On Dec. 27, 1979, Soviet forces seized control of Afghanistan. President Hafizullah Amin, who was overthrown and executed, was replaced by Babrak Karmal.
And it went so well for the next decade....
Somehow, I feel like I am becoming a geezer. After my bike accident, I have used a cane. I feel like poking a young whipersnapper...
Monday, December 27, 2004
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Get rid of cars!
"We're having too many fatalities. The streets are too wide," said Stanton, District 6. "We need to let pedestrians know that they are welcome on our streets."
Monday, December 20, 2004
Some geezers are not too bright....
Robbery note has thief's address on back
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Call it the case of the perfect clue. A man handed a note demanding money to a teller at the Wells Fargo Bank Thursday, took the money and fled.
Left behind was the note — written on the back of a paper from the state probation and parole department, complete with the man's name on it, Deputy Police Chief Brian O'Keefe said Friday.
The 60-year-old man was soon in custody. He was on parole for bank robbery.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Call it the case of the perfect clue. A man handed a note demanding money to a teller at the Wells Fargo Bank Thursday, took the money and fled.
Left behind was the note — written on the back of a paper from the state probation and parole department, complete with the man's name on it, Deputy Police Chief Brian O'Keefe said Friday.
The 60-year-old man was soon in custody. He was on parole for bank robbery.
Friday, December 17, 2004
Bah, Humbug
Maybe we should write a different letter to Santa?
Santa at Mich. middle school cited for pot possession
HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (AP) — A man who visited a middle school dressed as Santa Claus on Thursday left with a citation for misdemeanor marijuana possession.
The 40-year-old Detroit man faces up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine after a small plastic bag of marijuana was found in the pocket of his street coat, which he left in a school restroom, Wayne County Sheriff's Department officials said.
A deputy who works at the school found the marijuana while searching the coat for identification after a teacher found it in the bathroom. The man dressed as Santa approached the deputy a short time later and identified the coat.
The man denied the pot was his. His wife, who was at the school to take pictures of Santa with the students, apparently did not know the marijuana was in her husband's coat, officials said.
"She was not happy," Lt. Paul Jones said. "It's going to be a long ride back to the North Pole."
Santa at Mich. middle school cited for pot possession
HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (AP) — A man who visited a middle school dressed as Santa Claus on Thursday left with a citation for misdemeanor marijuana possession.
The 40-year-old Detroit man faces up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine after a small plastic bag of marijuana was found in the pocket of his street coat, which he left in a school restroom, Wayne County Sheriff's Department officials said.
A deputy who works at the school found the marijuana while searching the coat for identification after a teacher found it in the bathroom. The man dressed as Santa approached the deputy a short time later and identified the coat.
The man denied the pot was his. His wife, who was at the school to take pictures of Santa with the students, apparently did not know the marijuana was in her husband's coat, officials said.
"She was not happy," Lt. Paul Jones said. "It's going to be a long ride back to the North Pole."
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Baseball and drugs
What would a geezer say about the drug news from sports? Geezer Bush says they will do something if baseball does not. I wonder if that includes cocaine testing for members of the White House staff and family?
Geezer McCain says the senate will do something if baseball does not. Of course, it was ok for his wife to cut a deal with the government when she was caught with her hand in the percodet jar. The rest of us would have gone to jail for stealing drugs from kids. She went through rehab. The pictures I have seen of her lately mnake you wonder....He will never run for President. The press would have too much fun....
Drugs have been in sports since day one. One time, people thought smokes improved performance. There are great pictures of tour de france riders smoking while they were riding. Hmmm, that test did not work well.
Steroids were first available during Babe Ruth's time. Don't you think the Babe would try them if they were availab.e Booze probably relaxed him too.
Steroids are the latest fad. Who didn't know that players were juiced. All you had to do was look at them. Does anyone care? NOOOOO
Is it a bad example to kids? Of course, but people are willing to take the risks for the rewards. Always will be, always has been. Get real, acknowledge it. Talk about risks and side affects. Get on with life.
We love our pro wrestlers. Don't tell me they are not juiced. We don't want to look at normal people playing. We like the sex of big muscles.
There are more important things to think about. Like deaths in Iraq and a hopless policy against terrorism....
Get real....
Geezer McCain says the senate will do something if baseball does not. Of course, it was ok for his wife to cut a deal with the government when she was caught with her hand in the percodet jar. The rest of us would have gone to jail for stealing drugs from kids. She went through rehab. The pictures I have seen of her lately mnake you wonder....He will never run for President. The press would have too much fun....
Drugs have been in sports since day one. One time, people thought smokes improved performance. There are great pictures of tour de france riders smoking while they were riding. Hmmm, that test did not work well.
Steroids were first available during Babe Ruth's time. Don't you think the Babe would try them if they were availab.e Booze probably relaxed him too.
Steroids are the latest fad. Who didn't know that players were juiced. All you had to do was look at them. Does anyone care? NOOOOO
Is it a bad example to kids? Of course, but people are willing to take the risks for the rewards. Always will be, always has been. Get real, acknowledge it. Talk about risks and side affects. Get on with life.
We love our pro wrestlers. Don't tell me they are not juiced. We don't want to look at normal people playing. We like the sex of big muscles.
There are more important things to think about. Like deaths in Iraq and a hopless policy against terrorism....
Get real....
Sunday, December 05, 2004
geezers are us
By The Helena IR - 12/05/04
As is often pointed out, it's difficult to make predictions — especially about the future. But there's one fact about the future that is inescapable. It will have a lot of old people in it.
A story in the business section of today's newspaper reports on a presentation made in Helena last week by Bob Morton, a consultant from Washington state who urges business people to take advantage of the quickly growing market of aging customers. Today, he said, about 14 percent of the U.S. population is 65 or older. In just 20 more years, that figure will jump to 25 percent. For businesses, it will be a different world.
But it isn't just corporations that will feel the change. Look around. Those older people are going to be us.
It is striking to realize that for 99 percent of human history, only 2 to 3 percent of any society on any continent ever reached the age of 65. In fact, two out of three humans who have ever existed and lived to reach 65 just happen to be alive today.
Credit better health care, coupled with smarter life styles, for the ballooning numbers of elderly people. Back when Social Security was invented in 1935 — a time when life expectancy was just 55 years — nobody was worried about cholesterol, and you weren't cool if you didn't smoke.
Another factor involves a declining percentage of young people. For decades in the United States and most other developed nations, the fertility rate has been below the "replacement rate" of 2.1 live births per woman of reproductive age. That means the geezer percentage will loom even larger.
Changes brought about by the graying of America will ripple throughout society. Some of them, such as the impact on Social Security and Medicare, are easy to foresee. Others are certain to surprise us.
But we can be pretty sure that one other truism will remain: Getting old is never going to be for sissies. But hey, we'll sure have a lot of company.
As is often pointed out, it's difficult to make predictions — especially about the future. But there's one fact about the future that is inescapable. It will have a lot of old people in it.
A story in the business section of today's newspaper reports on a presentation made in Helena last week by Bob Morton, a consultant from Washington state who urges business people to take advantage of the quickly growing market of aging customers. Today, he said, about 14 percent of the U.S. population is 65 or older. In just 20 more years, that figure will jump to 25 percent. For businesses, it will be a different world.
But it isn't just corporations that will feel the change. Look around. Those older people are going to be us.
It is striking to realize that for 99 percent of human history, only 2 to 3 percent of any society on any continent ever reached the age of 65. In fact, two out of three humans who have ever existed and lived to reach 65 just happen to be alive today.
Credit better health care, coupled with smarter life styles, for the ballooning numbers of elderly people. Back when Social Security was invented in 1935 — a time when life expectancy was just 55 years — nobody was worried about cholesterol, and you weren't cool if you didn't smoke.
Another factor involves a declining percentage of young people. For decades in the United States and most other developed nations, the fertility rate has been below the "replacement rate" of 2.1 live births per woman of reproductive age. That means the geezer percentage will loom even larger.
Changes brought about by the graying of America will ripple throughout society. Some of them, such as the impact on Social Security and Medicare, are easy to foresee. Others are certain to surprise us.
But we can be pretty sure that one other truism will remain: Getting old is never going to be for sissies. But hey, we'll sure have a lot of company.
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Nuts....
MARGATE· He had spent the day after Thanksgiving with his granddaughter, looking for a Christmas tree.As the sun made its way down, Robert Oris, 81, bid his granddaughter and two great-grandchildren goodbye and hopped on his baby blue bicycle to make his way home.His bicycle had become his mode of getting around, since epileptic seizures ended his driving about a year ago.But a couple of blocks from his Margate condo, Oris' journey took a fatal turn. At 6:06 p.m. on Friday while crossing Northwest 31st Street, Oris was struck by a vehicle heading north in the right lane on State Road 7.Margate police said Oris was crossing against the traffic signal from west to east, and failed to yield to a 2004 Saturn driven by Stacie Silberstein.The left front of the Saturn struck the right side of Oris' bicycle. He died as a result of the injuries he sustained, according to police.Family and neighbors remembered the retired engineer as a youthful senior who made time for his grandchildren and great-grandchildren and who could be seen around the neighborhood on his bicycle.They all said they were surprised to hear that Oris crossed against the light because he was always careful when riding. "He was always so cautious," said his neighbor Doreen Zappala.Cherie Alley, his granddaughter who dropped him off at the bus stop where he had parked his bike, said her grandfather didn't usually cross at the intersection where he was struck."He came to my house almost everyday," said Alley, of Pompano Beach. "He would push my girls on their swings for hours. He was basically their playmate."Oris moved to South Florida in 1962 and lived in Margate since the early '70s. He started as a tool and dye maker at IBM and climbed his way up the ranks to staff engineer, before retiring in 1988 after 47 years with the company.Marion, Oris' wife of 59 years, died in 2001 and shortly after he moved into Coral Gate Condominiums. His days were usually shared with his seven grandchildren and despite his age, he was very independent, Alley said."He used to ride 14 miles a day," said Alley.A viewing for Oris will be held on Monday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Jennings Funeral Home, 1801 E. Oakland Park Blvd., Fort Lauderdale. His funeral service will be held on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. at Grace Baptist Church, 501 N.E. 48th St., Pompano Beach, where he was an active member.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
And I came across the United States in a covered wagon!
Proposed changes in math don't add up
BY MIKE COHENMike Cohen, an assistant superintendent in the Amityville school district, taught math for 30 years.November 23, 2004We are the folks that everyone in high school hated - the ones who sat in the middle seat in the front row of every mathematics class. When asked for the value of pi, we immediately responded with the approximation 3.141592654, while our classmates snickered.We proudly proclaim our status as "math geeks." Someone once said that most teachers choose to teach a particular subject, but mathematics teachers receive a calling. Our passion for the power, for the beauty and for the perfection that we found in mathematics compelled us to pursue a career in which we could spread our passion to others.The sheer love of mathematics continues to energize us. What we discovered when we got in front of a classroom was that, with the exception of the present and future "math geeks" seated before us, the vast majority of those we taught could care less. Instead, we are bombarded with the eternal question, "When are we ever going to use this junk?" In most cases, we responded simply, "I don't know, but when you get to college, you'll find out!"Beginning in 1987, when the National Science Foundation ran a conference in Washington, D.C., on the improving of calculus instruction in America, a radical new idea took root - applying mathematics to the real world. For those of us in the trenches, this notion meant that we needed to retrain ourselves and, heaven forbid, learn that mathematics could be applied to all aspects of human endeavor.Fast forward to 2004. In the wake of the debacle surrounding the administration of the Mathematics A Regents in June 2003, state Education Commissioner Richard Mills asked Northport-East Northport Superintendent William Brosnan to head a committee to examine all aspects of the state's mathematics curriculum and testing program and to make specific recommendations. Well, the committee finished its well-meaning work and, to say the least, many in the mathematics community are not impressed.To put it simply, the end product seeks to take mathematics back to the days of mindless manipulation and drill and kill. If you read the 87-page document in its entirety, there are two words that you will not find: real world.What you will find is obscure geometric theorems that mathematicians don't even use and algebraic techniques that hand- held calculators carry out at the push of a button in a fraction of a second.For example, the proposed 10th-grade curriculum includes the following: "Show, justify and use the theorem that states that the point of concurrency of the medians of a triangle divides each median into segments whose lengths are in the ratio 1:2."Trust me when I tell you that not even the uber-math geek can find any applications for that chesnut.If that's not bad enough, the proposed changes require formal or informal proofs of approximately 20 additional geometric theorems. Math geeks like us love proving mathematical theorems, but any classroom veteran will tell you that the vast majority of 10-grade students hate the entire process. They simply lack the intellectual maturity to value the tediousness of this enterprise.We believe that there is both power and beauty in mathematics for its own sake, but there is even more power and beauty that derives from using mathematics to solve the kind of problems that people from all walks of life encounter every day. Shockingly, that power and beauty is sadly lacking in the proposed "improved" curriculum.In the current curriculum, students use mathematics to solve problems that arise in business, science and the social sciences. They use mathematics to model the "real world."A recent Mathematics B examination posed a question in which students were asked to use a mathematical model for the total annual profits of a clothing company projected over three years.Instead of graphing calculators, let's give the students slide rules, quill pens, parchment and candles to provide light when they do their homework.If you believe that the best way to move forward is to move backward, then you will love the "new" curriculum. No more applications of mathematics. Now, we will produce a new generation of mindless manipulators.
BY MIKE COHENMike Cohen, an assistant superintendent in the Amityville school district, taught math for 30 years.November 23, 2004We are the folks that everyone in high school hated - the ones who sat in the middle seat in the front row of every mathematics class. When asked for the value of pi, we immediately responded with the approximation 3.141592654, while our classmates snickered.We proudly proclaim our status as "math geeks." Someone once said that most teachers choose to teach a particular subject, but mathematics teachers receive a calling. Our passion for the power, for the beauty and for the perfection that we found in mathematics compelled us to pursue a career in which we could spread our passion to others.The sheer love of mathematics continues to energize us. What we discovered when we got in front of a classroom was that, with the exception of the present and future "math geeks" seated before us, the vast majority of those we taught could care less. Instead, we are bombarded with the eternal question, "When are we ever going to use this junk?" In most cases, we responded simply, "I don't know, but when you get to college, you'll find out!"Beginning in 1987, when the National Science Foundation ran a conference in Washington, D.C., on the improving of calculus instruction in America, a radical new idea took root - applying mathematics to the real world. For those of us in the trenches, this notion meant that we needed to retrain ourselves and, heaven forbid, learn that mathematics could be applied to all aspects of human endeavor.Fast forward to 2004. In the wake of the debacle surrounding the administration of the Mathematics A Regents in June 2003, state Education Commissioner Richard Mills asked Northport-East Northport Superintendent William Brosnan to head a committee to examine all aspects of the state's mathematics curriculum and testing program and to make specific recommendations. Well, the committee finished its well-meaning work and, to say the least, many in the mathematics community are not impressed.To put it simply, the end product seeks to take mathematics back to the days of mindless manipulation and drill and kill. If you read the 87-page document in its entirety, there are two words that you will not find: real world.What you will find is obscure geometric theorems that mathematicians don't even use and algebraic techniques that hand- held calculators carry out at the push of a button in a fraction of a second.For example, the proposed 10th-grade curriculum includes the following: "Show, justify and use the theorem that states that the point of concurrency of the medians of a triangle divides each median into segments whose lengths are in the ratio 1:2."Trust me when I tell you that not even the uber-math geek can find any applications for that chesnut.If that's not bad enough, the proposed changes require formal or informal proofs of approximately 20 additional geometric theorems. Math geeks like us love proving mathematical theorems, but any classroom veteran will tell you that the vast majority of 10-grade students hate the entire process. They simply lack the intellectual maturity to value the tediousness of this enterprise.We believe that there is both power and beauty in mathematics for its own sake, but there is even more power and beauty that derives from using mathematics to solve the kind of problems that people from all walks of life encounter every day. Shockingly, that power and beauty is sadly lacking in the proposed "improved" curriculum.In the current curriculum, students use mathematics to solve problems that arise in business, science and the social sciences. They use mathematics to model the "real world."A recent Mathematics B examination posed a question in which students were asked to use a mathematical model for the total annual profits of a clothing company projected over three years.Instead of graphing calculators, let's give the students slide rules, quill pens, parchment and candles to provide light when they do their homework.If you believe that the best way to move forward is to move backward, then you will love the "new" curriculum. No more applications of mathematics. Now, we will produce a new generation of mindless manipulators.
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Really old geezers
I don't remember some of this, but I am not old enough yet. Don't remember wwII. Don't worry about cursing in front of a woman....hell, they can curse worse than us!
At sporting events during the playing of the national anthem, old geezers hold their caps over their hearts and sing without embarrassment. They know the words and believe in them. Old geezers remember Word War II -- Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Normandy and Adolf Hitler. They remember the atomic age, the Cold War, the jet age, the moon landing and Vietnam.If you bump into an old geezer, he will apologize. He will nod or tip his hat to a lady. Geezers trust strangers and are courtly to women. They hold the door for the next person, and always, when walking, make certain the lady is on the inside. Geezers get embarrassed if someone curses in front of women and children. And geezers seldom brag, unless it's about their grandchildren.
Old geezers know our great country is protected not by politicians or police, but by the young men and women in the military. More than ever, this country needs geezers with their decent values.Marion Thiel
At sporting events during the playing of the national anthem, old geezers hold their caps over their hearts and sing without embarrassment. They know the words and believe in them. Old geezers remember Word War II -- Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Normandy and Adolf Hitler. They remember the atomic age, the Cold War, the jet age, the moon landing and Vietnam.If you bump into an old geezer, he will apologize. He will nod or tip his hat to a lady. Geezers trust strangers and are courtly to women. They hold the door for the next person, and always, when walking, make certain the lady is on the inside. Geezers get embarrassed if someone curses in front of women and children. And geezers seldom brag, unless it's about their grandchildren.
Old geezers know our great country is protected not by politicians or police, but by the young men and women in the military. More than ever, this country needs geezers with their decent values.Marion Thiel
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
It is a JOKE!
