MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
“Car Wash” anti corruption team will work with Brazil's incoming Justice minister
Brazil's incoming justice and security minister Sergio Moro announced on Tuesday he was recruiting part of his team from the massive “Car Wash” anti-corruption probe that snared former president Lula da Silva. Moro said he would be a “fool” not to work again with people he had worked with on the Car Wash investigation as they “have already proven their integrity and efficiency.” Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rules“ Moro has been accused of being particularly merciless on the left -- especially with Lula.”
Nov 21st, 2018 - 05:21 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Well, well, well, isn't that a coincidence.......could it be because the PT was in power from 2003 to mid 2016 ? could it have anything to do with the “mensalão” (2007), or with the “Petrolão” (2014) ? Sounds like a conspiracy to prevent the 'toad' from becoming president.....says the poor, honest PT.
It seems to be the focus of the enlightened incorruptible new leaders emerging worldwide to embrace the judicial system to prosecute the thieving criminals that have consistently harmed leftist nations.
Nov 21st, 2018 - 06:44 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“enlightened incorruptible new leaders”
Nov 21st, 2018 - 07:38 pm - Link - Report abuse 0https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/icarly/images/4/4e/Sheldon-sarcastic-laugh-o.gif
There is NO business like the “DOUGH” Business!
Nov 21st, 2018 - 08:06 pm - Link - Report abuse 0https://i0.wp.com/www.humorpolitico.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Efeito-Cascata-Salario-STF.jpg?resize=580%2C412&ssl=1
[money of the masses] IS ALWAYS WELCOME!
DemonTree
Nov 21st, 2018 - 08:22 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Yes, but Sheldon would argue that there are many, such as Spock and Flash...
They even have their own website:
https://m.facebook.com/Raising-Incorruptible-Leaders-193559524341700/
@Chicureo
Nov 21st, 2018 - 08:38 pm - Link - Report abuse 0REF: “enlightened incorruptible”
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-__1Nr2MAIzA/T9APWqUizFI/AAAAAAAAKas/6UZpLe7dWbI/s1600/578511_260767724021266_1376203276_n.jpg
I'm with :o)), there ain't no such thing. And these 'anti-corruption' candidates usually turn out to be worse than whoever they replaced.
Nov 21st, 2018 - 09:19 pm - Link - Report abuse 0As a native speaker, I would have thought you, DemonTree, would understand the double irony... Conservatives are absolutely incapable of being corrupt, don't you know that?
Nov 21st, 2018 - 09:42 pm - Link - Report abuse 0As Pink Floyd sang: “we say we don't need no education, we don't need no thought control” ...yet your incorrect interpretation clearly shows that you do.
Should I remind to the treatise about “absolute power corrupts”...? Word of the day: IRONY
I had assumed you were trolling again, hence my replying with a gif. Was there supposed to be some deeper meaning?
Nov 22nd, 2018 - 12:03 am - Link - Report abuse 0Simple double reverse speak irony.
Nov 22nd, 2018 - 03:06 am - Link - Report abuse 0@DT
Nov 22nd, 2018 - 04:04 pm - Link - Report abuse +1So far, corruption is recognized [thank God!] but not yet not “OFFICIALLY” legalized - I guess. But once the Brazilian-Patience wears off; it would be perfectly “NATURAL & NORMAL” [a Status-Symbol in fact] to be!
https://i1.wp.com/www.blogdomadeira.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/charge_neo.jpg?fit=300%2C290
HOW MANY BELLS DOES THIS RING???
@DT
Nov 22nd, 2018 - 08:08 pm - Link - Report abuse 0(Cont. of “Dems take control...”)
Not sure what the Constitution says abt preserving nature, but the Ministry of Environment has so far, done a shitty job…e.g., the Amazon region. But on our land, being in an APP (Area of Permanent Preservation - green-belt around the city of SP), we had restrictions. Chopping down forest would only be approved if for a project that would benefit the area 'n not cause irreparable harm to nature. Every now ‘n again, helicopters fm the local environmental agency would fly over, to inspect.
Most of my mates from 2ndary schooling left Brazil, went back to the US or EU to do University, few stayed on. Many friends from the club, even those who didn't get degrees, got reasonable jobs because they were bilingual, as that was in big demand back then. Still is.
Maintenance is something which is never provisioned for…why waste money on it ? wait until the bridge becomes unusable (or collapses), put out a tender to build a new one, ‘n get bribes…only when deterioration reaches a point of making a bridge really dangerous, will the problem be addressed…and when it causes an accident, it’s always a “fatality” that no one could foresee.
