Friday, March 30, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
New Definition of Irony
I found this story somewhat amusing this morning:
U.S.-Mexico border fence builders sentenced for hiring undocumented workers
Desert Sun Wire Services
The Desert Sun
March 29, 2007
The top two executives of a Riverside-based company that helped build a fence to keep illegal immigrants from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border were sentenced yesterday to home confinement for hiring undocumented workers.Golden State Fence Co., its founder and president, Melvin Kay, and the company's vice president, Michael McLaughlin, pleaded guilty Dec. 14 in federal court in San Diego to hiring unauthorized alien workers over a six-year period between January 1999 and November 2005.
U.S. District Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz sentenced both Kay and McLaughlin to 180 days of home confinement with electronic monitoring and ordered each of them to perform 1,040 hours of community service as conditions of their three years on probation.Kay was also fined $200,000 and McLaughlin $100,000.The company was ordered to forfeit $4.7 million in proceeds from its unlawful practices.
``Companies that willfully flout our nation's hiring laws will pay the price for their illegal actions; in this case $4.7 million of the corporation's assets are being forfeited to the government,'' said Michael Carney, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Office of Investigations in San Diego.
``Knowingly hiring illegal aliens not only harms law-abiding businesses, it also exposes those companies that break the law to prosecution and financial penalties,'' he said.Golden State is based in Riverside and has offices in Oceanside, Bakersfield/Santa Paula, Palmdale, Anaheim and Brawley.
In the late 1990s, Golden State was hired by the government to build more than one mile of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border.In July 1999, federal immigration officials inspected the company's Oceanside office and provided written notice that at least 15 employees were unauthorized alien workers, according to court documents.
In September 2004, immigration officials again determined that at least 49 Golden State employees at the Oceanside office were unauthorized aliens, court records indicate.In August 2005, ICE agents inspected Golden State's Riverside office and found at least three of the employees who had been listed in a 1999 notice as unauthorized alien workers.
Three months later, ICE agents served search warrants at the Oceanside and Riverside offices of Golden State, seizing evidence showing a pattern of hiring unauthorized alien workers, according to court documents.In a company-issued statement late yesterday, Executive Vice President Gary Hansen expressed relief that the judge chose probationary sentences rather than incarceration.
``Mel and Mike are hard-working men who have worked all their lives to make a better life for themselves and the people around them,'' Hansen said.``Their acts were not egregious, nor were they exploitive to the undocumented workers. We believe the court recognized the strength of their character when making its decision.''
He said the company since December 2005 has voluntarily participated in the Basic Employment Verification Pilot program run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, through which newly hired employees are screened by the government to help verify their legal immigration status.
U.S.-Mexico border fence builders sentenced for hiring undocumented workers
Desert Sun Wire Services
The Desert Sun
March 29, 2007
The top two executives of a Riverside-based company that helped build a fence to keep illegal immigrants from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border were sentenced yesterday to home confinement for hiring undocumented workers.Golden State Fence Co., its founder and president, Melvin Kay, and the company's vice president, Michael McLaughlin, pleaded guilty Dec. 14 in federal court in San Diego to hiring unauthorized alien workers over a six-year period between January 1999 and November 2005.
U.S. District Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz sentenced both Kay and McLaughlin to 180 days of home confinement with electronic monitoring and ordered each of them to perform 1,040 hours of community service as conditions of their three years on probation.Kay was also fined $200,000 and McLaughlin $100,000.The company was ordered to forfeit $4.7 million in proceeds from its unlawful practices.
``Companies that willfully flout our nation's hiring laws will pay the price for their illegal actions; in this case $4.7 million of the corporation's assets are being forfeited to the government,'' said Michael Carney, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Office of Investigations in San Diego.
``Knowingly hiring illegal aliens not only harms law-abiding businesses, it also exposes those companies that break the law to prosecution and financial penalties,'' he said.Golden State is based in Riverside and has offices in Oceanside, Bakersfield/Santa Paula, Palmdale, Anaheim and Brawley.
In the late 1990s, Golden State was hired by the government to build more than one mile of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border.In July 1999, federal immigration officials inspected the company's Oceanside office and provided written notice that at least 15 employees were unauthorized alien workers, according to court documents.
