MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Uruguayan government fights climate change: only official met forecasts are to be reported
The Uruguayan government seems to have found the clue to climate change phenomena: it is looking into the legal aspects of limiting weather information, forecasts and warnings, to the official reports from the national Met Office, Inumet (veiled censorship?), which has on several occasions missed to anticipate some serious climate events. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesWow, if this is true then the Uruguayan government have completely lost it. If their official forecaster is not accurate they need to fix it or disband it, not ban rival outlets. And what does it have to do with climate change? Weather is not climate; sounds like the author is either clueless or has an axe to grind.
Dec 26th, 2016 - 11:24 am - Link - Report abuse +2But it has given me an evil idea on how to deal with the fake news phenomenon. Wait until a serious hurricane is heading for America, and then release a lot of articles on social media claiming it is all a government conspiracy and there is no need to evacuate or take any precautions. Natural selection will do the rest.
Kirchnerism reaches Uruguay.
Dec 26th, 2016 - 11:57 am - Link - Report abuse +1DemonTree is right on target. Make the official forecasts correct, and everything else will take care of itself. Banning other weather forecasters predictions is a very sad commentary on how the government does business.
Dec 26th, 2016 - 02:11 pm - Link - Report abuse +1In many countries of the world they have multiple weather services. Airlines, shipping/transport companies, etc. have their own people. Even local universities monitor, forecast and report their predictions... that's how the modeling process improves over time.
Also, the comment regarding climate change is correct. Day-to-day weather is WEATHER. Climate change is a whole other story.
Best wishes to all.
Demantoid Garnet:
Dec 26th, 2016 - 03:46 pm - Link - Report abuse +1“Climate change is a whole other story.”
Indeed. Climate is weather trends over time, but if we get any unusual weather, either hot or cold, it is now climate change caused by man.
Let me say straight away that the country has suffered serious damage and people have been hurt in the last two years because of the abysmal met unit here.
Dec 26th, 2016 - 07:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 0President Vasquez went to San Carlos and Pan de Azucar, the two recent areas to suffer serious damage because there are no national building standards which defend the property against heavy storms and that was all that they were.
Corrugated sheeting nailed directly onto timber 'supports' blew out and walls fell over because there are no footings in the meaning of the word to support the single skin of weak cement or hollow clay extruded tile like blocks. Forget damp-proof courses, etc. But, true to being a government of seditious, lying, murdering, commie bastards they went to offer support and walked around the destruction in the brilliant sunshine, nodding and sympathizing with the locals.
The locals were not impressed being reported as saying Vasquez doesn't understand what happened in the eight minutes of the top of the storm (which wasn't predicted before the event).
I use a Norway based site and it has only very rarely been wrong which when you understand the VERY changeable nature of weather here it is excellent forecasting.
This banning other sources of information is no different to the Interior Minister (himself a murderer and bank-robber) claiming the latest figures for murders, rapes and burglaries has 'fallen' over the year but he does not intend to publish the figures until some time in January '17. The scuttlebutt is that they have dropped by
This is nothing but political censorship -- the suppression of any opinion that might conflict with that of those in power. If their policies and opinions had any basis in fact, they wouldn't need to be protected from argument, they should welcome it.
Dec 27th, 2016 - 03:26 pm - Link - Report abuse +1Well, since they seem to think that limiting weather reports to those issued by the national Met Office, will solve the problem, why don't they go one step further and by Decree, force the weather to behave itself ? Bunch of daft idiots..
Dec 27th, 2016 - 05:41 pm - Link - Report abuse +2@ DennisA
Dec 27th, 2016 - 08:39 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Yeah, clueless journalists are far too keen to blame any unusual weather event on global warming, which is nonsense. Only when there is a trend of usual events does it indicate climate change.
@ ChrisR
So Uruguay needs building regulations to ensure homes can stand up to the weather? Sounds reasonable, but won't that make houses a lot more expensive? Also I doubt the current government would be much good at enforcing it.
