BIG-5

Ever heard of the Big 5? No, not the elephant, rhinoceros, giraffe, buffalo and lion, Africa’s largest animals.
I mean Portugal’s Big 5. No, not the country’s most famous explorers in the 15th century, Bartolomeu Dias (discovered Cape of Good Hope), Diogo Cão ( Kongo & Namibia), Pedro Álvares Cabral ( Brazil), Vasco da Gama ( India) and Ferdinand Magellan (first trip around the world).

The last year and a half have been extremely successful for Portugal. Not only did the socialist government of António Costa managed to repair its broken economy [Fairy tale ], the country also succeeded in showing five major achievements to the world.

It all started in July 2016 when the national football team – with captain Cristiano Ronaldo as the best male footballer in the world – won the European Football Championship for the first time in history.

In December of that same year António Guterres – international diplomat and ex-prime minister of Portugal – was appointed as Secretary-General of the United Nations, one of the toughest political jobs in the world [https://lusolobo.com/levend ]

Nine months after the Football Championship, Portugal delivered another number one, by winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with Salvador Sobral’s ‘Amar Pelos Dois’ [https://youtu.be/ymFVfzu-2mw]

Seven months after the Eurovision Song contest the Portuguese economist and Minister of Finance – Mário Centeno – was elected as the next president of the Eurogroup, an informal but powerful gathering of 19 eurozone finance ministers. Centeno will be the first holder of the post from one of the South-European countries forced into a bailout by the euro crisis.

And last but not least, just before the end of this year, the World Travel Awards designated Portugal as the World’s Leading Destination in tourism. It is the first time that a European country wins this prestigious award. In addition, Lisbon won the award for best City Break in the world. The WTA’s – founded in 1993 – are internationally considered as ‘the Oscar’s of tourism’. In September Portugal had already won the award for Europe’s Leading Destination  [Touristentsunami]
Feliz Ano Novo                                                                   Happy New Year

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Romaphobia

Paint the grass the color you want, it will always be grass  –  Gypsy proverb

‘When other children discover that I am a gypsy, they start cursing and shouting that we are worth nothing’, says 11-year-old Lindinho Cambão. ‘But we are not really that bad.’

Prejudices about gypsies are very persistent. They are said to be stealing, begging, criminal and asocial.
Originating from Northern India, the Roma migrated some 500 years ago to the Iberian Peninsula where they are marginalized and discriminated ever since. In Nazi Germany, gypsies were exterminated in concentration camps, just as Jews and homosexuals.

‘If a gypsy takes a seat on the bus, his fellow passenger will anxiously hold his bag’, says Idália Serão, MP of the Socialist Party, whose grandfather was Roma. ‘Ethnic minorities – like gypsies and blacks – are excluded in our society and only become visible when problems occur.’ Parliament, university and media are overwhelmingly white.’

In Portugal, 80% of the estimated 50.000 Roma has no regular income and 60% lives on benefit. The youth is poorly educated. Only a third has completed primary school and 15% is illiterate (more girls than boys). Girls tend to marry very early– at the age of 13-15 years – and get their first baby on average at 19.

Housing is dramatic with 20-30% of the families living in precarious conditions. Neighbourhoods like Bairro das Murtas in the center of Lisbon – without water and electricity – and Bairro da Torre in Loures, on the outskirts of the capital, are famous in that respect.

An investigation by the FRA (Fundamental Rights Agency) amongst gypsies in Europe last year, revealed that nearly half of the Roma population in Portugal feels discriminated, most notably in the areas of public service, work, and healthcare.

Pedro Calado – High Commissioner for Migration – sees progress in the integration, albeit changes are slow. ‘Visits to crèches increase as well as women’s participation in literacy courses. More than 90% of the Roma families have a GP nowadays and the vaccination coverage in children is over 70%.’

