Somehow the link to the photos did not make it. Mort's Funeral April 28,2016

Just returned from three weeks in Medellin. One of the highlights was a trip to Comuna 13, When people from the countryside started pouring into the cities during "la Violencia" they build squatter shacks on hillsides too steep for any other use. No government services, drug lords and gangs running the place. By 2002, guerrilla armies were setting up bases - within sight of downtown Medellin. 

By 2005, the guerrillas were gone, but Comuna 13 was still the murder capital of Columbia. Today, anyone can walk through Comuna 13 in perfect safety. How this transformation happened is absolutely fascinating and I believe holds lessons for other communities with similar problems. More later...

The large el Niño that has vexed Panama (and delighted California) for the last two years is dissipating very rapidly. NOAA is out with a prediction that it will be replaced by a rather strong la Niña as this year progresses. 

What does it mean for Panama?

Just to review, el Niño and la Niña together are called ENSO for short (El Nino Southern Oscillation). Somewhat simplified, the Westerly equatorial winds blow surface water toward the Pacific Warm Pool, stretching from Australia to about Korea. As it travels almost halfway around the world, it is heated by the sun. In fact, the sea level in Indonesia is about 1 meter higher than in Panama, due to the piling up of windblown water. When the winds stop or reverse for a moment, it triggers a massive ¨sloshing¨ of warm water back across the equator, an el Niño. The warm water heats the atmosphere and creates measurable global warming. 

When the big slosh is over, el Niño is generally followed by the opposite, la Niña. The Westerly equatorial winds increase, blowing surface water from Latin America back toward Indonesia. In the process, cold water is pulled up from the deep ocean along the west coast of South and Central America. This cold water cools the atmosphere. 

The massive ENSO oscillation is the largest and most influential single weather phenomenon on the earth. It creates measurable and sometimes dramatic shifts in temperature and rainfall around the world and is a major driver of short to medium term climate change. No one knows or can predict the timing or severity of the cycles, although they appear to fall into periods of one, then the other. On the chart below, notice the predominance of la Niña events during the 70s until about 1990,  compared with more recent prevalence of el Niño, including the giant one in 97/98 and the one we are just coming out of now. 

Zooming in, we can look to see if there is a correlation with what we have seen right here in Panama.

The 97/98 el Niño was recorded by the water authorities in Panama as a drought. During 2015-2016 we have experienced another drought coincident with the current large el Niño. The big flood of 2008 happened right in the middle of a large la Niña. 

So, looking forward, we can expect more rain in the next couple of years. The cold, nutrient-rich water being pulled up from the deep is heaven for fish, which should return to Panama once again. For Panama, there is no such thing a "normal" weather. The fascinating thing is that while rain and wind swirl unpredictably around us, the temperature remains absolutely constant, day and night, year by year. It's almost as if we are living in the Earth's thermostat. Maybe we are.

We are all wondering when all this wind and rain will let up and we can get our electricity back. The short answer is, it will probably be with us through the weekend and might actually get worse late Sunday. We'll see!

It's great to see that TwoSailors posted a link to MeteoEarth, which is without doubt the most informative weather tool available to the general public. The web version is good, but the iPad app is much more sophisticated and developed. 

In any case, here is where we are today, windy and rain coming from the North:

The forecast shows the storm peaking around Sunday night:

Notice that the winds are coming from the North and I have set the level for 5000 feet, which is where we live. 

And by Monday, the winds abating:

The monster storm that hit the NE US yesterday is passing through Boquete today, bringing rain and one of the coolest weather pictures ever. Boquete as the tail of the dragon. The blue is precipitation.

Looking at the high level winds, you can see what is happening - the storm is sucking warm moist air all the way from the equator - truly impressive. Boquete is literally the tail of the dragon.

Looks like a couple of days more of rainish weather...

This is the forecast for noon Sunday. It continues until about Tuesday, but our microclimate is sometimes not what is shown on the map.

