Alex0414

Dice la Comisión Europea que McDonald’s no paga impuestos. Y no porque le vaya mal (en 2013 obtuvo 250 millones de euros de beneficios) sino porque utiliza mecanismos de ingeniería fiscal que se lo permiten. Son muchas las multinacionales estadounidenses que aprovechándose de los tratados para evitar la doble imposición y otros subterfugios jurídicos hacen trampas fiscales: unos, como McDonald’s o Amazon, utilizan Luxemburgo; otros, como Apple, se sirven de Irlanda; Starbucks utiliza los Países Bajos. Y así sucesivamente en una larga lista que incluye a muchas empresas europeas que también están siendo investigadas.

Lo absurdo de esas trampas es que se hacen con la colaboración activa de los gobiernos europeos, felices de robarse unos a otros ingresos fiscales ofreciendo a esas multinacionales pagar menos si se localizan en su país. Esa carrera a la baja es estúpida desde el punto de vista colectivo, pues los gobiernos recaudan menos y los ciudadanos tienen que pagar más impuestos para mantener los servicios públicos. Las consecuencias de esa miopía son devastadoras pues los empleados de muchas de esas empresas cobran salarios ridículos que no cotizan lo suficiente para financiar una pensión digna ni aportan impuestos con los que financiar el gasto sanitario o educativo. Y luego dicen que el Estado de bienestar no se puede sostener, que es inviable y que hay que recortarlo.

Un hurra por tanto a favor de la comisaria de Competencia, la danesa Margrethe Vestager, decidida a acabar con estas prácticas. Pero pitos a su jefe, el presidente de la Comisión, Jean-Claude Juncker, que ha dirigido durante casi dos décadas el Gobierno del país de la UE que más trampas fiscales ha hecho. Hay muchos problemas que escapan a la capacidad de actuación de la Comisión Europea y que por tanto es injusto exigirle resolver. Pero en muchos otros casos, como este, su capacidad de actuación es enorme. El incremento de la desigualdad resultante de la precariedad y los bajos salarios desvirtúa la democracia, deslegitima la política y abre el paso a movimientos populistas. Quien piense que va a haber una democracia de calidad con salarios basura, impuestos basura y servicios sociales basura está muy equivocado.

Publicado en la página 2 de la edición impresa del Diario ELPAIS el sábado 5 de diciembre de 2015

automotivated:

Lancia HF Integrale EVO (by GiiFoto)

Algún día conseguiré uno para mí. Aunque ya no vendan gasolina para entonces. 

No Limits – found in Prenzlauer Berg
submitted by Shantu via email

Ich bin der Weg  Deutsches Theater – found in Mitte

Logo for Bound, the new video game from Plastic Studios.
Client: SCE Santa Monica Studio / Sony Computer Entertainment America

Tasha Alakoz es una artista letona centrada en la fotografía, que vive y trabaja en San Petersburgo. Su trabajo es principalmente acerca de coloridos autorretratos potentes como para golpear vuestro cerebro. Disfrutad!

Tasha Alakoz is an artist focusing on photography from Latvia but living and working in Saint Petersburg. Her work is mainly about colorful self portraits with enough power to hit your brain. Enjoy it!

La entrada Tasha Alakoz aparece primero en 40fakes.

Hay un tipo en Medium llamado Damjan Cvetkov-Dimitrov, del que realmente no sé mucho excepto que es de Grecia, pero vive en Singapur. Pasé un muy buen rato leyendo este artículo en Medium y al final aterricé en su página de flickr y su perfil de Instagram, I me encantó su trabajo. Así pues, la conclusión final es que no sé nada acerca de Damjan, pero os recomiendo que echéis un vistazo a su trabajo!

There’s a guy on Medium called Damjan Cvetkov-Dimitrov, from who I don’t really know nothing except that it’s from Greece but is living in Singapur. I had a great time reading this article on medium, and at the end I landed in his flickr page and Instagram profile, to fall in love with his work. So, the final conclusion is that I don’t know nothing about Damjan, but I recommend you to check out his work!

La entrada Damjan Cvetkov-Dimitrov aparece primero en 40fakes.

