Las Turistas de Boquete

The Panama countryside is beautiful. We went for a hike into the high country with our friends and neighbors, Roger and Margaret. It's a rain forest so there is lots of water and waterfalls. I later learned that the tall trees you see us walking through harbor a community of howler monkeys. They were laying low, apparently, when we were there.

We visited a coffee farm, or finca de cafe. Connor and I stayed another day to pick beans ("recogemos los granos de cafe"). For a day's work we earned $5 (that's $2.50 each and I'm sure we were being generously tipped!) Between us we picked 2 latas or tins. The record in a day on this farm was 14 latas by a native man and his son. This particular farm is organic, which matters a lot otherwise we'd be rubbing against pesticided plants.


We also rented scooters one afternoon and rode around the narrow mountain roads above Boquete. The views of the surrounding countryside are pretty incredible, but the roads wash out occasionally, and there are usually pedestrians so drivers have to stay aware (but as you can see I did it with my eyes closed!) Some of the roads are so steep our little scooter couldn't make it and we had to push!

Just the other day we all went horseback riding. It's funny because we usually have a lot of trouble communicating to any depth with the locals and when we told them we were from Texas they immediately concluded we were all vacqueros and took us right to the pampas. In truth, Connor had never been on a horse before and Janet and I had not ridden since childhood. (Alexis is the most experienced.) But we didn't hurt ourselves, though there was a close one when I let my horse ride up too close behind Janet's and her horse kicked almost throwing Janet off. I think by the end they figured out we were a bunch of fakers.

The quest for health food in Panama

Healthy food is important to us. We try pretty hard to eat only organic, non-genetically modified food. Plus, we must avoid gluten grains which are so common in the mainstream American diet we sometimes feel like we are on the outside of society looking in. Over many years we have learned that we do best on the "paleolithic diet": fruits, vegetables, nuts, berries, and meats. On this diet leafy greens are a staple.

What we discovered here in Panama is discouraging. It's hard enough to find healthy food in America, but in Panama it's almost impossible. For one thing, grains (corn, rice and occasionally wheat) are abundant in panama, but vegetables are not, especially leafy greens (it's too warm and humid for lettuce and spinach to grow here.) Starchy fruits and roots are very common, and they are usually deep-fried. I'm not sure of the history where corn and beans became the staple diet of Latin America, but I'm pretty sure it's a distortion created by colonialism. In any case, these starchy foods elevate our gringo blood sugar (and the natives don't look like they're doing so well on this diet either.)

Another issue is labeling. We read food packaging carefully and what we find here in Panama is rather shocking. Almost all packaged food contains sugar, and it is almost a rule to find toxins like monosodium glutamate, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, hydrogenated fats, soy, etc. Because of this we eat as much raw fruits and vegetables as we can find. But that brings up yet another problem.

Pesticides are sprayed all over the place here and they are not regulated. We are talking the really nasty ones that have long been banned in the US. This is a picture of the pesticide wall in the local hardware store. We now realize that virtually all of the raw vegetables we find in the grocery stores are toxic. So, our strategy is to buy all that we can from the one organic source, and to eat few of the vegetables that need a lot of spraying like potatoes, bell peppers, and apples (imported from Washington!)

It's strange because in many ways coming to Panama is like stepping backward into time to the bad old days when farmers stirred chemicals with their bare arms, motor oil was dumped on dirt roads, and racism was institutionalized. Things are like this because this society is so new; it only got a chance to develop after the last dictator, Noriega, was thrown out in 1989. Panama is ripe for entrepreneurism--and there are many opportunities--but it deserves the right kind: that which benefits the people and doesn't exploit them.

Getting fatter down in Panama...hasta luego!

Pictures to share

Here are some pictures we thought we'd share...

Why we came to Panama

We've often been asked why we chose to visit Panama.

First, it's warm and beautiful. Anyone who has experienced a winter in Oregon, Missouri, or even Texas knows there are better places to be, and Panama is one of them.

Second, we want to get out of the crazy consumer-uber-all US bubble and experience something completely different. It will be a welcome new challenge to be in another country, learning a new language, and seeing how other people live.

Also, it's a very unfortunate truth, but the US is toast due to the financial debacle unfolding there. So much debt is being tossed onto the backs of Americans that it will smother them. The people's industriousness will be siphoned off to debt service and we will see a rapid decline in living standards and in services generally. The future for our children will be bleak. Crime will rise. For the first time in its history we will see a wave of emigration out of the USA to find better opportunities. (This future could be averted if Americans get furious and repudiate the debt. I don't expect this--but it could happen.)

Due to the above we want to get started on a second passport. I've talked to Americans who thought getting a second passport—or becoming a citizen of another country in addition to their US citizenship—is illegal! But it certainly is not illegal. In fact, it makes a lot of good sense to give one's family additional options, especially as the wheels come off in the US. We're not saying that Panama is the place we've chosen to establish residency, but it has a lot going for it which I may mention in future updates, so it's a good place to take the plunge into.

