Clayton's commentary on news and events of the day. Broadly speaking, I'm a conservative with libertarian sympathies (getting more conservative as my children get older).
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Friday, September 19, 2008
Summer's Over!
It is pouring rain out there. I'm afraid that I can't put off replacing the rear tires on the Corvette any longer.
UPDATE: I ordered them up TireRack.com. I was planning to buy the Michelin Pilot A/S ZP, but there is a new Michelin Pilot A/S Plus ZP which, according to the tire grading standards, should have about 20% longer wear, for $4 more per tire. (Yes, I know about the problems with the tire grading standards and wear measurement, but it is at least likely that they will last a bit longer--and for $4 more, it is well worth it.) posted by Clayton at 11:39 PM permalink
No Microsoft, Apparently
I guess that they had plenty of more qualified applicants. posted by Clayton at 8:23 PM permalink
Readers Needed
I am gettng ready to ship my manuscript on deinstitutionalization to my literary agent. I would like to get perhaps three or four readers to look over the manuscript. Ideally, one or two of the readers will be social workers, psychiatrists, doctors, or psychologists. (My daughter is now a licensed social worker, so I at least have that covered.) Some of the other readers will be people outside those professions.
I'm hoping to get comments and corrections on anything that looks factually incorrect, or where you might have some insights that I missed. Also, areas that aren't as clear as they need to be. Not surprisingly, everything that I wrote is clear to me!
The fire chief of one of our local fire districts here in Boise County was just sentenced to five years for possession. (I'm not using the phrase for what he possessed because a lot of spam filters will then make this blog invisible.) According to the September 17, 2008 Idaho World, Fire Chief Larry Sherril was caught because he was using a credit to purchase downloads--and when they searched his home, they found "5,252 sexually explicit images of prepubescent minors."
Some years ago, there was a rather outspoken Libertarian at a gun rights conference I went to who went way out of his way to criticize laws about such things, making the claim that there were all sorts of ways that a person might unknowingly download this trash. For example, someone might mail it to you--and by simply opening your email, you would be breaking the law. Or you might download it on your computer without knowing it. For example, it is very easy to set up a page that has a full-sized picture, but scaled down so that it takes only a single pixel. The picture would be downloaded to your computer--but you would not even see. As an example, there's a picture of Sarah Palin with a rifle simulator at the end of this paragraph. But I have specified that the picture is only one pixel wide--so you probably can't even see it.
Just so that you can tell that I am not making this up, here's the same picture ten pixels wide.
Now you know that there's a picture there.
So the point is valid: it is conceivable that you could download illegal pictures and not even know it--but I notice that just about all the cases that I see for federal prosecution start out with credit card charges to download this evil trash--which somewhat takes it out of the, "I have no idea how that got there" category.
Now, if the federal government were prosecuting cases simply based on finding pictures on someone's computer, I would regard that they don't have a very strong case. There are a lot of ways that this can happen. The example above. Or because you have failed to adequately secure your computer system against viruses or attacks through your firewall. And oddly enough, it appears that the federal government knows well enough not to pursue cases this weak.
Finally! A Boise company has me going in for a job interview next Thursday!
I have spent the last day or two struggling with flu (or something similar), but I am finally feeling energetic again. I'm trying to finish up my next book, so that I can inflict it on my agent. I haven't really been working on this due to a combination of factors:
1. Once you have the research done for a book, polishing it and reorganizing it is the least interesting part. And this has been true for every book that I have written. It is rather like when you have a program working, and you then need to go back through and look for common code that needs to be factored out, correcting comments, and making sure that you have all the interfaces clearly described. It needs to be done, but it isn't very intellectually satisfying.
2. This book is rather emotional in places--it brings back some very painful memories.
3. I have been a little depressed over the layoff.
4. I have been focused on that which will provide me with a more immediate return of money for time. The last book had a big (absolutely shocking) advance on it, but most of my books, if you calculated earnings relative to time invested, would violate federal minimum wage law.
