Obama's visit to Google
Obama's visit to Google
Date: Wednesday, November 21, 2007 5:01 PM
<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1787 -- 11/21/2007 >>>>>
"Coming to Google headquarters in Mountain View to unveil his technology
agenda Wednesday, you'd think Barack Obama would be barraged with questions
from techies about net neutrality and H-1B visas", writes Julia Sulek for the
Mercury News.
Let's ponder that for a minute....
Why would anybody that works at Google be stupid enough to ask a question
about H-1B visas in front of the plantation boss -- CEO Eric Schmidt?
Obama wasn't asked about H-1B but he did volunteer his position. You can watch
it because the video of the entire Obama meeting with Google is on Youtube.
Click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4yVlPqeZwo
In the remaining part of this newsletter I provide a review of the few
significant parts of the meeting. Several news articles follow the review.
(13:00) -- Obama says the following:
To insure that the America continues to attract the best and
brightest, we need comprehensive immigration reform that strengthens
permanent resident visas like the H-1B visa program,
That's sort of a weird statement. It seems that Obama may be getting H-1B and
green cards confused with each other. H-1B is a temporary guest worker visa
that has dual-intent -- in other words a foreign worker can use H-1B as a
steppingstone to getting a Green Card and permanent residence. At any rate,
it's probably fair to say that when Obama says "strengthens" he actually means
"increases". It goes without saying that the phrase "comprehensive immigration
reform" is politicotalk that means amnesty for illegal aliens.
The Q&A session after the initial speech is mostly worthless, unless you enjoy
watching a hand-picked audience of mostly young males, who were obviously not
H-1Bs, asking inane questions about irrelevant topics
(8:45) -- Obama panders to Google:
Obama panders by promising he will provide every single American with
broadband internet access. It seems that variations of this type of corporate
socialism are all the rage among politicians nowadays. It's easy to see why
Google would like taxpayers to foot the bill for internet service and perhaps
laptop computers for everyone who wants to surf the web.
(34:30) -- Obama plays the role of the sophisticated globalist.
He says that fear of globalization has been bred by politicians. It could be
worse, he could have used the word "protectionist" or "xenophobe"!
Obama says that "globalism is here to stay!" He continues with a few
platitudes about making sure the riches gained from globalization don't just
go to the wealthy 1% of the populations that is currently hoarding all of the
wealth. Obama has several ideas for guaranteeing that Americans benefit from
globalization. Here are his solutions to the globalization
problem:
* Will make sure more kids go to kindergarten.
* Will pay K-12 teachers more money.
* Will make college more affordable.
* Will retrain working Americans so they are employable.
* Will rebuild our social safety net.
Notice that most of his emphasis is on educating Americans. That's because he
is one of those free trade fanatics that believes the reason we are losing
jobs is because Americans don't have the skills to compete in the global
economy. In other words, Obama is just one more presidential candidate that is
totally clueless!
(40:00) Obama on immigration
He equates "virulent anti-immigration sentiment" with racism. Then he talks
about how he fought for amnesty but was foiled because there is so much "raw
anger" lurking around.
(43:00) Audience Q&A
From this point on the video is nothing but puffery. The hand picked audience
asks mostly inane questions that were probably chosen or pre-approved by the
plantation boss. Softball questions were asked about whether Obama has enough
experience, and what he can propose to do about special interests. Huh? Isn't
Google a special interest?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.siliconvalley.com/404/ci_7468118?nclick_check=1
Tech takes back seat during Obama's visit to Google PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
ASKED ABOUT IRAQ WAR, HEALTH CARE By Julia Prodis Sulek Mercury News Article
Launched: 11/15/2007 02:27:56 AM PST
Coming to Google headquarters in Mountain View to unveil his technology agenda
Wednesday, you'd think Barack Obama would be barraged with questions from
techies about net neutrality and H-1B visas.
Instead, many of the engineers and scientists who overflowed the auditorium,
filled the catwalks upstairs six-deep, crossed the courtyard and wrapped past
two buildings asked the same things other Americans do:
How will he end the war in Iraq? What will he do to improve education and fix
the health care system? How can he end divisive politics and get something
done?
"I don't want to be just hearing about tech," said a 36-year-old software
engineer. "I think the issues facing this country are beyond that."
Some just wanted to be in the presence of this "rock star" candidate, as one
Googler waiting in line put it - a candidate who has raised nearly as much
money in California as Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.,
but trails a distant second in most polls.
"Honestly, I'm not to the issues point yet," said Taylor Marcus, a 23-year-old
account manager who was waiting outside. "I'm more interested in the entirety
of his character."
Obama, a senator from Illinois, received a standing ovation when he strode up
to the stage - a man whose mixed ethnic background and upbringing in another
country reflect the life experience of many in the crowd. (When Obama talked
about his white mother, his African father and his
half-Indonesian sister who married a Chinese-Canadian, Google Chief Executive
Eric Schmidt chimed in, "They would fit right in here.") Obama told the story
of his last visit to Google in 2004, a visit he wrote about in his book, "The
Audacity of Hope." In the book, he mentioned a screen image of the revolving
Earth in Google's front lobby with points of light emanating from around the
globe and shooting into the atmosphere.
