[PEN-L:4319] BLS Daily Report
This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. --_=_NextPart_000_01BE6EF0.B893EBC0 BLS DAILY REPORT, THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 1999 RELEASED TODAY: The U.S. Import Price Index decreased 0.1 percent in February. The decrease followed a 0.3 percent gain in January and was attributable to a decline in prices for both petroleum and nonpetroleum products. The U.S. Export Price Index was also down 0.1 percent in February after posting no change, on average, in January. ... The three main U.S. data agencies are continuing to examine their security procedures for placing economic statistics on the Internet in light of the two inadvertent postings by BLS since November. ... Although not the intensive internal and external review of BLS procedures that agency and the Labor Department have undertaken, officials at the Census Bureau and BEA say they have reconsidered their procedures. Officials at both Commerce Department agencies say they are confident that they have strong enough protocols in place to guard against the premature release of data on the Internet. ... BLS's internal review continues, and the Labor Department Inspector General has not yet completed an investigation of the two premature BLS posting. "I'm very satisfied with the updates from BLS," Labor Secretary Herman tells BNA. ... (Daniel J. Roy in Daily Labor Report, page C-1). U.S. employers laid off 138,161 workers in 1,278 mass layoff actions in November, BLS reports. The November mass layoff figures and the number of people laid off were lower than in October, when 1,553 mass layoff actions affected 160,830 workers. BLS cautioned against using month-to-month changes to suggest layoff trends, however, because the data are not seasonally adjusted, although there appears to be a seasonal pattern to layoffs. ... (Daily Labor Report, page D-1). The very forces propelling growth in the U.S. -- the ever-increasing prominence of the micro-processor, heightened international competition, and widening deregulation of the economy -- have also boosted demand for highly skilled, educated workers at the expense of those with fewer skills. The result: A dramatic widening of the wage gap. ... In today's economy, employers continue to place a premium on education and skills. But this trend toward higher inequality may have just about run its course -- and could even be about to reverse -- for three reasons. First, continued low unemployment rates mean that companies will have no recourse but to hire and train less skilled workers. Second, the supply of skilled workers is swelling, which will hold down wage growth at the top. And last, information technologies are more user-friendly than before, making them more accessible to the less-educated workers. ... Credit for chart data is given to BLS (Business Week, March 15, page 58). A $50,000 job in private industry may pay more or less depending on the city where the job is located, according to a survey by the New York-based human resource consulting firm William M. Mercer Inc. Comparing a position that pays an average of $50,000 nationally with equivalent positions in more than 200 cities, Mercer found that the pay was 20.4 percent higher in San Jose, Calif. -- the heart of Silicon Valley -- and 16.5 percent lower in Brownsville, Texas. ... The higher the salary is, the less sharply it will vary by geographic locale. ... (Daily Labor Report, page A-3). Data compiled by the Bureau of National Affairs in the first 10 weeks of 1999 show that the median first-year wage increase in newly negotiated contracts equals 3 percent, and the weighted average increase for settlements reported to date in 1999 was 2.2 percent. The manufacturing industry's gain was 3 percent, and its weighted average increase was 2.8 percent. Nonmanufacturing settlements (excluding construction) show a median increase of 3 percent, with a weighted average increase of 2.2 percent. ... (Daily Labor Report, page D-5). According to one ambitious ranking of the best occupations on the planet, Web managers finished first, ahead of actuaries, hospital administrators, and several other technology categories. The annual best-to-worst ratings of 250 occupations, by the "Jobs Rated Almanac," is based on six factors -- workplace environment, income, future prospects, physical demands, job security, and stress. The highest ranked tech occupations, including computer systems analyst, software engineer and computer programmer, all had high scores in the income prospects, environment, and job security categories. But pressure goes along with some tech work, too. Web site managers ranked only 52nd on the least-stressed meter. The analysis draws on government data on wages, length of workday, and hiring trends; the authors also crank in their own assessments of what the 250 jobs are like. (Washington Post, page E5). Will an
[PEN-L:4321] Fwd: Squamish Children at risk? (fwd)boundary=part0_921510438_boundary
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --part0_921510438_boundary In a message dated 3/14/99 9:35:57 PM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Subj: Squamish Children at risk? (fwd) Date: 3/14/99 9:35:57 PM Pacific Standard Time From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (John Shafer) To:[EMAIL PROTECTED] fyi -- Forwarded message -- From: "S.I.S.I.S." [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Squamish Children at risk? NATIVES' FAMILY AGENCY QUESTIONED The Province, March 10, 1999 by Kathy Tait [S.I.S.I.S. note: The following mainstream news article may contain biased or distorted information and may be missing pertinent facts and/or context. It is provided for reference only.] The children and families ministry is looking into 50 cases where social workers and others allege Squamish Nation children have been or are at risk. Sources inside and outside the nation say the investigation centres on Squamish-area and North Vancouver native children left at risk because of top-level decisions of the Squamish Nation's Ayas Men Men child and family service agency. The agency has some ministry-delegated child-protection authority for Squamish Nation children. The Squamish Nation is one of 120 of B.C.'s 197 native bands currently at some stage of attaining full responsibility for child welfare. According to sources, cases being investigated include: - Numerous sexual assaults of native children, including two foster children repeatedly sexually assaulted in Ayas Men Men foster homes, with no internal review being done. - A brother and sister repeatedly sent home to live with their father, a severe chronic alcoholic and single parent, after being put in foster care by social workers. - Children living where their mother's boyfriend, who sexually molested them, still lives. - Foster parents who are known to deal drugs, including cocaine, placing their own children and foster kids at risk. About 2,800 adults and children are members of the Squamish Nation, all but 400 living on reserves. Of the total population, 700 are children 12 and younger. Amid the investigation, a senior social worker left the agency this week, the third to do so recently. According to sources, Hennie Kerstiens resigned Monday after she was reprimanded by program director Gloria Wilson. Her resignation came just days after Kerstiens and other social workers told the ministry about numerous cases of children left at risk. "(Kerstiens) was going to be called up before the band council and she felt there was no sense in trying to defend herself in a kangaroo court," said one source. Kerstiens was not available for comment, and Wilson did not return phone calls. Ministry officials said they could not comment on personnel decisions, including resignations, within the Ayas Men Men program. Nor would they confirm the number of cases being investigated. But last week Ross Dawson, child-protection director for the ministry, said the investigation could be finished by the end of this month or "much longer if it requires us to audit a large number of files." With Kerstiens gone, only two of the program's five qualified social workers remain at work. Cindy Blackstock left several weeks ago and Rod Kingsfield was fired in January. Kingsfield had questioned program directors' handling of cases and the termination from foster care of his client Amanda Tychonick, 18, after she complained about her foster home. Since then, Tychonick says, the Mount Currie band has put her at the bottom of its two-year waiting list for expenses so she can go to college. "I was hoping to start college in September," she said. Kingsfield demanded a full-scale government investigation, saying the ministry is dumping responsibility for child protection on native people and not monitoring the results. Stan Parenteau, deputy director of aboriginal services, has since promised the ministry will monitor all native child-service agencies to ensure they comply with provincial standards. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Letters to The Province - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 EMAIL : [EMAIL PROTECTED] WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html SOVERNET-L is a news-only listserv concerned with indigenous sovereigntist struggles around the world. To subscribe, send "subscribe sovernet-l" in the body of an email message to
