Waiting on the arrival of UFO images

Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) have always seemed feasible to me. Presidents have seen them. Police and pilots have witnessed them. Even my own father claimed he saw one or two in his lifetime. I've listened to guest lecturers in college speak of a historic case of a UFO hovering over one of the main buildings on campus in the 1950s in Lynchburg, Va. It seems to me that believing in UFOs is no crazier than having faith in an unseen god (of your spiritual choice) that has never been scientifically proven to exist. I guess we all want to believe in something beyond our own existence, which is one of the appealing things about UFOs and religion.

We're entering a make-or-break era in UFO-ology. Because cameras now exist in everything from our cell phones to traffic intersections, I believe someone is going to capture definitive proof of unworldly objects in the sky. When that day comes, the debate about what the nature of the object(s) is will intensify. Some believe that definitive proof of visitors from another planet could even change how human beings view themselves in an extremely profound manner that could alter cultures and society in general. I wonder if it would change us for the better?

Unfortunately, the UFO community has its fair share of nuts. Just like some cat enthusiasts who don't know where to draw the line between loving their pets and total obsession, UFO people are one of two types. Either they remain relatively quiet about what they believe or possibly have seen out of fear of ridicule, or they wear UFO t-shirts and drive around in saucer-shaped cars.

If all the digital cameras in existence now can't capture one image or video clip that proves UFOs are real and probably not from this planet, I may have to rethink my beliefs and consider the possibility that we are truly alone.

This is no time to exhale, Mr. Norris

Floyd Norris is financial writer for The New York Times and The International Herald Tribune. He covers finance and economics. Apparently, Norris believes the job drought might be over, which is an astonishing conclusion to make based on today's modestly good news of unemployment dropping from 10.3% to 10.0% in November.

It's opinions like this that allow politicians to exhale and create a false sense of things improving, making it less likely that job-creation will remain near the top of the national agenda. But in the real world, the middle-class folks I know, employed and unemployed, don't see any significant job gains on the horizon. And believe me, I contact a lot of people about work on a weekly basis in my job search. The news I get from potential employers is almost always 100% discouraging. They simply have no plans to hire.

Granted, there are the occasional tales of people going back to work, but usually at lower pay or fewer hours than they previously worked, meaning they are still struggling. That's not going to bolster the general economy much. Those folks aren't going on shopping sprees this Christmas. The jobs that are popping up are jobs with salaries that people might have made 20 years ago but can't live on today. Those lucky enough to find comparable pay to their previous jobs are more likely to save at a higher rate, meaning they aren't going to buy goods that help grow businesses that allow for more hiring. The destruction that comes from a lack of public confidence, due to companies slashing jobs, comes back to those same companies that now can't sell their products because fewer people have expendable cash. In an odd, ironic twist, companies laying off people are actually hurting themselves. They might enjoy the immediate gains that come from a lighter payroll, but the domino effect eventually returns to haunt them as products go unsold. So then there are more layoffs. It's a vicious cycle.

It's frustrating to see some businesses cutting more employees than need be because it feeds into the entire economic mess were in. I see it happening in the newspaper industry, mainly because certain companies are carrying such high debt that their once-fat profit margins are dwindling. Yet, they are still turning a profit. Perhaps not enough to keep investors and boards of directors happy, but nonetheless some publishers are making money. The unfortunate thing now is that to increase profits, they are getting rid of workers and blaming it on the recession or unions, when in fact the blame lies with the folks who ran up the debt. (Have you seen the new New York Times building where Mr. Norris works?) This quick fix has ruined careers, bogged down the economy, destroyed consumer confidence and rippled through millions of American households like an endless tsunami. There is a lack of compassion and even a shortage of patriotism in the way the workforce is being dismantled.

I would profoundly welcome feeling optimistic again, but until I see the real unemployment/underemployment rate dropping (the U6 number), and until I can get through a week or two without reading about more companies laying off workers by the dozens or hundreds, I respectfully disagree with the opinion of this particular Times columnist.

We have to keep the pressure on politicians and business leaders to find a real and lasting solution to the unemployment problem. There needs to be a greater sense of urgency from government, business and even the media. I suggest Norris walk around some Florida neighborhoods and witness the countless foreclosure signs still going up. Maybe a stroll through almost any downtown outside of New York City, where there are numerous empty storefronts, would give him some perspective. He should take a look at the empty desks that are likely abundant in his own newsroom. Tell me their is a sense of optimism in you, Mr. Norris, when more cubicles are vacated in 2010.

It's tempting to cling to any good news these days, but to imply that the drought might be over is bordering on irresponsible. I don't completely trust unemployment numbers, nor should any good journalist draw too many conclusions from this sort of data. Too many folks are falling through the cracks and not being counted by the Labor Department. If a columnist at The New York Times can't see that, well, I question his observation abilities.

