• Shyiak still UAA coach despite ad for an American Citizen
  http://www.adn.com/sports/prep/hockey/story/931949.html
• Bruce Richall, homeless IT consultant
  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7681978.stm
• Rob, homeless IT professional
  http://www.outsourcedandhomeless.com/

I also discuss 2 other stories. One about a Microsoft Product Manager who was laid off from Microsoft by a guest worker/manager on a L-1 Visa.  I call her Alice to protect her identity.  The second is a story about Diane Drozdowski, an IT worker who was tortured at American Express by an Indian manager until she had a nervous breakdown and then was forced to train her replacements from India.

I also play audio from a fan (a young one) who called in to my comment line.

I apologize for the audio not being as high of quality as I would like it to be, but I do have software on order which I hope will help with future episodes.

The Free Traders are getting the economy that they have been wishing for: cheap labor, disappearing unions, a killer trade deficit, and runaway corruption due to the lack of regulation and Laissez-faire economics.

In this episode I talk about the auto industry bridge loan and GM’s promise to restructure.  GM promises to become a sustainable American company and build “a bridge to a sustainable American auto industry”.  GM has already cut wages to $14.20 for new workers.  The number of workers at the Flint plant where my Dad worked for decades has already gone from a peak of around 6,500 workers to merely 900.  Now GM is planning more cuts, including eliminating 35% of its dealerships by 2012.  With so many people either making close to poverty wages or kicked out onto the street, there is not going to be many customers for GM’s new “green” cars.  So just how is this going to be sustainable for GM or the automotive industry?  How is this supposed to help save the economy as GM claims in their blog? You can view the “Bridge” YouTube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqo2uwA-_eE.  They turned off comments so no one can comment on their YouTube posts.  They also have several other posts there to review.

One thing that wasn’t so bad in the last contract negotiation between the UAW and GM was the VEBA (Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association) solution for retiree medical benefits.  This benefited GM in that they no longer had to record retiree medical benefits on their books, as well as took retiree benefits off the table and out of jeopardy during future contract negotiations and potential bandruptcy proceedings.

Happy Holidays and I wish you the best in what promises to be a very bad new year.

PS: If you have a Facebook account, be sure to become a fan of WashTech’s new Facebook page.

I also talk about job interviews that I had at two different medical device companies.  It is amazing how obvious it was that they didn’t want to hire an American Citizen for the position.

I introduce two books that cover the union WashTech.  The first book is “The Uprising: An Unauthorized Tour of the Populist Revolt Scaring Wall Street and Washington” by David Sirota.  An excerpt of this book is available at the WashTech site.  WashTech is discussed in the chapter “Dilberts of the World, Unite!”.  I have an interview in the book near the end of that same chapter.

The second book is titled “Love the Work, Hate the Job: Why America’s Best Workers Are Unhappier Than Ever” by David Kusnet.  An excerpt of this book is available at the WashTech site.  This book not only describes WashTech’s history in great detail, it also  describes Boeing’s history along with the union SPEEA.  It also describes how Boeing changed from a company caring about quality to a company caring more about profit.

Also included in this episode are music and audio clips from the game Portal by Valve Software.

I didn’t contact the Indian, but I did look over the cheat-sheet containing over 25 questions.  At the top of the list were two semi-tricky SQL questions, one involving a “Left Outer Join” and the other involving a table “self join” where you have to use aliases to complete the SQL query statement.  The remaining questions on the list included some .NET questions, as well as some more general questions.  It was a pretty thorough list.

The cheat-sheet was very accurate.  When I appeared for the interview that was scheduled to last 2 hours, I met with 2 people simultaneously.  Both are managers for the development of the software product that the company was built on, which is a web based investment management application.  After the initial small talk was over, they started the interview off with those two SQL questions right off of the cheat-sheet.  Of course, I worked out the problems in front of them (I didn’t rattle off SQL statements like I had them memorized from a cheat-sheet).  They seemed very happy that I came up with the correct answers.  They proceeded to ask a few more questions that were on the cheat-sheet.  However, they only asked about 8 of the questions off of the list of over 25 questions.  They didn’t even ask any of the .NET questions.  Then the interview was over in less than an hour.  That was when they told me that they have several other candidates that they are interviewing over the next couple of weeks and that it would be at least a week before they could get back to the recruiter or me with a decision.

The next day, they told the recruiter that they were turning me down for the job because my .NET web experience wasn’t recent enough.

???

About two months before this, I had an interview at Amazon.com here in Seattle.  This interview had a computer programming problem for me to solve.  I didn’t have a “cheat-sheet” for this interview, but I was told at the interview that I had the best solution that they had ever seen in an interview.  That sounded great.  Amazon is right up there with Bill Gates saying that they want to hire the “Best and the Brightest”, and I just proved to them that I am in that category.

What was the result?  Well, two days later, I heard from the Amazon recruiter.  She told me that they were not going to hire me for the position.  I asked her why.  She responded “It is not Amazon’s policy to give a reason as to why you were not hired.”

