João Pessoa - Paraíba Paradise

Newsletter February 2010

epicurean — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 20:57:56 +0000

Paraiba Paradise Newsletter

The December get-together at Paradise Beach bar

It was another full restaurant and we had well over 85 people attending. Thanks to Glen and Lou for hosting the event and thanks to everyone who showed up.

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The next get-together

The next get-together will be on Sunday the 21^st February 2010 at Palm Club, Ave Cabo Branco, Cabo Branco, starting at 1pm and finishing around 7pm. This bar is about 150/200 meters away from where we had our last get-together at Paradise Beach bar and 400/500 meters from Ave. Pres. Epitacio Pessoa on the beach.

As always there will be a book and DVD exchange, so be sure to dig out all those old books you keep meaning to bring and swap. We hope to again have Lawyers attending to answer your legal questions, this will be confirmed in the reminder we will send out.

Here is a map showing where the Palm Club is located (the blue marker).

Plan club

Due to a number of reasons we have had to shelve this project for the time being. It seems pointless spending more time and money on this until we have the number of people to make it work. We will keep all the details of the people who have shown an interest, but we are still about 25 people short of the required minimum number for us to take the scheme forward.

Local news

Art Exhibition

Many of you will know Pauline and Terry Furnival from our get-togethers, but what most of you will not know is that Pauline is an artist and painter.

Pauline will be having an exhibition of her work in Manaira Shopping at the Praca de Eventos, starting on February the 20^th for 1 month, below is a copy of the pamflet for this event.

EXPOSICAO DE PINTURA

DE ARTISTA ( INGLESA )

PAULINE FURNIVAL

DE 20 FEVEREIRO A 20 MARCO

QUADROS DE AQUARELA,OLEO

E ACRILICO

PRACA DE EVENTOS

MANAIRA SHOPPING

CONTATO (83) 88580692

Items For sale

Don’t forget that on the website forum there is a section called “items wanted or for sale“, it is full of household items for sale from people moving abroad as well as things like bikes, boats etc. Don’t miss out on a bargain!

If you have any items for sale just send us an email and we will add them to this section, there is no charge.

Brazil defends controversial dam project

epicurean — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 16:30:26 +0000

Dilma Rousseff

Brazil has defended its decision to build a hydroelectric power station in northern Para state, saying it is being initiated after taking all necessary environmental precautions.

When completed, it will be world’s third-largest hydroelectric dam after Itaipu, which Brazil shares with Paraguay, and China’s Three Gorges dam.

But environmentalists and local residents say the project will flood an area of over 500-sq-km and destroy its fragile ecosystem.

On Monday, the government authorised the construction of the 11,233 MW Belo Monte hydroelectric power station to be built on the Xingu river.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s chief of staff, Dilma Rousseff, told a press conference Thursday the government has taken all necessary precautions ahead of the bidding process, which is expected to be held next month.

The dam will be built at a cost of about $20 billion and will be completed in 2014.

Rousseff, the ruling party’s candidate in this year’s presidential election, said the government will prove that ‘it is possible to generate electricity with full respect for the environment’.

In the same press conference, Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao said the project has been under study for 20 years and stressed that electricity generation ‘demands great effort, and at times, great sacrifice’.

The minister said Belo Monte ‘is the electricity-security guarantee the country needs’ to ensure ‘its future, its economy and job creation’ and that is why ‘there will be no turning back’ on the project.

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com

Brazil includes food security as constitutional right

epicurean — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:00:36 +0000

The Brazilian Congress has proclaimed food security as a new constitutional right of all citizens, along with health, housing, work, social security, and child protection.

The inclusion of food among Brazilians’ basic rights was approved in a legislative session Thursday in which Senate President Jose Sarney said that the country ‘now has the satisfaction of having a constitution with the world’s best social-rights provisions’.

Separately, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said he intends to send Congress a bill this year proposing that the far-reaching social programmes his government has implemented since 2003 be adopted as law.

According to the centre-left president, his goal is to ensure the preservation of social ‘conquests’ made during his time in office, which will conclude Jan 1, 2011, when he hands over power to the winner of the Oct 3 presidential election.

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com

Criticism over 7-year-old ‘queen’ of samba in Brazil

epicurean — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 11:00:40 +0000

Julia Lira, 7, dances during a rehearsal by the Viradouro samba school in Rio de Janeiro

She is the Shirley Temple of samba, a 7-year-old named to a coveted Carnival role normally reserved for barely clad models who have undergone more plastic surgeries than little Julia Lira has seen birthdays.

Naming the girl drum corps queen for the Viradouro samba group is raising eyebrows even in a city that has seen everything during the annual mega-party that begins next week.

A judge is considering blocking Julia’s participation. A state agency that defends children’s rights says she’s too young to take on a traditionally sexy role. But the girl’s father, who happens to be the president of the Viradouro group, says Julia is a natural who can easily samba through the 80-minute parade route in Rio’s sweltering summer heat.

“Any man who looks at a 7-year-old child and feels any sort of excitement should go see a doctor,” Marco Lira said before rehearsal this week. “She has the aptitude to be a drum corps queen — you’ll see it tonight. She has a seriousness inside of her when she is on the stage.”

