Candy

          在次贷危机席卷全球的大环境下，美国老牌汽车企业通用旗下的知名品牌悍马对咱们国家大西南一家未上市私营企业腾中重工投怀送抱了，美国陆军专用Hummer即将国产，有点想不通啊，四川地区又发生一件比较震撼的事情。下文摘引一下高口联系材料，看看通用咋个寻找新生的。

         先来一张跟小木同学冒雨看车展，拍到的价值175W的HUMMER（md，开这个几顿重的车俨然开着个房子到处跑~~）

 

 

 

G.M. to Seek Bankruptcy and a New Start

WASHINGTON — President Obama will push General Motors into bankruptcy protection on Monday, making a risky bet that by temporarily nationalizing the onetime icon of American capitalism, he can save at least a diminished automaker that is competitive.

 

The bankruptcy, to be filed in New York, is a moment of reckoning for an industry that was once at the heart of the American economy. It culminates a remarkable four months of confrontation between Washington and Detroit that is expected to result in a drastic downsizing of the company.

 

It also places the government in uncharted territory as a business owner, as it takes a 60 percent ownership stake in the company during its restructuring.

 

Reflecting the government’s extraordinary intervention in industry, aides say, Mr. Obama plans to tell the nation on Monday that he believes G.M. can be brought back from the brink of insolvency, even if the company looks almost nothing like the titan of old.

 

Meanwhile, a federal judge late Sunday night cleared a path for Chrysler to get out of bankruptcy by approving a sale of most of that carmaker’s assets to a new entity to be run by Fiat of Italy.

 

Administration officials briefed reporters on the G.M. plans Sunday night, as President Obama began to inform members of Congress. But the White House insisted that the aides who talked to reporters could not be named.

 

In his remarks on Monday, Mr. Obama will spell out a strategy in which a shrunken G.M. can make money even if new car sales remain at a sluggish 10 million a year in the United States and even if G.M., once the giant of the industry, drops below its current 20 percent market share in this country.

 

But to get there, American taxpayers will invest an additional $30 billion in the company, atop $20 billion already spent just to keep it solvent as the company bled cash as quickly as Washington could inject it. Whether that investment will ever be recovered is still an open question.

 

The company will also have to shed 21,000 union workers and close 12 to 20 factories, steps that most analysts thought could never be pushed through by a Democratic president allied with organized labor.

 

Forty percent of the company’s 6,000 dealers will close, the workers’ union will be forced to finance half of its $20 billion health care fund with stock of uncertain value in the restructured G.M., and bondholders, including many retirees, will be forced to take stock worth 10 cents for every dollar they lent the company.

 

The company’s last steps toward bankruptcy took place over the weekend as a majority of G.M. bondholders agreed not to challenge the filing in court and to exchange their debt for stock.

 

Lawrence H. Summers, who as head of the National Economic Council serves as one of the co-heads of the auto task force, argued in an interview on Sunday that the bailout of the auto industry was fundamentally different from the Mexican bailout in 1994, the Asian economic crisis in the late 1990s, and the continuing banking crisis.

 

General Motors and Chrysler, he said, were “clear cases of insolvency,” in which mere loans would not accomplish the goal of getting the automakers past a temporary crisis. “There was no argument that they were solvent, no argument they could meet their obligations.”

 

He said that left the Obama administration to decide whether to allow “a laissez-faire, uncontrolled bankruptcy, which would have had an enormous cost,” or a “controlled process,” in which the goal was to make sure that the auto companies not only restructured, but were not overburdened with debt. So, in return for what amounted to debtor-in-possession financing, Mr. Obama chose to accept equity in the new company — while insisting that he had no intention of exercising day-to-day control over the company.

 

 

“It’s a fine line,” Mr. Summers said, “but we think it is manageable.”

 

To assist in the restructuring, the automaker is expected to hire the consulting firm Alix Partners, which has worked on several major bankruptcies, including those for Enron and Kmart. One of the firm’s partners, Al Koch, is expected to manage the liquidation of corporate assets that G.M. will shed during its Chapter 11 restructuring, people with knowledge of the strategy said.

 

Mr. Obama is taking several risks under the plan. None may be bigger than the decision that the United States government will take its 60 percent share of the stock in a new G.M., leaving taxpayers vulnerable if the overhaul is not successful. (Canada, for its part, is taking a 12 percent stake.)

 

“We don’t think that after this next $30 billion, they will need more money,” one administration official said. “But the fact is there are things you don’t know — like when the car market will come back, and how much Toyota and Honda and Volkswagen will benefit from the chaos.”

On Monday, Mr. Obama is expected to argue that any alternative to his plan would be worse, and that a liquidation of G.M. — the only other real option — would send the unemployment rate soaring over 10 percent and would radiate damage throughout the economy.

