Bush Orders Arrest of Superman

WASHINGTON, DC (EdgeNet) - President Bush today ordered the Department of Homeland Security to immediately pusue and arrest Superman, claiming that not only did the Man of Steel enter this country illegally decades ago but has in his possession a forged green card in direct violation of the current Administration's policy on immigration.

Homeland Security czar Michael Chertoff commented in an official statement that, "Superman used the alias 'Clark Kent' to obtain fake a birth certificate, Social Security Number, driver's license and various other forms of identification to create a false persona, one he used to open bank accounts and even obtain a job as a newspaper reporter, undoubtedly taking away the position from a legitimate American citizen."

"Under the false pretense of being prone to health problems when in close proximity to kryptonite, Mr. Superman in fact used this material to illegally color a forged citizenship document turning it literally into a green card that was indistinguishbale from an original. His wanton disregard for the laws of the land flies in the face of his mantra, 'for truth, justice and the American way.' "

"We have a warrant out for his arrest and urge him to comply immediately."

Superman refused to respond to reporters' request for a face-to-face interview but through an intermediary issued a statement. "This is nothing more than a veiled attempt at besmirching my reputation. While it is clear that I came to this country in a non-traditional manner - there were no fences erected at my point of entry, the Border Patrol did not have agents stationed overhead, and a Star Wars Defense Initiative was just not technologically feasible - I came here seeking asylum. At the time, there were no Federal offices close to my adoptive parents in Iowa."

"Contrary to popular belief, it is wholly untrue that my employer, the Daily Planet illegally used the TN visa as a vehicle for hiring me. It is further untrue - as claimed by other Administration sources - that there are countless Americans who have the ability to fly, create hurricanes with the breath, lift freight trains with their pinky, or see through thick walls."

"While it is true that I continued to remain in this country with going through the normal channels of immigration, I became a productive member of society, paid my taxes, rescued cats from trees, helped little old ladies cross busy streets, and fought crime."

"Further, I find it offensive that the Administration believes that my father Jor-El was a founding member of Al-Qaida and that my given name Kal-El is merely a front to hide my terrorist intents."

"My attorneys are studying the situation and I expect them to quickly file charges against my accuser including but not limited to filing a series of complaints with the EEOC."

When apprised of Superman's statement, President Bush responded by saying, "Our get-tough-on-immigration-policy has been vital in the war on terror. In the case of Mr. Superman, his super powers have the potential to be hurtful to many. His refusal to assist the Department of Defense in developing weapons similar to those he himself possesses is a clear indication of his true intent. And to claim that there are no Americans who possess similar capabilities is an affront against all great Americans."

"After all, I regularly fly in Air Force One, with a single finger our Armed Forces can press a button that sends missles to destroy entire towns, and frankly who needs to see through walls when laser-guided bombs can blow them to smithereens."

When informed of Bush's words, Superman's intermediary replied simply with, "I am stupified and so is the Man of Steel."

Experts, Specterts

The last few days Edge has seen a commercial on TV by the now-famous John W. Scherer (Buy my software!) promising to teach us how to sell on e-Bay if we buy his comprehensive self-paced computer software tutorial. What’s next? How to list yourself and be found on LinkedIn? Edge is stayin’ tuned.

Video Professor, are you listening?
As Seen on TV, Free Trial, Bonus Digital Camera Free

Seven Steps

7 steps to better hiring

The U.S. jobless rate has sunk to 4.6%. Competition for accountants and other highly sought workers is white-hot. Big corporations are beefing up employee benefits.
No wonder small companies are struggling to find workers: 46% of those surveyed last month said they found few or no qualified applicants — up from 41% in April, says the National Federation of Independent Business. Last month's share was one of the highest in more than five years, the trade group said last week.

Heather Nolte knows all about it. The owner of a boutique baby-apparel maker near Austin got just 11 résumés after advertising for an administrative assistant. She got more than 100 a year ago for the same job advertised the same way. "Applicants are scarce," she says.

Get me outta here!

The financial markets have been forever, if not intimating, claiming outright that real estate is overvalued. This report, from January of this year, crows that sixty-five of the nation's 299 biggest real estate markets are severely overpriced and subject to possible price corrections. Another report, just issued and bandied about with glee all last week in the financial news, a joint venture by Global Insight and National City entitled “House Prices in America - Updated for the 1st Quarter of 2006”, have appraisers all over the country pulling in their horns (or sprouting new ones, according to how you see it).

