reviewing books
Doug has condemned Gillott and Kumar's book without reading it or even seeing a copy. If what is good for the goose is good for the gander, then Doug should not object to others who have not read _Wall Street_ from condemning it sight unseen. Perhaps Doug will now admit that his "review" of books prior to reading is more than a little problematic and speculative? Jerry
Re: reviewing books
Gerald Levy wrote: Doug has condemned Gillott and Kumar's book without reading it or even seeing a copy. If what is good for the goose is good for the gander, then Doug should not object to others who have not read _Wall Street_ from condemning it sight unseen. Perhaps Doug will now admit that his "review" of books prior to reading is more than a little problematic and speculative? You're right, Jerry, on the strength of this precedent, I think everyone should condemn Wall Street sight unseen. Or any other book s/he likes to hate. It's the holiday season; condemn generously! Doug
Re: Native American land rights
Ajit: I goofed on the citation. It should be: Henderson, John and Patricia Netherly. _Configurations of Power: Holisitic Anthropology in Theory and Practice_. Ithaca: Cornell U Press, 1993. Lechtman is the author of the article "Technologies of Power: The Andean Case" which appears in the volume. Tom At 17:12 24/12/97 +1100, you wrote: At 08:40 23/12/97 -0400, Tom K. wrote: There is a healthy antidote to this in the literature spawned by Murra in anthropology. See the wonderful collectinon of essays called the _Technologies of Power_ (despite the title, it is not a Foucauldian inspired collection) edited, I believe, by Heather Lecthman. ___ Thanks for the reference. I'll check this out. Cheers, ajit sinha Tom Kruse / Casilla 5869 / Cochabamba, Bolivia Tel/Fax: (591-42) 48242 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Native American land rights
James Heartfield wrote: Ralph Waldo Emerson joked that he never read a book before reviewing it, in case it prejudiced him. Why don't you read Science and the Retreat from Reason before you close your mind to it. Oh that Emerson! He also said he read Shakespeare's plays backwards, so that the plot didn't get in the way of the poetry. I do plan to read the book, as soon as I can get my hands on it. I have read it, and there is a great deal of critique of science, especially of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics and of chaos theory, as I recollect. Glad to hear this, but what I was talking about was a critique of the social-political role of science as an instrument of control and arbiter of Truth. These examples aren't quite what I had in mind. By the way, James, I've been kicking LM around a bit, but I still take you seriously and think of the magazine as worth reading. I'm not condemning you as agents of Satan or anything. Doug
Re: UnDemocracy threat to Canada? (fwd)
December 21, 1997 The Toronto Star IMF warns money crisis will spread Forecast shows global economic slowdown in 1998 WASHINGTON (CP) - The financial firestorm raging through Asia will leave no country untouched in 1998. Around the world, economic growth will slow and unemployment will rise, especially in nations at the centre of the crisis. That's the view of the International Monetary Fund, which is releasing its most extensive assessment so far of the currency crisis that has forced the lending agency to assemble multibillion-dollar bailout packages for Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea. Because of the rapidly deteriorating situation, the IMF yesterday updated its World Economic Outlook, originally released in October, with new economic projections for 1998. The IMF now projects the global economy in 1998 will grow at its slowest pace in five years, an increase of just 3.5 per cent. The forecast represents a 0.8 percentage-point reduction from two months ago, when the IMF had projected worldwide economic growth at 4.3 per cent. The IMF said there is no reason to be overly pessimistic and that ``the threat to global growth from the present crisis is reasonably limited.'' Still, it warned the risk of the Asian trouble spreading to other countries had grown and that there was no way of knowing whether the world had yet seen the worst. ``The balance of risks is a little on the downside,'' IMF chief economist Michael Mussa said at a news conference to present the report. While noting that growth in North America and Europe looked ``well sustained in the period ahead,'' the IMF warned: ``A sharp slowdown in economic growth is an unavoidable consequence of the type of crisis affecting a number of the Asian economies.'' Admitting that it originally had misjudged the extent of the turmoil, the IMF appealed to troubled Asian nations to take urgent measures to reform their fiscal systems, keep monetary policy tight and overhaul weak financial sectors. The lending agency warned that a further slowdown in the already sluggish Japanese economy posed the ``key risk'' to advanced economies elsewhere in the world. In the gloomiest section of its report, the IMF predicted the Japanese economy would grow by only 1.1 per cent in 1998 compared with 1.0 per cent this year and only half what had been forecast in October. Europe, less dependent on Asian export markets, will see growth reduced just 0.1 percentage point from October's estimate to 2.7 per cent. Economic growth for Canada now is forecast at 3.2 per cent compared with an estimated 3.7 per cent this year and off 0.3 of a percentage point from the October estimate. For the United States, the IMF forecast economic growth of 2.4 per cent next year, down from an expected 3.8 per cent.
