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Panama: Nov. 3, 4 and 5 - store/bank closings?:
Most official businesses will be closed this week Thursday, Friday and Saturday, places like banks, Government offices and Mailboxes etc. and the like. Essential services like food stores and restaurants will mostly be open. You can never guarantee that a store will be open. You should find that most places are open on Monday. There are almost as many holidays in November as work days. It can be difficult to achieve any business activities during the month of November, and December isn't much better with Christmas on the way. Once the rum bottles start to open for the season, things come to a crawl. If you thought things were slow in Panama up til now, wait til you experience November & December. Best of the season to you all............PJ
Panama: Boquete - SETI - Aliens?:
http://www.universetoday.com/130515/aliens-strong-signal-detected-sun-like-star-verified-seti/
Panama: Boquete's Economic Refugees:
https://www.thenation.com/article/inequality-has-gotten-so-bad-were-offshoring-our-grandparents/
Panama: Tipping in Panama:
INCLUDING TIPS on restaurant and hotel bills became illegal in Panama on Wednesday, July 3 , when President Juan Carlos Varela signed off on a consumers’ rights bill.
“The new rule states that the tip or gratuity for the service is voluntary, so it will not be included as an additional charge to the price agreed or announced, except in the case of services pre-contracted in which the gratuity charge is determined ” says a statement of the Ministry of Communication.
It adds that, the tip may be suggested, provided that the total is specified in the bill to pay, including taxes or fees and also display a clearly differentiated total to pay, including taxes, fees and suggested tip.
The bill also provides obligations of the supplier, to accept coins or notes of any denomination without submitting personal identification.
The legislation specifies that in the case of parking services, a sign must be displayed saying: “This place does not offer free parking to customers.” It must also announce the rates and conditions of service “.
The law, take effect from its promulgation, also provides that the supplier must accept coins or notes of any denomination duty without personally identification, provided they are legal tender in the Republic of Panama as well as to deliver the exact change.
Any establishment selling goods must display the price accurately and be clearly visible to the public.
“Provider adoption of any practice that misleads the consumer into confusion or provides misleading information about the price of goods and services is prohibited,” said the statement.
Panama: Disappearance of Small Banks:
If you are wondering why finding a great bank in Panama is becoming more difficult lately, there are a number of reasons why, as mentioned in a recent article in La Prensa, the leading newspaper of Panama.
Increased operating costs because of risk controls imposed by the US have led to correspondent banks avoiding working with small banks.
Maintaining small structures at the same time as paying high costs in order to meet the standards required internationally, primarily in the United States, is no longer viable for banks who want to remain profitable.
Prensa.com reports that "...The secretary general of the Latin American Federation of Banks (Felaban), Giorgio Trettenero, told La Prensa that the phenomenon extends to Latin America and the world. "It's a complex issue. American compliance standards are becoming so costly, that for a large bank it is no longer worth lending to a medium or small bank, because the cost of administration is very great'."
"... The new international reality of the banking sector, marked by risk aversion on the part of large correspondent banks, could lead to a process of mergers and acquisitions in the region and in Panama, said Gustavo Villa, Secretary General of the Superintendency of Banks in Panama." We all heard about Multibank, choosing to charge each individual expat in Panama, a commission to help pay the cost of FATCA. That commission is $250 per year per person. Very few people have been able to get away with not paying it. I know some very irate people who stormed into Multibank when they heard about it, and after huge confrontations, left, opened up another bank account, and quickly returned to close down their Multibank accounts. Lawyers and others are paid commissions to bring their people to Multibank. Why would anyone take clients or friends to a bank that was charging $250 a year per person as a commission? No other bank is doing it in Panama. If you are new to banking in Panama, e-mail me for some of the better solutions..........
Panama: David Business Gathering:
The Chamber of Commerce in Chiriqui is calling for participation in a business conference to be held from August 23 to 25 at the International Fair of David. If you have some business thoughts, ideas, projects that you want to get done, you can contact me for details, or anyone at the Chamber of Commerce in Chiriqui. Chiriqui Province is wide open to hearing business ideas and concepts to help the largest growing city in Panama, David, to keep moving in a positive direction................