Anyway, I need to get my last Shotgun News before the election article written, and then finish this book up for my agent. Of course, that doesn't mean that it is ready for publication--I still need to have family members go over it for accuracy, but I can get the agent out shopping for a publisher while I process their comments and corrections. posted by Clayton at 12:03 PM permalink
More About Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy
It appears that there are others who are quite concerned about the shenanigans involving applications for H-1B visas, and for green cards for those who are already here on H-1B visas--and they make a rather important point:
I usually do NOT post articles here about employers being investigated or fined by the DOL for violating H-1B law or regulations. This may seem odd, as many of the anti-H-1B-visa activists are thrilled when such a thing occurs, but as I've mentioned many times, these incidents are NOT important, because the vast majority of employers are abusing the spirit of H-1B in FULL COMPLIANCE WITH THE LAW, due to loopholes. Indeed, I've pointed out that the industry lobbyists love these incidents, because it allows them to divert attention from the real issue, which is the loopholes. See http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/Archive/PascrellJohnsonDebate.txt
But the case described below is special, really special, because it involves the largest immigration law firm in the nation, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP. Mr. Fragomen literally "wrote the book" on H-1B, in fact lots of books on employer-sponsored immigration, all considered standard references (www.fragomen.com/resources/publications.shtml).
So when there is an audit, amounting to an accusation that the Fragomen firm may be violating the law on employer-sponsored green cards, this is of keen interest to me. Mind you, I do NOT think they did anything illegal--once again, they simply took advantage of loopholes--and I still have the same concern that this investigation will distract the H-1B/green card dialogue from the real issues. But I must say it's interesting for me to see Fragomen squirm.
And in fact the case actually highlights the central role that the loopholes play, as you'll see. The DOL says (see their statement enclosed below) that "The department has information indicating that in at least some cases the firm improperly instructed clients who filed permanent labor certification applications to contact their attorney before hiring apparently qualified U.S. workers." What does this really mean?
Recall "TubeGate," the set of videos posted on YouTube in which a prominent Pittsburgh law firm, Cohen and Grigsby, showed employers some of these vital loopholes I keep citing. (See the base posting on this (http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/Archive/YouTubeVideosH1B.txt and several others, titled LegalNewspaperViewOfTubeGate.txt, PittsburghYouTube.txt, TubeGateFirmReplies.txt and CohenAndGrigsbyPrevailingWage.txt in that same directory). In video 12, they show how to pay H-1Bs and greencard sponsorees below-market wages, in FULL COMPLIANCE WITH THE LAW. But it is video 9 that has gotten the most attention, as they show employers who wish to sponsor a foreign worker for a greencard how to avoid hiring American workers.
In those presentations, the Cohen and Grigsby firm promises to work with their clients, i.e. employers of foreign workers, to insure that the employers' goal is met--to avoid hiring Americans. That's basically what Fragomen seems to be accused of.
Yet as the ILW editorial, also enclosed below, points out, these employers are merely exercising their right to legal counsel. Sure, it's counsel regarding odious loopholes that undermine the putative intent of the law, but as long as the loopholes are there, the employers have the right to use them and to get advice from counsel as to how to do so. Their doing so is no different from using a good tax accountant who knows all the loopholes. Again, I think the whole thing is outrageous, but I really don't see that DOL has a case.
And indeed, a reader points me to this September 19, 2008 New York Law Journalarticle that indicates that the Dept. of Labor may have figured this out as well:
With no fanfare, the U.S. Department of Labor has dropped its controversial audit of 2,500 green card cases handled by the nation's largest immigration law firm, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy.
If that were true, the department said in a press release, it would violate regulations limiting the involvement of an employer's lawyer when the employer is hiring an alien for skilled jobs -- regulations designed to ensure that American workers have priority.
But on Wednesday, the department did not issue a press release indicating the audit had been scrapped.
The audit had stalled Fragomen's applications and angered the immigration bar. The firm sued the Labor Department in August in federal court in Washington, D.C., charging the audit was driven by a "radical and unprecedented interpretation" of department regulations and was an attempt by the government to "dictate both when employers can consult with their lawyers and what advice the lawyers can give."
In court papers, the firm also claimed the audit had "inflicted massive injury" on the firm's reputation.
