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updated: 2019-10-27
 

"Creative people are especially good at ordering their lives so that what they do, when, & with whom will enable them to do their best work.   If what they want is spontaneity & disorder, then they make sure to have that, too." --- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi 1997 _Finding Flow_ pg 41 (citing M. Csikszentmihalyi 1996 _Creativity_; George Klein 1990 _Om Kreativitet och Flow_)

 
 

2009 July

U	M	T	W	R	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

 

"As we have seen earlier, human beings feel best in flow, when they are fully involved in meeting a challenge, solving a problem, discovering something new.   Most activities that produce flow also have clear goals, clear rules, immediate feed-back -- a set of external demands that focuses our attention & makes demands on our skills.   Now these are exactly the conditions that are most often lacking in free time...   People who view television more often than the average tend also to have worse jobs & worse relationships.   In a large-scale study in Germany, it was found that the more often people report reading books, the more flow experiences they claim to have, while the opposite trend was found for watching television.   The most flow was reported by individuals who read a lot & watched little TV, the least by those who read seldom & watched often." --- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi 1997 _Finding Flow_ pp 66 & 69 (citing E. Noelle-Neumann 1996 "Stationen der Gluecksforschung" in A. Bellebaum & L. Muth _Leseglueck: Eine vergessene Erfahrung?_)

 
 
 

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

2009-07-01

2009-07-01
Landon Cassman _Daily Illini_
Students face stiff penalties for preserving a shred of personal privacy

2009-07-01
Bruce Harrison _Daily Illini_
Despite excessive costs, backers move high-speed rail proposals forward

2009-07-01
Mike Shedlock _Global Economic Analysis_
Voluntary and Involuntary Credit Card "Attitude Adjustments"

2009-07-01
_Heritage Foundation_
Waxman-Markey Cap & Trade (HR2454) Is Treason Against the USA Economy
Donald J. Boudreaux: Business & Media Institute: Krugman's Treason

2009-07-01
_Heritage Foundation_
How Did Waxman-Markey Cap & Trade (HR2454) Pass in the US House? Pork Like This
Edward Felker: Washington Times: Kaptur gets $3.5G

2009-07-01
_Houston Chronicle_/_AP_
Former University of Tennessee professor John Reece Roth, Daniel Sherman, and Atmospheric Glow Technologies sentenced for passing military secrets to Iranian and Red Chinese students, and conveying additional secrets
PR News Wire/US DoJ
Michigan Live
Sun News
Bloomington IL Pantagraph
Military.com
Jamie Satterfield: Knoxville TN News
No Slaves

2009-07-01
Leslie Harris _Huffington Post_
Red China's "green dam" against political and religious speech indefinitely delayed

2009-07-01 08:11PDT (11:11EDT) (15:11GMT)
Andria Cheng _MarketWatch_
1800 employees of American Apparel may be illegal aliens
Fox
Los Angeles CA Times
Fashion Ireland Gossip
"A clothing company that prides itself on its made-in-America label is under investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Services [ICE] for hiring illegal workers...   American Apparel founder and Chief Executive Dov Charney told NPR in 2006 April that 75% of his workers are Mexican -- and the legal status of each and every one had been checked...   Charney has advocated for [illegal aliens] and has used the slogan, 'Legalize LA' on T-shirts, in billboard ads and on banners that hang on the company's building...   American Apparel has touted its 'sweat-shop-free' operation and says it pays some of the highest wages in the industry... &nbnsp; On his personal web site, Charney says that North America should have a common currency and 'that there should be a border-less environment'..."
Mark Roberti: RFID Journal: American Apparel RFID scam featured in video
"Zander Livingston, American Apparel's director of RFID, is delivering the key-note address at RFID in Fashion 2009..."

2009-07-01
_Topeka KS Capital-Journal_
3 charged with visa fraud
WIBW
"Charged are Mahesh Kumar Gangineni, 34, of Topeka, his wife, Komali Donavalli, 34, of Topeka, and Sankar Rao Chava, 41, of Littleton, CO."

2009-07-01 08:38PST (11:38EST) (16:38GMT)
Jeanna Bryner _Live Science_
People who are unsure of a belief are more close-minded; Everyone tends to avoid positions with which they disagree

2009-07-01
_Fox_
Government announces audits of suspected employers of illegal aliens

2009-07-01
_Economic Times of India_
Expatriate executives making way for local hires
"NEW DELHI: Expatriate executives who were the flavour of the season when India was riding high on a 9%-plus growth rate, are now becoming the first ones to get the pink slip as Indian industry, hit by the slowdown, starts looking within the country for inexpensive hires."

2009-07-01 12:12PDT (15:12EDT) (19:12GMT)
Byron Harris _WFAA_
Aircraft repair jobs sold to foreign workers, resumes not important
"News 8 found they're from Mexico, the Philippines and Chile, among other places.   They have been brought specifically to the United States to work for San Antonio Aerospace (SAA).   News 8 followed a special bus San Antonio Aerospace, used to pick up foreign workers every morning.   Workers riding on the bus were from the Philippines...   San Antonio Aerospace uses several contracting companies to supply it with workers.   It can be a high-profit business for the contractors.   They can make $3 to $12 an hour for every worker hired by SAA, contractors say...   One former SAA mechanic, who spent years learning his trade before being laid off, said foreign workers got their training on the job from the Americans they worked with...   Williams is suing her former boss, Daniel Harding, for unlawful termination and racial discrimination.   She has a computer full of company documents that were acquired accidentally when AWW got new computers for its office and gave her an old one.   Spreadsheets, resumes and pay-rolls revealed many company practices, from interviews, to trips to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City for visas, charts marked the progress of Mexican workers to the United States.   Documents also showed workers were charged $3,500 each by AWW to get into the United States.   Williams also has an e-mail trail from AWW president Harding to Moh Loong Loh, the President of San Antonio Aerospace.   He described one candidate as having '25% English skills'."

2009-07-01
Tom Jacobs _AlterNet_
Getting Laid-Off May Lead to Early Death -- But There Are Ways to Cushion the Severe Health Impact of Job Loss

2009-07-01
George Newman _Wall Street Journal_
Parsing Health Care Change Arguments (ObummerDoesn'tCare)

2009-07-01
Mike Maynard _Fox_
Plans for 74,393 lay-offs announced in June
George Chamberlin: San Diego Daily Transcript
Rush Limbaugh
Post Chronicle
Bakersfield Now
The monthly tally of 74,393 was lower than the 111,182 announced in May, the out-placement firm's data showed, and down from the 81,755 in 2008 June. The 6-month tally of 896,675 job cuts is the largest since Challenger Gray started tracking such announcements in 1989.

2009-07-01
Alan S. Brown _The Bent of Tau Beta Pi_
What Engineer Shortage? (pdf)

2009-07-01 11:54PDT (14:54EDT) (18:54GMT)
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
If tech workers can't challenge extension of OPT, who can?
"The tech worker is 'not going to have any interest if he doesn't get the job', quipped one judge.   The court, in an effort to get at the size of the issue, cited foreign student enrollment numbers outlined in the arguments used by DHS: there are 642K students on visas every year, and 70K are in the OPT program.   It's estimated that 12K of those students have so-called STEM degrees, in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.   There are 5.5M STEM workers in the U.S.A., according to figures cited in the case [which probably only count those currently employed in those fields and those unemployed and actively seeking work in those fields, but probably do not count those formerly employed in the field who have taken survival jobs in other fields]."

2009-07-01
George F. Smith _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
Auditing the Fed will Audit the State

2009-07-01
Howard S. Katz _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
How Much Money Inflation?
"This process of reclassifying bank demand deposits as time deposits is the fraudulent part of the new procedure."

2009-07-01
_Dice_
Dice Report: 48,993 job ads

2009-07-01 (5769 Tamuz 09)
R' Avi Shafran _Jewish World Review_
The Road Taken

2009-07-01 (5769 Tamuz 09)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
Why a Bill of Rights?

2009-07-01 (5769 Tamuz 09)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Equality on trial: Judge Sotomayor's "Qualifications"
Capitalism Magazine
Post Chronicle
 
 

2009-07-02

1921-07-02: Warren G. Harding signed joint resolution ending state of war with Germany, Austria and Hungary

2009-07-02
Diane Stafford _Kansas City Star_
Mixed messages in employment data

2009-07-02 05:30PDT (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
DoL home page
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 556,863 in the week ending June 27, a decrease of 11,689 from the previous week.   There were 368,544 initial claims in the comparable week in 2008.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.5% during the week ending June 20, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 6,058,925, a decrease of 54,348 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 2.1% and the volume was 2,855,557.   Extended benefits were available in AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KY, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NV, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, PR, RI, SC, TN, VT, VA, WA, and WI during the week ending June 13.   [Note: The seasonal adjustment factors have been changed by DoL going back to at least the beginning of 2009.]"
graphs
more graphs

2009-70-02
Dale Heberlig _Cumberland PA Sentinel_
Volvo begins expansion of construction equipment plant in Shippensburg, after laying off 269 so far this year

2009-07-02
Jan Falstad _Billings MT Gazette_
Sutton's closes
"An estimated 20 of the 90 Sutton's employees who were working June 17 when the company announced it would be closing have found other jobs."

2009-07-02
Rob Sanchez _Job Destruction News-Letter_ #2034
Business Week profile of Norm Matloff
V Dare
Moira Herbst: Business Week

2009-07-02
_Warwick Advertiser_/_Straus News_
Congressional candidate Greg Ball campaigns at 2 events in Town of Warwick for NY's 19th congressional district
"On Saturday, June 20, Ball began his day in Warwick with a farm forum that included Warwick Town Supervisor Michael Sweeton, Councilmen Leonard DeBuck and Floyd De Angelo along with several local farmers.   The panel discussed a range of 'Black Dirt' issues, including the failure of Congress to reform the H-1B visa program for non-immigrant workers and to implement country of origin labeling on produce."

2009-07-02
Alan Reynolds _Wall Street Journal_
Fuel Standards Are Kiling GM

2009-07-02
Joe Guzzardi _V Dare_
On Independence Day, the Struggle To Regain Our Class-Rooms Continues
"I asked a veteran California educator who worked with H-1B visa teachers to explain his experience to me.   He said: 'Now, it seems we have to train foreign-born teachers too.   We have to mentor them to make sure they understand our teaching system and know what they can and cannot do especially in the area of discipline.   They need to understand, for example, the importance of politically-correct lesson plans, an ethnically-sensitive class-room environment and a million related things like parent-teacher conferences.   These things are mostly unknown in the countries from which the new teachers come...   naturally our students suffer.   I feel sorry for them because they aren't bad people.   But they are way out of their league.'"

2009-07-02
Emma-Jane Kirby _BBC_
Illegal aliens pay coyotes to smuggle them into the UK via Calais, France

2009-07-02
Lesley Clark _Ft. Worth TX Star-Telegram_/_McClatchy_
US government increasingly cautions over impeachment in Honduras
Miami Herald

2009-07-02
Wilda Heard _Seattle Examiner_
H-1B Visas and Teachers, Scholarship Money Drying Up

2009-07-02
Mark Vargus _San Diego CA Examiner_
Economic dishonesty in health care debate - part 2

2009-07-02
Joseph V. Salvucci _Engineering News-Record_
Will stimulus create another boom and bust in engineering employment?
"Unfortunately, my 31 years experience says there will be a bust and it will be larger than necessary."

2009-07-02 (5769 Tamuz 10)
R' Abraham J. Twerski _Jewish World Review_
The hall-mark of a person

2009-07-02 05:13PDT (08:13EDT) (12:13GMT)
William L. Watts _MarketWatch_
European unemployment rate hit 10-year high of 9.5%

2009-07-02 09:27PDT (12:27EDT) (16:27GMT)
Greg Robb _MarketWatch_
Pay-rolls down a seasonally adjusted 467K, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate 9.5%
graphs

2009-07-02

DJIA	8,280.74
S&P 500	896.42
NASDAQ	1,796.52
Nikkei	9,816
10-year US T-Bond	3.50%
crude oil	$66.73/barrel
gold	$931.00/ounce
silver	$13.408/ounce
platinum	$1,193.30/ounce
palladium	$252.00/ounce
copper	$0.14409375/ounce
natgas	$3.62/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline	$1.8741/gal
heatingoil	$1.7303/gal
dollarindex	80.165
yenperdollar	95.91
dollarspereuro	1.4027
dollarsperpound	1.6334
swissfranksperdollar	1.0807
indianrupeesperdollar	48.10
mexicanpesosperdollar	13.11
MorganStanleyHighTechIndex	443.44

I usually get this info from MarketWatch.
 
 
 

2009-07-03

2009-07-03
_Billings MT Gazette_
Those still working getting paid less
"The falling wages come from furloughs, pay freezes and pay cuts imposed by employers across the country.   Many also have cut hours: The average work week in June fell to 33 hours, the lowest on records dating to 1964...   Illustrating how hard it is to land a job, 29% of the unemployed have been out of work 6 months or longer."

2009-07-03
Candidates for King County WA Executive
Dow Constantine
Susan Hutchison
Fred Jarrett
Stan Lippmann
Alan Lobdell
Larry Phillips

2009-07-03
Anita Crane _Spero News_
Helen Krieble pushing Red Card to speed border crossing by guest-workers

2009-07-03
_Momento24_
Honduran Attorney General ordered arrest of former president Manuel Zelaya: Judiciary to issue international arrest order through Interpol

2009-07-03
_Tech FAQ_
Know CLI: You may be a criminal says Boston College

2009-07-03
Kimberley A. Strassel _Wall Street Journal_
EPA tries to silence "climate change" skeptic

2009-07-03
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
A New 4th of July Declaration of Independence

2009-07-03
Ed Waters _Frederick county MD News-Post_
Unemployment Rates in Frederick county MD and Across the USA Are Worse
iStock Analyst
"The bureau said Maryland's jobless rate hit 7.2% in June, up from 4.1% on year earlier.   Local figures, always a month behind in data collection, showed Frederick County at 6.3% in May, up from 5.8% in April.   That equated to 116,391 Frederick County residents without jobs in May.   Last month, Frederick County Workforce Services was seeing more than 150 people a day seeking re-employment and retraining opportunities, director Laurie Holden said.   Holden said while jobs are available, competition is fierce and more people are staying on unemployment insurance longer, sometimes exhausting their claims.   Others have stopped looking for work or may not be eligible for unemployment insurance, Holden said.   These include the self-employed, returning homemakers and retirees, those recovering from disability and graduates.   The latter group, those coming out with a bachelor's degree, may well find themselves working in a job that doesn't require a degree, if they can find a job at all.   A study by the Center for Labor Market Studies, Northeastern University, found more than half of graduates were working in jobs that didn't require a degree.   That was down 54% from a similar study a year ago...   A survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers [NACE] showed businesses intend to hire 22% fewer graduates for entry-level positions this year."

2009-07-03
Toni Bowers _Tech Republic_/_Ziff Davis_/_CNET_/_CBS_
IT hiring and salaries are down

2009-07-03
_USCIS_
press release
"As of 2009 July 3, approximately 45K H-1B cap-subject petitions and approximately 20K petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption had been filed."

2009-07-03 (5769 Tamuz 11)
David Limbaugh _Jewish World Review_
None Dare Call It Marxism
Washington Times

2009-07-03 (5769 Tamuz 11)
Michelle Malkin _Jewish World Review_
Welcome to ObummerDoesn'tCare Theater

2009-07-03 (5769 Tamuz 11)
Rich Lowry _Jewish World Review_
Our founders, the realists

2009-07-03 (5769 Tamuz 11)
R' Yehonasan Gefen
Do Not Steal part 1
 
 

2009-07-04: Independence Day

2009-07-04
Declaration of Independence
Constitution for the United States of America

2009-07-04
_Tea Party Day_
Brevard FL Independence Day Tea Party
Tucson AZ Independence Day Tea Party
Tally of Independence Day Tea Parties Growing Rapidly
Tea Party Patriots
Ohio Liber-Tea Party
Atlanta Tea Party
Philadelphia Tea Party
Boston Tea Party Historical Society
National 9/12 Coalition
Boston Tea Party
Bringing the Spirit of 1773 Back to Boston
National Tea Party in DC
South Florida Tea Parties
Tea Party Fact-Sheet: Government Spending since 1900

2009-07-04 01:30:18PDT (04:30:18EDT) (08:30:18GMT)
Frank Weber _Eureka CA Times-Standard_
Job seekers under the gun
"I now live in a highly competitive world.   In my current circle of job-seeking acquaintances, I am a rival.   Once I entered retraining, this became even more obvious.   At the peak of my working career I felt an immunity to intimidation.   In retraining I find my future survival may be threatened by someone across the classroom who can type faster than I can."
 
 

2009-07-05

2009-07-05
Jennifer Waters _Akron OH Beacon Journal_/_MarketWatch_
Historic, quirky land-marks offer affordable vacation stops

2009-07-05
John Higgins _Akron OH Beacon Journal_
Akron to offer positions to veteran educators, who will leave in 2 years when stimulus funds run out

2009-07-05
Matthew Daneman _Rochester NY Democrat & Chronicle_
As executives strive for disposability job seekers long for stability
"For upstate New York, the major drivers of job growth in the future will be services, particularly health, due to the steadily aging population, said Matthew Freedman, assistant professor at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.   And people with cutting-edge technology skills always will be in demand, especially as the U.S. economy shifts from manufacturing to information technology and services, Freedman said."

2009-07-05
Michael Luo _NY Times_
Job ReTraining Still Falling Short of High Hopes
Gainesville FL Sun
Henderson NC Times-News/Blue Ridge Now
Gadsden AL Times
Ocala FL Business Journal
Sarasota FL Herald-Tribune
"In Michigan, where the unemployment rate in May was 14.1%, the nation's highest, 78K people are enrolled in the state's 'No Worker Left Behind' program and 7,800 are on the waiting list."   MH, a laid-off automotive engineer, took CAD/CAM/CAE training, finishing 2008 May.   Got automotive engineering work unrelated to the training.   Was laid off, again, 2008 October.   "He has since sent out as many as 15 resumes a day but has had no interviews."   With help from governor's office, got approval for additional training, an 18 month civil engineering course.
 

2009-07-06

2009-07-06
Kelly Wilson _Cumberland PA Sentinel_/_Lee_
Proposed state income extortion increase meets local resistance

2009-07-06
John Detrixhe & Megan Johnston _Bloomberg_
Corporate CFOs conspire at "Survival Skills" symposium
"Martin Feldstein, a member of the private panel that dates the start of recessions and recoveries, said the U.S. economy will grow for a few quarters and then contract again.   'We're going to see a temporary substantial improvement.', Feldstein, the former head of the National Bureau of Economic Research and a Reagan administration adviser who is now a professor of economics at Harvard University, said in a July 1 interview on Bloomberg Radio.   'I emphasize the words temporary and substantial.'"

2009-07-06
Steve Giegerich _St. Louis Post-Dispatch_
Questions about job retraining grow with unemployment

2009-07-06
Brad Tuttle _Time_
Job training programs are ineffective
"the 'stimulus' bill seems to be a lot less stimulating in the real world than it was when drawn up on paper...   Everyone loves the idea of helping laid-off workers get new skills for new careers, but it turns out that job training programs have been largely ineffectual in helping laid-off workers find jobs...   No matter what skills you have, and no matter how much you pump out resumes and network, you can't create a job—unless you figure out a way to start a business or otherwise be self-employed...   I imagine that many job training programs also teach skills that are outdated; things just move too quickly today."

2009-07-06 06:49PDT (09:49EDT) (13:49GMT)
Ashby Jones _Wall Street Journal_
Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification act (WARN)
"many employers are invoking exceptions in the law that allow them to dismiss workers with little or no notice...   Companies deemed 'faltering' don't have to give notice if they think an announcement would hurt their efforts to raise new capital."
Ianthe Jeanne Dugan: Wall Street Journal: Companies, Workers Tangle over WARN (with graph)

2009-07-06 09:25PDT (12:25EDT) (16:25GMT)
_Dallas Business Journal_
Sun Microsystems laid off 61 in Dallas
"In November, it announced it would dismiss up to 6K of its 33K employees as part of a push to save $800M annually."

