Intercultural Understanding — Part XXVII
You probably knew this already, but it’s news to me. Brazil used to have an emperor. From 1822 to 1831, the emperor was Pedro I.
And if you think that’s funny, you’re ethnocentric scum, as I am, and we should look ashamed.
Actually, during that period Napoleon was invading Portugal and the whole Portugese court picked up and fled to Brazil, so Rio de Janeiro became the capital of a combined Brazilian/Portugese state. They really needed an emperor.
And Pedro was their man. I admit it — I’m a Brazil nut. Somebody else will have to finish this post.
By the way, does anybody know if Fasil Gundogdu is still mayor of Istanbul?
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After posting the above, I thought — well, that isn’t nice, leaving the question hanging about Fasil Gundogdu. So I thought I should get an answer and let everyone know if he’s still mayor of Istanbul. I went to Google and typed in Fasil Gundogdu, and they returned 4.650 entries, of which the first one was our post on The Horse, as above.
That would never have happened under Pedro I.
Comment by Al — March 14, 2010 @ 3:25 pm
No, you ignorant American. I’m the mayor. Four mayors ago, Recep Tayyip Erdogan held the office. They sent him to prison, but now he’s prime minister, so watch your step.
Comment by Kadir Topbas — March 14, 2010 @ 3:29 pm
Oops. Sorry, Mayor. Nothing personal. And we notice that Mr. Erdogan is also head of the Virtue party, so he can’t be all bad.
Comment by Al — March 14, 2010 @ 3:31 pm
I thought the emporer of Brazil was Juan Valdez…
Comment by Lynn — March 15, 2010 @ 3:46 pm
Caramba! You must be right (though he came along later than Pedro I). You could tell that Juan was running things because he was always accompanied by a Democrat carrying a bag of Starbucks.
Comment by Al — March 15, 2010 @ 9:09 pm
Turkey … Brazil … Valdez … Erdogan, they’re all the same. But Gundogdu! Hey, he’s another story. If you look at the last two syllables of his name, it’s a good thing he’s mayor of Istanbul because clearly, with a moniker like his, he could never win an election in America.
Comment by Steve Alber — March 17, 2010 @ 10:05 am
Right, Dr. Alber. As usual, you are insightfully on the spoor of an important point, though certain exceptions must be noted — that in Oklahoma, Kentucky, Texas, Kansas, Alabama, southern Ohio, and a few other places that kind of stuff wins elections all the time; in fact, it’s a requirement.
Comment by Al — March 17, 2010 @ 10:46 pm