The latest Q1 2007 financial results from the leading MCAD and EDA vendors are finally out,and I wanted to discuss them in today's blogentry.But Memorial Day 2007 is upon us, just about1487 days since the infamous declaration of "Mission Accomplished" in IRAQ. And thesituation there is getting worse, not better.Over 100 American GI's have been killed in May,with 5 more days to go. Some 104 soldiers werekilled in April. The last six months have beenthe most deadly six months of the war. Andthousands more GI's have been injured, many incapacitated for life. To say nothing about the tens of thousands of Iraqis killed and injured. And further, there is still no end to the IRAQ war in sight. Millions of Iraqis have fled the country, more by the day.And don't forget, the war in Afghanistan is worsening as well, along with casualties there.Yes, we have a lot to remember and grieve for today. Our hearts go out to the thousandsof families and friends of those killed or injured.Of course Memorial Day is for honoring theheroes...

Here are some more headlines from May 16 - 20:Because the US Army is so over-stretched today, more than 25,000 US National Guard troops are now serving in Iraq. Nearly 5,000 are also in Afghanistan and 6,000 more are stationed along the Mexican border. Because of equipment left behind in Iraq and Afghanistan, domestically-based Guard units have only 40% of the equipment they need for disaster response. Nearly 90% of stateside Guard units are rated less than fully ready (for domestic duty) because of equipment and training shortfalls.Scientists working with the US Defense Department have found evidence that a low-level exposure to sarin nerve gas — the kind experienced by more than 100,000 American troops in the Persian Gulf war of 1991 — could have caused lasting brain deficits in former service members.AAA asked the US Senate on May 15 to investigate why oil companies are making huge profits at a time when “glitches” at gas refineries are said to have caused pump prices to soar.Telemarketing fraud, once limited...

Again this past week, the economic news contained some ominous signs for the businesses and people of the United States.Here are just a few items: - The US Trade Deficit surged in March '07, up 10.4% from the February level. So far this year, the US trade deficit is running at an annual rate of $723 billion, just a tad below the $765 billion deficit set in 2006, the fifth consecutive year of record trade deficits. - And this was reported as good news: "In a reversal of recent trade trends, the trade deficit with China improved in March 2007, growing by (only) $17.2 billion compared with an increase of $18.4 billion in February." - Growth of the US economy, as measured by the GDP, slowed to an anemic rate of just 1.3% in Q1 2007, per recent reports. The new trade deficit number may end up lowering that Q1 GDP figure to 0.7%. - The Treasury Department said on May 10 that through 7 months of this fiscal year, the Federal Deficit grew by "only"...

On April 7, 2007, the blog entry in this space began as follows:  Yesterday, April 6, 2007, the US Labor Department reported that  180,000 new jobs were added to non-farm US payrolls in March.  This figure elevated the average number of new jobs added per  month in Q1 2007 to 151,000. While 151,00 per month may  seem large, and it is compared to the dismal record over the  last six years, 151,000 per month does not even keep pace  with the need for new jobs generated by normal US population  growth.Yesterday, May 4, 2007, the Labor department revised these numbers, having overstated the February and March job gains by some 26,000. This correction lowers the Q1 average per month to an even weaker 142,000.But the change in the February and March numbers was not yesterday’s blockbuster labor news. Rather, it was that April’s labor report came in at only 88,000 new jobs, the worst figure in 29 months. And the governmentaccounted for 25,000 of those 88,000! So US payrolls have grown by an average of only 129,000 per...

I was going through my files the other day for a much needed annual clean-up and found some old materials during my "Skunk Work days" for others to enjoy.