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updated: 2015-12-29
 

New York Workingmen's Democratic Republican Association: "Property is the fruit of labor -- property is desirable -- is a positive good in the world.   That some should be rich, shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise.   Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself." --- Abraham Lincoln 1864 (reply to New York Workingmen's Democratic Republican Association; quoted in David Lewis Schaefer "Just Encouragement to Industry and Enterprise"

 
 
 

2008 September

U	M	T	W	R	F	S
1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30

 
 
 
 
 

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

2008-09-01

2008-09-01
Francine Knowles _Chicago IL Sun-Times_
New job after lay-off often tougher to find, pays less: 17-week search and 13% lower compensation was the norm in 2007
Courier News
"it took her 9 months to find another job, and it was for 15% less pay...   Nationally, the average time the unemployed were out of work in 2007 was 16.8 weeks, and in 2008 July, it rose to 17.1 weeks, according to federal data.   But the number of people who've been out of work 27 weeks or more had shot up 28% in July from a year earlier, says out-placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas CEO John Challenger...   The unemployment rate in Illinois has surged from 5.1% a year ago to 7.3% in July.   The National Employment Law Project notes that in July, 14,752 workers in Illinois exhausted their 6 months of unemployment benefits without finding work -- the most in any 1 month in 4 years.   As for pay, 45% of U.S. workers who lost jobs from 2005 to 2007 and were re-employed took pay cuts, a recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report reveals.   One in four suffered earnings losses of 20% or more.   Among Illinois workers who lost their jobs in 2007, 66% were working this year, but on average they were making 13% less than their last job, according to data from IDES labor market economist Mitch Daniels.   [In Illinois] Of those employed in mining and construction, only 25% of them had landed jobs, and it was for 43% less pay.   The 68% of those in financial activities who found work took a 33% pay cut.   The 63% of workers in wholesale and retail trade who were re-employed took a 20% pay cut...   Challenger said his company is seeing more clients taking longer to find jobs and accepting lower pay.   'In the last 12 months, the number of people who are unemployed has increased by 1.6M people [nationally].', he said.   'That does represent competition.   Employers know they have more people to look at.   There's less pressure on them to raise their pay.   They can find good people who might take less.'"

2008-09-01 01:00PDT (04:00EDT) (08:00GMT)
Dave Gardner _Red Orbit_/_NE Pennsylvania Business Journal_
Most new jobs require associate's degree or less

2008-09-01
Dave Gardner _Red Orbit_/_NE Pennsylvania Business Journal_
Population up, few jobs require knowledge workers
"According to Leonard, Monroe County's population stood at 38K in 1970.   By 2000 it had grown to 138K, with estimates it now is just under 170K.   Within the working age population, 25% have earned 4-year degrees with the percentages for advanced degrees even higher.   'Monroe County now has the lowest nativity rate in Pennsylvania.', says Leonard.   'Less than 40% of the county's people are living where they grew up.   We also have 19K to 21K people who commute daily to urban areas for work, and they are generally not considered part of Monroe's work-force unless they lose their job.   According to a survey, 60% of these commuters are clerical or blue collar with high urban salaries.   They're not just white collars professionals as the media represents.'...   According to Shaffer, America's future work-force will deal with a market where only 15% to 20% of the total positions involve unskilled labor.   4-year degree positions will involve 20% to 25% of the work-force, while 60% of the workers will qualify for employment with 2-year degrees."

2008-09-01
Georgina Hunter _Ottawa Citizen_
Spare a thought for bodies shopped on Labor Day

2008-09-01
William J. Rothwell & Diane M. Spokus _Detroit News_
Employers should bet future on older workers

2008-09-01
_Youngstown OH Vindicator_
reasons for hope in the Mahoning Valley
"The Valley's employed labor force has grown by some 10K since 2008 February to 263,200 workers.   Employment levels have grown in such areas as construction, financial services, educational and health services and yes, even, manufacturing...   Of course, most prominent among them is the addition of 1,400 jobs at the sprawling General Motors Lordstown Complex last month to meet soaring demand for the plant's hot-selling Chevrolet Cobalt and to prepare for production of the ultra-fuel efficient Cruze in coming years.   The addition of the third shift represented the largest one-time hiring at a major employer in the Valley in many years.   Other positive signs include the commitment of Russian-based Severstal to purchase, invest in and expand operations at the former WCI Steel in Warren, the Valley's largest surviving steel mill.   Severstal Warren, as it is now called, is intent on securing a future for the plant and its 1,300 workers.   Furthermore, the recent opening in downtown Youngstown of the Taft Technology Center, home of the world-revered Turning Technologies, ongoing expansion of the Youngstown Business Incubator and plans for a similar incubator in Warren prove the Mahoning Valley is no longer foreign to high-tech labor initiatives."

2008-09-01
Tom Yerace _Pittsburgh Tribune-Review_
Valley men reflect on no-retirement trend
"'The number of workers between the ages of 65 and 74 and those aged 75 and up are predicted to soar by more than 80%.', the bureau's report said.   By 2016, workers 65 and older are expected to account for 6.1% of the total labor force, up sharply from their 2006 share of 3.6%."

2008-09-01
Jondi Gumz _Trading Markets_/_Santa Cruz Sentinel_/_McClatchy_
Not easy to find work
San Jose Mercury News
"when the county Work-force Investment Board decided to move its computers and job services from Capitola to Watsonville, where unemployment hovers at 14%, triple the rate in the northern part of the county.   Because of state and federal funding cutbacks, there wasn't enough money to operate in both locations.   Nearly 4,100 people have used the Capitola Career Center in the past year, making 18K visits.   The ranks of the unemployed are growing in the county.   State statistics show a loss of 700 jobs in construction, 500 in trade and transportation, 300 in finance, and 200 in leisure in July, compared to the year before.   The county unemployment rate was 6.4% in July, better than the state rate of 7.6% but higher than the county rate of 5.2% in 2007."

2008-09-01
Eric Gershon _Hartford Courant_
Workers Happy To Have Jobs, But Unhappy In Them

2008-09-01
Dave Flessner _Technology Marketing Corporation_/_Chattanooga Times/Free Press_/_Knight Ridder_/_McClatchy_
Chattanooga: More employers are using E-Verify despite complaints
"Since the voluntary program E-Verify was offered to employers in 2004, almost 4K Georgia companies and more than 800 businesses in Tennessee have signed up to participate in the federal program, including 50 employers in Chattanooga and 96 in Dalton, GA...   Randel Johnson, a vice president for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said requiring all federal contractors to participate in E-Verify 'raises many unnecessary practical problems which will make ever more complex an already overly complicated federal procurement system'.     D.A. King, president of the anti-immigration group known as the Dustin Inman Society in Marietta, GA, dismisses such criticism.   'This program not only ought to be renewed by the Congress, but it ought to be mandated for all employers.', he said.   'Every employer should be happy to comply with the law and be sure that they have hired lawful workers.'   Mr. King said E-Verify is essential for compliance of public employers and state contractors under laws in Georgia and some other states...   The Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act, which went into effect last year, requires employers that have state contracts to use E-Verify.   The law now requires E-Verify usage only for state contractors with 100 or more employees, but after 2009 July 1, it will include all state contractors...   In a 2006 December report, the inspector general of the [Socialist Insecurity Abomination] estimated that 17.8M, or 4.1%, of the agency's 435M individual records contained discrepancies that could result in a no-match letter being sent to a legally authorized worker.   Of those records with errors, 12.7M belonged to native-born Americans, records show.   If these error rates were not fixed before a mandatory Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification System was implemented, they could result in a minimum of 11K workers per day being flagged as ineligible for employment, according to the Cato Institute, a non-profit public policy research foundation in Washington, DC."

2008-09-01
Judith Whitehead _Buffalo News_
looking for a job is a job in itself

2008-09-01
Michael Stetz _San Diego Union-Tribune_
unemployed see little to celebrate
"In San Diego County, the unemployment rate is 6.4% -- the highest in 12 years.   For the state, the rate is even higher, 7.3%...   South Metro Career Center in Mountain View... Last month alone, 600 people came for the orientation to help them find work, double the number of a couple of years ago...   According to state statistics, the number of 'reporters and correspondents' in the county is expected to rocket from 370 to 390 from 2004 to 2014.   Even I can do that math: 20 jobs in 10 years...   The occupations with the most job openings? Those would be retail sales-people, followed by cashiers, waiters and waitresses, food preparers and servers, including fast food...   Smith had owned his own recycling business for 13 years, but the rising cost of fuel put him out of business..."

2008-09-01
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
Could adjustment of government incentives keep tech jobs in the USA?
ComputerWorld Australia
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring e-News-Letter_
I must make my usual disclaimer that I am a life-long Democrat, and that my criticism of Obama here should not be construed to mean that McCain is any better on issues like H-1B and off-shoring; despite McCain's (largely deserved) reputation as a maverick, he's definitely no maverick on H-1B/off-shoring.
 
Having said that, I must say I've been very disturbed by a tendency I've observed in Obama -- and these days Democrats in general, and probably politicians in general -- to deliberately deceive voters by using subtle wordings that technically say X but are intended to be understood as Y.
 
The first instance of this that I noticed was Obama's statement during the primaries that he did not have any ties with federal lobbyists.   Well, guess what -- he was then exposed as having ties with STATE lobbyists, including his New Hampshire campaign co-chair, who lobbies for the pharmaceutical industry on the state level.   Clearly Obama intended that voters would not notice his qualifier word "federal", and would assume that he was renouncing all ties with lobbyists.
 
Thus while watching Obama's nomination acceptance speech last week, I picked up immediately on his statement that he opposed tax breaks for firms that off-shore.   Again, this was clearly calculated to imply that Obama would take strong action against off-shoring in general, instead of merely doing literally what he said -- close a tax loop-hole, one which in fact plays almost no role in off-shoring.
 
Hillary Clinton has made the same deceptive statements.   Worse, this was exactly the same deceptive tack that John Kerry took in the 2004 election.   I wrote about this extensively at the time; see in particular Kerry article 1 and Kerry article 4.
 
Indeed, Kerry was thoroughly exposed on this in one of the televised election debates with George W. Bush.   The moderator was abc's Charlie Gibson.   Here is the exchange:
 
GIBSON: Senator, I want to extend for a minute, you talk about tax cuts to stop out-sourcing.   But when you have IBM documents that I saw recently where you can hire a programmer for $12 in [Red China], $56 an hour here, tax credits won't cut it.
 
KERRY: You can't stop all out-sourcing, Charlie.   I've never promised that.   I'm not going to, because that would be pandering.   You can't.
 
No, technically Kerry had never promising to stop all off-shoring, or even a substantial portion of it.   But he had definitely given the impression that he would do so, famously calling them "Benedict Arnolds".   So yes, he was indeed pandering, and dishonestly doing so.
 
And note that up to that time, Kerry had basically been given a pass on the off-shoring issue by the press, other than a couple of isolated articles not noticed by many people.   Indeed, IIRC, the only reason Gibson had asked the question in the first place was that it had been suggested to him by one of the anti-off-shoring organizations.
 
The valuable article [above] goes into these issues in detail.   I have a few comments:
 
Joe Greco, director of California State University-Fullerton's Center for the Study of Emerging Markets, discounted the impact of tax code changes on the broader off-shore trend.   "Any plans for a tax code change are like trying to plug a hole in a leaky dam with your finger -- to believe the U.S. government tax code promotes outsourcing is a major misconception of the fiery debate around out-sourcing off-shore.", he said.
 
Yes, but always remember the source of that misconception -- John Kerry.   To my knowledge, tax issues had never been brought up in the off-shoring debate prior to Kerry's statements.   It was a "misconception" deliberately created by Kerry to deceive.
 
But Obama could have more success fighting the shift of jobs over-seas through the second half of his point --- by creating incentives for companies to add jobs in the U.S, said Greco.   "If you want to be a magnet, you can be a magnet.", he said.
 
Again, this is a great way to deceive people.   Creating jobs in the U.S.A. means nothing if they are filled by H-1Bs and L-1s, which is what has happened in New York state under Senator Clinton.
 
and the links therein.   Moreover, one must ask what kinds of jobs are created (it's common to send tech jobs abroad while creating lower-paying non-tech jobs here).   And most importantly, as noted in the article below, there is the point that firms save so much money by off-shoring that a mild tax break won't be enough to keep the jobs here.
 
Speaking of misconceptions, here's a common one:
 
Firms in India, in particular, aren't just competing on low cost but on the increasing quality of their services, said Stephanie Moore, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc., in Cambridge, MA.   The cost of doing work in India is increasing, but users are gaining through the better efficiencies these firms offer, which can deliver savings in their own right.
 
This is referring to the Indian firms' use of the Capabilities Maturity Model (CMM).   But CMM merely assesses a project's management techniques, not the quality of its personnel.   As one official in the CMM project at Carnegie Mellon University noted, "You can be an [highest CMM-rated] organization that produces software that might be garbage."   Another red herring.
 
Norm
-30-

2008-09-01
Rachel Stevenson _Manchester Guardian_
Maoists, Christians & Hindus battle in eastern India

2008-09-01 10:02PDT (13:02EDT) (17:02GMT)
William L. Watts _MarketWatch_
Yasuo Fukuda resigned
"Booker noted that yields on 10-year Japanese bonds have fallen from 1.85% to about 1.35%."

2008-09-01
Steve Forbes _Forbes_
Confrontation with Iran Is Coming

2008-09-01
Rob Sanchez _Job Destruction News-Letter_ #1908
Is HP requiring laid-off US workers to train H-1Bs in Boise?
alternate link
alternate link
"Hewlett-Packard in Boise, Idaho is having mass job terminations, but that's not all that's happening.   This mild statement in the article below triggered my alarm:
 
The laid-off HP engineer said furloughed workers will receive 5 weeks of pay and benefits, during which time they will train other workers to pick up some of their duties.
 
Could it be that HP employees at Boise are being coerced into training their HP replacements?   Typically when companies do this they threaten their employees with cancellation of their severance and/or pension benefits if they fail to train their foreign replacement.
 
I asked the journalist who wrote the article if HP employees are being forced to train their H-1B replacements.   He said there are lots or rumors about this happening but nobody has actually come forward and confirmed the rumors.   This sounds eerily similar to the forced training of H-1B replacements at Nielsen in Florida.
 
In order to find out more, I posted a question on the message threads asking if HP was replacing Americans with H-1Bs.   For what it's worth, an anonymous poster did confirm this.
 
This is definitely true, our group was asked to document and train our Indian "backup" counterparts on how to diagnose, solve, and test product defects based on our years of experience.   I refused to do this and later left voluntarily under a severance offer.   Right before I left, I found a copy of a current H1-B visa justification form (forgot the actual form number) that someone had left on the copier.   At the same time they were trying to purge US workers, they were claiming shortages and trying to import more H1-Bs.
 
It is also been repeatedly reported by previously employed applicants that anyone who took a severance offer from HP is no longer allowed to be rehired without personal approval from VJ.   That is certainly one way to guarantee a shortage of 'qualified' workers and justify H1-B visa requests.
 
There are also rumors that hundreds of workers at Pfizer in Connecticut are being forced to train their H-1B replacements.   Those claims seem exaggerated at least in terms of the sheer numbers, but unfortunately even less information is available about what is going on at Pfizer.   Three short [web logs] are included below with scuttlebutt about Pfizer.
Joe Estrella: Idaho Statesman: 25% of Imaging & Printing employees to be laid off from HP Boise
"radley Wiskirchen, CEO of Keynetics Inc., Idaho's largest privately held high-tech company based on revenues, said he has an opening for just one software developer.   Courty Gates, CEO of Clearwater Analytics, a local web-based provider of investment portfolio reports, said he had jobs for 5 software developers immediately, and 1 a month for the next 12 months."
2008-07-02: Ed Silverman: Pharmalot: Pfizer to lay off more scientists in the Fall
2008-07-02: "Derek": More Pfizer lay-offs?
2008-08-09: BioFind: Pfizer's 2nd quarter 10-Q filing

2008-09-01
Matt Welch _Reason_
Obama and McCain willing to sacrifice any principle to get elected

2008-09-01
Douglas Kruse & David Finegold _Rutgers University_
Job Market Score-Card
index page
CNN/AP
 

2008-09-02: 9 weeks to federal elections of president and congress-critters

2008-09-02
Michael Cutler _Border Fire Report_
Homer Hickam: There is no water holier than the sweat off a man's brow
"The issue to remember is that our country not only has the right but the imperative to secure its borders against illegal aliens.   Back in the 1940s the enforcement and administration of the immigration laws was the responsibility of the United States Department of Labor because the biggest concern is that foreign workers would come to the United States and do harm to the American workers.   This might yet be another reason we fondly remember the Americans who lived in the 1940s and fought and won World War II as the 'Greatest Generation'!   While not all was as it was supposed to be, the government at least demonstrated that it would do what was necessary to protect the citizens of our country.   Today far too many politicians have abrogated their responsibility to want to secure our nation’s borders and protect the American worker.   Congress keeps on coming up with all sorts of permanent and temporary visa categories to enable foreign workers to enter the United States.   These workers are not better qualified than are American workers, it is just that they are willing to work for lower wages and for far fewer benefits.   These visas and the failures to secure our nation's borders save employers money by providing them with foreign workers, but, in the long run, leaves our nation vulnerable and makes it increasingly difficult, if not impossible for the average American to support his family and meet his bills at the end of each month...   Here is the shocker that I bet many of you have never considered.   The census does not take the citizenship or immigration status of residents of a state into account.   A warm body is a warm body.   An illegal alien counts for as much as does a United States citizen.   Think what this means.   If California has more illegal aliens than any other state, the implications of this are clear.   California gets the most number of Congressional seats and electoral votes because of the huge number of illegal aliens who live in California.   This means that these illegal aliens are being represented in Congress and in the electoral process!"

2008-09-02
W. Gardner Selby _Austin American Statesman_
Republican convention managers have no respect for congressman Ron Paul
"'We thought we had an agreement over the weekend' enabling Paul to circulate with 2 aides on the floor among some 260 delegates in his camp.   'It looks like there is a hang-up.'...   'I like when they shift their positions, but then you don't know where they are.', Paul said.   He wished aloud for the nominees to talk about issues such as governmental intrusions on personal liberties, monetary policy and limited government in general."

