I majored in Economics and minored in Political Science. I admit that I did far better academically in Political Science than Economics, mainly because I found the material fascinating.
So I admit that it was embarrassing many years later to learn about the Gag Rule not from my formal education in Politics, but instead on The West Wing -- that liberal reshaping of America in which an "egg-headed" liberal runs the United States and all conservatives are sexist, racist, homophobes bent on destroying the Bartlett Administration and America through sheer blundering. If I am revealing my political persuasion too much, you'll have to forgive me.
The West Wing was designed to take current issues and expose them on the weekly program, so perhaps I am being a little too hard on myself when Aaron Sorkin has an inside track to these issues.
I am a veteran of the United States Air Force and a father. As such I believe our citizens owe their freedom to those right now fighting overseas. Not only that, I believe that our young men are all potentially draftable to defend our way of life. However I also believe that our freedom of speech and our freedom to protest are invaluable to our independence and part of what makes us the greatest nation in the history of the world.
As such, the practice of supporting abortion overseas through public funds (TAXPAYER MONEY) is an absolutely insidious and evil practice. While there have been those convicted of tax evasion for refusing to pay taxes that go toward a war or military spending (which I can respect despite being a veteran), this is the precise opposite. I never knew that the government even conducted this practice, and there are MILLIONS opposed to EVER paying for this.
This specialized Gag Rule is the Presidential Order barring the discussion by State Department officials and taxpayer funding of groups overseas to provide funding for Abortion as part of "Reproductive Services" predominately in Third World countries, where people cannot afford medical services.
Barack Obama promised to remove this specialized Gag Rule, and to restore Partial Birth abortion the moment he became President. Now that he has has taken the Oath of Office (and flubbed it), he has the authority to create an Executive Order that reverses the Gag Rule. This means (if you are a taxpayer in the United States), that whether you are against Abortion or ambivalent about it nationally but against it personally, YOUR MONEY is being used to "provide reproductive services" to drastically poor and uninformed people living in a Third World country. Don't believe me? Please feel free to look it up. Oh, and watch in the alternative media for an announcement sometime this week. It is very likely that the main stream media will not want to say a word about this particular Executive Order, as they want to protect Obama for as long as they can.
This one time, I have to thank Aaron Sorkin, Martin Sheen, and Rob Lowe for telling me more about the underside of American policy than the university that was supposed to educate me.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Do not forget De Tocqueville - No bailouts!
The United States is enduring a credit situation and the beginning of a new administration in which the president-elect thinks we need billions to bailout several industries.
At this penultimate moment, we can repeat the mistakes of the FDR New Deal -- which we are still paying for with Social Security and its continual drain on our gross national product -- or we can allow the free market to do what it has always done, which is to allow entrepreneurs to create, stimulate, alter, and clear markets.
Although there are probably thousands of famous quotes about the United States from both famous and not so famous people, I thought our current situation was best described by Alexis de Tocqueville nearly 200 years ago:
"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money."
"The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults."
The United States is the greatest nation in the history of the world not because of its government, but because of the faith, hard work, generosity, and dedication of its people. Let that not fail during these difficult economic times. We cannot bail out every industry, so we should bail out no more industries. The banks were the first mistake and the auto industry the second. The state governments and the newspapers need to cut their spending, and that should be the end of it.
At this penultimate moment, we can repeat the mistakes of the FDR New Deal -- which we are still paying for with Social Security and its continual drain on our gross national product -- or we can allow the free market to do what it has always done, which is to allow entrepreneurs to create, stimulate, alter, and clear markets.
Although there are probably thousands of famous quotes about the United States from both famous and not so famous people, I thought our current situation was best described by Alexis de Tocqueville nearly 200 years ago:
"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money."
"The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults."
The United States is the greatest nation in the history of the world not because of its government, but because of the faith, hard work, generosity, and dedication of its people. Let that not fail during these difficult economic times. We cannot bail out every industry, so we should bail out no more industries. The banks were the first mistake and the auto industry the second. The state governments and the newspapers need to cut their spending, and that should be the end of it.
Friday, September 19, 2008
The left is caught, finally, being their true selves
For those who are new to the "polite" argument between right-wingers and left wingers, I have news: It is NOT polite. This is an undeclared war, but initiated by the LEFT and politely dealt with by the right without formal recognition and without conspicuous coordinated response. These last two weeks will be confusing when you study the history of Bill Clinton and the attitudes those we call the "left" had then. In fact, if you are new to American politics but familiar with U.S. History, please take this advice:
Buy and read Ann Coulter's book: "How to talk to a Liberal (If you must), 2004"
For the last three weeks, Sarah Palin has drawn the absolute wrath of the left, and they have now abandoned all pretense of defending the woman or anything to do with feminism as empowerment for women.