In September 2004, immigration officials again determined that at least 49 Golden State employees at the Oceanside office were unauthorized aliens, court records indicate.In August 2005, ICE agents inspected Golden State's Riverside office and found at least three of the employees who had been listed in a 1999 notice as unauthorized alien workers.
Three months later, ICE agents served search warrants at the Oceanside and Riverside offices of Golden State, seizing evidence showing a pattern of hiring unauthorized alien workers, according to court documents.In a company-issued statement late yesterday, Executive Vice President Gary Hansen expressed relief that the judge chose probationary sentences rather than incarceration.
``Mel and Mike are hard-working men who have worked all their lives to make a better life for themselves and the people around them,'' Hansen said.``Their acts were not egregious, nor were they exploitive to the undocumented workers. We believe the court recognized the strength of their character when making its decision.''
He said the company since December 2005 has voluntarily participated in the Basic Employment Verification Pilot program run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, through which newly hired employees are screened by the government to help verify their legal immigration status.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
The Fall of the American Finances
I heard a disturbing interview on NPR's Fresh Aire the other day. Terry (the host), was interviewing Elizabeth Warren (an Commerce Law professor at Harvard) about credit cards and the credit card industry.
Among the points she was giving about the evil industry, one fact really jumped out at me.
The average wage for a working male has remained flat for the past 30 years, while living costs have risen 70%
Scary stuff. Now, I'm not a communist, but I do think Karl Marx had some good points.
The one point that I firmly believe in is that when enough of the middle class gets pushed down to lower class then trouble will explode. I'm preaching revolution, power to the people! and all that jazz.
The finance industry has beome predatory, seeking out the at risk people, because those are the ones they can fleece the most. Late charges, deliquency interest rates are where the credit cards make their money.
Enough money, that they were able to get Congress to revise the Bankruptcy laws, making it harder to file. In fact, according to the interview, pre-approved credit card mailings went up by 30% after the legislation was passed.
From a quick Google search:
According to American Consumer Credit Counseling, the total U.S. credit card debt in the first quarter of 2002 was approximately $60 billion. The average credit card interest rate is around 18.9%.
On a more personal note, I can relate to those in trouble. When I was younger and still in college, I bought into the hype that a college degree and my good looks would get me the dream job, and that it was ok to mortgage my future to live a little in the present. I worked two jobs (at a movie theater and a school library) to cover at least my minimum payments and car related expenses. When my mother passed away, I began to rely heavily on my credit cards to get by. In 1998, I was living in Central Virginia, was making 22k a year and had 30k in credit card and college debt.
Is it any wonder I jumped at a chance to flee the scene and get a better paying job with no state income tax. I was fortunate to have friends that lent me a car for several months and some money to get by. When I arrived in Texas I made a serious effort to get everything in order.
I sacrificed my personal life for overtime at work and worked with a credit agency to reduce my payments. Within 5 years I was able to start over.
BUT! I was young and single. For those with families, the trouble is much tougher.
What makes matters worse, is the disturbing trend of the reliance on credit scores for things other than credit. Increasingly credit reports are being checked for job applications, health insurance, life insurance and rental applications. Imagine the havoc on your life if you have a medical emergency and have to miss a few payments.
Something has got to give
Among the points she was giving about the evil industry, one fact really jumped out at me.
The average wage for a working male has remained flat for the past 30 years, while living costs have risen 70%
Scary stuff. Now, I'm not a communist, but I do think Karl Marx had some good points.
The one point that I firmly believe in is that when enough of the middle class gets pushed down to lower class then trouble will explode. I'm preaching revolution, power to the people! and all that jazz.
The finance industry has beome predatory, seeking out the at risk people, because those are the ones they can fleece the most. Late charges, deliquency interest rates are where the credit cards make their money.
Enough money, that they were able to get Congress to revise the Bankruptcy laws, making it harder to file. In fact, according to the interview, pre-approved credit card mailings went up by 30% after the legislation was passed.
From a quick Google search:
According to American Consumer Credit Counseling, the total U.S. credit card debt in the first quarter of 2002 was approximately $60 billion. The average credit card interest rate is around 18.9%.
Approximately half of all credit card holders pay only their minimum monthly requirements. There are a total of 1.2 billion credit and retail cards in North America. The average American household is solicited seven times a year by credit card companies.
