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updated: 2019-01-11
 

"'I knew you when...' doesn't mean I know you now, no matter how much I've always loved you.   We all change, & yet each of us seems to see change only in ourselves." --- Jeanne Segal 1997 _Raising Your Emotional Intelligence_ pg 208

 
 

2011 Oct

U	M	T	W	R	F	S
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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 astounding thing is that the pleasantness or unpleasantness of the state seems almost unrelated to the intensity of the reaction.   Limerence at 100% may be ecstasy or it may be despair, & it may change from positive to negative at any level of intensity." --- Dorothy Tennov 1979 _Love & Limerence_ pg 44

 
 
 

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

2011-10-01

2011-10-01
Robert Guttersohn _Youngstown OH Vindicator_
New school construction

2011-10-01
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
More evidence that some university profs really have been trying to corrupt our youth
Paul Ryan: Wall Street Journal: America's Enduring Ideals

2011-10-01
Billy Hallowell _The Blaze_
Islamic movement against democracy and capitalism

2011-10-01
Mark Vogl _Nolan Chart_
Federal government's refusal to secure borders is spurring states to act

2011-10-01
_Creeping Sharia_
Muslim sentenced to 33 months for smuggling $150K "charity" funds to jihadists

2011-10-01 12:19PDT (15:19EDT) (19:19GMT) (22:19 Jerusalem)
_CBS_
Northfield man dumped by Goodrich committed suicide in Burnsville, MN

2011-10-01
Mark J. Perry
50 years of color TV
Was gibt uns denn das Fernsehn?

2011-10-01
Mark J. Perry
North Dakota oil, 2000-2011

2011-10-01
Mark J. Perry
America's latest crime wave: traveling to a different district for better schools/teachers

2011-10-01
Mark J. Perry
Reporter finally asked Buffett why he doesn't just write a bigger check to the government

2011-10-01
_Dice_
Dice Report: 83,567 job ads

2011-10-02

2011-10-02
Mark J. Perry
Shale-gas boom comes to the UK

2011-10-02
Mark J. Perry
Spending per government school pupil since 1969 in inflation-adjusted dollars
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-03

2011-10-03
Amy Nolan _Knoxville TN News Sentinel_
Co-op program recruits veterans to become engineers

2011-10-03
Mark J. Perry
Comparing Maryland and Greece

2011-10-03
Mark Krikorian _Center for Immigration Studies_
Deception and Disorder in Immigration Court (pdf)
"Following up on an earlier summary report, the Center for Immigration Studies has released a 100-page monograph of _Built to Fail: Deception and Disorder in America's Immigration Courts_, authored by Mark H. Metcalf.   A former immigration judge, Metcalf reports that there are inherent flaws in the immigration courts that lead to widespread disregard of its rulings by the aliens who appear before them.   The monograph discusses in detail the shortcomings of Justice Department statistical reporting on the courts' work and the flaws in their funding arrangements...   Very few aliens who file law-suits to remain in the United States are deported, even though immigration courts -- after years of litigation -- order them removed.   Deportation orders are rarely enforced, even against aliens who skip court or ignore orders to leave the United States.   Aliens evade immigration courts more often than accused felons evade state courts.   Unlike accused felons, aliens who skip court are rarely caught.   From 1996 through 2009, the United States allowed 1.9M aliens to remain free before trial and 770K of them -- 40% of the total -- vanished...   Since 1996, failures of aliens to appear in court have never dipped below 30%...   USA immigration courts rule in favor of aliens 60% of the time.   DoJ statistics suggest aliens win only 20% of the time."

2011-10-03
_Forbes_
America's Most Dangerous Cities
picture gallery
"It's commonly expected that crime will rise as economic conditions worsen, but that hasn't been the case in the U.S.A. -- violent crime has fallen for the past 4 years.   In 2010, murder was down 4%, rape fell 5%, robbery dropped 10%, and aggravated assault fell 4%, according to the FBI.   'There's a complex series of forces at work behind these rates.', says Tom Blomberg, dean of the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State Univeristy [a.k.a. Felonious State U due to questionable activities of U executives and administrators].   'The state of the economy, demographics, the number of young males at any given time, the rate of imprisonment and the number of police all factor in.'"

2011-10-03
William L. Anderson
Krugman: Well, no one believed that, let's blame Red China for US economic ills
"There is much more in his column defending countries manipulating their currencies in order to make them weaker internationally, including a demand that the U.S. Government do the same.   However, since [the Red Chinese government] is 'manipulating' its currency to do what Krugman demands we do, [Red China] must be the cause of the depression in the USA.   Krugman uses an interesting set of logical steps to reach this conclusion.   (1) The government has tried to 'stimulate' the economy, (2) the economy still is in a depression; (3) therefore, [Red China] must be at fault."

2011-10-03 (5772 Tishrei 06)
Charles Krauthammer _Jewish World Review_
Palestinian inversion of reality

2011-10-03 (5772 Tishrei 06)
Steven Emerson _Jewish World Review_
Did Awlaki die in battle?

2011-10-03 (5772 Tishrei 06)
Douglas Main _Discover_
MacLean, Johnson, Griffiths claim in Journal of PsychoPharmacology, based on small test groups in 2006 & 2011, report that single high dose of psilocybin makes people more "open" for an extended period

2011-10-03 (5772 Tishrei 06)
Toni Gore _Collegiate Journal of Anthropology_
cannibalism in pre-historic American South-West
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-04

2011-10-04
Phyllis Schlafly _Town Hall_
Buying counterfeit chips from Red China
"counterfeit computer components bought from the Chinese are used in our war-planes, ships and communication networks.   These tiny electronic circuits used in computers can cause breakdowns or malfunctions.   Bloomberg Business Week reported that a confidential Pentagon program issued an alert as long ago as 2005 that fake microchips were causing military equipment malfunctions.   Other shipments were discovered to be counterfeit in time to be cancelled.   Four counterfeit chips were discovered in the flight computer of one of our F-15 fighter jets at Robbins Air Force Base in Georgia...   at least 15% of the spare and replacement chips the Pentagon buys are counterfeits.   Another danger from fake Chinese chips is that they facilitate foreign espionage."

2011-10-04
Hilda Solis & Joshua Lamont _US DoL_
"export growth, TAA critical to job creation"

2011-10-04 13:43PDT (16:43EDT) (20:43GMT) (23:43 Jerusalem)
Melanie Trottman _Wall Street Journal_
US DoL announced mal-directed, too little, too late training grants
DoL press release
Brady McCombs: Arizona Daily Star
Inside Tucson Business
Milwaukee WI Business Journal
Memphis TN Business Journal
Maine Biz
Prue Salasky: VA Peninsula Daily Press
Dan Voorhis: Wichita KS Eagle
Wichita KS Business Journal
Kansas City Star
Kansas City info zine
Lansing MI State Journal
Sacramento CA Bee (with table)
EIN News
MarketWatch/Berkshire Hathaway Business Wire
Patricia Williams: Political News
"The U.S. Department of Labor announced $159.3M in grants to 36 public-private partnerships serving 20 states and DC through the first round of funding under the H-1B Technical Skills Training Grant Competition."

2011-10-04
Andrea Koncz & Kevin Gray _NACE_
Average salary offer for new grads was 6% higher than last year

2011-10-04
Herman Cain _Wall Street Journal_
9 - 9 - 9 plan (video)
MarketWatch

2011-10-04
Dave Gibson _Examiner_
Sheriff Joe Arpaio is our actual jobs czar

2011-10-04
Devvy Kidd _Freedom's Phoenix_
states must fight "anchor baby" legal fiction
News with Views

2011-10-04
Aaron Goldstein _American Spectator_
9 reasons Republicans ought to nominate Herman Cain

2011-10-04
Ross Kaminsky _American Spectator_
Warmists must think we're stupid

2011-10-04
Quin Hillyer _American Spectator_
Confronting Injustice: a chronicle of lawlessness in the Obummer machine

2011-10-04
William L. Anderson
Do economic conditions make opportunity cost disappear?

2011-10-04 (5772 Tishrei 07)
Warren Richey _Jewish World Review_
US Supremes begin session with decisions that could drastically change the USA
Obummercare, the right to own and carry arms, racial preferences in university admissions, Arizona's SB1070 enforcement of federal immigration laws, free exercise of religion, bleeping television, religion in religious schools, GPS tracking without a warrant... and Jerusalem, Israel.

2011-10-04 (5772 Tishrei 07)
Warren Richey _Jewish World Review_
Ban on judge's 10 Commandments poster in court-room stands as Supreme Court declines case

2011-10-04 (5772 Tishrei 07)
Alan M. Dershowitz _Jewish World Review_
Will the UN reward mass murder?
"It is imperative to world peace that the Palestinians pay a price—even if it's only a symbolic price—for rejecting the generous Clinton/Barak offer and responding to it with a second intifada in which 4K people were killed.   It is also important that Israel not return to the precise armistice lines that existed prior to the 1967 war.   If the Palestinians were to achieve a return to the status quo prior to Jordan's attack on Israel in 1967 June, then military aggression will not have been punished, it will have been rewarded.   That's why Security Council resolution 242 -- which was essentially the peace treaty that resulted from the end of the 6 Day War -- intended for Israel to retain territory necessary to give it secure boundaries.   (Indeed, in the formal application submitted by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, he sought membership based on UN General Assembly resolution 1810-11 of 1947 November 29, which would put the borders where they were before the Arab armies invaded the new Jewish state in 1948.   This would reward multiple aggressions.)"

2011-10-04 (5772 Tishrei 07)
Dennis Prager _Jewish World Review_
13 obstacles to becoming a better person

2011-10-04 (5772 Tishrei 07)
Eryn Brown _Jewish World Review_
Genetic testing does not spook some patients, others demand double-blind
"Ever since the 2007 introduction of direct-to-consumer genome-wide tests -- which scan a person's DNA and report on the genetic risk of developing 20 to 40 common diseases -- experts have wondered whether telling regular folks they're more likely to develop illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease or cancer would trigger extreme anxiety, or would result in increased use of unnecessary and expensive medical tests.   Apparently it does not, the Scripps study found.   It also does not seem to push people to make significant lifestyle changes -- such as cutting back on burgers and fries or picking up an exercise class."

2011-10-04 (5772 Tishrei 07)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
"Stop Whining"?
GOP USA
Investor's Business Daily
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-05

2011-10-05
Terence P. Jeffrey _Human Events_
The question Hilda Solis won't answer
"Solis said her department was issuing $159M in grants.   'The grants will provide education, training and job-placement assistance related to high-growth fields in which employers are currently using the H-1B non-immigrant visa program to hire foreign workers, such as advanced manufacturing, energy, health care and information technology.', explained a Labor Department press release.   Catholic University will receive about $4.2M of this money.   After her address, I asked Solis a question, prefaced with references to the proposed ObummerDoesn'tCare regulation and Garvey's op-ed.   'A week ago, the Catholic bishops asked Catholics to contact the administration and indicate their opposition to this, and they described it as an unprecedented attack on religious liberty.', I asked.   'Do you agree with the Catholic bishops that this regulation is an unprecedented attack on religious liberty?'"

2011-10-05
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring News-Letter_
academics to the rescue!
 
A subscriber called my attention to the Harvard conference reported in the [article linked].   I'd been meaning to discuss a similar event at UC Berkeley held about a year ago, at which I was a speaker, so I'll discuss them both here.
 
Both conferences had the goal of informing reporters of the "truth" above immigration.   The audience at UCB consisted almost entirely of working journalists, and apparently this was the case at Harvard as well.
 
In both cases, the term "immigration" was defined primarily in the manner it has come to be defined in the national dialog in the last 10 years -- a "definition" that as devolved, originally meaning people who move to the U.S.A. from elsewhere and stay here permanently, then meaning only people who do so without authorization, then meaning only Latino people who do so without authorization.   IOW, when many people in these conferences speak of "immigrants", they means Latinos who are here illegally.   So, things like H-1B and employer-sponsored green cards don't come into play much anymore.   Nevertheless, it was at least somewhat covered in the UCB conference (one pro speaker, one con), and judging from the [linked] article, it was at least alluded to at Harvard.
 
You can view the UCB videos and read about the conference.   The 12th is of Angelo Paparelli, a very prominent immigration attorney, who naturally spoke of H-1B as being a wonderful thing.   The 14th is of me, and you can guess my position... :-)
 
What was interesting was that during the Q&A session after my talk (apparently not included at the above site, though some Q&A sessions are there), Paparelli said, "I agree with you that the 'prevailing wage' is below the market wage, but that problem is solved by the requirement that the employer pay either the prevailing wage or the actual wage, whichever is higher."   The "actual wage" he was referring to is a legal term, defined to be the average wage of workers in the same job with the same employer.   I replied that there are loop-holes there too, and have discussed them elsewhere.   In any case, the green card data show that most employers pay only the prevailing wage anyway.
 
The Harvard conference claimed that "academics can clarify contentious issues".   That's caused me to chuckle, because in the immigration field, virtually every economist and other academic specializing in that field is known to have a position, either pro or con.   Some are more moderate, even subtle, while others are more to one side, but nearly everyone is "marked".
 
For instance professor Freeman, quoted in the article below, is viewed as being more on the critical side of the immigration issue (my comments later in this post notwithstanding).   He and Harvard colleague George Borjas (who's viewed as quite critical) published controversial research in the late 1990s finding that immigration was costing the average California family $1500 in extra taxes.   Both have done some research that is critical in various senses of H-1B, foreign student programs and so on.   There are various economists on the other side as well.
 
Since the academics don't agree on immigration, it's hard to see how they might clear things up for the press.   Hence my chuckle.
 
Some of the passages in the article beg for comment.   Let's start with one by Freeman:
 
But expand the definition of immigrants to "foreign-born people" who are now citizens, and the impact at Harvard would be drastic, Freeman said.   "Imagine if all the immigrants went home from Harvard University.   I would say 40% of the classes would have nobody teaching them.", he said.   "I have a slide I used in science presentations: What would happen if foreign-born people left our labs?   [It's a] photo of an empty lab."
 
Great sound bite (or "image bite"), but very highly misleading.   I won't bore you readers by yet again citing the infamous NSF internal report in detail.   I'll just summarize: The report said PhD salaries were too high, and called for reducing their growth by bringing in lots of foreign students, thus flooding the market with PhD grads.   The report noted that the resulting stagnant salaries would drive most American students away from doctoral programs.   And that's what turned out to occur.
 
But go back to Freeman's remark.   I've been involved with faculty recruiting for many, many years.   In every single case, there were some excellent American applicants for these faculty positions.   This was IN SPITE OF the restricted pipe-line due to the displacement of the American PhD students.
 
Now one can argue whether these American applicants were the absolute best.   At the top level of the applicant pool, quality is often in the eye of the beholder.   And I myself have vigorously argued in favor of hiring at least 2 of our current faculty, one Chinese, one Indian (recall that I strongly support the immigration of the truly Best and Brightest), whom I felt would turn out to be stars (which they did).
 
But the fact remains that there were certainly excellent Americans available.   And if the influx of foreign students hadn't kept wages down and thus made PhD study unattractive to many Americans, there would be even more first-rate Americans to choose from in hiring faculty.
 
So Freeman's example, while the kind of stuff that goes over well with people in DC, is quite misleading.   Last I heard, 30% of the nation's small hotels were owned by Indian immigrants (the subject of the excellent film, "Missippi Masala").   Good for them, but it doesn't mean that without the Indians we'd have no motels.
 
Now consider this passage:
 
[Illegal aliens] do negatively affect the bottom 10% of the American labor pool, said Edward Schumacher-Matos, the ombudsman for [National Socialist Radio] and the former director of Migration and Integration Studies at Harvard School of Public Health.   However, he noted, perhaps half of that 10% is made up of former immigrants.   "So who's being hit the most by undocumented workers?   Previously undocumented workers.", he said.
 
Well, here is an example in which the researchers fall into 2 camps.   That $1500 finding by Borjas and Freeman suggests that lots of ordinary Americans are hurt too, contrary to the above claims of Schumacher-Matos.   Of course, the other side would counter that the ordinary Americans actually come out ahead, due to lower consumer prices arises from the use of immigrant labor.   But...my UC Davis colleague Phil Martin (who also was featured in one of the UCB videos) calculated that, no, such savings are quite small, far less than the $1500.
 
So a conference designed to clear things up may have had the opposite effect.
 
Norm
Stephanie Schorow: Harvard Gazette
"'If you don't want illegal aliens in the country, you should be happy.   But in fact you would be much happier if they were trying to get into the country because that means we have a good recovery.', said Harvard professor Richard B. Freeman (far left) during 'The Futures of Immigration: Scholars and Journalists in Dialogue' conference at Harvard."

2011-10-05
Jennifer Kaplan & David Roberts _US DoL_
DoL launched app for down-loading stats to mobile phones, iPads, iPod Touch

2011-10-05
Karl Henkel _Youngstown OH Vindicator_
Survey says health care insurance to cost over $10K per employee in 2012
"It'll bring the total health-care premium per employee above $10K, according to a new study from Aon Hewitt, a human resources consultant who surveyed 371 large employers throughout the U.S.A.   Employers project to spend $10,475 per employee in 2012, $1,364 more than they did 2 years ago."

2011-10-05 04:17PDT (07:17EDT) (11:17GMT) (14:17 Jerusalem)
_Chicago IL Tribune_/_Crain's Chicago IL Business_
Illinois lost 6,400 tech jobs in 2010, or 3%, to 201,436, according to the annual Cyberstates report by TechAmerica Foundation
John Pletz: Crain's Chicago IL Business
"California, which has the most tech jobs of any state, with 931K, lost more than any other state; its tech head-count slumped by 18,100...   The average annual salary for tech jobs last year in Illinois increased by 1%, to $79,807, well above the average pay-check of $47,888 in the state.   Also, the number of Illinois tech companies increased 4%, to 19,291, last year—the fifth-consecutive annual rise—putting the state at #5 nationally.   Michigan added the most tech jobs in the nation last year, with a 2,700 gain..."

2011-10-05
Joe Weisenthal _Business Insider_
115,730 announced lay-offs in September; 233,258 in 2011Q3; 479,064 year to date in tally from Challenger, Gray & Christmas
Big Government/Breitbart
Irish Finance Facts (with graph)
Jason Philyaw: Housing Wire
Fox
Ed Morrissey: Hot Air
Kevin Kingsbury: Wall Street Journal
MarketWatch
Murray Coleman: Barron's
Los Angeles CA Times
David Moenning: Inside Futures
Business First
Denver CO Business Journal
Kevin Gale: South Florida Business Journal
Matthew Hendley: Broward/Palm Beach FL Pulp
Chicago IL Tribune/CNN
Mark Huffman: Consumer Affairs
Loren Steffy: Houston TX Chronicle
WTOV
Jan Norman: Orange county CA Register
Alex Kowalski: BusinessWeek
Alex Kowalski: Delaware/Gannett
Bloomberg
"Government agencies announced 54,182 reductions in September.   Of those, 50K resulted from the troop reductions announced by the Army, Challenger said."
government 54,182 (159,588 ytd)
financial 31,167 (54,013)
education 6,462 (8,724)
energy 4,771 (11,798)
transportation 3,920 (11,639)
industrial goods 2,227 (15,506)
health care and products 2,115 (20,341)
aerospace & defense 1,691 (30,122)
retail 1,616 (41,789)
electronics 1,133 (5,942)
entertainment/leisure 852 (11,288)
telecomm 725 (8,440)
computer 690 (11,987)
pharmaceutical 690 (19,076)
utility 675 (3,442)
services 668 (9,809)
consumer products 611 (11,366)
construction 549 (6,526)
non-profits 509 (953)
media 268 (5,868)
automotive 95 (7,999
insurance 90 (2,760)
food 24 (12,392)
93 in CO (100 Aug, 169 Jul, 311 Jun; 5,163ytd)
185 in KY (157 Aug)
375 in IN
1,022 in OH (392 Aug)
1,638 in FL
24,289 in MI
28,352 in NJ
37,981 in NC
50,013 in DC
"The states losing more jobs than FL in September were NC, CA, IL, GA, TN, and WA." (These state figures, scavenged from the articles don't quite add up...jgo)
graphs

2011-10-05
David Catron _American Spectator_
Will Anthony Kennedy be the supreme arbiter of our liberty?: Obummercare

2011-10-05 (5772 Tishrei 08)
R' Yonason Goldson _Jewish World Review_
how to renew our commitment to be more trusting and more trustworthy

2011-10-05 (5772 Tishrei 08)
Janice G. Raymond _Jewish World Review_
Women in the Middle East and Iran deserve better

2011-10-05 (5772 Tishrei 08)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
The "Hunger" hoax
Human Events

2011-10-05 (5772 Tishrei 08)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
Socialist Insecurity Disaster
Politicians who are principled enough to point out the fraud of [Socialist Insecurity], referring to it as a lie and Ponzi scheme, are under siege.   Acknowledgment of [Socialist Insecurity's] problems is not the same as calling for the abandonment of its recipients.   Instead, it's a call to take actions now, while there's time to avert a disaster.   Let's look at it.
 
The term was derived from the scheme created during the 1920s by Charles Ponzi, a poor but enterprising Italian immigrant.   Here's how it works.   You persuade some people to give you their money to invest.   After a while, you pay them a nice return, but the return doesn't come from investments.   What you pay them with comes from the money of other people whom you've persuaded to "invest" in your scheme.   The scheme works so long as you can persuade greater and greater numbers of people to "invest" so that you can pay off earlier "investors".   After a while, Ponzi couldn't find enough new investors, and his scheme collapsed.   He was convicted of fraud and sent to prison.
 
The very first [Socialist Insecurity] check went to Ida May Fuller in 1940.   She paid just $24.75 in [Socialist Insecurity] taxes but collected a total of $22,888.92 in benefits, getting back all she put into [Socialist Insecurity] in a month.   According to a Congressional Research Service report titled "[Socialist Insecurity] Reform" (2002 October), by Geoffrey Kollmann and Dawn Nuschler, workers who retired in 1980 at age 65 got back all they put into [Socialist Insecurity], plus interest, in 2.8 years.   Workers who retired at age 65 in 2002 will have to wait a total of 16.9 years to break even.   For those retiring in 2020, it will take 20.9 years.   Workers entering the labor force today won't live long enough to get back even half of what they will put into [Socialist Insecurity].   [Socialist Insecurity] faces Ponzi's problem, not enough new "investors".   In 1940, there were 160 workers paying into [Socialist Insecurity] per retiree; today there are only 2.9 and falling.
 
Some politicians claim that [Socialist Insecurity] has a huge trust fund and is in good health.   An uniformed public and a derelict news media don't challenge that lie.   Back in August, politicians were in a tizzy over raising the federal debt limit.   In an effort to frighten seniors, president Barack Obama said in a CBS interview, "I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August 3 if we haven't resolved this issue, because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it."   Here's how we reveal the trust fund lie: According to the [Socialist Insecurity Abomination], it has a trust fund with $2.6T in it.   If those were real assets, then the [Socialist Insecurity Abomination] could have mailed checks out regardless of what Congress did about the debt limit.   The reality is that the [Socialist Insecurity] trust fund consists of government IOUs that have no real value at all and probably are not even worth the paper upon which they are printed.
 