???

At the end of last week, I went to yet another job interview.  I am still waiting to hear back from this one.  I thought the interview went well, but I have long learned now to not put any stock in how well I think an interview went.  I did find a comment of one of the interviewers interesting however.  He said “It’s hard to find anyone with .NET experience in the Seattle area.”  I find this comment particular interesting, given that my interview was taking place in a conference room, within this company’s rented facility, that is less than a 10 minute drive from the location where .NET was invented and developed – Microsoft.  It was on this same Microsoft campus where I began working with .NET, back when .NET was nothing more than an initial internal-use-only alpha release.

From what I observe of Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), she is a recluse to the middle and lower classes.  I have never seen her do a “town hall meeting” like Congressman Jay Inslee frequently does.  I also find that when she visits a city within Washington State, she is more likely to be visiting with the Chamber of Commerce than a local labor council. 

That is why I jumped at the chance to go to a “round table discussion” that she held Friday at 3:30pm in the super progressive town of Bellingham.  One of her staffers invited the Snohomish County Labor Council, for which I am a delegate.  The invitation was forwarded out to all the delegates of the council.  The title of this round table discussion is “Jobs for Us, Jobs for Our Kids”.  “Wow”, I thought, “this is a very grass roots sounding title, and she wants to hear from unions.”  What I found however, is that it was very short notice for working folk.  It is a long drive for most people to Bellingham.  It is around a 2 hour drive from Seattle.  You had to be very determined in order to go to this thing, and you had to have some amount of flexibility from work.  Now that I think about it, I can see where this inconvenience for the common folk may have been a convenience for Cantwell.

Well, I felt that it was a great opportunity to be heard. And, being a true progressive, I felt I had to give her the benefit of a doubt.  Cantwell is known in the technology worker circles as a senator who is contributing to the destruction of jobs and careers in the high-tech industry.  This is due to her no holds barred support for unlimited VISAs for foreign workers to take our jobs here in the U.S.  You may think highly of her for fighting to get the Air Force contract to build new refueling tankers away from Airbus and back into Boeing’s hands.  But, after attending this round table discussion, I am convinced that she is doing it more for the CEO of Boeing than for the Boeing workers.

I arrived at the Bellingham Technical College where this round table discussion was to occur.  In the lobby, I found that they already had a name tag for me.  I was glad to see that I had a name tag because they hadn’t confirmed the RSVP email that I had sent.  Glancing in the room, I noticed that there were name cards on the tables in the middle of the room that were arranged into a large rectangle to seat about 25-30 people.  I said “oh, seating is assigned”?  For which I got the reply “only for those who are sitting at the Table, others can sit in the chairs that are arranged against the wall”.  I proceeded into the room.  I was early so I walked around the arranged tables and read all the name cards.  There was Cantwell’s card, and a card for her local staffer.  There was one card for some guy from a local blue-collar union (sorry, I know I should have taken down names).  The rest were for CEOs of local companies and for Presidents of various Washington universities and colleges. No, Bill Gates wasn’t there. He always cuts out the middle man and goes to DC himself.  Hmmm.  I didn’t see my name on any of those cards, so I sat in one of the chairs that were arranged in rows lining the room. 

All the Presidents and CEOs showed up wearing suits and then Cantwell showed up, shaking hands with everyone, including the commoners, who did not have name cards on the table.  I was one of the commoners, and yes I got to shake her hand (Woo Hoo).  When the meeting started, it was quickly announced that all the suits at the table would get a turn to speak, while the commoners were there to be the “audience”, and yes, they did say “audience”, like we were there for a Pacific Northwest Navy Band Concert.  If I wanted to be part of an ‘audience’, I would have been in downtown Seattle at the Paramount Theatre seeing “Mamma Mia!” (Oh darn, I missed it again! Maybe next year).  It was also announced that at the end of the session, they would set some time aside to take “a couple questions from the audience”.  I’m thinking “oh great, I brought charts, printouts, and facts with me because I was going to participate in the round table, not to be the ‘audience’”.  At this point, I also began to wonder about the title of the discussion, “Jobs for Us, Jobs for Our Kids”.  I thought, “Wait a minute, all these CEOs and Presidents have jobs, and I am sure their kids will never be in want of a job”.  There is something fishy going on here.  I thought we would discuss how to make more jobs available for us, the commoners, and for our kids.  I thought we would be talking about jobs that may or may not be available to me, and jobs that may or may not be available for my kids.  And, being a true progressive, I once again felt betrayed for giving her that benefit of a doubt that I had mentioned earlier.  I have to say, she looked very comfortable sitting at that table with all those CEOs and Presidents.  They are her peeps.

So after those announcements, it was on with the show, and they didn’t even serve popcorn.  Well, they did serve coffee and cookies, so it wasn’t all bad.  The CEOs started first. One of the first things that many of the CEOs did was to thank Cantwell for everything she has done for labor.  Ummm, wait a minute.  CEOs thanking her for what she has done for labor?  That can’t be good.  I took a quick look out a nearby window to see if any of the birds outside were flying backwards.

