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Texting and driving a killer epidemic
Posted on November 28, 2016 in Panama
Post Views: 167POLICE REPORTS show that Panama drivers involved in fatal accidents were often talking or texting on a mobile device.
The fixation with messaging to the point where it becomes more important than life itself is not confined to Panama where killers behind the wheel now cause more deaths than local drug gangsters wielding guns.
A report in the Huffington Post shows that the epidemic is not confined to chattering teenagers, and otherwise caring mothers put their babes lives at risk becaue of cell phone addiction
Randi Zuckerberg writes:
Texting while driving has often been thought of as a “teenage problem,” which is why any time you see a PSA on television telling people not to text and drive, it’s always a teenager speaking to the camera.
However, a shocking new study released by USA Today showed that adults are actually more likely to text and drive than teenagers.
Almost 50 percent of the adults in the study admitted to texting while driving, whereas only 43 percent of the teenagers in the study admitted to it (although, key word: admit to it).
In fact, it doesn’t even seem to help matters even if there is a young child inside the car.
Blond businesswoman sending a text while driving to work
I was shocked to read that even mothers with infants in the back of the car are texting and driving. A survey from Safe Kids Worldwide advocacy group shows that “although they’re otherwise protective of their young children, the survey finds, 78 percent of mothers with children under age two acknowledge talking on the phone while driving with their babies; 26 percent say they text or check their e-mail.”
These stats are really scary. There have been previous studies that show that texting while driving is six times as dangerous as driving drunk.
And the fact that 39 states have recently banned texting while driving does not seem to be helping the problem at all.
If we’re living in a world where 50 percent of the drivers around you might be texting as they drive, that makes it a pretty big gamble every time you get on the road.
So, if people know it’s dangerous, illegal, and bad — then why are they still doing it? According to the study, people cited that they didn’t want to lose productivity, or that it made them feel good to stay connected.
A habit
But the interesting stat was 43 percent of people said they check their phones because “it’s a habit.”
We don’t know when we’re going to get a new text message, e-mail, retweet, or a Facebook message. We are growing addicted to continually looking at our devices for these little bursts of communication.
For many of us, when we hear that message pop up and surprise us, we find it hard to resist checking our phones, even if it means putting our own lives and the lives around us at jeopardy.
Sometimes, I’ll get a text message while I’m driving and feel such a compulsion to answer it. I always have to consciously ask myself, “Is this message really so important that it could be worth my life?”
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Is what I have to say to this person so important that it can’t wait 15 minutes and is worth risking my son growing up without a mommy?” Of course, once I ask myself those questions, it all seems ridiculously dumb. Of course there’s no message that can’t wait.
There are several apps out right now that try to help solve this problem. DriveSafe.ly will read your incoming texts and emails to you aloud when you’re in the car. Driveoff, iZUP, and Textecution will all detect that the phone is moving at a “driving speed” (faster than 10 mph) and automatically “lock” the texting function of your phone, as well as halt incoming phone calls. AT&T’s DriveMode app or tXtBlocker will detect if your phone is moving faster than 25 mph and automatically respond to callers or texters with an auto-response message that you are driving and can’t answer your phone right now. Other apps, such as Canary, will allow parents to monitor phone use from afar and look at a report that tells them if their child was using the phone while driving. There are even devices, such as the ORIGOsafe, that won’t allow the car to start until you plug your phone into a console that disables the phone from doing anything except via Bluetooth.
If you don’t want to download an app, the DIY version of this is just to put your phone in “airplane mode” while you’re driving, so that new texts and emails can’t even come in at all.
But as parents, if we are going through all this effort to install these apps on our children’s phones, we need to make sure we don’t turn around and engage in the same harmful behavior ourselves.
If we can’t stop ourselves from texting and driving, then we need to just admit to ourselves that it’s inevitable that people are going to text and drive – that we’re just too darn addicted to our devices to stop — and tech just needs to move faster in getting smart enough to protect us, despite ourselves. Many auto-makers are working on embedding Siri-like tools directly into the car dashboard, and of course, we’ve all heard about the testing of self-driving cars.
In the end, it all boils down to using our devices mindfully and consciously. Let’s make sure that we are the ones owning our devices, rather than the other way around.
http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/texting-driving-killer-epidemic
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Landslides close Via Centenario
Posted on November 28, 2016 in Panama
Post Views: 169LANDSLIDES brought on by continuing rain storms closed Via Centenario through most of Monday, November 27.
