Brundageba

Heartening ! This is a move in the right direction.

Our Yaris has soooo many battle scars from the curb. So does my husband as I repeatedly give him sh**. for each new one. Now, there are so many I don't care anymore. Parking in town is like self inflicted demolition derby !! (gotta be extra careful if you bolt out to run across the street that you don't fall on your face with the un-level asphalt !!!!!)

I'm touched by your concern for others Marcelyn. We need more of that. Mighty sweet !!!!

How did the petition go? Folks in my Neighborhood Watch community would like to get more signed and to you. Many could not make it to Chiriqui Storage Swap meet. We will be having a get-together Nov 10...might be a good time. Meanwhile I would like to get some of those petitions and make them available ASAP to our folks here in Brisas. Thanks........ALISON

Thanks !....

Go Danny go.......

Somehow I created my own gallery but have yet to discover how to put a photo in it since the first one. I keep getting MEMBER GALLERY. How to I add photos to my own gallery?

Keep fighting Marion. Someday soon this will all be history. One day at a time. We never stop thinking about you...and send our prayers as well Alison and Bill

Flossy sez..."Ya'll come on down" ( BBQ chicken...her favorite. She can't wait ! ) .

It seems it's quite clear that it is near impossible to be placing these 12 year old gun toters who murder in jail....here according to what I read on the mandate of treaties signed by the Republic. Rehab/retention/vocational institutions ( into which they are retained for purposes of redirecting their criminal paths) seems the only solution to immediately get them off the street. The Rep of Panama is now is a very tough spot...and so are we. Don Ray said it will probably take a blood bath and a major insurrection of the populous to see some real action. Ok so if it takes the immediate building of numerous "rehab/vocational" facilities ...fine , break ground! That's how I see it...or understand it. Problem is (as Roger points out...) the politics of this makes movement in a positive direction quickly very difficult.

Excellent...thanks Roger B. Mobilization of NGO groups...such as "Big Brother/Big Sisters" that exist in the US , (groups such as the Kiwanis, Lions Club and I'm sure there are more) need to be encouraged to step up and take a bite out of youth crime by helping establish more programs. The mentality of the barrio child criminal may be one that is feared here...I don't know. I am also not informed as to how the social welfare system works here that mandates correction/protection of children in home settings that encourage crime. My mom was a child social worker in a large city in the USA.. I grew up hearing her stories and her frustrations, and as well meeting her young clients. Even in the best systems...this problem of juvenile crime is a challenge. I remember in my college classes the question of whether or not a child should be tried as an adult was a big deal...still is....and it's 55 years later. One thing is clear . If something pretty radical is not done quickly in this country, it will soon be a blood bath here with youth gangs. That would be a shame to see happen. Meanwhile each of us needs to take very seriously how very unprotected we are living in what is considered to be affluent communities by these young thugs. Just when you least expect it...they could be in your face. Paranoid? You bet.

If you can't understand the Spanish...find the same thing in English. Keith is providing valuable information...albeit in Spanish legaleese. (I have trouble with English legaleese !) Panama with its ailing penal system, a very weak social welfare system to assist in the rehabilitation of delinquents, and rising gang problems is pressured ( UN, OAS, Human Rights organizations) to be fair, be kind and offer alternatives to under aged criminals. The sense is that they get worse in prisons, and in Panamas prisons I'd have to agree. To have in place an effective rehabilitation effort that works takes enormous resources: government financed as well as NGOs. I doubt this will happen over night. The powers that be are caught between a rock and a hard spot. So for us....it's duck and cover.

http://www.oijj.org/en/preguntas-frecuentes In English, a load of information here from the International Juvenile Justice Observatory. When you begin to scan these studies and recommendations it all makes sense. BUT when you review what exists here in this country right now in the way of facilities and resources, the Rep of Panama has a VERY long way to go to meet this proposed ideal. Jails are sorely overcrowded and mismanaged, juvenile rehab facilities exist but are few in number relative to the need.

Here's a quote from the Organization of American States ( Interamerican Commission on Human Rights) on Juvenile Justice: 26. Like the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Commission believes that protection of the best interests of the child means, inter alia, that the traditional objectives of criminal justice –namely, repression and punishment- must give way to reparation, rehabilitation and social reintegration of children and adolescents through the diversion of cases, or the use of other means of restorative justice, such as those discussed in the corresponding sections of this report, with as little recourse as possible to adjudication and precautionary measures or punishments involving the deprivation of liberty.[29] The pressure on the Rep of Panama's justice sytem is in the direction of rehabilitation, and that seems to be the message that was given to us by authorities at the meeting.

http://www.unicef.org/lac/JUSTICIA_PENALingles.pdf In English, more light on a difficult situation. http://endcorporalpunishment.org/assets/pdfs/reports-thematic/Juvenile-justice-report-2015.pdf This is the mindset. This is the uphill battle that is faced here when you have a 13 yr old kid and a gun in your face with his finger on the trigger. "He's just a kid in his formative years" ( sooo don't go tossing him in jail with the grown up bad guys) So teach him how to use a computer in a rehab facility with computers you don't have and rehab facilities we do have enough of...and oh, he can't read. back to square one. This is a tough one.

Mighty sad situation Keith. Children who learn the criminal path early and are essentially rewarded more for that than a hug from parents they don't have or who are in jail. Kids who can not read, who feel disenfranchised are becoming young gangsters and receive a pat on the head from their gang leader...."good job" ! For once they have succeeded at something and it is recognized. Yeiks. This is a sickness of society. Solving it may not be an easy task. Meanwhile the adult criminals...many of whom themselves came up in this same manner are fully taking advantage of this system that has no control over crimes committed by youth.....and it multiplies! A very complex problem. Where will this be in 10 years?

Where is the access?. I see it on google earth but am clueless as to how to navigate there. We found a lake out of Gualaca...went forever in our 4X$...never found it. There's Fortuna...but that's a bit out of the way

Personal experience?.....inquiring minds wanna know

Wait...I was a newcomer once. In fact does 8+ yrs here even qualify me as an oldcomer. I don't mind the 5 blocks of walking. I carry an umbrella and have the luxury of finding a parking space I can park my vehicle in ...easily. Yup the luggin of the groceries can be problematic....that's a drag.

The coast is brutally hot. The mountains do not have abundant lakes...or lakes period. Rivers , yes. Beaches, yes. There is some of the very best fishing on the earth on the Hannibal Banks close by. Not cheap.

...hold um. Might see them in action again.....ya never know. What could possibly be unconstitutional about a parking meter?