2009-07-06
Patrick Peterson _Florida Today_/_Gannett_
An estimated 3,500 to 5K aerospace workers are expected to lose their jobs when the space shuttle program ends in 2010

2009-07-06
Jarrett Skorup _Mackinac Center_
Destruction of Detroit is the Triumph of Leftist Public Policy
"In 1950, Detroit was the wealthiest city in America on a per capita income basis.   Today, the Census Bureau reports that it is the nation's 2nd poorest major city, just 'edging out' Cleveland."

2009-07-06 (5769 Tamuz 14)
Mark Steyn _Jewish World Review_
Obama isn't cool. The globe is

2009-07-06 (5769 Tamuz 14)
Melanie Phillips _Jewish World Review_
Dershowitz doesn't get it

2009-07-06 (5769 Tamuz 14)
Rabbi Doctor Asher Meir _Jewish World Review_
Whistle blowing has exceptions
 
 

2009-07-07

2009-07-07
Rosie Powers _Daily Illini_
governor Quinn's commission continues hearings on influence in university admissions, Herman and Pless testify

2009-07-07
_Daily Illini_
University should follow local lead on wind turbines

2009-07-07
_Fox_
Harry Reid says it's too soon to consider more "stimulus": Obama wants more
Reuters: G8 summiteers want more "stimulus"

2009-07-07
Rob Sanchez _Job Destruction News-Letter_ #2036
25% job loss for Firmware Engineers and Real Firmware Engineers
1999 July: American Engineering Association: Never Was a Shortage, Always a Surplus

2009-07-07
Heidi Shierholz _Economic Policy Institute_
Nearly 6 unemployed and actively seeking work per job available (with graph)

2009-07-07 13:40PDT (16:40EDT) (20:40GMT)
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
Electrical engineers see job losses at record levels
Network World
IEEE-USA press release
George Leopold: EE Times/UBM
graphs

2009-07-07 (5769 Tamuz 15)
Caroline B. Glick _Jewish World Review_
Avoiding Obama's ambush

2009-07-07 (5769 Tamuz 15)
Kristin E. Holmes _Jewish World Review_
Mom weighs taking case to Supreme Court over religious reading at school

2009-07-07 (5769 Tamuz 15)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
A Tangled Web part 1
St. Augustine FL Record
The Citizen
 
 

2009-07-08

2009-07-08
Christopher S. Rugaber _Yahoo!_/_AP_
IMF expects slow recovery from global depression
Bloomberg
Wall Street Journal
Bloomberg
Daily Finance
Fox
Sydney Morning Herald

2009-07-08
Lolita C. Baldor _Yahoo!_/_AP_
White House, Pentagon, NYSE, FTC, Treasury, DoT among targets of sweeping cyber attack from Red China or North Korea
Korea Times: South Korean web sites hit
Korea Herald
Manchester Guardian
Washington Post
Voice of America
New American

2009-07-08
Charles Babington & Emma VanDore _Yahoo!_/_AP_
G8 summit participants planning for more of the same old failed "stimulus"
Christian Science Monitor
BBC
BBC: G8 agenda
DPA: Earth Times

2009-07-08
Dale Heberlig _Cumberland PA Sentinel_/_Lee_
Methane checks to be sent soon

2009-07-08
Dale Heberlig _Cumberland PA Sentinel_/_Lee_
APSCUF concerned over student-faculty ratio
"According to Kodish, spiraling enrollment at PASSHE schools has grown by 17% since 2000-2001, while the number of faculty has grown by just 7.8%.   The increase in tenure-track faculty is even smaller, at 1.8%...   He says the average class at the 14 state-school campuses has increased by just three students -- to 25 students per class from 22 -- in the last decade.   For freshman and sophomore classes, the increase is to 30 students per class from 27.   For upper class-men, the growth is to 18 from 15."

2009-07-08
Tom Lutey _Billings MT Gazette_/_Lee_
$60M of "stimulus" filtering through USDA to Montana (with map)

2009-07-08
_Billings MT Gazette_/_AP_/_Lee_
Yellowstone National Park had record 644K visitors in June

2009-07-08
Carrie Marlett _Daily Illini_
Cap and Trade is threat to US farmers

2009-07-08
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Economic Miasma Ahead
"What's in store for us, if the President's budget and Congress's pet projects are enacted, is a long, dreary slog of the sort imposed upon the nation by Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal social engineering.   For 11 years, beginning in 1929 with President Herbert Hoover, himself a liberal-progressive social engineer, business operated well below the levels attained in the late 1920s, and unemployment was always in double digits.   Our present-day economy is bound for the same slough of despond, because President Obama and the Democrat/Socialist Congress are energetically repeating Hoover's and Roosevelt's mistakes."

2009-07-08
James Carlini
Economic Development Olympics: triathlon for taxing bodies: cut spending, cut waste and cut taxes
index

2009-07-08
Greg Toppo & Dan Vergano _USA Today_
Extreme glut of scientists? Maybe
"It's the coming shortage of U.S. scientists and engineers, foretold for decades by corporate, government and education advocates.   While there have been warnings for more than 50 years, a renewed push over the past four years has earned the attention of both the Bush and Obama administrations...   U.S. colleges graduated about 460K scientists and engineers combined in 2005 (many in social and behavioral sciences), according to the National Science Foundation...   Michael Teitelbaum of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in New York...says there are 'substantially more scientists and engineers' graduating from the USA's universities than can find attractive jobs...   AW, a 61-year-old telecommunications engineer in Santa Clara, CA, admits to being stumped when people say there's a shortage of engineers.   He has been unemployed since 2005.   Unemployment, especially among older Silicon Valley engineers, has been a constant reality for the past 20 years, he says.   'But it's certainly gone into hyper mode in the last 6.'   Many of his fellow over-40 engineers hear repeatedly that they're actually over-qualified for many of the jobs they seek; he recalls that a friend, laid off from Nortel in 2002, couldn't find work for 1.5 years, until Santa Clara University hired him -- as its dean of engineering...   Lynne Munson, executive director of Common Core, a Washington non-profit that supports liberal-arts education in public schools, says it's not even clear whether the emphasis on STEM skills has produced more scientists and mathematicians...   no objective data have found overall shortages of scientists and engineers. Such warnings, he said, are 'simply the expressions of interests by interest groups and their lobbyists'. He cited companies that employ scientists and engineers, universities, and even immigration lawyers...   Worldwide, BLS says, well-trained, often English-speaking engineers are 'willing to work at much lower salaries than U.S. engineers'."

2009-07-08 (5769 Tamuz 16)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
A Tangled Web part 2
Detroit MI News
Pittsburgh PA Tribune-Review

2009-07-08 (5769 Tamuz 16)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
Slavery Apology
 
 

2009-07-09

2009-07-09 05:30PDT (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
DoL home page
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 577,506 in the week ending July 4, an increase of 17,612 from the previous week.   There were 401,672 initial claims in the comparable week in 2008.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.5% during the week ending June 27, unchanged from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 6,043,561, a decrease of 34,892 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 2.1% and the volume was 2,857,438.   Extended benefits were available in AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KY, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NV, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, PR, RI, SC, TN, VT, VA, WA, and WI during the week ending June 20.   [Note: The seasonal adjustment factors have been changed by DoL going back to at least the beginning of 2009.]"
graphs
more graphs

2009-07-09
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring News-Letter_
Kerr/Lincoln patenting study
 
Back in February, I reviewed a working paper by professor Bill Kerr of HBS and professor William Lincoln of the University of Michigan.   Bill (Kerr) sent me a detailed response to my analysis, which I am sharing with his permission (pdf).   He and I also met when I was in Cambridge in April, and had a nice exchange (though only partly on his paper).
 
I promised readers of this e-news-letter that I would reply here to Bill's message when I got a block of time large enough to go into detail.   Unfortunately, due to family and other issues, I've not had a chance to do so, especially recently, and indeed have posted material to my e-news-letter only sporadically in the last few months.   However, I am now able to resume, and finally here is my commentary on Bill's response.   By the way, I will also be reviewing the recent Hunt paper in the near future as well, as well as some other items.
 
The best way to begin here is to quote the abstract of the Kerr/Lincoln paper:
 
This study evaluates the impact of high-skilled immigrants on US technology formation.   Specically, we use reduced-form specifications that exploit large changes in the H-1B visa program.   Fluctuations in H-1B admissions levels signicantly influence the rate of Indian and Chinese patenting in cities and firms dependent upon the program relative to their peers.   Most specifications find weak crowding-in effects or no effect at all for native patenting.   Total invention increases with higher admission levels primarily through the direct contributions of ethnic inventors.
 
(In my original posting on the paper, I objected to the paper's characterization of immigrants as "ethnic" and its referring to natives as "English".   But to avoid insertion of numerous disclaimers below, I will simply use the authors' terminology.)
 
Here is a summary of the first main conclusion, in plain English:
 
Increased admissions of H-1B tech workers, who are mostly Indian and Chinese, are associated with increases in patents by Indians and Chinese.
 
That of course is completely unsurprising, and it should have no implications for the H-1B debate.   Yet the authors claim such implications in the Introduction section of their paper, in which they repeatedly assert that the H-1B program has been good for U.S. innovation, and moreover that the paper's findings should be useful in guiding the H-1B debate:
 
The H-1B visa program governs most admissions of temporary immigrants into the US for employment in patenting-related fields.   This program has become a point of significant controversy in the public debate over immigration, with proponents and detractors at odds over how important H-1B admission levels are for US technology advancement and whether native US workers are being displaced by immigrants.   In this study we quantify the impact of changes in H-1B admission levels on the pace and character of US invention over the 1995-2006 period.   We hope that this assessment aids policy makers and business leaders by informing their current discussions about appropriate admission rates in the future.   Of more general interest, the variations induced by changes in H-1B admissions are an attractive laboratory for studying whether immigrant scientists and engineers (SEs) crowd-in or crowd-out native SE workers.   Identifying this native response is important for assessing the extent to which aggregate US invention is promoted by more flexible high-skilled immigration policies.
 
The link between immigration policy and new innovation may appear tenuous at first, but immigrant SEs are central to US technology formation and commercialization.   In terms of levels, immigrants represented 24% and 47% of the US SE work-force with bachelors and doctorate educations in the 2000 Census, respectively.   This contribution was significantly higher than the 12% share of immigrants in the US working population...
 
So, the authors make it clear -- they regard H-1B as crucial to U.S. tech innovation.   Yet, as I said above, their finding regarding ethnicity-specific patenting should have no bearing on the H-1B debate.
 
Where, then, is the resolution?   How can the authors reach such a strong conclusion about the value of the H-1B program from their finding regarding only ethnicity-specific patenting?   The answer to these questions is in the next-to-last sentence of the abstract:
 
Most specifications find weak crowding-in effects or no effect at all for native patenting.
 
In other words, the authors are saying that increases in H-1B ethnic patenting are not associated with decreases in native patenting.   Therefore -- they assert -- we have more patents than we would if there had been no immigration, a supposed net overall gain.
 
It is that conclusion that is the basis for my main objection to the paper.   When Bill sent me the article back in December, I replied to him as follows:
 
I'll take a look, thanks.   But from just reading the abstract it's clear that you haven't accounted for displacement of natives and non-H-1B immigrants.
 
In Bill's reply, he chides me for coming to such a quick conclusion based on just the abstract:
 
I was certain you would dislike the paper when I sent it to you.   Your negative reply within five minutes of my hitting send, based upon reading an abstract that by custom is limited to 100 words, confirmed that.
 
I probably deserved his chiding.   However, after reading through his entire paper several times, meeting with him in person, reading his written response and so on, that "hasty" initial response of mine above remains my core criticism of the paper.   In short, I don't agree that his and professor Lincoln's analysis implies that immigration has given the nation a net increase in patent activity, as they don't account for the extensive displacement of Americans from the patent-producing jobs.
 
A key point in that regard is that one must distinguish between short-term and long-term trends.   The Kerr/Lincoln study looks at short-term effects, but the displacement of Americans is long-term, thus not picked up in the study.   Here are the issues.
 
As I pointed out in my original posting on Bill's paper, the H-1Bs who file patent applications typically have graduate degrees, and typically have earned those degrees at U.S. universities.   The industry lobbyists use this fact to portray these as the "good" H-1Bs, meaning the ones who don't displace U.S. citizens and permanent residents.   The lobbyists point out that Americans don't pursue graduate degrees in large numbers (fewer than 50% U.S. doctoral degrees granted in computer science are earned by American students), and use this fact to asser that there is a genuine shortage of workers with this education, hence no displacement.
 
But the reality is that such displacement has in fact occurred quite extensively over the years.   As I've mentioned often, this displacement was actually planned for by the National Science Foundation [NSF], the federal government's central agency for science.   In my original posting, I wrote:
 
Also on the crowding-in/out issue, the authors correctly recognized that patents typically arise from the work of people with graduate degrees, and thus raised the question as to whether the presence of the foreign students has displaced Americans from university graduate programs.   The authors cite the work of fellow Harvard professor George Borjas that "natives are crowded-out from graduate school enrollments by foreign students, especially in the most elite institutions, and suffer lower wages after graduation due to the increased labor supply".   [Matloff's earlier writings also report that foreign students statistically go in higher percentages to weaker programs.]   The authors say that Borjas' findings don't jibe with other work on this topic, but in fact the papers they cite don't address the Borjas issue at all...
 
Moreover, the National Science Foundation [NSF] (one of the funders of the Kerr/Lincoln study) itself stated at the time Congress was considering instituting the H-1B program that the program would indeed crowd OUT the Americans.   In the paper I've quoted often here, the NSF said that "A growing influx of foreign PhDs into U.S. labor markets will hold down the level of PhD salaries...   [If] doctoral studies are failing to appeal to a large (or growing) percentage of the best citizen baccalaureates, then a key issue is pay...   A number of [the Americans] will select alternative career paths."   That of course is exactly what happened in the subsequent years; enrollment by Americans in tech grad programs has gone way down, and tech PhD salaries have not kept pace with those of comparable professions, exactly as Borjas found.
 
So this is, in my view, the major flaw in the Kerr/Lincoln paper.   When professors Kerr and Lincoln say they find that H-1B doesn't crowd-out American workers from patenting, they are missing the fact that the H-1B program has, over the long term, pushed Americans out of the patent-generating jobs.   Thus, instead of absolving the H-1B program of guilt as the authors do, a more thorough analysis would have investigated H-1B as the culprit.
 
Bill does mention the short-term/long-term distinction in his letter to me:
 
In paragraphs 10 through 12, you express concern with how I present George Borjas' work and technique.   I have loads of respect for Borjas and have learned a lot from his work.   For the purposes of this dialogue, I again hope that the paper speaks for itself.   I am very up‐front that this is a short‐run analysis of changes in the H‐1B program.   I speak at several points about how long‐run effects can be different due to the issues you highlight.   I cite the existing work on these long‐run effects with equal weight, and I hope that readers draw their own conclusions.  
Though the Kerr/Lincoln paper does mention the distinction between short-run and long-run effects, e.g. on pages 4 and 30, it is not in the context I cited.   Instead, the authors discuss the long-term issue of an economy adjusting to changing needs.   On page 4, for instance, they say,
 
However, there are often significant adjustment costs when workers move across occupations and sectors, particularly in moving into research-oriented occupations.   Ryoo and Rosen (2004) and others have documented the significant costs and "time to build" inherent in increasing the supply of ideas workers, particularly in SE.   Shortages of sufficiently trained labor may exist even if forward-looking workers are rationally responding to incentives.   These costs and slower adjustments open up the possibility for supply shocks to US innovation through shifts in immigration policy.   Indeed, public debates about the H-1B visa often turn on whether a shortage of high-skilled workers exists or not.
 
This is very, very different from the point that I'm making here and that I made to Bill in my e-mail message to him last December.   We're not talking about the economy's evolving toward unanticipated labor needs.   Instead, the NSF advocated a deliberate policy that it said would push Americans out of research jobs.
 
There are other factors to worry about regarding displacement.   I've noticed that, due to their superior English and knowledge of U.S. culture relative to the foreign students, American PhDs with good research abilities are often hired into non-research positions, involving work in areas such as strategic overalll planning of the firm's research activities, interfacing with national standards organizations, and so on.
 
Some quick comments on the bulleted remarks in Bill's letter (I more or less agree with the remarks not covered below):
 
bullet 2: My posting's phrasing regarding the term "shock" was too brief and was possibly misunderstood by some readers.   I should have explained that it's a standard economic term.
 
bullet 3: Bill says,
The results find that Indian and Chinese invention rose as a share of US patenting with higher H-1B populations.   Given that the first-order effect [of] the program is for letting more of these immigrants into the US for work, we should expected to see relatively higher responses from inventors with these ethnic names.   And that is what the paper finds.
 
This of course is my point at the beginning of my remarks above.   H-1B brings in more Chinese and Indian techies, so we should expect that Chinese and Indian patenting rises, and sure enough, it did.   No surprise, and as I said above, no implication for the H-1B debate.
 
He goes on to say that he does not claim that the Chinese and Indians are more innovative.   This is a key point, when coupled with the displacement issue.
 
He cites the Hunt/Gauthier-Loiselle paper.   I'll be commenting on that paper and a subsequent one by Hunt in a few days, lots of interesting material to talk about.   (There is also a recent paper with findings that look somewhat counter to those of Borjas.   I haven't read it yet, but will report on it here when I do.)
 
bullet 7: Bill makes lots of disclaimers here, but I must disagree, because most people will read only the Introduction section, or (oh, the horror!) only the abstract.
 
bullet 10: Bill says,
...you ask about the counterfactual of giving H-1Bs to native workers [sic]... I believe it is the wrong question... the US government does not direct people to work in one capacity or another.   The policy lever is the H-1B worker admissions...
 
Bill's point is that we don't have a managed economy in which the government can push Americans into jobs the government thinks are worthy, and thus H-1B is available as a remedy if too few Americans go into those jobs.   That indeed is the ostensible reason for having the H-1B program.   But the reality is that government acted quite opposite to this.   The US government used that H-1B lever knowing (as it stated) that it would DISPLACE Americans from the patent-generating jobs.   Bill should be outraged at this.
 
bullet 11: Bill did say in our meeting that he regrets the terms "ethnic" and "English", and he agrees in his letter that there are serious methodological problems in the fact that his analysis is based on surnames.   During I meeting, I suggested some analyses that might show that the effects of such errors may not be so large after all.
 
Norm
---30---

2009-07-09
Therese Poletti _MarketWatch_
Royalty agreement saved Internet radio at small cost to listeners

2009-07-09
Rob _CocoaHeads_
Los Angeles CocoaHeads to meet tonight at the offices of E! Entertainment, 5750 Wilshire Blvd, at 19:30; BYU CocoaHeads meet tonight at 19:00 in W210 TNRB
"Tonight will be seeing a demo of the iPhone app "TapStar" and discussing what went into making it.   We will also be discussing the public announcements from WWDC from those who were able to attend in person.   We meet at the offices of E! Entertainment at 19:30.   Our meeting location is 5750 Wilshire Blvd; Los Angeles, CA 90036.   map of the location.   Free street parking is available after 20:00 - FEED THE METER UP TO 20:00 OR YOU MIGHT GET A TICKET!   I'd suggest trying Masselin Ave, which is one block East of Courtyard Place.   We meet near the lobby of the West building at 5750 Wilshire Blvd, on the West side of Courtyard Place.   There are picnic tables in front of the lobby and we'll gather there starting at 19:20.   From there we go inside and up to conference room 3A at around 19:45.   If you arrive late, please ask the building security personnel in the lobby to direct you to the E! Security office, and they will be able to contact the group in conference room 3A and send someone down to meet you."
This is a reminder that BYU CocoaHeads will be meeting tonight at 19:00 MDT in W210 TNRB on BYU Campus.   We'll be having a presentation on Core Data and might even have cookies (the edible kind).

2009-07-09
Karl Rove _Wall Street Journal_
Obama Can't Be Trusted with Financial Numbers, So Why Should WE Trust Him with Health Care? (ObummerDoesn'tCare)

2009-07-09
Devon Carlin _National Leadership Network of Conservative African-Americans_
The Environmentalist Devil Is in the Details: Waxman-Markey HR2454
Junk Science

2009-07-09
James Carlini _Wisconsin Technology Network_
Economic development olympics: The triathlon for taxing bodies

2009-07-09
Kim G. _Seeking Alpha_
Indian cross-border, off-shoring bodyshops may increase hiring of locals
"If [S887] is passed, it has the potential to change the ratio of off-shore to on-shore work-force. &nbp; IT out-sourcing firms currently have on-site projects in the U.S. done by about 80% H-1B and L-1 visa holders, and employ less than 20% locals."

