Miriam Makeba!

For sure the world will miss the silence of such a wonderful woman, a great human being, a extraordinary activist, a phenomenal artist!!

Heaven just got happier and brighter with her arrival!

Thank you so much Miriam Makeba for all what you have done in this blue planet!
God bless your soul!

Mr. President Barack Obama!

Barack Obama elected president!

What a wonderful news!
As in Brasil, a person from minority group of society won the presidential election and this is ALL what really matters!

I don't know how to address a person by his/her color, race or religion and in consequence I don't know how to recognize Obama as the 1st "black president" elected of the USA.
I do recognize him as the 44th president and most importantly, as the man who broke the political oligarchy that was ruling the country for decades.

I knew he was going to win as soon as I heard his grandmother had passed away. She was suffering for long time and I felt as she was waiting to finish a work she had started and when she felt she had accomplished it she got ready to go "home" as Obama said when he announced her death.

Congratulations Mr. President Barack Obama! Congratulations!

Election Process

I really don't understand the USA election. I mean, since I was a child in my Brasil, we know that democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people as the Greeks wrote down and Abraham Lincoln spoke out!

Also we learned that a democratic election is also a direct election, having one or two round system, dependently of the number of the candidates. I mean, people vote in their favorite candidate/s and the one who gets the majority of the votes, 50% plus 1, gains the election and that's it!

No electoral college, no delegate!

In my understanding what really legitimate the election is the absolutely certainty that the result that comes out of the ballot-box (ballot-box sounds so obsolete) is respected, accepted and uncontested as in Brasil, Finland, Canada, France and many more countries.

Really, I don't understand the USA's election process. I know how it works but what I really don't understand is how it can be proudly called democratic if in the end what really matters is the decision of the electoral college!

Maria Luiza won!

Maria Luiza went to bed last night very happy! Her candidate won the election with 55.02%, 8,831 of the valid votes! Tupaciguara, my hometown, is a small town and its population is around 25k.

Of course she went to the new mayor's house to congratulate him and his family and of course she was dressed in green and yellow, the color of his campaign!

Congratulations to Alexandre Berquo!

I'll get a ride in this subject to talk about something I'm very proud about my Brasil.
Brasil was the first country in the world to have electronic elections. We developed a vote machine, 100% Brazilian technology and it was tested in the 90's in Florianopolis, capital of Santa Catarina State. I was living there this time and I could participate in this historical moment.

Brasil has around 130 million voters and in 2006 we found out that Lula was reelected president of Brasil in less than 3 hours after the end of the elections. And the official result was published in less than 6 hours. It's amazing!
We developed a fast and reliable way to keep democracy up in my country and this is one more reason to make me a very proud BRASILEIRA, meaning Brazilian woman!

As Carlos Ayres Britto, president of the Superior Electoral Tribunal said, "the more the voter votes, the more he/she learns to vote" and he was paraphrasing a Brazilian musical legend Dorival Caymmi who once said..."to understand love is necessary to love"

Conscientious Citizen

Me _Hello!
Maria Luiza _Hi, who is talking?
Me _Nobody
ML _How come nobody? Does nobody talk on the phone?
Me _Sure, nobody can do anything!
ML _This nobody has name?
Me _Yes of course, my name is nobody!
ML _Oh tia Dadá(*), I know it's you!
Me _I'm sorry, I have no idea what are you talking about!
ML _Tia Dada, pleeeeeaseeeeee!!
Me _Sorry young lady, I know no tia Dadá!
ML _I'm a child, I'm not young lady ok!? I know it's you, you always do that. You know, your name is Leandra!
Me _Sorry ma'am, I never heard about such an ugly name...
ML _Tia Dada, pleaseeeeee!! Let's talk decently!
Me _Oh!
ML _You know, I can't wear pink anymore?
Me _Why sweetheart?
ML _Because pink is the color of Edilamar and I'm Alexandre(**)
Me _Wow, this is serious!
ML _I know!! Can you imagine if people misunderstand me and think I'm gonna vote to Edilamar? Oh God, it will be trouble!
Me _You must be careful! This is really a huge issue!
ML _Tell me about! Well, the vote is secret anyway...
Me _Yes, it is! What do you know about it?
ML _I know that nobody can obligate me to reveal in which candidate I'm gonna vote. I tell if I want to tia Dada!
Me _Yes sweetheart, you are right! This is the real meaning of the secret vote!
ML _Are you going to vote in which one? Alexandre or Edilamar?
Me _Alexandre as well.
ML _So you must wear yellow and green, ok!?
Me _ Alright! Do you have any yellow and green outfit?
ML _No, not at all...I'm in huge trouble hun?

