Past dooms du jour 10/2004

Timesizing® Associates - Homepage

hopes/dooms du jour,
November 2-30, 2004
[Commentary] ©2004 Phil Hyde, The Timesizing Wire, Box 117, Harvard Sq, Cambridge MA 02238 USA (617) 623-8080 - HOMEPAGE

11/30/2004 tuesday

- playing catchup after establishing residence in 'Boston's Canadian suburb" = Stanstead, Quebec -

- we have 750 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 11/29/m: 1023 (12/01/03/m: 884; 12/02/02/m: 913) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

on leisure & arts = pointer & page in WSJ (j.A19>D10) - leisure in America today? what leisure?
Canadian Trucking Alliance has dropped its proposal to extend truckers' "working window" 2 more hours from 16 to 18 hours a day - CTA must be a short-sighted employers' group
plus 8 other worktime-related items from yesterday's GoogleNews
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 MA

+ random glimmers of hope indexed to today's (j) Wall St Journal or (t) NYTimes (archives):

colleges can bar army recruiters (t.A1)
Sen. Chas. Grassley warns FDA vs. retaliating against critical staffer, Dr. David Graham (j.B5)
deck of [anti]Bush playing cards keeps drawing buyers (j.B12)
Bush's mere 51% mandate doesn't indisputably vindicate any of his policies - letter to editor by Russ Weiss of Princeton (t.A26)
David Brooks goes overboard in his hopes of reducing world poverty by globalization & free trade - letter by Johnny Willis of Schenectady (t.A26) - poverty is when there may be lots of money but only 1% of the population has 99% of it
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) -

PUFFsizing, alias makework = bogus hope, creating unspecified new ‘jobs’ (archives):

no shrimp left behind - Congress' $388B spending bill is loaded with money for special interests that pump out food - $16.4B in ag subsidies, $1m to Alaska to market seafood & $269k to Miss. to harvest it, $443k to Ore. to make salmon baby food, $335k to ND to shoo blackbirds off sunflowers, $236k to Me. to research blueberries, $199k to NY to control Canada geese, another $150k to guard botanical garden from hungry Alaskan moose, $50k to Mo. to control wild hogs, $1m for a 'Wild American Shrimp Initiative' (g.A27)
China's govt is considering establishing a venture fund to back semiconductor startups (j.A1)

DOWNsizings (archives) - today's total 200+?? jobcuts that made it into j (WSJ) or t (NYT):

200 jobcuts as TriQuint Semi of Hillsboro OR trims costs (& mkts) in Pa. & Mexico (t.C4)
unspecified cuts as City Museum of Washington DC closes (t.A16)

DOWNsizing results = unspendably, uninvestably astronomical executive pay, perks & pensions:

embattled drug giant Merck & Co. disclosed plans to award 230 executives with hefty golden parachutes if the company is taken over - CEO Raymond Gilmartin is among them - plan would probably cost $100m's (j.A1>B1, t.A1>C4) = huge incentives for corporate & economic contraction

DOWNsizing results = bankruptcies noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT (archives):

Onco Investment Co. et al. files Chap.11 jointly in Del. (t.C8)
assisted living residence facility Homesteads at Newtown LLC in bankruptcy in CT (j.B7)

headlines from HELL in (Wall St. Journal) j & (New York Times) t & (Bos.Globe) g (archives):

only the grassroots can save the Democratic Party (j.A18) - no amount of grassroots is enough when the Republicans own the voting-machine manufacturers - quit whistlin' Dixie & get Soros to buy Diebold, ES&S, etc.
trade group's fight against drug review is self-defeating - Pharma Research & Mfrs of America, a parody of a DC special interest, has transformed America's most successful industry into its most hated (j.A4) = good demo of short-term capitalism
Canadians warming up to America (j.A18) - ha!
Canada, the closer country for outsourcing work (t.W1) - permit us 'warm' Canucks to assist in America CEOs' euthanizing of their home economy

11/27-29/2004 sat-mon (re fri biz)
- playing catchup after returning to Canada so we can once again focus on the long term -
- #visitors to any of our 749 files, F Sa Su: 637,563,642 - wk's daily avg: 691 -
- miss yesterday's hope du jour? see Features below -
strategic hope = shared work = TIMEsizing awareness in weekend's GoogleNews:

Australia Institute nominates November 20 as "Take The Rest Of The Year Off" Day

Australian doctors are generally working shorter hours

Japanese heavy-industry companies are trimming worktime in response to materials shortages, instead of workforce & markets

we outline the Timesizing solution in a thumbnail sketch in response to a lengthy pessimistic & time-blind diagnosis

plus 21 other worktime-related articles - click here for details

+ random hope, indexing (j) Wall St.Journal, (t) NYTimes or (g) Bos.Globe (archives):

layoffs don't produce profits (11/28 g.D10) = a glimmer of intelligence in letter to editor from Steve McClenaghan of Ipswich MA
new return policy: retailers say 'no' to serial exchangers (11/29 j.B1) = another glimmer
Hyperion Solutions is offering each of the software firm's employees $5,000 toward the purchase of environmentally friendly cars that get 45 mpg (11/29 j.A1>B4)
Province of Ontario in "socialist" Canada may surpass Michigan in automaking this year (11/27 t.B1) - but pretty sad for Detroit
unemployment falls 0.4% to 23-month low of 10.5% in "socialist" Lula's Brazil (11/27 t.B3)
EU's opening of its markets to genetically modified crops ('Franken foods') face challenges from 5 member nations (11/29 j.A12)
in recent referendum, Swiss back stem-cell research (11/29 j.B2)

vs. doom du jour tm for lack of timesizing, in j, t, & g (Boston Globe):

PUFFsizing, alias makework = bogus hope, creating unspecified ‘jobs’ (archives):

budget trap - Republicans are spending like Democrats (11/29 j.A14) - actually much more than Dems
Pentagon is searching for ways to keep both Boeing & Lockheed in the rocket biz...if they agree to team up (11/29 j.A1>4) - hey, why not they merge & 'rightsize' (oh yeah, that wouldn't make work)
tax break to lure employers - DaimlerChrysler defends Ohio incentive for plant - Ohio says it has given $2B in breaks for investing companies since '95 (11/29 j.A4) - govt welfare for corporations is just fine, but not those deadbeat poor & homeless
fed funds - a guide to Small Business Administration lending programs (11/29 j.R8)
EU takes steps to streamline research funding (11/29 j.B4)
some good news for a change - French film from US studio ruled not quite French enough for $4.8m in Fr. govt subsidies despite employing 2000 Fr. extras, 30 Fr. actors & 500 Fr. technicians over 18 mons. (11/27 t.A22) - damn, 2530 temp jobs forced to be free-market instead of govt makework

DOWNsizings - weekend's total = 431 disguised jobcuts that made it into j (WSJ) or t (NYT):

431 employees required to 'commute' to bigger airports as Ace Aviation Holdings, parent of Air Canada, closes crew bases in Victoria BC (nearest big airport is across Strait in Vancouver), Ville de Quebec (nearest, Montreal) & London ON (nearest, Toronto) (11/27 t.C4)