I believe that a person who is 65 years old and has been forced into [Socialist Insecurity] is owed something.   But the question is, Who owes it to him? Congress has spent every penny of his [Socialist Insecurity] "contribution".   Young workers have no obligation to be fleeced in order to make up for the dishonesty and dereliction of Congress.   The tragedy is that most seniors just want their money and couldn't care less about whom Congress takes it from.
 
Here's what might be a temporary fix: The federal government owns huge quantities of wasting assets -- assets that are not producing anything -- 650M acres of land, almost 30% of the land area of the United States.   In exchange for those who choose to opt out of [Socialist Insecurity] and forsake any future claim, why not pay them off with 40 or so acres of land? Doing so would give us breathing room to develop a free choice method to finance retirement.
---30---

2011-10-05
_Apple_
Steve Jobs 1955-2011
"Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being.   Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor.   Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.   If you would like to share your thoughts, memories, and condolences, please e-mail rememberingsteve@apple.com Remembering Steve"

2011-10-05 16:47:25PDT (19:47:25EDT) (23:47:25GMT) (2011-10-06 02:47:25 Jerusalem)
Bruce Newman _San Jose CA Mercury News_
Apple co-founder and Sili Valley pioneer Steve Jobs is dead
"Surrounded by his wife and children, Jobs died only a few miles from the family garage in Los Altos where he and fellow college drop-out Steve Wozniak assembled the first Apple computer in 1976...   He was given up for adoption by his biological parents -- Joanne Schieble and Abdulfattah Jandali, a Syrian-born graduate student -- shortly after his birth in San Francisco.   His parents eventually married and had a daughter, but it was not until Jobs and his long-lost biological sister were both grown that he discovered she was the best-selling novelist, Mona Simpson.   Even growing up in the profoundly non-conformist 1960s, Steven Paul Jobs always seemed different than his peers.   His adoptive parents -- Paul and Clara Jobs, a machinist and an accountant in middle-class Mountain View -- took every utterance of their restless son seriously.   When Steve declared he wasn't learning anything at his junior high school, and told them he refused to return the following year, the family abruptly moved to Los Altos so he could attend Homestead High.   It was there that he telephoned William Hewlett, president of the electronics manufacturing giant Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), and asked him to donate parts for one of Steve's engineering projects at school.   Hewlett was so impressed that he offered the teenager a summer job.   If Jobs already had a sense of his own manifest destiny, he didn't reveal it.   After a single semester at Reed College in Portland, he dropped out of school, then spent the following year learning the I Ching -- a Chinese system of symbols used to find order in chance events -- while dropping acid and dropping in on Reed's philosophy classes.   He took a job with the computer game maker Atari in 1974, but stuck around just long enough to save money for a pilgrimage to India...   He stumbled upon Wozniak in 1975, presiding over a geekfest called the Homebrew Computer Club in Palo Alto, and convinced the brilliant Woz to start a company with him.   Woz would remain the man behind the curtain, while Jobs provided Apple's razzle-dazzle, welcoming the attention.   'Every time I designed something great...he would say, Let's sell it.', Wozniak recalled once at an Intel conference.   'It was always his idea to sell it.'...   With the fortune he made on the sale of his Apple stock, Jobs immediately started another computer company.   But NeXT -- which started as a manufacturer of [expensive] work-stations, and ended as a designer of [expensive] operating systems [which later became Mac OS X] -- represented for Jobs a decade of wandering through the wilderness.   He didn't make the journey alone, marrying Laurene Powell in a Zen Buddhist ceremony in 1991.   The couple had 3 children and Jobs had a fourth child from a previous relationship with Chris-Ann Brennan.   Lisa...was born around the same time as Apple's third-generation computer, which was marketed as the Lisa...   Jobs scooped [Pixar] up cheap in 1986, and within 2 years, Pixar had won its first Oscar..."
Mike Swift: Tributes for "Our Edison"
Chris O'Brien: Why we all feel the passing of Steve Jobs so deeply
People gather at Apple stores to remember Steve Jobs
Deborah Peterson: Steve Jobs quotations

2011-10-05
Hanna Ingber Win _Global Post_
Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder, has died

2011-10-05
_KGO San Francisco CA_
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has died

2011-10-05
Dave Gibson _Examiner_
Yemeni illegal alien caught by Alabama law

2011-10-05
_Judicial Watch_
US government spent $649K to recruit aliens to live in government housing
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-05 17:22PDT (2011-10-05 20:22EDT) (2011-10-06 00:22GMT) (2011-10-06 03:22 Jerusalem)
Jason Hiner _Tech Republic_/_Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
Steve Jobs has passed away, tech world mourns
Steve Jobs and the 5 "dragons"

2011-10-05 17:59PDT (2011-10-05 20:59EDT) (2011-10-06 00:59GMT) (2011-10-06 03:59 Jerusalem)
_ComputerWorld_/_IDG_
Apple chairman Steve Jobs died at 56 (video)
Agam Shah: ComputerWorld/IDG
"In 1968, he and a friend created the 'blue box', an illegal phone attachment that allowed users to make long distance calls.   He also sold and repaired stereos during his high school years.   As a young man he dabbled in counterculture.   In 1974, Jobs spent his savings from working at Atari to travel to India...   Wozniak and Jobs became friends after meeting at Hewlett-Packard in 1971.   In 1976, they built the Apple I computer in Wozniak's parents' garage after raising $1,750 -- for which Jobs sold his Volkswagen minibus, and Wozniak his HP scientific calculator."

2011-10-05 18:17PDT (2011-10-05 21:17EDT) (2011-10-06 01:17GMT) (2011-10-06 04:17 Jerusalem)
Larry Dignan _Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
Steve Jobs' big lesson: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."
"Here's what stuck out about Jobs for me: Innovative.   Quirky.   Stubborn as hell.   Controlling.   Great leader.   An artist eye for design with an engineer's brain.   Amazing legacy.   'Stay hungry.   Stay foolish.'...   In a 2005 Stanford commencement speech, Jobs said: 'Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.   Don't be trapped by dogma -- which is living with the results of other people's thinking.   Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.   And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.   They somehow already know what you truly want to become.   Everything else is secondary.'"

2011-10-05
_Wall Street Journal_
Herman Cain explains his 9-9-9 plan (9% personal income tax, 9% business transaction tax, 9% federal sales tax)

2011-10-05 18:22PDT (2011-10-05 21:22EDT) (2011-10-06 01:22GMT) (2011-10-06 04:22 Jerusalem)
Scot Finnie _ComputerWorld_/_IDG_
Steve Jobs' indelible mark on the computer industry

2011-10-05 18:58PDT (2011-10-05 21:58EDT) (2011-10-06 01:58GMT) (2011-10-06 04:58 Jerusalem)
Robert McMillan _ComputerWorld_/_IDG_
From friends and fans, Steve Jobs tributes pour in

2011-10-05 21:09PDT (2011-10-06 00:09EDT) (2011-10-06 04:09GMT) (2011-10-06 07:09 Jerusalem)
Dan Gallagher _MarketWatch_
Steve Jobs died at 56

2011-10-06
Steve Wozniak _CBS_
The loss of Steve Jobs

2011-10-06
Jonny Evans _ComputerWorld_/_IDG_
Farewell, Steve Jobs, you saw the future

2011-10-06
_Chronicle of Higher Education_
Steve Jobs, Apple's Visionary Leader, Dies at Age 56
Naomi Schaefer Riley
Laurie Fendrich
Robert Talbert
Marc Prensky

2011-10-06 01:08PDT (04:08EDT) (08:08GMT) (11:08 Jerusalem)
Davd Lev _Israel National News_
Arabs desecrate tomb of Joseph... again
"Arabs have once again desecrated the tomb of Joseph in Shechem, daubing the structure with anti-Israel and anti-Semitic graffiti, swastikas, and other symbols of hatred.   Shocked visitors to the site said that it was simply an act of barbarism, that clearly showed what the fate of Jews would be if the Arabs ever do wrest control of Judea and Samaria from Israel.   The desecration was discovered late Wednesday night, when over 2K Jews entered the compound in the PA-controlled city of Shechem for Selichot (pre-Yom Kippur penitential prayers)..."

2011-10-06 04:53PDT (07:53EDT) (11:53GMT) (14:53 Jerusalem)
Toni Bowers _Tech Republic_/_Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
Steve Jobs on career lessons learned

2011-10-06 05:30PDT (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT) (15:30 Jerusalem)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
DoL home page
DoL OPA press releases
historical data
DoL regulations
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 329,029 in the week ending October 1, an increase of 956 from the previous week.   There were 373,681 initial claims in the comparable week in 2010.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5% during the week ending September 24, unchanged from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,145,055, a decrease of 62,504 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 3.0% and the volume was 3,779,910.   The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending September 17 was 6,862,004, a decrease of 123,009 from the previous week.   Extended benefits were available in AL, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, WA, WV, and WI during the week ending September 17.   States reported 3,027,447 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending September 17, a decrease of 9,188 from the prior week.   There were 4,123,513 claimants in the comparable week in 2010.   EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.   [Note that the population used for calculating the "insured unemployment rate" (the divisor) changes
to 132,623,886 beginning 2007-10-06;
to 133,010,953 beginning 2008-01-05;
to 133,382,559 beginning 2008-04-05;
to 133,690,617 beginning 2008-07-05;
to 133,902,387 beginning 2008-10-04;
to 133,886,830 beginning 2009-01-03;
to 133,683,433 beginning 2009-04-04;
to 133,078,480 beginning 2009-07-04;
to 133,823,421 beginning 2009-10-03;
to 131,823,421 beginning 2009-10-17;
to 130,128,328 beginning 2010-01-02;
to 128,298,468 beginning 2010-04-03;
to 126,763,245 beginning 2010-07-03;
to 125,845,577 beginning 2010-09-25;
to 125,560,066 beginning 2011-01-15;
to 125,572,661 beginning 2011-04-02;
to 125,807,389 beginning 2011-07-02.]
EUC (Excel)
EB
graphs
more graphs

2011-10-06
Bill Snyder _InfoWorld_/_IDG_
Fired IT workers fight back against H-1B, L-1 and B-1 visa abuse
"According to [James Otto], their actual wages paid by Cognizant were so low they had to live 6 to a room; workers abroad were being paid even less.   But Cognizant made out very, very nicely, paid $72 an hour by Molina for the labor of the on-shore contractors and $26 an hour for those in India, according to Onufrock.   Indeed, Cognizant did so well that Molina's IT costs actually exceed the amount budgeted, which was the rate it used to pay its American workers: $50 per hour.   Cognizant was charging half again as much as Molina had paid originally.   And yes, that last point is very odd.   I don't understand why Molina would go out of the way to spend more money on the H-1B visa-holding workers than on the original domestic staff.   Otto, the attorney, believes part of the answer is that Molina wants a 'compliant' staff that will work over-time with no gripes or calls for benefits.   It's also possible that at some point the H-1B visa workers will go off Cognizant's books and be paid their sub-standard wages directly by Molina, without a portion doled out to Cognizant."

2011-10-06 12:15PDT (15:15EDT) (19:15GMT) (22:15 Jerusalem)
_KGO San Francisco CA_
Tributes continue around the world for Steve Jobs

2011-10-06
Beryl Lieff Benderly _AAAS Science_
Staple a green card to every diploma? Not so fast says House sub-committee
"The United States already has an large domestic supply of STEM talent, testified B. Lindsay Lowell, Director of Policy Studies at Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of Immigration.   Increasing the supply of potential STEM workers by admitting large numbers of foreigners results in lower wages and discourages able Americans from pursuing STEM careers, he continued.   'The domestic student pipe-line isn't broken.', he said in prepared testimony.   'While there are specific fields in which we observe hiring (demand) out-pacing supply, this tends to be short-lived and as supply is surprisingly responsive.'   He cited as an example the rapid recent doubling in the number of domestic graduates in petroleum engineering in response to a jump in salaries.   The domestic STEM pipe-line 'is reasonably strong even if it can...be improved'.   Furthermore, "the S&E [science and engineering] labor market is not 'tight'....S&E wages lag 'alternative' professional jobs" that also attract able young Americans, such as law, medicine and finance, his testimony continued.   In addition, admitting large numbers of foreigners does not guarantee getting the so-called 'best and brightest' because real innovative talent is rare."

2011-10-06
Erik Sherman _BNET_/_Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
Steve Jobs and his magical business decisions

2011-10-06
W. James Antle iii _American Spectator_
Jobs' Creation: Steve Jobs reminded us that making money can also make other people's lives better

2011-10-06
Quin Hillyer _American Spectator_
A primer on Obummercare and the US Constitution
alternate link

2011-10-06
Stephen Moore _American Spectator_
Is Keynes finally dead? One would think so -- yet under this presidency he will never be allowed to rest in peace

2011-10-06
Joseph Lawler _American Spectator_
The Cost of Uncertainty

2011-10-06
Steven A. Camarota _Center for Immigration Studies_
2000-2010 was a record-setting decade for immigration
"New data from the Census Bureau show that the nation's immigrant population (legal and illegal), also referred to as the foreign-born, reached 40M in 2010, the highest number in American history.   Nearly 14M new immigrants (legal and illegal) settled in the country from 2000 to 2010, making it the highest decade of immigration in American history.   This is the case even though there was a net decline of jobs during the decade.   In contrast, from 1990 to 2000 job growth was 22M and 13.2M new immigrants arrived.   Immigrants come for many reasons, such as a desire to join relatives or to access public services.   As a result, immigration remains high even during a prolonged period of economic weakness."

2011-10-06
William L. Anderson
In praise of Steve Jobs
"Jobs realized that technology meant nothing if people did not want to use it."

2011-10-06
Mark J. Perry
Steve Jobs vs. Teddy Kennedy

2011-10-06 (5772 Tishrei 08)
Jeff Jacoby _Jewish World Review_
David Horowitz's search for meaning in mortality

2011-10-06 (5772 Tishrei 08)
Howard LaFranchi _Jewish World Review_
Palestinians continue push for statehood recognition while continuing occupation of Israel: Congress puts brakes on $500M in hand-outs

2011-10-06 (5772 Tishrei 08)
Warren Richey _Jewish World Review_
Supreme Court justices find government line in church-state case "amazing": Religion, EEOC and ADA
"Leondra Kruger, an assistant solicitor general, said the government was basing its argument on a section of the First Amendment that guarantees the freedom of individuals to associate with each other.   Some justices took issue with the position, wondering why the solicitor general's office wasn't analyzing the issue through the First Amendment's religion clauses.   The 2 religion clauses bar the government from establishing a state-favored religion, while prohibiting laws that infringe the free exercise of religion."
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-07

2011-10-07 03:20PDT (06:20EDT) (10:20GMT) (13:20 Jerusalem)
Eric Pfahler _Treasure Coast FL Palm_
Bio-tech boom to remake Treasure Coast
"Thousands of jobs, improved wages and hundreds of acres of state-of-the-art biotech facilities are among the benefits officials tout when talking about the biotech sector.   But stumbling blocks exist in the form of limited lenders, increased competition for federal grants and a slow economy.   Pelton said he still expects 5 new companies in the next 5 years and eventually 4K to 5K jobs just in the Tradition area...   the state and local governments put more than $1.5G into the biotech industry...   Such job opportunities for hometown students didn't exist 5 years ago when Port St. Lucie and county officials attracted Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies to the Treasure Coast with a $90M incentive package, half of which came from the state.   That -- coupled with Scripps Research Institute setting up in Jupiter -- officially got the bio-tech ball rolling on the Treasure Coast...   More than 45K applications came to the National Institutes of Health in 2010.   A little more than 20% of the applicants received awards, whereas 30% or more were successful from 1998 to 2003, according to the National Institutes of Health."

2011-10-07 05:57PDT (08:57EDT) (12:57GMT) (15:57 Jerusalem)
Phil Izzo _Wall Street Journal_
seasonally adjusted U-6 unemployment rate is 16.5%
If the Employment/Population ratio for men were slightly below its peak (86% rather than the peak 86.2% or today's 64.2%) and very slightly lower than current levels for women (50% rather than today's 53.2%), we'd have nearly 21.5M more people employed than we do (overall Employment/Population ratio of 67.5% rather than today's 58.5%).
not seasonally adjusted graphs

2011-10-07 12:20:27PDT (15:20:27EDT) (19:20:27GMT) (22:20:27 Jerusalem)
Christopher S. Rugaber & Martin Crutsinger _San Jose CA Mercury News_/_AP_
A job is becoming a dim memory for many unemployed Americans

2011-10-07 14:19PDT (17:19EDT) (21:19GMT) (2011-10-07 00:19 Jerusalem)
Phil Izzo _Wall Street Journal_
Slow crawl out of 14M job deficit
"In order to get back to levels prior to [the most recent] recession the U.S.A. still needs to add 6.6M jobs...   And the addition of the 6.6M jobs only accounts for the jobs that were lost, it does nothing to expand the labor market for the [100K to 250K] new entrants who join the ranks of the labor force every month."

2011-10-07
Robert W. Merry _American Spectator_
Would Tea party participants like Andrew Jackson?

2011-10-07
Dave Gibson _Examiner_
How can an illegal alien in-mate be eligible for "work release" when he's not supposed to be working in the USA?

2011-10-07
Joseph Walker _Asia-Pacific FINS_/_Dow Jones_
India's tech bodyshops to hire big
"Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Wipro are planning to hire more than 119K employees combined this year, and not just computer programmers and software engineers.   The companies are recruiting in areas such as mobility, data analytics, cloud computing, product management and business analysis.   Those most in demand, and the hardest to find, are people with deep technical knowledge in 6 industries: financial services, retail, health care and pharmaceuticals, energy and utilities, media and telecommunications, and manufacturing and high tech...   The majority of the big 3's new hires will still be Indian-born, but the number of Westerners at on-site locations is growing.   It's part of an effort to keep happy non-Indian clients, which generate the majority of revenue...   At its 14 U.S. offices, which include cities like Columbus, OH, and Mountain View, CA, Wipro wants half its staff to be locals.   So far about 36% are, with most of the rest coming from India on [low-skilled] worker visas.   Globally, about 40% of its staff working outside of India are locals, up from 35% two years ago, Govil said.   As of the end of 2011 March, Wipro had over 120K employees, with about 21K working outside India.   The company wouldn't say how many it will hire this year, but plans to add more than last year when it hired 13,684 employees.   About 65% of its new hires will be recent graduates, with the rest having varying levels of industry experience, Govil said.   Industry leader Tata is hiring the most out of [the] big 3 [bodyshoppers].   Its goal is to hire 60K in the fiscal year ending 2012 March 31, split between new college graduates and experienced hires.   About 88% of its hires typically are made in India, said Ajoy Mukherjee, vice president of global human resources with the company...   [Tata executives say they focus] campus recruiting efforts on top tier state schools and technical colleges, including the New Jersey Institute of Technology [NJIT], Ohio State University, Purdue University, Rensselear Polytechnic Institute, the Rochester Institute of Technology [RIT], the University of Cincinnati [UC], and the University of Illinois [at] Urbana-Champaign [UIUC]...   As part of its effort to acculturate Westerners to its way of thinking, Wipro plans to move hundreds of new U.S. and European hires to India for 6 months' training...   In most years, including this year, up to 70% of Infosys's new hires are recent college graduates, with the majority coming from India, Singapore and China as well as from the U.S.A. and Europe, said Srikantan Moorthy, senior vice president of education and research."

2011-10-07
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Individuality Is Essential

2011-10-07
Mark J. Perry
More on US manufacturing renaissance

2011-10-07 (5772 Tishrei 09)
Jonathan Rosenblum _Jewish World Review_
Rewriting the Past: Divine forgiveness

2011-10-07 (5772 Tishrei 09)
Saeed Shah _Jewish World Review_
Pakistan may charge doctor -- who helped find bin Laden -- with treason
"Since 2001, Washington has provided $20.7G to Pakistan, according to a recent report from the Congressional Research Service."

2011-10-07 (5772 Tishrei 09)
Jonathan Tobin _Jewish World Review_
UNESCO vote puts Obummer to the test
"As expected, the 58-nation executive board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) voted to admit Palestine as a full member of the organization.   The move is part of the Palestinian Authority's diplomatic offensive to gain statehood from the UN without first making peace with Israel [and while continuing occupation of Israel]..."
 
Proposed Bills 2011

2011-10-07

DJIA	11,103.12
S&P 500(SPX)	1,155.46
NASDAQ(COMP)	2,479.35
Nikkei	8,605.62
10-year US T-Bond(UST10Y)	2.07%
crude oil(CL1X)	$82.98/barrel
natgas(NG11X)	$3.48/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline(RB1V)	$2.65/gal
heatingoil(HO1V)	$2.86/gal
gold(GC1Z)	$1,635.80/ounce
silver(SI1Z)	$30.99/ounce
platinum(PL2F)	$1,493.30/ounce
palladium(PA1Z)	$585.85/ounce
copper(HG1Z)	$0.204375/ounce
soybeans	$11.5825/bushel
maize	$6.00/bushel
wheat	$6.075/bushel
dollarindex (DXY)	78.66
yenperdollar (USDYEN)	76.785
dollarspereuro (EURUSD)	$1.3372
dollarsperpound (GBPUSD)	$1.5588
swissfrancsperdollar (USDCHF)	0.9271
indianrupeesperdollar (USDINR)	48.98
mexicanpesosperdollar (USDMXN)	13.46
MorganStanleyHighTechIndex	587.80

I usually get this info from MarketWatch.
 
