Hi All,

Well, its Sunday again, the end of another week, or the beginning of a new one, depending upon your perspective. I gave up watching television, especially the news nearly three years ago. I was so sick of hearing a negative point of view, or one that seemed twisted or blown way out of proportion, so I decided, I wasn't going to hear it anymore. Nothing of any import passed me by because I heard it from someone, somewhere anyway. But at least I missed the endless hours of people going way overboard on any given issue.

The point is to try and maintain some positive point of view about most issues despite what seems like overwhelming odds in opposition to success. What I learned in taking this step away from the TV spin on the news was that there is always something you can do about any matter, but education always provides the answer. It also requires persistence, great patience and a desire to see a resolution despite the uphill battle one may need to face to achieve the goal.

Earthquake prediction is like that. There are some elements to success, yet those who have examined this area and have viewed the obstacles, will simply say, it is not possible, turn and go look at something else which bears fruit in early returns for success.

This week I faced two formidable obstacles and through the help of research and the willingness to get right to the top of the heap of those who make decisions brought fruitful results and for that, I am joyous. One of the issues was in regard to Parkfield and the other the Department of Labor. When push comes to shove, you just gotta keep shoving until someone eventually takes note of what you are trying to convey. Which in these cases was, you can do something about these problems, so get with it!

Upon reflection of the murder of little Samantha Runnion there may be no way to stop predators from feeding on little children, but educating parents on how to teach their children not to trust anyone may unfortunately be the answer. But these wolves in sheep's clothing appear in the most unlikely places at times. I wanted to share this true life story with you so perhaps we can all learn that you may think you know them, but you will be very surprised when you find out otherwise.

As you all know, I lived in Petaluma for 15 years and I spent a lot of time doing volunteer work and in doing so, I met a man who most people thought was going to be the next Mayor of the city. He seemed to have everything going for him and most people really liked him. He had a beautiful smile, warm personality and someone who got things done.

Well, when Polly Klass was kidnapped this man went out of his way to try to help, he was involved in the group that set up the original Polly Klass Foundation, but he told them he didn't think it was necessary for background checks to be done on the members as they all knew each other. One day I saw him on the news and he was crying and I thought it was so out of character for him and all of my instincts told me something was amiss.

Yeah, something was amiss all right. It turned out he had a long past history of being a child molester and was registered with the police department as a registered offender. The police department placed him at the top of the list of possible suspects in Polly's abduction, but never revealed to anyone his criminal record until after Polly's body was recovered.

My friends and I who had young children immediately thought back as to whether or not he had ever had time to be alone with our kids and were relieved when we realized, our kids were not victims of his predatory nature. Needless to say, the news of his past behavior hit the town with shock and surprise. Shortly thereafter, one of his victims filed suit against him and apparently it was settled out of court as there was no trial.

In time, he eventually lost business when people learned about his past. He is no longer the upstanding member of the community and is rarely seen these days. But I can assure everyone, not a single person in the community had any idea that this man had the type of past that eventually caught up with him.

There is a certain element in our society that hunts people, including children. They look just like anyone else and most people would never suspect they have these deviant or criminal behaviors. That's why serial killers are so difficult to find, because they look just like everyone else. So what can we do about these situations? The bottom line is not to trust your kids with anyone, tell them over and over not to be so trusting and become more street smart ourselves.

Much of the success of this web page has to do with research. In using our techniques in learning how to research, this research can go out into any use in our daily lives. It provides answers to many questions, solutions to problems and if we have gathered nothing else from our time spent here, this should be our one single shining achievement.

Petra

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