The incidents took place at 7 pm Sunday and at 9:30 am Monday. Heavy machinery was called in to remove the debris which blocked several lanes of the highway
Authorities asked drivers to take alternate routes and use the Bridge of The Americas.
Landslides also affected three houses in Ernesto Córdoba.
http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/landslides-close-via-centenario
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Police Lieut carrying 200 kilos of cocaine
Posted on November 27, 2016 in Panama
Post Views: 392A POLICE second lieutenant arrested along with a Colombian in Chepo, while transporting 200 kilos of cocaine is being held in preventive detention
Judge of guarantees Gloria González gave the order on Saturday Nov. 26. The arrest, at a police checkpoint took place on Thursday only days after the arrest and jailing of a police major on drug charges.
The Colombian will be investigated for trafficking and the police officer for possession of illicit substances and attempted murder.
The xourt also authorized the seizure of the vehicle carrying the drug, three cell phones and the weapon of the second lieutenant
National Police (PN), director Omar Pinzon said that the second lieutenant will be placed under orders of The Disciplinary Board of the PN to be discharged.
He reiterated that the force will continue its drive to eliminate corruption from its ranks.
http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/police-lieut-carrying-200-kilos-cocaine
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Government buying prefab bridges to last 100 years
Posted on November 27, 2016 in Panama
Post Views: 91THE GOVERNMENT is calling for bids to build prefabricated bridges that will last for 80 to 100 years.
The Ministry of Public Works announced plans to purchase 61 bridges to be installed in communities across the country at a cost of $22.3 million.
The bridges will all be 4.2 meters wide and will range in
length from 30 meters to 61 meters.
The bridges are being purchased because they are easy to repair and install, which will save on maintenance costs. They will be used in many places where there are now wooden structures or where rivers have to be forded.
Bids will be accepted until Dec. 19.
http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/government-buying-prefab-bridges-last-100-years
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WakedTocumen duty free locations up for grabs
Posted on November 27, 2016 in Panama
Post Views: 82TENDERS for duty free location at Tocumen International airport will be launched in January 2017.
The available locations include 77 premises in Terminal 1 currently operated by the Waked family’s Wisa group which has been placed on the Clinton list with alleged links to drugs and money laundering according to US authorities
The Tocumen administration said on several occasions that they estimated holding the tender before the end of this year especially after the problem with stores belonging to Wisa reports CentralAmericaData.
Waked International S.A., has operated 77 duty free premises since 2007. Its expires in December 2017. The stores have been selling only to customers paying cash
An article on Prensa.com reports that “…Tocumen is also preparing tenders for concessions of commercial premises in the south terminal, which to date is 63% complete. The aim is have a schedule for the tender before the end of this year. The calls will be made during 2017, with the first one being in the food category.”
http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/wakeds-tocumen-duty-free-locations-grabs
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Panama aids Costa Rica after Hurricane Otto
Posted on November 26, 2016 in Panama
Post Views: 126THE FIRST team of 32 Panamanians experienced with natural disasters left for Costa Rica on Friday , November 26. to help that country in recovery efforts from the results of Hurricane Otto. They included 22 officials of the national air service, Senan, 10 from the civil defense agency Sinaproc.
Sinaproc Director José Donderis said that Panama will also send two aircraft and two helicopters to help with rescue efforts. Donderis said more aid will be sent if it is needed
http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/panama-aids-costa-rica-hurricane-otto
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Experts who quit Panama panel produce their own report
By Michael HudsonNovember 15, 2016, 11:30 amEnding the kinds of offshore abuses revealed by the Panama Papers scandal requires a global solution led by the United States and Europe, a report released today by Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Swiss anti-corruption expert Mark Pieth says.
The 25-page report, “Overcoming the Shadow Economy,” argues that, as “economic leaders,” the U.S. and the European Union “have an obligation to force financial centers to comply with global transparency standards.”
The U.S. and EU have shown they have the tools to stem the flow of dirty money in the fight against terrorism, but have failed to use these same anti-money-laundering tools as forcefully in the fight against financial corruption and tax dodging, the report says.
“Secrecy has to be attacked globally – offshore and onshore,” the report says. “There can be no places to hide.”
The new report is an outgrowth of the pair’s initial work on a study committee appointed by the Panamanian government in response to a series of news stories by ICIJ and more than 100 media partners. The media partnership’s Panama Papers investigation revealed the inner workings of Mossack Fonseca, a law firm headquartered in Panama that has helped create offshore structures used by world leaders, wealthy individuals, drug lords and financial fraudsters.