Thursday, Convington & Burling partner Thomas Williamson, who represented Fragomen in the litigation, issued a statement on behalf of the firm saying it was pleased the department had "abandoned its blanket audit of Fragomen's previously-filed applications."
"Specifically, DOL concluded that its regulation and policy on attorney consideration of U.S. worker applicants as a part of PERM recruitment lacked clarity, so that audits triggered solely on the basis of the consideration rule would be released," Williamson said. "We are working with the Department and with the Department of Justice to move forward on the details of a resolution to our pending litigation."
The stock market has fallen dramatically from its peak a year ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has declined by about 25 percent, a significant drop, though not anywhere near as large as the 36 percent drop that occurred over two months from August to October 1987. Few would argue, though, that the financial market is not in a mess.
Meanwhile the economy has kept growing. In the second quarter of this year from April to June, GDP grew at a fairly fast 3.3 percent. For the first half of this year GDP has grown at about 2.2 percent, near the historical average. Obviously some sectors of the economy have been doing well, while others, such as housing, have been in a real mess.
With the government takeover of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae as well as other bankruptcies in the financial sector, there are a lot of questions. The strangest fact is that the housing sector is having such problems when the economy otherwise has been doing well. Why have there been so many defaults when the economy has not been in a recession? Defaults have been at historically high rates despite reasonable economic growth and a relatively low unemployment rate of 6.1 percent.
Some, such as James H. Carr, the CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, argue that the high default rates are a result of "unfair and deceptive practices, steering customers to high price loans . . . High upfront payments made it so that they couldn't later pay their mortgages."
Surprisingly, research done by economists a decade ago in 1998, particularly by Professors Ted Day and Stan Liebowitz at the University of Texas at Dallas, predicted the current problems and tried to warn people of a different cause. Starting during the early 1990s, mortgage-underwriting standards have been consistently weakened. Many of the names involved in the forefront of those changes, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae as well Countrywide and Bear Stearns, , have been the most prominent financial entities to become insolvent.
Others did not share these economists' concerns. The Wall Street Journal quoted Congressman Barney Frank in 2003 as criticizing Greg Mankiw, chairman of President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, "because he is worried about the tiny little matter of safety and soundness rather than ‘concern about housing.'"
The changes in underwriting standards were pushed to accomplish what many called a "noble goal" -- an increase in home ownership among poor and minority Americans -- but the changes created a time bomb that was set off as soon as property values began to decline. The new rules involved eliminating verification of income or assets, little assurance of the ability to pay the mortgage, and virtually eliminating down payments.
PHOENIX - Phoenix police say one of their officers shot and wounded a man who had been holding a burglar at gunpoint inside his home.
...
Arriving officers found a screaming woman who had fled the last home with two children while her mate confronted the intruder.
Thompson says officers went inside, ordered everyone out and saw the armed resident coming down a hallway. One officer shot the 35-year-old man several times, but he's expected to survive.
Officers then detained the intruder.
I can see how the police may have been confused about who was the burglar. Under the circumstances, a mistake like this is easy to make.
More Curious (And Perhaps Illegal) Job Postings In Boise (Repost)
An HP representative told Bryan Fischer said that the software engineering positions posted on the Idaho Department of Labor website--while HP was laying off software engineers--was a miscommunication, and the job has indeed been removed. But now there are other positions that are now appearing on the Idaho Department of Labor website that again are very curious. It is a bit more specialized that the "mistake", but not likely so specialized that it wouldn't fit some of those being laid off. More importantly, it was posted on September 17--and again tells you to apply to Petra Ramirez, "Immigration Consultant."
Even more interesting: the email address isn't Petra's HP address:
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that it has begun auditing all permanent labor certification applications filed by attorneys at Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy LLP. The department has information indicating that in at least some cases the firm improperly instructed clients who filed permanent labor certification applications to contact their attorney before hiring apparently qualified U.S. workers. The audits will determine which, if any, applications should be denied or placed into department-supervised recruitment because of improper attorney involvement in the consideration of U.S. worker applicants.
