John Kerry

[Frank S.]

They would be incentives under the form of lower taxes for companies who elect to retain American workers in their position.
Honestly I don't think it would work, in that outsourcing is still perceived to reduce operating costs greatly: a tax break would not quite match the savings, and, well, money goes where it's wanted most...
Having said that, outsourcing is no longer the 'mother lode' it once was: Indian companies and others now have so much demand for their services that they can afford to pick and choose, as well as raise their prices.
That's what we've seen with the three companies we contract with: they no longer compete, so much as collaborate in terms of pricing and levels of service. Getting to be quite the headache.
We're currently bracing for some serious cuts in our workforce here.
Short sighted (failed) initiatives and their associated costs have cut severely into our profits and we've lost much of the market share to a couple competitors in particular.
The talk again is of the company being bought. Which in turn will mean even more lay offs prior to restructuring.
Did you know what the pace of personal bankruptcy filings is, here?
One every fifteen seconds.
Pretty much on par with the 12 months period ending in March 2003, marginally higher, actually.
I'll post more info if you guys are interested, but right now my eyes are bugging out from drafting documentation to justify keeping my job and train replacements if it comes to that.
You gotta love it: the bosses asking you what you do, how, and what service you provide.
Amazing, really...

[harry hackedoff]

Yee Haw there, Musky
Oooraggggh

[Marina]

Thanks for the info Frank,

I know that there are so many mergers of big companies going on within the pharamceutical industry with alot of job losses too.
They have cut alot of funding in antibacterial research and development which is bad news especially with the increasing rate of antibiotic resistance.

However, the the analysts say the US job market is picking up again.
I don;'t know how true it is but a friend in NYC was saying a while back that the US govt is encouraging people to start their own small businesses and giving them financial incentives to do so .

[Whitey]

The economic conditions are getting worse. Bush counts fast food as a manufacturing job, that is why the numbers look better.
Maybe Bush needs to go, but Kerry? He has no plan. 250 million people where anyone can be president and this is all the 2 parties can present to us voters. Sad, real sad. Just goes to show, the American dream ended with JFK. :n00b:

[harry hackedoff]

Hey, big guy, how`s it hanging
Clock this guy, he`s got a great name
www.hackworth.com


Big Fat Quote

America would be a whole lot safer if the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, was flying for Virgin Airlines, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was competing on "Survivor." Both war leaders have done so miserable a job honchoing the military side of our critical conflict against global terrorism, and in the process so jeopardized our national security, that they should be sacked for dereliction of duty.

Contrary to continuing political spin, Iraq and Afghanistan both are running sores with little promise of even a long-term turnaround, and our world today is far more dangerous than it was before 9/11. Unless there's a 180-degree change in overall strategy, the USA is doomed to follow the same bloody path through these two brutal killing fields that the Soviet Union took in Afghanistan.

The mighty sword that Rumsfeld and Myers inherited four years ago - the finest military force in the world - is now chipped and dulled. And the word is that it will take at least a decade to get our overextended, bone-tired soldiers and Marines and their worn-out gear back in shape.

Top generals like former NATO commander Wes Clark and a squad of retired and active-duty four-stars warned long before the invasion of Iraq: Don't go there. It doesn't involve our national security. It's not the main objective in our war with international terrorism. Even retired four-star Colin Powell said that if we go to Iraq and break the china, we own it. But know-it-all Rumsfeld and go-along-to-get-along Myers totally ignored this sound military advice.

Before the invasion of Iraq, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki, a distinguished soldier with counter-guerrilla campaigns in Vietnam and Bosnia under his pistol belt, was asked by Congress how many soldiers he thought would be needed for the occupation phase in Iraq. His response: A minimum of 200,000.

Rumsfeld treated this courageous soldier - who left half a foot in the Vietnam Delta - like a leper for telling a truth that was obviously contrary to party lockstep. And Shinseki's spot-on troop estimate was discredited and ridiculed by senior Pentagon chicken hawks like Paul Wolfowitz, a man who dodged the draft during Vietnam and wouldn't know a tank from a Toyota.

