Brazil - have you been there?

Yup, Brazil is big.

It's not much like America.

If you seek out some of the weirder concoctions, e.g. pau do Indio [Indian's dick], you can get smashed for next to nothing.

That fuel thing - cars over there run on alcohol, which, as Tracer says, gives the air a really cloying feel.

Street crime is an absolute pain in the arse. I got mugged three times when I was over there, and it does colour your view of what is essentially a wonderful country.

i am even envious of people who have been to the restaurant of the same name on Oxford St

I suspect its quite americanized, in a sense that it would've absorbed US culture through its proximity to it but also its a young country, in a way that the US is. The point abt violence is something that prob repeats itself in other cities that have these very pronounced contrasts such as johannesburg (that's what i get from reading abt it, never been there). Its very obvious what the areas to avoid at all costs are (or the ones where you just drive by and not walk) if you live there long enough but naturally not so if you're a tourist. but this could apply to certain US cities, i dunno...

The soaps are great, btw: they last 9 months each and there's 3 of them broadcast one after the other -1 episode broadcast every working day, lasting an hour each - the beeb wouldn't get away with that...all of them are like a very big movie, and it all ends happily in the end. The concept of growing with a set of characters like you have here was a bit alien to me at first. also, unlike the US, many of these actors will star in Brazilian movies too.

I guess you might try cachaca , its the drink made from sugar cane (if i'm not wrong, its sold in europe as caiprinha, I'm sure you know but its my only drink related bit of knowledge you see!).

this should be some music stuff here...I think david tudor and john cage played a show in the late 60s and its prob the inspiration for tudor's 'rainforest' piece. not sure abt nam june paik tho'.

Violence: being mugged is a terrible downer, but it's not as bad as being beaten up, which is always a possibility on a drunken Friday night in England. I was mugged over there 3 times, as I said above, but was never harmed. The muggers want your watch and that's it.

But that really is the only downer of living in Brazil.

On the positive side, there's music, football, beaches, climate, lively / lovely people etc etc

The soaps are indeed extraordinary. I heard a stat when i was over there that the highest ever TV audience figure was for the final episode of a soap and not for a football match, which I find incredible.

Waxyjax, I'd say give yourself time in SP and Rio and don't spread yourself too thin. Foz do Iguacu is a fair distance from SP and Rio. An alternative would be a tour of the Northeast, including Salvador and Recife, which are sizzlingly exciting.

The airlines all do airpasses - flat fee for five internal flights - which works out incredibly cheap given the distances involved.

Brazil didn't feel it was too Americanised to me. It's a fascinating culture, half Western, half something else altogether. Food and beer are dirt cheap. All in all, my experiences of Brazil have been nothing less than fantastic.

Well, I am next month. What should I do? Where should I go? I've got about 10 days and am thinking about just slowly taking in Rio, but if there's one day (or two day) trip I should make, what should it be?

when i was eleven i thought it was awesome, it could possibly be a bit "touristy" but i don't know because i didn't notice things like that at that age, i just remember the waves being the biggest i'd ever seen, and green lush little inlets and etc

http://www.welcomeargentina.com/paseos/cataratas_iguazu/4.jpg

I'll be back by 4/15.

Not always. My uncle's colleague was robbed then beaten severely. Right on Ipanema Beach.

Spencer, make sure you try Acai but served really cold with crushed ice and granola. You'll need it to keep you going all day and all night.

I recommend a juice bar (you find them on evry corner) called Baby Lanches, but I can't remember the exact address. Its like 3 minutes from the beachfront and on a road off Rua Domingos Ferreira which is in Copacabana.

have fun, spencer!!!!

a 20 minutes walk is not far!

www.discoteca-help.com

note: i haven't actually been there or to even rio myself, but i hear it's way on the mark if you wanna like bargain and pick up a mulatta cutie for under 60 euros. why the f do i know this?

is what i meant to say

great outcome but scary how close it was relative to first round and polls

Incredible news. Congratulations to Lula and the people of Brazil.

Northeast #Brazil rn pic.twitter.com/AE0ZeINFP9

— Abier (@abierkhatib) October 31, 2022

that's actually footage of split.

https://www.newsflare.com/video/389053/fans-of-croatias-hajduk-split-celebrate-clubs-70th-anniversary-with-spectacular-fireworks-display

🤣🤣

lmao he waited until the morning to check there wasn’t a coup first (he was up and tweeting about football when the result was confirmed) https://t.co/b5Jo1ORMfb

— the uk press cover for serial groper nick cohen (@wariotifo) October 31, 2022

He was actually waiting until his advisors woke up in the morning and told him it was ok to do so. Tweeting only after most major foreign leaders had already done it.

Kieth won't take a dump until he's focus grouped it tbf

meanwhile i would advise Lula to take swift and permanent action to ensure Bolsonaro can never make a comeback

man some states changed the pace of how their votes are counted, and that threw me off a while. thank fucking god this is (starting to be) over.

btw NYPD screw you for deploying 4 cars and 10 police officers to finish a small party at a corner in Astoria at 8pm.

