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Miles,
If morality is a matter of personal opinion, then what do you call someone who has no personal opinion as to whether Bush lied or not? Immoral?“Only time will tell”? I don’t know what time frame you live in, but most people live in the present. And the vast majority of the Iraquis are suffering horribly in the present.
I suspect they don’t care about time telling them anything they don’t already know.The Iraquis have already spoken as to whether or not they are enjoying the occupation. They are definitely NOT.
Legality, in your own words, is for the legal experts. So let’s have this impeachment.
You don’t need to take any time to figure out whether or not you have been lied to by Bush regarding Iraq. You just need common sense. It has become accepted by the world court of common sense that we were lied to in a fashion that was criminal since it resulted in the deaths of many people. There only remains the political will to prosecute this matter in order to preserve the sanctity of the rule of law. Of course, we will not do the right thing because the will is no longer there.
I don’t have much hope for the U.S. when the entire country beat the drums of war right along with Bush and then refuse to accept the responsibility, even for our total lack of common sense. We are at least guilty as a nation of that offense.
Not being able to recognize San Jose in ten years can only be a GOOD thing. But there are plenty of countries around the planet which can show off a dazzling city or two. Does that always mean life conditions improve everywhere else in the country once a capital city reaches a level of high development?
Within the city of London, there are ethnic neighborhoods which were once British. Many of those British are somewhere else. The ones that stay in town have become polarized against immigrants. Normal human nature.
There are already barrios around San Jose populated by illegal Nicaraguan immigrants. They and Ticos will eventually be pushed out as development comes in. Where will they go and how content will they be with their new lot in life? It won’t help their attitudes too much when everywhere they look, they will see a Gringo driving around in an SUV costing more than 10 years of the average Tico wages.
And Chinese have a VERY curious accent when they speak Spanish…perhaps worse than the average Gringo accent.
The monthly dollar amounts are close to what I read. I believe the article was in Spanish and probably 6 months ago was when I saw it. The distribution percentages I am not sure about but the jist of the article is accurate. There is concern withing the CR government.
The other concern I have is the introduction of Chinese capital into this mix. That money might help or it might exacerbate even further. The only thing for sure is that there is nothing anybody or any government can do about this momentum.
“But I’m probably not “well informed” like you Sprite.”
Probably not, then Roark….but you hang in there anyway. ;-}
I would have voted for Kucinich. And I certainly approve of his efforts. The value of introducing this topic here is that it might give an impression of just how many progressive gringos tend towards Costa Rica as a place to be. I strongly suspect that there exists a majority of progressive thinkers among American expats…at least I hope there is. I wonder if there is still a single, well informed person who supports Bush and what he did and is about to do. (Iran is still on his radar)
Just some facts;
Scott,
I am an admirer of Mr. Soros not only for his views on the world economy but his politics as well. However,there are several major opinions as to what is causing the rise in oil prices. The expert opinions I tend to follow on this matter believe most of the rise in price is based on fundamentals and not speculation, which may represent only about 10% of the recent rise.Speculators usually invest based on beliefs about future prices. In the case of oil, nobody is disputing that there is a dwindling supply and a growing demand. The worst case scenario may have the current price exaggerated by 20% to 40%, but if this is NOT a bubble, and is a legitimate reflection of true pricing, that would also be cause for a stock market crash. Witness Friday’s ride down by nearly 400 points on the Dow.
Government solutions are always reactive and never in time. It does no good to blame speculators now even if they are to blame since the horses have already left the barn. If oil retreats, it won’t be back to $80 a barrel.
The big question now is, since there are no solutions, what then are the consequences of oil and food becoming quickly priced to painful and unsustainable levels?
Glad I booked mine 4 weeks ago!
I can’t imagine anyone can be surprised by this development. Today, oil reached a new high by jumping nearly $9 a barrel to over $136. Unprecedented..never happened before. Some government people at first suspected speculators might be to blame but it turns out that fundamentals are the cause. There is just less oil to be had and a whole lot of Chinese who are chomping at the bits to get behind the wheels of all those cars the Chinese factories are churning out.
I may have to trade my Toyota FJ cruiser in for a Daihatsu Bego when I move to CR…
* Houses with Market Value under US$193,000 will be exempted
Is this true? No taxes on property valued under $193,000?
I am told the waters in that area are cloudy because of all the rivers that flow into the ocean. Those rivers pass through a lot of heavily farmed land and carry solids (pollutants) to the sea.
Also, I have a rather low opinion of the beach towns I have seen compared to the mountain towns. Things just seem more tidy and better cared for in the coffee towns of the Central Valley. Apart from the high real estate prices and stifling tropical heat, the general seediness of the beach towns is one big reason why I chose to buy in the mountains inland.
I agree, VB. It is human nature to be judgmental of others, of those who are different.
Some cultures suffer temporary insanity reacting to economic downturns and permit the normal judgmental attitude to develop into a nasty bigotry. In some cases, the temporary insanity metastasizes into long lasting racism and bigotry. A good portion of the U.S. culture still suffers from this. I don’t see any of that in Costa Rica so far.
I have an Israeli friend who belongs to a “Kibbutz” type of community in Costa Rica. This group of some two dozen friends, before leaving Israel to another country, explored the possibilities in several places, two of which were New Zealand and Costa Rica. I believe that one of the reasons they chose Costa Rica was that the culture that would surround them is a supremely tolerant one.
They run a resort and their chef once remarked to me that she calls Costa Rica the country of “mas o menos”. There is not the mania with exactitude you might find in Germany or Switzerland; the scheduled buses may not run like clockwork, friends may not show up on time at a party and you might never get a direct, straightforward answer to a question from a Tico if he believes the truthful answer might disappoint you. But there is such a level of gentle politeness everywhere, that even if the Ticos do have criticisms of a particular nationality, I don’t think they would ever express it in word or deed. I really like Costa Ricans and have never, ever been treated rudely by anyone there.
Edited on May 28, 2008 05:22
GringoTico,
I appreciate that you are giving your sincere observations. I also understand that you are specifically talking about living in San Jose as a working individual. It may well be that this problem is indeed everywhere and that walls, concertina wire, dogs and guards are my only options for settling on the land I own even though it is in a farming community. (I would rather not live in a gated community).
Even if all this turns out to be a nasty reality, I am still up for moving to Costa Rica. There are just too many positives which out weigh this particular negative. I know people who live there who are quite content and who dismiss the crime thing as inconsequential. Of course, they all live in the countryside.
Who knows? I may change my tune after moving there but in the meantime, I need to have the experience. For some reason, a lot of foreigners seem to be very happy there.