Panama: Panama launches Investigations:
A few days ago on the BBC, July 21st 2016, it was announced that Panama is currently investigating the 1989 US invasion, looking to clarify some of the details that were released by the US media at the time.............. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36852120
Panama: Boquete - Dutch Girls - Follow up:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/07/24/death-on-the-serpent-river-how-the-lost-girls-of-panama-disappeared.html
Panama: All-In-English Satellite TV in Panama:
People ask me all the time, can I get English TV programming in Panama, and yes you can, and on Satellite. Talk with my friend Alberto...........
http://www.usatvsatfrompanama.com/
Panama: A new book out on Wild Bill:
"Wild Bill" & THE JOLLY ROGER SOCIAL CLUB
Bocas del Toro is an Atlantic side archipelago in Panama with a funky, laid-back, Margaritaville-like atmosphere that appeals to expats wanting to escape to a Kokomo like Caribbean paradise. The wide variety of expats who've moved to Bocas seem to be a little more adventurous, maybe more "off kilter" than the traditional US expat moving to Panama for a supposedly cheaper but still traditional retirement. So Bill Cortez and his wife Laura fit right in. They came down from the Southeastern US where they claimed to have been real estate investors who'd made a lot of money and were eager for a more laid-back life. Panama, and particularly Bocas, has always had a number of "larger-than-life" expat characters, and Bill was certainly one. He was big, brash, loud, ran a bar and rooming house with a pirate theme and the saying "you check in but never check out." His larger-than-life personality earned him the moniker "Wild Bill."
wild billBocas, and to some extent Panama, has always appealed to expat who, for whatever reason, wanted to be "off" or at least "under" the radar. Michael Brown, his wife, and teenage son, lived a Bocas life that was the opposite of Wild Bill's. And there was, it would turn out later, a good reason. Brown was in the witness protection program having turned witness against several drug dealers back in the United States. Wild Bill & Brown were casual acquaintances and when the Browns disappeared from the Bocas scene and Wild Bill and his wife were living in their home, folks just assumed that the Browns had returned to the States for a while and that Bill and Laura were house sitting.
Eventually, and it's a riveting story, it would turn out that Bill Cortez was actually William Dathan Holbert with a very checkered past and wanted by authorities in the US. Bill and Laura had befriended the Browns and found out where the Browns had hidden the bearer bonds giving them ownership to their property. They had then taken the Browns and executed father, mother and son and moved into their home!
It took years to unravel this story and in the end Holbert confessed to killing five people in Panama and one in Costa Rica to get their money and properties. Prosecutors say Holbert befriended the victims, shot them in the head, buried their bodies, and then stole their homes and businesses.
Obviously riveting material for a book.
And the book, THE JOLLY ROGER SOCIAL CLUB, by Nick Foster has just been released and is available on Amazon. The book is a "true story of a killer in paradise," the entire story of Holbert, the murders, and how the truth came to light and the Holberts were captured. Fascinating, fascinating stuff!
About a year ago Richard Detrich was talking at the Boquete Book Club luncheon and noticed this one guy, sitting alone in the back of the room, taking notes. Curious, he approached him after the meeting and introduced himself. It was Nick Foster. He explained that he was writing a book about "Wild Bill." They got to talking. Nick had already interviewed Holbert at David prison and had two more scheduled interviews, one the next day. From this talk Foster knew Richard had been a pastor and he wanted to talk. He had spoken with Holbert who had claimed to be a born-again Christian. [Today, 2016, Holbert claims to be leading a prison ministry in David prison.] What perplexed Foster was that Holbert, although claiming to be born-again, had no remorse for the killings. Holbert had the Brown's then sixteen-year-old son kneel to the ground and then shot the kid in the head. Boom! Point blank! Nick, who has a son, was having difficulty wrapping his head around how you could ask God to forgive you, then claim he has, and feel no remorse for such a cold-blooded killing.
The book is just out. Like many murder books it is fascinating, and the way in which all this came to light is amazing, yet at the same time the story is disturbing. And it happened right here to folks just like the rest of us. THE JOLLY ROGER SOCIAL CLUB
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