But aware of the hardships the plan will impose on regions across the country that depend on auto production, the White House is dispatching a dozen Cabinet members and other officials across four states this week to reassure residents.

 

Aides say Mr. Obama will portray himself on Monday as a reluctant shareholder, eager to sell the company back to private investors, perhaps within 6 to 18 months.

 

Officials say the president will insist that once the government sets up new management and a board of directors, it will remove itself from G.M.’s day-to-day operations. But even his aides anticipate intense pressure as the company’s managers are called to testify in Congress and face questions like why they decided to build new cars in Mexico and South Korea, rather than in Michigan or the South.

 

“Congress and many Americans are going to say, if we own it, why can’t we make these decisions?” one of Mr. Obama’s top economic aides said, “and it’s going to be a challenge to answer that.”

 

To ease the way, the White House on Sunday briefed reporters on a new set of principles for how the government should behave as a majority shareholder. It argued that the government’s role should be limited primarily to the beginning of the process, but that it should then recede, becoming a passive investor, one seeking to sell its stake quickly.

 

At the same time, Mr. Obama has laid out goals for all the Detroit automakers that will presumably affect their major strategic decisions. He has urged them, for example, to build smaller cars with significantly better fuel efficiency.

 

Six months ago, even the suggestion of such deep intervention into G.M.’s operations would have raised huge objections. But by the time the denouement came, the company seemed almost relieved. Robert Lutz, G.M.’s vice chairman, said that “for the first time in our history, the American auto industry has the ear of the administration. Their number one goal is to make us successful.”

 

Nonetheless, Michael Useem, a professor of management at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, said the decision would “mean a new chapter in the history books on American capitalism.” He added, “How we think about American free enterprise is really hanging in the balance.”

 

For Mr. Obama, whose ascent to the White House depended on carrying states across the industrial Midwest, the political risk is significant.

 

The G.M. bankruptcy will ripple across several states where hundreds of parts suppliers and car dealerships face imminent closings.

 

Indeed, the four states where Cabinet secretaries are focusing their efforts this week — Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin — all were carried by Mr. Obama last November. It was the first time Indiana has supported a Democratic presidential candidate in 44 years.

 

These Main Street political challenges will almost certainly be an issue for Democrats on the ballot in next year’s midterm election campaign and in the president’s own re-election effort in 2012. If those jobs shift to nonunion plants in the South, where German and Japanese carmakers have built their facilities, or overseas, Mr. Obama could face criticism inside his own party.

 

“It is unacceptable to ask U.S. workers to subsidize the exportation of their own jobs,” said Representative Dennis Kucinich, Democrat of Ohio, whose district includes Cleveland. “The taxpayers’ investment should be used to protect American plants so that American workers can build the next generation of automobiles.”

 

In his presidential campaign speeches last year, often delivered in the shadow of closed manufacturing plants, Mr. Obama bluntly conceded that most of the jobs would not come back. Instead, his administration is pointing to investments that the economic recovery act will make in communities.

 

Rob McNabney, chairman of the Madison County Democratic Party in Anderson, Ind., a onetime booming automotive center, said the problems for Mr. Obama were severe. “He’s going to be judged by what he does,” Mr. McNabney said.

 

      今天读了同事转发的《白天纽约\黑夜巴黎》，这篇王文华的短文2年前已经读过，我好像不太记得当时读了以后的感觉了，但至少这次读了还是觉得挺有启示性的，就记下来了

      恩~我好像还是处在作者提到的“在那二十多歲的年紀，忙碌是唯一有意義的生活方式”的阶段，看看再过两年心境又是啥样儿的哇 

 

白天紐約   黑夜巴黎

【王文華/文】

我在趕些什麼？我耗盡青春用盡全力，拼命追求身外之物，結果我真的比別人有錢、有名嗎？更重要的，我真的因此而快樂嗎？遠方有廣闊的地平線，為何我還在原地搖過時的呼拉圈？

紐約和巴黎，代表了我人生的兩個面向。紐約是白天，巴黎是黑夜。紐約是前半生，巴黎是下半場。

三十五歲之前，我認定紐約是世上最棒的城市。我在加州念研究所，畢業後迫不及待地去紐約工作。一做五年，快樂似神仙。我愛紐約的原因跟很多人一樣：她是二十世紀以來世界文化的中心。豐富、方便。靠著地鐵和計程車，你可以穿越時間，前後各跑數百年。人類最新和最舊、最好和最壞的東西，紐約都看得見。

所以在紐約時，我把握每分每秒去體會。白天，我在金融機構做事，一天十小時。晚上下了班，去NYU學電影，一坐四小時。在那二十多歲的年紀，忙碌是唯一有意義的生活方式。活著，就是要把自己榨乾，把自己居住的城市，內外翻轉過來。

