1. Ohio - GOP bid to knock tens of thousands of registered voters off the voting rolls is blocked by Cincinnati Federal District Court Judge Susan Dlott (t.A21)
2. 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. 1100 layoffs planned by American Airlines (10/23 t.B13, 10/25 j.C6)
2. 100 jobcuts as Louisiana-Pacific Corp. shuts plant in Woodland ME (10/23 t.B4)
3. unspecified cuts as Yahoo closes PayDirect service (10/25 j.C6)

in swing states, growth of jobs has faltered - 15000 jobs lost last month in Mich., 7000 in Wisc., 2200 in Minn., 9500 in Fla. (10/23 t.B1)

American Commercial Lines LLC et al. in Chapter 11 jointly (10/25 j.B6)

1. investments in venture capital cooled in third quarter (10/25 j.C4) - after Bush gave them all those taxcuts???
2. Dow ended week at 11-month low of 9757.81 (10/25 j.A1)
3. natural gas prices surge to highest in 1½ years, $8.105 per million BTUs, as oil settles at $55.17/bbl (10/25 j.A1>C2)
4. further declines in the dollar are seen amid oil, trade jitters - the dollar is finding few friends these days (10/25 j.C2) - neither is Bush's America, unless you're desperate 3d-world ready to sell anything

1. 250 jobcuts by Imation Corp. CDs, mostly in Minnesota (t.C4)
2. 107 cuts by Strong Financial Corp. in Wisconsin (t.C4)

1. deal on Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts debt includes Chapter 11 in NY (t.C3)
2. Omni Facility Services Inc. et al. in Chap.11 jointly (t.C2)
3. Met-Coil Systems LLC (fka Corp.) in Chapter 11 (j.B5)

1. leading indicators fell last month - decline is 4th in a row - hurricanes, high oil prices slowed growth of economy (j.A2)
2. voting and counting - Bush is in trouble - and so are we - votes for Mr. Kerry will be systematically undercounted (t.A23)

10/21/2004  thursday
- playing catchup after 6-day trip to make sure the relative sanity of Canada is still there -
- we have 736 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 10/20/w: 1080 (10/22/03/w: 1048; 10/23/02/w: 805) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

1. Phil Hyde & Barbara Brandt plan Take Back Your Time Day events in Somerville, plus Time Day article in the Boise Weekly
2. job sharing in Virginia
3. extra week of vacation in Alabama
4. 5-minute 'pee break' in Frankfurt
5. plus 11 other worktime-related items mainly from yesterday's GoogleNews
6. Boston-MA area workaholics who want to kick the habit - try *Workaholics Anonymous on Thurs.eves at 7:30 pm, 1st Baptist Church, 5 Magazine St, Central Sq, Cambridge

1. 5% workforce cut (4700 jobs lost) as Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. overreacts to first-quarter loss by cutting its own best markets, instead of just trimming 5% of its workweek (24 minutes a day for everyone, including executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training & hiring & keeping everyone working, earning & shopping 95% as much as before (j.B10)
2. 400 jobs cut by Delta Woodside Industries fabrics of Greenville SC (t.C4)
3. 250 by Convergys Corp. telecom billing in Cincinnati (t.C4)

French Cabinet approves bill to make layoffs easier (j.A17) - we welcome France into the Race to the Bottom

1. industrial average touches 9804.19, below its previous low for the year of  9814.59 (j.C1)
2. economic scene - changes in US patent system have contributed to deterioration in patent quality - a patent that protects a better mousetrap spurs innovation, but what about one for a new way to amuse a cat? (t.A21)

10/20/2004  wednesday
- playing catchup after 6-day trip to make sure the relative sanity of Canada is still there -
- we have 735 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 10/19/t: 1131 (10/21/03/t: 990 again; 10/22/02/t: 925) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

1. Kerry & Bush - minimal shorter-hours relevance
2. Take Back Our Time Day article from Gordon College, Mass.
3. plus 10 other worktime-related items mainly from yesterday's GoogleNews
4. Boston-MA area workaholics who want to kick the habit - try *Workaholics Anonymous on Thurs.eves at 7:30 pm, 1st Baptist Church, 5 Magazine St, Central Sq, Cambridge

1. 750 HQ jobcuts by J. Sainsbury PLC (j.B10)
2. 110 jobs cut by CuraGen in Connecticut (t.C3)

1. towns hand out tax breaks, then cry foul as jobs leave (t.A1)
2. the lowdown on labor lost - how blameworthy are those 'Benedict Arnold' outsourcing CEOs? (j.D12) - as blameworthy as any other near-sighted suicides

1. growing numbers of Americans push back retirement dates (j.D10) - the desperation spreads - once the babyboomers hit the job market in the 1970s, insecurity drew housewives into the market, then immigrants flooded in, now retirees are coming back in - & wages & consumption are flatter & flatter
2. insurance scandal jolts industry but devastates workers - drop in Marsh & McLennan stock hurts employee retirement plans (t.C1)

1. tuition rises sharply at public colleges, 11% this year (private, 5.7%) = slightly less than last year's 14% but students are borrowing more & 25% are charging their credit cards (j.D1, t.A16)
2. signs of crack in voting bloc - Bush has gained ground among black voters (t.A21) - if true, they're suicidal, but makes no diff, cuz they're the main group the Republicans are targeting for disenfranchisement anyway (via spurious inclusion on felons' lists)