@DT & Chris
Dec 28th, 2016 - 06:04 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Aside from the erratic meteorology office, to blame for disaster in as much they are incapable of issuing timely warnings to people in risk areas, precarious construction is not a phenomenon exclusive to Uruguay...I'd say it plagues most of Latin America. In Brazil, besides the shanty towns, nearly always located in areas that should not be allowed to have construction , such as steep hillsides, banks of rivers that regularly flood the areas alongside them, under power lines, under viaducts (fire hazard), over oil and fuel pipelines, not to mention the invasion of private property, these irregular and dangerous constructions have absolutely no official authorization, far less supervision, but they spring up all over the place, and every rainy season you see people literally floating out of their huts, or being washed down mountainsides in mud slides, and losing everything, many times their lives as well. The State usually claims it does not have the money to solve the problem, but the real cause is the lack of political will, and local govt only responds (partially) when it's already too late.
That's 3rd world reality.
As to obliging these constructions to follow the legal building code, the occupiers of such homes don't have the resources to build safer homes, don't ask for building permissions, so the State doesn't get involved, at all.
But worrying about increased costs due to State presence and the obligation to follow the construction code (presuming the govt wanted to and was able to enforce it), is a small price to pay, considering the alternative : losing all your belongings (on a regular basis), or worse, your life ...
@JB
Dec 28th, 2016 - 08:02 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Presumably people don't live in these places because they want to. To have safe housing, they'd either need to be paid more, or the government would have to subsidise it with taxpayer's money.
I assume they build in unsuitable places because the suitable ones are taken by people who can afford to pay? If the government bought up some safe land and gave away plots to build on, would that solve part of the problem? There is still the issue of sewage, water, electricity etc, though, as well as the unsafe construction.
What do you think should be done about the problem by the local and national governments?
@DT
Dec 30th, 2016 - 05:03 pm - Link - Report abuse 0You appear to be a reasonable guy, as your positions show, but might be good idea to be more realistic and less idealistic. You “presume people don't live in these places because they want to”...the historic reasons are complicated, but has quite a bit to do with the culture...which includes, giving little importance to studying (now changing), looking for the easy way out, always blaming their misfortunes on others and playing the eternal victim. The majority of these poorer people are usually black, or 'mulato', and one thing that comes through pretty clearly, is that a lot of them carry a chip on their shoulder, believing society 'owes' them something...in comparison, you have the Japanese who arrived 100 years ago, as simple farm workers, and today, their descendants are doctors, engineers, lawyers, you name it...the same goes for the Italians and other European migrants who came to Brazil in the late 1800's, but with the objective of constructing a new, better life. People from all over Brazil migrate (mainly) to S.Paulo, and Rio, burdening the States with a disproportional responsibility to house them. The popular housing programmes, which aren't models of efficiency, are neither capable of attending demand. In the past, just the mention of government relocating people who live in high-risk areas to new towns, to be built some 20 or 30 kms from the centre, was met with ferocious resistence. These people /social movements, besides always trying to invade land in privileged locations (close to the better suburbs), or closed buildings downtown, in no time turn them and their surroundings in to pig sties, not to mention the drugs....how would you like to live in a nice (privileged) location, which you paid through the nose for, paying huge land taxes, only to have a slum erected next door ? and obviously, the 'suitable' places are exactly that only because the people who live there, 'paid' the price to transform them into 'suitable' places.
@JB
Dec 30th, 2016 - 08:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 0When I said they don't live there because they want to, I only meant they surely wouldn't build their houses (and especially rebuild them) on hillsides where they will get swept away, if somewhere safer was available.
And it makes sense that culture would have a big effect. I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that people who were motivated to move to a foreign country to build a better life - and organised enough to make it happen - would do better once they were there.
Is it the job of the States to house people? Can't the Federal government help out where there is a big influx? That does seem rather unfair.
