letters

Letters from three continents, but not Panama, this time

Missing bell from the US schooner “ALPENA”

BRIEF DETAILS:

In 1909, citizens from the United States and Australia were brought together in a life and death battle during a sea rescue off the coast of Newcastle NSW Australia.

The US president ordered gold medals of bravery to awarded to the Australian crew of the Lifeboat “Victoria” for their valor beyond the call of duty for the rescue of the crew from the US vessel.

On the 26 September, 1909 a US schooner named “Alpena” got into difficulties of the Port of Newcastle, and the Newcastle lifeboat named “Victoria” with its brave crew under command of the Coxswain Antonio Costa was scrambled into action. There were two rescue missions conducted in mountainous seas on the 26 and 27 September. All the crew including the captain and his newly wedded wife were rescued. (The captain and his wife were on their honeymoon.)

On the final mission all were nearly killed when enormous waves capsized the lifeboat on three occasions.

The schooner survived the ordeal in 1909 and returned to the United States, but in December 1924 it was lost in St. Andrews Bay near Panama.

We are hoping to locate the missing bell from the Alpena, to be included in a Newcastle Centenary for the rescue of the crew from the Alpena in September 2009.

There is the possibility that one of your readers may know of the location of this bell.

Bill Hillier
VLDF Convenor
16 Elliott Street,
MEREWETHER
N.S.W Australia 2291
Tel Number +61 249614591

The right to arm bears

Regarding your comments on Gringo Gun Culture:

"This is an importation of an American malaise, a sickness in which people try to live out Hollywood fiction"

you've got it right. We have a large number of people who are lost somewhere between the Wild West and Hollywood and refuse to acknowledge the huge number of fatalities, in homes, on campuses, etc.

David Steed
Bisbee, AZ
San Pedro, CA

Against universal health care

I am from the USA. I have lived in many states here throughout my lifetime. I just read your piece on health care reform. I guess what ever Obama dreams up is great according to your article. Damn the costs to the average taxpayer which I am one. I am a middle class person currently living in California. A few quick notes to counter health care reform:

1. Massachusetts currently is exceeding all financial estimates that were made when the state proposed health care for all. It is roundly praised as a big mistake.

2. Hawaii had to stop their universal health care initiative due to excessively exceeding their estimates of how much the cost would be.

3. Tennessee had to stop their universal health care due to, you guessed it, widely exceeding financial estimates.

4. In the last 40 years, the government run Medicaid and Medicare costs have far exceeded the private industry by 30%.

So I guess the only way to fix the many problems that plague the health care system, which I admit are there many, is to let the government take control?

I am currently happy with my families level of health care. I believe we have the best health care in the world. I could never see myself leaving the USA for better care to another country. But I do see many people, from Panama, Canada, Mexico etc. come here to get treatment.

With a current price tag of $1 trillion which the Congressional Budget Office has reported does not add up to the plans being presented, the public is supposed to get behind such a failure waiting to happen. The money has to come from somewhere...TAXES.

With all these negatives to universal health care, the majority of citizens being against the plan, a large block of conservative democrats against the plan (until their votes are bought) you feel from your perch in Panama that it is republicans vs democrats. This is a plan being pushed through too quickly without proper planning.

Steve from California

Janet Levi

I am thinking many things regarding the life and death of Panama artist Janet Levi 1940-2009 and, perhaps I will construct them in some helpful way and pass them on. Janet was so outrageously disarming and funny. Sometimes when I walked into her home, with all of its bright color, I felt as if I had pressed my irises with my thumbs and released hundreds of images of tie-died shirts. We sometimes teased one another on levels that one generally reserves for a soul mate. My wife, Betty, would have every right to feel jealous: yes, even on a highly sensual level. I remember the time that I found her propped up, and wearing a brightly colored African style cap. She had lost a great deal of weight, causing her face to seem sunken and frail. There was a dour middle aged Anglo businessman type standing alongside, whom she did not bother to introduce. She said, in a flat tone, "So, you are looking at me funny. What's so funny?" I said, "You look like Frank Sinatra." That brought a bright flurry of giggles and laughter. The man looked at me with a shocked expression. I figured that Janet would have introduced him to me, if he was of real consequence. I would guess that he was one of those people that had to do with finance or legal matters --- the kind that never understood her true manner of enlightenment. I was blessed with such treasured encounters. How many get to be with a goddess? (red headed, Jewish goddesses are the most amazing.) Betty and I, as well as my children, all have art products from her home. They reflect Janet as she was in Panama. We will look at them the rest of our lives.

