Brazzil

That's a very poignant article Mr. Buarque. My hope is that your outrage is genuine and that you will use everything in your power in Brasilia to do something to change the chaotic situation of Brazil. Revolution comes in many ways, but it is only lasting if it comes with a frustration to change the status quo for better and I will to do whatever sacrifice is necessary to achieve permanent change. I don't know if a society so addicted to instant gratification has the backbone for it.

The historians Will and Ariel Durant, after spending decades studying the history of World societies concluded that change will come to all human communities through either reform or revolution. The prime cause of either is growing wealth concentration. Of the two, obviously, revolution is more harsh. Hopefully, reform still has a chance.

Yeh so what is the solution? You've stated the problem. Let us begin with prosecution under the law. If there is no law there are no solutions. If there is no prosecution Brazil is nothing but theater. A Brazillian theater of the absurd. Blame the press for they do not press to the end, to the arrest and imprisonment, corruption is a non event without legal consequence. What happened to all the people exposed of graft and corruption before the election, like vapor in the wind. . .they are heard no more. . .

Enough already of all the news article concerning a few criminal events in Brazil, yet not one word about the millions of nice things people in Brazil do every day. There are WAY more good people in Brazil than bad people.
Enough already of the fixation on violence. A majority of the Brazilian people are hard working decent people. This includes most of the people who live in favelas.
Enough already of wanting fast action concerning changing the legal system in Brazil. They are working on it and IT TAKES TIME as it does in any country to get it right.
Enough already about global warming. Brazil is one of only a handful of nations that can use three different types of fuel in their cars. Who else can say this?
Enough already about Brazil’s education system. You try to educate millions. It cost millions and there is no country that is 100% perfect at this. None.
Enough already concerning the condition of the schools in Brazil. At least they have a school. There are working on it.
Enough already about politicians. Did you really believe them in the first place…any of them anywhere around the globe. GET REAL.
Enough already about Congress. See politicians above.
Enough already about the Brazilian economy. It has grown better the last few years than I can remember.
Enough already about rich people. If you are poor, get off your butt at work hard. Life is tuff. Life is not fair. Get used to it.
Enough already about who’s fault crime is. Shoot them. Do the police report after the smoke lifts.
Also, enough already of thinking that punishing those bandits is sufficient. Kill all of them.
Enough already of seeking justice after the crimes have been committed. DO NOT LOCK UP DRUG OR GANG MEMBERS. KILL THEM. They chose their fate, not good people.
Enough already of the indifference and of the arguments attempting to conceal the true causes of the greatest of the crimes - the crime of the police and ALL politicians not acting when they should out of fear that they or their family members will get hurt or killed.
DECLARE AN ACT OF WAR. FORCE THE MILITARY TO CLEAN UP BRAZIL before you turn into Columbia.
Also, enough already of no action.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

[...
written by David B, 2007-02-27 23:27:26/quote]


LOL...OK David, everyone stop complaining. Let's continue to let the daily robbery of brazil continue by the politicians, drug lords and dregs.

And if you're poor get off your butt and work???

Hate to break it to ya David, that ideology works in the U.S., a poor person can actually better himself by working his ass off in the U.S. over time, try that in brazil on a 150 dollars a MONTH! Think you can support a family on that? A wife? A kid? Yourself?

Lets get things into perspective here. A lot of people on here are intent on slagging Brazil off but much of this is largely to do with media magnifying the bad things and leaving the good things alone. Bad news travels faster!

I have lived in Brazil for 2 years and have visited 17 states. Brazil is a beautiful country and has many qualities which seperate it from other parts of the world. The music is wonderful and varied, the people are warm and hospitable, and the culture is infectious and engaging.

However, there needs to be radical change in the country and the government are highly unlikely to make dramatic reform. There are signifant areas of improvement that could bring around significant improvements to the population.
1. As Brazil is a large country laws and regulations should not be governed straight out of Brasilia. Each state has very different economic and social needs and therefore many laws,regulations, finance should be looked at through a state-by-state viewpoint. Similar to before when it was called Estados Unidos do Brasil. This would also reduce the risk of corruption because we are talking about a more local perspective.
2. Bring in capital punishment. Many prisons are overpopulated and out of control. The community would see greater justice rather than further damaging the community.
3. Economic growth is very poor and is lagging behind even developed countries. This is largely to do with the government not investing enough into infrastructure and development. I believe that Brazil is taxed to the eyeballs - 39% of the GDP is made up of taxes. This is a massive restriction on individual and corporate spending power and is one of the highest % against GDP in the world. Reduce taxes and increase spending power.
4. Bring in greater punishment to people who commit corrupt acts. Instead of saying to politicians you committed an act but you can come back in 8 years give them life imprisonment. Who damages society more a killer or a corrupt politician? Yes that's right and a corrupt politician can help to make favelas too by their actions. Shame on you politicians who don't have the balls to make changes. That should kill the greed.
5. Bring in a competition commission that regulates the market and encourages businesses to start up. Stop Nestle, Coca-Cola, Kraft, Unilever taking a dominant market share and encourage Brazilian competitors.
6. Bring in a banking commission that stops banks from charging extortionate rates to those in debt. Currently stands at around 10% per month. Should be capped at 1.5% per month. Interest should be a minimum of 0.5% per month. Enable individuals to take out money from any bank no matter who they bank with.

There is so much more that needs to be done but these are the main points. Also, I can't stand it when I go into an internet cafe and everyone is on Orkut...this is very disturbing. Black people get a raw deal in Brazil as they do in much of the world but remember that Brazil was built by black people therefore the rest of the population owe a lot to them. The media should also stop making a mockery of women as they portray them on weekend shows as just objects.

You can love Brazil but you can also hate it. For those of you who are from Brazil I mean no offense to your country and appreciate the difficult situation that you are in at times.
Nickx

You mean you have found Kraft Dinner? AND Kraft Peanut Butter? please do tell where?

Interesting your statement : "The music is wonderful and varied, the people are warm and hospitable, and the culture is infectious and engaging."

But what has this to do with Crimes, impunity, poverty, high taxes but nothing in return, lack of economic growth, corruption, injustice, low or bad education, bad healthcare, lack of infratructure, vote buying, deaths squads, police killings of innocents, etc etc....that Buarque is talking about ?????????

But laws exist in Brazil !
- vote buying is illegal...by laws
- impunity is illegal...by laws
- corruption is illegal...by laws
- slavery is illegal....by laws written over 100 years agon in the constitution !!!!!

Therefore it is not a problem of laws, but both the interpretation of it by the judges and the application of such laws.

So disgusting that most government investigators for the vote buying scandals.....resigned !
Or puting a 19 years old girl for 4 years in jail, because she has stolen a tube of butter, but not puting in jail those that commited crimes against MST members and/or when the trial START 19 years (yess 19 years) after the crime and the verdict is.....innocent thus free !!!! Same for most policemen who commited atrocities against innocents...but never found guilty of anything wrong !!!

