Re: Destruction of Albania (Part I)
I have the feeling, that if a conflict has a chance (and this one has) to ignite WWlll, than we should talk about nothing else but how to stop insanity. Not much futurework in a destroyed world... Eva Durant I am re-posting our caveat of a few weeks ago. The war is front and center with all of us. Discussions about it could easily swamp all the lists on the net. So Sally and I appeal to all FWers and your netizen ideals and values to keep futurework to its main discussion focus. Thanx. = Dear faithful FWers. There is obviously a great deal of emotion and concern about events in Yugoslavia. War is a serious thing. However the futurework list was set up for a purpose. If we allow postings on this or that side of events regarding the war it is clear that a new thread on the war will begin. It is likely that such a thread would overwhelm postings concerning futurework. Thus we ask that you keep your postings to the general area indicated by our futurework notices and that you direct your postings vis-a-vis the war and related matters to those lists more relevant to events underway in Yugoslavia and neighbouring countries. Thank you Sally Lerner and Arthur Cordell -- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: Ray E. Harrell; Michel Chossudovsky Subject: Re: Destruction of Albania (Part I) Date: Thursday, May 13, 1999 4:17PM On Fri, 14 May 1999 02:26:20 -0400, Ray E. Harrell wrote: One point in all of this is that as an immigrant New Yorker I am prone to cynicism around the ability of Europeans to live together, (one war every 25 years for the past 1000 years). e.g. From the usefulness of the window shutters in Geneva, with the guns and one month food supply required by law in the basement, to the doors on new apartments in Milan that are made of steel with steel rod bolts going in four directions to keep out marauding armies. Funny, but here in Europe we don't have an army that has bombed 21 countries during the last 50 years (without having been attacked once). We also don't have the high rates of murder and prisoners that your peaceful country has. Nor do we need metal detectors in our schools to protect the kids from each other, or security guards on our campus to prevent the kids from massacrating their peers on Hitler's birthday. We also don't have militia-men who kill dozens of civilians by blowing up a gov't building. Geez, we don't even have racial riots in large cities after some state officers have beaten up a citizen for his race. But I'm sure we'll have all that pretty soon if we follow the lead of your peace-loving and tolerant country, Ray. You see I live in NYCity and we take a rather jaundiced look at people who gather together to kill their neighbors or steal their homes. Jaundiced indeed for a city that was built on just that. Greetings from a multi-cultural European country that had _2_ short (defense) wars in the last 500 years (but I guess this can't be read in your informative NYT), Chris
Re: Destruction of Albania (Part I)
I feel very strongly as you. I worry about a nuclear exchange. Why not appear at a local protest against the war. Media coverage of protesters will do more to stop things than any amount of talk and flames on this or any list. thanx arthur cordell -- From: Eva Durant To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Destruction of Albania (Part I) Date: Friday, May 14, 1999 12:07PM I have the feeling, that if a conflict has a chance (and this one has) to ignite WWlll, than we should talk about nothing else but how to stop insanity. Not much futurework in a destroyed world... Eva Durant I am re-posting our caveat of a few weeks ago. The war is front and center with all of us. Discussions about it could easily swamp all the lists on the net. So Sally and I appeal to all FWers and your netizen ideals and values to keep futurework to its main discussion focus. Thanx. = Dear faithful FWers. There is obviously a great deal of emotion and concern about events in Yugoslavia. War is a serious thing. However the futurework list was set up for a purpose. If we allow postings on this or that side of events regarding the war it is clear that a new thread on the war will begin. It is likely that such a thread would overwhelm postings concerning futurework. Thus we ask that you keep your postings to the general area indicated by our futurework notices and that you direct your postings vis-a-vis the war and related matters to those lists more relevant to events underway in Yugoslavia and neighbouring countries. Thank you Sally Lerner and Arthur Cordell -- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: Ray E. Harrell; Michel Chossudovsky Subject: Re: Destruction of Albania (Part I) Date: Thursday, May 13, 1999 4:17PM On Fri, 14 May 1999 02:26:20 -0400, Ray E. Harrell wrote: One point in all of this is that as an immigrant New Yorker I am prone to cynicism around the ability of Europeans to live together, (one war every 25 years for the past 1000 years). e.g. From the usefulness of the window shutters in Geneva, with the guns and one month food supply required by law in the basement, to the doors on new apartments in Milan that are made of steel with steel rod bolts going in four directions to keep out marauding armies. Funny, but here in Europe we don't have an army that has bombed 21 countries during the last 50 years (without having been attacked once). We also don't have the high rates of murder and prisoners that your peaceful country has. Nor do we need metal detectors in our schools to protect the kids from each other, or security guards on our campus to prevent the kids from massacrating their peers on Hitler's birthday. We also don't have militia-men who kill dozens of civilians by blowing up a gov't building. Geez, we don't even have racial riots in large cities after some state officers have beaten up a citizen for his race. But I'm sure we'll have all that pretty soon if we follow the lead of your peace-loving and tolerant country, Ray. You see I live in NYCity and we take a rather jaundiced look at people who gather together to kill their neighbors or steal their homes. Jaundiced indeed for a city that was built on just that. Greetings from a multi-cultural European country that had _2_ short (defense) wars in the last 500 years (but I guess this can't be read in your informative NYT), Chris
