Technical Tidbits™

Posts Tagged ‘boycott’

I’ve taken a bit of heat as of late in my call to boycott American companies with anti-American sentiment.

While this may be a good thing because it means people are actually reading what I wrote, my intention is also being misunderstood based on the comments I’m getting.

First let me say that I have no problem with any company outsourcing. That’s not the issue. Nor, do I have a problem with workers who are here on HB1 visa’s. That’s not the issue. And I do not have a problem with any culture foreign or otherwise.  That’s not the issue.

Here’s what I take issue with.

1. American founded companies that told us way back that we – the American consumer – would benefit from their ability to outsource workers through lower prices.

Am I the only person in this country that remembers that? Is the news media correct that we have an ADD memory as American’s? Come on! Someone else has to remember this line of BS we were fed back then! And if necessary, I’ll freaking find references to it online!

2. American founded companies that lie about why they are using outsourcing.  They may speak out of one side of their mouth that they can’t find talent here, but the other side is speaking to the shareholders about the cost savings to their bottom line.

The truth is in the statement from IBM that they want their staff to outsource themselves! See: A President’s Day Call to Action.  But, at a rate of pay indicative of the country they are moving too! Is that not demeaning the American worker and the wages that American’s should be earning?

And what does this say about the country as a whole? That you’re company is willing to ship the citizens to foreign countries just to save a buck?

Surely, I cannot be the only person who sees how insane and ridiculous this is, am I?

You know, I use Comcast High Speed Internet and Cable services. The few times I’ve had to call them for problems, I’ve gotten a call center in Mexico and in Canada. I don’t complain. Comcast has NEVER undermined this country nor do they have a policy of NOT hiring American workers when American workers are called for.

I have worked along outsourced staff in many companies and I really feel the most for them. They feel that we American’s hate them for taking our jobs. And that’s just not true! There are many valuable outsourced HB1 visa staffers who provide a valuable service in areas that are needed and that American workers cannot fill. I’m not complaining about that!

In any company I’ve called you to boycott, I’ve cited that they have anti-American, or anti-American worker sentiment. Like Microsoft, Dell, and IBM.

I talked about IBM above and the same insanity about America is shown in Dell’s charging us – American’s – for support in English!

Let me ask you this? If you purchased a computer from Japan while in Japan and you had to call for service, wouldn’t you expect to get a call answered in Japanese? Yes you would!  And if you bought the same computer in French-speaking Canada, would you not expect that their customer service reps speak French? Yes you would!

Dell is supposed to be a freaking American company! Why do we have to pay for American English speaking support?

And I’m not even going to get into Microsoft anymore.  All I can say is Karma Baby, karma!

InfoWorld published an article with the headlines: Microsoft cuts software leasing costs to retain companies.  Which at first sent me jumping for joy until I read this:

“One reseller I talked to says he has never seen Microsoft doing this level of promotion and price cutting in the enterprise space,” he said. And “from Microsoft’s point of view, they’d rather have a low-priced subscription customer than a customer who simply didn’t renew their Software Assurance. They’re still making lots of money off it.”

I guess Microsoft’s crying wolf is much like the little boy in the fairy tale!

So, to clarify, we are not calling for a boycott of any company who outsources! We are calling for a boycott of American companies that have anti-American, or anti-American worker sentiment!

This is not a witch hunt for outsourcing companies. This is just a call to action to put our American money where our businesses support our country and it’s citizens! It’s not protectionism, elitism, nor ethnocentrism.  It’s called being American and supporting American business that in turn supports America!

And while I’m at it, I think we should call for a boycott of Citibank. Not for any anti-American sentiment but on the grounds of stupidity! How dare you pay out bonuses when you take bailout money!

If I had a Citibank account, I’d close it immediately and move to a local bank.

Money talks American readers! Start putting your money where your values lie! Put up or shut up! If you’re angry with the way the companies are handling workers, stop buying their products. If you’re angry with the way financial institutions are handling the bailout money and making stupid decisions, pull your accounts! If you’re angry with the stupidity of your congressional leader, tell them!

We American’s are offered a wonderful opportunity. We have the right to protest and speak our minds even though our elected leaders will do what the hell they want to anyway and despite our objections. But hey, at least we have the right to do so! And that includes how and where we spend our money!

That’s all I’m saying!

I’ve been under the weather, so to speak today and have been catching up on things. Wasn’t planning on posting anything today either – it’s just that kind of a day.  But then!  One of my Digg friends just happened to send me a shout with an item that got me riled – again!

You know what? I’m sick and tired of people bashing this country, bashing our economy, bashing everything about us, but yet jumping on the nearest flight to the US to take our money. Aren’t you?

I mean, let’s start putting the money where your mouth is – right?

Well, the article the Digg friend shouted, has to do with the new HB1 Visa approvals.  The Article actually listed the companies that received approvals for HB1 Visa’s in the U.S. in 2008.

Although 6 Indian companies received approval, I’m not addressing that. I can understand a company from India that does business in the U.S. needing those visa’s for its employees or additional support.

The one’s I’ve got my panties in a bundle over is the American, U.S. companies that have filed along with the anti-American, and anti-American Worker sentiment these companies have exhibited in the recent past.

So, I’m adding some more companies to the boycott list based on this new information.

Microsoft was ranked 5th (and I’ll link you to the article at the end of this post) in obtaining visa’s for foreign workers by obtaining 1,037 of them in 2008.

