2008 February

2nd month of the 1st quarter of the 19th year of the Bush-Clinton-Shrub economic depression

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updated: 2018-04-18
 

  "We wish to let every treaty we have drop off without renewal...   The interest which European nations feel as well as ourselves in the mutual patronage of commercial intercourse is a sufficient stimulus on both sides to ensure that patronage.   A treaty contrary to that interest renders war necessary to get rid of it." --- Thomas Jefferson 1801 to William Short _The Writings of Thomas Jefferson_ memorial edition 10:287  

 
 
2008 February
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  "The successful example of recalling nations to the practice of justice by peaceable appeals to their interests, will doubtless have salutary effects on our future course." --- Thomas Jefferson 1809 Reply to Tammany Society of Baltimore _The Writings of Thomas Jefferson_ memorial edition 16:366  

 
 

 

 


captain William Scott's flag for the Republic of Texas.

2008 February

2nd month of the 1st quarter of the 9th year of the Clinton-Bush economic depression


 
 

2008-02-01

Employment/Un-Employment Data Released Today: See the Graphs

2008-02-01
_Dice_
Dice Report: 94,423 job ads

Total94,423
UNIX14,504
Windoze16,558
Java13,624
C/C++18,156
body shop36,941
permanent67,970

 
graph of job ads by OS and language
graph of job ads by perm vs. temp

2008-02-01
Ed Burnette _Ziff Davis_
M$ prepares for $44.6G hostile take-over of Yahoo!
Larry Dignan

2008-02-01
Thomas Brewton & James Taranto & Gayle Trotter _View from 1776_
Why Jimmy Carter loves dictators

2008-02-01
Thomas Brewton _View from 1776_
The Transformation of Hollywood: From Patriotism to Anti-Americanism
Andrew Klavan _City Journal_ Hollywood's anti-American war films don't measure up to the glories of its patriotic era.

2008-02-01 06:08PST (09:08EST) (14:08GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
With 17K drop in employment the last pillar of denial is gone

2008-02-01 07:33PST (10:33EST) (15:33GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
ISM factory index rose from 48.4 in December to 50.7 in January

2008-02-01 08:13PST (11:13EST) (16:13GMT)
Ruth Mantell _MarketWatch_
UMich consumer sentiment index rose from 75.5 in 2007 December to 78.4 in late 2008 January, down from 96.9 in 2007 January

2008-02-01
Michelle Krebs _Edmunds Auto Observer_
Chrysler-UAW contract tested
"The union says the automaker is laying off salaried, unionized designers while retaining non-union contract workers to do their jobs.   Union leaders further charge the company is also hiring foreigners under the immigration rules that allow companies to hire skilled foreigners for jobs that can't be filled with local workers...   The union claims Chrysler has more than 150 contractors on board at an estimated cost of $150K each annually, and 30 to 100 foreign H-1B workers."

2008-02-01
Tim Higgins _Detroit Free Press_
UAW local says Chrysler lay-offs violate contract, while body shop people are retained: Work being body shopped to Tata
Carrie: Going, Going, Gone
"Chrysler officials have said the lay-offs are volume-related and part of the November announcement to eliminate as many as 12K jobs on top of a 2007 February plan to cut 13K positions over 3 years...   SD1, 43, of Armada is worried about his family.   His wife was laid off from General Motors Corp. 2 years ago and recently found a new job in the medical industry earning a third of what she had made.   'I never thought that it was going to happen to me because of the contract.', he said.   'What makes me mad is the contractors.   We're doing the same exact job as they are.', he added.   SD2, 49, of Sterling Heights was laid off from his designer job and now worries about the future of Michigan.   'People don't want to believe this, but especially in Michigan, if the Big Three aren't working, nobody is working.', said SD2, who was 6 days shy of having 30 years with the company."
class action against Tata

2008-02-01 11:37PST (14:37EST) (19:37GMT)
Clay Waters _News Busters_
Depriving Hannity, Dobbs, Glenn Beck of Free Speech Rights? No Worries at the NYT
transcript of Lou Dobbs interview of Janet Marguia
World Net Daily

2008-02-01
_Southern Illinois University Daily Egyptian_
Obama or Paul for president
"The Daily Egyptian encourages everyone to vote for Barack Obama or Ron Paul in the primary election Tuesday.   One might wonder how we came to this dichotomy of a decision.   That's the funny thing about voting -- when everyone participates, the results can be surprising.   Our choice represents who we think has the best ideas to take care of the issues we find most important: Iraq and the environment...   Paul does not support current regulations that allow large companies to pay to pollute.   We agree.   Pollution is pollution.   It is bad for everyone, and no one should be able to pay his or her way out of being responsible...   Illinois has 185 delegates, 100 of which are divided into the 19 congressional districts.   Party leaders will get 32; the rest are awarded at-large on Election Day."

2008-02-01 (5768 Shevat 25)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
McCain's Straight Lies

2008-02-01
Lew Rockwell
Pat Buchanan's magazine endorsed Ron Paul
American Conservative
Ron Paul vote count
Ron Paul Graphs

2008-02-01
DJIA12,743.20
S&P 5001,395.42
NASDAQ2,413.36
10-year US T-Bond3.585%
crude oil$88.96/barrel
gold$913.50/ounce
silver$16.87/ounce
platinum$1,770.20/ounce
palladium$417.05/ounce
copper$0.2045625/ounce
natgas$7.745/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline$2.2834/gal
heatingoil$2.4489/gal

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

2008-02-02

2008-02-02
Thomas Brewton _View from 1776_
Stimulus Packages: 1929 to 2008

2008-02-02
_Economic Times of India_
IBM dismissed 700 freshers (new-hires) in India

2008-02-02 16:53PST (2008-02-02 19:53EST) (2008-02-03 00:53GMT)
Caroline McCarthy _CNET_/_Ziff Davis_
Tech isses were a no-show at MTV/MySpace candidate event
"Net neutrality, piracy, and on-line privacy were barely mentioned (UPDATE: Ron Paul did briefly allude to his opposition to restrictions on net use and on-line government snooping), and environmental and energy issues were only addressed peripherally as the vast majority of talk focused on the war in Iraq and the economy.   But at the same time, the event itself was as web 2.0 as they get.   Questions came from not only the studio audience, but also through MySpace and MTV News' web sites."
What the candidates said
Ron Paul vote count
Ron Paul Graphs
 

2008-02-03

2008-02-03
Gary T. Pakulski _Toledo Blade_
Dana CEOs carried away hefty perks from firm's bankruptcy
"Until the program was eliminated with the firm's Chapter 11 filing in 2006 March, the rich benefits granted to chairmen continued to flow after retirement and -- in some cases -- death.   Documents filed in the bankruptcy case show that Dana paid to prepare retired chairmen's personal tax returns and for investment services.   It also gave them use of guest houses at Dana's world head-quarters in West Toledo.   And when the vaunted retirees died, their spouses were reimbursed for investment advisory services for a year after the death.   Before financial problems forced cuts at the Fortune 500 company, the privileged retirees also had use of a Dana apartment along Central Park in New York and company-owned aircraft in medical emergencies, according to the documents filed in the case in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York...   The benefits are on top of pensions Dana awarded retired CEOs that often topped $1M a year...   a Dana stock owner in the Akron area whose holdings were wiped out in the reorganization, doesn't believe retired chairmen should be reimbursed for things like investment advisory services."

2008-02-03 12:31PST (15:31EST) (20:31GMT)
Ruth Mantell _MarketWatch_
Another 5.8M additional US workers could be unemployed by 2011 in severe recession
"At the end of last year, there were about 7M unemployed [and still actively seeking work]...   In a severe recession, which would last about two years, a typical family's inflation-adjusted income would fall almost $3,750 per year by 2011, according to the report, while the number of Americans living in poverty would grow by 10.4M.   In a mild to moderate recession, a family's income could fall $2K per year by 2010, and another 4.7M would be in poverty, according to the report.   There's evidence that America's middle-class is already at risk.   New research from think tank Demos and the Institute on Assets and Social Policy at Brandeis University found that only 13% of middle-class families would have enough assets to cover most of their essential living expenses for 9 months if they lost their income source."

2008-02-03
_Lima Ohio News_
Freedom view: Ron Paul
Ron Paul vote count
Ron Paul Graphs
 

2008-02-04

2008-02-03 17:05PST (2008-02-03 20:05EST) (2008-02-04 01:05GMT)
Rick Merritt _EE Times_/_CMP_
Poll: Tech specific issues take a back seat to general recession fears

2008-02-04 04:30PST (07:30EST) (12:30GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
Lay-off announcements jumped 69% in January
Fox
California Job Journal
WorkForce Management
CNN/Money
Composite: "U.S. corporations announced 74,986 job reductions last month, up from December's 44,416 and 19% higher compared with the previous January (62,975), Challenger Gray reported.   In August, there were 79,459 lay-offs.   The financial sector cut 15,789 positions, accounting for more than a fifth of the documented job cuts for January.   In November, for instance, a total of 1.8M workers were let go [in mass lay-offs by large firms], representing about 1.3% of total employment, according to the latest available data from the Labor Department.   By comparison, 2.1M people quit their jobs voluntarily in November. According to global out-placement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, just 11% of job-seekers relocated at the end of 2007, down from 15.6% in the third quarter and 15.4% in the fourth quarter of 2006.   Among job-seekers with employed spouses, the rate was also a record low 19.5%, down from 36.6% in 2006."

2008-02-04
Richard S. Dunham _Houston Chronicle_
Bush's border security budget
"The president's budget proposal included nearly $500M to hire 2,200 new Border Patrol agents and $2G over 2 years for fencing and high-tech surveillance along the U.S.-Mexico border.   The proposal also calls for beefed-up detention facilities near the border and for an expansion of a federal program to assist, train and coordinate with state and local law enforcement on immigration cases...   He proposed spending $100M to expand and fix glitches in the 'E-Verify' system that allows employers to check electronically if potential employees are legally in the U.S.A.   He also asked Congress to stream-line the process used by companies to hire temporary workers for programs such as the H-1B visas...   'I am disappointed to see that the construction of security fencing still ranks low on the administration's list of priorities.', said Hunter.   'It appears that the administration is content with building only 270 miles of fencing over the next year.'"

2008-02-04
Dale Vile _Register_
Are your staff adequately trained
"There is a clear relationship between the attention paid to IT staff training and the perceived level of burden experienced by IT. &nbnsp; To put it another way, properly trained staff find it easier to cope with the demands placed on them in areas such as infrastructure optimisation and management to keep service levels up and costs down, effective maintenance of desk-tops to maintain user satisfaction and keep security risks under control, and provision of helpdesk support to meet user expectations maintain user satisfaction levels...   incremental training will always have a positive impact...   those that have a tendency to skimp on investment in skills development. If this study is anything to go by, such an approach is clearly false economy."

2008-02-04
Steve Woit _Xconomy_
Top 10 mistakes made by business founders

2008-02-04
Jacob G. Hornberger _Future of Freedom Foundation_
Why Not Abolish the Fed?

2008-02-04 (5768 Shevat 28)
Rabbi Doctor Asher Meir _Jewish World Review_
Price fixing
[author was a member of the president's Council of Economic Advisors]

2008-02-04 09:00PST (12:00EST) (17:00GMT)
Andrew Clark _Manchester Guardian_
Google's Schmidt proposed alliance with Yahoo!'s Yang to fend off M$ take-over

2008-02-04
DJIA12,635.16
S&P 5001,380.82
NASDAQ2,382.85
10-year US T-Bond3.641%
crude oil$90.02/barrel
gold$909.40/ounce
silver$16.78/ounce
platinum$1,797.60/ounce
palladium$431.00/ounce
copper$0.20615625/ounce
natgas$7.835/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline$2.3117/gal
heatingoil$2.4833/gal

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

2008-02-05

2008-02-05
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring e-News-Letter_
The Truth Slips Out Again... And Again
 
The H-1B work visa is basically about cheap labor.   As many readers here know, I break that concept down into what I call Type I and Type II forms of cheap labor.   Type I situations are the ones people readily understand -- employers paying H-1Bs less than what they would to American workers of the same level of experience, skills and so on.   In Type II situations, employers want to hire younger (i.e. cheaper) workers in lieu of older (i.e. more expensive) ones; when employers run out of young Americans to hire, they hire young H-1Bs instead of older Americans.
 
The industry lobbyists, of course, deny that employers hire H-1Bs for either of these reasons.   Yet the statistical evidence is overwhelming, and once in while someone in the industry will admit it without even realizing what they are saying.   We have 2 examples of such admissions in [recent articles from the Atlanta Business Chronicle and the University at Buffalo Spectrum].
 
Type II is the more subtle of the two types, though it has even greater adverse impact on American programmers and engineers than Type I.   Most industry lobbyists claim that employers hire new graduates because they have newer skill sets, not because they are cheaper.   Yet in the first article enclosed below, the head of the Indian [cross-border body-shopping] off-shoring giant Wipro makes it quite clear:
 
Premji says hiring graduates with little or no experience benefits Wipro because they are cheaper than IT veterans.

 
Even a slick executive at MSFT admitted recently that they hire mainly young people.   (The guy stumbled even more by saying, "That's because we don't have many positions for the older people" -- not realizing he was simply restating the same thing.)   See my posting on this.
 
The industry lobbyists also claim that they hire foreign students from U.S. campuses because they are "the best and the brightest", as opposed to being the cheapest. Yet the [quote from the University at Buffalo Spectrum] tells the truth:
 
"Companies are very welcoming to international students because they can pay them less money than the local workers, even if their ability is equal.", said Ping Lu, a sophomore management major from [Red China], who plans on staying in the USA to work after she graduates.

 
Employers even admitted to the GAO that they hire the H-1Bs because they are willing to work for less.   And this was an even more interesting thing to blurt out, as they noted, correctly, that it is perfectly legal to under-pay the H-1Bs.
 
BTW, Ms. Lu says that the H-1Bs can later get a better deal, once they prove themselves.   This is true once they get a green card (which is probably what she meant), but that takes years, and in the mean-time, the foreign workers are exploitable de facto indentured servants and thus will get smaller raises, if any, than their American counterparts.
 
I won't comment on the other points in the articles, as I've covered them so often.
 
Norm
Tata median salaries by city
Wipro median salaries by city
Infosys median salaries by city

2008-02-05 04:00PST (07:00EST) (12:00GMT)
Declan McCullagh _CNET_/_Ziff Davis_
In 2008 presidential contest, who is the most tech-hostile?

2008-02-05 06:57PST (09:57EST) (14:57GMT)
_MarketWatch_
Executives' confidence stalled: ISM non-manufacturing index fell from 54.4 to 41.9
more

2008-02-05
Grant Gross _Computer World_
Presidential candidates' tech positions

2008-02-05
Prerna Kumar _CNN_/_IBN_
Indian-Americans are the self-proclaimed senator from Punjab's main fund-raisers
"Nadadur Vardhan... Ken Singh..."

