[camby]

[quote=”Scott”] [url=http://americanfreepress.net/?p=2743]Before 9-11 there were reportedly seven:[/url][/quote]

thought this was interesting and telling:
“Islam forbids the charging of interest, a major problem for the Rothschild banking system. Until a few hundred years ago, charging interest was also forbidden in the Christian world and was even punishable by death. It was considered exploitation and enslavement.”

In Catholic Social Teaching, its called Usury and it still is on the books as wrong and sinful, though 99% of Catholics either do not know it or, care….part of sins that cry out for vengeance…

[camby]

[quote=”davidd”][quote=”bogino”][quote=”Scott”]PS. What does this have to do with Costa Rica?

[/quote]

Absolutely Nothing.[/quote]

I have to disagree

since costa rica themselves buy U.S dollars just to keep some sort of stability for the colon. in fact they recently just bought a specific amount of dollars for this reason.

as it gets out of hand.. since tourist pay in dollars and tourism is one of costa rica major revenue stream I see this as being on point.

am I wrong Bogino???

if the the purchasing power of the dollar goes less and less here in costa rica it would make sense that less tourist will come here.

I remember the impact of 9/11 here and all the hotels and employee’s costa rica took a huge hit.
[/quote]

as I am dependant on the USD, and am spending same or exchanging for Colon when I come in 2 weeks, my buying power and even, ability to afford to come to CR and still buy food,pay bills is a big factor…..

[camby]

[quote=”bogino”][quote=”Scott”]PS. What does this have to do with Costa Rica?

[/quote]

Absolutely Nothing.[/quote]

if USA implodes, it will have an effect on the rest of the world due to the massive size of the USA economy, trade, the floating of the USA dollar,etc….plus, the amount of expats in the CR, esp dependant on Social Security,etc could affect, if not health (CAJA would likely be primary for most Expats for any treatment), would affect the dollar and its spending and worth..esp if CR and otehrs take a dimmer view of trading with and using USA dollars, not sure and would yield to Scott on this, but would think that CR, China and others could dump the dollar for the Euro or Chinese money, etc…if the USA was the size of say, San Marino ( sound economy I understand), the effects would be extremely minimal…..trade, import, export could really hurt CR and the rest of the C/S American states….

[camby]

Something on a comment on baby boomers

I used to process social security disability claims, now do mainly medicaid, often similar, some differences, same agency and often, claims cross.

We used to havea good realtionship with the FO’s for SSA (FO=field offices). By 2004, 2005, we were forbidden to contact the FO’s at all and only top agency people could contact them.

Now, it is almost impossible to contact them and when talking to a claimant, advise them to either go in person or do as much as possible online.

The FO’s have largely been over-run with disability and retirement paperwork and cannot effectively handle so much buisness. Plus, there was a huge group of SSA workers that also went into retirement, meaning shortages and long training, post-training of new people.

Another fact is that the Boomers often had far less children to counter their numbers, in part due to later marriages, contraception, abortion,etc….so the structure is top heavy and not surprisingly, based on debt and borrowing.

Some claimants I talk to have either been flat-out lied to about their options and laws,etc or mis-understood and mis-informed.

My advice, when having to deal with SSA-do as much online, keep all communications, go in person when possible and expect long waits, lines and very rude and arrogant people (either the culture and/or the burden of paperwork)

[camby]

Hungary and France have tried with varied success to ban GMO, usually get hit with attacks from Monsanto and USA Govt or NGO’s and dirty under handedness.

[camby]

[quote=”loraine”][quote=”costaricabill”][quote=”loraine”]
You are a real charmer! No, the realtors we met were in Dominical and in Jaco Beach…beach areas! Both tried to disuade us from beach life. And we have friends who live near the beach in Manuel Antonio and Puerto Jimenez…they are the first to say how hot it is! Since they own b&b’s there, they’re there year round.

Possibly, you are in a cooler beach area…yeah

I’ve been called a lot of things, but gullible has never been one of them.

This is a forum open to all. We were asked our opinions, and just because you don’t agree with some of us, doesn’t mean you can’t act civil.

