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

8/31/2000 thu
3 company downsizings reported, totaling 120+? lost jobs + 1 mega national one:
• 20% workforce cut (100 UK jobs) as Letsbuyit.com barely surviving Internet retailer
streamlines costs (& its own best markets & marketers), instead of doing a 20% workweek
cut (to 4  8-hr days) for all, including top mgmt, & keeping everyone working & shopping
• 33% staff cut (40 US jobs) as DrKoop.com turns to the "first order of business, laying off
employees" (don't they mean "first order of suicide"?) instead of cutting hours 33% for all
(to four 6¾-hr days) & keeping everyone together, with time to come up with ideas
• unspecified Peoria jobs as Caterpillar puts great hopes on workforce attrition
• 100,000s of Chinese jobcuts as companies privatize, efficientize, capitalize
goodwill & liquidate job security, 40-somethings & the nation's future
+ 7 downsizing-inducing takeovers reported, totaling $451.8B + $?
+ 2 more corporate fines/settlements reported (total $17.45m):
• $16m for being ecological & barring hazardous waste site use
• $750k for delayed reporting of backpack child-carrier accidents
vs. glimmers of intelligence: • 1 UPsizing - 4,000 jobs for Russian ex-weapons workers
• Pentagon helps New Jersey clean up 29 contaminated military bases
• NYT gives high placement to union endorsement story for Greens' Ralph Nader
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/30/2000 wed
3 downsizings reported, totaling 335 lost jobs:
• 4% workforce cut (175 R.I. jobs) as Gtech lottery systems focuses
its businesses, instead of doing a 4% workweek cut (19 mins/day) for all,
including top mgmt, & keeping everyone together, working, earning & gambling
• 3.3% staff cut (100 Milwaukee jobs) as Tower autoparts feels
impact of Ford's output cuts due to tire-recall diversion
• 100% cut (60 Ore. jobs) at View-Master as Mattel moves whole operation to Tijuana
+ 8 takeovers reported, totaling $13.63B + $?
+ 2 corporate fines/settlements reported (total $20.22m):
• $20m for drug scalping • $220k for gouging Arizona Medicaid
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• 1 timesizing - Tower keeps on 200 people by furloughing them for a week
• 1 UNtakeover - Guilford Pharmaceuticals backs out of $203m deal for Gliatech
• world's only MBA program for women forges ahead at Boston's Simmons College
• IBM, Intel & HP plan central lab for Linux development - counterweight to MS Windows
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/29/2000 tue
5 downsizings reported:
• 8% workforce cut (1800 N.C. jobs) as Wachovia bank's CEO, L. M. Baker,
reduces expenses (& morale & markets) instead of doing a 8% workweek cut (to 36.8
hrs) for all, including himself, & keeping everyone together, working, earning & banking
• 11% staff cut (1200 U.S. jobs) as Sabre travel cuts costs the dumb way, vs. 11% hours
cut (4.4 hrs) for all & everyone stays employed, solvent, secure - & going on trips
• 31% plant jobs cut (500 Ohio cuts) as Paccar keeps self-amputating, vs. 31% hours
cut (to 27.6/wk) & everybody keeps working, shopping & thinking about mktg
• 10% staff cut (234 NYC jobs) as MicroStrategy software restructures by self-
mutilation, vs. 10% hours cut (4 hrs/wk) & everyone keeps their jobs
• 115 layoffs as PlanetRx.com models the dot-com shakeout
+ 15 takeovers reported, totaling $17.46B + $?
+ 4 corporate fines/settlements reported ($3,758.48m):
• dangerous diet drug • terrible prison treatment • greedy broker • reluctant rewarders
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• 1 UNtakeover - Cytogen & Advanced Magnetics call it off
• at last, headline trumpets mistake of government job bribery
(& besides, aren't we supposed to have low unemployment???)
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/27-28/2000
weekend roundup per the NY Times and the Boston Globe:
• 5 downsizings reported this past week, costing over 2,689 lost jobs
• 42 takeovers reported this week, worth $15.25B + $undisclosed
• 1 corporate fine mentioned ($20k)
• 2 bankruptcy mentions
vs. 0 UPsizings & 0 UNtakeovers reported
< YTD:  354 dnsz (411,152+  jobcuts) +1591 takov ($1770.88B+) vs. 102 upsz (69,816+=17%) +104 untak ($109.96B+) >
vs. glimmers of intelligence: • 1 weekend UPsizing -
1750 new jobs at Mercedes in Ala. but sucking up $150m in taxpayers' $$ (already got $235m!)