[PEN-L:4320] Re: Irony I. Footnote on Plato
Footnote on Plato [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: carrol in response to chuckster: Not a bad characterization. I'm woozy from the flu right now, but I intend to stumble some more. I want to complicate irony enough so that it can't be used as a slogan. Leaving aside dramatic irony, which does present special problems, the ironic tradition in the West begins with something close to deliberate distortion of an opponent -- I'm thinking in particularly of the debate between Thrasymachus and Socrates which begins my favorite book, Plato's *Republic*. The victory Plato arranges for Socrates in that debate (and "arranges" is almost too kind a word) depends on two violent distortions of what (had Thrasymachus or one of his fellow sophists been able to speak for himself) would have been the argument. Distortion 1 (and this can't be an honest mistake on Plato's part) is to individualize the argument, which in the first instance had been an argument about *class*, not individuals. Distortion 2 (perhaps honest, perhaps not) was to assume human perfectibility separately from practice, leading to the absurd conclusion (which Thrasymachus is made to accept) that a mathematician is not a mathematician when he is making a mistake. This leads to the conclusion that when a ruler makes a decision *not* in his own interest, justice consists in not obeying him. But this simply denies the corrigibility of ideas through practice and critique. None of Socrates' arguments holds water in the absence of these two fallacious premises. Irony as Plato (Socrates?) practiced it is essentially vicious in that it depends on the complete control of the ironist over the ironist's victim. In Plato's dialogues that control is guaranteed by the fact that they are fictions Plato himself controlled. But a professor of mine in grad school noted a second form of this control. Commenting on the frequent praise of the "Socratic Method" as a classroom strategy, he said: "The Socratic Method can be used by only one person" -- i.e., the professor exercising authoritarian power in the class room. (Sometimes, of course, the term "Socratic method" means merely discussion -- but it can be used in that sense only by people who have either never read Plato or have read him with utter lack of attention.) In only one of his works does Plato allow an opponent a fair statement. Otherwise they must always be distorted to allow the Socratic ironist to win the battle (i.e., humiliate his opponent). Carrol
[PEN-L:4323] Re: Re: civil society
At 02:20 PM 3/12/99 -0800, Jim Devine wrote: Louis Proyect wrote: Isn't it time that we placed this nebulous term "civil society" on the shelf until we define what it means more clearly? Doug answered: Ain't dat da troot, as we say in NYC. I think it's okay to use the phrase "civil society." Marx used it (it's a translation of "burgerlicte gesellschaft" of course he spelled it correctly). After all, and he was right once and awhile. But it's important to be extremely clear to be clear what we mean by it. "Civil society" ideas come from folks like John Locke, referring to the consensus in bourgeois society in favor of the property system. That's basically what it means today. There is also a more "progressive" strand of theorists who are interested in rescuing the term from those who would exclusively use it as a term reflecting the non-state area of society. Benjamin Barber approaches the debate from the theme of his 1982 book, Strong Democracy. He posits a strong democratic view of civil society which stands in contrast to the libertarian view, which he sees as ignoring the importance of the public nature of civil society, and the communitarian view, which Barber suggests gives too little attention to the voluntary nature of civil society. "... In a civil society that is the true domain of church, family, and voluntary association, 'belonging' is not a surrogate for freedom but its condition and training ground. Civil society's middling terms can potentially mediate between the state and private sectors, and offer women and men a space for activity that is voluntary and public. When the government appropriates the term 'public' exclusively for affairs of state, the real public (you and me) ceases to be able to think of itself as public (as an 'us'), and politicians and bureaucrats become the only significant 'public officials.' Then politics is professionalized and citizenship is transformed into a private occupation. It is hardly surprising that under such circumstances people withdraw into themselves, grow angry at politicians and cynical about democracy, and fall easily to the seductions of narcissistic consumerism or exclusionary tribalism." [Benjamin R. Barber, _A Place for Us_ (New York: Hill and Wang, 1998), p. 44.] One of the central points Barber attempts to draw out of his conception of civil society is the implications for citizenship: "... The strong democratic idea allows civil society to reemerge as a mediating, civic republican domain between the overgrown governmental and the metastasizing private sectors, between the thin liberal conception of citizenship (which 'cannot inspire the sense of community and civic engagement that liberty requires,' as Sandel puts it) and the thick but dense and suffocating comunitarian identity (which endangers liberty and equality)." [Ibid, p. 63.] Alex Campbell Assistant to the President, National Center for Economic and Security Alternatives 2000 P Street, NW Suite 330 Washington, DC 20036 202 986 1373 (voice)/ 202 986 7938 (fax) [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.ncesa.org
[PEN-L:4324] Re: U.S. Jets Fire At North Iraqi
Frank, Such historically decontextualized news reports make you wonder if the US corporate media is real or a fiction created by Orwell. Seth From: "Frank Durgin" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "pen-1" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [PEN-L:4316] U.S. Jets Fire At North Iraqi Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 07:54:16 -0500 Monday March 15 5:48 AM ET U.S. Jets Fire At North Iraqi Air Defenses ANKARA (Reuters) - U.S. warplanes attacked Iraqi sites in the no-fly zone over northern Iraq Monday, a statement from the jets' home base in southern Turkey said. It said the warplanes ``responded in self-defense to Iraqi threats'' but gave no further details. Sunday the jets from the Incirlik airbase bombed anti-aircraft artillery sites near Mosul after being fired upon and detecting Iraq radar tracking the aircraft. Such strikes have become regular since Iraq decided in December to actively oppose U.S. and British jets patrolling the no-fly zones in the north and south of the country. The jets flying out of Incirlik patrol a mountainous Kurdish-held enclave and a swathe of Baghdad-controlled territory around the city of Mosul. Iraq does not recognize the Western-enforced zones set up after the 1991 Gulf War to protect the Kurdish area in the north and Shi'ite Muslims in the south. NATO-member Turkey hosts the force, known as ``Operation Northern Watch,'' but has expressed concern in recent months over the policy of the United States, a close ally, toward Turkey's southern neighbor Iraq. Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
[PEN-L:4327] Social Security issue on Coalition web site
We have just posted a new piece on the Coalition web site: Uncommon Sense 21: Social Security Is Not in "Crisis", by Richard Du Boff Du Boff includes discussion of the aging population and comparisons of projected dependency ratios with those during the youth of baby boomers, Trustees' growth rate and unemployment assumptions, the real sources of our ability to support dependent groups, and the diverse problems of privatization. http://www.njfac.org/us21.htm June Zaccone, National Jobs for All Coalition, 475 Riverside Dr., Ste. 832, NY, NY 10115; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:4330] RE: Re: Who was Red Oskar?
Does "Red" mean left keynesian now? Better terminology than 'red' might be precepts which are not subject to dispute or which are ruled 'out of order' in political debate and media- sponsored presentations, either because they are classified as intellectually bankrupt or politically untenable. For instance: 1. Social Security/Medicare are not in "crisis." 2. Privatization would not provide a better ROI than Social Security. 3. Taxes could go up without harming the economy. 4. Privatization of services is not efficiency-enhancing. 5. The budget need not be balanced, much less run surpluses. 6. Useful remedies for discrimination are available. 7. Restraint of trade could improve the economy. 8. We don't need policies to induce Americans to save more. 9. U.S. military attacks on foreigners are not motivated by narrow domestic or partisan motives. 10. The CIA is involved in U.S. domestic affairs. etc. etc. etc.
