 1, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Friday October 13 2017, @04:33AM (1 child)
....Now, with that, I have to tell you our economy is doing great. Our stock market has picked up TREMENDOUSLY since the election. Our stocks are setting a lot, a lot of records. November 8th -- do we remember that day? Was that a beautiful day? What a day! Do you remember that famous night on television, November 8th where they said, these dishonest people, where they said, there is no path to victory for Donald Trump. They forgot about the forgotten people.
By the way, they're not forgetting about the forgotten people anymore. They're going crazy trying to figure it out, but I told them, far too late; it's far too late.
But you remember that incredible night with the maps, and the Republicans are red and the Democrats are blue, and that map was so red it was unbelievable. And they didn't know what to say.
And you know, we have a tremendous disadvantage in the Electoral College. Popular vote is much easier. We have -- because New York, California, Illinois, you have to practically run the East Coast. And we did. We won Florida. We won South Carolina. We won North Carolina. We won Pennsylvania.
We won and won. So when they said, there is no way to victory; there is no way to 270. You know I went to Maine four times because it's one vote, and we won. We won. One vote. I went there because I kept hearing we're at 269. But then Wisconsin came in. Many, many years. Michigan came in. So -- and we worked hard there. You know, my opponent didn't work hard there, because she was told she was going to win Michigan, and I said, well, wait a minute. The car industry is moving to Mexico. Why is she going to move -- she's there. Why are they allowing it to move? And by the way, do you see those car industry -- do you see what's happening? They're coming back to Michigan. They're coming back to Ohio. They're starting to peel back in.
And we go to Wisconsin, now, Wisconsin hadn't been won in many, many years by a Republican. But we go to Wisconsin, and we had tremendous crowds. And I'd leave these massive crowds, I'd say, why are we going to lose this state? The polls, that's also fake news. They're fake polls. But the polls are saying -- but we won Wisconsin.
So I have to tell you, what we did, in all fairness, is an unbelievable tribute to you and all of the other millions and millions of people that came out and voted for make America great again. And I'll tell you what, we are indeed making America great again. What's going on is incredible. We had the best jobs report in 16 years. The stock market on a daily basis is hitting an all-time high. We're going to be bringing back very soon trillions of dollars from companies that can't get their money back into this country, and that money is going to be used to help rebuild America. We're doing things that nobody ever thought was possible, and we've just started. It's just the beginning, believe me.
You know, in the Boy Scouts you learn right from wrong, correct? You learn to contribute to your communities, to take pride in your nation, and to seek out opportunities to serve. You pledge to help other people at all times. In the Scout oath, you pledge on your honor to do your best and to do your duty to God and your country. The words "duty," "country" and "God" are beautiful words. In other words, basically what you're doing is you're pledging to be a great American patriot. Standing up for America in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Yemen, in Niger, in Syria, in Libya, in Somalia, in Pakistan, in Niger, maybe in North Korea. Probably in North Korea, honestly. We need a hell of a lot of patriots. Patriots who are willing to give their lives for flag, anthem and country. For more than a century that is exactly what our Boy Scouts have been.
When natural disaster strikes – and it’s been striking a lot – when people face hardship, when the beauty and glory of our outdoor spaces must be restored and taken care of, America turns to the Boy Scouts because we know that the Boy Scouts never ever, ever let us down.
And by the way, under the Trump administration you'll be saying "Merry Christmas" again when you go shopping, believe me. To hell with political correctness! Merry Christmas. MERRY FUCKING CHRISTMAS! They've been downplaying that little beautiful phrase. You're going to be saying "Merry Christmas" again, folks. Believe me, you’ll be saying it.
Just like you know you can count on me, we know we can count on our Scouts, because we know the values that Scouts live by. The same values that have always kept America strong, proud and free.
And by the way, do you see the billions and billions and billions of additional money that we're putting back into our military? Billions of dollars. Hundreds of billions. Maybe trillions. Probably trillions.
New planes, new ships, new nuclear weapons, great equipment for our people that are so great to us. We love our vets. We love our soldiers. And we love our police, by the way. Firemen, police. We love our police. Those are all special people. Uniformed services.
In July I traveled to Norfolk, Virginia to commission an American aircraft carrier into the fleet of the United States Navy. It's the newest, largest and most advanced aircraft carrier anywhere in the world, and it's named for an Eagle Scout -- the USS Gerald R. Ford. Everywhere it sails that great Scout's name will be FEARED and revered, because that ship will be a symbol of American power, prestige and strength. Our nation honors President Gerald R. Ford today because he lived his life the scouting way. Boy Scouts celebrate American patriots, especially the brave members of our Armed Forces. Thank you very much.
American hearts are warmed every year when we read about Boy Scouts placing thousands and thousands of flags next to veterans' grave sites all across the country. By honoring our heroes, Scouts help to ensure that their memory never, ever dies. They should take great pride in the example they set for every citizen of our country to follow.
Generations of American Boy Scouts have sworn the same oath and lived according to the same law. They inherit a noble American tradition. And as they embark on their lives, they’ll never cease to be proud of you who they are and the principles they hold dear and stand by. I say to all Scouts out there, wear your values as your badge of honor. What you've done few have done before you. What you've done is incredible. What you've done is admired by all. So I want to congratulate the Boy Scouts.....
(Score: 1, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Friday October 13 2017, @04:41AM
...Let your scouting oath guide your path from this day forward. Remember your duty to God and your country.
