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Friday, December 7, 2001 headlines--- PinnFund
Executive to turn over $47 Million Unemployment increases to 5.7 percent in
November, Six Year High Silicon Valley to Boom
Again---The Question is: When? Report sees seeds sown for
next boom in Silicon Valley
House Gives High Tech a Boost Retailers Say Weakest Thanksgiving Sales Since 1990
The December 7th Anniversary Finds Japan in Another
Recession This Day in American History Included in On Line Report (It is available every day as our e-mail signature. It is an exclusive written for Leasing News e-mail readers). --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We are unable to receive e-mail today as we are changing our server to a new provider, as our old provider has gone out of business. We are able to send because we have our own SMTP. Our new incoming mail DNS number should take hold at midnight, we are told by our new provider. We hope to be able to receive e-mail this weekend, and the early morning Monday edition will include any news we receive, plus the History of Colonial Pacific Leasing, Portland, Oregon. ___________________________________________________________________________
Silicon Valley to Boom
Again---The Question is: When? by Mary Anne Ostrom San Jose Mercury News Silicon Valley may be
in an economic slump, but the seeds of the next boom have already
been planted, says a new report issued by a group of business and
civic leaders. Advancements expected
to lead the economic revival include the combination of bio-science
and information technology, use of the Internet to increase productivity
and the ability to build electronic circuitry on a molecular scale.
The findings are presented
in the report ``The Next Silicon Valley: Riding Waves of Innovation'',
prepared for Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network. Four major waves of technology
innovation have shaped the valley since World War II, and often the
key innovations occurred during the bust periods, including development
of the personal computer and the Internet, the report said. ``Innovation is born
out of adversity,'' said Doug Henton, president of Collaborative Economics
and the report's author. ``We have gone through a recession; we've
been through recessions before. It's going to be painful for people
losing jobs, but what it may actually do is push us into a new period
of innovation.'' In some cases, the Bay
Area is especially qualified to lead the next revolution, Henton said.
For example, he said, only Boston and the Bay Area have concentrations
of biotechnology and information technology sectors which, working
together, can speed up product development, among other advancements.
Henton and Joint Venture
executives said the report is designed to get business and civic leaders
to spur economic development and workforce preparedness in advance
of the next wave. Joint Venture: Silicon
Valley Network itself is attempting to emerge from a lackluster period
by refocusing its mission on economic development. Founded in 1992,
under the leadership of former Hewlett Packard CEO Lew Platt and Applied
Materials CEO Jim Morgan, Joint Venture's original goal was to help
the valley recover from recession by bringing civic, business and
government leaders. ``It's exactly the same
situation as when Joint Venture was formed,'' said Joint Venture Chairman
Keith Kennedy. ``We feel this is an appropriate time to go back to
our roots.'' Joint Venture, however,
has been without a chief executive officer since February, when Ruben
Barrales left for a job in the Bush White House. Civic leaders say the
group's revival is important, but it cannot remain leaderless. ``The challenge is to
hire a new leader who can reconnect people who have lost interest,
including high-tech companies and significant trade associations,''
said Jim Cunneen, who chose to take the top job at Silicon Valley/San
Jose Chamber of Commerce over the Joint Venture job. But, Cunneen added, ``Joint
Venture's the one organization that brings everyone to the table,
it doesn't have an ax to grind.'' Peter
Delevett contributed to this report House Gives High Tech a Boost San Jose Mercury News
BY
JIM PUZZANGHERA WASHINGTON -- The House
of Representatives on Thursday narrowly voted to grant the president
broad powers to negotiate new trade deals, a major victory for Silicon
Valley companies desperate for greater access to overseas markets
to revive the slumping high-tech industry. Despite the potential
benefits to the region and intense lobbying by technology executives,
the legislation passed without a single vote from Silicon Valley representatives.
Democrats from the valley who normally vote pro-trade opposed the
bill for one of two reasons: They wanted a greater role for Congress
in negotiating new trade pacts, or they believed the House first should
have passed legislation to help workers affected by the economic downturn.
The loss of such reliable
high-tech backers as Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, and Zoe Lofgren,
D-San Jose, left supporters of the bill scrambling for votes in the
face of strong opposition from organized labor and environmental groups.
