Victoria

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for big business and opportunity, but I dislike a company that complains about China sucking up all the oil and then brags about world record profits all in the same year. Most Americans have an attention span of about 5 minutes, so these things get forgotten.

This isn't directed at you, but at all who think this way BUT that's one of the biggest lies I've ever heard in all my life.

If this is true, how come people can play Halo 3 for 6 hours straight?

I firmly believe that the more people there are in a room, the lower the average intelligence gets.

I couldn't disagree with you more.

Every opinion I hold regarding that topic is condensed in one book, fortunately for you -- since as you can see, I can spew forth for hours on a topic.

The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations

http://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Crowds-Collec...s/dp/0385503865

If you haven't read it, give it a go.

More people = lower IQ, I coined that "collective stupidity" and I find it amusing. The larger a group of people you ask a question to, the longer it takes to get the answer, it seems like it should be faster because of more thinking entities in the room, but I'm telling you they cancel each other out.

No, I don't think they do. But that's just my, the carefully educated, elitely raised little snob's opinion.

For the OP, if youre quick (for I am in the Far East shopping as we speak) I can obtain the object of your desire and sell it to you one my return to the Magic Island (UK) in two weeks time, when you can have it on your wrist next day with not a customs worry in sight.

Please PM me if you are in position to get that request I sent you, before you left Blighty, Narikaa. Thanks.

OK, let me rephrase.

If you were me right now, and had a few hundred extra Canadian dollaras to spend on an addidion to your collection, what would you buy?

You my dear Flamemax, given your criteria, are a Panerai man waiting to be born.

PAM 112 from Davidsen:

Specs:

-44MM HIGH POLISHED CASE WITH HIGH POLISED CG

-SAPPHIRE WITH AR COATING

-WHIE DIAL WITH SUPERLUMED C3

-SUPERLUEMD HANDS

-SWISS MADE 7497 MOVT WITH SWAN NECK

- 3ATM WR TESTED

-BLACK BUFFALO GRAIN LEATHER STRAP WITH PANNY LOGO STEEL BUCKLE

PM him for price and payment details.

If you want wrist-shots, just hit "Search" and input "PAM 112" and "vbarrett". You'll get your fill. Good luck!

Yes it is the one at the convention center. It wasn't my favorite show. They held it in a secondary hall so not a whole lot of space. Some very nice and rare pieces. I got to hold an old steve mcqueen explorer II that the guy wanted $18,000 for. Man those things shot up in price. Some really nice bling, I came close to dropping $10k on a diamond bracelet (it was a really good deal) but I decided to save my money for my g/f's christmas presents LOL. Plus most of the people were pretty snotty and not too interested in bargaining.

Uhm, hello? That's the way that particular show always is. Very snooty people -- like my mother and jeweler friend.

They do bargain though. If they didn't, it's because you were going for THE BEST they had in each stall.

They can keep their crap if they don't want to deal.

Wow, 10k. I think I spend a tenth of that on my presents for my boyfriend! You're nice.

I did notice a lot of Roger Dubuis on display. These are gaining popularity. With the price of gold nowadays it is really hard to buy any jewelry. I wish the $300 ounce would come back.

ROGER DUBUIS is everywhere!! I am starting to take a dislike to that marque. As for the gold at $300, hah, don't hold your breath. The Dow was down by a lot today. People are shaking and baking.

Diamonds might be a girl's best friend, but gold is a man's security blanket.

I did buy a nice diamond pinky ring (like I need another) a some diamond earrings for the girl. Not a total waste of a day as we had brunch at News Cafe on Sobe and downed a couple bloody mary's.

Oh how nice. I used to rollerblade past News Cafe to check out what tourist groups were there. If they were Brits, I'd leave like a rocket. If they were French or Italian, I'd stay.

I didn't move half-way around the world to be caught dead with British chavs.

(That was just to annoy Puggy and DBR. Think it worked)

P.S.: I'm watching "The Longest Day" on WPBT (no watches sighting. They all look like grandpa watches).

Nice to know you can theoretically turn on your telly, and watch the same thing as I am, Jfreeman.

243 million cars? thats almost 1 per person. could you imagine if a country like china had a percentage like that?

I believe they're at 300 million vehicles already. That'll treble as their people get richer, having left Communism in the dust, at least economically.

The thing is, it's all very well for us to tut-tut emerging economies, and tell them not to duplicate our mistakes -- although I think the combustible engine was the single-most revolutionary invention for the common man in the past 150 years.