Stiglitz and Pieth resigned from the Panamanian government committee in August, saying that government officials had refused to assure the panel it had full independence to investigate and make its findings public. The government blamed their resignations over “internal differences” on the committee.
Stiglitz, a professor at New York’s Columbia University, said in an interview Monday that he and Pieth decided to go forward with their own report because they believe it’s important to articulate the global solutions to the challenges posed by the shadow economy.
Stiglitz said they wanted to address growing concerns about not only Panama but also about other secrecy havens and big nations, such as the U.S., that play a significant role in the offshore system. American banks, for example, have paid out large settlements over allegations by U.S. authorities that they failed to stem the flow of drug money and other illicit funds laundered through shell companies and offshore accounts.
“In a globalized world, if there is any pocket of secrecy, funds will flow through that pocket,” their report says. “That is why the system of transparency has to be global. The U.S. and EU are key in tipping the balance toward transparency, but this will only be the starting point: each country must play its role as a global citizen in order to shut down the shadow economy.”
Among the report’s recommendations:
- Every country should establish a searchable public registry that identifies the directors and actual owners of all companies, trusts and foundations incorporated within its borders.
- Governments should hand out stiff punishments to lawyers and other middlemen who knowingly register a corporation or trust “whose primary purpose is to evade or avoid taxes or to engage in money laundering.”
- Governments should discourage money laundering through real estate by requiring the disclosure of the real owners for all large real estate cash transactions.
Pieth and Stiglitz say that the U.S. and EU have the power to force other nations to embrace these and other reforms by simply threatening to cut off access to their financial systems. The pair writes that there’s “a widely shared perspective” that secrecy havens only exist because the U.S. and Europe “have looked the other way. … These major players have yet to pull the trigger, partly due to the delay in putting their own houses in order.”
The full report can be read here.
Stiglitz is due to speak with the EU’s PANA Committee, which was convened to investigate financial secrecy in the wake of the Panama Papers, on Wednesday.
Stiglitz-and-Pieth-Overcoming-the-Shadow-Economy.pdf
https://www.icij.org/blog/2016/11/experts-who-quit-panama-panel-produce-their-own-report
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Panama Warns France Over Inclusion on Tax Haven List
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NOV. 18, 2016, 5:25 P.M. E.S.T.
PANAMA CITY — Panama's president is warning France that his country will retaliate diplomatically if it is not removed from a list of tax haven countries.
President Juan Carlos Varela said Friday that France has until the end of the year to make the change.
Panama's financial system was shaken in April by the leak of a huge trove of documents detailing offshore financial dealings. Many of the documents detailed how world leaders, celebrities and businesses used tax shelters to hide money.
Varela says an independent report with recommendations on how to reform Panama's financial sector will be released Monday.
The two best-known members of the independent study panel, economist Joseph Stiglitz and Swiss anticorruption expert Mark Pieth, left the effort in August over internal differences.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/11/18/world/americas/ap-lt-offshore-accounts-panama.html
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Panama credit card debt at $1.88 billion.
Posted on November 25, 2016 in Panama
Post Views: 122CREDIT CARD debt in Panama reached $1.88 billion in August up $170 million from January reports The Consumer Protection Authority (ACADECO)
Black Friday and the Christmas shopping frenzy will ensure a further steep rise.
Currently, 28 banks offer credit cards, to customers.
http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/panama-credit-card-debt-1-88-billion
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Traffic death toll hits 392
Posted on November 25, 2016 in Panama
Post Views: 152ONE person was killed and three badly injured when a speeding taxi ran into the back of a truck parked on the shoulder of the Pan-American highway in Felipillo in the Deciembre 24 district on Friday November 24.
The 80-years-old front seat passenger died at the crash site. Thee 25-year-old driver was taken to hospital in Tocumen and the two passengers in the rear seat were rushed to Hospital Santo Tomas.
The impact was so strong that the front of the taxi was totally destroyed.
The incident brings the total number of people killed on Panama highways this year to 392.
http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/traffic-death-toll-hits-392
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Black Friday shoppers warned to stay alert
Posted on November 24, 2016 in Panama
Post Views: 148PANAMA’S consumer protection agency, ACODECO, is warning shoppers to be careful on Black Friday Nov.25.
After a rash of violations a year ago the agency will have 60 monitors in stores from this weekend through the end of the year.
It says the rush to find holiday gifts and “bargains” can lead to further violations of consumer protection laws.
and advises consumers to stick to their budgets and avoid making impulse purchases and to ask questions about warranties and prices.