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-08

2011-10-08
Justin Lahart _Wall Street Journal_
Falling compensation for young college grads

2011-10-08
_Austin TX American-Statesman_
Ron Paul won straw poll among "social conservatives"
Stephanie Condon: CBS
Lindsey Boerma: National Journal
Katie Pavlich: Town Hall
C.J. Claramella: Daily Caller
Warner Time
"Ron Paul, R-Lake Jackson, is the top presidential pick of social conservatives gathered at the Values Voters Summit in Washington this weekend, winning 37% in a nonbinding Republican straw poll. Georgia businessman Herman Cain came in second with 23%, and former senator Rick Santorum placed third with 16% Saturday. representative Michele Bachmann of MN, and governor Rick Perry of Texas tied with 8%."
"I appreciate very much this opportunity to visit with you to talk about families.   Obviously family values are very, very important.   And, as was mentioned in the introduction, I have delivered a few babies.   And that does contribute to family, let me tell you.   (Laughs.)   But also I'm from a rather large family.   I have 4 brothers.   But we have 5 children and 18 grand-children and 5 great-grand-children as well.   (Cheers, applause.)   But, you know, the one thing that is fascinating to me when we bring new life into the world or a new baby comes into the family has always been the reaction of the siblings -- maybe 1, 2, or 3, 4 years old.   I'm always fascinated with the intrigue of the siblings looking at a small baby.   And I thought, well, that was natural and good and really symbolizes what the family is all about.   Unfortunately, our families have been under attack.   And I have a few ideas about why that has occurred and what we might do about it.   But the value of the family was something that was early described in the Bible.   And there's one reference to the family that I thought was very important.   That was in Samuel, 1 Samuel, chapter 8.   And this is when the people, not the elders, came to Samuel when he was very old and they knew he would be passing on, so the people came and said to Samuel, what we need is a king.   We need a king to take care of us.   We want to be safe and secure.   And Samuel, although he knew he wasn't going to be around long, he advised the people of Israel not to accept the king, because the king, he warned, would not be generous.   He would undermine their liberties.   There would be more wars.   There would be more taxes.   And besides, accepting the notion of a king would reject the notion that, up until that time, since they had left Egypt, their true king was their God and the guidance from their God.   But the governing body was the family.   And they did not have kings, but they had judges.   And that's what Samuel was.   But this was the time there was a shift away from the judges and the family into a king.   And I think a lot of that has happened to us in this country.   We have too often relied on our king in Washington, and we have to change that.   (Cheers, applause.)   Samuel warned that the king would want to make servants of the people.   And he even talked about taxes going up and he talked about the use of young men being drafted and he talked about the women and young women being used by the king.   And the warning was not heeded, as Samuel didn't expect it to be heeded.   But he also said that if you depend on the king, the morality of the people will be rejected, the emphasis on the people themselves; the morality should come from the people and not from the king.   And generally it doesn't work that way.   You know, morality of the people or the lack of morality of the people can be reflected in the law.   But the law never can change the morality of the people.   And that is very important.   (Cheers, applause.)   In the 1960s and the 1970s, there were dramatic changes in our country.   During the Vietnam War there was a lot of antiwar sentiment.   There were a lot of drugs.   This was the decade that abortion was done flagrantly against the law.   And, lo and behold, the laws got changed after the morality changed.   But it was also -- about the time we had Roe versus Wade, we also had the break-down of our monetary system, the rejection of the biblical admonition that we have honest weights and measures and honest money.   And not to have honest weights and measures meant we were counterfeiting the money and destroying the value of the money, which implies, even in biblical times, they weren't looking for a central bank that was going to counterfeit our currency.   (Cheers, applause.)   But the culture certainly changed.   The work ethics changed.   The welfare state grew.   And it wasn't only for the poor who were looking to be taken care of, but we finally ended up with a system where the lobbyists were from the rich corporations and the banks that would come to Washington and expect to get their benefits.   And the whole idea of a moral society changed.   But, you know, biblically there's a lot of admonitions about what the family should be in charge of.   Certainly the [6th] commandment tells us something about honoring our parents and caring for them.   It didn't say work out a system where the government will take care of us from cradle to grave.   No, it was an admonition for us to honor our parents and be responsible for them, not put them into a nursing home and say the federal government can take care of them.   Besides, sometimes that leads to bankruptcies and the government can't do it anyway.   So that responsibility really falls on us...   So as long as we allow the federal government to grow and we don't obey those restraints, things will get worse.   But the good news is there's a whole generation of Americans right now rising up and saying we were on the right track at the right time.   Let's get back on that track.   Let's restore liberty to this country and prosperity and peace.   (Cheers, applause.)"

2011-10-08
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Obummer's "jobs" plan is a wasteful sham
Jonathan M.F. Catalan: Ludwig von Mises Institute

2011-10-08
Robert Moore _Cenantua_
"Yankee-leanin' Hollywood propaganda"... errr, maybe not...

2011-10-08
Mark J. Perry
Don't expect Apple-like innovation in Red China
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-09

2011-10-09
Robert Moore _Cenantua_
The South and her contributions to the US military since the American Civil War

2011-10-09
Robert Moore _Cenantua_
How a Shenandoah Valley "apple-butter boil" beat "a South Georgia shinding all to pieces"

2011-10-09
Mark J. Perry
Steve Jobs, world's greatest philanthropist

2011-10-09
Kris Anne Hall _As the World Crumbles_
"agenda 21" and "race to the top" (with video)
YouTube video
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-10

2011-10-09 18:52PDT (2011-10-09 21:52EDT) (2011-10-10 01:52GMT) (2011-10-10 04:52 Jerusalem)
Jason Schultz _Palm Beach FL Post_
students who don't understand English pose diverse challenge for Palm Beach county schools
Florida Sun-Sentinel
"21 Palm Beach county school district students who speak Dutch as their primary language...   49 students who speak Persian or Farsi, a language common in parts of Iran.   Those are 2 of the 145 languages that district students from more than 200 countries reported as their primary language this year.   Although about 96% of students speak 1 of 3 languages -- English, Spanish or Haitian Creole -- the school district uses an array of volunteers, pictures and dictionaries to serve children in languages that district officials sometimes can't pronounce, let alone speak.   'We work around it.   The communication is not 100%, but we use pictures and gestures.', said Solange Colon, a language teacher at Roosevelt Middle School in West Palm Beach.   She has Arabic speakers in her English class and said she also has taught English to students who spoke Jamaican patois and Hungarian.   There are at least 39 languages spoken by only one student in the district.   These vary from Icelandic to various Native American and Eskimo dialects, such as Yupik, which is spoken in parts of Alaska, to Pohnpeian, which is spoken on the tiny island of Pohnpei in the Pacific Ocean...   Kim Thomasson, a manager in the district's Department of Multicultural Affairs, said the district provides language facilitators to help students and their parents if there are more than 15 students speaking a language at a particular school.   Because the few students speaking many of the languages are scattered throughout the county, the only district-provided language facilitators are for Spanish, Haitian Creole and Mayan languages for a few schools in Lake Worth with students from Mexico and Central America, she said...   At South Grade, Principal Michael Riley estimated that a third of his school, which has 575 students, speaks Mayan languages such as Kanjobal from Guatemala...   Top languages spoken by students in the Palm Beach County School District: 1. English 125,679; 2. Spanish 31,273; 3. Haitian Creole 13,785; 4. Portuguese 1,503; 5. VietNamese 571."

2011-10-10
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring News-Letter_
TI says there are enough American engineers at the bachelor's level
 
For years we've been hearing from the industry lobbyists that American kids can't do math, can't do science, consider tech careers unappealing, avoid math and science majors like the plague when they go to college, etc. -- all resulting in a shortage of engineers.   The actual data have never supported these claims, and the extremely thorough study by Hal Salzman and Lindsay Lowell a couple of years ago ought to have put them to rest once and for all.   But lobbyists are paid the big bucks because they are exceedingly good at what they do, and the politicians believe the claims, which for example figured heavily in President Obama's State of the Union Address this year.
 
Yet, without fully realizing it, Texas Instruments V.P. for HR Darla Whitaker has now essentially admitted that all that "Johnnie Can't Do Math" stuff was just slick PR.   At the October 5 the House Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement held a hearing titled, "STEM the Tide: Should America Try to Prevent an Exodus of Foreign Graduates of U.S. Universities with Advanced Science Degrees?", Ms. Whitaker stated that TI has plenty of engineering applicants with bachelor's degrees, and thus does not hire foreign workers at that level.   She stated TI does hire H-1Bs, and sponsors them for green cards, at the Master's and PhD levels, where she says there is a shortage.
 
This naturally led one of the congresspeople on the committee to ask Whitaker, why don't the American engineering students go on to grad school?   She replied that she supposed that the American students were anxious to get out and start making money.
 
The committee member didn't ask the obvious followup question: Well, why isn't TI taking proactive measures to get more of those Americans to pursue graduate study?   Whitaker had stated that TI has myriad programs at the K-12 level to get more kids into the engineering pipe-line, clearly an odd statement on 2 counts:
 
1.   Didn't she say there are plenty of Americans studying engineering at the bachelor's level?   Then why all this talk about the "pipe-line"?
 
2.   Why is TI sponsoring numerous programs to increase flow into the "pipe-line", yet is NOT SPONSORING EVEN ONE (according to her list, at least) to get American engineering students to continue their studies after their bachelor's degrees?
 
During the Dot Com Boom, Intel came to meet with our department, asking what they could do to help us.   We replied that Intel could help us get more of our students to pursue graduate study.   This could range anywhere from Intel spending a bit of money, by sponsoring some graduate fellowships, to no-cost actions such as coming to address our under-graduate Computer Science Club about the importance of grad school.   Intel refused to take even the latter simple, costless action.
 
The obvious conclusion would seem to be that TI and Intel simply aren't interested in having more Americans get Master's degrees and PhDs.
 
On the contrary, the large influx of foreign students at the graduate level (for various reasons I won't go into here, the figures are proportionately much lower for under-graduates) holds down salaries at that level, as pointed out by the National Science Foundation paper I've cited so much.   It also holds down teaching and research assistant stipends for grad students.   Meanwhile, universities hire their own H-1Bs.   No wonder industry and academia love these foreign worker programs.
 
By the way, the term _industry_ includes the financial sector.   I noticed that in "The Devils Are All Here", the tell-all of the financial crash by McLean and Nocera, it mentions on p.123,
 
At both Moody's and S&P, former employees say there was a move away from hiring people with backgrounds in credit and toward hiring recent business school graduates or foreigners with green cards [sic] to keep costs down.
 
I think the authors misunderstood, and the foreign workers were actually being sponsored by the employers for green cards, not that the workers already had green cards.   I've noted often that H-1B is about age, a vehicle for avoiding hiring older Americans; the firms hire young H-1Bs when they run out of young Americans (or often without running out).
 
Getting back to TI, one of Ms. Whitaker's predecessors also seemed to divulge a bit more than he had intended, back in 1999.   A DPE report noted:
 
In a candid moment, Roger Cooker, director of staffing at Texas Instruments Company -- one of the nation's largest high tech firms -- told U.S. News & World Report (1999 August 30) that H-1B workers are part of their strategy to keep down the wages of engineers and other high tech workers.
 
And here is an example of a TI green card sponsoree highlighted a couple of years ago by last week's hearing panelist Vivek Wadhwa:
 
Like many Indians, Girija Subramaniam is fed up. After earning a master's in electrical engineering from the University of Virginia in 1998, she joined Texas Instruments as a test engineer.   She wanted to stay in the United States, applied for permanent residency in 2002 and has been trapped in immigration limbo ever since.   If she so much as accepts a promotion or, heaven forbid, starts her own company, she will lose her place in line.   Frustrated, she has applied for fast-track Canadian permanent residency and expects to move north of the border by the end of the year.
 
A test engineer!   Not R&D, just testing.   This type of job is considered mundane, ho-hum, just plain boring.   Does TI really need to sponsor people for green cards to do this, can't find any Americans?   Or is it TI simply can't find young ones, at a price TI wants to pay?   You be the judge.
 
Concerning the rest of the hearing, there is an excellent web page including the witnesses' written statements and a video of the hearing.   The latter is even down-loadable, much appreciated.
 
Other than the TI testimony, there was not much of interest.   Lindsay Lowell spoke of H-1B as divided into "good actors and bad actors", with the latter needing extra auditing.   I was quite disappointed to hear him say these things, as I strongly disagree; as I've shown, quantitatively and otherwise, abuse of H-1B is (a) widespread, including the top household name U.S. firms, and (b) is usually done in full compliance with the law.
 
Mr. Nassirian was extremely sharp and insightful, a gentleman of the old school.   Unfortunately, his remarks amounted to saying that any university that receives federal research funds should count as qualifying for the auto-green cards, backing up representative Lofgren's views.   She says there are about 200 such schools, which she presents as a small number but of course would produce a huge number of recipients of those auto-green cards.
 
We don't have a shortage of tech workers, as even Wadhwa has found in his own research, and as Whitaker unwittingly agreed to a surprising extent.   That's a good reason NOT to pass legislation to get the foreign grads to stay here, especially given the age issue.   Most recipients of auto-green cards would be young, greatly exacerbating the rampant age discrimination in the tech industry (which Wadhwa has also written about).   Good for Ms. Subramaniam for finding a job, and I'm sure she's a good worker, but it's wrong for TI to hire her so as to avoid hiring the 35-year-old Americans.
 
Norm
David North: Center for Immigration Studies

2011-10-10
Dave Gibson _Examiner_
Stop giving out visas until illegal alien invasion is stopped
"Even as our economy has faltered and unemployment remains high, we continue to welcome foreign nationals, with 1,042,625 new arrivals in 2010 alone...   In 2010, we allowed 139,120 Mexican nationals to legally immigrate to the U.S.A.   While many individual Border patrol agents estimate that for every 1 illegal crosser they catch, another 7 or even 10 successfully enter the U.S.A., those reports are difficult to substantiate as no agent is willing to go on record with such inflammatory data.   However, in 2010 June, former president of the National Border Patrol Council, T.J. Bonner told Fox News that for every person caught trying to enter this country illegally over the U.S./Mexican border...at least 2 more successfully make it here.   Using Bonner's rather conservative estimate, it is safe to say that 1M people crossed into this country illegally from Mexico last year...   Among others, we allowed the following number of immigrants from Central and South American countries in 2010: Brazil: 12,258; Ecuador: 11,492; El Salvador: 18,806; Guatemala: 10,467; Nicaragua: 3,565; Peru: 14,247.   Mexico depends a great deal on immigrants (both legal and illegal) sending a large portion of their wages in the form of wire transfers or remittances from the U.S.A. back home.   In fact, remittances are Mexico's second biggest industry (approximately $22G annually), behind only oil exports.   Another $20G is sent from the U.S. back to Central America every year."

2011-10-10
Robert Moore _Cenantua_
Columbus Day... reconsidered...

2011-10-10 (5772 Tishrei 12)
Ed Koch _Jewish World Review_
Another enemy of Israel

2011-10-10 (5772 Tishrei 12)
Jeffrey Fleishman & Amro Hassan _Jewish World Review_
Blood and death in Cairo as Christians are attacked by gangsters and police

2011-10-10 (5772 Tishrei 12)
Roy Gutman _Jewish World Review_
security of Iraq's dwindling Jewish community is shaken by WikiLeaks
"If White persuades Baghdad's remaining Jews to leave it will mark the end of a 2,700-year presence that dates to the Assyrian conquest of the Judean Kingdom.   By the time USA forces invaded Iraq in 2003 March, Baghdad's Jewish community, which had numbered about 130K in the 1950s before most fled to Israel, was down to about 35 members."

2011-10-10 (5772 Tishrei 12)
Kate Linebaugh & Joann S. Lublin _Free Republic_
criticisms by Tea partiers put GE on defense; low tax payments, conspiracies with Obummer regime & Red China, off-shoring & long-time boosterism of off-shoring & cross-border bodyshopping, crony socialist mentality; has created more jobs over-seas in the last decade than in the USA
WSJ
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-11

2011-10-11 05:48PDT (08:48EDT) (12:48GMT) (15:48 Jerusalem)
George Andreassi _Treasure Coast FL Palm_
Martin county commissioners reconsider controversial jobs measures
"But Virginia Sherlock, the Stuart lawyer whose firm filed the suit, said she believes the commissioners should repeal the tool-kit measures because economic development studies have led her to conclude cash incentives do not work.   'I've called it corporate welfare.', Sherlock said.   'I just don't think it's a good idea.   I've been researching this for a year and a half.   I have yet to see one study that says this is a good tool for economic development, for creating jobs or promoting economic growth.   We all want jobs, but this is not the way to do it.'   If the commissioners want to readopt the economic development initiatives, they should include a variety of safeguards, including criteria for determining whether businesses should qualify for incentives, Sherlock said."

2011-10-11 07:37PDT (10:37EDT) (14:37GMT) (17:37 Jerusalem)
Jason O'Grady _Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
best iPad apps

2011-10-11 08:02PDT (11:02EDT) (15:02GMT) (18:02 Jerusalem)
Greg Morcroft & Matt Andrejczak _MarketWatch_
Wall Street firms expected to dump 10K employees through 2012
"If the estimates are correct, the losses through 2012 would more than give back all the 9,900 jobs that the industry added in the city between 2010 January and 2011 April.   'Since 2011 April, the securities industry in New York City has lost 4,100 jobs.   The Office of the State Comptroller forecasts that the city could lose nearly 10K additional jobs by the end of 2012, which would bring total job losses in the securities industry to 32K since 2008 January 2008.', the report said...   1 in 8 jobs is tied to the securities industry in New York City, with securities-related activities making up 14% of the city's tax revenues.   Jobs get cut when earnings fall, and according to the report, the securities industry's profits fell by 10.8% in the first half of 2011, to $12.6G.   DiNapoli's office forecasts a 'large decline in profitability', saying earnings are unlikely to reach $18G for the entire year [67% of what they were in 2010]...   Compensation at Wall Street firms grew 18.7% to $37.2G during the first 6 months of 2011, compared to the same 2010 period, but DiNapoli expects compensation to shrink by year's end as firms cut jobs and set aside less bonus-pool money due to profit pressures."

2011-10-11 10:07PDT (13:07EDT) (17:07GMT) (20:07 Jerusalem)
Frank Munger _Knoxville TN News Sentinel_
ORNL and Cray announce contract for transition from Jaguar to Titan
San Jose CA Mercury News
"Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Cray Inc.   announced Tuesday a contract award to upgrade the lab's existing 'Jaguar' Cray XT5 super-computer -- capable of 2.3 million billion [floating-point] calculations per second or 2.3 petaflops -- and gradually transform it into a much-faster Cray XK6 system to be known as 'Titan'.   Cray reported the value of the contract was $97M, and Buddy Bland, project director for the Leadership Computing Facility at ORNL, confirmed that's the approximate value if all the potential options are exercised.   The Titan supercomputer has been in development for more than a year, and ORNL Director Thom Mason said recently that the hybrid system could have a capability of 10 to 30 petaflops depending on how much federal funding is available.   Bland said Tuesday that the initial commitment is to build a 10-petaflops machine at ORNL, with the potential to upgrade it beyond there if there's sufficient money."

2011-10-11
_WBUR_/_National Socialist Radio_/_Here and Now_
Older high tech workers say, "Here I am! Hire me!"

2011-10-11
_CNBC_
Orszag & Greenspan insanely say: burn houses & bring in more H-1Bs to boost economy

2011-10-11
Robert Moore _Cenantua_
Colonial Williamsburg is getting into the Civil War sesquicentennial

2011-10-11
William L. Anderson
Regulatory Romanticism

2011-10-11
Mark J. Perry
400% more Swedish purchase private health insurance to avoid waiting times and inconsistent quality of care

2011-10-11 (5772 Tishrei 13)
Dennis Prager _Jewish World Review_
Steve Jobs's father was...

2011-10-11 (5772 Tishrei 13)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Reverse Racism
Town Hall
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-12

2011-10-12 04:30PDT (07:30EDT) (11:30GMT) (14:30 Jerusalem)
_BLS_
displaced workers by industry: only 9.2% of information industry workers are re-employed in that industry; 34.2% are re-employed in other industries

2011-10-12 04:30PDT (07:30EDT) (11:30GMT) (14:30 Jerusalem)
Denise Amrich _Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
If your personal private medical information is improperly retained, disseminated, lost, or stolen from your doctor, you're only likely to hear about it 17% of the time

2011-10-12 07:06PDT (10:06EDT) (14:06GMT) (17:06 Jerusalem)
Zack Whittaker _Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
iOS 5 features
Jason B. Jones: Chronicle of Higher Education

2011-10-12
Rodney Jaleco _ABS-CBN_
guest-teachers urging investigation of Prince George's county MD officials who brought them in

2011-10-12 07:40PDT (10:40EDT) (14:40GMT) (17:40 Jerusalem)
Chris Chmielenski _Numbers USA_
Tens of thousands of foreign students stay in the USA to work
"The F-1 visa is issued by the U.S. State Department to an unlimited number of foreign nationals interested in getting a college degree in the U.S.A.   (The State Department also issues F-2 visas to spouses and children of F-1 recipients and F-3 visas to nationals from Mexico or Canada who wish to commute to a U.S. college or university.)   In 2009, the U.S.A. admitted 895,392 foreign nationals on F-1 visas according to the DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics (pdf).   Applicants need to meet a few requirements, including maintaining a residence abroad with no intention of abandoning their home country, intending to leave the U.S.A. after graduation, and possessing funds to pay for their education and support themselves while in the U.S.A.   The nearly 900K F-1 visas issued in 2009 were a 10-year high.   The 10-year low was in 2004 when [an already horrendously excessive] 613,221 F-1 visas were issued; that's a 46% increase in F-1 admissions over the past 5 years!   While F-1 visa holders can't work in their first year of academic study, they can apply for Pre-Completion Optional Practical Training (OPT) in their second year of studies.   Under pre-OPT, students can get a job off campus (competing with unemployed American workers) in their field of study with a company that uses E-Verify.   In 2008 April, the Bush administration approved Post-Completion Optional Practical Training for up to 29 months.   F-1 visa holders who graduate with degrees in one of 300 different Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields could have more than 2 years after graduation to work in the United States...   Then, if a company that hires a foreign national wants them to continue their employment, the employer can apply for an H-1B visa on their behalf, allowing them to stay in the United States for at least another 3 years [with the opportunity for annual extensions after that].   Because it may take a few months or even up to 2 years to obtain an H-1B visa, the Obama administration has approved a cap-gap policy that allows the former student to stay and work in the United States after their F-1 visa expires, but before their H-1B starts...   ICE estimates that there are 70K F-1 visa holders currently taking advantage of the post-OPT program with 23K working in STEM fields...   according to North's research, there are 10M Americans with at least a bachelor's degree in STEM fields who are not working in STEM... "

2011-10-12 10:59PDT (13:59EDT) (17:59GMT) (20:59 Jerusalem)
Deborah Levine _MarketWatch_
Harrisburg PA declared bankruptcy

2011-10-12 11:16PDT (14:16EDT) (18:16GMT) (21:16 Jerusalem)
Calvin Sun _Tech Republic_/_Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
Things you can do to avoid professional ethics problems

2011-10-12 13:38PDT (16:38EDT) (20:38GMT) (23:38 Jerusalem)
Mary Weilage _Tech Republic_/_Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
GeekGirlCon

2011-10-12
David Louie _KGO San Francisco CA_
Thousands turn out for San Jose job fair
"a city-sponsored job fair at the convention center drew a larger-than-expected 3K people.   It's an up-hill battle to get all the jobless back to work.   The City of San Jose was able to attract 110 employers and [bodyshops] with an estimated 1K openings...   'Everything I've been getting lately is contract work.', he said.   'Two weeks, 2 months, 3 months -- but that's it.   Nobody's committing to a full-time position.'"

2011-10-12
Mark J. Perry
average federal income extortion rates by income percentile ranges

2011-10-12
Mark J. Perry
Chicago union boss engages in pension triple dipping on steroids at $500K per year

2011-10-12 (5772 Tishrei 14)
Dane Dimond _Jewish World Review_
Paying the excessive price -- twice
"Take, as an example, the case of Ted Brown (not his real name), a whiz-bang software engineer that was downsized out of a job last winter.   He thought he had landed a prestigious job with a 5-figure bonus when suddenly the offer was rescinded.   Turned out the employer's background check had discovered that during a nasty divorce several years earlier, Ted had pleaded guilty to a charge of child endangerment.   He had left his son alone in the car on a cool fall day while he quickly sprinted in to Starbucks for coffee.   Never thinking that the episode would affect his ability to do a job, Ted checked 'no' on the application box that asked about arrests and convictions.   He compounded his police record with a lie."

