Friday, July 4, 2003

MS plans largest company lay-off When Eric Poore began working as a customer service representative for Microsoft's technical call-routing center in 1997, he was told his advancement opportunities were endless... ...Four years after Poore lost his first position to outsourcing, he is about to lose his six-year career because Microsoft is in the process of a massive relocation of Customer Central call center jobs to India and Canada. Employees estimate that Microsoft is planning to eliminate at least 800 jobs in the next fiscal year at the company's Las Colinas facility outside of Dallas, Texas and shift the work offshore...more [WashTech] First it was the H1B Visa, now it's just easier to simply send the job to them. Off shore migration of work in the midst of a recession, and the highest unemployment in many years, is simply disgusting. Companies should be financially punished when they send work out of the country. Sadly though they get rewarded. Does anyone else see what's wrong with this?..mj 4:31:09 PM

Wednesday, June 25, 2003

Enron gets U.S. 'death penalty' FERC votes to strip bankrupt company of some rights to trade electricity and natural gas. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission voted Wednesday to strip bankrupt Enron Corp. of some of its rights to trade electricity and natural gas after finding the company manipulated electricity prices during California's energy crisis of 2000-2001. "This is the first time the commission has imposed the so-called death penalty," FERC Chairman Pat Wood said after the unanimous vote of all three commissioners. The order would allow Enron to unwind its current electricity and natural gas positions, but bar trading beyond those limits...more [CNN MONEY] While it's always nice to see some punishment come out of this, the real culprits are still running this country. Bush, and too many of his friends are in power raping this country for the benefit of the wealthy few. We can only hope that one year from now we will be well along our way to removing them from office...mj 9:57:56 AM

Tuesday, June 17, 2003

Dead corporations... Cluetrain: I see dead corporations. Questioner: In your dreams? [Cluetrain shakes it's head no] Questioner: While you're awake? [Cluetrain nods] Questioner: Dead corporations like, in bankruptcy? In foreclosure? Cluetrain: Walking around like regular people. They don't see each other. They only see what they want to see. They don't know they're dead. Questioner: How often do you see them? Cluetrain: All the time. Thanks to Thomas Vincent on the Cluetrain mail list. This is too true. One example has to be MCI. I have been job hunting for a while, and I keep getting spam emails offering me a chance to work in their new Small/Medium Business unit doing outside sales. Based on my experience it would be a natural fit. So I visited their job site, and tried to apply for the job. I input my resume, and personal information. Then came the questions. That was my undoing. If you have ever seen one of these, you know exactly what I mean. You never know if they want you to say what they want to hear, or if it really has any meaning. I was informed when I was done that I did not meet their qualifications. This in spite of over 13 years of sales and service experience with US West (now Qwest) in their Small Business unit. I wrote it off and went on looking when a few days later I got a phone call from a recruiter. She told me that she was going through the rejects because she found that a lot of them were mistakes (why have the system in the first place then?). I did the phone interview and it went really well (I think). In the meantime I got at least 3 more of the spam mails offering me a chance to apply for this exciting opportunity. So why had the questions rejected me? She told me that it all came down to one question: How much money is acceptable to earn during your first year? The options were, less then 30k, 30-60k, or more then 60k. Having been in sales I know that it takes a year in any real sales job to ramp up your sales, I answered 30-60k. They wanted to hear 60k. I was unacceptable. This morning I answered my ringing phone to get a REALLY LOUD recorder voice informing me that this was NOT A SALES CALL, and that I could go to the MCI web site and apply for an exciting job opportunity selling to the Small-Medium Business market. I hung up. So what does this all say about the company formerly known as Worldcom?...mj 12:21:35 PM

Saturday, May 31, 2003

Halliburton contracts...at $600 million Cheney's former company could earn billions more. Vice President Dick Cheney's former company already has garnered more than $600 million in military work related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and potentially could earn billions more without having to compete with other companies. As the Army's sole provider of troop support services, Halliburton's Kellogg Brown & Root subsidiary has received work orders totaling $529.4 million related to the two wars under a 10-year contract that has no spending ceiling...more [CNN] Isn't capitalism just grand! You have to love the way this works. They give what will ultimately amount to over a billion dollars of free money to the company Cheney was CEO of before becoming Vice President. The same company that used European subsidiaries to run millions of dollars of contracts with Iraq, while it was illegal for US companies to do the same. I guess they are real patriots. I think that history will put this administration right there along with the Reagan Administration as the two most corrupt in the past 100 years...mj 12:58:13 AM

