1. Kerry repeated a call for Rumsfeld to resign in the wake of Iraqi-prisoner abuse reports (j.A1)
2. national counsel for Bush's re-election campaign quits over links to Kerry's foes - Benjamin Ginsberg helped Swift Boat Veterans for 'Truth' - McCain expresses dismay at TV ads attacking Kerry's war record (t.A1) - at least Kerry HAS a war record to attack - & 5 medals - & not just a gap in the record like service-ducking Bush & 5 draft deferments like Cheney
3. hiding the truth in a cloud of black ink - far too many govt records are classified: Trent Lott & Ron Wyden (t.A27) - well, why not DO something about it, Trent?
4. weighing Bush vs. Kerry against your tax bill - under the Kerry plan, high-income taxpayers would be expecially 'hard' hit (j.D2) - so it's an improvement to continue under the Bush plan where lower-income taxpayers will be especially hard hit once Bush's megabills come due?

• Boston-area readers who want real news - try 90.3 FM 12-1pm Mon-Sat and 6-10am Sunday for "Radio Free America for Americans" dba *Democracy Now

vs. doom du jour tm for lack of TIMEsizing - in WSJ (j) and NYT (t) -

1. 3500 mostly administration & research jobcuts as Canada's Nortel Networks plans restructuring by Dec.31 & fires 7 more financial managers (t.C3)
2. 33% workforce cut (1325 jobs lost) as Aer Lingus overreacts to competition with Ryanair & cuts costs (& markets) - instead of trimming 33% of its workweek (to five 5hour,22min days for everyone, including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training&hiring and keeping everyone together working, earning and flying 67% as much as before (j.B2, t.C4)

HomeGold (Financial) Inc. & Carolina Investors Inc. in Chapter 11 jointly in S.C. (j.B7)

1. South Korean lessons - American consumers, despite recent wobbles, haven't lost their urge to buy cuz banks are shoving credit cards at them & now total household debt is up to 83% of GDP - but S.K. did same thing (only up to 64%) & now personal bankruptcy is rampant & consumption again declining (j.C1)
2. senator? terrorist? US Air agents stop Ted Kennedy 5 times cuz someone put 'Edward Kennedy' on a watch list (t.A1) - spiralling pettiness:  is US Air, like Diebold, Republican-owned?

8/19/2004 thursday
- please excuse delays while we play post-vacation catch-up -
- we have 722 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 8/18/wed: 725 (8/20/2003/wed: 684) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

1. Australian assemblywoman Karin McDonald argues for shorter sitting hours for assembly
2. Dr. Gordon Moore shook off his long hours & far-ahead appts and joined 'open access' movement to give patients faster appts in Brighton NY
3. plus 7 other timesizing items from yesterday's GoogleNews

1. cost of employee benefits [& CEO pay & perks?!] cited as factor in slump in jobs - rise in health premiums [& SEO severance?!] - companies say they are reluctant to hire more full-time workers (t.A1) - & US economists think they're in any position to criticize 'labor market rigidities' in Europe??
2. past & potential layoffs: Delta's CEO Gerald Grinstein said the airline will need more layoffs & benefits changes - nation's 3d-largest airline has been in 3-year tailspin during which it has shed more than 16,000 jobs (j.A1>B6)
3. Lloyds TSB Group in UK faces legal challenge to its outsourcing - plans to have 1500 workers in India by Dec.31 - one of its customers complained in July that transferring sensitive data or calls to India may break UK law (j.A11)

European giant in magazines finds U.S. a tough read - fired chief of Gruner+Jahr unit, Daniel Brewster, seeks $7m he says he's owed in compensation (j.A1>6) - more 'screw up & win'?

good news for a change: better retiree benefits to affect BellSouth earnings (t.C4)

halting progress for the 53m disabled Americans - only a little over 1/3 report being employed (j.A13) - so if 2/3 (35m) are unemployed & only 5.7m, say 6m, are on disability, what's up with the other (35-6=) 29m?

1. Abu Ghraib report doesn't blame senior officers - direct blame for the mistreatment is apparently limited to lower-level officers - the report expands the number of [foot-]soldiers believed to be culpable in the scandal (j.A2, t.A1>12) - of course, senior officers in the Bush regime have no responsibility - & this article only appears in the New England edition of the WSJ, not in the continental & Honololu edition
2. to onetime political inmates, this jail was no vacation - now, 13th-century Schloss Hoheneck in Stollberg, Germany, has been converted into hotel simulating the experience of prisoners (t.A4)

1. Al Qaeda gaining new support - amid crackdown in Pakistan, cells form among middle class (j.A11) - thank you sooo much, Geo.W.Bush & oil pals - & speaking of oil...
2. oil futures climbed to another record of $47.27 a barrel as supply falls - fear of disruptions haunts world markets (j.A1>C5, t.C1) - Georgie Bush sowed the wind & reaped the whirlwind
3. surging fuel costs hit struggling airlines hard - surcharges, new jets help, but losses mount, hedges can't cover soaring bills (j.A1) - truly Geo. Bush is the best thing Bin Laden could ever have hoped for - someone who would make whole ranges of mountains out of a molehill, who'd amplify 19 boxcutters into billions of dollars in costs to Americans for years & years to come
4. 5 reporters held in contempt over Wen Ho Lee, who for his suit against Depts. of Energy & Justice is seeking the identity of the sources that provided private information on him to reporters & suggested that he was a suspect in theft of secrets from Los Alamos National Labs (j.B6) - secrecy replaces accountability under Bush-Cheney cuz trust them, they're 'Christians'
5. Democrats' legal challenges impede Nader campaign - a state-by-state effort to reduce 3rd-party impact in Nov. (t.A19) - so this is the state of democratic choice in the 800-lb. gorilla that presumes to go around spreading 'democracy' to other less 'advanced' nations - you can easily get far too sophisticated for democracy to work (recall Machiavelli)
6. law backing 2-sex marriage is upheld by federal judge Paul Snyder in Tacoma in case intersecting bankruptcy law (t.A19)
7. Wyoming: snowmobiles may stay in national parks (t.A25) - Bushies gotta keep showin' Nature who's boss! - compare: U.S. would allow 720 snowmobiles daily at Yellowstone (8/20/2004 t.A14)
8. 'two years without a contract.... is this any way to treat the heroes of 9-11': sign carried by NYC police protester last month in police-firefighter battle with Republican Mayor Bloomberg (t.A28) - is this how deep Republican admiration for the 9/11 heroes really goes? - Repubs believe 'it's all about money'...unless the money is for someone else!
9. the new hanging chads - confusion over provisional ballots: editorial (t.A30)
10. the quadrennial question = are we better off now? let's see...: Neil Friedman of Brooklyn (t.A30) -
    1. my country is engaged in a futile military exercise in Iraq
    2. my city is under a perpetual orange alert
    3. I am not sure that my vote will be counted
    4. my bags are being pilfered at the airport
    5. gas prices are up and still rising
    6. my rent just increased another 4%
    7. my salary has not increased in 2 years
    8. in a month, I'll be able to buy my very own assault rifle
    9. Clifford Ando of L.A. adds: the appalling failures of the No Child Left Behind Act
    10. & the disgraceful behavior of a few soldiers in Iraq [Abu Ghraib]
    11. & the alarming unwillingness of the federal govt to enact & enforce proper standards for the oversight of elections (= #3 above)
11. a vote's worth: Joe Kane of Cortez FL - why does the U.S. have a foolproof ATM banking system but not a flawless voting procedure? (t.A30)