2008-09-02
J.D. Seagraves _Amateur Economists_
Wave of popular sentiment against inflation by the Federal Reserve

2008-09-02
_Digital Facility_
Modavox agreement with BreakTheMatrix allows live broadcast of Ron Paul from the RNC convention
"Company's Patented Boombox(TM) Video Enables Internet Broadcast Address from Congressman and Former Presidential Candidate Ron Paul Live from the Republican National Convention.   The companies... collaborated Monday night to produce a live broadcast of former presidential candidate Congressman Ron Paul from the Republican National Convention."

2008-09-02
Cristof Traudes _Minneapolis DownTown Journal_
Thousands pour into Target Center for Ron Paul's "Rally for the Republic"
Suzanne Gamboa AP/Yahoo!
WLWT
Fox Twin Cities
Britt Robson: Minnesota Independent
Molly Bloom: Minnesota Socialist Radio
"Organizers of the 'Rally for The Republic' say they sold 10,103 tickets for the event.   By 11:00, they were chanting loudly and inspiring passersby to honk their horns.   Never mind the fact they were doing it in the cold of a never-ending drizzle.   JG stood on the corner of 1st Avenue & 7th Street with goosebumped arms stretched out holding a 'Dump McCain' sign...   Behind the loud supporters chanting 'Save our nation!' and 'Ron Paul!' and 'Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!' sat Chicago-area native JF.   He had been leaning against a pole on the outside of the Target Center since 10:00, hoping to get a good seat during the rally...   when the rally was set to start, herds of people clogged the entryway of the Target Center.   A constant stream of people in Ron Paul garb continued to pour in."

2008-09-02
_West Virginia Metro News_
there is a wing of the Republican Party that supports liberty and personal freedom and smaller government
"Morgantown resident Kevin Patrick, a delegate to the Convention, says not everyone from West Virginia, though, will be voting for McCain this week in Saint Paul and in the general election.   Patrick supports Ron Paul.   'Our goal, when we came here, was to show there is a wing of the Republican Party that supports liberty and personal freedom and smaller government and that's not what we're getting from John McCain.', Patrick said on MetroNews Talkline.   'I wouldn't say that we're here protesting.   I would just say that we're here to take part and show that Republicans are a wider demographic than you might have previously thought.'   He says the United States of today is not what the founding fathers envisioned.   'America should have small government.', Patrick says."

2008-09-02
_Poli Gazette_
Libertarians for Sarah Palin
"About Palin's conservatism [David Harsanyi wrote]: 'Palin's penchant for reform-minded conservatism is certainly at odds with the racket Washington Republicans have offered up the past 8 years...   [She] vetoed 300 pork projects in Alaska in her first year in office.   She made a habit of knocking out big-government Republicans in her brief political career.'"

2008-09-02
Robert Buderi _Xconomy_
Heartland Robotics aims to boost US competitiveness

2008-09-02
_Forbes_/_AP_
Computer Associates (CA) spent $3007,500 on lobbying in 2008Q2
Canadian Business
Long Island Business News

2008-09-02
_Dice_
Dice Report: 85,585 job ads

2008-09-02 (5768 Elul 02)
Caroline B. Glick _Jewish World Review_
Calling Israel's bluff2008-09-02 (5768 Elul 02)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Changes in Politics

2008-09-02 (5768 Elul 02)
Rabbi Doctor Asher Meir _Jewish World Review_
Costly Advice
 

2008-09-03

2008-09-03
Walt Gardner _Christian Science Monitor_
College not required
"more than 90% will be steered toward a college-prep curriculum, according to the Alfred P. Sloan Study of Youth and Social Development...   In 2007, for example, about 67% of high school graduates went directly to college, compared with just under half in 1972...   If Alan Blinder, former vice chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, is correct, the only jobs that will be secure in the next decade will those that cannot be sent abroad electronically.   That means plumbers, electricians, and auto mechanics, for example, will be working steadily while many of their degreed classmates will be collecting unemployment checks...   degree holders who are still employed will not necessarily be earning top salaries...   The Wall Street Journal reported last month that some unionized craft workers already earn more than the average college graduate -- and do so without carrying the heavy burden of student debt..."

2008-09-03 05:14PDT (08:14EDT) (12:14GMT)
Kenneth Musante _CNN_
Companies hack away at jobs: Businesses announce 88,736 job cuts in August, 14% below July, but cuts from May though August hit highest level in 6 years
Chicago Daily Herald
Earth Times/Reuters
Burton Frierson & Brian Love: Washington Post
UPI
Memphis Daily News
Francine Knowles: Chicago Sun-Times
NY Daily News/AP
Dave Carpenter: Delaware News Journal/AP/Gannett
Detroit Free Press
Manchester Guardian
Post Chronicle
Vincent Mao: Investor's Business Daily
Rocky Mountain News
Ruth Mantell: MarketWatch
"From May through August, employers said they would cut 377,325 jobs, according to employment consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.   During the summer of 2002 companies said they would cut 378,777 positions.   Year to date, 667,996 lay-offs have been announced; the financial sector announced 102,957 lay-offs, and automotive 80,323.   Between May and August of this year, 377,325 job cuts were announced.   There were 103,312 cuts announced in July, and 88,736 in August.   17,233 cuts from automotive, 12,328 from government, 9,874 from retail, 7,457 from industrial goods, 2,182 from the financial sector.   2,473 cuts were announced by Illinois-based companies in August."
graphs

2008-09-03
_Career Builder_
47% of workers living pay-check to pay-check

2008-09-03
_YouTube_
Meg Whitman at tax-victim funded Rapeyoucrat convention, telling everyone why she wants the already vastly excessive H-1B visa prgram expanded

2008-09-03
Rob Sanchez _Job Destruction News-Letter_ #1910
Both McCain & Obama would actively worsen US job markets
alternate link
 
Jenny Verdery, director of work force policy for Intel, said that both McCain and Obama support the expansion of the H-1B visa program.   The article quotes me saying much the same thing:
  Sanchez said Obama voiced his H-1B support during recent fund-raisers with Indian-American investors and tech CEOs in San Francisco.
 
The quote is accurate but lost some of its punch when it was edited.   The editing was probably a good decision because the point I was trying to make probably would have been lost on the majority of bizjournal readers, but all of you will get it.   Here is my unedited statement:
 
You are correct -- both McCain and Obama have voiced support for expanding the H-1B program by increasing the yearly visa cap and by exempting foreign students that graduate with masters or PhDs in STEM.   Obama went as far as telling a group of wealthy Indian financiers that he was a "desi".   That's a level of pandering that even McCain wouldn't stoop to, although McCain has some rabid supporters of H-1B on his staff, and recently McCain pandered in Silicon Valley much the same way Obama did.
 
"Not only do I think I'm a desi, but I'm a desi." --- Barack Obama, San Francisco fund raiser, 2008-09-17
Phoenix Business Journal
Job Destruction News-Letter Archive
 

2008-09-03 (5768 Elul 03)
Rabbi S. Binyomin Ginsberg _Jewish World Review_
Productive school years don't just happen

2008-09-03 (5768 Elul 03)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
Academic Mismatch part 1
"when black and white law students with similar academic credentials compete against each other at the same school. They earn about the same grades. When these students with the same grades from the same-tier school took the bar examination, they passed at the same rate."

2008-09-03 (5768 Elul 03)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
A Knock or a Boost?

2008-09-03
Marcus Epstein _V Dare_
St. Paul, Ron Paul, Palin, Police horses
 

2008-09-04

2008-09-04 05:30PDT (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
current press release
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 353,501 in the week ending Aug. 30, an increase of 8,374 from the previous week.   There were 257,454 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3% during the week ending Aug. 23, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,125,951, a decrease of 49,055 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 1.8% and the volume was 2,353,210.   Extended benefits were available in Alaska and Rhode Island during the week ending Aug. 16."
graphs

2008-09-04
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring e-News-Letter_
Wharton/NYU study on off-shoring
 
An interesting study has just been released, presumably as a working paper, by 2 researchers at prominent business schools.   It's a pioneering attempt to measure what is probably unmeasurable, and definitely worth reading in its original form.
 
Though my fellow critics of offshoring will no doubt eagerly cite this study, as a statistician I see flaws in it.   Again, most of the flaws are not the authors' faults, but it does mean that the study's findings need to be viewed in the larger context.   Also, there are some problems that the authors could have avoided.
 
The most serious problem is, in my view, the underestimation of job loss due to offshoring that arises when a firm creates a new job abroad that would have been in the U.S.A. if not for the cost factor.   (Note the qualifier; I'm not referring to foreign jobs created to serve local markets.)   Such jobs don't count in the authors' data.   That's not the authors' fault, and they recognize it, of course, but predictably it doesn't make the press reports, enclosed below.
 
The authors found that 8% of IT jobs have been offshored, a figure they derived from worker interviews.   They consider this to be significant, and it is, but again it is likely too low.   The problem is that many IT workers whose jobs are off-shored do not find other IT jobs and are forced to leave the field.   They then do not show up in the authors' data.
 
Statistically, the authors rely too much on "p-values" (observed significance levels in hypothesis tests), which can be misleading, given the large samples they are working with.   Also, the pseudo-R-squared values in their regression analyses are generally quite low, calling into question the meaningfulness of some of their findings.   (See my posting on NFAP if you are interested.)
 
One finding of high interest to me is that older workers are more vulnerable to having their jobs off-shored.   This ties in with my point about the H-1B work visa, which is that H-1B is at its core serving as a means for employers to replace older (age 40 or even 35) Americans.
 
The study cites my CACM article (pdf).   Unfortunately I don't think the authors read it.   (Yes, one of the dirty little secrets of academia is that some authors don't actually read some of the articles they cite in their bibliographies.)   They say, for instance, that I believe offshoring will lead to "long-term unemployment" among American IT workers, when in fact I mention unemployment only once in my entire article, and even then only in a footnote and in a different context from what they authors imply.   On the contrary, what is more common is that they are simply forced to leave the field.
 
The authors also failed to pick up what I considered one of the most important points in my article, which was this:
 
Not to worry, says the [industry executive lobbying group] ITAA, because the number of jobs will increase in non-IT categories (such as construction and finance).   But the vast majority of these jobs will not be of the high-level variety (such as architects and financial market analysts that have begun to migrate off-shore, too).   Thus the U.S.A. would lose IT and other jobs requiring a more rigorous level of education in exchange for gaining jobs (such as carpenters and loan officers) requiring a less-demanding education.   You don't have to be a rocket economist to see that such a trend would be disastrous for the U.S.A.
 
In this light, I'm enclosing below a Wall Street Journal article that questions whether college is a good career investment these days, compared to blue collar jobs that may pay more.   The author said that this trend is new, and he blames it on globalization.   This dovetails with my point above.
 
Note too that the Wharton/NYU study found that
 
...although off-shoring may enable firms to create some new jobs, it does not appear that they are being allocated to displaced workers within the firm.
 
The authors might have added, "And many of the jobs that are created are filled with H-1Bs."
 
BTW, the authors recommend that retraining programs focus on improving American workers interpersonal skills.   Aside from the points that it's questionable whether they need it and whether much can be done in that direction anyway, the authors are missing the point: The older people are just too expensive, and sending them to a Miss Manners class isn't going to solve that problem.   And as I've pointed out before, if the U.S.A. is pinning its hopes on competing in the global economy through blarney, then we'll lose to Ireland. :-)
 
BTW, HP just announced a major lay-off, in which laid-off engineers are being forced to train their replacements.   The typical pattern, as we've seen, is that the replacements are either H-1Bs or L-1s, and there is a blog rumor to that effect, but at this point no one really knows.   There appears to be something like this going on at Pfizer too.   See Rob Sanchez's excellent news-letter on this.   (Rob's entire archive.)
 
Two articles on the off-shoring study are [linked] below, as well as the Wall Street Journal article.
 
Norm
Patrick Thibodeau: ComputerWorld
CareerBuilder/Wharton: Jobs Being Off-Shored
Career Builder press releases
 

2008-09-04 07:51PDT (10:51EDT) (14:51GMT)
Ruth Mantell _MarketWatch_
ISM reports service sector expanded in August

2008-09-04
Scott Jason _Merced CA Sun-Star_
County Bank laid off 20 employees

2008-09-04
Barbara Anderson _Web Commentary_
Michael Savage revealed political cross-dressing
"'The last week has shown the American people that the Democrat Party and the Republican Party serve no other purpose than the accumulation of power.   There was a time when Democrats stood for true civil rights.   That time has passed.   There was a time when the Republicans stood for borders, language and culture.   That day is over.'"

2008-09-04
Matt Apuzzo, Erica Werner & Jesse J. Holland _AP_/_Yahoo!_
Jack Abramoff sentenced to 4 years in prison
"Already 2 years into a prison term from a separate case in Florida, Abramoff, 49, will have spent about 6 years in prison by the time he is released, far longer than he and his attorneys expected for a man who became the key FBI witness in his own corruption case.   With Abramoff's help, the Justice Department has won corruption convictions against former representative Bob Ney (R-OH), former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles and several top Capitol Hill aides."

2008-09-04
Brenda Walker _V Dare_
Time to say "zero" -- Hurricanes hammer home immigration-driven over-population
"The traffic gridlock as an estimated 2M people tried to escape Hurricane Gustav made a powerful point: overpopulated America is the new normal—so that we no longer recognize the evidence in front of our eyes.   (Same for California's water rationing, which is forcing me and other Californians to buy expensive water-efficient appliances as I write.)   A few decades ago, the USA had half the number of residents (i.e. 150M in 1950 versus 305M now).   And evacuations were not a big deal.   If a big storm was headed your way, you could easily hop in your car and dash off at the last minute."

2008-09-04
_Tulsa OK Beacon_
Tom Coburn sheds light on federal employees not working
"U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, R-OK, released a report detailing the rapid growth in the annual number of hours federal employees are found to be absent without leave (AWOL) from their jobs.   Since 2001, 18 federal departments and agencies reported that employees have been AWOL for at least 19.6M hours when they should have otherwise been working.   The investigation found that annual AWOL hours have increased gradually since 2001, climbing from approximately 2.5M hours per year to 3.5M hours in 2007."

2008-09-04 (5768 Elul 04)
Ron Kampeas _Jewish World Review_
Biden, Palin take lead in clash on Mideast issues

2008-09-04 (5768 Elul 04)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Foreign policy "experience"
 

2008-09-05

2008-09-05 09:13PDT (12:13EDT) (16:13GMT)
Greg Robb _MarketWatch_
Non-farm pay-rolls down 84K in establishment survey, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate 6.1% in household survey
"Michael Gregory, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto. In the months ahead, job losses of more than 100K will be much more common-place, he said...   [Body shop positions fell by 37K.]   [It takes a 150K to 250K increase in pay-rolls to absorb the monthly population increase.]"
graphs

2008-09-05 09:16PDT (12:16EDT) (16:16GMT)
Amy Hoak _MarketWatch_
Foreclosures set another record

2008-09-05
Bob Johnson _Rocky Mountain News_
"Importing the best minds" editorial is only partly correct
"Maybe your editorial 'Importing the best Minds' is partly correct, but you have the wrong profession.   I'd start by importing the best/brightest minds from foreign English speaking countries and place them on the Editorial Boards, as reporters in your news-room.   Clearly from your piece, you [and] your staff lack serious credentials in investigative journalism.   You wrote: 'Not so.   It's absurd, in fact, to think American companies are actively ignoring better qualified native applicants.'   I guess you, your staff can not do any research!   Have you not heard, seen the infamous 'HOW NOT TO HIRE AN AMERICA' video?   I would start by watching this video.   It is no wonder American readers are turning away from news-print, network television news and finding alternate sources for news.   It seems to me that the main-stream media can no longer cover the important issues, and report facts!"

2008-09-05
Damian Paletta _Wall Street Journal_
Failed banks

2008-09-05
Joe Guzzardi _V Dare_
Infinite monkey theorem -- how doctor Alfredo Quinyones-Hinojosa made it into the NY Times
"I calculate that during my 22 year adult ESL career, I may have had as many as 20K students."

2008-09-05 (5768 Elul 05)
Caroline B. Glick _Jewish World Review_
The master strategist

2008-09-05 (5768 Elul 05)
Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski _Jewish World Review_
What does "doing the right thing" entail?

2008-09-05

DJIA	12,220.96
S&P 500	1,242.31
NASDAQ	2,255.88
10-year US T-Bond	3.66%
crude oil	$106.23/barrel
gold	$803.50/ounce
silver	$12.33/ounce
platinum	$1,367.80/ounce
palladium	$272.90/ounce
copper	$0.19375/ounce
natgas	$7.449/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline	$2.6861/gal
heatingoil	$2.9828/gal
dollarindex	78.965
yenperdollar	107.21
dollarspereuro	1.4231
dollarsperpound	1.7639

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

2008-09-06

2008-09-06
Bob Barr _Washington Times_
Border first: Regain control of immigration

2008-09-06
Jack Hunter _Southern Avenger_
Richard Todd's interview with Constitution party candidate Chuck Baldwin at WTMA: I am currently deciding between Baldwin and Bob Barr

2008-09-06
_Small Government Times_
Bob Barr blasted government bail-out of quangos Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, and Bear Stearns
Los Angeles Times

2008-09-06
Melinda Pillsbury-Foster _American Chronicle_
Sarah Palin and Ron Paul in Minnesota: A brief respite from the same old political machines
"Insiders whisper that Palin was picked because, among other reasons, she can be expected to fracture the support Ron Paul supporters would otherwise give to Chuck Baldwin, the candidate of the Constitutional Party and Bob Barr, former Congressman, who is now the candidate of the Libertarian Party.   This may be well founded.   While writing this article 3 prominent Ron Paul supporters were interviewed on the Palin nomination with interesting results."

