Voters scarce in my town

I voted at around 3 p.m. today in Loudoun County, Va. I had my choice of voting machines. All were vacant at the middle school polling place.


While this was an "off year" in Virginia, there were at least two state races of some significance in my district. For anyone concerned that the commonwealth could turn red in all branches of government, this was not an election to sit out. This was also a good opportunity to send a message to politicians in Richmond and Washington that we don't want to wait until November of 2012 for change. A big turnout in an off year would have helped to deliver that message.


Instead, it appears most people chose not to vote. I will know more tomorrow on the actual voter turnout, but on a spectacularly beautiful Election Day just outside of D.C., I expected to see a few more folks at the voting machines.


I am not judging anyone who didn't vote. Not everyone feels the pain of what has transpired in the last three years the way I and others have. Many people, especially in affluent Northern Virginia, are comfortably numb to most societal problems and therefore don't have my motivation to vote. However, as I grow older I realize that we only have two weapons against injustice -- public demonstrations (like the Occupy movement) and voting. Surrendering either of those options at a critical time in our history, when we are in such decline, seems dangerous.


On the other hand, many people vote based on little more than bumper sticker slogans, outdated stereotypes or self interests, and Fox News soundbites, so maybe low voter turnout isn't all bad.


Click here for more on Loudoun County voter turnout.

"Years to come" a death sentence

The main story headline on The Washington Post home page tonight wasn't exactly a sight for sore eyes, but it wasn't a surprise either.


Any longtime unemployed or underemployed person could have told you that the job market shows practically no signs of improving. It's been that way for three years and the unemployed don't need data or comments from the Fed to prove it.


Trying to convince anyone who hasn't directly felt the hardships of unemployment that good jobs are scarce to non-existent is like beating your head against the wall. It's useless and causes severe headaches.


There is a large percentage of people who still don't know why protesters are occupying various cities or why they are angry at Wall Street and Washington. Those sitting in judgment of the occupiers look at the help wanted ads and see plenty of jobs. Just today I heard someone making fun of the demonstrators, saying they should all go get jobs and give the public parks back to the homeless.


It's maddening to hear comments like that from people who haven't missed a beat in their careers through this recession, which for many folks has been more of a severe depression. It's disheartening when I hear these things from people who I know aren't bad or heartless souls. For some reason, they just cling to the old stereotypes about the unemployed. They tend to place the blame where it doesn't belong and grossly underestimate how bad the unemployment situation is for every from white-collar professionals to blue-collar tradesmen. I am sure there must be some psychological explanation for this misinformed, careless attitude in otherwise decent, thoughtful folks. Maybe they have a deep fear of losing their jobs. So to feel more in control of their fates, they place the blame on the unemployed rather than the system that could claim anyone's job on any given day or prevent people from re-entering the workforce. They think that if they just continue to do a good job that everything will work out. Well, that's simply not true anymore.


For guys and gals like me, in my age group and predicament, the Post headline is particularly sobering. The phrase "years to come" is like a death sentence. Years to come puts me in my 60s or pretty damn close to it. How many people do you know who have been hired in their 60s lately, let alone started new careers? One can still be a valuable resource to any employer in their 60s, but try convincing the folks in hiring positions of that fact.


I have read many times that if you got laid off in your 50s during this recession, you may never work again, at least not in a regular, career-oriented job. You might be able to patch together a part-time position here and there, get a contract or consulting gig or two, and get by until Social Security kicks in. In the meantime, you may lose your house and have to give up your health insurance. Pleasantries like vacations are a thing of the past. And once you turn retirement age, what at you going to retire on? Those freelance and part-time paychecks without benefits don't last. They are merely week-to-week or month-to-month funds to survive on. They aren't an ideal option in trying to rebuild nest eggs. Social Security alone won't pay for a used mobile home in swamp, let alone medical bills or other expenses. And if the Republicans get their way, Social Security won't even exist in 10 years.


"Years to come" isn't what I want to hear from the Fed concerning the future of the unemployment epidemic that already feels like an eternity. That phrase tells me that worse days are ahead and that the golden years are going to be a tragic time for millions of Americans. That phrase makes it hard to enjoy the present, too, which in itself is tragic. Maybe it's just time to turn off the news.

Good music, good cause

Click here to go to Neil Young store.