Even though Rumsfeld and Myers know zilch about ground fighting in an insurgent environment, they were convinced "Shock 'n' Awe" would do the trick, just as another military dilettante, former SecDef Robert McNamara, believed the big hammer would win in Vietnam, a war where the USA dropped three times the bomb tonnage and used twice the artillery firepower than was used in all of World War II.

Space doesn't allow for the long laundry list of what went wrong after the Iraqi army was predictably defeated by a brilliant "Wham, Bam, Goodbye Saddam" air-and-ground attack and the present occupation phase kicked off. But the key screw-ups are:
· Our ground units went in far too light. They didn't have - and still don't have - sufficiently trained numbers and the right force mix to cope with the growing mess on the ground.
· There wasn't an effective plan to deal with the looting, rioting and civil disorder or the early insurgent attacks. Army and Marine skippers in Iraq from company to division tried to put out four-alarm fires without sufficient force, equipment and logistics. Crisis management prevailed.
· Iraqi police, civil-defense corps, the regular army and border-patrol units - which could have prevented much of the chaos and civil disobedience that followed - were precipitously disbanded.
Unkwote

Rumsfeld and Myers give me the shits and I`m not even American there, Musky Real piece of crap is Mr Wolfobich. Complete, total, supreme example of a grade A farking dick head who not only hasn`t got a clue, but also influences other dick heads who have even less of a clue, there George
It`d be funny if it wasn`t true.

What you bin up to Whiteboy? Thought you went to the Raq,mate

[Whitey]

Harry I'm going to make movies. Iraq, yeah I was going to go, but the contractors seem to busy trying to figure out how to keep this thing going than end it. Politics every place you look. It is about money to these guys, and Bush getting re-elected so they get 4 more years of work, not gettting the bad guys. Oh they say they want to get the bad guys, but well I can PM you with the deatails. It paid well but for an idealist like me it was shallow.
Goals sem to be money first mission last.

[Artist]

Whitey

Just keep yourself safe OK?

Artist

[Frank S.]

Can't answer for Whitey, there, but I think that the changing of rules for contractors and the low probability of anything close to success (stability, etc.) in Iraq are reasons enough not to get involved at this point.
I've brought up before another aspect of national security which is often overlooked, and that is: what exactly do our troops have to look forward to after they get back stateside?
Many of them (reservists) have by now lost their civilian jobs, supposedly protected by federal law, some, who owned their business, lost it and filed for bankruptcy.
Today, it is morning here, the markets have taken a bit of a dive because of an unexpected rise in jobless claims.
I find that dee-licious. Really delish.
In the last quarter of 2003, we kept hearing about how the economy was on the mend. Productivity was up, other indicators pointed at a rebound, and my company began targeting affluent investors at the expense of so-called small investors, offering advice services and confusing pricing tables which turned off a good portion of our customer base.
This initiative was announced with great fanfare with TV commercials, etc.
At the time, I went to my boss questioning the wisdom of it, pointing at continuing negative industry trends and serious global issues which impact the US economy.
I was particularly concerned by confusing pricing methods and too many levels of service, with some redundancy in financial advice applications, but I also saw it for what it was: a management heavy company with hundreds of VPs, directors of varying seniority trying to justify their existence and that of their enterprise by selling shit nobody actually needs. All this at fairly great cost to the company.
That fell on deaf ears.
Fast forward six months: we've lost 20% of market share, most of which from our customer base, by chasing affluent folks who didn't take the bait.
The company brought in a consulting firm whose very first recommendation was to slash management: hundreds of upper management twits out of 16.000 employees is way too much they said.
The two levels of management above me, for instance, are utterly useless. In effect, they are bums sucking at the corporate welfare teat.
So the exec committee once again announce with much hand wringing that a new period of austerity is upon us, that hundreds of jobs will have to go as the company restructures.
The axe fell in Orlando (Florida) yesterday, where 250 jobs went the way of the Dodo bird.
We're told the cuts will go on well into 2005 with a restructuring completion target in '06.
Once again, I asked "what is the basis of your belief that we have this much time to complete this task? The initiative launched earlier this year was characterized as a bet that affluent clients were driving the market and needed those new services we offered. Six months later, those clients are still not convinced and we've been bleeding our less affluent customers, the core of our business, who reports show were put off by this new focus. So we now announce price slashing to match our competitors, and restructure the company to do away with all those advice products, another bet. That's two bets in six months and this begins to smack of gambling: not a good thing for a brokerage firm which built a reputation on conservative, unbiased advice"