DOWNsizing results = prison news (archives):

sentencing-guideline study finds continuing disparities - minorities as % of all fed inmates up sharply since guidelines took effect in 1987 & now account for majority of prison population (11/27 t.A11) - at least you get health insurance
in federal cases big gap in rewards for cooperation - rules on reducing sentences vary across US; an edge for some crime bosses while a 'little fish' gets 19½ years (11/29 j.A1)
federal govt gets real about sex, tatooing, & blood-borne diseases behind bars - but state prison officials are still trapped in denial (11/27 t.A34)

headlines from HELL (tm) from (j) Wall Street Journal or (t) NY Times or (g) Boston Globe (archives):

Mass. Technology Collaborative report cites gap between innovation & job creation - their 8th annual Index of the Mass. Innovation Economy says Massachusetts' hgih-tech workforce continues to shrink despite[?] growth of robust technology infrastructure (11/29 g.C5) - surprise surprise - whoever would have dreamed of such a thing just because CEOs downsize in response to technology instead of timesizing
foreign interest flags as dollar falls - some central banks expand holdings in euros (11/27 t.B1)
private-equity funds have loaded debt on companies they control, raising concerns about potential problems if interest rates rise (11/29 j.A1) - & curtailing their own future profits, & pushing dollar down further
Ariz. border busy for US agents - more illegal immigrants apprehended in Arizona over last fiscal year than in Calif., NM & Texas combined (11/27 t.A10)
oil cleanup underway on Delaware R. south of Philly after 30,000 gals. leaked from gash in Greek tanker (11/29 j.A1)

weekend roll-up -
5 issues/wk - wk's avg homepage hits/issue: 39 (Thnksgvg)
hope of the weektm from the WSJ & the NYT:
• 111 TIMEsizing items • 1 UPsizing (? new jobs)
+ artificial ‘hope’ • 11 PUFFsizing (makework) items (? new ‘jobs’)
vs. doom of the weektm from the WSJ & the NYT
(totals weaken as we fade negative newswatch):
• 7 DOWNsizings, over 15,891 jobcuts • 3 bankruptcies • 1 eroding-retirement story • 7 prison items
{{ytd: 2027 timsizg (2638+ new or sav'd jobs) + 136 upsizs (117149+ new jobs) + 394 makwrk (36816+ 'jobs') =
tot:156603=29% of cuts VS. 456 dnsz (534805+ cuts) +>175 bkrp($416m+) +>33 hmlss +>164 jail +>20 deth}}

11/26/2004 friday
- playing catchup after establishing residence in 'Boston's Canadian suburb" = Stanstead, Quebec -
- we have 748 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 11/25/th: 509 (11/27/03/th: 454; 11/28/02/th: 469) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

WSJ's Steve Liesman thinks Day After Thanksgiving should be added to roster of US holidays

more on the European Dream of shorter workhours & longer vacations

plus 21 other worktime-related items from yesterday's GoogleNews

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 MA

+ random glimmers of hope indexed to today's (j) Wall St Journal or (t) NYTimes (archives):

Tokyo hasn't intervened to halt soaring yen, maybe cuz corporate Japan seems able to cope with strong currency (j.A1) - unlike corporate US?
Congress had to approve stopgap gov't funds as Dems held GOP feet to the fire on spending-bill tax-privacy language (j.A1)
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) -
PUFFsizing, alias makework = bogus hope, creating unspecified new ‘jobs’ (archives):

no shrimp left behind - Congress' $388B spending bill is loaded with money for special interests that pump out food - $16.4B in ag subsidies, $1m to Alaska to market seafood & $269k to Miss. to harvest it, $443k to Ore. to make salmon baby food, $335k to ND to shoo blackbirds off sunflowers, $236k to Me. to research blueberries, $199k to NY to control Canada geese, another $150k to guard botanical garden from hungry Alaskan moose, $50k to Mo. to control wild hogs, $1m for a 'Wild American Shrimp Initiative' (g.A27)

China's govt is considering establishing a venture fund to back semiconductor startups (j.A1)

DOWNsizing results = bankruptcies noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT (archives):

ATA Holdings Corp. et al. in Ch.11 jointly in southern Ind. (j.B7)
Earth Systems Consultants Northern California et al. ditto in central Calif. (j.B7)

headlines from HELL in (Wall St. Journal) j & (New York Times) t & (Bos.Globe) g (archives):

US dollar continues descent in holiday-thinned trading (j.C3) - dollar's fall pushes gold above $450/oz. (t.C1)

11/25/2004 thursday
- playing catchup after establishing residence in 'Boston's Canadian suburb" = Stanstead, Quebec -
- we have 748 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 11/23/t: 819 (11/25/03/t: 782; 11/26/02/t: 861) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

basic duty in London Post Office is 32 hours a week

as the American Dream fades into strained hype, the European Dream of shorter workweeks & longer vacations takes over

Vancouver Island's Lisa Rickwood publishes "Escape the Pace: 100 Fun & Easy Ways to Slow Down & Enjoy Your Life"

doctors are finally healing their own workaholism

plus 12 other worktime-related items mainly from yesterday's GoogleNews

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 MA

+ random glimmers of hope indexed to today's (j) Wall St Journal or (t) NYTimes (archives):

UPsizings: • unspecified new jobs as Mexico's 3d-biggest steelmaker Hilsamex plans to build plant in Indiana (t.W1)
railroads across America are struggling to handle increased demand (t.C3)
consumers give signs of a free-spending holiday season (t.C1) - but in the event, this happytalk didn't pan out
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) - + bogus hope = makework = PUFFsizings, creating unspecified new ‘jobs’ (archives):

Pentagon auditor urges Army to withhold some ($2B) payments to Halliburton/KBR (t.A14)

bogus growth thru takeovers = appetizers for DOWNsizing - (mega & banking archives):

G.E. to buy Ionics for $1.1B (t.C4)
Ramco-Gershenson to buy 7 shopping centers in Fla. for $138.3m (t.C4)

- after takeovers, the next steps, cumulatively lethal, usually involve downsizings

DOWNsizing results = prisons noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT (archives):

US Sentencing Commission finds racial disparity in jail sentences (j.A3)

headlines from HELL in (Wall St. Journal) j & (New York Times) t & (Bos.Globe) g (archives):

more election-rigging news from the one-party dictatorship masquerading as today's Republican Party - click here
alleged fraud in the Ukrainian election (t.A10) = more in major US media on foreign election fraud than US election fraud = dream on, America - never mind 'the price of freedom is eternal vigilance'
United Airlines asks court to terminate labor contracts (t.C4) - note massive abrogation of contracts in America - except those favoring CEOs

11/24/2004 wednesday
- playing catchup after establishing residence in Boston's Canadian suburb of Stanstead, Quebec -
- we have 748 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 11/23/t: 819 (11/25/03/t: 782; 11/26/02/t: 861) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

London subway employees get 35-hour-equivalent workweek translating to 9 more vacation days per year

Russia gives itself 1 more holiday per year (net)

plus 23 other worktime-related items mainly from yesterday's GoogleNews

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 MA

+ random glimmers of hope indexed to today's (j) Wall St Journal or (t) NYTimes (archives):

an Oklahoma version of guns vs. butter - some employers (ConocoPhillips, Williams Cos...) balk at allowing firearms on company property - Judge Sven Holmes decides to continue restraining-order on new state law that allows employees to keep guns in locked vehicles on co. property - U.S. already has an estimated 17 workplace homicides per week, most involving guns (t.C2)
Coloradans vote to embrace alternative sources of energy - an energy plan that failed three times in the Legislature went to the polls & won (t.A13)
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) - + bogus hope = makework = PUFFsizings, creating unspecified new ‘jobs’ (archives):

lawmakers' favored projects from home states lay deep inside $388B spending bill - providing for specific highways, locks, dams, parks, libraries, airports, museums, zoos, hospitals, schools, universities & research into hog waste - projects so numerous, diverse & scattered throughout the bill that no one knows everything that's been stuffed into it (t.A19)

in Congress, growing doubts on spending process - members of both parties say system for financing the gov't is broken (t.A19) - ah, wouldn't that mean that they themselves are broken?