And I can understand why people don't want to be moved to a distant town - suburbs are fine if you can afford to commute, but if you dump a load of poor people in a place with no jobs, facilities, or public transport, nothing good will come of it. Not that I would appreciate having a slum next door, of course, but I think their attitude is understandable. Do the people living in these slums have jobs, generally?
It's good that people are giving more importance to education now; there's not much chance for anyone to be successful without it. Actually there's something I'm curious about: you said you weren't born in Brazil, so did you already speak Portuguese before you went to school? Or did you learn it there?
@ Jack Bauer
Dec 31st, 2016 - 10:56 am - Link - Report abuse 0Your post to DT:
“You appear to be a reasonable guy, as your positions show, but might be good idea to be more realistic and less idealistic.”
Realism comes with experience and DT seems to be lacking that somewhat, he even claimed (to The Pathological Liar EB) that I was (not) sane, even though he posted that when the guy who threatened a young mother and her children with DEATH over him wanting to rob her of her house and she reported him to the police who then warned him off but gave the woman a 0.38 revolver, ammunition and training in the safe use of the gun and she had to kill the bastard because (as you would have guessed he took no notice) DT actually claimed the police should have warned him that if the family were killed they would come and arrest him straight away!
The fact that the young family would be dead seems to have missed him completely or perhaps it was just collateral damage.
Unless you have lived in SA and experienced first hand what goes on and what you must do to protect yourself (and the wife in my case) no-one can post with any credibility as far as I am concerned when the topic is law and personal safety.
Even ElaineB, who stayed for a short while in The Dark Country cannot be believed due to her mental situation of lying about everything, including the truth (a characteristic of pathological liars).
DT clearly does not know that Mujica built a new 'village' just off the IB and moved the entire population from a very bad area of MVD to the new area to 'improve their lives'.
I am sure you can guess the result, I am equally sure that DT cannot.
@ ChrisR
Dec 31st, 2016 - 12:25 pm - Link - Report abuse 0You misunderstood entirely. What I was actually trying to say is that if the police and justice system are functioning well, then people will commit less crime because they know they will not get away with it. How often do you hear of a crime of that sort in the UK? But it's not because everyone keeps guns in their home. When I said the police should warn the man, it was in order to deter him from committing the crime at all, not because it doesn't matter if the family are killed.
I understand that the police are not effective in Uruguay, and probably they did what was best in the circumstances. But having the state deal effectively with crime is much better in general than leaving people to protect themselves, and that is what countries should work towards, rather than arming all their citizens and telling people to look after themselves.
As for Mujica's new village, see my comment above “if you dump a load of poor people in a place with no jobs, facilities, or public transport, nothing good will come of it.” Am I close?
“if you dump a load of poor people in a place with no jobs, facilities, or public transport, nothing good will come of it.”
Dec 31st, 2016 - 03:30 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Unless they are Chinese, in which case they will quickly find a way to create all of those things.
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“What I was actually trying to say is that if the police and justice system are functioning well, then people will commit less crime because they know they will not get away with it. ”
--- More likely less crime when a population subscribes to a well developed sense of morality that responds to a powerful sense of right and wrong, rather than enticing and daring a large part of a population bereft of that sort of morality and which thrives on the thrill of risk in committing crimes, which in the latter case pretty well describes Argentina.
@DT
Dec 31st, 2016 - 05:16 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“…if somewhere safer was available.”.the govt’s failed attempts at relocating people is a combination of lack of funds, ineptitude, and a good deal of resistance…If they don’t go back after a mudslide, it’s only because there is no way to rebuild. They insist on staying close to ‘good’ areas - which, as I said, are good because people invested / paid the price to make them good, and safe - and will occupy any empty space, left empty for a good reason. Those who build their huts (many times, bricks and mortar, 3 stories high due to limited space, and with precarious, if any, foundations) in high-risk areas are perfectly aware of the risk, but they're still reluctant to leave. All popular housing is govt controlled (40 sq mt flats in 6 story buildings without elevators) and are built on the cheap to make them affordable. The right to (popular) housing is inserted in the Constitution (absurd), th4 it’s up to the 3 levels of government to provide it. With a bit of corruption.