[PEN-L:4335] Re: Irony I. Footnote on Plato
Leaving aside dramatic irony, which does present special problems, the ironic tradition in the West begins with something close to deliberate distortion of an opponent -- I'm thinking in particularly of the debate between Thrasymachus and Socrates which begins my favorite book, Plato's *Republic*. The victory Plato arranges for Socrates in that debate (and "arranges" is almost too kind a word) depends on two violent distortions of what (had Thrasymachus or one of his fellow sophists been able to speak for himself) would have been the argument. Distortion 1 (and this can't be an honest mistake on Plato's part) is to individualize the argument, which in the first instance had been an argument about *class*, not individuals. Distortion 2 (perhaps honest, perhaps not) was to assume human perfectibility separately from practice, leading to the absurd conclusion (which Thrasymachus is made to accept) that a mathematician is not a mathematician when he is making a mistake. This leads to the conclusion that when a ruler makes a decision *not* in his own interest, justice consists in not obeying him. But this simply denies the corrigibility of ideas through practice and critique. None of Socrates' arguments holds water in the absence of these two fallacious premises. I would say that Thrasymachus confuses the descriptive with the normative (at least in the Cornford translation) To say that the ruling class makes the laws in its own interest (L338-9) is different from saying that laws should be made by the ruling class in its own interest or that is just that justice is whatever the ruling class does in its own interest .T vacillates between these two conceptions saying that the rc makes the laws in its own interest and that it is right or just that the rc does this. Saying that the ruling class everywhere and always makes the laws in its own interests, assumes that the base determines the legal superstructure in a deterministic fashion, ignoring the fact, as Jim D pointed out, that the base may be multiply realizable i.e. different legal superstructures maybe consistent with the same base. Irony as Plato (Socrates?) practiced it is essentially vicious in that it depends on the complete control of the ironist over the ironist's victim. In Plato's dialogues that control is guaranteed by the fact that they are fictions Plato himself controlled. But a professor of mine in grad school noted a second form of this control. Commenting on the frequent praise of the "Socratic Method" as a classroom strategy, he said: "The Socratic Method can be used by only one person" -- i.e., the professor exercising authoritarian power in the class room. (Sometimes, of course, the term "Socratic method" means merely discussion -- but it can be used in that sense only by people who have either never read Plato or have read him with utter lack of attention.) I would also note the use of the so-called Socratic method in legal courtroom practice. The witness is not allowed to ask questions and can only answer the questions directed at her. Sam Pawlett
[PEN-L:4336] Re: Re: Irony I. Footnote on Plato
I've always wondered just how much Francis Cornford was influenced by Marxism. Anyone know? His translations of Plato contain a lot of Marxish language. He translates Thrasymachus like this: "In every case, the laws are made by the ruling party in its own interest; a democracy makes democratic laws, a despot autocratic one and so on. By making these laws they define as 'right' for their subjects whatever is for their interest, and they call anyone who breaks then a 'wrongdoer' and punish him accordingly. That is what I mean: in all states alike 'right' has the same meaning, namely what is for the interest of the party established in power and that is the strongest. So the sound conclusion is that what is 'right' is the same everywhere: the interest of the stronger party." One could also draw a nihilistic or relativistic conclusion from this too. The very concept of justice itself is used by the stronger to rule the weaker, to submit the weaker to their wills. The law of the jungle so to speak. Sam
[PEN-L:4337] Fw: A Note on Lynn Turgeon
-Original Message- From: Greg Nowell [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: POST-KEYNESIAN THOUGHT [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Friday, March 12, 1999 4:51 PM Subject: A Note on Lynn Turgeon I only knew him through this list. I recently reviewed his last book for ROPE, and learned he was ill because he asked me for a copy of the review (somehow he had learned that I was writing it). I at first refused, as I am aware of bad situations that have arisen between authors and reviewers in such circumstances, but he told me of his illness and I sent it off to him. He didn't get to read his own obits, as has happened in a few bizarre situations to some people, but at least he got to see a review of his book. I'm sorry to see him go, he brought a "New Deal" kind of energy to his Keynesianism which few of us postwar brats can match, even if we do read the right books. -- Gregory P. Nowell Associate Professor Department of Political Science, Milne 100 State University of New York 135 Western Ave. Albany, New York 1 Fax 518-442-5298
[PEN-L:4339] Fw: Regarding Lynn Turgeon
-Original Message- From: Lonnie K. Stevans [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: POST-KEYNESIAN THOUGHT [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sunday, March 14, 1999 11:19 AM Subject: RE: Regarding Lynn Turgeon A memorial service for Lynn Turgeon will be held sometime this week at Hofstra University. When I receive more detailed information, I will post it on this listserv. Lonnie K. Stevans [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:4345] medicare crisis; was Re: Re: RE: Re: Who was Red Oskar?
Jim Devine wrote: Max, could you explain why US Medicare isn't in crisis? what are the easy solutions you propose to the relatively minor problems you see? I heard an interesting talk by Burton Singer about the assumptions by the Medicare actuaries on disability. They do not include a recognition of current disability trends, much less what is achievable. Singer bases his work on national long-term care surveys run every two years since 1982. These show a declining percent of disabled elderly in every age group. For example, between 1982 and 1994 the non-disabled older than 85 rose from 34.8 to 40.2 percent. Even though the size of the elderly group grew, the number of chronically disabled declined by over a million during this period. His talk was somethat different from the paper--abstract below. Alas, Singer used all this as an argument to raise the retirement age. I wonder how the Trustees have come to make such unsound assumptions for both Medicare and Social Security? June Zaccone, National Jobs for All Coalition, 475 Riverside Dr., Ste. 832, NY, NY 10115, [EMAIL PROTECTED] ABSTRACT: The 1982-1994 National Long-Term Care Surveys indicate an accelerating decline in disability among the U.S. elderly population, suggesting that a 1.5% annual decline in chronic disability for elderly persons is achievable. Furthermore, many risk factors for chronic diseases show improvements, many linked to education, from 1910 to the present. Projections indicate the proportion of persons aged 85-89 with less than 8 years of education will decline from 65% in 1980 to 15% in 2015. Health and socioeconomic status trends are not directly represented in Medicare Trust Fund and Social Security Administration beneficiary projections. Thus, they may have different economic implications from projections directly accounting for health trends. A 1.5% annual disability decline keeps the support ratio (ratio of economically active persons aged 20-64 to the number of chronically disabled persons aged 65+) above its 1994 value, 22:1, when the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund was in fiscal balance, to 2070. With no changes in disability, projections indicate a support ratio in 2070 of 8:163% below a cash flow balance. Burton H. Singer and Kenneth G. Manton, "The effects of health changes on projections of health service needs for the elderly population of the United States," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci, v. 95, pp. 15618-22, December, 1998. Available on the web site http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/95/26/15618
[PEN-L:4351] Re: Re: Re: Social Security issue on Coalition web site
June Zaccone wrote: What is especially surprising about Nadler's current position is that he was very early in adopting the view of no Social Security crisis. And supported it by citing Henwood's work. Fascinating. Tell us more. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:4352] interesting site?