"The department's decision to further investigate these applications will help ensure the integrity of the permanent labor certification process and ultimately protect job opportunities for American workers," said Gregory F. Jacob, solicitor of labor. "The department takes seriously its responsibility to ensure that American workers have access to jobs they are qualified and willing to do and that their wages and working conditions are not adversely affected by the hiring of foreign workers."
The permanent labor certification process, established by the Immigration and Nationality Act, allows employers to sponsor aliens for permanent residence (secure a "green card") to fill positions for which no qualified, willing and available U.S. workers can be found. The department's regulations set forth detailed procedures by which an employer seeking certification must demonstrate that no qualified U.S. workers can be located.
The San Francisco Bay Area: When It Isn't Corrupt....
You know, I never cease to be amazed at how bizarre the politics of the Bay Area are. This September 17, 2008 San Francisco Chronicle article discusses the hundreds of convicted adult felons that took advantage of San Francisco's illegal alien sanctuary law, corruption in the Richmond city government, and a high old time at the Harvey Milk Democratic Party meeting.
Corruption in city government is something that I am rather used to seeing--but I always thought that the Green Party would be largely free of ordinary financial chicanery, simply because the Green Party attracts true believers. But apparently not:
Parin Shah was hired by McLaughlin when she rolled into office in 2007 on a Green Party platform. And he came with plenty of promise.
Shah was the onetime president of San Francisco's Commission on the Environment and was the lead organizer of the city's big U.N. World Environment Day in 2005.
But in February, Shah was fired from his Richmond job after McLaughlin and other city officials confronted him about some of the billings. He's now the target of a criminal probe by the Contra Costa County district attorney's office, but has not been charged.
Richmond billing records show that, in one instance, the city cut an $8,500 check to Generation Earth, a group on Sutter Street in San Francisco that once listed Shah as its director. The money was supposed to pay for "technical services" at the mayor's Green Golf Tournament, a fundraiser that never took place.
Other payments, city records show, were directed to such organizations as the West County Toxics Coalition environmental group, the Justice Matters education outfit and an arts program called Touchable Stories - all at the same Sutter Street address.
In addition, records show payments for plane tickets to New York and Illinois that the mayor told us she never authorized.
McLaughlin herself has not been implicated in any wrongdoing. But the records show that she signed off on some of the questionable spending.
For instance, a Dec. 24, 2007, bank statement shows McLaughlin's signature approving four payments of $2,750 apiece to San Francisco-based Community Toolbox for Children's Environmental Health, a charity at the same Sutter Street address that lists Shah as executive director on various Web sites.
The Harvey Milk Democratic Club is the gay Democratic organization in San Francisco, and as you might expect, is a bit out there in a city that is already a bit out there:
Political high: The Harvey Milk Club political action committee held its endorsement meeting at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Center on Market Street the other day - and from the sound of things, it was a real head spinner.
The lemony cake on the snack table was laced with marijuana, courtesy of the Access of Love cannabis collective.
It wasn't long before a number of unsuspecting attendees began feeling the effects. When finally told of the secret ingredient, one gentleman angrily demanded an explanation from club leaders.
"It's my birthday," shouted the guest who had brought the cannabis confection.
Our woozy source didn't stick around for the endorsements - he had to make an early exit.
More Curious (And Perhaps Illegal) Job Postings In Boise
An HP representative told Bryan Fischer said that the software engineering positions posted on the Idaho Department of Labor website--while HP was laying off software engineers--was a miscommunication, and the job has indeed been removed. But now there are other positions that are now appearing on the Idaho Department of Labor website that again are very curious. It is a bit more specialized that the "mistake", but not likely so specialized that it wouldn't fit some of those being laid off. More importantly, it was posted on September 17--and again tells you to apply to Petra Ramirez, "Immigration Consultant."
