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SCARED.AT 66 ON DISABILITY LOW INCOME BUT HAVE A MILLION GREAT MEMIORS. LOVE MUSIC,THEATER,OLD MOVIES AND A LOT OF USELESS TRIVIA

Someone wrote and wondered how I was and what I have been doing well here goes hold on to your seats!
With my 660. SSi check from getting shot by my dad 14 yers ago.I am living in a low income home.At the age of 21 I had custody of 2 kids I gave birth at 17 and 21 .(I had to fight every other year to keep custody),They are beautiful and have a few scars from our misjudgments in life,you see I got mixed up about about what is important ,so many of us feel or past tense felt got into a war,we had to win I am not going to say my kids were not thought of but did get caught in a tug of war!Many kids get caught in this and it is terrible,I wish I knew ahead of time what was going on in our little minds!At 21 I had a hysterectomy which added fuel to the fire!I worked pizza H and grocery stores I worked factory and literally thought by busting my back I would make great leaps of success (boy does my back hurt)You see I was one of the lucky souls to be blessed attractive (instead I got alot of harassment along with being shy I took all of it!)I found out all about family service subsidized housing, salvation army's Christmas program ,along with thanksgiving ,the food pantrys ,legal services etc.I would sneak home pizza for my kids you see after a 4 hour shift you get a 15 min break and if you work 6 you get to eat but you couldn't take it home.and life goes on.
I am not blaming anyone at what life offered me I had some wonderful times in life .But the lessons My Oh My!
I watched two people that came from the poor side of the tracks and marry ,marry others and marry again ,so of course I did the same .And then I met a social worker who had me stand back and look at the big picture WOW what a scene,Well I went to school got my GED went to college started as summer class and then I took on the world really ready to fight everyone and show them what it is all about!19 credits on the line I start hemmoraging well ater another emergancy surgury my credits went down the toilet as smart as I was I was blinded to know I need to ask the collage to contact my teachers and ask for them to continue my class at a lter date then lying in the hosp my sociology teacher who was a preacher was making rounds at the hospital OH THERE YOU ARE, WHAT happened to you,YOU SHOULD HAVE NOTIFIED ME I AM SO SORRY YOU HAVE LOST YOUR CREDITS. I Had about 1 month and a half left of school.This would be one of my biggest lessons in my life as my work never amounted enough to pay this back and has ruined my credit to this day I am 52!
I have had two short lived resturants in a down town district were buildings were attached to each other and roaches my gosh I has a bug man come n he said it would do no good to spray if the others did not and so I closed ,the other well it is the case of alcoholism.Gone too!Factory laid off .LUCK OF THE IRISH!BOO HOO! I finally worked as a nurses aide and then got in on a course at home to become a legal assistant and that was about the time 38 years old I was shot and lost a lung lobe!my 15 year old got preg while i was on a ventilator. people thought i was going to die so they robbed me, I came out with only the house slippers on my feet.Please do not attempt to use this as a story I will hunt you down and sue you!All rights are mine)My children are productive and happy there are so many episodes I used as lessons for myself through out!

Dave Canterbury of Discovery Channel's Dual Survivor is now on Facebook. If you are looking to gain great insights into survival, this is the man to follow. He is also interactive with those who follow his page, so if you have a question he'll more than likely respond.

Namaste-

Anora

It's scary. Some people cringe right up if I say those words. Those that bear the same battle scars are all related.

Something like that. Well whatever doesn't kill me, definitely makes me stronger.

At first when I talk to someone, they get sad. But what you don't understand is, it's OK now, because it's over. It's been over for more than two years now

I am learning as I go. My biggest problem was worrying about what his family was thinking. I was sure lies and rumors were flying around. I hate drama, always have. And I sure would hate to be a seed for it.

My kids tried so hard and were a big help. They said not to worry about them, because the truth would come out. I feel like I am always defending myself. Well I had enough.

Of course they were right. I have learned, that as evils try to overcome, stay focused and stay strong. We end up being a rainbow after a fierce storm. Cool, huh?

Writing all over the internet are all pieces of my book which I believe I will entitle, "Behind the Mastermind (of an abuser)".

In talking, chatting, emailing with people all over the country so far (I hope to be able to say 'world' some day), I have told enough of the profile, shocking many of them that someone actually knows, understands, honestly was there, being spat on for example on the floor. Yes, I was there.

I also have not been surprised. These beasts get stronger by degrading decent, caring human beings. I think the common ground for us, is we are wanting to trust, wanting to believe, and actually do feel guilty for the wrong reasons.

I found myself actually apologizing, after being hit. Those who were in the battle know.

The more publishings out there, in my eyes, the more credible I am for someone to reach out to. I have too many things that I want to do.  But at least I want to be part of the solution and not part of the problem.

How can I find these people? I pray.

Last May, I was still a fresh mess.

I had just moved to a small, new house with my three kids, ages 19, 17 and 5, and left behind a house we call "the dungeon". I had to borrow money to close on the sale, due to having to pay almost $9,000 to the IRS and New York State for my husband's self-employment back-taxes.

After being controlled and abused for 22 years, he was finally removed, and we could breathe. The transition was rough. I was scared to death, constantly looking over my shoulder. If I had a dime for every time he'd say, "A piece of paper won't stop me!" I wouldn't have to work again. The second part of it was usually, "I will find you, and kill you," being stared down with daggers as he made his face tremble to reinforce to me, that he was crazy enough to do it.

