Posts Tagged ‘Brazil’

Out of the approximately 2.5 million U.S. visitors to Mexico in the first half of 2009, at least 126 Americans died of non-natural causes, according to U.S. State Department statistics. The Los Angeles Times points out that, of these, there were: 36 homicides, and 22 drownings. The balance of the non-natural deaths resulted from accidents [...]

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 make it easier [...]

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 [...]

As Congress continues to debate reforming the health care system in the U.S., more Americans are going to other countries to seek medical care. Recent studies indicate that Mexico and other countries in Latin America have emerged as a prime destination for medical tourists. Some major players in the medical tourism industry include Mexico, Costa [...]

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 [...]

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 negotiations [...]

Before I read David Grann’s The Lost City of Z, I would have told you that the piranha was scariest fish in the Amazon. But Grann describes an even more fearsome fish–the candiru. It’s one of the few creatures in the world that can survive on a diet of blood. It feeds itself by burrowing [...]

September 16th is a special day for me. Besides being my birthday, it’s Mexico’s Independence Day. Yesterday, September 15th, marks the independence of: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Each one of these Central American country’s broke free from Spain on the same day in 1821. Chile’s Independence Day is Sept. 18th, while [...]

With all the hand wringing about the upcoming flu season by most major media outlets in the U.S., there’s been little coverage of the toll that the Swine Flu or H1N1 virus is currently exacting in Argentina and Brazil. Health officials in Argentina recently disclosed that the Swine Flu has killed 465 people. On Sunday, [...]