2008-02-05
Liz Peek _NY Sun_
Should the USA be training competitors?
"in an era where America is increasingly counting on intellectual capital to compete in world markets, the notion of exporting that capital -- at a discount, no less -- may strike some as stupid...   These days, many if not most foreign students are all too excited to return home and participate in their own local booming economies -- economies that are thriving mainly because of the outsourcing of American jobs or because they are successfully under-cutting American manufacturers.   Consider: The top 3 countries sending students to America are India (#1, for the sixth year in a row), [Red China], and South Korea.   What do they study?   Business, engineering, and the sciences, in that order...   Why not restrict the number of foreign engineering and technology students flowing through our campuses, and keep America's superior training ground its students?   Americans are the ones who have built the endowments of private institutions that help pay for those degrees; Americans pay the taxes that bridge the gap between tuition and the cost of educating all those fertile young minds.   Keep in mind that 26% of the tuition of these foreign students is paid by the schools they attend.   [Reality check: US universities charge tuition of between 25% and 33% of actual costs for educating each student.   Average, round up and call it 30% for simplicity's sake.   So, foreign students would be paying about 30%-(26%*30%=7.8%) or, another way, 74%*30%=22% of what it costs US tax-victims to educate them, while US students pay about 30% in tuition and the rest indirectly.]"
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring e-News-Letter_
 
The average person who read the title of Liz Peek's column [above] would have guessed that her answer was No, but it's actually Yes, as you'll see halfway through the piece.
 
I have comments on a few points:

 
American universities are the envy of the world, which is why the number of foreign students they attract is again increasing after a brief slow-down induced by the terrorist attacks of 2001 September 11.

 
The vast majority of foreign students in tech fields came here in masses not because American universities are so good but because the schools were stepping-stones to immigration and a higher standard living.   There's nothing wrong with this, of course, but it is important to understand what attracted them here, because the reason for the post-2000 (not post-2001) slow-down was due to the slow-down in the U.S. tech job market, not tightened visa requirements.   Foreign students in tech are no different from the domestic ones -- their enrollment rises and falls with the economy.   Though overall international student enrollment has risen in the last few years, this has been attained only by way of extensive recruitment efforts and lowered admissions standards.

 
That has changed.   These days, many if not most foreign students are all too excited to return home and participate in their own local booming economies

 
True, but she is missing the point: It's not just that they are starting to go back, but more importantly, many are not coming here in the first place.   While the economies back home are booming, tech careers in the U.S.A. do not provide good long-term prospects.   So their entire point of coming here in the first place is gone.

 
Keep in mind that 26% of the tuition of these foreign students is paid by the schools they attend.

 
In the case of graduate students in tech fields, the percentage is even higher.   At any big research university, most foreign students in tech fields have their tuition paid by the federal government.   So, Peek's questioning of why we are bringing foreign students here (at this point she hasn't let the reader know yet that she actually supports it) is quite on point.
 
But Peek eventually gets to the point: She supports the H-1B visa program and especially the proposed F-4 visa.   The latter would basically give foreign students who study tech in the U.S.A. automatic green cards.   To her (or to her husband, who according to Rob Sanchez's news-letter is an employer of H-1Bs), H-1B is "obviously" good, with no down-side.   She dismisses critics out of hand:

 
You may be wondering who in the world could be opposed to expanding the H1-B visas.   There are some who argue that employers want to hire foreign nationals because they can pay them less, and others claim that the visa program reduces employees to indentured servant status.
 
The numbers do not support these objections.   The National Foundation for American Policy put out a study in December full of facts and figures that indicates the abuse of the program is minor.   It also shows that thousands of job searches are under way at the tech companies.   During the tech boom, as salaries for hard-to-find programmers and engineers went through the roof, it is likely that foreigners were hired at below prevailing rates.   That is now illegal.   Further, the founder of Immigration Voice, Aman Kapoor, says abuses could easily be cleared up by establishing protections for whistle-blowers.

 
Ahh, I knew Stuart Anderson/NFAP would pop up in there somewhere.   What Peek is not telling her readers is that Anderson is hardly some objective researcher.   He has been making a living writing pro-H-1B articles for years.
 
As to the under-payment of H-1Bs, Anderson is completely obfuscating the issue.   He points to the fact that ILLEGAL under-payment is rare, which is true, but draw people's attention to this in order to hide the fact that LEGAL under-payment is wide-spread, due to huge loop-holes.
 
I've written at length on this before, but suffice it to recall that the GAO found in their survey that employers were openly admitting to "[hiring] H-1B workers in part because these workers would often accept lower salaries than similarly qualified U.S. workers", but the employers were quick to add that "they never paid H-1B workers less than the required wage" -- because the legally required wage is much lower than the market wage.
 
This is what a good industry advocate does -- divert attention from the real issue by focusing on something minor.   But Peek's statement,

 
During the tech boom, as salaries for hard-to-find programmers and engineers went through the roof, it is likely that foreigners were hired at below prevailing rates.

 
suggests that Anderson has now outfoxed himself.   Here's why:
 
Academic and government studies have shown repeatedly that H-1Bs are paid less on average than Americans.   Assuming that Peek's statement above came from Anderson, apparently this is what he's come up with to "spin" those studies.   His new line seems to be, "Yeah, during the late 1990s wages were going up so fast that the government's prevailing wage figures lagged behind, and therefore the H-1Bs were paid less than market wage."
 
Well, if this is indeed Anderson's new line, it makes no sense at all.   (Not that it has to, given our gullible journalists and even more gullible Congress.)   After all, the U.S. citizens and permanent residents were being paid market wage then (by definition of "market wage"!), so if the H-1Bs were indeed being paid the out-of-date government wage as Peek/Anderson say, then that jibes perfectly with the GAO comment above ("these workers would often accept lower salaries than similarly qualified U.S. workers").
 
Furthermore, if that line in Peek's column really did come from Anderson, then he is blatantly contradicting his own mythology, which is that the H-1Bs are savvy players who move freely in the open labor market.   For instance, in his 1997 article in International Educator, the house organ of the foreign-student adviser organization NAFSA, ironically titled "They Don't Work Cheap", Anderson wrote:

 
The issue of whether foreign-born professionals are paid less than American-born professionals is best summed up by Ehud Yuhjtman, an Israeli-born engineer at Chip Express who often interviews prospective hires.   "You cannot pay foreign-born engineers less.   These are smart people; if you try to fool with them, they will go someplace else."

 
As I've written elsewhere, H-1B is a major factor fueling the rampant age discrimination in the tech labor market.   Younger is cheaper, and cheap is what drives things.   When employers run out of young Americans to hire, they turn to young H-1Bs rather than older (age 40+) Americans.   That's why F-4, the automatic-green card-for-foreign-students proposal, is a bad idea.   Since the vast majority of foreign students are young, this would exacerbate the already-egregious situation we have now, especially given that there is no labor shortage (which even Peek seems to accept).
 
And the whole idea of F-4, to keep the foreign students with us instead of having them go back home and work for our competitors, doesn't make sense either.   Research by UCB Professor Saxenian (who is quite pro-industry and a favorite of the industry lobbyists) shows that many former international students who get U.S. green cards end up helping our competitors anyway, either by going back home permanently or by providing consulting expertise and playing investor roles.

 
Now, what about MY answer to the question Peek's title poses, "Should we educate our competitors?".   First, I'm happy to have competitors.   The tech industry has helped a segment (albeit a very small one) of Indian society prosper, and it is on its way to doing so in China.   Good for them.   My only objection is that cheap labor programs are displacing Americans in OUR tech industry, and for that matter in our graduate schools too.   When the foreign students stop coming here, we'll be stuck with an industry with no workers.
 
So, my answer to the foreign student issue is, as it has been, that we [should] take only "the best and the brightest", which is only a small percentage of the current foreign student population.   For those top talents, we should roll out the red carpet for them immigration-wise.   And we DO.   As Anderson and Immigrant Voice failed to tell Peek, we have special immigration categories for those of outstanding ability, which are fast tracks to green cards.   The H-1Bs who've been waiting 6 years or more for a green card are the ones in the lowest employment-related green card category, for people of no special talent.
 
Norm
 

2008-02-05
Kim Berry _Programmers Guild_
Business Week exposed how executives really abuse H-1B guest-workers

2008-02-05
Michael Cutler _Family Security Matters_
Are Technology Sales to Red China Good Business or Bad Foreign Policy?

2008-02-05
Michael Cutler _Family Security Matters_
Who is the Best Candidate on Immigration?

2008-02-05 (5768 Shevat 29)
Daniel Pipes _Jewish World Review_
How to transfer Gaza to Egypt

2008-02-05 (5768 Shevat 29)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
What kind of "experience"?

2008-02-05 (5768 Shevat 29)
Caroline B. Glick _Jewish World Review_
Terrorism pays
 

  "Our first and fundamental maxim should be never to entangle ourselves in the broils of Europe.   Our second, never to suffer Europe to intermeddle with cis-Atlantic affairs.   America, North and South, has a set of interests distinct from those of Europe and peculiarly her own.   She should therefore have a system of her own, separate and apart from that of Europe.   While the last is laboring to become the domicile of despotism, our endeavor should surely be to make our hemisphere that of freedom." --- Thomas Jefferson 1823 to James Monroe _The Writings of Thomas Jefferson_ memorial edition 15:477  

 

2008-02-06

2008-02-06
Marianne Kolbasuk McGee _Information Week_/_CMP_ (now United Business Media)
H-1B applicants & sponsors to be informed by e-mail whether applications are approved
"The Dept. of Homeland Security and Dept. of Labor are studying other administrative and regulatory 'fixes' to help stream-line H-1B processes, he said."

2008-02-06
Lee Cary _American Thinker_
Illegal Alien Invasion and Low Wage Labor
"Any significant shortage of farm workers ought to have been reflected in an increase in their wages, according to the law of supply and demand.   But, from 2001 to 2006, the ratio of hourly field worker wages (those engaged in planting, rending and harvesting crops) to private non-farm worker wages maintained a constant 0.54 for 6 consecutive years..."

2008-02-06
Daniel Griswold & Juan Carlos Hidalgo _Cato Institute_
A U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement: Strengthening Democracy and Progress in Latin America
"More than 80% of U.S. exports of consumer and industrial products to Colombia would become duty free on enactment, and remaining tariffs would be phased out over the next 10 years. For American farmers, the agreement would deliver immediate duty-free access for high-quality beef, cotton, wheat, soybean meal, and major fruits and vegetables (including apples, pears, peaches, and cherries) and many processed foods, including French fries and cookies. It would improve access for exported pork, beef, corn, poultry, rice, and dairy products... America's most competitive exports to Colombia in 2006, comprising more than 40 percent of U.S. goods sold there, were manufactured products such as drilling and oil-field equipment, excavating machinery, computers and computer accessories, telecommunications equipment, and medical equipment. Other major categories of U.S. exports were chemicals and agricultural products, with corn being by far the top U.S. farm export. The agreement would eventually eliminate Colombia's 11.3% average tariff against U.S. farm goods compared to the average U.S. tariff of 0.1% under existing preference programs. A 2006 December study by the U.S. International Trade Commission estimated that the agreement would boost U.S. exports by $1.1G."

2008-02-06 (5768 Adar 01)
Rabbi S. Binyomin Ginsberg _Jewish World Review_
Why test?: Many educators and parents will answer this question incorrectly

2008-02-06 (5768 Adar 01)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
Silly Talk: I'm disturbed by statements that many Americans accept or don't question that are ludicrous, if not crazy.
 

2008-02-07

2008-02-07 05:23PST (08:23EST) (13:23GMT)
Jon Craig & Mike Boyer _Cincinnati Enquirer_
Governor Ted Strickland foresees additional jobs while governments subsidize destruction of more
"Locally, the governor proudly cited business expansion successes by Amylin Pharmaceuticals in West Chester, Ford Motor Company in Sharonville and Tata Consultancy Services in Clermont county."
class action against Tata

2008-02-07 05:30PST (08:30EST) (13:30GMT)
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 379,507 in the week ending Feb. 2, an increase of 9,563 from the previous week.   There were 339,018 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5% during the week ending Jan. 26, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,349,982, an increase of 100,408 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 2.3% and the volume was 2,981,310.   Extended benefits were not available in any state during the week ending Jan. 19."
graphs

2008-02-07
Thomas Brewton & William R. Easterly _View from 1776_
Bill Gates's Bankrupt Economics
"Mr. Gates seems to believe that the solution is to persuade for-profit companies to meet the poor's needs by boosting the 'recognition' of corporate philanthropy...   First of all, the recognition motive has proven to be awfully weak compared to the profit motive...   The number of poor people who can't afford food for their children is a lot smaller than it used to be—thanks to capitalism.   Capitalism didn't create mal-nutrition, it reduced it.   The globalization of capitalism from 1950 to the present has increased annual average income in the world to $7K from $2K.   Contrary to popular legend, poor countries grew at about the same rate as the rich ones.   This growth gave us the greatest mass exit from poverty in world history...   Much research suggests that 'picking winners' through government industrial policy hasn't worked.   Winners are too unpredictable to be discovered by government bureaucrats, much less by outside philanthropists.   Why did Egypt capture 94% of Italy's import market for bathroom ceramics?   Why did India, an economy with scarce skilled labor, become a giant in skill-intensive IT and out-sourcing?   Why did Kenya capture 39% of the European market in cut flowers?   Why did tiny Lesotho become a major textile exporter to the U.S.A.?   Why did the Philippines take over 72% of the world market in electronic integrated circuits?   Because for-profit capitalists embarked on a decentralized search for success."

2008-02-07
_AFP_
US Treasury cautions Red China over sovereign wealth fund
Toronto Star
Manchester Guardian
"The China Investment Corporation Ltd. (CIC), launched in September with $200G capital [and led by graduates of US B-schools], wants to boost investment returns on [Red China's] massive foreign reserves and manage reform of domestic financial institutions...   The yuan currency is seen by US law-makers and other groups as undervalued against the dollar, making US-bound [Red Chinese] exports cheaper and fueling a trade deficit, which hit a record of more than $238G last year.   Several bills have been proposed in the US Congress threatening [Red China] with sanctions if Beijing -- which has a whopping $1.5T in reserves -- did not allow greater currency flexibility...   In the United States, CIC bought a $3G stake in private equity firm Blackstone Group LP and announced plans to invest $5G in Morgan Stanley, for an ownership stake of no more than 9.9% of the investment bank's total outstanding shares."

2008-02-07
Heidi Moore _Wall Street Journal_
Popping Wall Street's Arrogance Bubble
"Consider Blackstone Group and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.   Both companies were gobsmacked by regulatory interference in pending deals.   It isn't supposed to work that way, is it?   The word 'antitrust' hasn't come up in years.   Bernanke is lowering interest rates and Wall Street couldn't hope for a more powerful advocate than Hank Paulson at Treasury.   Is arrogance the problem?   In Blackstone's case, observers wondered why the firm didn't anticipate that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency could have concerns about a deal involving payments processor Alliance Data Systems.   The OCC has demanded that Blackstone back-stop losses at a small credit-card bank run by ADS, to the tune of $400M, 4 times more than the previous level."