He is a politician that does absolutely nothing to change any of the things he sees that are wrong, and likes playing "armchair revolutionary".

Brazil is not that bad, as many are decided to make it look like.

Ch.c., its just that YOU can't see the good in anything especially Brazil. Does a positive statement about Brazil bother you that much that you have to pick it out of everything Niniho had to say and focus on that particular statement because it pissed you off?
Wake up! It has everything to do with it. Brazilian people with a fabulious culture and a beautiful country etc deserve to have a stable society and government and have a reasonable expectation to feel safe from crime.

Cristvam Buarque is part of the problem
written by A brazilian, 2007-02-28 16:42:04

He is a politician that does absolutely nothing to change any of the things he sees that are wrong, and likes playing "armchair revolutionary".

Brazil is not that bad, as many are decided to make it look like.

So I guess he should just shut up??

A brazilian, as I have said, since I first saw your posts, YOU, and others like you, are the reason this cesspool is like it is today, and the very reason that it will NEVER get better in our lives.

Ch.c!
written by People I know, 2007-02-28 16:53:33

Ch.c., its just that YOU can't see the good in anything especially Brazil. Does a positive statement about Brazil bother you that much that you have to pick it out of everything Niniho had to say and focus on that particular statement because it pissed you off?
Wake up! It has everything to do with it. Brazilian people with a fabulious culture and a beautiful country etc deserve to have a stable society and government and have a reasonable expectation to feel safe from crime.

DESERVE has nothing to do with it!!! Get off your asses and earn it, or suffer the consequences, which is exactly what is happening in brazil today.

TO A) over 20 % of brazilians DONT EARN US$ 150.- a month....BUT FAR LESS.... sadly ! And I include what those people get from the Bolsa Familia program......already !

TO B) - I SUGGEST you to read the horror daily news.....daily and not monthly only.
- I SUGGEST you to stop watching your TV soap operas, the horror stories are not there but in real daily life.
- I SUGGEST you to look at the Brazil rankings in different comparative studies and see where Brazil is usually ranked.
More at or near the bottom, unless you inverse the rankings !

Thomas Jefferson who wrote the piece you cited kept slaves. I always thought that strange I thought all men were created equal, but I was aways interested in medicine. But under Brazilian law some men are more equal than others, more like Animal Farm, all men are created equal but some men are more equal than others.

And Ch.C it is self evident that there are laws in Brazil, and it is equally obvious that they are not prosecuted equally. Some men are more equal than others and they are the government, and those with enough money to buy it, justice that is Justice is not blind in Brazil, she is winking..

In just the last few hours, two sperate headlines tell it all. Again, in Rio, 3 French non=profit workers were murdered in their office near Copacabana Beach, all were stabbed, one was decapitated. These were people who had dedicated themselves tp helping Rio's poor kids. Ironically the doorman from the building captured one of three murderers as he tried to carry out a safe...a fourth person was arrested, as he left his ID Card at the scene...typical of the stories that we have been hearing about the last several months and the point that the author is trying to make.

The second headline is about Brazil's economy last year, it grew at an anemic 2%, the WORST in all of Latin America. Funny how the ignornat masses voted for an uneducated clown monkey who ran on a platform of an improved economy, when in reality he does not have the administrative skills to stop the bleeding and turn it around. You have gotten exactly what you voted for and you have 4 more years of it.

Yes, all these postings about the "Good Things" in Brazil are just more examples of the Ostirich mentality of Brazilians. It would almost be comic...if it wasn't so tragic. No wonder even educated and skilled Brazilians can't wait to make a move to the West, it is the only way to ensure the safety of their familes and a chance at a decent life. Brazil's demise as been slow and painful, but it is now on a rapid death spin.

No wonder even educated and skilled Brazilians can't wait to make a move to the West

Where Brazil is in the map? And who told you skilled brazilians can't wait to move? The millions are losers crossing the desert are just that, losers, willing to work as toilet cleaners. A successful brazilian never would accept any lower than he is used to, and we have a pretty good life.

Why don't you address the problems the author pointed out, todays headlines in Copacabana and your anemic economy, the WORST in Latin & South America? You are typical of Brazil's problems, unwilling to admit or address them, content to let your country sink into oblivion. You have a pretty good life? Well good for you...that's great. I'll bet the French citizens in Rio who were murdered while trying to help your poor kids had a pretty good life in France too.

"Millons of losers crossing the desert" what a great take on your country men. Why are they losers? Did you provide a GREAT opportunity for them to become something in Brazil? I may have made an error saying West instead of North, but at least I have a heart...yours is stone man.

This website is ridiculous, the commends are uninformed, racist or ill intended, the level of the people attending it, with the exception of a very few, is at the level of the stereotypical american redneck. The ch.c loser is from switzerland but a redneck at heart.

The sequence of stupidities in this thread is unbelievable. Brazil is not in "demise", the country has been STABLE for a long time. Even in international economical crises, where notably other countries suffered, such as Argentina, Russia and Mexico, Brazil stayed ok.

YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA OF WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT. You are basing all of your "deep understanding" out a few sensationalistic headlines. There is no civil war, you idiots. Except for a few problematic cities, such as Rio, violence is not increasing, but decreasing!!. Shut up your filthy mouth, spreading disease and hate, if not biological diseases then it is disease for the heart and for the soul. Go back to the racist s**thole you have come from, and stay there playing KKK vs. Black Panthers.

BTW, in 2006 Brasil grew 2,9%.

A successful brazilian never would accept any lower than he is used to, and we have a pretty good life.

Yep, both of you!

Touche Bo!

Why don't you address the problems the author pointed out, todays headlines in Copacabana and your anemic economy, the WORST in Latin & South America? You are typical of Brazil's problems, unwilling to admit or address them, content to let your country sink into oblivion. You have a pretty good life? Well good for you...that's great. I'll bet the French citizens in Rio who were murdered while trying to help your poor kids had a pretty good life in France too.

You are just an idiot that has no idea of is going on here, except for s**t like this from Cristovam that makes you believe you know it all.

That's what happens when you get yourself in areas whose criminality is high, especially if you are foreigner! So they went to a f**king favela and got killed and that absurd? How? They knew what they were getting into and they accepted the risks.

There's no oblivion, but the funniest part is that people like seem to really believe in it. BRAZIL HAS TODAY A STABILITY THAT IT DIDN'T HAVE FOR DECADES. WE HAVE HAD A SOLID ECONOMIC WITHOUT ANY GRAVE CRISIS, AT LEAST, FOR THE LAST 13 YEARS. Who remembers the 80s in Brazil know what recession and economical downturn is!

"Millons of losers crossing the desert" what a great take on your country men. Why are they losers? Did you provide a GREAT opportunity for them to become something in Brazil? I may have made an error saying West instead of North, but at least I have a heart...yours is stone man.

They had the same opportunies as I did and everyone else! They failed! Brazil has opportunities, but you need to work for them, and, for some, working is not of their liking.

