First of all, generally speaking — and there are notable exceptions, mind you — blogging is a waste of time second only to relying on blogs as a source of reliable information with enough value-added to make them worth your time and attention.

Then again, it’s my life to waste.

That said, I come to the marketplace of half-baked ideas to announce that I will fulfill a New Year’s resolution by (1) transferring my blogging activity to The New World Lusophone Sousaphone, and (2) spend more time on O Bicho-Preguiça, where I promised myself I would publicly work to improve — or fail to improve — my abysmal New World Portuguese prose style.

Adjust your bookmarks accordingly. Or not.

It’s not like you blog-reading fools contribute to my household income, after all.

Some initial posts from the Sousaphone:

• UBS-Pactual Pledged to Hedge: Cruzeiro do Sul Cops a Swap
• Tupiwire: The Week That Was
• What Will Become of the UBS-Pactual Pact?
• Rei do Mate: Mom and Pop Will Sell the Shop?
• “The Real Brazil”: The Industrial Revolution Will Not Be Televised
• Morning Briefing: Breakfast With The Bem-Te-Vi

About the Sousaphone.

RSS feeds for the Sousaphone family of syndicated newswires:

• Google Notebook
• The Del.icio.us Market Machine Tupiwire

A Lusophone is someone who speaks the Portuguese language natively or by adoption. As an adjective, it means “Portuguese-speaking.” The word itself is derived from the name of the ancient Roman province of Lusitania, which covered an area that is today Portugal.

Sousafone é um instrumento de sopro da família dos metais. Trata-se de uma tuba especial que o executante apoia no ombro para que possa executá-la enquanto anda ou marcha.

PROJOR study: “Electronic Coronelismo of a New Kind (1999-2004): Broadcast licenses as medium of exchange in political bargaining.” Thorough.

Briga dos Magalhães atinge renovação de emissora: “Strife among the Magalhães clan affects renovation of broadcast concession.” Terra Magazine reports.

One of the more interesting stories to watch here in Brazil is the phenomenon known as “electronic coronelismo.”As the Colombian newspaper owner once said:

“Newspapers are like revolvers: You keep them around so you can pull them out when it’s time to open fire.” — Julio Mario Santo Domingo (El Espectador)

It’s a lot like Rupert Murdochism, only far more crude, grotesque and retrograde  in its antidemocratic perniciousness.

When the late Antônio Carlos Magalhães was the Minister of Communications under President Sarney, he tended to hand out broadcast concessions as political party favors. A legendary episode in a legendary life.
TV Bahia, for example, a Rede Globo retransmitter, is owned and operated by lots of people named Magalhães, as you will read. See also

• Brazil: Magalhães, The Father (and Son) of Magalhães, Succeeds Magalhães

Residents of Maranhão and Amapá tend to get their news from outlets controlled, directly or indirectly, by people named Sarney. As in the father-and-daughter senators Sarney. And so on.

I was recently working on a pauta (roughly, a story “pitch”) about consultancies here that specialize in helping family-controlled businesses deal with the ways in which the Freudian family romance can interfere with rational business planning and management. This would seem to be a case in point.

A briga dos herdeiros do ex-senador Antonio Carlos Magalhães atinge seu segundo impasse. Depois da derrota do dono da construtora OAS, César Mata Pires (casado com Tereza Helena, filha de ACM), na disputa pelo controle da Rede Bahia, a ausência de rubricas e assinaturas tumultuam a renovação do sinal da emissora TV Santa Cruz, em Itabuna, uma das principais cidades do interior baiano.

The quarrel among heirs to the late ACM has reached a second impasse. After the defeat suffered by the owner of the OAS construction company, César Mata Pires (married to a daughter of the late senator, Tereza Helena), in the dispute for control of the Rede Bahia network, the absence of the proper stamps and signatures is throwing a monkey wrench into the renovation of the concession for TV Santa Cruz in Itabuna, one of the main cities in the interior of Bahia.

Essa nova rusga (ou capítulo de arrastada novela) se tornou pública esta semana e guarda, nas coxias, os diálogos precários das duas partes da família. A TV Santa Cruz é um dos braços vitais da Rede Bahia, que engloba seis emissoras de TV aberta, uma de canal fechado, o jornal Correio da Bahia e duas emissoras FM.

This latest falling out (or chapter in a long-running soap opera) became public this week and  … TV  Santa Cruz is a key branch of the Rede Bahia network, which includes six open-air TV stations, a cable channel, the Correio da Bahia newspaper, and two FM radio stations.

Em resposta à união do senador ACM Jr. com os herdeiros do ex-deputado Luis Eduardo Magalhães (juntos, 66% das ações da empresa), César se recusa a assinar o pedido de renovação.

In response to the alliance between Sen. ACM Junior and the heirs of the late federal deputy Luis Eduardo Magalhães (together, they control 66% of the company), César is refuing to sign the renewal application.

Died of an excess of Bolivian marching powder before ACM could make him president of Brazil, the way Joe did JFK.

Em 11 de março, uma devassa judicial no apartamento da viúva de ACM, Arlette Magalhães, expôs uma ação de arrolamento de bens movida por Tereza Mata Pires. Ela suspeitava - e depois confirmou, em nota pública, a ausência de algumas obras - do sumiço de bens do ex-senador. Em contra-ataque, os demais herdeiros doaram à viúva as obras de arte a que teriam direito. Uma briga empresarial envolvia Arlette, até então a única capaz de conversar com os dois lados. Mas outros lances, políticos e humanos, acirram os humores familiares.

On March 11, a court-ordered search of the premises at the apartment of ACM’s widow, Arlette, turned up a petition to inventory the estate filed by Tereza Mata Pires. She suspected — and later confirmed, in a press release … that some of the late senator’s assets had disappeared. The other heirs counterattacked by donating to the widow the art works to which she was entitled. A business dispute involved Arlette, who to that point was the only party still talking to both sides. But other events, both political and personal, raised the temperature of family relations.

Com as negativas de César no processo de renovação da TV de Itabuna, os conflitos ganham uma dimensão mais grave: a Rede Bahia pode ter perdas econômicas. Diante do atraso na assinatura, receia-se o fim do sinal. Veredas jurídicas exigem a aprovação de todos os sócios, não somente os majoritários. Em miúdos: César, com 33%, pôs uma pedra no meio do caminho.

With Ceśar’s refusal to sign off on the renewal of the TV station in Itabuna, the conflicts got more serious: Rede Bahia might suffer financially. With the signature withheld, the end of the station is feared. Legal red tape requires the unanimous approval of the partners, not just the majority shareholders. In short, César, with his 33%, [allusion to a classic modernist poem, somewhat reminiscent of Lorca, by which we are to understand that he threw a monkey wrench into everyone's plans.]  

Terra Magazine apurou que, nos bastidores, seguem os palavrões e as agressões. O diálogo cortês se dá na esfera judicial. Em 1º de abril, o Diário do Poder Judiciário da Bahia publicou, na página 37, o andamento de uma ação ordinária de César Mata Pires contra a TV Bahia, Arlette Magalhães, ACM Jr., Luis Eduardo Magalhães Filho e as irmãs Paula e Carolina.

This magazine can report that the foul language and aggression continues behind the scenes. Polite words are reserved for the courtroom. On Apriil 1, the Bahian courts published, on page 37 of their official diary, the proceedings of a lawsuit filed by César against TV Bahia, Arlette, ACM Jr., the son of Luis Eduardo, and the sisters Paula and Carolina.

Trata-se do despacho da 14ª Vara Cível: “Ouça-se a parte Autora sobre a contestação oferecida pelos Suplicados, no prazo legal.” Esta é uma das frentes da luta pelo comando do grupo de mídia. Corre em sigilo de Justiça.

What was published was the docket of the 14th Civil Bar: “Let the plaintiff be heard regarding the response offered by the respondents within the time required by law.” This one of the battlefronts in the war for control of the media group. It is being conducted under seal. 

O conflito familiar tem três dimensões: a Justiça, os bastidores e os boatos. Não deve ser menosprezado o poder dos últimos. Equivalem a caneladas. A notícia de que César Mata Pires estaria se aliando à Record da Bahia (TV Itapoan) causou arrepios nos Magalhães. Versão corrente: o empresário teria oferecido apoio ao apresentador popular da Record, Raimundo Varela, que lidera a disputa pela Prefeitura de Salvador, para prejudicar o pré-candidato ACM Neto.

The family feud has three dimensions: the legal battle, the backstage feuding, and the rumor mill. The power of the latter should not be underestimated. [They are as vicious as a kick to the shins.] The news that César might be aligning himself with TV Record Bahia (TV Itapoan) gave the rest of clan gooseflesh. The current story is that the businessman offered his support to the popular Record TV personality Raimundo Varela, who leads the polls in the race for the mayor’s office in the capital city of Salvador, to the detriment of pre-candidate ACM III. 

Since we are mongering rumors: Another Record TV personality, state lawmaker Wagner Montes, is supposedly standing for mayor of Rio this year. The man is a staggering buffoon. Globo is said to be throwing its might behind Green Party ex-guerrilla Fernando Gabeira, who, though also mightily peculiar, is no fool.

Look at me: I am picking up the native relish for hot, roasted fofoca, with farofa on the side.

Arnie Pie with Eye in the Sky: TV Bahia films Carnaval. Source: turista-blogger Roman Virdi.

Em entrevista a Terra Magazine (leia abaixo), Varela se afasta do diz-que-diz:

In an interview with Terra Magazine, Varela distances himself from the “he said, she said” … 

- Não vi, não sei nem onde mora (César)… Nesse negócio de família, eu não me meto, meu irmão!

