Stories about Portuguese from February, 2009
The Greatest Street Party on Earth: The Brazilian Carnival
Barack Obama, Fidel Castro and the Iraqi journalist who threw one of his shoes at George Bush were just some of the characters spotted on the streets of Brazil, during this year's Carnival. See a selection of the most interesting pictures published under a Creative Commons license.
Angola: Presidential elections postponed?
As of the end of February 2009, there is still no schedule for the presidential elections in Angola, which were due this year. The main priority for the MPLA, the party in power, is to approve a new constitution for the country. Bloggers speculate whether this means that the much awaited elections for a new president, the first since 1992, will be postponed.
Brazil: Blogging from riverside communities in the Amazon
Encouraged by the NGO Saúde e Alegria, youngters from 31 riverside communities in the Amazon are learning the benefits of blogging. Armed with media kits – sound equipment, editorial desks, video equipment and an Internet connection – they have started to show their faces to the world.
Brazil: A Falling Castle (and Congressman) in Two Acts
Recently elected Vice-President and Ethics Magistrate of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, Edmar Moreira has resigned following only one week in the post, after a property of his – a medieval-style castle in the middle of tropical Brazil about which the tax office were not told – has suddenly come into the spotlight. Will he be investigated? Bloggers speculate on this tragic-comic plot.
Battisti: The Italo-Brazilian Imbroglio over Shadows of the Past
Brazil vs. Italy friendly football match in London today was under threat amid the diplomatic row over Cesare Battisti's extradition process. Brazilian blogs delve deeper into the controversy.
Brazil: The (r)evolution of Lusophone music
LabCult provides a torrent link of a documentary about Luso-Afro-Brazilian music and sounds: “Lusophony – The (R)Evolution“. From hiphop to rock, visiting the Portuguese fado and Angolan and Caboverdian rhythms like the kuduro and the morna, the doc compiles Lusophone music from the colony days till today.
Brazil: The Cybercrimes Bill meets the “Cybercriminal” Camp
It's no surprise then that the controversy should grow further when this bill is brought into debate at a huge cyberculture meeting. Daniel Duende joined the crowds of bit-torrent-using p2p-addicted geeks who attended the debate at Campus Party.
Paraguay: Loofah and Plastic makes a home
Loofah gourd (luffa cylindrica) by Laura512 Paraguayan innovator Elsa Zaldívar has won the 2008 Rolex Award for Enterprise thanks to her project which consists of not only training women heads of households about processing the luffa cylindrica gourd to make bath scrubbies and sandals, but also in mixing the leftovers...
Brazil: A post crisis wave of unemployment
“I have just been sacked. It is the crisis” says @eduardoburger on Twitter. The designer and illustrator was the latest Brazilian to be dismissed because of the global crises. The latest data shows that December saw a reduction of 654,946 job vacancies in the country, the biggest fall since 1999.
Brazil: “The police only advance when Globo [TV] is live”
A confrontation between police and the inhabitants of Paraisópolis, the second biggest slum in São Paulo, left four policemen and at least two people injured on the night of February 2nd, and has led to over 300 riot police occupying the slum. Bloggers compare the coverage by the media getting angry at the way the conflict has been reported.
Timor: 9 years of Internet, still one ISP and a huge digital gap
The first computer arrived in East Timor in the early 1990s; only in 1997 was the domain .tp registered and on the 2nd of February, 2000 East Timor was connected to the Internet for the first time. Six years later, in 2006, the number of Internet users was estimated at only 1,200 and as of now there is still no broadband. In the first article of this series, marking the 9th anniversary of Internet connection in East Timor, we have a glimpse of the deep digital divide in the country.
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