• Bob Kuttner clobbers indiscriminate deregulation (e.g., airlines, electricity, banking, phone service)
+ Features:  • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Kennedy name & $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, & their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/26/2000 sat (re fri biz)
no downsizings reported, but...
6 downsizing-inducing takeovers reported, totaling $943m + $?
+ omens: • 3rd & biggest hoax churns Wall St. "investors" - to the profit of brokers
vs. glimmers of intelligence: • Greenspan admits free trade losing support
• American Indians planning mega intertribal bank
• every group now has their own history, but how's it all fit?
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/25/2000 fri
9 takeovers reported, totaling $915m + $?
+ 2 downsizing stories - 1 industry, 1 company:
• dot-com retailers lost 1,750 jobs in August, up 55% from July
• 215 lost jobs as Potlatch Corp. shuts Idaho plywood plant due to diminished demand
+ omens: • reader takes Kursk as symbolic of how we have 'helped' Russia
vs. glimmers of intelligence: • wireless firms in Europe prefer alliances over mergers
• new survey blasts customer service in banking &...everywhere
• readers crucify NYTimes for dumb editorial vs. opening prez debates to 3d parties
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/24/2000 thu
no downsizings reported, but...
7 downsizing-inducing takeovers reported, totaling $676m + $??
+ omens: • United Airlines executives now forcing overtime on mechanics
• infecting our kids with forced overtime - now there are homework assignments
during summer "vacation" = are we attempting to rear compliant little slaves - like us?
vs. glimmers of intelligence: • last Verizon strikers win less-bad concessions on forced overtime
• NYTimes shows glimmers of giving equal time to more prez candidates: Nader, Buchanan & Hagelin
• federal gov't finally trying to redress 1890s' infiltration, overthrow & cultural assassination of Hawaii
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/23/2000 wed
3 downsizings reported, totaling 939 lost jobs:
• 52% workforce cut (682 lost Pa. jobs) as Dana Corp. autoparts closes a plant in
Reading, instead of a 52% workweek cut (to 19.2 hrs) for everyone, including
top management, & keeping everyone together & at least partially employed
• 249 people laid off as Crown Vantage paper pre-empts strike by idling entire
plant in Parchment (sic), Mich. & absorbing its production into other mills
• 8 General Synod staffcuts as Anglican Church of Canada braces for culture-
change lawsuits from former students of its Indian boarding schools
+ 9 downsizing-inducing takeovers reported, totaling $800m + $??
+ 1 corporate fine cited ($20k): • finally, E*Trade, for withholding scary '96-98 mkt data
+ 2 bankruptcy mentions: • Crown Vantage  • (potential) Anglican Church of Canada
+ omens: • forced overtime prolongs phone strike outside old NYNEX area
• Fed still strains out inflation 'gnats', swallows unemployment 'camels'
• book agents "commonly nowadays" try to rig bestseller lists
vs. glimmers of intelligence: • reader says reviving Star Wars contradicts ending of Cold War
• professional women gained since '96 • TomPaine.com hilites reformer Denise Giardina & her Mtn Party
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/22/2000 tue
no downsizings reported, but...
11 downsizing-inducing takeovers reported, totaling $11.92B + $undisclosed
+ 2 bankruptcy mentions: • broke APBNews may be sold • CollegeClub.com goes Ch.11
+ omens: • still talkin' surplus while walkin' $trillion debt, not $billion
vs. glimmers of intelligence: • Nature Conservancy saves 15k acres of Ga. wetlands
• Yunnan doubles rice yields, blocks blight without chemicals • Ford's 'tiresizing' requires timesizing
• Verizon's unions slam forced overtime • reader slams "taxcuts - for rich, OK - for poor, class warfare!"