The Motley Fool's Credit Center features several more mind-blowing statistics:
- Total consumer credit: $1.7 trillion.
- Credit card debt carried by the average American: $8,562.
- Total finance charges Americans paid in 2001: $50 billion.
- Percent of U.S. households deemed credit worthy by the lending industry: 78%.
- Number of credit card holders who declared bankruptcy last year: 1.3 million.
On a more personal note, I can relate to those in trouble. When I was younger and still in college, I bought into the hype that a college degree and my good looks would get me the dream job, and that it was ok to mortgage my future to live a little in the present. I worked two jobs (at a movie theater and a school library) to cover at least my minimum payments and car related expenses. When my mother passed away, I began to rely heavily on my credit cards to get by. In 1998, I was living in Central Virginia, was making 22k a year and had 30k in credit card and college debt.
Is it any wonder I jumped at a chance to flee the scene and get a better paying job with no state income tax. I was fortunate to have friends that lent me a car for several months and some money to get by. When I arrived in Texas I made a serious effort to get everything in order.
I sacrificed my personal life for overtime at work and worked with a credit agency to reduce my payments. Within 5 years I was able to start over.
BUT! I was young and single. For those with families, the trouble is much tougher.
What makes matters worse, is the disturbing trend of the reliance on credit scores for things other than credit. Increasingly credit reports are being checked for job applications, health insurance, life insurance and rental applications. Imagine the havoc on your life if you have a medical emergency and have to miss a few payments.
Something has got to give
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Image Wall
I am getting hooked on the image wall (found on Bloglines). I find myself at odd hours of the night watching the streaming photos fly by and going after the ones that get my attention.
Here are my 3 this weekend:
Don't take these guys to a Sushi bar, someone might think they are Sea urchins
Hehe, I have had that strange feeling some mornings. Nothing like a dog's nose in your face to wake you up in the morning. I guess a dog's nose is the eyes to its soul, or somehting like that
Hmmph, now I know why I can't find a battery slot in my mouse. It also explains that strange smell when my last mouse died...
Here are my 3 this weekend:
Don't take these guys to a Sushi bar, someone might think they are Sea urchins
Hehe, I have had that strange feeling some mornings. Nothing like a dog's nose in your face to wake you up in the morning. I guess a dog's nose is the eyes to its soul, or somehting like that
Hmmph, now I know why I can't find a battery slot in my mouse. It also explains that strange smell when my last mouse died...
Friday, March 23, 2007
New Grand Canyon
Have you heard of the new Grand Canyon overlook? Definitely not for those with a fear of heights!
See some great pictures here:
Grand Canyon photos
http://drugoi.livejournal.com/2133625.html
See some great pictures here:
Grand Canyon photos
http://drugoi.livejournal.com/2133625.html
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Picture says it all
Tickled me pink for some reason and kind of gives me the impression of someone against the world
Friday, March 16, 2007
Cyber Troubles
Something is happening on the edges of my little world:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/156320
And the other side:
http://fortressameritrash.blogspot.com/
While I don't really care about Michael Barnes, why he got banned or even the fact that he got banned at all. My "group think" has been stirred.
When your cyber life has become such a focus of your life that it generates so many gigabytes of garbage, it is time to reexamine your priorities. Your computer, and thus the internet, is a powered tool. This means that you can turn it off and walk away. Go outside, read a book, see a movie, play games in *gasp* real life with *shudder* real people. In short, get a life!
I had a professor in college who opined that the fall of American Civilization began with the start of home mail delivery. Gone was the time when you had to go to the Post Office with all of your neighbors and were forced to interact with many people you wouldn't otherwise see. This decline continued with TV and bigger grocery stores and culminates with the internet. If you have a telecommuting job you never have to leave your house at all.
My wife used to say that I was a hermit. And it was true. I noticed that after work I came home and simply did not want to leave and it was even worse on the weekends. I resolved to change that. I have an active gaming community that allows me face to face opportunities at least twice a week. As a result, I feel I am much happier person.
So get out there and do something! Unplug your computer for a week. Hang out in a bar or a coffee shop one night, or even sit in a park. Volunteer a one of the many needy organizations or simply stalk a random stranger, but experience Real Life!
