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Keith Woolford

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Blog Entries posted by Keith Woolford

  1. Keith Woolford
    Our local Deputy in the National Assembly, H.D. Athenas Athanadasias, is proposing legislation which will make jail time mandatory for sexual offenders and perpetrators of child abuse.
    There is action on this topic because a man convicted of molesting a 10-yera old in Santa Fe, Veraguas was set to be released recently to do community service instead of his prison sentence. That situation was reversed on appeal.
     
  4. Keith Woolford
    A link to this great bit of satire showed up somewhere today.
    Russia 2018: Selection of Panama will Train in Chiriqui

    The Sele is already training in Boquete to acclimatize to the low temperatures in the face of their first match in Russia 2018 against Belgium
    Moscow  -  After the culmination of the draw for the 2018 World Federation, it was decided that the Panamanian Selection will train in Chiriqui to acclimatize for what will be their first World Cup appearance.
    The Panamanian Football Federation (FEPAFUT) commented on the climate of the host country, specifically on the snow storms that hit Moscow, the Russian capital.
    "We have accepted the invitation of a Chiricano colleague', someone who has lived in the flesh in the Russian climate, who indicates to us that the climate in Russia is nothing compared to what it's like to live in Chiriqui", and he facilitated the stay so that the selection can train in sub-zero temperatures, which according to the Chiricanos are very similar to those experienced in Russia'- said FEPAFUT
    Many Panamanians present at the drawing indicated that the weather can be an important factor for Panama, which will start the World Cup trying to gain points from Belgium, a team prepared to play in cold weather. The newly convened Gregorio Querini also made comments but did not confirm the date on which the Panamanian selection will train in Chiriqui.
    The Chiricano stated that the Russian winters are like a summer breeze in comparison to the cold weather of the Highlands Chiricanas. 
    "It's not for nothing they call them the Alpes Chiricanos", he commented.
  5. Keith Woolford
    Boxing: finding a way out of poverty
    The country of Roberto Durán is still a boxing academy. In Panama City, in Curundú, in a place where a hangar used to be, the “Pedro Alcazar, the rocker” gym now stands. There, underpriviledged youths from areas of the isthmus’ capital come to take a step towards progress daily, through boxing. “There can be a world champion among them because they are poor and they are hungry to get out of poverty,” says Carlos Cruz, a retired boxer who won 37 fights in his career and who today is dedicated to training boxers.
    “We do not have money but the little that we have we share with them to give them their ticket, to feed them,” says Rigoberto Garibaldi, who now as a coach claims to be the only international medalist in Panamanian amateur boxing.
    Curundú’s gym is visited by boxing promoters from Colombia, Nicaragua and the United States for being considered a boxing academy.
     
  7. Keith Woolford
    Panama starts to promote "Black Weekend 2017" in Latin America

    Tourism authorities of Panama today launched the campaign for the promotion of the first edition of the "Panama Black Weekend", a weekend of macrodescuentos which will take place in September and which is expected to draw at least 25,000 tourists.
    The promotion of super discounts weekend will take place in the main radio stations and television channels in different Latin American countries such as El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic and Argentina, said the Panama Tourism Authority (ATP).
    It will also be promoted on social networks and in the videos that are projected aboard the national airlines Copa, Air Panama, and Colombia's Avianca and Wingo, said the ATP.
    The "Panama Black Weekend", which will take place from 15 to 17 September, will be held in a hundred shopping malls all over the country.
    It is the first time that Panama will get a jump in September ahead of the celebration of the "Black Friday" or "Black Friday", a tradition that began at the beginning of the twenty-first century in the United States to inaugurate the Christmas shopping season and that takes place a day after the famous feast of Thanksgiving.
    The term "Black Friday" refers to the color of the accounts of the shops, that Friday passed from red numbers to the black numbers by the barrage of shopping.
    Tourism accounts for approximately 10% of gross domestic product (GDP) of Panama, one of the most dynamic countries in the region, which in 2016 experienced an economic growth of 4.9 %.

