Losing Our Freedom; Most Fragile LInk; Steve Jobs Back; Summer Reading; Teenagers

"...keeping you great"

HEADLINES: (while on vacation -- so more personal)

First, glad Steve Jobs is back -- he officially returned this week, though he was on the Apple campus as early as last week.

We're Losing Our Freedom -- on the eve of Independence Day in the U.S. I have to share the single biggest shocker that struck me while traveling the world with my family the past nine months -- we've slowly lost our freedoms in the U.S. It took being gone for nine months to see it from afar. It's not that we don't have more freedom than others on the planet, it's just that we're losing a lot of freedom we've had. Like the proverbial frog in a pot of hot water, our freedoms have been slowly eroded -- our freedom to make our own decisions, our freedom to do as we choose, our freedom to live without fear of violating some law, even our freedom of speech -- the entire Life, Liberty, and Right to Private Property (how it was originally written) aspect of our Declaration of Independence. I'll be speaking to this subject when my wife and I make a presentation on our trip at the EO Barcelona University this fall.

Join Us in Panama -- our favorite hideaway, Panama, inaugurated a new President this week, WPOer Ricardo Martinelli, a self-made businessman who built one of the largest private companies in Panama, the Super 99 supermarket chain. And his Vice President is YPOer Juan Carlos Varela. I spent last Thursday leading another workshop for the Panama YPO chapter. One of Martinelli's agendas is to institute a 10% flat tax making Panama the Hong Kong of Latin America. And the new Finance and Economic Minister is Alberto Vallarino, one of the wealthiest business owners in Panama as former CEO of Banistmo Bank, which he sold to HSBC for $1.6 billion. Alberto is our neighbor as the developer, with EOer Fernando Duque, of Latin America's premier five-star resort Buenaventura where we own a couple properties.

BuenaVentura Opportunities -- there are some real estate opportunities in Buenaventura -- would love to have you as a neighbor. I particularly recommend the few four-bedroom villas left at the Bristol Hotel in Buenaventura. And you'll be among other business executives and owners including other EOers and YPOers. Contact Tatiana Dominguez if interested (I'm not receiving a penny of compensation nor do they even know I've made this mention -- I'm just bullish on the resort and Panama).

Most Accessible Private Jungle Reserve in the World -- and my two oldest sons joined me for a three day adventure in the jungles of Panama located in what I call "the most fragile link" in the Americas. It's a 10,000 acre private reserve (one of the new rages among the wealthy) located at the narrowest point of Panama (35 miles). It's vital in that birds and animals have just this narrow spot to move between North and South America. And leading the initiative is Nathan Gray, founder of Earth Train, a global organization educating a new group of youth leaders through biocultural restoration. Nathan also brought OxFam to the U.S. and has 40 years of educating youth around the world. And since it?s located just 45 minutes from Panama's International Airport (PTY), it's one of the most accessible (and bug free) jungles in the world. With Wifi and satellite phones, we were also in touch with the world while communing with nature. My sons had a blast.

Teenagers -- having four children, I continue to struggle with the whole parenting role. One of my mentors is Rabbi Baars and his Get Bliss programs. His latest short piece on dealing with teenagers is perfect where he outlines the worse punishment you can administer a teenager! And it helps build the relationship vs. hurt the relationship as does most punishment.

Summer Time Reading -- and I just started the latest biography on Andrew Jackson entitled American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House. It's excellent so far.

Comments

[Dan]

Verne,

are you just investing in the property or do you plan to live there?

is Panama good enough to operate
an online company from there?

thanks,
Dan

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"We're Losing Our Freedom" - interesting topic. Can't wait to read some more.

[Sen]

Too many laws and regulation are indeed an infringement of personal liberties. But then again, without laws and a strong government freedoms in a safe manner cannot be ensured.

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