Good luck with your trip to CR in October…I hope you and your wife have a lot of fun and you get to see a lot of this beautiful country![/quote]

I have a life sized picture of real estate agents in Dominical & Jaco trying to make a living by telling people they don’t want to live at the beach! Now, if you said to them “I don’t like hot weather” then I can see them saying that to you and then privately asking each other “If she doesn’t like hot weather why did she come to the beach to look at real estate?”

I have neighbors who lived in Manuel Antonio for a year and after being here in Samara now for 2 years they are always saying how much cooler it is here than down there, especially at night. But honestly, don’t you think that if you are within 10 degrees of the equator and you are at sea level, wouldn’t a reasonable adult expect it to be hot? That surely should not have come as a surprise.

As I sit here right now, it is 81 degrees in my house. The doors facing the ocean are open, the windows and doors on the opposite side of the house are open, the small windows in the cupola are open and the ceiling fans are on. The sun is bright with a few clouds in the sky. 81 degrees may be unbearably hot to some folks, but to me it is quite comfortable.

I assume your wishes for a good trip in October were addressed to Camby, not me.

I live here year round and have for 4 years now. It is indeed a beautiful country and after traveling to several different parts of the country the only place that I would absolutely stand not to live is San Jose proper. Certainly could live in Atenas and Grecia and even Heredia – and maybe old Sta Ana, but not down “in the valley”.

So where did you end up after you were dissuaded from living at, on or near the beach?[/quote]

I never said I didn’t like heat to anyone. I actually said I liked the beach (that’s why we were going to look at beach parcels). They just told me to be mindful of budget/expenses and then mentioned how high the a/c-electric is and how hot it is, and told us of their repeat customers.

81 is lovely. I was in the Brasilito area last November. It was stifling. 90+ with hot air blowing during the daylight hours may be fine for some, but not for me.

I live in NY but I recently purchased land at Lake Arenal. 1 1/2 hours to the airport, close to town but still in the country, with full volanco and lake views/access…and on a paved road. I’m happy with my decision.

To each his own, I guess.

[/quote]

all good info and insights, for me, A/C is pricey in states or in CR, likely. Dont mind some heat, its more about humidity, though hate cold more…Loraine, if you dont mind sharing some info, can you PM me your area, real estate agent if and when you get a moment….Bill, if I recall, you live on teh Nicoya Pen coastal area, correct? With normal breezes,etc, would think that it would not be as hot and sticky-correct? also, I read in the Valley, that it gets down at night to around 60-65 F, give/take, what is the normal lows for your area?

[camby]

Thats what we did, look, but mainly its location and what speaks to you, esp condo vs apt vs house. For us, we moved 2+ yrs ago, we liked the downtown area and older home, plus we could afford it by then, as opposed to our starter home.

Dont like yard work, but its nice to have a yard and some privacy. Dog likes the fence.

Initially, lost the bid and looked at other homes, something was not right in each and some good, then house came back up on market and we moved, quickly…..

We did get more confused the more we looked and started jumbling what house had what,etc…

SOme people think I am nutes for wanting to have property in CR at the beach, have been told “hey thats too hot, everyone lives in teh valley” etc, but if buying a 2nd home, retirement home,etc, why not go where you want to?

Instead of over priced homes in NC at coast, that I could never sell, why not in CR?

Plus other reasons to move and get out,etc…but……wife nad I are more beach people, some are mountain people and move I guess to the Arenal lake area,etc.

[camby]

[quote=”ddspell12″]Moving to Costa Rica. Currening have att&t. How does it work in Costa Rica?

[/quote]

We have Verizon, no “G’s”, just regular service and slid sheaper phones.was told it would not work tehre.Might take our Ipad and just pay for service and/or WiFi..

[camby]

[quote=”Scott”]You can buy Cuban cigars here but they are not cheap….

Would you consider Costa Rican cigar made from Cuban seed?

Some Tico cigars are truly awful but I have enjoyed the cigars from Tabacos de la Cordillera for years now…

IMHO the Fundación Ancestral Serie 1940 torpedo is phenomenal (enjoyed one last night listening to the Chayanne/Marc Anthony audience screaming in the stadium) and if you buy them by the box, it works out to about $4.50 each (if I remember correctly).

