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"Effective creative compensation... must incorporate both the 4 factors of productivity (efficiency, effectiveness, consistency, & contribution), & the 3 levels of performance (individual, group, & organizational)." --- Robert E. Kelley 1985 _The Gold Collar Worker_ pg 67

 
 

2008 June

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"The ultimate authority... resides in the people alone." --- James Madison

 
 
 

My 4*great uncle's (captain William Scott's) flag for the Republic of Texas.

2008-06-01

2008-06-01
Lew Rockwell
Bob Barr

2008-06-01
Rekha Basu _Des Moines Register_
Political parties leave us blurry-eyed
Bob Bar 2008: Liberty for America
Chuck Baldwin Live

2008-06-01
Derek Harper _Atlantic City Press_
Voter Guide
"Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello, 61... made national news in 2006 with his attempts to enforce national immigration laws with local police.   He favors secure borders, with a path to citizenship."

2008-06-01
Rob Sanchez & Vince Wade _Job Destruction News-Letter_ #1873
America's Skilled Worker Glut: US tax-victims subsidizing foreign students
Vince Wade: America's Skilled Worker Glut video
Vince Wade: shaft our nation video
US Ambassador to Red China
"As high as American tuitions can be -- more than $30K per year for some private universities, between $15K and $25K for state universities -- the tuition and other fees charged to students only cover a share of the whole cost of the education.   Generalizing for the state universities in 50 states, tuition covers perhaps one-fourth of costs.   Another way to say this is that a student receives a dollar's worth of education for perhaps 25 cents.   The university's other costs are supported by the [tax-victims], which means the farmers and factory workers and business people of 1 of the 50 states...   Another way to look at this is that every student admitted to an American university receives an (unstated) scholarship, or perhaps a subsidy, from American society.   Every state debates the amount of money allocated for higher education each year.   Every state wants to keep education fees low to benefit its own low-income students.   But every year, states agree to use tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to subsidize the students that come from foreign nations."

2008-06-01
Steve Sailer _V Dare_
Even 4th generation immigrants from Mexico are failing

2008-06-01
"kdawson" _SlashDot_
OPT extension challenged in court: IRLI, AEA, PG, BFJ filed class-action suit
Alice Lipowicz: Washington Technology
Patrick Thibodeau: CIO
Ed Frauenheim: Work-Force Management
Fierce CIO
see also earlier coverage
 

2008-06-02

2008-06-02
Peter Brimelow & Edwin S. Rubenstein _MarketWatch_
Debt is not the only problem; there's also interest burden

2008-06-02
Dudley Price _Raleigh News & Observer_
Economic woes shutting down businesses
"Bankruptcies historically rise during economic down-turns.   This time, lawyers and court officials are seeing a surge in filings by businesses connected to the real estate industry, which has suffered as the nation's mortgage crisis deepened and bankers tightened credit.   'The last time we had this many real-estate related bankruptcies was in the 1980s during the savings-and-loan crisis.', said Marjorie Lynch, bankruptcy administrator for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Eastern District.   For the 4-county region of Wake, Durham, Orange and Johnston, first quarter bankruptcy filings totaled 777 -- or a 6.58% increase over a year ago, according to data from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District.   The totals include Chapter 7 liquidation for individuals and businesses, Chapter 11 reorganization for businesses and Chapter 13 repayments for individuals.   Through May 27, 38 Triangle businesses declared bankruptcy.   There were 20 over the same period last year...   The trend follows the nation: Bankruptcies jumped 37% from 2006 to 850,912 last year, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.   It estimates filings will hit 1.2M this year."

2008-06-01
R. Pope _Ag Weekly_
NAFTA perpetuates abysmal working conditions, takes Americans' jobs
"The loss of jobs in America is attributed primarily to treaties such as NAFTA which move jobs to those countries where people are willing to work long hours for slave wages.   There was a time not too long ago when Americans were so proud of what we were that we actually hunted for products bearing the 'Made in America' label.   Today, if you find such a label then you are extremely fortunate -- and even then the product may not be truly 'Made in America'.   Instead, its parts will have been made in some third-world country such as Mexico, Thailand, or Venezuela, then passed through American factories only long enough for some amount of assembly to be performed on its parts to satisfy the claim that the product was made in our once-proud nation.   Treaties such as NAFTA have taken jobs from American men and women who are ready, willing and eager to work for honest wages, and has placed that work into the hands of child laborers who cannot stand up and fight for fair wages in the sweat-shops that they toil away in.   I have seen those sweat-shops first-hand, and they are definitely nothing that Americans should ever be proud to have a part in."

2008-06-02
Sheldon Richman _Future of Freedom Foundation_
Obama & McCain Are Both Wrong

2008-06-02
Geoff Mulvihill _AP_/_Philadelphia Enquirer_
Low turn-out expected for tomorrow's NJ primary
Robert Schwaneberg: NJ Star-Ledger
Courier Post
"Democratic State Chairman Joe Cryan, who is also a state Assemblyman, said he expects the two big-spending U.S. Senate candidates, incumbent Frank Lautenberg and U.S. representative Rob Andrews, to give extra attention on get-out-the-vote efforts.   Cryan didn't expect the same kind of push for the third candidate, Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello."

2008-06-02
Faye Flam _Philadelphia Inquirer_
Campaign to preserve Amerindian languages
"Grounds learned from his own family how Indian languages were systematically squelched.   His grand-mother, he said, grew up speaking Euchee, but, as a teen-ager, was forced into an English-only boarding school where teachers would wash her mouth out with soap when she uttered a word of her native tongue.   In the last few years, he has been racing to coax all the words and wisdom he can from tribal elders.   And yet, at the meeting, a number of young people spoke and even sang in Euchee, Lenape, Miccosukke, Lakota, Miami [Twightwee?], and other endangered languages -- something that Grounds said gave him hope...   The Miami language contains wisdom about which foods are healthful -- something that today might have helped Indians avoid being disproportionately affected by Type 2 diabetes, Baldwin said.   Today, [Daryl Baldwin is] working to perpetuate the language as director of a program called the Myaamia Project at Ohio's Miami University.   In the Maskoke language, time and space are seen very differently from Western perception, said Marcus Briggs-Cloud, who is a member of the Maskoke Nation of Florida and a theology graduate student at Harvard.   In English, time is more linear, whereas it's more cyclical in Maskoke.   There's a cyclical nature to space as well, and some ceremonies focus on the renewal of space."
Endangered Languages

2008-06-02
_Campaigns & Elections_
Rising Stars 2008: David All, Shane Cory...
"Before going to work on the Hill at age 24, David All never really considered himself a 'tech guy'.   He had already served as a speech-writer for a U.S. senator and managed a Republican congressional campaign...   When Shane Cory took over the helm of the Libertarian National Committee in 2005, he worked overtime to turn the financial situation of the organization around.   After 2001/09/11, the LNC suffered financially due to a lack of contributions and other budgetary constraints.   But slowly, largely through direct mail efforts, Cory stabilized the LNC's finances, and even brought them into the black.   His prudence served the organization well, along with his constant mantra of thriftiness to his staffers.   There was the time, for instance, that he decided to remove the office water-cooler.   No, it wasn't a prank; he apparently didn't want people lolling around the machine wasting time.   Late this spring, Cory moved on from the LNC to take a position as president of the Internet division at American Target Advertising, as well as to serve as a senior political adviser to Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr."

2008-06-02
David Weigel _Reason_
Bob Barr to StormFront: Drop Dead
"Barr campaign manager Russ Verney released this statement: 'The Barr campaign is not going to be a vehicle for every fringe and hate group to promote itself.   We do not want and will not accept the support of haters.   Anyone with love in their heart for our country and for every resident of our country regardless of race, religion, nationality or sexual orientation is welcome with open arms.   Tell the haters I said don't let the door hit you on the backside on your way out!'   Barr consultant Steve Gordon sent me the statement and added: 'We denounce anybody who doesn't want to treat everybody equally under the law.'"

2008-06-02
David Weigel _Comment Is Free_
Bob Barr's come-back
Manchester Guardian
"The Libertarian party helped to end Bob Barr's political career.   In 2002, when Barr was still a Republican congressman from Georgia's conservative Cobb County, the Democratic-led legislature drew a new map that placed him in a new, unfamiliar seat held by another Republican.   Libertarians licked their chops.   Barr became a target of the party's 'incumbent killer' strategy...   The Libertarians beat Bob Barr.   Six years later, Bob Barr is the Libertarian party nominee for president of the United States.   There have been wilder (and higher-stakes) political turnarounds, but Barr's re-emergence on the national stage is a scintillating chapter in the larger political story gripping Americans right now: The wheezing and sputtering of the conservative movement.   For a time in the 1990s, there was no stauncher Republican than Barr, and few Republicans were more beloved by the base.   Barr impeached Bill Clinton before impeachment was cool, attacking him not just on sex scandals, but on... abuses of power.   Now he's running, in part, because George Bush has abused power in ways he never dreamed, and he's got no problem wrenching the Republicans out of power by taking votes from John McCain."

2008-06-02
Priyanka Joshi _WashTech_
Other Costs of Off-Shore Out-Sourcing part 2: Competition and Mental Health
 
5% of IT workers in Bangalor regularly consider suicide, according to a survey done by leading news magazine, India Today.   The survey further reports that 36% of Bangalore's IT workers can be classified as "probably psychiatric" cases, while 10% report severe, continuous mental stress.   These findings are surprising especially since India is on the rise, with stratospheric salaries, opportunity available on an unprecedented scale, and global avenues within reach.
 
Why is the Indian IT worker so unhappy?   Incessant international travel making him feel rootless, fear of the pink slip, impossible deadlines of the global economy and constant guilt of not meeting demands of the spouse and family have been quoted as the main stressors in his/her life.   This again, in an India that is paying stellar salaries to its young work-force, enabling them to buy swanky apartments, expensive cars, and the latest gadgets -- proving perhaps, that money, verily, cannot buy you happiness?
 