Barack Obama started this campaign claiming that he was a "post-racial" candidate and how he was going to bring people together, saying "Yes, we can." Given that presidential political campaigns are tightly controlled communication presentations, we see now that the selection of a wildly popular governor of an oil state for Vice President has absolutely shook the Obama campaign to its knees. How do we know this?
1. They have dropped all pretense of talking about the issues.
2. Barack Obama is now calling for his supporters to "get in their faces," referring to Republicans and Independents.
3. Vice Presidential Candidate Joe Biden is telling people it is their "patriotic duty" to pay MORE in taxes (emphasis mine)
4. Barack Obama gives his VERY next speech after Governor Palin's acceptance speech saying "when you put lipstick on a pig, it is still a pig" --which no one with a straight face can deny was a direct jab at Governor Palin's joke about the difference between "hockey moms" and pit bulls being lipstick. Either he is extremely stupid and prone to gaffes or he does not mind engaging in very OLD politics.
5. Joe Biden said that, "Hillary Clinton is totally qualified to be Vice President. In fact, she may be even more qualified than [him]." Either he is extremely stupid and prone to amazing political gaffes, or he his hedging his bets on working for a Clinton Administration in 2012, or he is already aware that one of the only ways to mitigate the excitement of Sarah Palin very LIKELY being the first ever woman Vice President of the United States (and probably President after that) would be to get out of the way and allow Hillary to become the vice presidential candidate for the Democratic party. I'm not betting on the first option for Joe Biden, since stupid people are unable to ask a 45-minute question on-camera while bloviating for his constituents. Stupid people give safe, easy answers and tend to shut up fairly quickly. It is not clear to me about option three, because that could be his own assessment of quicksand being tied permanently to an Obama campaign or a possible communication from Barack Hussein Obama that his position is secure only as long as it is working for Obama. Either scenario could lead to a gaffe like the one mentioned above.
A. The left attacks Sarah Palin for accepting the nomination when she has five children. As Rudolph Guiliana famously said, "How dare they ask that question!?!" when they would NEVER ask that question of a man running for office. I would add that they GUSHED about Nancy Pelosi taking over as Speaker of the House with her grandchildren there and how everyone was so proud of her being there. Despite the lowest approval record in history, Barbara Walters recently gushed, "I don't care what they say about the Congress. I am so proud that you (Nancy Pelosi) are there in that job (as Speaker of the House)." This is analogous of leaving an important job to a man and returning to find 90% of the job materials are gone and then saying, "I don't care how much money I lost on this deal -- I'm just so proud you are in this job because of your anatomy."
B. The left attacks Sarah Palin for a lack of experience. This is the mind-numbingly stupid argument is for the governor of the ONLY state sharing borders with two different countries. She has conducted agreements to run pipelines across one of these country borders from Alaska to Canada, and then to other northern "lower 48" states such as Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, etc. for Natural Gas. Instead they want to go back to when she was the mayor of Wasilla and ignore that she is, at present, Governor of the great State of Alaska, the largest state in the union. She is Commander-in-Chief of the Alaskan National Guard, which includes components of both US Army and US Air Force, which trains for arctic combat and now ramped up to deal with renewed bomber "Bear" flights by Russia near our Territorial borders. She is responsible for a budget of over $15 Billion, and probably the only state that writes checks to the state's residents each year from Oil revenues.
C. The left attacks Sarah Palin because she walks the talk of being Pro-life. There is no rebuttal for them for someone walking the talk, so they attack her 17 year old child -- who is now pregnant and is now a fiancee of the baby's father.
D. Barack Obama has an ego so large that he could not bring himself to add Hillary Clinton as his Vice President, and now realizes his ego has trampled on 18 million people (largely women) who feel jilted and now have an inspirational choice. There are women who vote single-issue just as there are men. There are women who are pro-choice, just as there are men who are. However, it is not 1970 anymore and Roe v. Wade is now the law of the land. If abortion on demand is not the number one issue for women voters, then there would appear to be a whole lot of women that are inspired by the story of Sarah Palin -- the everywoman.
