Free Republic

Dear Scouting family, As our country reckons with racial injustice, we all must consider our role and our failures and commit to meaningful action. The twelve points of the Scout Law that define a Scout are all important, but at this moment, we are called on to be brave. Brave means taking action because it is the right thing to do and being an upstander even when it may prompt criticism from some. We realize we have not been as brave as we should have been because, as Scouts, we must always stand for what is right and take action...

The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts who have traditionally placed American flags on the graves of veterans at veterans’ cemeteries on Memorial Day have been barred from doing so because of the coronavirus crisis. The Scouts cannot perform their acts of honor because the Department of Veteran’s Affairs has banned public events at the sites, Fox News reports, adding, “On Long Island, N.Y., where more than 500,000 veterans are buried at two national military cemeteries, there are demands for the VA to reconsider and rescind the ban.” Suffolk County executive Steve Bellone told Fox News, “If we can’t figure out...

So long as the world is entertaining worst-case scenarios, the media does Americans no favors in omitting that Iran-Hezbollah has for years prepared to strike in their own hometowns. Weirdly absent from much of the professional speculation about where and how Iran will exact its promised “severe revenge” for the U.S. drone strike killing of Quds Force Gen. Qassem Suleimani is mention of the dead man’s highly suggestive hint. During a time of intense saber rattling between Iran and President Donald Trump in July 2018, Suleimani gave a speech during which he called out the American president: “Mr. Gambler, Trump!...

While Boy Scouts of America's financial bankruptcy won't kill local organizations, it is a result of their ongoing moral bankruptcy. Here are a number of conservative Boy Scout alternatives.

Boy Scouts bankruptcy filing expected within hours, victims’ lawyers say The Boy Scouts of America, after decades of being crippled by child sex abuse claims, plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy by early Tuesday, the Daily News has learned.

A group of girls in Pearland, Texas, are blazing new trails as the members of Scouts BSA Troop 4640. Troop 4640 performs the same tasks as any group of scouts. They camp, earn merit badges and even participate in axe throwing. But this troop is unique because it consists of only girls. "I wanted to join Scouts BSA because my brother has been in scouting for a very long time and I've always loved the things he's done," said Brenna Tate, a 13-year-old member of Troop 4640. "I've always just wanted to go camping and, in general, learn about the...

An assistant scoutmaster on Long Island has been charged with sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy at Boy Scout retreats and meetings over an 11-month period last year.

A New Jersey man is accused of being a secret Hezbollah operative in the United States for more than a decade, surveilling potential attack sites in New York City, Boston and Washington, prosecutors said Thursday. Alexei Saab, 42, from Morristown, was charged under a nine-count indictment in connection with a range of alleged terror activities. They included providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization (FTO) and receiving military-style training from that group, the Justice Department said. “Even though Saab was a naturalized American citizen, his true allegiance was to Hezbollah, the terrorist organization responsible for decades of terrorist...

In recent years, Hezbollah has stepped up its activities beyond Lebanon’s borders. This uptick has been clearest in the Middle East—in Iraq, Yemen, and especially Syria—but plots have also been thwarted in South America, Asia, Europe, and now, possibly, the United States. Reports of Hezbollah activity in North America are not new, though such reporting tends to focus on the group’s fundraising, money laundering, procurement, or other logistical activities from Vancouver to Miami. But last month, the criminal prosecution and conviction in New York of the Hezbollah operative Ali Kourani revealed disturbing new information about the extent of Hezbollah’s operations...

The lawyers’ ads on the internet aggressively seeking clients to file sexual abuse lawsuits give a taste of what lies ahead this year for the Boy Scouts of America: potentially the most fateful chapter in its 109-year history. Sexual abuse settlements have already strained the Boy Scouts’ finances to the point where the organization is exploring “all available options,” including Chapter 11 bankruptcy. But now the financial threats have intensified. The reason: States have been moving in recent months to adjust their statute-of-limitations laws so that victims of long-ago sexual abuse can sue for damages. New York state has passed...