This is indeed a wonderful story. Hat's off to all concerned. Rodny's service to our community is really kicking into high gear. 

I was going up the hill to my house today when I observed a gaggle of Panamanians stopping at the Corrigidora's office and coming out with stickers of some kind. Assuming they were resident passes for the feria, I checked it out. Much more interesting...

It appears that all Boquete residents are being issued permanent vehicle IDs. These could be for letting residents get to their houses during ferias/parades, but much more interesting, would be the logical first step to implementing a real checkpoint at the entrance to town. 

You can get your ID at your local Corrigidora office for free, but be sure you know your vehicle(s) license numbers. Cool!

Counter-intuitively the adhesive is on the back of the image, not the front. I don't think it was intended to be mounted outside the car, but hey, it's the thought that counts. 

                           www.boquetehardwoods.com

The forecast shows this rain blob lasting the day, getting gradually weaker.

Pics from MeteoEarth, best weather program on the planet.

Keith,

If you look at actual accident statistics, it turns out that the vast majority, as I recall something like 80-90%, occur at intersections. Cars traveling the same direction on the open road seldom have problems, regardless of the speed. But that is almost the only place where radar cops operate. It's a money making scam. I approve of speed enforcement on the Interamericana at the entrance to towns, since people have a hard time slowing down on their own. 

You have complained about the 80kph speed limit in Alto Boquete - I completely agree with you. That shopping district is a series of uncontrolled intersections and very dangerous for all concerned. Should be 60.

But the reality of it is that 99.9% of accidents are caused by human error. People talking on cell phones, texting, eating, having sex, drunk and/or on drugs, including lots of "good" people cruising around on prescription meds clearly labeled as "Do not operate motor vehicles..." 

So the radar cop standing by the side of the road watching cars whiz by is using one very crude measurement of the "safety" of that car. He/she can't see inside the car, can't see that they are all snorting coke and chugging Jack Daniels, or whatever. The malignant drivers, who may indeed cause death, and the perfectly safe drivers who will never cause an accident are indistinguishable to the cop. That's my point. 

How to make it all safer? Get the freaking humans out of the driver's seat. Self driving cars are rapidly proving themselves far safer than human drivers. WE, the aging baby boomers, will be the biggest and most grateful market for these cars. And it will happen MUCH faster than we expect, because the development is being driven by commercial technology, not government agencies and endless funding cycles. No, they will never build safer roads, but Elon Musk is showing how to build much safer cars. 

Trouble is, to do more enforcement, you need more cops, cars, radars, judges, bureaucrats etc. until the giving of speeding tickets to raise money becomes the end in itself.

Left to their own devices, drivers tend to drive at speeds that they feel are safe (non-suicidal). The threat of tickets is far, far removed from the behavior that causes accidents and has little if any effect on it. 

Randomly giving speeding tickets to otherwise safe drivers is like taking the prostates out of 100 healthy men in the hope that one of them will actually have dangerous cancer.

                  www.BoqueteHardwoods.com

Contact:  Mark Heyer - 6499-6074 - info@boquetehardwoods.com

I seem to have a few iPhone 4s' that are no longer needed. They were purchased for an experiment and not used as phones. Four of them are new (purchased from resellers) and one is lightly used with a good battery. All are unlocked and can be used with any carrier SIM down here. Includes GPS. 30 day guarantee. No blemishes, all very clean. 

All loaded with OS 9.1, the latest version. The 4s will run all of the modern software, has a good camera and is a great way to get a superior Apple phone at a low price. 

2 - 16GB new - $150 

2 - 8GB new - $120

1 - 8GB lightly used - $110

Call Mark at 6499-6074 markh@heyertech.com

4 hours ago, Woody said:

" I think CL can be the place for real forum discussions."

" I am hoping that AAC, as a non-profit, will be a community voice that engages with city management, police, and national government officials on crime and security issues in our area -- a mini-PAC.  I will certainly provide a financial contribution to AAC for those activities and I hope that other RodnyDirect subscribers will as well."