In 1986 a bar opened up in the heart of Tokyo. It was called Heartland and it quickly became the local favorite watering hole in its Roppongi neighborhood. It flourished in the 90s and early 2000s and, in collaboration with major brewery Kirin, even developed their own Heartland Beer. The minimalistic emerald-green bottle bared almost no packaging; only a large tree and roots embossed in glass on the side of the bottle.

The bar has since closed down but the beer lives on, and is offered at 100 restaurants around Japan. To commemorate the beer’s heritage a group of designers took on a painstakingly meticulous art project.

“We knew that drawing 100 different posters would be incredibly difficult and very inefficient”

Led by art director Arata Kubota, the team first began be creating a 3D replica of the famous tree logo originally designed by Ray Yoshimura. The tree was then sliced into 100 cross-sections, which, in turn, became the basis for 100 hand-drawn posters. Once the posters were complete they were framed and gifted to the 100 bars and restaurants across Japan that carry Heartland Beer, establishing an elegant connection that preserves the beer’s heritage.

Appropriately titled “Slice of Heartland,” the art project took a year and a half to complete.

But that doesn’t conclude the project. Once the frames were installed they were then photographed and stitched together to create an stunning stop-motion animation that shows the tree being assembled, 1 cross-section at a time. “We knew that drawing 100 different posters would be incredibly difficult and very inefficient,” says the Kubota in an interview. “But we felt that doing something no one had ever done, and challenging ourselves, was an embodiment of the craftsmanship that went into developing the Heartland brand.”

Now that’s love and dedication. There’s a special website where you can see all the artwork and all the pubs where the poster is installed. You can watch the full video clip below.

October 9, 2015 marked the public opening of Grace Farms in New Canaan, Connecticut. Designed by luminary Japanese architects SANAA, the sinuous building takes its name from the way water meanders through rolling terrain. The serpentine structure slithers down a hill, forming pond-like spaces on its way that function as a library, commons, arts center and gymnasium. “Our goal with the River is to make the architecture become part of the landscape,” says the not-for-profit foundation’s president.

“Grace Farms is a welcoming new place…for people to experience nature, encounter the arts, pursue justice, foster community, and explore faith”

Comprised of Kazuyo Sejima and Ryuei Nishizawa, SANAA, in recent years, have gone from a highly respected yet obscure firm to globally recognized, Pritzker-winning all stars. The duo are known for their ethereal forms and high level of refinement that unnervingly capture a site’s social and physical context. The River Building is only their 3rd North American project, preceded by New York’s New Museum (2007) and Ohio’s Toledo Museum of Art (2006).

“the laminated beams were so long that they had to be driven around the continent via New Mexico because the direct path from Canada to Connecticut was too curvy.”

“Grace Farms is a welcoming new place…for people to experience nature, encounter the arts, pursue justice, foster community, and explore faith,” says the foundation. And their 80 acres of hills, ponds and open space are open to the public, for free. But what exactly is this idyllic place that sounds too good to be true? Is it a church? Is it a cult? Critics may be skeptical. After all, Grace Farms is backed by Robert Prince, the CIO of Bridgewater. And the world’s biggest hedge fund itself has often been likened to a cult. But representatives will be quick to ensure you that “it is not a church. It is a place to make good things happen, for people to come and make a difference.”

No expense was spared in making this ambitious, 8-year, $83 million project a reality. Aside from SANAA, the team also had sustainability consultants, geothermal engineers and meadow consultants, which I didn’t even know was a thing. Their graphics were all done by design studio Pentagram. In sourcing materials for the structure, the laminated beams were so long that they had to be driven around the continent via New Mexico because the direct path from Canada to Connecticut was too curvy. The permanent art is equally impressive: works by Thomas Demand, Olafur Eliasson, Susan Philpsz and Teresita Fernandez.

Grace Farms and it’s River Building elude categorization. But one thing is certain: SANAA have brilliantly elevated the site itself to create a venue of cultural interest and curiosity.

Whispers

fivethousandfingers.net

Tessel Special Ops Backpack by Tessel Supply currently funding on Kickstarter.

The Tessel team sent me one of these to test out and I can speak to it’s uncompromising construction and brilliant performance. As a cyclist in the city my stuff wears pretty hard pretty fast. Since receiving this pack, my seemingly never-ending search for the perfect backpack is over. Thanks Tessel team.

Back their Kickstarter if you want to get one of these for yourself!

NEVER FORGET.

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