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

5/31/2000 wed
3 downsizings reported, totaling 1,220 jobcuts + unspecified:
• 1% workforce cut (1000 NY jobs) as IBM dumps Y2K techies, instead of shaving 1% off company workweek (24 minutes), adjusting workloads & keeping everyone working & buying IBM output
• 120 Mass. jobs to go as Stop&Shop slams its dairy operations - unless union can reverse decision
• 100 Mass. jobs already gone - Stop&Shop closed a food processing unit
+ 10 takeovers reported, totaling $38.99B + $undisclosed
+ 1 bankruptcy mention - broke Charter Behaviorial
sells 11 mental hospitals to Universal Health
vs. glimmers of hope:
• first results show Aristide's party gaining Haitian Senate
• "good but..." - tight labor market makes bosses nice - but majority aren't, so labor not tight (just skills)
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.7m warchest in Y2K Senate race • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites & soon, issues
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

5/30/2000 tue
- "News Lite" after US Memorial Day -
no downsizings reported
but 3 downsizing-inducing takeovers reported, $undisclosed
+ omens: • Siberia papermill pollutes Lake Baikal - closing would lose 3500 jobs
• US-EC tax dispute growing
vs. glimmers of hope:
• 1 UPsizing - unspecified new NYC jobs at new Lois & Lois ad agency
• "good but..." - labor membership up but share of workforce probably down • grizzlies going back to the Bitterroots
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.7m warchest in Y2K Senate race • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites & soon, issues
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

5/28-29/2000
weekend roundup per NY Times & Boston Globe:
• 43 takeovers reported this past week, worth $21.19B+
• 12 more past-week downsizings, costing 5,447 lost jobs + unspecified
• 4 bankruptcy mentions - 3 new: Toysmart.com, Smith Corona, Hazama construction
vs. 2 UPsizings reported (1,000+ new jobs)
<< YTD:  228 dnsz (313,466+  jobcuts) + 941 takov ($1177.16B+) vs. 55 upsz (38,063+=12%) + 71 untak ($108.88B+) >>
+ 1 weekend takeover - Ennovate Networks to buy Cornice Communications for $20m
+ 3 just-mentioned-this-weekend flops, all dot-coms - Brandwise, RedRocket, Cybershop
+ weekend omens: • WPA returns - Ma. taxpayers soaked for unfocused folklore project
• living wills not being enforced
vs. glimmers of hope: • 200k Aussies march for Abo rights
• 2 NYT readers assail NY State's costly & self-defeating drug laws
• Boston Globe article on consumer disgust with huge banking mergers
+ Features:  • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race  • campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, & their websites
• goodnews split in 3:  regular, high-test & transition  • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• New Feature: corporate fines

5/27/2000 sat (re fri biz)
4 more downsizings reported, totaling 610 jobcuts + unspecified:
• 20% unionized workforce cut (490 Del. jobs) as GM's Saturn Division deepens downturn by dismissing 1/5 of its own best market & marketers (its own people), instead of doing a 20% hours&pay cut (to four 8-hr days) & everyone keeps working & buying cars
• 4.8% staff cut (120 Iowa jobs) as Maytag worsens sales slump by alienating 120 of its own best boosters & customers, instead of doing a 4.8% hours&pay cut (less than 2 hrs/wk) & everyone stays employed & purchasing appliances
• 60% workforce cut (unspecified jobs vanish) as Air India plans mass early retirement & cuts its market along with its losses, instead of trimming its workweek & keeping everyone working & flying
• saddest of all, Martha Graham Dance Co.'s bumbling directors suspend troupe's activity indefinitely = 100% staff cut (unspecified jobs lost)
+ 5 takeovers reported, totaling $4.3B + $undisclosed
+ 1 bankruptcy mention - BG editorial pro Clinton veto, con Congress' tougher bankruptcy laws
+ 1 homeless report - 18-24 yr old homeless up 30% = fastest-growing homeless group in Mass. - shelter overflow sets new record (116%)
+ 1 prison report - 2 Nassau Cty jail guards who beat traffic violator to death get prison themselves
+ 4 qiki omens: • torture in Turkey • baby in toilet • women at ¾ pay • big-ticket items down
vs. glimmers of hope - 3 "good, but's":
• Calif. quits early on Fri. but still tied electronically  • fuel cell technology close but still 'no cigar' 
• new initiative to shield shores & reefs, but just Willy wooing 'legacy' with unspecific potential welfare for the rich
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.7m warchest in Y2K Senate race • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites & soon, issues
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

