Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
So you’re telling me that Italy is a failed system?? How about Sweden? What about Holland? And no I don’t want to live in a commune with anyone, but I also don’t want my governement officials putting themselves first before they take care of their constituency and work on our behalf, which seems to be an antiquated concept. As for the pollution, nearly every expert in the world points the wagging finger of blame on global warming at the US. As for your statements about ghettos being a failed experiement grace a LBJ, where do people live when they make minimum wage? Certainly not in MY neighborhood, but if $5.15 an hour was all I could make, I’d be living in Five Points!
I googled it and this is just one of many articles that came up. The good ol’ USA is number 150, despite all the Prozac that is dispensed! LOL
The tiny South Pacific Ocean archipelago of Vanuatu is the happiest country on Earth, according to a study published measuring people’s wellbeing and their impact on the environment.
Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica and Panama complete the top five in the Happy Planet Index, compiled by the British think-tank New Economics Foundation (NEF).
The index combines life satisfaction, life expectancy and environmental footprint — the amount of land required to sustain the population and absorb its energy consumption.
Zimbabwe came bottom of the 178 countries ranked, below second-worst performer Swaziland, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ukraine.
The Group of Eight industrial powers meet in Saint Petersburg this weekend but have not much to smile about, according to the index.
Italy came out best in 66th place, ahead of Germany (81), Japan (95), Britain (108), Canada (111), France (129), the United States (150) and Russia, in lowly 172nd place.
Andrew Simms, NEF’s policy director, said the index “addresses the relative success or failure of countries in giving their citizens a good life while respecting the environmental resource limits on which all our lives depend.”
Nic Marks, the head of NEF’s centre for wellbeing, added: “It is clear that no single nation listed in the Happy Planet Index has got everything right.
“But the index does reveal patterns that show how we might better achieve long and happy lives for all, whilst living within our environmental means,” he said, according to British daily The Guardian.
“The challenge is: can we learn the lessons and apply them?”
Island nations performed particularly well in the rankings. But Vanuatu, with a population of around 200,000, topped them all.
“Don’t tell too many people, please,” said Marke Lowen of Vanuatu Online, the republic’s online newspaper.
“People are generally happy here because they are very satisfied with very little,” he told The Guardian.
“This is not a consumer-driven society. Life here is about community and family and goodwill to other people. It’s a place where you don’t worry too much.”
“The only things we fear are cyclones or earthquakes.”
Selected others: 17. Philippines; 23. Indonesia; 31. China; 32. Thailand; 44. Malaysia; 62. India; 64. Iceland; 70. Netherlands; 87. Spain; 88. Hong Kong; 89. Saudi Arabia; 99. Denmark; 112. Pakistan; 115. Norway; 119. Sweden; 123. Finland; 139. Australia; 154. UAE; 156. South Africa; 159. Kuwait; 166. Qatar.
Oh, yeah, BIG DEAL! That hike is to be phased in OVER THREE YEARS!! Yep, it’s great for those working poor without health insurance. Utterly disgusting is how I really feel about when the crooks in congress vote themselves huge pay hikes every year while the average guy barely can eke out a living!!
And won’t there be about 80% of its value imposte as an import tax? Driving a Hummer in CR will make you stand out like a big fat sore thumb and may even make you a target for a robbery, given that the cost of that Hummer may be more than an average Tico earns in a LIFETIME!!!!
You’re not planning on move to Costa Rica, are you?
So people who defend our environment from the capitalist pigs who would destroy it to make an extra dollar, including those who don’t want the planet denuded of its forests, drive you nuts? Wow ! Where are you going to live after those other people destroy this place? In America we have 40,000,000 people without healthcare and most of those people make minimum wage which has been stalled at $5.15 an HOUR for ten years. Ever hear the term “working poor”? It is the responsibility of government to provide basic services to its citizens, including healthcare. Ah, but in the States healthcare is run by insurance companies and pharmaceutical drug lords, who are only interested in the bottom line. I was very happy to see that Costa Rica models its programs and services on those available in Italy. Terrible socialist country, that Italy. As for competing in the real world, you’re kidding, right? Who the hell wants to? The real world is getting pretty damn scary, if you ask me. And what does competing in the real world get you? Not much, except to pay more taxes and support an illegal war, that has always been about OIL! I want NO part of the real world. Been there, done that. I’m moving to Costa Rica to get away from the consumerism mentality, where everyone’s dream is to own a gas-guzzling Hummer! And didn’t Costa Rica make it to the top five places where people are the happiest? That’s certainly more than we can say about America. Also, Costa Rica doesn’t have 30% of its population popping mind-altering drugs that result in domestic and social violence. Sure, people move to CR and never find what they want. I’m not one of those people. And what was your point? I seem to have forgotten.
Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, and as a result WWII was officially started. Where on earth did anyone get the idea that Engalnd and France declared war on Germany. They retaliated in response to Germany’s aggression, but it was Hitler and the Nazi machine that started the whole mess.