Marina, I've heard that the administration is urging people to start their own business while they also claim the economy's growing. That seems to me a contradiction: the reason folks need to become their own bosses is that jobs are getting very scarce, and jobs are scarce because the economy is in fact not growing, companies are not hiring.
We are probably going to see more mergers, interspersed with chapter 11 bankruptcies.
There is a clear parallel between failed foreign policies and economic policies (both domestic and foreign).
There is also a growing sense that the administration wants financial companies whose core business is brokerage to relocate and concentrate on the East coast, New York city in particular. The migration's begun, though whether it achieves completion remains to be seen.
As for me, I just hope I lose my job before January.
Because whoever gets laid off after January will not get a severance package, just a good ole' two week notice (if that).

[Frank S.]

Bush, Kerry... Kerry, Bush... This could all turn out to be moot.



Plans To Cancel Elections After 'Terror Attacks'

Associated Press | July 1 2004

WASHINGTON -- The government needs to establish guidelines for canceling or rescheduling elections if terrorists strike the United States again, says the chairman of a new federal voting commission.

Such guidelines do not currently exist, said DeForest B. Soaries, head of the voting panel.

Soaries was appointed to the federal Election Assistance Commission last year by President Bush. Soaries said he wrote to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge in April to raise the concerns.

"I am still awaiting their response," he said. "Thus far we have not begun any meaningful discussion." Spokesmen for Rice and Ridge did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Soaries noted that Sept. 11, 2001, fell on Election Day in New York City -- and he said officials there had no rules to follow in making the decision to cancel the election and hold it later.

Events in Spain, where a terrorist attack shortly before the March election possibly influenced its outcome, show the need for a process to deal with terrorists threatening or interrupting the Nov. 2 presidential election in America, he said.

"Look at the possibilities. If the federal government were to cancel an election or suspend an election, it has tremendous political implications. If the federal government chose not to suspend an election it has political implications," said Soaries, a Republican and former secretary of state of New Jersey.

"Who makes the call, under what circumstances is the call made, what are the constitutional implications?" he said. "I think we have to err on the side of transparency to protect the voting rights of the country."

Soaries said his bipartisan, four-member commission might make a recommendation to Congress about setting up guidelies.

"I'm hopeful that there are some proposals already being floated. If there are, we're not aware of them. If there are not, we will probably try to put one on the table," he said.

Soaries also said he's met with a former New York state elections director to discuss how officials there handled the Sept. 11 attacks from the perspective of election administration. He said the commission is getting information from New York documenting the process used there.

"The states control elections, but on the national scale where every state has its own election laws and its own election chief, who's in charge?" he said.

Soaries also said he wants to know what federal officials are doing to increase security on Election Day. He said security officials must take care not to allow heightened security measures to intimidate minority voters, but that local and state election officials he's talked to have not been told what measures to expect.

"There's got to be communication," he said, "between law enforcement and election officials in preparation for November."

[Whitey]

Frank,
People contracting care mostly about money making. It is what drives the whole thing. It appeared to me that it was just nothing more than merc work with no conscience. I won't work with people like that. Money first types, mission no matter how irrelevent and stupid. Plus the politics. Bush this, Bush that like he's a god. Don't dare question the emporer no matter what. Iraq is over, it is unwinnable because there isn't anything to win. Iraq should be left alone to Iraqis. Self-Determination. I was angry a few months back and this whole interview process and the connections I've made between then and now have made me come to terms wit the fact we live in a nation of greedy, mindless idiots. Whose only desire collectivelly is to get a free ride, some cash ect... They don't believe in anything more than themselves. I won't blow people away for money alone nor work for people whose sole motivation for it is money.
They said to me"Just wait until they are on our streets" and I said, "They aren't already?" Someone high up doesn't want to win this.
Bye,bye Miss American Pie.
This good ole boyis going to drink wiskey and rye and watch 15 years worth of foil hat wearers be proved right.