DOWNsizings (archives) - today's total 15,460 jobcuts that made it into j (WSJ) or t (NYT):

10% workforce cut (7000 jobs) as Cingular Wireless trims costs (& consumers) after buyout, instead of just trimming 10% of its workweek (48 minutes a day for everyone, including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training & hiring, & keeping everyone working, earning & buying 90% as many wireless services as before (t.C1>8, j.C16)
3560 German jobcuts (10%) by BASF chemicals over next 3 years by attrition (t.W1)
2000 German cuts in back office by Deutsche Bank (j.C3)
2000 German cuts by HVB Group banking (j.C3)
900 German cuts by Commerzbank (j.C3)

DOWNsizing overviews noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT or (g) Boston Globe (archives):

what's news online - unemployment among US tech workers now exceeds overall jobless rate for first time in over 30 years (j.C18)

DOWNsizing results = prisons noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT (archives):

US Sentencing Commission finds racial disparity in jail sentences (j.A3)

headlines from HELL in (Wall St. Journal) j & (New York Times) t & (Bos.Globe) g (archives):

more election-rigging news from the one-party dictatorship masquerading as today's Republican Party - click here
US drafts secret order for Special Forces to conduct clandestine operations vs. 'terror groups' anywhere anytime (j.A4)
Homeland Security's request for student data stirs concern (j.A4)
IRS will hire private debt-collection firms beginning in 2005 to recover deliquent taxes (j.A1>D1) - & we're off on the slippery road that leads to the gouging tax farming of the Roman Empire
in tug-of-war on stocks, some pull away from US market - foreign shares, commodities appeal to skeptical pros (j.A1)
ahead of the tape - business spending on new equipment is not exploding despite new tax incentive (j.C1)
US postage rates going up 10% (j.A1>3)
FDA granted expedited approval to new multiple sclerosis drug from Biogen & Elan (j.A1>3) = another drug-approval is rubberstamped & rushed to market
fundies' Left Behind series has 'enlightened' Jesus slaughtering everyone who's not a born-again Christian (t.A27)
poverty worsening in Israel & Palestinian areas, 2 studies find (t.A5) - we're giving Israel over $3½B/yr & they're still not spreading it around?
Brazil's rain forest is worse off than govt data indicate, with 47% now occupied by man or logged, per Imazon group (j.A1)

11/23/2004 tuesday
- playing catchup after 4 trips to Canada to make sure democracy still exists (it does!) -
- we have 748 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 11/22/m: 981 (11/24/03/m: 851; 11/25/02/m: 932) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

George Bernard Shaw's In Praise of Idleness recalled

British employees want to work less, but not for less money

plus 20 other worktime-related items mainly from yesterday's GoogleNews

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 MA

+ random glimmers of hope indexed to today's (j) Wall St Journal or (t) NYTimes (archives):

UN Security Council voted to transfer Bosnia peacekeeping duties from NATO to the EU next month, meaning 1000 US troops will leave (j.A1) - good from viewpoint of decrementing US 'absolute power' - bad in giving US a few more troops to wreak havoc elsewhere
House Republicans rebuffed pressure from Bush to compromise & pass an intelligence overhaul (j.A1) - with 2-party system gone, US adaptability depends on splits among Republicans
nuclear weapons money is cut from spending bill - one casualty was $27.6m for bunker buster (t.A22)
beware the triops insect under the Xmas tree - toymakers market bug kits as antidotes to isolation of kids raised in bubble of videogames (j.B1)
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) - + bogus hope = makework = PUFFsizings, creating unspecified new ‘jobs’ (archives):

big $388B spending bill passed on Sat. makes a winner of Mars program - increase of $822m to its budget (t.A22) - real Republicans don't burn taxpayers' money on pyramid projects

DOWNsizings (archives) - today's total, ?? jobcuts that made it into j (WSJ) or t (NYT):

17% Swiss workforce cut (unspecified jobs lost) as Starrag-Heckert Holding machine tools over-reacts to loss & lower demand by further cutting consumer demand, instead of just trimming 17% of its workweek (to five 6h38m days for everyone, including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training & hiring, & keeping everyone together working, earning & buying 83% as many machine tools as before (t.C4)

DOWNsizing results = unspendably, uninvestably astronomical executive pay, perks & pensions:

Harvard key asset managers receive paycut ... to $25m (j.C3)

DOWNsizing results = eroding non-executive retirement (archives):

spectator's guide to possible changes in Social Security (j.A4) - neo-con strategy = if it works, fix it so our buddies get to siphon it off & it doesn't work any more

DOWNsizing results = bankruptcies noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT (archives):

DOWNsizing results = prisons noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT (archives):

condemned get stuck with the bill - when inmates phone home, their families pay the charges that make money for the state (t.A23) - NY State punishes the poor & their families & its own consumer base & its own economic growth
report says hundreds are illegally held in NJ's juvenile detention centers - with no place to go, mentally ill youths are sent to jail (t.A24) - America continues its careen into the Third World

headlines from HELL in (Wall St. Journal) j & (New York Times) t & (Bos.Globe) g (archives):

USA - rise in hate crimes - nearly 7500 (7489) incidents last year (t.A17)
overseas flight from Wall St - decline in US$ is making American markets less attractive to foreign investors (t.C1>11)

11/20-22/2004 sat-mon (re fri biz)
- playing catchup after 3 trips to Canada to make sure democracy still exists (it does!) -
- #visitors to any of our 747 files, F Sa Su: 849,615,736 - wk's daily avg: 937 -
- miss yesterday's hope du jour? see Features below -
strategic hope = shared work = TIMEsizing awareness in weekend's GoogleNews:

old shorter-hours lifestyle again attracting Americans

Carl Honoré gets great Newsweek review for 'In Praise of Slowness'

plus 33 other worktime-related articles - click here for details

+ random hope, indexing (j) Wall St.Journal, (t) NYTimes or (g) Bos.Globe (archives):

UPsizings: • unspecified new jobs as China Petroleum & Chemical unit in Qungdao to build $1.2B refinery (11/22 j.A6)
Germans weigh taking stocks off Wall St (11/20 t.B1) - does Europe really need Wall St?
thousands demonstrate against Bush in Santiago (11/20 t.A6) - scene of the CIA's stupid snuffing of Allende (& democracy & prosperity & goodwill) in '71

vs. doom du jour tm for lack of timesizing, in j, t, & g (Boston Globe):

bogus hope = makework = PUFFsizings, creating unspecified new ‘jobs’ (archives):

lawmakers load spending bill with range of help for business (11/22 j.A4) = charity for the rich

DOWNsizing results = bankruptcies (archives) in WSJ (j) and/or NYT (t):

W.R. Grace & Co. et al. in Chapter 11 jointly (11/22 j.B6)
American Restaurant Group Inc. et al. in Chapter 11 jointly (11/22 j.B6)

DOWNsizings - weekend's total = ?? jobcuts that made it into j (WSJ) or t (NYT):

unspecified layoffs as Maytag Corp. asks for 100s of voluntary job resignations (11/22 j.A10)

DOWNsizing overviews noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT or (g) Boston Globe (archives):

job losses from outsourcing prove hard for U.S. to quantify - 'it's more that employers aren't able to provide that info' (11/22 j.A2) - or rather, aren't willing to - so they go on slitting their own throats by clobbering their own (employees & morale & productivity &) consumer markets
labor pains: closing the 'skills gap' (ah, don't we mean 'training gap'?!) - labor economists contend it should be national priority yet few see easy solutions (11/22 j.A2) - how about automatic overtime-to-training conversion?!