There is no civil war, you idiots. Except for a few problematic cities, such as Rio, violence is not increasing, but decreasing!!.

Your f**king kidding right? A few problematic cities? Brazil has the highest per capita murder rate in the civilized (and I am using that word as a stretch) world. You are at war man...and they bad guys are winning. I'll bet those "million of losers" who have come "NORTH" are real sorry they left the s**thole you few that are doing so well have created for them. In fact, I'll bet they cry everytime they use Zoom to send money back home to their familes through Brandesco to help them have a little better life. You are an obnoxious self centered bore. Oh, and even at 2.9% growth, it IS the worst in the region, great you have been solid...solidly stuck in s**t for 13 years...be proud.

Brazil...now "The Land of Opportunity"...again, dude, you have to be f**king kidding. You can't possibly be that dumb and own a computer...your a joke right?

That's what happens when you get yourself in areas whose criminality is high, especially if you are foreigner! So they went to a f**king favela and got killed and that absurd? How? They knew what they were getting into and they accepted the risks.

Are you really proud that their area areas in your country (favelas) that are run by drug lords and even the military and cops are afraid to go in? Yes, you are right, telling the truth, these areas are in your largest cities...and you think that this is OK? You want to talk about absurd? Are not large communites were criminals operate with impunity in your largest metro areas absurd? You are defending the indefensable. You my emotional, shallow thinking Brazilian friend are the absurdity.

...
written by CalSur, 2007-02-28 19:07:08

Brazil...now "The Land of Opportunity"...again, dude, you have to be f**king kidding. You can't possibly be that dumb and own a computer...your a joke right?

LMAO!!

You must be new here.

Nope, Abe Razillion, aka, Baghdad Bob, is for real, unfortunately Cal. There are a host of "educated" bozo-zillions" like him down here.

It would be comical if it wasn't so tragic.

Are you really proud that their area areas in your country (favelas) that are run by drug lords and even the military and cops are afraid to go in? Yes, you are right, telling the truth, these areas are in your largest cities...and you think that this is OK? You want to talk about absurd? Are not large communites were criminals operate with impunity in your largest metro areas absurd? You are defending the indefensable. You my emotional, shallow thinking Brazilian friend are the absurdity.

Such regions exist in the US too. But not only criminality is high, but you can beaten or killed for being of a different race too.

Statistics don't tell anything about different regions and states. But it's to ask too much from people like you to know the size of Brazil, and how one region may have one kind of problems while other have others.

For example, the numbers of favelas decreased in all of Brazil, except for Rio and Porto Alegre (I read it somewhere some time ago).

Brazil exports to the u.s.a. ILLEGAL CRIMINAL ALIENS..... don,t bother buying that hyandai pedro....YOU WILL SOON BE DEPORTED !!.....

I'm surprized you can read...you should read more about what is really going on. I think one poster put it correctly. Brazil is a train wreck. Most of the Brazilian population lives in Rio, Sap Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, so your argument is not valid. If favelas are "decreasing" then why is crime and murder increasing...duh, becuase it is moving out of the favelas in areas like Ipanema, Barra, Copacabana, Curitiba...hell everywhere. Unless you live in the North or Anmazon without electriclity you are in danger of being a victim of crime anywhere and any place in Brazil. It is complete chaos, but you keep your head in the sand, drink cheap beer and enjoy Carnaval, while the rest of the world laughs at you!

"Such regions exist in the US too. But not only criminality is high, but you can beaten or killed for being of a different race too. "

Have you ever been here? Or Europe, or anywhere else in the war besides the utopia you live in...in Brazil. Let me explain something to you mano, you are blind if you think you can compare the living conditions of Rio or Sap Paulo with New York or LA. Compton is like Switzerland compared to your largest cities. Again., you defense of the indefensible is pathetic.

"For example, the numbers of favelas decreased in all of Brazil, except for Rio and Porto Alegre (I read it somewhere some time ago). "

Brazilian dude, I have to admit you crack me up, this blog seems like fun...but are you for real? I read too, I spend lots of time in Brazil on business and enjoy it very much, but your arguments are silly. I don't know about expansion of the favelas, but I do know that crime has now come to the areas besides the favelas, like Ipanema or Copacabana, the highways between Rio and Sao Paulo or Belo Horizonte are the wild west man, you have a very good chance of meeting up with banditos, or worse. Crime is a problem country wide and increasing and there is no stopping it. Hold ups on the way to Angra, pirates highjacking private boats off the cost...it's all happening, there is no denial and it is getting worse.

I want to be polite, although your use of the word idiot for everyone else that has an opinon is comic. Oh, and violent crime is not the only crime, even in your "safe cities" in the North and South there are officals at all levels with their hands out. I have personaly paid bribes to get things done, including a bribe to a high level custom offical in Sao Paulo to get a shippement released at the port. He asked "do you want your shippment now? Or in 6 weeks? $500 later our delivery was on the way. Your culture is based on crime. It's funny not only to people accept it, there are people like you that deny and defend it.

You are just one of those speaking of things you don't know about. All you have ever heard is of a few places in Rio, maybe Sao Paulo or some other big city and want to make "judgements" of the whole country based on sensationalistic articles. All your text is just that, ad hominem, unbacked claims, no verified and trustworthy data, etc. This comprises all your knowledge on Brazil.

Well, naturally, I am unimpressed.

You follow the usual american bigot pattern. If you believe you speak the ultimate truth think again. Take a look at the other threads and you will see lots of clueless individuals like yourself, repeating the exact same things, in the same lower intellectual level, sometimes using slangs and name calling as means of expression.

As for Brazil, this country has been stable for a long time. Since the 50s it tripled the number of the population, the economy has grown many times, the industrialization progressed at a fast pace, and technology industries have flowrished. Brazil may have some problems, that in the US it might pass unnoticed since the "propaganda" nature of its media channels, but it's far from being a trainwreck.

And corruption, that's in american society as well.

CalSur, A brailian is absolutely for real (maybe even both of them). It epitomizes certain things you encounter in the psyche of not just a few that live, breath, survive, and maybe even thrive down there. You just can't believe it until you experience it first hand over and over and over again. Somehow someway this is so deeply instilled into the belief systems and code of conduct indoctrinated into these folks that honestly, they just don't see it / get it when someone points it out to them in a direct point blank heartfelt manner. You just have to learn to accept it along with the marvelous other aspects of these uniquely cultured and intelligent human beings. Very very different indeed.

Which kind would the author prefer? Not the American, that was yankees versus the Brits. Maybe the French, Great Unwashed against the Powers That Be.

Problem is, once it starts, no one can fine tune it, micromanage it, or control it. So then they later say, "Oh, I didn´t mean like THAT...".

Like 1930? Or Cuba? Like Central African Republic-Empire-Republic? Russian?

Knowing something about the Brazilian Psyche, I don´t think you´d like it. Like Liberia, poor tribal black versus rich ex-American black? Like Haiti, exploited versus the French? Richest nation in the Americas to poorest?

