negogato's Comments (937)

“You would know that was not true if you had:

A.) read the article
B.) spoken to anyone who speaks Portuguese.

In Brazil, Portuguese is spoken.

In Mexico,Spanish is spoken.”

“Yes it is called the ideal enemy.”

“It was Joe Stalin who launched the myth that Hitler had escaped and was alive. Better for Joe that Adolf was alive.
Now George Bush is in semi whatever you call it, and his partner in war still in hiding.

9 11 was first and foremost an economic attack. We know what George Bush did because we lived it. We can know and should look really hard at what he was doing with money issues - the surplus, the tax restructuring, further deregulation of the financial markets and international money transfers - before the attacks. That was his presidency pre 9 11. It is hard to remember what he was doing before the nation was hit.
It is not the war it is the war powers. They don’t fight and their kind don’t fight. Valery Plame was destroyed to discredit Joe Wilson when it was thought Wilson believed would get in the way of their chosen war.
Osama bin Laden was not destroyed when it was decided his capture would get in the way of their chosen war. The poster should have read Osama Bin Laden wanted alive.

When the country was drowning there was no air time for the truth. There was a fast closing window to get the war powers. Once the troops were committed and the president war powered there was no possibility to resist his dictates. He truly was the decider. Capturing or killing Osama bin Laden would have meant no Iraq – no war powers”

“That is right. The problem is theirs because we live in the present. And that is as it should be. Who else?
It is improper to blame those trying to solve a problem not of their making. And it is wrongheaded to mistrust their ability to correct mistakes inherited simply because the problem is present.”

“Lula is popular. He was democratically elected twice to the Presidency by a great plurality. And he will be stepping down because of term limits. He worked hard for direct elections, something that we do not have in the USA, and he faced prison and torture in so doing. He won. Like every single US politician he will not leave office a poor man. I am not a big fan of Lula and in my eyes perfect he is not. All politicians are corrupt, and he is a politician.
He will leave office as he approaches his70’s, and on balance I think he did very well for his country and by golly he worked.
If people give money voluntarily intending that to go to the poor and the lions share instead goes to enrich church leaders and their lavish life styles then that is A-OK with you: because they did so voluntarily. You have got some set of standards.”

“You say he never worked a day in his life, with zero basis other than your bias, which you continue to cling to. When you are caught dead wrong you mock. You try my Christian patience. I hope you are not in Brazil to make it more like yourself. There are 192 million happy Catholics in Brazil.
Lula worked hard as a street vendor and shoeshine boy from age 12 and gave the money to his mom. He entered factory work when he was a teenager and continued to support his family. He worked in the factory for at least 10 years before being elected to a position in the union which is still working. To be sure he did not become rich working on the streets of Sao Paulo or in Factories. No one does. If that were your biography how would you take someone saying you never worked a day in your life? Honestly, what would you say?
I think it would be safe to say that you did not live under the military dictator ship in Brazil. Or under any military dictatorship; so let me tell you that representing the unions was a brave thing to do under the dictatorship and it is still work.”

“Send me your enemies list and I'll get back to you.”

“typo #2
Do you think that evangelical missionaries cannot see that taking money raised for the poor and intended for the poor but used for personal enrichment and to support lavish life styles by churches leaders is corruption?”

“My B.
should have been
There is corruption in Brazil but no more so than in most places in the world.”

“The moderator thinks it’s the cat’s meow.”

“I have lived in Brazil for years and also in China. I am not sure what point you are making.
He is talking about Finland, which has one of the highest standards of living in the world and is one of the most sparsely populated countries in Europe. They have little arable land. Population 5.3 million concentrated 90 % along the coast and in the southern tip. The population is comparable to Wisconsin and the size to New Mexico. Brazil is 3.3million sq miles .
My numbers reflect yours. Worldwide the average fertility rate per woman is 2.65 with 89 countries with higher and 105 lower the median fertility rates
The fertility rates of both Brazil and the USA are well below that world average.
Brazil is 109 on the list with the rate of 2.35
USA is 127 on the list with the rate of 2.04
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_territories_by_fertility_rate
Brazil has a population of 192 million, the USA 304 million, sizes comparable.
But these are just numbers. China has a very low birth rate and but terrible environmental consequences. Again I don't know what point you are trying to make. No more Brazilian babies and everyone leave the Amazon?
There is a problem and a big one with the development of the Amazon that is recognized in Brazil. That is why the President of Brazil is taking the initiative and offering solutions.
What are yours?”

“Rio de Janeiro.
E vida é linda.”

“Gringa/Gringo is not pejoritive in Portuguese. It is an adjective like attractive or intelligent or tall. Spanish is a different language. Different.”

“That's right. Together with adjectives such as intelligent and attractive, gringa is used to describe a lady.
Nossa. This is the strand where Ignorance and Ideology just type away. Full sentences with not even so much as half truth.”