Is Trail Life USA Immune from the Fate of BSA? No - but mostly yes... Since Trail Life USA is a human organization, there is always a possibility that the left will infiltrate, destroy, and they wear it's corpse - like it did with the Scouts, BSA (much to consternation of the blindly loyal former scouts - I remind them there is no Boy Scouts). Where are just a few reasons I believe Trail Life USA will not fall under a similar fate. 1. The Core Values of Trail life are in part largely in place to ensure this doesn't...

by Sheri UrbanWe have officially reached peak P.C. insanity. An all-female troop of ten attended a ceremony on Tuesday to be sworn-in as Boy Scouts in Arkansas. In other words, the Boy Scouts of America have become so "inclusive" that they have basically become the Girl Scouts. According to Texarkana Gazette, the ten girls of Troop 19, ranging from 11-17 years old, were sworn-in alongside Boy Scouts of Troop 17 at a Methodist church in Bryant, Arkansas. "The group became the first all-girls troop chartered by the Quapaw Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. The Quapaw Area Council is the largest council in...

WOOSTER — Anything boys can do, girls can do, too, and that includes being part of the Boy Scouts of America. A small but enthusiastic group of young women met at Zion Lutheran Church in Wooster on Monday evening to become part of the new Troop 64 — an all-girl troop which will offer the new recruits some privileges they think they’ve been missing, such as whittling and camping. It will be the first all-girl BSA troop to start in Wooster, according to organizers.

A former Boy Scout leader from New Jersey who admitted to sexually abusing at least three kids in his troop was reportedly sentenced on Friday to 10 years in state prison. Stephen Corcoran, 51, of Morris Plains, is already serving a seven year sentence for child pornography — and will now be tacking on three more, according to NJ.com.

What’s left of the Boy Scouts of America (now operating as Scouts BSA) is on the brink of declaring bankruptcy, according to recent news reports. With estimated assets of more than $1 billion, Scouting’s problems go beyond the financial, deep into the problems with America’s civil culture today. The U.S. Boy Scout movement reached its numerical height in 1969 with 6 million members, in a year with President Richard M. Nixon as honorary head of the Scouts and Eagle Scout astronaut Neil Armstrong stepping out on the moon. I was a Cub Scout that year, once a week proudly wearing...

The Boy Scouts of America is mulling declaring bankruptcy amid flagging membership and an avalanche of costly sex abuse allegations, according to the Wall Street Journal. Leaders have hired Chicago law firm Sidley Austin for help in a potential Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, sources told the outlet. The organization has been fending off lawsuits over alleged abuse, including one filed by four former scouts who called the club a “pedophile magnet” and alleged that they were molested by scoutmaster Waldron Ackerman between 1974 and 1976. The organization has reportedly lost two-thirds of its members — some 4 million boys —...

I'm the Cubmaster for a group of about 50 1st through 5th grade Cub Scouts. Close to Veteran's Day, I have set up a meeting at the local air museum where mostly military equipment and memorabilia are featured. I'd like the boys to understand what a veteran is and why we offer them respect. I know a couple vets (Vietnam and OIF, OEF campaigns) and I'd like them to talk to my scouts, but I have no idea what to ask them to talk about. If you are a vet, what would you like young boys to know about your...

Full Title: Boy Scouts call leader arrested in SC online predator sting operation 'abhorrent', ban him from programs RICHLAND COUNTY, SC (WIS) - A former Midlands Boy Scout leader has been called "abhorrent" by the organization after he was named as one of 38 people arrested in an online predator operation led by the Richland County Sheriff's Department. Heath Mills was arrested on two counts of solicitation of minor during "Operation Full Armor," Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott announced Thursday. Mills was identified as a troop leader in Lexington County. David Angle, assistant south executive/CEO of the Indan Waters Council...

The Boy Scouts will ensure that condoms will be made 'readily and easily accessible' at its global gathering this summer, it has been revealed. Rules now require that the host organization of the World Scout Jamboree provide condoms at a 'number of locations' for staff and participants during the event. Leaders of the participating organizations must also communicate the policy to their 'participants, unit leaders, and contingent staff', the mandate requires. The 24th World Scout Jamboree will be held in the mountains of West Virginia from July 21 to August 1, 2019.

The Scouts should have been prepared for this. One week after the century-old Boy Scouts of America announced it was changing its name and its mission to accept girls at all levels of scouting, its single biggest participant announced Tuesday that it was cutting ties to the Scouts. And taking one-fifth of the Scouts membership with it. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, usually known as the Mormons, announced Tuesday that it was severing its relationship with the Scouts effective Dec. 31, 2019, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. In a statement issued jointly by the church and...