2010 January

1st month of the 1st quarter of the 21st year of the Bush-Clinton-Shrub-Obummer economic depression

jgo Resume Reading Room
jgo Econ Data & Graphs jgo Econ News Bits
Economic News Analysis Summary
Kermit's home page jgo Links
jgo's Work in Progress
Page Bottom

updated: 2016-02-22
 

  "low family income continues to impede post-secondary participation for some A+-eligible students." --- Leslie M. Galbreath 2007-05-11 "Tracking Public-Post-Secondary Enrollment Patterns of Missouri A+ Program-Eligible Graduates" pg 223 (237 in pdf)  

 
 
2010 January
UMTWRFS
    1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31    

 
  "The [Socialist Insecurity] Act of 1935 required that the government keep tabs on wages earned by every American worker, & keeping tabs meant using tabulating machines.   IBM [Ill-Begotten Monstrosities] won the contract, which meant that [it] linked itself to the only true growth industry of the 1930s -- the government.   FDR's New Deal spawned dozens of new agencies to administer hundreds of new programs.   By the time the government filed its next suit against [it], late in 1952, 95% of the government's punch-card machines were leased from the company it was suing." --- Peter Baida _Poor Richard's Legacy_  

 
 

 

 


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

2010 January

1st month of the 1st quarter of the 11th year of the Clinton-Bush-Obama economic depression


 
 

2010-01-01

2010-01-01
Lorna Thackeray _Billings MT Gazette_
2009 weather swung to both temperature extremes, but averaged coolest since 2002
"Another striking aspect of 2009 was the absence of moisture.   Billings received just 10.91 inches of precipitation, nearly 4 inches below normal.   As of Wednesday, it was the 13th-driest year on record.   That doesn't mean there has been a lack of snowfall.   So far this year, 23.3 inches has fallen in dry, cold flakes.   That's 1.7 inches more than normal."

2010-01-01
S. Derrickson Moore _Las Cruces NM Sun-News_
Bracero Stories
"'Bracero Stories' film will be shown from 13:30 to 14:30 Saturday at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Museum, 4100 Dripping Springs Road.   The one-hour documentary film draws on interviews collected in the Bracero Oral History Project.   Regular museum admission applies.   $5 for adults, $3 for senior citizens and $2 for children 5 to 17.   Info: (575) 522-4100.   While you're there, catch the 'Bracero Memories and Stories' Exhibit.   The Bracero Program marked a significant chapter in the cultural history between the United States and Mexico and brought millions of Mexican guest-workers to the U.S.A. between 1942-1964.   The exhibit runs though Jan. 18."

2010-01-01
_FAIR US_
Napolitano pushing amnesty for illegal aliens

2010-01-01
William Skordelis _Examiner_
10 resolutions to cure a leftist

2010-01-01
Joe Guzzardi _V Dare_
Obama's Presidency at Tipping Point But Still No Sign of Immigration Moratorium

2010-01-01
Carol Swain _YouTube_
American Jobs in Peril: The Impact of Uncontrolled Immigration (video)

2010-01-01
Mike Mandel
Supply Chains and the Transfer of Intangible Assets
for McKinsey: Innovation and the Strength of the Dollar

2010-01-01
_The NewsPaper_
More law-suits seek to end "red-light" cameras

2010-01-01
Rob Sanchez _V Dare_/_Job Destruction News-Letter_
20th Anniversary of H-1B: 2 Lost Generations
"Perhaps the most surprising thing about H-1B [described in 8 USC 1101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b)] is that for 2 decades the people most affected by the program haven't managed to help themselves by abolishing the H-1B program...   She fought the program with all she had.   In the early days of the struggle she and a handful of politically inclined scientists and engineers thought that they would quickly eradicate our nation of H-1B.   It didn't happen though.   In 2 decades nothing changed except the number of H-1Bs working in the United States...   'In 2 decades the corporatocrats have decimated high tech industries and other decent paying professionals.   I haven't expected any help from any union nor professional society for almost two decades, which is plenty enough time for unions or professional societies to prove which side of the road they are riding on.   The only professional group that has done anything has been Programmers Guild.   Twenty years of no help from any union or professional society has resulted in *two* lost generations of America's best and brightest who once had lofty dreams of building a better America.   Now, America is a broken nation with crumbling infrastructures and off-shored manufacturing industries.   It makes one want to sit down and cry for what could have been had there only been an interest in doing what was best for America by standing up for American professionals.   It was not for the lack of effort of individual American professionals like Dr. Gene Nelson, Rob Sanchez, and Kim Berry but it was, and is, awfully lonely out there without any union or society voices along side them...   Simply put -- too many hogs at the H-1B slop trough of greed.   Thanks to Rob, Gene, Kim and others who have been willing to continue to stand up for American professionals.   What could have America been in the 21st Century?   Instead of off-shoring, destruction of U.S. manufacturing, and destruction of US research and development we could have had groups of activists willing to stand up for America's foundation for growth and development through its vast pool of scientists, engineers, and programmers.   Instead, the future of America has been shattered.   Generations of professionals have been lost and dreams destroyed.   I lay blame for this destruction at the feet of those who have supported the H-1B and L-1 Visa; and those who backed NAFTA and CAFTA.'"

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "'4 great beasts... from the sea, diverse one from another' who ruled the earth until that kingdom was finally recaptured by 'one like the Son of man' who would rule on for eternity.   Daniel 7:3,13   in Daniel, according to plaintiff's interpretation, the beasts are explicitly political powers who prevail for a time against the forces of God.   Daniel 7:24-27.   The 'Son of man' who will ultimately conquer these forces is, according to plaintiff's contention, the predicted Messiah of the Jews...   The original model for the Antichrist, Antioches Epiphanes, was king of Syria from 175 to 163 BC...   [Antichrist] has always [meant] the threat & destruction to human liberty & life." --- federal judge Jack Bertrand Weinstein 1977-03-03 in Stevens v Berger 428 FS 896 @903  

 

2010-01-02

2010-01-02
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Leftists and the Law of Unintended Consequences
How states' expected stimulus boon became a fiscal burden
"British liberal-conservative Whigs, along with our forebears who shaped the United States, took a realistic view of human nature.   As Madison, Hamilton, and Jay made clear in the Federalist Papers, men are not angels.   Disparities of abilities and chance circumstances always will lead to disparities in income and wealth and to factions representing those disparities.   The founders' aim was, not to use the crushing force of government to impose equality of income and station, but to sustain a society in which individual political and economic liberties give the maximum possibility for individuals to rise in status and standard of living.   Their understanding of human nature and political vision proved to be accurate.   Tens of millions of immigrants arrived in great waves, from the 1840s until our 1917 entry into World War 1.   Often illiterate and reviled for their social customs, those immigrants (notably Jews, Italians, Greeks, middle Europeans, and Irish) rose to positions of economic, professional, and social prominence in large numbers within the succeeding 2 generations.   During the first 312 years of our colonial and national life, the original liberal-conservative paradigm produced an effusion of productivity that raised all living standards at a rate and to an extent unprecedented in human history.   None of this, from 1620 until 1932, required government welfare programs."

2010-01-02
_Asian Tribune_
Oklahoma MidFirst Bank is in trouble for sponsoring general Sarath Fonseka's daughter, Apsara, & son-in-law, Danuna, for green card
"Sri Lankan Goverment is in the process of investigating the illegal activities of both Danuna and Apsara and confirmed the fact that Danuna has accepted over US $10M as commission from illegal arms deals. [The Asian Tribune asks whether money from these transactions was transferred through MidFirst Bank.]"

2010-01-02
Paul Nachman _V Dare_
Short Course on America's Excessive Immigration Disaster
"In my experience, most people -- including our ill-informed fellow citizens whom we need to persuade or buttress -- aren't very numerate and don't easily grasp quantitative arguments.   For them, arguments involving culture, language, and ways of life are generally more gripping."

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "Religious writers often claim that the cause of Nazism is the secularism or the scientific spirit of the modern world.   This evades the facts that the Germans at the time, especially in Prussia, were one of the most religious peoples in Western Europe; that the Weimar Republic was a hot-bed of mystic cults, of which Nazism was one; and that Germany's largest and most devout religious group, the Lutherans, counted themselves among Hitler's staunchest followers...   Germany after Bismarck was the least capitalistic country of Western Europe; that the Weimar Republic from the start was a controlled economy, with the controls growing steadily; and that the word 'Nazism' is an abbreviation for 'National Socialism'." --- Leonard Peikoff 1982/1983 June _The Ominous Parallels_ pp 20-21  

 

2010-01-03

2010-01-03
Dave Gibson _Norfolk VA Examiner_
Phoenix still the kidnap capital of the country
"A few weeks ago, the Phoenix Police Department announced that as of Dec. 1, the city had experienced 302 kidnappings for the year.   That is an average of 27 abductions each month.   In 2008, there 359 kidnappings recorded in Phoenix.   However, police estimate the actual numbers to be closer to 3 times as high as the reported figures.   Many victims fail to report such crimes, out of fear from further retribution from the notoriously violent cartels."

2010-01-03
Alana Marie Burke _Redding CA Record-SearchLight_
Who needs help -- illegal aliens or the USA?
"According to CNN, in October, 73% of those questioned wanted a reduction in the number of illegal immigrants.   With unemployment at 10% and the economy in the dumpster, Americans don't want to fast track immigration, especially for those illegal aliens who have already been taking advantage of American generosity and lack of enforcement back-bone...   The simple solution to prevent the separation of mothers from their children and worker exploitation is for immigrants to follow the legal path to naturalization and for illegal immigrants to be deported."

2010-01-03
Michelle Malkin _Gouverneur NY Times_
Under-Reported Stories of 2009

2010-01-03
Don Babwin _Washington Examiner_/_AP_
Cities, counties take back tax breaks they gave companies that broke promises to create jobs
"communities and states that have long bent over backward to lure companies and jobs by offering abatements and other incentives -- to the tune of an estimated $60G a year in the United States, according to the Washington-based economic development watch-dog group Good Jobs First."

2010-01-03
D.A. King _Macon GA Telegraph_
Obama to American workers: Drop dead
"While monitoring CNN, I heard a reporter tell viewers that there are at least 6 applicants for each available job...   Obama could put about 8M Americans in jobs next week if he would only enthusiastically enforce existing immigration and employment laws today...   You are supposed to believe the fairy tale that American borders have been secured.   U.S. Border Patrol apprehended 556,040 new 'undocumented workers' illegally crossing our borders in fiscal year 2009, which ended Sept. 30.   Optimistic official estimates are one in four or five illegal alien border crossers are captured at the border.   Do the math.   Statistics from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reveal significant drops in work site enforcement activity since last year.   Administrative alien arrests (arrests of illegal aliens who will be placed into deportation proceedings) have dropped 68%.   Nationwide, criminal arrests are down 60%, criminal indictments have fallen 58% and criminal convictions are down 63%.   Obama has rescinded the Bush administration's common sense 'No-Match Rule' in which the [Socialist Insecurity Abomination] sent letters to employers when employees' names and [Socialist Inecurity Numbers, SINs] fail to match.   So much change in only one year.   There will never be a time when another amnesty is the answer, including in these desperate times.   The amnesty of 1986 actually increased illegal immigration and illegal employment.   It would have the same result today."
Dustin Inman Society

2010-01-03
Michael Cutler _News Blaze_
Visa fraud ring in Chicago possibly linked with terror plot
"The problem is that immigration and visa fraud are still huge problems and constitute, in my judgment, a true national security nightmare!"

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand.   Eat nothing containing yeast.   Today, in the month of Abib, you are leaving.   When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites [Chetites], Amorites, Hivites & Jebusites -- the land he swore to your forefathers to give you, a land flowing with milk & honey -- you are to observe this ceremony in this month: For 7 days eat bread made without yeast & on the 7th day hold a festival to the Lord.   Eat unleavened bread during those 7 days; nothing with yeast in it is to be seen among you, nor shall any yeast be seen anywhere within your borders.   On that day tell your son, 'I do this because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.'   This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the law of the Lord is to be on your lips.   For the Lord brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand.   You must keep this ordinance at the appointed time year after year." --- Exodus 13:3-10  

 

2010-01-04

2010-01-04
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
USCIS figures show most H-1B visa holders are under 35: AFL-CIO releases old multi-year USCIS stats after fiscal 2010 H-1B visa limit reached
"The government data studied by the AFL-CIO covers a number of years through the 2008 fiscal year and shows a largely consistent pattern of visa usage.   For instance, 54% of 2008 visa recipients were from India, close to the percentage from the past several years, according to the USCIS reports.   Two-thirds of H-1B petitions approved in 2008 were for workers between the ages of 25 and 34, compared to 48% in 2007 and 66% in 2006."

2010-01-04
_Daily Mail_
Enough hot air and over-spending from politicians.   We need a rescue plan
"This is a time when Britain stands on the brink of bankruptcy, with the Government's debts expected to reach an unprecedented £1.5T...   Just when we thought MPs' reputation could sink no lower, 3 Labour members accused of expenses fraud have proved us wrong.   In a contemptible bid to avoid prosecution, they've hired the party's lawyers to argue that they're protected by Parliamentary privilege, as enshrined in the 300-year-old Bill of Rights.   Let's get this straight: the point of the privilege granted by the 1689 Act was to safeguard democracy, by guaranteeing MPs' their right to raise their constituents' concerns in the House.   It was no part of the legislators' intention to set common thieves above the law of the land."

2010-01-04
Mike Baker _abc_/_AP_
Bankruptcies totaled 1.4M in 2009
Ewa Kochanska: Atlanta Examiner: GA's bankruptcy filings increased by 22% in 2009
New Hampshire Business Record
Business Week
Sara Murray & Conor Dougherty: Wall Street Journal
Brittany Dunn: DS News
Charlotte NC Observer

2010-01-04
Nick Eaton _Seattle WA Post Intelligencer_/_KUOW_
state college enrollment up as guest-workers take advantage of state law giving in-state tuition rates to those on H-1B visas

2010-01-04
Brian Montopoli _CBS_
Poll: Fewer say they have it better than their parents

2010-01-04
Frosty Wooldridge _Border Fire Report_
If Obama & congress-critters push through Reprehensible Immigration Law Perversion in 2010
News with Views

2010-01-04
Jesse Jackson _Chicago Tribune_
The Jobs Calamity

2010-01-04
Jim Deakin _Sonoran Weekly Review_
Will only illegal aliens have guns?

2010-01-04
_Risk and Insurance_
Ohio state senator Bill Seitz seeks to bar illegal aliens from receiving workmen's comp benefits

2010-01-04
Michael Symons _Gannett_
In-state tuition for illegal aliens advances in NJ legislature
New Jersey News Room

2010-01-04
Joe Ellingham _NY Daily News_
Arizona open borders advocate tipping illegal aliens and coyotes
CBS
UPI
"Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said his department doesn't engage in racial profiling, and that the real goal of the texts is to help illegal immigrants avoid arrest."

2010-01-04
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Obama's GeheimeStaatsPolizei
Judith Miller: Obama's Near Miss

2010-01-04 Thomas H. Benton _Chronicle of Higher Educationism_
the academic job market has been in a depression since the early 1970s
"If we regard the Modern Language Association's Job Information List as representative of the humanities, then we are seeing the most rapid decline in advertised positions since the MLA started keeping records, 34 years ago ('MLA Newsletter', 2009 Winter).   Last year, at the beginning of the recession, the number of positions advertised in English declined by 24.4%; this year it is down by an additional 40%.   Last year foreign-language positions were down 27%; this year they are down by an additional 52%.   I complained about the lack of tenure-track jobs back in 1998 in an essay I wrote for The Chronicle, 'A Graduate Student's Life', but I had it easy in comparison with this year's graduates...   If you once thought that a 40% chance of finding a tenure-track position was a risk worth taking (after maybe 8 years of graduate school), then how do you feel about a 20% chance?...   think we are seeing a structural transformation of higher education that makes the current situation—bad as it seems—the beginning of the new status quo...   Graduate students should be reading publications on the profession as assiduously as they read the leading journals in their disciplines."

2010-01-04
Karin Fischer _Chronicle of Higher Education_
American Economic Association: Computer Science programs highly responsive to labor-market trends

2010-01-04
Mike Mandel
National Savings Rates at Lowest Levels Since the Great Depression

2010-01-04
Paul Nachman _V Dare_
What we have here is a failure to assimilate

2010-01-04
_Dice_
Dice Report: 48,751 job ads

Total48,751
UNIX7,039
Windoze7,908
Java9,796
C/C++/Objective-C9,647
body shop23,590
full-time temp28,142
part-time temp1,074

 
graphs

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "Many Americans are calling the Census Bureau and members of Congress to complain about the intrusive nature of the questions asked on the long form of the 2000 Census." --- 2000-03-19 _The Washington Times_  

 

2010-01-05

2010-01-05
Mike Spector _Wall Street Journal_
Quickie Bankruptcy Filings: Companies Zoom In, Zoom Out
"In 2009, the number of prearranged bankruptcies, in which many creditors approve a reorganization plan ahead of a filing, tripled to 30 among publicly traded companies compared with the year before, according to BankruptcyData.com, a firm that tracks bankruptcy data...   The deals are called '363 sales', named after the relevant part of the bankruptcy code."

2010-01-05
_Meat Trade News Daily_
Pilgrims Pride and US government settle immigration case for $4.5M
"Pittsburg, Texas-based Pilgrim's Pride announced it will pay the federal government $4.5M over 3 years to settle a two-year investigation into identity theft and hiring people not authorized to work in the United States.   In 2007 and 2008, ICE conducted worksite enforcement and identify-theft investigations at 5 Pilgrim's Pride locations, apprehending about 338 unauthorized workers [illegal aliens]."

2010-01-05
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
1920 leftist terrorist bombing in Wall Street

2010-01-05
_Digital News Report_
Metropolitan Area Unemployment
graphs

2010-01-05 12:45PST (15:45EST) (20:45GMT)
Robert Schroeder _MarketWatch_
Health-care perversion bill may be pushed through by Reid and Pelosi without conference committee hearings

2010-01-05 12:52PST (15:52EST) (20:52GMT)
Dan Levy _Business Week_
Silicon Valley Blood-Bath Leaves Buildings Empty
"More than 43M square feet (4M square meters) -- the equivalent of 15 Empire State Buildings -- stood vacant at the end of the third quarter, the most in almost 5 years, according to CB Richard Ellis Group Inc.   San Jose, Sunnyvale and Palo Alto have 11 empty office buildings with about 3M square feet of the best quality space."

2010-01-05
Al Hesson _Santa Maria CA Times_
Ag Jobs and HR4321 is not good for our country or our community
"The reason H-2A does not work is because employers ignore their responsibilities under the law.   The H-2A program requires that employers meet specific conditions: The employer must certify that there are not sufficient U.S. workers for these jobs; the employer must establish that the alien work force will not adversely affect U.S. wages and working conditions; and the employer must provide free housing for the workers unable to return home each day, provide transportation from and back to the country of origin, provide low-cost meals, and guarantee a period of employment.   Growers ignore the law and refuse to use the e-verify system.   Instead, they use cheap illegal alien laborers who are not housed or fed at employer's expense, or provided transportation from and back to the country of origin.   As an excellent, recent letter stated, these workers are dumped at the curb to fend for themselves, and they are turning neighborhoods into third-world ghettos.   The rest of us are paying the bill.   H-2A was passed in 1986 to solve this problem, and millions of illegal aliens were granted amnesty.   Now, our own senator Feinstein has sponsored the new Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill, which would grant amnesty to another 15M to 20M illegal aliens.   This bill is not good for our country or our community."