• stock options lose allure in yoyo market • less & less noticeable tech improvements losing allure
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/20-21/2000
weekend roundup per NY Times & Boston Globe:
• 15 downsizings reported this past week, costing over 17,290 lost jobs
• 40 takeovers reported this week, worth $41.24B + $undisclosed
• 11 bankruptcy mentions, with $735m debt + $unreported
vs. 2 UPsizings reported (40+ new jobs), but 0 UNtakeovers reported
< YTD:  349 dnsz (408,582+  jobcuts) +1549 takov ($1755.63B+) vs. 102 upsz (69,816+=17%) +104 untak ($109.96B+) >
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• Verizon strikers get overtime reduced from 20 hrs/wk but only to 7.5
• hi-tech jobs opening up in rural areas but pay not as good & - cooped up indoors
+ Features:  • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Kennedy name & $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, & their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/19/2000 sat (re fri biz)
- real CEOs don't 'churn' their workforce -
3 downsizings reported, totaling 2810 lost jobs:
• 2400 + unspecified cuts as Boeing takes off gloves &
does long-distance "shift" of work from Wash. state to Kansas
• 8.2% workforce cut (310 lost New York City jobs) as Kozmo.com
online general store continues self-amputation, instead of doing an 8.2%
workweek for all (to 36.7 hrs) & keeping everyone secure, employed & shopping
• 3% staff cut (100 lost Atlanta jobs) as Healtheon/WebMD pushes for profitability by
cutting multi-merger overlap (& own best markets), instead of trimming hours&pay
3% for all (15 minutes/day) & keeping everyone together, working & healthy
+ 7 downsizing-inducing takeovers reported, totaling $2.43B + $undisclosed
+ 1 bankruptcy mention: • AmeriServe (Feb.1 Ch.11) bought by McLane
+ omens: • global warming is definitely melting the North Polar ice cap
• only 33% of corporations have learned a great deal from downsizing
• "free" trade has now bloated the US trade deficit to $30.6 billion
• really reassuring that one prez candidate now "his own man"?
vs. glimmers of intelligence: • cheaper strategy vs. global warming
• Swiss having public referendum on immigration
• DOT moves to block Greyhound shutdown
• doctors remove Buchanan's gall bladder
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/18/2000 fri
no downsizings reported, but...
8 cut-courting takeovers, totaling $325m + $??
+ 2 bankruptcy mentions: • furniture bankruptcies dissected
• judge plays games with privacy of bankrupt Toysmart.com's customers
+ 1 suicide story: • work-related suicides rise in Japan, as lifelong employment vanishes
+ 1 ominous qiki: • risks of running low-budget nuclear navy = how Russia must do it all
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• Boeing to close plants but transfers employees to other plants nearby, thus retaining their skills
• cluster of good (op) eds - 3 layers of obstacles for progressives, & GOP has most of us
distracted & divided on most voluminous, least important layer
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/17/2000 thu
5 downsizings reported, totaling 6,105 lost jobs + unspecified:
• 25.4% staff cut (4400 lost US jobs) as Heilig-Meyers furniture files Ch. 11, instead of a
25.4% hours&pay cut for all (to 29.8 hrs) & keeping all together, working & shopping
• 10% workforce cut (1100 lost Tx. jobs) as post-merger Flowserve saves $75m by cutting
own best markets, vs. trimming workweek 10% for all (to 36 hrs) & keeping all at work
• 330 Mich. & Ind. jobcuts as Mead school notebooks tries to cut costs by closing
two plants (thereby cutting some of its own best markets & marketers)
• 275 more Texas jobs lost as Living.com files Ch. 7 & liquidates
• ?? jobloss as Merrill Lynch shuts Shopmerrill.com & Merrillauctions.com
+ 5 downsizing-inducing takeovers reported, totaling $7.13B + $undisclosed
+ 2 bankruptcy mentions: • Living.com online furniture goes Ch. 7 & liquidates
• Heilig-Meyers offline furniture goes Ch. 11 & shuts 302 (one third) of its stores
vs. glimmers of hope: • 1 UPsizing - NEC to open a 40-person consulting shop in Littleton, Mass.
