Well.. I was wrong.  It seems there is a process in Costa Rica that can take less than a decade to change for the better.  Today was my appointment for my cedula renewal at at the American International Mall branch of Banco de Costa Rica in Alajuela.  It went without a hitch… and if this interests you… read on!

Twenty Three Minutes!  OK.. actually it was about 28, but I spent 5 minutes chatting up the young lady at the renewal desk.

And! The new cedula is for TWO years.

Those of you who have had the pleasure of a 5-6 hour wait at immigration whilst being moved from room to room and rows of seats to standing areas in 90 degree heat standing near people who did not bathe that day….  well those people know exactly what I am talking about! And that was for a ONE year renewal.

Today was sweet! Seems immigration has gotten their act together!

The Process

The bank security guard took my old cedula, gave it to the woman at the renewal desk (yes, it is a dedicated desk in an air conditioned branch).

She waggled a come here finger to me and it was all over just that quick.  I gave her my address, phone number and the closest Post Office branch (Belen) as they deliver the cedula to the closet branch of Correos de Costa Rica (Post Office) and about three weeks.  I bet they do too!

The only “issue” was the 329 times I needed to press my index fingers (both) into the little fingerprint reader thingy. Apparently it is not a very good fingerprint reader thingy as she mentioned a lot of folks have finger print issues. Apparently it requires a correct reading 4 time in a row per finger.  I’d get 1 then 3 then 1 then none… and eventually 4.  The other digit… sigh.  No big deal! Probably did not help that my fingers are the size of most Tica’s feet… but I digress!

That’s it… a boring post if ever the was one!

This year, though, things have changed!  OK… I know better than to say such a thing. Let us just say that the process has changed, and we shall see if  “things have changed”.

What are the big changes? Well the biggie is that this year, it seems, that I will not need to make the trek to immigration.  The other stuff will be gravy. So here is the new process:

Making that trip to immigration has always been a pain. While the vast majority of dealing with any branch of the Costa Rica government is a lesson in inefficiency, any sojourn to migracion is the premier example on how NOT to deal with the public.

The changes? For starters, renewal can now be done at any of thirty-two branches of the Banco de Costa Rica (BCR).  In fact, they have even devoted a web page to those who will be renewing residency at that bank. It is, of course, in Spanish as bank web sites in English are still not common.  I will, however, be happy to do some translating of the more important goodies!

Before I do… one alert reader commented that there is a link ti the English version. Either I missed it or they have added it.  I am getting olde… I probably missed it… Either way, you now can click the link above for GringoSpeak!

• BCR promises that the process can be finished in twenty minutes.  The operative words here are “can be”.  I will, of course, report on the accuracy of that semi-commitment.
• BCR offers this service for renewals and for lost residency cards (cedulas)
• They are staffed to do this at any of thirty-two offices throughout the country (see list below). I am guessing that they may add more in the future, but these seem to cover just about the whole country so nobody need travel a great distance.
• Cost is $48.00 and is paid at the BCR branch at the time of renewal (but see below!)
• They provide a number for making appointments.  It is toll free, 800.227.2482. It is answered in Spanish, and when I called, the person was not multilingual. English speakers may be available though, I did not ask.
• You will not get your cedula at the time of your appointment. It is promised to be sent to you by la  Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (immigration) no more than 25 calendar days after your appointment. No mention of how it is delivered.

That’s it!  Seems simple enough. So here is how it worked for me.

I called the toll free number, was placed on auto-hold for maybe 3 minutes until a nice  lady answered. I was given an afternoon appointment in mid August at the BCR branch in the Mall Internacional not far from the San Jose airport. I was told to bring my cedula and my passport.  That’s it!  Now you will all have to just wait to find out if the above promises bear any semblance to reality.

Oh… and I saved the best for last!  If my Spanish did not fail me, this renewal will be for TWO YEARS!!

Here is a list of the 32 branches set up for renewing or replacing cedulas.