2009-07-09
Derek Lowe _Corante_
Too Many Scientists?

2009-07-09 15:38PDT (18:38EDT) (22:38GMT)
Brian Deagon _Investor's Business Daily_
US engineers at record unemployment
graphs

2009-07-09
Steve Sailer _V Dare_
My Questions for Sotomayor -- Will Republicans Dare Ask Them?
 
 

2009-07-10

2009-07-10
Ruffin Prevost _Billings MT Gazette_
Airline representatives hold conference calls to cut travel expenses
"Ploehn said traffic was down about 10% so far this year compared with 2008, adding that the industry is likely to cut flights at airports nationwide after the summer travel season."

2009-07-10
Bridget Mulcahy _Daily Illini_
Government budget cuts lead to loss of jobs as Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama depression catches up with state and local governments

2009-07-10
Kevin McLoughlin _Daily Illini_
Urbana Business Association prepares for Sweetcorn Festival "Pre-Sweetcorn Bash" Friday night

2009-07-10
Jason Scott _Cumberland PA Sentinel_/_Lee_
Officials debate taking legal notices to the web
"Supporters say there would be a significant savings for local governments and school boards, which currently spend about $26M a year on legal advertising, and note that the web gives them another option... House Bill 677... HB 1757..."

2009-07-10
Deborah Gage _Information Week_/_UBM_
Only 27% of Americans polled believe that science, medicine, and technology are America's greatest achievements -- a 20% drop over a decade, study finds
Nicholas Kolakowski: eWeek
"Only 17% of the public -- compared to 49% of scientists -- said that U.S. scientific achievements are the best in the world, according to a survey of the public and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) conducted by the Pew Research Center this Spring...   [85% of] scientists, meanwhile, said the public doesn't know much about science..."

2009-07-10 07:20PDT (10:20EDT) (14:20GMT)
Greg Robb _MarketWatch_
US trade deficit fell to $26G in My; Exports increased to $123.3G while imports fell to $149.3G
census bureau

2009-07-10
Christopher Calnan _Austin TX Business Journal_
US government may yet penalize employers of illegal aliens... some day... maybe

2009-07-10
Bob Livingston _Personal Liberty_
Corrupt US prosecuting attorney and judge want newspapers to violate privacy of those who criticized them

2009-07-10 07:34PDT (10:34EDT) (14:34GMT)
Robert Schroeder _MarketWatch_
UMich consumer sentiment index fell from 70.8 in June to 64.6

2009-07-10
Alex Newman _New American_
Unqualified Guest-Workers Maintaining Planes in the USA?

2009-07-10
Roy Beck _Numbers USA_
How do we protect 4 strong immigration enforcement amendments from back-room death?
"Most of you are shocked by the Senate's passage of 4 strong immigration enforcement amendments that would open up hundreds of thousands of jobs to unemployed Americans over the next year alone.   Maybe even millions of jobs!   The Sessions E-Verify amendment.   The DeMint fence amendment.   The Vitter no-match amendment.   The Grassley E-Verify amendment."

2009-07-10
Donald A. Collins _V Dare_
Complex Washington Battle Reflects Massive Voter Anger about Elite's Anti-Citizen Immigration Policies

2009-07-10 (5769 Tamuz 18)
Caroline B. Glick _Jewish World Review_
Numbering the days of dictators

2009-07-10 (5769 Tamuz 18)
R' Dovid Rosenfeld _Torah.org_
"Maimonides on Life: Laws of Understanding: Confronting the Enemy" Chapter 6 Law 5
"Torah here is not telling us how we must feel towards others.   It is not forbidding hatred per se, only the bottling of it up.   And this is because the Torah really cannot tell us how we must feel.   It can't 'command' us to change our emotions -- to love someone we cannot stand.   Our emotions are not under our direct control.   Sometimes we just don't like someone; such does occur in the course of human events.   And in fact, rarely does the Torah command us about our feelings.   It commands almost exclusively on the level of action -- how to act on (and hopefully influence) our feelings -- but very rarely does it directly command us in how we must feel...   And we are told two basic things: (a) that we may not act counter-productively on account of our hatred -- by hitting or cursing our fellow; and (b) that we not bottle up our hatreds and do nothing."

2009-07-10
R' Yehonasan Gefen _Torah.org_
Do Not Steal part 2

2009-07-10

DJIA	8,146.52
S&P 500	879.13
NASDAQ	1,756.03
Nikkei	9,287
10-year US T-Bond	3.29%
crude oil	$59.89/barrel
gold	$912.50/ounce
silver	$12.645/ounce
platinum	$1,107.60/ounce
palladium	$234.95/ounce
copper	$0.13821875/ounce
natgas	$3.373/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline	$1.6505/gal
heatingoil	$1.5335/gal
dollarindex	80.25
yenperdollar	92.29
dollarspereuro	1.3935
dollarsperpound	1.6198
swissfranksperdollar	1.0862
indianrupeesperdollar	77.93
mexicanpesosperdollar	13.11
MorganStanleyHighTechIndex	435.39

I usually get this info from MarketWatch.
 
 
 

2009-07-11

1921-07-11: Red Army captured Mongolia

2009-07-11
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Al Gore lets slip that "global warming" is propaganda ploy to institute global leftist government

2009-07-11
Michael Gray _NY Post_
People fleeing metro-NY as living expenses, including taxes, are revolting

2009-07-11
_Lay-Off Tracker_
Cincinnati Enquirer dumped 101
"The newspaper said Friday it has an average circulation of about 203,600 on week-days and 280,200 on Sundays."
 
 

2009-07-12

2009-07-12
Austin Hill _Town Hall_
Socialist Insecurity Abomination bureaubums blew $750K at posh resort

2009-07-12
Brett French _Billings MT Gazette_
Wild horse range showing signs of over-grazing

2009-07-12
Greg Cunningham _Seattle Times_
Obama's plan to pervert immigration laws addresses neither problems nor their causes

2009-07-12
_Right Side News_/_FAIR US_
The Costs of Illegal Aliens to Virginians
"Virginia has a rapidly growing illegal alien population of about 295K persons, nearly tripling since 2000.   Since 2000, the state's foreign-born population has grown by 46.5% while its native-born population has grown by 6.5%.   Similarly, public school enrollment of students who require special instruction in English has also soared, rising by nearly 175% over the last decade...   Virginia's illegal immigrant population costs the state's taxpayers nearly $1.7G per year for education, medical care and incarceration."

2009-07-12
Charles Davenport _Greensboro NC News & Record_
Public not buying pitch for amnesty for illegal aliens and increasing already excessive immigration
"the public favors increased border patrol, reduced immigration, and a return to the assimilation ethic...   Authentic social justice, the majority believes, would consist of controlling our southern border, enforcing current immigration law, reducing the number of newcomers (legal and illegal), and reviving the assimilation ethic."

2009-07-12
Steve Sailer _V Dare_
Thoughts on Advanced Placement Testing... and Sotomayor
"To my mind, the most impressive scores are found on the two Calculus tests.   3% of America's youth passes Calculus AB, and two kids out of every 300 get a 5 on the fearsome Calculus BC exam.   Maybe that doesn't sound like much, but it's better than young people do on, say, U.S. Government or European History, which don't require math skills."

2009-07-12 (5769 Tamuz 20)
Mark Steyn _Jewish World Review_
Warm-mongers prefer you to be in poverty
 
 

2009-07-13

2009-07-13
Jason Scott _Cumberland PA Sentinel_
Median housing price holding steady, sales decline has slowed
"The median price of $164,767 was down 1.9% from last year, when it was $168K...   In the first quarter of the year, the median home sale price was $157,400, which was down from $164,870 last year...   By comparison, the average sales price dipped from $193,585 in the econd quarter of 2008 to $182,643 this year...   The national median existing home price was $170,200 in April (15.4% down from a year ago) and $173K in May (16.8% down from a year ago)."

2009-07-13
Chelsea Fiddyment _Daily Illini_
Want to continue your education? There's a tet for that

2009-07-13
Christina M. Wright _Daily Illini_/_AP_
Illinois budget in limbo as agencies make cut-backs

2009-07-13
John E. Bush, Thomas F. McLarty & Edward Alden _Los Angeles Times_
A bipartison corrupt blue-print for immigration law perversion
Jena McNeill: Heritage Foundation: CFR Press Rease Is Same Old Call for Amnesty for Illegal Aliens
Genuine reform:
* Finish building the fences on the over 5K miles of border,
* Man the border with armed troops expected to fire on invaders who attempt to evade arrest,
* End the visa waiver program,
* Run proper background investigations on every visa applicant, and charge reasonable costs therefor,
* Track each visa grantee to ensure that he is out of the USA by the time his visa expires,
* Limit student visas to less than 10K per year so we're not engaged in massive knowledge transfer and driving down opportunities and damaging the instruction of US citizen students,
* Limit H-1B visas to less than 2K per year and/or require an IQ score of over 160 or SAT composite over 1560 ("new" SAT over 2100), GRE over 1615 (O visas should require at least a 190 IQ or similarly lofty ratings),
* Limit L visas to 20K per year and cut the term to 9 months, and J visas to 3K per year for 6 months, and E-3 visas to 750 per year for 9 months,
* Charge out of state tuition and fees and bar all government financial aid to all foreign students, and expell those here illegally.
Guillermina Jasso in the NY Times, pointed out that there are already "paths to citizenship" for illegal aliens.

2009-07-13
_Evansville IN Courier Press_
Latest push for amnesty for illegal aliens
"In fiscal 2008, 1.45M new migrants were granted work permits.   Combined with the influx of millions of undocumented workers, this excess supply became the equivalent of the housing bubble -- it was bound to burst.   Since 2007, jobless rates have doubled.   In the first quarter of this year, immigrant unemployment stood at 9.7%, the highest level since 1994, when data began to be collected on migrants.   Overall unemployment topped 8.6%, also the highest in 15 years.   The blue-collar sector has been hit especially hard.   Some 31M native-born and immigrant workers with a high-school degree or less are now jobless.   Unemployment in this category is now a record 14.7% for immigrants and 19.5% for natives.   This issue could get a hard look from Hoosiers, considering the unemployment rate in blue-collar Kokomo, IN, is up to 18.8%.   In Elkhart-Goshen, it is up to 17.5%."

2009-07-13
Jim Kouri _News with Views_
Obama's immigration plan is a threat to Americans' safety

2009-07-13
Frosty Wooldridge _Denver Examiner_
What if 20M illegal aliens vacated the USA

2009-07-13
Frosty Wooldridge _News with Views_
Immigration Reform: Cut the Numbers, Cut Them Fast

2009-07-13
Jeremy Hsu _Popular Science_
industrial robots idled in Japan: even robots are not recession-proof

2009-07-13
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World Norway_/_IDG_
This phase of H-1B battle will last at least through Labor Day: Chuck Schumer plans to introduce Reprehensible Immigration Perversion Bill by then
ComputerWorld
Network World
IT World
Info World
Motley Fool
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring News-Letter_
Though the title of the [ComputerWorld article linked above] includes the word "H-1Bs", I have not included the word in my Subject...   The reason for my exclusion of the word is that senator Schumer has not said anything about increasing the H-1B cap, so far as I can tell.   There have been news articles on this in the last few weeks, and to my knowledge Schumer has made no public statements in this regard.
 
The quote included in the Computerworld article below,
 
"We must encourage the world's best and brightest individuals to come to the United States and create new technologies and business that will employ countless American workers, but must discourage businesses from using our immigration laws as a means to obtain temporary and less-expensive foreign labor to replace capable American workers," said
 
would appear to be similar to statements made during the last year by a number of Democrats, including Obama, supporting liberalization of the employment-based green card program.   As I've written here many times, I am just as strongly opposed to expansion of the green card program as I am to expansion of H-1B, as both have the effects of reducing job opportunities for U.S. citizens and permanent residents.   Moreover, though I definitely support bringing "the world's best and brightest individuals" here, very few of the foreign workers [brought in under the H-1B visa program] are of that caliber.
 
So I'm not making the distinction between H-1B visas and green cards in order to say that I support, or at least do not mind, what Schumer is apparently planning to do.   Nevertheless it is important to know what those plans are, and I believe the expansionary facets of them will focus on green cards, not H-1Bs.
 
Of course, the second half of Schumer's comments above is designed to give the impression that he wishes to take strong action to stop abuse of the H-1B program.   My guess is that that is not the case at all.   Instead, I believe his legislation will simply include provisions to stop fraud rather than abuse, via stepped-up enforcement measures.   As I've stated so often, the main problem is loop-holes in the law, not fraud, so anti-fraud measures would be of little value.
 
For example, it is a safe bet that Schumer will not propose that all employers be subject to the restrictions currently imposed on H-1B-dependent employers, such as a requirement that the employer attempt to fill the position with an American before hiring an H-1B.   After those were temporarily extended to TARP recipients, i.e. the financial industry, earlier this year, Schumer vowed to overturn that legislation.
 
It is interesting that Schumer on the one hand claims to be opposed to using foreign workers as cheap labor, while on the other using Greenspan as his star witness, who has stated repeatedly (see the second enclosed article below) that the goal of importing the foreign workers is to keep salaries down.   Definitely an "emperor has no clothes" moment.
 
Greenspan has made such statements many times in the last year or so, and one has to wonder just what he's thinking.   The median salary for a mid-career software developer is around $80K [that's median of those currently employed], which while not subsistence-level is not particularly high.   New law graduates, using a similar skill set (good analytical and problem-solving abilities, etc.) make $160K.   I would assume that Greenspan is just ignorant, rather than flat out lying, but even ignorance would be highly disturbing.   As the second article here points out, and as Greenspan himself has said, he had no inkling that the financial industry might implode.   This is amazing, since anyone could have understood the danger of selling no-down-payment mortgages to people who can't afford them, selling "insurance" to investors on sliced-and-diced packages of those mortgages, etc.
 
Some comments on some of the passages in the articles:
 
One proposal that may get traction in Congress would create an independent commission to manage employment-based visas.   The commission would determine whether there are labor shortages and have the authority to make annual adjustments on the cap based on economic need.   That idea was pitched by the AFL-CIO in April.
 
This has been suggested before (including by me), but is likely a political non-starter.   After, the industry -- and Schumer himself, as noted above -- opposes requiring employers to recruit Americans before hiring H-1Bs, so the industry would certainly not support a commission which would have essentially that same goal.   Indeed, an industry lobbyist already criticized the idea in that Associated Press report.   Of course, if somehow such a commission were formed, its members would be people from industry and their allies anyway.
 
Angela Kelly, vice president for immigration policy and advocacy at the Center for American Progress, a Washington-based group that's headed John Podesta, President Clinton's former chief of staff, said an element of any immigration reform bill would have to be its labor protections.
 
"How do we ensure that by bringing these workers in we're not disadvantaging American workers and how do we invest in our folks for the long haul, so that we've got kids in computer science, math, and engineering programs, which are right now, frankly, dominated by kids who aren't from the U.S.A.   That's the reality and we need to deal with it.", she said, in a conference call with reporters.
 
That is false.   For example, only 6% of recipients of bachelor's degrees in computer science are non-resident aliens; see the data from CRA.   The large numbers of foreign students occur at the PhD level.   But of course Kelly's point about H-1B and off-shoring discouraging Americans from studying CS is correct.
Norm
2009-04-30: Patrick Thibodeau: ComputerWorld: Greenspan: H-1B cap would make U.S. workers 'privileged elite'
 
 

2009-07-14

2009-07-14
Jason Scott _Cumberland PA Sentinel_
New PA budget proposal to spend $29.1G and increase personal income extortion
"The new strategy calls for $29.1G in spending and moves nearly $1.3G in subsidies for higher education out of the general fund.   Appropriations Chairman Dwight Evans, D-Philadelphia, insists his budget, which passed on a party-line basis, is in balance because it no longer includes funding for the State System of Higher Education, community colleges and the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency...   Pennsylvania ended its 2008-2009 budget year on June 30 nearly $3.3G below projected revenues and facing a similar cash problem for the current year."

2009-07-14
Dale Heberlig _Cumberland PA Sentinel_
Shippensburg township drops push to discover buyers of tickets to university events
"Administrators at SU and the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education refused to implement the [10% amusement] tax and collect it from ticket buyers, however, leading the township to submit a freedom of information request to identify ticket buyers at SU so the levy could be enforced."

2009-07-14
Dale Heberlig _Cumberland PA Sentinel_
Shippensburg township looks to pierce anonymity veil on rental property trust, but discloses one way local government power is wielded

2009-07-14
Tom Lutey _Billings MT Gazette_
Milk "glut" cuts dairies' profits
"Milk profits have hit a 25-year low for dairy farmers, prompting a national kill-off of more than 100K cows with more to come...   'Up until a year ago, about 11% of the what's produced in the United States was going over-seas.', said Walt Wosje of Cooperatives Working Together, a national dairy group.   'Today we're down to 5%, which means 6% is hanging around our necks.'   Before the global economic meltdown, dairy exports were expanding rapidly.   Foreign countries bought $3.82G of U.S. dairy products last year, according to the U.S. Dairy Council, a 16% increase from the year before.   That growth made the industry profitable even as the prices of corn and soybean feed sky-rocketed.   Dairy producers were expanding to meet foreign demand when the economy crashed.   Foreign sales in the first quarter were 50% of what they were for the same period in 2008 and have only gotten worse...   New Rockport's milk is selling for $11.42 for 100 pounds, which is how dairy is measured at the production level.   The price is set by the state Milk Control Board, which makes a modest adjustment to national rate set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture based on commodity market prices.   Right now that price would have to increase $4.38 to cover the average costs of running an American dairy farm, according to the USDA...   Just over the border in Idaho, farmers are being paid 10 cents for every 100 pounds of milk taken out of production via slaughter.   Western states account for nearly 40K of the dairy cows turned to hamburger so far...   Grocery store milk prices haven't reflected falling farm pay-outs.   The Consumer Price Index indicates that retail milk prices have fallen just 13% since January, with an average price of $3 a gallon, while farmers make less than $1 a gallon, according to the National Milk Producers Federation."

2009-07-14
Libby Quaid _Billings MT Gazette_
NAEP: Achievement gap divides black and white students
NAEP Achievement Gaps

2009-07-14
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Struggle for hearts and minds playing out in education curricula and text-books

2009-07-14
Sigrid Caroline Schroder _DC Examiner_
How bad can it get and what can you do about it?
"231 manufacturers disappeared from the Maryland-DC region in the past year alone... Control cash... Reduce debt... Maximize talent... Retrench to strength... Identify your next opportunity in the damage on the edges...   Look to more other regions to learn what they do better and who there thrives in down markets and how."

2009-07-14
Ben Domenech _New Ledger_
Once Was America

2009-07-14
Andrea Neal _South Bend IN Tribune_
Hard times call for tuition freeze at public universities
"Ivy Tech plans a 4.9% tuition increase, about $140 for a full-time student.   Indiana State has proposed 3.9% or $278.   At Purdue University, students can expect to pay an additional 5% or $388.   Indiana University and IUPUI students will pay 4.6% more or $382 and $332 respectively.   The public gets 10 days to comment before rates are finalized."

2009-07-14
Jon Gray _Wall Street Journal_
WSJ follows 8 B-school bozos on their job searches

2009-07-14
Jefferson George _Charlotte NC Journal_
Unemployment insurance benefits running out for record numbers

2009-07-14
_Management Issues_
Middle-Aged Managers Subject To Lay-Offs

2009-07-14
Sarah Foster _News with Views_
Waxman-Markey climate bill spells sky-rocketing energy prices and unemployment, less freedom

2009-07-14
Art Jahnke _Boston University Today_
Ellen Ruppel Shell's _Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture_

2009-07-14
_Metro_
Some are illegally working for free just to stay fresh
"She lost her marketing job at a technology company near San Francisco in April and since then has been working for free for about 5 hours a week for Internet company...   'Every company has thousands of people applying for each job, and I realized I needed more appeal.', said Lin, a graduate of Cornell University.   Since being laid off, she has applied unsuccessfully for about 50 jobs...   it is illegal for commercial companies to not pay workers.   'It's not just a bad idea, it's illegal.', Eisenbrey said.   'The law says [companies] may not suffer or permit employees to work for less than the minimum wage.'"

