2001-09-01

2001-09-02

2001-09-03

2001-09-03
Matthew Boyle _Fortune_
Going Down: just how low you would go to get a job
"Take Ramona Gonzales -- please.   The 33-year-old former magazine editor jumped to the on-line world in 1996 and rose fast, ending up as content-strategy director at Ogilvy Interactive in New York City.   After making partner in May of last year, she was canned 5 months later.   Out of work for almost a year -- to make ends meet, she's hostessing at a restaurant -- Gonzales has had to widen her net considerably.   'I'm resigned to the fact that, if I can get a job, I'll be making a lot less than I was making before.', she says.   Gonzales even sent in her resume for an executive assistant position, only to learn that 7K others had done so as well.   'I've been applying for jobs that I'm completely over-qualified for, and I can't even get an interview.', she says."

2001-09-03
Michael Heylin _American Chemical Society_
2000 Starting Salary Survey: good salaries and job opportunities
"Median base salaries for 1999–2000 chemical engineering graduates with less than one year of technical work experience prior to graduation were 5 to 6% higher than those for the 1998–99 class at all degree levels.   Similarly, inexperienced master's degree and Ph.D. chemistry graduates posted gains of 5 to 6%.   Bachelor's degree chemistry graduates did even better, with an apparent 12% upsurge over the salaries being paid one year earlier.   The rate of inflation for the year was close to 3%.   For all chemistry graduates responding, median base salaries were $34K for those with a bachelor's degree, $45K for master's graduates, and $65K for new doctorates.   Chemical engineering graduates did better, with medians of $50K, $56,700, and $72K, respectively...   45% of doctoral graduates who took full-time jobs.   This is up from 43% for the previous class and from a considerably lower 35% as recently as 4 years ago.   On the other hand, the 41% of 1999–2000 chemistry doctorates taking up postdocs was down from 45% of the 1998–1999 class and 51% of the 1996–97 class...   However, it should be noted that the ACS graduate survey was taken just as the longest and strongest economic expansion in U.S. history was cresting last Fall.   Since then, economic growth has dropped from a heady 5% annual rate to an anemic 1% or less, and the pace of hiring chemical professionals has slowed somewhat..."

201-09-03
Jim Pinto _Connections for Growtn and Success_
RIFs, lay-offs and golden hand-shakes
"In the past, the industrial automation business was stable - unlike the up-today-down-tomorrow high-tech stars and the dot.com darlings. However, these days big lay-offs seem to be the only solution the current leaders of major automation companies seem to be able to come up with."
 

2001-09-04

2000-09-04
Vincent Lepine _Weekly Economic Letter_
Leading Economic Index warning (pdf)
"The U.S. Conference Board's Leading Economic Index (LEI) [sic] is currently flashing a warning signal.   Is a recession looming...?"
NBER says recession that troughed in 2001 April ended 2001 November.   The stock market crashed 2000-03-10.   The STEM job markets were already diving by 2000 September, and general job markets in mid-2001.   STEM product sales were tanking all through 2001 and 2002.   Job markets still had not fully recovered by the end of 2016.

