Posts under ‘Brazil’

When I think of Brazil, the phrase “blame it on Rio,” comes to mind. I picture rowdy crowds partying during carnival or the beaches populated by people with tiny bathing suits and a care-free attitude. Or–on a darker note–the country’s lawless favelas.
But the country appears to be a bit more straight laced when it [...]

The anti-corruption group Transparency International annually publishes a “corruption perceptions index,” which measures the level of government corruption in each country.
In the latest index, which was released in November, the majority of the 180 countries analyzed scored below five on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 10 (perceived to have low [...]

Bloggers are intimately familiar with the negative and positive aspects of giving their work away for free. Most follow a business model in which they receive little or no compensation until they lure enough readers to attract sponsors and/or sell their work as a book or e-book.
With tens of millions of blogs out there, it’s [...]

By Jennifer Lubrani
I am not superstitious. I especially don’t follow all those silly New Year’s rituals that so many perform year after year. That is until one member from the Colombian side of my family turned me into a New Year’s superstition believer.
You see, in Colombia, there’s a tradition that when the clock strikes [...]

There’s no question that Roosh Vorek, the author of South American travelogue A Dead Bat in Paraguay, is a “player” when it comes to the ladies. Before self publishing a memoir about his travels in Brazil and other countries, Vorek wrote Bang—“a collection of simple but powerful techniques, moves, and lines that [...]

As Rio prepares to host the 2012 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, much of the world is watching the picturesque city continue to struggle with gang and drug violence. 
A police helicopter was shot down with a high caliber weapon this weekend, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.
Much of the violence emanates from [...]

In his new book Bicycle Diaries, former Talking Head’s front man David Byrne writes about his perceptions of cities throughout the world as viewed from his bicycle. One of the cities he rides through and writes about is Buenos Aires.
Although I haven’t read it yet, the book is on my radar screen because one of [...]

Last week, Rio de Janeiro became the first city in South America to be selected as a site for the Olympic games. The games are not until 2016. Until then, I’m going to work on learning more about both Rio and Brazil.
Here are some interesting facts about Rio:

Until 1960, Rio de Janeiro was the capital [...]

On Friday, the International Olympic Committee will decide the location of the 2016 Summer Olympics. The front runners are Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.
Having an Olympics in a South American country in long overdue.
Brazil is set to host soccer’s 2014 World Cup. But it was the sole country to bid on [...]

Much of the world’s focus will be on climate change this week as Barack Obama and other world leaders discuss the issue at a United Nation’s summit on Tuesday, then later in the week at the G-20 economic conference in Pittsburgh. The talks this week will set the stage for multi-national global climate treaty [...]