DOWNsizing results = hyperconcentrated, uncirculating income in the top brackets:

market forces

DOWNsizing results = eroding retirement noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT or (g) Boston Globe (archives):

payback

headlines from HELL (tm) from (j) Wall Street Journal or (t) NY Times or (g) Boston Globe (archives):

years of postponed maintenance imperil Amtrak, says Transportation Dept. report (11/22 j.A6) - zillions for highways to subsidize GM & Greyhound, zillions for airports to subsidize American & United, but not a dime for safest & most efficient = passenger rail

weekend roll-up -
5 issues/wk - wk's avg homepage hits/issue: 57
hope of the weektm from the WSJ & the NYT:
• 98 TIMEsizing items • 2 UPsizings (? new jobs)
+ artificial ‘hope’ • 1 PUFFsizing (makework) item (? new ‘jobs’)
vs. doom of the weektm from the WSJ & the NYT
(totals weaken as we fade negative newswatch):
• 6 DOWNsizings, over 6850 jobcuts • 6 bankruptcies • 3 eroding-retirement stories • 5 prison items
{{ytd: 1916 timsizg (2638+ new or sav'd jobs) + 135 upsizs (117149+ new jobs) + 383 makwrk (36816+ 'jobs') =
tot:156603=30% of cuts VS. 449 dnsz (518914+ cuts) +>172 bkrp($416m+) +>33 hmlss +>157 jail +>20 deth}}

11/19/2004 friday
- playing catchup after 3 trips to Canada to make sure democracy still exists (it does!) -
- we have 747 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 11/18/th: 1067 (11/20/03/th: 857; 11/21/02/th: 861) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

forced into slave labor (dba 'working off the clock') in America, some fight back

something seething neath the surface? - Tom Hodgkinson's How To Be Idle parallels in UK Corinne Maier's Welcome, Laziness (Bonjour Paresse) in France

shorter-hours movement has a friend in David Bonior, former Democratic whip in DC?

plus 17 other worktime-related items mainly from yesterday's GoogleNews

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

+ random glimmers of hope indexed to today's (j) Wall St Journal or (t) NYTimes (archives):

IRS audits more wealthy people (t.C1>2) - enforcement by IRS hauls in more money (j.A10)
French official, defense minister Michelle Alliot-Marie, envisions strong EU combat force (j.A14) - it's nasty work, but someone has to protect the world from the Neo-Con US dictatorship, the new Evil Empire-successor to USSR
Canada: native groups, including Haida, win land ruling (t.W1)
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) -

DOWNsizing results = bankruptcies noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT (archives):

ACL Management LLC et al. in Chapter 11 jointly (j.B7)
Slater Steel U.S. Inc. et al. in Chapter 11 jointly (j.B7)

headlines from HELL in (Wall St. Journal) j & (New York Times) t & (Bos.Globe) g (archives):

more election-rigging news from the one-party dictatorship that passes itself off as today's Republican Party - click here
the House moved toward passage of an $800B increase in the debt limit, a 37% rise over Bush's tenure to $8.134 trillion (j.A1>5)
with US $ sliding, investors are reaching for funds with foreign stocks & bonds (j.A1)
leading economic indicators fell in Oct. for 5th straight month (j.A1, t.C6)
others watch Ohio's power bill - despite [or because of?] deregulation, states' electricity rates may rise (j.B2)
Illinois ruling sides with gun makers - cannot be held accountable for crimes committed with weapons they make & sell (t.A19) - regardless of who they sell to or how automatic the weapons?
Afghan poppy growing reaches record level, UN says - fears that nation 'might degenerate into a narco-state' (t.A3) - Afghan opium cultivation rose 64% in 2004 to 60% of GDP & 87% of world supply (j.A1) = great little source of CIA slush funds

11/18/2004 thursday
- playing catchup after 3 trips to Canada to make sure democracy still exists (it does!) -
- we have 744 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 11/17/w: 1084 (11/19/03/w: 886; 11/20/02/w: 963) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

administrative & IT employees in BC govt have 35-hour workweek

right deed for wrong reason: cutting hours to offset escalating costs

Germans supposedly serious about 'need' to offset longer vacations with longer workweeks - in age of automation?!?

plus 12 other worktime-related items mainly from yesterday's GoogleNews

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

+ random glimmers of hope indexed to today's (j) Wall St Journal or (t) NYTimes (archives):

UPsizings: • unspecified new jobs as Fedex Corp. doubles branches in China to 16 by May (t.C4)
efforts mount to boycott Bush funders - see Buy Blue website (radio)
extension of ban on Internet sales taxes nears approval (j.A5) - now let's proceed against all sales taxes & restore taxes on superconcentrations of income & wealth
Canada is where the growth is - US less interesting (FP Investing.IN1) - Canadian dollar hits 12-year high as US greenback slides - Canadian bond issues rise despite bearish US data (FP Investing.IN2) - compare self-referencing US news: dollar plunges on Treas. Sec. John Snow's remarks, but stocks rise (j.C1) + don't worry but don't be happy = probable message of Conference Board today (j.C1)
Chinese move to eclipse US appeal in South Asia (t.A1) - as Bush drags US backward, rest of the world moves on without us - compare: world more dangerous since Iraq war, French PM Chirac says (t.A1>A16)
empty maternity wards imperil a dwindling Germany (t.A3) - in an overpopulated globally warming world, shouldn't that read 'make secure a less crowded Germany'?!
speaking of which - US agencies press effort to speed adoptions of US children (t.A18)
& in academe - Republicans outnumbered, studies find (t.A19) - let's hear it for Democrats & independents who are willing to accept those lower salaries
Sierra Club fights Bush's quiet OK of drilling under national parks (t.A20)
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) -

bogus growth thru takeovers = appetizers for DOWNsizing - (mega & banking archives):

downsizings

DOWNsizings (archives) - today's total, 500 jobcuts that made it into j (WSJ) or t (NYT):

500 UK jobcuts by Eastman Kodak due to declining demand for conventional film processing (t.C4)

DOWNsizing overviews noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT or (g) Boston Globe (archives):

a surge in entrepreneurship [ie: desperation?] - many minority women are opening their own businesses - some say they are driven by economic desperation... - to get ahead, own the store - of necessity, minority women become entrepreneurs - for one women, $5000 has grown into a business with 28 full-time workers (t.C1>10) - & for all the rest...?

