As It Stands: Reverse outsourcing: Americans taking international online jobs

By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 07/18/2010 01:27:30 AM PDT

If you listen to or read national news, you've probably noticed stories about the economy doing better. Bean-counters in high places point at polls, statistics and other divining devices to assure us things are looking up.

At ground level, the average American still struggles to find a job, or to keep a job with additional duties due to downsizing with no extra pay. It's not a pretty picture regardless of what Wall Street thinks.

Stock traders live in a warped version of Disneyland where people make money without selling a real product. While their view from Cinderella's castle is rosy, most Americans are struggling.

So where will jobs come from? What can people do to make money when the economy is so tight and jobs are more scarce than untainted seawater in the Mexican Gulf coast? You may be surprised at the answer.

A couple of years ago I wrote a column about the outsourcing of American jobs, in particular about newspapers that had to lay off full-time American employees and outsource their jobs to countries like India and the Philippines. Now, in an interesting reversal, Americans job seekers are finding overseas work.

I don't know if that's a good thing. I'll leave that up to you. Corporations and small businesses in Australia, China, India, Pakistan and the U.K. are hiring U.S. workers online. Websites like Elance, oDesk, People Per Hour and Sologig are providing workers for these countries. Quality workers at bargain basement wages. READ THE REST HERE.

UPDATE:

Here’s some web sites that have picked up today’s column:

ONLINE JOBS

Nearshore Journal

Go4Outsourcing

 BizOpZine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.gyancallingcard.net/site/online-jobs/why_opt_for_online_jobs.php

Bummer: New Mexico faces medical marijuana shortage

State's small number of providers can't grow enough to meet demand

Len Goodman can't grow enough marijuana to keep up with demand.

He is one of just 11 growers approved by New Mexico to produce pot for all of the state's 2,000 registered medical marijuana patients, and his customers routinely wipe out his supply. Once a strain of marijuana is harvested, dried and cured, he sends an announcement that patients can place orders, and the pot is usually gone in 24 hours.

Tale of the monkey terrorists who shoot at American uniforms

The Taliban's training monkeys to gun down Americans? It's a bogus claim that's sparked some serious (and not-that-serious) fact-checking.

People's Daily Online started the monkeyshines in China a couple of weeks ago, with a report claiming that the Afghan Taliban was using bananas and peanuts in an experiment to teach monkeys how to fire machine guns and mortar rounds at soldiers wearing U.S. military uniforms.

The report even said the program was modeled after a CIA effort to train "monkey soldiers" during the Vietnam War, and quoted an unnamed U.S. military source as confirming the existence of the Taliban monkeys.

The fallout has been as hilarious as the original story: Taiwan-based Next Media Animation, which churns out CGI parodies like The Onion on ginseng, put together a video report on the killer monkeys. Over at Stars and Stripes, Jeff Schogol (the Rumor Doctor) went so far as to check with NATO officials, Chinese Embassy officials and a primatologist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Schogol turned up no hard evidence of monkey mayhem, although primatologist Christopher Coe said he had heard unsubstantiated reports of monkeys being trained to jump into enemy trenches carrying grenades when India and Pakistan were at war.

Warning for Pet Owners: short-snouted dogs most likely to die on planes

 

Bulldogs, pugs, similar breeds made up about half of deaths in past 5 years

That cinches it! I was never comfortable with the idea of putting dogs in the cargo bay of a plane. When I read this article I immediately thought of my Pug Millie. Oh the horror!

Anyone that has read any of my stuff over the last three years knows that; one, I have a Pug named Millie, and two, I hate traveling by plane. Here’s one column to give you an idea of how I feel about planes: “Traveling by airplane, or fear and loathing in the not so ‘friendly’ skies” 

PHOTOS: left, Millie the Pug, and on the right there’s an unidentified Bull Dog via AP wire.

 

Get fired up for the next ‘Burning Man’ happening

I found a great resource for all things to do with the ‘Burning Man’ event. The name of the site is “Brave New Traveler”  and it has a lot of information and great photos by Ian MacKenzie.

 I’ve never been to this interesting event in the Black Rock Desert, but I read about it every summer. If it wasn’t so darn hot I think I’d consider going to it – at least once. I’m an old 60s era hippie (who’s 60) who still digs happenings like this.  