Relocating communities to some ‘distant’ place, of course creates tension, but these relocation projects foresee construction of basic infrastructure (sanitation, transport) - other facilities will eventually appear, to attend demand…nevertheless, the main obstacle is the idea of being removed from their comfort zone.
In Rio, slums are virtually inside or right beside the city, in SP they are more distant from the centre, but close to affluent areas…the reason being they want to be next door to work (general household service-providers, maids...and of course, the criminals). Their qualifications, needless to say, afford them menial jobs.
I learnt Portuguese from a young age, at school. I already had a fairly good knowledge of Spanish, so that helped.
@Chris
“Realism comes with experience…”, you can say that again. No criticism, but DT’s views are presumably influenced by UK standards, and trying to grasp, or accept, a totally different, often shocking reality, can be hard.
@ML
Jan 01st, 2017 - 12:04 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Yes, Chinese people do generally do well. At least the ones who get out of China...
As for crime, obviously there are many factors apart from policing. Level of inequality in a society is a big one, and all the Latin American countries are very unequal. Personally I would rather not rely on people's sense of morality to prevent crime.
@JB
So people want to be near their jobs? That's not surprising. I suppose if people in the UK thought they could get away with it, they might start building houses in London parks. If your government really wants to get rid of the slums, they'll have to demolish them and prevent people (re)building, as well as providing them with somewhere else to live. But it probably wouldn't be a good idea to do this. In the past, the UK government decided to clear the slums and move everyone into nice council estates. Now, it is finding it necessary to demolish some of the council estates as they have become breeding grounds for poverty and crime. I am sure ChrisR is going to tell us that Mujica's village did not turn out well either.
You told Think that you went to an English school in Brazil. I was wondering if you think you'd have done better or worse if you went straight to a school where all the teaching was in Portuguese? I suppose knowing Spanish would help though.
As for views being influenced by experience, no doubt that is true, but somehow I don't think ChrisR was a liberal before he moved to Uruguay, and we know he already owned guns, it was one of his reasons for leaving the UK. ChrisR, how have your views changed since moving to South America?
@ DT
Jan 01st, 2017 - 05:55 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“As for Mujica's new village, see my comment above “if you dump a load of poor people in a place with no jobs, facilities, or public transport, nothing good will come of it.” Am I close?”
Not even in the same ballpark.
The scum just walk over the IB to the 'affluent' area and rob and burgle to their heart's content despite the Policia station very close by. You just haven't understood what I have been posting - the mindset of these people is nothing like you have ever experienced unless you have been to SA or Africa.
For example, I was at QueEbo Terminal in the Nigerian oil delta and asked in the induction meeting what the locals were like. The section manager told me NEVER to discuss this with XXX, a Brit, who had married a local girl who was now safely in the UK. She had been in their house near to the terminal when three locals broke in, robbed the place and each had raped her, thinking she was a servant. When XXX got home he found her blooded and 'shell shocked' and he summoned the police. The local Police Chief arrived in his Land Rover together with the three rapists (word being spread around the village).
He asked to see the wife and when she saw the men she broke down (having recognised them) and the Police Chief confirmed with her they were in fact her attackers. He thanked her and then pulled out his service revolver and shot each of them in the head. It's called summary justice.
You have to understand that these people have nothing to live for and do not fear death.
“ChrisR, how have your views changed since moving to South America?”
They have been reinforced insofar as no police force in the world can safeguard the population. As for your naïve view of the UK Police being somehow capable of dealing with crime you really do need to look at the clear-up rates, especially in Muslim areas.
@DT
Jan 01st, 2017 - 09:27 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Of course it’s convenient to live near your job, but it’s no excuse for what these people do…the fact is that besides degrading any area you put them in, these places become hideouts for criminals. They’ll invade/occupy any empty land/building they see, willfully ignoring the fact that rights (housing) are accompanied by obligations (to purchase legally, pay for it, look after it).