RE: FWD: MAI again. Question for Max. (fwd)
Subject: RE: FWD: MAI again. Question for Max. well, that's all up to us, isn't it? it's true that the senate is traditionally more pro-"free trade" than the house. on the other hand, as a treaty they will need a supermajority. on the other hand, the senate is way more pro-"free trade" than the house. i would say that if the Admin. succeeds in portraying it as an agreement to "open up foreign markets to US investment/business" it will sail thru. if, on the other hand, the Forces of Progress succeed in portraying it as "NAFTA on steroids," strengtening corporate rule, undermining minority preferences, local economic development, sovereignty, etc., it is dead in the water. recently the Mo has been on our side, with chinks in the media blackout (e.g. front-page Chicago Trib.) Such publicity the MAI probably can not survive. Time is not on their side. Delay is good. -bob naiman Business Week, the 15 December issue with the special advertising section on outsourcing, noted that Clinton will submit MAI as a treaty, thereby circumventing the House. Will it win. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 916-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Analyzing technologies
The fear of Ceasar Chavez led to the invention of the tomato harvester. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 916-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Gunmen Kill 45 Indians in Mountain Hamlet
file under: pogroms. it appears that a serious investigation would show complicity of the state govt - New York Times December 24, 1997 Gunmen Kill 45 Indians in Mountain Hamlet By JULIA PRESTON MEXICO CITY -- A band of gunmen charged into a southern mountain hamlet on Monday spraying rifle fire and swinging machetes, and killed 45 Indians, including 15 children, Red Cross officials said on Tuesday. Thirteen others were wounded. It was the bloodiest violence in the area, Chiapas state in the south, since Indian rebels began an uprising there four years ago. The attack, which survivors said was a prolonged and calculated assault by Indians who support the government on a village crowded with their political rivals, brought swift condemnation from President Ernesto Zedillo. But it still deepened the explosive polarization in Chiapas: Catholic Church leaders accused local officials of ignoring urgent pleas for help as the bloodshed began. Zedillo, in a national broadcast on Tuesday afternoon, called the attack "a cruel, absurd and unacceptable criminal act," and ordered the federal attorney general to investigate, pointedly sidelining senior state officials from his own political party. The killings in the village, Chenalho, a town of Tzotzil Indians, capped an outburst of violence in Indian villages in the pine-forested highlands of Chiapas in which more than 300 people, both allies and opponents of the government, have been killed since 1994. The tensions continue to simmer because the government has not reached a peace accord with the Zapatista guerrillas whose strongholds are in the region. "They came in shooting at about 11 o'clock and we tried to flee into the mountains," Agustin Perez, a resident of the hamlet, said. "Some came in from one side and others came in from another side. We were so frightened, we tried to hide by the banks of a little river that runs nearby. But our children started to cry and the attackers heard them and came after us shooting." Another survivor, Manuel Perez Perez, told reporters in San Cristobal de Las Casas, the largest city in the area: "They attacked us because they know we have no weapons. The shooting started at 11 in the morning and it went on and on all day." Victims who died of bullet wounds and stab cuts included an infant and 14 children. There were no reports that residents of the Chenalho hamlet returned fire during the several hours they were under assault. According to survivors' accounts, several dozen gunmen armed with AK-47 combat rifles and other sophisticated weapons surrounded the hamlet and moved in shooting into a cluster of makeshift dwellings belonging to Indians from several other villages who are sympathizers of the Zapatista rebels, and who were driven from their homes in recent weeks in violent confrontations with pro-government paramilitary bands. The survivors said they had been warned in recent days by armed followers of the government party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, that an attack was planned. The PRI followers remained in the hamlet, attacking anyone who did not flee, until late in the afternoon. Then they reportedly sacked the empty adobe huts and lean-tos of residents who fled, taking money and foodstuffs. The PRI party president, Mariano Palacios Alcocer, on Tuesday condemned the violence and denied that the party had encouraged it. "This is a situation that defies understanding, where there has been no official will to get the violence under control," said Bishop Samuel Ruiz, the leading Catholic prelate in the Chiapas highlands. His relations with the government are in conflict because of his support for grass-roots Indian causes in the state, including the Zapatistas. The Rev. Gonzalo Ituarte, a priest in Ruiz's diocese, said Catholic officials heard reports of killings from panicked Chenalho residents as early as noon on Monday and immediately relayed the information to the state police. "They evidently did nothing," Ituarte said. "We don't know what the authorities will do now, but we know we can't trust them because they had the opportunity to stop this and they did nothing." At least 30 people have been killed this year in Chenalho in violence between a faction of Indian residents who identify themselves as PRI party followers and others who side with the Zapatista rebels. In one hamlet in the township, Zapatista supporters rejected the local PRI government and set up a rebel mayor's office. Behind the conflicts is a complex fabric of generations-old hostilities, including disputes over scarce farming land and religious feuds between Catholics and Protestants. But since the Zapatista uprising began on Jan. 1, 1994, demanding greater justice for the poor Indians of Chiapas, Indians on both sides have armed themselves with combat rifles. Sporadic fighting over the following few weeks was finally ended with a informal cease-fire.
