The Pinkerton Intelligence Agency has given Panama has the highest rating for tourist safety. After having visited four countries in the region (Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama), I can tell you from personal experience that Panama is by far the safest country in the region.
Private firearms ownership is the reason that Panamanians enjoy this level of safety and security.
Panama does not have ridiculous laws against carrying a weapon concealed. In fact, if you can legally purchase a firearm in Panama, you are also legally allowed to carry it concealed.
Panama also does not have crazy laws to prevent honest citizens from receiving permits to buy firearms. You are required to give a blood sample with a finger prick. This is used for DNA fingerprinting. You will also be asked to pee in a cup to show that you are drug-free. Applicants are then checked by the police department. This isn’t quick; nothing in Panama is quick.
For American pensionados (retirees) and other immigrants to Panama, the process is the same. Yes, you can retire to a tropical paradise and sip rum drinks on the beach, all the while knowing that your family and your property is protected.
Short barreled rifles and shotguns are legal in Panama. Silencer are not legal. Fully-automatic weapons are also not legal.
For more information on firearm ownership in Panama, read Panama Gun Laws.
For more information about retiring to Panama, visit Expat Panama.
Hypocrisy Exposed is a new project by Dante Joseph to highlight the hypocrisy of the current Democrat party leadership on our efforts to bring peace to Iraq.
Visit the site to see comparative video from prominent Democrats highlighting completely some of the completely contradictory statements they have made in various public appearances.
Those outed for hypocrisy include: Howard Dean, John Kerry, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Al Gore, Carl Levin, Jane Harman, Barbara Boxer, Chris Dodd, Bill Clinton, Evan Bayh, Ted Kennedy, Mark Dayton, Harold Ford Jr., Dick Durban, Jay Rockefeller, Russ Feingold, Joe Spratt, Kent Conrad, Maria Cantwell, Steny Hoyer, Herb Kohl, Leonard Boswell, Tom Carper, and Chet Edwards.
Kermit and Dolores Atwood of Slidell, Louisiana have had their home sold at a foreclosure sale for $1.63 in back taxes which the government claimed they owed.
That’s ridiculous, but the story only gets worse when you find out the details.
The government failed to notify the Slidell’s that they owed these taxes. The government sent notices to the wrong address and failed to notice that the letters were never received. Then, the government sold the Slidell’s house at a foreclosure sale and told the Slidell’s that they couldn’t appeal — because they had not responded in time.
Worse, it turns out that the Slidell’s never owed the $1.63 in the first place. The Slidell’s house is totally state homestead exempt — which means that there was no tax actually due!
Apache pilots save critically-wounded Soldier with unorthodox evacuation is a heart-warming story of Chief Warrant Officer-4 Kevin Purtee and Chief Warrant Officer-2 Allen Crist, both Apache AH-64 aviators from Company B, 1st Battalion, 149th Aviation Regiment (Attack), , 36th Combat Aviation Brigade.
On 30 June, Purtee and Crist were flying their last combat mission over Ramadi, Iraq. Over their radio, they received word of a soldier who had been badly injured by the enemy near Donkey Island in Ramadi. The soldier had been shot in the face and in the arm and needed to be evacuated quickly in order to save his life.
Chief Crist assisted three infantrymen in lifting the wounded Soldier into the Apache’s front seat. Chief Crist then tethered himself to the left side of the Apache and rode to the hospital on the small wing of the aircraft. Yes, outside the aircraft.
Once they dropped the wounded warrior off at the hospital at Camp Ar Ramadi, the two pilots flew back to the battle.
The pilots said they didn’t see themselves as heroes. They said the real hero was the Soldier who was shot while engaging the enemy.
The Federal Government raised the minimum wage today by 70 cents - to $5.85 an hour.
According to the basic laws of economics, which the politicians in Washington D.C. appear not to comprehend, unemployment numbers will now rise.
The hardest to be hit will be the part-time teenage and elderly workers.
This doesn’t just damage our economy today — those first jobs are an essential training tool for bringing young people into the workforce. Teenagers who do not work today will find it more difficult to obtain and maintain employment in the future.
Additionally, this idiotic move will make our nation less competitive in the global economy.
The politicos in Washington seem to believe that they can wipe away the laws of economics with a flourish of the pen. This is ridiculous. The laws of economics are as firm as the laws of physics or chemistry. These laws should be understood and respected.
Remember, if you can’t find a job, thank a politician.
Thirty-nine percent of American adults believe that the three major broadcast networks (ABC/CBS/NBC) deliver news with a liberal bias. Forty percent of adult Americans believe that the New York Times is liberally biased.
Disappointingly, Americans are divided evenly on the topic of using government censorship — the so called “fairness doctrine” to try to force journalists to report the news in an unbiased fashion. Are we willing to give up our cherished Freedom of the Press so easily?
Worse, a third of Americans believe that this censorship should extend to web sites. 34% of those polled believe that the federal government should “require web sites that offer political commentary to present opposing viewpoints.”
If that law passes, this web site will quickly be relocated offshore. We’re not giving equal-time to a bunch of big-government ninnies — ever.
Fatah is currently negotiating a deal with Israel which would grant amnesty to 178 Fatah gunmen and give them jobs in the official Palestinian security forces.
While at first it may seem a bit crazy to reward murderers with jobs instead of prison sentences, it really does make sense in the bigger picture.
These men must renounce terrorism, and most can be expected to uphold their promises. The actual document they sign, in Arabic, says this: “The Israeli security and judicial authorities will refrain from arresting or pursuing me after I sign this document. I must be committed to the decisions of the Palestinian Authority and its security apparatus … and refrain from carrying out any military or security activities against the Israelis.”
These men will be part of a security force used to protect the government of Palestine from Hamas terrorists. A prosperous and stable Palestine will be a much better neighbor for Israel than an out-of-control war zone. These men will redirect their energies from murdering Israeli’s to protecting their own nation.
These events remind me most of a quote from Moshe Dayan, “If you want to make peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.”
The Arab League, which represents twenty-two Arab nations, is planning to send official envoys to Israel to discuss peace.
This move represents a significant shift in Arab thought. The Arab League has previously focused on the destruction of Israel, but is now considering a peace plan which would involve official recognition of Israel.
Why is this happening now? The nations which make up the Arab League have discovered that the Islamist militant movements which they have long nourished and supported have grown to become grave threats to their national sovereignty.
Jordan and Egypt are leading the effort, as they have had the longest history of friendly relations with Israel.
The current peace plan proposes trading full Arab recognition of Israel for an Israeli withdrawal from all territory captured in the 1967 war and the creation of a Palestinian state.
This would obviously be a major step forward in both Middle Eastern and global peace. It would not be an end to all aggression, but it would represent a major shift into a “live and let live” policy which could be a first step towards eventual peace.