The House of Representatives Votes to Ban Aid to Saudi Arabia

Rep. Shelley Berkley said, "Saudi Arabia propagates terrorism." Lawmakers also were angry at the religious intolerance found in Saudi Arabia which is no surprise since Saudi Arabia's official faith is Salafism the very same faith of Osama Bin Laden. They pointed out that Saudi Arabia is rich and we shouldn't be paying tribute, I mean giving aid to them.

High-Tech Companies Will Not Hire Americans but Will Hire Cheaper H-1Bs

Dr Norman Matloff's Testimony to Congress on the subject:

There is no shortage of programmers. Companies just want cheap workers on H-1B visas:

Employers only hire about 2% of their software applicants, and they admit that they reject the vast majority of their applicants without even an interview. If employers were so desperate, they could not afford to be so picky.

Both government and private data show that average wage increases for programmers have been mild, 7 or 8%, and again contradict the claims of huge shortages. The industry's own study estimated that the claimed `shortage' is only driving up salaries by 3%. If employers were desperate, they would be willing to pay much higher wage premiums.

And though figures like 7 or 8% are a few percentage points above inflation, they are still very mild. If employers were desperate to hire, as they claim, they would certainly be willing to pay a premium of more than 7%. Wages in almost all professions have been going up at least this much. Surveyors and dieticians saw their salaries increase far more than programmers in 1997, beating inflation by 20% and 17%, respectively.

It is a very interesting read older workers as young as 35 are being discriminated against and American workers have to leave the field because Employers do not like to hire them because they want low wage labor.

The Programmers Guild website has information and assists unemployed programmers!
http://www.programmersguild.org/

Free Speech Zones

WorldNetDaily reports that Atlanta Officials have decided that people of opposing viewpoints may not participate in the Atlanta Pride Festival. This is ridiculous because you must allow for speech you don't like so you can have speech that you do agree with. This disrespect for freedom is shown at the highest levels of government.

The American Conservative points out that Bush throws out dissidents during his appearances even for something as small as holding a sign up critical of him:

When Bush travels around the United States, the Secret Service visits the location ahead of time and orders local police to set up “free speech zones” or “protest zones” where people opposed to Bush policies (and sometimes sign-carrying supporters) are quarantined. These zones routinely succeed in keeping protesters out of presidential sight and outside the view of media covering the event.

When Bush came to the Pittsburgh area on Labor Day 2002, 65-year-old retired steel worker Bill Neel was there to greet him with a sign proclaiming, “The Bush family must surely love the poor, they made so many of us.” The local police, at the Secret Service’s behest, set up a “designated free-speech zone” on a baseball field surrounded by a chain-link fence a third of a mile from the location of Bush’s speech. The police cleared the path of the motorcade of all critical signs, though folks with pro-Bush signs were permitted to line the president’s path. Neel refused to go to the designated area and was arrested for disorderly conduct; the police also confiscated his sign. Neel later commented, “As far as I’m concerned, the whole country is a free speech zone. If the Bush administration has its way, anyone who criticizes them will be out of sight and out of mind.”

At Neel’s trial, police detective John Ianachione testified that the Secret Service told local police to confine “people that were there making a statement pretty much against the president and his views” in a so-called free speech area. Paul Wolf, one of the top officials in the Allegheny County Police Department, told Salon that the Secret Service “come in and do a site survey, and say, ‘Here’s a place where the people can be, and we’d like to have any protesters put in a place that is able to be secured.’” Pennsylvania district judge Shirley Rowe Trkula threw out the disorderly conduct charge against Neel, declaring, “I believe this is America. Whatever happened to ‘I don’t agree with you, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it’?”

What kind of a country has the United States become where an elected servant can have someone arrested for using their freedom of speech or a city can ban peaceful protest if they don't agree with the stance of the protesters?

Nativist vs Neoslaveholders on the Guest Worker Program

I'm wondered if it is possible to make Nativist and Neoslaveholders both happy. The problem is the Nativist don't want to pay for the healthcare for the Neoslaves and compete with them, arguing that Neoslaves drive down wages for lower class Nativist. The upper class Neoslaveholders argue that Neoslaves do jobs Americans don't want, saying that they can't get Americans to do hard manual labor such as cleaning and working on plantations for low wages.

I've been pondering if there is a way for Nativist and Neoslaveholders to get along. If the Federal Government enforced border law and allowed the States to determine their own immigration needs then maybe these two very opposing groups could make peace. The Guest Workers would be forced to wear RFID tags and the States would decide if they are welcome to compete with the American workforce for jobs in their state or live there. The States hosting the Guest Workers would have to pay fines for any problems Guest Workers cause in other States.

