O Caso do vestido
(Norma Couri)

Viral que explodiu na internet no fim de semana (27/2- 1/3) com 16 milhões de acessos e 11 milhões de mensagens pelo Twitter, em menos de um dia o vestido passou em importância à frente de guerras, estupros, sequestros, corrupções. "Me ajudem. Este vestido é branco ou dourado? Ou azul e preto?", a cantora escocesa Caitlin McNeill perguntou na quinta-feira (26). Internautas do mundo todo vieram ajudar. Qual a cor do vestido? A marca britânica Roman Originais da peça apresentada apenas como "O Vestido" teve de aumentar o estoque depois que a procura subiu em 347%. Informou a todos "é azul!", mas cogita confeccionar o modelo em dourado e branco, como algumas pessoas enxergaram a cor.

Na rádio CBN (sexta, 27/2), Carlos Alberto Sardenberg gastou um bom tempo apresentando versões desencontradas de ouvintes sobre a cor do vestido, e ainda ouviu um oftalmologista explicando que o fundo muda a cor e o olho humano cai em armadilhas frequentes. O portal G1 incluiu a polêmica cor do vestido entre as matérias mais lidas da semana. A edição de domingo (1/3) do Estado de S.Paulo ("Azul-Pretinho Básico?") e O Globo de sábado (28/2, "Ciência explica mistério do vestido") deram chamadas de capa e ouviram psicólogos,neurologistas, filósofos, sem chegar a uma conclusão. Truque de luzes. Truque de ilusão de ótica. Células divergentes que interpretam cores. Cones dissonantes de cada pessoa que induzem mais ao vermelho, ao verde ou ao azul.

O Fantástico fez um alentado quadro no domingo sobre as zonas de sombra calibradas pelo cérebro para perceber cores. A Folha de S.Paulo publicou a matéria em página quase inteira na rubrica "Ciência" (sábado, 28), "Debate sobre cor de vestido expõe sutis diferenças nos olhos e cérebros". O psicólogo e neurocientista da New York University, Pascal Wallisch, em artigo traduzido para o caderno "Aliás" do Estadão de domingo, conclui filosoficamente que devemos manter a mente aberta, "algo para lembrar da próxima vez que você discordar de alguém".

O enigma do vestido quebrou a internet e a nossa compreensão de como atrair leitores para os assuntos do dia, o que colocar na primeira página, qual o interesse real das pessoas no mundo inteiro. Nem dá para criticar o Brasil pelas banalidades e celebridades cotidianas porque a respeitadíssima revista de tecnologia americana Wired, com sede em São Francisco, entrevistou um neurologista para explicar que a luz que enxergamos durante o dia muda de cor e a compensação é feita pelo cérebro.

Até a melhor rede pública de TV do Mundo, a britânica BBC entrou na charada: publicou uma avaliação da expert Emma Lynch para concluir que a cor do vestido é azulou preta. Ou dourado e branco?

Muito antes, em 1945, a polêmica pré-internet, pré-computador, foi em torno do maravilhoso poema de Carlos Drummond de Andrade publicado em A Rosa do Povo. "O caso do vestido" virou peça de projetos escolares, como o da professora Lucy Nakamura (o vestido era preto). Foi encenado e declamado no Brasil inteiro. Serviu a dissertações de mestrado e a teses de doutorado em várias universidades, foi tema de discussão em mesas redondas, dissecado por semiólogos, psicólogos, críticos literários. Em 2004 virou filme de Paulo Thiago interpretado por Gabriela Duarte, Daniel Dantas, Renato Borghi , Paulo José e o excelente ator Othon Bastos, que já foi o cangaceiro Corisco no filme Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol, de Glauber Rocha, e hoje o conhecem apenas como o mordomo da novela Império. No filme, o vestido era rosa.

Nesses 70 anos que separam o vestido da Roman Originais em 2015 e o vestido de Drummond em 1945, vale a pena reler o poema para perceber o quanto empobrecemos, emburrecemos, perdemos o foco das discussões.

Germany: 800.000 refugees - and then what?

As the refugee crisis unfolds, Germany prepares for vast social challenges of accepting so many newcomers.

Stephanie OU I 09 Sep 201513:33 GMT
http://www.aljazeera.com

Berlin, Germany - Squeezed onto a small rubber dinghy with 12 other people, Mahmoud Kazazz held on tight to brace against the waves in theAegean Sea and prayed.

It was his third attempt to cross from Turkey to Greece by boat. On the previous two tries, the rickety vessel capsized shortly after taking off near Izmir.

Soaked through, shivering in his wet clothes, and exhausted, Kazazz refused to give up. As the motorboat rattled across the water, he had one destination in mind - Germany.

As the civil war in Syria worsened, he embarked on a perilous, dangerous and costly journey to reach safety and a beUerfuture in Europe.