It would be like an American I saw dishing himelf up some nice looking chocolate pudding in a smorgy. I knew what it was, and was watching him.

One bite and he gagged. It was unsweetend Açai.

red·neck (rĕd'nĕk')
n. Offensive Slang.
Used as a disparaging term for a member of the white rural laboring class, especially in the southern United States.
A white person regarded as having a provincial, conservative, often bigoted attitude.

The noun redneck has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a poor white person in the southern US
Synonym: cracker

Your so much fun, I really get a kick out of your postings...but you either are not for real, or you are still a kid. Stop drinking the Kool Aid kid. Think about what you just wrote:

First, while I am not from Brazil, I have travelled every corner, both on business and for pleasure, I average at least 2 weeks a month there. I think Brazil is a magnificant country and count many Brazilians among my best friends. I believe the difference between my Brazilian friends and you is that my freinds are all well educated professionals. I have discussed many things about Brazil, including it's economy, government and policies...I will say it again, if Brazil is not a train wreck, it is on it's way to becoming one. Any educated, thoughtful Brazilian would agree, certainly this is the thought of most of my friends. The funny thing is, that for many of them, it works to their advantage and helps them stay rich, in other words, the more screwed up Brazil, the better for them...what kind of crazyness is that??

No disrespect intended, but let's look at what you said.

First, I think everything I and others have said is common knowledge about Brazil and while the truth may hurt you, the facts regarding crime, education and poverty can not be denied.

You can call me what you wish, I think it makes you feel better, but I am anything but a Bigot, I despise bigotry and the climate it creates, but as you point out, many other posters echo my thoughts, there is no conspiracy here not a sea of bigots or idiots, j just a few outsiders looking in and being honest about what they see. Not bigots, but people like myself who probably would like to see Brazil do well, but are frustrated that you can't get your stuff together...my wife is Brazilian, been married 20 years, I speak pretty good Portuguese, but unfortunatly can't write very good...she has said it a millon times, "Brazil will never change", sometimes that is a great things, but for other people very sad.

I have not called you, or anyone else names, I think if you look back at your postings you are quick to call others names or use insults.

As for Brazil being stable since the 50's ( a lot of that time at the point of a gun), then why after over 5 decades are you still considered a third world or developing country...hell, you can't even get ready for the Pan American Games which will elevate Brazil to a laughing stock, you can put on a great concert though on Copacabana Beach.

Big news, technology has not flourished in Brazil, you are still an ag commodity exporter, if growing shrimp in dirty water quailifies for technology, then I am wrong. What specific technological advancements have you brought to market. The silicon wafers the author speaks about....sorry, almost all multi-National companies taking advantage of a low skilled, low paid workforce. The only real technology you have accomplished is figuring out just the right amount of limes, casacha and sugar in a Caiparinia.

As for corruption, sure the US has it's share, we have had BIG corruption, but the CEO's of Worldcom, Tyco, and Enron are all doing big time in prison, how many big fish Braziians have you put in prision? You see in the US we do have corruption, but in Brazil corruption is a way of life, a big difference. Again, not critizism, but a fact I experience every time I come to Brazil, it's a few hundered dollars to customs, a case of Jack Daniels to your local IBAMA offical, or even $R5.00 to a cop simply to park your care. Your entire economy is built on a corrupt foundation, even more so now than Mexico, China and India which have leap frogged over you.

Still, I will continue to come and enjoy Brazil, I love fishing in the Pantanal, doing deals in Ribero Preto and Sao Paulo, I really love it. I will be forever hopeful you will finally get your act together...but in the long run, my wife has finally convinced me she is right.

Huh Brazilian Dude?
written by CalSur, 2007-02-28 22:03:53

"For example, the numbers of favelas decreased in all of Brazil, except for Rio and Porto Alegre (I read it somewhere some time ago). "

Brazilian dude, I have to admit you crack me up, this blog seems like fun...but are you for real? I read too, I spend lots of time in Brazil on business and enjoy it very much, but your arguments are silly. I don't know about expansion of the favelas, but I do know that crime has now come to the areas besides the favelas, like Ipanema or Copacabana, the highways between Rio and Sao Paulo or Belo Horizonte are the wild west man, you have a very good chance of meeting up with banditos, or worse. Crime is a problem country wide and increasing and there is no stopping it. Hold ups on the way to Angra, pirates highjacking private boats off the cost...it's all happening, there is no denial and it is getting worse.

I want to be polite, although your use of the word idiot for everyone else that has an opinon is comic. Oh, and violent crime is not the only crime, even in your "safe cities" in the North and South there are officals at all levels with their hands out. I have personaly paid bribes to get things done, including a bribe to a high level custom offical in Sao Paulo to get a shippement released at the port. He asked "do you want your shippment now? Or in 6 weeks? $500 later our delivery was on the way. Your culture is based on crime. It's funny not only to people accept it, there are people like you that deny and defend it.

CalSur, I'm an american living here for 10 years, partner in a business making a foreign investment, have an american/brazilian child. I've been to MANY places in this country and spent significant time, from the far north, to the deep south. And I've participated on this site, on and off, for a few years. The sad part in all of this is that I actually know a percentage of brazilians that have the same attitudes as our old buddy, "Abe Razillion", or I like to call him, Baghdad Bob. Not only do they defend the indefensable, but they also actually deny the undeniable. It's exactly like baghdad bob....

Blind Brazilian
written by CalSur, 2007-03-01 01:46:49

Your so much fun, I really get a kick out of your postings...but you either are not for real, or you are still a kid. Stop drinking the Kool Aid kid. Think about what you just wrote:

First, while I am not from Brazil, I have travelled every corner, both on business and for pleasure, I average at least 2 weeks a month there. I think Brazil is a magnificant country and count many Brazilians among my best friends. I believe the difference between my Brazilian friends and you is that my freinds are all well educated professionals. I have discussed many things about Brazil, including it's economy, government and policies...I will say it again, if Brazil is not a train wreck, it is on it's way to becoming one. Any educated, thoughtful Brazilian would agree, certainly this is the thought of most of my friends. The funny thing is, that for many of them, it works to their advantage and helps them stay rich, in other words, the more screwed up Brazil, the better for them...what kind of crazyness is that??

No disrespect intended, but let's look at what you said.

First, I think everything I and others have said is common knowledge about Brazil and while the truth may hurt you, the facts regarding crime, education and poverty can not be denied.

You can call me what you wish, I think it makes you feel better, but I am anything but a Bigot, I despise bigotry and the climate it creates, but as you point out, many other posters echo my thoughts, there is no conspiracy here not a sea of bigots or idiots, j just a few outsiders looking in and being honest about what they see. Not bigots, but people like myself who probably would like to see Brazil do well, but are frustrated that you can't get your stuff together...my wife is Brazilian, been married 20 years, I speak pretty good Portuguese, but unfortunatly can't write very good...she has said it a millon times, "Brazil will never change", sometimes that is a great things, but for other people very sad.

