Brazil

  • Socrates, Brazilian soccer great, dies from food poisoning at 57

    Posted: December 4th, 2011 - 12:43pm by Doug Powell

    Fox Sports is reporting legendary Brazilian soccer captain Socrates died Sunday at the age of 57 after suffering an intestinal infection.

    The star of the 1982 World Cup was rushed to Sao Paulo's Albert Einstein Hospital late Thursday after suffering food poisoning and was said to be in critical condition in its intensive care unit Saturday.

    Despite briefly responding to a stronger antibiotic, Socrates died early Sunday, O Globo reported.

    Socrates' wife and a friend of the couple also got sick after eating the stroganoff, but the former midfield maestro's body was said to be too weak to fight the illness after years of alcohol abuse.

    Socrates, whose full name was Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira, spent his entire club-playing career in Brazil, bar a single season with Italian club Fiorentina in 1984-85.

    He rose to international prominence as the tall bearded playmaker who lit up the 1982 World Cup in Spain, despite Brazil's shock exit ahead of the semi-finals.
    Socrates graduated as a medical student during his early playing days and practiced after his career ended in 1989.

    Regarded as an intellectual thinker, he also wrote widely about sport and culture later in life.

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  • Brazilian woman finds condom in tomato can

    Posted: July 27th, 2011 - 9:39pm by Doug Powell

    A Brazilian woman who ate a dish of savory meatballs with tomato sauce only to discover a condom in the tomato can, will be awarded $US5000 ($A4552) in damages, the Globo news website reports.

    The southern state of Rio Grande do Sul fined the tomato saucemaker the amount for "moral damages."

    The woman was using tomato paste to season meatballs and it was only after finishing the meal that she noticed mold in the bottom of the can, with the condom wrapped around what remained of the paste.

    Describing the "grotesque scene," Judge Joao Gilberto Marroni Vitola said in his ruling that the experience had "profoundly disgusted the family".

    The tomato sauce company claimed that its entire production and packaging process was automated.

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  • Brazilian boy dies after eating poisoned cookies

    Posted: June 16th, 2011 - 7:54am by Doug Powell

    A 12-year-old boy died after eating cookies poisoned by two girls at his school in north-eastern Brazil, police said today.

    The girls, aged 13 and 14, admitted putting a deadly dose of rat poison in the cookies, but claimed they were meant for two rival girls at their school on the outskirts of the city of Recife.

    The boy, who was called to deliver the toxic cookies to allay suspicions, was not aware of the plan and ate them instead, with deadly result. He was taken to hospital in agony and died shortly afterwards.

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  • Brazil quarantines cruise ship over 'some kind of food poisoning'

    Posted: March 5th, 2010 - 5:37am by Doug Powell

    My parents are set to return today from their latest cruise out of Florida.

    Hopefully their experience was better than that of the 1,987 passengers and 765 crew members aboard the Vision of the Seas, operated by Royal Caribbean International, who were ordered by health officials in Brazil to remain aboard after some 310 people suffered "some kind of food poisoning.”

    The ship was allowed to leave Buzios Thursday afternoon and was expected to arrive in Santos around midnight. An agency spokeswoman said passengers who showed no symptoms would be free to leave. Those still ill would be taken to hospitals for treatment, with expenses paid by Royal Caribbean.

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  • Brazil: Environment group says, pee in the shower to save water

    Posted: August 5th, 2009 - 10:43am by Doug Powell

    I admit it: I pee in the shower.

    And 30 minutes ago after returning from the beach, Sorenne peed on me and the towel she was wrapped in (that’s us, right, watching the sunset in Venice, Florida, last night).

    But according to Brazilian environmental group SOS Mata, I’m a bona fide environmentalist.
    dlisted reports that a new public service announcement is urging Brazilians to piss while showering (below) because it would save some 4,380 liters of water a year if every household didn't flush their toilet at least once a day. (The original dlisted report is hilarious, if not entirely PG.)

    “They even suggest that you make it a non-stop partying by brushing your teeth in the shower while you wash your nalgas and go pissy times.”

    I do that too.
     

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