By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - The other day I ran into a guy on the street, and as far as I could remember I don't think I had ever met this particular gentleman before. He was pulling some books from the shelves at the book exchange in the Expat Center, and he looked up and noticed me on the way out. He recognized me and without batting an eye he declared in a loud voice "Nill illigitimi carborundum!" At first I thought he was a Harry Potter fan and I was about to be turned into a roasted frog or something. Then he said "that's Latin for 'don't let the bastards get you down." Ah, thanks. I get it. Have a great day. He went back to grabbing books and I went back to whatever I was doing... (more)

High Profile in Panama: On one hand, I'm just a guy with a computer, a digital camera, and a website. I like to write, take pictures, and I've always been a news junkie. And, I've been building PC's for about twenty years or more. Put that all together and you get Panama-Guide, for better or worse.

"Get Down, You Friggin' Moron..." But on the other hand one of the first things you learn in the military is to keep your head down. You pop around the corner and you might get popped. Stick your head up and the sniper spots you first. And when you hear "we need a volunteer" the other 99 guys take a step backwards and there you are (rats.) So it's somewhat counterintuitive for me to find myself leading this high-profile existence as the owner and chief editor of Panama-Guide.com. My gut tells me to get down, while at the same time those same instincts tell me that people need to know what's going on in Panama.

Taking It In The Chest: Recently I've been approached by writers who have a background as novelists or journalists, or others who have always enjoyed creative writing as an outlet for personal self expression. I hope you've been enjoying the wonderful writings of an author using the pen name Wary Bradshaw, an expat in Panama who has experiences completely different from my own. I just love it, because I have to assume that readers get tired of hearing the sound of my voice, and a change of tone, tenor, and approach can only be good.

A Note About Anonymous Postings: I generally do not accept contributions or publish works submitted from anonymous sources for obvious reasons. "Lawyer Joe Blow is a friggin' crook, and your readers should know about him. But I can't give you my name." Sorry, that's not going up. But in the case of pen-names, I more than welcome anyone who wants to contribute and write for Panama Guide under another name, as long as I get to meet you and I know who you are. I can fully respect and understand a desire for privacy and for keeping a low profile, and at the same time I want to encourage people to document their individual living experiences in Panama and share with the rest of us who are charting our own, if slightly different, paths.

Back to "Nill illigitimi carborundum": I don't, let the bastards get me down, that is. I do get smeared on a daily basis, however. The other day someone wrote me an email to ask if I was honorably discharged from the US military. For the record, that's me on the right in the photo above, with a buddy of mine who is an Air Force forward air controller. That photo was taken in early 2000 in front of a hanger on Roosevelt Roads in Puerto Rico as we were setting up chairs to prepare for a change of command ceremony for the Special Operations Command South (SOCSOUTH). I spent the last five years of my military career in Special Operations, and retired in July 2000 as a Master Sergeant with an Honorable Discharge and a full pension for having served twenty years on active duty.

I've Got Good News, and Bad News: Being the 'Master of my Own Domain' has both it's good points and bad points. Most people who move to Panama prefer to keep some kind of a low profile - they want to quietly go about their lives in peace. Simultaneously some have a creative side or backgrounds as writers or publishers and while they might like to turn to Panama-Guide as a creative outlet, they also see the amount of flak that I catch (as the moron with my head sticking up) so they choose to stay low. Anyway, I want to let anyone out with a desire to submit articles for publication know that I understand your concerns, and as long as I know who you are then by all means, feel free to write under any pen name you choose.

Other Things That I Won't Be Clearing Up: The "bastards" out there just love it when they can yank my chain and get a response. For the most part I choose to ignore them when I can and return fire when I have to. With regards to my military service, that's something I am particularly proud of and I didn't want anyone to believe for a minute the most current slander against me, that I was thrown out of the military with a General Discharge for drug abuse, which is completely false. And since that accusation includes an allegation of a criminal act on my part (drug use), making the statement is a crime in Panama (slander and defamation). Accordingly, the next time I have an hour to kill I'll be filing my complaint with the PTJ. I think that will make five or six, but I'm kinda losing count. Whatever... It's all in a day's work. My strategy (and I have a Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence) is to just let the idiots out there keep talking and to file official complaints when they break the law against me. Of course I know it takes three years or so for a criminal complaint to work it's way through the system, but I'm not going anywhere. I can wait, and while I'm waiting I'll be exercising my personal options of both self control and patience. Let's see how that works out in the long run. You know, strategy and all.

Sunday Morning -- Have a great weekend, ya'll. I'm off to play with my kids and make the best of what's left of this Sunday morning. Sarah (now 8 months old) is now officially crawling and can pull herself up to a standing position, but sitting back down is still a challenge. My 14 year-old son is thriving, spends as much time as he can in the pool and playing video games. My fiance's 21 year-old son will be graduating from the USMA next year. And now I'm going to put "Nill illigitimi carborundum" right where it's supposed to be, waaayyyy back there on the back burner. In any case, it's nice to get comments and emails of support. And as far as I can tell the "pros" outnumber the "cons" at a ration of about 1000 to 1. And at this point I would like to invite you to hit the "Post A Comment" link and tell me what you think. You have a right to express yourself - be it with a Bronx cheer or otherwise. Salud.