The United States is already decided to use RFID tags on domesticated animals to track them!

Why the comparison to slavery?

Wright argues that slave-based commerce was central to the eighteenth-century rise of the Atlantic economy, not because slave plantations were superior as a method of organizing production, but because slaves could be put to work on sugar plantations that could not have attracted free labor on economically viable terms.

Water Supply Crises by Year 2025

Here is a link to the Department of Interior, concerning the looming crises:
http://www.doi.gov/water2025/

It appears according to this map that the West Coast and Central US is not going to have the water to meet the demands from people, farms and the environment in that region in about 18 years.

Barack Obama Is Not Antiwar

He speaks out against minding our own business and not using our military to continue our Wilsonian Foreign Policy:

There is no doubt that the mistakes of the past six years have made our current task more difficult. World opinion has turned against us. And after all the lives lost and the billions of dollars spent, many Americans may find it tempting to turn inward, and cede our claim of leadership in world affairs.

I insist, however, that such an abandonment of our leadership is a mistake we must not make. America cannot meet the threats of this century alone, but the world cannot meet them without America. We must neither retreat from the world nor try to bully it into submission – we must lead the world, by deed and example.

We must lead by building a 21st century military to ensure the security of our people and advance the security of all people. We must lead by marshalling a global effort to stop the spread of the world’s most dangerous weapons. We must lead by building and strengthening the partnerships and alliances necessary to meet our common challenges and defeat our common threats.

He thinks we should maintain Bush's Wilsonian fantasy and desire to spend more taxpayer dollars in reshaping the Middle East and the world. He promises to be better at it than our current president, seeking global consensus before we blow up another country. He believes we should leave all options on the table, concerning Iran. He believes the US may one day have to rain down missiles onto Iran and Pakistan.

The Iranian Coup in 1953

The US was fearful that the Iranian government lead by Dr. Mohammed Mosaddeq would fall into communism. The British were angry that he nationalized oil in Iran. They overthrew his government, reinstalling Muhammad Reza Shah back into power in Operation Ajax in August of 1953. Muhammad Reza Shah was overthrown in the late 70's by zealous religious students for Ayatollah Khomeini.

Here is an interesting pdf file concerning extremist ideology:
http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/pub738.pdf

Fred Thompson Supports Open Borders and Voted for McCain-Feingold Campaign Reform Bill

Why are Republicans excited about this guy in his rented, red pickup truck? They despise McCain but Fred Thompson shares many of McCain's values. I'm thinking either they don't know this guy's record very well or they love the message (open borders and McCain-Feingold) but hate the messenger. Fred Thompson was instrumental to the passing of the McCain-Feingold reform bill.

Here is Fred Thompson's record for those curious compiled by Americans for Better Immigration.

Fred Thompson's votes against Interior Enforcement:

1996: Voted in committee in favor of the Hatch Amendment to S. 1664 to reduce fines against employers who hire illegal aliens Sen. Thompson voted as part of the Senate Judiciary Committee in favor of the Hatch Amendment to S. 1664. The Hatch Amendment stripped the provision from S. 1664 that increased fines against businesses that hire illegal aliens, thus making it less attractive for businesses to hire illegal aliens. The Hatch Amendment passed by a vote of 9-8.

1996: Voted in favor of the Abraham Amendment to S. 1644, a vote against of increased interior enforcement Sen. Thompson voted in favor of the Abraham Amendment to strip the voluntary workplace verification program from S. 1644. Workplace verification programs help reduce illegal immigration by withdrawing the job magnet from illegal aliens. The Abraham Amendment failed by a vote of 54-46.

Fred Thompson voted for amnesty for undocumented workers from Cuba and Nicaragua:

1997: Voted for an amnesty to illegal aliens from Nicaragua and Cuba. Sen. Thompson voted for a procedural move that helped allow the Mack Amendment to be included in S.1156 (the District of Columbia Appropriations bill). This amendment granted amnesty to illegal aliens from Nicaragua and Cuba and is expected to add close to one million people to U.S. population.

Fred Thompson's record shows he is for a guest worker program:

2000: Voted for S.2045, a foreign worker bill with no worker protections. Sen. Thompson voted for the Abraham foreign worker bill to nearly triple the number of foreign high-tech workers. Despite a GAO report finding no evidence of a worker shortage and suggesting fraud in the H-1B program, Rep. Thompson voted for this bill that included no worker protections or anti-fraud measures

1996: Voted in committee for the Abraham amendment to S.1664. The Abraham amendment to S.1664 stripped all legal reforms from the bill. The legal reforms would have lowered the annual cap on skilled-worker visas and eliminated the category for unskilled workers. S.1664 would have reduced overall legal immigration by about 2.1 million over a ten-year period. The amendment passed.

