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No Fruits, No Shirts, No Service
The real-world consequences of closed borders
Glenn Garvin | From the April 1995 issue
Reason, April 1995
The last pickup truck pulled away from the parking lot, and the men settled back onto the folding chairs of the little cottage in central San Jose where they wait for offers of day labor. The morning rush was over; nothing to do now but wait until after lunch, when a few more contractors and landscapers might stop by looking for a couple of strong backs for the afternoon.
It was a crisp autumn morning, just three weeks before Californians were to vote on Proposition 187, a measure that some hoped—and others feared—might call a halt to the nightly march of undocumented immigrants across the border from Mexico. Even so, the dozen or so men in the cottage—mojados, wets, illegals, every single one—were surprised that a visitor wanted to talk about 187.
"It doesn't have much to do with us," said Jose Guadalupe, who at 64 years old has crossed the border more times than he can count over the past four decades. "The immigrants have always been here, and they always will be, come what may. We'll come by water, or land, or whatever." The other men nodded in agreement.
But suppose, the visitor said, suppose the Americans built a fence all along the border that was 50 feet tall.
"Not high enough," interjected Guadalupe.
OK, OK, 100 feet high, or 200 feet, or a thousand—however tall it would have to be to really plug that border. What would happen then? The men contemplated this idea in bemused silence. "Well," Guadalupe finally replied in a grave voice, "probably then the Americans would have to put black people back into slavery. Because we're the ones who work in all the fields here, picking lettuce and tomatoes and avocados. Americans don't do it. Unless you guys get people from Japan and Russia, who else is going to do it?"
So far, no American politician has been willing to say that if stopping illegal immigration requires repealing the 13th Amendment, then by God that's what we need to do. But just about anything else goes. National ID cards, computerized federal databases, doctors arresting their patients on the operating table, requiring teachers to rat on their students and encouraging the students to rat on their parents, pitching newborn babies back across the border: The Cold War had nothing on this new battle against immigration.
In fact, Bill Clinton last August officially declared that pulling up the national gangplanks now takes precedence over the final skirmishes of the Cold War. He asked Fidel Castro (in return for what under-the-table promises, we still don't know) to put Cuba's secret police to work stopping Cuban refugees from coming to the United States on rafts. It is as if West Germany, as the Berlin Wall was collapsing, had offered a bounty to East German border guards for every fleeing refugee they could gun down.
Although Proposition 187 and Clinton's creation of prison camps for Haitian and Cuban refugees have put the battle against illegal immigrants in the spotlight, legal immigrants are scarcely more popular. Sen. Alan Simpson of Wyoming, the newly triumphant Republican Party's most influential voice on immigration, has promised to introduce a bill slashing the number of legal immigrants 25 percent. And that makes him an immigration dove. Last year a House bill that would cut the number of legal immigrants by 65 percent immediately and 85 percent in the long run attracted 73 co-sponsors from both parties, the single most popular immigration measure introduced during the past Congress. Said Pat Buchanan, the bill's principal champion: "If Republican leaders are frightened by political correctness from doing this, then it is a sign of what is endemic in the Republican Party; it won't touch an issue that somebody may say is evil and hard-hearted."
The most peculiar thing about Buchanan's comment is the implication that it's "politically correct" to support immigration. Quite the contrary: The fashion across the political spectrum, from the tree-huggers at the Sierra Club to Rush Limbaugh's pugnacious "ditto-heads," is to hammer away at immigrants. They steal our jobs. They use up our national resources. They dilute our culture. The timid few who demur are almost universally scorned as ivory-tower knuckleheads who mistake poetry for policy. They aren't out there in the real world. They don't "focus on the immigration influx in practice, as opposed to libertarian theory," as National Review acidly puts it.
But if there's anyone who's neglecting the real world, it's the people who want to cut immigration. Because they don't answer Jose Guadalupe's question. Once we've gotten rid of the immigrants, who is going to pick the lettuce and tomatoes?
A little agricultural math exercise: Of the million or so people who make up the full-time farm work force in the United States—those who work 100 days or more a year—the U.S. Department of Labor estimates that 60 percent are foreign-born. (Some labor specialists say as many as half a million may be illegal aliens, the scourge of the scourge to anti-immigrationists.)
Their average wage is around $6.00 an hour. How much would it cost to find native-born Americans to replace them in the fields? Let's say $12 an hour, which most agriculture experts think is a very conservative estimate. That means wages will jump 100 percent.
Multiply the doubling of wages times 20 percent, since economists say labor costs represent about one-fifth of food prices. Assuming that demand holds constant, what it all adds up to is a 40 percent increase in the cost of farm produce. If America's 68 million households spend an average of $10 a week on fruits and vegetables, that's $272 million a week (or, if you prefer, $14.1 billion a year) as the price we pay for running immigrants out of just one small sector of the U.S. economy.
Not that it would work.
"It's not just money that keeps Americans out of those fields," argues Libby Whitley, an agricultural labor consultant who until recently was a labor specialist with the American Farm Bureau Federation. "I don't know what journalists make. But let's say it's $100,000 a year. OK, I'll give you a nice raise. I'll pay you $110,000 a year to be a migrant farm worker.
"But you'll leave your friends and family. You'll live in a house trailer in an orchard, do your cooking in a group kitchen. And the job will only last for three months. Will you do it?…
"It's not just the pay, it's the nature of the work. It's outdoors, it's often in unpleasant weather, it's physical, it's hard. It hurts your back. It's short term. And you can't even guarantee tenure of work. If there's a bad freeze or a hailstorm just as a crop is ready to be picked, you're not guaranteed anything. You go home empty-handed. That's the nature of nature. And that's the nature of farm work."
Throughout most of American history, there's only been one group willing to consistently take on that kind of labor: Recent immigrants. People with little education, few skills, and only a smattering of English, but who bring broad backs and the conviction that they're building a better life for their families. (There was, of course, one group of people who kept working in fields for generations after they arrived in America. The people Jose Guadalupe made reference to: slaves.)
Whitley has seen them on farms all over the country: the Mexicans toiling in the avocado and watermelon fields in California, the Jamaicans cutting cane and picking apples in the South, Haitians roaming Florida's citrus orchards, the Hmong tribesmen from Laos working in Minnesota dairy farms. "I even visited one county in upstate New York—I'm not going to tell you which one, because they don't need any trouble with INS—where the work force was predominantly illegal Polish immigrants," she says. "They didn't have much education and they didn't speak much English. So they did what immigrants have always done—they went and picked cabbage."
The crops and the skin tones of the people picking them may change from region to region, but Whitley says one thing is always constant: The immigrants are hard workers.
"You will not find many of the farmers I know bashing the foreign worker population," she says. "They will tell you quite honestly that they're excellent workers and decent people. Most farmers will tell you immigrants have a strong commitment to the work ethic. In fact, I'm always trying to hush farmers because they talk about how much better the immigrants are than U.S. workers. I'm always afraid they're going to get charged with some kind of discrimination."
Oh, one other thing: Getting rid of immigrant farm workers, no matter how much it cost American consumers, might not save any jobs for U.S. workers anyway.
"The more expensive labor gets, the more practical it becomes to mechanize," says Dalton Yancey of the Florida Sugar Cane League. His own industry is in the process of shedding the last of 10,000 foreign cane-cutters, in part because the bureaucratic hassles of getting them into the country were becoming too much of a headache. Their work will be turned over to machines. That's the way much of U.S. agriculture is headed.
"Corn and all the feed grains, they can be done mechanically," Yancey notes. "Potatoes, carrots, radishes, red beets, too. Cotton. Pecans can be shaken out of trees, and so can almonds."
Of course, there are some things—mostly fruits, which have to maintain a pretty appearance for the consumer—that can be harvested only by hand. But Yancey doubts that those crops will ever be picked by Americans, either.
"I suppose there's some level of pay at which Americans would be willing to do that work," he says. "The problem is you could fly fruit in from Chile cheaper. I suspect that we'd just do away with those crops in the United States if we somehow lost access to immigrant labor."
To put it another way, immigrant farm workers don't take jobs from anyone. Many of them do work that, if they didn't exist, simply wouldn't be done, at least not in the United States. And agriculture is not the only sector of the economy where it happens.
Some of the work is, arguably, trivial. In Miami, for instance, a lot of recent immigrants set up shop at gas stations, washing cars for $10 apiece and splitting the take with the station owner. Nothing high-tech about it—just a guy with a bucket, a sponge, and a willingness to stand around in wet clothes all day wiping down other people's cars. And if he wasn't there, offering his labor so cheaply, most of his customers would simply wash their own cars in their driveways at home.
"Whenever people voluntarily hire someone to do something, the benefit they receive is called consumer surplus," says Timothy Taylor, managing editor of the American Economic Association's Journal of Economic Perspectives, who is fascinated by the economic reverberations of immigration. "This is one of the reasons so many people in California have gardeners, because immigrants are there to offer the service inexpensively. If the immigrants didn't exist, maybe you wouldn't have had your yard done or your car washed, because it just wouldn't be worth it."
Western civilization could undoubtedly withstand the dirty autos and unkempt lawns that would result if all the immigrant car washers and yard men were eliminated. But there are some consumer-surplus-generated jobs that have more impact on American lives.
"I've had four nannies for my kids, and every single one has been an illegal alien," says Amy, a Washington architect. "The first one was British. The second was from Sierra Leone. There was one from Peru, and the one we have now is a Salvadoran. Every time, I've put an ad in the paper, but I've never interviewed a single American for the job. I'm not sure I've even gotten a response from an American."
Amy pays $6.00 an hour to her nanny, well over minimum wage. "But I'm not terribly surprised that Americans aren't interested in the job," she says. "Taking care of children is hard work. There's no harder work in the world. It's physically difficult and emotionally tough. Children are demanding. You have to keep them clean. Changing diapers is not too much fun. And children can be real bratty. I know my 3-and-a-half-year-old daughter can be a terrible brat. And that's very difficult when you have no blood relationship with them. Also, you've got to keep an eye on them at all times, and if there's more than one, you have to be in more than one place at all times."
As hard as the work is, Amy says that paying significantly more than $6.00 an hour wouldn't make economic sense to her. "I'd probably just quit and stay home, taking care of them myself," she says.
Across the country in San Francisco, her words are echoed by journalist Sharon Noguchi, who recently went back to work after having a baby. She went to a resource center where babysitters register and took down 50 names. All but one turned out to be immigrants. She eventually hired a Salvadoran.
"It's the same for all my friends," Noguchi says. "I'm not sure that wages are the whole story, either. I'm paying $7.00 an hour plus taxes and Social Security, and some of my friends are even paying for health insurance. But Americans just don't apply for the jobs. I think it also has to do with the nature of the work. The hours are odd and somewhat irregular, and there's no future in it—you work a couple of years and then get laid off when the children are older. That's just not desirable work."
Like Amy, Noguchi says that if there were no immigrants working in child care, she would probably have to quit her job and stay home with her baby. "So would a lot of other mothers like me," she declares. "There are a lot of women like me, women who work not because they have to, but because they like to. We're the people who will be the losers."
So will a lot of Americans who work in the garment industry. Perhaps no other U.S. industry is more intimately linked to immigrants than the rag trade. The ready-to-wear industry was founded in New York in the 1880s, when Jewish immigrants from Russia and Eastern Europe provided most of the labor. As they moved out of production and into management and ownership, they were succeeded by a wave of new Italian immigrants. As European immigration dried up in the 1930s, Puerto Ricans and southern blacks took over the production floors. In the 1960s, Chinese and other Asians poured into the garment factories. These days the jobs are done by new Chinese arrivals along with recent immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean.
"The second generation never stays," says Muzaffar Chisti, the director of the Immigration Project of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. (Though Indian-born, he's a U.S. citizen.) "We have clearly seen a recurring phenomenon, the replacement of one set of workers by another. But it's a replacement, not a displacement….One group of immigrants moves up and out, and another takes its place. That's the whole promise of America.
"That's the whole interesting thing about this immigration debate. Immigration is such a great bargain for this country. Immigrants come to work in what economists call the secondary sectors of the market. The primary sector is the prized jobs, the ones with good wages and upward mobility. The secondary sector is the jobs with low wages, harsh discipline, low mobility. Those are the ones the immigrants take. They do it with the clear promise that it's going to be a better deal for their kids. And it is. The kids of our Chinese immigrants go to Ivy League schools in prodigious numbers."
In some cases it doesn't take a full generation for immigrants to succeed in their new life. Many of the Chinese who arrived in the garment factories in the mid-1960s have already worked their way in the managerial and entrepreneurial classes. "There are 500 to 600 Chinese-owned garment companies in New York," notes Chisti. "In 1960, there were just five. They employ 30,000 workers." Their payroll is more than $200 million.
Anti-immigrant activists would retort, no doubt, that most of those 30,000 jobs go to other immigrants rather than Americans. That's undoubtedly true. But many jobs generated by the garment industry are held by native-born Americans. Packagers, truckers, mid-level managers, and wholesale workers are mostly natives. So are people in countless other jobs that were created by the garment industry, from the assembly-line workers in the plants where sewing machines are built to the pink-collar staffs of the designers who cluster near the garment factories. A 1985 Urban Institute study of the garment industry in Los Angeles, the country's second-biggest, concluded that without Mexican immigrants, the city would have lost 50,000 production jobs, 12,000 management jobs, and 25,000 incidental jobs.
"Immigration not only works for the immigrants, it works for the competitiveness of our country," Chisti says with conviction. "Apparel is still New York's largest industry. New York is still the apparel capital of the world. And it couldn't have been without immigrant labor. The garment industry—collapse may be too strong a word—but the garment industry simply could not continue at anything like its present level. It would lose its principal source of workers. Much of it would move off-shore."
Chisti scoffs at the idea that Americans could take over those jobs, even if the pay could be raised without destroying the industry's competitiveness. "People have the idea garment work is unskilled," he notes. "But if anyone thinks sewing a shirt in less than 20 minutes without cutting off your fingers is unskilled, let him try it. This is a skill, and it's a skill these workers have learned abroad. We don't have programs here to teach people how to sew. Immigrants learn it in informal or family networks. How are you going to replace that?"
And yet the notion persists that immigrants come here and steal jobs, consigning hard-working Americans to the unemployment lines. It is a view that the immigrants find bewildering.
"Listen, señor, what American would want my job?" politely inquires Carlos, an illegal immigrant from Mexico's troubled Chiapas state. Using false documents, he has worked for the past five years in a furniture workshop in downtown Houston. All day long he totes heavy lumber from one side of the room to another for $5.00 an hour. "It's not terrible work, but it's very hard, for very little money," Carlos says. "Americans wouldn't want such a hard job." He's not complaining—in Chiapas there was no work at all—but simply stating the facts. All the other unskilled laborers in the workshop are Mexican immigrants, too.
"People stop by here to offer jobs," says Louise Zwick, who with her husband Mark operates Houston's Casa Juan Diego, a temporary residence for new immigrants. "And you should see the kind of work it is: Heavy, distasteful labor. Pouring tar for roofers in the middle of the summer in 100-degree heat. Or, last fall, after we had terrible floods northwest of Houston, people came around looking for help cleaning that dirty water and stinking mud out of their homes. And the whole reason they came here is that they couldn't find Americans to do that work, but they knew immigrants would."
Luis Moreno learned about dirty jobs the hard way. He arrived in Miami in 1989 with CIA help after spending eight years as a commander in the contras, the American-backed rebels who fought Nicaragua's Marxist Sandinista regime. Moreno had a distinguished combat record—after a mortar accident blew off his right arm, he learned to fire a rifle with his left and continued to lead contra troops inside Nicaragua—but he found that setting ambushes and blowing up bridges were relatively undervalued skills in the U.S. economy. And although popular legend has it that the CIA set up ex-contras with luxury condos and country-club memberships, all Moreno got was a work permit and a brisk shake of his left hand.