ABC Puts N.F.L. in 'Desperate' SituationBy The National Football League, still chastened by the "wardrobe malfunction" that exposed Janet Jackson's right breast during the Super Bowl halftime show on CBS in February, was stunned Monday night by another incident, this one on ABC.
In the scripted introduction to "Monday Night Football," Nicollette Sheridan, who portrays the serial divorcée Edie Britt on the popular ABC series "Desperate Housewives," wore only a towel as she flirted with Philadelphia Eagles receiver Terrell Owens in an otherwise empty locker room. After asking Owens to miss the game, Sheridan dropped the towel; the camera showed her upper body from behind. Owens, smiling broadly, said the Eagles would have to win without him, and Sheridan leapt into his arms.
Yesterday, a league spokesman called the sketch "inappropriate and unsuitable for our 'Monday Night Football' audience," and the league office expressed its displeasure to ABC executives. ABC Sports apologized, saying in a statement, "We agree that the placement was inappropriate."
The N.F.L. said it had received dozens of calls and hundreds of e-mail messages in complaint. ABC said it also received complaints.
ABC Sports tapes an introduction to "Monday Night Football" each week, but the N.F.L. does not see it before the broadcast and does not have approval privileges. The introductions occasionally feature stars of ABC's prime-time shows, but the network's entertainment division did not request any cross-promotion for "Desperate Housewives."
The decision by ABC Sports to produce a racy introduction is curious for several reasons. The network is clearly aware of the N.F.L.'s sensitivities in the wake of the Jackson incident. It announced before the season that it would use a five-second delay in its football broadcasts to avoid any embarrassments.
"Desperate Housewives" needs no promotion; it is one of the top-rated shows on television. But ABC may have been looking for ways to increase the "Monday Night Football" ratings. It is the only broadcast network still negotiating for rights to N.F.L. games, and some executives speculate that ABC loses $170 million a year on Monday night games. CBS and Fox completed their long-term television deals with the league last week, but the prime-time and cable packages currently held by the Walt Disney Company for ABC and ESPN were left unresolved.
The Philadelphia Eagles released a statement that said: "We appreciate that ABC has taken responsibility and has apologized for the opening to 'Monday Night Football.' It is normal for teams to cooperate with ABC in the development of an opening for its broadcast. After seeing the final piece, we wish it hadn't aired."
The Eagles declined to say whether they knew about the content of the introduction before it was shown and whether it was taped in their locker room. Philadelphia won the game against Dallas, 49-21; Owens caught three touchdown passes.
As a result of the incident at the Super Bowl, in which Justin Timberlake tore away part of Jackson's costume and exposed her breast, the Federal Communications Commission fined the CBS division of Viacom $550,000, or $27,500 against each of the 20 stations CBS owns and operates. It was the largest fine ever levied against a television company.
Paul Tagliabue, the N.F.L. commissioner, told the House subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet in February that he had been "deeply embarrassed" by the halftime show, adding, "It happened under our operation and we take responsibility for it.''
In the scripted introduction to "Monday Night Football," Nicollette Sheridan, who portrays the serial divorcée Edie Britt on the popular ABC series "Desperate Housewives," wore only a towel as she flirted with Philadelphia Eagles receiver Terrell Owens in an otherwise empty locker room. After asking Owens to miss the game, Sheridan dropped the towel; the camera showed her upper body from behind. Owens, smiling broadly, said the Eagles would have to win without him, and Sheridan leapt into his arms.
Yesterday, a league spokesman called the sketch "inappropriate and unsuitable for our 'Monday Night Football' audience," and the league office expressed its displeasure to ABC executives. ABC Sports apologized, saying in a statement, "We agree that the placement was inappropriate."
The N.F.L. said it had received dozens of calls and hundreds of e-mail messages in complaint. ABC said it also received complaints.
ABC Sports tapes an introduction to "Monday Night Football" each week, but the N.F.L. does not see it before the broadcast and does not have approval privileges. The introductions occasionally feature stars of ABC's prime-time shows, but the network's entertainment division did not request any cross-promotion for "Desperate Housewives."
The decision by ABC Sports to produce a racy introduction is curious for several reasons. The network is clearly aware of the N.F.L.'s sensitivities in the wake of the Jackson incident. It announced before the season that it would use a five-second delay in its football broadcasts to avoid any embarrassments.
"Desperate Housewives" needs no promotion; it is one of the top-rated shows on television. But ABC may have been looking for ways to increase the "Monday Night Football" ratings. It is the only broadcast network still negotiating for rights to N.F.L. games, and some executives speculate that ABC loses $170 million a year on Monday night games. CBS and Fox completed their long-term television deals with the league last week, but the prime-time and cable packages currently held by the Walt Disney Company for ABC and ESPN were left unresolved.
The Philadelphia Eagles released a statement that said: "We appreciate that ABC has taken responsibility and has apologized for the opening to 'Monday Night Football.' It is normal for teams to cooperate with ABC in the development of an opening for its broadcast. After seeing the final piece, we wish it hadn't aired."
The Eagles declined to say whether they knew about the content of the introduction before it was shown and whether it was taped in their locker room. Philadelphia won the game against Dallas, 49-21; Owens caught three touchdown passes.
As a result of the incident at the Super Bowl, in which Justin Timberlake tore away part of Jackson's costume and exposed her breast, the Federal Communications Commission fined the CBS division of Viacom $550,000, or $27,500 against each of the 20 stations CBS owns and operates. It was the largest fine ever levied against a television company.
Paul Tagliabue, the N.F.L. commissioner, told the House subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet in February that he had been "deeply embarrassed" by the halftime show, adding, "It happened under our operation and we take responsibility for it.''
I always push when I am expelling methane gas!
A real headline from the NY Times:
U.S. and 13 Other States Agree on Push to Gather Methane Gas
U.S. and 13 Other States Agree on Push to Gather Methane Gas
Sunday, November 14, 2004
Ya should be happy to get a kiss!
By JOHN CARLSON
Recently, a younger co-worker of mine witnessed a traumatic spectacle.
Old people kissing.
After describing it in graphic detail, she shuddered and turned away in horror, as if she'd just seen an asphalt-roller driver - perhaps one paving a petting zoo's parking lot - accidentally back over Quackerville.
She was ruined for life.
I sympathized, of course, but after listening to her tale, I thought it needed clarification on a couple important points.
First, the kissers weren't really old people.
They were, like, in their 50s, which to my way of thinking means they were just a couple of kids.
Younger people don't realize that, as one ages, one's age-related ideas of sexual attractiveness and appropriate behavior automatically adjust with it.
For example, I am certain that when my buddies and I are in our 90's, we will be sitting around the rest home elbowing each other and whispering things like, "Whoa! Check out that hottie in the skimpy pink slippers!"
On the other hand, I suppose it is possible for kissers of any age to go beyond the bounds of propriety.
A kiss, after all, is an innocent little peck, or maybe even a smooch, or perhaps something more intense.
But what she described was the sort of tooth-mashing, tonsil-throttling, full-contact lips-and-gums assault more accurately described as "sucking face."
Even that might be acceptable up to a point, I suppose.
However, I can see my friend's point, too.
Sucking face is not the sort of intense physical interaction a young woman her age wants to witness between people who buy their Metamucil in six-packs.
Frankly, I wouldn't endorse it either, except under extraordinarily special circumstances, such as being reunited with a loved one after a long and painful separation, or your spouse buying you a bass boat.
Then I could see the passionate embrace, the longing look, the frantically muttered "I love you! I love you! I love you!" until, finally, the magic moment was forever sealed with a deep, long, soul-searching kiss that promises "We shall never be apart, my darling, never, ever, ever."
With your boat, I mean.
But regardless of age, this must be done with a full understanding of the potential consequences.
Youngsters?
Their braces could snag.
On the other hand, an oldster's fast-setting Super Poligrip could mix with his lady friend's fast-setting Super Poligrip and, when they pull away for a gulp of air, both sets of dentures come flying out of their mouths between them.
Of course, then they are going to have to break their embrace to catch their now-cemented dentures in mid-air, grab them by either end and pry them apart, hope they got the right set, then yank them back out of their mouths and trade if they didn't.
This could possibly take some of the romance out of being an older couple in love.
Recently, a younger co-worker of mine witnessed a traumatic spectacle.
Old people kissing.
After describing it in graphic detail, she shuddered and turned away in horror, as if she'd just seen an asphalt-roller driver - perhaps one paving a petting zoo's parking lot - accidentally back over Quackerville.
She was ruined for life.
I sympathized, of course, but after listening to her tale, I thought it needed clarification on a couple important points.
First, the kissers weren't really old people.
They were, like, in their 50s, which to my way of thinking means they were just a couple of kids.
Younger people don't realize that, as one ages, one's age-related ideas of sexual attractiveness and appropriate behavior automatically adjust with it.
For example, I am certain that when my buddies and I are in our 90's, we will be sitting around the rest home elbowing each other and whispering things like, "Whoa! Check out that hottie in the skimpy pink slippers!"
On the other hand, I suppose it is possible for kissers of any age to go beyond the bounds of propriety.
A kiss, after all, is an innocent little peck, or maybe even a smooch, or perhaps something more intense.
But what she described was the sort of tooth-mashing, tonsil-throttling, full-contact lips-and-gums assault more accurately described as "sucking face."
Even that might be acceptable up to a point, I suppose.
However, I can see my friend's point, too.
Sucking face is not the sort of intense physical interaction a young woman her age wants to witness between people who buy their Metamucil in six-packs.
Frankly, I wouldn't endorse it either, except under extraordinarily special circumstances, such as being reunited with a loved one after a long and painful separation, or your spouse buying you a bass boat.
Then I could see the passionate embrace, the longing look, the frantically muttered "I love you! I love you! I love you!" until, finally, the magic moment was forever sealed with a deep, long, soul-searching kiss that promises "We shall never be apart, my darling, never, ever, ever."
With your boat, I mean.
But regardless of age, this must be done with a full understanding of the potential consequences.
Youngsters?
Their braces could snag.
On the other hand, an oldster's fast-setting Super Poligrip could mix with his lady friend's fast-setting Super Poligrip and, when they pull away for a gulp of air, both sets of dentures come flying out of their mouths between them.
Of course, then they are going to have to break their embrace to catch their now-cemented dentures in mid-air, grab them by either end and pry them apart, hope they got the right set, then yank them back out of their mouths and trade if they didn't.
This could possibly take some of the romance out of being an older couple in love.
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Carbon Monoxide
I remember this guy. Very good with horses. It is strange, I know several people from Richland Center who have been killed by carbon monoxide. Do we get complacent around our heating?
Robert Nevel, 71, a trainer at Maywood Park Racetrack, died this week from carbon monoxide poisoning.
The death occurred when a propane tank was not properly connected inside the trailer where he slept at the track reported the Chiacgo Tribune on Friday (November 12).
An autopsy confirmed the poisoning and the death was ruled accidental the medical examiner’s office reported.
Nevel, from Richland Center, Wisconsin, was a school teacher for 27 years at Ithaca High School. He had trained horses for 40 years.
A trotter he owned and trained, Big Spiel, finished third at Maywood on Monday night.
Robert Nevel, 71, a trainer at Maywood Park Racetrack, died this week from carbon monoxide poisoning.
The death occurred when a propane tank was not properly connected inside the trailer where he slept at the track reported the Chiacgo Tribune on Friday (November 12).
An autopsy confirmed the poisoning and the death was ruled accidental the medical examiner’s office reported.
Nevel, from Richland Center, Wisconsin, was a school teacher for 27 years at Ithaca High School. He had trained horses for 40 years.
A trotter he owned and trained, Big Spiel, finished third at Maywood on Monday night.
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
His resignation DOES make me feel safer!
"The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved."
- JOHN ASHCROFT, the attorney general, in his resignation letter.
SO BRING THE TROOPS HOME!
- JOHN ASHCROFT, the attorney general, in his resignation letter.
SO BRING THE TROOPS HOME!
Monday, November 08, 2004
Why he won....
'Why do they bother?'
Will Walden covered this year's race for the White House alongside the BBC's Washington correspondent Matt Frei. Over the final month of the campaign they followed President George W Bush across America, visiting 25 cities across seven states in 28 days.
"Why do they bother? And why do we?" BBC cameraman Jason Ellson implored me.
I had to confess I had no answer. We had slept for under three hours. I had actually paid the hotel bill when we arrived and we'd been on the road to Wilmington for 45 minutes without exchanging so much as a word.
For once Matt and Ron Skeans, our other cameraman, had managed a lie in.
Of course there was something of the jaded cynic in both Jason's question and my failure to respond.
We had, naturally, seen too much of him, George that is. The old stump speech was just that - old.
And all four of us could do every line - inflection and nuance included.
My particular favourite - the Laura line - "The most important reason to re-elect me is so that Laura can be your First Lady for four more years" - always got a laugh from us, because no matter how many times he said it, it got a big roar of approval from them.
And still I had no answer.
'You know where I stand'
And then there it was - on the final morning of the campaign, on the road to Wilmington, Ohio - a pre-dawn revelation at the corner of Hunter Drive.
In that instant, I knew why. And I knew deep down why that why was about to return George W Bush to the White House.
Red brake lights bumper to bumper for miles ahead. "Because they care," I told Jason.
The most important reason to re-elect me is so that Laura can be your First Lady for four more years President George W Bush
On that corner, and in that freezing aircraft hanger where Bush swept in on Marine One, and in the streets of small-town America we met Republicans yes, but we also met the undecided, the independents, even the "Bush" Democrat.
And every one had the same explanation - they were voting for Bush because he was their president, running their country, in a time of war.
Nothing more, nothing less. Why rock that boat?
Americans revere the office, not the man, but in choosing the man, they want someone who befits the office, and in a time of war that office befitted George W Bush best.
So as the president himself often said: "You may not like what I stand for, but at least you know where I stand."
True of Iraq, true of national security, true of those much-talked about moral values.
He had a position, he stuck to it, and yes, it made him, on occasion, appear to some as stubborn or even arrogant. But it also made him appear strong.
And when it comes to "us and them" America will, it seems, always choose strong.
The 'wow' factor
There are of course more complicated reasons. There had never been a post-9/11 election before, because there had never been a 9/11.
Bush can be engaging, charming, even witty. Kerry, more often than not, was none of these.
And then there was the brilliantly played 'Rove hand', dealt by Bush's chief planner Karl Rove.
The Rove/Bush doctrine of the three Fs - Family, Faith and Flag - hit home, where it mattered most, in heartland America.
Fear that the three Fs would be eroded under John Kerry was enough to mobilise millions of evangelical Christians who hadn't voted in 2000.
Wherever we travelled, one line more than any other brought the biggest cheer of the night.
The one about family values brought conservative America to its feet and sent them home happy in the knowledge that Dubya was the guardian of their moral, as well as their physical, security.
And then there was the simple fact that the president looked presidential. However hard you tried, you simply couldn't help feeling 'wow'.
I remember travelling to New Hampshire with Laura Bush. In her motorcade, on her plane, close enough to talk to her.
Which we did, and yes she's as normal as she seems. It made me think: "If I'm impressed what must these small town folk think of it all?"
Passionate, but stage-managed
Folk in places like Richland Center in Wisconsin. Five thousand strong, a remote windswept town on Highway 14 West.
Bush arrived on a rainy Wednesday lunchtime. So did the entire town.
He'd come because he had too, he needed the votes, they'd come because they wanted to...because the president was visiting.
One woman in the line, a teacher at the High School, told us she'd encouraged all her pupils to "come visit the President", that it was "such an honour he was bothering with Richland Center".
Matt asked her if she'd be voting for Bush. "Probably not," she replied. Later on, watching her watch him, I wasn't so sure.
Of course much of the campaign was aggressively stage managed. The die-hard were bussed in from miles around.
"Bombard them enough and eventually the message sticks," was how one junior aide described it.
The warm-up acts at these set-piece rallies were often a mix of celebrity, politician, or minister. Invariably, they involved a prayer, a pledge, a stirring rendition of the anthem.
But they were also about the ordinary American. The small-business owner, worried about being taxed out of existence by those "nasty" Democrats.
Or the mum, who, regardless of her husband's recent redundancy, apparently shared the president's views on family, stem cell research, partial birth abortion, the sanctity of marriage. Clever stuff.
Not once did we face the "Blair moment" - the type of moment where mid-speech the speaker is interrupted by a small but vocal group of protesters. The secret service would never have allowed it.
And besides, you couldn't help but feel the Republicans had vetted everyone days ahead of time.
Yes, people really did care about all this. That, more than anything, was the most encouraging thing about this election.
'Very heated, very quickly'
I was transfixed by the response of thousands of students at the University of Miami, site of the opening presidential debate. For 90 minutes no-one went to the bar, no-one talked, no-one lurched drunkenly across campus.
They just concentrated really hard on the big screens in front of them. They chuckled when Bush mangled the odd sentence, whooped when Kerry and flip-flop appeared in the same sentence, applauded when the candidates found the right tone.
And afterwards, these kids stood in line to talk to the television cameras, and what they said was both informed and eloquent.
And yes we found division, everywhere we went.
In Boulder, Colorado, we met Steve and Susan Kremm and their two sons, Democrats who couldn't quite believe Bush was their president.
"You just can't talk about this election without it getting heated, very heated, very quickly," Susan told us.
"How can the American public be so stupid", lamented Steve, "To swallow that line about Iraq being a threat, it's a disgrace!"
Just 100 miles south, in Colorado Springs, we met Chuck and Vicky Broerman and their four girls.
Staunch Catholics who admired the president. A strong leader, a man of conviction, a man of family.
"It's the future of the world at stake," Vicky told us. "And only George Bush knows how to defend us, and keep us safe."
Chuck, Vicky and the girls won the day, along with 59 million others. Nearly 56 million saw it differently.
Will George W Bush reach out to them? He says he wants to. Whether they want him to - well, that's another story.
