Babe of the Week for June 8, 2012 is...

Viva Brasil!!!

I'm taking a different track with this latest installment of "Babe of the Week". This week I want to celebrate the beautiful women of Brazil, a country who is on the verge of some serious world-wide attention. They are hosting the World Cup in 2014 AND the Summer Olympics in 2016. Forget about the fact that they're behind in their preparations for both events. Forget about the draconian "pacification" measures in what are the most notorious slums on the planet surrounding the sports venues in Rio de Janeiro. Forget about the nepotism and corruption that will guarantee the large majority of the profits to made from tourism and television rights to these events will remain in the relatively few hands of the country's corporate, business and political elite, leaving everyone else fighting over the residual crumbs. Forget about all that for a moment, and let us celebrate Brazil's most incredible natural resource-their women.

Unfortunately, the majority of the tourists who will visit during this time will go on packaged tours geared towards whatever it is the tour operators want their paying customers to see and do. Despite the poverty and the appalling disparity in income between the haves and the fuck-off-and-dies, there is a vibrancy and eclectic nature to Brazilian culture, especially in the favelas, that cannot be starved, subdued, or otherwise marginalized out of existence. If your only exposure to Rio de Janeiro has been the film "City of God", you need to visit as an independent traveler and see the place for yourself.

Brazil is unfortunately going to be inundated with the infamous international whoremonger set, the ubiquitous bloated, loud, balding and flatulent brand of Western European, Russian and North American white trash who have the finances to travel abroad for the sole purpose of drinking copious amounts of cheap booze while farting, belching and vomiting their way through their vacations, all while the natives look on in abject disgust. You can bet your ass the body count for foreign visitors of this ilk will be one of the dirty little secrets Brazil will take to it's grave, because these types of deaths are bad for the tourism industry. There will always be that one idiot with entitlement issues who will stray off the beaten path because he's convinced his status as a white man from  a developed nation is sufficient protection against any asshole looking to take him somewhere to fleece his monkey ass, or worse. But that's what makes the world go 'round, ain't it? Back to the babes-

There is much to this beautiful country, but today we celebrate the women. Anyone planning a trip during these two monumental sporting events will be in for the time of their lives if they play their cards right and don't act like typical turista jackasses. Don't forget to plan that once-in-a-lifetime trip during Carnival, either. There are many countries that put on their version of this celebration, but no one does it like the Brazilians. No one.