Cerveceria Costa Rica new beer, Rock Ice Golden Monkey has been described as too fruity and heavy tasting.
Costa Rica’s national brewery, the Cerveceria Costa Rica, which is owned by the Florida Ice and Farm Company produces over 39 million gallons of beer a year. That amount does not include the imported beers like Corona and a few US beers. So, wanting to add more zest back in June they announced a new beer, the Golden Monkey Rock Ice. This is Costa Rica’s first designer special beer for the gourmet beer drinker who likes those micro-brewery exotic flavors. This beer flaunts the flavor of the mangosteen fruit from Indonesia.
Cerveceria Costa Rica is spending a lot of money promoting this beer, complete with hot looking Ticas, cruising in strange custom built cars.
Personally, we have never heard of this fruit and probably of the reasons why (according to our research) is that it can not be legally imported into the United States … in other words, not available commercially … something about a fear of fruit flies. Read more... (817 words, 4 images, estimated 3:16 mins reading time)
US Marines have been deployed to Costa Rica to help combat the drug smuggling
Last week our email box was pretty much filled with, “Why the US Marines were invading Costa Rica?” Even at our Facebook account, a few commented on right-wing political BS, “It’s all about the oil, about building a military base in Costa Rica, and of keeping an eye on all the other dangerous countries around like Venezuela.”
However, I would like to comment on the one of the insanely ridiculous rumors and accusations received from Playas De Cocos where we quote from her email:
“Many of us believe that these ships have been evacuated from the Gulf because of the threat of an explosion from the oil well that has been spewing oil for over 80 days. Apparently the sea floor has raised up almost 30 feet and fissures are forming. Even though they have capped the well as of the early hours of the morning, no one seems to know yet if this cap will hold. They say that if the well explodes, this will cause a fire as large as a mountain and a tsunami that will wipe out many of the Gulf States.” Read more... (1137 words, 2 images, estimated 4:33 mins reading time)
INS tells their Insurance brokers there would be “consequences” if they sold any other company’s products.
Every Costa Rican knows [since they can remember] the government monopoly of, oil/gas, electric, internet, and insurance has been one big headache after another. In Oct, 2007 when Costa Rica’s Free Trade Agreements (FTA) were signed, it looked like for the first time Costa Rican’s were going to get a break, when foreign companies could compete with government companies, especially for insurance. Ticos, for the first time would be able to pick a company based on service, care, quality, and cost.
Over a year later it looked like FTA was not working, then Canada’s American Life Insurance Company (ALICO) and a few others had received approval to sell in Costa Rica.
But has it happened? Well not quite as expected.
One of the first signs it was under undergoing, “Rules of Engagement” was with the new requirements for foreign residents (expats or permanent residents), who had to show proof of medical insurance to the government Caja, Costarricense de Seguro Social, which forced Expats scrambling for coverage from Instituto Nacional de Seguros, (INS), and/or Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social, (CCSS), which is government’s socialized medicine. Very few got coverage from foreign companies. Read more... (633 words, 1 image, estimated 2:32 mins reading time)
Actor Steven Seagal leaves Costa Rica not a happy camper
This week we pretty much express some disappointment at the way Costa Rica’s government was handle things like banning stem cell research and helping pave the way for ID thief. However, we have to give them the thumbs up in how they gave the cold shoulder to Hollywood martial-arts actor/producer, Steven Seagal.
About 2-three times a month we get tabloid junk. It has always been our policy to let celebrities do their thing, and keep their location quite, unless it is someone like Leonardo DiCaprio who was thinking about doing a gambling movie in Costa Rica that would help pump millions into the economy or something so bizarre like the Rod and Patti Blagojevich reality/circus show.
Now this is what bugs me, Mr. Seagul claims he is some law enforcement expert. Humm … he has a reality cop show where he is a reserve deputy chief of the Sheriff’s Office in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, so does that make him an expert? Read more... (645 words, 1 image, estimated 2:35 mins reading time)
Recent court rulings may make it easlier for ID thiefs to get personal data.
For a while now, I have been following what I consider three very important legal cases in Costa Rica. At first it appeared this week that the Costa Rica government has taken its first steps to help prevent ID thief, may not be so.
As more and more Costa Rican’s surf the internet, get involved in online transactions and personal matters like buying property, getting a drivers license etc, they start to become nothing but a number in someone’s data base. With that said, they NOW are more appealing to ID thief than ever before.
Everyone in Costa Rica, including expats, are being systematically logged into databases and the information is fairly easy to get by everyone, including those with malicious intentions. The problem is lack of security and [no offense] Costa Rican’s themselves who are very trusting in nature.
ID thief is a world wide problem, last year $220 billion was lost. Last year, 20 million Americans were victims who spend from 3 to 5,840 hours repairing damage done by identity theft. We are talking a serious problem and, unless the government steps up their efforts by providing credit guidelines for consumer protection, Costa Rica is on the verge of an epidemic in ID thief and cyber crime. Read more... (880 words, 1 image, estimated 3:31 mins reading time)