I am inspired by the choice Americans will have in just 43 days. I am convinced that the candidate that loves America and talks glowingly about how we will face the future with optimism is the American that will win. Democrats have still not figured out that their hero, Kennedy, did not DENEGRATE America the way they do today. They knew the Eisenhower years were golden and basically went around describing how much BETTER they could make it. Air America died because no one can stand the harping all day long by Liberals. Sarah Palin has brought out the harpies everywhere and getting them to speak against their own interests. Rush Limbaugh famously said that Liberals "cannot be who they are" and Rush was right: Liberals are now admitting that the politics of personal destruction is truly THEIR golden work environment, and that they do not care about women if that interferes with their overall objective of getting the Annointed one elected. It is Linda Tripp and Paula Jones all over again.
Sarah Palin, I am rooting for you to be our next Vice President and perhaps our very first female President of the United States. Good luck and may God Bless You and your family.
Buy and read Ann Coulter's book: "How to talk to a Liberal (If you must), 2004"
For the last three weeks, Sarah Palin has drawn the absolute wrath of the left, and they have now abandoned all pretense of defending the woman or anything to do with feminism as empowerment for women.
Barack Obama started this campaign claiming that he was a "post-racial" candidate and how he was going to bring people together, saying "Yes, we can." Given that presidential political campaigns are tightly controlled communication presentations, we see now that the selection of a wildly popular governor of an oil state for Vice President has absolutely shook the Obama campaign to its knees. How do we know this?
1. They have dropped all pretense of talking about the issues.
2. Barack Obama is now calling for his supporters to "get in their faces," referring to Republicans and Independents.
3. Vice Presidential Candidate Joe Biden is telling people it is their "patriotic duty" to pay MORE in taxes (emphasis mine)
4. Barack Obama gives his VERY next speech after Governor Palin's acceptance speech saying "when you put lipstick on a pig, it is still a pig" --which no one with a straight face can deny was a direct jab at Governor Palin's joke about the difference between "hockey moms" and pit bulls being lipstick. Either he is extremely stupid and prone to gaffes or he does not mind engaging in very OLD politics.
5. Joe Biden said that, "Hillary Clinton is totally qualified to be Vice President. In fact, she may be even more qualified than [him]." Either he is extremely stupid and prone to amazing political gaffes, or he his hedging his bets on working for a Clinton Administration in 2012, or he is already aware that one of the only ways to mitigate the excitement of Sarah Palin very LIKELY being the first ever woman Vice President of the United States (and probably President after that) would be to get out of the way and allow Hillary to become the vice presidential candidate for the Democratic party. I'm not betting on the first option for Joe Biden, since stupid people are unable to ask a 45-minute question on-camera while bloviating for his constituents. Stupid people give safe, easy answers and tend to shut up fairly quickly. It is not clear to me about option three, because that could be his own assessment of quicksand being tied permanently to an Obama campaign or a possible communication from Barack Hussein Obama that his position is secure only as long as it is working for Obama. Either scenario could lead to a gaffe like the one mentioned above.
A. The left attacks Sarah Palin for accepting the nomination when she has five children. As Rudolph Guiliana famously said, "How dare they ask that question!?!" when they would NEVER ask that question of a man running for office. I would add that they GUSHED about Nancy Pelosi taking over as Speaker of the House with her grandchildren there and how everyone was so proud of her being there. Despite the lowest approval record in history, Barbara Walters recently gushed, "I don't care what they say about the Congress. I am so proud that you (Nancy Pelosi) are there in that job (as Speaker of the House)." This is analogous of leaving an important job to a man and returning to find 90% of the job materials are gone and then saying, "I don't care how much money I lost on this deal -- I'm just so proud you are in this job because of your anatomy."
B. The left attacks Sarah Palin for a lack of experience. This is the mind-numbingly stupid argument is for the governor of the ONLY state sharing borders with two different countries. She has conducted agreements to run pipelines across one of these country borders from Alaska to Canada, and then to other northern "lower 48" states such as Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, etc. for Natural Gas. Instead they want to go back to when she was the mayor of Wasilla and ignore that she is, at present, Governor of the great State of Alaska, the largest state in the union. She is Commander-in-Chief of the Alaskan National Guard, which includes components of both US Army and US Air Force, which trains for arctic combat and now ramped up to deal with renewed bomber "Bear" flights by Russia near our Territorial borders. She is responsible for a budget of over $15 Billion, and probably the only state that writes checks to the state's residents each year from Oil revenues.
C. The left attacks Sarah Palin because she walks the talk of being Pro-life. There is no rebuttal for them for someone walking the talk, so they attack her 17 year old child -- who is now pregnant and is now a fiancee of the baby's father.