Nobody has heard anything from Bolsonaro or his sons yet, but his wife Michelle and him unfollowed each other

— Benjamin Fogel (@BenjaminFogel) October 31, 2022

Has he still not said anything as of yet?

So perhaps we may hope he is quietly giving up:

While Bolsonaro remained mute, key allies did accept the result in a sign that the populist’s power was rapidly ebbing away after four tumultuous years in office.

Silas Malafaia, a prominent televangelist who was one of Bolsonaro’s most vocal cheerleaders, tweeted: “The sovereign will of the people has established itself.”

Malafaia tweeted a quote from the British writer CS Lewis as his candidate’s defeat sank in: “It is not your business to succeed, but to do right. When you have done so the rest lies with God.”

The newly elected pro-Bolsonaro governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, also recognized Lula’s win, telling journalists: “The election result is sovereign.”

Another key ally, the lower house leader, Arthur Lira, said: “The will of the majority, expressed at the polls, should never be challenged.”

Even Sergio Moro, the pro-Bolsonaro judge who controversially jailed Lula in the lead-up to the 2018 election before taking a job in Bolsonaro’s cabinet, recognized the leftist’s victory.

“Thus is democracy,” Moro tweeted.

By Monday lunchtime the only hint that Bolsonaro might be prepared to accept defeat was a tweet from one of his closest allies, the evangelical preacher Damares Alves, in which she wrote: “We lost an election but we haven’t lost our love for our country ... Bolsonaro will leave the presidency in January with his head held high”.

José Roberto de Toledo, a political columnist for the news website UOL, thought it mattered little whether Bolsonaro conceded defeat or not.

“The senate has accepted [the result]. The lower house has accepted it. The electoral court has accepted it. All of the institutions have accepted it – and the military is quiet,” Toledo said, adding that he was rather enjoying a rare break from the president’s blathering. “Bolsonaro’s a poet when he shuts up,” Toledo said.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/31/brazil-election-bolsonaro-concede-reaction

Bolsonaro 81% in Miami lmao. What a shitty city. pic.twitter.com/XZuDT4urwO

— Justin (@jdabre11) October 31, 2022

the middle class to comfortably well off S American diaspora/ex pats in the US always seem to be big fans of fascism, both domestically and back in the "home country". Great set of lads.

It was ever thus. Older expats, I'll stress. I know a few younger ones who're naturalized citizens working for progressive causes.

Yeahh I have some relatives who emigrated to Brazil from Iran and later moved to Miami. idk how well off they still are but the last time I saw them one of them was spouting Fox News bullshit and the other was ranting about how universities are brainwashing our kids.

afaict the move to Miami precipitated their turn to fascism, don't remember it being an issue before that.

My Brazilian sister-in-law tells me Miami is full of wealthy Carioca law-and-order types who have fled Rio because the cops aren't killing enough people in the favelas to their liking.

you can just call them all sudestinos lol

being from the u.s. and kind of sheltered i was at first shocked to discover that many immigrants here were true believing chauvinists and white supremacists, even more hardcore than many americans. but now it makes a lot more sense. if you want to move here enough to make it happen you would most likely buy into what is a core part of the u.s.'s identity. also frantz fanon etc.

US numbers

https://s2.glbimg.com/OYRmbPZMixmJ9n9_IcLP_uEwibQ=/0x0:1200x5167/1000x0/smart/filters:strip_icc()/i.s3.glbimg.com/v1/AUTH_59edd422c0c84a879bd37670ae4f538a/internal_photos/bs/2022/J/B/MBhw75Q8qlYSdECrs8ow/3110eua.png

I think it's also hard for most non-Brazilians to understand what Anti-PT ideology has done in the last 2 decades... it's a constant talking point and battle for so long, since Lula's first try at election in 1989, but the 2000s and 2010s were really bad in turning people against them.

There’s a good number of Brazilians in Ireland and supposedly a lot of the newcomers in recent years have been anti-Bolsonaro. According to the Brazilian consulate 1% of the population is Brazilian (!). Anyway, they went for Lula.

BREAKING: 🇧🇷🇮🇪

🗳️ RESULTADO DA IRLANDA:

Lula VENCE na Irlanda

Results of Brazilian Citizens voting in Ireland (2nd Round):

Lula: 81.8%
Bolsonaro: 18.2%#Eleicoes2022 @eixopolitico @CentralEleicoes

— Next Irish General Election (@NextIrishGE) October 30, 2022

lmao at this dickhead from the first round vote

Andre Carlos Pereira Rodrigues (24), whose family emigrated to Ireland when he was eight-years-old, was waiting in line to vote for Bolsonaro.

“With the pandemic is hasn’t been great for anybody, but I believe in some of his principles and what he wants to do for the country,” he said. “Yes he can be a little bit, very forward in the way he speaks. He’s got a good intention, he knows the common people,” he said.

