2008 October
1st month of the 4th quarter of the 19th year of the Bush-Clinton-Shrub economic depression
updated: 2015-12-29
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"Galbraith's attack on text-book economics must be recognized for what it is -- an important plank in a normative, pro-Statist political platform... It is not in essence the attack of an economist seeking to purify his subject but that of a social critic seeking to transform his society." --- David Reisman
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captain William Scott's flag for the Republic of Texas.
2008 October
1st month of the 4th quarter of the 9th year of the Clinton-Bush economic depression
2008-10-01: Rosh HaShana II
2008-10-01
John Caelan _On-Line Journal_
Fight the bail-out; stop the hostile take-over of the United States of America
2008-10-01
_Venture Beat_
More impressions on the economy & financial markets from Silicon Valley VC and executives
2008-10-01
Bill Shipp _Gwinnett Daily Post_
There's no business like new business
Charlton county Herald
"Some folks crossed their fingers hoping he would find new jobs in China or Spain to replace the horde of high-tech jobs he has out-sourced from state government."
2008-10-01
Brock Cutler _New University_
The Party Winds Down
"According to new data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau, workers in all educational groups, except those holding professional degrees (like doctors and lawyers), have actually gotten poorer between 2000 and 2007. That is everyone from high-school drop-outs to Ph.D.s... Those holding master’s degrees dipped around 4% on average. During the same period, those with professional degrees saw their inflation-adjusted income (already nearly twice the average income of college graduates) rise around 3%... Since 1977 there has been a 101% increase in people over 65 years old working; a 147% increase in women over 65 working; and a 172% increase in people over 75 working... thanks to your advanced education you will be in a unique position to understand the dynamics of the world economy as it crushes you into the earth..."
2008-10-01
Megan Myers _Sioux Falls SD Argus Leader_
Futurist calls for more votech grads: Not everyone needs a college degree
2008-10-01
_MarketWatch_
Challenger, Gray & Christmas say announced lay-off plans rose 33% from last year for September
Kenneth Musante: CNN
Kevin Pendley: Small Cap Investor
Burton Frierson: IT Business Net/Reuters
Manchester Guardian
iStock Analyst
UPI
Consumer Affairs
Large U.S. companies announced plans to eliminate 95,094 jobs in September, compared with 88,738 in August, and 71,739 in 2007 September.
For 2008Q3, 287,142 were announced, a 48% incease from 2007Q3. The year-to-date total is 763,090, about 30% more than in 2007.
Computer makers announced the most, led by HP with 24,600, for a total of 25,715.
The automotive industry announced 14,595 in September, bringing the total since January to 94,918.
Apparel makers planned to reduce by 8,350.
The financial sector announced 8,244 job cuts in September for a year-to-date total of 111,201, with 2,182 in August, and 24,384 for 2008Q3. In 2007 September, 27,169 were planned.
graphs
2008-10-01
_Conference Board_
On-Line Job Ads Dropped in September
pdf (with graphs>
more graphs
2008-10-01
Patrick Lunsford _Inside Accounts Receivable Management_
Bail-Out Supporting Congress-Critters Received More Contributions from Banks
Jason Leavitt
"House members who voted yes received an average $231,877. Those who voted no received only $150,982."
2008-10-01
Vic Kolenc _El Paso Times_
70% seeking work are unemployed
Trading Markets/McClatchy-Tribune
"84 employers with 2,251 job openings were at the job expo. The jobs ranged from several hundred customer service jobs at El Paso call centers to 200 meat-processor jobs at two out-of-state meat plants. Some engineering and information technology jobs were also available."
2008-10-01
_Dice_
Dice Report: 84,549 job ads
| Total | 84,549 |
| UNIX | 12,501 |
| Windoze | 15,566 |
| Java | 15,948 |
| C/C++ | 16,281 |
| body shop | 33,549 |
| full-time temp | 59,952 |
| part-time temp | 2,654 |
graphs
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"The collection of economic data is itself an activity of an economic character. The costs of producing statistics and the value of the statistics to those who use them should somehow be commensurate. This point of view has important implications for the design and conduct of data-collection activities. Not the least of these implications is that 'specifications' for a set of statistics should not only indicate the kinds of data that are required but also should consider the costs involved in various levels of inaccuracy that these data may possess. Where substantial amounts of public funds are involved, it is not enough to specify that the data should be 'useful for micrometric analysis' or should be 'reasonably accurate' or should be 'consistent indicators of changes in the cycle'. Nor is it adequate to specify that statistics should be 'as accurate as possible'. Economists and other users of data must begin to examine critically how they use the data that are provided for them so that the requirements for the investment of public funds in statistics can become somewhat more rationally determined than is now feasible." --- Morris H. Hansen _The Measurement and Behavior of Unemployment_ pg 594
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2008-10-02
2008-10-01 19:06PDT (2008-10-01 22:06EDT) (2008-10-02 02:06GMT)
_Politico_
vote on senate bill to bail-out/buy-out Wall Street (S.Amdt. 5685 to HR1424)
GovTrack on HR1424
GovTrack on amendments to HT1424
vote on amendment 5685
vote on senate version of HR1424
index to senate roll-call vote records
2008-10-01 21:55PDT (2008-10-02 00:55EDT) (2008-10-02 04:55GMT)
Peter Svensson _AP_/_Excite_
Verizon says out-sourcing and off-shoring make data theft easier
2008-10-02 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 390,837 in the week ending Sept. 27, a decrease of 7,233 from the previous week. There were 255,431 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007. The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3% during the week ending Sept. 20, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,009,578, a decrease of 5,296 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 1.6% and the volume was 2,140,701. Extended benefits were available in Alaska and Rhode Island during the week ending Sept. 13."
graphs
2008-10-02
Miriam Jordan _Wall Street Journal_
Illegal immigration down with slightly better enforcement, marginal US economy (with graph)
WLOS/AP
Town Hall
Fox
Stephen Dinan: Washington Times
Eunice Moscoso: Austin American-Statesman
UPI
"After years of growth, illegal immigration to the U.S.A. from Mexico and Central America has slowed sharply. At the same time, say demographers and advocates for illegal aliens, more Latin American immigrants like Mr. Carrillo are apparently returning home. The impact of this shifting migration pattern is felt in the U.S.A. and beyond, in towns like San Juan Alotenango that depend to some degree on cash sent home by those working in the U.S.A. It is difficult to track short-term changes in the population of the estimated 12M to 20M illegal aliens who are in the U.S.A. But a new study by the Pew Hispanic Center, an independent think tank in Washington, DC, estimates that annual undocumented arrivals from Mexico are down about 25% this year from 2005, to about 350K. Illegal entries from Central America have been halved since then, to about 120K, according to the study, which is due to be released Thursday. According to Pew's estimates, the illegal alien population was 8.4M in 2000 March, 9.4M in 2001, 9.2M in 2002, 9.8M in 2003, 10.2M in 2004, 11.1M in 2005, 11.5M in 2006 and peaked at 12.4M in 2007 before dropping to 11.9M."
2008-10-02 09:22PDT (12:22EDT) (16:22GMT)
Saxby Chambliss & Johnny Isakson _NW Georgia Daily Citizen_
Statement on Bail-Out/Buy-Out
2008-10-02
Jessica Dickler _Tampa Bay News 9_/_CNN_
Who gets laid off first?
"Job performance: Gone are the days of last hired, first fired, Challenger said. Employers now are more focused on building a better and more efficient team. When a workforce must be cut, 'employers need to keep their best talent', Challenger said. 'You want to keep the people that you think are your A-players.'... companies now have sophisticated methods for evaluating performance. Management teams can better pin-point the employees that are the most productive and do the highest quality of work, Challenger said, and retain those that help the business succeed. And that doesn't just mean showing up on time and completing each task. In order to avoid a pink slip, 'everybody who is employed should remind themselves how important it is to make themselves as valuable as possible', cautioned Bob Eubank, executive director of the Northeast Human Resources Association. Salary: Productivity alone cannot necessarily keep you safe from the next round of lay-offs. Employees at every level of an operation usually fall within a defined salary range, and those at the upper end could also be targeted... Employers will also take a hard look at each division or department, to find areas that can be cut without sacrificing successful business operations... In many of those cases, all or most employees in the department will get pink slips, regardless of their length of service or loyalty, performance or salary."
2008-10-02
Michelle Malkin _V Dare_
Dear Congress: Put the gun down, now, and step away
2008-10-02/1969
Murray N. Rothbard _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
Economic Depressions: Their Cause and Cure
2008-10-02 (5769 Tishrei 03)
Jonathan Tobin _Jewish World Review_
Get Out Your Crystal Ball!... or don't
L'Shanah Tovah Tikasevu!
2008-10-02 (5769 Tishrei 03)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
Destroying Liberty
Town Hall
"The freedom of individuals from compulsion or coercion never was, and is not now, the normal state of human affairs. The normal state for the ordinary person is tyranny, arbitrary control and abuse mainly by their own government. While imperfect in its execution, the founders of our nation sought to make an exception to this ugly part of mankind's history. Unfortunately, at the urging of [many] American people, we are unwittingly in the process of returning to mankind's normal state of affairs... For the most part, the money is being spent to get politicians and government officials to use their coercive power to create a favor or special privilege for one American at the expense of some other American."
Town Hall index of articles by Walter E. Williams
2008-10-02
| DJIA | 10,482.85 |
| S&P 500 | 1,114.28 |
| NASDAQ | 1,976.72 |
| 10-year US T-Bond | 3.65% |
| crude oil | $93.97/barrel |
| gold | $844.30/ounce |
| silver | $11.12/ounce |
| platinum | $979.60/ounce |
| palladium | $203.20/ounce |
| copper | $0.173125/ounce |
| natgas | $7.481/MBTU |
| reformulatedgasoline | $2.255/gal |
| heatingoil | $2.7095/gal |
| dollarindex | 80.535 |
| yenperdollar | 105.14 |
| dollarspereuro | 1.3796 |
| dollarsperpound | 1.7609 |
| MorganStanleyHighTechIndex | 473.94 |
I usually get this info from MarketWatch and the "Commodities" and "Metals" and "Currencies" columns.
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"Reliable statistics could probably be compiled on the basis of samples smaller than 40%. [In fact some members of the committee hold that a properly selected sample of 15% or even less would be adequate for some industrles... Probably one-third is a feasible proportion at which to aim. 40% of the workers in any industry would appear to be in general an upper limit of the quota needed; and frequently a much smaller proportion may be found ample." --- Ralph C. Hurlin & William A. Berridge, editors 1928 Employment Statistics for the United States, Committee on Governmental Labor Statistics, Russell Sage Foundation pg65 (quoted by William A. Berridge _The Measurement and Behavior of Unemployment_ pg 587 note6)
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2008-10-03
2008-10-03 08:22PDT (11:22EDT) (15:22GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
Seasonally adjusted pay-rolls down 159K in establishment survey, unemployment rate 11% in household survey
iStock Analyst
San Jose Mercury News
graphs
2008-10-03 13:26PDT (16:26EDT) (20:26GMT)
Robert Schroeder _MarketWatch_
Corrupt government enacts bail-out/buy-out of Wall Street
Roll Call vote 680 in the US House
Roll Call vote 681 in US House
2008-10-03 11:41PDT (14:41EDT) (18:41GMT)
_US House_
Unemployment Compensation Insurance Benefit Extension
2008-10-03
Rob Sanchez _Job Destruction News-Letter_ #1928
Bail-outs and visas
alternate link
The bail-out bill might at first glance seem to have very little to do with the usual subjects in this news-letter like for instance guest worker visas or out-sourcing, but it's worth noting that most of the Senators that supported the expansion of H-1B visas through Comprehensive Immigration Reform also supported the bail-out.
Want to see who voted for looting the USA? [See the links following this article, and those just above.]
Obama, Biden, McCain, and Clinton all voted yes. No surprise there!
Senator Dianne Feinstein also voted for it, along with her California cohort Barbara Boxer.
Dianne Feinstein has been the topic of this newsletter many times because she is one of the most ardent supporters of H-1B, amnesty, and all things bad on immigration. Over the years there has been plenty of speculation how a senator from California could have such a callous attitude towards engineers and computer IT workers who have suffered career destruction because of her enthusiasm for H-1B. Feinstein's recent speech on the floor of the Senate sheds some light on that mystery.
To paraphrase Feinstein: She acknowledged that her office received 91K calls from constituents; 85K against the bail-out, and the small remainder in support of a bail-out. Despite the overwhelming opinion of her constituents she voted yes. She justified her actions by saying that her job is safe and secure, so therefore she can do whatever she wants. She went on to explain that her constituents (i.e. the little people) don't understand complex issues so she can ignore what they think.
In an ironic twist, Feinstein said that she cares about the livelihood of her constituents. Has anybody ever explained to her that H-1Bs and illegal aliens aren't supposed to be able to vote?
Bottom line here is that as long as Californians continue to vote for Feinstein she will continue to show her disdain for the will of the people.
Diane Feinstein in action (video)
vote on senate bill to bail-out/buy-out Wall Street (S.Amdt. 5685 to HR1424)
GovTrack on HR1424
GovTrack on amendments to HT1424
vote on amendment 5685
vote on senate version of HR1424
index to senate roll-call vote records
2008-10-03
Michael Shedlock _Seeking Alpha_
Jobs Contraction Is a Serious Story (with graphs)
more graphs
2008-10-03
Mark Larson _Money and Markets_
The Real economy heads south
2008-10-03 (5769 Tishrei 04)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Do Facts Matter?
Town Hall
"The current financial bail-out crisis has propelled Barack Obama (video, theme song) back into a substantial lead over John McCain -- which is astonishing in view of which man and which party has had the most to do with bringing on this crisis... Fact Number One: It was liberal Democrats, led by senator Christopher Dodd and congressman Barney Frank, who for years -- including the present year -- denied that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taking big risks that could lead to a financial crisis. It was Senator Dodd, Congressman Frank and other liberal Democrats who for years refused requests from the Bush administration to set up an agency to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It was liberal Democrats, again led by Dodd and Frank, who for years pushed for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to go even further in promoting sub-prime mortgage loans, which are at the heart of today's financial crisis. Alan Greenspan warned them 4 years ago. So did the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to the President. So did Bush's Secretary of the Treasury, 5 years ago... the facts show that it was the government that pressured financial institutions in general to lend to sub-prime borrowers, with such things as the Community Reinvestment Act and, later, threats of legal action by then Attorney General Janet Reno if the feds did not like the statistics on who was getting loans and who wasn't... Franklin Raines made $90M while he was head of Fannie Mae and mismanaging that institution into crisis. Who in Congress defended Franklin Raines? Liberal Democrats, including Maxine Waters and the Congressional Black Caucus, at least one of whom referred to the 'lynching' of Raines, as if it was racist to hold him to the same standard as white CEOs. Even after he was deposed as head of Fannie Mae, Franklin Raines was consulted this year by the Obama campaign for his advice on housing!... Obama has been the second-largest recipient of Fannie Mae's financial contributions, right after Senator Christopher Dodd."
Town Hall index of Thomas Sowell articles
2008-10-03
Joe Guzzardi _V Dare_
RIP: Bankers Trust, Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith, Seattle First National
2008-10-03
Brenda Walker _V Dare_
Minutemen vs. San Francisco -- the rematch
2008-10-03
| DJIA | 10,325.38 |
| S&P 500 | 1,099.23 |
| NASDAQ | 1,947.39 |
| 10-year US T-Bond | 3.64% |
| crude oil | $93.88/barrel |
| gold | $833.20/ounce |
| silver | $11.12/ounce |
| platinum | $957.00/ounce |
| palladium | $201.85/ounce |
| copper | $0.168125/ounce |
| natgas | $7.358/MBTU |
| reformulatedgasoline | $2.2283/gal |
| heatingoil | $2.662/gal |
| dollarindex | 80.606 |
| yenperdollar | 105.42 |
| dollarspereuro | 1.3774 |
| dollarsperpound | 1.7717 |
| MorganStanleyHighTechIndex | 432.20 |
I usually get this info from MarketWatch and the "Commodities" and "Metals" and "Currencies" columns.
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"Above all, let us not permit anyone to misinterpret or misuse the present minor controversies or to make them an entering wedge for discrediting sampling as such. Not only am I a friend of small samplings but was one many years ago when small samplings had very few friends indeed. Though recogniziñg that some of these unemployment studies and many elsewhere have been based on small-size samples, I think more could well be, not only on unemployment but on such intimately related variables as employment itself. This conviction arose, many years ago, during a study of employment returns. I even tried to wager Ethelbert Stewart, then Commissioner of Labor Statistics, that he could develop virtually as good a general index from a sample of, say, 10% or 5% (i.e. the first quarter or eighth of his returns) as from his full standard sample (which, he always felt, should be 40%). The conviction became even stronger in the late 1920's when I was watching the returns gathered in the pilot project on labor turn-over (transferred to Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1929). When a simple control was set up to guard against the explosive effect of large employer returns, I saw samples of 5%, 1%, or even smaller, yield astonishingly reliable results, days and weeks ahead of the final result." --- William A. Berridge _The Measurement and Behavior of Unemployment_ pp 586-587
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2008-10-04
2008-10-04
Jamie Smith Hopkins & Lorraine Mirabella _Baltimore Sun_
Maryland's jobless residents feeling pain of financial crisis
2008-10-04
_Fox_/_AP_
FAA faulted for lax tracking off out-sourcing of maintenance
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"As was true during World War II, islands of heavy unemployment existed despite the expanding national volume of business, expanding employment opportunities, and higher levels of economic activity between 1950 and 1953... In Iron Mountain, Michigan, the area's largest firm, which had been producing wooden automobile station wagon bodies, closed down as the automobile makers converted to all-metal construction, while 2 other important activities in the area -- lumbering and iron mining -- have not been prosperous in recent years." --- Louis Levine "UnEmployment by Locality and Industry" _The Measurement and Behavior of Unemployment_ pp 348, 349
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2008-10-05
2008-10-05
Marc Chandler _Seeking Alpha_
What Happened to Free Markets?
2008-10-05
Mark D. Alger _Las Vegas Sun_
Bail-out flies in teh face of fiscal responsibility
2008-10-05
Matt Moore, Angela Doland, Patrick Mcroarty & Jill Lawless _AP_/_Yahoo!_
European governments scramble to save failing banks
2008-10-05
Dan Stockman _Fort Wayne IN Journal Gazette_
Follow the MONEY: How the feds spend billions right here
2008-10-05
Andrea Chalupa _Seeking Alpha_
Big Tech Prepares for Big Lay-Offs
2008-10-05
Paul Craig Roberts _V Dare_
The Bail-Out Will Fail
2008-10-05
Joe Guzzardi _V Dare_
The next generation of politically correct teachers is scary!