8/18/2004 wed.
- please excuse delays while we play post-vacation catch-up -
- we have 722 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 8/17/tue: 750 (8/19/2003/tue: 732) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

1. online survey finds half of respondents willing to give up 5% of their pay for more free time, a quarter willing to give up 15%
2. Minneapolis columnist thinks there's a revolution on the way for more free time
3. Manchester Guardian (UK) suggests conservatives jump on the more-free-time bandwagon
4. plus 8 other timesizing items from yesterday's GoogleNews

1. 140 jobcuts as Alcoa Inc. of Pittsburgh closes autoparts plant in Northwood OH (t.C3)
2. 70 cuts as Indus International Inc. inventory software of Atlanta cuts costs - & markets (t.C3)
3. unspecified cuts as Cargill Inc. of Wayzata MN closes corn processing plant in Dimmitt TX due to poor returns in high-fructose corn syrup business (t.C3) - with all the corn subsidies, they still can't make this makework work??

1. financial firms hasten their move to outsourcing - rapid push to find lower costs with most of the jobs ending up in India (t.W1>7) - fine, as long as they include analysts & economists, who will then quickly rethink globalization & 'free' trade
2. economic battle roils Israel - workers strike to save jobs & benefits as leaders trim budgets (j.A9) - $3½ billion they get from US in a normal year ($9B last year) & they STILL can't keep people employed? - then what's the use?! let's cut the mega handouts!

US wants UAL Corp. (United Airlines) to step down as fiduciary of pension plans - UAL will name new fiduciary with Labor Dept's approval - Secy of Labor said the plan 'ensures that workers' interests are protected' (j.A3>6, t.C5) - ri-i-ight

1. World Access Inc. et al. in Chapter 11 jointly in Ill. (j.B7)
2. Fujita Corp. USA in Chapter 11 in Calif.

whistleblower threatened - Army reservist, Specialist Joseph M. Darby, who tipped off investigators to abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison by fellow soldiers is in protective military custody because of death threats (t.A18) - 'blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven; blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely...; rejoice and be exceeding glad...for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you...; ye are the salt of the earth...; ye are the light of the world...' (Matt.5:10-14)

1. US may grow 43% to 420m by 2050 (j.A1) - ENOUGH already! let's switch from quantity to quality
2. crude oil futures hit another intraday historic peak of $46.95/barrel in NYC after concern that production capacity may not match demand - so far this year, prices have surged 44% (j.A1, t.C1>7)
3. some mutual funds get bearish on U.S. - American stocks lose luster, Merrill finds, & Japan gains (j.C16) - other funds opt to liquidate to cash & shut their doors as their managers confront a lackluster stock market, tough trading climate, greater regulatory scrutiny & higher costs - 2 wks ago, Oakmark Small Cap Fund - now WWW Internet Fund, taking with it Growth Flex & Market Opportunities (t.C1>2)
4. getting the tax bill right as property incomes decline - strapped local govts are looking for ways to raise more revenue - as Bush cut federal help, commercial property taxes have risen more than 10% on average over the past 3 years (j.B6) - so did Bush really lower taxes or just move them around, onto businesses & the middle class?
5. who needs assault weapons? - despite his promise during 2000 campaign: 'it makes no sense for assault weapons to be around our society', Bush decides to duck (j.A21) - add this to Bush's list of flipflops while in power, as Geo. 'The Ducker' Bush claims to emulate Ron 'The Gipper' Reagan
6. Bush promised his missile-defense plans [against whom??] at a campaign stop in Pa., saying opponents don't appreciate the threats confronting the US (j.A1, t.A16) - & Bush doesn't appreciate 9/11's boxcutters on one hand & his current big govt, Iraqi misfire & huge deficit on the other!
7. Israel's Sharon approved building 1,000 new homes in West Bank settlements [squattervilles?] despite U.S. freeze demands (j.C1, t.A3) - the land theft goes on & on
8. Iran warns its would strike Israel's Dimona [nuclear?] plant in retaliation for an attack on its nuclear facilities, stressing that its missiles have that range (j.A1) - Israel is deep into unprovoked attacks on its neighbors, funded, & now also exemplified, by U.S.

8/17/2004 tuesday -
- please excuse delays while we play post-vacation catch-up -
- we have 722 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 8/16/mon: 761 (8/18/2003/mon: 736) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

1. Carl Honore promotes shorter hours via a slower lifestyle
2. Human Resources Gateway in Britain slams longer hours as macho
3. plus 5 other timesizing items mainly from yesterday's GoogleNews

1. Intelsat satellite operator to be bought by Zeus Holdings Ltd., a group formed by Apax Partners, Apollo Mgmt, Madison Dearborn Partners, & Permira for (3cash+2debt=) $5B (j.A1>A12, t.C4)
2. LifePoint Hospitals Inc. to buy Province Healthcare Co. for $1.13B (j.A1>D4, t.C4)

3.7% workforce cut (140 jobs lost) as Libbey Inc. glassware of Toledo OH closes factory in City of Industry CA next year & restructures itself out of another chip of its consumer base, instead of just trimming 3.7% of its workweek (18 mins/day for everyone, including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training&hiring & keeping everyone together working, earning & buying 96.3% as much glassware as before (t.C2)

1. in tepid job scene, certain workers are in hot demand - 'Swiss style' machinists doing ultra-precise tasks typify shortage of skills (j.A1) - or shortage of training - ah, weren't we supposed to be better than all Europeans in all possible ways?
2. Hurricane Charley may damp [or hike?] U.S. payrolls count for August - impact on jobs could hurt White House effort to prove labor market is mending - impact of natural disasters on job creation is often difficult to discern (j.A2)

1. Conseco gives CEO Wm.J.Shea rich $13.5m severance, continuing pattern (j.C1>6)
2. Tyson Foods said regulators (SEC staff) plans to recommend a civil action against it for allegedly failing to fully disclose $1.7m perks for its ex-senior chairman Don Tyson (j.A1>3, t.C4)
3. big board's profit slides 54%, hurt by costs in Grasso battle (j.C3)
4. departure of BUCA Inc's CEO Joseph Micatrotto was costly - for him - an unexplained $582,031.08 that he paid the company (j.C3) - to quiet previous riflings in that amount?
5. FPL Group Inc. to get return of $9.75m from 8 current or former executives as part of $22.3m settlement of shareholders lawsuits that accused them of improperly collecting change-in-control payments for merger that never happened (j.B6)

US Air is asking IRS to let it spread out pension-plan payments in order to preserve cash - seeks waivers granting 5-year extension for payments - facing cash problems & hoping to avoid 2nd bankruptcy filing (j.A1>3, t.C5)

1. Census Bureau said the richest fifth-of-households' share of US income rose to 50% in 2002 from 44% in 1973 as all poorer fifths fell back (j.A1)
2. prices of consumer imports are likely to fall in coming years 'as production moves to low-wage countries,' a recent study says (j.A1) - not to mention 'as jobs disappear from high-wage countries, along with their rich consumer demand'
3. some worry that firms, fretful of slowing economy, have lost appetite for spending on new equipment, but on closer look, one might wonder if there was all that much appetite to begin with (j.C1)
4. senior CIA officer 'Anonymous' (Michael Scheuer) denounces Agency & 9/11 report - charges that officials' failures have gone unpunished (t.A14)
5. interrogating the protesters: editorial - FBI has been using pre-emptive interrogation to intimidate & chill freedom of expression (t.A24)
6. misconceived military shuffle: editorial - Bush's troop redeployment plan makes little long-term strategic sense - dangerously weakens deterrence on Korean peninsula at worst possible moment (t.A24) - is Bush really interested in making Americans more secure or just in pursuing Perpetual War to keep everyone too scared to 'change horses in midstream'?