Dude (looks like a mess)

Steven, Steven, Steven ... I don't know whether to believe you or not about your recent "accidental" fall in a bathroom that caused these injuries. What I do know is that I am getting tired of aging rock stars -- musicians I admired in the 1970s -- ending up a mess.


I warned you before about falling down. I'll assume you don't read this blog, but I would imagine you have people around who advise you to be more careful. Apparently, they aren't getting through. 


Sadly, there is a whole generation that only knows Tyler as a judge on American Idol or as the singer on movie soundtracks. People my age know him from his early work, when he and his band Aerosmith turned out great songs like Seasons of Wither. Some of Aerosmith's earliest and least popular songs were actually their best.


As I have said before, I wish rock stars would age more gracefully. I don't need them to wear glittery spandex pants anymore. I don't need big stage productions on platforms they often fall off of in their senior years. I just want to hear the music, perhaps done with a little less theatrics and a lot more soul that often comes with aging. I don't care if you can't hit the high notes anymore. Change the key of the song to fit your aging vocal cords. But please, no more self-induced falling down and not being able to get up.


Tyler, like others inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, have earned the right to finally be themselves. I would hope most fans my age would be content seeing Tyler and his bandmates wearing old jeans, without the eye makeup, just performing their old tunes in a fashion that is age appropriate -- maybe even in an acoustic setting.


Heal up, Steve. Rock 'n' roll still needs you ... just not like this.

A voice from the 1 percent

"Many of the 53% crowd seem quite proud of their Christian faith.  I am not religious myself, but I am reasonably certain that Jesus would not respond to the poor and unemployed with shouts of "Get a job!"  I vividly remember what it was like to be poor. To be concise, it sucked, and my heartfelt sympathies automatically go out to anyone who has to experience it, especially children who are blameless for their circumstances. Whenever I meet someone who has not been as lucky as I have been, I recognize how easily our roles could have been reversed by the random forces of fate. And despite my lack of religion, I instinctively think "There but for the grace of God go I."


The above paragraph was written by someone in the 1 percent. Not a mega-wealthy person, but someone who makes enough money to be economically excluded from the 99 percent. Click here to read the entire text.


Not everyone in the 1 percent is evil or greedy. Many in the top percent want to pay their fair share of taxes in order to create a better society. Some want to hire people and expand their businesses. And few might even see that it is the Republican Party and certain corporate forces that are preventing a more fair and equitable system that would eventually improve the overall economy. I hope more 1 percenters speak out and support the movement to clean up a corrupt system that they have benefitted from but know is morally wrong.


To counter the 99 percent movement and prop up the Tea Party, a new group is forming on the right. They consider themselves in the 53 percent -- which I am still not certain what that number represents or if it's even accurate. Much that comes from the right never checks out factually, but I think their point is that they are employed, tax-paying citizens who want to put themselves above the protesters. To me, it seems the only purpose of this group is to place blame on the unemployed rather than the system that has led to mass layoffs over the last three years. These 53 percent live in an imaginary country based on a world that hasn't existed for decades. To them, everything is just fine. Opportunities for all still exist. All you have to do is work hard and pursue your dreams. Gosh, what a naive view.


Those who followed the rules -- worked hard and were loyal -- found out the system was rigged. Many of them lost their jobs. They are denied re-entry into the workplace because of the lack of openings, age discrimination or skills that are no longer needed. Those who are working are hit with furloughs so that massive bonuses can be paid out to top-level executives. Meanwhile, the people most responsible for the collapse of the economy remain free from prosecution and continue to profit from their unethical practices. 


This doesn't feel like class warfare. This feels like class surrender. Yet, maybe the surrender was premature. There is an awakening in America -- one that hopefully can't be stopped by Wall Street dollars, political liars like Eric Cantor and John Boehner, or even police brutality. It's sadly ironic that police, who have been hit hard by layoffs and flat wages, are turning against the very people protesting to help them get back on track. I wonder if police officers will eventually realize that they are a part of the 99 percent -- part of the population screwed over by some in the 1 percent -- and join the protesters? Imagine how Wall Street and extreme right-wing conservatives will tremble at the site of the blue marching with demonstrators?


I don't think the 53 percent will get much traction, but then again, I never thought the Tea Party would actually sway elections in 2010 and create a Republican field of presidential candidates that is so scary, so intellectually inferior to any presidential field I've ever seen in my lifetime, that it makes me wonder if we are indeed done as a country.