I was asked to pass this on. Please Visit The E-Book on International Finance and Development, http://www.uiowa.edu/ifdebook, A "Must-Use" Site for Progressive Cyberians Why should you visit the E-Book? It will help you understand the complicated world of international finance, e.g., the Asian financial crisis and its global repercussions. What's on the E-Book website? --An informative handbook, with hyperlinks and bibliographies, covering the meaning of development, the functions of the IMF and the World Bank, changing conceptions of development in the 1990s, and international finance in a globalized economy. --Interactive features, including frequent polls on current events, a help desk for important questions, a bulletin board for discussion of E-Book themes, a Discussion Room for real-time communication, an e-mail link to send us your comments and observations, and a calendar on which you can post notices regarding your organization's events. --A monitor feature, which summarizes key events relating to international finance and development. --A compilation of links to websites related to the E-Book's themes, and a news feature. --A Perspectives feature, which posts essays on international finance and development. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:4353] NYT Obit for Lynn Turgeon
E. Lynn Turgeon, Economics Professor, 78 E. Lynn Turgeon, a longtime professor of economics at Hofstra University, died last Wednesday at University Hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich. He was 78. The cause was cardiac arrest, said his daughter, Kim Turgeon. Dr. Turgeon, who taught at Hofstra for 33 years before retiring in 1990, was an expert in comparative economic systems and contemporary capitalist economic policies. He was the author of four books and was selected twice as a Fulbright scholar. He served in the Navy during World War II and joined the Hofstra faculty in 1957. He taught in the former Soviet Union twice, first as a visiting professor at Moscow State University in 1978 and then at the Academy of Foreign Trade in Moscow in 1991. His articles appeared in publications including The Wall Street Review of Books, Monthly Labor Review, The American Journal of Sociology, The Journal of Comparative Economic and The Nation. In addition to his daughter and her husband, William Christensen, Dr. Turgeon is survived by a sister, Margaret Johnson, and two grandchildren. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:4349] Re: Re: Re: civil society
U.S. jurisprudence has a binary opposition category civil/criminal law. Then there are civil rights, civil liberties, civil defense ,the Civil War and "civilization". 19th Century anthropologist Lewis Henry Morgan distinguished between civitas and societas (Latin terms) The former form of culture has a state and relates to its land as territory. Everybody within a certain area are part of the state. Societas is pre-state society based on kinship , not territory. Groups are defined by kinship not area of residence. "Civilization" is based on the Latin root for city , I believe. Charles Brown "Michael Hoover" [EMAIL PROTECTED] 03/15/99 05:42PM from John Ehrenberg's "Civil Society Marxist Politics," *Socialism Democracy*, Vol. 12, Nos. 1-2, 1998...article is based on his recently published _Civil Society: The Critical History of an Idea_... any listers read it? Michael Hoover 'The contemporary obsession with "civil society" began with the attempt of dissident East European intellectuals to develop a credible theoretical grounding in the early 1980s. As they began to describe the crisis of Soviet-style communism as "the revolt of civil society against the state," it became clear that they understood "civil society" as the anti-communist opposition organized in forums, associations and similar bodies. Two sets of claims came to characterize the period. They drew on classical political economy, Tocqueville, and liberal republicanism, and were indebted to the Cold War's literature on mass society and totalitarianism. At an immediate level, the following charges were typical: "Actual existing socialism" has degenerated into a bureaucratically-driven commitment to central economic planning for its own sake, systematic stifling of initiative, hypocritical claims of service to the working class, and a grasping state apparatus which crushes all authentic movement emerging spontaneously from "society." Socialism in power is little more than a state-driven strategy of planned industrialization. At a more basic level, Marxism itself came under attack, on the grounds that its explicit intention to "transform" civil society expresses an inherent disposition toward statist totalitarianism. Correspondingly, Marxism's claim that the state can represent the general good gives rise to its volunteerism, lack of limits, tendency to politicize everything, indifference to the content of socialist democracy, contempt for privacy, and suspicious disposition to crush, direct or absorb democratic initiatives which originate in civil society. This anti-statist skepticism about politics spread to Western Europe and then to the United States, where it has now achieved near-canonical status. Marxism, we are assured, is an outmoded ideology, socialism a dangerous fantasy, and the centrality of the working class a remnant of a vanished "Fordist" past. Authentic democratic activity can be rooted only in informal networks, voluntary associations, and local communities which constitute civil society. But Marx cannot be dismissed quite so easily, for his conception of civil society is deeply rooted in liberal political economy and the recent history of capitalir societies has made it more resilient than expected. His understanding of civil society has a distinguished lineage which drew on the insights of both classical political economy and Hegel's sweeping theory of the state. Adam Smith first articulated the classic bourgeois understanding that civil society is a market-organized sphere of necessity which is driven by the self-interested motion of individual proprietors, but this position drew heavily on earlier views that civil society is constituted by property, labor, exchange, and consumption. Hegel built his theory of the state and civil society on this understanding and on his analysis of the French Revolution, and Marx's development of Hegel continues to inform the thinking of much of the left.'
[PEN-L:4347] Re: circularities
I had written: my presumption is that racist and sexist practices change due to impacts from capitalism which (1) disrupt the power of the dominators and/or (2) strengthen the struggles of the dominated. Colin and Charu answer: First, thanks to Jim for emphasizing that these are *assumptions* -- simplifications imposed to make a particular model analytically tractable. _Of course_ I emphasize their role as assumptions. I'm not talking about _fuzzy thinking_ here. I'm talking about (social) science, developing theory to understand empirical reality and help to guide political practice. To think that there are certainties without assumptions is silly, since the exact nature of the empirical world will always involve unknowns and uncertainty. Yet any set of assumptions can be criticized on grounds of realism. Moreover the act of simplifying to gain insights in one area inevitably creates blind spots in others, and we should be clear on what those are. So what is else is new? _All_ theories involve simplifying assumptions (i.e., abstraction), including your theories (e.g., about the inherent racism of Enlightenment thinking). If one wants to say anything besides simply listing the "facts" in random order, assumptions are needed. And the idea that "facts" can be theory-less is silly, the worst kind of empiricism. Since all theories involve assumptions and empiricism is not an alternative, criticizing one theory's assumptions cannot knock it down. You have to argue that your theory has better assumptions and/or that it provides greater understanding of the world and a better guide to practice (perhaps based on equally bad assumptions). Criticism of a theory's assumptions doesn't trump that theory; but having a better theory does. I'd like to see your theory concerning these issues, including its assumptions. The statement above omits the possibility that racist and sexist practices may change because of the impact of other modes of production beside capitalism. Of course it did, given the subject of the discussion, i.e., capitalism. Other modes of production have different impacts. Capitalism involves an aggressive competition-cum-accumulation (leading to crisis) that tends to disrupt other institutions, including its own status quo (modes of regulation, SSAs, "accords," etc.) Soviet-style bureaucratic socialism (BS) tried imitate capital's accumulation drive and disrupted non-BS organizations, but eventually ground to a halt. Pure feudalism mostly involves military competition and using direct force to squeeze the direct producers to produce surplus-labor, so the ability to produce fell behind population growth, encouraging plagues and famines, which disrupt established institutions. I could go on to talk about slavery, etc., but I won't. The point is that institutions like patriarchy and racism are fundamentally reactionary. The main dynamics involves efforts to preserve order, to preserve privilege, to preserve relations of domination. It omits from consideration sources of *change* that are not modes of production, including struggles by those dominated, and various cultural resources. I don't know how a "cultural resource" (whatever that is) can do anything. It's _people_, not resources (or ideas), who do things. Anyway, my theory _includes_ the role of the struggles of the dominated, if you haven't noticed. I posited a rough balance of the struggles by the oppressed to end their domination and those of the oppressors to perpetuate their domination as a way of conceptualize most social organizations. Such institutions may change, but my reading of history suggests that relations of patriarchy or ethnic domination don't change quickly unless impinged upon from the outside by such things as the rise of the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean area in classical "Western" history or the modern rise of capitalism. The quote also highlights those impacts of capitalism on racism and patriarchy that weaken them, either by harming dominators or aiding the dominated, and not impacts that strengthen them, though Jim clearly believes that both kinds of effect are possible. Right: I didn't talk about both types of impacts in the missive that you reply to, because I don't want to repeat myself too much. However, I'd say that (1) capitalism dynamism tends to _temporarily_ weaken racist and sexist dominance but that (2) the dominators try to reassert their power, often backed by the capitalists (who are often the same people), so that (3) the actual progress against racism and sexism (if it happens) comes not from the impact of capitalism but from the struggles of the dominated. Colin and Charu, I'm glad you criticized what I said, because it provoked me to be much clearer than what I said before. It's easy to argue that in most of the world capitalism has tightened the bonds of racism and patriarchy. I don't know if that's true. Just thinking about sexism and the US, the wage gap between men