Re: temps get postive court decision
When the regular business organizations and wall street became involved in Not-for-profit companies, in this case recording projects a few years back, for the purpose of having a business write-off as well as hiding funds, the Congress passed a law which made such practices illegal. It hurt all of the regular artists who had been able to save a little money for project capital by having a Not- for-profit designation. A NFP company designation cost for incorporation went from between 100 to 200 dollars to 1800 dollars while a for profit company was under five hundred. All because the purpose of a "for profit" company is to find ways to use the law to avoid paying taxes and having the mental attitude that such a practice is not irresponsibility but responsibility to company and shareholders. This Micro-soft issue will probably drive more Entertainment companies abroad to do their work. As noted in the NYTimes article you posted. Edward Deming's lectures published in 1995 stated that the Arts and Entertainment business in the U.S. was the highest export sales of any American business. One out of the five largest Entertainment Media companies in the world is American owned while only three out of the seven largest movie companies are American owned. Much is made of the fact that American Entertainment spans the globe and American culture is considered a big threat in many places. So abroad, American media is considered big tough business while at home it is considered a threat to the "real Judeo-Christian" culture of America. Meanwhile, American business can't wait to imitate its use of "flexibles" and the free lance situation that all of us in the performing arts have to struggle with. The situation that makes the average actor make $5,000 a year in his profession and the average musician (trained practically from birth with his family's private money) $15,000 a year.Most of the trained artists do not even qualify to be listed as such by the U.S. Department of labor because they make most of their income waiting tables, working in bookstores or teaching school even though their talents, training and mastery is in the performing arts but they don't have "jobs"! This is then exacerbated by the influx of State trained and State developed performers from the old Soviet Empire. The spotty training and limited experience of most Americans is not competitive with such high quality instruction and experience. As a teacher I have directly experienced the difference in the quality of professionals who come for coaching. This is also the dream of Cypress Semi-conductor's CEO T.J. Rogers who wants to undercut American trained computer program workers by hiring directly from the former Soviet Empire in the same way that American artists are unprotected. The official word is that American's are not hired because they are inferior. Much like the story that says the Arts are so poorly supported here because they are not popular as if "like" had nothing to do with ignorance. So we have a lousy situation, but America and the courts will make the free lance situation for us even less tenable by making Bill Gates and other's immoral stance in a factory venue illegal. That in turn will probably make the TRULY Virtual companies that come into existance for a single project and then fold, the movie business, act as if they were permanent. That will drive up costs so radically that there will be NO movie work for any American in the United States. Terrific! considering that we do not use up natural resources and create nothing but pleasure and a raising of consciousness in the population. Dumb! How about some genuine conversation on these kinds of issues? Ray Evans Harrell, artistic director The Magic Circle Opera Repertory Ensemble of New York, Inc. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cordell, Arthur: DPP wrote: This could have postitive implicaitons. COURT SAYS TEMPS DESERVE EMPLOYEE BENEFITS A federal court of appeals has ruled that about 10,000 temporary workers at Microsoft are entitled to take part in the discounted stock-option plan the company offers to regular employees. Industry analyst Rob Enderle says, "This is a broad decision, and it applies to all businesses. If you've got a temp worker putting in 20-plus hours a week, you better start considering him or her like you would a part-time worker" -- and provide employee benefits. The ruling indicated that a temporary worker can be considered a "common-law employee" if the person's work was controlled not by the placement agency but by the company for which the work was being done. Microsoft plans to appeal. (New York Times 14 May 99) http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/05/biztech/articles/14soft.html
Re: Destruction of Albania (Part I)
I am re-posting our caveat of a few weeks ago. The war is front and center with all of us. Discussions about it could easily swamp all the lists on the net. So Sally and I appeal to all FWers and your netizen ideals and values to keep futurework to its main discussion focus. Thanx. = Dear faithful FWers. There is obviously a great deal of emotion and concern about events in Yugoslavia. War is a serious thing. However the futurework list was set up for a purpose. If we allow postings on this or that side of events regarding the war it is clear that a new thread on the war will begin. It is likely that such a thread would overwhelm postings concerning futurework. Thus we ask that you keep your postings to the general area indicated by our futurework notices and that you direct your postings vis-a-vis the war and related matters to those lists more relevant to events underway in Yugoslavia and neighbouring countries. Thank you Sally Lerner and Arthur Cordell -- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: Ray E. Harrell; Michel Chossudovsky Subject: Re: Destruction of Albania (Part I) Date: Thursday, May 13, 1999 4:17PM On Fri, 14 May 1999 02:26:20 -0400, Ray E. Harrell wrote: One point in all of this is that as an immigrant New Yorker I am prone to cynicism around the ability of Europeans to live together, (one war every 25 years for the past 1000 years). e.g. From the usefulness of the window shutters in Geneva, with the guns and one month food supply required by law in the basement, to the