The roots of the dysfunction start early.   India, with its near epic tales of a water-tight work ethic, and the brainy, highly competitive professionals its been sending into the world, today tops the world in suicide among teen-agers, and severe pressures from the "culture of competition" are to blame, according to an April cover story of India Today.   The magazine reports in an April cover story that Indian teenagers lead the world at 16 suicides per day, which comes to an attempt every 90 minutes, with one successful every 6 hours, at 6K suicides a year.   56% of these suicides happen between March and July each year -- the time when Indian high schools and colleges hold annual examinations.
 
The statistics, compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau, contrast with the India Today report showing that suicides among teens in the West are leveling off in comparison.   In an HSBC survey done among Mumbai's elites this year, results showed parents pinned their happiness on being able to send their children to the best schools and colleges abroad.   Dr. G. Gururaj, head, department of epidemiology at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMHANS), says children who have been given too much too soon often are unable to cope with life's disappointments, and have a distorted sense of entitlement.   They give up too soon and do not fight back at life's challenges.
 
Instant gratification, self-absorption, blithely willful action, also remind us of the actions of certain powerful American corporate head honchos.   For instant gratification -- "Out-sourcing today will net me xyz amount of profit" -- they send American jobs to other countries while the employees struggle to support families juggling low pay, fear of job loss, high inflation and health care costs.   Their sense of entitlement and self absorption ensure that they treat employees not as human beings, but as mere statistics in their company's growth.   They care nothing for the IT professional who has worked hard, accumulating student debt and has a family to support, while they conveniently out-source his/her job away, or invite cheaper guest-labor for him to train and then take over his job!
 
Imagine the level of stress that the average IT employee is faced with, in Real World America today!   How can we, then, hope for a mentally healthy society when we are damaging the sense of security and well being of so many people?
 
And, what about the American teen-ager, working hard, wanting to go to a good college, and is already looking at grim IT job prospects?   What about the idea of living a life that is rich holistically, and not just materially?
 
The report on suicide says 43% of teen-agers cite fear of examination (which translates into a fear of disappointing their parents), as the main reason for Indian teens committing suicide.   "Parents cram their children's every waking hour with study related work, not giving them credit for any other activity they excel in, like painting, music, or athletics.   This ends up damaging their self esteem so badly, that they do not perceive life as worth living anymore.", says Kolkata psychiatrist Aniruddha Deb.   Indian parents today, anxious for their children's future, want them to get into an IIT, IIM if not Harvard, and the resultant pressure has resulted in 150 teen-agers committing suicide in India's examination season through 2008 March-April alone.
 
The Rubicon that separates an Indian family pushing its kids to death in the name of achievement, and the American family confused with how to get a gainful career for its kids in IT, is blurring with many chaotic voices hurtling at each other at break neck speed.   It is now up to the individual to decode a balanced way to lead a professionally satisfying life under overwhelming odds.   Like the tooth-paste factory worker in _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_ [or the character in the Twilight Zone episode], displaced by the very machine he helped acquire, the answer may lie buried under frosty darkness, and the golden ticket, unlike the movie, may or may not arrive in his life-time.
 
Input from India Today has been used in this article.
 
-30-

2008-06-02
Edwin S. Rubenstein _V Dare_
The USA is becoming a nation of emigrants: Numbers of expatriots approaching legal immigration levels

2008-06-02
Terry Shawn & Jennifer Kaplan _DoL ETA_
DoL auditing permanent labor certification applications filed by Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy LLP, the largest filer of PERM applications in the USA
"The department has information indicating that in at least some cases the firm improperly instructed clients who filed permanent labor certification applications to contact their attorney before hiring apparently qualified U.S. workers.   The audits will determine which, if any, applications should be denied or placed into department-supervised recruitment because of improper attorney involvement in the consideration of U.S. worker applicants...   The department's regulations specifically prohibit an employer's immigration attorney or agent from participating in considering the qualifications of U.S. workers who apply for positions for which certification is sought, unless the attorney is normally involved in the employer's routine hiring process.   Where an employer does not normally involve immigration attorneys in its hiring process, there is no legitimate reason to consult with immigration attorneys before hiring apparently qualified U.S. workers who have responded to recruitment required by the permanent labor certification program [thus giving a big boost to the immigration lawyer industry by encouraging their regular use].   In 2004, the department adopted reforms streamlining the permanent labor certification process by moving to an attestation-based system [rather than one requiring any form of proof]."
Norman Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring e-News-Letter_
pre-eminent immigration law firm audited by DoL
I usually do NOT post articles here about employers being investigated or fined by the DoL for violating H-1B law or regulations.   This may seem odd, as many of the anti-H-1B-visa activists are thrilled when such a thing occurs, but as I've mentioned many times, these incidents are NOT important, because the vast majority of employers are abusing the [E-3, F, H-1B, J, and L programs] in FULL COMPLIANCE WITH THE LAW, due to loop-holes.   Indeed, I've pointed out that the industry lobbyists love these incidents, because it allows them to divert attention from the real issue, which is the loop-holes.
 
But the case described below is special, really special, because it involves the largest immigration law firm in the nation, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP.   Mr. Fragomen literally "wrote the book" on H-1B, in fact lots of books on employer-sponsored immigration, all considered standard references.
 
So when there is an audit, amounting to an accusation that the Fragomen firm is violating the law on employer-sponsored green cards, this is of keen interest to me.   Mind you, I do NOT think they did anything illegal -- once again, they simply took advantage of loop-holes -- and I still have the same concern that this investigation will distract the H-1B/green card dialogue from the real issues.   But I must say it's interesting for me to see Fragomen [and the immigration lawyer associations] squirm.
 
And in fact the case actually highlights the central role that the loop-holes play, as you'll see.
 
The DoL says (see their statement, above) that "The department has information indicating that in at least some cases the firm improperly instructed clients who filed permanent labor certification applications to contact their attorney before hiring apparently qualified U.S. workers."   What does this really mean?
 
Recall the set of videos posted on YouTube in which a prominent Pittsburgh law firm, Cohen & Grigsby [in their 7th annual seminar], showed employers some of these vital loop-holes I keep citing.   [See coverage of Cohan & Grigsby's 7th annual seminar on employment and immigration law.
Matloff article 1.
Matloff article 2.
Matloff article 3.
Matloff article 4.
Matloff article 5.]
 
In video [part] 12, they show how to pay H-1Bs and green card sponsorees below-market wages, in FULL COMPLIANCE WITH THE LAW.   But it is video [part] 9 that has gotten the most attention, as they show employers who wish to sponsor a foreign worker for a green card how to avoid hiring American workers.
 
In those presentations, the Cohen & Grigsby firm promises to work with their clients, i.e. employers of foreign workers, to insure that the employers' goal is met -- to avoid hiring Americans.   That's basically what Fragomen seems to be accused of [except in a subtle legalistic detail of being called in ONLY when there's a capable and willing US worker that the employer wants to disqualify].
 
Yet as the ILW editorial points out, these employers are merely exercising their right to legal counsel.   Sure, it's counsel regarding odious loop-holes that undermine the putative intent of the law, but as long as the loop-holes are there, the employers have the right to use them and to get advice from counsel as to how to do so.   Their doing so is no different from using a good tax accountant who knows all the loop-holes.   Again, I think the whole thing is outrageous, but I really don't see that DoL has a case [because Dr. Matloff doesn't see the subtle difference between vetting all hires and only being called in when the employer is having an especially difficult time trying to come up with a rationalization for declaring an able and willing US employee to be "disqualified"].
 
Now, I urge everyone to see another video, this one by journalist Sue Kwon at the CBS affiliate in San Francisco.
 
There you'll see unemployed programmer David Huber, telling the viewing audience exactly what happened when he applied for a job at Cisco Systems.   Turned out that the contact person stated in the Chicago Tribune ad was a lawyer with... Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP.
 
Kwon's piece also includes snippets from the Cohen & Grigsby videos, but it has something even more important from my point of view, a brief interview with a representative of Tech Systems.   The rep does exactly what I described above, and have described so often: He says that yes, they hear of some employers under-paying H-1Bs, but the vast majority comply with the law, so all the system needs is more enforcement.   That of course hides the fact that THE LAW IS THE PROBLEM, DUE TO GAPING LOOP-HOLES.   So, if you look at Tech Systems' records on the DoL H-1B data-base you'll see that they hire tons of H-1Bs, most at wages in the $50K-60K range, about $20K below the national median and even further below the median for Silicon Valley, the location of most of their hires -- but all fully legally.
 
The Tech Systems guy was giving the line developed by the industry lobbyists, "Some firms cheat, but most obey the law, so all we need is better enforcement of the law."   It's completely misleading, deliberately so in order to divert attention from the core problem, the loop-holes.
 
As senator Grassley put it so well recently on the industry lobbyists' slick PR, "Nobody should be fooled."
 
Norm
-30-
campaign contributions made by Fragomen

2008-06-02
Greg Pierce _Washington Times_
Congress's approval ratings at all time lows
"Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberley A. Strassel [wrote,] 'With Congress's approval rating at record lows, the time is ripe for a slam campaign.   Barack Obama won't do it, since his Democratic colleagues are running the joint.   But it's a huge opportunity for Mr. McCain, who could play Congress' failings off his promises for reform.   Even as Republicans sagely warn their nominee to distance himself from the president, they're beginning to see that his more productive option might just be to throw them -- and Congressional Democrats -- under the Straight Talk bus.', the writer said...   'Today's Congress is ripe for a shredding.   The GOP kicked off an era of public disgust with its corruption and loss of principle, a reputation it has yet to shake.   Democrats have, impressively, managed to alienate voters further with inaction and broken promises.   Congress has come to represent the institutional malaise that so frustrates voters.   That distaste explains this year's appetite for change.'"

2008-06-02
_Dice_
Dice Report: 86,648 job ads

2008-06-02 (5768 Iyar 28)
Rabbi Doctor Asher Meir _Jewish World Review_
Is it OK to lie to a discriminator?