“I have not seen him, I don’t even know where César lives. In this family thing, I don’t get involved, bro!” 

Uma frase do ex-governador da Bahia Octávio Mangabeira sintetiza a lógica dessa história: “O baiano dá 100 para o vizinho não ganhar 50″. O vizinho seria o deputado federal ACM Neto (DEM). Procurado pela reportagem, Neto declara:

A memorable saying of former Bahia governor Octávio Mangabeira sums of the logic of this whole story: “A Bahian will pay 100 just to keep his neighbor from earning 50.” The neighbor here being ACM III, a federal deputy for his grandfather’s ex-PFL. Sought for comment, ACM III said:

- Não tenho informação sobre isso. Apenas li a respeito.

“I have no information on that, just what I have read.”

O senador ACM Jr. decidiu não se pronunciar, publicamente, sobre a briga judicial. O executivo da OAS, Léo Pinheiro, foi procurado três vezes no escritório da construtora em São Paulo. Não houve retorno aos telefonemas. O advogado de César Mata Pires foi contatado, mas não houve resposta.

Senator ACM Jr. decided not to comment publicly on the legal battle. OAS executive Léo Pinheiro was sought for comment three times at his office in São Paulo. The calls were not returned. César’s lawyer was contacted, but did not reply.

Os Magalhães trabalham com a hipótese de César Mata Pires não assinar o pedido de renovação da TV de Itabuna. Duas soluções em estudo: o apoio de uma emissora próxima ou a aquisição de outro sinal. Saídas que não evitam a perda de identidade regional e os custos elevados da operação. E sem a expectativa de ver resolvido o conflito com César e Tereza Mata Pires - a não ser que ambos, num gesto desprendido, se desfaçam das ações. Improvável. Ao que parece, cunhado é para sempre.

The Magalhães clan is proceeding on the assumption that César Mata Pires will not sign the application for renewal of the TV Itabuna concession. They are studying two solutions: The support of a neighboring TV staion or acquiring another frequency. Without any hope of seeing the conflict with César and Tereza resolved — unless the two of them drop their lawsuits. Not likely. …

A seguir, a conversa com o apresentador da Record (TV Itapoan) e pré-candidato a prefeito de Salvador, Raimundo Varela.

Following, an interview with TV Record personality and mayoral aspirant Raimundo Varela. 

Terra Magazine - É verídica a história de que o empresário César Mata Pires, dentro da briga da família de ACM, teria procurado a Record e o senhor?

TM: It is true that Mata Pires, as part of his quarrel with ACM’s family, sought out you and Record?

Raimundo Varela - Nunca! Não vi, não sei nem onde mora.

Never. Haven’t met the man. Don’t know where he lives.

Nem onde mora?

Not even where he lives?
Não sei. Eu só sei que ele é o tal presidente da (construtora) OAS.

I don’t know. I just know he’s the president of OAS.

E que teria oferecido apoio à sua campanha, contra ACM Neto…

He supposedly offered to back your campaign against ACM III.

Não, não. Alguém está plantando isso. Isso não existe. Fique tranqüilo. Nesse negócio de família, eu não me meto, meu irmão!

No, no, no. Someone is spreading that around. Not true. Take my word for it. In this family business, I don’t get involved, bro!

Sim…

Yeah …

Deus lhe abençoe.

God bless ‘em.

Elvira Lobato of the Folha de S. Paulo has worked this story for years, and was recently the subject of SLAPP suits by the Universal Church, which owns Record, over reporting on its business dealings.

As far as I could tell, what she wrote was a perfectly well-documented X-ray of the business structure, based on public record.  And going from having Globo impose its Manchurian candidate to having Globo and Record vie to oppose rival Manchurian candidates does not exactly seem like spectacular progress toward putting the bad old days behind us, does it?

Veja magazine, March 2002: “The Dossier Wars: Politicians and spies have set up a slander industry in Brazil.” Right: And Veja is that industry’s Yoyodyne. Ask Veja about the work that Jairo Martins later did for it (and testified to a congressional committee about).

Brazilian journalist Luis Nassif has mounted an incredible army of Internet Brancaleones to severely criticize the neo-Lacerdist style of journalism practiced at Veja magazine (Grupo Abril) — what Mr. Nassif has described, with good reason, as an attempt to import the “neocon style” into Brazilian journalism.

I personally think the neocons got their style from the kind of banana-republican fascists in whose footsteps Veja follows, but that is a subtle historical debate for another time.

One of the hallmarks of that journalism is the use of anonymous sourcing as the rule, rather than the very carefully pondered exception.

Anyone who has ever read a manual of good journalistic practice knows that you can save yourself the embarrassment of running gabbling, unsubstantiated rumors and vouching for nonsense (the “Jayson Blair-Judy Miller syndrome”) by observing a couple of simple rules of thumb: (1) think twice about granting anonymity to sources, explain why you granted it, and give as much information about the source as possible; and (2) in any event, always corroborate what your Deep Throat is telling you six ways from Sunday before running it, or else make it very explicit that the information you are presenting has not been corroborated.

Unless, of course, running unsubstantiated rumor does not embarrass you.

The case that always comes to mind — I have been doing a fair amount of reading up on the history of this sort of thing here in Brazil — is that of an accusatory scandal story about a politician whom Veja reported had US$1 million in a (bribe-stuffed, allegedly) bank account.

At the last minute, those snotty little know-it-alls in the fact-checking department discovered that the account actually only contained R$1,000.

So Veja, which already had the scandalous cover printed up, started calling around to try to get a source to “confirm” the US$1 million figure.

It found one in a bitter political adversary of the target. So it ran with the US$1 million figure, even though it had information to the contrary. And did not identify the source of the US$1 million figure, to boot.

It later apologized — sort of — for getting the story wrong. See

• Veja Só: Editorial Integrity at Brazil’s Grupo Abril

It also later abolished its fact-checking department.

In a related story, I wish very much not to owe any taxes this year. So I shop around for an accountant who will sign off on the proposition that my taxable income last year was, not $1 gazillion (would that it were), but $0.

So who was Veja’s source on the rumor that a government minister “rigged up a blackmail dossier” against former President Cardoso?

A member of the Brancaleones writes in to say we now know. It is not quite crystal-clear to me that we do, but it does seem that Veja has some explaining to do.

A fonte da Veja

Veja’s source

De Flávio Cantu

By Flávio Cantu

Nassif,

Dear Nassif,

Me desculpe o “off-topic”, mas o Senador Alvaro Dias confirmou que foi a fonte da Revista Veja.

Pardon my “off-topic” posting, but Senator Dias has confirmed being the source of that report in Veja magazine.

Sort of. Current reports are that he has denied publicly that he passed along the documents facsimiles of which were printed in the magazine, but admits that he himself was passed copies from a source he says he cannot reveal.

Um amigo de uma emissora de TV me disse no domingo que o serviço de inteligência do Governo sabia quem estava com cópias dos três falsos dossiês e que sua emissora estava no encalço destas pessoas.

A friend of mine at a TV channel told me Sunday that the government’s intelligence service knew who had copies of three phony dossiers, and that his news organization was on the trail of these persons.

Mas me parece que o “furo” do Noblat também furou a emissora que estava pronta para dar a notícia do vazamento do “dossiê” pelo Senador do PSDB.

But it seems that Noblat’s “scoop” also scooped this TV channel, which was ready to put the story on the air about the leaking of the “dossier” by the PSDB senator.

Foi uma maneira de manter aquela máxima do jornalismo:

It was a way of observing that maxim of journalism:

“Vamos dar primeiro a notícia para não sermos furados pela concorrência”

“Let us run the story first so as not to be scooped by the competition.”

Do Terra Magazine

From Terra Magazine:

O senhor admitiu que viu as informações antes de elas serem tornadas públicas. Em que circunstâncias isso aconteceu?

You have admitted that you saw this information before it was made public. In what circumstances did this occur?

Álvaro Dias - Olha, o jornalismo investigativo tem prestado um grande serviço ao País, seria muito pior a degradação das instituições, não fosse a competência e a ousadia do nosso jornalismo de investigação. E isso se dá em razão de fontes. O jornalistas se utiliza de muitas fontes. Uma revista do porte da Veja, que só no escândalo do mensalão divulgou, se não me falha a memória, matérias de capa 17 vezes, não contou com apenas uma fonte. Certamente valeu-se de muitas fontes de informação. Eu tenho sido ouvido por muitos jornalistas, do Terra, de outros sites, de jornais, emissoras de TV e certamente outros parlamentares da mesma forma. Esse é o caminho para se produzir a informação.

Álvaro Dias: Look here, investigative journalism has done this country a great service, the degradation of its would be much worse if it were not for the competence and daring of our investigative journalists.

He is changing the subject while filibustering, note.

And this is because of sources. Journalists use many sources. A magazine of Veja’s stature, which on the “big monthly allowance” affair ran, if memory serves, 17 cover stories, does not use just one source.

Oh, yes, it does.

The Calheiros scandal was sourced entirely to the palimony lawyer of the “sex senator’s” baby mom.

Who negotiated the appearance of the baby mom in Veja’s sister publication, Playboy Brasil.

Which is how we all came to know what Mônica has tattooed on her ass.

It most certainly used other sources of information. I have been interviewed by many journalists, from Terra, from other Web sites, from newspapers, TV, as other lawmakers have certainly been. That is the way to produce information.