8/14-16/2004 sat-mon (re fri biz)
- pls. excuse delays while we play post-vacation catch-up -
- #visitors to any of our 720 files, F Sa Su: 721,491,518 - wk's daily avg: 679 -
TIMEsizing awareness = strategic glimmers of hope in weekend's GoogleNews:

1. there are fewer full-time workers now than three years ago & 12% more part-timers
2. in U.S. recession that 'ended' in June 2001, 50% of jobcuts were "structural" = permanently eliminated, compared to only 25% in previous recessions - & still no nationwide worksharing!
3. plus 11 other timesizing articles

1. 6000 jobs lost as Colombia demobilizes 1/3 of its largest rightwing paramilitary group, United Self-Defense Forces (8/14 t.A4)
2. 300 jobcuts as Conexant Systems Inc. semiconductors in Red Bank NJ over-reacts to slowing in sales & profit growth (8/14 t.B4, 8/16 j.B3)
3. 203 German cuts (7%) as ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG broadcasting in Munich kamekazis into rising sales & profits (8/16 j.B5)
4. 13% workforce cut (65 jobs lost) as Disney's Miramax Films division faces budget crisis after spending spree in 1H-FY, instead of just trimming 13% of its workweek (to five 7-hour days for everyone, including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training&hiring and keeping everyone together working, earning and seeing 87% as many films as before (8/14 t.B4, 8/16 j.B1>3)

1. Japan's mood still upbeat despite 2nd-quarter jolt - exporters & even banks are healthier, but many are still trimming payrolls (8/14 t.B3)
2. Arafat survives latest challenge to his political power - unemployed & angry Palestinians marched in streets of Gaza City in June, protesting lack of jobs (8/16 t.A3)

1. PBGC pension agency seeks to void United Airlines' loan pact (8/14 t.B1>2)
2. for Florida's hurricane-displaced retirees, the unwelcome prospect of starting over - eg: Gilbert Stanage's mobile home was flattened (8/16 t.A12)

'good' news for a change: Japanese corporate bankruptcies fell 16.8% to 1151 cases in July from last year = 19th straight month they've fallen, per Teikoku Databank - but temporary financial aid from public financial institutions is keeping many small & medium firms alive so many collapses have yet to surface (8/16 j.A11)

2000 Palestinian prisoners, taking only fluids, fast in Israeli prisons, both military & civilian, beginning on Sun. 8/15, to press for better conditions, a halt to strip searches, more access to phones, & more frequent family visits - Minister of Internal Security, Tzahi Hanegbi, said as far as he's concerned, they can strike until death (8/16 t.A3) - as Israel continues its metamorphosis into the Third Reich

1. slowing growth stirs doubts over global 'recovery' - slowdown is spreading worldwide amid surging oil prices (8/16 j.A1) - and inadequate $centrifuge technology - and even employment-centrifuging technology like Timesizing
2. an ugly word for an ugly condition - how stagflation, a pernicious mix of stagnating growth & rising inflation [that's standard in the Third World], could make its inglorious comeback ... around the world (8/16 j.A1>2)
3. what's news online - consumers have been providing economy's main support, but struggling job market & weakening retail sales spell danger for consumer-oriented stocks (8/16 j.B2)
4. oil grows to record $46.58/barrel & far above OPEC's $28 ceiling (8/14 t.B1)
5. explosion at Indiana refinery - crude-oil futures topped $46/barrel Friday for first time - set record on mounting supply worries (8/16 j.A1>C6)
6. investors turn wary of tech stocks - techs approach bear-market status - caution about the economy, oil prices damp sentiment - sector has to prove itself amid concern on rising inventories & slowing earnings (8/16 j.C1>4)
7. online trading fell last month (8/16 j.C5)
8. record trade gap hits U.S. as export markets falter (8/16 j.A1) - trade deficit grows to record $55.8B in June as imports of crude surged & exports to Japan & Europe slowed (8/14 t.B1)
9. dollar falls amid trade data; focus turns to foreign inflows (8/16 j.C5) - what 'foreign inflows'?
10. 1500 companies worldwide have announced nanotechnology research plans (8/16 j.B4) - 'fools rush in' - just don't breathe-in any of that teeny stuff
11. out of spotlight, Bush overhauls [ie: dismantles] US regulations (8/14 t.A1) = in a hole but don't know enuf to stop digging?
12. despite a sharp slowdown, Japan's mood remains upbeat ('hope springeth eternal...') - domestic consumption was unexpectedly weak (8/14 t.B1)
13. Europe - economic growth slows in Q2 (8/14 t.B3)
14. defensive investing rules amid gloom - European investors see slowdown coming, seek 'safe' sectors (8/16 j.C16) - like, cash under the mattress?
15. Chinese 'puzzle' - surprising 'shortage of workers' forces factories to add perks; upward pressure on pay & prices (8/16 j.B1) - in a land with millions of unemployed? hardly - this is a shortage of training & fluid skill-transfer technology

1. National-Oilwell Inc. to acquire Varco International Inc. for $2.4B (j.B3, t.C4)
2. Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. signs agreement to purchase UFJ Holdings Inc. for $?? & create world's largest bank (j.A3, t.W1)

1. 7% workforce cut (400 jobs lost) as GM overreacts to 10% sales drop in Ion compact & eliminates a shift at its Saturn plant in Tenn. - and some of its best customers - instead of just trimming 7% of its workweek (34 minutes a day for everyone, including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training&hiring and keeping everyone together working, earning and buying 93% as many cars as before (j.B2, t.C4)
2. unspecified cuts as Payless ShoeSource to close or sell 292 more stores (t.C4)

blame for jobs picture: letter by Eddie Volchko of NYC - the technology jobs engine of late 90s was turbocharged by overoptimistic investors (t.A22)

Shell senior executive's severance pay package disclosed - $4.6 million (3.8m euros) to former head of exploration & production Walter van de Vijver, who was ousted after the firm disclosed it overstated reserves (j.A1>6) - 'screw up & win'

1. fate of 40,000 Federal-Mogul workers' pensions at British subsidiary in doubt after creditors refuse to provide more money to pension plan (j.B4)
2. tracing a pension plan's fall - effect was devastating when United Airlines' business troubles combined with pension investment losses - asset mix took toll (t.A1>C1)

1. many local officials now make inmates pay their own way - e.g., Gary Kervin is being charged $20/day by Macomb County jail during his 30-day sentence for failure to pay child support - incarceration fees raise thorny ethical & constitutional issues (t.A1>17) - like how are we ever going to rehab people if we keep kicking them while they're down
2. private company CACI International finds no evidence its interrogators took part in prison abuse in Iraq (t.A8) - totally unbiassed, of course!