None of the Bay Area's representatives -- all Democrats -- voted for
the ``trade promotion authority'' legislation. Formerly known as fast-track,
the authority greatly strengthens the president's hand in securing
new trade pacts. While Congress still must approve trade deals, under
the legislation they could not be amended and lawmakers would have
to vote on them within 60 days of their submission. Such authority
is a coveted White House power that five presidents had from 1975
until the law expired in 1994. Last minute arm-twisting
and backroom deal-making by top Bush administration officials and
House Republican leaders secured just enough votes for passage of
trade promotion authority. The legislation passed in a dramatic 215-214
vote. It was a major victory for President Bush as he tries to create
a free trade zone covering the Western Hemisphere and as a new round
of global trade talks gets under way. High-tech approval
High-tech executives
also hailed the vote, which clears the biggest hurdle for the legislation.
It faces much less opposition in the Senate. ``About 70 percent of
our business is exports, so the participation of the U.S. in the development
of the global economy through trade is critical to our success and
the jobs of all our people in Silicon Valley,'' said Jim Morgan, chairman
and chief executive officer of Applied Materials, the Santa Clara-based
maker of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Morgan expressed disappointment
in Eshoo and Lofgren, who represent much of Silicon Valley. Their
votes could cost them support from the industry in the future, said
Ralph Hellmann, a lobbyist for the Information Technology Industry
Council. ``Clearly everyone is
going to remember that on the most important vote of the year, they
weren't there,'' he said. The group produces a biannual guide to how
members of Congress vote on high-tech issues, and anticipates counting
Thursday's vote twice because of its importance to the industry. Many
companies use the guide to decide who gets campaign contributions.
But those Democrats said
they hoped the high-tech industry would not judge them on a single
vote that had become complicated by other issues. ``This isn't easy for
us to do,'' Eshoo lamented. ``I have something very heavy stuck in
my throat over this.'' A difficult decision
Eshoo, along with Rep.
Ellen Tauscher, D-Walnut Creek, and five other pro-trade Democrats
had been undecided until Thursday afternoon. But shortly before the
vote they announced they would not support the bill. All said they
favored granting the president the trade promotion authority. But
they first wanted House Republican leaders to bring up legislation
to provide expanded unemployment benefits and other help to workers
affected by the more severe economic downturn triggered by the Sept.
11 terrorist attacks. ``These people need our
help and, if we're going to talk about the future of our economy,
we have to talk about the people today who are the collateral damage,''
Eshoo said. Lofgren and Rep. Mike
Honda, D-San Jose, who campaigned as a pro-trade Democrat, had announced
their opposition on Wednesday. They said the trade legislation was
flawed because it didn't allow for enough congressional input before
the pacts were submitted for approval. The issue had become
tinged with partisanship since it was introduced earlier this year.
Powerful House Ways and
Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, R-Bakersfield, whose prickly
personality rubs many Democrats the wrong way, further inflamed key
pro-trade Democrats by drafting the legislation without their input.
The bill provides no requirement for the president to negotiate labor
and environmental standards in trade deals, which influential Democrats
sought. Republicans had their
own problems lining up votes. Holding a slim five-vote majority in
the House, GOP leaders needed Democratic support because several dozen
of their members invariably oppose trade legislation. Thomas ultimately crafted
a compromise with a handful of conservative Democrats, but victory
came from Bush and other Republicans coaxing an unusually large percentage
of Republicans to support the bill. Only 23 Republicans voted against
the legislation. When it was last brought up in 1998, 71 Republicans
opposed it. The 21 Democrats who voted with 194 Republicans to pass
the bill were far fewer than the 40 or more who normally back trade
bills. Vote seen as key
House Speaker Dennis
Hastert, R-Ill., and other key Republicans called Thursday's vote
the most important the House has taken this year -- even more than
authorizing military force to fight terrorism. They said trade promotion
authority is crucial to American's leadership in a time of international
crisis. ``This Congress will
either support our president who is fighting a courageous war on terrorism
and redefining American world leadership, or it will undercut the
president at the worst possible time,'' Hastert said. Several Democratic opponents
took exception to what they viewed as Republicans questioning their
patriotism. Bush said trade promotion
authority is a key part of his pro-trade agenda and praised the narrow
victory. ``By promoting open trade,
we expand export markets and create high-paying jobs for Americans,
while providing opportunities for other nations as a result of free
trade,'' he said. But labor and environmental
groups decried the vote and vowed to continue to fight. ``We need expanded trade,
and we need to integrate ourselves into the world economy to ensure
our growth. That's not the debate. The debate is how we do it,'' said
Amy Dean, executive director of the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council,
who praised Silicon Valley's representatives for voting against the
bill. Dean and labor leaders across the country lobbied hard against
it, arguing that labor and human rights must be part of future trade
deals. Contact
Jim Puzzanghera at jpuzzanghera@ krwashington.com or (202) 383-6043.