DOWNsizing results = wastefully astronomical executive pay, perks & pensions:

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia: new CEO Susan Lynne's annual base salary = $900k (t.C4)

DOWNsizing results = eroding non-executive retirement (archives):

Pricewaterhouse was sued for allegedly using pension & 401K plans to enrich partners at the expense of regular employees (j.A1>C1)

DOWNsizing results = bankruptcies noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT (archives):

DOWNsizing results = prisons noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT (archives):

US District Judge Paul Cassell criticizes sentencing law after sentencing 24-year-old first-offender Weldon Angelos, a successful music executive with 2 young children, to a 55-year term for small-time marijuana dealing (j.A5)
Calif. settles lawsuit on problem-ridden juvenile prisons - will shift focus from punishment to rehab - Schwarzenegger announces at facility where guards beat prisoners in Jan. (t.A14)

headlines from HELL in (Wall St. Journal) j & (New York Times) t & (Bos.Globe) g (archives):

US dollar plunged after John Snow suggested its level should be valued by market, falling to record low vs. euro (j.A1)
Congress started work on omnibus spending bill tailored to Bush goals (j.A1) - Congress targets cuts in spending (j.A4)
a plague of toadies, a pResident blinded by flattery: op ed by Maureen Dowd (t.A29)
& speaking of Bush toadies - House Republicans change the rules to protect Tom DeLay (t.A1>20)
Senate votes to raise federal debt limit by $800B to $8.2 trillion = Bush's third big increase in federal borrowing (t.A1) - never mind Republican anti-govt rhetoric
Kerry ended race with $15m unspent (t.A16) - guess he was a wimp after all
for 9/11 families, payments ranged from zero to millions (t.A26) - wouldn't $1m apiece have been fairer?
Sempra Energy unit Southern Calif. Gas Co. manipulated natural gas prices during 2000-01 energy crisis: adminstrative law judge Charlotte TerKeurst found (j.A1>6)
assassination is an issue in trade talks - poster shows 10 union leaders killed - unions seek US help to stop Colombian killings (t.W1) - ah, US is probably doing it - see John Perkins' "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man"

11/17/2004 wednesday
- playing catchup after 3 trips to Canada to make sure democracy still exists (it does!) -
- we have 742 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 11/16/t: 1119 (11/18/03/t: 909; 11/19/02/t: 1014) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

job sharing in New Zealand

last week, US Treasury Dept & IRS proposed rules letting employees cut their hours & collect part of their pensions

plus 14 other worktime-related items mainly from yesterday's GoogleNews

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

+ random glimmers of hope indexed to today's (j) Wall St Journal or (t) NYTimes (archives):

coffee, tea & recycled cups - Starbucks plans to use recycled material in its coffee cups next year (t.C1>2)
gov't & professorial backers of Canadian studies push for bigger campus role (t.A24) - or maybe just continue to leave Canada alone?! - it's doin fine
US nursing shortage eased over the past 2 years due to better pay & a weak overall job market - but the crunch isn't over (j.A1>D5)
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) -

DOWNsizings (archives) - today's total, 6350+?? jobcuts that made it into j (WSJ) or t (NYT):

4000 Mich. jobcuts as Detroit school district plans to close 40 of its 253 schools (t.A21)
5% mostly German workforce cut (1250 jobs lost) as Schering drugs increases efficiency by cutting consumers, instead of just trimming 5% of its workweek (24 minutes a day for everyone, including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training & hiring & keeping everyone working, earning & buying 95% as many pharmaceuticals as before (t.W1)
1100 Maryland jobcuts as GM closes assembly plant in Baltimore (t.C4, j.C14)
unspecified cuts as Visteon autoparts offers to buy out workers (t.C4)

DOWNsizing overviews noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT or (g) Boston Globe (archives):

offshoring accelerating - US puts numbers of jobs sent overseas in 2004 at 406,000 = double the estimates (g.D1) - Timesizing deals with offshore outsourcing in Phase 5
middle-class, white-collar jobs leaving too, not just 'grunt' work (g.D1)

DOWNsizing results = wastefully astronomical executive pay, perks & pensions:

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia: new CEO Susan Lynne's annual base salary = $900k (t.C4)

DOWNsizing results = prisons noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT (archives):

US District Judge Paul Cassell criticizes sentencing law after sentencing 24-year-old first-offender Weldon Angelos, a successful music executive with 2 young children, to a 55-year term for small-time marijuana dealing (j.A5)
Calif. settles lawsuit on problem-ridden juvenile prisons - will shift focus from punishment to rehab - Schwarzenegger announces at facility where guards beat prisoners in Jan. (t.A14)

headlines from HELL in (Wall St. Journal) j & (New York Times) t & (Bos.Globe) g (archives):

Republicans want debt limit to rise by $800B to $8.184 trillion, 37% higher than Bush inherited in 2001 (j.A2) - where did real conservatism go? where did the real Republicans go - those who wanted small gov't & fiscal responsibility?
Bush makes it official, naming Rice to State Dept. (t.A19) - new Bush cabinet seen as move for more harmony & control [& repression] - close aides are taking over key departments (t.A1) = even less real feedback enters decision-making center
chief of CIA Porter Goss tells his staff to back Bush (t.A1) - the Bush revolution - having crushed the resistance in Falluja, Bush is now trying to do the same at the State Dept. & the CIA: op ed by Nicholas Kristof (t.A29)
Democrats seeking ways to shake secular image - some Democrats believe the party should get religion (t.A1>16) - the 'opposition' gets even less opposed
Kerry returns to Capitol, for the most part silent (t.A16) - guess he was a coward after all
US urges delay in health grants from global funds (j.A3)
Microsoft's conduct is challenged again in a patent-theft & monopolization case pending in federal court in Baltimore (j.A3)
Japan [& everyone else] sees weaknesses in economic recovery (j.A14)

11/16/2004 tuesday
- playing catchup after two rail trips to/in Canada to make sure democracy still exists (it does!) -
- we have 740 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 11/15/m: 1092 (11/17/03/m: 1092; 11/18/02/m: 958) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

Japan joins U.S. in cutting hours, but not in the best way = more part-timers with fewer benefits

Europe's sane refusal not to join U.S.'s self-destruction in invading Iraq & slipping back to 19th century working hours & living standards is brewing confrontation

plus 10 other worktime-related items mainly from yesterday's GoogleNews

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

+ random glimmers of hope indexed to today's (j) Wall St Journal or (t) NYTimes (archives):

Powell led a list of 3 more second-term Bush cabinet departures (j.A1, t.A1) - with sages like Powell, who needs wet kleenexes?
Hungarian troops to leave Iraq - lawmakers reject proposal for forces to stay thru March (t.A10)
US ex-soldiers ordered to war fight not to go - many who resist duty cite families at home (t.A1)
Safire will give up op-ed page column in NYT but will continue On Language column on Sunday (t.A13) - good! he's amusing on language, but moronic on politics & economics
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) -

DOWNsizing results = bankruptcies noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT (archives):

DOWNsizing results = eroding non-executive retirement (archives):

deficit soars at agency that insures pension plans = Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. - already highest in history, deficit doubled in last fiscal year to $23.3B (t.C1. j.A1>2)

DOWNsizing results = prisons noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT (archives):

even more escapes, drug traffic & guard turnover in private US prisons stir denunciations of plan to privatize in Quebec (montreal presse.A1)

headlines from HELL in (Wall St. Journal) j & (New York Times) t & (Bos.Globe) g (archives):