2008-09-06
Tom Burghardt _Global Research_
Implanted RFID chips and the surveillance society
privacy links
 
 

2008-09-07

2008-09-07 10:58PDT (13:58EDT) (17:58GMT)
Jason Niblett _Laurel MS Leader Call_
Howard Industries, whose executives were recently charged with employing illegal aliens, received over $50M in subsidies
"As local officials were finalizing plans for the Howard Technology Park in Ellisville in 2002, Howard Industries was also awaiting the outcome of a special session of the Mississippi Legislature.   Law-makers were scheduled to debate a $31.5M incentive package.   As reported by the Laurel Leader-Call 2002July 28, 'Last week was a busy and anxious one for local leaders as the Howard family met with (then) governor Ronnie Musgrove to complete the deal for the incentive package.   The Howards will be investing $80M in an expansion project for Howard Computers and a new power transformer plant.'...   The report stated lawmakers were told Howard Industries planned to create 2K new jobs by 2012.   The $31.5M, according to the Associated Press, was to help recruit and train workers, build new buildings, and improve roads and water lines.   Law-makers passed the package, offering [tax-victim] money to help with the expansion...   On 2005 March 22, according to published reports in the Leader-Call, the Jones County Board of Supervisors approved a $20M bond issue for Howard Industries unanimously.   The move allowed the state of Mississippi to loan the funds to Jones County, which in turn loaned the money to Howard Industries."
 
 

2008-09-08

1565-09-08
St. Augustine was founded on this date by Pedro Menéndez

2008-09-08
Norm Matloff _H-1b/ L-1/ Off-Shoring e-News-Letter_
Interpreting what politicians say
 
As we all know, politicians are good at making statements that are carefully crafted to give the impression that they mean X when they actually mean Y.   The statements are designed to be technically true but to leave the politician a way out that isn't noticeable to the average person, who may be too trusting to read the fine print, or who may lack the background knowledge needed to see that the politician is hedging, big time.   Just last week, I illustrated this in the context of remarks Barack Obama had made on tech job off-shoring.
 
Then on Friday Obama brought up the issue of H-1B.   He was a bit confused, and referred to it as "H-2B", but it's clear that he meant H-1B.   Again, as seen in the... articles... from Rediff, an Indian news site, and Michael Arrington: techcrunch: Q&A with senator Barack Obama on key technology issues, a U.S. tech industry news site, Obama seems to be saying the right things: H-1B shouldn't be used unless there is a shortage of workers, H-1B shouldn't be used to under-cut U.S. wages and so on.   He even alludes to the fact that employers over-emphasize specialized skill sets that could easily be learned on the job by someone who has general experience in the given field.
 
But if you look at Obama's remarks closely, you'll see that he is actually following the industry party line: He says we have a shortage of PhDs and a shortage of tech workers; he says that if only we got more minorities into these fields, we wouldn't have a shortage; he says that we need an H-1B cap increase as a stop-gap measure, while the education system ramps to produce more workers in the fields currently experiencing a shortage; he implies that abuses of H-1B are due to mainly to insufficient enforcement; etc.
 
Every one of these claims is false and has been refuted, but my point now is that every single one of these claims has been used by the industry lobbyists repeatedly ever since 1998.   In short, Obama is using the industry's language, probably obtaining such language from the industry -- one of his advisers is Wade Randlett, a Silicon Valley industry trade organization's liaison to the Democratic Party -- to sound reformist when in fact he means the opposite.
 
In addition to the 2 articles... ([Matloff enclosed] the full text of both, including the second, as it's important to note Obama's comments about education in the latter, which continue his theme that we have a tech labor shortage), I'm [linking] the text of a letter to a constituent [from Rob Sanchez's Job Destruction News-Letter #1786].   There you will see the above points in more detail.   Note in particular this passage:
 
I support the efforts of the Departments of Labor and Homeland Security to ensure that employers and H-1B applicants follow the intent and restrictions of the program.   For example, it is incumbent upon the Department of Labor to monitor the wages being paid to H-1B visa holders and enforce the H-1B program's provision that wages reflect the current job market.
 
There it is, the industry lobbyists' favorite diversionary tactic, to make it seem that the problems with H-1B are primarily lack of enforcement.   As readers of this e-newsletter know well, the problems lie in the huge loopholes in the law, not in lack of enforcement... but it sounds plausible, and very few people know they're getting hood-winked, victimized by a head fake as in sports.   By bringing up this red herring of enforcement, Congress goes scot free, not having to fix the real problem, which is the law itself.
 
I should point out that even Obama may be one of those being deceived.   Maybe he's just naive, falling victim to the heroic image the press (with help from the lobbyists) has presented of the U.S. tech industry.   OTOH, Obama is good friends with, and has been strongly promoted by, the other senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin.   The H-1B reform bill introduced by senators Durbin and Grassley is excellent, and these 2 men know, probably better than anyone else in the Senate, that the industry lobbyists' claims are bogus.   (I keep coming back to Grassley's statement, "Nobody should be fooled" by the industry lobbyists on H-1B.)   One must assume that Durbin has explained to Obama the truth about H-1B.
 
In any case, the bottom line is that wittingly or not, Obama's speaking for the industry.   And if McCain brings up H-1B or is asked, you'll find that he'll use the same predictable language.
 
Norm
-30-
 

2008-09-08 08:55PDT (11:55EDT) (15:55GMT)
Sam Mamudi _MarketWatch_
JC Penney board & execs thumbing their noses at stock-owners
"J.C. Penney's board was under threat in May because it didn't implement a measure to limit executive severance packages that share-holders approved last year...   The contentious plan at Penney would limit severance packages to 2.99 times an executive's annual salary and bonus.   It was approved by 75% of share-holders...   Vanguard... says in general there are three reasons why it would not vote for a director: non-attendance, presence on other committees that leads to being considered non-independent, actions on other committees that are outside Vanguard's guidelines, such as serving on a compensation committee and approving excessive pay...   Warren said that if the measure was approved again this year and the board again ignored it, 'it would increase the probability that we'd vote against the board'."

2008-09-08
_Chronicle of Higher Education_
Setting up additional technology institutes in India has been a disaster says top Indian scientist
"'These institutes have recruited students.   There is no campus, no directors, but they have taken students.', said Mr. Rao"

2008-09-08
Marianne Kolbasuk McGee _Information Week_/_CPM_/_UBM_
What's really behind talent gap claims?
"A new report by the Society for Information Management found that talent-related issues are three of the top 10 IT management concerns of IT executives.   According to SIM's on-line survey of 300 CIOs and other IT executives, 'building business skills in IT', 'attracting new IT professionals', and 'retaining IT professionals' are among their top 10 worries [as though a survey of such executives meant anything].   Employers aren't just looking for folks with technical skills, they're seeking strong communication ability, business know-how, vertical industry background -- and, in many cases, hands-on experience with a variety of specific technologies and track records of successful deployments.   It's one thing to seek the 'full package' from someone who's been in the field for years, but much more difficult to find that in people newer to the profession.   So what does that mean? &nbnsp; If there really is a shortage of the 'full-package' people you're looking for, as employers you've got to be willing to help develop those folks.   But apparently, many employers aren't willing to do that.   Many companies just don't have the time, money, resources, patience, or vision to cultivate future talent.   So, they'll look outside their organizations for ways to bring in 'new' people quickly.   Or they'll outsource.   Or they'll seek foreign workers with H-1B visas.   The problem with all of that is this: Often those people don't have all the 'right stuff', either."

2008-09-08
Dennis Cauchon _USA Today_
State governments running out of funds to cover unemployment insurance claims
"California, New York, Ohio and Michigan are among populous states projected to deplete their unemployment insurance funds this year or in 2009 to cover the cost of benefits...   The federal government is required to loan states money when their trust funds run short.   In the short term, bail-outs increase the federal deficit.   In the long term, businesses pay higher unemployment insurance taxes to replenish the trust funds."

2008-09-08
Patrick Thibodeau & Norm Matloff _Computer World_/_IDG_
Norm Matloff tells what's wrong with visa programs
"How did you get involved in the H-1B debate?: Even in 1998, there were severe problems that were masked by all the hoopla about the dot-com boom.   There were a number of people who just weren't able to get work, and these were generally people who were over 40, many well qualified in the classical sense -- years of significant experience.   It was clear that what the industry wanted was cheap labor.   One of the ways to get cheap labor is to hire young, and if you run out of young people to hire that are U.S. citizens and permanent residents, you turn to hiring young foreign people.   Almost all the H-1Bs are young...   This was all planned for by the National Science Foundation.   Their concern was that Ph.D. salaries were too high, and they said that they were going to remedy it by bringing in a lot of foreign students.   Swelling the labor pool will reduce the salaries or reduce the growth in salaries, and that was at the same time NSF was pushing Congress to enact the H-1B program.   NSF also said at the time that by limiting salaries, Americans would be dissuaded from pursing graduate degrees and, of course, that's exactly what happened.   So now you see only 50% of the Ph.D.s in computer science go to Americans."

2008-09-08 16:41PDT (19:41EDT) (23:41GMT)
Paul B. Farrell _MarketWatch_
$75T fright fest
"Can't trust McCain?   Obama?   Time for new leadership!   The best qualified for president is the same great American hero we picked as our favorite write-in candidate for the 2006 elections: David Walker, former comptroller general, chief auditor of the U.S. Government Accounting Office for a decade before resigning last Spring.   He is [not quite] ready."

2008-09-08
Frosty Wooldridge _Denver Post_
Deadly Legacy of Sanctuary Policies for Illegal Aliens
Border Fire Report
Official Wire
News with Views

2008-09-08 (5768 Elul 08)
Barry Rubin _Jewish World Review_
Waiting for something
"And then we await upcoming changes in Israeli politics (who will be prime minister and when will be elections), in American politics (who will be the next president in January), in Palestinian politics (how long will PA head Mahmoud Abbas's term last, a year or less?), in Egyptian politics (when will Egyptian President Husni Mubarak name a successor or die), and in Iranian politics (who will be elected president next June)."

2008-09-08 (5768 Elul 08)
Byron York _National Review_
what did Obummer do as a "community organizer"?
"...I counted myself among those who didn't have a good idea of what a 'community organizer' does.   So I came here to learn more about [Obummer's] time in the job, from 1985 to 1988 [while some of us were working 30-hour shifts to defeat the evil empire and save the liberty of the world].   What did he do? What did he accomplish?...   Perhaps the simplest way to describe 'community organizing' is to say it is the practice of identifying a specific aggrieved population, say unemployed steel-workers, or itinerant fruit-pickers, or residents of a particularly bad neighborhood, and agitating them until they become so upset about their condition that they 'take collective action' [what kind of 'action'?   what are the individual human beings of this collective doing during this 'collective action'?] to put pressure on local, state, or federal officials to fix the problem [why not correct it, yourself, individually or in co-operation with other indiiduals?], often by giving the affected group money [from what source(s)?].   'Organizers' like to call that 'direct action'.   'Community organizing' is most identified with the left-wing Chicago activist Saul Alinsky (1909-1972), who pretty much defined the profession.   In his classic book, _Rules for Radicals_, Alinsky wrote that a successful 'organizer' should be 'an abrasive agent to rub raw the resentments of the people of the community; to fan latent hostilities of many of the people to the point of overt expressions'.   Once such hostilities were 'whipped up to a fighting pitch', Alinsky continued, the 'organizer' steered his group toward confrontation, in the form of picketing, demonstrating, and general hell-raising [which should also be much more precisely defined]...   But at all times, the 'organizer's' goal was not to lead his people anywhere, but to encourage them to 'take action' on their own behalf...   'We just found ourselves an issue.'...   [Obummer] then choreographed a drive to demand a new MET [summer youth employment] office.   (The point, remember, was not for him to make the demands but for the leaders to do it for themselves.)   They set up a meeting with MET officials, and then [Obummer] drilled the leaders on what they should say [which he figured out how?   based on what criteria?   with what intermediate goals in mind?].   He took them around Roseland looking for a possible site for the new office.   They found a shut-down department store at Michigan Avenue and 110th Street, and located the building's owners.   'He did all the leg-work for us and brought it back to us', Lloyd told me, 'and we went downtown to the offices of the store and negotiated.'   In a climactic meeting at Our Lady of the Gardens -- [Obummer] had, once again, carefully rehearsed the leaders on what they should say -- MET officials agreed to open the new office.   [Obummer] had an accomplishment to point to...   The solution, [Obummer] felt, was to find a way to political power of his own.   'He was constantly thinking about his path to significance and power.', Mike Kruglik told me.   'He said, I need to go there [Harvard Law School] to find out more about power.   How do powerful people think?   What kind of networks do they have?   How do they connect to each other?'   [How do they select students to admit?   Who did Obummer know who could pull strings to get him in?   Where did he get the money, and how?]   In a few months, [Obummer] was gone.   He had been an organizer for 3 years.   When he returned to Chicago after law school, he did some voter-registration work and then joined a civil-rights practice..."

2008-09-08 (5768 Elul 08)
Rabbi Doctor Asher Meir _Jewish World Review_
How far must one go to help someone out of a contract?
"'If an employer has to suddenly cancel a hire, and the employee is stuck without work for that day (or week, or month) then the employee is entitled to compensation.   However, the employee is obligated to make an effort to find alternative work; only if he is unable is he entitled to compensation.   Likewise, if the worker suddenly leaves the employer in the lurch, the employer can make the employee liable for a loss, but only if he cannot find alternative workers for comparable pay.', Babylonian Talmud, Bava Metzia 76b and Tosafos commentary...   Once we acknowledge the need for mitigation, we still need to ask who has the responsibility, and the right, of mitigation.   We could imagine in the above cases that the worker doesn't have to seek alternative employment, but that the employer is empowered to look on his behalf.   Or that the employer doesn't have to look for replacement workers, but the quitting workers are empowered to give him some..."
 

2008-09-09: 8 weeks (56 days) to federal elections of president and congress-critters

2008-09-09
Rob Sanchez _Job Destruction News-Letter_ #1913
Media's candidate for president blows it on H-2B question from brick-layer
 
Barack Obama discussed the economy and jobs at the Schott Glass plant in Duryea, Pennsylvania on 1008/09/05.   I haven't been able to find a transcript but you can watch the entire video on-line.
 
At 22 minutes into the video, Obama talks about jobs and how to improve our economy.   He repeated the standard industry line that we need more American born PhDs.   Wrong! Wrong!   We need more good paying jobs for the American born PhDs, but of course he never offers that as a solution.
 
27 minutes into the video, Obama answers questions from the public.   That's when he really blows it!
 
Somebody from the local brick-layer and craft-worker union is concerned about H-2B visas.   The union guy voiced concern that Bush wants to stream-line the review process for granting H-2B visas.   His concern is well founded (see this news-letter for more info: "H-2B Oil Riggers from India protest in DC, #1897 -- 2008/07/30").   Not only does the Bush administration want to make it easier for companies to get H-2Bs, they want to implement a de facto increase in the number H-2B visas as well.   Bush plans to do these things by passing a DoL regulation instead of asking Congress to pass legislation.
 
<<< FACTOID and QUESTION>>>
Did you know that Arnold Schwarzenegger came to the U.S. as an H-2B brick-layer?   If not, read the news-letter "Schwarzenegger is NIV Scofflaw", 2003 October 01
 
Obama didn't understand the brick-layer's question -- perhaps because he didn't understand what an H-2B visa is, and he obviously has no clue about the wide variety of foreign workers that use guest worker visas.   Obama totally confused H-2B and H-1B, so to avoid getting myself mixed up, I will use "H-2B" when Obama meant H-1B, and H-2B when appropriate.
 
Obama explained that "H-2B" is used for highly specialized workers and then went on to say: "we really do have a shortage of PhDs, scientists, and engineers."   Compounding his errors, he said that we have: "a continual nursing shortage" that is caused by a lack of teachers who can instruct new nurses.   What Obama fails to understand is that the number of nursing teachers appears to be dwindling because it's much cheaper for hospitals to import nurses from the Philippines than to run nursing schools in the U.S.A.
 
To prove his point Obama used an example of an employer who couldn't find an American for a specialized position, so an Indian with an "H-2B" was imported to take the job.   I hate to accuse Obama of racial stereotyping, but that's exactly what he did! Fact is, only about 50% of the H-1Bs are Indian, and very few H-2Bs come from India.   Obama seemed to buy into the somewhat racist notion that Asians are smarter and more educated than Americans.
 
NOTE: If you don't understand the difference between H-1B and H-2B, follow this link to learn more.
 
Rewinding a little, at about 19 minutes into the video, Obama talks about creating energy jobs that can't be out-sourced.   Uh, what types of jobs are those, considering that H-2Bs are being used as oil riggers?   Obama's job creation plans are superficial because he doesn't comprehend that almost all jobs can be out-sourced or in-sourced,
 
Obama never answered the brick-layer's question.   Instead, he voiced a few vague generalities about how we have to make sure "H-2Bs" aren't used to hurt American software engineers.   I would pay good money to see the puzzled look on that brick-layer's face when Obama was rambling about high-tech workers.   LOL!
 
Obama alluded to wanting to reform "H-2B".   As Norm Matloff explains in his news-letter, which is included below, if Obama really wanted to change things he could support the reform bill from the other Senator from Illinois -- Richard Durbin.   Obama has yet to sign up as a co-sponsor of Durbin's reform bill that really would be a "Change We Can Believe In".
 
News stories in the U.S. about Obama's Duryea speech on "H-2B" are non-existent, but on international websites, and particularly those based in India, the stories are propagating.   Americans that depend on domestic magazines or newspapers would have no way of finding out what Obama said about "H-2B".
 
I find it rather interesting that the Obamite youtubers didn't think to include Obama's "H2B" comments.   Instead they posted a heavily edited and sanitized version of Obama's speech.
 
An article by Sridhar Krishnaswami is being repeated on many Indian and foreign web sites.   He got his facts straight, which proves he watches cspan, but I disagree with his contention that Obama said that he wanted to stream-line the H-2B process.   If anything Obama was suggesting that we need better enforcement to protect American workers, which is the opposite of stream-lining since it would involve more bureaucracy.   Actually, since Obama doesn't know the difference between H-1B and H-2B it's unlikely he has any idea what needs to be done to solve the many problems with these visas.   One thing for sure, Obama thinks there is a shortage of high-tech workers, so count on him to push for increasing the visa cap.
Job Destruction News-Letter

2008-09-09 05:00PDT (08:00EDT) (12:00GMT)
_MarketWatch_
40% of executives surveyed have cut spending on IT
Earth Times
Information Age
"More than 40% of large businesses have cut their IT budgets this year due to the global economic slow-down...   24% of firms have put discretionary spending on hold...   70% of respondents said they will likely negotiate lower rates with suppliers, and 16% said they have already cut their IT services spending...   49% of IT shops in the financial services sector have cut their budgets...   49% of North American firms have cut their IT budgets compared with 31% of respondents in Europe...   45% of firms plan to increase their use of applications out-sourcing, while 43% of firms are increasing their use of infrastructure out-sourcing.   43% of respondents said they are moving more work off-shore...   Satisfaction with out-sourcing remains low.   While overall firms are satisfied with their decision to use a third party, 52% say their biggest challenge with existing IT services and out-sourcing relationships is that cost savings are lower than expected.   Other noteworthy challenges include inconsistent or poor service quality (40%) and the inability of the vendor or contract structure to respond rapidly to changing business needs (35%)."