Re: Analyzing technologies
Michael, Interesting point. Is this an off-hand opinion or supported by some evidence? Reason I ask is that I am not aware of any efforts by UFW in the period of the development of mechanical harvesters to target tomato pickers for organization, and given that these machines, as I recall, were introduced before the UFW had an established base, it is not clear to me that this was a driving motivation. Given the difficulty Chavez had establishing a presence in grape fields, I rather doubt that the corporate moguls who controlled much of California agriculture were quaking at the prospect of a union in the tomato fields. I am perfectly happy, however, to be educated on this point. michael e. At 10:45 AM 12/24/97 -0800, Michael Perelman wrote: The fear of Ceasar Chavez led to the invention of the tomato harvester. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 916-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WSJ story on Teamsters fight
I have a favour to ask: can someone with access to the Wall Street Journal site get the story headlined "Hoffa Operative Used 'Moles", False Identity To Probe Teamster Foe"? It ran on the front page on Tuesday, December 23. The story describes how Richard Leebove, onetime Larouchite and more recent Hoffa stallwart, came up with the inside dope on Ron Carey's misuse of campaign funds. If someone can find it, I'd appreciate getting a copy. Cheers, Sid Shniad [EMAIL PROTECTED]
BLS Daily Report
BLS DAILY REPORT, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1997: New orders for manufactured durable goods jumped 4.8 percent to $195 billion in November, with heightened demand for transportation equipment leading the advance, the Commerce Department reports. When transportation equipment is removed from the calculations, durable goods orders decreased 0.2 percent, for its second monthly decline. Demand for durables has increased in 5 of the last 6 months, and in the year to date new orders are 7 percent greater than in the same period last year (Daily Labor Report, page D-1; The Washington Post, page C1). __The New York Times (page D3) says that more evidence of slackening economic growth emerged today, even as the government reported that orders for relatively costly factory goods posted the biggest gain in almost 5 years in November. The surge in orders was concentrated in commercial aircraft and military hardware, produced over extended periods. The chief economist for Merrill Lynch said the November decline in orders for capital goods (machinery used in production, about half of which is sold abroad) "may be among the first signs that the Asian crisis is hitting home." The experimental geometric mean version of the CPI kept to pattern in its divergence from the CPI-U, rising 1.6 percent in the year ending in November, according to BLS data. The official CPI-U rose 1.8 percent in the same period. BLS is testing the experimental geometric mean CPI (called the CPI-XG) against another experimental index that uses the same arithmetic average method of calculating price changes as the CPI-U, but recalculates it to make a more suitable comparison with the geometric mean index. The differences between the two experimental indexes has converged in October to about 0.3 percentage point, about what BLS expected (Daily Labor Report, page A-10). U.S. economic growth in the third quarter was 3.1 percent at an annual rate, a little slower than previously reported, the Commerce Department says. Consumer spending increased 5.5 percent in the third quarter, after rising just 0.9 percent in the second. "Inflation remains invisible," said a Merrill Lynch senior economist, noting that the chain-weight price index for domestic purchases edged up only 1.3 percent in the third quarter (Daily Labor Report, page D-3; The Washington Post, page C1). For years, the government's economic statistics have been attacked as out of touch with today's economy. And no wonder - all the official employment data and other economic numbers have been collected, according to the Standard Industrial Classification, or SIC, a system that originated in the 1930s, and looks it. It was easy to find employment data for 31 different apparel industries. Meanwhile, the entire shrink-wrapped software industry was squished into one category. Now, starting with the 1997 Economic Census, which is being mailed to 5 million companies, the government is switching to a new way of classifying industries. Called the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) it includes information on more than 300 new industries, from satellite communications to casinos to nail salons, while grouping new and existing industries into more useful sectors. Eventually, virtually all official data - employment, wages, sales, capital investment, profits - will be available for the new sectors and industries. This major revision will put a tremendous burden on the government's statistical agencies, already hampered by tight budgets. The first NAICS data won't appear until early 1999 and won't be fully integrated into the federal statistics until 2004 at the earliest. Moreover, the difference between old SIC and new NAICS industries is so great that many historical comparisons will become difficult to make. But such disruptions are the price to be paid for a clearer picture of the new information-driven economy (Business Week, December 29, page 42). The Business Outlook of Business Week, December 29, page 74, reports that a cooldown - not a recession - is in the forecast. But the big unknown is still Asia. Business Week expects the U.S. economy to grow 2.4 percent next year, measured by fourth-quarter to fourth-quarter growth in real gross domestic product, and consumer inflation to edge up only to about 2.5 percent, as a pickup in service prices offsets a continued decline in goods inflation. And after the unemployment rate declines slightly from November's 24-year low of 4.6 percent, we look for joblessness to rise to 4.8 percent by yearend, amid slower growth.. application/ms-tnef
Re: DOLLARS * SENSE BOOKS, EXHIBIT BOOTH
Robiinn, I'm glad you think you can use the environmental reader. If you need it sooner than when Jesse gets back. I can mail it, and the other books. Let me know. By the way, if you get the January magazine, you will see that your situation did not get into my article on "How People Spend their Money." Sorry about that. I ran out of space. Take care. Marc Breslow P.S. - but note the Econoomy in Numbers by JHeesse!
Re: From NAFTA to Chenalho
yOn Wed, 24 Dec 1997, Tom Walker wrote: What do we know about the massacre in Chenalho and when did we know it? We know a great deal about it. There are dozens of messages posted since the story first broke. Visit the Chiapas95 archives and look in the file called "current". This kind of killing on a smaller scale has been going on for some time, in the North of Chiapas and has recently moved into the Highlands. It is the paramilitary branch of the low-intensity warfare strategy that the Mexican government has been following for some time. There have been warnings specifically about Chenalho for days, ignored by the government, of course, since it is their strategy to terrorize the population. The Chiapas95 homepage url is given below. Click on archives, then on current. Harry Regards, Tom Walker ^^^ Know Ware Communications Vancouver, B.C., CANADA [EMAIL PROTECTED] (604) 688-8296 ^^^ The TimeWork Web: http://www.vcn.bc.ca/timework/ . Harry Cleaver Department of Economics University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas 78712-1173 USA Phone Numbers: (hm) (512) 478-8427 (off) (512) 475-8535 Fax:(512) 471-3510 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cleaver homepage: http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/index.html Chiapas95 homepage: http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/chiapas95.html Accion Zapatista homepage: http://www.utexas.edu/students/nave/ .
