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The Boy Scouts of America urged victims to come forward Tuesday as the historic, 110-year-old organization filed for bankruptcy protection in the first step toward creating a huge compensation fund for potentially thousands of men who were molested as youngsters decades ago by scoutmasters or other leaders.The Scouts resorted to Chapter 11 in hopes of surviving a barrage of lawsuits, many of them made possible by recent changes in state laws to allow people to sue over long-ago sexual abuse.Bankruptcy will enable the organization to put those cases on hold for now and continue operating. But ultimately the Boy Scouts could be forced to sell some of their vast property holdings, including campgrounds and hiking trails, to raise money for a victims’ fund that could top billion.The Boy Scouts estimated 1,000 to 5,000 victims will seek compensation.“The BSA encourages victims to come forward to file a claim as the bankruptcy process moves forward,” the organization said in a statement.James Kretschmer of Houston, one of those suing, said he was molested by a Scout leader in the mid-1970s in the Spokane, Washington, area. The bankruptcy, he said, “is a shame because at its core and what it was supposed to be, the Boy Scouts is a beautiful organization.”“But you know, anything can be corrupted,” he added. “And if they’re not going to protect the people that they’ve entrusted with the children, then shut it down and move on.”More than 12,000 boys have been molested by 7,800 abusers since the 1920s, according to Boy Scout files revealed in court papers.Evan Smola said two new victims had already called his law office in Chicago on Tuesday morning, bringing the firm’s total to 319.“The opportunity to tell your story is a cathartic and healing experience,” Smola said. “It’s very painful when they actually do it, but getting it off your chest is a big step.”It will be up to the court to set a deadline for filing claims. The amount of money each victim will receive is likely to depend on what assets are turned over and how many people come forward.The filing in Wilmington, Delaware, sets in motion what could be one of the biggest, most complex bankruptcies ever seen, given the Scouts’ 50-state presence. The organization listed assets of billion to billion and liabilities of 0 million to billion.“We are outraged that there have been times when individuals took advantage of our programs to harm innocent children,” said Roger Mosby, the Boy Scouts’ president and CEO. “While we know nothing can undo the tragic abuse that victims suffered, we believe the Chapter 11 process, with the proposed trust structure, will provide equitable compensation to all victims while maintaining the BSA’s important mission.”The Boy Scouts are the latest major American institution to face a heavy price over sexual abuse. Roman Catholic dioceses across the country and schools such as Penn State and Michigan State have paid out hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years.The bankruptcy represents a painful turn for an organization that has been a pillar of American civic life for generations and a training ground for future leaders. Achieving the rank of Eagle Scout has long been a proud accomplishment that politicians, businessmen, astronauts and others put on their resumes and in their official biographies.“I’m sad for all the victims who were preyed upon by people entrusted with their care. I’m sad that no amount of money will undo their trauma,” said Jackson Cooper, an Eagle Scout who is now a prosecutor in Louisville, Kentucky. “Whatever consequences come for BSA are no concern of mine. I only hope, if they continue to operate, they build robust systems to protect the young people in their care.”The Boy Scouts’ finances have been strained in recent years by declining membership and sex-abuse settlements.The number of youths taking part in scouting has dropped below 2 million, down from a peak of more than 4 million during the 1970s. Its membership rolls took a big hit Jan. 1 when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cut ties and withdrew more than 400,000 scouts in favor of programs of its own.The financial outlook worsened last year after New York, Arizona, New Jersey and California relaxed their statutes of limitations to make it easier for victims to file claims. Teams of lawyers across the U.S. have been signing up clients by the hundreds to sue the Boy Scouts.Most of the new cases date to the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, before the Boy Scouts adopted mandatory criminal background checks, abuse-prevention training for all staff and volunteers, and a rule that two or more adult leaders must be present during all activities. Many of the lawsuits accuse the group of negligence and cover-ups.Wayne Perry, a member of the organization’s national board and past president, said Scout families won’t notice any differences as a result of the bankruptcy. He touted the protections now in place for young people.“Today, we are really, really good. Were we always good? No, nobody was good 50 years ago, 40 years ago, 30 years ago,” Perry said.Amid the crush of lawsuits, the Scouts recently mortgaged some of their major properties, including their national headquarters in Irving, Texas, and the 140,000-acre Philmont Ranch in New Mexico.One unanswered question is whether the Boy Scouts’ 261 local councils — and their campgrounds and other assets — will be dragged into the case, even though the Boy Scouts said the councils are legally separate entities and they were not part of the bankruptcy filing.Mike Pfau, a Seattle-based attorney whose firm is representing scores of men nationwide, said the plaintiffs may go after the local councils’ property holdings, too.“We believe the real property held by the local councils may be worth significantly more than the Boy Scouts’ assets,” he said. He said one question will be whether the Boy Scouts transferred property to their local councils to try to put it out of the reach of those suing.Perry said he hopes the court remembers that the Boy Scouts are teaching leadership and life skills to children. “You have to take into account the balancing of the victims, but (also) the fact that the kids today who are joining Scouting had nothing to with those bad behaviors of criminal acts of perpetrators who are long gone,” he said.Plaintiffs’ attorneys trace the Boy Scouts’ fall to 2010, when a jury awarded a former Scout nearly million in a lawsuit in Portland, Oregon. The trial led the Oregon Supreme Court to release 20,000 pages of confidential Boy Scout files on 1,200 people after The Associated Press and other news organizations fought for their disclosure.Until last spring, the organization had insisted it never knowingly allowed a predator to work with youths. But in May, the AP reported that attorneys for abuse victims had identified multiple cases in which known predators were allowed to return to leadership posts. The next day, the Boy Scouts acknowledged the truth.___McCombs reported from Salt Lake City. Associated Press video journalist John Mone also contributed to this story. 7147