doors on new apartments in Milan that are made of steel with steel rod bolts going in four directions to keep out marauding armies. Funny, but here in Europe we don't have an army that has bombed 21 countries during the last 50 years (without having been attacked once). We also don't have the high rates of murder and prisoners that your peaceful country has. Nor do we need metal detectors in our schools to protect the kids from each other, or security guards on our campus to prevent the kids from massacrating their peers on Hitler's birthday. We also don't have militia-men who kill dozens of civilians by blowing up a gov't building. Geez, we don't even have racial riots in large cities after some state officers have beaten up a citizen for his race. But I'm sure we'll have all that pretty soon if we follow the lead of your peace-loving and tolerant country, Ray. You see I live in NYCity and we take a rather jaundiced look at people who gather together to kill their neighbors or steal their homes. Jaundiced indeed for a city that was built on just that. Greetings from a multi-cultural European country that had _2_ short (defense) wars in the last 500 years (but I guess this can't be read in your informative NYT), Chris
Re: The Jobs Letter No.99 (14 May 1999)
S. Lerner wrote: From: "vivian Hutchinson" [EMAIL PROTECTED] (snip) FROM JOB TO PROFESSION by Andrew Kimbrell *The word job in English originally meant a criminal or demeaning action. (We retain this meaning when we call a bank robbery a "bank job.") After the industrial revolution took hold in 18th-century England, the first generations of factory workers felt that wage work was humiliating and undignified. Angry about being driven from their traditional work on the land or in crafts, they applied the word job to factory labour as a way of expressing their disgust. *Even today many of us avoid the word job, preferring more upscale terms like occupation or career to describe what we do for 40-plus hours each week. Yet the older meaning of these words also reveals something about the nature of work. Occupation originally meant to seize or capture. (It is still used in this sense when, for instance, we speak of the German occupation of France during World War II.) What an apt description of how jobs take over our lives, subjecting us to the demands of outside rulers. The original meaning of career fits well with the role we play in the speeded-up global economic rat race. In the 19th century, career meant "racing course" or "rapid and unrestrained" activity. *In searching for ways to put meaning back into our work, we might want to revive the term vocation (from the Latin for "voice" or "calling"). Today, however, "having a vocation" or "answering a calling" usually means embarking upon a religious life--an unfortunate narrowing of the concept. We all deserve to be involved in work to which we have been called by our passions and beliefs. Following a vocation can lead to a profession--literally, a "public declaration" of what we believe and who we are. A profession is what our work should be, but so rarely is ... This and the excellent follow-up employment statistics posted by Sally is a heartening development in that it understands the importance of language in these issues. I wrote an article to the FW list about these same definitions based upon my dictionary library that traced the history quoted above and suggested the same need to deal from a place of vocation rather than jobs in the discussions on this list. I am often told by economists that I should just change jobs if I wish to have more capital, a good health plan, education for my child and a retirement. As the above states, a vocation is a calling based upon who one is with the "doing" flowing from that being. The whole set of concepts, on an inter-personal level, that underlie today's economic structures are against the idea of vocation. Instead we are dealing from a place similar to roles in a movie where a director picks characters, who may or may not be trained actors, for their "type" as a person rather than their skill in a vocation. "Types" can be developed quickly and with the help of a behavioral type of acting class and a good therapist (to help in accepting not quality, as in elevated skill, but "quality" as in a set of personal characteristics) a person can market their person as a product of a certain type. If they are not successful, the answer is not to develop new characteristics under their product name but to rename themselves under another set of characteristics. Possible until public recognition becomes too developed in which case they are marketed as advancement in their skills when all it is really is the imagination of another director who sees them differently. They are the quintessential short term employees (AGILE) or flexibles.A movie, a play or a performance in a bar is still called a "job" and is treated by the American society as temporary employment, which it is. Movies pay well, while bars pay poorly but thinking in systems will show that the formula is the same and is the same formula being used by UPS for a large portion of their workforce as well as Micro-Soft. The whole idea of re-engineering is an entertainment industry model. That also throws into question the figures on employment since such short term employment only tells whether someone is being paid for work at that particular moment in time casting doubt on the relevance of job figures from month to month much less year to year. But I've said this before as has Mike Hollinshead. Anyway, I'm glad to see that the New Zealanders are alive, well and asking what I consider to be pertinent questions about the future of their work. I'm also delighted that Sally has forwarded the post. REH
FW: Families: A Social Bottom Line/ Familles: un optimum social