2010-01-05
David S. North _Right Side News_
Bail-Out for Illegal Aliens? Lessons from IRCA1986 (a.k.a. Simpson-Mazzoli)
PR News Wire

2010-01-05
Gregg MacDonald _Fairfax Times_
HR4321 jeopardizes Herndon/ICE partnership: 287(g) program may be headed for the border

2010-01-05
Michael Cutler _Reality Check_
DHS Plans to Catch Only 1 in 4 Travelers Committing MAJOR Criminal Violations While Entering U.S.A. on International Fights in 2010
"Napolitano believes that her agency will only stop about 26% of the travelers who are traveling under false identity documents or smuggling narcotics or other contraband through airports.   Incredibly this number represents and improvement of the 25% it racked up in the past year.   The report states that in 2008 73.5% of travelers arriving by air were screened, in 2009 80% of all travelers arriving by air were screened but that this year, 2010, DHS plans to screen 85%!...   One way to increase the accuracy of the screening of arriving aliens would be to immediately end the Visa Waiver Program but the executives of the travel and hospitality industries have been spending unknown millions of dollars to lobby our politicians in Washington to expand the Visa Waiver Program.   Today there are some 35 nations that participate in the Visa Waiver Program...   By requiring visas of aliens who seek to enter the United States, this process helps to screen potential passengers on airliners that are destined to the United States.   Richard Reid, the so-called 'Shoe Bomber' was able to board an airliner to come to the United States although he had no intentions of entering the United States, his apparent goal was to blow up the airliner and its many passengers somewhere over the depths of the Atlantic Ocean by detonating explosives he had concealed in his shoes.   Because he is a subject of Great Britain, a country that participates in the Visa Waiver Program, Reid did not obtain a visa before he boarded that airliner.   Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called '20th hijacker', as a citizen of France, was also exempt the visa requirement.   The CBP inspectors are supposed to make a decision in one minute or less as to the admissibility of an alien seeking to enter the United States.   The visa requirement helps them to do a more effective job...   the United States has some 35K police officers.   The division of the Department of Homeland Security that is charged with enforcing the immigration laws is ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).   That agency employs about 6K special agents for the entire United States of America and many of these agents are engaged in enforcing the customs laws and not immigration laws."

2010-01-05
Anthony Mason _CBS_
Pratt & Whitney plan to move 1K jobs over-seas

2010-01-05
Joe McKendrick _SmartPlanet_/_Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
Conference Board: Job satisfaction at record lows (with graph)
Conference Board
"Only 45% of the people it surveyed say they are happy with their jobs, down from 61% in 1987, the first year the survey was conducted.   Last year, 52% reported job satisfaction."

2010-01-05
Brian Sommer _Ziff Davis_/_CNET_/_CBS_
H-1B visas, the AFL-CIO and the need for change
Enterprise Irregulars
Don E. Sears: eWeek

2010-01-05
Michael Cutler _News with Views_
senator Chuck Schumer's Reprehensible Immigration Law Perversion ignores lessons of 2001-09-11

2010-01-05 (5770 Teves 19)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Intellectuals and Society part1
"Intellectuals generate ideas and ideas matter, whether those ideas are right or wrong, and they matter far beyond the small segment of society who are intellectuals.   Ideas affect the fate of whole nations and civilizations...   But certainly, for the 20th century, it is hard to escape the conclusion that intellectuals have on net balance made the world a worse and more dangerous place.   Scarcely a mass-murdering dictator of the 20th century was without his supporters, admirers or apologists among the leading intellectuals -- not only within his own country, but in foreign democracies, where intellectuals were free to say whatever they wanted to.   Given the enormous progress made during the 20th century, it may seem hard to believe that intellectuals did so little good as to have that good out-weighed by particular wrong-headed notions.   But most of those who promoted the scientific, economic and social advances of the 20th century were not really intellectuals in the sense in which that term is most often used.   The Wright brothers, who fulfilled the centuries-old dream of human beings flying, were by no means intellectuals.   Nor were those who conquered the scourge of polio and other diseases, or who created the electronic marvels that we now take for granted.   All these people produced a tangible product or service and they were judged by whether those products and services worked.   But intellectuals are people whose end products are intangible ideas...   The ideas that Karl Marx created in the 19th century dominated the course of events over wide portions of the world in the 20th century.   Whole generations suffered, and millions were killed, as a result of those ideas.   This was not Marx's intention, nor the intentions of many supporters of Marxian ideas in countries around the world.   But it is what happened.   Some of the most distinguished intellectuals in the Western world in the 1930s gave ringing praise to the Soviet Union, while millions of people there were literally starved to death and vast numbers of others were being shipped off to slave labor camps.   Many of those same distinguished intellectuals of the 1930s were urging their own countries to disarm while Hitler was rapidly arming Germany for wars of conquest that would have, among other things, put many of those intellectuals in concentration camps -- slated for extermination -- if he had succeeded.   The 1930s were by no means unique.   In too many other eras -- including our own today -- intellectuals of unquestionable brilliance have advocated similarly childish and dangerous notions.   How and why such patterns have existed among intellectuals is a challenging question, whose answer can determine the fate of millions of other people."
appeal for help

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "In times of real danger, the states will have the same enthusiasm in aiding the general governmentt, & in granting its demands, which is seen in England, when the king is engaged in a war apparently for the interest of the nation.   This power is necessary; but we ought to guard against danger.   If ever they attempt to harass & abuse the militia, they may abolish them, & raise a standing army in their stead...   The militia may be here destroyed by that method which has been practiced in other parts of the world before; that is, by rendering them useless -- by disarming them.   Under various pretences, Congress may neglect to provide for arming & disciplining the militia...   when once a standing army is established in any country, the people lose their liberty.   When, against a regular & disciplined army, yeomanry are the only defence, -- yeomanry, unskillful & unarmed, -- what chance is there for perserving freedom?   Give me leave to recur to the page of history, to warn you of the present danger.   Recollect the history of most nations of the world.   What havoc, desolation, & destruction, have been perpetrated by standing armies!   An instance within the memory of some of this house will show us how our militia may be destroyed.   Forty years ago, when the resolution of enslaving America was formed in GB, the British Parliament was advised by an artful man [Sir William Keith, noted in Elliot] who was governor of Pennsylvania, to disarm the people; that it was the best & most effectual way to enslave them; but that they should not do it openly, but weaken them, & let them sink gradually, by totally disusing & neglecting the militia...   This was a most iniquitous project.   Why should we not provide against the danger of having our militia, our real & natural strength, destroyed?   The general gov't ought, at the same time, to have some such power.   But we need not give them power to abolish our militia.   If they neglect to arm them, & prescribe proper discipline, they will be of no use...   I wish that, in case the general gov't should neglect to arm & discipline the militia, there should be an express declaration that the state governments might arm & discipline them." --- George Mason (quoted in Jonathan Elliot _The debates of the Several State Conventions of the Adoption of the Federal Constitution_ 1888 edition vol 3 pp 379-380; Clayton E. Cramer 1994 _For the Defense of Themselves & the State_ pg 43)  

 

2010-01-06

2010-01-06 05:06PST (08:06EST) (13:06GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
CGC: 45,094 planned lay-offs announced in December
CNN
Joseph Lazzaro: Daily Finance
Jonah Keri: Investor's Business Daily
"Big U.S. companies announced 45,094 job reductions in December, the fewest since the recession began 2 years ago.   December's total was down 10% from November's 50,349 and down 73% from 2008 December.   In the fourth quarter, companies announced just 151,121 job reductions, the fewest since early 2000 and down 67% from the fourth quarter of 2008, Challenger said Wednesday.   For all of 2009, big companies announced 1.288M job cuts, up about 5% from 2008's total and the most since 2002.   About 70% of the year's total occurred in the first 6 months of the year...   According to the government's most recent report, 2.1M people lost their jobs by lay-off or termination in October.   Through the first 10 months of the year, the government counted 23.5M lay-offs."
graphs

2010-01-06
Kate White _Patriot Ledger_
Citizens must speak against benefits for illegal aliens
"On Nov. 17, governor Deval Patrick released the 'New Americans Agenda'.   The report he commissioned resulted in 131 proposals to benefit both legal immigrants and illegal aliens residing in Massachusetts.   It recommends benefits and rights of citizenship for all foreign born residents -- fast approaching 1M -- including more than 250K known illegal aliens.   Among the objectionable entitlements proposed -- at the tax-burdened, legal Massachusetts citizens' expense -- is legislative support and funding for education, subsidized housing, drivers' licenses, health care, mandatory multilingual services in every state agency, medical and educational facility and business loans.   With the newly created interagency task force charged by the governor to develop an action plan within 90 days, we should expect to see proposals become legislation that, once enacted, will be a perpetual strain on the state's legal citizens, absent any input.   A new citizens group, Speak Up and Matter, is sponsoring a petition to be presented to our governor and state legislators, opposing the 'New Americans Agenda' and the damaging impact it threatens to have on the legal, tax-paying citizens of Massachusetts."

2010-01-06
Dave Gorak _Madison Examiner_
My New Year's wish: Reporters and editors stop advocating for illegal aliens
"Many newspapers post their commitment to fair and balanced journalism on their web sites, as do media watchdog groups like the Society of Professional Journalists.   However, had the media been abiding by their own rules when reporting on this very volatile issue, there would have been no need for me, someone who spent 30 years as a Chicago print journalist, to write this column...   Journalists must stop insulting the intelligence of their audiences and begin using the most important tools necessary to be a good reporter: critical thinking and common sense."

2010-01-06 13:42PST (16:42EST) (21:42GMT)
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
IT job satisfaction plummets to all-time low: Experts say unhappy critical IT workers will likely seek more "purposeful" jobs elsewhere
Slash Dot

2010-01-06
Ann Kane _American Thinker_
Leftists gear up push for amnesty for illegal aliens

2010-01-06
Michael D. Bates _Hernando Today_/_Tampa FL Tribune_
county commissioner Rose Rocco seeks tougher immigration controls
"Dobson believes that governor Charlie Crist and state legislators 'refuse to confront illegal immigration' in Florida...   Dobson said it is shameful that some of these higher paying road and construction projects brought about by federal stimulus dollars are going to illegal aliens...   Dobson said she believes passionately in this cause because her sister, who runs a landscaping business in Kentucky, is continually getting outbid on projects by other contractors because they use illegal aliens and don't have to pay them as much.   Not only is it unfair but it is driving down wages, Dobson said.   State representative Robert Schenck said he has been in contact with Dobson and agrees the county needs to crack down on illegal immigration."

2010-01-06
Eric Lindberg _Daily Sound_
ICE initiative targets dangerous illegal aliens
"Anyone arrested and booked into jail by local law enforcement agencies will have their finger-prints automatically checked against immigration records maintained by the Department of Homeland Security, in addition to the standard check against FBI criminal records.   Any match in the immigration data-base will trigger an automated alert to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials.   'I do think that this will result in more deportations.', said Ray Kovacic, assistant field office director for ICE in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.   'It will be able to touch more people.'   He noted that top priority will be given to illegal immigrants who pose the greatest threat to public safety -- including those previously charged or convicted for murder, major drug offenses, rape, robbery and kidnapping."

2010-01-06
Matt Cover _Cybercast News Service_
DHS unable and unwilling to do its job

2010-01-06
Steve Frank _Fox & Hounds Daily_
The Truth: California is in a Great Depression

2010-01-06
_American Spectator_
Conservative leaders call on Janet Napolitano to resign

2010-01-06
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Obama's reluctance to defeat terrorists
Michael Gerson: Washington Post: Airline attack shows Obama's listless approach to defeating terrorists

2010-01-06 (5770 Teves 20)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Intellectuals and Society part2
"both secular and religious ideas have moved the emotions of many -- and have moved leaders who moved armies.   When we look back on the Spanish Inquisition, on the Crusades of the past and the Jihads of the past and present, we see chilling examples of the effects of ideas.   But the secular ideologies of the 20th century killed millions more people in Germany, Russia and China -- and similarly in pursuit of higher goals, even if those ideals were used cynically by those with power, as in the past...   Seldom do those who produce or peddle dangerous, or even fatal, ideas have to pay a price, even in a loss of credibility.   Who blames Rachel Carson, an environmentalist icon, because her crusading writings against DDT led to the ban of this insecticide in countries around the world — followed by a resurgence of malaria that killed, and continues to kill, millions of people in tropical Third World countries?...   Woodrow Wilson -- our only president with a Ph.D. -- was an academic intellectual for years before entering politics, and his ideas about a war to end wars, making the world safe for democracy, and the right of self-determination of peoples, have been revered in utter disregard of what happened when Wilson's notions were put into practice in the real world.   No one today takes seriously the idea that the First World War was a war to end wars, and many now see it as setting the stage for a Second World War...   Like many intellectuals, Woodrow Wilson assumed that if things were bad, "change" would automatically make them better.   But the autocratic governments in Russia and Germany that Wilson abhorred were followed by totalitarian regimes so oppressive and murderous that they made the past despots look almost like sweethearts.   As for the self-determination of peoples, that turned out in practice to mean having whole peoples' fates determined by foreigners, such as Woodrow Wilson, who joined in the dismemberment of empires, with dire consequences in the 1930s, as Hitler picked off the small and vulnerable newly created nations, one by one -- an operation that would have been far more dangerous if he had had to face the larger empires of which they had been part before the First World War.   To this day, we are still living with the consequences of carving up the Ottoman Empire to create far more unstable and dangerous states in the Middle East...   intellectuals have far less knowledge than the total knowledge possessed by the millions of other people whom they disdain and whose decisions they seek to override.   We have had to learn the consequences of elite preemption the hard way -- and many of us have yet to learn that lesson."
appeal for help

2010-01-06 (5770 Teves 20)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
Untrue beliefs
"In 1790, farmers were 90% of the U.S. labor force.   By 1900, only about 41% of our labor force was employed in agriculture.   By 2008, less than 3% of Americans are employed in agriculture...   According to Dr. Mark Perry's Department of Labor employment data, in his article Manufacturing's Death Greatly Exaggerated, U.S. manufacturing employment peaked at 19.5M jobs in 1979.   Since 1979, the manufacturing work-force has shrunk by 40% and there's every indication that manufacturing employment will continue to shrink...   According to the Federal Reserve, the dollar value of U.S. manufacturing output in November was $2.72T (in 2000 dollars).   Today's manufacturing worker is so productive that the value of his average output is $234,220.   Output per worker is three times as high as it was in 1980 and twice as high as it was in 1990.   For the year 2008, the Federal Reserve estimates that the value of U.S. manufacturing output was about $3.7T (in 2008 dollars).   If the U.S. manufacturing sector were a separate economy, with its own GDP, it would be tied with Germany as the world's fourth richest economy.   The GDPs are: U.S. ($14.2T), Japan ($4.9T), [Red China] ($4.3T), U.S. manufacturing ($3.7T), Germany ($3.7T), France ($2.9T) and the United Kingdom ($2.7T)."
appeal for help

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "[David] Blunkett will announce measures including a huge increase in the number of voluntary & special constables patrolling the streets; reserve powers for the Home Secretary to take over failing police forces; league tables that will allow the public to compare police forces neighborhood by neighborhood; & a rapid increase in the number of uniformed officers, rising to a record high of 130K by the spring of 2003, an increase of 5400 over January this year.   By next year the Government [administration] said it will announce an all-time record number of 128,300 police on Britain's streets.   'There is a big missing factor on the liberal Left & that is that we have forgotten crime & disorder & the misery this brings'...   He is now set to pave the way for Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary & the Home Office Standards Unit to take over command units within police forces that are considered not up to scratch." --- Kamal Ahmed 2001-12-02 _The Observer_ pg 1 (quoting David Blunkett, Home Secretary)  

 

2010-01-07

2010-01-07
professor Gerald L. Boerner
the beginning of the Internet (part 1)

2010-01-07
_Washington Times_
Letting crooks & illegal aliens vote: Leftist plan to manipulate elections with universal registration
"Democrats have a political death wish. At least that's how it looks."

2010-01-07 05:30PDT (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
DoL home page
historical data
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 645,571 in the week ending January 2, an increase of 88K from the previous week.   There were 731,958 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.2% during the week ending December 26, an increase of 0.3 percentage point from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 5,479,110, an increase of 388,729 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 4.0% and the volume was 5,317,388.   Extended benefits were available in AL, AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, PR, RI, SC, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, and WI during the week ending December 19...   States reported 5,143,410 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending December 19, an increase of 235,626 from the prior week.   There were 1,922,488 claimants in the comparable week in 2008.   EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.
graphs
more graphs

2010-01-07
Michael Cutler _Family Security Matters_
DHS predicts dismal effectiveness rate in traveler screening

2010-01-07
Tom McLaughlin _Family Security Matters_
Bias in education and media

2010-01-07
_Reliable Plant_
Charges of illegal discrimination in employment apprached record high in FY2009
"The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on January 6 announced that 93,277 work-place discrimination charges were filed with the federal agency nationwide during Fiscal Year (FY) 2009, the second highest level ever, and monetary relief obtained for victims totaled more than $376M."
EEOC statistics

2010-01-07
David Munns & Tyler Metzger _Credit Cards.com_
Bankruptcy filings, state by state, 2005-2009: bankruptcies up 32%

2010-01-07 14:12PST (17:12EST) (22:12GMT)
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
US senators Schumer and Gillibrand urge National Grid to keep IT jobs on-shore
CIO

2010-01-07
Kurt Opsahl _Electronic Frontier Foundation_
Order to Shut Down Web Sites Critical of Apex Technology Group is Dangerous and Wrong
Patrick Thibodeau: ComputerWorld/IDG

2010-01-07
Patrick Murray _Monmouth U Poll_
What to Watch for in Today's NJ Senate Vote on bill to grant children of illegal immigrants in-state tuition rates at New Jersey's public colleges and universities

2010-01-07 14:00PST (17:00EST) (22:00GMT)
Peter Coy, Michelle Conlin & Moira Herbst _Business Week_
The Disposable Worker: as bodyshopping takes over pay is falling, benefits are vanishing: How executives are making the era of the temp more than temporary
"Their situation isn't likely to improve soon; some economists predict it will be years, not months, before employees regain any semblance of bargaining power.   That's because this recession's unusual ferocity has accelerated trends—including offshoring, automation, the decline of labor unions' influence, new management techniques, and regulatory changes—that already had been eroding workers' economic standing.   The forecast for the next 5 to 10 years: more of the same, with paltry pay gains, worsening working conditions, and little job security.   Right on up to the C-suite, more jobs will be free-lance and temporary, and even seemingly permanent positions will be at greater risk...   in the recessions that began in 2001 and 2007, the decline for pay-rolls was much steeper -- 1.8 percentage points more during the latest down-turn.   Worse yet, only about 10% of the lay-offs are considered temporary, vs. 20% in the recession of the early 1980s...   the gloomy trends in the labor market show no sign of abating...   71% of [Ill-Begotten Monstrosities'] work-force was outside the U.S.A. at the end of 2008, a figure even higher than the non-U.S. share of its revenue (65%).   In 2009 the company reduced its U.S. employment by about 10K, or 8%...   Shockingly, pay for production and non-supervisory workers -- 80% of the private work-force -- is 9% lower than it was in 1973, adjusted for inflation...   In 2007, Ralph E. Gomory, former head of [Ill-Begotten Monstrosities'] research department and later a senior vice-president at the company, declared before a U.S. House panel: 'In this new era of globalization the interests of companies and countries have diverged.   In contrast with the past, what is good for America's global corporations is no longer necessarily good for the American people.'"

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "When one considers that continuity & differentiability are the basic concepts in all of analysis & that analysis has been the major field of activity from about 1650 to the present, one can only be shocked to learn how vague & uncertain mathematicians were about these concepts.   The mistakes were so gross that they would be inexcusable in an undergraduate mathematics student today; yet they were made by the most famous men -- Fourier, Cauchy, Galois, Legendre, Gauss -- & also by a multitude of lesser lights who were, never the less, leading mathematicians of their times.   Texts of the 19th century continued to use freely terms such as differential & infinitesimal whose meanings were unclear or inconsistently defined to be both non-zero & zero.   Students of the calculus remained perplexed..." --- Morris Kline 1980 _Mathematics: The Loss of Certainty_ pp 161-162  

 

2010-01-08

2010-01-07 23:59:36PST (2010-01-08 02:59:36EST) (2010-01-08 07:59:36GMT)
Pete Carey _San Jose CA Mercury News_
11,494 filed for bankruptcy in San Jose area in 2009
"In the court's Oakland division, which covers Contra Costa and Alameda counties, filings increased 59%, from 7,887 in 2008 to 12,564 in 2009.   In the San Francisco division, which includes San Francisco and San Mateo counties, filings increased 62%, from 2,579 in 2008 to 4,190 in 2009.   In San Joaquin County, which is in the Eastern District of U.S. Bankruptcy Court, there were 2,445 filings from January through October of 2008, and 3,962 filings from January through October of 2009, a 62% increase."