2008-02-07
_CNN_/_Money_
Lay-offs
Boston Globe
"Corporate job cuts announced recently include: Department store operator Macy's Inc. said Wednesday it will cut about 2,300 management jobs as it consolidates three regional divisions and decentralizes buying in a bid to reduce costs and boost sales.   Credit card services provider Alliance Data Systems Corp., whose $6.4G buy-out by Blackstone Group appeared to collapse last week, said it plans to cut up to 251 jobs at a Dallas call center.   Home Depot Inc., the world's largest home improvement store chain, last week said it was cutting 500 jobs at its Atlanta headquarters partly due to market conditions caused by the slowing U.S. economy.   Computer maker Dell Inc. last week said it is laying off more than 1,200 workers, about 900 at a call center in Canada, as it reduces sales and support staff."

2008-02-07
Dana Cimilluca _Wall Street Journal_
Busted ADS deal sent hedge fund packing

2008-02-07
Kristen Gerencher _MarketWatch_
Self-health-care
"Blood pressure control.   No cigarettes.   Exercising 30 minutes a day.   Eating a healthy diet that's 'easy to love'.   Stress control.   The optimal blood pressure reading is 115 over 75...   Physical activity should include resistance training and 'revving the engine of the heart' at least an hour a week, he said.   Stress control can involve things such as breathing techniques...   'Aging is a side effect of the processes that allow us to live.', he said...   It's not about disease; it's about frailty.'...   He blamed fat collected around the middle for causing high blood pressure and high cholesterol.   Trimming your waist line can have other health benefits.   A 5% reduction in belly fat cuts sleep apnea by 30%, he said."

2008-02-07 (5768 Adar 01)
Suzanne Fields _Jewish World Review_
John McCain as Judah Maccabee?

2008-02-07
Llewellyn H. Rockwell _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
The Myth of the Math and Science Shortage

2008-02-07 (5768 Adar 01)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Economics, anyone?
 

2008-02-08

2008-02-08
Gene A. Nelson _University at Buffalo Spectrum_
Whose university is it anyway?
 
You may not have paid much attention to Leslie Church's 2008 January 30 article, "Have skills, will travel: foreign students hope for work in the United States".   You should have.   It lays out many of the reasons why your investment of energy, time, and money in obtaining a SUNYAB degree will (in most cases) show a very poor return on investment (ROI) as a consequence of employer abuse of the H-1B Visa program.   Your investment may even yield a negative ROI.   Mine did.   In order to obtain employment, I hid the fact that I earned a Ph.D. -- otherwise I would be informed that I was "over-qualified".   That is employer-speak for thinly-disguised age discrimination, among other things.
 
My perspective regarding this issue is relevant.   My bachelor's was from a top-notch science and engineering school in California, Harvey Mudd College.   I worked hard to earn a Ph.D. in biophysics at SUNYAB between 1973 and 1984.   I was unable to pursue a career in radiation biophysics.   Now aged 56, I have had to face the prospect of homelessness more than once because employers prefer "fresh (inexpensive) young blood" -- now mostly via the controversial 1990 H-1B visa program.   The H-1B visa gave to many employers the same advantage (special handling) that colleges and universities such as SUNYAB obtained via the obscure 1976 "Eilberg Amendment".
 
What does special handling mean?   Simply that an employer sets the wages and working conditions for the labor that they obtain via work visa programs such as H-1B.   The immigrant responds to the prospective reward of USA citizenship (or no prosecution for over-staying their visa) for themselves and their extended family by their willingness to work for very low wages in most cases.   There is also the slight chance that the immigrant may face deportation for working while "out of status".   However, in response to employer-interest lobbying, U.S. immigration laws are rarely enforced.   Lest you think that visa over-staying is an isolated phenomenon, one of the most recent INS surveys, published in 1998, showed that about half of all foreign nationals that were euphemistically "out of status" had over-stayed their student, work, or tourist visa.   Coupling that information with a recent estimate that there are currently 38M people in the USA who are "out of status" yields a large population in competition for the "white collar" jobs that SUNYAB trains us for.
 
Professor Norm Matloff of UC Davis has studied the H-1B wage depression phenomenon extensively.   Googling on "H-1B" and Matloff yield over 1,000 links.   Start with the topmost link.   You will learn that the H-1B is typically paid [at least] 20% less than a comparably-qualified USA citizen, who has the right of employment free agency.   The "remarkable loyalty" of the H-1B visa holder is praised by some of the sources that Matloff cites.   This is a consequence of the "carrots and sticks" above that were designed by the employer interests who effectively wrote most of the H-1B visa law.   First-hand experience has also taught me that the purported wage protections for USA citizens are loop-hole-ridden.
 
You may not be shocked to also learn that this diminution of USA 'high-skilled' salary scales was planned for in the late 1980s by a USA government agency, the National Science Foundation (NSF).   A MIT mathematician and legal researcher, Eric Weinstein unearthed this information and has publicized it.   Google on the 2 acronyms NSF and NBER and "Weinstein".   The first reference is a paper with the title How and Why Government, Universities, and Industry Create Domestic Labor Shortages of Scientists and High-Tech Workers.   Quoting from the NSF policy analysts, "A growing influx of foreign PhD's into USA labor markets will hold down the level of PhD salaries to the extent that foreign students are attracted to USA doctoral programs as a way of immigrating to the U.S.A.   A related point is that for this group the PhD salary premium is much higher [than it is for Americans], because it is based on BS-level pay in students' home nations versus PhD-level pay in the U.S.A..."
 
If you have any doubt about regarding the effectiveness of this policy, note [that] a "post-doc" is typically paid less than the manager of a fast food restaurant, who may only have a high school education.   Use the link to the disclosure site H1b.info.   Use "Research Foundation of SUNY Buffalo" for the employer, 2006 for the year, and you will learn that SUNYAB hired 6 "post-docs" that year, each for a meager salary of about $30K.
 
Let's return to the title of this article.   See the SUNY Budget Book (pdf)...
 
The 2008-09 SUNY Budget request establishes on Table 1, Page 10 that the SUNY 2007-2008 all funds budget request total was $10.08G.   The report takes 44 pages to request more for 2008-2009 without a prominent total.   Most of these funds are paid by [tax-victims], so I hold that the [tax-victims] should have significant input into how those funds are spent.   Should funds be spent to facilitate employment age discrimination against U.S. citizens?   Should U.S.citizens have some protection from the economic migration desires of ~6G people?

 
In summary, here's the concluding paragraph of one of my published articles from 2005 (pdf)...
 
Caltech Vice Provost David Goodstein summarized the problem in a 1993 American Scholar article: "The American [tax-victim] (both state and federal) is supporting extremely expensive research universities whose main educational purpose is to train students from abroad.   When these students finish their educations, they either stay here, taking relatively high-paying jobs that could have gone to Americans, or they go home, taking our knowledge and our technology with them.   Congress and the public doesn't seem to have noticed that, while largely ignoring our own students, we are putting our money and our best talent into training our economic competitors.   Just wait until this one hits the fan.

 
Gene A. Nelson
---30---

2008-02-08 (5768 Adar 02)
Caroline B. Glick _Jewish World Review_
Why is AIPAC under-mining attempts to financially isolate terror supporters?
"on average, 15%-23% of American state employee pension funds were invested in companies that do business with state sponsors of terrorism.   In 2004, the estimated value of those total investments was $188G.   Some $70G were invested in companies which did business with Iran, Syria and North Korea."

2008-02-08 (5768 Adar 02)
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo _Jewish World Review_
Just how holy is life

2008-02-08
DJIA12,182.13
S&P 5001,331.29
NASDAQ2,304.85
10-year US T-Bond3.66%
crude oil$91.77/barrel
gold$922.30/ounce
silver$17.11/ounce
platinum$1,884.00/ounce
palladium$440.85/ounce
copper$0.22121875/ounce
natgas$8.305/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline$2.3572/gal
heatingoil$2.5541/gal

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

2008-02-09

2008-02-08 20:00PST (2008-02-08 23:00EST) (2008-02-09 04:00GMT)
Kevin Spradlin _Cumberland Times-News_
John Kimble challenges Roscoe Bartlett for district 6 congressional seat
"Kimble pointed out the few differences between him and Bartlett, whom Kimble considers the clear Republican front-runner.   Bartlett voted in favor of the H1B visa program, which allowed more immigrants into America.   Kimble opposes such programs.   Bartlett also voted to allow drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.   'I do not support that at all.', said Kimble, a member of Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club.   Kimble said Bartlett has seen numerous Western Maryland companies leave the area.   All the while, Kimble said, Bartlett is 'not doing anything' to prevent them from leaving...   He said he's 'far right' on illegal immigration and gun control and questions abortion because it wastes 'political capital on something that's already been decided'."

2008-02-09 01:23PST (04:23EST) (09:23GMT)
_Bloomington Pantagraph_/_AP_
Ron Paul supporter targeted by police
"An 18-year-old Republican's enthusiasm for presidential hopeful Ron Paul could cost him more than $550.   Cody Hauer has been cited 4 times in 1 week for displaying a 13-inch-by-40-inch 'Ron Paul Revolution' decal in the rear window of his car...   'I support Ron Paul, the city police department doesn't.', he said.   'They gave me a DWR -- driving while Republican.'...   Owatonna Police Chief Shaun LaDue [complaind that] Hauer showed disrespect toward the officer during each traffic stop...   Hauer said he'll argue in court that the law violates his First Amendment right to free speech."
Ron Paul vote count
Ron Paul Graphs

2008-02-09
Donald A. Collins _V Dare_
Utter Dismay at Likely Nominees

2008-02-09
Jeff Lukens _View from 1776_
Politico-economic facts that the next president can't ignore
 

2008-02-10

2008-02-10
Donald Miller _Lew Rockwell_
The way Ron Paul will win
Ron Paul vote count
Ron Paul Graphs

2008-02-10
Jim Buchanan _Asheville Citizen-Times_
Where we stand on taxes tends to depend on where our feet are on the wealth ladder
"Prior to the exit of Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and John Edwards, on average the major presidential candidate had assets of $47M, something like 500 times the average U.S. household.   On the Democratic side, Barack Obama was the poor relation with assets of around $2.5M, while on the GOP side Mitt Romney had spent more per delegate ($1.16M) than the net worth of Ron Paul, as far as I could tell.   (My web searches for Paul's net worth kept coming up with answers like 'priceless'.   Paul's backers are busy beavers out there on the Internet).   For the record, Hillary Clinton's net worth is pegged at $51M and John McCain's at $35M, but that doesn't include the assets of their spouses, both of which are considerable."
Ron Paul vote count
Ron Paul Graphs

2008-02-10
Mark Anderson _American Free Press_
Broad-based support buoys Ron Paul campaign
"'Montana contributions received by Ron Paul in 2007 were $88,883, double that of the nearest Republican, Mitt Romney, who received just $41,495. John McCain came in third at $29,094 followed by Mike Huckabee coming in fourth at $8,816.', noted a summary in the Centre Daily Times... Small individual donors through grassroots efforts are raising money in record amounts for Paul across the country. Corporate deep-pocket financing is not part of the picture. Nationally, most of Paul's donations are under $200. He ended the last quarter of 2007 with more cash on hand than any other remaining Republican candidate... the FEC database reveals that Dr. Paul has received 1,160 donations from military donors, nearly triple that of John McCain, and more than McCain, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee combined... According to the FEC, the quantity and dollar amount of military contributions so far is: Paul, 1,160 donors, $249K [averaging under $215]; McCain, 438 donors, $83K; Mike Huckabee, 126 donors, $37K; Mitt Romney: 126 donors, $24K; Barack Obama: 443 donors, $76K and Hillary Clinton, 154 donors, $41K."
Ron Paul vote count
Ron Paul Graphs

2008-02-10
Ralph Z. Hallow & Stephen Dinan _Washington Times_
Activists are refusing to back McCain

2008-02-10
_Savannah Morning News_
political season
"Watching candidates on television sounds like the good old days with the promise of a car in every yard and a chicken in every pot."   "I mailed in my absentee ballot and it didn't go through, it required two stamps.   I just wasted my stamp and my vote."   "Since when did the government think they belonged in sports?   Senator Arlen Specter isn't satisfied with the NFL's answer to the spy tape investigation?   Why doesn't he let the sports people run sports and just worry about 'we the people' of the United States?"   "Presidential candidates are successful, financially independent people. Presidents have tremendous responsibilities and are criticized for everything that doesn't please us.   Why do they want to serve? Let us be grateful and supportive."   "For the rich people: If Obama or Hillary are elected and there is socialized medicine, what country will you go to when you are put on a list to wait 6 months to have an operation?"   "The only Republican running that makes sense is Ron Paul."
Ron Paul vote count
Ron Paul Graphs

2008-02-10
Frank Wooten _Charleston Post & Courier_
Test your informed-voter worth

2008-02-10
Mark Anderson _American Free Press_
Media Ignores Reasons for Foreclosures
"the real story is that the destruction of middle-class jobs, especially in the manufacturing realm, is destroying the ability of Americans to earn, save, invest, pay taxes, reduce personal debts, etc.   Gainfully employed people earn money and can buy homes; people with money can make large down payments to obtain smaller mortgage payments; people with money can pay cash for their car so they don't have vehicle payments; people with money can avoid too much or any borrowing in the first place...   NAFTA, approved by Bush the Elder, was signed by Bill Clinton and protected by Dubya, who pushed through CAFTA.   Congress has aided and abetted the whole process, perhaps believing in the fool's gold of free trade."
 