ENVIRONMENT READER (DOLLARS SENSE)
THE ENVIRONMENT IN CRISIS CHAPTER 1: THE STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT PAGE 1. Is the U.S. Making Progress? Unlike the GDP, a New Measure Says 'No'2 2. Air Pollution, Past and Present 8 CHAPTER 2: GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES Global Warming: How Big Business Controls the Debate: 3. Not to Worry, Say Business Lobbyists 9 4. Can We Afford to Stop Global Warming? 12 5. Winners Take All 16 6. Bucking Biotech: The Global Threat of the New Agribusiness 17 7. Prawn Fever: Thailand's High-Stakes Jumbo Shrimp Business 21 CHAPTER 3: U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS 8. Does Preserving the Earth Threaten Jobs? 25 9. The Sewage Scam: Should Sludge Fertilize Your Vegetables? 29 10. Power Lines and Leukemia: Beware of Scientists Bearing Glad Tidings 33 11. The Junk Bond Boss Meets the Ancient Sequoia 34 12. Gluttons for Energy: The U.S.'s Insatiable Appetite Threatens the 38 Environment CHAPTER 4: REGULATION 13. Competition Comes to Electricity: Industry Gains, People and the42 Environment Lose 14. Trading Away the Earth: Examining Free Market Environmentalism 45 15. Taxing Trash: Environmental Boon or Consumer Threat? 49 CHAPTER 5: DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE FUTURES 16. Trashing Recycling: The New Face of Anti-Environmentalism 53 Greener Industry: 17. New Industrial Ecosystems 57 18. Denmark Shows the Way 59 19. Let's Just Assume We're Sustainable 62 20. Conserve and Renew: How to Save Money and Protect the Environment 64 CHAPTER 6: THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT AND ITS OPPONENTS 21. Environmental Justice: The Birth of a Movement 68 22. Green Labels: Can They Build a New Marketplace? 71 23. Marketing Green: Corporate Environmentalism Shows its True Colors 75
Update on Mexican Massacre
World Leaders Condemn Bloody Mexican Massacre 04:58 p.m Dec 24, 1997 Eastern By Caroline Brothers ACTEAL, Mexico (Reuters) - The massacre of 45 refugees in southern Mexico sparked world outrage Wednesday as a rebel leader blamed the government and the United Nations condemned the five-hour orgy of killing. Most people who lived in Acteal, a coffee and banana growing village about 450 miles southeast of Mexico City, fled the area after the killings Monday. Twenty-one of the victims, all Tzotzil Indians, were women and 14 were children. The rebel leader known as Subcommandante Marcos, who heads the Zapatista rebels in the area where the killings took place, Wednesday blamed Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo and his government for the massacre. ``The direct responsibility of this bloody event lies on the shoulders of Ernesto Zedillo and the Interior Ministry who two years ago gave the green light to counterinsurgency by the army,'' Marcos said in a statement. A local church leader accused the Mexican government of ignoring warnings that paramilitaries linked to Zedillo's ruling party were preparing attacks in the troubled state of Chiapas -- scene of a Zapatista-led Indian uprising in 1994 against the government. While placing no blame for the incident, the White House said President Clinton was outraged at the massacre. ``He condemned the attack as a violation of the most basic human values and, on behalf of the American people, extends condolences to the families of the victims,'' spokesman Mike McCurry said in a statement. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan also condemned the killings. ``He strongly condemns this odious crime, as he does all acts of terrorism, and supports President (Ernesto) Zedillo's efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice,'' a statement issued through a U.N. spokesman said. Aside from heavy troop and police presence, Acteal looked like a ghost town Wednesday as survivors fled. The village is close to the colonial capital of San Cristobal de las Casas in the state of Chiapas. ``They have fled further into the mountains,'' said Maria Isabel Lopez Zamorra, a nun from the neighboring town of Pantelho that planned a special Christmas mass later Wednesday in memory of the victims. In other communities in this wild region of Chiapas, peasants and shoeless children stood along the sides of dirt roads waving makeshift banners demanding action. ``We demand that the paramilitary aggressors be punished'' and ``Indian blood will earn the recognition of the rights of poor people'' read two banners on the outskirts of Pantelho. ``We are on the verge of a civil war and we don't understand why neither the federal nor the state governments are really doing anything to stop this,'' Raul Vera, assistant bishop of the town of San Cristobal, told reporters late Tuesday. The bodies of the 45 victims were still stacked in a morgue in the Chiapas state capital Tuxtla Gutierrez Wednesday morning under heavy police guard. Relatives and reporters were not allowed access. The handful of Indians who managed to escape from the slaughter recovered in hospitals in San Cristobal. Orphaned by the murder of her parents, 4-year-old Lucia Vazquez Luna lay in a hospital bed unable to walk after a bullet shattered her leg. Next to her stood her aunt, Maria Vazquez Gomez, whose mother and brother died in the slaughter. Trembling uncontrollably and sobbing, she cried: ``I'm all alone, I'm all alone''. Zedillo condemned the massacre and ordered federal investigators to Chiapas to