[Frank S.]

All I can say is "wow!"
This is just a stunt, but what a message it sends...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s ... 0702062241


US lawmakers request UN observers for November 2 presidential election
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Several members of the House of Representatives have requested the United Nations to send observers to monitor the November 2 US presidential election to avoid a contentious vote like in 2000, when the outcome was decided by Florida.

Recalling the long, drawn out process in the southern state, nine lawmakers, including four blacks and one Hispanic, sent a letter Thursday to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan asking that the international body "ensure free and fair elections in America," according to a statement issued by Florida representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, who spearheaded the effort.


"As lawmakers, we must assure the people of America that our nation will not experience the nightmare of the 2000 presidential election," she said in the letter.


"This is the first step in making sure that history does not repeat itself," she added after requesting that the UN "deploy election observers across the United States" to monitor the November, 2004 election.


The lawmakers said in the letter that in a report released in June 2001, the US Commission on Civil Rights "found that the electoral process in Florida resulted in the denial of the right to vote for countless persons."


The bipartisan commission, they stressed, determined "that the 'disenfranchisement of Florida's voters fell most harshly on the shoulders of black voters' and in poor counties." Both groups vote predominantly Democratic in US elections.


The commission also concluded, the lawmakers added, that "despite promised nationwide reforms (of the voting system) ... adequate steps have not been taken to ensure that a similar situation will not arise in 2004 that arose in 2000."


Thirty-six days after the November 7, 2000 presidential election, after several state court interventions and vote recounts in numerous Florida counties, the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of Republican George W. Bush, awarding him all of Florida's 25 electoral votes.


The ruling tipped the balance against Democratic contender and then vice president Al Gore, who with 267 electoral votes lost to Bush's 271, only one more than the minimum 270 needed to clinch the presidential election.

[Marina]

Hi there Whitey,
Me ole mate

Hoping you are keeping well !!

The elections is on 2nd Novemeber. Oh thats great that is, I am in Washington DC on that day attending the conference.
I suppose its not good to venture out much on election day. What is it like in the Capital ?

[Marina]

Hi there Whitey,
Me ole mate

Hoping you are keeping well !!

The election is on 2nd Novemeber. Oh thats great that is, I am in Washington DC on that day attending the conference.
I suppose its not good to venture out much on election day. What is it like in the Capital ?

[Whitey]

I suppose its not good to venture out much on election day. What is it like in the Capital ?

Marina I spent 10 years in the military, saw the capitals of 12 countries, but I've never seen mine. Sort of Roman Empirish if you think about it.
Maybe Frank or Wholley would know.
I'm doing good, staying out of politics, muck raking and yellow journalism.
Working with a professor on a movie. Nothing big. The Contracting job turned out to be too political and pointless, it was going to pay well, but hey whatever.
Election day busy? Well 50% of Americans don't even vote, but I'd ask Frank, he might be familiar with the District of Criminals/D.C. better than most here.

[Frank S.]

I lived in a suburb of DC (North West) for about 6 months, 10 years ago, that's about it.
But seems to me that whoever scheduled that conference must be out of their mind. First of all, I'd expect security at airports to be a major pain in the a$$ given the proximity of the election. Delays, major frustrations, etc.
Secondly, hotel bookings will have to be done well in advance, as a matter of fact, the reservations should already have been confirmed by now.
Traffic is likely to be ugly in and around the capital, too, with tour busses transporting political supporters, activists, demonstrators (probably a LOT of them this time around), HEAVY security, etc.
Large crowds attract criminals as well.
Frankly, and I know it's not helpful or even probable, but personally, I'd do everything to get out of going.
This time, though, I'd disagree with Don: I believe voter turn out will be huge, compared to past elections.

Oh, one more thing: avoid South East and North East DC at all costs. LOTS of crime there, always.