arpia blog

convinced myself, i seek not to convince.
_edgar allan poe, berenice_

volkswagen annuncia oggi l'investimento di 26 miliardi di euro in tre anni per la creazione di nuovi modelli e la costruzione di innovativi impianti di produzione. conclusosi anche l'acrimonioso takeover di porsche, dopo anni di colpi di scena.

a torino, invece, gli eredi fiat, guidati dai grandi vecchi, cercano un modo per uscire dall'industria; per controllare la fiat mantenendo il 30% hanno preferito magheggi finanziari che li hanno portati in tribunale. hanno ripescato "exor", una scatola cinese parcheggiata in lussemburgo, e hanno rimestato nei suoi forzieri. poi l'hanno fusa con ifi e ifil, creando una nuova cassaforte; un gioco di prestigio a costo zero per il borsellino dell'immensa famiglia che vive, poco illuminata, solo per staccare cedole e invocare ennesimi aiuti statali.

se gli azionisti di riferimento avessero messo qualche soldo sul tavolo, forse avrebbero potuto trarre vantaggio dalla (passata) crisi di GM e prendersi opel. la commedia tedesca e' finita in pagliacciata ma un anno fa la fiat aveva una chance che si e' lasciata scappare per il tepore di una dinastia ormai troppo liquida per stare insieme. tesori segreti dell'avvocato e magagne varie a parte, pensano a comprare una finanziaria come fideuram, mentre l'azienda lasciata loro in eredita', per trovare risorse si rivolge al mercato emettendo bond con interessi del 9%, altissimi nel momento in cui le banche centrali tengono i tassi tra zero e 1%. per non parlare dell'abnorme indebitamento raggiunto, sorvegliato molto speciale.

Postato da: arpia a 21:12 | link | commenti (1) |
italia, politica, europa, finanza, germania

l'aeroporto di abu dhabi vive di notte, con la ressa alle entrate dei gate perse tra i meandri dei duty free, a mo' di gigantesco souk. l'atrio principale e' un "fungo" su due livelli, rotondo e piastrellato di verde e azzurro.
in attesa dei transferimenti la gente bivacca, prega e rumoreggia in decine di lingue diverse.

Postato da: arpia a 19:20 | link | commenti |
varie, turismo

a new conservative children's book titled "help! mom! the radicals are ruining my country!" prominently features nancy pelosi as an evil villain. author katharine debrecht, a regular opinionist on FOX news, explains:
"when nancy pelosi was elected speaker of the house all we heard was how wonderful it was that a mother and grandmother rose through the ranks to such a position. in reality, that mother and grandmother has played an enormous role in ensuring that our children and grandchildren are shackled with debt for decades to come".

Postato da: arpia a 12:20 | link | commenti (3) |
america, politica, arte, media

to kick off "geography awareness week", "national geographic" asked all the senators in congress to draw their home states freehand. senators: can you draw your state?

Postato da: arpia a 12:16 | link | commenti |
varie, america, politica, arte, media

un elemento comune lega gli interventi piu' veementi di 42 deputati (22 repubblicani e 20 democratici) che si sono opposti alla riforma sanitaria voluta da barack obama: sono stati scritti dai "ghostwriter" di una societa' di lobbyng assoldata dalla "genentech", compagnia di biotecnologia sussidiaria del gigante farmaceutico svizzero roche.
già le relazioni tra amministrazione USA e la svizzera non sono molto felici, negli ultimi tempi; questa notizia non fa che peggiorare la situazione.

Postato da: arpia a 00:09 | link | commenti |
america, politica, media, finanza, geopolitica

gordon brown is putting the finishing touches to a labour election team that is expected to be headed by lord mandelson and may yet include alastair campbell, back into the fray to try to win a fourth term.
mandelson is poised to be appointed head of election strategy, with douglas alexander likely to run a delivery team. david muir, downing street's director of political strategy is being groomed to become chief of staff for the campaign.
negotiations are also continuing with the broadcasters on the terms of televised debates; labour and tory sources insist they are both open to holding three to four debates, with one each for SKY, BBC, ITV and channel 4.
labour is taking the likelihood of TV debates so seriously that it is sending senior officials to the US to discuss the impact of presidential debates with senior democrats.
the current working planning assumption is that the poll will be held on 6 may, the same date as the local elections.

Postato da: arpia a 11:17 | link | commenti (1) |
america, politica, media, uk

america's leading human rights organisation has accused israel and its supporters of an "organised campaign" of false allegations and misinformation, including "extremely personal attacks" on its staff, in an attempt to discredit the group over its reports of war crimes in gaza.
"human rights watch (HRW)" ties the campaign – which has included accusations that the group's reports on the jewish state are written by "anti-israel ideologues" – to a statement by a senior official in the israeli prime minister's office in june pledging to "dedicate time and manpower to combating" human rights organisations.

the criticism began with israeli pressure groups and rightwing blogs, but in recent weeks it has drawn the support of influential individuals such HRW's own founder, robert bernstein, who said the organisation's reports were "helping those who wish to turn israel into a pariah state". he called on HRW to focus more on abuses by arab governments.
bernstein accused HRW of basing its accusations against israel on the testimony of palestinian "witnesses whose stories cannot be verified and who may testify for political advantage or because they fear retaliation from their own rulers".
iain levine, HRW's programme director, said that that bernstein went public only after the HRW board rejected his call for a change in direction. he also said that while the organisation had long attracted criticism, in recent months there had been significant attempts to intimidate and discredit it.
levine said he believes many of the attacks were aimed at distracting attention from the report of the UN investigator, richard goldstone, which was highly critical of israel's killing of civilians in its three-week attack on gaza that started last December. goldstone is a former member of the HRW board and the group has strongly backed his report.