Dumb and dumber

Jay Leno interviewed people on the street for Thursday night's show. He showed images to mostly young adults. Keep in mind, some of these folks were college students. One young lady could not identify George Washington, even after Leno gave her the hint, "He was the first president..." It's a funny segment Leno does from time to time, but it's also scary as this country seems to be getting dumber at an alarming rate.

Summit appears cosmetic at best

In lieu of no apparent new ideas coming out of the White House "jobs summit" on Thursday, FOX TV commentator Bill O'Reilly offered his own suggestions to get people back to work. I actually thought a few of his ideas made sense, including giving tax breaks to companies that hire new employees. Rather than giving all companies tax relief, the reward would only be triggered by proof of hiring. I wonder, in that same sense, if tax breaks should be taken away from companies that are using the recession as an excuse to get rid of more workers than they really need to?

I also found this article in The Washington Post to be interesting. It explains how President Obama has failed to help the private sector create jobs.

What I am not buying from anyone, including ABC News, is that the stimulus money made a significant difference in improving the private-sector job market. On its broadcast Thursday night, ABC did a fluff piece about some folks going back to work because of stimulus money given to various municipalities. What they didn't mention was that every one of the jobs they featured was directly or indirectly related to government work.

Washington's other newspaper

The Washington Times, D.C.'s other newspaper, will layoff a "significant number" of employees. This coming on the heels of nearby USA Today slashing more jobs in McLean, Va. Even the mighty Washington Post isn't out of the woods yet. All of this in one of the more affluent areas of the country where the population is still growing. Cities like Detroit or the agricultural areas of California, where the recession has decimated businesses (potential advertisers), things are far worse. Wonder if the "jobs summit" at the White House today will bring any hope for journalism and other professions on the verge of extinction? Click here to read about the layoffs at the Times.

I am far from a professional musician, let alone recording engineer, but this song came to me yesterday after learning of more layoffs at my former place of employment, USA Today, and thinking about my year of unemployment. I won't bore you with the technical challenges of how I put this together on a simple laptop computer. Obviously, I wrote the lyrics first, then the music. I recorded the main guitar and vocals together, then played the bass and lead guitar parts later. Finally, I added a computerized drum track (since I don't play the drums) and created an MP3. After the song was recorded, I found some photographs online to accompany the music and merged everything in a video-editing application. I was tempted to turn this into a standard blues song, but decided on a different approach. Because I mumble a lot, I am providing the lyrics below.

LAID OFF
Lyrics and Music by Mick Calvacca

Went to the boss yesterday
got three months severance
that's all I'm going to pay.

I said what am I going to do
with all that money
I got bills to pay, it ain't funny.

When you're 50 years old and
feeling weary about the days
gone by and all that spirit.

Well times are hard and
I'm not believin' all I'm told
and all that I'm leaving.

You got to know someone.

You got to have some luck.

Note: Video slides compiled by Mick Calvacca with apologies to photographers and cartoonists who I was not able to credit

Cruel irony to these layoffs

Museums in Washington, D.C. are hurting. The Newseum (pictured) is laying off 13 percent of its employees. The Smithsonian is also reducing staff through buyouts and other means.

There is a logical, if not cruel irony to the Newseum slashing jobs. Washington's latest museum features displays about the news business. As most readers of this blog know, the newspaper business has been decimated by the bad economy. So now the pricey attraction that was built in good times to honor journalists is suffering from what caused me and thousands of other reporters, editors and photographers to lose our jobs in the last year or two.

The D.C.-area, particularly Northern Virginia, is below the national average in unemployment, yet the recession continues to devastate area businesses, local municipalities, colleges/universities and now museums. Wonder why certain politicians and economists are claiming the recession is over?

More layoffs at the nation's newspaper

USA Today, my former employer, laid off about 25 newsroom employees today. In the last two years, the newsroom has lost about 100 jobs, including mine, as the newspaper industry continues to struggle through the bad economy and massive debt acquired by some of the larger media companies. Apparently, however, this round of cuts caught many by surprise at the McLean, Va., newspaper. I certainly feel their pain on this, the one-year anniversary of my layoff. It won't be easy to find comparable work. Click here to read more about the difficulties laid-off journalists are facing in this article about former Los Angeles Times employees

Great balls of fire!

I appreciate the bad boys of rock 'n' roll as much as anyone. But little did I know that a throw-away comment about Jerry Lee Lewis in a post earlier this week would drive my November blog traffic to comparable levels with September and October. Seems my implying that old Jerry should hang 'em up, or at least stop throwing around his piano stool on HBO/Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame concerts, infuriated some loyal fans here and abroad. Even produced a few irate comments. I have written about unemployment, animal rights, politics, child abuse and war, yet barely drew a comment a week. But mess with Jerry Lee and presto. Still, there is much work to be done with this blog. With the late-November Jerry Lee Lewis-surge, here are the numbers of blog visitors in the first three months.