hunt for the killers and calm tension between Indians, Zapatistas and paramilitaries backed by local landowners and politicians. The moves did little to calm local people, whose grief for the dead was mixed with anger at the government for failing to guarantee their safety despite a huge military presence in the state left over from the January 1994 uprising by the Indian Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN). Mexico's main left-wing opposition, the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), called for the resignation of Interior Minister Emilio Chuayffet, a hardliner widely blamed for blocking attempts to get stalled peace negotiations between the Zapatistas and the government back on track. Chuayffet denied any responsibility but Bishop Vera released a copy of a letter he wrote to the minister October 18 saying: ``We have information that paramilitary groups are multiplying ... former soldiers and police are training civilians to fight their brothers, ruling party congressmen are sponsoring the sale and the trafficking of weapons, acting as protectors and coordinators of the various paramilitary groups''. Vera said the government never responded to the letter. Federal Attorney-General Jorge Madrazo Cuellar, whose office has taken over the investigation of the massacre, said Tuesday night that his detectives were questioning four people in connection with the crime. About 25 men traveling in
Re: Analyzing technologies
The books is Class Struggles in the Information Age (Macmillan). The galley's are now being prepared. Thanks for your interest. Michael, I know that there is often a hesitancy to engage in self promotion via email. But I think it would be very useful and desirable if you'd post the details on your new book when it's published so that the rest of us can get a copy. Cheers, Sid Shniad -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Analyzing technologies
Scully was only one of a number of marketing types that came into the computer business. A good number came from the soft drink industry, beginning with the fellow who ran Osborne. None of these suits ever learnt to master the computer industry. They could understand sugar water better than electronics. I'm not sure what you mean by this; I suspect that this business migration connotes the usual condensing and bowdlerizing of information compelled by sales psychology. In his 1987 book "Odyssey: etc." former Apple Computer CEO John Sculley describes how, when he was the heir-apparent of the Pepsi empire, Steve Jobs spent months pursuing him with the zeal of a rock groupie though he protested that he knew nothing about computers (among other self-deprecating arguments). The bald reality was that The Two Steves had made a great product but had come to abruptly realize that sales is a science in itself that they knew nothing of. What they did know was that Sculley had waged "the cola wars" against Coke and thereby brought Pepsi back from the dead, so Sculley was their man. Jobs wrapped up his final pitch with a desperate question: "Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want to get a chance to change the world?" Surely among the greatest of one-liners in business history. Alas, the implication is that Jobs had no hope of pitching to the smarts of his potential customers because the product was too new, too complex and too expensive, so the impulse-buying that soft drink advertising panders to would have to serve instead: early corruption in the age of democratized knowledge-access. All more than a bit sad, really, but could a socialist society _ever_ have created the computer industry? We should not shrink from such a question, and I don't mean to pose it rhetorically. valis -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Dilbert revisited
coming back to the gigantic and crucial theoretical debate that held pen-l by the throat recently (until comrade Sawicki pointed out the correct path to us all), I bought a copy of THE DILBERT FUTURE: THRIVING ON STUPIDITY IN THE 21ST CENTURY (50 per cent off at BookStar). Scott Adams writes: "In a departure from the past, [in this book] I will also say as many controversial and inflammatory things as I can (i.e., pretending to have actual opinions). If lots of gullible Induhviduals [i.e., people] get mad at me, it might generate enough publicity to get me invited as a guest on LARRY KING LIVE. That's really the goal here. So if you see something that makes you mad, don't just sit there, organize a protest. I'll chip in for the poster boards and Magic Markers." He _wants_ protest, because there's no such thing as bad publicity. This an example of the classic US problem: cynicism trumps absolutely everything, until the whole place blows up. BTW, the book isn't as funny as the other one I read, THE DILBERT PRINCIPLE. It's not funny at all. I think Adams has been mass-producing humor in order to exploit his 15 minutes of fame. This is his third book in about a year and a half. And one can't mass-produce humor. I think his daily strip has also gone down hill. In a closing note, I recently saw a sign for a daycare center nearby here in L.A.: it's the "Shining Path" daycare center! Run by Peruvians? have happy holidays, nog, and nosh, Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://clawww.lmu.edu/1997F/ECON/jdevine.html Academic version of a Bette Midler song: "you are the hot air beneath my wings."