If this topic interests you, read on and be sure to see the videos at the end of the Post.

Unless you are visiting from another planet, you most certainly have seen Cirque du Soleil either in person or on cable.  It is they who certainly changed the very definition of Cirque style productions.  Saying that, I must admit I get really annoyed at the artsy-fartsy stuff they throw at you.  I am talking about goofy (to me) music, stupid costumes of those… how can I describe them… weird people who seem to not add a thing to the show. They do not perform… they just sort of exist and make stupid faces. OK… I am culturally challenged. Give me the action! I want to see what I paid to see… the incredible acrobats, the clowns… the whole magilla.

So this weekend, I am surprising Maria Luisa by taking her out to dinner and a show… in this case the show is Le Grand Cirque currently making a run at the Palacio de Los Deportes (Sports Palace) in Heredia. I can safely say I am surprising her as she never reads my blogs and, so far as I know, neither does anyone she knows.

Much has been written about the cost of living here. Let me be the first to say that the overall price increases of the past five years have not left cultural events in their wake.  Tickets for this show, (called entradas in Spanish), run an incredible $73.00 per seat!  Add even a modest dindin for my wife and me and we are looking at a about a $200.00 night out.  Sadly… as I am married, I cannot even be assured of getting lucky. Sigh…

There are cheaper seats, of course… $38.00 if you choose to sit with the common people. the hoi polloi, or in Spanish…  la chusma***.   However, even at $38.00 a seat, that is a truly expensive evening out for the average Tico family with a couple of kids. I paid the extra tariff because as I said, I want to see and be near the action. We also do not go out all that often. *** DO NOT write to me about that comment!  It was supposed to be FUNNY! Sheesh!

Anyway… Here are some videos that may interest you.

Le Grand Cirque Promo Video

Click here to view the embedded video.

Le Grand Cirque – Strongmen in action

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Guy who plays with the Huge Cube – Neat but I do not know why!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Le Grand Cirque Video from Australia

Click here to view the embedded video.

They usually have rules about taking cameras into the show, but if possible, I’ll get some shots to add here.

I found out about this a bit late (Friday) so I did not have adequate time to get organized. The concert began at 10 AM and ran until at least 11:00 PM.  I say at least because I was not around at the end.

I had some work to do, so Maria Luisa and I did not arrive until about 4:30 which was about right as I think any earlier would have made for a really long day.

The venue was the Club Cubano (the Cuban Club) in Guachipelín de Escazú, not far from the MultiPlaza Mall. We were able to get parking about ten yards from the first stage, but that was just luck.  There appeared to be adequate parking though. There were apparently two stages.  We never went looking for the other as we were kept entertained at the first, and more important, we had good seats and out of the wind.

Now I know I am not going to receive a modicum of sympathy from those still in the Northern part of the US, but man it was COLD!  It has been very windy and the temps poolside (yeah, the stage was near the pool, was nasty… blowing non stop about 25 MPH. The temp was about 71 (cold for here) but the wind chill made it feel like 60.  I wore a coat for the first time ever since I arrived here.

Headliners were Guitar Shorty and Sonny Boy Terry, both from Houston. However, there were at least three other bands down from the US, The Road Dogs, San Diego CA,  Robbie Clark and the Live Wire Blues Band, Austin, TX, and V and the Wholly Cats, Canada (that was the only crummy band I heard!).

I guess what really amazed me, and probably shows my ignorance,  were the FIVE blues bands from Costa Rica (some links below), and I am here to tell you that the local boys were Goooood! Whudda thunk it??  Imagine Latin Blues players… but as I think about it… why not? Costa Ricans take their music very seriously and there are a ton of truly superb musicians in Costa Rica.

While I would guess the crowd consisted of about 60% North Americans, the rest were Costa Rican and from what I could see, they not only enjoyed the show, they knew their blues!