Bush asks Rice to succeed Powell - foreign-policy selections suggest a hard-line tilt (j.A3)
the US dollar is down: is it a cause for concern? (t.C1) - only if you want the US$ to continue as the international currency
gaps between Brazil & US threaten trade talks - Brazil's foreign minister Celso Amorim said the US is pushing Brazil 'to overhaul our entire economic framework' (j.A22) - hey, just like John Perkins says in 'Confessions of an Economic Hitman' - note neighboring article 'oil fuels Latin American spending binge' (j.A22) - e.g., on social improvements, much to US chagrin

11/13-15/2004 sat-mon (re fri biz)
- playing catchup after two rail trips to/in Canada to make sure democracy still exists (it does!) -
- #visitors to any of our 740 files, F Sa Su: 844,626,748 - wk's daily avg: 906 -
- miss yesterday's hope du jour? see Features below -
strategic hope = shared work = TIMEsizing awareness in weekend's GoogleNews:

taking vacations can cut burnout, increase creativity

city of Provo offers paid leave for employee organ donors

plus 18 other worktime-related articles - click here for details

+ random hope, indexing (j) Wall St.Journal, (t) NYTimes or (g) Bos.Globe (archives):

rally on retail sales data gives shares 3rd weekly gain (11/13 t.B4) = a pretty shaky reason
more 'fahrenheit'? 'Bush has got his sequel & now we'll have ours': Michael Moore (11/13 t.A18)
why Democrats need to stop thinking about elephants - a linguist's Rx for an ailing party - George Lakoff says, reframe the issues! (11/15 t.A20)
SEC is urged to enforce 'whistle-blower' provision (11/15 j.A6)
foreign companies have reacted to Sarbanes-Oxley corporate reform with the 5 stages of grief - with denial, anger & bargaining behind them, acceptance has arrived, at some point, healing can begin (11/15 j.C1)

vs. doom du jour tm for lack of timesizing, in j, t, & g (Boston Globe):

bogus hope = makework = PUFFsizings, creating unspecified new ‘jobs’ (archives):

Pentagon envisioning a costly Internet for war (11/13 t.A1)

DOWNsizing results = hyperconcentrated, uncirculating income in the top brackets:

ivory tower executive suite gets CEO-level salaries - a $1 million package for a top university president Wm.Brody of Johns Hopkins, while faculty pay lags [& tuition goes up & scholarships go down] - 42 presidents got over $500k last fiscal year (11/15 t.A17)

DOWNsizings - weekend's total = 12,500 +?? jobcuts that made it into j (WSJ) or t (NYT):

nearly 12,500 Russian lost jobs as maker of Izhavto autos closes Izhevsk plant (11/15 t.A3)
unspecified layoffs by Second Chance Body Armor Inc. bulletproof vest maker (11/15 j.C4)

DOWNsizing overviews noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT or (g) Boston Globe (archives):

labor shifts may slow work-force growth despite 'improving job market' = more discouraged, studying, stay-at-home, disabled, early-retired... (11/15 j.A2>9)

DOWNsizing results = eroding retirement noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT or (g) Boston Globe (archives):

Teamsters find pensions at risk (11/15 t.A1)
US Airways seeks to force cost cuts on workers, retirees (11/15 j.A18)

headlines from HELL (tm) from (j) Wall Street Journal or (t) NY Times or (g) Boston Globe (archives):

feed the billionaire, starve the students - no money for gyms, but a stadium for the sports moguls (11/15 t.A21)
lingering questions about the vote - 'mostly good reviews for electronic voting' - but 'mostly' is not good enough - 'perhaps if Bush had won in 200 honestly we would not be so quick to assume he didn't win this one fair & square' (11/15 t.A30)
safe haven signs are rejected in Lexington - a new Massachusetts law lets desperate parents abandon their unwanted infants at police stations, firehalls & hospitals (11/13 g.B1) = fruits of force-birth 'pro-lifers'?

weekend roll-up -
5 issues/wk - wk's avg homepage hits/issue: 51
hope of the weektm from the WSJ & the NYT:
• 69 TIMEsizing items • 4 UPsizings (3385 new jobs)
+ artificial ‘hope’ • 5 makework items
vs. doom of the weektm from the WSJ & the NYT
(totals weaken as we taper negative newswatch):
• 9 DOWNsizings, over 22,450 jobcuts • 4 bankruptcies • 7 eroding-retirement stories • 1 homelessness story
{{ytd: 1818 timsizg (2638+ new or sav'd jobs) + 133 upsizs (117149+ new jobs) + 382 makwrk (36816+ 'jobs') =
tot:156603=31% of cuts VS. 443 dnsz (512064+ cuts) +>166 bkrp($416m+) +>33 hmlss +>152 jail +>20 deth}}

11/12/2004 friday
- playing catchup after two rail trips to/in Canada to make sure democracy still exists (it does!) -
- we have 740 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 11/11/th: 981 (11/13/03/th: 858; 11/14/02/th: 829) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

Michigan state employees to get Election Day off, just as we called for on Take Back Your Time Day

59% of US employees are very satisfied with the amount of vacation time their employer provides - or are they?

plus 7 other worktime-related items mainly from yesterday's GoogleNews

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

+ random glimmers of hope indexed to today's (j) Wall St Journal or (t) NYTimes (archives):

AARP opposes Bush plan to privatize Social Security via 'personal accounts' (t.A18)
casting a vote for peace - Jimmy Carter says a fair election of a new Palestinian leader now that Arafat is dead may help renew peace talks (t.A23) - ah, Jimmy baby, Americans no longer have any standing to talk about 'fair elections'
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) -

DOWNsizings (archives) - today's total, 4500 +?? jobcuts that made it into j (WSJ) or t (NYT):

8% workforce cut (4000 jobs lost) as NY City Transit cuts costs & taxpayers, instead of just trimming 8% of its workweek (38 minutes a day for everyone, including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training & hiring & keeping everyone together working, earning & surfing 92% as much as before (t.C12)
500 jobcuts as Charles Schwab merges 19 branches (t.C4)
unspecified cuts as Visteon autoparts offers to buy out workers (t.C4)

DOWNsizing results = eroding non-executive retirement (archives):

as baby boom ages, era of guaranteed retirement income fades (t.C1) - ridiculous! - we have more technology doing more of the work for us than ever

headlines from HELL in (Wall St. Journal) j & (New York Times) t & (Bos.Globe) g (archives):

now the 'liberal' NY Times' attempts to gag inquiry into the rigging of the 2004 election: 'vote fraud theories, spread by blogs, are quickly buried' (t.A1)
Mary Eberstadt, author of Home-Alone America, concludes that day care increases chances that the children will be sick & unhappy, fatter & nastier (j.W10)
coastal West Africans are turning more to game meat, often of threatening species, due to overfishing by European fleets, a Science study says (j.A1)

11/11/2004 thursday
- playing catchup after two rail trips to/in Canada to make sure democracy still exists (it does!) -
- we have 740 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 11/10/w: 1014 (11/12/03/w: 1018; 11/13/02/w: 925) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

strike by Shanlin Technology employees in China gains them 2 days off per month & higher OT pay (& promise of on-time pay)

policies such as reduced schedules are saving Ernst & Young $10 million annually by reducing turnover, especially among female employees

more on Haworth Inc's market in vacation days in Michigan

plus 14 other worktime-related items mainly from yesterday's GoogleNews

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

+ random glimmers of hope indexed to today's (j) Wall St Journal or (t) NYTimes (archives):