Move to strike as nonresponsive.

O senhor então foi uma das fontes de informação desses jornalistas?

So were you one of the sources of information for these journalists?

É evidente que é meu dever responder questões formuladas por jornalistas, e eu tenho feito. Obviamente, o que pretende o governo agora é tirar o foco, o governo não quer mostrar as suas contas. Mostra as do governo passado mas esconde as suas. E pretende exatamente desviar o foco do debate.

Obviously, it is my duty to respond to questions posed by journalists, and I have done so. Obviously, what the government means to do here is change the focus, the government does not want to reveal its accounts. It shows the accounts from the past government but will not show its own. And its intent is precisely to change the subject of the debate.

Still has not answered the question.

O senhor então foi fonte de informação do jornalista da Veja? Não a única, mas uma das?

So were you the source of the information for the Veja journalist? Not the only source, but one of them.

He refuses to answer the question.

(silêncio) Qual é a importância disso? Eu pergunto. Obviamente a Veja tem fontes no Palácio do Planalto… Qual é o ilícito em conversar com jornalistas, como eu estou conversando com você? Qual é o ilícito? Enfim, é surrealista essa história. Acho que o governo subestima a inteligência das pessoas, preparando uma estratégia como essa, tentnado repassar responsabilidades. Se eventualmente contribuí com informações para que a matéria pudesse ser veiculada, altera a responsabilidade do governo na confecção do dossiê? É evidente que não. Isso exime o governo de responsabilidade? É óbvio que não. Então não há porque priorizar essa discussão, que a partir de ontem à tarde, priorizaram.

[Silence.] What does it matter? I ask you. Obviously Veja has sources inside the executive office building. What is so wrong about talking to journalists, as I am talking to you? What is so wrong with that? I mean, this whole story is surreal. I think the government underestimates the intelligence of people, coming up with a strategy like this, trying to pin the blame on someone else. Suppose I did contribute information so the story could be published, does it alter the fact that the government ginned up this dossier? Clearly not. Does this exonerte the government of responsibility? Clearly not. So there is no reason to dwell on this subject, which they started dwelling on yesterday afternoon.

Still has not answered the question.

Certo. E se não há ilícito nenhum, também não há problema nenhum em admitir que o senhor foi uma das fontes, certo?

Right. So if there is nothing wrong with it, there is also nothing wrong with admitting that you were one of the sources, right?

Uma das fontes é natural que eu tenha sido. Provavelmente alguma opinião minha pode ter tido alguma importância. Acho que estão superdimensionando a minha capacidade de obter informações.

Naturally I would have been one of the sources. Probably some opinion of mine might have had some importance. I think my capacity for gathering information has been overestimated.

Hard to translate that response, with its tortuous syntax.

“One of the sources, it is (only) natural that I had (would have) been.”

Reminds me of that moment in All The President’s Men when Redford and Hoffman are sitting around trying to parse the evasive answer of a source, as to whether or not it constitutes a “non-denial denial.”

Entendi. Maso senhor obteve esse dossiê de que maneira? No Palácio do Planalto?

I understnd. But you obtained this dossier how? From the presidential office building?

Eu não tenho o dossiê. Eu tenho informações sobre o dossiê. Como muitos possuem. Agora, quem mais tem informações sobre o dossiê é o presidente da República e a ministra Dilma (Rousseff, da Casa Civil). Ela mesma, em São Paulo, no dia 17 de fevereiro, declarou taxativamente: “não vamos apanhar quieto, estamos fazendo levantamento de dados do governo passado”. Ela sim tem todas as informações e é a melhor fonte.

I do not have the dossier. I have information about the dossier. As many people do. Now, the one who has the most information about the dossier is the President and Minister Dilma. She herself, on February 17, insisted: “We are not going to just still and take this, we are looking into data from the past government.” She has all the information and is the best source.

Really? Did Minister Dilma leak the dossier to Veja? In order to demonstrate that Cardoso scandalously ordered extra melted butter on his lobster while dining with the head of state of Botswana or something?

Fascinating.

From the Agência Senado just now:

O senador Alvaro Dias reafirmou há pouco que não tem de revelar o nome da pessoa que lhe passou as informações sobre gastos de cartões corporativos do ex-presidente Fernando Henrique Cardoso. O senador citou a Constituição (artigo 53, parágrafo 6º) ao alegar que os parlamentares não são obrigados a testemunhar sobre informações recebidas em razão do exercício do mandato nem sobre as pessoas que lhe confiaram as informações. Ontem, ele já havia sido questionado no Plenário do Senado apra revelar a fonte dos dados.

Senator Dias has just reiterated that he cannot reveal the name of the person who passed him the information on corporate credit card charges by former president Cardoso. He cited Article 53, Paragraph 6 of the Constitution and said lawmakers cannot be compelled to testify about informaion they receive in the course of their official duties, nor about persons who supply them with information. He had been questioned on the floor of the Senate yesterday and asked to reveal his source.

O senador foi questionado na CPMI dos Cartões sobre as declarações de que teve acesso ao suposto dossiê. O blog do jornalista Ricardo Noblat divulgou ontem que o senador paranaense teria sido a fonte das informações de matéria da revista Veja sobre o assunto. Dias citou, no entanto, blog da prória Veja, no qual o jornalista Reinaldo Azevedo afirma que o senador “não é ‘a’ fonte da revista” e, se fosse, não teria agido sozinho.

The Senator was questioned in the bicameral commission of inquiry into the use of corporate credit cards by the executive branch about statements to the effect that he had access to the alleged dossier. Noblat’s blog published a note yesterday saying that the senator from Paraná was the source of the information published by Veja magazine. Dias, however, cited Veja’s own blog, in which journalist Reinaldo Azevedo stated that the senator “was not the magazine’s source,” and, if he was, he would not have acted alone.

“He was not our source, and he was not our only source”? I will have to read that.

Dias citou ainda a coluna do jornalista Cláudio Humberto, de 9 de fevereiro, que dizia que o governo Lula se preparava para expor eventuais extravagâncias do governo passado. Dias também lembrou que, por volta de 17 de fevereiro, a ministra-chefe da Casa Civil, Dilma Rousseff, disse que o governo não iria apanhar quieto e que estava preparando um levantamento sobre gastos do governo FHC. No dia 19 de fevereiro, a Agência Estado noticiava que o Palácio do Planalto preparava dossiê para enfrentar a CPMI dos Cartões.

Dias also cited the column of journalist Cláudio Humberto from February 9, which said that the Lula administration was getting ready to reveal supposed extravagant spending by the last administration. He also recalled that on February 17 or thereabouts, Minister Dilma said the government was not going to take it quietly and was researching spending by the Cardoso government. On February 19, the Agência Estado news agency reorted that the presidency was preparing a dossier for the congressional probe.

Humberto — reputedly a good buddy of the Times‘ man in Copacaban, Larry Rohter, but I do not know that for a fact — was the press secretary for President Collor. I was just reading about the guy in Notícias do Planalto.

Alvaro Dias disse que informou o ex-presidente Fernando Henrique Cardoso de que estava sendo elaborado um dossiê sobre os cartões corporativos. Segundo o senador, FHC disse que essas contas nunca foram sigilosas.

Dias said he told former president Cardoso that a dossier was being prepared on corporate credit cards. According to the senator, Cardoso told him that information was never classified.

Cardoso really ought to just go off and build habitats for humanity like Jimmy Carter, or run a hedge fund like Al Gore, or advise a private equty firm like Bush, Sr.

O senador afirma que não cometeu crime. “Réu é quem denuncia ou quem comete o crime?”, questionou.

The senator said he had committed no crfime. “Is the defendant the one who reports the crime or the one who committed it?”

Veja magazine, March 2002: “The Dossier Wars: Politicians and spies have set up a slander industry in Brazil.” Right: And Veja is that industry’s Yoyodyne. Ask Veja about the work that Jairo Martins later did for it (and testified to a congressional committee about).

“The impression I have is that someone found a chicken bone and tried to sell it to the press as a dinosaur bone.” –President Squid on the Cardoso Room Service Blackmail Dossier

Para Lula, Dilma foi vítima de ´leviandade clandestina´: Dilma “Comrade Wanda” Rousseff, midwife to the mother of all economic stimulus packages,  is said to be the victim of, what?

“Shadowy disingenousness?” “Sneaky nonsense”? A “dark and unspeakable gabbling ratfink?”

Who leaked the lunch and room service tabs of Fernando Henrique Cardoso to Veja magazine? The name of an opposition senator is floating around now, but who knows? Does it really matter? Probably not.
See also

• Nassif on the Cardsoso Lunch-Tab Blackmail Dossier: “Factoids Beget Factoids”
• Ecce Veja: “Scandal of the Blackmail Dossier!”

Leviandade, according to the fine Michaelis PT-EN dictionary:

sf 1 levity, thoughtlessness, imprudence. 2 frivolity, folly, flippancy.

Dilma Rousseff, the successor to Zé Dirceu as the Brazilian minister of the Casa Civil, and midwife to the government’s “economic growth acceleration plan” (PAC), has been the target of recent accusations by Veja magazine and the Folha de S. Paulo that she presided over the ginning up of a “blackmail dossier” against former President Cardoso.

I read Carta Capital, Valor and the Estado de S. Paulo myself (although the reportagem local and some other journalists at the Folha are worth keeping up with.)

Defenders of the government charge that the “scandal of the blackmail dossier” is just a phony tempest in a teapot designed to cut down the number of column inches dedicated to the success of the program presided over by the former Comrade Wanda, around whom swirl rumors of a presidential candidacy in 2010.