As others have aptly noted, petty theft is inherent in many cultures. Of course, the church doesn’t come right out and say it’s okay, but in every third world country we’ve lived in, there was this underlying attitude that hey, you’re a rich gringo, you won’t mind losing that toaster, TV, laptop, bracelet, earrings, microwave, etc. After all, you have plenty of money to replace these things and we barely have enough money to feed our families. Of course, it’s not okay. And I don’t relish being robbed, but it we’re going to flaunt our wealth in the face of people who have very little, we are likely to become targets for theft.
And I’ll third that — Gatorman, you stated you’re not even sure if this is a legitimate company and yet you want to funnel them thirty big ones? On the other hand, property is running out in Costa Rica, so if you want to get in on the big land grab, you’d better send off your shekels right away while there’s still some land to be had.
Where did I say there was NO crime in my neighborhood in Costa Rica? Actually, there were four home robberies and for that reason we wound up hiring an armed guard at night. However, three of the four robberies happened to the same person who employed a less than savory gringo character to build their house. this person was abusive to the Ticos, had a penchant for very young Tico girls/boys, and in general was someone nobody wanted around. All of his tools were stolen, not once, but three times. He’s now left the neighborhood and there have been no incidences since. That being said, we STILL have the armed guard at night, and I put in an alarm system, plus I have a dog. As my husband explained, somewhat comically, the Church is partially responsible for this theft mentality for preaching that “God helps those who help themselves,” and that’s what they’re doing when they steal — helping themselves. Of course this kind of petty crime is rampant, but to my knowledge there have been no mass murders, no workplace shootings, and no school shootings in Costa Rica.
and who will you sue in costa rica if this doesn’t pan out and you lose your money? i don;t care about pelican bay or any other such deal; costa rica is not the us and you will have little recourse if this goes belly up, but no, i don’t think you’re an idiot, but i cannot imagine buying anything from someone in a foreign country who doesn'[t own the item outright. that is just common sense, which doesn’t seem to apply in any of these land deals.
You beat me to this one, Scott. I was going to say the same thing. How can someone purchase something from someone who doesn’t own it? Come on, you wouldn’t buy a piece of property this way in the States. Imagine buying a house and the seller says, “sure you can give me the money for the house but I don’t really own it. I’ll give you a piece of paper though that says YOU now own it even though you bought it from someone who never owned it, but you can sort it out later.” Well, the bottom line is that you won’t own it either! you’re waiting for the developer to “prove” itself — hellllloooooooo? And what if the worst case scenario happens and the develops takes off without improving the property and you “may” own a piece of land that nobody can get to with no water or roads or electricity — how much do you think that property will be worth??? Zero? Less than zero? (I’m sitting here shaking my head in disbelief.)
Javier will make the entire process painless! You will be very pleased with his services and wait til you meet his sister — she is a hoot! When she takes you to Interpol, she will be directing traffic in the waiting room and supervising the whole affair. This is a woman who knows how to get things done!
I’d be happy to send you some photos of my house — care to share your e-mail addy or you can ask Scott to forward it to me privately if you like.
We had a showing on our house today; it’s a numbers game. I just hope someone will buy it SOON!!
Yep, Keith, I look forward to a very uncomplicated life in Costa Rica, away from all this “crap.” Marvin Gaye was right — “People say believe half of what you see, Son, and none of what you hear” and we should keep that in mind when we read the “truth” on the Internet.
The internet and can be a very dangerous place. What just happened here is reminiscent of my February trip to CR which I took with a girlfriend who is an internet addict. She likes to think of herself as an historian and an intellectual but nothing could be farther from the truth. One day in CR she tells me that there is a new version of the Holocaust; one that disputes everything we have heretofore known about this event. The new version is that only 800,000 people died, and those that died in the camps died of natural causes, and there weren’t any ovens or gas chambers. I told her to knock it off or I would kick her out of the car. But every day she pounded me with new information that would prove the Holocaust was a Zionist plot to get Israel. When I got home in March I found out that all her information came from a neo-Nazi website and some extreme right wing crackpot named Dr. Robert Faurisson who writes for this pseudo-schloarly rag called the Institute for Historical Review, which is a front for neo-Nazi ideals. When I pointed that out to her, she refused to believe that I was right and she was wrong. She told me it was unfortunate that I couldn’t incorporate another view of this historical event into my thinking! Needless to say, I’ve not spoken to her or seen her since, and nor will I. If you are not discerning and able to trace the statements back to their origin, or understand the motive and agenda behind what was written, I can see how many seemingly intelligent people are sucked into the out and out lies that are posted on the Internet. There are some very scholarly articles posted there that are pure B.S. as we just saw. So I guess it’s caveat emptor on the internet now too!! And yes, Scott, you handled yourself very well in the face of that ridiculous assault. Kudos to you!!
I’m homesick too. We’re still here in the States until we sell our house. The entire market is slow but Johnny Depp just bought a house across the road from me, so I told my agent to use that as a selling point! My life is no longer here; it’s in Costa Rica so not being there is very strange. My husband’s residency application was accepted on Friday, so all we have to do is show up at immigration and get our cedulas and we’re LEGAL in Costa Rica! Javier Zavaleta and his sister Mayanye are the BEST!!! They couldn’t have made our pensionado status any easier.