2008-09-09
Paul Craig Roberts _V Dare_
US economy experiences temporary respite in what may be a permanent decline

2008-09-09 (5768 Elul 09)
Daniel Pipes _Jewish World Review_
Must all guerrilla and anti-terrorism wars fail?

2008-09-09 (5768 Elul 09)
Frank J. Gaffney _Jewish World Review_
Our commitment to freedom

2008-09-09 (5768 Elul 09)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
The vision of the left
index to articles by Thomas Sowell
 

2008-09-10

2008-09-10
Larry Dignan _Ziff Davis_
IT body shop bid rates under pressure from general economic conditions
"In a report gauging IT services [bodyshopping] spending Forrester found 70% of firms are negotiating lower rates with suppliers and 57% are cutting back on contracts.   29% are putting projects through tougher ROI calculations.   That said 45% of the 950 technology managers polled plan on increasing applications out-sourcing.   Meanwhile, 43% are increasing use of off-shore out-sourcing firms and another 43% are farming out infrastructure...   42% say that off-shore deliverables aren’t as high in quality as on-shore out-sourcing firms."

2008-09-10
_abc_
McCain praised by Obama

2008-09-10
Rob Sanchez _Job Destruction News-Letter_ #1914
Forces of Evil making their move in House committee
 
Congress plans to hand out large numbers of employment based green cards by recapturing visas from previous years that were not issued.   If the House passes the bill, as many as 550K workers could come into the U.S.A. as well as their families.   The bill, is HR5882: "To 'recapture' employment-based immigrant visas lost to bureaucratic delays and to prevent losses of family- and employment-based immigrant visas in the future."
 
OK, so here is the really bad news -- THE BILL COULD PASS AS EARLY AS TODAY!
 
gov track on HR5882
Any and all of these awful pieces of immigration legislation will be up for consideration...
-- Lofgren HR5882 To worsen flood of excess immigration
-- Lofgren HR5921 To worsen flood of excess immigration by eliminating country of origin limits
-- Wexler HR5924 To worsen flood of foreign nurses
- Lofgren HR5950 To guarantee more free health care to illegal aliens

2008-09-10
Peter Gadiel _V Dare_
Present at the creation of the dis-united states

2008-09-10
_abc_
Phil Gamm told Ron Paul that McCain "would do a little less harm than the other candidate"

2008-09-10
Ron Paul _Lew Rockwell_
our two-party system offers no real choice. The real goal of the campaign is to distract people from considering the real issues

2008-09-10 (5768 Elul 10)
Jonathan Tobin _Jewish World Review_
There's something about Sarah

2008-09-10 (5768 Elul 10)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
Academic Mismatch part 2
"The American Bar Association is the accreditation agency for all law schools.   If a law school has not been accredited by the ABA, it is ineligible for federal funding; its students are ineligible for student loans; most states do not allow graduates of a non-ABA-accredited law school to sit for the bar examination."
index of articles by Walter E. Williams
 

2008-09-11

1777-09-11
US History: Brandywine BattleField
US History: The Philadelphia Campaign
Jimbo Wales's Wikipedia (with map)
British Battles
Deidre G. & Billy B.: Apopka High School: Blue Darter's Guide to the American Revolution
Edward G. Lengel: War Times Journal
John B.B. Trussell & Harold L. Myers: Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission
General Atomic
History Net
The Brandywine
Answers
How Stuff Works (with video)
The American Revolutionary War (maps)

1857-09-11
Luscinia Brown-Hovelt & Elizabeth J. Himelfarb: Archeological Institute of America: Mountain Meadows Massacre
more from Archeological Institute of America: Mountain Meadows Massacre
USA History
Josiah F. Gibbs _The Mountain Meadows Massacre_
Mountain Meadows Association
resource guide
Boone County Historical & Railroad Society
UMKC: Mountain Meadows Massacre Trials of John D. Lee
University of Nebraska at Lincoln: transcripts of documents & contemporary articles
Mountain Meadows Massacre
Frank Kirkman: 1857 Massacre
Utah History to Go
History Channel discussion
Jimbo Wales's Wikipedia: Mountain Meadows Massacre [has an error: Christopher "Kit" Carson Fancher was one of the survivors and was raised by an uncle]
Gibson
Religious Tolerance
J.K., Genevieve, & Terry Fancher
Ancestry.com
Richard E. Turley: LDS reprinted from Ensign: Mountain Meadows Massacre
video
USA Today
_Massacre at Mountain Meadows_

2008-09-11 05:30PDT (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
current press release
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 336,643 in the week ending Sept. 6, a decrease of 22,137 from the previous week.   There were 245,526 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3% during the week ending Aug. 30, unchanged from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,052,856, a decrease of 44,203 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 1.7% and the volume was 2,236,358.   Extended benefits were available in Alaska and Rhode Island during the week ending Aug. 23."
graphs

2008-09-11 06:00PDT (09:00EDT) (13:00GMT)
Joelle Tessler _CNN_/_Money_/_AP_
Forces of Evil plan another merger
Santa Cruz Sentinel
Forbes
San Jose Mercury News
Patrick Thibodeau: ComputerWorld/IDG
"AeA, formerly known as the American Electronics Association, and the Information Technology Association of America said Thursday they are in talks to merge their operations.   [Combined, they would represent executives from some 2,400 firms.]...   Coming on the heels of ITAA's combination with the Government Electronics and Information Technology Association and with the Cyber Security Industry Alliance earlier this year, the expected merger signals that consolidation may finally be starting to sweep the several dozen trade associations representing technology [executives]."

2008-09-11
David Guo _Pittsburgh Post-Gazette_
Pittsburgh Dice listings up 22% from a year ago
graphs

2008-09-11 07:00PDT (10:00EDT) (14:00GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
Trade deficit increased in July 5.7% to $62.2G
"In July, imports rose 3.9% to a record $230.3G, while exports grew 3.3% to a record $168.1G."

2008-09-11
Michelle Malkin _V Dare_
Blaming the targets of attack

2008-09-11
Jack Cashill
Obama at Harvard

2008-09-11
Ron French _Detroit News_
Former Mexican president Vicente Fox say US should learn to live with job losses, reduced quality of living
"Fox argues Americans helped create economic policies such as NAFTA that moved jobs to Mexico, and now are complaining about it, even though the United States continues to benefit.   'As long as you have salaries of $15 to $20 an hour, you will keep losing jobs to economies that pay $5 an hour.', Fox said.   'This great nation of the United States has to understand that the way we opened our markets, was to learn how to compete.   Now that we have learned how to compete, the leaders of the United States is building walls.   That's a big, big mistake.   We should be building bridges, building opportunities.   The loss of manufacturing jobs is a problem not only of Michigan but of the United States, and is a product of the new economy.', Fox said.   '(But) you cannot look at it from an individual perspective.   That's the way General Motors, Ford and Chrysler were able to compete.   That is good for the Michigan economy and also good for Mexico.'"
Frosty Wooldridge _American Chronicle_
Many politicians, executives and foreigners seem to think it's time America dropped down to the poverty levels of the rest of the world

2008-09-11
"weaver"
Short-fall of employment for college grads

2008-09-11 (5768 Elul 11)
Lindsay Renick Mayer _Open Secrets_
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac invest in law-makers/legislators, update

2008-09-11 (5768 Elul 11)
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein _Jewish World Review_
Persecution and systematic destruction of Christians in the Middle East

2008-09-11 (5768 Elul 11)
Rabbi Yonason Goldson _Jewish World Review_
The skeleton in my closet: Confessions of a counterculture rabbi
 

2008-09-12

2008-09-12 07:03PDT (10:03EDT) (14:03GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
Retail sales fell in August

2008-09-12
Frosty Wooldridge _Op Ed News_
Voters want immigration brought under control: No sound from candidates or media
Official Wire

2008-09-12
Frosty Wooldridge _American Chronicle_
Many politicians, executives and foreigners seem to think it's time America dropped down to the poverty levels of the rest of the world
"Grinding poverty exists in Africa, China, India, Bangladesh, Mexico, South America, Indonesia, Russia and many other parts of the world.   It chokes its victims in a vice-like grip of futility.   It features disease, an uneducated populace, corruption and starvation...   One angry writer from Madras, India, a Mr. S, expressed his dim view of a piece I wrote concerning H-1B visas that displaced jobs from American citizens.   'I suppose you think I´m the enemy', he said, 'because I have taken one of your out-sourced jobs as well as an entire factory of workers here in India.   However, we can make the product cheaper than you Americans.   Your artificially high wages can not compete with our labor market.   Besides, it's time Americans drop their artificially high standard of living to the poverty levels of the rest of the world.'   I wrote back, 'Is it possible that you maintain an artificially low standard of living by sustaining an artificially high overpopulation level of 1.1G people?   Wouldn't India be better off with only 300M like America?   Wouldn't China be better off with 300M instead of 1.3G?   Wouldn't Bangladesh with 144M people in a land-mass the size of Ohio be better off with only 1M?   Wouldn't your standard of living rise to the level of a First World country if you had a smaller population?'...   America IS dropping its standard of living for all its citizens as this country suffers an invasion by millions of immigrants annually.   Most people don't realize the world population grows by 77M annually which creates an endless line awaiting entry into the portals of America.   Since 1965 when the Immigration Reform Act opened the flood-gates to 1M immigrants annually, we have been inundated with over 70M...   For starters, the USA stands neck deep in $9.4T debt.   Consumer debt adds up to $2T.   Credit cards average a $9,149 balance according to Brian Williams at NBC.   We pay $500M of our tax dollars daily for interest on the debt..."

2008-09-12
Andrea Koncz & Kevin Gray _NACE_
Average salary offers to new grads up 7.6%

2008-09-12
Richard John Neuhaus _First Things_
Politics and Religion

2008-09-12

DJIA	11,421.99
S&P 500	1,251.70
NASDAQ	2,261.27
10-year US T-Bond	3.73%
crude oil	$101.18/barrel
gold	$764.50/ounce
silver	$10.80/ounce
platinum	$1,210.50/ounce
palladium	$242.80/ounce
copper	$0.199375/ounce
natgas	$7.366/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline	$2.7696/gal
heatingoil	$2.9391/gal
dollarindex	78.916
yenperdollar	107.90
dollarspereuro	1.4226
dollarsperpound	1.7946
swissfranksperdollar	1.1292
MorganStanleyHighTechIndex	525.09

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

2008-09-13

2008-09-13
_Right Side News_
USCIS ombudsman Questions and Answers
 
 

2008-09-14

2008-09-14
_eWeek_
Job Market Crisis: Laughably low compensation
Disappointed Professionals
Ignorant HR
Lack of Investment in Training

2008-09-14
_Greeley CO Tribune_
JBS Swift dispute has roots deep and wide
"For more than a week, primarily East African Muslim workers at the meatpacking plant in north Greeley have squared off against largely Latino workers with JBS Swift & Co., which is owned by a Brazilian family, caught in the middle of a religious-inspired dispute.   The punch line, however, has been no joke.   The dispute has lasted more than a week, seen more than 100 workers fired and both sides have traded accusations of abuse and threats of violence...   The confrontation at Swift first came to the surface on Sept. 2 when Muslim workers on Swift's second shift couldn't break at 19:30 [before sun-down].   The next day, a large number of Muslim workers gathered outside the human resources office at Swift while their leaders negotiated an accommodation with managers that appeared to allow the workers to take a break at 19:30 as required by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.   This accommodation sparked several rounds of protests and counter-protests on the part of largely Latino and Catholic workers.   Graen Isse, a former Swift worker who has worked as a translator in the past and speaks for many of the Muslim workers, said the dispute is the result of a cultural and verbal misunderstanding.   He said the Muslim workers struggle to communicate with their supervisors at the plant.   He said many of the Muslim workers also struggle to understand the U.S. culture.   He said many workers did not think it would be a problem to take a prayer break at 19:30 during Ramadan...   The conflicts have their roots in the changing demographics of the United States, the changing role of the workplace in society and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid on the Swift plant in Greeley...   Demographics play the largest role.   In 1970, about 4% of the U.S. population was foreign-born and of that number, more than 60% came from predominantly Christian Europe.   The 2000 census showed the foreign-born population had grown to about 12%.   More important, the majority of those born in another country came to the U.S. from Latin America, Asia and Africa.   When they come, many bring religious practices and beliefs that fall well outside the predominantly Christian U.S. main-stream, Bennett said...   In the U.S.A., there is [an alleged] shortage of [extremely cheap] workers in the traditional working-age group of about 19-50.   One solution is older workers, another is the use [abuse] of H-1B visas, which allow skilled workers to immigrate to the U.S.A. for their contribution to the work-force [i.e. to flood the job markets and depress pay and benefits], Bennett said."

2008-09-14 11:22:19PDT (14:22:19EDT) (18:22:19GMT)
Sholnn Freeman _Salt Lake UT Tribune_/_Washington Post_
Boeing machinists strike over off-shoring

2008-09-14 18:55PDT (2008-09-14 21:55EDT) (2008-09-15 01:55GMT)
Jamie Van Eaton _Miami Examiner_
Going meatless may shrink brain
Free Market News Network
Minyanville
Fox
Courier Mail
Neurology
"Vegetarian jokes aside, a study in Melbourne, Australia makes the suggestion that a lack of B12 is 6 times more likely to cause brain shrinkage than, say, watching 2008 election coverage.   B12, a nutrient found in protein, tends to be lacking in those living a life-style without meats, milk, fish and organ meat such as liver.   Methods: A prospective study of 107 community-dwelling volunteers aged 61 to 87 years without cognitive impairment at enrollment.   Volunteers were assessed yearly by clinical examination, MRI scans, and cognitive tests.   Blood was collected at baseline for measurement of plasma vitamin B12, transcobalamin (TC), holotranscobalamin (holoTC), methylmalonic acid (MMA), total homocysteine (tHcy), and serum folate.   The decrease in brain volume was greater among those with lower vitamin B12 and holoTC levels and higher plasma tHcy and MMA levels at baseline.   Linear regression analysis showed that associations with vitamin B12 and holoTC remained significant after adjustment for age, sex, creatinine, education, initial brain volume, cognitive test scores, systolic blood pressure, ApoE 4 status, tHcy, and folate.   Using the upper (for the vitamins) or lower tertile (for the metabolites) as reference in logistic regression analysis and adjusting for the above covariates, vitamin B12 in the bottom tertile (<308 pmol/L) was associated with increased rate of brain volume loss (odds ratio 6.17, 95% CI 1.25–30.47).   The association was similar for low levels of holoTC (<54 pmol/L) (odds ratio 5.99, 95% CI 1.21–29.81) and for low TC saturation.   High levels of MMA or tHcy or low levels of folate were not associated with brain volume loss.   Low vitamin B12 status should be further investigated as a modifiable cause of brain atrophy and of likely subsequent cognitive impairment in the elderly."

2008-09-14
Tony Pugh _McClatchy_
Unemployment rate for women jumped
"When the unemployment rate for women went from 4.6% in July to 5.3% in August...   Black women were hit even harder, as their unemployment rate jumped... from 7.5% in July to 9.1% in August."
 
 

2008-09-15: 50 days to federal elections of president and congress-critters

2008-09-15
_South Florida Business Journal_
Immigration law firms merge
"Monty Partners' clients primarily include Mexican grocers and meat and poultry industry establishments.   Blue-collar businesses that trend toward hiring migrant labor are subject to more enforcement actions from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.   Monty Partners is in the forefront of enforcement, a field outside Adorno's immigration focus.   Says Jacob Monty: 'Adorno's immigration practice is really not geared toward compliance.   It's really toward H-1B (visas).'"

2008-09-15
_Telecom Tiger_
Body Shopper Satyam mulling 4,500 job cuts
"This is roughly 9% of the company's work force. Reports quote company sources saying that 1500 employees have been put under performance improvement. The company has a total work force of 51K employees at present. The company has also started the performance improvement plan and asked low performers to..."

2008-09-15
Stephen Sawchuk _Education Week_
New TEACH grants come with strings

2008-09-15
Peter Grandlich _GoldSeek_
Economic General Quarters Still In Effect

2008-09-15
Richard Burnett _Orlando Sentinel_
VOIP start-up Acredo joined business incubator at UCF
"Acredo Technologies Inc., an Internet communications company formerly based in Panama City, has moved its headquarters to Orlando and expects to generate at least a dozen high-tech jobs by year's end, officials said last week...   Orange County officials connected with Ross and his team last Fall during a trade mission sponsored by the government, he said.   County and university officials lured Acredo in a series of follow-up sessions that, among other things, detailed the resources available at the UCF incubator.   'Part of what the incubator delivers is access to capital as we grow.', said Ross, a former Walt Disney World computer engineer and Silicon Valley entrepreneur.   'They have a lot of contacts in the venture capital community, and that will be a major help for us as the potential of our business materializes.'...   Overall, the incubator has 70 companies in its various locations, up from 55 at the same time last year, she said.   Officials have signed up 10 new clients in the past two months alone -- a sign of entrepreneurial growth that often accompanies economic slowdowns, Dykes said."

2008-09-15 07:35PDT (10:35EDT) (14:35GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
industrial production dropped 1.1% in August, 2% since January
"Capacity utilization -- a key gauge of inflationary pressures stemming from industrial bottlenecks -- dropped by a full percentage point to 78.7%, the lowest in nearly four years.   Capacity utilization in manufacturing fell to 76.6%, about three percentage points below its long-run average and also the lowest in 4 years."

