I've worked out for decades at school gyms, YMCAs, facilities at work, recreation centers, and health clubs. At every facility there was a certain etiquette. People didn't sit on machines or benches when they weren't using them, except for the clueless New Year's resolution types who rarely lasted more than two weeks. Guys were open to allowing someone else to work in with them (I met a number of friends that way). Cameras were never brought into the facility. People kept their workout a safe distance from others. And they never left their belongings on locker room benches except when they were getting dressed or undressed.
I cannot definitely state when things changed because different clubs have slightly different cultures, but it was at least five years ago. Now it is common to see self-proclaimed hipsters sitting on machines or benches while checking messages or texting. They are completely oblivious to the fact that they are preventing someone else from using the equipment. In the days before smart phones, taking video or a photo of someone was difficult because the devices were relatively large and cumbersome. But now, all someone needs to do is aim their smart phone at an unsuspecting person as Playboy bimbo Dani Mathers did to an older woman. Since the new year, a sign was posted to the effect that videotaping or photography in the locker room is not allowed. I would have thought that such behavior was contrary to common sense, but Glassholes have already demonstrated their lack of same via their use of Google Glass, essentially a smart phone integrated into glasses, to capture video of anyone at any time. Some enlightened bars and restaurants have banned the use of Glass and similar products. In previous years if someone wanted circuit training, i.e. exercise involving weights while keeping one's pulse near a certain target rate, he would use a machine, then run up and down the stairs, use another machine, etc. Some people used jump ropes, but they always moved to a corner of the club so to not injure others. But now a few self-important youngsters are using a machine and then jumping rope without moving away from the machine they just used. Just the other day I saw a narcissist do this without looking behind him, with the jump rope swinging about one foot from another guy's head, with the second guy moving his head to increase the distance between himself and the rope. There are signs in the health club notifying people that gym bags are not allowed in the areas with machines. I used to think the purpose of the signs was to forestall the dishonest from placing gym equipment in their bag and absconding with it, but now I realize there is another reason. Some selfish cretins simply drop their gym bags on top of equipment, preventing anyone else from using it. Usually this takes the form of dropping bags on top of benches or machines where the user needs to lie down on top of a padded surface. It used to be exceedingly rare to see someone monopolizing multiple machines. Now that behavior is seen every day, with them dropping a towel on one machine, a water bottle on another, and another item on a third machine, marking their territory like a dog on a walk. And it's not just guys, as women do it too. I try to avoid the machines being monopolized as long as I can, but I can only wait so long. If everyone monopolized three machines, the maximum number of people a health club could accommodate would be 1/3 the number of machines, excluding the cardio machines. This monopolization also extends to the locker room where egocentrics occupy the entire bench with their gym bag the size of a compact car and other personal belongings, leaving them there while they workout or take a shower. When another person needs to use that bench, he has only two options: wait until the owner returns or shove the offending items to the side of the bench.
0 Comments
There is a great deal of obfuscation and duplicity with respect to H-1B visas. NYT columnist Thomas Friedman, the globalization cheerleader of The World is Flat fame, proposed to "[remove] all limits on H-1B visas for foreign high-skilled knowledge workers." Reuters, a user of H-1B visas, reported on 'specialty' occupations that generally require higher education, often using phrases such as "high-skilled workers." NYT columnist David Brooks, who only PBS considers to be a conservative -- okay, he's really a neo-con -- pleaded with us to support the "free trade and skilled immigration that fuel growth." Senator Marco Rubio, a charter member of the Gang of Eight which constantly pushes for increased immigration, declared: "I, for one, have no fear that this country is going to be overrun by PhDs."