2011-10-12 (5772 Tishrei 14)
Manya A. Brachear _Jewish World Review_
Secular rabbis misappropriating Jewish ritual to further political agenda

2011-10-12 (5772 Tishrei 14)
Caroline B. Glick _Jewish World Review_
The forgotten Christians of the East
"It is unclear what either Western governments or Western churches think they are achieving by turning a blind eye to the persecution of Christians in the Muslim world.   On Sunday night, Egyptian Copts staged what was supposed to be a peaceful vigil at Egypt's state television headquarters in Cairo.   The 1K Christians represented the ancient Christian community of some 8M whose presence in Egypt predates the establishment of Islam by several centuries.   They gathered in Cairo to protest the recent burning of 2 churches by Islamic mobs and the rapid escalation of state-supported violent attacks on Christians by Muslim groups since the overthrow of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in February.   According to Coptic sources, the protesters Sunday night were beset by Islamic attackers who were rapidly backed up by military forces.   Between 19 and 40 Copts were killed by soldiers and Muslim attackers.   They were run over by military vehicles, beaten, shot and dragged through the streets of Cairo.   State television Sunday night reported only that 3 soldiers had been killed...   Lebanon's Maronite Catholic Patriarch Bechara Rai caused a storm 2 weeks ago.   During an official visit to Paris, Rai warned French President Nicolas Sarkozy that the fall of the Assad regime in Syria could be a disaster for Christians in Syria and throughout the region.   Today the Western-backed Syrian opposition is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood.   Rai cautioned that the over-throw of president Bashar Assad could lead to civil war and the establishment of an Islamic regime.   In Iraq, the Iranian and Syrian-sponsored insurgency that followed the US-led over-throw of Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime in 2003 fomented a bloody jihad against Iraq's Christian population.   This month marks the anniversary of last year's massacre of 58 Christian worshippers in a Catholic church in Baghdad.   A decade ago there were 800K Christians in Iraq.   Today there are 150K."
Discover the Networks: Muslim Brotherhood (MB)
Investigative Project: CAIR-Hamas-Muslim Brotherhood links

2011-10-12 (5772 Tishrei 14)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
It's Hard To Be a Racist
Town Hall
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-13

2011-10-13 05:30PDT (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT) (15:30 Jerusalem)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
DoL home page
DoL OPA press releases
historical data
DoL regulations
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 398,836 in the week ending October 8, an increase of 66,442 from the previous week.   There were 462,667 initial claims in the comparable week in 2010.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5% during the week ending October 1, unchanged from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,093,486, a decrease of 72,423 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 2.9% and the volume was 3,705,947.   The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending September 24 was 6,821,585, a decrease of 39,203 from the previous week.   Extended benefits were available in AL, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, WA, WV, and WI during the week ending September 24.   States reported 3,016,035 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending September 24, a decrease of 11,412 from the prior week.   There were 3,888,001 claimants in the comparable week in 2010.   EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.   [Note that the population used for calculating the "insured unemployment rate" (the divisor) changes
to 132,623,886 beginning 2007-10-06;
to 133,010,953 beginning 2008-01-05;
to 133,382,559 beginning 2008-04-05;
to 133,690,617 beginning 2008-07-05;
to 133,902,387 beginning 2008-10-04;
to 133,886,830 beginning 2009-01-03;
to 133,683,433 beginning 2009-04-04;
to 133,078,480 beginning 2009-07-04;
to 133,823,421 beginning 2009-10-03;
to 131,823,421 beginning 2009-10-17;
to 130,128,328 beginning 2010-01-02;
to 128,298,468 beginning 2010-04-03;
to 126,763,245 beginning 2010-07-03;
to 125,845,577 beginning 2010-09-25;
to 125,560,066 beginning 2011-01-15;
to 125,572,661 beginning 2011-04-02;
to 125,807,389 beginning 2011-07-02;
to 126,188,733 beginning 2011-10-01.]
EUC (Excel)
EB
graphs
more graphs

2011-10-13
Sean Barron _Youngstown OH Vindicator_
US orphans are in need of homes and families

2011-10-13 05:45PDT (08:45EDT) (12:45GMT) (15:45 Jerusalem)
Greg Robb _MarketWatch_
Trade deficit was $45.6G in August
"The nation's trade deficit held steady at $45.6G in August from the prior month, the Commerce Department said.   The trade gap in July was revised up from the initial estimate of $44.8G...   Despite no change in the overall trade gap, the U.S. trade deficit with [Red China] widened to a record $29.0G in August from $28.2G in the same month last year and $27.0G in July.   For all of 2011, the U.S.A. has run up a trade deficit of $189.3G with [Red China]."

2011-10-13
Mark J. Perry
Bidding for MBAs
"For instance, to get into Victoria Medvec's winter 2010 negotiations course at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, students had to bid a minimum of 1,452 points, or nearly half of the 3K points they're allotted for the entire year.   It was Kellogg's most expensive course in the last 4 quarters during Round One of bidding, at least."

2011-10-13
Robert Moore _Cenantua_
Happy 236th BirthDay, US Navy!

2011-10-13
Mark J. Perry
oil and gas drilling in PA brings in investments and jobs

2011-10-13
Mark J. Perry
average federal extortion rates by income quintile

2011-10-13
Karlyn Bowman & Andrew Rugg _American Enterprise Institute_
Obummer's weakness in polls in historical context (with graphs)

2011-10-13
Deborah Sullivan Brennan _North San Diego county CA Times_
illegal alien repeatedly attacked 12 year old girl in Escondido CA
Escondido police department
"Escondido police on Thursday arrested an 18-year-old Escondido man, Jose Manuel Ayala, suspected of raping and molesting a 12-year-old girl, according to a statement from the department...   A background check revealed that Ayala had been previously arrested and was in the midst of immigration removal proceedings, police said.   Carter said he was arrested by immigration officials Oct. 4, but said his prior record was sealed under juvenile court proceedings."

2011-10-13
Paul Greenberg _Town Hall_
Heartless Leftists

2011-10-13
James Pethokoukis _American Enterprise Institute_
Why the unemployment rate (U-3) is headed higher
"And if the U.S. economy only grows around 1%-2% over the next year or so -- as many economists forecast -- 96K jobs a month may be about as good as it gets."

2011-10-13
Tiffany Gabbay _Blaze_
Art Laffer: Herman Cain's 9-9-9 is a wonderful plan

2011-10-13
Becket Adams _Blaze_
Companies with the lowest satisfaction ratings
American Customer Satisfaction Index

2011-10-13
Tom de Castella & Caroline McClatchey _BBC_
Whatever happened to full employment?

2011-10-13 (5772 Tishrei 15)
Victor Davis Hanson _Jewish World Review_
American people of all political stripes -- for vastly different reasons -- seem more relieved than worried over Obama's most unexpected incarnation as Predator in Chief
"We are in a long war against radical Islamic terrorism.   The struggle seems almost similar to the on-again/off-again ordeals of the past -- like the French-English Hundred Years War of the 14th and 15th centuries, or the Thirty Years War between Catholics and Protestants in the 17th century.   In these kinds of drawn-out conflicts, victory finally goes to the side that responds best to constant new challenges."

2011-10-13 (5772 Tishrei 15)
Arnold Ahlert _Jewish World Review_
Are colleges and universities "too big to fail"?
"student loan debt is close to $1T, all of it government-guaranteed...   One of the oldest adages in politics is 'if you want more of something subsidize it'.   The 'more' in this case is the cost of college tuition.   Yesterday, the NY Post released a list of the ten most expensive universities in the country, and the numbers are staggering.   In the number one slot was Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY.   The cost of tuition, room and board, and other estimated expenses? $58,334 per year, meaning the cost of a four-year degree runs to $233,336.   A little perspective? Tuition costs have doubled since 2000, a pace which is not only far greater than the rate of inflation, but one which exceeds the rate of real estate over the same period.   IOW, the housing bubble which crushed the economy and left millions of Americans under-water on their mortgages, was only the second worst bubble out there.   Perhaps the only thing more aggravating than that reality is the reality that the American university system is the home base of progressivism, in all its social justice, spread-the-wealth-around glory.   Yet railing against income inequity, among other things, doesn't come cheap.   In 2010, according to the New York Times, the average salary for a full professor was $109,843.   Other average salaries? $76,566 for an associate professor, $64,433 for an assistant professor, $47,592 for an instructor and $53,112 for a lecturer.   College presidents? The median salary for public university presidents was $427,400 -- and nearly $100K higher for presidents at private universities.   And that was 3 years ago, according to latest data made available by the Chronicle of Higher Education.   The work load? From the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook 2010-2011: 'Most post-secondary (college) teachers have flexible schedules.   They must be present for classes, usually 12 to 16 hours per week, and for faculty and committee meetings.   Most establish regular office hours for student consultations, usually 3 to 6 hours per week.   Otherwise, teachers are free to decide when and where they will work and how much time to devote to course preparation, grading, study, research, graduate student supervision, and other activities.'...   In 2008 (the last year statistics are available) the [student loan] default rate was 7%, compared with 4.6% in 2005.   Furthermore, when Democrats still controlled both chambers of Congress in March 2010, they voted to nationalize the student loan program.   As a result of that change, the feds will allow student borrowers to cap their loan repayments at 10% of their income above basic living requirements, instead of 15%, beginning in 2014 July.   Government will also allow those students, if they keep up their payments, to have any remaining debt forgiven after 20 years instead of 25 years -- or 10 years if they are in public service, such as teaching, nursing or serving in the military.   And who gets left holding the (debt) bag for such forgiveness? The American [tax-victim]...   pressure businesses to stop making a college degree the ultimate criterion for getting a job.   If one considers where the so-called 'best and brightest' among us have taken this country in the last few years, one could make a compelling argument that a college degree is the most over-rated product on the planet."
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-14

1066-10-14: Harold Godwinson (son of Godwin of Wessex & Gytha Thorkelsdottir) defeated/killed at Hastings by William the Conqueror of Normandy (son of Robert i of Normandy & Herleva of Falaise, Calvados, Normandy; grand-son of Richard ii of Normandy & Judith de Rennes; g-grand-son of Richard the fearless of Normandy & Gunnora; 2g-grand-son of William i long-sword of Normandy & Sprota of Bretagne/Brittany)

2011-10-14
_New Delhi TV Convergence_
Infosys claims they're going to start hiring a few more US citizens to work in the USA, some year real soon now
"Over 60% of the company's revenues come from North America...   Senior vice president and group head of human resources Nandita Gurjar recently relocated to the USA to over-see the transition.   Accordingly, 86% recruits in last 6 months were non-visa dependent employees.   The remaining 14% visa dependent [new] hires are on H-1B as well as other visas.   In contrast, non-visa dependent employees stood at 62% in first half of last fiscal [year]...   Infosys plans to hire 1,500 people in the USA this fiscal [year] and hopes to have 50% locals in on-site locations over the next few years."

2011-10-14
Howard Gold _MarketWatch_
Structural woes in economy creating sustained high levels of unemployment

2011-10-14
Tom Lutey _Billings MT Gazette_
Beet harvest delayed, risks remain
"Early October rain has slowed harvest in parts of Montana and Wyoming, where farmers are up-rooting a crop challenged by a rough spring...   However, the quality of the crop is good, said Don Steinbeisser Jr., of Sidney, where beets were averaging 17% sugar.   Warm nights have been the biggest challenge, Steinbeisser said.   Beets stored outside in piles need cool evenings to prevent spoilage.   Night temperatures of 40-plus degrees have increased the risk of rot and kept farmers from piling as many beets as they'd like.   Still, a late fall freeze in inevitable as October's end nears.   After a cold, wet spring, yields were down a few tons an acre for this year's sugar beets...   'Now the temperature is good, but they're talking about a 30% chance of rain.'...   Sugar supplies are at their tightest in 37 years, according to the U.S. Economic Research Service.   Raw sugar prices are expected to climb 10% by year's end and the U.S. Consumer Price Index shows retail sugar prices this year rising 9%, double the inflation rate of food overall."

2011-10-14 07:26PDT (10:26EDT) (14:26GMT) (17:26 Jerusalem)
Jeffry Bartash _MarketWatch_
US retail sales up 1.1% in September

2011-10-14 07:43PDT (10:43EDT) (14:43GMT) (17:43 Jerusalem)
Ruth Mantell _MarketWatch_
UMich consumer sentiment index fell slightly from 59.4 in September to 57.5 in early October
Federal Reserve Board St. Louis

2011-10-14 12:50PDT (15:50EDT) (19:50GMT) (22:50 Jerusalem)
Greg Robb _MarketWatch_
Federal government over-spending added about the same amount in FY2011 as in FY2010 to the federal government debt
graphs

2011-10-14
Ned May _Front Page Magazine_
The Islamization of London

2011-10-14
Tait Trussell _Front Page Magazine_
Why so many Americans are unemployed

2011-10-14
William L. Anderson
Rabbit holes and rabbits from the hat

2011-10-14
Mark J. Perry
Sex differences persist on SAT math scores

2011-10-14
Mark J. Perry
bill would make it easy for people to pay more to the Treasury if they believe they are under-extorted

2011-10-14
Mark J. Perry
Americans seek work in Canada

2011-10-14
Mark J. Perry
The Shale Gas Revolution in PA Has Helped the U.S.A. Become #1 in the World

2011-10-14
Mark J. Perry
Friday economic data points
 
Proposed Bills 2011

2011-10-14

DJIA	11,644.49
S&P 500(SPX)	1,224.58
NASDAQ(COMP)	2,667.85
Nikkei	8,747.96
10-year US T-Bond(UST10Y)	2.23%
crude oil(CL1X)	$86.80/barrel
natgas(NG11X)	$3.70/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline(RB1V)	$2.82/gal
heatingoil(HO1V)	$3.06/gal
gold(GC1Z)	$1,681.80/ounce
silver(SI1Z)	$32.17/ounce
platinum(PL2F)	$1,556.40/ounce
palladium(PA1Z)	$623.40/ounce
copper(HG1Z)	$0.215/ounce
soybeans	$12.70/bushel
maize	$6.40/bushel
wheat	$6.2275/bushel
dollarindex (DXY)	76.61
yenperdollar (USDYEN)	77.195
dollarspereuro (EURUSD)	$1.387
dollarsperpound (GBPUSD)	$1.582
swissfrancsperdollar (USDCHF)	0.8928
indianrupeesperdollar (USDINR)	48.875
mexicanpesosperdollar (USDMXN)	13.24
MorganStanleyHighTechIndex	631.85

I usually get this info from MarketWatch.
 
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-15

2011-10-15
Sean Barron _Youngstown OH Vindicator_
Difficulties with Asperger's syndrome
"sensory problems and inability to process and deal with too much stimulation because of Asperger's syndrome...   Asperger's is a pervasive developmental condition on the autism spectrum characterized by an inability to understand most social interactions.   Those with AS often have limited social means, narrow interests, unusual preoccupations, repetitions and rituals, and non-verbal communication problems...   After the diagnosis, though, Grant's behaviors began to make more sense to his mother, and the Schillings re-examined much of what they thought they knew about Grant, she noted.   Over time, her son's strength and determination made her marriage and family closer, Schilling continued."

2011-10-15
"weaver"
Here are the STEM workers: BLS, NSF data show plentiful supply of STEM talent in USA

2011-10-15 09:31PDT (12:31EDT) (16:31GMT) (19:31 Jerusalem)
Justin James _Tech Republic_/_Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
10 security problems you might not realize you have

2011-10-15
_Central Florida Future_
California NIGHTMARE act
"According to the California Student Aid Commission website, 22,569 students received a Cal Grant A and 49,695 students received a Cal Grant B in 2008-2009.   Now these same students, in an already highly competitive environment, are going to have to fight with non-American citizens for these federal grants in order to afford attending college.   The California Department of Finance, as reported in an Associated Press article for Fox News online, estimates a total of 2,500, only 1%, of accepted university students would now be qualified for aid in California, the costs of which total $14.5M.   But that's almost 3K U.S. born citizens who could be denied aid in California in order to allow illegal immigrants a chance at an education...   Back in 2010 November, a polling by FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform) showed a 54% negative response to the, at the time, proposed [NIGHTMARE Act].   Assemblyman Tim Donnelly said in the Fox News online article that the negative response rate is now 80%-90% of Californians in this month alone."

2011-10-15
_Fox_/_AP_
Border Patrol seized weapons and ammunition along Arizona border

2011-10-15
Michael Cutler _One Old Vet_
head of NY law firm charged with immigration fraud
"As I have noted in many previous commentaries, it was, in fact the Department of Labor that, before the Second World War, was responsible for the enforcement and administration of our nation's immigration laws.   The point was to protect the American workforce from the deleterious impact the influx of foreign workers would have.   Wouldn't it be amazing if our 'leaders' of today conducted themselves the way that the leaders of the 'Greatest Generation' did back then!...   This [1997] hearing was called as a direct response to the terrorist attacks of 1993 at the CIA and the World Trade Center in which all of those involved in carrying out those attacks were identified as aliens who had gamed the visa process and/or immigration benefits program."

2011-10-15
Robert Moore _Cenantua_
What historical period dominates the (interpretive) landscape, and which are sorely absent?

2011-10-15
William L. Anderson
Krugman not telling the truth about deregulation? Gee, hoodathunkitt?

2011-10-15
Mark J. Perry
Nat Gas: World's Dominant Fuel for Next Century

2011-10-15
Mark J. Perry
ND oil production to pass CA and AK in 2012
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-16

2011-10-16
Caitlin Cook _Youngstown OH Vindicator_
High schools struggle to offer AP classes
"High school graduates who take advantage of AP classes can knock out college classes at a fraction of the price.   Some enter college as sophomores, bypassing an entire year of school.   For college admissions officers, success in AP classes indicates a student's determination and academic achievement...   Mahoning and Trumbull districts average fewer than two AP classes each.   More than a third of the districts offer none.   Schools that offer no AP sections are typically smaller, rural districts that lack qualified teachers and the number of students needed to fill AP classrooms.   It's an issue of staff and students, not dollars.   'Typically schools don't see the cost of AP as being as much of a barrier as how do we find teachers that we can ensure are going to be qualified to teach college-level courses in our school.', said Trevor Packer, vice president of the College Board, the national group that oversees all AP offerings in America.   'Even though the costs of offering AP itself are not significant, if the school has a small number of students [they may have to choose], ‘Are we going to allocate a teacher to teach an AP section or a non-AP section?', Packer said.   [Tax-victims] ultimately fund the courses...   Ohio school districts with more than 3K students offer seven AP classes on average.   The national average for that size district is 8.35 classes.   Mahoning and Trumbull counties have six school districts with more than 3K students.   But only 2 -- Boardman and Warren -- meet the statewide average of 7 classes.   Austintown offers 3.   Canfield, Howland and Youngstown high schools all offer 2 AP classes...   Of the 13 school districts with fewer than 1K students, only 2 offer AP classes...   Teachers undergo training at colleges and programs accredited by the College Board to become certified to teach AP courses.   The cost of training teachers is often reimbursed by the district.   Training costs, from $1,500 to $4K, vary by institution.   Some take college workshops or online training programs.   Most use AP training to fulfill their obligation as educators to further their education.   To gain college credit for successfully completing AP class, students must pass an $87 exam offered in May.   The federal government subsidizes this fee for students who receive free or reduced lunch."

2011-10-16
_Gulf News_
presidential candidate Michele Bachmann signed Mexican border fence pledge

2011-10-16
Scott Baker _The Blaze_
Communist Party USA warmly welcomed to "occupy Chicago"
"occupy" not spontaneous (video)
Madeleine Morgenstern: American National Socialist Party endorses "occupy"
Katie Pavlich: Town Hall: National Socialist Party supports "occupy"
anti-Semitic "occupy" (video)
more anti-Semitic "occupy" (video)
more anti-Semitic "occupy"
more anti-Semitic "occupy"
Mike Opelka: 31% of "occupiers" approve of violence
Buck Sexton: unsurprisingly the thieving occupers steal from their fellows

2011-10-16
Mark J. Perry
Yankees' Salaries vs. Everyone Else's

2011-10-16
Mark J. Perry
September Industrial Output Gains Are Above-Average
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-17

2011-10-17
Star Parker _Town Hall_
Herman Cain: Rocket Fuel for America

2011-10-17
Katie Kieffer _Town Hall_
Why Capitalism Glorifies God

2011-10-17 04:59PDT (07:59EDT) (11:59GMT) (14:59 Jerusalem)
Danny Yadron _Wall Street Journal_
Ron Paul proposes spending and tax cuts

2011-10-17
V. Phani Kumar _MarketWatch_
Large, USA-based multi-national firms out-pace tepid US sales-growth

2011-10-17
Madeleine Morgenstern _The Blaze_
McAllen, Texas HS students made to pledge allegiance to Mexico, sing Mexican national anthem
Allan Wall: V Dare
YouTube
interview

2011-10-17 11:30PDT (14:30EDT) (18:30GMT) (21:30 Jerusalem)
Nat Rau _Knoxville TN News Sentinel_/_Nashville Tennessean_
Jack Daniel's facing county barrel extortion
"In 1956, the Brown-Forman Corp. launched a brilliant advertising campaign that ultimately turned a regional whiskey distillery and the secluded Tennessee town surrounding it into an international tourist destination.   As the architect of the marketing strategy once explained, the company was selling the tiny town of Lynchburg as much as its generations-old sour mash whiskey recipe.   Lynchburg literally became the face of bucolic America.   'We felt that if we could take advantage of a small Tennessee town at the foot of the Cumberland Mountains, we would have something with lasting appeal.', former Jack Daniel Executive Vice President Arthur Hancock told The New York Times in 1989.   There is no doubt the campaign succeeded to an epic degree.   Brown-Forman has enjoyed steady profits over the past 5 decades en route to becoming a multi-billion-dollar corporation.   And the allure of Lynchburg attracted 250K tourists last year...   The tax would charge the company up to $10 every time a barrel is filled with whiskey, generating as much as $4M annually for the local government.   Because each barrel creates about 294 liters, the tax would amount to 3.4 cents per bottle, according to research by [Charles Rogers] and Tommy Price, his partner in the local effort."

2011-10-17 12:40PDT (15:40EDT) (19:40GMT) (22:40 Jerusalem)
Allen G. Breed _Knoxville TN News Sentinel_
Illegal alien invader devastating soybean crops
"Megacopta cribrari, as this member of the stinkbug family is known in scientific circles, was first identified near Atlanta in late 2009 October...   also known as the bean plataspid...   University of Georgia researchers have recorded losses as high as 23% in untreated fields."

2011-10-17
Mark J. Perry
Natural Gas Boom Fuels Education Boom
"dozens of public colleges and universities across the northeastern shale states that are moving to add new staff, academic majors or job-training courses in fields related to natural gas."

2011-10-17
Mark J. Perry
ND oil boom fueling airport boom
"Dickinson, Williston and Minot airports have set airline boarding records nearly each month for the past three years, said Larry Taborsky."