2008-09-15 12:45PDT (15:45EDT) (19:45GMT)
Deborah Levine _MarketWatch_
New York Fed added $70G in over-night repurchase agreements, known as repos.

2008-09-15
Larry Dignan _Ziff Davis_
Financial firms' melt-down will have effects on computer tech sector
"The technology labor pool will [be flooded with people let go from these firms] driving down wages (at least in the New York area).   Developers, engineers and data center workers will all be looking for jobs as these Wall Street firms, which really hold the keys to some of the most redundant high performance computing systems around, disappear.   If you're in the market for talent though it could be a good time to hire."

2008-09-15 15:40PDT (18:40EDT) (22:40GMT)
Brian Caulfield, Andy Greenberg & Wendy Tanaka _Forbes_
IT after the bank bust
"Citigroup's Thill says the financial sector melt-down likely will negatively impact Oracle's future earnings, but he couldn't say how much.   He estimates that between 15% to 20% of Oracle's revenues come from financial services companies.   'Their ads say they run the top 20 banks.   So they can't say they don't have exposure' to the financial industry, he says."

2008-09-15 15:43PDT (18:43EDT) (22:43GMT)
David Goldman _CNN_/_Money_
HP dumping another 25K by 2011 as part of EDS take-over
"Of the nearly 25K lay-offs, HP said about half will come from workers in the United States."

2008-09-15
_Right Side News_
$600M of forder fence missing
"'The GAO report is unambiguous.', said Glenn Spencer of American Border Patrol, 'Table 3 of the report clearly states that as of 2008/08/22 there were 109 ''Miles deployed through SBI as of 2008/08/22'' of pedestrian fence.   This is totally consistent with what we have found.'   An aerial survey by American Border Patrol found that, as of 2008 July 29, 108 miles of had been constructed by DHS's Strategic Border Initiative.   The cost of constructing the border fence has sky-rocketed, according to the GAO, and is now set at about $7.5M per mile.   The difference between GAO and ABP fence miles and that of the DHS amounts to 81 miles, or $608M."

2008-09-15
_Right Side News_
US Immigration Legislation Update: FAIR, Dobbs & 40 talk radio hosts Hold Their Feet to the Fire, Amnesty for Military Service, Cross-Border Trucking, Virtual Fence, Victims' Families, California may grant driver licenses to illegal aliens
"Immigration Subcommittee Ranking Member Steve King (R-IA) proposed an amendment that would prohibit immigration judges from allowing the deportation and inadmissibility waivers to apply to crimes that threaten national security. (Congressional Quarterly, 2008 September 10)   Lofgren reacted with openness towards King's amendment, and the Committee recessed to allow Democrats and Republicans to work together to produce a list of crimes to exclude from the waivers.   After spending over an hour in recess, the Committee could no longer produce a quorum and had to postpone consideration of the bills. (CongressNow, 2008 September 10)   The meeting is scheduled to resume on Wednesday, September 17th, at a time to be announced. (Congressional Quarterly, 2008 September 12)   When the Committee reconvenes, it is expected to finish consideration of HR6020 and 3 other immigration-related bills: HR5882, HR5924, and HR5950. (Id.)   HR5882 would 'recapture' more than 550K visas that the State Department did not issue in fiscal years 1992 through 2007; HR5924 would lift the cap on employment-based visas for physical therapists and nurses until 2011 (Gallery Watch, 2008 August 1); and HR5950 would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 'to establish procedures for the delivery of medical and mental health care to all immigration detainees... in DHS custody'. (Congressional Research Service Summary, 2008 May 1)"

2008-09-15
Paul Craig Roberts _V Dare_
US Economy Is Rudderless and Reeling from Direct Hits

2008-09-15 (5768 Elul 15)
Rabbi Doctor Asher Meir _Jewish World Review_
Enabling risky behavior?
"The reason the vast majority of day traders lose money is very simple.   Every transaction has two sides.   Every stock, future or option bought by one trader is sold by another.   The only way you can consistently make money is if you have some source of information that makes you consistently better informed than the other side of the transaction.   If you are worse informed, the other person is making money at your expense; if you are equal, then both traders lose, while the brokers win."
 
 

2008-09-16: 7 weeks (49 days) to federal elections of president and congress-critters

2008-09-16
Lawrence Walsh _eWeek_
Financial firms' woes hit IT markets
"Those still expecting full-year profits to increase have adjusted their expectations by lowering their forecast by nearly 50%.   And only 44% say that their year-to-date sales are in line with expectations...   In the new Channel Insider report, solution providers [bodyshops] say that their customers hare delaying IT projects and spending (53%), taking longer to make purchasing decisions (51%), scaling back IT deployments and spending (39%) and pushing back on pricing (34%).   As end users are finding it harder to come by cash and lines of credit, they're cutting back on everything from IT projects to coffee to curb cash out-flow...   [Body shops] said that their vendors and distributors have increased the prices of goods and services (53%), decreased discounts and incentives (36%), applied surcharges for logistical support (32%) and tighter credit terms (30%)."

2008-09-16
Iain A. Lang, PhD; Tamara S. Galloway, PhD; Alan Scarlett, PhD; William E. Henley, PhD; Michael Depledge, PhD, DSc; Robert B. Wallace, MD; David Melzer, MB, PhD _JAMA_ 2008; 300(11):(doi:10.1001/jama.300.11.1303)
Association of Urinary Bisphenol A Concentration With Medical Disorders and Laboratory Abnormalities in Adults
Rachel Ehrenberg: Science News
Rebecca Trager: Royal Society of Chemists Chemistry World
Nature
e! Science News
Genetic Engineering & BioTechnology News
AP/CNN
Miranda Hitti: Web MD
"Bisphenol A, also called BPA, is used in polycarbonate plastic -- hard plastic used in products including some baby bottles and refillable water bottles -- and in epoxy resins, which line some canned goods and are also in dental composites and sealants.   Bisphenol A isn't found in softer plastics, such as single-serving water bottles...   The findings, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, will be presented today at an FDA public hearing on bisphenol A...   The researchers checked government data on heart disease, diabetes, and bisphenol A in 1,455 U.S. adults age 18-74.   [92.6% of people over the age of 6 had detectable levels of BPA in their urine.]   As part of a national health study done in 203-2004, participants provided urine samples and were asked if they had ever been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease -- heart attack, coronary heart disease, or chest pain (angina) -- or diabetes.   People with the highest urinary levels of bisphenol A were [2.4 times] as likely to report ever being diagnosed with cardiovascular disease or diabetes, compared to people with the lowest urinary levels of bisphenol A.   High urinary levels of bisphenol A were also linked to abnormal concentrations of liver enzymes.   To put the heart disease and diabetes findings in perspective, those conditions were relatively rare: 79 people reported a history of heart disease and 136 reported a history of diabetes.   The study didn't directly test bisphenol A to see if caused health problems, so it doesn't prove that bisphenol A was to blame.   Still, the results held regardless of factors including age, sex, race, smoking, and BMI (body mass index).   But the researchers didn't adjust for all possible influences, including family history of heart disease or diabetes.   David Melzer, MB, PhD, worked on the new bisphenol A study...   'It looks as if what people were exposed to was way lower than what is considered the safe level at the moment.', Melzer tells WebMD.   But he adds that it's not clear where their bisphenol A came from.   Fred Vom Saal, Phd and John Peterson Myers, Ph.D.... bisphenol A acts like estrogen, [lowering sperm count, altering fetal development, promoting behavioral disorders and prostate cancer,] pushing up insulin levels, which may lead to insulin resistance and diabetes...   In a separate report the National Toxicology Program notes 'some concern' for effects on the brain, prostate gland, and on behavior in fetuses, infants, and children...   The North American Metal Packaging Alliance (NAMPA) also emailed a statement, which points out that study participants only provided one urine sample, and that the body 'quickly and efficiently' eliminates bisphenol A through urine.   'To suggest that BPA concentrations measured at a single point in time during the process of elimination from the body correlate in any way directly with serious chronic disorders is entirely unsupported and an unsubstantiated scientific leap', states NAMPA, adding that 'while the study raises interesting questions, it provides no scientifically defensible answers' and requires further research."
John Gever: Med Page Today
"The researchers found the following odds ratios for each standard deviation of urinary BPA above the mean, after adjusting for age, sex, urinary creatinine, race and ethnicity, education, income, smoking status, body mass index, and waist circumference: (95% CI 1.09 to 1.50)

Angina:	OR 1.28
Coronary heart disease:	OR 1.63	(95% CI 1.18 to 2.26)
Heart attack:	OR 1.40	(95% CI 1.11 to 1.78)
All cardiovascular disease:	OR 1.39	(95% CI 1.18 to 1.63)
Diabetes:	OR 1.39	(95% CI 1.21 to 1.60)

Mean urinary BPA levels were approximately 4.5 ng/mL for participants not reporting these diseases, compared with about 6.5 to 8.7 ng/mL for those who had them... Although liver disease did not appear to be linked to BPA, the researchers found significant correlations between levels of the compound and elevations in liver enzymes including alkaline phosphatase (P=0.01), gamma-glutamyltransferase (P=0.001), and lactate dehydrogenase (P=0.04). Correlations with insulin (P=0.06), insulin resistance (P=0.07) and beta-cell function (P=0.09) fell short of significance. Non-Hispanic blacks had significantly higher mean levels of the compound than non-Hispanic whites. Participants ages 60 to 74 had lower mean levels than those 18 to 29. Mean BPA levels also tended to be higher in those with body mass index of 35 or greater than those with BMI below 25 -- 6.93 versus 2.01 ng/mL -- but the difference did not reach statistical significance."
AP/Suburban Chicago Daily Herald: FDA defends use of plastics containing bisphenol A
Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar & Lindsey Tanner: Town Hall

2008-09-16
_WashTech_
What students at top high schools think of IT careers

2008-09-16 14:24PDT (17:24EDT) (21:24GMT)
_WFLXFox29_/_AP_
John Finlayson Boyd, son of US representative F. Allen Boyd, arrested for smuggling illegal aliens
Jacksonville FL Times-Union
MyFoxOrlando
Fort Myers FL News-Press
Arizona Republic
Tampa Bay FL Tribune
"The 30-year-old son of a Florida congressman was charged with smuggling illegal [aliens] after federal authorities found people hidden in his truck during a border inspection Sunday in Arizona...   Authorities said 2 of the [illegal aliens] found in Boyd's truck told them they had agreed to pay $3K each to be smuggled into the United States.   At his initial appearance in federal court Monday, Boyd was held over for a detention hearing Wednesday in Tucson, said Sandy Raynor, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Arizona.   According to a criminal complaint outlining the accusations, John Boyd was driving his pick-up Sunday near Wilcox, AZ, when it was stopped for inspection at a Border Patrol check-point.   'At the primary inspection area, a Border Patrol K-9 alerted to the possible presence of illegal aliens in the bed of the truck.', states the complaint.   The complaint states it was then that a Border Patrol agent approached the truck 'and saw an individual hiding under a piece of plywood in the bed of the truck'.   Boyd was asked to turn off the engine and climb out of his truck, the complaint states.   Agents found 'an unaccompanied 6-year-old female juvenile in the passenger seat who was not wearing a seat belt, along with 2 other individuals on the floor-board behind the front seat.   Agents also found two more individuals hiding under the piece of plywood in the bed of the truck.', the complaint states.   'The 4 individuals all admitted that they were not citizens or nationals of the United States and that they did not have permission to be in the United States legally.', the complaint states.   The complaint says it was determined that the 6-year-old's parents had passed through the border check-point before Boyd's arrival.   Agents were able to contact the girl's mother by using Boyd's cell phone, the complaint states.   The parents returned to the check-point to pick her up.   Boyd is the son of representative Allen Boyd, D-FL, whose family owns a farm in Florida and who has supported proposals to provide a path to citizenship for illegal [aliens] who pay fines and back taxes.   In a statement issued by his office, representative Boyd said, 'This is a family matter that my family and I will be dealing with privately.   John is a grown man and must face the consequences for his actions, but he has the love and support of his family.'   In 2008 John Boyd faced a misdemeanor charge in Tucson Municipal Court on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.   He was later charged with violation of a promise to appear in court.   In July the court issued a warrant for his arrest."

2008-09-16
Rob Sanchez _Job Destruction News-Letter_ #1919
Huge Green Card increase before House Judiciary committee Wednesday 2008/09/17
 
On Wednesday Sept 17th The House Judiciary Committee will do markups of the bills to allow large numbers of foreign workers into the U.S. If they agree on the mark-ups, the bills could go to a floor vote at any time. These bills are progressing very fast and seem to be picking up more support.
 
Any and all of these awful pieces of immigration legislation will be discussed:
 
1) HR5882 -- gives green cards to 550K foreign workers and their extended families.
 
2) HR5924 -- lifts the cap for foreign nurses and therapists until 2011.
 
3) HR5950 -- would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to give full medical and mental health care to all immigration alien detainees in DHS custody.
 
4) HR6020 -- would grant amnesty to illegal aliens who serve in the military. It will also give amnesty to their families.
 
The only way this catastrophe is going to be stopped is for you to work with the immigration organizations that have phone call and fax campaigns. I'm including [links to] 3 alerts from NumbersUSA, FAIR, and CAPS.
House Judiciary Committee Mark-Up Hearing
Roy Beck: NumbersUSA: Financial Industry Collapsing -- But Some In Congress Still Trying To Give Away More US Jobs To Foreign Workers
Federation for American Immigration Reform
House Judiciary Renews Consideration of Measures That Will Harm American Workers!
 
Thanks to your calls and e-mails last week, efforts to pass four detrimental immigration-related bills stalled in the House Judiciary Committee. Unfortunately, victory was short-lived. Committee leaders remain committed to passing these bills, which would flood the workplace with hundreds of thousands of worker visas. The Judiciary Committee is meeting again Wednesday, September 17th for another try!
 
Three of the four bills to be considered in Wednesday's markup amount to nothing more than gifts to big business special interests seeking to dramatically increase the stream of cheap foreign labor coming into the American work-force during these tough economic times:
 
HR5882 would reach back to 1992 and "recapture" employment-based and family-based visas, potentially adding over 550,000 new green cards.
 
HR5924 would lift the cap on employment-based visas for nurses and physical therapists until 2011.
 
HR6020 would grant amnesty to illegal aliens who are family members of armed forces personnel.
 
In addition, the House Judiciary Committee will be considering HR5950, which sets forth vast new alien detainee healthcare requirements that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would have to implement in all of its detention centers. ICE facilities -- which have a mortality rate far below the averages for both the U.S. jail system and the general public -- already provide every detainee with comprehensive medical screenings, which often result in original diagnosis and treatment of chronic conditions. This unnecessary bill -- a clear tactic by open borders advocates to slow law enforcement -- will only serve to add extra bureaucratic burden to ICE.
House Democrat leadership wants to give half million jobs to foreign workers!
-- Lofgren HR5882 To worsen flood of excess immigration
-- Lofgren HR5921 To worsen flood of excess immigration by eliminating country of origin limits
-- Wexler HR5924 To worsen flood of foreign nurses
- Lofgren HR5950 To guarantee more free health care to illegal aliens
- Lofgren HR6020 Amnesty and "family reunification" for illegal aliens in exchange for military service

2008-09-16
Andre Eggelletion _US Talk Network_
Another Federal Reserve Bailout, AIG

2008-09-16 (5768 Elul 16)
Frank J. Gaffney _Jewish World Review_
Into the fire

2008-09-16 (5768 Elul 16)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Idols of crowds
 
 

2008-09-17: USA Constitution Day

2008-09-17 04:00PDT (07:00EDT) (11:00GMT)
Chris Oliver _MarketWatch_
Japan and Australia pumped $31.9G into markets
"The Bank of Japan injected 3T yen ($28.4G) in two separate operations and The Reserve Bank of Australia pumped A$4.29G ($3.45G) into financial markets Wednesday."

2008-09-17
Andy Guess _Inside Higher Education_
STEM shortage claims challenged
"why do employers claim a shortage of qualified STEM graduates while prospects for Ph.D.s remain poor?   Why do retention and completion rates for STEM fields remain low compared with students’ aspirations?   Why is there a serious funding crisis at the National Institutes of Health after its budget doubled from 1998 to 2003?...   In the late 1980s, he said, speculations of looming shortfalls were wildly wrong, while successful lobbying in the late 1990s to triple the number of H-1B visas to fulfill a supposed shortage coincided with the IT bust -- and a resulting collapse in demand for workers -- in 2001...   the evidence doesn't support the view that there is a shortage of scientists or engineers.   A shortage of workers would imply an increase in wages, but remuneration remains flat; in general, he said, there is significant variation over time and by field, with a mix of hot fields and slack markets."
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring e-News-Letter_
Teitelbaum tells PCAST, "No STEM shortage"
The article enclosed below should come as no surprise to many readers of this e-news-letter.   The allegations of a STEM shortage that we see constantly in the press are put there by the industry lobbyists and their allies (AILA, academia, etc.), and have no basis in fact.   As Dr. Teitelbaum points out in the article and has been stated here many times, in times of a labor shortage wages should be sharply increasing, when in fact they are flat or falling in inflation-adjusted terms.
 
There has been plenty of refutation of the shortage claims over the years, culminating with the excellent Urban Institute study of last year; see
beginning of coverage of the report
Salzman's testimony to House Science Committee
Teitelbaum testimony to House Science Committee
Matloff's commentary part 1
Matloff's commentary part 2
 
But all of this is no match for the enormous efforts made by the "shortage lobbyists", and the audience here, PCAST, consists mainly in stake-holders in the shortage myth -- tech CEOs, university presidents and the like.
 
One of the major contributions of Teitelbaum's presentation is de-emphasizing the role of PhDs.   Again, this is known by most people in the business, at least those in the tech industry, but Intel and others love to claim that not enough Americans pursue engineering PhDs, in spite of the fact that Intel doesn't hire very many doctorates.   So, again, the industry lobbyists are doing a good job of deceiving the public.
 
One of the reader comments following the article on the Inside Higher Ed web page is quite telling in this regard:
 
At last, someone is looking at the data!   It is funny that STEM people rely on intuition rather than hard data to reach their conclusions that we need more STEM grads.
 