And while I'm on a rant.......
I have been hearing more and more about a game called Second Life. It appears to be an advanced on line version of the Sims (which I never understood in the first place) and is supposedly even more addictive and expensive than World of Warcraft. I don't get it. I spend 8-10 hours a day at a real job why do I want to come home and get on my computer to pretend I'm working at my second life job (and all of the associated bills, problems, etc)?
But there must be something to it, because I understand major companies (Nissan is the first that pops to mind) are getting space on the game and trying to pimp their product through the ether. And now I just heard John Edwards has set up a campaign headquarters there and is giving away free virtual swag and campaign literature.
What's next? Second Life Salvation Army stores?
Maybe I was a Luddite in a past life.
Excuse me, I need to check my email.....
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/156320
And the other side:
http://fortressameritrash.blogspot.com/
While I don't really care about Michael Barnes, why he got banned or even the fact that he got banned at all. My "group think" has been stirred.
When your cyber life has become such a focus of your life that it generates so many gigabytes of garbage, it is time to reexamine your priorities. Your computer, and thus the internet, is a powered tool. This means that you can turn it off and walk away. Go outside, read a book, see a movie, play games in *gasp* real life with *shudder* real people. In short, get a life!
I had a professor in college who opined that the fall of American Civilization began with the start of home mail delivery. Gone was the time when you had to go to the Post Office with all of your neighbors and were forced to interact with many people you wouldn't otherwise see. This decline continued with TV and bigger grocery stores and culminates with the internet. If you have a telecommuting job you never have to leave your house at all.
My wife used to say that I was a hermit. And it was true. I noticed that after work I came home and simply did not want to leave and it was even worse on the weekends. I resolved to change that. I have an active gaming community that allows me face to face opportunities at least twice a week. As a result, I feel I am much happier person.
So get out there and do something! Unplug your computer for a week. Hang out in a bar or a coffee shop one night, or even sit in a park. Volunteer a one of the many needy organizations or simply stalk a random stranger, but experience Real Life!
And while I'm on a rant.......
I have been hearing more and more about a game called Second Life. It appears to be an advanced on line version of the Sims (which I never understood in the first place) and is supposedly even more addictive and expensive than World of Warcraft. I don't get it. I spend 8-10 hours a day at a real job why do I want to come home and get on my computer to pretend I'm working at my second life job (and all of the associated bills, problems, etc)?
But there must be something to it, because I understand major companies (Nissan is the first that pops to mind) are getting space on the game and trying to pimp their product through the ether. And now I just heard John Edwards has set up a campaign headquarters there and is giving away free virtual swag and campaign literature.
What's next? Second Life Salvation Army stores?
Maybe I was a Luddite in a past life.
Excuse me, I need to check my email.....
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Shamelesly stolen from Don
Yop!
Some people I don't know over at Brave Humans have started an experiment.
So how did I hear about it? 
iamnickchick is to blame, I swiped this from her LJ. Heck. I'll just swipe the rest of the entry as well... so read on.
They say: We want to see if we can gather 30,000 bloggers to act as a single voice for one moment in time. We want to see if such a thing is possible, and if so just how loud we can get. Think Horton Hears a Who.
I'm curious to see if they can do it, too. If you'd like to be part of the experiment here’s how it works:
1. Send an email to brian@bravehumans.com with the subject: Yop!
2. In the body of the email list the name of your weblog, and the URL.
3. Your weblog will be added to the list of participating weblogs.
4. Tell your friends who blog about it, and urge them to send in their weblog as well.
5. When the list reaches 30,000, a date and a word will be listed on the page. On that date, every weblog on the list agrees to make a single post with the word as the title. The content of the post should be about what you want for the world, whatever that may be. The purpose is not to make a particular political statement, but simply to make a noise. If 30,000 weblogs all post the same unusual word, it WILL be heard.
Have you ever wanted to shout to the world? Here’s your chance.
My idealism ("Yes, let's see what we can do if we pull together!") is at odds with my cynicism ("Oh, some asshole or group of assholes is going to try to sabotage this before it ever gets off the ground...") but nothing happens if you don't try. So, I'm in. Come join in and "Yop!" with us.
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