2010-01-08 09:02PST (12:02EST) (17:02GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
pay-rolls fell seasonally adjusted 85K
graphs

2010-01-08
Dennis Olson _Albert Lea MN Tribune_
Let's stop handing out green cards, start paying unemployed legal immigrants to leave, and get rid of the H-1B visa program

2010-01-08
Mike Mandel
College grad unemployment hits magic 5% level

2010-01-08
Mike Shedlock _Global Economic Analysis_
2010 Census Hiring Employment Scam
"Pray tell why does it take 1.4M Americans to conduct a census, 3 times as many as in 2000?   If full employment is the goal and all this hiring is a good thing as Homan suggests, let's hire 5M census workers.   Indeed, why not establish a program where someone is automatically employed by the census bureau the moment they apply for unemployment benefits?   In case those fine ideas will not fly, let's simply reduce the number of hours each census employee works.   We can easily triple the number of census jobs from 1.2M to 3.6M if the number of hours each employee works is reduced by two-thirds.   President Obama can brag about creating a whopping 3.6M jobs that way...   If not, pardon me for asking still one more question, 'What exactly are [tax-victims] getting for those extra 933K census workers in 2010 vs. 2000?'...   at the completion of the survey, 1.4M census workers will rejoin the ranks of the unemployed unless they already have another part-time job...   BTW, in regards to 'Jobs Contract 24th Straight Month; Unemployment Rate Stays At 10.0%' my friend 'BC' commented: 'The combined drop in employment and increase in 'not in labor force' is equivalent to ~1% (12% annualized) of the labor force for Dec. and 2% (8% annualized) total since Sept. Good grief.'"

2010-01-08
DJIA10,618.19
S&P 5001,144.98
NASDAQ2317.17
Nikkei10,798
10-year US T-Bond3.810%
crude oil$82.75/barrel
gold$1,138.90/ounce
silver$18.47/ounce
platinum$1,570.60/ounce
palladium$425.15/ounce
copper$0.21253125/ounce
natgas$5.749/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline $2.1553/gal
heatingoil$2.1093/gal
dollarindex77.470
yenperdollar92.49
dollarspereuro1.4409
dollarsperpound1.6029
swissfranksperdollar1.0219
indianrupeesperdollar45.7652
mexicanpesosperdollar 12.6800
MorganStanleyHighTechIndex583.33

I usually get this info from MarketWatch.
 

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "17th, That the people have a right to keep & bear arms; that a well regulated Militia, composed of the body of the people trained to arms in the proper, natural & safe defence of a free State.   That standing armies in time of peace are dangerous to liberty, & therefore ought to be avoided, as far as the circumstances & protection of the Community will admit; & that in all cases the military shall be under strict subordination to & governed by the Civil power." --- Virginia Declaration of Rights (quoted in Charlene Bangs Bickford & Helen E. Veit 1986 _Documentary History of the 1st Federal Congress 1789-1791_ vol 4 pg 17; quoted in Clayton E. Cramer 1994 _For the Defense of Themselves & the State_ pg 45)  

 

2010-01-09

2010-01-09
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Why the Fed performs so poorly

2010-01-09
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Poisonous and repressive effects of inflation

2010-01-09
Phylis Schlafly _Right Side News_
Causes of Unemployment

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "Big machines to make big decisions, programmed by fellows with compassion and vision. We'll be clean when their work is done,... eternally free, yes, eternally young.   What a wonderful world it will be.   What a glorious time to be free." --- Donald Fagen "International Geophysical Year"  

 

2010-01-10

2010-01-10
Mike Dennison _Billings MT Gazette_/_Lee_
the time for candidates to file for office is upon us
Candidates in Montana
Ballot Access News

2010-01-10
_Cap Veterans_
Veteran charges ethics violations among NJ politicians

2010-01-10
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Obama is reducing US security
Washington Times

2010-01-10
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Socialist Insecurity nears the end of the line
Investor's Business Daily (with graph)

2010-01-10
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Regulate Economists?
Brian M. Riedl: Wall Street Journal: Why Government Spending Does Not Stimulate Economic Growth and How Taxes Affect Economic Growth: Answering the Critics
"During the 1930s, New Deal law-makers doubled federal spending -- yet unemployment remained above 20% until World War2.   Japan responded to a 1990 recession by passing 10 stimulus spending bills over 8 years (building the largest national debt in the industrialized world) -- yet its economy remained stagnant.   In 2001, President Bush responded to a recession by 'injecting' tax rebates into the economy.   The economy did not respond until 2 years later, when tax rate reductions were implemented.   In 2008, President Bush tried to head off the current recession with another round of tax rebates.   The recession continued to worsen.   Now, the most recent $787G stimulus bill was intended to keep the unemployment rate from exceeding 8%.   In November, it topped 10%.   Undeterred by these repeated stimulus failures, President Obama is calling for yet another stimulus bill...   Every dollar Congress injects into the economy must first be taxed or borrowed out of the economy.   No new spending power is created.   It is merely redistributed from one group of people to another.   Congress cannot create new purchasing power out of thin air...   Removing water from one end of a swimming pool and pouring it in the other end will not raise the overall water level.   Similarly, taking dollars from one part of the economy and distributing it to another part of the economy will not expand the economy...   But savings do not drop out of the economy.   Nearly all people put their savings in: (1) banks, which quickly lend the money to others to spend; (2) investments in stocks and bonds; or (3) personal debt reduction.   In each of these situations, the financial system transfers one person's savings to someone else who can spend it.   So all money is quickly spent regardless of whether it was initially consumed or saved.   The only savings that drop out of the economy are those hoarded in mattresses and safes...   Foreign countries can acquire American dollars by either: Attracting American investments in their country.   In that instance, the dollars leaving America match the dollars lent back to America.   The net flow of saving circulating through the U.S. economy does not increase.   Selling goods and services to Americans and receiving American dollars in return.   For the United States, these imports raise the trade deficit and thus reduce domestic demand.   The government's subsequent borrowing back and spending of these dollars merely offsets the increased trade deficit...   not all tax cuts are created equal.   The economic impact of a tax cut depends on how much it alters behavior to encourage labor supply or productivity...   Tax rebates in 1975, 2001, and 2008 all failed to create economic growth.   By contrast, large reductions in marginal tax rates in the 1920s, 1960s, and 1980s were each followed by large surges in economic growth.   More recently, the 2003 tax-rate reductions immediately reversed the job losses, sinking stock market, declining business investment, and sluggish economic growth rates that had followed the 2000 recession.   These gains continued until unrelated economic developments brought the most recent recession in 2007 December."

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "It's a nitwit idea.   Nitwit ideas are for emergencies.   The rest of the time you go by the Book, which is mostly a collection of nitwit ideas that worked." --- Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle  

 

2010-01-11

2010-01-11
_ALI PAC_
In-state tuition for illegal aliens dies in NJ
Chad Groening: One News Now
Jonathan Taman: Philadelphia PA Inquirer

2010-01-11
David Hunkar _Seeking Alpha_
Will the USA's Socialist Insecurity Abomination Survive? Hopefully Not

2010-01-11
Kimberly Dvorak _San Diego Examiner_
National security breaches plague US ports of entry and threaten security

2010-01-11
_Lansing MI State Journal_
we are losing our representative form of government and rapidly becoming a people subject to the control of special interest syndicates

2010-01-11 (5770 Teves 25)
Rabbi Doctor Asher Meir _Jewish World Review_
Tuition Refunds
"The Talmud [Babylonian Talmud, Bava Metzia 76b] states: 'One who hires works and they deceived him, or he deceived them [by reneging right away], they have only resentment against each other [but no claim for recompense].   This refers to a case when they didn't go [to the place of work].   But if the porters went and didn't find grain, if workers went and found the field soaked [and unsuitable for field work], he must give them their full wage.   But one who goes loaded up is not the same as one who goes empty; one who works as one who sits idle.'..."
appeal for help

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "[T]he time has come to recognize the UN for the anti-American, anti-freedom organization that it has become.   The time has come for us to cut off all financial help, withdraw as a member, & ask the UN to find a HQ location outside the US that is more in keeping with the philosophy of the majority of voting members, some place like Moscow or Peking." --- Barry Goldwater 1971-10-26 _Congressional Record_ pg S16764  

 

2010-01-12

2010-01-12
Justin Lahart _Wall Street Journal_
Some Jobs Won't Return
"The down-turn that started in 2007 December delivered a body blow to U.S. workers.   In 2 years, the economy shed 7.2M jobs, pushing the jobless rate from 5% to 10%, according to the Labor Department.   The severity of the recession is reshaping the labor market...   One in three jobs, or 6M total, have been lost in the manufacturing sector since 1997...   Pay-rolls fell by nearly 3M in the deep down-turn that extended from 1981 July to 1982 November.   But by the start of 1983, the economy was creating jobs again, and by the end of 1983, the U.S. job count had exceeded its old peak [though more of them were bodyshopping]...   But since the early 1990s, jobs have been slower to recover from recession...   But Harvard's Mr. Katz warns that past experience suggests such conjecture is likely fruitless.   'One thing we've learned is that when we attempt to forecast jobs 10 or 15 years out, we don't even get the categories right.', he says."

2010-01-12 10:04:16PST (13:04:16EST) (18:04:16GMT)
Christopher S. Rugaber _San Jose CA Mercury News_/_AP_
Job openings drop as hiring remains elusive

2010-01-12
Mark Krikorian _National Review_
When in Doubt, Keep Them Out
"State has continually fought DHS efforts to tighten up the process and 'again and again has sided with foreigners seeking access to the United States'.   This is why, as my Center for Immigration Studies colleague Jessica Vaughan points out, State didn't even check whether the panty-bomber had a visa after his father's warning, let alone revoke it.   You can almost hear the State Department's unwillingness to turn down visa applicants in an NPR interview with Paul Kennedy, who's in charge of visas: 'There was not sufficient information, in and of itself, from what we were told, to revoke the visa.'   And this: 'Once we have met the threshhold of national security, we encourage international commerce including tourism.'   Actually national-security concerns are only one threshold -- under the law (though inverted in practice), visa applicants are assumed to be planning to remain as illegal aliens until they prove otherwise.   And the characteristics of a likely illegal alien are also those of a likely terrorist -- single young men without much to lose.   This is why at least 15 of the 19 2001/09/11 terrorists should have been turned down for visas on normal, non-security grounds."

2010-01-12
Henry Unger _Atlanta GA Journal-Constitution_
Wanted: Ideas to create more jobs in Georgia

2010-01-12 10:53PST (13:53EST) (18:53GMT)
Tony Gordon _Suburban Chicago IL Daily Herald_
Lake county sheriff says: Arrest shows devastation of illegal alien crime
"Sergio Uscanga, 26, is charged with identity theft and forgery for using the financial information of a Lake Villa township man to work for 4 years."

2010-01-12
Jeff Werner _Bucks county PA News_
GOP congressional candidate forum drew large crowd
"Each is hoping for a chance to unseat Democrat Patrick Murphy, who has held the position since 2007.   The announced candidates are Dean Malik, a former Bucks county District Attorney; Tom Lingenfelter, a frequent candidate for office; Judith Algeo, a Warwick township Supervisor; Ira Hoffman, a businessman from Solebury; Rob Mitchell, a Doylestown businessman; Jeffrey McGeary, a native of Newtown and conservative organizer; Jeffrey Schott, the owner of a consulting company; James Jones, a decorated disabled veteran and small business owner; and Gloria Carlineo, a Solebury committeewoman and attorney...   The candidates agreed the current health-care plan is wrong for America and that there should be no amnesty for illegal aliens.   They also found agreement on taxes -- none of them were in favor of raising them.   Most said they would lead the fight to drill for oil in U.S. fields and build new nuclear plants.   But they disagreed on the causes of global warming.   Seven said they don't believe human activity is contributing to global warming.   Schott drew laughter and applause when he said it's hard to answer the question because he doesn't believe the earth is warming.   Algeo broke ranks, believing human activity is a cause.   McGeary said he believes man may be a factor, but not an over-riding contributor."
Candidates in Pennsylvania

2010-01-12
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
The Stimulus Bubble

2010-01-12
Jeff Clark _Daily Reckoning_
The Biggest Financial Deception of the Decade

2010-01-12
Ryan Naraine _Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
Adobe confirms "sophisticated, coordinated" breach

2010-01-12
Eugene Hoshiko & Alexa Olesen _Miami FL Herald_/_AP_
Jewelry makers in Red China say toxic metals cut costs

2010-01-12
Ronald W. Mortensen _Center for Immigration Studies_
Illegal Aliens Are Turning the Dreams of American Children into Nightmares

2010-01-12 (5770 Teves 26)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
"Notional" Security
"There is no stronger indication of danger than officials who don't want to hear what anybody else has to say, even when those who offer to help have a system that works better than ours...   Terrorists are not covered by the Geneva convention for the simple reason that they do not abide by the Geneva convention.   They are enemy combatants and you do not turn enemy combatants loose to go back to killing Americans while the war is still on -- not if you are being serious, as distinguished from being political or ideological."
appeal for help

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "Under no circumstances should the applications programming effort rest on 25-year-old so-called high-level languages.   As a lot, they are obsolete, although some of them, notably COBOL, are more obsolete than others.   Like obsolete chips, obsolete languages are non-competitive & result in spoilage of resources.   They have far-reaching detrimental effects because they adversely impact on human time, which computers are supposed to assist." --- Dimitris N. Chorafas 1986 _4th & 5th Generation Programming Languages_ pg x  

 

2010-01-13

2010-01-13
Chuck Baldwin _V Dare_
It Is a MadHouse Out There
Washington Examiner: Obama gives Interpol free hand in the USA

2010-01-13
Tom Lutey _Billings MT Gazette_
Competition decline in agriculture
"There are half as many grain elevators across Montana as there were 30 years ago.   A single railroad, Burlington Northern Sante Fe, controls more than 95% of state's tracks.   Four large packing companies buy 85% of the nation's beef and therefore set market prices that rarely fluctuate more than a few cents...   Those key players in the beef market are also heavy-weights in the poultry and pork industries, Bullard said.   R-CALF is looking for more separation between packers and all stages of the cattle industry.   Grain farmers worry about similar concentrations in the seed industry, where 10 companies control most of the world's seed supply for major crops, said Chris Christiaens, lobbyist for the Montana Farmers Union.   Agri-chemical company Monsanto now owns 95% of the sugar beet seed planted in the United States...   Monsanto recently loosened up it control of its first generation Roundup Ready soybean seed."

2010-01-13
Clint Confehr _Marshall county TN Tribune_
Documentation sought that workers on county projects are not illegal aliens

2010-01-13 06:48:15PST (09:48:15EST) (14:48:15GMT)
_York PA Daily Record_
Questions in case of forced labor of illegal aliens
"We have to give WM the benefit of the doubt.   Maybe no one there reads the newspaper.   Maybe company officials were unaware that they had a slaver working inside their West Manchester Mall store.   It's true.   Lynda Phan in October pleaded guilty to federal human trafficking charges.   According to federal documents, she forced 2 Vietnamese nationals to work in her nail salons without pay under the threat of being turned over to immigration officials as illegal aliens."

2010-01-13
Hamilton Richardson _Pratville AL Progress_
Students question congress-critter Bobby Bright
"Bright said in response to Brennan Herring's question about what he believed should be done about illegal immigration, 'Send them home.   We, as a country, have to protect our borders, and we're not doing a good job.   But we need to be realistic, too.'"

2010-01-13
John DeSantis _Pocono PA Record_
get out of debt, stock up on food and ammo and pray for our nation, our freedom, our independence and our families
"It's called Battered Wife Syndrome.   Learned helplessness.   It's both a physical and psychological condition that leads to a person's willingness to accept physical, verbal and mental abuse.   To even accept this as the norm is a sad existence indeed.   Sadder is the mentality of our nation, not toward BWS but to the abuses inflicted on us by our own government.   Cap and Trade will tell you what kind of car to drive, how long to shower, make you install government spec windows, what kind of light bulb to use and not allow you to sell your home until you meet all government standards.   Article 141 of Health Choices Commissioners Act will allow the government to dis-enroll individuals and employers from their existing health care programs in favor of government run ones.   Nations like the UK or Canada have gone to government-run socialized medicine.   You're out of luck if you get cancer there.   The spending rampage of the government puts every man, woman and child in this country in debt over $350K each within the deficit.   The Pentagon has 737 over-seas bases in 150 of the 201 countries around the world, not including secret bases, yet our borders are invaded every day by 12K or more illegal aliens.   [Red China], Japan and the UK and 26 other nations hold the mortgage on our nation and we can't repay the debt.   The stench of corruption in American politics fills the air more than the hoax of global warming but the citizenry just goes on without a care.   The apathy is disgusting and it will eventually lead to the downfall of the United States.   My advice: get out of debt, stock up on food and ammo and pray for our nation, our freedom, our independence and our families.   God help us all."

2010-01-13
Robert McMillan, John Ribeiro & Jeremy Kirk _Computer World_/_IDG_
Attack on Google servers part of wide-spread espionage effort by Red Chinese government
Wall Street Journal
Mike Swift: San Jose CA Mercury News
"Drummond, in his blog post, said that -- in part due to this incident -- Google would no longer censor search results in [Red China], a move that could cause its web site to be blocked by the [Red Chinese] government...   'There is an attack exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in one of the major document types.', Jellenc said.   'They infect whichever users they can, and leverage any contact information or any access information on the victim's computer to misrepresent themselves as that victim.'   The goal is to 'infect someone with administrative access to the systems that hold the intellectual property that they're trying to obtain.', he added...   At least 10 to 20 terabytes of sensitive data had been taken from U.S. government networks as part of what the report's authors called a 'long term, persistent campaign to collect sensitive but unclassified information'."

2010-01-13
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
President Obama's Administration Is Funding Wall Street Bonuses, and Penalizing Them: Muddying the Waters, Confusing the Public
Wall Street Journal: Bashing Bankers

2010-01-13
Don E. Sears _eWeek_
Free Speech advocates blast shut-down of web sites which object to H-1B visa abuses

2010-01-13 15:51PST (18:51EST) (23:51GMT)
Michael J. Boskin _Wall Street Journal_
Don't like the numbers? Change them: If a CEO issued the kind of distorted figures put out by politicians and "scientists", he'd wind up in prison
"Scientists are expected to make sure their findings are replicable, to make the data available, and to encourage the search for new theories and data that may over-turn the current consensus."

2010-01-13 (5770 Teves 22)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
Global Warming Is a Religion
"Over long periods of time, there is absolutely no close relationship between CO2 levels and temperature.   Humans contribute approximately 3.4% of annual CO2 levels compared to 96.6% by nature.   There was an explosion of life forms 550M years ago (Cambrian Period) when CO2 levels were 18 times higher than today.   During the Jurassic Period, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, CO2 levels were as much as nine times higher than today.   Contrary to what 'educators' are brain-washing our children with, polar bear numbers increased dramatically from around 5K in 1950 to as many as 25K today, higher than any time in the 20th century.   Political commentator Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956) warned that 'The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed -- and hence clamorous to be led to safety -- by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.' That's the political goal of the global warmers."
appeal for help

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "Wheels within wheels in a spiral array, a pattern so grand and complex.   Time after time we lose sight of the way.   Our causes can't see their effects." --- Rush  

 

2010-01-14

2010-01-13 17:00:49PST (2010-01-13 20:00:49EST) (2010-01-14 01:00:49GMT)
Scott Duke Harris _San Jose CA Mercury News_
AnchorFree under-mines censorship in Red China and elsewhere

2010-01-14
Martin Heller _InfoWorld_/_IDG_
When does out-sourcing make sense?
"'Out-sourcing wouldn't make sense for us', Fuller said, 'because with this kind of work there are so many small changes to make along the way.'   Wow -- 'Out-sourcing wouldn't make sense for us because with this kind of work there are so many small changes to make along the way.'...   If a project needs to evolve significantly over time, then out-sourcing doesn't make sense."

