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

10/31/2000 tue
- Phil Hyde on Emily Rooney's 'Greater Boston' tonite, Ch.2 at 7 & Ch. 44 at 11:30
& Larry Kratka's show on Pittsfield radio WUPE AM tomorrow, 11:30am-12n
11 takeovers reported, totaling $3.35B + $??
+ 3 downsizings reported, totaling 2126 lost jobs:
• 1500 US jobcuts as Pep Boys autopts shuts 40 facilities & cuts costs (morale & mkts)
• 400 US jobs cut as Prudential Securities leaves the institutional fixed-income business
• 2% workforce cut (226 Mass. jobs lost) as Raytheon breaks its bargain with Mass.
legislators & taxpayers yet again, instead of just trimming 2% of its corporate
workweek (10 mins/day) for everyone, adjusting workloads & keeping
everyone employed, earning & shopping without anxiety
+ omens: • Dutch family doctors protest 70-hr workweeks & low pay
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• 1 UPsizing (unspecified Chinese jobs) - now Shell to spring for 50% of $4B petrochemical plant
• unemployed reader nails CEO for whining about lack of qualified job candidates
while doing no retraining & gazing past over-45s & the disabled

10/29-30/2000
weekend roundup per the NY Times and the Boston Globe:
• 24 takeovers reported this past week, worth $57.1B + $??
• 21! downsizings reported this week costing over 6,144 lost jobs
• 5 corporate fines/settlements mentioned @ $105m+ (no bankruptcies)
vs. 3 UPsizings (1800+ new jobs) + 3 UNtakeovers reported ($??)
< YTD:  490 dnsz (491,491+  jobcuts) +1906 takov ($2134.4B+) vs. 122 upsz (82,041+=17%) +121 untak ($111.51B+) >
+ 1 weekend homeless story: • UMass/Amherst offers homelessness course
+ 2 weekend prison stories: • growing use of solitary lockdown for the presumed innocent
• many convicts now prefer jail to probation & jail fashions have permeated our culture
+ omens: • Dumbing Down of Mgmt - Boston's Brookline wealthy cheat their cops of
comptime for overtime cuz they can't think of way to cover without more overtime
• partitioned brain re Education - hi regard for it, lo regard for its providers
vs. weekend glimmers of hope: • fullpage Nader ad in Boston Globe - from Greg MacArthur??
• reader: "major-party offerings = hold your nose or your wallet"  • Kuttner whacks 2-party system
but wimps out where it counts (+ Safire explodes myth that "vote for Nader takes vote from Bush")
• more sparky readers: "GW=WG?" & "don't not-vote in protest, vote conscience!"

10/28/2000 sat (re fri biz)
- Hyde-Friedgen debate on Boston (BNN) ch.23 & RCN ch.15, Sun 3:30-4:30 pm -
3 takeovers reported, totaling $6.31B + $??
+ 2 downsizings reported, totaling 100+?? lost jobs:
• 50% workforce 'move' (100 Seattle jobs) as CVS.com transplants HQ to R.I.
• unspecified jobs in the air as American Homestar 'temporarily' closes Tex. plant
+ omens: • tho' 1/3 working mothers & fathers & 2/5 undecided voters deem
work-family balance their biggest daily test, BushanGore ignore
• HMO morass hits middle class with shock-level premiums
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• 1 UPsizing (1800 China jobs) - now IBM to sink $300m
into new Shanghai plant (can't these guys do anything original?!)
• thanks to AP article, Nader gets big frontpage foto in regional newspaper(s)