2009-07-14
Keith Perine _Congressional Quarterly_
Sonia Sotomayor's testimony is Confirmation Conversion which will be immediately reversed once she's on the bench
Yahoo!

2009-07-14
Dave Gibson _Norfolk Examiner_
Napolitano has weakened 287(g) program

2009-07-14
D. Dixon _Gwinnett GA Examiner_
Gwinnett finalizes 287(g) pact with ICE
Augusta GA Chronicle/AP

2009-07-14
_Pop Decay_
Duluth/Chamblee GA employment agent Laing Yang sentenced to 5 years for harboring illegal aliens
Other operators in the ring pleaded guilty to similar charges.
Atlanta Business Journal

2009-07-14
_Right Side News_
It's not an "immigration" problem; it's an illegal activity problem
National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers

2009-07-14
Lynn Stuter _News with Views_
Can you say "insane"?: Sotomayor certainly was not nominated for her understanding of the Constitution and Bill of Rights or her understanding of the rule of law

2009-07-14
Andy Birkey _Minnesota Independent_
Census boycott creates unexpected alliances

2009-07-14
Daniel Stein _Buffalo NY News_
Schumer values amnesty for illegal aliens over security

2009-07-14
Tom Lutey _Billings MT Gazette_
Monsanto bought WestBred

2009-07-14
Marianne Kolbasuk McGee _Intelligent Enterprise_/_UBM_
Thousands Of H-1B Visas Still Up For Grabs
Information Week

2009-07-14
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Hypocritical Hearings
Washington Times

2009-07-14
Jade Boyd _Rice University_
Global warming: Our best guess is likely wrong: Unknown processes account for much of warming in ancient hot spell

2009-07-14
Meridith Levinson _Computer World_/_IDG_
IT Job Seekers: Can You Answer 12 Gotcha Questions?
Network World

2009-07-14
Michelle Malkin _V Dare_
Two Scientists, Two Standards
Ben Johnson: Front Page Magazine: Obama's Biggest Radical
Zombie Time: John Holdren, Obama's "Science Czar", said: Forced abortions and mass sterilization needed to save the planet

2009-07-14 (5769 Tamuz 22)
Rabbi Doctor Asher Meir _Jewish World Review_
Bill the biller?: How to bill for multi-tasked hours

2009-07-14 (5769 Tamuz 22)
Steven Emerson _Jewish World Review_
Recruiting for jihad openly in Windy City suburb

2009-07-14 (5769 Tamuz 22)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
A Personal Inequity and "Social Justice"
Reporter News
Town Hall
GOP USA
Capitalism Magazine
Patriot Post
National Reviews
Human Events
Real Clear Politics
 
 

2009-07-15

2009-07-15
Linda Halstead-Acharya _Billings MT Gazette_
Barter firm Tradia comes to Montana

2009-07-15
Jason Scott _Cumberland PA Sentinel_
PA state workers worried as pay is delayed during budget wrangling

2009-07-15
Dale Heberlig _Cumberland PA Sentinel_
JLG employees to be called back from furlough
"The company said Tuesday it will need another 300 to 500 workers at its production facilities in east-central Wisconsin, and that 550 to 650 laid-off workers at JLG could be recalled.   Oshkosh officials say the first shipments of the new ATV trucks are scheduled for this month.   The contract calls for 2,244 vehicles."

2009-07-15
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
The Supreme Court and the Commerce Clause

2009-07-15
Rosie Powers _Daily Illini_
Committee questions more university trustees in admissions influence probe: When is a letter of recommendation over the line?
Cut off clout-culture at its source

2009-07-15
Jean Shin _CNN_
Boeing cutting 1K more jobs

2009-07-15
Michael Barkoviak _Daily Tech_
Cisco executives fear retaliation for their part in worsening dysfunctional US STEM job markets
Reuters
EarthWeb/Reuters
Telecomm Magazine
PeeeCeee Magazine
Consumer Electronics
Fox
Post Chronicle

2009-07-15
_Safie Review_/_Pensacola FL News Journal_/_Gannett_
Marco Rubio brings campaign for Florida governorship to Pensacola

2009-07-15
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
USCIS asking for evidence to support claims of H-1B and green card applicants, and it has the immigration lawyers in a tizzy
Info World
CIO
"In an e-mail to ComputerWorld, a USCIS spokesman noted that the agency is 'requesting end-user documentation in those situations where the beneficiary is not working on-site for the petitioner.   This will help us ensure that a job offer does indeed exist, and that the work-site is covered by the labor condition application in the file and that a position is a specialty occupation.'   In a Labor Condition Application, an employer must attest to paying the 'prevailing wage' [which is set by DoL at well below the local market compensation for the job and the credentials, intelligence, experience, etc. of the guest-worker as compared with a similarly able and experienced US citizen]."

2009-07-15
Kimberly Dvorak _San Diego CA Examiner_
Tallahassee student shocked fraternity brothers by revealing he's a black conservative

2009-07-15 (5769 Tamuz 23)
Rabbi Yonason Goldson _Jewish World Review_
In Praise of Superficiality

2009-07-15 (5769 Tamuz 23)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
EPA cover-up

2009-07-15 (5769 Tamuz 23)
Jeffrey Goldbergn _Atlantic_
fund-raising corruption at "Human Rights Watch"
 

2009-07-16

2009-07-16 05:30PDT (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
DoL home page
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 667,534 in the week ending July 11, an increase of 86,389 from the previous week.   There were 483,981 initial claims in the comparable week in 2008.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.6% during the week ending July 4, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 6,135,066, an increase of 63,714 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 2.3% and the volume was 3,118,724.   Extended benefits were available in AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KY, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NV, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, PR, RI, SC, TN, VT, VA, WA, and WI during the week ending June 27.   [Note: The seasonal adjustment factors have been changed by DoL going back to at least the beginning of 2009.]"
graphs
more graphs

2009-07-16
Phil Mercer _Voice of America_
Red Chinese government demands Australian Film Festival dump Uighur documentary
"China blames Rebiya Kadeer for instigating this month's ethnic riots in Xinjiang."

2009-07-16
_News Max_
Engineer born in China found guilty of economic espionage
Sacramento CA Bee
CBS

2009-07-16
Dan Strumpf _Fayetteville Observer_
Harley-Davidson to lay off 1K
Boston MA Herald
Centre PA Daily Times
"Earlier this year, the Company had announced workforce reductions totaling about 1,400 to 1,500 hourly production positions in 2009 and 2010 and about 300 non-production, primarily salaried positions."

2009-07-16
Heather Stauffer _Cumberland PA Sentinel_
HS counselors lead charges on bicycle road-trip to visit colleges
"'We choose a destination each year.', said Hunter.   This year the colleges include Mt. St. Mary's and Johns Hopkins in Maryland and Franklin & Marshall in Lancaster County, plus the University of Delaware.   The rides Hunter detailed ranged from 20 miles to 65 per day, after which the group sleeps in dorms or guest housing and eats cafeteria food."

2009-07-16
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring News-Letter_
Washington Monthly runs infomercial supporting H-1B visa program
 
This past April, I was interviewed by T. Frank for the Washington Monthly.   We talked for close to an hour, I think, but I didn't give it any further thought at the time.   His piece did come out a couple of weeks ago, which I learned from the Google Alert news service.   But other than skimming through the piece and noticing it was rather one-sided, I again didn't pay much attention to it.
 
But...today I was browsing through the Institute of Governmental Affairs Library at UCB, and I noticed the Washington Monthly.
 
Well, guess what? That Frank piece was part of a four-article Special Report in that May/June issue, titled "How Washington Can Jumpstart Entrepreneurship", at the beginning of which is a startling statement,
 
This special report was made possible by the generous support of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
 
What, the Washington Monthly ran an "infomercial"?!
 
For those of you who don't recognize the name, Kauffman is a major funder of the research of Vivek Wadhwa, the critic-turned-supporter of H-1B visas and liberalized employer-sponsored green card programs.
 
The foundation certainly has a point of view.   It sponsored a World Entrepreneurship Conference this year, and it states that it is funding Vivek in order to promote ("recognize the contributions of") high-skilled immigration.
 
No problem there; most if not all foundations do have definite points of view on various topics.   But it is improper, not to mention unbecoming, for the Washington Monthly a respected main-stream magazine [!?], to run an "infomercial" funded by the foundation.   And the journalist, T. Frank, should have made a disclaimer about the funding when he interviewed me.   And Frank should have made the disclaimer that the "Duke University research" he cites is funded by that very same foundation.   It seems to me that all of this is a serious breach of journalism ethics.
 
Now, following are some comments on the article itself.   I believe I brought up most or all of the points I'll make below during the interview.
 
The United States provides advanced degrees to thousands of the world's most gifted students
 
Only a tiny percentage of foreign students are "the world's most gifted".   On the contrary, the work by David North showed that most are concentrated in the less-prestigious universities.   I've shown in many other ways that the vast majority are NOT "the best and the brightest".
 
According to a recent report issued by Duke University and the University of California at Berkeley, roughly a quarter of technology and engineering start-ups in the United States have founders who were born abroad.   Over half of Silicon Valley start-ups have at least one immigrant founder.
 
Again, Frank fails to disclose the fact that his "infomercial" sponsor is funding that work.
 
In any case, as I've pointed out before, 62% of Silicon Valley engineers were foreign-born as of 2000.   That says entrepreneurship rates are about the same for immigrants and natives, with the immigrants even lagging slightly behind.
 
Because the H-1B relies on employer sponsorship, which can easily be revoked, foreign workers are vulnerable to exploitation...
 
Well, I have to give T. Frank credit for saying this, even if he has the details wrong.   I wonder if he knows that Vivek himself has stated this:
 
"I know from my experience as a tech CEO that H-1Bs are cheaper than domestic hires.   Technically, these workers are supposed to be paid a 'prevailing wage', but this mechanism is riddled with loop-holes."
 
And once the clock runs out on an H-1B visa, the line for an employment-based green card is daunting, with more than a million applicants waiting for just over 100K spots each year.
 
Again, ignoring some of the incorrect details here, the salient issue is that there are fast tracks for "the best and the brightest", and as I've shown numerically before, they don't have an inordinately long wait.   The rest are ordinary people, of ordinary talent, doing ordinary work; while I sympathize with them, they are displacing U.S. citizens and permanent residents from their careers.   And again, many of those displaced Americans are themselves "the best and the brightest".
 
One especially prominent opponent of increased H-1B immigration is professor Norm Matloff, a computer scientist at the University of California at Davis.   Matloff believes that Silicon Valley is blinded by 2 vices: greed and ageism.   Because of greed, technology companies hire H-1B immigrants, who save them money.   Because of ageism, Silicon Valley pushes out older programmers who are perfectly qualified to do the work.   Such practices not only force talented older Americans out of the technology industry, they also discourage bright young Americans from entering it, thus squandering some of the country's finest potential talents.   American technology workers would be doing better if there were fewer foreign workers, says Matloff, and Silicon Valley would be just as profitable and innovative, if not more so.
 
Now, there's no way to say for sure that Matloff is wrong.
 
The long paragraph again is off a bit on the details, but overall is a fairly accurate summary.   But the backhanded phrasing in the next paragraph ("no way to say for sure he's wrong") is uncalled for.   It implies that I'm just talking off the top of my head, while Vivek does "research".   Vivek's work is described as "a Duke University study", while the reader gets the impression that I don't do studies.
 
Putting aside the biased phrasing, the more important point is that my research findings (and my University of Michigan law journal article is the most extensive peer-reviewed study ever published on H-1B ["On the Need for Reform of the H-1B NonImmigrant Work Visa in Computer-Related Occupations", N. Matloff, _University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform_ 2003 Autumn, vol36, #4, pp815-914 (pdf)]) have been obtained in similar forms by many other researchers, both at universities and government agencies.   The underpayment of H-1Bs has been shown repeatedly by these researchers (as even Frank seems to concede), as have been the problems that older workers have in getting jobs in the field.   Ditto for my research showing that we don't have a shortage of engineers (I've praised Vivek's study on this), and so on.
 
But two points work against his overall line of thinking.   The first is that high-skilled U.S. workers have enjoyed tremendous increases in wages in the past few decades, while low-skilled workers have seen losses and stagnation.
 
Actually, it's the opposite.   Engineers have lost ground in the last 20 years, in terms of inflation-adjusted wages,
 
And keep in mind that that is deliberate.   Alan Greenspan has said many times that we need H-1Bs to how down tech wages.   In his recent Senate testimony, for instance, he said, "Greatly expanding our [visa] quotas for the highly skilled would lower wage premiums over lesser skilled."
 
And it's ironic that Frank would use the last two decades as the time window to examine the situation, as in 1989 the National Science Foundation [NSF] explicitly called on Congress to establish the H-1B program and bring in more foreign grad students in order the hold down PhD salaries.   And the NSF noted that the resulting salary stagnation would drive American students away from pursuing a PhD, which of course is what did happen.
 
even if Matloff is right about ageism in Silicon Valley (and if he is, we have a legal system to address such claims)
 
Doesn't work that way.   Age discrimination laws are very, very narrow, and hiring the younger worker is legal if he's cheaper.
 
Frank then goes on at least about hiring the best.   He and I talked about that quite a bit, and I assured him that I too support rolling out the immigration red carpet for geniuses (though again, they're rare), but I explained that hiring in Silicon Valley doesn't work like it does in the NBA.   Engineers and programmers are viewed as commodities, and I've profiled here some of them who were forced from the field in spite of having a proven track record of innovation and contribution.   Unfortunately Frank never understood this.   He was clearly quite enamored of the tech industry, and actually said to me, "The tech industry has been good to us."
 
And high-skill workers who are displaced can at worst usually move down the job chain: an unemployed nuclear physicist may take a temporary job as a cashier.
 
This is supposed to be comforting, an argument for displacing high-skilled Americans?   With statements like that, I don't think Kauffman got its money's worth.
 
Norm
T.A. Frank: Washington Monthly: Green Cards for Grads; The USA educates hundreds of thousands of students from around the world at US tax-victim expense, then sends them home to work for our competitors.

2009-07-16
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
No surprises in CBO report on Obamacare
Lori Montgomery & Shailagh Murray: Washington Post: Proposals lack controls on spending

2009-07-16
_Fox_
Boxer tried to brow-beat leader of Black Chamber of Commerce into backing climate bill: He challenges her racist approach
Rush Limbaugh
Politico
Wall Street Journal
George Joyce: American Thinker
Junk Science
video
"We've been looking at energy policy since 1996.   And we are referring to the experts, regardless of their color.   And for someone to tell me, an African-American, college-educated veteran of the United States Army, that I must contend with some other 'black group' and put aside everything else in here -- This has NOTHING to do with the NAACP, and really has nothing to do with the National Black Chamber of Commerce.   We're talking about energy.   And that -- that road the chair went down, I think is G-d awful."
NBCC Study Finds Waxman-Markey Reduces GDP by $350G: New study finds HR2454 could cost 2.5M U.S. jobs each year through 2030 and reduce earnings

2009-07-16
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
House Obamacare bill bars private medical care and insurance
Investor's Business Daily

2009-07-16
_UPI_
SBA loaned $650K to al Qaeda through program to aid small businesses economically harmed by terrorist attacks on 2001-09-11

2009-07-16
_Science_
H-1B Visas for Current Year Still Available

2009-07-16 13:43PDT (16:43EDT) (20:43GMT)
Liz Wolgemuth _US News & World Report_
Cisco laid off about 650 in Santa Fe, possibly 1200 nationwide, today

2009-07-16
Patrick J. Buchanan _V Dare_
Socialist America Is Sinking

2009-07-16
Michelle Malkin _V Dare_
Inside the Monstrous Obamacare Bureaucracy
One News Now
"...The Obamacare bill also creates a new 'Bureau of Health Information' (not to be confused with the already existing National Center for Health Statistics) within the department of Health and Human Services.   A new 'Assistant Secretary for Health Information' will lead the BHI.   The new assistant secretary will coordinate with the recently created 'National Coordinator for Health Information Technology' -- who is responsible for monitoring the $19.5G in the stimulus law to implement 'a nationwide interoperable, privacy-protected health information technology infrastructure."

2009-07-16
Llewellyn H. Rockwell _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
The Jobs Problem
"If you make it more expensive to hire people, fewer people will be hired...   A salary plus benefits amounts to a price that the employer must pay to purchase the work of a laborer.   At a higher price, less work will be purchased by the employer...   In a free market, however, there is no unemployment that persists that isn't chosen by the workers themselves.   That's because the price of labor is continually fluctuating based on supply and demand.   Everyone who wants to work can work, simply because we live in a world in which there is always work to do.   Only artificial interventions can generate the unemployment problem we have today."
 
 

2009-07-17

2009-07-17
_Washington Times_
Leftists criticize Sotomayor for not planning to violate oath of office extremely enough

2009-07-17
Bridget Mulcahy _Daily Illini_
Tent city is partial solution to area's homelesness
"Safe Haven has ten guidelines for members which includes no physical violence towards members, themselves or others, no alcohol or drugs and a 7-hour service requirement for the community itself or the Catholic Worker House...   'Quiet time for Safe Haven is at [22:00].'"

2009-07-17
Oshrat Carmiel & Alex Kowalski _Bloomberg_
Manhattan store-fronts hit highest retail vacancy rate since 2001

2009-07-17
Kevin Hudson _Wall Street Journal_
Avoiding the HR clones
"Even the best resumes and cover letters, that are a perfect match for the position, are not guaranteed to find their way to the hiring manager's desk."

2009-07-17 12:10PDT (15:10EDT) (19:10GMT)
Greg Morcroft _MarketWatch_
Bank of India's profit down

2009-07-17 12:30PDT (15:30EDT) (19:30GMT)
Christopher Hinton _MarketWatch_
Conflict of interest among GE & CIT executives, and the politicians and bureaubums to whom they've donated, WRT bail-out

2009-07-17 14:32PDT (17:32EDT) (21:32GMT)
Paul Kiernan _Wall Street Journal_
Mexicans' Household Income Has Probably Continued To Fall in 2009
"Mexican households reported an average quarterly income in 2008 of 36,694 pesos ($2,749), down 1.6% from 2006, the National Statistics Institute, or Inegi, said Thursday."

2009-07-17
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
TV news anchors' leftist spin

2009-06-17
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Leadership?: Contrasting leftist presidents LBJ and Obama

2009-07-17
Joe Guzzardi _V Dare_
Lugar Let Down Indiana -- and America

2009-07-17
Paul Craig Roberts _V Dare_
Obama and Banksters Loot American Economy

2009-07-17
_GoldSeek_
Surmounting Deception, Distortion & Intervention; Thus Protecting Honestly Earned Profits & Wealth

2009-07-17
Glenn Beck _Fox_
John Stossel debates Penn Jillette on health care

2009-07-17 (5769 Tamuz 25) Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski _Jewish World Review_
Escaping Toward a Goal

2009-07-17 (5769 Tamuz 25) Fred Burton & Scott Stewart _Jewish World Review_
Security at places of worship: more than a matter of faith

2009-07-17
Kelly Lewis _Central Pennsylvania Business Journal_
PA budgets/economy deporting PA's best and brightest to other states
"One year after graduation, 9K graduates of Ohio colleges and universities have departed Ohio.   In Pennsylvania, a whopping 12K graduates of have departed the Keystone State...   Look, we invest billions toward these 12K departing students that is benefiting California, Florida, New York and Virginia.   No wonder these states market heavily in Pennsylvania as we subsidize the education of their best and brightest imports!   Pennsylvania deports college graduates because our public policies and high taxes deport technology and innovation jobs and opportunities.   It's just the math in an innovation economy...   Did I mention tech jobs pay 30% to 50% more?   Or that tech regions create jobs and more jobs?"

