hopes/dooms du jour, January/2003
[Commentary] ©2003 Phil Hyde, The Timesizing Wire, Box 117, Harvard Sq, Cambridge MA 02238 USA (617) 623-8080 - HOMEPAGE

1/31/2003  fri
- keep timesizing comin' with $25/yr subscrptn check to Timesizing.com, Box 622,
Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new 'time trilogy' (# visitors yesterday, all pages: 806)
strategic hope = TIMEsizing consciousness in the news:
• thanks to Tony Schinella, the Somerville Journal came out
with a halfpage article, "Timesizing a household word?"
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
4 DOWNsizings, totaling 2,836 lost jobs, cited in Wall St Journal (WSJ) &/or NY Times (NYT):
• 4% workforce cut (1000 lost jobs) as Coca-Cola gets hysterical about not making its figures, instead of just trimming its workweek by 4% (19 minutes a day for whole company including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone together employed, earning & buying 96% as many soft drinks as usual
• 881 jobcuts by Brobeck Phleger & Harrison   • 700 by Toys 'R' Us
• 255 jobs lost as West Pharmaceutical Services factory blows up
+ eroding retirement: • pension insurer reports $3½B deficit after $7½B surplus last year, fears worse to come

1/30/2003  thu
- keep timesizing comin' with $25/yr subscrptn check to Timesizing.com, Box 622,
Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new 'time trilogy' (# visitors yesterday, all pages: 852)
strategic hope = TIMEsizing consciousness in the news:
• Venezuelan banks shortened working hours for several weeks in support of anti-Chavez strike
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
1 DOWNsizing, totaling 10,000 lost jobs, cited in Wall St Journal (WSJ) &/or NY Times (NYT):
• 1.3% workforce cut as the US Postal Service induces recession by cutting despite profitability, instead of just trimming its workweek by 1.3% (6 minutes a day for whole agency including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone employed, earning & sending 98.7% as many 1st-class letters as usual
+ eroding retirement: • Bush mulls altering IRAs
• US Air seeks to saddle gov't with pilots' pensions
• Hill & Barlow tries wiping out former partners' pensions
+ 1 bankruptcy in WSJ & NYT:  • SAirGroup Finance (USA)
+ headlines from hell_tm • state o' da union = skeptical to grim  
• American insurance industry joins airlines & pensions in meltdown
• & with uncapped personal grabbery, you get uncapped hacker destruct-o

1/29/2003  wed
- keep timesizing comin' with $25/yr subscrptn check to Timesizing.com, Box 622,
Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new 'time trilogy' (# visitors yesterday, all pages: 816)
strategic hope = TIMEsizing consciousness in the news:
• NY poll indicates employees feel overworked & frustrated by load left on them by layoffs
• will Japan's unions focus enough on worksharing to recapture young people's interest?
• journaliste paints Japan with its long working hours as a child-rearing desert
+ random hope - glimmers of intelligence:
• 1 UPsizing with 2,000 new jobs - Home Depot to open 10 stores in New England
• restoring meaning of conservative  • reader bounces attempt to ridicule war protesters
• Kuttner compares Dubya's economic performance with Herbert Hoover's
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
5 DOWNsizings, totaling 3095 +?? lost jobs, cited in Wall St Journal (WSJ) &/or NY Times (NYT):
• 1600 jobcuts by City of Philadelphia
• 25% workforce cut (1300 lost jobs) as EarthLink ISP tries to save money by denting its workforce & its markets, instead of just trimming its workweek by 25% (to four 8-hour days for whole company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone employed, earning & spending 75% as much as usual
• 195 jobcuts by Bank of America   • unspecified cuts by Adelphia &  • Noranda
+ headlines from hell_tm • highest paid exec gets bonus   • war fears hammer US economy
• nukes safe on suns but not planets   • Israelis vote for war