10/27/2000 fri
- Phil Hyde on Jean Caya Bancroft show, New Bedford WBSM AM 1420, Sat., 7-8 am
Hyde-Friedgen debate on Boston (BNN) ch.23 & RCN ch.15, Sun 3:30-4:30 pm -
4 takeovers reported, totaling $4.03B + $??
+ 4 downsizings reported, totaling 1704 lost jobs:
• 6% workforce cut (1500 Pa. jobs lost) as York heating&cooling tries to
save $60m/yr, instead of doing 6% workweek cut (to five 7½-hr days)
& keeping everyone working, earning, & buying furnaces & fridges
• 15% staff cut (114 Ma. jobs lost) as Nextera web consulting overreacts
to slowing demand, instead of having 15% hrs&pay cut (to 34-hr wk) for all,
incl. top execs, & keeping everyone together working, earning & surfing the Net
• 90 jobs to go at Pa. plant (3 days after firing 77 at Miss. plant) as Alcoa worsens
slumping sales to truckmakers etc, by clobbering their skillset & their morale
• unspecified cuts as Scout Electromedia & its Modo.net city
guide run out of money & shut down
+ 1 prison mention: • Prisoner power! - NAACP registers 11,000 new voters
+ omens: • global-warming warning is dire
• Mass. candidates spend $1000's with little opposition
vs. glimmers of intelligence: • Congress urges Clinton to settle with Indians
• WTO rules against biggest promoter of free trade - for everyone but itself
• comic Barry Crimmins launches pre-election rant & begs the question that Timesizing answers

10/26/2000 thu
- Phil Hyde on Jean Caya Bancroft show, New Bedford WBSM AM 1420, Sat., 7-8 am
(& Hyde-Friedgen debate on Boston (BNN) ch.23 & RCN ch.15, Sun 3:30-4:30 pm -
only 2 takeovers reported, totaling $2.07B + $??
but 5 downsizings reported, totaling 1440 lost jobs:
• 40% workforce cut (700 Welsh jobs lost) as Matushita consumer electronics gets
freaked by falling exports due to weaker euro, instead of doing 40% workweek cut in
Wales (to 24-hr wk) & keeping everyone working, earning & shopping for electronics
• 400 previous Welsh jobs lost last week as Sony blazed the trail for Matushita
• 64% cut (250 N.C. jobs) as Crown Crafts shifts focus & outsources manufacturing
• 15% staff cut (50 Welsh jobs lost) as PNV trucking supply gets hysterical about rising
fuel prices & industry slowdown, instead of having 15% hrs&pay cut for all (to 34-
hr wk) & keeping everyone together working, earning & driving their pickups
• 30% of upper mgmt cut (40 So. Korea jobs lost) as Daewoo Motor counts too
heavily on Ford's cancelled takeover & fails to pay employees this month
+ 2 corporate settlements reported, totaling $8m + $??:
• CBS pays $8m for discriminating vs. female techies
• Microsoft's WebTV unit must correct impression it
can make your TV browse as well as your PC
+ omens: • soaring Treasuries show more worry re economy than inflation
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• Nader gets boost from Globe op ed & NYT frontpage foto

10/25/2000 wed
- Phil Hyde on Fairhaven WBSM/WFHN Jean Caya Bancroft show, this Sat., 7-8 am
(& Hyde-Friedgen debate on Boston (BNN) ch.23 & RCN ch.15, Sun 3:30-4:30 pm) -
8 takeovers reported, totaling $642m + $??
+ 3 downsizings reported, totaling 847 lost jobs:
• 16% workforce cut (700 US-Canada jobs lost) as Tenneco shock absorbers
exaggerates shock of falling but continuing profits, instead of doing 16% workweek
cut for all (to 33.6-hr wk) & keeping everyone working, earning & buying autoparts
• 20% plant staff cut (77 Miss. jobs lost) as Alcoa helps along a slowdown in construction
instead of having a 20% hours&pay cut for all (to four 6-hr days)
& keeping everyone employed, earning & building together
• 70 Dallas jobs lost as Beal Aerospace, faced with
NASA's subsidized monopoly, shuts down
+ 1 corporate settlement report, totaling $97m:
• MicroStrategy settles for misstating earnings since '97
+ 1 homeless report - after 7-yr battle, 200 homeless
workers get $816k due to dollar-an-hour pay
+ omens: • Kennedy refuses to debate
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• 1 UNtakeover - AT&T splits in 4
• Nader gets $300,000 boost from billionaire's grandson