They may have a point. I mostly note it as a student of artificial South American media frenzies and the journalism of “moral panic.” This is, I expect, most likely another one of those. Long live the restless ghost of Carlos Lacerda.

BRASÍLIA - A elaboração e divulgação de um dossiê com dados sigilosos sobre gastos feitos pelo presidente Fernando Henrique Cardoso e sua mulher, dona Ruth, foi uma ” leviandade clandestina ” e ” chantagem política ” contra a ministra da Casa Civil, Dilma Rousseff, disse o presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, ao comentar o envolvimento da ministra na polêmica criada com a revelação das informações da Presidência protegidas por sigilo.

The preparation and publication [by Veja magazine] of a dossier containing confidential data on the expense accounts of former president Cardoso and his wife, Ruth, was a ["bunch of cloak-and-dagger nonsense"] and a “political blackmail tactic” used against Rousseff, said President Lula da Silva, commenting on the controversy over the publication of confidential data on presidential expense accounts.

“A pessoa que tem a história da Dilma, que presta o serviço ao país que a Dilma presta, não pode ser vítima de uma chantagem política de uma figura que eu não sei quem é, que roubou peça de um documento de um banco de dados e vendeu a idéia para alguém de que era um dossiê ” , disse o presidente, após almoço no Palácio do Itamaraty com o presidente da Eslovênia, Danilo Türk.

“Someone with Dilma’s history, who serves Brazil the way Dilma does, cannot be the victim of a political blackmail scheme by someone who I don’t even know who it is, who stole part of a document from a database and sold someone on the idea that this was a dossier,” said [President Squid] after lunching at the foreign ministry with the president of Slovenia, Danilo Turk.

Minutos antes, em conversa informal com jornalistas que participaram do almoço, Lula defendeu com veemência a ministra, e falou com naturalidade sobre a existência de um ” dossiê ” . ” A Dilma foi vítima de uma leviandade clandestina, de alguém que toma documentos e transforma em dossiê ” , comentou.

Minutes before, in an informal conversation with journalists covering the lunch, Lula defended Dilma vehemently, and spoke openly about the existence of a “dossier.” “Dilma is the victim of [a sneaky and underhanded bit of disingenuous nonsense,] of someone who took documents and transformed them into a dossier,” he said.

“No governo tem muitas pessoas que trabalham, e têm muitos documentos ” , comentou Lula. Lula mencionou ter lido no jornal O Globo a informação de que o senador Álvaro Dias teria tido acesso aos documentos antes da divulgação à imprensa. Ele afirmou que o governo investigará a origem do vazamento dos dados, coletados na Casa Civil, de arquivos do palácio do Planalto. ” Se tivesse caráter não seria clandestino ” , disse, referindo-se ao responsável pelo vazamento. ” Quem recebeu o tal do dossiê sabe quem foi.”

“There are many people working for the government, and there are many documents,” said Lula, who mentioned having read in the O Globo daily that Senator Álvaro Dias may have had access to the documents before they came out in the press.

PSDB Senator from Paraná, where politics is a nasty, brutal blood sport.

Did O Globo really report that? Let me check.

Lula said the government will investigate the source of the leaked data, which was being organized inside the Casa Civil, from presidential documents. “If the source had any character, they would not have done this on the sly,” he said. “The people who received this so-called dossier know exactly who it was.”

Ao falar, mais tarde, aos jornalistas na saída do Itamaraty, Lula evitou repetir o nome de Dias. ” Tem jornais que já dizem que teve senadores que participaram disso; ainda não li a matéria, mas acho lamentável ” , disse. ” A impressão que eu tenho é que alguém encontrou um osso de galinha e tentou vender para a imprensa que tinha encontrado uma ossada de dinossauro ” , comparou. ” Na hora em que for montado para saber de que tamanho era o dinossauro, vão perceber que era um franguinho “

Speaking to journalists as he left the foreign ministry, Lula avoided repeating the name of Dias. “There are newspapers who say there were senators involved in this; I have not read the article yet, but I find it lamentable,” he said. “The impression I have is that someone found a chicken bone and tried to sell it to the press as a dinosaur bone.”

Lula is a folksy and homespun kind of guy. If it is not soccer-political metaphors, . Think what you like about the man, but as a PR strategy, it really does seem to work. Fewer people disapprove of Squid than approve of Bush these days.

“The minute you look to see if the bone is dinosaur-size, you are going to see it was just a chicken.”

Após negar que Dilma vá atender a uma eventual convocação para explicar o caso do dossiê, na CPI montada para investigar mau uso de cartões corporativos, Lula fez outra enfática defesa da ministra, e lamentou que, em um momento de êxito da política econômica, ” apareça alguém para colocar suspeita na figura que tem compromisso com este País 24 horas por dia ” .

After denying that Dilma will answer a possible summons to explain the “dossier” to the congressional panel investigating the abuse of corporate credit cards by government officials, Lula once again emphatically defended the minister, lamenting that, at a moment of success for his economic policy, “someone comes along to cast suspicion on a person with a 24-7 commitment to Brazil.”

Lula afirmou que continuará, com Dilma, a viajar no país para lançar o Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento (PAC), com previsão de investimentos de R$ 504 bilhões para os próximos anos. Disse que não debaterá com oposicionistas que o acusam de antecipar a campanha eleitoral, nos discursos de inauguração de obras. ” Sou o cidadão mais cansado de eleição ” , ironizou ” Se tem uma coisa que eu não gostaria de fazer era discutir eleição, porque cansei; fiz eleição em 1982, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 ” , argumentou. ” Chega um pouco, agora eu preciso descansar. “

Lula said that he would continue to travel around Brazil with Dilma to launch PAC projects, which provide for R$504 billion in investments in the coming years. He said would not debate opposition politicians who accuse him of using the events for political campaigning outside of the permitted season during his speeches at the inauguration of projects. “I am more sick and tired of election campaigns than anyone else in Brazil,” he quipped. “I stood for election in 1982, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006,” he argued. “Enough already, I need a rest.”

The opposition wants to impeach the guy for trying to take credit for what he argues are successful policies. Brazil has weird election laws, overseen by weird people.

Trying to sell your policies to the public and take credit for the good things that are (you argue) happening, is a criminal act!

Imagine impeaching Bush for going out to the scene of the California wildfires in a bid to show that this was not going to be another Katrina situation. Remember that?

You might well comment on the potential political damage-control and electioneering angle on the visit, but you cannot really criticize the guy for showing up and acting like the president in such a situation, can you?

For my notes, let me see if I can find that O Globo story making that claim about Dias.

But do not get too excited yet: Large swaths of the Brazilian press must, unfortunately, be boiled before they are fit for consumption by minimally rational human beings.

The sleep of reason in stagnant waters tends to breed the dengue mosquito of gabbling nonsense.

Reported cases of dengue, by month, in Rio de Janeiro. The darker the area, the greater the number of reported cases. This year: 206.8 cases/100,000 inhabitants in Rio. Reported cases this year: 31,552, compared with 10,464 last year. Source: Estado de S. Paulo today.

… we need a communications policy and an ongoing dialogue with the mass media that will guarantee that the sense of risk is proportionate to the actual risk. –César Maia, from the ex-blog

The Brazilian Ministério do Planejamento carries the following angry editorial today from the Jornal do Brasil about the dengue outbreak in Rio de Janeiro and the city’s outgoing mayor, Cesar “The Naked” Maia.

If you live here in Brazil, you have already survived the apocalyptic yellow fever epidemic of 2008 that really wasn’t — unless you panicked, overdosed on the vaccine when you really had no need of taking it in the first place, and died from that. As a few people did.

Now, courtesy of the same mosquito, here is the great dengue outbreak of 2008 — which by all accounts really is quite a serious public health problem.

See also

• Rio: Dancing the Dengue Merengue

There is one thing that I do not quite understand about the current crisis, however, which is getting coverage worthy of the OJ Simpson trial here.

Dengue outbreaks, which are concentrated in the rainy season (January to March) — like yellow fever outbreaks — seem to be cyclical, spiking up every few years or so.

And the outbreak in 2002, with 155,242 cases, was much worse, was it not?

This would not excuse lack of preparation, planning and proper response during this outbreak, of course — responsibility for which is quite the political hot potato.

The fear of death aside, then, it is interesting, as a watcher of other people’s C-SPAN in a strange land, during a municipal election year, to see this outbreak being treated as something like Chairman’s Maia’s Hurricane Katrina.

Here in São Paulo, the government media blitz regarding “here is how to prevent dengue” was very visible (and well done, we thought.)

Me and the Mrs. even made sure we did not leave any stagnant water around for the mosquito to breed in, even though our neighborhood is probably not at great risk.

We are not too worried about dengue, that is, but we are much more worried about it than we were about yellow fever, despite the boob tube’s attempt to make us very, very, very afraid. See

• The Fever Dream of the Yellow Press: What the Factoid Is Wrong With These People?

The JB editorializes. I do not necessarily endorse the sentiment. I merely translate pra inglês ver.

Enquanto pacientes com dengue aguardavam ontem três horas por socorro em hospitais sem médicos, e doentes lotavam as tendas de campanha, o prefeito César Maia continuava escondido na internet e nas amenidades de sua agenda. Só saiu do gabinete para o Palácio da Cidade, onde recebeu vereadores e almoçou com oficiais do Exército. O JB o procurou para saber o que foi discutido, mas a resposta veio por e-mail. Maia voltou a negar a epidemia, que já matou 44 pessoas no Rio este ano: “Há um surto epidêmico em Jacarepaguá”. Disse ter visitado os mesmos hospitais municipais onde ninguém o vê. Irritado, o governador Sérgio Cabral cobrou a abertura dos 100 postos de saúde do município que o prefeito insiste em manter fechados nos fins de semana.

