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Subject: Message for U.S. Citizens: Voting in 2016 U.S. Elections Date: Sun, 31 Jan 2016 21:18:41 +0000 From: DiazR@state.gov Reply-To: DiazR@state.gov VOTING IN 2016 U.S. ELECTIONS Your vote counts! Did you know that many U.S. elections for house and senate have been decided by a margin smaller than the number of ballots cast by absentee voters? All states are required to count every absentee ballot as long as it is valid and reaches local election officials by the absentee ballot receipt deadline. Follow a few simple steps to make sure that you can vote in the 2016 U.S. elections: 1. Request Your Ballot: Complete a new Federal Post Card Application (FPCA). You must complete a new FPCA after January 1, 2016 to ensure you receive your ballot for the 2016 elections. The completion of the FPCAallows you to request absentee ballots for all elections for federal offices (President, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives) including primaries and special elections during the calendar year in which it is submitted. The FPCA is accepted by all local election officials in all U.S. states and territories. You can complete the FPCA online at FVAP.gov. The online voting assistant will ask you questions specific to your state. We encourage you to ask your local election officials to deliver your blank ballots to you electronically (by email, internet download, or fax, depending on your state). Include your email address on your FPCA to take advantage of the electronic ballot delivery option. Return the FPCA per the instructions on the website. FVAP.gov will tell you if your state allows the FPCA to be returned electronically or if you must submit a paper copy with original signature. If you must return a paper version, please see below for mailing options. 2. Receive and Complete Your Ballot: States are required to send out ballots 45 days before a regular election for federal office and states generally send out ballots at least 30 days before primary elections. For most states, you can confirm your registration and ballot delivery online. 3. Return Your Completed Ballot: Some states allow you to return your completed ballot electronically and others do not. If your state requires you to return paper voting forms or ballots to local election officials, you can do so free of charge at the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. Place your ballots in postage paid return envelopes or in envelopes bearing sufficient domestic U.S. postage, and address them to the relevant local election officials. The American Citizen Service (ACS) unit at Embassy Panama will accept ballots during regular business hours Monday thru Thursday from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM and Fridays from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM. Citizens do not need an appointment to drop off their ballots. Embassy Panama will also accept ballots to be mailed to our offices at the address listed below: Embajada de los Estados Unidos ATTN: Voting Officer Edificio 783, Ave. Demetrio B. Lakas Clayton, Panama City, Rep. of Panama Please note that mail service delivery time within Panama varies and that mail sent from the Embassy typically takes approximately two weeks to arrive at a U.S. destination. Please plan accordingly in order for your ballot to be received at its final destination by any state mandated deadline. Lastly, the ACS unit is closed for all U.S. and Panamanian holidays. If it’s more convenient for you, you can also return your FPCA or ballot to your local election officials via international mail or professional courier service at your own expense. Researching the Candidates and Issues: Online Resources. Check out the FVAP links page for helpful resources that will aid your research of candidates and issues. Non-partisan information about candidates, their voting records, and their positions on issues are widely available and easy to obtain on-line. You can also read national and hometown newspapers on-line, or search the internet to locate articles and information. For information about election dates and deadlines, subscribe to FVAP's Voting Alerts (vote@fvap.gov). FVAP also shares Voting Alerts via Facebookand Twitter. Learn more at the Federal Voting Assistance Program's (FVAP) website, FVAP.gov. If you have any questions about registering to vote overseas, please contact Embassy Panama Voting Assistance Officer at 317-5000, or at PNMVoting@state.gov. Remember, your vote counts!

Jim and Judi, Thanks for your posting here on CL about this important health issue. If you are wanting to link this thread to your posting(s) on other websites, you should be able to copy the URL(s) and paste them here. That might present a more complete picture of the information you are attempting to get publicized. Note that you do not have to login to the other website to view the content. Just find the postings, and get the URL.

See next quote, extracted from this thread: This is not a glitch in CL. It is something that operates as described, but differently to your expectations and understanding.

I have no problem with whatever terminology you wish to use, so long as we all understand the meanings. Thanks for your post and for being an active CL member.

This is not a glitch in the system. I have been trying to dodge this reply, but no longer can. When this topic first came up last December, I sent in a trouble ticket to the software gurus at IPS (the software vendor). Their response was that the ignore functionality will ignore the postings (and messages if so configured) for whomever one wishes. However, the software does not exclude the ignored originator's in the activity stream. Their logic is that people looking for activity want to see all of the activity, not just some of the activity. There a few special cases, but not applicable here. Going further, I beleive Judy when she tells me that she was able, until only recently, to do something that the software gurus says is not possible as currently programmed. Thus my dilemma. Both assertions cannot be correct, and so I just did a dodge on this subject. Maybe I should have hit it straight on. If so, I apologize. For Judy, if you unsubscribe from News Boquete, you still can send out messages. There is no requirement for someone to be a subscriber in order to take advantage of that news dissemination system. For the sake of completeness, a prior listserver from many years ago did require a subscription in order to use the system. But that is long ago history. I have timed myself in clearing the NB forum here on CL each morning, and it can easily be done in less than 10 seconds, assuming reasonably responsive Internet service.