The Mayor’s office is responsible for the maintenance of all the bridges, etc, and altho it's common to see trucks with high loads hitting the structures, I’ve rarely seen the damage (shattered concrete, rusty rebars in sight etc) being fixed.
The BNDES under the PT, became an instrument to obtain favour from foreign governments…(Lula's friends, only those aligned with the PT ). Why do you think Odebrecht always won the contracts ? Lula’s lobbying with those governments, in favor of Odebrecht, with pay-offs for all (including the foreign officials) suited everyone just fine. Everything was well-planned, nothing happened by chance. The secret conditions under which many projects were contracted, are still unknown, and VZ, BOL ‘n Cuba, have defaulted on many of the payments.
@JB
Nov 23rd, 2018 - 10:02 am - Link - Report abuse +1REF: “Odebrecht”:
With PT or without PT; these & the other crooks just can't [& never will] stop their “Money-Making Activities” - even if they really WANT to!!!
http://midia.gruposinos.com.br/_midias/jpg/2016/03/23/tacho_nh_2403-1390498.jpg
@:o))
Nov 23rd, 2018 - 03:20 pm - Link - Report abuse 0You may be right.........so what's the solution ? fight to release Lula and put the “anta” & the PT back in charge of the chicken run ??
So SP is good at checking up on the land, but the big states in the Amazon with most of the forest aren't. Ironic. I wish I had my own forest to live in, that would be amazing and if I was bored I could have a go at stuff like this guy:
Nov 23rd, 2018 - 06:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCKkHqlx9dE&index=13&t=0s&list=PLGnWLXjIDnpBBsdKZb-vy30o88SIxItp2 (turn on subtitles)
What sort of trees grow there, is there anything interesting?
It's kind of a shame most of your school friends left, but I suppose there were a lot of expats there. Did you think of going to Europe or the US, or is that what you would have done if you didn't get in to USP? And I bet being bilingual was even more useful back then because fewer people spoke English. Language learning isn't exactly great in the UK, but then it's not obvious which one we should learn.
Sounds like a shitty situation with the maintenance. A bridge collapsed in Italy this year and now countries all over Europe are worrying about their infrastructure. I suppose the problem is no one gets any credit for doing maintenance, but surely they do get the blame when things go wrong? Our government is not so bad; although the pot holes have become terrible they did put a massive bumper/reinforcement thing around the railway bridge near me that is constantly being struck by lorries.
“Why do you think Odebrecht always won the contracts ?”
I thought it was because they were bribing foreign governments as well as Brazil's. They've been prosecuted in the US and other countries, and the President of Peru had to resign because he took their bribes.
JB
Nov 24th, 2018 - 12:31 am - Link - Report abuse +1REF: “fight to release Lula and put the “anta” & the PT back in charge of the chicken run ??”:
OMG! The choice is between being sleepless or waking up in the middle of a nightmares!
Under such a dire condition, as long as the special privileges keep on over-protecting the politicians; they have NO incentive - AT ALL in stopping to steal.
One of the Solutions could be demanding [peacefully + repeatedly] keeping of the “Campaign-Promises” from the local representatives who were voted by the locals. It's not easy but by being persistent, consistent and by involving the masses in growing numbers; the pitch-dark at the end of the tunnel may have at least a very dim flickering light.
“It's not easy but by being persistent, consistent and by involving the masses in growing numbers; the pitch-dark at the end of the tunnel may have at least a very dim flickering light.”
Nov 24th, 2018 - 09:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Wow, I think that's the most optimistic post I've ever seen you make.
@DT
Nov 24th, 2018 - 10:06 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Didn't say SP was 'good' at checking...one, two flyovers per year, not particularly efficient....In the Amz region, people must either get money to look the other way, or plain lazy...with all the state of the art technology (satellites etc) and they can’t detect man-made fires and/or prevent enormous areas fm being chopped down ?
Forest in our area is what’s left of the “mata (jungle) Atlantica”, nothin really noteworthy if compared to the AMZ's gigantic trees. We built some shacks, like in the video.
After University I did actually consider leaving, but my father being retired, ‘n just having screwed himself (with help fm “honest” stock brokers), I postponed my still rather vague plans, until they became impracticable, considering my parent's situation (shitty) ‘n my own (quite OK).
“Regular” maintenance doesn't require tenders, reduces opportunity for bribes, and is not very visible...reason why investment in sanitation is so poor....altho people would feel the difference, the politicians prefer big, visible projects, on the surface. One politician, years ago, actually admitted it was stupid to build stuff people couldn't see.
