Thursday, October 31, 2013

Globe Grab Bag: Obamas Giving Out Girl Scout Cookies For Halloween

Don't those sugary wafers lead to health problems?

"Girl Scouts launch drive to halt membership drop; Michelle Obama joins efforts" Associated Press, September 30, 2013

NEW YORK — With an assist from Michelle Obama, the Girl Scouts of the USA is launching an unorthodox recruitment campaign this week aimed at reversing a long-running decline in participation by girls and adult volunteers.

Instead of placing ads on TV, in newspapers and on billboards, the decentralized campaign will unfold in neighborhood initiatives and on social media as local Girl Scout councils directly target elementary-school girls — even kindergartners — with promises of adventuresome fun.

Obama is pitching in with a video in which she lauds the contributions of the Girl Scouts and urges adults to find the time to help out....

They will be your future female soldiers who can be raped.

The upbeat campaign launch follows a trying stretch for the Girl Scouts, who celebrated their centennial in 2012 but have confronted multiple difficulties this year. These include a deficit-strapped pension plan, rifts over the direction of Girl Scout programming, and revenue shortfalls that prompted the national headquarters to trim about one-fourth of its staff through buyouts and layoffs.

Overshadowing all the problems is the steady decline in membership, a trend also buffeting other national youth organizations as children turn to other after-school and weekend diversions....

--more--"

Also see: Sunday Globe Special: Girl Scout Cookie

NEXT DAY UPDATE:

"HAUNTING THE WHITE HOUSE -- Michelle Obama and her mother, Marian Lois Robinson (left), joined President Obama to give out Halloween treats to children of military families and local trick-or-treaters on Thursday (Boston Globe November 1 2013)."

It's a photograph on page A2, and as I was typing up the caption it occurred to me that Obomber has taken away Halloween from so many children with his damn drone strikes. That's all.