So far the people in Panama are friendly and helpful, both native and expat alike. The expats here seem fully informed about what and who is behind world events, which is refreshing. It's nice to be among people whose minds are free.

More later...

The day we cleaned the squirrel monkey pen

I mentioned we are living next to an animal rescue facility called Jardines Paraiso (Paradise Gardens) where we've been going to help clean and repair animal pens. One day we got to clean out the squirrel monkey cage and here are a couple of short videos we took.

Note: monkeys are crazy. In the last video one of the monkeys jumped up on me. But shortly after the video I made one wrong move and he bit me!

From Panama with Love

Here is a succinct account of our recent past...

As the days passed in our trailer in southern Oregon watching the summer turn to fall we knew we didn't want to brave another Oregon winter without substantial shelter over our heads. So just before the end of September we drove down through California on I-5 and then through

Arizona and New Mexico on I-10, and back into Texas. I feared a breakdown the whole way because my Jeep's bearings had been whining even before the trip. Though it was an eventful journey I'm happy to say we made it to Texas healthy and whole.

Once in Texas we proceeded to go through the “stuff” in our storage sheds and sell or give away items we no longer wanted. (Unfortunately Texas received a record amount of rain during
October so we had to sit on our hands a lot of the time.) We sold our van, then our travel trailer, and lastly the Jeep. It felt strange and even sad to wave goodbye to all these vehicles that had supported us for so long, but we didn't want to pay storage while we went south for the winter and each vehicle had its own set of problems that would have taken more money and time than we wanted to spend. Once the Jeep sold we stayed with our very patient and loving relatives until we caught a bus to Fort Lauderdale.

I don't know how many of you have ridden long distance on Greyhound Bus Lines, but you should do it at least once. And you will only want to do it once, I'll bet. Anyway, from Fort Lauderdale we flew on Spirit Air to Panama City, Panama. (Spirit Air is so much cheaper than the majors that it cost less to take a bus to their Fort Lauderdale hub than to fly to Panama from Dallas.) Once in Panama City we stayed in our first hostel for two days, and then took a bus to David City, where we stayed at another hostel for a couple of days and then we took another bus up the mountain to Boquete, Panama, and it is from here that I write.

In Boquete we stayed at local hostels and tried to figure out how we could avoid staying at them any more. These places are fine, but not the best for a family and certainly not a value for staying in an area long term. We began asking around and checking bulletin boards outside local markets, made a few calls on our new skype account (oicu812ic) and voila! We are now staying for two months in a beautiful local apartment for much less than the hostels would cost us. Not only that, but we are a short walk from Boquete town center and across the road from us is Paradise Gardens, a garden and animal rescue facility. The children have already made friends with the capuchin monkeys there.

So, we will update you frequently and please stay in touch.

Withdraw from the System

If you reflect on national politics something becomes obvious: YOU can not control ANYTHING. You are locked OUT of the political process. National policies are decided for the benefit of somebody, but not YOU.

Need examples?

You don't want the U.S. army in Iraq or Afghanistan, but the imperial stormtroopers are there and there's nothing you can do about it. We have even learned that the Iraq invasion was made on the basis of lies, but your current "representatives" didn't reverse policy, did they?

In 2008 Democrats gained control of the House of Representatives but their leader, Nancy Pelosi, slapped the new "representatives" in line when they wanted to prosecute George Bush. These periodic purges of "voting out the bums" has no practical effect. Again, they all represent Big Business and NOT you and me.

No one wants illegal aliens crossing our borders but there are many millions of them in this country now and over the decades amnesties have been granted to many millions more. The decision has obviously been made at the highest levels to flood the lowest stratum of the System with poor people to exploit for cheap labor. (This also undercuts the middle class, which is an apparent goal, but that's a big discussion for another time.)

Nobody wants taxpayer money to be paid to bankers and record numbers of people told their "representatives" not to do this, but TRILLIONS have been handed over to them anyway. We are told "they are too big to fail" which is a feeble rationale for crime.

The vast majority of Americans oppose gun control legislation, but our "representatives" vote it up anyway.

Who would possibly want to eat genetically modified foods? But the big corporations will not have informative labeling and they make sure their servants, our "elected representatives", will never approve such a thing.

You are disgusted by the atrocities committed against the Palestinians by Israel, but your "representatives" continue to send that vile country billions, even as you become poorer.

I could go on and on with this, but I think you get the idea. It doesn't take much pondering to realize that if the System is completely unresponsive to your demands, but you still are expected to support it with your taxes, then you exist merely to provide sustenance to it. Let me spell it out: you were born into a System that keeps you in place and extracts money and life energy from you. YOU ARE FARMED. YOU ARE A CROP!

I know that's depressing, so go ahead and be depressed. Depression is what you feel when you've lost something, and if this idea is new to you then you HAVE lost something. But what? How about the illusion of the American dream?

