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You miss the whole point Scott. I am “generally” a supporter of Israel, although the last several years I believe the government has pursued a profoundly wrong political strategy, which certainly will not lead to any kind of lasting peace and had egregiously infringed on the human rights of the Palestinians. Similarly many Arab countries have silenetly but tacitly wlecomed this, as it gives them a continued “target” which they leverage with their domestic populations while maintaining ruthless oppression at home.
However this is somewhat irrelevant; the point Scott, is twofold.
1. We live in an increasingly complex world. There is very rarely an “OBE” (One Big simple Explanation) for most events/phenomena. There are often two (or more) sides to most arguments, and presented fairly and reasonably, anyone with an IQ even approaching triple digits can make up their own minds. You continually present one-sided, idealogically-based arguments, quote them as facts (a Jewish pope?????), and rarely invoke context, nuance or counter-argument. In short, your “rants” (self-described) are simplistic to the point of being almost childish.
2. Totally out of context, you use the pretext of “[i]Several Countries including CR sue Georgia[/i]” to attack Israel. Sure plenty of bad things happen in Israel. Plenty of bad things happen in Scotland. In Ireland. In England. In lots of other countries. However the continual invocation of anti-Israeli, anti-semitic diatribes by yourself, totally out of context in the forum (reminder of the name: [b]Costa Rica [/b]Living Forum) does paint you somewhat into a “labeled box.” I am not even including in this your conspiracist outlook on the world, which I must say has grown over the years (Obama as non-US citizaen, Wall Street Crash etc etc.)
There is a difference between being anti-Israeli policy, and anti-semitic. However, and unfortunately I would include you very much in this camp, many people don’t know where the boundary lies, and frankly you probably don’t care that much (the latter statement of which is speculative on my part).
You would be more honest with yourself if you started another forum, label it “General Conspiracist & Anti-Israel ‘living’ Forum”, there you could spout off your idealogical nonsense in the happy company of other conspiracists and assorted anti-semites.
[quote=”Scott”]I have a wide variety of rants “in the can” – or in my brain – just waiting “for just the right moment to publish!”
Hypocrisy fascinates me …
Scott[/quote]
So just come out and admit you’re a hypocritical anti-semite. It’s easy!!!
[quote=”sprite”]There are many complex, inter related reasons for the well being of a population. Costa Rica, in 2009, was number one on the Happy Planet list of countries with the happiest population. Yet it has no army. It barely has a police force and there are no US military bases here. How do you explain the last 30 years of peace and quiet in Costa Rica with no armed uniforms running around? Of the many reasons, one might be that the U.S. never intervened here.
Columbia, on the other hand, has had a close military relationship with the US. Guns and uniforms attract trouble, they don’t necessarily prevent it. Columbia has suffered decades of armed struggle with right wing death squads supplied by the U.S.. It has only recently emerged from that mess and there is still a danger it will fall back again.[/quote]
Agree on 1st paragraph, and long may Costa Rica remain so. I think a great deal of that will depend on how they deal with the narco thugs …if there’s money to be made they won’t politely give up and walk away.
On the second paragraph, I think you’re confusing cause and effect …US intervention did not cause drug trafficking but arose as a result of. Also there is no evidence the US directly funded the right wing death squads that arose in opposition to the left wing anarchists/narco traffickers and then morphed into narco traffickers themselves. You could arugue the US supplied by proxy through the Colombian government, much of which turned a blind eye to the right wing death squads however. Did this in some manner “contain” what FARC and ELN would otherwise have achieved? Who knows??!!
There is rarely in a complex situation an “OBE” (= One Big Explanation) – there are always a multitude of competing, sometimes contradictory factors; to blame US military intervention for all the world’s ills is simplistic idealogical nonsense. there is good and bad in lots of what goes on, US involvement or not.
BTW – the country is ColOmbia, not ColUmbia – which is a district below NY and above MD which houses the nations seat of government (if you can call the current mob a government!)
[quote=”sprite”]Let’s hope Ticos do not adopt your insane vision of the world. Soldiers are a cancer within any nation that undertakes their use for internal problems.
You are completely wrong in your analysis of Colombia. As soon as the US can get a military foot in the door, whether if just with equipment and surrogates or with actual US boots on the ground, your country is finished.[/quote]
Sprite, I admire your child-like naievity …could you explain to me then how Colombia (which I visit frequently) has improved faster than virtually every other Latin American country on any dimension you care to mention – social, freedom of speech & democracy, health, economic, education & literacy, housing, reduction of poverty, gini coefficent reduction (disparity fo rich and poor measured across a nation) etc etc. Millions and millions of middle class Colombians have emerged over the last 15+ years, in part because they have embraced capitalism and fought back the noxious influence of the narcos. Maybe Venezuela & Cuba are your kind of role models???