1/28/2003  tue
- keep timesizing comin' with $25/yr subscrptn check to Timesizing.com, Box 622,
Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new 'time trilogy' (# visitors yesterday, all pages: 789)
strategic hope = TIMEsizing consciousness in the news:
• Cuisine Solutions profits from France's 35-hr workweek but can't stop whacking it
• 'Best' Practices finesses after-hrs hours from output stats - or needs new press secretary
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
3 DOWNsizings, totaling 67 +?? lost jobs, cited in Wall St Journal (WSJ) &/or NY Times (NYT):
• 63 jobcuts by State of Illinois   • 4 by Disney   • unspecified cuts by Phillips, de Pury & Luxembourg
+ 6 bankruptcies:  • Cannondale  • NextWave  • Insilco Technologies
• Ottawa Senators  • Buffalo Sabres  • Pittsburgh Penguins
+ 1 prison item: • US prisons turn into giant petrie dishes of disease
+ work-related suicide & violence: • deadbeat client induces megahours & suicide
• Chinese mines kill the most employees in the world - avg 10 a day, 117 x US
• kidnapping businessmens' family members turns into an industry in Manila
+ headlines from hell_tm • Bush's anti-Iraq Tarzan act pounds Blue Chips - PS: send $$
• college loans over the top   • nukes safe on suns but not planets   • computer worm hits bullseye

1/25-27/2003 sat-mon (re fri biz)
- readers pls. mail $25/yr subscrptn check to Timesizing.com, Box 622, Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new Millennium Orienteering Trilogy (# different visitors F Sa Su, any page: 704 431 486, wk's avg 668;  website costs: $84/mon excl. labor; wks since 1st $ appeal: 15; rec'd so far: $50 ; ad revenue: no ads)
strategic hope = TIMEsizing awareness in the news:
• Japanese Labor Ministry submits 5-yr plan to cut deaths
from overwork, necessitating shorter working hours
+ random hope: • big 2-page anti-war ad in NY Times
• biz 'leaders' are finally realizing US consumer's days are numbered
• people are responding to shortage in nursing & higher wages thereof
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
1 DOWNsizing, totaling 56 lost jobs, reported in Wall Street
Journal (WSJ) & New York Times (NYT): • 56 jobcuts by Genuity
+ 1 prison item: • bobbies in Wiltshire send letters exhorting ex-cons to reform
+ homelessness in the news: • Miami has the biggest rich-poor divide in nation
+ headlines from hell_tm • Colin Powell loses it   • Israel loses it, again - & loses tourists
• Doonesbury offers mongo-list of Bush enviro-disses   • crime soars in cyberspace
• megabucks are invading even letters to the editor   • wages of American litigiousness
• radioactive wildlife refuge   • Americans handing over ever bigger chunk of pay for housing
weekend roll-up from the WSJ & the NYT
** 5 issues/wk - avg homepage hits per issue this week: 71 **
**  we offer free consulting to novelists or playwrights interested in
setting stories in timesizing or beyond-timesizing future-worlds**
hope of the weektm
• 6 TIMEsizing stories  • 1 UPsizing  
vs.  doom of the weektm
• 11 DOWNsizings, exceeding 14,794 jobcuts   • 8 bankruptcies  
• 1 homelessness story   • 2 prison stories   • 1 workplace-suicide story
{{ Year-To-Date: 23 timesizing items (?? new or saved jobs) + 3 upsizing (?? new jobs) + 1 makework (10000 "jobs")
totaling 10000 = 10% of dnsz VERSUS 55 dnsz (99665+ cuts) + 18 bankrup ($??) + 5 homeless + 5 prison + 4 suicid }}

1/24/2003  fri
- caught up! -  keep timesizing comin' with $25/yr subscrptn check to Timesizing.com, Box 622, Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new 'time trilogy' (# visitors yesterday, all pages: 754)
strategic hope = TIMEsizing consciousness in the news:
• German study indicates overwork causes hypertensive kidneys with hypertrophied glomeruli
+ random hope - glimmers of intelligence: • birthrates are dropping in almost every nation
• 1 UPsizing with ?? new jobs as Random House Kodansha opens in Tokyo
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
5 DOWNsizings, totaling 8404 +?? lost jobs, cited in Wall St Journal (WSJ) &/or NY Times (NYT):
• 46% workforce cut (6000 lost jobs) as JDS Uniphase fiber optics responds to $losses by dumping skills & morale, instead of just trimming its workweek by 46% (to four 5h24m days for whole company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone employed, earning & spending 54% as much as usual
• 1700 jobcuts by Tupperware   • 704 by United Airlines
• unspecified cuts by McDonald's, • National Century, & • Eifuku Master Fund
+ 3 bankruptcies in WSJ &/or NYT:  • Bayou Steel  • BRAC Group  • ABC-NACO in Ch. 11
+ work-related suicide: • 'old friend' shoots Chinese magnate
(then self) for not buying the land under his ruined factory