If one does not understand the H-1B program, one might accept that these so-called high-skilled workers are necessary for the growth of our economy. The problem is that there are actually two very different parts of the H-1B visa program, with the two being intentionally conflated by parties with conflicts of interest. And your author, who possesses a B.S. degree, would not classify someone with one as "high-skilled." The first H-1B category consists of 20,000 visas reserved for applicants with an M.S. degree or higher. These people often end up starting companies and creating jobs. However, policing must be done to weed-out applicants from below average schools. The second consist of 65,000 visas reserved for those with a B.S. degree or higher, but practically speaking, they are always used for people with only a B.S. degree, often for applicants of ordinary talent from India. This category of visa is regularly abused, e.g. at Disney, Southern California Edison, Northeast Utilities, and Microsoft, often after forcing American workers to train their foreign replacements. There are currently around 400,000 workers in the U.S. on H-1B visas., though that number is only approximate because even the GAO admits that "the total number of H-1B workers in the U.S. at any one time -- and information about the length of their stay -- is unknown." One of the myths regarding H-1B visas is that companies are required to search for American workers before hiring foreign ones. Senator Charles Grassley, an expert on the subject, noted that "under the law, most employers are not required to prove to the Department of Labor that they tried to find an American to fill the job first. And, if there is an equally or even better qualified U.S. worker available, the company does not have to offer him or her the job. Over the years the program has become a government-assisted way for employers to bring in cheaper foreign labor, and now it appears these foreign workers take over -- rather than complement -- the U.S. workforce." Another myth is that there is a shortage of STEM workers, forcing employers to look outside U.S. borders. "If there was really a STEM labor market crisis, you'd be seeing very different behaviors from companies. You wouldn't see companies cutting their retirement contributions, or hiring new workers and giving them worse benefits packages. Instead you would see signing bonuses, you'd see wage increases. You would see these companies really training their incumbent workers," noted Ron Hira, an associate professor of public policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology. "None of those things are observable. In fact, they’re operating in the opposite way." "There is no doubt that the [H-1B] program is a benefit to their employers, enabling them to get workers at a lower wage, and to that extent, it is a subsidy," said Nobel economist Milton Friedman. Those who doubt that H-1B visas are a huge business should search for "H-1B visa" using their favorite Internet search engine -- and note the many firms making money on them. And while millions of Americans are unable to find full-time work -- U6, which takes into account people who have only been able to find part-time work, currently stands at 9.2% -- immigration has held steady at around one million per year since 2001, with the only blip in the data occurring due to 9/11 -- and no blip at all following the 2008 crash. There are other visa categories which are used to import foreign workers, including L-1A and L-1B which were designed to give multinational companies the freedom to transfer managers and specialists within the company to their U.S. offices, but they are regularly abused as an H-1B loophole. Senators Grassley and Dick Durbin found that some companies have hundreds or even thousands of them. And there is no cap on them. B-1 visas are intended to be used for temporary events, e.g. meetings, but they are regularly abused. Infosys, one of the top-ten users of H-1B visas, was fined a record $34 million for using B-1 visas to bring in long-term employees. There are five categories of entrepreneur visa -- O-1A Extraordinary Ability and Achievement, EB-1 Extraordinary Ability, EB-2 Classification and National Interest Waiver, EB-2 Advanced Degree Professional, and EB-2 Exceptional Ability -- which ostensibly require the employer to "certify ... that there are not sufficient U.S. workers able, willing, qualified and available to accept the job opportunity in the area of intended employment and that employment of the foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers." These are also regularly abused, though not nearly as much as H-1B, L-1, and B-1 visas. There's even a visa for nationals of a treaty country, E-1 Treaty Traders, which might be expanded if a stake is not driven into the heart of the TPP. Donald Trump should order the State Department to stop approving the second category of H-1B visas, and for all other visa categories, he should seek the advice of Senator Grassley, Senator Durbin, Ron Hira, and other concerned Americans with respect to eliminating corporate welfare. And companies which abuse visas must be barred from dealing in them for a number of years, as well as being fined an amount that inflicts corporate pain. |
AuthorPete Prunskunas Archives
March 2023
Categories |