It’s not about us and them, it’s about sharing — just ask Mark Zuckerberg

By Hoover Wind, Kathleen Kenna and Hadi Dadashian

It’s not about us and them.

As much as we honor the peaceful intentions of the Occupy movement, it’s not just a simple formula of 1% versus 99%.

It’s about all Americans, as Sarah Palin reminded us at the CPAC convention this weekend.

Let’s look at Mark Zuckerberg, sometimes reviled, sometimes beloved founder of Facebook.

It sounds outrageous that the social networking giant could raise $5 billion in its public stock offering.

We want all American companies to raise that kind of cash in their IPOs.

We want all American companies, all Americans — from the wealthiest to the lowest-income  — to share.

Zuckerberg, hopefully, is about to show us how this is possible.

Say Facebook raises $5 billion.

This means as much as $1 billion for the rest of California.

How? That five-letter word in the current election campaign: T-A-X-E-S.

The non-partisan legislative analyst’s office in California estimates this single IPO — the largest ever for an Internet-based firm — could bring California millions, and perhaps even $1 billion, in taxes.

This has so excited California’s governor, the sometimes reviled, sometimes beloved Jerry Brown, that his staff has offered to mow Zuckerberg’s lawn in exchange.

“If it is as big as it is being billed, then on behalf of a grateful state, I will go to Mark Zuckerberg’s house and either wash his windows or mow his lawn,” says H.D. Palmer, Brown’s finance spokesman.

This is the great part:  The non-partisan legislative analyst’s office and the Democrat governor’s office have both put one of California’s richest entrepreneurs on notice.

Pundits are crowing that Zuckerberg will pay the most taxes of any American in history.  This is good news, no matter where you stand on tax reform, tax breaks for the rich, or tax hikes.

California is broke.  With a deficit of more than $9 billion, its schools are falling apart, and its streets and highways are filling with garbage.  Social services — for veterans, elders, people with disabilities, children and low-income families — have been squeezed and squeezed and squeezed.

Slashbacks across all levels of government have hit all public services, from policing to economic development, like a tsunami.

To international visitors, it appears that California’s homeless population is growing, in major cities and small towns.

Politicians will fall all over themselves with a windfall like this. Watch for national politicians to argue about how Zuckerberg’s tax contributions should be spent — more prisons/less prisons; more affordable housing/more campaign contributions.

We’ll be watching Zuckerberg and his Facebook workers, many of whom are counting on becoming millionaires as a result of this IPO.

Will they park their new profits outside the country to avoid taxes?

Or will they share, by paying full taxes — however that is defined — to help California’s most vulnerable?

Will they, as Republican minority leaders in California insist, use this newfound tax wealth to “protect our public school students … and pay down the state’s debt service.”

You know — the debt that everyone shared in accumulating during the so-called “good years”?

This is how democracy works, one call, one email at a time

By Hoover Wind, Hadi Dadashian and Kathleen Kenna

We urged Americans yesterday to call the White House and members of Congress to fight for an unemployment benefits extension.

And today, it worked.

Phone lines to some Congress members were jammed (we know; we tried), and so many Americans emailed President Barack Obama (including Hire Your Neighbor) that the White House website couldn’t accept any more comments for awhile.

This is what we mean when we say, Get Occupied!

When residents of the United States call their politicians, good things can happen — and in bipartisan strength.

It’s only a two-month extension for unemployment benefits and payroll tax cuts, but it’s a start.

Both the President and House Speaker John Boehner announced today that a two-month deal will protect both the tax cuts and unemployment benefits.  It’s likely to go to a vote Friday.

That means almost 2 million Americans won’t lose their unemployment benefits in January.

That might not mean much to Wall St., but it obviously does to Washington.

The news: Unemployment benefits extended (ABC News)

WANTED: Unemployed writers. NEWS: We got a donation, so we can pay!

Hire Your Neighbor wants writers.

Unemployed writers.  Under-employed writers.

We just received a $1,000 donation from Canada, anonymously, so we’ll pay.

One thousand bucks.

That’s real money.  Not the 40 cents per article we see posted on so-called freelance sites.

Tell us your story about being jobless.

Write about your impressions of the historic unemployment rate in the richest nation on earth.

If you have any solutions, tell us.  Washington and Wall St. aren’t.

We’ve started a national conversation about this, and we want all unemployed people to be a part of it.

We’ve told ours.

Tell yours.

Tell Americans with jobs about their neighbors without jobs.

Help dispel the stereotypes we hear every day, from pundits, politicians, and even, sadly, our best friends.