some may be interested in this . -- From: e-network To: e-network Subject: Families: A Social Bottom Line/ Familles: un optimum social Date: Friday, May 14, 1999 3:45PM Canadian Families have a Social Bottom Line, new Study shows Ottawa, May 14, 1999 Canadian families have a social bottom line, says a new study released today by Canadian Policy Research Networks. Labour Market Changes and Family Transactions reports that all families try to balance economic and social goals in an effort to achieve their social bottom line. The study also shows that temporary or contract work can lead to a high degree of vulnerability for the whole family. Canadian Policy Research Networks interviewed all members over the age of five in 25 families that were living in Surrey, British Columbia in 1996 to find out how they balance the demands of work and home life. This in-depth, qualitative study probes the manner in which families adapt to labour market changes from the point of view of the family unit. It goes beyond the limited information of employment or non-employment statistics by looking at the reasons that underlie the choices that individuals and families make with respect to labour force attachment. Both lone-parent and two-parent families participated in the study. Some participants had stable employment, some had lost jobs and found new ones, and still others were unemployed for various lengths of time. The type of job plays an important role in the ability of these families to function well. Families where the breadwinners were working at part-time or contract positions with low pay and little long-term security felt vulnerable to crisis and change. These families usually had difficulties coping with everyday pressures. Achieving the "social bottom line" sometimes means choosing not to enter the labour market in the short term. Families who decided to either pursue more training or take more time to find a job reported they were coping better, even though their income was often lower as a result of their dependance on income support. Several of the adult caregivers in these families continued to remain actively focussed on the goal of becoming employed in the near future by undertaking job training, continuing their education, or planning their own home business. Those families where at least one adult worked in standard, full-time employment were more likely to be doing well both financially and in terms of their overall health and well-being. Joseph Michalski is a research associate with Canadian Policy Research Networks and co-author of the study with Mary-Jean Wason. According to Michalski, "We learned that achieving values-based objectives such as quality child care often drives the economic decisions families make. Recognizing that families have a social bottom line means that even the decision to participate in the paid labour force may be partly contingent on the resources and informal support networks available to families." The researchers also defined the characteristics that make families either resilient or vulnerable in the face of daily struggles. In terms of the internal dynamics of families, the study found that stronger families agree on household roles and are able to turn to a support network of family, friends or others in the community. The study underlines the importance of child care, flexible work arrangements, external support, life skills counselling and more secure employment in helping Canadian families to cope. Judith Maxwell, President of Canadian Policy Research Networks, says that this study has national implications: "We are only beginning to examine the impact of the changing labour market on the economic stability, physical well-being, and mental health of families and children. Future policy discussions have to account for the dynamics within the family if employers and governments are going to be successful in buffering the tension between families and their work in this post-industrial era," says Mrs. Maxwell. This in-depth study is part of a larger research program which documents the ways families are coping with the consequences of government spending cuts and devolution. http://lists.magma.ca:8080/Unity/UrlView/17/44/24/1/384 Les familles canadiennes recherchent un optimum social Ottawa, le 14 mai 1999 Les familles canadiennes recherchent un optimum social, de conclure une nouvelle étude publiée aujourd'hui par les Réseaux canadiens de recherche en politiques publiques sous le titre Labour Market Changes and Family Transactions. L'étude indique que toutes les familles tentent d'assurer un équilibre entre leurs objectifs économiques et sociaux afin de parvenir à un optimum social. Elle souligne aussi que le travail temporaire ou à contrat peut mener à un niveau de vulnérabilité élevé pour toute la famille. Les Réseaux canadiens de recherche en politiques publiques ont procédé en 1996 à des entrevues auprès de tous les membres âgés
temps get postive court decision
This could have postitive implicaitons. COURT SAYS TEMPS DESERVE EMPLOYEE BENEFITS A federal court of appeals has ruled that about 10,000 temporary workers at Microsoft are entitled to take part in the discounted stock-option plan the company offers to regular employees. Industry analyst Rob Enderle says, "This is a broad decision, and it applies to all businesses. If you've got a temp worker putting in 20-plus hours a week, you better start considering him or her like you would a part-time worker" -- and provide employee benefits. The ruling indicated that a temporary worker can be considered a "common-law employee" if the person's work was controlled not by the placement agency but by the company for which the work was being done. Microsoft plans to appeal. (New York Times 14 May 99) http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/05/biztech/articles/14soft.html
Re: Destruction of Albania (Part I)
Funny, but here in Europe we don't have an army that has bombed 21countriesduring the last 50 years (without having been attacked once). We alsodon'thave the high rates of murder and prisoners that your peaceful country has.Nor do we need metal detectors in our schools to protect the kids fromeach other, or security guards on our campus to prevent the kids frommassacrating their peers on Hitler's birthday. We also don't havemilitia-men who kill dozens of civilians by blowing up a gov't building.Geez, we don't even have racial riots in large cities after some stateofficers have beaten up a citizen for his race.But I'm sure we'll have all that pretty soon if we follow the lead of yourpeace-loving and tolerant country, Ray.How beautifully smug! I understand that your bankers made quite a lot ofmoney from the gold and jewelry that the Nazis took from death-camp victims.Europe, if you read its history, was a cesspool of wars, repressions andmass exterminations. And it was Europeans who brought diseases andenslavement to the Americas, accounting for the destruction of civilizationsand the deaths of perhaps 100 million people. I'm sorry, I didn't mean toget into this one, but on reading the above self-congratulatory puffery, Ijust couldn't help it. But perhaps I misunderstood. Perhaps you intent wassome form of comic irony.Ed Weick