This was a conversation I had few minutes ago with my just turned 6 years old niece! Today is election day in Brasil and as you can see everybody gets involved. Vote is obligatory in Brasil in small towns as the one Maria Luiza, my niece, leaves, election is a very serious business and the kids get involved on it.

I like this behavior because I believe that part of the process of being a citizen is to be part of the community and therefore be part of the elections, getting serious about voting!

I can see another conscientious citizen emerging from my 6 years old niece. That's something good to look at!

*Tia Dadá literally means Auntie Dadá! Dadá is one of my nicknames
**Edilamar is a woman, actual mayor of Tupaciguara and running for the 2nd time
**Alexandre is a man who was a mayor before and he is running also for the 2nd time

The USA became a 3rd country

"America should be a place
where you can make it if you try."

Michelle Obama

Here you can find Michelle Obama's speech at the Democratic convention. I have just one thing to say... the USA became a 3rd country as it likes to call the countries in development, with one little difference: the knowledge of the subject, the knowledge of the problems!

We 3rd countries, we are addressing, fighting and trying hard or not but trying to fixing issues such as health care, education system, jobs, social matters and social security, habitation for years and the USA just realized they are in huge need to take those issues seriously right now.

The USA always ignored their problems, pointed out other nations's but now a close look to their own belly button is more than necessary or they will lose control of this terrible economical and social situation the country is facing ultimately.

Michelle's and Obama speech looked like any campaign's speech for the so called 3rd country! I'm glad that finally someone is really brave to uncover the illusion of a "dream country" and talking about the USA on its political platform and not about other countries issues as before.

Who one day could believe in such turn over.

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela
is out of the terrorist list of the
United States of America!

Nelson Mandela, a terrorist!

Once again thank you Mr Bush,
for being such a great guy!

Fidel Castro

El comandante Fidel Castro Resigns!

"The unique alive myth of humanity" according to the Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and I agree completely!
I'm sure nothing will change! Fidel with his presence and charisma will continue to be the greatest leader of Latin America!

Ideology never dies!

When people will understand that killing leader is not the option or answer for their fears or insecurity or even incompetence?!!They kill the body, the material but not the thoughts, the dreams, the ideal, the ideology! All those conceptions and beliefs will survive powerfully by the people who follow a leader!

New leaders will bear and the fight will continue stronger and fearless! History has shown through centuries that those cowards who “find” solutions on the tip of a gun are losers who think they "erase" a problem with such attitude!

Doesn’t matter if the leader belongs to right, center or left side of any political party, doesn’t matter if the leader is a dictator or a democrat, it just doesn’t matter…always will be passionate followers and always will be cowards such those that have killed Gandhi, Che Guevara, Martin Luther King, Chico Mendes, Bhutto and many others around the world!!

Ideology never dies!

The Evil Has Landed

AT THE EVIL'S HOME!

Sarkozy won!

"The French people have called for change. I will carry out that change, because that's the mandate I have received from the French people." Sarkozy

I don't understand anything anymore??? Nicolas Sarkozy talking about changings??!! May be he is talking about changing things for the worse!!! I feel sorry for the future of France!

Sarkozy won, but France lost!