1. stocks tumble to lows for year (Dow 9814.59) as oil climbs to new record, $45.50/barrel (j.A1>C1) - lesson of Iraq: high oil prices may not be temporary (t.C1)
2. economists sharply reduced their projections for second-half growth, citing soaring oil prices (j.A1) - consensus forecast predicts Q3 GDP gain of 3.8%, down from 4.4% (j.A2) - consumers still spending even as they struggle with energy prices, jobs (j.A2) - but credit lines are maxxing out
3. crude realities - strip out the things that have been going up in price, & all those worries about inflation suddenly fall by the wayside (j.C1) - inflation can have lots of components, & stripping out rising oil prices leaves you with no wage-push inflation except among top executives - & raising interest rates only curbs regular wage-push inflation - it doesn't touch rising oil prices or executive pay hikes - so why is Greenspan raising interest rates?? - never mind, it'll make things worse & help lose Bush
4. Congressional Budget Office says biggest taxcuts go to richest 1% - cuts heavily favor the wealthy - 1/3 of the Bush taxcuts have gone to people in the top 1% of income, earning an average of $1.2 million (t.A1>16, j.A6Bush's own goal - 'ownership society' provides pseudo-populist cover for policies that are actually highly elitist in favoring the rich (t.A23)
5. Pakistan arrested several suspects on leads developed with the aid of an al Qaeda computer expert arrested in July - it criticized U.S. [i.e., Bush administration] for identifying the man, thus alerting his comrades to cut links to him (j.A1>12) - but what does Bush White House really care about the safety or effectiveness of our intelligence as long as it serves them? - they outed Valerie Plame & now they've outed Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan
6. Democrats cry foul as Census Bureau expedites release of govt report on poverty & the uninsured from usual late-Sept. to Aug.28 = Bushies trying to bury bad news (j.A4) - fear not, there'll be plenty more in late Sept.
7. Calif's top court voided 4000 gay weddings performed in San Francisco this year (j.A1)

8/12/2004 thursday -
pls. excuse delays while we play post-vacation catch-up
- we have 721 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 8/11/wed: 783 (8/13/2003/wed: 807) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

1. US trucker pays too light a penalty for violating worktime rules & killing 11 people
2. German CEOs, bored with current 2% GDP growth, shift to longer-hour policies that will shrink & embarrass them
3. plus 7 other timesizing items from yesterday's GoogleNews

1. GE will acquire DeltaBank in Moscow for $?? (t.C5)
2. Gold Fields Ltd. of Jo-burg to buy Iamgold Corp. of Toronto for $2.1B (j.A1>C4, t.W1)

1. 3300 jobcuts as Sears Roebuck & Co. of Hoffman Estates IL 'gains efficiency' by cutting its own best markets, then turns round & plans to open 4 'Sears Grand' stores by 2004-end (j.B6) - define 'efficiency'
2. 450 cuts as Citigroup Inc. closes credit customer service center in Des Moines next year after last year's purchase of Sears Roebuck's financial services unit (t.C5) - again the toxic takeover-downsizing connection
3. 150 cuts as Belden CDT Inc. comm cables in St.Louis closes plant in Essex Jctn VT to cut costs [& mkts!] (t.C5)

corrupt Riggs National bank officials are eligible for $7m in severance pay if they quit after company's sale to PNC Financial Services Group (j.A4)

union at United Airlines shows its ire over decision to stop contributing to employee pension plans by asking bankruptcy judge to appoint trustee to run the airline (t.A1>C1)

National Energy & Gas Transmission Inc. (f/k/a PG&E National Energy Group Inc.) et al. in Chapter 11 jointly in Md. (j.B7)

fearing backlash, Democrats [cowards, as usual in recent behavior] are guarded on issue that could work in their favor = should former felons be allowed to vote? (j.A4) - yes, with emphasis on former (felons) & forgiveness (Matt.18:22) - the only people who should be denied the vote are the non-self-supporting, but only after flexible worksharing via Timesizing guarantees full employment for the economy & lifetime employment for individuals

1. painting the economy into a corner: editorial - Bush 'reacted decisively' to shocking jobs report by changing subject to terror, again - Greenspan changed subject to oil prices - neither acknowledges that policymakers have run out of tools for stewarding the economy (t.A26) - we're painting ourselves into corner from which Timesizing is only way out
2. tyranny in the name of freedom - muzzling protesters in speech-free zones: op ed by Dahlia Lithwick - you are at liberty to exercise your First Amendment right to assemble & protest only as long as you do so from behind chainlink fences & razorwire, or miles from the audience you seek to address (t.A27) - so in Bush's America, freedom of speech & assembly have become more dangerous than terrorism
3. Bush suggests change in taxes - remark touches off new debate on income tax - tells supporters in 'ask pResident Bush' session in Niceville(!) FL on Tues (8/10) that U.S. should consider replacing income taxes with national sales tax (t.C1>A18) - grrreat! at a time of weak sales, we're supposed to tax sales? - recall Milton Friedman: you get less of whatever you tax

8/11/2004 wed. -
pls. excuse delays while we play post-vacation catch-up
- we have 720 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 8/10/tue: 743 (8/12/2003/tue: 752) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

1. massive demonstrations in Deutschland are making fad-crazed pols back off backward "reforms" such relengthening workweeks
2. Soc profs at Loyola say Americans should work less, not Europeans more
3. plus 6 other timesizing items from yesterday's GoogleNews

8% workforce cut (unspecified jobs lost) as Wolters Kluwer NV publishing pursues 3-yr transformation plan, instead of just trimming 8% of its workweek (38 minutes a day for everyone, including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training&hiring and keeping everyone together working, earning and buying at least 92% as many books as before (j.B5)

IRS to expand charity inquiry - queries 2000 charities & foundations as part of effort to crack down on excessive compensation & benefits (t.C1>A13) - whence definition of 'excessive'?

1. the friendly skies of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. - the folks who backstop pension obligations may soon be stuck with a stratospheric tab [they already are!] - guess who pays if they can't (j.A1) - the coming taxpayer bailout - will airlines' [& everyone else's!] pension plans go the way of S&Ls? (j.A10)
2. Kaiser survey shows drug plan discontent - number of Medicare beneficiaries with negative views of new Rx-drug law far exceeds those with positive views (t.C1>5) - Medicare overhaul got bad reviews by nearly half the beneficiaries whom Kaiser Family Foundation surveyed, suggesting no political benefit for Bush (j.A1) - almost 30% say the law will affect their vote for president (j.D1) - changes in Medicare found lacking - many find the drug card confusing or of little value (j.D3) - & since you have to pay for it to please Bush's buds, it's more "soak the poor" & another annuity for the drug-co. CEOs

