dooms du jour, April/2000
[Commentary] ©2000 Phil Hyde, The Timesizing Wire, Box 117, Harvard Sq, Cambridge MA 02238 USA (617) 623-8080

4/30-5/01/2000
weekend roundup per NY Times & Boston Globe:
• 10 past-week downsizings, costing 3,506 lost jobs
• 39 takeovers reported this past week, worth $8.93B+
• 2 bankruptcies mentioned: Costilla Energy (T), Samsung Motor (W)
vs. 2 UPsizings reported (1300 new jobs) and 4 UNtakeovers ($414m+)
<< YTD:  189 dnsz (287,621+  jobcuts) + 760 takov ($1080.68B+) vs. 37 upsz (28,037+=10%) + 57 untak ($93.07B+) >>
+ weekend omens: • Gates & Bullmer whine in fullpage ads all over the country
vs. glimmers of hope:  • Bob Kuttner wants better tools for localities to 'housebreak' big corporations
• 1 weekend UNtakeover - $1.5B Dime Bancorp/Hudson United Bancorp
+ Features:  • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race  • campaign central hilites Phil, Ted, and all challengers, & their websites
• goodnews split in 3:  regular, hightest & transition • website reactions 
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • opus errata

4/29/2000 sat (re fri biz)
3 downsizings reported, totaling 100 lost jobs (with possible 1400 more) + unspecified:
• 5% workforce cut (70 Ohio & regional jobs lost) as Dairy Mart Convenience toughens profit criteria & plans to sell or close 246 of its 601 stores (if close, 1400 more jobs go), instead of 5% workweek cut (2 hrs/wk) & everyone stays employed & shopping
• 30 jobs vanish as Park Electrochemical circuitboards closes plumbing hardware unit in Lake "Success"
• unspecified Texas+ jobs lost as Kitty Hawk air freight suspends international operations
+ suicidewatch - rising harekiri rate due to downsizings in Japan
+ 8 takeovers reported, totaling $1.74B + $??undisclosed
vs. glimmers of hope: • 1 UPsizing - NCR adding 1,000 jobs this year
• DaimlerChrysler timesizes - modulates Jeep Cherokee output by adjusting hours, not jobs
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
+ New Features: • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

4/28/2000 fri
2 downsizings reported, totaling 66 lost jobs:
• 100% workforce cut (40 NYC jobs) as Hachette Filipacchi closes rich-bitch Mirabella mag due to declining newstand sales & advertising, & competition from, e.g., More magazine (& *George*)
• 10% staff cut (26 Mass. jobs) as MyWay.com disdains smaller ISP clients in favor of Bell South, FleetBoston & other megafirms, vs. 10% hours cut (to 36/wk) & everyone stays working & spending
+ 5 more takeovers reported, totaling $2.2B + $undisclosed
+ omens - workplace deaths up in Massachusetts
vs. glimmers of hope: • Times letter with great idea for Take Kids to Work Day
• 1 UPsizing - 300 new jobs as Corning doubles Oak Industries' Lasertron plant output in Bedford MA
• 3 UNtakeovers - $289m Coachmen by Thor, $125m Rainforest by Landry's Seafood, Staffmark spinoff of Robert Walters
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
+ New Features: • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

4/27/2000 thu
2 downsizings reported, totaling 1,730 lost jobs:
• 80% workforce cut (1500 Ohio jobs) over 3 yrs as Philips Display Components worsens declining prices by cutting consumers along with costs & moving jobs to Mexico, instead of maintaining its American employees (& high-consumption spirals) by trimming hours, not jobs, for any costcuts req'd
• 8% workforce cut (230 Conn. jobs) as Gerber Scientific, which ordinarily cuts other firms' costs by automating mfg, now cuts its own (& everyone's consumer base), instead of doing an 8% workweek cut (to four 9.2-hr days) & keeping everyone working & spending
+ 5 takeovers reported, totaling $857m + $$undisclosed
+ omens: • many lack retirement savings
• Amazon.com's loss widens as sales grow
• ohoh, Lincoln Electric is at it again - 1 of our prize timesizing
companies is again adventuring abroad (last time was disastrous)
vs. glimmers of hope: • merger mania slows
• Times letter pans undead Star Wars missile defense
• Times op ed questions federal protections for women & gays
• 1 UNtakeover - Eaton Corp. plans spinoff semiconductor eqpmt unit
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
+ New Features: • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

