Which orange circle is larger? This past Saturday was the final date of the Rompementes (Brain Buster) Tour, a traveling exhibition conceived by Luis Alfonso Dominguez Carballo, Professor Emeritus of the Faculty of Physics of the University of Sonora. This fun and unique exhibit took place in three cities in Costa Rica: Alajuela, Heredia and San Jose; it previously visited cities in Mexico, El...

A new blog post by Arnoldo Rivera of La Nacion calls attention to something that tourists and Ticos alike often ask about John Lennon's sculpture in Costa Rica: What happened to his glasses? Mr. Rivera, who is a Beatles scholar, recalls the day when Lennon's effigy was seated at that park bench along the old Paseo de los Estudiantes (Students' Boulevard). That was on November 25th, 2011, and th...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Costa Rica's goal of achieving carbon neutrality by the year 2021 is becoming complicated by the increasing number of motor vehicles transiting her roadways. This would not be a problem if a great number of cars, trucks and motorcycles in Costa Rica were energy-efficient or featured low-emission systems, but the sad truth is that the majority of them aren't. Accord...

Edward Snowden At the National Assembly in Costa Rica, legislators are waiting to deliberate upon the merits of a curious proposal to intercept, collect and store electronic communications in a fashion similar to what the National Security Agency (NSA) of the United States already does around the world. The legislative proposal goes by the lengthy name of Integral Reform to the Law on Regis...

Source: Wikimedia Commons A curious cargo airlift operation recently took place at the Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport (LIR), in the northern province of Guanacaste. According to a news report by Alvaro Sanchez from online news daily CRHoy, nearly 24 tons of cocaine were loaded onto a United States Air Force transport aircraft. The destination of the controversial payload? Miami, a ...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Law enforcement officials responding to reports of noisy neighbors came upon a small marijuana cultivation and distribution operation in a suburb of San Jose. The incident took place around six in the afternoon. Neighbors living in a multifamily residential complex in Cedros, a small community in the Montes de Oca canton, complained that the noise coming from an ap...

Gogol Bordello live in Athens. Source: Wikimedia Commons What do a gypsy punk band from New York and an eclectic Texas ensemble that mixes ska with Indian tones and a splash of psychedelia have in common? Both may have been inspired by their experiences in Costa Rica. First up we have Gogol Bordello, a band that played in the eclectic and epic Festival Imperial 2012. Their latest album, Pur...

Coco Island. Source: Wikimedia Commons Coco Island and her surrounding maritime zones in Costa Rica have been protected by standing legislation over the last few years. This, however, has done little to prevent the incursion of nefarious shark finning crews who thumb their noses at the law and prey upon the selachian species that make the waters of Coco Island their home. According to onlin...

Source: Flickr Creative Commons There is a war going on in Costa Rica, although the belligerents are not infantry units taking positions across the provinces. Instead, the combatants go by the names of Grupo Gessa, Wal-Mart and others. Their objectives are clear: to get your hard-earned colones -though they will take your dollars as well- and to earn your continued patronage. Anyone can lose i...

Lifeguard Seco Herrera. Source: Facebook Thanks to the quick response of lifeguards, the Cruz Roja (Red Cross) and surf instructors in Jaco Beach, ten teenage tourists lived to enjoy another day in Costa Rica. Such was a recent scene witnessed and described by Captain Richard Barone, a nature conservation activist known as Capi from his blog Capi Writes. According to Capt. Barone, the teena...

H1N1 vaccine is in high demand in Costa Rica. Source: Wikimedia Commons Public health officials in Costa Rica are hard at work to control outbreaks of two dangerous infectious diseases: Dengue fever and H1N1. Both diseases are taxing the resources of La Caja (Costa Rica's system of public health care facilities) and the Ministry of Health, although both entities are confident that the country'...

Source: CRHoy.com CC License The government of Costa Rica could save up to $70 billion in infrastructure expenditures from now until 2050 by following the advice of the International Energy Agency (IEA). A recent research study by that agency, which was reported by Leticia Vindas Quiros of business weekly El Financiero, explains that Costa Rica has clear options in three major transportation c...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Mike Periu, a Miami-based financial expert whose work has appeared in CNN and Yahoo!, recently published a report on the five most expensive places to live in Latin America. Costa Rica occupied fourth place, which closely follows Uruguay, Brazil and Venezuela. It is important to note that Uruguay has a high economic development index and Brazil is the “B” of the BR...

