The Zombieslayer

The following was taken from Dennis Kucinich’s website. If you want to read it on the site, read it here. I have to give the guy props for actually understanding what’s going on in this blasted industry. And Wesley Clark still needs a punch in the face.

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

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

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

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

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

I selected three long shots that realistically have no way in hell in winning. But I have to do it. 50% of American voters don’t vote for a Presidential candidate. We have become too cynical, and a lot of folks aren’t fooled by these ass clowns. You have people like John McCain and Hillary Clinton who are so full of bullshit that if you played hide and go seek with them, you’d smell them before you’d see them.

I know a lot of you like Barack and Rudy. But currently, they’re both tee-toeing on the line. They had their ideals, and they’re learning they’ll probably have to sacrifice a few of them to win.

Now, these three gents have their ideals and are sticking to them. Because of that, there’s no way they’ll win. Not a chance. I have to give them props though.

Dennis Kucinich (Democrat) - A smiling idealist, Kucinich won’t win the Democratic nomination. Props to the guy because unlike politicians in the Democratic Party who watch the opinion polls before they decide how they feel on Iraq, Kucinich was against the war from the beginning (as was yours truly).

The guy’s for decriminalizing marijuana, which is a good thing. It sickens me that folks are actually in jail for smoking that stuff, and it really sickens me that we’re losing all kinds of tax revenue because it’s illegal.

Repeal of the Patriot Act (cool), Jobs and withdrawal from NAFTA and the WTO (cool), and he’s an environmentalist (very cool). No, not the fake one who do silly stuff like drive around in a Hybrid as a promotion stunt, but the real deal.

Why he won’t win - He’s anti-war, and somewhat anti-military. No, I’m not saying that as an insult, he really is. He also got an F- from the Gun Owners of America.

Why he’s still laughing - He’s got a beautiful wife and he claims that ever since he’s become a Vegan, his sex life has been incredibly potent. More power to the guy, but he won’t be the Democrat come election day.

Tom Tancredo (Republican) - Got famous for standing up against illegal immigration. That’s how he got my attention. Good job, Tom. He’s also highly against gun control, which you know I’d like. I love how he calls out the ACLU as hypocrites for not standing up for the 2nd. More props. He’s also against political correctness. I like that.

Why he won’t win - He’s for a flat tax or National Sales Tax, both of which I think are more fair than what we have now. It’s political suicide though.

Why he’s still smiling - He helped illegal immigration to a real issue. Let’s hope whomever wins does a better job than the absolutely pathetic job done by our current President.

Ron Paul (Republican) - If there’s one man who “gets it” when it comes to guns, it’s Ron Paul. A professional medical doctor, I have to give him props just because he’s not a lawyer. The last thing we need are more lawyers in there.

What I like - Guns, lower taxes, real Sovereignty (out of NAFTA, GATT, the WTO, etc), tough on illegal immigration, for protecting our privacy against government intrusion (of which our current President highly differs).

Why he won’t win - He’d cut spending, including corporate welfare. Could you imagine someone cutting corporate welfare? So much for getting elected.

Why he’s still laughing - He’s genuinely happy.  You can tell he still loves his wife, loves his kids, and his grandkids.  Good for him.

I’ll do 3rd Party folks later, when I get more info. If I find another long shot I like, I’ll do a part II to this.

Yonderincarp said:

For what it is worth, I think ’swagger’ in as much as it is that machismo thing says more that you don’t really know yourself and that you are insecure and have something to prove. To me the ideal is to be very capable, to be humble without straying into false humility and self-deprecation, and to have that kind of solid confidence that doesn’t need to advertise itself. Maybe I have too much Yankee and German farmer blood, but when I see swagger, I see instability.

Wonderfully put. Once again, I shoot my mouth off without verifying something. I checked the word “swagger” in the dictionary and found it really is an insult. Whoops, my bad. I was unaware it meant “false confidence.” I thought it meant more along the lines of “beaming with confidence.”

The reason for the original post was the word swagger was misused by Europeans against us, because Americans are a confident people. You have to be confident in life. You have to believe in yourself when you walk into that job interview, or you try out for a sports team, a dance troupe, a band (music), or when you apply for that business or home loan, or whatever. Too much humbleness will get you nowhere, but it is truly best to let others boast about you. So there’s a balance there.