Will Walden covered this year's race for the White House alongside the BBC's Washington correspondent Matt Frei. Over the final month of the campaign they followed President George W Bush across America, visiting 25 cities across seven states in 28 days.
"Why do they bother? And why do we?" BBC cameraman Jason Ellson implored me.
I had to confess I had no answer. We had slept for under three hours. I had actually paid the hotel bill when we arrived and we'd been on the road to Wilmington for 45 minutes without exchanging so much as a word.
For once Matt and Ron Skeans, our other cameraman, had managed a lie in.
Of course there was something of the jaded cynic in both Jason's question and my failure to respond.
We had, naturally, seen too much of him, George that is. The old stump speech was just that - old.
And all four of us could do every line - inflection and nuance included.
My particular favourite - the Laura line - "The most important reason to re-elect me is so that Laura can be your First Lady for four more years" - always got a laugh from us, because no matter how many times he said it, it got a big roar of approval from them.
And still I had no answer.
'You know where I stand'
And then there it was - on the final morning of the campaign, on the road to Wilmington, Ohio - a pre-dawn revelation at the corner of Hunter Drive.
In that instant, I knew why. And I knew deep down why that why was about to return George W Bush to the White House.
Red brake lights bumper to bumper for miles ahead. "Because they care," I told Jason.
The most important reason to re-elect me is so that Laura can be your First Lady for four more years President George W Bush
On that corner, and in that freezing aircraft hanger where Bush swept in on Marine One, and in the streets of small-town America we met Republicans yes, but we also met the undecided, the independents, even the "Bush" Democrat.
And every one had the same explanation - they were voting for Bush because he was their president, running their country, in a time of war.
Nothing more, nothing less. Why rock that boat?
Americans revere the office, not the man, but in choosing the man, they want someone who befits the office, and in a time of war that office befitted George W Bush best.
So as the president himself often said: "You may not like what I stand for, but at least you know where I stand."
True of Iraq, true of national security, true of those much-talked about moral values.
He had a position, he stuck to it, and yes, it made him, on occasion, appear to some as stubborn or even arrogant. But it also made him appear strong.
And when it comes to "us and them" America will, it seems, always choose strong.
The 'wow' factor
There are of course more complicated reasons. There had never been a post-9/11 election before, because there had never been a 9/11.
Bush can be engaging, charming, even witty. Kerry, more often than not, was none of these.
And then there was the brilliantly played 'Rove hand', dealt by Bush's chief planner Karl Rove.
The Rove/Bush doctrine of the three Fs - Family, Faith and Flag - hit home, where it mattered most, in heartland America.
Fear that the three Fs would be eroded under John Kerry was enough to mobilise millions of evangelical Christians who hadn't voted in 2000.
Wherever we travelled, one line more than any other brought the biggest cheer of the night.
The one about family values brought conservative America to its feet and sent them home happy in the knowledge that Dubya was the guardian of their moral, as well as their physical, security.
And then there was the simple fact that the president looked presidential. However hard you tried, you simply couldn't help feeling 'wow'.
I remember travelling to New Hampshire with Laura Bush. In her motorcade, on her plane, close enough to talk to her.
Which we did, and yes she's as normal as she seems. It made me think: "If I'm impressed what must these small town folk think of it all?"
Passionate, but stage-managed
Folk in places like Richland Center in Wisconsin. Five thousand strong, a remote windswept town on Highway 14 West.
Bush arrived on a rainy Wednesday lunchtime. So did the entire town.
He'd come because he had too, he needed the votes, they'd come because they wanted to...because the president was visiting.
One woman in the line, a teacher at the High School, told us she'd encouraged all her pupils to "come visit the President", that it was "such an honour he was bothering with Richland Center".
Matt asked her if she'd be voting for Bush. "Probably not," she replied. Later on, watching her watch him, I wasn't so sure.
Of course much of the campaign was aggressively stage managed. The die-hard were bussed in from miles around.
"Bombard them enough and eventually the message sticks," was how one junior aide described it.
The warm-up acts at these set-piece rallies were often a mix of celebrity, politician, or minister. Invariably, they involved a prayer, a pledge, a stirring rendition of the anthem.
But they were also about the ordinary American. The small-business owner, worried about being taxed out of existence by those "nasty" Democrats.
Or the mum, who, regardless of her husband's recent redundancy, apparently shared the president's views on family, stem cell research, partial birth abortion, the sanctity of marriage. Clever stuff.
Not once did we face the "Blair moment" - the type of moment where mid-speech the speaker is interrupted by a small but vocal group of protesters. The secret service would never have allowed it.
And besides, you couldn't help but feel the Republicans had vetted everyone days ahead of time.
Yes, people really did care about all this. That, more than anything, was the most encouraging thing about this election.
'Very heated, very quickly'
I was transfixed by the response of thousands of students at the University of Miami, site of the opening presidential debate. For 90 minutes no-one went to the bar, no-one talked, no-one lurched drunkenly across campus.
They just concentrated really hard on the big screens in front of them. They chuckled when Bush mangled the odd sentence, whooped when Kerry and flip-flop appeared in the same sentence, applauded when the candidates found the right tone.
And afterwards, these kids stood in line to talk to the television cameras, and what they said was both informed and eloquent.
And yes we found division, everywhere we went.
In Boulder, Colorado, we met Steve and Susan Kremm and their two sons, Democrats who couldn't quite believe Bush was their president.
"You just can't talk about this election without it getting heated, very heated, very quickly," Susan told us.
"How can the American public be so stupid", lamented Steve, "To swallow that line about Iraq being a threat, it's a disgrace!"
Just 100 miles south, in Colorado Springs, we met Chuck and Vicky Broerman and their four girls.
Staunch Catholics who admired the president. A strong leader, a man of conviction, a man of family.
"It's the future of the world at stake," Vicky told us. "And only George Bush knows how to defend us, and keep us safe."
Chuck, Vicky and the girls won the day, along with 59 million others. Nearly 56 million saw it differently.
Will George W Bush reach out to them? He says he wants to. Whether they want him to - well, that's another story.
Don't want any Presidential stains on a blue dress!
"The big danger is one of hubris. There's a tendency after you win your second term to think you're invulnerable. You're not just king of the mountain, you've mastered the mountain. That can often lead to mistakes of excessive pride."
- DAVID R. GERGEN, former presidential adviser.
- DAVID R. GERGEN, former presidential adviser.
Monday, November 01, 2004
Dick Cheney in Phoenix
So, we went to a fall league game on Saturday afternoon. There is a guy there that is the spitting image of dick cheney. I point him out to my wife and say the dick is hiding in Phoenix. She says he would not carry his own briefcase. Well, I said he would if they contained the nuclear codes!
Anyway, the guy comes by us. I ask "Are you Dick Cheney?" He looks at me and says, "Go fuck yourself."
Wife had to admit it probably was the Vice President.....
Anyway, the guy comes by us. I ask "Are you Dick Cheney?" He looks at me and says, "Go fuck yourself."
Wife had to admit it probably was the Vice President.....
Proudly wearing my Packer tie today!
Redskins lose, so Kerry should win
MANCHESTER, N.H. — John Kerry supporters got a welcome omen for their candidate on Sunday: The Green Bay Packers defeated the Washington Redskins.
If history holds, the 28-14 score portends a victory for Kerry on Tuesday because the result of the Redskins' final home game before the presidential election has always accurately predicted the White House winner.
If the Redskins win, the incumbent party wins. If they lose, the incumbent party is ousted.
"Oh, yeah, he's going to win. It's guaranteed," said Packers safety Darren Sharper, a Kerry supporter. "I don't have to vote now. Don't even have to go to the polls. Saved me a trip on Tuesday."
The Democratic candidate, who describes himself as superstitious and carries a lucky buckeye, cheered the omen.
"I couldn't be more thrilled with the Packers win today," Kerry said. "The Packers have done their part. This Tuesday, we'll do ours."
President Bush's campaign pointed to an equally nonscientific prediction of their victory.
"Weekly Reader!" said Bush strategist Karl Rove, referring to a mock election held by the Weekly Reader, a Stamford, Conn.-based national schoolroom newspaper, in which Bush handily beat Kerry.
The streak began in 1933, when the Boston Braves were renamed the Redskins. Since then, beginning with Franklin Roosevelt's re-election in 1936, the trend has held, including a 2000 Redskins loss to the Tennessee Titans that predicted George W. Bush's win over Al Gore.
MANCHESTER, N.H. — John Kerry supporters got a welcome omen for their candidate on Sunday: The Green Bay Packers defeated the Washington Redskins.
If history holds, the 28-14 score portends a victory for Kerry on Tuesday because the result of the Redskins' final home game before the presidential election has always accurately predicted the White House winner.
If the Redskins win, the incumbent party wins. If they lose, the incumbent party is ousted.
"Oh, yeah, he's going to win. It's guaranteed," said Packers safety Darren Sharper, a Kerry supporter. "I don't have to vote now. Don't even have to go to the polls. Saved me a trip on Tuesday."
The Democratic candidate, who describes himself as superstitious and carries a lucky buckeye, cheered the omen.
"I couldn't be more thrilled with the Packers win today," Kerry said. "The Packers have done their part. This Tuesday, we'll do ours."
President Bush's campaign pointed to an equally nonscientific prediction of their victory.
"Weekly Reader!" said Bush strategist Karl Rove, referring to a mock election held by the Weekly Reader, a Stamford, Conn.-based national schoolroom newspaper, in which Bush handily beat Kerry.
The streak began in 1933, when the Boston Braves were renamed the Redskins. Since then, beginning with Franklin Roosevelt's re-election in 1936, the trend has held, including a 2000 Redskins loss to the Tennessee Titans that predicted George W. Bush's win over Al Gore.
Friday, October 29, 2004
Typical Richland Center
This is pretty typical for Richland Center. I would probably been outside protesting if I still lived there. Probably got a visit from the FBI before the presidential visit just to warn me to be good. They always did that yearly for me, just because I was the editor of the campus newspaper years ago. I would like to get my gov file sometime to see what they wrote about me. I remember telling an FBI agent to go fuck himself once when he came to visit. I was a bit worried they would shot me. The guy turned beet red, but then he left.....
Published on Thursday, October 28, 2004 by the Capital Times / Madison, Wisconsin
King George Abuses 1st Amendment
by John Nichols
The true American revolutionaries - Tom Jefferson, Tom Paine and their kind - always argued that the rebellion against King George III was unfinished business. Jefferson went so far as to suggest that the tree of liberty would need to be watered every 20 years or so with the blood of patriots.
When another King George brought his royal tour to southwestern Wisconsin Tuesday, high school students in Richland Center got a powerful lesson regarding the difficulty of stamping out the regal impulse in the lesser leaders of our age.
The Bush-Cheney campaign rented the local high school and applied the divine right of kings - or at least one ill-prepared and inarticulate boy king - to what had been a public school. Richland Center students were informed that they could attend the audience with His Highness only if they donned approved apparel: a Bush for President T-shirt or so-called "neutral clothing." What they could not wear was any clothing that promoted the cause of any dissenter to the rule of King George.
If they showed up dressed inappropriately, students were warned, they would be removed from what was perhaps the biggest-ever event at their school.
What could justify such an abuse of the First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and assembly? The principal of Richland Center High School - whose boss, the superintendent of schools for the city, is the wife of Republican congressional candidate Dale Schultz - had no problem eliminating a few basic liberties because, as he put it, students were being given a rare opportunity to spend time in the presence of their king, er, president. The principal needs to review a few American history books.
The American Revolution was fought, in Paine's words, to "establish a new social order." Central to that new order's philosophy of being was the notion that every American must be endowed, as Jefferson explained, with "the free right to the unbounded exercise of reason and freedom of opinion."
That right was denied in Richland Center by the Bush campaign and school officials who do not understand or respect the ideals that inspired the American revolution against King George - who Paine dismissed as the "Royal Brute" - and against the warped values that claimed God wanted power to pass from a wealthy and privileged father to a wealthy and privileged son.
Unfortunately, this was not the first time that the Bill of Rights was torn up to make way for a royal visit to Wisconsin by the current King George. During previous regal tours of Wisconsin, a man who held up an anti-Bush sign as His Highness passed was arrested in Platteville, peaceful demonstrators were denied access to a space they had reserved in La Crosse because there was an outside chance that their objections might momentarily be seen or heard by the visiting king, and an Outagamie County official was hustled out of a royal rally in Ashwaubenon because he was wearing a T-shirt that mentioned the name of a foe of the boy king.
This King George is no more open to dissent than the previous King George.
What to do?
The last Royal Brute's excesses inspired Tom Jefferson to argue "that whenever any form of government becomes destructive to (the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness), it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government ..."
In light of the current Royal Brute's excesses, it would seem only appropriate Tuesday to water the tree of liberty with - if not the blood of patriots - then certainly their votes.
Published on Thursday, October 28, 2004 by the Capital Times / Madison, Wisconsin
King George Abuses 1st Amendment
by John Nichols
The true American revolutionaries - Tom Jefferson, Tom Paine and their kind - always argued that the rebellion against King George III was unfinished business. Jefferson went so far as to suggest that the tree of liberty would need to be watered every 20 years or so with the blood of patriots.
When another King George brought his royal tour to southwestern Wisconsin Tuesday, high school students in Richland Center got a powerful lesson regarding the difficulty of stamping out the regal impulse in the lesser leaders of our age.
The Bush-Cheney campaign rented the local high school and applied the divine right of kings - or at least one ill-prepared and inarticulate boy king - to what had been a public school. Richland Center students were informed that they could attend the audience with His Highness only if they donned approved apparel: a Bush for President T-shirt or so-called "neutral clothing." What they could not wear was any clothing that promoted the cause of any dissenter to the rule of King George.
If they showed up dressed inappropriately, students were warned, they would be removed from what was perhaps the biggest-ever event at their school.
What could justify such an abuse of the First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and assembly? The principal of Richland Center High School - whose boss, the superintendent of schools for the city, is the wife of Republican congressional candidate Dale Schultz - had no problem eliminating a few basic liberties because, as he put it, students were being given a rare opportunity to spend time in the presence of their king, er, president. The principal needs to review a few American history books.
The American Revolution was fought, in Paine's words, to "establish a new social order." Central to that new order's philosophy of being was the notion that every American must be endowed, as Jefferson explained, with "the free right to the unbounded exercise of reason and freedom of opinion."
That right was denied in Richland Center by the Bush campaign and school officials who do not understand or respect the ideals that inspired the American revolution against King George - who Paine dismissed as the "Royal Brute" - and against the warped values that claimed God wanted power to pass from a wealthy and privileged father to a wealthy and privileged son.
Unfortunately, this was not the first time that the Bill of Rights was torn up to make way for a royal visit to Wisconsin by the current King George. During previous regal tours of Wisconsin, a man who held up an anti-Bush sign as His Highness passed was arrested in Platteville, peaceful demonstrators were denied access to a space they had reserved in La Crosse because there was an outside chance that their objections might momentarily be seen or heard by the visiting king, and an Outagamie County official was hustled out of a royal rally in Ashwaubenon because he was wearing a T-shirt that mentioned the name of a foe of the boy king.
This King George is no more open to dissent than the previous King George.
What to do?
The last Royal Brute's excesses inspired Tom Jefferson to argue "that whenever any form of government becomes destructive to (the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness), it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government ..."
In light of the current Royal Brute's excesses, it would seem only appropriate Tuesday to water the tree of liberty with - if not the blood of patriots - then certainly their votes.
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
More Richland Center
I know Jim Greeley.
Bush makes up for slight of small Wisconsin town
RICHLAND CENTER, Wis. — Sometimes running for president means giving serious speeches to cheering crowds at big rallies. Sometimes it means hanging out in a fragrant barn and visiting a tiny town to atone for a slight.
President Bush had the second sort of day Tuesday.
He rode a bus across Wisconsin and into Iowa, gave three speeches, talked about his economic policies and attacked Sen. John Kerry. But his quest for Wisconsin's 10 Electoral College votes also provided some moments that were unusual in the final week of a presidential campaign.
The first came in early morning, when his cavalcade stopped nearby at the side of County Road EE, where a few dozen supporters were gathered at John and Connie Turgasen's dairy farm. Bush made the obligatory tour of the Turgasens' white barn, where Holsteins were on duty in their stanchions, before posing for photos with four generations of Turgasens.
It wasn't merely a social call. Photos and video footage of Bush looking comfortable in the workaday milieu were designed to signal to Wisconsin voters that the president is attuned to their lives and concerns.
Later, Bush found an opening to ingratiate himself with the state's football fans and remind them that Kerry had referred to the Green Bay Packers' stadium as "Lambert Field" during an August visit.
Jim Greeley, who was supposed to talk with Bush about his sign company during a discussion of Bush's tax cuts, asked the president, "Did you see the Packer-Dallas game?" The Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys 41-20 on Sunday.
"I saw that, and I know the Wisconsin Badgers are undefeated," Bush said. "And let me tell you what else I know. I know the Packers beat Dallas at Lambeau Field."
The Bush campaign is running a new radio ad in Wisconsin that hammers home the message. The ad, which says Kerry's dairy policies would cost Wisconsin farmers money, starts with one man saying to another, "That John Kerry just doesn't get it." His friend replies, "Oh, the Packer thing."
Bush's next stop was in Cuba City, whose 2,174 residents were miffed last May when they got decked out in hopes of a presidential stop only to watch Bush's bus sail right through town. The snub was no small matter for Cuba City, the self-anointed "City of Presidents." Its lampposts bear signs that feature every U.S. president's silhouette, years of service and home state. Until Tuesday, though, no president had visited.
Kerry made matters worse for Bush in August, when his bus tour made a detour so he could stop in Cuba City.
Bush didn't apologize Tuesday, but he tried to smooth things over. "A few months ago, I was the first sitting president to pass through Cuba City," he said. "Today, I'm the first sitting president to stop in and give a speech. And I'm looking forward to signing my name to the shield of the 43rd president."
Mayor Richard Davis said all was forgiven. Having a president pass through town twice in a year is "a one-in-a-million chance," he said.