In Brazil, controlling big public projects is every politicians' wet dream - altho today it's hard to say what comes first, “the chicken or the egg”, fact is that at one point (the beginning, colonial times ?), politicians, realizing the power they had, w/ several firms wanting the contracts, would invite them to present their proposals – at that point they realized their power could be translated into bribes, which later became the norm – don’t put in a proposal w/o a bribe being built-in...but those who hold the knife & cheese in their hands, are w/o a doubt, the politicians.
Lula would travel, take Odebrecht executives along for the ride, convince his “friends” they could be trusted, so everyone knew each other's intentions, and questions weren't asked.
Btw, have two replies to post, asa space opens up.
One or two flyovers a year should be enough shouldn't it? It's not like the trees will grow back before the next one. As long as they punish those responsible and don't let them off with a slap on the wrist. That must be what happens in the Amazon, because they do keep track of deforestation by satellite, there was an article about it yesterday. Giving amnesty to squatters in the Amazon and looking the other way for loggers is bound to encourage more deforestation.
Nov 25th, 2018 - 02:44 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Wikipedia says the Atlantic Forest contains thousands of species found nowhere else, and they are still discovering new ones, so I guess it only looks boring by comparison with the Amazon.
We used to build dens in the woods when we were children, but we had to make do with what we could find. I remember once we found some cut logs and managed to build a sort of lean-to which we thatched with bracken, but the inside was dark and it filled up with flies so no one wanted to go in. Dunno how the guy in the video avoids that problem.
It's a shame your father got screwed, but you seem to have done okay in Brazil, even if the country as a whole hasn't. I guess growing up there made you a lot less trusting, too.
“the politicians prefer big, visible projects”
Damn, it makes me want to take over for a while and do things properly. Maintenance is cheaper than waiting for things to fail, even apart from the risk of disaster, and getting rid of the bribbes would save a lot of money, besides possibly giving better service if you choose firms on merit rather than 'generosity'. But I suppose it would be nearly impossible to change things really, with everyone else fighting against it.
On another topic, one of my friends got on TV in a documentary about cops in the UK. I couldn't find the episode he's in online, but you might be interested in seeing how the police in the UK handle things. It'll probably seem very tame and by-the-book compared to Brazil.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA_KZ3MMtcI
@DT
Nov 25th, 2018 - 06:09 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Don't know how efficient the flyovers were, because we knew of neighbours who'd chopped down areas large enough to be detected, yet never heard of fines being applied. Bribes ?
The satellite technology in the AMZ allows them to see what's going on down below, but with too few police teams to cover the 100s of thousands of sq kms, by the time police arrive, everyone's disappeared into the forest...they confiscate any equipment they find (trucks, lumber, chainsaws), but it doesn't seem to discourage those responsible.
The Atlantic forest has tons of species, but is quite different to the AMZ.
The guy in the video is probably immune to flies, mosquito bites and other UFOs.
In '59, I joined the scouts...2 or 3 years later, at a camp on a private island (of abt 1 sq km) just off the coast of Angra dos Reis (northern coast of SP), two of us, to pass a survival test, were given one knife, two fish, two matches and had to go into the jungle after dark, build ourselves a shelter (sticks, vines, leaves), cook the fish, 'n spend the night there. Next morning we would be inspected. We were lucky to find a sandy clearing of about 500 sq mts, and built our shelter in the middle. Only just managed to get the fire going as all the twigs were damp...anyway, after cleaning 'n eating half-cooked fish, everything was going as good as it could, until we woke at about 2am, lying in 3” of water, and rising....the sandy clearing was a lake bed that filled up at night....so we had to open a small clearing on higher ground, move the shelter and get some sleep
One thing you learn in Brazil, seeing so much wrong...be suspicious of everything, especially when it sounds too good to be true.
Re maintenance, you're right... just need to realize what motivates politicians, to understand why things are a mess. Problem is the political system,(still) gives elected politicians immunity. Until that changes...
Your cop video shows a very different reality...quite civilized in fact..
@DT
Nov 26th, 2018 - 09:30 am - Link - Report abuse 0I'm extremely optimistic actually; because the politicians are blessed with a herd that can be easily manipulated, disillusioned, brainwashed + victimized; without ANY fear of retaliation - without suffering serious consequences.