Two of what appeared to be the nicest people you'd ever meet, hurt me deeply. My husband and my old boss, well everybody loved them.

Here I sat in this new house, with these people that I gave birth to, that I felt like I didn't even know. I wasn't allowed to talk to them unless my husband was present. I had a long climb ahead.

Then I lost my job. My old boss is notorious for "turn and burn." He owes me a few hundred dollars that I'll never see; he fought my unemployment case and won. The one payment I received, I had to pay back. Nice guys sometimes do finish last. I felt like the world was laughing at me. I was tired of defending myself. The insecurities nearly drowned me.

I started my own business, since I'd worked every position of IT: receptionist, office manager, dispatch, sales, project management, HR, accounting, even field technician.

As I quickly ran out of money and receiving nothing from the ex in support, I questioned my decisions. I stepped out into my backyard early on May 6 and said aloud, "Am I doing the right thing?" as I stared at and absorbed the beauty of the sky and the green spring grass.

I looked down and something caught my eye. I did a double-take. I grew a smile from ear to ear, and said, "Thank you!" I took a picture with my phone. Looking at me smack in the face, was two tiny shreds of wood, that formed a perfect cross.

Since then, I find the strength to keep going. Any time I feel the smallest shred of self-doubt, I end up seeing something spectacular. It happened so much, I started bringing my camera everywhere. And it still happens. If I could get paid to share this, I would do it full time. 
 

        Hello. My name is Steve, I'm 46 years old, married and I have 2 teenage kids. I couldn't believe that there was a website like this one. A friend at work told me I should try it out, as a possible answer to my issues.

         I was in a workplace accident in 2005. My neck was broken, back broken in 5 places, cracked sternum, collapsed lung, my left leg was amputated below the knee, I was in a coma, and from the date I went into the hospital, to the time I was released from rehab was approx. 7 months. A great portion of rehab was spent gaining back muscle mass, because when you lay still for months on end, you lose muscle mass. I lost 70lbs of muscle mass, so it was quite a treck back to the real world. I now suffer from post tramatic stress disorder, according to my Dr.

          After my hospital stay and rehab, I felt grateful to be alive. I was also grateful for the fact that I lived in a country where my medical expenses were paid for. With my extensive injuries, I would no longer be able to do what I used to do, which was running heavy machinery. My back just would not tolerate it. But, I was alive and had a wonderful wife and 2 great kids.

          I've worked since I was 13, and never minded working. I think we are designed to work and earn our keep. I thought to myself, I will just have to be re-trained at something new. Excited about the prospect of an unplanned career change, I started looking at school, online courses, or new trades. That ended very abruptly. School aint free, and my WCB payments abruptly ended about 8 months after rehab. WCB Alberta, does not pay out a pension, regardless of how serious your injuries are. I enquired about money for school. Not a hope in hell!

         With no money coming in and only enough in the bank to survive a few more months, my wife and I decided we would have to sell our home to cash in on the equity. We did just that and came away with about $30,000. Quite a nice chunk of cash I will admit, however with my wife, who by this point has started working, only capable of earning about $1200 a month, that chunk of cash wont last long with 4 people to feed. So, we budgeted. The money lasted 2 years.

          We have since, moved from Alberta back to our home town in B.C. where atleast the cost of living is cheaper. When our savings ran out, we literally had no choice but to rack up the credit cards. Not for holidays, or jewellery, or entertainment, but for food, rent, utilities, kids school expenses and basic clothing. Nothing frivolous

           So, here we sit, with our $17,000 credit card bills, $850 a month in rent, life ins payments, food bills, blah blah blah. Just like everyone else. I now work as a night clerk for a small motel and make about $1800 a month, and my wife makes about $1000. We survive, simply because I know how to budget.

          All that said, I have a plan. It's a business plan.  

          Here's a brief description of my business ideas. I make, and have been making for about 25 years my own smoked meats, sausage, salami, cured hams, bacon.... I also make a hot smoked candied salmon, that everyone I know goes wild for. I started selling my salmon at flea markets and craft sales, and actually was starting to make money. It wasn't long though, before the Canadian food Inspection Agency put an end to it, because I need to have an inspected facility. I looked into it, and although I know how to meet their requirements, I cannot afford it. I decided to research the market, and sent out free samples of my product. I recieved amazing responses. A large paving company wanted to buy a couple thousand 4oz pieces for staff Christmas gifts, safety awards and for all of their corporate clients on the holidays. A university with an alumni of about 12,000, would like to see it in their campus store, as an impulse snack purchase, where 4,000 plus students pass through every day, and interest was expressed by a Tourism BC Info centre, to have my product in there building for the tourists, and where I live, tourism is our bread and butter. I live in the Rocky Mountains.

         This is a fantastic product, that needs professional marketing and sales people to take to the marketplace. I have all the skills and capabilities to run the day to day operations of production, packaging, labelling and shipping. I need money to go into production and for the cost of marketing and sales, so I need advice on where to look for financing, and how to attract investors. I also want to hear from people with similar circumstance. It gives me a sense of continuity, knowing I'm not alone.

         In closing, my story is not one of misfortune, so much as it is a lesson. That lesson is that we can do anything we choose to do. We just need to channel our efforts in the right direction, and ask for help when we need it. I don't use my accident as an excuse. If anything, my accident led me to finally do something great! Starting a business that will provide a great product, while creating jobs and a sense of contibution.

         Thank you for reading my little story, and I really look foreward to all sorts of communication. I want to give as much as I get.  