Deadly serious electoral calculations lie behind Bush's lighthearted moments. Bush lost Wisconsin by 5,708 votes in 2000. This year, the state's electoral votes are part of his back-up plan in case he loses Ohio, a state he carried in 2000 but where concerns about the economy have given Kerry momentum.
In the Electoral College, Bush must get 270 votes to be elected. Ohio has 20. If he loses it, he hopes to compensate by winning states Democrat Al Gore won in 2000: Wisconsin's 10 votes, seven more in Iowa, and maybe New Hampshire's four or Minnesota's 10.
It's a strategy with little margin for error, and it's the underpinning of Bush's itinerary for the final days of the campaign. He'll be in New Hampshire on Friday. He'll be in Minnesota and back in Wisconsin on Saturday.
Bush makes up for slight of small Wisconsin town
RICHLAND CENTER, Wis. — Sometimes running for president means giving serious speeches to cheering crowds at big rallies. Sometimes it means hanging out in a fragrant barn and visiting a tiny town to atone for a slight.
President Bush had the second sort of day Tuesday.
He rode a bus across Wisconsin and into Iowa, gave three speeches, talked about his economic policies and attacked Sen. John Kerry. But his quest for Wisconsin's 10 Electoral College votes also provided some moments that were unusual in the final week of a presidential campaign.
The first came in early morning, when his cavalcade stopped nearby at the side of County Road EE, where a few dozen supporters were gathered at John and Connie Turgasen's dairy farm. Bush made the obligatory tour of the Turgasens' white barn, where Holsteins were on duty in their stanchions, before posing for photos with four generations of Turgasens.
It wasn't merely a social call. Photos and video footage of Bush looking comfortable in the workaday milieu were designed to signal to Wisconsin voters that the president is attuned to their lives and concerns.
Later, Bush found an opening to ingratiate himself with the state's football fans and remind them that Kerry had referred to the Green Bay Packers' stadium as "Lambert Field" during an August visit.
Jim Greeley, who was supposed to talk with Bush about his sign company during a discussion of Bush's tax cuts, asked the president, "Did you see the Packer-Dallas game?" The Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys 41-20 on Sunday.
"I saw that, and I know the Wisconsin Badgers are undefeated," Bush said. "And let me tell you what else I know. I know the Packers beat Dallas at Lambeau Field."
The Bush campaign is running a new radio ad in Wisconsin that hammers home the message. The ad, which says Kerry's dairy policies would cost Wisconsin farmers money, starts with one man saying to another, "That John Kerry just doesn't get it." His friend replies, "Oh, the Packer thing."
Bush's next stop was in Cuba City, whose 2,174 residents were miffed last May when they got decked out in hopes of a presidential stop only to watch Bush's bus sail right through town. The snub was no small matter for Cuba City, the self-anointed "City of Presidents." Its lampposts bear signs that feature every U.S. president's silhouette, years of service and home state. Until Tuesday, though, no president had visited.
Kerry made matters worse for Bush in August, when his bus tour made a detour so he could stop in Cuba City.
Bush didn't apologize Tuesday, but he tried to smooth things over. "A few months ago, I was the first sitting president to pass through Cuba City," he said. "Today, I'm the first sitting president to stop in and give a speech. And I'm looking forward to signing my name to the shield of the 43rd president."
Mayor Richard Davis said all was forgiven. Having a president pass through town twice in a year is "a one-in-a-million chance," he said.
Deadly serious electoral calculations lie behind Bush's lighthearted moments. Bush lost Wisconsin by 5,708 votes in 2000. This year, the state's electoral votes are part of his back-up plan in case he loses Ohio, a state he carried in 2000 but where concerns about the economy have given Kerry momentum.
In the Electoral College, Bush must get 270 votes to be elected. Ohio has 20. If he loses it, he hopes to compensate by winning states Democrat Al Gore won in 2000: Wisconsin's 10 votes, seven more in Iowa, and maybe New Hampshire's four or Minnesota's 10.
It's a strategy with little margin for error, and it's the underpinning of Bush's itinerary for the final days of the campaign. He'll be in New Hampshire on Friday. He'll be in Minnesota and back in Wisconsin on Saturday.
Bush in Richland Center
I used to live in Richland Center. It is one of the poorest counties in Wisconsin. It now may be the poorest in Wisconsin due to the Casinos for the tribes. 2400 people would be about half the population of the town which is around 5000. Very hilly, very rural feeling and very poor prospects for people that want to accomplish much. Many of the old farmers paid for their farms by growing hemp before and during WWII for the federal government. Used it to make ropes for the ships.
Many of the farmers had their farms stolen during the 70's when the banks gave out money on high land prices and called their loans when the land prices fell. Many, many farmers lost their farms. Big corporate farmers took over the good land. The industries are low paying jobs in assembly of stuff. Many of those jobs are going overseas. If you are lucky, you teach. If you are really lucky, you have a job in Madison with the State which is about 60 miles away.
Lots of die hard republicans that I guess vote republican for the security. During Vietnam, if you were drafted out of Richland County, you were a draftee Marine. Draftee Marines were expendable....
Not a bad place to live if you get your money from somewhere else. Nice small town atmosphere. But a real dead end town. Why would Bush waste his time here?
Dee J. Hall Wisconsin State JournalOctober 27, 2004RICHLAND CENTER - During his swing Tuesday through western Wisconsin, President Bush held up four examples of how his economic policies have helped average Americans, including two area business owners who said Bush's policies give them more money to invest in their companies.
Bush, in shirt sleeves, was animated and jovial during the talk before 2,400 people at Richland Center High School gymnasium. He focused on the economy but also touched on the war on terrorism, health care, education and a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
Bush's daylong bus tour through western Wisconsin began with a 5,000-person rally in Onalaska in the morning, a stop at a dairy farm near Bosstown, the talk in Richland Center at mid-day and a 1,500- person rally in Cuba City. Bush then headed to Dubuque in Iowa, another Midwestern swing state.
At each stop, the president trumpeted his multibillion- dollar tax cuts, which he said have boosted the economy. Much of the region, except for Richland County, went to Democrat Al Gore in 2000, who won the state by 5,700 votes. Recent polls say this year's race in Wisconsin is too close to call.
During his hour-long talk in Richland Center, Bush struck back at challenger Sen. John Kerry's proposal to repeal his tax cut for those earning $200,000 or more, saying raising taxes on the top two tax brackets would harm the small businesses that create 70 percent of new jobs.
"About 90 percent of small businesses pay individual income taxes," Bush said. "The truth is they're talking about taxing about 900,000 to a million small businesses."
Bush was seeking to shore up support for his domestic policies among Wisconsin's voters, who tend to trust Kerry more when it comes to handling such issues, according to a recent Wisconsin Public Radio/St. Norbert College Survey Center poll. It found that 56 percent of voters thought Kerry would do better on the economy, compared to 38 percent for Bush.
The Bush campaign also announced that the president plans to return Friday for a rally in Ashwaubenon, near Green Bay.
Bush said Tuesday the economy has done well despite "obstacles" he faced when he took office.
"The stock market was in serious decline six months prior to our arrival in Washington, D.C.," Bush said. "And then we had a recession . . . and then we got attacked. And that attack of September 11th cost us nearly 1 million jobs in the three months after the attack.
"But we acted. The tax relief we passed is working. The tax relief we passed has got this economy going again."
Although the overall number of jobs is down since Bush took office - a point Kerry has hammered on in nearly every campaign appearance - the president said 1.9 million jobs have been added in the last 13 months.
"We're moving forward, and we're not going to go back to the days of tax and spend," Bush said, taking a swipe at Kerry, whom he called a "Massachusetts liberal" on the "far left bank" of American politics.
Among those whose story was highlighted Tuesday in Richland Center was Eric Sauey, president of Seats Inc. of Reedsburg, a seat- manufacturing firm with $45 million in annual sales. Sauey said lower taxes allow him to invest in his company, which he hopes to expand to Richland Center.
"My opponent always says he's planning to tax the rich," Bush said. "You're looking at the rich. You're looking at a man who says, 'We may come to Richland Center. We may hire new people.'"
Bush supporter Melinda Jones of Richland Center said the main reason she plans to vote for the president is not his economic policies but because of "the way he handled the 9-11 attacks. He took control and he remained calm."
As for the economy, Jones said, "I know it's been tough for a lot of people. I know it's improving. I just hope it can improve more and create more jobs."
Many of the farmers had their farms stolen during the 70's when the banks gave out money on high land prices and called their loans when the land prices fell. Many, many farmers lost their farms. Big corporate farmers took over the good land. The industries are low paying jobs in assembly of stuff. Many of those jobs are going overseas. If you are lucky, you teach. If you are really lucky, you have a job in Madison with the State which is about 60 miles away.
Lots of die hard republicans that I guess vote republican for the security. During Vietnam, if you were drafted out of Richland County, you were a draftee Marine. Draftee Marines were expendable....
Not a bad place to live if you get your money from somewhere else. Nice small town atmosphere. But a real dead end town. Why would Bush waste his time here?
Dee J. Hall Wisconsin State JournalOctober 27, 2004RICHLAND CENTER - During his swing Tuesday through western Wisconsin, President Bush held up four examples of how his economic policies have helped average Americans, including two area business owners who said Bush's policies give them more money to invest in their companies.
Bush, in shirt sleeves, was animated and jovial during the talk before 2,400 people at Richland Center High School gymnasium. He focused on the economy but also touched on the war on terrorism, health care, education and a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
Bush's daylong bus tour through western Wisconsin began with a 5,000-person rally in Onalaska in the morning, a stop at a dairy farm near Bosstown, the talk in Richland Center at mid-day and a 1,500- person rally in Cuba City. Bush then headed to Dubuque in Iowa, another Midwestern swing state.
At each stop, the president trumpeted his multibillion- dollar tax cuts, which he said have boosted the economy. Much of the region, except for Richland County, went to Democrat Al Gore in 2000, who won the state by 5,700 votes. Recent polls say this year's race in Wisconsin is too close to call.
During his hour-long talk in Richland Center, Bush struck back at challenger Sen. John Kerry's proposal to repeal his tax cut for those earning $200,000 or more, saying raising taxes on the top two tax brackets would harm the small businesses that create 70 percent of new jobs.
"About 90 percent of small businesses pay individual income taxes," Bush said. "The truth is they're talking about taxing about 900,000 to a million small businesses."
Bush was seeking to shore up support for his domestic policies among Wisconsin's voters, who tend to trust Kerry more when it comes to handling such issues, according to a recent Wisconsin Public Radio/St. Norbert College Survey Center poll. It found that 56 percent of voters thought Kerry would do better on the economy, compared to 38 percent for Bush.
The Bush campaign also announced that the president plans to return Friday for a rally in Ashwaubenon, near Green Bay.
Bush said Tuesday the economy has done well despite "obstacles" he faced when he took office.
"The stock market was in serious decline six months prior to our arrival in Washington, D.C.," Bush said. "And then we had a recession . . . and then we got attacked. And that attack of September 11th cost us nearly 1 million jobs in the three months after the attack.
"But we acted. The tax relief we passed is working. The tax relief we passed has got this economy going again."
Although the overall number of jobs is down since Bush took office - a point Kerry has hammered on in nearly every campaign appearance - the president said 1.9 million jobs have been added in the last 13 months.
"We're moving forward, and we're not going to go back to the days of tax and spend," Bush said, taking a swipe at Kerry, whom he called a "Massachusetts liberal" on the "far left bank" of American politics.
Among those whose story was highlighted Tuesday in Richland Center was Eric Sauey, president of Seats Inc. of Reedsburg, a seat- manufacturing firm with $45 million in annual sales. Sauey said lower taxes allow him to invest in his company, which he hopes to expand to Richland Center.
"My opponent always says he's planning to tax the rich," Bush said. "You're looking at the rich. You're looking at a man who says, 'We may come to Richland Center. We may hire new people.'"
Bush supporter Melinda Jones of Richland Center said the main reason she plans to vote for the president is not his economic policies but because of "the way he handled the 9-11 attacks. He took control and he remained calm."
As for the economy, Jones said, "I know it's been tough for a lot of people. I know it's improving. I just hope it can improve more and create more jobs."
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Really drive a clutch
At least with a car with a manual transmission, you have to REALLY drive the car. With an automatic, it is point and go, no skill necessary. The feel of automatics is not there. Now, real clutch drivers don't need no syncro gear box!
By DAVE ADDIS, The Virginian-Pilot October 24, 2004 My learned colleagues on the editorial page wrote an early obituary yesterday for the manual transmission in modern automobiles.
Their premise was correct: Well-publicized news stories through the week documented that standard-shift cars and trucks are disappearing from the marketplace.
But their argument, in spots, calls for rebuttal.
Such as the description of manual transmissions as “finicky” devices that had “bedeviled drivers for decades.”
Properly approached, a standard-shift lever in an automobile is about as finicky as a spoon or a fork.
“Bedeviled”? By what? The light on the modern automobile dashboard that tells you when to shift?
Anybody who is “bedeviled” by the prospect of coordinating a left foot with a right hand probably should not attempt even to waltz, let alone maneuver 2 tons of ferrous metals at highway speeds approaching that of a light aircraft.
Further, my colleagues advised that only two classes of drivers could possibly desire a stick-shift nowadays: the poverty-stricken, as standard transmissions are cheaper; and the wealth-stricken, who yearn to drop a wad of their tax-cut windfalls on a Maserati or a Porsche.
Thus, they harrumphed, the standard-shift vehicle “will remain the choice for those who can’t afford anything else, and for those who can afford everything else.”
Many of us don’t fit neatly into either of those classes but still love a standard-shift car. I own two.
The fundamental fault with the editorial, however, lies in its acceptance of the premise that what occurs on the highways of Tidewater every day can be called “driving,” and that the people involved are by definition “drivers.”
If you are eating an Egg McMuffin while chatting on the telephone, fiddling with the CD player as the kids in back fight over which DVD to watch on the multiple built-in television screens, and peeking occasionally at your satellite-enabled LED display to figure out where you are going or if you have gotten there yet, you are not really driving.
What you are doing is pushing a mobile living room across a concrete landscape. What you are doing could be charitably described as “steering.” But please don’t call it driving.
I taught myself to drive a standard-shift on a beat-up 1959 MGA roadster that I bought for a song just after college. Its four-speed transmission was what we called a “crash box” – that is, the gear mechanisms were not neatly synchronized to the engine speed, as they are today.
No light on the dashboard told you when to shift.
In fact, the only gauge on that dashboard that actually worked was the oil-pressure gauge, and it gave constant bad-news updates on the state of my piston rings.
“Driving” today involves just one sense: sight.
Driving a clapped-out ’59 MG required every sense. The driver selected the proper gear on a combination of sight, the engine’s sound, and the feel of the machine through the shifter, the pedals and the seat of his pants, which was planted about 14 inches above the roadway.
(Those pedants who believe I’ve left out two senses – smell and taste – have never driven an ancient British sports car. Those who have became taste-and-smell connoisseurs of blue clouds of oil smoke. It was actually possible, at times, to detect an MG’s engine distress by the smells inside the cockpit.)
This is not meant to be one of those weepy-geezer paeans to the “good old days.” Geezers used to moan about automobiles, “They don’t build ’em like they used to,” to which I would always answer, “Thank God.” Cars today are better, all around, than ever. Even the geezers know that.
But that doesn’t mean the drivers are better. Too many are too brain-dead even to master a simple side-door mirror, let alone a clutch. It frightens me to see how many people will twist their neck and stare backward over their shoulder while plunging forward at 70 mph into a wall of merging traffic.
(Why is it that the same people who trust what they see in their makeup mirror can never seem to trust what they see in their rear-view mirror? I don’t understand that.)
My editorial colleagues are absolutely right in one respect: For the sort of motoring involved in most of Tidewater’s commutes, an automatic transmission is the better choice. Stop-and-go, crawl-and-scoot driving on a manual transmission will leave your left leg looking like Popeye’s right arm, and it’s just as bad on the machine.
My wife and I – she’s a country girl who’s at home with a clutch – stuck with our manual shifters for years, but finally went “automatic” on the cars we use to commute around town. A couple of vehicles that we maintain in wilder locales still require a flexible left leg.
Anybody who has lived outside this cozy Southeast Virginia cocoon of flat earth and mild weather understands why. The value of four-on-the-floor cannot be overestimated when trapped in a sand pit, a snowbank, a mudhole, or a ditch that came into play after hitting a patch of black ice on a midnight mountain road.
Drivers who grew up on these flat, unfrozen local byways probably have never heard of the concept of “rocking” an automobile out of such traps – a perilous cause without a clutch to guide your wheel speed, but the best way of rescuing yourself without resorting to a $100 call to the guy with the hook.
Is the clutch pedal dead? Or the sole province of those who inhabit the opposite societal poles of poverty and wealth?
I dunno. As I said, we own vehicles that have one and vehicles that don’t. But to steal from a line on those bumper stickers that I read while stalled in Tidewater traffic, “I’ll give up my clutch when they pry my cold, dead toes from around it.”
By DAVE ADDIS, The Virginian-Pilot October 24, 2004 My learned colleagues on the editorial page wrote an early obituary yesterday for the manual transmission in modern automobiles.
Their premise was correct: Well-publicized news stories through the week documented that standard-shift cars and trucks are disappearing from the marketplace.
But their argument, in spots, calls for rebuttal.
Such as the description of manual transmissions as “finicky” devices that had “bedeviled drivers for decades.”
Properly approached, a standard-shift lever in an automobile is about as finicky as a spoon or a fork.
“Bedeviled”? By what? The light on the modern automobile dashboard that tells you when to shift?
Anybody who is “bedeviled” by the prospect of coordinating a left foot with a right hand probably should not attempt even to waltz, let alone maneuver 2 tons of ferrous metals at highway speeds approaching that of a light aircraft.
Further, my colleagues advised that only two classes of drivers could possibly desire a stick-shift nowadays: the poverty-stricken, as standard transmissions are cheaper; and the wealth-stricken, who yearn to drop a wad of their tax-cut windfalls on a Maserati or a Porsche.