4/26/2000 wed
1 downsizing reported - 8% workforce cut (1500 jobs) as Tecumseh small engines (eg: lawnmowers, A/C) cuts its best customers as well as its compressor operations, instead of 8% workweek cut (to four 9.2-hr days) & everyone stays employed & spending near-normally
+ omens: • consumer confidence drops again - 3rd consecutive month
• ohnoyadon't! - firm tries claiming profit by excluding merger costs
+ 12 takeovers reported, totaling $3.28B + $$undisclosed
+ 1 bankruptcy mention - Samsung Motor
vs. glimmers of hope: • "good, but..." - truckers required to get more rest, but longer shifts allowed
• German Green wants to cut emissions with speed limits on Autobahn
• NYC pushing petshops to cut # of strays by spaying
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
+ New Features: • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

4/25/2000 tue
- today's employees are throwing away 40-hr week  parents & grandparents fought for -
2 downsizings reported - 110 lost jobs + unspecified:
• 110 jobs cut as ATG waste mgmt "tries to relocate" instead of minimizing waste by
trimming hours for all & rearranging tasks to keep everyone working & spending
• unspecified jobs lost as Jitney-Jungle closes 7 grocery stores in Alabama
+ omens - Mass. fails to enforce workers' comp, passes up $22m in fines
+ 7 takeovers reported, totaling $856m + $undisclosed
+ 1 bankruptcy mentioned - Costilla Energy
vs. glimmers of hope: • U.S. wants Microsoft broken into 2 companies
• primary reform gets stirring - to let voters choose from full menu of candidates
• University of Oregon joins anti-sweatshop group, passes up $30m "gift" from Nike chief
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
+ New Features: • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

4/23-24/2000
- Happy Easter/Passover -
weekend roundup per NY Times & Boston Globe:
• 7 past-week downsizings - 12,560 jobcuts
• 46 takeovers reported this past week (worth $19.67B+)
• 2 bankruptcies mentioned:  Pittsburgh Corning, Clark Material Handling
vs. 1 UPsizing reported (unspecified new jobs) & 3 UNtakeovers ($290m+)
<< YTD:  179 dnsz (284,115+  jobcuts) + 721 takov ($1071.75B+) vs. 35 upsz (26,737+=9%) + 53 untak ($92.46B+) >>
weekend omens:
• bottom 20% in Latin America got 4.5% of national income while top 20% got 53%
+ 2 weekend takeover reports, totaling $$undisclosed
vs. glimmers of hope:  • Pope's Easter appeal for "more just & mutually supportive" world
• young academe unionizes - maybe employee viewpoint will now penetrate society & economy
+ Features:  • Timesizing's hi tech candidate challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• goodnews split in 3:  regular, high test & transition  • website reactions  • opus errata
+ New Features: • campaign central hilites Phil, Ted & all challengers, & their websites
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

4/22/2000 sat (re Good Fri biz)
- Happy Earth Day! -
1 downsizing reported, totaling 50 lost jobs:
• last 50 surviving jobs killed as Interval Research shuts down Silicon Valley lab
+ 5 more takeovers reported, totaling $1.08B + $$unspecified
+ omens:  • Nikkei posts worst week in 9 years
• East Timor has 80% unemployment
• "great" US jobless results today higher than bad results 50 years
ago, when one working parent could still easily support the whole family
vs. glimmers of hope: • shorter-hrs critics gagged - French output up on 35-hr workweek
• NYT editorial - the Earth Day challenge: global warming [and technological employment gap]
• Russia rushes to forefront in nuclear disarmament - spotlites U.S. hypocrisy & treaty blocking
• 1 UNtakeover - Dutch-based Baan to spin off its Aurum customer-relation-mgmt software unit
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
+ New Features: • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