2001-09-04
_American Free Press_
Block Trade Deal with Red China says Sanders
"Bernie Sanders made the following remarks on the House Floor on July 19 regarding the revocation of Permanent Normal Trade Relations with [Red China].   Our trade relations with [Red China] have been an unmitigated disaster for American workers.
  Today, we have an $84G dollar trade deficit with [Red China] which has caused the loss of hundreds of thousands of decent paying jobs, and the lowering of real wages.   The bottom line is that American workers should not be forced to 'compete' against the desperate people in [Red China] who are forced to work for 20 cents an hour, who are unable to form unions, and who lack the most basic democratic rights.
  Most Favored Nation (MFN) with [Red China], and Permanent 'Normal' Trade Relations (PNTR), are the result of an unholy alliance between corporate America and the corrupt Chinese communist leadership.   In exchange for giving support to the [Red Chinese] government, corporate America has been given the opportunity of investing tens of billions of dollars in [Red China] and hiring workers there at extremely low wages.
  The big losers in those transactions are American workers who are thrown out on the street when their jobs go to [Red China]...
  Our trade deficit with [Red China] is the largest in the world and has increased from $68G in 1999 to $83.8G in 2000, surpassing the U.S. trade deficit with Japan for the first time.   Our trade deficit in goods has increased by $104G from last year to a record $449.5G this year.   Over the past 10 months, the manufacturing sector has lost 675K jobs, as more and more U.S. companies set up shop in [Red China].   In other words, PNTR for [Red China] has been a disaster for American workers.
  MFN grants [Red China] access to the most lucrative market in the world: the United States.   In terms of worldwide imports to the U.S., [Red China] accounts for 62% of all shoes and sneakers, 83% of all toys and sporting goods, 76% of all umbrellas, and 54%of all leather goods...
  Religious groups from throughout the world, including the Catholic Church, have decried [Red China's] human rights record.   Since passage of PNTR, [Red China's] human rights abuses have grown even worse.   Presently there are 6M to 8M political, religious, ethnic and labor activists in [Red Chinese] forced labor camps.   About 300K of them are held without trial, as was a 5-year-old American child in 2001 February.   His mother, a U.S. resident, continues to be held hostage in [Red China] today...
  Let me be very clear in stating that I want the United States to have a positive and friendly relationship with the Chinese people...   Further, I want to see China become an integral part of the world's economy.   But that does not mean granting preferential trading status to [Red China]."
 

2001-09-05

2001-09-05 07:49PDT (10:49EDT) (14:49GMT)
_USA Today_/_Reuters_
August Lay-Off Plans Fell 32%
"Announced job cuts totaled 140,019, down 32% from July when companies announced 205,975 lay-offs, out-placement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas said.   However, job cut announcements grew 145% this month compared with 2000 August.   U.S. firms have announced a total of 1.1M lay-offs so far this year, only 165,736 fewer than the combined total for 1999 and 2000, Challenger said."
 

2001-09-06

2001-09-06
_Phoenix Management Services_
Lending Climate in America
"When asked which sectors were least attractive, lenders were eager to share their lack of confidence, with 63% naming E-Commerce Companies and 51% naming Software Developers."

2001-09-06
Linda Rosencrance _ComputerWorld_
Job cuts pass 1M mark
"There have been 1,123,356 job cuts in the USA so far this year, an increase of 83% over the 613,960 cuts announced in all of last year, according to out-placement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas Inc.   In fact, the total number of job cuts so far this year is just 165,736 less than the cuts announced in 2000 and 1999 combined, Challenger said in a statement.   In August, 140,019 job cuts were announced, with the telecommunications industry being particularly hard hit, according to the Chicago-based company, which tracks job-cut figures daily.   During the past 3 months, that total reached 470K.   While the August job-loss figure was one-third lower than the 205,975 cuts announced in July, it was still 145% higher than the 57,221 cuts recorded in 2000 August.   'Job seekers are likely to find they are competing not only against more candidates but against the likelihood of a lot more out-sourcing of jobs.', said John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray and Christmas."

2001-09-06
Lydia Saad _Gallup_
67% oppose making attaining citizenship easier for illegal aliens; 41% think that immigration into the USA should be decreased
"in a Jun. 11-17 survey, Gallup found that only 14% of Americans think that immigration to the United States should be increased, while 41% think that it should be decreased and 42% think that it should remain as it is.   This general pattern has remained constant for the 4 decades Gallup has asked this question, starting in 1965...   Only 17% of Americans, according to a Gallup foreign policy poll conducted this February, have a 'very favorable' view of Mexico.   This contrasts with 51% who have a very favorable view of Canada, 43% of Australia, and 41% of Great Britain.   When factoring in those who feel 'mostly favorable' about Mexico, the total percentage of Americans who have a favorable view of their Southern neighbor is much larger, 67%.   However this is still substantially lower than the 85-90% who have an overall favorable view of the United States' 3 major English-speaking allies, and puts Mexico on par with Israel, Egypt, and Brazil..."
 

2001-09-07

2001-09-07
Don Kazak _Palo Alto Weekly_
Tight times force JCC lay-offs
"The Palo Alto Jewish Community Center is not only gearing up to build a new home, but is facing lay-offs for 8 staff members in a belt-tightening move.   The JCC lost $140K over the last 2 years, on an annual budget of about $4.5M, said Sandy Blovad, the JCC's executive director."