2010-01-14
Nathan Bomey _Ann Arbor MI_
General Electric deluged with applicants for technology jobs in Ann Arbor region
"1,200 job openings at its new information technology operation in Van Buren Township...   The company has attracted 18K job applications for its local jobs over the last few months, GE officials said...   GE officials said they would eventually hire 900 to 1K IT professionals and technology engineers.   The firm later expects to establish additional engineering and advanced manufacturing capability at the site with another 200 workers."

2010-01-14 05:30PDT (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
DoL home page
historical data
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 801,086 in the week ending Jan. 9, an increase of 156,165 from the previous week.   There were 956,791 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.6% during the week ending Jan. 2, an increase of 0.4 percentage point from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 5,988,940, an increase of 503,924 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 4.4% and the volume was 5,855,855.   Extended benefits were available in AL, AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, PR, RI, SC, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, and WI during the week ending December 26...   States reported 5,002,180 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Dec. 26, a decrease of 141,279 from the prior week.   There were 1,666,412 claimants in the comparable week in 2008.   EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.
graphs
more graphs

2010-01-14 08:00PST (11:00EST) (16:00GMT)
Gabriela Montell _Chronicle of Higher Eduation_
Another Reason to Just Say No to a PhD: 10% real earnings drop 2000-2009
Mike Mandel: Some Higher Education Facts, Good and Bad
South Mountain Economics

2010-01-14
Mike Mandel
A New (Unfortunate) Record: Advanced Technology Trade Deficit

2010-01-14
Frosty Wooldridge _Official Wire_
Congress Is Cutting Americans' Financial Throats: Immigration and Out-Sourcing Jobs
Mike Folkerth: King of Simple

2010-01-14 09:10PST (12:10EST) (17:10GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
Retail sales dropped 0.3% in December: For 2009, sales sank a record 6.2% to $4.14T

2010-01-14
R.M. Arrieta _In These Times_
Human Trafficking Prevention Month aims to stop $9G industry
"A case that brought human trafficking to light in the Bay Area was the case of Lakireddy Bali Reddy, a Berkeley landlord convicted in 2001 for immigration fraud and trafficking minors for illegal sexual activity.   Reddy was exploiting the H-1B visa system to bring poor Indian workers into the U.S.A. as forced laborers.   He brought them in claiming they were computer programmers and instead forced them to work in his restaurants and apartment buildings.   Eventually sentenced to 8 years in prison and forced to pay back $2M, he was released in 2008 April.   (The Reddy family still operates many apartment complexes in the Berkeley area under the names of Reddy Realty and Everest Properties.)"

2010-01-14
_WABC_
International Immigrants Foundation, the International Professional Association and their president, Edward Juarez, sued by NY AG for defrauding clients

2010-01-14
Todd Tiahrt _Human Events_
European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company = Corruption

2010-01-14
Rob Sanchez _V Dare_/_Job Destruction News-Letter_
To end Arizona's budget crisis close schools and dump criminal aliens on Obama's door-step
"Imaginatively, on 2010 January 6, State Treasurer Dean Martin sent Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano a bill for $1G to compensate Arizona for the costs of incarcerating criminal illegal aliens (press release and invoice).   Ironically, as you can see from the invoice, Treasurer Martin is doing nothing more than sending the same request that Napolitano, when Governor of Arizona, had made to the US Attorney General in 2008."

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "The worst thing about history is that every time it repeats itself, the price goes up." --- Pillar  

 

2010-01-15

2010-01-15
Wayne Madsen _On-Line Journal_
Obama's screwing of American workers and his and Hillary's links to India
"However, Obama never intended to reform the H-1B system that robs educated and talented Americans of their jobs in the American economy and wage earning potential."

2010-01-15
"theodp" _Slash Dot_
foreign $44K/year coders may work on US Dept. of Labor project "to help out unemployed US workers"
"To power the Tools for America's Job Seekers Challenge, the US Department of Labor tapped IdeaScale, a subsidiary of Survey Analytics, which is headquartered in Seattle with satellite offices in Nasik, India and Auckland, NZ (PDF).   According to the Federal Register (PDF), an Emergency OMB Review was requested to launch the joint initiative of the DoL, White House, and IdeaScale to help out unemployed US workers.   A cached Monster.com ad seeks candidates to work on the development and maintenance of ideascale.com, but in India at an annual salary of Rs. 200K to 300K ($44K to $66K US).   BTW, an earlier White House-sponsored, IdeaScale-powered Open Government Brainstorm identified legalizing marijuana as one of the best ways to 'strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness.'"
US DoL "challenge"
IdeaScale
2009-09-28: Timothy Hay: Wall Street Journal: Big Government Means Big Business for Privacy Violating Start-Ups
QuestionPro On-Line Research Hand-Book on Survey Analytics (pdf)
request to OMB for "emergency" review for launch (pdf)

2010-01-15 08:27:43PST (11:27:43EST) (16:27:43GMT)
Martin Crutsinger _San Jose CA Mercury News_/_AP_
Public squeezed by rising prices and falling pay

2010-01-15 09:52PST (12:52EST) (17:52GMT)
Greg Robb _MarketWatch_
UMich consumer sentiment index rose from 72.5 in December to 72.8 in early January

2010-01-15 09:56PST (12:56EST) (17:56GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
industrial output increased 0.6% in December
"In December, capacity utilization in industry rose to 72% from 71.5%.   It's the highest in a year.   For manufacturing, capacity utilization rose to 68.6% from 68.5%, also the highest since 2008 December.   The utilization rate in the factory sector -- a measure of slack in the economy -- is 11 percentage points below the long-term average, showing very weak inflationary pressures...   Output of high-technology industries increased 2.4%."

2010-01-15 11:45:20PST (14:45:20EST) (19:45:20GMT)
Robert Jordan _Contra Costa CA Times_/_San Jose CA Mercury News_
Evan O'Dorney won national spelling bee and math contest
"Evan O'Dorney, of Danville, tangled with 9 of the nation's brightest young mathematicians and came out on top Thursday at the American Mathematical Society's 'Who Wants to Be a Mathematician?' competition.   In the final round, O'Dorney, 16, even corrected the math of game host Mike Breen and a panel of judges during the competition held at the Moscone Center during the annual joint meeting of the AMS and the Mathematical Association of America.   On the third question of the final round, O'Dorney and his last competitor, Ben Zauzmer, were asked to state the ratio of the shaded area of a square and 4 surrounding triangles.   Seven seconds into the question, O'Dorney answered 'D', the square root of 3 to 1.   The judges told him that was wrong.   That gave Zauzmer a minute to figure it out, but when he rang in with the wrong answer, O'Dorney pounced, telling Breen, 'I still think the answer is D.   I think there is an error in math.'   After the panel double-checked and O'Dorney explained his answer, Breen and the judges agreed.   O'Dorney's win earned him $5K, a Texas Instruments graphing calculator and an additional $5K for the Berkeley Math Circle.   'I wouldn't say I was 100% positive it was right.', said O'Dorney, who wants to become a research mathematician.   'But I was 90% [certain].'...   Besides his acumen with figures, O'Dorney dabbles at the piano, composing a song to help him remember as many digits as possible in the numerical sequence of pi.   In his most well-known feat, O'Dorney made mincemeat of Merriam-Webster's claim on the English language, winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2007."

2010-01-15 13:36:20PST (16:36:20EST) (21:36:20GMT)
Pete Carey _San Jose CA Mercury News_
San Mateo executive, Hung Tran, indicted for H-1B visa violations
"The executive, who worked at the San Mateo accounting firm Portston, was fined [a purely symbolic] $1K and given a year's probation this week after an investigation triggered by a whistle-blower's tip to the State Department.   Officials said Hung Tran, the executive, instructed a VietNamese man last April to say he would be training at the company, entitling him to a tourist visa, when the person actually was being brought to the U.S.A. to help on a software design project, work requiring an H-1B...   The worker never obtained the tourist visa.   A whistle-blower who worked for Portston, and who had access to internal e-mails, alerted the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, prompting an investigation."

2010-01-15
William Foreman _Washington DC Post_/_AP_
US buyers must beware of things made in Red China

2010-01-15
Patrick J. Buchanan
Is a US Default Inevitable?

2010-01-15
John Keefe _BNET_/_Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
Sharing the Pain of Unemployment

2010-01-15
David M. Walker _Peter G. Peterson Foundation_
Comeback America: Turning the Country Around and Restoring Fiscal Responsibility

2010-01-15 (5770 Tevet 29)
Caroline B. Glick _Jewish World Review_
Bill Ayres & wife, Jodie Evans and Bernardine Dohrn, came to the Middle East with a group to collaborate with Hamas
"Hamas immediately placed them under siege.   The Palestinian champions had planned to enjoy home hospitality from friends in Gaza.   But once there they were prohibited from leaving the Hamas-owned Commodore Hotel and from having any contact with local Gazans without a Hamas escort.   Rather than being permitted to judge the situation in Gaza for themselves, they were carted onto Hamas buses and taken on 'devastation tours' of what their Hamas tour guides claimed was damage caused by the IDF during Operation Cast Lead.   And then these international protesters were forced to participate in a Hamas-organized march to Erez Crossing...   Hass's participation in the pro-Hamas propaganda trip is a bit surprising.   In 2008 November Hass was forced to flee from Gaza to Israel after Hamas threatened to kill her.   At the time, Hass appealed to the Israeli military -- which she has spent the better part of her career bashing -- and asked to be allowed to enter Israel from Gaza after sailing illegally to Gaza from Cyprus on a ferry boat chartered by the pro-Hamas Free Gaza outfit...   As Jamie Glazov chronicles in his recently published book, _United in Hate: The Left's Romance with Tyranny and Terror_, their attraction to mass murderers -- from Stalin to Osama bin Laden, and their concomitant hatred of their own societies 'is a secular religion'...   'even former North Vietnamese officials have admitted that the anti-war movement in American can take credit for communism's victory in South Vietnam and, therefore, for the tragic bloodbath that followed'..."
appeal for help

2010-01-15
DJIA10,609.65
S&P 5001,136.03
NASDAQ2,287.99
Nikkei10,982
10-year US T-Bond3.72%
crude oil$78.00/barrel
gold$1,130.50/ounce
silver$18.43/ounce
platinum$1,130.50/ounce
palladium$447.75/ounce
copper$0.211875/ounce
natgas$5.691/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline $2.0454/gal
heatingoil$2.046/gal
dollarindex77.20
yenperdollar90.84
dollarspereuro1.4409
dollarsperpound1.6280
swissfranksperdollar1.0257
indianrupeesperdollar45.70
mexicanpesosperdollar 12.6846
MorganStanleyHighTechIndex576.38

I usually get this info from MarketWatch.
 

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "Time will reveal everything.   It is a babbler, & speaks even when not asked." --- Euripides  

 

2010-01-16

2010-01-15 19:40:59PST (2010-01-16 00:40:59EST) (2010-01-16 05:40:59GMT)
Lise M. Krieger _San Jose CA Mercury News_
Stanford president John Hennessy urged further weakening of rules about release of sensitive technologies
"But representative Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach warned against exporting information and technologies to Chinese researchers who are foreign nationals, saying 'you are essentially exporting straight into the hands of the [Red Chinese military.   While companies in Silicon Valley have the most to gain from export control', he said, 'they also stand to lose the most if we don't do it right.   If we end up with laws that are so lax that our competitors end up with these technologies, we're doing the high tech industry a disservice.'   Said representative Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto: 'We need safeguards that are smart and secure but don't hijack American genius.'"

2010-01-16
Craig Gustafson _San Diego CA Union-Tribune_
Some San Diego city government computer support may be off-shored to India
"The mayor selected En Pointe Technologies from among 9 bidders to take over the city's desktop support services beginning July 1.   Most of the work would be done at the company's Gardena headquarters and by a local subcontractor, Mission Valley-based Gray Systems Inc.   But part of the service includes after-hours operators to help with computer problems from 19:00 to 07:00.   They'll be stationed in India.   Naresh Lachmandas, the city's information technology director, said the over-seas component is a small part of the company's $1.2M bid...   Right now support services are provided by San Diego Data Processing Corp., a non-profit city agency that has handled the job for 30 years...   Data Processing Corp.'s bid for the new contract was $1.8M and also would have outsourced the after-hours calls -- to Columbus, OH.   The city currently pays Data Processing Corp. $2.7M for support services, which are handled by 23 workers.   The En Pointe contract would provide 5 full-time desk-top-support workers; help desk calls would be handled by the company's main office, which already takes calls from its other customers."

2010-01-16
Tom Tancredo _World Net Daily_
Reprehensible Immigration Law Perversion's Amnesty vs. Immigration Reform
"Amnesty for persons in the country unlawfully exacerbates and magnifies every single problem our immigration system faces, yet advocates for 'comprehensive immigration reform' never fail to make amnesty the centerpiece of their plans.   This contradiction reveals a different agenda.   They aim not to fix our broken immigration system but to destroy it."

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "...the real interest [is] the interest of the people as a whole in being able to join organizations, advocate causes and make political 'mistakes' without later being subjected to governmental penalties for having dared to think for themselves.   It is this right, the right to err politically, which keeps us a strong Nation...   The obloquy which results from investigations such as this not only stifles 'mistakes' but prevents all but the most courageous from hazarding any views which might at some later time become disfavored.   This result, whose importance cannot be overestimated, is doubly crucial when it affects the universities, on which we must largely rely for the experimentation and development of new ideas essential to our country's welfare.   It is these interests...   which I think the Court should put on the balance against the demands of the government, if any balancing process is to be tolerated.   Instead they are not mentioned, while on the other side the demands of the Government are vastly overstated and called self-preservation." --- Black, William O. Douglas & chief dissent in Barenblatt v US  

 

2010-01-17

2010-01-17
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring News-Letter_
vaunted USCIS memo of no consequence
 
I'm receiving a lot of e-mail from activist critics of the H-1B program concerning a January 8 memo by USCIS titled, "Determining Employer-Employee Relation for Adjudication of H-1B Petitions, Including Third-Party Site Placements".   You can read the press release and download the memo itself (pdf).
 
The memo's title sounds like a mouthful, but in essence it's about situations in which a rent-a-programmer firms such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), colloquially known as "bodyshops", supply H-1B workers to, say, IBM [which has a large cross-border bodyshopping operation, itself].   Organizations critical of the H-1B program, notably the Programmers Guild, have cried foul in such situations, saying that having H-1Bs work at a third-party site is an abuse of H-1B.   As a result, this has gotten a lot of attention.   The Durbin-Grassley bill has a section dealing with it.
 
I'll get to the USCIS memo shortly, but first wish to remind readers that I've always considered this a non-issue.   I've strongly endorsed the Durbin-Grassley bill, but as I've said in the past, that particular provision on third-party placement is not a section I find useful.   On the contrary, I consider the Guild to be misguided on this point.
 
All the bodyshops could be shut down tomorrow and yet there still would not be more work for U.S. citizen and permanent resident techies.   IBM et al. would simply hire more H-1Bs directly, and though they might have to pay a bit more, the H-1Bs would still be cheaper than Americans.   It's like what would happen if Congress suddenly banned imports of toys from [Red China]; U.S. toy manufacturers would simply move production from [Red China] to some other Third World country, not to the U.S.A.   [Yes, one sub-set of the objections are to bodyshopping, itself, whether done across borders or domestically, totally within the USA by US citizens.]
 
The vested interests clearly agree with me that it's a non-issue.   The industry lobbyists have never objected to proposals to clamp down on the bodyshops.   They object strenuously to lots of other H-1B reform proposals, but not the ones concerning the bodyshops.   Since they rent H-1Bs from the bodyshops, why don't they object?   The answer is that they know that they will still get cheap labor, whether through the bodyshops or by direct hire.
 
Similarly, there's never been a peep out of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) on the proposals regarding third-party placement.   These guys are among the most active lobbyists on the Hill regarding H-1B, so surely they'd object if they thought the proposals would result in fewer H-1Bs being hired.   Clearly, they don't see that as happening.   And the two columns in the January 15 edition of Immigration Dailyare pretty ho-hum about the whole thing.
 
Now for those who disagree with me on whether third-party placement is an issue, I must point out that this USCIS memo is basically useless.   The bodyshops will have Business As Usual, having to make either a few cosmetic changes in procedure or none at all.   Indeed, the USCIS memo even describes a model example of a situation in which USCIS will approve third-party placement (p.5):
 
The petitioner is a computer software development company which has contracted with another, unrelated company to develop an in-house computer program to track its merchandise, using the petitioner's proprietary software and expertise.   In order to complete this project, petitioner has contracted to place software engineers at the client's main warehouse where they will develop a computer system for the client using the petitioner's software designs.   The beneficiary is a software engineer who has been offered employment to fufill the needs of the contract in place between the petitioner and the client.   The beneficiary performs his duties at the client company's facility.   While the beneficiary is at the client company's facility, the beneficiary reports weekly to a manager is employed by the petitioner.   The beneficiary is paid by the petitioner and receives employee benefits from the petitioner.
 
This is so tailored to firms like TCS that one must even raise the question of whether it was written by one of them.   Note that innocuous-looking phrase, "using the petitioner's proprietary software".   Some readers of this e-news-letter may recall its significance:   A 2003 June 15 article in the Dallas Morning News reported (emphasis added):
 
India-based Tata Consultancy Services uses the L-1 visa program to transfer employees to the United States and send them out on consulting projects across the country.   The primary reason is that its workers in India are trained in Tata software -- TRAINING NOT AVAILABLE TO U.S. WORKERS, said resident manager of personnel Girish Surendran.
 
I explained in my post that that "proprietary software" is likely CMM project-tracking, no big deal, but in any case, you can see that it gives TCS an excuse not to hire American workers.   And now the USCIS has codified that excuse.
 
But even without that excuse, the rest of that model scenario in the USCIS memo fits TCS and the other major bodyshopping firms to a T, with the item about "proprietary software" being icing on the cake.
 
I had earlier predicted that if any legislation or regs addressed the third-party placement issue, they would be easily circumvented via cosmetic measures on the part of the bodyshops.   I said, for instance, that TCS H-1Bs could wear TCS baseball caps, to symbolize that they work for TCS rather than for the "third party".   But now with the USCIS memo, TCS can save money on those caps.
 
Norm
class action against Tata

2010-01-17
Linda Halstead-Acharya _Billings MT Gazette_
Owners of early water rights seek to retain them in the face of new tapping of aquifers

2010-01-17 16:00PST (2010-01-17 19:00EST) (2010-01-18 00:00GMT)
Sue McAllister _San Jose CA Mercury News_
Silicon Valley office vacancies to remain high this year

2010-01-17
Aethan Hart _KARE 11_
You Won't See Me
"The census folks have a mailing address, but the number and names of those living at that address need to be confirmed.   There are also [excessively intrusive] questions about race, gender, age and the relationship of the people living at the address...   Again, I deposited several quarters into a meter, loaded my camera and tripod on a two wheeled cart and headed to the turn of the century grace and elegance of the Great Hall, the 1914 home of the railroad magnate James J. Hill.   I hoped I would catch a train bound for visual glory as I boarded the elevator to ascend to the Census office.   I met with the supervisor of the office and was informed that no video-taping was allowed in the office, because of privacy concerns...   One would think that the most public of venues, those owned by all of the people in the federal sense would be more open, but these portals are always the least accessible to photojournalists...   How about a shot of the door to the office and the small sign reading Census, I asked?   Again, there was an apologetic denial from the representative of the census."