Last year Leonor Teles, a 23-year-old Portuguese film director whose father is Roma, won with her Rhoma Acans ( Gypsy Eyes) in Berlin the Golden Bear Award for the best short film.

https://youtu.be/RCuZXMI2lgA

Bad people don’t sing  –  Gypsy proverb

BOM FIM DE SEMANA                                                                      Have a great weekend

 

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Overhead

‘Senhor, senhor.’ João woke up, turned drowsy around and looked straight into the smiling face of a black man, who was waving with a bunch of sunglasses over his head. ‘Very cheap, very good.’ ‘Thanks, man, I don’t need anything’, João muttered turning back on his bath towel.

He was sleeping badly since that horrible peace mission operation in Mali last month when El Qaida had, completely unexpected, attacked the hotel in the capital Bamako and killed – besides a dozen of tourists – two of his best friends. Young guys still. Shame!
Fortunately, he had sat high and dry in a plane on his way home, when the raid occurred. Despite the fact that he – as a sergeant at the Air Force – had carried out numerous peacekeeping missions in war zones all over the world, he felt that the safest place on earth was high in the sky.

How lovely was this calm beach with the afternoon sun gently roasting his back, the rhythmic burbling of the surf nearby and the smell of salty sand. His thoughts wandered off how horrible it must have been to be confronted all of a sudden with a batch of terrorists storming the hotel, shouting Allah Akbar and killing as many people as possible.

Maybe this was a warning, that he should stop this kind of work and look for less risky employment. But an office job on the ground? No way! Was flight instructor perhaps a good alternative? After all, he had lots of experience after flying for more than 25 years. Besides, he was also getting older with his 56 years. His 83-year-old mother would love it to have him around. Especially since his father had passed away last year and she had moved from Lisbon to a smaller apartment in Caparica, near the beach.

Satisfied he fell asleep again, while he heard in the distance the familiar sound of an approaching airplane.


A 56-year-old sergeant of The Air Force was killed when a Cessna aircraft made an emergency landing on the São João da Caparica beach, 20 km to the south of Lisbon. ‘The plane hit the man as he sunbathed on a towel’, witnesses declared.

BOM FIM DE SEMANA                                                                             (photo Público)

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Poverty-related

‘If it were ever to rain soup, the poor would only have forks’ – Brazilian proverb

Poverty and disease go hand in hand, not only in so-called developing countries but also in more affluent societies.

‘The fact that 20% of the population has limited access to healthy food – due to financial constraints – has serious consequences’, says Helena Canhão, investigator at the Health Science Faculty of the New University of Lisbon.
‘A poor people’s diet of cheap and fast food leads to obesity and diabetes.’

Obesity is Portugal’s biggest Public Health problem [zwaargewichten].
More than half of the population is too heavy, 75% of the elderly and nearly a third of all children.
Obesity is more common in the poor and rural parts of the country, in particular the Alentejo province.

People with primary school only are 3 times more often obese than higher educated people, who are not only better informed, but also earn more and can afford a healthy diet with fresh nutrients.

‘That social inequality has an impact on health is beyond doubt.
People who have access to a Mediterranean diet are socially more privileged’, says Pedro Graça, director of the National Program for the Promotion of Healthy Nutrition.

The average Portuguese eats for two, meaning almost 4000 calories per person per day!
Not only is this far too much, the quality of food is also poor. It contains three times the recommended amount of meat, fish and eggs and only half the amount of vegetables.

And although Portuguese cherish their daily bowl of soup, it is often too salty. Moreover, the intake of alcohol and soda is considerable. Nearly a quarter of all men and at least 10% of women drink too much and half the population consumes soft drinks on a daily basis.

As a result of the obesity epidemic diabetes is very common and Portugal even has the highest prevalence of diabetes in Europe. One in every 7 citizens is affected and 25% of the people – who die in hospital – have diabetes. The risk to get the disease is four times higher in people, who haven’t completed primary school – a number twice as high in Portugal, than elsewhere in Europe.

‘We are wasting our money on the wrong side’, says Luis Correia, head of the Diabetes Observatory. Treatment of diabetes now devours 12% of our national health budget. It would be much cheaper to prevent the disease instead.’