1. US productivity gains slow - annual pace of only 2.9% in Q2, slowest gain since late 2002 (t.C1) - but it's only meaningless output per worker anyway - not meaningful output per hour
2. keeping lid on custodial assets - wealthy parents worried about frivolous spending of custodial assets can keep the funds out of their children's hands, even after they become adults, through limited family partnerships (j.D1) - another demonstration of the hit taken by consumer demand when nations funnel funds to the rich
3. you've heard about oil prices - now there's sticker shock at the lumberyard - due to impact of China & Iraq, remodeling gets costlier as price of wood surges (j.D1)
4. however, China's economy offers another hint of slowing - in latest report, industrial output inches lower for a 5th consecutive month (t.W1)
5. Bush tweaks Kerry on Iraq - tells supporters in Fla. that he had a new backer for his decision to invade Iraq: Kerry (t.A1) - where are Dean & Kucinich now that we really need them? - Nader benefits
6. but - the Chalabi fiasco continues (j.A10)
7. & Bush-manipulated journalists face jail time: editorial - NYT fatuously supports journalists' right to withhold identity of informants - the disaster is that NYT can't distinguish between info public should have & info it shouldn't, eg, life-endangering publication of US secret-service agents' identities (t.A22)
8. neglect at Japan A-plant - section of steampipe blew out, killing 4 workers - it hadn't been inspected in 28 years & had corroded to thinness of metal foil (t.A1>8)

8/10/2004 tuesday -
pls. excuse delays while we play post-vacation catch-up
- we have 720 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 8/09/mon: 781 (8/11/2003/mon: 873) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

1. with shorter working hours, it is the Europeans who are truly living the American dream, not us Americans: Heather Hickox of Miami
2. 40,000 Germans protest Schroeder's jobless-benefit cuts - should be focusing on worksharing & further downward adjustment of workweek
3. plus 4 other timesizing items from yesterday's GoogleNews

1. U.S. Restaurant Properties purchases competitor CNL Restaurant Properties for $1.3B (t.C4)
2. they've been working on the RR - Prof. Bernard Weinstein of U.North Texas Economics: current service breakdowns on Union Pacific are similar to what happened in Texas following the UP/Southern Pacific merger, only now the whole country is suffering (j.A11)
3. good news - Germany steers clear of bank deals - avoids swirl of transactions - Commerzbank cancels a BHF-Bank takeover bid (t.C1>W1)

645 layoffs (525 permanently + 120 'temporarily') as La-Z-Boy Inc. furniture in Monroe MI closes plants in Miss., N.C., & Pa. (t.C4)

1. midlife career change leads to rude awakening - Kenneth Susinka of Elmhurst IL: when I lost my job at 55, it took me a one-year search & 14 interviews to get another - many others who were terminated with me are still looking for full-time work 3 years later (j.A11)
2. monuments to labor - defunct iron & steel works become tourist attractions like Birmingham AL's Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark & Bethlehem Steel's National Museum of Industrial History, or shopping malls like Pittsburgh's Homestead Works (j.B1>2)
3. pepper...and salt cartoon - 'don't think of it as a layoff - rather, a chance to ride off into the sunset,' says boss holding out stetson (j.D8)
4. spin the payrolls - making the best of bad numbers: Krugman (t.A23) - when Fri's dismal job report came out, traders in the Chicago pit began chanting 'Ker-ry, Ker-ry' - Bush apologists spin the news by cherrypicking figures out of context = unprecedented weakness of job growth in 'recovery' & claiming presidents don't control the economy despite what Bush said when selling his Jobs & Growth Tax Relief Act of 2003 - his taxcuts in 2001 & '03 were tilted toward the affluent, instead of toward middle- & lower-income families more likely to spend the money, & cash-strapped state & local govts - taxcuts tested trickledown economics - results? huge deficits, minimal job growth (t.A23) - 'trickledown' contradicts marginalism & is no match for 'gush up'

1. United Airlines pilots, angered at the prospect of seeing their pension plans replaced with less-generous versions, vowed legal fight (t.C1>8)
2. United Steelworkers of America filed objection in Houston court in support of retired Halliburton executives [huh?] who lost their health benefits (j.A1) - doesn't a union have other priorities? -
3. UK pension issue bogs down bid to emerge from bankruptcy - UK doesn't have a govt-backed pension-guarantee system [probably hasn't needed one] - Carl Icahn is at the heart of a showdown over 40,000 UK workers' pensions in his role as Federal-Mogul's top bondholder (j.C4 G.K. Chesterton's pan-utopian trap - necessary for all to honor contracts in Icahn's (&CEOs' in general) favor but unnecessary to honor contracts that hurt him/them?

1. Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts plans to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy, owing $1.8B - a stunning comedown for Donald Trump who helped reignite the gambling boom in Atlantic City 20 yrs ago & whose name became synonymous with business savvy - his casinos have never been profitable since first going public in 1995 & have been widely criticized by analysts as poorly run (t.C1>8) - "you're fired!"
2. Nexpak Corp. et al. in Chapter 11 jointly (t.C6)
3. DT Industries Inc. et al. in Chapter 11 jointly (j.C13)

1. world factory output falls in June, clouding global economic 'recovery' [our quotes] as the Fed prepares to raise rates (j.A1>2)
2. US wholesale inventories rise as sales slow (t.C13)
3. oil prices hit another new high of $44.84 a barrel as Iraq suspended pumping oil to 2 Persian Gulf export terminals amid a surge of new violence (j.A1)
4. Kerry, responding to a question by Bush, said he still would have voted to authorize war, even knowing what he knows now (j.A1) - making him look less of a positive, more of an Anyone-But-Bush & making Nader look better

8/07-09/2004 sat-mon (re fri biz)
pls. excuse delays while we grab some vacation = updating from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon
- #visitors to any of our 720 files, F Sa Su: 658,455,504 - wk's daily avg: 683 -
TIMEsizing awareness = strategic glimmers of hope in weekend's GoogleNews:

1. now Dutch CEOs try to roll back Netherlands' advances in shorter worktime, but if longer hours are more competitive, Third World countries are the most competitive - & not worth living in, as emigrants testify
2. vacation gap - long vacations are characteristic of France - American vacations are shortest in industrialized world: 8.1 days a year
3. plus 8 other timesizing articles

1. 600 more jobcuts by Charles Schwab Corp. by year end (8/09 j.C3)
2. 530 jobcuts as Robert Bosch Corp. of Germany autoparts bags nearly half the workforce at its St. Joseph MI factory (8/07 t.B4)
3. 15% of workforce cut (105 jobs to be lost) as Gruner & Jahr USA Publishing cuts costs (& markets), instead of just trimming its workweek by 15% (to five 6¾-hour days for whole firm including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training&hiring and keeping everyone together working, earning & buying at least 85% as many magazines as usual (8/07 t.B1>15)
4. 6 jobcuts as The Village Voice in NYC cuts morale as well (8/09 t.A14)

