Comings and Goings

Today Tomorrow is Blog-Buddy Laurie’s birthday. I know VERY few people who work as hard or are as dedicated to a cause, any cause…hers being Soldiers’ Angels… than Laurie. And she is a genuinely NICE person on top of all that. Laurie is one of my favorite people in the blogosphere, actually.

Happy Birthday, Girl! Now c’mere and pucker up. I’ve got a birthday kiss for ya.

(Yeah, it’s an old photo. You might could say it’s false advertising, in a way. But it IS me… albeit a younger, better looking me. Just accept it and don’t ask questions, mmm-kay? I don’t wanna scare the horses by posting a current pic.)

Note: Updated when I realized today is Wednesday...NOT Thursday. I'm such a maroon sometimes. But Hey! Now you have advance notice. No need to thank me.

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Two Visa tales… first, from Business Week (“Guess Who's Getting the Most Work Visas;Indian outsourcers top the list of companies bringing foreign workers to the U.S. on the H-1B program”):

The controversy over visas for high-skilled workers from abroad looks like it's about to get even hotter.

The program for what are known as H-1B visas was originally set up to allow companies in the U.S. to import the best and brightest in technology, engineering, and other fields when such workers are in short supply in America. But data just released by the federal government show that offshore outsourcing firms, particularly from India, dominate the list of companies awarded H-1B visas in 2007. Indian outsourcers accounted for nearly 80% of the visa petitions approved last year for the top 10 participants in the program. The new data are sure to fuel criticism of the visa program from detractors such as Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.). "These numbers should send a red flag to every lawmaker that the H-1B visa program is not working as it was intended," said Grassley in an e-mail.

[…]

Critics such as Grassley and Durbin charge that the outsourcers are abusing the U.S. program. The work visas, they say, are supposed to be used to bolster the U.S. economy. The idea is that companies like Microsoft, Google, or IBM can use them to hire software programmers or computer scientists with rare skills, fostering innovation and improving competitiveness. Instead, critics say, companies such as Infosys and Wipro are undermining the American economy by wiping out jobs.

[…]

A clash is likely in the coming months. Durbin and Grassley are pushing for more restrictions in the program, even as tech companies are advocating for a sharp increase in the number of visas handed out each year. The senators want to tighten the program's criteria, by requiring participating companies to try to hire American workers first and to pledge that visa workers will not displace American workers. U.S. tech companies, meanwhile, want Congress to increase the visa cap from 65,000 a year to at least 115,000.

I agree with Senators Durbin and Grassley… it appears the Indian outsourcers are abusing the program. But I also agree with the corporate IT guys in that we—the US― need more H-1B visas, not less. Finding qualified American IT workers was pretty danged hard in my day, and I can only imagine the situation is worse these days and not better…given the growth in the IT industry. I had a bunch of database administrators (primarily Oracle DBAs) working for me in the last job I held. Out of the five DBAs on my team three were Indian, one was Russian, and only ONE was American. And these are six-figure jobs we’re on about, Gentle Reader. The financial incentives and rewards are substantial in the IT field, particularly for DBAs, so why don’t we have more native-grown talent in these areas? That remains a mystery to me…

But I know one answer to the immediate problem: there’s a wealth of foreign IT talent beating down our doors. It would be to our benefit to let a few more of ‘em in. It would also be to our benefit to encourage our young folks to take up studies in the technical fields. We can’t survive very long depending on others to carry our water for us.

Oh. I did say two visa articles, didn’t I? So, here’s the second, from Mark Steyn… writing in an article about the differences between the US and Canadian economies:

Fourth point: The Canadian economy is significantly more dirigiste (i.e., centrally planned). A couple of years ago it was revealed that the government had introduced a fast-track immigration program for exotic dancers (otherwise known as strippers). Now as a general rule, one of the easiest things to leave for the free market to determine is the number of strippers a society needs. But for some reason, the government concluded that the market wasn’t generating the supply required and introduced a special immigration visa. To go back to President Bush’s line, maybe this is one of those jobs that Canadians won’t do, so we need to get some Ukrainians in to do it. Naturally, the exotic dancers are unionized, so it’s only a matter of time before the last viable industry in Quebec grinds to a halt and American tourists in Montreal find themselves stuck in traffic because of huge numbers of striking strippers. What governmental mind would think of an exotic dancer immigration category?

Well, I only included Steyn for a laugh, but it is funny, indeed. On the one hand we have Indian outsourcers abusing the H-1B visa program coupled with a bona-fide lack of qualified technical folks…and on the other the Canadian gub’mint is welcoming strippers. How’s that for juxtaposition, Gentle Reader?

(h/t to Lin for the Steyn piece… there’s more and it’s good. Chase that link.)

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I need to bookmark this for future reference when I get down in the dumps after reading the rants and raves posted in the Lefty fever-swamps: “Poll: Most Americans Don’t Read Political Blogs.” Excerpts:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A majority of Americans do not read political blogs, the online commentaries that have proliferated in the race for the U.S. presidency, according to a poll released on Monday.

Only 22 percent of people responding to the poll said they read blogs regularly, meaning several times a month or more, according to the survey conducted by Harris Interactive.

[…]

While blogs are largely considered the realm of young people who are most Internet-savvy, only 19 percent of people ages 18 to 31, and 17 percent of those ages 32 to 43, regularly read a political blog, the poll said.

The generation most likely to read such blogs are those age 63 or older, 26 percent of whom said they do so. Also, 23 percent of those ages 44 to 62 read them, the poll said.

Most of this ain’t news. The part that got me was the “63 or older” demographic being the ones “most likely to read,” and that was something of a surprise. Most people (of all ages) respond with a “hunh?” and the most exquisite of dumb looks when I tell ‘em I blog… usually in response to the UCR question “What do you do to keep busy now that you’re retired?” It’s interesting… the stuff one takes for granted, only to find out most other people don’t give a big rodent’s hind-quarters.

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A funny from My Buddy Ed in Florida… I’ve seen this one before in a different iteration, but this version has a couple of new-to-me twists.

MENTAL HOSPITAL PHONE MENU:

Hello and thank you for calling The State Mental Hospital.
Please select from the following options menu:

If you are obsessive-compulsive, press 1 repeatedly.

If you are co-dependent, please ask someone to press 2 for you.

If you have multiple personalities, press 3, 4, 5 and 6.

If you are paranoid, we know who you are and what you want, stay on the line so we can trace your call.

If you are delusional, press 7 and your call will be forwarded to the Mother Ship.

If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a little voice will tell you which number to press.

If you are manic-depressive, it doesn't matter which number you press, nothing will make you happy anyway.

If you are dyslexic, press 9696969696969696.

If you are bipolar, please leave a message after the beep or before the beep or after the beep. Please wait for the beep.

If you have short- term memory loss, press 9. If you have short-term memory loss, press 9. If you have short-term memory loss, press 9.

If you have low self-esteem, please hang up our operators are too busy to talk with you.

If you are menopausal, put the gun down, hang up, turn on the fan, lie down and cry. You won't be crazy forever.

If you are blonde, don't press any buttons, you'll just mess it up.

This coming week is National Mental Health Care week.

You can do your part by remembering to contact at least one unstable person to show you care.

Well, my job is done…Your turn

I kept pressing “nine” and nothing happened…