2009-07-17
Bob Ellis _Dakota Voice_
Congressmen Should Live Under Unconstitutional Health Care Plan They Create (ObummerDoesn'tCare)

2009-07-17
Gabriel E. Vidal _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
Why Obamacare Can't Work
"The correct framework within which to diagnose the problem is to admit that costs are out of control because they do not reflect prices created by the voluntary exchange between patients and providers, between customers and producers, like every well-functioning industry."

2009-07-17
Vincent del Giudice _Bloomberg_
former Fed governor Laurence Meyer sees no return to "full employment" until at least 2015

2009-07-17
R' Pinchas Winston _Torah.org_
Parshios Matos & Masei "An Oath"
"the level of Binah is also the level of teshuvah, for without understanding, one cannot do teshuvah.   For, teshuvah is a function of recognition, recognition of what is, what must be, and what has gone wrong.   It is completely a function of one's appreciation of the damage that is done to the world and to oneself as a result of sinning, even a little sinning...   "it takes a wise man to see what he is doing now, and to project into the future and see the impact his actions can potentially have."

2009-07-17
R' Yochanan Zweig (adapted by R' Mordechai Shifman) _Torah.org_
Parshios Matos & Masei: On Line
"There is a significant difference between a response which is defined as punitive and one which is defined as vengeful.   The course of action mandated depends upon the nature of the crime.   Most crimes are motivated by the perpetrator's perceived benefit in committing the act.   The unfortunate victim is only the vehicle for satisfying the needs of the perpetrator.   In these cases punitive measures are called for.   Vengeance is the appropriate response for an act which is an attack upon the victim's existence; the victim's very being is the focus of the attack.   The root of the word 'nekama' - 'revenge' is 'makom' - 'place', for its purpose is to restore the violated party's place in existence.   This is achieved by eradicating the perpetrator's own place in existence.   If a person has benefited from another, gratitude does not preclude his taking punitive actions against him, for he is not attacking the very essence of the individual being punished and furthermore, the punishment is ultimately therapeutic to the receiver for it corrects the negative behavior or trait.   If, however, the required course of action calls for vengeance, which is an attack against the actual existence of the person, having previously received a benefit restricts an individual from taking such actions."

2009-07-17
R' Dovid Rosenfeld _Torah.org_
Maimonides on Life "High Stakes Actions" Chapter 6 Law 6

2009-07-17
R' Yehonasan Gefen _Torah.org_
Do Not Steal part 3 (see also R' Yisroel PInchos Bodner "Halachos of other People's Money")

2009-07-17

DJIA	8,743.94
S&P 500	940.38
NASDAQ	1886.61
Nikkei	9,395
10-year US T-Bond	3.64%
crude oil	$63.56/barrel
gold	$937.50/ounce
silver	$13.403/ounce
platinum	$1,176.10/ounce
palladium	$249.60/ounce
copper	$0.1514375/ounce
natgas	$3.669/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline	$1.7699/gal
heatingoil	$1.641/gal
dollarindex	79.49
yenperdollar	94.33
dollarspereuro	1.4119
dollarsperpound	1.6357
swissfranksperdollar	1.0753
indianrupeesperdollar	48.74
mexicanpesosperdollar	13.35
MorganStanleyHighTechIndex	473.18

I usually get this info from MarketWatch.
 
 
 

2009-07-18

2009-07-
Zach Benoit _Billings MT Gazette_
Foreign grad students come to Big Sky State games
"Binhai Zhu, a computer science professor at Montana State University, has been a fixture at the games' table tennis events since 2002, and each year he does his best to bring a handful of his graduate students -- usually from China and India -- with him.   This year, he convinced Liwei Sun, of China, and Vishwanath Annavarapu, of India, to make the trip to Billings with him."

2009-07-18
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Long, Agonizing Decline of the USA

2009-07-18
Ron Scherer & Gordon Lubold _Christian Science Monitor_
Why did it take us so long to catch spy for the Red Chinese government
"'There are over 3,500 operatives in the US masquerading as students or on H-1B visas for the sole purpose of getting jobs in American manufacturing or defense industries for the sole purpose of stealing secrets for the [Red Chinese] government.', says Brett Kingstone, who lectures nationally on behalf of the FBI and defense contractors...   However, in the case of Chung, the government apparently had no difficulty.   Especially damaging was a letter from an official at the Chinese Ministry of Aviation who asked Chung for specific information about planes and the Space Shuttle.   The FBI found letters from 1979 giving Chung 'tasks' to collect data on civilian and military aircraft.   In one undated letter, Chung answered, 'I would like to make an effort to contribute to the Four Modernizations of China.'...   He had a company called Super Vision International (now known as Nexxus Lighting), which made high-tech fiber optic lighting cable and displays.   A Chinese company stole his trade secrets and almost bankrupted his firm.   He ultimately won a $52M judgment against the company.   He wrote a book, _The Real War Against America_, about his ordeal."

2009-07-18
Steve Emerson _Family Security Matters_
Software Company Officials Indicted for Allegedly Concealing Terror Financier's Assets in SBA Loan Application
Hudson Institute
"Soliman Biheiri, a Ptech co-founder, was convicted in 2004 for illegally concealing his extensive business and social relationship with Mousa Abu Marzook, a designated terrorist and leader of Hamas."

2009-07-18
Star Parker _Family Security Matters_
Government Health Care "Plantation" Looms (ObummerDoesn'tCare)
Winter Haven FL News Chief
 
 

2009-07-19

2009-07-19
James Hannah _Billings MT Gazette_
12 Apollo astronauts relive experiences

2009-07-19
_Seeking Alpha_
No Citizenship? No Problema! It's Obamacare!

2009-07-19
_American Chronicle_
Laing Yang sentenced for smuggling illegal aliens

2009-07-19
Dwight Schwab _SF Examiner_
The hour grows late on illegal immigration - part 3

2009-07-19
_NASA_
Tehran, Iran
 
 

2009-07-20

2009-07-20
Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar _Yahoo!_/_AP_
Socialist Obamacare

2009-07-20
Barbara Simpson _World Net Daily_
Pushing toward mass amnesty for illegal aliens, part 1

2009-07-20
Wes Vernon _Renew America_
Socialized medicine, part 6
index to more articles by Wes Vernon

2009-07-20
Fred Lucas _Cybercast News Service_
Tennessee's Troubled "Public Option" – TennCare – Could Foreshadow ObummerDoesn'tCare

2009-07-20
Matt Cover _Cybercast News Service_
Congress-critters should have the same health insurance Joe Plumber
+++ HRes615; Fleming; Congress-critters should live under any unconstitutional health plan they create

2009-07-20
Bob Ireland _Solano/Napa CA Times-Herald_
I'll stand behind the USA, not Obama

2009-07-20
Amy Allen _Daily Illini_
College admissions turning crazy with $40K coaches

2009-07-20 13:27PDT (16:27EDT) (20:27GMT)
Ronald D. Orol _MarketWatch_
TARP IG says bail-outs could cost $23.7T
"At issue are the land-mark $700G Troubled Asset Relief Program passed hurriedly last year.   The costs include $6.8T in government assistance offered by the Federal Reserve, Neil Barofsky, the inspector general for the Treasury's so-called TARP, is expected to say in his apprance.   Other assistance figuring in his report is the $7.2T in government funding for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and other groups, as well as $2.3T in programs provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. [FDIC]."

2009-07-20
Angelica Mari _Computing_
Off-shore out-sourcing worsening in the UK

2009-07-20
Steve Sailer _V Dare_
How UC bureaubums abuse Advanced Placement tests to help Asians, hurt others
Terence Chea: USA Today/Gannett/AP: University of CA admissions rule angers Asian-Americans

2009-07-20
Javier E. David _Examiner_
How ObummerDoesn'tCare's health care perversion is hazardous to your fiscal health

2009-07-20 (5769 Tamuz 28)
Rabbi Doctor Asher Meir _Jewish World Review_
Animals' relationship with mankind

2009-07-20 (5769 Tamuz 28)
Anne Bayefsky _Jewish World Review_
Jewish community's denial about Obama must stop: Obama is the most hostile sitting American president in the history of the state of Israel

2009-07-20 (5769 Tamuz 28)
_Skeptical Eye_
Mike Gogulski protests Socialist Insecurity Abomination & privacy violations facilitated by Socialist Insecurity Numbers (SINs) by burning Socialist Insecurity KKKard
 
 

2009-07-21

2009-07-21
_Wall Street Journal_
New Old Card Check: rigging of union elections not dead yet
"Plan B, which is to repackage most of what labor wants with new ribbons and wrapping.   The bill that Senators Tom Harkin (Iowa), Mark Pryor (Arkansas), Mr. Specter and others are now considering would still give unions the whip hand in negotiations with management.   One proposal would slash the time for an organizing vote, requiring that it be held within 5 or 10 days after 30% of workers had signed cards asking for a union.   The median time today is 38 days.   Organizers want the rush because they know the more time workers have to learn about a union, the less they usually want one.   Once employees hear the other side of the story, support dwindles."

2009-07-21
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Social Engineering and Price Controls

2009-07-21
_Daily Illini_
Catholics give eviction notice to homeless tent city

2009-07-21
Jodi S. Cohen _Chicago Tribune_
U of IL trustee Niranjan Shah requested a cushy job to be created for son-in-law
"University of Illinois board chair Niranjan Shah [CEO of GlobeTrotters Engineering] used his connection with the chancellor in 2007 to get a high-paying university job for his future son-in-law, a Dutch citizen seeking work in the United States.   Campus officials went to great lengths to comply with his request, creating a position for Maarten de Jeu without conducting the usual search, securing a visa so he could work in the country and paying him a salary of $115K a year -- more than most other employees with the same title...   'I thought he would be an excellent hire for U. of I. as it expanded its international research and consulting programs.', Shah wrote...   job search waiver...   Commissioners on Tuesday are likely to ask Shah how 2 of his family members got admitted to the university's College of Law...   Herman made sure the relative had a spot in the class even though a staffer wrote in a memo that the relative's academic record made him 'the lowest ranking individual in the 2004 class'...   De Jeu moved to Illinois from London in 2007 Autumn to work in the university's division of Business and Industry Services, a Naperville-based unit that provides consulting and training services to businesses...   The university also paid $7,458 to cover expenses related to de Jeu's move from London to Chicago, including two plane tickets, moving expenses, temporary housing and furniture rental.   University policy allows for $7,500 in moving expenses for faculty, administrators and professional staff...   De Jeu married Shah's daughter in 2008 February and left the university job in 2008 August, after about 10 months, for a position at a newly opened Chicago office of an international insurance firm...   In U. of I.'s petition for de Jeu's H-1B temporary work visa...   Internal university memorandums requesting a higher salary and search waiver also tout his specialization in international business...   he was in training for the first 4 months and spent the bulk of his time doing research."

2009-07-21
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
Clinton, in India, says bodyshopping is a concern for many
IDG
InfoWorld
"But what has really drawn the concern of India's tech [executives] is the threat of action by Congress, namely legislation by senators Chuck Grassley, (R-IA), and Dick Durbin, (D-IL), that would set a number of [extremely weak] restrictions on over-seas firms that [prefer to abuse] H-1B visas to deliver their services...   Hira said that it is clear that both U.S. [executives and immigration lawyers] and Indian [government and executives] are represented in the talks, 'But is there anyone representing the interests of U.S. workers?   The answer is no.   Since they are absent, or a more accurate description would be excluded, American IT workers' interests can easily be ignored by politicians in the State and Commerce Department(s).', said Hira."

2009-07-21
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
Obama' science advisor Holdren favored forced abortions, sterilization for population control in the 1970s

2009-07-21
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
National Socialist Health Control and the perverse notion of "social justice"

2009-07-21 13:26PDT (16:26EDT) (20:26GMT)
Kate Gibson _MarketWatch_
Caterpillar laid off 50K

2009-07-21
_Billings MT Gazette_/_Lee_
Leftists' ads attack Baucus for not including socialized medicine in his health care reform plan

2009-07-21
Michelle Malkin _V Dare_
Obamacare for illegal aliens
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

2009-07-21
_SiliconIndia_
Nearly 5K resigned from Tata
"its annual attrition rate was at 11.5%...   in the latest quarter TCS added a total of 2,828 employees with the total head-count of 143,761 at the start of the quarter...   total employees strength should have reached 146,589 by the end of June.   However, the firm's headcount was at 141,642 as of 2009 June 30, showing a net reduction of 4,947 employees...   The company is hiring fresh graduates as per need, but will honor the 24,885 campus offers it had made last financial year and those students would come on board only from the second quarter (July-September)."

2009-07-21 (5769 Tamuz 29)
Steven Emerson _Jewish World Review_
Imam at Windy City Islamic conference: We'll fight 'til "Islam Becomes Victorious or We Die in the Attempt"... Shariah must take precedence over US constitution

2009-07-21 (5769 Tamuz 29)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Medical care confusion
 
 

2009-07-22

2009-07-22
_Daily Illini_
University Board of Trustees needs house-cleaning
Jacksonville Journal Courier
"Board chairman Niranjan Shah [CEO of GlobeTrotters Engineering] intervened on behalf of 9 applicants over the last 3 years, in some cases lobbying the University to reconsider the applications of students who had been denied.   Member Lawrence Eppley acknowledges that he 'forwarded' about 4 names of applicants recommended by former governor Rod Blagojevich a year.   All current members of the Board, except Edward McMillan, appointed in May by governor Quinn, submitted 'inquiries' on behalf of candidates they knew.   The full degree of each trustee's involvement is not known, but Eppley, Shah and any other trustee who lobbied the University to reverse an admissions decision certainly should not be reappointed by Quinn."

2009-07-22
_Illinois Capitol Fax Web Log_
Abner Mikva asks Niranjan Shah about Indian mafia

2009-07-22
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring News-Letter_
analysis of the J. Hunt paper
A couple of working papers on H-1B and related visas by professor Jennifer Hunt of McGill University got quite a lot of press when they were released earlier this year.   Here I will review the second one (pdf), since it is broader in scope, and will cover the first one later.
 
There is quite a bit of interesting material in this paper, and I must say at the outset that it is of high quality.   It is one of the most careful in its approach among works on H-1B that I've seen.   Here I use the word "careful" in the sense that professor Hunt adjusts for many different covariates, a statistical term meaning variables that may jointly impact the variable of interest.   In the H-1B context, it means that a good study that, for example, compares H-1B wages to those earned by U.S. citizens and permanent residents, must account for many other variables besides citizenship, such as age, education and so on.   See Section V.B of my University of Michigan law journal paper for details ("On the Need for Reform of the H-1B NonImmigrant Work Visa in Computer-Related Occupations", N. Matloff, _University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform_ 2003 Autumn, vol36, #4, pp815-914 (pdf)).
 
Again, in my view Hunt has done excellent work here (discussed below), but I do have some criticisms to make.   As with my recent review of Bill Kerr's paper), I must take issue with professor Hunt's Introduction section (emphasis added):
 
...economists have an as yet incomplete picture of the aggregate BENEFITS TO NATIVES OF 'SKILLED' IMMIGRATION. In this paper, I address this by providing evidence not merely on 'skilled' immigrants' private productivity, as measured by their wage, but also on their success in creating, disseminating and commercializing knowledge, activities with PUBLIC BENEFITS LIKELY TO INCREASE U.S. TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY...
 
...[The sub-analyses here in different visa categories make] the results DIRECTLY INFORMATIVE TO POLICY MAKERS, who can use them to influence their decisions about which visa classes to expand or shrink and which transitions to legal permanent residence to facilitate.
 
While this is carefully stated, including with a disclaimer I'll address below, I believe many readers will get the wrong impression, as I will explain below.   Hunt continues,
 
To the extent that the activities I study have a PUBLIC GOOD COMPONENT, 'skilled' immigrants might CONTRIBUTE TO NATIVE WELFARE simply BY INCREASING THE SIZE OF THE POPULATION LIKELY TO ENGAGE IN THEM.
 
That phrase, "increasing the size of the ['skilled'] population", is her key point.   She is saying that the nation benefits because the more 'skilled' people we have, the better.   But again as with the Kerr/Lincoln paper, this ignores the displacement effects.   Employers hire the cheaper H-1Bs instead of Americans, causing many Americans to leave the tech field.   And the H-1B program keeps wages down and makes careers short-lived, causing many young Americans avoid going into the tech field, or to pursue graduate study in it, in the first place.   (Recall from my analysis of the Kerr/Lincoln paper that there are also short-term/long-term issues here.)
 
IOW, H-1B causes an internal brain drain in the U.S.A.   Thus we are actually not taking about "'skilled' immigrants [who] might contribute to native welfare simply by increasing the size of the population likely to engage in them".   On the contrary, H-1B and L-1 (and a fast-track green card program, if it is enacted) cause a DECREASE in the size of the American component of that population Hunt is discussing.
 
(A note on Hunt's word "native": As with many researchers, not to mention the press and the industry lobbyists, Hunt oversimplifies the situation by portraying natives as the only group impacted.   Immigrants are impacted too, and gradually become just as displaceable by H-1Bs as natives.)
 
To be sure, Hunt does make a disclaimer,
 
However, I do not undertake a full cost benefit analysis of 'skilled' immigration's impact, as I do not capture all possible benefits of 'skilled' immigration and I ignore potential negative effects.   Borjas (2006b), for example, calculates that immigrants with PhDs depress the wages of native PhDs.
 
But this is much too weakly stated.   As I've often mentioned, when the National Science Foundation [NSF] called in 1989 for an increase in foreign students and an H-1B program to employ them after graduation, with the express goal of holding down PhD salaries, it projected that the American students would choose not to pursue doctoral study, rather than merely put up with depressed wages.   IOW, the issue is displacement, not just wage reduction.
 
Now, what about Hunt's findings?   One could somewhat flippantly and simplistically, but pretty much correctly, summarize them as follows:
 
(a) H-1B engineers with U.S. degrees make more money than bank tellers.
 
(b) H-1Bs make less money than American engineers.
 
Item (a) is Hunt's "increasing the size of the ['skilled'] population" argument above.   It suffers from the displacement problems I described.
 
Item (b) is key.   Hunt correctly points out that much of the Great H-1B Debate involves the question of whether H-1Bs are paid less than Americans.   She cites analyses with findings like (b) by John Miano and me (though she incorrectly cites my CIS article for this).   (There are also studies by Paul Ong at UCLA, the NRC, the GAO etc. showing this.)   She also notes that the Mithas and Lucas study found that H-1Bs are paid more than Americans (see my critique of M/L).   Hunt's point is that if one corrects for all the covariates, one does find (b), though one also finds some interesting exceptions in certain visa sub-populations.
 
And indeed, Hunt does account for covariates in analyzing all these criteria, and in almost all cases, the "immigrant advantage" (her wording) over the natives goes away, and in fact jibe with what we critics of the H-1B program have been saying.
 
Specifically Hunt finds, inter alia, that:
 
(1) Controlling for field, education and age, immigrants make 6.9% less than natives.
 
(2) Controlling for those same variables in (1), plus age, region and other variables, there is no statistical difference in wages between natives and immigrants who originally came to the U.S.A. as H-1Bs.
 
This is not surprising, as the gap between former-H-1B immigrants and natives quickly disappears after they get green cards and are thus not exploitable.   Note, though, my point about interaction effects below.
 
(3) Controlling for the variables in (2), immigrants who originally came to the U.S.A. as foreign graduate students (or post-docs) make 13.2% less than natives.
 
This is a very major point.   It is in stark contrast to the current thinking in DC, fed by the industry lobbyists, that the H-1Bs hired from U.S. campuses are the "good" H-1Bs.   That claim is prominent in virtually every press kit, op-ed and so on written by Compete America, the American Electronics Association [AeA], the American Immigration Lawyers Association [AILA], etc.   This notion led to Congress establishing an extra 20K-visa sub-category in the yearly H-1B cap in 2000.
 
(4) She finds (Fig. 3, third graph) that immigrants from Europe with prior work experience who first came to the U.S.A. and have been in the U.S.A. a long time make a lot more than natives.
 
The European facet is consistent with my CIS paper, in which I found that the only nationalities of foreign workers who have a tendency to be "the best and the brightest" are Europeans.   There are of course some outstanding workers from Asia too, but the industry lobbyists' claim that the fact that most H-1Bs are Asian is due to superior educational systems in Asia does not jibe with the data.
 
