mgsantos

I am a professor and I think this is a brilliant take. Music is based around tension. I see my first task, whenever speaking in public, as creating some tension. Often in the form of a question. "You know this, but can you define it" is an usual way to create tension in an audience.

"We all know what innovation is, but can we define it?". You will see people becoming uncomfortable. Then you work to release this tension. Then a concept will make sense and grips the classroom.

The issue is many public speakers create tension without resolving it. Or begin without any tension at all, then there is no attention.

I'm Brazilian and when I was in Paris a couple of years ago talking to some chick at a club she asked me if I lived in a Favela. This was very strange to me, because it's pretty obvious for any Brazilian that if you live in a Favela you're not going to vacation in Paris and you're not going to clubs to pick up socially oblivious drunk French chicks.

I like both movies, but they were made for a Brazilian audience and a lot of it gets lost in the translation to other cultures particularly for people from rich countries. The social gap is so huge in Brazil that my life is probably closer to that of a master’s candidate in New York (I'm currently avoiding reading one more paper, in English, for class tomorrow) that it is to a drug dealer in a Favela in Rio. This is what most people don't understand. Life can be pretty diverse in poor countries and it's a lottery that decides if you'll live a nice, comfortable life or if you'll have to struggle to put food on the table.

Every political entity, and ISIS is one, has a positive side, a certain thing they offer that makes people trust them. What do you thin explains their sudden growth and acceptance? Why would a Syrian or Iraqi teenager want to fight for their cause? Also, where do their funds come from? Is there a country behind them? Good luck in Syria and not pissing off the wrong people!

I don't buy it. No one wants to live in a place without clean water and basic infrastructure where you may get shot by the police or a drug dealer. Something is really fishy about these 'rich Europeans' that decided to live in a Favela. Not saying that all Favelas are the same, they aren't, but they aren't 'nice symbols of Rio's culture', they are a fucking tragedy in the middle of the city. It's like buying a house in Soweto in the 1980s beacuse it's colorful and fun!

Israel was a major supporter of the U.S. war effort in Iraq and is constantly named one of the strongest proponents of ousting Saddam Hussein via military intervention. As Iran is gaining influence in Iraq and the country is becoming a hub of terrorism in the region, do you believe that this strategy actually helped the situation in the Middle East? Why? Also, how do you view the current situation in the Ukraine? Are there reasons for actual concern regarding anti-Semitic groups is Eastern Europe? Regards from Brazil!