Source: Flickr Creative Commons Dozens of children from the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica recently gave Mother Earth a nice present in advance of August 15th: 500 fruit trees planted in strategic areas. According to Yency Arroyo Murillo of Diario Extra, business leaders and public officials from the Municipality of Osa helped in coordinating this noble cause. The trees have been planted along...

The City of Suzhou - Source: Flickr CC In the wake of the visit of the political leader of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping, journalist Gustavo Arias of business weekly El Financiero, owned by Grupo Nacion, published a series of facts about the Asian economic powerhouse and her environmental record as it relates to Costa Rica. Mr. Arias did not mince any words when mentioning the ...

In Costa Rica, Mother's Day is observed on August 15th. That day coincides with the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is part of the country's Roman Catholic heritage. Like in many other countries around the world, Mother's Day is one of the most widely celebrated holidays of the year. At the AmaTierra Retreat and Wellness Center in San Pablo of Turrubares, Mother's Day is a very spe...

Source: Flickr Amid allegations of dubious funding, money laundering and even ties to powerful drug cartels, more than 100 pirate radio stations in Costa Rica will be investigated by public officials and law enforcement officers. According to National Chamber of Radio Sations (CANARA in Spanish) and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications (MICITT in Spanish), there are 13...

Workers in Costa Rica have certain legislative protections against sexual harassment, but what about non-sexual badgering and mistreatment such as making fun of someone's appearance or assigning employees tasks that are considered denigrating? The Special Permanent Committee on Women's Affairs of the National Assembly in Costa Rica is looking into the matter and is proposing legislative action. ...

Alba Rodriguez - Source: Facebook The Miss Costa Rica 2013 beauty pageant has been filled with controversy and animosity, which in turn have been fueled by the eternal flames of online social networks. The latest scandal is centered on allegations by contestants who are not the winner, Fabiana Granados, and who have gone on record to claim that the fix was in. We are either looking at a sordid...

Jair Perez. Photo by Alfredo Barquero. Source: FEDESURF CR In the pro surf circuit of Costa Rica over the last few years, a few names keep coming up time after time: Carlos Munoz, the McGonagles, Luis Vindas, etc. This year, however, a name seldom heard before is being talked about as one of the strongest contenders to win the coveted National Circuit: Jair Perez. Although Jair Perez is jus...

Source: Flickr Creative Commons Monsanto, the global agro-industrial corporate giant that is used to having its way around farming operations around the world in the name of big profits, is experiencing one setback after another. The next disappointment for Monsanto in the near future could arrive in Costa Rica via the country's Constitutional Chamber (informally known as Sala Cuarta). A fe...

Cutter Sherman. Source: U.S. Coast Guard After a series of previous snubs in 2013 and delayed legislative review, a committee of 42 legislators in Costa Rica gave the green light to vessels from the United States Navy and Coast Guard to dock in the country. These ships, which are part of the Joint Patrol Agreement between the U.S. and Costa Rica to combat drug trafficking in the Atlantic and C...

Source: Fuerza Publica Public surveys commissioned by La Nacion and performed by UNIMER, as well as crime statistics compiled by the Ministry of Public Safety (MSP in Spanish), indicate that security has increased in Costa Rica in the last few years. Although President Laura Chinchilla’s approval rate has plunged to the lowest levels in Latin America -a sad fact she shares with her Brazilia...

Costa Rica Forest Coverage 2010 - Source: MINAE Before World War II, almost 75 percent of Costa Rica was covered by forest land. What happened in the next four decades was particularly damaging to the national ecosystem: The national forest coverage decreased to 21 percent. In just 33 years, from 1950 to 1983, more than 46 percent of forest land in Costa Rica was lost due to lack of refores...

It has been more than five years since public officials from the National Tourism Board in Costa Rica (known by the initials ICT in Spanish) traveled to Playas del Coco in Guanacaste to give their approval for an ambitious development project that will bring a massive luxury marina with enough dock space to accommodate almost 300 yachts and host of administrative and business facilities. The Ma...

Source: SENASA Costa Rica The metropolitan intervention unit of the National Animal Health Service (SENASA in Spanish) in Costa Rica recently confiscated 179 gamecocks used by a clandestine fighting ring in San Jeronimo of Moravia, in the northeastern outskirts of San Jose. This action was supported by members of Fuerza Publica, the national police force in Costa Rica. Assorted cockfighting...