The CEOs continued on by talking about their corporate problems. They were all talking about how business has never been better, yet they cannot find enough skilled labor to hire.  One of the CEOs there was from a company that builds very large catamarans, 50 to 100 foot boats he said.  I am sure I will never be buying one of his boats unless somehow my salary is more than quadrupled some day.  He talked about how “his company was full of gray hairs”.  He “tries to keep his employees as long as possible, but he can’t find replacements with the right skills.”  Another common theme was that “it was too expensive for the companies to train people for the jobs”.

Let me give you a side note as to what is going on here.  Any real economist will tell you that the “Law of Supply and Demand” applies to many other things besides products.  The law states, from Economics 101, that the price will go up for a product if demand rises or supply falls, or the price will fall for the product if the demand falls or the supply increases.  For instance, the oil companies frequently and artificially lower the supply of oil in order to increase prices to gouge us in order to make higher profits.  Of course eventually, there will be a real shortage of oil, but by then most of us will be breathing with artificial lungs and will have adopted our very own polar bear in order to keep the species alive.

The “Supply and Demand” law also applies to jobs and wages.  A higher demand and a lower supply of workers will result in higher salaries.  This is a great thing because this situation corrects itself.  The higher wages will attract new workers, because it will actually be worth it to them to train themselves for these jobs.  Conversely, lower demand and a higher supply of workers will lower salaries.  Naturally, people will leave this work force and seek out other careers, so the situation corrects itself again.  That is why when the government artificially floods the high-tech market with cheaper foreign labor, you will see less Americans going into debt to get an engineering degree.

This law also applies when it comes to productivity and wages.  Productivity is the “product” and wages represent the demand.  In other words, a healthy economy needs to keep a good balance between productivity and wages; wages need to increase with increases in productivity.  Otherwise we would have a lot of productivity (products and services) with no demand for that productivity.  According to these real economists, productivity has been increasing since 1980 with no real increase in wages.  How can this be?  The answer is that demand is being created through debt.  That is why we are having so many economic problems today.  To really fix this problem we need to increase everyone’s wages.  However, the powers that be right now, along with the corporate protectionists (also known as ‘Free’ Traders, people such as Greenspan), do not want to increase wages.  They just want to keep raising the debt, including the debt that the government carries as well as the debt that Americans are saddled with.

So, back to the round table discussion.  The CEOs want to hire already skilled workers, because they don’t want to spend money to train anyone, and they don’t want to offer higher wages to naturally attract new self-trained workers.  Put another way, they do not want to hire already skilled workers at higher salaries.  This results in quite a quandary for them, and it leaves us, the commoners, in debt with not much to hope for.

Another CEO I found particularly interesting there was the CEO of a local oil refinery.  He too was talking about how great business was.  We have the Bush administration and his oil cronies to thank for that.  He also joined the chorus complaining about not finding any skilled workers.

Then, later in the CEO discussions came the kicker.  They talked about resorting to immigration for the solution.  They also talked about all the “skilled workers” in the area that they couldn’t hire because they didn’t speak English.  They reached out across the table to the college Presidents asking them to reach out to these non-English speaking communities and teach them English.  Their hunger for cheap labor was really showing then.

The one blue-collar union guy at the Table got to speak and he actually brought up a very good point.  He said he was dissapointed that the only informational brochures that the kids bring home from school are brochures for colleges.  He said there needs to be more information given out at schools about trades and getting involved in apprenticeships.  This was the best thing that I heard coming from the “Table of the Constituents that Matter”.

When it came time for all the college presidents to talk, it was all about their funding being cut and financial aid being cut.  They also talked about a problem with students having to live in their cars on campus grounds.  It’s no wonder, if you are not rich, you have to get into huge amounts of debt to earn a degree.  I worked as an adjunct lecturer for a while at one of these local technical colleges.  The college paid me a pittance to teach baccalaureate level courses in computer and network security. I’m serious; I could have made more working part time as a cashier somewhere.  Yet they charged the students thousands of dollars each for the class.  Where was all that money going?  I don’t know, but I do know that I wasn’t seeing any of it and it certainly didn’t go into any decent lab equipment.

After listening to all the whining from the “Table of the Super Constituents”, it finally came down to a “quick question and answer session” with the ”audience”.  They had a microphone set up and it was obvious that all they were expecting was a couple timid members of the “audience” to come up and ask some easy naive questions.  Just about half of the audience got up and raced to get in line at the microphone.  There was an audible gasp emanating from the “Table of the Business Elite”.