The best part of it all; is that they can continue milking the country even beyond their graves by ensuring that their siblings & associates get similar opportunities. In short; ensuring a Non-Stop Vicious Circle!
https://www.hierophant.com.br/arcano/uploads/Captain/politica02.jpg
“Bribes ?”
Nov 26th, 2018 - 07:01 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Probably. The police should be able to do something about the farmers in the Amazon though, if they weren't being given amnesties all the time. And to catch the loggers, couldn't they set up checks on the roads leading in? There can't be too many in those isolated areas.
“until we woke at about 2am, lying in 3” of water, and rising”
Lol, oops. Probably more fun in retrospect. I'm impressed you managed to get a fire going with damp wood and only two matches.
I don't think we would ever have been allowed to do anything like that. Even then people were overprotective of children and it's got much worse since I was a kid. Britain's ridiculously safe anyway; all the dangerous wildlife was killed long ago, you have to go to serious effort to get even a few miles from civilisation, and anything remotely dangerous is fenced off. Just seems to make people act like idiots because they've never had to use their own judgement.
I was in the Sea Scouts but I quit because we never did anything, just sat around chatting at most of the weekly meetings. I kind of want to try more adventurous things now, but after a day spent hiking in the mud it's so tempting to go back to a good meal, comfy bed and a hot shower. In some ways it would be easier to get a job that required you to rough it, then at least you'd be getting paid.
“quite civilized in fact”
I thought you'd say something like that. The episode my friend was in had some pretty scummy people, though. I'm glad I don't have to deal with criminals and idiots all day, it'd give you a really depressing - and skewed - view of humanity.
@DT
Nov 27th, 2018 - 03:55 pm - Link - Report abuse 0REF: “And to catch the loggers, couldn't they set up checks on the roads leading in”:
A simpler way could be totally prohibiting the Logs Exports; as tonnes of logs are shipped [& sold locally] with Documentary-Evidence, right under the nozes of the [supposed] inspectors - without ANY problem!
@DT
Nov 27th, 2018 - 04:40 pm - Link - Report abuse 0It's easier to catch the farmers when they set fires to clear the land, as they can be identified. Police allege they set up checks, 'n actually do catch a few trucks loaded with enormous trunks, 'n no paperwork to justify it - trucks are confiscated (but probably 'bought' back with bribes ), the drivers are detained for a while then released, so it's like trying to dry ice.
It was a process of fanning, but not too hard, to keep the fire going, that's why the fish was only half-cooked...wasn't too tasty, but it went down anyway. In retrospect we should've smuggled in some gasoline.
We had quite a few weekend camps, and usually one long one (2 weeks) in the July vacation. They instilled a sense of responsibility into you, and if you screwed up, your patrol members would give you a rough time...make you wash all the dirty pots 'n pans, collect firewood, make you fill in the old 'kybo' 'n and dig the new one, fetch the water etc. We did not have comfy beds, or hot showers, just what nature offered us, and what we could turn it into.
You've probably seen nostalgic comparisons between today's almost excessive safety precautions with children, and those in the 50s, 60s....back then our parents were less “worried”, kids did stupid things but we rarely heard of serious consequences when letting children be children...even at school, it was not uncommom to meet your “foe” on the soccer field during 'break', where classmates would form a circle and the two 'foes' would settle their differences in the 'ring'. Can't imagine that happening today, and if it did, the two would probably be suspended after a sermon, and the parents might even sue the school. A lot of things that used to be regarded as normal, today are taboo...I think we used to be happier back then, freer and with less things to go wrong, 'n which gave us a reasonable sense of independence.
Serious crime is never nice, but after seeing so much of it here, you become kind of immune to it.
@JB
Nov 28th, 2018 - 09:03 am - Link - Report abuse 0I guess :o))'s suggestion would work, but it's very extreme.
“we should've smuggled in some gasoline.”
Seems a bit drastic. I'm not sure it would have improved the flavour of the fish, either. What did you do on these camps when you weren't being given all the crappy jobs to do?
And yeah, people are always complaining that kids today are wrapped in cotton wool. I've heard lots of stories from America of teenagers who were suspended because they defended themselves from a bully, which sounds pretty stupid, but I don't really know how bad things are here since I don't have kids of my own. It seems parents are worried about paedophiles (unreasonable) and traffic (pretty reasonable), and the other thing is that with computer games and social media that lets them talk to their friends, children actually prefer to stay inside. It's funny to think that being sent to your room was a punishment once upon a time. But that also means cyberbullying is a thing and kids can't escape it even in their own homes, plus we're told the massive exposure to celebrities makes teens feel inadequate.