D. Barack Obama has an ego so large that he could not bring himself to add Hillary Clinton as his Vice President, and now realizes his ego has trampled on 18 million people (largely women) who feel jilted and now have an inspirational choice. There are women who vote single-issue just as there are men. There are women who are pro-choice, just as there are men who are. However, it is not 1970 anymore and Roe v. Wade is now the law of the land. If abortion on demand is not the number one issue for women voters, then there would appear to be a whole lot of women that are inspired by the story of Sarah Palin -- the everywoman.
I am inspired by the choice Americans will have in just 43 days. I am convinced that the candidate that loves America and talks glowingly about how we will face the future with optimism is the American that will win. Democrats have still not figured out that their hero, Kennedy, did not DENEGRATE America the way they do today. They knew the Eisenhower years were golden and basically went around describing how much BETTER they could make it. Air America died because no one can stand the harping all day long by Liberals. Sarah Palin has brought out the harpies everywhere and getting them to speak against their own interests. Rush Limbaugh famously said that Liberals "cannot be who they are" and Rush was right: Liberals are now admitting that the politics of personal destruction is truly THEIR golden work environment, and that they do not care about women if that interferes with their overall objective of getting the Annointed one elected. It is Linda Tripp and Paula Jones all over again.
Sarah Palin, I am rooting for you to be our next Vice President and perhaps our very first female President of the United States. Good luck and may God Bless You and your family.
The Greatest Nation on God's Green Earth
It occurs to me at such a junior point in my blogging "career," I should state some things for the record: 1) There are and have been no perfect human beings save one, known to his disciples as Yeshuwah and to the Romans as Jesus -- because He was the One and only Son of God. 2) Anyone I quote now or in the future is being quoted at the moment they said whatever quote I am attributing because I find it interesting, insightful, useful, etc., and NOT because I agree with everything they ever said in their entire lives. This is one of the traps of political pundits and general left-wingers that Ann Coulter has warned us about for at least 10 years. 3) I may even quote people that I vehemently disagree with to prove the absurdity, outright lie, speciousness, calumny, or general wrong-headedness of the opinion opposite of mine. Rush Limbaugh famously said that he occasionally uses absurdity to demonstrate the absurdity of others.
I am grateful to many "right of center" people that have blazed the conservative trail before me. Among them (in no particular order and this list is not all inclusive):
1. John Adams - Perhaps our greatest founding father; the author of the oldest written Constitution on Earth (the Massachussetts constitution); a devout believer in God; a man that argued for over a year for the independence of the United States from Great Britain before it was acceptable; the man that nominated George Washington to be Commander in Chief of the Continental Army (before it was continental!), and a man that sacrificed the Presidency to follow Washington's advice in the Farewell Address and avoid war with France. He now sits with Abigail at the right hand of God, who planned this City upon a Hill.
2. William Buckley - The pioneer who explained what happened to higher education at Yale back in the 1950's, and the founder of National Review.
3. Ann Coulter - Those who bother to study history and recognize jokes when they hear them will realize this lady is a profound genius.
4. Rush Limbaugh - The founder of the EIB network and the number one syndicated radio talk show host for over 20 years on the Rush Limbaugh show.
5. Sean Hannity - The co-host of Hannity and Colmes on Fox News, and the number two syndicated radio talk show host of the Sean Hannity show.
6. Hugh Hewitt - Law professor, attorney, and host of the Hugh Hewitt show -- a brilliant legal mind and an excellent commentator on the current political happenings
7. Michelle Malkin - An absolutely brilliant author, blogger, and guest host of Bill O'Reilly's show on Fox News - she is the author of "Invasion" and was the first to tell us about the catastrophe that is illegal immigation before September 11th, 2001.
8. William Bennett - Secretary of Education to Ronald Reagan, and then Drug Czar. Doctor Bennett holds a Ph.D in Philosophy and is currently the host of "Bill Bennett's Morning in America" a national radio program.
9. Michael Medved - The "Cultural Crusader," he is a brilliant talk show host that happens to cover politics, movies, and attended law school with Hillary Clinton.
10. Ronald Reagan - Perhaps one of the greatest presidents of the United States, he stood up to the Soviet Union and without open warfare managed to defeat them. My only hope is that our next president does not allow the reversal of this victory by failing to learn Reagan's courage and determination.