I have not called you, or anyone else names, I think if you look back at your postings you are quick to call others names or use insults.

As for Brazil being stable since the 50's ( a lot of that time at the point of a gun), then why after over 5 decades are you still considered a third world or developing country...hell, you can't even get ready for the Pan American Games which will elevate Brazil to a laughing stock, you can put on a great concert though on Copacabana Beach.

Big news, technology has not flourished in Brazil, you are still an ag commodity exporter, if growing shrimp in dirty water quailifies for technology, then I am wrong. What specific technological advancements have you brought to market. The silicon wafers the author speaks about....sorry, almost all multi-National companies taking advantage of a low skilled, low paid workforce. The only real technology you have accomplished is figuring out just the right amount of limes, casacha and sugar in a Caiparinia.

As for corruption, sure the US has it's share, we have had BIG corruption, but the CEO's of Worldcom, Tyco, and Enron are all doing big time in prison, how many big fish Braziians have you put in prision? You see in the US we do have corruption, but in Brazil corruption is a way of life, a big difference. Again, not critizism, but a fact I experience every time I come to Brazil, it's a few hundered dollars to customs, a case of Jack Daniels to your local IBAMA offical, or even $R5.00 to a cop simply to park your care. Your entire economy is built on a corrupt foundation, even more so now than Mexico, China and India which have leap frogged over you.

Still, I will continue to come and enjoy Brazil, I love fishing in the Pantanal, doing deals in Ribero Preto and Sao Paulo, I really love it. I will be forever hopeful you will finally get your act together...but in the long run, my wife has finally convinced me she is right.

Buddy, as you have posted, and as EVERYONE knows that is familiar with brazil, it is amongst the world leaders in such things as murder, crime, corruption, slave labor, unequal distribution of income, and impunity. But as you have mentioned, there are numerous people, including politicians and they people that actually run this country, approximately 20,000 of brazil's richest families, that are getting richer, very rich, from the "status quo". They have absolutely no desire for change of any kind. So when I see those brazilians like "Baghdad Bob", I have to wonder, is he the stupidest person on planet earth, or stupid like a fox.

As far as paying bribes, as I stated earlier, been here 10 years, last 3 have been making a foreign investment with several partners, building projects, how many bribes do you think I've paid?? How many people do you think have tried to sell me products, land, or services for 5X the actual market price?? I think it's quite funny, I used to get offended, when you meet a brazilian, sometimes not very intelligen but he has a few dollars in his pocket, and he thinks that because you're a foreigner and have money that you obviously achieved your wealth in life by being a stupid son of a bitch.

I think that some people feel that if you are a foreigner, you´re somehow retarded. Especially O Povão thinks this way.

I am always suspicous of any Brazil wearing more than 3 cell phones on his belt. It's a shame, but I have gotten used to the bribe situation, but at least know that the amount is negotable. I DO have Brazilian business associates that I trust, but I only trust them because I am helping them make money. I find your situation interesting, what exactly are you doing in Brazil? Are you there for good? Is it still worth investing or are the opportunities better in surrounding companies?

I believe that "The Brazilian" is several people that are involved directly with this site, maybe not even Brazilian at all. The say stupid things just to keep the string going, stiff that is nonsense for anyone with half a brain. But still if you take The Brazilian out...there are still lots of people from Brazil on the site with half a brain...I think all the smart ones are coming here, leaving the weak minded behind. Same thing happened in Puerto Rico. Any one with half a brain came to the mainland, those left are for the lack of a better word "intellegence challanged".

written by CalSur, 2007-03-01 09:24:52

I find your situation interesting, what exactly are you doing in Brazil? Are you there for good? Is it still worth investing or are the opportunities better in surrounding companies?

There are very good opportunities at the moment where I am living, Aracaju Sergipe. Things are exploding here, we bought our land at the right time, nearly 3 years ago. Also the current gov't. that is currently in place, we have a lot of friends, always a good thing anywhere, but especially here in brazil.

As far as what I'm doing here, married a brazilian, had a daughter, got divorced. Making an investment, building, beachfront housing developments, selling to the english, my partners are english.

Sounds great, good luck. I recently purchased a large old home in Cabo Frio on the Bay about 4 miles from the beach. What a deal! I am working with a couple of Brazilian friends on a condo conversion. We think we can triple even quadruple our investment...much better return than here in Florida right now.

Nice to see the entrepreneurial spirit is still alive.

So being a tourist in a few places of Brazil, probably Rio, transform you automatically in a expert in all things about Brazil? This is the kind of cluelessness I am referring to. You have nothing more than "common knowledge", which means "what we, rednecks, would like to believe", and a few sensationalistic headlines of things that could happen anywhere. Nothing more. Let's see, Pan american games, Rio? Nice try. Next time try putting actual data in whatever you say.

Technology? What about Embraer? What about Petrobras beating record after record? Brazil has been a nuclear country for some time now. Computer software export? An article recently in some american newspaper was telling how Brazil is becoming in the India of South America in what comes to outsourcing, more than any other country around here. Besides that it has been industrialized for decades.

These are facts, google for them, do some research. You are nothing more than another just another bigot, of the type that comes here all the time. You believe to speak the ultimate truth, but it's just blind hate.

Did you mean, "blind hate"? Or, "blind date"?

There are too many ignorant people out there (including Americans and other foreigners who post messages here) who demand demagogic solutions, it's hard to make them understand that crime is linked to inequality in wealth distribution and the prohibition of drugs. The crazily uneven distribution of wealth (Switzerland and Nigeria side by side in major Brazilain (cities) and the durg-realted crime from which too many people profit (not just drug dealers in teh favela but bankers in Switzerland too...) make it had to see teh real picture...and teh real solutions.

Ignorant CalSur
written by A brazilian, 2007-03-01 12:04:37

So being a tourist in a few places of Brazil, probably Rio, transform you automatically in a expert in all things about Brazil?

And what about those that have lived here for a decade or better?? Invested lots of money, own businesses,have children??

Abe, I'll bet you that there are NUMEROUS things about doing business here in brazil that YOU, Abe Razillion, doesn''t know!

Abe, I'll bet you that there are NUMEROUS things about doing business here in brazil that YOU, Abe Razillion, doesn''t know!

Meant to say that I, a gringo, know, and you, Abe Razillion, don't have a clue.

These are facts, google for them, do some research. You are nothing more than another just another bigot, of the type that comes here all the time. You believe to speak the ultimate truth, but it's just blind hate.

A brazilian, have you stopped to consider that the literally thousands upon thousands, if not millions, of foreigners that visit brazil and speak of the realities here, not only blowing sunshine up others asses, but the numerous negative realities as well, have you ever considered that they're just speaking from their experience?? That it's not all a conspiracy? That just maybe there are a lot of f**ked up things here in brazil?

And don't give me this s**t, "well, they exist in the U.S. or Europe too....". Yeah, the tragic realities that exist in brazil do exist in many other places, but they are more the exceptions, NOT the rule!

