Insurreição no Brasil

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so The Donald must be thrilled that devotees of the “Trump of the Tropics” in Brazil mirrored the US January 6th insurrectionists, storming the Jetson-esque government buildings of Brasilia, falsely claiming the country’s presidential election had been stolen. The similarity with January 6th is no coincidence: MAGA Rasputin Steve Bannon and Trump cultist Jason Miller had advised Bolsenaro on election denialism.

After the Brazilian insurrectionists trashed the futuristic courts, legislature, presidential offices and mansion, 1500 were arrested, and await trial. At the time of the riots, rightwing ex-president Jair Bolsonaro was in that US home of retired fascists, Florida. He had traveled there before his successor was inaugurated, on a diplomatic visa. Now that he is no longer in office, that visa is no longer valid, and he is subject to expulsion and extradition.

More:

“The violent attack on Brazil’s government was months in the making. Here’s what you need to know,” Rob Picheta, CNN

 

“Brazil’s ‘Trump of the Tropics’ Stoked Riots—Then He Fled to Florida,” Emily Green and Roberta Fortuna, Vice

“Brazil: The code word used to invite protesters to a riot,” Hannah Gelbart, Juliana Gragnani and Ricardo Senra, BBC News

“America’s Trumpist export to Brazil: Election denialism,” Eugene Robinson, Washington Post

“Brazil’s failed coup is the poison flower of the Trump-Bolsonaro symbiosis,” Julian Borger, The Guardian

“Bannon on Brazil riots: ‘I’m not backing off 1 inch,’” Meridith McGraw, Politico

Update:

“Brazil’s Supreme Court to investigate Bolsonaro over January 8 attacks,” By Mia Alberti and Marcia Reverdosa, CNN

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Title via Google Ttanslate. Video: Channel 4 (UK)

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Brazilian Longboard Dancing

“The Girls of Guanabara,” a short film by Brett Novak, featuring the longboard dancing skills of skateboarders Sara Watanabe, Ana Maria Suzano, Beatriz Gavelak, and Teresa Madeline in Brazil. h/t: Jason Kottke

Guanabara Boards website

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Aos Pés da Santa Cruz

“Aos Pés da Santa Cruz,” written by José Gonçalves and Marino Pinto, performed by Baden Powell and Dulce Nunes, 1971.

More:

“Dulce Nunes, Bossa Nova Star of the 1960s, Dies at 90,” Michael Astor, New York Times

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Saving the Amazon’s Soul

Brazil backed out of hosting UN climate talks after the election of reactionary President Jair Bolsonaro, an alternative climate conference is taking place In the heart of the Amazon rainforest, in a region known as Middle Earth. A Guardian video.

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The tallest tree in the Amazon

Toby Jackson of the University of Cambridge, took part in an expedition to find the Amazon’s tallest tree in remote northern Brazil.

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Boca do Céu

“Boca do Céu (Mouth of Heaven)” by Ava Rocha, recorded in 2015.

Ava Rocha website

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Lochte Wins Olympic Gold In Frat Boy Moves

Ryan Lochte, champion Olympic swimmer and America’s Sexiest Douchbag, is in the news, but not for winning his 12th Olympic medal in Rio. He went to a party at Rio’s Casa França with swim team pals Jimmy Feigen, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger and they got drunk. On their way back to the Olympic Village in the wee hours of August 14th, they had their cab driver stop at a gas station in Rio’s Barra da Tijuca neighborhood so they could take a pee. The restroom door was locked, but boys will be boys and nature abhors a full bladder, so they broke down the door and trashed a soap holder, a mirror, and a “Please Do Not Enter” sign. Two impatient athletes peed against a wall. In other words, just another boys night out for privileged American jocks.

But this didn’t go over so well in upscale Barra da Tijuca. An armed security guard appeared, and the drunken bros paid about $51 toward the damages before their taxi was allowed to pull away.

Ryan Lochte (“So Sexy, So Dumb“) had a short-lived reality TV show called What Would Ryan Lochte Do? In this case what he did was lie, as any spoiled frat boy would. When the teammates got back to the Olympic Village, they claimed they were robbed of $400 at gunpoint by crooks masquerading as police, and Ryan Lochte even told that lie to his mother.

This all fell apart when security video surfaced showing that the four had their wallets when they passed through metal detectors on their return to the athletes village. Surveillance footage from the gas station even showed them breaking down that door.

Swimmers Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were pulled off a US-bound plane in Rio on August 17th and questioned by police. Teammate Jimmy Feigen was forced to pay $11,000 to a Brazilian charity before he was allowed to leave the country. And Ryan Lochte, in the true spirit of “I’m-a-celebrity-get-me-outta-here,” left Rio on August 16th, before any of that happened.

So after the 2016 Olympic Games observed their closing ceremonies, the people of Rio remember how America’s spoiled millionaire athletes trashed their city and its reputation and taxed its already overburdened justice system. And total bro Ryan Lochte went back to his 130 pairs of shoes, hip-hop-tropical-frat-boy wardrobe, and a T-shirt that says “I am Ryan Lochte. Google Me.” Only now when you Google “Ryan Lochte,” you’ll get the word “liar.” That’s one Lochte Olympic record that will never be broken.

Naná Vasconcelos, 1944 — 2016

Brazilian percussionist Naná Vasconcelos, an eight-time Grammy winner, died in his hometown of Recife on March 9th. He was 71 years old. Mr. Vasconcelos performed and recorded with many artists, including Pat Metheny, Don Cherry, Egberto Gismonti, Gato Barbieri and Milton Nascimento, and introduced the berimbau to American audiences. The Afro-Brazilian musical bow has become more familiar as capoeira schools were established in many U.S. cities. The songs of that “fighting dance” are accompanied by the berimbau.

More:

“Naná Vasconcelos, Daring Brazilian Percussionist, Dies at 71,” William Grimes, New York Times

“Remembering Naná Vasconcelos, renowned Brazilian percussionist,” Kierran Petersen, PRI

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