Odd

The kid can dance

By Peter Krupa | Published: February 7, 2010

Julia Lira

Can a 7-year-old be Rio’s Carnival Queen? A Brazilian judge is thinking about saying “no,” on the grounds that it sexualizes children. Her father, on the other hand, said, ”Any man who looks at a 7-year-old child and feels any sort of excitement should go see a doctor.”

He kind of has a point. Just let the kid be a kid, and I bet everyone will have a great time. On the other hand, while I’ve never been to Carnival, I have the impression that sexual debauchery is kind of the whole point. On the other other hand, can a 7-year-old really dance samba for eighty minutes? Try doing it for 10 minutes. I dare you.

Apparently the Brazilians are pretty hardcore about introducing controversy to their celebration:

The competition among the 12 top-tier samba groups is fierce, and the winners are hailed by fans across Brazil. Viradouro, which won the title in 1997, is no stranger to controversy. In 2008, a judge blocked the group’s use of a dancer dressed as Hitler on a float loaded with naked people representing Holocaust victims after the display caused an international outcry.

The same people went on to produce a very successful musical.

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Modest proposal

By Peter Krupa | Published: February 5, 2010

There was some downtime in Honduras’ National Congress (CN) the other day, so MP Nora de Melgar got to thinking about how small the CN’s facilities were for her and her 127 fellow MPs. She spoke up:

In a verbal motion, she proposed to the CN chair that they begin studying the possibility of moving the National Congress building to a piece of state land in the Támara Valley, stituated between the National Penitentiary and the Santa Rosita psychiatric hospital.

I highly recommend that all legislatures of the world consider something similar, as it significantly shortens everyone’s morning commute. In the end, however, the Hondurans decided to just build a footbridge connecting their headquarters with the Central Bank, which is more what you would expect from Congress.

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Payback

By Peter Krupa | Published: February 5, 2010

Remember that Mexican lawmaker who made horribly racist comments about Haitians because he was forced to “donate” part of his government salary to the relief effort? Turns out, he offended some people, and now his party has kicked him out.

Also, a Haitian with a fine understanding of public relations disasters dropped by “El Chunko’s” office to pay him back the $2,400 of his salary that had been sent to Haiti.

I’m guessing the money was accepted with mixed feelings.

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Porteños mount up

By Peter Krupa | Published: February 3, 2010

Source: total13

Now here’s a plan I can get behind. The Buenos Aires municipal government is going to offer its 120,000 employees subsidized loans for buying bicycles that they can ride to work. The loan program is part of a larger plan to get 5% of the city’s 6 million commuters (300,000) to start biking to work. So far, only about 30,000 to 80,000 do so.

The hope is that by setting a good example, the municipal government will inspire private companies to offer cheap bike loans to their employees, as well as to provide bicycle storage areas and shower and locker rooms for the sweatier types.

The loan subsidies are part of a larger plan – the Plan for Sustainable Mobility – that includes the construction of 100km of urban bike lanes, to be completed by the end of this year. The first 25km will be inaugurated by the end of this month. The bike lanes will cost the equivalent of about US$26 million.

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“They look so much alike”

By Peter Krupa | Published: January 29, 2010

Racist.

A Mexican congressman and radio host took an early lead for the Asshole of the Year Award when he hated on Haitians for being black. Said Ariel Gómez León, a.k.a. “El Chunko”:

“In the media, for example on television, we see the faces of the people when aid is handed out. They’re not faces of need – more like the faces of insatiable abusers… Since they’re all so black and they look so much alike, they should be marked with permanent ink so that they don’t get a second helping; the ink has to be white, since the ink used by the Federal Electoral Institute wouldn’t be noticed because they’re so black.”

Gómez was apparently annoyed because the government deducted part of his salary as a congressman to send aid to Haiti. He now says it was a joke that got picked up on an open mic.

But come on, Gómez, tell us how you really feel.

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Open mouth, insert pork

By Peter Krupa | Published: January 28, 2010

Hot.

The Argentine press is abuzz with remarks by President Kirchner describing the consumption of pork as a boost to the ol’ sex life: “Eating roast pork is better than taking Viagra,” she said, apparently while in a rather jocular mood.

While I agree with Madame President on the sensuous nature of roast pork, I tend to think of it as a replacement for, rather than a precursor to, boning.

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  • DAILY LINKS

    • The Nation has a long, wonky, wonderful article on Mexican maize cultivation, the effects of NAFTA, and the dangers of genetically-modified seeds. Author Peter Canby backs up his excellent writing with piles and piles of meticulous research. Not to be missed. [link, via SM] (Image from Joel Penner.)

    • Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas ended his hunger strike yesterday after 134 days. Farinas decided to end his strike after the Cuban government said it would release political prisoners rounded up in the "Black Spring" crackdown of 2003. Get well soon. [link]

    • The Uruguayan selection, which has made it to the quarter finals of the World Cup, just received a shipment of half a ton of fine cuts of beef for the mother of all asados in preparation for a contest against Ghana on Friday: "450 kilos of lomo, 200 of entrecot, 75 of vacío, 75 of colita de cuadril, 150 of ojo de bife and 50 kg of picaña." [link]

    • Hitmen have assassinated the PRI candidate for governor of Tamaulipas State, Rodolfo Torre Cantú. Torre was gunned down along with six others at about 10:30 this morning on a highway on the way to a campaign event. Drug mafias are assumed to be responsible. [link]

    • From the days when coups were something of a regional sport, new documents detail a famous British ballerina's role in a plot to topple the government of Panama. The plan was to use her yacht to gather men and arms, then "land somewhere and collect in the hills." It didn't work. [link]

    • Mexico's Attorney General's Office has posted on its web site irrefutable evidence that gold-plated AR-15s and diamond-studded pistol grips are not nearly as cool-looking as they sound. The deadly knick-knack collection is said to belong to Valencia Cartel leader El Lobo. [link]

    • Two Brazilian ranchers were sentenced to 30 years in prison apiece for ordering the killing of an environmentalist nun: "Prosecutors said the pair offered to pay a gunman $25,000 to kill the 73-year-old [Dorothy] Stang because she had prevented them from stealing a piece of land that the government had granted to a group of poor farmers." [link]


    • This video of a kidnapping and car chase in Mexico is notable mainly for the bad-assitude of the TV journalists who were on this like white on rice. Well done, gentlemen.

    • The Economist takes a peak at the Mockus phenomenon in Colombia: "His moustacheless beard gives him the air of a Baltic pastor... He is financing his campaign with a bank overdraft. His supporters rely on Facebook and make their own posters; street vendors sell unofficial campaign T-shirts." [link]

    • Some cruise lines will cease traveling to Antarctica after this cruise season, as a ban on the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil goes into effect next year. The ban came after a 2007 incident when a Gap Adventures ship got punctured by ice and sank, causing a mess. [link]