5/26/2000 fri
4 downsizings reported, totaling 1537 jobcuts:
• 1212 Cal. & Mex. jobs lost as Seagate diskdrives worsens falling demand & consolidates production in Ireland, instead of trimming hours not jobs & keeping 1212 units of its own best market
• 140 Fla. jobs vanish as Saks shuts Orlando store
• 8% staff cut (125 Ohio jobs) as Kendle International drug research worsens industrywide slowdown instead of 8% hours&pay cut (to 36.8 hr/wk) & everyone keeps working & buying, eg, drugs
• 100% cut (60 Mass. jobs) as Looking Glass cptr games misses buyout & runs out of $$
+ 7 takeovers reported, totaling $1.2B + $$undisclosed
+ omens: • Dems hope labor will 'see bigger picture' in Nov.
• another workplace massacre - 7 shot at NYC Wendy's, 5 fatally
vs. glimmers of hope: • 1 UPsizing - Talbots plans to boost # of stores 69% by 2005
• Calif. finally feels pinch of water prodigality  • state govt wants $return from subsidizing stadium in Mass.
• "Good, but..." - fed govt plans to kill dynamism-dampening phone tax but also stagnation-stymying inheritance tax
• 1 piece of good news from prison - Rwandan male dancers bring moment of joy to women inmates
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.7m warchest in Y2K Senate race • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites & soon, issues
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

5/25/2000 thu
9 takeovers reported, totaling $4.32B + $$undisclosed
+ 1 more downsizing reported - 1400 Minn. jobs vanish as LTV Steel Mining gets closed down because it can't produce at "competitive quality or cost" (did they ask their employees for ideas???)
+ 1 bankruptcy-equivalent reported - big Japan contractor, Hazama Corp.,
asks banks to forgive billions in debts (easy for them to ask...)
+ omens: • most say poverty line too low  • ILO reports union repression
• House approves frozen "free trade" with China regardless - Dems
betray their labor & human rights base again, GOP betrays anti-Communists
vs. glimmers of hope: • 1 UPsizing - Microchip Tech to hire 1000 for chip plant in Puyallup, Wash.
• Senate committee staff proposes curbs on corporate tax shelters
• EPA proposes strict new rules vs. arsenic in tap water
• Chile strips Pinochet of immunity from prosecution
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.7m warchest in Y2K Senate race • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites & soon, issues
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

5/24/2000 wed
1 downsizing reported - 930 Fla. sales & mktg jobs vanish as Sunterra timeshares shoots self in foot to "reduce expenses," instead of workweek reduction, & sales-morale & -pressure maintenance
+ 11 takeovers reported, totaling $5.61B + $$undisclosed
+ 1 bankruptcy reported - Smith Corona typewriters
+ omens: • stocks continue to fall
• Time Warner Cable/Houston starts dirty tricks on competitor Southwestern Bell
vs. glimmers of hope: • Israel quits Lebanon after 22 years (now how about West Bank?!)
• refunds offered for late flights
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.7m warchest in Y2K Senate race • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites & soon, issues
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