2008-10-05
Edwin S. Rubenstein _V Dare_
September Data Shows Immigrants Still Displacing American Workers -- Especially Blacks (with graph)
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"Productive power is the foundation of a country's economic strength." --- Stafford Cripps
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2008-10-06
2008-10-06
Judy Weil _Seeking Alpha_
Official or not consumers and construction workers experiencing recession
2008-10-06
Warren Mosler _Seeking Alpha_
Immediate Pay-Roll Tax Holiday Needed
2008-10-06
_Conference Board_
The Conference Board Employment Trends Index (ETI)™ Suggests Larger Job Losses to Follow
2008-10-06
Maureen Morrison _Advertising Age_
Digital Advertising Climbing as Ad Pages Slip (with graphs)
"Time Inc.'s Money, Fortune and Fortune Small Business each reported that 24.5% of 2007 revenue came from an aggregate web site, CNNMoney.com. That's nearly double what they reported for 2006 (12.5%)... Other magazine closings in the past year include Condé Nast's Golf for Women and House & Garden, Walt Disney Co.'s Disney Adventures, Ziff Davis Media's Games for Windows, and IDG's InfoWorld."
2008-10-06
Murray Rosner _Las Vegas NV Sun_
Campaign will leave only Palin standing
2008-10-06
Allen Wilson
Homeless and Disable Veterans announces national telethon on Veterans Day, Tuesday, November 11
2008-10-06 09:40PDT (12:40EDT) (16:40GMT)
Jerome D. Tuccille _Miami Examiner_
If Obama or McCain wins, America loses
2008-10-06 10:11PDT (13:11EDT) (17:11GMT)
_Gather_
poll: Replace the Entire Congress
Rasmussen
"When respondents were asked the question about keeping or replacing the entire Congress, Rasmussen says, '...59% of voters would like to throw them all out and start over again'. Only 17% of respondents said they would keep current congressional members in Washington. Now, the number wanting to replace the entire congress is not quite as high as I would have expected. The latest numbers from Real Clear Politics show just a 17.8% approval rating for Congress. That's even lower than President George W. Bush's 26.3%. Another Rasmussen poll showed that only 11% of voters thought Congress was doing okay... Rasmussen says 'Only half (49%) believe that the current Congress is better than individuals selected at random from the phone book. Thirty-three percent (33%) believe a randomly selected group of Americans could do a better job and 19% are not sure.' The really sad part: election rules are structured to favor those already in office, so most of the guys and gals frowned upon in the survey results will likely keep their jobs. In fact, Rasmussen says '...more than 90% of Congress is likely to be elected this November due to an electoral system designed to benefit incumbents'. In asking about congressional pay, Rasmussen found that 49% of respondents think Congressional members are overpaid. Only 5% thought they were under-paid. Again, the bad news: they get to vote on their own pay."
2008-10-06
David Remillard _Toledo OH Blade_
Candidates ignore joblessness
"I have hardly heard anything concerning unemployment and what can be done about it. Letting industries move to other countries because of cheap labor is not the answer and our city is a prime example of this. Toledo is dying. Our sky-line of empty and partially filled office buildings where major corporations once resided are becoming headstones for a city that once was. It seems that businesses only think about staying or coming to Toledo if the incentives are good enough to keep them here or attract them to Toledo. What about the incentive of creating jobs for the jobless and a chance to help the local economy? Aren't those incentives good enough? Or is it more important to line the pockets of already wealthy corporations, industries, and individuals? It just seems that too much focus is being placed on how cheap one can get labor without thinking of the effect it has within our own city and country. While the fat man sits in his cozy mansion, the people out of work are fighting to put food on the table. It just doesn't make any sense to let this go on. The American dream is becoming a nightmare, unless, of course, you're the one living in the mansion. I may be way off base here, but what happened to the ideal of being loyal to state and country? It just seems the working class is only thought about during election time and forgotten about afterward. Maybe the politicians should stop running the government for money [and personal power] and start running the government for the people, like our Founding Fathers intended."
Ray Woda: "Our 'do-nothing' Congress with its 14% approval rating works only five hours a week and receives $165K a year. I believe our government officials should represent the people who elected them and then the party to which they belong."
Gary L. Franks: "Cut federal spending, then corporate taxes... Any taxes that a company may be required to pay are simply incorporated into the overhead cost associated with the manufacturing of their product. And who winds up paying these over-head costs? The [tax-victims] who are consuming the manufactured goods. The taxes do not come out of the company profits, they are simply passed on to the consumer in higher product costs. And we all know what happens when the government gets its hands on more tax money. The Blade's call for additional taxation on these companies would result in higher prices for the goods they manufacture. Consumers would pay the added taxes, cutting their disposable income and then get 50 cents back on the dollar from the government as spending proliferated. I say, cut government spending and then cut corporate taxes so we can have lower prices, more disposable income, and American companies can invest more in their future."
2008-10-06
_CNN_
Murder+suicide linked to economy
2008-10-06
_Right Side News_
US legislation on immigration
"Immigration Contributing to Economic Crisis, Experts Say Congress Refuses to Bail-Out E-Verify, Congress Extends Special Immigrant Non-Ninister Religious Worker Program, ICE Efforts Result in over 2K Arrests of Criminal Illegal Aliens."
2008-10-06
Nancy Reyes _Blogger News Network_
"superior beings" don't see the rest of us
John M. Murtagh: Fire in the Night: When I was 8 years old, the "Weather Underground" tried to kill my family
2008-10-06
Robb Mandelbaum _WISTV_/_Inc._
How much of a burden must displaced US citizen workers bear?
2008-10-06
John Wallace _News Blaze_
The Great Mortgage Swindle -- Tax-Victims Lose Again
2008-10-06
Tony Potts _Coosa Valley News_
Saxby Chambliss responds to questions about bail-out/buy-out bill
2008-10-06
_Post Chronicle_
Judicial Watch efforts to learn more of Abramoff's connections and actions over-comes another hurdle
2008-10-06
Doug Wood _San Lorenzo Valley CA Press Banner_
Don't sell America away
"Over-seas production destroys countless American industries and causes under-employment of millions of our citizens. Our middle class and poor suffer and struggle with fewer opportunities. Where is America headed? We have replaced the idea of living wages and affordable housing, once exemplified by General Motors and emulated nationwide, with low-wage employment and exorbitant housing costs. Pursuing quarterly earnings and claims of low prices, we have sold our industrial souls away, replacing quality-driven, innovative product development and manufacturing in hundreds of sectors -- including textiles, plastics, machinery, clothing, and electronics -- with mass-driven sales targets. Our 'new economy' American biotechnology, software and computer industries are migrating over-seas."
2008-10-06
Alan B. Krueger _NY Times_
How Bad Has Job Growth Really Been Over the Last 8 Years?
Princeton Data Improvement Initiative (pdf)
2008-10-06 (5769 Tishrei 07)
Jonathan Tobin _Jewish World Review_
Ahmadinejad isn't impressed
2008-10-06
Edwin S. Rubenstein _V Dare_
LA Internet Legends More Accurate Than WSJ Editorial Page: Checking the statistics
2008-10-06
| DJIA | 9,955.50 |
| S&P 500 | 1,056.89 |
| NASDAQ | 1,862.96 |
| 10-year US T-Bond | 3.43% |
| crude oil | $87.81/barrel |
| gold | $866.20/ounce |
| silver | $11.29/ounce |
| platinum | $973.20/ounce |
| palladium | $201.70/ounce |
| copper | $0.155625/ounce |
| natgas | $6.835/MBTU |
| reformulatedgasoline | $2.0591/gal |
| heatingoil | $2.474/gal |
| dollarindex | 81.593 |
| yenperdollar | 101.28 |
| dollarspereuro | 1.3492 |
| dollarsperpound | 1.7455 |
| swissfranksperdollar | 1.1464 |
| MorganStanleyHighTechIndex | 411.35 |
I usually get this info from MarketWatch and the "Commodities" and "Metals" and "Currencies" columns.
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"The total number of foreigners resident in France at the census of 1931 March, was 2,890,923 (of whom 1,258,000 wage earners), as against 2,485,047 in 1926 (1,096,000 wage earners)..." --- sir Robert Cahill 1934 _Economic Conditions in France_ pp 29-30 (quoted in Walter Galenson & Arnold Zellner "International Comparison of Unemployment Rates" _The Measurement and Behavior of Unemployment_ pg 521)
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2008-10-07: 4 weeks (28 days) to federal elections of president and congress-critters: polls say incumbents are losing
2008-10-07
Mitch Weiss & Jeffrey Collins _Minneapolis Star-Tribune_/_AP_
300 suspected illegal aliens arrested in South Carolina chicken plant raid
"Police and agents during a shift change ordered all workers at the House of Raeford's Columbia Farms to show identification, according to officials and witnesses. The business had been under scrutiny for months and the raid comes on the heels of even larger round-ups at plants across the country."
2008-10-07
Jack Ryan _Post Chronicle_
Einstein's refrigerator design going into production?: No moving parts
2008-10-07
Andrew Clark _Manchester Guardian_
executives of bailed-out AIG stayed at $500 per night California resort
Reality Zone
2008-10-07
Randeep Ramesh _Manchester Guardian_
Alleged jihad propagandist employed by Yahoo!
"Investigators say Mohammed Mansoor Asghar Peerbhoy, 31, was the head of a 'media terror cell' which comprised of 'highly qualified, computer-savvy people belonging to good and educated families' who had drafted emails sent just before or just after blasts in Delhi, Ahmedabad in Gujarat, and Jaipur in Rajasthan. Peerbhoy, who police said speaks 'good English', works with Yahoo as a principal software engineer and takes home 1.9M rupees a year (£22,600). He lives in Pune, a city known for its IT companies in western India, and visited the USA for work several times without arousing any suspicion... According to the Hindu newspaper, Peerbhoy 'radicalised himself' after a pilgrimage to Mecca in 2004. Other reports say he was 'groomed' by Islamists after taking Arabic lessons."
2008-10-07
Michelle Malkin _V Dare_
The ACORN/ Obama voter registration "thug thizzle"
Jewish World Review
"ACORN, which receives 40% of its revenues from American [tax-victims] to pursue an aggressive welfare-state agenda, has already helped register over 1.27M people nationwide. The rest of their funding comes from left-wing heavy-weights like billionaire George Soros and the Democracy Alliance."
2008-10-07 (5769 Tishrei 08)
Caroline B. Glick _Jewish World Review_
Strange bed-fellows and toleration of terrorists
2008-10-07 (5769 Tishrei 08)
Gary Rosenblatt _Jewish World Review_
Of politics and prayer
2008-10-07 (5769 Tishrei 08)
Thomas Sowell _Town Hall_
The Real Obama part 1
Jewish World Review
"The reverend Jeremiah Wright, father Michael Pfleger, William Ayers and Antoin Rezko are not just people who happened to be at the same place at the same time as senator Barack Obama (video, theme song). They are people with whom he chose to ally himself for years and with some of whom some serious money changed hands."
2008-10-07
| DJIA | 9,447.11 |
| S&P 500 | 996.23 |
| NASDAQ | 1,754.88 |
| 10-year US T-Bond | 3.51% |
| crude oil | $90.06/barrel |
| gold | $882.00/ounce |
| silver | $11.38/ounce |
| platinum | $1,012.20/ounce |
| palladium | $198.45/ounce |
| copper | $0.158125/ounce |
| natgas | $6.768/MBTU |
| reformulatedgasoline | $2.0628/gal |
| heatingoil | $2.5057/gal |
| dollarindex | 81.093 |
| yenperdollar | 101.95 |
| dollarspereuro | 1.3653 |
| dollarsperpound | 1.7528 |
| swissfranksperdollar | 1.1378 |
| MorganStanleyHighTechIndex | 384.11 |
I usually get this info from MarketWatch and the "Commodities" and "Metals" and "Currencies" columns.
| |
"A fourth significant factor is the extensive development of paid vacations. Summer declines in demand, seasonal shut-downs, and changes in models produced unemployment in earlier years. They still do today, but the growth in paid vacations provides a slack in the labor force without a corresponding amount of unemployment. A forced vacation is one thing; going fishing while on paid vacation is another. Some 4M persons with jobs reported themselves on vacation in 1951 July -- 3M of them on paid vacations -- while millions vacationed in other months. Though no precise estimate can be made the data do indicate that vacations are ten times as common now as in 1900. [In the 1901 Cost of Living Survey of 24,402 families some 784 gave vacation as a cause of non-employment, with an average duration of 2.61 weeks (Eighteenth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor, Depts. of Commerce and Labor, 1903, PP. 287, 291). Had the same percentage of labor force time been spent in 1949 on vacations, we would have had an average number on vacation of 99K. The actual figure was 1.361M -- or 10 times as much (Annual Report on the Labor Force, 1954, Dept. of Commerce, Series P-59, Table A-li). A small number of persons reported 'sickness and vacation' or 'slack work and vacation', etc. in 1901.]" --- Stanley Lebergott "Annual Estimates of UnEmployment in the United States, 1900-1954" _The Measurement and Behavior of Unemployment_ pg 213
| |
2008-10-08
2008-10-08
Eva von Schaper & Frances Schwartzkopff _Bloomberg_
Shimomura, Chalfie, Tsien share Nobel prize in chemistry for work on bioluminescence as tool for chemistry research
Steve Minsky: Scientific American
Tina Hesman Saey: Science News
UPI
Niklas Pollard: Post Chronicle
Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record
"Japan's Osamu Shimomura first isolated Green Fluorescent Protein from the jellyfish off North America's west coast, the Stockholm-based Nobel Foundation said today in an e-mailed statement. Martin Chalfie demonstrated the use of the protein in roundworms and Roger Y. Tsien developed different colors to enable scientists to follow several biological processes at once."
2008-10-08
Diana West _Jamestown Sun_/_Forum Communications_
Social engineering led to part of economic problems
2008-10-08
Christopher Palmeri _Business Week_
IndyMac's fast-track mortgage modification program
"Officials from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. [FDIC] have moved quickly to tackle the 60K delinquent mortgages in IndyMac's 742K-loan portfolio. In late August letters went out to 7,500 distressed borrowers, offering new terms. IndyMac says those taking part have seen their monthly payments lowered by $430, on average."
2008-10-08 05:31PDT (08:31EDT) (12:31GMT)
Oskar Garcia _Fox Dallas Fort Worth_
Names of Dallas Cowboys misused in Vegas voter fraud
Google/AP
Molly Ball: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Deseret UT News
2008-10-08
_Mainichi Daily News_
Kobayashi, Maskawa, & Nambu win Nobel prize in physics
Gainesville FL Sun
Lakeland FL Ledger
Blue Ridge Times News
Washington Times
Cleveland OH Plain Dealer
"in the 1960s, Dr. Nambu, inspired by studies of superconductivity, suggested that some symmetries in the laws of elementary particle physics might be hidden, or 'broken' in actual practice... the Higgs boson... is theorized to be responsible for breaking the symmetry between electromagnetism and the so-called weak nuclear force, imparting mass to many particles that in theory [would otherwise be] massless... Dr. Nambu explained why a particle known as the pion, which carries the strong nuclear force that holds atomic nuclei together, was much lighter than the protons and neutrons inside it. If it were not so light, the strong force would not extend far enough to stick nuclei heavier than hydrogen together... In 1972, Dr. Kobayashi and Dr. Maskawa, extending work by the Italian physicist Nicola Cabibbo, showed that if there were three generations of the elementary particles called quarks, the constituents of protons and neutrons, the principle of symmetry breaking would explain a puzzling asymmetry known as CP violation. At the time, only 3 kinds of quarks were known: the up and down quarks, which make up most ordinary matter, and the strange quark. In 1974, the so-called charmed quarks were discovered. [Early on, the characteristics were described by the more fanciful terms 'beauty', 'strangeness', and 'charm'.] The last pair, the bottom and top quarks, were discovered in 1977 and 1994, completing the 3 generations of two quarks each predicted by Dr. Kobayashi and Dr. Maskawa. The CP violation -- C and P stand for charge and parity, or 'handedness' -- was discovered in 1964 by the American physicists James W. Cronin and Val L. Fitch -- a discovery that also won a Nobel Prize. Until then, physicists had assumed that exchanging positive for negative and left-handed for right-handed in the equations of elementary particles would result in the same answer."
2008-10-08
Ephraim Schwartz _InfoWorld_/_IDG_
IT employment prospects continue to dive in USA, UK, & Western Europe, but strong in Red China, India, SouthEast Asia and Eastern Europe
"the IMF expects [Red China] to grow at about 8%, with India at about 7%, and Russia about 6% -- despite the financial crisis. The world at large should grow about 3%."
2008-10-08 08:34PDT (11:34EDT) (15:34GMT)
_MarketWatch_/_PR News Wire_
Cuyahoga county OH election board questioning suspicious voter registration cards
2008-10-08
_Work Permit_
UK government working harder to destroy STEM job markets
2008-10-08
Ryan Naraine _Ziff Davis_
Kernell indicted for hacking into Palin's e-mail
2008-10-07 13:44PDT (16:44EDT) (20:44GMT)
Justin Miller _Politicker OH_
Republicans suggesting ACORN in bed with Ohio Secretary of State Brunner
2008-10-08
Ed Longanecker _Midwest Business Technology News_
AeA, lieutenant-governor of IL to open NASDAQ on 13th to celebrate the Illinois Technology Index (ILTI)
"What Does High Tech Mean for Illinois? 209,300 high-tech workers in 2006 (8th ranked cyberstate); 3,600 jobs added between 2005 and 2006; High-tech firms employed 42 of every 1K private sector workers in 2006, ranked 29th nationwide; High-tech workers earned an average wage of $77,100 (14th ranked), or 68% more than Illinois's average private sector wage; A high-tech pay-roll of $16.1G in 2006, ranked 8th nationwide; 16,100 high-tech establishments in 2006, ranked 5th nationwide; Venture capital investments of $510M in 2007, up 24% from $410M in 2006, ranked 12th nationwide; R&D expenditures of $11.3G in 2004, ranked 8th nationwide. Illinois's National Industry Sector Rankings: 4th in measuring and control instruments with 11,400 jobs; 4th in electronic components manufacturing employment with 12,500 jobs; 4th in communications equipment manufacturing employment with 9,400 jobs."
