John Allen Muhammad is scheduled to be put to death on Nov. 10.In 2002, Muhammad and a young accomplice terrorized Northern Virginia and Maryland for weeks, randomly shooting 13 people. Ten died. For those folks who were here at the time, you know the story all too well.Muhammad was sentenced to the death penalty in 2003 for killing Dean H. Meyers near Manassas, Va. I was familiar with that particular shooting because I lived in Manassas for several years.The entire D.C. metro region was on edge during the sniper attacks. People were being shot while pumping gas, walking across shopping center parking lots and so on. Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo positioned themselves in their car and blasted away at whomever was a convenient target. These were not racial crimes. Driving around and shooting folks was purely for sport for these two disturbed monsters. Malvo was sentenced to life in prison.I remember many people began feeling less than at ease as they went about their business. Getting groceries was becoming an anxiety-filled task. Standing at a bus stop was scary. After-school activities were being canceled. The snipers got into everyone's head to some degree. My office building at USA TODAY was just up the road from one of the killings at a nearby Home Depot. I remember a sense of looking around more than usual as I came and went from the parking garage each day.Now Muhammad is going to die either by lethal injection or the electric chair. His choice. If he chooses neither, state law requires he die by injection. His victims didn't have a choice. They each died from a bullet. No chance to say goodbye to family or friends. Gunned down just for kicks.Monsters like Muhammad make it hard to be against the death penalty.
George Gombossy was the consumer "watchdog" journalist for the Hartford Courant for many years. He was booted from the newspaper, like thousands of other editors, reporters and photographers in the last year or two, but he doesn't plan to take his severance. Instead, he's going to sue Connecticut's largest daily newspaper. Good luck, George.
I expect to see a lot more of this from other journalists,especially older ones, who are suspiciously dismissed late in their careers. In fact, there is a new web site call JiltedJournalists.com that is beginning to get some traction with stories like Mr. Gombossy's. http://www.jiltedjournalists.com/News.html
I am not one to sue. I think there are far too many rich lawyers as it is. But there are times when certain injustices must be countered. Unfortunately, we don't live in an age where corporations always do the right thing, particularly when it comes to older workers. I think that's true in many industries, not just the news media.
Unless a miracle happens, I just realized that I will soon celebrate a birthday without a job for the first time in my adult life. I turn 52 on Sunday.
I began a real career at age 21, right after graduating from Lynchburg College. For nearly three decades, working at newspapers helped put food on my table. My only prior work experience was in a smelly summer job as a teenager at the highway department, picking up trash and watching the older guys (the drivers of the trucks) figuring out new ways to do less work. Now I am an older guy trying to figure out a way back into a career.
This is the first in an occasional series on the "best of Northern Virginia."
Best Winery in Loudoun County. This one was tough because western Loudoun has many fine wineries. But I keep going back to Tarara Winery because frankly, it's one of the most scenic places in the county. Even if I am not in the market to buy a bottle or do a tasting, I find the setting very tranquil. Hundreds of acres roll along the Potomac River, close to Point of Rocks, and about 10 miles from Leesburg. There are views of Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland, the site of another good area winery. The facility has a nice deck for guests, a lake to walk around and concerts in pavilion area. The winery also has a "cave" where the wine is made and bottled. This is an estate winery. Along with grapes, Tarara also grows other fruits. Oh, and the wine, while getting pricey of late, is also pretty good. http://www.tarara.com/
Best Day Hike in Northern Virginia. Hands down, it's Old Rag Mountain, a little over an hour's drive from D.C., near Sperryville. This mountain stands apart from the rest of the Blue Ridge chain, but it is part of the Shenandoah National Park. It's a rigorous hike and involves "rock scrambling" near the summit. I have done the hike twice, albeit when I was in far better shape. I have drawn blood on this hike, so yes, it's a bit hazardous. It's about seven miles or more depending where you park. But it is not a casual seven miles, so be prepared. http://www.midatlantichikes.com/id155.html
A poll recently conducted by The Washington Post/ABC News found that 57 percent of Americans are "concerned someone in the household will lose a job, take a pay cut or have hours reduced in the next few months."Makes me wonder about the other 43 percent who seem to be in denial or blissfully embracing ignorance. Maybe they are just living life to the fullest while they can. Still, I find this number higher than I would have expected.In a way, it doesn't surprise me that some Americans seem to be ignoring the recession. Many people who I know are going about their lives like they never turn on the evening news or look at a newspaper. They are still taking vacations, still buying things they don't need and still rationalizing it all. A sizable minority will not alter their lives in the least, despite statistics that show unemployment will continue to rise while salaries remain stagnant or will be reduced.