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "The mushrooming of surveillance has been explained by the sense of panic and crisis felt throughout the government during this period of extremely vocal dissent, large demonstrations, political and campus violence, and what at the time seemed the inauguration of a period of wide-spread anarchy.   While officials...   suggested that these crises justified the surveillance, they failed to recognize that the rights guaranteed by the constitution are constant and unbending to the temper of the times..." --- Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights 1973  

 

2010-01-18

2010-01-18
Himanshi Dhawan _Times of India_
India to push US on social security pact
"In a move that could nip the current Indo-US bonhomie in the bud, the Indian government is likely to link progress on the [socialist insecurity] agreement with the USA to that of the Bilateral Investment Promotion Agreement (BIPA).   The ministry of over-seas Indian affairs will be taking up the matter with the ministry of external affairs.   The government has been pursuing the social security agreement -- that will allow Indians working under short-term contracts in the US to secure exemption from contributing to the American [socialist insecurity] system -- since 2006 without much success.   [Currently, it is my understanding that the Socialist Insecurity Extortions/FICA are recorded and guest-workers given credit for them, based on a 'totalization' agreement that was reached years ago.]...   Also under the US law, the employer and employee have to contribute 7.65% each (total 15.3%) of the salary of the worker."

2010-01-17 21:54PST (2010-01-18 00:54EST) (2010-01-18 05:54GMT)
Jackie Felt _Daily Illini_
Rogers received grant to research flexible circuits and the brain

2010-01-18
David Seminara _Center for Immigration Studies_
Dirty Work: In-Sourcing American Jobs with H-2B Guest-Workers
"These are the kind of flawed assumptions that have led to the creation and rapid growth of the H-2B visa program, which has resulted in more half a million jobs being filled by foreign guestworkers over the last five years, rather than Americans and immigrants already in the United States.   Despite the significant impact that the H-2B visa program has on American workers, the program receives scant media coverage compared to other guestworker categories.   Issues surrounding the issuance of H-1B visas, for example, tend to receive far more media scrutiny because the beneficiaries and the victims are highly educated and often fall within the same social circles as journalists, and the topic of higher-paying skilled jobs is perceived to be more relevant to the kind of readership and viewership that advertisers desire.   As the global recession continues to take its toll on the American economy, this is an opportune time to re-examine the H-2B program and to evaluate whether these jobs could be filled with people already in the United States...   The popularity of the H-2B program for temporary, seasonal, non-agricultural guestworkers has soared from just 15,706 visas issued in 1997 to an all-time high of 129,547 in 2007.   The Save Our Small and Seasonal Business Act (SOSSBA) passed by Congress in 2005 provided an exemption for returning H-2B workers so that they would not count toward the annual 66,000 cap on H-2B visas.   The SOSSBA was a windfall for H-2B employers, but Congress failed to renew the legislation in 2008.   The U.S. Chamber of Commerce lists expanding the H-2B program as one of its "Policy Priorities for 2009".   Despite the global economic crisis, demand for H-2B guestworkers remains strong, even in areas with high unemployment rates.   American companies filed petitions to request nearly 300K H-2B workers in FY2008."

2010-01-18
Susan Carroll _Houston TX Chronicle_
Border Patrol agent Ignacio Ramos still suffering from being targeted by open-borders crowd

2010-01-18
J.D. Longstreet _Right Side News_
Leftists set to re-introduce amnesty for illegal aliens: Reprehensible Immigration Law Perversion
News by Us
"The fact is, the Dems want the votes of the illegal aliens and the Republicans want the cheap labor."

2010-01-18
Sarah Durand _Pajamas Media_
Leftists plan for 2010 elections is to cheat

2010-01-18
Nanette Asimov _San Francisco CA Chronicle_
Compensation increases slow for public university presidents
Chronicle of Higher Education
"Education executives earned a median of $436,111 in pay and perks, up 1.1% from the prior year when adjusted for inflation, according to the latest annual survey of 185 public universities and 69 community colleges by the Chronicle of Higher Education...   The #1 earner, President Gordon Gee at Ohio State University, took in nearly $1.6M last year.   No other public university executive topped $1M, although Mark Emmert at the University of Washington in Seattle came close, earning $905,004.   UC's Yudof, who presides over a 10-campus system and a $19.3G budget, was #31 on the list of 185 top executives surveyed.   He was paid $600K last year: a base salary of $591,084, a car allowance of $8,916, and the use of a house."

2010-01-18
Michael Cutler _Reality Check_
Socialist Insecurity Abomination not even using e-Verify, themselves

2010-01-18
James Peron _FreeMan_
Prosperity saves lives

2010-01-18
Gary Galles _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
Montesquieu on Commerce
"January 18 marks the birth of Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu.   Robert Wokler called Montesquieu 'perhaps the most central thinker... of the enlightenment'.   He was also an important influence on America's founders, particularly his argument that a separation of powers was necessary for liberty to be maintained -- so much so that one writer characterized him as John Locke's 'Ideological co-founder of the American Constitution'."

2010-01-18 (5770 Shevat 03)
Rabbi Doctor Asher Meir _Jewish World Review_
Helping the Unemployed
"In the case of severance pay, this could be relevant in a number of cases.   For example, some kinds of quitting are really de facto firings.   Sometimes the law recognizes this in the form of 'constructive dismissal'.   If circumstances made continued work unbearable for this worker so that he was compelled to quit, then treating him as if he had been fired would be considered 'beyond the letter of the law'.   But if the worker decided totally on his own free will to quit work, there is no technicality involved.   So there is no issue here of 'beyond the letter of the law'.   If you decide to help this person, it would be considered a kind of charity.   An unemployed person is generally needy, and certainly it is a wonderful good deed to help a needy person with charity.   Next week we will consider if the severance pay is the best way to provide aid to this needy person."
appeal for help

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "Democracy is cumbersome, slow & inefficient, but in due time, the voice of the people will be heard & their latent wisdom will prevail." --- Thomas Jefferson (unverified)  

 

2010-01-19

2010-01-18 17:11:43PST (2010-01-18 20:11:43EST) (2010-01-19 01:11:43GMT)
Stephen Wall _San Bernardino CA Sun_
San Bernardino county CA spent nearly $64M on illfare benefits for anchor babies

2010-01-19
John Bolton _Commentary_
Obama's next 3 years: Our future under the socialist international

2010-01-19
_Fox_
Red Chinese censors ordered 2D version of "Avatar" to be pulled to reduce competition against locally-made movies
"[Red China] remains highly protective of its domestic film industry, allowing only 20 foreign films into the Chinese market each year."

2010-01-19
_FAIR US_
Immigration Legislation Update
"In a stunning shift in policy, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents last week apprehended approximately 60 illegal aliens en route to shovel snow at a Boston stadium and then drove them back to work.   The illegal aliens had been hired by a temp firm to shovel snow at Gillette Stadium before the New England Patriots play-off game.   (Providence Journal, 2010 January 9).   The federal agents found the illegal aliens, most from Guatemala, in 4 unmarked vans that were stopped as part of a search for fugitives who had ignored deportation orders. (Boston Globe, 2010 January 12)...   As the American people continue to express concern over national security issues, Representatives Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Lamar Smith (R-TX) have renewed the push to end the so-called 'diversity visa' lottery program.   Established in 1990, the visa lottery awards approximately 50K visas randomly to foreign nationals of countries considered under-represented in immigration admissions...   Immigration Lawyers Turn a Profit Recruiting Foreign Nationals for Wealthy Investor Visa Program.   With the unemployment at a 25-year high, demand for H-1B visas -- which allow foreign workers to work in the United States in certain 'specialty' occupations -- has dropped off significantly.   Accordingly, immigration law firms have been forced to find other work, and recent media reports are indicating that these firms have refocused their efforts on recruiting foreign nationals to come to the United States under the EB-5 visa category.   (Law.com, 2010 January 12).   These efforts have contributed to an almost 3-fold increase in the number of EB-5 visas issued from FY2008 to FY2009. (Washington Post, 2010 January 10)."

2010-01-19
Dennis Prager _Front Page_
Is America Still Making Men?
"Males [and females] untutored about how to control their natures will likely do much harm.   Conversely, males [and females] who are taught to how to control themselves and to channel their drives in positive directions make the world a much better place.   The good man [woman] is a glory of civilization; the bad man [woman] ruins it."

2010-01-19
_Kansas City Business Journal_
US tech firms dumped nearly 175K employees
Google/AFP
Marianne Kolbasuk McGee: Information Week
NY NewsDay
IT Management
Puget Sound Business Journal
"U.S. computer, electronics and telecommunications firms cut 174,629 positions in 2009, a 12.3% increase from 2008, according to Chicago-based out-placement consultant Challenger Gray and Christmas Inc., which released the results of its study of job cut announcements on Tuesday.   The company said the 2009 total was the largest annual number of job losses since 2005, when 174,744 positions were eliminated.   The tech-sector job reductions also represented a slightly larger percentage of overall U.S. lay-offs, making up 13.5% of the 1.29M cuts announced last year among all industries.   By comparison, tech jobs made up 12.7% of all job cuts the year before.   Among tech companies, the largest increase came from electronics firms, which announced 65,300 planned layoffs during the year, compared with 42,062 in 2008.   Computer firms rose slightly from 64,860 to 65,261, but job cuts fell at telecommunications companies, which laid off 44,068, compared with 48,648 the year before.   Kansas City-area tech firms contributed to the overall national trend.   Overland Park-based Sprint Nextel Corp. announced 2 rounds of as many as 10,500 job cuts in January and November.   The first round included as many as 2K local jobs, but the company hasn't said how many local jobs were affected in the second round.   The former telecom company Embarq Corp., which was bought by Louisiana-based CenturyTel Inc. in July, becoming CenturyLink, so far has eliminated 600 local employees, and Olathe-based Garmin International Inc. cut 141 positions in March.   Shawnee-based software developer Perceptive Software laid off 53 in January, or 10% of its work force.   California, a much larger technology market by comparison, experienced a reported 63,646 tech lay-offs in 2009, up from 61,400 in 2008 and 46,744 the year before, according to the Challenger, Gray & Christmas study.   On a relative basis, Massachusetts fared much worse, with 11,769 technology job cuts reported last year, up from 2,015 in 2008 and 1,182 in 2007."

2010-01-19
Paul Nachman _V Dare_
Yes, They're Aliens!

2010-01-19
Amy Bennett Williams _Lehigh FL News-Press_
Publix hires foreign workers
And Justice 4 All
"At a time when Lee County's unemployment rate is almost 14% and about 38K residents are jobless, Publix is paying people from South America to work at some of its Southwest Florida super-markets.   For the last three years, Publix has hired hundreds of Peruvians and Brazilians for its stores in south Fort Myers and Naples during tourist season because the company says it can't find locals to fill those spots.   The South American cashiers, baggers, deli, bakery and grocery clerks work part time at more than 20 area locations, said Publix spokeswoman Shannon Patten.   The company began hiring them in late 2008, when Lee's unemployment was about 6%...   Hursell, who just completed a computer class at the Career and Service Center in Fort Myers, said she'd be happy to work at Publix even on a part-time, temporary basis.   'I wouldn't mind at all.', she said.   Pat Angelicchio, who owns Snelling Personnel Services in Fort Myers, says Hursell is typical of the people he sees at his business, which matches job-seekers to jobs...   Although numbers aren't broken down by county, there are 7,756 J1 visa-holders in Florida, said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Darlene Kirk...   Publix doesn't reciprocate in the exchange...   Florida representative Paige Kreegel, R-Punta Gorda, who hadnt heard about the practice before, called it terrible.   I guess we need to raise a stink about it, Kreegel said...   Barbara Hartman, spokeswoman for the Career and Service Center in Fort Myers says shes surprised Publix would turn to foreign workers.   Usually, she says, companies hire non-citizens for positions that are either specialized or in remote places neither of which the Publix jobs are.   I'm just at a loss as to why they would not be able to find enough candidates to fill those positions, Hartman said.   So, shes got an idea for Publix: Check out her agency.   With more than 38K people looking for work in Lee County, we'd love to help them with their recruitment effort."

2010-01-19 (5770 Shevat 04)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Are Inept Republicans "Due"?
"there is no such thing as being 'due'...   when election day comes, nobody can vote for polls.   It still takes a candidate to beat a candidate -- and the question is whether the Republicans come up with the kinds of candidates that can win.   Those of us who are not Republicans nevertheless have a huge stake in this Fall's elections, because the current administration in Washington is not merely deficient but dangerous, both at home and abroad.   In just one year in power, the Obama administration has not merely tripled the deficit and circumvented the Constitution with their 'czars' who rule by decree, but have moved to dictate the medical treatment of all Americans -- which is to say, they are moving toward getting the power of life and death, to add to all the other powers they have seized...   The fact that the United States has never surrendered may make it difficult for Americans even to imagine that it could happen, much less what a horror it would be to live under hate-filled fanatics like the current Iranian leaders.   But Japan had likewise never surrendered in its entire history until it was hit with two nuclear bombs.   Unlike us, Iranian leaders -- going back to the Ayatollah Khomeini -- have said plainly that they are willing to see their country destroyed as the price of destroying the enemies of Islam -- which, in their view of the world, includes the United States...   The longer we wait, the higher the price goes -- the price of either action or inaction.   Just 3 years ago, the people currently at the top in Washington -- including President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- were ready to turn tail and run in Iraq.   Former Ambassador John Bolton has written a book titled _Surrender is Not an Option_.   But that is an option for the kind of people at the top in the Obama administration.   It would take a leader with extraordinary courage, pride in America and dedication to the values, traditions and the people of America, to stand up to enemies who could annihilate Los Angeles, Chicago and New York with nuclear weapons.   Does this sound anything like the president who has gone around the world apologizing for this country and literally bowing to foreign leaders?   The stakes in this Fall's elections go far beyond the fate of either the Republican party or the Democratic party.   The fate of America is on the line.   The Republicans need to understand that -- and to understand that they are not simply 'due' because of polls.   They have a job to do, and what will happen to our children and grand-children will depend on how well they do it...   A higher percentage of Republicans than Democrats voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.   It was Republicans whose 'Philadelphia Plan' in the 1970s sought to break the construction unions' racial barriers that kept blacks out of skilled trades."
see also _Dismantling America_
appeal for help

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "Now, get this through your head.   We're going to spend & spend & spend, and tax & tax & tax, and re-elect & re-elect & re-elect, until you're dead or forgotten." --- Harry L. Hopkins, admin of WPA as reported by Evening Star 1938-11-09  

 

2010-01-20

2010-01-20
Paul Nachman _V Dare_
Yes, they are aliens who are here illegally

2010-01-20
Erika Kinetz _Washington Post_/_AP_
India-based cross-border bodyshoppers aggressively staffing up as US demand grows
MarketWatch
John Ribiero: PCWorld/IDG
Reuters
Taiwan News

2010-01-20
Ed Kemmick _Billings MT Gazette_/_Lee_
After living 4 months in a cave... 2 years of building back a life, but still in a subsidized apartment
"Hope lived there for 4 months, part of the time alone with Grunt...   Hope used the bath-room at the Cenex station next to Applebee's to wash up and she walked everywhere she needed to go, sometimes putting in as many as 20 miles a day and always accompanied by Grunt.   'That dog kept me safe when I was homeless.', she said.   'Scary guys would cross the street when they saw him.'   She would walk to the Mission for a hot meal, or to St. Vincent de Paul for a sandwich.   St. Vincent also provided a monthly 'food box'.   Her water came from Cenex, carried in a couple of gallon milk jugs.   The hike up the hill from Main Street to her cave was fairly long and steep at some points...   Her belongings consisted of a week's worth of clothing, pens and paper, some makeup, cooking utensils, a couple of pans, a small cooler, a jack-knife and, of course, her modeling portfolio.   Also, she said, 'I had, like, 10 Coleman sleeping bags, a fire and a pit bull to keep me warm.'   She lived on her Social Security disability check of $670 a month, but she spent a good portion of it staying at a motel for 4 or 5 days a month.   It gave her chance to clean up and to spend some time with her younger daughter, who was still living in the area. Her daughter knew where she lived the rest of the month."

2010-01-20
Ana Ribeiro _Star News On-Line_
Brunswick county resolution backs ban on illegal aliens in NC colleges
"The document calls for the NC General Assembly 'to fully dismiss and with due finality prohibit illegal aliens from enrolling'."

2010-01-20
Pete Abler _Lake Country Echo and Pine River Journal_
Abler-Minded: Universal buffoonery: National Socialist Health Care and Reprehensible Immigration Law Perversion (ObummerDoesn'tCare)

2010-01-20
_MMD News Wire_/_Americans for Legal Immigration PAC_
Brown victory in Massachusetts may stop Reprehensible Immigration Law Perversion

2010-01-20
David Paulin _American Thinker_
Illegal aliens and the right to own and carry arms

2010-01-20
Jeffrey Folks _American Thinker_
The Left's Rhetoric and Kenneth Minogue's _Alien Powers_
"4M jobs were lost in 2009 as the administration reiterated its mantra of 'jobs created or saved'.   A total of 84K additional jobs were lost in December as the president's economists spoke of an improving jobs market.   The October jobs report had to be revised downward by 16K.   The Labor Department's figures still do not reflect the millions of unemployed workers who simply gave up and are not counted."

2010-01-20
Tom Lutey _Billings MT Gazette_/_Lee_
Foes of popular genetically modified sugar beet seek injunction to halt planting
"Roughly 95% of the nation's sugar beet acres were planted with Monsanto-created Roundup Ready beets last year, including 68K acres in Montana and Wyoming.   Sugar beets were a $45M crop for Montana farmers in 2007, according to the most recent data available from the National Agricultural Statistics Service."

2010-01-20
Mike Dennison _Billings MT Gazette_/_Lee_
Baucus, Tester offer no clear plans for health-care reform; GOP calls for reboot

2010-01-20
Jennifer McKee _Billings MT Gazette_/_Lee_
Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks' proposed ban on lead shot for all migratory bird and upland game bird hunting at Montana's 72 state-owned wildlife management areas draws criticism

2010-01-20 08:55PST (11:55EST) (16:55GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
Housing starts slip 4% in December, building permits rise: for 2009, new construction falling to post-WW2 low of 554K

2010-01-20
Toni Bowers _Tech Republic_/_Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
CGC: Tech lay-off announcements in 2009 hit 4-year high
"Tech sector employers announced 174,629 job cuts in 2009, the highest total since 2005.   The total tech cuts comprised 13.2% of the 1.3M jobs lost across all industries in 2009.   Most of the tech cuts happened in the first quarter of 2009, with more than 84K lay-offs.   More than 65K job cuts were announced on Jan. 30 alone, and included Sprint Nextel and Texas Instruments.   But by the fourth quarter, tech cuts tapered to just under 34K.   The report says the rapid decline in cuts over the year could signal a 2010 turn-around."

2010-01-20
Tom Lutey _Billings MT Gazette_
Market for organic wheat not so rosy

2010-01-20
Jon Talton _Seattle WA Times_
America waking up to unsustainable economic bubble in Red China
"Things are tough all over, but blue-collar workers are among the hardest hit by the recession.   According to Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies, blue-collar industries have cut 1 in 6 jobs vs. 1 in 20 for the economy as a whole.   OTOH, job cuts by tech companies last year reached their highest level since 2005, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.   At more than 174,600, the planned cuts would be 12% higher than in 2008."

2010-01-20
_Investor's Business Daily_
IPCC's Abominable Snowmen: Warmist deception WRT glaciers
"The IPCC claim has been traced to an article published in 1999 in an Indian magazine by Syed Hasnain, a little-known scientist then based at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, India."

2010-01-20
_Lehigh FL News-Press_
Employers must hire US workers first
"It's simply not acceptable for Southwest Florida employers to import foreign workers when the local unemployment rate is almost 14%.   That's especially so when they are using a cultural exchange program to get those workers visas without having to show that Americans won't take the jobs...   Since 2008, when unemployment was already 6 percent, Publix has hired hundreds of Peruvians and Brazilians for its stores in south Fort Myers and Naples in the tourist season, when it says it's hard to find locals for the temporary jobs.   What we are hearing from some of the county's 38K jobless and the employment specialists who try to help them is that this is insulting nonsense.   We agree.   An increasing percentage of our people are having to cobble together a living from part-time and temporary jobs, moonlighting, even 'daylighting' one job at the same time they're working another, with poor pay and few if any benefits.   Thousands are already doing that, struggling valiantly to support their families.   It's not the good pay, good benefits and lifetime employment we once considered almost a birthright for those with an education and a decent work ethic, but it is reality for thousands right here in Lee County.   [Even] Part-time and temporary jobs are needed."