[PEN-L:4348] Re: Re: Re: Irony I. Footnote on Plato
At 02:27 PM 3/15/99 -0800, you wrote: I've always wondered just how much Francis Cornford was influenced by Marxism. Anyone know? His translations of Plato contain a lot of Marxish language. He translates Thrasymachus like this: "In every case, the laws are made by the ruling party in its own interest; a democracy makes democratic laws, a despot autocratic one and so on. By making these laws they define as 'right' for their subjects whatever is for their interest, and they call anyone who breaks then a 'wrongdoer' and punish him accordingly. That is what I mean: in all states alike 'right' has the same meaning, namely what is for the interest of the party established in power and that is the strongest I don't know about translations, but Aristotle has some stuff like this, too. I think there were talking about the actual class struggles (debtors vs. creditors, etc.) of the ancient world. But we should remember that for Plato, Thrasymachus is a bad guy. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://clawww.lmu.edu/Faculty/JDevine/JDevine.html
[PEN-L:4346] [Fwd: SS Letter + Medicare Action]
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --6E1F05FB4EDA4EF83D90D8ED A good letter opposing any government use of SS funds for the stock market. June Zaccone, National Jobs for All Coalition [EMAIL PROTECTED] --6E1F05FB4EDA4EF83D90D8ED Return-path: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] (ORCPT rfc822;[EMAIL PROTECTED]); Mon, 15 Mar 1999 14:02:04 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 13:47:34 -0500 From: Social Security Information Project [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: SS Letter + Medicare Action Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Importance: Normal Original-recipient: rfc822;[EMAIL PROTECTED] * Social Security Information Project Institute for America's Future * March 15, 1999 Attached is a letter signed by ten union presidents and other information. 1. Letter by several union presidents 2. Medicare Action 3. WP: Editorial - No Byes on Social Security 4. New Government Research NOTE: All Members of the House and Senate were sent the following letter from ten union presidents. February 26, 1999 / 71129 The Honorable Richard Gephardt 1226 Longworth House Office Building U. S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515-2503 Dear Representative Gephardt, We are writing to share with you our view regarding the President s recent proposals to address Social Security s long-term financing. Our unions endorse the President's proposal to devote a portion of future surpluses to the Social Security Trust Fund. We believe that an infusion of general revenues is an appropriate way to address any long- term funding problems the Social Security system may face, although we recognize that additional measures may also be necessary. We also applaud the President s rejection of efforts to replace a portion of Social Security s guaranteed defined benefit with individual accounts financed through payroll taxes. However, our unions cannot support the President s proposal to allow the government itself to invest part of the Social Security Trust Fund surpluses in corporate stocks and bonds. Our opposition to this proposal is based upon five areas of concern. First, we are deeply concerned that investment of the Trust Fund surpluses in the stock market would introduce unwise market risk into the Social Security system. Under current law, Social Security provides a rock solid guarantee of retirement income, survival and disability protections to Americans. Social Security is always there regardless of whether the stock market is up or down. Our unions are deeply concerned that stock market investment of the Social Security surpluses would weaken this basic security and subject Americans to a much larger degree of risk. In particular, Social Security benefits or other government obligations would likely be reduced if there were a sharp market downturn. Second, under the assumptions regarding economic growth used by the Social Security Trustees, the seven percent returns on equity investment promised by proponents of stock market investment cannot be realized. In fact, if the Trustees model were changed to accommodate this assumption regarding the stock market, the previously projected shortfall in 2032 would disappear. The intermediate scenario of the Trustees Report assumes that in the next 75 years our economy will grow at an average annual rate of under 1.5 percent, less than half as fast as our economy has grown during the past 75 years. These pessimistic assumptions form the basis for the projections of a Social Security funding shortfall after 2032. The proponents of privatization, either through individual accounts or direct government investment, assume a real rate of return on stocks over the next 75 years of seven percent annually. But this assumption regarding stock market returns derives from a model that assumes economic growth over the next 75 years equal to that of the past 75 years. If the economy grows fast enough to allow the seven percent stock market returns promised by the privatizers, then Social Security faces no funding problems either in 2032 or indefinitely. One of these projections has got to be wrong. We cannot have both fast and slow economic growth in the same years. Either Social Security faces no long-term funding problem, because the economic assumptions used by the Trustees are too pessimistic, or stock market investment cannot be part of the solution, because the rate of return in a slow growing economy will be inadequate. Third, our unions are concerned that stock market investment of Social Security surpluses will force substantial cuts in other vital federal programs. Under current budget scoring rules investment of part of the Social Security Trust Fund surpluses in the stock market would constitute a federal outlay, or expenditure, of the amount invested. Assuming that roughly $700 billion of public
[PEN-L:4344] Re: Re: Social Security issue on Coalition web site
What is especially surprising about Nadler's current position is that he was very early in adopting the view of no Social Security crisis. And supported it by citing Henwood's work. June June Zaccone, National Jobs for All Coalition [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tom Lehman wrote: Dear June, I too was surprised to read Nadler's comments. I had been led to believe that he was going to oppose privatization---matter of fact the Cleveland ADA had invited him to Cleveland for that reason or so I was told. Now from what I understand he wants to invest 30% of the social security trust fund in the stock market! Doug Henwood, who I believe was the first to examine the actuaries numbers and call the so-called crisis phony, is also one of Nadlers constituents. Possibly, Doug will comment? Hey, how about Henwood for Congress! Your email pal, Tom L.
[PEN-L:4342] Re: Re: US, Japanese, German foreign investment
Bill Rosenberg wrote: There are some figures that may be useful in the UN's "World Investment Report" for 1996 and 1997 - I haven't seen the 1998 one. I think they use the IMF's balance of payments figures, which wouldn't distinguish between financial flows and capital expenditures. Doug
[PEN-L:4341] Re: Re: Re: Re: civil society
At 05:42 PM 3/15/99 -0500, you wrote: from John Ehrenberg's "Civil Society Marxist Politics," *Socialism Democracy*, Vol. 12, Nos. 1-2, 1998...article is based on his recently published _Civil Society: The Critical History of an Idea_... any listers read it? Michael Hoover Yeah, I did. John has a brand new book out on the subject, btw. "Civil Society : The Critical History of an Idea." It's $18.50 and can be ordered from amazon.com. Louis Proyect (http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)
[PEN-L:4338] Re: Re: Re: civil society
from John Ehrenberg's "Civil Society Marxist Politics," *Socialism Democracy*, Vol. 12, Nos. 1-2, 1998...article is based on his recently published _Civil Society: The Critical History of an Idea_... any listers read it? Michael Hoover 'The contemporary obsession with "civil society" began with the attempt of dissident East European intellectuals to develop a credible theoretical grounding in the early 1980s. As they began to describe the crisis of Soviet-style communism as "the revolt of civil society against the state," it became clear that they understood "civil society" as the anti-communist opposition organized in forums, associations and similar bodies. Two sets of claims came to characterize the period. They drew on classical political economy, Tocqueville, and liberal republicanism, and were indebted to the Cold War's literature on mass society and totalitarianism. At an immediate level, the following charges were typical: "Actual existing socialism" has degenerated into a bureaucratically-driven commitment to central economic planning for its own sake, systematic stifling of initiative, hypocritical claims of service to the working class, and a grasping state apparatus which crushes all authentic movement emerging spontaneously from "society." Socialism in power is little more than a state-driven strategy of planned industrialization. At a more basic level, Marxism itself came under attack, on the grounds that its explicit intention to "transform" civil society expresses an inherent disposition toward statist totalitarianism. Correspondingly, Marxism's claim that the state can represent the general good gives rise to its volunteerism, lack of limits, tendency to politicize everything, indifference to the content of socialist democracy, contempt for privacy, and suspicious disposition to crush, direct or absorb democratic initiatives which originate in civil society. This anti-statist skepticism about politics spread to Western Europe and then to the United States, where it has now achieved near-canonical status. Marxism, we are assured, is an outmoded ideology, socialism a dangerous fantasy, and the centrality of the working class a remnant of a vanished "Fordist" past. Authentic democratic activity can be rooted only in informal networks, voluntary associations, and local communities which constitute civil society. But Marx cannot be dismissed quite so easily, for his conception of civil society is deeply rooted in liberal political economy and the recent history of capitalir societies has made it more resilient than expected. His understanding of civil society has a distinguished lineage which drew on the insights of both classical political economy and Hegel's sweeping theory of the state. Adam Smith first articulated the classic bourgeois understanding that civil society is a market-organized sphere of necessity which is driven by the self-interested motion of individual proprietors, but this position drew heavily on earlier views that civil society is constituted by property, labor, exchange, and consumption. Hegel built his theory of the state and civil society on this understanding and on his analysis of the French Revolution, and Marx's development of Hegel continues to inform the thinking of much of the left.'