2008-02-11

2008-02-11
_Yahoo!_/_AP_
Representative Tom Lantos (D-CA) died from cancer
"Representative Tom Lantos of California, the only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress, has died.   He was 80.   Spokeswoman Lynne Weil said Lantos died early Monday at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center in suburban Maryland...   chaired the House Foreign Affairs Committee...   his Northern California district, which takes in the southwest portion of San Francisco and suburbs to the south including Lantos' home of San Mateo.   White House press secretary Dana Perino announced the news of Lantos' death to reporters at a morning briefing...   Lantos, who referred to himself as "an American by choice," was born to Jewish parents in Budapest, Hungary, and was 16 when Adolf Hitler occupied Hungary in 1944.   He survived by escaping twice from a forced labor camp and coming under the protection of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who used his official status and visa-issuing powers to save thousands of Hungarian Jews.   Lantos' mother and much of his family perished in the Holocaust...   In 2006 Lantos was one of five members of Congress arrested in a protest outside the Sudanese Embassy over the genocide in Darfur...   founded the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in 1983.   In early 2004 he led the first congressional delegation to Libya in more than 30 years...   killings of Armenians as a genocide...   'Morally, you are pygmies.', he berated top executives of Yahoo Inc. at a hearing he called in 2007 November as they defended their company's involvement in the jailing of a Chinese journalist...   [They eventually repented and paid some resitution to the families...jgo]   3 decades teaching economics at San Francisco State University, working as a business consultant and serving as a foreign policy commentator on television...   Lantos joined the Hungarian Underground after the Nazi occupation but was captured and sent to a forced labor camp 40 miles north of Budapest, according to the biography on his congressional web site.   He was beaten severely when he tried to escape, but feeling he had nothing to lose he made another attempt.   This time he made it back to Budapest and to one of the safehouses that Wallenberg had established.   Lantos credited Wallenberg's protection, his own 'Aryan' appearance -- blond hair, blue eyes -- and a good measure of luck with helping him survive the war.   But he said that at the time he didn't think he had much of a chance of staying alive.   'I was 16, but I was very old.', he said in an interview for _The Last Days_, the 1999 book accompanying the Steven Spielberg documentary of the same name that focused on the experience of Hungarian-American survivors.   'The blood-bath, the cruelty, the death that I saw, so many times around me during those few months between March of 1944 and January of 1945 made me a very old young man.'"

2008-02-11
Paul Grant _WKRG-TV_/_Reuters_
5 arrested in 2 Red Chinese spying operations
Terry Frieden, CNN international
Kevin Whitelaw, US News & World Report
Catherine Elsworth, London Telegraph
Kenneth L. Wainstein, Asst AG for National Security
Boston Herald/AP
San Diego Union-Tribune
CNN/Money
Houston Chronicle
North San Diego County Times
Chippewa Falls WI Herald
Composite: "A former Boeing engineer was arrested on Monday on charges of stealing trade secrets for Red China.   It also announced a separate case in which a U.S. Defense Department official and others were arrested.   In a case brought by federal prosecutors in Virginia, a civilian analyst for the Defense Security Cooperation Agency stands accused of selling to 2 Red Chinese associates classified information detailing U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan.   Meanwhile, a former Boeing and Rockwell employee and contractor was charged with providing Beijing secrets dealing with the space shuttle and several other sensitive military aircraft and rocket programs.   Officials charge that Gregg Bergersen, 51, of Alexandria, Virginia, sold highly classified information to Tai Shen Kuo, 58, a naturalized citizen who resides in New Orleans, Louisiana.   Kuo then allegedly handed the information to Yu Xin Kang, 33, a lawful resident alien also living in New Orleans.   Kang in turn allegedly gave the information to a spy for the Red Chinese government.   Dongfan 'Greg' Chung, 72, of Orange, California, a naturalized U.S. citizen, had worked for Rockwell, Boeing and a Boeing contractor for more than 30 years.   He met with officials and agents of the PRC government and allegedly provided information on the C-17 military transport and the Delta IV rocket as far back as 1979.   Prosecutors say the case is linked to that of another engineer, Chi Mak, who was convicted last year along with several family members.   In the press release, Wainstain said, 'The threat here is very simple.   It's a threat to our national security and to our economic position in the world -- the threat that is posed by the relentless efforts of foreign intelligence services to penetrate our security systems and steal our most sensitive military technology and information.'   'If anything, that threat has only increased with the rise of non-aligned nations that are all seeking advantage in the process of military development.   In fact, one Defense Department report from 2006 noted a 43% increase in the number of suspicious foreign contacts reported by American defense firms -- many of which were presumably foreign operatives probing for protected military information.', he continued.   'In the past 6 months, we have filed charges in a half dozen cases involving efforts to acquire different types of technology, ranging from battle-field night-vision equipment to accelerometers used in the development of smart bombs and missiles...   One is the classic espionage network, complete with traditional elements of spy trade-craft -- including foreign handlers, pay-offs, cut-out couriers and a compromised government employee -- all of which resulted in the penetration of our government's information security system and the passage of national defense information.   The other is an effort to give intelligence taskings to an aerospace engineer who had a position in American industry that afforded him access to sensitive trade secrets on our military and aerospace programs.'"

2008-02-11
_DoJ_
Payment of Back Wages to Alien Physicians Hired Under H-1B Visa Program
The Department of Labor ('DoL') has determined that the Department of Veterans Affairs ('VA') failed to pay the required prevailing wage to 11 alien physicians employed by VA hospitals pursuant to the H-1B visa program.   VA requested our opinion regarding its statutory authority to pay back wages pursuant to the DoL order.   DoL also provided its views on this issue.   Before resolving the merits of this dispute, we requested additional views from both agencies regarding whether [the bogus perversion of justice known as] sovereign immunity bars the award of such monetary relief in an administrative proceeding.   We now conclude that the statute authorizing the H-1B program does NOT waive the federal government's sovereign immunity, and the award of back wages is therefore barred."

2008-02-11
Frosty Wooldridge _News with Views_
McCain nomination could guarantee Republican loss in November
BorderFire Report
American Chronicle

2008-02-11
Peter Gadiel _V Dare_
SPLC Must Add Itself to List of "Hate Groups"

2008-02-11
Rajesh Chhabara _Ethical Corporation_
Intel pledges to build $1G factory in Viet Nam without corruption
"The world's largest electronic components manufacturer, Intel, has pledged to build its $1G factory in graft-ridden Viet Nam without corruption.   The company has even signed an anti-corruption agreement with state-owned Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP), where its largest chip plant will be located...   Intel has made some dramatic moves in Viet Nam.   It was the first major information technology company to invest there, in 2006, despite the country's weak infrastructure and lack of skilled workers.   It soon tripled its original $300M investment to $1G to become Viet Nam's largest foreign investor.   When Intel's facility at SHTP opens in 2009 it will produce 600M chips a year, provide 4K jobs and bring in over $5G in annual export revenue...   Big names with major investment plans in Viet Nam include Canon, Sanyo, Matsushita, Sony, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Nidec, Alcatel and Siemens. Intel has set them an example to follow."
 

2008-02-12

2008-02-12 (5768 Adar 06)
_NY Daily News_/_AP_
GM offers severance deal to 74K hourly employees after $38.7G loss in 2007 selling 9,369,524 vehicles; lost $23.4G in 1992
Fox/AP

2008-02-12 15:23:42PST (18:23:42EST) (23:23:42GMT)
Patrick Parkinson _Park City UT Record_
Libertarians offered condolences to GOP: McCain victory would mean "death of small-government" values

2008-02-12 (5768 Adar 06)
Daniel Pipes _Jewish World Review_
Westerners must mount a unified front against Islamic law

2008-02-12 (6758 Adar 06)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
The media and politics
 
 

  "[Our] object [in this hemisphere] is to introduce and establish the American system, of keeping out of our land all foreign powers, of never permitting those of Europe to intermeddle with the affairs of our nations." --- Thomas Jefferson to James Monroe, 1823 _The Writings of Thomas Jefferson_ memorial edition 15:478  

 

2008-02-13

2008-02-12 16:23PST (19:23EST) (00:23GMT)
_UPI_
Ron Paul sticks to his principles
"'This is why my run for the Republican nomination will not end.', Paul said.   'The principles I stand for -- limited government, non-interventionism, respect for individual rights and strict adherence to the Constitution -- have a long and proud tradition in the Republican Party.'"

2008-02-13
_Wheeling News-Register Intelligencer_
Immigration System Is Simply Not Working
"More evidence of that surfaced this week, with a report that tens of thousands of legal immigrants will be granted permanent residency status without having undergone background checks [let alone proper background investigations]."

2008-02-13 (5768 Adar 07)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
Zealots are coming after you
"Most evil done in the world is done in the name of promoting this or that supposed good.   Americans turning away from rule of law and constitutional government are following in the foot-steps of other people around the world who discovered their liberties gone and recovering them was next to impossible."

2008-02-13 (5768 Adar 07)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Who is "Fascist"?
"The Fascists were completely against individualism in general and especially against individualism in a free market economy.   Their agenda included minimum wage laws, government restrictions on profit-making, progressive taxation of capital, and 'rigidly secular' schools...   In short, during the 1920s and the early 1930s, Fascism was not only looked on favorably by the left but recognized as having kindred ideas, agendas and assumptions."
 

2008-02-14

2008-02-14 05:30PST (08:30EST) (13:30GMT)
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 366,237 in the week ending Feb. 9, a decrease of 13,815 from the previous week.   There were 363,018 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5% during the week ending Feb. 2, unchanged from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,357,880, an increase of 25,600 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 2.3% and the volume was 3,079,780.   Extended benefits were not available in any state during the week ending Jan. 26."
graphs

2008-02-14 09:48PST (12:48EST) (17:48GMT)
"Dark Knight" _McLean County Pundit_
Secret back-room deal on amnesty for illegal aliens is in the works
Federation for American Immigration Reform
John & Ken Show
Lone Wacko
One News Now
Better immigration report card
"'Congressional Quarterly reports that Congressman Joe Baca (D-CA), Chairman of the Hispanic Caucus, is leading the fight for legislation that would provide a 5-year amnesty visa to illegal aliens currently in the U.S.A....   The negotiations for the five-year amnesty visas are already taking place at the highest levels of House leadership. They include Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Immigration Subcommittee Chairwoman Zoë Lofgren (D-CA) and are reportedly bipartisan in nature."

2008-02-14
_Centre Daily Times_
Congress, VP, Pres continued low approval ratings
News & Observer
"28% of Americans [approve of the job the president is doing], 69% disapprove... Harris Poll... 22% of Americans would rate the job vice president Cheney is doing in a positive light while 71% view it as negative... 76% of Americans rate [congress's] job performance as negative, while... 20% rate it positively."

2008-02-14 11:06PST (14:06EST) (19:06GMT)
Evan Perez _Wall Street Journal_
Trade & Security Collide
"The Bush administration's efforts to cut regulation on exports and promote free trade is confronting a new push by national security officials to clamp down in their enforcement of laws that ban sensitive technology exports to [Red China] and Iran...   The increased U.S. national-security concerns over [Red China] have imperiled a separate deal in which Huawei Technologies Co. would take a minority stake as part of a buy-out of telecom-equipment maker 3Com Corp.   Some members of Congress have pushed to have the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States block the deal, claiming that Huawei could get access to sensitive technology that 3Com makes...   [Meanwhile] the Commerce Department has launched the 'Verified End User' program that for the first time gives pre-clearance to 5 [Red Chinese] companies to receive some U.S. products that could have military uses without an exporter first getting an export license...   One of the companies that the Wisconsin Project named, Shanghai Hua Hong NEC Electronics Co., is affiliated through a corporate umbrella with China Electronics Corp.   U.S. law-enforcement officials have cited China Electronics for its association with the [Red Chinese] army [PLA].   A second company, BHA Aerocomposite Parts Co., is partly owned by a [Red Chinese] government entity that produces aviation weapons systems for the [Red Chinese] military."

2008-02-14
_Free-Market News Network_
McCain, Kerry, Soros, Obama axis
Barbara Anderson: American Chronicle
Barbara Anderson: Web Commentary
Jerome R. Corsi: World Net Daily
Carolina Mendoza: Conservative Voice
Chad Groening: One News Now
Free-Market News Network
Jim Geraghty: National Review
"Ragnar Danneskjold": Jawa Report
Michael van der Galien: Poli Gazette
Middle East Media Research Institute
"Gribbit": Stop the ACLU
Jerome R. Corsi: World Net Daily

2008-02-14
Mike Tellier _West Salem WI Coulee News_
Ron Paul makes the most sense
"Ron Paul is not with the majority of Republicans with Iraq/foreign policy, but on every other issue Ron Paul is right on with the base.   McCain is not with the Republican base on taxes, global warming, free speech, drilling for more oil, POW/MIA issue, immigration, torture, etc., but then you have Iraq where he is in line with the majority party of his party...   What ever happened to small government, low/zero taxes, personal freedom and liberty of the individual over state power?"

2008-02-14
Paige Richmond _Peninsula Gateway_
High turn-outs at district caucuses
"Senator McCain (R-Arizona) carried the caucuses at Purdy Elementary, receiving 37 delegates.   Former governor Huckabee (R-Arkansas) -- who is currently protesting all caucus results in Washington state due to what his campaign calls 'dubious final results' -- received 20 delegates, while U.S. representative Ron Paul (R-Texas) won 20.   Despite former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney's announcement last week that he was dropping out of the presidential race, he still received 12 delegates from the area.   Seven delegates remain uncommitted.   Krantz is not surprised that local voters supported Paul, a staunch libertarian and opponent of the Iraq War who received 21% of votes statewide.   'There's a big support for Ron Paul out here.', Krantz said."

2008-02-14
Samantha Hayes _WPTV_
Ron Paul Revolution a labor of love
"We have been impressed though, by the sheer commitment and adoration of Republican Ron Paul's supporters.   The Ron Paul Revolution has truly been a labor of love, particularly of the cyber sort.   You can even find a Volkswagen decked out for the Ron Paul campaign.   That would be a 'Love Bug'."

2008-02-14
Marty Holub _West Salem WI Coulee News_
Ron Paul is the best hope for our country
"Looking for the truth?   His web site www.RonPaul2008.com has the answers.   Ron Paul will expose and fix the corruption and carelessness of our broken down government.   Paul will give us our freedom back, get back to sound money, get rid of the bogus Federal Reserve, balance the budget by cutting government spending waste, lower taxes, get rid of the IRS and change our complicated loop-holed tax structure, end abortion, and stop spending our money trying to police the world when we can’t even take care of our own, secure our borders, and only accept legal immigration.   We treat illegals better than our vets.   Our government is borrowing money at an alarming rate.   Does any other country occupy and bully much of the world with military?   We are $9T in debt.   That's $30K for every man, woman, and child in America.   We're closer to bankruptcy than we know.   Our government is being run by big pharmaceuticals, big oil and the media which bombard us with propaganda.   We, the people, need to take back America.   Vote Ron Paul.   He stands out from the crowd due to his strict adherence to the Constitution.   Other candidates only speak of the Constitution, while Paul lives it and his track record shows it.   Compare Paul to the other candidates' web sites.   Don't trust the media's propaganda.   Make your own decisions.   Go to the source, www.RonPaul2008.com.   Paul will preserve life, liberty and the pursuit."
Ron Paul vote count
Ron Paul Graphs

2008-02-14
Robert Werden _Nolan Chart_
Huckabee & McCain should drop out now

2008-02-14
Michael Cutler _Family Security Matters_
Easing Immigration Background Investigations Is a Bad Idea
"When bureaucrats talk about conducting 'background checks' of aliens seeking an immigration benefit, what they are talking about is simply running the name on the application through a series of data-bases.   If the name comes back as 'no record' or 'no hit', and if the finger-prints similarly come back as a 'no hit', then the agency (USCIS) will make the presumption that the alien poses no threat to national security.   Why is this system foolish?   If a terrorist provides a false [name] he would be able to easily acquire lawful status in our country under this false identity.   A 'background investigation', OTOH, requires that investigators conduct field investigations.   They knock on doors and interview neighbors and people on the job where the alien claims to work.   This effort, as you might expect, is far more rigorous and is far more time consuming.   (This is the way that my security clearance was renewed every 5 years.)   Now it appears that the finger-print requirement is going to be ignored while the applications are being processed.   Perhaps the Department of Homeland Security should be renamed the 'Department of Homeland Surrender'."