From NAFTA to Chenalho
What do we know about the massacre in Chenalho and when did we know it? Regards, Tom Walker ^^^ Know Ware Communications Vancouver, B.C., CANADA [EMAIL PROTECTED] (604) 688-8296 ^^^ The TimeWork Web: http://www.vcn.bc.ca/timework/
Re: good jobs
Once you quantify what you consider a "good" job then you can check with the Employment Development Dept. to see how many exist. They keep such statistics available in their computer base. Don't forget that many folks consider lack of supervision a better quality in a job than "conceptualization of the work and its execution, jobs which require real skill" (Truck drivers I'm told test out at a higher iq than most workers and certainly used to get better pay than oh, say college instructors; doing your own thinking on the bosses time was one of the advantages Sweeney (?) [or the SEIU honcho guy before him I can't remember which head of SEIU last held a real job prior to assension] liked about being a janitor.) Yours in Solidarity, Ellen Friends, Suppose that we took all of the jobs in the U.S. or any similar economy and asked, what fraction of these jobs are "good" jobs. By good I mean not just decent wages and benefits and reasonable hours (no doubt this eliminates a lot of jobs already) but jobs which allow the holder to engage significantly in both the conceptualization of the work and its execution, jobs which require real skill (I know that "skill" is a difficult concept). I do not think that the fraction can be very high. What do others think? Can anyone cite some current references on this subject? (Note: we may have covered this subject in the past, but I've forgotten what waw said!) michael yates
Han Young: More Bad Signs (fwd)
-- Forwarded message -- Date: 24 Dec 1997 07:50:21 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Recipients of conference [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Han Young: More Bad Signs /* Written 7:43 AM Dec 24, 1997 by clr3 in igc:labr.announcem */ /* -- "Han Young: More Bad Signs" -- */ Labor Alerts: a service of Campaign for Labor Rights To receive our email labor alerts, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: (541) 344-5410 Web site: http://www.compugraph.com/clr Membership/newsletter. Send $35.00 to Campaign for Labor Rights, 1247 "E" Street SE, Washington, DC 20003. Sample newsletter available on request. HAN YOUNG: MORE BAD SIGNS Tuesday, December 23, 1997 ACTION REQUESTS: see end of alert [Information provided by staff of the Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers, who ask that local activists seeking updates contact Campaign for Labor Rights: (541) 344-5410, [EMAIL PROTECTED]] BACKGROUND: In recent months, Han Young workers have twice voted to be represented by STIMAHCS, a branch of the independent FAT labor federation. Until recently, the government-controlled CROC federation "represented" the workers. Now, Han Young management and the Mexican government want the government-controlled CTM federation to represent the workers. Han Young, located near Tijuana, produces exclusively for Hyundai Precision America, also located near Tijuana but with headquarters in San Diego. Hyundai Precision manufactures tractor trailers. It is one part of the Korean conglomerate, The Hyundai Group. The San Diego-based Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers stays in close touch with the Han Young workers and directs international solidarity efforts on their behalf. HAN YOUNG A NO-SHOW: Yesterday (Monday, December 22), Han Young was supposed to come to the Tijuana labor board to sign the contract agreement, but Han Young management didn't show up. The labor board then wouldn't do anything to pressure Han Young to appear. This amounts to a de facto overturning of the union certification election. EXPLANATION OF WHAT DIDN'T HAPPEN: Under Mexican law, when a union certification election results in the replacement of one union by another, the new union inherits the previous contract. Instead of bargaining over a new contract from scratch, management and the new union bargain over changes in the old contract. The signing ceremony scheduled for yesterday was to have transferred the ownership of the old contract to STIMAHCS. Without the signing-over, STIMAHCS has no legal standing to participate in new negotiations over the contract. WHAT HAN YOUNG IS SEEKING: When Han Young management showed up at the labor board last Friday (December 19) with a busload of CTM thugs, management claimed that CTM was actually the legal bargaining agent for the workers. Technically, there would have to be an election before management or the labor board could recognize the CTM. However, in real practice, who knows what illegalities we will see from Han Young management and the Mexican government? HYUNDAI PRESIDENT VANISHES: When Hyundai Precision America 'sPresident Ted Chung asked for a moratorium on letters to him, he promised Mary Tong of the Support Committee that she could call him "10 times a day" if she wanted to and he promised that he would check his email every day when he was out of town. Since the events on Friday morning (when Han Young management showed up at the labor board with the CTM thugs), Mary has repeatedly been trying by every way possible to reach Chung, whose office reports that he is "out of town." Chung's failure to respond to multiple messages becomes more suspect by the hour. PRESSING FORWARD WITH NAO: The Support Committee for Maquiladora Workers is seeking to have a hearing date as soon as possible for the NAO complaint (NAFTA labor side agreement structure). There is mounting evidence that the Mexican state and federal government are illegally colluding with Han Young (and quite possibly with Hyundai Precision America) to overturn the certification of the STIMAHCS election. HYUNDAI'S FINANCIAL TROUBLES: Hyundai Precision America is but one part of the huge Korean-based Hyundai Group. In addition to manufacturing tractor trailers, the conglomerate has other divisions for shipping, electronics, cars and more. On several fronts, the company is having financial problems due to the Asian currency crisis. According to news stories today, Hyundai Motor Company said that it has halted a $400-million joint-venture in Indonesia because of funding problems and the anticipated withdrawal of tax favor. News stories on December 20 stated that Hyundai Electronics is mothballing a $1.6 billion chip plant in Scotland, which already is $hundreds of millions into construction. Clearly, this is a company which is now vulnerable to pressure. GOVERNMENT MIS-REPRESENTATION: According to the Support Committee for Maquiladora
Microsoft trickery (fwd)
