Where have all the IT jobs gone, long time passing?
Where have all the IT jobs gone, long time passing?
Where have all the IT jobs gone?
Our corporations have outsourced everyone.
Oh, when will we ever learn?
Oh, when will we ever learn?
The lie that is the H-1B program
From the linked article at Mother Jones:
“And it applies in a similarly upside-down way to foreign tech workers, who, according to a study released yesterday by the Economic Policy Institute, demonstrate no more talent in important areas than similarly educated Americans, and in some cases may be less qualified.”
“There are, of course, reasons for this that have nothing to do with intelligence. More than 80 percent of H-1B visa holders are approved to be hired at wages below those paid to American workers for comparable positions, according to EPI. And because H-1B workers and green card applicants are locked into jobs with whatever employer sponsors their visa, they have less less leverage to push for raises and promotions. As Matloff puts it, “the worker becomes a de facto indentured servant.”
Letter to a North American Manufacturer
President
Seabreeze International Corporation
361 Rowntree Dairy Rd #3
Vaughan, ON L4L 8H1
Dear Sir/Madam:
I purchased a model SF6000TA electric space heater from many other available models primary because it was made in North America. Some of the reviews online also gave me a warm fuzzy about my proposed purchase. Your product comes at a price premium compared to similar products from China, but I ignored this as it is important to me to buy products made closer to home.
I noticed the shipping container that my heater arrived in was a cardboard box made in China. Perhaps you should rethink your sourcing of these sorts of products in your business. I want to support manufacturing in North America. I do not think it should be a stretch for North American manufacturers to support manufacturing in North America.
Just a thought.
Sincerely,
Welfare Mama, My A$$
One of the reoccurring themes when I talk to my fellow citizens on the right of the political spectrum is freeloaders. They seem utterly outraged and maybe terrified that someone might be getting something with their tax money. I keep hearing stories about the welfare mama driving a Cadillac. Another favorite story is the teenage bimbo driving a hot car, living with her boyfriend, and paying for cigarettes with food stamps. Then we have malingers collecting workers comp for a fake injury. The stories go on and on.
I have no doubt that there are cases like the above. I spent an afternoon a while back Googling for statistics on this type of fraud or abuse of the system. I did not have a lot of luck finding any numbers. My gut feeling is that the dollars pale in comparison to the real welfare cheats, doctors, lawyers, hospitals, and corporations.
A while back I worked for a large corporation involved in the care of the elderly. Their standard business practice was to bill Medicare for every possible thing. Apparently they were a little too zealous about it. The government pushed back at them and they had to pay back a rather large sum of money (in the millions). If memory serves there was also a fine involved, but I am not entirely sure on that part.
A news story just broke, 91 charged in Medicare fraud crackdown. They have just arrested 91 individuals, including doctors and other medical professionals. They are claiming $295 million in false billings. Continue reading “Welfare Mama, My A$$”
Faces on Meth, A Disturbing Reality
Note: At the bottom of this post you will find a link to view the Faces of Meth.
If you are walking at night and come to the edge of the cliff, the smart thing to do is turn around. If you take another step the result is not likely to be good. Many drugs fall into the same category. To start taking some drugs is like walking up to that cliff edge, only the results are not so veiled. There have been many folks that have gone before you that have crashed and burned on the rocks below.
In the early 70s I lived in Rhode Island. I was single, and occasionally would party with a group of folks. Usually it was beer drinking and some pot. I had an ambivalent relationship with pot. Sometimes it made feel nice and mellow. Sometimes, though, it made me feel depressed and paranoid. I can achieve depression all by my lonesome, and feeling paranoid is no fun. At some point I decided that I did not like rolling the dice with unsure results. So I quit smoking pot. One evening before I quit, I went to visit my party friends. I walked in the house and they were all sitting around the coffee table. Upon the table were needles, a tourniquet, and other heavy duty drug paraphernalia. Continue reading “Faces on Meth, A Disturbing Reality”
Korporations Have Hijacked Our Schools
Here is a link to an article that details how our schools are being taken over by korporations for purpose of creating commodity style workers. It sounds like a conspiratorial type idea, but… I don’t know if we have a bunch of corporate types in a back room planning this, but the effect is the same. And I believe real. Korporations want compliant workers. Besides lower wages, I think part of the rush to H1-B workers and off-shoring was to get a more compliant workforce. My experience, having worked with a multitude of H1-Bs, is that they do not buck the system and accept whatever is dealt out. Korporations 1, workers 0.
The link: Our Public Schools Are Churning Out Drones for the Corporate State
For whatever reason there seems to be a head long rush to divide us into a classed society. A rush to divide us into a society of the educated and the poorly educated. Education does not seem to be valued any more for the sake of knowledge, but only for what it can do for you career-wise. Most of the Meta values I am aware of are not derived from the korporate workplace.
This two class society scares me in another way. For a democracy to really work well, it is better to have an educated population. To have a population that is not influenced by every Glenn Beck that comes along. A population devoted to the NFL and reality shows, is not going worry too much about state of the nation until it is too late.
Most of my adult life I have worked for large korporations that include several Fortune 500 companies. While I do not think I am exceptional or different, I have always chafed in these places. There is something about being stuck in a little gray cube 8 hours a day that is not conducive to the soul’s health. The folks that run these companies know that. So the question becomes how do we keep the work force under control, and with the illusion that this is what life is all about? They obviously think the answer is to hijack the educational system. With control of the education system the values and skills that benefit the korporations can be instilled early and often. They are well on the way to doing that. Continue reading “Korporations Have Hijacked Our Schools”
NRA – Arms Manufacturer Lobbying Arm
I looked and looked online trying to find the funding sources for the National Rifle Association (NRA). I did not have a lot of luck.
Here is an article from Mother Jones that sheds some light on that murky subject.
Who Does the NRA Advocate For?
To answer their question…it is not the average gun owner, but the corporations that funnel money to them.
It is past time for sensible gun regulation in this country.
Illegal Immigration – Pros and Cons
I am still trying to figure out how I feel about all the illegal immigrants in this country and the various action plans floating around to deal with them. My gut reaction is not kind, but I know there is much more to the picture than what my knee-jerk emotions are telling me. I do know that many legal immigrants that I have spoken to resent the illegal immigrants that have not jumped through all the hoops they have, yet seem to be able to stay in this country unbothered.
Towards the end of clarifying my thought process I thought I would gather up some of the arguments, favoring and oppositional.
We have a tendency due to our dysfunctional political system to not act, to drift, to let the status quo rock on. This should not be the case with immigration reform as the current system is full of abuse, personal and systematic. Continue reading “Illegal Immigration – Pros and Cons”
It Is Time We Linked Arms
I was visiting with a relative the other day who was about to retire from a state job, but would not be old enough for Medicare. It was explained to me that he could continue his insurance from the state for $500 a month. Now that is a lot of money, but almost seems cheap in today’s health care market.
A little math will tell you that $500 a month is $6,000 a year. Next add Continue reading “It Is Time We Linked Arms”