Re: Destruction of Albania (Part I)
The swiss were pretty rich and smug before Hitler's time. It is a good example, that if the society is effluent enough, the ethnic strife becomes a thing of the past. (Doesn't make them all that friendly and guest-loving though...) However, given our beloved capitalism, such peaceful, prosperous times are transient; insecurity and poverty will bring out all the alienation and aggressivity wherever you are whichever minority/majority is persecuted as the alleged cause for all misery. It could even happen to the swiss given an implosion of the financial/tourist/cookoo clock sector... Eva Funny, but here in Europe we don't have an army that has bombed 21 countries during the last 50 years (without having been attacked once). We also don't have the high rates of murder and prisoners that your peaceful country has. Nor do we need metal detectors in our schools to protect the kids from each other, or security guards on our campus to prevent the kids from massacrating their peers on Hitler's birthday. We also don't have militia-men who kill dozens of civilians by blowing up a gov't building. Geez, we don't even have racial riots in large cities after some state officers have beaten up a citizen for his race. But I'm sure we'll have all that pretty soon if we follow the lead of your peace-loving and tolerant country, Ray. How beautifully smug! I understand that your bankers made quite a lot of money from the gold and jewelry that the Nazis took from death-camp victims. Europe, if you read its history, was a cesspool of wars, repressions and mass exterminations. And it was Europeans who brought diseases and enslavement to the Americas, accounting for the destruction of civilizations and the deaths of perhaps 100 million people. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get into this one, but on reading the above self-congratulatory puffery, I just couldn't help it. But perhaps I misunderstood. Perhaps you intent was some form of comic irony. Ed Weick [text/html is unsupported, treating like TEXT/PLAIN] !DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN" HTML HEAD META content=text/html;charset=iso-8859-1 http-equiv=Content-Type META content='"MSHTML 4.72.3110.7"' name=GENERATOR /HEAD BODY bgColor=#ff DIVgt;Funny, but here in Europe we don't have an army that has bombed 21BRcountriesBRgt;during the last 50 years (without having been attacked once).nbsp; We alsoBRdon'tBRgt;have the high rates of murder and prisoners that your peaceful country has.BRgt;Nor do we need metal detectors in our schools to protect the kids fromBRgt;each other, or security guards on our campus to prevent the kids fromBRgt;massacrating their peers on Hitler's birthday.nbsp; We also don't haveBRgt;militia-men who kill dozens of civilians by blowing up a gov't building.BRgt;Geez, we don't even have racial riots in large cities after some stateBRgt;officers have beaten up a citizen for his race.BRgt;BRgt;But I'm sure we'll have all that pretty soon if we follow the lead of yourBRgt;peace-loving and tolerant country, Ray.BRBRBRHow beautifully smug!nbsp; Inbsp; understand that your bankers made quite a lot ofBRmoney from the gold and jewelry that the Nazis took from death-camp victims.BREurope, if you read its history, was a cesspool of wars, repressions andBRmass exterminations.nbsp; And it was Europeans who brought diseases andBRenslavement to the Americas, accounting for the destruction of civilizationsBRand the deaths of perhaps 100 million people.nbsp; I'm sorry, I didn't mean toBRget into this one, but on reading the above self-congratulatory puffery, IBRjust couldn't help it.nbsp; But perhaps I misunderstood.nbsp; Perhaps you intent wasBRsome formnbsp; of comic irony.BRBREd Weick/DIV/BODY/HTML
Re: Destruction of Albania (Part I)
What media coverage? We only got to know about the displeasure of some german greens about the war, when Joshka Fisher had paint thrown at his face. All debates against the bombing were under-reported, demonstrations non-reported. At least some well-informed lists should do some more informing such as passing on info about what to do. O don't know, that's why I am angry and frustrated. eva I feel very strongly as you. I worry about a nuclear exchange. Why not appear at a local protest against the war. Media coverage of protesters will do more to stop things than any amount of talk and flames on this or any list. arthur cordell
Re: FW Statistics That Matter from The Jobs Letter No.99 (14 May 1999)
Official Unemployment Rates SPAIN 18.6% FRANCE 11.9% ITALY 12.3% GERMANY 9.5% CANADA 8.3 % NEW ZEALAND 7.2% AUSTRALIA 8.1% OECD AVERAGE 7.0% BRITAIN 6.3% UNITED STATES 4.6% JAPAN 4.3 % Aren't these numbers a bit misleading, because the way they're calculated differs among countries (even within the EU) ? (E.g. considering the various categories of de-facto unemployed people who fall out of the statistics for various reasons.) Also, comparing the unemployment rates of younger people can be more telling (e.g. Spain: ~40% IIRC). It would give an interesting on-topic FW thread to analyze the (politically-motivated) biases/differences and try to calculate "real"/commensurable numbers. Greetings, Chris
Re: Destruction of Albania (Part I)
Ed Weick replied: How beautifully smug! I understand that your bankers made quite a lot of money from the gold and jewelry that the Nazis took from death-camp victims. Europe, if you read its history, was a cesspool of wars, repressions and mass exterminations. And it was Europeans who brought diseases and enslavement to the Americas, accounting for the destruction of civilizations and the deaths of perhaps 100 million people. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get into this one, but on reading the above self-congratulatory puffery, I just couldn't help it. But perhaps I misunderstood. Perhaps you intent was some form of comic irony. Basically my smug description of Europe was a parody of Ray's smug description of America (or vice-versa for the negative descriptions). Then again, your above criticism misses the point as it talks of the (distant) past, whereas my comparisions referred to the present (according to Ray's appeal to "live in the present"). [And much could be said about the role of US bankers in nazi/other wars.] Sorry for the off-topic post, the following one is on-topic... Chris