10/19/2004  tuesday
- playing catchup after 6-day trip to make sure the relative sanity of Canada is still there -
- we have 735 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 10/18/mon: 1064 (10/20/03/m: 990; 10/21/02/m: 771) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

1. Quebecers work fewer hours than other Canadians
2. workweek cuts have forestalled jobcuts for staff in NHL strike
3. plus 8 other worktime-related items mainly from yesterday's GoogleNews
4. Boston-MA area workaholics who want to kick the habit - try *Workaholics Anonymous on Thurs.eves at 7:30 pm, 1st Baptist Church, 5 Magazine St, Central Sq, Cambridge

1. treasury troubles; John Snow, you're no Alexander Hamilton - if George Bush loses in Ohio, he can blame Treasury Secretary John Snow, who went there last week & suggested it was 'myth' that fewer people are employed in the US today than 4 years ago (j.A4)
2. when offshoring doesn't make sense - Toyota still makes Corollas in Silicon Valley, one of the costliest places on earth (j.A8) - offshoring never makes sense unless you want to cannibalize your customer base
3. autoparts suppliers are facing a new round of weak earnings & jobcuts because of soaring prices for steel & plastics (j.A1>2)

1. feeling the draft - don't believe Bush's assurances that there won't be any after the election if he wins (t.A29)
2. & the new "Republicans" have put themselves in a position where no one will believe the election was honest unless they lose - see 'electronic vote in NJ faces a fight - lawsuit claims results cannot be trusted' (t.A25)
3. US will pay $2 billion interest on national debt (j.C6) = another Bush failure

10/16-18/2004 sat-mon (re fri biz)
- playing catchup after 6-day trip to make sure the relative sanity of Canada is still there -
- #visitors to any of our 735 files, F Sa Su: 868,567,733 - wk's daily avg: 909 -
- miss yesterday's hope du jour? see Features below -
TIMEsizing awareness = strategic glimmers of hope in weekend's GoogleNews:

1. Court upholds Renault's 35-hour workweek
2. Belgian unions want workweek for PO workers reduced from 38 to 35 hours in line with their 2001-2004 contract
3. plus 7 other worktime-related articles - click here for details

10/15/2004  friday
- playing catchup after 6-day trip to make sure the relative sanity of Canada is still there -
- we have 735 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 10/14/thu: 1091 (10/16/03/th: 969; 10/17/02/th: 772) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

1. public servants in Taiwan will have 60 days off next year
2. 3 Dutch unions ask public-transportation drivers to strike in protest against cabinet plans to lengthen workweek from 36 to 40 hours
3. Hong Kongers gather outside 1st Q&A session between HK leader Tung Chee-hwa & HK's new lawmaking council, & call shorter working hours
4. plus 25 other worktime-related items mainly from yesterday's GoogleNews
5. Boston-MA area workaholics who want to kick the habit - try *Workaholics Anonymous on Thurs.eves at 7:30 pm, 1st Baptist Church, 5 Magazine St, Central Sq, Cambridge

1. 12000 jobcuts as GM struggles in Europe (t.W1)
2. 5500 German jobs lost thru attrition or by offering employees alternative jobs within the company as KarstadtQuelle AG reaches agreement with VER.DI union to cut costs (j.A11)

myth-firing - Democrats pounce on Treasury secy Snow's claim that charges of a net job-loss under Bush are 'myths' - Snow says his remarks were 'misconstrued' (j.A4)

1. five articles today on pre-election irregularities, mostly on the part of the once-conservative, now radical-right, neo-con Republican Party = another Bush failure?
2. Dow industrials dragged down under 10000 [again] - fell 107.88 points, or 1.08%, to 9894.45, as oil prices rose $1.12/bbl to a 21-year high of $54.76 (j.A1>C1) = another Bush failure?
3. as US debt ceiling is reached, Bush administration seeks to raise it once again (t.A20) = another Bush failure?
4. fiscal 2004 budget deficit grows to $413B & Treasury is using accounting maneuvers to stay under the $7.384 trillion debt cap (j.A1>C4) = another Bush failure?
5. US trade deficit widened to $54B in August, its second-highest level ever, pushed by rising oil-import prices (j.A1>2) - outacontrol oil prices with a White House full of oilmen? = another Bush failure?
6. initial jobless claims rose by 15,000 for week ended Oct.9 (j.A2)
7. Sun Microsystems reports smaller loss & calls it a turnaround (t.C3) = Orwellian spin spreads apace = another Bush failure?
8. UMich has 15% fewer black freshmen than last year, citing fallout from Supreme Court affirmative-action case (j.A1) = another Bush failure?
9. State Dept. authorized departure of nonessential personnel from Haiti (j.A1) = another Bush failure?