The "long-time U.S." aspect also is plausible.   Prior to the implementation of H-1B in 1991, the old H-1 visa was officially for bringing in "the best and the brightest".   By 1991, it often wasn't working that way, but Hunt does seem to be picking up a lot of cases where it did work as intended.   See my University of Michigan paper on this ("On the Need for Reform of the H-1B NonImmigrant Work Visa in Computer-Related Occupations", N. Matloff, _University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform_ 2003 Autumn, vol36, #4, pp815-914 (pdf)).
 
The prior experience variable is important too.   Though Hunt's variable here was binary, for having any work experience at all, she's picking up a lot of workers that had considerable work experience before coming here.   Remember, the key point about most H-1Bs is that they are young, thus cheap.   They are also cheaper than young Americans, but as I've shown, age is key; the most important attraction of H-1Bs to employers is that it allows them to hire the young, cheap H-1Bs instead of the older, more expensive, Americans.   Thus H-1Bs who have significant work experience really are brought here for their special talents, not for cheap labor, thus making Hunt's finding plausible.
 
(5) Concerning patenting, Hunt says:
 
After I control for field of study, in the middle graph, and education, in the bottom graph, both main work visa groups and student/trainee visa holders have statistically significantly lower patenting probabilities than natives, and the 3 groups are not statistically significantly different from each other.   Unlike in the case...
 
By "main work visa group" she means the H-1Bs who originally came to the U.S.A. as H-1Bs, as opposed to the H-1Bs who originally came to the U.S.A. as foreign students, the "student/trainee visa holders".
 
Again, these findings are radically different from the claims being bandied about in DC by the industry lobbyists, along the lines that the H-1Bs, particularly the ones hired from U.S. universities, are especially innovative and patent-generating.   Again, this is major.
 
(6) After controlling for field and level of highest degree, the immigrants are about 2% more likely to be frequent scientific publishers.
 
I'm surprised it's only 2%.   Among my own department colleagues, for instance, almost all the immigrants have longer publication records than natives of the same experience level.   I believe they probably have more grant funding as well.   There definitely is a tendency to be more agressive in building up a CV.   Of course, one should not equate numbers with quality.   [Some of you may have heard the old derisive joke about deans when they evaluate faculty promotion cases: "Deans can't read, but they can count." :-) ]
 
(7) Immigrants who arrived as foreign graduate students have about a 1.2% higher probability of founding a startup firm.
 
Again, this small difference is quite different (though at least of the correct sign) from the industry lobbyists' claims that the former foreign grad students are especially entrepreneurial.
 
I would add two comments on methodology:
 
First, note that there are other covariates that could be important.   For example, over the years foreign graduate students have tended to choose the more "marketable" research areas, to maximize their chances of getting a U.S. job and green card after graduation.   The domestic students tend to choose research areas out of interest, which may result in lower salaries later on.   Accounting for this could accentuate some of the differences Hunt found.   Data on this would be difficult or impossible to obtain, though.
 
Second, my main criticism of Hunt's statistical analysis is that she seems to have done very little with interaction terms.   I believe, for instance, that a lot of the immigrant/native differences she found would vary widely from one field to another, possibly even changing sign.   She does briefly mention interaction terms, but apparently did not pursue it much.   This is a major point.
 
Overall, this is an excellent paper, in my opinion, again for the care the author has taken in accounting for some many covariates.   Subject to my concern about interaction terms, it explodes the major myths prevalent in DC these days, confirming the analyses of us critics.   [Yes, I know, some readers are now saying, "No wonder he likes the paper." :-)   Its 2 major flaws are again the interaction issue, and the lack of analysis of the impact of displacement of U.S. citizens and permanent residents by H-1Bs and foreign students.   Granted, such an analysis is difficult, but I believe the author should have at least included a discussion of the possible impacts of the displacement issue, and put in strong disclaimers in the Abstract and Introduction.
 
Norm
---30---

2009-07-22 03:00PDT (06:00EDT) (10:00GMT) (13:00 Jerusalem)
James Ritchie _Cincinnati OH Business Courier_
Tata falling behind on promise to employ 1K US citizens at Milford OH facility
"TCS agreed to hire 1K people by 2012 December 31, as part of a $15.5M Ohio job-creation tax-incentive package awarded in 2007. So far the head-count at the 223-acre campus is just 450. Amar Naga, director of operations... has hired more than 250 new graduates since it opened in 2008 in Milford... Media reports have suggested that TCS would apply for 1,500 H1-B visas, which allow companies to bring foreign workers to the U.S.A., to support growth in the 2011-12 fiscal year."
Tata salaries by job title
Tata pay by city

2009-07-22 04:09PDT (07:09EDT) (11:09GMT)
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
H-1B demand declining as employers/applicants are actually examined
IDG Norway
IT World
"For what may by the first time, the number of H-1B petitions withdrawn by applicants or rejected by U.S. authorities is exceeding the number of new petitions for the visas."

2009-07-22 09:36:56PDT (12:36:56EDT) (16:36:56GMT)
Mark Gomez _San Jose CA Mercury News_
Former California water company guest-worker accused of trying to embezzle $9M arrested in England
"Abdirahman Ismail Abdi, 33, fled the United States and was tracked through Canada before his arrest July 2 in the United Kingdom, where he is currently pending extradition back to the U.S.A., according to police.   Court documents show that Abdi resigned from his job as an auditor for the San Jose water company on April 27 and was spotted by a janitor returning that night to the office of a former co-worker.   The following morning, water officials discovered that Abdi had engineered three wire transfers totaling more than $9M from the company's accounts to an account in Qatar.   The accounts were frozen and the money returned to the water company, according to court papers...   Abdi is not a U.S. citizen and was ordered deported to Somalia in 2005, according to the same letter.   He was holding a British passport and was working on a fraudulent H-1B visa, according to police."

2009-07-22
Stacy St. Clair _Chicago IL Tribune_
Past president, chancellor and his own secretary at fault, Niranjan Shah says
U of I Board Chair Niranjan Shah Throws Secretary Under the Bus -- Pat Quinn Should Fire Shah

2009-07-22
Chuck Baldwin _V Dare_
Let It Come!

2009-07-22 (5769 Menachem-Ab 01)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
The Racism of "Diversity"

2009-07-22
W. Thomas Smith _Human Events_
Military mile-stones from Farragut's raiders to the first man on the moon

2009-07-22
Leo Gerard & Scott N. Paul _Campaign for America's Future_/_United Steelworkers International_/_Alliance for American Manufacturing_
The Protectionism that the USA Faces
 
 

2009-07-23

2009-07-23 05:30PDT (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
DoL home page
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 580,944 in the week ending July 18, a decrease of 90,298 from the previous week.   There were 411,408 initial claims in the comparable week in 2008.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.7% during the week ending July 11, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 6,231,108, an increase of 57,168 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 2.4% and the volume was 3,164,970.   Extended benefits were available in AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KY, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NV, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, PR, RI, SC, TN, VT, VA, WA, and WI during the week ending July 4.   [Note: The seasonal adjustment factors have been changed by DoL going back to at least the beginning of 2009.]"
graphs
more graphs

2009-07-23
Art Carden _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
The Hidden Costs of a Minimum Wage

2009-07-23
Doug French _Ludwig von Mises Institute_
You Can't Print Production and Prosperity

2009-07-23
Ben Conery _Washington Times_
ACORN filed suit against PA law that would remove paid incentives for registration fraud

2009-07-23
Betsy McCaughey _Wall Street Journal_
Obamacare's assault on the elderly
---- HR3200; Dingell; Unconstitutional Socialist Obamacare
2009-07-23
Frosty Wooldridge _Border Fire_
Obamacare for Illegal Aliens

2009-07-23
Steven Emerson _Family Security Matters_
Library Association buckled under pressure by CAIR; censored lecture "Perspectives on Islam: Beyond the Stereotyping"
Investigative Project: CAIR-Hamas-Muslim Brotherhood links
Discover the Networks: Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
anti-CAIR
Discover the Networks: Muslim Brotherhood (MB)

2009-07-23
Ben Shapiro _Family Security Matters_
Anguish around the globe as Obama rolls back American influence

2009-07-23
J.D. Longstreet _Small Gov Times_
Obamacare is another attempt to buy votes

2009-07-23
Laura Diamond _Atlanta Journal-Constitution_
Does Georgia have a graduation crisis or an illegal alien crisis, or a bureaucracy crisis?

2009-07-23
_Chicago Tribune_
U of IL appplicants get 2nd chance, if they know the right channels
"It was there all along, of course, though it wasn't advertised in rejection letters. &nbp; We've heard from applicants who say they inquired about appealing and were told they couldn't, but we've come to understand that they just weren't asking the right people. &nbp; So we're glad the university has taken steps to open the process to everyone."

2009-07-23 06:03PDT (09:03EDT) (13:03GMT)
Christine Des Garennes _Urbana IL News-Gazette_
U of IL trustee influence inquiry linked to B-school

2009-07-23
Andrea Koncz & Mimi Collins _NACE_
Petroleum engineering grads get top average starting salary offers

2009-07-23
Valeria Baletrieri _Cordis_
Bill Gates keen on massive privacy violation via "national ID kkkard" program in India
_IB Times_/_Economic Times of India_/_Times of India_/_Peninula On-Line_/_IT Voir_/_Smash Hits_/_Indian Express_/_domain-B_/_Red Orbit_/_Central Chronicle_/_Manorama On-Line_/_Deccan Herald_/_Asian Age_/_The Week_/_IBN Live_/_World News_/_Assam Tribune_
"Terming the unique identity project as a 'great initiative', Bill Gates said the software giant wanted to partner with India in the ambitious project [to violate the privacy of and enslave 1.2G people]."

2009-07-23
Mitu Jayashankar _Forbes_
Body shopping at Accenture
We are offensive. --- paraphrasing Bill Green chairman and CEO of Accenture
"staff augmentation services...   The world's largest technology consulting firm, which employs 177K people in 120 countries and has annual revenues of $23G, is certainly taking its new unit seriously.   It has put Bhaskar Ghosh, a former Infosys hand who joined Accenture 6 years ago, as its delivery head in India.   Industry sources say that Ghosh's team in India is 200-strong now."

2009-07-23
Brenda Walker _V Dare_
Revaluing Work: Class Division Exacerbated By Immigration Hits A Wall (Finally): Or "Divide and Conquer" Strategy at Work
 
 

2009-07-24

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform

2009-07-24
Gregory D. Lee _North Star_
Will Janet Napolitano arrest an illegal alien for any reason?

2009-07-24
Guy Pacot _Summit Daily News_
Fed up with feral federal government

2009-07-24
Doctor Laurie Roth _News with Views_
No on Obamacare

2009-07-24
Chelsea Schilling _World Net Daily_
No clear prohibition on Obamacare for illegal aliens

2009-07-24
Joseph Cress _Cumberland PA Sentinel_
Loss of manufacturing jobs affects area

2009-07-24
Jason Scott _Cumberland PA Sentinel_
Carlisle doctor and patient drawn into national Obamacare debate

2009-07-24
John W. Lillpop _Post Chronicle_
Forcing Inferior Health Care On American Citizens In Order To Cover Illegal Aliens (ObummerDoesn'tCare)

2009-07-24
Michelle Malkin _Modesto Bee_/_McClatchy_
Free, unlimited ObummerDoesn'tCare for illegal aliens
"Last week, the House Ways and Means Committee defeated an amendment that would have prevented illegal aliens from using the so-called public health insurance option.   Every Democrat on the panel voted against the measure."

2009-07-24
Ken Klukowski _Town Hall_
Obamacare

2009-07-24
Elaine Silvestrini _Tampa FL Tribune_
Restaurant owner Jitenda Kumar Chaudhary to plead guilty to illegal immigration, fraud, and harboring illegal aliens

2009-07-24 13:26PDT (16:26EDT) (20:26GMT)
Robert Powell _MarketWatch_
Age bias is alive and well
"According to 2008 statistics from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 24,852 age-related discrimination claims were filed in 2008, accounting for about 26% of all complaints.   By comparison, about 36% of all claims were based on race and 30% were based on sex.   The number of age-related discrimination claims is up 30% from 2007."

2009-07-24
Rob Sanchez _Job Destruction News-Letter_
The Rewards of Marrying Well
V Dare
profile of Niranjan Shah CEO of GlobeTrotters Engineering & chair of U of IL trustees
Smita Shah and Hillary Clinton
Indopia: BCCI office bearers attend wedding of Shah's daughter
India Sports tickets on Niranjan Shah
Niranjan Shah (Globetrotters Engineering; 60522; $1K to Dan Rostenkowski for congress committee on 1994-03-15
Chicago Business
Niranjan Shah has been often consulted about Indo-US relations by elected... Niranjan Shah founded Globetrotters Engineering Corporation in 1974...
GG2 Leadership & Diversity Awards 2007; Engineer and American entrepreneur Niranjan Shah was awarded the GG2 Leadership... role in making his company Globetrotters Engineering, one of the leading
Don McLean performs American Pie for the President; Niranjan Shah, Globetrotters Engineering Corporation chairman, and Pratima Shah, Globetrotters International Inc. vice president
Mega-Donor: Niranjan Shah; Employer: Globetrotters Engineering Corp State: IL: Amount Donated in 2008: $27,500.00 to committees supporting Barack Obama: Bundler Status for 2004
Niranjan Shah, the secretary of the BCCI, which begs the question... why on earth is it hosting international cricket?
Campaign contributions by Niranjan S. Shah
Punjabi Cultural Society of Chicago: Asian American Coalition of Chicago honors Samita Shah & Niranjan Shah at their 26th lunar new year celebration at Hyatt Regency O'Hare
"The 'Hon.' Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois, received the Coalition's Grand Asian AWARD.   This award is periodically presented to someone of non-Asian descent, who has made significant contributions to the Asian Pacific American community.   The 'Hon.' Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez was honored with the Special Distinguished Pioneer Award.   Niranjan Shah, CEO Globetrotters Engineering Corporation received the Distinguished Pioneer Asian Award."
Chicago Council of Global Affairs; Niranjan Shah, Globetrotters Engineering; Smita Shah, Spaan Tech
Globetrotters Engineering Corporation, a Chicago-based construction company owned by NRI Niranjan Shah is planning to sue and take a legal course against the Karnataka-based Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd (KIOCL)
Blagojevish raises cash from state contractors while reform bill sits
"A week after the legislature passed the bill, Blagojevich and his security detail pulled through the gates of the Oak Brook estate of Niranjan Shah, owner of Globetrotters Engineering Corp. Shah, a long-time state contractor who has donated to previous governors, has received more than $30M in state road contracts under Blagojevich. Shah, who contributed $1K himself, declined to comment through his lawyer. Records show Blagojevich's campaign took in more than $30K on the same day as Shah's contribution."
Chicago Flame; Globetrotters Engineering Corp., headed by Niranjan Shah, recently named... the gates of the Oak Brook estate of Niranjan Shah, owner of Globetrotters...
Wired Campus: U. of Illinois Solicits Budget Advice Online... Globetrotters Engineering Corp., headed by Niranjan Shah, recently named... the gates of the Oak Brook estate of Niranjan Shah, owner of Globetrotters...
Blagojevich steps up fund-raising; A week after the legislature passed the bill, Blagojevich and his security detail pulled through the gates of the Oak Brook estate of Niranjan Shah, owner of Globetrotters Engineering Corp...
governor-elect Jim Edgar announced key members of his transition team in late November
Five Indian Americans received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor at a ceremony in New York May 13
participants attending events hosted by the US-India Business Council during the Clinton visit
Big deals for Blago's big donors: Another firm named in the subpoena is Globetrotters Engineering Corp., headed by Niranjan Shah
Amma in Chicago
Jodi S. Cohen & Stacy St. Clair: Chicato IL Tribune: U of IL commissions poll
WGN: U of IL commissions poll
Caryn Rousseau: SouthTown Star/AP: U of IL B-school dean says: I admitted student pushed by trustee

2009-07-24
Charles Krauthammer _Washington Post_
Why Obamacare is sinking

2009-07-24
Timothy Baldwin _V Dare_
American Revolution Revisited
"American ideology and legal fact states that sovereignty rests with 'we the people'...   Through an honest study of the history and the context of the Articles of Confederation, the US Constitution, the Constitutional Convention and subsequent Ratification debates, the Federalist Papers, the Anti-Federalist Papers, the subsequent US Supreme Court Rulings and the writings of political philosophers and statesmen of the 1700s and 1800s, the conclusion is undeniable and clear: We the People are the Sovereigns of the States respectively and of the States United through our respective States."

2009-07-24
Roy Beck _Business Week_
HR1868 would place reasonable restrictions on birthright citizenship

2009-07-24
Erik Voorhees _Technology, Commerce, Society Daily_
The Poor Record of the Federal Reserve
Lew Rockwell
Erik Voorhees
"From 1776 to 1912 (136 years), the value of the dollar, relative to the Consumer Price Index, increased by 11%.   A dollar could buy 11% more goods in 1912 than in 1776.   Thus, if in 1776, you sat on your savings pile of $1,000,000 for 136 years, it would then be worth $1,110,000 in purchasing power (it will have appreciated in value by 11%).   A loaf of bread for Thomas Jefferson cost the same as a loaf of bread for Lincoln 50 years later and again the same for J.P. Morgan 50 years after that."

2009-07-24 (5769 Menachem-Ab 03)
R' A. Leib Scheinbaum _Jewish World Review_
Reproving those who engage in wrongful behavior is a religious duty and a moral obligation

2009-07-24 (5769 Menachem-Ab 03)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Medical Care Confusion

2009-07-24 (5769 Menachem-Ab 03)
R' Yehonasan Gefen _Torah.org_
Do Not Steal part 4

2009-07-24

DJIA	9,093.24
S&P 500	979.26
NASDAQ	1,965.96
Nikkei	9,945
10-year US T-Bond	3.65%
crude oil	$68.05/barrel
gold	$953.10/ounce
silver	$13.88/ounce
platinum	$1,191.40/ounce
palladium	$261.45/ounce
copper	$0.1514375/ounce
natgas	$3.695/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline	$1.9159/gal
heatingoil	$1.7813/gal
dollarindex	78.75
yenperdollar	94.84
dollarspereuro	1.4224
dollarsperpound	1.6441
swissfranksperdollar	1.0712
indianrupeesperdollar	48.23
mexicanpesosperdollar	13.212
MorganStanleyHighTechIndex	494.27

I usually get this info from MarketWatch.
 
 
 

2009-07-25

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform

2009-07-25
Tom Lutey _Billings MT Gazette_/_Lee_
Many areas of Montana are teeming with grasshoppers
"Nearly 400 kinds of grasshoppers roam the West -- 60 or so are considered bad, fewer yet are absolutely menacing and then there are ones that splatter against airplane windshields at 6,500 feet...   Most likely, the airborne hopper was a Melanoplus sanguinipes, or lesser migratory grasshopper.   The bug is known for leaping upward and then flying straight into the wind to gain great altitude.   This year the bug is getting around as grasshopper problems in Montana approach levels unseen in 23 years.   Southern parts of the state in some cases are seeing more than 40 grasshoppers per square yard, enough to challenge hungry livestock for forage...   In northwest Montana, more than 100 hoppers a square yard are chewing through the landscape in places such as Hot Springs and Ronan...   A population of 15 or more is considered bad."