BOM FIM DE SEMANA                                                    (photos Observador/SAPO)

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Magusto

“When it was the season aunt Emília used to sell roasted chestnuts outside the bar a little further down the street, on the corner of Rua Morais Soares and Rua dos Heróis de Quionga, got drunk on the proceeds, then could be found flat on her back on the bedroom floor with her skirts hitched up, singing loudly.”
(from: Small memories – José Saramago)

Portugal is a country of saints, giving rise to a good number of public holidays. November 1 is dedicated to All Saint’ Day (Todos-os-Santos) and November 11 to St. Martin (São Martinho) – the period in between is called Magusto, the traditional autumn festival. It is believed that the word ‘magusto’ comes from the Latin word ‘magnus ustus’, meaning ‘big fire’.

St. Martin’s Day is associated with the maturation of the year’s wine. It is a feast of Celtic roots that celebrates the end of summer and the start of winter.
The period is also quite popular, because of the usually good weather in this time of the year, called St. Martin’s Summer (Verão de São Martinho), that is tied to the legend of the saint.

Martin of Tours was a Roman soldier in the 4th century – later becoming bishop of Tours, in France – who cut his cape in half with his sword and gave it to a shivering beggar during a cold and rainy day. It is said that at that very moment the sun started shining again for three days.https://lusolobo.com/de-zomer-van

Groups of friends and families celebrate these warm days in November outdoors and used to gather around a bonfire, where they roasted chestnuts directly in the fire drank água-pé (water-foot), jeropiga, new wine and danced and sang. It was customary for girls to bring the chestnuts and for boys to bring the wine.

Água-pé (water-foot) is a light alcoholic beverage made by adding water to crushed grapes – after the juice is pressed out for wine – and letting it ferment for several days. Jeropiga – a sweet and strong fortified wine – is obtained in a similar way by adding brandy(aguardente) to the mash (pomace) of grapes, instead of water.

 

É dia de São Martinho,                                                    It’s St.Martin’s Day,
comem-se castanhas, prova-se o vinho                       we’ll eat chestnuts and taste the wine

BOM FIM DE SEMANA                                                   ENJOY THE WEEKEND

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Webbing

‘Everywhere you go it’s buzzing and electric’ – Bloomberg

What do have the Portuguese António Guterres (Secretary-General United Nations), the Yemeni Tawakkol Karman (Nobel Peace Prize laureate), the American Al Gore (former vice-president), the Chinese Meng Hongwei (president of Interpol), the British Suzy Menkes (editor Vogue), the French Francois Hollande (former president), the Russian Garry Kasparov (former world chess champion), the Brazilian Julio Cesar (goalkeeper), the Irish Kenny Jacobs (CMO Ryanair), the Greek George Papandreou (former prime-minister) and the Saudi robot Sophia in common?

They are all speakers on the Web Summit 2017 (November 6-9), Europe’s largest technology and digital culture conference to be held in the Altice/MEO Arena in Lisbon ( http://www.websummit.net)

In 2016 – when the summit was held in Lisbon for the first time – almost 53,000 people attended, including 20,000 companies and over 2000 journalists from 166 countries (https://lusolobo.com/silicon )

This year the event will be even bigger. Networking and pitches (selling ideas ) are keywords, getting to know each other and looking for investment.
Not only at the conference itself but also at the ‘night summit’ downtown.

But what has actually been the result of Web Summit 2016? Which international companies could be enticed to settle in the country? Which impulses were given to attract startups and young people, that are badly needed for the future of the local economy and the demographic equilibration in an aging population?

It is estimated that the 2016 Summit injected 200 million euros into the national economy.
However, half of it was absorbed by the local hotel industry and suppliers, directly linked to the event.

So, why another summit in Portugal? To promote more tourism? To sell the few digital companies to international investors, losing, even more, local know-how? Or serves the summit as a platform for people, who love to take selfies and posts on social media, saying ‘look at me how I succeeded to enter a place, where a ticket costs nearly € 1000 and industrial hotshots tell us how to gather fortunes?’