Copyright 2007 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.
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High Profile in Panama: On one hand, I'm just a guy with a computer, a digital camera, and a website. I like to write, take pictures, and I've always been a news junkie. And, I've been building PC's for about twenty years or more. Put that all together and you get Panama-Guide, for better or worse.

"Get Down, You Friggin' Moron..." But on the other hand one of the first things you learn in the military is to keep your head down. You pop around the corner and you might get popped. Stick your head up and the sniper spots you first. And when you hear "we need a volunteer" the other 99 guys take a step backwards and there you are (rats.) So it's somewhat counterintuitive for me to find myself leading this high-profile existence as the owner and chief editor of Panama-Guide.com. My gut tells me to get down, while at the same time those same instincts tell me that people need to know what's going on in Panama.

Taking It In The Chest: Recently I've been approached by writers who have a background as novelists or journalists, or others who have always enjoyed creative writing as an outlet for personal self expression. I hope you've been enjoying the wonderful writings of an author using the pen name Wary Bradshaw, an expat in Panama who has experiences completely different from my own. I just love it, because I have to assume that readers get tired of hearing the sound of my voice, and a change of tone, tenor, and approach can only be good.

A Note About Anonymous Postings: I generally do not accept contributions or publish works submitted from anonymous sources for obvious reasons. "Lawyer Joe Blow is a friggin' crook, and your readers should know about him. But I can't give you my name." Sorry, that's not going up. But in the case of pen-names, I more than welcome anyone who wants to contribute and write for Panama Guide under another name, as long as I get to meet you and I know who you are. I can fully respect and understand a desire for privacy and for keeping a low profile, and at the same time I want to encourage people to document their individual living experiences in Panama and share with the rest of us who are charting our own, if slightly different, paths.

Back to "Nill illigitimi carborundum": I don't, let the bastards get me down, that is. I do get smeared on a daily basis, however. The other day someone wrote me an email to ask if I was honorably discharged from the US military. For the record, that's me on the right in the photo above, with a buddy of mine who is an Air Force forward air controller. That photo was taken in early 2000 in front of a hanger on Roosevelt Roads in Puerto Rico as we were setting up chairs to prepare for a change of command ceremony for the Special Operations Command South (SOCSOUTH). I spent the last five years of my military career in Special Operations, and retired in July 2000 as a Master Sergeant with an Honorable Discharge and a full pension for having served twenty years on active duty.

I've Got Good News, and Bad News: Being the 'Master of my Own Domain' has both it's good points and bad points. Most people who move to Panama prefer to keep some kind of a low profile - they want to quietly go about their lives in peace. Simultaneously some have a creative side or backgrounds as writers or publishers and while they might like to turn to Panama-Guide as a creative outlet, they also see the amount of flak that I catch (as the moron with my head sticking up) so they choose to stay low. Anyway, I want to let anyone out with a desire to submit articles for publication know that I understand your concerns, and as long as I know who you are then by all means, feel free to write under any pen name you choose.

Other Things That I Won't Be Clearing Up: The "bastards" out there just love it when they can yank my chain and get a response. For the most part I choose to ignore them when I can and return fire when I have to. With regards to my military service, that's something I am particularly proud of and I didn't want anyone to believe for a minute the most current slander against me, that I was thrown out of the military with a General Discharge for drug abuse, which is completely false. And since that accusation includes an allegation of a criminal act on my part (drug use), making the statement is a crime in Panama (slander and defamation). Accordingly, the next time I have an hour to kill I'll be filing my complaint with the PTJ. I think that will make five or six, but I'm kinda losing count. Whatever... It's all in a day's work. My strategy (and I have a Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence) is to just let the idiots out there keep talking and to file official complaints when they break the law against me. Of course I know it takes three years or so for a criminal complaint to work it's way through the system, but I'm not going anywhere. I can wait, and while I'm waiting I'll be exercising my personal options of both self control and patience. Let's see how that works out in the long run. You know, strategy and all.

Sunday Morning -- Have a great weekend, ya'll. I'm off to play with my kids and make the best of what's left of this Sunday morning. Sarah (now 8 months old) is now officially crawling and can pull herself up to a standing position, but sitting back down is still a challenge. My 14 year-old son is thriving, spends as much time as he can in the pool and playing video games. My fiance's 21 year-old son will be graduating from the USMA next year. And now I'm going to put "Nill illigitimi carborundum" right where it's supposed to be, waaayyyy back there on the back burner. In any case, it's nice to get comments and emails of support. And as far as I can tell the "pros" outnumber the "cons" at a ration of about 1000 to 1. And at this point I would like to invite you to hit the "Post A Comment" link and tell me what you think. You have a right to express yourself - be it with a Bronx cheer or otherwise. Salud.

Copyright 2007 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.">            |   Bookmarks