The Rightsizing Stuff

One thing unique about this recession is that no one seems to be getting fired or laid off.

That’s because workers who lose their jobs these days are instead being “downsized,” the economically correct euphemism of choice used to describe getting the pink slip.

But a rival term is surfacing: “rightsizing.” It comes courtesy of such people as General Dynamics Chief Executive William A. Anders.

In a recent speech, Anders discussed General Dynamics’ efforts at rightsizing, describing it as “having just the right number of people, just the right amount of plant and just the right amount of assets to support a specific task.”

No word on the margin of error that turns rightsizing into wrongsizing.

Limo-ted Evidence

Federal authorities in Los Angeles have spent a lot of time digging up evidence for the upcoming criminal trial of former Lincoln Savings & Loan owner Charles H. Keating Jr.

Now, reports out of Seattle have a man there turning up in the trunk of his limousine what he believes may be valuable Keating evidence.

Ron Bingham, who operates a limousine service in Seattle, says he bought a 1984 Cadillac limo that once belonged to Keating’s American Continental Corp., parent of the now-defunct Lincoln.

Bingham says he discovered a sheet of paper in the trunk with numbers and letters on it, and concluded it just might be a list of Swiss bank accounts. (A report in the Seattle Times, however, suggested that Bingham’s discovery may be nothing more than a list of Series EE savings bonds.)

Bingham said he turned the paper over to federal authorities, and was questioned recently by the FBI about what he found. Federal prosecutors declined to comment.

Making It Official

Last week, IBM was designated by the National Basketball Assn. as the “official computer of the NBA.” IBM in turn is providing the league with such things as extensive computer services (no doubt it will come in handy when keeping track of those sky-high player salaries).

IBM thus becomes the 13th official NBA “designation.” Others include Wheaton Van Lines (official mover), Dutch Boy (official paint) and Norwegian Cruise Lines (official cruise line).

Briefly . . .

Tell it to Iacocca: The Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of New York says that contrary to press reports, “the alliance between the U.S. and Japan has never been stronger.”. . . “Several in the path of progress” reads an ad selling land parcels in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Imperial, Riverside and Kern counties. . . . Buddy, can you spare a trip to the salad bar?: A Sizzler restaurant in Monrovia is calling a discount it is offering a “recession sale.”