"I was a man with no way out," he recalls. "I had one arm. I didn't speak English. But I couldn't go back to my country, because the communists were still in control. And I had two children to support. So I had to do whatever was necessary." He took a job as a guard at a security company.
"Lots of Nicaraguans were coming to Miami then—that was when it looked like the Sandinistas would stay forever—and I would say that 90 percent of the guards at my company were Nicaraguans like me," he remembers. "And the rest were from other countries in Central America. We were all immigrants. Why? Because we were people who didn't speak English. And people who don't speak English in America don't get treated very well."
The company sent him to various sites during the three years Moreno worked as a guard. But they were all pretty much the same: warehouses in seedy neighborhoods near the city's crime-riddled ghettos. "The places were all difficult assignments," he says. "There was never a toilet, never a place to get a drink of water. I was always outside, in the rain, in the mosquitoes." But that wasn't the worst of it. The worst was standing around unarmed in the dark at 2 a.m., waiting for a crackhead with a 9mm Glock to show up to break into the place.
"Really, we weren't much more than human burglar alarms, there to call for help on the walkie-talkie if something went wrong," Moreno says. "I remember one night when I was guarding a clothing warehouse. And I saw someone breaking in. So I called my supervisor, and he called the owner. If the owner called the police, and it turned out I was wrong, and there was no burglar, then he would have to pay some kind of a fee to the police department. So the owner said, 'Well, there's nothing too valuable inside there. Don't call the police. Just tell the guard to try to catch the guy when he comes out.' So I stayed there all night, with no gun, waiting for this guy—maybe he had a machine gun, for all I know—to come back out. I had plenty of combat experience, so I wasn't scared, exactly. But I thought about my children. What would happen to them if I were killed? Who would take care of them?
"I was getting paid $4.25 an hour for that. And you ask me why there were no Americans working at my company? What American would risk his life to save another man's shirts for $4.25 an hour? Only an immigrant would do that, because he can't do anything else. Once in a while an American came in to apply for a job. And they always got hired on the spot to be a supervisor, because they could speak English, and the supervisors had to speak English to deal with clients and police and insurance companies. The boss loved it when Americans came in, but that didn't happen very often."
Even so, Moreno never complained to his family about his job. Who would have listened? His wife came home squinting and sore from a garment factory where she sewed sleeves on shirts for five cents apiece. His arthritic 57-year-old father wheezed from the perpetual cold he got working at a warehouse, unloading 50-pound boxes of frozen chicken from trucks under Miami's tropical sun, then carting them inside to a meat freezer. One brother could barely drag himself into the house at the end of the day after lugging cement blocks around construction sites in the 90-degree, 90-percent humidity heat. And still another brother was rarely seen.
"Ahhh, he had the worst job of all," Moreno chuckles. "He worked for $100 a week guarding a pigpen on the edge of the Everglades. Have you ever been out there? He had to protect those pigs from all the crazy people who run around in the Everglades. Every night the mosquitoes fell onto him like a cloud. And the snakes. You don't want to know about the snakes….
"It was hard work, his job. My wife's job too. All of us did hard work. But people do it all around the world. That's the kind of job people who don't have education get."
Moreno is getting an education. In between his guard shifts, he took junior-college English classes. His language skills improved to the point where he was able to get a job as a courier shuttling documents between downtown law firms. He has 90 hours of credit toward an accounting degree, and someday he hopes to open a bookkeeping service.
Meanwhile, he stops by the security company every once in a while to say hello. "All the Nicaraguans are gone," he observes. "They've gotten better jobs. All the guards now are Haitians."
When Luis Moreno and Carlos say they didn't take their jobs from Americans, they won't get any argument from the vast majority of economists. Study after study shows that immigrants are at worst a break-even proposition in terms of creating jobs and paying for the government services they consume.
Perhaps the most dramatic was a study by Princeton economist David Card, who looked at the impact of the 1980 Mariel boatlift on Miami employment. That was the year Castro, in an ill-considered fit of pique, briefly opened Cuba's doors to permit free emigration. In just a couple of months, 125,000 refugees flooded into Miami, boosting the city's work force 7 percent overnight.
Card tracked Miami's unemployment statistics for six years after the boatlift, comparing them with those of half a dozen Sunbelt cities with similar economies. What he found was—nothing. Miami's economy swallowed the newcomers without a trace, like a boa constrictor gulping down a pig.
"You couldn't find any effect of the boatlift on employment in any part of the economy," Card says. "Because most of the people who came during Mariel were unskilled workers with little education, even the most optimistic person might have expected some impact at the lower end of the economy. But when I checked on the statistics for unskilled black or non-Hispanics, you couldn't find anything at all." Some workers were undoubtedly displaced, of course, but they apparently were able to find other jobs very quickly.
Although Card admits to some wonder at the speed and totality with which the Mariel refugees were absorbed, he wasn't surprised by the general principle that economies expand to accommodate newcomers.
"When I read letters to the editor, it's plain that most people seem to think that the number of jobs is fixed," he says. "So, in their view, if you add one more worker to the population of a city, it just means that that guy will have to fight with somebody else for an existing job. It's an extremely narrow and very non-economic view of the world….If you look across cities, the number of jobs is proportional to the number of people in the city. The fact that more people have moved to New York than to Atlanta does not mean that a lot of people have been thrown out of work in New York. What it means is that there are 10 times more jobs in New York than there are in Atlanta."
What happens is that every new person who comes to New York—or to the United States—looking for work is also a consumer. He wants a job, but he also has to buy shoes, eat breakfast, and rent an apartment. The more consumer demand for goods and services, the more jobs are created to fill it. As British writer John Toland noted during an influx of foreign Jews in 1714: "We deny not that there will be more tailors and shoemakers; but there will also be more suits and shoes made than before." Were Toland around today, he might point out that Florida's unemployment rate is lower than the national average, even though it has the third-largest immigrant population of all the states.
Who is going to pick the lettuce and tomatoes? has a companion question. It is, Who is going to design the computers?
"The United States would not be remotely dominant in high-technology industries without immigrants," flatly declares writer George Gilder, who chronicles international competition along the information superhighway. "We are now utterly dominant in all key information technology domains. And at every important high-tech company in America, the crucial players, half of them or more, are immigrants.
"I've spent 15 years now going from one of these companies to another. And always, when you get past the sales people and the public-relations people, in the back you meet the guy who actually invented the product. And he's always from India or Vietnam or someplace like that.
"You exclude immigrants from our high-tech industries and what you get is Europe, where they have no important computer or semiconductor company now after 20 years of focusing on information technologies. There's been a steady stream of heavily funded European economic community industrial policies focused on semiconductors and computers, and Europe has ended this period without a single important computer or semiconductor company….In fact, many of the key contributors to the U.S. industry came here from Europe: Eastern Europe, Italy, Belgium, Britain, France. Where would we be if we hadn't welcomed them?"
Does Gilder exaggerate? Consider the history of a single company: Intel, the $10-billion Silicon Valley company that is the world's largest producer of semiconductors. It offers a striking example of the creative forces unleashed by bringing together talented, ambitious people from all over the world (including the United States) and allowing them to share ideas in an open, entrepreneurial economy.
1968: The company is founded by two Americans who are quickly joined by Andrew Grove, a 31-year-old Hungarian engineer who fled his country 12 years earlier as Soviet tanks poured in. Grove, who left Hungary with $20 in his pocket, will eventually rise to be Intel's CEO.
1969: Intel scores its first big success with the MOS chip, which becomes the semiconductor industry's favorite technology. The team that develops the chip is spearheaded by Les Vadasz, a Hungarian who will eventually become an Intel vice president.
1970: Intel introduces the DRAM chip, which will soon be one of the fundamental building blocks of virtually all computers. Les Vadasz plays a key role on the development team.
1971: Dov Frohman, an Intel engineer from Israel, invents the EPROM chip, which retains its memory even when the power is turned off. It quickly becomes indispensable in everything from telecommunications equipment to automobiles.
1974: Intel unveils the 8080, the first general-purpose microprocessor. Of the three top people on the development team, one (Federico Faggin) is Italian and one (Masatoshi Shima) is Japanese.
1979: The company produces the 8086 chip, which, with slight modification, will become the brains of the first IBM personal computer. The team that engineers the chip is headed by Jean-Claude Cornet, a French immigrant.
1993: Intel introduces the state-of-the-art Pentium chip. The Pentium project is managed by Vinod Dham of India. And one of the chip's two principal architects is another Indian, Avtar Saini.
So where would Intel be without immigrants? The company's communications director, Howard High, just shakes his head at the question; he can't imagine. But he does know one thing: Intel will continue to profit from imported brainpower. If U.S. law prohibits it from arriving on boats or planes, it will slip in through telephone modems.
"This talk about changing immigration law is not going to impact where the jobs go in high-tech industries," he says. "You can live where you want to live, or have to live, and if you're good, we're going to hire you. There aren't a lot of people who specialize in the kinds of skills we need. So if you live in Tel Aviv, or Manila, or Beijing, or Albuquerque, we're going to hire you and move the necessary facilities to you….
"For $4,000, we can put 150 million instructions per second on the desktop of anybody in the world. If people don't want to live here, or can't live here, they don't have to. With computers and telephones, the border issue just kind of goes away."
Not everyone is quite so sanguine about the possible effect of immigration restrictions on America's high-tech industries. "It's true that a lot of computer programming can be done anywhere in the world," says Nathan Rosenberg, a Stanford economist who studies the history of technology. "They do that now. A number of American firms, Motorola and some others, have large networks of computer programmers in India and elsewhere.
"But if we're talking about more highly engineered and creative work—design work, sophisticated research, the bright big ideas—it's a more synergistic situation involving face-to-face interaction among people. The point is that people need to talk to one another, react directly to one another, and communicate in ways that don't seem to work nearly as productively when you're communicating through a wire or a fiber-optic line. The key word is synergy, a creative response to other people's ideas or statements, an energy that results when people are in the same room looking at one another." That synergy enriches not only U.S. companies but, by sparking innovations, the entire world.
Rosenberg is frankly worried about what will happen if Congress passes draconian anti-immigration laws.
"About 60 percent of all students earning advanced degrees in American universities in engineering today are foreign," he observes. "We have benefited—and we continue to benefit immensely—from this flow of foreign talent. For example, Indian immigrants have played a remarkable role in exploiting higher mathematics for purposes of industrial innovation.
"A very large fraction of the foreigners who come to America to study and take advanced degrees in engineering and science stay here. When you combine that with the fact that, for whatever reason, American students are simply not going into many areas of engineering that are relevant to industrial innovation, it's obvious we need these foreigners. We need them very badly….
"It seems to me that the American high-tech industry will suffer, will suffer tremendously, if these anti-immigration measures go into effect."
The prominence of immigrants at Intel is no fluke. Some 15,000 Asian immigrants are employed in Silicon Valley, roughly a quarter of the work force. And the phenomenon is not limited to California. At IBM's facility in Yorktown Heights, New York, a quarter of the researchers are Asians. At AT&T's Bell Labs in New Jersey, 40 percent of the researchers in the Communications Sciences Research Wing were born outside the United States.
In Hawthorne, New York, 60 percent of International Paper Company's engineering department is composed of immigrants. Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical in Wilmington, Delaware, regularly brings out new products developed by immigrants. One example: the anti-hypertensive drug Losartan, created by a team of scientists that included two Chinese and a Lithuanian. At Phoenix Laser Systems in San Jose, California, founder Alfred Sklar, a Cuban refugee, is pioneering laser technologies that could eventually cure several forms of blindness.
High-tech is not the only expertise that immigrants bring with them. They also bring along knowledge of the way businesses organize and market themselves in other parts of the world, which can be an invaluable source of innovation.
There are few hotter companies in America than Kingston Technology, which designs and manufactures memory upgrades for virtually every kind of computer. Located in Fountain Valley, just south of Los Angeles, Kingston regularly hosts awestruck reporters from the nation's financial press. Fortune labeled it "the paradigmatic growth machine," and it was at the top of Inc. magazine's 1992 list of the country's fastest-growing privately held companies. No wonder: From its founding in 1987 through 1992, Kingston's sales increased a sizzling 368 percent. Last year they hit $800 million.
And who is behind this classic American success story? Well…two Taiwanese immigrants, David Sun and John Tu. And a stroll through the company's semi-chaotic two-story headquarters ("management by shout and grab," Kingston people call it) is like a visit to a real-life version of Disneyland's "It's A Small World" ride. American salesmen consult with Chinese engineers who chatter at Vietnamese testers who banter with Hispanic assemblers. Kingston's 1,300 employees are divided roughly equally among the four groups.
"Southern California is at the forefront of today's immigration," says marketing director Ron Seide. "The same thing that made the United States strong at the turn of the century—the flow of immigrants that built the east and the industrial midwest—are part and parcel of Southern California's success. Without immigrant influence, their ideas, their intellectual capital, the high-tech industry—which is the best thing California has going for it—wouldn't exist."
Seide (who hails from Cleveland and is sometimes referred to as "the Anglo interface" by his polyglot colleagues) recalls that he was stunned by the sheer energy radiating from Kingston's work floor on his first day in the job. He has no doubt that it is generated by the immigrants.
"You've got to have a lot of gumption, get-up-and-go, guts, whatever you want to call it, to pack up your belongings, jump into steerage, and start a new life 5,000 miles away in a country where you don't speak the language," he observes. "It's a self-selecting process. And then they bring it into the workplace. It's infectious."
Kingston works at the center of a tightly knit cluster of independent companies, sharing capital, know-how, and markets. Kingston designs memory boards, which are manufactured by a partner in Taiwan, assembled by another partner down the road in Orange County, and sold by distributors all over the world.
"We operate as a virtual corporation," Seide says. "That's very central to the way Asian companies are structured. And no American could have imagined it. This company is literally an immigrant's dream."
So: Who is going to pick the lettuce and tomatoes? Who is going to design the computers? And, of course, the questions don't stop there. Without Ethiopians, who will be the parking attendants in San Jose? Without Haitians, who will drive Miami's taxis? Without Filipino nurses and Pakistani doctors, who will care for the ill in inner-city and rural hospitals? Without Mexicans, who will build houses in North Carolina? Yes, North Carolina.
"If it were not for the Latin American population here, we'd be in a terrible fix," says the vice president of a large Raleigh construction company. "Unemployment is down under 3 percent here and has been for several years. And when we advertise for workers, we don't get Americans, we get Mexicans. I don't know where they come from. But I do know they believe in a day's work for a day's pay, and we like that."
In a sad indication of today's political climate, the construction man doesn't want his name used: "I don't care to get caught up in any political backlash over anything. There are some things that are politically sensitive, and one of them is immigration. I saw what happened in California with that proposition." In the United States these days, it is potentially controversial to say that you like your workers, if they happen to have been born in the wrong place.
And in the United States soon, it may become more expensive to buy a shirt or build a home, more difficult to hire a babysitter, next to impossible to operate a vegetable farm. Office rents will rise along with janitors' wages; so will the cost of a dinner out, as bus boys, waitresses, and cooks get more expensive. Maids and gardeners may become a thing of the past, along with career women. High-tech research and development will stagnate. Who could have guessed that "pragmatism" would be so extravagant?
Contributing Editor Glenn Garvin's latest book, Diary of a Survivor: Nineteen Years in a Cuban Women's Prison, co-authored with Ana Rodriguez, will be published this spring by St. Martin's Press.
NEXT: Childish Clinton
Glenn Garvin is a former contributing editor at Reason.
PoliticsHistoryWorldScience & TechnologyCultureEconomicsPolicyImmigrationIndiaCongressScienceTaxesTechnologyLabor


