Anyone still wondering why I posed all those impertinent questions about when the Brazilians actually last had air-traffic control contact with that doomed Air France flight and when, precisely, they should have had their last contact? And why we need independent answers? ... (See selected enraged, obscene comments from Brazil to previous post on this subject).
As DeGaulle once said, "Brazil is not a serious country."
And please, my faithful Brazilian hate-mailers, don't bother to write about your perpetually aggrieved national sensitivity.
Ain't listening any more.
Again, we see a situation involving air-traffic safety in which Brazilian authorities rushed to judgment without having facts. (And again, the world news media failed to demand answers to simple questions before accepting Brazil's conclusions.)
The fact is: That airplane was under Brazilian air-traffic control for about four hours after it took off from Rio, and that time frame possibly includes the time that Flight 447 went missing.
Who? What? When? Where? Why?
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By JOE SHARKEY
Dear Joe,
ReplyDeleteI feel sorry for all you went through in the wake of the Sept. 2006 crash. In the hands of Brazilians, that is. I myself am both Brazilian and American, though I would identify myself as Brazilian. But, having been born in the US (to Brazilian parents) and later educated at an American overseas school (with an MBA from Michigan later on in life), I am able to see Brazil from an American perspective.
I am also capable of sympathizing with foreigners who get caught up in political situations in Brazil, like the one you found yourself in.
That is why I expect a great deal of pain is in store for the US and European oil companies salivating at the so-called pre-salt oil fields.
I try to warn investors about the issue on my own blog, Ethablog. But I have been losing readership since I started on the topic. US investors don't want to listen, preferring to take Petrobras' (and the Brazilian government's) word at face value. They do so at their own peril.
Best,
Henrique
If you can not quiet sleep every night, his killer debauchee!
ReplyDeleteMr. Joe, you are a criminal, more than hundred people killed when a plane crashed in Brazil and the United States is considered a hero. I imagine that his conscience despite today!
ReplyDeleteThe Brazil is a country so responsible, you let him go free. If the people prevent, you would be in jail today.
Asshole!
You may not publish, but you know that Brazil repuna by your words, and your supposed to imperial country which operates only! Idiot
Let me give you some news: Federal Court here in Brazil accepts new denouncement against Legacy jet pilots
ReplyDeleteYour murder friends didn't warned that they turned off the transponder and you are an accomplice. I wanted to know if this happened in your country, if the pilots would be released and treated as heroes?
The phrase "Le Brésil n’est pas um pays sérieux" (Brazil is not a serious country) was credited to French President Charles de Gaulle and arose when there was a political crisis between Brazil and France, in the 60s. The seizure of French lobsters boats in the Brazilian coast would have annoyed de Gaulle and led him to say that "Brazil was not a country". According to the Brazilian ambassador version in Paris in this period, Carlos Alves de Souza, he (the ambassador) would have added the adjective “serious” after this meeting with de Gaulle, to lighten the situation. The crisis was resolved, but the discomfort was forever, in spite of General de Gaulle denied until his death that he has said this sentence.
ReplyDeleteAt that time, emerged in the French press a controversial curiosity: if lobsters walk or swim. If lobsters swim, one could believe that they were in international waters and if they walk, they are in Brazilian territory, as was recognized at that time that the sea floor belonged to the Brazilian State. In the diplomatic debate between Brazil and France, the committee was supported by Brazilian Admiral Paulo Moreira da Silva, the Brazilian Navy expert in the field of Oceanography. During the discussions, experts from France argued that the lobster was caught while he was swimming without contact with the submarine floor (Brazilian territory), which could make one considers the lobster to be a fish. At this moment, the Admiral Paulo Moreira took the word, arguing that for Brazil to accept the French scientific thesis that lobster could be considered a fish when he gives his "jumps" away from the submarine floor, then we should accept the premise of kangaroo to be considered a bird when he gives his "jumps". The issue was thus closed in favor of Brazil.
What do you think Sharkey? Do lobsters walk or swim?