Wouldn’t you like to know what this is all about? Firefighters & soldiers are running a simulated training exercise for chemical contamination to prepare for the FIFA World Cup which starts Thursday. This is in front of the National Stadium in Brasilia but the opening game is set for Sao Paulo. They must plan to dispense a lot of tear gas. Which means Brazilians are brilliantly using the FIFA games to oppose austerity programs for working people to bankroll “bread & circuses” for the world’s richest–though sponging was the nature of capitalism even before it reached it’s barbaric phase.

The military might be wiser to train how to drive a subway train since the striking drivers are defying a court order & continuing their strike. It’s the heady sense of power that so emboldens. 70,000 people traipsing into town for the opening game, all dressed up with no way to go & potentially facing a barrage of tear gas. Chickens coming home to roost for neoliberalism. Way to go Brazil!

(Photo by Eraldo Peres/AP)