Posts Tagged "Costa"
Same Sex Unions (Gay Marriage) in Costa Rica
Just as in the US, the issue of same sex unions (gay marriage) is in the forefront of the news in Costa Rica.
It should be interesting to see how this all shakes out. Costa Rica is quite socialistic in its leanings, especially insofar as human rights are concerned. That would seem to bode well for those in favor of same sex marriages. It is just not that simple.
All things being equal, and they are not, it would seem to be a distinct possibility that this issue could end up in the SALA IV, the Costa Rica constitutional court where it just might be favorably considered. All things are not equal however.
If this topic is of interest, read on!
Not surprisingly, the primary (but certainly not the only) opposition to same sex marriage is the Catholic Church, a powerful force to reckoned with for sure.
Costa Rica is about 90-95% Catholic, but unlike many countries, church and state are not separate. They are one. In fact, the Catholic Church is the official church of Costa Rica and is even part of the Costa Rica Constitution:
TITLE VI RELIGION
ARTICLE 75. The Roman Catholic and Apostolic Religion is the religion of the State, which contributes to its maintenance, without preventing the free exercise in the Republic of other forms of worship that are not opposed to universal morality or good customs.
(As amended with regard to its number by Article 1, Law No. 5703, June 6, 1975).
See what I mean? This is no slam dunk for those in favor of same sex unions.
The Church is now flexing its muscle and making clear their position on this matter, and their muscle cannot be underestimated. Further, Costa Rica President Laura Chinchilla has indicated that she too is not in favor of same sex unions. Still, this may well pit the Church against the Constitutional Court at some point, and all we can do is wait to see the fireworks.
Just recently, the Bishops of Costa Rica sent a strong message to the Costa Rica Asamblea (the congress). See below the article by the Catholic News Agency (CNS) or click here to read it directly on the CNA web site.
I have no idea of course where this will end nor how, but those Ticos I have chatted with on this matter seem almost uniformly against this matter. Saying that, my sample size is admittedly small and cannot be relied upon to mean anything.
Feel free to comment (politely!) on this topic and express your own opinions or feelings. The key word is politely! Comments not fitting this description will never see the light of day.
San José, Costa Rica, Sep 10, 2010 / 06:03 pm (CNA).- The Bishops’ Conference of Costa Rica has sent a message to the country’s lawmakers noting that it is an injustice to sacrifice the common good and the rights of the family in response to pressure from those who support making gay unions equal to marriage.
“Marriage is not just any union between two human beings,” they stated, explaining that it was “founded by the Creator, who gave it a particular nature…and an undeniable purpose.” For this reason, the bishops said, they oppose all measures aiming “to make same-sex unions equal to marriage.
“The legalization of such unions distorts the understanding of fundamental moral values and undermines the institution of marriage as such.”
“In making same-sex unions equal to marriage or the family under the law, the state is acting arbitrarily and is contradicting its own duties,” the bishops continued.
They stressed that “men and women with homosexual tendencies must be treated with respect and must not be subject to discrimination.” However, the bishops then reaffirmed the Church’s teaching that “homosexual practices” are “objectively contrary to God’s plan for the human being.”
The bishops also pointed out that the vast majority of Costa Ricans are opposed to the legalization of same-sex unions,” and they rejected the argument that such a move is necessary to prevent such individuals from being deprived of their rights as citizens and persons.
“In reality, like all citizens, thanks to their private autonomy, they can always resort to common law in order to safeguard legal situations that are of mutual interest,” the bishops said. “On the other hand, it would be a grave injustice to sacrifice the common good and the rights of families in order to allow them to obtain benefits that can and should be guaranteed by means that do not harm society at large,” they added.
What these groups and their supporters are doing is nothing more than the “first step towards marriage and adoption, as in fact has occurred in other countries,” the bishops said.
via Legalization of gay unions would be injustice to common good, state bishops of Costa Rica :: Catholic News Agency (CNA).
Filed under Costa Rica, Costa Rica Law, Culture, Gay – Lesbian, Life in Costa Rica | Comments (4)View the original article here
This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.
Read MoreUS Veterans in Costa Rica
I receive a fair number of inquiries from US veterans who are considering a move to Costa Rica. We also have a fair number of US vets living down here now. I do not have a handle as to exactly how many, but is has to be a few thousand or so with many more coming every year. I know this as I have met many on my private tours.
One vet who has lived here for a while is reader Rick Deahl who asked me if I would like to publish some information regarding medical and hospital services available to United States veterans living here in Costa Rica.
I jumped all over that, and this post is the result. If this topic is of interest to you, read on! I am not a vet, so if I screw up some terms, cut me some slack. If you wish to add information, correct me, please use the comments area at the bottom of this post. I have to admit that I was a bit surprised as to the breadth of the data and services available to vets. At the end of this post, look for a list of all web sites I could find that might be of value to vets living or coming to live in Costa Rica. Also, several links in this post require Adobe Reader be installed on your computer. Adobe Reader can be downloaded here.
Extensive medical benefits are available to vets living here. By this I mean excellent medical care, access to specialists, hospitalization, prescriptions (either free or at a discount), and varying support services.