2008-02-14
Martin Desmarais
National Science Board's "Science and Engineering Indicators 2008" report finds Indians grab 54% of H-1B visas
"Over two-thirds of the approximately 110K H-1Bs issued in 2006 were to workers in science and technology jobs.   However, the findings also indicated that a large amount of the remaining H-1Bs issued were for workers in fields closely related to science and technology such as medicine and health (5%).   Still others had job titles that masked the connection to science and technology, but were in fact related to these fields, such as academics (8%) and various managerial, administrative and technical occupations (13%).   In 2006, 51% of new H-1B recipients were in computer-related occupations, including 48 percent in the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services occupational category of 'occupations in systems analysis and programming', which includes many [science and engineering] occupations, such as computer scientist and technician occupations, such as programmer.   This actually represents an increase in recent years (from a low of 25% in 2002) in the proportion of new H-1B visas going to computer-related occupations...   The National Science Board found that there are over 2.2M foreign-born science and engineering degree holders in the United States.   India leads the way with 16% followed by [Red China] with 11%.   The countries flip when it comes to foreign-born holder of science and engineering doctorates: [Red China] with 22% and India with 14%."

2008-02-14
Rob Sanchez _Job Destruction News-Letter_ #1819
Chrysler replacing employees with H-1B guest-workers
Rob Sanchez: alternate link
HolgerDanske
Patrick Thibodeau: ComputerWorld/IDG
Patrick Thibodeau: InfoWorld/CMP
AnandTech
"Chrysler is replacing some of their employees with H-1Bs and that's got some people in the union angry.   Rich Harter, Local 412's second vice president and Unit 1 chairman, said he has begun the process of lodging a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.   He said more than 150 contractors are costing the company an estimated $150k each annually and there are 30 to 100 so-called H1B workers.   Harter's next statement is sort of baffling -- he seems to think that using UAW members would be cheaper than hiring the H-1Bs.   That's highly unlikely since Chrysler probably wouldn't bother with H-1Bs if they were more expensive.   'This isn't right.   We've got American workers getting laid off but they're keeping foreigners.', he said.   He argues it would be cheaper for the company to use UAW members.   I can't find anything about H-1B on the Local 412 web site, so it's not obvious if the union is following through on their promise of filing a complaint.   If they are doing something they sure are keeping it a secret.   Youtube has a news report about 119 high-tech lay-offs at Chrysler.   Pay close attention, because they talk a lot about contract workers replacing union members but there was no mention of H-1B.   That makes me wonder if the main gripe of the union is that contractors replace union members, not the fact that the contractors are on H-1B visas.   Could it be the union is deliberately down-playing the H-1B issue?   More than likely the H-1B contractors that are replacing the Chrysler workers are from bodyshops like Infosys or Tata [confirmed in India Times].   Tough to speculate further unless the union provides more information."
Tim Higgins: Detroit Free Press
class action against Tata

2008-02-14
Nancy Hicks _Lincoln NE Journal Star_
Bill Would Require Contractors to Reveal Their Over-Seas Deals

2008-02-14
Foon Rhee _Boston Globe_
Super-delegates got bribes from candidates for president
Chris Levister: Black Voice News
"'...super-delegates have received about $890K from Obama and Clinton in the form of campaign contributions over the last 3 years.', the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics reported today...   Obama's political action committee has doled out more than $694k to super-delegates since 2005, the study found, and of the 81 who had announced their support for Obama, 34 had received donations totaling $228K.   Clinton's political action committee has distributed about $195K to super-delegates, and only 13 of the 109 who had announced for her have received money, totaling about $95K."

2008-02-14
_Viet Nam Economic Times_
Workers needed for major IT projects in Viet Nam
"Intel Viet Nam needs about 4K skilled workers, including 1K engineers who have majored in electronics, IT and automation.   The company says its demand for labour will increase after 2011.   Renesas wants about 1K engineers.   Taiwan's Foxconn plans to invest $5G in Viet Nam during the next 5 years and needs up to 50K workers.   Taiwanese lap-top and communication appliances maker Campal needs up to 1,200 skilled workers to send abroad to train managers as well as thousands of less-skilled workers.   IBM needs 2K engineers; FPT needs 3K while Boeing needs at least 1K software engineers for each contract with Viet Nam.   Viet Nam Software Association General Secretary Pham Tan Cong says the association will need 5K software engineers this year...   The plan requires 50% of tertiary teachers to have MAs and 30% PhDs and for the renewal of training methodology and improvement of English studies."

2008-02-14
Weaver
Science & Engineering Grads Not Employed
 

2008-02-15

2008-02-15
Paul M. Weyrich _Cybercast News Service_
Immigration -- legal and illegal -- overwhelming system
"It seems that immigration, legal and illegal, is too numerically overwhelming for the federal government to handle properly.   But how are Americans supposed to trust the federal government to enforce the border and deport those who arrive illegally when it is incapable of checking those who are here legally?   This is an egregious problem, one highlighted earlier this month when President George W. Bush's Administration announced that it will grant permanent residency status to tens of thousands of legal immigrants without first completing their required background checks against the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigative files [and completely fail to conduct proper background investigations] because the back-log of legal immigration cases is too large and growing rapidly."

2008-02-15
Walter A. Nodelman _New Hampshire Business Review_
H-1B visas are indentured servitude
"I am amazed that a New Hampshire attorney would openly promote the importation of non-American indentured 6-year servants to be trained by loyal American workers who are then to be discarded ('H-1B visa program is broken, and it needs fixing' by Thomas W. Hildreth, Feb. 1-14 New Hampshire Business Review).   The H-1B visa holders must stay at THE SAME U.S. corporation for years to become eligible to apply for their green cards.   So therein, they are indentured.   They are docile.   They drive down the wage scales of the surviving American non-slaves.   New Hampshire Business Review enthusiastically promotes the transfer of the business functions with their trained foreigners, pushing the jobs of New Hampshire's citizens out to India and Communist China.   When Wall Street executives behave like that, I can understand their lack of loyalty toward Americans.   Today, MULTI-national executives only show loyalty to green and black dollar bills.   No longer is there any loyalty to country.   This isn't 1942.   This is 2007.   New Hampshire plays by different rules now.   However, attorneys are supposed to have taken an oath to behave to a higher standard.   When New Hampshire business-people, led by a McLane attorney, do treason gleefully against their own countrymen, that disgusts me."

2008-02-15
David Irvin _NorthWest Arkansas News_
Tyson employees to continue suit
"The plaintiffs contended that Tyson top managers, including Chairman John Tyson, Chief Executive Officer Richard Bond, retired Chief Administrative Officer Greg Lee and Senior Vice President of External Relations Archie Schaffer III, violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act."

2008-02-15 09:47PST (11:47EST) (16:47GMT)
Ruth Mantell _MarketWatch_
UMich consumer sentiment index fell from 78.4 in January to 69.6 in mid-February: Lowest since 1992 February's 68.8

2008-02-15 07:13PST (10:13EST) (15:13GMT)
Kathryn Cosse _Cincinnati Enquirer_
Clermont county officials discuss Tata's negative impact on the Greater Cincinnati Area
"...company's expectations, impact on traffic on U.S. Route 50 and the needs other businesses in Miami township's Park 50 Technecenter.   They'll also discuss plans for the project's revenue stream from a TIF district created for Tata's head-quarters.   Tata Consultancy Services announced plans to locate its North America Delivery Center in Miami township last year, and received both an incentive grant from the state and a tax increment financing agreement from the county and Clermont Northeastern schools...   The TIF district will secure funds from property taxes to develop roads and lands around the head-quarters.   Lehr said the 25-year agreement is projected to generate more than $2M over its term...   In the proposed agreement, employees would pay a 1% income tax that would go to improvements...   As it stands now, if Tata wants a parking garage, Switzer said they'll have to build it themselves."
class action against Tata

2008-02-15 08:24PST (11:24EST) (16:24GMT)
Alan Greenspan _MarketWatch_
Remarks at CERA's 27th Annual Energy Conference: Recession, Credit Markets, Oil Prices, Nuclear Power, Cap & Trade
"A mandatory cap on carbon emissions risks capping energy inputs into GDP, lowering production and increasing unemployment...   There's a presumption that we'll solve this problem with new technologies.   I wish that were true...   I'm a strong advocate of competitive market capitalism.   It's the only viable system through which societies can produce significant material well being.   However, with its increasing required conceptual inputs and technology, income inequality has risen.   We cannot have a system, no matter how powerful, that doesn't have the support of the people."

2008-02-15
Chuck Baldwin _V Dare_
2-Party Death Grip
"Neither party pays any attention to the U.S. Constitution but both are largely marching in lock-step toward bigger and bigger government...   Furthermore, it is more than obvious that the [2 major parties and the media] will not tolerate principled candidates running for President.   The recent Presidential candidacies of Duncan Hunter, Tom Tancredo, Alan Keyes, and Ron Paul make this abundantly clear...   to continue to ignore good, independent candidates only serves to strengthen and augment the two-party death grip."

2008-02-15 (5768 Adar 09)
Caroline B. Glick _Jewish World Review_
Hizbullah mastermind's true legacy

2008-02-15
DJIA12,348.21
S&P 5001,349.99
NASDAQ2,321.80
10-year US T-Bond3.78%
crude oil$95.50/barrel
gold$906.10/ounce
silver$17.118/ounce
platinum$2,063.70/ounce
palladium$451.70/ounce
copper$0.2201875/ounce
natgas$8.66/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline$2.4938/gal
heatingoil$2.6469/gal

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

2008-02-16

2008-02-16
_Libertarian Party_
national LP platform current revision
 

2008-02-17
 

2008-02-18

2008-02-18 01:30:47PST (04:30:47EST) (09:30:47GMT)
Mike Swift _San Jose Mercury News_
Illegal aliens flooding in from India: How many are H-1B and L-1 visa over-stays?
USA Today
Contra Costa Times
Inside Bay Area
Detroit Free Press
Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Los Angeles Times
Anti-Off-Shore
"The U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimates that there are 270K [illegal alien] Indian natives in the United States -- a 125% jump since 2000, the largest percentage increase of any nation with more than 100K illegal [aliens] in the United States.   The number of [illegal alien] Indians is dwarfed by the estimated 6.6M illegal residents from Mexico, according to the estimates from homeland security's Office of Immigration Statistics...   Most illegal Indian immigrants arrived as professionals in the H-1B work program but lost their jobs and legal status, the Mercury News says.   Others arrived on tourist visas and never went home or lost legal status through divorce.   Fewer than 500 are deported each year, the paper said."

2008-02-18
_Morris county Daily Record_
Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney has proposed measure to punish employers of illegal aliens
"The Immigration and Naturalization Service in 2003 estimated that New Jersey had 221K illegal immigrants, though the Federation for American Immigration Reform [FAIR], which favors tighter border security and immigration laws, estimates the state has 490K. New Jersey has about 8.7M residents and 4.1M workers."

2008-02-18
Wendy Sefsaf & Christine Senteno _New America Media_
Enforcement-Only Shuler-Bilbray Bill Heading to Floor: Bill to Allow More H-2B Workers Blocked, for now: 5-Year Visa for Illegal Aliens Proposed
135 conservative Democrats and Republicans, including Tom Tancredo, are backing a bill (HR4088) introduced by representatives Heath Shuler (D-NC) and Brian Bilbray (R-CA), which seeks to "strengthen enforcement of immigration laws, in part by providing employers more tools to verify their workers' legal status"...   there have been reports of a "discharge petition" being under-way.   A discharge petition is a process in which 218 member signatures are gathered in order to [require] the committee [to let the bill proceed].   This is a way to force the hand of house leadership and get the bill to the floor for a vote...   The more than 45 Democrats who have signed onto the bill are Blue Dog Democrats.   (coverage in The Hill)
For years, an estimated 66K to 70K people have been allowed into the United States as temporary non-agricultural workers on H-2B visas.   In each of the past 3 years, the number of H-2Bs granted increased substantially, thanks to a special exemption, rising last year to a high of nearly 130K.   This exemption allowed the number of "returning workers" not to be counted against the yearly cap of 66K "first-time workers".   However, the special exemption expired in 2007 October and now a bill to extend the exemption (HR1843), introduced by Bart Stupak of Michigan, is being held up.   Several labor groups have stepped up to limit the flow of seasonal workers.   Many say this is a small business issue, and not an immigration issue, because these are temporary visitors who stay for 10 months or less.   However, it has become embroiled in the larger immigration debate.   What is at stake?   Hotels, crabbers and even circuses are saying they will not have access to enough [CHEAP] seasonal employees for this coming summer.   (Mikulski rant in The Hill)
 
News broke last week in the Congressional Quarterly that House Democrats and Hispanic Caucus Members are working on several different pieces of legislation, including one which provides 5-year visas for [illegal alien] workers who pay fines and pass criminal background checks [mere data-base look-ups for the worst offenders who have not changed their names].   Democrats say drafts of different legislation have been written and are being vetted behind the scenes.   It has been reported that representative Joe Baca, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, has seen a draft of the bill and has discussed it in high-level meetings that included Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (IL) and representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), who chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law.
 

2008-02-18 (5768 Adar 12)
Rabbi Doctor Asher Meir _Jewish World Review_
Devious Discount
"In all of our dealings we are forbidden from deceiving others, leading them to believe they obtain a benefit from someone beyond the person's actual effort.   Such deception is called geneivas daas, literally 'stealing judgment'.   When people are improperly informed, their judgment is not exercised freely.   Leading others to believe they obtained a discount when in fact they pay a normal price would definitely be an example of geneivas daas."
 

2008-02-19

2008-02-19
Tim Higgins _Detroit Free Press_
14K Chrysler hourly workers choose to be bought out
"While Chrysler has said not all who raise their hands are likely to get the packages, which include lump sum payments of $70K or $100K, the auto-maker is working to rid itself of as many as 10K hourly workers on top of the 11K hourly workers planned for elimination over 3 years as part of last February's announced turn-around plan."

2008-02-19
David R. Butcher _Industrial Market Trends_
H-1B summary

2008-02-19 06:00PST (09:00EST) (14:00GMT)
Paul Colman _Chicago Business Wire_/_Yahoo!_
VISANOW & ethically questionable Diebold are in cahoots
"Carrie Ball, Diebold's Senior International Human Resources Representative..."