The beer flowed in rivers, but the food left something to be desired. There was supposed to be Texas BBQ, but we could never find it.  That was sad as the food we could find was overcooked chicken and some truly horrible hot dogs.  I am sure if we were serious drinkers, the food would have tasted delicious.  I remember eating some horrible food in my college days that I endorsed heartily as delicious after 8 to 10 beers.

In any case, this was a first rate show, certainly not equal to the multi-day Fests in the US, or some of Chicago’s fine blues clubs, but well worth the time and money ($25.00).  Next year, I will make a point of knowing well in advance and making better plans.

Link:

The Known Associates

Calacas Blues

The Blues Devils Band

More and more aftershocks are hitting the same area and those still there are living in constant fear. Yesterday afternoon at least 10 aftershocks were felt areas of Sararipiqui. The smallest was 2.7 and and the largest was 4.5 (about 2 PM yesterday) on the Richter Scale.  Many could be felt here in the Central Valley.

The weather is not helping. While the Central Valley enjoys near perfect weather, the mountainous areas in and around Sararipiqui and the Poas volcano are suffering rain almost daily. The risk of mud slides is high and there is some talk that the government may have to evacuate the area. Because some areas can now only be reached by helicopter, and the rain and low cloud cover prohibit that, an evacuation would indeed be a daunting task.

I have received several emails from people planning trips to Costa Rica, all asking if it is safe to travel here. The overall answer is yes. Clearly, however,  if your travel plans included a day trip the the Poas volcano or you were planning to raft on Sararipiqui river,  planning to stay at the Peace Lodge and visit the La Paz waterfall, you should certainly delete those from your itinerary. Check with your travel agent as to when these attractions will again be available.

Currently, the death toll is at 23. As there is still a list of missing, this will probably rise as searchers now have given up the work.

An interesting comparison was made in today’s Diario Extra, one of Costa Rica’s Spanish language newspapers. It is the equivalent (in released power) of seventeen atomic bombs of the type dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. That sort of puts it into perspective huh?

If the quake had not occurred so deep in the earth, there probably would not even be much of a Costa Rica.

Rescue workers are still on the scenes searching for more bodies beneath the millions of tons of earth. At this point, six days after the event, it will be astonishing if any more bodies are found and a miracle if any are alive.

The death toll stands at about 21.  I say “about” as different sources report different figures.

I verified that the town of Cinchona de Sarapiquí, Heredia is gone.  The photo at right shows what is left. In today’s papers there have been comments from engineers who blame the horrendous damage on poor construction of these homes when the homes were build.  I am sure that right now, several hundred Ticos are slapping their foreheads and saying, ” Ahhh!  So that was the problem!”

Earthquake experts are now saying that previously inactive faults in that area have become active and that is the cause of many aftershocks everyone is feeling. Most are pretty mild and felt only if you are sensitive to them, though sometime in the middle of the night, my wife and I were awakened feeling the bed rocking a bit.  Certainly nothing like last week, but everyone is still on edge.

Above is a graphic of the faults in that area.  It shows the eight faults in and around the area of the eruption. If the experts are right, there will be many more aftershocks and those shocks may well activate more faults.

This will probably be my last post on the earthquake thing unless something really important comes up.

A list of all posts on this topic can be found here.

This is a very desirable status as Permanent Residency grants the person all rights and privileges of a citizen save the right to vote. The biggie is the right to work here legally!

Of course many people come here legitimately, meet the love of their life, and marry them! Others, however, arrange marriages through lawyers and often have never even met the person they marry.  Marriages could be performed by power of attorney. This causes (rightfully) some consternation at Migración (immigration)! Disallowed from applying for Permanent Residency were those living in a common law relationship (Unión de hecho).

Well, life for the enforcers at Migración has recently become a bit harder as Sala IV, the Costa Rica constitutional court, has ruled that common law marriages in Costa Rica are valid and the foreigner in that relationship does have the right to apply for Permanent Residency.  Prior to this action,  Article 69  of the Ley de Migración y Extranjería (immigration law) stated that a common law relationship had no legal status for purposes of residency. Immigration officials are worried, probably with cause, that this will further exacerbate the problems facing them.