2008-06-02
Richard Winger _Ballot Access News_
NC Poll shows Bob Barr at 6%
Bob Bar 2008: Liberty for America
Chuck Baldwin Live
 

2008-06-03: 22 weeks to federal elections of president and congress-critters

2008-06-03
Marc Gallagher _Liberty Maven_
The Path to Ron Paul for many is through Bob Barr
Bob Bar 2008: Liberty for America
Chuck Baldwin Live

2008-06-03
Austin Cassidy _Independent Political Report_
Bob Barr to hold June 10 press conference on Iran

2008-06-03
Toni Bowers _Tech Republic_
IRLI, PG, AEA, BFJ filed class-action suit against DHS to stop OPT extension
earlier coverage
earlier this month
Norman Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring e-News-Letter_
law-suit filed against OPT extension
 
Before this year, even many critics of the H-1B program were unaware of a program that plays a key role in the hiring of H-1Bs from the pools of foreign students studying at U.S. universities, called Optional Practical Training (OPT).   Now DHS' decision to extend OPT, done by administrative fiat rather than legislative action, has triggered a law-suit by groups that wish to see the H-1B program reduced in scope.
 
In order to understand the law-suit, it's important to be aware of the goal of OPT, a goal that is reflected in the law and regulations.   In this light, the validity of the law-suit is very clear, I believe, as you'll see.
 
The F-1 visa program was established to "educate the world", especially the impoverished countries of the world.   OPT was intended to supplement a foreign student's book learning with some practical experience to take back home.   OPT allows the student to work for some U.S. employer for one year.
 
Up until at least the mid-1990s, the graduate student faculty adviser in the student's department had the responsibility of writing a letter in support of the student's request to the INS for OPT status.   The professor would affirm that the job the student was about to take would provide the student with practical experience which would be valuable to the student when he returned to his home country.   The experience had to be of a nature not readily available back home.   I wrote such letters for many students (though I added that this would be useful only if the student really did return home; more on this below).
 
Later the responsibility was moved from professors to university foreign student advisers.   I'm not sure why, but in this business most actions have sinister reasons.   My guess is that the INS found too many professors writing something like what I did, stating that to our knowledge the student wasn't going home anyway -- which of course contravened the supposed goal of OPT.
 
Whatever the INS did, the facts remain that
(a) the F-1 student visa requires the student to state up front that he will return home and
(b) OPT is intended as training for work in his home country.   Note for instance this statement on the web page of the International Office at Dartmouth:
 
If you have applied for post-completion OPT (i.e. for OPT after graduation), it is not recommended that you travel outside the U.S. until you receive the actual EAD [Employment Authorization Document] card.   If you do, you could be denied re-entry to the U.S.A.   However, if you must travel, in order to ensure re-entry to the U.S.A., you should have... [lists various documents].   Immigration or Consular Officers can ask you to prove non-immigrant intent, and though this is not commonly used as a reason to deny entry under OPT, it is possible.   To be safe, you should have some evidence that you plan to return to your home country after you complete your OPT, such as a job offer in your home country, evidence of strong family ties there, or property ownership, etc.
 
See also this one at Oklahoma State University:
Practical training allows international students to accept paid work in the U.S.A.   Practical training should allow them to gain experience in their field of study, which they normally could not obtain in their home country.
 
Yet in practice OPT has devolved to a means to stay in a holding pattern until the student's employer can get an H-1B visa for him.   As you can see from the information above, this is quite counter to what OPT is supposed to be about.
 
At any rate, this holding pattern used to be necessary for just a couple of months, but in the last few years the H-1B program has been over-subscribed, with the result that a student could exhaust his 12-month OPT time and thus lose his legal right to work in the U.S.A.
 
So, under pressure from the industry lobbyists -- and remember, this includes the American Immigration Lawyers Association -- the DHS approved extending OPT from 12 months to 29 months for students in the STEM areas.
 
The DHS took this action under an obscure law that says that in "emergency" situations, an administrative agency can, in effect, make its own laws.   But it's pretty hard to see what the "emergency" is in this case.   If the purpose of OPT is really to make foreign students more effective when they return home, the "emergency" would have to be in their home countries.   Well, which countries does DHS have in mind, and what emergencies do they have?   Of course, this is silly; the only "emergency" is the urgent need for both major political parties to get campaign donations from the industry lobbyists in this election year.
 
The Programmers Guild and other groups critical of H-1B have now challenged this action in court.   They contend that it is a backdoor way to expand the H-1B program, bypassing Congress.   It certainly seems that way to me too.
 
Do PG et al have standing to sue?   Well, they certainly can show harm coming from DHS' action.   Even the congressionally-commissioned NRC report, compiled by a largely industry-friendly committee that included members from Intel and M$, pointed out that the H-1B program brings some harm to American workers in the fields in which H-1Bs are hired.   And today, remember that salaries for new graduates in CS and EE have been flat or falling, after accounting for inflation.   Thus the foreign students making use of OPT are cutting into job opportunities for the domestic students.
 
So, to me, as a non-lawyer, it seems very clear that these groups have standing to sue.   DHS will no doubt argue the opposite.   It will be interesting to watch.
 
Norm
comments submitted in response to proposed rule change

2008-06-03 (5768 Iyar 30)
Daniel Pipes _Jewish World Review_
Some candidates' positions on the Middle East

2008-06-03 (5768 Iyar 30)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
For any politician, what matters is the track record of that politician in the years before the election
 

2008-06-04

2008-06-04
jgo
THANKS TO the nation's dysfunctional immigration system and the dysfunctional Congress that keeps it that way, tens of thousands of promising, intelligent, ambitious and highly skilled US professionals, including thousands receiving advanced degrees from American universities this month, will be denied a chance to contribute their expertise and energy to the American economy.   Few policies match this one is terms of sheer irrationality, and few will do as much damage to this country's long-term prospects and competitiveness.   Yet Congress, mired in a political swamp of its own making when it comes to immigration, seems incapable of extracting itself.
 
Because the United States welcomes unlimited numbers of foreign students and subsidizes their education in engineering, physics, computer science, medicine and other disciplines, US students face increasingly steep obstacles to educational opportunities and employment here.   So do educated US workers whose skills are needed in the American work-force.
 
This year, some 163K applicants from both categories vied for over 85K H-1B work visas -- 65K for foreign workers with bachelor's degrees or less and another 20K for foreign alumni of U.S. graduate schools plus unlimited numbers employed by US colleges, universities, local, state & federal government, and non-profit research organizations.   These visas are so under-priced that in April, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) was so swamped it stopped accepting applicants after 5 days, while last year, they stopped accepting applicants after 2 days.   Recipients were selected at random by computer lottery rather on the basis of which applicant was best or brightest.   The US government barely charges enough to cover their costs of paper-shuffling.   Proper background investigations are not conducted on applicants.   The US government is focused on rubber-stamping the applications as rapidly as possible.   As a result, the number of applications was a third higher than last year and shows no sign of abating.
 
All of that might seem fine and fair were it not for the fact that American-born scientists and PhDs have been in excess supply for a couple decades and that technology executives, among others, are clamoring to hire cheap, more easily t brow-beaten foreigners, particularly those trained at U.S. universities.   And it's not just worker bees who are drawn from the pool of foreign talent; so are the executives, while bright, creative, well-educated US citizens, who create jobs and fuel the economy, are being actively denied opportunities to exercise their talents, leverage their knowledge and benefit from their leadership skills.   This was most glaringly revealed in the 7th annual employment and immigration law seminar by prominent, award-winning law firm Cohen & Grigsby last year.
 
During the 10 years that ended in 2005, foreign-born workers started a quarter of the new engineering and technology firms in this country, while US citizen engineering and technology workers were denied the opportunities and resources to do so.   A similar proportion of international patent applications filed in the United States in 2006 originated with immigrants.   To the pro-US citizen crowd that notes that executives in both business and academe prefer to fatten their own pockets over patriotism, those facts should be troubling.
 
The truth is, America will be a feebler place without a continuing and adequate flow of US-born brain-power.   America's loss of US-born experts translates directly into gains for Red China, India and other rapidly developing competitors.   While the presidential candidates are stepping gingerly around the immigration debate, the ongoing destruction of the best and brightest US citizens should give them, and the nation, pause.
-30-
 

2008-06-04
Chuck Baldwin _Renew America_
In praise of marriage and parenting
Border Fire Report

2008-06-04
Chuck Baldwin _Small Government Times_
Open borders prove that the "war on terror" is superficial

2008-06-04
_Third Party Watch_
Democrats for Bob Barr

2008-06-04
Austin Cassidy _Independent Political Report_
Chuck Baldwin: Free trade with all, englangling alliances with none

2008-06-04
Susan Jones _Cybercast news Service_
Bob Barr challenges other presidential candidates to weekly debates
Biloxi Sun Herald
News Blaze
Street Insider
Earth Times
Liberty Maven
"'Let us argue the issues, after which the American people can make their decision on Election Day.   Surely the citizens of the greatest nation on earth deserve no less...   I, and the Libertarian Party, offer a very different alternative to the American people: limited, constitutional government dedicated to protecting individual liberty.   I look forward to a vigorous contest this fall and meeting my fellow candidates to debate the many important issues facing our nation.'"

2008-06-04
Nathaniel Hoffman _Boise Weekly_
Idaho's Giant Sucking Sound: 2008 November
"Many will support McCain.   Some turned to Ron Paul, and may move on to Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party presidential pick.   Some will go back into the woods and wait patiently for redemption, or 2012, whichever comes first."

2008-06-04
Rose Marie Goupil _Institute for Supply Management_
2008 May Non-Manufacturing ISM Report on Business "8 industries reported increased employment, 7 industries reported a decrease, and 3 industries indicated employment is unchanged from April.   Comments from respondents include: 'Hiring freeze and incentives to retire'; 'Permanent positions reduced'; and 'Planned - variable staff' [i.e. Real employment down, body shopping up... again.]...   The industries reporting a reduction in employment in May are: Health Care & Social Assistance; Management of Companies & Support Services; Transportation & Warehousing; Educational Services; Retail Trade; Professional, Scientific & Technical Services; and Wholesale Trade."

