Brazil Political info

This weekend I read an article titled “Political corruption in Brazil” by The Economist, published on November 23, 2013.  This article talks about how the former Chief of Staff to the President, José Dirceu, was arrested recently for bribery, money-laundering, misuse of public funds and conspiracy in order to win support in Brazilian congress. Henrique Pizzolato, who was also guilty of money laundering, fled from Brazil to Italy and Brazilian officials are still trying to get Italy to turn him over to them. The guilty party, which consists of 25 people, is still making pleas and arguments against their arrest to no avail.

This article both depresses me and impresses me because it is so horrible to think that José Dirceu, the most powerful man in Brazil, was making money off of his own country, but I’m impressed that Brazil caught him and is making such good progress on arresting the most of the guilty party. This man’s punishment will probably be lessened due to his social status and wealth which angers me in so many ways. He chose to cheat, lie, and steal, but he is going to get the best treatment he can get, even though he’s in jail. It is a step up from letting him roam free which happens all too often in Latin America for the wealthy or political officials.

I’m glad that there is some kind of change that has occurred in Brazil that gives the courtroom enough power to sentence the rich as well as the poor. Whatever Brazil is doing differently they should keep doing it because it seems to be helping them gain equality. I would like to hear some kind of statement from Brazil’s current president, Dilma Rousseff, about this accomplishment. If the people of Brazil work hard enough, then they might become the leaders in cultural revolution involving Latin America. There have been too many factors hindering social and economic equality and poverty in Latin America up to now.

Brazil will have to be the example for Latin America that the United States was for the world. America being an example should commend Brazil’s attempt at equality. It is the same kind of problems that African Americans have had in the U.S in the century following the civil war. However, America had a stable government during those times which Brazil does not, so the least we could do is support Brazil in these endeavors when we can.

PlayStation 4 Thefts

This weekend I read an article titled “PlayStation 4 launch results in series of game thefts” by Eric Pfeifer on Yahoo news. It was published on November 16, 2013. I was very surprised that these robberies took place after the consoles were purchased instead of being stolen from the store in which they were sold at. Three PlayStation 4 robberies were mentioned in this article. Two of these robberies took place in Bakersfield, California in a store. In both scenarios, the assailants were arrested. There was also a PlayStation 4 stolen in Kansas early in the morning. The assailants took the PlayStation 4 after forcing open the door to the owner’s home. There are suspected to be more thefts on Black Friday and the thefts are predicted to continue until the holiday season ends.

This article was very brief; however, it gives plenty of details as to when and how these crimes were committed. To be honest, I have no idea why anyone would steal the PlayStation 4. There hasn’t really been anything that I have heard about to cause someone to take such drastic measures. The PlayStation 4 is a great console. It has internet, movies, games, music, and plenty of room for extra data, good graphics, and fast connectivity but it isn’t worth stealing.  

A few reasons that you should not to steal the PlayStation 4 are:

1.      It will be less expensive later.

2.      A friend will probably let you play with it.

3.      YOU WILL GET ARRESTED FOR STEALING IT!

My advice to the rest of you, (who never intended on stealing the PlayStation 4 or won’t now that I’ve given you some good reasons not to) be careful to protect your PlayStation 4 if you buy one anytime between now and the early days of the New Year. Be sure to remember not to brag to anyone about your amazing PlayStation 4 because they might try to rob you and then “oops!” you won’t have one anymore.

Other than that I have nothing to add to the subject. Do not ask me if I prefer Xbox one or PlayStation 4. Whether or not there will be any or as many robberies for the Xbox one I have no idea. Be careful when walking around with valuable items. Don’t talk to gun wielding, ski mask wearing strangers about your expensive game consoles. They are not your friends and if they are anything like me they will not regret running away from that conversation with everything you own.    

Facebook Status

           This weekend I read an article under Yahoo Finance titled “5 Reasons Teenagers Are Fleeing Facebook” by Rick Newman. This article was published on November 8, 2013 and, as the title says, it is five reasons explaining the drop in  teenage Facebook users. 

The five reasons are 

1. Parents (and others of the elder generations) are on Facebook. 
2. It has too much pointless stuff (news feeds).
3. It has too many advertisements.
4.  It is vapid (a popularity contest).
5. It is common to make fake friends or make friends with random people.  

     All of these results were determined by survey and/or interview. This is a problem for Facebook, losing their teenage users, because it means that these teenagers are building up other social networking websites and giving Facebook less attention in social networking. If Facebook does not realize these issues and remove them, then Facebook will only receive demand from the older generations.

           
          Some of these issues personally seem pointless; however some are serious problems and make sense. For example, reasons 4 and 5 can’t be changed. People are going to try to gain popularity; it is human nature. All people want to be liked and accepted. In other words no one wants to be an outcast. Now there is another format for gaining popularity (appreciation, respect, reputation, etc.) and it’s called Facebook. It’s something that can be expected everywhere.

           In the case of meeting random people on Facebook; this goes along with the main idea of the website, which is to meet and learn about people you can relate to online. Therefore Facebook, by default, cannot change that.

           Reason 1 is pointless because discouraging older generations would keep a lot of the people who fund and support Facebook from using the website, putting Facebook in an even worse scenario than the drop in teenage users. However, if the people behind Facebook really were that desperate they could create an age limit for the website, so it is not a completely unhelpful suggestion.

           Reasons 2 and 3 are things that Facebook should take note of and respond to with changes. Everyone will notice if they haven’t already the problems with the advertisements interrupting their social endeavors and detracting from the website itself. It is why Facebook exists.

           Facebook is a very profitable company and one that is used internationally. Facebook will soon realize that if they don’t improve these issues then they will lose financial stability. That is one of the most important concepts of market economy in America, supply and demand.