10/24/2000 tue
- Phil Hyde on Somerville Channel 3, Wed. 6-6:30 pm &
Hyde-Friedgen debate on Boston (BNN) ch.23 & RCN ch.15, Sun 3:30-4:30 pm -
6 takeovers reported, totaling $43m + $???
+ 5 downsizings reported, totaling 1343 lost jobs:
• 8.2% workforce cut (900 US jobs lost) as Lexmark restructures,
instead of having an 8.2% workweek cut for all (to 36.7-hr wk)
& keeping everyone together working, earning & buying printers
• 40% staffcut (240 Ca. jobs) as Stamps.com cuts costs (& own mkts)
to try for profitability, instead of doing a 40% hours&pay cut for all
(to 24 hrs/wk) & keeping everyone employed & coming up with ideas
• 100 early New York City retirements at International Flavors & Fragrances
• 25% workforce cut (63 So. Korea jobs lost) as Hyundai Engineering vs.
having a 25% workweek cut for all (to 30-hr wk) & keeping
everyone together, working, earning & building homes
• 40 Chicago jobs lost as BKN Media shuts down
+ 2 corporate fines/settlements, totaling $425k:
• Galoob pays $400k for not reporting doll defects
• Mass. fines NJ daytrader All-Tech Direct $25k
+ 1 prison mention: • NY mulls shrinking prisons
+ omens: • even some French don't get it -
Bank of France scared of 35-hr workweek
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• 2 UPsizings - Intel sinks $400m into new plant in Shanghai
- Staples opens call center in Belgium
• 1 UNtakeover - Constellation Energy splits
• reader captures highlights of Bushonomics

10/22-23/2000
weekend roundup per the NY Times and the Boston Globe:
• 41 takeovers reported this past week, worth $60.74B + $??
• 20! downsizings reported this week costing 15,790 lost jobs
• 4 corporate fines/settlements mentioned ($35m+)
• 6 bankruptcy mentions, with $43B + ?? debt
vs. 2 UPsizings (200+ new jobs) + 1 UNtakeover reported ($??)
< YTD:  466 dnsz (485,347+  jobcuts) +1882 takov ($2077.3B+) vs. 119 upsz (80,241+=17%) +118 untak ($111.51B+) >
+ $45B weekend takeover reported: • GE engulfs Honeywell
Also, 2 weekend downsizings reported, totalling 710 job cuts:
• 550 NJ jobs to go when GE closes Honeywell's HQ after takeover
• 98% workforce cut (160 NYC jobs lost) as Eve.com ceases operations
vs. weekend glimmers of hope:
• 1 weekend UNtakeover - ZymoGenetics to split from parent Novo Nordisk
• reader nails the case for the undecided - & 3rd partiers
• Nader presses on despite wavering from old allies

10/21/2000 sat (re fri news)
- Phil Hyde on 'WB in the morning' (Boston channel 56) Mon. 6-6:30 am
& Hyde-Friedgen debate on BNN ch.23 & RCN ch.15, Mon. 10 pm -
5 takeovers reported, totaling $918.3m + $??
+ 5 downsizings reported, totaling 1399 lost jobs:
• 2.6% workforce cut (920 US jobs lost) as Owens-Illinois closes 2 glass
container plants to cut costs, instead of doing 2.6% workweek cut for all
(15½ mins a day) & keeping everyone together working, earning & shopping
• 207 cuts or move-or-else's as Lund outsources production in Minn. & shrinks 8 into 5
• 21% staff cut (200 Minn. jobs) as LaCrosse cuts costs (& its own best boosters), versus
having a 21% hours&pay cut for all (to 31.6 hrs/wk) & keeping everyone employed
• 10% workforce cut (60 US jobs lost) at Drugstore.com, vs. having a 10% workweek cut
for all (to 36 hrs/wk) & keeping everyone together, working, earning & e-buying pills
• 12 + unspecified cuts & move-or-else's as News Digital Media toadies to Murdoch
+ 2 bankruptcies cited: • $43B Kyoei Life in Japan, new postwar record 11 days after old
• $?? Elias Brothers Corp., the Big Boy Restaurant franchiser
+ omens: • study finds many big strings attached to IMF bailouts (140 for Indonesia)
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• 1 UNtakeover - Panic splits ICN Pharma in 3 (we are not making this up)
• $5m bill to save apes sent to da Big Ape  • Jimmy Carter dumps Southern Baptists
• tech colleges warm toward humanities (or is it the $$? - like when drugstores started stocking dairy)