2009-07-25
_Work-Force Management_
Employment Applications Pile Up
"The most conservative official estimates indicate that 15M unemployed workers are now chasing 2.5M jobs openings.   A more realistic estimate would show that there are 10 unemployed workers for every open job.   The number of job openings peaked at 4.8M in 2007 June, declined steadily through 2008 and then plummeted in the first half of 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.   Since 2008 May, the number of job openings has declined by 1.5M, or 36%...   'A lot of companies are afraid to use broad distributions, so they don't even post jobs and go only to one networking site -- for example, the hiring manager's alumni association.', Younger reports...   In many cases, the network that becomes the sole source for applicants is not racially diverse.   'Companies are being far more selective in their outreach to avoid the volume of resumes'...   'Recruiting staffs have been decimated, which leaves the entire recruiting process in the hands of hiring managers [where it generally should be, but] who don't care about non-discrimination and don't have the tools to be non-discriminatory'...   'some employers are vehemently opposed to hiring anyone who is unemployed'"

2009-07-25
_DNA India_
Indian government and firms spent over $10M lobbying in the USA
 
 

2009-07-26

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform

2009-07-26
Charles S. Johnson _Billings MT Gazette_
Unemployment insurance formula cuts some off from extended benefits
"For while the state Department of Labor and Industry reported that Montana's unemployment rate for June increased by 0.1% to 6.4%, that's not the rate used to determine someone's eligibility for extended benefits.   Instead, that eligibility is based on something called the 'insured unemployment rate'...   The "insured unemployment rate" does not include self-employed people, railroad workers or any agricultural workers not covered by unemployment insurance, said Labor Department economist Barb Wagner.   It looks at the number of unemployed Montanans as a percentage of those who are covered by unemployment...   This 'triggering off' does not affect people drawing regular unemployment benefits for up to 28 weeks or what's called 'tier one' emergency benefits of up to 20 weeks and 'tier two' benefits of up to 13 weeks.   Montana is the only one of the 36 states with extended benefits that triggered off this month, Mulvaney said...   In addition, preliminary numbers show about 15K filed for emergency unemployment claims and 1,200 extended unemployment claims were filed, Mulvaney said...   That maximum would be 28 weeks of regular unemployment insurance benefits, 20 weeks of 'tier one' emergency unemployment compensation benefits, 13 weeks of emergency 'tier two' compensation and 13 weeks of extended unemployment compensation (which has now been 'triggered off').   Employers paid $83M in unemployment insurance taxes in fiscal 2009 to cover the benefits paid to laid-off workers, Mulvaney said.   The state unemployment trust fund has about $200M.   'We're one of seven to 10 states considered solvent (for unemployment insurance).', Mulvaney said."

2009-07-26 16:20PDT (19:20EDT) (23:20GMT)
Moira Herbst _Business Week_
Why low-skilled immigrants and non-immigrants are going back: Weak USA economy

2009-07-26
Dick Gustafson _Vail Daily_
Stop the madness
"Here are some examples of the madness: Cap and trade: The largest tax increase bill in history on energy was recently passed by House of Representatives based on questionable, if not flawed, scientific global warming research.   Card check: Abolishing workers' secret union ballots was [thankfully] recently shelved by Congress.   It will return with a more deceptive title.   Socialized health care: With potentially record costs (and taxes), where bureaucrats control patient's treatment and decide who lives or dies, patterned after other failed socialized systems.   (Seniors, wake up! This means you.)   Amnesty for illegal aliens while ignoring border controls.   Government stimulus programs that don't stimulate jobs but give billions to organizations like ACORN with no spending oversight.   Government take-overs of the auto, banking, brokerage, and insurance industries, with more to come (some under union control).   Reducing defense funding and the number of missile defense weapons just as North Korea and Iran become serious threats.   The president has said that the 'Constitution is an obstacle', so he ignores it.   The multiple 'czars' is one example.   Where are the checks and balances?   Negotiating with enemies sworn to wipe us off the map.   Closing Gitmo will force terrorist into our court system and thus grant enemy combatants constitutional rights reserved for U.S. citizens.   Presidential criticism of our friends, while apologizing to our enemies for our successes, life-style and rights of 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness'.   Congress voting on health and energy bills they haven't read nor understand.   (The deaf and dumb leading the blind.)   Proposing [additional] taxes on soft drinks, wine and beer.   The Fairness Doctrine will control free speech by limiting radio station's programming.   A radical effort to silence decent from those with opposing opinions.   Inspector General Neil Barofsky reported that the stimulus bill alone could cost [tax-victims] up to $23,700,000,000,000 ($23.7T).   This was ignored by the treasury secretary.   Setting artificial dead-lines and rushing bills through an ignorant Congress will raise taxes, reduce freedoms, reduce national security, create pork and more government.   How many future generations will it take to pay for this foolishness and unscramble the mess?...   We need a new, fresh, honest, smart, trustworthy, knowledgeable and patriotic, term-limited Congress whose primary agenda is fiscal responsibility.   We need a Congress whose members serve the best interest of legal citizens and [tax-victims] instead of wasting half of their terms raising money for the next election.   We need a president and Congress who listens to constituents outside the beltway, not who lectures them.   We need members who are more concerned with removing poor legislation, reducing the size of government, and enforcing valid laws, instead of creating more chaos.   How? Vote them all out of office regardless of party.   It's time to sweep clean both houses of Congress with a citizen's non-violent revolution based upon a return to Constitutional law, with controls on special interest's influence and limits on lobbyists to delivering information only, not money and votes."

2009-07-26
Kevin Amerman _Allentown PA Morning Call_
Rap sheet isn't automatic ticket home: Critics decry system that let Chinese native charged in Sands ATM theft stay in U.S.A.
"She has 13 felony convictions, a 50-page rap sheet and spent at least 2.5 of her 20 years in the United States behind bars...   Chai, of New York City, received a deportation order in 2008."

2009-07-26
Peter Hecht _Sacramento Bee_/_McClatchy_
In Sili Valley, highly-skilled citizens are eager to work, even without pay
and Twin Cities

2009-07-26
Dianna Cotter _Portland Examiner_
HR3200 Obamacare
"It is not only abhorrent in its eventual cost -- up into the trillions of dollars over 10 years according to the Congressional Budget Office which has released not one but two reports stating that this bill will not save a dime and is more likely to cost over $1K*$1G [$1M*$1M], in other words, over $1T between 2010 and 2019 -- but requires that the states give up some of their sovereign rights.   Because of the precedent this would set, it may end up costing them all of their sovereign rights.   Beyond all of this, the bill attacks personal liberties and choice and is nothing short of Nazi-like in it's inhumanity...   This 'health care' package is a horribly bad idea.   [See the links to notes on specific portions of HR3200, at the bottom of the article.]"
Open Congress on HR3200
---- HR3200; Dingell; Unconstitutional Socialist Obamacare

2009-07-26
Michelle Malkin
Culture of Corruption: Czars of the Obama Under-World
 
 

2009-07-27

1921-07-27: insulin discovered

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform

2009-07-26 20:39PDT (2009-07-27 23:39EDT) (2009-07-27 03:39GMT)
_Daily Illini_
University should hire locally
"The I.A.T.S.E. claims that there are local unionized workers qualified to do the hoist project, but that the University has chosen not to hire them in order to cut costs...   Unemployment in June in Illinois was 10.3%, above the national average of 9.5%.   In Champaign County unemployment was 7.7%, but nearby Vermillion County had an unemployment rate of 10.9%."

2009-07-26 21:01PDT (2009-07-27 00:01EDT) (2009-07-27 04:01GMT)
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
USCIS says TARP law and H-1B dependent status requires evidence supporting assertions made on LCA and visa applications
"In recent months, the USCIS has compelled some applicants to provide corporate pay-roll records, zoning maps and even building fire-safety plans [in reaction to mail-drop and closet office scams abused to game 'prevailing wage' requirements and fraudulent declarations of the kind of work]...   U.S. regulators 'are going to request resumes that the companies have received, to make sure that they have [seriously] considered all minimally qualified workers [for a change]', Koizumi said...   In an e-mail to Computerworld, a USCIS spokesman said that the agency is 'requesting end-user documentation in those situations where the beneficiary is not working on-site for the petitioner.   This will help us ensure that a job offer does indeed exist, and that the work-site is covered by the labor condition application in the file and that a position is a specialty occupation.'...   A total of 85K H-1B visas [plus an unlimited number exempted from the limits] are available for the year."

2009-07-27
Roger Cheng _Wall Street Journal_
Verizon to dump 8K employees (with graph of telecomm lay-offs)

2009-07-27
Kahrin Deines _Billings MT Gazette_
Clark Days celebration at Pompeys Pillar National Monument
"...commemorating captain William Clark's visit to the sand-stone butte on 1806 July 26.   As the story goes, Clark and 12 others in his crew stopped at the out-cropping on his return trip east from the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition.   There, the captain carved his name into the rock, leaving the only remaining physical evidence of the mapping expedition he set out on with Meriwether Lewis under the orders of President Thomas Jefferson.   He also named the butte 'Pompy's Tower', after the nickname he had given his Shoshone guide Sacagawea's son."

2009-07-27
Paul Mayer _Compare Car Rentals_
Hotel occupancy rates down, as firms cut back on interviewing and relocations and many people lack means to travel
Sara K. Clark: Orlando Sentinel
Orlando Sentine graphs
Anthony Schoettle: Indianapolis Business Journal
Hospitality Net/Smith Travel Research
Hotels Magazine/Reed
"[Indianapolis] hotel occupancy for the first 6 months of 2009 -- at 51.9%... Washington, DC 76.6%... Minnesota/Wisconsin region 61.6%... Houston, TX 55.7%; Phoenix, AZ 45.4%; Detroit, MI 55%..."

2009-07-27
Michael Cutler _News Blaze_
On murder of border patrolman Robert Rosas

2009-07-27
_Media News-Wire_
11 Mexican nationals arrested in south Wisconsin during ICE-led anti-gang operation
"Of the 11 males arrested, all but one are known members of the following gangs: La Raza, Vatos Locos, Latin Kings, HomeBoyz and the 38th Street Gang.   All but one of the gang members is in the United States illegally; one is a U.S. permanent resident whose criminal convictions render him eligible for deportation."

2009-07-27
Jim Horton _Santa Clarita Valley CA Signal_
After decades of excessive government spending there simply is no money left

2009-07-27
Roger Hedgecock _World Net Daily_
Ted Kennedy is patient zero
"It started with Ted; the 'reforms' [perversions] to flood the U.S.A. with legal and illegal immigrants from everywhere, and to put the government in charge of your health care started with Ted, back in the 1960s.   Patient Zero: The 1906-07 typhoid epidemic in the U.S.A. was traced back to a single infected individual -- 'Typhoid Mary' Mallon.   The AIDS epidemic of the 1980s in the U.S.A. has been traced back to a single infected flight attendant -- Gaeton Dugas.   The virus of revolutionary 'reforms' in immigration law beginning in 1965 which have transformed immigration from a positive infusion of aspiring Americans 'yearning to breathe free' to a tsunami of multi-cultural humanity yearning to live free at our expense can be traced to a political Patient Zero -- one senator -- Ted Kennedy.   The virus of government-run health care destroying the doctor-patient relationship, driving up costs, rationing care and invading privacy began with senator Ted Kennedy."

2009-07-27
Barbara Simpson _World Net Daily_
Pushing toward amnesty for illegal aliens part 2

2009-07-27
_Staten Island Advance_
Staten Island Borough President Molinaro urges Durbin/Grassley senate bill that would reduce displacement of Americans from jobs

2009-07-27 16:45PDT (19:45EDT) (23:45GMT)
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
Federal judge deals set-back to US tech workers WRT OPT
"However, this case is not being decided on its merits, but instead on technical issues.   The U.S. District Court was asked last year in the law-suit to issue a preliminary injunction to block the extension.   But Judge Faith Hochberg ruled that the opponents did not have legal standing to bring the case because they weren't directly affected by the student visa extension.   The appellate court, in its decision dated July 17, affirmed the lower court's decision.   John Miano, a Programmers Guild founder and attorney who argued the case in court, said he will ask the court to reconsider the case, and failing that, they may take their appeal to the Supreme Court.   There is also the option of filing another case on new legal grounds.   'To this point we have spent over a year litigating whether we can litigate.', Miano said.   'That sounds absurd to engineers and other non-lawyers, but that's the way it works.'"

2009-07-27
Mike Dennison _Billings MT Gazette_
Federal wage laws have slowed $27M weatherization project
"The $27M can't be spent until the [phoney baloney] 'prevailing wage' is determined for such work, perhaps by later this summer, said Jim Nolan, chief of the Intergovernmental Human Services Bureau for the state."

2009-07-27
Linda N. Weller _Alton IL Telegraph_
TEA parties drawing crowds
Alton IL Tea Party

2009-07-27
Edwin S. Rubenstein _V Dare_
Did Immigrant Economists Sink the U.S. Economy? (with graph)
"What Wall Street was really after, a former 'rocket scientist' says, was not PhDs, but PSDs: people who were 'poor, smart and with a deep desire to get rich'.   Asian PH.D.s fit that description perfectly."

2009-07-27 (5769 Menachem-Ab 06)
Dexter van Zile _Jewish Word Review_
Anglican priest disgraces authentic Christianity
"For Ateek, Israel's offer at Camp David in the summer of 2000, its acceptance of the Clinton Parameters the following winter, its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, and Olmert's 2008 offer to withdraw from 93% of the West Bank are meaningless.   Despite these and other concessions and withdrawals, Ateek regards violence against Israel as Israel's fault.   In sum, nothing Israel does is good enough for the god who animates in Ateek's sermonizing, and very little of what the Palestinians have done wrong is worthy of divine judgment, or even a benign admonition.   For example, on 2000 October 5, soon after the beginning of the Second Intifada, when a real peacemaker would be calling for calm and for an end to violence, Ateek issued a statement that portrayed Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount on Sept. 28 as a 'violation' and a 'desecration' and asserted that 'It was right for our Palestinian Muslim brothers and sisters to stand up in the defense of their holiest place, al-Haram al-Sharif, when it was being threatened and desecrated.'   On its face, 'standing up in defense of their holiest place', seems like a pretty benign affirmation of non-violent action, unless of course one takes into account the fact that 5 Israelis had been killed by Palestinian violence in the 2 weeks before Ateek issued this statement."

2009-07-27 (5769 Menachem-Ab 06)
Rabbi Doctor Asher Meir _Jewish World Review_
Animals' relationship with mankind part 2

2009-07-27 (5769 Menachem-Ab 06)
B. James Stinson _Immigration Review_
anchor children: a critical history of the constitutional doctrine
 
 

2009-07-28

2009-07-28
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring News-Letter_
BusinessWeek article on exiting techies
"No one goes there anymore - it's too crowded."--Yogi Berra
 
If there is one central point in my writings on H-1B, it's that the visa is used by employers to avoid hiring older, i.e. 35+, Americans, who are more expensive than the 20-somethings.   This is not the case for branches of engineering in which there are rather few H-1Bs employed, such as civil engineering.   (See my University of Michigan law journal article for data ["On the Need for Reform of the H-1B NonImmigrant Work Visa in Computer-Related Occupations", N. Matloff, _University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform_ 2003 Autumn, vol36, #4, pp815-914 (pdf)].)
 
And I've emphasized that the word "Americans" here means not only natives, but also naturalized U.S. citizens and green card holders.   This in turn obviously has consequences: As immigrant engineers learn the sad truth and find after a few years that they too are being passed over by employers in favor of H-1Bs, many send word back home that H-1B causes tech careers to tend to be short-lived.   Meanwhile, of course, professional opportunities in the main H-1B-sending nations, India and China, have been growing.
 
So, I've been predicting for several years now that the H-1B pipeline is going to dwindle.   As I've written in postings here the last couple of years, that dwindling has already started in the case of China, and may be starting for the Indians too.
 
So the article enclosed below, like similar articles we've seen in the last year or so, rather misses the boat.   It's not that "They're going home" but instead that "They've stopped coming here in the first place."   [Even better.   Cut the numbers and let in only the best...jgo]
 
Here, as before, there is spin doctoring in progress.   In the past, tough post-9/11 visa restrictions were the blame that the "conventional wisdom" people placed on the decline in foreign students.   True, some were in fact put off by the draconian policies, but the fact is that the decline had already started a year or so earlier.
 
Now, as seen below, the blame of choice is the long waits for green cards.   Supporters of "instant green cards for foreign students" claim we're losing the geniuses due to the back-logs, but as I've pointed out before, the waits are short for "the best and the brightest", the EB-1 green card category.   Swaroop Ganguly, the lead example in the enclosed article, has a good research record, and would have had a shot at the EB-1 green card level.   But instead, he went off to Belgium, leaving his job at Freescale Semiconductor, which sponsors tons of engineers for green cards, according to the PERM data.   I think it's pretty clear from that, and from his remarks below, that he really isn't very interested in staying in the U.S.A., and thus an "instant green card" program would not keep him here.
 
We certainly should try to keep "the best and the brightest", but in general the H-1B program is causing an internal brain drain in the U.S.A., shutting out many engineers over age 35, and causing many college students to avoid the field to begin with.   The various businesses that the H-1Bs described in the article want to start sound OK, but lots of displaced Americans would have had good ideas if they were in the field too.
 
Kapil's case is interesting.   First of all, IBM is to blame for stringing him along for 3 years before sponsoring him for a green card.   If they'd sponsored him when they hired him, which used to be typical, he'd have gotten his green card approximately 2 years ago, assuming EB-2, which is likely.   This "stringing out" of the process is a common strategy among employers that want de facto-indentured workers.
 
But second, the words "consultant" and "IBM" make it fairly likely that his job involves off-shoring work to India.   Again, we should blame IBM for that, not Kapil, but if he is involved in off-shoring, that makes him a very poor choice of poster child for an "instant green card" program.
 
The author of the article below seems to take it for granted that the H-1Bs with graduate degrees are the "good" H-1Bs.   Yet she offers no basis for that, and as I've shown before, those with graduate degrees are in general not especially talented.   Note that the data in the Hunt paper that I reviewed the other day, indicate that this category of H-1Bs is in general weaker than similar U.S. natives.
 
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has endorsed the "instant green card" idea, and as the article points out, senator Schumer and others have expressed support.   But it's not justified, and would simply exacerbate the displacement of American engineers.   It's the age problem again, as usual.   Though recipients of "instant green cards" would now be free to move around in the labor market without exploitation, the key point is that they would almost all be young, and thus would have the same displacement effects.
 
Norm
Moira Herbst: BusinessWeek: Low-Skilled Non-Immigrants Heading Home

2009-07-28
Kevin McLoughlin & Bridget Mulcahy _Daily Illini_
Current and past U of IL presidents White, Stukel, Ikenberry testify before admissions review commission
"'Some [trustees] felt obligated to the governor because of their appointment.', Stukel said.   'In my view the legislative model was about power and had nothing to do with benefitting the University of Illinois.'"
split appointments no more likely to be free of corruption than current system

2009-07-28
Phylli Schlafly _Town Hall_
Reading the fine print in health care perversion proposals

2009-07-28
James Morrison _Washington Times_
What's up along embassy row

2009-07-28
Kelly Wilson _Cumberland PA Sentinel_
Carisle shows rise in PSSA scores

2009-07-28
Joseph Cress _Cumberland PA Sentinel_
126 Frog, Switch employees to be called back to work in next two weeks
"In late June, Bieger said the company pulled together sufficient orders to resume production in August.   Most are to export casting for ore crushers to Australia, the chief supplier of iron ore to China."

2009-07-28 07:54PDT (10:54EDT) (14:54GMT)
Burton Frierson _Reuters_
Job woes sap US consumer confidence
"The 'jobs hard to get' measure came in at 48.1% -- the highest since March this year -- compared with 44.8% the previous month."

2009-07-28
_KSL_
Alcala law firm indicted for immigration fraud scheme
"The indictment charges the firm with conspiring to obtain visas under false pretenses for companies who knew their employees were in the country illegally...   Among those working for the firm were a former U.S. Border Patrol agent and a former visa worker at a consulate in Mexico.   Moreno could not say what became of the workers who got the estimated 5K fraudulently obtained visas.   They are likely still in the country, authorities conceded...   Eight people were arrested Tuesday..."