1/23/2003  thu
- playing catchup -  keep timesizing comin' with $25/yr subscrptn check to Timesizing.com, Box 622, Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new 'time trilogy' (# visitors yesterday, all pages: 846)
strategic hope = primitive TIMEsizing in the news:
• Berlin's Holsten Brauerei flexes working hours with corporate revenues as
beer sales bump across introduction of deposits on non-refillable containers
• Venezuelan banks have introduced 3-hour workdays during the strike
+ random hope - glimmers of intelligence: • Bush's handling of economy draws disapproval
• WSJ admits 'wealth effect' is insignificant
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
more ominous banking consolidation: • SunTrust buys Lighthouse Financial in SC for $130m
+ 3 DOWNsizings, totaling 5459 lost jobs, cited in Wall St Journal (WSJ) &/or NY Times (NYT):
• 5.5% workforce cut (3100 lost jobs) as Merrill Lynch deepens gloomy outlook by responding to it instead of Q4 profit by just trimming its workweek by 5.5% (26 minutes a day for whole company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone employed, earning & buying 94.5% as many stocks as usual
• 2200 jobcuts by Kodak   • 159 by Avon
+ 1 bankruptcy in WSJ &/or NYT:  • Gliatech in Ch. 11
+ 1 prison item: • 5 NJ prison inmates win 3d prize in statewide
stock-picking contest by, eg, identifying with the crooks who ran Tyco
+ headlines from hell_tm • econ inequality spread, but sooo what!?   • identity theft the Next Big Thing

1/22/2003  wed
- playing catchup -  keep timesizing comin' with $25/yr subscrptn check to Timesizing.com, Box 622, Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new 'time trilogy' (# visitors yesterday, all pages: 781)
strategic hope = TIMEsizing consciousness in the news:
• NYT slams Bush's lengthening workweek for working mothers on welfare
- 40 hours is 6 more than the national average for all women with young children
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
more ominous banking consolidation: • BB&T swallows First Virginia for $3.3B
+ 2 DOWNsizings, totaling 875 lost jobs, cited in Wall St Journal (WSJ) &/or NY Times (NYT):
• 1.7% workforce cut (575 lost jobs) as ArvinMeritor autoparts responds to supply exceeding demand by cutting demand a little bit deeper, instead of just trimming its workweek by 1.7% (8 minutes a day for whole company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone employed, earning & parts-shopping 98.3% as much as usual
• 300 jobcuts by Ameritrade  
+ 2 bankruptcies in WSJ &/or NYT:  • Uniroyal Technology &   • Wherehouse Entertainment in Ch. 11

1/21/2003  tue
- playing catchup -  keep timesizing comin' with $25/yr subscrptn check to Timesizing.com, Box 622, Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new 'time trilogy' (# visitors yesterday, all pages: 674)
strategic hope = TIMEsizing consciousness in the news:
• Euro Cockpit Assoc. battles EU's misguided attempt to lengthen pilots' working hours
+ random hope - glimmers of intelligence: • NY Times explodes uniqueness of double taxation on dividends   • Prov. of Ont. learns from Calif. after all & retains full ownership of big electric utility
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
2 bankruptcies in WSJ &/or NYT:  • NTL Inc. &   • Flooring America in Chap. 11
+ headlines from hell_tm • Bushwhack Dept. - watch your country go down the drain   • Krugman strikes back at the taxcut, but misses the boat   • your customer service call is meeting next-generation annoyance

