Conference thebay::joyoflex

    My OED goes from "subsidiarily" to "subsidiary".

    subsidiarity - the fact or quality of being a subsidiary.

    >Apparently (according to OED
    >sources interviewed) there are only 3 known English words in existence
    >ending in "iarity".  - Side quiz - name the other two!
    
    Familiarity and peculiarity.  [Done without a dictionary.]

re .2

�  subsidiarity - the fact or quality of being a subsidiary.

	Was this a definition or a guess?   

It does not cover the meaning that the European Community are arguing over which
is extremely subjective.

Douglas Hurd personally defines the meaning as "minimal interference"
(i.e. of a central authority over component authorities)

re .3

Yes - those were the OED examples quoted.

>    	"Very Well, let's have a competition to invent another term"
>    
>    Perhaps JoyofLexers could oblige.
    
	Subsidiariocity?  Subsidiaraciousness?  Subsidiaristicality?

>It does not cover the meaning that the European Community are arguing over
>which is extremely subjective.
>
>Douglas Hurd personally defines the meaning as "minimal interference" (i.e.
>of a central authority over component authorities)
    
    Sounds like Humpty Dumpty -- 

    But the Humpty Dumpty in this case wasn't Douglas Hurd (who hasn't
    go the figure for it anyway). I believe some Eurocrat first used
    it in the context of the Bonn government `interfering minimally'
    with the L�nder.
    
    b

    Re: .4
    
    My .2 was obviously a definition, given that it describes the meaning
    of a word.  Whether it bears any meaningful relationship to what the EC
    use the word to mean is moot; it is simply the result of a quick
    linguistic/etymological analysis of the word in question.  :-)
    
    -dick

I'm too lazy to find a more appropriate topic.  From LIVEWIRE:

>                The objective of this calendar is to provide managers with 
>  timely information which will optimize their ability to planfully execute 
>  their human resource management responsibility.

    re .-1 Arrrggghhhhh!!!!!!!    Who *writes* that stuff???  
                                        
    
          "... planfully execute their human resource management 
          responsibility."
    
    Funny how it almost sounds like English.

    Given the present economic circumstances, I don't like the word
    "execute" in there.  I find that far more ominous than "planfully".
    
    :-(

I planfully took a look at VTX HR_EVENTS.

From the introduction:

        This infobase is designed to list all the Significant Human
        Events that will happen over the next quarter.

Gasp -- I thought I heard Bob Palmer use "planful" in his DVN message to
employees.  Say it ain't so!

    NOT!	?

Just to plug the rathole (maybe 8^) here is the quote from today's Vogon News:

 Digital - Bob Palmer's DVN speech
	{Livewire, Worldwide News, 24-Jul-92}
   Today, the Digital Video Network (DVN) broadcast a 10-minute address to 
 employees by President- and CEO-Elect Bob Palmer. The following is a
 transcript of that speech.  

 o o o

 It is to get competitive, and to do it in such a way that we can stay 
 competitive; and also in such a way that we maintain the important core values
>that have built this great company. That means that, in a planful way, we will
 start redesigning the entire supply chain of the company:  everything from the
 time the customer gives us an order to the time we deliver and collect for
 delivering a reliable, quality product, service, software, or what-have-you.

>                      <<< Note 984.16 by RICKS::PHIPPS >>>
>                        -< Maybe it was planeful? 8^) >-

		    Are you familiar with the term "noyade"?

    Re: noyade
    
    It looks like an anagram for "day one".

     I'm almost afraid to ask.  What's noyade? (Not much.  What's noyade
     with you? 8^| )

    <<< Note 984.18 by SHALOT::ANDERSON "Ask me about my Rotisserie team" >>>

>                      <<< Note 984.16 by RICKS::PHIPPS >>>
>                        -< Maybe it was planeful? 8^) >-

		    Are you familiar with the term "noyade"?

    Noyade is another word for drowning.
    