Subject: Microsoft trickery Computer underground DigestSun Dec 21, 1997 Volume 9 : Issue 92 ISSN 1004-042X [...] Cu Digest Homepage: http://www.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest [...] Date: Fri, 19 Dec 1997 21:05:37 -0800 (PST) From: "T.L. Kelly" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: File 2--Urgent Action: WA state HOUSE BILL 2209 The WSDMA, a "labor" organization, has quietly asked the Washington Dept. of Labor and Industry to strip computer professionals making over $27.63 an hour of their overtime. Furthermore, the proposed law is written in such a way as to exempt "Any employee who is a computer system analyst, computer programmer, software engineer, software developer, or other similarly skilled worker" even from the minimum wage provisions of Washington state law. If approved, the law will be adopted Dec. 31, 1997, and become effective Feb. 1, 1998. The WSDMA's largest member is Microsoft, the largest employer of computer contractors in the region with an estimated 3-5,000 such employees. The company recently lost a labor case brought by a group of contract workers. It is the company's acknowledged policy to employ contract workers to avoid the cost of benefits, vacation, etc. Recent applicants have confirmed to me that Microsoft explicitly *requires* all contract workers to work "a minimum of 50-55 hours a week". The Boeing Company is also a member of the WSDMA. The WSDMA's legal move was kept secret. The "request" was not reported in the local press until the day AFTER the public comment period had ended. The author of that story has acknowledged he learned of the proposal in October, but did not cover it because he "didn't appreciate the significance." One wonders how he manages to cross the street successfully. The "public" hearing was scheduled for the Tuesday before Thanksgiving from 10 am to noon--in Tumwater, WA, several miles south of Olympia. The vast majority of the state's contract workers live in Seattle and neighboring communities far to the north. The WSDMA's own street-level membership was not informed of the move, let alone invited to comment. It should be noted that computer professionals are already barred from labor organizing by a Cold War-era federal law. It seems the time has come to work to get that law overturned on Constitutional grounds. But first... THE PERIOD FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE OVERTIME LAW HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL DEC. 19--NEXT FRIDAY. Management and owners have had nearly two months to comment, we have less than a week. Please make it count. Comments can be sent to Linda Merz of the Washington State Dept. of Labor and Industry at (360) 902-5403 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please be clear, relatively brief, and most importantly courteous (even if firm). Comments of up to 10 pages may be faxed to (360) 902-5300 or snail mailed to: Greg Mowat, Program Manager Employment Standards Department of Labor and Industries P.O. Box 4-4510 Olympia, WA 98504-4510 Below is an excerpt from the proposed law, HOUSE BILL 2209. As you can see, it applies to just about anyone working in the computer and web industries. (source: http://www.wa.gov/lni/pa/w128-535.htm ) (1) Any employee who is a computer system analyst, computer programmer, software engineer, software developer, or other similarly skilled worker will be considered a "professional employee" and will be exempt from the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Washington Minimum Wage Act if: (i) Applying systems analysis techniques and procedures to determine hardware, software, or system functional specifications for any user of such services; or (ii) Following user or system design specifications to design, develop, document, analyze, create, test, or modify any computer system, application, or program, including prototypes; or (iii) Designing, documenting, testing, creating, or modifying computer systems, applications, or programs for machine operation systems; or (iv) Any combination of the above primary duties whose performance requires the same skill level [...] RESOURCES ONLINE News Stories (both of 'em -- literally) Temporary software workers to lose OT http://www.seattletimes.com/extra/browse/html97/temp_120597.html Software temps gain time to fight OT changes http://www.seattletimes.com/extra/browse/html97/temp_121097.html Info from WA State Dept of LI http://www.wa.gov/lni/pa/over.htm http://www.wa.gov/lni/pa/w128-535.htm HOUSE BILL 2209 as posted on the WA Legislature Site http://leginfo.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/house/2200-2224/2209_022697 WA Legislature Site http://leginfo.leg.wa.gov/ WSDMA http://www.wsdma.org [...]
Re: Analyzing technologies
Michael, I know that there is often a hesitancy to engage in self promotion via email. But I think it would be very useful and desirable if you'd post the details on your new book when it's published so that the rest of us can get a copy. Cheers, Sid Shniad
(Eng) 43 MASSACRED IN CHENALHO (fwd)
From: "NUEVO AMANECER PRESS" [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "NAP-E6"[EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Tue, 23 Dec 1997 11:46:26 + Subject: (Eng) 43 MASSACRED IN CHENALHO NUEVO AMANECER PRESS - EUROPA Darrin Wood, Director. [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Tuesday December 23 10:26 AM EST Mexico Paramilitaries Attack Chiapas Indians MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican paramilitaries staged a violent attack on Indians in troubled Chiapas state, killing 43 people and injuring many others, a local leader said on Tuesday. Manual Perez Vazquez, a local indigenous leader, told Reuters there were 43 dead and many injured after the attack in Acteal, in the Chenalho municipality, about 44 miles (70 km) northeast of San Cristobal de las Casas. Some reports said the Indians were supporters of Mexico's Zapatista rebels, and were already refugees from paramilitary violence elsewhere in the region. The Zapatistas staged a violent uprising against the Mexican government in southern Chiapas state on Jan. 1, 1994, when officially around 140 people died. Chiapas state government officials confirmed the paramilitary attack, which happened at midday Monday, but could not give exact numbers of dead or injured. "This is the worst massacre that has happened in Chiapas since the armed uprising of 1994," said Domingo Perez Palencia, president of the municipal council in the rebel area of Chenalho. ___ NUEVO AMANECER PRESS- N.A.P. _ Non Profit organization translating and distributing information in support of the work in defense of human rights. General Director: Roger Maldonado-Mexico Assistant Director: Susana Saravia Ugarte Director Spain: Darrin Wood [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Analyzing technologies
At 05:31 PM 12/24/97 +1100, Ajit Sinha wrote: At 11:51 23/12/97 -0800, Mike E. wrote: While what you say here is true, my understanding is that the primary motivation for the development of new varieties of tomatoes at the UC-Davis Agricultural School was the need for a variety that would be tough enough to hold up to harvesting by mechanical tomato harvesters, and ones that would ripen slowly off the vine, enabling distribution to national markets. The mechanical harvester was developed to replace field labor and to automate the harvesting process. In part this was a response to labor availability and costs -- a function of immigration policy -- but these were not the only considerations. One question: why should labor cost motivate mechanical harvesters. Why can't tomatos just become more expensive? Where there other tomato growing areas where labor was cheaper? A farmer I am not; nor an agricultural economist. I suspect the primary motivation was not labor cost alone. I merely raise this as a factor, since, absent other compelling reasons, there would be little motivation for mechanizing if the work could be done more cheaply and effectively by hand labor. There certainly are other areas where labor is cheaper, and indeed farms have migrated to them (in Mexico, for example). As a labor organizer during the 1970s-80s, I became painfully familiar with the phenomenon of runaway factories. Only after arriving in the Silicon Valley did I become aware that there could be runaway farms. I am confident there are one or more participants on this list who actually know something about the economics of corporate farming (or, being economists, will speak authoritatively so as to create the impression they do) and can enlighten us about the price elasticity of tomatoes and the economics of farming. Happy Holidays! Michael E.