The monitoring officials will be ensuring that stores comply with advertised specials.
http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/black-friday-shoppers-warned
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Canal and ports income falling
Posted on November 24, 2016 in Panama
Post Views: 137INCOME from ships transiting the Canal and the movement of cargos in the country’s ports dropped from January to September 2016.
The figures in the report of the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC) are in contrast to the report of the Canal Authority (ACP) which registered the third highest annual tonnage of its history in fiscal year 2016, (October 12015 to September 30 2016) when 13,114 ships, including 238 Post Panamax .passed through.
‘Despite the deceleration of the international maritime trade during last year, we have registered one of the highest annual tonnages since the opening of the original canal 102 years ago’, said ACP administrator Jorge Luis Quijano in Oct.
“This reinforces the continuous strategic importance of the route and the increasing value that recent investments in the Canal will bring to the maritime industry”, he said.
Despite that success, the INEC report says that , in the first nine months of the year, there was a fall of 6.6 percent in the transits compared to the same period of 2015, and the volume of the cargoes fell proportionately.
of the Business Section of Panama ON, and Publisher of Panama Business News.
From January-September, revenues from tolls in the Channel were $1,427 760 000, 3.7 percent less than a similar period the previous year, while merchandise transferred was 3.3 percent points less, according to INEC.
The situation was most critical for the national ports system that saw a cut by 12,380.000 in the report of the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC) metric tons handled, mainly containers and bulk cargo.
http://www.newsroompanama.com/business/panama-4/canal-ports-income-falling
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MartineIl lawyers stymied in embezzlement case
Posted on November 24, 2016 in Panama
Martinelli's lrgal team stymiedPost Views: 164PANAMA’S Supreme Court of Justice has nixed the latest move by lawyers for ex-president Rivardo Martinelli to block investigation of his bank accounts during an embezzlement investigation.
A constutional appeal was presented by lawyer Luis Eduardo Camacho. t which sought to annul the decision of Judge Jerónimo Mejía, which allowed his colleague Oydén Ortega. serving as prosecutor to investigate Matinelli’s bank accounts in an investigation, for the alleged commission of the offense of peculation in the purchase of dehydrated food through the former National Assistance Program (PAN).
In the research, Mejía acts as judge of guarantees of the cause, and Ortega functions as prosecutor.
The ruling of October 31, with Judge Abel Zamorano, as rapporteur warns that the appeal filed by Camacho González “is not directed at the violation of a constitutional right or guarantee,” and has no place because it is based on “the questioning of the value or interpretative activity performed by the court, “so it does not represent the violation of a constitutional right. ”
The judgment also states that the reading of the appeal does not allow the conclusion that the magistrate of guarantees, in this case Jerónimo Mejía, has committed a violation of the constitutional text, At the same time, it maintains that, in this case, the constitutional objection details a disagreement with the decision taken by the judge of guarantees [Mejía] during the hearing held on March 8, 2016, but using as an argument that does not apply to these cases.
At that hearing, Mejia rejected a petition filed by Martinelli’s defense to declare void the process followed for Martinelli as a deputy of the Central American Parliament, for having requested bank information from him without the authorization of the judge of guarantees.
During the hearing Mejía rejected the arguments presented by Martinelli’s lawyers, warning that prosecutor Oydén Ortega may conduct certain proceedings without prior authorization of the judge.
“The proceedings in question are not judicial proceedings, which is what Article 199 [of the Code of Criminal Procedure] says, which was used by the defense to make the appeal.
During the hearing, prosecutor Ortega explained that all the banks contacted provided the necessary information to his office in a timely manner.
He added that no inspection, or seizures were carried out, “in which case the prior control of the judge of guarantees would have been required”.
http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/martineil-lawyers-stymied-embezzlement-case
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3 dead, 5 missing after Otto storm.
Posted on November 23, 2016 in Panama
A teenager was killed when a tree fell near his Panama City schoolPost Views: 162AT LEAST three people died and five went missing during tropical storm Otto’s visit to Panama earlier this week.
Meanwhile the red weather alert issued by the Civil Defense system (SINAPROC), was lifted on Wednesday Nov.23.
It was replaced by yellow for Bocas del Toro and green for the rest of the country.
School classes will resume Thursday except in Bocas del Toro.
Several schools in Colón and the Comarca Guna Yala will also remain closed following damage caused by the rains.
A couple died when their Arriajan home was sept away in a landslide.
José Donderis, director of Sinaproc, reported that the search is continuing for five people who went missing during Tuesday’s bad weather.