2001-09-07
Tony Brown _Job Destruction News-Letter_
Indian H-1Bs are not superior and Aframericans are not cry-babies
"there are 225K Aframerican engineers, programmers and systems analysts, yet only 1,688 Black professionals are employed in the Silicon Valley companies (four-fifths of which fail to even file equal employment opportunity forms) and, according to Mr. Aiyar, 'half of the start-up companies in Silicon Valley today are owned by Asians' (mostly Indian and Chinese), he places the blame at the feet of what he perceives as competition-challenged Blacks...   According to a study by Mr. John Templeton, despite a 16% gain nationally, the employment of Aframerican engineers in the Pacific states fell 20% from 1998-1999."
 

2001-09-08

2001-09-09

2001-09-10

2001-09-10
Penelope Patsuris _Forbes_
Lay-Off Tracker
Jan. 30 | Amazon.com | 1,300 | 15%...
Jan. 29 | DaimlerChrysler | 26,000 | 20%
Jan. 29 | Xerox | 4,000 | 4%
Jan. 26 | Hewlett-Packard | 1,700 | 2%...
Jan. 24 | Lucent Technologies | 16,000 | 13%
 

2001-09-11

2001-09-12

2001-09-13

2001-09-14

2001-09-15

2000-09-15
Prem Anand _The Indian Programmer_
H1B: A Balanced View
 

2001-09-16

2001-09-16
Carrie Johnson _LA Times_
Job Cut-backs Fueling Anger at Immigrant Workers
"As lay-offs continue to batter US technology workers, forcing them to hunt aggressively for jobs after a decade-long boom, some are striking out at those who came to America as skilled laborers under the H-1B visa program.   The rising tide of overseas workers during uncertain economic times has contributed to a deep and growing anger toward the H-1B program, said John Miano..."
 

2001-09-17

2001-09-18

2001-09-19

2001-09-19
James Fulford _V Dare_
National Origins Quotas Or Moratorium? America Smells The Coffee
 

2001-09-20

2001-09-20
_Yahoo!_
Lay-Off Stories Index
more
 

2001-09-21

2001-09-22

2001-09-22
Michael Godwin quoted in Damien Cave & Katharine Mieszkowski _Salon_
God bless Big Brother: Law enforcement officials are taking advantage of the war on terrorism to get everything they ever wanted
"The politics of this is: Let's try to get our wish-list passed in the name of preventing terrorism, because Congress is unusually receptive right now.   It's a Department of Justice bill written by career Justice people who have a long-standing agenda and see the opportunity to put things in that they have always wanted to have."
 

2001-09-23

2001-09-22 23:14PDT (2001-09-23 02:14EDT) (06:14GMT)
Paul Rogers, Elise Ackerman & Leigh Poitinger _San Jose Mercury News_/_National Lawyers Guild_
Oracle boss, Ellison, urges national ID kkkards, offers free software, scoffs at right to privacy
"'We need a national ID card with our photograph & thumb-print digitized & embedded in the ID card.', Ellison said in an interview Friday night on the evening news of KPIX-TV in San Francisco.   'We need a database behind that, so when you're walking into an airport & you say that you are Larry Ellison, you take that card and put it in a reader & you put your thumb down & that system confirms that this is Larry Ellison.', he said.
  Ellison's company, Oracle, based in Redwood Shores, is the world's leading maker of data-base software.   Ellison, worth $15G, is among the world's richest people.   'We're quite willing to provide the software for this absolutely free.', he said...
  Attempts by the Mercury News to reach Ellison for further comment Saturday were unsuccessful.   Many questions about the proposal remain unanswered, such as whether foreign nationals would be required to have a card to enter the country...
  Oracle has a long-standing relationship with the federal government.   Indeed, the CIA was Ellison's first customer, & the company's name stems from a CIA-funded project launched in the mid-1970s that sought better ways of storing & retrieving digital data...   The FBI already has an electronic finger-print system for criminals.   In 1999 July, the FBI's Integrated Automated Finger-print Identification System became operational.   That system keeps an electronic data-base of 41M finger-prints, with prints from all 10 fingers of people who have been convicted of crimes."