Those were points where Google searches from computer users were happening at
the moment.
"What struck me wasn't the light, but the darkness," he said - those areas in
Africa, China, parts of America and elsewhere that don't have computer access.
"You and I must not settle for anything less than bringing light" to that
darkness, Obama said.
He outlined his technology agenda, calling for a better infrastructure to
"connect all Americans" to the Internet with broadband access. He pledged to
put government data online in universally accessible formats. He would double
federal funding for research and development. He would appoint a "chief
technology officer" to make sure the United States is "always at the forefront
of technology."
"We could use technology to help achieve universal health care, to reach for a
clean energy future and to ensure that young Americans can compete - and win -
in the global economy," he said.
Obama said he supports comprehensive immigration reforms that would expand the
number of visas for foreign workers. "We have to make sure the next Google
happens here in this country," Obama said.
Obama spoke for little more than 10 minutes about his tech agenda. The rest of
the hour was spent answering questions about the war that Obama wants to end,
health care that he wants to reform and the experience that he believes he
has.
When asked about his perceived lack of experience for the White House, Obama
drove home a point the audience could appreciate.
"Sergey and Larry didn't have a lot of experience starting this Fortune 100
company," he said of Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.
Contact Julia Prodis Sulek at jsulek@mercurynews.com or (408)278-3409.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=6407
Big turnout as Obama seeks votes at Google
Presidential candidate Barack Obama searched for votes at Google headquarters
in Mountain View Wednesday and up popped two of the world's richest men:
Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.
They were among more than 1,500 Google employees who turned out to hear the
Democratic candidate.
Obama, a freshman U.S. Senator from Illinois, said he will win the presidency
next year by "being straight with the American people.
"Democrats lose when they are not clear on what they stand for," Obama said.
"The problem we have is when we get defensive and we are not sure about our
beliefs or convictions."
Obama offered specifics during the forum, which was streamed and is available
for download on Google's YouTube site. He said as president he would have
American combat troops out of Iraq in approximately 16 months.
"We can safely bring out one to two brigades per month," Obama said.
He also promised to negotiate directly with Iran if elected. He criticized his
opponents, without mentioning any specific candidates, who have rejected
direct negotiations.
"The notion that not talking to our enemies makes us look tough I think is
fundamentally flawed. It makes us look arrogant," Obama said.
Obama, like every major presidential candidate who comes to Silicon Valley,
promised his presidency would increase broadband access and make more H-1B
visas available for foreign workers.
The Google employees crowded into a Google auditorium to hear Obama, the
largest audience yet at the company for a presidential candidate, according to
a company spokeswoman.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.searchnewz.com/blog/talk/sn-6-20071119BarackObamasSpeechatGoogle.html
Barack Obama's Speech At Google
By: Philipp Lenssen
2007-11-19
Last Wednesday, on November 14th, Barack Obama " potential US presidential
candidate for 2008 " visited the Google headquarter. He held a speech and was
later...
...interviewed by Google CEO Eric Schmidt. In his speech Obama said as
president he would want to help the Googles of today to start-up their dreams
and innovate in science and technology, just like Larry Page and Sergey Brin
were able to do around a decade ago. Pushing for net neutrality, as well as
more broadband internet access, were some of the important aspects Obama sees.
When Obama mentioned an open internet, the Google employee crowd listening to
him spontaneously erupted into applause.
Also, Obama says he wants to put government data online in universally
accessible formats. (Googles self-proclaimed mission, too, is to make
information universally accessible, and this earned Obama another round of
applause.) Obama even wants to set up a Chief Technology Office for the
government to ensure that new technologies are applied properly.
Another item in Obamas speech was pushing for online health care records as
part of a bottoms-up approach of all US citizens empowered by technology.
Just imagine what we can do... if we commit ourselves to electronic medical
records, then we can lift up the quality of health care, reduce error and
dramatically lower costs. (Google is pushing for something similar with their
Google Health program announced for 2008.) Obama added, If we take on special
interests, and make aggressive investments in clean and renewable energy, like
Googles done with solar here in Mountain View, then we can end our addiction
to oil, create millions of jobs and save the planet in the bargain.
Later in the Q&A with Eric Schmidt, the following quip took place:
Eric: Now Senator, youre here at Google, and I like to think of the presidency
as a job interview. Now, its hard to get a job as president ...
its also hard to get a job at Google. We have questions and we ask our
candidates questions ... What is the most efficient way to sort a million 32-
bit integers? -crowd laughs-
Obama: Well, ah ... I think the bubble sort would be the wrong way to go.
-crowd cheers-
Eric: Come on, who told him this?! I didnt see computer science in your ...
Obama: We got our spies in there... -laughs-
The full video of the talk and Q&A is available at YouTube.
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