1/18-20/2003 sat-mon (re fri biz)
- readers pls. mail $25/yr subscrptn check to Timesizing.com, Box 622, Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new Millennium Orienteering Trilogy (# different visitors F Sa Su, any page: 570 455 474, wk's avg 662;  website costs: $84/mon excl. labor; wks since 1st $ appeal: 14; rec'd so far: $50 ; ad revenue: no ads)
strategic hope = TIMEsizing awareness in the news:
• the good news - Japan gov't panel urges redefinition of 'full-time' toward shorter working hours
• the bad news - Lebanese gov't committee proposes longer workweek
+ random hope: • antiwar rallies in DC & across Europe
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
5 DOWNsizings, totaling 3640 +?? lost jobs, reported in Wall St Journal (WSJ) & NY Times (NYT):
• 2500 jobcuts by State of Connecticut due to bogus budget crisis cuz wealthy play 'dog in a manger'
• 40% workforce cut (1140 lost Japan jobs) as Hazama construction reacts suicidally to losses, instead of just trimming its workweek 40% (four 6-hour days for whole company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone together working, earning & building 60% as much as usual    
• unspecified N.Y. cuts by Acclaim Entertainment, • Balducci's market, & • Caviarteria
+ makework rampant: • 10,000 new military 'jobs' as 10k sailors & marines shipped to Gulf
+ homelessness in the news: • Bloomberg & Legal Aid bury zillion-dollar
homeless litigation & pass buck to independent panel
+ 1 work-related suicide: • Eric Sobol of Caviarteria shot himself after losing $2m & his wife
weekend roll-up from the WSJ & the NYT
** 5 issues/wk - avg homepage hits per issue this week: 73 **
**  we offer free consulting to novelists or playwrights interested in
setting stories in timesizing or beyond-timesizing future-worlds**
hope of the weektm
• 7 TIMEsizing stories  • 2 UPsizings  
vs.  doom of the weektm
• 19 DOWNsizings, exceeding 48,368 jobcuts   • 1 makework case (10,000 new 'jobs')  
• 3 bankruptcies   • 1 homelessness story   • 1 workplace-suicide story
{{ Year-To-Date: 17 timesizing items (?? new or saved jobs) + 2 upsizing (?? new jobs) + 1 makework (10000 "jobs")
totaling 10000 = 12% of dnsz VERSUS 44 dnsz (84871+ cuts) + 10 bankrup ($??) + 4 homeless + 3 prison + 3 suicid }}

2/01-03/2003 sat-mon (re fri biz)
- readers pls. mail $25/yr subscrptn check to Timesizing.com, Box 622, Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new Time Trilogy (# different visitors F Sa Su, any page: 764 464 602, wk's avg 728;  website costs: $84/mon excl. labor; wks since 1st $ appeal: 16; rec'd so far: $50 ; ad revenue: no ads)
strategic hope = TIMEsizing awareness in the news:
• 'conservative' Bush aims to weaken remains of 40-hr wk by gutting American overtime laws
• 'conservative' Raffarin aims to weaken 35-hr workweek by gutting French overtime laws
• Japanese government is dragging its feet on implementation of work-sharing systems
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
1 DOWNsizing, reported in Wall Street Journal (WSJ) &/or New York Times (NYT): • 180 jobcuts by Dell
+ 1 bankruptcy in WSJ &/or NYT: • Key3Media, Comdex producer, files for Chapter 11 protection on Mon.
+ 1 prison story: • Oprah guest writer Wally Lamb holds writing workshop in Connecticut's prison for women
+ headlines from hell_tm • employers beam as key employee-reservists leave for war & the cynical war $centrifuge begins to work its economic magic, but this time, pouring in to replace cannon fodder...
• illegal immigrants increased 14% in 4 years to 7m in Y2K
weekend roll-up from the WSJ & the NYT
** 5 issues/wk - avg homepage hits per issue this week: 84 **
**  we offer free consulting to novelists or playwrights interested in
setting stories in timesizing or beyond-timesizing future-worlds**
hope of the weektm
• 10 TIMEsizing stories  • 1 UPsizing (2000 new jobs)
vs.  doom of the weektm
• 14 DOWNsizings, over 16,178 jobcuts   • 2 eroded-retirement items
• 8 bankruptcies   • 2 prison stories   • 2 workplace-suicide stories
{{ Year-To-Date: 33 timesizings (?? new or saved jobs) + 4 upsizings (2000 new jobs) + 1 makework (10000 "jobs")
totaling 12000 = 10% of dnsz VERSUS 69 dnsz (115843+ cuts) + 26 bankrup ($??) + 5 homeless + 7 prison + 7 suicid }}