I was fourth in line.  I can’t remember what the first 3 had talked about, probably because I was trying to mentally prepare to do my bit.  I knew I wasn’t going to have a lot of time, and with what I had to say, I knew I was going to be the “wet smelly dog in the room”.  I knew I had to get their attention and trust first before I did my bit and I had to do it quickly.  When it was my turn at the microphone, I introduced myself, explained that I was a software engineer with a Master of Information Systems Management degree.  I then remarked, addressing those at the Table, “I feel like I should have brought you all copies of my resume.”  Laughter came rolling from the “Table of the Congressional Influencers”.  I gave a quick plug for my 13 year old son.  Telling them about his programming robotics and how he is going to compete at the FIRST Lego competition in Atlanta in April.  I also told them that his younger 8 year old brother is not far behind, because he is developing his own games on the computer.  With interests peeked, I then bring out my chart that I made showing what happened to software engineering salaries over the past few years.  You can see the chart here: Software Engineering Salary Survey.  I explained that dropping salaries means that there is more supply than demand for software engineers.  I mentioned that there are many independent studies that show there is no shortage of technology workers.  I also told them about the DOL Strategy Plan that anyone can download from the DOL site that states that it is OK to replace American workers with foreign workers on H-1B VISAs.  I was hearing gasps from all over the room, including from those waiting in line behind me.  I then said that they should not be talking about increasing the VISA cap in DC.  Cantwell decided it was a good time to cut me off and said that she did not agree.  She threw out some bogus numbers saying that there were 300,000 jobs to fill each year and that the number of college graduates plus the foreign VISAs were still under that amount.  She also started throwing out company names like Google, etc., all alleged to be started by foreigners in the U.S., saying that “if it wasn’t for foreigners coming to our country to start these companies, these companies would have been created in China or elsewhere”.  Yes, thank God for those foreigners starting businesses for us here in the U.S.  Heaven knows we Americans can’t do it ourselves (dripping sarcasm intentional).

She ended my time at the microphone by telling me to send her the statistics that I had.  She said she “would be more than happy to be proven wrong”. (yeah, right).

Interestingly, 5th in line was a blind woman representing those with disabilities in the state.  It played right into what I was saying.  She said that there are many disabled people in Washington State who are very highly qualified, and yet they are not getting any jobs.  She claimed that the disabled have an unemployment rate of 70%.  I believe it.  Discrimination is high right now.  If you are disabled, or over 40, it is tough to get a full-time permanent job with benefits.

Wake up Washington.  Stop re-electing these corporate-centric politicians.  They are not good for the people.

Part of that labor arbitrage scam is the guestworker Visa programs, such as L-1 and H-1B.  What I don’t get is why is he so concerned about me, a technology worker, “making too much money”?  I would like to see Greenspan give up all his wealth and live on my income for a while.  I’m sure he would change his tune.  It is unfathomable how he could ever think that lowering my salary even further will help the economy.

Advice to Greenspan: stay off the news and go in to see a shrink.

Bill was up in Canada spreading the “technology worker shortage myth” claiming that poor Microsoft, the alleged victim of the “strict government H-1B policy” cannot hire enough technology workers in the U.S.  This is his big lie that he continually repeats. 

If hiring talent was a problem for Microsoft, I would probably be working there right now, instead of working temporary contract jobs with weak benefits and no hope of being able to save for retirement.  If Microsoft has a problem hiring talent, it is due to the age discrimination that they practice, along with all the other big corporations based here in Washington State (and across the country).  Also, they need to fix the way that they deal with contractors.  They hire thousands of contractors, which make up most of their workforce now days.  The contractors also have a limit of 1 year on the job, after which they are forced to leave Microsoft and seek employment elsewhere.  If Microsoft was really having trouble hiring, they would put a stop to this practice as well.

Also, if the talent is abroad and not here, why doesn’t Microsoft just move its headquarters out of this country?  I’ll tell you why.  The United States has become a tax haven for big business.  Don’t let the advertised corporate tax rate fool you.  With all the loop holes that have been systematically worked into the tax laws, and the neutering of the IRS where it can no longer enforce these laws, corporations can limit their tax to a negligible amount, or to nothing.  On top of that, they get tax breaks/payoffs from the U.S. government at the taxpayers expense (because the government is still under control of the “trickle down voodoo economics” crowd).

What it boils down to is this: Microsoft stays in the U.S. for the huge tax incentives, and yet still wants the cheep labor from abroad, all because the name of the game today is to get nothing short of record profits and more money for the super wealthy.  It’s that simple.

Thank you for writing to me regarding S. 1959, the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007. It is good to hear from you.

As you know, S. 1959, the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007, was introduced by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) on August 2, 2007. S. 1959 would establish a National Commission on the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism to examine the root causes of radicalization and homegrown terrorism in the United States and ways to prevent it. S. 1959 would also create a university-based Center of Excellence for the Study of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism in the United States. It would also require the Secretary of Homeland Security to ensure that research efforts do not violate individuals’ constitutional rights or civil liberties.

S. 1959 was referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, of which I am not a member. An identical bill, H.R. 1955, was introduced in the House of Representatives by Congresswoman Jane Harman (D-CA) on April 19, 2007 and passed the House on a 404-6 vote on October 23, 2007.

