Accessa Sao Paulo

Access to the internet in Sao Paulo can be extremely difficult. You can be sure in the upscale neighborhoods and private residences in the cities west end of Jardim and Vila Nova, high-speed internet access can be obtained for a price.

Mauro told me that he noticed a Paulista and customer who lives in Vila Nova had a Apple iPhone. As of this point in time iPhones are not available for sale in Brazil and there is no service plan. However in discussing the iPhone, this owner said that he paid over a thousand dollars for an unlocked iPhonethat he could manage to use under an existing plan in Brazil.

But I can say without question, the people of Brazil need better, faster and freer internet access! All power to the people!

Okay, so let drop the pretense of FREE. In Brazil, the web of government bureaucracy, as is being threatened in America as well, has been thrown over the internet by regulators. Sure, if you can show me the clear and straightforward way that restricting freedom of speech, of access, of communication and invading citizen's privacy will stop human trafficing, stop porn, stop violence of man against man, stop drug kingpins, stop the rape of the Amazon, end crime in our time, bring peace to the Middle East, and stop terrorism than I will grant them the tyranny over the people they govern. But we all know that is a ruse and the stratagem of powerful manipulators to control individual freedom for personal gain. And it is a joke. Throwing a yoke around the throats of free citizens will end none of these ills.

This is true in Brazil and it is true in America.

The Lan House we visit to post our blogs will close without notice. Just yesterday we were told by the grapevine that the Lan House was open. So I rushed in an started making my post. Then they pulled the security doors shut while I was still inside. The proprietor told us that we didn't need to leave but that inspectors were coming around and had been shutting down Lan Houses all day. The reason he gave was that the inspectors were looking for "Christmas tips" -- tis the Season!

But a new generation of Brazilians need to rise up and show that freedom of information is a powerful tool in building a better and stronger more informed society. And our generation in America also needs to rise up and tell our government to stop restricting freedoms of American citizens, stop invading their privacy, stop turning back science and technology to promote narrow and backward ideologies of power because it will only cause all the people to suffer.

One thing I am discovering about being in Brazil, a third-world country albiet a BRIC* one is that human dignity is universal. Our problems aren't that different and our aspirations very similar. We are both faced with the problem of governments what wish to exceed their proper role of serving the people and whose power is restricted and their actions completely transparent.

I frequently hear the axiom - "Freedom comes at a cost." Yes, it does. It comes at a cost to the powerful interests of tyrants and despots like Bush and Cheney who wish to abuse government power. Our founding philosophers and writers of our constitution were absolutely clear that government power needed to be restrained and limited. They understood the greatest threat to freedom is powerful intrusive government and not free individuals.

* BRIC is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India and China and usually is used to describe third world developing economies with vast resources and a development strategy that is making them grow and prosper. Currently Brazil is experiencing economic prosperity but don't get into an argument with Mauro about who should take credit.