While patients with dengue waited three hours for treatment at hospitals without doctors, and sick people crowded into the tents of the [Air Force] field hospitals, mayor César Maia continued hiding out on the Internet and in events on his ceremonial calendar.

Mayor Maia blogs. Blogs copiously, in fact, as I know from subscribing to his daily “ex-blog” newsletter. I have often wondered myself how he finds the time to do anything else.

He only left his office to go to City Hall to meet with aldermen and lunch with Army officers. The JB tried to find out what they discussed, but the response came back by e-mail. Maia once again denied that an epidemic, which has killed 44 so far this year, exists: “There is an epidemic outbreak in Jacarepaguá.” He said he visited the same city hospitals where no one reports having seen him. Irritated, Governor Cabral demanded that the city open 100 clinics that the mayor insisted remain closed during the weekend.

A estudante Jéssica Rosa de Souza, 19 anos, o construtor civil Adilson Silvestre Affonso, 50, e a dona de casa Patrícia Antunes dos Santos, 27, têm mais em comum do que a sina da espera por atendimento em um hospital da rede municipal. Ontem, enquanto aguardavam por mais de três horas que parentes com suspeita de dengue fossem atendidos, exorcizavam a figura e a postura do prefeito do Rio diante da epidemia da doença na cidade com um única pergunta: onde está Cesar Maia?

Student Jéssica Rosa de Souza, 19, and construction worker Adilson Silvestre Affosno, 50, and housewife Patrícia Nunes dos Santos, 27, have more in common than just a number on the waiting list to be seen at a city hospital. Yesterday, while they waited for more than three hours for relatives with suspected cases of dengue to be trerated, they exorcised the personage and posture of the Rio mayor in the face of the sickness in the city with a single question: Where is Mayor Maia?

É pouca vergonha demais. Enquanto faltam médicos nos hospitais, o prefeito está escondido no gabinete – desabafa Patrícia, com Paloma, de apenas quatro meses de vida, no colo. – Também é preciso ter coragem para ser prefeito.

“It’s just too shameful. While hospitals are lacking doctors, the mayor is holed up in his office,” Patrícia complains, holding Paloma, four months, in her lap. “You also need courage to be mayor.”

Ontem, em mais um dia de rotina desde que os números da dengue começaram a explodir na cidade, Cesar Maia cumpria agenda pré-programada. Desta vez, saiu do seu gabinete, no Centro Administrativo, na Cidade Nova, para os salões do Palácio da Cidade, em Botafogo. Ali, recebeu vereadores, alguns dos futuros secretários municipais e ainda almoçou com oficiais do Comando Militar do Leste (CML).

Yesterday, during another routine day since the numbers of dengue cases started exploding in the city, Maia stuck to his preprogrammed schedule. This time, he left his office in Cidade Nova and headed to City Hall in Botafogo, where he met with city lawmakers, some future city government department heads, and then lunched with officers from the Eastern Military Command.

Acho essa postura uma covardia. Olha a situação dos hospitais do Rio – diz, indignado, o construtor civil Adilson Affonso, que consolava a mulher, Aneliza Affonso dos Santos, 51, na fila para ser atendida no Hospital Souza Aguiar. – Já que as autoridades não conseguem acabar com o mosquito da dengue, que pelo menos dêem um atendimento decente nos hospitais da cidade.

“I find this stance cowardly. Just look at the condition of Rio’s hospital,” an indignant Adilson said, consoling his wife, Aneliza, 51, as she waited in line at the Souza Aguiar hospital. “Since the authorities have not been able to do away with the dengue mosquito, they should at least give us decent treatment at the city hospitals.”

“Historical progression of three dengue epidemics in Rio de Janeiro.” Source: [An entire football team of multiple authors], “The epidemic of dengue and hemorrhagic dengue fever in the city of Rio de Janeiro, 2001/2002″ Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical 37(4):296-299, jul-ago, 2004

Em busca do prefeito

In search of [the naked] mayor

A reportagem do JB percorreu ontem os três endereços oficiais do prefeito para saber onde ele cumpriria mais um dia de agenda – em gabinete e dando entrevistas por e-mail. Depois de passar pela Casa da Gávea Pequena, a residência oficial, em São Conrado, e pelo Centro Administrativo, na Cidade Nova, conseguiu localizar Maia no Palácio da Cidade, em Botafogo. Ali, conforme dito pelo próprio prefeito, por e-mail, teve encontros com vereadores e alguns dos novos secretários do município. Depois, almoçou com a cúpula do Comando Militar do Leste (CML).

JB reporters went to three of the mayor’s official addresses yesterday to try to find out what his official agenda for the day was. It turned out to be sitting around in his office doing interviews by e-mail. After going to his official residence in São Conrado and his office in Cidade Nova, we found the mayor  at City Hall, in Botafogo. There, according to the mayor himself, by e-mail, he met with city lawmakers and some of his municipal cabinet officers. Later, he lunched with the leadership of the Eastern Military Command.

Também por correio eletrônico, Maia não quis dar detalhes sobre o encontro com os militares, que desde segunda-feira, mantêm hospitais de campanha para atender às vítimas da doença. Mas considera, mais uma vez, que a cidade não vive uma epidemia de dengue. Como tem declarado, diz que ocorreu um “surto epidêmico em Jacarepaguá, não na cidade toda”. Além de “surtos no entorno de Manguinhos e de Senador Camará e incidências mais e menos significativas na cidade”.

Again via e-mail, Maia refused to give details of his meeting with the military men, who since Monday have been mounting field hospitals to treat dengue victims. But he said, once again, that he does not believe the city is suffering a dengue epidemic. As he has said before, he said “there is an outbreak in Jacarepaguá, not in the city as a whole.” Along with “outbreaks in the Manguinhos area and in Senador Camará and more or less significant numbers of cases in the city.”

Maia is a disciple of Dick Morris, whom he sometimes quotes in the “ex-blog.” Can you tell?

Maia também declara que vem realizando visitas aos hospitais da cidade, mas com agenda fechada, sem divulgação à imprensa. “Se se fala de epidemia na cidade toda, perde-se a prioridade de concentrar serviços nas áreas que precisam mais”, completa, por e-mail.

Maia also says he has been visiting city hospitals, but without announcing them beforehand to the press. “If we speak of a citywide epidemic, the focus on areas that need the most attention gets lost,” he concluded, via e-mail.

Rio tem quase 35 mil casos

Some 35,000 cases in Rio

Do mundo virtual do prefeito para a realidade da dengue nos hospitais, a cidade atingiu a marca de 34.284 vítimas da doença, com mais de 1.500 novos casos registrados ontem. Em três unidades de saúde da rede municipal – os Hospitais Lourenço Jorge, na Barra da Tijuca, Miguel Couto, no Leblon, e Souza Aguiar, no Centro – visitados pelo JB, à rotina de espera pelo atendimento se juntava a indignação com a atitude de Cesar Maia.

Moving now from the mayor’s virtual world and the reality of dengue in the hospitals, the city has seen 32,284 victims of the disease, with more than 1,500 new cases registered yesterday. In three city hospitals — in the Barra, Leblon and downtown — visited by this paper, the wait for treatment was mixed with indignation against Maia’s attitude.

Eu só posso pensar que o Cesar Maia está sendo, no mínimo, negligente. E basta olhar para as filas nos hospitais do Rio – resume a estudante Jéssica Rosa de Souza, 19, à espera de atendimento no Souza Aguiar, que já durava duas horas.

“I can only conclude that Maia is being, at a minimum, negligent. All you need do is look at the lines at Rio hospitals,” says a 19-year-old student waiting to be seen at Souza Aguiar Hospital, where she had already waited for two hours.

A indignação não estava estampada apenas nos rostos de quem tinha esperança de ser atendido. Entre funcionários dos hospitais, a revolta era a mesma.

Indignation was visible, not only on the faces of those waiting for treatment, but on the faces of hospital workers as well.

Não tenho palavras para falar sobre a postura do prefeito. Diante disso que vemos, é melhor ficar calada – desabafa uma enfermeira, há 25 anos na rede municipal de saúde. – Não é só a população que sofre. Nós, que trabalhamos nos hospitais, também somos vítimas, pois não temos estrutura.

“I have no words to describe the mayor’s posture. Given what we are witnessing, it is best not to say anything,” says a nurse who has worked in the city health network for 25 years. “It is not just the population that suffers. We who work in the hospitals are also victims, because we lack infrastructure.”

S. José de Rio Preto (450 km from São Paulo, population 415,000). The midsize Brazlian city-dweller is the demographic of the future, local marketers say. 

BOM DIA (São Jose de Rio Preto, São Paulo, Brazil) is one of those small regional newspapers that are interesting to keep up on when you run across them.

Some local press observers attribute the diminishing influence of the Six Families over public opinion to the emergence of sustainable local and regional media businesses like this. They may have something there, too.

As a supplement to my standing Google news alert on the term “glitch” — I have a general interest in the the Second Law of Thermodynamics (and Murphy’s Law) as it applies to complex technical systems — I also have a standing Google Brasil news alert on the term pane (outage, blackout, system failure, glitch) to catch Lusophone newsflow on the same topic.