We have an article at:

[url=https://www.welovecostarica.com/public/1608.cfm]Costa Rica Cigars: Tabacos de la Cordillera[/url] – Turning Back the Clock 50 Years.

Scott.[/quote]

actually, I hear they are pretty good……was thinking of getting a few for my dad……I dont smoke normally, though a good cigar, might on rare occasion…..will keep that in mind…thanks, went to the AM CR site and read the article on Mr. Levy and his shop, prompted me to think about this….hate to get molested by TSA (who would then likely steal the smoke anyway.)coming back into US.

[camby]

[quote=”pharg”] If I were cynical, I would say we really need WW-III, or a global epidemic of plague, SARS, H1N1, Ebola, Marburg, or all of the above. If I were optimistic I would say, yes, we will deal with it when it is REALLY becomes a crisis. I guess I’m in between, being cynical about any politician’s view of the future beyond the next election. Anyway, sueandchris, thanks for pushing my button.
PEH 🙁
[/quote]

I choose, too, not to be cynical and again, if all the “sky is falling” folks want to pop off, then they would truly stand for what they say they beleive in and should be done…..too many people? then, hey, you first!

Sie note, plenty of plagues and disease on its way…..as any Trad-Catholic will tell you, God is soon to chastise, some prophecies state anywhwere between 3/4-2/3 of population not long for this world (see articles on 3 Days Darkness,The Great Chastisement, Fatima, Garabandal,etc….)

[camby]

[quote=”2010pensioner”]Don’t get caught up in the population projections as our species has proven very efficient at culling our herd. Enjoy the awesome weather, family, and friends. Pay attention to the world around us and always learn. Never despair however for there will always be doom…just around the corner :wink:[/quote]

see my first comments, but to comment on your comment, we have plagues, diseases and wars-thanks to the Neocons, many more…..
Plus, anyone worrying about the fact of “too many people” can also be the first and the brave and pop themselves off…..most usually dont and want to dictate to others that they must (via contraception, population control, esp via food and vaccines,etc)do. In the end, it becomes a power trip, the brave ones are willing to take the lead.
In my area, I ehar of people moving, talking down about natives from the area and then after moving, complaining about crowded roads,stores,etc……
Too many people in CR? then dont move there or if have, leave…..its one thing to complain about expats by native Tico/a’s, but if not…….
A few professors in recent yrs have made speech how people should be forced to contracept, be kileld off directly, hearded into camps or killed slowly, damaging their DNA and future generations, by food, vacccines,etc…..
Oddly, not really, they who compalin about “too many people” continue to live, suck up air, food,resources,etc…
What they really are saying is they are the elite and worthy of life, others are not.
Just other night, heard some smug women in a Mexican restaurant talking about this and how people are wasting resources getting transplants….my wife, 11 yrs out from a heart ttransplant, heard whole smug, self-assured story from this fat assed woman, who looked like she was near the 5-6 yr mark into Social Security (hence, she is now or soon to use more money up in check and medicare then she likely ever put in).
Wanted to tell her “hey, if you think people are ‘non productive’, part of her speil, [u]then pop yourself off[/u][b][/b].Ammo is not the expensive”. She openly was talking about euthanasia elderly people. Was tempted to give her a Seig Heil salute, as Hitler started out first that way, prior to Jews and Slavs,etc…..

So in the end, too many people? no trusting in Providence and changes in life to be less comerical/consumerist? pop yourself off then…….

As I believe it is sinful and imoral to commit suicide, kindly dont pop me off, I choose to live……but that is me….

[camby]

[quote=”Conniejog”]You said it all right there! Overpopulation of the human species is so terrible that most people deny it completely. And the subject is so political wrong that no one dare discuss it at all. So, what to do with the masses until our earth can no longer support any life at all? Any solution will be seen as wrong, especially the correct solution: stop having so many babies!![/quote]