  8. Keith Woolford
    Public Ministry Charges 43 Individuals in the Odebrecht Case
    Officials at the Public Ministry have been under terrific pressure from civic groups and the press to move ahead with justice in this case.  It must have taken thousands of work hours by prosecutors and forensic accountants to put these charges together.
    The Brazilian mega constructor is still working for Panama on projects including the Tocumen Airport expansion and the massive Colon redevelopment scheme.
    Odebrecht has worked in a dozen or more countries and paid bribes to government officials in almost every one of them. They even had a separate division set up exclusively to organize and effect laundered payments to whomever, wherever. 
    Organized crime is an understatement in this case.
     
  9. Keith Woolford
    Bids from 20 businesses will be opened this morning and the contract will be awarded for the purchase of 48 new Ambulances for the Caja de Seguro Social or CSS. 
    Some of these ambulances will be equipped with 4WD. The supplier is required to provide maintenance for the vehicles and their specialized equipment. The reference price is $6.2 million.
    Previous administrations of the CSS leased ambulances.

    http://laestrella.com.pa/panama/nacional/sera-licitacion-para-adquirir-48-ambulancias/24014309
     
  10. Keith Woolford
    Report Concludes Panama Requires More Skilled Labour
    12 Jul 2017 Catherine Perea 03.38pm
    A progress report on the 'Evolution, Situation and Prospects of Employment in Panama' concluded that the Panamanian economy generated 104,156 jobs between August 2014 and March 2017 and will continue to generate jobs, requiring more trained Panamanian human resource personnel.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Development, MITRADEL, said that 39,230 people entered the labor market between March 2016 and March 2017, of which 38,269 (98%) found stable employment.
    This figure is 40% higher than the 27,397 jobs created between March 2015 and March 2016, which in turn has had an important impact on the decline in unemployed, 18,392 between 2014 to 2015 and 10,226 between 2015 to 2016, down to only 961 between 2016 to 2017.
    With regard to the evolution of employment by educational level, two out of every three jobs require 12 years of schooling and the trend over the past 10 years is that 81% of new jobs are demanding 12 or more years of schooling, 47% of them university degrees.
    The average age in the new formal jobs 2016-2017 is 53 years, 8 above the average in 2009-2014, as referred to in the report of the United Nations High Commission for Employment (2014), which reiterates the importance of maturity and the "soft skills" as fundamental requirements for the sustainability of youth into the labour market.
    The report was presented on Wednesday at a press conference of the Ministry of Labor and Social Development, in which the holder of that portfolio, Luis Ernesto Carles, in addition to representatives of chambers of commerce as APEDE, CONEP, CAPAC, and international bodies such as the International Labor Organization (ILO).
    At the same it was recommended to strengthen programs of the National Institute of Vocational Training for Human Development (INADEH), strengthen and promote entrepreneurship, and productive inclusion through the authority of the Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (AMPYME), and, on the other hand, in the initiatives that the Ministry can develop in partnership with the employer sector unions.
    source: Telemetro
  11. Keith Woolford
    Expect the Unexpected
    When Police were called away and left behind some traffic cones on the highway to Bocas near Chiriquicito, a couple of guys went into business for themselves. They set up a roadblock and were shaking down motorists while wearing vests from the D.I.J.
    They were  later arrested and found to be members of the 'Kilamanjaro' gang. Two firearms were recovered.
    https://www.tvn-2.com/nacionales/Detectan-falso-reten-Chiriqui-detenidos_0_4809269055.html
  12. Keith Woolford
    Panama to Host Regional Maritime Safety Training Centre