The report says:

• Overvaluation became more pervasive during the first quarter of 2006.
• Seventy-one metro areas, accounting for 39 percent of all single family housing value, were deemed to be extremely over-valued at that time. That represents an increase from 64 markets, and 36 percent of all single family market value, during the fourth quarter.
• As recently as the first quarter of 2004, overvaluation was insignificant. At that time only 3 metro areas, accounting for just 1 percent of all single family house value, were deemed to be extremely overvalued.
• The coastal states of California and Florida continue to show the highest concentration of overvalued markets, accounting for 17 of the top 20.
• Quarter-to-Quarter price appreciation is slowing in most metro areas, and is nearly flat in San Diego and Boston.
• Property price appreciation remains strongest among the most over-valued metro areas, and visa-versa. (Huh?) Between the fourth quarter of 2005 and the first quarter of 2006, the correlation between valuation and appreciation was +0.36, suggesting that house prices are diverging, not converging, with respect to normal valuations.

Background
Single-family house prices appreciated at a 7.3 percent seasonally adjusted annual pace during the first quarter of 2006, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), after excluding the influence of mortgage refinance activity. While that pace is still strong by historical standards, it extends a trend of slowing appreciation over the past year. After peaking at 12.1 percent in the second quarter of 2005, price appreciation has steadily declined. The most recent gain is the weakest since the third quarter of 2003.

If you want this pdf, email the Edge and it will be sent to you.

Anyway, what does this have to do with recruiting? For the first time in the Edge’s sourcing efforts, the Edge is being told, when asking that all-important question, “Can this search be extended to California?”, a resounding “Yes, people want out. It’s not so much hard these days to get people to move from there - they’re thinking they’ll take what appreciation they have at the present time and move to the hinterlands where housing isn’t so pricey...what’s hard these days is convincing people to MOVE TO California!”

Hmmm. Being schooled since infancy in the best wealth builder since Adam created Eve has the Edge well, a little on edge. What’s happening in your market?

What haven’t I asked I should have asked?

Great article on due diligence – applies to the sourcing and recruiting industry!

"Barry teaches how to ask questions and listen in a methodical way," says Steve Baloff, 45, a general partner with Advanced Technology Ventures Capital in Palo Alto. "He's trained our analysts to go through that process, and, as a result, we get deeper data. It's not like we've found any smoking guns, but we have much better information with which to make a call."

Fuel Efficient Recruiting

If you work for Bank of America, they'll match the $3,000 federal tax credit for buying a hybrid. If you work for Timberland, they have reserved parking spaces to go along with a $3,000 cash incentive for employees who buy hybrids. And if you work for Google, they'll pay you $5,ooo to buy or $2,500 to lease a fuel efficient car.

These are examples of great perks for people who join these companies. So why is it that so many recruiting organizations are just so inefficient? Could it be that they're still part of HR? Or is it that it doesn't matter where recruiting reports, if the CEO doesn't view recruiting as being at the same level of finance and sales, it'll always be a red-headed step child?

Pandemic Recruiting

Edge read today where IBM announced that its consulting arm will start offering planning services specifically for pandemics, "aimed at helping businesses understand their potential exposure to a pandemic outbreak, and implement strategies to safeguard employees and maintain operations should such an outbreak occur" (Accenture, EDS and Hewlett-Packard already offer pandemic consulting services). IBM et. al. are "helping clients decide in advance what functions to suspend if workers aren't available, what jobs can be done by workers stuck at home and what tasks can be deferred until the pandemic is over."

This is fascinating on many fronts. One, the mere fact that pandemics have been recognized as a business driver (albeit a potentially negative one) shows that the confluence of political, economic, social, and technological rivers is very real and that leaders recognize the importance of understanding the many dimensions of factors that impact business performance. Two, it seems to me that building a team of experts to provide consulting services would be recruiting Utopia from the standpoint of sourcing, recruiting, hiring, and aculturally blending all the talent necessary to get their hands around the political, economic, social, and technological issues.

Now this would be exceptionally challenging - and fun.