2001-09-23
_War-Time Liberty_
Larry Ellison Demands National ID KKKards for Americans
"Larry Ellison of Oracle has surpassed Bill Gates as the most hated CEO in the universe.   In a television interview Friday night, Ellison called for a national ID card -- using Oracle data-bases, of course.   Quoth Ellison: 'We need a national ID card with our photograph & thumb-print digitized & embedded in the ID card...   We need a database behind that, so when you're walking into an airport & you say that you are Larry Ellison, you take that card & put it in a reader & you put your thumb down & that system confirms that this is Larry Ellison...   We're quite willing to provide the software for this absolutely free.'"

2001-09-23
U of Oregon _IT in Social Sciences_/_San Jose Mercury News_/_NewsScan Daily_
Ellison Proposes National Identification System
"Ellison argues that shoppers now have to disclose more information to make a purchase at a shopping mail than they do to get on an airplane, & poses the following question: 'Let me ask you.   There are 2 different airlines.   Airline A says before you board that airplane you prove you are who you say you are.   Airline B, no problem.   Anyone who wants the price of a ticket, they can go on that airline.   Which airplane do you get on?' [Answer: Air-line C, on which most passengers are properly armed.]"

2001-09-23 17:02:37PDT (2001-09-23 20:02:37EDT) (2001-09-24 00:02:37GMT)
Matt Drudge _Drudge Report_
Bush comtemplating national ID kkkard for all citizens
"Oracle Chairman and CEO Larry Ellison this weekend called for the United States to create a national identification system -- and offering to donate the software to make it possible -- free-of-charge.   'We need a national ID card with our photograph and thumb-print digitized and embedded in the ID card.', Ellison said in an interview Friday night on the evening news of KPIX-TV in San Francisco."
 

2001-09-24 2001-09-23 17:02:37PDT (20:02:37EDT) (2001-09-24 00:02:37)
Matt Drudge
Bush Contemplates National ID KKKard for All Citizens
"it will be virtually impossible for anyone to live a normal life without the new ID card in England - possession of a valid card will be necessary for boarding an aircraft, buying gas, opening a bank account, starting a job or claiming government benefits...   ORACLE's Ellison said in the electronic age, little privacy is left anyway.   'Well, this privacy you're concerned about is largely an illusion.', [Oracle's Larry Ellison] told PIX's anchor-man Hank Plante.   'All you have to give up is your illusions, not any of your privacy.   Right now, you can go onto the Internet & get a credit report about your neighbor & find out where your neighbor works, how much they earn & if they had a late mortgage payment & tons of other information.'"

2001-09-24
David Smith _anti-state.com_
Boycott Oracle!

2001-09-24
Sumner Lemon _IDG_/_ComputerWorld_
Ellison offers free software for national ID KKKards
_NetWork World Fusion_
Oracle's Ellison offers free software for US ID KKKard system

2001-09-24
Michaela Cavallaro _The Industry Standard_
Private Eyes: Privacy advocates raise alarms
CNN: Private eyes
"The Boston Globe reported on the readiness of state motor-vehicle agencies to respond to calls for a national identity card, which would have a digitized fingerprint embedded in it, or at the very least, a magnetic data strip which would be checked at airports & border crossings."
Privacy links
 

2001-09-25

2000-09-25
Dot-com Job Cuts Escalate

2001-09-25
_The Conference Board_
Consumer Confidence Index Drops Sharply
"While survey results conducted before & after the terrorist attacks on September 11 differed slightly, there was no reversal in the downward trend of the Index.   The further erosion in confidence continues to be fueled by deteriorating labor market conditions & weakening business conditions.   Consumers rating business conditions as favorable fell from 27.7% to 22.0%.   The percent of consumers claiming jobs were "hard to get" increased from 16.0% to 18.5% in September.   Expectations for the next 6 months were even more pessimistic..."
more Conference Board info

2001-09-25
Christopher T. Heun _Information Week_
Retail Spending Still Growing, But Slower
"The National Retail Federation has revised forecasts for the fourth quarter, predicting that spending will increase by 2.2% over last year instead of the 4% previously forecasted.   The federation also predicts 2001 holiday retail sales will increase between 2.5% to 3.0% over 2000.   The estimates cover general merchandise, apparel, furniture, home furnishings, electronics, & appliance stores."