• Indonesian Pres. Wahid cajoles the fury & intolerance out of his fractious legislators with humor (= 4th
person of Trinity?) & a dash of naughty wordplay - shades of Lincoln, Gorbachev & the Merrie Monarch
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/16/2000 wed
3 downsizings reported, totaling 2400 lost jobs:
• 5.8% staff cut (1100 lost US jobs) as #1 truckmaker, Navistar International, self-
amputates in response to 30% fewer heavy-truck orders (higher interest rates & fuel
prices + used-truck glut), instead of just doing a 5.8% hours&pay cut for all (to 37.7
hrs) & keeping everyone together, working, & shopping for all the stuff that trucks deliver
• 6.8% workforce cut (1300 lost jobs) as Navistar shrinks in Canada, instead of trimming
its workweek 6.8% for all (to 37.3 hrs) & keeping everyone employed & spending
+ 12 downsizing-inducing takeovers reported, totaling $28.72B + $undisclosed
+ 2 corporate fines/settlements mentioned, totaling $65k + undisclosed:
• 12 states drag $65k in 'costs' out of stop-smoking aromatherapy outfit
• Semtor CEO to stop pulling employees from ex-employer, CamTech
+ 3 more bankruptcy mentions: • 1/6 of Mass. nsg homes in bankruptcy
• AMF Bowling has 7 wks for hat trick, else bankruptcy looms
• new owner says 'back to roots' for Filene's Basement
+ omens: • Dems' old song of long-promised ideals & ground-losing
grocery-list formula for progress, parodied by Times & pilloried by Globe
vs. glimmers of hope:
• NJ stops forcing minors seeking abortions to notify parents
• TomPaine.com ridicules drug war & Brazil balks at buying in
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/15/2000 tue
2 downsizings reported, totaling 4195 lost jobs:
• 18.6% workforce cut (3745 lost US & Can. jobs) as Freightliner self-mutilates in response to 25% fewer truck orders (gas prices, driver shortage - & Greenspan's "cure" for inflation), instead of just trimming its workweek 18.6% for all (to four 7.1-hr days) & keeping everyone together, working, & shopping for all the stuff that trucks deliver
• 9% staff cut (450 Mass., Chinese, & German jobs) as Agilent Technologies' Ned Barnholdt tries to regain profitability in his healthcare unit by joining in the general CEO mob violence vs. their own workforce-cum-consumer base, instead of doing a 9% hours cut (to 36.4/wk) & keeping everyone employed & happily buying healthcare products
+ 8 downsizing-inducing takeovers reported, totaling $2.63B + $undisclosed
+ 2 corporate fines/settlements, totaling $11.3m: • SabreTech, $11m in ValuJet crash
• DeMarco cranberries must cede $300k in land & development rights for wetlands sin
+ 3 bankruptcy mentions: • bankruptcies surge in Japan = key depression symptom
• Reliance Group ($735.1m debt) • Burnham Pacific Properties (shareholder push)
vs. glimmers of hope: • 1 UPsizing - Honda creates unspecified new jobs at new British plant
• American labor finally begins to focus on its key power issue? = time, specifically forced overtime
• Israel cuts sales taxes, but on 630 specified goods?! - should "tax concentration, untax circulation"
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/13-14/2000
weekend roundup per NY Times & Boston Globe:
• 4 corporate fines/settlements mentioned ($296m total)
• 9 downsizings this past week, costing over 1,975 lost jobs
• 41 takeovers reported this week, worth $31.7B + $undisclosed
• 1 workplace murder & attempted suicide - in Queens NY nsg home
vs. 6 UPsizings reported (1740+ new jobs), and 2 UNtakeovers reported ($350m+)
< YTD:  335 dnsz (391,173+  jobcuts) +1509 takov ($1716.19B+) vs. 100 upsz (69,776+=18%) +104 untak ($109.96B+) >
Also, 2 weekend downsizing reports, totaling 1780 jobcuts: • 10% workforce cut (1700
lost UK jobs) as Reuters tries to 'improve margins aggressively,' instead of just doing a
10% workweek cut for all (to 36-hr wk) & everyone stays employed & buying news