As a former director of a bioscience PhD program, and now a consultant in the biotech sector, I fully concur that it is unwise to drive students to PhDs when, in fact, industry is looking for business savvy MS grads.   Along with this, I have seen to many PhDs awarded for technical accomplishments, but not for philosophical ones, which was the original intent behind a PhD.
 
Furthermore, it makes no sense for an academic scientist to produce 20 PhD clones over the life-time of his research.   The system cannot bear this influx as we are seeing and as the article pointed out.
 
Steven S. Clark, PhD
 
Dr. Clark's comments on right on the mark, every one of them.   Note particularly his comment that "industry is looking for business savvy MS grads"; as technical work is done more and more overseas or here by H-1B visa holders, industry's assigned role for Americans is for the less technical, more verbal types of work.
 
Sloan funded an excellent Stanford/RAND study in the mid-1990s that showed we were over-producing PhDs even then.   But no one listened, especially in academia, because at universities numbers are power.   The more PhDs a university produces, the more federal research money it can acquire (since the money is spent largely on the doctoral students, without the students the money could not be spent and would not be renewed) etc.   For an individual professor, his/her promotions, fame etc. all depend on producing as many PhDs as possible.   None of these stake-holders is going to shout out, "Stop this crazy train!"
 
So, where do these PhDs end up, given that there is very little real need for their training? In fields like physics, many leave the field, but even in computer science they typically end up doing work that doesn't need a doctorate.   As I said in the first link displayed above:
 
I just this week got a call from a famous company, asking for a reference for a foreign student from China who is just finishing his PhD.   This guy is really good, and as I've always said, I strongly support the immigration of those few who are 'the best and the brightest", so I was happy to serve as a reference for him.   But the job they are considering him for is...Test Engineer!   They want to hire a PhD as a Test Engineer!   Amazing.   This completely flies in the face of the industry lobbyists' PhD shortage claim.
Norm
-30-
 

2008-09-17
John Wallace _News Blaze_
Anti-American-Worker Legislation Proposed in Congress Again!
"The law, originally written by senator Ted Kennedy in 1965 to increase third world immigration while limiting immigration from Western Europe, allows any unused visas from one category to automatically roll over into the other category for the following year.   This guarantees that there would never be any unused visas.   The 'RECAPTURE' scheme being proposed in HR5882, adds a provision that essentially will count any 'unused' visas twice (once to roll over into the other category and once to add that number again to the existing category).   The authors of the HR5882 are not 'recapturing' anything.   They are just devising a fraudulent anti-American Worker scheme to increase the number of permanent foreign workers and their families who can be admitted to the USA every year.   When it comes to importing more foreign workers into the USA, it seems that Special Interest Money from the big corporations is more important than the will of the majority of the American people.   These type of imigration bills pose a danger to the economic future and well being of American citizen workers, particularly those currently unemployed, or employed as nurses, blue-collar workers and in the information technology field."

2008-09-17
Heidi Shierholz _Economic Polic Institute_
In July, there were 26 Americans seeking work for every 10 job openings

2008-09-17
Chuck Baldwin
A Salute to Our US Constitution

2008-09-17
Tyler H. McCormick, Matthew J. Salganik, Tian Zheng _Columbia U_/_Princeton U_
efficiently estimating personal network size (pdf)

2008-09-17 (5768 Elul 17)
Michelle Malkin _Jewish World Review_
The Book Banners Hollywood Ignores

2008-09-17 (5768 Elul 17)
Jonathan Tobin _Jewish World Review_
The Whole World Is Watching

2008-09-17 (5768 Elul 17)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
The High Cost of Racial Hype

2008-09-17 (5768 Elul 17)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
Stubborn ignorance
 
 

2008-09-18

2008-09-18 05:30PDT (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
current press release
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 380,170 in the week ending Sept. 13, an increase of 43,436 from the previous week.   There were 261,971 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3% during the week ending Sept. 6, unchanged from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,067,187, an increase of 7,896 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 1.7% and the volume was 2,242,616.   Extended benefits were available in Alaska and Rhode Island during the week ending Aug. 30."
graphs

2008-09-18
_DoL OLMS_
Agency obtained 8 convictions and 10 indictments during month

2008-09-18 07:29PDT (10:29EDT) (14:29GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
Conference Board: Leading Indicators fell 0.5% in August

2008-09-18
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring e-News-Letter_
green card abuse -- Fragomen update, and a Tale of Two Jens
 
Many of you will recall DoL's announcement last June that it was suspending approvals of green card applications submitted by Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP, the nation's largest immigration law firm, pending the results of an audit.   DoL stated that it had reason to believe that the firm had been involved in a client's hiring process to an extent contrary to DoL regulations.
 
At the time I predicted that there was nothing that DoL could do, as Fragomen appeared to be operating within the law and regs.   I stated, as I always do, that THE MAIN PROBLEM WITH H-1B AND EMPLOYMENT-BASED (EB) GREEN CARDS IS THE LOOP-HOLES, NOT ILLEGAL BEHAVIOR.
 
I have written part of the last sentence above in all-caps form because it is so often forgotten, including by activists who are pushing for tightening of the laws regarding foreign workers.   It is especially important right now, because (sorry to shout again) CONGRESS IS CURRENTLY CONSIDERING MAJOR EXPANSION OF THE EB GREEN CARD PROGRAMS YET HAS NOT INCLUDED ANY REFORM OF THE PROCESS IN THE LEGISLATION.   This is especially sad in view of the fact that, according to my sources, many people in Congress are well aware of [the videos of Cohen & Grigsby's 7th annual employment and immigration law seminar], in which they show how to exploit the numerous gaping loop-holes in green card law.   More on Congress below.
 
Let me stress again that THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FRAGOMEN CASE IS NOT THAT A "BIG FISH" HAS BEEN CAUGHT VIOLATING THE LAW -- WHICH IT HASN'T -- BUT RATHER THAT THE ACTIONS OF FRAGOMEN ILLUSTRATE THE LOOP-HOLE-RIDDEN NATURE OF THE LAW.   As noted in my earlier postings, prominent Fragomen clients such as Cisco Systems have been placing outrageously deceptive newspaper job ads stating that only U.S. citizens and permanent residents may respond, when in fact the job "opening" is already filled by a foreign worker that Cisco is sponsoring for a green card.   Again, all of this is fully legal.   (BTW, Cisco's ads don't actually say there is a job opening; they merely say that Cisco is "accepting resumes"!)
 
There is now an update on the Fragomen case, in a statement issued by DoL on August 29 (pdf).
 
Here DoL affirms that an employer has the right to check with legal counsel in rejecting U.S. applicants for a job the employer intends to fill with an EB-green card sponsoree.   DoL also reasserts that the lawyer must not get so involved in this process that the lawyer is screening the applicant pool, etc.
 
Though this document does not quite absolve Fragomen, the language suggests that DoL will in fact do so.   And for its part, Fragomen appears to be conducting business as usual, as I will explain below, suggesting that the firm has already been informally notified that it will come out will a basically clean bill of health.   Again, given the loop-hole-ridden laws and regulations, Fragomen SHOULD indeed be absolved of wrong-doing, sad to say.
 
As many of you know, HP just announced a lay-off of 25K employees, and yet they still appear to be sponsoring foreign workers for green cards -- with Fragomen as legal counsel.   The job ads still say that only Americans can submit resumes, and they are still having Americans submit resumes to a Fragomen attorney, one Cindy Jen.   Ms. Jen's bonafides.
 
There is a small bit of irony here, in that another Jen is one of the "stars" of the YouTube videos.   Attorney Jennifer Pack, called "Jen" in the videos, is shown explaining various loopholes employers can use to avoid hiring Americans in green card cases, and to underpay foreign workers in both green card and H-1B cases, fully legally.
 
HP reportedly has removed some of the job postings, but the fact is that even with all the negative publicity arising from the DoL audit announcement last June, Fragomen is conducting business as usual -- outrageously deceptive job ads implying that the jobs are open only to Americans, routing Americans' resumes through immigration lawyers and so on.
 
Here is another piece of business as usual: One of the job ads states:
 
MINIMUM JOB REQUIREMENTS: Master's or foreign degree equivalent in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related field plus two (2) years of experience in job offered, or as a systems engineer, software design engineer, system analyst, or related occupation.   Employer will accept an unrelated M.S. degree plus an add'l one (1) year of related work experience.
SPECIAL SKILLS REQUIREMENTS:
C/C++; Visual Studio; Embedded Programming; NT platform; Unix platform; Web Programming (Java and JavaScript); RDBMS database; Clearcase; VSS.
 
This is a great case study in what's wrong with EB green card law and regs.
 
First, note that phrase "two (2) years of experience in job offered".   Obviously, they're referring to the foreign national currently occupying the job!   This language is commonly seen in tech job ads, a dead giveaway to the knowing that the job is already taken and is being used to technically comply with the law but actually flout its intent.
 
And just as obviously, they are not about to replace this foreign worker if a qualified American applicant is found.   Part of this, of course, is that they can pay the foreign worker less and so on (again, LEGALLY, due to loop-holes), but also they don't want to disrupt work on the project by replacing personnel.   This latter point has been made repeatedly by immigration lawyers objecting to the Fragomen audit (again, see links to my e-news-letter above), and though the employers' concerns in this regard may be understandable, the fact remains that LOOP-HOLES ARE ALLOWING THE [ALLEGED] INTENT OF THE LAW TO BE CIRCUMVENTED.   As DoL points out in its August 29 memo, The Department of Labor has a statutory responsibility to ensure that no foreign worker (or "alien") is admitted for permanent residence based upon an offer of employment absent a finding that there are not sufficient U.S. workers who are able, willing, qualified and available for the work to be undertaken...
 
[And as was pointed out by DoL's own Inspector General in 1996 and several years thereafter.]
 
Note again (Cramer in his blog seems to be unaware of this) that except for a minuscule special case, employers are NOT required to give Americans priority over foreign workers when the employers hire H-1Bs.   The ONLY point in the process at which the law gives Americans hiring priority is for green cards, and as you can see, that law is worthless because of loop-holes.
 
Note too the piling on of skills requirements in the job ad above.   The foreign worker currently performing that job is likely the only one in the world having that particular combination of skills, thus ensuring that no American applicant will "qualify" for the job.
 
Bottom line: Since Congress is currently considering legislation that would greatly expand the EB green card program, and since it knows that the "protections" in current EB law are worthless, it should add provisions to the expansion bill that will plug the loop-holes.   It should not expand the program in the first place, but if it insists on pleasing its corporate patrons with an expansion bill, it should at least put in provisions in the bill to make sure that the law really does require Americans to be given hiring priority over foreign workers, so that the letter of the law lives up to the law's intent.
 
Norm
Matloff on Fragomen et al. audit
Matloff on Fragomen et al. 2
Matloff on Fragomen et al. 3
Matloff on Fragomen et al. 4

2008-09-18
_Numbers USA_
House Judiciary Committee again postpones vote on bills to worsen flood of foreign labor
"While the House Judiciary Committee did not take up two foreign-worker bills yesterday because of time restrictions, they remain an active threat.   The bills are: HR5882, which would add an additional 550K permanent green cards; and HR5924, which would add 20K additional foreign nurses per year for three years (plus their families)...   The Committee passed HR6020 by a 17-12 margin despite Republican efforts to stall it in the amendment process.   Prior to passage, Members amended the bill to remove language that would have allowed illegal aliens to apply for amnesty despite having committed certain criminal offenses."

2008-09-18
_NY News Day_
Iselin, NJ-based Data Group Inc fined over $80K for failing to pay H-1B visa-holders prevailing wages
Star-Ledger
Asbury Park Press
Bucks County PA Courier Times

2008-09-18
Nicholas von Hoffman _Nation_
Great Depression 2

2008-09-18
Robert Schroeder _MarketWatch_
Republican congress-critters slam bail-out mania

2008-09-18
Andre Eggelletion _US Talk Network_
Can the Federal Reserve Restore Public Confidence in the System?
more from Andre Eggelletion

2008-09-18 (5768 Elul 18)
Craig Gordon _Jewish World Review_
After learning Sarah Palin would be attending bi-partisan anti-Iran rally, Hillary quickly backed out
 
 

2008-09-19

2008-09-19 14:40:36PDT (17:40:36EDT) (21:40:36GMT)
Mark Gomez _San Jose Mercury News_/_McClatchy_
Silicon Valley unemployment reaches 4-year high
"Unemployment in Santa Clara and San Benito counties reached 6.6% last month, up from a revised 6.5% in July and 5% in 2007 August, according to data released Friday by California's Employment Development Department.   The 6.6% unemployment rate in Silicon Valley is the highest since 2004 July, when it was 6.7%...   The number of jobs rose by 300 in August from July, bringing the area's work-force to 916K.   However, the year-over-year job total in Silicon Valley fell by 1,400 jobs...   Statewide, the unemployment rate was 7.7% in August, up from 7.4% in July.   The number of people unemployed in California was 1.417M -- up by 61K over the past month.   The number represents a jump of 413K compared with August of last year."

2008-09-19 12:35PDT (15:35EDT) (19:35GMT)
Simon Kennedy _MarketWatch_
SEC bans short selling hundreds of financial stocks

2008-09-19
Robert Wenzel _Economic Policy Journal_
An open letter to Ron Paul about privacy, selective slavery, and lack of truth among most politicians in campaigning

2008-09-19

DJIA	11,388.44
S&P 500	1,255.08
NASDAQ	2,273.90
10-year US T-Bond	3.77%
crude oil	$104.55/barrel
gold	$864.70/ounce
silver	$12.48/ounce
platinum	$1,147.00/ounce
palladium	$236.95/ounce
copper	$0.19875/ounce
natgas	$7.531/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline	$2.5997/gal
heatingoil	$2.8978/gal
dollarindex	77.663
yenperdollar	107.90
dollarspereuro	1.44481
dollarsperpound	1.8334
MorganStanleyHighTechIndex	525.09

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

2008-09-20: 45 days to federal elections

2008-09-20
Llewellyn Rockwell _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
Understanding the Crisis

2008-09-20
Robert Blumen _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
Bail-Outs and Economic Calculation

2008-09-20
Jeffrey Tucker _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
Response to 2001-09-11 and the melt-down: True Money Supply (with graph)

2008-09-20
J. Henderson _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
Bail-Out Hall of Shame

2008-09-20
Jeffrey Tucker _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
Freidrich Hayek might as well have been speaking yesterday
 

2008-09-21

2008-09-21
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring e-News-Letter_
detailed update on Nielsen and foreign workers
 
Nielsen, the famous company that supplies the TV industry with measurements of viewership, made news a couple of months ago by in essence reneging on a tax incentive plan offered to it by a municipal government.   Nielsen had promised to create jobs, but turned around and hired foreign workers for the jobs, laying off Americans.   The city council was furious.
 
The article enclosed below is mostly a "human interest" piece, but gives some details of what is transpiring.   From my point of view, the most important point is the CEO's attempts to dismiss the work being shifted to the foreign workers as grunt work, not worth keeping for Americans.   Needless to say, the displaced Americans don't see it that way, and moreover, this has been the apologists' standard way to justify off-shoring -- even the political candidates in 2004 were making statements like this -- and it's not true, with the offshored work often being higher level.
 
It is not clear how many jobs are to be done here and how many are to be off-shored, but either way it is foreign workers taking the jobs.   This is something that is often over-looked, in many cases deliberately "over-looked".   Many politicians will rail against off-shoring with gusto, but H-1B and L-1 seem fine with them.   Ohio senator Sherrod Brown, for instance, is quite out-spoken against off-shoring, but has been quiet on H-1B, and in fact when Bill Gates spoke to his committee, said nothing on the visas.   If an American loses his job to a foreign worker, it doesn't matter to him whether that worker is here or over-seas.
 
Among critics of H-1B, much has been made of the fact that H-1B is often used as a vehicle to facilitate off-shoring.   Foreign workers are brought to the U.S.A. as H-1Bs (or L-1s) for training, liaison etc., to support over-seas projects.   This makes a great counter to the industry lobbyists' cry, "If you don't allow more H-1Bs, we'll have to off-shore the work!", but unfortunately it distorts the discussion of H-1B.   Most H-1Bs are NOT involved in offshoring, so banning the use of H-1B for off-shoring (which I think is infeasible anyway) would be of only limited help to American workers.   Accordingly, I regard the issue of using H-1Bs to facilitate off-shoring as secondary.   Yes, it is worth mentioning, but critics of the H-1B program should not let themselves be distracted from the central issues.
 
Norm
earlier coverage of Nielsen lay-offs
coverage of Nielsen on June 19th
coverage of Nielsen on June 21st
coverage of Nielsen on June 23th
coverage of Nielsen on June 25th
coverage of Nielsen on June 26th
coverage of Nielsen on July 1st
coverage of Nielsen on July 3rd
coverage of Nielsen on July 7th
Rob Sanchez: Job Destruction News-Letter #1920
Michael Kruse, Theresa Blackwell, Caryn Baird & Shirl Kennedy: St. Petersburg Times: How Oldsmar got global influence

2008-09-21
Robert McHugh _Market Oracle_
Paulson's market manipulation bail-out will fail becausae...
"It really puts into question the notion of U.S. markets being under capitalism, not socialism.   The government nationalized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last week, announced its intent to nationalize AIG, a component of the Dow 30, this week, and then pulled out all the stops with the Paulson manifesto Friday.   Not sure why he didn't nationalize Lehman Bros, unless it was personal, as he came from competitor Goldman Sachs, and enjoyed watching them declare bankruptcy."

