KMR at bluenc has a word about The Fred

The Senator from Johnston County (Wordsmith) has written an autobiography. Op research, start your engines!

... while Extra Effort is certainly more than a soundbite, don’t worry — he spares not the platitudes and demonstrates acute attention to the obvious.

“Running an organization isn’t easy, though. It requires long, hard meetings. It takes getting down into the details. It takes rigorous followthrough (sic). It demands extra effort.”

Whew. So will reading this thing.

Triangle Brass Band in Clayton last night

Last night's Town Square concert was only the second I've been to in the new series. I gotta tell you, I am totally lovin' those things. I saw folks I don't normally see outside of special meetings and I didn't have to cook dinner after work on a summer evening. It was GREAT!!

I ran by the house after work and my son and I grabbed folding chairs and joined Nan & Pop (my folks) up at the Town Square for music, conversation, a hot dog for dinner and HOMEMADE BANANA ICE CREAM. (They had vanilla and chocolate, too.) What could be better in a small town on a Thursday night? And honestly, it doesn't matter what the music is or who the band is. The fun is in having a great excuse to be outside and talk and relax with free entertainment. The DDA (Downtown Development Association) is now selling beer and wine at the Town Square Concerts, too.

Our Crippling Lack of Science and Tech workers

So, how many of you fell for it ... the spin that there is a crippling lack of qualified science and technology workers coming out of American schools? Have you heard the clamoring of companies screaming for more H-1B visas to hire engineers, chemists, researchers and data base administrators from overseas?

Well, friends and neighbors, we've been had ... AGAIN!!

Turns out, the shortage of American workers for those jobs is pure. T. bull. hockey.

And we're all shocked, I'm sure.

Let me be clear; this is not an anti-immigrant schpeil. It's not about low-wage workers.

This is about the evils of a fullbore bottomline attitude in corporate America.

This is about the jobs your kids and my kids are fully expecting to go interviewing for when they get out of school.

It's about the jobs you and I go interviewing for when we've got 5-10 years experience at one job and we're ready to move on and move up.

And the harsh reality is, it's about the job you're gonna go looking for when you get laid off.

I'm about to show you why the middle-class workers' problems in America go way way deeper than you ever expected. This story hit dailyKos the other day and it has been all over the tech blogs this week. I looked around and didn't see any mention of it here, so I decided to cross-post this blurb I put up on our local list serve. Apologies if it's been discussed.