Free Republic

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Any close election is bound to be followed by bursts of Monday morning quarterbacking. Even by this standard, however, the 2004 presidential race looks like a monument to missed opportunities on both sides. The morning right after the election, my friend Ted Bush, who worked on trade issues for retiring Illinois Democratic Congressman William Lipinski, focused on his party´s contender, John Kerry. Had Kerry blown Ohio because of wimpy positions on trade and jobs issues? After all, Ted noted, the initial exit polls showed that economic and jobs issues were number...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. HYDERABAD, India (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) will hire several hundred new staff at its new Indian campus in the next year, its chief executive said on Monday, in a move aimed at strengthening its presence in Asia's fourth-biggest economy. The world's largest software maker inaugurated the campus, its biggest outside the United States, at a ceremony on Monday. Microsoft employs some 800 people in product development and support services in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad. India's low-cost, IT-savvy and English-speaking workforce is attracting a growing number...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. MOUNTAINTOP, Pa. - A Luzerne County perfume factory is closing at the end of the year, leaving 200 people out of work. New Dana Perfumes Inc., the maker of fragrances including Tabu, English Leather and Love's Baby Soft, will close its plant in Wright Township, said Peter Schreiber of Dimeling, Schreiber & Park, the Philadelphia investment firm that bought the perfume-manufacturing operation in July 1999 Dana Classic Fragrances Inc., which holds the trademark to the names and formulas and markets and sells the perfumes, will continue to operate - but officials...

GANGES TOWNSHIP -- Saying its U.S. mushroom business has been a cash drain, a Canadian company will close its three stateside operations, including a mushroom farm and processing plant near Fennville. More than 200 people will be out of work after Christmas when the Money's Foods mushroom plant in Ganges Township closes its doors. It produced fresh mushrooms for supermarkets and processed for companies that make soups and sauces. "We feel badly about this because the people have worked very hard trying to make this successful. We've run out of cash and can't keep on supporting it," said Keith Potter,...

November 22, 2004 issue Copyright © 2004 The American Conservative Goodbye, Dollar—and Empire by Pat Buchanan Whoever wins Nov. 2, two predictions seem solid: the mighty U.S. dollar has begun an inexorable decline, and the American empire is coming to an end. For whether George W. Bush wins or loses, America is headed for a political gridlock that will rule out any bipartisan assault on our “twin deficits.” No matter who wins, the House Republicans of Tom DeLay will retain the numbers to veto any tax increase, while Democrats will retain the strength to prevent any serious cuts in entitlements....

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. New Delhi, Nov. 10 (NNN): America is likely to lose its overall lead in technology and innovation sector to Asian nations such as India, China, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Singapore, according to a top foreign policy expert. Adam Segal, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations writes in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs that though American technical dominance remains solid, the globalisation of research and development is exerting considerable pressure on the American system. In addition to the increasing science and research and development budgets, India, China, South...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. WAXAHACHIE, Texas - The planned closing of a North Texas refrigeration plant threatens to eliminate more than 500 jobs, with most of the work expected to be transferred to Mexico. The head of a union representing Tyler Refrigeration Co. employees says the plant south of Dallas will close next year. The plant is to begin reducing operations after the first of the year, with the job cuts expected to begin in the latter half of 2005, union officials told the Waxahachie Daily Light for a story in Sunday's editions. City officials...

I ran into a relative at a wedding this weekend. We hadn't seen each other since the last family wedding, three years ago. I asked how her daughter was doing, and this story came pouring out. Her daughter's husband was laid off in July from a company where he had worked for 28 years. He will miss out on his pension and faces job-hunting now at age 52. His wife is working 50 hours a week and fears making any missteps at her job because she is now carrying the family's health insurance. He's depressed and is a scatterbrained substitute...

The flow of foreign capital into the United States contracted in August as private investors lost some of their appetite for stocks and bonds, underscoring the increasing dependence on financing from central banks in Asia. The Treasury Department reported Monday that net monthly capital flows from the rest of the world fell for the sixth time this year, declining to $59 billion from $63 billion in July. Private investment from abroad was nearly halved to $37.4 billion in August from $72.9 billion in July. Investors appeared to be concerned over cooling growth and a rising U.S. trade deficit. The only...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. If you think Pedro Martinez' numbers against the New York Yankees look bad (and they do), they're nothing compared with the government's latest monthly trade figures. Dismal as the Boston Red Sox ace's performance against the Bronx Bombers has been, he looks like a champion next to the trade numbers, which are one important measure of the U.S. economy's performance against the rest of the world. Not that the trade surplus and deficit figures tell us everything we need to know about America's competitiveness. In particular, they compare apples and oranges...

Note to Admin Moderator: I'm posting this in "Breaking News" since no one has said a word about it as of yet. If you don't feel it should stay in Breaking, please leave on Front Page or FR. Thanks. While checking the seismographs tonight for the region, it is becoming apparent that Mt. Rainier is also awakening along with Mt St Helens. At first, I had hoped that the seismographs at Mt Rainier were merely picking up the earth movement from St Helens, but the tremors do not correlate. By checking the charts for St Helens back on the 25th...