text:
Yesterday, Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered a summer update on the economy, announcing new spending set to cost the Treasury an estimated £30bn.
New measures, including a 'kickstart scheme' for young workers, a reduction in VAT on hospitality and tourism, and a new 'eat out to help out' scheme, will see Britain's public borrowing rise to more than £350 billion this financial year , according to the FT .
Sunak also confirmed that £49bn had been spent on public services since the outbreak of covid-19. He added that there will be a budget and spending review in the Autumn.
Sky News reports that officials from Public Health England and the Department of Health and Social Care "hand-cranked" the number of covid tests to ensure a constant stream of rising numbers were available for each day's press conference .
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester and former Health Secretary , has written to current Health Secretary Matt Hancock, demanding that local authorities are given data on local covid cases in order to prevent local lockdowns.
Regional/Devolved
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced that Scotland will also lift the quarantine from the 10 th of June, with passengers arriving from over 70 destinations no longer needing to self-isolate.
The Welsh Government will provide an additional £29 million to schools from September. This is equivalent to 600 extra teachers and 300 teaching assistants.
In Australia, Melbourne is under lockdown again less than a month after restrictions were eased.
The US has recorded the highest one-day increase in cases anywhere in the world since outbreak of covid . Over 60,000 cases have been reported in 24 hours, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
In New Zealand, new measures have been implemented which will see police officers patrol quarantine hotels around-the-clock. This comes following the escape of several people from managed isolation facilities.
Responding to the Chancellor's statement on the economy, Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation Torsten Bell said "the focus on jobs and some, but not all, hard-hit sectors was very welcome. Kickstart jobs for young people represents a tried and tested policy, but the new Job Retention Bonus is poorly targeted at those jobs that are most at risk of being lost. "
In response to the Chancellor's update, Labour shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds called for an end to the "one-size-fits-all" approach to the withdrawal of job retention scheme.
Adam Marshall, Director of the British Chambers of Commerce, said " Businesses face cliff-edges in the autumn as existing support winds down, and so the Government must consider reducing national insurance contributions and extending existing loan schemes. "
Jonathan Geldart, Director General of the Institute of Directors , said that many of its members " will feel like he missed a trick ". He added that the Chancellor's greatest strength during the pandemic has been " his willingness to adapt as the situation moves ".
The chief executive of the Committee on Climate Change, Chris Stark, said that the package was a " genuine stimulus, as it is big money that has to be spent quickly."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