2008-06-04 09:25PDT (12:25EDT) (16:25GMT)
Elise Labott _CNN_
US State Department reports that slave labor is driving economic development in Red China, Brazil & India
"The department's annual 'Trafficking in Persons Report' found increased allegations of forced labor made in connection with a variety of agricultural products and manufactured goods in developing countries...   thousands of trafficked and forced laborers had been found on plantations growing sugar cane for Brazil's booming production and export of the biofuel ethanol.   The report cites shrimp processed in Thailand and Bangladesh; clothing from Bangladesh, India, Jordan and Malaysia; and bricks made in India, [Red China] and Pakistan as being among the products of booming industries in which workers are subjected to forced labor, debt bondage and hazardous working conditions.   Laws are not adequate to punish those responsible, it adds.   [Red China] was found to have a 'significant' problem with forced labor, including forced child labor.   Children as young as 12 are reportedly subject to forced labor under the guise of 'work and study programs' and subject to excessively long hours, dangerous conditions, low pay and physical abuse.   The report found [Red China's] growing brick industry is fraught with [attempted] cover-ups of the problem...   Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman were listed as destination countries... Algeria, Myanmar, Cuba, Fiji, Iran, Moldova, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Sudan and Syria."

2008-06-04
"Ferdinand" _Op Ed News_
Big Media Fear Libertarian Philosophy and Politics, but Why?
"I recently wrote an article discussing how the libertarian philosophy has been attacked repeatedly on this and many other sites by many different groups of people.   The article was not published for one reason: I claim Bob Barr to be less [consistently libertarian] and more main-stream than Ron Paul.   The administrator informed me that I misrepresented the Libertarian Party by this statement.   It is disappointing to see educated (apparently, who knows) people mistake 'libertarian' with Libertarian.   One is a philosophy and the other is a party trying to obtain political power.   There is a huge difference.   I mean what I said and I said what I mean...   If libertarians are not going to be taking over the country any time soon and will not play a significant part in this up-coming election, why are so many people worried?   I believe it is because the libertarian philosophy is attractive.   The philosophy transcends party politics.   With a country facing imminent collapse, such a radical idea becomes an intriguing option.   Have not both parties been responsible for bringing us to the brink of destruction?   Why should government increase in size and scope every year?   Why must our civil liberties be destroyed?   Why not obey the Constitution?   Cannot change be affected at the local level most effectively?   Does the United States really need to police the world?   Would people not be more prosperous if their labor was not taxed by the federal government to pay for boondoggles?   Why is our money backed by nothing?   Why does the Federal Reserve debase our currency?"

2008-06-04
James Carlini _Carlini's Comments_
Midwest's State of Denial

2008-06-04 (5768 Sivan 01)
Jonathan Tobin _Jewish World Review_
Misgivings on the road to Damascus

2008-06-04
Stephen Dinan _Washington Times_
Dissatisfied voters rallying behind Bob Barr
Bob Bar 2008: Liberty for America
Chuck Baldwin Live

2008-06-04
Peter Brimelow _V Dare_
The Libertarian case against excessive immigration
"The way immigration works in the welfare/transfer state like the USA is that employers are privatizing profits from imported labor and socializing costs, such as education, health care, etc."
John Hospers 1998 Summer Journal of Libertarian Studies "A Libertarian Argument Against Opening Borders"

2008-06-04 (5768 Sivan 01)
Jonathan Rosenblum _Jewish World Review_
A different sort of "religious broadcaster"

2008-06-04 (5768 Sivan 01)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
Sorting out the stupid from the ill-informed
 

2008-06-05

2008-06-05 05:30PST (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
current press release
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 299,405 in the week ending May 31, a decrease of 27,271 from the previous week.   There were 263,527 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.1% during the week ending May 24, unchanged from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,768,287, a decrease of 39,217 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 1.7% and the volume was 2,261,581.   Extended benefits were not available in any state during the week ending May 17."
graphs

2008-06-05 07:20PDT (10:20EDT) (14:20GMT)
Chris Isidore _CNN_/_Money_
CGC says 103,522 announced lay-offs in May
iStockAnalyst
Investor's Business Daily
Black Enterprise
Gant Daily/AHN
Earth Times
Boston Globe
Central Valley Business Times
Bloomberg
Composite: "According to a survey by Challenger, there were 103,522 planned lay-offs announced in May up from 90,015 in April and from 71,115 in 2007 May, a level not seen since 2005 December when 107,822 planned job cuts were announced.   That makes 394,193 so far this year, compared to 337,773 for the 1st 5 months of 2007.   The report said car manufacturers led the areas reducing employee numbers, cutting 30,011 in May.   Tuesday, GM announced it would close 4 plants making trucks as it places more emphasis on cars, and 19K workers would take early retirement.   Financial firms planned to cut their work-force by 16,206 in May.   The transportation sector announced 9,705 planned lay-offs.   The report found 394,193 jobs were eliminated through May, up 17% compared to the first five months of 2007.   An ADP and Macroeconomic Advisers report that said the economy added 40K jobs in May, while a Challenger, Gray and Christmas report said job cut announcements had hit a 29-month high in the same month."
graphs

2008-06-05
Richard Winger _Ballot Access News_
Bob Barr: The Interesting Details Are on Page 2
"The Washington Times... story quotes Barr's campaign manager, Russ Verney, as saying that the campaign will be using social science and polling data to find specific counties and regions in which an all-out advertising campaign would be most effective."

2008-06-05
W. James Antle III _Politico_
Dissatisfied citizens prefer candidates not back by big media

2008-06-05 (5768 Sivan 02)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Not since 1972 have we been presented with two such painfully inadequate candidates as Obama & McCain
 

2008-06-06

2008-06-06 07:24PDT (10:24EDT) (14:24GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_

Seasonally adjusted unemployment rate reached 5.5%; Establishment survey says pay-rolls were cut by 49K
graphs

2008-06-06
Michael Cutler _Border Fire Report_
Illegal aliens & the abuse of them are American issues

2008-06-06
Thomas E. Brewton & R.R. Reno _View from 1776_
"Freedom" brings servility: Personal Freedom without Political Liberty

2008-06-06
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Hostile Government Take-Over Bid

2008-06-06 (5768 Sivan 03)
Rabbi Pinchas Stolper _Jewish World Review_
Revelation: The basis of faith

2008-06-06

DJIA	12,209.81
S&P 500	1,360.68
NASDAQ	2,474.56
10-year US T-Bond	3.94%
crude oil	$138.54/barrel
gold	$899.00/ounce
silver	$17.43/ounce
platinum	$2,081.30/ounce
palladium	$433.80/ounce
copper	$0.22625/ounce
natgas	$12.693/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline	$3.548/gal
heatingoil	$3.974/gal
dollarindex	72.343
yenperdollar	104.85
dollarspereuro	1.5777
dollarsperpound	1.9698

I usually get this info from MarketWatch and the "Futures Movers" and "Metals Stocks" columns (and BigCharts and FT Interactive).
 
 
 

2008-06-07

2008-06-07
Cory Nealon _Beaver County Times_
Voters deserve better
"It has left some Republicans, such as Eckelberger and Myrtle Kindelberger, 76, of Beaver, pining for [better candidates].   'I cannot believe in this whole nation of men and women, we couldn't find someone better than either of them.', Kindelberger said.   It is people like Kindelberger who are prompting long-shot candidates, such as former GOP congressman Bob Barr, to enter the presidential race.   Barr, a social conservative with a strong record against abortion and gun control, gained the Libertarian Party's nomination on June 1."
 
 

2008-06-08

2008-06-08
_Library of Congress_
Bill of Rights proposed to congress by James Madison
transcript

2008-06-07 22:27PDT (2008-06-08 01:27EDT) (2008-06-08 05:27GMT)
Michael J. Panzner _For Ex Hound_
They're Dead Wrong
"Instead of questioning the track records of these 'Wrong Way Corrigans' and analyzing why they might have an interest in presenting a distorted view of reality, reporters and editors have been mesmerized by affiliations and credentials, not to mention over-confidence and smooth-talking charm...   While businesses -- especially those that export [and thus have customers not devastated by the poundings of the last 30 years] -- are holding up, the economy is being dragged down by the cement shoes of [US consumers in dire straits]."
Bloomberg outs the protection rackets

2008-06-08
Julie Hirschfeld Davis _AP_
Repucrats duck on immigration
 

2008-06-09

2008-06-08 19:05:22PDT (2008-06-08 22:05:22EDT) (2008-06-09 02:05:22GMT)
Pat Crowley _Rhode Island's Future_
Signal Workers' Hunger Strike Nearing 30-Day Mark
"In late 2006, US and Indian recruiters defrauded over 500 Indian workers of $20K apiece for an American dream -- false promises of good work and green cards -- and delivered them to an American nightmare: temporary 10-month visas binding them to one employer, deplorable conditions at Signal International shipyards, and constant threats of deportation from the company.   When workers started to organize in 2007 March, Signal hired armed private security who detained and attempted to forcibly deport the organizers, driving one of them to a suicide attempt, then fired them'Workers continued to organize, and in 2008 March, 120 of them escaped from Signal's labor camps, reported the company and its recruiters to the Department of Justice's Criminal Anti-Trafficking Unit, and filed a federal class-action law-suit against the traffickers."

2008-06-09
Mark Houser _Pittsburgh Tribune-Review_
iGate isn't only villain refusing to consider employing US high-tech workers
"Computer consulting firm [body shop] iGate Corp. of Findlay paid the Justice Department $45K in April to settle charges it discriminated against U.S. workers by posting on-line job ads seeking foreigners with special visas.   The fine for favoring holders of H-1B visas, which go primarily to computer and engineering specialists, is the highest yet, said Justice Department spokeswoman Jamie Hais...   'Everybody is a villain here, not just iGate...   It's also IBM, Intel, M$, Oracle, and so on.', said Norman Matloff, a University of California, Davis, computer science professor and prominent H-1B critic...   Critics contend admission of thousands of skilled workers each year diminishes opportunities for U.S. workers and depresses salaries.   About 75K computer specialists are unemployed nationwide, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics [which does not include in that number former computer specialists who are no longer actively seeking work, and those who are now employed in other fields]...   The Justice Department investigation focused on iGate Mastech, specifically 30 on-line ads it posted in 2006.   One example, for a Java developer position in Illinois, said 'only H-1s apply'.   Federal law prohibits discrimination in hiring because of citizenship status...   John Miano, a former programmer, said his frustration after several colleagues were laid off led him to establish the New Jersey-based membership organization and lobbying group in 1998.   Miano said of the $45K iGate fine, 'For us that's great, but that came out of petty cash for them.'   He said his group has filed nearly 100 Justice Department complaints like the one about iGate.   'I thought after we started doing this the companies would catch on and the ads would disappear.   But they keep popping up.', he said."