The
December 7th Anniversary Finds Japan in Another Recession
By
Phred Dvorak, Wall Street Journal December 7, 1911 Louis Prima Birthday http://www.spaceagepop.com/prima.htm Moon enters Last Quarter phase at 5:52pm, California time. 1787, the federal Constitution was signed by all 30 members of the Constitutional Convention. Thomas Collins, who was president of Delaware at that time, automatically became the first state governor. 1808, James Madison was elected president of the United States. George Clinton, Republican of New York, was elected vice-resent. The electoral vote was Madison, Democratic-Republican of Virginia, 122, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, a Federalist of South Carolina, 47’ George Clinton, 6. In the vice president race the electoral vote was Clinton, 113; Rufus King, Federalist of New York, 47 1836, Martin Van Buren was elected president of the United Sates. the electoral vote was Van Buren, 170; William Henry Harrison, Anti-Masonic candidate, 73: Sen. Hugh L. White of Tennessee, anti-Jacksonian Democrat, 26; Daniel Webster, Massachusetts Whig candidate, 14,; and William P. Mangum of North Carolina, 11. the popular vote was Van Buren, 761,549; Harrison, 549,567; White 145,396; Webster, 41,287. None of the four vice presidential candidates received a majority of the electoral votes. The Senate, for the first, and only time, had to choose, naming Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky to the office. 1848, father and son who were senators at the same session were Henry Dodge of Wisconsin and his son Augustus Caesar Dodge of Iowa, who sat this day together to February 22,1855, in the 30th to 33rd Congresses. They had previously served as delegates to the House of Representatives in the 27th and 287th Congress, From March 4, 1941, to March 3, 1945,prior to the statehood of their territories. Henry Dodge continued to serve in the Senate until March 3, 1857. Right before Christmas in 1865, John Batterson Stetson, opened a one-man hat factory in Philadelphia, Pa. Stetson, the son of a hat maker, had previously attempted to establish himself in the business, but ill health had forced him to travel to Illinois, Missouri, and Colorado. During his travels he had noticed the style of hat favored by westerners and, after a slow start in Philadelphia, he began to design hew hats based on the western styles. His business began to expand rapidly. By 1906, he employed 3500 workers and was selling 2,000,0000 hats a year. The Stetson hat had a broad brim and its crown was tall, enough to sport ten ornamental braids, known as galloons. It was the mispronunciation of the word galloon, that gave the world the term ten-gallon hat. 1874, about 70 blacks were killed when they attacked the courthouse at Vicksburg, Miss. The blacks rioted over the intimidation and ejection of a carpetbag sheriff by the white of Vicksburg. ( history does not record whether they were born here or where, thus they a "blacks" to historians ) 1909, bandleader Teddy Hill born Birmingham, AL. 1927, Ben Pollack records “Waitin’ for Katie, “ Memphis Blue.” Boom-chick-a-Boom beat is born. 1941, at 7:55 local time in Hawaii, “ a date that will leave in infamy,” nearly 200 Japanese aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, long considered the US “Gibraltar of the Pacific.” The raid, which lasted little more than one hour, left nearly 3,000 dead. Nearly the entire US Pacific Fleet was at anchor there and few ships escaped damage. Several were sunk or disabled, while 200 aircraft on the ground were destroyed. The attack on Pearl Harbor brought about immediate US entry into World War II, a Declaration of War being requested by President Franklin d. Roosevelt and approved by the Congress, December 8, 1941. On December 10, the Japanese invaded Luzon in the Philippines, where Gen. Douglas MacArthur commanded the defending U.S. and Philippine forces. December 11, Germany and Italy, in a pact with the Japanese, declared war against the United States. 1980, considered the greatest comeback in the NFL, the San Francisco 49ers, trailing the New Orleans Saints, 35-7, at halftime, scored four consecutive second-half touchdowns to force overtime. Ray Wershing then kicked a 36-yard field goal to give the 49ers a 38-35 win, considered by sports historians as the greatest come-from-behind victory in NFL regular-season history. There may have been some greater comebacks this year, but they are not in the record books at this time.
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