fat tuesday

I am mad for almost anything Samba or Bossa; can't get enough of the stuff. Now comes this apparent US media lead morality controversy over little drum corps dancer Julia Lira, and along with that naturally comes comparisons to JonBenet. Okay, I would not chose beauty pageants OR samba queen activities for my own, but I do like the direction Julia's dad is heading for in what he had to say in reaction to the controversy--

"Any man who looks at a 7-year-old child and feels any sort of excitement should go see a doctor" --

It’s my carnival and I can cry if I want to
Posted in True/Slant
By MARCELO BALLVE

"...Is Lira a kind of Brazilian JonBenet Ramsey (albeit on a less tragic scale)? While the wisdom of pushing young kids into high-pressure performances can be debated, it hardly seems correct for Americans to become self-righteous about the Lira case. After all, it’s in this country where there is a thriving subculture in pre-teen beauty queens.[...read more]