Hi, everyone.

Well, I’m Edward.  I own this WordPress.  The thing is, I have been neglecting it and I promise to start writing more often.

Thank you.

Brazil’s FIFA World Cup… But Where is the Rest of Brazil?

When Brazil won the rights to host the FIFA World Cup, I was one of those people who were happy. At last, football is going back to the ‘home away from home‘ home of football. Yes, England is the home of football, but Brazil housed it, clothed and fed it, it never went back to England.
It was October 30th, 2007 when Brazil won the rights to host the FIFA World Cup, unopposed. Fast foward, 7 years later, the games have started. The first game of this world cup was the host, Brazil vs Croatia.
The football was okay. The Brazil I knew didn’t really turn up. One of the players I was waiting to see at the world cup, Ivan Rakitic had an okay game too. So, it was a disappointing first game.
Other than the dubious penalty that Brazil got, what raised my eyebrows wasn’t what was going on on the football pitch, but rather on the stands. As expected, Brazil had like 90% of the fans. My concern though, was just how Brazil’s support in that match of any other match after that did not reflect the true demographic of Brazil’s population. Like 92% of the Brazilian fans that I see on my TV are white.
Brazil’s population according to 2010 Census data is, 47.73% White, 43.13% Pardo, 7.61% Black, 1.09% Asian & 0.43% Amerindian. Pardos are mixed race Brazilians, Neymar & Ronaldinho are in this category, so as super model Adriana Lima. The Amerindians are the natives of the land.
The question that lingered with me, where is the rest of Brazil during these matches? Where is the other 52.67% of Brazil?
With the average price for the Brazil vs Colombia match at US$1346.75 according to TiqIQ, it’s only fair to conclude that the average Brazilian was priced out. Brazil’s GDP Per Capita is US$11 080, therefore, making the average ticket price for their game vs Colombia (1346.75/11080*100) 12% on average of Brazilian families income. That is a lot of money to spend on a single game. And to break it down further, we all know that Brazil has one the highest disparity rates between the haves & the have nots. Surely, families living in the favelas are making much less than the country’s per capita income. And with 68.4% of those living in the favelas either Pardos or Blacks, it’s only possible for one to conclude that these are the ones who aren’t able afford to go to these games, the Pardos & the blacks.
This world cup was hosted by Brazil, but it’s a pity the rest of Brazil couldn’t turn up to the party as they were priced out.
In the movie, The Fault in our Stars, the Character of Hazel Grace recited a quote during her eulogy to Augustus “Gus” Waters, “if you want the rainbow you have to deal with rain”.
Brazil’s rainbow is the chance to host the FIFA World Cup, but with the rainbow came with it, the rain. The rain is Brazil being stripped naked for the world to see its dire social & economical inequalities.

New Blog Challenges Start April 15!

The Daily Post

If you’re just getting your blog off the ground, or saw our Zero to Hero challenge in January and wished you’d thrown your hat into the ring, today’s your lucky day: another round of Blogging 101: Zero to Hero gets started on Tuesday, April 15th.

Looking for something more advanced? Blogging 201: Branding, Growth and Traffic starts the same day (201-level challenges on writing/photography and theme tailoring start in early summer)!

Read on to learn more about each challenge and sign up to participate.

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House of Cards

I’m not a film critic, certainly not a critic of any kind. The only kind of critic I can bring myself to doing is when it’s faced towards Real Madrid, the football team that I have adored ever since I was a little boy, playing football bear foot in the sandy streets of Oshakati.

Back to the topic at hand, House of Cards. I first came to learn of this show after President Barack Obama tweeted about it. After reading that tweet, I knew I had to start watching what one of the most powerful man in the world is watching. And, I was not disappointed. From the first episode of season 1, I was glued to the laptop as I watched Kevin Spacey’s character of Representative Francis “Frank” Underwood plot his way to the top after being denied what was promised to him, US Secretary of State.

I am on season 2 now, Frank is Vice President. Hope I’m not spoiling it for anyone, especially not the President. But on his way to being VP, a lot of conniving, by Frank & Linda (White House Chief of Staff), and the death of my favorite character on the show, Peter Russo. Peter Russo. That guy. Well, I liked him because he looked the most sincere, genuine politician. Your everyday person. His character was the closest thing to any character being human to me on the show. All else just seem made up. I guess that’s what politics would look to an outsider.

Above all else, House of Cards is a brilliant show. Netflix has without a doubt, got one of the best shows on TV. Thank you Beau Willimon for this hard hitting show, that is in a way is helping ease my fascination with Washington by bringing the behind the scenes drama to my TV. And the journalists on the show seem to be real journalists, unlike Wolf Blitzer.

This show gets a 9/10 rating from me because it covers one of my interests, American Politics.