I am grateful to many "right of center" people that have blazed the conservative trail before me. Among them (in no particular order and this list is not all inclusive):
1. John Adams - Perhaps our greatest founding father; the author of the oldest written Constitution on Earth (the Massachussetts constitution); a devout believer in God; a man that argued for over a year for the independence of the United States from Great Britain before it was acceptable; the man that nominated George Washington to be Commander in Chief of the Continental Army (before it was continental!), and a man that sacrificed the Presidency to follow Washington's advice in the Farewell Address and avoid war with France. He now sits with Abigail at the right hand of God, who planned this City upon a Hill.
2. William Buckley - The pioneer who explained what happened to higher education at Yale back in the 1950's, and the founder of National Review.
3. Ann Coulter - Those who bother to study history and recognize jokes when they hear them will realize this lady is a profound genius.
4. Rush Limbaugh - The founder of the EIB network and the number one syndicated radio talk show host for over 20 years on the Rush Limbaugh show.
5. Sean Hannity - The co-host of Hannity and Colmes on Fox News, and the number two syndicated radio talk show host of the Sean Hannity show.
6. Hugh Hewitt - Law professor, attorney, and host of the Hugh Hewitt show -- a brilliant legal mind and an excellent commentator on the current political happenings
7. Michelle Malkin - An absolutely brilliant author, blogger, and guest host of Bill O'Reilly's show on Fox News - she is the author of "Invasion" and was the first to tell us about the catastrophe that is illegal immigation before September 11th, 2001.
8. William Bennett - Secretary of Education to Ronald Reagan, and then Drug Czar. Doctor Bennett holds a Ph.D in Philosophy and is currently the host of "Bill Bennett's Morning in America" a national radio program.
9. Michael Medved - The "Cultural Crusader," he is a brilliant talk show host that happens to cover politics, movies, and attended law school with Hillary Clinton.
10. Ronald Reagan - Perhaps one of the greatest presidents of the United States, he stood up to the Soviet Union and without open warfare managed to defeat them. My only hope is that our next president does not allow the reversal of this victory by failing to learn Reagan's courage and determination.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
H1-B Visas versus American graduates for Technology jobs
I now have many friends and even mentors among the people who came to the United States on H1-B Visas, so let me start here by saying that I am grateful for them and hope they will understand what I am attempting to state here.
Points to conceed to the vastly different political parties:
1. College education is officially now outrageously expensive. (I don't really need to put some links here to defend this point, do I?) I am a college graduate (twice), and my first degree left me with a whopping total educational debt of $8300.00 (which 10 years ago would have just barely bought HALF of the first Plasma TV's that went on sale at Sears). This is a concession to Democrats.
2. American businesses such as Microsoft, have waylayed Congress to increase the number of H1-B visas each year, because as they put it: "There is not enough engineering talent here in the United States to fill the need we have." This is actually true (to an extent), as we have not done enough to encourage engineering and science in recent memory, and groups like Microsoft are providing 4-year full funding of women and minorities to pursue these majors in college. This is a concession to Republicans.
My choice of universities after becoming a Software Test Engineer was pragmatic (I needed to have my employer pay most of the bill, and I still needed to get student loans). My situation is not typical of the college bound high-schooler, though, as they will incur huge debts by the time they complete their degree in Computer Science.
I now have three children whom I want to attend college (because I did, and because I think it would be so much harder to get the right jobs and experience without it). If I were NOT to project the costs out into the future, but use the current year at a state school and multiply it by 4, it would cost, for one of them, $32,925, but I'll round off for 9 more years for my oldest to reach matriculation at IU and say $40,000.00. Some of this huge figure could be reduced by tuition assistance and scholarships, but I feel fairly confident that my American children will have a financial load upon leaving school that will affect choices in apartment, car, and employment.
If we acknowledge, then, that tuition is outrageously expense, and if we acknowledge that students will be coming out with a huge financial burden on top of all of the expenses of day to day living as a young college graduate, then why would we make it easier to have those jobs taken away by more and more H1B visa holders that do not have any debt and can work for significantly LESS money?
As technology expands and the next world wide web is targeted to work at speeds of gigabytes per second, why would American firms remain here in America? The work can all be done in India, where wages are extremely low and the culture there INSISTS that the parents pay for the education of their children, up through and including their Master's degrees?
We are outsourcing good paying technology jobs and enabling the dumbing down of America. This is unheard of in our history. The United States of America is the land of opportunity that birthed the inventor of the Automobile, the Airplane, the atomic bomb, and the men that first walked on the Moon. We invented the personal computer, the first technology in history designed to make a better version of itself. Yet, we moved from exploring the moon to less expensive missions by building the Space Shuttle and floating around in Earth's orbit or out to the International Space Station. We ended commercial supersonic flight, because it was too expensive even after 20 years. We are finally talking about returning to the Moon with a projected shot at at manned space flight to Mars, but all of this will have to wait until 2017.