1998: S.1723, Voted against the American worker in committee. Rep. Thompson stood solidy against American workers by opposing a Feinstein amendment to S.1723 to reduce the H1B increase from 5 years to 3. The amendment failed by 2 votes.

1998: S.1723, Voted against the American worker in committee. Rep. Thompson stood solidy against American workers by opposing a Feinstein amendment to S.1723 to reduce the H1B increase from 5 years to 3. The amendment failed by 2 votes.

1998: Voted in committee against American workers. The Kennedy-Feinstein Amendment to S.1723 would have accomplished two important goals: ensuring no American was laid off or displaced prior to hiring an H1B employee; and, requiring that employers demonstrate they had previously taken timely and effective steps to hire a qualified American. 10 Senators helped defeat this amendment.

1998: Voted against offering jobs to Americans first. Rep. Thompson voted against the Kennedy amendment(A-2417) to S.1723 that would have required U.S. firms applying for H-1B visas to check a box on a form attesting that they had first sought an American worker for the job. The amendment failed 39-59.

1998: S.1723, Voted to allow American workers to be fired and replaced with a foreign worker. Rep. Thompson voted against the Kennedy Amendment (A-2418) to S.1723 that would have protected American workers from being fired and replaced by a foreign worker (H-1B visa holder). The amendment was defeated 38-60.

1998: Voted against protecting American workers. Rep. Thompson was part of the majority in the Senate Judiciary Committee that voted to send S.1723 to the floor of the Senate without safeguards for American workers.

1998: Voted for S.1723, nearly doubling hi-tech visas. Rep. Thompson helped the Senate pass S.1723 in a 78-20 vote. Enacted into law, it increased by nearly 150,000 the number of foreign workers high-tech American companies could hire over the next three years even though U.S. firms were laying off thousands of workers at the time.

Fred Thompson is for chain migration:

2000: Voted for S.2045, a foreign worker bill with no worker protections. Sen. Thompson voted for the Abraham foreign worker bill to nearly triple the number of foreign high-tech workers. Despite a GAO report finding no evidence of a worker shortage and suggesting fraud in the H-1B program, Rep. Thompson voted for this bill that included no worker protections or anti-fraud measures.

1996: Voted in committee for the Abraham amendment to S.1664. The Abraham amendment to S.1664 stripped all legal reforms from the bill. The legal reforms would have lowered the annual cap on skilled-worker visas and eliminated the category for unskilled workers. S.1664 would have reduced overall legal immigration by about 2.1 million over a ten-year period. The amendment passed.

1998: S.1723, Voted against the American worker in committee. Rep. Thompson stood solidy against American workers by opposing a Feinstein amendment to S.1723 to reduce the H1B increase from 5 years to 3. The amendment failed by 2 votes.

1998: Voted in committee against American workers. The Kennedy-Feinstein Amendment to S.1723 would have accomplished two important goals: ensuring no American was laid off or displaced prior to hiring an H1B employee; and, requiring that employers demonstrate they had previously taken timely and effective steps to hire a qualified American. 10 Senators helped defeat this amendment.

1998: Voted against offering jobs to Americans first. Rep. Thompson voted against the Kennedy amendment(A-2417) to S.1723 that would have required U.S. firms applying for H-1B visas to check a box on a form attesting that they had first sought an American worker for the job. The amendment failed 39-59.

1998: S.1723, Voted to allow American workers to be fired and repalced with a foreign worker. Rep. Thompson voted against the Kennedy Amendment (A-2418) to S.1723 that would have protected American workers from being fired and replaced by a foreign worker (H-1B visa holder). The amendment was defeated 38-60.

1998: Voted against protecting American workers. Rep. Thompson was part of the majority in the Senate Judiciary Committee that voted to send S.1723 to the floor of the Senate without safeguards for American workers.

1998: Voted for S.1723, nearly doubling hi-tech visas. Rep. Thompson helped the Senate pass S.1723 in a 78-20 vote. Enacted into law, it increased by nearly 150,000 the number of foreign workers high-tech American companies could hire over the next three years even though U.S. firms were laying off thousands of workers at the time.