10/14/2004 thursday - 'hope isn’t a plan', but we have a plan
- we have 734 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 10/13/wed: 982 (10/15/03/w: 920; 10/16/02/w: 868) -
NOTE  UPCOMING GREATER BOSTON EVENT -

• Mon, Oct.25, 7-9pm: Time Day Talk & Discussion - Topic: Boosting the ‘Recovery’ by Trimming Hours, Not Jobs, in Today’s Workaholic America, led by Phil Hyde, introduced by Barb Brandt, at West Branch Library, 40 College Ave (2½ blocks N of Davis Sq), Somerville MA 02144

1. firms outsource computer projects at increasing pace (j.B7)
2. Europe's car makers face turmoil as Japanese gain in market share, up to 17.4% in 2004 from 14.8% in 1999 - US & local companies are responding to fierce competition by shedding thousands of jobs - while top 5 Asian brands gained 1% market share in Europe in first 9 months of 2004, US & European firms lost 1.2%, setting in motion massive layoffs (j.A1)

1. Bush's secret plan to fix Social Security - well, it isn't exactly secret & it's not exactly a plan - 'do not open till after election' (j.A2) - hopefully he'll never get the chance
2. hard-to-swallow lesson on pension plans - Halliburton uses loophole to reduce payouts at an upstate NY unit - so much for early retirement (t.C1>4)
3. new tax bill exempts members of the PGA Tour from rules that apply to most other high-end retirement plans - with Wall St. & corporate brass out of favor, Congress is showering tax benefits on a sector whose popularity is enduring: professional golfers (j.A1>3) = more favoritism & class warfare
4. more retirees may see health cuts - some employers will be allowed to cut benefits for more retirees - provision in new tax bill allows employers to alter how benefits are trimmed - will now have option of cutting costs for all instead of cutting some people (j.A1>5) = heads, employees lose - tails, CEOs win (but lose more markets)
5. popular funds for retirees are nearly dead - some stable-value offerings succumb to regulatory pressure, forcing a search for alternatives (j.D1)

US considers reopening inquiry into possible abuse before Iraq prison scandal - 4 Iraqis who worked for news organizations say they were mistreated (t.A14)

1. fear of commodities bubble pushes share prices lower - DOW back to 10,002.33 (t.C13, j.A1)
2. gasoline futures climb to 21-year high of $53.64/bbl as Hurricane Ivan's effects linger in Gulf of Mexico petroleum operations (t.C13, j.A1>C1)
3. Treasury may have to take steps to finance government operations as US seems poised to hit $7.384 trillion national debt limit (j.A1>C6)
4. HCA issues warning due to storms, more uninsured - Hospital Co. of America continues to experience a rise in number of uninsured patients seeking treatment at its hospitals (j.A5)
5. study of US students' college readiness finds no progress in a decade: ACT study (t.A25)
6. Jordan denied Israeli newspaper report that US is holding top Qaeda figures in prison there - CIA declined to comment (j.A1) = pre-election surprise?

10/13/2004 wed. - 'hope isn’t a plan', but we have a plan
- we have 734 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 10/12/tue: 1031 (10/14/03/t: 999; 10/15/02/t: 862) -
NOTE  UPCOMING GREATER BOSTON EVENTS -

• Sun, Oct.24, 1-3pm: Take Back Your Time Day Speakout, on Boston Common at Parkman Bandstand, with Pam Kristan, Barb Brandt, Phil Hyde & anyone else with up to a 10-minute rant on our time bind
• Mon, Oct.25, 7-9pm: Time Day Talk & Discussion - Topic: Boosting the ‘Recovery’ by Trimming Hours, Not Jobs, in Today’s Workaholic America, led by Phil Hyde, introduced by Barb Brandt, at West Branch Library, 40 College Ave (2½ blocks N of Davis Sq), Somerville MA 02144

1. 2% more workforce cut (425 jobs lost) as State Street overreacts to drop in earnings by nicking its own best markets, instead of just cutting 2% of its workweek (10 minutes a day for everyone, including executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training&hiring and keeping everyone together working, earning and banking 98% as much as before (j.C3)
2. 400 jobcuts as Hitachi Ltd.'s Calif. units cuts 10% by year end (j.C15)
3. 30 cuts as Allied Waste Industries of Scotsdale AZ reorganizes (t.C5)
4. unspecified cuts in Levi Strauss & Co.'s reorganization plan which includes more plant closures & sale of Dockers line (j.C15)

1. big companies will use much of their windfall from corporate-tax legislation passed this week to reduce debt, buy back shares, or make acquisitions, although they lobbied Congress for the measure on the grounds that it would spur job growth - so it may not boost hiring despite claims (j.A1)
2. dollar rebounds from selloff induced by weak jobs data (j.C2)

tax bill targets 'deferred compensation' plans for executives (j.D2)

use of retirement plans increases, reversing a 2-year decline (j.D2) = slight reversal of erosion

Japanese police said 9 bodies found in two parked cars may be the nation's largest group suicide ever, a pact believed sealed on the Internet (j.A1, t.A10)

1. Bush won't attend AARP's convention in Vegas this week, though he'll be in same city & though they gave a boost to his Medicare law last year (j.A1, t.A17) - another slap at black Americans
2. Republican Congress left an unusually long list of unfinished business (j.A1) - but 'hard work' & sacrifice is OK for everyone else
3. Homeland Security report questions if adequate evalution process is in place for possible shifts to private airport screeners (j.A1>D14) - they haven't learned anything from privatizing military supply, prisons & interrogations?
4. the intimidating face of Bush's America - photo shows supporters of Afghan president Karzai shying away from (privatized?) American security guard in Kabul recently

10/12/2004 tuesday - 'hope isn’t a plan', but we have a plan
- we have 734 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 10/11/mon: 1094 (10/13/03/m: 948; 10/14/02/m: 686) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