This cause of action was actually started by an advocate of immigration rights who works closely with Nicaraguans who, for I suppose some cultural reason, prefer common law relationships to marriage.

For a Nicaraguan, having the legal right to work here is critical.  Costa Rica has a serious bias against Nicaraguans, often blaming them for increases in crime and just about anything else that affects their lives negatively. Every year at Christmas, there are huge lines of Nicaraguans waiting for entrance at the frontier as they return from holiday. It is certainly true that some are trying to enter illegally, but others seem to be hassled for no reason.  I know the process for legalizing our housekeeper was arduous, expensive and needlessly complex.

Anyway, back on topic, those living with their common law spouse can now apply for  and be granted Permanent residency (though all other requirements must be met).  Note this does not apply to common law couples coming here seeking residency from other countries.  If they are not married, each must apply separately, a far more costly option. They key is the common law relationship must be with a Costa Rica citizen.

Just as an aside, for a foreigner to live in a common law relationship with (especially) a Costa Rica woman is fraught with danger. Before undertaking such a thing, a lawyer should be consulted.

Today, I received a comment from one of the companies here in Costa Rica that assists people in establishing legal residency. The first half of his email pretty much tells stuff about him and a bit about his company. Pretty much like SPAMing through commenting.  Almost the entire second half is built around this comment:

I take personal offense to the paragraph that reads; “One online source put the panic into a lot of folks by warning that it appears this law would be retroactive and affect all Rentistas and Pensionados at renewal… a truly stupid statement designed only to cause panic as Sala IV (the constitutional court) has never permitted that sort of thing.  Again, panic sells!”

The writer of the article is truly misinformed and it is equally clear that he or she has never bothered to read the language of the proposed law.

Odd he would take “personal offense”… but to move on…  as my readers probably know, I could not let THAT stand unanswered, so here for all to read (and comment upon)  is my reply:

Me: I read with some amusement your comment to my Blog (not published).  It is clear you have an issue reading English, and I find your attempt to drum up residency business by posting your personal and business information to be disingenuous at best.  However, I will publicly respond briefly to a couple of your comments however.

I have no issue with those who are pro-active in this matter.  I have a STRONG issue about those who, somewhat like the Brothers problem of some years past, try to sew panic when panic is not what is needed and in fact is not even remotely necessary.

You state:

“If the writer had taken the time to read Article 263 – Transitorio II, the second sentence, he or she would have known that the new language is intended to apply the law retroactively at the time the resident renews the carnet.”

Your presumptuousness is remarkable and your ability to read is clearly faulty. First, of course I read it… in fact, I acknowledged it…   but I did not CARE if it was in the proposed law because

1. It may well be removed before passage and
2. Even if it is not, Sala IV will overturn it on appeal.

I have read the many other online articles, including your web site, and not one mentioned that it is almost 100% SURE that that part of the law will be eliminated or ruled valid. So why was it stated?  As I said, panic sells… whether residency web sites or newspapers. THAT is low class behavior and nothing more than preying on people’s fears.

“Yet, the writer criticizes those who are concerned enough to really take a proactive stance on behalf of their clients.”

Ummm… and just where did I critize anything other than inaccuracy?

“Sir or madam, perhaps you should take the time to learn about the subject matter you write before calling others “stupid.””

You say I called someone “Stupid”. Huh?  Where? I also find it kind of amazing that again, you presume I know nothing. In any case, let’s review exactly what I wrote.

The word “stupid” was used twice (and correctly!):

stupid #1:

“One online source put the panic into a lot of folks be warning that it appears this law would be retroactive and affect all Rentistas  and Pensionados at renewal… a truly stupid statement designed only to cause panic as Sala IV (the constitutional court) has never permitted that sort of thing.”

It was a stupid and needlessly provocative statement as it did not contain the all the facts.