There aren't too many industries that are immune to losing jobs, so it's truly remarkable to see how unconcerned some people are about their financial futures.
When the economic storm clouds began to gather about a year prior to my being laid off, my wife and I began saving as much as we could. In fact, we began saving a few years prior because we had to play catchup after some financial hardships earlier in our lives. These were going to be the years we built our retirement savings. Our prime-earning years. Then I got laid off. Hopes of retiring are gone, but fortunately, that one year of watching every penny helped us through the first 10 months of my not working.
I have tried to impress upon friends the need for them to not make the mistakes I did and to start saving sooner and at an even higher rate. But most folks seem reluctant to take action until things become a crisis. Guess that's just human nature.
Tens of thousands of jobs are still being lost every month. Some experts claim that Wall Street is already returning to the bad habits that caused the recession. Yet, 43 percent of Americans have no concerns about things getting worse for them or anyone within their household. Amazing.
Like in Bruce Springsteen's lyrics and my own current job search, I feel I am "dancing in the dark" with this blog. So it's time for a little break.At least one Calvacca Blog follower was having problems commenting here because of technical issues. If anyone else is having difficulty, please let me know. You can e-mail me or message me on Facebook. In the meantime, this gun is still for hire. Spread the word!
Sunday mornings are humbling times. It's when I and many other Virginians file our weekly claims for unemployment benefits. Apparently, even though my regular 26 weeks of payments have been exhausted, I have to continue filing in order to qualify for an extension, which is probably still weeks away. In the meantime, there is no money coming in and a lot of savings going out.Unemployment takes a little bit of the joy out of everything. The opening day of the football season isn't quite the same this year. There are bigger worries than who wins the Giants-Redskins game to deal with. I am spilling my own blood, in a way, and am not all that enthusiastic about watching others on the gridiron doing the same. But I will watch the game, and it will serve as somewhat of a distraction, hopefully.Sometimes the worries are on the surface, while other times they are just a dull hum in the background of my thoughts. It's like walking through life waiting on the lab results from a biopsy on a tumor. You don't know whether the tumor is benign and something you can live with, or whether it's something that may eventually kill you.Being unemployed, per se, isn't the worst of it. Being ignored by employers is what really bothers and mystifies me. It defies logic, regardless of the state of the economy. It robs unemployed folks of hope. If I was at least getting interviews now and then, I could believe that eventually I would be employed again. Without those interviews, or even phone calls or e-mail responses, it is quite a leap of faith to think that things will turn for the better.The confidence I once had that I would eventually find another job has faded considerably. I applied to the perfect job recently. Perfect in terms of matching up with my experience and skills to the work. It was a job in which I had every single qualification they required. And it was a long list of diverse requirements. Yet, I met or exceeded all of them. I really wanted to interview for this job, despite it probably paying half of what I previously earned. I made it clear in my cover letter that salary was not an issue for me.
The job was local, so I figured I would at least get an interview. But like with the hundreds of other jobs that I've applied for, I haven't heard back from the employer. I also have a way of determining whether this particular employer even looked at my resume. They didn't. I know I write competent cover letters, so why didn't this employer bother to review my resume? What did they detect that prevented from considering my qualifications?It's a few hours until kickoff and the sun has returned to Northern Virginia today. I try to appreciate these simple things and live more in the moment, but I also know there is a dark cloud on horizon that is getting more difficult to ignore.
John Allen Muhammad is scheduled to be put to death on Nov. 10.
