New ideas needed

I can't stand hearing portuguese politicians on TV anymore!
Instead of the constant pleeding for the government to quit, or demanding new elections, I wished opposition and government could get together to find solutions which could take us all out of this deep dark hole we are in for a change!
After all it's very doubtful that our economy would change if this government fell and other went to its place. I don't see them helping with new ideas, only speaking harsh words between them, and that is what we've always seen here.
People trying to undermine others so that they can take their place in the wheels of power.
None of them seems interested on representing the people who put them in parlament, only on representing themselves.
The truth is I don't believe any of them has a solution to the situation they've put us in.
This lack of ideas was what had previous governments doing bad investiments and that's how we've got to the present situation.
That's what you get when you are represented by a buch of idiots who pretend to be clever.
It's just a shame that most people in Portugal is too naive to read the meaning behind their words.

Aviso a logistas

Na quinta- feira tevemos um incidente na loja com um homem cujas intenções nos pareceram dúbias.
Estamos convencidos que a intenção dele era afastar-nos da caixa. para que podesse retirar o dinheiro.
O esquema é o seguinte:
1-O homem entra na loja e pede-nos um artigo que esteja o mais afastado possivel da caixa, depois pega no telemovel e finge estar a falar com a mulher pedindo-lhe a opinião ou perguntando-lhe se ela quer mais alguma caisa.
2- Como eu estava acompanhada, ele pediu outro artigo tentando que a outra pessoa o fosse atender para que a caixa ficasse livre. Felizmente a pessoa em questão não pode atender o pedido por questões de saúde, mas disse ao homem que ele podia ir buscar o artigo ele próprio, se quizesse. Como ele recusou, ela pediu-me para o fazer por ela permanecendo ao balcão. Foi nesta altura que começou a desconfiar do homem.
3-O homem força uma oportunidade para entrar atrás do balcão tentando ficar perto da caixa. No nosso caso veio buscar um artigo que estava à vista e que poderia muito bem ter sido pedido a uma de nós....
Como eu passei a maior parte do tempo no outro lado da loja só me apercebi que o homem estava a tramar algo nesta altura.
O homem, vendo que não tiravamos os olhos dele, acabou por dizer que ia buscar a mulher para pedir a opinião dela sobre os artigos que escolhera.
Obviamente não voltou à loja...
Soubemos pouco tempo depois que o mesmo homem tinha tentado o mesmo esquema em outras duas lojas na area da Azambuja...

For the people and by the people

Do you know that a french minister has been acused of having a banck account abroad?
He has already admited it so probably he'll have to face some kind of punishment.
We have to give some credit to the man for at least being honest now.
Were it in my country, he would still be doing appeals to the supreme court and saying he was ennocent each time his conviction came, meantime skipping, any real punishment and continuing to work on his public office ...or he could be one of those who flee abroad  returning only when the crime expiring date comes, managing then to fool enough people to get re-elected... or perhaps he could do better, and find a way to lie his way out of it, even though more and more evidences agaisnt him came to light, which proved the lies,  (263  checks not yet used from an account our ex- politician said he didn't have, is at least strange, is it not? And I'm not even talking about the other checks belonging to his family which were found at the same place...)
Maybe if Cahuzac had had some lessons with our "Crook Masters" he would have now passed master on the "crook school"...
But then, maybe we should see it on the bright side... at least we don't have our rullers changing laws and going agaisnt our freedom of choice like it happened in Hungary recently.
None of them are making racist speaches, going agaist womans rights (and I was so happy to read that in Saldi Arabia women were finally allowed to ride a bicycle...),condemning your sexual orientation, nor saying homeless are illigal and making laws to force them to work or else they will pay a fine or go to jail, (yes I think working emproves your self-esteem, but that doesn't mean you should force it on them,  after all where's the freedom of choice there? Let's not forget that a large percentage of the homeless are old people who have health problems).
Not that anyone's opinion will be of any use to change Hungary's point of view, but they should think this through and find a way to reach middle ground by explain to those who can work, how having something to do will improve their life and let them decide if they want to work or not.
Also those people should have a right to a wage (or it will be slavery) if they accept to work and that wage should not be different from the one of someone who has never been homeless so that there is no descrimination either.
A fair constitucion should defend equal rights to all without descriminating social classes, religion, gender or sexual orientation.
Such values should be defended by those we put in power, for a government should stand by its people and work for its people and not for its own, family members, or friends interests.
Some may look at it and say that fortunately there is always someone liveng in worse conditions...I say that fact is the worst of it all for no one should be forced to live without freedom.
The good thing is that hope is the last to die, so I dream of a day when this will actually happen.
What a world it (would) will be then...