這種想法並不是到紐約才有的。其實從小開始，台灣人就過著紐約生活。紐約生活，充滿新教徒的打拚精神和資本主義的求勝意志。相信人要藉著努力，克服萬難、打敗競爭。活著的目的，是更大、更多、更富裕、更有名。權力與財富，是紐約人的兩個上帝。而能幫你走進天堂的鞋，就是事業、事業、事業。

在這種弱肉強食的生活方式，為了保持領先，每個人都在趕時間、搶資源。進了電梯，明明已經按了樓層的鈕，那燈也亮了，偏偏還要再按幾下，彷彿這樣就可以快一點。出了公司，明明已經下班了，卻還要不停講手機，搖控每一個環節。在紐約，為達目的，可以不擇手段，甚至趕盡殺絕。在紐約，沒有壞人，只有失敗者。

台灣，是不是也變成這樣？

每一件事，都變成工作。上班當然是工作，下班後的應酬也是工作。有人談戀愛是在工作，甚至到酒店喝酒、KTV狂歡，臉上都殺氣騰騰，準備拚個你死我活。

我曾熱烈擁抱這種生活，並著迷於這種因為燒烤成功而冒出的焦慮。這種焦慮讓我坐在椅子邊緣，以便迅速地跳起來閃躲明槍暗箭。這種警覺性讓我練就了酒量和膽量、抗壓性和厚臉皮。但也養成了偏執和倔強、優越感和勢利眼。在紐約時我深信：能在這裡活下來的，都是可敬的對手。黯然離開的，統統是輸家。人生任何事，絕對要堅持到底。半途而廢的，必定有隱疾。在這不睡的城市，每天我醒來，帶著人定勝天的活力，跟著法蘭克辛納屈唱〈紐約'紐約〉：「如果你能在紐約成功，你可以在任何地方成功！」是的，在紐約，現代的羅馬競技場，我要和別人，以及自己，比出高低。

這套想法，在我三十五歲以後，慢慢改變。

第一件動搖我想法的，是父親的過世。我父親一生奉公守法、與人為善。毫無不良嗜好，身體健康地像城堡。七十二歲時，他得了癌症、引發中風，經歷了所有的痛苦和羞辱。他一生辛勤工作、努力存錢、堅信現在的苦可以換得更好的明天。我們也相信一分耕耘、一分收穫，用在紐約拚事業的精神照顧他。但兩年的治療兵敗如山倒，最後他還是走了。父親逝世的那天，我的價值系統崩潰了。我一路走來引以為傲的「紐約精神」，沒想到這麼脆弱。

不止在病床，也在職場。當我在企業越爬越高，才發現「資本主義」在職場中也未必靈驗。上過班的都知道，很少公司真的是「開放市場」、「公平競爭」。大部分的同事都覺得你不是朋友、就是敵人。職場上偉大的，未必會成功。成功的，有時很渺小。很多人一輩子為公司鞠躬盡瘁，最後得到一支紀念筆。那些捲款潛逃的，反而變成傳奇。

慢慢的，我體會到：世上有一種比「善有善報、惡有惡報」更高、更複雜的公平。人生有另一種比「功成名就」更幽微、更持久的樂趣。那是衝衝衝的美式資本主義，所無法解釋的。

我能在哪裏找到那種公平和樂趣呢？我想過西藏、不丹、非洲、紐西蘭。然後，我注意到法國。

住紐約時，法國是嘲諷的對象。身為經濟、科技、和軍事強權的美國，談起法國總是忍不住調侃一番。法國是沒落的貴族，值得崇拜的人都已作古。法國人傲慢，高稅率讓每個人都很慵懶。動不動就罷工，連酒莊主人都要走上街頭。

搬回台灣後，普羅旺斯、托斯卡尼突然流行。我看了法蘭西斯'梅思的《美麗的托斯卡尼》，其中一句話打動了我：「在加州，時間像呼拉圈。我扭個不停，卻停在原地。在托斯卡尼，我可以在地中海的陽光下，提著一籃李子，逍遙地走一整天。」

是啊！我在趕些什麼？我耗盡青春用盡全力，拚命追求身外之物，結果我真的比別人有錢、有名嗎？更重要的，我真的因此而快樂嗎？遠方有廣闊的地平線，為何我還在原地搖過時的呼拉圈？

當我重新學習法國，我發現法國和美國代表兩種截然不同的生活方式。美國人追求人定勝天，凡事要逆流而上。法國人講究和平共存，凡事順勢而為。紐約有很多一百層的摩天大樓，巴黎的房子都是三百年的古蹟。紐約不斷創新，巴黎永遠有懷舊的氣息。巴黎人在咖啡廳聊天，紐約人在咖啡廳用電腦。紐約有人潮，巴黎有味道。紐約有鈔票，巴黎有蛋糕。

