QUES: If you beat a dog in Schuylkill County, you'll probably get a $100 fine. If you repeatedly beat a woman, you'll probably get the same fine. In 2001, county judges heard 98 Protection From Abuse cases, finding the defendant guilty in 48 percent of those cases, either after a hearing or through a technical violation or plea. Of those found guilty, the majority were ordered to pay court costs, plus a $100 fine. No defendants were ordered to pay more than a $250 fine for violating the court order. In 27 percent of the cases, the charges were dismissed or the defendant was found not guilty. In the rest of the cases, charges were withdrawn or the matter is not yet resolved. Sarah T. Casey, executive director of Schuylkill Women in Crisis, finds it disturbing that in most cases, the fine for violating a PFA is little more than the fine someone would get for cruelty and abuse toward an animal. "In most of the counties surrounding Schuylkill County, the penalties given for indirect criminal contempt are much stiffer than those in Schuylkill County," Casey said. "What kind of message are we sending those who repeatedly violate Protection From Abuse orders? That it's OK to abuse women in Schuylkill County, because you'll only get a slap on the wrist?" Under state law, the minimum fine for contempt of a PFA is $100; the maximum fine is $1,000 and up to six months in jail. Like others who are familiar with how the county's legal system does and doesn't work for victims of domestic violence, Casey believes some changes are in order. Valerie West, a manager/attorney with Mid-Penn Legal Services, with offices in Pottsville and Reading, regularly handles domestic violence cases. She finds fault with the local requirement that a custody order must be established within 30 days after a PFA is filed. West said she feels a custody order should be allowed to stand for the full term of the PFA - up to 18 months - as it does in many other counties in the state. "It places an undue burden on the plaintiff, in terms of cost, finding legal representation and facing their abuser - not to mention a further burden on the system to provide those services," West said. "It may be difficult for the parties to reach an agreement so soon after violence has occurred.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: Who believes that 'some changes are in order', what other lawyer regularly handles these kinds of cases (PFA's) and what are their job titles?

QUES: It is almost summer time. Spring has been very long and very rainy. Winter was very warm and very long. In the winter the snows falls on the ground. It covers all the grass. It covers all the trees. It covers all the flowers. In the winter, the chipmunk goes to sleep. The chipmunk works all summer long to gather enough food for the winter. The chipmunk gathers berries. The chipmunk gathers pine cones. The chipmunk drops the pine cones off our roof and rolls them to her favorite hiding place. Boom! Boom! Boom! The pine cones sound so loud when they drop off the roof! The snow melts away in the spring. It is off the ground in our yard by the month of May. In June, there is still snow on the mountains. The snow on the mountains is still there until July. In May the grass starts to grow. In June, the flowers bloom again. In July, we go swimming in the lake. We get to play all summer. We do not have to go to school. We do not have to gather pine cones for food. We get to play outside and we get to have cook outs. We are not chipmunks. We are children. Our mom makes us lemonade in the summer time. Our mom takes us to the beach. Our mom lets us have a lot of campfires. Our mom mows the lawn. It is summer time and now we play for 90 days and the chipmunk works for 90 days. In the winter we work and go to school and the chipmunk gets to sleep. I am glad it is summer and I am glad that I am a human child and not a chipmunk. I am glad that we get to be awake through all the seasons. I like spring. I like fall. I like winter. My favorite time of all is, for sure, summer!
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: What covered all the grass, trees and flowers?

QUES: To protect its seagoing interests and trade routes, Portugal established strategic garrisons in Goa (India), Malacca (East Indies), and Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. Portuguese explorers then embarked upon Macau (now Macao), the Congo, and various other parts of Africa, including the Sudan. The Portuguese policy was to avoid armed strife and to develop a trade empire, rather than to conquer nations. To this end it succeeded with relatively few blood-soaked episodes in its colonial history. Adventures abroad, however, proved disastrous during the second half of the 16th century. In 1557 the 14-year-old boy-king Sebastiao ascended the throne, the beginning of a calamitous reign that was to end at the battle of Alcacer-Quiber (Morocco) in pursuit of a vain crusade. Sebastiao's untimely demise, alongside some 18,000 ill-prepared, badly led followers, set the stage for a crisis of succession. For many years afterwards, legends and rumors bizarrely insisted that the king was still alive, and imposters turned up from time to time claiming the throne; those who were plausible enough to be deemed a threat were summarily executed. In fact, the only rightful claimant to the crown was the elderly Prince Henry. But after two years of alternating between the throne and his sickbed, he died, heirless. Surveying the situation and smelling an opportunity, Spain occupied the power vacuum, and Portugal's neighbor and long-time antagonist became its master. Spanish rule dictated Portugal's inadvertent involvement in Spain's ongoing wars. In 1587 a squadron of British ships commanded by Francis Drake attacked the Algarve (now a "legitimate target" as Spanish territory) and sacked Sagres, thus depriving the world of the relics of Henry the Navigator. Nine years later Faro was torched. The 1386 Treaty of Windsor, by which Britain and Portugal had pledged eternal friendship, seemed a distant memory. Portugal's empire was gradually eroded, and many of its trading posts (with the notable exception of Brazil) were picked off by the British and Dutch. Finally, after 60 years of Spanish rule, Portuguese noblemen (aided by the French, then at war with Spain) organized a palace coup and restored independence. The Great Disaster Portugal's greatest misfortune struck on All Saint's Day, 1 November 1755.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION:
Why was Portugal's conquest of many ports said to not be "blood-soaked"?