Thus, they harrumphed, the standard-shift vehicle “will remain the choice for those who can’t afford anything else, and for those who can afford everything else.”
Many of us don’t fit neatly into either of those classes but still love a standard-shift car. I own two.
The fundamental fault with the editorial, however, lies in its acceptance of the premise that what occurs on the highways of Tidewater every day can be called “driving,” and that the people involved are by definition “drivers.”
If you are eating an Egg McMuffin while chatting on the telephone, fiddling with the CD player as the kids in back fight over which DVD to watch on the multiple built-in television screens, and peeking occasionally at your satellite-enabled LED display to figure out where you are going or if you have gotten there yet, you are not really driving.
What you are doing is pushing a mobile living room across a concrete landscape. What you are doing could be charitably described as “steering.” But please don’t call it driving.
I taught myself to drive a standard-shift on a beat-up 1959 MGA roadster that I bought for a song just after college. Its four-speed transmission was what we called a “crash box” – that is, the gear mechanisms were not neatly synchronized to the engine speed, as they are today.
No light on the dashboard told you when to shift.
In fact, the only gauge on that dashboard that actually worked was the oil-pressure gauge, and it gave constant bad-news updates on the state of my piston rings.
“Driving” today involves just one sense: sight.
Driving a clapped-out ’59 MG required every sense. The driver selected the proper gear on a combination of sight, the engine’s sound, and the feel of the machine through the shifter, the pedals and the seat of his pants, which was planted about 14 inches above the roadway.
(Those pedants who believe I’ve left out two senses – smell and taste – have never driven an ancient British sports car. Those who have became taste-and-smell connoisseurs of blue clouds of oil smoke. It was actually possible, at times, to detect an MG’s engine distress by the smells inside the cockpit.)
This is not meant to be one of those weepy-geezer paeans to the “good old days.” Geezers used to moan about automobiles, “They don’t build ’em like they used to,” to which I would always answer, “Thank God.” Cars today are better, all around, than ever. Even the geezers know that.
But that doesn’t mean the drivers are better. Too many are too brain-dead even to master a simple side-door mirror, let alone a clutch. It frightens me to see how many people will twist their neck and stare backward over their shoulder while plunging forward at 70 mph into a wall of merging traffic.
(Why is it that the same people who trust what they see in their makeup mirror can never seem to trust what they see in their rear-view mirror? I don’t understand that.)
My editorial colleagues are absolutely right in one respect: For the sort of motoring involved in most of Tidewater’s commutes, an automatic transmission is the better choice. Stop-and-go, crawl-and-scoot driving on a manual transmission will leave your left leg looking like Popeye’s right arm, and it’s just as bad on the machine.
My wife and I – she’s a country girl who’s at home with a clutch – stuck with our manual shifters for years, but finally went “automatic” on the cars we use to commute around town. A couple of vehicles that we maintain in wilder locales still require a flexible left leg.
Anybody who has lived outside this cozy Southeast Virginia cocoon of flat earth and mild weather understands why. The value of four-on-the-floor cannot be overestimated when trapped in a sand pit, a snowbank, a mudhole, or a ditch that came into play after hitting a patch of black ice on a midnight mountain road.
Drivers who grew up on these flat, unfrozen local byways probably have never heard of the concept of “rocking” an automobile out of such traps – a perilous cause without a clutch to guide your wheel speed, but the best way of rescuing yourself without resorting to a $100 call to the guy with the hook.
Is the clutch pedal dead? Or the sole province of those who inhabit the opposite societal poles of poverty and wealth?
I dunno. As I said, we own vehicles that have one and vehicles that don’t. But to steal from a line on those bumper stickers that I read while stalled in Tidewater traffic, “I’ll give up my clutch when they pry my cold, dead toes from around it.”
John Peel, RIP
A lot of you probably do not know who this guy is, but he discovered a lot of acts that have changed music over the years. I always liked him because he had such a broad like of music. Much like me. Us old geezers are slowly kicking it.....
John Peel, BBC Radio 1's longest-serving DJ, has died aged 65 while on holiday.
John Peel gave big breaks to more bands than anyone else in the UK music industry.
From Pulp and The Smiths to The Undertones and The White Stripes, he discovered some of the most popular and influential acts of the last few decades.
With extremely broad tastes, he championed all forms of alternative music and was one of the first to give punk, reggae, hip-hop, techno and drum 'n' bass exposure.
Almost every notable band - and hundreds more that have never quite reached notable status - have recorded a Peel Session, a live performance for his show.
Some, such as Blur, even performed at his home, Peel Acres, where he took to recording his shows.
U2, Nirvana, The Velvet Underground, Roxy Music, Rod Stewart, Pink Floyd, The Sex Pistols and T-Rex are among the others he helped introduce to the public.
But his achievement was not just to give new bands a leg-up - he provided a soundtrack for the lives of several generations of listeners.
When he began broadcasting in the mid-1960s, the hippy era was in full swing and his Radio London show The Perfumed Garden was essential listening.
His playlist included The Doors, Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix, and he got the first play of The Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
He joined Radio 1 as the host of Top Gear, continuing to showcase his eclectic and intuitive tastes - despite the fact he said station managers hated him and wanted him to play pop.
Peel said the early 1970s were "kinda boring" - except for Roxy Music - before punk exploded at the end of the decade and he became a hero for another scene.
Peel is best-known for loving and championing The Undertones' song Teenage Kicks. He said he could not hear the punk anthem without bursting into tears.
Legend has it the band sent Peel a tape and he wrote back, signing his letter with a rubber stamp: "John Peel, The World's Most Boring Man."
When Peel played the song, an executive from the Sire label signed the group.
He once played the song twice in a row on Radio 1 because "it doesn't get any better than this".
And he said he would like the song's line "our teenage dreams so hard to beat" on his tombstone.
The Sex Pistols, The Ramones, The Buzzcocks and The Clash were among other bands featured on his shows, often mixed with reggae and other styles.
He also helped usher in the next generation of rock artists such Joy Division and their later incarnation New Order, plus The Fall - who recorded a total of 24 Peel Sessions.
At that time, Pulp were starting out and singer Jarvis Cocker handed their first demo tape to Peel on one of his roadshows.
Peel invited them in to record a session in 1981, giving them their first national airplay - although it would be another 13 years before they would get mainstream acclaim.
With his roadshows, he took his record collection and favourite bands to nightclubs and colleges around the country, often with promising unsigned local bands on the bill.
If he liked them, it is said, he would give his DJ fee to the local band - to the annoyance of his wife.
Three years after the first Pulp session, Peel said he fell in love with The Smiths because he could not work out what their influences were - something he always looked for in a band.
He championed their first single, Hand in Glove, in 1983, when they too recorded their first Peel Session - but the song failed to reach the chart.
More than 20 years later, The Smiths are regarded as a seminal British band.
He also gave an early session to Nirvana, in 1989, and a more recent discovery was The White Stripes. Peel was in a Dutch record shop when he saw their first CD on import and bought it on a hunch.
Pleasure
"People say, what's gonna be the next big thing?" Peel once said. "But the pleasure for me is in not knowing. I like to be taken by surprise myself."
He eschewed the overly populist or popular - Oasis were among the few bands that did not record a session, and not because the band did not want to.
He said he did not want to be applauded for playing new music because "I'm just doing what I'm paid to do".
"Bands discover themselves - they make the records, the records arrive," he said.
John Peel, BBC Radio 1's longest-serving DJ, has died aged 65 while on holiday.
John Peel gave big breaks to more bands than anyone else in the UK music industry.
From Pulp and The Smiths to The Undertones and The White Stripes, he discovered some of the most popular and influential acts of the last few decades.
With extremely broad tastes, he championed all forms of alternative music and was one of the first to give punk, reggae, hip-hop, techno and drum 'n' bass exposure.
Almost every notable band - and hundreds more that have never quite reached notable status - have recorded a Peel Session, a live performance for his show.
Some, such as Blur, even performed at his home, Peel Acres, where he took to recording his shows.
U2, Nirvana, The Velvet Underground, Roxy Music, Rod Stewart, Pink Floyd, The Sex Pistols and T-Rex are among the others he helped introduce to the public.
But his achievement was not just to give new bands a leg-up - he provided a soundtrack for the lives of several generations of listeners.
When he began broadcasting in the mid-1960s, the hippy era was in full swing and his Radio London show The Perfumed Garden was essential listening.
His playlist included The Doors, Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix, and he got the first play of The Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
He joined Radio 1 as the host of Top Gear, continuing to showcase his eclectic and intuitive tastes - despite the fact he said station managers hated him and wanted him to play pop.
Peel said the early 1970s were "kinda boring" - except for Roxy Music - before punk exploded at the end of the decade and he became a hero for another scene.
Peel is best-known for loving and championing The Undertones' song Teenage Kicks. He said he could not hear the punk anthem without bursting into tears.
Legend has it the band sent Peel a tape and he wrote back, signing his letter with a rubber stamp: "John Peel, The World's Most Boring Man."
When Peel played the song, an executive from the Sire label signed the group.
He once played the song twice in a row on Radio 1 because "it doesn't get any better than this".
And he said he would like the song's line "our teenage dreams so hard to beat" on his tombstone.
The Sex Pistols, The Ramones, The Buzzcocks and The Clash were among other bands featured on his shows, often mixed with reggae and other styles.
He also helped usher in the next generation of rock artists such Joy Division and their later incarnation New Order, plus The Fall - who recorded a total of 24 Peel Sessions.
At that time, Pulp were starting out and singer Jarvis Cocker handed their first demo tape to Peel on one of his roadshows.
Peel invited them in to record a session in 1981, giving them their first national airplay - although it would be another 13 years before they would get mainstream acclaim.
With his roadshows, he took his record collection and favourite bands to nightclubs and colleges around the country, often with promising unsigned local bands on the bill.
If he liked them, it is said, he would give his DJ fee to the local band - to the annoyance of his wife.
Three years after the first Pulp session, Peel said he fell in love with The Smiths because he could not work out what their influences were - something he always looked for in a band.
He championed their first single, Hand in Glove, in 1983, when they too recorded their first Peel Session - but the song failed to reach the chart.
More than 20 years later, The Smiths are regarded as a seminal British band.
He also gave an early session to Nirvana, in 1989, and a more recent discovery was The White Stripes. Peel was in a Dutch record shop when he saw their first CD on import and bought it on a hunch.
Pleasure
"People say, what's gonna be the next big thing?" Peel once said. "But the pleasure for me is in not knowing. I like to be taken by surprise myself."
He eschewed the overly populist or popular - Oasis were among the few bands that did not record a session, and not because the band did not want to.
He said he did not want to be applauded for playing new music because "I'm just doing what I'm paid to do".
"Bands discover themselves - they make the records, the records arrive," he said.
Sunday, October 24, 2004
Ah, true geezers....
MIDCOAST (Oct 24, 2004): I am a lucky woman in many ways. One of these is that I married into a family of geezers. They know it and they're proud.
Webster's says a geezer is an old person, especially an eccentric old man. My man is not old yet. Eccentric, maybe. But he's a geezer for sure. A geezer is a family man through and through. There is no one more trustworthy, reliable or loyal. There is also no one more habitual and old-fashioned.
Here are my thoughts on geezerdom. See if you fit in. Women apply.
Geezers have to be dead not to go to work.
They are always right out straight. They may seem like they are sitting still, but they are still right out straight.
They use the same coffee cup every day and may even prefer the same spoon, if there is a special one in the drawer.
They have multiple tool boxes. One for the house and one for the garage, and maybe even one for each floor of the house.
They have multiple rolls of duct tape, definitely in gray, and most likely in other colors.
They have multiple chainsaws and sets of tire chains, too.
They like to sit and shoot the breeze in the garage or in the doorway where they can watch the cars go by. This is when they are especially right out straight.
Geezers bring their lunch to work every day. There is no food like what the wife fixes, especially those chocolate chip cookies you haven't made in a long time, dear.
You never have to ask a geezer to fix something twice. They either fix it right the first time or call for help.
Geezers can't, or won't, program a VCR. They're not ashamed of asking the wife to record the NASCAR race or the episode of "Monster Garage" they don't want to miss. They can't see it right away because they are right out straight working in the garage, mowing the lawn, stacking wood, or driving their pickup truck into town for a newspaper and a scratch ticket.
At work, the phone is a useful tool. At home, geezers would rather not talk on the phone unless it's to a family member. They won't talk into answering machines. They hate it when businesses have machines answering their phone calls. There is no place on their belt for a cell phone, but there is for a Leatherman.
Geezers do not navigate the Internet except to look for old car, truck or tractor parts, research the family tree, or be in touch with people who share their hobbies. Geezers will not pay bills online and don't think much of instant messaging. But they will ask the wife to tell them who's on the pole in that week's NASCAR race or check the football results Sunday evening.
Geezers like to watch "60 Minutes" as a way to wind down into Monday morning.
Geezers are early risers. They are dog people. And cat people. And they love farm animals...maybe even tend some themselves.
Geezers sit in the same spot on the couch each and every night. Their bowls cannot hold enough ice cream. Geezers eat the same lunch every Saturday and stop at the same place in the PBJ to refill their milk glasses. They like their old brands of cereal, toothpaste, soap, orange juice and (insert product here) just fine, thanks.
Geezers don't have comb-overs. But you never have to convince them it's time for a trip to the barbershop. They go willingly. Geezers do not have goatees, or funny little facial hair thingys, though they may have beards. Chances are if they have a beard, it's seasonal, and used only as insulation in the colder months. Hair gel? Only if it's good for use in the garage, not the bathroom.
Geezers do not have earrings and they do not have tattoos, unless they got them a long time ago.
Geezers are not fair-weather fans. They have rooted for the same driver, baseball team, football team or hockey team since they were boys. Basketball is not a geezer sport except when it comes to dooryard games with the children.
Do not tell a geezer he should wear aftershave unless he already does. If he does, it's a habit formed long ago. Geezers don't drive foreign pickup trucks. Unless they bought them used, with 100,000 miles already on them.
The geezer's favorite cloth is flannel. His underwear is boxers. His favorite designer is Carhartt. His colors are camouflage and blaze. He'd be happy to wear the same brand of socks until the day he dies. Please, buy him the brand of jeans he favors. He won't wear the other ones unless everything else is really dirty. Same goes for sneakers...and he has a pair for yard work and a pair for good.
Do not ask a geezer to go shopping, unless it's to the auto parts or hardware store. Big boxes are anti-geezer.
And don't forget the "Uncle Henry's."
Note: Think you are not a geezer because you have an earring or a tattoo, or too many of the above don't apply? If you have a brother or father who is a geezer, then you can consider yourself a geezer in training. Give yourself a few years.
Here is a recipe sure to please your favorite geezer:
Brown a pound or so of ground beef in a pan. Add some tomato sauce from a jar, for taste and color. Keep the mixture moist, but not wet. Add onion salt, garlic powder or other spices if you wish. Boil a pound of elbow macaroni. Drain. Mix the meat and pasta in a casserole dish coated with no-stick spray. Stir in shredded jack or American cheese, or a combination. You want the flavor of the cheese, but not lots of strings. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 20 minutes or until heated through. Call it dinner. Serve with carrot sticks and ranch dressing. Save some for lunch boxes the next day.
Webster's says a geezer is an old person, especially an eccentric old man. My man is not old yet. Eccentric, maybe. But he's a geezer for sure. A geezer is a family man through and through. There is no one more trustworthy, reliable or loyal. There is also no one more habitual and old-fashioned.
Here are my thoughts on geezerdom. See if you fit in. Women apply.
Geezers have to be dead not to go to work.
They are always right out straight. They may seem like they are sitting still, but they are still right out straight.
They use the same coffee cup every day and may even prefer the same spoon, if there is a special one in the drawer.
They have multiple tool boxes. One for the house and one for the garage, and maybe even one for each floor of the house.
They have multiple rolls of duct tape, definitely in gray, and most likely in other colors.
They have multiple chainsaws and sets of tire chains, too.
They like to sit and shoot the breeze in the garage or in the doorway where they can watch the cars go by. This is when they are especially right out straight.
Geezers bring their lunch to work every day. There is no food like what the wife fixes, especially those chocolate chip cookies you haven't made in a long time, dear.
You never have to ask a geezer to fix something twice. They either fix it right the first time or call for help.
Geezers can't, or won't, program a VCR. They're not ashamed of asking the wife to record the NASCAR race or the episode of "Monster Garage" they don't want to miss. They can't see it right away because they are right out straight working in the garage, mowing the lawn, stacking wood, or driving their pickup truck into town for a newspaper and a scratch ticket.
At work, the phone is a useful tool. At home, geezers would rather not talk on the phone unless it's to a family member. They won't talk into answering machines. They hate it when businesses have machines answering their phone calls. There is no place on their belt for a cell phone, but there is for a Leatherman.
Geezers do not navigate the Internet except to look for old car, truck or tractor parts, research the family tree, or be in touch with people who share their hobbies. Geezers will not pay bills online and don't think much of instant messaging. But they will ask the wife to tell them who's on the pole in that week's NASCAR race or check the football results Sunday evening.
Geezers like to watch "60 Minutes" as a way to wind down into Monday morning.
Geezers are early risers. They are dog people. And cat people. And they love farm animals...maybe even tend some themselves.
Geezers sit in the same spot on the couch each and every night. Their bowls cannot hold enough ice cream. Geezers eat the same lunch every Saturday and stop at the same place in the PBJ to refill their milk glasses. They like their old brands of cereal, toothpaste, soap, orange juice and (insert product here) just fine, thanks.
Geezers don't have comb-overs. But you never have to convince them it's time for a trip to the barbershop. They go willingly. Geezers do not have goatees, or funny little facial hair thingys, though they may have beards. Chances are if they have a beard, it's seasonal, and used only as insulation in the colder months. Hair gel? Only if it's good for use in the garage, not the bathroom.
Geezers do not have earrings and they do not have tattoos, unless they got them a long time ago.