1/17/2003  fri
- playing catchup -  keep timesizing comin' with $25/yr subscrptn check to Timesizing.com, Box 622, Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new 'time trilogy' (# visitors yesterday, all pages: 738)
strategic hope = TIMEsizing consciousness in the news:
• black conservatives use workweek history to slam Jesse Jackson for intemperate speechifying
• Portugal spurs race to the bottom with weaker workweek controls
+ random hope: • Tommy Lapid's fast-growing Shinui
Party in Israel wants separation of religion & politics
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
5 DOWNsizings, totaling 4420 +?? lost jobs, cited in Wall St Journal (WSJ) &/or NY Times (NYT):
• 14% workforce cut (2100 lost jobs) as Jones Apparel cuts its best customers & boosters, its own employees, instead of just trimming its workweek by 14% (to five 6h53m-days for whole company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone employed, earning & clothes-shopping 86% as much as usual
• 2000 jobcuts by Federated Department Stores   • 175 by Critical Path
• 145 by Woodward Governor   • unspecified cuts by McDonald's in U.S. & Japan
+ 1 bankruptcy in WSJ &/or NYT: • Magnesium Corp. of America goes Ch. 11  
+ headlines from hell_tm • 2d-biggest economy (Germany) down   • Green Berets arrive in Colombia 'to train army'   • Somali parents pay smugglers to abandon their kids in airports

1/16/2003  thu
- playing catchup -  keep timesizing comin' with $25/yr subscrptn check to Timesizing.com, Box 622, Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new 'time trilogy' (# visitors yesterday, all pages: 764)
strategic hope = TIMEsizing consciousness in the news:
• Swiss have longest working hours but lowest output growth among wealthy OECD nations
+ random hope: • Russia gets w(e)ary of our 'help'
• US struggles to rule out another Enron
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
3 DOWNsizings, totaling 1000 lost jobs, cited in Wall St Journal (WSJ) &/or NY Times (NYT):
• 3% workforce cut (550 lost jobs) as BearingPoint cuts its customers' customers, instead of just trimming its workweek by 3% (less than ¼-hour a day for whole company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone together, employed, earning & shopping 97% as much as usual
• 450 jobcuts by Conagra   • unspecified cuts by McDonald's in Bolivia & Uruguay
+ headlines from hell_tm • it's out - our foreign policy is being run for the benefit of a few oil corp. executives
• more of one of the Depression's chief symptoms = deflation  
• 'conservative' US gov't follows Reagan & rockets up budget deficit

1/15/2003  wed
- playing catchup -  keep timesizing comin' with $25/yr subscrptn check to Timesizing.com, Box 622, Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new 'time trilogy' (# visitors yesterday, all pages: 843)
strategic hope = TIMEsizing consciousness in the news:
• community group whacks temp agency for unpaid
hours & gets sued for...trademark infringement??!
+ vaguer hope: • Bush's ratings slip below 60% for first time since 9/11/01
• readers have their own answers to why Americans have been voting with the rich
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
3 DOWNsizings, totaling 38,500 lost jobs, cited in Wall St Journal (WSJ) &/or NY Times (NYT):
• 16% workforce cut (37,000 lost jobs) as Kmart tries to get out of bankruptcy by self-amputation, instead of just trimming its workweek by 16% (to five 6¾-hour days for whole company including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone together, employed, earning & shopping 84% as much as usual
• 1100 jobcuts by M&T Bank   • 400 by PolyOne
+ headlines from hell_tm • Germany dons EU borrowing straitjacket   • economists shill for Wall St.

1/14/2003  tue
- playing catchup -  keep timesizing comin' with $25/yr subscrptn check to Timesizing.com, Box 622, Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new 'time trilogy' (# visitors yesterday, all pages: 790)
strategic hope = primitive TIMEsizing in the news:
• Volkswagen is probably 'accordioning' the workweek again
+ vaguer hope: • 2 UPsizings with unspecified new jobs: as Best Buy plans to open 650 new stores and • Conde Nast plans to open new magazine, Teen Vogue
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
2 DOWNsizings, totaling 658 lost jobs, cited in Wall St Journal (WSJ) &/or NY Times (NYT):
• 7.1% workforce cut (550 lost jobs) as D&B reduces costs (& markets!), instead of just trimming its workweek by 7.1% (to five 7hr26min days for whole firm including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone together, employed, earning & spending 92.9% as much as usual
• 150 jobcuts by Congoleum   • 108 by RadiSys
+ 2 bankruptcies in WSJ &/or NYT: • FAO Inc of FAO Schwarz & Zany Brainy toy fame   • Congoleum flooring
+ homelessness in the news: • Key West wants to ship its 2000 homeless up to Miami to stay with their 4000