2008-10-08
Joe Guillen _Cleveland Plain Dealer_
ACORN says fraudulent & duplicate voter registrations are unavoidable
Fox Detroit/AP
2008-10-08
Frances Williams _Financial Times_
USA retains top competitiveness ranking
2008-10-08
Gene Johnson _AP_
40 US employees laid off from Entellium as execs arrested for over-stating revenues: Fate of 75 employees in Malaysia unknown
2008-10-08
Lance Fairchok _American Thinker_
The Crime of the Century, committed by your Dem dominated congress and Rep president
2008-10-08 (5769 Tishrei 09)
Thomas Sowell _Town Hall_
The Real Obama part 2
Jewish World Review
Obama video and theme song
alternate link to Obama theme song
Obama theme song with sub-titles
Obama theme song with alternate graphics
2008-10-08 (5769 Tiishrei 09)
Heather Mac Donald _City Journal_
honesty from the left on Hispanic immigration: _The Latino Education Crisis: The Consequences of Failed Social Policies_ by Patricia Gandara
2008-10-08 (5769 Tiishrei 09)
Walter E. Williams _Town Hall_
Lessons from the Bail-Out: Government Caused the Sub-Prime Mortgage Crash
Jewish World Review
Harrisonburg VA Daily News Record
Santa Rosa FL Press Gazette
DeSoto MS Times-Tribune
Manchester NH Union-Leader
2008-10-08
| DJIA | 9,258.10 |
| S&P 500 | 984.94 |
| NASDAQ | 1,740.33 |
| 10-year US T-Bond | 3.72% |
| crude oil | $88.95/barrel |
| gold | $906.50/ounce |
| silver | $11.77/ounce |
| platinum | $1,012.10/ounce |
| palladium | $199.70/ounce |
| copper | $0.1471875/ounce |
| natgas | $6.742/MBTU |
| reformulatedgasoline | $2.0298/gal |
| heatingoil | $2.4945/gal |
| dollarindex | 80.879 |
| yenperdollar | 100.32 |
| dollarspereuro | 1.3672 |
| dollarsperpound | 1.7276 |
| swissfranksperdollar | 1.1340 |
| MorganStanleyHighTechIndex | 383.72 |
I usually get this info from MarketWatch and the "Commodities" and "Metals" and "Currencies" columns.
| |
"In 1900, 18% of our labor was female. By 1952, the proportion was 31%." --- Stanley Lebergott "Annual Estimates of UnEmployment in the United States, 1900-1954" _The Measurement and Behavior of Unemployment_ pg 213
| |
2008-10-09
2008-10-08 19:52PDT (2008-10-08 22:52EDT) (2008-10-09 02:52GMT)
Moira Herbst _Business Week_
USCIS: 13% of H-1B visa petitions are fraudulent
"'Given the significant vulnerability, USCIS is making procedural changes, which will be described in a forthcoming document.' A spokeswoman, Beth Pellett Levine, says senator Chuck Grassley (D-IA), a long-time critic of the H-1B program, is drafting a letter to USCIS in response to the study... Indian out-sourcers such as Infosys (INFY), Wipro (WIT), and Tata (TCS.NS) accounted for nearly 80% of the visa petitions approved last year for the top 10 participants in the program... H-1B workers for State Farm Insurance allege they were under-paid... even employers who abide by the law -- for example by paying the required 'prevailing wage' [as defined in the statutes] -- are able to under-pay workers... 'We shouldn't forget that the major problem with the H-1B program are caused by massive loop-holes that allow firms to legally pay below-market wages and force US workers to train foreign replacements.', says Hira. 'Those wouldn't show up in this investigation because they are entirely legal.' Hira says that a bill proposed by Grassley and senator Dick Durbin's (D-IL) bill in 2007, S1035, would address both fraud and legal loop-holes in the program... 80% of the fraud or technical violations were uncovered during site visits."
H-1B Benefit Fraud & Compliance Assessment (pdf)
class action against Tata
2008-10-09
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
Widespread problems and fraud found in H-1B program: U.S. study finds incidents of forged documents, fake degrees, "shell companies"
PC World
IT World
2008-10-09
Richard Koman _Ziff Davis_
H-1B visas rife with fraud, worker mistreatment
John Hazard & Don Sears
"The critical findings from the report are based on a sample size of 246 H-1B petitions, and are as follows: 13.4% fraud (33 cases); 7.3% technical violations (18 cases); 20.7% overall rate of violation... Fraud was found in job location disclosures (either not working at a location or never had worked at a specific location). Financial records showed some H-1Bs being paid below the prevailing wage, with some companies admitting to under-paying). Benching took place (placing of workers on the bench with no work or reduction of pay under the prevailing wage during benched times, which is against the law). Documentation fraud; Shell business/No bona fide job offer."
2008-10-09
Suzanne Deffree _Electronics Design News_
H-1B visa fraud found, reform proposed
"Out of the 246 cases, 51 [21%] were found to have problems."
2008-10-09
_eCommerce Journal_
Fraud In Foreign Worker Visa Program
2008-10-09
_Iowa Politics_
senator Charles Grassley Questions Immigration Agency About Fraud in H-1B Program
"USCIS had already approved 217 of the 246 cases in the sample... Only 2% of the sampled cases were denied, which suggest that not enough fraud prevention and detection efforts were incorporated in the adjudication process."
2008-10-09
Ann All _IT Business Edge_
Government Report Documents H-1B Fraud
2008-10-09 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 424,307 in the week ending Oct. 4, an increase of 32,092 from the previous week. There were 298,317 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007. The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3% during the week ending Sept. 27, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,048,077, an increase of 29,101 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 1.6% and the volume was 2,112,935. Extended benefits were available in Alaska and Rhode Island during the week ending Sept. 20."
graphs
2008-10-09
J. James Estrada _American Thinker_
Illegal aliens, international gangs, and crime
2008-10-09 07:31PDT (10:31EDT) (14:31GMT)
_Cleveland Leader_
ACORN voter fraud investigations under way in Ohio
2008-10-09
Emily Coakley _Finding Dulcinea_
Officials in Missouri, Ohio and Nevada scrutinizing ACORN voter registrations for fraud
2008-10-09
Matthew Santoni _Pittsburgh Tribune-Review_
ACORN's voter registrations questioned in Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin
2008-10-09
Jeane MacIntosh _NY Post_
How ACORN got me into vote scam
2008-10-09
Sandra Gittlen _ComputerWorld_/_IDG_
IT is key to making 4-day work-weeks workable
2008-10-09
_Pacific Business News_
Honolulu notary guilty of immigration fraud
NC Triangle Business Journal
2008-10-09
Brad Talbutt, Bill Roberts & David Staats _Idaho Statesman_
Micron to lay-off 1,500 in Boise (on top of 1,100 last year) and 2,850 worldwide
2008-10-09
Paul Craig Roberts _V Dare_
A solution to the financial crisis?
2008-10-09
Liz Fischer _Medill School Northwestern University_
Grads fear gloomy job prospects
"Adolfo Laurenti, a senior economist with Chicago-based Mesirow Financial Holdings Inc., said that young people would be under the most duress during this time of job instability... The alumni who return to the [career] office in growing numbers are anywhere between two and 20 years out of school... At recent DePaul networking events, 24% of the participants were alumni. The percentage is usually in the teens, Ghori said."
2008-10-09
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Obama and his friends and their goals
Obama video and theme song
alternate link to Obama theme song
Obama theme song with sub-titles
Obama theme song with alternate graphics
2008-10-09
Jeremie T.A. Rostan _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
Political Power and Economic Ignorance
2008-10-09
Peter Gadiel _V Dare_
America's Hobson's Choice
"The major political parties again have failed us. They have thrown up two presidential candidates unfit for the office."
2008-10-09 (5769 Tishrei 10)
Thomas Sowell _Town Hall_
The Real Obama part 3
Jewish World Review
Greensboro NC News-Record
Alexandria LA Town Talk
Obama video and theme song
alternate link to Obama theme song
Obama theme song with sub-titles
Obama theme song with alternate graphics
2008-10-09 (5769 Tishrei 10)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
The Real Obama part 4
Obama video and theme song
alternate link to Obama theme song
Obama theme song with sub-titles
Obama theme song with alternate graphics
| |
"it is the policy of the Federal Government to encourage the placing of contracts and facilities in areas of current or imminent labor surplus..." --- Defense Manpower Policy #4 (Revised) 1953-11-05 (quoted by Herbert S. Parnes "UnEmployment Data from the Employment Security Program" _The Measurement and Behavior of Unemployment_ pg 149 note 57 (27 in pdf))
| |
2008-10-10: 25 days to federal elections
2008-10-10
Richard Behar _Fox_
World Bank security breached by Satyam
_Kerala Next_
"The World Bank Group's computer network has been raided repeatedly by outsiders for more than a year... at least 6 major intrusions -- 2 of them using the same group of IP addresses originating from [Red China]... a minimum of 18 servers have been compromised... ranging from the bank's security and password server to a Human Resources server... After a forensic analysis of the treasury breach, bank investigators discovered that spy software was covertly installed on work-stations inside the bank's Washington head-quarters -- allegedly by one or more contractors from Satyam Computer Services, one of India's largest IT companies... Kenneth Lay... Guy de Poerck [Is this real, or has Fox been hacked!? Perhaps a counter-attack on Behar by the Scientologists?]"
2008-10-10 04:36PST (07:36EST) (12:36GMT)
Nandini Lakshman _Business Week_
CitiGroup sends TARP money to Tata in India
class action against Tata
2008-10-10
_M$N India_
Infy celebrates as head-count hits 100K
"And if we can create this kind of jobs by something like 10K companies, then we would have completely solved the problem of unemployment in the country..."
2008-10-10
_Mortgage News Daily_
Samuelson and Comfort from the Past
2008-10-10
Tina Griego _Rocky Mountain News_
The line for finding a job is growing longer
2008-10-10
Eric English _Michigan Live_
Half of auto jobs lost in 8 years
2008-10-10
_Trading Markets_
NC Triangle tech companies confirm lay-offs: Amkor, Misys HealthCare and Allscripts workers lose jobs
"This week's job cuts follow hundreds of layoffs announced recently by leading area employers such as GlaxoSmithKline and Sony Ericsson, which is eliminating 400 positions."
2008-10-10
Tim Colebatch _The Age_
Trillions in euros lost, but we chug along
"But perhaps the scariest news of the week was Volvo's announcement that it would lay off 4K workers... [Red China] will still grow 9.3%, India 6.9%, and the developing world overall 6.1%... House prices will fall, but again, the shortage of housing at a time of rapid population growth suggests they won't fall much. But it could be years before they rise again. In Europe, house prices have already plummeted in Spain, Britain and Ireland... This week's synchronised rate cut by the European Central Bank, the Fed, and the rest, will ease the pressure for job cuts, but it's naive to expect it to end the market rout. It was not high interest rates that sent prices into free fall, but the loss of capital to support the banks, the loss of the trust required for lenders to lend, and for investors to buy."
John Stepek: M$N
2008-10-10
Aaron Baar _Media Post_
Tech to retail: Wii will survive
2008-10-10
_Great Falls MT Tribune_
Montana #6 on tax-friendliness list
"Wyoming ranked first in the Tax Foundation's 2009 Business Tax Climate Index, which rates states based on their corporate, individual, sales, unemployment and property taxes. South Dakota is second, followed by Nevada, Alaska and Florida. New Jersey is last in the latest ranking by the nonprofit and nonpartisan foundation, which has been examining government fiscal policies since 1937. New York, California, Ohio and Rhode Island rounded out the bottom 5."
Tax Foundation State Business Tax Climate Index
Presidential Candidate Tax Plan Comparison
Tax Freedom Day graph
2008-10-10
Amanda Hernandez _Las Vegas Now_/_KLAS_
Vile bodyshops looking for tech savvy suckers
2008-10-10 05:38PDT (08:38EDT) (12:38GMT)
Hugh Fisher _Salisbury NC Post_
83rd District NC House candidates debate economics
2008-10-10
Ted Evanoff _Indianapolis Star_
First Honda Civic rolls off Greensburg, IN line
"More than 35K Indiana manufacturing jobs have slipped away in the last two years... More than a dozen Honda auto-parts suppliers in the state have gotten ready to ramp up output for the Greensburg plant, including Keihin in Greenfield, Ryobi in Shelbyville, Tomasco in Winchester and Twoson Tool in Muncie. Two suppliers are opening plants -- Belletech at Versailles and TS Tech at New Castle. Indiana amassed $141.5M in state and local incentives for the Honda project, including $85.5M in tax incentives, worker training, and road and utility improvements. About $56M went to local government in the Greensburg area to handle growth needs expected to be spawned by the new auto plant."
2008-10-10
Charles Breiterman _Numbers USA_
Understanding Unemployment Rates
2008-10-10
Steve Sailer _V Dare_
America's minority mortgage melt-down/ diversity recession: the smoking gun
2008-10-10
_Politicker NH_
Congress-critters in denial: Carol Shea-Porter says 12% approval rating "Doesn't apply to me"
2008-10-10
_Economy in Crisis_
We are subsidizing our own demise
2008-10-10
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
Feds considering changes to H-1B application process in wake of USCIS report on fraud and abuse
2008-10-10
Pulkit Sharma _Tech Goss_
Working Visa Fraud
"While everyone knew that a few bodyshops and tech companies were rorting the system, it was a shock to see that as many as 1 in every 5 H-1B visa had elements of fraud or some technical violation... Techgoss can publish the reports findings about India which said: 'USCIS looked at country demographics and found that among the sample size of 246, as many as 114 (46%) were born in India. Among this sample 25% of the cases were associated with some type of fraud or technical violation.'"
2008-10-10
Nandini Lakshman _Business Week_
CitiGroup out-sources to India's Tata
class action against Tata
2008-10-10
Joe Guzzardi _V Dare_
To Bush, Paulson, Bernanke, etc: Go Home And Shut Up!
2008-10-10
_MarketWatch_
18 Libertarian candidates ask whether PACs bought bail-out/buy-out legislation
2008-10-10
Caroline B. Glick _Jewish World Review_
Lebanon on the brink -- and why it matters
"the US announced it will be providing the Lebanese military with $63M in new equipment that includes ammunition, trucks, humvees, mobile communications systems and Cobra attack helicopters."
2008-10-10 (5769 Tishrei 11)
Michelle Malkin _Jewish World Review_
The Obama Witch Project
Obama video and theme song
alternate link to Obama theme song
Obama theme song with sub-titles
Obama theme song with alternate graphics
2008-10-10
| DJIA | 8,451.19 |
| S&P 500 | 899.22 |
| NASDAQ | 1,649.51 |
| 10-year US T-Bond | 3.86% |
| crude oil | $77.70/barrel |
| gold | $859.00/ounce |
| silver | $10.60/ounce |
| platinum | $1,005.20/ounce |
| palladium | $197.50/ounce |
| copper | $0.13375/ounce |
| natgas | $6.535/MBTU |
| reformulatedgasoline | $1.807/gal |
| heatingoil | $2.21/gal |
| dollarindex | 82.474 |
| yenperdollar | 100.25 |
| dollarspereuro | 1.3406 |
| dollarsperpound | 1.7049 |
| swissfranksperdollar | 1.1355 |
| MorganStanleyHighTechIndex | 363.35 |
I usually get this info from MarketWatch and the "Commodities" and "Metals" and "Currencies" columns.
| |
"America needs another time-out from immigration... another pause for digestion, to match the Great Lulls of 1790-1840 and 1925 to 1965." --- Peter Brimelow 1996 _Alien Nation_ pg 262 (278 in pdf)
| |
2008-10-11
2008-10-11
Claudia Russett _Wall Street Journal_
Maurice Strong: public servant, international corruption master-mind, saver of the environment, or crafter of global collectivist state?
| |
"Some countries with large populations and great natural riches, like Brazil or Mexico, are poor. Other countries with few resources and small populations, like Switzerland, are rich. And countries with no resources but fairly large, hard-working and ingenious populations, like Japan, can become very rich indeed. IOW, the United States is not a pile of wealth but a fragile system -- a life-boat. And life-boats can get over-crowded and sink. OTOH, life-boats can tow large numbers of survivors along in their wake... The life-line everyone can hang on to, in this case, is trade." --- Peter Brimelow 1996 _Alien Nation_ pg 245 (262 in pdf)
| |
2008-10-12
2008-10-12
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
$700G of Vagueness
2008-10-12
Jack Kelly _Pittsburgh Post-Gazette_
Still no answers on Ayers, Dohrn, Raines and other friends of Barack
2008-10-12 13:10PDT (16:10EDT) (20:10GMT)
Judi Hasson _Fierce CIO_
H-1B visa program still needs re-evaluation & reform
2008-10-12
James Fulford _V Dare_
To the memory of Christopher Columbus
2008-10-12
David Yeagley _V Dare_
Once We Had Heroes
| |
"No longer do we have an economy where, in the words of [flaming radical leftist John Kenneth] Galbraith, 'The price that is offered is counted upon to produce the result that is sought... instead we have an economic system which, whatever its formal ideological billing, is in substantial part a planned economy. The initiative in deciding what is to be produced comes not from the sovereign consumer who, through the market, issues the instructions that bend the production mechanism to his ultimate will. Rather it comes from the great producing organization which reaches forward to control the markets that it is presumed to serve and, beyond, to bend the consumer to its needs. And, in so doing, it deeply influences his values.'" --- Will Wright 1975 _SixGuns & Society_ pg 174 (quoting John Kenneth Galbraith 1968 _The New Industrial State_ pg 18)
| |
2008-10-13
2008-10-13
Tyche Hendricks _San Francisco Chronicle_
McCain & Obama avoid mentioning immigration stands because they know they'll offend either big contributors or voters
2008-10-13
_Ascribe_
RIT professor calls H-1B program "Thoroughly Corrupted"
"Where has the government been for the past 10 years?... 'This report makes it clear that better oversight, including an auditing function, is desperately needed to clean up the corruption.', Hira adds. 'But we shouldn't forget that the major problems with the H-1B program are caused by massive loop-holes that allow firms to legally pay below-market wages and force U.S. workers to train foreign replacements. Those wouldn't show up in this investigation because they are entirely legal and wouldn't be considered fraudulent or a violation. This report has simply scratched the surface in identifying what's wrong with the H-1B program.'"
2008-10-13
Joe Guzzardi _V Dare_
Our Friend Michael Chertoff?
"American workers are lined up to take the jobs that they supposedly 'won't do'. In Mississippi, at Howard Industries, hundreds of applicants queued up. Other companies signed up recruiters to find new employees. One firm, St Louis-based Jacobson Staffing, hired about 900 temporary workers for Postville's Agriprocessors and—extra bonus— ran all of the new hires through E-Verify to make sure they are authorized to work in the U.S.A. Another personnel firm, Texas-based Bravo Labor Agency located about 200 workers and placed them in sugar cane fields in Louisiana, dairy farms in Maine and grain silos in South Dakota."
2008-10-13
Paul Craig Roberts _V Dare_
Does the Bail-Out Pass the Smell Test?
"The authorities have blamed subprime mortgages for the crisis. Why then does their solution fail to address the problem of the mortgages? Instead, the solution directs public money into an increasingly concentrated private financial sector, the management of which is not only vastly over-paid, but also has escaped accountability for the financial chicanery that, allegedly, threatens systemic financial melt-down unless bailed out by the [tax-victims]."
2008-10-13
Mark Sutton _ITP_
US government may tighten H-1B visa program
2008-10-13
Patrick Thibodeau _CIO_/_IDG_
H-1B Visa Applications to Be Changed After Fraud Report: USCIS weighs H-1B visa reforms after finding fraud, 'technical violations' in 21% of reviewed cases
2008-10-13 (5769 Tishrei 14)
Jonathan Rosenblum _Jewish World Review_
Ignore the Grand-Children
2008-10-13 (5769 Tishrei 14)
Rabbi Yonason Goldson _Jewish World Review_
The Happiness Quotient
"Anton Kaiser wondered if something was not rotten in the state of Denmark. The retired career army officer did some research and reported his findings in the Dakota Voice: 'Denmark, Puerto Rico, and Colombia are highly literate democracies (98%, 94%, and 93% literacy, respectively), whose people speak primarily one language (Danish, Spanish, and Spanish, respectively), and who are overwhelmingly Christian (Lutheran 90%, Catholic 85%, and Catholic 85%, respectively).'... happiness results from striving toward a goal that is both attainable and worthwhile. It is this struggle that makes us truly happy, and a life spent striving for goals of intrinsic value is a life of immeasurable happiness."