UPsizings: • 285 (35+250) new jobs as Technologent opens facilities in fading rural towns in Great Plains (t.C2)
Canadian trade surplus falls (t.W1)
newcomers reinvent Denver with an unlikely idea : trains (t.A1) - what's so unlikely about trains? - oh yeah, this is obese America, where we can't move an inch without a car
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) -

DOWNsizing results = bankruptcies noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT (archives):

DOWNsizing results = homelessness in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT (archives):

homeless man kills bridge painter in Queens, police say - a request to move belongings, then shots at an overpass (t.C15) - great, now the NRA has armed the homeless

11/10/2004 wednesday
- playing catchup after two rail trips to/in Canada to make sure democracy still exists (it does!) -
- we have 739 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 11/09/t: 1074 (11/11/03/t: 1023; 11/12/02/t: 926) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

Mitsubishi/Australia scales back to 4-day workweek to cut inventory without downsizing

public service union in Britain proposes hours cut with no loss in pay

plus 10 other worktime-related items mainly from yesterday's GoogleNews

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

+ random glimmers of hope indexed to today's (j) Wall St Journal or (t) NYTimes (archives):

2 UPsizings with 2100 new jobs: • 1500 in 5 yrs as Dell builds assembly plant in N.C. (j.B8, t.C5)
• 600 as Honda builds plant in Ga. (j.A6)
it's really time to bury the electoral college - this potential disaster should be ended (j.A1)
Ashcroft resigns position in Bush's cabinet (j.A3)
some firms profit by Sarbanes-Oxley (j.B3A) - actually ALL U.S. firms benefit from less fraud & fewer conflicts of interest
SEC moves ahead to strengthen governance of US stock markets (j.C3) - but it's the Bush SEC so ... no credibility
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

+ clouded hope = makework = PUFFsizings, creating unspecified new ‘jobs’ (archives):

Pentagon begins broad review of weapons-buying practices (j.A6)

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

DOWNsizings (archives) - today's total, 5450 jobcuts that made it into j (WSJ) or t (NYT):

3000 jobcuts as Marsh & McLennan faces 94% plunge in earnings (j.A1>C3, t.C1)
900 cuts in NYC, London & Tokyo by Commerzbank (t.W1)
800 as Bombardier Recreational Products sells 2 plants (t.C4)
750 in Wash. & Va. by Capital One Corp. (t.C4)

DOWNsizing results = eroding non-executive retirement (archives):

companies sue union retirees to cut promised health benefits - firms claim right to change coverage & attempt to pick sympathetic jurisdictions (j.A1) - it's the end of US economic strength when American CEOs mount massive movement to break contracts - except those enriching themselves beyond the dreams of Midas
& the opposite = plaintiff cry: when retirees sue an ex-employer (j.A12)

headlines from HELL in (Wall St. Journal) j & (New York Times) t & (Bos.Globe) g (archives):

Internet buzz on vote fraud is dismissed (g.A1) - even 'liberal' Boston Globe leaps to bury discussion of rigging of presidential election & the end of 2-party democracy in America
greener pastures on Emerald Isle - as American dream fades, more Irish immigrants are going home (t.A21) - as in old USSR, people in once-free USA can still vote with their feet
foreign enrollment declines at US universities, surveys say (t.A15) - in 4 years, Bush has changed America from land of hope, freedom & intelligence into land of fear, oppression & ignorance - & has 4 more years to make it worse
insider selling-to-buying ratio is alarmingly high (j.C13)
Bush talks a strong dollar but lets it slide - tacitly approved, decline in US currency aids trade gap (j.A1) = more Bush hypocrisy
Senate Republicans will try again to open an Alaska refuge to oil drilling (j.A1>2) = 'Republicans' continue flushing America's future down the toilet

11/09/2004 tuesday
- playing catchup after two rail trips to/in Canada to make sure democracy still exists (it does!) -
- we have 739 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 11/08/m: 1057 (11/10/03/m: 1006; 11/11/02/m: 880) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

job sharing is spreading throughout eastern Virginia teachers

Maine has emerged as the most advanced state in removing one of the biggest obstacles to workweek reduction = health insurance tied to 40-hr/wk jobs

plus 9 other worktime-related items mainly from yesterday's GoogleNews

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

+ random glimmers of hope indexed to today's (j) Wall St Journal or (t) NYTimes (archives):

UPsizings: • 1000 new SC jobs as Citigroup builds call center in Fort Mill, SC (t.C4)
US judge halt war-crime trial at Guantanamo, citing Geneva Convention - rules Bush overstepped (t.A1)
Cuba ended circulation of the US$ to reduce its vulnerability to US sanctions (t.A6) = another blow for neo-con hubris
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

+ clouded hope = makework = PUFFsizings, creating unspecified new ‘jobs’ (archives):

Halliburton Co. disclosed that its TSKJ consortium/ joint venture may have bribed Nigerian officials to win multibillion-dollar contract (t.C1)
probe of Boeing's dealings with US Air Force is branching out to include $100B program it overseeas for US Army (j.A1) - $100 billion just for oversight???
panel of leading computer scientists urges Washington to finance research on fast computer (t.C4) - as if the wealthy computer industry needs more taxpayer charity

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

DOWNsizing results = bankruptcies noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT (archives):

NextWave Personal Communications Inc. et al. (j.B11)
Murray Inc. of Brentwood TN lawnmowers (t.C4)
Saltire Industrial Inc. (t.C3)

DOWNsizing results = wastefully astronomical executive pay, perks & pensions:

Charles Schwab Corp. makes $6.2m lump-sum payment to former CEO David Pottruck (j.C6)

DOWNsizing results = eroding non-executive retirement (archives):

former employees of Abbott Labs file suit to recover retirement benefits taken away when it spun off hospital products division where they worked (j.C6)
NJ votes to shift some responsibility for state pension-fund investing to outside money managers (t.C1>2)

headlines from HELL in (Wall St. Journal) j & (New York Times) t & (Bos.Globe) g (archives):

drag on high-tech & overall recovery = efficiency, companies doing more with less & not creating more jobs by buying more equipment (j.A1) - still swallow "technology creates more jobs than it destroys'?
new study put Sept.11 payout at $38B (t.A1) - trying to make up for all future earnings?? - what a mistake! - a $million apiece would have been more than enough, totalling $3B, especially since Oklahoma City families got zilch
climate scientists say Arctic is warming twice as fast as rest of planet & has lost 8% of its sea ice over past 30 years (j.A1) - so how much time left for switch to hybrid vehicles & beyond?
nuclear-power industry sees signs of US revival (j.A1) - oh no, it's ba-a-ack - try pounding another silver stake into its heart!