But why shouldn't they have a piece of the pie, like we do or did?

We're crazy. I have 8 cars left still myself, but they're not for keeping.

I remember you saying that, yes.

That's incredible. We technically have 3, but my car doesn't work and is in storage. 3 people, 3 cars. We used to own a 30-foot boat. Par for the course in America.

@Everything---I believe the world population is about 52% women, and 48% men, so we're outnumbered anyway.

Yep. That's the world norm. This is why it does my head in when certain people say we women should be called "minorities". Ugh.

Need to find somewhere where its like 3:1 women:men. Get on the Google!

Eww. A boatload of women. How ghastly. Like being in boarding school all over again.

I want to go to brazil too, lets have a RWG party there.......

I'll take you all to the Yacht Clube do Rio de Janeiro! I know the guy who set ups the orgies.

Colors.... Definitely browns... pale seems to be my preference to darker, and for some reason, I really don't like PAMs on black straps (although I would wear a Radiomir on black as a dress watch)

You MIGHT want to check out that PAM SS bracelet thread, where I repost what I had to go through to make the bracelet work on my PAM 111h.

Basically, one takes pliers and gently turns the "wings" to a 30 degree angle downwards. Then they should fit. Use caution!

Anyway, I'm glad you still need browns. I also don't like PAMs on black straps AS MUCH.

I wanted to give you a rubber diver's strap + deloyant as an alternative for the Fiddy, but since it's not such a priority now, perhaps not. How about an ostrich, AS WELL as the brown straps? I rarely wear the one I have, though it's a nice change of pace. It's a Bob strap, dark tan with reddish bumps, obviously.

That's a deployant-only strap, though.

Do you like reddish browns? Or deeper browns? (edit: never mind, you like it "pale" brown. Gotcha!).

EDIT: OH! I never asked. What is your preferred size? I wear 115/75, which seem to be very small for men. The ostrich is on the tight side.

Just one of those days where everything that could potentially go wrong does. Wrong watch back received, 111h titsed up by the people supposed to be fixing it, new glasses looking utter [censored] on me, and me then seeing a pair of frames I much prefer which I wasn't offered when I ordered the new pair (so I ordered them as well so I won't have to wear the new pair for more than a few weeks) and, still no luck getting a reluctant customer to pay for work done with non-rubber cheques. Oh well, new watch, which I'll get a shot of tomorrow (maybe even with my new Mikli frames and Givenchy shoes ) and things could be a heck of a lot worse

Tomorrow will definitely be a better day.

And you sound worse than my mother with your Gucci shoes and Versace frames. Sheesh!

J/K. You should see me bang on about my handbags...

I'd really like to see some Steel bracelets on those PAMS.

How's the quality of the bracelet?

Here's what I had to go through before installing my beautiful Davidsen PAM bracelet.

http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?s=&amp...st&p=317975

However, I rarely wear the bracelet on the watch I "settled" onto it, one of my two Andrew PAM 111hs, because, well it's gorgeous but it looks masculine on me. I think I would feel the same even with the tapered version.

PICS:

If anyone would care to identify the PAM model number, I'd be grateful

PAM 029a, with tuxedo dial if memory serves. YAY!!

Apart from being a bit swamped these days, I wanted to wait to see what PAM you finally settled on, so I can send you those straps. Me So Horny is a given, but you let me know what colour you want, and I'll include a few.

The tux dial makes it slightly more intricate a decision than otherwise, so think about it! And I am so sorry you had a bad day. *hugs*

wonder if they will do a titanium version

Saw this in my inbox, but though I read a few comments above, I didn't know if someone had posted a pic:

Is this it?

Doesn't look as nice as the original pic, 16 pages worth of posts ago!, earlier:

Specs:

MOVEMENT: Asia Valjoux 7750 (28,800bph)

CASE DIAMETER: 42mm

THICKNESS: 13.4mm

DIAL COLOR: Blue Dial with Stick Markers

CASE MATERIAL: Solid Stainless Steel 316L

BRACELET: Thick Resilient Rubber Strap (Dust Repelling) with buckle with insignia

FRONT GLASS: Sapphire Crystal with Double AR

BACK GLASS: Solid Case Back with detailed engraving

BEZEL: Uni-directional Bezel

HACK MOVEMENT: Yes

CLASP TYPE: Normal Tang Buckle

DATE INDICATOR: At 3:00 position (with Day indicator also)

GMT HAND:

OTHER REMARKS:

Water Resistant

Rotatable Inner Bezel set via 4.00 pusher sleeve

Another made with a genuine as sample: Exact size 42mm and all markings are correct!