2008-09-21
Debra J. Saunders _San Francisco Chronicle_
Have degree, can't get work
GOP USA
Town Hall
"A California appellate court ruling last week supports a lawsuit challenging a state law that grants illegal immigrants heavily subsidized tuition at California public universities and colleges.   The court found that the 2001 law conflicts with federal law...   Why would a state subsidize the college tuition of students who cannot work legally in the United States when they graduate?   Does California not have enough educated, angry people?   Or does the state have so few angry, educated people that it sees fit to spend more than $17K per year on tuition for UC students, more than $13K for California State University students and $109 per credit for some 15K or more community college students -- so that they can be unable to get a job that requires a college degree when they graduate?   From what I've seen, employers who hire college graduates aren't anxious to pay professional salaries to workers who can be deported.   Thus California's in-state tuition tax break -- and those in nine other states -- pave the long, expensive road to under-employment...   CSU doesn't keep statistics on [illegal alien] students.   An estimated 15K to 20K [illegal alien] students are attending California community colleges.   Kris Kobach, a University of Missouri law professor who represents plaintiffs suing California, noted that many are outraged that Sacramento chose to subsidize students in the country illegally while charging full freight to law-abiding students from other states.   Some of his clients told him, 'When we graduate, we are going to stay here.   So why is the state not subsidizing our education?   In contrast, illegal aliens cannot work anywhere in the state.'   Kobach also said he was eager to take on the case 'because this is an example of a state thumbing its nose at federal law', which stipulates that states cannot provide breaks to illegal immigrants for postsecondary education unless any citizen is eligible for that benefit, regardless of where he lives.   'It is a compelling government interest to remove the incentive for illegal immigration provided by the availability of public benefits.', Congress wrote in earlier immigration law."

2008-09-21
Austin Cassidy _Independent Political Report_
Chuck Baldwin, speaking at at Conservative Leadership Conference, condemns bail-outs
Constitution Party

2008-09-21
Mark Thornton _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
A problem of regulation?
 
 

2008-09-22

2008-09-22
Frank Shostak _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
Can the rescue plan correct the US economy?

2008-09-22
Angeline J. Taylor _Tallahassee Demagogue_
FSU grad assistants push to unionize: TAs seek better health coverage, higher salaries
"There are 3K graduate students employed by FSU...   More than $30M has been cut from FSU in the last year...   'in some departments we teach 70% of the classes.'...   FSU professor Ralph Berry, chairman of the English department, said the university essentially pays graduate students about $3K a course...   In addition to paying about $1K for insurance, students pay all their fees.   Their tuition is waived.   And they receive anywhere from $4K to $23K a year in salaries.   Ensminger's fellowship allows her to receive $23K a year for the first and fourth year of her fellowship."

2008-09-22 04:05PDT (07:05EDT) (11:05GMT)
_MarketWatch_
Nearly One Million 'Middle-Skill' Job Openings Projected for Illinois by 2014; New Report Refutes Claims of 'Hourglass' Skilled Labor Market
"The influx of middle-skill job openings (including new jobs and replacement) would account for almost half of all openings between 2004 and 2014.   Low- and high-skill jobs will account for 23% and 30% of total openings respectively...   Many of these middle-skill positions are well-paid jobs, offering median earnings that exceed the Illinois overall 2006 median of $31,637.   The average annual wage (which in 2005 exceeded $50K) for manufacturing positions, a leading source of new middle-skill job openings for the state, is expected to increase by nearly 4% per year through 2010...   43% of Illinois workers likely have the credentials to fill them...   'Middle-skill workers are the people our communities depend on -- police officers, fire-fighters, nurses, electricians, and truck drivers.'..."

2008-09-22
Martin Sieff _UPI_
The bail-out is coming
"with the exception of representative Ron Paul, R-Texas, the entire Congress in both houses repeatedly has proven themselves to be financial illiterates as the crisis loomed."

2008-09-22
Jeff Tucker _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
Ron Paul saw the GSE crash coming back in 2003

2008-09-22
Jim Wetzel _Lew Rockwell_
A Journey of a Thousand Miles...

2008-09-22
Michael S. Rozeff _Lew Rockwell_
A Time to Choose

2008-09-22
Bob Murphy _Lew Rockwell_
The Government Is NOT Promoting Stability

2008-09-22
_Los Angeles Times_
Ron Paul has nothing good to say about plans to bail out Wall Street firms

2008-09-22
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Obama & Ayers pushed radical socialism in schools

2008-09-22
Takuan Seiyo _V Dare_
The Case of the "Disappeared" Sub-Prime Minority Borrower
"The financial debacle of a $1.4T pool of subprime mortgages of which at least half are unpayable and 25% are irrecoverable did not start in a political vacuum.   For years, the American political Establishment badgered the banking industry about the 'racism' implied in its loan portfolio.   The denial of mortgage loans to 'minorities' at a greater percentage than denial to whites has been deemed a prima facie evidence of racial discrimination...   Stan O'Neal, the ousted CEO of sub-prime-bombed Merrill Lynch, received a $160M 'retirement' package.   The golden chute for Chuck Prince, the CEO who led Citigroup to the biggest loss in its 196-year history, was $42M.   John Mack, the CEO of Morgan Stanley, had to forego his 2007 bonus, but it’s some consolation that at the height of the subprime scam, in 2006, he copped $41M.   Dick Fuld, the CEO of bankrupt Lehman, took home $45M in 2007, so he won’t have to mourn the vaporization of his 401k.   'Jimmy' Cayne, the former CEO of the former Bear Stearns, similarly burned on his vested stocks, presumably retired to his $28M apartment in the Plaza Hotel, to lick his wounds."

2008-09-22
Rob Sanchez _Job Destruction News-Letter_ #1921
House Judiciary Committee Still Up to Evil
Last week a massive green card increase was scheduled to go through mark-up in the House Judiciary meeting.   Sept 17th came and went without any news about what happened with the bill.   I was hoping that the bills would be shoved aside because all the Congresscritters were concentrating on the $700G Wall Street bail-out.   Unfortunately that was wishful thinking on my part.
 
For reasons not known the Judiciary postponed markup until Tuesday, 2008 September 23.   Tommorow the House Judiciary committee will work on the following bills: HR6598, HR5882, HR5924, HR5950.
 
One bill is missing from the docket however: HR6020, which would grant amnesty to illegal aliens who serve in the military.   Instead HR6598 will go through mark-up, which prohibits using horse meat for human consumption.
 
It seems very unfair for Congress to put over a half million Americans out of work, and then arrest them for making stew out of horse carcasses!   What's a starving American to do?
 
The following is a summary of the bills going through mark-up tomorrow:
 
1) HR5882 -- "'recapture' employment-based immigrant visas"; gives green cards to 550K foreign workers and their extended families.
 
2) HR5924 -- "Emergency Nursing Supply Relief Act"; lifts the cap for foreign nurses and therapists until 2011.
 
3) HR5950 -- the "Detainee Basic Medical Care Act of 2008"; would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to give full medical and mental health care to all immigration alien detainees in DHS custody.
 
4) HR6598 -- "Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2008"; makes it illegal for starving, unemployed Americans to eat horse meat.   Dogs however can still eat horse meat.
House Judiciary Committee Calendar

2008-09-22
Sarah Palin _NY Sun_
Ahmadinejad Must Be Stopped

2008-09-22 (5768 Elul 22)
Rabbi Doctor Asher Meir _Jewish World Review_
Though Shalt Pay

2008-09-22 (5768 Elul 22)
Diana West _Jewish World Review_
We are losing Europe to militant Islamics

2008-09-22
Aharon Etengoff _PC Authority_
Unemployment reached 6.6% in Silicon Valley
 
 

2008-09-23: 6 weeks (42 days) to federal elections of president and congress-critters

2008-09-23
Rhys Blakely _Times of London_
CEO killed by mob of sacked Indian workers
Manchester Guardian
Daily Telegraph
Independent
Charleston WV Daily Mail
Sydney Morning Herald
Forbes
Houston Chronicle
Gant Daily
Canton Repository
BusinessWeek
Calgary Metro News
Industry Week
Fox
Short News Gmbh
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Scotsman
Riverside Press-Enterprise
Supply Chain Digest
"Last week, Sweden saw over 10K protestors against the impact of globalization from across Europe at a major rally.   India's own Tata Motors is having trouble completing a new factory in India to build its $2500 Nano car, which it plans to sell in less developed economies around the world.   But local farmers unhappy with losing land have recently put the project in an almost complete stall.   Tata is threatening to cancel the project and walk away from a $350M investment over the problems.   Now, word today that the India CEO of an Italian transmission company was murdered by an angry mob after dozens of angry laid off workers pummelled him during a meeting to discuss possible re-instatement...   workers... have demanded better pay and employment guarantees.   Other company executives said they were lucky to escape with their lives."
class action against Tata

2008-09-23
_MarketWatch_
Red China's LDK Solar producing 15K tons per year of photovoltaic polysilicon

2008-09-23
"timothy" _Slash Dot_
Unemployment at new high in Silicon Valley

2008-09-23 (5768 Elul 23)
Caroline B. Glick _Jewish World Review_
Liberalism or lives!?

2008-09-23
Brandon Lausch _New Brunswick Home News Tribune_/_Gannett_
Agma Systems body shop ordered to pay $54,303 in back wages to H-1B guest-workers
Scarlet ScuttleButt

2008-09-23
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
Suit against OPT extension proceeds
"Critics of the H-1B program have long argued that it has created unfair competition for jobs, depressed wages, fostered discrimination and provided a lubricant for off-shore out-sourcing.   Proving that in court is the focus of a law-suit filed in May by the Programmers Guild, the Immigration Reform Law Institute and other groups over the Bush administration's extension of the time that foreign nationals who graduate from U.S. colleges with science or technology degrees can work on their student visas from one year to 29 months.   The law-suit claims that the extension will exacerbate the harm caused by the H-1B program, and that the administration exceeded its legal authority by stretching the student-visa rules...   in their legal brief, the plaintiffs said that prior case law is clear in showing that 'economic competition is an injury-in-fact'.   They added that the student-visa extension 'specifically targets the fields in which plaintiffs work'.   As a result, they claimed, 'the injury is not speculative -- it is intended'...   the government's visa policies are making foreign workers more financially attractive to employers than U.S. citizens and permanent residents are.   Workers with student visas are exempt from [Socialist Insecurity] and Medicare payments, as are their employers, the plaintiffs pointed out in their latest court filing.   Currently, the [Socialist Insecurity] and Medicare tax rates are 6.3% and 1.45%, respectively, which delivers 'a 7.65% cost savings alone for employers to hire aliens under this rule', the plaintiffs claimed.   And, they said, since the employer and employee each pay those taxes, the total savings amounts to more than 15%.   It is 'self-evident that increasing the number of job seekers in the same fields as plaintiffs will limit the opportunities open' to U.S. tech workers, the plaintiffs argued."

2008-09-23
Charles W. Calomiris & Peter J. Wallison _Wall Street Journal_
Blame Fannie Mae and congress for the credit mess

2008-09-23 05:51PDT (08:51EDT) (12:51GMT)
Ron Paul _CNN_
Bail-out will lead to rough economic ride

2008-09-23
Ben S. Bernanke _Federal Reserve Board_
US financial markets
"As you know, the U.S. economy continues to confront substantial challenges, including a weakening labor market and elevated inflation.   Notably, stresses in financial markets have been high and have recently intensified significantly."

2008-09-23
_TMC_
Nielsen deal with Tata rattles Oldsmar, FL
"4K lay-offs were announced worldwide...   Within days, Nielsen signed an agreement with Tata Consultancy Services, a huge Indian information technology firm.   The deal was blinking-neon big: 10 years, $1.2G.   And a few months after that?   Nikhil Asopa, 37, born and raised in Jodhpur, India, began work in Oldsmar as a manager for TCS at Nielsen...   Right now, TCS workers are doing work for Nielsen in [Kolkata], Bombay, Chennai and Budapest...   DC majored in visual arts at Florida State.   He interned at Universal Studios in Hollywood.   He worked on film production for documentaries and movies with stars like Charlie Sheen and Kiefer Sutherland.   Then he studied web development and design.   Nielsen hired him in 2001 May.   He developed web applications to give clients local TV ratings and information.   He and his wife bought a house in Hillsborough.   They had two children.   They put an addition onto their house...   He got good reviews, he said, and made $85K a year.   Last September, though, he noticed upper management had less to say to him.   One night he woke up with a bad feeling and went to work that morning, braced for what he thought was coming.   When he got to the office, his supervisor, a man with whom he had been to baby showers and birthday parties, was waiting for him, in tears.   'I think it hit him that this is really happening.', DC said.   'It's going to affect a real family out there.'   MW, 45, of Safety Harbor, a computer programmer who had been with Nielsen for 15 years, left on his own.   He couldn't take it anymore.   He said he began to feel like he was working in a foreign country."
class action against Tata

2008-09-23
Gary North _Lew Rockwell_
The End of an Era
"On Friday, [1982-08-13], the Dow Jones Industrial Average bottomed at 777."

2008-09-23 (5768 Elul 23)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
A political "solution" part 1
"Saints are no more common on Capitol Hill than they are on Wall Street.   We can only hope that the political 'solution' does not turn out to be worse than the problem...   Past Congresses created the hybrid financial institutions known as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, private institutions with government backing and political influence.   About half of the mortgages in this country are backed by these two institutions.   Such institutions -- exempt from laws that apply to other financial institutions and backed by the implicit promise of government support with the [tax-victims'] money -- are an open invitation to risky behavior.   When these risks blew up in their faces, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taken over by the government, costing the taxpayers billions of dollars.   For years the Wall Street Journal has been warning that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taking reckless chances but liberal Democrats especially have pooh-poohed the dangers...   Similar concerns were expressed in 2003 by N. Gregory Mankiw, then Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to President Bush [and by congressman Ron Paul]...   Franklin Raines, who made mega-millions for himself while mismanaging Fannie Mae into a financial disaster, is one of Obama's advisers."
 
 

2008-09-24

2008-09-24
Jeannine Aversa _AP_/_Minneapolis Star Tribune_
Treasury/Fed plan to bail out failing Wall Street firms meets heavy resistance from public and congress

2008-09-24 (5768 Elul 24)
Michelle Malkin _Town Hall_
Illegal Immigration and the Wall Street Mess
National Review
Family Security Matters
Patriot Post
V Dare
Jewish World Review
"It's no coincidence that most of the areas hardest hit by the foreclosure wave -- Loudoun County, VA; California's Inland Empire, Stockton and San Joaquin Valley; and Las Vegas and Phoenix, for starters -- also happen to be some of the nation's largest illegal alien sanctuaries.   Half of the mortgages to Hispanics are sub-prime (the accursed species of loan to borrowers with the shadiest credit histories).   A quarter of all those sub-prime loans are in default and foreclosure.   Regional reports across the country have decried the subprime meltdown's impact on illegal immigrant 'victims'.   A July report showed that in seven of the 10 metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates, Hispanics represented at least one-third of the population; in two of those areas -- Merced and Salinas-Monterey, CA -- Hispanics comprised half the population.   The amnesty-promoting National Council of La Raza and its Development Fund have received millions in federal funds to 'counsel' their constituents on obtaining mortgages with little to no money down; the group almost succeeded in attaching a $10M ear-mark for itself in one of the housing bills past this spring."

2008-09-24
Chris Isidore _CNN_
"Grave threats"

2008-09-24 (5768 Elul 24)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
A political "solution" part 2
Town Hall
"Whenever there is a lot of the [tax-victims'] money around, politicians are going to find ways to spend it that will increase their chances of getting re-elected by giving goodies to [their campaign contributors and] voters...   People usually stop making ill-advised decisions when they are forced to face the consequences of those decisions, not when politicians come to their rescue and make the [tax-victims] pay for decisions that the [tax-victims] had nothing to do with."

2008-09-24
_Mainichi Daily News_
Over-Time Work in Japan
"The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) conducted a survey of working hours in Japan, the U.S.A., Britain, France and Germany, and found that Japanese work an average of 1,784 hours per year.   This is 13 hours less than the Americans, who work the longest [1,797 hours per year], but 348 hours longer than the Germans, who work only 1,436 hours.   Another survey of 18 developed nations indicates that 28.1% of Japanese workers work more than 50 hours a week, the highest percentage among the surveyed nations."

2008-09-24 08:24PDT (11:24EDT) (15:24GMT)
_eWeek_/_CIO Insight_
H1-B vs. U.S. IT Pros: Who Gets Hired?

2008-09-24
Julie Hirschfield Davis _AP_/_Yahoo!_
Executive pay limits gain support as bail-out of Wall Street firms is questioned

2008-09-24 10:35PDT (13:35EDT) (17:35GMT)
_MarketWatch_
"Crisis" or no "crisis" financial firms will increase off-shoring
"Within five years, the Institute projects spending for global BPO by the financial services sector will reach $145G-165G for India-based services, the hub of global sourcing for financial services.   The report also projects off-shore BPO adoption in the insurance sector will grow 12-15 times during the same time period... Nikhil Rajpal, Vice President, Global Services of Everest Research Institute"

2008-09-24 (5768 Elul 24)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
Scaring us to death
Washington Times
Appeal-Democrat/Freedom Communications
Harrisonburg VA Daily News-Record
Santa Rosa FL Press Gazette
Deseret UT News
Springfield IL Journal-Register
"while gasoline prices have sky-rocketed, the average worker has to work about 2 hours to earn enough to purchase 10 gallons.   In 1935 it was 6 hours, and in 1950 over 2 hours.   A basket of groceries that took 4 hours of work in 1950 to purchase now takes 1.7 hours.   Annual hours of work have fallen from [about 3,400 in 1850] 1,903 in 1950, [1,832 in 1996], to [1,797] today.   Real total compensation -- wages plus fringe benefits, both adjusted for inflation -- have been rising steadily for several generations.   Fringe benefits have become a greater share of our earnings, thus dampening statistics on wage increases...   In 1950, life expectancy was 67 compared with today's 78...   Recall that during President Carter's last year in office in 1980 what was called the 'misery index', which was defined as the sum of the inflation and unemployment rates, was about 22%: inflation averaged 14%; unemployment was 7.5%.   Today's inflation just became 5%, having been between 1% and 3% for a decade, and unemployment is 6.1%...   Most of today's economic problems, whether it's energy, health care costs, financial problems, budget deficits or national debt, are caused by policies pursued by the White House and Congress.   As my colleague Dr. Thomas Sowell suggested in a recent column, we don't look to arsonists to put out fires that they've created; neither should we look to Congress to solve the problems they've created."
Parmy Olson: Forbes: The World's Hardest-Working Countries
W. Michael Cox & Richard Alm: The American: How Are We Doing?