1. Int'l Steel workers in Indiana vote to sacrifice a little more free time every 2 weeks for shorter workdays & more predictable lives
2. want your employees drunk on the job? then lengthen the workweek, because tiredness at work has the same effect as drunkenness
3. plus 15 other worktime-related items mainly from yesterday's GoogleNews
4. Boston-MA area workaholics who want to kick the habit - try *Workaholics Anonymous on Thurs.eves at 7:30 pm, 1st Baptist Church, 5 Magazine St, Central Sq, Cambridge

1100 jobcuts as Royal Sun & Alliance Insurance shifts UK jobs to India over next 2 years (j.B13, t.W1) - = time to cancel your policy with them

recovering executives' bonuses remains infrequent despite emphasis on corporate reform (j.C1)

economic challenge of retiring boomers too big to ignore (j.A4) - so just match it up with challenge of weakening consumer base, remove cap on flat Social Security tax & restore World War II levels of graduated income tax

disability claims related to obesity are raising premiums - such claims have doubled since 1996: recent UnumProvident study of 1.2m claims - 1% of sample claims are specifically for obesity, but including related conditions bumps total to 5.65% - claims for hypertension & diabetes rose 100% & for musculoskeletal-disorder 78% (j.D1>2) = pig out & get free ride with health insurance, but must not diet or all is lost

1. group of bishops using influence to oppose Kerry - abortion is their single issue (t.A1)
2. being pResident means never having to say he's sorry - can Bush appeal to women if he can't admit mistakes? (t.A31)
3. the potential heartbreak in 'open' adoptions - Lori Miller of Englewood CO: my birthmother was in and out of my life & I would not wish an 'open adoption' arrangement on any child (j.A23)

10/09-11/2004 sat-mon (re fri biz)
- miss yesterday's hope du jour? see Features below -
- #visitors to any of our 733 files, F Sa Su: 847,597,709 - wk's daily avg: 743 -
TIMEsizing awareness = strategic glimmers of hope in weekend's GoogleNews:

1. 35 worktime-related articles - click here for details

1. 750 Dutch jobcuts by KPN NV telecoms (10/11 j.C14)
2. 600 cuts by Global Crossing (10/09 t.B2, 10/11 j.A8)
3. 175 cuts by DDI Corp. electronic components (10/09 t.B2)
4. 65 mgmt & admin cuts by Tennant Co. cleaning products in Minneapolis (10/11 j.C14)
5. unspecified cuts as IMF closes office in Harare, Zimbabwe (10/09 t.A5)

1. tepid job creation suggests high oil prices & uncertain consumer-spending outlook leaves employers hesitant to hire = hesitant private sector - job data highlights corporate wariness [thanks a lot, Bush! - '4 more years' & depression will be inconcealable] - Sept. nonfarm payrolls increased by only 96,000 new jobs, fewer than forecast - growth seen as sluggish (10/11 j.A1>2, 10/09 t.B1>A1) = a meager recovery - last job count before election: always a politicized number (10/09 t.B1)
2. shares drop as jobs report produces sharp reaction (10/09 t.B4)

partisan arguing & fine print seen as hindering Medicare law (10/11 t.A1)

1. Abu Ghraib - inmates were reportedly kept off books to speed transfer (10/09 t.A7)
2. Texas: inmate Ed McDaniel & guard Vickie Sanford captured - she helped him escape & he was serving 20-year sentence for shooting deputy in leg (10/09 t.A16)

1. despite piles of cash, businesses get stingy about spending - signs emerge that buying by consumers may slow; oil, jobs are wild cards, car sales may hit speed bump - firms are returning cash to shareholders because they can't find investments - uncertain outlook (10/11 j.A1) - overstuffed mattresses of cash & inability to find sustainable investments are classic symptoms of depression - concentration of national income so intense that it's cannibalizing its own consumer base & suctioning the spending power & markets away from its own potential investments - compare the reason stocks went way above historic P/E ratios in 1990s = investors had nowhere else to put it all - & now they don't even trust stocks!
2. Sinclair Broadcasting Group to pre-empt primetime programing on its stations which include affiliates for all 6 of major broadcast networks in swing states of FL, OH, WS, NV, PA for anti-Kerry film 'Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal' (10/11 t.A19) - never mind that Bush never made it to Vietnam at all
3. House rejects outside check into DeLay (10/09 t.A16) = circling the honey wagons?
4. SEC member Harvey Goldschmidt says agency has bowed to corporate executives (10/09 t.B1) - no kidding
5. flu shot shortage shows system flaws (10/09 g.A1) - if Bush is really vetoing cheaper drugs from Canada due to safety concerns, how come he outsourced our flu-vaccine production?!! - compare: US uncovered problems at Chiron Corp's UK plant in 2003 - quality control issues were similar to ones that shut down facility last week - shortage of flu vaccine is raising tensions between haves & have-nots (10/11 j.A3)
6. crude oil futures surged again, 64 cents this time, to new high of $53.31/bbl (10/11 j.A1)
7. US refiners' reluctance to upgrade plants to use the cheaper & heavier high-sulfur oil now flooding the market is contributing to higher gas prices (10/11 j.A1) - alternatives? ...
8. problems cited at Salem nuclear powerplant in S/W New Jersey, including leaky generator [leaking WHAT?], unreliable controls on a reactor [uncontrolled reaction = meltdown = badda boom!] & workers who are so discouraged by lack of maintenance that they've stopped calling for repairs (10/11 t.A1) - & we're supposed to believe that George Bush Jr. has made us SAFER? - with policies like this, who needs terrorists?!
9. Britain feeling pressed for power - as North Sea sources wane, nuclear gets another look - a blustery island lags the Continent in use of wind energy (10/09 t.B1) - Brits are getting stupider & stupider (not that we're in any position to talk)
10. West Coast hedgefund firm, Marin Capital Partners, is putting limits on withdrawals (10/11 j.A1>C4) - so you can get in but you can't get out? - compare website 'stickiness' - or a 'cockroach motel' for your money - compare Keynes' concept of "compulsory investment" (Heilbroner's Worldly Philosophers, 6th ed., p.282)
11. Australia's conservative John Howard beat Mark Latham to win 4th term on Sat. - 52.6% of vote with 75% counted (any election stealing down under?) - discontent over Iraq was a pillar of Labor's challenge but economic issues were key in the end - Aussie expanding for over 12 years = longest boom among major industrialized nations & better than US record in 1990s (10/11 j.A1>17) - but Australia is bustin' its unions & cannibalizing its consumer base same as US did, so their 'boom' is increasingly a pyramid scheme like ours, probably aided by favorably defined economic indexes, like ours