4/21/2000 fri
- America's crisis managers, dba "Chainsaw Dunlap's", are back in the groove -
3 more downsizings reported, totaling 11,780 lost jobs:
• another 8% workforce cut (but this time, 11,000 jobs lost) as Winn-Dixie closes 114 supermarkets, instead of doing an 8% workweek cut (to 36.8 hrs) & everybody keeps working & shopping
• 700 jobs to vanish as Dominion Resources merges with Consolidated Natural Gas
& itches for extra profits, instead of trimming hours for all & keeping all employed
• 80 jobs up in the air as Geon says, "Oh, let's shut vinyl-films plant in
Newton MA," with not a thought about the employees
+ 5 takeovers reported, totaling $1.77B
+ omens:  • Medicare-at-home spending plunges 45%
vs. glimmers of hope: • Times readers support DC protesters
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
+ New Features: • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

4/20/2000 thu
3 downsizings reported, totaling 730 lost jobs:
• 8% workforce cut (300 layoffs) as Sallie Mae cuts costs the wrong way, instead of doing an 8% workweek cut (to 36.8 hrs) & everyone stays working & spending near-normally
• 260 jobs to vanish as Dollar General stores close their Homerville distribution
center in Georgia, instead of trimming hours for all & keeping all employed
• 170 cuts as Willamette Industries shuts Dallas, Ore., plywood plant in June
+ 8 takeovers reported, totaling $897m + $$unspecified
+ prisonwatch - US matches or beats Russia for highest rate of incarceration
+ omens:  • stagnant wages & salaries  • record $29.2B trade deficit
• "bad, but..." - US nuclear cleanup costs rise, but it's getting done
vs. glimmers of hope: • Senate protects 18,000 acres in Colorado's Spanish Peaks
• 1 UPsizing (unspecified new jobs) - Smarterkids.com to open shipping ctr
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
+ New Features: • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

4/19/2000 wed
again, no downsizings reported
but 13 layoff-inducing takeovers reported, totaling $12.13B + $$unspecified
+ omens:  • after falsified dox & sabotage, Brit Nuke Fuels does cosmetic fix
• post merger, post $$$MMM CEO perks, FleetBoston monsterbank hikes fees
vs. glimmers of hope: • Nemesis Dept. - stock cheerleader hooked in $45m margin call
• NY state acts to kill stifling presidential primary practices of state Republicans
• 1 UNtakeover - Calvin Klein opts for independence vs. merger menu
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
+ New Features: • embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

4/18/2000 tue
no downsizings reported
but 15 layoff-inducing takeovers reported, totaling $3.79B + $$unspecified
+ 2 bankruptcies mentioned - Pittsburgh Corning, Clark Material Handling
vs. glimmers of hope: • "good, but..." - stocks rebound, but nerves frayed
• "nature's centrifuge" - of wealth - stirs again: inflation up a smidgeon
• 35-hr workweeks, birthcontrol in highschools, now Marriage Lite:
France is again leading the world into the Third Millennium
• 1 UNtakeover - Coachmen rebuffs Thor's $289.6m offer
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
+ New Features: • embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

4/16-17/2000
weekend roundup per NY Times & Boston Globe:
• no bankruptcies mentioned but
• 5 past-week downsizings - 1850+ jobcuts
• 47 takeovers reported this past week (worth $18.25B+)
vs. 5 UPsizings reported this past week (unspecified new jobs)
& 6 more UNtakeovers ($18.38B+)
<< YTD:  172 dnsz (271,555+  jobcuts) + 675 takov ($1052.08B+) vs. 34 upsz (26,737+=10%) + 50 untak ($92.17B+) >>
+ weekend omens: • Columbine, so what?! - America too dumbed-down to learn?
• "economic boom"?? - more patients & less $$ for clinics for disadvantaged
• "economic boom"?? - now they're admitting big problems in China
vs. glimmers of hope:  • NYT & Globe both front protests in DC vs IMF
• NYT evinces concern for long term in financial markets
• foundation initiative to boost diversity in nation's newsrooms
• prominent minority newsperson scales down worktime for family
+ Features:  • Timesizing's hi tech candidate challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• goodnews split in 3:  regular, high test & transition  • website reactions  • opus errata
+ New Features:  • 30-hour bill page  • embryonic legislation page
• "Dear Bill Gates"