You won't find 40 million people making less than 2 dollars a day in the U.S. or Europe. You won't find a country in the U.S. or Europe with an estimated 30,000 of their own people working as "slave laborers". You won't find literally hundreds of thousands of women working as prostitutes. You won't find politicans that steal 400 million dollars and he's still a politican, nothing happens, no consequences. You won't find huge percentages of the populations of european countries and the U.S. that don't report crimes to the police, because they expect it to do more harm than good, they're accumstomed to the police being either A) in with the criminals, or B) worse than the criminals. You won't find the police in first world countries that from time to time go on a "operation clean the streets", and outright murder the homeless in mass.

these things are NOT the exceptions in Brazil, they are the RULE!!

International criminals flee their countries and come to BRAZIL to hide. Wonder why that is??? It's a crooks paradise.

At least one thing I can feel secure about, if I ever get into deep s**t in the United States, I can always stay in brazil, they'll never deport me as I have a child, even if I mass murder 50 people there.

Technology? What about Embraer? What about Petrobras beating record after record? Brazil has been a nuclear country for some time now. Computer software export? An article recently in some american newspaper was telling how Brazil is becoming in the India of South America in what comes to outsourcing, more than any other country around here. Besides that it has been industrialized for decades.

All that you posted above, it's laughable when comparing to the world leaders.

written by CalSur, 2007-03-01 10:59:59

I recently purchased a large old home in Cabo Frio on the Bay about 4 miles from the beach. What a deal!

Bet you did get a good deal. With cash in hand they're there to be gotten. BOL down there, and watch your back.

Thanks for the heads-up, I think I have a competent team in Cabo Frio, smart family is involved. We tear down next month and we have lots of cash in the bank. Looking for another piece of property in the mountains around Petropolis.

My company also made an investment ( at my recommendation) in a Brazilian company in Ribero Preto making nutritional ingredients from sugar cane by-product, huge market here in the US and we are already increasing capacity down there, new equipment, more people. I don't know why the Blog interests me so much, perhaps because it shows the mentality of Brazilians in such an obvious way, it's kind of addicting, I am sure I will get tired of it all soon. There are those Brazilian that are savy and smart...our Brazilian business partners are making more money than they ever have and have hired 15 more people and they are still getting a rash of s**t from the locals for partnering with an American company, which by the way took me 18 months and lots of bribes to make happen...there ignorance is simply amazing sometimes.

"Technology? What about Embraer? What about Petrobras beating record after record? Brazil has been a nuclear country for some time now. Computer software export? An article recently in some american newspaper was telling how Brazil is becoming in the India of South America in what comes to outsourcing, more than any other country around here. Besides that it has been industrialized for decades. "

That's it?? That is all you have to respond with as to "Brazilian technology? Embraer makes a few hundred regional jets a year and a few military trainers for Banana Republics. You are blessed with oil, nothing technical about that...but all the gringo oil companies showed you how to get it out of the ground, have you been to Macae? It's a gringo town of oil workers, showing Brazilian engineers how it's done. The computer software you lead the world in is for cell phone games...yep, thats it, no real software that makes a difference, although your criminals in the favelas have become technical pumping out pirated DVD's. After 50 years of "stability", you are all still a backwater wanna be, no chance then, no chance now. God, it must be hard to wake up each and everyday and still be a Brazilian.

Not from the ground, but from the deep sea. Whatever you say, it doesn't change the reality, this country is the most advanced in South America, with the biggest and most developed industries. And you are just another redneck. God, it must be hard to wake up each and everyday and still be a stupid redneck.

Uh, Abe, I agree that Brazil is by far the most advanced and industrialized country in South America, can manufacture almost everything, for years all F-5 empennages were carved out of a solid block of aluminum at Embraer by computerized machines, unlike in the USA you can order custom made, an axle for your skidder and it´s not expensive, but.....even tho the oil is offshore, under the water....Abe, it´s still IN THE GROUND.

I am really sorry...but isn't being the most advanced and industrialized country in South America a little like being the mosy gay in a gay parade?

I would like to answer your question but don´t know what a "mosy gay" is.

I think a better metaphor might be to say isn't that like being the most stable country
in the Middle East. Brazil has almost twice as many people as the next largest Latin American country, Mexico, and many times more than South American countries like Columbia or Argentina. It better have the largest economy or that would be a complete disgrace.

Bo
written by CalSur, 2007-03-01 17:28:07

Thanks for the heads-up, I think I have a competent team in Cabo Frio, smart family is involved. We tear down next month and we have lots of cash in the bank. Looking for another piece of property in the mountains around Petropolis.

My company also made an investment ( at my recommendation) in a Brazilian company in Ribero Preto making nutritional ingredients from sugar cane by-product, huge market here in the US and we are already increasing capacity down there, new equipment, more people. I don't know why the Blog interests me so much, perhaps because it shows the mentality of Brazilians in such an obvious way, it's kind of addicting, I am sure I will get tired of it all soon. There are those Brazilian that are savy and smart...our Brazilian business partners are making more money than they ever have and have hired 15 more people and they are still getting a rash of s**t from the locals for partnering with an American company, which by the way took me 18 months and lots of bribes to make happen...there ignorance is simply amazing sometimes.

I hear ya, had some family involved as well in a few small things after I arrived here, and we got a divorce a couple years after, and things got ugly, watch your back. Since 2002 - 2003 many more people aquired anti-american attitudes around here, or at least they started to express them.

Before you get bored with the blog, would be interested in keeping in touch if you like, whenever, if ever, in the northeast, around salvador, aracaju, maceio, I'm usually always here. Also I know the investment, property opportunities in this neck of the woods pretty well. Will post an email that I never use to contact if you like, same goes for Ric, GTY and American Historian as well.

And E Harmony, no emails from you, I don't swing that way!

riceman23421@yahoo.com

GTY, the bigot
written by A brazilian, 2007-03-01 18:46:18

Not from the ground, but from the deep sea.

yep, and do you know who SHOWS brazilians how to get that oil out of the ground?? Primarily NORWEIGAN companies, naturally with the help of american companies as well. The majority of brazil's oil is in DEEP water, very costly to extract. And brazil doesn't even have the oil reserves of the United States, or Canada, or Mexico for that matter.

Hey 'subarbano' your red neck has developed a kind of intelectual melanoma.

I'll look forward to the email posting and would be happy to keep in touch. As far as the North, I do get to Salvador and Recife fairly frequently, but mostly Rio and Sap Paulo including the interior (which I love). I am sorry about your divorce, interesting you decided to stay, I am sure you don't lack for company there. I find Brazil a fasinating oxymoron and enjoy my time there...but get to come home, living there, well that would be something else. I have noticed that anti-Americanism, but mostly in the larger cities. I think much of it is just young Brazilians trying to be trendy or intellectual, you know cool. You know, college kids that think they know something or the kids with the "Bush Sucks" or Osama Bin Laden T-Shirts...they are to young a dumd to really understand geopolitics, just trying to be cool. I think a lot of them show up on this blog. The older they get, the more they will see that even though relations are strained our countries are pretty good friends. It benefits both countries especially business people now that Chavez, Kirchner and Morales are in the region.