     Sincerely

     Steve K. 

I don't even know where to start...  I'm a 41 year old female who was recently divorced after I discovered my husband had been having various affairs for the last 10 years.  I have no formal accredited education and finding work has been almost impossible with the economy in our area.  I currently work 6 days a week making less than minimum wage (working as an "independant contractor").  I have no health benefits of course.  I had a TIA last month and am supposed to be taking medications that I cannot afford, I cannot afford my doctors office visits either.  I lost my last contact lense a few months ago and am wearing glasses that are over 8 years old.  Needless to say, the eyeglasses are NOT effective and I wonder why I wear them.  I have been dealing with a very tight budget and eat mostly ramen noodles with no meat to save money.  I just found out that my rented room will no longer be available after sept 1.  My income is so little that I cannot save money for a security deposit.  I have looked at various rental properties and cannot afford any of them.  I have checked with various state and federal agencies but I am ineligible for any help because I do not have children living with me and I am not disabled.  Even though I am working to the point of exhaustion every day I still cannot survive.  I think there should be some agency that I have overlooked that could help me get new glasses, or maybe help me to be able to see a doctor.  I have worked hard my whole life and feel like I have nothing to show for it when I cannot even afford to go to the grocery store and buy food.  I'm so tired of ramen. If anyone has any helpful ideas, I would much appreciate them.  Thanks!

Hello!

 I am the mom to 4 kids. Their ages are 12 yrs., 3 yrs., 2 yrs and 6 months. We have been lucky enough to be blessed with healthy kids. Unfortunaly, our 3 yr. old has just been disgnosed with a form of kidney disease called Nephrotic Syndrome. 

She has been seen by kidney specialists and thankfully responding positivly to treatment. The sad truth is, this is a life long illness. We have health insurance for her, but each year we need to pay out of pocket the deductable of $1500. Then we are still responsible for 20% of all bills incurred. Plus co-pays, which are high since we see specialists, as well as the cost for her daily meds.

We have already begun getting calls from the billing office for the doctors she see's as well as bills threatening to go to collection accounts.I don't want anything extra, I'm just looking for help to pay off these current bills. I fear that they will refuse to treat her if our balance continues to rise and never get's paid off. Even to pay half would be helpful.  

She NEEDS to continue treatment.  Children who do not receive treatment only have a 50% chance of survival.   

I am a single father trying to survive with my two kids i need a financial blessing that would be truly a blessing

Hi Everyone!  My name is Beth and I am from Missouri!  I wanted to tell you my story.............My husband and I have been married for 15 years and have one son who is going to be 14 this October.  We have 2 mini daschunds named Amos and Andy.  All of them are spoiled!  My story starts on November 6, 2005.  My husband is (was) an avid deer hunter.  November 6, 2005 he decided to go the weekend before and check out his deer stand.  He checked it out and was getting down from it when one of the boards let go of the tree and he fell 15 feet.  Landing on his shoulder, neck and wrist.  Luckily one of our friends was with him, he didn't see him fall, but he heard him.  He ran over to my husband and his first thought was that he was dead.  Luckily, not.  Gary got him up and they headed for the truck.  My husband decided that he was able to drive himself the 15 miles home.  He shouldn't have....but he did.  When he got to the house, he was in very bad shape.  I forgot to mention that he is a very brittle diabetic.  He takes insulin 4 times a day and it has never been under control.  By the time that he got to the house his blood sugar was very low.  I believe that he was very close to going into a diabetic coma.  I made it to the hospital (about 25 miles away) in record time.  To make a long story shorter.........he ended up breaking his left wrist, dislocating the middle finger on that hand and jarring every other bone in his body.  After, 3 surgeries and several years.....his left hand still does not work.  We have applied for disability and of course been denied.  We have appealed and have had the hearing!  We have gotten a letter that states the decision was favorable, but no idea when.  Needless to say, I did what I had to do in order to survive on one income.  Right now, I am several months behind on my credit card payments and the medical bills.  I am one month behind on my mortgage.  I do not want to lose my house.  But am not really sure how I am going to keep surviving.  I have the knot tied in the rope, but I am afraid that it is around my neck. 

Any encouragement and support would be greatly appreciated.

Survival..of the fittest. This word seems to be rather commonplace these days as the price of food and gas surpass all time highs. What can be done about this? It seems as if people are in a durg induced state so as not to complain. Our current day government was put into office purposely to make this country fall. In biblical meaning, the US is the great "whore" of Babylon. All great empires fall..Rome, Egypt, Greece. What can we do to bypass the falling of the empire? One idea is to stay home and stop buying anything for a few days. If we could get most of the country to do this, just for a few days, just don't purchase anything. Just sit back and watch what happens. It would create such a problem for the wealthy with their stock market crashing and them losing billions of their greenbacks. What I am wondering is what happened to the people who cared back in the 70's and did something about what was happening in this country? I am surprised that our youth hasn't stepped forward and taken some action on what is happening here. Have we become a fat, lazy, lethargic, selfish, self-centered society? It's seems as if people are asleep and just don't care.

Our young people do nothing. This is why the person with the most money wins. Our youth has been taught that more is better. We now live in the Gimme, gimme era. All people care about is themselves but here is the clincher..we all have to pay for gas and food. Do we enjoy paying outrageous prices? Since a year ago, we are now paying double and triple prices for the same things! Ouch! Somebody wake up and do something!!!

