How to handle nosy journalists... the portuguese government way

Emídio Rangel, a journalist and former director of RTP, the Portuguese television owned by the government, stated while answering to an inquiry commission on the subject of freedom of speech, that Almeirindo Marques, the current minister of public works, said the following words to him that I am about to translate for you:

“(…) you have to get out of RTP. There is no room for further discussion. I have two solutions: either we settle an agreement for you to get out of RTP, or, if we don’t reach an agreement, I will raise a disciplinary process on you for any lesser thing, you are put away, and we’ll solve this situation in the courts. (…)”.

Source here.

Graffiti art

More here.

The difference between rich & poor countries is...

...in rich countries there is a considerable part of the population making an effort not to eat so much, while in poor countries there is a considerable part of the population making an effort not to eat so little.

Speeding on the highway

António Costa (mayor of Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal) and Paulo Portas (head of the CDS party), were caught speeding at 160Km/h. The justification was that they were in a “mission of service”, but the mission was to go to a football game.

Portugal vs. Sweden work schedule

I read this in a blog about a portuguese guy that lived in Sweden:

“In Sweden, if you don’t leave work at 5 p.m. your colleagues ask if you are working extra hours.

In Portugal, if you leave work at 5 p.m. your colleagues ask you if you are working part-time.”

Comrades, ease up on the vodka!

It appears Moscow has intentions of put out Stalin posters in the city. The man was one of the responsible people for the genocide of millions of people, either by famine or through imprisonment in the Gulags, and now they are using posters to remind people (i.e. propaganda) of the great “war heroes”. 

The Christmas list

There is an ongoing scandal in Portugal called “Face Oculta” about which the list of “gifts” given at Christmas by one of the defendants went public. I’m translating part of the list bellow, and let you take your own conclusions.

Now, just to provide a reference for the prices in the table above, 5€ is enough to buy you a Big Mac in Portugal.