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Top Stories: Nov. 18, 2009City Cuts 100 Jobs; Teen Murder Suspects Identified; Yamaguchi in Paradeby Danny Wool on Nov 18, 2009Taiwan Recruiting in Silicon Valley Are you one of the thousands of people recently laid off in Silicon Valley? There may be a job waiting for you—in Taiwan—and you don't even have to speak Chinese to apply. Just a few years ago, people from overseas poured into the U.S., looking for good high tech jobs with benefits. But the tide has turned, and now 31 recruiters from Taiwan are in Silicon Valley offering laid off employees tax breaks, bonuses, and the assurance of a lifelong career. The search for staff is part of a strategic effort by the Taiwanese government to turn their island into a new center of high tech, bio tech, and green tech. Officially, they are hoping to fill 1,500 positions, but according to Jin-Fu Chang, who is heading the delegation, "We need good people, so I should say there's no ceiling in the number we try to recruit." Read More at ABC 7. ‘There's Just No Good Way to Paint This Pig’ San Jose will be cutting 100 jobs to cover a $4 million gap in its planning, building, public works, and fire development budgets. That was the unanimous decision of City Council last night, though at least one Councilmember, Judy Chirco, realized that it would reflect badly on the city. "There's just no good way to paint this pig," she said. Chirco was certainly worried about the families of the soon-to-be unemployed, but she was no less worried about the average citizens, who will suffer from the job cuts. With fewer people on staff to deal with requests, wait times for basic municipal services—already four hours on average—will inevitably get worse, it will take longer to file papers, or even to get a building permit. The meeting was attended by several workers whose jobs will soon be lost because of the decision. Some suggested expanding existing furloughs, but this idea was shot down by Joseph Horwedel, the city's Director of Planning. He claimed that with the current budget situation, this would neither solve the problem or prevent future layoffs. He could have followed Judy Chirco's lead by quoting Abraham Lincoln: "There are too many pigs for the teats," and too many employees for the city's limited budget. Read More at KLIV. Suspects in Teen Slaying Identified More information is coming out about the two teens charged with the stabbing death of their classmate Michael Russell last week. The two, identified as Jae Williams, 15, and Randy Thompson, 16, will be tried as adults, according to Santa Clara DA Dolores Carr. If she succeeds and the two are convicted, they could face life in prison. Russell's schoolmates are shocked by the news that Williams and Thompsons are being charged with the slaying. They say that the three of them were friends, and that they would often hang out together after school. They have a hard time accepting that this could have been an act of premeditated murder. Some also have a hard time with comments that appeared on the two suspects' Myspace pages, and claim that they do not reflect the two boys they knew. Though the pages have since been taken down, reports say that Williams page included a wish to meet "Satan while on shrooms so I can him tell the one thing any stoners/satanist/uther awsome drug user... would say....wassup!!" Both pages indicated that the boys were fascinated with drugs and violence—and that they couldn't spell. The coverage of the event has even infuriated some of the suspects' friends, as evidenced by an anonymous comment that appeared on NBC Bay Area's coverage of the story. The post rejects the idea that Thompson's Myspace name, Randyt666, contained any reference to Satan, and says: "The "666" in Randy's name, though is a "symbol" for the devil. It is also from a Slipknot song. A song in which the world is suppose to end on 6/6/06 -- HENCE 666." The post goes on to say that there is a picture of Thompson on some unidentified website grieving for his friend. "Just because something SAYS something, doesn't MEAN that's how your supposed to take it. Due to the fact that you don't know the boy(s) means you don't know how they thing or function." As Thompson and Williams may soon learn, however, sometimes the things you say really do indicate how you thing, er, think, even if your friends think otherwise. Read More at NBC Bay Area. The Mercury News. Yamaguchi to Join Goofy at Holiday Parade With the Winter Olympics right around the corner and San Jose designated to host the 2012 U.S. Skating Championships, it's only fitting that Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi has been selected as the Honorary Grand Marshal of the upcoming San Jose Holiday Parade on Dec. 6. Joining her as Grand Marshal will be none other than Disney's Goofy, who may not be a skater, but did prove to be quite the ice fisherman in the 1935 Disney short, "On Ice." The parade, which will start at 8:30 am, will feature 5,000 marchers, floats, marching bands, clowns, and balloons, as well as an Olympic figure skating gold medalist and, of course, Goofy. Read More at ABC 7. Vaccination Effort Underway in SJ Unified School District Despite a few days delay due to the vaccine shortage, the San Jose Unified School District launched its campaign yesterday to vaccinate all of its 32,750 students. The first to get the vaccine were 200 students at Lowell Elementary School, some of whom had to fight back tears and fears—even though it was administered by nasal spray and not by injection. Only students with asthma received the injection. Nurses will return to the school in a month to deliver a second dose to kids under the age of ten. Though just over half of the students received the vaccine, most of those who did not get it had already received it elsewhere. According to school officials, very few parents were concerned about the wild rumors circulating on the Internet about the vaccine. These include the claim by a German physician that the vaccine increases susceptibility to cancer, or the claim that it is made of out monkey brains. The vaccination campaign will continue today at the Washington Elementary School. Read More at The Mercury News. by Danny Wool on Nov 18, 2009 |
 There are plenty of jobs available for Silicon Valley workers—in Taiwan. |
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