2010-01-20
_Arizona Family_
Poll: Hopefully 6% may not fill out census form

2010-01-20
Andrew Burger _TeleCompetitor_
Average U.S. Broadband Connection Speed=3.9Mbps; South Korea=14.6Mbps
Karl Bode: Broad-Band DSL Reports (with table)
"Sandy, Utah has the fastest average speeds in the country at 33.464Mbps..."

2010-01-20 (5770 Shevat 05)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
Haiti's Avoidable Death Toll
appeal for help

2010-01-20 (5770 Shevat 05)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Are Inept Republicans "Due"? part2
"Data on income differences, for example, are presented in a way that suggests that the different income brackets represent enduring classes of people over time, when in fact other studies show that the vast majority of people in the lowest income brackets as of a given time rise out of those brackets over time.   More people from the bottom fifth end up in the top fifth than remain at the bottom.   Household income data are presented in ways which suggest that there is very little real improvement in the American people's standard of living over time, and innumerable editorials and television commentaries have elaborated that theme.   But per capita income data show far more improvement over time.   The difference is that households have been getting smaller but one person always means one person.   Just by deciding what kind of data to present in what way, the Census Bureau has become, in effect, an adjunct of the liberal establishment, even when conservative Republicans are in control of the federal government.   This is not necessarily deliberate political sabotage, just [leftists] being [leftists]...   A higher percentage of Republicans than Democrats voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.   It was Republicans whose 'Philadelphia Plan' in the 1970s sought to break the construction unions' racial barriers that kept blacks out of skilled trades."
see also _Dismantling America_
appeal for help

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to

1961-01-20
John Fitzgerald Kennedy _American Rhetoric_
inaugural address
"We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom -- symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning -- signifying renewal, as well as change.   For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago.   The world is very different now.   For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life.   And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe -- the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.   We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution.   Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans -- born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.   Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty...   Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.   We dare not tempt them with weakness.   For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed."
 
 

  "Compared to [Congress] I'm an amateur, & the thing about my jokes is that they don't hurt any body.   You can say they're not funny or they're terrible or they're good or whatever it is, but they don't do no harm.   But with Congress...   every time they make a joke it's a law, & every time they make a law it's a joke." --- Will Rogers  

 

2010-01-21

2010-01-21 05:30PDT (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
DoL home page
historical data
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 650,728 in the week ending Jan. 16, a decrease of 154,194 from the previous week.   There were 763,987 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.4% during the week ending Jan. 9, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 5,716,608, a decrease of 299,837 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 4.2% and the volume was 5,651,117.   Extended benefits were available in AL, AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, PR, RI, SC, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, and WI during the week ending January 2...   States reported 5,654,544 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Jan. 2, an increase of 652,364 from the prior week.   There were 2,094,313 claimants in the comparable week in 2009. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.
graphs
more graphs

2010-01-21 06:00PST (09:00EST) (14:00GMT)
Gene C. Fant _Chronicle of Higher Education_
Courtesy interviews can be disheartening to candidates who aren't seriously being considered

2010-01-21
Barb Pizzini _Lehigh FL News-Press_
Missing the American Dream
"Re: 'Employers must hire U.S. workers first', January 20: What's happened to the American dream?   A secure job, employer funded health coverage, paid vacation and sick days, and a retirement plan?   Today, 1 of every 4 U.S. workers is easy to lay off with no severance pay, pays own health insurance, has no paid vacation and zero sick pay, has no company funded retirement plan, and has higher rates of depression and anxiety because of these working conditions!"

2010-01-21
_Medzilla_/_PR Web_
health care added 22K jobs in 2009 December; dumped 60K from pharmaceutical firms
"As one of the most difficult economic years in the past 2 decades came to a close, the health care industry remained one bright spot, adding another 22K jobs in 2009 December, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. Additionally, the overall unemployment rate in the U.S. remained steady at 10%. However, December was a difficult month for the pharmaceutical industry, closing out a difficult year that saw the elimination of more than 60K pharmaceutical company jobs, according to out-placement consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas."

2010-01-21
Rob Sanchez _V Dare_/_Job Destruction News-Letter_
High-tech high school boondoggle in Phoenix

2010-01-21 (5770 Shevat 06)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Are Republicans "Due"? part3
"Within living memory, it was considered nothing remarkable when Republicans received 30% or 40% of the black vote.   Today a Republican presidential candidate is lucky if his share of the black vote is not in single digits.   The black vote was once consistently Republican, from the time of Abraham Lincoln to Herbert Hoover.   Even after Franklin D. Roosevelt won over the black vote to the Democrats, it was not considered remarkable when Eisenhower got a higher share of the black vote than any Republican president in recent times has.   It may be years before Republicans can again get a majority of the black vote.   But Republicans don't need to get a majority of the black vote.   If they get 20% of the black vote, the Democrats are in trouble -- and if they get 30%, the Democrats have had it in the general election...   Those black voters that Republicans have any realistic chance of winning over are people who share similar values and concerns.   They want their children to get a decent education, which they are unlikely to get so long as public schools are a monopoly run for the benefit of the teachers' unions, instead of for the education of the children.   Democrats are totally in hock to the teachers' unions, which means that Republicans have a golden opportunity to go after the votes of black parents by connecting the dots and exposing one of the key reasons for bad education in inner cities and the bad consequences that follow.   But when have you ever heard a Republican candidate get up and hammer the teachers' unions for blocking every attempt to give parents -- black or white -- the choice of where to send their children?   The teachers' unions are going to be against the Republicans, whether Republicans hammer them or keep timidly quiet.   Why not talk straight to black voters about the dire consequences of the pubic school monopoly that the teachers' unions and the Democrats protect at all cost, even though many private schools -- notably the KIPP schools in various states -- have achieved remarkable success with low-income and minority youngsters?...   Most blacks don't want judges turning criminals loose in their communities to plague them and their children.   These are almost invariably [leftist] judges, appointed mostly by Democrats.   Many of the key constituencies of the Democratic Party -- the teachers' unions, the trial lawyers, and the environmentalists, for example -- have agendas whose net effect is to inflict damage on blacks.   Urban Renewal destroys mostly minority neighborhoods and environmentalist restrictions on building homes make housing prices skyrocket, forcing blacks out of many communities.   The number of blacks in San Francisco has been cut in half since 1970."
appeal for help

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "One of the standing jokes of Congress is that the new Congressman always spends the 1st week wondering how he got there & the rest of the time wondering how the other members got there." --- Saturday Evening Post 1899-11-04  

 

2010-01-22

2010-01-22
Michael A. Fletcher _Washington Post_
promises of jobs in a hub of manufacturing
"In recent decades, one major company after another -- American Shipbuilding, U.S. Steel, Ford Motor -- has closed or severely cut its workforce in Lorain County.   In some cases, production was moved over-seas or to non-union areas in the South, where labor is cheaper.   Other times, firms were forced to fold in the face of foreign competition.   'I don't think we can replace the jobs that have left.', said Michael Winiasz, president of Advanced Design Industries, a 40-year-old Lorain County firm that designs and builds custom machinery.   'We decided 30 or 40 years ago to allow this migration of jobs.   We have to do something to change that.'   Officials here have fought back with one job creation idea after another.   The unions and community college have spent millions in federal money retraining displaced workers.   Firms willing to create jobs receive tax breaks.   The $787G economic stimulus plan enacted by Obama last February has brought at least $33M to Lorain county.   Among other things, the money has paid for youth summer jobs, Head Start slots, housing vouchers, road repairs, home weatherization projects and the transformation of a historic railroad station into a new transportation center.   Separately, German chemical giant BASF has won a $24M Department of Energy grant to begin production here of a key component in the next-generation lithium-ion batteries that power hybrid and electric cars...   In nearby Brooklyn, Ohio, a garment factory that employs 300 union workers to make high-end Hugo Boss suits plans to close in April, probably moving to Eastern Europe, where wages are lower...   One of the few large businesses that has prospered in Lorain county in recent years has been Invacare, a maker of home medical devices, such as walkers and wheel-chairs.   The company has 1,300 employees in Lorain County but has stopped hiring in anticipation of a tax on medical devices that was proposed to help pay for the president's health-care reform plan.   A. Malachi Mixon III, who led a group of investors who bought the company from Johnson & Johnson in 1979, said the tax would cost his business $15M a year -- as much as he spends on research and development.   If a tax were enacted, he said, he would seriously consider moving jobs to his factories in [Red China] and Mexico.   'I'm not making money in my Lorain plant now.', said Mixon, who has suspended contributions to the company 401(k), and frozen executive salaries in anticipation of the tax.   That, in turn, has left many of his employees nervous."

2010-01-22 07:03PST (10:03EST) (15:03GMT)
Jeff Harrington _St. Petersburg FL Times_
Florida unemployment rate hits 11.8%; Tampa Bay at 12.4%
Daniel Indiviglio: Atlantic
Jacksonville FL Business Journal
Christopher S. Rugaber: Business Week
KGW

2010-01-22
Joe Guzzardi _V Dare_
Lodi School Budget Deficit Directly Tied to Immigration

2010-01-22
_Huffington Post_
TV Writers Get $70M in Age Discrimination Suit
"The defendants include 17 television networks and production companies, including ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, and seven talent agencies including the now-merged William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, Gersh and UTA.   The settlement caps nearly a decade of court battles.   Just one outstanding case, against Creative Artists Agency, remains.   The writers said the defendants refused to hire or represent them because of their age.   When they were represented, the writers alleged their agents didn't present them aggressively to studios for job openings."

2010-01-22
Sam Diaz _Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
Steve Ballmer says USA is "most extreme" about free speech

2010-01-22
Chip Camden _Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
Is independent consulting dead?

2010-01-22
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
US Climategate at NASA
Investor's Business Daily

2010-01-22
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Hoax and Chains

2010-01-22 (5770 Shevat 07)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Are Republicans "Due"? part4
"The big fear today is that the Republicans might offend Hispanics by supporting some controversial policies, such as border control or ending bilingual education.   This is a very strong fear, now that Hispanics are the largest minority in the country.   But there is no way to follow any consistent principle without offending some members of virtually every racial, ethnic, regional or economic group.   Yet, even on a very controversial issue like abortion, the same voters have at various times elected candidates who are 'pro-life' and candidates who are 'pro-choice', even if candidates who tried to waffle on the issue may not have done well.   Most voters have enough common sense to know that they are not likely to find candidates with whom they agree 100% on every issue.   One of Ronald Reagan's great strengths was his ability to explain his position, so that even people who did not agree with everything he said could respect his principles -- which required that they first knew what his principles were.   When you try to waffle and be all things to all people, you can end up being nothing to anybody.   That is where the 'smart money' crowd have gotten the Republicans in recent years.   All Hispanics are not the same.   A surprisingly large share of Hispanic voters are opposed to so-called 'bilingual education', and not all Hispanics are advocates of open borders...   Minorities have been the biggest losers from numerous [leftist] policies promoted by the Democrats -- whether in maintaining the monopoly of failing public schools for the sake of the teachers' unions, restricting the building of housing for the sake of the environmentalists, turning criminals loose in minority communities for the sake of the American Civil Liberties Union and like-minded [regressives] or artificially expanding unemployment among minority young people with minimum wage laws.   All that needs to be explained -- and explaining is what Republicans have been neglecting for years, except for Ronald Reagan, who knew that you can have your big tent and your principles at the same time, but only if you took the trouble to make your case to the public in plain English."
appeal for help

2010-01-22
DJIA10,172.98
S&P 5001,091.75
NASDAQ2,205.29
Nikkei10,591
10-year US T-Bond3.62%
crude oil$74.54/barrel
gold$1,089.70/ounce
silver$16.96/ounce
platinum$1,544.50/ounce
palladium$440.10/ounce
copper$0.205625/ounce
natgas$5.819/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline $1.9657/gal
heatingoil$1.9416/gal
soybeans$9.515/bushel
maize$3.6475/bushel
wheat$4.985/bushel
dollarindex78.288
yenperdollar89.86
dollarspereuro1.4139
dollarsperpound1.6117
swissfranksperdollar1.0420
indianrupeesperdollar46.2
mexicanpesosperdollar 12.9259
MorganStanleyHighTechIndex551.75

I usually get this info from MarketWatch.
 

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "We all know of course that we cannot abolish all the evils in this world by statute or by the enforcement of statutes, nor can we prevent the inexorable law of nature which decrees that suffering shall follow vice, & all the evil passions & folly of mankind.   Law cannot give to depravity the rewards of virtue, to indolence the rewards of industry, to indifference the rewards of ambition, or to ignorance the rewards of learning.   The utmost that gov't can do is measurably to protect men, not against the wrong they do themselves but against wrong done by others & to promote the long, slow process of educating mind & character to a better knowledge & nobler standards of life & conduct.   We know all this, but when we see how much misery there is in the world & instinctively cry out against it, & when we see some things that gov't may do to mitigate it, we are apt to forget how little after all it is possible for any gov't to do, & to hold the particular gov't of the time & place to a standard of responsibility which no gov't can possibly meet." --- Elihu Root 1913 _Experiments in Gov't & the Essentials of the Constitution_  

 

2010-01-23

2010-01-23
Tom Tancredo _World Net Daily_
Time now for real immigration reform

2010-01-23 06:11:03PST (09:11:03EST) (14:11:03GMT)
Stephen Wall _San Bernardino CA Sun_
Words become important in debates over immigration

2009-01-23
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
The Federal Reserve is inflating another bubble

2009-01-23
Cameron Laird _IT World_
Is Programming a Lucrative Profession?: Ethics of promoting a computing career
"There are a lot of ways to look at the figures, but only the most skewed ones come up with starting salaries approaching $60K annually, and I see plenty of programmers in the USA working for less.   I don't blame the staff at the high school; from all I know, they're unusually motivated and well-meaning, and I have no doubt they're passing on the best information available to them (although I repeat that Java and C++, the languages their high school curriculum emphasizes, constitute prima facie evidence for me of child abuse).   Is programming lucrative, in the way career counselors advise?   No.   No way.   Let's put aside for a moment the too-easily-manipulated summary statistics, and look at other recent news items."

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "I heartily accept the motto, 'That government is best which governs least.', & I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly & systematically.   Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which I also believe, 'That gov't is best which governs not at all.', and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of gov't which they will have.   Gov't is at best but an expedient, but most gov'ts are usually, & all governments are some times, inexpedient." --- Henry David Thoreau 1849  

 

2010-01-24

2010-01-24
Dennis A. Biggs _Pottstown PA Mercury_
Immigration issues are being ignored once again
"Here are the facts: Unemployment is at 10%.   15M Americans are out of work.   10M more Americans have given up looking for work or are working fewer hours than they would like.   The U.S.A. is bringing 125K immigrants into the U.S.A. a month.   In 2008 1.5M new immigrants have taken up residence and been issued work permits.   Another 1.5M immigrants will come here in 2010.   Another 1.5M immigrants will come here in 2011.   Illegal aliens are holding down 8M jobs in the U.S.A.   34% of all software engineers are immigrants.   The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers reports that 48K U.S. software engineers are unemployed.   According to a study by professors at Georgetown University and Rutgers University, our high schools and colleges are providing an ample supply of graduates.   Here are the questions: Why is the U.S. continuing to allow such a high number of immigrants to come here and take these jobs?   Why are our borders not secure to keep out illegal aliens?   Why don't we have a moratorium on immigration?   Why is this administration discontinuing raids on employers and businesses who are employing illegal aliens?   Why are we continuing to issue L-1, H-1B, etc. visas?   Will our legislators begin to represent the unemployed and under-employed in this country?   Will the science and technology firms begin to hire our qualified technical and scientific people?"

2010-01-24
Frosty Wooldridge _Official Wire_
Reprehensible Immigration Law Perversion Illogic: add 100M people to the USA in 3 decades

2010-01-24
Archie Carroll _Athens GA On-Line_
Trends in treatment of workers cause concern

2010-01-24
Thomas E. Brewton & Dan Gardner _View from 1776_
A worthy offering to HaShem

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "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)  

 

2010-01-25

2010-01-25
Mary Pickett _Billings MT Gazette_/_Lee_
Montana State U Billings prepares for budget cuts
"When a projected $282.4M state surplus shrank to an estimated $16.9M by the start of this year, governor Brian Schweitzer called on state agencies to cut their budgets by 5% if necessary...   Since the end of the 2009 Legislature, campuses have been preparing for the loss of $18M in federal stimulus money that won't be there in the next biennium.   Tuition also was frozen at most campuses including MSU Billings for the next two academic years.   Then came the estimated drop in state revenues [which anyone could see coming months in advance]."

2010-01-25
Charles S. Johnson _Billings MT Gazette_/_Lee_
Law-suit tests state legislators' immunity

2010-01-25
George Joseph _Rediff_
H-1B visa-holders flying in to cities other than the ones on their applications under-going expedited removal
Morley J. Nair: First Reporter
Jacob Cherian: Ground Report
"The new rule stipulates that those who arrive on a work visa should 'arrive at the place of work'...   It could bring an end to consultation, termed by some as 'body-shopping'.   Airport deportations have frightened those on work visas and many have canceled their travel plans, too...   'Over 50% to 80% of Indian H-1B visa holders come for a consulting company [cross-border body shop].   Their companies will send them to client sites.   The new rule stipulates that the petitioner of the visa should be present at the work place', Aman Kapoor, founder of Immigration Voice, an organisation working for H-1B visa holders and green card applicants, said...   the memo from Donald Neufeld, associate director, Service Center Operations of USCIS, was issued only on January 8...   When the H-1B employee works at a client site, or a third party site, the H-1B petitioner may not always be able to exercise 'actual' control over the individual's employment...   When one is sent back by an ER order, he cannot come back for another 5 years.   Those who withdraw their application to enter the United States and go back with their money can come back soon with a new visa stamp or for a new employer."
2010-01-08: Determining Employer-Employee Relationship for Adjudication of H-1B Petitions, Including Third-Party Site Placements (PDF): Additions to Officer's Field Manual (AFM) Chapter 31.3(g)(15)(AFM Update AD 10-24) Donald Neufeld, Associate Director, Service Center Operations
"The lack of guidance clearly defining what constitutes a valid employer-employee relationship as required by 8 CFR 214.2(h)(4)(ii) has raised problems, in particular, with independent contractors, self-employed beneficiaries, and beneficiaries placed at third-party worksites. The placement of the beneficiary/employee at a work site that is not operated by the petitioner/employer (third-party placement), which is common in some industries, generally makes it more difficult to assess whether the requisite employer-employee relationship exists and will continue to exist.
 
While some third-party placement arrangements meet the employer-employee relationship criteria, there are instances where the employer and beneficiary do not maintain such a relationship. Petitioner control over the beneficiary must be established when the beneficiary is placed into another employer's business, and expected to become a part of that business's regular operations. The requisite control may not exist in certain instances when the petitioner's business is to provide its employees to fill vacancies in businesses that contract with the petitioner for personnel needs. Such placements are likely to require close review in order to determine of the required relationship exists.
 
Furthermore, USCIS must ensure that the employer is in compliance with the Department of Labor regulations requiring that a petitioner file an LCA specific to each location where the beneficary will be working. In some situations, the location of the petitioner's business may not be located in the same LCA jurisdiction as the place the beneficiary will be working...
 
An employer who seeks to sponsor a temporary worker in an H-1B specialty occupation is required to establish a valid employer-employee relationship.   USCIS has interpreted this term to be the 'conventional master-servant relationship as understood by common-law agency doctrine'... The Supreme Court has stated:
 
...source of the instrumentalities and tools; the location of the work; the duration of the relationship between the parties;... whether the work is part of the regular business of the hirign party;...
 
... Engaging a person to work in the United States is more than merely paying the wage or placing that person on the pay-roll... USCIS must determine if the employer has a sufficient level of control over the employee. The petitioner must be able to establish that it has the right to control over when, where, and how the beneficiary performs the job and USCIS will consider the following...
 
