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.
The next get-together will be on Sunday the 21st 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).
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. (more…)
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. (more…)
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.” (more…)
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. (more…)