2008-06-09
Michael Cutler _Border Fire Report_
Immigration Fraud in the USA

2008-06-09
_KRNV_
Nevada universities & state budget
"Raggio said that there might be a way for the system to access additional maintenance funds that could soften the blow of the targeted 14.2% budget cuts...   'A total of $246.69M in funding was approved coming from states sources and $53.44M from other sources.', Raggio said.   Raggio disagreed with Chancellor Rogers' comment that 'the State of Nevada now funds higher education at 86% to 85% of the minimum required to meet essential needs and compete against other mediocre systems.'...   Raggio wrote to Rogers' that he is aware and applauds the proposal to access a $50 per credit surcharge to help meet the deficit but that FY2006, Nevada was among the lowest 3 states nationally in terms of net tuition as a percent of public higher education revenue."

2008-06-09
Dave Newbart _Chicago Sun-Times_
Major shifts at universities
"'Students today view the university as job training.', said Rick Pearce, associate director for academic affairs at the Illinois Board of Higher Education.   'What can I do to get a job?'   That could explain why the number of business, marketing and management majors, which decreased in the 1990s, jumped nearly 50% in the past decade and has remained the most popular major for more than 20 years.   Health and biological fields also saw increases, as did history and psychology...   Meanwhile, the number of students majoring in computer science dropped statewide, as did the number of students in engineering.   Enrollment held steady at about 5K students at the state's largest engineering college at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.   But within that college, fields like computer engineering have lost students.   Part of that was because of the dot-com bust, officials said.   In those fields, 'There is a perception that it is more difficult to get a job if you work with computers... and there is more out-sourcing of jobs to India and [Red China].', said Umberto Ravaioli, interim associate dean of academic affairs in the College of Engineering."

2008-06-09
Frank Tortorici _Conference Board_
New Employment Trends Index (ETI)TM Suggests More Labor-Market Weakening to Come
 

2008-06-10: 21 weeks to federal elections of president and congress-critters

2008-06-10
Norman Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring e-News-Letter_
dramatic admission by lawyers' publication: Recruiting U.S. workers is a "charade"
 
Immigration Daily, a publication for immigration lawyers, runs several times a week on the Internet.   It contains the latest news on immigration legislation and litigation, and claims 17K+ subscribers.
 
Each issue typically contains a couple of news items, some Help Wanted ads for law offices, and an editorial.   ILW has now come out with a doozy of an editorial in its June 10 issue, dramatically stating that the PERM requirement, under which employers wishing to sponsor foreign workers for green cards must first recruit Americans for the job, is all play-acting, in ILW's own words a "charade" and a "circus".   I couldn't have said it better myself. :-)
 
But is this a giant mea culpa, a cathartic tell-all titled "How I Used Every Loop-hole in the Book to Help My Clients Avoid Hiring Americans"?   Au contraire, it's a complaint that Congress set up this charade and now makes employers play along.
 
This is highly disingenuous.   The lawyers are making tons of money out of this very charade -- they'd go broke if the whole process consisted of a simple one-page form that was rubber-stamped.   But now this audit is making them worried.   Fragomen is a big fish, the biggest, and all this publicity is not good for the lawyers.   They wanted things to stay the way they were, giving the appearance that American workers were protected, while the lawyers were busily making use of every possible loop-hole to enable their employer clients to avoid hiring Americans.
 
All this fuss can be traced directly back to "TubeGate" [7th annual seminar on employment and immigration law and] the video posted on YouTube [by] a prominent Pittsburgh law firm, Cohen and Grigsby, [which] showed employers some of these vital loop-holes I keep citing.   (See my base posting on this [and the much more coverage, including links to the videos].)
 
The relevant tape in the set is video 9, which shows employers who wish to sponsor a foreign worker for a greencard how to avoid hiring American workers, in FULL COMPLIANCE WITH THE LAW.   (In [part 12 of the video], they show how to pay H-1Bs and green card sponsorees below-market wages, again fully legally.)
 
Forgive me for speaking so bluntly, but the immigration lawyers are showing themselves to be out-and-out liars.   That's nothing new, of course.   Programmers and engineers have known for years that the green card process was stacked against the American worker, and I pointed out some of the loop-holes that make this possible.   Then immigration attorney Joel Stewart said it publicly: "Employers who favor aliens have an arsenal of legal means to reject all U.S. workers who apply" (Joel Stewart, "Legal Rejection of U.S. Workers" Immigration Daily 2000 April 24).
 
But people on Capitol Hill didn't know it until the Cohen & Grigsby videos came out, showing that all those assurances the AILA and others gave Congress that the system protects American workers were bald-faced lies.   Many of you remember what C&G attorney Larry Lebowitz said in [part 9 of the video], but few of you know that Lebowitz was actively lying to the outside world, saying exactly the opposite of what he told his clients "privately" in [part 9 of the video].   This is what Lebowitz said in his op-ed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2000 May 21:
 
U.S. companies that bring in foreign professionals usually do so as a last resort...   These rules actually help U.S. workers, too, by...ensuring that U.S. workers are not displaced...
 
But in the "private" video, he said
 
And our goal is clearly, not to find a qualified and interested U.S. worker.   And you know in a sense that sounds funny, but it's what we're trying to do here.   We are complying with the law fully, but ah, our objective is to get this person a green card, and get through the labor certification process.   So certainly we are not going to try to find a place [at which to advertise the job] where the applicants are the most numerous.   We're going to try to find a place where we can comply with the law, and hoping, and likely, not to find qualified and interested worker applicants.
 
Similarly, another Cohen & Grigsby attorney, Matt Phillips, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Crush of Applicants for Visas Has Firms Fearing Staff Losses, Anya Sostek, 2007 April 5):
 
The visas are so essential, [the employers] say, because there just aren't qualified Americans to fill the jobs...   If the numbers [of U.S. workers] were available in the economy, no one would pay us to do this [visa application process].
 
But in the "private" videos, he was saying just the opposite, showing how to avoid hiring Americans.   Meanwhile, in [part 12 of the video], his colleague Jen Pack was showing how to pay below-market wages to both green card sponsorees and H-1Bs, again fully legally, and thus making it definitely worth that expensive visa application process Phillips referred to.
 
So, you have both Lebowitz and Phillips assuring the public that the law protects American workers while these two lawyers are telling their clients (accurately) that it doesn't.
 
Remember, the lame excuse they gave for lying to the public is that employers already have a worker in hand, the foreign national who they hired earlier as an H-1B, and thus don't want to look for an American.   And it's even worse than that, because in offering this excuse they were hiding the fact that when the employers hired their H-1Bs, there was NO requirement that they recruit Americans.   IOW, what the lawyers really want is there to be no U.S. recruitment requirement at ANY stage, period.
 
Getting back to ILW, the point is that today's editorial, dramatically describing the green card law's recruitment requirement as a "charade", shows that Cohen & Grigsby is not some rogue law firm, some isolated instance.   On the contrary, their behavior is STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE.   Attorney Stewart's book quote that too -- he wrote a standard reference on the green card process -- as does the fact that the AILA basically stated that Cohen & Grigsby were working along standard lines.   Now we have Immigration Daily, a prominent publication for immigration lawyers, saying it too.
 
I'm including a response by one Katy Preston in the law office of Zhang & Associates to the Cohen & Grigsby video.   She starts out by assuring us that
 
The labor certification process benefits U.S. workers by ensuring that no U.S. worker is being denied a job when an employer seeks permanent residence for one of its foreign workers.
 
But then she lets the cat out of the bag:
 
The PERM process is really meant to test the job market, not to recruit someone for that specific position.   Even if an employer does find a qualified U.S. worker for a particular position, the employer does not have to hire that worker.
 
Which is exactly ILW's point, and exactly why I keep trying to explain that the entire process is one giant loop-hole.
 
Preston has the nerve to then add,
 
So U.S. workers are not necessarily being displaced when a labor certification application is approved.
 
I hope everyone keeps in mind -- once again -- that all of this is about LOOP-HOLES.   DoL might find some minor violation on Fragomen's part, but as you can see from ILW's editorial, the entire process is a CHARADE.   The LAW is the problem, not enforcement of the law.
 
Norm
-30-
 

2008-06-10
Deb Perelman _eWeek_
IT Salaries Taking a Recessionary Hit

2008-06-10
Gary Beach _CIO_
H-1B visas don't need to be capped.   They need to be eliminated
Network World

2008-06-10
Paul Craig Roberts _V Dare_
Why the price of oil has risen
"IMO, the 2 biggest factors in oil's high price are the weakness in the U.S. dollar's exchange value and the liquidity that the Federal Reserve is pumping out."

2008-06-10
Sean Scallon _American Chronicle_
The new fusionism -- bringing together Libertarians and Constitutionalists

2008-06-10
"bobby" _Ag Weekly_
NAFTA leaves a bad taste in my mouth
"All vegetables and fruits from Mexico tastes horrible!   No kidding.   I hate NAFTA for what they have done to us!   I miss the wonderful taste of vegetables and fruits that made in USA!   Please shut NAFTA out for good."

2008-06-10
Sabrina Goucher _Ag Weekly_
Captains and Kings
"The book _Captains and Kings_ discribes NAFTA.   Americans are the last in the world to know how much are freedom is being drained away.   If you want to save our country shop local not global."