2008-09-24 05:31PDT (08:31EDT) (12:31GMT)
Wayne Friedman _Media Post_
Market Volatility Is an Opportunity for Advertisers
"CNBC's 'Closing Bell' at 15:00 rocketed up 70% during the week Sept. 15-Sept. 19 -- with 254K total viewers.   'Closing Bell' in the 16:00 hour climbed 247K total viewers over the previous week.   CNN's 'Lou Dobbs Tonight' grew 34K total viewers from the week of Sept. 15.   CNN's companion site doubled its number of unique users to 4M since Sept. 14.   NYTimes.com had its highest daily total page views ever, while its business section saw a 54% increase in page views from the previous Monday.   SmartMoney.com saw an increase in traffic of about 30%.   Yahoo Finance has seen an increase of 167% since last Monday.   Overall, the numbers on Sept. 15 were up 32% from the week before."

2008-09-24
Brenda Walker _V Dare_
Tancredo's line in the sand against creeping sharia
+ Tancredo HR6975 Jihad prevention act
Immigration's Human Cost

2008-09-24 (5768 Elul 24)
Rabbi Berel Wein _Jewish World Review_
On harvesting success

2008-09-24
Robert X. Cringely _InfoWorld_/_IDG_
Firms have been taking out fake job ads for a long time to both comply with requirement to "recruit" and avoid hiring US workers... and the immigration lawyers have admitted it
Kim Berry: Programmers Guild
"additional HP PERM jobs appeared on the DoL web site -- this time with Fragomen immigration attorney Cindy Jen (408-919-0600) as the 'Job Contact'.   HP should explain why the resumes of U.S. job applicants are being directly routed to an immigration attorney.   I allege that HP and these attorneys are conspiring to defraud Americans out of their careers by displacing them with foreign workers.   They do not deny it."

2008-09-24 (5768 Elul 24)
Greg Crosby _Jewish World Review_
Home for the Holy Days

2008-09-24
_Patriot Post_
Wednesday Chronicle
 
 

2008-09-25: Bill of Rights proposed 1789 to state legislatures: 40 days to federal elections

2008-09-25
_Library of Congress_
Bill of Rights
transcript

2008-09-25 05:30PDT (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
current press release
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 395,601 in the week ending Sept. 20, an increase of 10,544 from the previous week.   There were 247,643 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3% during the week ending Sept. 13, unchanged from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,014,605, a decrease of 54,090 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 1.6% and the volume was 2,160,459.   Extended benefits were available in Alaska and Rhode Island during the week ending Sept. 6."
graphs

2008-09-25
Diana Petterson & Elizabeth Todd _DoL ESA_
Houston-based CEMEX sued by DoL for more than $5M in unpaid over-time

2008-09-25
Jim Hightower
Banking jobs being moved over-seas

2008-09-25
John Howard _Capitol Weekly_
Computer workers explicitly excluded from even straight-time pay for over-time work
"AB10 was gutted and rewritten at the behest of Silicon Valley-based technology companies, at least in part to inoculate themselves against lawsuits from employees disputing the nonpayment of over-time and in part to ease their bookkeeping load.   Under current law, which has no income restriction, a worker earning $80K and paid $36 per hour in over-time for 20 hours a week would earn about $117K.   Under the new law, the worker would earn $80K.   With a number of exceptions, the new bill exempts 'computer professionals' from over-time pay if they earn at least $75K annually working full time, or $6,250 per month.   The salary level, pegged to the California Consumer Price Index, would be adjusted each year...   The bill marks a departure from past practices, including the 1990s legislation authored by former Assemblyman Wally Knox, which required daily overtime pay, including time-and-a-half after 8 hours and double pay after 12 hours.   The rules had been in effect in California for a number of years, but were changed in 1998 by the Industrial Welfare Commission, which adopted the federal standard of paid over-time only after 40 hours of work a week."
Slash Dot discussion

2008-09-25
Michelle Malkin _V Dare_
The Ant and the GrassHopper

2008-09-25
Matthew Richer _V Dare_
Return of the Country Party: patriotic immigration reform is winning in Rhode Island

2008-09-25
_WZVN_/_abc-7_
ACORN tied to Florida voter fraud
 
 

2008-09-26

2008-09-26 02:49PDT (05:49EDT) (09:49GMT)
Carol Hazard _Richmond Times Dispatch_
interview with Walter E. Williams: No blank check for bail-out
alternate line
Trading Markets/McClatchy-Tribune
Technology Marketing Corporation
"so far what we've done, as one commentator said, we have allowed the profits to be private and the losses to be social."

2008-09-26 06:04PDT (09:04EDT) (13:04GMT)
Greg Robb _MarketWatch_
GDP up annualized 2.8% in 2008Q2
BEA's NIPA

2008-09-26 09:42PDT (12:42EDT) (16:42GMT)
Kimberly Palmer _US News & World Report_
Ron Paul: Don't ask for a bail-out

2008-09-26
Edwin Koc & Mimi Collins _NACE_
Ethics of Potential Employers Critical Factor for New College Graduates

2008-09-26
Betty Freauf _News with Views_
Let 'em fall

2008-09-26
Bonnie Alba _Opinion Editorials_
Ron Paul is the Republic's financial prophet

2008-09-26
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
Flow of jobs off-shore won't be slowed by Wall Street bail-out
"The financial services industry, including banking and insurance [protection rackets], is already the most aggressive industry in the U.S. when it comes to off-shore out-sourcing.   It is the biggest single source of revenue for Indian off-shore companies."

2008-09-26
_Gold Seek_
Protection and Profit from Bail-Outs Doomed To Fail

2008-09-26
J.D. Longstreet _WEB Commentary_
Are you scared yet?
News By Us
Phoeniz American Daily

2008-09-26
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Which Obama do you believe?: A different tune WRT Pakistan in 2007 August
Steve Holland: Reuters: Tough talk on Pakistan

2008-09-26
Charles Scaliger _New American_
Ron Paul correct about the economy

2008-09-26
Cliff Kincaid _News with Views_
Socialism in America

2008-09-26
Bill Steigerwald _Pittsburgh Tribune-Review_
The Ron Paul Solution

2008-09-26 (5768 Elul 26)
Caroline B. Glick _Jewish World Review_
A road paved on reality

2008-09-26 (5768 Elul 26)
Rabbi Yonason Goldson _Jewish World Review_
The shofar and the echo of Sinai

2008-09-26

DJIA	11,143.13
S&P 500	1,213.27
NASDAQ	2,183.34
10-year US T-Bond	3.83%
crude oil	$106.89/barrel
gold	$888.50/ounce
silver	$13.50/ounce
platinum	$1,113.70/ounce
palladium	$225.50/ounce
copper	$0.1925/ounce
natgas	$7.472/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline	$2.6651/gal
heatingoil	$2.9949/gal
dollarindex	76.989
yenperdollar	106.15
dollarspereuro	1.4608
dollarsperpound	1.8413
MorganStanleyHighTechIndex	525.09

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

2008-09-27

2008-09-27
John Wallace _News Blaze_
The Financial Crisis and the Federal Reserve

2008-09-27
Andrew Gold _Freeople_
You Will Lose If You Vote for the Lesser of Two Evils

2008-09-27
Steven Greenhut _Orange County CA Register_
Big government meets corporate welfare

2008-09-27
Anthny Gregory _Lew Rockwell_
Conservatives warm up to Ron Paul

2008-09-27
Zac Bissonnette _Blogging Stocks_
Ron Paul KOs Ben Bernanke on bail-out plan
"In particular, he was one of the only congressman to question the 'illiquid' label being applied to these... securities that no one wants."

2008-09-27
_Gold Seek_
Week Ending 2008-09-26
"Congressman Ron Paul is a patriot of the highest order [who] knows where the buck stops, as he questioned Bernanke about it the other day in hearings on the financial crisis.   It is a short video and all of it is important, but pay extra attention to the part when Bernanke attempts to answer Congressman Paul's questions, particularly the one on: 'where does the Federal Reserve get the constitutional authority to act as they do?'   Bernanke answered by reciting part of the Constitution -- the part that says: Congress has the power to coin money.   You will hear Ron Paul in the background going coin, coin, coin money, and he is drowned out by being polite enough to let Bernanke continue on with his babbling.   Ron Paul knows, and was trying to explain to Mr. Bernanke that the power to coin money is the power to coin gold and silver coin, as the Constitution mandates -- not to print paper fiat money that isn't even backed by gold or silver, let alone is it gold and silver coin."

2008-09-27
Stu Norman _Point Spreads_
Ron Paul roundly criticized $700G Wall Street bail-out
"In a speech to the Joint Economic Committee earlier this week, conservative Republican Ron Paul stated that government intervention was the primary cause for the economic meltdown in the first place and that Congress should not allow the administration to bail out the banks with the Paulson Plan.   'This bail-out is a slip-shod proposal, slapped together haphazardly and forced on an unwilling Congress with the threat that not passing it will lead to the collapse of the financial system.   Some of the proposed alternatives are no better, for instance those which propose a government equity share in bailed-out companies.   That we have come to a point where outright purchases of private sector companies is not only proposed but accepted by many who claim to be defenders of free markets bodes ill for the future of American society.'   Ron Paul has been a die hard supporter of a true free market and has railed against the Federal Reserve for years.   A recent Times/Bloomberg poll has found that most Americans don't believe the government has responsibility for bailing out financial firms with [tax-victim] money with 55% of the poll's respondents saying they did not believe the government should be responsible for funding a bailout plan.   Online betting giant BetUS.com has posted odds on the OVER 60.5% of register votes showing up on election day to cast their vote at +110 odds which I believe is a great bet because this issue is sure to bring the vote out for the 2008 Presidential Election... Avery B. Goodman, a licensed attorney concentrating in securities law, in one of his editorial contributions on SeekingAlpha.com questioned the real motive behind the Paulson Plan and $700G Wall Street Bail Out."

2008-09-27
Chuck Baldwin _American Free Press_
No bail-out for Wall Street
Renew America

2008-09-27
Robert Murphy _Town Hall_
Conservatives Should Oppose Corporate Welfare
 
 

2008-09-28

2008-09-28
Thomas Sowell _Record Net_
The fox is guarding the hen-house
Pittsburgn Tribune-Review

2008-09-28
Austin Cassidy _Independent Political Report_
Trevor Lyman attempting to put together a debate amongst 7 candidates for president
Ballot Access News
Third Party Ticket: More Choices and More Voices

2008-09-28
Mike Hoeft _Appleton WI Post Crescent_/_Gannett_
Bail-out protest in Green Bay
Green Bay Press Gazette

2008-09-28
Brad Sydow _Palm Springs CA Desert Sun_
Ron Paul warned us of GSE mess back in 2003

2008-09-28
Jason Lewis _Daily Mail_
Brits & Euros whine about prospect of requirement to obtain visas, let alone pass proper background investigations

2008-09-28
_Campaign for Liberty_
Sunday Herald says Royal Bank of Scotland will be one of biggest beneficiaries of bail-out
Sunday Herald

2008-09-28
James Simpson _American Thinker_
Barack Obama and the Strategy of Manufactured Crisis (The Coward-Piven Strategy)
Truth & Consequences
 
 

2008-09-29

2008-09-29
Kenneth R. Timmerman _News Max_
Foreign money flooding into Obama campaign
"Unlike the McCain campaign, which has made its complete donor database available online, the Obama campaign has not identified donors for nearly half the amount he has raised, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP)..."

2008-09-29
Glenn Beck
interview of Ron Paul: They're driving down the value of the dollar. They've never had to be responsible.

2008-09-29
Ari J. Officer & Lawrence H. Officer _Time_
Let risk-taking financial institutions fail

2008-09-29
Alan Reynolds _Cato Institute_
Hoover analogy flunks

2008-09-29
_AP_
House roll call vote on bail-out/buy-out
House clerk's office alphabetical [wrong title]

2008-09-29
_Patriot Post_
Monday Brief

2008-09-29
Alan B. Krueger _NY Times_
Does the Financial Crisis Threaten You Job? (with graph)
"Research indicates that employers hire relatively more skilled workers when they invest in new plant and equipment, especially high-tech information and computing equipment (the so-called 'capital-skill complementarity' hypothesis).   If funds for investment are not available because of the financial crisis, however, companies will hire fewer skilled workers...   The seasonally adjusted share of college graduates who are employed fell by 1.6 percentage points from March to 2008 August..."

2008-09-29
Frank Shostak _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
The Rescue Package Will Delay Recovery

2008-09-29
David A. Patten _News Max_
Thomas Sowell: Bail-out could have ended free markets

2008-09-29
Thomas Sowell _Alexandria VA Town Talk_
Trillion dollar bail-out involves incomprehensible numbers and effects

2008-09-29
Greg J. Borowski _Milwaukee Journal Sentinel_
Election fraud charge filed in Milwaukee
"Nearly all of those submitted were workers for the Community Voters Project or the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now [ACORN].   In Adams' case, the complaint states, Voters Project officials flagged 28 problematic names for city election officials.   The complaint says investigators found another 45 names Adams had submitted earlier that were added to the list, with about 60% of those deemed false.   The false names have been removed.   The complaint claims Adams 'was required to obtain 15 (completed) voter registration forms a day.   She could not keep her job with the CVP and she would not be paid unless she met this performance standard, which for all practical purposes is a quota.'"

2008-09-29
Jim Simpson _American Daughter_
Barack Obama and the Strategy of Manufactured Crisis (Cloward-Piven Strategy part 2)

2008-09-29
Sher Zieve _Post Chronicle_
Obama, ACORN and voter fraud
Border Fire Report

2008-09-29
Pamela Heisey _Map-Light_
House members voting 'Yes' on bail-out received 54% more money from banks and securities firms than members voting 'No'

2008-09-29
_Enter Stage Right_
Lingua publica: Quotes on the issues of the day

2008-09-29 (5768 Elul 29)
Rabbi Eli Gewirtz _Jewish World Review_
Lehman Brothers and the Day of Judgment

2008-09-29 (5768 Elul 29)
Rabbi Leiby Burnham _Jewish World Review_
Apples, Honey and You

2008-09-29

DJIA	10,365.45
S&P 500	1,107.06
NASDAQ	1,983.73
10-year US T-Bond	3.63%
crude oil	$96.37/barrel
gold	$894.40/ounce
silver	$13.03/ounce
platinum	$1,075.00/ounce
palladium	$219.70/ounce
copper	$0.181875/ounce
natgas	$7.221/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline	$2.3615/gal
heatingoil	$2.7885/gal
dollarindex	77.45
yenperdollar	106.15
dollarspereuro	1.4450
dollarsperpound	1.8250
MorganStanleyHighTechIndex	451.19

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

2008-09-30: 5 weeks (35 days) to federal elections of president and congress-critters: Rosh HaShana I (head of the year)

2008-09-30 06:00PDT (09:00EDT) (13:00GMT)
Aude Lagorce _MarketWatch_
Ireland to guarantee their banks' deposits for 2 years

2008-09-30
_Conference Board_
Consumer Confidence Edged Up Slightly
"Consumers' assessment of the labor market continues to deteriorate.   Those saying jobs are 'hard to get' rose to 32.8% from 31.7% in August, while those claiming jobs are 'plentiful' decreased to 12.2% from 13.5%."

2008-09-30
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
"Black Monday" hit tech stocks, likely to reduce IT employment

2008-09-30 09:41PDT (12:41EDT) (16:41GMT)
Jeffrey M. O'Brien, Mina Kimes & Todd Woody _CNN_/_Fortune_
View from Silicon Valley
"Welcome to Silicon Valley, where [local executives] view Washington with distrust (except when lobbying for more H-1B visas), and the unifying attitude can be summarized in five words: You get what you deserve.   Failure is considered as integral to creation as success here, and it's expected that both be allowed to take their natural course.   But the collapse of Wall Street is clearly more than an ideological matter.   For all of the talk in the Valley [board rooms] about wanting to be left alone, the financial crisis makes it clear that the Valley isn't an island.   After all, a fifth of all IT spending comes from the financial sector."

2008-09-30
Ashleen Flanigan _Vermont Cynic_
Main Street vs. Wall Street: Small protests against bail-out/buy-out plan scattered around country
Kurt Moore: Marion Star
Time
Appleton WI Post Crescent/Gannett
Green Bay Press Gazette
The West Australia

2008-09-30
Faiz Shakir _Think Regress_
House members who voted "yes" on bail-out received 54% more money from banks and securities than members who voted "no"
Reality Zone

2008-09-30
Robert P. Murphy _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
The Great Bank Robbery of 2008

2008-09-30
Thomas Sowell _Capitalism Magazine_
Penny-Wise Politics: Class Envy and CEO Pay
"What really sets some people off is the fact that a CEO [or congress-critter] who has mismanaged some corporation into losing billions of dollars is rewarded with a severance package worth millions."

2008-09-30 14:20PDT (17:20EDT) (21:20GMT)
Heidi N. Moore _Wall Street Journal_
In lieu of any real leadership, let's ask FDR, whose program stretched the Great Depression out for a full decade

2008-09-30
Thomas Sowell _Human Events_
Bail-Out Politics
Daily Journal Register
Patriot Post
National Review
Town Hall
"Among the Congressional 'leaders' invited to the White House to devise a bailout 'solution' are the very people who have for years created the risks that have now come home to roost...   Phasing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would make much more sense than letting politicians play politics with them again, with the risk and expense being again loaded onto the [tax-victims]."

2008-09-30
Thomas Claburn _Information Week_/_UBM_
Tech sector could star in US economic salvation... or destruction: Another poll of tech executives

2008-09-30
Clarice Feldman _American Thinker_
Vote Fraud in Wisconsin

2008-09-30

DJIA	10,850.66
S&P 500	1,164.74
NASDAQ	2,082.33
10-year US T-Bond	3.83%
crude oil	$100.64/barrel
gold	$880.80/ounce
silver	$12.28/ounce
platinum	$1,015.10/ounce
palladium	$202.70/ounce
copper	$0.18/ounce
natgas	$7.438/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline	$2.4577/gal
heatingoil	$2.8947/gal
dollarindex	79.353
yenperdollar	106.11
dollarspereuro	1.4097
dollarsperpound	1.8147
MorganStanleyHighTechIndex	473.94

I usually get this info from MarketWatch and the "Commodities" and "Metals" and "Currencies" columns.
 
 
 

2008 September
Esther Dyson _Scientific American_
Loss of privacy may mean loss of security
 
 

Proposed Bills 2008

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