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The authour writes that 195,000 H-1Bs are available, and this was true for three years (FY 2001-2003). The current number has dropped back to the original amount, 65,000 annually according to the DHS:CIS (what replaced the INS).

Confused with the TLAs? Me too!

[PZ] I've met many people who have a hard time communicating in English yet have a surprisingly deep understanding of the issues.

And you would know that how?

In the case of Spanish speakers, I converse with them in Spanish. In the case of some of my friends' parents, they translate for me. Many that I've met can speak English passably but still have a hard time reading it.

How do all these people you know who can't read or understand English gain this deep understanding of American political issues when they can't understand a candidate's speech or read the party's platform in the original language?

This seems like you're claiming that if you don't read something in its original language, there is no way to understand it through translation. Is this indeed your argument?

One way to learn about the issues is to talk about them within your community. In fact, I'd argue this is preferable to hearing some soundbite on TV and being "sold" a viewpoint by a PR firm.

Anyone unwilling to meet the requirements, understand, or educate themselves on the issues should not vote, English-speaking or not.

I am not aware of any requirement to be able to read English to vote, and as already pointed out there is no similar requirement to be a citizen. Therefore, you'd rather have native English speakers who don't care to learn about the issues vote and have non-English speakers who have educated themselves about the issues stay home.

Those other coutries generally have ballots in a single language and don't pander to people unwilling to meet the process half way.

And some of those other countries have ballots in five or more languages. My point is that the important thing is being informed about the issues first. If there is a significant population that would be excluded due to language, and the cost isn't prohibitive, then they should be accomodated if we truly want a democracy.

One of the requirements for citizenship is a working knowledge of English.

This is not true. Almost anyone born in the United States is a citizen (children of foreign heads of state are exempted). From the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services page on Citizenship:

A citizen of the United States is a native-born, foreign-born, or naturalized person who owes allegiance to the United States and who is entitled to its protection.

Note the lack of a language requirement.

There is no reason to provide voting materials in any other language.

All citizens have the right to vote. Not all citizens speak or read English (some cannot see at all; should we eliminate braille ballots too?). How do you rectify those other than forcing everyone to learn to read English, use translators or publish ballots in multiple formats?

I'm always willing to be enlightened.

My view is that a good first step to becoming enlightened is to do things for the good of others without requiring someone to pass a law first.

Hmmm maybe we can justify increased NASA budget to help battle alien terrorists.
If they keep cutting NASA's budget how can they ever hope to maintain the criminal alien identification system and support alien smuggling investigations
I think the Cassini space probe shows we are taking the battle to the alien terrorists. They can't hide on this planet or on any moon billions of miles away.

That's for naturalized citizens. Their page on Citizenship explains that if you are born in the US, you are a citizen.

And even if your family CAN speak English, it doesn't mean they will at home, and you will likely learn whatever language you hear around the host as your primary (or only) language.

Not to mention that many people who can read English may be much more comfortable in another language.

It also makes it easier those who can't read english

I keep seeing this argument, and it makes no sense. In this country, you can't vote unless you are a citizen (at least so far). One of the requirements for citizenship is "an ability to read, write, and speak English."

Obviously the industry is growing, but industry leaders are using every trick in the book to manipulate labor costs.

Sure, there are thousands of new jobs being created in the US, but Americans are not even given a shot at filling many of these positions.

I agree, it's not as bad as one may think, it's actually alot worse!

www.displacedtechies.com

Microsoft are allowed to file patents on their technology just like anyone else.

Sure they can, they can file 10 patents a day - However if the USPTO was doing its job it would be rejecting those same 10 patents a day. I can't think of a *single* novel idea that has come out of Microsoft for as far back as I can remember. Microsoft's business model is copying other people's new and novel ideas.The concept that 10 truly novel and new ideas that nobody has ever thought of before since the beginning of time coming out of Microsoft *per day* is simply ludicrous. They are simply abusing the broken and stupid patent system as it exists today. Frankly I don't know which is the bigger broken retarded waste of tax payers dollars - the USPTO or the INS.

Just because you have a huge open source cabal doesn't mean you can decide that "patents are a bad thing, we're not going to play that game". The world doesn't work like that: you can't boycott the patents system by Not Filing A Patent.

Sure you can, its called publishing a paper. If Microsoft was the technological innovator that it always claims it is, then it would be publishing papers instead of patenting. The ONLY reason for patenting ideas is to extract money from someone else at some later point in time (either "selling" IP - a dumb concept in itself - or licensing).

Patents inspire competition and are one of the primary reasons that America is where it is today.

Patents don't inspire crap. I work as a EE and of the hundreds of people I know in my field, none of them use the USPTO as a source of ideas (they know that almost all patents are just the same old crap thats been thought up before, rehashed, and then wrapped in lawyerspeak - aka completely useless drivel). To get ideas you look at tech journals and university research.

Big deal! The taxi driver I had today is a ladies scanner.. He checks out up to 120 girls per second while driving, plus he talks on the cell phone, listens to some foreign music, and navigates the mean streets of NYC -- all while avoiding the I.N.S.

I think you'd want to reverse the order, wouldn't you? Canada has a nasty immigration bureaucracy, though it's a pale imitation of ours. I wouldn't count on getting in, especially if you don't have a graduate degree in a field they are desperate for this week.

The guy was a student on a student's visa. If he's such a computer guru, I'm sure he was able to find this, and this, and maybe even this.

Gee, that took me 2 minutes. I bet after an hour I could find _all_ the immigration forms I need.

"Boo hoo, I traveled to a country and I broke their laws"

Sorry, I have very little sympathy for someone who says that when they knowingly do something illegal.

The guy was a student on a student's visa. If he's such a computer guru, I'm sure he was able to find this, and this, and maybe even this.

Gee, that took me 2 minutes. I bet after an hour I could find _all_ the immigration forms I need.

"Boo hoo, I traveled to a country and I broke their laws"

Sorry, I have very little sympathy for someone who says that when they knowingly do something illegal.