Great inner bezel construction

Price: 348 USD

Here's a shot of me wearing my halloween costume @ my friends party. Good for a laugh I got ridiculed for having AIR FORCE all over the flight suit instead of NAVY. So all you TOPGUN junkies no need to rip on me.

HOW DID YOU DO GET THE KILMER CHIN SO RIGHT!

Awesome, Sulone88. Simple, easy, but spot on!

Does he/she samba well?

I can GUARANTEE you he/she/it does!

I have a standing invitation to Rio from my friend who deals in holiday apartments there.

Apartamentos de temporada. I know them well.

I should really take him up on the offer soon.

GO! You'll love it. I'll PM you tips up the keister.

P.S.: Amongst (young) high society in 2007, there were 3 places which were MUST-gos this year: China, the Bahamas, and Brazil.

If you didn't go, you weren't cool. I guess I am not cool.

Who are YOU to tell ME I'm not sexist?!

..I meant my *cringe* was sexist.

LOL!

Here's a little cheat sheet about sexism:

1- Do you look at women as you would a car, for looks or for function alone?

2- Do you wish women would stay away when really important things are being done?

3- Do you think women are "less complete" beings as compared to men?

4- Are you just more comfortable around men and male-driven interests, and are resentful when women come by?

Then you ARE GAY!!!

Just kidding. This time, not "maybe".

These above are sexist thoughts, which few Western males can get away with espousing.

Some women go further, but really, this above for me is the important stuff. Being told that women talk too much, shop too much etc. for me, is true.

Why should it be sexist to say the truth?

..Fair points, but I have to admit, I sometimes stumble upon a game on TV and I go "OOOH Football!" Only to go "..awww.. -sigh- WOMEN.." ..usually I have to see 3 or 4 players before I can decide if they are male or female. *cough*Voronin*cough*

I say the same thing about the Portugal side!! They all look like women...with really long greasy hair.

..and as an aside.. The first WC I remember, and what really sparked my interest in the game, was Mexico '86. I remember Kinder eggs

Oh I love Kinder eggs!! Too bad most Americans have NO clue what Kinder eggs are.

with those little green and white sombrero-wearing mexican mascots, I still have a few around somewhere. ..my Liverpool-supporting cousins MADE me choose an English team to support the following autumn. I could not choose Liverpool, and I liked the Arsenal jerseys.

LOL, cool. I'm a Spurs supporter because my granddad was, and he took me to WHL when I was a little girl. But I'm a Fluminense supporter because they had a cute tradition of putting powder on their faces.

Who's to say why one chooses what one does?

I'm supposed to be working on stuff and this was supposed to be a quick reply...oops....I really have to go.

No, it was a really good reply, with informative stats, and a hand-on-heart opinion on alternative fuels.

I liked this bit.

"But the number of motor vehicles in Brazil doubled between 1990 and 2003, with a leap from 18 million to 36 million in total."

I guesstimated above that there are about 20-30 million people who can drive in Brazil.

As you can see, that would more-or-less go along with the amount stated above of old and new CARS which, thank God for Brazil having opened up their economy*, they had a buying spurt of enormous proportions these years.

DOUBLED! Imagine that in the US today.

EDIT: I Wikied how many cars there are in the US of A. I almost died.

"Total number of vehicles

According to the US Bureau of Transit Statistics there are 243,023,485 registered passenger vehicles in the US. Out of these roughly 243 million vehicles, 136,430,651 (56.13%) were classified as cars, while 91,845,327 (37.79%) were classified as "Other 2 axle, 4 tire vehicles," presumably SUVs and pick-up trucks. Yet another 6,161,028 (2.53%) were classified as vehicles with 2 axles and 6 tires and 2,010,335 (0.82%) were classified as "Truck, combination." There were approximately 5,780,870 motorcycles in the US in 2004, which accounts for 2.37% of all registered passenger vehicles."

243 MILLION passenger vehicles, versus Brazil's 36 million. WOW.

You made a point about consumption. It's not because Brazil has a smaller population. It's because Americans have an easier time of getting to the middle-classes, at least. That wasn't the case in Brazil. As they get richer, you will see 36 million turn into 70 million. Wait. You will see. 10 years.