While it seems that some other hospitals do have some staff familiar with VA affairs, it appears that one hospital in particular is the best contact point and provider of all the services mentioned above.
Hospital Hotel La Católica (+506-2246-3000) also sometimes known as Clinica Católica is located in the San Jose suburb of Guadalupe. The hospital was known as Clínica Católica for twenty six years and was founded by Franciscan nuns. Years later, the formal name was changed to Hospital Clínica Católica de la Purísima Concepcion Association or just Hospital Hotel La Católica.
Hospital Hotel La Católica actually has an American Legion office on the premises. The director Jim Young is the man in charge and he can be reached at +506-2246-3509. He certainly would be a good place to start for gathering more detailed information than I can give in this post. His email is: jey08442[at]aol.com.
In order to receive benefits while living in Costa Rica, a veteran must first join the Foreign Medical Program to receive medical benefits. Although pre-registration for eligible veterans is not necessary, veterans who are permanently relocating to a country under the FMP Office’s jurisdiction are encouraged to notify the FMP Office upon establishing a permanent foreign mailing address. The FMP registration form can be found here. Details on the FMP program can be downloaded (.PDF) here.The Foreign Medical Program (FMP) is not part of the Medical Benefits Package. You don’t have to be enrolled in the VA health care system to participate.
VA may authorize foreign medical services for veterans only for a VA rated service-connected condition or for a condition that is associated with and aggravated by a VA rated service-connected condition.
This means that disability percentages have no bearing on determining eligibility for FMP medical services.
Additionally, VA may authorize necessary foreign medical services for any condition for a veteran participating in the VA Vocational Rehabilitation Program.
The next thing you will need is all service paperwork. information on how you or a VA dependent can be found here. More information and who can request service records can be found here.
Basically, if you are eligible to receive copies of US military service records, you can must use Form 180 (SF-180). You can use this link to download Form 180.
You will need access to a printer and the Adobe Acrobat Reader software (see link above). The form is a total of 3 pages.
The SF-180 is formatted for letter size paper (8.5? x 11?). If your printer can not accommodate this, select “shrink to fit” when the Adobe Acrobat Reader “Print” dialog box appears.
This is also a fillable version of the SF-180. This means that it will allow you to type the needed information directly into the form using your keyboard. You will then need to print, sign and mail the form.
To return the form to FMP, check out the tables on page 2 of SF 180 for the correct location of the desired record (based on branch of service, dates of separation, and type of record) and send the completed form there. The form may also be faxed.
To send by mail:
National Personnel Records Center
Military Personnel Records
9700 Page Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63132-5100
or by Fax
Our fax number for requesting military records is 314-801-9195.
The Center will respond in writing by U.S. Mail.
Response time? Depending on the records requested, expect no less than ten days and in some cases, up to four months.
Summary
US vets who wish to live or retire in Costa Rica can receive excellent benefits with not a lot of hassle. Once registered, you can be assured of receiving fine medical care.
I hope you US vets find this post of value. I for one, appreciate your service to your country.
Other links and contacts of interest
Rick Deahl who is responsible for suggesting that I write this post: rsdeal1 [AT} yahoo.com
Veterans Care International a great source of info here in Costa Rica.
American Legion Post 16 Costa Rica
Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS)
GovBenefits.gov is the official benefits website of the U.S. government, with information on over 1,000 benefit and assistance programs.
National Veterans Foundation. More info on FMP, plus their home page provides much more info on vet matters.
VA Info for beneficiaries.
Military Record Requests
View the original article here
This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.
Read MoreStats ‘N Stuff – Who Reads The REAL Costa Rica?
Stats interest me.
I don’t push advertising on the main web site or Blog, but I do put up a few ads to sort of cover some of the costs. It is always fun, though, to see just who visits The REAL Costa Rica during the month.
The Real Costa Rica gets a bit less than 60,000 new visitors every month making it one of the most popular Costa Rica web sites on the Internet.
Here is a summary of the basic stats!
Interested? Read on!
More Boys or Gurls?
More men than women. This is not too surprising as I think more men visit Costa Rica for various reasons… maybe the nightlife?
Old or Young?
This does surprise me! I would have thought I had more readers in the over 50 category! Only 26%.
Ethnic Mix
Another surprise! Far more Latinos than I would have imagined! I wonder why? Further… how do they know who is Latino and who is not??
Got Kids?
Odd! I would have thought that as the demographics show younger ages, there would be more kids. This sort of indicates I am getting a lot of tourist traffic.
Got $$$?
Absolutely no surprise. Ya gotta have $$$ to live, move or visit Costa Rica.
And finally… Got Education?
Bit higher percentage of college grads (57%
What to do when you are bored?
Stats can be seen in real time too. When I get bored or caught on a long call, I go here. There, I can watch people visit the RCR web site in real time, see where they come from, what browser they are using, and if they used a searh engine… which one they used and what were they searching for!
Now what does all this mean?
Nuttin’! Just me fooling around today.
Coming soon! How’s your dongle?
Filed under Blogging Stuff, Business, Costa Rica, Internet, Technical Stuff | Comments (8)
View the original article here
This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.
Read More
