Brazilian jiu-jitsu

One of the most renowned fighting style across the world is BJJ a self defense and ground fighting style used in mixed martial arts like UFC as we know here in the United States.
BJJ

Unique Melting Pot

Brazil has many different ethnic groups and that is surely no problem in south america. Brazil's first inhabitants were of Indian descent and with the majority of Portuguese that call brazil home today they have no taboos with mixing races which makes up the one of a kind brazilian culture. Notedly Portuguese is also the official language of brazil with 99% of the country speaking it.

"According to the most recent estimates, 55% of Brazil's population are white; 38% are mixed white and black; and 5% are black. The remaining 1% is comprised of Japanese, Arab, and Amerindian groups."

Melting pot

Historical Event: September 7, 1822

Independence for Brazil.

The Brazilians refused yield to Portuguese’s new political regime and began to revolt. Brazil declared their independence from Portugal on September 7, 1822. On this day, Pedro I, Brazilian leader and son of Portuguese king, stood from the banks of the Ipiranga River and proclaimed "Independence or Death." This is known as the Ipiranga Cry. The Brazilian War of Independence soon followed which lasted until April 1825.
 
http://www.123independenceday.com/brazil/

Historical Event: October 5, 1988

Brazil's New Constituation

October 5, 1988 lawmakers in Brazil completed a new constitution, replacing the old charter from decades ago. Although no major economic or social changes were made, it legalized strikes, abolished censorship and strengthened Indian rights and environmental laws. The Constitution is made up of 245 articles and covered all aspects of daily life.

http://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/03/world/brazil-complete-new-constitution.html

Brazilian Dishes

Brazil has a wide array of food selections varying from its national dish feijoada which combine rice black beans and pork and found in every house or "Caldo" the soup that you would usually eat before hand. Since brazil is a very tropical place you are sure to have a mouth full of tropical flavors and delicious taste.

Brazilian foods

Historical Event: January 31, 1956

Juscelino Kubitschek elected president.

On January 31, 1956 Juscelino Kubitschek is sworn into office. He is one of the most influential leaders in Brazilian History. While in office Kubitschek helped Brazil achieve rapid economic growth by pushing forward industries such as machinery and steel. He built 11,000 miles of new roads and highways and moved the nation’s capital 600 miles inland to Brasilia.

 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/324243/Juscelino-Kubitschek

Historical Event: April 22, 1500

Founding of Brazil

 

On November 15, 1889, the Brazilian Monarchy was overthrown and a republic was formed. Benjamin Constant taught republican believes such as abolition of slavery. Some other changes were separation of church and state, civil marriage, and abolished titles of nobility.

http://faculty.fullerton.edu/nfitch/history110b/brarep.html

Historical Event: November 15, 1889

Brazilian Republic

On November 15, 1889, the Brazilian Monarchy was overthrown and a republic was formed. Benjamin Constant taught republican believes such as abolition of slavery. Some other changes were separation of church and state, civil marriage, and abolished titles of nobility.

http://faculty.fullerton.edu/nfitch/history110b/brarep.html

 

Forget The Bossa Nova, Brazil Is Now The Country Of Electronic Music

Throughout the years brazil has been known for genres of music like samba and boss's nova yet studies are now showing that it is the hotspot for electronic music and it is not hard to see why with all of the extravagant night clubs and festivities.
Electro rise

More Violence in Complexo do Alemão

Violence in Rio’s Complexo do Alemão continues with the death of two police officers over the past week.  The growing number of civilian fatalities during clashes of this nature in Brazil has attracted international attention. Between 2001 and 2011, more than ten thousand people were killed during police confrontations in the state of Rio in cases classified as ‘acts of resistance’, according to a study by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), led by sociologist Michel Misse.

Shootings

Brazil's Most "prized" Possessions

Sporting events in Brazil are seen as the greatest thing since sliced bread.Whether you love them or hate them, Brazil's beloved teams are always bringing home some hardware in Olympic events and causing a stir in the sports world. The passion that brazil has for their country is outstanding and the concentration for there fanaticism is in the countries most popular sports which are both soccer and volleyball. They truly excel in both sports and they constantly remind us as the women's volleyball team beat our very own USA team in London's Olympics this past year. 
Brazil sports

Cloning in Brazil

The Brazilian government’s agricultural research agency, EMBRAPA, is now in the early stages of using genetic material retrieved from roadkill in the Cerrado, a vast savanna in the country’s northeast, to create new animals.