[PEN-L:4334] Forced sterilizations in Thailand
Please Post this information as widely as possible. Akha News Service Maesai, Chiangrai, Thailand March 15, 1999 Sterilization and Blood Theft Perpetrated Against Akha People By American Baptist Missionary ** Rumored widely for many years witnesses have now stepped forward who claim that the American Baptist Missionary Paul Lewis sterilized more than 20,000 Akha Hill Tribe women in Burma's Eastern Shan State alone, running his operation on trust that he had built as a missionary and student of their culture. This project was done secretly without the approval of the Burmese Government by requiring the women to come into Thailand for the procedure, using many people in the Baptist Church hierchy to organize the movement of the trusting women, who now claim they had little education as to what the long term effect on their lives would be. Government leaders in this region of Burma now know about the project and say that it was illegal in that it did not have Burmese government approval or proper documentation that the rights of the women were not being violated. Although Burma is much maligned for human rights violations, activities of western organizations such as this appear to be disregarded by the same agencies which make the human rights reports. In addition witnesses now verify the rumor that blood was simultaneously stolen from these women for resale. Taken during the sterilization procedure blood was collected in amounts of 200 and 300 ml. Attending family members or friends of the women were witness to this as well. Women who received local anethesia only saw for themselves that the blood was being taken. They did not know why the blood was being taken out of their arm at the same time as the rather unrelated surgery. The women were only paid for the cost of the truck to come down to the clinic where they would be sterilized just south of the border in Thailand. There was no follow up care and even to this day in this region of Burma medical care is very difficult to come by for the poor. Of the more than 20,000 who witnesses say were sterilized in Burma alone, they say that more than 3,000 women died. Many developed a weakened condition, began loosing weight, the pain related to the surgery did not subside and in the end they died. These deaths ranged from a period of time ranging in two months after the surgery to three years. In a past video interview Paul Lewis claimed that any pain related to the surgery was simply phsycosomatic and that the sterilizations were the right thing to do and "should be done". Now the children of many women have died and they are ubable to have more children. Many women also experience weight gain problems that they can not control. More research is needed into the number of women sterilized in the Paul Lewis project and the number of those who have since died. Witness accounts seem to confirm that the number who died is extremely high as might be associated with any other kind of surgery. This same scene was repeated in Thailand. There appeared to be a lot of money connected with this project. Even now the witnesses are afraid to speak out against Paul Lewis publicly, stating that he is a very powerful man and that they fear people who continue to get money under the table from his Baptist related organizations will retaliate against them. According to the Akha Traditional Culture system five people serve as the government in one village. This multiperson leadership system in villages was eliminated by many missionaries and replaced by single pastors who rule the villages with an iron fist, allowing no dissent or return to traditional ways. These pastors also ensure that the women do not speak of the difficulties they have experienced and the pastors continue to receive money from western missions. Paul Lewis, now safely in retirement in Claremont, California, could not be reached for comment. -- Matthew McDaniel The Akha Heritage Foundation 386/3 Sailom Joi Rd Maesai, Chiangrai, 57130 Thailand Mobile Phone Number: Sometimes hard to reach while in Mountains. 01-881-9288 when in Thailand 66-1-881-9288 when out Thailand Web Site: http://www.akha.com mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] US Address: Donations by check or money order may be sent to: The Akha Heritage Foundation 1586 Ewald Ave SE Salem OR 97302 USA Donations by direct banking: In the US can be transfered to: Wells Fargo Bank Akha Heritage Foundation Acc. # 0081-889693 Keizer Branch Keizer, Oregon, USA Outside the US: Matthew Duncan McDaniel Bangkok Bank Ltd Acc.# 3980240778 Maesai Branch Thailand Louis Proyect (http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)
[PEN-L:4333] Re: Re: Social Security issue on Coalition web site
Tom Lehman wrote: I too was surprised to read Nadler's comments. I had been led to believe that he was going to oppose privatization---matter of fact the Cleveland ADA had invited him to Cleveland for that reason or so I was told. Now from what I understand he wants to invest 30% of the social security trust fund in the stock market! Doug Henwood, who I believe was the first to examine the actuaries numbers and call the so-called crisis phony, is also one of Nadlers constituents. Possibly, Doug will comment? Hey, how about Henwood for Congress! Several people have told me this is the AFL-CIO's line too - you can't say there's no crisis or people won't believe you. Talk about the citational nature of truth, eh? I wonder, though, if this isn't just a bit of convenient cowardice that excuses the AFL-CIO and Nader from criticizing Clinton's stance: Big Bill sez there's a crisis, and who are we do doubt him? Not me for Congress, thanks. Doug
[PEN-L:4332] Re: RE: Re: Who was Red Oskar?
Max writes: Better terminology than 'red' might be precepts which are not subject to dispute or which are ruled 'out of order' in political debate and media- sponsored presentations, either because they are classified as intellectually bankrupt or politically untenable. For instance: 1. Social Security/Medicare are not in "crisis." Max, could you explain why US Medicare isn't in crisis? what are the easy solutions you propose to the relatively minor problems you see? (I understand your point about Social Security.) Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://clawww.lmu.edu/Faculty/JDevine/jdevine.html
[PEN-L:4331] Re: Social Security issue on Coalition web site
Dear June, I too was surprised to read Nadler's comments. I had been led to believe that he was going to oppose privatization---matter of fact the Cleveland ADA had invited him to Cleveland for that reason or so I was told. Now from what I understand he wants to invest 30% of the social security trust fund in the stock market! Doug Henwood, who I believe was the first to examine the actuaries numbers and call the so-called crisis phony, is also one of Nadlers constituents. Possibly, Doug will comment? Hey, how about Henwood for Congress! Your email pal, Tom L. June Zaccone wrote: We have just posted a new piece on the Coalition web site: Uncommon Sense 21: Social Security Is Not in "Crisis", by Richard Du Boff Du Boff includes discussion of the aging population and comparisons of projected dependency ratios with those during the youth of baby boomers, Trustees' growth rate and unemployment assumptions, the real sources of our ability to support dependent groups, and the diverse problems of privatization. http://www.njfac.org/us21.htm June Zaccone, National Jobs for All Coalition, 475 Riverside Dr., Ste. 832, NY, NY 10115; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:4329] urpe at assa
Can anyone tell me the info on rpoposals for sessions for urpe at assa 2000? What is the deadline, who does it go to, what is the from of the proposal? Thanks! mat
[PEN-L:4328] Changing poor strategy on SS
The quote below is from the article by Ruth Conniff in the Progressive (referred to on pen-l last week). I am very disturbed by this acceptance of error just because it is widespread. One good argument against merely accepting the Clinton plan as a solution is in a note by Pat Conover (on our web site at http//www.njfac.org/Conover.htm) He accepts the plan but points out that it does not address the real problem: if the Social Security Trustees' predictions come true, the economy and our standard of living will be in trouble regardless of financing. This means that public policy needs to improve conditions for workers--higher minimum wages, eliminating discrimination, etc. Does anyone have other suggestions for changing the disastrous policy of accepting the mainstream definition of the problem? Ruth Coniff article in the Progressive: "The AFL-CIO has had polling done, and they convinced the unions and convinced me that the right-wing propaganda has been so successful, if you say there's no crisis, people won't listen to you," says Representative Jerry Nadler, a progressive Democrat from New York, who supports the President's Social Security plan. Does that mean the Democrats are backing a plan to fix a problem that doesn't exist? "That's exactly right," Nadler says. "The problem is illusory, but you have to act as if it's real."