Well said Woody. 

Doug,

There is no basis for a "debate" between Rodny and AAC. Rodny runs the only professional helpline in Chiriqui. He provides a subset of  his services to AAC registrants under a fee for services contract, which will end in February. 

It makes no more sense than having a debate between, say, a professional electrician and one of his customers. 

Rodny is going to the BCP to present his services to the community and meet informally with his customers. If you find a value in what Rodny does for the residents of Boquete and would like those benefits for yourself, by all means come. If you looking for a shouting match, then you will be sorely disappointed. 

6 hours ago, Twin Wolf Technology Group said:

Bonnie, you raise some good points.   Examining my assumptions, I assumed that Ambreen was part of the JLM Foundation and had not considered she was hired or outsourced.  When I read the description on Datamatics site, I considered the list of talents to be beyond Ambreen's capabilities.   However, a new thought has crossed my mind.   Perhaps Bob Hunter has multiple web site investments, not just Ning.   I have often wondered what else Bob Hunter does as a business man given his lack of concern for the obvious destruction to the value of Ning as an asset.

I see many things that lend weight to your claim that Ambreen is a hired as an outsourced moderator.   It makes me wonder how much she is getting paid and why Bob Hunter continues down this road.   I do not see any return on investment nor a legitimate goal.   Everyone loves a mystery, I guess that is why we keep watching.

Take a look at the rest of her site - mostly empty. Google her address - Monarch Galaxy, Flat No 303, Plot No 503, Sector 36 Seawoods-Nerul 400706

I would have almost no doubt that she is building a business for herself by offering services to developers like JLM.

Ning is only one mystery. 

The problem JLM is having is that they are trying to referee a football game from the press box while viewing it through a soda straw. 

They are simply unaware of the plays developing, who the important players are and what they did earlier in the season. They see only a tiny fraction of the communication that goes on here in private email lists, conversations at Sugar & Spice and over cocktails at VE. 

Al and Planet Telecom have been solid contributors to our community for many years. I think it is obvious who the community will support. 

At least Lee and Fran were actual residents here, down in the pits mucking it up with the players and understanding the context of the battles. 

There are basically two discussions going on here:

1) What Cable Onda delivers and 

2) What happens out there on the network

1) You need to know that the 10mbps (or whatever) you signed up for with CO is SHAReD with the number of customers on your node - typically 300-500. Don't expect great performance during prime time.

2) Streaming content is seldom received from the source servers. There are millions of "caching servers" located around the world. The first person who requests a movie gets it from the source. While that is happening, a caching server in, oh say PC, or CO HQ, is also recording the movie. The next person gets it from there, not where it came from. Amazon works great because they have caching agreements and time-insensitive content. The World Series sucks because it can't be cached effectively and the is not enough global bandwidth to deliver it. 

For the rest, the cable operators have the Internet by the balls. Until you are willing to pay more than the dweebs pay for premium broadcast packages, they are keeping you on the threshold of pain and waiting for you to demand the end of net neutrality. If 50% of the CO customers volunteered to pay $150 per month for Internet, they would all of a sudden discover unlimited bandwidth available. 

Oh, and the upstream problem? Why would upstream affect downstream streaming? Unless they are trying to stick a pin in you and increase your level of dissatisfaction. Netflix probably pays CO to carry their streams - YouTube does not. Get it?

So if the existing Panamanian laws regarding minors allows detention, there should not be a problem. However, as you say, the treaty provides "... a significant international oversight mechanism." What we don't know is what would be required to make changes in the procedures Panama follows in compliance with the treaty. Given the nature of the UN and Panamanian deliberative mechanisms, it could be a drawn out process. it would be a wonderful surprise to find out that it is not so and could be done expeditiously. 

Once again, the parade season is upon us in Boquete. Today was a fabulous day and a good time was had by all. 