An article was recently published in the Irish Sunday Independent, featuring top hairstylist and businessman Aidan Fitzgerald, which looks at the recession and gender balance within certain professions.
When I started out 43 years ago, only about 20% of hairdressers were men. Now, senior level hairdressing is made up of about 45% to 50% men. Hair is a big business, and guys are seeing that these days.
Fitzgerald started his hairdressing apprenticeship aged 15 and was the only male on the course. He opened his first salon aged 19, and his current premise in Black Rock has been thriving since 1991. While Fitzgerald has forged a successful career for himself, his choice of job initially left his parents puzzled.
I grew up in a family of eleven. We were always competitive and we all had jobs. I never wanted to go to school and I always wanted to earn money, but when I told my dad I was doing hairdressing, he was worried about what he would tell the others in the office. My mother couldn't understand all my trendy haircuts, Fitzgerald laughs.
I went through a phase a few years ago of calling myself a businessman – just to make life easier. Now, hairdressing is a big industry and people's reactions are very different.
You are solely judged on your ability and skills in hairdressing. If you deliver the goods and look after the customer, you will succeed – regardless of agenda.
This article was featured in the Irish Sunday Independent.


text:
Surgeon from Kyrgyzstan still working after 67 years of service
By Amanda Tang
Published 12 June 2020
Dr. Mambet Mamakeev, a widely distinguished surgeon in Kyrgyzstan, was awarded the record title for longest career as a surgeon on 29th February 2020.
Dr. Mamakeev was also presented with the prestigious title of Honorary Citizen of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan in recognition of his achievements in the medical profession.
Born in 1927, Dr. Mamakeev decided to pursue a life of medicine in 1952, and then specialized in medical surgery from 1953 onwards.
Currently residing in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Dr Mamakeev has thought to have performed over 30,000 surgical interventions and consulted/treated a minimum of 100,000 patients with various surgical requirements.
That number of people almost beats the record title for the largest crowd for a basketball game!
Here are some of the milestones from his medical career path:
1952 – became a resident doctor in the emergency surgery clinic, subsequently completed clinical residency and postgraduate studies
1952 - worked as an assistant in the department of hospital surgery at KSMI.
1962 to 1972 - associate professor at this department
1972 to 1974 - professor at the department
1974 to 2004, he worked as the head of the department of hospital surgery at KSMA
1996 to 2014 he worked as the director of the National Surgical Center of the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic.
From 2014 to the present - Honorary Director of the NHC MH KR.
Not only is Dr. Mamakeev a renowned surgeon, but he is also a teacher, author, and a public figure within the Kyrgyz community.
He created a National Surgical School in Kyrgyzstan, whose representatives work around the world. Dr. Mamakeev has also published over 200 scientific papers, including 8 monographs.
11 doctors and 22 candidates of medical sciences have been trained under his leadership.
"From the moment I heard this news, I felt myself younger and more energized. I still conduct 5-6 surgeries daily. Surgeons and doctors from around my country are congratulating me with this nomination. This is a great honor not only for me, but for all surgeons of the Kyrgyz Republic. I express my gratitude to the Guinness World Records team!" - Dr. Mambet Mamakeev
Interested in breaking a record title? Attempt to break a world record for brand awareness, a product launch, celebration, CSR, fundraising or employee engagement – find out more here, or contact us for more information.