2008-10-13
Austin Cassidy _Independent Political Report_
Candidates on Florida ballots
Richard Winger: Ballot Access News
2008-10-15
Jamie Glazov _Front Page Magazine_
interview of Kevin Mattson, author of _Rebels All!_
see also David Horowitz 2013 _The Black Book of the American Left: vol1 My Life and Times_ pp121 et seq.
2008-10-13
| DJIA | 9,387.61 |
| S&P 500 | 1,003.35 |
| NASDAQ | 1,844.25 |
| 10-year US T-Bond | 3.86% |
| crude oil | $81.19/barrel |
| gold | $842.50/ounce |
| silver | $10.79/ounce |
| platinum | $997.60/ounce |
| palladium | $203.80/ounce |
| copper | $0.144375/ounce |
| natgas | $6.688/MBTU |
| reformulatedgasoline | $1.9176/gal |
| heatingoil | $2.341/gal |
| dollarindex | 81.572 |
| yenperdollar | 101.98 |
| dollarspereuro | 1.3587 |
| dollarsperpound | 1.7342 |
| swissfranksperdollar | 1.1401 |
| MorganStanleyHighTechIndex | 363.35 |
I usually get this info from MarketWatch and the "Commodities" and "Metals" and "Currencies" columns.
| |
"one united people -- a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs... a band of brethren..." --- John Jay _Federalist Papers_ #2 (quoted by Clinton Rossiter 1961; quoted by Peter Brimelow 1996 _Alien Nation_ pg 210 (227 in pdf))
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2008-10-14: 3 weeks (21 days) to federal elections of president and congress-critters
2008-10-14
Matt Wickenheiser _Portland ME Press Herald_/_Sun Journal_
Fraud plagues guest-work visa program
"'It's evident after reviewing the sample of H-1B petitions and conducting site visits to employers that there is a serious problem with outright fraud in the visa program.', said U.S. senator Susan Collins, R-Maine. 'This isn't an issue that was confined to the state of Maine. It is clearly a nationwide (issue).'... 'The findings of this new report reveal not only troubling evidence of fraud in the H-1B program but also the need for serious review and reform of our immigration system as a whole.', said Congressman Tom Allen, D-Maine, in a written statement. 'Lax oversight and enforcement of existing laws have led to some unscrupulous companies abusing the system. Congress created this program to ensure that employers can fill positions critical to their businesses, but not at the expense of American workers.', he said. 'The H-1B must not be a license for unscrupulous employers to hire foreign workers when there are willing and qualified Americans available.'... In response to its findings, Homeland Security said it was clarifying employers' responsibilities with regards to the H-1B visa program. It said it would apply greater scrutiny to petitions where fraud indicators are present, and it would find some of those indicators using third-party, independent information, the agency said. Homeland Security said a law change may be needed to allow it to share more information with the Department of Labor. Currently, Labor can't start an investigation based on H-1B violations uncovered by Homeland Security's inspection of the applications."
2008-10-14 04:50PDT (07:50EDT) (11:50GMT)
Colin Barr _Fortune_/_CNN_
bleak job market
"The employment picture is deteriorating rapidly. The United States has lost 760K jobs in the past 9 months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while weekly initial jobless claims have hit a recent 478K from the low 300K range in early 2007... Bill Gates said Monday he believes the unemployment rate could hit 9%, up from 6.1%... But outside the booming financial sector, job growth was soft and wages were stagnant. The median U.S. family's income was actually a shade lower in 2007 than it was at the end of the high-tech boom of the 1990s, according to census bureau data... GM... will close plants in Wisconsin and Michigan, costing 2,500 jobs. Financial firms have cut 65K workers in 2008."
2008-10-14
Charlotte Norman _Global Visas_
H-1B visa changes imminent
2008-10-14
Jim Quinn _Lew Rockwell_
Our Great Depression (with graphs)
"Real median household income in the U.S.A. is $50,233 today. It was $50,577 in 2000..."
2008-10-14
_Inside Edition_
Genius's break-through led to Nobel prize... but not for him
"He looks like a regular guy with a regular job driving a shuttle van. However, Douglas Prasher is a genius credited with helping to make one of the most important scientific breakthroughs of the 21st century. Three scientists just won a Nobel Prize for Chemistry thanks to Prasher's ground-breaking research, though there was no mention made... of him when the award was announced last week and he won't get any of the $1.4M prize money. Prasher... was studying biochemistry at the University of Georgia. He isolated the gene that causes jellyfish to glow in the dark. Prasher had a hunch that his discovery could one day be used to track the growth of tumors in cancer patients. So, when his grant ran out, he turned his findings over to other scientists, who completed his work and just won the Nobel Prize! Two American scientists from Columbia University and UC San Diego and a third U.S. based researcher from Japan celebrated the announcement with toasts of champagne and national attention. Inside Edition caught up with Dr. Roger Tsien of UC San Diego, by phone, and he agrees, they couldn't have done it without Douglas Prasher."
2008-10-14
John McCormack _Weekly Standard_
Media Down-Play Dem. Congressman Tim Mahoney's Sex Scandal
2008-10-14
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Banking Regulation 1933 and 2008
2008-10-14
John Miano _V Dare_
Obscenities, Chaos, H1-Bs, and High Reported Earnings: My Year with AIG
2008-10-14
Jennifer McFadyen _About_
USCIS announced a rule to extend NAFTA TN visas to 3 years is a fait accompli
2008-10-14
_Right Side News_
US legislative update on immigration: Debate over Voter Fraud Grows, 331 suspected illegal aliens and employers arrested in SC, GAO says asylum program susceptible to fraud, USCIS found high rate of H-1B visa fraud, federal investigation of San Francisco sanctuary policies
2008-10-14
Thomas Sowell _Abilene KS Reporter News_
Comparing candidates' words and deeds, and media's ignorance of history
Post Chronicle
GOP USA
Real Clear Politics
Patriot Post
National Review
Town Hall
Stockton CA Record
"those in the media who deplore 'negative advertising' regard it as unseemly to dig up ugly facts instead of sticking to the beautiful rhetoric of an election year."
| |
"5.25%... sternly told the census bureau in 1990 that their ethnicity was 'American'... Significantly, the tendency to self-identify as 'American' diminishes very sharply wherever ethnic diversity appears." --- Peter Brimelow 1996 _Alien Nation_ pg 209 (226 in pdf)
| |
2008-10-15: 20 days to federal elections
2008-10-15
Ephraim Schwartz _InfoWorld_/_IDG_
USCIS found 27% rate of fraud in the H-1B visa program, including paying low wages, forging documents, and misrepresenting jobs
2008-10-15 06:56PDT (09:56EDT) (13:56GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
Retail sales fell 1.2% in September
2008-10-15 07:09PDT (10:09EDT) (14:09GMT)
_Central Valley Business Times_
High tech added only 78,300 jobs in first half of 2008, while over 100K H-1B visas and tens of thousands of L-1 visas were approved, and over 340K US citizens were attempting to join the high-tech work-force
2008-10-15 09:27PDT (12:27EDT) (16:27GMT)
John Whitesides _Reuters_
Bush approval at 21%, Congress at 10%
Peninsula
US Daily
2008-10-15
Bruce Heberle _South Bend IN Tribune_
Examine the candidates' actions before you vote
2008-10-15
Jim Gilbert _Dallas/Fort Worth Star-Telegram_
The problem may be our choices
2008-10-15
"Old Dog" _Island Packet_/_McClatchy_
Congress's 9% approval rating and electing non-incumbents
"A legislature that has a 9% approval rating, ONE MONTH before an election, just passed a bill that constituents' comments ran 100 to 1 AGAINST! Not only did they ignore voter opinion, but under extreme scrutiny they STILL added lots of breaks for cronies, and they did so KNOWING that 90% of them would be re-elected ANYWAY... Sec. 132 suspends FASB 157. That's what made banks show the real value of their assets on their books, even if it had fallen to zero... You can't vote to throw out the other guy's representative, you can only vote for or against your own. In 2006 the Democrats won their average district with a 54.8% vote, considered a land-slide. The so-called Republican Revolution of 1994 was won with an average of 51.6% of the vote. So if 1 person in 20 changed their vote, the result would be an almost complete turn-over in Congress!... VOTE AGAINST YOUR INCUMBENT CONGRESSMAN OR CONGRESSWOMAN. It doesn't matter who it is. It doesn't matter who the other candidate is."
2008-10-15
Walter E. Williams _GOP USA_
Political Monopoly Power
Deseret News
Springfield IL State Journal-Register
Santa Rosa Press Gazette
Patriot Post
Town Hall
Capitalism Magazine
Cybercast News Service
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Harrisonburg VA Daily News-Record
Washington Times
"Excellent research, found at http://www.thirty-thousand.org/index.htm, shows that in 1804 each representative represented about 40K people. Today, each representative represents close to 700K. If we lived up to the vision of our founders, given today's population, we would have about 7,500 congressmen in the House of Representatives. It turns out that in 1929 Congress passed a bill fixing the number of representatives at 435. Prior to that, the number of congressional districts was increased every 10 years, from 1790 to 1910, except one, after a population census was taken. We might ask what's so sacrosanct about 435 representatives? Why not 600, or 1K, or 7,500? Here's part of the answer and, by the way, I never cease to be amazed by the insight and wisdom of our founders: James Madison, the acknowledged father of the Constitution, argued that the smaller the House of Representatives relative to the nation's population, the greater is the risk of unethical collusion. He said, 'Numerous bodies... are less subject to venality and corruption.' In a word, he saw competition in the political arena as the best means for protecting our liberties. If Madison were around today to see today's venal and corrupt Congress, he'd probably say, 'See, I told you so!' In addition to venality and corruption, restricting the number of representatives confers significant monopoly power that goes a long way toward explaining the stranglehold the 2 parties have and the high incumbent success rates. It might also explain the power of vested interest groups to influence congressional decisions. They only have to bribe, cajole or threaten a relatively small number of representatives. Imagine the challenge to a lobbyist, if there were 7,500 representatives, trying to get a majority of 3,813 to vote for this or that special privilege versus having to get only a 218 majority in today's Congress. Another problem of a small number of congressmen, with large districts, has to do with representing their constituents. How in the world is one congressman to represent the diverse interests and values of 700K people? The practical answer is they don't and attempt to be all things to all people. Thus, a congressman who takes a principled stand against the federal government exceeding its constitutional authority -- whether it be government involvement in education, business welfare and bail-outs and $2T dollars worth of other hand-outs -- is not likely to win office."
2008-10-15 10:27PDT (13:27EDT) (17:27GMT)
reverend Mark Weller _Lima Ohio News_/_Freedom Communications_
Elect someone who will keep his oath of office
"Like all elected officials, John McCain and Barack Obama began their terms by taking an oath to 'support and defend' the U.S. Constitution. Like most politicians, they repeatedly have violated that oath by introducing and/or supporting legislation that is destructive of that same document. For instance, both men have supported some degree of: gun control, foreign aid, unlawful taxation, excessive federal powers, violent deaths of innocent unborn Americans, federal intervention in private sector business via bailouts, etc., etc., ad infinitum. Neither individual is a man of his word, and both have made a mockery of their oaths of office. Consequently, neither candidate is worthy of a single American vote or capable of being a solution to our present problems. Both men, by their actions, are in actuality enemies of this great republic. There is not a nickel's worth of difference between them on the issues that truly count. When will we Americans wake up and see that a vote for 'the lesser of two evils' is still a vote for evil and evil never produces good results? I realize there often is no good candidate to vote for, but this isn't one of those occasions. Chuck Baldwin is the presidential candidate for the Constitution Party. He takes his oath seriously and believes the Constitution is still worth honoring and protecting."
2008-10-15
_Daily Camera_
2 party system
Heidi Litchfield: Morris IL Daily Herald
"when Colorado voters head to the polls, there will be 16 candidates to choose from, including Chuck Baldwin (Constitution Party), Bob Barr (Libertarian), James Harris (Socialist Workers), Ralph Nader (Unaffiliated), and Bradford Lyttle (U.S. Pacifist)."
2008-10-15
Laurence M. Vance _Lew Rockwell_
The Lesser of Two Goods
"I can say without exaggeration that Baldwin is miles ahead of Obama, McCain, McKinney, and Nader when it comes to practically any issue, and especially when it comes to foreign policy."
2008-10-15
Grant Gross _ComputerWorld_/_IDG_
FBI: Several hostile governments target US computers & networks
2008-10-15 12:19PDT (15:19EDT) (19:19GMT)
Leslie Wayne _NY Times_
Baldwin, McKinney, Nader to debate Sunday at 20:00 -- CSPAN to carry... cancelled
Third Party Watch
Maria Recio: Lawrence Journal-World/McClatchy
Richard Winger: Ballot Access News
Santa Rosa Press Democrat
McClatchy
Lexington Herald-Leader
Op Ed News
Free and Equal
Houston Chronicle
2008-10-15
Challenger, Gray & Christmas _MidWest Business Technology News_
Jobs will be job #1 for new president
2008-10-15
_Manufacturing & Technolgy eJournal_
Trade Policies Have Under-Cut Manufacturing in Election Battle-Ground States
"The study examined 1997-2007 growth rates for major economic sectors in eight industrial states looming large in this year's national elections -- Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. It found that, taken together, the slowest growers by far in these states were industries most heavily exposed to global economic opportunities and challenges -- the manufacturing sector, plus agriculture and mining. Manufacturing was also the single slowest-growing sector in the nation as a whole during this period, with current-dollar output rising by a mere 26.25% -- barely a third of the overall 66.82% national growth rate. Moreover, manufacturing's job-creation performance badly lagged that of the rest of the economy as well, indicating that its slow growth as well as its improving productivity were responsible for its 20.29% job loss during the decade. By contrast, the fastest-growing sectors in these states' economies and the U.S. economy from 1997 to 2007 were sectors with little or virtually no exposure to global economic conditions. Industries in the 'partly exposed' sector included finance, retail trade, educational services, and information services. Industries in the 'virtually unexposed' sector included health care and social assistance, real estate, construction, administrative and waste services, and government."
2008-10-15
David Horowitz _Front Page Magazine_
how leftists get conservatives (non-leftists) wrong
see also David Horowitz 2013 _The Black Book of the American Left: vol1 My Life and Times_ pp121 et seq.
2008-10-15
Robert Chandler _Washington Times_
The Cloward-Piven strategy
2008-10-15
| DJIA | 8,577.91 |
| S&P 500 | 907.84 |
| NASDAQ | 1,628.33 |
| 10-year US T-Bond | 4.01% |
| crude oil | $73.11/barrel |
| gold | $839.00/ounce |
| silver | $10.18/ounce |
| platinum | $975.20/ounce |
| palladium | $195.60/ounce |
| copper | $0.13815625/ounce |
| natgas | $6.592/MBTU |
| reformulatedgasoline | $1.7822/gal |
| heatingoil | $2.1905/gal |
| dollarindex | 82.281 |
| yenperdollar | 99.88 |
| dollarspereuro | 1.3466 |
| dollarsperpound | 1.7188 |
| swissfranksperdollar | 1.1361 |
| MorganStanleyHighTechIndex | 353.62 |
I usually get this info from MarketWatch and the "Commodities" and "Metals" and "Currencies" columns.
| |
"Merging takes time -- except in America. Here the process has been uniquely rapid. Thus about 7M Germans have immigrated to the United States since the beginning of the 19th century. Their influence has been profound. To my British eye it accounts for the odd American habit of getting up in the morning and starting work. About 58M Americans told the 1990 census that they were wholly or party of German Descent. But only 1.5M spoke German in their homes... At the time of the American Revolution, the white population in the 13 Colonies was 60% English, 80% British, 98% Protestant. The United States population would still be at about half its current level if there had been no immigration at all after 1790. [Ahhh, room!] As late as 1960, nearly 90% of the US population was European, the great bulk of it closely related, from the British Isles, Germany and Italy." --- Peter Brimelow 1996 _Alien Nation_ pg 206 (223 in pdf)
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2008-10-16
2008-10-16 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 451,776 in the week ending Oct. 11, an increase of 28,052 from the previous week. There were 306,519 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007. The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3% during the week ending Oct. 4, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,061,651, an increase of 3,666 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 1.6% and the volume was 2,097,457. Extended benefits were available in Alaska and Rhode Island during the week ending Sept. 27."
graphs
2008-10-16
Warren Mass & William F. Jasper _New American_
Count on John McCain (& Barack Obama) to continue on the same leftward course they have charted in the past
Obama video and theme song
alternate link to Obama theme song
Obama theme song with sub-titles
Obama theme song with alternate graphics
2008-10-16
David R. Butcher _Thomas Net Industrial News Room_
H-1B Visa Program Fraught with Fraud
"Accounting, human resources, business analyst, sales and advertising were among the occupations most likely to involve fraud, though problems were also documented with managerial and computer-related occupations. In fact, companies engaged in professional, scientific and technical services make up 52% (128 cases) of the sample. Among this sample, 27% (35 cases) were associated with some type of fraud or technical violation(s)."
2008-10-16
Debbie Messina _Hampton Roads Virginian Pilot_
Community Voters Project employee indicted for fraud in voter registration
2008-10-16 05:19PDT (08:19EDT) (12:19GMT)
Katherine Leal Unmuth _Dallas Morning News_
Many justifiably fear teachers from abroad will be favored as DISD cuts jobs
TXCN
2008-10-16
Kevin Michael Grace _V Dare_
Can Canada survive as a nation-state?
"No, Canada is an on-going black-mail/bribery game, a mere political contrivance, a conglomeration of seven increasingly dissimilar and fractious regions -- Newfoundland, the Maritimes (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island), Quebec, Ontario, the Prairies (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta), British Columbia and the Arctic (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut)."
2008-10-16
Michelle Malkin _V Dare_
Left Has Declared War on Joe the Plumber
2008-10-16
Paul Craig Roberts _V Dare_
Additional thoughts on the bail-out
2008-10-16
_Federal Register_ Vol73 #201 pp. 61332-61336
TN visa term increased to 3 years (pdf)
2008-10-16 (5769 Tishrei 17)
Rabbi Doctor Asher Meir _Jewish World Review_
Copying DVDs: RIP or Rip-Off?