Geezers are not fair-weather fans. They have rooted for the same driver, baseball team, football team or hockey team since they were boys. Basketball is not a geezer sport except when it comes to dooryard games with the children.
Do not tell a geezer he should wear aftershave unless he already does. If he does, it's a habit formed long ago. Geezers don't drive foreign pickup trucks. Unless they bought them used, with 100,000 miles already on them.
The geezer's favorite cloth is flannel. His underwear is boxers. His favorite designer is Carhartt. His colors are camouflage and blaze. He'd be happy to wear the same brand of socks until the day he dies. Please, buy him the brand of jeans he favors. He won't wear the other ones unless everything else is really dirty. Same goes for sneakers...and he has a pair for yard work and a pair for good.
Do not ask a geezer to go shopping, unless it's to the auto parts or hardware store. Big boxes are anti-geezer.
And don't forget the "Uncle Henry's."
Note: Think you are not a geezer because you have an earring or a tattoo, or too many of the above don't apply? If you have a brother or father who is a geezer, then you can consider yourself a geezer in training. Give yourself a few years.
Here is a recipe sure to please your favorite geezer:
Brown a pound or so of ground beef in a pan. Add some tomato sauce from a jar, for taste and color. Keep the mixture moist, but not wet. Add onion salt, garlic powder or other spices if you wish. Boil a pound of elbow macaroni. Drain. Mix the meat and pasta in a casserole dish coated with no-stick spray. Stir in shredded jack or American cheese, or a combination. You want the flavor of the cheese, but not lots of strings. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 20 minutes or until heated through. Call it dinner. Serve with carrot sticks and ranch dressing. Save some for lunch boxes the next day.
Saturday, October 23, 2004
Has Been is Awesome
He records probably the best record of the year in "Has Been". If you have not heard it, listen, it is a great record about men living their lives in quiet desperation. There is something in it that will make you laugh, cry, and just calm your spirt.
On the other hand, this proves, he just has too much money. He couldn't have taken the Captain Kirk thing seriously? Why, oh, why does he want his wings?
"Star Trek" star William Shatner, the former Captain of the USS Enterprise is willing to pay US$210,000 for a seat on one of Virgin Group's first proposed commercial space flights.
Virgin's chief, Richard Branson indicated more than 7000 people have expressed interest in paying the $210,000 fare for chance to be blasted 70 miles above the Earth.
Branson, 54, has committed more than $100 million for spaceships and ground infrastructure. He is also spending more than $20 million to licence the rights to SpaceShipOne's technology.
Branson hopes to launch the first commercial space flight by 2008. He also said he would go on the first flight, along with his family.
Sir Richard Branson, born July 18, 1950, is best known for his widely successful Virgin Group brand, a variety of business organizations, including, music, travel, electronics and more.
On the other hand, this proves, he just has too much money. He couldn't have taken the Captain Kirk thing seriously? Why, oh, why does he want his wings?
"Star Trek" star William Shatner, the former Captain of the USS Enterprise is willing to pay US$210,000 for a seat on one of Virgin Group's first proposed commercial space flights.
Virgin's chief, Richard Branson indicated more than 7000 people have expressed interest in paying the $210,000 fare for chance to be blasted 70 miles above the Earth.
Branson, 54, has committed more than $100 million for spaceships and ground infrastructure. He is also spending more than $20 million to licence the rights to SpaceShipOne's technology.
Branson hopes to launch the first commercial space flight by 2008. He also said he would go on the first flight, along with his family.
Sir Richard Branson, born July 18, 1950, is best known for his widely successful Virgin Group brand, a variety of business organizations, including, music, travel, electronics and more.
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Gotta love getting old
It’s official. Two days ago, while visiting San Francisco, I entered the world of professional geezerhood. Whudda thunk I’d ever make it to 65?
Many friends — all seem to fancy themselves years away from three score and five — warned me of personality changes soon to possess both body and mind, a result of being the over-the-hill gang’s newest initiate. According to those professing to be “in the know,” my wardrobe was about to change. Come Oct. 4 it would be all jump suits, all the time. Blue would be the favorite color in my jumpsuit ensemble but orange, yellow, pink and puce would also become favorites.
Concurrent to a jumpsuit wardrobe comes the irresistible urge to buy a big, honking motor home complete with a Sam’s Club sticker on the rear bumper. The motor home, I was further informed, would not be completely outfitted unless it contained a weepy-eyed miniature poodle whose designated role was to either roam back and forth across the dashboard or to sit in my lap while I captained the vessel at a steady 48-mph pace in the left lane on I-70. The poodle would be specifically trained to continually yip at the 75-mph traffic passing on the right.
Other personality changes arriving with the 65th birthday would also include becoming an expert on every all-you-can-eat, senior-citizen discount buffet between the Nebraska-based Baseman’s Truck Stop on I-80 and Whiskey Pete’s just off I-15 where Nevada shares a border with California.
The conversation moved on to men 65 being required to be in bed by seven every Friday evening as one had to be well rested when rising before dawn on Saturday. Why up and at ’em so early on a weekend?
When the discussion turned to the competitive thrills unique to Bingo, it became apparent my friends were going to make turning 65 just as difficult as possible. Who says misery loves company? I opted to head for Baghdad by the Bay.
The daughter of an old friend from the Midwest was married this past weekend, an event offering the perfect excuse for a San Francisco birthday. Plus, I owed myself a visit to the city where I lived 42 years ago, a time so distant it preceded hippies, Haight-Ashbury and the Jefferson Airplane. Upon turning 23, I found myself out of work, out of money and seemingly out of hope. The special lady in my life thought our relationship much too serious and decided it best to go separate ways.
On that Oct. 4 decades ago, a party of one was in order so I jumped on a Hyde Street cable car and rumbled down Russian Hill to the end of the line. The brakeman yelled, “All out for the turnaround.” I headed across the street and wandered into the Buena Vista. At a table for one back in the corner I treated myself to scrambled eggs, sourdough toast and Irish coffee. Sitting there, feeling as sorry for myself as only a 23-year-old can, I wondered if, and/or when, life would improve.
Well, the special lady and I worked things out. Two days ago we visited the Buena Vista, sat by the window and ordered scrambled eggs with sourdough toast. While waiting for our meal to arrive we toasted the blessings of our life together the past 40 years with steaming mugs of Irish coffee.
She asked what I wanted for my birthday. I told her a blue jump suit and a Chihuahua.
Many friends — all seem to fancy themselves years away from three score and five — warned me of personality changes soon to possess both body and mind, a result of being the over-the-hill gang’s newest initiate. According to those professing to be “in the know,” my wardrobe was about to change. Come Oct. 4 it would be all jump suits, all the time. Blue would be the favorite color in my jumpsuit ensemble but orange, yellow, pink and puce would also become favorites.
Concurrent to a jumpsuit wardrobe comes the irresistible urge to buy a big, honking motor home complete with a Sam’s Club sticker on the rear bumper. The motor home, I was further informed, would not be completely outfitted unless it contained a weepy-eyed miniature poodle whose designated role was to either roam back and forth across the dashboard or to sit in my lap while I captained the vessel at a steady 48-mph pace in the left lane on I-70. The poodle would be specifically trained to continually yip at the 75-mph traffic passing on the right.
Other personality changes arriving with the 65th birthday would also include becoming an expert on every all-you-can-eat, senior-citizen discount buffet between the Nebraska-based Baseman’s Truck Stop on I-80 and Whiskey Pete’s just off I-15 where Nevada shares a border with California.
The conversation moved on to men 65 being required to be in bed by seven every Friday evening as one had to be well rested when rising before dawn on Saturday. Why up and at ’em so early on a weekend?
When the discussion turned to the competitive thrills unique to Bingo, it became apparent my friends were going to make turning 65 just as difficult as possible. Who says misery loves company? I opted to head for Baghdad by the Bay.
The daughter of an old friend from the Midwest was married this past weekend, an event offering the perfect excuse for a San Francisco birthday. Plus, I owed myself a visit to the city where I lived 42 years ago, a time so distant it preceded hippies, Haight-Ashbury and the Jefferson Airplane. Upon turning 23, I found myself out of work, out of money and seemingly out of hope. The special lady in my life thought our relationship much too serious and decided it best to go separate ways.
On that Oct. 4 decades ago, a party of one was in order so I jumped on a Hyde Street cable car and rumbled down Russian Hill to the end of the line. The brakeman yelled, “All out for the turnaround.” I headed across the street and wandered into the Buena Vista. At a table for one back in the corner I treated myself to scrambled eggs, sourdough toast and Irish coffee. Sitting there, feeling as sorry for myself as only a 23-year-old can, I wondered if, and/or when, life would improve.
Well, the special lady and I worked things out. Two days ago we visited the Buena Vista, sat by the window and ordered scrambled eggs with sourdough toast. While waiting for our meal to arrive we toasted the blessings of our life together the past 40 years with steaming mugs of Irish coffee.
She asked what I wanted for my birthday. I told her a blue jump suit and a Chihuahua.
Great quote
“It’s just crazy — the laws are the laws,” Mr. Pearce said. “While America is burning, while America is being destroyed, they pander.”
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Vice Prez debate
Sadly, Dick C did not use the f-word or have a heart attack. A couple of things did surprize me though. How come the VP has never met John E before? The Senate only has 100 members. The VP is suppose to oversee the Senate and has voted to break ties. Wouldn[t you think the VP would try to meet all the Senators? I would. Just so you have a chance to evaluate the people you have to deal with. And, 100 is less than the people at an APLS convention. Within a weekend, you can easily talk to everyone.
I was surprised that Dick C did not use all his time. A good politician does that. He even thanked John E for standing up for his gay daughter. Dick C said he was surprised that he and John E had similar backgrounds.
Neither said much of substance, just more of the same garbage they have been repeating. Cheney did avoid answering some of the questions and went on spiels about other things. Both repeating their lines. Cheney seemed cold, but human. Edwards was folksy. Neither were right on their games.
I was surprised that Dick C did not use all his time. A good politician does that. He even thanked John E for standing up for his gay daughter. Dick C said he was surprised that he and John E had similar backgrounds.
Neither said much of substance, just more of the same garbage they have been repeating. Cheney did avoid answering some of the questions and went on spiels about other things. Both repeating their lines. Cheney seemed cold, but human. Edwards was folksy. Neither were right on their games.
geezer joke
A smile to start your day. After marrying a sweet young woman, a 90-year-old geezer tells his doctor they're expecting a baby.
"Let me tell you a story," says the doc. "An absent-minded fellow went hunting, but instead of a gun, he picked up an umbrella. Suddenly a bear charged him. Pointing his umbrella at the bear, he shot and killed it on the spot."
"Impossible!" the geezer exclaims. "Somebody else must have shot that bear."
"Exactly," replies the doctor.
"Let me tell you a story," says the doc. "An absent-minded fellow went hunting, but instead of a gun, he picked up an umbrella. Suddenly a bear charged him. Pointing his umbrella at the bear, he shot and killed it on the spot."
"Impossible!" the geezer exclaims. "Somebody else must have shot that bear."
"Exactly," replies the doctor.
Don't do this, even if the chicken is bad!
Man cut off his penis and fed it to dog
A Romanian man was rushed to hospital after he accidentally cut off his own penis and fed it to his dog.
Constantin Mocanu, 67, from Galati county, told doctors he couldn't sleep because of a noisy chicken.
He decided to kill the bird but claims he mistook his penis for the chicken's neck and chopped it off.
When he realised what he'd done, he says he threw the severed organ to the dog which ate it.
The man told National newspaper: "It was after midnight when the bloody cock was making such a trouble outside. I got very angry and went out to kill it.
"I don't know how I got my penis instead. I was so irritated I threw it to the dog before my wife called the ambulance. What could I do with a piece of penis."
The man is now in hospital at Galati where doctors are going to operate on him.
But surgeons say there is no chance of rebuilding his penis and say the best they can do is restore his ability to urinate.
Surgeon Nicolae Bacalbasa said he was not convinced by the man's story.
He said: "It's like the Bible says. If your right hand gives you trouble then cut it off. The man is 67 and he may have had reasons to punish his organ. I am personally more tolerant with these matters."
A Romanian man was rushed to hospital after he accidentally cut off his own penis and fed it to his dog.
Constantin Mocanu, 67, from Galati county, told doctors he couldn't sleep because of a noisy chicken.
He decided to kill the bird but claims he mistook his penis for the chicken's neck and chopped it off.
When he realised what he'd done, he says he threw the severed organ to the dog which ate it.
The man told National newspaper: "It was after midnight when the bloody cock was making such a trouble outside. I got very angry and went out to kill it.
"I don't know how I got my penis instead. I was so irritated I threw it to the dog before my wife called the ambulance. What could I do with a piece of penis."
The man is now in hospital at Galati where doctors are going to operate on him.
But surgeons say there is no chance of rebuilding his penis and say the best they can do is restore his ability to urinate.
Surgeon Nicolae Bacalbasa said he was not convinced by the man's story.
He said: "It's like the Bible says. If your right hand gives you trouble then cut it off. The man is 67 and he may have had reasons to punish his organ. I am personally more tolerant with these matters."
Sunday, October 03, 2004
Work till you drop....
As near as I can tell, the government is figuring that I will have to work until I die at my desk. By the time I will be ready to retire, the social security situation will be in complete disarray. Fortunately, I have been working on my own funds for retirement, but the question will still remain whether or not we have enough for our retirements.
As long as we are healthy, we should be able to make it. However, with the souring costs of health care and medicine, any injury or sickness will quickly eat away all funds for people. There is no way a normal person can afford the cost of a sickness.
I read that 40% of people do not have health insurance. Stay well or die is the price of that. There are wonderful medicines and procedures that can be used, but if you cannot afford them, are the docs going to give them to you pro bono? I doubt it. So, shortly, we will be down to the haves and the have nots. The haves can afford their lives. The rest of us will either live or die.
Actually, that will not last long. Once the poor get too big, it is a natural for revolution. The haves will not have enough flunkies to overcome the rest of us.
As long as we are healthy, we should be able to make it. However, with the souring costs of health care and medicine, any injury or sickness will quickly eat away all funds for people. There is no way a normal person can afford the cost of a sickness.
I read that 40% of people do not have health insurance. Stay well or die is the price of that. There are wonderful medicines and procedures that can be used, but if you cannot afford them, are the docs going to give them to you pro bono? I doubt it. So, shortly, we will be down to the haves and the have nots. The haves can afford their lives. The rest of us will either live or die.
Actually, that will not last long. Once the poor get too big, it is a natural for revolution. The haves will not have enough flunkies to overcome the rest of us.
Saturday, October 02, 2004
The solution for social security....
Retirement? "There's no sense in it. There's always going to be a role for a geezer."
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Jump and duck!
BOISE (AP) — A woman who was returning a rented minivan at the Boise Airport drove it through the terminal.
A "confused senior citizen," whose name and age were not released, followed an outside "terminal access" sign Tuesday as she bumped her vehicle through a set of automatic-opening double-doors on the west end, airport spokeswoman Larissa Stouffer said.
She drove through the terminal, past the baggage claim area before coming to a stop.
"The lucky thing is she didn't hit anything," Stouffer said.
There was no damage to the terminal building, no one was hurt and the out-of-town woman, who departed on a flight later Tuesday morning, was not cited.
Stouffer said the airport has had plans to install barriers to block the door
A "confused senior citizen," whose name and age were not released, followed an outside "terminal access" sign Tuesday as she bumped her vehicle through a set of automatic-opening double-doors on the west end, airport spokeswoman Larissa Stouffer said.
She drove through the terminal, past the baggage claim area before coming to a stop.
"The lucky thing is she didn't hit anything," Stouffer said.
There was no damage to the terminal building, no one was hurt and the out-of-town woman, who departed on a flight later Tuesday morning, was not cited.
Stouffer said the airport has had plans to install barriers to block the door
Monday, September 27, 2004
He might take it up with women too!
108-Year-Old Man Starts Smoking Again
GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) -- A 108-year-old man has taken up smoking again, encouraged by gifts of cigars from as far away as London.
Retired railroad worker Walter Breuning spoke at his birthday party Tuesday of how he reluctantly quit smoking cigars at the age of 99 because he couldn't afford them.
After his story was widely distributed, the Great Falls man heard from people like the English cigar fan who sent two Havanas.
"They were $12 cigars and they were good," Breuning said. "You can't get good Havana cigars like that out here."
He also got a birthday note and a few more cigars from a former Great Falls resident now living in Oregon.
"They were pretty good cigars, too," Breuning said.
Fred Aimi, of Lolo, was reading newspaper stories to a group of blind neighbors when he came across an account of Breuning's birthday. "That hurt," Aimi said. "I like a good cigar myself."
Aimi said he sent a box of two dozen cigars on Friday to Breuning. "At 108, they can't do him much harm," he said.
GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) -- A 108-year-old man has taken up smoking again, encouraged by gifts of cigars from as far away as London.
Retired railroad worker Walter Breuning spoke at his birthday party Tuesday of how he reluctantly quit smoking cigars at the age of 99 because he couldn't afford them.
After his story was widely distributed, the Great Falls man heard from people like the English cigar fan who sent two Havanas.
"They were $12 cigars and they were good," Breuning said. "You can't get good Havana cigars like that out here."
He also got a birthday note and a few more cigars from a former Great Falls resident now living in Oregon.
"They were pretty good cigars, too," Breuning said.
Fred Aimi, of Lolo, was reading newspaper stories to a group of blind neighbors when he came across an account of Breuning's birthday. "That hurt," Aimi said. "I like a good cigar myself."
Aimi said he sent a box of two dozen cigars on Friday to Breuning. "At 108, they can't do him much harm," he said.
Friday, September 17, 2004
Rest in Peace Ramones....hope you ain't buried in the Pet Semitary
ohnny Ramone, the stone-faced guitarist of the punk band the Ramones, whose fast, buzz-saw blasts of noise laid the foundation for a school of rock guitar, died on Wednesday afternoon at his home in Los Angeles. He was 55.
The cause was prostate cancer, said Arturo Vega, the band's longtime artistic director and spokesman.
