There is a lot of ranting in this thread which is very unlike HC without any example of where he was biased/opinionated or where he was wrong.
I am genuinely interested in knowing if he was ever wrong on any of his 'main stories'. I personally think his team is doing pretty good work in putting together very interesting real issues that do not have a lot of visibility otherwise. I will be happy to be corrected.
Competitive coding contests are in a way similar to chess or olympiads and it is a sport in itself.
For all the years I have spent and observed on topcoder, Google Code Jam and others I haven't seen a lot of women coders reaching the top, not even from Russia. So what these girls are achieving is a big deal and should inspire many. It is a little disappointing to see comments like they didn't crush because they didn't get the first prize. Consistent winning of multiple contests is definitely something and they are doing it pretty well.
The company has to refocus and change the way it was working, and requires restructuring because of recent losses. This cannot be associated with its stand on a law.
If Google has a glowing quarter results and says it needs more H1B workers are you willing to accept its stand?
My point was the idea that H1B workforce in companies like Intel, or Google is cheap is just a myth.
When you pay the exact amount of money and benefits and sometimes even more as joining bonus and stocks awards for a H1B employee, how can this be an abuse of the system?