2008-10-16
| DJIA | 8,979.26 |
| S&P 500 | 946.43 |
| NASDAQ | 1,717.71 |
| 10-year US T-Bond | 3.94% |
| crude oil | $72.14/barrel |
| gold | $804.50/ounce |
| silver | $9.64/ounce |
| platinum | $891.30/ounce |
| palladium | $173.10/ounce |
| copper | $0.13034375/ounce |
| natgas | $6.592/MBTU |
| reformulatedgasoline | $1.7822/gal |
| heatingoil | $2.1905/gal |
| dollarindex | 82.287 |
| yenperdollar | 101.62 |
| dollarspereuro | 1.3466 |
| dollarsperpound | 1.7355 |
| swissfranksperdollar | 1.1367 |
| MorganStanleyHighTechIndex | 370.98 |
I usually get this info from MarketWatch and the "Commodities" and "Metals" and "Currencies" columns.
| |
"What is a 'nation-state'? It is the political expression of a nation. And what is a 'nation'? It is an ethno-cultural community -- an interlacing of ethnicity and culture. Invariably, it speaks one language... 'polity' -- defined by Webster as 'a politically organized unit'." --- Peter Brimelow 1996 _Alien Nation_ pg 203 (220 in pdf)
| |
2008-10-17
2008-10-17 08:52PDT (11:52EDT) (15:52GMT)
Ruth Mantell _MarketWatch_
UMich consumer sentiment index fell from 70.3 in late September to 57.5 in October
2008-10-17 16:00PDT (19:00EDT) (23:00GMT)
Lou Dobbs _CNN_
ACORN, Ayers, Visa Waivers vs. National Security, H-1B Fraud & Abuse
video
Senator Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican who wants to reform the H-1B program is angry. He vented some of that anger in a letter to the acting head of the U.S. CIS saying quote, "with a violation rate of more than 20%, this assessment should serve as a wake- up call to your agency". H-1B critics welcome the report but they point out that while fraud is significant...
Ron Hira, Rochester Institute of Technology: Plus the misuse of the H-1B program is perfectly legal. It's perfectly legal, for example, to pay below market wages to undercut American workers. It's perfectly legal never to recruit or look for American workers before hiring an H-1B and it's perfectly legal to replace American workers with H-1B workers...
-30-
2008-10-17
Bala Shah _TechGoss_
Indian posing as tech worker for Honewell arrested on visa fraud and suspicion of terrorism: 10 conspirators
Janice Kephart: CIS
2008-10-17
William Poole _Wall Street Journal_
The less voluntary the bail-out/buy-out, the bigger the risks
2008-10-17
John Tierney _NY Times_
What Shortage of Scientists and Engineers?
2008-10-17
Todd Spangler _Detroit Free Press_
Obama campaign asks investigation of ACORN voter registration fraud to be assigned to special prosecutor
"At the center of the debate is ACORN, a community rights organization which -- among other activities -- works to register voters, particularly in low- and moderate-income areas. This year, they say they have registered some 1.3M new voters nationwide, particularly in battleground states. In Michigan, the group says it has registered more than 200K new voters. "
2008-10-17
Joe Guzzardi _V Dare_
Media smeared Condit, ignored illegal alien suspect
2008-10-17 (5769 Tishrei 18)
Caroline B. Glick _Jewish World Review_
The disappearance of law
2008-10-17 (5769 Tishrei 18)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Record versus rhetoric
Norwich Bulletin
GOP USA
National Review
Greensboro NC News-Record
Appeal-Democrat
"Apparently there is something about Sarah Palin that causes some people to think of her as either the best of candidates or the worst of candidates. She draws enthusiastic crowds and provokes visceral hostility in the media."
2008-10-17
George W. Bush
Making it even easier for terrorists to enter the USA without a background investigation
"Today, President Bush hosted representatives from 7 nations that have met the criteria for admission into the United States' Visa Waiver Program (VWP) and 6 nations on track to be admitted. In about a month, the 'citizens' of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and South Korea will be able to travel to the United States for business or tourism for up to 90 days without a visa. So-called 'roadmap' countries, which are on track to qualify for VWP admission, at today's event were Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Poland, and Romania. The 13 countries represented at today's event are close friends and allies whose leaders told the President that their citizens believed it unfair that they had to wait in line and pay for visas to travel to the United States when [those whose trips originate from] other allies are allowed to travel visa-free... The VWP currently allows the citizens of 27 countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business without obtaining a visa. Nationals participating in the VWP must travel only for business, pleasure, or transit; stay in the United States for 90 days or less [or take advantage of the easy opportunity to stay longer, since neither the DoS nor DHS actually attempts to track visitors nor those with visas]; and, if arriving by sea or air, hold a valid ticket for return or onward travel and enter the United States aboard an air or sea carrier designated as a participant in the VWP."
2008-10-17
_ComputerWorld_/_IDG_
Control freaks can be good bosses
2008-10-17
David Gordon _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
Who killed the US constitution?
2008-10-17
Robert Wenzel _Economic Policy Journal_
The Strange Mind of Paul Krugman
"not all booms will cause the negative consequences of a bust. An increase in productivity can cause a roaring boom that every ABCT theorist would agree has no reason to end in recession."
2008-10-17
| DJIA | 8,852.22 |
| S&P 500 | 940.55 |
| NASDAQ | 1,711.29 |
| 10-year US T-Bond | 3.94% |
| crude oil | $71.85/barrel |
| gold | $787.70/ounce |
| silver | $9.34/ounce |
| platinum | $881.00/ounce |
| palladium | $174.50/ounce |
| copper | $0.13621875/ounce |
| natgas | $6.79/MBTU |
| reformulatedgasoline | $1.67/gal |
| heatingoil | $2.13/gal |
| dollarindex | 82.406 |
| yenperdollar | 101.67 |
| dollarspereuro | 1.3432 |
| dollarsperpound | 1.7334 |
| swissfranksperdollar | 1.1337 |
| MorganStanleyHighTechIndex | 371.33 |
I usually get this info from MarketWatch and the "Commodities" and "Metals" and "Currencies" columns.
| |
"[immigrants] will bring with them the principles of the governments they leave, or if able to throw them off, it will be in exchange for an unbridled licentiousness, passing, as usual, from one extreme to the other. It would be a miracle were they to stop precisely at the point of temperate liberty." --- Thomas Jefferson 1782 _Notes on the State of Virginia_ (quoted by Peter Brimelow 1996 _Alien Nation_ pg 191 (208 in pdf))
| |
2008-10-18
2008-10-18
_Economic Times of India_
Indian techie working for AMD charged with stealing trade secret documents from Intel
Sharon Gaudin: PC World
"The criminal complaint against Biswamohan Pani, former design engineer for chip-maker Intel, was filed in the US district court in Boston and unsealed on Tuesday. The complaint followed a search by the FBI of his house in Worcester, Massachusetts in July which found documents including 13 top-secret files with details of future Intel chip designs, PC World magazine has reported."
2008-10-18
Simon Bowers _Manchester Guardian_
Wall Street workers to receive $70G in bonuses as tax-victims are tapped for $700G in bail-outs
2008-10-18
James Grant _Wall Street Journal_
Confidence is very important in economics
2008-10-18
Brian M. Carney _Wall Street Journal_
interview of Anna Schwartz: Bernanke is fighting the previous war
"Everything works much better when wrong decisions are punished and good decisions make you rich."
2008-10-18
Robert Eringer _Cryptome_
Trojan horse in every Red Chinese made chip?
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"the threat of new parties is the ultimate danger for the entire American political elite." --- Peter Brimelow 1996 _Alien Nation_ pg 199 (216 in pdf)
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2008-10-19
2008-10-19
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring e-News-Letter_
"best and brightest" scientist found driving a shuttle bus
Some of you may have heard about this news item in the last couple of days: The 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Martin Chalfie, Osamu Shimomura and Roger Tsien for their work on the gene green fluorescent protein (GFP). Douglas Prasher, who played a key role by discovering the gene, and contributing it to Chalfie and Tsien, was snubbed for the prize. Much worse, it turns out that he is currently not in science at all, working as a shuttle bus drive for a Toyota dealership in Alabama.
But here is the rest of the story.
The fact that a Nobel Prize is involved gives this story glamor (and pathos), but the story's true significance lies in its connection to the false claims by industry lobbyists that "Johnnie Can't Do Science" and thus the U.S. needs an expanded H-1B program to bring in scientists from abroad. These claims are false, and though Chalfie and Tsien are U.S. natives, they are the exceptions, with Prasher being much more representative. His case illustrates everything that is wrong with our current policies on H-1B.
The Urban Institute report released last year (along with earlier research by others showing similar results) showed that plenty of Americans major in math and science in college, but most don't continue in the field. There are two main reasons for this. First, as the National Research Council showed (for the computer field), pursuing a PhD produces a net loss in life-time income. Second, as was discussed on NPR when the UI report came out, there are major issues of career security in the science field: these days a scientist must work several years as a post doc in addition to earning a PhD, so one typically reaches one's early- to mid-30s before even knowing whether one will even be able to start a career in the field, much less sustain one. If one has started a family by then, it's difficult to keep pushing on for low pay and an uncertain future.
All of this ties in directly with H-1B. The reason PhD wages aren't worth the years of study are that the NSF, as I've stated before, advocated bringing in foreign scientists for the express purpose of holding down PhD salaries. This also suppresses graduate stipends for doctoral students, and post doc wages too. As was pointed out in the NPR piece by Shirley M. Malcom, head of education and human resources at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, these low wages, 15-year training periods, poor career prospects and so on are direct evidence that we have an OVER-supply of scientists, not a shortage as claimed by the lobbyists. And again, this over-supply was deliberately planned for by the NSF, back when it asked Congress to establish the H-1B program.
Prasher was a casualty of this over-supply. There were too many people applying for grants, and he saw that the situation was just going to get worse, so he left the Woods Hole lab to take a "safe" job with the USDA. Unfortunately, the funding issue continued to bite him anyway. In his last science job, with a NASA subcontractor in Huntsville, funding cuts again left him unemployed. He now works for the Toyota dealer in the same town.
The over-supply of workers also contributes to the cutthroat nature of the competition. Chalfie and Tsien were able to do quite well in the system, good for them, but as an academic I can tell you that for many in the field, part of success comes from a willingness to throw some elbows here and there, and play hardball. I'm not saying that Chalfie and Tsien necessarily have sharp elbows, but it's quite telling that Tsien now says he was "amazed" when Prasher quite willingly give him the gene -- and maybe equally telling that Tsien stopped short of saying that Prasher should have shared in the prize. (Though Chalfie, to his credit, did say, "They could've easily given the prize to Douglas and the other two and left me out.")
At one of the science blogs discussing the Prasher case, enclosed below, someone named Lisa brings up the H-1B connection:
Ah, this scares me. My husband is a research scientist with the govt right now in plants. We had to move to Canada for 2 years recently because the US just doesn't want to hire its own citizens anymore. We got back here on a temp. job. This story made me cry. We are about to be between jobs again, and it's tough to find one. My husband has done some really great work in genetics, but it doesn't seem to matter. I am angry at the way our nation has chewed up and spit out so many of its great scientists in search of cheap labor.
And again, though it makes for good newspaper copy to have a Nobel almost-laureate discovered driving a van for $10 an hour, this sounds painfully familiar to many readers of this e-newsletter. One of my PhD readers could only find work packing boxes at minimum wage -- at the peak of the dot-com boom, no less. Another PhD reader did manual labor in a winery. Those "Johnnie Can't Do Science" claims by the lobbyists have a bitter ring to them.
In the last presidential debate, moderator Bob Schiefer took it for granted that "Johnnie" indeed can't do math and science, and sadly, neither presidential candidate objected. Maybe Obama and McCain, who both strongly endorse an H-1B increase, ought to pay as much attention to Prasher the Ex-Scientist as they did to Joe the Plumber.
I'm enclosing [links to] news articles on the Prasher case below. I also recommend [the] Wikipedia entry about him
and [some beautiful pages on Prasher and] GFP, which has some great pictures as well as a History section explaining the contributions made by the various players.
Norm
1992-02-15: D.C. Prasher, V.K. Eckenrode, W.W. Ward, F.G. Prendergast, M.J. Cormier: National Institutes of Health: Primary structure of the Qequorea victoria green-fluorescent protein
1993-08-18: Douglas C. Prasher: Modified Aequorin shows increased bioluminescence activity: Storming Media
2001-07-26: Forbes
2004 Summer: Howard Hughes Medical Institute: profile of Roger Tsien
2006-01-31: BioCurious
2007-05-18: Green Fluorescent Protein
2008-09-29: Med Gadget
2008-10-08: David Crotty: Cold Spring Harbor
2008-10-08: Celia Henry Arnaud: American Chemical Society Chemical & Engineering News
2008-10-08: Nobel Prize Committee: interview with Martin Chalfie
2008-10-08: Katharine Sanderson: Free Republic
2008-10-09: "Abel Pharmboy": Terra Sigillata: ScienceBLogs
2008-10-09: Thomas H. Maugh II: Los Angeles Times
2008-10-09: Dan Charles: National Socialist Radio
2008-10-09: James Randerson: Manchester Guardian
2008-10-09: BioTechNews/Australian Life Scientist
2008-10-10: Ned Potter: abc
2008-10-10: Steve Doyle: Huntsville AL Times
2008-10-10: Bob Grant: The Scientist
2008-10-11: Jonathan A. Eisen: Phylogenomics
2008-10-11: Aaron Gouveia: Cape Cod Times
2008-10-11: Philip Sherwell: London Telegraph
2008-10-11: AP/Boston MA Globe
2008-10-12: AP/Worcester MA Telegram & Gazette
2008-10-12: AP/Tuscaloosa AL News
2008-10-14: Inside Edition
2008-10-14: Robert Oak: Economic Populist
2008-10-15: Lukas I. Alpert: NY Post
2008-10-17: NY Times
2008-10-19: Sharon Churcher: Daily Mail
2008-10-25: Tina Hesman Saey: Science News
misc.education
Hoxful Monsters
InCites: interview with Martin Chalfie
Ikiru-Sube
2008-10-19
Llewellyn H. Rockwell _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
Joe the "outlaw"
2008-10-19
Paul Craig Roberts _V Dare_
Whence Inflation
"Inflation is inherent in a fractional reserve banking system based on fiat money. Fiat money is not subject to limits on its supply, and fractional reserve banking permits the banking system to create money by expanding loans."
2008-10-19
Michael Shedlock _Global Economic Analysis_
Bush to Host Summit of Losers
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"Los Angeles is the source & home of more political, economic, & religious idiocy than all the rest of the country together." --- Westbrook Pegler (quoted in John Morgan Wilson 1998 _Inside Hollywood_ pg 230)
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2008-10-20: 15 days to federal elections, Early voting begins today in Florida
2008-10-20
Mary Hayes Weier _Information Week_/_UBM_
Government Study Finds 21% Of H-1B Applications Violate Rules
"As a result of the report, the Benefit Fraud and Compliance Assessment Program, established in 2005 to evaluate the integrity of visa programs, has established a 21% base-line rate for technical violations and fraud in H-1B petitions. In addition, the National Security and Records Verification Directorate is making 'procedural changes' as a result of the study, to be 'described in a forthcoming document'. Although the sample population was drawn for the purpose of a study, the Benefit Fraud and Compliance Program refers cases identified as fraud to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for consideration of formal criminal investigation and prosecution."
2008-10-20 08:40PDT (11:40EDT) (15:40GMT)
Ruth Mantell _MarketWatch_
Conference Board: Leading Indicators up 0.3% in September
2008-10-20
Donald Kaul _Salida CO Mountain Mail_
Media to blame for promoting ineligible politicians: Congressional approval rating less than 20%, Bush 25%
Springfield MO News-Leader
2008-10-20
_Montgomery Advertiser_
Bad guys elected elsewhere: Congressional approval rating about 13%
2008-10-20
Donald A. Collins _V Dare_
Recession won't solve our excessive immigration problem
2008-10-20
Allan Wall _V Dare_
Who Can Sell Out the USA Faster?
2008-10-20 (5769 Tishrei 21)
Gary Rosenblatt _Jewish World Review_
Still One Torah
2008-10-20 (5769 Tishrei 21)
Jonathan Tobin _Jewish World Review_
Government "Gifts" Are Not Free
2008-10-20
Thomas Sowell _Alexandria LA Town Talk_
Obama offers nothing new
Obama video and theme song
alternate link to Obama theme song
Obama theme song with sub-titles
Obama theme song with alternate graphics
2008-10-20
_Conference Board_
US leading economic indiators up 0.3% in September
2008-10-20
_Hampton Roads Virginian Pilot_
Setting quotas for voter registration drove fraud
"They should also get some satisfaction that safety precautions are in place and are working. Leaders at the Community Voters Project caught the initial fraudulent forms in Hampton and alerted local officials. In Norfolk, the vigilance of Registrar Elisa Long brought the most recent irregularities to light. Commonwealth's Attorney Jack Doyle responded promptly with felony charges. That said, quotas have no place in voter registration drives, and there should be no tolerance for any practice that undermines public confidence in our elections."
2008-10-20
Robert P. Murphy _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
The Importance of Capital Theory
2008-10-20
_Patriot Post_
Monday Brief
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"in 1990, some 19.4% of California's state-prison in-mates were foreign-born, as opposed to 21.7% of the state's population... 15% of state-prison in-mates were illegal aliens, although they make up anywhere from 3.5% to 7%... of the state's population..." --- Peter Brimelow 1996 _Alien Nation_ pg 184 (201 in pdf)
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2008-10-21: 2 weeks (14 days) to federal elections of president and congress-critters
2008-10-21
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
How FDR Destroyed the Dollar
"Before FDR's executive orders, Federal Reserve currency could be exchanged at the Federal Reserve banks for gold at a price of $20.67 per ounce. President Roosevelt ordered that the dollar be devalued almost 41% by raising the price per ounce of gold to $35.00. At the $20.67 gold ratio, one dollar would buy 0.048 ounces of gold. At the $35 ratio, one dollar would buy only 0.0286 ounces of gold. The inflation set in motion by FDR's actions has continued without cease. The London gold price was $664.95 on 2007 February 16, a de facto 96.9% devaluation of the dollar vs the price before President Roosevelt began the devaluation process. The Consumer Price Index is now [16 times or more what it was] in 1932 ['or more' because of various revisions which tend to under-state price increases]... In effect, President Roosevelt confiscated 40% of assets in the hands of individuals, corporations, and banks, without offering any compensation to them... Senator Carter Glass was one of the most financially knowledgeable and most highly respected figures in Washington (and a Democrat). He had sponsored the legislation that created the Federal Reserve in 1913 and later served as Secretary of the Treasury. Outraged at the President's actions in 1933, he said, 'It's dishonor, sir. This great government, strong in gold, is breaking its promises to pay gold to widows and orphans to whom it has sold government bonds with a pledge to pay gold coin of the present standard of value. It is breaking its promise to redeem its paper money in gold coin of the present standard of value. It's dishonor, sir.'"
2008-10-21
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Bank Balance Sheet Primer
2008-10-21
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Mandating a "Perfect" World through Force and Fraud: Justice vs. "Social Justice"
2008-10-21
Adam Gantrell _Fox_
Immigration to Australia likely to be cut next year due to financial instability
2008-10-21
James Fontanella-Khan & Varun Sood _Financial Times_
Arrest and forebodings of violence over who can take railroad workers exam in India
2008-10-21
Theresa Tamkins _CNN_
US suicides increase steadily among middle agers over course of Clinton-Bush economic depression
"Suicides increased between 1999 and 2005 by about 3% annually in white men and 4% in white women age 40 to 64, according to Susan Baker, M.P.H., of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, MD, and her colleagues. Suicide rates remained the same in Asians and Native Americans, and declined in blacks. Overall, the suicide rate rose in the early 1980s, then dropped each year from 1986 to 1999. From 1999 to 2005, however, the rates have increased 0.7% annually. In all, 32,637 people killed themselves in the United States in 2005, a rate of 11 per 100K people."