Our goal is to address the factors that limit watershed function in aquatic, riparian, and associated upland habitats for the purpose of increasing watershed health and resiliency.
Interested in a Conservation Project?
Watershed restoration is a collaborative effort between numerous stakeholders including state and federal agencies, local contractors, universities, and countless private landowners. For example, a salmon habitat restoration project here on the Oregon coast involves multiple state and federal agencies (review, permits, grants), project managers from local conservation organizations, local contractors, and one or more landowners.
Effective restoration is dependent upon understanding the root cause of degradation to one or more of a watersheds functions or natural services. To understand what is affecting water quality, fish and wildlife populations, or changes in a plant or insect community, a scientific approach is needed. For a species like salmon, limiting factors analyses are employed to assess what factors in the freshwater (or estuarian) habitat are the key causes for decline. On the Oregon coast, many subwatershed-level limiting factors analyses have been completed. These analyses combine information gathered by snorkel surveys, culvert assessments, stream morphology measurements and adult spawning salmon counts to determine the most important functions of a watershed or stream reach to address (or restore) in order to protect and restore conditions that allow species, like Coastal Coho salmon, and other threatened salmonid species to thrive. For many salmon species, stream water temperature, and in-stream complexity (woody debris and side channels) are limiting their spawning and rearing productivity and success.
A key aspect of restoring habitat function and addressing limiting factors is alleviating the disturbance that is leading to degradation or loss of function. Sometimes this means removing or reducing the influences of a certain land use type (example: river bed mining, orchards or livestock right next to a river, nonnative fish stocking in a lake) but can also mean active construction and rehabilitation of a habitat feature (example: recreating a re-meandered channel on a channelized stream, adding natural components like wood to a river bed to naturally create complexity that benefits fish rearing, planting a riparian area with native trees and shrubs to create cooler stream water and more appropriate nutrient inputs that make the basis of a stream food web). Ironically, a functioning ecosystem is often degraded due a lack of natural localized disturbance such as flooding, landslides, or fire. Restoring natural disturbances is a very challenging and often controversial aspect of habitat restoration and often is not achievable or even desirable near human communities.
Who does this work in my area? Lincoln SWCD is a major collaborator and partner facilitating and implementing restoration on private property in Lincoln County. Contact our Watershed Restoration Program Staff about technical assistance and take a look at incentive programs that are available to landowners who want to implement restoration on their property.
The 2nd edition of Lincoln SWCD's Rural Living Handbook is also now available. We have compiled this handbook to address some of the issues rural landowners may encounter.
The purpose of this page is to provide information about water quality within the Central Oregon Coast's (Mid Coast Basin) freshwater streams and rivers. This site provides access to raw water quality data that is currently being collected by Lincoln SWCD and other local partners. Lincoln SWCD's Water Quality Monitoring Program currently collects and analyzes water quality throughout 4 watersheds in Lincoln County.
Tracking the condition of water quality throughout Oregon's streams, lakes and rivers is a monumental task. Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is the State agency responsible for tracking, collecting and analyzing this information. To supplement their in-house monitoring, Oregon DEQ also supports community based monitoring known as Voluntary Monitoring to collect and provide additional regional data that would otherwise be unattainable given limited resources. All Voluntary Monitoring programs require written quality control and assurance plans that track the data quality to ensure only high quality data is accepted. Lincoln SWCD's Program is a Voluntary Monitoring Program.
Perform water quality sampling and analysis (monitoring) throughout Lincoln County watersheds to provide general, science-based information to inform landowners, the general public and our technicians about the quality of freshwater streams and rivers as they pertain to beneficial uses such as drinking water sources, recreation, aquatic farming (oysters), and aquatic life (fish, insects, etc.).
Use the information as an educational tool and not as a way to create regulatory problems with specific landowners.
Provide educational outreach to urban, rural and agricultural landowners about non-point source pollution causes and impacts.
Provide the raw data that helps determine which water bodies that are not meeting (impaired) State water quality standards and that may be jeopardizing beneficial uses.


backshore means (DOD) The area of a beach extending from the limit of high water foam lines to dunes or extreme inland limit of the beach.
What is the abbreviation for (DOD) The area of a beach extending from the limit of high water foam lines to dunes or extreme inland limit of the beach.?
A: What does backshore stand for?
backshore stands for "(DOD) The area of a beach extending from the limit of high water foam lines to dunes or extreme inland limit of the beach.".
A: How to abbreviate "(DOD) The area of a beach extending from the limit of high water foam lines to dunes or extreme inland limit of the beach."?
"(DOD) The area of a beach extending from the limit of high water foam lines to dunes or extreme inland limit of the beach." can be abbreviated as backshore.
A: What is the meaning of backshore abbreviation?
The meaning of backshore abbreviation is "(DOD) The area of a beach extending from the limit of high water foam lines to dunes or extreme inland limit of the beach.".
A: What is backshore abbreviation?
One of the definitions of backshore is "(DOD) The area of a beach extending from the limit of high water foam lines to dunes or extreme inland limit of the beach.".
A: What does backshore mean?
backshore as abbreviation means "(DOD) The area of a beach extending from the limit of high water foam lines to dunes or extreme inland limit of the beach.".
A: What is shorthand of (DOD) The area of a beach extending from the limit of high water foam lines to dunes or extreme inland limit of the beach.?
The most common shorthand of "(DOD) The area of a beach extending from the limit of high water foam lines to dunes or extreme inland limit of the beach." is backshore.
RATCHET - Undesirable, coarse woman. A diva, mostly from urban cities and ghettos, that has reason to believe she is every mans eye candy. But, she's wrong.
apogee - (DOD) The point at which a missile trajectory or a satellite orbit is farthest from the center of the gravitational field of the controlling body or bodies.
beach - (DOD) 1.The area extending from the shoreline inland to a marked change in physiographic form or material, or to the line of permanent vegetation (coastline).
bridgehead - (DOD) An area of ground held or to be gained on the enemy's side of an obstacle.See also airhead; beachhead.
fairway - (DOD) A channel either from offshore, in a river, or in a harbor that has enough depth to accommodate the draft of large vessels.See also draft; watercraft.
foreshore - (DOD) That portion of a beach extending from the low water (datum) shoreline to the limit of normal high water wave wash.
insurgency - (DOD) The organized use of subversion and violence by a group or movement that seeks to overthrow or force change of a governing authority.Insurgency can also refer to the group itself.
ionosphere - (DOD) That part of the atmosphere, extending from about 70 to 500 kilometers, in which ions and free electrons exist in sufficient quantities to reflect electromagnetic waves.
radial - (DOD) A magnetic bearing extending from a very high frequency omni-range and/or tactical air navigation station.
reserve - (DOD) 1.Portion of a body of troops that is kept to the rear, or withheld from action at the beginning of an engagement, in order to be available for a decisive movement.
section - (DOD) 4.An area in a warehouse extending from one wall to the next; usually the largest subdivision of one floor.


text:
from os import getcwd
import logging

from vdt.versionplugin.debianize.shared import (
    parse_version_extra_args,
    PackageBuilder
)

log = logging.getLogger('vdt.versionplugin.debianize.package')

def build_package(version):
    """
    Build package with debianize.
    """
    args, extra_args = parse_version_extra_args(version.extra_args)

    log.debug("Building version {0} with debianize.".format(version))
    with version.checkout_tag:
        deb_dir = getcwd()
        # use a package build class which has all kinds of hooks.
        builder = PackageBuilder(version, args, extra_args, deb_dir)
        builder.build_package_and_dependencies()
        return builder.exit_code

    return 0

def set_package_version(version):
    """
    If there need to be modifications to source files before a
    package can be built (changelog, version written somewhere etc.)
    that code should go here
    """
    log.debug("set_package_version is not implemented for debianize")
    if version.annotated and version.changelog and version.changelog != "":
        "modify setup.py and write the version"
        log.debug("got an annotated version, should modify setup.py")

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


A recent blog post by Steven Heller concerned one Kent Hunter, a gifted designer I met briefly in the 80s whilst working for a transatlantic corporate graphics concern. Kent is a very talented chap indeed who amongst other things I remember art directed some ground-breaking annual report work for Time-Warner. Having had a very successful career with Franfurt Balkind, Kent and his partner have now opened an antique store in Millerton, NY.
Around the same time, in our London office Suzi Godson was a highly talented, clear-thinking designer I enjoyed working with. She bailed out of a very promising design career to become a successful Author and Times Columnist.
John Larkin was co-founder (with Tim May) of Design House Consultants, which was (and still is as far as I know) a very successful business, although John has long since departed both design and the UK to St Tropez for a new life as a hotelier.
There are plenty of other and higher-profile Poachers-turned-Gamekeeper: For Ben Schott (of Original Miscellany fame) and Dave Eggers (of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, What Is the What, McSweeney's and-much-more fame), graphic design activity was just step on the road to greater things.
It does seem to be a bit of a designer thing. I don't believe there too are many physicists gazing out of the windows (if there are any) at CERN dreaming wistfully of running a B&B in the Peak District, or sculptors just longing to hang up their chisels & welding gear to run a nail bar, say.
We all have some sympathy with the idea of escape. Just occasionally, after a long day wrestling with the umpteenth iteration of a zombie project that has long ceased to be the game-changing design opportunity I'd hoped for, I might dream of creating that up-market stationery / hardware emporium in Rome, that cut-price space-tourism business, the organic ferret-farm. But then: another day, another project, another set of possibilities… Why be shackled to only one?
Success will create better chances and open other doors too. I don't think such escape is about the money and while I may not be able to actually afford to stay in Mr Larkin's St Tropez hotel, I admire the idea of creating not just a communication, but a whole business, an activity designed below the surface to good design's exacting standards. This is only taking design just another level further – design in 4D. Design training and practise develops an eye for quality and a methodical, detail-oriented approach. Both are transferable skills in short supply in business, giving our escapees an edge in their new universes.