1. thanks to oil [& Cheney-Bush policy], economy faces headwinds in political season - weakness in consumer spending may now be ricocheting into job growth [or vice versa!] - weak jobs data may[?] be linked to run-up in petroleum prices: stimulus [what 'stimulus'?] is losing steam - dilemma for pResident Bush [full article, 8/09/2004 j.A1]
2. bad news on the job front: editorial (8/07 t.A28) - S&P500, Nasdaq & Dow all drop 1.5% or more on weak employment report - executives & investors wary of slowing growth (8/07 t.B1) - investors bid up index options as jobs data boost risk forecast - dollar is facing declines again after a respite (8/09 j.C4)
3. only 32,000 jobs created in July as hiring slows [243,000 forecast] - likely problem for Bush - gains from May & June are also scaled back; jobless rate eases from 5.6 to 5.5% but based on smaller, less reliable survey (8/07 t.A1>B1)
4. low numbers, new problem - all week Bush traveled the country cheerfully telling audiences that "we've turned the corner" on the economy, but govt's paltry new numbers on job growth make slogan premature at best (8/07 t.A1)
5. job picture painted with different brushes - divergent reports are used to support partisan views about employment - surveys measure different factors (8/07 t.B1) - & they can produce different statistics - compare: Bush stays upbeat despite data on jobs - Kerry moves debate toward sluggish economy (8/07 t.B3it's not just the jobs lost, but the pay in the new ones - earnings gap between highest-paid employees [eg: executives?] & rest of workforce is still widening, especially in factories (8/09 t.C1) - case in point: Caterpillar Inc. proposed union contract with 2-tiered wage scale that would start new hires at about half the pay of veteran workers (8/09 j.B2)

Russian Duma finished passage of contentious bill ending array of Soviet-era benefits for pensioners & veterans , replaced by small stipends (8/09 j.A1) - Russia continues its rush into the 3rd World

1. MP Steel Corp. in Chapter 11 (8/09 j.B6)
2. admit we have a problem - in 2003, more people ended up bankrupt than graduated from college, than filed for divorce, than got diagnosed with cancer, than suffered a heart attack: Elizabeth Warren in 'Two-Income Trap' - consumer debt burdens are at record levels cuz many families are relying on credit to meet everyday needs: Century Foundation study (8/09 t.A19)

1. for radical [& not-so-radical] visionaries, the Evil Empire is now us (8/07 t.A21)
2. Dow plunged 147.7 points Friday to 9815.33, lowest level since November (8/09 j.A1)
3. investors are hoping worst is behind them (8/09 j.C1) - dream on
4. surging oil prices, which briefly hit a record $44.73 early Friday, appear to be hampering US economic expansion (8/09 j.A1) - no kidding
5. summertime blues - a cold wind is blowing through the shares of retailers (8/09 j.C1) - oops, more signs of weak consumer markets
6. Japan's market drops again - 'correction' may deepen in next few months as investors brace for slower growth in Japan's economy & corporate profits (8/09 j.C14)
7. cost of a shrinking consumer market - as east German population drops, utilities face tumbling revenues & surging costs tied to demolition of infrastructure just upgraded in the 90s (8/09 j.A11) - compare US & Japan - contrast China, for the moment: China's consumers show desire to spend (8/09 j.A2)
8. admit we have a problem - it's getting harder & harder to close our eyes to the spreading economic devastation: Bob Herbert - 2-earner family today has less discretionary income than 1-earner family in '70s: Century Foundation study - Bush, Cheney have no plan to brighten this picture; Kerry, Edwards have opportunity to offer their prescriptions (8/09 t.A19) - more likely, Bush has plan to darken this picture quickly & Kerry to darken it slowly - both need worktime economics
9. fundamentalist U.S. churches see an election role & spread word for Bush campaign - this year, Susanne Jacobsmeyer of St.Louis is voting for Bush 'as a man of faith' [or at least a disguise that convinces the gullible] - Jan Klarich feels the election is a spiritual battle (8/09 t.A1) - yeah, if Bush gets re-elected, America will have the same 'spirit' as a theocratic fundamentalist Muslim nation with total unseparation of church & state & all the accompanying repression
10. Muslim hatred of America is definitely a security threat - their No.1 grievance is lopsided U.S. support of Israel relative to Palestinians - this support lets Israel keep consolidating illegal grip on West Bank & Gaza, & compromises our impartiality in brokering the peace process - we should stop providing financial aid to Israel unless it's tied to specific peace steps: Esther Riley of Fairfax CA (8/07 t.A28)
11. a comic-book response to 9/11 & its aftermath - Art Spiegelman, creator of 'Maus', paints Sept/04 thus: cowboy boots drop on Ground Zero as New York is transformed into a stage set for Republican Convention, & Tragedy is transformed into Travesty (8/07 t.A19)
12. Repub. convention memo unnerves transit workers - conductors say they are being asked to be law enforcers (8/07 t.A17)
13. in 'nautical campaign', Maureen Dowd (8/01) asks 'can Bush float your boat' but neglects Kerry's point that most Americans don't have boats: Saul Rosen of NYC (8/07 t.A28) - Roger Brandweis of Scarsdale NY points to Madison's statement that Congress keeps the ship of state from sinking not by plugging the leaks but by tending constantly to the pumps (8/07 t.A28)
14. Ashcroft is asked by Rep. Henry Waxman to explain Justice Dept's role in Sam Berger case & different treatment of that case compared, e.g., to investigation into outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame (8/07 t.A30) - anything is grist for Bush's desperate partisan campaign
15. endangered-species official Gary Frazer is reassigned by Bush-brained Fish & Wildlife Service chief Steven A. Williams - Frazer produced several scientific findings that angered his political superiors - new post created specially to "strengthen Service's science capability" (8/07 t.A10) - i.e., gag Gary = more science-bashing in Bush's America - "don't confuse them with facts, their mind's made up" & all that counts is $$$ for their pals
16. blurring the line? magazines face new pressure as marketers seek to blend advertising with content (8/09 j.B1) - compare the reblurring of the line between banking, brokerage & insurance in the repeal of Glass-Steagall Act - undoing the hard lessons of history means we'll have to repeat them
17. California weakens plan to control autos' greenhouse-gas emissions (8/07 t.B1, 8/09 j.A1>2)
18. war crimes defense lawyers lack resources (8/09 j.B1) - compare prosecution lawyers vs. US in re Guantanamo & Abu Ghraib

1. 20% combined-workforce cut (2000 jobs lost) as Sony & Bertelsmann merge their Sony Music Entertainment & BMG into Sony BMG Music Entertainment & invoke the toxic takeover-downsizing connection, instead of just trimming 20% of their merged unit's workweek (to four 8-hour days for everyone, including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training&hiring and keeping everyone together working, earning and buying at least 80% as much music as before (j.B6)
2. 600 jobcuts as MeadWestvaco Corp. closes 2 plants, in St. Joseph MO & Garland TX (t.C4)
3. unspecified cuts as 2 Broadway shows, 'Frozen' and 'Caroline or Change,' close cuz Repub Con-ven-shun cuts into sales of theater tickets (t.A20)

1. job picture looks good now, but recession left fears that endure (t.C1) - no kidding! compare 'job odds - the economy probably lost more than a million jobs last month,' but that would be par for the course in July with school vacation & auto plants closed for retooling - Labor Dept. seasonally adjusts for this (j.C1)
2. what about Iraq? - finding the least bad answer - funny thing happened after US 'transferred sovereignty' - things changed for the worse on the ground but news coverage dropped off, just as with Afghanistan - even so, unemployment remains sky-high (t.A23)

1. Enron seeks help [huh?] in pension battle - asks bankruptcy court to block federal takeover of 4 of its underfunded pension funds by Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.
2. Mexico's Pres. Vicente Fox gets rare victory in pension vote - Congress dodges protesters to endorse legislation reducing future benefits (j.A7)