Now, with that, I have to tell you our economy is doing great. Our stock market has picked up TREMENDOUSLY since the election. Our stocks are setting a lot, a lot of records. November 8th -- do we remember that day? Was that a beautiful day? What a day! Do you remember that famous night on television, November 8th where they said, these dishonest people, where they said, there is no path to victory for Donald Trump. They forgot about the forgotten people.
By the way, they're not forgetting about the forgotten people anymore. They're going crazy trying to figure it out, but I told them, far too late; it's far too late.
But you remember that incredible night with the maps, and the Republicans are red and the Democrats are blue, and that map was so red it was unbelievable. And they didn't know what to say.
And you know, we have a tremendous disadvantage in the Electoral College. Popular vote is much easier. We have -- because New York, California, Illinois, you have to practically run the East Coast. And we did. We won Florida. We won South Carolina. We won North Carolina. We won Pennsylvania.
We won and won. So when they said, there is no way to victory; there is no way to 270. You know I went to Maine four times because it's one vote, and we won. We won. One vote. I went there because I kept hearing we're at 269. But then Wisconsin came in. Many, many years. Michigan came in. So -- and we worked hard there. You know, my opponent didn't work hard there, because she was told she was going to win Michigan, and I said, well, wait a minute. The car industry is moving to Mexico. Why is she going to move -- she's there. Why are they allowing it to move? And by the way, do you see those car industry -- do you see what's happening? They're coming back to Michigan. They're coming back to Ohio. They're starting to peel back in.
And we go to Wisconsin, now, Wisconsin hadn't been won in many, many years by a Republican. But we go to Wisconsin, and we had tremendous crowds. And I'd leave these massive crowds, I'd say, why are we going to lose this state? The polls, that's also fake news. They're fake polls. But the polls are saying -- but we won Wisconsin.
So I have to tell you, what we did, in all fairness, is an unbelievable tribute to you and all of the other millions and millions of people that came out and voted for make America great again. And I'll tell you what, we are indeed making America great again. What's going on is incredible. We had the best jobs report in 16 years. The stock market on a daily basis is hitting an all-time high. We're going to be bringing back very soon trillions of dollars from companies that can't get their money back into this country, and that money is going to be used to help rebuild America. We're doing things that nobody ever thought was possible, and we've just started. It's just the beginning, believe me.
You know, in the Boy Scouts you learn right from wrong, correct? You learn to contribute to your communities, to take pride in your nation, and to seek out opportunities to serve. You pledge to help other people at all times. In the Scout oath, you pledge on your honor to do your best and to do your duty to God and your country. The words "duty," "country" and "God" are beautiful words. In other words, basically what you're doing is you're pledging to be a great American patriot. Standing up for America in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Yemen, in Niger, in Syria, in Libya, in Somalia, in Pakistan, in Niger, maybe in North Korea. Probably in North Korea, honestly. We need a hell of a lot of patriots. Patriots who are willing to give their lives for flag, anthem and country. For more than a century that is exactly what our Boy Scouts have been.
When natural disaster strikes – and it’s been striking a lot – when people face hardship, when the beauty and glory of our outdoor spaces must be restored and taken care of, America turns to the Boy Scouts because we know that the Boy Scouts never ever, ever let us down.
And by the way, under the Trump administration you'll be saying "Merry Christmas" again when you go shopping, believe me. To hell with political correctness! Merry Christmas. MERRY FUCKING CHRISTMAS! They've been downplaying that little beautiful phrase. You're going to be saying "Merry Christmas" again, folks. Believe me, you’ll be saying it.
Just like you know you can count on me, we know we can count on our Scouts, because we know the values that Scouts live by. The same values that have always kept America strong, proud and free.
And by the way, do you see the billions and billions and billions of additional money that we're putting back into our military? Billions of dollars. Hundreds of billions. Maybe trillions. Probably trillions.
New planes, new ships, new nuclear weapons, great equipment for our people that are so great to us. We love our vets. We love our soldiers. And we love our police, by the way. Firemen, police. We love our police. Those are all special people. Uniformed services.
In July I traveled to Norfolk, Virginia to commission an American aircraft carrier into the fleet of the United States Navy. It's the newest, largest and most advanced aircraft carrier anywhere in the world, and it's named for an Eagle Scout -- the USS Gerald R. Ford. Everywhere it sails that great Scout's name will be FEARED and revered, because that ship will be a symbol of American power, prestige and strength. Our nation honors President Gerald R. Ford today because he lived his life the scouting way. Boy Scoutshistory, take care of the people God put into your life, and love and cherish your great country.
You are very special people. You're special in the lives of America. You're special to me. But if you do what we say, I promise you that you will live scouting's adventure every single day of your life, and you will win, win, win, and help people in doing so.
Your lives will have meaning, and purpose and joy. You will become leaders, and you will inspire others to achieve the dreams they once thought were totally impossible. Things that you said could never, ever happen are already happening for you. And if you do these things, and if you refuse to give in to doubt or to fear, then you will help to make America great again, you will be proud of yourself, be proud of the uniform you wear, and be proud of the country you love. And never, ever forget, America is proud of you.
I've known so many Scouts over the years. Winners. I've known so many great people. America is proud of the Boy Scouts. They've been taught so well, and they love the heritage. Generations of American Boy Scouts have sworn the same oath and lived according to the same law. They inherit a noble American tradition. They are very special people. Special in the lives of America. Special to me.
And I just want to end by saying, very importantly, God bless the Boy Scouts. God Bless the United States of America.