Many of you who innocently declare that no army is a good thing in CR blithely ignore the lesson from Colombia the last couple decades. Colombia was perilously close to being a “failed state” until the past president (Uribe) took a tough line and with US military help pushed back the narcotraffickers significantly. The previous president to him (Pastrana) tried to talk peace with the narcos, however to no avail. The narcos have no agenda that allows some kind of uneasy truce. Mexico today faces the same dilemna.
Curbing demand is also very important, and way too little is paid to that side of the equation. Just say “no” hardly cuts it these days.
If you think CR will remain immune to drug influences stemming from both north and south of its borders you are sadly naive – tough (para-) military action, with or without US help and presence, will at the end of the day be the only thing that restores or maintains a livable balance with the narco thugs. Anything else unfortunately is wishful thinking.
I’ve been past it many times over the last few years (own property in Jaco). It has definitely stalled, is being pushed very heavily online. My $0.02 is that it would be quite risky to invest at this stage given the market …who knows where it will wind up, when the remianing facilities (golf course, shops etc) will be built.
The other aspect I didn’t like was that it’s literally in the middle of nowhere ..if you like isolation you have it there! No restaurants, no sports, no shops, no coffee houses. Better to get real estate in and around Jaco and/or Quepos/manuel Antonio frankly.
[quote=”maravilla”]Texas is right. a few years ago, some people who screamed really loudly got a refund of the $25,000 they had to put down just to have the privilege of viewing a lot. so, yes, it was a ponzi not much different than the bernie madoff-with-your-cash scheme.[/quote]
I stand corrected! At least Madoff paid the early investors who headed for the exits their principal plus gains …let’s hope someone visits our friend Mr. Gale in the night (and Madoff too for that matter).
[quote=”maravilla”]one word: PONZI![/quote]
Incorrect! A Ponzi scheme involves using later investors money to pay back earlier investors, thereby self-sustaining the whole scheme. Paragon never gave anybody anything!
My humble $0.02 …the whole Paragon scheme was clearly a scam from start to finish …the legal process will be lengthy and ultimately yield little for the investors. Maybe something could be put together if a majority of the investors could somehow come together, however one shouldn’t underestimate the difficulty of doing that.
Bill Gale is a crook and a con artist, given he’s made some money from this and other disasters and still walks around free one can assume a degree of smarts. If I had lost money in this scheme I wouldn’t be so much looking to a legal solution as to help from some of my “Colombian” friends in Florida. Just a thought!
[quote=”gkbiz”][quote=”johnlack”]
Reverse this for getting airport to coastal highway….Which exit (name??) do you take from the Airport to do the cross country drive to the new highway by Santa Anna? Have they installed signs to direct you? I know this is against CR gov’t logic but I thought I would ask.[/quote
Going from the airport to the coast you take the exit by the big Michelin factory ..it is signpost “Avis” and also “Marriott” hotel …just keep going straight on that road once you exit, and follow reverse of instructions above…
Yes, I have done this trip a couple times past week or so.
Come off at the Santa Ana exit, turn left at the lights at bottom of exit ramp. Proceed along the major raod there (Pizza Hut on right, and every other fast food joint is on that road you can think of). You come to a T-junction after approx 3 miles, Panasonic factory is on your right. Turn right there. Go approx 1 – 1.5 miles, and will come to set of lights, turn left and then pretty much immediately right…you are following signs to the “Marriott Hotel” …just keep on that road, go past the Marriott Hotel (on right side), then turn 1st left after Marriott Hotel (by side of the Intel Plant), then right at end of that road, and you come to the main highway between San Jose and the airport.
Sounds complicated but really isn’t…the total distance is approx 4 – 4.5 miles from new coastal highway to the entrance of the main San Jose – Airport highway (Interamericana). Takes about 10 minutes no traffic, double or tripple that if traffic is heavy.
Reverse this for getting airport to coastal highway….
Hope this helps.
You should check this out VERY carefully (like any investment) before putting any money down. I looked at this a couple years back, it is an extremely ambitious project, and they were hoping in some ways I guess to develop a “Los Suenos” #2. So far virtually nothing has been built, it might stay that way for a long time given current conditions. If you do put any money down, best it goes into independent escrow where you could be sure to receive a refund if nothing gets built within a certain timeframe.
It seems abundantly clear that Paragon Properties, and their various subsidiaries are obviously a scam. I investigated property purchases quite extensively a couple years back …Paragon are the hard sell, zero substance approach. I have also travelled the road from Jaco to Quepos seveal times the last few years, not once have I seen the remotest sign of any infrastructure development whatsoever in their lands around the Parrita area. Look at all the threads on this board about Paragon …kind of points in one direction only.
Anyone who puts any money into their hands is making a donation to a fraudster! Scott, it will be interesting to hear what Bill Gale has to say, no doubt the words will be comforting as one reads them…but at the end of the day actions and honest business practices far outweigh any platitudes that might spill out from him.
I am in the process of buying a large apartment on the central Pacific coast ..I double checked with my existing US insurer (which happens to be Travellers Ins. Co. …am sure lots of others are the same), and I am fully covered for theft, loss, damage etc in Costa Rica …no extra $’s to fork out.
