Admin_01

A note of explanation is warranted here. CL has an automatic filter for a small set of "bad words". It is called the profanity filter. Where you see a string of asterisks ("****") in WryAwry's above text, that is the result of the profanity filter doing its thing. There is no personal (meaning subjective) review and decision; it is a simple, direct, automated, and immediate removal of certain words. The words on the profanity list are, by policy, not shared. Prior experience says that only causes arguments. Yes, there are ways to trick the algorithm, but we leave that as an exercise for those with nothing better to do with their time.

Gordon, et al, I am waxing philosophical here, which is permitted in this specific forum. What I write here is not directed at any specific member or any specific post or any specific subject matter. (Rest easy, WryAwry.) In my routine review of CL's content (I try to read everything newly posted on CL on an at least once-a-day basis as part of good site administration procedure), I read your topic. Musings is the only forum on CL that permits your subject matter. Had you posted this topic in any other forum, it would have been moved to this musings forum. That is not a big deal, as use of an inappropriate forum happens fairly frequently because CL does have a lot of forums (buckets). Thank you for using the appropriate forum. Rest assured that you are not being banned. Going further, my initial reaction to your topic was that you are responding to (perhaps rejecting or revolting against might be more fitting terms?) the current state of affairs of a country to the north of Panama, or maybe the EU, or the Middle East, or Libya, or the Ukraine, or any of many other hot spots in today's world. What triggered your posting is not that important here. Then I read WryAwry's lengthy "manifesto" (http://www.chiriqui.life/topic/2629-the-essence-and-stuff-of-life-itself/), which is also posted in this musings forum. And so I wondered if you were reacting to his manifesto. The answer is not important, as that is a rhetorical question. Where I am going with this post is to discuss the existence of this musings forum. My life's experiences have taught me -- so far and among other things -- (a) to provide/achieve, keep, and cherish as many options as possible, (b) to avoid generalizations and especially generalizations that put diversity into a limited or restrictive set of buckets, and (c) to foster and appreciate diversity. That list of three is not all-inclusive, but the other lessons are way off-topic. This musings forum does not support the primary purpose of CL, which is about life in the Chiriquí Province. We knew that up front, but as mentioned in the preceding paragraph I wanted a place where members could vent, blow hot air, get things off their chest, ponder, pontificate, etc., as long as the bucket was very tightly compartmentalized and incidental. Musings does that. CL now is close to nine months into its life. During that time we, the management, have received some complaints about and some support for the musings forum. As an aside, I have learned a new term from this journey into the land of musings -- purple prose, which is defined in one dictionary as "writing that calls attention to itself because of its obvious use of certain effects, as exaggerated sentiment or pathos, especially in an attempt to enlist or manipulate the reader's sympathies." Where I am going here is to publicly discuss the value of and the need for this musings forum. So far I would say that about 15% to maybe 20% of our members have expressed disdain for the musings forum, with at most maybe 3% to 5% strongly wanting it to be removed. The bottom line here is that I am soliciting feedback from our members. What are your thoughts about this musings forum? Maybe I should conduct a formal poll???

A personal but public message for TwoSailors, We (Marcelyn and myself) were so saddened by your loss. The morning that we read your posting, we talked about it at breakfast. And then again the next day. And the third day. We kept asking ourselves what could be done to help. The result was that CL started a new project to compile a list of pet care resources. That project was a direct result of your loss. The resource listing resulting from what we have come to call the "pet/vet project" is posted here on CL. That topic is also highlighted as one of three important documents on the landing page on CL. We considered naming that listing in honor of your dog, but decided against doing that because it might confuse newcomers at some point in the future. The pet/vet project grew much bigger than what we had initially envisioned. But that was okay. And then the community pitched in to make that resource listing much more comprehensive and accurate. And so pet/vet grew even bigger. Not complaining here; in fact it made us more committed. We have a special, caring community here. Here is the link to the pet care resource listing: http://www.chiriqui.life/topic/2354-pet-care-resources-of-the-chiriqui-province-and-pet-abuse/ Just know that your loss was the reason we took on that project. In your hearts you can know that your dog may be helping other pet owners and their pets for a long time to come. As a matter of interest, the pet/vet resource listing here on CL actually has overtaken the healthcare resource listing in terms of the number of views. It is at 944 views as of this morning. We have also learned that the URL is being shared as hotlinks on other websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo groups, personal blogs, and even a few commercial websites in Panama City mention the listing. With condolences, but also hope.

This issue was dramatically improved with the recent reformatting of the top section of the "landing page" here on CL. The landing page is where you "land" immediately after signing in. The banner section now has our email contact information (as a hotlink), and the topmost highlighted forum is our welcome aboard topic. Within the welcome aboard topic is a discussion about CL's three governance documents, which includes hotlinks directly to those three documents: (a) the guidelines, (b) the terms and rules, and (c) the privacy policy. Great point you brought up, Bonnie. Thanks for helping improve CL.