(1) Does the petitioner supervise the beneficiary and is such supervision off-site or on-site?
 
(2) If the supervision is off-site, how does the petitioner maintain such supervision...
 
(3) Does the petitioner have the right to control the work of the beneficiary on a day-to-day basis if such control is required?
 
(4) Does the petitioner provide the tools or instrumentalities needed for the beneficiary to perform the duties of employment?
 
(5) Does the petitioner hire, pay, and have the ability to fire the beneficiary?
 
(6) Does the petitioner evaluate the work-product of the beneficiary, i.e. progress/performance reviews?
 
(7) Does the petitioner claim the beneficiary for tax purposes?
 
(8) Does the petitioner provide the beneficiary any type of employee benefits?
 
(9) Does the beneficiary use proprietary information of the petitioner in order to perform the duties of employment?
 
(10) Does the beneficiary produce and end-product that is directly linked to the petitioner's line of business?
 
(11) Does the patitioner have the ability to control the manner and means in which the work product of the beneficiary is accomplished?
 
The common law is flexible about how these factors are to be weighed...
 
Traditional Employment...
 
Temporary/Occasional Off-Site Employment...   The beneficiary reports to a centralized office when not performing audits for clients and has an assigned office space...
 
Long-Term/Permanent Off-Site Employment...   The petitioner will place its architects and other staff at the off-site location while the project is being completed...   the pettioner will manage its employees at the off-site location.   The petitioner provides the instruments and tools used to complete the project, the beneficiary reports directly to the petitioner for assignments, and progress reviews of the beneficiary are completed by the petitioner...
 
Long Term Placement at a Third-Party Work Site
The petitioner is a computer software development company which has contracted with another, unrelated company to develop and in-house computer program to track its merchandise, using the petitioner's proprietary software and expertise...   place software engineers at the client's main warehouse where they will develope...   While the beneficiary is at the client company's facility, the beneficiary reports weekly to a manager who is employed by the petitioner...
 
The following scenarios would not present a valid employer-employee relationship:..
Third-Party Placement/'Job-Shop'
The petitioner is a computer consulting company.   The petitioner has contracts with numerous outside companies in which it supplies these companies with employees to fulfill specific staffing needs.   The specific positions are not outlined in the contract between the petitioner and the third-party company but are staffed on an as-needed basis.   The beneficiary is a computer analyst.   The beneficiary has been assigned to work for the third-party company to fill a core position to maintain the third-party company's pay-roll.   Once placed at the client company, the beneficiary reports to a manager who works for the third-party company.   The beneficiary does not report to the petitioner for work assignments, and all work assignments are determined by the third-party company.   The petitioner does not control how the beneficiary will complete daily tasks, and no proprietary information of the petitioner is used by the beneficiary to complete any work assignments.   The beneficiary's end-product, the pay-roll, is not in any way related to the petitioner's line of business, which is computer consulting.   The beneficiary's progress reviews are completed by the client company, not the employer.   [Petitioner Has No Right to Control; No Exercise of Control]
 
(9) USCIS acknowledges that a sole stockholder of a corporation can be employed by that corporation...   However, an H-1B beneficiary/employee who owns a majority of the sponsoring entity and who reports to no one but him or herself may not be able to establish that a valid employment relationship exists in that the beneficiary, who is also the petitioner, cannot establish the requisite 'control'...) ...
 
The petitioner must also be responsible for the overall direction fo the beneficiary's work...   be able to establish that the above elements will continue to exist throughout the duration of the requested H-1B validity period.   The petitioner can demonstrate an employer-employee relationship by providing a combination of the following or similar types of evidence:
 
* A complete itinerary of services or engagements that specifies the dates of each service or engagement, the names and addesses of the actual employers, and the names and addresses of the establishment, venues, or locations where the services will be performed for the period of time requested;
 
* Copy of signed Employment Agreement...
 
* Copy of an employment offer letter...
 
* Copy of relevant portions of valid contracts...   that establishes that while the petitioner's employees are placed at the third-party worksite, the petitioner will continue to have the right to control its employees;
 
* Copies of signed contractual agreements, statements of work, work orders, service agreements...   detailed description of the duties...   qualifications that are required to perform the job duties [!?], salary or wages paid, hours worked, benefits, a brief description of who will supervise the beneficiary and their duties, and any other related evidence;
 
* Copy of position description or any other documentation that describes the skills required to perform the job offered, the source of the instrumentalities and tools... product... location where the beneficiary will perform the duties, the duration of the relationship between the petitioner and beneficiary, whether the petitioner has the right to assign additional duties, the extent of petitioner's discretion over when and how long the beneficiary will work, the method of payment, the petitioner's role in paying and hiring assistants to be utilized by the beneficiary, whether the work to be performed is part of the regular business of the petitioner, the provision of employee benefits, and the tax treatment of the beneficiary in relation to the petitioner;
 
* A description of the performance review process; and/or
 
* Copy of petitioner's organization chart, demonstrating beneficiary's supervisory chain [love to see that for the individual owner of corp./petitioner who sponsors himself as beneficiary]...
 
As always, USCIS maintains the authority to do pre- or post-adjudication compliance review site visits for either initial or extension petitions.
 
C. Request for Evidence to Establish Employer-Employee Relationship...
 
The RFE should neither mandate that a specific type of evidence be provided, unless provided for by regulations (e.g. an itinerary of service dates and locations)...
 
D. Compliance with 8 CFR 214.2(h)(2)(i)(B)
 
Not only must a petitioner establish that a valid employer-employee relationship exists and will continue to exist throughout the validity period of the H-1B petition, the petitioner must continue to comply with 8 CFR 214.2(h)(2)(i)(B) when a benificiary is to be placed at more than one work location to perform services.   To satisfy the requirements of 8 CFR 214.2(h)(2)(i)(B), the petitioner must submit a complete itinerary of services or engagements that specifies the dates of each service or engagement, the names and addresses of the actual employers, and the names and addresses of the establishment, venues, or locations where the services will be performed for the period of time requested..."
---30---

2010-01-25
Sharyl Atkisson _CBS_
Congress went to Copenhagen warmist summit and stuck you with the bill

2010-01-25
Doug French _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
Illusions of the age of Keynes

2010-01-25
Rob Sanchez _V Dare_/_Job Destruction News-Letter_
Etymology of "Virtual Immigration"
"The Dallas Federal Reserve and the Wall Street Journal created quite an internet buzz when they used the term 'virtual immigration' to describe the offshoring of jobs. The following excerpts were copied from the published article on the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank web site. The first 2 quotes merely define what 'virtual immigration' and seem innocent enough, but the next 2 are very elitist in tone as immigration and off-shore out-sourcing are reduced to commoditized financial transactions."
2009 December: W. Michael Cox, Richard Alm & Justyna Dymerska: Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas: Labor Market Globalization in the Recession and Beyond (with graphs)

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "The fear of doing right is the grand treason in times of danger." --- Henry Ward Beecher 1887 _Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit_  

 

2010-01-26

2010-01-26 03:08PST (06:08EST) (11:08GMT)
_Forbes_
Illinois & U.S.A. Employment Rate for Teens & Young Adults at Historic Low
graphs

2010-01-26 04:18PST (07:18EST) (12:18GMT)
_Chicago Breaking News_/_AP_
Immigration lawyer Ann Broyles sentened to 8 months in prison and 12 months house arrest for immigration fraud as part of an Illinois-Virginia Beach, VA conspiracy
Tim McGlone: Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot

2010-01-26 07:30PST (10:30EST) (15:30GMT) (21:00IST)
"ganessin virappin" _Rediff_
Re: This is good news
"Re: This is good news.   by ganessin virappin on 2010 Jan 26, 09:00PM.   I dont think fake experience is really an issue.   Because every Indian company is projecting their candidates to its Clients with some level of fakeness.   Fake is ok as long as he can deliver to the Client needs.   Otherwise he will be exposed by the Client.   The Client has Zero tolerance toward incapable people.   Fake is set to fail in the long run if he does not have the capability to deliver."

2010-01-26
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring News-Letter_
Dear Pres. Obama -- here's a way to help the middle class
The White House has said that President Obama will focus on economic issues in his State of the Union address on Wednesday.   On the defensive after the Democrats lost the late Ted Kennedy's Senate seat to Republican Scott Brown, and fearing that more losses are to come in the congressional elections in November, Obama needs to show he is capable of addressing the dire economic situation of many middle- and lower-class Americans.   He talks about helping Main Street instead of Wall Street, but is viewed by many as indeed too fixated on helping the latter.   He needs a dramatic gesture.
 
Well, here's how Obama could hit a home run on Wednesday evening: He could express outrage at this abuse of the J-1 visa in Florida described below, and while he's at it, express even more outrage at the scandalous H-1B visa.   He could vow to fix this disgraceful situation, in which business and their ally, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), have successfully lobbied for decades for gaping loopholes in immigration law that enable bringing in cheap labor from abroad, displacing U.S. citizens and permanent residents from jobs ranging from engineers and programmers to grocery baggers and deli clerks.
 
It would take courage on Obama's part to do this.   Expressing outrage on such a staid occasion might be viewed as something of a breach of decorum, and more importantly, business and the AILA contribute big bucks to political campaigns (of both parties) and such funds might be endangered.   But I can't think of a better way for Obama to reverse the frightening momentum building against him these days.
 
Norm
Amy Bennett Williams: Lehigh FL News-Press: Publix hires foreign workers
Lehigh FL News-Press: Employers must hire US workers first

2010-01-26
Erica Dolson _Cumberland PA Sentinel_/_Lee_
Students learn about parenthood with baby simulators

2010-01-26
Becca Gregg _Cumberland PA Sentinel_/_Lee_
Using local food a growing trend
"Famed chef Mario Batali once said that food always tastes better when you know the farmer...   According to Halpin, for every dollar you spend on food at a grocery chain, the farmer gets roughly 8 cents profit.   The rest goes toward transportation and other costs.   However if you buy from a farmer's market, the entire dollar goes to the farmer...   The panel also highlighted a link between economic recessions and growing your own food.   According to Miller, many of her seed catalogs are sold out, as consumers are realizing they can save a significant amount of money by growing their own food."

2010-01-26
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Repeal the 17th Amendment

2010-01-26
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Stimulus Is Vote-Buying, Not Job Creating

2010-01-26 (5770 Shevat 11)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Great Scott!
"Some of the most melancholy letters and e-mails that are sent to me are from people who lament that there is nothing they can do about the bad policies that they see ruining this country.   They don't have any media outlet for their opinions and the letters they send to their Congressmen are either ignored or are answered by form letters with weasel words.   They feel powerless.   Sometimes I remind them that the whole political establishment -- both Democrats and Republicans, as well as the main-stream media -- were behind amnesty for illegal immigrants, until the public opinion polls showed that the voters were not buying it.   If politicians can't do anything else right, they can count votes...   it showed that the voters were already fed up with the Obama administration, even in liberal Massachusetts, as well as in Virginia and New Jersey.   The back-tracking on health care began immediately.   Politicians can count votes.   Once again, the public was not helpless.   One seat did not deprive the Democrats of big majorities in Congress.   But one seat was the difference between being able to shut off debate in the Senate and having to allow debate on what was in this massive legislation.   From day one it was clear that concealing what was in this bill was the key to getting it passed.   That is why there had to be arbitrary deadlines -- first to get it passed before the 2009 August recess, then before Labor Day, then before the Christmas recess.   The President could wait months before deciding to give a general the troops he asked for to fight the war in Afghanistan but there was never to be enough time for the health care bill to be exposed in the light of day to the usual Congressional hearings and debate.   Moreover, despite all the haste, the health care program would not actually go into effect until after the 2012 presidential election.   IOW, the public was not supposed to find out whether the government's take-over of medical care actually made things better or worse until after it was too late...   just the way it was being rushed through in the dark should have told us all we needed to know...   As for the public, it doesn't matter if your Congressman answers your letter with a form letter, or doesn't answer at all.   What matters is that you let him know what you are for or against and, when enough people do that -- whether in letters, in polls or in an election, politicians get the message, because they know their jobs depend on it."
appeal for help

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "Stretch a bow to the very full and you will wish you had stopped in time." --- Lao-tse _The Way_ 6th century BC  

 

2010-01-27

2010-01-27
Tom Lutey _Billings MT Gazette_/_Lee_
Supreme court to examine genetically modified alfalfa and sugar beets

2010-01-26 22:05PST (2010-01-27 01:05EST) (2010-01-27 06:05GMT)
Paul Biasco _Daily Illini_
University admin e-mail obtained through FOIA reveal plot against Chief Illiniwek
"The group said the documents showed Herman and Romano exchanged a number of e-mails attempting to come up with a reason to push the event to a date other than Homecoming weekend or a date with a home football game.   'I'm just trying to think of a reason [pretext] to deny them access to the hall on Oct. 2.', Romano said in a Sept. 7 e-mail to Herman.   'At this point they (Students for Chief Illiniwek) know there's nothing scheduled.'   The documents show that the administration considered banning student organizations from using Assembly Hall although it is funded through student fees.   'I really appreciate the fact that we've been trying to get in the way of allowing students for the chief to perform a dance in the Assembly Hall.', Romano said to Herman in a Sept. 6 e-mail.   'I think we've done a good job at pushing the program to a time slot that will not be as visible or as popular for people to attend.'...   Because 'The Next Dance' was not held on Homecoming weekend, Martell said, attendance numbers were much lower than the previous year, resulting in a financial loss.   In 2008, the event drew 10K people, while in 2009 1,500 people attended."

2010-01-27 10:00PST (13:00EST) (18:00GMT)
Mary Helen Miller _Chronicle of Higher Education_
Ponemon Institute study finds costs of data breaches is rising
"Among those surveyed, the average cost of a data breach rose from $6.65M in 2008 to $6.75M in 2009.   Furthermore, the average cost per compromised record rose slightly, from $202 to $204.   While educational institutions made up only 7% of the study, Michael Spinney, a senior privacy analyst at the institute, said the findings were still relevant to higher education."

2010-01-27
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring News-Letter_
stay rates of foreign PhDs
Today's post will concern the 2010-01-26 WSJ article by David Wessel U.S.A. Keeps Foreign Ph.D.s: Despite Fears of a Post-9/11 Drop, Most Science, Engineering Post-Grads Have Stayed
 
As the Journal includes a statement prohibiting distribution of the article, I will only quote excerpts here.
 
Newly released data revealed that 62% of foreigners holding temporary visas who earned Ph.D.s in science and engineering at U.S. universities in 2002 were still in the U.S.A. in 2007, the latest year for which figures are available.   Of those who graduated in 1997, 60% were still in the U.S.A. in 2007, according to the data compiled by the U.S. Energy Department's Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education for the National Science Foundation.
 
Foreigners account for about 40% of all science and engineering Ph.D. holders working in the U.S.A., and a larger fraction in engineering, math and computer fields.   "Our ability to continue to attract and keep foreign scientists and engineers is critical to... increase investment in science and technology.", Oak Ridge analyst Michael Finn said...
 
Other analysts see signs that recent foreign grads are increasingly likely to return home, particularly in today's weak job market.   "I have no doubt that the 2009 data will show a dramatic shift.", said Vivek Wadwha, executive in residence at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering, who has been warning loudly about the threat that trend would pose to innovation in the U.S.A.   In 2008 October, Mr. Wadwha and others used Facebook to question 1,224 foreigners studying at U.S. institutions at all levels.   More than half the Indians and 40% of the Chinese said they hoped to return home within five years...
 
In recruiting for Carnegie Mellon, he finds young Chinese less eager to come to the U.S.A. than those of his generation.   "Life in China is getting better.   There are research alternatives in China -- like MSFT China.", he said.   "They can get good mentoring and advice there, instead of coming to the U.S.A."
 
In 2007, foreign citizens accounted for 16,022 of the Ph.D.s awarded in science and engineering in the U.S.A., or 46% of the total, according to the Oak Ridge data.   In contrast, the class of 1997 had 12,966 foreigners, or 30% of the total...

 
First of all, there are two separate issues here -- how many go back home versus how many come to the U.S.A. in the first place.   Let's consider the latter first.
 
As the CMU West researcher points out, fewer computer science graduates in China want to come to the U.S.A. than before.   Though there are still lots of foreign students from China in the U.S.A. these days, they are not so concentrated in graduate programs in computer science than in the past; many simply want to acquire an undergraduate business degree and familiarity with U.S. language and culture, and take that back for use in China.
 
Same for India ("Silicon Valley's Immigration Problem", Elizabeth Corcoran, , 2007 March 5):
 
Indian immigrant [and CEO] Rosen Sharma opted for the U.S.A. in 1993 and has done extraordinarily well here.   But if he were just coming out of college these days, he says, he would pick India.   The business opportunities are better, he says, and quality of life issues are at least as good...
 
In 1993, he says, after graduating with flying colors from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, Sharma headed straight for the U.S.A.   So did most of his class-mates.   Of the 40 people in Sharma's graduating class at IIT Delhi, he says, all but 3 came to the U.S.A...
 
But Sharma, who is president of the IIT Delhi Alumni Association, says the next generation of Indian engineers are unlikely to feel the way he does: Last year, only 10 of the 45 IIT graduates who went through the same program Sharma did decided to pursue jobs in the U.S.A., he says.

 
Why are they less interested in coming here now?   It's simple economics: Things have improved in their home countries, and they've discovered that careers in tech in the U.S. are short-lived, 10-15 years.   (The latter is due, ironically, to the same visa programs used to get them here in the first place.   These swell the young labor pool, allowing employers to hire younger foreign workers in lieu of older Americans.)
 
The stay rate must be viewed in that context.   There is a self-selection process at work, in which those who do come to the U.S.A. now are more likely to be the types who want to stay here.
 
What about the green card issue?   Though Vivek's survey did indeed show that visa issues were not much of a factor, in his campaigning for giving automatic green cards for foreign graduates of U.S. university STEM programs, he has continued to cite green card delays of 6 years or more as a major reason for leaving (see for example his 2009 October 14 blog).
 
While he may be correct for the ordinary, run-of-the-mill foreign engineers and programmers, that's not the case for the PhDs.   Most holders of doctorates get their green cards through higher-level processing categories, with much shorter wait times.   Thus his statement that the 2009 figures will show a sharp reversal are incorrect.   Or, I should say they are based on incorrect assumptions, because the dismal job market in the last year may have forced more to return home.
 
Finn's claim in the article that we "need" these foreign students is not correct either.   Putting aside the question as to whether we need to produce so many PhDs (we don't), the real issue is, as I've often pointed out, that the PhD salary premium in computer science and engineering is not enough to justify the 5 or 6 [more] years of study, during which one could be making money in industry.   This has been pointed out by the National Research Council, in a study commissioned by Congress.   And why is the PhD salary premium larger?   Again, I've noted many times that the the National Science Foundation, a government agency, consciously planned this.   They called for bringing in a lot of foreign students in order to hold PhD salaries down.   They also noted that the stagnant salaries would cause many domestic students to avoid PhD study, which is exactly what has happened.
 
The argument that Vivek and others have used for liberalizing the green card process is, "If these students go home, they will work for our competitors."   I personally have no problem with the students doing so, but I would ask those who make such an argument, if they are so worried about that, why should we allow the foreign students to come here in the first place?   Indeed, research by one of Vivek's co-athors, AnnaLee Saxenian, has shown that even those who stay here provide help (technical advice, investment, etc.) to our foreign "competitors".   Again, I'm not advocating a ban on foreign students, but clearly the "help our competitors" argument doesn't work.
 
Norm
---30---

2010-01-27
John Ivison _National Post_
Obama looks for way to eliminate Buy American statutes

2010-01-27
Toni Bowers _Tech Republic_/_Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
Hackett Group advising firms to engage in apparently illegal discrimination on the basis of nationality by black-listing all US & European workers
"The Hackett Group is advising companies to not hire back U.S. and European IT workers who have been laid off; instead they recommend filling any needs over-seas."