    Panama will host a regional center for training in maritime safety, designed with the support of the UN and seeks to instruct for the realization of "risk profiles of the containers that may pose a threat in the field of drug trafficking and fraud", among other crimes.
    The center, which could be ready in the first few months of 2018, "is the result of the close collaboration that has kept the International Maritime University of Panama, UMIP, and the Regional Office of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for Central America and the Caribbean (UNODC)," said today in Panama.
    According to UN data cited by the university, 90 % of world trade is carried out through maritime containers, of which more than 500 million are annually in the supply chain, but less than 2 % are inspected.
    "The global dependency of maritime trade, interspersed with the sophisticated methods of concealment used by drug traffickers and counterfeiters, pose a serious threat to the international supply and sustainable development," added the UMIP said in a statement.
    The rector of the Maritime University, Aladar Rodriguez, explained that through the courses delivered by the Regional Center for Training in Maritime Safety and Control of Containers (CSMCC), will strengthen the competences in the control of containers.
    This will help to better coordination, analysis and exchange of information to facilitate safe trade and the suppression of illicit goods, he said.
    The uUMIP recalled that the CSMCC is part of the overall Program of Control Containers, developed jointly by the UNODC and the World Customs Organization (WCO), and that Panama is attached.
    The program seeks to assist governments in the creation of sustainable implementation structures in order to reduce the risk of maritime containers are used for the illegal drug trafficking, organized crime, smuggling of goods and other illicit activities, he said the house of studies in Panama.
    "This program, which has a global reach, it seeks to strengthen the structures and processes that enable the implementation of sustainable laws for States and the selected ports, in order to minimize the exploitation of maritime containers for illicit drug trafficking and other criminal activities," he added.
    source: Telemetro
    freetranslation
  14. Keith Woolford
    In 1962, during the JFK administration, the U.S. explored the possibility of widening the Panama Canal by exploding atomic devices. A program called Project Plowshare was looking for peacetime uses of nuclear power.
    National Security Action Memorandum No. 152 (dated April 30, 1962, subject: Panama Canal Policy and Relations with Panama) signed by President Kennedy is still in effect. In particular, this memo states that, "The Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, will establish within the Plowshare Program a research goal to determine within approximately the next five years the feasibility, costs and other factors involved in nuclear methods of excavation," (referring, of course, to the Trans-Isthmian Canal).   
    Another Plowshare proposal was to blow a totally new sea-level waterway through Nicaragua nicknamed the Pan-Atomic Canal
     
     
  15. Keith Woolford
    Hilton to Open Hampton Inn & Suites in Central David

    The international hotel chain Hilton announced that together with the company Hotel Chiricanas Investments, S.A. will open a new Hampton by Hilton hotel in the city of David, Province of Chiriqui.
    The project will be developed by the Chagres Real Estate Capital and the TASH architecture workshop. Scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2019, this new hotel of 120 rooms is located in the main shopping area of the province of Chiriqui, which is considered the second largest urban center and developed in the country.
    "The announcement of Hampton Inn by Hilton David Panama is an excellent addition to our growing portfolio in Panama, where we currently have five hotels," said John Corvinos, executive director of Development at Hilton for Mexico, Central America, the Andean region and the Spanish Caribbean. "The hotel is ideal for both business and leisure travelers, as it is located right in the center of the city," he added.
    Hampton Inn by Hilton David will be located four kilometers from the Enrique Malek International Airport and a few steps away from many restaurants and shops are located in the center of the city. The hotel will provide access to recreational and tourist destinations such as Boquete, a picturesque city and tourist that is popular for its scenic location, temperature, and the natural environment. You'll also find close to the Baru Volcano, still active, which is also the highest point in Panama with its 3.475 meters above the sea level.
    The new infrastructure will offer to its guests value-added amenities such as a complimentary hot breakfast or 'on the run breakfast bags'. The hotel will also have a station with 24-hour service with drinks and snacks, as well as lunch or dinner in the lobby bar. In addition, the hotel will have access to a well-known chain of restaurants and a casino, with meeting rooms, a business center and fitness center.
    The Hampton by Hilton has been recognized for many years for its unique approach to hospitality. Team members proudly show a unique culture of service known as "Hamptonality". This term is defined by the approach of each hotel to what is a friendly customer service, anticipating the needs of the client and establish a culture of authentic and friendly service.
    Hampton Inn by Hilton David will be part of Hilton Honors, the award-winning loyalty program for guests of 14 different brands of Hilton. Hilton Hhonors members who book directly through the preferred channels of Hilton, saving time and money at the same time gain immediate access to the benefits that most interest them, as an exclusive discount for members, free Wi-Fi and a form of flexible payment that allows members to choose almost any combination of points and cash to book your stay.
    In addition, members may also exchange your points for free nights, get access to unique events through the auction platform of Hilton Honors or make purchases at Amazon.com with Amazon Shop With Points, the company said in a statement.
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