I love Brazil in so many ways. It is an amazing country with an over abundance of natural resources. They have it all. Abundant forests, amazing fruits and vegetables. Plenty of rain. On top of all of this, Brazil has no natural disasters. No hurricanes, earthquakes or tornados. It covers a huge area in South America. 8.5 million square kms to be exact. In comparison, the United States marks the map at 9.6 millions square kms. Put it another way. Pull out Alaska, and Brazil is actually larger than the United States.

Then on top of all of this, Brazil has the best energy strategy. I just bought a new car in Brazil and it has a flex engine, which burns both alcohol and normal gas. On top of this, alcohol is dispensed at all gas stations in Rio de Janeiro.

What an amazing place! But Brazil has two large negatives. Poverty, and violence. When driving anywhere, it is hard to miss all the signs of poverty, and the pure frustration of the people. Brazil has the largest gap in wealth between the rich and poor in the world.

I pay a lot of taxes in Brazil. There are property taxes, sales taxes, and there is even a tax for every transaction from my bank account. The problem is that money never finds its way to the people that need it most, and for whom it was intended.

CORRUPTION. The richest people in Brazilian society are government officials. I love the fine dining scene in Rio, and quite often the most expensive restaurants are full of government officials. This is of course upside down. The richest people in American society are businessmen and enterpreneurs. And that is the way it should be.

Currently, Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula, rules one of the most corrupt administrations in the history of Brazil’s fledgling democracy. This is not a secret. On the contrary, the newspapers have uncovered scandal after scandal after scandal. As an American living in Brazil, it was shocking to witness the level of grift, and the level of inactivity. Almost weekly, there would be a new scandal involving millions and millions of dollars.

I have often pondered how can this issue be solved. If only there were no corruption, the poverty and violence issues would magically disappear. But more importantly, the underlying fundamentals of Brazilian’s marvelous people and natural resources would come shining through. It would catapult Brazil to the forefront of international commerce.

But of course this is silliness. Corruption is a cancer. Once it begins to take hold in a society, it becomes almost impossible to remove. Like a cancer, it feeds on itself, and its natural propensity is to expand and pollute other cells. I cannot imagine the wealthy politicians giving up their plush lifestyles for the greater good of the country. In fact the opposite is true, they will protect and defend their position to the detriment of the country.

We should expel Abramoff from the country.

We are fortunate as Americans because grift is NOT the rule in American politics. Yes, it exists in all governments, but American government has managed its corruption well. This is why I hate Jack Abramoff and his posse of blood sucking parasite politician friends. Jack’s going to spend some time in prison, but I believe that this is far too light a sentence. He should be deported out of the country, and his passport confiscated so that he will never return. I am worried that once of out prison, he will continue his bloodsucking all over again, selling favors to the highest bidder. He is incorrigible, so let him screw up some other country, not ours.

When someone has cancer, the oncologist always recommends the most aggressive therapy possible. Every spick and speck that remotely resembles cancer most be removed and as quickly as possible. I am not a fan of the latest Republican notion of torture, but in this case, I think that torture might be appropriate. We want all the names of his cohorts, instigators, and anyone that might be remotely connected with this slime ball. THEY ALL MUST GO.

I’ve seen the other side in Brazil and it saddens my heart. Just like all the money in the world cannot help a cancer patient. All the money in the world cannot help a society riddled with corruption. The only solution is aggressive treatment after the diagnosis occurs.