Most of the people trying to make a buck are not anti-American, at least they don't seem that way. Like this blog, I am sure there are people that are anti-Brazilian due to ignorance, same as the anti-American Brazilins. They have never known an American, never been here, just what the read in the leftist papers or see on the TV. They have no idea of the debt we have forgiven or the aid we have provided. Any way, I hope you are wrong in one respect, I hope it does change for the better one day, but like you I am not optimistic. I will enjoy my time, invest my money, I am lucky, I am in a position that if things don't work out it won't be that big a deal.

What debt forgive and what aid provided?

Bo
written by CalSur, 2007-03-02 09:39:42

I'll look forward to the email posting and would be happy to keep in touch.

riceman23421@yahoo.com

Are you not aware of the huge foreign debt Brazil owed that was never repaid? At the time the shrieky fringe said that Brazil only owed the debt because of foreign manipulation. The left said that it had been paid many times over. That was hogwash.

Brazil existed for many years by financing everything with borrowed foreign money. When that was no longer possible they financed their projects thru inflation. People in the system had monetary correction and suffered not at all, made money in fact. But people at the bottom had to spend cash today lest they lose major buying power. Keeping money liquid for a week meant losing 25% of its value, during the period of 100% per month inflation, which is roughly 10,000% per year.

Today Brazil finances its deficit through instruments of the federal treasury. They still come up short every month when it comes time to pay funcionalismo, militar, aposentados, cesta básica para pobre lascado, etc., but instead of just printing more paper which causes inflation, they sell the equiv. of T-notes, bonds, debentures. The USA does too and no one will be able to keep it up forever but the day of reckoning will come here first.

Anything one can buy financed long term with no contractual provision for monetary correction will be looked back on as the deal of the decade.

BRAZIL OWES U.S. 18 BILLION OR MORE...

When someone says it was "paid many times over" it means that the total amount paid is bigger than than what was borrowed many times, and it hasn't finished yet SOLELY because of the interest rates.

Ric
written by A brazilian, 2007-03-02 19:08:18

When someone says it was "paid many times over" it means that the total amount paid is bigger than than what was borrowed many times, and it hasn't finished yet SOLELY because of the interest rates.

Really?? Well, tell me this A brazilian, when you go to banco do brasil, and you borrow 100,000 reais over a 5 year, or 10 year period, after you pay back 100,000 reais, the principle amount you borrowed, are you finshed paying? Do you still not owe interest accrued?

Actually, when one borrows money, or a country, the FIRST payments they make go towards the interest, very little, if any, goes to the principle. You should know that unless you're a 17 year old punk that has never done business in his life.

What happened to the 3 French persons in Brazil was a very tragic thing, the killers very cruel.

But it should not be exaggerated that 6 million or more people in a city attacked and killed those 3 French persons. My own city (in the United States) police have a 50% clearance record on homicides, one of these homicides still unsolved is of an immigrant from India gunned down in his brothers store by local thugs in the city. Many people from other nations have been murdered in the United States by US born and breed thugs/gangsters. The purpose of a court of law, district attorneys office, and police force - working together - is to charge and try those guilty of a crime not those in a city that are innocent of any involvement.

France, as lovely a nation she may be is not without her own problems. Recently all the world watched on tv as young men set vehicles ablaze in Paris and rioted for days in racially charged issues. Not to long ago in a totally separate event, a young Jewish man was abducted and tortured for days in French low-income housing project. His abductors and killers were Arab, black-African, and white European. He was killed in a very cruel way - burned over 80% of his body with acid.

http://www.boston.com/news/wor...s_muslims/

Excerpt.

March 13, 2006
Page 3 of 3 --
For three weeks, Halimi was held in Bagneux's dingy Pierre-Plate housing project, kept naked for most of this time in a makeshift dungeon in the basement pump room of the complex, bound with tape and strips of cloth. His face was slashed -- with photographs of the grisly blade work e-mailed to his family in Paris -- and a burning cigarette was squashed out on his forehead, according to autopsy reports.

Halimi's eyes and mouth were covered with adhesive tape, leaving only a tiny hole that allowed him to breathe and drink liquids through a straw. On Feb. 13, still alive, he was doused with acid -- apparently an attempt by his captors to remove traces of their DNA -- before being dumped in a wooded area. Bleeding from at least four stab wounds in the throat, he managed to crawl toward a train station. He was discovered, but too late. He died in the ambulance racing him to a hospital.

bold highlight is mine.

E, there is nothing about you highlight. You are one sick lowlife.

I saw a show on Jesse James (the outlaw cowboy from the Wild West), on I think it was the Discovery Channel, it had various people on it like historians and criminologists, but I was surprised when they introduced a plain clothes (I assume detective) from the LAPD to give some commentary on Jesse James and the show noted that modern day L.A. is the bank robbery capital of the world. Frankly, I would have thought a city in South Africa, Mexico, Colombia might have been one or actually even the city of Sao Paulo.

But I checked out the internet for info on this claim from the show and apparently an FBI guy wrote a book on this.


http://www.amazon.com/Where-Mo...303&sr=1-1

Excerpt from Amazon link.

From Publishers Weekly

With the style and pacing of a good novel, Rehder portrays the great variety of bandits he pursued in his more than 30 years with the FBI, almost all of it in Los Angeles. Reaching a peak in 1992 of 2,641 hits, the number of bank heists in the City of Angels is surprising, as is the small take on most jobs, often under a thousand dollars. The numbers raise questions about what motivates people to go into robbery, and Rehder wisely spends more time discussing the bandits, their psychology and their MOs than he does the minutiae of law enforcement. In fact, he repeatedly describes the FBI strategy as hoping the guy pulls another job and screws up this time. Rehder focuses on five main subjects: the most prolific one-on-one bandit (when a single robber holds up a bank teller) in history, a gang leader who ran takeover jobs using mostly kids, an unapprehended group that tunneled into a Hollywood bank, a bank manager who helped her policeman boyfriend get more than $700,000, and a pair of loners who died in a North Hollywood shootout. He fattens the package with innumerable anecdotes from other heists, as variations on a theme-and the pages turn quickly. Crime reporter Dillow is probably responsible for the gritty turns of phrase, but the book is entirely in the first person, and Rehder himself emerges from the beginning as a compelling and complex character. This should become a standard in the genre.

Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/039332575X.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

You can read a few pages from the book as well as the table of contents by clicking here: [url= http://www.amazon.com/gp/reade...eader-link

Pages from book and table of contents here:[url= http://www.amazon.com/gp/reade...eader-link

Err... apparently that won't post.

the truth is.our people deserves this,just for now,i living in rio grande do sul,and our point of wiew about some things is,in all places have mans,but in places that have cowards this thing hapens.i can risk my life to save my parents or for vengeance,iff the people of favelas or even from all brazil wants a changes they will have to risk ttheir lives to.wath you wants me to say .if tath hapens im my state t6 criminals at this time already dead

To Bo and other good people

An article recently in some american newspaper was telling how Brazil is becoming in the India of South America in what comes to outsourcing, more than any other country around here.