2001-09-25
Jeff Jacoby _Jewish World Review_
speaking out against terrorism
 

2001-09-26

2001-09-27

2001-09-27
_National Consumer Coalition Privacy Group_
Privacy Villain of the Week: Oracle's power-mad, ID-happy CEO Larry Ellison
"Sadly, in times of fear, control freaks exploit the opportunity to gain more control.   One such freak this go-round is Larry Ellison, chairman of software giant Oracle Corp., who offered to 'donate his company's services to create a national identification card database.   Oracle's privacy record to date includes hiring dumpster-diving, Clinton-connected private investigators last year to harass sympathizers of rival MSFT during the latter's anti-trust case.   Since floating the ID idea on a San Francisco TV station last Friday, Ellison has refused further comment and indeed, his remarks appear to have disappeared from a transcript posted on the station's website.   Privacy advocates can hope this idea has disappeared, at least for the time being, with today's report that President Bush has rejected the idea.   But all the time in the world won't disappear Ellison's title as September 27th's Privacy Villain of the Week."
Privacy links

2001-09-27
Andy Goldberg _Silicon Valley Diary_
Ellison attacks privacy
"Clinging to our old ideas of privacy, Ellison says, is just childish indulgence.   In the electronic age, little privacy is left.   'This privacy you're concerned about is largely an illusion.', he insists.   'All you have to give up is your illusions, not any of your privacy.   Right now, you can go on to the internet & get a credit report about your neighbour & find out where your neighbour works, how much they earn & if they had a late mortgage payment & tons of other information.'"
Privacy links

2001-09-27
_ACLU of Northern California_
More on Ellison's attacks on Privacy "'Privacy is an illusion.'   That's how Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Inc., began the discussion about National ID cards after September 11.   In the _New York Times_ Magazine & the _Wall Street Journal_, Ellison promoted a national ID system linked to a national data-base that would cross-reference information about every aspect of our lives.   'I do think this data-base will exist & I think Oracle will run it.', says Ellison.   'And we're going to track everything.'"
Privacy links

2001-09-27
David Horowitz _Front Page Magazine_
think twice before you bring the war home
see also: David Horowitz 2013 _The Black Book of the American Left: vol1 My Life and Times_ pp103 et seq.

2001-09-27
"The FBI doesn't need to read more e-mail, install roving wire-taps, redefine terrorism, or get any of the new powers in the Patriot Act.   The FBI simply needs to rediscover the power of old-fashioned detective work -- & pay better attention when it gets warnings that terrorists plan to launch a deadly strike against Americans." --- Robert D. Novak 2001-09-27
 

2001-09-28

2001-09-28 (re-posted 2007-11-18)
Bob Woodward _Washington DC Post_ pg A1
in hijacker's bags, a call to planning, prayer and death

2001-09-29

2001-09-30
 

2001 September
Daniel S. Greenberg _University of Chicago_
The Hidden Dynamics of the Great American Scientific Enterprise

2001 September
Keay Davidson _Scientific American_
Bloated, Whiny and Self-Important: Is the Scientific Bureaucracy the Quintessential Special-Interest Group

2001 September
Daniel Pipes
the Muslim claim to Jerusalem

2001 July - September

Ohio Mass Lay-Off Statistics for 2001 Q3 (pdf)