FW Statistics That Matter from The Jobs Letter No.99 (14 May1999) (fwd with permission)
From: "vivian Hutchinson" [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "The Jobs Letter" [EMAIL PROTECTED], "The Jobs Letter" [EMAIL PROTECTED], "The Jobs Letter" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Fri, 14 May 1999 13:08:19 +1200 X-Distribution: Moderate MIME-Version: 1.0 Subject: Statistics That Matter from The Jobs Letter No.99 (14 May 1999) Reply-to: "The Jobs Letter" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Priority: normal S T A T I S T I C S T H A T M A T T E R --- A special supplement to The Jobs Letter --- 14 May 1999 - G L O B A L U N E M P L O Y M E N T F I G U R E S Official Unemployment Rates SPAIN 18.6% FRANCE 11.9% ITALY 12.3% GERMANY 9.5% CANADA 8.3 % NEW ZEALAND 7.2% AUSTRALIA 8.1% OECD AVERAGE 7.0% BRITAIN 6.3% UNITED STATES 4.6% JAPAN 4.3 % - - C R E D I T S - The Jobs Letter Statistics That Matter compiled by Shirley Vickery Editor -- Vivian Hutchinson Associates -- Rodger Smith, Dave Owens and Jo Howard ISSN No. 1172-6695 S U B S C R I P T I O N S -- The regular (4-6 page, posted) Jobs Letter costs $NZ112.50 incl GST for 30 letters. This subscription also includes a free email version on request. The email-only version costs $NZ56.25 incl GST annually (22 letters) and usually has an expanded Diary section. All email editions of the Jobs Letter are posted to subscribers on a "not to be forwarded" basis. We also maintain an internet website with our back issues and key papers, and hotlinks to other internet resources. This can be visited at http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/ Our website resources are available freely to anyone with access to the internet. The most recent three months of Jobs Letter issues, however, will only be available to subscribers. An e-mail version of this letter is available to international friends and colleagues on an "exchange of information" basis and on the understanding that the Letter is not re-posted to New Zealand... this is because we need the paid subscriptions from our New Zealand colleagues in order to pay our way. Thanks. Subscription Enquiries -- Jobs Research Trust, P.O.Box 428, New Plymouth, New Zealand phone 06-753-4434 fax 06-759-4648 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ends The Jobs Letter essential information on an essential issue [EMAIL PROTECTED] phone 06-753-4434 fax 06-759-4648 P.O.Box 428 New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand visit The Jobs Research Website at http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/
The Jobs Letter No.99 (14 May 1999)
From: "vivian Hutchinson" [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "The Jobs Letter" [EMAIL PROTECTED], "The Jobs Letter" [EMAIL PROTECTED], "The Jobs Letter" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Fri, 14 May 1999 13:07:51 +1200 X-Distribution: Moderate MIME-Version: 1.0 Subject: The Jobs Letter No.99 (14 May 1999) Reply-to: "The Jobs Letter" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Priority: normal T H E J O B S L E T T E R 0 9 9 - a subscriber-based letter published in New Zealand 14 May 1999 edited by Vivian Hutchinson for the Jobs Research Trust P.O.Box 428, New Plymouth, New Zealand phone 06-753-4434 fax 06-759-4648 Internet address -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] I N T H I S I S S U E - STATISTICS BRUCE JESSON OZ APPRENTICESHIPS HOW IS YOUR RESTRUCTURING GOING? FROM JOB TO PROFESSION T H E J O B S L E T T E R an essential information and media watch on jobs, employment, unemployment, the future of work, and related economic and education issues. HOW IS YOUR RESTRUCTURING GOING? *How's your re-structuring going? Is there a major business or government department in NZ that hasn't been re-structured, downsized or 're-engineered' (often repeatedly) in the last 15 years? Has there been any studies undertaken as to how the goals of the re-structuring and downsizing were measuring up after the fact? *In the US, estimates of the numbers of American workers who have been 'downsized' from jobs in the major corporates, from 1980 to 1995, vary from a low count of 13m people, to as high as 39m. In the early 1990s, the American Management Association conducted studies of firms which had engaged seriously in downsizing. The AMA found that repeated downsizings produce "lower profits and declining worker productivity..." Another study by the Wyatt Companies found that "less than half the companies achieved their expense reduction goals; fewer than one-third increased their profitability and less than one third increased their productivity..." *Richard Sennett, in his recent book "The Corrosion of Character" writes that because managerial ideology presents the drive for re-structuring as a matter of achieving greater efficiency, we need to ask whether such institutional change has succeeded in its goals. Sennett: "It became clear to many business leaders by the mid- 1990s that only in the highly paid fantasy life of consultants can a large organisation define a new business plan, trim staff and 're- engineer' itself to suit, then steam forward to realise the new design. "Many, even most, re-engineering efforts fail largely because institutions become dysfunctional during the people-squeezing process: the morale and motivation of workers drop sharply in the various plays of downsizing. Surviving workers wait for the next blow of the axe rather than exulting in competitive victory over those who are fired... "Institutional changes, instead of following the path of the guided arrow, head in different and often conflicting directions: business plans are discarded and revised; expected benefits turn out to be ephemeral; the organisation loses direction, a profitable operating unit is suddenly sold, for example, yet a few years later the parent company tries to get back the business in which it knew how to make money before it sought to reinvent