2011-10-17
Mark J. Perry
"Back in the USA": Seattle Manufacturer Provides A Lesson on Reshoring. Expect More of It. Lots More

2011-10-17 (5772 Tishrei 19)
Caroline B. Glick _Jewish World Review_
A pact signed in Jewish blood
"Since Israel allowed the PLO and its terror armies to move their bases from Tunis to Judea, Samaria and Gaza in 1994, nearly 2K Israeli families have involuntarily paid the ultimate price for the freedom of the Jewish people.   Our freedom angers our Palestinian neighbors so much that they have decided that all Israelis should die...   IT IS a statistical certainty that the release of 1,027 terrorists for Schalit will lead to the murder of untold numbers of Israelis.   It has happened every single time that these blood ransoms have been paid.   It will happen now...   'Prisoner releases only embolden terrorists by giving them the feeling that even if they are caught, their punishment will be brief.   Worse, by leading terrorists to think such demands are likely to be met, they encourage precisely the terrorist blackmail they are supposed to defuse.'   The writer of those lines was then-opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu.   Netanyahu wrote those lines in his book, _Fighting Terrorism: How Democracies Can Defeat Domestic and International Terrorists_.   Israel needs that Netanyahu to lead it.   But in the face of the current Netanyahu's abject surrender to terrorism, apparently he is gone."

2011-10-17 (5772 Tishrei 19)
Diane Dimond _Jewish World Review_
Obummer's Department of Injustice

2011-10-17 (5772 Tishrei 19)
John Hughes _Jewish World Review_
Obummer's worst nightmare
"What would be the mother of all nightmares for Barack Obama before next year's presidential election? A nuclear-armed Iran."

2011-10-17 (5772 Tishrei 19)
David Goldstein _Jewish World Review_
Messages to congress-critters being ignored?
"[In 2000] senator Pat Roberts, R-KS, could count the number of constituent e-mails on both hands: 8.   Letters? Exactly 2,347...   Roberts received nearly 20K letters last year.   But his e-mails rose to nearly 63K.   Likewise for representative Sam, Graves, R-MO. In 2001, he received 5,500 e-mails and 5,100 letters.   Last year: 35K e-mails and 8K letters...   Richard McCulley, historian at the National Archives' Center for Legislative Archives...wondered if even as technology has made law-makers more accessible, it has made them more remote.   Though communications in the days of gas lamps and cobblestone streets was more cumbersome, it was also more 'deliberate', he said.   'It was meant to be taken very seriously and it was.', the historian said.   'We've just become so awash in electronic communication.   It's almost just too easy to click a button and send something.   You wonder how seriously it's taken.'"
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-18

2011-10-17 21:47PDT (2011-10-18 00:47EDT) (2011-10-18 04:47GMT) (2011-10-18 31:47 Jerusalem)
Kevin Fergus _Daily Illini_
21% of Americans believe they will be millionaires within 10 years... and they may be correct as rates of inflation are driven up by government over-spending
"Debt and jobs dominate the headlines; we have too much of the first and too little of the second.   Conversations are filled with anecdotes about parents being laid off and recent graduates having a rough time in the real world.   In this climate, it would make sense for people to become cynical about their economic prospects.   However, 21% of Americans believe that they will become millionaires within the next 10 years, according to an Associated Press-CNBC poll released Sept. 19.   Currently, only 5% of Americans are millionaires and news about the economy is rarely good, making this optimism seem a bit unrealistic."

2011-10-18
Jason Koebler _US News & World Report_
Tech Executives Want More Cheap, Disposable, Pliant Foreign STEM Workers With Flexible Ethics
"Anthony Carnevale, director of Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce, says that the United States has some of the highest wages for STEM workers, so the country could be at a competitive advantage if it decides to raise the cap."

2011-10-18
Kimberly Weisul _BNET_/_Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
3.9% of managers are psychopatic
"The researchers, consultant Paul Babiak, Craig S. Neumann of the University of North Texas, and Robert D. Hare of the University of British Columbia, were able to get personality information on 203 professionals who had been selected by their companies either as 'high potentials' or for leadership development.   These are people who were deemed to have the skills that could eventually set them up to be senior managers within their companies.   A few were already directors or vice-presidents, but were thought to have the ability to rise further...   8 of the 203 subjects, or 3.9%, had scores on a test of psychotic traits that put them at the threshold for psychopathy.   That compares with just 0.2% of the general population.   An additional 3 study subjects had scores that were significantly higher, meaning their psychopathy was likely to be significantly worse.   The potential for 'possible' psychopathy was much higher.   In the corporate group, nearly 6% of the subjects qualified as potentially or possibly psychopathic (in addition to the four percent who clearly appeared psychotic), compared to just 1.2% of the population as a whole.   Psychopaths can and do get ahead.   Of the 9 people with the highest scores for psychopathy, 7 were already managers.   2 were vice presidents, 2 were directors, 2 were managers or supervisors, and 1 had another management position...   Psychopaths had very high ratings on communication, strategic thinking, and creative abilities.   At the same time, they had been dinged for poor management style, failing to act as team players, and even had poor performance reviews."

2011-10-18
James Pethokoukis _American Enterprise Institute_
5 studies showed income inequality is not rising in the USA

2011-10-18
James Pethokoukis _American Enterprise Institute_
Federal Reserve study found 3 decades of broad-based income gains in the USA

2011-10-18
Mark J. Perry
US cities' GDPs comparable to foreign countries
"NY, NY $1.3T: Australia; Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA $736G: Turkey..."

2011-10-18
_DHS ICE_
ICE announces year-end removal numbers
"Overall, in FY2011 ICE's Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations removed 396,906 individuals -- the largest number in the agency's history.   Of these, nearly 55% or 216,698 of the people removed were convicted of felonies or misdemeanors -- an 89% increase in the removal of criminals since FY2008.   This includes 1,119 aliens convicted of homicide; 5,848 aliens convicted of sexual offenses; 44,653 aliens convicted of drug related crimes; and 35,927 aliens convicted of driving under the influence [DUI, but not 'Uncle Omar'].   ICE achieved similar results with regard to other categories prioritized for removal.   90% of all ICE's removals fell into a priority category and more than two-thirds of the other removals in 2011 were either recent border crossers or repeat immigration violators."
graphs

2011-10-18
Nicole Ferraro _Internet Evolution_/_UBM_
4Chan founder Christopher Poole scolded FB and Google at Web 2.0 Summit

2011-10-18
_Chronicle of Higher Education_
governor Rick Scott posted university faculty salaries
Orlando FL Sentinel
pay-roll info

2011-10-18
Becket Adams _Blaze_
FY2011's $1.3T federal deficit is 2nd-largest in history
"It is slightly ahead of the previous budget year's $1.29T deficit but below the $1.412T imbalance record in 2009"

2011-10-18
Summer Beretsky _Psych Central_
We're anxious, unemployed and unsatisfied

2011-10-18
Michael Cutler _One Old Vet_
Ellis Island and other myths
Californians for Population Stabilization

2011-10-18
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Obummer Admin Prevarication Persists

2011-10-18 (5772 Tishrei 20)
David G. Savage _Jewish World Review_
Supremes to decide on international torture cases

2011-10-18 (5772 Tishrei 20)
Jeannine Stein _Jewish World Review_
Moderate ethanol use may reduce dementia and cognitive damage
"Researchers analyzed 143 studies that looked at the association between moderate alcohol consumption and mental abilities.   The meta-analysis, published in the journal Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, looked at research dating back to 1977.   Studies done between 1977 and 1997 mostly focused on younger people ages 18 to 54 and for the most part sought to determine whether moderate drinking had any damaging effects; Overall it didn't, said Michael Collins, the study's co-author and professor in the department of molecular pharmacology and therapeutics at Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine.   Later studies from 1998 to the present focused more on mental status tests examining memory and cognitive function among mostly older people, he added, and most showed that drinking moderate levels of alcohol showed no effect or a decreased risk of dementia and cognitive impairment compared to control groups.   Among the studies surveyed, researchers found that this link was seen in 14 out of 19 countries, including the U.S.A.   Overall, those who drank moderately were 23% less apt to acquire dementia or other forms of Alzheimer's disease, or to develop some cognitive damage."

2011-10-18 (5772 Tishrei 20)
Caroline B. Glick _Jewish World Review_
Iran's war to win vs. Obummer's appeasement
"Iran declared war on the US in 1979.   Since then, it has used its terrorist arms in Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the region to murder Americans.   It has used its terror arms in Latin American to target US interests and allies.   And now it has been caught in the act of recruiting agents to assist it in carrying out acts of terror in Washington, DC."

2011-10-18 (5772 Tishrei 20)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Random Thoughts
Town Hall
"Like so many people, in so many countries, who started out to 'spread the wealth', Barack Obama has ended up spreading poverty... [Tax-victims] ought to be protesting against having their money spent to educate people who end up unable to say anything beyond repeating political catch phrases."
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-19

2011-10-19 05:02PDT (08:02EDT) (12:02GMT) (15:02 Jerusalem)
Mike Pare _Knoxville TN News Sentinel_/_Chattanooga TN Times Free Press_
3K bodies shopped among 4,500 Amazon hires in Chattanooga and Cleveland TN
Chattanooga TN Times Free Press

2011-10-19 09:02PDT (12:02EDT) (16:02GMT) (19:02 Jerusalem)
Paul Weber _Wall Street Journal_/_AP_
5 Morrocan Muslims were arrested in and near the Bexar county court-house in San Antonio between 01:00 and 02:00 this morning
KENS 5 San Antonio TX
Ana Ley: San Antonio TX Express-News
Ana Ley: Houston TX Chronicle
Daily Mail
Reuters
abc
Los Angeles CA Times
composite: Inside the RV, officials say they found 90-day visas, maps, cellular phones, computers, and 'photographs of infrastructure' [including] pictures of shopping malls, water systems, court-houses and other public buildings which they say were taken in cities nationwide.   San Antonio Police Captain Cris Andersen said: 'They got travel documents, parking passes, they have been all over the country.   There was a lot of photographic equipment, a lot of documentation equipment inside their vehicle.'   Two of the men had names similar to 2 that appear on an FBI watchlist.

2011-10-19 12:36:53PDT (15:36:53EDT) (19:36:53GMT) (22:36:53 Jerusalem)
Linda A. Johnson _San Jose CA Mercury News_/_AP_
Amgen dumping about 380 R&D workers

2011-10-19 15:07PDT (18:07EDT) (22:07GMT) (2011-10-20 01:07 Jerusalem)
Tyler Treadway _Treasure Coast FL Palm_
Martin county FL school board sued for age discrimination

2011-10-19
Ron Scherer _Christian Science Monitor_
A long, steep drop for Americans' standard of living (with graph)
NewsRoom America
Forest Jones: News Max
Noah Wernikowski: CJME: standard of living for young Canadian families on the decline

2011-10-19
Peter Ferrara _American Spectator_
Obummer's jobs measures are all about how stupid he thinks you are

2011-10-19
Paul Greenberg _Town Hall_
The Obummer Bus Tour

2011-10-19
Mark J. Perry
Cash transactions banned for 2nd-hand goods sales in Louisiana: Does this make it "illegal tender"?

2011-10-19
Mark J. Perry
DC has highest median household income
"household in the Washington metro area earning $84,523 last year [vs. $83,944 in San Jose, CA]. The national median income for 2010 was $50,046..."

2011-10-19
Gary North & Mark J. Perry
No gasoline from 23:00 to 07:00 in Oregon

2011-10-19
_NASA_
imagery of fires from 2002 July - 2011 July

2011-10-19
Mark J. Perry
Rust belt coming back to life: shale gas revolution could bring 200K jobs to Ohio
"Two huge shale formations -- the Marcellus and Utica -- lay underneath a five-state region.   Steubenville sits right on the epicenter of the Marcellus formation...   More than 300 new jobs have already come to the Steubenville area.   And as many as 10K more are expected in the next 3 years."

2011-10-19 (5772 Tishrei 21)
George Friedman _Jewish World Review_/_StratFor_
From the Mediterranean to the Hindu Kush: rethinking the region

2011-10-19 (5772 Tishrei 21)
Douglas V. Gibbs _Canada Free Press_
14th amendment's citizenship clause
"...If you go to the debates on the congressional record of the 14th amendment, 'full jurisdiction' means in part 'full allegiance to America'.   Because the illegal alien parents are here illegally, and subject to the jurisdiction of Mexico (or whatever country they came from), a divided loyalty exists -- hence, based on the 14th amendment, the children of illegals (anchor babies) are not citizens.   Since illegal aliens are not subject to the complete jurisdiction of the United States, their children born in the U.S.A. are not automatically American citizens..."

2011-10-19 (5772 Tishrei 21)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
Pitting us against each other
"According to Forbes' Celebrity 100 list for 2010, Oprah Winfrey earned $290M.   Even if her make-up person or cameraman earned $100K, she earned thousands of times more than that.   Is that fair?   Among other celebrities earning hundreds or thousands of times more than the people who work with them are Tyler Perry ($130M), Jerry Bruckheimer ($113M), Lady Gaga ($90M) and Howard Stern ($76M).   According to Forbes, the top 10 celebrities, excluding athletes, earned an average salary of a little more than $100M in 2010.   According to the Wall Street Journal survey of CEO compensation (2010 November), Gregory Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media, earned $87M [great, IMO], Oracle's Lawrence Ellison ($68M [didn't earn a penny of it, IMO, because he's getting it by intentionally violating people's privacy and helping others violate people's privacy]) and rounding out the top 10 CEOs was McKesson's John Hammergren, earning $24M.   It turns out that the top 10 CEOs have an average salary of $43M, which pales in comparison with America's top 10 celebrities, who earn an average salary of $100M."
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-20

2011-10-20 05:24PDT (08:24EDT) (12:24GMT) (15:24 Jerusalem)
_CNBC_/_Reuters_
US misery index highest in 13 years

2011-10-20 05:30PDT (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT) (15:30 Jerusalem)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
DoL home page
DoL OPA press releases
historical data
DoL regulations
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 356,825 in the week ending October 15, a decrease of 47,229 from the previous week.   There were 394,016 initial claims in the comparable week in 2010.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5% during the week ending October 8, unchanged from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,116,875, an increase of 2,431 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 3.0% and the volume was 3,715,967.   The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending October 1 was 6,697,346, a decrease of 124,239 from the previous week.   Extended benefits were available in AL, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, WA, WV, and WI during the week ending October 1.   States reported 2,967,054 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending October 1, a decrease of 48,981 from the prior week.   There were 4,040,113 claimants in the comparable week in 2010.   EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.   [Note that the population used for calculating the "insured unemployment rate" (the divisor) changes
to 132,623,886 beginning 2007-10-06;
to 133,010,953 beginning 2008-01-05;
to 133,382,559 beginning 2008-04-05;
to 133,690,617 beginning 2008-07-05;
to 133,902,387 beginning 2008-10-04;
to 133,886,830 beginning 2009-01-03;
to 133,683,433 beginning 2009-04-04;
to 133,078,480 beginning 2009-07-04;
to 133,823,421 beginning 2009-10-03;
to 131,823,421 beginning 2009-10-17;
to 130,128,328 beginning 2010-01-02;
to 128,298,468 beginning 2010-04-03;
to 126,763,245 beginning 2010-07-03;
to 125,845,577 beginning 2010-09-25;
to 125,560,066 beginning 2011-01-15;
to 125,572,661 beginning 2011-04-02;
to 125,807,389 beginning 2011-07-02;
to 126,188,733 beginning 2011-10-01.]
EUC (Excel)
EB
graphs
more graphs

2011-10-20
David Roberts & Joshua Lamont _DoL OPA_
Solis announced privacy violation partnership to connect unemployed Americans with jobs
"Marne Levine, Facebook's vice president of global" privacy violation... FB, NASWA, Direct Employers Association, NACE

2011-10-20 07:35PDT (10:35EDT) (14:35GMT) (17:35 Jerusalem)
Jeffry Bartash _MarketWatch_
US Leading Economic Indicators point to even slower growth.. but at least it's growth

2011-10-20
Edwin Mora _Cybercast News Service_/_Fox_
Napolitano's DHS has been authorizing illegal aliens to work in the USA

2011-10-20
Larry Thornberry _American Spectator_
the record of the Republican Party for a century and a half has not only been more supportive of Black Americans than leftists, but much more so

2011-10-20
Jan Falstad _Billings MT Gazette_
Bakken boom is boosting Montana
"The play east of the North Dakota/Montana state line now produces 440K barrels of oil per day from 5K wells.   North Dakota officials predict a peak of 700K barrels a day.   But a recent Raymond James Financial Services report triples the state's estimate, saying production could hit 1.2M barrels per day, Rolfstad said.   Harold Hamm, owner of Continental Oil and one of the largest Bakken players, has leased 901K acres of mineral rights, more than anyone else."

2011-10-20
David North _Center for Immigration Studies_
15 Russian engineers aiming to abuse B-1 visas to work for Boeing turned back by Customs
Dominic Gates: Seattle Times

2011-10-20
Frosty Wooldridge _News with Views_
Suicide of a Superpower
Liberty News
Cooper Sterling: Occidental Observer
Perpetual View

2011-10-20
Charles Pope _Oregonian_
Federal stimulus money for Oregon jobs hired foreign workers
"At least $7M in federal stimulus money intended to provide jobs to unemployed Oregonians instead paid wages to 254 foreign workers, federal investigators have concluded...   in 2009, Oregon had the third-highest unemployment rate in the nation at 11.1%, with rates in the state's rural forest counties nearly 15% and higher.   Even so, the contractors told federal regulators they could not find enough local workers for the jobs.   That came as a surprise to local officials, who said they often got hundreds of responses to every job opening...   The contracts were controlled by 4 Oregon companies: Medford Cutting Edge Forestry, Summitt Forestry, Ponderosa Reforestations, and G.E. Forestry.   All hired foreign workers...   Under federal rules, notice of the job openings must be made where the job 'originates'.   And while the bulk of the work took place in Oregon, smaller jobs originated in other states.   According to reports by the Bend Bulletin, which revealed the foreign hires in a series of stories last year that triggered DeFazio's call for an investigation, contractors advertised the jobs in tiny newspapers in California and Washington state for several days...   In fact, although 146 U.S. workers were contacted for possible employment, investigators found that none was hired...   The visa regulations allowed the contractors to do all their hiring 4 months before work started.   That made unemployed workers who needed jobs immediately reluctant to commit to temporary jobs 4 months later.   Despite the barriers, 29 U.S. workers learned of the jobs and asked about employment...   As required, the employers also notified state workforce agencies of the openings.   But just as with obscure newspaper ads, the state postings were far-afield, with the notices sent to Arizona, California, Idaho, Washington and Wyoming."

2011-10-20
Edwin Mora _Cybercast News Service_
Union president testified that ICE management ordered agents not to arrest illegal aliens, including criminal fugitives
Alex Jones: Prison Planet
Free Speech America
IRN USA
"Chris Crane, president of a union that represents Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, testified in the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration last week that ICE agents have been told by ICE head-quarters not to arrest illegal aliens who do not have a prior criminal conviction even if they are fugitives who have been ordered deported by an immigration judge or are individuals who have illegally re-entered the United States after being deported and thus have perpetrated a felony."

2011-10-20
_Chronicle of Higher Education_
Florida governor Rick Scott wants job-placement data from state universities
"Continuing his crusade for accountability, governor Rick Scott of Florida has sent a letter to each of the state's 11 university presidents asking 17 detailed questions about how well the institutions are measuring student learning, preparing students for the work force, and placing them in jobs.   The letter follows the governor's statement that state appropriations to the colleges should focus on educating students in mathematics and science fields, which he says will produce more-qualified employees than graduates in the humanities.   The Republican governor has also posted on-line the salaries of more than 50K employees at the public universities.   Ava L. Parker, chair-woman of the Board of Governors, responded to the governor's new request in an October 17 letter that referred Mr. Scott to the system's annual report and said the system chancellor would coordinate with the universities to respond more fully."

2011-10-20
Mark J. Perry
Let's end antiquated, job-killing sugar restrictions and subsidies (with graph)
"The sugar program benefits about 4,700 growers of sugar cane and sugar beets nationwide.   But it hurts more than 600K people working in sugar-using industries nationwide -- from candy makers to bakers.   High sugar prices were responsible for the loss of 112K jobs in those industries between 1997 and 2009, according to industry analysts.   For every sugar-growing job saved through high U.S. sugar prices, according to a 2006 Commerce Department study, approximately 3 jobs in sugar-using industries are lost."

2011-10-20
Mark J. Perry
Positive economic news (with graphs)

2011-10-20
Mark J. Perry
Horrendous bureaucracy in the way of opening a simple food truck
"it's too bad that so much time, energy and money has to be spent on the mountain of paperwork required to start a small business to serve the public."

2011-10-20
Mark J. Perry
GM "Relay Rides"

2011-10-20
Mark J. Perry
Brent oil premium over West Texas Inermediate could be another factor that will rekindle American manufacturing
"This is another factor favoring increased manufacturing production in the U.S.A., including 'reshoring', (moving production back to the U.S.A. from over-seas) as part of the pending 'renaissance of American manufacturing' that has been documented here on many occasions."

2011-10-20
Donald J. Boudreaux _Pittsburgh PA Tribune-Review_
What free trade really does

2011-10-20 (5772 Tishrei 22)
Victor Davis Hanson _Jewish World Review_
Railing against reality

2011-10-20 (5772 Tishrei 22)
judge Andrew P. Napolitano _Jewish World Review_
Is freedom in America a myth or a reality?
"Whether the ultimate source of human freedom is found in theology or biology, freedom exists, freedom is ours by nature, and the long history of the world is really one unceasing, increasing catalogue of the epic battles for personal freedoms against tyranny...   The Framers viewed, as do I, the only legitimate role of government as protecting freedom.   That connotes protection from force and fraud, but it surely does not connote punishing the politically unorthodox, transferring wealth, regulating personal private behavior, stealing property, manipulating currency or fighting wars of imperialism.   Now the dark part: There is no human liberty, natural or constitutional, expressly guaranteed in the Constitution or traditionally viewed as belonging to all persons, that has not been nullified by the government in America."
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-21

2011-10-21
Karl Henkel _Youngstown OH Vindicator_
GM investing $5.5M in retooling Lordstown for 2013 diesel Chevy Cruze
"Green previously said that with differing types of engines, the under-body of the vehicle needs modification.   Diesel engines get 20% to 40% better mileage than gasoline engines, which helps as auto-makers try to meet fuel-economy standards.   Diesel fuel, however, costs about 10% more than regular-grade gas, and diesel engines cost more to produce.   Analysts expect the diesel Cruze to average about 50 miles per gallon, which would be about 7 mpg more than the diesel version sold in Europe.   That's about 8 mpg more than the U.S. Cruze ECO."