English schooling played a very important role in my life, first I reckon, due to its high level of teaching, and second due to the atmosphere (back in the day) when you were taught to accept responsibility and to deal with your problems head on. No running home to “mummy” or being offended over nothing. All other things being equal (college, MBA), English gave me an undeniable advantage over other candidates for the same job.
I have found, with few exceptions, that businessmen travelling to South America (especially Brazil) for the first time, face a culture shock, not only due to what they see around them on a daily basis (many times unbelievable), but to the somewhat different attitude shown by Brazilians when it comes down to responsibility. An attitude shared by the great majority of politicians, as you’ve had the opportunity to become familiar with. If you come to live here, you usually adapt and change some of your views (to survive physically and /or emotionally) or you get the hell back where you came from. I lived in West Africa for nearly 5 years (based in Lagos) and I also experienced, first-hand, similar things to what Chris described. Some of them, definitely unpleasant. You can only protect yourself when you are truly aware of the local population’s mindset (criminals included), which has nothing to do with the British sense of honour, and are prepared to adapt to your new reality. When street crime started to get out of hand (80's), the idea of having a gun - and knowing how to use it - started to make sense.
@ChrisR
Jan 01st, 2017 - 10:38 pm - Link - Report abuse 0So, were you expecting that moving people to nicer houses would stop them committing crimes? Or were you hoping they would be moved far enough out that they would become someone else's problem? I don't see what your point is.
And you really don't see any problem with a Police Chief just shooting people accused of a crime? In that case it was surely justified. But Police Chiefs are hardly immune from corruption, nor are they immune from simply being wrong.
What is your actual plan for dealing with crime? Just shoot all the criminals, of any kind? A mass slaughter? You've already said they don't fear death, so nothing is going to deter them.
The UK police do a decent job considering how underfunded they are, and I think any of your suggestions would make crime in the UK considerably worse if they were applied.
@JB
I didn't say it was an excuse, just that it was understandable. And wherever you move them to will also become a hideout for criminals. What do you think the government should do about it?
I've never lived in a third world country, but I have visited a few. I felt like I was a target, not just because of the higher crime, but as a tourist they assume I am rich, and compared to them I probably am. This is not the case in the UK.
I always imagined the corruption would be the biggest difference in Brazil, or is that only popular with politicians? What is the difference exactly? Do people not do their jobs, or break promises? But I guess changing it will be hard anyway, as people judge what is right and acceptable by looking at what those around them do.
As for owning a gun, as an individual you have limited options. Maybe for you that is the best one. However, for the government I think they should try to reduce crime in other ways. If they encourage people to own guns then pretty soon all the criminals will have them too, as happens in America, and more people get killed instead of just mugged.
@ DT
Jan 02nd, 2017 - 11:28 am - Link - Report abuse 0It is becoming impossible to get any point through to you as you are transfixed with this nonsense about criminals getting more guns in response to private individuals defending there own lives by the use of a firearm.
Remember I made the points over various posts that there are a MILLION illegal guns in a UYU population of 3.3 men, women and children, how many more guns do the burglars, rapists and murderers need or can even carry?
You are also mixing points up (now I wonder who else does this everytime she posts on here) it is the Africans who do not fear death, Uruguayo murderers get 8 years or less and they are out again.
“If they encourage people to own guns then pretty soon all the criminals will have them too, as happens in America, and more people get killed instead of just mugged.”
I have decided, that given this 'statement', laughable as it is, means I am wasting my time trying to put facts to you because you carry on in your own naïve way regardless of them (same as the Pathological Liar ElaineB).
Just a tip, educate yourself by looking at the DROP in crimes that has happened in the US states that allow concealed carry, especially with rapes. The ONLY increase in deaths have been experienced by the perpetrators. Why do you think that is? Try the FACT that until the law was amended perpetrators carried guns anyway AND used them. Now they don't know whether the woman they want to rape has a 0.380 SA pistol in her handbag or even in a dress line holster and she sure will know how to use it close up.