Help convince Americans that hiring one of the 25 million jobless in this country is not only about Wall St. or the White House.

It’s about Americans hiring neighbors.  It’s about helping each other through the worst unemployment crisis of our lifetime.

Help keep the conversation going, writers!  Get Occupied!

Stop the noise that goes nowhere by becoming part of the solution.

Hire Your Neighbor will pay $25 for each 200-word article written by anyone who’s unemployed and is brave enough to share their story.

Contact us at: hireyourneighbor@gmail.com.

Why I spent $3 for the chance to have dinner with the First Lady and President Barack Obama

By Kathleen Kenna

I’ve been unemployed more than two years and I admit it, I just blew $3 on a big gamble — dinner with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

I’m not a gambler, but I couldn’t resist the tease that came with an email invite.

“Want to meet Barack and Michelle?”

This was in bold face, so I’m trying to reproduce its breathless appeal.

Yes, yes, yes I do!

I admire the couple, because they’re smarter than me.

I’m a huge fan of Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign.

I admire her muscles.  I like her style, especially when she’s harvesting organic vegetables from the garden she planted on our White House grounds.

I’m grateful to President Obama for fighting for universal health care in this country, a place that not only has rejected me — a victim of terrorism — for health benefits, but also denied insurance to two healthy Americans, aged 26 and 28, half my age.

I believed then-Senator Barack Obama when he campaigned on promises of “hope” and “change.”

I’m still waiting for positive change.  (We began Hire Your Neighbor because of negative change in the U.S.)

But I’m a huge believer in hope.  It’s what keeps me going, despite unemployment, despite disability, despite chronic pain, despite discrimination.

(And, as a non-American, I still think it’s great that one of your presidents was born in a place called Hope.  As Jack Torry says, you can’t make this stuff up.)

I admire President Obama for “turning the other cheek”, despite all the public hate that passes as “opinion” in the U.S.

I admire President Obama for having the courage, unlike other presidents, to meet flag-draped coffins when they return home from Afghanistan and Iraq.

I admire him for allowing these sombre ceremonies to be photographed (and not the private meetings with families of dead soldiers, as did one of his predecessors).

So I want to have dinner with Barack Obama and his wife.

I want to thank them personally, for their courage and determination and hope.

I want to thank them for raising strong daughters, setting an example of good health and family joy (and no-TV homework nights!) for all of us.

I want to ask them the same questions our three-person Hire Your Neighbor team is asking all Americans:

1.  How many jobs have you created in this recession?

2.  How many jobs have been lost on your watch?

3.  What are you proposing to get 25 million Americans back to work?  What’s preventing you from doing this?

4.  Hire a neighbor, friends, hire a neighbor.

Me and Hadi and Hoover will have dinner anytime with anyone from any political party, anyone from Corporate America, any small business owner, anyone who has a solution to this country’s historic unemployment.

As long as they pick up the tab.

Obama’s invitation came with an offer of airfare and the meal, for “an approximate value of $4,800.”

Want a chance to have dinner with “Barack, Michelle and a guest of your choice”?

Minimum suggested donation is $3.  You could probably donate less.

Entries must be received by midnight on Dec. 31.

To qualify, you must be an American citizen (Hoover and Hadi), or “lawfully admitted permanent resident of the United States” (me).  You must be at least 16.

And sorry, Stephen Colbert, you can’t be a PAC or lobbyist or “foreign agent” to get in on this.

We suspect donors who pay the max — $2,500 — might get a seat at the table before we, the unemployed.

We’re prepared to be amazed if that’s not so (remembering how President Bill Clinton let fat cat donors sleep in our White House).

Expect a follow-up email, no matter what you donate.

As soon as we put the $3 on our Visa, we got another email, asking for more.

They wanted $25.

Hey, Mr. President, we’re unemployed!

Writing pays off, co-founder of this blog matches the money: $1551 total

By Kathleen Kenna

Tromping through the woods on a dry afternoon yesterday, we were discussing this venture and trying to decide how much of our limited funds we would invest in it.

“Sometimes, you just work for a good cause, and the money comes,” I said, with surprising confidence.

Sunshine in Portland has that effect.

Then we stopped at the mailbox, and voila! (this is a French term for, ‘will you look at that!’).

There was a direct deposit note from Canada for $741.99.

(The Canadian dollar, for once, is at par with the beleaguered American buck.)

This is important money, the kind a writer lives for — royalties!

Look at me, Mom! I get paid for writing!: Kathleen Kenna

I wrote a non-fiction book once.  Look it up, you can snag it new, hardcover, for $15 or less.

