ENDENFIN's blog

It starts with the human basic need to belong, the need to be a part of a group of people who appreciates us and straightens our self esteem. Positive results have been achieved through the years integrating low-self esteem individuals to encouraging groups improving the way they look at themselves and reassuring their personalities so the can be completely self sufficient and walk with that safe feeling through life.

However, there is always a negative side of this basic need to belong that has been exploded since the world was created. Troubled minds who gather followers to executed the actions they don't dare to do. Minds who take advantage of the weak and low self-esteem individuals who desperately search for appreciation, recognition and popularity.

Just to follow up with the Wal-Mart story, it seems that  when "together we stand" justice can be reached. Tonight in the Nightly News I learned that thanks to the protest of the Wal-Mart employees and a little twist of heart from this Corporation, the law suit has been dropped and the family won't have to pay after all. It is good to know that people still care for each other in the middle of this crisis.

I have been a Wal-Mart shopper for ever! And I have always considered this store some kind of American Tradition, a part of my home. Even when me and my family traveled to Argentina 3 years ago it was a pleasant surprise to find a Wal-Mart so far away from home.

However, after watching the nightly News on T.V, I feel betrayed and sorrowed. For whoever didn't watch the same news I did tonight, here it goes: A former Wal Mart employee who got disabled after a horrible accident with a semi truck, is being sue by Wal Mart because due to this accident she won a settlement from the company that owned the truck who caused the accident.

It is a scary feeling, your heart stops and your worst fear paralyzes you from head to toes: your kid was just next to you and now is gone! You start screaming your kid's name first not to loud but then you realize that someone might have taken him (her) and you get totally insane!

In crowded places like a big store or an amusement park a lost kid becomes an easy pray for predators, who usually blend in the crowd waiting for an opportunity like this.

It takes a second for a kid to disappear! A quick thinking could save your kid of being abducted. Panic would only act on your disadvantage and waiting too long trying to find you child in the crowd will only delay help.

For years our schools have been teaching our children to read, to write, and other subjects to provide them with the necessary knowledge to successfully graduate from High School.

However, crucial subjects which are part of every citizen's life, have been left aside not considering the fact that without these "subjects" our kids are growing in complete ignorance of the laws that rule our society. Rules that will affect them soon or later, in one way or another.

We teach our kids what is right and wrong, the same way our parents did to us 20 years ago! The truth is that, ever since, the laws have become more and more complex and they have extended to touch the limit of juveniles too.

I have had a Nextel phone since 2003 approximately. I started my account through the Police Dpt. I work for and later on I opened my own account.

I was advised by Nextel that I could use two additional lines in a family plan for the same price I was paying before, so I decided to use one of the lines for my son.

The plan was 1,400 minutes per month, free incoming calls, nights (after 7pm) and weekendes free, free nation wide long distance and free use of the direct connect.

The next time I called was because the bill did not reflect what the Customer Service Rep. had advised me it was going to be.

We all grew up breathing the Romeo and Juliet mentality. A couple of teenagers crazy in love trying to defend their love from society. Romantic? Maybe...for other times.

The truth is that the spontaneous relationships from the past have been buried through the years under law suits and today the school sweet harts better be very careful or the modern Romeo might end up behind bars with a label of SEX OFFENDER for the rest of his life.

On January 18Th of 2006 a Task Force for Juvenile Sex Offenders prepared a report to review this law. This report was submitted to the Governor and the Florida Legislature in order to modify the Juvenile Sex Offenders Florida Law as it reads today:

Detective Baker giving a presentation for parents at Lawtey Community School

Did you know that MySpace.com is not a paradise for predators anymore? Now kids are protected by a shield! The Cyber Crime Unit from the Attorney General Office has come up with a site which not only provides parents and kids with excellent sources of information but also supplies My Space.com with a protective shield.

This shield will appear on your kid's site alerting predators to stay away because the site is under supervision. To know more about this visit www.myspace.com/florida_cpcu where you will find real kids testimonies and other sources of information on how to protect your kids against these criminals.

As painful as it sounds, Florida is the fourth state in the US where the child pornography over the Internet accounts for the largest volume of cyber crime. According to Bill McCollum, Attorney General for the state of Florida: "The state authorities know very well the dangerous activities that on line child predators engage in and the amount of risks children face". Therefore, severe new laws have been implemented as October 2007 to protect our children against Internet predators and to prevent children sexual exploitation.

Thanks to these new laws these criminals will face maximum sentences extended three times more to fifteen years. These laws are not only against predators who solicit kids through the Internet but also for those who own child pornography.

I asked my son today what he would like this new year to be like and without hesitation he answered:

- I wish my friend Bobby's daddy will come back from the war this year and

- I wish my sister will find a new job where she won't be lay off again and

- I hope my daddy finds so much work we will be able to keep our home because I really like my school

- I also want my granny to be able to buy her medicines cheap and not to be worried about health insurance no more

- I wish for that man who is living under the bridge on 295 to find a home and work and