itself..." *Sennett says that because institutional re-structurings signal to the finance markets that change is "for real", the stock prices of institutions in the course of re-organisation often rises, as though "any changes are better than continuing on as before..."According to the markets, the disruption of organisations becomes profitable. Sennett: "While the disruption may not be justifiable in terms of productivity, the short-term returns to stockholders provide a strong incentive to the powers of chaos disguised by that seemingly reassuring word 're-engineering'. Perfectly viable businesses are gutted or abandoned, capable employees are set adrift rather than rewarded, simply because the organisation must prove to the market that it is capable of change..." FROM JOB TO PROFESSION by Andrew Kimbrell *The word job in English originally meant a criminal or demeaning action. (We retain this meaning when we call a bank robbery a "bank job.") After the industrial revolution took hold in 18th-century England, the first generations of factory workers felt that wage work was humiliating and undignified. Angry about being driven from their traditional work on the land or in crafts, they applied the word job to factory labour as a way of expressing their disgust. *Even today many of us avoid the word job, preferring more upscale terms like occupation or career to describe what we do for 40-plus hours each week. Yet the older meaning of these words also reveals something about the nature of work. Occupation originally meant to seize or capture. (It is still used in this sense when, for instance, we speak of the
Re: Destruction of Albania (Part I)
Christoph Reuss wrote: Ed Weick replied: How beautifully smug! I understand that your bankers made quite a lot of money from the gold and jewelry that the Nazis took from death-camp victims. Europe, if you read its history, was a cesspool of wars, repressions and mass exterminations. And it was Europeans who brought diseases and enslavement to the Americas, accounting for the destruction of civilizations and the deaths of perhaps 100 million people. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get into this one, but on reading the above self-congratulatory puffery, I just couldn't help it. But perhaps I misunderstood. Perhaps you intent was some form of comic irony. Basically my smug description of Europe was a parody of Ray's smug description of America (or vice-versa for the negative descriptions). I have no idea how you could see anything that I have written as defending the history of European Americans on this continent past present andI am quite cynical about the future as well. The gist of my post was threefold:1. I stated that an issue (such as the one described by the Yugoslaveconomist from Toronto) which is "listed" , "described' and "understood" rarely creates change and is not an answer too whatever the problem is. It is simply an inadequate process in my opinion. I said: So you have to come up with a better script than "Describe the history", "list the atrocities" and everyone will "understand" and thus change! 2. The problem that economist Chussudovsky mentioned is not new but is a common process that springs from the belief that financial, i.e. economic value, constitutes real value in the world. In that sense every economist who preaches economic value above community morality or the growth of the human consciousness or spirit is a collaborator in what Chussodovsky is complaining about. I simply do not believe that this value system can end in anything other than human conflict and death. I used Wagner as an example because his own continual harassment by bankers and others who refused to pay him royalties (an Intellectual Capital issue) while reducing him to a pauper in relation to his need for Physical Capital both for common needs and the productions of his work has been used and abused by people on all sides of the political, religious and cultural spectrum. The greatest composer and theoretical mind of the 19th century was forced into prison and ran from country to country while writing his greatest works. There were 3 and 1/2 million refugees washing across the face of Europe as the economists and aristocracy played their games. The king of Bavaria said that he would have executed Wagner for his philosophical support of the Democracy movement in Dresden where he was being paid a pittance for masterworks and conducting as well. All to say this is not new. Nor is it old for people like my sister to be abducted by a government and sent thousands of miles from family, friends and culture to a school to drive the Indian out. Or for Gypsy children, like the Bolshoi ballerina studying with me at present, to be abducted by the Swiss government and put with Gadje families who were supposed to drive out the culture from their genetics as well. Luckily for the ballerina she was first in Russia and later Denmark where her talent was honored and she received exceptional instruction rather than being put in jail for "stealing children" or some other lie. I said: Don't you know all of those Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Mahler songs dealing with the European people on the other side of those bankers? 3. And finally I said: Goodness is not cultural and neither is greed or evil. (I wrote about the church in my last post so I don't consider it to be an answer either.) But the issue of living together is one that we must solve and doing it creatively must also happen or we are doomed to be replaced. (by another species.) Then again, your above criticism misses the point as it talks of the (distant) past, whereas my comparisions referred to the present (according to Ray's appeal to "live in the present"). Not a bad idea, "truly living in the present" although I can't findthe phrase in that post. Perhaps you could post what you are referencing as I am in this case. That would make it simpler. [And much could be said about the role of US bankers in nazi/other wars.] I agree and you could list Henry Ford as well. Lest you believe that I am against Europeans or the Swiss in particular, I would say that it may be true that a Swiss person saying what I have said would be expressing those feelings. However, in my case as I have said over the years on this list that you should not mistake passion for a curse. I have taught voice to wonderful Swiss students and one of my favorite teachers sang in Zurich at the opera for many years. I seek only solutions and discussion. I do not have the answers but I do have many questions and history with