When John and his wife divorced, they agreed to sell their home. But every time they come close, his ex stalls because she wants to buy it. With the real estate market in a tailspin and the nation in a recession, She feels prices will go down further, which would enable her to buy it from him at a cheaper price.
To complicate matters, John, not his real name, recently lost his job in the financial industry. With the house issue looming, he's already asked the court in his state to award him attorney's fees since his wife filed for divorce. In addition, he's considering a change to his property settlement: he may return to court to ask his ex for alimony, something he never would have done before the layoff.
According to legal experts from around the country, John's tale isn't unusual. The recession that's affected every other aspect of America is now affecting family court as well. Clients are returning to court as a way to deal with financial hardships that are affecting their property settlement agreements.
A new mom herself, Chang Rickert has noticed nannies and housekeepers are getting laid off because parents who have no jobs have more time to spend at home.
California family law attorney David Pisarra said he's seen so many clients dealing with this issue that he's rolled out a new payment program, charging only a flat fee, to address this new need.
John's not the only one in a quandary over the inability to sell his marital home. "Many property settlements state that the divorcing couple will sell their home, but many people can't sell and need to know what to do if they can't," she said.


Web sites of dog breeders and exhibitors in Australia and New Zealand who are registered with the appropriate Canine Controlling Authority in their state.
This ring is for the Tenterfiled Terrier and the people they love. You should have a webpage about TTs to join.
This webring is for webpages about Texas' Dogs. I invite webmasters of Texas dog rescue groups and anyone living in Texas that has a webpage about their dog(s) to join this group. A message from Texas Dogs: Help control the pet population, have your pet spayed or neutered.
Bringing together the Western Australian show dogs community - conformation, agility and obedience. Also lending a helping hand to rescue situations.
Australian Breeders and exhibitors of Show Dogs united in a webring to show the world what Australia has to offer in our Wonderful pure bred dogs.
This is the perfect place to list your special little Poo's webpage! We welcome all malti-poos, cocka-poos, chi-poos, yorkie-poos, shih-poo, peke-apoo, shnoodles, or any other poodle crosses.


text:
Encinitas is a Surf Destination
If you are looking for a new spot to surf, Encinitas might be the ticket. We are all looking for those quaint places where sand and surf are perfect and the town has a lot to offer. Encinitas, California might be the answer. Not only do surfers abound, but the town itself has a lot of hip little spots to hang out. If you are in the market for a new surf destination, consider this charming town.
BEST SURF TOWNS IN AMERICA 2017, NO. 7: ENCINITAS, CA
THE BEST PLACES IN THE U.S. TO EAT, SLEEP, WORK, AND SHRED
SEPTEMBER 14, 2017 BY SURFER
If, as Leo Tolstoy once wrote in Anna Karenina, "All happy families are alike…," then all happy surf towns are, too. Certainly, in every happy surf town there are the same old salty surf dawgs on giant longboards who'll cut off the groms and never look back. There are the underground legends who could've gone pro, but never left. There's a robust amateur comp circuit and a local shaper who seems to make every other guy's board. There's a particular breakfast spot where every surfer in town eventually eats after a dawn patrol, hair still dripping wet, with the menus promoting various combinations of eggs all named after local surf spots, as if the "T-Street" is any better than the "Riviera." Most importantly, in all happy surf towns, every real local believes the same unanimous lie that sometimes, just sometimes, their homebreak can get as good as the best break on the entire planet.
Indeed, there are many of these surf towns all over America, but what, precisely, makes one better than the other? Wave quality? Quaintness? Seclusion? Proximity to a city with culture? Price of a "T-Street" with a side of bacon?
We've compiled this list, primarily considering quality of life and quality of surf, but also taking into account other variables such as climate, consistency and variety of waves, cost of living, culture, and availability of work. After consulting, researching, and heavy debate, we narrowed the expansive list of towns down to 10—our ranking of the 10 best American surf towns.
No. 7: Encinitas, CA
Bear with us on this metaphor…If surf towns were the beds in Goldilocks and the Three Bears, then in all of Southern California, Encinitas is the bed that feels juuuust right. San Clemente? Wave-rich, but too sleepy. Oceanside? Too gritty. La Jolla? Too snobby. Pacific Beach? Too fratty. But Encinitas? Why, that's a place with a variety of year-round surf, a rootsy bike-rideable town, and a community of ocean-minded families and individuals. In striking distance of more consistent surf spots up or down the coast (Not to mention Baja, Mexico is less than an hour south), lovely Encinitas, perhaps, is the surf town that the bear in the state flag is wandering toward.


Our success is based on every one of our consultant's reputation and their clients satisfaction over many years; bringing us in as asset to our clients business when they need us and confident in our ability to deliver time and time again.
Size matters, they say, and we do not disagree – we are big enough to have the skills that YOU need and small enough to care.
We understand Business – big or small; widget factories or financial service providers; established or new start-up. We bring to you our expertise and the ability to quickly assimilate your business model and culture so that we can 'hit the ground running' to deliver the quality of advice and service you need.
We clearly define our proposed solutions for your business, how they will be implemented and by when – and then we deliver on our commitment.
We are not so big that we have to go through internal hierarchy before we can respond to YOU, our Client's, business needs; professionally, quickly and cleanly.
We are always mindful that our firm's reputation is inevitably linked to your satisfaction. …and we don't wheel in a Director to seal the deal then get 'Johnny Junior' to do the work. With us YOU get the experience and skills you have the right to expect.


text:
Team 4517 - Owl Robotics (2017)
Archimedean Upper Conservatory Charter School
From: Miami, Florida, USA
2017: FIRST STEAMWOR...
2016: FIRST STRONGHO...
2015: RECYCLE RUSH
2014: AERIAL ASSIST
2013: ULTIMATE ASCEN...
2017 Robot: Athena
2017 Home Championship: FIRST Championship - Houston
2017 Sponsors: DESCO DIAGNOSTIC EQUIPMENT SERVICE CORPORATION / BECKMAN COULTER FOUNDATION & Archimedean Upper Conservatory Charter School
FLWP
This tab displays only official event's that Team 4517 attended in 2017.
Team 4517 had a record of 0-7-0 at their 1 official events (this includes a Qualification record of 0 - 7 - 0 and Playoff record of 0 - 0)
South Florida Regional
March 1 to March 4, 2017
Qualification Matches
View Qualifications Event Page
Record: 0 Wins, 7 Losses and 0 Ties - 10 Matches Played (3 Disqualifications)
Red Final
Blue Final
Qualification 3 Fri 3/3 - 9:57 AM	 6416 1251 386 4517 1744 6001 105	 140
Qualification 10 Fri 3/3 - 11:24 AM	 4517 6404 59 5196 5557 6038 80	 45
Qualification 17 Fri 3/3 - 12:43 PM	 4481 5243 5993 4592 1523 4517 140	 180
Qualification 28 Fri 3/3 - 2:42 PM	 2383 6225 694 5872 4517 6468 145	 90
Qualification 32 Fri 3/3 - 3:34 PM	 79 4517 125 1744 5329 179 126	 150
Qualification 47 Fri 3/3 - 5:57 PM	 4517 5558 263 5472 6388 2556 140	 220
Qualification 51 Fri 3/3 - 6:37 PM	 263 6743 2152 6225 4517 386 235	 210
Qualification 62 Sat 3/4 - 10:16 AM	 4517 5993 6685 6388 3653 5949 115	 140
Qualification 68 Sat 3/4 - 11:07 AM	 6743 4471 4517 1523 21 2914 120	 290
Qualification 75 Sat 3/4 - 12:10 PM	 4592 125 6001 4517 6416 5410 205	 145
Did Not Participate Team 4517 did not appear in, or there were not, any Playoff Matches at this Event
Team 4517 did not win any awards in the 2017 season
Loading match videos… please wait a moment