This is also a function of opening up their market. I mentioned this in a previous post, but it's true of the telephone industries, which previously were state-owned, controlled. Once they opened the market, even the poorest person could have a pay-as-you-go mobile/cell phone, which revolutionised communications in Brazil.

More communication means more money. More money means people need to go places, without being at the mercy of public transport. Since Brazil is actually larger than the US (lower 48), they cannot use bicycles. On top of everything, it's dangerous, crimewise, and suicidal in that heat.

Are they a model of a "green" country? Not on your life. Recycling is something for rich white people in Leblon.

They turned to alcool because it was cheaper, and more self-sufficient, not because their consciences told them to.

It's actually a great point of nationalistic pride that they are in this state, today. I'm always leary of nationalism...because if you dare to attack Petrobras (which they call "a national patrimony"), you are seen as a loon. And giving anyone that much of a free hand, breeds corruption, AT BEST.

*They have the closest thing economically in the whole of South America, including Chile, to a free market one. Previously, they had a weird, quasi-controlled/quasi-capitalist economy they mislabelled as "Capitalismo selvagem", wild savage capitalism. Argentina is about 20 years behind the times -- having a few good years where everything is rosy, followed by a collapse in their economy. This cyclical mess is because THEIR economists did the same thing Brazilians did for years -- they put their fingers into the pie, and tried to control it, instead of just letting it BE.

@Everything: LOL. You're not that desperate to get laid in Norway are you? Sure. Go to Brazil! The Gisele B

God, I love this thread. Since my sport of choice is soccer, but live in the USA, I miss the utter UTTER hatred certain football club supporters have for each other -- and it's worse in the lower leagues! Baggies v. Wolves = yikes.

So when I see Americans going at it, baseball-wise, I see that spark of antagonism all over again. YES!

GO SOX!! YANKEES SUCK STEINBRENNER'S T1TS!

Thursday to Friday Wristies?? Why not! I'll play along...later. *g*

So what's the attraction? Why has a man in late middle age suddenly gone gaga over fake watches? I wish someone would tell me (and let me have the cure!)

Welcome to the forum, Brightight. You wrote a great semi-intro post; thanks for your honesty and comic timing!

Now, to answer your question -- if you don't know, and presumably you've lived with yourself a long time , I cannot know either.

My guess would be that a whole world of possibilities, choices and undreamt of situations arose when you got that cheapie Breitling, and it fired up your imagination!

And the imagination is the key to humanity, says the dimestore rep watch forum member.

Here's one to start the ball rolling:

"Pfffffffff!

We're not pansies like the boys from Austria, we just twist that ring off of there with our hands. Or our teeth, as necessary."

Great idea, Diesel! My nomination for all-time funniest RWG thread:

Cornerstone's

Behind the Music: RWG - a secret look behind the scenes of rwg.cc

http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?s=&amp...st&p=335539

Beautfiul. I am happy that it worked out for you. It looks wonderful and i am sure you will get a lot of comments in the future.

Thanks for reminding me of this thread, Fendi. But isn't this always the way of the world?

A person has a problem, posts it, and people flock to read and reply. But another thing arrives, in perfect condition, and no rubberneckers pipe up.

Well, Jawo, I gold-starred you, but I was remiss to say that looks like a MIGHTY fine replacement! Congrats!

Yes, the engraving on the bridges still looks scratched, smudged, something, but not visibly so either. And you must've lumed it with UV light, because look at the difference in hands and markers, on the lume shot!

Just like TeeJay says, it's always the case that it's light blue on the markers, and green on the hands. Wonder why.

Great pics! Must've taken you much time to do.

hxxp://www.network54.com/Forum/353391/thread/1193885674/PAM111+-+Finally+posting+pics

Check this out - is this a DSN 111 on Paneristi without raising any suspicion, so far?

Wow, really, bad, very bad.

(After having clicked)

Oh right! I thought the person was selling it in that area.

Not that this is any the less awful, but whew. Fraud where no one is arguably hurt is one thing*. Fraud where people give you cash for your fake watch is another.

*Actually, that's not true, is it? What if someone is using this photo in a search one day, in order to buy one, etc. It's bad all around...

I know the photo quality is poor with the watch being (deliberately?) out of focus, but the sandwich seems to be thinner than the gen, the numbers too fat and misshapen (see the 6), the L SWISS MADE L too close to the 6 and the

Let's not forget my first (and probably best) WC - Spain '82 - the little squeezy orange mascot, Naranjito

I still have my Footix!