Should either S. 1959 or H.R. 1955 come before the full Senate, please know that I will keep your views on this issue in mind. If you would like to know more about my work in the Senate, please feel free to sign up for my updates at http://murray.senate.gov/updates. Thank you again for writing, and please keep in touch.

I hope all is well in Snohomish.

The short of it is:
If you are a Republican, both the Primary and the Caucus are important.
If you are a Democrat, ONLY THE CAUCUS is important as far as choosing delegates for your candidate of choice.

Since this year Washington State has both a Caucus and a Primary, the Parties have a choice of whether to select their delegates during the Primary, during the Caucus, or in some combination of the two.

The Democratic Party is choosing all of their delegates during the Caucus.  This means that voting for a Democratic candidate on the Primary ballot accomplishes absolutely nothing.  So, the message to Democrats is loud and clear: GO TO THE CAUCUS.  However, do not completely ignore the Primary, because there are some local issues on the ballot where your vote does count.

The Republican Party is splitting there delegates between the Primary and the Caucus.  51% of their delegates will be chosen via the Primary, while 49% will be chosen at the Caucus.  The message to Republicans is to DO BOTH.  Going to the Caucus counts and voting for a Republican candidate on the Primary ballot counts.

The message that I would like to share with everyone is to Please Participate.  It is more important now than ever to get involved in the political process.  Share your concerns with others and get intelligent dialogues going.  It is truly the heart of our democracy.

Everyone with half a brain knows that Fox News is a joke.  I can’t stand to watch Fox News, and I just cringe when I am waiting at the doctor’s office, or some other public place, and they have a TV tuned to cable Fox News.  However, I stumbled upon this site: Fox News Porn, where they had gathered all the risqué clips that were broadcast over Fox News and condensed them into YouTube sized videos.  Although it is material that was broadcast on national TV, the site and their videos have been banned by Digg, and their clips on YouTube were forced to be 18+ age verified.  Be sure to check out the videos posted on the site.  I couldn’t stop laughing. 

As Chrish put it at News Hounds: “FOX News uses sex segments to divert outrage from the real obscenity, the war”.

read more | digg story

This episode opens with a skit with the help of Bill from The Florida Soapbox podcast.  Bill also has a new podcast titled The World News Review which will be coming out in January.

Next, I discuss the Christmas resolution that passed in congress and my full support for Jim McDermott who voted against it, in which I am in complete disagreement with Lou Dobbs and Ken Schram who I feel completely missed the point as to why to vote no on this Republican resolution.

Indians are now praying to the Visa God for, not entrance into heaven, but entrance into the United States in order to take an American Worker’s job.

 Amazon.com is moving its headquarters from Seattle to … Seattle.

Don’t get me wrong.  I have no love for Nancy Pelosi and many of the Democrats who gave so many promises in 2006 and failed so miserably to keep any of them.  My back is still bleeding from all the stab wounds.  I am also much more concerned over how the Democrats are out to ruin American jobs, particularly hi-tech jobs, than over what they might do to “small businesses”.  What I find so insulting is how Cole and the NRCC have stooped to an incredible low in trying to scam the Americans into forking over money to the Republican Party.

All I can say is: this should tell you what the Republican Party thinks of us American Citizens.  They must think that we all believe that we won the International Lottery and that we have a million dollars coming from a business deal in Nigeria.

The body of the letter is posted here:

Dear Karen Lee

I had attended Governor Chris Gregoire’s Town Hall meeting in Seattle on October 3^rd where I had expressed my concern over her support for increases in the H-1B non-immigrant VISA cap.  At this Town Hall meeting, Chris Gregoire told me that with my education and experience, I “ought to be working for a good company, with a good salary, and with good benefits” here in Washington state.  She also said that you, Karen, can get me this job.  I look forward to working with you on this endeavor, because I have found that the traditional method of sending a resume to a potential employer (that is not one of these body shop companies, such as Volt or Siemens) just doesn’t work anymore.  Attached is a copy of my résumé for your reference.

I tried to explain to Chris Gregoire that due to the current levels that corporations are already allowed in bringing in STEM workers from other countries, I am finding it very difficult to be placed in a full-time permanent job that includes benefits such as medical, vacation, and sick time.  This is in spite of the fact that I have a four year degree in computer science (BSCS), have over 20 years experience in information technology, have Microsoft certifications, and recently earned Master of Information Systems Management from a school here in Washington.  The only jobs that I have been getting are W2 contract jobs through these body shop companies that have become so prevalent in our state in recent years.

Currently, I am working at a medical technology company in Seattle indirectly through one of these W2 contract companies.  I work on software for a cutting edge technology device that is used in assisting Radiation Therapists in locating tumors during radiation treatment.  Yet, I do not get any sick time for myself or for attending to sick family members.  This was especially trying this year since my wife had come down with thyroid cancer and ended up spending over 2 weeks in the hospital along with several trips to the emergency room for calcium infusions.  Not only do I end up with medical bills to pay, I end up with lost wages from time that I was not able to work.

