General Info

[Perkele]

I was surprised that there seems to be so few "typical poor guys" (black people and nordestinos) in the protests. It seems like the majority are white. A mixture of Patricinhas, Mauricinhos, students, maconheiros, hippies, veados, communists and plain troublemakers.

Why?

Poor do not protest when they get all the "support". There are all kinds of financial aids: Bolsa familia, bolsa cracudo, bolsa puta, bolsa this and bolsa that. Even the convicts family gets more money than an honest worker. So you won't see the poor in the barricades. And the show goes on.

[Sperto]

I was surprised that there seems to be so few "typical poor guys" (black people and nordestinos) in the protests. It seems like the majority are white. A mixture of Patricinhas, Mauricinhos, students, maconheiros, hippies, veados, communists and plain troublemakers.

[Mr Enternational]

After watching so many financial shows about what happens to the city's economy after hosting the Olympics, I couldn't understand why Rio was so excited to win the games. The money that is spent is horrendous and then the city has no need for all the new venues that they built for the games.

At least here in Atlanta they were smart enough to build most of the different venues at the many colleges and universities that we have. That made it well worth the price of admission because all the schools got something new and the venues did not go to waste afterwards. The tennis stadium was not attached to a school and 17 years later it doesn't get any use at all (still looks brand new though).

[Mr Enternational]

There also is a bit of "what an entitled gringo you are" if you express a sentiment saying that the bus price hike (R$0. 20 per ride) doesn't seem that high. Which may be true, as I suppose if you ride 1-2 buses every day to and from work, you're up to maybe just under R$1. 00 per day or R$30 per month, which is hitting some people in their budgets.

While I was caught up in the shit in Sao Paulo this past weekend my girl who came down from Belo Horizonte explained to me that just as the place of work has to cover lunch, they also have to cover most of the bus fare. She said that of the 20 cent that it is going up, the worker only has to pay 6 cent of it. She is 40 and a university student and seemed to think the whole protest thing is bullshit.

[Helpmann]

1) Cost of living increases.

2) Sluggish economy.

3) All the money being spent on the World Cup and not public services (transportation, schools, hospitals.)

The protests in Brazil seem inline with the current protests in Turkey and the occupy Wall Street protests in the US, where you see primarily the young and middle class in the streets.

People do not appear to be upset because they cannot feed their families, because the price of bread and rice is too high, like during the Arab spring. People appear to be frustrated that they cannot consume as much as they did two years ago.

Nevertheless, GDP growth in Brazil was just 1% last year compared to Peru and Colombia, which had near 7% and 6%, respectively in 2012. Also, the real has depreciated to the dollar by about 30% over the last two years.

-Helpmann

[Eric Cartman]

1) Cost of living increases.

2) Sluggish economy.

3) All the money being spent on the World Cup and not public services (transportation, schools, hospitals.)

Most of the Brazilians I talk to here say that while the protests have their root in the items above, the exaggerated gatherings and violence are being promoted / organized by the opposition political party to discredit Dilma's government. The Brazilians I talk to criticize the violence, but sympathize more with shops that are vandalized ("think of the poor shopkeeper who works all day and now has to try to fix the damage") vs. The banks that are vandalized ("well, they have insurance"). Still they are critical of the people taking advantage of the situation to steal and cause damage.

There also is a bit of "what an entitled gringo you are" if you express a sentiment saying that the bus price hike (R$0. 20 per ride) doesn't seem that high. Which may be true, as I suppose if you ride 1-2 buses every day to and from work, you're up to maybe just under R$1. 00 per day or R$30 per month, which is hitting some people in their budgets. Keep that in mind next time some skank at Balcony tries to justify R$400 or asks an extra R$50 for "cab money."

[Bravo]

1) Cost of living increases.

2) Sluggish economy.

3) All the money being spent on the World Cup and not public services (transportation, schools, hospitals.)

After watching so many financial shows about what happens to the city's economy after hosting the Olympics, I couldn't understand why Rio was so excited to win the games. The money that is spent is horrendous and then the city has no need for all the new venues that they built for the games.

[Exec Talent]

1) Cost of living increases.

2) Sluggish economy.

3) All the money being spent on the World Cup and not public services (transportation, schools, hospitals.)

Mostly the protesters are opportunists. They know that they eyes of world are on Brazil and they are using the media attention to their advantage.

The gap between government salaries and benefits and the minimum salary is huge. The protesters want the world to know that politicians are getting rich off the preparations for the World Cup and Olympics all the while the average guy is paying more for housing, food and transportation. Inflation hits the poor especially hard. Right now there are a lot of construction jobs. What happens when they end?

[Helpmann]

What are these protests all about? What are they so upset over?

1) Cost of living increases

2) Sluggish economy

3) All the money being spent on the World Cup and not public services (transportation, schools, hospitals...)

[Bravo]

What are these protests all about? What are they so upset over?

[Pelicano]

Word on the streets is that more protests are scheduled for today in most major cities.

Avoid any aglomerations in centro areas and fotball stadiums. Belo Horizonte seems to be calm so far.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/14/wo...sts/index.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22925078

[Rahsta]

A man kissing the hand of another man in Brazil is a sign of respect. They might do it to e.g a gangster boss or a pai-de-santo/macumbeiro.

Ok, thanks. I hope that man in VM didn't think I was a gangster.

[Sperto]

I was at Via Show in September of last year and I saw people going up to these two guys and kissing their hand. They look like Brazilian gangsters because they had the chains around their neck. 4 bottles of Grey goose but they were dress regular.
I was in VM a few days later and an older guy started talking to me and I believe praising how strong I stand and serious I look. He did the face jesture and said serio.
He put out his hand and I shook it, but he kiss my hand. I also saw it in the movie "City of Men" a few days ago.
I guess the kiss on the hand is a type of term of endearment.
Can someone let me know? Thanks

A man kissing the hand of another man in Brazil is a sign of respect. They might do it to e.g a gangster boss or a pai-de-santo/macumbeiro.

[Rahsta]

I was at Via Show in September of last year and I saw people going up to these two guys and kissing their hand. They look like Brazilian gangsters because they had the chains around their neck. 4 bottles of Grey goose but they were dress regular.

I was in VM a few days later and an older guy started talking to me and I believe praising how strong I stand and serious I look. He did the face jesture and said serio.

He put out his hand and I shook it, but he kiss my hand. I also saw it in the movie "City of Men" a few days ago.

I guess the kiss on the hand is a type of term of endearment.

Can someone let me know? Thanks

[Auriflama]

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