Ana Lehman, the Secretary of State for Industry, emphasizes the importance of the event and hopes the summit will remain in Lisbon for some years to come. She disagrees with the criticism. “You have to go there and see for yourself. We know dozens of companies that had contracts closed during the summit.”

BOM FIM DE SEMANA                                                       (photo’s Observador/Sapo)

 

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Heavyweight

Parliament proposes measures against heavy schoolbags.

While the Government is struggling with the aftermath of the most brutal wildfires in history – killing more than 100 people – political parties in Parliament made recommendations last week to reduce the weight of school bags, after a petition on that matter – initiated by actor JoséWallenstein – had yielded more than 50.000 public signatures in February.

According to the Consumer Defence Association (DECO), two-thirds of the Portuguese schoolchildren carry backpacks, that are too heavy.

But does that matter?

Apparently, as studies from several countries indicate that children carrying backpacks exceeding 10% of their bodyweight – the upper limit according to the World Health Organization – are more likely to get neck, shoulder and back pain. There is, however, no evidence that carrying heavy bags cause any lasting deformity such as scoliosis, which is a persistent curvature of the spine.

The propositions on schoolbags had been prepared for some months by a special parliamentary working group – coordinated by Amadeu Albergaria of the Social Democratic Party (PSD).

The final resolution – supported by all parties – recommends more lockers in schools, expansion of digital learning tools in class, thinner manuals and books with lightweight paper, permanent instead of variable classrooms and better collaboration between teachers regarding the frequency and amount of homework.

The parliamentarians moreover, propose a national awareness campaign to better monitor the weight of schoolbags by teachers, parents and students and the Directorate-General for Health will be asked to perform a study on the effect of the weight of the schoolbags on children’s health.

Backpacks are best for backs because they have two shoulder straps – a bag carried on one shoulder is more likely to cause pain. The bags should be packed evenly and carry only what is needed for that day. Children should be encouraged to use school lockers for items they don’t need all day.

BOM FIM DE SEMANA                                                                                                 (photo’s Observador/Sapo)

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Sócrates

‘No one does wrong willingly or knowingly’ – Socrates, Greek philosopher

On November 21st at 10 PM, 2014  José Sócrates – ex-prime minister and former leader of the Socialist Party – was arrested at Lisbon’s airport, after flying home from Paris, under suspicion of money laundering, corruption, forgery and fiscal fraud.
He was held in preventive custody for 11 months but had to be released due to lack of evidence.

Almost 3 years later the Public Prosecutor’s Office officially closed down the final investigation – called Operation Marqués, named after the former residence of the prime minister at the Marqués de Pombal square in Lisbon – and published the results last week in a more than 4000 page’s thick report.

Except for Sócrates – prime minister between 2005 and 2011 – 9 companies and 19 individuals – amongst them important bankers, directors and public administrators – were together charged with 188 crimes.

According to the accusation, Sócrates received between 2006 and 2009 more than 24 million euros in bribes from the private enterprise Lena, the luxury tourist company Vale do Lobos and the biggest bank at that time, Banco Espírito Santo. The money is supposed to be hidden in bank accounts in Switzerland.

Carlos Santos Silva, businessman and personal friend of Sócrates, is said to be the key person in the process, acting as the mediator between the former prime minister and the involved companies.

It’s for the first time in the history of Portugal, that a former prime minister is accused of corruption during the execution of his function as head of state. But that’s not all. Operation Marqués also incriminates ex-CEO’s from big government agencies like Portugal Telecom and the state-owned bank Caixa Geral dos Depositos.

Socrates’ lawyers declared the accusations “totally unfounded and complete nonsense.” The defense is – by law – given 50 days to react to the accusations but already has requested an extension of one year, to be able to analyze the document in detail.

The ex-prime minister himself calls the report “a fantasy, a fable without any facts or evidence” and elucidates “that the purpose of the state has never been to investigate a crime, but to harass a target.”

This week his third book ‘The evil we deplore’ was published.’


Socrates ( 469-399 BC) was a Greek philosopher and considered the father of western philosophy. He showed how argument, debate, and discussion could help men to understand difficult issues.  In 399 BC he was put on trial for ‘refusing to recognize the gods of the state’, found guilty and forced to commit suicide by taking poison.