1. 12% more workforce cut (7000 jobs lost) as AT&T retreats from consumer market, instead of just cutting 12% of its workweek (to five 7-hour days for everyone, including executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training&hiring and keeping everyone together working, earning and buying 88% as many phone services as before (j.A1>2, t.C1)
2. up to 4500 more jobcuts by Bank of America (j.C5, t.C1>4)
3. 2000 cuts by Bombardier in Montreal & Belfast (t.W1)
4. 1400 general & admin cuts (4%) by Unisys (j.B2)
5. 600 cuts as Unilever closes Birds Eye plant in Grimsby UK (t.W1)
6. 450 cuts as Reuters moves jobs to Bangalore from White Plains NY, Tiverton UK & Singapore (t.W7)

toll of tech bust in Calif. has been severe, survey shows - over 50% of people working at tech companies in early 2000 had left the technology field or the state by end of 2003, & over 40% experienced declining incomes over that period: Sphere Institute (j.B4)

airline workers see their security quickly vanish - over last week, both US Airways & Delta employees have learned they will not have company-paid healthcare benefits when they retire (t.C1) - now project the effect that will have on their consumer spending starting immediately

1. critical eye on voting flaws in Florida: Lee Jin of US Commission on Civil Rights (CCR) - CCR found high level of nonfeasance, ineptitude & neglect resulted in voter discrimination against African-Americans [Democrat-leaning] & heard evidence that Fla. was fully aware felon-purge lists held flawed data & neglected proportionatedly or accurately to identify/purge Hispanic [Republican-leaning] felons (j.A17)
2. retailers post disappointing sales - damped in Sept. by high gas prices, hurricanes & tepid wage boosts for shoppers (j.A1>2) - at last WSJ connects dots between shoppers & wages - next dots, labor surplus & overlong workweeks for our levels of efficient technology
3. crude oil extends rise, up 65 cents to new high of $52.67/bbl amid widespread supply jitters - hits 6th high in two weeks - strikes in Nigeria & Norway add to worries on supply - natural gas up sharply (j.A1>C4)
4. stocks slump as oil prices continue climb (j.C1) - enriching Bush's oil pals with bloated profits
5. with oil prices up, it could be a long winter (t.C1) - or a looong four years if neo-con artists steal another election
6. in his new attacks, Bush pushes limits on the facts - taking a page out of the Lee Atwater campaign book (t.A17) - surprise, surprise
7. divisions sharpened in the House after DeLay draws second ethics rebuke in days, including even Republican murmurs for leadership review (j.A1)
8. a very bad deal - most Americans approved of post-9/11 idea of letting govt make minor infringements on civil libeties in exchange for well-planned & -executed ops that would make us safer - instead we got a mounting pile of bungled operations ranging from merely inept to scandalously abusive, & military prisons filled with innocent people with Arabic names (t.A26)
9. federal tax revenue below Y2000's despite growth in corporate profits (t.A20) - Bush is determined to bankrupt the US Govt & 'starve the beast'

10/07/2004 thursday - 'hope isn’t a plan', but we have a plan
- we have 732 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 10/06/wed: 1011 (10/08/03/w: 1045; 10/09/02/w: 776) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

1. 2 letters to editor elicit fullest Timesizing prediction/design for future of retirement
2. public library in Clairton PA has 30-hour week
3. plus 9 other worktime-related items mainly from yesterday's GoogleNews
4. Boston-MA area workaholics who want to kick the habit - try *Workaholics Anonymous on Thurs.eves at 7:30 pm, 1st Baptist Church, 5 Magazine St, Central Sq, Cambridge

1. 465 jobcuts by Dec.15 as Vector Group responds to declining cigarette sales (t.C4)
2. unspecified cuts as United Airlines cuts fleet & switches biggest jets to international flights (t.C8)