Kazazz is one of the hundreds of thousands of people who have come to Germany in recent months - from Syria, Iraq, Libya, Eritrea, Somalia, and Afghanistan.

As civil wars and conflicts in the Middle East and Africa have sparked a mass exodus - what has now become the largest refugee crisis since World War 11 - Germany has opened its doors and borders to ali those searching for refuge and a safehaven.

Last weekend alone, 20.000 refugees arrived in Munich.

Europe's strongest economy is now expecting to take in about 800.000 asylum seekers by the end of this year: more refugees than the entire European Union took in last year - 626,000.

"The world sees Germany as a country of hope and chances," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a news conference last week.

"It became an everyday struggle for survival," Kazazz said of the deteriorating situation in Syria after the civil war broke out in the spring of 2011.

At first he wanted to go to the UK, but after he heard of thousands of refugees living in tents in Calais in France and how difficult it seemed to get to Britain, he opted for Germany instead.

He heard from friends that the country opened its borders to Syrian refugees. "I think I have better chances there to build a future. It's a strong economy and education is free. But most ofall it's safe and respects human rights," Kazazz said.

Other EU states, meanwhile, have refused to take part in allocation schemes, or like Hungary and Bulgaria, put up fences around their borders to keep refugees out.

"We are grateful that both German politicians and the public have a 'we can do it' attitude," Stefan Teloken, spokesman for UNHCR Germany, said.

A vocal part of the German public supports Merkel's opendoor policy.

Hundreds of people cheered, sang and clapped as refugees arrived at the ma in train stations in Munich and Frankfurt in recent days.

Locais welcomed them holding up posters that said "Refugees Welcome" and brought food, clothes, blueberry cake, balloons, toys and even baby food and diapers for the youngest of new arrivals.

In Munich, Germans donated so much that the police had to ask them to stop because they were overwhelmed with the sheer volume of aid items.

The football club Bayern Munich announced it is building a training camp for refugees, where it will offer German lessons to kids and youth, as well as football clothes and meals. At the next game against FC Augsburg on Saturday, each player will walk into the stadium holding the hands of one German child and one refugee child.

Despite ali the positive energy, however, some observers are questioning how the tens of thousands of newcomers, many of whom are conservative Muslims, will integrate and adapt to German society.

Currently, there are four million Muslims living in Germany, mainlyTurkish migrants.

"Now, hundreds ofthousands of Arabic Muslims are arriving, which makes a difference in terms of integration," Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere cautioned in an interview with DieZeit.

"We will have to prepare for changes everywhere: school, police, housing, courts and the health system," de Maiziere said.

However, the German government seems confident that a more diverse demography will bring new vitality into the ageing society.

"A large part of the 800.000 asylum seekers arriving in Germany this year will most likely stay long term," Teloken said. "Germany is now preparing for this to achieve a successful integration into German society by providing language classes, education and by creating job opportunities for them."

Currently, one refugee incurs a cost of about 13.000 euros ($14.500) per year - including the cost of food, healthcare, pocket money and housing, according to the Frankfurter AlIgemeine Zeitung.

If 800.000 refugees arrive in Germany, the cost will be up to 10 billion euros ($11bn) this year. At a coalition meeting between the main parties on Sunday, the government agreed to set as ide 6 billion euros ($6. 7bn) in 2016.

Furthermore, German industry leaders have come forwardand said they would provide refugees with job opportunities. The Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche for example announced he would start recruiting young and eager people in refugee centres.

But, not everyone in Germany is on board with the new refugee policy.

Horst Seehofer, chairman of the CSU, the Bavarian sister party of Merkel's CDU, has spoken out.

"We cannot take in ali refugees alone with 28-member states in the European Union. No society can endure this in the long run," Seehofer said.

The worry for some politicians is that Germany will not be able to bearthe financiai and logistical demands in the end.

The influx poses several challenges for local authorities. Some are concerned about housing shortages as the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East continue to drive refugees north. At the current rate, German authorities must build 300.000 new flats to provide housing to hundreds of thousand of new arrivals, according to the German Association of Cities.

Furthermore, local authorities are struggling to provide proper security as the arrival of so many foreigners has fuelled xenophobic opposition and some violence against them from right-wing groups.

Almost weekly, refugee camps and homes set to house new arrivals are targeted by arson attacks. Neo-Nazis and rightwing groups, especially in the east, have also protested against what they call an "Islamisation of the West".

Kazazz has a network of Syrian friends in Hamburg now - ali refugees from the civil war. He wants to learn German quickly to be abletofind ajob.

But he said it will take him and fellow refugees a long time to adapt to the new country and different culture.

"It was tough when I first got here because it's tough to get a job without speaking the language properly and I wasn't sure whether I'd fit in," Kazazz said.

He insisted, however, he is grateful to be in Germany "because I found peace and safety".

But: "Home is - and will always be - Syria."