A friend of mine pointed out to me one of the costs of this outsourcing and always trying to get the lowest bidder as follows. If the contractors that come in are from H1-B visas and the work gets done eventually by workers overseas (the contractors eventually go home), then the money will not get spent locally, which means that the economy will not reap the benefits, nor will the tax money stay here in our communities to support the vital infrastructure that Democrats prattle on about (who will pay for all of your teacher initiatives and the $11,000+ we spend each year on EVERY single child in education in this country?)
For all of my friends among the Active Duty, Reserves, and Veterans of the United States Armed Services, we know that the word reorganization is not nearly as terrifying within federal service as it is in the private sector.
Indeed, just because someone thinks it is a good idea to relocate an office of analysts from 3 city blocks away from the data collectors to a headquarters office 630 miles away does NOT mean that anyone is going to have to start worrying about finding new careers.
However, reorganization in the private sector affects everyone -- even those that are keeping their jobs (for now).
Just 6 months ago, in a meeting with a senior director, we were informed that it was a great time to belong to (our department name redacted to protect my own hide). We were being recognized for industry leading technology, despite our many problems, and that the budget was increased to allow for even more innovation. We even had a number of positions converted from contractor to permanent, and I was among them!
A few months later, though, produced a "hiring freeze." No worries, here though, as we had seen these take place over a number of summers. However, recently the contractors were brought into a meeting and told that their contracts were extended from September through November, but that it "did not look good" after that.
In fairness to the management at our level, they did not impose the hiring freeze. Nor, it must be pointed out, are the management at our level responsible for any possible losses we might experience if things go sour at the end of November. Further, the management at our level have been appreciative and supportive of the contractors we currently have. Simply put, the management have done their level best to warn these contractors early that there may not be a job later, and that they simply do not know what will happen when the hiring freeze is over.
The problems with news like this are several, including:
1. Rumor and speculation abound
2. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is rumored to be squeezing every contracting opportunity at Humana out from the other firms that have placed many great people with us at Humana.
3. Tata Consultancy Services is based out of India, and is the largest technology firm in Asia.
4. We are using TCS already for some overseas development and for two of our testers (offshore is the term used for these resources).
5. We have had terrible failures so far with our development efforts using offshore work, but someone in upper management is not to be deterred (our previous efforts of offshore work were with a different firm)
Let me close by saying that those I have come to know have almost all of them become my friends. They hail from the largest democracy on Earth, and I am honored to know many of them. I celebrate when they become American citizens, and I invite them to stay here and help us figure out our problems. I have no issue with them at all, nor do I have an issue with capitalism for its own sake. The problem I have is that we are not welcoming enough of these visitors to get the vast majority of them to stay. We need to do more on this front and to value their contribution to this great American melting pot, because many of them, like so many before them, come to appreciate America in a way that we do not because we were born here.
Points to conceed to the vastly different political parties:
1. College education is officially now outrageously expensive. (I don't really need to put some links here to defend this point, do I?) I am a college graduate (twice), and my first degree left me with a whopping total educational debt of $8300.00 (which 10 years ago would have just barely bought HALF of the first Plasma TV's that went on sale at Sears). This is a concession to Democrats.
2. American businesses such as Microsoft, have waylayed Congress to increase the number of H1-B visas each year, because as they put it: "There is not enough engineering talent here in the United States to fill the need we have." This is actually true (to an extent), as we have not done enough to encourage engineering and science in recent memory, and groups like Microsoft are providing 4-year full funding of women and minorities to pursue these majors in college. This is a concession to Republicans.
My choice of universities after becoming a Software Test Engineer was pragmatic (I needed to have my employer pay most of the bill, and I still needed to get student loans). My situation is not typical of the college bound high-schooler, though, as they will incur huge debts by the time they complete their degree in Computer Science.
I now have three children whom I want to attend college (because I did, and because I think it would be so much harder to get the right jobs and experience without it). If I were NOT to project the costs out into the future, but use the current year at a state school and multiply it by 4, it would cost, for one of them, $32,925, but I'll round off for 9 more years for my oldest to reach matriculation at IU and say $40,000.00. Some of this huge figure could be reduced by tuition assistance and scholarships, but I feel fairly confident that my American children will have a financial load upon leaving school that will affect choices in apartment, car, and employment.