The Occupy Wall Street folks are exposing some ugly truths about America and are ruffling the feathers of those in power who will use groups like the 53 percent and Tea Party to create smoke screens. But the OWS demonstrators have the truth and numbers on their side. They have the data and the facts that show how the political system in this country has catered to the elite at the expense of everyone else. Bad policies drove us into the recession and mass unemployment -- policies created by and for the 1 percent. No amount of b.s. or high-paid lobbying from the far right will be able to extinguish what most of us know to be true intellectually and what we feel in our hearts every single day.


The chart below shows the problem. Since about the Reagan-era, the top one percent (red line) has seen their income skyrocket. Everyone else has been relatively flat. What this chart doesn't show is the timeline of public policies that created the gross advantages for the one percent while everyone else was losing their jobs or not getting raises. That, in a nutshell, is what needs to change and why people are protesting.

Class warfare vs. class surrender. Watch YouTube video

Killing sharks solves nothing

There have been 13 deaths caused by shark attacks worldwide this year. Think about the size of the oceans and the number of human beings on the planet. Now tell me that 13 deaths is a good enough reason to start slaughtering this allegedly protected species.


Humans are unbelievable. Anything that is remotely a threat to us in any way has to be killed without any thought about what that ultimately means to the natural balance of life on land and in the sea. We spend so much time, energy and money chasing the boogie man that we can't see the real threats in our lives each and every day.


Time and time again we imperil ourselves in worse ways in the quest to eliminate rare and unlikely threats. We'll kill every shark in sight because the number of attacks on human beings is up slightly. We'll kill sharks for profit. And we'll kill sharks in order to pound our chests while they hang from a hook.


I presume some people like killing for the sake of killing. It's not a public safety issue with them. There is something primal in certain people who want to dominate all other living things. Even when we don't kill, we abuse various species by putting on animal shows in circuses and rodeos.


When you go into the ocean, there are threats. You might get stung by a jellyfish. You might stub your toe on coral. You might get caught in a riptide and drown. Should we drain the oceans so these things don't happen, thereby depleting our food supply?


Look, if you don't want to feel threatened by a shark, don't go in the water. If you don't want a black bear to bust into your picnic basket, don't go in the forest. But do not destroy the entire ecosystem because you've watched "Jaws" one too many times or have an irrational fear of animals -- critters that will normally will leave us alone if we leave them alone and don't do anything stupid while in their habitats. Animals that directly and indirectly benefit human beings by their mere existence.


We have to stop overreacting to things that are not common threats to our safety and start identifying the things that do endanger us. There is more to fear in the air and water supply -- invisible things -- that should get more of our attention than a shark that is, well, just being a shark. We have more to fear from Corporate America than a wolf roaming through Yellowstone. You want to be scared of something? Be frightened to death by right-wing politicians who want to remove regulations that are in place to keep us safe.


Millions of people die from heart attacks and cancer, yet we somehow want to divert our media attention, public research and dwindling resources to 13 people who had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some people want to blindly kill the top predator in the oceans without regard for how that will alter the food chain in ways that could come back to haunt us much more than these 13 deaths.


Yes indeed, humans are unbelievable.

Evil, lack of regulations at fault

This is what happens without reasonable regulations.

This pile of dead exotic animals, including 18 endangered Bengal tigers, could have just as well been a pile of dead people if these big cats had made their way into populated areas of Zanesville, Ohio yesterday.

Instead, the animals were shot by police -- a tragedy on top of a bigger and prolonged tragedy.

These animals were bought and held captive by a lunatic named Terry Thompson. There are no regulations in Ohio to prevent idiots like Thompson from purchasing wild animals.

This is the face of evil. This is Thompson.

It's hard to fault police for killing these animals. Thompson released the mammals and then committed suicide. The animals were on the loose and posed an immediate danger to the public. However, in a town where Thompson was well known by authorities, and where he had been arrested for allowing some of the dangerous animals to escape before, I do have to question as to why police did not have access to tranquilizers. Perhaps more animals could have been saved if bullets weren't the first and only option.

The legal and illegal exotic animal trade is an outrage. Wild animals belong in the wild, hopefully protected from poachers and other man-made threats. But what really has me steamed is this idea, constantly trumpeted from conservatives and Tea Partiers, that somehow we don't need any regulations regarding anything in this country. We don't need our food inspected. We don't need our drinking water protected. We don't even need air traffic control. There are people on the right who want to do away with government agencies that actually keep a lot of us alive.