The world's most famous and legendary male erotic dancers will perform for the first time in Costa Rica in a little more than a month, and for many Ticas the next few weeks are going to feel like an excruciatingly long wait. Chippendales is a renowned dance troupe based in Las Vegas that has been touring since the 1980s. The troupe is famous for their male strippers, who not only have buff and chi...

This is Sansita. Source: Zoo Ave Facebook An unidentified farmer in Golfito, a community located in the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica and near the southern border with Panama, recently saved the life of a female sloth that had been subject to a horrific attack by two men thought to be in their 30s. According to news reports by daily newspaper La Teja, the sloth was hit by rocks and fist...

Source: Flickr Things seem to be going really well in the Central American region for Starbucks. According to a report by Luis Diego Quiros of Revista Summa, the Seattle-based coffee Goliath plans to open three more of its iconic coffeehouses in Central America by the end of 2013: One in Guatemala, one in El Salvador, and one in Costa Rica. In fact, if things go better than expected, there may ...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Article 52 of Title V -"Social Rights and Guarantees"- of the Constitution of Costa Rica states that: "Marriage is the essential foundation of the family; it rests upon the equal rights of spouses." As clear and elegant as the above statement is, a civic group in Costa Rica would like to see it change by means of a proposed amendment to our Constitution. The gro...

Every year at the Cannes Film Festival, a single screening manages to polarize audiences. This time the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Paul Watson, who is fighting an extradition to Costa Rica, is trying to take the spotlight with his 2011 documentary "Confessions of an Eco-Terrorist", and to that extent celebrity guests -including American actress Michelle Rodriguez- planned a g...

Luis is a young Tico who lives in the municipality of Tibas, just north of San Jose. He works as an office clerk and has consumed more than 200 hits (doses) of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD 25) since 2006. In 2011, journalism major Marqo Adrian of the International University of the Americas interviewed Luis for a four-part investigative piece titled Costa Rica Consumes LSD. He described a n...

Source: COECOCEIBA Creative Commons license. It was like a scene out of the Metal Gear: Peace Walker video game. A non-profit group that works to improve the lives of the Bribri indigenous community in Costa Rica complained to law enforcement about the presence of armed men who arrived in a helicopter that apparently flew in from Panama. These men, who identified themselves as missionaries and ...

The practice of sharing digital photographs of a sexual nature over electronic communication networks is rising among young people in Costa Rica. This activity is known as "sexting," and it is something that lawmakers and public officials in Costa Rica want to reduce and control through a series of legislative initiatives. A recent report by online news site CRHoy explains that young Ticos are mi...

Source: Wikimedia Commons India recently closed a 163 year-old chapter of her communications history as a telegraphic operator tapped out that country's last telegram sent across a state-run network. As expected, the final Morse code dot/dash sequence on that last telegram spelled out STOP. A postal worker wearing a khaki uniform delivered the missive to its intended recipient and, just like tha...

Former President of Costa Rica Miguel Angel Rodriguez Now that Silvio Berlusconi, the former Prime Minister of Italy who was essentially forced out of office by a bunch of powerful bond traders, has been sentenced by an appellate court in Milan to serve seven years in prison, there has been a lot of speculation as to whether he will actually set foot in a correctional institution. If the Be...

Source: MSP Facebook During a recent press conference by the Ministry of Public Safety in Costa Rica, Minister Francisco Zamora announced that Caribbean operations by the National Coast Guard Service and law enforcement have seized 4.6 tons of cocaine so far in 2013.  This is in addition to 1.47 tons of marijuana confiscated off the coast of the province of Limon in Costa Rica. Minister Zam...

Source: Miss Costa Rica Facebook When Fabiana Granados was crowned Miss Costa Rica 2013 over the weekend, hundreds of thousands of Ticos who tuned in to Teletica for the pageant’s broadcast on Teletica clearly heard her exclaim in surprise, and in English: Oh My God! Fabiana Granados’ choice of an English expression to express her elation and surprise at being crowned Queen of all Ticos cau...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Sharknado, a 2013 made-for-television movie that recently saw its debut on the SyFy channel, has managed to become an instant cult film; a feat that was only matched by 2006's Snakes on a Plane, starring Samuel L. Jackson. The two films share something in common: Blunt titles that sum up their ridiculous plots. Sharknado goes a step further with is movie poster, which s...

Source: FEDEFUTBOL CR After a shutout victory against Cuba, members of the Costa Rica National Football Team are ready to face their Belizean counterparts, who are in the midst of an investigation by the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) on bribes and nasty allegations of match fixing. Costa Rican fans will see a radically changed lineup of th...