Sep. 536
Oct. 692
Nov. 528

Brees is on a mission

How did the San Diego Chargers let quarterback Drew Brees go to the New Orleans Saints? It's still early in the fourth quarter and Brees has already put up 31 points on the New England Patriots tonight. Regardless of the outcome of this game, Brees is playing quarterback this year like Babe Ruth hit home runs for the Yankees after being traded from the Boston Red Sox decades ago. Always nice to see players prove their previous employers wrong.

Closing thoughts on R&R show

Based on last night's four-hour Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame concert on HBO, here are a few closing thoughts:

It's not as easy, even for rock legends, to sing other people's songs. Billy Joel came up short on Bruce Springsteen tunes. Someone needed to take the microphone from Stevie Wonder when singing Roxanne with Sting. However, Springsteen did fairly well singing Fortunate Son with John Fogerty. And Fergie did a nice job on the bridge during Gimme Shelter with Mick Jagger and U2.

I switched over to the Ravens-Steelers football game during the Paul Simon segment.

Why is Aretha Franklin considered a rock performer?

Jerry Lee Lewis is done.

BB King is close to done.

Ozzie was done years ago.

I don't make these comments to be mean. But we all hit a certain age where even nostalgia isn't a good reason to take to the stage. For some, that's 50. For others, maybe it's 80. David Crosby can still sing and Stephen Stills can still play guitar. That's cool. But a few performers were on the verge of embarrassing themselves like Willie Mays in a Mets uniform. Fortunately, musicians have a longer shelf life than athletes.

I think one key to longevity is in altering one's game as Johnny Cash did in his final years. I mean I don't need to see Jerry Lee Lewis throwing his piano stool anymore or BB singing about the thrill being gone. Heck, the thrill was gone about two or three decades ago, I am guessing. Cash went to the dark side in the twilight of his career, singing edgier songs that tweaked his image and played to his aging vocal cords, and it worked. He won Grammys for his efforts and gained the respect of a new generation of rock musicians while maintaining his long-time, country-based fans.

Overall, though, the concert was good. Nice to hear real music in prime time. Too bad it wasn't on one of the major broadcast networks where all we seem to get are hip-hop award shows.

U2 rises to the occasion

Watching HBO's broadcast of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame anniversary concert as I write this. Three hours into the show, with another 60 minutes to go, U2 has shown why they have the charisma and musicianship to hold their own against any band in any era. Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen and others joined U2 on stage for a couple of songs and performed flawlessly and with great energy, which is hard to do in these types of shows where super bands merge. While performers earlier in the evening forgot lyrics, were vocally out of key and in one or two cases simply looked and sounded pathetic, U2 (with and without Jagger and Springsteen) held their set together.

The surprise of the concert was hearing how well David Crosby can still sing. For a guy in his 60s who has been on the ropes in more ways than one, the CSN member really belted it out.

Buddy Guy has turned in one of the best guitar performances thus far. Wish my Stratocaster sounded like that.

Billy Gibbons is now performing Foxy Lady by Jimi Hendrix with a woman on bass who looks about 15 years old. Very weird.

I know this is sacrilege to some, but I am tired of Jeff Beck.

More later if the finale warrants it.

An anniversary worth forgetting

This week marks the one-year anniversary of my being laid off from USA Today. I was planning to write about it at length but decided against it. I think I have said enough on this blog about my own situation and the predicament of other unemployed folks (see the archive). In doing so, it appears I have also lost many of my readers, which in a way was predictable based on what I have experienced in my personal relationships with folks during the last 12 months.

But a declining audience isn't the main reason for my not wanting to mark this week with an extended anniversary post.

While my layoff is in many ways similar to the millions of others, particularly in the field of journalism, it is also fairly unique and somewhat personal. The circumstances surrounding my layoff are particularly tough (some might say surreal) and almost impossible to explain to people in a way that they can fully grasp. It's been a rather lonely experience.

In order to avoid further frustrations and disappointments in not being able to effectively convey my personal feelings of loss, new challenges ahead and significant limitations in a worsening recession, I am going to curtail postings about my situation in particular and the economy in general. This blog will be considerably lighter (in words, not necessarily subject matter) from now on.

I hope I will be employed again one day and find some closure to what happened one year ago when I experienced unemployment for the first time in three decades. I feel I have a lot to offer to a stable company, big or small, and am open to new career possibilities at a mere 52 years old. But I realize I can't influence the future by airing my thoughts about joblessness or the recession here. Many things in life have their own momentum and timetable. The length of my job search is apparently one of them.