“Alstom Chipped In to Toucan Slush Fund”: The Folha Dredges Up The Spreadsheet

Arena Pública reproduces the report from the Folha de S. Paulo today: Contributions from Alstom (above, CEO Kron from the home office in France, here for some contract signings) found their way into the off-the-books campaign funds — caixa dois, which as former small child during the fall of Nixon I think is best translated [...]

Rio: “The Militias Are Everywhere”

Military organizations lose coherence, contributing to the emergence of fascist and paramilitary loyalties among their personnel and undermining discipline, which puts the State monopoly over the legitimate use of force at risk –Michael Mann, Fascists
Milícias estariam atuando também no interior e na região metropolitana do estado: O Globo reports that Rio “militias” — heavily armed [...]

Traveling To Paranapiacaba By Esputniquim

I wasn’t kidding: I really am spending some time every evening studying the Old Tupi language, which is something of a semi-constructed language based on the linguistic observations of Jesuits more interested in converting souls to civilization than in pure scientific collection and preservation of the culture under study.
It has been used to evoke myths [...]

Cacciola Returns

Apologia pro vita sua and “witness to history” read of the week. A new edition hit the shelves as soon as the banker’s arrest in Monaco hit the news.

Luis Nassiif on the return of banker Salvatore Alberto Cacciola to Brazil, extradited from Monaco, after (appropriately enough) he slipped away from the safety of Italy — [...]

“Fair Play for Alstom”: French Exec Visits Tristes Tropiques

Presidente da Alstom vem ao Brasil e defende empresa de acusações de corrupção: “Alstom president travels to Brazil and defends his firm against corruption accusations.”
Valor Econômico reports today. Also announced was today was the signing of a R$750 million contract with the São Paulo subway system for automated systems of some kind on Lines 1, [...]