Judy, there is another option that is quite simple. Just unsubscribe from News Boquete.

There are several techniques to achieve this goal. The one published in this Q&A forum previously apparently was not to your liking. I seem to recall a personal comment (not on CL) that you made to the effect that Marcelyn's approach worked best. I do see that technique in a Q&A topic at: Another approach is given in a different Q&A topic at: Some people use the "ignore" capability of the software. Here is a link to that topic: I can only presume that you somehow reset your profile or activity settings, more likely the activity settings. Since I really don't know what you are trying to achieve, I can only guess, and recommend that you try option two (the "How Do I Stop Seeing News Boquete....") as shown above. Let me know if you need more help.

FYI, blog owners have the ability to lock their blogs and/or specific blog postings. It apparently was Hil's choice to take that action this morning after a few replies. It is his decision and his alone. Forums on the other hand can be locked, edited, closed, hidden, deleted, etc., only by an administrator (or moderator, of which we currently have zero).

If you would like to see the list that Mary is referring to in the above posting, here is the link to the current version: Mary is indicating that she is updating that list. This is important information, as you can imagine. Please do your part to help. Mary's email address is mhlynah@gmail.com.

I don't know how to contact Mary Lynah. If someone would ask her to forward whatever she has, I will see that it gets posted. Ask her to send an email to support@chiriqui.life.

Not yet through our energies. Such lists of resources (e.g., medical, dental, lawyers, real estate agents, etc.) is on our to-do list. If anyone wants to contribute such data, we will assist in getting it published. However, there is a listing of "general information" resources by CL member Bill Hazel. Click here to see his posting: If you want to go direct to the Google site with the source document, click here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nBQ0X8RM7VCibcoxnEqIzf8e3SPTJJBDoJRz4Khnhc4/edit?usp=sharing

An update on Richard's condition from another website: http://boquete.ning.com/forum/topics/update-on-richard-moore

For those CL members who are using Windows 10 computers, be advised that Microsoft has released a rather significant "update" (as opposed to upgrade) for that operating system. It will take about 2+ hours of downloading, then processing, and then updating of the operating system (for fairly fast CPU machines). To my knowledge, this is the first major fix/enhancement release for Windows 10, excluding the minor updates that normally are released. It remains to be seen if this fixes all or most of the complaints about that OS. If I hear of anything significant I will post a reply here. Note, this is neither an endorsement for nor a criticism of this operating system.

Subject: Message for U.S. Citizens: H1N1 Flu Virus Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2016 18:20:27 +0000 From: panama-acs@state.gov Reply-To: panama-acs@state.gov The American Citizen Services Unit would like to alert U.S. citizens residing and/or traveling in the Chiriqui Province about an outbreak of the influenza virus in the region. The Panamanian Ministry of Health (MINSA) has reported 22 confirmed cases of influenza, including two confirmed cases ofthe H1N1 flu virus in Chiriqui. Please click here to see the announcement and guidance from the Panamanian Ministry of Health. For further information about the H1N1 virus, including steps you can take to stay healthy, please consult the United States Centers for Disease Control, and the World Health Organization.

The posted request to cancel his account was backed up by a private message to the same end. His account has now been closed (not canceled), based on his specific request. Closed accounts can very easily be reinstated if requested by the involved party. Bob G's post was waaaaay off-topic, and according to our rules should be split out to a new thread. Given the two sequential postings, I will leave them inline because BD's message tied the Bob G message back to the main topic. An interesting morning, and it has just begun.

The U.S. Embassy in Panama City, Panama reminds U.S. citizens that voting season is approaching. Below you will find each state’s presidential primary election dates. State Presidential Primary Alabama March 1 Alaska March 1 American Samoa March 1 Arizona March 22 Arkansas March 1 California June 7 Colorado March 1 Connecticut April 26 Delaware April 26 District of Columbia June 14 Florida March 15 Georgia March 1 Guam March 9 (R) May 7 (D) Hawaii March 8 (R) March 26 (D) Idaho March 8 Illinois March 15 Indiana May 3 Iowa February 1 Kansas March 5 Kentucky May 17 Louisiana March 5 Maine March 5 (R) March 6 (D) Maryland April 26 Massachusetts March 1 Michigan March 8 Minnesota March 1 Mississippi March 8 Missouri March 15 Montana June 7 Nebraska May 10 Nevada February 20 (D) February 23 (R) New Hampshire February 9 New Jersey June 7 New Mexico June 7 New York April 19 North Carolina March 15 North Dakota March 1 (R) June 7 (D) Ohio March 15 Oklahoma March 1 Oregon May 17 Pennsylvania April 26 Puerto Rico March 6 Rhode Island April 26 South Carolina February 20 (R) February 27 (D) South Dakota June 7 Tennessee March 1 Texas March 1 Utah March 22 Vermont March 1 Virgin Islands March 19 (R) June 4 (D) Virginia March 1 Washington March 26 (D) May 24 (R) West Virginia May 10 Wisconsin April 5 Wyoming March 1 (R) April 9 (D) If you currently reside outside of the U.S. or will be outside of your voting jurisdiction for any election, you will need to fill out an absentee ballot form and return it before your state’s deadline. To find out your state’s deadlines for registration, absentee ballot request, and ballot return, refer to https://www.fvap.gov/uploads/FVAP/States/eVAG.pdf. For more information, visit https://www.fvap.gov/.