Re: FW Statistics That Matter from The Jobs Letter No.99 (
The way unemployment statistics were compiled changed 20+ times under Thatcher, and I wouldn't be surprised if he followed the US trend, like she did in most other things. Unemployed married/partnered women do not appear in UK registers. Youth under 18, men over 60 and anyone who for some reason do not qualify for benefit is missing from he statistics. The "new" jobs are low paid, part-time, temporary and shoert contracts, without the previous holiday etc. benefits. I think the US underclass, homeless people etc. " the 3rd world in the 1st world", is totally excluded from the unemployment statistics in the US, too. The so cold anglosaxon way of "less government" is as much of a failure as the so called "nanny state". Eva Official Unemployment Rates SPAIN 18.6% FRANCE 11.9% ITALY 12.3% GERMANY 9.5% CANADA 8.3 % NEW ZEALAND 7.2% AUSTRALIA 8.1% OECD AVERAGE 7.0% BRITAIN 6.3% UNITED STATES 4.6% JAPAN 4.3 % Aren't these numbers a bit misleading, because the way they're calculated differs among countries (even within the EU) ? (E.g. considering the various categories of de-facto unemployed people who fall out of the statistics for various reasons.) Also, comparing the unemployment rates of younger people can be more telling (e.g. Spain: ~40% IIRC). It would give an interesting on-topic FW thread to analyze the (politically-motivated) biases/differences and try to calculate "real"/commensurable numbers. Greetings, Chris [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Destruction of Albania (Part I) [my final reply on this]
REH wrote: Basically my smug description of Europe was a parody of Ray's smug description of America (or vice-versa for the negative descriptions). I have no idea how you could see anything that I have written as defending the history of European Americans on this continent past present andI am quite cynical about the future as well. I objected to your sweeping generalization of 08-May that "In Europe they are eating each other, here we are feeding each other." which is a crass misrepresentation of reality for most places. 2. The problem that economist Chussudovsky mentioned is not new but is a common process that springs from the belief that financial, i.e. economic value, constitutes real value in the world. In that sense every economist who preaches economic value above community morality or the growth of the human consciousness or spirit is a collaborator in what Chussodovsky is complaining about. I simply do not believe that this value system can end in anything other than human conflict and death. I think the point of Michel Chossudovsky is that economical developments have a big influence on human conflicts, so much so that they are even a motor of conflict. This is a basic element of independent conflict research, and I assume we can all agree on that. Realizing a cause is the first step (and the precondition) to effectively treat it. Then again, your above criticism misses the point as it talks of the (distant) past, whereas my comparisions referred to the present (according to Ray's appeal to "live in the present"). Not a bad idea, "truly living in the present" although I can't findthe phrase in that post. Perhaps you could post what you are referencing as I am in this case. That would make it simpler. On Sat, 08 May 1999 20:45:24 -0400, you wrote: But Chris, in spite of all of this, [my father] taught us to live in the present. The danger of living in the present is to forget the past and to ignore the impacts of present decisions on the future -- both is a 'good' recipe to repeat the mistakes of the past and to mess up the future. Clinton and many Americans are clearly "living in the present" and the results are accordingly. Let's leave "living in the present" up to animals -- humans have developed a brain to remember the past and to project the future. All to say this is not new. Nor is it old for people like my sister to be abducted by a government and sent thousands of miles from family, friends and culture to a school to drive the Indian out. Or for Gypsy children, like the Bolshoi ballerina studying with me at present, to be abducted by the Swiss government and put with Gadje families who were supposed to drive out the culture from their genetics as well. There is no way to compare the oppression and destruction of Native Americans by the US gov't with the handling of Gypsies by the Swiss gov't. Nobody was "abducted by the Swiss government" -- there have been wrong-doings by a social foundation which had the task of ensuring the education of Gypsy children. These wrong-doings were stopped 26 years ago, and since then, the Swiss gov't has spent millions of dollars to investigate the cases and to pay compensations (did the US gov't do anything similar for Natives?). An independent study came to the conclusion that "the main guilt of the authorities was lack of control of this foundation." Please check your facts better before handing out random accusations and sweeping generalizations. Last week I also heard the National Rifle Association use the Swiss requirement for weapons and food in their basements as a justification for the free flow of firearms in America no matter how many street gangs, drug lords or disgruntled adolescents have them. The NRA's argument is really ironic, because "the Swiss requirement for weapons" is limited to the personal _military_ gun of each _soldier_ and has nothing to do with the free flow of _private_ firearms (which is more strictly regulated in Switzerland than in the US) that the NRA wants. In my opinion we suffer from a poverty of workable non-violent models and imagination. IMHO Switzerland offers such a model and has offered it for a long time now (even _before_ it was rich), not only internally but also externally (Red Cross etc.), but it seems that the powers-that-be are more interested in tearing down this model and (dis)"integrating" it into the imperialist EU, instead of adopting this model. It is "in the way" of the "New World Order", like the Yugoslavian model of non-aligned socialism was. Chris