Job Description Printed for:
Software/Firmware Engineer~
Idaho Job Number:
ID1330203
Location:
Boise
Min Salary:
DOE
Hours/Week::
40
Max Salary:
Duration:
FT over 150 days
Experience:
24 months
Education:
MD
Min Age:
0
Drivers License:
n/a
Typing:
0
DL Endorsement:
n/a
Shift:
Days
Occupational Lic:
No
Job Description:
Design and develop software/firmware for new products. Design, implement and verify software programs and or firmware/hardware programs, develop the documentation to produce it in quantity and provide support, and maintain existing products. Develop and maintain current firmware test management execution protocols and test automation tools. Analyze requirements and links to test automation tools, update architecture and maintain tools to ensure functionality and performance of product testing, coordinate the implementation of defect tracking for each project, and ensure that firm metrics are generated, aligned and interfaced with metrics from other critical partners. MINIMUM JOB REQUIREMENTS: Master`s or foreign degree equivalent in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related field plus two (2) years of experience in job offered, or as a systems engineer, software design engineer, system analyst, or related occupation. Employer will accept an unrelated M.S. degree plus an add`l one (1) year of related work experience. SPECIAL SKILLS REQUIREMENTS: C/C++; Visual Studio; Embedded Programming; NT platform; Unix platform; Web Programming (Java and JavaScript); RDBMS database; Clearcase; VSS. This is a full time position, pay depends on experience.
Even more interesting: the email address isn't Petra's HP address:
Job Number:
ID1330203
Employer:
Hewlett-Packard Company
Contact Name:
Petra Ramirez
Address:
19483 Pruneridge Avenue, MS 4206
Phone:
4089190600
Fax:
E-Mail:
cjen@fragomen.com
Web Site URL:
Instructions:
Job ref: BOISTI. Please send resume with job reference to Hewlett-Packard Company; Attn: P. Ramirez, 19483 Pruneridge Avenue, MS 4206, Cupertino, CA 95014. No phone calls. Must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. without sponsorship. EOE.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that it has begun auditing all permanent labor certification applications filed by attorneys at Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy LLP. The department has information indicating that in at least some cases the firm improperly instructed clients who filed permanent labor certification applications to contact their attorney before hiring apparently qualified U.S. workers. The audits will determine which, if any, applications should be denied or placed into department-supervised recruitment because of improper attorney involvement in the consideration of U.S. worker applicants.
"The department's decision to further investigate these applications will help ensure the integrity of the permanent labor certification process and ultimately protect job opportunities for American workers," said Gregory F. Jacob, solicitor of labor. "The department takes seriously its responsibility to ensure that American workers have access to jobs they are qualified and willing to do and that their wages and working conditions are not adversely affected by the hiring of foreign workers."
The permanent labor certification process, established by the Immigration and Nationality Act, allows employers to sponsor aliens for permanent residence (secure a "green card") to fill positions for which no qualified, willing and available U.S. workers can be found. The department's regulations set forth detailed procedures by which an employer seeking certification must demonstrate that no qualified U.S. workers can be located.
There's another job posting as well, from Applied Materials. Again, it is curious. The job is in Boise--and it is indeed a very specialized job, one for which it might be difficult to get a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. But again, the resume is supposed to go to...well, you take a look:
Job Number:
ID1330082
Employer:
Applied Materials, Inc.
Contact Name:
Sonia Dee, Global Immigration Specialist
Address:
3050 Bowers Avenue
Phone:
4085634378
Fax:
4085637569
sonia_dee@amat.com
Web Site URL:
http://amat.com
Instructions:
Send resume to job_opportunities@amat.com and must reference job code in subject line.
Employer Documents:
Again, "Global Immigration Specialist." This seems at least to violate the spirit of the U.S. Department of Labor's policy about seeing that resumes go through the normal Human Resources process as much as possible. By the very fact that someone has a job "Global Immigration Specialist," I think it is fair to assume that such a person sees their function as assisting immigrants to get jobs--as opposed to making sure that U.S. citizens or permanent residents get first crack. posted by Clayton at 8:38 PM permalink
Eclipse: All Your Base Are Belong To Us
If you don't recognize "all your base are belong to us"--here's a Wikipedia article about how this fractured English expression became part of the popular culture. And that's about how I feel after banging my head against the Eclipse wall yesterday and this morning. But I did get Eclipse to do the following:
1. Let me update both the application and applet forms of the plotting tool that I wrote about ten years ago, to teach myself Java. The somewhat more demanding type checking of Java 1.6 is now happy with my code.