2008-10-21
_Detroit News_
Duplicate registration forms spark legal action
2008-10-21
Dawn Kawamoto, Caroline McCarthy, Tom Krazit, & Jim Kerstetter _Silicon_/_CNET_
Tech employment to continue in doldrums as Clinton-Bush economic depression stretches toward end of 9th year
"Tom Silver, chief marketing officer for Dice Holdings, which operates a tech-specific on-line job placement site, said: 'We never saw the big run-up in tech hiring in 2004 through 2008, so I don't anticipate a significant change.'"
2008-10-21
Thomas Sowell _Abilene KS Reporter News_
Ignore the polls; Vote conscientiously
Redding Searchlight
Eureka Reporter
GOP USA
Human Events
Real Clear Politics
Post Chronicle
Jewish World Review
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
2008-10-21
Thomas J. DiLorenzo _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
Alexander Hamilton: Founding father of crony capitalism
2008-10-21
Tim Hartnett _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
Did Joseph Wharton cause the current US financial melt-down?
2008-10-21 (5769 Tishrei 22)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Believers in Obama: Obama-love is blind
GOP USA
National Review
Patriot Post
Post Chronicle
Capitalism Magazine
Town Hall
NH Union Leader
Obama video and theme song
alternate link to Obama theme song
Obama theme song with sub-titles
Obama theme song with alternate graphics
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"the United States is in the grip of the third of 3 great crime waves. They began about 50 years apart -- approximately 1850, 1900, and 1960 -- and each has lasted for 20 to 30 years... America's 3 great crime waves can be linked to immigration, economic deprivation and war, which all interfere with the civilizing process... the first and second episodes of violent crime wound down as immigrants were incorporated into the expanding economy." --- Ted Robert Gurr _Violence in America: The History of Crime_ (Peter Brimelow 1996 _Alien Nation_ pg 182 (199 in pdf))
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2008-10-22: 13 days to federal elections of president and congress-critters
2008-10-21 16:28PDT (2008-10-21 19:28EDT) (2008-10-22 00:28GMT)
Catherine Clifford _CNN_
Yahoo! to lay off about 1,500, 10% of work-force
2008-10-22
Amanda Carpenter _Town Hall_
M$NBC Teaming Up with ACORN and La Raza
2008-10-22
Walter E. Williams _GOP USA_
Affordable Health Care
Springfield IL Journal-Register
Town Hall
Patriot Post
Capitalism Magazine
Washington Times
2008-10-22
Don Thomson _Pittsburgh Tribune-Review_
The politics of race
"In the past I have voted for and/or supported the following black candidates: Alan Keyes, Ken Blackwell and Michael Steele. I was very happy to see Clarence Thomas appointed to the Supreme Court. I would also love to see great black economists like Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell in charge of Treasury and the Federal Reserve as we go through our current economic dilemma. America would also be blessed if Kay James became head of Health and Human Services to bring responsibility to our welfare system."
2008-10-22
_Metro Spirit_
Congressional approval rating 10%
2008-10-22
Cari Tuna _Wall Street Journal_
Job Prospects Take a Dive
"Colleges and universities will grant an estimated 1.585M bachelor's degrees this school year, up from 1.544M in the 2007-2008 year and 1.506M the prior year."
2008-10-22
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Regressive Leftists Rely on Vagueness, Obfuscation, Redefinitions to Sell Their Ideas and Programs
Wilfred M. McClay: First Things
2008-10-22 15:00PDT (18:00EDT) (22:00GMT)
George Gilder _Forbes_
The Coming Creativity Boom
2008-10-22
_Consumer Reports_
Faulty tire valves from Red China may have been installed on 2007 Fords
"may have been installed as original equipment on more than 1M 2007 Ford cars and trucks. The valve stems in question were made for Dill Air Control Products of Oxford, NC by Shanghai Baolong Industries Co. in [Red China]. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration started investigating the valve stems this past May after they were linked to a rollover crash of a 1998 Ford Explorer that killed a Florida man a year ago... NHTSA says it has identified 37 complaints of cracked and leaking tire valves in 2007 models of Ford vehicles. The models identified include Grand Marquis, F-150, Mustang, Edge, Fusion, Expedition, Explorer, MKX, MKZ, Milan, Focus and Escape... Dill informed NHTSA that as many as 30M of the suspected valve stems have been distributed in the North American market. Soon after the original investigation was opened in May, one U.S. auto parts distributor, Tech International of Johnstown, Ohio, issued a recall on some of the faulty tire valves it had sold under the Topseal brand, also manufactured by Shanghai Baolong. Ford Motor Company uses valves stem supplied by Topseal as original equipment on its vehicles."
2008-10-22 16:00PDT (19:00EDT) (23:00GMT)
Lou Dobbs & Louise Schiavone _CNN_
Big bonuses for heads of failed firms
Lou Dobbs: And tonight the stock market the Dow, plummeting 500, pounds Wall Street firms at the center of a financial crisis and receiving at the same time huge sums of [tax-victim] money to hand out $20G in executive bonuses this year...
Lou Dobbs: One of the selling points of that massive Wall Street bail-out was that run-away executive pay and bonuses would be cut. But Wall Street firms at the center of the nation's financial crisis are being propped up by your tax dollars and billions of dollars have been set aside, more than $20G, for you guessed it, executive compensation. Louise Schiavone has our report.
Louise Schiavone: Wall Street may be in the tank, personal investments may have crashed, but at lots of corner offices life is still good. The expectation is recession or not, this year, the bonuses will flow.
Bill coleman, salary.com: Bonuses are where all the money is made in Wall Street. But you have a lot of people who will take home $2M, $3M, $4M, $5M a year, but their annual salary is $100K to $250K a year.
Louise Schiavone: And while the 2008 aggregate will be less than last year's, there's an expectation that Wall Street has roughly $20G in bonus money ready to fly... But New York's attorney general is putting the brakes on executive compensation at mammoth insurer AIG, the company conceding that more than $500K in bonuses will not go out this year. Andrew Cuomo telling AIG quote, "rebuilding trust in our capital markets requires executive compensation packages that are rational, fair, and based on bona fide performance measures that are disclosed to the public", end quote...
Louise Schiavone: A spokesman for Lehman tells CNN quote, "Mr. Fuld did not have an employment contract and received no golden parachute or severance. Most of his compensation over the years was in Lehman stock which he didn't sell and is now worthless.", end quote. Fuld is still CEO of Lehman, "earning" a $750K salary. He got a $4.25M cash bonus in March...
-30-
2008-10-22
James Carlini _MidWest Business Technology News_
Crumbling InfraStructure: How Can Today's Side-Lined Talent Be ReDirected?
2008-10-22
Sean Scallon _American Chronicle_
The New Priests of the Temples of Syrinx -- They Have Assumed Control
2008-10-22
| DJIA | 8,519.21 |
| S&P 500 | 896.78 |
| NASDAQ | 1,615.75 |
| 10-year US T-Bond | 3.62% |
| crude oil | $67.40/barrel |
| gold | $735.20/ounce |
| silver | $9.46/ounce |
| platinum | $857.20/ounce |
| palladium | $180.10/ounce |
| copper | $0.11659375/ounce |
| natgas | $6.777/MBTU |
| reformulatedgasoline | $1.5709/gal |
| heatingoil | $2.0365/gal |
| dollarindex | 85.501 |
| yenperdollar | 97.32 |
| dollarspereuro | 1.2837 |
| dollarsperpound | 1.6249 |
| swissfranksperdollar | 1.1669 |
| MorganStanleyHighTechIndex | 349.72 |
I usually get this info from MarketWatch and the "Commodities" and "Metals" and "Currencies" columns.
| |
"David Hackett Fischer... _Albion's Seed: 4 British FolkWays in America_... New England: 21K East Anglian Puritans to Massachusetts, 1629-1641; the South: about 45K gentry and indentured servants from the south and west of England to Virginia, 1642-1675; the Middle Atlantic: 23K North Midland Quakers to the Delaware, 1675-1725; the Mountain South: about 250K Border English and Scots, Ulster Protestants (Scotch-Irish) to the Appalachian 'Back Country', 1717-1775. Subsequent migration... detected in the 4 American 'speech regions' delineated by linguistic geographers in the mid-20th century: Northern: New England; up-state NY; norther OH, IN, MI, WI; northern plains; Pacific NW; some urban islands like Denver, SF. Midland: middle latitudes from PA to Pacific coast, widening at the Mississippi valley. Coastal South: VA through FL and Gulf of Mexico. Highland Southern: Appalachia, lower Mississippi valley, TX, NM, AZ, Southern California." --- Peter Brimelow 1996 _Alien Nation_ pp 179-180 (196-197 in pdf)
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2008-10-23: 12 days to federal elections of president and congress-critters
2008-10-23 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 415,012 in the week ending Oct. 18, a decrease of 38,986 from the previous week. There were 307,675 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007. The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3% during the week ending Oct. 11, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,128,523, an increase of 54,509 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 1.6% and the volume was 2,175,026. Extended benefits were available in Alaska and Rhode Island during the week ending Oct 4. [IOW, unemployment insurance claims remain elevated.]"
graphs
2008-10-23
Katherine Leal Unmuth _Dallas Morning News_
Michael Hinojosa tries to defend laying off US teachers while retaining foreign teachers
"'School isn't to learn English. School is to get schooled.', [said professor Leo Gomez, who was apparently never educated]."
2008-10-23
_Processor_
Gartner lowered IT investment outlook for 2009
alternate link
2008-10-23
_NJ Biz_
Global Tek ordered to pay $270,822 in back wages to H-1B visa grantees
Kevin Fogarty: eWeek/Ziff Davis
"An investigation conducted by the department's Wage and Hour Division found that the South Plainfield computer [body shop] did not pay required wages to workers hired under the program from 2006 January through 2008 January."
2008-10-23
Chris Preimesberger _eWeek_/_Ziff Davis_
Tech executives conspire at DLA Piper summit
"CXOs from Amazon, Walmart.com, Stanford University, Safeway, Pacific Gas & Electric, the state of California, the U.S. Departments of Transportation and Health & Human Services, Research In Motion, Qualcomm, Cisco Systems, NetSuite, Pfizer, and several other distinguished enterprises were in attendance... The U.K., France, South Africa—even Macedonia—had people at the conference."
2008-10-23 (5769 Tishrei 24)
Daniel Pipes _Jewish World Review_
Would candidates pass security investigation?
2008-10-23
Lisa Stark _abc_
Fighting Peanut Allergies
"[After a regime of gradually increased micro-exposure] The children's cell and antibodies no longer have the same severely allergic reaction to peanuts... Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York, mice were given an herbal concoction for 6 weeks. It virtually eliminated their peanut allergies... Sampson thinks the herbs might treat tree nut, fish and shellfish allergies, as well. There is also research underway at At Sir Thomas' Hospital in England. There Dr. Gideon Lack is conducting a study in babies to see what might be the better way to prevent food allergies from developing at all."
2008-10-23
Rob Sanchez _Job Destruction News-Letter_ #1932
Fraud is afoot as some schools declare "shortage" of very same teaching specialists others are laying off en masse while cheap guest-workers are retained
USA Today published an article that claims that there is a shortage of math, science and special education teachers. According to USA Today:
A growing number of school districts are hiring teachers from foreign countries to fill shortages in math, science and special education.
Contrast that to a story in the Houston Chronicle:
More than 400 of the lost jobs are expected to include teachers in the core subject areas of math, science, social studies and English. An additional 500 employees -- such as teacher aides, hall monitors and clerks -- will also lose their jobs.
Hmmmmmmmmmm! So, what is going on here?
Salaries are definitely one reason school districts want to dump their experienced teachers.
Segun Eubanks, director of teacher quality at the National Education Association, the USA's largest teachers union, says many of those districts have trouble keeping teachers for reasons including low pay, disruptive students, and a lack of books and materials.
"American workers are not willing to do the work for the conditions and pay we offer.", he says. "So we're recruiting them for the same reasons we recruit farm-workers and day laborers."
There is another reason for the job losses that is far more insidious -- BILINGUALISM!
Texas colleges and universities don't produce enough bilingual education teachers. So, to close that gap, DISD and many other urban school districts with a lot of Spanish-speaking students recruit teachers from countries such as Mexico. School districts are under pressure to comply with state law that requires bilingual education.
So, what we have here is a bunch of school districts that are replacing their domestic teachers with cheap foreign labor that come to this country with H-1B and TN (Trade NAFTA) visas.
I have a couple of suggestions I would like to give to USA Today to deal their claimed shortages of teachers:
1) The teacher's union or an unbiased think-tank should do a comprehensive study to find out how many math, science, and special ed teachers are losing their jobs, and that should be compared to the numbers that USA Today and other media claim we need. Press releases and TV coverage should be used to expose liars like USA Today.
2) All districts that are laying off teachers should be required to pay for them to go back college in order to get certificates that enable them to teach in science, math, or any other subject that is declared to have shortages of teachers. Once the teachers get the education or certifications they need, the school district will guarantee that any new teachers hired are the retrained ones, and the school district must pay the teachers at their last pay scale. Following that regimen will put an end to the open-ended promises made to desperate people that once they get certified to teach math or science it will be easy to find a job, and it will prevent school districts from mislabeling what they are doing as "lay-offs" instead of what they really are doing -- permanently replacing Americans with cheap foreign labor.
Seriously folks, just how much math does somebody have to learn to teach [3rd] graders how to do multiplication? Remember the news-letter I did about the scientist who did the research for a Nobel prize, but is now getting $10 an hour driving a van? Surely he could handle teaching biology to [high school students] or arithmetic to 5th graders, couldn't he?
Schools in "need" employ teachers from over-seas
Many fear teachers from abroad will be favored as DISD cuts jobs
DISD targets about 900 excess jobs in early look
150 Dallas school employees lose jobs
2008-10-23
George Reisman _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
The Myth that Laissez Faire Is Responsible for Our Present Financial Crisis
2008-10-23
_Wall Street Journal_
Obamanomics: Spend and Tax
2008-10-23
"Devvy" _Gunny G's_
Nader debates Baldwin
2008-10-23
Tom Tancredo _V Dare_
Arizona's Proposition 202 -- A New Low In Deception
"The Stop Illegal Hiring Act effectively over-turns Arizona's current employer sanction laws. It completely removes the E-Verify requirement that was central to the success of LAWA."
2008-10-23
George Reisman _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
The Myth that Laissez Faire Is Responsible for Our Present Economic Crisis
2008-10-23
| DJIA | 8,691.25 |
| S&P 500 | 908.11 |
| NASDAQ | 1,603.91 |
| 10-year US T-Bond | 3.53% |
| crude oil | $69.25/barrel |
| gold | $714.70/ounce |
| silver | $9.50/ounce |
| platinum | $812.60/ounce |
| palladium | $172.65/ounce |
| copper | $0.11278125/ounce |
| natgas | $6.419/MBTU |
| reformulatedgasoline | $1.5778/gal |
| heatingoil | $2.0297/gal |
| dollarindex | 85.056 |
| yenperdollar | 97.26 |
| dollarspereuro | 1.2917 |
| dollarsperpound | 1.6219 |
| swissfranksperdollar | 1.1631 |
| MorganStanleyHighTechIndex | 348.49 |
I usually get this info from MarketWatch and the "Commodities" and "Metals" and "Currencies" columns.
| |
"educational achievement, economic success and welfare recipiency [rates] differ systematically between ethnic [cultural] groups. And the disparities last for generations..." --- Peter Brimelow 1996 _Alien Nation_ pg 179 (196 in pdf) (citing the work of Thomas Sowell and George Borjas)
| |
2008-10-24: 11 days to federal elections of president and congress-critters
2008-10-24
Chris Megerian _Austin TX American-Statesman_/_Cox_
USCIS found fraud in H-1B visa applications
alternate link
Elizabeth city NC Daily Advance
Cape Cod Times
2006-07-06: Kim Berry: Programmers Guild: The H-1B Prevailing Wage is Substantially Below the Median Wage of U.S. Workers
2008-07-07: Kim Berry: Programmers Guild: to Karin Moore of congress-man Daniel Lungren's office regarding fraud, including help-wanted ads with responders directed to immigration lawyers to declare all US applicants "disqualified"
2008-10-24
_CBN_
Food Allergies Up Among Children
"According to The Centers for Disease Control, one in 26 kids is allergic to wheat, peanuts, soy, milk or eggs. That's about 3M children -- an 18% increase in the last decade. Some experts say the rise could be because parents are now quicker to have their kids checked out by a doctor."
2008-10-24
Brandon Bailey _Tri-Valley Herald_
RepDem candidates for president threaten to give more malattention to tech issues, while gathering bri... er, uh, campaign contributions from tech executives (with table)
San Jose Mercury News
Vasanth Sridharan: Silicon Alley Insider
2008-10-24
Alan Tonelson _American Economic Alert_
Export-led Growth Remains a Panacea Mirage for Many Businessmen and Policy-Makers
2008-10-24
Scott Jaschik _Inside Higher Education_
Perma-Temps in Academe: unions falling down on the job
2008-10-24
_La Prensa_
Battle over immigration has unleashed a tsunami of new illegal voters
2008-10-24
Alan Reynolds _Wall Street Journal_
How is Obama going to raise the $4.3T he says he's going to be handing out?
M$Word
More papers from the same conference
2008-10-24
_Bateway Pundit_
Main-stream media holds video of Obama toasting PLO operative
Los Angeles Times
Campus Watch
Greg Pierce: Washington Times
Obama video and theme song
alternate link to Obama theme song
Obama theme song with sub-titles
Obama theme song with alternate graphics
2008-10-24
| DJIA | 8,378.95 |
| S&P 500 | 876.77 |
| NASDAQ | 1,552.03 |
| 10-year US T-Bond | 3.70% |
| crude oil | $64.75/barrel |
| gold | $730.30/ounce |
| silver | $9.295/ounce |
| platinum | $802.30/ounce |
| palladium | $173.95/ounce |
| copper | $0.10540625/ounce |
| natgas | $6.239/MBTU |
| reformulatedgasoline | $1.4779/gal |
| heatingoil | $1.9465/gal |
| dollarindex | 86.249 |
| yenperdollar | 94.18 |
| dollarspereuro | 1.2641 |
| dollarsperpound | 1.5875 |
| swissfranksperdollar | 1.1626 |
| MorganStanleyHighTechIndex | 339.99 |
I usually get this info from MarketWatch and the "Commodities" and "Metals" and "Currencies" columns.
| |
"the work of Simon Kuznets showed that increases in capital and labor together accounted for no more than 10% of the West's increase in output over the last 200 years, and possibly less. The balance was caused by technical innovation -- new ideas." --- Peter Bauer (quoted by Peter Brimelow 1996 _Alien Nation_ pg 166 (183 in pdf))
| |
2008-10-25: 10 days to federal elections
2008-10-25
Winter Casey _National Journal_
Lobbyists for tech executives continue to talk merger
2008-10-25
Cal Thomas _Wilmington OH News Journal_
Government can't do it all, or even most of it
| |
"even if immigrants ran the entire computer industry -- software and hardware -- that would account for only just over 2% of GNP -- some $120G annually." --- Peter Brimelow 1996 _Alien Nation_ pg 163 (180 in pdf)
| |
2008-10-26: 9 days to federal elections
2008-10-26
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Direct Talks without Preconditions
2008-10-26
Paul Craig Roberts _V Dare_
Reality Overthrows "History's Actors"
2008-10-26
Joe Guzzardi _V Dare_
How angry are Americans? Will incumbents be cast aside on election day?
