Anyone interest in Cuba should read: After Fidel: The Inside Story of Castro's Regime and Cuba's Next Leader (Hardcover) by Brian Latell (Author) http://www.amazon.com/After-Fidel-I...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203820907&sr=8-2 It will open your eyes as to why the US is so hardened against Cuba. The Cuban American vote in FL is often given as the reason for this, but the issues discussed in this book are far more important, imo. Cuba's economy has the potential to be the next Hong Kong or Israel. nitro
Here's a nice summary of how Cuba could go in one of two directions: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article3419880.ece
. ShoeshineBoy: Here's my question: is education highly prized in Brazil in general in middle and upper classes? **** February 24, 2008 SouthAmerica: Yes, education is highly prized in Brazil in the middle and upper classes. Years ago I worked on a project regarding FDU. When I prepared a proposal to create center for Brazilian history and economic studies at that university. I learned two facts about the Brazilian higher education system. First, Brazilians donât have to leave Brazil to get a superior education, because Brazil has outstanding schools. Thatâs is why there is a small number of Brazilians studying in foreign countries. Second, when most Brazilians decide to study abroad their first choice is always some of the major European universities in France, Germany, Switzerland, UK and so on⦠********* Brazilian wonder: âSouthAmerica, do you work for the Brazilian government? You are pumping Brazil every time you see a good article about it. Do you even live in Brazil?â ******** SouthAmerica: No, I donât work for the Brazilian government. Brazil is a great country. No - I donât live in Brazil right now. Right now we have an exodus of Brazilians who are returning to Brazil â legal and illegal immigrants â people started realizing that the future it will much better in Brazil than in the United States. These people are the canary in the coalmine â and what they are saying with this exodus is that the party is over here in the United States, and it is time to find a better pasture somewhere else. ********* Corelio: And you think that this can all be easily achieved without any interventionist measures from the US? ****** SouthAmerica: You are overestimating the influence and power that the United States has in the Americas. China is investing in Cuba and China is becoming very influential in Cuba. There is nothing the US can do about it, since the US and Cuba are under the same master. China is the country that is keeping the US economy afloat. Today, the United States is just a shadow of a country that it used to be. Today the major US banks and other major financial institutions need to go around the world begging for money to keep them in business. ****** SouthAmerica: Reply to saxon22 Tobacco, sugar cane, ethanol, tourism, gambling, just name it I am sure that Cuba will provide great business opportunities for a lot of people. Screw the US government with its obsolete rules regarding Cuba; besides the crew of incompetent people who is running this country today they will be gone by January of 2009. Find a way to invest in Cuba indirectly, via some Canadian, Mexican, or even Brazilian company and get in the ground floor of this terrific investment opportunity that it is around the corner. Fidel Castro is a very old man and he is very sick - and he has to die some day. But you donât have to wait for Castroâs death, because at that point it might be too late for people to get the best deals â the smart money is getting into place right now and they are ready to go. .
Oh, would it be great to be able to travel to Cuba from the US. I would also not have to get my Cuban's from Spain when I can buy them directly from an official Cuban store. I hope numb-nuts and Pres. Chaney does not screw this one up.
Question: So do Brazilians feel - and I can't say I blame them if they do - some animosity towards the US because of it's indifference in recent years? Is that why they head to Europe or simply because they feel the institutions there are superior?
'Is that why they head to Europe or simply because they feel the institutions there are superior?' Text books are the same, so one cannot say because a college has an extra lab or more teachers per students so their program is superior. In the days and age of internet, I wonder if actual univeristy education is relevant. Some univerisities sure do like to pile up reading material on you and wonder if that makes their program superior........in actuality it does not.
I'm not sure I agree. Here in American they train the Navy Seals and other special forces with crazy things like carrying a telephone pole for miles. Now in real combat not one of those guys will ever carry a telephone pole into battle. However, our Special Forces are some of the best in the world. The elite educational institutions in the world are analagous. After you get killed by them, you feel that you can do anything: learn any subject, do any research, conquer any intellectual problem...And you probably can...
. ShoeshineBoy: So do Brazilians feel - and I can't say I blame them if they do - some animosity towards the US because of it's indifference in recent years? Is that why they head to Europe or simply because they feel the institutions there are superior? ******* February 25, 2008 SouthAmerica: It has nothing to do with American foreign policy since the US became the major superpower after WW II. Brazilians always preferred the education system of the major European universities, and they still do. I almost finished my high school education in Brazil, before I moved to the United States. I could not speak any English when I arrived in the US, and I did not know anything about American history other than the information that I learned by watching Hollywood movies. I had no idea when the US had its independence, and I could not name a single founding father of the US. In the other hand, since I was in the 3rd grade in Brazil I learned well European history, including French, English, Portuguese, Italian and Roman Empire history and so on. I also learned world history that included the history of major countries and empires, such as the Roman Empire, about Egypt, Persian Empire, and some Asian history. I donât know why I learned nothing about American history when I was in school. Regarding the American history I knew only the Hollywood version. Thatâs why before I came to the United States if I had to name the most famous Americans in American history and in global history I would be able to name only Al Capone, Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Lucky Luciano, Scarface, Bonnie and Clyde, General George Armstrong Custer, Walt Disney, and I knew that the US had a president called Lincoln - All that with the compliments of Hollywood. Brazilians still going to Europe to study because it has been a long tradition for Brazilians to get an European education, besides we have a very strong European heritage â the Brazilian legal system is based on âRoman Lawâ and the âNapoleonic Code.â And Brazil has been close to certain European countries for centuries. Brazil used to be a Portuguese colony, but the English had some influence because England was the major superpower for over 100 years. Brazil had over the years 2 French invasions, and a Dutch invasion and these people left roots behind in Brazil after they were kicked out of Brazil. And Brazil also had a large immigration from Italy and from Germany after WW I, and after WW II. Basically, the US it is just the new kid on the block (50 years is nothing in world history) and the old Brazilian connections to Europe still are very strong today. Until a few years ago there were more executives of Brazilian companies who were fluent in French than in English. English has been growing in importance only in the last 20 years in terms of Brazil - the development of the internet also had something to do with this trend. Brazilians go to Europe to study because they associate Europeans with intellect, philosophy, science, and they have a long history and traditions. Brazilians associate the United States with Hollywood, a make believe world, the movies, Walt Disney, Disney World, Disneyland, Rambo type movies, cowboy movies, war movies and other extensions of that kind of mindset such as the Vietnam War, Grenada, the first Gulf War, the current Iraq War, the War in Afghanistan, and so onâ¦. And in the 1990âs when Argentina decided to follow the American economic model and they became the poster child for the US ideas of free market economy and privatization that the US wanted to export to the rest of the world. It did not take long for the Argentina economy to collapse and go down the toilet. Since the economic collapse of Argentina, that country became a symbol for people who want to follow the American ideas and intellect. .
Well, I know one thing: I would rather go study in Europe myself (money not being an object)! Europe cities are imho the most beautiful place I've ever seen. And I know that, in general, education is much more highly regarded than in American.
You are right reading too much would lower one's intellect, I propose we watch TV instead of reading, so much more educational. (insert sarcasm where appropriate).