2008-06-10
Austin Cassidy _Independent Political Report_
Bob Barr on Bloomberg: Every American has a libertarian heart
 

2008-06-11

2008-06-10 18:23PDT (2008-06-10 21:23EDT) (2008-06-11 01:23GMT)
Robert E. Kessler _NewsDay_
6 men held in immigration fraud scheme
"The scheme centered on a computer consulting firm in Edison, NJ, Cygate Software & Consulting.   Its principal, Nilesh Dasondi, certified that the 3 Long Islanders had technical skills that were needed by his company, but for which United States citizens could not be easily found, officials said...   Between 2004 and 2007, the 3 Long Islanders provided monthly payments totaling tens of thousands of dollars to Dasondi, according to the papers filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Burt Roberts.   The money was used in a process called 'running the pay-roll', the papers said, and outlined the scheme as follows: First, false pay stubs, pay-checks and health insurance payments were created and submitted to the government as 'proof' of the employment of the three as computer experts at Cygate.   Next, some of the money was used to pay state and federal taxes owed on supposed pay.   Lastly, an unidentified amount of the money given to Dasondi was returned to the 3, and Dasondi kept some...   Kishor Parikh, 42, of 8 Avenue J, Ronkonkoma, who operated VMR Cards and Gifts, Medford, and paid $73K to Dasondi.   Devang Patel, 31, of 143 Webster Ave, Ronkonkoma, who operated the 50% Off Card Store, 312 Portion Rd., Lake Ronkonkoma, and L & A Cards, 209 W. Main St., Sayville.   He paid $104K.   Chetan Trivedi, 40, also of 143 Webster Ave., Ronkonkoma.   His employment was unknown and he paid $71K."
Cygate's LCAs

2008-06-11 09:51PDT (12:51EDT) (16:51GMT)
James Pethokoukis _US News & World Report_
Who is Libertarians' best option for president?

2008-06-11
James Carlini _Midwest Business Technology News_
Another Chicago-Area Hospital Bites the Dust
"According to a 2006 survey by the American College of Emergency Physicians, 73% of emergency departments in the United States 'had inadequate on-call coverage by specialist physicians'.   Many people going to an emergency room should be going to a local clinic or a primary care center.   IOW, emergency rooms are jammed with non-emergency customers...   Carol Plato -- director of corporate business services at Mark Memorial Medical Center -- points out 2 cases of illegals racking up more than $1.5M a piece in hospital care without picking up any of the tab.   She also points out that the Florida Health Association says $100M was spent in 2007 alone to treat illegal patients.   That is only one state.   Hospital officials in Florida have complained that federal authorities do nothing when notified about illegals."
Carlini's Comments

2008-06-11
Miranda Hitti _Web MD_
Life Expectancy At Birth Exceeded 78 Years in USA: Death Rate Fell for 11 of 15 top causes
Dental Plans/Health News Digest
Health News Digest
abc
CNN
full report from NCHS (pdf)
Composite: "U.S. life expectancy has hit a new record: 78.1 years for babies born in 2006, says the CDC...   White women: 81 years; African-American women: 76.9 years; White men: 76 years; African-American men: 70 years...   The 2006 age-adjusted death rate fell to 776.4 deaths per 100K population from 799 deaths per 100K in 2005.   The preliminary infant mortality rate for 2006 was 6.7 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, a 2.3% decline from the 2005 rate of 6.9.   Heart disease: down 5.5%; Cancer: down 1.6%; Stroke: down 6.4%; Chronic lower respiratory diseases (lung diseases): down 6.5%; Accidents: down 1.5%; Alzheimer's disease: down 0.9%; Diabetes: down 5.3%; Influenza and pneumonia: down 12.8% due to a relatively mild flu season; Kidney disease: unchanged; Septicemia (an infection that affects the blood and other parts of the body): down 2.7%; Suicide: down 2.8%; Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis: down 3.3%; High blood pressure: down 5%; Parkinson's disease: down 1.6%; Homicide: down 1.6%...   infant death rate dropped 2.3% from 2005 to 2006...   Guam had the lowest death rate, followed by Hawaii, the Virgin Islands, Minnesota, California, NY, UT, FL, CT, CO, MA, VT, WA, AZ, NH... OK, LA, WV, AL, MS, Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa."

2008-06-11
Fiona Macrae _Mail on Sunday_
Being brainy can add 15 years to your life
"Researchers found those with rogue copies of a gene linked to intelligence are unlikely to survive beyond the age of 85.   However, those blessed with good versions of the gene could live to be 100.   The gene governs an enzyme which destroys a chemical known to dampen brain activity and cause drowsiness.   The enzyme -- succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase, or SSADH -- also detoxifies the brain by getting rid of excess acid, protecting cells from damage which can accelerate ageing.   The gene comes in 2 common forms, with the so-called 'T' version working 20% less well than the 'C' variety.   Previous studies have shown that men and women with 2 copies of the 'T' version do less well in IQ tests than others."

2008-06-11
Dennis Cauchon _USA Today_
State & local governments are reneging on pension obligations
"[Kentucky] governor [Steve Beshear] says he expects to win legislative approval to raise retirement ages for new hires, limit annual cost-of-living adjustments to 1.5% and charge employees 1% of their salaries to help fund retiree health benefits...   [Oregon slashed] benefits promised to existing workers.   The result was law-suits over whether the state's action was legal and hard feelings that linger today.   But the pension went from a $17G deficit in 2003 to a surplus today...   Cleary estimates that about $5G of the $17G short-fall was eliminated by benefit cuts.   The rest was made up by stellar investment returns, including a well-timed effort to borrow $6G at low rates 5 years ago and invest it just before stock prices soared.   Retirees say the retroactive benefit cut was a breach in trust.   'If the state paid me and others like me what they promised, it would cost $800M more over our life expectancy.   My answer is: You knew that when you hired me.', says retired university administrator Marc Feldesman, who runs a blog critical of the overhauled retirement system."

2008-06-11
Pete Yost, Jakes Jordan, Ted Bridis & Laure Kellman _Orangeburg Times & Democrat_/_AP_
Congress' computers hacked by Red Chinese
Philadelphia Inquirer
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Washington Times
Town Hall
Jason Ryan: abc
Richard B. Schmitt: Los Angeles Times
"Multiple congressional computers have been hacked by people working from inside [Red China], law-makers said Wednesday, suggesting the [Red Chinese] were seeking lists of dissidents.   Two congressmen, both long-time critics of Beijing's record on human rights, said the compromised computers contained information about political dissidents from around the world.   One of the law-makers said he'd been discouraged from disclosing the computer attacks by other U.S. officials.   Representative Frank Wolf, R-VA, said 4 of his computers were compromised beginning in 2006.   New Jersey representative Chris Smith, a senior Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said two of the computers at his global human rights subcommittee were attacked in 2006 December and 2007 March.   Wolf said that following one of the attacks, a car with license plates belonging to [Red Chinese] officials went to the home of a dissident in Fairfax County, VA, outside Washington and photographed it.   During the same time period, The House International Relations Committee -- now known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee -- was targeted at least once by someone working inside [Red China], said committee spokeswoman Lynne Weil...   Wolf said the FBI had told him that computers of other House members and at least one House committee had been accessed by sources working from inside [Red China].   The Virginia Republican suggested that Senate computers could have been attacked as well...   Last week, [the Red Chinese government] denied the accusations regarding Gutierrez's lap-top and the alleged effort to hack Commerce Department computers...   Smith has introduced the Global On-Line Freedom Act which would prohibit U.S. Internet companies from cooperating with [governments] such as [Red China] that restrict information about human rights and democracy on the Internet.   Wolf and Smith both traveled to Beijing 17 years ago seeking the release of 77 people imprisoned or under house arrest because of their religious activities."

2008-06-11
Linda Christman _Cape Coral Daily Breeze_
Burt Saunders in run for Florida's 14th congressional district
"Jeff George... Robert M. Neeld... Larry Byrnes"

2008-06-11
Mark Albright _St. Petersburg Times_/_Lakeland Ledger_
Credit cards charging $2.50 or more per gasoline fill-up for "interchange fees"
"Other stores say the roughly 10 cents a gallon they hand over to card companies is twice their profit selling gas.   Retailers pay interchange fees of 2% of the purchase price, but sometimes more, which are baked into the retail price of most everything put on plastic.   The average America household will pay $427 in interchange fees this year, up from $159 in 2001."

2008-06-11
Troy Smith & Jan W. Rivkin _Harvard B-School_
A Replication Study of Alan Blinder's "How Many US Jobs Might Be Off-Shorable?"
"Abstract: In a 2007 working paper, Alan Blinder assessed the 'off-shorability' of hundreds of U.S. occupations and estimated that between 22% and 29% of all U.S. jobs were potentially off-shorable.   This note reports the results of an exercise in which members of Harvard Business School's MBA Class of 2009 collectively attempted to replicate Blinder's study.   Overall, the MBA students' assessments of off-shorability matched Blinder's well.   Across occupations, the correlation between Blinder's off-shorability rating and the students' was 0.60.   The students estimated that between 21% and 42% of U.S. jobs are potentially off-shorable.   Echoing Blinder, the student data suggested a positive correlation between off-shorability and education.   The student data also revealed a positive or inverted-U relationship between off-shorability and wage level, where Blinder found no correlation.   While Blinder found a slight wage penalty for the most off-shorable jobs, the student data exhibited no evidence of wage depreciation from job contestability due to off-shoring...   Private-sector researchers vary widely in their estimates of the number of U.S. jobs that have moved off-shore, will move off-shore, or could move off-shore -- from hundreds of thousands to over 10M...   Blinder's conservative and aggressive estimates are, respectively, 25.2M and 31.8M jobs potentially off-shored...   The comparable, HBS-based conservative and aggressive estimates are 28.4M and 57.2M jobs -- between 21% and 42% of the total work-force...   For the HBS data, the Spearman correlation between annual median wage and off-shorability rating was found to be 0.15 and highly significant.   This suggests that high-wage jobs are more likely to be off-shored...   high-wage workers such as surgeons and chief executives are safe from off-shoring pressures, as are low-wage workers such as janitors, waiters, and nannies... but medium-wage workers are at risk... [Blinder] found a wage penalty of 14% for the 5.7M most off-shorable jobs, a penalty he attributed to job contestability.   In a similar regression with HBS data, we found no effect...   off-shoring deserves the attention of policy makers and scholars."