If we acknowledge, then, that tuition is outrageously expense, and if we acknowledge that students will be coming out with a huge financial burden on top of all of the expenses of day to day living as a young college graduate, then why would we make it easier to have those jobs taken away by more and more H1B visa holders that do not have any debt and can work for significantly LESS money?
As technology expands and the next world wide web is targeted to work at speeds of gigabytes per second, why would American firms remain here in America? The work can all be done in India, where wages are extremely low and the culture there INSISTS that the parents pay for the education of their children, up through and including their Master's degrees?
We are outsourcing good paying technology jobs and enabling the dumbing down of America. This is unheard of in our history. The United States of America is the land of opportunity that birthed the inventor of the Automobile, the Airplane, the atomic bomb, and the men that first walked on the Moon. We invented the personal computer, the first technology in history designed to make a better version of itself. Yet, we moved from exploring the moon to less expensive missions by building the Space Shuttle and floating around in Earth's orbit or out to the International Space Station. We ended commercial supersonic flight, because it was too expensive even after 20 years. We are finally talking about returning to the Moon with a projected shot at at manned space flight to Mars, but all of this will have to wait until 2017.
A friend of mine pointed out to me one of the costs of this outsourcing and always trying to get the lowest bidder as follows. If the contractors that come in are from H1-B visas and the work gets done eventually by workers overseas (the contractors eventually go home), then the money will not get spent locally, which means that the economy will not reap the benefits, nor will the tax money stay here in our communities to support the vital infrastructure that Democrats prattle on about (who will pay for all of your teacher initiatives and the $11,000+ we spend each year on EVERY single child in education in this country?)
For all of my friends among the Active Duty, Reserves, and Veterans of the United States Armed Services, we know that the word reorganization is not nearly as terrifying within federal service as it is in the private sector.
Indeed, just because someone thinks it is a good idea to relocate an office of analysts from 3 city blocks away from the data collectors to a headquarters office 630 miles away does NOT mean that anyone is going to have to start worrying about finding new careers.
However, reorganization in the private sector affects everyone -- even those that are keeping their jobs (for now).
Just 6 months ago, in a meeting with a senior director, we were informed that it was a great time to belong to (our department name redacted to protect my own hide). We were being recognized for industry leading technology, despite our many problems, and that the budget was increased to allow for even more innovation. We even had a number of positions converted from contractor to permanent, and I was among them!
A few months later, though, produced a "hiring freeze." No worries, here though, as we had seen these take place over a number of summers. However, recently the contractors were brought into a meeting and told that their contracts were extended from September through November, but that it "did not look good" after that.
In fairness to the management at our level, they did not impose the hiring freeze. Nor, it must be pointed out, are the management at our level responsible for any possible losses we might experience if things go sour at the end of November. Further, the management at our level have been appreciative and supportive of the contractors we currently have. Simply put, the management have done their level best to warn these contractors early that there may not be a job later, and that they simply do not know what will happen when the hiring freeze is over.
The problems with news like this are several, including:
1. Rumor and speculation abound
2. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is rumored to be squeezing every contracting opportunity at Humana out from the other firms that have placed many great people with us at Humana.
3. Tata Consultancy Services is based out of India, and is the largest technology firm in Asia.
4. We are using TCS already for some overseas development and for two of our testers (offshore is the term used for these resources).
5. We have had terrible failures so far with our development efforts using offshore work, but someone in upper management is not to be deterred (our previous efforts of offshore work were with a different firm)
Let me close by saying that those I have come to know have almost all of them become my friends. They hail from the largest democracy on Earth, and I am honored to know many of them. I celebrate when they become American citizens, and I invite them to stay here and help us figure out our problems. I have no issue with them at all, nor do I have an issue with capitalism for its own sake. The problem I have is that we are not welcoming enough of these visitors to get the vast majority of them to stay. We need to do more on this front and to value their contribution to this great American melting pot, because many of them, like so many before them, come to appreciate America in a way that we do not because we were born here.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Job Ends
In my last post, just 76 days ago, I talked about my new job...
A week ago Tuesday, just after work, I received the news. My contracting firm called me and wanted to work out a time to talk to me the next day. I am not paranoid, but my contracting firms never call me out of the blue for anything good -- that is usually done via e-mail.
A little background: I took this job for two reasons: It was a permanent job performing QA software testing, and I was going to be a Lead QA Analyst. I was assured that I was considered a permanent employee from day one, but I would just need a little time as a contractor to work off the contracting fee. My offer letter even put down the precise 944 hours I would be working as a contractor, after which, "you will be a permanent employee."