2011-10-21 13:05:46PDT (16:05:46EDT) (20:05:46GMT) (23:05:46 Jerusalem)
Jeremy C. Owens _San Jose CA Mercury News_
Unemployment rate fell slightly across SF Bay Area, temp jobs beginning to reappear
"The San Jose metropolitan area's unemployment rate fell to 9.6% from a revised 10% in August, the state's Employment Development Department reported Friday.   The regional report combines the South Bay counties of Santa Clara and San Benito, and they produced a net addition of 900 jobs in September, with the largest gain -- 2,300 jobs -- coming in professional and business services [i.e. bodyshopping]...   computer systems design and related services accounted for most of the increase, with an increase of 1,800 jobs, showing that the region's technology industry is driving growth."

2011-10-21
Jaci Webb _Billings MT Gazette_
Meet Andy Schoneberg, zombie-maker for TV & movies

2011-10-21 16:00PDT (19:00EDT) (23:00GMT) (2011-10-22 02:00 Jerusalem)
_Investor's Business Daily_

Todd Spangler: Detroit Free Press
Automotive Week
Greg Pollowitz: National Review/abc

2011-10-21
Karla Marciszewski _Internet Evolution_/_UBM_
It's "Cyber Security Awareness Month"? Who knew?

2011-10-21
George H. Wittman _American Spectator_
Red China's cyber militia
"The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is reportedly funding a vast complex of part-time cyber-devotees to supplement and compliment the official structure of cyber interception and invasion...   The first official recognition of this program occurred in one chosen hi-tech factory in 2002. According to an official PLA publication, there are now thousands of such units around the country..."

2011-10-21
Mark J. Perry
World trade and production reach record highs (with graph)

2011-10-21
Mark J. Perry
NY, NY taxi medalions top $1M apiece (with graph)

2011-10-21
Mark J. Perry
Light field cameras record direction from which rays of light come, allow later focus

2011-10-21
Mark J. Perry
Wind-mills shut down nights due to injured bats

2011-10-21
Mark J. Perry
At 3%, Bismarck, ND has lowest unemployment rate in USA due to energy boom
 
Proposed Bills 2011

2011-10-21

DJIA	11,808.79
S&P 500(SPX)	1,238.25
NASDAQ(COMP)	2,637.46
Nikkei	8,678.89
10-year US T-Bond(UST10Y)	2.21%
crude oil(CL1X)	$87.40/barrel
natgas(NG11X)	$3.63/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline(RB1X)	$2.69/gal
heatingoil(HO1X)	$3.02/gal
gold(GC1Z)	$1,643.00/ounce
silver(SI1Z)	$31.19/ounce
platinum(PL2F)	$1,509.20/ounce
palladium(PA1Z)	$618.25/ounce
copper(HG1Z)	$0.20125/ounce
soybeans	$12.1225/bushel
maize	$6.49/bushel
wheat	$6.32/bushel
dollarindex (DXY)	76.28
yenperdollar (USDYEN)	76.035
dollarspereuro (EURUSD)	$1.3891
dollarsperpound (GBPUSD)	$1.5952
swissfrancsperdollar (USDCHF)	0.8826
indianrupeesperdollar (USDINR)	49.725
mexicanpesosperdollar (USDMXN)	13.678
MorganStanleyHighTechIndex	626.9

I usually get this info from MarketWatch.
 
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-22

2011-10-22
Bill Bonner _Christian Science Monitor_
The new, depressed American standard of living

2011-10-22
Michael Cutler _One Old Vet_
FBI: the continuing international gang threat
"The assessment estimates that there are now 1.4M street gang members who not only operate on the streets of America's cities and towns but also operate within the jails of our nation!...   What is also extremely disturbing is how these various gangs are now attempting and succeeding in infiltrating law enforcement and other sectors within our government...   You will notice that many of the gangs are from the four corners of the planet and some are from countries that are known as 'Special Interest Countries'.   As you may know, Special Interest Countries are those countries that are identified with the sponsorship of terrorism."

2011-10-22
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Just what exactly is a "green job" anyway?

2011-10-22
Mark J. Perry
Household income quintiles and demographics

2011-10-22
Mark J. Perry
Battery chargers go from "Made in Red China" to "Made in the USA"

2011-10-22
Mark J. Perry
Demand for employees drawing thousands to ND

2011-10-22
Mark J. Perry
$8K apiece government subsidy didn't increase purchases of electric cars in UK

2011-10-22
Mark J. Perry
Shale gas is fueling pipe-line construction boom
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-23

2011-10-23
Karl Henkel _Youngstown OH Vindicator_
Utica shale gas drillers primed to dig in the Mahoning river valley

2011-10-23
_Right Perspective_
Ron Paul won Ohio "swing state" straw poll
"Paul recieved an overwhelming 53.5% of the vote.   Businessman Herman Cain came in second with 25.47%"

2011-10-23
Mark J. Perry
MLB players make 1K times as much as Costa Rica workers who make their baseballs

2011-10-23 (5772 Tishrei 25)
Mark Steyn _Jewish World Review_
Joe Biden's "teachable moment"
"'We think the federal government in Washington, DC should say to the cities and states, look, we're going to give you some money so that you can hire back all those people.   And the way we're going to do it, we're going to ask people who have a lot of money to pay just a little bit more in taxes.'   Who knew it was that easy?   So let's see if I follow the vice president's thinking: The school laid off these teachers because 'there's no money for them in the city'.   That's true.   York City School District is broke.   It has a $14M budget deficit.   So instead Washington, DC, is going to 'give you some money' to hire these teachers back.   So, unlike York, PA, presumably Washington, DC, has 'money for them'?   No, not technically.   Washington, DC, is also broke -- way broker than York City School District.   In fact, the government of the United States is broker than any entity has ever been in the history of the planet.   Officially, Washington has to return $15,000,000,000,000 [$15T] just to get back to having nothing at all.   And that $15,000,000,000,000 is a very lowball figure that conveniently ignores another $100T in unfunded liabilities that the government, unlike private businesses, is able to keep off the books.   So how come the Brokest Jurisdiction in History is able to 'give you some money' to hire back those teachers that had to be laid off?...   in order to balance the budget of the United States, you would have to increase the taxes of people earning more than $250K a year by $500K a year...   to balance the budget of the United States on the backs of millionaires you would have to increase the taxes of those earning more than $1M a year by $6M a year.   Not only is there 'no money in the city' of York, PA, and no money in Washington, DC, there's no money anywhere else in America -- not for spending on the Obama/Biden scale.   Come to that, there's no money anywhere on the planet: Last year, John Kitchen of the U.S. Treasury and Menzie Chinn of the University of Wisconsin published a study called 'Financing U.S. Debt: Is There Enough Money In The World -- And At What Cost?'...   U.S. government spending is sustainable as long as by 2020 the rest of the planet is willing to sink 19% of its GDP into U.S. Treasury debt."
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-24

2011-10-23 19:42PDT (22:42EDT) (2011-10-24 02:42GMT) (05:42 Jerusalem)
Larry Dignan _Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
Steve Jobs: Great tech companies don't let great salesmen become CEOs. Why? They don't know squat about product.
"'I have my own theory about why the decline happens...   The company does a great job, innovates and becomes a monopoly or close to it in some field, and then the quality of the product becomes less important.   The product starts valuing the great salesmen, because they're the ones who can move the needle on revenues, not the product engineers and designers.   So the sales-people end up running the company.'"
Jason Hiner: Steve Jobs' legacy is humanizing technology

2011-10-23 21:28PDT (2011-10-24 00:28EDT) (2011-10-24 04:28GMT) (2011-10-24 07:28 Jerusalem)
David Gewirtz _Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
The scary truth about voting machine hacking risk (with video)

2011-10-24
Peter Cappelli _Wall Street Journal_
With an abundance of workers to choose from, employers are demanding more of job candidates than ever before (with graph and tables)
"With an abundance of workers to choose from, employers are demanding more of job candidates than ever before.   They want prospective workers to be able to fill a role right away, without any training or ramp-up time...   They need to drop the idea of finding perfect candidates and look for people who could do the job with a bit of training and practice.   There are plenty of ways to get workers up to speed without investing too much time and money, such as putting new employees on extended probationary periods and relying more on internal hires, who know the ropes better than outsiders would...   The [bodyshop] ManpowerGroup, for instance, reports that 52% of U.S. employers surveyed say they have difficulty filling positions because of talent shortages...   Some of the complaints about skill shortages boil down to the fact that employers can't get candidates to accept jobs at the wages offered.   That's an affordability problem, not a skill shortage.   A real shortage means not being able to find appropriate candidates at market-clearing wages...   The real problem, then, is more appropriately an inflexibility problem...   candidates who have very different credentials can do them successfully.   Only about 10% of the people in IT jobs during the Silicon Valley tech boom of the 1990s, for example, had IT-related degrees.   While it might be great to have a Ph.D. graduate read your electrical meter, almost anyone with a little training could do the job pretty well...   There are plenty of people out there who could step into jobs with just a bit of training -- even recent graduates who don't have much job experience...   Unfortunately, American companies don't seem to do training anymore.   Data are hard to come by, but we know that apprenticeship programs have largely disappeared, along with management-training programs.   And the amount of training that the average new hire gets in the first year or so could be measured in hours and counted on the fingers of one hand...   some of the problem we're up against is simply a failure of imagination...   Employees have useful knowledge that no outsider could have and should make great candidates for filling jobs higher up...   hiring from the outside...[used to be] close to 10%, as internal promotions and transfers were used to fill virtually all positions." [Jim McNerney, Boeing CEO, and Jeff Immelt, GE's CEO, are on the president Obummer's Council on Job Destruction.]

2011-10-24
Katie Kuba _Cumberland PA Sentinel_
Appalachian Trail speed records
"the trail's northernmost point in Mt. Katahdin, Maine...   Just this August, hiker Jennifer Pharr Davis managed to motor through the approximately 2,181 miles of the trail in 46 days, 11 hours and 20 minutes...   Andrew Thompson's 2005 record of 47 days 13 hours and 31 minutes...  the trail's south terminus in Springer Mountain, Georgia."

2011-10-24
Dennis Jacobe _Gallup_
Government regulations at top of small-business owner's problems list

2011-10-24
Darrell M. West _Innovation Excellence_
Tech-starting the innovation economy
"a study of 120 nations between 1980 and 2006 undertaken by Christine Qiang estimated that each 10 percentage point increase in broadband penetration adds 1.3% to a high income country's gross domestic product [GDP] and 1.21% for low to middle-income nations...   A 2009 Newsweek [NewSpeak]-Intel Global Innovation Survey interviewed 4,800 adults in the United States, [Red China], United Kingdom, and Germany.   Researchers found that 'two-thirds of respondents believe innovation will be more important than ever to the U.S. economy over the next 30 years'...   When asked how the U.S.A. was doing in 2009, only 41% of Americans thought our country was ahead of [Red China] on innovation compared to 81% of Chinese who felt the U.S.A. was ahead...   In America, the private sector surpassed the federal government in 1980 in terms of the amount of money spent on research and development.   By 2003, commercial companies provided 68% of the $283G spent on research and development, compared to 27% from the federal government.   Of this total, $113G came from the federal government, while $170 came from the private sector.   According to information from the National Science Board, the percentage of research and development spending coming from the federal government has dropped from around 63% in the early 1960s to 27% today, while that of the private sector increased from 30% to 68%...   In 2008, around 9K [O-1] visas were granted, up from [an already extremely excessive] 6,500 in 2004."

2011-10-24
Gloria Borger _CNN_
Dems planning new push for immigration law perversion
"Sources say there are ongoing discussions among Democrats ranging from re-introducing comprehensive [perversion] to bringing up the [NIGHTMARE] Act again..."

2011-10-24 16:18PDT (19:18EDT) (23:18GMT) (2011-10-25 02:18 Jerusalem)
Scott Lowe _Tech Republic_/_Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
"Soft skills" in high demand in high-tech world

2011-10-24 16:43PDT (19:43EDT) (23:43GMT) (2011-10-25 02:43 Jerusalem)
Toni Bowers _Tech Republic_/_Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
earning and losing trust in the work-place

2011-10-24
Rob Jenkins _Chronicle of Higher Education_
How are Ph.D. candidates in the hard sciences supposed to acquire teaching experience [to get juco jobs], if their sources of funds don't allow them to work as adjuncts or TA's?
"there were several in the crowd who were working on Ph.D.s in the hard sciences.   They listened intently as I pointed out that most community colleges are looking for applicants with teaching experience.   I then went on to recommend, as I always do, that anyone interested in a community-college career should try to get as much teaching experience as possible, by working as a TA and, if possible, by adjuncting at a nearby 2-year campus.   During the discussion that ensued, one of the science students pointed out that many Ph.D. candidates in her field have grant-based funding sources that will not allow them to teach.   How, she wanted to know, are they supposed to get the teaching experience necessary to make them competitive in the community-college job market?   Are community-college careers pretty much closed to them?"

2011-10-24
William L. Anderson
There's a hole in the Keynesians' "logic"

2011-10-24
Mark J. Perry & Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Economic lead is shifting back to the USA
"The gap in 'productivity-adjusted wages' will narrow from 22% of US levels in 2005 to 43% (61% for the US South) by 2015.   Add in shipping costs, reliability woes, technology piracy, and the advantage shifts back to the USA."

2011-10-24
Mark J. Perry
Houston TX-based Farouk Systems moves hair-dressing equipment back to USA
"added 400 jobs to its Texas-based work-force, which now totals 2K.   Production costs are only slightly higher in the U.S.A. than in China, he says, because the workers are more efficient.   'I may need to employ only 15 people to do a job that would require 70 in a Chinese factory.', said Mr. Shami.   This year 80% of his company's production is being done in the U.S.A., compared with 40% in 2007.   His sales have risen by about 20% since the decision to expand the domestic operation."

2011-10-24
Mark J. Perry
Bakken energy boom spreading through MT and SD

2011-10-24
Mark J. Perry
More manufacturing moving back to USA: Otis, GreatRoom, Buck
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-25

2011-10-24 18:34PDT (2011-10-24 21:34EDT) (2011-10-25 01:34GMT) (2011-10-25 04:34 Jerusalem)
Sun Joo Kim _Smart Planet_/_Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
Translucent concrete uses optical fibers
"Developed by Hungarian architect Aron Losonczi, LiTraCon (Light Transmitting Concrete)... The translucent material is created by combining concrete and thousands of optical fiber strands that act like aggregate."

2011-10-25
_Deccan Herald_/_Times of India_/_FirstPost_
H-1B visas issued to Indians in FY2011 up 24%
"In a sign of its burgeoning [illicit] relationship with New Delhi, the US government Tuesday said it had increased H-1B visas issued to Indians by 24% between 2010 and 2011... from 54,111 issued in 2010 to 67,195 in 2011...   India also scooped the lion's share of L-1 intra-company transfer visas, with the US mission in India issuing over 25K L-1s in FY2011. This was 37% of US L-1 visa issuances worldwide...   'We rely on the H-1B program to send personnel to the US to work on-site at major customers.   It is part of our low-cost model in which we use engineers in India to do the actual software programming to implement projects.'...   The United States said on Tuesday that, all told, it issued over 490K non-immigrant visas to Indian tourists, students and businessmen in the last year, a 4.3% rise from the last financial year.   'Consular staffing has increased 60% in the past 5 years.', said the State Department release.   The US mission in India had recently invested $100M in updating and expanding its consular facilities in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata.   Thanks to local hiring, applicants can now choose to have their visa interview in languages like Bengali, Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu, Tamil and Telugu."

2011-10-25 10:24PDT (13:24EDT) (17:24GMT) (20:24 Jerusalem)
Tess Stynes _Wall Street Journal_
Conference Board: Consumer confidence tumbled
Leah Schnurr: Fox
Ruth Mantell: MarketWatch
"Only 3.4% describe jobs as 'plentiful' this month, down from 5.6% in September, while a much larger 47.1% think jobs are 'hard to get', down from 49.4% last month...   27.4% of respondents think there will be fewer jobs six months from now, while a mere 11.3% think there will be more jobs...   Only 10.3% think their incomes will increase in six months, down from 13.5% in September.   A larger 19.2% think their incomes will decrease, up from 17.8%.   The report shows consumers, on average, expect inflation to increase to 5.8% a year from now, the same rate expected in September."

2011-10-25
John Dunn & Chris McCarty _U of FL_
Florida's consumer confidence fell in October
"After a modest gain in September, consumer confidence among Floridians fell a point in October to 63, four points above the record low of 59 set in 2008 June, according to a new University of Florida study.   The index used by UF researchers is benchmarked to 1966, so a value of 100 represents the same level of confidence for that year.   The lowest index possible is a 2; the highest is 150.   'Consumer confidence continues to be in the doldrums, uncomfortably near record low levels here in Florida.', said Chris McCarty, director of UF's Survey Research Center in the Bureau of Economic and Business Research...   The overall view that personal finances are better than they were a year ago rose 5 points to 54.   Expectations that the economy will improve a year from now also increased, rising two points to 55.   Meanwhile, perceptions that personal finances will improve a year from now dropped two points to 72.   Respondents also were gloomier than previously about the long-run prospects for the economy; expectations that it will strengthen over the coming 5 years dropped one point to 67.   Finally, the component measuring whether now is good for buying big-ticket items, such as automobiles, laptops, and dishwashers sank four points to 70.   The report found that consumer confidence remains shaky despite reports of slight economic improvement in some sectors.   Florida's unemployment rate, for instance, dropped one-tenth of 1 percent to 10.6%, after remaining fixed at 10.7% for three months, far better than the record high level of 12.5% reached in 2010 March.   'One thing to keep an eye on is the size of the labor force.', McCarty said.   'Unemployment is the percent of those unemployed but looking for work.   When people stop looking, for a variety of reasons, they are not counted.   Although Florida's labor force increased by 14K from August to September, it is still down 26K from September of 2010.'"

2011-10-25
John Myers _Internet Evolution_/_UBM_
Verizon has joined the double-talkers WRT privacy

2011-10-25
Kevin Usealman _MI NBC news 25 Flint_
Flint MI demolished record number of abandoned homes
"A record 775 homes have been demolished in the city of Flint in the last year.   It's a record according to Flint Mayor Dayne Walling.   Much of it is thanks to federal funding from something called the 'Neighborhood Stabilization Program'.   Another 300 or so homes are expected to be torn down before the end of the year, which would bring the total since 2010 to around 1K, a full one-sixth of the city's abandoned properties."

2011-10-25
Kevin Leicht & Nicole Riehl _U of IA_/_Media News Wire_
retaining 1970s credit limits would have reduced bankruptcies by 25%
"A University of Iowa study suggests that one-quarter of households that filed for bankruptcy in 2007 would not have been in that situation if the credit regulations of the 1970s had remained in place.   Sociology Professor Kevin Leicht analyzed data from the 2007 survey of 2,400 bankrupt Americans.   He applied credit limits of the 1970s -- a mortgage no greater than 30% of income, a car payment no more than 10% of income, and a single credit card with a $1K limit.   With those regulations, Leicht says 25% of the families wouldn't have accumulated enough debt to be bankrupt.   If the tighter restrictions still existed, the average person in bankruptcy in 2007 would have spent $667 per month less on debt payments.   That's substantial, Leicht says, considering the median income of the bankrupt households was just $23K...   Bankruptcy filings have grown overall from about 110K in 1960, to over 1.6M in 2003, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.   Filings dipped to 480K in 2007, then jumped back up to nearly 1.1M in 2010...   According to Leicht, the deregulation of the banking industry in [the 1970s and] 1980s set the stage for a transformation of the consumer credit landscape.   A Supreme Court ruling removed limits on maximum interest rates lenders could charge.   Constraints on securities dealings were lifted, and interstate branch banking was allowed...   The influx of credit appeared just as middle-class wages stagnated.   In spite of increases in productivity resulting in higher profits, real median family income increased by just 16%, or $8,700 between 1971 and 2007.   That's an average growth rate of 0.4% per year, and most of the income gain was a result of people working more hours and more women joining the labor force.   Increased expenses for the mainstays of middle-class life strained budgets further.   The median sale price of a single-family home rose from $129K in 1971 to $247,900 in 2007.   Health insurance premiums have risen at twice the rate of family income since 1996.   By the time a child went to school, the average 2009 family spent $38K on childcare, compared to only $3,700 in 1960.   To cope with it all, workers put in more hours, reduced savings and increased debt.   A married couple's average number of paid hours of work rose from 53 per week in 1970 to 63 in 1997.   The percentage of families where both spouses work rose from 36% to 60%.   And average credit card debt per household more than doubled, from $3K in 1989 to $7,300 in 2007."

2011-10-25
Robert Morley _Trumpet_
The Great American Contraction
"But the Great American Contraction isn't limited to abandoning the Tigris and Euphrates.   With Colonel Qadhafi dead, America's air force will be flying home from Libya as well.   In Afghanistan, the troops won't last much longer—tentatively to 2013.   The most far-reaching and dangerous contraction, though, is set to occur in Europe.   In the early 1990s, there were well over 200K U.S. troops stationed in Europe.   Today, that number is down to 41K -- and set to shrink a lot more...   Last week, Merrill Lynch warned that America's credit rating is about to get cut by another ratings agency.   '[W]e expect at least one credit downgrade in late November or early December when the Super Committee crashes.', writes analyst Ethan S. Harris.   If the Super Committee can't reach a budget compromise, an automatic $1.2T cut split between the military and non-military programs will result...   Employment peaked in 2008.   America is now back down to the number of jobs it had a decade ago.   The stock market is contracting.   It too is back to where it was a decade ago."

2011-10-25
Walker Uhlhorn _Memphis TN Commercial Appeal_
The challenges of entrepreneurship
"FedEx is the idea of one man (an entrepreneur) who had the skills and vision to create and build this organization.   Entrepreneurs are the back-bone of our economy.   Most people would rather work for someone else than to start a business of their own.   I believe no more than 5% of our work-force have these skills."

2011-10-25
Dan Berrett _Chronicle of Higher Education_
Lack of confidence as professionals spurs women to leave engineering
"it's because they lack confidence, not competence, says a paper in the October issue of the American Sociological Review.   Specifically, women lack 'professional role confidence', a term that describes, loosely, a person's sense that he or she belongs in a certain field.   The term encompasses more than mastery of core intellectual skills.   It also touches on a person's confidence that he or she has the right expertise for a given profession, and that the corresponding career path meshes with his or her interests and values...   the paper's lead author, Erin Cech, a post-doctoral fellow in sociology at Stanford University's Clayman Institute for Gender Research.   'The more confident students are in their professional expertise, the more likely they are to persist in an engineering major...'...   Women's family plans had little bearing on their career planning, once they entered engineering training, the paper says, though the plans probably do play a role later, when they embark on their careers.   Surprisingly, the researchers found much stronger evidence that men were more likely to leave engineering if they had plans to start a family...   'more complex, profession-specific self-assessments appear to replace math self-assessment as the driving social-psychological reasons for attrition'..."