Quem me dera ser Suéca

Já vos falei aqui do que penso de José Socrates e do seu tempo de mandato.
Como ele, existem muitos mais que tentam por todos os meios arranjar "tacho" para si e para os seus.
Isaltino Morais-Presidente da Camara de Oeiras- é apenas um exemplo (quem diria que um simples taxista ganharia o suficiente para ter uma conta de milhares de euros na Suiça. Como é bom ser cunhado de um autarca português...)
A salientar que  o Sr Morais jura inocência e defendeu que pediu um emprestimo à CGD (onde é que eu já ouvi isto?) para pagar a sua defesa (ao todo já fez 44 recursos). UAU, este banco é mesmo porreiro, será que a mim que sou cliente da CGD há anos, tambem me emprestam dinheiro sem garantia alguma...
Mas esta "capacidade" para aldrabar outrem parece ser uma caracteristica comum a muitos portugueses, senão vejamos.
Manuel Correia- Ex-provedor da Santa Casa da Misericórdia- começa hoje a ser julgado por peculato e falsificação de documentos. Aparentemente ordenou a esta instituição um pagamento mensal ás filhas (incluindo subsidio de férias e de Natal) sem que estas tenham prestado qualquer serviço á Santa Casa...
Um outro caso envolve profissionais de saúde, 57 médicos, 8 farmácias, armazenistas e até alguns utentes.
O esquema era simples, os médicos prescreviam receitas médicas de medicamentos com maior compartecipação do estado a serem levantadas por utentes (que sabiam ou não do que se passava) nessas 8 farmácias, que por sua vez, e dependendo dos casos entregavam ou não os ditos medicamentos aos utentes podendo depois vendê-los novamente Os armazenistas, estavam mais voltados para a exportação de medicamentos a preço mais alto (por exemplo para Angola).
São casos como este que me fazem crer que o país está, e sempre esteve, a saque. Devo dizer-vos que esta mentalidade de "venha a mim o meu reino" nunca nos levará a lado nenhum.
É por isso que embora adore o meu país, por vezes acho que devo ter uma costela de algum país nórdico, pois de vez em quando gostava de ser Suéca para não ouvir destas coisas...

Travelling

One of my passions is travelling.
I think I could do it for years without ever getting tired.
I don't know where I got it from since no one in my family is as restless as I.
I've tried to explain it to most of my frienda as well, with no apparent result.
They just don't get it when I speak about how fascinated I am for the diversity of people and cultures- which make our world so beautiful to live in- or even the urge to search for different smells, tastes or colours that remain with you long after we leave a certain place.
To all those who can't understand it with words, maybe they'll be able to do it through these photos.

Egypt

Egypt

 Egypt

 Egypt

 Egypt

 Egypt

 Egypt

 Egypt

 

India

 India

 India

Egypt

 India

 India

India

Turkey

 Turkey

 Turkey

 Turkey

 Turkey

Nepal

 Nepal

 Nepal

 Nepal

 Nepal

India

India

Egypt

 

Anedota

Como o tempo está maravilhoso e eu estou com um humor ótimo, vou-vos contar uma anedota que me foi contada a semana passada e da qual gostei.

Numa aldeia nortenha, durante a semana da Pascoa, o Padre exausto diz para o Sacristão:
"Estou muito cansado meu filho, talvez vós podesseis dizer uma passagem da Biblia por mim hoje."
O Sacristão asustado replica:
"Mas Sr Padre, eu não sei que dizer!"
O Padre insiste:
"És um moço esperto, irás lembrar-te de algo. Olha, porque não contas a estória de Lazaro? Lembras-te dessa, não lembras?"
O Sacristão ainda indeciso responde:
"Sim..."
Chega a hora do sermão e o Sacristão começa enquanto o Padre se senta a seu lado:
"Quando Jesus chegou a Jerusalem as mulheres foram ter com ele e disseram-lhe chorosas:
Sr, Lazaro morreu.
Levai-me até ele. Jesus pediu-lhes
As mulheres levaram-no até a campa e quando esta foi aberta Jesus entrou lá dentro e disse:
Lebanta-te Lazaro.
Como Lazaro não se lebantou repetiu mais alto.
Lebanta-te Lazaro!
E Lazaro Lebantou-se e andeu.
Exasperado o Padre diz-lhe:
"Andou, estúpido!"
O Sacristão ouvindo as palavras do Padre emenda:
"Andou estúpido durante um tempo, mas depois passou-lhe..."
 

Let's think for a change

It's funny what we hear from people's mouth once in a while.
I don't know if you heard it, but José Socrates- our previous Prime Minister- is back to Portugal and has now a weekly job commenting  the week's news on TV.
For those who don't know he had gone to Paris after loosing the elections (apparently to be on a course, which one we don't know, let's just hope he attended the classes on this one since he's skipped it in Portugal but managed to get hs diploma with a little help from his friends....)
Several anomalies came to light on the months before those elections.
Family members with large money accounts abroad is just an exemple.
And let's not forget that he has been living abroad all this time without actually working, what make (or should) make us question: "Where did he get the money to live (unemployed) on one of the most expensive cities in the world?"
He said on TV that it had been one of our banks-CGD- lending him the money to do so, but I have never seen a bank doing charaty work to single individuals...
I doubt they would consider it if he had nothing to cover the debt...
But what really puts me off is to see how some people believe in him despite of everything he's done.
Last week a man came to the shop and started talking about how wrongly the media had treated José Socrates and how no one had been able to prove his corruption.
Have people no brain at all? Do they like to be considered fools?
If he had nothing to hide, why  not present irrefutable evidence of his innocence? Something that left no doubts about it? In a court of law words mean nothing, if you don't have physical evidences of what you are saying. The same should apply to him for we all know how good he is with words, yet actions are another matter...