Again, I look forward to working with you Karen.  Chris Gregoire seemed confident that you can screen out all the fraudulent job ads and find me one of those good jobs at a good company, with a good salary and good benefits that she says are so abundant in our state.

Earlier in October, I went to the Seattle Town Hall meeting to question Gregoire about her role in the letter signed by 13 governors to the U.S. congress calling for the H-1B cap to be raised.  Among the things that she promised was a job “with a good employer, good salary, and good benefits” in the state of Washington.  One of her staff had me fill out a card describing my issue and providing my contact information.  What I got in response was a letter.

STATE OF WASHINGTON
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
www.governor.wa.gov

Dear Rennie:

Thank you for attending the Town Hall meeting in Seattle.  Governor Gregoire appreciates the time you have taken to share your views on not increasing the number of H-1B visas granted to foreign workers, and she is pleased to have the opportunity to work on behalf of the people of Washington.

Views and comments such as yours give the Governor and her staff valuable insights into the important issues facing people in communities around our state.  We rely on the messages we receive to let us know where we must focus our priorities.  The Governor has made your comments available to her Executive Policy Advisors, who will consider them as the Governor works to move Washington forward.

The Governor also encourages you to share your views and specific suggestions with your state legislators given their role in proposing and passing state laws.  The toll-free Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000 offers a convenient way to contact your state Senator and Representatives.

Again, thanks for taking the time to attend the Town Hall.  The continued involvement of citizens like you is critical to our state’s success.

Sincerely,

Gary Fugere
Constituent Services Manager
Christine O. Gregoire
Governor

Kucinich’s second win?  His resolution to impeach Dick Cheney has been approved in congress to go to the judicial committee.  It is yet to be seen how far this goes, but it is tremendously good news for the people of this country who want to hold this administration accountable for all its fraudulent, unconstitutional actions from warrantless wiretapping and water-boarding to the lies that got us into the occupation of Iraq.  If this resolution accomplishes nothing else, it would be worth its weight in gold if it will keep us out of yet another fraudulent war with another country, Iran.

Be sure to check out Dennis Kucinich’s latest book, “The Courage to Survive” and be sure to tell all of your friends to support Dennis Kucinich.

An aritcle in Highland Community News analyzes the Department of Labor’s Strategy Plan where the department states that it is OK to give preference to foreign workers over American workers.  The Progressive Geek provides his own analysis of this section of the Strategy Plan.

Your reading assignment:
On the Need for Reform of the H-1B Non-Immigrant Work Visa in Computer-Related Occupations by Norman Matloff

My wife asks the TSA a simple question.  The TSA replies with a huge response that does NOT answer the question.

Music by Roy Zimmerman

Chris Gregoire, at one of her Town Hall meetings in downtown Seattle, was challenged on the fact that she and 12 other governors signed a letter urging congress to pass legislation to raise the H-1B cap.  Her response consisted of talking points that Bill Gates uses in his quest for cheap labor, namely that there is a severe hi-tech worker shortage in Washington State.  Yet, a recent Duke University study shows that this is nothing more than a manufactured myth.  This myth is constistently used when the corporate elite communicate their desire to congress for bringing more foreign tech workers into the U.S.  More and more, U.S. corporations hire employees as contractors, or “Temps”, with limited terms in their contracts, instead of as full time permanent employees.  Of course, the employee benefits for Temps, if any, are not nearly as good as for full time employees.  Most of these temp positions (including the one that I am working in now) do not have any provisions for sick time.  Some may provide holiday pay only after several months of service.  Of course Temps are easily interchangeable with foreign workers that are here on H-1B and L-1 VISAs.

Gregoire also proudly points out that the current unemployment rate in Washington State is the lowest in state history.  Yet what does this really mean given that the quality of jobs has declined considerably?

My Odeo Channel (odeo/970fa7f4af1edc24)
My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-4efaa44722c96c05c08ef23da4b5cea8}

Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate who really understands the plight of the middle class and has proposals on how to correct the direction that this country is taking.

ABC News keeps taking down a poll that shows Kucinich is the clear winner of the Democratic Debate.
http://www.dennis4president.com/home

Kucinich’s take on the VISA programs:

H-1B and L-1 Visas
Submitted by kucinich.us on Thu, 2006-11-16 12:26. H-1B and L-1 Visas | Issue Overview

The expanded use of H-1B and L-1 visas has had a negative effect on the workplace of Information Technology workers in America. It has caused a reduction in wages. It has forced workers to accept deteriorating working conditions and allowed U.S. companies to concentrate work in technical and geographic areas that American workers consider undesirable. It has also reduced the number of IT jobs held by Americans.

At its peak in 2000, there were 10.5 million people working in Information Technology in the United States. By 2001, there were fewer than 10 million — despite continued global growth in Information Technology employment. Professor Norman Matloff of UC Davis estimates that in the spring of 2003 there were 500,000 unemployed and underemployed U.S. programmers, while there were 463,000 H-1B workers employed in the field.

