"There is no other place I want to be
Right here, right now
Watching the world wake up from history"
The old President is going to jail. Which means he can't run for President again. Serendipity delivered me to Rio on the biggest day of the year, the Supreme Court was deciding the future of the country. The nation had descended into lawlessness, the statutes on the books were useless, and not only did that leave havoc unchecked in the favelas, the rich were profiting and never going to jail for their corruption, they just appealed until...well, basically forever.
So, last night the scheduler of the second stage for Rock In Rio was streaming the hearing to his iPhone. The organizer of the conference was giving us a lesson in history, in politics, how we got here. You see there was 80% inflation PER MONTH! If you were rich and had investments, you were cool. But if you lived on your paycheck, it was insanity. But a new President came in and stabilized the country. And when he termed out a new guy replaced him saying he was for the poor while stripping the cupboards bare. That's the guy caught up in operation Car Wash, the one they nailed after midnight last night. He coasted on the coattails of his predecessor and got rich in the process, kinda like Trump and his cronies, did you read about David Pecker?
Then again, maybe you don't believe it, just like some people, the poor people, still believe in the Brazilian ex-President.
But now there's a path forward. Although the U.S. papers say the country could end up with a military dictatorship, people want order, people might want a strongman.
Which is what we've got in the U.S.
Before lunch I met the U.S. consul, Tommy, from South Carolina, kinda aw shucks, very nice, I realized I could never be a diplomat, I can't sling that much b.s. But I enjoyed Tommy, he was likable, he lived through Afghanistan, in July he's going to VENEZUELA! Living in the city we focus on money, but there are other routes to fulfillment.
And then I went to the Museum of Tomorrow, with its exquisite structure exceeding its exhibits, but there was one about population and the challenges coming and it made me feel good I wasn't gonna live that long, then again, most of you are, it's time to deal with what we're doing to the planet, actions have consequences, plan today for tomorrow or you're gonna be obsolete.
Like my driver, he's never seen a Tesla, he was fascinated by my stories, but he's smart enough to get out of the game before driverless cars put him out of business. And he's asking my advice, about pursuing your dream, going back to college, even at age thirty. I told him to. You want every advantage you can get.
And then on to the historical museum to get the Brazilian history we never learned in school. They had a huge slavery problem. Coffee is a staple of the economy, as are minerals. As for destruction of the rain forest...
I was told last night that Roberto Medina of Rock In Rio planted a zillion trees, that the problem is passe.
Then again, people have to live, people have to eat.
So it's off to dinner with Ed Cherney and Geoff Emerick and crew and...
Right now, there's no place I'd rather be, as I hear about the making of Bonnie Raitt and Bob Dylan records, as I hear about working with Paul McCartney. The lessons are so insightful. Dylan told Cherney to make it dirtier, he could hear every instrument in the mix and didn't want to!
And that's all history, but you've got to study it so you don't repeat it.
There's your sign of the times.
"Lula, Brazil's Ex-President, Can Be Jailed, Court Rules":
nyti.ms/2Ivad20spoti.fi/2GBeVPpbit.ly/2GBobTN--
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