2010-01-27
Carl Braun _San Diego CA Examiner_
Immigration Reform

2010-01-27
Walter E. Williams (5770 Shevat 12)

We Need Diversity
"It should be remembered that diversity creed holds that we are all equal and would be proportionately represented by race across all activities but for the fact of discrimination and oppression.   Basketball, football and nuclear physics aren't the only areas of our lives sorely lacking diversity and proportional representation.   American men are struck by lightning 6 times as often as American women.   Men are about 54% of the labor force but suffer more than 90% of job-related deaths.   Cervical cancer rates are 5 times higher [5 times as high?] among VietNamese women in the U.S. than [as?] among white women.   Pima Indians of Arizona have the highest diabetes rates in the world.   Prostate cancer is nearly twice as common among black men as white men.   Half of all Mexican wives are married in their teens while only 10% of Japanese wives are married that early."

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "The rights of all persons are wrapped in the same constitutional bundle as those of the most hated member of the community." --- Abraham Lincoln Wirin in Time 1978-02-20  

 

2010-01-28: Data Privacy Day

2010-01-28 05:30PDT (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
DoL home page
historical data
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 500,392 in the week ending Jan. 23, a decrease of 145,417 from the previous week.   There were 620,143 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.3% during the week ending Jan. 16, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 5,605,729, a decrease of 185,351 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 4.3% and the volume was 5,715,432.   Extended benefits were available in AL, AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, ME, MA, MI, MN, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, PR, RI, SC, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, and WI during the week ending January 9...   States reported 5,350,477 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Jan. 9, a decrease of 304,067 from the prior week.   There were 1,766,009 claimants in the comparable week in 2009.   EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.
graphs
more graphs

2010-01-28
Jan Norman _Freedom Blogging_
More unemployed are starting their own businesses

2010-01-28
Diane Cochran _Billings MT Gazette_
Montana sees job losses across employment sectors
"Jobs have been disappearing in Montana since 2008 October, according to data from the state Department of Labor and Industry.   Employment growth peaked in 2006 June after increasing every month for about a year.   The rate of growth shrank steadily until 2008 October, when a net jobs loss was recorded.   The last time Montana steadily lost more jobs than it gained was in 1986 and 1987, the data shows.   Analysts have predicted the state will not see job growth again until 2011.   Unemployment is hovering between 6% and 7%, compared with 10% nationally.   Montana ranks 44th, or seventh-lowest, in the nation for unemployment."

2010-01-28
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Why the Fed is unlikely to prevent inflation
Allan H. Meltzer: Wall Street Journal: The Fed's Anti-Inflation Exit Strategy Will Fail: Sooner or later the pressure to lend out excess bank reserves will be unstoppable

2010-01-28
_Washington Times_
Obama's 10%/17% unemployment rate
"The number of people with a job fell by 589K in December.   On top of that job loss, the number of people no longer in the labor force grew by an astounding 843K from November to December.   Since February, when the stimulus package was passed, the number of people not in the labor force has grown by 3.2M...   Since February, the average unemployment rate for the European Union has grown by 1.2 percentage points.   By contrast, the U.S. unemployment rate has grown by 1.9 percentage points -- a 58% greater increase...   Stephen Bronars, a labor economist at the University of Texas at Austin, pointed out to us that the stimulus doesn't create new spending.   'This money would have been spent someplace else [if the government hadn't spent it].', he explained.   The government is merely moving jobs from some firms to others and from some sectors to others, and in the process it causes extra temporary unemployment as workers are moved around."

2010-01-28
David M. Dickson _Washington Times_
CBO chief warns of long, slow recovery, huge deficits, persistent unemployment
"'It is true that as we push [publicly held debt] in this country to 60% of GDP at the end of this [fiscal] year and beyond that over the next few years, we're moving into territory that most developed countries stay out of.', Mr. Elmendorf told the House budget panel.   'That raises the risk' of seriously adverse economic consequences 'every step that we go'...   'If the tax cuts were made permanent, the AMT was indexed for inflation and annual appropriations kept pace with GDP, the deficit in 2020 would be nearly the same, historically large, share of GDP that it is today [between 9% and 10%] and debt held by the public would equal nearly 100%' of the economy's size, Mr. Elmendorf reported in his prepared testimony.   When CBO examined Mr. Obama's 10-year budget blueprint that accompanied his 2010 budget, it concluded in June that cumulative deficits would exceed $9T during the 2010-2019 period and debt held by the public would triple from $5.8T at the end of fiscal 2008 to $17.1T at the end of fiscal 2019...   House Budget Committee Chairman John M. Spratt Jr., South Carolina Democrat, pointed out that annual net interest payments would more than triple from $207G in 2009 to $723G in 2020."

2010-01-28
Marshall Kirkpatrick
Privacy, Facebook, LinkdIn, Oracle, and the future of the internet

2010-01-28
Gary D. Barnett _Lew Rockwell_
The 2020 Census: Beware the Government's Assault on Privacy!
Before It Is News
"any census is to be a simple count of heads; nothing more. This is not arguable given what is stated above in Article 1 of the USA Constitution."

2010-01-28
Nadene Goldfoot
what are "Jewish" haplogroups?

2010-01-28 (5770 Shevat 13)
Rabbi Doctor Asher Meir _Jewish World Review_
Hand-up, not hand-out is highest form of charity
"it seems to me that the highest level of charity is to give a person a job."
appeal for help

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time." --- Thomas Jefferson "Draft instructions to VA Delegates" 1774-08  

 

2010-01-29

2010-01-28 16:14PST (2010-01-28 19:14EST) (2010-01-29 00:14GMT)
Kim Strassel _Wall Street Journal_
Bon Fire of the Populists: The president's anti-Wall Street rhetoric is not good for the economy, and may hurt his party politically
"Nobody will invest in an industry that might be the next to be overtaxed, overregulated, or publicly disemboweled."

2010-01-29
Jaclyn Bednar _Daily Illini_
U of IL students travel to Harbin, Red China, for final rounds of ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest

2010-01-29
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Leftists in California and Germany attack parents who teach Judeo-Christian ethics to their children
"an immigration court judge recently granted political asylum in the United States to a German family, who had been home schooling their children.   In Germany, home-schooling parents can be jailed and have their children taken from them, because socialist Germany wishes to eliminate vestiges of Judeo-Christian morality that interfere with the political state's socialistic collectivism."

2010-01-29 07:21PST (10:21EST) (15:21GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
UMich consumer sentiment index rose from 72.5 in December to 74.4 in January
Federal Reserve Board St. Louis
Federal Reserve Board St. Louis

2010-01-29 10:01PST (13:01EST) (18:01GMT)
James Freeman _Wall Street Journal_
In Coca-Cola We Trust: Default by US treasury more likely than default by Coca-Cola Company

2010-01-29 11:05:54PST (14:05EST) (19:05GMT)
_San Jose CA Mercury News_/_AP_
Federal appeals court revives PA couple's privacy violation suit against Google Street View

2010-01-29
John Fraher & Brian Womack _Bloomberg_
Eric Schmidt says Google aims to put pressure on Red Chinese government to end censorship of political and religious speech

2010-01-29 11:40PST (14:40EST) (19:40GMT)
Deb Sutton _Gillette WY News-Record_
Doctor criticizes guest-pediatrician placement
"A Gillette doctor believes the hospital's decision to hire a pediatrician and house her with a private practice is unfair.   Campbell County Memorial Hospital has signed a 3-year contract with Dr. Maria Moro of Caracas, Venezuela.   Once her visa work is completed, she will begin practice in Gillette.   She'll be a hospital employee, but will practice with doctors at Big Horn Pediatrics.   Dr. Linda Ammari of ABC Pediatrics said Gillette needs a new pediatrician and she has no problem with the hospital making that happen.   But she believes the working arrangement gives an unfair advantage to one practice.   'Where my concerns lie are with placing her at Big Horn Pediatrics.', Ammari told hospital trustees Thursday night.   'You will be using [tax-victims'] money, including mine, to effectively build up a competing private practice, potentially at the expense of mine.'"

2010-01-29 11:55PST (14:55EST) (19:55GMT)
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
Reliant Energy pulls out-sourced IT work back to internal group which includes H-1B guest-workers
"The guild promptly criticized the company for its plan to hire foreign workers, noting that Reliant had received $20M in October in federal stimulus money to fund electric grid 'modernization' projects.   Reliant hired H-1B visa holders mostly to fill software engineering jobs at its Houston facilities, according to DoL documents.   Salaries for those jobs ranged from $72K to $95K.   The company also hired an H-1B visa holder as a data-base administrator at a salary of $80K.   A Reliant spokeswoman, Pat Hammond, said the H-1B employees hired by Reliant had previously been employed by the out-sourcer [Accenture, formerly Andersen Consulting] under the canceled contract."

2010-01-29
Charles S. Johnson _Billings MT Gazette_
Montana government budget outlook has worsened, triggering governor's power to make unilateral cuts

2010-01-29
Ed Kemmick _Billings MT Gazette_
4th annual Project Homeless Connect

2010-01-29
Tom Lutey _Billings MT Gazette_
Political hopefuls turn out for campaign school
"'counter-insurgency warfare campaign for the hearts and minds of your constituents?'   For Crook County District Court clerk?   Yes, said instructors at an all-day Campaign School held Friday in Billings.   Ready for months of bad food and little sleep, pandering for votes and begging for money?   Are you ready for scrutiny and if so, is your spouse?   Do you have a powerful, personally compelling reason for running?   You'd better.   Campaigning 'will wring you dry before you're done' the candidates were told.   And that was only the introduction."

2010-01-29
Robert Good _View from 1776_
Obama Doesn't Care About Health Care Reform (ObummerDoesn'tCare)
"While the country has been transfixed by the Congressional and media circus, the action, folks, is elsewhere—and Obama has been getting a lot done.   Ordering KSM tried in federal court.   Extending Miranda rights to the underwear bomber.   Investigating CIA agents who are trying to protect America against Islamic terrorists.   Tasking the CIA with tracking global warming.   Halting construction of America's missile defense shield.   Cancelling production of the F-22. (Russia is bringing out its version, by the way.)   Allowing Iran the time it needs to finish developing nuclear weapons."

2010-01-29
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Your Friendly Neighborhood Jihadi: How do you deal with a neighbor who believes he is obligated to kill you and sell your children into slavery?
Leslie S. Lebl: Sharia's Dominion

2010-01-29
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Arsonist Blames Fire Department
"President Obama wants to 'slash the tax breaks for companies that ship our jobs over-seas'.   Jobs are out-sourced precisely because of strangling government regulations, higher corporate taxes than anywhere else, and government support for the extortions of socialist labor unions.   Never-ceasing government intervention has made the United States of America no longer competitive on world markets in too many product categories.   Obama's solution is to bury the nation under debt, bankrupt private business, and have everybody working for his socialist government bureaucracies in so-called green jobs, green in the sense of corrosive fungi."

2010-01-29
Becca Gregg _Cumberland PA Sentinel_
State representative Scott Perry returns from 1-year tour of duty in Iraq
"While in Iraq, Perry was prohibited from making any legislative decisions due to the Hatch Act of 1939, which regulates the political activities of federal employees while on active duty."

2010-01-29
Sam Francis _Council of Conservative Citizens_
Bill Gates: White kids not eligible for my scholarships
Millennium

2010-01-29
Ilana Mercer
Obama: The man with the reverse-Midas touch

2010-01-29 (5770 Shevat 14)
Caroline B. Glick _Jewish World Review_
Enlightened nations of the world are on a coffee-break from enlightenment
"As Netanyahu addressed the world from the site of the most prolific genocide factory in human history, at the place where over a million Jews were gassed, starved, beaten, raped, frozen, shot and hanged and then burned in ovens, Iran's leaders were declaring loudly that they intend to finish what the Nazis started.   They will destroy the Jewish people."
appeal for help

2010-01-29 (5770 Shevat 14)
R. A. Leib Scheinbaum _Jewish World Review_
Service and beauty
appeal for help

2010-01-29
DJIA10,067.33
S&P 5001,073.87
NASDAQ2,147.35
Nikkei10,192
10-year US T-Bond3.61%
crude oil$72.89/barrel
gold$1,083.80/ounce
silver$16.19/ounce
platinum1,506.00/ounce
palladium$412.65/ounce
copper$0.19125/ounce
natgas$5.13/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline $1.91/gal
heatingoil$1.91/gal
soybeans$9.140 /bushel
maize$3.565/bushel
wheat$4.74/bushel
dollarindex79.462
yenperdollar90.29
dollarspereuro1.3868
dollarsperpound1.6001
swissfranksperdollar1.0599
indianrupeesperdollar46.65
mexicanpesosperdollar 13.0375
MorganStanleyHighTechIndex533.78

I usually get this info from MarketWatch.
 

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "We seen then how far the monuments of wit & learning are more durable than the monuments of power, or of the hands.   For have not the verses of Homer continued 2500 years, or more, without the loss of a syllable or letter; during which time infinite palaces, temples, castles, cities have been decayed & demolished?" --- Francis Bacon  

 

2010-01-30

2010-01-30
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Security is apparently not among president Obama's priorities
Charles Krauthammer: Washington Post: Scandal grows WRT handling of the failed under-wear bomber

2010-01-30
_The NewsPaper_
SD & TN consider bans on "red light" & "speed" cameras
"Last year alone, Maine, Mississippi and Montana added themselves to the list of 15 states where 'red light' cameras and 'speed' cameras are no longer welcome...   In Tennessee, lobbyists for municipalities and photo enforcement companies have proved to have tight hold on legislators, as past legislation expanded the use of photo ticketing enacted in the guise of a ban."

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "The only way to make a difference in the world is to put 10 times as much effort into everything as anyone else thinks is reasonable.   It doesn't leave any time for golf or cocktails, but it gets things done." --- Admiral Hyman G. Rickover  

 

2010-01-31

2010-01-31
Lisa M. Krieger _San Jose CA Mercury News_
UC finally starts cross-checking claims made on admission applications

2010-01-31
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
How the Crooks Cook the Books: Warmists have, for years, systematically, knowingly, embezzled tax-victims' funds via government research grants
Joseph d'Aleo & Anthony Watts: Surface Temperature Records and Policy-Driven Deception (pdf)

2010-01-31
Jonathan Leake & Richard North _Times of London_
UN warmists shamed by bogus rain-forest claim

2010-01-31 12:00PST (15:00EST) (20:00GMT)
Dana Hull _San Jose CA Mercury News_
PG&E spending millions to make it tougher to purchase electricity from local competitors

2010-01-31 12:09:00PST (15:09:00EST) (20:09:00GMT)
Brandon Bailey _San Jose CA Mercury News_
3-D printing coming in reach of consumers
"There are online businesses that will take your digital design and create three-dimensional objects by extruding metal or plastic to form unique toys, jewelry, tableware or favorite characters from sword-and-sorcery computer games.   Thousands of people have joined an on-line community for sharing ideas and design tips on the Web site of Shapeways, a Dutch company that does custom 3-D printing for consumers.   And there are open-source enthusiasts in Brooklyn who will sell you a $750 kit to make your own 3-D printer, putting a modest version of advanced manufacturing technology within reach of everyday users...   Much like a traditional printer sprays ink onto paper, a typical 3-D printer squeezes out thin lines of plastic or other material, one on top of another, until the accumulated layers form a physical object.   Today, most 3-D printing equipment and design programs are aimed at the commercial market -- and cost thousands of dollars -- but hobbyists are discovering lower-cost, open-source versions like the MakerBot printer and Blender software...   Shapeways uses advanced 3-D printing equipment made by Z Corp., a Massachusetts company that Basiliere credits with developing composite printing materials that offer a full range of colors and a hard, smooth finish.   (The home-brew guys at Makerbot sell three kinds of plastic printing media, including a biodegradable material made from Nebraska corn.)"

2010-01-31
_Hilton Head Island Packet_
Intrusive census questionnaires are too intrusive
"The American Community Survey, about which I have been harassed by the Department of Commerce since October, is not the 10-year census established in the U.S. Constitution for the apportionment of representatives for Congress.   This 28-page survey has been mailed every month since 2003 to randomly selected people nationwide...   It contains such personal and intrusive questions as: 'Because of a physical, mental or emotional condition, does this person have serious difficulty concentrating, remembering or making decisions?'   'How many times has this person been married?'   'Mark the 'Yes' box if the person has given birth to a least one child born alive in the past 12 months, even if the child died.'"

2010-01-31
John Wayne Smith
Florida Libertarian voter registrations rose over 5% in 2009
"Libertarian Party registration rose in 2009 to 17,920 registered voters in Florida...   Duval county (1641) now ranks number 1 replacing Pinellas (1577) who held the title for 10 years.   Orange (1504) is in a close 3rd.   Hillsborough (1,400) is 4th and Palm Beach (1,083) is 5th...   Orange county leads Duval in percentage both over 20%.   We still have registered Libertarians in all 67 counties."
John Wayne Smith

2010 January
_Oak Ridge Institute_
Stay rates of foreign doctorate recipients: excessive student visas, excessive internships, excessive guest-work vias, excessive green cards

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform
Status of S877
+++ S2804; Sanders; Employ Americans: prohibit firms who lay off large numbers of capable US citizens from making use of guest-work visas
more of what congress-critters are up to
 
 

  "He [Gouverneur Morris] concurred in thinking the public liberty in greater danger from Legislative usurpations than from any other source.   It had been said that the Legislature ought to be relied on as the proper Guardians of liberty.   The answer was short & conclusive.   Either bad laws will be pushed or not.   On the latter supposition no check will be wanted.   On the former a strong check will be necessary: And this is the proper supposition.   Emissions of paper money, largesses to the public -- a remission of debts & similar measures, will at some times be popular, & will be pushed for that reason.   At other times such measures will coincide with the interests of the Legislature themselves, & that will be a reason not less cogent for pushing them.   It may be thought that the people will not be deluded & misled in the latter case.   But experience teaches another lesson." --- James Madison's summary of Gouverneur Morris' remarks at the constitutional convention 1787-07-21  

 
Kkilo-thousand 10^31,000
Mmega-millionone thousand thousand10^61,000,000
Ggiga-billionone thousand million10^91,000,000,000
Ttera-trillionone million million10^121,000,000,000,000
Ppeta-quadrillionone million billion10^151,000,000,000,000,000
Eexa-quintillionone billion billion10^181,000,000,000,000,000,000
Zzetta-sextillionone billion trillion10^211,000,000,000,000,000,000

Except that computer people use 2 as a base raised to multiples of powers of 10, instead of 10 raised to multiples of powers of 3 because powers of 2 are handier for them, but they also want to stay somewhat close to the values of 10 most folks are used to.
1,024Kkilo- (kibi-)2^10
1,048,576Mmega- (mebi-)2^20
1,073,741,824Ggiga- (gibi-)2^30
1,099,511,627,776Ttera- (tebi-)2^40
1,125,899,906,842,624Ppeta- (pebi-)2^50
1,152,921,504,606,846,976Eexa- (exbi-)2^60
1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424Zzetta- (zebi-)2^70

An alternate set of prefixes has been proposed.


 



Proposed Bills 2010


Congressional candidate fund-raising, expenditures, and debt
 

USA Over-Population Clock
World + USA Over-Population Clocks
Jimbo Wales's WikiPedia on World Over-Population
 

  "All sins stem from unimproved character traits...   A man should not go completely against his nature even if it is bad, for he will not succeed.   He should merely train himself to follow the straight path according to his nature.   For example: One who has an inclination to spill blood should train himself to become a Shochet [a man of skill, piety and expertise in kosher animal slaughter] -- the intermediate approach, or a Mohel [a man of skill, piety and expertise in circumcision] -- which is the more righteous way..." --- R. Label Lam A Golden Ray of Hope  

Movies Coming Soon
 

External links may expire at any time.
Neither this page, nor the opinions expressed or implied in it are endorsed by Michael Badnarik, Ron Paul, Bob Barr, Wayne Allyn Root, Warner Brothers, Gary Johnson, president Donald Trump, nor by my hosts, Kermit and Rateliff.

jgo Resume Reading Room
jgo Econ Data & Graphs jgo Econ News Bits
Economic News Analysis Summary
Kermit's home page jgo Links
jgo's Work in Progress
Page Top