As usual, I have posted some pics from the parade here for your enjoyment. And as I always say, the real stars of these parades are the young women. This is their moment to shine and do they ever! I am always knocked out by the attention to detail and variety in their uniforms and their obvious pride in their presence and beauty. They are truly the future of Panama. 

For those of you new to Panama, the parades and the Pollera tradition, are a unique cultural heritage of Panama. There are no commercial sponsors or TV news coverage. The people participating in the parades do so for their own gratification and the appreciation of the people lining the route. Their faces tell the story. 

Enjoy,

Mark Heyer

I appreciate the respect and consideration shown by Don Ray and the admins of this site in this discussion. 

Posting links to another site is I think, perfectly acceptable if a description is provided, which is also enlightened self interest by the poster, who wants to draw readers. I seldom respond to bare links in emails or forums. 

As a poster, it is very time consuming and difficult to present a quality, well formatted posting across multiple platforms. Every site has an idiosyncratic editor which treats your text and pictures differently. We have seen some disastrous attempts by well meaning people to copy and paste from one forum to another. Much better to just provide a link. 

Personally, I like to read Don's articles in their "native environment" with all the care and attention he puts into his site. So I hope he will continue to post links with descriptions here at least for important stories. 

None of the Boquete forums are in fact competitive with each other. Each brings a unique and valuable angle to our discussions. Cross-promoting benefits everyone and widens the audience - or as I recall from a semi-famous former POTUS, a rising tide lifts all boats.

We seem to be in a paroxysm of banning and cross-banning. You can be banned from one site for what you said on another. It's getting really hard to know who is participating and who is banned. Maybe we need a weekly matrix report showing who is in and who is out for each forum. 

With all the talk these days of folks getting re-married in Panama, this is a wonderful and beautiful testimony to the fact that you can be married, MANY times in MANY countries without bringing down the international Interpol marriage police. 

Full story and more great pictures here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3002309/This-couple-travelling-world-MARRIED-places-just-83-days.html

Six continents, 12 countries, and 38 weddings: Couple travels the world to get MARRIED in as many places as possible

• The couple first began their trek on February 8, flying from Los Angeles, California to Bogota, Colombia
• Their first wedding ceremony was held in Colombia, before jetting to Spain, Ireland, Morocco and Egypt
• To save money, the pair will wear the same outfit for each ceremony and have been ordained to officiate

By Katie Amey for MailOnline

Published: 15:49 GMT, 19 March 2015 | Updated: 15:53 GMT, 19 March 2015

Anyone struggling to decide on a venue for their upcoming nuptials, take note. 

American couple, Cheetah Platt and Rhiann Woodyard, have come up with the ultimate way to celebrate their love: by getting married in as many places around the world as they can in just under 90 days.

The adventurous pair first came up with the globe-trotting plan after getting engaged last year - and finding themselves unable to come up with one specific theme or idea for the big day.  

Hilary, I understand and appreciate your comments. 

T. Rob is never one to mince words. Let me add a little flesh to his comments from working with him over the last five years.

You could replace his first paragraph with the statement "Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result." 

I have been to several of the police/community meetings he organized in and around Coronado. They are well attended on both sides, the officials are ernest and want to be helpful, cards are exchanged - and nothing happens. 

Rob has pushed the case up the line to the Attorney General and Minister of Tourism in Panama City. I sat in on some of those meetings. Again, lots of happy talk and no action. 

The problem isn't the individuals involved and nobody should denigrate them or how they do their jobs. The problem is structural and in our opinion does not admit of an easy answer based on lobbying or "pressure" from citizens. What they do respond to, though, is media coverage. That is a direction that needs to be enhanced, although we are out here in the woods. The Chinese would say "The mountains are high and the emperor is far away." 

In short, our safety is in our own hands and is our own responsibility - Panamanians and expats, as communities and individuals. It is up to each one of us to make sure that we are not vulnerable to the next tragic home invasion and to make sure that our friends are not also. We need to organize to take back our towns.

This is the entire message, philosophy and reason for existence of Dr. Sleepwell.