Bill Phillips

Bill Phillips, who contributes to The Panama News from time to time, is a United Church of Christ minister, former council member of Balboa Union Church, onetime "Zonian" and "military Brat."

Just a friendly reminder…

Between August through November 2009 I’d like to collect as many book donations as possible so that in late November I can send a Christmas 2009 Book Donation package to my colleague in Panama.

These are ways you can help if you’d like to join me. Please choose the option that works best for you and e-mail me back to let me know I can count you in --- your name as the book donor will appear in any books you donate to the school:

• Purchase one children’s book of your choice each month during August through November.

• Collect one slightly used children’s book of your choice during the same months.

• Purchase or collect whatever amount you choose of children’s books during the same months.

• Send a one-time monetary donation of your choice so that I can purchase children’s books and send you the receipts so you know which books have been purchased. Amazon.com will be used for all book orders so if you’d like to order books and have them sent directly to my home let me know via e-mail.

Thank you!!!

It’s just that simple, and any donations you can provide will greatly help a school in need in my husband’s beautiful native country of Panama.

I know how much you care about helping kids get ready for life in the 21st Century. Hope you can join this effort!

Colombia's war: its devastating effects on women

We at Colombia Support Network are working very hard to bring you first-hand accounts of the way Colombia's war is affecting individuals and communities. This issue of our newsletter includes pieces written exclusively for CSN by 1) the daughter of an assassinated mayor, 2) a woman who suffered terrible abuse at the hands of paramilitaries, and 3) the leader of a women's group in war-torn Libertad (Sucre Department):

http://colombiasupport.net/newsletter/CSN_Summer_09_Newsletter.pdf

Please help us to distribute this moving document to other organizations --- especially women’s groups.

We say no to US military bases in Colombia

Bogota, July 30, 2009

1. The government of Álvaro Uribe has announced a decision to grant the United States the use of military bases on national territory by way of an agreement that would place all of the Colombian land mass at US disposal for all types of military operations inside and outside of our country. Within Colombia a foreign army would become involved in the internal armed conflict thereby exacerbating confrontation and making peace more elusive. Colombia would also become a military stationing platform for aggressive expansion of the North American world power in our region, impacting the stability of neighboring democratic and progressive

governments and interfering with important plans toward the integration of Latin America and the Caribbean.

2. In addition to making a disgrace of our national sovereignty, Uribe’s decision turns Colombia into a foothold for the US and its allies to carry out their plans of attacking Latin American nations that do not toe the US line or that weaken its continental hegemony. It is part and parcel of an offensive by reactionary forces and the empire, which recently staged the coup d’etat in Honduras against the legitimate president of that country, José Manuel Zelaya.

3. This unwarranted concession is contrary to the Colombian Constitution. Both the articles relevant to these matters as well as the appropriate decision-making processes were disrespected. This is one of the most flagrant violations against a Government of Laws committed by the Uribe administration.

4. War is a lucrative business for a small group of multinational corporations that live off their security and defense contracts with the State Department and the Pentagon. Behind the façade of a war against narco-trafficking and terrorism we find the highly profitable operations of the military industrial complex ranging from arms and munitions production to contracts with mercenary outfits around the globe.

5. The increasing submission of the Colombian military to the US continues the failed anti-drug policy outlined by Plan Colombia. It will mean the worsening of the economic, social and environmental problems that Colombia has endured for more than a decade and the further deterioration of the humanitarian and human rights crisis.

6. Even less acceptable is the application of judicial immunity to the North American military and mercenaries who will be given diplomatic protection for any and all crimes committed in Colombia. The precedent established by criminal acts perpetrated by United States’ military personnel here and in other countries by logic transforms the so-called immunity into a grant of impunity.

Given the above considerations, the Polo Democratico Alternativo-PDA- issues:

a) an invitation to political and social organizations, intellectuals, advocates of democracy and human rights activists in Colombia and the continent, to meet soon to reach agreement on a common agenda and a statement against this decision, which undermines Colombia’s national sovereignty and affects the democratic and peaceful stability of the region.

b) a call for a National Day of Mobilization and Protest against war and the military bases in Colombia, in defense of national sovereignty, and for peace in the region.

c) a call for a national and continental campaign against US militarization and intervention in Latin America which we hope will be joined by progressive and democratic forces throughout the world.

d) the expression of sentiments of friendship, solidarity and support for all nations of Latin America, their peoples and the governments which legitimately represent them.

Polo Democrático Alternativo, PDA
National Executive Committee
http://www.polodemocratico.net