Gordon Bakke

For both Newbie & experienced home brewers, Panama Brewers Supply in PC has some very nice brewing supplies and ingredients, with more becoming available all the time. Its even possible to have items shipped. A great resource. http://www.panamabrewers.com/

Don Winner, his long-standing feuds with Okke Ornstein, & Eric Jackson...pretty glad this is mostly a thing of the past. Ornstein & Jackson had both been sued by various persons I believe Mr. Winner was one) here in Panama on criminal "crimes against honor". I believe these laws are no longer on the books as criminal violations. If you are believer in free speech, you might be interested in the following talk given by Mr. Ornstein about the plausibility of setting up free speech zones throughout the world: http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/The-Panama-free-speech-zone-|-O

Meh....

Lofty goals, and I wish them the best of luck. For areas like Boquete and Volcan, I have serious doubts that many reforesters have a real understanding of what plant species have been lost over the years in the highlands, as former forests have turned to pasture, and I have seen very little to give me confidence that these species are even available for re-planting. Still, good intentions are appreciated.

I noticed that Volcan is one of the communities that is benefiting from this program. This raises a number of questions for me that perhaps someone can answer. Not trying to be critical of this program, but I AM curious. Some questions, off the top of my head: Is this program designated strictly for publicly held property, and/or public right of way, or are private properties designated as well? IF private properties are included, how does one qualify for this program? What plant species are being designated for specific ecosystems? IF we we are using locally adapted plants, WHO is growing them? Are we using native, ornamental, or food producing plants? And which kind, specifically? Any thoughts?

I can't help but think that this is one of those feel good stories that is sorely lacking in good facts. According to the story, Panama is losing 20,000 hectares of forest per year. And then, we celebrate the replacement in trees of roughly 2,000 hectares? And of the trees that are replaced, they are not exclusively native species, but rather coffee and cacao? Normally, coffee and cacao are not planted on public lands, so I have to conclude that this is primarily to benefit private landowners. Maybe someone can ferret out some facts about this story that make a little better sense.

Smokin' Mamas. I liked it the first time we ate there. Since that time, it has been mediocre, at best. And over-priced. Beats the hospital food, though....

I tend to agree with Dottie. If people demand better customer service (and return policies), some merchants in Panama will likely respond eventually. Its just one more area of commerce in which stores can compete for customer loyalty. Lets not forget that in North America, liberal return policies were not the norm until a few forward thinking folks (the Nordstrom family comes to mind) offered this as something they thought was both right, and would appeal to consumers.

'the long term "Ning is awesome" cheerleaders'.....ouch! Perhaps we could combine this with the knife sharpening thread....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_water_buffalo_breeds

Any similarity to posts on other local forums may be wholly or in part coincidental...

Street signs. What a concept! Placed a small mailbox outside my gate for Union Fenosa, Idaan bills, and thereafter received my first junk mail - an ad for auto parts or some such in David. America...now bringing junk mail to Panama! Hurray!!

Obama and Hillary taking my guns Islamic extremists! Oooooo.... Oh, fer Christ's sake, I thought I was on that OTHER site! Don't ban me, Bro.

Now if we could just get bacon off the IARC list of known carcinogens...mmm....bacon....

The most impressive thing about the new improved other site is the large number of like minded individuals. And really top-flight comments, such as this one from yesterday: ""Hello, My name is princess. a young lady, I got attracted and impressed when i read through your profile, and be cam interested in you i will like you.to send me email (princcessaffin@hotmail.com""

The plan announced by the Minister of Tourism back in August 2014, estimated a distance of 10k, and a cost of 30 million dollars. Haven't heard anything new since he proposed this.

Guess I wasn't following the "Olga Saga" as closely as I should. Just assumed, as the chosen moderator, that she was Panamanian. Whatever...

So, Olga Suarez is Cuban-American? Huh....

Comparing the consensus on climate change to GMO's: https://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2014/07/08/climate-change-vs-gmos-comparing-the-independent-global-scientific-consensus/

From the Slate artical I linked to above: "GMO labels won’t clear this up. They won’t tell you whether there’s Bt in your food. They’ll only give you the illusion that you’ve escaped it. That’s one lesson of the Non-GMO Project, whose voluntary labels purport to give you an “informed choice” about what’s in your food. Earlier this year, Slate interns Natania Levy and Greer Prettyman contacted the manufacturers of 15 corn products bearing the Non-GMO Project label. They asked each company whether its product included any ingredients sprayed with biopesticides. Five companies didn’t reply. Two told us, falsely, that their organic certification meant they didn’t use pesticides or anything that could be harmful. One sent us weasel words and repeated them when we pressed for a clearer answer. Another told us it adhered to legal limits. Three confessed that they didn’t know. None of the manufacturers could give us a clear assurance that its product hadn’t been exposed to Bt. That’s the fundamental flaw in the anti-GMO movement. It only pretends to inform you. When you push past its dogmas and examine the evidence, you realize that the movement’s fixation on genetic engineering has been an enormous mistake. The principles it claims to stand for—environmental protection, public health, community agriculture—are better served by considering the facts of each case than by treating GMOs, categorically, as a proxy for all that’s wrong with the world. That’s the truth, in all its messy complexity. Too bad it won’t fit on a label."

Just about every reputable scientific organization in the world has made statements to the effect that GMO foods are no more dangerous than their non-GMO counterparts.The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has made this statement: "The science is quite clear: crop improvement by the modern molecular techniques of biotechnology is safe … The World Health Organization, the American Medical Association, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the British Royal Society, and every other respected organization that has examined the evidence has come to the same conclusion: consuming foods containing ingredients derived from GM crops is no riskier than consuming the same foods containing ingredients from crop plants modified by conventional plant improvement techniques." Here are just a few arguments against the idea of mandatory labeling of GMO foods: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/labels-for-gmo-foods-are-a-bad-idea/

Yes, despite some of the information above being false or misleading, there ARE legitimate issues, as you point out with GMO crops, pesticide resistance among them. A number of people in the scientific community have suggested a best management practices protocol for both GMO & non-GMO crops that could alleviate these issues. Page 5 of the first link: http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2015/07/are_gmos_safe_yes_the_case_against_them_is_full_of_fraud_lies_and_errors.html http://www.nationalacademies.org/includes/genengcrops.pdf

Exactly. It is a reaction against Monsanto (I am not here to defend their business practices) that colors many people's opinions and concerns about GMO foods. The bias against Monsanto can be confirmed by the fact that on forums such as this, we RARELY hear the same kind of invective's tossed at the other "big six" producers of GMO - BASF, Bayer, Dupont, Dow, & Syngenta.

Yes, it is fabulous. In my opinion a world class resort, run & operated by world class people. Go. Its great.

I have a strong opinion about GMO, as well. My opinion is that you ought to follow the science. For the foreseeable future, there will always be people who make false claims, and shrill objections to GMO's based, in particular, on a strong negative bias against the company Monsanto.