2008-06-11
John Nichols _Madison WI Capital Times_
Is Bob Barr libertarian enough

2008-06-11 (5768 Sivan 08)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Cocky ignorance

2008-06-11 (5768 Sivan 08)
Jonathan Tobin _Jewish World Review_
UNRWA and NGOs: the real UN insult
"This committee is comprised of such exemplary democracies as China, Cuba, Pakistan and Egypt as well as other countries.   The current chair of the group is Sudan.   Despite the fact that its government is responsible for genocide in Darfur, Sudan still parades around international forums as if it were not a pariah regime."

2008-06-11 (5768 Sivan 08)
Rabbi Avi Shafran _Jewish World Review_
What would Hillel say?

2008-06-11 (5768 Sivan 08)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
Are Americans pro-slavery?
Voice of the Times
Anchorage Appeal Democrat
DeSoto MS Times
 

2008-06-12

2008-06-12 05:30PST (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
current press release
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 370,711 in the week ending June 7, an increase of 69,715 from the previous week.   There were 302,368 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.1% during the week ending May 31, unchanged from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,831,583, an increase of 73,670 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 1.7% and the volume was 2,267,710.   Extended benefits were not available in any state during the week ending May 24."
graphs

2008-06-12 05:34PDT (08:34EDT) (12:34GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
Prices on imports to USA up 2.3% in May
"Import prices for April were revised upward, to 2.4%...   U.S. export prices, meanwhile, rose by 0.3%, the smallest monthly gain since 2007 September."

2008-06-12 06:18PDT (09:18EDT) (13:18GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
Retail sales up 1% from April to May

2008-06-12
_Science Daily_
US still leads the world in science & technology
"a new RAND Corporation study.   The United States accounts for 40% of the total world's spending on scientific research and development, employs 70% of the world's Nobel Prize winners and is home to three-quarters of the world's top 40 universities...   'Much of the concern about the United States losing its edge as the world's leader in science and technology appears to be unfounded.', said Titus Galama, co-author of the report and a management scientist at RAND, a non-profit research organization.   'But the United States cannot afford to be complacent.   Effort is needed to make sure the nation maintains or even extends its standing.'"
My recommendations:
 
* Include monitoring and analysing U.S. science and technology performance and the condition of the nation's science and engineering work-force as a part of the president's constitutionally mandated duty to track and report the state of the union.
 
* Make it easier for US citizens who have graduated from U.S. universities with science, math, music, psychology, classics and engineering degrees to continue in graduate programs in the United States with improved stipends that cover the opportunity costs.
 
* Discourage abuse of adjuncts, endless post-docs, and other body shopping arrangements by colleges and universities.
 
* Adjust tax and other incentives to encourage US firms to employ highly skilled United States citizens to ensure the benefits of expanded innovation are captured in the United States and to help the United States remain competitive in research and innovation.
 
* Continue to improve K-12 education in general, and math, science and technology education in particular by discarding instructional approaches of recent decades which go out of their ways to discourage interest in these fields.
-30-

2008-06-12 09:20PDT (12:20EDT) (16:20GMT)
_Forbes_/_AP_
HP spent $400K on lobbying in 2008Q1

2008-06-12
Lalita Aloor Amuthan _My Central Jersey_
Zoning board official in Edison, NJ, Nilesh Dasondi, charged with work visa fraud
Star-Ledger
"Dasondi, a naturalized citizen, is the founder and president of CyGate Software and Consulting, [a cross-border body shopping and off-shoring operation] with head-quarters at 22 Meridian Road, and offices in India and Canada...   Dasondi, 41, is accused of filing federal work visa and immigration documents for 8 people who did not work for his company between 2003 and 2007, authorities said.   In exchange, they made payments to Dasondi's company of more than $850K, authorities said.   The money was used to support phony pay-roll disbursements back to the 8 people, fund tax payments and, in some cases, pay for health insurance, authorities said."
yesterday's coverage

2008-06-12 07:08PDT (10:08EDT) (14:08GMT)
Kristin d'Agostino _Salem Gazette_
Facing lay-offs: Tech teacher says students will be missing out
"NP's position is being eliminated along with at least 6 other technology positions in town -- all at the elementary and middle school level."

2008-06-12
Nicole Gaouette _Los Angeles Times_
US citizens and guest-workers being abused via visa programs

2008-06-12
Tom Smith _Muscle Shoals Times Daily_
For teens, summer jobs are difficult to land
"Teenagers who are looking for summer employment may find the job market more challenging this year as adults compete for the same jobs and more teens work year-round...   Sutherland said a lot of people are working more than one job in order to make ends meet.   He said his office often gets teen-agers coming into the Career Center looking for summer jobs...   Andrew Sum, a researcher with the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston, said the summer job market is dwindling for teenagers.   '(The summer job market) is at the lowest ever.', Sum said.   'In the 1980s, there were more than 4M summer jobs; now it's about 2.2M.   That's a tremendous decrease.'...   'When the labor market experiences growth, teens get an above share [sic] of jobs.', Sum said.   'But when there isn't labor market growth, there isn't summer job growth.'   He said from 2003-07, because of the economic struggles, teens have struggled to find summer jobs.   'The lowest employment for teens 16-19 was 35%; we project that will even be lower this summer.', Sum said...   The Northeastern study predicts the 2008 summer teen job market to be the lowest in the last 61 years.   'The 2007 summer teen employment rate was the worst on record in post-World War II history.   Unfortunately, the 2008 summer outlook is even worse.', Sum said."

2008-06-12
Robin Erb _Detroit Free Press_
Adults competing with teens for jobs
"Just 35% of 16- to 19-year-olds in the United States had a job last year, the lowest teen employment rate since World War II, according to the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston.   In a sputtering economy, employers -- if they're not downsizing -- can bypass teens for more qualified adult applicants, said Andrew Sum, director of the center.   'You're not going to bring in interns when you're laying off their parents.', he said.   The competition for jobs comes not only from adult workers who have lost jobs, but also from those 55 to 70 who are punching checkout registers and bagging groceries to supplement their retirement.   And in some states, immigrant workers also are filling jobs traditionally held by teens."

2008-06-12
Anna Phillips _NY Sun_
Socialist Insecurity Numbers & housing info of thousands of Clumbia University students posted on web

2008-06-12
Nicholas Wilbur _Kingman Daily Miner_
Local group works to "Fire Nancy McLain"

2008-06-12
John Ribeiro _Network World_/_IDG_
Gartner: Indian body shops and off-shorers gaining global share

2008-06-12
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
Wrangling over H-1B issues puts US tech workers, guest-workers of all kinds, executives and farm managers at odds
Fierce CIO
"The only person on the panel called to testify in opposition was Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, who argued that highly skilled workers are not really that highly skilled.   'Contrary to the claims of the lobbyists, these workers aren't necessarily the best and brightest.', said Krikorian, citing a study by Norman Matloff, a computer science professor at the University of California at Davis."
Mark Krikorian's testimony
"in 1910, only 13% of American adults had graduated high school and fully one-quarter had no more than 5 years of [education].   At the same time, only 2.7% of Americans had college degrees...   there's no reason any employer should be permitted to make an end run around our vast continental labor force of more than 150M people unless the prospective immigrant in question has unique, remarkable abilities, and would make an enormous contribution to the productive capacity of the nation.   Perhaps the simplest way to approach this would be to admit anyone who scores above 140 [I would have said 180+] on an English-language IQ test."
 
 

2008-06-13

2008-06-13 03:04PDT (06:04EDT) (10:04GMT)
Steve Goldstein _MarketWatch_
RealtyTrac: U.S. foreclosure activity rose 7% in May: up 48% from the same period last year

2008-06-13 08:06PDT (11:06EDT) (15:06GMT)
C.J. Graham _Conservative Voice_
International organizations meddle in US elections

2008-06-13 08:15PDT (11:15EDT) (15:15GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
CPI up 0.6% from April to May

2008-06-13 08:15PDT (11:15EDT) (15:15GMT)
Susan Gawlowicz _Rochester Institute of Technology News Service_/_Manufacturing Business Technology_/_Ascribe_/_Lexis-Nexis_/_Reed Elsevier_
Off-Shore Out-Sourcing Harming American Gold- and White-Collar Workers
PhysOrg
"'What [executives are] saying is that increasing the guest worker program (H-1B and L-1 visa programs) will keep jobs here and save jobs from being off-shored.', says RIT's Hira.   'When in reality those programs are being used to do knowledge transfer to transfer jobs over-seas.   The business community is on the one hand saying out-sourcing is good, and on the other using the threat of out-sourcing to change immigration policy.'"

2008-06-13 09:19PDT (12:19EDT) (16:19GMT)
Ruth Mantell _MarketWatch_
UMich consumer sentiment index fell from 59.8 to 56.7
Blogging Stocks
"RealtyTrac reported that U.S. foreclosure activity rose 7% in May, or up 48% from the same period last year."

2008-06-13 09:35PDT (12:35EDT) (16:35GMT)
_World Net Daily_
"The Money Masters" exposes massive Federal Reserve fraud

2008-06-13
Katherine Skiba _US News & World Report_
Blue dog democrats flex their muscle
"Today, the Blue Dog Democrats claim a fat war chest—their political action committee has raised more than $2M this cycle—and they're heady from two special-election wins in GOP districts this Spring.   The victories in Louisiana and Mississippi came after the Blue Dogs endorsed candidates and lavished them with money and advice and, out on the trail, donated their shoe leather and sweat.   Already, four challengers seeking House seats in November have garnered Blue Dog endorsements, which come with cash: $5K to both candidates and their state party...   House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio has charged that time and again, the Blue Dogs have capitulated to their party leadership's desire for 'more wasteful Washington spending', deriding them as 'all bark and no bite'."

2008-06-13
Seane Kinane _WMNF_
USF makes cut-backs
"the College of Arts and Sciences will be divided into 3 'schools': Behavioral and Social Sciences, Humanities, and Sciences...   USF trustees voted to increase in-state graduate and under-graduate tuition 6% to 10% -- an increase of about $105 per semester for under-grads.   Out-of-state graduate students in some programs will see their tuitions decrease by 10%, Wilcox said...   Charlie Crist announced on Thursday that his office will withhold 4% of the budgets of all state agencies, including universities, because sales tax and other revenues are anticipated to be below expectations.   That means about another $14M cut for USF."