BOM FIM DE SEMANA                                                                                                                  (photo Público)

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Sueing

Large parts of the countries interior look spooky these days with charred trees and incinerated road signs.
40% off all wildfires in Europe this year occurred in Portugal, far more than in any other country.

Last summer schoolchildren from the Leiria region in central Portugal watched their district burn as a result of the most destructive and deadliest forest fires in the country’s history. The fires – which have been linked by some experts to climate change – have claimed the lives of at least 65 people and left hundreds injured.

“Climate change causes many problems, but if I had to name the one that worries me most, it would be the increase in the number of wildfires – especially this summer as the fires caused many deaths in our country”, says a boy of the group of children – aged between 6 and 14 – from Leiria, seeking crowdfunding to sue 47 European countries for their failure to tackle climate change, threatening their right to life.

These countries are collectively responsible for about 15% of global greenhouse emissions. They also hold a significant proportion of the world’s known fossil fuel reserves. The case is also being taken to court to raise public awareness about the shortcomings in government policies on climate change.

With the support of the NGO Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), the group of children taking action is seeking an initial £35,000 to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg The crowdfunding bid was published on the platform CrowdJustice [ https://www.crowdjustice.com ] and to date, just over half of the amount needed, has been pledged.

“Tragedies like this are becoming the new norm because governments are failing to make the necessary cuts to their greenhouse emissions”, according to a spokesman from GLAN.
“Instead of suing just Portugal, the case will be taken against all of the major emitters, which have signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights.”

“The court will be asked two things. Firstly, that these 47 countries must significantly strengthen their emissions-cutting policies and secondly, that they must commit to keeping most of their existing fossil fuel reserves in the ground”.

A victory, in this case, would be ground-breaking as the decisions of the Court are binding across Europe.

Bom fim de semana                                                                                                                       ( photo’s SAPO)

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Rich

Rich people rule and poor people live the best they can – Jóse Saramago

While poor people are hardly recovering from the economic crisis, rich people get richer. Portugal’s 25 richest families possess this year €18.8 billion – 10% of the country’s wealth (GNP) – against 15 billion euro in 2016. ‘This almost 4 billion increase is the biggest in recent years’, according to the Portuguese magazine Exame.

Heading the list is the Amorim family with a net worth of €3.8 billion. The founding father of the imperium Américo Amorim – also known as ‘the king of cork’ [ https://lusolobo.com/kurk] – died last June at the age of 82. He was Portugal’s richest man and occupied in 2017 position 385 – ahead of Donald Trump – on Forbes’ list of wealthiest people in the world.

Second is Soares dos Santos – holding the largest supermarket chain in the country, Pingo Doce – with a personal fortune of €2.5 billion.

In third place the Guimarães de Mello family – owner of Brisa, Portugal’s biggest road and toll enterprise – estimated to be worth €1.5 billion.

The first woman can be found in eighth place. Maria Isabel dos Santos is Portugal’s richest woman – shareholder in the Jerónimo Martins group – and worth €665 million.

‘To think that nowadays in our country one million people – that is 10% of the population – regular have to skip meals due to financial problems is a shame’, says Carla Lopes, a nutritionist at the Public Health Institute of the University of Porto.
One-fifth of the population is facing a situation of food insecurity, meaning their access to healthy food is limited due to financial constraints.

‘If you compare this to ten years ago, we can see a marked increase, reflecting the impact of the past economic crisis’, says Helena Canhão, an investigator at the Health Science Faculty of the New University of Lisbon.‘ This is a serious public health problem as unhealthy nutrition leads to chronic diseases, like diabetes and obesity.’

Fortunately, the tide is turning. The economy is growing, export rising and unemployment dropping [Fairy tale ]
The challenge for the left wing government of António Costa in the years to come, is to realize its socialist ambitions by distributing wealth in a more equal way.

BOM FIM DE SEMANA                                                                                              [photos SAPO]

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