4/15/2000 sat (re fri biz)
- real managers realize the flow from payroll to markets -
2 downsizings reported, totaling 1350 lost jobs:
• 850 good-paying Atlanta jobs to poor-paying Mexico as Solectron
cellphones conceives of competitiveness only in market-shrinking terms (& slow suicide)
• 2% workforce cut (500 layoffs) as BF Goodrich closes Texas plant due to dropping demand for landing gear, instead of just 2% workweek cut (48 mins. a week) & everyone lands smoothly
+ 9 takeovers reported, totaling $984m + $$unspecified
+ omens: • "April is the cruelest month" - stox in steep drop,
speculators flee, Dow down 618, Nasdaq has worst week ever
• Jeff Faux sets the record straight: 90,000 Nafta 1999 job casualties
vs. glimmers of hope: • Russia finally approves Start II 50% nuclear arms cuts,
counters dopes in US who want to revive Star Wars
• Nader's presidential bid makes front page of the Times
• 3 UNtakeovers - Brussels blocks $14B Veba-Viag vedding,
Bonn-Berlin blocks $4B blender of RWE & VEW, Chicago's MarchFirst spins off MarketsWork
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
+ New Features: • embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

4/14/2000 fri
- real companies don't merge, real CEOs don't look to merge -
no downsizings reported
but 5 layoff-inducing takeovers reported, totaling $495m + $$unspecified
+ omens - Tech stocks tumble for 4th day - Nasdaq off 92 as Dow falls 201
vs. glimmers of hope: • stirring time awareness - readers blast 80-hr workweeks,
customer time loss due to mergers
• 2 UNtakeovers - Ford spins off Visteon autoparts unit, EU blocks Alcan from gulping Pechiney
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
+ New Features: • embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

4/13/2000 thu
1 downsizing reported - unspecified layoffs as Smithfield Foods' Morrell unit
gobbles Farmland's pork plant in Dubuque & slams slaughter operations there
+ yet 11 more takeovers reported, totaling $2.11B + $$unspecified
+ omens - Nasdaq erratiq ushers in the bears
vs. glimmers of hope: • Times reader excoriates IMF
• 2 UPsizings (unspecified new jobs) - Staples opens 170 stores
this year, Filene's Basement reopens 3 DC stores after 5 mos' closure
• 1 UNtakeover - Blackstone backs out of $375m buy of Kroll-O'Gara private eye
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
+ New Features: • embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

4/12/2000 wed
1 downsizing reported - unspecified layoffs as Inso e-biz software churns
top execs, slams its Boston HQ & consolidates operations in Providence
+ 1 new bankruptcy mentioned - Hedstrom unit of LBO artists Hicks Muse Tate & Furst -
& 1 general observation: bankruptcies in 1 hitech state down from previous year
+ 11 more takeovers reported, totaling $8.56B + $$unspecified
vs. glimmers of hope: • Greenspan calls for training
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
+ New Features: • embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

4/11/2000 tue
1 downsizing reported - 500 recent layoffs in Ft Worth at Lockheed
+ 11 April 11th takeovers reported, totaling $6.59B + $$unspecified
+ omens: • Internet takeovers fuel 23% increase in Brazilian mergers
• IMF tries forcing "reform" (ie: privatization) of Philippine power company
vs. glimmers of hope: • plans for World Bank protest this weekend in DC rev up
• protesters launch World Bank bond boycott - may deliver potent economic punch
• 3 UPsizings - IBM 1000 new jobs, Office Depot 100 new stores/yr x 5 (?? jobs),
Honda "significant" new jobs in England
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
+ New Features: • embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

4/09-10/2000
weekend roundup per NY Times & Boston Globe:
• 10 past-week downsizings - 2615+ jobcuts
• 44 takeovers reported this past week (worth $30.77B+)
• 4 bankruptcies mentioned:  3 new - CHS Electronics, Vista Eyecare, System Software,
1 repeat - Levitz Furniture
vs. 7 UPsizings reported this past week (4300+ new jobs) & 6 UNtakeovers ($31.55B)
<< YTD:  167 dnsz (269,705+  jobcuts) + 628 takov ($1033.83B+) vs. 29 upsz (26,737+=10%) + 44 untak ($73.79B+) >>
vs. glimmers of hope:  • readers dub shallow Fallows' "Shadow of Wealth" piece in Times Mag
+ Features:  • Timesizing's hi tech candidate challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• goodnews split in 3:  regular, high test & transition  • website reactions  • opus errata
+ New Features:  • 30-hour bill page  • embryonic legislation page
• "Dear Bill Gates"

