Lula vs Merikkka

Of course, the moment re-inaugurated Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva "cozies up" (scare quotes if not obvious) to China, there's trouble!

And, while Responsible Statecraft links to the WaPost hating on Lula? At the NYT, Rossty Douthat sort of has the receipts showing the Post is way wrong about how the US is playing out right now in the non-NATO world. He more than sort of shoots himself in the foot, though, albeit not as bad as he sometimes does.

He tries to frame this as "developed democracies" vs others. Well, Brazil, and India, may not be as economically developed as the US, but last I checked, both of them, and especially Brazil (Modi continues to make me wonder in India) were democracies. So is the "S" of "BRICS" — South Africa.

All three of them are quite arguably more democratic than Ukraine. Brazil, at least, is quite arguably more transparent, too.

And, of course, Ross never talks about US Coca-colonialism, soft-power imperialism or whatever.

He does indicate that Merikkka will have to swallow some hypocrisy as BRICS-type countries become more powerful.

Daniel Larison at Responsible Statecraft, the first link, is far better. He pivots from Lula to the US duopoly's ongoing disaster in Venezuela and refusal to face reality, for starters.

Coronavirus, week 55: Kids and Indians, Miller and Patrick

Per the header, I 'm going alternate national and global news this week before getting to Texana, and the second half of that header,

• By Indians, we mean not American Indians, but residents of the subcontinental country, as India looks more and more like the new Brazil. It's sad, but not really shocking. Both countries are lead by charismatic, authoritarian, populist heads of government. PM Narendra Modi may appeal to different populist ideas than Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, of course, but, in the big picture, there's lots of parallels. The two countries are also alike in having high degrees of income inequality and a fragile veneer on their BRICS exteriors.

India claims to have a small COVID death rate, per Worldometers, but that, and total case rate, is almost surely unreliable. The NYT agrees that there's certainly an undercount and likely a huge one. An Indian native doctor who's at the University of Michigan says the actual count is likely two-five times higher. That's in part because many Indian doctors are lying on death certificates. If this is all true, then India actually has a million COVID deaths and counting, and a death rate about that of Russia.

Meanwhile, Modi's answer? Pressuring Twitter to censor Tweets in India that are allegedly defamatory of his government. The new version of seditious libel, as India continues to slide further away from democracy. I shudder to think of the situation in Kashmir. I of course did a Twitter callout of Tulsi Gabbard on this.

• Kids? Michigan is kind of the poster child for the surge in juvenile COVID cases in the US.

• Long COVID, at least in older men, appears to be long indeed. SOO glad I didn't get it AND that I'm now shot up.

• Japan is being slow in its vaccination program AND saying that no participants need vaccination. The issue is spilling into Japanese politics. And, if I had money to go to Tokyo, and the time, no, I wouldn't.

• Derek Thompson is right: It's time, or even beyond time, to end outdoor masking rules.

• The NYT editorial board says Biden and the big vaccine makers both need to do more to make sure developing nations have more vaccines. Specifics include the biggie opposed by hypercapitalist conspirator Bill Gates — suspend patents. Biden has responded by offering 60 million AstraZenica doses globally. A start, but dodges the patents issue, and could be seen as "dumping" the most concerning vaccine, relatively speaking.

Biden's Department of Labor, a month late and under Democrat Congresscritter pressure, has finally released its COVID workplace guidelines.

 At the Atlantic, James Hamblin has his latest thoughts (but no new science) on the possibility of a "universal vaccine" for SARS, MERS, COVID-19 and possible future coronavirus assaults.

Texas

I don't know how I missed it, but Jeebus Shot Sid Miller is suing Lite Gov Danny Goeb over COVID restrictions under the Pink Dome. Getcher popcorn, especially since "Doctor" Steve Hotze is behind the suit and Jared Woodfill is the barratry specialist of record. I guess a COVID shot ain't a Jesus shot? What's more interesting yet is that Patrick actually has apparently abandoned his "duty to die," even though he's over 70 himself; the restrictions are ONLY on the Senate side of the Capitol, but Patrick has essentially done a cross-dome callout to House Speaker Dade Phelan to tell him to get his shit together. 

A Palestine doctor is working to overcome social-cultural resistance as well as actual medical fears to get people vaccinated.

She's got her work cut out for her. Even with just one-quarter of the state vaccinated, vaccine demand continues to drop. And, it's rural counties like hers, and presumably rural white wingnuts who have imbibed vaccine conspiracy theories or conspiracy cure theories who are a major part of the problem. I know. I live in one.

Both the feds and state officials have recommended resuming Johnson and Johnson shots.

Robert Rivard worries about the decline in demand for the COVID vaccine. 

Hypocrisy alert, Glenn Greenwald division

Greenwald has spilled cyberink in more than one Salon column, bemoaning that he and his Brazilian boyfriend can't get married in the U.S.

Well, behind the gay rights push in that same Brazil is a rising wave of homophobia, homicidal at times. I had no idea that conservative evangelical Christianity was also on the rise there.

Now, for Greenwald to not talk about this might be more ironic than hypocritical.

But, even more hypocritical?  Noted civil libertarian and free speech advocate Greenwald has never written about Brazil's attempts to criminalize homophobic speech.

And, Greenwald can be black-and-white on civil liberties issues, even ones where there's a LOT of gray, such as deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill.

Therefore, it's not hypocritical on my part at all to say that, if Glenn's going to be black-and-white elsewhere, why can't he be on Brazil trying to criminalize hate speech?
I know the U.S. isn't perfect on gay rights, either de jure, or de facto, as a Tyler Clementi or Matthew Shepard shows. But, it sounds like we might still be ahead of Brazil overall. And, on "hate speech" issues too.