76 days after accepting the offer and beginning work here, this small software company made a business decision--known to the rest of us as a "Re-org." In this re-organization, they did not want to fire Customer Support staff who had been loyal employees for a number of years...so they are going to move them into QA! They were, instead, going to eliminate the contracting staff in QA (there is only one...guess who?)
The staff here was TOLD what was going to happen, and had no input on this decision. While I'm sure this is true, is everyone told exactly this when it happens? So despite being told that I was "already a member of the family," and "you are already considered permanent here," I am forced to look for another opportunity elsewhere. This is a small company, and business decisions are fast and secretive.
I am grateful, though, that I have 30 days to look for work, and their promise that I can pursue an opportunity if I find one without waiting. I believe now, though, that in the software development field, the role of the Software Tester is the one with the greatest vulnerability. After all, software developers create the product, program managers manage the product and vision, and testers just work on what's wrong with the product. The first people to get rid of are logically those that simply find flaws in the code, despite the gamble that a terrible flaw will now be found by the customer!
Well, I am interviewing tomorrow with another firm in Louisville, and my experience should be largely helpful here. I pray that this time, I am going where God calls me to do my greatest work.
A week ago Tuesday, just after work, I received the news. My contracting firm called me and wanted to work out a time to talk to me the next day. I am not paranoid, but my contracting firms never call me out of the blue for anything good -- that is usually done via e-mail.
A little background: I took this job for two reasons: It was a permanent job performing QA software testing, and I was going to be a Lead QA Analyst. I was assured that I was considered a permanent employee from day one, but I would just need a little time as a contractor to work off the contracting fee. My offer letter even put down the precise 944 hours I would be working as a contractor, after which, "you will be a permanent employee."
76 days after accepting the offer and beginning work here, this small software company made a business decision--known to the rest of us as a "Re-org." In this re-organization, they did not want to fire Customer Support staff who had been loyal employees for a number of years...so they are going to move them into QA! They were, instead, going to eliminate the contracting staff in QA (there is only one...guess who?)
The staff here was TOLD what was going to happen, and had no input on this decision. While I'm sure this is true, is everyone told exactly this when it happens? So despite being told that I was "already a member of the family," and "you are already considered permanent here," I am forced to look for another opportunity elsewhere. This is a small company, and business decisions are fast and secretive.
I am grateful, though, that I have 30 days to look for work, and their promise that I can pursue an opportunity if I find one without waiting. I believe now, though, that in the software development field, the role of the Software Tester is the one with the greatest vulnerability. After all, software developers create the product, program managers manage the product and vision, and testers just work on what's wrong with the product. The first people to get rid of are logically those that simply find flaws in the code, despite the gamble that a terrible flaw will now be found by the customer!
Well, I am interviewing tomorrow with another firm in Louisville, and my experience should be largely helpful here. I pray that this time, I am going where God calls me to do my greatest work.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
New Job
Today I began my new job at a firm in Eastern Louisville, and I cannot believe how much happier I am. I have had many jobs in my life, but I have never had the sense of relief on my first day as I experienced today.
Some time ago, I worked for the Largest Software Company on Earth, based in Redmond, Washington. That time was heaven for me as a Software Test Engineer. There were free soft drinks, a health club membership, insane numbers of work hours, and my poor family suffered terribly in missing me when I stayed away until 3am some nights. I will never be able to repay them for the time I just HAD to be there. I helped ship Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003.
My new job is at one of the smallest software companies on Earth, based in Prospect, Kentucky and Dallas, Texas. The people are friendly, the work is interesting, the soft drinks are AGAIN free, and I have been hired as a Lead. I love to test software and I'm learning to code software, so this is a GREAT opportunity! I don't want to ruin it by saying anymore, as I do not know much more about the company than what you would learn in an interview and spending just one day shadowing a QA tester.
Some time ago, I worked for the Largest Software Company on Earth, based in Redmond, Washington. That time was heaven for me as a Software Test Engineer. There were free soft drinks, a health club membership, insane numbers of work hours, and my poor family suffered terribly in missing me when I stayed away until 3am some nights. I will never be able to repay them for the time I just HAD to be there. I helped ship Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003.
My new job is at one of the smallest software companies on Earth, based in Prospect, Kentucky and Dallas, Texas. The people are friendly, the work is interesting, the soft drinks are AGAIN free, and I have been hired as a Lead. I love to test software and I'm learning to code software, so this is a GREAT opportunity! I don't want to ruin it by saying anymore, as I do not know much more about the company than what you would learn in an interview and spending just one day shadowing a QA tester.
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