Golden State Warriors sold for record $450 million

Golden State Warriors owner Chris Cohan reached an agreement Thursday to sell the franchise for a record $450 million to Boston Celtics minority partner Joe Lacob and Mandalay Entertainment CEO Peter Guber.

I doubt this ownership change will make any difference. Just look at the starting lineup for next year. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them finish in the league cellar again – something they’ve been doing regularly for decades. Who knows? Maybe they’ll win more games than last year just because there’s new owners to impress.

See early Kodachrome Images from the Great Depression

When we think of America during the Great Depression, we often picture it in shades of grey.  It was a grim era and nearly all of the photographs we see are in black and white.

Color presents an entirely different image. Go here to see numerous color photos taken during the Great Depression. It’ll take a couple of minutes to read the captions and view all of the photos, but it’s worth it for nostalgia nuts like me.

This is one of Dorothea Lange’s most famous photographs - a destitute mother in a migrant farm worker camp in California.

Lange was one of the many talented WPA photographers who recorded the history and conditions of the Depression across the United States.

Porky Pig allegedly beaten up at Six Flags theme park

Off-duty Six Flag employees accused of attacking dressed-up co-worker

Is nothing sacred? How could someone attack an iconic pig?

The clowns who attacked the worker wearing the Porky Pig outfit tried to lie their way out of it, but witnesses busted them.

Tha..tha..tha…That’s all folks!

Forget the war on marijuana - prescription drug abuse skyrocketing

400 percent rise in those admitted for treatment, government study says

U.S. officials reported a 400 percent increase over 10 years in the proportion of Americans treated for prescription painkiller abuse and said on Thursday the problem cut across age groups, geography and income.

The dramatic jump was higher than treatment admission rates for methamphetamine abuse, which doubled, and marijuana, which increased by almost half, according to figures from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Liar! Liar! Pants on Fire – Researcher says McInnis lying about plagiarism

A researcher whom Colorado Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis blamed for plagiarism allegations said Wednesday he won't sign a letter from the campaign owning up to what happened because he claims McInnis is lying.

The claim by 82-year-old Rolly Fischer is the latest to plague McInnis after the plagiarism allegations against him surfaced this week. Fischer told KMGH-TV that McInnis' campaign sent him a letter to sign in which Fischer would say the alleged plagiarism was his fault.

Colorado gubernatorial candidate (right) Scott McInnis.

Wall Street accountability increased by Senate bill - sweeping reform predicted

Massive 2,300-page bill is aimed at averting another financial crisis

Congress on Thursday passed the stiffest restrictions on banks and Wall Street since the Great Depression, clamping down on lending practices and expanding consumer protections to prevent a repeat of the 2008 meltdown that knocked the economy to its knees.

Sources: U.S. paid Iran scientist $5 million, but account is frozen

I wonder what the real story is? Did we get any important information or is this all a dog and pony show? 

'We've got the information and the money,' one official tells NBC

Iran scientist returns home, claims U.S. torture

 

Iranian scientist Shahram Amiri arrives at Tehran's airport on Thursday. He claimed he was offered $50 million to remain in the U.S.

Fair warning: CSPI Says Food Dyes Pose Rainbow of Risks

I always suspected food dyes could pose a health risk, but had no idea how serious a threat until I read they cause:

Cancer, Hyperactivity, Allergic Reactions

Food dyes—used in everything from M&Ms to Manischewitz Matzo Balls to Kraft salad dressings—pose risks of cancer, hyperactivity in children, and allergies, and should be banned, according to a new report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

A top government scientist agrees, and says that food dyes present unnecessary risks to the public.

The three most widely used dyes, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6, are contaminated with known carcinogens, says CSPI. Another dye, Red 3, has been acknowledged for years by the Food and Drug Administration to be a carcinogen, yet is still in the food supply.

Wealthy rip-off majority of Americans – why do we continue to put up with it?

I’m firmly convinced that the American people haven’t learned anything from history. The Great Depression and our current Great Recession have one thing in common; the richest 1 percent pull in nearly a quarter of the nation’s income.

