Brazil’s largest city, Sao Paulo, has just witnessed the massacre of 19 men in the space of three hours. Ten of the men were in a bar when masked men entered and asked who had criminal records. Those that replied with a yes were shot to death. Within the next few hours nine more men were shot dead. While the head of Sao Paulo’s police surmised that it may have been the activity of drug gangs, others are pointing towards the police themselves.
Recently two policemen in Sao Paulo were killed in the line of duty. This blood-letting may have been a reprisal action. Amnesty International is calling the incident a massacre and pointing out that it is not as unusual as it should be. “ Roque, who heads the organization's Brazil branch, said "unfortunately massacres like this one in Sao Paulo have become part of the routine of violence in our cities."ABC News The problem of violent crime is not confined to Sao Paulo. The World Health Organization places Brazil in the top 20 for intentional killings. The drug trade and alcoholism is blamed as motives for many homicides. Other criminal activities are common in Brazil’s cities. Carjacking, pickpockets, bag snatching and kidnapping in order to make the victim access an ATM are all common in the cities. Of lesser interest to tourists is the rate of corruption. Brazil is rated at 43 in the listings, tied with Bulgaria and Greece. That is unless you are required to pay a fine that is exactly the same amount as your daily limit at an ATM machine. Sources: Al Jazeera ABC News Wikipedia Rough Guides Government of Canada
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At that point the paper loss amounted to $4 trillion USD. In addition, state-run institutions received orders to buy.
Manipulation of markets is not new in the PRC. Two years ago an artificial and sudden credit crunch was engineered which saw interest rates shoot up to nearly 13%. Why should we in the west care? China’s influence in today’s trading climate is huge. Raw materials are purchased and manufactured goods are sold world-wide. 38% of world economic growth in 2014 was due to China. When a country devalues its currency or it is devalued by free market forces, the goods it sells are cheaper on the world market. The flip side of that is all imports to that country suddenly become more expensive. When the Canadian dollar started a slide in December 2013 it continued downhill until it currently hovers around 75% of the value compared to the USD. Nothing regarding the PRC should be taken at face value. This may be the start of a currency war in which countries engage in competitive devaluations in order to maintain market shares. Or it may be that the economic miracle that brought China to the front row of trading nations has run its course. Sources: The Guardian Bloomberg Financial Post
Brazil will be the first southern hemisphere nation to host an Olympic Games. They have been particularly criticized for their failure to control sewage and general garbage that finds its way untreated into waterways and eventually the ocean. High counts of dangerous viruses and bacteria have been found. Much of Rio has no sanitary sewer system, including many modern looking apartment buildings.
Brazilian officials are also trying to reassure those participating in equestrian events that there is no danger of contagion from the bacterium that causes glanders, a communicable and fatal disease. The venue where the equestrian events are to be held had recently had a positive case of the disease. The horses that would compete in the Olympics, aside from their value as a sentient and beautiful athlete, carry hefty price tags. Highly skilled equestrian horses may have multi-million dollar price tags. Glanders had been eliminated in the US, Canada and Europe for decades. It is endemic in Brazil among that country’s horses, donkeys and mules. Sources: Reuters National Post The Richest Harper and his government have recently pushed through the controversial Bill C-51 which has already on the way to court challenges for its approach to civil rights in the country.
The upcoming election will make for interesting times. There are two more major parties in the contest, the NDP headed by Thomas Mulcair and the Liberals headed by Justin Trudeau. The Green Party has people running but few elected. The Partie Quebecois only runs candidates in Quebec. While political parties in Canada tend to be left of those in the USA, in recent years Harper seems to be veering to the right further than many Canadians are comfortable with. The Liberals occupy about the centre and the NDP slightly to the left. Canada has always allowed any party to run for office. Even in the paranoid 50s the Communist Party participated in federal and provincial elections. Very few of their candidates were successful. Sources: CTV News This is in an area of the US that is very arid. Agriculture depends heavily on irrigation. The headgates have had to been shut in order to not contaminate the fields. Farmers have been forced to pray for rainfall. Rangers have been advised to keep livestock away from the river.
Of course river systems eventually flow into other rivers and then empty into the oceans and this is no exception. Eventually the contamination will spread into the beleaguered Colorado River. The EPA has been cleaning up numerous abandoned mine sites in the area that have been leaking toxic runoff into local waterways. The Gold King Mine is currently leaking about 550 gallons per minute into the environment, down from over 700 gal/min on Friday. Social media has a lot to say about the incident. Many are angry and refuse to call it an accident but rather gross mismanagement. Whatever it is eventually called, it will be the people along the river system who will be the ones to pay for the contamination. Sources: Canoe.com Washington Post Durango Herald |
Barbara McPherson
Blogger, gardener, farmer. Working toward food security and a 30 foot
diet. Addicted to reading. Love this planet, especially my little corner
on Vancouver Island, Canada Archives
October 2016
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