Braggarts can be annoying. Look at Keyshawn Johnson for example. But to be too humble, you won’t get that raise, you won’t get that promotion, and you won’t get that business loan. You have to sell yourself in life, unless of course, you are content with what you’re doing currently. And if that’s the case, you’ve already won. I can’t speak for you, but I can speak for me, and I’m not there yet.

Thank you Yonder, and I stand corrected. Next time I’ll check my facts better.

I went to see a Chinese play years back, translated in English of course, or else the play would have gone bankrupt.  I loved it.  It had a strong storyline, good dialog, and a few bits and pieces of humor laced in - all the necessary ingredients for a good play.

Of course, being Chinese, the play had its theatrics, like ghosts and two-way dialog with dead ancestors.  I love to read about (or in this case see) cultural differences.

The play had a neat twist.  It featured an American in China in the 1920s (a bad time for China).  The American was a Protestant missionary, and with him, not only did he bring his Bible, but also his American culture.  Foremost what struck the Chinese characters was his swagger.

I do not claim to be the resident expert in Chinese culture.  I probably know a little bit more than the average Joe, but that’s about it.  So what I’m about to say, I’m basing on this play and this play alone.

The Chinese are humble people.  Even the rich.  This play centered around the rich, and their servants served only as background characters.  The rich Chinese at first were taken aback by the American’s swagger, for it clashed with their humbleness.  As the play moved on, the Chinese dreamed of having American swagger - standing tall and proud, and being able to boast of accomplishments.  Swagger became infectious, and soon the rich Chinese characters stood tall, looked their friends and loved ones in the eyes, and spoke with pride.  I loved how this was pulled off, for at first it was offensive, then it was something new and neat, then it was something everyone wanted to do.

This is also why I’m always making fun of Western European “males.”  They’re offended by swagger.  They use the word as an insult, like standing tall and being proud of yourself is something to be ashamed of.  It isn’t.

You should be proud of yourself.  I say try a lot of things, find what you’re good at, then keep building that aspect about yourself until you’re better than everyone else at it.  I like swagger.  The way I see it, men with swagger are cool to be around and women with swagger are sexy.  Politics aside, Ann Couture has swagger.  Molly Ivins had swagger.  Queen Latifah has swagger, and so does Camille Paglia.  I like them, even when I 100% disagree with them on an issue.  What I can’t stand are perpetual victims.

I used to coach football and assistant coach baseball.  When you first meet your kids, you don’t know their abilities.  So I’d ask.  Immediately, you see the kids of Europhile parents downplaying their abilities, and the kids of real Americans boast.  It doesn’t take a genius to figure out who will be the better ballplayers.  It also doesn’t take a genius to figure out who will go farther in life.

You’ve probably already heard that Paris Hilton has to go to jail for 45 days.  Driving drunk in the night with her lights off on a suspended license.  Nice, huh? Luckily she didn’t kill anyone.

Why is Paris Hilton so annoying? It’s hard to put my finger on it. For some, it’s class envy. I don’t think too many people out there mind someone who got filthy rich by working hard, but we all know Hilton didn’t do shit.

For me though, she’s just so stupid. I don’t get the fuss. I’d rather not know about her personal life, I don’t want to see her on t.v., and I don’t care how good her perfume smells, I’m not buying it. Plus, I keep seeing internet ads of Paris Hilton nude, Paris Hilton sex tape, Paris Hilton blah blah blah. All right, enough. She’s not even that pretty.

The whole celebrity worship thing has become nauseating, especially when you get a celebrity with no legitimate reason for being a celebrity.

The Zombieslayer family got heat sickness today. We celebrated Junior’s b-day at Boomers, a fun center with Go Karts, Bumper Boats, Mini-Golf, and lots of video games. The thing is it was over 90 degrees in a town that had no trees whatsoever - urban sprawl hell. We had a large group and had a lot of fun, but a bunch of us ended up with heat sickness. Which leads to…

Corn Beef and Cabbage. Yes, the cure for heat sickness. You need lots of water, caffeine, and salt. Or at least it worked for me. I had made corn beef and cabbage earlier. Safeway (the local supermarket) sells the prepackaged meats complete with a spice packet, so there’s little for you to do. I simply cut up some potatoes, add a few garlic cloves, cabbage, and cook the whole shebang with two bottles of Irish beer plus water. The soup goes down easy and with lots of caffeinated water, you’ll be cherry afterwards.