11/06-08/2004 sat-mon (re fri biz)
- playing catchup after two rail trips to/in Canada to make sure democracy still exists (it does!) -
- #visitors to any of our 739 files, F Sa Su: 829,588,722 - wk's daily avg: 877 -
- miss yesterday's hope du jour? see Features below -
TIMEsizing awareness = strategic glimmers of hope in weekend's GoogleNews:

4-day workweek long overdue, says Exec.VP of Canadian Labour Congress, Barb Byers

US does have minimum vacation legislation after all! - but only for execs

time´s up for Britain's opt-out of the EU 48-hr workweek max

3 stories on 'next big thing' = buying & selling vacation & sick time

plus 11 other worktime-related articles - click here for details

+ random glimmers of hope indexing (j) Wall St.Journal, (t) NYTimes or (g) Bos.Globe (archives):

337,000 jobs created in Oct. but jobless rate still rises, from 5.4 to 5.5% (11/06 t.B1)
Putin ratifies Kyoto Protocol on emissions (11/06 t.A7, 11/08 j.A1) - & the rest of the world moves on without the once-leading USA
Canada: another province, Saskatchewan, allows gay marriage, joining BC, Man., NS, Ont., Que., Yukon (11/06 t.A8) - that only leaves Newf., NB, PEI, NW Terr. & Nunuvut - & again, the rest of the world moves on without the once-leading USA

+ clouded hope = makework = PUFFsizings, creating unspecified new ‘jobs’ (archives):

military spending was again the fastest-growing part of the US budget - overall defense outlays are 55% greater than in 2000, the CBO said (11/08 j.A1>7)
Halliburton acknowledged that bribes may have been paid to Nigerian officials in connection with a natural-gas-plant contract (11/08 j.A1>5)

vs. doom du jour tm for lack of timesizing, in j, t, & g (Boston Globe):

DOWNsizings - weekend's total = 10,350 jobcuts that made it into j (WSJ) or t (NYT):

10,000 (6.1%) or more jobcuts planned by SBC by end of 2005 in addition to the 7000 planned this year (11/08 j.A1>B3, 11/06 t.B1>2)
300 cuts as Achor Glass Container Corp. closes plant in Connellsville PA (11/06 t.B4)
50 as Reuters Group PLC moves more editorial jobs to Asia (11/08 j.A11)

DOWNsizing overviews noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT or (g) Boston Globe (archives):

airline workers see little to cheer as crisis widens, cuts deepen & job eliminations are planned (11/06 t.B1)

DOWNsizing results = prison news (archives):

US female prisoner population is growing rapidly: Justice Dept. - up 3.6% to 101,179 in 2003; men's was up 2% to 1.4m (11/08 j.A1) - must be federal only, omitting state & city jails, because overall US total is 2.2m

headlines from HELL (tm) from (j) Wall Street Journal or (t) NY Times or (g) Boston Globe (archives):

dollar skids, despite stock rally & strong jobs report (11/06 t.B1)
oil price climbs 79 cents to $49.61/bbl (11/06 t.B4)
US expands list of lost missiles - 4,000 Iraqi weapons are reported to be missing (11/06 t.A1) - Bush didn't really want to stop 9/11 & he doesn't really want to calm Iraq

weekend roll-up -
5 issues/wk - wk's avg homepage hits/issue: 85
hope of the weektm from the WSJ & the NYT:
• 70 TIMEsizing items (1000+ new or saved jobs)
+ artificial ‘hope’ • 2 makework items
vs. doom of the weektm from the WSJ & the NYT (totals weakening as we taper neg. newswatch):
• 9 DOWNsizings, over 13,130 jobcuts --> • 1 eroding-retirement story • 1 prison story
{{ytd: 1749 timsizg (2638+ new or sav'd jobs) + 129 upsizs (113764+ new jobs) + 377 makwrk (36816+ 'jobs') =
tot:153218=31% of cuts VS. 434 dnsz (489624+ cuts) +>162 bkrp($416m+) +>32 hmlss +>152 jail +>20 deth}}

11/05/2004 friday
- playing catchup after two rail trips to/in Canada to make sure democracy still exists (it does!) -
- we have 739 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 11/04/th: 995 (11/06/03/th: 986; 11/07/02/th: 874) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

Texas paramedics win confirmation of overtime premium starting at 40 hrs/wk instead of 46.7

UK employers dream of American-style long working hours & short vacations, but this would be a nightmare for UK economy, & is based on 7 myths

plus 13 other worktime-related items mainly from yesterday's GoogleNews

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

+ random glimmers of hope indexed to today's (j) Wall St Journal or (t) NYTimes (archives):

Dow surged 177.71 points to 10314.76, but whole platform sinks as dollar falls (j.A1>1, t.A1)
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) -

DOWNsizings (archives) - today's total, 450 jobcuts that made it into j (WSJ) or t (NYT):

450 jobcuts as Armstrong Holdings vinyl flooring of Lancaster PA cuts production (t.C3)

headlines from HELL in (Wall St. Journal) j & (New York Times) t & (Bos.Globe) g (archives):

'why we lost' - Democrats have ideas but no vision (t.A27) - full commentary under 'diagnosing the underlying disease' 11/05/2004
fighter jet strafes NJ school during a nighttime training mission (t.A23) - with US military training missions like this, who needs foreign terrorists?
report says problems led to skewed surveying data (t.A19) = another attempt to discredit the remarkable accuracy of exit polls
Bush focus on social security & tax code (t.A1) - meaning 'target on'

11/04/2004 thursday
- playing catchup after two rail trips to/in Canada to make sure democracy still exists (it does!) -
- we have 739 textfiles: #visitors yesterday 11/03/w: 988 (11/05/03/w: 940; 11/06/02/w: 898) -
strategic hope = TIMEsizing news (click here for DETAILS):

Europeans enjoy short working hours & long holidays, both sustainable & necessary for sustainability, but also early retirement & generous welfare systems, both unsustainable

in fact, recent survey found 20% of Europeans feel they can't fulfil their family responsibilities because of working hours still too long

plus 10 other worktime-related items mainly from yesterday's GoogleNews

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

+ random glimmers of hope indexed to today's (j) Wall St Journal or (t) NYTimes (archives):

Hungary joins Spain, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras, Philippines, Poland & Netherlands in pulling troops out of Iraq (t.A8) - compare tomorrow: Doctors Without Borders plans to leave as security tightens (11/05, t.A10)
running the numbers, for last 50 years Democratic administrations have outperformed Republican counterparts on 3 of 4 measures: Dow: D, 11.3% vs. R, 10.3%; unemployment: 5.6% vs. 6%; & GDP growth: 4% vs. 2.7%, but not inflation control: 5% vs 3.7% (boston globe.E1) - a little bit of inflation can help deconcentrate & activate wealth
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) -

DOWNsizings (archives) - today's total, 1310 jobcuts that made it into j (WSJ) or t (NYT):

950 jobcuts as Amren Corp. of St.Louis offers severance to employees of former Illinois Power Co. (t.C4)
conservative est. 200 Euro cuts as Commerzbank Securities unit scales back (j.C6)
160 cuts as Credence Systems Corp. of Milpitas CA closes 2 plants (t.C4)

DOWNsizing overviews noted in (j) WSJ or (t) NYT or (g) Boston Globe (archives):

one industry in India cheers Bush's victory - outsourcing companies are jubilant (t.W1)
Germany: unemployed up 12,000 to 4.46m, but jobless rate steady at 10.7% (t.W1)

headlines from HELL in (Wall St. Journal) j & (New York Times) t & (Bos.Globe) g (archives):

beaten again, Democrats ponder shift in philosophy (j.A1) - a stunned party looks to internal debate ahead - Democrats are left wondering just how to proceed (t.P8) = ideas but no vision
how insiders were fooled - bloggers leaked secret data giving Kerry early lead (j.B1) - why secret? because exit polls had become so accurate that they discouraged west-coast voters from voting & so they were banned - but this article is another attempt by the rightwing to destroy exit polls' high reputation - & cover their