2008-10-26 (5769 Tishrei 27)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Obama and "The Left"
"If Barack Obama had run as what he has always been, rather than as what he has never been, then we could simply cast our votes based on whether or not we agree with what he has always stood for."
| |
"[Charles 2's Hunting Act, prohibiting commoners from the possession of guns & bows, had the useful side effect of] preventing the 'divers idle, disorderly & mean Persons' from securing sustenance & forcing them to continue in a position of serfdom for the benefit of the land-lord class. Since it sought to disarm all but the landed aristocracy, the act was also aimed at the aspiring bourgeoisie, the burghers & professionals who supported progressive republicanism & opposed feudal domination. Passed not only to further economic [abuse], the act functioned also to enhance its necessary concomitant -- political domination. As [William] Blackstone observed, 'prevention of popular insurrections & resistance to the gov't, by disarming the bulk of the people... is a reason oftener meant, than avowed, by the makers of the forest & game laws." --- Stephen P. Halbrook 1984 _That Every Man Be Armed_ pg 43 (quoted in Clayton E. Cramer 1994 _For the Defense of Themselves & the State_ pg 25)
| |
2008-10-27: 8 days to federal elections
2008-10-27
Arthur B. Laffer _Wall Street Journal_
The Age of Prosperity Is Over
2008-10-27
Mark Lieberman _Fox_
Comparing Today's Unemployment Rates with Those During the Great Depression
"According to a paper prepared in 1948 by Stanley Lebergott, at the time a former official in BLS's Division of Employment and Occupational Outlook, the number of individuals considered 'unemployed' in 1933 ranged from 11.842M to 14.728M, with the BLS count somewhere in between at 12.83M. To compute the unemployment rate, the BLS divides the number of individuals by the total labor force, which consists of those over the age of 16 -- employed and unemployed. The arithmetic applies only to the 'civilian non-institutional population' which means it excludes individuals in the armed forces and in prison. That wasn't the case in 1933 when the unemployment rate was reported as 24.9%. The definition of the labor force in 1933, according to Lebergott, included individuals in the military and prisoners. It also counted individuals as young as 14. More significantly, the definition of 'unemployed' was not, according to Lebergott, limited to those actively seeking a job. Several economists suggest that because of those differences, comparing the 24.9% 'unemployment rate' of 1933 with the 6.1% rate today might not be appropriate. But the rate today considers only those who want a job. A better comparison, according to John Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia Bank, might be the employment population ratio which measures the number of people with jobs against the entire over-16 population. That ratio, in September, was 62.0% -- which means 38.0% of the over-16 population was not working. Indeed that employment population ratio (or its inverse) more closely matches the 1933 definition... The employment-population ratio at 62.0% is at its lowest (or, conversely, the percentage of those out work at its highest) since 2003 September. The ratio has been as low as 55% -- 45% out of work -- in 1954 July, just after a 10-month recession which ended in May of that year."
2008-10-27
Kurt Luchs _First Things_
Frodo in a World of Boromirs: Power Corrupts
2008-10-27
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Radical Leftist Cronyism
Mary Anastasia O'Grady: WSJ: Democrats for Despotism
2008-10-27
Nandanie Khilall _Daily Pennsylvanian_
US jobs lose appeal for foreign students: Hallelujah!
2008-10-27
_Federation for American Immigration Reform_
DHS to Revive No-Match Regulations: 7 countries added to despicable visa waiver pact
Spencer S. Hsu: Washington Post
DHS press release
2008-10-27
Andrew C. McCarthy _National Review_
Los Angeles Times suppressing video of Obama's party for Khalidi
Jauanell Garrett: Kansas City Star
Obama video and theme song with intro
alternate link to Obama theme song
Obama theme song with sub-titles
Obama theme song with alternate graphics
2008-10-27
Betty Parker _Fort Myers FL News-Press_
Other and better options for US president
Richard Winger: Ballot Access News
2008-10-27
Ben Calhoun _WBEZ_
Excerpts of 2001 Obama Interview Cause Stir
Brian Akira
Melanie Phillips: Spectator
Jonah Goldberg: Chicago Tribune
Jonah Goldberg: Union Leader
Bill Whittle: National Review
Kai Degner: Harrisonburg VA Daily News-Record
audio
2008-10-27
June Venable _News Blaze_
G-d Help America, because the candidates for president will not
2008-10-27
| DJIA | 8,175.77 |
| S&P 500 | 848.92 |
| NASDAQ | 1,505.90 |
| 10-year US T-Bond | 3.73% |
| crude oil | $62.09/barrel |
| gold | $742.90/ounce |
| silver | $9.195/ounce |
| platinum | $797.20/ounce |
| palladium | $175.30/ounce |
| copper | $0.1128125/ounce |
| natgas | $6.121/MBTU |
| reformulatedgasoline | $1.4769/gal |
| heatingoil | $1.9144/gal |
| dollarindex | 87.185 |
| yenperdollar | 92.57 |
| dollarspereuro | 1.2452 |
| dollarsperpound | 1.5518 |
| swissfranksperdollar | 1.1559 |
| MorganStanleyHighTechIndex | 332.51 |
I usually get this info from MarketWatch and the "Commodities" and "Metals" and "Currencies" columns.
| |
"the EPA has estimated that federal clean air and clean water regulations alone depressed US GNP... by no less than 5.8% in 1990." --- Peter Brimelow 1996 _Alien Nation_ pg 160 (177 in pdf)
| |
2008-10-28: 1 week (7 days) to federal elections of president and congress-critters
2008-10-28
Mona Charen _Town Hall_
Does Obama's friendship with Khalidi matter to Jews?: Palestinian "authority" making campaign calls for Obama
Julie Stahl: Cybercast News Network
Israel Today
National Review
Campus Watch
2008-10-28
Edward Achorn _Providence Journal_
Rhode Island suffers, Granite State (NH) thrives
"The shining star was New Hampshire, with a 4.1% rate, America's 8th best. (One through seven were South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Utah, North Dakota, Oklahoma and New Mexico.)... New Hampshire has relatively low overall taxes, with sky-high property taxes but no state income or sales tax."
2008-10-28 07:57PDT (10:57EDT) (14:57GMT)
Ruth Mantell _MarketWatch_
Conference Board consumer confidence index fell from a revised 61.4 in September to 38 in Octber
2008-10-28
Jim Brogan _Post Chronicle_
Rashid Khalidi is yet another dangerous associate of Barack Obama
2008-10-28
Amir Taheri _Family Security Matters_
Why many Muslims see Obama as one of them
2008-10-28
Jamie Glazov _Front Page Magazine_
The Audacity of Deceit
2008-10-28 10:59PDT (13:59EDT) (17:59GMT)
David Andelman _MarketWatch_/_World Policy Journal_
Trust, yet verify: In economics, confidence is still extremely important
2008-10-28 11:37PDT (14:37EDT) (18:37GMT)
_MarketWatch_
Second Amendment Foundation: ACORN receiving public funding to steal the vote, and your right to own and carry arms
Jim Kouri: Conservative Voice
Jim Kouri: Mens News Daily
Business Wire
"'ACORN has, since 1998, received an estimated $31M in government funding.', said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb. 'Now they have intervened in a New Jersey gun rights case in defense of an illegal Jersey City one-gun-a-month ordinance that violates the state preemption statute... We support Ohio Congressman John Boehner's request that the White House immediately block all federal funding of ACORN activities until this group's questionable activities are fully investigated. We want to know how they are paying for attorneys, and why Seton Hall's Center for Social Justice and the Public Interest Law Center are providing legal assistance to ACORN for this effort.'"
2008-10-28
Greg Pierce _Washington Times_
Suppressed video of Obama partying with PLO operative Khalidi & unrepentant terrorist Ayers
2008-10-28
Gary Kelly _View from 1776_/_Ears to Hear_
Election 2008: "We the people" or "We the sheeple?"
2008-10-28
Nicole Gelinas _Wall Street Journal_
Storm-Proofing the Economy: A guide to Wall street's turmoil and what to do about it
2008-10-28
Paul Detrick _Business & Media Institute_
Government Interventions Prolonged Great Depression
2004-08-10: press release from UCLA
2008-10-28
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Most labor unions, like many CEOs, are vipers: Unions and executives extort higher wages and benefits, usually beyond their economic worth
2008-10-28 13:18PDT (16:18EDT) (20:18GMT)
Christopher Hinton & Robert Daniel _MarketWatch_
Boeing management reached agreement with machinists union, so talks begin with engineers and tech workers
"'It's always a good sign when the company talks to the union and gives them an offer that they can take to members for a vote.', agreed Bill Dugovich, a spokesman for the engineer's union, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, or Speea."
2008-10-28 16:00PDT (19:00EDT) (23:00GMT)
Lou Dobbs _CNN_
H-1B, Eggs from Red China contaminated with melamine, Violence along Mexican border, Criminal investigations of ACORN for fraudulent voter registrations
Lou Dobbs: Others include a battle over the security and reliability of Ohio's e-voting machines and Republican charges that the Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is trying to give Democrats an unfair advantage in this election. Well if you notice any trouble at all at your polling place on or before Election Day, we want to hear about it. Please call our voter hot-line 1-877-462-6608, 877-462-6608 and you can find that number on our web site.
Up next, new concerns about dangerous food imports from communist China once again. We'll have that report and one of the most serious blows yet to U.S. and Mexican efforts to defeat the violent Mexican drug cartels -- that report.
And startling new details on the efforts of corporate elites to import even more cheap labor into this country to compete with middle class American workers; all of that, a great deal more still ahead. We'll be right back. Stay with us.
New evidence tonight that corporate America continues to abuse this country's visa program. The Department of Labor reporting that a New Jersey computer company cheated foreign guest workers out of their wages, the very same cheap foreign labor that it hired to replace middle class American workers. The news comes just weeks after a government report found more than 20% of all applications for the visa program are fraudulent. Bill Tucker has our report.
Bill Tucker: The economy slows, unemployment rises and the number of lay-offs increase. A web site logging the lay-offs in the tech industry run by CNET shows more than 45K lay-offs announced in the tech industry alone during October. Yet both presidential candidates remain supportive of expanding the H- 1B visa program for hiring skilled foreign workers.
They support the program even though a recently published investigation by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service [USCIS], which oversees it, found a fraud rate exceeding 20% with violations ranging from non-existent businesses being granted visas to phony job descriptions. One group representing American computer programmers says the H-1B system is bankrupt.
John Miano, lawyer and founder of Programmers Guild: Since 1996 there have been scathing government reports about the H-1B program and 14 years later Congress has refused to do absolutely anything. Basically H-1B is the best legislation money can buy.
Bill Tucker: Ironically the first report in 1996 was from the Department of Labor. It was titled "The System is Broken and Needs to be Fixed". One critic of out-sourcing says it hasn't been fixed. It has been exploited by employers.
Doctor Ron Hira, Rochester Institute of Technology: It is perfectly legal, for example, to pay below market wages, to undercut American workers. It's perfectly legal never to recruit or look for American workers before hiring an H-1B and it's perfectly legal to replace American workers with H-1B workers, often times forcing U.S. workers to dig their own grave, forcing U.S. workers to train their foreign replacements.
Bill Tucker: So those critics say it should be no surprise that Bill Gates when asked last year by Congress what the limit on the program should be had this to say.
Bill Gates: Even though it may not be realistic, I don't think there should be any limit.
Bill Tucker: Bill Gates' answer is there is a worker shortage and if he doesn't get more visas, he will move his businesses over-seas. And Gates underscored that point last summer when he announced the opening of a software development center in Canada saying he couldn't find enough skilled foreign workers in the United States. Wages for computer programs, by the way, fell 5.5 percent from August of last year to August of this year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. I don't know, Lou. Does that sound like a labor shortage to you?
Lou Dobbs: Well no and it sounds like more nonsense from Bill Gates, an obviously intelligent fellow, also extremely wealthy, but also frankly lying straight through his teeth when he talks about H-1B visas and his reasons for moving plants.
Bill Gates should be embarrassed. He should be ashamed of his conduct. If he wants to move his whole company out of the United States so be it, but it's time for respect of American labor. It's not a time to continue this all-out assault against working men and women in this country.
And I invite Bill Gates to sit here and have a full and frank exchange of views on it. I really believe that he ought to be extraordinarily ashamed of himself. This is just unconscionable and to stand there in that committee hall and say that back in March of this year, disgusting. Bill Tucker, thank you very much. Appreciate it. Well Microsoft is just one of several corporations that have pushed for an increase in the number of these so-called temporary visas trying to bring in more cheap foreign labor into the United States. Now there is a cap of 65K a year on these H-1B visas.
Another 20K of these visas are set aside for high technology workers with advanced degrees. But the 85K total figure is really an artificial cap because there are so many sub categories of H-1B visas that have no limits at all, which include visas for nonprofits and research institutions and this past April the Citizenship and Immigration Services agency received 163K applications for the 2009 H-1B visas.
Those H-1Bs are issued on a 3-year basis, but can be [renewed] to 6 years [longer with annual exensions]. No government agency, I repeat, no government agency now monitors those workers to make certain they actually leave the United States when those visas expire.
Well there are new concerns about the safety of this country's food supply. High levels of the toxic chemical melamine have now been found in eggs processed in communist China. This is [Red China's] second major melamine scare. Earlier this year melamine was found in milk that sickened more than 53K children in [Red China]. Now many fear contaminated food could have found its way into the United States...
video
2008-10-28 16:17PDT (19:17EDT) (23:17GMT)
Kevin Bogardus _The Hill_
Lobbyists clamoring for a piece of the bail-out and stimulus action for their special interests
2008-10-28
Henry Thompson _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
In Praise of Bankruptcy
2008-10-28 (5769 Tishrei 29)
Frank J. Gaffney _Jewish World Review_
Shariah-Compliant Finance
"at its core, Shariah is sedition: It explicitly espouses the violent over-throw of all secular governments and constitutions -- including those of the United States -- in favor of a global Islamic theocracy."
2008-10-28 (5769 Tishrei 29)
Mona Charen _Jewish World Review_
Denial runs through American Jewry
"From the Palestinian Authority Daily: 'Twenty-three-year old Ibrahim Abu Jayyab sits by the computer in the Nusairat refugee camp (in the Gaza Strip) trying to call American citizens in order to convince them to vote for the Democratic candidate for president, Barack Obama...'"
2008-10-28 (5769 Tishrei 29)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Obama and the law
2008-10-28
| DJIA | 9065.12 |
| S&P 500 | 940.51 |
| NASDAQ | 1,649.47 |
| 10-year US T-Bond | 3.85% |
| crude oil | $64.32/barrel |
| gold | $740.50/ounce |
| silver | $8.79/ounce |
| platinum | $808.80/ounce |
| palladium | $183.75/ounce |
| copper | $0.11615625/ounce |
| natgas | $6.186/MBTU |
| reformulatedgasoline | $1.4555/gal |
| heatingoil | $1.912/gal |
| dollarindex | 86.347 |
| yenperdollar | 97.61 |
| dollarspereuro | 1.2707 |
| dollarsperpound | 1.5921 |
| swissfranksperdollar | 1.1616 |
| MorganStanleyHighTechIndex | 369.77 |
I usually get this info from MarketWatch and the "Commodities" and "Metals" and "Currencies" columns.
| |
"The United States [economy as measured by NIPA] grew at an average rate of 4% in the immigrantless 1950s. In the quarter century from 1969 to 1993, with [massive immigration], its average growth rate has been just 2.5%." --- Peter Brimelow 1996 _Alien Nation_ pg 159 (176 in pdf)
| |
2008-10-29: 6 days to federal election
2008-10-29
Marion Edwyn Harrison _Front Page_
Resistance to promised and legislated border fence likely to increase after election
2008-10-29 08:37PDT (11:37EDT) (15:37GMT)
Craig Silverman _Globe & Mail_
End of the "imperial CEO"?
2008-10-29
Linda Young _Gant Daily_
Normally optimistic people sometimes have reason to get the blues
Ohio Times of the Internet/UPI
2008-10-29
Stephen Foley _Independent Ireland_
If motor company fails, millions could be negatively affected
Independent UK
"'US auto makers directly employ about 355K American workers and through related industries that are dependent on auto manufacturing and sales, the industry supports about another 4.5M workers in the US economy.', says a begging letter to the Treasury by Congressman John Dingell, who represents Michigan, where GM, Chrysler and Ford are based. 'The 3 provide health care to almost 2M Americans and pay pension benefits to 775K retirees or their survivors.'... A bankruptcy filing by one of the big three could lay waste to hundreds or even thousands of suppliers, and send unemployment soaring further in areas which are already amongst the most economically disadvantaged. It could also cause a nasty feed-back loop. If suppliers collapse after the bankruptcy of one of the big 3, the other 2 might face parts shortages and production stoppages that would tip them over the edge, too. And behind all this, there is the question of what happens to those 775K pensioners. The federally-backed Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which takes over the liabilities of collapsed companies, already has a $14G black hole and would almost certainly need to be refinanced with [tax-victim] money if a bankrupt Ford, GM or Chrysler is added to its responsibilities."
2008-10-29 07:02PDT (10:02EDT) (14:02GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
Durable goods orders up 0.8%, capital equipment down 1.4% in September
2008-10-29
_Business Spectator_/_Reuters_
In Australia, seasonally adjusted skilled job vacancies fell 8.8% in October
Life Style Extra
"Australia's index of skilled job vacancies fell 8.8% seasonally adjusted in October from the previous month, and was 24.1% lower than a year ago, the Employment Department has said... The information and communications technology (ICT) index fell 4.6% in October to 208.7, and was 26.1% lower than a year earlier."
2008-10-29
_Canadian Employment Law Today_
Under the public radar: NAFTA TN visas extended to 3 years by DHS
Jennifer McFadyen: About
2008-10-29
Jordan Lite _Scientific American_
NCI: Selenomethionine and vitamin E don't reduce prostate cancer risk: Statins lower PSA, but may or may not change cancer risk
Andrew Heffernan: Male Pattern Fitness
Cindy Holden: California News Wire
News Max
Will Dunham: Cancer Page
Daniel J. DeNoon: WebMD
Leah Lawrence: Hematology and Oncology Today
"A 1998 study of 29,133 male smokers in Finland found that men who took vitamin E to prevent lung cancer had 32% fewer prostate cancers. A 1996 study of 1,312 men and women with skin cancer who took selenium for prevention of the disease showed that men who took the supplement had 52% fewer prostate cancers than men who did not take the supplement."