2011-10-25
_Royal Society for Chemistry_
US STEM graduates look beyond science for careers
"The authors of the report from Georgetown University's center on education and the workforce suggest that science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) need to become more lucrative to retain the most talented individuals...   Immediately after graduation, 43% of STEM graduates work in non-STEM occupations, and the attrition continues 10 years into the work-force when 46% of workers with a degree in a STEM discipline have left the field, the report finds...   They estimate that there will be 2.4M job openings for STEM workers in the US by 2018...   Ron Hira, a public policy expert with the Rochester Institute of Technology, US, says it's fine to train more people with STEM capabilities, even if they don't end up working in these fields.   However, he points out that these are very expensive degrees.   'Who will fund all of those additional STEM degrees -- the lab space and higher salaries.', Hira asks, noting that students are 'voting with their feet'...   There has been a 19.4% increase over the last 5 years in the number of students sitting chemistry A-level in the UK..."

2011-10-25
Bob McTeer _National Center for Policy Analysis_
Is the surge in money growth meaningful or meaningless?

2011-10-25
William L. Anderson
Considering the source

2011-10-25
Mark J. Perry
Media bias in selective coverage of research results

2011-10-25
Mark J. Perry
Very scary: quangos/GSEs control 95% of mortgages, compared to 40% in 2000

2011-10-25
Mark J. Perry
Demand for and production of natural gas may put Americans back to work (with graph)

2011-10-25
Mark J. Perry
Happy 10th birth-day iPod!

2011-10-25
Adam Bernstein _Washington DC Post_
US representative from Michigan, Howard Wolpe died
NNDB
Michigan State U
Kalamazoo MI Gazette
WikiPedia
YouTube

2011-10-25
Robert Moore _Cenantua_
Beyond John Brown... an enduring legacy not always so obvious, in the Shenandoah Valley
"Jefferson county became a hub for refugee slaves from as far away as Lexington, Staunton, and Harrisonburg; many who followed the Union armies to freedom, between 1862-1865."
video

2011-10-25 (5772 Tishrei 27)
Anna Mulrine _Jewish World Review_
unmanned aerial vehicles and shape-shifting robots: War's remotely-controlled future

2011-10-25 (5772 Tishrei 27)
Frank J. Gaffney ii _Jewish World Review_
Who lost the world? Obummer has paved the way for an explosive era

2011-10-25 (5772 Tishrei 27)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
the media and "bullying"
"Back in the 1920s, the intelligentsia on both sides of the Atlantic were loudly protesting the execution of political radicals Sacco and Vanzetti, after what they claimed was an unfair trial.   Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote to his young leftist friend Harold Laski, pointing out that there were 'a thousand-fold worse cases' involving black defendants, 'but the world does not worry over them'.   Holmes said: 'I cannot but ask myself why this so much greater interest in red than black.'   To put it bluntly, it was a question of whose ox was gored.   That is, what groups were in vogue at the moment among the intelligentsia.   Blacks clearly were not.   The current media and political crusade against 'bullying' in schools seems likewise to be based on what groups are in vogue at the moment.   For years, there have been local newspaper stories about black kids in schools in New York and Philadelphia beating up Asian class-mates, some beaten so badly as to require medical treatment.   But the national media hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil.   Asian Americans are not in vogue today, just as blacks were not in vogue in the 1920s.   Meanwhile, the media are focused on bullying directed against youngsters who are homosexual.   Gays are in vogue.   Most of the stories about the bullying of gays in schools are about words directed against them, not about their suffering the violence that has long been directed against Asian youngsters or about the failure of the authorities to do anything serious to stop black kids from beating up Asian kids.   Where youngsters are victims of violence, whether for being gay or whatever, that is where the authorities need to step in.   No decent person wants to see kids hounded, whether by words or deeds, and whether the kids are gay, Asian or whatever.   But there is still a difference between words and deeds -- and it is a difference we do not need to let ourselves be stampeded into ignoring.   The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees freedom of speech -- and, like any other freedom, it can be abused.   If we are going to take away every Constitutional right that has been abused by somebody, we are going to end up with no Constitutional rights."
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-26

2011-10-25 17:43PDT (2011-10-25 20:43EDT) (2011-10-26 00:43GMT) (2011-10-26 03:43 Jerusalem)
Larisa Brass _Knoxville TN News Sentinel_
uncertainty clouds switch-grass to fuel facility

2011-10-26 05:20PDT (08:20EDT) (12:20GMT) (15:20 Jerusalem)
Tom Murphy _Knoxville TN News Sentinel_
Vicious executives focus on engaging in extreme privacy violations "to curb costs"

2011-10-26 09:14:33PDT (12:14:33EDT) (16:14:33GMT) (19:14:33 Jerusalem)
Melissa Eddy _San Jose CA Mercury News_/_AP_
Austrian law student's privacy campaign against FB continues gaining steam
Josh Fischman: Chronicle of Higher Education

2011-10-26
Jana Winter _Fox_
ACORN backing "occupiers"
"The former New York office for ACORN, the [supposedly] disbanded community activist group, is playing a key role in the self-proclaimed 'leaderless' Occupy Wall Street movement, organizing 'guerrilla' protest events and hiring door-to-door canvassers to collect money under the banner of various causes while spending it on protest-related activities...   The former director of New York ACORN, Jon Kest, and his top aides are now busy working at protest events for New York Communities for Change (NYCC).   That organization was created in late 2009 when some ACORN offices disbanded and reorganized under new names after undercover video exposes prompted Congress to cut off federal funds.   NYCC's connection to ACORN isn't a tenuous one: It works from the former ACORN offices in Brooklyn, uses old ACORN office stationery, employs much of the old ACORN staff and, according to several sources, engages in some of the old organization's controversial techniques to raise money, interest and awareness for the protests.   Sources said NYCC has hired about 100 former ACORN-affiliated staff members from other cities -- paying some of them $100 a day -- to attend and support Occupy Wall Street.   Dozens of New York homeless people recruited from shelters are also being paid to support the protests, at the rate of $10 an hour, the sources said."

2011-10-26
Gina Kolata _NYTimes_
homeostasis hormones counter weight-loss efforts
"The study, being published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine... Nonetheless, said Dr. Rudolph Leibel, an obesity researcher at Columbia, while it is no surprise that hormone levels changed shortly after the participants lost weight, 'what is impressive is that these changes don't go away'...   At the start of the study, his team measured the participants' hormone levels and assessed their hunger and appetites after they ate a boiled egg, toast, margarine, orange juice and crackers for breakfast.   The dieters then spent 10 weeks on a very low calorie regimen of 500 to 550 calories a day intended to makes them lose 10% of their body weight.   In fact, their weight loss averaged 14%, or 29 pounds.   As expected, their hormone levels changed in a way that increased their appetites, and indeed they were hungrier than when they started the study.   They were then given diets intended to maintain their weight loss.   A year after the subjects had lost the weight, the researchers repeated their measurements.   The subjects were gaining the weight back despite the maintenance diet -- on average, gaining back half of what they had lost -- and the hormone levels offered a possible explanation.   One hormone, leptin, which tells the brain how much body fat is present, fell by two-thirds immediately after the subjects lost weight.   When leptin falls, appetite increases and metabolism slows.   A year after the weight loss diet, leptin levels were still [about 67% of what] they were at the start of the study, and leptin levels increased as subjects regained their weight.   Other hormones that stimulate hunger, in particular ghrelin, whose levels increased, and peptide YY, whose levels decreased, were also changed a year later in a way that made the subjects' appetites stronger than at the start of the study...   it is no accident that more than 90% of people who lose a lot of weight gain it back.   'You are putting your body into a circumstance it will resist.'"

2011-10-26
Anna Mentsova _Chronicle of Higher Education_
Insane MIT executives to help develope new graduate research university near Moscow, Russia

2011-10-26
Rich Danker _Forbes_
Creating a real gold standard

2011-10-26
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Federal Reserve's Keynesian blinders and blunders
Robert P. Murphy: Ludwig von Mises Institute: Fed policy and asset prices

2011-10-26
William L. Anderson
Regulations: their authors' and advocates' visions versus reality

2011-10-26
Mark J. Perry
natural gas may be cleaner than coal

2011-10-26
Mark J. Perry
natural gas may bring 35K jobs to Louisiana in chemical manufacturing

2011-10-26
Mark J. Perry
Simple Wave CaliBowls moving back to USA

2011-10-26
Mark J. Perry
Quiz about oil industry

2011-10-26
Mark J. Perry
Marcellus shale has been good for PA labor market and economy

2011-10-26
Robert Moore _Cenantua_
Romney VA 150 years ago today: the first in a series of "blood clashes"

2011-10-26 (5772 Tishrei 28)
Kristen Chick _Jewish World Review_
Egypt's military is trying to duck responsibility for anti-Christian violence

2011-10-26 (5772 Tishrei 28)
Roy Gutman _Jewish World Review_
As USA-Iraq troop talks faltered, Obummer wasn't answering the phone

2011-10-26 (5772 Tishrei 28)
Dan Browning & Jim Spencer _Jewish World Review_
How "Made in the USA" parts turned up in 16 terrorist bombs in Iraq
"A Minnesota manufacturer was allegedly duped into supplying radio devices to Singapore that later turned up in roadside bombs in Iraq, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday in Washington, DC.   Four Singaporeans and one Iranian were indicted along with four of their companies as part of a conspiracy that allegedly involved the illegal shipment of some 6K radio-frequency modules from the United States to Iran.   At least 16 of the modules were later found in unexploded improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Iraq, according to the indictment."

2011-10-26 (5772 Tishrei 28)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
profits ARE for people: the absence of profit motivation is often the true villain
"First, let's get both the definition and magnitude of profits out of the way.   Profits represent the residual claim earned by entrepreneurs.   They're what are left after other production costs -- such as wages, rent and interest -- have been paid.   Profits are the payment for risk taking, innovation and decision-making.   As such, they are a cost of business just as are wages, rent and interest.   If those payments are not made, labor, land and capital will not offer their services.   Similarly, if profit is not paid, entrepreneurs won't offer theirs.   Historically, corporate profits range between 5 and 8 cents of each dollar, and wages range between 50 and 60 cents of each dollar.   Far more important than simple statistics about the magnitude of profits is the role played by profits, namely that of forcing producers to cater to the wants and desires of the common man.   When's the last time we've heard widespread complaints about our clothing stores, super-markets, computer stores or appliance stores? [every day...jgo]   We are far likelier to hear people complaining about services they receive from the post office, motor vehicle and police departments, boards of education and other government agencies.   The fundamental difference between the areas of general satisfaction and dissatisfaction is the pursuit of profits is present in one and not the other.   The pursuit of profits forces producers to be attentive to the will of their customers, simply because the customer of, say, a super-market can fire it on the spot by taking his business elsewhere.   If a state motor vehicle department or post office provides unsatisfactory services, it's not so easy for dissatisfied customers to take action against it.   If a private business had as many dissatisfied customers as our government schools have, it would have long ago been out of business.   Free market capitalism is unforgiving.   Producers please customers, in a cost-minimizing fashion, and make a profit, or they face losses or go bankrupt.   It's this market discipline that some businesses seek to avoid.   That's why they descend upon Washington calling for crony [leftism] -- government bail-outs, subsidies and special privileges.   They wish to reduce the power of consumers and stock-holders, who hold little sympathy for blunders and will give them the ax on a moment's notice."
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-27

2011-10-27
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring News-Letter_
a more productive proposal
V Dare
 
In recent years there have been various proposals to grant automatic green cards to foreign STEM graduates of U.S. universities, a notion generally sold with under the banner "We shouldn't educate them and then send them home to compete with us."   I've strongly opposed these proposals, for reasons I'll review later, and will also explain why the "send them home" argument is a red herring, but my main focus here will be to present my own counterproposal.
 
There is apparently a feeling in DC that some kind of auto-green bill will soon pass.   For brevity, let's call it the Don't Send Them Home Act of 2011 (DSTHA2011) [a.k.a. HR3146: green cards for cheap, pliant foreign STEM students with flexible ethics Act].   I'll comment on how likely DSTHA2011 is to pass, based on my very limited information, and then, more importantly, introduce a proposal of my own.
 
The October 22 issue of the Wall Street Journal carried an article titled, "Visas Could Aid Graduates".   Here are some excerpts:
 
Momentum is building in Congress toward offering expedited green cards to people with advanced scientific degrees, addressing complaints from companies that say the U.S. is training highly skilled workers only to lose them to other countries.
 
Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX), chairman of the House immigration sub-committee, said he plans to introduce legislation providing up to 10K visas a year to foreign students graduating from U.S. universities with doctorates in engineering, information technology and the natural sciences.
 
Many Democrats, including president Barack Obama, support increasing the number of visas for workers with advanced training in those fields.   But efforts to address the issue have stalled amid a larger dispute between the 2 parties over whether to provide a path to citizenship for people already in the country illegally, which Democrats favor...
 
In an interview, Mr. Smith said students who would get visas under his bill "really are going to contribute a great deal to our country and to the economy, as well".
 
He said he would limit eligibility to those with doctorates from U.S. research universities, though others think the visas should be available to those with masters' degrees, too...
 
In another signal of momentum, another Republican, representative Raul Labrador of Idaho, introduced a similar bill this month.   His bill took sections from legislation offered in June by the top Democrat on the immigration subcommittee, representative Zoe Lofgren of California, who represents Silicon Valley [executives]...
 
Ms. Lofgren added provisions to win support from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, including one that would allow students who were in the country illegally during high school to qualify for foreign student visas if they are pursuing science or technology degrees...
 
So, will DSTHA2011 become a reality or not?   The above article talks of "momentum", yet the Lofgren comments seem to say that the current proposals may fall victim to the same political impasse that blocked previous proposals.   I remember 2 or 3 years ago one DC insider telling me, "This train is leaving the station.   Are you going to get on it or not?"
 
My contact turned out to be wrong about the "train", of course (partly out of bias, as he is a strong vocal supporter of auto-green).   And as mentioned, the same sticking points appear to be in effect now.
 
And yet, today a critic of foreign tech worker programs wondered aloud to me whether the activists on his side of the issue (I don't count myself as an activist, by the way) ought to endorse the Smith bill.   The reasoning was that Smith would restrict DSTHA2011 to PhDs only, not Master's degree holders.   Since there aren't that many PhDs produced each year in STEM [about 12.5K US citizens and 11K foreign, according to US Dept. of Education figures], the impact would be minimal.
 
I replied that such an endorsement would undermine the activists' longstanding assertions, sending the message that the industry's "Johnnie can't do math" claims are valid after all.   And if that is the case, the industry would say, why limit the bill to doctorates?
 
But more to the point, the industry would never agree to limiting to the measure to PhDs anyway.   The reason is that even though the industry has usually highlighted the doctoral level in its PR -- "60% of U.S. STEM doctorates go to foreign students, so we need H-1Bs!" -- the fact is that they are actually interested in the Master's level [about 46.7K US citizen and 28K foreign]; PhD is overkill for them in the vast majority of cases.
 
I've mentioned Intel before, for instance.   I've quoted 2 Intel recruiters by name who told me "Intel isn't very interested in PhDs" when I said I knew a new PhD in EE who was looking for work.   I've also mentioned that an Intel official (who shall go nameless here even though he did not ask for anonymity) told me in 2006 the starting salaries for new PhDs were mainly in the $95K-110K range; comparing that to the PERM (green card sponsorship) data for Intel showed that Intel does not in fact hire many foreign doctorates.
 
So the industry won't settle for a bill limited to doctorates.   They'll trot out a plethora of poster children "innovators" who lack doctorates.   In 1996, then-senator Alan Simpson told the San Jose CA Mercury News what he was dealing with concerning tech worker visa reform:
 
I was working with the business community...to address their concerns, [but] each time we resolved one, they became more creative, more novel.   [The lobbyists] distorted everything we were up to, everything.
 
Expect the same here.
 
Well, then, what kind of bill WOULD make sense?   Let's look at the industry's own stated goals with DSTHA2011:
 
1.   They want more STEM degree holders at the graduate level.
 
2.   They want more innovators.
 
Goal 1, if the industry were sincere, would actually be quite easy to achieve.   As the testimony of Texas Instruments at Smith's recent hearing revealed, there is no shortage of STEM students at the bachelor's level.   The solution is then simple: Give the students incentives to continue their education at the graduate level.   As I explained in my posting at the above URL, TI by its own admission does basically nothing along these lines.   I discussed this in 2006 with the Intel executive mentioned above, and he said he was working on it, but today, 5 years later, still NOTHING has been done, to my knowledge.   To be blunt, I simply don't regard the industry's claims regarding Goal 1 to be sincere.
 
But what about Goal 2?   Aside from the implication that Americans don't innovate -- which is nothing less than a gross rewriting of tech history -- the goal itself is fine.
 
So, instead of a blanket awarding of green cards to achieve Goal 1, if any immigration-expansionary legislation is warranted at all (which I dispute), it should focus on Goal 2.
 
Existing green card law includes provisions for fast tracking the "best and brightest".   But such provisions could be expanded, with broader definitions of that term.
 
How could that term be codified? Here is my proposal: A simple, clean and reasonably tight definition would be based on salary.   Deem any new foreign STEM grad degree holder as "best and brightest" if the employer's offered salary is in the top 5% of all new grads in that student's field and degree level.   One might account for economic sector as well.
 
This idea is similar to the proposal made by some that H-1B work visas (as opposed to green cards) should essentially be auctioned to highest bidder, in the sense that employers offering the highest salaries would have priority in the awarding of visas.   This market-based approach is eminently reasonable, and should (assuming sincerity on the players' part, a debatable question) appeal to the free-marketeers who take industry's side in Congress.   In principle, the higher salaries should (at least roughly) correspond to higher levels of talent and greater potential for contributing to the economy.
 
Well, the same principle could be applied to a bill addressed at Goal 2, and I so propose.   (I've made market-based proposals for H-1B in the past too; see my 2003 University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform article (pdf).
 
So would my proposal send the non-best/brightest home, "to compete with us"?   Well, we shouldn't care much if they're not top talents, but in any case, such people could still go through the ordinary H-1B and green card systems.   And the "compete with us" sound bite is a red herring to begin with; research by UCB's AnnaLee Saxenian has shown that most immigrant engineers actively help the industry back home, through providing consulting, technical and funding -- in spite of having green cards and in many cases U.S. citizenship.   Indeed that situation is actually worse than people going back home after graduation, as the immigrants have more expertise to contribute, having worked in cutting-edge U.S. firms [and developed contacts].
 
My proposed legislation would also impose some conditions.   Here are some that come to mind for now:
 
1.   Bills to expand the H-1B and EB-series green card programs always include a feel-good employer user fee, aimed in getting more minority students into STEM.   I'd like more minorities in STEM too, but in view of Goal 1, the fee really ought to be used to fund graduate fellowships, with stipends generous enough to get American STEM bachelor's degree recipients to continue on the graduate level.
 
2.   Visas for foreign post-docs should be limited to 2 years.   That's long enough for the "best and brightest" to establish their research credentials and be hired into permanent jobs.   As it is now, the post-doc system is an absolute disgrace, creating enormous disincentives against Americans' pursuing doctorates in the lab sciences.   A large part of the problem is due to the huge numbers of foreign post-docs, whose presence keeps the researchers poor and with uncertain futures.   We should keep the best and the brightest foreigners, which my provision would accomplish, but not continue the current outrage.
 
3.   Make it illegal for an employer to reject a job applicant merely on the grounds that he/she is over-qualified.   As I've emphasized so much, the foreign worker programs are at their core designed as a mechanism for age discrimination against Americans.   This provision could probably be circumvented by employers to some degree, but it would be of some help.
 
As I mentioned in my report at the above URL, the folly of having a broad blanket granting of green cards is illustrated perfectly by an example given by, ironically, one of the foremost advocates of auto-green: Vivek Wadhwa.   He cites one Girija Subramaniam, who was hired by TI after she earned a Master's in electrical engineering at the University of Virginia in 1998.   So, did TI hire Subramaniam for innovation, for R&D?   No!   They hired her as a test engineer, the most boring, mundane, mindless, NON-innovative job an engineer can be assigned to.   The idea that TI is afraid that Ms. Subramaniam will return to India and "compete with us" there -- as a test engineer! -- is patently absurd.
 
Again, the only legislation we really need on foreign worker programs is to tighten them, not expand them.   But if Congress feels that they must do something to placate the industry, then as someone who has always strongly supported bringing in the world's best and brightest, I offer my own Goal 2-oriented proposal, outlined above.   Any takers?
 
Norm
---30---

2011-10-27 05:30PDT (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT) (15:30 Jerusalem)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
DoL home page
DoL OPA press releases
historical data
DoL regulations
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 374,231 in the week ending October 22, an increase of 17,007 from the previous week.   There were 408,489 initial claims in the comparable week in 2010.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5% during the week ending October 15, unchanged from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,149,676, an increase of 14,906 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 3.0% and the volume was 3,769,438.   The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending October 8 was 6,681,507, a decrease of 14,634 from the previous week.   Extended benefits were available in AL, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, WA, WV, and WI during the week ending October 8.   States reported 2,921,937 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending October 8, a decrease of 45,117 from the prior week.   There were 3,779,795 claimants in the comparable week in 2010.   EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.   [Note that the population used for calculating the "insured unemployment rate" (the divisor) changes
to 132,623,886 beginning 2007-10-06;
to 133,010,953 beginning 2008-01-05;
to 133,382,559 beginning 2008-04-05;
to 133,690,617 beginning 2008-07-05;
to 133,902,387 beginning 2008-10-04;
to 133,886,830 beginning 2009-01-03;
to 133,683,433 beginning 2009-04-04;
to 133,078,480 beginning 2009-07-04;
to 133,823,421 beginning 2009-10-03;
to 131,823,421 beginning 2009-10-17;
to 130,128,328 beginning 2010-01-02;
to 128,298,468 beginning 2010-04-03;
to 126,763,245 beginning 2010-07-03;
to 125,845,577 beginning 2010-09-25;
to 125,560,066 beginning 2011-01-15;
to 125,572,661 beginning 2011-04-02;
to 125,807,389 beginning 2011-07-02;
to 126,188,733 beginning 2011-10-01.]
EUC (Excel)
EB
graphs
more graphs

2011-10-27
Denise Dick _Youngstown OH Vindicator_
YSU students, profs, develop and test armor
"Tim Wagner, YSU chemistry professor, along with engineers from Fireline TCON Inc. are developing materials.   Mechanical-engineering technology students test these materials in the university's 3D ballistics-testing lab in the basement of Moser Hall...   Students use the program's closed-range ballistic testing for the research trials.   Students designed the ballistic tester for the research.   A computer system records and processes test data.   The enclosed system is equipped with lighting and 2 high-speed color cameras that can capture up to 150K frames per second.   Students place a material sample into the tester, then use the firing system to shoot a rifle cartridge with an M-80 projectile down a tube, past two chronographs that record the speed.   The cameras record the impact of the projectile on the material sample, and students analyze the video to see how it performed."

