Was Cinder influenced by hhvm (Facebook's vm for php/hack)?
A project that maintains a list of different JIT implementations for programming languages and compares them would be a great way to see what are the different approaches to implementing JITs and which language features make it hard to implement performant JITs.
As an aside it is great that the Cinder team is specifically calling out that Cinder is not intended to be used outside of FB. Many people have been burned by lack of community around hhvm.
The most important thing that needs to be changed about the H1B program is how the green card is linked to your particular employer. The H1B program is almost like indentured servitude for the vast majority of workers of Indian or Chinese origin because of the delay in getting a green card. It would be impossible for any employer to exploit H1B workers if the visa was not linked to an employer but to the tax paid by the worker. As long as the worker stays in a particular (federal) tax bracket the worker should be allowed to engage in any work that they desired.