10/20/2000 fri
- Phil Hyde on 'WB in the morning' (Boston channel 56) Mon. 6-6:30 am
& Hyde-Friedgen debate on BNN ch.23 & RCN ch.15, Mon. 10 pm -
8 takeovers reported, totaling $1.78B + $??
+ 6 downsizings reported = 1460 lost jobs (getting 'em outa the way before Xmas, boys?):
• 4.8% workforce cut (1100 US jobs lost) as Cooper Tire shuts/sells/scrunches 18 sites to
cut costs (& its own best markets), instead of doing a 4.8% workweek cut for all
(29 mins a day) & keeping everyone working, earning & buying tires
• 10% staff cut (140 Mass. jobs) as Mass. Turnpike strains against patronage, instead of
having a 10% hours&pay cut for all (4 hrs/wk) & keeping everyone employed
• 17% workforce cut (125 US jobs lost) as Smith & Wesson over-reacts to boycott, vs.
having a 17% workweek cut for all (to 33.2 hrs/wk) & keeping everyone working
• 1.6% staff cut (70 US-Canada jobs lost) as UCAR graphite electrodes hits sales slump,
instead of 1.6% hours&pay cut for all (38 mins/wk) & keeping everyone employed
• 7% workforce cut (25 US jobs lost) as Redherring.com integrates StockMaster.com
takeover & pouts that it didn't more than quadruple revenues, instead of 7%
workweek cut for all (incl. CEO) & everyone stays employed & websurfin'
• ?? worldwide cuts as Textron shuts/shmushes 20 mfg sites due to sales slump
+ 1 corporate settlement: • gallery settles with Al Hirschfeld, cedes control of his work
+ 1 bankruptcy cited: • assets of broke CollegeClub.com sold to Student Advantage
+ omens: • study finds many big firms pay no taxes
vs. glimmers of intelligence: • Scott Adams hilites the family downside of overwork • Congress tries
to undo water controls after they've killed half the Everglades • new female head-of-state in Sri Lanka
• UN forum sticks neck out & condemns Israel war crimes • reader blasts media for trivial no-issues
political coverage • American Indians get new clout from casino profits

10/19/2000 thu
- Phil Hyde on David Brudnoy (WBZ AM 1030) tonite 8-9 pm -
6 takeovers reported, totaling $3.5B + $??
+ 2 downsizings reported, totaling 6500 lost jobs:
• 8% workforce cut (4000 jobs lost worldwide) as Ingersoll-
Rand eliminates duplication after its Hussman takeover, instead of
having an 8% workweek cut for all (to 36.8 hrs) & keeping everyone working,
earning & maintaining the consumer base (= the foundational 2/3 of the economy)
• 2% staff cut (2500 U.S. jobs) as International Paper closes 3 mills to streamline,
instead of having a 2% hours&pay cut for all (48 mins a wk) & keeping everyone
together, employed & shopping freely for paper products & Xmas wrapping paper
+ 2 corporate settlements, totaling $35m:
• MP3.com to pay music publishers $30m for breach of ©
• Lockheed Martin pays Burbank residents $5m for sickening pollutants
vs. glimmers of intelligence: • web attempt to save endangered languages
• columnist attempts to save self from floods of fantastic email

