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Futebol não é minha especialidade, mas acho que isso é novidade. O Guardian está dizendo que o Rivaldo está próximo de assinar um contrato de 2 anos com o Bolton Wanderers. De acordo com o empresário dele, Peter Harrison, o negócio deve ser fechado nos próximos dias.

O Rolling Stone entrevistou os marqueteiros políticos, James Carville e Frank Luntz, sobre a campanha deste ano, uma avaliação da disponibilidade financeira das propagandas de cada candidato, a escolha do vice do Kerry e expecula sobre quem levaria vantagem no caso de um novo ataque terrorista em território americano.

Is this election going to be as close as 2000?

Carville: We are going to have the smallest number of noncommitted voters that we've ever had going into this election, according to all the polls -- about seven percent.

Luntz: This election is going to be closer even than 2000. There are only about a dozen states that are in play. The biggest of these states -- Ohio, Florida, Minnesota, Pennsylvania -- represent about twenty percent of the vote. Roughly ninety percent of Americans aren't going to switch their preference between now and Election Day. That means that only about two percent of Americans really matter in this election. Close to $400 million is going to be spent trying to win their votes. My prediction is that Bush will win the election by a slim margin -- about two points.

Carville: John Kerry is going to win by four points. Bush lost the popular vote by half a million votes last time, so in order to win this time he's going to have to bring a whole hell of a lot of new people out in his favor. That's not going to happen. Ninety percent of the people who voted in 2000 will vote in 2004. I defy anyone to tell me that there are a few hundred thousand people who voted for Al Gore in 2000 who have been so impressed with Bush that now they're going to vote for him.

Luntz: I've met plenty of Gore-to-Bush voters, particularly in the Jewish community. I recently talked to a room of several hundred Jewish voters. When I asked who voted for Bush in 2000, about two people raised their hands. When I asked who was voting for Bush this time around, almost half the room did. You'll also see an increase in the Hispanic vote, which appreciates Bush's focus on the immigration issue. And I think he will do better among suburban moms, who appreciate his focus on education.

Mesmo que vc não seja nerd (ou velho) suficiente para entender o motivo do culto fanático em volta do Tron, vai se divertir com essa receita para fazer uma fantasia parecida com a dos personagens do filme.

A roupa brilha imitando os efeitos especiais acrescentados na pós-produção (na época era novidade) do filme. Além do trabalhão que deve ter dado para fazer, os não nerds provavelmente vão achar engraçado a exibição de falta de forma física do autor.

I made a few compromises. I wanted to be as close to the original as possible, but let's face it: I'm not the same shape as either Bruce Boxleitner or Jeff Bridges (the actors who played Tron and Flynn, respectively). I'm somewhat overweight, as you see (one drawback of wearing spandex is that it does nothing to hide one's obesity). Therefore, I decided to make myself a character in the same universe, but not one of the known characters, which gave me much more latitude in what I could do with paint and other design items.

Veja tb: tron-sector.com.

O El Tiempo soltou uma enquete sobre jornalismo on-line na América Latina feito por empresas tradicionais que tem versão em papel. Do Brasil, só o Zero Hora participou.

Ao contrário dos tempos da bolha, os colegas empregados que cuidam dos sites de grandes jornais ganham menos e são mais jovens. O trabalho de reportagem fica em segundo plano e a prioridade é a edição e redação.

- La mayoría de los periodistas de los puntocom de los periódicos de América Latina (87 por ciento) tiene entre 20 y 30 años. En otros sitios web, este porcentaje se reduce al 63 por ciento.

- La mayoría de las cabezas de los puntocom de los periódicos de América Latina creen que los periodistas online son percibidos como de menor nivel por sus colegas de la edición impresa. Un porcentaje menor, pero significativo, cree que los periodistas digitales son el futuro.

- Casi la mitad, el 49 por ciento, de los periodistas de las ediciones digitales de los periódicos ganan menos que los periodistas de las ediciones de papel. El 43 por ciento gana igual. Solo en un periódico el nivel salarial de los periodistas online es superior al de los impresos.

O Krugman no New York Times de hj comenta algumas causas do fracasso da ocupação do Iraque como: a corrupção, compras com licitações precárias, vantagens indevidas às empresas amigas do baby Bush e a escolha de um conselho de personalidades iraquianas preocupadas mais com próprio bolso do que com o país.

Além disso, o colunista cita uma entrevista com o antecessor do Paul Bremer, Jay Gardner, dizendo que um dos motivos da demissão dele foi a vontade de realizar eleições de antes de privatizar as empresas iraquianas, indo contra um plano desenhado ainda no final de 2001.

Cronyism and corruption are major factors in Iraq's downward spiral. This week the public radio program "Marketplace" is running a series titled "The Spoils of War," which documents a level of corruption in Iraq worse than even harsh critics had suspected. The waste of money, though it may run into the billions, is arguably the least of it — though military expenses are now $4.7 billion a month. The administration, true to form, is trying to hide the need for more money until after the election; Mr. Cordesman predicts that Iraq will need "in excess of $50-70 billion a year for probably two fiscal years."

More important, the "Marketplace" report confirms what is being widely reported: that the common view in Iraq is that members of the U.S.-appointed Governing Council are using their positions to enrich themselves, and that U.S. companies are doing the same. President Bush's idealistic language may be persuasive to Americans, but many Iraqis see U.S. forces as there to back a corrupt regime, not democracy.

IMHO, Baby Bush vai cair simplesmente pq está decepcionando os investidores... Um ano de ocupação e já tem gente contabilizando o prejuízo como GE e Siemens (Veja nota).