Saturday, May 24, 2003

Not One Single Dime... "This body voted for a tax bill today that provides billions for the wealthiest and not a cent for unemployed workers -- not one dime, not one nickel, not one penny for those hardworking men and women who are suffering most from the economic crisis," said Sen. Edward Kennedy I think that pretty much sums it up. Bush and the Republicans did exactly what they wanted. They gave welfare to the rich, and screwed the little guy. This recession has the highest number of people expending UI benefits then any since The Great Depression. This plan does not do anything for the unemployed except continue a program that was already there. It does nothing for millions of displaced workers. You have to admire this administration on a twisted way they take from the poor, give to the rich. They even handed over many millions in rebuilding contracts, with secret bids, or no bids. The money of course is going to Bush's friends. You have to love the system, NOT!...mj 12:21:47 AM

Monday, May 19, 2003

Computer failure on Saturday - I am slowly rebuilding it. No fun at all...mj 8:20:48 PM

Friday, April 25, 2003

Weird scenes inside the boardroom... Have you noticed that Worldcom is no more? They changed their name to MCI, a company that Worldcom swallowed in a merger. The reason of course is that Worldcom was buried under the rubble of Enron-like activities by it's former CEO. This will go down as the weirdest reverse merger since NeXT took over Apple...mj 10:53:04 AM

Little Enrons [morons] Not everyone is a Fastow, or in charge of Qwest. Not all business people are brazen enough to commit criminal acts on the scale they did. Take the story of L90, a once booming (well perhaps booming) internet advertising company. It's actually funny to imagine these people sitting around planning this. Proving once against hat the vast majority of criminals are idiots...mj 10:09:53 AM

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

Reel Life Intrudes... It has been an interesting month. For the first time in a long time I feel like I am going to get a job soon. I want one bad, something I did not feel a year ago. I feel more centered. Calm in the storm, I want to find a path that takes me to new adventures. Chaos only intrudes, it does not control, and perhaps that's the best sign of all. My chaos right now is the attempt to find a new apartment. My complex was bought by a company called Kelly Properties. They did inspections right after the ownership change. On the eighth of this month I was told that I had to move by the end of the month. They are going to boot all the tenants so they can remodel, and raise rents by up to 33%. Of course they are hiding behind the law, and doing the absolute minimum. They even tried to not let anyone else in the complex know what was happening. So little effort and this could have been a much more peaceful transition. Instead they are forcing out single mothers, the unemployed, the elderly, and pet owners. They may have hidden behind the law, but they have displayed all too typical business ethics (none). All they had to do was give more notice, be upfront about their intentions, and offer help in finding new apartments. An offer of as little as $100 for moving expenses would have been a good move. Instead we argue with them over details, and may now try to bring in the press. I have found a place to move to, but others may not be as lucky. It doesn't need to be this way, but as long as we refuse to consider the impact of our actions, these kinds of stories will continue. It is this kind of mentality that allowed a company like Enron to rape the ratepayers of California..mj 2:13:23 PM

Saturday, March 29, 2003

Halliburton out of the running Dick Cheney's former employer won't have lead role in reconstructing Iraq Halliburton, the energy and construction company once run by Vice President Dick Cheney, is no longer in the running for a $600 million contract to rebuilt post-war Iraq, according to the United States Agency for International Development. The development is likely to spare Cheney, who was Halliburton's CEO from 1995-2000, and the Bush administration from conflict-of-interest criticism. A spokesperson for USAID, Ellen Yount, said there are two remaining firms bidding on the contract. No decision has been made on who will be awarded it, she said...more [CNN-Money] Another really good reason to avoid this company is the fact that they did over $20 million in trade with Iraq while it was illegal for US companies to do so. They got around this little problem by doing the work through their French susidiary. Funny how the France thing keeps coming up...mj 9:56:36 AM

Friday, February 28, 2003

How the FCC got it 'bass ackwards' If you have a broadband Internet connection, brace yourself: The monthly price you pay for it is probably going to soar. Been waiting for fast, always-on service to arrive at your door? Prepare to wait some more--a lot more. That's all thanks to one of the worst mishaps ever to hit the Information Highway, a car wreck that's unfolding before our very eyes because the Federal Communications Commission was watching the rearview mirror instead of the road ahead...more [ZDNet] Ahh, the joy of deregulation. The reason they did this is to protect the monopolys in Broadband. In the meantime they re-regulate a dieing market -- nice slight of hand if you think about it. The POTS (plain old telephone service) regulation will be meaningless, and the FCC knows it. In the meantime they get to protect their buddies in the Broadband industry. Remember, this is the Enron adminsitration...mj 1:49:51 AM

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