10/18/2000 wed
- Hyde & Friedgen debate tonite Ch.3 Somerville, recablecast Mon. eve Boston Ch.23 -
- Phil Hyde on David Brudnoy Thurs. nite 8-9 pm -
8 takeovers reported, totaling $16.37B + $??
+ 4 downsizings reported, totaling 1071 lost jobs:
• 450 Ill. jobs lost as Firestone reacts self-destructively to post-recall sales slump
• 246 lost La. jobs as Williamette forest products closes Ruston plywood plant
• <200 Pa., Oh., & NC jobs lost as Trinity Industries transportation closes 3 plants
• 20% workforce cut (175 Tenn. jobs lost) as iPIX focuses on hottest biz units
(& clobbers morale), instead of doing 20% workweek cut (to four 8-hr days)
& keeping everyone working, earning & e-shopping
+ 1 bankruptcy cited: • Paul Harris clothing files Ch. 11
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• 2 UPsizings - HomeRuns.com bucks trend & hires 200 in DC
- Canuck biochem firm opens product development ctr in Northboro MA
• timesizing twist - LA transit authority wants convert overtime into hiring, union resists
• Krugman slams Bush & Gore for gouging good times instead of prepping for bad,
but doesn't examine 3d-party platforms like Nader's

10/17/2000 tue
10 takeovers reported, totaling $2.17B + $??
+ 3 downsizings reported, totaling 5360 lost jobs:
• 7% workforce cut (4000 worldwide jobs lost) as newly merged
'Chevron Texaco' saves $1.2B, instead of doing 7% workweek cut (2
hrs & 48 mins) & keeping everyone together working, earning & buying gas
• 29% staff 'affected' (1100 Dixie jobs lost) as Wiener's retail clothing goes bust
& bags 44 'underperforming' stores, instead of doing 29% hrs&pay cut (to four
7.1-hr days) & keeping everyone employed, earning & buying clothes
• 26% workforce cut (260 US jobs lost) as Horizon Pharmacies cuts
costs (& mkts), instead of doing 26% workweek cut (to four
7.4-hr days) & keeping everyone earning & shopping
+ 7-in-1 corporate settlement: • NASD, goaded by SEC, fines
Prudential, Lehman & 5 others $213k for improprieties
+ 2 bankruptcies cited: • Weiner's retail clothing files
• Joan & David assets bought by Maxwell Shoe
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• economist cuts to the chase - prez debates still skirting income gap

10/15-16/2000
weekend roundup per the NY Times and the Boston Globe:
• 8 downsizings reported this past week, costing 3,900 lost jobs
• 25 takeovers reported this week, worth $23.34B + $??
• 3 corporate fines/settlements mentioned ($1.51B+)
• 4 more bankruptcy mentions, with $27.08B+ debt
vs. 5 UPsizings (200+ new jobs) + 1 UNtakeover reported ($??)
< YTD:  446 dnsz (469,557+  jobcuts) +1841 takov ($2016.56B+) vs. 117 upsz (80,041+=17%) +117 untak ($111.51B+) >
+ 4 weekend takeovers reported, totaling $36B + $undisclosed
+ omens: • nationwide crisis in hospital finances & staffing
vs. weekend glimmers of hope:
• some companies starting to train, but on old detached model
• FCC chairman Kennard slams TV networks for playing to the mob & stiffing political candidates

10/14/2000 sat (re fri biz)
6 takeovers reported, totaling $3.68B + $??
+ 1 downsizing reported, totaling 550 lost jobs:
• 25% work force cut (550 lost Minn. jobs) as Federated Stores clobbers newly acquired
Fingerhut e-sales for not meeting arbitrary goals in 19 mos., instead of doing 25% work
week cut (to 30-hr) for all, including top mgmt, & all keep working, earning & e-shopping
+ 2 bankruptcies = latest Internet casualties: • $2.8m Scour Inc. • $?? Chipshot.com
+ omens: • complete breakdown in "Franken-corn" tracking system
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• small farms (& biodiversity?) make a comeback  • even rock bands need more time with family