[PEN-L:4326] worm infection
Most virus warnings are hoaxes. This warning appears to be for real. It is about a "worm" not a virus. Read on for more information. == HRNet was hit Friday March 12, 1999 by a worm called Happy99.EXE. For those of you on HRNet, please be sure you have trashed that "exe" without opening it or it might spread to this list. This worm apparently propogates itself automatically so if you have it you may be inadvertently sending it to others. According to news reports it is very new and spreading rapidly. I am circulating this story to remind you not to send attachments on the IRRA list. Every once in a while someone sends an attachment that people have a hard time reading (software is very user-specific, as are e-mail programs, servers, and routers). This is a bit of an inconvenience but no big deal. However, generally when peoples' files have been infected by viruses or worms, they don't know it. So please be very careful not to send attachments to the list and NEVER to open such attachments if they come to you. Here is a little info on the worm. Usually I damper activity on such warnings because most of them are hoaxes, but apparently this is the real thing. By the way, this worm only infects Windows machines using Windows 95 and 98, but all users should take virus and worm protection software seriously. Just a quick read through the instructions below to remove Happy99 should convince you that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Sites to read about and verify Happy99.EXE worm. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2208275,00.html http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/happy99.worm.html TOP TEN ANTIVIRUS TOOLS http://www.pcworld.com/cgi-bin/pcwtoday?ID=9622 Description: This is a worm program, NOT a virus. This program has reportedly been received through email spamming and USENET newsgroup posting. The file is usually named HAPPY99.EXE in the email or article attachment. When being executed, the program also opens a window entitled "Happy New Year 1999 !!" showing a firework display to disguise its other actions. The program copies itself as SKA.EXE and extracts a DLL that it carries SKA.DLL into WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. It also modifies WSOCK32.DLL in WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory and copies the original WSOCK32.DLL into WSOCK32.SKA. WSOCK32.DLL handles internet-connectivity in Windows 95 and 98. The modification to WSOCK32.DLL allows the worm routine to be triggered when a connect or send activity is detected. When such online activity occurs, the modified code loads the worm's SKA.DLL. This SKA.DLL creates a new email or a new article with UUENCODED HAPPY99.EXE inserted into the email or article. It then sends this email or posts this article. If WSOCK32.DLL is in use when the worm tries to modify it (i.e. a user is online), the worm adds a registry entry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce=SKA.EXE The registry entry loads the worm the next time Windows start. Removing the worm manually: 1.delete WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SKA.EXE 2.delete WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SKA.DLL 3.in WINDOWS\SYSTEM\ directory, rename WSOCK32.DLL to WSOCK32.BAK 4.in WINDOWS\SYSTEM\ directory, rename WSOCK32.SKA to WSOCK32.DLL 5.delete the downloaded file, usually named HAPPY99.EXE Windows prevents you to do step #3 and #4 above if the machine is still connected to the Internet. The file "windows\system\wsock32.dll" is used whenever the machine is connected to Internet (i.e. through dial-up or LAN connection). If you are using dial-up connection (i.e. America Online), you need to do the following: 1.terminate internet connection 2.delete WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SKA.EXE 3.delete WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SKA.DLL 4.in WINDOWS\SYSTEM\ directory, rename WSOCK32.DLL to WSOCK32.BAK 5.in WINDOWS\SYSTEM\ directory, rename WSOCK32.SKA to WSOCK32.DLL 6.delete the downloaded file, usually named HAPPY99.EXE If you are connected to Internet through LAN (i.e. in the office or cable modem), you need to do the following: 1.From the Start menu, select shutdown-restartin MSDOS mode 2.type CD \windows\system when DOS prompt (C:\)appears 3.type RENAME WSOCK32.DLL WSOCK32.BAK 4.type RENAME WSOCK32.SKA WSOCK32.DLL 5.type DEL SKA.EXE 6.type DEL SKA.DLL Michael H. Belzer, Ph.D. Moderator, Industrial Relations Research Association Discussion list
[PEN-L:4325] Re: US, Japanese, German foreign investment
Barbara Laurence wrote: Doug, I don't think your data distinguish between foreign direct investment that are merely M and A's, contrasted with the FDI that consist of the construction or addition or modification of real productive capacity. I'm speaking of the latter. I see the former mainly as a financial, property transfer transaction that may be motivated my many things.. You're right, but they're the best numbers we've got on a timely basis. The purchase of more than 10% of the shares of an existing company counts as FDI rather than portfolio investment. The BEA publishes estimates of capital expenditures of U.S. MNCs abroad and foreign MNCs in the U.S., though with a delay of two years or more. The data on U.S. MNCs abroad is in the September 1998 issue of the Survey of Current Business, and the data on foreign MNCs in the U.S. is in the June 1998 issue. There's also data on the BEA's website, http://www.bea.doc.gov. Doug
[PEN-L:4322] A weekend in Pittsburgh
No two people are better qualified as guides to working-class Pittsburgh life than my weekend hosts, Michael and Karen Yates. Michael's dad was a blue-collar employee of Pittsburgh Plate Glass (PPG) all his life, while Karen's grandmother worked as a cook on the steel-toting boats that plied the "three rivers" that trisect the heart of the city: the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio. Karen's Eastern European family belonged to the Byzantine Orthodox Church, as did the Warhola family. The church's distinctive gold onion-domes proliferate in Pittsburgh's working-class neighborhoods. Andy Warhola dropped the final "a" after moving to NYC, but in many ways he too is a product of the local working-class culture. His father was an immigrant blue-collar worker and Andy's earliest aesthetic influence was Ben Shahn, the left-wing muralist who celebrated proletarian life. So it is appropriate that the Warhol museum is located in Pittsburgh rather than NYC. We visited it on saturday afternoon and just missed crossing paths with Mick Jagger, who had showed up a few days earlier. It was gratifying to see the works in person that I had just read about in David Bourdon's excellent biography of Warhol. For all of Warhol's many justifiable attempts to prick holes in the pretensions of High Art, he was a most accomplished technician whose works continue to compel attention long after the hype about Pop Art has died down. On Saturday evening Paul LeBlanc and John Lacny stopped by. John is a brilliant young socialist activist in his sophomore year at the University of Pittsburgh and a PEN-L'er. Paul teaches history at several Pittsburgh colleges and is the author of "Lenin and the Revolutionary Party," "From Marx to Gramsci: A Reader in Revolutionary Marxist Politics," and several studies of the American working class that are due to appear this year. He is also an ex-Trotskyist who has written extensively about the experience in a critical manner, while attempting to define its positive lessons. He worked closely with a number of the older generation of Trotskyists who were expelled from the party in the early 1980s when they resisted the "Castroist" turn. My own analysis of the problems of the Trotskyist movement have appeared on the Internet and are based on what I see as a dogmatic interpretation of "democratic centralism" brought on by the crisis following the defeat of the German revolution. Now that some of the fervor surrounding attempts to start a new "vanguard" party from scratch has died down, Paul's thinking has begun to take a more reflective direction--at least that's the way it appears to me. He is very much interested in what he calls proletarian subculture, which is generated by a unique combination of social, economic and political institutions at different moments in history. Like many other Marxists who are trying to gain a deeper understanding of such questions, Paul has found himself drawing from the same well: Gramsci and CLR James. In general, Paul does not think that a Marxist party can be built in the United States unless such a subculture comes into existence once again. Furthermore, it has to be grown organically and not sucked out of one's thumb as many "vanguard" groups believe. The next day Michael, Karen and I took a drive along the Monongahela River to see the relics of such proletarian institutions, whose decline is rooted in the collapse of the steel industry. The "Mon Valley" was at one time a hotbed of militant trade unionism and socialist politics. As you drive along the river, it is not to difficult to understand why. On either side of the river there are steep hills that contain working-class towns such as Homestead, Dusquense and Braddock. Rowhouses were built cheek-by-jowl to contain Eastern European immigrants who would walk downhill to the plants owned by Frick or Carnegie. They would return in the evening and stop by the myriad of saloons in these towns where talk about the job, their families, politics or sports could be shared. Few people owned cars, so you were likely to rub shoulders with co-workers long after the factory whistle blew. Also, there were constant reminders of which class you belonged to. Michael pointed out doorways underneath the railroad tracks that stretched along the river. Workers would enter these portals to get to the steel mills on the other side of the tracks. One could practically imagine a sign posted over them: "abandon all hope ye who enter here." Today most of the plants are gone and those that remain, appearing sporadically like a single tooth in an open mouth, are not producing a full range of products. The empty lots from which most of the mills have disappeared have little commercial value, since they are soaked with the toxic residue of over a century of steel production, including arsenic. As you drive along the railroad tracks, you think of the resistance of the railway workers who rose up in a powerful general strike in 1877 from