2008-02-19
Randall Burns _V Dare_
Religions affiliation cross-tabulated with stands on immigration policy

2008-02-19
Mike Boyer _Cincinnati Enquirer_
Jobs are a key issue for many, while government works to destroy more
"McLean and the workers are acutely feeling the sting of job losses.   Last week, he completed bargaining on severance for about 100 employees at Georgia-Pacific Corp.'s box plant in Batavia Township, closing in April, and is facing the loss of another 170 jobs with the closing of New Page Inc.'s paper plant in Chillicothe...   An analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland of Cincinnati-area employment trends late last year found that the area's employment has remained essentially flat while the nation's total employment grew by more than 1 percent in the last year.   But not all experts agree that's so bad.   Tim Dunne, senior economic adviser at the Federal Reserve in Cleveland, said the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky region is a relative bright spot in the Fed's 4th District, which includes western Pennsylvania, Ohio and eastern Kentucky.   He noted that while the region didn't create as many jobs in recent years, it also lost a smaller percentage in the last down-turn at the start of this decade...   Recent economic developments in Clermont County under-score that trend.   The county stands to [lose over] 1K jobs with the decision by Tata Consultancy Services, an Indian information-technology [off-shoring body shop], to locate in Miami township...   Said McLean: 'The day when you could come and work for a company and feel safe and secure is just about gone.   We're longing for security.'   Not just any job, he said, 'but good-paying jobs that you can raise a family on.   There are fewer and fewer of those.'"
class action against Tata

2008-02-19
Thomas A. Bowden _Ayn Rand Institute_
Supremes to hear 2 "retaliation" cases related to allegations that firings used excuses to disguise legally banned discrimination
"'Most Americans think discrimination laws simply stop irrational employers from making decisions based on race, age, or sex when those factors are irrelevant to performance.', said Thomas Bowden, an analyst at the Ayn Rand Institute.   'In fact, however, such laws burden all employers by jacking up the costs and risks of employing the so-called protected classes, such as minorities, women, and disabled or older workers.'"

2008-02-19
Thomas E. Woods _Lew Rockwell_
The Texas Attack on Ron Paul

2008-02-19 (5768 Adar 13)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
"Supporting the Troops"
"It is a shame that Berkeley is not on some island in the South Pacific, because then they could be given their independence and left to defend themselves."
 
 

  "We begin to broach the idea that we consider the whole Gulf Stream as of our waters, in which hostilities and cruising are to be frowned on for the present, and prohibited so soon as either consent or force will permit us.   We shall never permit another privateer to cruise within it, and shall forbid our harbors to national cruisers.   This is essential for our tranquillity and commerce." --- Thomas Jefferson 1806 to James Monroe _The Writings of Thomas Jefferson_ memorial edition 11:111  

 

2008-02-20

2008-02-20
James Carlini _Midwest Business Technology News_
H-1B Visa Program Is Broken: Which Candidate, if any, Will Fix It?
Wisconsin Technology Network
"Some companies (like United Airlines) have used the H-1B program to fill jobs ranging from financial analysts and counter help to directors of fuel supply.   These don't sound like jobs where there is a shortage of U.S. citizens or critical skills to fill them...   the easy ways to look more profitable on paper than what you actually are have been exhausted...   These [displaced] people aren't looking at new cars or new houses.   They're not buying a lot of high-tech things and for the most part have taken a downgraded life-style.   The amount of money they used to spend on landscaping, house additions, vacations and other expenditures has dried up.   Other industries and jobs have now been affected and more and more small business owners see a decline in their business and then their life-style...

    Here is what needs to be done:
  1. We need to curb cheap labor coming into this country. The reality is that the vast majority of these people aren't wizards and only have basic skills that have been overrated or overhyped as critical for global competitiveness. The lack of managing this program correctly has added to the amount of illegal aliens in this country.

  2. Make higher education cheaper and hold universities to educating the work force here. Instead of investing in foreign ventures that may be good as a secondary or tertiary strategy, their primary strategy should be to create a competitive work force here (from which they get their endowments, alumni gifts and state and federal funding).

  3. Those who don't comply get their funding cut off. Some alumni who blindly give to their alma mater should look into where the schools are focusing their efforts.

  4. Create a more cohesive working relationship between state, school and business groups to tackle the problems that are in our states (so all don't wind up like Michigan). The video in an earlier column made by veteran TV reporter Vince Wade shows the problems in Michigan.

  5. Encourage global competition and a sense of urgency to educate the work force by tightening up on curricula in higher education and public schools. Focus on programs that yield a crop of good graduates in areas that industries claim there's is a shortage in instead of cutting out programs that could have helped these areas.

  6. States should also focus on creating jobs programs that take highly skilled people and transfer them into appropriate-level jobs instead of aiming low-level jobs programs for limited-skilled workers to those who have degrees, certificates and critical experience.
Taking someone with a master's degree in computer science and offering them a menial job opportunity at the local Home Depot isn't solving the problem or adding to the economy.   There is a lot of talent sitting on the side-lines and unemployment figures don't reflect this.   Under-employment is sky-rocketing while the politicians and business media point to 'good numbers' in unemployment statistics."
 

2008-02-20
Rick Manning & Dolline Hatchett _US DoL ESA_
DoL announced 8 criminal convictions for 2008 January: 5K indictments since 1964
"During January, OLMS obtained 8 convictions, 9 indictments and court orders of restitution totaling $121,867.   The office's totals for fiscal year 2008 (which began on 2007 Oct. 1), including previously unreported indictments and convictions from prior months, now stand at 36 convictions, 47 indictments and court-ordered restitution of $877,212.   The bulk of the cases involved the embezzlement of union funds."

2008-02-20
Jaikumar Vijayan _Computer World_/_IDG_
World Privacy Forum warns that many medical records not even covered by weak HIPAA protections
privacy links

2008-02-20 08:15PST (11:15EST) (16:15GMT)
Diane Stafford _Kansas City Star_
Executive cheapness and loss of knowledge and experience
"In theory, the best-paid workers are the most valued, if not the most experienced, in a work-place.   But organizations are saying loud and clear: We need the money more than we need you...   Some organizations want experience but don't want to pay for it.   Some workers with experience should leave but stay put [many because they have to].   Some workers with experience want to stay but are forced out.   Some experience is needed, but those who have it are getting severance offers.   Some job hunters have experience but can't get hired."

2008-02-20
Brenda Walker _V Dare_
Why does the Anti-Defamation League apparently want Jews (and America) to commit suicide?

2008-02-20 (5768 Adar 14)
Rabbi Avi Shafran _Jewish World Review_
The right to educate one's children as one wishes them to be educated

2008-02-20 (5768 Adar 14)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
Costs vs. Benefits

2008-02-20 (5768 Adar 14)
Rabbi Daniel Travis _Torah.org_
Deception and Fraud
 

2008-02-21

2008-02-20 17:53PST (2008-02-20 20:53EST) (2008-02-21 01:53GMT)
colonel George W. _gather_
Ron Paul won't surrender

2008-02-21 05:30PST (08:30EST) (13:30GMT)
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 320,488 in the week ending Feb. 16, a decrease of 56,851 from the previous week.   There were 305,945 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5% during the week ending Feb. 9, unchanged from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,313,467, a decrease of 13,743 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 2.3% and the volume was 2,994,128.   Extended benefits were not available in any state during the week ending Feb. 2."
graphs

2008-02-21
James Wilson & Orval Strong _Tehama county Daily News_
2008 should be time of change in politics, not making matters worse
"Our elected representatives have steered our ship of state into disastrous waters for about 100 years.   But unlike Mr. Murdoch, they have done this deliberately.   One good case in point is the Federal Reserve Act of 1913.   It passed through Congress on Dec. 23 of that year.   Instead of regulating the nation's banking system it surrendered all the nation's monetary functions to a small group of banks.   These banks, by the way, were controlled by international bankers.   In essence, we may have won our independence in 1783 but we lost it in 1913.   Some time after the Federal Reserve Act was passed President Wilson admitted that he had, 'unwittingly ruined my country'.   Congressman William Wright from Texas introduced legislation to repeal the act, and so did representative Henry Gonzales, also from Texas.   Today, Ron Paul, who (by the way, is another presidential candidate) has authored HR2755 which will, if passed, repeal the act.   The Fed can create money out of thin air anytime it wants to, and every time it does, we the people, are obliged to not only honor it but also back it up with our assets, labor and, if necessary, even our blood.   Is that a heck of a deal, or what?   This country's inflationary rate was, believe it or not, zero up until 1913.   All federal officials that have supported this villainous system have committed an act of treason.   Why is this?   Because, among other things treason is, 'betraying the state into the hands of a foreign power'."

2008-02-21
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
Chrysler lay-offs continue while training Tata's cheap labor
"A union at Chrysler, United Auto Workers Local 412, believes that Tata's role at the company will expand beyond this week's announcement, at least for one group of employees.   Last week, the union group claimed that foreign workers on H-1B visas were being trained on systems used by recently laid-off employees at its technical center in Auburn Hills, MI."
class action against Tata

2008-02-21
Marianne Kolbasuk McGee _Information Week_/_CMP_ (now United Business Media)
Chrysler consolidates "IT services" in multi-million dollar deal with Indian bodyshopper Tata
"The automotive industry is one of Tata's key markets within its TCS Manufacturing vertical practice, accounting for 15.1% of the company's $4.3G global revenue in fiscal 2007, the company said."
class action against Tata

2008-02-21
_Medical News Today_
Many foreign physicians working under J-1 visas are not practicing in under-served areas
"Foreign-born physicians working in Ohio through the J-1 visa program are practicing at larger hospitals such as the Cleveland Clinic, rather than in the rural or inner-city areas that the program is intended to serve, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.   The national J-1 visa program allows states to recruit up to 30 foreign doctors annually to work for three years in underserved areas.   However, according to the Plain Dealer, the program has 'evolved from getting family doctors' for underserved areas to 'providing big hospitals with a way to keep foreign-born residents whom they trained on their full-time staffs'."

2008-02-21
_Ludwig von Mises Institute_
privatization of "public" services

2008-02-21 (5768 Adar 15)
Amy H. Lederman _Jewish World Review_
Lessons from a hummingbird

2008-02-21 (5768 Adar 15)
Judy Green _Jewish World Review_
Time for a "Jewish Mother" President
 

2008-02-22

2008-02-21 21:03PST (2008-02-22 00:03EST) (2008-02-22 05:03GMT)
Thomas Kostigen _MarketWatch_
"Ethical" investment funds don't make many ethical investments

2008-02-22 12:43PDT (15:43EST) (20:43GMT)
Greg Robb _MarketWatch_
Dallas Federal Reserve chief Richard Fisher says business executives are concerned about need to pay production workers decently, even in India and Red China
"Fisher said the inflation pressures appear to be outside the control of U.S. monetary policy-makers.   He said that rising living standards for workers in [Red China] and India was pulling up prices for energy and food.   The 3G new consumers in [Red China] and India 'want to eat like us', Fisher said.   By implication, this means that a slow-down in growth in the U.S. may not bring down prices."

2008-02-22
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
Chrysler consolidating IT work with Tata
ComputerWorld Hong Kong
"The cost of the contract was not disclosed.   According to Tata the contract is worth $120M (£60m) but a note from the company did not say how long it runs."
class action against Tata

2008-02-22
Joe Guzzardi _V Dare_
Joe's Immigration Reform Fantasy Almost Comes True

2008-02-22
Joe Guzzardi _V Dare_
Joe Louis Remembered

2008-02-22
DJIA12,381.02
S&P 5001,353.11
NASDAQ2,303.35
10-year US T-Bond3.79%
crude oil$99.81/barrel
gold$947.80/ounce
silver$18.04/ounce
platinum$2,063.70/ounce
palladium$515.85/ounce
copper$0.236875/ounce
natgas$9.146/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline$2.5337/gal
heatingoil$2.763/gal

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

2008-02-23

2008-02-23
Carrie _Carrie's Nation_
Chrysler and UAW and Tata
"My quick answer is, just about everyone in Detroit, from the news media to the auto-workers, is completely clueless about how foreign workers are replacing American workers right here in our own back-yards.   This has been happening to IT professionals and engineers in Detroit for the last several years, yet has somehow managed to completely elude the local radar.   (Which is the main reason why I've been harping about this for almost a year.)   The technical workers are a quiet bunch and are not apt to make waves, (although they aren't above getting together with their old co-workers and griping while drinking beers at the local taverns).   So they obviously aren't going around educating the public.   My personal opinion is, either the UAW and Rod Meloni feel that mentioning H-1B workers would be useless since Detroiters would have no idea what the heck they were talking about, or the UAW and Meloni flat out don't know anything about H-1B's and L-1's, and don't feel confident talking about the issue.   Also, Detroit journalists get their information hand-fed to them by Big 3 management.   These honchos aren't about to volunteer any information about H-1B and L-1 visa workers.   As a result, there is almost no way for the general public in Detroit to find out about this issue."
class action against Tata

2008-02-23
Ronald Kyser, Tim McCoy et al. _V Dare_
Contain McCain, Sue Now
"I am a computer programmer and my nemeses are foreign-born H-1B visa holders.   When I was in my early 60s, an Indian H-1B worker approached me to suggest that I was too old to be useful and that I should retire to make room for more of his countrymen.   He was smart enough to make sure no credible witnesses were within listening distance."

2008-02-23
Jeff Lukens _View from 1776_
Tolerance and Responsibility
 

2008-02-24

2008-02-24
_Globe & Mail_
Clearbrook, BC and Los Angeles got top ratings in 18th Annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting
USA Today
Hagerstown Herald Herald-Mail
Martinsburg WV Journal
Huntington WV Herald-Dispatch
CNN
Charleston WV Daily Mail Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and
Clearbrook, British Columbia, Canada
Municipal water (tied)
Purified drinking waterGreat Blue, Federalsburg, MD
Bottled noncarbonated waterTumai Natural Spring Water, Martinsburg, WV
Sparkling water - Salvus Mineralwasser Medium, Emsdetten, Germany
People's Choice packaging designMist Premium Spring Water, Vanleer, TN

2008-02-24
Elaine Kurtenbach _Buffalo Business News_/_AP_
costs are rising for manufacturing in Red China
Ventura County Star
Philadelphia Inquirer
Nashua Telegraph
"about 14K Hong Kong-run factories could close in the next few months...   Despite its huge pool of unskilled rural laborers, [Red China's] supply of experienced, skilled talent falls far short of demand.   The gap has been pushing wages up by 10% to 15% a year.   A new labor law requiring stronger employment contracts is expected to raise costs even more.   Prices for plastics and other materials have climbed 30% or more, and electricity rates are surging, too.   The government has also slashed export tax rebates -- originally given to promote exports -- on more than 2,800 products accounting for nearly 40% of all Chinese exports."