Postato da: arpia a 22:50 | link | commenti |
america, palestina, politica, media, mondo, guerra, geopolitica

barack obama, arrivato oggi in giappone, affronta un incontro non scontato col nuovo governo nipponico e pieno di incognite per le relazioni future tra i due paesi. "il foglio" scrive (pdf) come il presidente americano tema di piu' i democratici al governo a tokyo, che il regime cinese.
anche l'AEI ci dedica un'analisi, notando come "a failure to find common ground could lead both sides to feel less appetite for working with each other and more interest in reaching out to other nations in asia, such as china".

Postato da: arpia a 18:03 | link | commenti (2) |
america, politica, media, mondo, geopolitica

two interesting articles on music, internet, copyright and revenues.

"the times labs blog" takes a hard look at the data on UK music sales and live performances and concludes that while the labels' profits might be falling, artists are taking in more money, thanks to the booming growth of live shows.
it's interesting that, overall, industry revenues have grown in the considered period  (2001-2004), which arguably adds strength to the notion that, when the BPI releases its annual report claiming how much "the music industry" has suffered from the growth in illegal file-sharing, what it perhaps should be saying is how much the record labels have suffered.

andrew romano, in his essay for "newsweek" notices that "nowadays more bands than ever are climbing into bed with corporations, and no one’s batting an eye. the question as 2010 approaches is not only why artists have recently been so willing to align themselves with big business, but why we’ve been so willing to let them".
"the internet, with its speed, ubiquity, and infinite array of choices, has effectively obliviated what used to be known as the mainstream. for new artists, the chances of going multiplatinum and quitting the day job are much smaller than they were in 1994; for companies in search of customers, microtargeted advertising has replaced mass marketing as the weapon of choice. it’s a match made in heaven (or at least on the long tail): big businesses target niche audiences with niche music, and niche artists take whatever they can get to survive. and because the vast majority of younger listeners have themselves contributed to the collapse of the traditional music industry by downloading free music online, they’re less inclined than their ’90s-era predecessors to condemn a new band for selling its songs or signing with a corporate sponsor. when you’ve stolen from someone, it’s sort of inconsiderate to scold him for seeking money elsewhere".

Postato da: arpia a 17:26 | link | commenti (1) |
musica, internet, media, finanza

"for three periods of one month, i have let the trans-siberian train guide me alongside forgotten villages, from living room to living room. some russian words scribbled on a little piece of paper allowed me to be welcomed and absorbed in the warm chaos of a family. their couch became my bed for one night. this way, i experienced transient, but very powerful, shared moments. we communicated without words. we understood each other somehow".
OE MENIA series, by class '86 belgian photographer bieke depoorter.

Postato da: arpia a 16:18 | link | commenti (2) |
immagini, arte, russia

gordon brown's spokesman announced the setting up of a working group to review the way downing street conducts media briefings in "an increasingly fast-moving and online media world".
one option being considered would involve lord mandelson, tipped as "minister for information", giving a televised briefing to reporters every monday about government business, according to a Westminster insider.
why mandelson? simply because he's widely acknowledged to be one of the best media communicators in the government.
in the past, ministers have rejected the idea of holding televised briefings in the way that the white house does in washington, because they did not want to turn the prime minister's spokesman into a media personality.
but gordon brown has recently hired a new press secretary, simon lewis, who is jointly chairing the working group that is reviewing the briefing system, and he is open to change.
the other joint chair is jean eaglesham, a "financial times" journalist who chairs the lobby reporters' group. the working party also includes other journalists and officials and aims to produce recommendations that could be implemented early in the new year.
would lord mandelson really help gordon brown?

Postato da: arpia a 02:14 | link | commenti (2) |
politica, internet, media, uk

the US has lately again returned to its traditional default position of tolerating israeli unwillingness to abide by demands for a total settlement freeze and once again decided that the way forward is to pressure the palestinians to cave.
we also have to register monday's long meeting between obama and netanyahu that was supposed to last 30 minutes, but it went on for 70.
diplomatic sources say abbas, his threat to quit, and the prospect of the PA's collapse and what it would mean was a major topic of discussion in a meeting between the two, about which very few details have emerged, in either the israeli or american press.
netanyahu is probably playing the same old card: few and temporary concessions in exchange of US money and total support.

Postato da: arpia a 00:26 | link | commenti (1) |
america, palestina, politica, media, mondo, guerra