I had been "following" this topic as a flag for me to consider your recommendation in your lead-in paragraph. I am reluctant to create more forums because one of our complaints is that there are too many forums. And then at dinner last night the solution (well, maybe just a slight improvement?) popped onto the table: restructure. The end result was to rename the recreation forum and to make it more inclusive. Recreation has been renamed to "Outdoor Activities (Recreation, Sightseeing, Nature Hikes, Tourism, etc.)". It then was relocated so as to keep the forums in alphabetical order. This topic was then moved to that forum. I am not totally comfortable with tourism being in this forum, but then I remain reluctant to create more forums. Ideas and feedback solicited. Great pictures, BTW. We met Jere earlier this year at a BCP event. She does a lot of good stuff, not just her nature hikes. I would like to join in some of her nature hikes, but mobility issues on my part tell me that would not be wise. Jere posts some stunningly beautiful pictures from her nature hikes. Many of her pictures are part of her calendar events that she posts here on CL announcing the nature hikes that she leads.

This topic is the result of the merging to two separate but related topics.

Here is your topic of interest: http://www.chiriqui.life/topic/875-barriles-archeological-dig. Helpful hint here: CL has a fairly powerful search capability. Go to http://www.chiriqui.life/topic/11-welcome-aboard-how-to-use-cl-and-the-rules/ and look for the section about searching content (scroll down about 3/4 of that topic). I used the search function to find your topic of interest. I used "artifact" and "artifacts" (plural) for my two search arguments, and set the search into "advanced search" mode to succeed on any of the search arguments being found rather than all search arguments.

Admin_01 note: this topic is the merging of two separate topics by two members at approximately the same time on the same subject. They were merged for continuity purposes, with the approval of both originators.

U.S. Embassy Panama Consular Section Federal Benefits Unit As part of the Foreign Enforcement Program, the Social Security Administration (SSA)has started sending out their Report to the U.S. Social Security Administration form, which serves as their “Proof of Life” to the mailing addresses on record with SSA. If you meet any of the conditions below, you are required to comply with this requirement this year: Beneficiary with a representative payee or Beneficiary aged 90 and over or The terminal digits of your SSN ends in 00 – 49 If you have not yet received your form, we recommend that you continue checking at the Post Office. As soon as you receive the form, please answer the questions applicable to you and sign it. Before mailing the form to the SSA, please make a copy for your records and mail the form with your original signature to the following address: Social Security Administration Wilkes Barre Data Operations Center 1150 E. Mountain Dr. Room 341 Attention: FEQ Analyst, FEQ Forms 7161-7162 Wilkes Barre, PA 18702-7997 Please note that at this time you can only submit the original form with the bar code sent by the SSA. It is not possible for you to request a blank form at the Federal Benefits Unit to comply with this process.

You are doing exactly the correct thing. Just keep posting replies for the topic that you previously started. If you have questions, we are here to help.

Barbara, A sincere thank you for your posting that both apologized and clarified. The manner in which you handled this unintentional oversight ended up being a win-win for everyone. A stand-up job; well done.

Chris, I have to respond. I have always heard of the Five "W's" -- who, what, where, when, and why, not four. But I am not quibbling here. The three most important are what, when, where; who is slightly less important; why would be the least important. Penny has a "no do-overs" policy for this very reason for emails distributed via News Boquete. This is an ongoing problem. Maybe eventually the community will become a bit more sensitive, and then more responsible. It is amazing how many times someone sends something in with, for instance, Monday, June 9th (referring to this week, which has no Monday falling on June 9th because there is no such date. Or missing where. Or missing what. Sometimes it is comical. But it is always wasted energy and resources. Your reference here is the Parmigiano Restaurant. (I am not affiliated with them, other than as a satisfied customer on occasion.) It is located in Boquete, on the main street, about 25 or 30 meters south (toward David) of the Fish House (which is across from Sugar and Spice).

Just a reminder that there is a dedicated forum here on CL for donation requests and fundraising. There are a few words in the description of that forum with the suggested minimum information that should be provided with any request. Here is a link to that forum: http://www.chiriqui.life/forum/99-donations-fundraising/#

If you do start providing such a service, you might want to have our pet resource listing updated. Just let us know. Check out this topic: http://www.chiriqui.life/topic/2354-pet-care-resources-of-the-chiriqui-province-pet-abuse/

In the interest of fairness to Olga Suarez, I am quoting her posting from earlier today on this subject, and then locking this topic. A locked topic remains visible but disallows further postings. There is nothing to be gained from continuing personal attacks or attempting to justify past actions. Fran began the topic and gets the last posting. We appreciate her last reply clarifying the reason for posting the original topic.

The pet care resource listing shown above was updated today to Issue 1.6, specifically to provide supplemental information related to legal restraints against the abuse of domestic animals. See the new paragraph 5 in the main topic above.

Attached is a PDF format copy of the Animal Protection Act of Panama -- Law 70 of 18 October 2012. The official version is the Spanish language copy, and a high fidelity English language translation has also been provided, both courtesy of Dottie Atwater, who runs the spay/neuter clinic in Volcan. Anyone wishing to report animal abuse, as defined in these documents, is advised to contact their local Corregidor. Animal Protection Act (Spanish).pdf Animal Protection Act (English).pdf Note that downloading of the above documents requires that you be a registered member of and logged into this website. There is no charge for a membership.

Got the files. As soon as our internet access improves, I will upload those two documents, and pin them. To be "pinned" means they will stay at the top of the forum, regardless of age. I will also annotate other important pet related documents here on CL to point to those two documents. My biggest hope is that neither document will be needed again, ever.

Dottie, if you send that document (both Spanish and English versions) to me then I will place it in this forum as a pinned resource.

This pet exportation topic was updated today to version 1.1. Only minor wording clarifications.