I wouldn't go abroad if I were you, you are a child by thought, irrespective of how old you are: you have a severe risk of injury or even death.
@ChrisR
Jan 02nd, 2017 - 02:05 pm - Link - Report abuse 0My basic point is that 'frontier justice' where people have to defend themselves leads to a worse society and worse outcome than having professionals do the job.
I'm not sure why you think my statement is laughable. It's obvious that most criminals in the UK do not carry guns and that this is a good thing. Are all muggers, burglars etc in Uruguay armed right now? Either all the criminals are armed already (is that what you are claiming?) or you believe they are stupid enough to attack armed victims without having a weapon themselves.
I assumed your story about Nigeria was supposed to have some relation to the situation in Uruguay. Unfortunately I am not actually able to read your mind to discover what point you are trying to make. You still haven't explained what your point was about the people Mujica moved to a village, either
If you find some stats about crime in the US then I will have a look at them. Although I think the US is not very comparable to Europe, it may indeed be more relevant for South American countries.
However, all the people carrying guns in the US have not stopped the mass shootings, terrorist attacks etc.
As for going abroad, why would I have been at any more risk than you? You can't take your guns on a plane, and anyone can take commonsense precautions like avoiding dangerous areas.
@DT
Jan 02nd, 2017 - 03:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0While people’s wishes are ‘understandable’, it's not legitimate to make them happen at any cost, or in detriment of those who do things properly. The Federal / State governments, with their always proclaimed limited resources – which is bs - and their “lack of political will” to do what should be done – which is true, have housing programmes ; In 2011, one of Dilma’s campaign promises was to build 1,51 million popular housing units…official stats say she delivered about 50%, but in reality, more like 10% of the target…In 2015, TV showed her inaugurating a few blocks of popular housing, in RGSul. The house she was filmed walking into and saying how wonderful it was, was indeed nicely fitted out…after she left, the TV crews noticed trucks arrive and remove all the furniture etc ; the reporters then walked down the street to take a look at the other houses, and surprise ! construction was unfinished, and the shoddy quality, different to the ‘model’ house that was shown during the official inauguration, was visible, even on TV…that was one of the typical propaganda gimmicks used by the PT to fool the idiots. Not that these houses weren’t better than those in the slums, but this is how things work here. In the State of SP, governed by the ‘then’ opposition, things are better.
I’m glad you sensed the difference (from the UK) while walking around the 3rd world. It’s what tends to keep you safe.
Corruption, in larger or smaller scale, permeates Brazilian culture, but what directly affects the population is when politicians, who have access to decisions on how to spend taxpayer money, start to steal. The problem is that the voter is usually ignorant, sucks up the absurd campaign promises and doesn’t bother to check out the candidates’ credentials.
Government doesn’t encourage people to have guns, to the contrary, but as the police are so inefficient at ‘preventing’ crime, or keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, what's the solution ?
A few years ago I had an interesting “gun” discussion with a Carabineros major in Chile since there was a related debate at the time in their national congress. Unlike some other countries you don't need to be a citizen of Chile to purchase and possess firearms, including semi-automatic pistols. According to that officer, their government statistics estimate that there is about one working firearm in private hands in Chile for every 15 to18 or so residents, when you include the records of firearms that are legally held and estimates of those illegally held. I checked that out later with their national firearms agency and his numbers seemed believable. That's a rather significant number. And yet the use of firearms in violent crimes in Chile appears to be fairly low for a Latin American country.
Jan 02nd, 2017 - 03:59 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@JB
Jan 02nd, 2017 - 06:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 0We've come back to the problem that the government are not doing their jobs properly. Of course often people cannot have exactly what they want, and that's fine. If the government would actually build the houses they promised, then they could try and make people move. Glad things are better in SP, I hope they improve everywhere, but if there is so much corruption it's not very likely. Hopefully now that the voters know what has been going on, they will pay a little more attention. Improving education ought to help with that too.
As for crime, for you as an individual all you can do is protect yourself as best you can, which in some circumstances may mean having a gun. And you can vote for the government you think will deal best with the problem.