5/23/2000 tue
2 downsizings reported, totaling 970 jobcuts + unspecified:
• 13% workforce cut (800 Denver jobs) as J.D. Edwards & Co. "saves money on office space" (they never heard of telecommuting?), instead of 13% workweek cut (to 34.8 hrs) for all & everyone keeps earning & buying software
• 100% (170 jobs) as Disney's Toysmart.com shuts down after failure to find further financing
+ 1 bankruptcy-equivalent - Toysmart.com shuts down
+ 10 takeovers reported, totaling $5.76B
vs. glimmers of hope: • banks seek to thwart predatory lenders
• GM & Giner Inc. join to develop clean, quiet fuel-cell vehicles
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.7m warchest in Y2K Senate race • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites & soon, issues
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

5/21-22/2000
weekend roundup per NY Times & Boston Globe:
• 47 takeovers reported this past week, worth $26.04B+
• 12 past-week downsizings, costing 7,164 lost jobs + unspecified
• 6 bankruptcy mentions - 2 old + 4 new: Craftshop.com, GST Telecom, Kofuku Bank, Boo.com
• New Feature: 6 corporate fines, totaling $1072m - AOL 3.5m, Merrill Lynch .75m, Kaiser Permanente healthplan 1m, Centennial Tech's Emanuel Pinez 150m, Columbia/HCA $745m, NE Financial $172m
vs. 3 UPsizings reported (2450+ new jobs) and 1 UNtakeovers ($??+)
<< YTD:  216 dnsz (308,019+  jobcuts) + 898 takov ($1155.97B+) vs. 53 upsz (37,063+=12%) + 71 untak ($108.88B+) >>
+ 1 weekend takeover - NYC & San Francisco wireless ad groups for $??
+ weekend omens - Africa's 2 poorest countries wage costly air war over nothing
vs. glimmers of hope: • Haitians rejoice in Sunday election calm
• rightwing Globe columnist coincides with left against China trade kiss-up
• Globe reader reinterates obvious solution to Social Security - flat tax all the way up
+ Features:  • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race  • campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, & their websites
• goodnews split in 3:  regular, high-test & transition  • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata

5/20/2000 sat (re fri biz)
yet again 2 more downsizings reported, totaling 110 jobcuts:
• 20% workforce cut (80 Fla. jobs) as ProxyMed "reduces costs" & its own best markets, instead of 20% workweek cut (to 32 hrs) for all & everyone keeps earning & surfing
• 35% (30 jobcuts) as DrKoop.com finds too little market for online medical advice
+ New Feature! 1 more corporate fine-equiv. - New England Financial antes up $172m
+ omens - Boston team whines for $275m stadium subsidy from taxpayers
= welfare for the rich
+ 7 more takeovers reported, totaling $516m + $$undisclosed
vs. glimmers of hope: • researchers say "chill out" on multitasking - remember Michael Kennedy
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.7m warchest in Y2K Senate race • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites & soon, issues
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

5/19/2000 fri
yet 2 more downsizings reported, totaling 5090 jobcuts + unspecified:
• 10% workforce cut (5000 German jobs) as Dresdner "cuts costs" & its own best markets, instead of 10% workweek cut (to 36 hrs) for all & everyone keeps earning & banking
• 90 investment banking & analyst jobcuts (how do they like taking what they've so often dished out?!) as PaineWebber gobbles Bradford for its brokers & spits out "extras"
+ New Feature! 1 more corporate fine-equiv. - Columbia/HCA to pay $745m in fraud case
+ 1 bankruptcy-equivalent - Boo.com, web fashion retailer, calls the liquidators
+ omens: • hitech CEO burns out, citing years of 100-hour workweeks
• more self-sedation from count-nothing US unemployment rate
+ 7 takeovers reported, totaling $2B + $$undisclosed
vs. glimmers of hope: • PepsiCo ordered to pay overtime
• shorter workweek in France is working - vibrant job growth, rapidly expanding economy, lowest unemployment in 8 yrs - (but no NYT mention of worksharing & payspreading)
• 1 UPsizing - Lucent to add 2,450 jobs in Cal. & Eur.
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.7m warchest in Y2K Senate race • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites & soon, issues
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