In my opinion, we don't have enough regulations. Human beings are terribly flawed creatures that need some sort of boundaries and civilized protections against people like Thompson. That's why we have laws. Someone in an authoritative role must at least try to protect us from getting mowed down by a teenager speeding in their car while texting. We have to have someone in charge of making sure the medicine we're taking is relatively safe. And there should be safeguards that reduce the chance of someone unleashing dangerous animals on us.

Perhaps in a perfect world, where evil and stupidity weren't a part of the human condition, we wouldn't need rules or even religious leaders guiding us. Everyone would just do the right thing and not impose upon their neighbors or strip the planet of its most amazing creatures. But the more I see of people and the things they are capable of -- the misuse of freedom and power, the over-the-top sense of entitlement -- the more I think we are going to end up in a pile one day.

Warren a potential ray of hope

Elizabeth Warren is running for U.S. Senate from Massachusetts. She has the right combination of intelligence, compassion and authenticity to make a real difference in these troubled times. As seen in this video, where she is speaking about fair taxation, Warren has a thoughtful sense of what it means to "pay forward," and how there is a lack of that in this country right now. She is not a career politician. She does not forget where she comes from -- humble beginnings. Warren is exactly what we need in Congress, and she needs your help to get elected. Visit her website: www.ElizabethWarren.com.

More on Warren: Read Oct. 28, 2011 Washington Post article.

Rep. Wolf calls it as he sees it

Rep. Frank Wolf, from my district in Virginia, bravely attacked Grover Norquist on the floor of Congress this week. As far as I know, this is the first Republican to speak out against Norquist and the anti-tax pledge he sold to the GOP. The pledge has helped paralyze Washington and delayed any economic recovery. The idiots who cling to the pledge should be thrown out of office for not performing their sworn duties. Their allegiance to Norquist, instead of their constituents, makes them unfit to govern.


Wolf, who has actually read this blog and who I have met while I was the editor of a local newspaper, is a relatively honorable politician, which is quite a contrast from Eric Cantor, another Virginian Republican who is such a conniving brat that it makes me ashamed to be a part of the Commonwealth whenever I hear him speak. Of course, Cantor is a Norquist supporter.


Hopefully, other Republicans will follow Wolf's lead and not allow Norquist to drag down America any further. We elect our politicians to vote in our best interests, not to take pledges to a single man who no one elected to any public office. Whether you believe in Norquist's ideas or not, it is a dangerous thing for politicians to limit their own abilities to negotiate solutions for the country by aligning themselves with a single individual or organization.

For what it's worth

I was listening to as much conservative talk radio as I could stomach today. The Wall Street protesters were being criticized by all the usual suspects on the right. It reminded me of the days when Vietnam War protesters were taking the heat from a similar-minded establishment crowd who thought there was absolutely nothing wrong with America.

Ultimately, the anti-war movement proved to be a just cause, similar to the environmental and civil rights movements born in the same era. I suspect history will one day credit the corporate greed demonstrators with helping to change the system for the better. I am grateful that so many Americans are beginning to voice their opinions again. Staying silent usually solves nothing in life, and there is too much wrong with this country for the masses to remain inactive.

An appreciation for history isn't a strength of modern-day conservatives. They still blame "socialist hippie" protesters for our losing the war. Heck, they probably still think Vietnam, like every war, was a noble way for us to sacrifice American lives and spend taxpayer money. In right-wing land, what's good for corporate America is also good for waging war and winning elections.

This new generation of hawks and greed monsters must be called out for their bad behavior over the last several years. Invading countries, using our money for bailouts to bolster executive bonuses, threatening our Social Security and busting unions just can't continue. If government is going to side with Wall Street and not Main Street, then I expect these protests will spread. If corporations are going to turn their backs on the unemployed, then they will also hear from us.

Sadly, righties like presidential candidate Herman Cain think unemployed people are to blame for not having jobs. Yup, that's what he said in a recent interview. That's how out of touch he and the Republican Party have become. And by the way, Mr. Cain, your pizza is as terrible as your politics.

I hope Americans grow weary of sacrificing their sons and daughters, their paychecks and their homes to a political ideology that has done nothing but provide advantages to people who don't need help. Granted, not every social or economic policy from the left works, but at least the intent is usually good. Can you really say the same for those who are protecting oil companies?