Used? Paperback?  Only a cent.  No kidding — check it on Amazon.com.

A People Apart has paid a modest sum in annual royalties, about $12 or so, for years.

Honestly, it made so much money at the start, when it was co-published in the U.S. and Canada, that I rewarded myself with a long-coveted possession — a big, blue kayak.

Full disclosure:  It’s not the money;  it’s never the money, for most professional writers (i.e. those fortunate to get paid for their words).

This is a good thing, because the direct deposit note shows my share of the royalties, shared with photographer Andrew Stawicki and our agent, Nick Harris, is down to $1.32.  For a year.

Writers are such humble, grateful wretches, this seems like a queenly sum.  (They’re still reading my little book!)

The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency knows this.  It has fought for years to get schools and libraries and other entities to pay writers and artists for the privilege of “lifting” their work.  It’s fighting the education system still, on our behalf.

Photocopy our stuff; use it in your classrooms; paper the walls with it; and we’re grateful, truly grateful.

But many writers live below the poverty line, so access, as it’s known, distributes the fees to its ever-thankful members.

I collect because I’ve written so much for decades for the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest circulation paper.

On occasion, some kind teacher wants her students to read my old stuff (you won’t be surprised to learn that U.S. sex laws were a big draw during Bill Clinton’s presidency.  Sex scandals:  the journalism gift that keeps on giving.)

It’s nice to know there’s payback — literally.

My access payback is $741.99 this year, covering a few magazines and other papers that have published my freelance work.

It makes me proud to be a writer.

It made Hadi Dadashian so proud, he matched the payback by donating $810.01 from his savings to Hire Your Neighbor.

That gives us $1,551 to spread our  job-creating message, and encourage Americans to have a national conversation about hiring their unemployed neighbors:  Get Occupied!

Watch this blog for a regular accounting of how that money is spent.

TOMORROW:  Why I blew $3 on a chance to have dinner with First Lady Michelle Obama and the President of the United States of America

Voice of a renaissance worker, after one year of unemployment

Hadi Dadashian is a true renaissance man, the kind who doesn’t fit neatly on resumes.

Hadi Dadashian

He’s multilingual, having learned new languages wherever his family went.  He taught himself Italian, for instance, after moving to Rome at age 13.

He enrolled in art college, like his older brother, but switched to electrical engineering because “all the other students were like Michelangelo.”

Job prospects were limited, so the family moved to the U.S. when Hadi was 24.

He worked as an electrical engineer, as a subcontractor with an older brother.  They worked on projects from the Pentagon (where he advises there were a lot of rats, real rats to deal with, from the kitchen to man-sized heating ducts), to mega-mansions in Virginia, and restaurants in Washington, D.C.

Then he worked with another brother as an offset printer in Virginia.

Hadi changed careers, becoming a freelance news photographer so he could accompany his wife, Kathleen Kenna, to India, after she was promoted to South Asia bureau chief for her Canadian paper.

What happened next doesn’t fit on any resume.

Hadi saved Kathleen’s life, after she was badly wounded in an alleged al Qaeda IED attack in Afghanistan.  (They were returning from a day of interviewing villagers when attacked.)

You will not hear about this from Hadi.  That’s not how he wants to be defined.

After supporting Kathleen’s return to school in San Francisco, Hadi went back to school there too.  He graduated in 2008 as an optical assistant.

When San Francisco became too pricey, Hadi landed “the best job of my life” in Las Vegas, in 2009.

He worked in optical sales and soon led the team, logging the highest sales numbers, month after month.

Hadi said it was the best job, because he was following a long-time career dream — optical — and was learning a lot, with a close-knit, supportive team.

The job ended in 2010 when the employer cut all workers’ salaries 50% to 70% without advance notice.  Hadi left the state before the store closed.

Q:  Did you collect unemployment insurance?

A:  No, never have — always have a “Plan B”.

We lived on our savings; figured other jobless people needed UI more than me — people with children.  We left the city, because it had the highest unemployment rate, and the highest foreclosure rate in the country.

Q:  What should prospective employers know about you?

A:  I’m resilient.  I’m not afraid of hard work.

I’m a good listener, a fast learner; I’ll work any hours; and I’m not afraid to ask if I don’t know how to do something.

Q:  Any observations about American unemployment after a year out of work?

A:  People are afraid of hiring.  It’s getting worse; it’s like they’re afraid to spend money. The system doesn’t want to give benefits; they want everyone to work full-time for part-time pay.