The Federal Reserve is poised to cut interest rates on Wednesday for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis to extend the longest economic expansion in US history.The move would come despite a strong US economy. But some cracks are beginning to show: The global economy is softening, American manufacturing is slowing, and the global trade war isn't helping matters.But a potential rate cut would also follow months of pressure from President Donald Trump, who has broken with his predecessors' practice of walling off the central bank from politics.Jerome Powell, the chairman of the world's most influential central bank, has repeatedly pledged to follow economic data, and policymakers have become increasingly worried that uncertainty, caused in part by the President's trade wars with China and other countries, will hamper global growth and dampen investment."We are carefully monitoring these developments and assessing their implications for the US economic outlook and inflation, and will act as appropriate to sustain the expansion," Powell reiterated in remarks delivered at a French government conference in Paris on July 16.Even before the central bank signaled the possibility last month, investors had already priced in a reduction in the federal funds rate, which influences the cost of mortgages, credits cards and other borrowing. Those expectations piled on additional pressure on the Fed to move at this week's meeting to avoid rattling markets with an abrupt change in course.The Fed chairman has brushed off such pressures -- political or otherwise -- arguing the Fed is "insulated" from such demands as an independent institution outside of the control of the White House and whose decisions are informed by incoming economic data.The Fed last raised rates in December but has backed off plans for further tightening.In June, Powell began to make the case that the Fed, like other central banks, around the world needed to act earlier to get ahead of any economic weakness especially given how low interest rates currently are -- a reversal from his previous stance."If you see weakness, it's better to come in earlier rather than later," Powell said at an appearance before the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. "I think most central banks would want to act preemptively and let a downturn gather steam, in a sense, the thought being an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."That message has been echoed by other top officials, including Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley.Efforts by the Fed to prevent an economic downturn is unlikely to win a reprieve from the White House. A day before policymakers were set to gather for their two-day interest-setting meeting in Washington this week, Trump chastised the Fed for making "all the wrong moves," adding, "a small rate cut is not enough."Trump has kept up a year-long relentless attacks against the Fed, often lamenting he regrets appointing Powell for the role, and going so far as to threaten to fire him. He's called the central bank his "biggest threat" and accused them of behaving like a "stubborn child" for refusing to cut rates and keeping credit too tight.It will be up to Powell during his now-routine press conference to justify the decision to plow ahead with a rate cut given some prevailing strength in the economy. Since their last meeting in June, the data has consistently surprised to the upside with stronger-than-expected job gains, retail sales and economic growth in the second quarter.Wall Street analysts also suggest Friday's upcoming jobs numbers will also be an important economic milestone that will determine whether a further rate hike may be coming as early as September as some anticipate."Expect an overall strong report, eroding the case for further cuts, but given the strong easing bias of Fed leaders, much depends on exactly how strong the report is and how they adjust their messaging in response," Josh Wright, iCIMS' chief economist and former Fed staffer said. "'One and done' still seems like an economically justifiable outcome." 4095