But euh...as the French would say...would you consider Spain a major European power? In 1982, especially?

I wouldn't. If they are, then Portugal should be too, then or now, and as they recently held a very professional EC, I'm sure they would be our greatest competitors for a bid.

Nice stadia they have too...gulp.

Worrying definitely. But still, rude to turn down a proposition I always say, so I'll go with 'your' place. Although you might find it hard to gain my attention should there be womens' beach volleyball on the TV

SEXIST!

No wait, that's just normal. Carry on.

What strange body-languge...it's almost as if the Prez is saying, "Heh...what a funny little critter! - wunner how it got past Security?"

As for Laura, "Let's see....If it's Monday, this must be Queen Elizabeth? George did say today was Monday, didn't he? And do I have to take off these damn gloves if we shake hands?"

I wouldn't venture to say what the Dear Old Bird is thinking about all this.

:lol:

I'll take a crack at it:

GWB: "Dagnabbit, Laura wuz right agin! Old trout really IS checkin' out if I polished ma shoes!".

LWB: "Do I look like Jackie Kennedy yet?"

QEII: "Cor blimey, his mum really should've pulled his ears out, like I ordered my servants to do with Charles."

I'm going to be a little sexist here..

It's only sexist if you believe women shouldn't be playing football, not that when they do, they play badly.

(That is, in your opinion, especially as compared to the male version)

Having a viewpoint which is based on a gender shouldn't automatically be qualified as sexist, IMHO. I resent when feminists try to make it out as such.

However, I've been around a few soccer-loving men in my time, where you can see that their references to women, their intelligence, their skills, etc. are an irritant to them.

That's when bells start going off in my mind.

So I'm watching you, Ape, I'm watching you!!

J/K! Maybe.

OK gotcha, agree on most things there, but you know, pffffff...bollix to political correctness.

Let's face it, Blatter is a loon, a bigoted corrupt loon at that - witness his suggestion on how to make women's football* more attractive to TV audiences (skimpy shorts ),

No way! I am going to have to agree 100% here.

But just to say that Lennart Johanssen was no better. In fact, he gave me the creeps. He very expediently criticised Blatter for the latter's remarks about making the game more "beautiful", as you say, with skimpy shorts and the like, but he himself came out with a similar remark after that.

That really caused a backlash in the female soccer community I can tell you.

As for a Scandinavian World Cup, I'd love to see it as would I'm sure Ape, Admin, Dani et al but let's be realistic, it ain't gonna happen. Have you actually been to those countries V? Never mind the infrastructure, do you know what their largest capacity stadium is? Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg only 43,000, Parken in Copenhagen 42,000, with the rest in the mid-20s. Nowhere near big enough. And don't say 'oh they'll just build bigger stadiums by then'. It doesn't work like that.

Been to each, including Finland (loosely but not factually part of Scandinavia, as you know). I believe even the Swedish league isn't professional, right? There's a technicality about that which escapes me.

I think it'll be England for the reasons I gave already, plus the fact that it's Blatter's official standby venue should South Africa not have everything in place in time for the beginning of 2010. Unlike Wembley they don't have the security of having an extra 3-4 year extension to complete the new stadia

Well, I'll tell you what.

Italy had it 1990. France in 1998. Germany in 2006. Which major European power is missing?

So yes, you could be right, DBR. In fact, I HOPE YOU ARE!

* I actually caught a bit of the recent women's WC and was pleasantly surprised - standard was much better than I thought, Norway were good value, the Brazilians a pleasure to watch, and the Germans ruthlessly efficient.....in fact, no different to the mens' game

I was "turned" on to the Women's WC in 1999 for the first time. My God, what a slog, except for the Brazilians with Sissi's free-kicks, and their dazzling individual skills.

The brazen, professional-minded Norwegians.

The magnificent Swedes, with their own brand of "total football".

The German ladies who just NEVER stopped scoring, even if it were 8-0 in the 89th minute, you get a sense they were gunning for 9.

And the US ladies who were, at the time, the total package for their gender. They were a joy to watch.

But guess what again?

What you wrote cannot be improved upon. It was perfect! And spot on.

Wow, that's the second time I'm in agreement with you. Your place or mine?

Did you go by any chance?

If it's the one I'm thinking, my mum went very briefly, since she had a jeweler buddy with whom she was to do the "show".

But, as you may know..., my dad isn't well, and therefore she couldn't do it. I myself never go to Auto shows, Boat shows, and the like, held a few blocks away at the Miami Beach Convention Centre.