In this case, the story of how Rio Preto dropped out of the Information Age for some five long hours.

Por 5 horas e 15 minutos, Rio Preto ficou sem comunicação. A pane nos telefones durou das 8h45 às 14h. A causa foi o rompimento de dois cabos de fibra óptica que atendem a Telefônica, a Embratel e a NET.

For 5 hours and 15 minutes, all communications ceased in Rio Preto. The telephone outage lasted fro 8:45 am to 2:00 p.m. The cause was the breaking of two fiber optic cables that serve Telefónica, Embratel and NET [cable TV and Internet].

Na região, 467 mil telefones ficaram mudos. Sem eles, sistemas de comunicação de bancos, lotéricas, comércio, polícia e até do Samu ficaram fora do ar. Pagamentos com cartões eletrônicos, que dependem de linha telefônica, não puderam ser realizados no comércio. Operadoras de celular também foram afetadas nas ligações de longa distância e para o serviço de call center.

Some 467,000 telephones in the area went dead. Without them, the communications systems of banks, lottery agencies, businesses, police agencies and even Samu [police, fire and medical emergency call center] went off the air. Electronic payments, which depend on telephone services, could not be made in local businesses. Cellular operators also experienced difficulties with long-distance calls and call center service.

Segundo a assessoria da Telefônica, os cabos foram atingidos entre Rio Preto e Catanduva, devido a obras no trecho ferroviário, e na rodovia Assis Chateaubriand, entre Rio Preto e Barretos, por supostos atos de vandalismo. Apenas em Rio Preto, 124,5 mil usuários da Telefônica ficaram sem telefone. Destes, 24.049 perderam a conexão com a internet. A Anatel (Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações) foi notificada e espera, em 48 horas, relatórios das empresas.

According to Telefónica’s press office, the cables were affected between Rio Preto and Catanduva due to work on a stretch of railway, and also along the Assis Chateubriand Highway between Rio Preto and Barretos, due to alleged acts of vandalism. In Rio Preto along, 124,500 Telefónica customers were without service. Of these, 24,040 also lost their Internet connection. Anatel, the national telcoms regulator, was notified and awaits a report from the companies within 48 hours.

On police response:

A pane nas linhas telefônicas de Rio Preto fez com que a Polícia Militar se espalhasse pela cidade, em esquema especial de segurança. Com a comunicação prejudicada, carros foram colocados em pontos estratégicos para que estivessem ao alcance da população.

The outage in Rio Preto’s telephone lines caused the military police to deploy a special security scheme throughout the city. With communication cut off, squad cars were stationed at strategic points so that population could contact police. 

O coronel João Roque Borges, comandante do 17º Batalhão da Polícia Militar, afirma que o objetivo era garantir a segurança da população rio-pretense. “A maior preocupação foi atender a necessidade dos moradores da cidade, se necessário.”

Col. Borges, commander of the 17th Battalion, says the objective was to guarantee public safety. “Our greatest concern was meeting the needs of city residents, if necessary.”

Quem precisou dos serviços de emergências do Corpo de Bombeiros, Samu (Serviço de Atendimento Móvel de Urgência) e Polícia Militar teve que contar com a sorte para fazer ligações.

Those needed police, fire, and other emergency services were left to their own devices.

Apenas quem tinha aparelho celular à mão conseguiu contato. O Samu atende diariamente cerca de 70 chamadas no período da manhã. Ontem foram 42.

Only those with cell phones could get in touch by phone. SAMU normally takes 70 calls during the morning shift. Yesterday, it took 42.

Já o Corpo de Bombeiros recebe entre 200 e 300 telefonemas entre às 9h e 14h. Ontem foram 150.

The fire brigade usually gets 200 to 300 calls between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Yesterday, it was 150.

No setor de emergências da PM, o número de ligações feitas pelo celular quase triplicou. Segundo o tenente Nedson Nobre, assessor do CPI-5 (Comando de Policiamento do Interior), foram 165 telefonemas de celulares, contra 44 no mesmo período da terça passada, dia 25. Já as chamadas de números fixos foram 148, contra 273 no dia 25.

The number of calls to the military police emergency number by cell phones nearly tripled. According to Lt. Nobre, a spokesman for CPI-5, it received 165 cell-phone calls, compared with 44 on the same day last week. Calls from fixed lines were 148, compared with 273 last week.

Investigação

Investigation

A suspeita de que a pane teria sido provocada por vândalos deixou as polícias Civil e Militar de Rio Preto em estado de alerta. A informação de uma possível ação criminosa foi passada à polícia pela Telefônica.

The suspicion that the outage was caused by vandals put the state judicial and militar police on alert. The report of a possible criminal act was passed to police by Telefónica.

A SSP (Secretaria de Segurança Pública) do Estado descarta versão de ação organizada de quadrilhas para prejudicar trabalho policial.

The state public safety secretary ruled out the theory of  organized criminal action designed to impede police work.

Falha atinge dois concorrentes

Outage affects two competitors

As linhas de telefonia fixa a serviços de internet da Embratel e da Net também foram prejudicadas.

Fixed telephone lines and Internet services belonging to Embratel and Net were also affected.

Segundo a assessoria da Embratel, a empresa usa parte da fibra óptica da telefônica para transmitir os sinais para clientes de Rio Preto.

Embratel said it uses Telefônica’s fiber optics to transmit signal to customers in Rio Preto.

Com o incidente, a operadora desviou as rotas de acesso para meios próprios, porém não informou quantos clientes foram atingidos. A Net também teve queda de link com o rompimento.

When the outage occurred, it rerouted its traffic back to its own facilities, but did not say how many clients were affected. Net also had its link go down during the incident. 

De acordo com a assessoria de imprensa da telefônica, existem dois motivos para o rompimento dos cabos. O primeiro cabo teria rompido às 8h07, na linha férrea entre Rio Preto e Catanduva. O incidente teria acontecido durante obras no trecho ferroviário.

 According to Telefônica, there were two causes for the cable breakage. The first cable broke at 8:07 a.m. along the Rio Preto-Catanduva railway. It reportedly occurred while work was being performed on a stretch of track.

O segundo foi às 8h45, na rodovia Assis Chateaubriand, entre Rio Preto e Barretos. Este teria sido provocado por ato de vandalismo, segundo a assessoria.

The second occurred at 8:45 a.m. on the Chatô Highway between Rio Preto and Barretos.  Telefônica spokespersons said this was caused by an act of vandalism.

If you are driving on the Greater São Paulo Viaduct … don’t ask why. Just duck. Note favelas in the background. On the teettering-tottering Tiradentes busway, see São Paulo Diary: “Things Fall Apart. The Fura-Fila Cannot Hold”

They shouted out, “Who killed the Kennedys?”
When after all, it was you and me.
–Jagger-Richards, “Sympathy For the D-vil”

If anything characterizes our times, it is a sense of pervading chaos. In every field of human endeavor, the windstorms of change are fast altering the ways we live. Contemporary man is no longer anchored in certainties and thus has lost sight of who he is, where he comes from and where he is going. — The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property, quoted in my Spinning the World Backwards.

Item: De quem é a culpa?

Who is to blame for the imminent and inevitable collapse of Paulista civilization?

The business newsweekly Exame (Editora Abril, Brazil) weighs in on the question.

Editora Abril publications routinely adopt an analytical perspective that is (1) moralistic (”who is to blame?”); (2) apocalyptic (”the sky is falling!”); (3) long on belaboring of the obvious; and (4) shot through with hoary, reheated factoids and fuzzy numbers.

Não é do crescimento. Não é das montadoras. O colapso do trânsito em São Paulo é uma mostra de um país que não se preparou para o progresso

Growth is not to blame. Automakers are not to blame. The collapse of traffic in São Paulo is one more sign that Brazil has failed to prepare the way for progress.

By Fabiane Stefano

A cidade de São Paulo coleciona recordes. Alguns louváveis, outros desalentadores. A maior metrópole do país acabou de conquistar uma marca que é um misto das duas coisas. Hoje, nas ruas paulistanas, 6 milhões de carros brigam por espaço nos 15 000 quilômetros de vias asfaltadas. Trata-se de um recorde que a cidade renova a cada dia, com o registro de 800 novos veículos. Por um lado, o dado mostra a pujança econômica da metrópole e reflete, em boa medida, o bom desempenho do PIB brasileiro, que em 2007 fechou em alta de 5,4%. Por outro, denota o caos que virou a vida de quem precisa se deslocar por São Paulo. Dia após dia, a velocidade nos principais corredores da cidade diminui e os congestionamentos aumentam — na noite de quinta-feira, dia 13, 221 quilômetros de vias estavam abarrotados de veículos virtualmente parados, a maior marca já registrada até o fechamento desta edição. À medida que ruas e avenidas ficam progressivamente bloqueadas, cada vez mais gente se pergunta: de quem é a culpa pelo trânsito congestionado? “Falhamos todos: a sociedade, que se acomodou com o automóvel, e, sobretudo, o governo, que não fez a lição de casa e não investiu em transporte público”, diz Jaime Waisman, professor da Universidade de São Paulo. “Agora, temos transporte privado de Primeiro Mundo e público de Quinto — estamos todos parados.”