2. Let me determine the cause of, and fix a couple of minor bugs that have been sitting there this whole time.
3. Let me create the JAR files so that the web pages here and here use the new and improved version.
4. Reminded me how much I learned about OOP and Java after writing this sometimes repulsive piece of dreck. (There's a reason that I am not posting the source.)
There's still an awful lot about the Eclipse user interface that causes me to shake my head and wonder what alien species came up with this, but it does work, and I am sure with time, I will also learn to think of it as my friend.
This, of course, assumes that anyone will hire me. I am beginning to get this discouraged feeling that 51 may not only be too old to work for a startup, it may be too old to work anywhere as a software engineer. I am finding plenty of positions for which I am qualified--but when they find out that I am planning to move there and fly home on the weekends (maybe every other weekend), the reaction is stunned silence.
There Are More Hi-Tech Jobs Than You Might Expect In the Hinterlands
I was astonished to find that even in relatively remote areas such as Bend, Oregon, you look on the regional Craig's List for software jobs--and they are out there. I can remember a time when someone like myself was employable in about 50 cities nationwide--and if you found a job outside of those 50 cities, it was rather shocking, like finding a five star restaurant in a town of 300 people.
I remember about 1992, my wife and I went on vacation through Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, and my best friend was making fun of the prospects of finding cappucino and software jobs up there--so I made a point of photographing a cappucino place in Missoula, Montana. On the other point, however, he was a lot closer to being on the mark. I kidded that my wife and I would have to open a combination pet store, computer store, and gun store, to get enough income to survive. In Orofino, Idaho, we found something pretty close: a single shop with a door that advertised computer typing service, AKC Pomeranians, and guns!
Now, the real question is whether I can get any of those jobs in the middle of nowhere. posted by Clayton at 9:26 PM permalink
Fun With Java & Eclipse
I still find the Eclipse IDE hides a bit more from me than I like, but I am able to get some of the Java that I first compiled and executed with Emacs and the Java compiler building and working under Eclipse. In some cases, I suspect that I was unraveling bugs that I didn't notice, ten years ago. In other cases, Java has become a bit more demanding than it used to be--complaining about coding techniques that aren't typesafe--and I can't argue the point!
The next step will be get the applet version compiling and building.
I thought the show car was a bit too weird to go into production. I can actually call the production car pictures quite attractive! There's still no pricing, but even at perhaps $30,000, it would be tempting, just to be able to plug it in every night, and not need to gas it up except if you were going on a long trip. The claim is that anyone who drives 40 miles or less a day will have no need for gasoline.
One obvious thought: there are a lot of solar panel chargers out there designed to plug into the cigarette lighter. These are very useful if you leave a car parked for a couple of weeks (for example, at an airport). These keep your battery charged. I wonder if the same strategy will work for the Volt? Harbor Freight sells this "5 watt" solar panel for that purpose. (I put that in quotes because I have discovered that mine doesn't produce more than one watt, even at the heights of a summer day.) If so, an awful lot of people are going to be buying these to leave on the dashboard during the day. It won't fully recharge the battery, of course, but for people who have a 45 or 50 mile commute, even a partial recharge during the day might enable the Volt to get back home without the gasoline engine starting up.
And you know, while it isn't practical to use solar panels on the roof for any great amount of power, I can picture ecocrazies buying the 45 watt panel, and bolting it to the roof, just to keep the evils of petroleum and carbon dioxide at bay a little longer!
Someone investigating this has been told by an official HP rep that the job posting was inadvertent, for a single job, and has since been taken down. As of 4:10 PM, the listing still shows up, but when you click on the "Apply" button, it says that the position is closed. If this was inadvertent, and no such job was being actively recruited--why did the Immigration Consultant acknowledge my resume on Sunday evening without telling me, "Whoops! That was a boo-boo!"
When they are good, they are very, very good. And when they are bad, they are horrible! Microsoft Visual Studio is so nice that it makes me stop looking down my nose at the language specification for C#.