um, actually, there are vast areas of the world that could re responsibly setteld and made habitable for man, w/o destruction to environments around them. When everyoen is crowded into cities to teh tune of millions, largely for work, then you ahve a problem. 100, 200 yrs ago, most population was decentralized, more so the farther back one goes. Industrialization was one of biggest contributors to crowding and hence, disease, crime,etc.
That said, I have to wonder why someone refers to humanity in a detached way of “species” and why the not so subtle, near the surface, loathing of ones own “species”? Wit hte views expressed so far, very Darwinian, the question then has to be asked-if one is Darwinian and lacking in faith in a Creator God to care for us and the earth, then, is not survival of the fittest the rule? and hence, if man is, by nature and intellect, the fittest, then Darwin-speaking, we get to live and rule, run the show. Do we think the dog cares about preserving other species if he is hungry and on his own? No, he kills and eats, even if it is the last ___ of a species on the earth. He does not think “hmm, gotta eat, but if I eat this __, then I might eradicate a whole species and it could cause A, B and C to happen”? No, he sees and eats what he catches.
So, based on comments, there is a real lack of faith in a Creator God, in charge of His world and we humans NOT in charge.
Further, its either-the world is going to go to hell in a hand basket, bring in the euthanasia and population control or, perhaps, we can start really living and caring for the world that God created.
That was the goal and still is, of the Distributist movement, largely still Catholic, though we see it with the Land movement of Wes Jackson and Wendell Berry. Neither of these men are doomsday people, thinking man is to blame for all the wrong and heck, lets contracept and kill mankind off.
Distributist want man to live, populate and procreate, but live in more decentralized communities with thrift and more organic farming, living (think, somewhat “Little House on Praire” or “The Walton’s”…or the Amish, who got their way of life from Catholicism.
The “over crowding” was created by man in his pursuit to centralize and destroy local communities. Again, vast areas of this world could be settled and man to live if we want to, and in perfect harmony with nature around. e have to change the way we live, how we do business and work, entertainment,etc….it is insane, I have to drive 50 minutes, one way, to work. Think of that cost, to me, theGovt and the environment.
The answer, then lies not in the use it up, throw it away conservatism, nor in the self-loathing of our own “species” and the need to self destruct.

[camby]

[quote=”DavidCMurray”]At the very least, you’ll need your current passport, something like a utility bill or a rental agreement that shows where in Costa Rica you live, something that proves the source of your income such as a Social Security award letter.

It’s getting more and more difficult to open an account here, so be prepared for more bureaucratic hoops to jump through than you’ve ever experienced before.
[/quote]

would it be better to open an ccount, say, with HSBC? or another bank w/branch in CR?

[camby]

[quote=”Scott”]Of course Costa Rica has changed since 1960. What country hasn’t changed DRAMATICALLY in the last 52 years?

And of course you should visit Costa Rica before deciding to live here. …

Since you haven’t been here for 34 years (!!) you are clearly “assuming” that what you are hearing or reading elsewhere is correct …

“..walking in Avenida Central leaves you open to petty theft to jeopardizing your life.”

I live in San José (Yeah! it’s that bad! :lol:) and I have walked down Avenida Central hundreds of times nearly always with expensive camera gear and have never, ever felt threatened…

And please don’t generalize about the Costa Ricans “beginning to detest” the Nicaraguans who came here to improve their lives… Of course a few of them do but it’s certainly not a widespread sentiment.

Oh! But wait a minute, your family are immigrants, right? Your family may have moved to the U.S. for the same reason so many Nicaraguans came to Costa Rica…. And everybody in California love all the people who have emigrated from Central and Latin America, right?

I am also an immigrant in Costa Rica … A very, very happy one and you couldn’t pay me enough money to live in California.

And “… narco agents that have infested the country from Colombia” ?? Did you read that in the National Enquirer?

The good news is that California is way more bankrupt than Costa Rica and for crime I would like to encourage you to read:

[url=https://www.welovecostarica.com/members/3802.cfm]Worried About Crime in Costa Rica?[/url] Murder rate drops and Costa Rica is still the safest country in Central America and even our most dangerous areas are safer than Washington D.C., St. Louis, Baltimore, Detroit, Newark, Kansas City, Buffalo and Cincinnati …

Scott

[/quote]

many US cities are and look like war zones…hear a lot about issues w/London and Liverpool,etc in the UK too….
there is a site, endofamericandream and a twin site to it, same guy runs both…..
He got his fame and start by studying and writing on Detroit, Newark,etc and his columns now are all over……

[camby]

Israel is a sacred cow to most in USA, esp evengelicals and NeoCaths…

[Author]

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