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Summary
Culture – Ten years ago, the Mangue (Mangrove) Beat movement, originated in the Recife of the 1990s, lost its leader, Chico Science. By fusing maracatu’s strong bass drum beat with rock and roll’s distorted electric guitars, Science created a musical genre that would win admirers in Brazil and abroad.
Infrastructure – The Tietê River, which cuts through the city of São Paulo, is known for polluted waters and flash flooding during the rain season. In the countryside, however, it becomes an important transportation waterway mainly for grains. Together with other rivers in the region, as the Paraná and the Paranaíba, it shows great potential in spite of the limitations posed by the floodgates and dams built along its course.
Economy
• Although relying on a skilled workforce and other more favorable territorial and climatic conditions when compared to other emerging nations, Brazil is unable to gain more space internationally in the absence of a foreign-market entry project. According to specialists, without such requisite, the country will continue to be, basically, a commodities exporter.
• According to data gathered by the World Trade Organization, Brazil is among those countries that most resorted to anti-dumping investigations to protect its domestic market. The 125 cases brought to the WTO since 1995 have not, however, thwarted imports from continuing to grow.
Environment – New housing credit lines for the middle class have prompted developers to use large areas previously occupied by factories to build residential compounds. Oftentimes, such areas have serious problems of soil contamination, which jeopardize the health of its residents.
Ecology – June 2007 marks the 15th anniversary of the Rio 92 Earth Summit. There is, however, nothing to celebrate in face of the global warming consequences forecast by scientists: rising sea levels, huge floods and an increased frequency of violent cyclones. There will be water scarcity and a drastic reduction in agricultural output, in addition to enormous impacts on the planet’s biodiversity.
Housing – Brazil’s housing deficit is gigantic, even hard to quantify, for, historically, statistics are not reliable. A solution to mitigate the problem is advanced in a study by engineer Savério Andréa Felice Orlandi, who advocates the use of industrialized construction systems as a way to reduce costs, minimize waste, speed up work and, thus, increase the supply of low-income housing.
Indians – Infanticide in Brazil’s Indian tribes triggers harsh discussions between those demanding that the State should interfere and those claiming that outside meddling may further worsen the problem. There is no reliable data on the number of cases, but it is estimated that, every year, hundreds of children are sacrificed by their own parents when, for instance, physically disabled babies or twins are born.
Eating habits – When the Portuguese arrived in Brazil for the first time, cassava was already a staple food for Indians, as attested by Pero Vaz de Caminha in his letter to the king. Throughout the country’s history, Brazilians never stopped growing this native root, which, still today, is a treasured item of the Brazilian kitchen.
Science – To most people, a scientist is someone in a white jacket who works with sophisticated equipment inside a laboratory. However, such image is not always true. Many scientists carry out most of their research studies outdoors, at times deep in the jungle facing dangerous situations, which make them true adventurers.
Interview – Oswaldo Mendes talks about his professional career in the journalistic
world and as a theatrical actor, director and writer. With an outstanding record of accomplishment in both areas, he was responsible for the success of the "Folhetim", an important "Folha de S. Paulo" newspaper supplement, and was awarded several prizes for his work in the theater.
Juridical studies – The former Council for Juridical Studies was renamed Higher Law Council. At the first meeting under the new name, the Council invited jurist and former minister Nelson Jobim to debate the electoral reform. The current electoral system, as admitted by the politicians themselves, is doomed. The difficulty is to reach a consensus, for interests are very strong while fragmentation weakens political parties, complicates negotiations and hampers the people’s representation.
Thematic panel – José Roberto Faria Lima, a specialist in information technology, gave a talk at the Economics, Sociology and Politics Council of the Federação do Comércio do Estado de São Paulo, during which he analyzed individual liberties in face of the controls with which technological development empowers the State and business.
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