2008-10-29 13:52PDT (16:52EDT) (20:52GMT)
Greg Robb _MarketWatch_
Federal Reserve Open Market Committee cut interest rates by one have of a per centage point (50 basis points)
2008-10-29
Dave Kolpack _Jamestown ND Sun_/_AP_
23 suspected illegal aliens arrested at ethanol plant in Casselton, ND
Grand Forks Herald
New Orleans LA
KFYR Bismarck ND
Biloxi MS Sun Herald
Greta Cunningham: Minnesota Socialist Radio
"'They paid $20K apiece to recruiters and were promised green cards and permanent residency.', said Saket Sony, director of the New Orleans Worker's Center for Racial Justice. He didn't know how they wound up in North Dakota... Wrigley said the driver’s licenses were from Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi and Nebraska [and fake Socialist Insecurity kkkards]... The men had been working at Wanzek Construction Inc. 'for a matter of months', Wrigley said."
2008-10-29
Paul Craig Roberts _V Dare_
Other countries' officials tire of dollar hegemony
2008-10-29
"Layer 8" _Network World_
Can USA slow down the illegal export of its technology?
2008-10-29 (5769 Tishrei 30)
doctor Ari Korenblit _Jewish World Review_
Making the write choice for president: Graphology
2008-10-29 (5769 Tishrei 30)
Binhamin L. Jolkovsky _Jewish World Review_
Tape of Obama at Khalidi party in demand
2008-10-29 (5769 Tishrei 30)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
Wackonomics
"CEOs don't have the corner on greed. There are other greedy people we don't scorn but hold in high esteem. According to Forbes' Celebrity 100 list, Oprah Winfrey receives $275M, Steven Spielberg gets $130M, Tiger Woods $115M, Jay Leno $32M and Dr. Phil $40M. I need to talk to these people and learn their strategy. I've been making every effort to get that kind of money. I go to bed greedy, dream greedy dreams, awaken greedy and proceed through the day greedy. Despite my heroic efforts, it's all been for naught; I earn a pittance by comparison... Wackonomics isn't all bad. There's an upside to it. It spares people the bother of having to understand the complexities of the world."
2008-10-29 (5769 Tishrei 30)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Taxing Times
2008-10-29 (5769 Tishrei 30)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
A Perfect Storm
2008-10-29
| DJIA | 8,990.96 |
| S&P 500 | 930.09 |
| NASDAQ | 1,657.21 |
| 10-year US T-Bond | 3.86% |
| crude oil | $67.50/barrel |
| gold | $754.00/ounce |
| silver | $9.805/ounce |
| platinum | $816.60/ounce |
| palladium | $197.10/ounce |
| copper | $0.1305/ounce |
| natgas | $6.778/MBTU |
| reformulatedgasoline | $1.533/gal |
| heatingoil | $2.001/gal |
| dollarindex | 84.67 |
| yenperdollar | 97.44 |
| dollarspereuro | 1.2938 |
| dollarsperpound | 1.6374 |
| swissfranksperdollar | 1.1367 |
| MorganStanleyHighTechIndex | 367.88 |
I usually get this info from MarketWatch and the "Commodities" and "Metals" and "Currencies" columns.
| |
"In Massachusetts in 1639, the Pilgrims, who themselves had landed only 19 years earlier, set fines for ship-masters who discharged criminals and paupers. Two centuries later, in 1839, after it had been discovered that three-quarters of the residents of the NY municipal alms-house were foreign nationals, popular reaction forced the return of a number of Scottish paupers whose passage had been paid by the city of Edinburgh and most of whom had arrived still wearing Edinburgh poor-house uniforms." --- Peter Brimelow 1996 _Alien Nation_ pg 148 (165 in pdf) (citing Wayne Lutton 1988 _The Myth of Open Borders_ pp 4, 11)
| |
2008-10-30: 5 days to federal election
2008-10-29 22:00PDT (2008-10-30 01:00EDT) (2008-10-30 05:00GMT)
Jack Katzanek _Riverside Press-Enterprise_
Christopher Thornberg: Southern California economy will continue to worsen until at least late 2010 (with graph)
2008-10-30
_eGov Monitor_
Maintaining stability in a global economy
"A clear picture emerges. The 1950s and 60s saw a rapidly expanding world economy. The UK, however, grew less rapidly than others. The 1970s and 80s brought high inflation and massive unemployment. And in the early 1990s we again saw job losses in most advanced economies, but in our case, coupled again with high inflation. IOW, when the UK did well, others did better; and when others did badly, the UK did worse."
2008-10-30
Mark Heschmeyer _CoStar Realty Group_
Fortune 500 sharpen their axes: Job markets likely to continue to worsen
2008-10-30
William L. Anderson _Lew Rockwell_
Bringing back the non-existent golden days
2008-10-30
Laylan Copelin _Austin American Statesman_
Rough-necks wanted in Texas, little housing, booms come and go
2008-10-30 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 443,728 in the week ending Oct. 25, an increase of 27,617 from the previous week. There were 303,357 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007. The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.4% during the week ending Oct. 18, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,228,606, an increase of 94,217 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 1.7% and the volume was 2,241,942. Extended benefits were available in Alaska, North Carolina, and Rhode Island during the week ending Oct 11. [Initial claims below only 1982 and 1987 levels. Continuing claims break free from the pack to head for 1982 levels.]"
graphs
2008-10-30
Dave Marcus _NY News Day_
College students face daunting job search
2008-10-30
_7th Space_
GlobalCynex ordered to pay $1,683,584 to 343 H-1B guest-workers under the "prevailing wage" requirements
Tierney Plumb: Washington Business Journal
Tierney Plumb: Triangle NC Business Journal
Leni Fortson: DoL ESA
2008-10-30
_TV Technology_
No Stance from Obama on use of additional digital TV channels
"'I don't know Senator Obama's views about these gaps in the digital TV channel allocations.', said former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt, representing the campaign at an event in Washington... FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has a vote scheduled for Election Day on new white space rules. Broadcasters, wireless mic users and others have called for Martin to delay that vote and instead begin a public comment period with peer review of a recent FCC report on tests of prototype white space technologies. On the issue of foreign high-tech workers and the H-1B visas needed to get them working in the United States -- visas whose cap McCain has proposed raising -- Hundt said Obama favors a temporary raising of the H-1B cap while a comprehensive immigration policy is sought. But Hundt also pointed out that the majority of H-1B holders do not have advanced degrees."
2008-10-30
Anya Huneke _NECN_
VT college tuition tops nation
"Scott Giles\VP, VSAC 'We've seen college costs rise 2% per year faster than incomes have.'..."
2008-10-30
Diem Nguyen & James Jay Carafano _Heritage Foundation_
Tackling Some Forms of Fraud in H-1B Visa Program
2008-10-30 14:05PDT (17:05EDT) (21:05GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
GDP fell 0.3% in 2008Q3
2008-10-30
Peter Brimelow _V Dare_
Norbert Schlei -- Guilty of Malice Aforethought in America's Excessive Immigration Disaster?
2008-10-30
Michelle Malkin _V Dare_
Plundering the Plumber's Records: Corrupt Ohio official engages in opposition research
"The Columbus Dispatch identified Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, as one of the dirt-diggers. She also happens to support Barack Obama and contributed the maximum amount to his presidential campaign. On Wednesday, Jones-Kelley admitted that the records checks on Wurzelbacher that she approved were far more extensive than she first acknowledged. In addition to pawing through his child-support papers, the agency 'also checked Wurzelbacher in its computer systems to determine whether he was receiving welfare assistance or owed unemployment compensation taxes'... Toledo police records clerk Julie McConnell has been charged with gross misconduct for accessing the Law Enforcement Automated Data System to retrieve Wurzelbacher's address... the Cuyahoga County social services office was compromised and an outside contractor with access to the state attorney general's test account similarly searched Wurzelbacher's data. Moreover, his driver's-license and vehicle-registration information were obtained from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles."
2008-10-30
Daniel Henninger _Wall Street Journal_
A win for Obama would signal disastrous turn for US economy
2008-10-30
Jeff Moore _Louisiana Advertiser_/_Opelousas LA Daily World_
98% of congressional incumbents are re-elected
"Congressional incumbents have a 98% re-election rate, and Boustany had outspent Cravins $1M to $407,571 as of Oct. 15."
2008-10-30 (5769 Mar-Cheshvan 01)
Jonathan Rosenblum _Jewish World Review_
The end of the special relationship between the USA and Israel?
2008-10-30 (5769 Mar-Cheshvan 02?)
rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz _Jewish World Review_
Our immutable noble essence
"Imagine yourself in noah's position. You live in an immoral society that has become so debased and corrupt that even the animals, even the earth itself, have broken all barriers of decency (Bereishis Rabbah 28:8). Thievery is the norm -- employers rob workers, workers cheat their employers (Sforno 6:13). You proceed to build an ark, on Divine command, for 120 years. As people ask why, you tell them that their terrible sins have brought about their imminent destruction. They ignore you; they jeer and ridicule you (Bereishis Rabbah 30:7). Would you think that these immoral, vulgar, and shameless people could have an appreciation for the lofty concepts of the Divine's kindness and compassion? Could these wicked people, who ignored Noah's repeated, direct rebuke and refused to repent when faced with doom — could they be inspired by the greatness and beauty of the Divine's attributes and eventually mend their ways? A human being, no matter how low he has sunk into the filth of immorality and corruption, still retains his noble essence. Buried under the layers of sin and rationalization is a receptivity, an appreciation for the splendor and glory of the Divine's infinite kindness."
2008-10-30 (5769 Mar-Cheshvan 02)
Caroline B. Glick _Jewish World Review_
Running against Bush
2008-10-30 (5769 Mar-Cheshvan 01?)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Obama, Powell, and Popularity
2008-10-30
| DJIA | 9,180.69 |
| S&P 500 | 954.09 |
| NASDAQ | 1,698.52 |
| 10-year US T-Bond | 3.96% |
| crude oil | $64.80/barrel |
| gold | $738.50/ounce |
| silver | $9.785/ounce |
| platinum | $830.60/ounce |
| palladium | $196.70/ounce |
| copper | $0.11815625/ounce |
| natgas | $6.431/MBTU |
| reformulatedgasoline | $1.467/gal |
| heatingoil | $1.9841/gal |
| dollarindex | 84.729 |
| yenperdollar | 98.48 |
| dollarspereuro | 1.2932 |
| dollarsperpound | 1.6475 |
| swissfranksperdollar | 1.1466 |
| MorganStanleyHighTechIndex | 377.13 |
I usually get this info from MarketWatch and the "Commodities" and "Metals" and "Currencies" columns.
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"Most of the presidential candidates' economic packages involve 'tax breaks', which is when the government, amid great fanfare, generously decides not to take quite so much of your income. IOW, these candidates are trying to buy your votes with your own money." --- Dave Barry 1994-10-17
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2008-10-31: 4 days to federal election
2008-10-31
Rob Sanchez _Job Destruction News-Letter_ #1933
TN extension rule change
alternate link
The USCIS announced a new rule change on TN (Trade NAFTA) visas. The time period of the visa has been extended from one year to 3 years. This isn't a significant change because TN visas already have an unlimited yearly cap and they can be extended in one year increments forever. Changing this rule will not directly affect the numbers of TN visa holders but it could give employers more incentive to use the visas since the costs to maintain the visa goes down. As we all know, non-immigrant visas such as H-1B/L-1/TN are used because employers crave the lower cost of labor that foreign workers provide, and this rule change makes the cost of maintaing TN status cheaper.
TN visas are used in much the same way as H-1B except that only citizens of Canada and Mexico can qualify for them. I have done a lot of news-letters on the TN visa and wrote this paper which you can read:
Embedded Visas -- 'Free Trade' Means a Flow of Workers Across Borders
Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of this rule change is that the USCIS said that the TN time period of stay is now "equal to the initial period of admission given to H-1B professional workers". Leave it to overnment bureaucrats to standardize things: the 3 year cap was originally used to import Basque sheep-herders into Arizona in the 1950s!
This rule change is just another example of immigration regulations being changed by bureaucratic fiat while ignoring the Constitutional requirement for an act of Congress to change immigration laws. Just as a reminder, here are 2 other recent examples of rule changing by bureaucratic fiat:
1) 2008 April 09: The DHS extended the Optional Practical Training (OPT) visa from 12 months to 29 months. This is a huge blow to college students seeking internships and it also acts as a de facto H-1B increase.
2) 2008 August 15: The USCIS announced rule changes to extend the time that H-2B workers can stay in the U.S.A., which is a de facto increase to the H-2B cap of 68K per year. They also gutted the labor certification requirements to make it easier for employers to game the system.
In addition to ignoring the Constitutional mandate that Congress regulates immigration, the TN rule change could be a violation of international trade laws because the U.S.A. didn't re-negotiate NAFTA with Mexico or Canada. If either of these two countries decided that the 3 year expiration period causes too much of a brain drain on their country, they could in theory file a complaint with the WTO. I know this is a highly improbable situation because Mexico and Canada seem to be very happy to export their cheap labor into the U.S.A., but in theory it could happen.
Most people in the United States don't think of NAFTA as an immigration bill, but that's why it's called an agreement to trade goods and services (services is a euphemism for people). The second article is a commentary by former foreign minister of Mexico Jorge Castaeda which has the illuminating title: "Trade agreements crucial to the immigration puzzle".
If immigration is to become a less heated issue, the U.S.A. must address the needs of Latin America's economies. Here, one of the key challenges facing the next U.S. administration lies in the existing and pending free-trade agreements between the U.S.A. and Latin America.
Many in the U.S.A. think that Obama's insistence that FTAs should be renegotiated to include labor protections is a sign that Obama is tougher on free trade than McCain. Castaeda dispels that myth -- he believes that Obama will give Mexico more favorable trade agreements, which means of course that we will be forced deeper into the abyss!
Free-trade advocates should not view Obama's demand that these deals be revisited as a mistake, but rather as an opportunity to improve and deepen them;
It's anybody's guess why Castaeda thinks Obama is the bigger push-over considering McCain refers to himself as "Mr. Free Trade" and is author of the McCain/Kennedy guest-worker/amnesty bill.
-30-
2008-10-31
Nicholas Thompson _Wired_
No one in McCain campaign wants to defend his positions on tech issues
2008-10-31
Roy Mark _eWeek_
McCain's tech positions are clear from his record on the commerce, science and transportation committee
2008-10-31
Frederick W. Kagan _Wall Street Journal_
New president will face threats and enemies to USA
"Threats are problems to be concerned about in the future; enemies are organizations trying to kill Americans right now. Al Qaeda and Iranian agents are both killing Americans on a regular basis and have proclaimed their determination to kill more."
2008-10-31 07:44PDT (10:44EDT) (14:44GMT)
Ruth Mantell _MarketWatch_
UMich consumer sentiment index fell from 70.3 in late September to 57.5 in early October to rest up a tick at the end of October
2008-10-31 08:04PDT (11:04EDT) (15:04GMT)
Greg Robb _MarketWatch_
Consumer income up only 0.2%, spending fell 0.3%
2008-10-31
_CNN_
If you want votes, you'd better have believable plans for creating and keeping US jobs
2008-10-31
_CNN_
Students weigh economics and ethics
2008-10-31
Robert Oak _Economic Populist_
Politicians: We're Going to Stop Off-Shore Out-Sourcing, Really, Swear!
2008-10-31
Richard Behar _Fox_
Mohamed Vazir Muhsin and body shop Satyam at center of World Bank security break-down
2008-10-31
Joe Guzzardi _V Dare_
Reporting America's Immigration Suicide
2008-10-31
Joe Guzzardi _V Dare_
McCain? Obama? Who cares?: The Serious Question Is Who Replaces Chertoff?
2008-10-31
| DJIA | 9,325.01 |
| S&P 500 | 968.75 |
| NASDAQ | 1,720.95 |
| 10-year US T-Bond | 3.96% |
| crude oil | $67.90/barrel |
| gold | $718.20/ounce |
| silver | $9.73/ounce |
| platinum | $831.60/ounce |
| palladium | $199.55/ounce |
| copper | $0.1143125/ounce |
| natgas | $6.783/MBTU |
| reformulatedgasoline | $1.4959/gal |
| heatingoil | $2.0842/gal |
| dollarindex | 85.732 |
| yenperdollar | 98.25 |
| dollarspereuro | 1.2721 |
| dollarsperpound | 1.6145 |
| swissfranksperdollar | 1.1607 |
| MorganStanleyHighTechIndex | 376.53 |
I usually get this info from MarketWatch and the "Commodities" and "Metals" and "Currencies" columns.
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"Let us arbitrarily define 'workable full employment' -- to adapt an admirable phrase of J.M. Clark's -- as the level achieved at least one year in four during the past half century. If we do so the percentage of the civilian labor force totally unemployed at full employment would be less than 3%. (The percentage would have to be raised if our reference period were shorter, for it was achieved twice as frequently in the 1900-1925 period as in the 1926-1952. [If, further, one excludes the war years, 3% or less was achieved only twice in the latter period as against 9 times in the earlier.]) It has been asserted, however, that 'full employment at high wages in a private enterprise economy is undesirable and self-destroying'. We may therefore wish to set a figure based on the assumption that full employment is less common. If we set the goal at that which prevailed in 10% of the years, the ratio would run to 2% or less. But one may take a less pessimistic approach. High level employment has characterized the performance of the American economy in the past half century. While even a level of 5% unemployed would hardly be considered to present a major economic policy problem, such a level has been achieved in more than half this period. History does not indicate that our economy requires a substantial or continued high level of unemployment to operate effectively and without marked price rises." --- Stanley Lebergott "Annual Estimates of UnEmployment in the United States, 1900-1954" _The Measurement and Behavior of Unemployment_ pg 231
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2008 October
V.V. Chari, Lawrence Christiano and Patrick J. Kehoe _Federal Reserve Board of Minneapolis_
Myths about the Financial Crisis of 2008 (pdf)
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"Had we at this time no standing army, we should not think of forcing money out of the pockets of 3M of our subjects. We should not think of punishing with military execution, unconvicted & unheard, our brave American children, our surest friends & best customers... We should not -- but there is not an end to observations on the difference between the measures likely to be pursued by a minister backed by a standing army, & those of a court awed by the fear of an armed people." --- James Burgh 1775 _Political Disquisitions: An Enquiry into Public Errors, Defects & Abuses_ pg 390 (quoted in Les Adams 1996 _The Second Amendment Primer_ pp 62-63)
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Presidential candidate fund-raising, expenditures, and debt
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"The successful producer of an article sells it for more than it cost him to make, and that's his profit. But the customer buys it only because it is worth more to him than he pays for it, and that's his profit. No one can long make a profit producing anything unless the customer makes a profit using it." --- Samuel B. Pettengill
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