Be INFORMED

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Intel Corp. Employees Next up On The Chopping Block...

  as the chip-maker has announced that it will be closing plants in Malaysia and the Philippines. the bad news for American workers at the company is that it will also be closing its last plant in Silicon Valley,which means that as many as 6,000 jobs may be toast.

  Yahoo News

It will also halt production at a wafer fabrication facility in Hillsboro, Oregon, as well as its Santa Clara, California plant -- a factory connected to its headquarters and the only one left in Silicon Valley.

The actions will result in a reduction of 5,000 to 6,000 jobs, Intel said. It ended 2008 with around 84,000 employees.

Not all cuts at the affected plants will lead to job losses and some workers will be offered positions at other facilities, it said, adding that the restructuring will take place between now and the end of 2009.

Isn't all of that " free trade " pushed by our government just such a wonderful thing? Throw in the " Wall Street Ripoff " of us taxpayers and our stagnant wages and then it is no wonder that we cannot afford to by anything even when the companies drop prices due to lack of sales.

   Renegotiate NAFTA and withdraw from the WTO. For starters.

Senate Confirms Clinton...

     as the nation's newest Secretary of State by a vote of 94-2 with only Republican Sens. David Vitter of Louisiana and Jim DeMint of South Carolina voting in the negative.

Republicans and Democrats alike said her swift confirmation was necessary so that Obama could begin tackling the major foreign policy issues at hand, including two wars, increased violence in the Middle East and the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.

Obama's presidential rival, Sen. John McCain, was among those who spoke in Clinton's favor.

"This nation has come together in a way that it has not for some time," said the Arizona Republican, on the Senate floor for the first time since the inauguration.

Voters "want us to work together and get to work," McCain said.

  it is a nice thing to see Senator McCain being back to his old self once again.

The administration also planned to name former Senate Democratic leader George J. Mitchell as Clinton's special envoy for the Middle East. Dennis Ross, a longtime U.S. negotiator, was also expected to advise Clinton on Mideast policy, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the move.