2008-06-13
Scott Rothschild _Lawrence KS Journal World_
Kansas Regent: We are on the cusp of an academic crisis
"During the past legislative session, higher education received a $30M increase, or 3.6%, while overall state funding increased 4.4%.   Regents staff members have proposed a 'keeping up' budget to track inflation, which would require a 4%, or $32M increase.   But even that could be in jeopardy."

2008-06-13
Nancy C. Rodriguez _Louisville KY Courier-Journal_
Some universities cut employment, ditch raises
"Kentucky Community and Technical College System's Board of Regents is scheduled to vote on its $670M operating budget, which will reflect a cut of more than $13.5M in state funding...   U of L President James Ramsey described the $243M general-fund budget for 2008-09, approved by the university's board of trustees yesterday, as 'ugly'...   1.7% increase over this year's budget...   The budget is the result of a 6 percent decrease in state funding for public universities and colleges in the fiscal year that begins July 1.   For U of L, that amounts to a $10.1M revenue loss.   In response, the budget approved yesterday includes $6.1M in cuts that will affect everything from faculty and staffing levels to the number of periodicals in the university's library.   The budget also includes a 9% tuition increase for in-state under-graduate students, and $297,002 for Ramsey's base salary.   Trustees are to determine how much of a raise he should receive next month.   It also includes $313K worth of cuts to 13 university programs that are mandated by the General Assembly, including those that assist in rural and urban health care, and the Urban Studies Institute, which includes the Kentucky State Data Center...   U of L's budget does include $7.7M for some initiatives, including $4.4M for financial aid and scholarships; $3M for staffing at a new Biosafety Lab, new fellowships for doctoral programs and research faculty positions; and $330K for diversity and community engagement."

2008-06-13 07:06PDT (10:06EDT) (14:06GMT)
Peter Williams _Richmond County NC Journal_
Perdue Farms ordered to hire hundreds of US workers & pay $800K
Del Marva Now
"The federal agency [Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, OFCCP] said 783 [women and minority applicants for work at Perdue Farms] must be offered positions at 3 of its plants as part of the deal.   Perdue has also agreed to pay $800K [to improperly rejected applicants] to settle charges it discriminated against more than 5K non-Hispanic workers who sought jobs with the company.   Of the 783 new hires, 433 must come from a pool of applicants that had applied at the Rockingham, NC plant and were denied employment.   Another 210 are to be offered jobs at the Monterey, TN plant and 140 will be offered jobs at the Dillon, SC facility.   The federal government is giving Perdue 180 days to make the hires.   The reality is there aren't currently 433 vacancies at the Rockingham plant.   Julie DeYoung, vice president for corporate communications for Perdue said at present there are 65 vacancies.   The plant employs about 1,200 people...   According to the latest report issued by the Employment Security Commission there are about 1,600 people unemployed in Richmond County...   [between 2004-01-01 and 2006-06-30] There were 4,548 total applicants who applied for laborer jobs at the Rockingham plant...   Of those, 1,477 were Hispanics and 3,071 were non-Hispanic.   'The contractor denied 2,783 qualified non-Hispanic applicants equal opportunity employment as production workers at the Rockingham plant during the review period.', reads a statement from the DoL...   since August, the department has made eight similar findings at other poultry plants.   17 poultry companies have been cited for hiring violations between 2001 October and 2008 March."

2008-06-13
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
AFL-CIO says student visa OPT extension puts downward pressure on compensation
"Ana Avendano, director of the AFL-CIO's immigrant worker program, wrote, in comments posted Thursday on Regulations.gov, that 'by extending the OPT period and work authorization period, the interim final rule turns a student visa program into a labor market program, and essentially lifts the cap that Congress has placed on the H-1B program.'   Moreover, Avendano said the rule change 'allows employers to completely bypass' any of the protections in the H-1B program that prevent employers, for instance, from using foreign workers to break a strike.   Moreover, students working on OPT won't have to be paid the prevailing wage as required under the H-1B program.   An OPT employee could, theoretically, work for minimum wage, she wrote...   Opposition groups, including the Programmers Guild, are seeking a temporary injunction in U.S. District Court in Newark, NJ, against the rule change.   They are also arguing that the decision to extend the OPT time period encourages some employers to advertise specifically for recent graduates, helping to skew the market against U.S. tech workers.   In court papers, they included ads from on-line job sites Dice and Monster from employers encouraging OPT workers to apply."
comments submitted on proposed rule change
AFL-CIO comment submitted on proposed rule change

2008-06-13 08:40:19PDT (12:40:19EDT) (16:40:19GMT)
_AScribe_
Out-Sourcing Jobs Leaves the American White-Collar Worker Behind; A Revised and Updated 'Out-Sourcing America' Calls for Action

2008-06-13 (5768 Sivan 10)
Michael Feldberg _Jewish World Review_
Moses Michael Hays in the era of the America Revolution

2008-06-13 (5768 Sivan 10)
Caroline B. Glick _Jewish World Review_
Peace with friends

2008-06-13 (5768 Sivan 10)
Rabbi Berel Wein _Jewish World Review_
Seizing Opportunity

2008-06-13 (5768 Sivan 10)
Rabbi Yitzchok Rubin _Torah.org_
Tehillim: Rhythm of the Heart: Chapter 51: Repent

2008-06-13

DJIA	12,307.35
S&P 500	1,360.03
NASDAQ	2,454.50
10-year US T-Bond	4.26%
crude oil	$134.86/barrel
gold	$873.10/ounce
silver	$16.56/ounce
platinum	$2,037.00/ounce
palladium	$454.45/ounce
copper	$0.224375/ounce
natgas	$12.625/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline	$3.4626/gal
heatingoil	$3.8368/gal
dollarindex	74.03
yenperdollar	107.99
dollarspereuro	1.5383
dollarsperpound	1.9698

I usually get this info from MarketWatch and the "Futures Movers" and "Metals Stocks" columns (and BigCharts and FT Interactive).
 
 

2008-06-14

2008-06-14
Steven F. Hotze _Houston Chronicle_
We won't be fooled again
"In 2007 August, after he was safely re-elected to what I am sure he thought was his final term as our governor, you may recall how Rick Perry took the opportunity he had before the foreign media in Mexico City to criticize what were mostly Republicans in Congress who opposed passing an immigration amnesty bill that would legalize millions of workers.   Perry also told his Mexican hosts he supported a system that would temporarily legalize foreign workers.   According to the Chronicle, Perry said such a system would allow for a "free flow of individuals between these countries who want to work, who want to be an asset to our country and to Mexico.'   Of course, there might be nothing wrong with this statement had Rick Perry not made getting tough on immigration one of the central planks of his re-election campaign leading up to 2006 November.   Quite the contrary, he featured tough border security as a TV ad and publicly endorsed a concept to empower web users worldwide to watch Texas' border with Mexico and phone the authorities if they spot any apparently illegal crossings."

2008-06-14
_Houston Chronicle_
Cornyn strives to destroy US & Texas economies
"Q: You supported a virtual fence on the border to halt illegal immigration, then voted against it and then voted for funding for partial fencing at hot spots.   You supported the DREAM Act to provide a college education to the children of illegal immigrants and then voted against it.   How do you explain these shifts?
A: I have always supported securing the border and enacting comprehensive immigration reform that could be enforced.   Securing the border will require a number of steps, including increased numbers of Border Patrol agents and fencing in appropriate locations.   Occasionally, there have been votes on competing plans, or on measures that include objectionable additional spending, but my approach has been consistent.   Similarly, on the DREAM Act, I voted for one version of that in committee, and voted against considering an entirely different proposal on the Senate floor years later.   While I support the overall intentions of the DREAM Act, the recent version that came before the Senate was poorly written.   For instance, there was not a requirement to complete background checks.
Q: Should the Constitution be amended to deny automatic citizenship to children born in this country of illegal immigrants? And should illegal immigrants be required to leave the country to apply for re-entry as a condition of gaining citizenship?
A: There is no serious support for a constitutional amendment in the Congress now.   The issues associated with abuse of the current situation can best be resolved by securing our borders, enacting comprehensive immigration reform and enforcing the law.   My 2005 immigration reform legislation did require those who entered illegally to leave the country before getting legal status."

2008-06-14
Robert Gehrke _Salt Lake Tribune_
Congressional debate heated

2008-06-14
Paul Mulshine _New Jersey_/_McClatchy_
If Mexicans can ask United States citizens for their papers, why can't United States citizens ask Mexicans for their papers?

2008-06-14
_Raleigh News & Observer_
NC sheriffs helping deport illegal aliens
"We'll have more counties qualified for the federal 287 (g) program than any other state...   Sheriffs particularly cite high rates of drunken driving among Hispanic immigrants and the tragic fatalities those drivers have caused..."

2008-06-14
_Economic Times of India_
Many Indian job aspirants give fake educational documents
"among the job aspirants who cheat, nearly 85% resort to giving fake educational documents.   First Advantage specialises in background screening for 90K companies globally...   The findings of the 2007 study had come as a shock to firms and their human resource managers.   'And in our 2008 first quarterly report, we have found that almost all industry sectors witnessed an increase in both employment and education related discrepancy as compared to the previous quarter.'...   21% of the candidates had inflated their previous designations, 44% had given an incorrect tenure and 21% had provided false employment information like incorrect company name, employment status and reasons for leaving."

2008-06-14
_Ithaca NY Journal_
Tompkins Cortland Community College board of trustees propose 3.3% tuition hike for full-time students
"The Tompkins Cortland Community College Board of Trustees has adopted a $32.3M budget for 2008-09 that includes tuition increases of 3.5% for full-time students and 3.1% for part-time students.   The budget also includes a 5% increase in [tax-victim] dollars provided by Tompkins and Cortland counties...   The State University Board of Trustees will act on the budget in September.   If the budget is approved as adopted by the trustees, full-time tuition would go from $3,325 per year to $3,440 per year and part-time tuition from $128 per credit to $132.   Overall, the college projects revenue from tuition and fees will be just under $15M, an increase of 7.69%.   The budget is 7.7%