• 24% staffcut (80 lost US jobs) as post-takeover Interpath (ASP) falls prey to new-itis,
instead of just trimming hours 24% for everyone & keeping everyone employed
+ 1 weekend takeover report, totaling $?? - Hutchison buys 51% of Mandala
vs. glimmers of hope:
• entrepreneurs wearying of Web's 80-hr workweeks
• at least United's schedule chaos will probably kybosh its USAir merger
• Ken Galbraith gets Medal of Freedom for his literate critiques of mainstream economics
+ Features:  • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Kennedy name & $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, & their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/12/2000 sat (re fri biz)
5 downsizing-inducing takeovers reported, totaling $13.76 billion
+ 1 downsizing reported: • 46% workforce cut (185 lost Va. jobs) as Value
America declares bankruptcy & zooms in on its e-services biz, instead of cutting
workweek 46% for all (to three 7.2-hr days) & keeping everyone together, working,
and with fewer time pressures, coming up with creative ideas to rescue the company
+ 2 corporate fines: • Disney must pay All Pro $240m for stealing sports complex idea
• Wall-Mart must pay $555k to woman startled into falling &
injuring shoulder when employee triggered cooler cascade
+ 2 bankruptcy mentions: • Trend-Line ($7.6m debt)
• Value America online retailer (unspecified debt)
+ 1 workplace murder & attempted suicide reported:
• Queens nsg-home employee kills boss & shoots self
+ omens: • George Soros retracts doomsaying too soon
• more corporate welfare - taxpayers hit for $12m rat study
vs. glimmers of hope: • 2 UPsizings - Bombardier creates 1700 new Montreal jobs,
Wackenhut creates unspecified new South African jobs, but sadly, related to new prison
• 1 UNtakeover - † American Re's $350m buy of United Nat'l Ins. (holocaust-era claims)
• Japan raises interest rates from 0 to ¼%  • 3 NYT readers squawk in support of recycling
• Nader rebuts Robert Kennedy's cynical environmentalism & unveils irreverent TV ad in 8 cities
• Buchanan curbs racist image & chooses conservative black woman Ezola Foster as running mate
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/11/2000 fri
2 more downsizings reported, totaling 225 + unspecified lost jobs:
• 11% workforce cut (225 lost U.S. jobs) as Dimac mktg design moves production from
St. Louis to Long Is. to save shipping costs, instead of cutting workweek 11% for all
(to 35.6 hrs/wk) & keeping everyone together, working & shopping near-normally
• unspecified U.S. jobcuts as Levitz takes over Seaman & closes 6 stores
+ 3 cut-courting takeovers reported, totaling $13.4m + $undisclosed
+ 1 bankruptcy mention: • Levitz proceeds with merger in emerging
+ omens: • US child poverty still up  • US parliamentarians rudest
• everyone jumping into $$ mgmt • US judges strip polo of "polo"
vs. glimmers of hope: • DNA frees inmate years after top court quashed plea
• Green candidate Ralph Nader walks picket line with striking CWA phone workers
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/10/2000 thu
2 downsizings reported, totaling 1130 lost jobs:
• 7.4% workforce cut (700 lost jobs worldwide) as Dow
Corning saves $50m, instead of 7.4% workweek cut for everyone, including top
execs (to 37 hrs/wk), & keeping everyone together, working & spending near-normally
• 10% staffcut (430 lost US jobs) as post-merger Informix' new Peter Gyenes scrunches
5 biz groups into 2, instead of just a 10% hourscut for all including himself (to 4
nine-hr days/wk), rejigging workload, and keeping up jobs and morale
+ 8 cut-courting takeovers reported, totaling $6.81B + $undisclosed
+ 2 prison reports: • 'land of free' broke 2,000,000 in Dec. in # citizens jailed
= 1 in every 145 Americans, 5 times as bad as EU, 6 times Canada or Australia
• Texas executes two, one being retarded = compassionate conservatism at work?