The government must ensure adequate funds for the enforcement of visa regulations — including much-ignored regulations prohibiting the use of foreign nationals in critical infrastructure. A special investigator should be appointed to examine the extent and nature of H-1B and L-1 visa fraud and the reasons for heavy use of H-1B and L-1 visas at Enron, WorldCom, and Anderson. We should take seriously the allegations of perjury by corporate leaders who have testified before Congress to request expansion of this program in 1998 and 2000, as well as allegations of the use of the H-1B and L-1 programs in corrupt organizations.

We need an industry fact-finding commission, including representatives of major U.S. investors, U.S. tech workers, and business leaders who have been competitive in the international marketplace without use of the H-1B / L-1 program. These representatives can make suggestions as to a new policy on the immigration of people with specialized knowledge or unique skills.

I have already set forth plans for major technical initiatives in the areas of renewable energy, pollution control, and promotions of Open Source software and media — additional major initiatives will be considered — creating a wider diversity of means by which technologists are funded outside of the service of major corporations. It may not be possible to undo the damage that corporate short-sightedness has done to the U.S. technical community — but it is possible to give a real voice to the vision that the U.S. technical community has for a better America.

EFF (Electronic Fontier Foundation) needs your help in combing through released FBI documents.

Federal Express wants to ship your company to India.

Google can’t find enough people on the planet to hire. Unfortunately for Google, they didn’t find any intelligent life on Mars.
www.jobdestruction.com/shameh1b/JobDestructionNews.htm
64.233.179.110/blog_resources/Laszlo_Bock_immigration_testimony.pdf
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15212647
www.smh.com.au/news/web/skill-shortage-forces-search-offshore/2007/05/02/1177788202848.html
politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/20/1612209

My wife was diagnosed with thyroid cancer a few weeks ago. She had her thyroid removed. Now she is having trouble with hypocalceamia.

Articles on the subject:
How To Hire Cheap Foreign Workers – A Lawyer’s Guide – On YouTube Now
More articles

Also in this episode: Why you must not support the comprehensive immigration bill.

Music
Pulse
Pulse on MySpace

Please leave a review for me at iTunes.

Listen to this episode for clips fom the hearing and exclusive commentary by the Progressive Geek.

Music by Terra Naomi

Correction: I said Carl Levin in this episode when it is actually Sandy Levin.

Sinister Reasons for Boosting H1b Visa Limits?

H-1B FEDERAL IMMIGRATION BILL: Reforms to the work visa program are a small part of the overall debate — except in Silicon Valley;
Everyone agrees it’s flawed, but how to fix it?

Music by Alana Sweetwater

*****
Post production note
I just listened to the FSRN story. It finally came out today (Friday).
I ran it by the Programmers Guild and they pointed out several technical errors in the story. The general reaction is that it has an “open border” slant to it.

What I thought was still good about the story is that it did at least have one engineer similar to me. He has 20 years experience and has only been able to find contract work. Which validated what I was experiencing. However, I think they tried to “balance it” by adding free trade points of view.
*****

Democrats continue to stab Americans in the back.

David Sirota’s blog entry “We Gave Them Our Hearts, They Gave Him A Blank Check”
http://www.workingassetsblog.com/2007/05/we_gave_them_our_hearts_they_g.html

WashTech buys an ad in “Roll Call” fighting H-1B increases.
WashTech: http://washtech.org

Thom Hartmann talks about “Free Trade”

Free Speech Radio News:
http://fsrn.org

The White House now says the secret trade deal between a handful of Democratic congressional leaders and Bush administration officials will most likely not mean adding labor and environmental standards into the core text of trade agreements, but instead will mean merely unenforceable NAFTA-esque “side agreements” or even weaker “letters” of understanding. A group of House Democrats is responding to the secret deal by demanding a hearing on a resolution that would prevent Democratic leaders from bringing fast track to the floor of the House if a majority of Democrats oppose it. And the pundit attack machine pushing the deal is out in full force. “Journalists” Cokie and Steve Roberts say “Democrats can’t afford to listen to the labor movement” and Clinton administration free trade architect Gene Sperling praises Democratic dealmakers for triangulating against their own party. – David Sirota

Numbers USA
http://numbersusa.com

Article:
http://www.workingassetsblog.com/2007/05/secret_trade_deal_moyers_speci.html

Editorial:
http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/16754.asp

Badong (music):
http://www.myspace.com/badong1

David Sirota: Questioning the Planet’s Richest Man To His Face
http://www.workingassetsblog.com/2007/04/questioning_the_planets_riches.html

10 Reinvigorating Facts About Microsoft’s Profits
http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/070430/33932_id.html?.v=1

IBM to layoff 150,000?
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/5/4/163139/0653
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20070504_002027.html

One Day You’re Gonna Wake Up
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/04/962/

David Sirota writes about John Edwards Stance FOR the middle class.
http://www.workingassetsblog.com/2007/04/edwards_big_announcement_drive.html

Kim Berry writes about the next threat to American technology workers: the STRIVE Act.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/4/22/103038/854

The Bonobos:
http://myspace.com/thebonobos

Links:
http://davidsirota.com
http://washtech.org

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/03/30/EDGRJN7CFB1.DTL

http://progressivepodcastnetwork.org

Included in this episode is more commentary from The Last Angry Man, plus a good helping of humor as well.