The government has more options: they can alter the justice system, eg by making it possible to jail teenagers (or better have some kind of reform school) in order to reduce re-offending. And they can work on long term improvements, like making sure children are educated so they have the chance to get a decent job.
I ran out of space to talk about education last time, but you said you “were taught to accept responsibility and to deal with your problems head on. No running home to “mummy” or being offended over nothing.” I find it hard to believe the average public school in Brazil is teaching the children to run home to Mummy(!) or even to get offended over nothing. And surely you already learnt English from your parents, so you didn't really need to go to an English school?
@ML
According to ChrisR there are 1m illegal guns for 3.3m Uruguayans, which would make for a considerably higher ownership rate than in Chile.
But anyway there are countries in Europe that have high gun ownership but little violent crime. Crime is influenced by a lot of factors like inequality, lack of social cohesion, unemployment, and drugs. Lots of guns doesn't have to mean high crime, but they do make committing serious crimes easier.
@ DT
Jan 02nd, 2017 - 07:22 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“Are all muggers, burglars etc. in Uruguay armed right now?”
If you include fearsome knives (UYU ones have an included angle of approx. 5 degrees, are very thin and sharpened on both edges, point to hilt) capable of easily causing very serious injuries or death as well as revolvers and less frequently semiautomatic pistols, then YES, they are.
@DT
Jan 02nd, 2017 - 09:14 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Rgdng govts , don’t think it’s a question of ‘people cannot not have exactly what they want’…. You pay high taxes and in return have the right to decent public services. Corruption is omnipresent, but people only wake up when it reaches extreme levels. Getting rid of corruption alone, isn’t enough...just as bad, is the lackadaisical attitude of public servants, and the reluctance of politicians to do anything that’ll alter the status quo, because for them, it’s already paradise. Recently the ‘Lavajato’ has shaken them up, reason why the political crisis has become so serious.
Most politicians don’t honour their promises, so the choice comes down to voting for the least worse. Further to the above, Congress will never pass a Law which might screw them later on…proof of this is their attempt (in December) to pass a law, pardoning the use of illegal donations (which include money laundering /corruption) in previous elections.
Criminals below 18 know damned well what they’re doing (car theft, selling drugs, assaulting ‘n killing people) but are not responsible for their actions, because they're protected by an absurd statute which allows them to be sent to juvenile centres, which are a joke. Try treating them as the criminals they are, and the human-rights activists rush to defend them…their victims, probably dead, are of no interest.
In many public schools in Brazil today, cases of students being physically aggressive against their teachers is becoming alarmingly common…but don’t dare lay a finger on the ‘kid’… in my school days, if you did something wrong you got punished, you sucked it up, and if you have a beef with someone, you took it to the football pitch during break and sorted it out in a ring; Schools today, are too PC… the kids are never in the wrong. Times have changed and not always for the better.
I spoke English at home, but still went to an English school because it was far superior than the Brazilian system. It paid off.
@JB
Jan 03rd, 2017 - 06:58 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Do you pay high taxes in Brazil? I kind of assumed they'd be lower in poorer countries because people couldn't pay as much. It sucks that your politicians are so unwilling to do anything though. Of course they are not great at keeping their promises in any country, but if you can't trust them to do what they say, then how can you vote sensibly?
As for passing laws to excuse corruption, even the US is doing it now. Today the first act of the new Republican house was a vote to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics. Trump wasn't too happy, after promising to 'drain the swamp', so maybe it won't actually pass.
About the juvenile criminals, if they have been such a problem for years then why has no one tried to change the law to address the issue? Even if people don't want to send them to adult prisons, can't they improve the juvenile centres? Surely releasing them to continue living on the streets and committing crimes is not really helping them anyway.
And we have the same problem at schools in the UK. One of my friends is a teacher who was recently attacked by a student, and the school did not take it seriously at all. He ended up changing jobs because they would not back him up. I certainly don't think they should bring back corporal punishment, but that doesn't mean pupils should just be allowed to get away with anything. Actions need to have consequences.