text:
An apologetic accomplishment, or just an accomplished apology?
What was the best apology you ever received? How did it change your relationship with the person who made it?
Do you think that formal, official apologies to long-dead victims -- like the ones made by the U.S. government for the internment of Japanese citizens, Pope John Paul II's apology for the condemnation of Galileo, or the British Government's apology for the treatment of Alan Turing -- accomplish anything important?
I'd have to think about the first one - the apologies that matter most to me are the ones I've made, rather than the ones I've received.
The second paragraph is easier, which almost certainly means that what I'm about to say will be a vast oversimplification, and probably myopic into the bargain: I think that apologies have to be, in some sense, personal in order to be meaningful. Formal, official apologies to people no longer living are better made by correcting institutional behavior than by official pronouncements.
Posted by: Michael Mock | Aug 20, 2012 at 06:09 PM
Formal, official apologies to people no longer living are better made by correcting institutional behavior than by official pronouncements.
This is true. The formal, official apologies do have the benefit of saying outright that we (the entity or society represented by those making the apology) no longer wish to give our assent to the bad behaviour. It's important to state that outright sometimes, because otherwise the status quo is just assumed to continue.
But then, of course, you have to do differently in fact as well as in word.
Posted by: Nenya | Aug 21, 2012 at 04:21 AM
I think that apologies have to be, in some sense, personal in order to be meaningful. Formal, official apologies to people no longer living...
As far as apologizing to Galileo goes, I agree with you. Public repentance is necessary, but don't call it an apology. However, large scale historical injustices that took place within the last century or two usually have living victims to whom we could apologize.
- Many victims of seemingly distant, historic crimes are still alive. George Takei was interred during WWII. Living victims deserve apologies.
- Historical crimes often do intergenerational harm. Residential schools did massive harm to the First Nations of Canada. Individuals who were not yet born at the time the last residential school was closed are still suffering the consequences. They too deserve apologies.
- Hate crimes are designed to make all members of a demographic group feel afraid. If what was done in the past to someone of your demographic group makes you afraid for yourself, that historical hate crime is still doing harm, and has harmed you personally. If that's where you're at, you deserve an apology.
The past ain't dead. It ain't even past.
One other thing: the linked apology by PM Gordon Brown to Alan Turing is really weird. "I am pleased to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him...I'm very proud to say we're sorry." No, no, no.
Posted by: Ian needs a nickname | Aug 22, 2012 at 01:24 AM
Gah, sorry for the broken link. (better to apologize now than in 50 or 60 years)
Updated This week in The Slacktiverse, August 18/19 2012 Irregular Business The atheist round table is very nearly ready to go. Unfortunately hapax's computer has died on her, so we can't set a definite date until we know when the manufacturer will be sending a new one, but it's...
Turn the Record Over Certain songs become maddening after only a few hearings, others (maybe most) get maddening if they're repeated a lot, but others seem to stay good even if you hear them over and over. What songs do you find bear repetition?...


an excellent specimen of something, whether human or thing, a prodigy. Noun.
damn, now that's a graddy.
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An abbreviated form of the term "Graduation Party." Often used to prevent a sentence that uses too many words.
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Office building owner sued for selling asset twice
Is $1.7 million in punitive damages too excessive?
by Rebert Bruss
Lionel Simon owns a paper supply company. He rents his office space. But he spotted a downtown office building that would be perfect for his business.
It was a foreclosure property acquired by the lender bank. Real estate broker William Atha represented the seller. Duane King, vice president of the San Paolo Bank, negotiated for the seller.
Purchase Bob Bruss reports online.
On June 12, King and Simon signed a letter of intent drafted by Atha, for a $1.1 million sale price with the sale closing to be before June 27. The buyer and seller agreed "to exclusively negotiate upon execution of this letter" and "to proceed to escrow and attempt to complete a transaction based upon the above conditions."
Simon hired a real estate attorney, paying him a nonrefundable $5,000 retainer. Later, King insisted the sale close by June 21 so he could receive a bonus.
Meanwhile, San Paolo Bank reached an agreement to sell the same building to Robert DeVogelaere for $1 million. Even after the bank opened escrow with DeVogelaere, King told Atha (who was unaware of the DeVogelaere sale) to continue negotiating with Simon. The building was eventually sold to DeVogelaere for $1 million.
Upon learning of the secret sale and the bank's breach of the letter of intent, Simon filed a lawsuit for specific performance of the sale and for fraud and breach of contract damages.
Because there was no signed sales contract between the bank and Simon, the trial court denied specific performance since there was no accepted contract. But the jury awarded Simon $5,000 actual damages, plus $1.7 million punitive damages for the fraud of the bank. The bank appealed the $1.7 million punitive damages award.
If you were the appeal court judge would you affirm the $1.7 million punitive damages award for the bank's fraud although Simon suffered only $5,000 actual damages?
The judge said no!
Although the conduct of the bank and its representative, Duane King, was reprehensible for fraudulently misleading Simon, it was not so severe that the bank must pay 340 times Simon's actual $5,000 damages for punitive damages, the judge began.
Such an award is excessive under the U.S. Constitution's 14th amendment due-process clause, the judge explained. Therefore, the punitive damages must be reduced, he added.
In light of the fact there was only a signed letter of intent, and no actual sales contract, Simon is entitled only to his $5,000 actual damages plus reasonable punitive damages, the judge emphasized.
San Paolo Bank is a $46 million subsidiary of a large Italian bank, the judge noted. In light of the fact there was never a written sales contract, the $1.7 million punitive damages award was excessive, the judge commented.
Therefore, a more reasonable punitive damages award, since Simon's actual damages were only $5,000, is 10 times that amount, or $50,000 punitive damages, the judge concluded.
Based on the 2005 California Supreme Court decision in Simon v. San Paolo U.S. Holding Co. Inc., 29 Cal.Rptr.3d 379.
(For more information on Bob Bruss publications, visit his
Real Estate Center).
What's your opinion? Send your Letter to the Editor to opinion@inman.com.


Using simple tools to fast-forward online marketing has always been very interesting for me. Today I would like to discuss an amazing simple tool I found online which I believe would be able to help online entrepreneurs and web owners alike.
Sniply is an online marketing tool used by independent entrepreneurs to corporations. Having generated over 15 million clicks Sniply has established itself as one of the most successful online marketing tools people can find online. Basically it is a simple tool used for conversion purposes. It works by driving traffic to your website and even downloads to your applications.
At first glance it looks like an ordinary URL shortening tool. However, you will eventually see that it is action-packed with wonderful and amazing features.
When you share interesting links online, users would naturally click on them. As soon as they are clicked, you would be able to track clicks, conversions as well as bounce rates and time spent on the page by which your content is shared.
A/B testing tools are made available on your Sniply Dashboard. Based on the data you have, you would be able to optimize your content better to suit your target demographics.
You can customize and personalize every link. You can choose from a variety of themes and colors.
You can even attach your logo and company name to every link generated.
Sign-up for FREE by connecting either your existing facebook account or your twitter account.
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Sniply's dashboard is also very intuitive to use. You only need to explore a bit to check various reports and analytics alike.
Try it now and see for your self.