The #spellingbee starts soon! Here is a #map of America's top spelling searches for 2019.#spelling #DataViz pic.twitter.com/cel2IAMXcV— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) May 24, 2019 189

The Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee voted to remove "virtual caucusing" from Iowa's and Nevada's 2020 caucus plans on Friday, giving the states about two weeks to form an alternative proposal.The move leaves Iowa -- which had planned to use only the vote-by-phone method to comply with the Democratic Party's rules to expand voting access in the caucus states -- in a particularly tough position.Nevada's plans included in-person early voting, meaning the committee could find the state's plan in compliance without that element.Last week, DNC Chairman Tom Perez issued a statement with the committee's co-chairs saying the vote-by-phone method didn't meet security standards set to avoid hacking or tampering."While today's decision is not unexpected, we are still disappointed," Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price said in a statement after the vote. "We continue to have confidence in the abilities of our vendors to enact this process, but if the DNC does not believe the virtual caucus can be secure, then we cannot go forward. With less than five months to go, we are continuing to explore as quickly as possible what alternatives may exist in order to securely expand accessibility for the 2020 caucuses."Price, who's in New Hampshire for that state's Democratic Party convention, has been meeting with officials to find a way to include early voting in the caucus process.At issue is the use of paper ballots for Iowa, which is firmly opposed by New Hampshire, as that could seem too much like a primary to officials intent on keeping the New England state as the first in the nation primary. Should Iowa institute paper ballots in 2020, there is a possibility that New Hampshire will move its primary date before Iowa's caucuses.The DNC established new rules for caucuses last year, which included requiring an absentee option for voters who couldn't attend the regular caucus. Seven states that used party-run caucuses in 2016 will instead hold primaries in 2020."It is unfortunate the DNC won't allow us to go forward with the virtual caucus in 2020," Nevada State Democratic Party Chair William McCurdy II said in a statement. "Despite this change with less than six months to go before our February caucus, NV Dems is committed to continuing engaging new Democrats, bringing more voices into this critically important process and hosting multiple options to participate in our caucus."Rules committee members lamented their vote against virtual caucusing, citing their desire to expand voting in the primary process."I want to applaud both our state Democratic parties -- both Iowa and Nevada -- for getting as far as they did without any real, tangible guidance from either this committee or the DNC," Artie Blanco, a Nevada member of the rules committee, said ahead of the decision.Accusing Republicans of failing to protect voting from adversaries, Blanco said that "it is impossible to find a technology secure enough for our virtual caucus to protect against hacking attempts."Multiple rules committee members echoed the accusation against the Republican Party of failing to protect voting. While no member mentioned the 2016 Russian hacks of the DNC at this meeting, the issue has reverberated throughout their deliberations over these plans."These states are working hard with the assistance of DHS and the FBI. Frankly, they're not getting a lot of help from President Trump or from Senator Mitch McConnell, who are in fact trying to impede this," former Clinton White House official and committee member Elaine Kamarck said. "Nevertheless, the federal government has civil servants that are still working to try and help the state officials in those states make a safer process."Rules committee Chairman James Roosevelt Jr., recognizing the difficult position the caucus states were in, announced that Chairman Perez endorsed his plan to work with DNC leadership to find a way to make virtual caucusing work in the future."This time the effort was left to the states because that's the way the plans are normally developed," Roosevelt said. "I think we recognize now that this is bigger than any one state's problem. I'm going to urge the DNC leadership to lead this effort following the general election, so that we have three years to deal with it."The committee will meet again within two weeks to vote on final proposals from each state. Should Iowa not be able to come up with a plan in compliance, the committee could issue a waiver of the rules in 2020, which is considered a last resort. 4562

The Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was engulfed in flames on Monday, police said, causing untold damage to the 856-year-old building."Notre Dame Fire in progress," police said on Twitter. "Avoid the area and facilitate the passage of emergency vehicles and intervention of the @prefpolice."Patrick Galey, a correspondent for the AFP News Agency, tweeted a video of the cathedral's spire falling amid giant flames.Watch the video below. 447

来源：资阳报