The question you should be asking is what do I do about this, and there are many, many things you can do. I'll present a list soon, but I would like you to do what I did: WITHDRAW from the System. Take yourself and your family outside of it and refuse to give it sustenance. If enough people fought back against the System by withdrawing their support from it, the System would have to surrender to the awesome power of the people. Massive, non-violent civil disobedience is the one thing to which the System can not respond.

Helping this to happen is the reason I do this blog.

Obama: Meet the New Boss

“I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views. As such, I am bound to disappoint some, if not all, of them.” --Barack Obama

Barack Obama first came to my attention when he spoke at the 2004 Democratic Convention. My SUPERVISOR--back when I was a HUMAN RESOURCE--mentioned how impressed she was with this guy. Back then I feigned interest in such mainstream topics, but in truth I never watched TV and regarded presidential politics as theater and orchestration.

The best thing about Barack Obama being elected is that it proves Americans can elect a dark-skinned man to be president. But is there more to be happy about? What justifies the misty-eyed giddiness I am witnessing about this guy? I had the misfortune of being in Ashland, Oregon on Obama's inauguration day. Everywhere I turned it seemed someone was waxing out loud about how great it was that Obama is the new president, but what is it about this guy that has everyone so impressed?

First off, can any serious person think it possible that a senator from the political cesspool of Chicago would be squeaky clean? Seriously! A quick look at Obama's voting record as a senator shows fairly consistent support for the war machine, and a spotty record on individual liberties. I see nothing there to justify the claims that this man is going to be a source of HOPE AND CHANGE, though.

And how could anyone listen to the presidential debates and take either candidate seriously? The one time I overheard the Obama/McCain debate it was "Al Qaeda this", and "Al Qaeda that" but give me a break! These men were parroting the official fairy tales. AL QAEDA DOES NOT EXIST, people. This "organization" is a concoction of the CIA to keep us all afraid and more easily controlled. (I realize that for some of you that statement will sound unbelievable, but it's time to wake from your slumber!)

I did not hear Obama bravely challenge the official account of 9-11 or the bogus reasons to wage war on Afghanistan and Iraq. Now THAT would be real change!

Obama lied
I paid close attention to the conflict between the countries of Georgia and South Ossetia when Georgia surprise attacked the other country (at the urging of the U.S.) and Russia responded by immediately halting the attack and kicking Georgia out. The U.S. claimed that Russia attacked first, a claim that was proven false by an international inquiry. When Obama was asked about this, he simply lied when he accused Russia of starting the conflict with Georgia. (Sarah Palin did the same thing, which bolsters a claim I will make that there is no difference between Republicans and Democrats.) This was a big moment for me in assessing Barack Obama's character.

Obama's appointments don't lie
His cabinet picks are where Obama's presidency moves from lofty rhetoric and starts taking shape, and what an ugly shape it is! He has chosen entrenched insiders who each have a history of suppressing the people and the truth. Where's the change?

Without going through each candidate, certain strong themes stand out from Obama's appointments.

• He leaves in place Bush's secretary of defense (!!) which tells us the war machine will go on as before. The imperial slaughter of dark-skinned peoples, including the Palestinians, will continue unabated.
• His economic team is much the same set of scoundrels that are systematically looting the country as we speak. The looting will continue.
• Obama's environmental picks signal a separation from policies that benefit Big Oil, and this actually gives me hope! Unfortunately, the premise behind this will be "The Climate Crisis" which is a huge fraud (and one that is steadily unraveling.) But watch for the carbon tax!
• Obama will promote global government. Most of Obama's picks are members of the Council on Foreign Relations, including Zbigniew Brzezinski, Obama's foreign policy advisor. The Council on Foreign Relations exists for only one purpose, to end national sovereignty and deliver us into a system of global governance.

Politics as dialectic
Here's what's really going on. From brainsturbator.com:

We find ourselves up against an entrenched power structure composed of a relatively very small group of wealthy elites. They seldom rule directly or even visibly, and maintain their power through building huge armed bureaucracies who enforce power for them.

In America, the two-party system is a fraud, which controls the people and forces them to choose among candidates that do NOT represent their interests. The people are bounced back and forth like a pinball between the hard-right and the soft right, but the underlying agenda keeps moving along. Each election cycle we are given--not the right to choose who our candidates will be--but to select from the men we are given, and if you pay attention you'll notice that the candidates from either party are basically saying the same things. From the Clinton velvet-glove we are swatted over to George W's iron fist and now we are given "hope and change" in the form of the friendly-looking, dark-skinned candidate Obama.

Here's what Carroll Quigley said about our system in his very important book, "Tragedy and Hope":

The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to the doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead, the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can "throw the rascals out" at any election without leading to any profound or extreme shifts in policy.

When Barack Obama repeals the Patriot Act, and the Military Commissions Act, and other heinous legislation from the Bush era, that's when you'll know he's worthy of your trust.