It seems to me that all great ideas -- great music, art, innovation and righteous causes -- of the last 40 years, did not come from hard-line, close-minded conservatives protecting the status quo. The iconic moments, movements and inventions in recent history have almost always been sparked by those with a more inclusive, liberal, out-of-the-box approach to life in general. People with empathy who can relate to the struggles of the poor or the decline middle class. They see a need and try to fill it. People daring to make a difference, like a Steve Jobs, who grew up among the hippies and embraced many liberal principles. And while those progressive principles were being formed and ignited, there was always a group on the other side of the room, stuck in wanting to protect themselves from change while remaining on top of the economic and social ladders. This left-brain, right-brain battle has probably been going on since the beginning of time, but it has now reached a boiling again because the do-nothings won't even provide us with a ladder to climb anymore.


Companies can't continue to grow massive profits while driving their employees into the ground and claiming they don't have the cash to hire some help. They used the recession and layoffs to expand profit margins and, I guess, thought no one would notice the accumulating pile of cash sitting in the corner office. Well, we've finally noticed.

Corporate America, you should resume hiring. You can provide help to your employees who are stretched thin and, at the same time, put some unemployed Americans back to work. You only have to do one thing to accomplish this: Reduce your greed. You don't have to wait for the recession to end or for the 2012 elections. You don't have to necessarily have more customers. Your profits are at a record rate now. Burning out your employees and not getting more money into the economy by expanding your workforce might help your quarterly reports for the short term, but it won't do much for your business in the long run.

I remember a scene from the Godfather II film where a young and upcoming Michael Corleone is meeting with other mafia bosses on a balcony overlooking Havana in the 1950s. He mentions that he saw some rebels while traveling to the hotel. The other established, older mob bosses told Corleone not to worry about the silly rebels. They were no threat to the powerful government of Cuba, which was in bed with the mafia. Still, Corleone felt that people willing to demonstrate, get arrested and even die for a cause were not people to be overlooked. Within days of that conversation at the hotel, the revolutionaries overthrew the government and the wealthy mobsters had to grab their riches and flee the country. Maybe one day Rush Limbaugh will be forced to vacate his Florida compound the way the mobsters had to leave Cuba.

We are at a crossroads where one group of people sees the folly and injustice of continuing to do the same abusive thing over and over (giving tax cuts to the rich and protect Wall Street), while the other side holds on tightly to its accountants, lobbyists and country club memberships. One side is seeking the truth. The other side is trying to cover it up, even when the truth spills all over the Gulf of Mexico or steals the jobs of once hard-working citizens so that outrageous bonuses can be paid to executives whose main value is in their willingness to eliminate jobs.

One side is trying to educate us, the other is selling us something that simply doesn't work for most people, much the way PCs didn't operate as well as Macs, yet PCs were shoved down our throats by big business their marketing branches.

Even the wealthy are divided. The rich on one side want to be taxed in order to help solve our problems, while the rich on the other side never offer an extra dime of their money for anything that doesn't involve them getting even wealthier.

Both sides claim to be for the middle class, but is there anything in the record on the far right that indicates we really matter to the top 1 percent? Put aside the flag-waving, country music festivals and Tea Party nonsense and what do you really have on the right that is of any use to those of us trying to build or maintain middle class life? I am not interested in false patriotism that is based on emotions more than facts. I am interested in truth and solutions.

As these protests continue, people are going to feel compelled to support or reject the demonstrations. I hope folks will base that decision on the message and not on the interpretation of the message from those on the right with a hidden agenda. The Eric Cantors of the political world are not your friends. They are not on your side. Don't help them support the 1 percent. Help yourselves by uniting with those who are fighting for you.

While the mobsters thought that an increasingly corrupt Cuba was safe for their criminal enterprises to continue forever, people with nothing left to lose often have a very different opinion. Whether you're a college student worried about finding a job or a mid-career victim of layoffs, you intimately know something that some Americans still don't realize. The deck is stacked against us. No matter how hard we work or how well educated or trained we become, we can't claim our fair share of the pie if the pie is taken off the table by the 1 percent of elitists and antiquated tricksters in Washington. That needs to change. That is what these protests are about.


Unemployed from variety of backgrounds join protest.