At the delicate core of Julia’s case is the queen’s traditional role in Rio’s Carnival: that of sexy muse. Unlike other participants, she is usually not bare-chested and wears more than just glitter. But queen costumes would be considered revealing by any estimation.

Brazil has long had a problem with sexual exploitation of children, especially in the lawless Amazon region. Allowing Julia to be a drum corps queen “would increase the treatment of children as sexual objects in Brazilian society,” said Carlos Nicodemos, director of the Rio de Janeiro state Council for the Defense of Children and Adolescents.

“We’re not against kids participating in Carnival; it’s part of Brazilian culture,” Nicodemos said. “What we can’t allow is putting a 7-year-old girl in a role that traditionally for Carnival has a very sexual focus.”

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.

Julia’s fate is now in the hands of a family court in Rio. The judge examining the case, Ivone Ferreira Caetano, has declined to comment or say when she will make a decision.

Marco Lira said the judge requested information about the girl’s role, what time the group was scheduled to makes its presentation — now slated for just after midnight on Feb. 14 — and what Julia would be wearing.

At practice this week, Julia danced in a poofy, white miniskirt, sequined halter top and silver-heeled sandals, a tiara atop her head.

While the details of parade themes and costumes are closely guarded secrets in Rio’s Carnival, a Viradouro artistic director said Julia’s outfit would be suitable for a child.

“We’re taking the necessary precautions because she isn’t going to be a muse,” Edson Pereira said on the group’s Web site. “We can’t transform a girl into a woman, much less explore any sensuality.”

Just before Tuesday’s rehearsal, Julia was roughhousing with two other girls inside her dad’s office. She stopped playing only when her mother, Monica, told her it was time to get dressed for practice.

A gregarious girl with a toothy grin, she declined to say much, despite the coaxing of her parents and samba instructor. She didn’t like how her mother had fixed her hair and was in no mood to talk to a reporter.

Asked why she wanted to be the drum corps queen, Julia would only say quietly: “I’m happy because I like to dance.”

That much is clear.

When she took the stage in front of more than 1,000 people at the rehearsal, she lit up as she presented a bouquet of roses to 30-year-old Juliana Paes, a top Brazilian actress who served as Viradouro’s drum queen for five years. Once the beats from the drum corps erupted, Julia dove into her samba routine.

Beyond the question of appropriateness is whether a 4-foot-tall (1.2-meter) girl weighing about 55 pounds (25 kilograms) can physically withstand the dancing during Viradouro’s parade.

At the rehearsal, she was handed cups of water within 10 minutes of taking the stage and in 20 minutes started to look tired.

Her father emphasized that several people would be watching after her during the parade, that she would be able to rest and that every precaution would be taken to safeguard her health.

Regardless, some Carnival fans don’t see how Julia could be considered for the role.

“She is way too young to be parading down the avenue,” said Jaquelene Oliveira, a 19-year-old college student. “The role of the drum corps queen is to inspire the drummers to play hard for 80 minutes. It is an innately sexual role and to put a child in that position is wrong.”

Is your New Year’s resolution to find a new job? Then sign up for The Post’s Job Fair today!

http://www.nypost.com

Brazil Government Says No Decision Yet On Military Jet Order

epicurean — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:00:47 +0000

Saab's Gripen NG

Spokesmen for Brazil’s Presidential Palace and the Ministery of Defense said Thursday that they had not yet made any decision on a 36 fighter jet order that puts Boeing Co. (BA) up against Saab AB (SAAB-B.SK) and Dassault Aviation (AM.FR).

Defense Minister Nelson Jobim is currently preparing a report for president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the Ministry’s three choices, the Dassault Rafale F3 offer, Boeing’s F-18 Super Hornet and Saab’s Gripen NG multirole fighter jet.

The press office of President Lula said it has not yet received the report, which is not expected until sometime next week. Once the report has been received, the president will then call a meeting with the country’s National Defense Council to decide on the procurement offer.

Local press reports had put Saab’s Gripen in the lead until recently, when the more expensive Rafale was seen taking top pick.

Dassault Aviation’s press manager in France said the company had not received any official word from Brazil, and that it offered to sell the Brazilian Air Force a total of 36 single-seater combat Rafale aircraft early last year. The company did not mention its price offer, listed by the local press to be $6.2 billion.

No timeline has been given for buying the fighter planes, the government said.

The Brazilian Air Force will use the new jets to replace some older French Mirage planes, the Air Force said.

http://news.morningstar.com

João Pessoa - Paraíba Paradise

Newsletter February 2010

Paraiba Paradise Newsletter

The December get-together at Paradise Beach bar

The next get-together

Local news

Art Exhibition

Items For sale

Related Content

Brazil defends controversial dam project

Related Content

Brazil includes food security as constitutional right

Related Content

Criticism over 7-year-old ‘queen’ of samba in Brazil

That much is clear.

Related Content

Brazil Government Says No Decision Yet On Military Jet Order

Related Content