[PEN-L:4318] BLS Daily Report
This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. --_=_NextPart_000_01BE6EEE.C67F6C00 BLS DAILY REPORT, FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 1999 RELEASED TODAY: The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods declined 0.4 percent in February, seasonally adjusted. This decline followed increases of 0.5 percent in January and 0.4 percent in December. ... Prices for finished consumer foods and finished energy goods turned down, following increases in January. The index for finished goods other than foods and energy showed no change, after posting a 0.1 percent decline in the previous month, as an upturn in the index for capital equipment was offset by a decline in prices for finished consumer goods other than foods and energy. Prices received by producers of intermediate goods decreased 0.5 percent, following a 0.1 percent increase in the prior month. The crude goods index dropped 3.4 percent, after registering a 2.6 percent advance a month earlier. __The price of goods imported into the United States dipped 0.1 percent in February, with the cost of both petroleum and nonpetroleum products declining, BLS announces. Export prices also declined in February, slipping 0.1 percent. ... (Daily Labor Report, page D-6). __The deficit in the broadest measure of U.S. trade swelled dramatically last year, as the economy felt the full impact of the global financial turmoil. The Commerce Department reported that the current account deficit widened to a record. ... The deep devaluation of Asian currencies is continuing to hold down the value of Asia's shipments to the U.S., but the volume of those goods has increased. Reflecting this, the Labor Department reported that U.S. import prices fell 0.1 percent in February, following a revised 0.3 percent rise in January. ... (Helene Cooper in Wall Street Journal, page A2). New claims for unemployment benefits increased by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 289,000 in the week ended March 6, the Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor has announced. ... (Daily Labor Report, page D-4)_The weekly unemployment benefit claims figures have been under 300,000 for 6 consecutive weeks, indicating plenty of jobs in the world's largest economy. ... (New York Times, page C6; Wall Street Journal, page A2). Across-the-board increases pushed February retail sales ahead 0.9 percent, according to data released by the Commerce Department. Noting that the report from Commerce showed that retail sales were "strong, strong, strong" economist David Orr said the upward revision to January's figures was expected but the degree was not. The largest part of January's revision was for auto dealers, he said. ... (Daily Labor Report, page D-1)_The Great American Shopping Spree just keeps charging on. Retail spending in February rose a strong 0.9 percent from the month before, the seventh straight month of increases. Spending was up 7.3 percent from February 1998. And the government also revised upward its estimate of January retail sales, saying spending that month rose 1 percent, not 0.2 percent as estimated earlier. (Washington Post, page E1)_Consumers went on a spending spree in February, snapping up new cars, clothing, and furniture. The report showed a still-vigorous expansion despite a weak global economy. Some analysts said robust spending might make Federal Reserve officials uneasy about potential price rises but only moderately so, since other gauges of activity show only muted inflation. ... (New York Times, page C6)_Retail sales shot up, as balmy weather inspired consumers to spend more time in the mall and less time in front of the fireplace. ... (Wall Street Journal, page A2) Women leaving welfare for work face major obstacles to attaining well-paid jobs because they lack skill training, two Educational Testing Service economists have found. "In an economy where the real job growth, earnings potential and employer-provided training are in higher skilled occupations, the missing link between work and economic success is skill," according to ETS's vice president who co-authored the study. More time on the job will not necessarily increase low-skilled workers' earnings -- unless they are placed in work with employer-provided training, the study concluded. ... (Daily Labor Report, page A-11). Even while prices on everything from clothing to computer chips steadily decline, the cost of getting an education continues to rise, whether the sought-after institution is a private Ivy League college, a public university, or a popular preschool. In recent weeks, private universities have been announcing tuition for the 1999-2000 academic year, and the increases -- which range between 3 and 5 percent -- are more than double the annual rate of inflation. Private grade schools and preschools are boosting tuition as much as 7 percent. Public universities,
[PEN-L:4316] U.S. Jets Fire At North Iraqi
Monday March 15 5:48 AM ET U.S. Jets Fire At North Iraqi Air Defenses ANKARA (Reuters) - U.S. warplanes attacked Iraqi sites in the no-fly zone over northern Iraq Monday, a statement from the jets' home base in southern Turkey said. It said the warplanes ``responded in self-defense to Iraqi threats'' but gave no further details. Sunday the jets from the Incirlik airbase bombed anti-aircraft artillery sites near Mosul after being fired upon and detecting Iraq radar tracking the aircraft. Such strikes have become regular since Iraq decided in December to actively oppose U.S. and British jets patrolling the no-fly zones in the north and south of the country. The jets flying out of Incirlik patrol a mountainous Kurdish-held enclave and a swathe of Baghdad-controlled territory around the city of Mosul. Iraq does not recognize the Western-enforced zones set up after the 1991 Gulf War to protect the Kurdish area in the north and Shi'ite Muslims in the south. NATO-member Turkey hosts the force, known as ``Operation Northern Watch,'' but has expressed concern in recent months over the policy of the United States, a close ally, toward Turkey's southern neighbor Iraq.
[PEN-L:4315] Re: Re: Lafontaine?
Get a load of this New York Times article: Peter I think Lafontaine's resignation gives some credence to the globalization argument. It seems all the major capitalist countries are supposed to have a uniform politics. I think since Thacher this tendency has become quite strong and apparent. I would be interested in knowing if such uniformization of politics for all major capitalist countries have been a norm for much longer. Cheers, ajit sinha Dr. Ajit Sinha Visiting Fellow Centre for Development Economics Delhi School of Economics University of Delhi, Delhi 110007 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[PEN-L:4314] Japan and Oz
G'day Brad, Tom Jim, Jim writes: One thing is that Japan is highly dependent on imports of raw materials, so that a high Yen makes them cheaper. This counteracts the effect of exports becoming more expensive in dollar terms as the Yen rises. Does Oz a bit of good, too - as we are a salient flogger of said raw materials. And, because consumer credit has been very accessible here, because rates are low, and because even Ozzies are directly involved in the stock boom in ever greater numbers, we still buy Japanese goods at record rates. That all looks like growth - and we are, in this sense, the fastest growing OECD country. Of course, it's the sort of growth that doesn't have legs - we've stopped investing in capital equipment, our CAD is growing, consumer debt is sky-rocketing, and we have $70 billion worth of goodies piled up that nobody's buying. Any more of this growth and the A$ is gonna have to take a real hot bath - which might move some inventory and inhibit some imports, but will hurt us where our debts are denominated in Yen and US$ and will exacerbate the capital equipment investment problem. So now the government has promulgated its idea of dropping corporate tax rates a lot, and compensating the public purse by way of getting rid of depreciation deuctions. This will further hurt primary and secondary sectors (which are already very fragile) and do wonders for the service sectors, particularly whatever 'the information technology sector' means. My guess is that Oz would be looking into a future all the more fragile for decreased industrial diversity, increasing unemployment, increasing dependence re manufactured capital and consumer goods, and with all its eggs in a basket over which little strategic control is possible and bursting bubbles constitutes a perennial threat. Is that a fair thing to say? Cheers, Rob.