1. America's other war - US is losing the skill war - unless the teaching profession is upgraded, outsourcing won't be just a stream, it will become a river (j.A1)
2. standing down - fewer African-Americans are enlisting in the US Army - that could strain the military already stretched by wars in Iraq & Afghanistan (j.A1) - with a "war-of-choice" White House, almost anything looks better than high risk of death for nothing
3. Singapore's Scandent acquired Chicago-based Aon's claims processing-unit amid rapid outsourcing-industry consolidation (j.A1)

Choice One Communications Inc. in Chapter 11 in New York (t.C4)

1. just another day in the pit as oil tops $52 (t.C1)
2. heating bills are set to soar - 28% up for heating oil in New England, similar for propane & natural gas in Midwest (j.D1>4) - so a White House jammed with oil executives is no advantage to Americans, quite the contrary
3. 2nd time in week, House ethics panel admonishes majority leader Tom DeLay, this time for linking donations to legislation & trying to get aviation officials to track Democrat lawmakers fleeing Texas to stop a redistricting vote (j.A1, t.A1) - the Republican Party has become a disgrace & an embarrassment
4. what the election means for investors - Bush victory could benefit (a) pharmaceutical firms, (b) HMOs, (c) energy & utility companies, (d) insurance companies (j.D1) - so Americans could continue to have (a) higher Rx prices than anyone else in the world, (b) higher co-pays, premiums & paperwork, (c) more Enrons, (d) higher premiums & deductibles
5. tax bill clamps down on noncash donations - hidden among corporate taxcuts are provisions aimed at ending excessive deductions for charitable gifts of vehicles & intellectual property (t.C6) - so Bush brown-noses profits & bashes non-profits - great, he's even against charity
6. poll tax, updated - Homeland Security Dept. ordered Latino group Mi Familia Vota to stop registering voters recently on a Miami Beach sidewalk outside a building where new citizens were being sworn in (t.A30) - more Bush attempts to stifle the vote
7. a whistle-blower is kept in the wings at the hearing - Roger Barnes, the former Fannie Mae accountant, who criticized record-keeping at Fannie, said he faced recriminations (t.C10) - 'no good deed goes unpunished' & America careens down thanks to White House example

10/06/2004 wed. - 'hope isn’t a plan', but we have a plan
- we have 731 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 10/05/tue: 928 (10/07/03/t: 1017; 10/08/02/t: 779) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

1. Generations X and Y are placing less emphasis on careers, so businesses offering reduced hours are doing better in competition for good employees
2. decreasing functionality of skimming&charity economics and resulting govt budget cuts for nursing homes lead HR at Riverview Health in Crookston MN to trim employee hours
3. Kansai University professor estimates that Japanese employees worked a total of 27.33 trillion yen of unpaid overtime in FY2002, equivalent to an extra 8.18 million full-time jobs
4. plus 10 other worktime-related items from yesterday's GoogleNews
5. Boston-MA area workaholics who want to kick the habit - try *Workaholics Anonymous on Thurs.eves at 7:30 pm, 1st Baptist Church, 5 Magazine St, Central Sq, Cambridge

EU businesses face new push on transparency - executive-pay disclosure is among issues addressed in governance guidelines (j.A17)

870 jobcuts by Eastman Kodak: 600 in England & 270 in France (t.C4)

1. US flu vaccines face rationing as plant is shut - British regulators suspend production at Chiron unit; Europe, Asia to feel effects (j.A1) - so much for outsourcing jobs
2. US suspends plan to allow gas exploration in Montana (j.A19) - US will miss half its supply of flu vaccine because of British factory - Brits suspend license of factory making it = unwelcome surprise at the start of the influenza season (t.A16)
3. Germany: unemployment rises to 10.7% seasonally adjusted, the highest level in more than 6 years (t.W1)

forget the deduction: why you should pay off your mortgage before you retire - 32% of households headed by 65-74 year olds were carrying home-mtg debt in 2001, up from 26% 3 years earlier (j.D1) = another slice of our record consumer debt that we don't often glimpse

1. small study shows most millionaires back Bush in election (j.D5) - plutocracy wouldn't be so bad if plutocrats weren't so insulated, isolated, & dumb as stumps
2. oil prices hit new high, settling above $51 amid supply concerns - helped stifle stock rally (j.A1) - at least Bush's oil "friends" seem to be out to get him, bless'em!
3. services index hits 16-month low; oil prices a big concern (g.F4)
4. financial gap is widening between rich & poor schools (t.A15) - here's a reason to attack poverty before lack of education (& of course, unemployment has to be attacked before poverty, to avoid creating dependency)
5. so what does Bush do? = FCC suspends $2.25B in Internet grants for schools & libraries, & gets scolded by Congress - FCC's new rules could put many school districts & library communities off-line (t.C4) - more evidence of Bush's priorities lie elsewhere (= coddling big donors while USA slips into Third World?)
6. compare - initiative by Bush on income tax has innate conflicts - potential 'reforms' shift burden from wealthy, who can't spend that much anyway, to middle class, who would spend it if they had it (j.C1) - thus deepening our much-disguised economic depression
7. US (ie: Bush) vetoes UN resolution critical of Israel's Gaza offensive (j.A1) - Israel is committing slow genocide on Palestinians with our tax money - & they of all people should be practicing Gandhi-ism, since they know 'from suffering'