4/08/2000 sat (re fri biz)
- CEOs continue to miss the connection between their payrolls & their markets -
4 downsizings reported, totaling 1500 cuts + unspecified: 
• 7.5% workforce cut (1500 jobs) as CompUSA cuts costs (& its own best market, its own employees) after takeover last month by Grupo Sanborns of Mexico, instead of 7.5% (3-hr) workweek cut for all (whatever happened to captains "going down with the ship"?) & everyone keeps working, earning, spending near-normally (& buying computer stuff!)
+ unspecified cuts at: • Activision in Santa Monica • AT&T's consumer long-distance unit • FleetBoston
+ 2 takeovers reported, totaling $77.4m + $unspecified
+ 2 bankruptcies mentioned - new: System Software, - repeat: Levitz Furniture
vs. glimmers of hope: • biotech CEO to step down, take some time off, think about his next 10-20 years
• "good, but"...: economy upsizes by 416,000 new jobs in Feb, 4-yr monthly record, but counts part-time
same as full-time & new jobs generally more casually demanded (& lower paid) than old
• 1 UNtakeover - GTech Holdings calls off $48.6m gobble of On-Point Tech
+ Features: • Timesizing.com challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
+ New Features: • "Dear Bill Gates" page 
• embryonic legislation page
• 30-hour bill page

4/07/2000 fri
2 downsizings reported, totaling 10,000,030 cuts + unspecified:
• 10M layoffs scheduled by state companies in China by year-end, instead of sharing the vanishing employment by trimming the workweek to fit (companies unnamed so excluded from our YTD totals)
• 10% staff cut (30 jobs) as UtilPro of Atlanta, a unit of AGL Resources, owner
of Georgia's largest natural gas utility, downsizes, instead of doing a 10% hours
cut (to 36/wk) & keeping everyone employed & earning & spending
+ 9 takeovers reported, totaling $1.29B + $$undisclosed
+ omens: • Suiza Foods has 80% monopoly of Massachusetts milk market
• last wk no-profit DrKoop.com's stock drops, now MotherNature.com pressed to turn profit
vs. glimmers of hope: • Globe editorial hammers 16-hours shifts for nurses
• 4 UPsizings - Best Buy (200), Enron (?), Southern Energy (?), St. Regis Mohawk casino (?)
• 2 UNtakeovers - Mitchell Energy vs. any takeover, Pixelpark vs. $2.3B takeover of Cell Network & Mandator
+ Features: • Timesizing.com challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
+ New Features: • "Dear Bill Gates" page 
• embryonic legislation page
• 30-hour bill page

4/06/2000 thu
Happy Black Bill Day!
- 67 years ago today, the U.S. Senate passed a nationwide 30-hour workweek bill -
2 downsizings reported, totaling 900 additional cuts & unspecified job losses:
• 6.6% workforce cut (900 mostly European jobs) as DuPont tries to improve
profit at Herberts paints unit it took over last year, instead of a 6.6% workweek
cut (to 37.4 hrs) for all & everyone keeps earning & spending near-normally - & buying paints
• unspecified jobs lost as Chick Apple Orchards of Maine, founded the same year as passage of the
Black Bill, plans to go out of business for mysterious reasons
+ 7 more takeovers reported, totaling $2.3B + $$undisclosed
+ 1 bankruptcy mentioned - Vista Eyecare of Ga., #3 optical retailer
vs. glimmers of hope: • Amnesty International preps scorecard to rope megafirms into social responsibility
• 1 UPsizing - GTE Networking to hire 500 geeks in Mass.
• 1 UNtakeover - Deutsche & Dresdner cancel their $29B bank merger
+ Features: • Timesizing.com challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
+ New Features: • "Dear Bill Gates" page 
• embryonic legislation page