Did you like it this year, Jfreeman? How were the crowd? Any nice pieces?

@Tazzman: LOL! Thanks for the laugh. Not mine.

BABY I LOVED YOUR RANT!

Sorry to hear about the lay off, though. Sounds like you're coping "fine". Loved "hope you get grounded", LOL. I'm using that later on, so hope you don't mind.

But no good rant goes unchallenged on any forum I have ever been on, in the history of the internet, so here's my challenge to:

"I'm going to have to do some research because I forgot, but one of the south American countries became energy independent a year or 2 ago."

Especially the bit about buying from Fords (as we call them in the UK).

The country you have in mind is, yep you guessed it, Brazil. Country of which I have probably most knowledge of outside the UK, the US, Germany, and Romania.

Not challenging your assertion that US oil companies shouldn't be doing more to have alternative fuels for combustible engines. My GOD I want them to SO BADLY, so very badly, I can feel it.

The sooner we get rid of our dependence on crude oil, the better it will be for all concerned in the West. The only people buying oil will be China and other developing nations who of course, can't afford to develop alternative fuels, but I'm sure Greenpeace activists will thunder and rail against them. Never mind! Bring on ethanol baby!! Give me a Prius!! ...or at least a really nice hybrid Mercedes.

But some years ago, I wrote an article where I rebutted a point made by an NPR reporter concerning Brazil's statement that they are now oil self-sufficient.

"Energy self-sufficient" as you put it, comes with strings attached. Let me explain:

Brazil has state-owned utilities which are extremely inefficient, and costly, as state-owned utilities tend to be becasue they are a monopoly.

In the 1970s, the military government bought its first nuclear power plant, without consulting their community of scientists if anyone actually knew enough about it, to run it.

No one in the whole of Brazil did. At least, not enough to keep it going, so it sputtered on and off for years, before closing down (after nuclear "spillages", eek...never much reported internationally...) in the mid-80s.

Here comes President Lula and suddenly he wants Brazil to have nicer nuclear reactors than just the Angra one. Well, 4 years after his mandate (correction), and even Angra hasn't reopened. Well, there are people working inside a non-working nuclear reactor, but of course, being civil servants since it's a state-owned company, they have a powerful union and cannot be fired.

I think I remember an episode on "Yes Minister" about a hospital which was open, and staffed to the gills, but with no patients, but I'll leave you to ponder this yourself.

Anyway, several nuclear reactors are in the works in Brazil, as they were in the 1970s, the 1980s, the 1990s, the early 2000s...ah, Brazil, the land of the future. And always will be.

But back to your rant about the oil companies. If you're still with me.

So, the NPR report trumpeted that Brazil is now crude oil-sufficient. Yay!

Subtext: If a third world country like Brazil (they're not but hey) can, why not the US of A? Must be those DAMN oil companies, the rich baskets!!

No.

This is why Brazil, specifically can provide 100% crude oil to is own people, without having to mooch from others.

Number 1:

Brazil has almost 50% less population than the United States. It's 170 million to 300 million people.

Number 2:

Brazil has about 60% of their population living in what would be considered grinding poverty here in the US.

EDIT: The point of these two being that less population, and LESS of that population being able to afford cars = less cars. Even in ghettos in the US, you see cars, or people at least know how to drive one. Not in Brazil.

Number 3:

To pass a driver's exam (age 18, like in Europe, not 15 like in the USA) even a learner's permit, you have to attend mandatory driving school classes, I believe 15 classes minimum, whether at state-run or private schools, which run you about U$2000. You didn't read wrong. Can you get around that? Sure, bribing the school. You then take your exam, which includes a very nice psychological section -- oooh, that impresses foreigners! You have to be mentality fit to drive in Brazil! Yeah right. But if you don't bribe the exam taker, you are failed. Oh, in big cities like Rio or SP, if you don't go to the suburbs, you'll be on the "take your exam" list for MONTHS. More bribing to get around that.

And do the 60% of these poor people have these moneys to get a driver's licence? No. Who does? The middle-classes and rich folk, which are about...10%? of the Brazil population.

Let's call it about 20-30 million people who can drive in Brazil, not all of whom are supposed therefore to have cars. Ah, but people then say that Brazil produces a record amount of cars per year. Sure.

Wanna know how many? About 2.6 million cars. Per year.

What is that, a good week for Chrysler in Detroit?

Number #4:

Brazil uses ethanol, or "alc