I can't remember what Java IDE almost made me give up on the language ten years ago, but using Eclipse today makes me think it may have been an early version of Eclipse. What an incredibly obscure user interface this is. Yuck! But there is demand for Java engineers who know Eclipse--and I can see why previous Eclipse experience matters--it has a pretty stiff learning curve compared to Visual Studio.
UPDATE: Oh yes, and since I haven't done much Java the last few years, I have to remember all the subtle details. And Java 1.6 seems to be a lot better at giving warnings than Java 1.3. In particular, it used to be completely legal to simplify specify objects as being of type Vector. Now you are apparently supposed to specify the type, much like a C++ template.
I previously mentioned the oddity of Hewlett-Packard having resumes for these very non-specific software engineering positions in Boise going to someone who describes herself as an "Immigration Consultant" rather than through the normal hiring process. This appears to be unlawful. On the U.S. Department of Labor website you can find this August 29, 2008 "Restatement of PERM Program Guidance Bulletin on the Clarification of Scope of Consideration Rule." The memo is quite clear that job applications must go through, as much as possible, the normal employment process--and not be processed by immigration lawyers or consultants:
The Department of Labor has a statutory responsibility to ensure that no foreign worker (or “alien”) is admitted for permanent residence based upon an offer of employment absent a finding that there are not sufficient U.S. workers who are able, willing, qualified and available for the work to be undertaken and that the admission of such worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers similarly employed. 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(5)(A)(i). The Department fulfills this responsibility by determining the availability of qualified U.S. workers before approving a permanent labor certification application and by ensuring that U.S. workers are fairly considered for all job opportunities that are the subject of a permanent labor certification application. Accordingly, the Department relies on employers who file labor certification applications to recruit and consider U.S. workers in good faith, even where the employer already has a temporarily-admitted foreign national working for the employer.
The Department has long held the view that good faith recruitment requires that an employer’s process for considering U.S. workers who respond to certification-related recruitment closely resemble the employer’s normal consideration process. In most situations, that normal hiring process does not involve a role for an attorney or agent (as defined in 20 C.F.R. § 656.3) in assessing the qualifications of applicants to fill the employer's position. It also does not involve any role for the foreign worker or foreign national in any aspect of the consideration process. However, given that the permanent labor certification program imposes recruitment standards on the employer that may deviate from the employer’s normal standards of evaluation, the Department understands and appreciates the legitimate role attorneys and agents play in the permanent labor certification process. Additionally, the Department respects the right of employers to consult with their attorney(s) or agent(s) during that process to ensure that they are complying with all applicable legal requirements.
By prohibiting attorneys, agents, and foreign workers from interviewing and considering U.S. workers during the permanent labor certification process, as described in 20 C.F.R. § 656.10 (b)(2)(i) and (ii), the Department does not thereby prohibit attorneys and agents from performing the analyses necessary to counsel their clients on legal questions that may arise with respect to this process. The employer, and not the attorney or agent, must be the first to review an application for employment, and must determine whether a U.S. applicant’s qualifications meet the minimum requirements for the position, unless the attorney or agent is the representative of the employer who routinely performs this function for positions for which labor certifications are not filed. By requiring that initial reviews of and final determinations on all applications are made by the employer, the Department seeks to ensure that the consideration process is as close to the employer’s non-immigration-related hiring process as possible and that U.S. workers receive full and fair consideration by the employer for the job.
Especially since HP has now announced that they are going to scrap 24,600 jobs over the next three years--and half of those will be in the U.S.--it is clear that hiring H-1B visa workers through the process that they are using is clearly unlawful. The only question is how to persuade HP to obey federal law.
A man who came to the home of two women whom he had threatened to decapitate with a knife received a blow to the head that could cost him an eye, according to Colorado Springs police.
Russell Bowman, who claims to be an atheist, threatened the women because they are Christian on Sept. 8. On Friday, he arrived at their apartment and stood in a hallway, according to a police report.
"Another resident of the apartment retrieved a shotgun and approached Bowman, who was by then walking away. The resident ordered Bowman to put the knife down," according to the report.