One of them went missing in the Utive River in Pacora.
another in the collapse of a residence in Nueva Libia.
Three others disappeared after their boat sank off the coast of Colón.
http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/3-dead-5-missing-otto-storm
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100 evacuated in Bocas del Toro
Posted on November 23, 2016 in Panama
Post Views: 171A HUNDRED people including children, evacuated from their homes in Bocas del Toro earlier in the week, are being housed at hostels in Changuinola and other towns, as well as at a school.
Panama officials are working with their counterparts in Costa Rica to monitor the Sixola River, which could pose a danger to residents if it floods.
Around 600 emergency workers have been dispatched to Bocas del Toro to assist residents who have been impacted by the storm. Provisions are also being provided.
Residents are reminded to avoid any unnecessary travel and that a prohibition on taking out small vessels remains in effect.
http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/100-evacuated-bocas-del-toro
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Human rights Intimidation ignites alert
Posted on November 22, 2016 in Panama
Human rights protrestors are under threatPost Views: 92THE Ombudsman’s Office and several civil society organizations are “on alert” over attempts at intimidation against human rights defenders.
The ombudsman, Alfredo Castillero Hoyos, said that he “worries” about the issue, and will hold a meeting with the human rights rapporteurs of the United Nations (UN) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) ) On December 2 during the the regular session of the commission in Panama from November 29 to December 7.
Castillero Hoyos, says the meeting with Michel Forst, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, aims to create a “protocol” to protect activists.
“This protocol will indicate the steps to be taken as a country in the event of a person suffering harassment and threats,” he said.
The official stressed that the Office of the Ombudsman evaluates cases such as threats to Ligia Arrega for defending the Matusagaratí wetland in Darien, attempts at intimidation against human rights defenders and the harassment of activist Larissa Duarte in Veraguas, who is fighting for the conservation of the Copper River, as well as the civil suit filed by Grupo Suárez against residents of Coco del Mar in San Francisco.
Panama’s deputy mayor, Raisa Banfield, called these actions “lamentable” and said they are changing a number of rules that did not meet the needs of the population.
Magaly Castillo, of the Human Rights Network, said that the protocol is very “valuable”.
Human rights defenders claim protection
http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/human-rights-intimidation-ignites-alert
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Rains collapse three homes
Posted on November 22, 2016 in Panama
Post Views: 266HEAVY rains led to the collapse of three houses on a hillside in the Nuvea Libia sector of northern Panama), collapsed on Tuesday, November 22.
There were no reports of injured people, and soon after the collapse furefighters and Civil Defense teams (Sinaproc) arrived to cordon off the area.
Tropical storm Otto, in the Southern C aribbean has been upgraded to a hurricane with winds of 120 km. It has led to a red alert in parts of Panama and a yellow alert in all other areas.
Schools and government offices have been closed, and some metro bus routes shut down.
Three people are known to have died as a result of the storm, and emergency services are working round the clock to assist over 2,000 people displaced by floods and widespread damage.
http://giphy.com/gifs/NUVNMU6CdCHF6?utm_source=iframe&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=tag_click
http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/rains-collapse-three-homes
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Red alert and 80 km winds for Caribbean coast
Posted on November 22, 2016 in Panama
Post Views: 254A RED ALERT has been issued for Panama’s Caribbean coast due tropical storm Otto.
The announcement was made by President Juan Carlos Varela at a press conference on Tuesday morning Nov. 22
Varela said that school classes across the country will continue to be suspended.
“A red alert is declared for the coast of the Panamanian Caribbean, with a yellow alert for the rest of the country.” The red flag warning for the Caribbean coast calls for winds up to 80 kilometers per hour that generate strong waves “Said a statement from the Joint Emergency Task Force.
http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/red-alert-80-km-winds-caribbean-coast
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Panama English language skills near world’s worst
Posted on November 22, 2016 in Panama
Post Views: 314AFTER years of experimental initiatives by successive education administrations Panama remains near the bottom of the barrel when it comes to English language teaching programs
Panama is poorly rated when evaluated according to a study conducted in 2013 by EF Education First (EF), an international body specialized in language teaching since its founding in 1965.
The report places Panama in position number 52 of a total of 63 countries evaluated. This is the third analysis in which the Panama has participated The first study was in 2011 and the country was ranked 40 out of 44.
The second was in 2012 and Panama finished 51 out of 54 nations.
The latest reports shows states that in the last seven years Panama has shown no improvement in language learning and is still on the list of the 15 poorest English speaking countries, including Guatemala, Ecuador and Costa Rica Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden are the top three.