2001 August/September
James V. DeLong _Reason_
How New Deal-era regulations has failed to keep up

2001 Fall
_Arizona Department of Economic Security_
BLS Program, WARN Can Give Details of Lay-Offs
_Arizona Economic Trends_
(citing David Leonhardt _NY Times_
When lay-offs are announced, numbers don't always add up
quoted in 2001-02-20 _East Valley Tribune_ pg B1)
"Fast forward to the Spring of 2000.   Stock prices were at an all-time high & just a company's association with the Internet meant instant name recognition & added value to its stock price...   Then... the bubble burst.   First stock prices began to fall, then companies seeing their business value shrinking, started liquidating assets, most notably their workers.   Internet business became synonymous with red ink, & instant millionaires began filing for bankruptcy.   The high-tech industry was (& still is) hit the hardest...   And mining businesses, suffering from low copper prices, began abandoning Arizona & other states for cheaper labor in South America & Third World countries.   Then the events of [2001] September 11th sent further shock waves through an already shaky US (& Arizona) economy...   Nationally, Challenger, Gray & Christmas has compiled a list of corporate lay-offs since 1993, while DES, Research Administration's bi-weekly Industry Update... compiles reports on expected lay-offs & hirings...   However, when details of the Whirlpool lay-offs were made known later, it turns out a majority of the cuts occurred over-seas, which have little or no effect on the US economy.   Another problem with the media reports is that while the job-cut number may be accurate, the type of lay-offs do matter.   According to a NY Times article, many job-cut announcements indicate permanent lay-offs, when in reality most of the job losses may come from attrition & retirement...   One of the best sources of data comes from US Department of Labor's Mass Lay-Off Statistics (MLS) program...   Another source of job-loss information is from data compiled from Worker Adjustment & ReTraining Notification Act (WARN) [passed in 1988 August] notices.   With some exceptions, the WARN laws requires medium-size & large companies to give early notification (at least 60 days) to workers & communities when they plan major lay-offs or are closing a plant...
According to a General Accounting Office (GAO) report, even in the strong economic years of 1983 & 1984 -- when US employment increased about 5% -- more than 1M workers lost their jobs due to business closure or permanent mass lay-offs in establishments with more than 100 workers, with another million jobs likely lost in smaller establishments.   Making matters worse, between 1979 January & 1984 January one-fourth of all displaced workers were without a job for a year or more.   And of those returning to work, the majority took a cut in earnings, either through lower wages or acceptance of part-time employment in place of a full-time job."

2001 Fall
_Howard Systems International_/_InfoGate_
"IT" UnEmployment Rate Hits Historic High
"A year ago, 'IT' unemployment stood at 1.7% in September & 2.6% in October.   Since the last recession, 'IT' unemployment averaged about 2.5 percentage points below the overall jobless rate.   That changed this Fall.   The September 'IT' unemployment rate surpassed the overall jobless rate by 0.3 percentage points for the first time since the BLS began tracking 'IT' unemployment in 1983.   Some economists see a connection between higher 'IT' unemployment & lower IT spending.   A decline in technology spending began in mid-2000 as the dot-com bubble began to deflate & the Y2K problem faded."

2001 Fall
_Howard Systems International_/_InfoGate_ IT UnEmployment Rate Hits Historic High
"The biggest IT areas for staffing growth in 2002 will be applications development (34%), security, (32%) & technical support or help desk (30%)."

2001 Fall
Deboran van Opstal _Issues in Science and Technology_
Skills Imperative
"As recently as 1960, over half of prime age workers had not finished high school, and only 1 in 10 had a bachelor's degree.   Today, only 12% of the population has not finished high school, and over a quarter of the population has a bachelor's degree or higher...   Expand the tax incentives for employer-provided tuition assistance.   The current benefit is limited to undergraduate education and should be expanded to include a wider range of educational opportunities, including two-year vocational or academic tracks at community colleges as well as graduate studies.   Nondiscrimination clauses in the credit could be strengthened to ensure that lower-skilled employees can also take advantage of the training...   A large part of student funding comes through university research grants that typically finance research assistantships.   This may be an increasingly important part of graduate student support, since direct stipends from the government have steadily declined since 1980.   Because students tend to gravitate toward fields where money is available, their specialization choices are sometimes dictated by the availability of research funding rather than their own interests or market needs.   Romer points out that this leads to a paradoxical situation of a Ph.D. glut coinciding with a shortage of scientists and engineers in key disciplines.   He proposes a new class of portable fellowships that would allow graduate students to choose a preferred specialty based on a realistic assessment of career options rather than the availability of funds for research."

_BigCharts.com_ S&P Retail Index
Note the signs of weakness shown in the dip from 1998 July through November, relatively flat 1999, and the drop all through 2000.

AAA southern California fuel prices
AAA national fuel prices
AAA state by state

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