不論是政府或個人，法國人都把精神投注在食、衣、住、行等「身內之物」。就讓美國去做老大哥吧。要征服太空、要打伊拉克、要調高利率、要發明新科技，都隨他去。法國人甘願偏安大西洋，抽菸、喝酒、看足球、搞時尚。當美國人忙出了胃潰瘍，法國人又吃了一罐鵝肝醬。

講到吃，法國有三百種起司、光是波爾多就有五十七個酒的產區。晚上六點朝咖啡廳門口一坐，一杯紅酒就可以聊三個小時。九點再去吃晚餐，一直吃到隔天凌晨。他們在吃上所花的時間，跟我們上班時數一樣。但諷刺的是：他們沒有「All You Can Eat」。

吃很重要，但也要會挑時間，朋友介紹我去試一家法國餐廳，提醒我他們禮拜二、四晚上休息。「為什麼？」我問。他說：「因為主廚要回家看足球。」

聰明的主廚懂法律。法國法律規定一周工作最多三十五小時，大部分的人一年有五周的假期。而美國人把加班當作自己有價值的表示，度假時還拿著手機回E-mail。法國人比美國人會玩。每年六月的巴黎音樂節，從午後到深夜，幾百場露天音樂會在各處同時舉行，人多到地鐵都暫停收費。每年十月的「白夜」，平日入夜就打烊的店面，徹夜營業到清晨七點。每年夏天，巴黎市政府在塞納河右岸布置了三段、總長一．八公里的人工海灘。細砂、吊床、躺椅、棕櫚樹，自然海灘有的景致這裡都有，讓沒有錢去海邊度假的民眾，也可以享受到海灘風光。

當然，法國這麼深厚的文化，不可能只從吃喝玩樂而來。美國人讀書，為了考證照。法國人讀書，為了搞情調。每年十月的讀書節，大城市的火車站內，民眾輪流上台朗誦詩句。書店營業到天明，整晚有現場演奏的樂曲。「美食書展」選在銅臭味最重的證券交易所舉辦。小鎮書展的書直接「長」在樹上，讀者必須爬到樹上，把書摘下來品嘗。

一直跟著美國走的台灣人，會心動嗎？

我心動了。十一月我到巴黎，一位法國朋友來接待我。臨走前我問他：「明天你要幹嘛？」

「我要去銀行。」

「然後呢？」我問。

「我不懂你的意思……」

對我來說，「去銀行」是吃完午飯後跑去辦的小事。對法國人來說，這是他一天全部的行程。法國人總是專心而緩慢的，每天把一件小事做好。

這樣的生活，對美國或台灣人來說，實在是太頹廢了。的確也是。法國失業率接近10%，高稅率讓雇主寧願打烊休息，免得幫員工繳稅。巴黎鬧區紙醉金迷，但郊區的少數民族卻沒有工作機會。這些都是黑暗面，但對於每日被強光烤焦的台灣人，陰暗也许提供了喘息空間。生命的終點都一樣，有錢人的喪禮只是比較多人上香。不斷的追趕只是提前衝向謝幕，為什麼不把時間花在慢慢為生命暖場？你不需要一輩子鞠躬盡瘁、死而後已。你可以偶爾伸伸懶腰、安步當車。

我從巴黎回來，台北並沒有改變。關了兩周的手機再度響起，一通電話找不到我的人會連續狂call十通。和朋友見面，他很關心地問我：「好了，你現在工作也辭了、歐洲也去了，接下來有什麼projects？」

「Projects」？多麼紐約的字眼。

我真想說：「好好生活，不就是人生最大的project？」但我知道在熙來攘往的台北街頭，在不到四十歲的年紀，這樣說太矯情了。況且，我今天之所以有錢有閒享受法式生活，不也正因為我曾在美式生活中得到很多利益？我仍熱愛工作、熱愛紐約，但已不用像二十歲時一樣亦步亦趨、寸步不離。

所以我說：「我還是會早起，白天努力寫作。但到了晚上，我想關掉手機。」

世界少了我，其實無所謂。但我少了我，還剩什麼？

他笑一笑：「你這是用紐約來過白天，用巴黎來過黑夜。」

唉，他講得真好！這應該是一個完美的妥協吧。也许有一天，我能創造自己的「白夜」，讓白天和黑夜融合在一起。但我還沒到那個境界。

「明天星期一，你要幹嘛？」他問。

「我要去銀行。」

「然後呢？」

我張大眼睛，停頓了一下。

「然後呢？」他追問。

「然後我會摩拳擦掌，認真地寫一篇文章。」