“It’s good to vote, so we come out to vote, let people know our voice,” he told The Irish Times.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/01/jair-bolsonaro-brazil-election-silence-lula

Pobrecito.

a cowardly non-statement because he knows he's got no one in his corner now

but unsurprisingly bolsominions are doing QAnon levels of deep reading into it and arriving at "he wants us to continue to resist"

I think it's also hard for most non-Brazilians to understand what Anti-PT ideology has done in the last 2 decades... it's a constant talking point and battle for so long, since Lula's first try at election in 1989, but the 2000s and 2010s were really bad in turning people against them.

Difficult to tell with all the far right insanity cross-pollinating around the globe but I feel this is being imported to Portugal (aimed at the PS government, which is nowhere near as left as Lula) in the same way US culture war talking points get imported to the UK.

Brazil's lame duck President Jair Bolsonaro, who has only averaged about 25 minutes of work per day since becoming the first incumbent to ever lose a presidential election, has been rushed to the armed forces hospital in Brasília with abdominal pain. https://t.co/q5GBCflqDt

— BrianMier (@BrianMteleSUR) November 18, 2022

It’s starting pic.twitter.com/akQm2maHS4

— L Ron Mexico (@LRonMexico) November 19, 2022

BREAKING 🇧🇷: Bolsonaristas are invading Congress en masse in Brasilia.

pic.twitter.com/6dh3rItJgH

— David Adler (@davidrkadler) January 8, 2023

Ugh, figures

horrible

CNN International going for a “lol it’s just like Jan 6” approach so far

It looks a lot worse. Congress, Senate, Supreme court, presidential palace have been trashed.

Looks like it has also been organised out of Florida

BREAKING 🇧🇷: Evidence suggests that the Brasilia insurrection may have been planned in Florida. Secretary of Security for the Federal District is in the USA and recently traveled to Orlando — exactly where Jair Bolsonaro is currently staying.https://t.co/bm0ZrqOaVQ

— David Adler (@davidrkadler) January 8, 2023

Not seeing whether Lula is safe at the moment?

Ok.

Worth underlining here that nobody is at work in Brasília today. President Lula is in São Paulo, Congress and the Supreme Court are in recess. There is no Jan 6 attempt to theoretically block a change in government, this comes across as merely mindless and performative vandalism https://t.co/rvR5Fcqkja

— Euan Marshall (@euanmarshall) January 8, 2023

Holy shit. A policeman arrives on horseback to contain the insurrection and the Bolsonaristas beat the horse and bloody the policeman to the ground. I am speechless pic.twitter.com/EhZZeTDq4M

— David Adler (@davidrkadler) January 8, 2023

This is sickening.

Ugh

Emergency state declared in Brasília, the national guard will act as security. 150 people were already arrested, we have identified a lot of names. Hope we also get all the organizers of this whole mess

LIVE FROM BRAZIL 🇧🇷 : Lula points the finger directly at Bolsonaro. Says that Indigenous peoples, black communities, the "left" has never led such an attack on the nation's democracy. It was the "words of the ex-president" that led to today's violent insurrection, says Lula. pic.twitter.com/7RiXK3eVme

— David Adler (@davidrkadler) January 8, 2023

Lula says agribusiness, illegal mining and illegal logging interests could be financiers of today's planned assault on government buildings by Bolsonarista cells.https://t.co/SFJRmysAIb

— Kawsachun News (@KawsachunNews) January 8, 2023

This is good not bad.

Lula’s Speech 🇧🇷: “Those people we call fascists invaded the three powers [Congress, Court, Presidency]. Like real thugs. All these people will be found and will be punished. Democracy demands that people respect institutions. These vandals who might be called Nazis.” pic.twitter.com/8CLDKUfDAF

— David Adler (@davidrkadler) January 8, 2023

After the Youtube Administration, Brazil has been Hegel-pilled https://t.co/Cs7oTAe0xq

— Vincent Bevins (@Vinncent) January 23, 2023

why, why couldn't Haddad got elected in 2018, whyyyy

he was my neighbor for a while while he was mayor of SP! poor guy, everybody used to protest in front of his building (some protests were valid! some were dumb, but ok. others were just horrible people angry because he created dedicated lanes for buses during his time as mayor 🙄)

<3

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/world/americas/bolsonaro-brazil-banned-office.html

to celebrate, play this as loud as possible:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvdKz4VPPq0

Great news!

I watched O Que É Isso, Companheiro? on yt today, for unrelated reasons but a good watch to celebrate this nonetheless.

ha, funny! not my favorite movie to be honest.

I'd celebrate maybe watching this:
https://archive.org/details/they-dont-wear-black-tie-1981-eles-nao-usam-black-tie-subtitled

or

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svh-lGcSDmU <- documentary on the beginnings of the labor movement of the steel workers in São Paulo led by Lula. no subtitles, but it's pretty chilling