I’m adding Microsoft to our boycott list because of the following points:

1.  Microsoft was founded in the U.S.

2. Microsoft’s early profits were built from American consumer sales.

3. Microsoft, and specifically Bill Gates, Founder (since retired) has slammed the American worker and insulted our intelligence publicly.

In April of 2005, Bill Gates stated:

“The whole idea of the H1B thing is don’t let too many smart people come into the country. Basically, it doesn’t make sense,” Gates said.

Excuse me?

In all fairness, let me not take this out of context for you and finish what Gates was saying:

“You can’t imagine how tough it is to plan as a company where we say, ‘let’s have this engineering group and staff it.’ You get a few and then you go through these periods where nobody can come in,” Gates said.

He continued: “So, we’ll have Canadians waiting at the border until some bureaucratic thing happens where a few more get opened up. That’s just wounding us in this global competition.”

According to Gates, the core of the problem rests with members in Congress who want to step back to U.S. isolationism.

“It’s very dangerous because you get this reaction: ‘Okay, the world is very competitive, let’s cut back on trade; the world is very scary, let’s cut back on visas,’” he said.

Source: http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/career/article.php/3500986

Okay, so he was allegedly talking about protectionism and isolationism, but then why the smart ass comment about smart people? That statement really says what he (and many others) think about American’s and their brains – we’re stupid! Only foreign workers are smart.

Fast forward to March 2008 and once again, Gates goes before congress to plead his case.

This time he states:

“The thing that limits us is hiring the world’s best engineers,” he says, noting that 60 percent of the students at the top U.S. computer-science departments are foreign-born.

Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88154016

Well damn you stupid American students in college! How dare you fall into the 40% that Gates doesn’t want to hire!

I could go on and on, but I think you get my point.

If we’re not good enough to hire, and we’re too stupid to be hired, then we must have stupid money that shouldn’t be spent on ANY Microsoft products!

We’ve already added IBM to the list based on their wanting American Worker’s to outsource themselves.  See: A President’s Day Call to Action.

But they fall 10th on the HB1 Visa list and thus earns another chalk mark for staying in the boycott category and our Boycott page!

And Cisco and Intel, we’re watching you too! You both are up in numbers on that chart, but thus far, we’ve found no evidence of an anti-American worker sentiment. So you’re safe so far!

If you want to see the full article and chart (with the option to download the Excel spreadsheet), see:  InformationWeek

In the U.S. today, we are celebrating a holiday called President’s Day.

According to Wikipedia, it’s a National holiday to honor George Washington’s birthday and over time has become a method of honoring all U.S. Presidents.

Aside from the fact that schools and government offices are closed, it’s a day that reminds us of our past and the founding of our great – albeit economically challenged – nation.

Ever since the race for the presidency and the historic election of Barack Obama as our new leader, we’ve seen a resurgence of patriotism. Many websites have cropped up asking citizens to rededicate themselves to their country and other citizens.

Well, this is my contribution to patriotism. I’ve developed a new category here called: Boycott. In this category I’m going to post articles dealing with companies that were founded in the United States or do business with U.S. consumers yet have un-American policies.

I don’t know about any of you, but I am sick and tired of companies that take money from the American consumer and send it elsewhere! I’m sick of being marketed to by liars and unethical businesses. I will no longer support businesses that do not support the American worker and English-speaking citizens.

There’s an old saying, “Money talks, Bulls#*t walks.”  Are you ready to take a stand with me and our other readers and put our money were our home is?

If so, then you will want to stay tuned to this category!

I’m also putting a permanent page of those companies on the boycott list and the links to our posts and others that support the reason we should boycott.

Thus far, I’ve mentioned Dell as a boycott since their decision to charge American’s for American support.

See: Is It Time to Boycott Dell?

And: Is It Time to Boycott Dell Part 2

I’ll be moving those posts into this category today.

And I’m adding a new company to the boycott list!

Good old born in the U.S.A. IBM! Yes, my friends, IBM!

In an article forwarded to me by a friend, John Murrell of blogs.siliconvalley.com has posted the following: Think of this layoff as your gateway to an exotic cross-cultural adventure

According to a document…..Big Blue has a program called Project Match that helps U.S. and Canadian workers whose jobs have been cut relocate to places where the company still has openings — specifically, developing markets like India, China and Brazil. “Should you accept a position in one of these countries,” the notice explains, “IBM offers financial assistance to offset moving costs, provides immigration support, such as visa assistance, and other support to help ease the transition of an international move.” The tradeoff? You have to be “willing to work on local terms and conditions,” living on the low wages that helped undercut the domestic job you just lost.

Excuse me? I could go on with yet another one of my rants, but the employees actually say it quite well in the article.

The employee advocacy group Alliance@IBM sees the program as a slap in the face to go with the push out the door, saying, “IBM is not only offshoring IBM U.S. jobs but they want employees to offshore themselves through Project Match.” The company, naturally, puts it in more positive terms. “It’s more of a vehicle for people who want to expand their life experience by working somewhere else,” said a spokesman. “A lot of people want to work in India.”

Maybe that’s not such a bad idea. Considering our economy is the toilet let’s just all move to India! And I’m not talking about just working there, let’s bail out on our citizenship here!  Then let’s see where the tax payer dollars come from to support the bailout! What do you think Pelosi? President Obama, what do you think? Does that sound like a good plan to you?

Yes, I’m being sarcastic but I cannot believe the audacity of some of these companies!

That all being said, Happy President’s day! Yea, right!