2008-02-24
Jerome R. Corsi, PhD _World Net Daily_
North American Army created without OK by US congress

2008-02-24
_California Job Journal_
Silicon Valley losing mid-level jobs
"Business analysts 'Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network' report that in 2007 the region added 28K jobs, an increase of 1.7%.   The median income rose 2% to $82K.   However, between 2002 and 2006, middle-wage jobs declined from 52% of the work-force to 46% -- a loss of 50K jobs paying $30K to $80K annually.   Meanwhile, the percentages of higher-end and lower-end jobs rose 2% and 5% respectively."

2008-02-24
Gary Becker & Richard Posner
College Tuition and Endowments

2008-02-24
Penelope Trunk _California Job Journal_
Get Hired When You're Capable But Not "Qualified"
"Most of the time the manager or HR person writing the job descriptions has little idea what they really want or need.   So write a good cover letter about why you're a good fit, and ignore the part about qualifications you don’t have.   Talk about your track record for delivering what they want."
 

2008-02-25

2008-02-25
Mike Mosely _Conservative Voice_
Clinton-Bush economic depression continues for American workers
"With the job market getting more difficult by the day, Washington has decided that American business needs more workers competing for fewer jobs.   Illinois Senator Dick Durbin (D), Nevada Senator Harry Reid (D), and others on Capitol Hill have been having meetings where leaders of both Parties have shown a desire during this time of economic upheaval to sneak through massive increases of foreign workers.   It is Washington's action and inaction that has been partly responsible for today's recession.   Workers loss wages across the board and the open border policies have caused the welfare state to expand.   Washington's refusal to secure the United States borders with Mexico has had a devastating effect on the American worker.   Working citizens' wages have been uncut on every manual labor job across the U.S.A.   As American jobs are reduced because of business cutbacks, career politicians in Washington have decided that an increase in the number of workers is important.   H-1B visas for foreign tech workers, H-2B visas for foreign laborers, green cards for permanent foreign nurses and a five-year visa for 12M-20M illegal foreign workers and their dependents will act as competition for American workers."

2008-02-25
Wally Edge _Politicker NV_
Ron Paul backers are most informed about US constitution

2008-02-25
Barbara L. Minton _RINF_
North American Union voting your rights away
"The Independent Task Force on North America, a project organized by the Council on Foreign Relations and co-chaired by Robert Pastor, was launched in 2004 October.   This group published two documents: Trinational Call for a North American Economic and Security Community by 2010 (2005 March), and its final report Building a North American Community (2005 May).   This Task Force had as its central recommendation the establishment by 2010 of a North American economic and security community.   The boundaries of this community would be defined by a common external tariff and outer security perimeter.   Also called for is the replacing of all 3 branches of the U.S. government with a North American version effectively ending U.S. representative government.   In 2005 March, at their summit meeting in Waco, Texas; Bush, President Fox of Mexico and Prime Minister Martin of Canada issued a joint statement announcing the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP).   The creation of this agreement was never submitted to Congress for discussion or decision.   The U.S. Department of Commerce merely created a new division implementing working groups to advance a North American Union agenda.   This agenda included movement of goods, finances, e-commerce, environment, business facilitation, food and agriculture, and health.   The result is an action agreement to be implemented immediately and directly by regulations, without any envisioned Congressional debate or oversight.   In 2006 September, representative Virgil Goode (VA), representative Ron Paul (TX), representative Walter Jones (NC), and representative Tom Tancredo (CO) introduced House Concurrent Resolution 487, expressing concerns about the NAU.   Resolution was passed by the House of Representatives with the Senate concurring that the U.S.A. should not enter into a North American Union with Mexico and Canada; the U.S.A. should not engage in the construction of the NAFTA Superhighway System, and the President should indicate strong opposition to these or any other proposals that threaten the sovereignty of the U.S.A."

2008-02-25
"Christian Prophet" _Nolan Chart_
America Needs Ron Paul Republicans

2008-02-25
_Washington Times_
Pelosi's amnesty scheme for illegal aliens

2008-02-25
David Weigel _Reason_
Paul Moving Up
"'He's improving his standing', Elam said, 'which has never been in jeopardy in our polls.'   From a starting point of around 60% last month, Paul is at 72% in the last internal poll.   Peden is at 11%.   According to Elam the numbers have been moving since the campaign bought $400K in TV and radio ads in the district."

2008-02-25
_Nolan Chart_
When it comes to Ron Paul news, spin is king
"On Saturday Ron Paul appeared on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin, where Grammy-winning blues guitarist Jimmy Vaughn resoundingly endorsed him.   Dr. Paul then addressed a crowd of 4K supporters, while a grassroots-funded aircraft flew overhead towing a large Ron Paul banner.   News reporters and average Joes alike wrote reports.   Perhaps more interesting than the event itself, and the substantial crowd that it drew, were the radically different stories published about it.   While there was only one event, one set of facts, the reports illustrate wildly different spins.   Compare, for example, these 2 stories: April Castro, reporting for the Associated Press titled her article 'Paul says he won't try to run as an independent.'   The negative title is not news, but rather a fact widely reported and well known for many months.   Her lead-in to the article begins: 'Acknowledging his imminent failure, maverick Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul said Saturday that he won't get back into the race for the White House as an independent candidate once a GOP nominee is solidified.'   Could she have packed her first paragraph with more negative observations and allusions? Castro did manage to include some other positive facts and distinctives about Dr. Paul later in her story, but pushed them down towards the end, far past the point where many news browsers have already stopped reading.   In contrast, Patrick George, staff writer for the Austin American-Statesman was considerably more balanced in his report.   The title of his piece is 'Paul says he'll stay in race, not run as an independent.', positively emphasizing Ron Paul's commitment.   The lead-in reads: 'As long as the supporters keep increasing and the cash keeps rolling in, Ron Paul won't give up his run for president.'   'He's been particularly popular in Austin, about 200 miles from his home in Lake Jackson.   Ron Paul signs, bumper stickers, T-shirts and bill-boards have sprouted in abundance in the past year.'   George also reported the supporter-funded plane flying overhead, towing a large 'Ron Paul Revolution' banner...   neither of these articles mention that Jimmy Vaughn, noted singer and award-winning blues guitarist, was at the rally where he explicitly endorsed Dr. Paul."
Ron Paul campaign disbursements
FEC campaign finance reports

2008-02-25 (5768 Adar 19)
Jonathan Tobin _Jewish World Review_
Willingness to deal with renewed threat of nuclear weapons in Iran needs to be a campaign issue

2008-02-25 (5768 Adar 19)
Rabbi Doctor Asher Meir _Jewish World Review_
Self-Respect or Vanity
 

2008-02-26: 36 weeks to federal elections of president and congress-critters

2008-02-25 16:32PST (2008-02-25 19:32EST) (2008-02-26 00:32GMT)
Paul B. Farrell _MarketWatch_
11 reasons Bernanke recession in Clinton-Bush depression will last until 2011
"more lies, blunders and incompetence will drag out this bear...   The truth is, you can call it a 'bear', 'slow growth', a 'down-turn', a 'recession' -- call it whatever you want...   Stagflation...   Housing-credit melt-down...   Commodities: The World's new reserve 'currency'...   Toxic derivatives...   Massive debt: Everywhere, trade, federal, states, local...   America's new 'pushers:' Banks feeding consumer addicts...   More wars: Pentagon predicts bigger, costlier conflicts...   Greed: Wall Street and Corporate America's defining 'value'...   Democracy failing: America now run by 35K lobbyists!...   America's already in a recession, and in denial...   Class warfare: Superrich vs. Main Street America...   No matter who wins, the presidential campaign is warning us: A major battle's coming between 'the rich and the rest'; over taxes, benefits, cuts, power.   For years the media collaborated with Wall Street and Corporate America, hyping 'Ownership, the New American Dream', where everyone benefits, shares the wealth, gains a piece-of-the-action, ownership in 'The Dream' through the magic of housing, stocks, growth, profits, retirement plans.   But the housing-credit contagion killed the dream.   Yes, the super-rich did get richer.   But 'the rest' didn't.   And they're waking up to a widening gap.   A back-lash is brewing and will explode... delaying a recovery and a new bull."

2008-02-26
_New India Press_
Indian IT workers expect lay-offs and compensation cuts
"The recession is also likely to affect the number of scholarships by American Universities, besides a steady decline in the H-1B visas."

2008-02-26 02:43PST (05:43EST) (10:43GMT)
Steve Goldstein _MarketWatch_
US foreclosures rose 57% since last year

2008-02-26
Lori Debetaz _Dallas Morning News_
Students reasonably fear lay-offs
"A number of the companies expressing concern over the lack of computer science students today are the same companies that had no qualms about laying off a large number of the qualified U.S. employees during the dot-com bust, preferring to move the jobs over-seas, as well as retain their foreign workers here on H-1B visas.   No doubt, many of the laid-off employees were the parents and family friends of today's college students.   Maybe these students prefer to pursue a profession where they feel they have a lesser chance of being tossed aside so easily."

2008-02-26
Ephraim Schwartz _InfoWorld_
What 3 of the presidential candidates had to say about H-1B visas

2008-02-26
Deb Perelman _eWeek_
Silicon Valley middle class being destroyed
"In 2006, only 46% of the jobs in Silicon Valley were mid-wage, paying between $30K and $80K a year, down from 52% in 2002, according to the 2008 Index of Silicon Valley, sponsored by Joint Venture, a public-private partnership, and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a non-profit.   Meanwhile, the percentage of higher wage jobs remained relatively stable at 26% to 27%, while low-wage jobs grew from 22% to 27% in the same period...   However, the picture is more complicated than a depleted middle class.   The region's 541,300 midwage jobs were distributed across 523 occupations in 2006, half of which lost and half of which gained jobs.   The vanishing jobs had been among workers who had been in the lowest parts of the white-collar work force, including secretaries, clerks and customer service representatives.   Meanwhile, blue-collar roles such as electricians and plumbers and white-collar jobs such as computer support technicians showed gains...   Still, the overall picture of Silicon Valley is a healthy one.   The population in the region grew 1.5% in the past year; it added 28K jobs at a time when overall employment growth slowed in the rest of the country; and the region continued to increase its share of U.S. patents, with 47% of those granted in California and 12% of those in the nation coming out of the region."

2008-02-26
Daniel Pipes _Philadelphia Bulletin_
Destroying Sculptures of Mohammed
,a href="http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=A71F76A4-41D8-4146-A7E2-59B18C12325C">Front Page

2008-02-26 08:19PST (11:19EST) (16:19GMT)
Ruth Mantell _MarketWatch_
Conference Board consumer confidence fell to 75 in February

2008-02-26
Thomas Brewton _View from 1776_
Education for Slavery

2008-02-26
Chuck Baldwin _V Dare_
Moneychangers Destroying America
News with Views

2008-02-26
John Derbyshire _V Dare_
Genetic History of the Jews

2008-02-26 (5768 Adar 20)
Rabbi Tzvi Rosen _Jewish World Review_
Vinegar: Sour Grapes or Sweet Success?

2008-02-26 (5768 Adar 20)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Bad Times
 
 

  "We aim not at the acquisition of any of [Europe's American] possessions,...   we will not stand in the way of any amicable arrangement between them and the Mother country; but... we will oppose, with all our means, the forcible interposition of any other power, as auxiliary, stipendiary, or under any other form or pretext, and most especially, their transfer to any power by conquest, cession, or acquisition in any other way." --- Thomas Jefferson 1823 to James Monroe _The Writings of Thomas Jefferson_ memorial edition 15:479  

 

2008-02-27

2008-02-27
Kartik Ariyur _View from 1776_
The Truth Shall Make Us Free

2008-02-27
James Carlini _Midwest Business Technology News_
Topic of H-1B visa program abuse ignited feed-back fire

2008-02-27
Bill Nelson
Let's target Red Chinese spying
"On the heels of federal indictments suggesting the Chinese are unrelenting in their attempts to pry into American military and trade secrets comes a new warning from a key U.S. senator that America's cyber defenses are way too lax.   In testimony today before the U.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission, U.S. senator Bill Nelson said that a series of recent spy cases in the U.S. under-scores the need for government targeting of an adept and determined espionage effort by the [Red Chinese].   The only member of the Senate to serve on that body's Intelligence, Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, Nelson told the U.S.-China panel that [Red Chinese] espionage is so prevalent that it threatens U.S. economic and homeland security and requires that Congress take a closer look at our defenses against cyber attacks...   [USCC] called for a crack-down on illicit technology transfers to [Red China] and for Congress to consider more resources for protection of critical American computer networks...   recent indictments by the Justice Department of four people in 2 separate spying cases in which prosecutors alleged U.S. military and space-shuttle secrets were obtained by the [Red Chinese].   The government also has detected a coordinated effort by hackers, believed to be Chinese, to infiltrate top government research laboratories -- including the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which was hacked into last December."

2008-02-27 (5768 Adar 21)
Rabbi Yonason Goldson _Jewish World Review_
If you could have any super-power, which would you choose?

2008-02-27 (5768 Adar 21)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
Africa: A tragic continent
"Most of what Africa needs, the West cannot give: rule of law, private property rights, fewer economic restrictions, independent judiciary and limited government.   The one important thing we can do to help is to lower our trade barriers."

2008-02-27 (5768 Adar 21)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
A lesson from Venezuela
 

2008-02-28: 250 days to federal elections of president and congress-critters

2008-02-28 05:13PST (08:13EST) (13:13GMT)
_Australia_
Independtent Candidate for President, Frank McEnulty of California announces 4 point plan for coping with aliens
To the Center
"First, I would instruct all agencies under my jurisdiction to strictly enforce and apply the rules against hiring illegal immigrant workers.   Second, I would direct that all instances of employing illegal aliens be subject to penalty by fine and jail time -- real jail time, not a 'country club' jail.   It's real simple for an employer to pay a fine and move on -- that's just a cost of doing business.   It's not so simple to ignore the threat of real jail time in a real criminal jail.   No one wants to face that prospect.   Third, I would do whatever was possible to ensure that illegal aliens in this country would not receive any social benefits.   Fourth, I would move to change the Constitution so that only those born of American citizens become citizens of this country upon birth.   The founders of our country could not and would not have ever envisioned the fact that there would be hundreds of thousands of babies born each year in the United States hospitals solely so their parents can use them as an excuse to demand to stay here and take benefits from the rest of us.   It's really that easy.   Active and thorough enforcement of our laws will not only solve the current problem, but ensure that it doesn't happen again in the future.   Between illegal aliens and H-1B visa recipients depressing wages, moving factories abroad and 'free' trade agreements, it's a miracle that Americans have any decent wage paying jobs at all."