A discussion with the Last Angry Man about Hillary.

A discussion about having “Friends” on Podomatic. Can you have too many friends?

Music from the podsafe music network.

There is also cool robot music at the end of this episode.

What is FIRST? Here is a quote from http://www.usfirst.org

Dean Kamen is an inventor, entrepreneur, and tireless advocate for science and technology. His passion and determination to help young people discover the excitement and rewards of science and technology are the cornerstones of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology).
FIRST was founded in 1989 to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology. Based in Manchester, NH, the 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit public charity designs accessible, innovative programs that motivate young people to pursue education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math, while building self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills.

What is FLL?

FIRST LEGO League (FLL) is an exciting and fun international robotics program that ignites an enthusiasm for discovery, science, and technology in kids ages 9 to 14 (16 outside of the U.S. and Canada).

Each year FLL teams embark on an adventurous Challenge based on current, real-world issues. Guided by a team coach and assisted by mentors, the kids:

* Research and solve a real-world problem based on the Challenge theme
* Present their research and solutions
* Build an autonomous robot using engineering concepts

Using the yearly Challenges, FLL:

* Entices kids to think like scientists and engineers
* Provides a fun, creative, hands-on learning experience
* Teaches kids to experiment and overcome obstacles
* Builds self-esteem and confidence
* Inspires kids to participate in science and technology

Whether it is by creativity, technology, or research, FLL dares kids to test, explore, expand, or completely change thoughts and approaches for different sciences each year.

Other links:
http://www.firstlegoleague.org
http://firstwa.org/
http://www.usfirst.org/
http://gothiclawngnomes.org

Robot music is from the Podsafe Music Network.

Very funny stuff in this episode including a “surge on my house”.

Articles regarding an immigration law change in the UK:

http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newsid=38701&newstype=local

http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/15318.asp

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Disenfranchised_Indians_take_to_streets_in_London/articleshow/msid-1142198,curpg-2.cms

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/World/Rest_of_World/MPs_join_Indians_HSMP_battle/articleshow/1067325.cms

His music is terrific, and some of his tunes are quite humorous.

I also have another message from The Last Angry Man. Very funny!

Also in this episode, I discuss my hunt for a new job and give you all the dirt on my job interviews this past week.

Also in this episode, a message from The Last Angry Man. His podcast is at http://thelastangrymanspodcast.podomatic.com

I play a clip from the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Tom Donohue, from his speach regarding immigration and the bill for illegal alien amnesty.

I also discuss an article regarding a H-1B fraud ring bust. http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2007/jan/13/judge-sentences-man-helping-illegal-aliens-get-fal

The Pacific North West Cool Spot is the espresso shack. They are all over western Washington and each has there “edge” to sell more coffee than the next shack. Listen to the episode to find out what coffee and the coffee shack has to do with … sex.

Plus music and more.

Washington Post article: How Free Trade Hurts
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/22/AR2006122201020.html

I discuss and play excerpts from “The Visa Scene” podcast – a pro-immigration podcast from Canada. http://jryan.libsyn.com/

PNW Cool Place is the Bodies Exhibit in Seattle. http://www.bodiestheexhibition.com/

Included are some humor and some heavy metal Christmas music.

http://www.laborradio.org/node/4621

The Pacific Northwest Cool Place is the Pacific Science Center, where the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit is currently showing through early January.
http://www.pacsci.org

Dead Sea Scrolls Speaker Forum Podcast:
http://kuow.org/podcasts/speakers/speakers_forum.asp

I also discuss an article:
http://www.techsunite.org/news/display.cfm?ID_Content=5115
regarding Microsoft wanting to keep Republicans in control of congress.

I include a new segment: Cool Places in the Pacific Northwest. In this episode, the cool place is the Maltby Cafe: http://maltbycafe.com

I also play some music by the group H1Bees
http://www.h1bees.com

You can purchase their CD at:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/srikanth

Their music is also available at iTunes.

I also discuss the web site: http://www.myvisajobs.com
which has an extensive database of jobs for foreigners in the United States.

Stop the Skill Act web site:
http://stopskillact.ourprofile.org/

Article that I read in this podcast:
http://www.brenhambanner.com/articles/2006/10/30/news/news01.txt

Shortage shouting article:
http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2006/nov/16spec.htm

Maine Today article:
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/immigration/060925imm2.html

Zazona FAQ:
http://zazona.com/ShameH1B/H1BFAQs.htm