To prove we haven’t learned a damn thing, we got ourselves involved in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both unwinnable wars. Just like Vietnam and Korea. How do the rich manage to get more than their fair share of the nation’s income? 

It's All About the Wages -- Our Economy Would Be Fine If Everyone Made Their Fair Share

“Each of America's two biggest economic downturns over the last century has followed the same pattern. Consider: in 1928 the richest 1 percent of Americans received 23.9 percent of the nation's total income.

After that, the share going to the richest 1 percent steadily declined. New Deal reforms, followed by World War II, the GI Bill and the Great Society expanded the circle of prosperity. By the late 1970s the top 1 percent raked in only 8 to 9 percent of America's total annual income.

But after that, inequality began to widen again, and income concentrated at the top. By 2007 the richest 1 percent were back to where they were in 1928 -- with 23.5 percent of the total.”

Clowns in Politics: an ongoing ‘two-ring’ circus in Washington, DC

Hi there everyone!

As usual there’s been some tricky acts to follow in the Main Tent. Seems like there’s an all out effort lately to see who’s going to be the Clown of the Year. Here’s some of the latest high-wire acts, and clownish lawmakers will leave you rolling in the aisles!

 

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs learned an important -- and unfortunate -- lesson: In politics, telling the truth can get you in trouble.

COLLAGE PHOTO BELOW: Republican Clown College

_____________________________

Republican Sen. Scott Brown says he will cast a critical vote against a bill Democrats hoped he would support as they try to nullify a recent Supreme Court decision on political fundraising.

The Massachusetts senator said in a letter to five advocacy groups that bill "changes the rules in the middle of the game." He says it will give "a tactical and political advantage" to labor unions little more than 100 days before an election.

   DEMOCRATIC CLOWN

         COLLEGE(below)

 

 

 

Fraud? Sen. Al Franken in Minnesota May Have Benefited from Voter Fraud, Findings Show Convicted Felons Voted in Election

The Best Fake Teabagger Signs at the Boston Common Tea Party

Fake Teabaggers (sane/normal people) have begun infiltrating tea parties with their own signs. Here are the best signs from yesterday's rally in Boston.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

The scientific and philosophical mystery was purportedly unraveled by researchers at Sheffield and Warwick universities, according to the Daily Mail newspaper.

British scientists claim to have solved the scientific, philosophical mystery

It is an age-old riddle that has perplexed generations: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Now British scientists claim to have finally come up with the definitive answer: The chicken.

The scientists found that a protein found only in a chicken's ovaries is necessary for the formation of the egg, according to the paper Wednesday. The egg can therefore only exist if it has been created inside a chicken.

5 things you need to know about antioxidants

These nutrients fight poisons in your body, but how can you get enough of the right kind in your diet?

It's billed as an epic story of good versus evil — biology in comic-book form. The villains: free radicals, those nefarious DNA-attacking poisons of modern life.Our fearless defenders:antioxidants, poised to protect us from—well, everything, right?

Carl’s Corner: coming in for a crash landing or a visit?

My friend Carl Young likes to play with his fancy camera and every now and then I’m going to feature what he captures on film. These snapshots will all be filed under ‘Carl’s Corner’ in the future. Enjoy…

Mark your calendar - civil rights groups set for showdown with Tea Party on MLK march anniversary

Excuse my irreverence, but Aug.28th is shaping up to be a real 3-ring circus.

When you look at the players, Glenn Beck, and the Rev.Al Sharpton, there’s only one logical conclusion; it’s going to be ugly.

Expect high drama, mobs of pissed off people, and some real interesting speech’s. I hear the darling of the drilling crowd, Sarah Palin, will be yapping about her dream…to make a lot of money. May I suggest to all those who attend one of these dueling events that you bring your cameras (cell phones will do in a pinch).

I suspect it will be an historical day; a demonstration of intolerance for the 21st Century. Doesn’t it make you proud just thinking about it?   

Read More: Glenn Beck, Marc Morial, March on Washington, Martin Luther King Jr, NAACP, Rev. Al Sharpton, Tea Party

African-American leaders denounced TV and radio pundit Glenn Beck's Tea Party rally next month that will occur on the same date and at the same spot where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech nearly 50 years ago.