1/11-13/2003 sat-mon (re fri biz)
- readers pls. mail $25/yr subscrptn check to Timesizing.com, Box 622, Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new Millennium Orienteering Trilogy (# different visitors F Sa Su, any page: 659 476 537, wk's avg 659;  website costs: $84/mon excl. labor; wks since 1st $ appeal: 13; rec'd so far: $50 ; ad revenue: no ads)
strategic hope = TIMEsizing awareness in the news:
• nurses at Kuakini & Queen's Med Ctrs in Hawaii curb mandatory overtime
• German gov't averts big strike threat by backing off longer workweek demand
+ random hope: • fullpage WSJ ad declares dissent on Iraq by Republicans who feel betrayed by Bush's current 'waltzing blindfolded into a catastrophe' & want their political contribution$$ back!
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
4 DOWNsizings, totaling 5623 lost jobs, reported in Wall St Journal (WSJ) & NY Times (NYT):
• 0.8% workforce cut (2000 lost jobs) as J.C. Penney over-reacts to falling sales, instead of just trimming its workweek 0.8% (4 minutes a day for whole company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone together working, earning & shopping 99.2% as much as usual
• 1923 jobcuts by Corning   • 1500 by State of California   • 200 by Barclays Capital
+ eroding retirement: • scrunch in steel sector dumps pension obligations on gov't - airlines, automakers next?
+ 1 prison item: • outgoing governor (Republican! - Illinois) takes unprecedented step
of commuting sentences of all 167 deathrow inmates
+ work-related death: • NYT runs 3-part series on OSHA-dissing
McWane pipe - wanna 'off' yourself? work for McWane - at least one death a year
• Hawai's state workers' comp law bars families of 7 Xerox employees shot in 1999 from suing
+ headlines from hell_tm • reader faults USA for teaching N. Korea all it knows about breaking treaties
• Glaxo squawks re Canuck pharms selling cheaper to Yanks - evidently NAFTA only applies at whim of CEOs
• 57 S&P-rated LatAm firms defaulted on $9 billion in debt last year - four times previous year's total
weekend roll-up from the WSJ & the NYT
** 5 issues/wk - avg homepage hits per issue this week: 62 **
**  we offer free consulting to novelists or playwrights interested in
setting stories in timesizing or beyond-timesizing future-worlds**
hope of the weektm
• 10 TIMEsizing stories  • 0 UPsizings  
vs.  doom of the weektm
• 20 DOWNsizings, exceeding 33,435 jobcuts   • 1 eroded-retirement story  
• 4 bankruptcies   • 2 homelessness stories   • 2 prison stories   • 2 workplace-death stories
{{ Year-To-Date: 10 timesizing items (?? new or saved jobs) + 1 upsizing (?? new jobs) + 0 makework (0 "jobs")
totaling ?? = ?% of dnsz VERSUS 25 dnsz (36503+ cuts) + 7 bankrup ($??) + 3 homeless + 3 prison + 2 death }}

1/10/2003  fri
- playing catchup -  keep timesizing comin' with $25/yr subscrptn check to Timesizing.com, Box 622, Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new 'time trilogy' (# visitors yesterday, all pages: 802)
strategic hope = primitive TIMEsizing in the news:
• NYT takes a swing at France's shorter workweek but winds up making it sound pretty good
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
1 DOWNsizing, totaling 600 lost jobs, cited in Wall St Journal (WSJ) &/or NY Times (NYT): • 600 by Best Buy
+ homelessness in the news: • New York is a magnet for homeless from out of town
• in Moscow, 400 freeze to death each winter

1/09/2003  thu
- playing catchup -  keep timesizing comin' with $25/yr subscrptn check to Timesizing.com, Box 622, Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new 'time trilogy' (# visitors yesterday, all pages: 744)
strategic hope = TIMEsizing consciousness in the news:
• best expected is jobless recovery = another hollow & unsustainable bubble,
unless we notice the average workweek is 34.2 hours & converge on that
+ vaguer hope: • GOP-hobbled Congress & pResident finally extend unemployment benefits
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
3 DOWNsizings, totaling 14,473 lost jobs, reported in Wall St Journal (WSJ) &/or NY Times (NYT):
• 10.6% workforce cut (3500 lost jobs) as Alcoa struggles with lingering weakness in its key markets, instead of just trimming its workweek by 10.6% (to five 7hr10min days for whole firm including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone together, employed, earning & buying 89.4% as many aluminum utensils as possible
• 240 jobcuts by Liberate Technologies   • 110 by StorageNetworks  
+ headlines from hell_tm • consumer spending down in UK & Asia  
• job desperation clobbers nature   • Washington dithers on telemarketing curb