5/18/2000 thu
2 more downsizings reported, totaling 1300 jobcuts + unspecified:
• 11% workforce cut (1300 Mich., Cal. & overseas jobs) as Amway "cuts costs" & its own best markets, instead of 11% workweek cut (to 35.6 hrs) for all & everyone stays employed & shopping
• unspecified Wyo. joblosses as Arch slashes Coal Crk mine's output & mulls shutdown
+ yet 2 more bankruptcy mentions: • Time Warner to buy bust GST Telecom's assets
• vulture investor Wilbur Ross & Co. to take over Osaka's bust Kofuku Bank
+ omens - unions still shooting selves in foot, even in Germany
+ 12 takeovers reported, totaling $2.91B + $$undisclosed
+ New Feature! 1 corporate-equivalent fine - ex-CEO of Centennial
Technologies gets 5 yrs & $150m restitution order for cooking the books
vs. glimmers of hope: • 2 Times op eds slam free trade with China
• Dominican Republic opposition victorious - flexibility coming
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.7m warchest in Y2K Senate race • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites & soon, issues
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

5/17/2000 wed
2 downsizings reported, unspecified cuts:
• unspecified jobcuts as bankrupt CellNet sells assets (only)
• unspecified cuts in recent years as UPI closed many farflung bureaus
+ 2 more bankruptcy mentions: • Schlumberger buys bust CellNet's assets
• shlumpfburger (big Mac) buys bust Boston Market (née Chicken)
+ 10 more takeovers reported, totaling $14.62B + $$undisclosed
+ New Feature! 1 corporate fine - Kaiser Permanente plan fined $1m in patient death
vs. glimmers of hope: • 1 UPsizing - Home Depot plans 59 more stores, but giantization continues
• timesizer Nucor does stock buyback  • Web vigilantes help snare viruses & kiddyporn
• star reporter bails day after Moonies snare UPI  • EPA set to snare sulfur in truck exhaust
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.7m warchest in Y2K Senate race • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites & soon, issues
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

5/16/2000 tue
- near-sighted mgmt continues "neutron bombing" costs -
3 downsizings reported, totaling 659 jobcuts:
• 504 French employee-consumers cut to "save" $915m as Renault-Nissan combines sales forces in France, instead of cutting corporate workweek & keeping everyone working & buying cars
• 95 employee-customers dismissed "to cut costs" as Pillsbury closes an Oreg. plant, instead of cutting hours & keeping everyone working & buying cakemix
• 60 worker-shoppers dismissed "to lower costs" as Sunbeam closes its last 11 outlet stores in US & Canada, instead of trimming hours & pay for all, including top execs, & disturbing our shrinking consumer base & purchasing habits as little as possible
+ 11 takeovers reported, totaling $4.79B + $undisclosed
+ 2 bankruptcy mentions: • Craftshop.com intros Internet shakeout?
• UPI has bankrupted twice in recent years
+ New Feature! 2 corporate fines, totalling $4.25m: • SEC fines AOL $3.5m
• Merrill Lynch to pay record $750k state fine in Mass. for star broker run amuk
vs. glimmers of hope: • 1 UPsizing - 360networks of Vancouver expands in LA, Dallas & Atlanta
• Beijing agency helps pollution victims fight back
• Globe columnist applauds © enforcement on Net = no Sherwood Forest
• "Good, but..." - Microsoft finally debugs Outlook, US output up but fears fanned of flation-fixated Fed
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.7m warchest in Y2K Senate race • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites & soon, issues
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

