11/10/2007
From: Deena Flinchum
Re: Edwin S. Rubenstein’s Column: Washington, We Don’t Have A Science And Engineering Problem
Good job, as usual, by Rubenstein.
I live in Blacksburg, VA, home of Virginia Tech, a fine science and engineering university.
Recently, while having lunch in a local restaurant, I asked my waitress what her major was. (Note: waiting tables is a job Americans will do, at least in southwest Virginia).
When she replied "biotechnology," I congratulated her on her strong major and told her that she was smart not to be in some variation of Computer Science or IT. I knew of both the outsourcing to India and the H-1B visas that have brought cheap labor to American technology jobs.
And my waitress is as aware as I am. She immediately replied that students who graduate with degrees in CS/IT aren’t getting jobs.
As word of the tight employment market gets back to the underclassmen majoring in CS/IT, they switch fields.
Flinchum adds that, on a happier note, after the tragedy of April 16, VT had a record year of freshman student enrollment and seems to be getting back to educating future successful US leaders. A great outpouring of volunteerism occurred in mid-October at VT Engage, where VT students, faculty, and staff pledged thousands of hours of volunteer work to organizations in the New River Valley. Life goes on amid sad memories.
Previous letters from Flinchum are here.
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From: Bill James
I commend Rubenstein for writing his important article and pointing out the Urban Institute paper. (Into the Eye of the Storm Assessing the Evidence on Science and Engineering Education, Quality, and Workforce Demand [PDF])
I am an engineer (software for the last 20-odd years) by education and profession. It’s satisfying to read from Rubenstein what I've lived and known for so long. It would be more rewarding if policy makers actually listened, comprehended and did the right thing, or at least stopped doing the wrong thing.
Things are especially unpleasant out here in our isolated corner of the Pacific Northwest where so many ex-Microsoft weenies live. They were in the right place at the right time, cashed in and now "know" that the Microsoft way is the right way. But they won the lottery, have the cash, and now decide which projects get funded.
And, on top of it all, I have to tolerate my arrogant European friends who sneer at our failed American education system.
As Rubenstein writes, it’s become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Science and engineering is hard to learn, hard to do well, and pays poorly. I have a difficult time encouraging anyone to enter my profession, especially software or hardware engineering. And I believe that enrollments in those programs at top universities are down dramatically.
Thanks again, and please tell Rubenstein to keep it up.
James holds an advanced degree from an Ivy League school.
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From: David Vallejo:
Re: Steve Sailer’s Column: Reflecting On James D. Watson, Why The Truth Even About IQ Differences, Will Indeed Set Us Free
Because my name is mentioned in Sailer’s article referencing a previous letter I sent (read it here), I'd like to provide a reply to his article on the topic of IQ and race.
First of all, while I may disagree with Sailer in some respects, I applaud him for welcoming comments from others and for being willing to debate. I hope he keeps things that way.
I am not claiming that IQ testing, or any other type of testing, is detrimental. On the contrary, I've always being in favor of evaluating people’s credentials as a basis for judging their abilities.
In fact, I oppose race quotas for college admission, hiring, or any other purposes.
I also fully support science and am against hiding the truth, even when the truth is painful.
But, that was not the point of my letter. My point is: every person should be judged individually based on his or her own merits, not on a stereotype. If you have a white person competing against a minority and the white person proves to be better (because of IQ and or whatever skill is required to do the job), I’m totally okay with the white person getting hired.
However, it would be unfair if the opposite happens and the minority individual doesn’t get hired, even if he proves to be better, just because his race or ethnicity is "less intelligent, on average".
Wouldn’t Sailer be outraged if his son were not accepted on his school’s basketball team even if he is a wonderful player but was dismissed with the argument that "white men can’t jump"?
Sailer needs to exercise caution when he starts developing stereotypes as he is approaching a slippery slope.
If we all accept that whites are more intelligent, on average, than other races, what will be next? Will we then promote the notion that blond, blue-eyed whites (i.e., those with northern European background) are more intelligent, on average, than dark-haired, dark-eyed whites (i.e., those with southern European background)? How about the Irish versus the Italians…and so on?
Stereotyping accomplishes nothing.
Let people compete fairly and may the best man win regardless of his race or ethnicity.
No rational person can disagree with me on this.
Vallejo is a consulting engineer in Texas.
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From: Kris Kahnert
The main reason to discuss racial differences in IQ is to correct a government policy driven by hallucinations that all races are equally intelligent.
Adjusting for IQ, as was documented in the book The Bell Curve, shows that minorities are massively over represented in the professions and business to the detriment of whites.
Government guidelines on crime, drug use, etc. are similarly adversely affected when all races are treated as if they have equal in IQ.
As the comedian Ron White said, "You can’t fix stupid!"
Kahnert is an aerospace engineer.
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From: Jerri Lynn Ward, J.D.
Re: Randall Burns' Blog: Corporate Media Electoral Bias — And Immigration
Concentration of wealth accelerates when government intervenes to favor some over others.
Ron Paul opposes such favoritism.
I’m a loyal reader of and donor to VDARE.COM who will be voting for Paul because I want government-driven incentives for illegal immigration stopped.
Paul’s approach should be implemented (including the deportation of those applying for benefits) because it is consistent with liberty for Americans.
As a Texan who loves the border area, I don’t want the federal government building a fence without regard for the local citizens. Nor do I want the thug-like methods some federal agents use when they bust into houses dragging people out, including citizens, with force.
What I want instead is aliens deported.
By favoring deportation, Paul presents the most humane solution to our border problems.