The city of São Paulo continues to set records. Some of them admirable, some disheartening. The biggest city in Brazil recently set a mark that is a mixture of the two. Today, some 6 million cars vie for space on the city’s 15,000 km of paved streets and roadways. It is a record that is superceded every day, with the registration of 800 new vehicles. On one hand, this figure reflects the city’s economic dynamism and favorable GDP trends in Brazil, with 5.4% growth in 2007. On the other hand, it denotes that chaos that trying to get around the city has become. Day after day, the average speed of traffic along the principal corridors decreases and congestion increases. On the night of March 13, 221 km were clogged with stop-and-go traffic, an all-time high. As streets and thoroughfares grow increasingly congested, more and more people are asking: Who is to blame for traffic congestion?

CartaCapital magazine ran an editorial package several issues ago, for example, based on the same observations.

Its coverage, however, was oriented toward the question, “What ought to be done about this problem?”

The magazine drew up a list of concrete policy proposals of various kinds and talked to a diverse selection of traffic pundits about the viability and efficacy of the same. It was very informative and thorough.

(I remember being interested to read about a PSDB city councilmember whose proposal to restrict curbside parking on major thoroughfares died stillborn thanks to the forces of NIMBYism, for example.)

Which kind of summarizes why I personally tend to spend my weekly budget for newsmagazines on CartaCapital and not the publications of the House of Civita.

The House of Civita tends to waste time preaching doom and wagging a moralistic finger rather than trying to discover ways of reducing the bagunça to a manageable level in the short term and chipping away at it in the long term.

I mean it. Its constant theme is Chicken Little’s refrain: “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!”

“Falhamos todos: a sociedade, que se acomodou com o automóvel, e, sobretudo, o governo, que não fez a lição de casa e não investiu em transporte público”, diz Jaime Waisman, professor da Universidade de São Paulo. “Agora, temos transporte privado de Primeiro Mundo e público de Quinto — estamos todos parados.”

“We have all failed: Society, which has gotten used to the automobile, and above all, the government, which has not taken the lesson to heart and invested in public transportation,” says Jaime Waisman, a professor at the University of São Paulo. “We know have First World private transportation and Fifth World public transportation — we are all stuck in traffic.” 

There’s a Fifth World now?

Em meio à irritação crescente dos cidadãos, é comum que a discussão perca o foco e que sejam eleitos culpados aleatoriamente. É o que tem ocorrido nesse caso. É um enorme equívoco culpar o crescimento do país ou a indústria automobilística — que em 2007 vendeu 28% mais do que no ano anterior — pelo trânsito parado. Pensar em restringir a venda de carros para melhorar a circulação nas ruas seria o mesmo que reduzir as exportações brasileiras porque os portos estão lotados. Ou torcer para que os brasileiros desistam de viajar de avião para que não haja filas nos aeroportos.

In the midst of growing irritation on the part of the citizenry, it is common for the debate to lose focus and for scapegoats to be selected at random. That is what has happened in this case. It is an enormous mistake to blame economic growth or the auto industry — whose sales were up 28% in 2007 over the previous year — for the state of traffic. The idea of restricting auto sales to improve traffic would be like reducing exports because the ports are overloaded. Or rooting for Brazilians to stop traveling by plane so there would no longer be long lines at the airports.

And who is making this enormous mistake?

Who is scapegoating the automobile industry, for example?

I cannot recall hearing anyone actually saying anything like this, but if they are, I would like to hear some of their arguments, on the record and attributed to their source.
There was a minor flap recently over remarks about the possibility of reducing the credit term for auto purchases from 60 to 36 months, but there seems little risk of this actually happening.

This has the air of another of Abril’s stocks in trade: The straw man argument.

São soluções que equivaleriam a abraçar o fracasso. A alternativa, óbvia, é enfrentar os gargalos existentes no país, não contorná-los por meio da mediocrização da economia. Como o país ficou muito tempo com investimentos à mingua, agora tem um duplo desafio: suprir as deficiências já existentes e abrir espaço para absorver os incrementos de atividade. “Seria ridículo torcer para ter recessão para que não haja congestionamento”, diz Waisman.

Such solutions would be the same as embracing failure. The obvious alternative is to face the existing bottlenecks rather than merely containing them by accepting mediocre growth. Because Brazil has long suffered from diminished investment, it now faces a double challenge: Make up for existing deficiencies and open the way for increased activity. “It would be ridiculous to root for a recession in order to solve the congestion problem,” Waisman says.

If Waisman is the only source for this story, why not assign him to write the article himself, rather than merely parroting his point of view?

Uma cidade à beira do caos

A city on the edge of chaos

See what I mean?

With these people, the apocalypse is always right around the corner.

Em dez anos, o número de carros em São Paulo cresceu a uma taxa três vezes maior do que a do aumento da população…

In ten years, the number of cars in São Paulo grew at a rate three times greater than the increase in population … 

[insert infographic here]

…e o metrô não conseguiu acompanhar o crescimento da cidade.

… and the subway system did not succeed in keeping up with the growth of the city.

Veja a situação em outras grandes metrópoles

Compare the situation of other major metropolitan complexes:

Cidade — Metrô (em km) – Habitante / veículo(1)
São Paulo  – 61 — 2,4
Paris – 211 — 2,3
Nova York – 370 – 4,4
Londres – 415 — 3,0
Fontes: Detran e NYS DMV

[table headings] City, subway lines (in km), inhabitants per vehicle … Sources: Detran and the New York State Dept. of Motor Vehicles.

(1) Relação de habitantes por automóvel

(1) Footnote: “inhabitants per vehicle” means the ratio of inhabitants to private automobiles.

Tautology is another characteristic of Abril journalism.

A SITUAÇÃO DE SÃO PAULO — e de outras metrópoles brasileiras — vai muito além do atual ciclo positivo da economia. Hoje, há 28% mais carros rodando na cidade do que em 1998. E, naquela época, os gargalos com trânsito já perturbavam os cidadãos. Um ano antes, em 1997, havia sido criado o rodízio com o objetivo de tirar de circulação 20% dos carros nos horários de pico. Agora, com sua frota gigante de 6 milhões de automóveis, a capital paulista tem 2,4 habitantes para cada veículo — índice semelhante ao de Paris. “Os congestionamentos roubam a produtividade dos negócios de diferentes maneiras. Algumas empresas gastam mais com logística porque seus caminhões fazem menos viagens e outras perdem horas de trabalho de seus funcionários porque eles estão presos no trânsito”, diz o pesquisador Tim Lomax, do Instituto de Transportes do Texas. De acordo com a instituição, os Estados Unidos perdem 78 bilhões de dólares por ano com os congestionamentos — o que inclui 11 bilhões de litros de gasolina desperdiçados e 4 bilhões de horas que deixaram de ser trabalhadas.

THE SITUATION OF SÃO PAULO — and other big Brazilian cities — goes well beyond the current economic upturn.

After a sidebar comparing the situation of traffic in other major world cities, the story returns to the topic of what the problem is not, and what its causes are not. More reheated factoids follow. I omit them because they just rehash what I have already read a thousand times.

The quote from a Texas traffic researcher on how much the U.S. loses every year in productivity because of traffic congestion seems completely irrelevant to me.

This here is not Texas.

It ain’t even in the same hemisphere as Texas.

O fato é que não há solução mágica para o caos no trânsito de São Paulo.

The fact is that there is no magic solution for the chaos of São Paulo traffic.

After making me read for five solid minutes about what the problem is not, without telling me what the problem is, the article now tells me that there is no solution to this problem except for things that should have already been done a long time ago, and are currently still in progress.

More belaboring of the obvious follows:

No longo prazo, o investimento em transporte público de massa (leia-se metrô) é o que garante mobilidade à maior parte da população — embora seu custo de implantação seja altíssimo. Com 61,3 quilômetros de extensão, o metrô de São Paulo é pequeno diante do tamanho da cidade. Um plano de expansão deve acrescentar nos próximos anos mais 100 quilômetros ao trajeto atual com a construção de novas linhas, a reforma do sistema de trens metropolitanos (que trafegam em velocidade menor) e a compra de novos trens. O projeto prevê investimento de 16,3 bilhões de reais. Sozinho, porém, o metrô não resolverá tudo. É preciso adotar um conjunto de medidas para desafogar e disciplinar o trânsito paulistano. A maioria delas é impopular e desagrada diferentes parcelas da sociedade. A restrição de caminhões durante o dia em Nova York, Londres e Paris, por exemplo, irritou o comércio dessas cidades, que teve de se adequar para receber mercadorias durante a madrugada. A mesma reação ocorre em São Paulo quando entra em discussão a adoção do pedágio urbano. O prefeito Gilberto Kassab já avisou que não pretende adotar o modelo de cobrança na cidade e prefere investir em medidas menos polêmicas, como a proibição de estacionamento nas vias movimentadas. “O pedágio é uma forma de cobrar de quem tem mais condições econômicas para favorecer o transporte público”, diz Eduardo Coutinho, diretor da Q-Free, empresa norueguesa que produz equipamentos eletrônicos para pedágios urbanos.

In the long term, investment in mass transportation (that is, in the subway system) is what will provide mobility to a good portion of the population, although its implementation costs are astronomical.

I am still waiting for this article to tell me something I do not already know. The major dailies here have covered this story like dengue mosquitos on a naked buttock for years now.

An expansion plan for the subway provides for an additional 100 km with the construction of new lines, the reform of the commuter rail system (which travels faster) and the purchase of new trains.

I already knew that.

The project provides for investments of R$16.3 billion. But the subway alone will not resolve the problem. A whole set of measures is needed to unclog and discipline São Paulo traffic.

Unclog and discipline. Isn’t that the title of a lesser-known work of Michel Foucault?