5/14-15/2000
weekend roundup per NY Times & Boston Globe:
• 7 past-week downsizings, costing 3,460 lost jobs
• 46 takeovers reported this past week, worth $28.35B+
• 1 bankruptcy mention - T: Boston's Stone & Webster engineering
vs. 7! UPsizings reported (4976+ new jobs!) and 2 UNtakeovers ($??+)
<< YTD:  204 dnsz (300,825+  jobcuts) + 851 takov ($1129.93B+) vs. 47 upsz (34,613+=11.5%) + 70 untak ($108.88B+) >>
+ 1 weekend downsizing - 35 full-timers to go as Haverhill MA's classy Bradford College closes
+ 1 weekend takeover - UniCredito Italiano to buy Pioneer Grp of Boston for $1.2B
vs. glimmers of hope: • 1 weekend UNtakeover - Intel to spin off Developonline.com in Ariz.
• Million Mom March pushes gun controls  • greens can now challenge logging in US forests
• Cambridge firm still considers customers, employees & the long term!
+ Features:  • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race  • campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, & their websites
• goodnews split in 3:  regular, high-test & transition  • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata

5/13/2000 sat (on fri biz)
- short-term win/lose capitalism lurches along
"playing the float" between downsized jobs & damaged markets -
2 downsizings reported, totaling 2,000 jobcuts:
• 100% workforce cut (1900 jobs) as Ford over-reacts to shrinking markets & closes its biggest British car plant, instead of cushioning crisis with a fluctuating company-wide workweek, & keeping everyone working & buying cars
• 33% staff cut (100 Texas jobs) as CarOrder.com aggravates the damage of competition in online auto sales, instead of trimming hours & pay 33% for all, including top execs (to 26.6 hrs/wk) & disturbing the now-shrinking high-tech consumer base & purchasing habits as little as possible
+ 7 takeovers reported, totaling $9.78B + $$undisclosed
+ omens: • Seoul greed too intense for lunch
• "mommy gap" in U.S. pay outpaces gender gap
• Argentine unemployment at 14%, far higher in provinces
vs. glimmers of hope: • NY fund mgr slams Mattel for $50m golden parachute for fired executive
• Ralph Nader gets some media for caustic wit, despite 3rd party status (it ain't easy bein' Green)
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.7m warchest in Y2K Senate race • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites & soon, issues
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

5/12/2000 fri
1 downsizing reported - 15% workforce cut (175 Mass. jobs) as Cyrk brand promotions
cuts costs & its customers' customers, instead of 15% hours&pay cut (to 34-hr wk)
for all, including top execs, & keeping everyone working & shopping
+ omens: • "investors" have black and white reversed
• new-millennium politics lacks even 21st-century issues
+ 9 takeovers reported, totaling $1.31B + $$undisclosed
vs. glimmers of hope: • 1 UPsizing - Southern Co. building new powerplant
• 1 UNtakeover - BOC Group safe from Air Products & Air Liquide for the moment
• Napster backs off from webtrashing copyright  • tip vs. SSN stealing
• reader questions desirability of being "extremely connected"
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.7m warchest in Y2K Senate race • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites & soon, issues
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

5/11/2000 thu
1 specific, 1 general downsizing reported, totaling 50 specific additional jobcuts:
• 6% more staff cuts (50 jobs) to enable AltaVista to report positive cash flow by Dec., instead of 6% hours&pay cut (to 37.6-hr wk) for all, including top execs, & keeping everyone working & websurfing
• 15,700 Mass. jobcuts since 1997 due to Medicare cuts - 22,900 to go by 2005
+ omens - "exponential growth of chicanery in Internet auctions"
+ 5 takeovers reported, totaling $3.42B
vs. glimmers of hope: • 1 UPsizing + 1 UNdownsizing, totalling 1995 new or saved jobs
- Kopin 250 new, Harland&Wolff 1745 saved, + 2 Daewoo "no downsizing" vows from GM & Ford
• 1 UNtakeover - Arthur D. Little spins off TIME group as "C-Quential"
• Canada cuts role of Wheat Bd, & RRs cut grain charges
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.7m warchest in Y2K Senate race • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites & soon, issues
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