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Life is definetly a true test of survival, and I really feel for so many at this site. I so wish I could help all of you. I to have been where most of these people are, and I have rebuilt my life more than a few times due to the loving assistance of family and strangers. Believe in the fact that life is brutally hard, for even those of goodness and of well hearted. I truly believe that there is nothing more difficult then to try and survive in todays world as a person on there own without partner or family help. It is amazing how so many do though, and with that said we must keep faith that all will be ok some how.... no matter what the turn out or the situation! Good or bad! As bad as that sounds, it is the truth in some way! Although I do not like it at all, I just hope there is a reason! Please stay stronge for those tryin to survive, because quiting can not be much better. Especially for our kids. I believe the hardest part of all this struggling is to get past the stress of not making it through...... but we have to breath deep breaths to stop and analize a solution and not get frustrated and make a wrong decision. I will pray for everyone tonight! May all your prayers come true. I am a believer in possitiveness! Keep your hope alive and stronge. And remember, there is always the fact that we are still alive when others are not...... just keep tryin to stay alive!

Greetings! I am a 44/YO woman diagnosed with Lupus In April, 2006. I am very sick and have attempted working. I enjoy working but when I do I become very ill. I have a disability hearing coming up, but not until June, 2007. The bills have piled up and it just adds to my stress. I am going to do a work-at-home job but it will take time to earn income from that. I need help and don't know where to turn. I am faithful and spiritual. I pray for others mostly because I am not a selfish person. I need some financial help to carry me through until my work-at-home position starts paying me. Is there a kind-hearted person who can help a  sick, weakened soul such as myself out there? If so, your help would be so greatly and deeply appreciated! May God bless those souls who reply to my call for help! I have no family, so that is not an option for me. I desperately need medical care and cannot afford it! I am on my knees and just trying to survive. Someone please help me! Thank you greatly for reading my request for help!  Gina Bennett

I worked for the Adult Entertainment business in Minneapolis for different independent business owners. In my job, I faced people in wild situations of drug and alcohol abuse, gangs, prostitution, theft, abnormal sexuality, and mental health issues. The adult underworld gave me many opportunities to study the diversity of behavioral deviances in the community. For some time, I worked as a night clerk for loss prevention and security in adult bookstores and exotic dancing establishments. All of this is normal for a person who has seen the same behaviors inside the judicial system.

Diversity taught me that each person’s decision affects everybody. America is a crucible of multicultural values and emotional IQ’s. I believe America should next focus on restructuring education so all students have the critical and creative thinking skills needed for the changing American culture.    

People need to expand their awareness of social influences and connections people have with one another. Scholars must use everyone’s stories of history as “the mirror,” for choosing guidance from the past, or educating the future generations for a unified, national culture of modern Americans.

I and other people grew up learning the dominant classes use racism as a basic tool for diverting the attention of the disadvantaged from social inequality. The disadvantaged and the uneducated are unaware of the freedoms to overpower their oppressors from their social positions. Education at Metro State expanded my conscientious stage of critical thinking so I can interact with new ideas taught and exchanged with me from other cultures.

I learned a lot by interacting with my neighbors and the public. First, people wanting to lead an educational path must face the unknown, and break away from the mediocre learning methods taught in traditional institutions of learning. Second, people can learn and teach without overstepping the boundaries of dishonoring the individual’s intimacy and privacy. Third, a student can learn from and educate other cultures using their knowledge of history and languages. Languages bring new perspectives for a clearer understanding of American history and cultural diversity. Differences aside, people are the same everywhere and there is a need to enlighten ourselves.

America needs people to work for a new community leadership and teaching the educationally disadvantaged to make a spiritual transformation through nontraditional, multi-cultural education. Diversity taught me that everyone faces the same problems, but each culture has their way of resolving problems, some work and some do not. People need to have human contact, which antisocial behaviors like racism and prejudices builds walls between cultures.

Educating people of the social inequality reduces racism and the fighting among one another, like marionettes controlled by their oppressors. Would multicultural and personality trait education improve the lives of people in America? Do people ever forget their reality built on negative experiences, culture, values, or prejudices? Without good communication skills, people will not understand the ideas of important historical and traditional values guarded by society.

People take for granted of overlooking the simplistic method of asking questions about the causes of social problems people perpetuate in their behavior. Cross-cultural education and socialization with other cultures will help people understand in mind of their personal, historical, social perspectives of likenesses and differences. People must use everyone’s stories of history as “the mirror,” for choosing guidance from the past, or educating the future generations for a unified, national culture of Americans.

Many people fear of losing their cultural identity as naturalized Americans, which the cultural ignorance projects onto others as a social inequality in the community. The fear brings social inequity of racism and ethnocentrism into the dominant culture. The result of ethnocentrism excludes people from understanding other cultures because of their ignorance of their own cultural history, as well as the cultures of the scapegoat races. This happened when in our American history the English and other “white” Europeans were the dominant race, in which the Caucasian population reduces every year with some panic. The media contributes to the arising ignorance and racial tension among the exclusive, ethnic societies in the community.     

 
However, people cannot escape the racist terminology or political correctness because racism creeps into everybody’s life. Is calling a person or a group racist a form of racism? Why do people call somebody a racist when that person may be the same race, or do not have the power to oppress the person doing the labeling? I understand that racism is the systematic, institutionalized mistreatment of a group of people because of their racial heritage. Racism roots itself in the social inequalities exploited by the privileged, powerful oppressors of controlling the misperceived power over the disadvantaged. Who are the undefined oppressors? 