Bowman refused and approached the resident, who hit him with the butt of the shotgun, injuring his eye.
"Bowman was treated at Memorial Hospital where it was determined the injury to the eye was so severe, the eye would need to be surgically removed."
Police will likely pursue charges of felony menacing against Bowman. Police couldn't be reached for comment Sunday.
I've posted a link to this before, but it is still a reminder of what happens when lawyers get involved, as immigration attorneys explain the process by which an employer seeks to not find qualified Americans or permanent residents for a job, so that they can get a green card for someone who can't legally work here.
To quote from the GAO report H1B Foreign Workers, an employer making a Labor Conditions Application for H1B visas for specialized workers must certify, among other facts:
the employment of H-1B workers will not adversely affect the working conditions of other workers similarly employed in the area;
Those Boise Software Engineer Positions I Mentioned... I mentioned a couple of days ago the rather bizarre situation of HP laying off software engineers--and running ads for software engineers to work here in Boise at the same time. I have now heard back from the contact at HP in Cupertino who is responsible for reading those resumes. Her signature block on her email includes:
HP Americas Immigration Consultant/Contingent 408.447.2886 office/408.447.2824 fax petra.ramirez@hp.com 19483 Pruneridge Avenue, MS4206 Cupertino, CA 95014
I'm really confused by this. Why would an immigration consultant be needed unless they were going to bring immigrants into the country to do these software engineering jobs? I thought that the H1B visas were only allowed for circumstances where it wasn't possible to find qualified American citizens and permanent residents. I'm so confused!
I can't quite decide whether to brush up on my Java (where I at least have 2 1/2 years of not completely current paid experience) or continue learning C#/.NET. Without paid experience, there seem to be no C# jobs.
I apparently failed an interview last week because I didn't know the meaning of the volatile keyword. The interviewer asked me a number of technical questions about C where I knew the answers, and the interviewer acknowledged that I knew the answers. (For example, why would you use a linked link rather than array, and what impact might heap fragmentation have why you would pick one over the other.) I explained that volatile appeared in the C definition about the time that I ceased to do embedded C. (The volatile keyword tells the compiler that the variable may be altered by activities outside of the code being compiled, and therefore don't optimize the code based on the compiler knowing what the value is, or was, or will be.) But that, or perhaps my inability to relocate my family to Seattle, seems to have doomed me for that slot. posted by Clayton at 8:44 PM permalink
Corvette
I took the Corvette in on Friday because the wear indicators on the brakes were squealing like stuck pigs. I assumed that these would be the front brakes, since front brakes usually wear out first--and I have never had the brakes done on the Corvette--63,000 miles on the factory brakes!
I was expecting about a $330 bill from the Chevy dealer (Peterson in Boise), and the bad news that the rear brakes were coming up soon. To my pleasure and surprise, the front brakes were not the problem. The rear brakes came to a few cents below $270. The front brake pads were only about 50% of the original, so I will probably get another 50,000 to 60,000 miles before I have to confront this again.
The rear tires, however, are definitely ready to be replaced. Actually, a bit beyond that. I've been putting this off, but in the next few days, I need to order up the replacement rear tires from Tire Rack. (Probably the Michelin Pilot Zero Pressure tires.) Once it starts to rain in October, it won't be just a good idea, but necessary.
I cringe at the price of the brake job, and the price of rear tires--but then again, the two combined would be about two months of payments on a new car. With a little luck, I won't have to worry about brakes again for several years, or tires for a similar period of time.
I've been working on budgets for the era after my severance pay runs out. While I would still like an engineering job (so that I can afford to get Fox News, and go on vacations), this won't be a tragedy if I can get the old house in West Boise sold. (I'm about to cut the price, yet again--so that it will be $45,000 below the 2008 assessed value.) There are some of my co-workers at HP where, unfortunately, the end of severance pay will be a tragedy, at least if they can't find a new engineering job around here.
I'm still hoping that an engineering position becomes available here in Boise--or at least in the Western U.S. But if not, I suppose that I can survive with the non-engineering jobs that are available around here. posted by Clayton at 7:40 PM permalink