vs. glimmers of hope: • 2 UPsizings (?? new jobs) - Cambridge SoundWorks plans 8 new stores,
Informix' Peter Gyenes opens Westboro MA office (yep, same yoyo who's firing 430 people today)
• women new utilitarian majority on Web • NY passes nation's strictest gun law • Amtrak ridership up
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/09/2000 wed
3 downsizings reported, totaling 279 lost jobs: • 20% workforce cut as
NBCi's Bill Lansing "belt-tightens" around the wallets of 126 of his own people,
when he could be doing a 20% workweek cut for everyone, including himself (to 4
8-hr days), & keeping everyone together, employed & Web-shopping near-normally
• 89 Oregon jobs lost as Treesource Industries Inc. downsizes Central Point lumber mill
• 20 jobcuts as Datum's Erik vanderKaay streamlines test&measure operations in Ma. &
Cal., instead of trimming hours for all, realigning workloads, & maintaining morale
+ 9 downsizing-inducing takeovers reported, totaling $8.41B + $undisclosed
+ ominous qikis: • workplace mass killer gets 2 life sentences
• United cancels 2,000 more flights for total of 6,800 since May
• millions of Americans, excluded from "boom," seriously hurt by rising utility prices
• tide of oil gums up Florida beaches while • Jewish VP choice looses tide of hate on Web
vs. glimmers of hope: • U.S. creates 1800-sq-mi Delaware Bay sanctuary to protect horseshoe crabs
• Lowe's pledges to stop selling wood products from endangered forests (Home Depot pledged last yr)
• US output best in 17 years (but where's the pay??)  • more minority mortgages, but still lag whites
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/8/2000 tue
1 downsizing reported: • 19% workforce cut (126 jobs) as Infinium's
John Whyte cuts costs, morale, & his own best mkts, when he could
just be doing a 19% workweek cut for everyone, including himself (to 4
8.1-hr days), & keeping everyone together, employed & buying software
+ 14 downsizing-inducing takeovers reported, totaling $3.75B + $undisclosed
+ 2 corporate settlements: • Bear Stearns hit $30m for bad advice on ill-fated '89 merger
• Vivendi pays $25.2m extra to satisfy holders feeling cheated on Aqua Alliance takeover
+ ominous qikis: • Japan deregulates & mom-pop stores die
• nuclear sites never clean enuf for public use  • fear? of unions silences firms
• columnist thinks it ain't "the economy, stupid" any more (Nader will disprove)
• ABC fabricated 'research' to prove organic produce has no less pesticide residue
vs. glimmers of hope:
• 1 UPsizing (?? new jobs) - Dow Chemical building new, expanding old, plant in US Gulf Coast area
• 1 UNtakeover - Andersen Consulting to split from Arthur Andersen acctg for $1B & name change
• Greenpeace protests oil drilling in Arctic Ocean  • Windows' rival, Linux, picked for tiny computer
• US pokes IMF toward self-help leadership role (but poor countries squawk for continued charity)
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/06-07/2000
weekend roundup per NY Times & Boston Globe:
• 6 corporate fines/settlements mentioned ($160m total)
• 11 downsizings this past week, costing over 10,752 lost jobs
• 44 takeovers reported this past week, worth $27.73B + $undisclosed
vs. 1 UPsizing reported (4500 new jobs), and 0 UNtakeovers reported
< YTD:  326 dnsz (389,198+  jobcuts) +1468 takov ($1682.69B+) vs. 94 upsz (68,036+=17%) +102 untak ($109.61B+) >
also, 2 weekend takeovers, totaling $859m
+ 2 weekend omens: • unwritten tenet of US 'free' trade: "do as I say, not as I do"
• 86,000 US telephone workers strike - management still addicted to forced overtime
vs. glimmers of hope: • 1 weekend UPsizing - 40 temp teen jobs at Stamford cop camp
• single or married, filing singly or jointly - quit legislating & let taxpayer decide!
• Sir Alec Guinness † - from bastardy to knighthood in 45 yrs
+ Features:  • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Kennedy name & $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, & their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/05/2000 sat (re fri biz)
yet 3 more downsizings reported, totaling 4,055 lost jobs:
• 5% workforce cut (4000 US jobs) as Qwest's Joe Nacchio fixates on a $350k-to-1 revenue-to-employee ratio goal, instead of doing a 5% workweek cut for all (to 38-hrs)
including himself, & keeping everyone employed & phoning long distance
• 35 Atlanta jobs cut as HomeCom sells InsureRate unit
• 20 medicos jobless as Beth Israel Deaconess' Dr. Mary Anne Badaracco figures out how
to dump 17 seriously ill mental patients back on the state (shut down a psychiatric unit)
+ 7 downsizing-inducing takeovers reported, totaling $7.6B + $undisclosed
+ 2 corporate fines: • 8 US Treasuries dealers must pay $13.5m for yield burning 
• BrandDirect Mktg hit $12.9m for overactive creditcard# acquisition & usage
+ 1 prison report - Massachusetts has treatment programs for the 17% of inmates who are
seriously mentally ill, but is still incarcerating rather than hospitalizing them
+ omens: • 108,000 fewer Americans working in July - Census plus...
