A clouded crystal ball hits drivers

Which crystal ball is the government using to track oil prices? Gasoline prices in Panama got a hefty hike this week, allegedly because of the rising price of oil.

It has always been a wonder to the driving public, how quickly prices at the pump react when oil prices rise, and how slowly the effect is felt when oil prices fall. Check the business pages today, and wonder again where the government gets its news on the price of oil. With their current rational, the electricity companies could soon be adding a gasoline price surcharge to your bill.

TECHNOLOGY. President-elect Barack Obama famously used modern technology in his campaign for the U.S. presidency, to the point of raising millions of dollars by putting donors on a cell phone list and alerting them on key issues, like the naming of Joe Biden as his running mate. His opponent, John McCain, claimed never to have sent an e-mail message. Even George W. Bush knew how to do that, and actually lamented, when he first took office, that he would miss his browsing time.

In Panamanian politics, mayoral candidate Miguel Bernal seems to have grasped the importance of the latest communications methods, even to the point of posting a message on U-tube after a confrontation with the municipal police during a visit to the Panama Food market.

La Estrella and the Star receive almost daily messages from the Bernal campaign, and he appears to be working the system with massive energy. That’s something the city could use. Is it conceivable that this never-say-die fighter could actually sway voters to defeat the big party machines? Unlikely, but then when it seemed that the Democratic nomination was an almost certain gimme for the anointed Hillary Clinton , some unknown guy called Obama popped up. Keep watching.

CLOCK WATCHING On the other side of the coin there seems to be a lack of understanding among government offices at all levels about time. We regularly get notices by fax or e-mail about press conferences or events sometimes only an hour or two away. On other occasions the notice arrives after the event. No time to wake up and smell the roses. They are already dead.

CLOSET SKELETONS. The release into the public domain of a 1903 year old British census has produced information on the ancestors of many who today bask in the sunshine of fame and glory. David Beckham that multi millionaire (billionaire?) soccer player possessor of golden feet golden locks, and Victoria, now knows that his great-great-great grandfather was a rag-and-bone man, a person going from to door collecting old bones for sale to soap and glycerine companies, old clothes for recycling and iron for scrap merchants. In Panama he would probably be listed as a street man.

The BBC produced an award winning TV series, Steptoe and Son based on a rag and bone father and son duo. I met Harry Corbett who played the son on a TV program in Belfast, during an election campaign when he revealed his political leanings. In the series he and his father (Wilfred Brambwell) often disagreed. In real life they imitated art. The ‘son’ was rooting for Labour, The ‘father’ for the Tories.

If details of the ancestral backgrounds of some of Panama’s illustrious citizens were released, would they be able to hold their heads high in their exclusive retreats?

1903 was of course the time when Panama became independent from Colombia (or sold its soul to the United States in return for a canal, depending on your take on history). Was great-great-great granddaddy a hero or a villain?