Message for U.S. Citizens– Zika Virus The U.S. Embassy in Panama alerts U.S. citizens that there is a new CDC Advisory regarding the Zika Virus. For the full text, please visit the CDC website. To obtain Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) travel notices, call the CDC at 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636) from within the United States, or 1-404-639-3534 from overseas or visit the CDC website. For up-to-date information on security, Americans traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department’s Internet web site at http://travel.state.gov. Further information on safety and security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States and Canada or on a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays). U.S. citizens who travel to or reside in Panama are encouraged to enroll in the State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). By enrolling, you make it easier for the U.S. Embassy to contact you in case of an emergency.

U.S. Embassy, Panama Consular Section Federal Benefits Unit In the payment dated January 4, 2016, some overseas beneficiaries of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) had U.S. taxes deducted from their annuity payments. OPM stated they are under additional requirements from the IRS about reporting income and were updating their systems for the new data fields and many overseas beneficiaries had taxes withheld from their annuity. They are working to have this corrected. They stated that most or all annuitants should see this corrected and paid by their February 1, 2016 payment. For further information you may call OPM at 888-767-6738.

Because of many requests for credible information regarding initial reporting of the vicious attack on Richard Moore, the management of this website approached a mutual friend of Barbara and Richard Moore. (We have never met them.) Four questions crafted by me were posed, and Barbara very graciously responded to those four questions. Here are the unedited extracts from those emails. First the four questions: And now Barbara's answers: The management of this website is grateful for Barbara's sharing of the first hand particulars in this tragic situation. We wish both of them a speedy and full recovery.

The following email from Brandy is being posted with her permission. Email addresses have been redacted. This topic remains locked. If you would like to respond to anything here, please start a new topic and reference this topic title.

When this topic was originally posted, the principals of this website had a lengthy conversation. We tried to understand the originator's intention in posting something that was not directly related to life in Chiriqui. Refer to Rule 22 in our Rules (http://www.chiriqui.life/topic/6-terms-rules/). The originator's first paragraph made reference to an unspecified posting that caused this new topic. We presumed that she was responding to Dr. Sleepwell's third paragraph at: We concluded that there was no intent to attack or abuse Dr. Sleepwell. Rather this appears to be a very deep conviction on her part. Then there was a question about the creation of a new topic rather than posting her thoughts as a reply associated with the troublesome words. We decided to attribute the creation of a new topic to lack of experience with this website. Note that as of this writing she has only posted twice, and has been a member less than two weeks. Our decision was to give the originator the benefit of the doubt because she was not attacking or abusing, and to take no further action unless members escalated the matter of compliance with the published rules. Two members now have publicly questioned compliance, plus some private messages doing the same have been received. We are responding publicly, following our conviction to transparency, and are locking this topic. We know there are those who will disagree with this action, but we are compelled to enforce the rules uniformly and without bias. The originator has been sent two private messages about this topic, both of which discussed the need to comply with published rules.

Awww shuckins. Thank you to you, and all of our other members (and the guests too, whom we hope will convert to becoming members). CL is going slower than we have envisioned and hoped for. But we get feedback that we are going in a good direction. We are also considering some enhancements for additional functionality, but we want to do things the right way rather than the fast and dirty approach. If there is one thing we have learned from CL it is that it is the members who make a website succeed, and moving members too quickly into advanced technology or non-intuitive interfaces is a good recipe for failure. Would like to thank our core of advisers who guide us on our path forward.

Martyrs’ Day is a Panamanian holiday, which commemorates the January 9, 1964 riots over sovereignty of the Panama Canal Zone. The incident is considered to be a significant factor in the U.S. decision to transfer control of the Canal Zone to Panama through the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties. The U.S. Embassy in Panama City advises all U.S. citizens in Panama that Martyrs’ Day will be observed this year on Saturday, January 9, 2016. The U.S. Embassy alerts U.S. citizens to possible street closures and traffic congestion due to scheduled marches and other events around Panama City. All U.S. citizens are reminded of the sensitivity of this day and urged to remain diligent in your personal security. For up-to-date information on security, Americans traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department’s Internet web site at http://travel.state.gov. Further information on safety and security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States and Canada or on a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays). U.S. citizens who travel to or reside in Panama are encouraged to enroll in the State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). By enrolling, you make it easier for the U.S. Embassy to contact you in case of an emergency.