friday the 13th, halloween month/2000
- if CEOs keep this up, they'll bring the economy down...
5 takeovers reported, totaling $1.48B + $??
+ 5 downsizings reported, totaling 3065 lost jobs:
• 8.3% workforce cut (1500 lost US jobs) as Unisys
worsens falling earnings with 'voluntary' retirements, instead of
8.3% workweek cut (3.3 hrs) for all, & everyone keeps earning & buying
• 5% staffcut (800 Ind. jobs) as NiSource energy does post-takeover cost- (& morale-)
cutting, instead of 5% hrs&paycut for all (2 hrs/wk) & everyone stays employed
• 5% jobcut again (525 US jobs) as Hasbro further softens demand for toys &
shuts offices, vs. 5% hourscut & everyone keeps working & toy-shopping
• 160 NYC jobcuts as Urbanfetch.com closes website (what's that leave??)
• 80 US job lost as Tribune Interactive 'consolidates operating efficiencies'
+ omens: • Globe columnists unnerved by Internet Depression prediction
• more technology, less service - now we have to checkout our own groceries?!
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• EPA strips Aventis' license to sell Franken-corn  • FTC goes after drug firms for stifling generics

10/12/2000 thu
2 takeovers reported, totaling $10.59B + $undisclosed
+ 1 downsizing reported: • 135 So. Korean executives 'resign' to aid
Daewoo Motor's restructuring under debt workout plan of Aug/99
+ 1 corporate settlement: • Roche buys patent rights
from Chiron for $?? to settle part of dispute
+ 2 bankruptcies: • Drypers • General Cinemas
+ 1 prison mention: • death penalty's toll on staff
+ omens: • poverty deepens in former Commie lands
- our savage capitalism is no improvement
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• 1 UPsizing - Darden Restaurants to open 100 restaurants in next 2½ yrs
• Kostunica good at setting limits  • L.A. strikers feature concept of 'fair share', but definition??

10/11/2000 wed
4 takeovers reported, totaling $1.36B + $undisclosed
+ 1 downsizing reported: • 23% workforce cut (150 Burlington MA jobs lost) as
Open Mkt web S/W continues in the red, instead of doing 23% workweek cut
(to 31 hrs) & keeping everyone together working, earning & patronizing the web
+ 1 corporate settlement: • 6 leading vitamin makers to pay $1.497B for price fixing
+ 1 bankruptcy mentioned: • $75m, Loehmann's discount clothing emerges from Ch. 11
+ 1 suicide story: • another harikari = ex-VP of big ($17B debt) bankrupt dept.store Sogo,
Yukio Nakazawa, 74, one of previous mgrs sued by current mgmt for mismgmt
+ omens: • new book ad in NYT biz section & Business Week =
"The Coming Internet Depression"
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• 2 UPsizings - Alpha Industries to add 200 jobs in Haverhill, Mass.
- IBM to add 1000 jobs but extort $660,000 from taxpayers for each one
• Euro antitrust awake & active  • Polaroid will cut CO2 emissions 25% in 10 yrs
• Genetic ID chairman troubled by premature commercialization of genetic engineering

10/10/2000 tue
no downsizings reported, but...
8 layoff-inducing takeovers reported, totaling $6.59B + $undisclosed
+ 1 corporate settlement: • Boston Scientific pays CR Bard $13.3m for crowding patent
+ 1 bankruptcy mentioned: • $27 billion, Chiyoda files biggest postwar Japan bankruptcy
+ omens: • a double! - fuel prices up, esp. heating oil, but major factor, SUVs..., gulp on
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• 2 UPsizings - Royal Ahold to open 600 stores by 2001 yr-end, including 100 in USA...but too much?!
- House of Blues Entertainment to open nine clubs in eight cities by 2001
• Conservatives in England lighten up on drugs after a few 'admissions'