On Brazil and gay issues, I'll also venture that other factors are involved. The homophobia probably splits somewhat on class lines. And, Brazil definitely has bigger socio-economic class divides than the U.S. It probably, sweetness and light aside, still has bigger racial class gaps, too.

And, for new readers here, this isn't the first time I've "called out" Greenwald on civil liberties issues. I have a long post here about other blind spots of his, especially re the ACLU and its selective support for civil rights, board purges and more, as documented here.

That's not to say Greenwald doesn't do a lot of good stuff. His latest column, about documentary filmmakers becoming deliberate U.S. government snooping targets, allegedly as part of the War on Terror, but really as part of the War on Leaks, is great. That said, just once, I'd like to see him reference the Center on Constitutional Rights or some other group in addition to the ACLU.

It's like the environmental movement. The ACLU is the equivalent of the Sierra Club or some other "Gang Green" group. Glenn has a platform to give attention to newer, sometimes fiestier groups, such as the Center for Constitutional Rights. And he won't. I know, because I've emailed and tweeted him about it. I don't know WHY, but he won't.

And, at the same time, one should remember another thing about Greenwald. Good progressives should note that he's still an economic libertarian at heart, as his ardent love for Ron Paul shows. It's very relevant to link this year, because as I noted, Greenwald's love for Paul didn't mention Paul's strong antigay history. That his libertarianism usually trumps all, even with a weird twist like this, doesn't surprise me, from what I know of him, which is more than you see in his columns and books.

Hey Brazil, blame China on the currency crisis

Don't blame us. This is NOT an issue of U.S. economic imperialism.

Criticize China for not upvaluing the yuan; don't criticize the U.S. for depreciating the dollar. That said, here's where U.S. diplomacy needs to separate China from the other BRIC nations (and yet others, like Thailand, mentioned in the article).

Meanwhile, good luck to the G-20 in resolving this. Oh, and way to show "leadership," Brazil, by refusing to participate in key talks this weekend.

That said, the U.S. is still trying to peel Brazil away from China:

An anonymous U.S. official avoided criticizing Brazil, noting that Brazil had resisted political pressure to keep its currency, the real, from rising. “The Brazilians have really framed the debate that we need to have at the G-20,” the official said. Brazil and India, the official said, are “among these countries that have the greatest to gain” from the G-20 process because a surge of foreign capital has threatened the stability of their fast-growing economies.

The real issue is that the G-20 is even more toothless than the G-8. It's like the U.N. General Assembly vs. the U.N. Security Council.

Developing nations’ latest on climate control

Small island nations warn that the latest climate cut ideas, discussed before the G8 meeting, not enough to help them.

Meanwhile, Brazil continues to insist rich countries can do more with climate-saving technology transfers.

Anti-American schadenfreude from ‘new economies’

Folks like Brazil, ground down one too many times under the heel of the International Monetary Fund, and relatively decoupled from the U.S. meltdown, are enjoying the moment with quiet — or Apparently, that also applied to troops helicoptering in, as Pakistani soldiers reportedly not so quiet — relish.

Asked about the crisis, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president, said: “What crisis? Go ask Bush.”

Beyond the serious snow job of Czar Henry I, this level of schadenfreude is funny as hell.

Brazil wants to join OPEC

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Spiegel (English-language international version) that the discovery of possibly major offshore oil deposits qualifies it for membership.

Oil and OPEC

We discovered immense oil reserves 273 kilometers (170 miles) off the coast, at a depth of 2,140 meters (7,021 feet) and under a 5,000-meter (16,404-foot) layer of salt and rock. We have the know-how to exploit these reserves. We expect to start test-drilling in March and start producing oil in 2010. Then Brazil will become a major oil exporter. We want to join OPEC and try to make oil cheaper.

Lulu talked on several other issues, too:
Biofuels:

I have always told my European friends that it isn’t worth restructuring their well-organized agricultural systems to produce biofuel. We, and the Africans, can do a much better job of it. The European Union should give the Third World a chance to produce biofuel.

Deforestation

The Amazon region isn’t very well suited for cattle pastureland. And the soil isn't good for sugarcane or soybeans either. … We have tightened our controls. Deforestation has declined by almost 60 percent in Brazil. But more than 22 million people live in the Amazon region. They too want to eat, drive cars and use refrigerators.

The Latin American left and Columbian rebels

The left in South America still uses the same slogans as the European left did in the 1920s and 1930s. Politicians take a more radical position in places where there is hunger, and where people have no access to education. This continent was churned up by military coups. Guerrilla groups were still active in many countries only 20 years ago. Today we all agree — with the exception of FARC in Colombia — that elections are the only legitimate way to acquire power.

Read the whole thing; it’s a great interview.

Brazil: World No. 1 beef exporter

In a 2004 post, I noted that Brazil was already reportedly the world’s biggest exporter of chickens, orange juice, sugar, coffee and tobacco.

Add beef to the list, according to the January 2007 National Geographic. With soybeans soon to follow.

Somebody didn’t inform our state’s ranchers about losing top beef honors, I’m sure.

Two months ago, in a related post, I noted that the U.S. had become a net food importer. That’s right, the “breadbasket” is not an overflowing cornucopia.

In comments for that post, Jeff Melcher said he thought it was all “luxury foods” that we were importing. I personally don’t consider out-of-season fruit that much of a luxury. Is the imported beef in your hamburger or on your grill a luxury? The sugar on your cereal? The orange juice at your breakfast table? The chicken breast that’s the “healthy” alternative to the steak?

But, as the NG story points out, it’s coming at a huge price: the increasing deforestation of the Amazon. This has implications for global warming, world weather patterns, species diversity and more.