    -dick

    NOYADE n.  Mass execution by drowning, as in revolutionary France.  The
    technique was invented by a "monster of ferocity" (to quote Maunder)
    named Carrier, and involved some one hundred and fifty people being
    shut up in the hold of a ship, which was then scuttled in the Loire. 
    This was called, rather delightfully, "Carrier's Vertical Deportation." 
    "Have a good old noyade, now," you cry out to the Seventh Grade as they
    depart in the school bus for their swimming lesson.  Knowing your
    penchant for esoteric vocabulary, they smile tolerantly and turn their
    full attention to defenstrating (q.v.) the phys. ed. teacher.

    	-- The Superior Person's Book of Words, Peter Bowler


    "Planeful" seemed simply like an up-to-date version of "noyade,"
    especially when you think about that other "planful" that was bouncing
    around the net, and referred to something like the "planful execution 
    of one's human resource management responsibilities."

    Though, of course, a "noyade" (in, say, the Merrimack River) would be a
    lot more cost-effective, I suppose they have to justify those enormous
    restructuring costs in some way.

    Here are some other terms that might come handy in the interregnum:

    o  INGRAVESCENT a.  Growing worse or more severe

    o  SUPEREXCRESCENCE N.  Something growing superflusously.  "Sir, allow
    me to inform you that you are superexcrescent."

    o  CADUCITY n.  The dropping or shedding of a disposable part ... when
    its function has been performed and is no longer needed

    o  DIMISSORY a.  Sending away; permitting to depart

    o  JUGULATION n.  (i) Interruption of the progress of a disease by dire
    measures; (ii) throat-cutting

    o  FUGELMAN n.  A drill-sergeant or other soldier who stands in front
    of a group of soldiers so that they can follow his lead; henace, any
    front-man, spokesman, or leader who cuts an imposing figure and compels
    the members of an organization to dance to his tune

    o  THAUMATURGE n.  A wonder-worker, miracle man or magician

    And, hopefully:

    o  ANABIOSIS n.  Revival after apparent death; reanimation after a coma
    so deep that all vital signs have become imperceptible.

    The author leaves it as an exercise to the reader to create a note
    using each word in combination.

    	-- Cliff

    Re. 22: Sheesh, I've gotta get me a copy of that book! "Noyade" had,
    'til now, escaped my notice... [Though the technique wasn't invented in
    France. I distinctly recall reading of its use by ancient
    civilizations, including Egypt. Hmmm; anybody need a topic for a
    research paper? ;-)]
    
    Coincidentally, today is the 37th anniversary of a tragic quasi-noyade
    (i.e., it was inadvertent, or so I assume): according to my "Murder Can
    Be Fun" calendar, "A wave sweeps a girl's junior high school swim class
    away from shore on the Ise Sea near Tsu, Japan; 36 of 47 drown." 
    
    -b

		       Pretty good, but you forgot NOYADE

    The current rumors of impending NOYADE have sprung into being because
    Digital has been floundering in an INGRAVESCENT financial situation for
    some time now.  One method devised for dealing with this problem has
    been to ferret out SUPEREXCRESCENT employees and groups, who are then
    subjected to CADUCITY by their DIMISSORY superiors.  This practice has
    been attacked by both employees and the media as remarkably JUGULATORY. 
    In response, the company has now inducted a new FUGELMAN, who it is
    hoped can perform THAUMATURGICAL ANABIOSIS in a timely manner.
    
    There.
    
    -dick
    

    Re: .22, .25, .26
    
    Oh, BTW, I don't think you actually specified that the words be used in
    sequence in a somewhat sensible, at least not nonsensical, form.
    
    -dick

     Lay out one day and see what happens?