International Workers' Day

May 1st, International Workers' Day, commemorates the historic struggle of workers throughout the world. This day, May 1st, was chosen to celebrate Worker's Day because of a mass meeting that was held in the Chicago Haymarket in 1886 to discuss the eight-hour work-day ending in a protest against the police action in which workers were killed.

The United States doesn’t celebrate it, since it is a socialist event!

I'm stuck!

New Brazilian Passport

I sent my passport, to Brazilian embassy in Zurich, to renew it 2 weeks ago and I’m getting pretty uncomfortable because I’m not able to go and to come, as I want to/like to.
Nothing, absolutely nothing, is more important to me than my right to go and come as I have written here sometimes. It’s sacred for me!
I may not go anywhere, but I’m the one who decides that and not a world’s bureaucracy!
I feel like I’m being very contradictory in my statement…At the same time that I don’t like papers or documents whatsoever to prove that I exist or that I love someone or that I can go somewhere I’m here begging for having this piece of paper in my hands so I can prove that I exist and then go somewhere!!

I really don’t think about having my life represented on a paper, but think about the importance of such a document just when I need it as now.
I promise a friend that I would go to Stuttgart to help her out, and I can’t. I told another friend I would go to France to talk to him and I can’t. I can’t!
I’m stuck here, in this tedious and well-feed Switzerland! This country is so claustrophobic; it has no horizon to peace my mind!

Anyway, I called the embassy and I got a very evasive answer about how long it would take to have my passport back in my hands! Well, there is no another way than resting my butt in a chair and wait… I could be “Waiting for Godot”…

At least I’ll get the pretty new model of Brazilian passport. It was completely remodeled with 16 new security dispositives because this passport is the most value one in the world’s black market. Why? Brazilians have no specific face due to all miscegenation you had/have there. It isn’t easy to identify a Brazilian, male or female, just looking at ours ethnic characteristics. It’s hard even for us Brazilians!

Oh god, what I’m doing here….it’s carnaval! It’s carnaval in Brasil!!

I really can’t believe it! Again, I’m in domiciliary prison!!

Old Brazilian Passport

Benghazi's Children

Funds for HIV Infected Children in Libya

Provided After Bulgaria’s Nurses Set Free

Yeah, that’s great news!!
The children can wait, no problem at all!! They just got AIDS and as everybody knows it’s an insignificant illness and it doesn’t affect much either body, mind, behavior, social contact, human relations and so on. Of course those 452 children can wait for the bureaucratic decisions!! No problem at all...I don't know why I'm being so intransigent!

I can’t stop asking myself when the world’s authorities, scientists, human right’s councils, UN, Red Cross will pay attention to the crucial issue of that trial?? When those hundred children who were victims of a cruel and violent act will be more important than political affairs?

I don’t have a personal involvement with this “case”, but I think about a devoted mother taking her child to the hospital with a common cold and getting the same child back with AIDS! It’s insane!! This is pure cruelty!

We are living in a very unfair world where we can't separate anymore good and bad, devil and angel, bandit and police, killer and savior...I feel that my emotions are upside down also!

It could happen to my family, to your family…

Che Guevara

This week some recent discovered photos of the agony of the Argentine guerrilla Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, moments before his death in the interior of Bolivia, arrived at many newspapers around the world.
These photos were delivery to Pacho O’Donnell, former-secretary of the Culture of Argentina and author of one known biography called “Che”, anonymously. This material was kept in secret for more than 40 years and it demonstrates how much the personage Che still is present and acclaimed around the world.
O’Donnell affirms that one of the photos, the one that he appears after receiving the detonations, finishes with the controversy on the Che’s death. O’Donnell says that this photo proves that he did not die in confrontation but that he was assassinated.

Che Guevara was assassinated, but not silenced. You can kill a rebellion, but you can not shut his mind up, because it will reborn over and over again, even stronger at each morning in many rebellions minds.

A rebellion never dies!

Being tied to the helicopter

Already tied at helicopter, going to Vallegrande

Few minutes before his assassinate

Few minutes before his death

In agony