A celebration of national culture

The toe-twitching audience was treated to a fast moving riot of color, sound and dancing that often included audience participation as young and old clapped and beat time to the rhythm of new and old favorites.

All the provinces were represented and, for the most part, gave performances that would have earned acclaim on Broadway. If heart and enthusiasm were included in the criteria, for Tony’s an other big time awards, they would be prime contenders.

A light humored “Pinding” (local dance get together) piece that closed the first half of the extravaganza, gained rapturous applause as the audience identified with events in the crowded scene from local drunk and the arm of the law to erring husband and vengeful wife.

The only regret, that so many were unable to get seats, and many left without gaining entry. After 100 years, its a shame that only two nights could be spared for such an entrancing performance

BEWARE THE CONS. Panama has more than its fair share of con-artists (men and women. Sit in almost any restaurant, and you can hear the bait being laid to some newly arrived gullibles. The expat community provides a strong contingent of smooth talkers, ranging from those who verbally doctor their life time achievements to the real artists who put their silver tongues to profitable work. They include house sitters who steal the silver and use your home as a party center, real estate “sales” people who “know the ropes” and leave you stranded with a property and no title, contact people with fancy “consultant” business cards, who just happen to know a lawyer or brokers who will charge you exorbitant fees from which you expat draws his commission, to do little or nothing when you are working on your immigration papers.

The latest on the scene has KKK in his background, and I am not talking about a baseball pitcher’s strike outs. This one id a former KKK grand wizard busy selling a high prices pyramid scam at a well known Panamanian resort. He’s truly qualified for the appellation “con” having served hard time in a Canadian prison.

Now how do these folks get through immigration?

OLIVER TWIST. There was a time when it was said that where GM goes, so goes the U.S. Now GM is going cap in hand to the Feds asking for bail out money, because the once mighty power broker is nearly on the rocks. This after a decade or more of churning out gas guzzling monsters without a care for the environment, and backed by an administration that thought global warming was a tag line for a group of bleeding heart liberals.

Now if you happen to be a little guy who made got caught up in the credit crunch, don’t bother standing in line. Oliver Twist would have been able to tell you what the result would likely be.

OUR NATIONAL SHAME. I recently commented on the twisted thinking of scores of thousands of people who poured millions of dollars into corporate coffers to fudge a win for a Panamanian teenager in the Latin American Idol song contest. On the day that these mis-applied funds were being transferred, and President Torrijos was using taxpayer funds to provide transport in the presidential jet for the winner, a child died of malnutrition in Chiriqui. Now figures show that there have been around 100 similar deaths. This in a country with a booming economy. Wait for the next song contest