Nicolás Escobar director of EF in Panama, , said the idea is to know the level of bilingualism – a person’s ability to use two languages in any communicative situation – anywhere in the world. For that, 750 ,000 tests (oral and written) were applied to people between 18 and 60 years of age in the 63 countries.
The results produced by EF t did not surprise Indira Rojas, an English teacher for 16 years at the Chino-Panamanian Cultural Center.
She said that the main factor that influenced to Panama’s loe grading has to do with the ineffective and often routine methods of preparation in public education.
She e told La Prensa: “the teachers themselves do not have the necessary training to be able to teach a second language in a natural way to the students”.
Language law
Rojas said that the country has lagged behind and has failed to comply with Law No. 2 of January 14, 2003, which mandates the provision of English as a second language throughout the country.The Ministry of Education (Meduca) argues that the report it is a perception and does not necessarily reflect reality, considering that the level of English in the country is intermediate reports La Prensa.
Yarielis García, director of the Language Unit of Meduca, said that to encourage learning, a $ 135 million investment is planned for the “Panama Bilingual” program.
The initiative, launched last July by President Juan Carlos Varela and which will run until 2019, plans to train 305,000 thousand teachers and students. Of those 25,000 will be teachers; 100,000 thousand, students of average and premedia and 160,000 initial and basic students
During the administration of Education Minister Lucy Molinar (2009-2014) bilingual projects were eliminated and others were created.
For example, the Engish for Life Program, which was promoted by the director of the Gabriel Lewis Galindo Foundation, Marta Lewis de Cardoze, during the Martin Torrijos administration (2004-2009), was canceled.
The initiative reached 42,000 primary, secondary and adults seeking work. But when the new administration arrived it wstopped funding.
Molinar argued that “these were isolated programs, with their own budget, territory and autonomy such that they could not be effective. It was as if there were seven or eight parallel ministries. Now innovations are being applied to these programs, but to the whole system. ”
The Meduca chose to create the Children Program through which teachers spent five hours a week teaching English, an initiative that benefited more than 125,385 children in 350 schools across the country.
http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/panama-english-language-skills-near-worlds-worst
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Weather alert halts school classes
Posted on November 22, 2016 in Panama
Panama in the rainPost Views: 225SCHOOL CLASSES have been suspended across the country following the issuing of a nationwide yellow weather alert.by The National Emergency Operations Center of the Civil Protection System (Sinaproc)
The yellow alert was prompted by constant heavy rainfall generated by tropical storm Otto, which has been upgraded to hurricane status in the southwest of the Caribbean Sea.
http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/weather-alert-halts-school-classes
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It was an interesting meeting, and almost full house. Fortunately there were no fireworks. Peter Sterling, Rodrigo Marciacq, and Price Peterson each spoke about 15 minutes, in that order. Peter is of the opinion (based on science) that GMOs offer no threat to people or the environment, IF things are done properly. Rodrigo presented the opposing view, and did so with passion, but based on his long experience in things agricultural as well as documented research. And then Price was a balance between the two positions, suggesting that economics is perhaps the main factor that will determine which side prevails. Only time will tell.
Peter was the only speaker with projected materials. He has provided the source documents for his materials, and they are attached here as two PDF files for your reference.
There were several questions from the audience after the presentations were completed. Every question was well thought-through, and absent hyperbole. 'Good job', audience.
There truly are some very accomplished people who live and work here in our area.
Once again a great talk on an important topic at the BCP Theater.
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Tourist spending hits $3.7 billion in 9 months
Posted on November 21, 2016 in Panama, Panama, Panama
Post Views: 103TOURISTS and transitting passengers increased spending by 5.6 % to $3.7 billion in the first nine months of the year.
The figures are contained in a report by Panama’s Comptroller General .
The document – “Leading monthly economic indicators” – said that the 5.6% increase is compared to the amount spent during the same period last year.
In the first nine months of 2016, Panama received 714,000 visitors, about the same as last year.
In addition to this figure, 3.8 million passengers transited at Tocumen International Airport, numbers that include airline crew members.
This figure represents an increase of 10.4 percent compared to 2015.
http://www.newsroompanama.com/business/panama-4/tourist-spending-hits-3-7-billion-9-months
Traffic Accidents, and Death Toll [Ongoing]
in Automobiles / Vehicles (Dealers, Titles, Vehicle & Driver Licenses, Maintenance, Fuel, Roadway Carnage, etc.)
Posted
http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/traffic-deaths-outstrip-homicides