10/08-09/2000
weekend roundup per the NY Times and the Boston Globe:
• 13 downsizings reported this past week, costing over 4,625+ lost jobs
• 31 takeovers reported this week, worth $45.26B + $undisclosed
• 4 corporate fines/settlements mentioned ($125.5m+)
• 4 bankruptcy mentions, with $3.33B+ debt
vs. 3 UPsizings (2500+ new jobs) + 4 UNtakeovers reported ($251m+)
< YTD:  438 dnsz (465,657+  jobcuts) +1816 takov ($1993.22B+) vs. 112 upsz (79,841+=17%) +116 untak ($111.51B+) >
+ weekend omens: • another Depression cue - loans are tightening
vs. glimmers of hope: • 1 weekend UNtakeover - AAR/Bob Wolf Partners undoes 1998 merger
• the fight vs. patenting the obvious  • market for PCs is satisfied - now we downsize or Timesize
• columnist Scot Lehigh reconstructs what Nader would have said if included in the prez debate

10/07/2000 sat (re fri news)
2 takeovers reported, totaling $152m + $??
+ 2 downsizings reported, totaling 965 lost jobs:
• 565 Carolina jobs lost as WestPoint Stevens bedding closes 2 plants & consolidates
• 400 Penn. jobs to go as LTV steel closes plant in competition with cheap imports
+ 1 corporate settlement: • TheStreet.com & its cofounder to pay $10,000 + $??
vs. glimmers of intelligence: • scifi writer & MIT students pan prez-a-dunce-shell debates

10/06/2000 fri
4 takeovers reported, totaling $225m + $undisclosed
+ 3 downsizings reported, totaling 2175 + unspecified lost jobs:
• 1800 German jobs lost as Siemens self-mutilates to 'increase
competitiveness' in response to EU rate hikes & previous takeover
• 375 Conn. jobs to go as WebHouse Club & Perfect Yardsale,
2 licensee-affiliate-suppliers of Priceline.com, go out of business
• unspecified US jobcuts as Polo Ralph Lauren closes 23 stores & gloms
more tightly onto the luxury market & the increasingly targeted rich
+ 2 bankruptcies mentioned, totaling $3.0026B in debt:
• $3B, Owens Corning finally succumbs to unending asbestos suits
• $2.6m, New England Fidelity Insurance of W. Springfield has a 'negative surplus'
+ 1 prison mention: • reader squawks about prison as cure for crime
+ omens: • consumers expected to cut back on holiday spending this yr
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• 2 UNtakeovers - Time Warner-EMI & NBT Bancorp-BSB Bancorp ($251m)
• Serbs liberate Belgrade  • Roth & Moynihan join battle vs. corporate tax shelters
• reader hilites dependence of wealthy on masses & proposes taxcuts for training

10/05/2000 thu
8 takeovers reported, totaling $24.67B + $undisclosed
+ 1 downsizing reported: • 2% workforce cut (200 Ga. jobs lost)
as Gulfstream bizjets “cuts costs & increases efficiency” instead of doing a
2% workweek cut & keeping everyone together, employed, earning, & spending
+ omens: • cross-border takeovers intensify global concentration of capital
& erode own foundations (consumer markets) further
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• 1 UNtakeover - Millipore spins off microelectric unit
• Serbs' pro-Kostunica non-violent resistance spreads 
• Spanish truckers' non-violent resistance succeeds - gas tax cut
• first stage debate of 2 corporate parties' cowardly candidates in US bars Nader & bores voters

