Unfinished stadiums, labor unrest, massive protests, dengue fever – Brazil is having a heck of a time getting it together with just over a week to go before the start of the 2014 World Cup.

Workers were still scrambling to finish the stadiums in Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Cuiaba, Natal and Porto Alegre.  The Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo is supposed to host the opening ceremony and first match between Brazil and Croatia.  A hastily arranged test event over the weekend seemed to pass without disaster, but technically it is still under construction.  Firefighters still have not cleared some 20,000 temporary seats.  Despite this, Brazil’s president is putting on a brave face.

“We know we’re ready.  The stadiums are ready,” said President Dilma Rousseff.  “And the fans who already know these venues know they're modern, comfortable and safe.”

In Porto Alegre, health, education, urban sanitation workers went on strike demanding salary hikes of about 20 percent.  The city offered 2.5 percent, and then upped it to just over 6.25 percent, but the Union is rejecting that offer.  Looming over it all is the threatened strike by Federal Police.

The city of Campinas, about 100 kilometers out of Sao Paulo, is spraying to kill mosquitoes because of a Dengue Fever outbreak.  The nasty disease infected 32,384 people this year, which is almost three times worse than the last bad year in 2007.  Dengue fever is like chronic influenza with severe headaches, muscle and joint pain, vomiting, and a rash – and in the rare, worst cases it can be fatal.