Mr. Ramone, born John Cummings, is the third member of the Ramones to die in a little over three years, following Joey (Jeffrey Hyman), the singer, who died of cancer in April 2001; and Dee Dee (Douglas Colvin), the bassist, who died of an apparent drug overdose in June 2002. Of the original band, only Tommy (Tom Erdelyi), the drummer, survives.
By stripping rock guitar of its ornamentation and playing almost every note in a violent, accelerated downstroke, Mr. Ramone helped create the punk sound. His style - fast, repetitive and aggressive, though always tuneful - influenced, directly or indirectly, almost every punk guitarist since, from the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones and the Clash's Joe Strummer to Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and contemporary players like Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day and Tom DeLonge of Blink-182.
"They influenced so many people," Eddie Vedder, the lead singer of Pearl Jam, said yesterday. Mr. Vedder introduced the Ramones when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. "They showed them that they too could do it. The simplicity showed them that they could end up on stage and play in that way."
The Ramones often cited as inspirations the hard rock of the Stooges and the primal power of the MC5, as well as the 1960's girl-group productions of Phil Spector, which they considered paragons of melody and brevity. But the band's sound had scant precedent when its first album was released in 1976. The songs were head-spinningly short and fast - the shortest, "Judy Is a Punk," was just 1 minute 32 seconds - and had a raw elegance that made many, like "Blitzkrieg Bop," "Beat on the Brat" and "I Wanna Be Sedated," punk-rock standards.
Mr. Ramone once described his guitar style as "pure, white rock 'n' roll, with no blues influence."
"I wanted our sound to be as original as possible,'' he said. "I stopped listening to everything."
Seldom lightening the scowl on his face, Mr. Ramone performed with a determination that mirrored his place in the band. Each member had a clearly defined role, musical and otherwise, and Johnny's was the taskmaster. He conducted the band's business affairs and led the group in details ranging from its sound to its mode of dress: in leather jackets, ripped jeans and scruffy sneakers, the band always presented a unified visual front of a punk army in uniform.
"He was the leader of the band," Danny Fields, the group's first manager, said. "He was the boss and you worked for him. He was very demanding, but very right."
After years holding a construction job - he tried college, but dropped out in a matter of days - Mr. Ramone formed the group in 1974 in Forest Hills, Queens, with Mr. Hyman, Mr. Colvin and Mr. Erdelyi. In the late 1960's he played bass in the Tangerine Puppets, a garage-rock band, but switched instruments early in 1974 when he bought a $50 Mosrite guitar on a trip to Manny's Music shop, on West 48th Street in Manhattan.
The new group took its name from a pseudonym that Paul McCartney had used while on the road with the Beatles, and began playing regular gigs at a Bowery dive called CBGB. A Ramones set rarely lasted more than 30 minutes, and the tunes were strung together in rapid succession. Their plan was to pause between songs just long enough for a member, usually Dee Dee, to shout "One-Two-Three-Four!" But in the early days that time was often spent bickering onstage about which song to play.
Their experience was from the start a mixture of success and frustration. When the Ramones first played in London, on July 4, 1976, they were met by adoring crowds, and were approached with fear and admiration by members of the Sex Pistols, the Clash and the Damned, all founding groups of the fruitful British punk scene. But when the Ramones returned home to New York they had trouble booking shows in Connecticut and New Jersey. In the band's early years, its members all crammed into Mr. Vega's loft space.
Though the band never had a major hit, it persisted for 22 years and more than a dozen studio albums, including its first record, "Ramones" (1976); "Leave Home" (1977); "Rocket to Russia" (1977); "End of the Century" (1980), recorded with Mr. Spector; and "Adios Amigos'' (1995), its last. Through the years the band kept a grueling touring schedule, and when on the road, Mr. Ramone carefully kept track of details from each concert. The band played its final gig, No. 2,263, on Aug. 6, 1996, at the Palace in Los Angeles.
That theater, now called the Avalon, was the site of a 30th-anniversary tribute to the Ramones on Sunday, with a roster that included Rob Zombie, Henry Rollins, X, Mr. Vedder and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was, Mr. Vega said, "a veiled tribute to Johnny," and at the show Rob Zombie called Mr. Ramone from the stage so that the crowd could shout "Hey ho, let's go!," the band's rallying cry and the first words of its most famous song, "Blitzkrieg Bop."
Another anniversary concert is planned for New York on Oct. 8, which is the birthday of both Johnny and C. J. Ramone (Christopher John Ward), the bassist who replaced Dee Dee in 1989. The concert is booked at Spirit on West 27th Street in Chelsea, and is to feature Blondie and the Strokes, Mr. Vega said.
Mr. Fields, the group's first manager, said that after the band broke up Mr. Ramone did not work again. "Johnny's goal was to retire," he said. "All he wanted to do was to be able to stop working. He was proud of what he did, but he still wanted to stop. People would ask him, 'What are you going to do when there's no more band?' And he would say, 'Watch baseball and horror movies.' "
For much of the last year Mr. Ramone had been working on his memoirs with Steve Miller, a reporter for The Washington Times. Mr. Miller said yesterday that their interviews were complete.
Mr. Ramone was often at odds with the members of his band, over dress, politics and relationships. A staunch Republican, Mr. Ramone clashed with Joey over that singer's liberal causes, and when the band was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Mr. Ramone said, "God bless President Bush, and God bless America."
After Mr. Ramone began dating a woman who had been seeing Joey, the two men stopped talking to each other. On their tour bus, they kept silent company, often passing messages back and forth through an intermediary. Johnny Ramone later married the woman, now Linda Cummings, who survives him, along with his mother, Estelle Cummings.
Mr. Ramone's silence toward Joey continued even to his band mate's death. Interviewed in his home for the new documentary "End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones,'' surrounded by horror-movie posters from his extensive collection, Mr. Ramone was unflinching in his refusal to reconcile with Joey.
"I'm only going to be the way I'd want someone to react to me," he said in the film. "If I didn't like someone, I wouldn't want him calling me up when I was dying. I wouldn't want them having regrets that they didn't talk to me. I'm happy that they didn't talk to me. If I'm gone, that's how it goes."
The cause was prostate cancer, said Arturo Vega, the band's longtime artistic director and spokesman.
Mr. Ramone, born John Cummings, is the third member of the Ramones to die in a little over three years, following Joey (Jeffrey Hyman), the singer, who died of cancer in April 2001; and Dee Dee (Douglas Colvin), the bassist, who died of an apparent drug overdose in June 2002. Of the original band, only Tommy (Tom Erdelyi), the drummer, survives.
By stripping rock guitar of its ornamentation and playing almost every note in a violent, accelerated downstroke, Mr. Ramone helped create the punk sound. His style - fast, repetitive and aggressive, though always tuneful - influenced, directly or indirectly, almost every punk guitarist since, from the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones and the Clash's Joe Strummer to Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and contemporary players like Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day and Tom DeLonge of Blink-182.
"They influenced so many people," Eddie Vedder, the lead singer of Pearl Jam, said yesterday. Mr. Vedder introduced the Ramones when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. "They showed them that they too could do it. The simplicity showed them that they could end up on stage and play in that way."
The Ramones often cited as inspirations the hard rock of the Stooges and the primal power of the MC5, as well as the 1960's girl-group productions of Phil Spector, which they considered paragons of melody and brevity. But the band's sound had scant precedent when its first album was released in 1976. The songs were head-spinningly short and fast - the shortest, "Judy Is a Punk," was just 1 minute 32 seconds - and had a raw elegance that made many, like "Blitzkrieg Bop," "Beat on the Brat" and "I Wanna Be Sedated," punk-rock standards.
Mr. Ramone once described his guitar style as "pure, white rock 'n' roll, with no blues influence."
"I wanted our sound to be as original as possible,'' he said. "I stopped listening to everything."
Seldom lightening the scowl on his face, Mr. Ramone performed with a determination that mirrored his place in the band. Each member had a clearly defined role, musical and otherwise, and Johnny's was the taskmaster. He conducted the band's business affairs and led the group in details ranging from its sound to its mode of dress: in leather jackets, ripped jeans and scruffy sneakers, the band always presented a unified visual front of a punk army in uniform.
"He was the leader of the band," Danny Fields, the group's first manager, said. "He was the boss and you worked for him. He was very demanding, but very right."
After years holding a construction job - he tried college, but dropped out in a matter of days - Mr. Ramone formed the group in 1974 in Forest Hills, Queens, with Mr. Hyman, Mr. Colvin and Mr. Erdelyi. In the late 1960's he played bass in the Tangerine Puppets, a garage-rock band, but switched instruments early in 1974 when he bought a $50 Mosrite guitar on a trip to Manny's Music shop, on West 48th Street in Manhattan.
The new group took its name from a pseudonym that Paul McCartney had used while on the road with the Beatles, and began playing regular gigs at a Bowery dive called CBGB. A Ramones set rarely lasted more than 30 minutes, and the tunes were strung together in rapid succession. Their plan was to pause between songs just long enough for a member, usually Dee Dee, to shout "One-Two-Three-Four!" But in the early days that time was often spent bickering onstage about which song to play.
Their experience was from the start a mixture of success and frustration. When the Ramones first played in London, on July 4, 1976, they were met by adoring crowds, and were approached with fear and admiration by members of the Sex Pistols, the Clash and the Damned, all founding groups of the fruitful British punk scene. But when the Ramones returned home to New York they had trouble booking shows in Connecticut and New Jersey. In the band's early years, its members all crammed into Mr. Vega's loft space.
Though the band never had a major hit, it persisted for 22 years and more than a dozen studio albums, including its first record, "Ramones" (1976); "Leave Home" (1977); "Rocket to Russia" (1977); "End of the Century" (1980), recorded with Mr. Spector; and "Adios Amigos'' (1995), its last. Through the years the band kept a grueling touring schedule, and when on the road, Mr. Ramone carefully kept track of details from each concert. The band played its final gig, No. 2,263, on Aug. 6, 1996, at the Palace in Los Angeles.
That theater, now called the Avalon, was the site of a 30th-anniversary tribute to the Ramones on Sunday, with a roster that included Rob Zombie, Henry Rollins, X, Mr. Vedder and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was, Mr. Vega said, "a veiled tribute to Johnny," and at the show Rob Zombie called Mr. Ramone from the stage so that the crowd could shout "Hey ho, let's go!," the band's rallying cry and the first words of its most famous song, "Blitzkrieg Bop."
Another anniversary concert is planned for New York on Oct. 8, which is the birthday of both Johnny and C. J. Ramone (Christopher John Ward), the bassist who replaced Dee Dee in 1989. The concert is booked at Spirit on West 27th Street in Chelsea, and is to feature Blondie and the Strokes, Mr. Vega said.
Mr. Fields, the group's first manager, said that after the band broke up Mr. Ramone did not work again. "Johnny's goal was to retire," he said. "All he wanted to do was to be able to stop working. He was proud of what he did, but he still wanted to stop. People would ask him, 'What are you going to do when there's no more band?' And he would say, 'Watch baseball and horror movies.' "
For much of the last year Mr. Ramone had been working on his memoirs with Steve Miller, a reporter for The Washington Times. Mr. Miller said yesterday that their interviews were complete.
Mr. Ramone was often at odds with the members of his band, over dress, politics and relationships. A staunch Republican, Mr. Ramone clashed with Joey over that singer's liberal causes, and when the band was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Mr. Ramone said, "God bless President Bush, and God bless America."
After Mr. Ramone began dating a woman who had been seeing Joey, the two men stopped talking to each other. On their tour bus, they kept silent company, often passing messages back and forth through an intermediary. Johnny Ramone later married the woman, now Linda Cummings, who survives him, along with his mother, Estelle Cummings.
Mr. Ramone's silence toward Joey continued even to his band mate's death. Interviewed in his home for the new documentary "End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones,'' surrounded by horror-movie posters from his extensive collection, Mr. Ramone was unflinching in his refusal to reconcile with Joey.
"I'm only going to be the way I'd want someone to react to me," he said in the film. "If I didn't like someone, I wouldn't want him calling me up when I was dying. I wouldn't want them having regrets that they didn't talk to me. I'm happy that they didn't talk to me. If I'm gone, that's how it goes."
Friday, September 10, 2004
How not to be a geezer....
October is Put Old on Hold Month - Ten Tips to Look and Feel Younger in 30 Days
Anti-aging expert offers unique tips to help Boomers look and feel younger.
(PRWEB) September 9, 2004 -- Barbara Morris, anti-aging expert, pharmacist, and 75-year-old author of Put Old on Hold says 40 year olds can stay a “rock n’ roll” young for 25 years or more. She has designated October as Put Old on Hold Month and invites Boomers to begin to Put Old on Hold by following 10 of her stay young rules: 1.Donate donuts to the trash and don’t look back. In 30 days, you will have slimmer hips and flatter abs. 2.Know that you are an ageless god or goddess, so don’t ever call yourself an “old broad” or “old geezer.” You will be reported to Judge Judy who will sentence you to associate with real old broads and old geezers. It won’t be fun. You will regret having misrepresented yourself. 3.Be a juicy plum instead of a dried prune. Drink 8-10 glasses of water a day instead of coffee and sodas. Caffeine sucks water out of your body and makes your skin look and feel like crinkly crepe paper. 4.For men: Shave all the hair off your face so others can see and appreciate the good-looking guy you really are. Nothing ages an over-40 man more than facial hair and long locks. And one more thing: The “t” in tattoo stands for “trash” so don’t trash your body with permanent images. Think ahead: “I’m a stud” emblazoned across your biceps won’t impress caretakers when you are in diapers in a nursing home. 5.Instead of fast food, have homemade protein drinks. Keep them in a cooler in the car or office. Take a multiple vitamin at least once a day to boost energy and replace nutrients lost in processed foods. 6.Eat wild salmon at least twice a week. The Omega-3 fatty acids in salmon will brighten and firm your skin. 7.Switch to whole grain bread. It doesn’t clog your gut like pasty white bread. A clogged gut makes you look gray and feel old and cranky. 8.Walk at least 30 minutes a day. Get a treadmill and put it in front of the TV. Walk through your favorite programs while fat, flabby thighs tighten and tone.9.When asked, “How are you?” always respond “terrific” even if you feel lousy. At the end of the day, after ten “terrific” responses, you will look and feel better.10.Men and women: Work with an anti aging physician to get your hormones in balance with natural bio-identical hormone replacement. It will rejuvenate your love life and make you feel ten years younger in no time.
Anti-aging expert offers unique tips to help Boomers look and feel younger.
(PRWEB) September 9, 2004 -- Barbara Morris, anti-aging expert, pharmacist, and 75-year-old author of Put Old on Hold says 40 year olds can stay a “rock n’ roll” young for 25 years or more. She has designated October as Put Old on Hold Month and invites Boomers to begin to Put Old on Hold by following 10 of her stay young rules: 1.Donate donuts to the trash and don’t look back. In 30 days, you will have slimmer hips and flatter abs. 2.Know that you are an ageless god or goddess, so don’t ever call yourself an “old broad” or “old geezer.” You will be reported to Judge Judy who will sentence you to associate with real old broads and old geezers. It won’t be fun. You will regret having misrepresented yourself. 3.Be a juicy plum instead of a dried prune. Drink 8-10 glasses of water a day instead of coffee and sodas. Caffeine sucks water out of your body and makes your skin look and feel like crinkly crepe paper. 4.For men: Shave all the hair off your face so others can see and appreciate the good-looking guy you really are. Nothing ages an over-40 man more than facial hair and long locks. And one more thing: The “t” in tattoo stands for “trash” so don’t trash your body with permanent images. Think ahead: “I’m a stud” emblazoned across your biceps won’t impress caretakers when you are in diapers in a nursing home. 5.Instead of fast food, have homemade protein drinks. Keep them in a cooler in the car or office. Take a multiple vitamin at least once a day to boost energy and replace nutrients lost in processed foods. 6.Eat wild salmon at least twice a week. The Omega-3 fatty acids in salmon will brighten and firm your skin. 7.Switch to whole grain bread. It doesn’t clog your gut like pasty white bread. A clogged gut makes you look gray and feel old and cranky. 8.Walk at least 30 minutes a day. Get a treadmill and put it in front of the TV. Walk through your favorite programs while fat, flabby thighs tighten and tone.9.When asked, “How are you?” always respond “terrific” even if you feel lousy. At the end of the day, after ten “terrific” responses, you will look and feel better.10.Men and women: Work with an anti aging physician to get your hormones in balance with natural bio-identical hormone replacement. It will rejuvenate your love life and make you feel ten years younger in no time.
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
Be active, Geezers!
Inactivity a greater heart risk than obesity, study finds
Never mind what the bathroom scales are saying and take a brisk walk: That's the message that emerges from a new study that shows that, when it comes to heart health, it's more important to be active than thin.
The research, conducted exclusively on women, found that those who were fittest were least likely to have clogged arteries, had the fewest heart attacks and had far fewer risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The same associations did not hold true based on women's weight, or body mass index. (BMI is an approximation of body fat.)
"Lack of physical fitness is a stronger risk factor for developing heart disease than being overweight or obese," said Timothy Wessel, a cardiologist at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville, Fla.
He said the link between BMI and heart disease remains unclear, particularly in women. Dr. Wessel said the problem is that most obesity studies have not adequately measured physical activity and many studies of physical fitness have excluded women with known or suspected coronary heart disease.
The research, published in today's edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, was conducted on 906 women who were prescribed a coronary angiography -- a test that measures blockages in the arteries of the heart. Practically speaking, that meant many already had a number of risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
The vast majority of the women in the study, 76 per cent, were overweight or obese and just over 70 per cent were virtually sedentary. Their average age was 58.
During the four-year study period, 68 of the women died and 455 suffered a heart attack or stroke.
When the data were analyzed by categories of weight and activity, women who were active, even moderately, turned out to be far less likely to develop heart problems than the sedentary women, regardless of how much they weighed. (The fitness of the participants in the study was judged based on a questionnaire that estimated their daily energy expenditure.)