Cloning

Argentinian football team attacked in Brazil

The final of the Copa Sudamericana between Brazilia side Sao Paolo and Tigre, from Argentina, ended at half-time on Wednesday night after Tigre’s players were wounded in an alleged attack by Sao Paolo’s security staff.

Football

In 2005, a scandal emerged when a politican claimed that the Workers' Party was buying politican's votes in Congress. This scandal was only recently brought to court, creating the "trial of the century". Adding onto the corruption among the Workers' Party, the money used to bribe policians was supposed to have come from bank loans and advertising contracts.

Corruption in Brazil: Worth the Wait

The religion in Brazil is mainly Catholic but after their independence there has been more religions entering Brazil. The top five religions in Brazil are Catholicism, Protestantism, The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jehovah's Witnesses and Eastern Orthodox. More religions have developed in Brazil but the Catholic religion is still the biggest and most popular religion in Brazil today.

http://www.brazilcultureandtravel.com/brazil-religion.html

 This article talks about the religion in Brazil now and from the beginning. In the beginning everyone in Brazil were obligated to pay taxes to the church and to believe in the Roman Catholic faith. the priests were paid by the government and had a huge influence on the Brazilian leaders. In 1824 when Brazil got its independence there was a freedom of religion. Roman Catholicism was still declared the official states religion.

http://www.celebratebrazil.com/brazilian-religion.html

In this article it talks about the other types of religion that could be found in Brazil. Brazil is considered a melting pot of many different religions. It is mostly Catholic and it was brought by the Europeans when they tried to civilize the local people. The Europeans built churches and brought churchmen to teach the young and old about Catholicism.

http://www.brazil.org.za/religion.html#.UMoRIe-9Kc0

In the video professor John Zerio explains that the religion in Brazilian culture is mostly Christian. Brazil is considered one of the largest Catholic nations in the world. If you would go into a church in Brazil the amount of people that attend is very small. The church has a lot of people when they use for baptisms, communions and other related Catholic events.

religious statue

Statue of Cristo Redentor is located at Rio de Janeiro. The name of the statue means Christ the redeemer. the statue stands at 98 feet and over looks the city of Rio do Janeiro. The statue represents Jesus standing with overstretched welcoming arms and is one of the most famous symbols of this lively city. It was designed by Heitor da Silva Costa and was sculpted by the polish sculptor Paul Landowski. 

Politicians finally being punished for their corruption

After seven years since the scandal originally took place, the politicians involved are finally facing the sentences they deserve.

It takes seven years to sentence politicians involved in a historic scandal

Protests against corruption

These brooms are a part of a protest against the corruption in Brazil, each broom representing one of the 594 Brazilian members of Congress. Using the brooms are clever, phrasing that corruption should be "swept out" of Brazil. The brooms are placed on Copacabana breach by members of a Brazilian NGO called Rio de Paz, meaning Peace Rio.

 

Using brooms are not the only way the people of Brazil are protesting against corruption. There are other protesters who wear clown makeup and noses, saying that it is the politicians who are the real clowns. These protesters have been seen during a traditional military parade in the country's capital.

 

These protesters were not a part of a formal protest group. Instead, many of them were students who would organize these protests through social networking websites.

Oil Royalties Bill almost causes big problems in Brazil

 Brazil's President, Dilma Rousseff, was under a lot of pressure making a decision to veto a bill that would diminish the revenue of Rio de Janeiro,  the nerve center of Brazil’s expanding oil industry and the host of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. 

Oil Royalties

Dilma Rousseff facing some issues

Dilma Rousseff is the first woman president of Brazil, and within the past year, according to the magazine The Economist, is facing some issues.

Cleaning the Brasilia Pork Factory

Corruption being handled in Brazil

This video discusses the sentences multiple politicians are facing for crimes such as a vote-buying scandal.

Brazil's Attempt to Pacify Rio de Janeiro - Oct. 14, 2012

Rio de Janeiro is the capital city of the state, Rio de Janeiro, and the second largest city in Brazil. Brazil is in the process of cleaning up it's most dangerous regions because it will be home to the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics.  Two of these dangerous slums are the favelas of Jacarezinho and Manguinhos, located in Rio de Janeiro.  Over 2,000 police officers backed by hundreds of soldiers from the Brazilian Navy have gone into Rio de Janeiro in an attempt to pacify the regions, which are notorious for selling and usage of cocaine, and violence.  The groups of armed forces have raided houses, and made many arrests of cocaine dealers.  Pacifying the city could be a great thing for Brazil.  It could offer a new start, and help restore order in the slums that seemed to have been falling apart.Article