Did you READ that? If one is going to write about the retroactive portion of the proposed law, the LEAST they can do is to make 100% clear that they state clearly that even if it IS passed, Sala IV has never permitted it before and is VERY unlikely to allow it now! That means it will not happen… and to NOT say that means that someone is just trying to  needlessly scare the bejesus out of a bunch of people, often older people! THAT sir, is not acceptable. Even your web site should have made that clear. It did not.

stupid #2:

“Calm down… send emails if you wish but make them sound intelligent and well thought out.  As you can’t vote regardless of  residency, using an aggressive or threatening tone is not only stupid, it makes you sound like… well…  a Gringo… NOT a good thing in general.”

I am not calling anyone stupid, but again, you seem to have reading issues. I am telling people to write and contact if they wish, but don’t be rude as THAT behavior is counterproductive and STUPID. Ticos are scrupulously polite and offending them is not the way to approach an issue

You write this comment:

“My intension (sic) is not to cause panic for financial gain,…”

LOL!  Of COURSE it is!

The more you get your name and your company’s name in front of either current or potential Costa Rica  residents, the more chance you have of landing new residency business! I have no problem with that! You are providing a service and need to market that service. What I do NOT like, (nor permit on my Blog) is the wholesale panic approach.

After many years here, I have seen innumerable proposed laws come and go. Should this one be ignored?  Of course not!  BUT as my Post said clearly… do NOT panic. Send the emails and state your opinion, but do not make wholesale changes in your (residency) plans because of it.  I have received over 15 emails from people who canceled plans for moving here based on various online groups and newspapers. THAT sir, is truly sad! In fact, it has likely done YOU more harm than good. I also told people what they NEED to hear and that is that the retroactive part has almost NO chance of affecting anyone.. something YOU should have made clear on your web site. THAT would have been responsible and had you done so, I likely would have placed a link to your site so people could follow up intelligently and calmly.

Finally, you asked what has the writer (that would be me) done?

“Again, what has the writer of the article done for his clients?”

Pretty odd question as I do not HAVE clients. I have readers who want the truth.  I try to provide it.   This Blog is not a business!  Sheesh!

However… let’s see what I did…or did not do!

I did NOT panic back in November nor did I Blog about this earth shattering crisis! My readers value my opinion and many rely upon it… so I did nothing.  I waited, met with a couple of knowledgeable people, and still did not Blog. I saw no reason to even comment on this law as it was over-covered everywhere else. I finally decided to Blog about it yesterday as I had received a lot of email asking for my thoughts and a lot more emails telling me that people were deciding whether to move here at all.  My post yesterday was to tell people 4 things:

1. Don’t panic
2. Send emails to to the legislators if they want and
3. Be pleasant and logical if you do write and
4. I told them where they could find sample emails and email addresses.

Sounds perfectly reasonable to me! That is what I did and I think I did the correct thing.

I did NOT tell my readers (as one online source did) that (paraphrased) ‘it is likely that the legislators will pass this before they dismiss for Christmas break’. HUH? I have NEVER heard of Costa Rica passing ANY law in a month nor has anyone I asked. That article alone caused needless commotion.

Sir, I am not going to publish your comment as it is not only faulty, it contains your business profile and links to your residency web site which to me is nothing less than SPAMing.

I would suggest your re-read my Post thoroughly, this time for content.

As always, responsible comments are encouraged.

Those of us who live here deal with the many earthquakes.  Just a fact of life.  Those who live or have lived in California know all about it. The vast majority are small shocks (3-4) that rock the bed, make some noise and are generally not big deals.  Buildings in Costa Rica generally are built with a LOT of Rebar and concrete and most are very safe and suffer little damage. There are, however, many homes, especially in the country and areas not prosperous, that fall apart in the quakes.

This earthquake was nasty… 6.2. It was supposedly the strongest in 150 years… though I am not sure how they know that as the Richter Scale was not developed until the 1930’s.

