An Illustrated Census of Brazilian «Dirty Blogs»

Above, the blogosphere shreds the mainstream media. The Meme Pollution Meme An interesting sidelight to Brazil’s ongoing «bicho» scandal — Al Capone-level numbers racketeers corrupting politicians, police and journalists — has been the accusations of undue influence by a semi-organized faction of self-described «progressive» digital samizdat artists, known to their vociferous opponents as the Dirty [...]

Virada Cultural Paulista | The Second Life Effect

Why we avoided the Sambodian Virada Cultural Paulista | 2012, or, traduttores traditores. Neuza and I have not been consuming our fair share of Sambodian culture lately, owing both to ennui and to the odd work schedule of a traduttore traditore. We are also somewhat puzzled over the latest pet project supported by federal and state [...]

The Tupi Tabloid, Decline and Waterfall

Bicho de sete cabeças: Racketeer «Captain» Guimarães (left) with Rio mayor Cesar «The Naked» Maia (second from left), Carnval 2007. A steady drip of confidential criminal intel maintains the diversified gambling racketeer Carlinhos Cachoeira — «Charlie Waterfall» — at the top of the Brazilian newshour, 24-7. The vigorous Rashomon effect observed seems to flow in [...]

The Sousaphone Resumes

After a hiatus of several long months — and thanks to friends and colleagues both virtual and real for the support — I find myself more or less ready to resume my hobby of posting items of interest in translation for Anglophone and Lusophone readers. The latter I translate and post to O Bicho Preguiça, whose [...]

Musical Electric Chairs | Electricity Regulation in Brazil

AES Eletropaulo has just returned to us a crispy stereo and burnt-out microwave oven, both fried in a lightning strike or massive surge or something of the kind last month. Big Government made them do it. We filed a complaint with the company and receive a voucher in return for repairs services from any one [...]

The Dirty Business of Democracy | Lula Praises «Dirty Bloggers»

   Lula criticizes media, thanks “bloggers” | Exame magazine “The blogs” — what some wag among us gringos has dubbed the Commentariate — are now officially a suprapartisan trend in Brazil. Long professionalized by the political opposition and their guerrilla marketers, a core of mostly professionally written blogs and identifying itself as “progressive” is emerging in [...]

The Center Right Not So Resurgent | Sambodia

From the Diário do Comércio, a daily glocal yellow journalism hot sheet controlled by the São Paulo municipal political machine — now tending toward a breakaway party, the PDS, led by Mayor Kassab — a frank analysis of what the center-right and right needs to do to regain Power — the capitalization is theirs — in [...]

The DEMise of the PFL | Killer Kassab!

There has been a notable campaign recently against São Paulo’s mayor, who is abandoning the partisan alliance that elected him — PSDB-DEM-PFL — for a newly formed party under his own leadership, the PSD … dropping the Brazilian from the Social Democracy . Before his election as mayor, Kassab was known for his crudeness and [...]

DEMise | The Kassab Defection and the Sambodian Machine

The Estado de S. Paulo reports what we already know: São Paulo is run by a political machine, although the case in point is something of a trivial one. São Paulo, 15 – Appointed civil servants of the city of São Paulo are collecting voter signatures for the creation of the new political party of [...]

Eletropaulo | Federal Intervention?

High risk of explosions in series I was knocked flat the other day when the center-right governor of São Paulo came out and flat out said that our electrical utility, the U.S.-owned AES Eletropaulo — they have something to do with Duke Energy — flat out just won’t do. Alckmin and I have had our [...]