1/08/2003  wed
- playing catchup -  keep timesizing comin' with $25/yr subscrptn check to Timesizing.com, Box 622, Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new 'time trilogy' (# visitors yesterday, all pages: 707)
strategic hope = TIMEsizing consciousness in the news:
• big German union squelching insane gov't attempt to concentrate
employment with a longer workweek when there's already high unemployment
+ vaguer hope: • Rep. Rangel wants draft to inject sense into low-cost 'war' on terrorism  
• giving the devil his due #1 - Nixon! desegregated the South's schools
• giving the devil her due #2 - Norton limits Calif's limitless water grabs
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
5 DOWNsizings, totaling 7989 lost jobs, reported in Wall St Journal (WSJ) &/or NY Times (NYT):
• 5.6% workforce cut (3500 lost jobs) as Boeing continues its death spiral, instead of just trimming its workweek by 5.6% (27 minutes a day for whole company including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone together, employed, earning & flying 94.4% as much as usual
• 3250 jobcuts by Cigna   • 1060 by IBM   • 174 by SAP   • 5 by Berlin Zoo  
+ 2 bankruptcies in WSJ &/or NYT: • Merry-Go-Round Enterprises goes Ch.7
• ABB unit Combustion Engineering all set for Chapter 11 in United States  
+ 1 prison item: • 'Justice' Dept. makes sure more white-collar & nonviolent criminals
get brutalized & trained in violence in regular 'pens,' not coddled in halfway houses
+ headlines from hell_tm • Bush dividend taxcut benefits himself & Cheney bigtime  
• UK calls up the reserves   • Israel steps deeper into the doodoo of un-democracy  
• little Uruguay contracts the Argentinian contagion with 20% unemployment

1/07/2003  tue
- you can't build a recovery on downsizing -
(# visitors yesterday, all pages: 688)
strategic hope = TIMEsizing consciousness in the news:
• (11/19) shorter workweek in S. Korea is boosting leisure industries same as it did in France
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
7 DOWNsizings, totaling 4750 +?? lost jobs, reported in Wall St Journal (WSJ) &/or NY Times (NYT):
• 5% workforce cut (3500 lost jobs) as AT&T continues its death spiral, instead of just trimming its workweek by 5% (24 minutes a day for whole company including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone employed, earning & buying 95% as many phone services as usual
• 1000 jobcuts by Gateway   • 250 by Deltagen   • unspecified cuts by Oscar Wilde Bookshop in NYC, • Amalgamated home furnishings in NYC, • Computer Friends in Pittsburgh, & • Gotham Partners Mgmt
+ 2 bankruptcies in WSJ &/or NYT: • Furr's Restaurant goes Ch. 11 in Tex.   • Mutual Risk Mgmt in Bermuda
+ headlines from hell_tm • Argentina adds hyper-inflation to its woes   • the great US Congressional majority doesn't even have an agenda ready   • government shafting of American Indians goes on & on despite heroic Judge Royce Lamberth

1/04-06/2003 sat-mon (re fri biz)
- readers pls. mail $25/yr subscrptn check to Timesizing.com, Box 622, Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new Millennium Orienteering Trilogy (# different visitors F Sa Su, any page: 564 396 441, wk's avg 445;  website costs: $84/mon excl. labor; wks since 1st $ appeal: 12; rec'd so far: $50 ; ad revenue: no ads)
**  we offer free consulting to any novelists or playwrights setting a
future story in a timesizing or beyond-timesizing world  **
strategic hope = TIMEsizing awareness in the news:
• (11/18) Japanese gov't to propose ways to ease companies into worksharing
+ vaguer hope: • complete 'opium of the people' quote shows Marx as compassionate  
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
1 DOWNsizing, totaling 1688 lost jobs, reported in Wall St Journal (WSJ) & NY Times (NYT):
• 2% workforce cut (1688 lost jobs) as United Airlines flails in bankruptcy, instead of just trimming its workweek
2% (10 minutes a day for whole company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone together working, earning & traveling 98% as much as usual
+ 2 bankruptcies in WSJ &/or NYT: • Hayes-Lemmerz International in Ch. 11   • Asia Global Crossing
+ homeless in the news: • stealing mouthwash from convenience stores for high alcohol content
+ headlines from hell_tm • how long can the current consumer-debt bubble last?
year-to-date weekend roll-up from the WSJ & the NYT
** 5 issues/wk - avg homepage hits per issue this week: 44 **
**  we offer free consulting to novelists or playwrights interested in
setting stories in timesizing or beyond-timesizing future-worlds**
hope of the year-to-date weektm
• 4 TIMEsizing stories  • 1 UPsizing  
vs.  doom of the y-t-d weektm
• 5 DOWNsizings, totaling 3068 jobcuts   • 3 bankruptcies   • 1 homelessness story   • 1 prison story  
{{ Year-To-Date: 4 timesizing items (?? new or saved jobs) + 1 upsizing (?? new jobs) + 0 makework (0 "jobs")
totaling ?? = ??% of dnsz VERSUS 5 dnsz (3068 cuts) + 3 bankrup ($??) + 1 homeless + 1 prison + 0 suicid }}