Re: DOLLARS * SENSE BOOKS, EXHIBIT BOOTH
Hi Marc. I'll ask Jesse to mail me a copy of the environmental reader, the macro reader, and the progressive reader when he gets back to Boston. I'll give him a check and tell him to fill in the right amount. I'm pretty sure I can use the environmental reader in my environmental economics course this semester.
Re: Analyzing technologies
Michael Perelman wrote, in conclusion: With the transformation of images and voice, as well as data, to digital form, alongside the more general commodification of cultural life, the distinction between data proper and, say, a movie, becomes blurred within the newly invented category of intellectual property. The vast flow of executives from the fast food and beverage industry to the management suites of the computer industry is symbolic of this broadening of the nature of information. I'm not sure what you mean by this; I suspect that this business migration connotes the usual condensing and bowdlerizing of information compelled by sales psychology. In his 1987 book "Odyssey: etc." former Apple Computer CEO John Sculley describes how, when he was the heir-apparent of the Pepsi empire, Steve Jobs spent months pursuing him with the zeal of a rock groupie though he protested that he knew nothing about computers (among other self-deprecating arguments). The bald reality was that The Two Steves had made a great product but had come to abruptly realize that sales is a science in itself that they knew nothing of. What they did know was that Sculley had waged "the cola wars" against Coke and thereby brought Pepsi back from the dead, so Sculley was their man. Jobs wrapped up his final pitch with a desperate question: "Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want to get a chance to change the world?" Surely among the greatest of one-liners in business history. Alas, the implication is that Jobs had no hope of pitching to the smarts of his potential customers because the product was too new, too complex and too expensive, so the impulse-buying that soft drink advertising panders to would have to serve instead: early corruption in the age of democratized knowledge-access. All more than a bit sad, really, but could a socialist society _ever_ have created the computer industry? We should not shrink from such a question, and I don't mean to pose it rhetorically. valis
Re: Native American land rights
At 12:57 23/12/97 -0500, Doug Henwood wrote: Absolutely, couldn't agree more - so I hope whoever's writing up the agenda hears this! As amusing as Sokal's hoax on Social Text was, its long-term effect has been negligible or even malignant, because it didn't do anything (and may have detracted from) putting the critique of technology on the agenda. ___ Absolutely! I have decided to take up the issue of technology as my next research project. I have very little idea what direction it will take and how comprehensive it would be. But I'll see what I can do on this subject, and let you all know about this in just a few years of time! All kinds of references would be appreciated. Cheers, ajit sinha
Re: Native American land rights
At 08:40 23/12/97 -0400, Tom K. wrote: There is a healthy antidote to this in the literature spawned by Murra in anthropology. See the wonderful collectinon of essays called the _Technologies of Power_ (despite the title, it is not a Foucauldian inspired collection) edited, I believe, by Heather Lecthman. ___ Thanks for the reference. I'll check this out. Cheers, ajit sinha
Re: Analyzing technologies
At 11:51 23/12/97 -0800, Mike E. wrote: While what you say here is true, my understanding is that the primary motivation for the development of new varieties of tomatoes at the UC-Davis Agricultural School was the need for a variety that would be tough enough to hold up to harvesting by mechanical tomato harvesters, and ones that would ripen slowly off the vine, enabling distribution to national markets. The mechanical harvester was developed to replace field labor and to automate the harvesting process. In part this was a response to labor availability and costs -- a function of immigration policy -- but these were not the only considerations. One question: why should labor cost motivate mechanical harvesters. Why can't tomatos just become more expensive? Where there other tomato growing areas where labor was cheaper? Regarding the larger point of this chapter, it seems to me that what characterizes the information age is the commodification of a far larger and varied amount of information for the market and a larger number of new technologies which put a premium on instanteneous delivery. Thus, as you point out, the very definition of what is considered information becomes subject to both technical and market forces. In these terms, there is undoubtedly a huge explosion in the amount of information available, but an ever greater disconnect between "information" and intelligence or knowledge. I think we need to separate the pure consumption of information technology and its use in the production process. I think most of the popular treatment of this information technology is almost intirely based on the consumption aspect of it by the higher and middle classes. I liked Mike P.'s chapter on this issue. Specially the whole issue of short hand hoe. Cheers, ajit sinha