@ChrisR
So not all the criminals carry guns currently then. And what about the ordinary people, how often are they armed?
Also did you find any stats about crime in the USA?
@DT
Jan 03rd, 2017 - 08:51 pm - Link - Report abuse +1In absolute terms, taxes are high – between direct (income tax) and indirect taxes (there’s over 100 of them, which just contribute to the infamous “cost of doing business in Brazil”) and they consume 40% of your earnings. In relative terms, it is even higher, when you consider you get little or nothing in return. The only way to vote sensibly, is to eliminate the thieves and bullsh*tters by checking their past and their performance.
Politicians will always take the easy way out and try to ensure they are not snared in their own trap, so on principle they can never be trusted.
The Statute which protects ‘under 18’s”, was passed in 1990, by the 2nd civilian government after the military regime. It regulates the rights of kids, with slightly different treatment for those up to 13 yo, and those from 13 to 18. But it ignores obligations. Laws like that are ‘wonderful’…It was passed at a time when underage criminality started to surge, and the human-rights felt they needed a law to protect the little ‘dears’…in time, realizing that the protection went beyond their wildest dreams, crime in that age bracket increased steadily, many times sponsored by older criminals who saw the benefits of using minors. Attempts have been made – and are still under discussion – to lower the age to 14, for heinous crimes…but as usual, the bleeding hearts come to their defense…so crimes carries on and nothing effective is done about it. ‘Your’ approach is that expected in a civilized country, but Brazil is many aspects, is far from being that.
“Actions need to have consequences”…couldn’t agree more, not only in schools (otherwise the little buggers start to believe they can get away with murder), but in every activity in daily-life. The problem, to me, is that people have become too soft, and have created all sorts of PC social rules which didn’t used to exist, and people did just fine.
@JB
Jan 03rd, 2017 - 11:31 pm - Link - Report abuse -1The tax system sounds complicated, to put it mildly. But I suppose having lots of taxes hides how much they are really taking, so it wouldn't be very popular if they tried to simplify it?
I just read the article on here about the prison riot in Brazil, which also described the overcrowding in the jails. So even if you could jail minors, there might be nowhere to send them.
This article seems like a good summary of the crime problem:
http://www.stephenbrookes.com/international/2006/4/18/the-murder-of-rios-street-kids.html
When the problems get that big, it's hard to see how to fix them, even if you did have money to spend. A least the Bolsa Familia might be helping a little.
And not sure what you mean about people becoming soft,
I haven't noticed much change in my lifetime.
@ DT
Jan 04th, 2017 - 12:41 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I didn't claim ALL criminals carry guns, that isn't even relevant if the criminal you have to face HAS a gun.
Try this one, CNN does it's best to mix the messages but the truth outs in the end:
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2016/07/11/before-we-all-blame-guns-you-do-know-texas-has-the-lowest-rates-of-crimes-since-the-1960s-right-n2189970
Don't get me saying open carry, I have always meant concealed or 'closed' carry. That's the one that helps women especially.
Think of it like this: is the big handbag the woman carries hiding a firearm and if it is will she have the guts to shoot me before I can rape her?
The answer is likely to be the same as 'do bears shit in the woods?'
I know you cannot get your head around simple life or death matters without trampling over your Democrat beliefs. You have your view, I will stick with mine.
AND that, as they say, is it.
@ChrisR
Jan 04th, 2017 - 11:10 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I read your article but it didn't have any comparative stats. It basically said crime has been dropping everywhere in the US and is still dropping in Texas. I suppose comparing states would be hard as there are so many confounding factors, but someone must have tried.
I dunno why you are accusing me of being a Democrat though, you know I'm not American. Besides, I already said on here that I don't think they should ban guns in the US, since it's a different culture with different circumstances to the UK. I just think that state-sponsored justice is clearly preferable to vigilante 'justice', so I don't want to encourage the latter.
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