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Meet The Volvo XC40: Volvo's New Range Rover Evoque Rival
by Martin Bigg Reveal / Comments
Volvo's smallest ever SUV is finally here.
After a painfully long teaser campaign, Volvo has finally lifted the wraps off its new compact SUV, the XC40, at a reveal event hosted in Milan. Sitting below the XC60 and XC90, the XC40 is Volvo's smallest ever SUV and will be competing in the premium compact SUV segment established by the likes of the Range Rover Evoque and Jaguar E-Pace. As we already saw from Volvo's last teaser, the XC40's echoes the 40.1 Concept, as well as its bigger XC60 and XC90 brothers, but slimmed down to look sleek and stylish and appeal to younger buyers.
Not only does the XC40 mark the first time Volvo has had three SUVs in its model range, it's also the first car to ride on the automaker's new Compact Modular Architecture co-developed with Geely, despite its familiarity. The platform will also underpin every new upcoming Volvo 40 Series including fully electrified vehicles. "The XC40 is our first entry in the small SUV segment, broadening the appeal of the Volvo brand and moving it in a new direction," said Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive. "It represents a fresh, creative and distinctive new member of the Volvo line-up. So it only feels natural to reveal the XC40 here in Milan, a buzzing European hotspot for fashion, art, design and lifestyle."
Fastest German Cars Ever Made
The customization options are comprehensive, with an extensive range of body colors and color-contrast roof options providing up to 17 combinations. Volvo's signature Thor's hammer daytime running lights compliment a redesigned grille to create a "strong, structured profile for a youthful expression," along with large 18-inch alloy wheels and a 8.3" ride height. As you'd expect, the Volvo XC40 features the same sophisticated driver assist technology as its larger siblings, making it one of the safest and most well equipped premium CUVs on the market. Not that we expected the smaller SUV to skimp on safety features – this is a Volvo, after all.
This means you get the brand's semi-autonomous Pilot Assist, City Safety, Run-off Road protection and mitigation, as well as a Cross Traffic alert with brake support. There's also a 360 degree to help you maneuver the car into tight parking spaces. Volvo claims that the XC40 offers a "radically new approach to storage" inside the car. Smart interior design provides more functional storage space in the doors and under the seats, along with a fold-out hook for small bags and a removable waste bin in the tunnel console. There's even a special space for smartphones which features inductive charging, that can be connected to the infotainment through Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
Speaking of which, the 12.3 inch thin-film transistor instrument display and portrait 9-inch touchscreen in the center of the dashboard has been carried over from the XC60 and XC90. Meeting the demands for young professionals, the XC40 can be purchased using the automaker's new online "Care by Volvo" service in addition to traditional purchase and lease options. It works like a monthly subscription service, where a single monthly payment will cover everything from maintenance and insurance, to wear and tear items and protection services. Order books for the initial range-topping, all-wheel drive T5 model in Momentum trim are already open, with production scheduled to start in November.
The XC40 T5 model is powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine producing 247-horsepower, with prices starting at $35,200. A T4 front wheel drive model will be introduced next summer starting at $33,200.
Tags: #Volvo #Reveal
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Age of marriage in the United States
January 2, 2016 admin Leave a comment Dating
Age of Consent in Korea Dear Korean, I noticed that the official age of consent in South Korea is thirteen, and wondered why the age was so low. Is this just a remnant of a Korea that used to be a third-world country, or is there another reason? I was puzzled because I thought that generally, Koreans tended to be socially conservative, especially in terms of sexual relations. There is actually a very simply explanation. Why is the age of consent 13 in Korea? Because that is the age of consent in Japan. Korea's age of consent has almost nothing to do with Korean culture, and has everything to do with the legal history of Korea. Korea first implemented a modern legal code in , borrowing much from the Japanese code. This code, however, was short-lived, as Imperial Japan annexed Korea in and imposed its own laws.
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Marriage may not be right for everyone. Some couples may want to avoid the formalities involved with legal marriage. Others may want to keep their financial affairs and debt burdens separate. Whatever the case may be, some couples choose to live together without the benefit of a legal union. There are, however, differences between how marriage and cohabitation relationships are treated under the law.
Neither of those factors amounted to a defence, however, because the offence is committed if a person intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of another person with his penis and that other person is under
There are laws in Canada that restrict who can engage in sexual activity. These laws view sexual activity as more than just vaginal sex. According to the law, sexual activity can include kissing, touching, exposing body parts, showing someone porn, etc. This page explains the details of age of consent and the exceptions. The information below is not intended to be legal advice. Consent means agreeing to something, and to have the ability to make a choice.
For more information on sexual consent, check out Check in First:
I Need a Divorce and I Have Children
Get free updates by Email Get Email Updates! Minimum Legal Age of Consent – Female Tweet This map shows the female legal age of consent for heterosexual sex in different countries around the world. The age of consent is the age at which a young person is legally able to understand and agree to consensual sex.
In North Carolina and Ohio, as in Connecticut, these provisions apply even if the student is 18 or older.
We have attended state and national competitions and loom forward to changing these children lives. Coffeyville Police Explorers Post Coffeyville, Kansas The purpose of the Explorers Post cadet program is to allow youths to participate in our goals and at the same time become familiar with police procedures. It is not the purpose of the program to utilize youths as regular or reserve officers and to expose them to the potential dangerous elements we face in our day-to-day operations. The role of a cadet is to be more of an observer of than a participant in police work.
The Post opens many doors for its participants and guides them to a challenging but rewarding career in Law Enforcement. Presentations include specialized fields such as:
A Male persons of the age of eighteen years, and female persons of the age of sixteen years, not nearer of kin than second cousins, and not having a husband or wife living, may be joined in marriage. A marriage may only be entered into by one man and one woman. A minor shall first obtain the consent of the minor's parents, surviving parent, parent who is designated the residential parent and legal custodian of the minor by a court of competent jurisdiction, guardian, or any one of the following who has been awarded permanent custody of the minor by a court exercising juvenile jurisdiction:
I finally decided to take a new path.
Statutory rape is the crime associated with performing sexual acts with an individual before they reach this age, and violating statutory rape laws can result in harsh punishments. Statutory rape is classified as a sex crime and will remain on a criminal record for a very long time. For example, the state of Indiana considers statutory rape to be when a person who is18 years old or older is sexually involved with a child between the ages of 14 and 16, whereas the state of Texas considers statutory rape as sexual assault to an individual who is known to be under the age of The sentencing for this crime will also vary from state to state.
Statutory rape does not necessarily have to involve sexual intercourse with an underage person. Typically, this charge will apply to intercourse, mutual masturbation, and oral sex, and each state has the right to decide the degree of the charge. In the state of Texas, statutory rape is a 2nd degree felony, and therefore may be punished with between 2 and 20 years in prison.
There are certain circumstances that will change the type of charge given.
State Policies on Sex Education in Schools
Indiana teen Zach Anderson met a girl on the Internet and had sex with her She told him she was 17, but she was really just 14 Zach was placed on a sex offender registry for the next 25 years and can't live at home with his year-old brother Elkhart, Indiana CNN Zach Anderson is 19 and a typical teenager. He's into computers and wants to build a career around his love for electronics. But those plans and any semblance of a normal life are for now out the window.
I tend to sound like a broken record when it comes to company policies.
Tim Loughton MP wants each of any pair of under s who have sex to face criminal prosecution under the existing law. As I understand it, all persons have a human right to consensual sexual activity, so are the grounds on which these under s are deemed not to have that right going suddenly, at some time, to be similarly found untenable because this prohibition is founded on no more than the interest, inconvenience or embarrassment of adults? For centuries, the law prohibiting sexual activity with children has operated on the basis that there is a certain age below which children cannot consent to sex.
The statutory age of consent for heterosexual sex has gradually increased from 11 to 16 and this is also now the age at which consensual homosexual sex is legal. Under the Sexual Offences Act it is an offence to engage in any sexual activity with a child under the age of 16, and the prosecution need not prove lack of consent. It is a defence if the perpetrator reasonably believed that the child was 16 or over but only if the child was in fact 13 or over.
For some offences, the penalties differ depending on the age of the perpetrator; except in the case of certain offences specifically relating to sexual activity with under s, the maximum sentence for a person who was under 18 at the time of the offence is five years' imprisonment, whereas for over s the maximum terms range between 10 years and life imprisonment.
Sexual consent
California Sword Law Age Requirements There are no specific Ohio state laws regarding how old a person has to be in order to legally carry a pocket knife. This means that Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, or kids out camping don't have to worry. Any minor is allowed to carry a legal pocket knife.
Eastern Time Monday through Friday.
The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings which came into force in also deals with commercial sexual exploitation of children. Several Western countries have raised their ages of consent recently. These include Canada in —from 14 to 16 ; and in Europe, Iceland in —from 14 to 15 , Lithuania in —from 14 to 16 , Croatia in —from 14 to 15 , and Spain in —from 13 to Jurisdictions use a variety of terms for the offense, including child sexual abuse , statutory rape , illegal carnal knowledge , corruption of a minor, [1] besides others.
The enforcement practices of age-of-consent laws vary depending on the social sensibilities of the particular culture see above. Often, enforcement is not exercised to the letter of the law, with legal action being taken only when a sufficiently socially-unacceptable age gap exists between the two individuals, or if the perpetrator is in a position of power over the minor e.
About Sexual Assault What is Sexual Assault Sexual assault often known as rape is forcing or coercing an individual to engage in any non-consensual sexual contact or sexual penetration. There are four degrees of criminal sexual conduct. First and third degrees involve forced or coerced penetration. This can involve vaginal, anal or oral intercourse, or putting a finger or object in another person's genital or anal opening.
The second and fourth degrees involve forced or coerced sexual contact. This includes touching the groin, genital area, inner thighs, buttocks, breasts or the clothing covering these parts.
For example, Florida provides a first a legislative public policy statement that the state should reduce the number of unwanted and unneeded puppies and kittens.
A Detroit judge told a year-old from Indiana on Wedneday that he would consider a request for a new sentence, months after ordering the teen to register as a sex offender in both states and refrain from having a computer or smartphone because he had consensual sex with a year-old Michigan girl he met online who said she was The life of year-old Zach Anderson, who was ordered to register as a sex offender in two states, is "ruined," according to CBS News legal analyst Rikki Klieman.
The Indiana teen was convicted of criminal sexual conduct for having sex with a year-old girl. The two met on a dating app and the girl told Anderson she was But after serving 73 days of a day sentence in jail, the Indiana teen appeared in court Wednesday afternoon in order to withdraw his guilty plea. A judge told him he would consider the request for a new sentence. Under the law, Anderson could be considered to have committed statutory rape, but this case has several mitigating factors: But the judge didn't see it that way.
What Is The Age Of Consent?
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https://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2016/06/13/just-dance-is-coming-to-nintendo-nx-in-2017.aspx
Just Dance Is Coming To Nintendo NX In 2017
by Mike Futter on Jun 13, 2016 at 10:07 AM
Ubisoft has announced that it will be supporting Nintendo's next console in 2017. While we don't know the full breadth of games the publisher is planning for NX, we do know one that is a guarantee.
Just Dance, which has sold 60 million copies worldwide since the franchise debuted in 2009, will be coming to NX. Ubisoft didn't crack when pressed about specific features the console will offer.
The dance series launched on the Wii and made use of Wii Remotes to sense movement. Just Dance has also appeared on Xbox and PlayStation systems making use of camera peripherals.
Most recently, Just Dance has been adapted to use mobile phones as controllers. It's possible that NX will continue to support Wii Remotes, use mobile phones as an input device, or have an entirely different control scheme connected to NX's controller.
Ubisoft's announcement comes after the publisher was severely disappointed with sales of its Wii U games. The company was one of Nintendo's strongest supporters during the Wii U's launch, but stopped investing in development when it became clear that the install base wasn't going to grow significantly.