There have been over 2,000 aftershocks of which we felt maybe 30. That in itself is unusual.

It did a lot of damage.  It hit on Thursday just after 1 PM. The most serious damage was as a result of landslides and homes just shifting and falling down hills and mountainsides. Many people were trapped under falling debris.

It was an odd quake.  I was taking a nap and was deeply (I think!) asleep when it hit. The entire house was moving and I do not mean a little. I called for the housekeeper who was really upset and we stood in a doorway until it passed.  Maybe 40 seconds or so. Most quales are kinda fun… this one was not.

Only damage to the house were some cracks in the patio.  Nothing in the house even fell… truly amazing as it was hard to stnd up!

I was lucky enough to get a call through to my wife whose office is on the 4th floor of Calderon Guardia Hospital.  She was scared but OK. The third floor suffered a lot of damage though.  No dead.

More soon… promise!

I received another comment yesterday and again I have decided to reply here as I think more people read the posts than the comments. OK OK… it is sort of another rant and probably should have been posted on July 4th, but here it is. It started out as a simply enough reply… then grew. However as my readers know, at times my self control fails me…which might be why I am not exactly thin!

Ohhh. Haters of the USA or those embarrassed to be an American will probably find this post not to their liking.

Below is a comment sent in yesterday and the stimulous for this reply. If my response might interest you… read on!

I don’t want to come off as a conspiracy theorist, but I do find it to be interesting that this is a problem for you now. My point, a lot of people are disenchanted, to say the least, regarding the current political, economic, etc… here in the US, and are hoping to relocate. Well maybe the powers that be prefer this not to be so easy to do. And therefore prefer not to have someone help make this possible, meaning you. You provide us with the much appreciated, and needed info. Seems as though with the recent CAFTA activity, that Costa Rica wanting to do trade with the US, is going to be pressured to do whatever Uncle Sam asks of them. Remember the disintegration of the middle class, means the corporate big wigs need all the slaves to stay here and consume in order for them to continue to make a profit. Now if we want to live elswhere, we are not here to keep them nice and fat. Ok, after previewing my post, I have to admit I do sound like a nut, or do I? (twilight zone music plays in background).

Yeah… a bit

But I think you are a little confused… at least about me and my status. My permanent residency renewal is not dictated by the US government and the renewal process seems to be going exactly as it should. I doubt there will be issues, but I thought I’d post my experiences so others could follow along to see how it goes. I expect it to go smoothly.

The USA has serious issues for sure, but to blame the current administration is just naive. The fault lies with every administration and congress for the past 20-30 years that exhibited not one modicum of leadership and a complete failure to deal with unpleasant problems like the current oil crisis, social security and numerous other issues.

The current Democratic congress does nothing… no leadership at all… preferring to blame the woes of the world on Bush.

Bush does nothing to demonstrate his leadership preferring to fall into stupid disagreements with congress about Iraq. The result is that nothing gets done on critical domestic issues. What people seem to forget is that either congress or the administration can take a leadership role and begin an initiative. Neither does and neither has for many, many years, preferring to pander to the George Soros’ of the world and to the other big campaign contributors and lobbyists. Want an example? In almost eight years neither Bush NOR congress has made even the slightest real attempt to ween the populace from being just plain pigs when it comes to using fossil fuels… nor did the administration before that nor the one before that… ad nauseum.

The US has about 4% of the world’s population yet uses 20% of the worlds oil. What is wrong with THAT picture?? Now we are at the mercy of high oil prices as China and other countries bid up the price of oil. Everyone blames big oil but they just don’t get it. Oil is a commodity… nothing more. Simple supply and demand. We now buy a ton of oil from the Saudis who then use their profits to fund terrorism and anti-American activities. Really intelligent! I like to think that every time you fill up, you are paying a nice little terrorist tax. We buy from the Saudis because we cannot seem to develop our own oil supplies or better yet, cut back on the use of oil completely. No leadership… again!