Ward, who hosts a monthly radio show called "I Object! Justice Examined" on RightTalk Radio, earned her Juris Doctor, 1980, from the Texas Tech University School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts in Economics, 1977, from Texas A & M University. Her previous letter to VDARE.COM about Bush’s betrayal regarding the Jose Luis Medellin case is here.
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From: Cristina Smith
Re: Edwin S. Rubenstein’s Column: WSJ Misses Fraud Behind "Alien" Mortgage Boom
When illegal aliens buy homes they check the "citizen" box. That way, banks don’t perform background checks.
Or sometimes houses are put in the names of their anchor baby citizen children.
In California we have a dire need for affordable housing. Upward market pressure would be alleviated if the practice of selling and renting to illegals ended.
Smith is a hospital employee who writes that she has worked for years with immigrant patients from all backgrounds and walks of life who get free medical care on various welfare and Medi-Cal programs.
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From: J.J. Moon
Re: Joe Guzzardi’s Column: Say It Isn’t So! Bruce Springsteen Is An Open Borders Advocate!
A further note on Guzzardi’s column: Springsteen grew up in Freehold, the subject of his song "My Hometown," which alludes to the race riot there in the late 1960s. (See the video here. Lyrics are here.)
Recently, a handyman was at over my house in Ocean County cleaning my ducts and we started talking.
It turns out the guy lives in Freehold. When he went to enroll his kid in school, he found to his amazement that there were only two black children in a town that formerly was noted for a large African-American population.
Meanwhile, there was a whole class of Mexican kids being taught in Spanish.
Guzzardi’s comments about how Springsteen is missing the illegal immigration connection have even more meaning than he may have realized.
Send Moon mail c/o
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From: Brian Hassler
I relate to Guzzardi’s feelings about Bruce Springsteen.
I was a huge Springsteen fan dating back to 1974. Since I grew up in a small, working-class town in New Jersey at the same time as Springsteen, I felt a strong affinity to him and his music.
But that changed in the 1980’s. By then, I was living in California and was increasingly concerned with illegal immigration, or more directly, why no one else seemed to be worried about it.
By that time, Springsteen had become a pretentious millionaire populist (think of John Lennon singing "imagine no possessions.") Bruce’s music no longer resonated with me.
When I learned of Springsteen’s open borders proclivities in the 1990s, it angered me even though I wasn’t really surprised.
I stopped listening to his music altogether. That saddens me since Springsteen was once my favorite artist.
However, I refuse to compromise on immigration or patronize anyone who, like Springsteen, will use his considerable resources to help the other side.
By the way, although Springsteen calls Long Branch his home, his original hometown is Freehold — now a battleground over illegal immigration.
Hassler is retired from the Department of Defense.
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From: Jim Kelly
Harry Chapin actually gave a large percentage of his gate receipts to hunger projects instead of merely pointing to booths in the back of the venue where others could donate, as Springsteen does.
Springsteen reminds me of Billy Joel who sang about the killing in Vietnam in "Goodnight Saigon " (See the video here ; lyrics here) while he lived comfortably in East Hampton, New York.
Send Kelly mail c/o
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From: Ron Foreman
I loved Barbra Streisand while I was in Vietnam. But now she and Bruce Springsteen are nothing but world problem solvers.
How strange that the richer people get, the more answers they have for the rest of us.
Foreman was a Captain in the USMC from 1961-1968. His previous letter about Sen. John McCain’s POW experiences is here.
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From: Linda Anable
I don’t understand why it was okay for Guzzardi’s ancestors to come to America but not such a good idea for others.
Springsteen isn’t extolling illegal immigration. He has sympathy for Mexicans and their causes.
Above all, Bruce is a humanist. He understands the plight of people who don’t have the privileges we enjoy in this country.
My solution to stop immigration from Mexico is: FIX MEXICO!
Then people won’t be so desperate to move here. If I were impoverished and could not feed my family, I might be desperate enough to flee my country like the Mexicans do.
Anable moved to Oregon from Los Angeles. Her background is in TV and movies but currently, she writes feature articles for World Tribune, a weekly Buddhist newspaper: and edits a Buddhist newsletter, The Horizon. Back issues can be found here: Subscriptions are free here
Joe Guzzardi adds: In an e-mail exchange with Anable, I told her that VDARE.COM has written extensively about how Mexico could (if wanted to which it apparently does not) reduce migration by "fixing" itself and thereby becoming a more desirable country for its citizens to live in.
As for my "ancestors," they came to the U.S. legally
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From: Judith Schuster
I am a first generation American whose father came to the U.S. from Austria.
I pay more in taxes per year than Guzzardi makes. The US government gave me scholarship money for college and my federal taxes have repaid my loan ten times over.
Let the immigrants come, let them be legal, make their employers pay their share of unemployment and social security. The issue isn’t illegal immigration but the people who exploit them.
If immigrants were made legal, they would pay taxes just like the rest of us. If they couldn’t afford to live on the remaining net 35 percent of their salary, then they would go home.
Springsteen is an American hero just like Patrick Henry and John Adams.
Guzzardi should get a life. The time of an all-white America is over.
Joe Guzzardi comments: I’m sure Schuster’s tax bill — which she seems none too happy about paying — is higher than my total income. She wouldn’t have to pay much to top my earnings. But I’m sorry that Schuster feels the need to identify herself by telling us how much money she makes.
I’m willing to give Schuster the benefit of the doubt and assume she had a bad day when she wrote. Let’s hope she isn’t as shallow as she sounds.
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