2011-10-27
John W. Goodwin ii _Youngstown OH Vindicator_
Code-nazis rampage through south side

2011-10-27
_KGO San Francisco CA_
Advocates of border security have started a petition drive against NIGHTMARE act

2011-10-27 11:46:45PDT (14:46:45EDT) (18:46:45GMT) (21:46:45 Jerusalem)
Mike Cassidy _San Jose CA Mercury News_
A man's IMSAI 8080 provides a vision of the past
"Mike suffers from a mitochondrial disorder, a progressive neurological disease that took Mike's vision 15 years ago, followed by his hearing.   The condition causes Mike to shake, so he keeps his hands clasped to control the tremors as he sits on the couch.   Mike had a fascinating career path -- an electrical engineer, he worked at the Byte Shop and then at Amdahl, one of the valley's pioneering computer companies.   He studied medicine for a while and then went to Santa Clara University law school and became a lawyer.   He practiced for about 13 years before the blindness made it too difficult.   And through it all, he noodled.   Early on he'd keep track of names and addresses on the 8080.   He wrote a billing program on it and a program to help predict horse races.   Mixed results there.   Eventually, he upgraded, adding a 300-baud modem and a monitor.   But Mike's memories are not focused on what the machine could do for him.   Instead, they're focused on what the machine meant to him.   He bought the 8080 at the dawn of the personal computer age, a time of hobbyists and the Homebrew Computer Club, a time when he could see that technology was about to change everything."

2011-10-27
Reid Smith _American Spectator_
Sharia 101
"Sharia or the 'divine law of Islam' is mostly derived from these two sources: The Quran (a.k.a. the Qu'ran, or the Qur'an, or the Koran, or the Korawn, etc., et al.); The Sunna (in layman's terms, the teachings of the Prophet...) AND...to a lesser extent, sharia also owes interpretive echoes to: Ijma' (consensus of Muslims...the understanding of "consensus" is incredibly controversial); Qiyas (Reasoning based on Analogy...vast differences between Sunni and Shi'a deduction).   Ijtihad (literally, a personal striving to deduce divine law...an individual's interpretation of problems not covered in the Quran) Can I buy a copy of Sharia Law at my local book-store?   Nope.   There's a library of interpretation out there, so you can read the scholarly stuff, but there is no definitive, codified or monolithic conception of sharia...   there are 5 major schools of sharia law...   Its range of interpretation can track from the sublime to the scary..."

2011-10-27
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring News-Letter_
"American Programmers Are Superior"
 
BEFORE WE GO ANY FURTHER, I want to make the disclaimer that:
 
(a) my Subject title of this message is written tongue-in-cheek, an allusion to the "Chinese Mothers Are Superior" title that the Wall Street Journal gave to Yale professor Amy Chua's famous op-ed (much to Chua's chagrin), and
 
(b) the study I will report on below, from eWeek Technology News, is of dubious validity and relevance.
 
Yet all kinds of studies of dubious validity and relevance enter the H-1B/ off-shoring/ "the U.S.A. is falling behind China"/ "innovation will save us!" public discussion on a daily basis, and are treated as Nobel-quality research by Congress and the press.   And this is indeed a real study of real programmers.   So, it is definitely worth reporting.
 
The title of the [linked] article neatly summarizes the piece: "U.S. Tops China in Programming, but Lags in Math, Logic"
 
The following summarizes my response:
 
  1. In software development, math is irrelevant.   Programming ability is what counts.
 
  2. The study's data collection technique undoubtedly leads to a biased sample.
 
Here are the details:
 
Make no mistake about it -- I love math.   My bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees were all in math, and I started my academic career as a math professor.   I think wistfully of those days when I used to teach things like linear algebra and group theory.
 
But math is not used in software development.   Yes, there are exceptions, such as the algorithms used in Google search, but they are just that, exceptions.   The vast majority of the code written at Google is not mathematical.
 
Indeed, the programming jobs at Gild, the company that conducted this study, don't involve math either.   See their job listing for an example of how NON-mathematical their requirements are.   You can check software developer listings at Google, FB, Amazon, you name it -- no math requirement.
 
It is true that programmers, and in their younger selves, computer science students, are as a group weak at math.   I've never figured out for sure whether they CAN'T do math or just WON'T do math.   I think it's the latter, and I suspect that paying $100 per point scored on their math exams would work wonders.   To me, as someone who loves math, it's painful to see their poor performance.   But it's IRRELEVANT, folks.
 
Sure, someone out there is going to say, "Math teaches you how to think, how to deal with abstraction, blah blah, so it helps one's programming ability."   Great theory, but I haven't seen is borne out at all, in 3 decades of teaching programming and leading programming projects in industry.
 
Before I leave the math part of this posting, let me repeat the well-known point that the math "skill" developed keenly in engineering students in China consists mainly of memorizing algebraic manipulations and the like.   That's not real math.   Math and physics students from China tend to have a tough time when they start graduate school in the U.S.A.   The [Red Chinese] government itself is acutely aware of this, and is hoping to change their education system so as to develop insight and intuition, which is what math is really about.
 
Now, what about the study's finding that the Americans have better programming skills than the Chinese?  OT1H, I'm sure it's true.   Programming is by definition a creative activity, and the Chinese system, as discussed widely (including, once again by the [Red Chinese] government, which hopes to change its system accordingly) does not foster creativity.   I certainly have observed that in my own students from China.
 
But on the other hand, the participants in this study are a self-selected lot, one that is likely unrepresentative in many ways.
 
Interesting study, but not really very relevant.
 
Norm
Darryl K. Taft: Application Development News: U.S.A. Tops China in Programming, but Lags in Math, Logic

2011-10-27
Mike Denison _Billings MT Gazette_
Rep Rehberg favors border security, Dem Tester opposes

2011-10-27 13:34PDT (16:34EDT) (20:34GMT) (23:34 Jerusalem)
Robert Powell _MarketWatch_
Financial savvy drops quickly with age while confidence increases
"The scores on a test measuring knowledge of investments, insurance, credit and money basics fell about 2% each year starting after age 60, falling from about 59% correct -- hardly a passing grade -- for those in their 60s to a dismal 30% for those 80 and older, according to Michael Finke, an associate professor at Texas Tech University and a co-author of the study...   Our confidence in our financial decision-making abilities rises with age."

2011-10-27
Michael Cutler _One Old Vet_
the immigration balloon
Californians for Population Stabilization

2011-10-27
William L. Anderson
Icelandic air-head economics

2011-10-27
Mark J. Perry
inflation-adjusted GDP reaches late-2007 level (with graph)

2011-10-27
Mark J. Perry
Government-employee over-time in CA contributed to $19G deficit

2011-10-27 (5772 Tishrei 29)
Yemisrach Kifle _Jewish World Review_
Buying control

2011-10-27 (5772 Tishrei 29)
Diane Dimond _Jewish World Review_
Do prisoners deserve free medical treatment?
"The Ohio prison system has about 51K prisoners, and it spends nearly $223M a year for their medical care.   About $28M of the Ohio total is spent on inmates' prescriptions.   In Oregon, the latest annual figures show that it took $100M to take care of some 14K prisoners.   That's 7 times [what] the state spends on education.   Texas, like every other state, has seen a spike in the number of elderly inmates who often require even more expensive medical treatments.   That phenomenon -- on top of Texas' regular medical care costs for prisoners -- caused expenses to balloon to a staggering $545M dollars last fiscal year.   This, at a time when other crucial state programs are facing mandatory budget cuts...   In California, a state drowning in red ink, the prison system recently identified 21 inmates whose annual health care bill is just under $2M -- each.   There are another 1,300 guests of the California penal system who require medical attention amounting to $100K apiece."

2011-10-27 (5772 Tishrei 29)
Clifford D. May _Jewish World Review_
Autocrats united
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-28 2011-10-27 21:15:22PDT (2011-10-28 00:15:22EDT) (2011-10-28 04:15:22GMT) (2011-10-28 07:15:22 Jerusalem)
Rasha Madkour _San Jose CA Mercury News_/_AP_
Tech-savvy US tikes take to mobile tech: the anointed are aghast
"About 40% of 2- to 4-year-olds (and 10% of kids younger than that) have used a smart-phone, tablet or video iPod, according to a new study by the nonprofit group Common Sense Media.   Roughly 1 in 5 parents surveyed said they give their children these devices to keep them occupied while running errands.   There are thousands of apps targeted specifically to babies and toddlers -- interactive games that name body parts, for example, or sing nursery rhymes.   It has become commonplace to see little ones flicking through photos on their parents' phones during church or playing games on a tablet during a bus, train or plane ride.   Parents of new-borns rave about an app that plays white noise, a womb-like whoosh that lulls screaming babies to sleep...   It's a different story when the youngsters, ages 2 through 7, are out with their grand-mother [who] brings along books, sometimes ones with only pictures, and asks the kids what they think is going on and what they would do in a similar situation."

2011-10-28 08:48PDT (11:48EDT) (15:48GMT) (18:48 Jerusalem)
Ruth Mantell _MarketWatch_
UMich consumer sentiment index changed from 59.4 in September to 57.5 in early October to 60.9 in late October

2011-10-28 12:39PDT (15:39EDT) (19:39GMT) (22:39 Jerusalem)
Kate Gibson _MarketWatch_
conservative crowd in NY likes Ron Paul's sound money stand
"Intercollegiate Studies Institute dinner... 'Banks ought not to be wards of the state.', said Grant, who echoed Paul in calling for a return to the gold standard, the system ended by president Richard Nixon in 1971 whereby the U.S. currency would be convertible into a certain weight unit of bullion."

2011-10-28
Karl Henkel _Youngstown OH Vindicator_
GM Lordstown workers get $9K in profit-sharing

2011-10-28
Jeanne Starmack _Youngstown OH Vindicator_
Ecumenical council rewards high academic achievers with new bicycles

2011-10-28
Mark J. Perry
income inequality among Texas Rangers players? So, what's the problem?

2011-10-28
Mark J. Perry
income mobility trumps inequality (with table)

2011-10-28
Bob McTeer _National Center for Policy Analysis_
Looking for counter-factuals: the seen versus the unseen

2011-10-28 (5772 Tishrei 30)
Caroline B. Glick _Jewish World Review_
Whither the Israeli Defense Forces?
"It was a normal Sabbath afternoon in Jerusalem's Ramot neighborhood.   Children were outside visiting with their friends and playing in the empty streets.   But the tranquility of the scene was destroyed in a moment when a Palestinian terrorist crept up on 17-year-old Yehuda Ne'emad and his friend and began stabbing Ne'emad in the abdomen and shoulder.   Ne'emad's neighbor, a 12 year old girl told reporters that there but by the grace of God both she and her 6 year old little brother would have also been attacked.   After stabbing Ne'emad, the Palestinian terrorist began chasing the two children.   'It was only due to God's help that I was able to escape.', she said.   'I am sure that I couldn't have escaped alone because he was much faster than me.'   The IDF, which failed to prevent the attack, played no role in saving their lives.   One week later, the terrorist was still at large."

2011-10-28 (5772 Tishrei 30)
Mona Charen _Jewish World Review_
Are reduced marriage rates due to economy or acceptance of promiscuity?
"According to the Pew Research Center, 44% of Millennials and 43% of Gen Xers think marriage is becoming obsolete.   As of 2010, women held 51.4% of all managerial and professional positions, compared with 26% in 1980.   Women account for the lion's share of bachelors and masters degrees, and make up a majority of the work force.   Three quarters of the jobs lost during the recession were lost by men.   'One recent study found a 40% increase in the number of men who are shorter than their wives.'   Fully 50% of the adult population is single, compared with 33% in 1950...   On college campuses, women outnumber men by 57% to 43%."

2011-10-28 (5772 Tishrei 30)
Kristen Chick _Jewish World Review_
Egypt saves face in swap of alleged Israel spy Ilan Grapel
"The US and Israel have denied the espionage charges against Ilan Grapel, who was arrested in June.   By most accounts, Mr. Grapel is a law student at Georgia's Emory University who came to Egypt to volunteer with a refugee resettlement group for the summer."
 
Proposed Bills 2011

2011-10-28

DJIA	12,231.11
S&P 500(SPX)	1,285.08
NASDAQ(COMP)	2,737.15
Nikkei	9,050.47
10-year US T-Bond(UST10Y)	2.31%
crude oil(CL1X)	$93.32/barrel
natgas(NG11X)	$3.92/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline(RB1X)	$2.68/gal
heatingoil(HO1X)	$3.06/gal
gold(GC1Z)	$1,747.20/ounce
silver(SI1Z)	$35.29/ounce
platinum(PL2F)	$1,651.80/ounce
palladium(PA1Z)	$668.35/ounce
copper(HG1Z)	$0.231875/ounce
soybeans	$12.26/bushel
maize	$6.55/bushel
wheat	$6.445/bushel
dollarindex (DXY)	75.09
yenperdollar (USDYEN)	76.0
dollarspereuro (EURUSD)	$1.416
dollarsperpound (GBPUSD)	$1.6132
swissfrancsperdollar (USDCHF)	0.8634
indianrupeesperdollar (USDINR)	48.625
mexicanpesosperdollar (USDMXN)	13.0
MorganStanleyHighTechIndex	653.6

I usually get this info from MarketWatch.
 
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-29

2011-10-28 20:20PDT (2011-10-28 23:20EDT) (2011-10-29 03:20GMT) (2011-10-29 06:20 Jerusalem)
Gene Johnson _Seattle Times_
Obummer Border Patrol has quietly stopped checking transportation near borders for illegal aliens
Tom Banse: KUOW
"The order has not been publicized, but 2 Border Patrol agents described it on condition of anonymity.   The union that represents Border Patrol agents planned to issue a news release about the change Monday.   Other agents said field offices began receiving the order last month -- soon after the Obama administration announced it would allow many illegal immigrants to remain in the country while it focuses on deportations of criminals...   The number of Border Patrol arrests nationwide has been falling -- from nearly 1.2M in 2005 to 463K in 2010, and 97% of those were along the southern border, according to the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Immigration Statistics.   The Border Patrol made 7,431 arrests near the northern border last fiscal year, but it was not immediately clear how many stemmed from routine transportation checks.   Of 673 arrests in the Blaine sector, roughly 200 were from such checks, according to a Washington-state-based agent who has been with the Border Patrol for more than 20 years.   Gene Davis, a retired deputy chief in the Blaine sector, noted that a check of the Bellingham bus station in 1997 yielded an arrest of Palestinian Gazi Ibrahim Abu Mezer.   He skipped out on a $5K bond -- only to turn up in Brooklyn, where New York police shot him as he prepared to bomb the city's subway system.   Davis also noted that would-be millennium bomb suspect Ahmed Ressam was arrested in Port Angeles in late 1999 when he drove off a ferry from British Columbia in a rented car full of explosives."

2011-10-29
Edwin S. Rubenstein _V Dare_
Why more immigrant science, technology, engineering, math graduates when so many American STEM grads are unemployed?
"if the employer wants to pay them more than Americans, it would be because they're good engineers.   However, if the employer, as now, wants to pay them less than Americans, then they're cheap labor.   Our humble question: why do we need more unemployed? Historically unemployment rates among science and engineering graduates have been lower than those of other college-educated workers, and considerably below workers with less than a BA.   Census Bureau population surveys for the 1983 to 2008 period indicate, for example, that unemployment in Science and Engineering (S&E) occupations ranged from 1.3% to 4.0%, while rates for all workers with a BA or higher ranged from 1.8% to 7.8%, and unemployment for all workers ranged from 4.0% to 9.6%.   Enter the Great Recession.   Initially the long-term trends held: in 2008 college educated S&E workers had lower unemployment rates (2.1%) than all college graduates (2.8%).   In the 3 month period ending in 2009 September -- the latest data available -- unemployment among science and engineering workers rose to 5.5%.   That's slightly above the rate for all college graduates (5.4%).   Unemployment among electrical engineers (EE) and computer scientists (CS) was even higher in the second quarter of 2009: 8.6% for EEs, and 5.7% for CSs.   Overall unemployment in 2009: 9.3%.   The American Chemical Society reports that almost 4% of its members were unemployed in early 2011.   That's less than half the national rate (9.5%), but it's the highest unemployment among ACS members in 20 years.   Even more troubling: the catastrophic joblessness among new graduates, currently about 15% for BS grads and 9% for new PhDs in chemistry."

Science and Engineering PhDs: Unemployment and Involuntary out-of-Field employment rates, 2006
Selected Field	Unemployment	IOOF (a)	Total Displacement (b)
Science	1.6%	3.5%	5.1%
Biological, agricultural and environmental sciences	1.6%	2.9%	4.5%
Computer and information sciences	1.1%	1.6%	2.7%
Mathematics and statistics	1.3%	4.6%	5.9%
Chemistry, except biochemistry	2.8%	4.6%	7.4%
Physics	2.5%	10.0%	12.5%
Psychology	1.1%	1.4%	2.5%
Social sciences	1.1%	3.6%	4.7%
Sociology	0.6%	3.6%	4.2%
Engineering	1.6%	3.7%	5.3%
Health	1.0%	0.7%	1.7%
a. IOOF - Involuntarily Out of Field. b. Percent of the field's labor force unemployed or involuntarily working out of field. Data source: National Science Foundation. Characteristics of Doctoral Scientists and Engineers in the United States: 2006 (Table 4.) (I believe these estimates seriously understate the severity of the situation in the form of numbers of STEM workers IOOF...jgo)

 

2011-10-29
Mark J. Perry
Higher education tuition & fees bubble

2011-10-29
Robert Moore _Cenantua_
The Shenandoah valley & the Monitor/Merrimac story... curious connections through blood and iron
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-30

2011-10-30 12:40PDT (15:40EDT) (19:40GMT) (22:40 Jerusalem)
_CNN_
Ali Velshi, Ron Hira, and Vivek Wadhwa debate flood of cheap, pliant labor with flexible ethics vs. higher quality US STEM workers

2011-10-30
David Rose _Daily Mail_
GA Tech co-author of BEST study challenges warmist claims
"Professor Judith Curry, who chairs the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at America's prestigious Georgia Institute of Technology, said that professor Muller's claim that he has proven global warming sceptics wrong was also a 'huge mistake', with no scientific basis.   Professor Curry is a distinguished climate researcher with more than 30 years experience and the second named co-author of the BEST project's 4 research papers...   In fact, professor Curry said, the project's research data show there has been no increase in world temperatures since the end of the Nineties -- a fact confirmed by a new analysis that the Mail on Sunday has obtained...   In fact, she added, in the wake of the unexpected global warming standstill, many climate scientists who had previously rejected sceptics' arguments were now taking them much more seriously.   They were finally addressing questions such as the influence of clouds, natural temperature cycles and solar radiation -- as they should have done, she said, a long time ago."

2011-10-30
"One Old Vet"
Big business executives about to launch another propaganda campaign dishonestly claiming "shortage" of H-1B visas
David North: Center for Immigration Studies
"10M.   That's about how many people with STEM training work in this country, but not in the STEM industries.   If a high-tech employer wants to hire a computer programmer, for example, he can do so from within this huge pool of workers, but he may have to pay that worker, presumably a citizen or a green card holder, a little more than he would have to pay an H-1B -- and employers are loath to do that.   Further, some of those workers are considered old (i.e., they are over 35).   So the employers about to shout 'shortage' can only do so by ignoring these 10M STEM workers.
2,118K.   That's how many unemployed residents of America, in June, all with college degrees, were looking for jobs.   Many have STEM credentials.   They too are being overlooked by employers complaining about H-1B shortages, a subject covered in a recent CIS Backgrounder of mine entitled 'Is There a Shortage of Skilled Foreign Workers?'
650K.   Suppose the employer is fussy, has ignored the 12M or so American workers noted above, and insists (illegally [or at the very least dishonestly and hence unethically]) he must have an H-1B; well there is no need to seek a new one within the numerical ceilings described below because there are probably 650K or so H-1Bs in the nation at any one time, and all can switch jobs, but the employer would have to compete with a wage higher than what the incumbent H-1B is already earning."

2011-10-30
Mark J. Perry
How tech break-throughs have changed petroleum markets

2011-10-30
Mark J. Perry
Fracking

2011-10-30
Mark J. Perry
Measures of statistical dispersion of income levels show slow increase in income inequality, nearly flat since 1994
more of the same

2011-10-30
William L. Anderson
Krugman howlers

2011-10-30
Robert Moore _Cenantua_
Unraveling the myths of Amerindians in the Shenandoah valley

2011-10-30
Robert Moore _Cenantua_
Shenandoah Valley African-Americans in the Civil War...a samplling

2011-10-30
Robert Moore _Cenantua_
Death poetry from the mid-19th century
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

2011-10-31

2011-10-30 17:09PDT (2011-10-30 20:09EDT) (2011-10-31 00:09GMT) (2011-10-31 03:09 Jerusalem)
"Violet Blue" _Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
Sili Valley's Race Problem

2011-10-30 18:11PDT (2011-10-30 21:11EDT) (2011-10-31 01:11GMT) (2011-10-31 04:11 Jerusalem)
Ken Hess _Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
Corporate power shifts to new feminocracy

2011-10-31
Katie Kuba _Cumberland PA Sentinel_
Roads remain closed, trees and electricity lines down in Cumberland county after snow-storm

2011-10-31
Dave Gibson _Examiner_
Illegal alien charged in multiple-stabbing murder

2011-10-31
Todd Statome _Examiner_
Obummer battling laws to curtail illegal immigration

2011-10-31 16:27PDT (19:27EDT) (23:27GMT) (2011-11-01 02:27 Jerusalem)
Matthew Barakat _WTVR_/_AP_
DUI illegal alien convicted of murder of nun

2011-10-31
_FAIR US_
Dept. of Homeland Security ordered reduction in border inspections

2011-10-31
Phyllis Schlafly
Candidates should be talking about threats to USA by Red China

2011-10-31
Mark J. Perry
Oil imports as percentage of US consumption 1973-2011

2011-10-31
Mark J. Perry
prices go up with increased scarcity

2011-10-31
William L. Anderson
Opportunity cost for thee, but not for me

2011-10-31
Robert Moore _Cenantua_
Revisiting a family ghost story, from the Civil War...

2011-10-31
Robert Moore _Cenantua_
Early Shenandoah Valley historian Samuel Kercheval (d: 1845) on witch-craft...

2011-10-31
Robert Moore _Cenantua_
... and also revisiting the family witch story

2011-10-31
Robert Moore _Cenantua_
The legend of "Wizard Clip" (Smithfield/Middleway), Jefferson county WV

2011-10-31 (5772 Mar-Cheshvan 03)
Sheera Frenkel _Jewish World Review_
Angst in suburban Jerusalem
"The 1,100 new homes announced for Gilo [at the city lines between Jerusalem and Bethlehem] may be the most recent controversial construction project, but it's not the largest; 2 months ago, Israeli officials announced that approximately 4K new homes would be built in other parts of east Jerusalem."

2011-10-31 (5772 Mar-Cheshvan 03)
Anna Mulrine _Jewish World Review_
Helping Those who don't want to be helped?: USA aims to teach Afghan fighters new livelihoods
 
Proposed Bills 2011
 
 

 
 

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Proposed Bills 2011

Congressional candidate fund-raising, expenditures, and debt
 

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

"Correct predictions result in understanding...   Incorrect predictions result in confusion and prompt you to pay attention." --- Jeff Hawkins & Sandra Blakeslee 2004 _On Intelligence_ pg89

Movies Coming Soon
 

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