Brazil,becoming India of South America in outsourcing? Hope the dream comes true.The Americans are trying to give plenty of opportunities to the Brazilians to grow economically.But, there again, you can feed the horse,but not make it eat.The biggest benefiaciaries of outsourcing in the InfoTech and Telecom Industries are Ireland and India.Brazil dreaming to be the leader in this field? Forget it. I have seen this movie before. In 2002, a couple of good Brazilian softeware engineers and I managed to bring a big Indian company in e-learning to Brazil. We had to put up with all sort of hurdles and finally the company in question pulled out of Brazil. Now after 5 years,I am amazed to see that the Brazilians are still trying to discover what is E-learning.Of course,what do you expect out of people who rate education as 7th in their list of priorities? I get a big kick when I see the private universities advertising that the students would be beter off to get a MBA (Not recognised by MEC as a Masters degree).

I really hope that the Brazilians come out of their state of self denial and wake up.Remember I know Brazil and have a Brazilian family and lovely friends.

The Americans are trying to give plenty of opportunities to the Brazilians to grow economically.

Why in the name of God this people think that everything that happens is an act of benevolence of their country? Are they brainwashed since early childhood?

Christ, tell them that corporations have allegiance only to money, and if they can spend less in countries like Brazil they will. Brazil has many advantages over India, most notably the little attriction, the timezone difference and the culture being closer to that of America. Brazil is the biggest outsourcing hub in South America and this has nothing to do with anybody's benevolence, just our work.

To A Brazilian

What advantage you are talking about? I thouhgt you hated Americans.Now you are coming out with this talk about you being closer to the American culture. You really dont make any sense. BTW, did you get your degree from UNICAMP or USP? I have met plenty of jerks from those "temples of wisdom". A bunch of pseudo nationalists.

You are a big joke ,kid (if you have not grown up yet).

If you don't know then you should research about it, because you are completely clueless! Idiot, brazilian culture is a western culture with judeo-christian religion as its base, the customs and values aren't that far from the US. This is the same for most of the Western hemisphere, just take a look at the atlas and you will see many countries that would qualify as such!

I am over with the geography class, now let's talk about the timezone. Which is best: to work with someone 2 or 3 hours away from you or with someone 12 hours away!? In Brazil it is possible to work realtime with the US, and unless indians and chinese become nocturnal creatures staying awake during the night and sleeping during the day THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!!!

Oh boy, stupidity should be considered a crime.

To Brazilian

Thanks for your clarifications. I am impressed. You will go a long way as a politician. May be you should candidate yourself as a candidate for the presidential post in 2010. I am sure you will win with a thumping majority. Good luck.

BTW, thank you very much for calling me an idiot. As you guys say "O que vem de baixo ,não me atinge".

If Brazil is to become the American center for out sourcing, you need to get a move on.

All the calls to the above companies 800 lines are answered by persons with a Hindu accent.

It takes alot to get giants to change direction.

Sorry,Jay,I didn´t know that there is something called "Hindu Accent". Could u clarify if there are "Muslim Accent","Jewish Accent", "Christian Accent","Buddist accent",etc; You seem to be an authority on accents.I am sure you will enlighten all the folks in this forum with your vast knowledge.

"Enough already of seeking justice after the crimes have been committed...."
Ok, let me see if I understand...we should not seek justice after a crime is commited?
Buarque (and his leftist way of thinking) is one of the main obstacles in trying to resolve the problem of the violence in Brazil. That way of thinking extends all the way to the justice courts and legislators, who believe that if you commit a crime and you are poor it is somehow justifiable and therefore without need for justice.
Just enforce the already existent laws and keep the criminals from coming out of jail and you will see a reduction in crime.
Or like they say in the U.S., "lock the door and throw away the key".

Good point Gustavo. But don't ya think that impunity for the serious criminals, the politicians and the rich, are the biggest problem in the brazilian justice system?

I have been to about 20 countries, and spent a reasonable amount of time in different places. I have noticed that wherever the people have integrity, they have money, and wherever they lack integrity they lack money. Money flows around the world like water, and seeks a safe place. In Switzerland, arguably the richest country on earth, their integrity is so strong that you pay them 1% a year to hold your money for you. High class criminals the world over like switzerland because they are honest. Japan is more honest than its asian neighbors and therefore richer.

The lack of integrity in Brazil is the main limiting underlying problem. If you can't trust people to pay back loans, execute contracts, etc., then you have big problems. Singapore is a tiny little place, but it produces 100 times per capita compared to its neighbor Indonesia. What is the difference? The English colonists set up a culture of integrity, of following rules strictly.

Although the Brazilian system of always having a way around things has some wonderful human characteristics, the lack of integrity from top to bottom is I believe the true source of the poverty that is present in Brasil. Frankly Europeans' education is often useless to them; memorizing the succession of kings, other meaningless facts, longhand script in a world of emails, archaic math instead of probability logic and programming, What Europeans have is momentum and high degree of integrity which makes their system function smoothly.

Being a thug is a job. It is a part time job that pays in big lumps with very few hours worked. It is an occupation with very little prerequisites or training. The high level of crime in brazil is really just a sign that the job of being a thug pays better than being a dishwasher, cook, cleaner, etc. If brazil wants to lower crime, they have to stop taxing the hell out of people who would hire a dishwasher. The thugs pay no taxes.

It would be great if Brasilians got to visit Japan more. Japan is a place with poor natural resources, lousy geography (super cold mountains, very little flat land), a ridculously difficult writing system, all sorts of disadvantages, but they know how to keep their teenagers off the streets at night by tiring them out. And everybody can learn from them something, with a murder rate of 0.5 per 100,000, the lowest of any large country, and way smaller than USA, Brasil, even twice as good as that of England. The Japanese are just as proud as the brazilians of their country, but they have one thing the brazilians are missing, and that is crafty design of their social systems so that certain undesirable characteristics are quietly suppressed by ingeniously structured social patterns.

Brasil is the country of the future, the only balanced mix of Africa and Europe, but it does need to learn from Asia how to operate without all the crime and violence, while retaining its fun, loose spirit.

the only balanced mix of Africa and Europe

You missed America and Asia.

Why do Europeans are obssessed about Africanity and Africans are obssessed about Europeans? The guy above managed to completely ignore the natives from this continent, whose blood runs on my veins, and completely ignored the many others immigrations such as of Asians, that are part of my family too.

You really ought to see a Doctor. After some of your recent posts, I would suggest a Vet.

How's your portuguese Ric? I bet my english is several times better than your portuguese will ever be.

Hey Ric! We meet again, I ask again:
Are you
15?
retarded?
a Texan?

Again, if you're retarded AND a Texan I may think you're the President of the USA!!!!