1. MJ Research Inc. in Chapter 11 in Nevada (j.C9)
2. new group swells bankruptcy court: the middle-aged - personal bankruptcy filings are hitting all-time highs - over 1.6m last year compared to only 875k 10 yrs before, much of increase driven by older people with decades of experience in white-collar jobs - Consumer Bankruptcy Project surveyed 2400 filers in 1991 & 2001, found filings by ages 45-54 up 58%, to 11 per 1000 - due to less frugality, soaring medical costs, unstable job market, aggressive credit-card mktg (j.A1) - & eroding retirement?

links between prison & the spread of AIDS are affecting blacks inside & out - with disproportionately high rates of incarceration & HIV infection among NC blacks, Drs. David Wohl & Adaora Adimora of UNC are investigating, calling them intertwined epidemics (t.A1>16)

1. S&P500 & Nasdaq slide to new lows for the year (t.C1>5)
2. oil prices surge on conflicting news from Russia about oil giant Yukos (t.C1>W1)
3. blue chips fall by 163.48 points to 9963 amid oil fears - Dow(n) 4.7% for the year - first close below 10,000 since July 26 [there'll be many more] - soft July retail-sales reports & surging crude futures spark worries over consumer spending (j.C1) - July sales gained lackluster 2.6% (t.C1>4) - weak sales lead to a selloff (j.C3) - tepid July clouds back-to-school outlook (j.A2) - the long slow death of the American consumer base proceeds apace - we're in a heavily rouged & mascaraed global depression based on a gross & growing global labor glut
4. amid a price war, revenues fall at AT&T and MCI - potential buyers, leery of losses, wonder where the bottom is (t.C3) = another form of Marx's predicted race-to-the-bottom?
5. another Bush term might well include tax-overhaul push, toward flat tax (j.A2) - oh no, it's ba-a-ack! just like 'Star Wars,' it just won't die - graduated income taxes line up with the economic insight re the marginal utility of concentrated value, but flat taxes or taxcuts-for-the-rich flout marginalism, clobber consumer base, deepen depression - timesizing reverses
6. how tough is it to make an honest living in America today? - 'an FTC survey found that one in six adult Americans was a victim of a fraud in 2002-03, from phone slamming to credit-card & loan scams' (j.A1) - & we've got 2.2m prison inmates, 5.7m disabled
7. Chinese auto-finance effort receives approval to begin - falloff in loans is one reason car sales in China have been stagnating (j.C6)
8. Washington's gift to bomb makers - biggest threat to Americans' security is nuclear bomb materials falling into wrong hands, so Bush push to strip teeth from proposed treaty aimed at expanding current international bans on production of weapons-grade uranium & plutonium is astonishing (t.A22) - unless Bush-Cheney-Rummy-Condi really are pursuing the Doctrine of Perpetual War to retain their fear-forged lock on power
9. US stumbles in battle of truck bombs - officials say sales of key chemical can't be controlled [huh?] - only 2 states require retailers to record who's buying ammonium nitrate - truckers oppose security checks (j.A4) = 'Truckers for Al Qaeda'?

8/05/2004 thursday -
pls. excuse delays while we grab some vacation = updating from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon!
- we have 720 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 8/04/wed: 817 (8/06/2003/wed: 728!) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

1. immigrant comes up with another need for free time = language learning
2. heavy workloads, longer days at the office, less time spent at home & fewer vacation days taken is causing 68% of employees to feel burned out - here are some bandaids while we wait for timesizing to 'be discovered'
3. plus 2 other timesizing items from yesterday's GoogleNews

1. 1100 jobcuts as Techneglas closes 3 plants, in Columbus OH, Perrysburg OH & Pittston PA (t.C4)
2. 180 cuts as Bassett Furniture Industries closes plants in Macon GA (t.C4)
3. unspecified cuts as Dean Foods combines 3 businesses to reduce costs, eliminating a structure that includes 3 salesforces (t.C4)

firms join in 'buy-American' appeal - small group, We Employ America, seeks to save jobs in American factories with backing of companies, such as Mr.LongArm (paint rollers) - will use national 30-sec. TV spots showing consequences of low-priced imports, such as abandoned factories & workers (j.B2)

MinorPlanet Systems USA Inc & Ltd, & Caren (292) Ltd in Chapter 11 jointly (j.B6)

1. Sarah Aziz of North Haven CT: why is the Statue of Liberty being reopened while NY City is on a high terror alert? (t.A22)
2. the terror alerts - given the unprecedented circumstances & the costs of making a mistake, it's easy to understand why the administration has had so much trouble managing the way it informs the public about potential danger - but after 17 months in which national alerts blinked from yellow to orange & back a ½ doz. times, the White House should be past its learning curve: editorial (t.A22)
3. some Vietnam veterans buy ads to attack Kerry - accusing the nominee of lying about his war record (t.A17) - at least Kerry HAS a war record! - which is more than you can say for Bush
4. message of voters in Missouri against gay marriage leaves backers discouraged (t.A16) - USA descends further into fundamentalist theocracy - just like Arab world!
5. CIA curbs war-critic author 'Anonymous' who wrote 'Imperial Hubris' - said Iraq war a major distraction in fighting Al Qaeda & inflamed Islamic resentment vs. USA while aiding Qaeda's recruitment among Muslims (t.A10)

8/04/2004 wed. -
pls. excuse delays while we grab some vacation = updating from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon!
- we have 720 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 8/03/tue: 759 (8/05/2003/tue: 728) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

1. the Dutch, averaging 1,223 working hours per year, have shortest annual working hours in Europe, due to high number of part-timers (many with full-time benefits)
2. international guidelines specify that junior doctors' workweeks must not exceed 80 hours
3. plus 4 other timesizing items from yesterday's GoogleNews

1. 3400 (1600 past +1800 future) jobcuts as Qwest Communications Int'l over-reacts to falling revenue by slashing workforce & markets - FCC joins SEC in investigating phone cos.' goodnews exaggerations (j.A1>B9)
2. unspecified Q2 workforce reduction by Health Net Inc. (j.B10)

pro-Kremlin [= pro-Putin] parliament, the Duma, backed a bill to replace benefits such as subsidized transportation and medicine with cash payments, potentially hurting 20% of population = 30m of Russia's neediest citizens such as war veterans & pensioners (j.A1>11)

Schlotzsky's, delicatessen franchiser, in Chapter 11 (t.C4)

1. stocks slump on oil price surge & news of weak consumer spending, down 0.7% in June = largest drop in 3 years (j.C1, j.A2, t.C1>2)
2. as ranks dwindle in a reserve unit, Army's woes mount - after tours in 2 war zones, many soldiers are fed up = tough sell for recruiters (j.A1)
3. George Schultz tries whitewash economic fiascos of Republican administrations, pin 'em on Dems (t.A23)
4. World Bank to go on financing coal & oil development projects instead of renewable energy sources (t.A19) - more 'advanced thinking' from the World Bank
5. Asia's rebound faces squeeze - skilled-worker shortage could trip up region's economic growth (j.A11) - ah, why are we spinning a training shortage as a labor shortage? 40-hr/wk labor is in surplus, all over the world

8/03/2004 tuesday -
pls. excuse delays while we grab some vacation = updating from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon!
- we have 720 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 8/02/mon: 790 (8/04/2003/mon: 708) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

1. women, & now more men, in New Zealand are taking advantage of job-sharing options
2. many US olympians training in Colorado Springs take advantage of Home Depot's 20-hr/wk part-time jobs
3. plus 6 other timesizing items mainly from yesterday's GoogleNews