5/10/2000 wed
2 downsizings reported, totaling 1105 additional jobcuts: • 1000 jobs to get trimmed as Rover in England gets sold for $15, instead of trimming everyone's workweek & keeping all employed
• 1.8% more staff cuts (105 jobs) as CMGI, including AltaVista, cuts markets along with costs instead of doing a 1.8% hours&pay cut for all (43 mins/wk) & keeping everyone working & shopping hitech
+ 10 takeovers reported, totaling $2.47B
+ omens - 50-something "investors" turn mkt slaves - what shall it profit a man...?
vs. glimmers of hope: • 4 UPsizings, 2950 new jobs total, more than today's downsizings!
- Cisco 2500, TI 300, Roundarch 150, BrightTouch ??
• timesized VW's profit up  • Sony tells Mexico, cut crime or lose $$  • Perot may loosen deathgrip on Reform Party
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.7m warchest in Y2K Senate race • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

5/09/2000 tue
1 downsizing reported - 130 employees laid off as Climax Molybdenum over-reacts to over-supply & low prices, instead of trimming everyone's workweek & keeping all employed
+ 13 takeovers reported, totaling $11.94B + $$undisclosed
+ 1 bankruptcy mention - Stone & Webster engineering of Boston
vs. glimmers of hope: • 1 UPsizing - 31 new jobs at new Dirty Water ad agency in NYC
• writer ventures to question sacredcow Immigration in America = perfect referendum issue  • women launch equal-pay drive in Boston  • Deutsch packs it in after Lycos' shabby treatment on doorstep  • Justice & FBI start website for squealing on netfraud  • "good, but..." - Clinton plans to ban roads (but not ORVs) in ¼ of national forests
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.7m warchest in Y2K Senate race • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

5/07-08/2000
- National Suicide Awareness Week begins -
weekend roundup per NY Times & Boston Globe:
• 8 past-week downsizings, costing 9,744 lost jobs
• 45 takeovers reported this past week, worth $20.9B+
• 7 bankruptcy mentions - T: Daiichi Ins, W: Roberds furniture, Metro Mtg, Tower Airways, NutraMax health products; Mexico toughens laws vs. bankrupts (T) while US groups protest tougher laws (W)
vs. 3 UPsizings reported (1600 new jobs) and 11! UNtakeovers ($25.81B!+)
<< YTD:  197 dnsz (297,365+  jobcuts) + 805 takov ($1101.58B+) vs. 40 upsz (29,637+=10%) + 68 untak ($108.88B+) >>
+ 2 weekend takeover reports, totaling $$undisclosed
+ weekend omens: • significant economic indicators are few and flawed
• campaign finance reform now sabotaged by shadowy tax-exempt organizations
vs. glimmers of hope: • movement to "get a life" • Massachusetts tops 50 states in saving watersheds
• "good, but..." - #1: new workers value training but not free time  #2: serious crimes drop for 8th yr but prisons boom  #3: inflation no worry to anyone but Fed  #4: BG reader mourns 40-hr week & slams greed but doesn't define it
+ 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

5/06/2000 sat (on fri biz)
2 more downsizings reported, totaling 700 lost jobs:
• 11% workforce cut (5000 Nova Scotia jobs) as Greenbrier freightcars reacts exacerbatingly to 50% drop in orders, instead of just trimming its workweek 11% for everyone, including top execs (to 35.6 hrs) & keeping everyone working, earning, spending 89% of normal - & buying railfreight
• 200 jobs eliminated as Westinghouse Electric closes nuke fuel plant in Mo. (but at least 200 fewer people dependent on this unecological industry)
+ 6 takeovers reported, totaling $6.76B
+ omens: • central Africa is gone - no work, so war, war and more war
vs. glimmers of hope: • NYT reader hits virus susceptibility of monoculture software & cramped diversity
• BG op ed celebrates new hybrid cars • "good, but..." - 30-yr unemployment low nice but strictly cosmetic
• 3 UNtakeovers - Eaton spins off Axcelis, Ryder holders clobber co. auction, Royal KPN & Telefonica cancel wedding
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