A julgar pela experiência de outras metrópoles do mundo, os tímidos ajustes em curso na cidade de São Paulo devem ter pouco efeito. Londres é o exemplo de que, mesmo com uma malha metroviária de 415 quilômetros, é preciso tratar permanentemente — e enfaticamente — os males do trânsito. Em 2003, a cidade instituiu um pedágio urbano para os carros que trafegassem no centro, uma área de 21 quilômetros quadrados. A medida se mostrou acertada. Desde que a cobrança foi criada, o nível de trânsito diminuiu 21% no centro de Londres e 8% no resto da cidade. No mês passado, o departamento de trânsito da capital inglesa inaugurou um novo sistema com 21 caminhões com navegadores via satélite que conseguem localizar e remover rapidamente os carros que estão obstruindo as ruas da cidade. Cada caminhão deve economizar cerca de 1 milhão de dólares por ano em perdas causadas no trânsito da cidade. Outro exemplo bem-sucedido é o de Estocolmo, na Suécia, que implantou o pedágio urbano em 2006. Antes de a cobrança entrar em vigor, a população da cidade testou o sistema por um mês e deu seu aval por meio de plebiscito. Além de redução de cerca de 15% nos congestionamentos, houve também diminuição de cerca de 3% das emissões de dióxido de carbono. O ganho ambiental pode parecer pequeno, mas não é secundário para os países europeus. Eles necessitam reduzir em 5% as emissões de gases que provocam o efeito estufa, meta determinada pelo Protocolo de Kyoto. Por aqui, a discussão sobre o trânsito está só no começo, mas deve ganhar força rapidamente. Por isso mesmo, é melhor que o debate já comece no trilho certo.

[tktktktk]

This article was, I thought, a waste of time.

If you are driving on the Greater São Paulo Viaduct … don’t ask why. Just duck. Note favelas in the background.

GROUCHO: Now, here is a little peninsula, and here is a viaduct leading over to the mainland. CHICO: Why a duck? GROUCHO: I’m all right. How are you? I say here is a little peninsula, and here’s a viaduct leading over to the mainland. CHICO: All right. Why a duck? Why a - why a duck? Why-a-no-chicken?

Após acidente, SP vai adiar inauguração do Expresso Tiradentes: The metro section of the Estado de S. Paulo on the latest infrastructure-related PR disaster here in the South American city so nice they named it twice.

SÃO PAULO - O trecho em que as obras do Expresso Tiradentes (antigo Fura-Fila) cederam, na noite de segunda-feira, 31, não será mais inaugurado no dia 18 de maio, como estava previsto no planejamento da São Paulo Transportes (SPTrans). A informação foi confirmada nesta terça-feira, 1, pelo prefeito Gilberto Kassab, durante visita ao local. O prefeito também prometeu que ainda nesta terça a SPTrans e o Consórcio Andrade Gutierrez-Carioca farão um laudo preliminar explicando as causas do deslizamento.

The portion of the Tiradentes Expressway (formerly known as the ["traffic-jam skipper"]) that collapsed on Monday evening will no longer be inaugurated on May 18, as planned by the São Paulo Transportation Authority (SPTrans). Mayor Kassab confirmed this today during a visit to the site. The mayor promised that SPTtrans and the Andrade Gutiérrez-Carioca Consortium would issue a preliminary report on the cause of the collapse.

This is a dedicated crosstown bus expressway that rusted for a decade or more after being proposed by Paulo Maluf and disposed by Malufist mayor (and now convicted felon) Celso Pitta (Harvard MBA, year unavailable).

Before being dusted off, given a fresh coat of paint, and set running by the current Mayor Quimby — much like the pharaonic Aguas Espraiadas causeway that, as a local wag says, conducts you safely and in high style from one infernal, eternal traffic jam on Roberto Marinho the Journalist Avenue to another one on the other side of the [unbelievably polluted] Pinheiros River.

Parte da estrutura do piso por onde circularão os ônibus do Fura-Fila cedeu no final da noite de segunda-feira, 31, sobre o Viaduto Grande São Paulo. Ninguém ficou ferido e nenhum veículo foi atingido, no entanto, a Prefeitura precisou fazer interdições no local. Segundo Kassab, do ponto de vista da engenharia, “houve um pequeno escorregamento. A peça foi escorregando devargarzinho até encostar no Viaduto”. A expectativa do prefeito é de que o local seja liberado para o trânsito atér as 17 horas. Dois guindastes ajudam nos trabalhos

Part of the structure of the roadway on which buses will circulate gave way late Monday night over the Grande Sâo Paulo Viaduct. No one was hurt and no vehicles were damaged, but the city had to close roadways at the scene. Kassab says that from an engineering point of view, “there was a slight slippage. The section was slipping slowly until it bumped up against the Viaduct.” His expectation is that the site will be opened to traffic by 5 p.m. Two cranes are assisting in the work.

Caso o relatório que deverá ser apresentado pela SPTrans aponte responsabilidade do consórcio no deslizamento, o prefeito afirmou que punirá as empresas. No entanto, ele disse que ainda não sabe que tipos de sanções podem ser aplicadas contra o consórcio. “Normalmente se fala vamos esperar o laudo, mas quero uma resposta hoje (nesta terça)”, falou o prefeito.

If the SPTrans report points to responsibility by the consortium for the slippage, the mayor says he will punish the firms. However, he said he does not yet know what kinds of sanctions are available. “Normally, we say let’s wait for the report, but I want an answer today,” the mayor said.

Segundo o diretor de infra-estrutura da SPTrans, Pedro Pereira Evangelista, o deslizamento não deveria ter acontecido. “Não é nenhum método revolucionário dessa construção. Todos já estávamos acostumados com esse tipo de obra. Nunca vi um desiquilíbrio desses. Não é comum nessas obras”, diz. O trecho que deveria ser entregue no dia 18 é de 2,8 quilômetros de extensão e foram gastos R$ 93 milhões na obra.

According to SPTrans infrastructure director, Pedro Pereira Evangelista, the slippage should never have happened. “There is no revolutionary construction method involved here.”

Translated loosely but perhaps more idiomatically: “This is not rocket science.”

We are all very accustomed to this type of project. I have never seen anything so out of kilter. This is not something that often happens in this type of project,” he said. The section to have been delivered on May 18 is 2.8 km long, and R$93 million have been spent on the project.

How big is the engineering fubar here? I am always impatient with coverage of such stories that do not get an engineer to comment on them.

See also

• “In Hell, The Engineers Are Brazilian and the Musicians Are German”

When the Yellow Line excavations failed to meet up by a couple of meters earlier last year, it was hard for a layman to know how a big a problem it was.

Lots of people with no engineering credentials issued lots and lots of opinions about the matter. Gabbling into any available open make. Yada yada yada.

Then we found out: Project delivery delayed by a year. I guess it was pretty serious.

I do not vote here, so I try to stay out of political debates.

Still, I have to say, this Kassab guy strikes you as just a complete and utter bozo. (His poll numbers suggest the local voters tend to think so, too. My informal survey of cab drivers also suggests that Hizzoner would do better not to take cabs. They seem to really, really hate the guy. Even the Malufists.)

If his extravagant attempt to kick the ass, on live TV, of a man protesting the city’s billboard ban — and his crude joke about love motels and the collapse of the Yellow Line station at Pinheiros (our neighborhood) while being interviewed during a shakedown tour of the Return of the Fura-Fila, also televised — were not enough … well, the list is a long one.

(His brother heads new projects at the subway authority, and another brother is at SPTrans, I think I read. That sort of thing. Vote for one Quimby and get the whole Quimby clan, with their sleeves rolled up, wearing hard hats, pointing fingers at blueprints, in campaign ads running in an infinite prime-time loop, on Globo, outside the time alloted for campaign advertising, and yet no one complains to the elections tribunal.)

The Agência Estado had the best, most succinct, most practical report on the incident (which received scant coverage, despite the fact that the Viaduct was shut down in both directions all the livelong freaking day), I thought. Including alternative routes:

O motorista que trafega pela avenida do Estado e busca acesso a Avenida Luís Ignácio de Anhaia Mello pelo Viaduto Grande São Paulo tem como opções a avenida das Juntas Provisórias, o Viaduto Gazeta do Ipiranga e a rua Capitão Pacheco e Chaves.

If you are driving Av. do Estado and want to access Av. [some guy's very long name] using the Viaduct [overpass], you can take [the aptly-named] Juntas Provisórias, the Gazeta do Ipiranga, or Capt. Pacheco St.

Quite obviously a Communist plot to damage the political reputations of those who presided over this project for a decade without getting it done.

PR Newswire Brasil has not quite taken off yet — it has not yet signed up a critical mass of businesses to make the thing worth following with great attention — but the attempt to port the service down South America Way is interesting, and probably ought to catch on eventually.

I have actually met some folks trying to get it off the ground here, in combination with promoting a “culture of disclosure” for Brazilian businesses, and I can sincerely say: It seems like a good idea.

Here, at any rate, is an event that I will very likely try to attend, if they let me in. (There is a big venture capital event in Rio earlier in the month I also want to attend.)

A indústria brasileira de fundos de derivativos alcança o ponto de virada

Brazilian derivatives fund industry reaches a turning point.

I was just starting to get that impression myself, even if “turning point” — revolution, apocalypse — is the most frequently abused metaphor in postmodern PR.

This, even as an interesting commentary appeared the other day according to which the unevolved state of complex financial contracts here deserve credit for shielding Brazil from the effects of the subprime crisis.

See

BN003644 01 de