2008-02-28 05:30PST (08:30EST) (13:30GMT)
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 328,178 in the week ending Feb. 23, an increase of 2,447 from the previous week.   There were 299K initial claims in the comparable week in 2007.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5% during the week ending Feb. 16, unchanged from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,304,389, a decrease of 11,169 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 2.3% and the volume was 3,075,023.   Extended benefits were not available in any state during the week ending Feb. 9."
graphs

2008-02-28 06:59PST (09:59EST) (14:59GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
GDP estimate for 2007Q4 remains unrevised at 0.6%
"For all of 2007, the economy grew at the weakest pace in 5 years, rising at an inflation-adjusted 2.2% after a 2.9% gain in 2006.   The economy grew 4.9% in the third quarter...   Consumer inflation was revised higher to a 4.1% annualized pace in the quarter from 3.9%, but core inflation -- which excludes food and energy costs -- was unrevised at 2.7%.   Consumer prices rose 3.4% in 2007, while core prices increased 2.1%, just above the Federal Reserve's 2% comfort zone for inflation...   Exports increased 4.8% in the fourth quarter, although this marked a slowing after 19.1% growth in the third quarter.   Imports fell 1.9% after a 4.4% gain in the third quarter.   Net exports contributed 0.9 of a percentage point to growth."

2008-02-28
Ephraim Schwartz _InfoWorld_/_IDG_
L-1 visas are being misused says immigration attorney Bob Meltzer of VisaNow

2008-02-28
Michael M. Bates _Web Commentary_
Not a dime's worth of difference

2008-02-28 07:58PST (10:58EST) (15:58GMT)
Alicia A. Caldwell _Michigan Live_/_AP_
Plan to fence, place vehicle barriers along a mere 57 miles of Texas border has been lad out
USA Today

2008-02-28
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
Management resistance, half-baked technology raise call for 3+ year delay in "virtual fence" along borders
"The first and most important lesson learned, said Krone in his testimony, 'is the need for engagement with a complete set of customer stake-holders to include the actual SBInet users within the Border Patrol'...   The first segment of the 28-mile electronic fence was built along part of Arizona's border with Mexico.   Congress was told this week that initial plans to extend the fence out to El Paso, TX will likely take until the end of 2011.   The U.S. has plans to increase security along all 6K miles of its border under SBI with Mexico and Canada, although not entirely with the electronic fence.   The project was estimated about two years ago to cost about $7.6G.   SBInet is name for the Secure Border Initiative, with the net referring to virtual fence aspect of the border initiative...   In a report this week, the GAO said Boeing's inability to integrate system components was result of picking a software system, previously used in law-enforcement dispatch, that couldn't handle the demands of the virtual fence."

2008-02-28
Patrick J. Buchanan _V Dare_
Current governments' willful incompetence when it comes to border fence
"When Woodrow Wilson went to Congress to ask for a declaration of war in 1917, the U.S. Army was ranked 17th in the world, behind Portugal.   On Armistice Day, 19 months later, there were 2 million doughboys in France...   After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, FDR demanded that a disarmed America 'build 50K planes' -- a seemingly impossible number, but one America met and exceeded.   Starting from scratch in 1941, the Manhattan Project at Oak Ridge and Los Alamos designed, built, tested and detonated three atomic bombs by August 1945 to end the war...   building the first 100 miles of 'virtual fence' will take [the federal government] longer than it took [the Allies] to win World War II...   In short, these characters cannot build a virtual fence and won't complete a physical fence...   Securing a border is not that difficult.   In 1954, President Eisenhower sent an Army general to Texas to do it.   He began repatriating thousands of Mexicans and had the situation in hand within a year.   Along the San Diego corridor, a crude fence of corrugated steel matting from U.S. air-fields in VietNam has stopped illegal trucks from crossing, cut back 90% on the illegal alien traffic, and virtually eliminated murders and assaults in the border area...   Given the manifest will of the people that this invasion from the south be halted and rolled back, the 2008 election is shaping up as yet further confirmation that American democracy is a fraud."

2008-02-28
Thomas Brewton _View from 1776_
Failing Fed

2008-02-28
Thomas Brewton _View from 1776_
How Interest Rate Manipulation Punishes Us

2008-02-28
Rob Sanchez _Job Destruction News-Letter_
Back-room deal for H-1B increase is being negotiated in congress, 250 days before election
"Roy Beck from NumbersUSA warns that a bad situation brewing in Washington DC. A back-room deal on amnesty and guest worker visas is being negotiated. Very few details are available at this time. While the Washington Times article doesn't mention H-1B specifically, it definitely backs up Beck's claim that a major deal on immigration is being negotiated. It's called the 'Baca Amendment' to the SAVE ACT. Unfortunately I don't have any details of what is in the Baca Amendment but it appears that Rep. Pelosi is insisting that it must contain a huge increase in H-1B and H-2B visas as well as some kind of F-4 like what was in the SKIL bill..."
 
"Incredible as it may seem amidst talk of recessions, job cuts and stagnant wages, NumbersUSA's Capitol Hill Team finds reports and signs everywhere that House Speaker Pelosi is negotiating to give millions of U.S. jobs to foreign workers.", NumbersUSA President Roy Beck said today.
 
The Democratic Pelosi's backroom deals appear to be motivated by fear that a group of freshmen Democrats may get most Republicans to help them force a vote on the enforcement-only SAVE Act (Secure America with Verification Enforcement). That bill -- with 147 bi-partisan signers in the House and Senate -- primarily would drive millions of illegal aliens out of their jobs. But Pelosi is trying to ensure that if the bill comes to a vote it will include huge increases in H-2B and H-1B visas for foreign workers of all kinds, and that it will include millions of legal work permits for all the illegal aliens currently holding a job.
 
"I want every American to be aware of Speaker Pelosi's callous attitude toward the 23M, less-educated working-age Americans who do not currently have a job.", Beck said. "This group of Americans without any college education and without a job increased by 2M between 2000 and 2005 at the same time Congress was importing 1.5M foreign workers of the same education level, according to research by the Center for Immigration Studies.
 
"Nobody in Congress has a worse grade (F-minus) than Nancy Pelosi when it comes to protecting American jobs, American wages and American working conditions from the downward pressures of massive immigration. As the head Democrat, she stands in stark contrast to most of the newly elected Democrats who are pledged to protecting American workers and fighting illegal immigration. Unfortunately, Pelosi, the most radical member of congress on the immigration issue, is using her power as Speaker of the House to try to wreak even more damage on the most vulnerable of American workers and legal immigrant workers in this country. I urge all concerned Americans to contact their members of congress and express opposition to representative Pelosi's outrageous push for more foreign work visas."
Job Destruction News-Letter
 

2008-02-28 14:58PST (17:58EST) (22:58GMT)
Kate Alexander & Paul Farris _Austin American Statesman_
Ron Paul continuing campaign on 2 fronts
"'...the Galveston/Victoria newspapers which both questioned Paul's efficacy representing District 14...'   No doubt, the media means that Paul hasn't participated sufficiently in lifting the wallets of hard working US tax-paying citizens to spread favors back home in District 14 to ensure continual re-election.   Thank you Dr. Paul for being the [tax-victims'] best friend and trying to educate the nation about the ponzi scheme that is leading us to economic ruin.   You are a Statesman, sir."

2008-02-28
Edwin S. Rubenstein _V Dare_
Bush Deportation Claims Are (Surprise!) Deceptive

2008-02-28 (5768 Adar 22)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Cold Water on "Global Warming"
"A new and very different conference on global warming will be held in New York City, under the sponsorship of the Heartland Institute, on March 2nd to March 4th -- weather permitting.   It is called an 'International Conference on Climate Change'.   Its subtitle is 'Global Warming: Truth or Swindle?'.   Among those present will be professors of climatology, along with scientists in other fields and people from other professions.   They come from universities in England, Hungary, and Australia, as well as from the United States and Canada, and include among other dignitaries the president of the Czech Republic.   There will be 98 speakers and 400 participants."
 

2008-02-29

2008-02-29
_Christian Science Monitor_
Federal government and border resident resistance to fencing the US border is building; Public must stand firm
"Their constituents' message was this: Show us that you can enforce the law on illegal immigrants, then let's see what other solutions are needed.   And so Congress approved a plan to add roughly 700 miles of fencing along the 2K-mile [southern] border.   It is one of several enforcement steps that include more border guards and prosecution of illegal migrants...   A 28-mile pilot virtual fence, being built by Boeing in Arizona, is made up of radar, cameras, and border patrol agents in vehicles with laptops and satellite phones.   But the system doesn't work in the field.   Rain triggers the radar.   Cameras can't resolve images.   And so building the first phase of the fence is being delayed to the end of 2011 instead of the end of this year, according to the Washington Post."

2008-02-29
Ketaki Gokhale _India West_
South Asians grab up residency slots
"In 2000 October, Congress [and Clinton] passed changes to the H-1B work visa that exempted universities, research institutions and teaching hospitals from the H-1B cap—meaning that these institutions could now bring in unlimited numbers of foreign medical graduates on the H-1B visa.   Before, they would have brought these doctors into their residency programs on J-1 student visas, putting more of their residents into the J-1 visa waiver pipe-line to serve in rural areas.   Many have argued that the changes to the H-1B, made primarily to free up H-1B visas for corporate America, have had the side effect of hurting health care in rural America.   And according to data from the Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, the number of foreign physicians in residency programs in the United States has indeed declined precipitously, falling about 45% from 11K in 1997 to 6K in 2006.   But the number of foreign doctors working in the United States hasn't changed, experts explain.   It's just that more of them have opted for H-1B visas.   By doing so, they avoid having to return to their home country for two years, or working in a rural area to get that requirement waived.   One Indian American doctor was quoted in the Wall Street Journal last year, calling working on a J-1 waiver similar to 'serving jail time' in the rural out-posts of America -- this fate, too, is one that some speculate foreign doctors are trying to avoid...   J-1 physicians can do fellowships and gain specialized knowledge, an option not available to H-1B clinical trainees.   Most doctors on J-1 waivers in California agree that they would have preferred to be on H-1Bs, but there also seems to be a consensus that having any visa at all is a good thing...   Of the available pool of 6,600 to 8,600 physicians, about 5,700 to 7,700 are returning to their home countries after their residencies, instead of working in medically underserved regions of the United States, the report said.   Whether it's by choice or because of a lack of job prospects, is open to speculation...   However, not all is rosy in the J-1 visa waiver program.   There are horror stories in the medical community of J-1 doctors being abused by their employers—forced to work 80-hour weeks and skip their vacations.   Last year, a number of J-1 waiver doctors in Nevada approached the Las Vegas Sun, telling reporters there that instead of working in low-income and under-served areas, they had been diverted to affluent hospitals in Las Vegas, where they could bring in more money for their bosses.   They claimed to have been worked up to 100 hours a week, and some even said their salaries had been withheld.   Taking the stories of their exploitation to the press was a bold move on the part of these immigrant doctors.   Many J-1 waiver doctors are willing to put up with abuse for the sake of holding on to their visas.   In reaction to the expose, the state of Nevada transferred oversight of the J-1 visa waiver program to a new bureau, which has vowed to more aggressively enforce the program's guidelines."

2008-02-29 03:00PST (06:00EST) (11:00GMT)<,br /> Sramana Mitra _Forbes_
The Death of Off-Shore Out-Sourcing to India
"Information technology and IT-enabled services will employ 4M people in 2008 and account for 7% of gross domestic product and 33% of India's foreign-exchange in-flows, according to NASSCOM, an Indian IT industry organization.   The death of this industry is far from anyone's mind.   However, the reality is that wages are rising in India.   The cost advantage for off-shoring [from the USA] to India used to be at least 1:6.   Today, it is at best 1:3.   Attrition is scary...   As the 1:3 cost structure becomes 1:1.5, it will soon become inefficient to use Indian labor.   Why not Oklahoma or British Columbia?   For many Europeans, Eastern Europe has already become more compelling than India.   The pure labor arbitrage equation will no longer balance."

2008-02-29 08:42PST (11:42EST) (16:42GMT)
Ruth Mantell _MarketWatch_
UMich consumer sentiment index went from 78.4 in January to 69.6 in mid-February to 70.8 in late February

2008-02-29
Liz Halloran _US News & World Report_
Primaries in Texas and Ohio
"Texas [congressman] Ron Paul, also still in the race, has been attracting about 10% of GOP voters, according to recent polls, and isn't expected to be a factor.   He has begun devoting attention to his House re-election run, where he may face a primary challenge."

2008-02-29
_Chronicle of Higher Education_
Student Editors at Flagship Campi in Ohio & Texas
"Mrs. Clinton had collected a total of three endorsements from campus newspapers as of Monday, while Mr. Obama had received 42, according to a running tally at Uwire, which gathers, edits, and distributes student-generated material. Among Republicans who remain in the presidential race, Mr. McCain had received endorsements from 40 student newspapers as of Monday, Ron Paul 3, and Mike Huckabee 1."

2008-02-29
Joe Guzzardi _V Dare_
He Can't Win -- How Immigration Reform Patriots Betrayed Duncan Hunter (And Tom Tancredo)
"Despite Hunter's strong resume that emphasizes his commitment to immigration reform, national security and patriotism, voters steadfastly refused to support him...   Huckabee and Paul, both still in the race, both signed NumbersUSA's No Amnesty pledge...   The failure is not in Hunter and Tancredo's campaign, but our abandonment of them.   Maybe 2008 is the year we will finally learn our lesson: Until patriotic immigration reformers learn to vote on their issue, and on no other issue, regardless of party, regardless of whether their candidate can 'win', they will not get the attention of the political elite."

2008-02-29 (5768 Adar 23)
Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski _Jewisk World Review_
Wise-hearted

2008-02-29 (5768 Adar 23)
Caroline B. Glick _Jewish World Review_
The curse of the moderates

2008-02-29
DJIA12,266.39
S&P 5001,330.63
NASDAQ2,271.48
10-year US T-Bond3.53%
crude oil$101.84/barrel
gold$975.00/ounce
silver$19.81/ounce
platinum$2,180.70/ounce
palladium$571.95/ounce
copper$0.240625/ounce
natgas$8.93/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline$2.5123/gal
heatingoil$2.8397/gal
dollarindex73.754

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

  "Do what is right, leaving the people of Europe to act their follies and crimes among themselves, while we pursue in good faith the paths of peace and prosperity." --- Thomas Jefferson 1823 to James Monroe  

 
 

2008 February
_NAFSA_
Higher Education's H-1B Cap Exemption Is In Jeopardy... and So It Should Be
 

  "The politics of Europe render it indispensably necessary that, with respect to everything external, we be one nation only, firmly hooped together." --- Thomas Jefferson 1786 to James Madison _The Writings of Thomas Jefferson_ memorial edition 5:278  

 



Proposed Bills 2008



Presidential candidate fund-raising, expenditures, and debt
 
 
  "The first object of my heart is my country.   In that is embarked my family, my fortune and my own existence. I have not one farthing of interest nor one fibre of attachment out of it, nor a single motive of preference of any one nation to another but in proportion as they are more or less friendly to us." --- Thomas Jefferson 1799 to Elbridge Gerry _The Writings of Thomas Jefferson_ memorial edition 10:78  

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