     Planefull  =  modern noyade

     Have the plane full of prisoners take off with only enough fuel to
     reach cruising altitude. 8^|

    Re: .-1
    
    Just who is going to fly it under those circumstances?  What makes you
    think an airplane with dead engines can't fly and land?  From a
    cruising altitude of 35K feet, a 747 can glide 180+ miles with no
    engines.
    
    twe, spoilsport when it comes to nasty things in aircraft

>    Just who is going to fly it under those circumstances?  What makes you

	I have a few suggestions.  ;^)

>    think an airplane with dead engines can't fly and land?  From a
>    cruising altitude of 35K feet, a 747 can glide 180+ miles with no
>    engines.
    
	Now, how wide did you say the Atlantic was again?

    I still want to know who would be willing to fly it out over the
    Atlantic.  And who would be willing to spend $30M+ to carry out the
    exercise.
    
    Oh, well, never mind.  It's all a rathole from the really important
    things in this topic.	:-)

>    Atlantic.  And who would be willing to spend $30M+ to carry out the

     Just tell 'em it's a fact-finding mission. ;^)

    Re: .29
    
    Gliding 180+ miles from 35000 feet is nothin'.  There is a famous war
    story about a U2 pilot who radioed Bermuda to say he'd just had a
    flameout.  They asked him for his direction and distance; he gave them
    a direction and said 300 miles.  They asked him his altitude and he
    said 12000 feet.  They said ditch and hold tight, they'd be out to get
    him.  He said, nah, just keep the runway clear.  And he glided in.
    
    -dick

    Re: .33
    
    The glide ratio of a -747 is about 24.  The glide ratio of a U2 is
    higher.  The glide ratio of my sailplane is 42. So with my sailplane,
    from 12,000 feet, I could glide about 95 miles.
    
    I don't believe the glide ratio of a U2 is 132. (300 miles from 12,000
    feet).  The most highly competitive sailplanes, with 1990's technology,
    have a glide ratio of about 60.
    
    There are some war stories about U2s flaming out at 80,000 feet (and
    possibly higher) and doing as .-1 relates.  So the only thing I doubt
    about .-1 is the 12,000 feet figure.  It just isn't efficient to fly a
    U2 that low:  the fuel consumption is too high.

    i don't sweare it's true, I only say that's the way I heard it.  I do
    contend, however, that there are lots of things most of us wouldn't
    believe about certain military aircraft.  :-)
    
    -dick

	Fellas:

	I think your U2 took a wrong turn somewhere back around .30.
	The flying conference is in ZEPLIN::HEAVIER_THAN_AIR_FLIGHT.

		-- C

    feel better now?
    
    :-)
    
    

     Take it to TIMBRE::MUSIC or MARVIN::UK_MUSIC or SUBURB::MUSICIANS_UK

     (I've always wanted to do that 8^)

re: $30+M/747

for note:  

 - $1 billion restructuring component for 15,000 departures is ~$67K
 - $30M 747 for 450 closely packed passengers is ~$67K

Bon (or bonne, as has been noted elsewhere) Noyade, indeed.....

    >REGENT::POWERS
    >re: $30+M/747
    
    With a name like Powers, shouldn't you talk about U2 instead?

    To go back to the original topic...
    
    The NY Times "On Language" column, guest authored by Anthony Burgess,
    devtoted several paragraphs today to "subsidiarity"
    
    
    regards...
    ...diane

	Check this out.  Not only is the focus of this particular
	method on the proper group, it's also much more cost 
	effective.  I'm just wondering how to say it a francais.