1. Fifth Third Bancorp will buy First National Bankshares for $1.6B (j.A1>2, t.C4)

1. 800 jobcuts as tiremaker Continental AG plans to stop production at Mayfield KY plant (j.A1>2)
2. 6% workforce cut (270 jobs lost) as Federal Reserve closes 9 more check-processing sites in response to drop in paper-check volumes, instead of just trimming 6% of its workweek (½-hour a day for everyone, including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training&hiring and keeping everyone together working, earning and banking at least 94% as much as before (j.A7)

1. US factory activity rose in July but hiring slowed (j.A1)
2. rising number of laid-off older execs unable to find jobs - between 2/00 & 1/02, re-employment of those aged 55-64 sank from 58.8% to 52.5%, lowest rate since '94: BLS (8/02 toledo blade.B6)
3. fewer workers have health benefits - higher insurance premiums are cited - 'some jobs that are being created may not be the jobs that come with benefits' (j.D4)

Elite Model Management Corp. in Chapter 11 (t.C6)

prisoners forced to pay fee - each of 80,000 inmates in Florida's 56 state prisons is required to have a prison spending account & to pay a $4 monthly fee on it even if they have no money or don't want an account - earnings from prison jobs & gifts from outsiders are deposited, & used to buy snacks, deodorant, longjohns, tennis shoes etc. not provided by the state (pueblo chieftain.3A)

1. 5m children were added to govt healthcare programs like Medicaid since 2001 because parents lacked insurance: survey (j.A1)
2. reports that led to recent terror alert were years old [but gotta distract from Democratic Convention!], officials say (t.A1) - Kerry called Bush-outlined antiterror measures '3 years late' (j.A1)
3. Mr. Bush's wrong solution - wanted to appear to embrace recommendations of 9/11 Commission but actually rejected panel's most signficant ideas - offered only tired nostrums & bureaucratic half-measures (t.A18)
4. nuclear plants will hold wargame-like security tests in Nov. pitting guards against 'terrorists,' but Wackenhut Co. will be fielding both teams (j.A1>4) - might as well just rubberstamp 'secure' & save the money
5. Spain considers financing for major religions = a bid to cut mosques' reliance on militant groups for money (t.A6) = a super-slippery road

7/31-8/02/2004 sat-mon (re fri biz)
pls. excuse delays while we grab some vacation = updating from Albuquerque
- #visitors to any of our 719 files, F Sa Su: 691,528,515 - wk's daily avg: 574 (sys fail) - -
TIMEsizing awareness = strategic glimmers of hope in weekend's GoogleNews:

1. Southwest Airlines flight attendants negotiate better overtime rules
2. WSJ op ed spins the economic suicide of longer hours [& higher concentration of national employment & wage income] as supremely rational
3. 93% of corporate heads surveyed by BBC would like to lengthen French 35-hour workweek - and cut their own markets? = still misled by many economists, who don't "get" worktime economics
4. plus 8 other timesizing articles

Internatonal Power of UK joined with Mitsui of Japan to buy the European assets of Edison International for $2.3B (7/31 t.C3)

1. 33% of workforce cut (525 jobs lost) as GE moves work from Bloomington IN refrigerator plant to Celaya, Mexico, instead of maintaining its part of the US consumer base by trimming its workweek by 33% (to three 9-hour days for whole firm including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training&hiring and keeping everyone together working, earning & buying at least 67% as many fridges as before (7/31 t.B4)
2. 20 jobcuts as Saks Inc. of Birminham AL consolidates cosmetic purchasing (7/31 t.B4)

1. recent 8.7% layoff rate during first 3 years of Bush administration was highest since early 1980s, 2nd-fastest rate on record - in govt's latest survey of how often workers are permanently dismissed from their jobs, rate reached 11.8%, or 11.4m, of all adult jobholders, nearly equal the 9% rate of 1981-83, which included steepest economic contraction since Great Depression: BLS (8/02 t.C1)
2. longtime workers aren't immune to job loss - 5.3m workers who had been in their jobs at least 3 years lost those jobs in 2001-2003 = 6.3% of all long-tenured workers = above 6.2% figure for both 91-93 & 81-83, even though official unemployment rate is lower now - 57% of those who found new jobs got lower pay than jobs they left, compared to 47% in 91-93 - 33% got pay a fifth or more lower: Labor Dept. (8/02 j.A2)

1. Prudential Assurance Co. Ltd, Pearl Assurance PLC, Elders Insurance Co. Ltd, Hiscox Ins. Co. Ltd, World Marine & General Ins. PLC file Sec.304 (8/02 j.B6)
2. Lloyds TSB Group PLC of London has been dogged by bad debts abroad & exposure to massive corporate bankruptcies (8/02 j.B6)

Delta requests more concessions - new proposal brings total to $1B and includes changes to pension plan, moving Delta & its pilots union further apart (8/02 j.B8)

homeless join forces in Boston's South End to register their own voters - at July 22 Cast Your Vote! event, 170 homeless & low-income voters enlisted, giving Pine Street Inn homeless shelter as their address - since Dec., local campaign has gleaned 700 - movement has swept nation, with nearly 50 voter ed clinics for homeless & low-income held on 7/22, amassing more than 1000 new registrations in 17 states (8/01 g.city wkly 1)

1. taking back the prisons: editorial - US can no longer tolerate prisons operated as the fiefdoms who do what they wish with little oversight from state authorities (8/02 t.A20) - & couldn't we say same re the Federal Reserve relative to the federal gov't
2. criminal justice logjam - America is world's No.1 jailer with taxpayers spending $50B/yr to jail 2m people - better to jail fewer briefer & use savings to boost academic, vocational & substance-abuse programs behind bars to prevent 2/3 recidivism within 3 yrs: Adj.Prof. Jennifer R. Wynn of John Jay College of Brooklyn NY (8/02 t.20)
3. locked in - 20 yrs ago, uniform-sentencing rules were supposed to make system fairer & more rational - they only made sentences uniformly longer, passing power from judges to prosecutors, & devil's alliance of Ted Kennedy & Strom Thurmond had pushed them thru Congress (8/01 g.D1) = another road to hell paved with good intentions
4. inmate population ballooning in Vermont - 12.2% growth rate = fastest in country between mid-02 & mid-03, nearly 5 times national average - $100m corrections budget, at 10-12%/yr, is fastest-growing component of state budget next to Medicaid - & still not enough space: 400 convicts have been exported to Kentucky (8/01 g.B5)

1. economy slowed in 2nd quarter, US report says - consumer spending cut - higher prices for energy are said to contribute to sluggishness (7/31 t.A1>B14) - & Bush wants to boast about the economy? - hel-lo-o
2. foreign workers vital to the nation's economy (8/01 g.E2) - oh yeah, especially to employers who want to pay sub-minimum wages!
3. Haitian journal - 5 months after Aristide, mayhem rules the streets (8/02 t.A4) - so let's see, mayhem rules Afghan streets, Iraqi streets, Haitian streets - who's next for 'Merkin mayhem?
4. Japan's consumer spending unexpectedly slows (8/02 j.A9)
5. France approves broad healthcare overhaul (8/02 j.A9) -ohoh, they've already got the best in the world - now they're gonna fix something that works?