vs. glimmers of hope:
• mahvellous metaphor dept. - cellfones as the new cigarette
• Queen Mum turns 100 - maîtresse du bon mot
• new field in 350 US colleges = leisure studies
• reader offers tip for dealing with cellphoners
• & another implementation of timesizing at DaimlerChrysler
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/04/2000 fri
3 more downsizings reported, totaling 837 lost jobs:
• 30% workforce cut (430 Tenn. jobs) as Paccar overreacts to declining truck sales, instead of cutting company workweek 30% for all (to four 7-hr/days) & keeping everyone employed & buyin' pickups
• 5% staff cut (375 jobs lost) at Walter Industries instead of just a 5% hourscut for all (to 35 hrs/wk), & keeping everyone working & spending near-normally
• 32 mfg jobcuts as AEP Industries packaging plastic closes a plant in England
+ 7 downsizing-inducing takeovers reported, totaling $1.98B + $undisclosed
+ omens: • India returns to 17th century, burns witches
vs. glimmers of hope:
• new economic plan in Venezuela to spread oil wealth
• big biotech firm Novartis drops 'frankenfoods'
• new field in 350 US colleges = leisure studies
• reader offers tip for dealing with cellphoners
• & another implementation of timesizing at DaimlerChrysler
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/03/2000 thu
3 downsizings reported, totaling 5500 lost jobs:
• 20% workforce cut (5000 global jobs) as post-merger Standard
Chartered bank tries to maintain earning expectations with self-mutilation, instead of doing a 20% workweek cut for all (to four 8-hour/days) & keeping everyone employed & banking
• 400 jobcuts as Infocure doctors' software closes offices to cut costs after doing 6 takeovers this year
• 2% staff cut (100 jobs lost) as Harrah's Rio Resort strains to boost earnings instead of trimming 2% hours for all (9½ mins/day), & keeping all working & in 'play money'
+ 8 downsizing-inducing takeovers reported, totaling $3.8B + $undisclosed
+ 2 corporate fines: • Interstate Bakeries fined $132m for racism vs. employees
• Boeing fined $1.24m for lack of quality control & delays in problem reporting
+ omens: • Mass. biz confidence slips for 2d month because can't hire enough workers to expand (can these crybabies spell t-r-a-i-n-i-n-g?)
vs. glimmers of hope:
• 1 UPsizing - EMC creating 4500 new U.S. jobs
• major daily hilites astronomical concentration of wealth
• Kansas returns to 20th century on issue of teaching evolution
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/02/2000 wed
2 downsizings reported, totaling 360 + unspecified lost jobs:
• 5% workforce cut (300 jobs) as Henry Schein medical-dental eqpmt closes plants & tries for higher profits with fewer employees (& mkts), instead of doing a 5% workweek cut (24 mins/day) & keeping everyone employed & 'in the floss'
• 20% cut in salaried employees (60 jobs) 1 week after 33% cut in wage workers (?? jobs) as Peterbilt abreacts to declining mkt for big trucks, vs. trimming hours for all, not jobs for few, & a few more...
+ 9 downsizing-inducing takeovers reported, totaling $500.5m + $undisclosed
vs. glimmers of hope:
• US proposes attack global warming from other end too = incentivize more forests & fields as well as less smoke & exhaust
• heresy! - European unemployment down by cutting worktime instead of taxes & healthcare, & without tossing millions onto the streets & into the prisons
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question

8/01/2000 tue
a day of respite after a week with 22,781 reported layoffs,
but still 11 layoff-inducing takeovers reported, totaling $13.66B + $undisclosed
+ 2 corporate settlements cited:
• 23 E. Mass. fish mkts fined $2400 total for overcharging by bad weighing methods
• Novartis accepts $?? settlement from SangStat for patent infringement
+ omens: • 3 apt metaphors re tech stocks, bank mergers,
& "compassionate conservatives"
• Argentine invasion of Calif.
vs. glimmers of hope:
• pact reached to save rain forest in central Africa
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• campaign central highlights Phil, Ted, and all challengers, and their websites
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• Newly edited - Popping the big question