But no one can develop a sense of responsibility unless they are trusted to do things for themselves, so what happens when those kids grow up? (Helicopter parents, if the news can be believed.)
@DT
Nov 28th, 2018 - 04:41 pm - Link - Report abuse 0:o))'s suggestion is a bit extreme, but shows the system has a lot of flaws, which few are concerned enough abt to fix.
Yeh, gasoline might not be a good idea, but some more matches ?
When not bogged down doing the crappy chores, we'd go on hikes, take tests to win another badge, have group talks, or just have time off to do what you wanted.
Being punished for defending yourself is nuts....why this radical change, dictating, in practise, you should turn the other cheek ? Most teenagers today would tell me to go to hell, but IMO, their generation is addicted to electronic games, social networks, and spends little, if any time, outdoors....not to mention that the networks can cause the more naive to walk into serious traps. The addiction to what technology has to offer today, is so great, it is common to see friends go out together, to spend the whole time exchanging messages with people who aren't there....
Then you have some parents who get funny ideas about how to raise their kids, in that you must allow them to do whatever they want, otherwise you might curb their intelectual, emotional or creative development. My mother had a good friend, whose daughter decided to not make her kid (a girl) wear knickers...the reason being, whenever she felt the urge to crap, she could just squat and let it out...when my mother told me she'd witnessed this at the shopping mall, I couldn't believe it....where these crazy theories come from, I don't know.
As far celebrity idolatry is concerned, I think it's sick, when you consider that many of them are no better than anyone else, the main difference being they have money...looks like most of them are not particularly happy, and full of 'self-inflicted' problems.
Overprotected kids get a real shock when the get into the real world...years ago, a study showed that kids brought up in luxury condominiums, believed they were kings of the castle....and on the outside, had a rude awakening when they realized they weren't.
@JB
Nov 30th, 2018 - 09:51 am - Link - Report abuse 0REF: ”:o))'s suggestion is a bit extreme”
That's right. But unless the cancer is nipped from the bud; it'll continue to spread. As long an the timber is permitted to be exported; the chopping of the trees simply can not stop!
By the way: FROM: FT: @ftbrazil: Bolsonaro’s bid to kick-start Brazil economy destined to disappoint
@:o))
Nov 30th, 2018 - 02:56 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The FT article is, imo, slightly tendentious, almost like speculating with the aim to produce a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It claims that B “may look to replicate DT's eye-catching policies, and then goes on to point out the differences between Brazil and the US - Brazil's fiscal deficit, high interest to service the Federal debt - which imo, will make B do anything 'but' replicate Trump. Just my opinion....and FT's negative speculation comes from what seems to be an innermost desire for anything 'not-left', to fail. But it has the write to express its opinion.
As to its statement that B will ”slash welfare payments by half”, sounds a bit exaggerated and uninformed.....while B has indeed attacked the exaggerated welfare payments and benefits of the over-privileged class, made up of the Executive, Judiciary and Legislative branches, he has defended workers in the private sector, who get a 'far smaller' share of the pension cake, proportionately speaking (5 to 6 times less)...but FT has generalized, probably because that way, it sounds worse.
FT criticizes possible privatization, despite its obvious benefits (cutting losses, reducing interest on debt, eliminating political manipulation of such companies).
It criticizes Bs attempt to deregulate...so what's the solution, tie the economy's hands with 'red tape' ? These two issues are not new, so why give the impression they only surfaced in Brazil now, in response to a “Trump effect” ?
FT seems to think that ”less patronage to distribute to his (b's) allies“ is a bad thing....the other alternative would be increase 'patronage', or carry-on bribing Congress to keep it happy...which is the EXACT problem now. High time someone attempted to change the 'status quo'.
Regarding Trade, taking Mercosul off the ”priority” list, is a good idea....instead of paying attention to Mercosul as a 'top' priority, spread your eggs in other baskets as well....in those that produce a worthwhile return.
@JB
Nov 30th, 2018 - 03:38 pm - Link - Report abuse 0What the politicians say, what they actually do, what their ulterior motives were and how they perfectly justifiable their actions were; is anybody's guess.
Flamboyant Oratory & Blatant Lying to the public with straight faces; is their birthright!
Anyone can know what happened; only after it happens. But no one will ever know why it happened - the actual real story behind the factual truth.
Hence we all have no option but to grope in the pitch dark and assume that the unpredictable or unverifyable theories are or will be the facts/conspiracies!
http://domtotal.com//img/charges/2310.jpg
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