10/05/2004 tuesday - 'hope isn’t a plan', but we have a plan
- we have 731 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 10/04/mon: 1002 (10/06/03/m: 971; 10/07/02/m: 793) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

1. 65 jobs saved by worksharing within Kansas Labor Dept.
2. more on Corine Maier, best-selling author of Bonjour Paresse (Welcome Laziness)
3. plus 9 other worktime-related items from yesterday's GoogleNews
4. Boston-MA area workaholics who want to kick the habit - try *Workaholics Anonymous on Thurs.eves at 7:30 pm, 1st Baptist Church, 5 Magazine St, Central Sq, Cambridge

1. 10% of top salaried workforce cut (380 jobs lost) as US Airways saves money (& dents markets), instead of just cutting 10% of its workweek (48 minutes a day for everyone, including executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training&hiring and keeping everyone together working, earning and flying 90% as much as before (t.C1>2)
2. unspecified cuts as Freddie Mac to streamline & stop operations at market-making unit (j.C6)

1. political debate over jobs intensifies - 2 job surveys, same weak picture from both households & payrolls (j.A2)
2. Latin America shows outsourcing promise, ahead of China & India when considering labor quality, time zone & need for Spanish (j.A19) = 'strike 1': against outsourcing to China & India
3. outsourcers call for backup - clients seek 'plan B' locales to hedge against service disruptions (j.A19) = 'strike 2' against outsourcing, period - CEOs think it saves them payroll when they have to double overseas locations?!
   
4. ahead of tape - the closer investors have gone to US consumer, the worse they've been burnt - consumer-cyclical stocks like Whirlpool & Gap have been faring poorly lately & underperforming the overall market in Q3 (j.C1) = 'strike 3' vs. outsourcing, & vs. downsizing - these stocks ebb & flow with "shoppers' willingness to spend"? - no, with shoppers' spending money, which is shrinking as they lose jobs

1. pension plan failures hit home, foil 6-figure retirements too - pension plans of 500,000 Americans have 'failed' in last 3 years & been taken over [ie: CEOs have pushed them onto] federal govt [PBGC] - this has even left high earners less rich, less secure & often less retired (t.C1>A1) - so will we now get some disciplinary action vs. contract-breaking CEOs, the way we finally got action on civil rights when rich kids started marching & getting hurt?!
2. cash-balance conversions spread - companies keep adopting controversial cheap pension plan despite lawsuits, criticism (j.D1>2) - as Chomsky says, CEOs 'socialize' & spread risk & insecurity, while privatizing & funneling income

1. Supreme Court mulls changing sentencing rules under which 60,000 people are sentenced each year - 9 justices show inclination to discard - are these 'minimum mandatory sentences' constitutional? - often add years to sentences for 'crimes' that have never been proven to juries beyond reasonable doubt or admitted to by defendants - & prosecutors can hike or cut sentences by providing info to probation officers & judges just before sentencing (j.B1, t.A13)
2. prisoner abuse - Army charges 4 soldiers with murder in death of an Iraqi general, Maj.Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush, during torture, oops, 'interrogation' (t.A10)

1. 150 business professors at top B-schools (Harvard, MIT, UPenn's Wharton, Duke's Fuqua) signed a letter harshly criticizing Bush's taxcuts & saying 'economic policy has taken very dangerous turn' under his leadership - 'nearly every major economic indicator has deteriorated since you took office in Jan/01' (t.A16) - have they finally rediscovered their own law of marginalism?
2. ahead of tape - the closer investors have gone to US consumer, the worse they've been burnt - the fortunes of many consumer-cyclical stocks like Whirlpool & Gap tend to ebb & flow with shoppers' willingness to spend (j.C1) = investor blindness about shoppers' ability to spend & secularly, not cyclically, ebbing spending power, except in diminutively populated top income brackets
3. U.S. national debt is seen hitting $7 trillion limit within days - will reach $7,384,000,000,000 early this month (j.B4) - fiscally irresponsible 'Republican' govt continues to erode America's credit & credibility in world community
4. Justice Dept. said anti-terror work has sharply cut total FBI investigations in areas from drugs to organized & white-collar crime (j.A1) - hey, that's a twofer for corrupt CEOs who want their boy to retain power via perpetual 'war'
5. editorial: the nuclear bomb that wasn't = the most terrifying of all Bush's excuses for invading Iraq (t.A26)
6. Kerry takes on Bush over stance on stem-cell research - frames argument based on science vs. ideology (t.A16)
7. unravelling enigma of smell wins Nobel for 2 Americans (t.A18) - with all our problems, they're giving out $1.3m for researching smell??? = a critical flaw in 'skimming&charity economics'

10/02-04/2004 sat-mon (re fri biz)
- miss yesterday's hope du jour? see Features below -
- #visitors to any of our 731 files, F Sa Su: 798,546,690 - wk's daily avg: 573 (sysfail) -
TIMEsizing awareness = strategic glimmers of hope in weekend's GoogleNews:

1. Unitarian minister Nancy Haley of Iowa City asks, how do we support systems that demand more & more hours of work and fewer & fewer hours spent with our families?! - Phil Hyde answers, because nobody's designed alternative systems, till now - and now we need to implement them
2. in past 5 years, 48% of Americans have voluntarily opted to make less money so they could have more time
3. 2d annual *Take Back Your Time Day, Oct.24, falls on Sunday this year so organizers expect churches will encourage people to confront national epidemic of overwork - Seattle is holding community potluck, 5-8 pm, at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 732  18th Ave.E.
4. Alberta authors Carl Honore & David Irvine preach slower lifestyles & simpler living in Canada
5. plus 21 other worktime-related articles - click here for details

1. 700 jobcuts as Saks closes 'underperforming' stores: 8 Saks Fifth Avenue and 3 Off 5th (10/02 t.B4, 10/04 j.A1>B5)
2. 300 cuts as WestPoint Stevens sheets & towels closes Hickory NC plant by 12/31 (10/02 t.B4)

1. fewer wealthy people paying taxes - nearly 3400 of tax returns reporting incomes of $200,000 or more showed they owed zero federal income taxes in 2001, a nearly 45% increase over 2000 (10/02 t.B1>13) - compare Ivana Trump: 'only the little people pay taxes' = now that it's become a class distinction, skimming & charity capitalism roots itself deeper
2. crude oil closes above $50 on concerns about shortages (10/02 t.B1>3) - ergo, the oilmen of the Bush-Cheney regime are impotent?
3. Cheney presses Hussein-Qaeda link - despite questions, his claims persist (10/03 g.A17) - what link?! - despite his boss's admission of no link, his claims persist
4. European news organizations are reducing presence in Iraq: French, German, Italian & others (10/02 t.A6) - had enough of escalating violence & Bush-Cheney's denials?
5. Bush's exploitation zone? - letter by Adam Swinson of Brockton MA: while traveling & working in China, I thought it would be Bush's ideal America, where there was surplus of cheap labor, cut-throat competition & no real environmental controls (10/03 g.D10) - no worries, Bush is turning America into China as fast as he can with corporate socialism & welfare for the rich
6. for financial whistle-blowers, new shield is an imperfect one - claims of employer reprisal go to OSHA investigators hamstrung by lack of accounting expertise - eg: CFO David Welch, fired from tiny Cardinal Bankshares Corp., lingers in limbo (10/04 j.A1)
7. change of direction at PeopleSoft - firing of CEO Craig Conway by chairman David Duffield could open door for Oracle takeover (10/02 t.B1, 10/04 j.A1>3) = shareholders & chairman are willing to betray company, sell out & terminate?
8. on the hot seat - ex-GM CEO Jack Welch: 'I used to go to union plants & people would ask me where their kids would work - I told them: no one can guarantee you a job - educate the hell out of your kids' (10/03 g.E1) - educate them for WHAT, that was the question - and if there are no guarantees, there's nothing they can be educated for that will do any good - until we start Timesizing

780 jobcuts by Pepsico (t.C4)

Arctic Express Inc. & D&A Associates Ltd. in Chapter 11 jointly in Ohio (j.B7)

retiring minds want to know - will Congress safeguard pensions? (t.A23) - still asking after Congress looted the Social Security 'lockbox'??

Illinois: panhandlers curbed - Chicago City Council passed ordinance banning panhandling within 10 feet of bus stop, bank or ATM; in restaurants or sidewalk cafes; on public transportation or in gas stations - panhandlers also barred from touching or following people, blocking paths or entries, abusive language, or panhandling in groups (t.A20)

1. sacrifice & sabotage - eroding voting rights bought with blood - new problem discovered with Florida's Y2000 election = strange high incidence of over-voting that disqualified many votes in (mainly Democrat) Afro districts but not in similar (mainly Republican) Hispanic districts (t.A23)
2. tired bull market limps into 4th quarter - oil prices, earnings warnings combine to drag down stocks - election is biggest uncertainty (j.C11) - that's right, cuz if Bush steals it again, America's credibility, credit & economy are ruined
3. spending stalls as [average!] income rises in Aug. (t.C1>3) = so the rich got richer, & they're already spending as much as they care to = the more $concentration, the less $circulation
4. Calif. meds bill vetoed - Schwarzenegger squelched several bills that would have made Calif. the middleman in large-scale consumer purchases of Rx drugs from Canada (t.C1) = more Republican contempt for seniors so they can favor their friends in pharma firms
5. old-time sexism & racism suffuses new TV season, eg: in ABC's dramedies Desperate Housewives & Boston Legal = backlash against compulsive political correctness? (t.B1) - or following the primitive 'leadership' of Bush Jr's good-ol'-boy act?
6. America's lost respect - we're not the good guys any more - Bush still hopes to brazen it out by claiming that failure is success (t.A23) - welcome to Orwell's world of 'Animal Farm', but ... 'woe unto them that call evil good & good evil' (Isaiah 5:20)
7. Britain's Blair staved off Labour push to pull troops from Iraq (j.A1) - if you guys would just get RID of this clown, it would help us/US get rid of ours!
8. Israelis' massive military raid in northern Gaza Thurs. killed 28 Palestinians, biggest 1-day toll in 20 months, after rockets that killed 2 Israeli children were fired Wed. (j.A1) = 'have you killed a Palestinian today?' - yet $3½B/yr of OUR taxmoney is fueling these monsters?
9. Japan's west dug out from Meari = 8th typhoon to hit this year, a record - 16 killed & 9 missing (j.A1)

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