This current scenario was clearly visible decades ago, and MANY people warned that this would come to pass. EVERY administration and congress did NOTHING to keep us from being in this position… and they could have! We could have built refineries, encouraged or even forced the use of alternative fuels… Can’t be done? Pottywash! Take a look at Brazil if you want to see how it could have been done!

Now everyone bitches about the $4.00 per gallon gas prices. How silly. If you live in the Netherlands, you pay $12.00 per gallon. England? $11.00 last time I checked. Costa Rica? Over $6.00 probably starting this week! $4.00 fuel is nothing.

People have to leave the USA every day because they can no longer afford to live in their own country. My sister is in the process of moving here as she is in the same position. She gets a nice social security check and has savings, but is living hand to mouth… no room for anything unexpected and she is scared to death. Now she must leave her country.

She and many others will have no choice… but be aware it is not the rich and famous coming here. The ones with money might buy a vacation OR rental home here, but they have no intentions of moving. The ones that are moving here (not all of course) tend to be the less conspicuous consumers e.g. the middle class. I can promise you that a few tens of thousands of people planning to try ex-pat living and who are not at the top of the spending food chain, will not affect the economy of the USA one iota!

CAFTA is enormously complex and I am sure it will both help and hurt some Costa Ricans. Time will tell. In general, I think it will help more than hurt, and clearly the Costa Rica people agreed as it was they who voted YES to the TLC though admittedly not by a huge margin..

I would urge you not to fall into the trap of thinking that anything done by the USA is automatically bad. Those big (and sometimes small) businesses that everyone loves to hate is why the USA is by far and away the greatest country in the world. They were and are the engine. People forget, in the face of the all the recent anti-American press, just how wonderful IS the USA.

I believe the USA has serious issues and is broken. I believe we have wandered away from the basics that made us great. I also believe that it can be fixed, but not with the current lack of leadership in the congress and the white house. Nobody wants to rock the boat, and for sure, the boat needs some serious rocking.

The person who seems to be the forerunner in the US elections has 143 days of experience in the senate and it seems likely he will be soon be in the most important post in the world. To ME this is incredible! Talks nice though. He is, however, sadly lacking in experience and woefully ignorant of world affairs… but there you have it. The system continues.

We elect people simply not up for the job or simply not qualified. Many of those who could do the job want nothing to do with politics. Go figure! Obama will be surrounded/supported by a completely useless democratic congress that has already demonstrated that it is incapable of doing anything positive on behalf of the people they represent, and like all the congresses before, is totally lacking the leadership to make tough and unpopular decisions to save our country. They are far more interested in kowtowing to their monied supporters than in doing what is necessary to save our country.

The once honorable press distorts or fails to report the news unless it serves their own interest. They feed a never ending stream of untruths and encourage Americans to hate their own country. I mean can you IMAGINE actually working for The New York Times or CNN?? How embarrassing! How can they face their children at night?

I do not have a solution. I’d like to see people elected who care about the USA and will take strong and decisive action to lead and protect the USA. Ain’t gonna happen this election year I fear, and soon, I think the USA will soon become vulnerable once again to terrorism and attack as Obama tries cut the military and to placate an armed force whose only interest is the total destruction of the United States.

In summary, I love the USA and I am very proud if its accomplishments and forgiving of its failures.

Every once in a while I like to listen to a broadcast from back in 1973. Thirty five years have passed, but listening to and reading it still makes me want to just stand up and cheer. Thanks to our press and the naysayers, we can easily forget just how great is our country.

Thirty five years have passed, but the intelligent reader/listener will still see amazing similarities to our world today. Listen, read and think.

To read and listen to this broadcast and learn the background, click here … or you can just listen here to the The Americans

I listen to it a couple of time a year. Every time I do, it make me feel very proud to be American with all the good and bad that comes it.

For sure we are not perfect. We stumble and fall… but wow. What an honor to be called American.

Stand Proud America