“Lula never worked a day in his life?
That is Bunk. If you believe that you are not to be believed in anything. If you say it and know it is not remotely true... you test my Christian patience.
Lula was born into a family of sharecroppers that moved when he was 7 years old to Sao Paulo for better opportunities to find work. Lula de Silva began working to help support his family at age 12: shining shoes and as a street vendor. He was born in 1945 and began working in 1957. In his teens he got a job in a metal working factory where he continued to work full time until 1972 when he was elected the union.
By the way have you seen the world? There is corruption in Brazil but more so than in most places in the world. Great Brittan, key word corruption is only a Google away. How about evangelicals and the Bush Administration; is that cronyism, corruption or a case of being ideologically correct, or again is it just corruption?
Do you think that evangelical missionaries cannot see that taking raised for the poor and intended for the poor but used for personal enrichment and to support lavish life styles by churches leaders is corruption?
Or is that, too, in abundance?”

“World average birth rate is 2.55 per woman
Brazil is 2.22 which is exactly the same as Greenland
USA is 2.14
China and Finland are comparable; with China at 1.73 and Finland at 1.83.
Finland 1.83 Puerto Rico 1.83

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_territories_by_fertility_rate

Portuguese is not Spanish. Gringo is descriptive not pejorative in Brazil.
2.22 is not twice 1.83
Greenland is not Puerto Rico even though their birth rates are exaclty the same.

Pull your head out of that solipsistic thimble.”

“The word sounds the same but has a different meaning in Spanish and Portuguese. Gringo is descriptive not pejorative in Brazil. Non Brazilian is closest to the actual meaning - and Lula's remarks are not well understood without knowing that. He is not being offensive when he uses the word..”

“Your ignorance of Brazil is showing.”

“Oh for goodness sake.
Grow
UP
or Shut Up”

“That's it! No questions. Ever!!
No one may ask her questons Ever ... Ok Ok Ok unless they are submitted in advance.
That goes for you too, Joe the American.
That is the rule.”

“She likes to say plug it in. She seems to have picked that one up since loosing the election; that and the phrase common sense. There is a lot she can do with plug it in and common sense.

The catch phrases are like lego. And she has just a few to puzzle with.

This is the way when she is of sound mind.
What will she be like when she is drunk on power?”

“Let us give the insurance industry here a choice for their greatly reduced role: do it without profit, or accept a public option that would limit their profits. It really needs to be one or the other.
The Swiss went universal in less than two years. They now have a total cost for health care that is a third less than ours. Since their problem was almost identical to ours, there is no reason why we cannot do much the same. All we need to do is swallow our foolish pride and accept that others can be smarter than we are.
Some of us are covered by employers, some by Medicare, some by the VA, some by Medicaid, and some not at all. The goal should be eventually to combine all of these, as the rest of the world does, for fairness, simplicity and reduced cost. But that’s for later.
We should stop worrying about how to pay for it. By doing something akin to what Switzerland did, we would save big. If we can’t make a U-turn this year in our approach to fixing this problem, the hope is that what we do does not preclude getting to universal care in far less than another 15 years.”

“Here are some of the things needed to achieve the benefits of universal care. Everyone must own a basic health care policy, in the same insurance pool. Insurers may tweak around the edges, but not on such essentials as the deductible, the medical procedures covered or their prices, or on limits of coverage. Those matters would be set by government, as now done for Medicare. We need not limit access to supplemental insurance for things such as cosmetics or private hospital rooms, but if those are offered by an employer, there is no good reason for their value to be exempt from income tax. Congress and the President seem to be ignoring most of this.
Fifteen years ago, Switzerland, having a system as broken as ours, decided to go universal. They patterned their plan after that in Germany, where private companies insure everyone. However, as in every other country in Europe, Swiss insurers are not allowed to make a profit off the base plan. This is of vital importance. There were screams, but in the end there was no shortage of insurers willing to accept that stipulation. They may accept this as a civic responsibility or perhaps a “loss leader” for their other insurance business.”

“The majority of Americans want to end the travesty of rationing health care by who can afford it. Lack of access in the U.S. currently causes nearly ten times more deaths each year than died in the 9/11 attacks. When the subject is how to fix our broken health care system, a recent book by T. R. Reid titled “The Healing of America”, stresses that what needs to be addressed first is making it universal, not to cut cost. Savings will come naturally as a consequence of universality. Our efforts so far are to do just the opposite.
With a basic level of care for everyone, insurers would no longer be free to exclude anyone, to drop anyone or to adjust premiums to risk. What’s left for them would be only the paperwork. That limited role by itself should cut deeply into their profits. With a common basic plan, all insurers should be able to use one set of forms and procedures, saving more at doctors’ offices and hospitals. Since the public in one way or another pays for everything, savings gotten anywhere are all equally important.”

“Joe Lieberman is being paid.
It is his money and our lives.”