Racism exists within the cultural diversity, but people must learn to get along in the neighborhood. In Minnesota, there is a misunderstood term for internalized racism called “Minnesota Nice.” I thought that this is a disparaging phrase meaning the person curbs the internalized opinions about another and tolerating their individuality.        

However, people mind their manners in public, but our society gradually hides itself in privacy. I believe society is killing itself with the overuse and practice of “political correctness.” The well-meaning practice of sensitivity and courtesy expanded beyond helpfulness and it is turning into a harmful practice. Thus, the media exploits political correctness for shock value and it is harmful to the well-being of our society. Cable television airs politically offensive shows using stereotyped ethnic behaviors, which teaches the next generation that racism exist and it is to be laughed at the expense of others.

People need to meet their neighbors and elected officials because the problem now is that America is becoming an individualist society—antisocial with the use of the Internet, debit cards, and wireless communications. We need to get along if anyone wants to get ahead. My thoughts about multiculturalism and its issues are never ending, because people generalize their judgment of others out of fear and ignorance.

I believe that races, social classes, and education is not a barrier for a better world, but becoming a xenophobic society may be the new barrier. Individualism is a development the educated person confronts when he or she compares and tries to understand it through new, anthropological lenses. Each person must have the optimism in accepting everything in front of them and enjoy the full human experience of the American diversity offered by multicultural education. I find that diversity is the key to individual freedoms, but it also traps the person to conform to the norms of society.

This is my Extra Credit for Soc. 1154-91 in 2005.

This is a typical overview of our Juvenile Justice System (JJS) and the immediate need for society to take the initiative to share our values to our youth rather than locking them up. We must remember that all troubled youths are caused by the enviromental influences and the lack of guidance from our parents or society.

One such text book that I read for my JJS course offers the insight of our JJS Courts in America and its problems among society and juveniles needing attention. Enjoy.

1.) Confidentiality and Accountability of Juveniles in Secrecy.

       In the Juvenile Justice textbook by Humes, E. (1997), "No Matter How Loud I Shout", Judge Dorn wants the legislators to lift the veil of secrecy so the public can see the successes that the Juvenile Justice System (J.J.S.) of his jurisdictional model had accomplished and its need to be rebuilt instead of demolishing it (p. 354-56).
      Many Court Officers will argue over the confidentiality controversy that it should be preserved if the J.J.S. is going to be actively involved without causing stigma to the juvenile, instead of shelving him/her away to deal with later before it is too late for any salvageable chance of rehabilitation. A case on point is the twelve-year-old boy brought before Judge Dorn for his fourth violent outburst in the three previous months with an assault with a deadly weapon charge (p. 76). The probation department had failed to act to the prior instances, until first something else serious happens to endanger the public safety (p. 76). The secrecy of the J.J.S. had failed this juvenile and his problems.
       Judge Dorn often reminds his Court that all children from all lifestyles are deserving of the attention of a functional and working J.J.S. for help when they arrive into his Court (p.365). However, the climate of public opinion is angry and fearful for public safety when they hear or read of judges’ opinions in the treatment of sending juveniles to camps and rehabilitation facilities; asking for the recall and impeachment of the judges (p. 323).            
       For example, Jason, co-defendant as an accessory to Ronald Duncan’s armed robbery and murder trial; he was given an immunity agreement by the prosecution for his testimony against Ronald. The local newspaper bolsters the agreement in the story that Jason will go free. The public and the victims are fearful and outraged at the prospect that justice had failed (p. 280).
       The law of the J.J.S. in California will allow Ronald Duncan to leave the California Youth Authority (C.Y.A.) at age 25, unless he is eligible for his first aftercare hearing at age 23. When Ronald leaves the California jurisdiction, the public will not know of his past offenses or his rehabilitation efforts, nothing at all. He will walk with a clean slate as if nothing had happened. This will put the public safety and trust at risk of not knowing any of Ronald’s hidden, dangerous desires or compulsions he may have yet to resolve (p. 343-44). Another example of public outrage of the escalating juvenile violence in Humes is the armed robbery of Joseph Gutierrez.
         Joseph Gutierrez- the victim of John Sloan’s armed robbery- walked into the courtroom late to hear the juvenile disposition of John’s case to the C.Y.A., instead of an adult corrections facility. Humes (1997) wrote the quote of Joseph Gutierrez disbelief in the Judge’s opinion,

 “…That kid stuck a gun in someone’s face-my face —and he’s going to camp, he can even get out early if he’s a good boy. That’s not holding him responsible. That judge is guilty of exactly what he criticizes his parents for—being too lax. This is why everyone is so disillusioned with Juvenile court” (p.329-30).