5/5/2000 fri
2 downsizings mentioned, totaling 6750 newly reported lost jobs:
• 14% workforce cut (6750 Latin American jobs) as Panamerican Beverages improves efficiency (by clobbering its best market), instead of trimming its workweek 14% for all including top execs (to 34.4 hrs) & keeping everyone working, earning, spending 86% of normal, & drinking Cokes
• Michelin bizarrely boasts about 1,880 French jobcuts out of 7,500 Euro total announced last Sept. to lift efficiency 20%, despite damage to own markets & France's consumer base
+ 12 takeovers reported, totaling $952m + $$undisclosed
vs. glimmers of hope: • NYT reader & BG columnists blast CEO demerit pay - this is "superior capitalist incentives"?
• 3 UPsizings - 1400 new HK jobs at Cathay Pacific Airways, 200 at Corning in upstate NY, ?? at 7-Eleven in New England
• 1 UNtakeover - Westaff vs. investor group's $160m bid
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

5/04/2000 thu
1 downsizing reported - 5% workforce cut (500 Missouri jobs) as Agco farm eqpmt reacts drastically to declining demand by closing plant, instead of just trimming workweek 5% for all (to 38 hrs) & keeping everyone working, earning, spending 95% of normal, & buying farm products
+ yet 9 more takeovers reported, totaling $1.35B + $$undisclosed
+ omens: • study: most in US see college as essential (tho' transfers
corporate training costs to individuals &... no guaranteed link to job market)
vs. glimmers of hope: • Green Party matches GOP showing in NY's Nassau County
• Nature Conservancy to purchase & protect Palmyra atoll
• 3 more UNtakeovers - Blue Circle vs. Lafarge's $5.7B bid, Brunswick Tech vs. St Gobain's $45.9m bid, Manor Care vs. Bainum & rival's $?? bids
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

5/03/2000 wed
3 downsizings reported, totaling 1794 lost jobs + unspecified:
• 100% workforce cut (1300 Ind, Oh & Ga jobs lost) as Roberds
furniture & appliances closes all its stores, despite "booming" economy
• 19% workforce cut (300 lost jobs) as no-frills Tower Air halts passenger service, instead of 19% workweek cut for all (to 32.4 hrs) & everyone keeps working, earning & spending 81% of normal - & flying
• 100% workforce cut (194 jobs lost, half in Fla.) as Metropolitan Mtg
ceases operations & sells its loan portfolio, after takeover last year by Aegon
+ 9 more takeovers reported, totaling $1.22B + $$undisclosed
+ omens: • conventional economist mistakes workweek cuts as "anti
market" - presumably he'd say same of cutting child labor & ending slavery?
+ record 5 bankruptcy/liquidation mentions: • Roberds, 4 mos in Ch.11, prepares for liquidation • Metropolitan Mtg to shut down completely within 6 mos. • broke Tower Air halts passenger service • NutraMax goes Ch.11 • groups protest laws to toughen bankruptcy
vs. glimmers of hope: • study finds 71% of men aged 20-39 would take pay hit for more family time
• TomPaine.com ad on op ed page berates NYT - "serves its readers poorly" with unison globalization cheerleading
• 3 UNtakeovers - Shurgard Storage Ctrs vs. Public Storage, Genesee Brewing vs. Platinum Holdings, Bestfoods vs. Unilever's $18.4B bid
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

5/02/2000 tue
no downsizings reported
but 9 downsizing-inducing takeovers reported, totaling $10.62B
+ omens: • Supreme Court ruling on comp time favors employers
• "new" economy, old problems - such as income disparity
+ 2 bankruptcy mentions: • Mexico alters bankruptcy laws
• Daiichi Mutual Fire & Marine Insurance in Japan collapses
vs. glimmers of hope: • wonder of wonders - as political giving sets records, 31 companies drop out
+ Features: • Timesizing's hi tech candidate Phil Hyde challenges Kennedy name & $3.6m warchest in Y2K Senate race • campaign central hilites Phil, Teddy & all challengers, & their websites
• embryonic legislation page • 30-hour bill page • "Dear Bill Gates" page

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