2009-07-28
_Post Chronicle_
Former Armenian consul in Los Anglees and 4 others charged/arrested for phony "letters of refusal" scheme
Miami Examiner
UPI

2009-07-28
Thomas E. Brewton _View from 1776_
High-Level Corruption of Climate Research
Government monopsony distorts research: $79G and counting
related info from SPPI
Joanne Nova: Climate Money: The Climate Industry: $79G so far -- trillions to come

2009-07-28
Martin Feldstein _Washington Post_
Obamacare is not the answer

2009-07-28
Paul Craig Roberts _V Dare_
Statistical Deceptions

2009-07-28 (5769 Menachem-Ab 07)
Mandy Locke, Yonat Shimron & Josh Shaffer _Jewish World Review_
7 charged with terrorism in NC

2009-07-28 (5769 Menachem-Ab 07)
Richard A. McCormack _Manufacturing & Technology News_
it is now Obummer's economy: USA's/world's oldest printed circuit board company has closed its doors
"The oldest printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing company in the United States has shut its doors, a casualty of failed government trade and economic policies.   'We have been around for the entire growth of the computer age, but I have stopped investing in job creation in manufacturing.', says Doug Bartlett, chairman of Bartlett Manufacturing Company.   As owner of the Cary, IL-based manufacturing company, Bartlett was hanging on early this year to see if [president Barack Hussein Obummer] would change course from the [Shrub regime's] strict adherence to 'free' trade.   It was not to be.   With the potential for skyrocketing taxes that will be required to pay off the Democrats' massive government stimulus program, which has had little impact on the U.S. electronics manufacturing sector, 'I am not going to be the government's sacrificial lamb.', Bartlett adds.   It has now become [Obummer's] economy.   Bartlett Manufacturing, formed in 1952, was one of only about 300 printed circuit board manufacturers left in the [United States of America].   Bartlett has watched as the U.S. printed circuit board industry has shrunk from producing more than 30% of global output a decade ago, to less than 8% in 2008.   Asia now accounts for more than 80% of global output of PCBs, up from 33% 10 years ago.   Last year, total revenue for the U.S. PCB industry fell to $4G, down from $11G in 2000.   'The industry has been crippled beyond repair.', says Bartlett.   'Our kids are going to be fluffing dogs and doing toe-nails while the [Red Chinese] are making leading-edge devices.'...   'It doesn't take a genius to figure out that there only are a few pockets of R&D left in the United States.   You need volume production to do general R&D, so therefore 90% of all electronics R&D is taking place in Asia.   If that is where the electronics R&D is taking place, where do you think the technology is?...   Of the 5 drilling machines that I bought for $130K, on average they sold for $3,500.   Just a year ago, they would have sold for $40K...   Yes.   U.S. government policies have killed many American industries.   There is a march to free trade, which is okay so long as the rest of the world is playing by the same rules.   But our government, our professors and our geniuses like Robert Zoellick [former U.S. Trade Representative and now president of the World Bank] -- he is the worst of them all -- have been on a march to a free-trade utopia.   They just killed us...   The companies outsourcing production have PACs.   They have the ability to put money into campaigns.   Even when we went into see senator [John Kerry's presidential campaign] group, the first thing [former Lehman Brothers general partner and assistant secretary at the Department of Treasury during the Clinton administration] Roger Altman asked is if we were prepared to donate $50K to his campaign.   My mouth dropped open.'..."

2009-07-28 (5769 Menachem-Ab 07)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
a post-racial president? no, a hyper-racial president
 
 

2009-07-29

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform

2009-07-29
Guy Healy _Australian IT_
Immigration & Citizenship minister Chris Evans warned that being granted an education visa does not guarantee you'll get a permanent resident visa
"'The Australian government will adjust the program to meet our national needs and not be driven by the education choices of overseas students.', he said...   Senator Evans said: 'The skills and qualifications we seek in migrants will vary over time.'...   Senator Evans's comments followed a report in The Australian last week that quoted researcher Bob Birrell as saying the attacks on Indian students in Melbourne and Sydney may have been only the beginning of the social conflict to be played out as thousands of foreign students stay on with full work rights and compete for jobs and housing."

2009-07-29
Kevin McLoughlin & Bridget Mulcahy _Daily Illini_
U of IL board of trustees member Eppley tendered resignation, urges others to follow suit
"Judge Abner Mikva, chairman of the Admissions Review Commission, called for the entire board to step down...   'You should be given the opportunity to appoint a new leadership team.', Eppley told [IL governor Pat Quinn].   'I believe that the best interest of the University will be served if the current members of the board step aside in order to help the University begin to move forward unencumbered by these recent events.'"

2009-07-29
Joseph Cress _Cumberland PA Sentinel_
Plant closure means more than job loss
"As company general manager and later president, Jonas Warrell served as the board chairman of Carlisle Hospital for 19 years, as president of the Carlisle Community Chest (now the local United Way chapter) and as a trustee of the Cumberland County Historical Society.   Jonas Warrell was the top executive of the company from 1943 to 1966...   Carrol was a trustee of the Carlisle Hospital and the Carlisle YMCA, a member and former chairman of the Cumberland County Planning Commission and Tri-County Planning Commission and a member of the Carlisle Zoning Hearing Board.   He was also a former director of the county Cancer Society and Red Cross Association, and a former president of the Greater Carlisle Area Chamber of Commerce.   Lincoln Warrell said it was his brother who developed the industrial management club, a community organization to train supervisors and lead people in industry.   Some events it hosted drew as many as 300 people, he said.   When Carlisle Corporation became a publicly traded company in 1960 June, company chairman George Dixon purchased the first 100 shares of stock and donated it to the St. Patrick's church Boy Scouts, Lincoln Warrell said.   That donation grew into a trust valued at $100K."

2009-07-29
Juan Gonzalez _NY Daily News_
Body shopping by the numbers: Some computer geeks at Future Technology Associates paid more than NY Public School Chancellor Joel Klein
"[Tax-victims] shelled out an average of $250K last year for each of 63 computer consultants a little-known Florida-based firm supplied to the Department of Education.   That's more than $15.7M of our money going to Future Technology Associates [FTA], which landed a DOE contract in 2005 -- the same year the company was founded.   The company's job is to integrate the school system's financial accounting system with other city agencies.   That contract began at $2.5M a year.   Since then, it has been repeatedly extended -- mushrooming to $15.7M in fiscal year 2009.   As a result, the average pay for each of the FTA employees is equal to that of Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, the city's highest-paid executive.   Several company employees received considerably more than Klein, NY DoE records show.   FTA director Tamer Sevintuna, for example, snared $348K as senior manager for the project.   His second-in-command, Jonathan Krohe, logged in at $345K.   Senior consultant Sesha Narayanasamy received $276K.   Those costs also include what the company pays for its employee health and fringe benefits...   Its only official addresses -- in Jacksonville, FL, and on Schermerhorn St. in Brooklyn -- are just mail drops.   Most of its employees work full-time at the DoE's computer center in downtown Brooklyn.   As many as a dozen are working with H-1B non-immigrant visas for foreigners with 'special skills'."
LCA data-base with declared pay of FTA's H-1B positions
2008-01-03 agenda NY schools with memo regarding contract (pdf)
award notes (pdf)
NY vendor list (pdf)
award notes (pdf)
award notes (pdf)

2009-07-29
Jeff Lukens _View from 1776_
Slouching toward Orwell's 1984

2009-07-29
Cassandra Mickens _Shelby county AL Reporter_
Alabaster woman sentenced for harboring, employing illegal aliens

2009-07-29
Norm Matloff _Numbers USA_
Schumer Announces Move Regarding Foreign Workers
"It would appear to be similar to statements made during the last year by a number of Democrats, including Obama, supporting liberalization of the employment-based green card program.   As I've written many times, I am just as strongly opposed to expansion of the green card program as I am to expansion of H-1B, as both have the effects of reducing job opportunities for U.S. citizens and permanent residents.   Moreover, though I definitely support bringing 'the world's best and brightest individuals' here, very few of the foreign workers are of that caliber."

2009-07-29
Niki Kelly _Ft. Wayne IN Journal Gazette_
State legislators seek IU, Purdue tuition freeze

2009-07-29
John David Lewis _Capitalism Magazine_
Jewish settlements and Israeli law
"The source of this problem is the Arab leadership, who refused to accept an Arabic state next to Israel, as called for in the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181, 1947 November 29, and rather declared war on Israel.   Unremitting suicide attacks were the source of the later separation wall.   But this is all the more reason to end the war, eliminate the ambiguity, and extend Israeli law -- and its principle of non-religious discrimination -- fully into those areas."

2009-07-29 (5769 Menachem-Ab 08)
Steven Emerson _Jewish World Review_
CAIR's Congressional Stooges
Investigative Project: CAIR-Hamas-Muslim Brotherhood links
Discover the Networks: Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
anti-CAIR
Discover the Networks: Muslim Brotherhood (MB)

2009-07-29 (5769 Menachem-Ab 08)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Disaster in the making
"if the worst that Barack Obama does is ruin the economy, I will breathe a sigh of relief."

2009-07-29 (5769 Menachem-Ab 08)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
Exploiting public ignorance
Town Hall
"A president cannot spend a dime that Congress does not first appropriate.   As such, presidents cannot be held responsible for budget deficits or surpluses.   That means that credit for a budget surplus or blame for budget deficits rests on the congressional majority at the time...   Between 1787 and 1930, we have had both mild and severe economic downturns that have ranged from 1 to 7 years.   During that time there was no thought that Congress should enact New Deal legislation or stimulus packages along with massive corporate handouts.   It took the Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt administrations to massively intervene in the economy.   As a result, they turned what might have been a 2- or 3-year sharp down-turn into a 16-year depression that ended in 1946.   How they accomplished that is covered very well in a book authored by Jim Powell titled _FDR's Folly_."

Defend Your Health Care
 
 

2009-07-30

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform

2009-07-30 05:30PDT (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
DoL home page
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 507,464 in the week ending July 25, a decrease of 78,111 from the previous week.   There were 376,123 initial claims in the comparable week in 2008.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.6% during the week ending July 18, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 6,060,671, a decrease of 196,289 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 2.4% and the volume was 3,208,848.   Extended benefits were available in AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NV, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, PR, RI, SC, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, and WI during the week ending July 11.   [Note: The seasonal adjustment factors have been changed by DoL going back to at least the beginning of 2009.]"
graphs
more graphs

2009-07-30
_Kansas City Star_
CIS: Illegal alien population in Arizona may have dropped by 14%
Daniel Gonzalez: Arizona Republic

2009-07-30
Robert A. Ussery _Osceola IA Sentinel-Tribune_
Secure the border, enforce the immigration laws
"The latest unemployment figures show that in 2009 June, 14.7M people were out of work.   Another 9M people were working part time for economic reasons.   This brings it up to a grand total of 23.7M people looking for a full time job.   An April report released by the Pew Hispanic Center shows that 8.3M illegal aliens are holding American jobs.   We need to return those 8.3M jobs to American workers."

2009-07-30
Harris Sherline _GOP USA_
Can birthright citizenship finally be ended?

2009-07-30
Mike Gordon _Albert Lea Tribune_
The USA has deported large numbers of illegal aliens before

2009-07-30
Luann Dawkins _Birmingham Examiner_
Is this really the kind of reform we need? A detailed analysis
---- HR3200; Dingell; Unconstitutional Socialist Obamacare

2009-07-30
Patrick Thibodeau _Computer World_/_IDG_
FAQ: Data shows over-seas shift for U.S. IT jobs: If the Grassley/Durbin bill is approved, Indian firms will have to hire more U.S. workers (with graph)
"Data prepared by Everest Group Inc., a research and out-sourcing consulting firm, shows in broad brush fashion the shift of jobs over-seas by some major IT services vendors.   In 2006, U.S. and European firms typically had less than 20% of their work-forces off-shore; now, for most companies that figure may well be generally over 30%...   That company earns more than 50% of its revenue from North America, but Tata has more workers in Ecuador than in the U.S.A., according to data it released this month.   (See page 18 of TCS's PDF.)   Of the approximately 123,404 employed by TCS, not including subsidiaries, 91.7% are Indian nationals.   Of the remaining 8.3% of the company's work-force, just 900, or 8.7% are Americans.   That's less than the percentage of TCS workers who are Mexican (9.8%); Ecuadoran (13.1%) or Chilean (15.3%)... &nbp; The 'majority of [Indian] companies that operate [in the USA] have significantly more [than] 50% of their workers on H-1B/L1 visas.', Som Mittol, the president of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), an Indian trade group, said in a recent interview...   Another strategy suggested this month by Fremont, CA-based off-shore firm iGate Corp., is hiring Mexican nationals who can travel freely into the U.S.A. under North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) rules by using a TN visa.   The majority of iGate's labor force is in India."
class action against Tata

2009-07-30 12:38PDT (15:38EDT) (19:38GMT)
Alistair Barr _MarketWatch_
Pay of bank executives is "unmoored" from performance, Cuomo says: New York attorney general slams compensation at Citigroup, Merrill, rivals
"Citigroup and Merrill together lost $54G in 2008, paid out nearly $9G in bonuses and then received $55G in TARP money, according to the New York Attorney General's report.   Goldman, Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan didn't lose money in 2008, but the firms gave out bonuses that were bigger than their income for that year.   Combined the 3 banks made $9.6G last year, paid bonuses of nearly $18G and got $45G in TARP money, the report said.   (Cuomo' office noted that some firms didn't want TARP money.)...   Compensation at [Bank of India] jumped from over $10G to more than $18G between 2003 and 2006.   In 2008, when net income slumped to $4G from $14G, the bank's compensation payments remained at the $18G level, Cuomo's office said...   Rather than sticking to the same performance yardsticks to determine compensation, banks did just the opposite to keep compensation high every year, Cuomo's office argued, citing Congressional testimony from Chubb Chief Executive John Finnegan, who was head of Merrill's compensation committee."

2009-07-30
Michelle Malkin _V Dare_
Dodd & Obama: Corrupt birds of a feather

2009-07-30
Nicole Wallace _Chronicle of Philanthropy_
Tata gives what looks like a $50M bribe to Cornell U to promote bodyshopping and off-shoring
class action against Tata

2009-07-30
Joseph Chamie _Yale Global_
How large should the USA's population be? (with graphs)

2009-07-30
John Ribeiro _NetworkWorld_/_IDG_
Indian government's Central Industrial Security Force to provide security for Infosys

2009-07-30 (5769 Menachem-Ab 09)
Martha Woodall _Jewish World Review_
iPhone iconoclast
"Now 15, the Mount Airy, PA, youth is the toast of the Internet.   More than 1,100 followers track his techno exploits via Twitter...   'It's really cool to have people using my software to do awesome things with their phones.', said Ari, who is about to begin his sophomore year.   Ari, who has consulted family friends who are lawyers, contends that providing unauthorized applications for iPhones is legal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.   'My theory is that, basically, since I paid a lot of money for this device, I should be able to put any application on it.', he said...   Since age 3, [Ben] had been spending most of his free time on computers...   'Every next thing we do is iteratively better and better...   Everything is of a higher and higher quality with better business plans.', Ben said"

2009-07-30 (5769 Menachem-Ab 09)
Rabbi Yonason Goldson _Jewish World Review_
The Puzzle Master: Reframing tragedy by rethinking life's greatest mystery

2009-07-30
Thomas Sowell _Real Clear Politics_
Incompetence and Immaturity
 
 

2009-07-31

1934-07-31: In 1934, German President Paul von Hindenburg died, paving the way for Adolf Hitler's complete takeover.

++ S887; Durbin, Grassley; H-1B and L-1 visa program reform

2009-07-31
Thomas McCall _Tallahassee Examiner_
Allen Boyd's $2.2M sidewalk and more pork

2009-07-31 06:01PDT (09:01EDT) (13:01GMT)
Rex Nutting _MarketWatch_
"Employment costs" rising at slowest pace on record
BLS report

2009-07-31 07:21PDT (10:21EDT) (14:21GMT)
Greg Robb _MarketWatch_
In the past 4 quarters, GDP has fallen a record low 3.9%
BEA/NIPA
Information about the comprehensive revision of the NIPAs

2009-07-31
David Hunt _Massachusetts High Tech_
Interest in STEM careers will stay stunted until off-shoring ends

2009-07-31
Pui-Wing Tam _Wall Street Journal_
Silicon Valley's jobless unplug from tech (with graph)
more graphs
by industry

2009-07-31
Juan Gonzalez _NY Daily News_
Future Technology Associates pays guest-workers a small fraction of what they bill Dept. of Education for their work
"The computer firm that billed [tax-victims] an average of $250K last year for each of 63 full-time consultants it gave the Department of Education appears to have paid those consultants just a fraction of that amount.   Future Technology Associates has held a no-bid contract from the DoEd for the past 4 years to integrate the school system's financial management software with that of other city agencies.   Under the contract, the company, which seems to have no other clients, received more than $15.7M from the school system in fiscal year 2009.   Since it began its work for DOE, Future Technology Associates has filed 19 applications with the U.S. Department of Labor for permission to hire foreign workers under temporary H-1B visas.   On those applications, it claimed to be paying those employees from $45K to $80K, with the average at $65K.   Those salaries represent about one-fourth what FTA charged the city for those workers...   the company's only official addresses, on Schermerhorn St. and its 'head-quarters' in Jacksonville, FL, are mail drops...   Sevintuna billed the DoE $348,950 last year for his labor, while Krohe charged $345,275.   A dozen other FTA consultants billed more than $250K each.   None of the company's employees was paid at a rate less than $190K annually, DoE spokeswoman Melody Meyer said.   DoE officials defend the quality of FTA's work.   They say its rates are 'better than competitive' when compared with the rest of corporate America.   Still, the mushrooming use of foreign computer workers by private companies has been a problem for years."

2009-07-31
Roy Beck _Numbers USA_
Another demonstration of why you can never believe a congress-critter

2009-07-31
Joe Guzzardi _V Dare_
Obamacare and amnesty for illegal aliens will die together

2009-07-31
Tom Tancredo _V Dare_
La Racists and politics

2009-07-31
Matthew Vadum _Canada Free Press_
Communist-linked Apollo Alliance dictating to congress
"President Obama's new 'green jobs' czar Van Jones, an avowed militant communist, had been on the board of the pressure group Apollo Alliance, which aspires to flatten the U.S. economy...   Even worse, the green gangster group, which has ties to ACORN, SEIU, and Center for American Progress president John Podesta, has significant pull in Congress and helped to write the stimulus bill."

2009-07-31 (5769 Menachem-Ab 10)
Mona Charen _Jewish World Review_
George Gilder Throws Down a Gauntlet
"Gilder's thesis is this: Today's hatred of Israel is feeding off the same poison that has nourished anti-Semitism throughout history -- envy, resentment, and misunderstanding of economics.   Gilder asks: 'Are you for civilization or barbarism, life or death, wealth or envy?   Are you an exponent of excellence and accomplishment or of a leveling creed of troglodytic frenzy and hatred?'"

2009-07-31 (5769 Menachem-Ab 10)
R' Francis Nataf _Jewish World Review_
Consolation Prizes

2009-07-31 (5769 Menachem-Ab 10)
R' Dovid Rosenfeld _Torah.org_
"G-d Up Close" chapter 6 law 7a
"If one sees his fellow sin or following an improper path, he is obligated to return him to the better [path], and to inform him that he is sinning to himself with his evil ways.   [This is] as it is stated, 'You shall surely rebuke your fellow' (Leviticus 19:17).   When one rebukes his fellow, whether in matters between the two of them or in matters between him [the sinner] and G-d (lit., 'the Omnipresent'), he must rebuke him privately (lit., 'between him and himself').   He should speak to him gently, in a soothing (lit., 'soft') tone, telling him that he is only saying this to him for his benefit and to bring him to the life of the World to Come.   If his fellow accepts his words, it is good.   If not, he should rebuke him a second and third time.   And so too, he is continuously obligated to rebuke his fellow until the sinner hits him and says to him 'I will not listen.'"

2009-07-31 (5769 Menachem-Ab 10)
Rabbi Yehonasan Gefen _Torah.org_
Do Not Steal part5 (based on Rabbi Yisroel Pinchos Bodner _Halachos of Other People's Money_

2009-07-31

DJIA	9,171.61
S&P 500	987.48
NASDAQ	1,978.50
Nikkei	10,357
10-year US T-Bond	3.48%
crude oil	$69.45/barrel
gold	$953.70/ounce
silver	$13.94/ounce
platinum	$1,214.20/ounce
palladium	$264.60/ounce
copper	$0.16396875/ounce
natgas	$3.653/MBTU
reformulatedgasoline	$2.0448/gal
heatingoil	$1.7938/gal
dollarindex	78.35
yenperdollar	94.80
dollarspereuro	1.4257
dollarsperpound	1.6441
swissfranksperdollar	1.0689
indianrupeesperdollar	47.9275
mexicanpesosperdollar	13.1917
MorganStanleyHighTechIndex	493.09

I usually get this info from MarketWatch.
 
 
 

Proposed Bills 2009

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

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