Fred Thompson is against reducing and eliminating the visa lottery:

1996: Voted in favor of the immigration lottery Sen. Thompson voted against the Feinstein Amendment to S 1664 that would have eliminated the immigration lottery and significantly reduced chain migration. The Feinstein Amendment was defeated by a vote of 74 to 26.

1996: Voted in committee for the Abraham amendment to S.1664. The Abraham amendment to S.1664 stripped all legal reforms from the bill. The legal reforms would have eliminated lottery visas. S.1664 would have reduced overall legal immigration by about 2.1 million over a ten-year period. The amendment passed.

1996: Voted against the Simpson Amendment to S.1664 to reduce the immigration lottery. The Simpson amendment to S.1664 would have reduced the annual number of visas allocated to the lottery category from 55,000 to 27,000. The amendment failed by 80-20 on the Senate floor.

Fred Thompson is not about reducing immigration:

1996: Voted in committee for the Abraham amendment to S.1664. The Abraham amendment to S.1664 stripped all legal reforms from the bill. The legal reforms would have limited annual refugee admissions to 50,000, as recommended by the Jordan Commission. S.1664 would have reduced overall legal immigration by about 2.1 million over a ten-year period. The amendment passed.

Donkey Kong

The plot of the game is for Mario to save Pauline from the evil clutches of Donkey Kong. Mario leaps, dodges, hammers everything in his way to reach Pauline in each level. Mario is not a gifted jumper or runner like he is in the Super Mario Bros series. Donkey Kong is a well designed but short game with only three levels. The graphics are tasteful and retro as you can see below.


Rating: Good (75-100)

• Retro game play
• Retro yet tasteful design
• Old school sound with a decent melody
• Clunky controls unlike Mario's later 2d incarnations
• Only three levels
  

Some of Hillary Clinton's Hawkish Values

Hawkish Values:

• Clinton wants a larger military.
• She believed Saddam was a threat.
• Hillary plans to leave all options on the table, concerning dealing with Iran.
• Hillary Clinton supports military arms dealing to unsavory nations and opposes UN resolutions that would undermine US allies with nuclear weapons.
  

Bin Laden Hiding in Pakistan

He is said to be protected by sympathizers within Pakistan.

Water Shortage

It is projected that due to climate change and population growth Americans are going to be very thirsty when 2025 rolls around.

http://www.canadians.org/water/documents/NA_Future_2025.pdf

It is counter-intuitive to allow the United States population to continue to grow. Instead of importing more workers we should develop technologies that make it easier to do business with a smaller workforce. It is time to face the music and not wait until we are dying of thirst.

Islamo-Fascist?

I have no idea what an Islamo-Fascist is. There are better labels out there that pin point the groups that are a threat to the United States. Al Qaida's ideology is Salafi-Jihadist. I believe out of ignorance or political motive people do not discuss the underlying ideologies of these terrorist groups.

What is a Salafi-Jihadist?

Salafi jihadists -- who constitute less than 1 percent of the world's 1.2 billion Muslims -- see life as being divided between the world of Islam (dar al-Islam) and the land of conflict or war (dar al-harb). Through jihad, they wish to extend the Muslim world so that all of humankind can live under its umbrella. They harken back to the Great Caliphate, when the Muslim world extended from Spain (then called Andalusia), across North Africa and the Middle East, down the west coast of Africa, and across the Caspian region to India and the Philippines. At its height in the 1200s, the Caliphate was a highly sophisticated civilization, responsible for many inventions and innovations in mathematics and science.

It's daddy is the Muslim Brotherhood created by Arab Nazis and used by Britain, trying to kill the newly founded Jewish state after World War II. Al-Bana was the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood and was a very big fan of Adolf Hitler. They were stationed in Egypt until the 1950's when they were kicked out and the US Government found them refuge in Saudi Arabia. Salafist and Jihadist interbred in Saudi Arabia. The US Government and the Saudis sent them into Afghanistan to fight the Soviets. They gave them the name "Maktab Al Khidimat Il Mujahideen."

US Failing to Prevent Terrorist Threat

Mansor Dadullah, a Taliban Military Commander congratulates trained teams of terrorist upon their Graduation:

"These Americans, Canadians, British and Germans come here to Afghanistan from faraway places," Dadullah says on the tape. "Why shouldn't we go after them?"

The leader of the team assigned to attack Great Britain spoke in English.

"So let me say something about why we are going, along with my team, for a suicide attack in Britain," he said. "Whether my colleagues, companions and Muslim brothers die today or tonight, every drop of our blood will invigorate the Muslim (unintelligible)."

I swore the US was over there to prevent attacks over here, maybe I missed something.