      The public does not cry out for a public reform of the J.J.S. or its rehabilitative efforts, instead they want to erode away the J.J.S in their ignorance of the need for the juvenile’s confidentiality and they do not care if they try to sentence a fourteen-year-old juvenile in an adult court (p. 311). The failure of the parents to take constructive efforts to involve themselves with their troubled youth and the interagency rivalries for possession of the juveniles have stalemated the J.J.S. for any agreements to work together as a successful unit of rehabilitation between the relationships of the juvenile, his/her parents, and society; straining further the J.J.S. to deal with only the more serious juvenile cases (p. 364).
       The view of this type of leniency and strain of the Courts is well known to most inner-city juveniles that each offender has a 25% chance of staying out on the street (p. 53). This offers the juvenile numerous opportunities of reoffending against the public without thinking about the relation between the consequences and the offense before detention is ever imposed (p. 333). Carla James and George Trevino both knew from their education from their street friends that the Court is mandated to impose the least restrictive sentence possible for the lesser crimes and status offenses (p. 53). Some of these juveniles will outgrow this behavior, but some will continue to reoffend regardless of the Courts efforts, these juveniles are known by the J.J.S. as the sixteen percenters (p. 176).
      The sixteen percenters committing low-grade misdemeanor offenses have failed to get the attention and services they require for rehabilitation at their introduction of the J.J.S. and slip away in time, undetected by the confidentiality agreements between the agencies of the courts. The Courts lackadaisical practice of overlooking the warning signals of the offenses and in its keeping of inaccurate or lost juvenile records have resulted with minimal chances for troubled youths to receive services, as it was in the case of George Trevino (p. 176).
      George Trevino was one of the juveniles that had fallen through the cracks of the system without any intense supervision or continued support of rehabilitative programs to help keep him on track. The J.J.S. did not know of George’s prior offenses or failed probation supervision and home life, allowing George to stray further into delinquent behavior (p. 111). Now George is being tried for armed robbery and he claims the J.J.S. had failed him. In Humes (1997) it is written the quote of George Trevino,

 “That’s how the system programs you. They let you go and they know that it encourages you, and then they can get you on something worse later on. It’s like, they set you up. Of course, I’m to blame too, for going along with it. I didn’t have to do those things, I know that …but the system didn’t have to make it so goddamn easy.” (p. 333).

      George was succeeding in many tasks for self-improvement, like acquiring his High School Diploma, his poetry writing, his work as a mentor and tutor to the other juveniles before his appearance at the trial (p. 331). The interagency juvenile confidentiality agreements did not permit his own attorney from finding out his exemplary record to bring before the judge, his last chance for mitigating his offense for a final shot at rehabilitation was lost (p. 331).
     Locking ourselves out of the secrecy of the J.J.S. is a detrimental and ignorant behavior for any successful benefits to come out of it. The best route to start with society is in the baby-steps of instituting educational and social programs of open awareness in the process of juvenile crime prevention, education, and involving all juveniles to participate as an equal standing member of society in fixing the problems from all levels of the government. Every person wants someone to care for them and that as a progressive society, if using this interaction and intervention to help the troubled and desperate, society will end up reversing the crises into a win-win situation. The juveniles crying out for help and attention may respond and terminate their delinquent behavior when peers and community are aware of the juvenile’s situation.
     The J.J.S. must reverse itself from treating juveniles as hardened adults and spend more time rebuilding the focus on the root issues and causes of juvenile delinquent behavior. Money is funneled into outdated systems of justice where some of the people do try to make a difference, but the system must focus on preventive and support programs instead of the endless building of correctional facilities. There will never be enough prisons built in America, never enough laws made or enforced, and the growing population of young adults learned behaviors would supersede all efforts to control the juvenile without first having responsible parenting. Society must be involved with the youths as mentors long before the J.J.S. becomes involved, a point driven previously by Judge Dorn’s model of intervention.
     The breadth of discretionary powers of the judge in the J.J.S. is the last chance effort for Parens Patriae for each case-by-case need basis for rehabilitation of the juvenile, but there is a chance for indiscretionary bias that can creep into the justice system and cause more harm than good. However, allowing a flat State statute will allow more juveniles to slip through the cracks of the J.J.S. without having the benefit of a tailored disposition to their case without the influence of the judge’s discretion. The confusion and argument stands to what do we do to change the course of our youth together as a whole, if society does not accept the change in attitudes needed.
   
 2.) When is it Appropriate to Use Waiver into Adult Criminal Court?

     The growing concern about how society treats its younger offenders has eluded the rights and responsibilities of the Courts decisions to deal with the expanding population of juvenile criminals by the use of waiver. In Kent v. United States, 383 U.S. 541 (1966), the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that all States must provide with some procedural Due Process protections during the waiver hearings for the “formalities” in the adjudication hearings of all States to choose whether the juvenile is tried in Juvenile Justice System (J.J.S.), or transfer into the adult criminal system.
      In Humes, E. (1997), "No Matter How Loud I Shout", the California “fitness” law allows a waiver into criminal court for juveniles sixteen years of age and older, unless hard evidence shows that the crime was not grave nor sophisticated (p. 101). The prosecution must examine five categories of the fitness test: the juvenile’s past criminal record, the time left to rehabilitate him, the results of the past attempts at rehabilitation, his criminal sophistication, and the seriousness of the crime (p. 97). Sophistication of the crime and its seriousness is the only two needed, but failure of any one of these requirements can result in the judge’s order for waiver (p. 97). Many juveniles in California that are waived into adult criminal courts, except for murder cases, end up serving less time at the California Youth Authority (C.Y.A.) than the juveniles disposed of in the J.J.S. courts (p. 102).
       Judge Dorn foresaw the Gerri Gault decision affecting the treatment of juveniles to be same as adults since 1964, where the J.J.S. and adult criminal courts are different by terminology only (p. 358). This discretionary power of waiver in the hands of the court in some states leaves the juvenile without much of any protections and rights of due process without a hearing or an appeal. As the New Jersey Supreme Court had noted,

 “Waiver to the adult court is the single most serious act the juvenile court can perform ... because once waiver of jurisdiction occurs, the child loses all protective and rehabilitative possibilities available.” (Redding, 1999).

