Frank Zappa adapted an adjective and a generation of hippies coined a term for the shallow consumer when he recorded “Plastic People,” and some years later Rubén Blades used the Spanish word “plastica” to mean essentially the same thing in a song of his own. This issue’s cover features a memorial to a man who accomplished fame and fortune through plastic, Tupperware creator Earl S. Tupper.
Ah, but Mr. Tupper was quite the amateur naturalist, his company's products made outdoor activities so much easier because they're convenient for lightweight waterproof packing, and he ended up giving a lot of money to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), which is why the institute calls its Ancon headquarters the Tupper Center. In the outdoors section of this issue we once again look at the grounds there. Earl Tupper’s bust, with a massive corotu tree in the background, gazes towards the orchid garden on the premises. Over in the science, health and technology section we cover the presentation of a German biochemist about some interesting things he and his colleagues have discovered about certain combinations of herbal remedies and industrial drugs.
(And by the way, STRI's Tuesday science lecture series has changed its hours. Now the lectures are at 4 p.m. rather than noon. These talks are almost always in English, usually comprehensible to people who do not share the speakers' specialties, free and open to the general public. If you are a tourist who finds yourself in Panama City on a Tuesday afternoon, why not drop in and acquaint yourself with this very cool and very international enclave of American academia?)
Economic stories have dominated public attention of late, in particular the Torrijos administration’s tax package. Its centerpiece is a minimum tax on the gross receipts of all corporations, whether their books show a gain or a loss, originally pegged at 2 percent but after protests scaled back to 1.4 percent. The “gastos de representacion” unitemized expense account dodge from taxes is set to be abolished, along with a lot of other tax breaks. People would be taxed on income derived from abroad, as the proposal stood as these words were written apparently including foreign retirees’ pensions. There has been weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth in business circles, and the tax plan is the subject of this issue’s editorial and lead business story.
Moreover, the whys and wherefores and bah humbugs of this tax package and the upcoming Social Security reforms are loosely related to the first three opinion columns --- Martín Torrijos’s discourse on education, which is indirectly about one of the reasons he sees fit to raise taxes; Miguel Antonio Bernal’s skepticism about the contents, procedures and motivations of the whole range of Torrijista reforms; and Raúl Leis’s continued discussion of the labor/left proposal to save Seguro Social from its actuarial woes.
When Martín Torrijos was sworn in we were the only medium anywhere that published his inaugurated in English. Similarly, now that George W. Bush has given an inaugural address for the second time, we are publishing it in full in our Spanish sections, as none of the other Panamanian media have done, because whether one agrees with the man’s policies or not, what he said in his second inaugural address is newsworthy here as in the rest of the world.
Our lead news story, however, is eminently local. The government has unveiled an ambitious plan for the Casco Viejo --- on Saturday the 22nd the setting for a very successful jazz festival --- and it really is a big deal for those of us who live in the capital.
This is one of our more “artsy” issues, featuring Gaenor Speed’s paintings, Araceli Cabezon’s basket weaving and a gringo muñeco that won top prize in the recent San Carlos contest in that eminently cholo art form. (Hmmmm --- can they send you to Guantanamo for burning W’s effigy at a New Year celebration?)
Panama’s junior baseball tournament is into its second round, and our national under-20 soccer team just barely squeaked through a tournament in Carson, California to qualify for the world championships twice in a row. Soccer’s popularity here can be gauged by the frequency with which it is played on residential streets during these school vacation months, or by the increasing numbers of Panamanian players who are getting contracts with foreign clubs. And on Ash Wednesday we will see the national team in action in the prolonged CONCACAF finals, success at which would put Panama in the World Cup tournament for the first time.
Yes, the fallout from the disgraced former administration is still blowing around. Mireya Moscoso herself cut a deal to divide her critics within the Arnulfista Party, which will be renamed the Panameñista Party and keep Mireya as its maximum leader until the middle of next year. And meanwhile I am in the process of moving against the McMurrain gang and the public officials who colluded with them, in my own right because of the bogus prosecution and related extortion attempt against me and as an ordinary citizen who observed the old scam and is now witnessing an attempt to revive the criminal organization known as San Cristobal Land Development. Whether the fraudulent noni and teak plantation scam is allowed to continue will be one of the early tests of our new Attorney General and of the Torrijos administration.
From so much of the email I have been receiving of late, it would seem that in the country's northwestern corner the burning issue of the day is what the new government is going to do about irregularities in land titles, rights of possession, permits to build over the water and so on. A lot of flat-out illegal things were done, and many of these illegal acts first affected the rights of long-term residents and then put newcomers into precarious situations. These are not problems that the incoming government is creating just to annoy or shake down the gringos. That noted, the government's solutions can be wise and equitable for all parties or they can be foolishly legalistic and result in avoidable injustices.
No doubt some of the very worst Americans in Bocas, people who had a hand in creating some of the problems, will try to appoint themselves as spokespeople and divert homeowners' legitimate concerns into a defense of the scammers' wrongdoing. I trust that if and when that happens, some of the very best Americans in Bocas will slap any such pretensions down. The Mireyistas' pet gringo hustlers don't speak for the community and never did.
This is independent Panama, which is trying to put things into some sort of order after several years of unusually profound and widespread corruption. This is not an upscale US suburb and it would be best for the entire American community here if the gringos in Bocas present themselves as a progressive force for justice rather than as selfish NIMBY invaders. Let the gringos be known as friendly neighbors rather than a hostile enclave, because there is a history of the latter perception in this country and we really don't want to return to those bad old days.
And I trust that we won't go back. Most Panamanians like most Americans and welcome them as visitors or neighbors.
And the retirees and visitors keep on coming. Tourists are here in droves, the billfish are biting and as luck would have it the next issue will be produced just as Carnival is underway and tourist season reaches its frenzied zenith. Come join the party and have a good time. Please do not, however, drive like a drunken jerk, and if you’re on the road during those days watch out for others who do.
Due to Carnival and a planned trip to the Darien, I will be getting part of the next issue uploaded a little earlier than usual, but the whole thing won’t be completed until a little later than usual. Please bear with me and try to understand the constraints under which I work.
Enjoy.
