Costa Rica is the only full-fledged and totally independent country to be entirely demilitarized. Its military was abolished in 1948, with the keys to the armory handed to the Department of Education. Socially, Costa Rica is a success story. Although 94th in the world for GDP, it is in the top 10 on various measurements of health and well-being. Citizens enjoy high standards of living that include universal access to healthcare, education, and pensions. In addition, the country practices sustainable resource management, such as reforestation and the development of solar and wind power, and it expects to be carbon neutral by 2020. Hunting is illegal. 25% of the landmass is parks and reserves. The government supports universal health care, especially maternal and child health. Costa Rica even has a Blue Zone, an area where people live extraordinarily long, healthy lives. To some extent, Costa Rica is simply lucky: it was largely inaccessible, and it had virtually no precious minerals, therefore it was mostly spared the ravages of predatory colonialism. The Costa Rican people made very good social decisions, ranging from an avowed commitment to social democracy at the national level, to local land distribution to develop stable middle class farmers. But Costa Rica's neighbors have not enjoyed nearly as much peace and prosperity. It is unlikely that Costa Rica's demilitarization and its remarkable social success are coincidental; clearly, something special is going on. Through good luck, good leadership, and good decisions, Costa Rica has become arguably the sanest and most progressive country on earth. This book examines how and why Costa Rica is safe and independent without any military at all, and what the rest of us can learn from its success.
The author of this book loves to write many different types of poetry; she’s fondest of free verse, sonnets, narratives, true to life episodes and limericks with funny antics. Throughout the book she writes on her love of nature’s elements and all living things. The first poem is written in relation to her belief that all people have a beautiful mind; that anyone on our vast global planet can be beautiful in any given situation. The concept of writing in this style gives her the freedom to reach into the vastness of the unknown and also into the reality of our environmental situation. Rain or shine, she conjures her love of natural wonders in the mind’s eye. Some may say that she can bring beauty into anyone’s perceptional view. Eve bears a humorous and cheerful attitude. Her love of writing in any given form shows her appreciation of being open-minded and her enthusiasm shines from every word.
Five sexy billionaires all in one boxed set! The Billionaire’s Pleasure Rocco De Luca lives and loves in the fast lane. A past Formula 1 champ, coming home and filling in for his older brother for a few weeks sounds…well, boring. Until he meets Steffi Harlan. Steffi Harlan is way too smart to fall for a bad-boy, until she’s put in charge of keeping the playboy out of trouble. Sure, no problem. Except Steffi isn’t immune to Rocco’s charms. They burn up the nights they spend together… But can they both survive love in the fast lane? The Billionaire’s Touch Shel Myerson, wildly successful TV mogul, has no privacy, thanks to a recent and ugly public breakup. What he doesn’t expect is to be mistaken as an employee by Janine Pike, the one person in Europe who also doesn’t have any idea who he is. Shel and Janine discover their chemistry is combustible—but will their budding relationship survive the heat once the press catches on? The Billionaire’s Bride Matteo De Luca‘s single focus is rebuilding his hotel empire, and he’s close to achieving his goal, but there’s a sexy distraction standing in his way. Helena Von Lienz knows it’s finally time to let go. But what she finds are some unexpected truths about her late hubby, and a strong sensual shared desire with Matteo. Will mixing business with pleasure be the end, or just the beginning? The Billionaire’s Heart When Sophie Smith's dearest friend asks her to be her stand in at an Amalfi resort, Sophie won’t let her down. Turns out, she get used to this life, especially handsome gardener Declan Muldoon who’s more thrilling than any of the billionaires around. But Sophie's not the only one pretending. Declan is actually the black sheep of a very wealthy family, a man in need of an heiress. An heiress exactly like Sophie is pretending to be… The Billionaire’s Lover Summer St. Croix hates weddings. But when she meets hot-as-sin Luke Vanetti at her oldest friend’s ceremony, he promises to give her a reason to like them. It’s all sexy fun and games until Summer realizes that Luke is none other than her new boss. And Summer’s first assignment will be posing as his fiancée. Playing the happy couple is hard enough during the day, but the nights might turn the charade into more than just a job for both of them.
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