The most frustrating part is, you apply for jobs and never get a response — nothing.

It’s as if they don’t care.  It’s almost like a joke.

Employers are giving jobs to people who are employed already.  What about people without jobs, mothers who have kids to feed? They’re supporting aging parents, and other family members too.  What are they supposed to do?

Q:  What do you say to critics who blast people without jobs as being lazy?

A:  I’m not lazy — I’ve worked since I was a teenager (as a barista in Rome).  I’m working as a freelance photographer — you use any skill you have — because I have to be working.  I’m glad to have the opportunity, and glad to still have good contacts.  Being unemployed, you find it’s all about networking.

Hadi also has a photoblog, because he’s teaching himself online publishing.  Kathleen and Hadi share a travel blog, which showcases his photos too.

Q:  Any advice to employers?

A:  Don’t be afraid.  I think everyone’s so afraid, wages will drop to $5 an hour –they don’t want to pay real wages.

Why is there so much fear?

You come out of school all excited and you don’t get hired.  It’s not fair to younger graduates. We need them to be working for the economy to improve.

NEXT:  Another graduate, Hoover Wind

Message from a jobless job counselor: Get Occupied!

My name is Kathleen Kenna and I’m a recovering job counselor.

Kathleen Kenna, recovering job counselor

I’ve helped dozens of people get jobs, from Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans to laid-off grandmothers.

Today, after two years and more than 200 applications, I am officially no longer looking for a job.

It isn’t there.

I’ve worked for income since I was 17.

I have a strong resume — two degrees, post-graduate clinical training, national awards, two careers — and a solid volunteer work resume.

As a rehabilitation counselor working with people with disabilities in two states over the past few years, I’ve helped others write resumes; coached them on interview strategies; helped them research career options; and much more.

But I don’t have any ideas anymore for anyone about how to get a job in this economy.

I’m not spending any more money on job applications.

I can’t afford the background checks, fingerprints and drug tests that applicants must pay, in a bid to get ever-shrinking social service jobs.

I can’t afford to waste any more time on futile job searches, either.

I need to stay healthy, because when we lost jobs, we lost our health care.

So today, I’m doing the best thing I can for my mental and physical health:  I’m creating one job in the United States of America.

MINE.

I join my husband, Hadi Dadashian, who lost the best job of his life last year.  (It was, BTW, close to minimum wage.)

Hadi Dadashian

Hadi is creating a second job in the United States of America.

HIS.

And our nephew, Hoover Wind, also under-employed, is joining us in launching a national venture:  Hire Your Neighbor.

This is not a political campaign.  We’re not endorsing any political party.

But this is a campaign.

A serious, loud, in-your-face campaign asking Americans important questions.

Like this one:  What kind of country do we want?

This is not an anti-government or pro-government campaign, nor an anti-business rant.

It’s a conversation.

Our mission is to put a face to the people who are out of work across America.

Like the three of us.

Hoover Wind

We’re not lazy; we’re educated; we have a strong work ethic; we can’t get work; and — message to Herman Cain — IT’S NOT OUR FAULT!

Let’s stop blaming each other.  Stop the name-calling.

Stop the noise that goes nowhere.

Let’s have a national conversation about what we ,the people, are doing to help we, the people, become fully employed.

We’re journalists and artists — on stage, online, and more — and we’re determined to stay positive.

We are positively determined to Get Occupied!, creating jobs in this country, one little job at a time.

We don’t have much money.

But we have enthusiasm, ideas, and lots of determination.

Hire Your Neighbor is on WordPress because it’s an international platform for sharing stories.

We’ve been using it for months to showcase our freelance work and our daily blog of thanksgiving.

We like WordPress because it has helped us connect with lively, engaged citizens across America, and all over the world.

Hire Your Neighbor will share stories of unemployment, and dispel some myths.

Myth No. 1:  It’s not 14 million out of work in America; it’s more like 25 million.

That’s the size of Texas.

(Trust me on this; I used to be a job counselor.)

Consider how much better the economy would be if the three of us and the other 24,999,997 had living wage jobs.

So, if you have an income — especially a high income — ask yourself this question after Thanksgiving dinner today:

What am I doing to help my neighbor?

Because, after all, we’re neighbors, and this historic unemployment is our collective burden.

If you’re part of Corporate America, sitting on more than $2 trillion in capital, what are you waiting for?

We really want some answers.

TOMORROW:  Hadi Dadashian, after one year of unemployment

… With thanks to Trader Joe’s, for the brown bag we recycled …