 
     Some States have transfer laws that increased the “net-widening” of juveniles out of the J.J.S. by lowering the age requirement and expanding the lists of transferable offenses, or by eliminating some of the safeguards and protections the judges must consider before transferring the juvenile (Redding, 1999).
      Many Court Officers know from experience that the acquittal of the juvenile cases in the J.J.S. may not be in the kid’s best interest against the hard-line waivers to lock away the more serious offenders for rehabilitation efforts (p. 77).
      The L.A. District Attorney Gil Garcetti’s wants a two-tiered system of treating the worst offenders as adults and reserving the rehabilitative services for the salvageable youth without the system being treated as an application for social services (p. 175).
      Peggy from the Prosecution Office believes that the current disciplinary measures of juveniles is not working and by pushing the J.J.S. back into the nineteenth-century model where juveniles are treated the same as adults (p.166). She also believes in however, that an adult crime deserves an adult sanction regardless of the age of the culprit and excusing their behavior because of their age is no longer an excuse from not protecting the public from the other “Ronald Duncans”, or “John Sloans” out there (p. 68). Waiver issues presented the question of deciding judicial waiver requirements by statute between juveniles within the cut-off line of their sixteenth birthday, like Ronald Duncan and John Sloan.
      Ronald Duncan’s double homicide and robbery case allows him by California law to use adult defenses because of his youth status; he had narrowly escaped the waiver into adult criminal court because he is only nine days shy of his sixteenth birthday (p. 63-4). However, John Sloan’s charge of armed robbery will face the adult criminal system because of his being over the age of sixteen where he may be facing worse sanctions than the Juvenile Justice System (J.J.S.). Besides the fact that the whole family of Joseph Gutierrez had been disillusioned and traumatized for their safety in public, John’s crime did not involve homicide (p. 69). The punishment should fit the degree of violence of the crimes if committed by adults, but mitigating circumstances should also reflect on the personality and accountability of the juvenile charged. John had been the typical juvenile caught on the wrong path with one foolish mistake made that could alter his life.                                                            
      John Sloan is a bright student, from a good middle-class family, but he had problems in school of racial bigotry, and he was easily susceptible to pressure by his peers, namely his new street friend Richard (p. 91). Judge Dorn knows that the two biggest predictors of juvenile delinquency are the one-parent home and a failed educational experience (p. 76).     
      The Court of Judge Dorn ruled that John had committed armed robbery against Joseph Gutierrez, which John had met one of the twenty-four serious crimes of the State of California legislation requirements to transfer John into adult court (p. 96). However, the law ties the hands of individual discretion of Judge Dorn in whether he can declare John as an “unfit” juvenile and keep him in the J.J.S.(p.96).                                                            
       John’s behavior was reprehensible since he came from a good background and the crime committed was more serious than a prank (p. 101). If John were to show any remorse during the commission of the crime or had demonstrated any juvenile behavior, then the judge may indiscreetly break away from the statutes to offer a chance of rehabilitation (p. 101). However, Judge Dorn’s illegal decision to keep John in the J.J.S. for his amenably to treatment had saved John from adult sanctions; the double-jeopardy attachment from Dorn’s ruling was a very lucky break for him (p. 102). The best efforts of Judge Dorn and the J.J.S. to rehabilitate juveniles have enraged and disillusioned the public (p. 330).
      The public fears have changed policies in jurisdictions throughout America, which society had adopted laws that limit or eliminate the rehabilitative effects of the J.J.S. (p. 358). This action will produce unfair results of waiver decisions based on chronological age and not on the needs of the offender (p. 359). Waiver will not decrease crime, nor will it solve any future problems of rehabilitative issues when the Department of Corrections releases the convicted Adult-youth back into a different world. Neither the juvenile, nor society will feel any safer when the waived juvenile has the stigma of a permanent criminal record. 
      The J.J.S. response to curb fears and find new avenues of rehabilitation that will keep within the discretion of the judge is to work with each juvenile on a case-by-case basis and to catch all of the individual details within the juvenile’s life. The new rehabilitative model in the J.J.S. that seems to work for both sides of the issue of waiver is the introduction of the Blended Sentencing disposition.
      Blended sentencing is a combination sentence of either adult sanctions or juvenile probation, but not both. Juveniles benefit of receiving the blended sentencing reforms that may be the only required remedy to help curb the growing delinquency trends perceived by society instead of giving up on the juvenile. The juvenile offender’s rehabilitation would include restitution, community service, and crime victims’ panels so the juvenile will become part of society that they are rebelling against, understand the consequences of their behavior, and heal the generation gap.
      The juvenile successfully completing the blended sentencing or E.J.J. sanctions leaves without the adult criminal record to haunt them throughout their life. The alternative sentencing reforms will give the young offenders a chance to rehabilitate themselves, which other juvenile offenders ten years ago did not have this option.

In Minnesota, much of the same situations exist as in California and any youth may face the waiver into the Adult Court System at the young age of fourteen-years-old. Consult with your attorney on any matters of juvenile deliquency within your local jurisdiction. Society must participate equally with our younger generation.

                                                              
 
                        Work Cited
 
 
Redding, Richard E., “Examining Legal Issues: Juvenile Offenders in Criminal Court and Adult Prison.” Corrections Today Apr. 1999: Vol. 61 i2 pg. 92(9). InfoTracOneFile. InfoTrac. Inver Hills Community Coll. Lib. Inver Grove, MN. 15 Oct. 2004 http://infotrac.galegroup.com>. 
 