4/05/2000 wed
- April 6 is 67th anniversary of passage of 30-hour workweek bill through US Senate -
1 forced move (downsizing here, upsizing there) reported:
• 66 jobs vanish in western Mass., "reappear" in eastern Mass. as Lycos moves
2 divisions from Berkshire Mtns to industrial Boston 'burb
+ 7 takeovers reported, totaling $2.98B + $$undisclosed
+ 1 bankruptcy mentioned - CHS Electronics, Miami
+ omens: • our future? - Japanese economy in recession & premier in coma but
stocks still roaring, so can completely ignore recession (i.e., jobless), right?
• Nasdaq yoyos 575 & Dow 504 - no bubbleburst so no problem, right?
• U.N. says bad govt causes poverty (no kidding!)
vs. glimmers of hope: • jailed Mexican rainforest fighter to get $125,000 from US environmentalists
• 2 UPsizings, totaling 2600 new jobs - HP builds plant outside Nashville with 1600 new jobs by 2001
- DLJ Direct to open customer service center with 1000 new jobs in Sandy City, Utah
• 1 UNtakeover - Bain Capital drops $200m purchase of VDI Multimedia
+ Features: • Timesizing.com challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
+ New Features: • "Dear Bill Gates" page 
• embryonic legislation page

4/4/2000 tue
1 downsizing reported: • 119 more jobs phased out than the 800 expected as Norfolk Southern RR employees "read the handwriting on the wall," take early retirement & get out while the getting's good
+ 15 takeovers reported, totaling $13.03B + $undisclosed
vs. glimmers of hope: • Dutch save Earth's first space station
• Microsoft's omnipotence finds its limit
• state term-limits laws working
• 1 UNtakeover - Staff Leasing Inc drops sale option
+ Features: • Timesizing.com challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
+ New Features: • "Dear Bill Gates" page 
• embryonic legislation page

4/02-03/2000
weekend roundup per NY Times & Boston Globe:
• yet 8 more past-week downsizings - 169,780 jobcuts
• 53 takeovers reported this past week (worth $57.03B+)
vs. 1 UPsizing reported this past week (4000 new jobs) & 2 UNtakeovers ($?)
<< YTD:  157 dnsz (267,090+  jobcuts) + 584 takov ($1003.65B+) vs. 22 upsz (22,437+=8%) + 38 untak ($42.24B+) >>
+ 4 weekend takeovers, totaling $11.1B
+ weekend omens - Worcester MA nurses strike over
mandatory overtime (wasn't this outlawed in 1938?!)
vs. glimmers of hope:  • Mass. pioneers strictest handgun laws in USA
• 4 readers dispute 'prize' for status quo from easily satisfied Times columnist
+ Features:  • Timesizing.com challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• scan to bottom of Bibliography for newly discovered great-great-grandaddy of Timesizing
• goodnews split in 3:  regular, high test & transition  • website reactions  • opus errata
+ New Features:  • "Dear Bill Gates"  • embryonic legislation page

4/01/2000 sat (on fri biznews)
4 downsizings reported, totaling 160,420 additional lost jobs:
• 160,000 Japanese jobs lost last month as nation plows into recession
• Xerox to kill 200 more jobs than previously reported for 5% total workforce cut (5200 jobs), instead of 5% workweek cut for all (to 38 hrs) & everyone stays together, earning, spending, making copies...
• 4.4% staff cut (200 jobs lost) as Steris sterilization systems restructures, instead of 4.4% hours&pay cut for all (to 38.2/wk) & everyone keeps working & spending near-normally
• 20 jobs eliminated as Summit Technology surgical lasers of Waltham, Mass. cuts costs (& potential market) instead of doing the minimum necessary departure from status quo & trimming hours, not jobs
+ 4 takeovers reported, totaling $807m + $undisclosed
+ omens: • Japanese unemployment at record • U.S. executive pay up 21%
• "bad news, but..." - DrKoop.com stock plummets since it's never made a profit, but if this is the start of the Internet shakeout & bubbleburst, the sooner the gentler
vs. glimmers of hope: • Maine pioneers campaign finance reform
• farmers are scaling back genetically altered crops
• 1 UPsizing reported - UPS agrees to create 4000 full-time jobs
• 2 UNtakeovers - Veterinary Centers of America Inc. goes private, &
Colony Capital Mgmt's mgmt manages to buy out company from United Asset Mgmt
+ Features: • Timesizing.com challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race
+ New Features: • "Dear Bill Gates" page  • embryonic legislation page