10/04/2000 wed
4 takeovers reported, totaling $1.14B
+ 5 downsizings reported, totaling 485 + unspecified lost jobs:
• 1.3% workforce cut (170 East Coast jobs lost) as Grand Union supermarkets lose
competition with Wal-Mart, Price Chopper & Marketbasket & face bankruptcy again,
instead of doing 1.3% workweek cut & keeping everyone employed & foodshopping
• 140 jobcuts as Mallinckrodt health products drops a brand of oxygen concentrators &
closes corresponding operations in St. Charles, Mo in accord with Invacare agreement
• 17% staff cut (100 lost Mich. jobs) as Spartan Motors overreacts to slump in RV chassis
mkt by dropping Carpenter schoolbuses & shutting 1 of its 4 Charlotte, Mich. operations,
instead of just doing a 17% hours&pay cut for all (to 33 hrs) & keeping everyone working
• 75 jobcuts as Anicom computer cable cuts costs & pumps up profit
• ?? jobcuts as Elias Bros. closes 2 restaurants in Ohio & 3 in W.Va.
+ 1 corporate settlement: • American Home pays FDA $30m for drug mfg violations
+ 2 bankruptcies mentioned: • $330m in debt, Philippine National Steel to liquidate
• Grand Union supermarket chain goes Chap. 11 for 3d time in 6 years
+ omens: • economic indicators drop for 4th month, home sales down 3%
• more visas for cheap pretrained megahour foreign youngsters approved
• federal judge blocks requiring Frankenfood labeling and safety testing
vs. glimmers of intelligence: • 2 UPsizings - Electrica Fenosa builds $600m Mexico powerplant
- Affymetrix DNA chip technology invests $100m and hires scientists for genetic research in California
• 1 UNtakeover - Mexican antitrust orders Cintra airline monopoly to split up Mexicana & Aeromexico
• takeovers cooling?  • panel proposes brakes for RR takeovers
• Haile Selassie finally gets decent burial  • reader says, let UN be world's policeman, not US

10/03/2000 tue
- a real labor shortage exists only when wealth is deconcentrating into wages -
13 takeovers reported, totaling $12.07B + $??
+ 2 downsizings reported, totaling 800 + unspecified lost jobs:
• 6.7% workforce cut (800 lost midwest jobs) as Tower Auto phases out some heavy
mfg in Milwaukee & closes its Kalamazoo stamping operation, instead of just doing
a 6.7% workweek cut for all (to 37.3 hrs) & keeping everyone working & spending
• unspecified jobcuts as Kibu.com nears the end of its first $22m in venture
capital & runs out of corporate suckers (oh sorry, that's) support
+ 2 corporate settlements/fines: • Quorum Health settles 2 fraud suits for $95.5m
• Mitsubishi Motors gets $37k fine for not reporting car problems
+ 1 prison mention: • yesterday the disabled, today the incarcerated get job interviews
+ omens: • GOP Congress reveals its true gov't-spending colors, passes $24B
spending bill loaded with home-district pork for re-election purposes
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• 1 UPsizing - 2500 new NH jobs as Cisco opens new plant  • 1 UNtakeover - Equifax splits in 2
• Massachusetts moves toward saving rainwater  • Swiss move toward decriminalizing marijuana

10/01-02/2000
weekend roundup per the NY Times and the Boston Globe:
• 16 downsizings reported this past week, costing over 8,437+ lost jobs
• 37 takeovers reported this week, worth $26.79B + $undisclosed
• 8 corporate fines/settlements mentioned ($603.3m+)
• 1 bankruptcy mention, with $$undisclosed debt
vs. 2 UPsizings (60+ new jobs) + 0 UNtakeovers reported
< YTD:  425 dnsz (461,032+  jobcuts) +1785 takov ($1947.96B+) vs. 109 upsz (77,341+=17%) +112 untak ($111.26B+) >
+ 1 weekend takeover report, totaling $7B
vs. glimmers of hope: • Nader rally in Boston draws 12,000
• Internet economy boosts disabled - employers change attitude
• Russia tries coaxing massmurderer Milosevic to step down
+ Features: • "Mr. Timesizing" challenges Ted Kennedy & his $4m warchest in Y2K Senate race
• why bother with Timesizing when we've got record "low unemployment"?!
• bibliography page • lost key to small government • website reactions
• embryonic legislation page  • 30-hour bill page  • opus errata
• New feature - Porter & Warsh on takeovers