		-- Cliff


    
    excerpt from THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (many moons ago)
    
    
                18 CHINESE MANAGERS EXECUTED FOR SHODDY QUALITY
    
    BEIJING - Eighteen factory managers were executed for poor product 
    quality at Chien Bien Refrigerator Factory on the outskirts of the 
    Chinese capital. The managers - 12 men and 6 women - were taken to a 
    rice paddy outside the factory and unceremoniously shot to death as 500 
    plant workers looked on. Ministry of Economic Reform spokesman, Xi Ten 
    Haun, said the action was required for committing unpardonable crimes 
    against the people of China. He blamed the managers for ignoring 
    quality and forcing shoddy work, saying the factory's output of 
    refrigerators had a reputation for failure. For years factory workers 
    complained that many component parts did not meet specification and the 
    end product did not function as required. Compressors were cracked, 
    leaked freon and the electrical components were sub-standard. 
    Complaining workers quoted the Plant Manager as saying, "Ship it. 
    "Customers, who waited up to five years for their appliances, were 
    outraged, he says. "It is understandable our citizens would express 
    shock and outrage when managers are careless in their attitudes toward 
    the welfare of others."Refrigerators are among the most sought after 
    consumer items in Communist China.  "Managers in charge of production 
    and engineering failed to perform any useful corrections to the quality 
    problems for the last 20 years." Haun said.  "Our soldiers are 
    justified in wishing to bring proper justice to these errant managers."  
    The executed included the Plant Manager, the Quality Control Manager, 
    the Engineering Managers and their top staff.
    
    
    
    

    Sounds a bit extreme.  Shooting the plant manager and promising to come
    back next year might have effected the same result.  Unless a
    management TFSO was what was actually desired.

    Re .42
    
    Another good example was at Japanese Air Lines (JAL).
    
    When, at about the end of 1991, the board of directors realised the
    company was heading for a loss they started by cancelling their own
    summer bonus payment.  (I recall that summer bonuses normally amounted
    to about 4 months salary).
    
    They then introduced a 3% salary cut for themselves and all the most
    senior managers, about 400 people in total.
    
    Once these two steps had been taken and publicised they approached the
    unions and asked for further ideas about cost reduction.
    
    Nick

    Digital is doing something similar.  Bonuses are being cut though not
    eliminated entirely.  However, the cut applies to all employees, and
    the cut is larger for employees who have the title "manager," regardless
    of whether the "manager" has ever had any influence over corporate
    decisions that might be able to attract or keep customers.
    
    -- Norman Diamond

    Norman
    
    The difference is that JAL directors publicised what they were doing to
    themselves BEFORE they tried to do anything to their staff.
    
    The self-imposed suffering on the most senior Digital management is, in
    my experience, poorly publicised and when it is publicised is done in
    such a way that it sounds apocryphal rather than real.  Either that or
    we read about it in the national/international press.
    
    Nick

    >The self-imposed suffering on the most senior Digital management
    
    That I haven't read about at all.
    
    I did read that Ken Olsen resigned though, first on Usenet (Clarinet's
    Newsbytes), then internally (Vogon News Service), and then the Japanese
    national press.  Wondering if I'll read it on an official corporate
    channel some day.
    
    -- Norman Diamond

.47>    I did read that Ken Olsen resigned though, first on Usenet (Clarinet's
.47>    Newsbytes), then internally (Vogon News Service), and then the Japanese
.47>    national press.  Wondering if I'll read it on an official corporate
.47>    channel some day.

For stories like this, VNS usually carries the Livewire report.  I believe that
Livewire qualifies as "an official corporate channel".

Incidentally, KO apparantly told a meeting of engineers that he was fired.
Would you say that the president of the corporation qualifies as "an official
corporate channel"?

    ND>> Wondering if I'll read it on an official corporate channel some day.
    
    EG> VNS carries Livewire [...] "an official corporate channel".
    
    Yup, that's what I saw.  I don't know how to access Livewire itself.
    
    EG> Would you say that the president of the corporation qualifies as "an
    EG> official corporate channel"?
    
    Of course, but the Digital visibility of his lips does not often extend to
     [now to force some relevance to the topic :-) ]
    subsidiarity.
    
    -- Norman Diamond

>>    Yup, that's what I saw.  I don't know how to access Livewire itself.
    
    $ VTX LIVEWIRE
    
    (I don't know if there's an alternate path if you don't have access to
    VTX)
    
    
    regards...
    ...diane