 
                                                                                                 
                                                                                                 
     
  3.) The most memorable characters in "No Matter How Loud I Shout." (Commentary)
    
      The most memorable characters that reflect the true operations of the Juvenile Justice System (J.J.S.) can be defined into three separate categories: successful, unsuccessful, and unknown.
     The J.J.S. has very few successes in California due to the large volume of cases coming into the Court system everyday. Downsized budgets, unavailable beds in the treatment facilities, and overworked caseworkers have lost track of their charges until another charge of delinquency was brought against them. Less than ten percent of the juveniles entering the J.J.S. have successfully completed the probation/aftercare since their Intake.
      The common knowledge of the street shared between the juveniles is the fact that the Court is mandated to impose the least restrictive sentence possible for the misdemeanor crimes and status offenses. This is said to be true of Carla James, a female gang-banger who runs with her “homeboys” for the thrill and respect of the young men to see that a girl can be so rough and play the games on the street and with her probation officer.
       The rarity of a female getting into trouble is not unheard of before in the J.J.S., but now it is becoming more of a commonplace occurrence and the Courts had seemed unaware of how to deal with them. It had seemed that Carla was given more chances by her probation officer to turn herself around than if she were instead a male. She had guidance counselors help her with continuing school and intensive, visitation contacts with her probation officer throughout her probation.
       
        The probation officer kept working with Carla to break down her barriers of emotional and self-esteem issues and gave her the resources to accomplish this task, which proved successful later in Carla’s life.
        However, juvenile rehabilitation in the J.J.S. is not easy for success if the system is unable or inept to provide the resources, or lost in the confusion of applying specific help needed by the troubled youth. Two such youths whom the odds are against them are John Sloan and George Trevino.
        John Sloan is a bright student, from a good middle-class family, but he had problems dealing with racial bigotry in school, and he was easily susceptible to pressure by his peers to join a gang, namely his new street friend Richard. Both had committed the act of armed robbery together for the thrill, but Judge Dorn had seen the amenability treatment potential of John. Judge Dorn disposed of John into the California Youth Authority (C.Y.A.) for a chance of education and self-esteem adjustment.
        John had accepted and participated successfully into his rehabilitation program through his introduction into the J.J.S.’s “shock therapy program” and he has not at the time of this book’s publishing been back into the system. The same could have been said true about George Trevino if the J.J.S. were to work properly for him, if it were not for fate stacked against him.
        George Trevino suffered a troubled childhood and became a ward of the court of California. The supervising agency of the Court had failed him. Problems became compounded for George when it had forced him to fend for himself in his developing years. Until he was introduced to, the J.J.S. George was one of the unlucky juveniles that had continued to fall through the cracks of the system, without any intense supervision or continued support of resources and rehabilitative programs to help keep him on track.     
       The J.J.S. did not know of George’s prior offenses or failed probation supervision and home life, allowing George to stray further into delinquent behavior. George was succeeding in many tasks for self-improvement, like acquiring his High School Diploma, his poetry writing, his work as a mentor and tutor to the other juveniles before his appearance at the trial. The interagency juvenile confidentiality agreements did not permit his own attorney from finding out his exemplary record to bring before the judge, his last chance for mitigating his offense for a final shot at rehabilitation was lost. This is a common theme and the focus of where the J.J.S. goes wrong to save good individuals needing the resources and supervision to succeed, leaving the juvenile to fall into a downward, unrecoverable spiral into a lifetime of misery.
      George, while at the C.Y.A., had shown himself to be resilient and driven to succeed by participating in his own rehabilitation efforts, but because of his environment, he had set himself back into gangs for his survival in the sub-culture of the detention hall and he was sent straight into adult corrections for the remainder of his sentence. This is a typical view of the everyday vicious cycle that males face in this system full of bias and ineptitude of tailoring the punishment to the person. One such person most deserving this kind of punishment given to George is Ronald Duncan. Ronald is the one juvenile in a class of the unknown sixteen percenters with a questionable future of recidivism, which it makes it more dangerous to society to have him released without a good profile of his background and a rehabilitative plan in place.
      Ronald Duncan’s double homicide and robbery case allows him by California law to use adult defenses because of his youth and juvenile offense status, and he narrowly escaped the waiver into adult criminal court, because he is only nine days shy of his sixteenth birthday. The law of the J.J.S. in California will allow Ronald Duncan to leave the California Youth Authority (C.Y.A.) at age 25, unless he is eligible for his first aftercare hearing at age 23. When Ronald leaves the California jurisdiction, the public will not know of his past offenses or his rehabilitation efforts, nothing at all. He will walk with a clean slate as if nothing had happened. This will put the trust of public safety at risk of not knowing any of Ronald’s hidden, emotional and psychological background of dangerous desires or compulsions he may have yet to resolve.
       Ronald Duncan still did not take any accountability for his actions or involve himself with any rehabilitative efforts provided by the C.Y.A. The J.J.S. will fail society by letting the offender walk out by statute at his twenty-third birthday at the earliest. Ronald is the textbook example of the person to keep inside the J.J.S., or adult corrections until he is proven non-threatening to public safety.
       The main problem of the system of all of the characters involved is the gamble that the punishment fits the offender, and that the rehabilitation efforts and resources are given appropriately and equally with continued supervision to carry on the juvenile throughout and beyond the process of successful completion.