1/03/2003  fri
- playing catchup -  keep timesizing comin' with $25/yr subscrptn check
to Timesizing.com, Box 622, Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new 'time trilogy'
(# visitors yesterday, all pages: 585;   website costs: $84/mon excl. labor) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing consciousness in the news:
• AFL-CIO swings behind boycott of Coors, General Mills,
Kraft & Quaker over pressure to work longer hours
+ vaguer hope: • 1 UPsizing - unspecified new full-time 'jobs'
as Bush's 2d major Guard&Reserves mobilization looms  
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
1 DOWNsizing, totaling 870 lost jobs, reported in Wall St Journal (WSJ) &/or NY Times (NYT):
• 870 jobcuts by State of Missouri   • unspecified cuts by Fundtech software
+ 1 bankruptcy in WSJ &/or NYT: • Adelphia Business Solutions  
+ 1 prison item: • another letter arguing for switching from denying released
drug offenders welfare & public programs to granting treatment & followup support
+ headlines from hell_tm • media still push to consolidate further  • Bush general coverup trashes gov't openness

1/02/2003  thu
- playing catchup -  keep timesizing comin' with $25/yr subscrptn check
to Timesizing.com, Box 622, Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new 'time trilogy'
(# visitors yesterday, all pages: 338;   website costs: $84/mon excl. labor) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing consciousness in the news:
• nearly half of UK employees see flexible (including shorter) work-
time as top perk, and 1/3 of UK jobseekers prefer it to extra pay
+ vaguer hope: • U.S. TV shows are getting backburnered abroad  
• Bose radio family poised for another breakthrough
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
1 DOWNsizing, totaling 190 lost jobs, reported in Wall St Journal (WSJ) &/or NY Times (NYT):
• 24% workforce cut (190 lost jobs) as Florida Power & Light trims endangers the northeast by trimming Seabrook nuclear plant workers, instead of just trimming its workweek by 24% (to five 6-hour days for whole company including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone together employed, earning & spending 76% as much as usual
+ headlines from hell_tm • scandals, weak economy crush every market sector   • biggest world economies have weak growth   • historical perspective - market endures 1st 3-year slump since Pearl Harbor  
• Bush pushes for greater minimal-workforce "efficiency" regardless of damage to markets  
• author & reviewer have weird ideas about "progress"

1/1/2003  wed
- playing catchup -  keep timesizing comin' with $25/yr subscrptn check
to Timesizing.com, Box 622, Cambridge, MA 02140 - $50 gets new 'time trilogy'
(# visitors yesterday, all pages: 434;   website costs: $84/mon excl. labor) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing consciousness in the news:
• (12/26) French bank union sets up employee stress hotline instead of pushing for better understanding of, and more practical implementation of, shorter hours
vs.  doom du jourtm - for lack of timesizing  
1 DOWNsizing, totaling 320 lost jobs, reported in NY Times (NYT - no WSJ today):
• 0.6% workforce cut (320 lost jobs) as Verizon responds to weak demand for phone services with more self-mutilation, instead of just trimming its workweek by 0.6% (3 minutes a day for whole company including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone together employed, earning & buying 99.4% as many phone services as usual
+ headlines from hell_tm • Wall St. in 3-yr slide  
• bad time to be campaigning against over-spending & consumption