While the researchers were careful not to say that being overweight or obese is desirable, they stressed that it is important to be active regardless of how much you weigh. This is true even for people with serious heart disease, such as the women involved in the study.
"Increased physical therapy seems to be an ideal therapy for coronary heart disease," Dr. Wessel said. He said that physicians who are treating patients for heart disease -- and its prevention -- should be sure to stress physical activity more than weight loss.
A second, unrelated study also published in JAMA, offered seemingly contradictory results. It found that weight, rather than fitness, was the best predictor of women developing Type 2 diabetes.
The study, conducted by Amy Weinstein and a group of researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, followed 37,878 women over a seven-year period.
"We observed a modest reduction in the risk of diabetes with increasing physical activity level, compared with a large increase in the risk with increasing BMI," Dr. Weinstein said. The women in the study, however, were generally younger and healthier than those in the heart study.
In a related commentary, published in the same edition of JAMA, Steven Blair of the Cooper Institute in Dallas, said the evidence linking obesity to health problems is indisputable but the role of fitness is equally clear. He said the differences in findings were largely a result of methodology and the groups of women studied.
What is important for the public to retain, Mr. Blair said, is that research has consistently shown that a moderately fit obese person is about half as likely to die of heart disease as an unfit person of normal weight. The Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation recommends that everyone do the equivalent of 30 minutes of brisk walking daily to be considered moderately active.
Mr. Blair, a well-known fitness guru who always makes light of the fact that he is heavyset, said the "fitness versus fatness" debate is academic and irrelevant to people looking to get healthy.
"Physicians, researchers and policy-makers should spend less energy debating the relative health importance of fitness and obesity and more time focusing on how to get sedentary individuals to become active," Mr. Blair said.
About 59 per cent of adults in Canada are considered inactive, and 48 per cent are overweight.
Never mind what the bathroom scales are saying and take a brisk walk: That's the message that emerges from a new study that shows that, when it comes to heart health, it's more important to be active than thin.
The research, conducted exclusively on women, found that those who were fittest were least likely to have clogged arteries, had the fewest heart attacks and had far fewer risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The same associations did not hold true based on women's weight, or body mass index. (BMI is an approximation of body fat.)
"Lack of physical fitness is a stronger risk factor for developing heart disease than being overweight or obese," said Timothy Wessel, a cardiologist at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville, Fla.
He said the link between BMI and heart disease remains unclear, particularly in women. Dr. Wessel said the problem is that most obesity studies have not adequately measured physical activity and many studies of physical fitness have excluded women with known or suspected coronary heart disease.
The research, published in today's edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, was conducted on 906 women who were prescribed a coronary angiography -- a test that measures blockages in the arteries of the heart. Practically speaking, that meant many already had a number of risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
The vast majority of the women in the study, 76 per cent, were overweight or obese and just over 70 per cent were virtually sedentary. Their average age was 58.
During the four-year study period, 68 of the women died and 455 suffered a heart attack or stroke.
When the data were analyzed by categories of weight and activity, women who were active, even moderately, turned out to be far less likely to develop heart problems than the sedentary women, regardless of how much they weighed. (The fitness of the participants in the study was judged based on a questionnaire that estimated their daily energy expenditure.)
While the researchers were careful not to say that being overweight or obese is desirable, they stressed that it is important to be active regardless of how much you weigh. This is true even for people with serious heart disease, such as the women involved in the study.
"Increased physical therapy seems to be an ideal therapy for coronary heart disease," Dr. Wessel said. He said that physicians who are treating patients for heart disease -- and its prevention -- should be sure to stress physical activity more than weight loss.
A second, unrelated study also published in JAMA, offered seemingly contradictory results. It found that weight, rather than fitness, was the best predictor of women developing Type 2 diabetes.
The study, conducted by Amy Weinstein and a group of researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, followed 37,878 women over a seven-year period.
"We observed a modest reduction in the risk of diabetes with increasing physical activity level, compared with a large increase in the risk with increasing BMI," Dr. Weinstein said. The women in the study, however, were generally younger and healthier than those in the heart study.
In a related commentary, published in the same edition of JAMA, Steven Blair of the Cooper Institute in Dallas, said the evidence linking obesity to health problems is indisputable but the role of fitness is equally clear. He said the differences in findings were largely a result of methodology and the groups of women studied.
What is important for the public to retain, Mr. Blair said, is that research has consistently shown that a moderately fit obese person is about half as likely to die of heart disease as an unfit person of normal weight. The Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation recommends that everyone do the equivalent of 30 minutes of brisk walking daily to be considered moderately active.
Mr. Blair, a well-known fitness guru who always makes light of the fact that he is heavyset, said the "fitness versus fatness" debate is academic and irrelevant to people looking to get healthy.
"Physicians, researchers and policy-makers should spend less energy debating the relative health importance of fitness and obesity and more time focusing on how to get sedentary individuals to become active," Mr. Blair said.
About 59 per cent of adults in Canada are considered inactive, and 48 per cent are overweight.
Vote Kerry, dump Bush!
- QUOTATIONS OF THE DAY -
"It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice then the
danger is that we'll get hit again and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States."
- VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY
"It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice then the
danger is that we'll get hit again and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States."
- VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY
Monday, September 06, 2004
Geezers unite to dump bush!
In December 2003, Bush signed the new Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act into law. Many seniors expected it to provide much needed relief from escalating health care costs. That has not happened and it will not happen until we get Bush and his cronies in the health care industry out of the White House.
The new law was supposed to be a boost for Bush's reelection campaign. However, it is now being criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike, and by just about every senior citizen advocacy group in the country.
Bush tries to portray the law with its prescription drug benefit as a windfall for seniors; when in fact it is nothing but a scam that benefits insurance companies, drug makers and health care providers.
Largest Premium Increase In History Of Medicare
According to a September 4, 2004 article by the Associated Press, Medicare premiums for Part A, which covers doctor visits and other non-hospital expenses will rise by 17% in 2005. It will be the largest increase is the program's 40-year-history. Monthly payments will jump to $78.20, up from $66.60.
Mark McClellan, administrator for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medical Services, said the increase reflects rapidly rising health costs and last year's Medicare overhaul.
Well Bush and his allies in Congress can take full credit for the increase that resulted from the "overhaul" because they are the ones responsible for pushing through the health care industry's favored version of the bill that got seniors into this mess to begin with.
This latest rise should come as no surprise anyways. Medicare premiums have skyrocketed ever since Bush took office. They rose by 8.7% in 2003, and 13.5% in 2004.
In addition to the rise in premiums, the deductible for Medicare Part A will also rise to $912 in 2005, up from $876; and the deductible for Part B will rise to $110.
Bush chose an odd time to release this news. According to the NYTs, "In years past, the premium increases have been announced in October at the same time that cost-of-living increases to Social Security checks are announced. The twin announcements allow the elderly to calculate how much they will be receiving the following year."
I wonder why Bush didn't wait until October to make this announcement? Or better yet, why didn't he give senior citizens the good news during his convention speech while he was bragging about his efforts to help the elderly cope with increased medical costs?
True to form, Bush released the bad news in his usual manner, on a Friday afternoon, and this time with the added benefit of a holiday weekend and a news cycle dominated by stories about a hurricane. "This is a cynical attempt to bury bad news by leaking it out when you hope no one is watching," said Rep Pete Stark, D-Calif. "This administration has had four years to improve Medicare and instead have made it worse. Today's news reflects the reality, not rhetoric, of this administration's bad record on Medicare."
Robert Hayes, president of Medicare Rights Center, called the increase "a body blow to millions of older Americans living on fixed incomes," and said the increase will be especially painful because Social Security payments are expected to rise by less than 3%.
Every dime counts for people on fixed incomes. The median annual income for senior citizens aged 65 and older was only $23,048 in 2003, or less than $2,000 a month, according to an August 26, 2004 report by the US Census Bureau.
According to the Washington Post, when the new Medicare law is fully implemented in 2006, the typical retiree who purchases traditional Medicare coverage and the drug benefit will pay more than $115 in monthly premiums, a $110 annual deductible for outpatient care, and co-payments for physician visits and medications.
McClellan claims that most of the increase will cover the program's new prescription drug coverage and preventive services, including an initial physical exam and other tests. And Bush spokesman, Scott Stanzel said "President Bush has worked to increase health care access and affordability, including guaranteeing Medicare recipients prescription drugs."
Wait a minute here. If the money is going to pay for the new prescription drug benefit, how are seniors saving any money? Let me get this straight, seniors are supposed to get a discount on drugs, but now Bush says that Medicare will pay for the discount with a rise in their monthly premiums.
Will somebody please explain the new "prescription drug benefit" to me because just like with so many of Bush's helpful policies, I don't get it.
On Top Of Rising Prescription Drugs Prices
The 17% increase in premiums comes on top of the escalating cost of prescription drugs. Experts say the elderly cannot withstand such a large increase on top of rising drug costs.
According to President of Medicare Rights Center, Robert Hayes, "Older Americans already are staggering under the relentless increases in the cost of prescription drugs," he said. "More older Americans will face harsh choices in meeting basic human needs--health, food and housing."
The Kerry campaign is blasting Bush. "After doing nothing about the record increases in the cost of healthcare over the last four years, George Bush is presiding over a Medicare system that is socking seniors with the largest premium hike in the program's 40-year history," said spokesman Phil Singer.
In the Salt Lake Tribune, Darrell Butler, manager with Salt Lake County Aging Services, said "if it was a 5 to 8% rise, it wouldn't have surprised me as much," he said. "But 17% is overwhelming. What it will end up doing is force a lot more people into making tough decisions about whether to buy food or spend their money on prescription drugs.
"They'll take their medications every other day or cut them in half to try to make ends meet," Butler said. "This is terrible news."
Kerry spokesman Singer says, "When it comes to helping seniors, George Bush has proven that he's taking us in the wrong direction by giving billions to the drug industry while keeping seniors from accessing cheaper prescription drugs."
Astronomical Increases In Prescription Drug Prices
Seniors will not see cheaper prescription prices when the full bill goes into effect in 2006, because it does nothing to control the rising cost of drugs. In fact, according to Consumers Union, "most beneficiaries will face higher out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs after full implementation, despite the benefit." (Consumers Union, 11/17/03)
In June 2004, the advocacy group, "Families USA" released the results of a study that tracked price changes for the top 30 brand name drugs prescribed to seniors, in a report called: "Sticker Shock: Rising Prescription Drug Prices For Seniors. The study concluded that, "Like used car buyers drawn by the promise of a rebate—only to find that the base price has risen dramatically—seniors purchasing a new drug discount card may succumb to “sticker shock.”
In determining the most frequently used drugs, the study used data from the Pennsylvania Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly (PACE) program, the largest prescription drug program for senior citizens in the country. Price histories were obtained from MDDB Select, a Medi-Span database.
Since 1999, Families has continuously monitored price increases of the 50 most popular drugs used by seniors. All of the 30 brand-name drugs selected for its Sticker Shock study were in the top 50. Its report provides a framework for determining whether the discounts cards make prescription drugs more affordable.
According to the report, between January 2001 and January 2004, the prices of the top 30 drugs increased by nearly 22%. On average, the cost of the drugs increased by 6.5%, while the overall rate of inflation, excluding energy, was only 1.5% for the same period.
Of these 30 drugs, 28 increased in price by 2 or more times the rate of inflation; 21 increased by three or more times the rate, and 14 increased in price by more than 5 times the rate of inflation.
With some drugs the rate of increase was even higher. For instance, the cost of Combivent, used to treat respiratory conditions, increased by 13.2 times the rate of inflation. Alphagan P, used to treat glaucoma, and Evista, an osteoporosis treatment, each increased by 10.3 times the rate. Diovan, used to treat high blood pressure, increased by 8.6 times the rate. Detrol LA, a treatment for overactive bladder, increased in price by 8.5 times the rate. Xalatan, used to treat glaucoma, increased in price by 6.8 times the rate.
The cost of the following 8 drugs went up by more than 5 times the rate of inflation: Lipitor, used to lower cholesterol; Plavix, used to prevent blood clots; Norvasc, used to treat high blood pressure; Celebrex, used for arthritis and joint pain; Protonix, used for gastric reflux; Cozaar, used for high blood pressure; and Celexa, used to treat depression.
Prices of the drugs also increased often. Fifteen of the 30 had more than one price increase in the 1 year period from January 2003 to January 2004. Two-thirds of the drugs increased in price more than 3 times. The price of Toprol XL increased 7 times, Combivent 6 times; and Celexa 5 times.
Bush claims that by using Medicare's new prescription discount cards, seniors would receive a discount of 10 to 25%. That's bull. The truth is that after combining the 22% increase in drug costs over the past 3 years with the steady rise in premiums (8.7% in 2003, 13.5% in 2004, and 17% in 2005), seniors will get a minus % discount.
0% Discount - Card Prices Verses Non-Card Prices
Because the new Medicare bill contains provisions that bar the importation of drugs from other countries and bans Medicare from negotiating lower prices like the Veteran's Administration does for vets, seniors who use a prescription drug discount card will save little, if any, money on the cost of drugs.
In April 2004, the minority staff of the House Government Reform Committee, released a study that compared prices available to seniors who would pay the $30 to buy a card, against prices available to seniors who did not.
The study used prices from 3 card providers, ExpressScripts, Advance (Advance is owned by Bush-buddy Halbert who was allowed to craft major portions of the bill), and Walgreens. Prices of these companies were similar to all others. The drugs used in the study represent a month's supply of the top 10 brand-name drugs used by seniors.
The study compared the card prices to (1) prices in Canada; (2) prices negotiated by the Department of Veterans Affairs; and (3) prices charged by internet outlets Drugstore.com and Costco.com.
The study found card prices much higher than prices in Canada. A month's supply of the 10 drugs in Canada cost $596, while prices were $972 with Walgreens, $1,046 with Advance, and $1,061 with Express. The average card price was 72% higher than in Canada.
The Committee found that the difference for some drugs exceeded 100%. For instance, Celebrex, costs $81.28 at Walgreens, but only $38.69 in Canada; Prevacid was $129.68 with Express, but only $56.54 in Canada.
The comparison to drugs purchased by the VA, also found card prices much higher. With the VA the10 drugs cost $587, while the average price with the cards was $1,026, more than 75% higher.
A month's supply of the drugs even costs less on internet sights Drugstore.com and Costco.com. While the average card price is $1,026, the drugs would only cost $959 at Drugstore.com. Specific drugs like Lipitor, show Walgreens at $67.44, and Drugstore.com at $62.99; Prevacid costs $129.68 with Express, but only $122.57 at Costco.com.
Prices for generic prices were also spiked. The Wall Street Journal found pharmacies buying generic drugs for a few cents and marking them up nearly 200%. For example, a 90-day supply of generic Prozac costs only $4, and is sold for $14.94 at Costco.com. Yet the Medicare website showed one card sponsor charging $84.15.
The cold hard truth is that senior citizens were conned into believing that Bush wanted to help them, when in reality the much touted prescription discount card program is nothing but a scam. Why do I say this? For starters, multiply the $30 price per card by Medicare's 43 million members and see how much it comes to.
Seniors Forced To Pick Up Tab For Advertising
Increased spending for advertising is driving up drug costs and seniors are being forced to pick up the tab. AARP has been tracking how much drug companies spend advertising the drugs most used by seniors. It found dramatic increases in the price of drugs being advertised, a fact that ARRP says, "begs the question of who’s picking up the tab."
For a quick answer to that question, check out how much advertising was done right before the card program went into effect in June. In the first 5 months of 2004, Bristol-Myers Squibb spent about $35 million advertising the blood thinner Plavix, and the price for Plavix rose by 7.9%. Bristol-Myers also spent about $7.2 million to advertise the cholesterol drug Pravachol; its price rose 7%. Merck spent $42 million to advertise Zocor, another cholesterol drug, and the price to wholesalers rose 25.8%.
The drug Nexium (used to treat heartburn), is a good example of how well advertising pays off. Last year the drugmaker AstraZeneca spent $411 million promoting it. In return, Nexium sales reached $3.3 billion, making it the 7th largest selling brand name drug in the US, according to the trade publication Pharmaceutical Executive. Democratic Rep Henry Waxman recently released a study that showed that in one month between May 3 and June 3, 2004, the price of Nexium increased by 13%.
Make no mistake, the elderly are paying the advertising bills for drugmakers.
WAKE-UP CALL
The Kerry campaign is blasting Bush. "After doing nothing about the record increases in the cost of healthcare over the last four years, George Bush is presiding over a Medicare system that is socking seniors with the largest premium hike in the program's 40-year history," said Kerry spokesman Singer.
Bloomberg.com says Medicare patients have already paid $720 million more in out of pocket expenses for premium and deductible increases this year than in 2003, according to the annual report by Medicare's trustees. Enough is enough!
Seniors need a Wake-Up call before they head to the polls on November 2, 2004. If Bush gets reelected they better prepare for more assaults on their retirement nest eggs. Look at what his cronies in the health care industry managed pull off even while Bush was facing reelection. Who knows what new scams they have planned for the next 4 years.
The new law was supposed to be a boost for Bush's reelection campaign. However, it is now being criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike, and by just about every senior citizen advocacy group in the country.
Bush tries to portray the law with its prescription drug benefit as a windfall for seniors; when in fact it is nothing but a scam that benefits insurance companies, drug makers and health care providers.
Largest Premium Increase In History Of Medicare
According to a September 4, 2004 article by the Associated Press, Medicare premiums for Part A, which covers doctor visits and other non-hospital expenses will rise by 17% in 2005. It will be the largest increase is the program's 40-year-history. Monthly payments will jump to $78.20, up from $66.60.
Mark McClellan, administrator for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medical Services, said the increase reflects rapidly rising health costs and last year's Medicare overhaul.
Well Bush and his allies in Congress can take full credit for the increase that resulted from the "overhaul" because they are the ones responsible for pushing through the health care industry's favored version of the bill that got seniors into this mess to begin with.
This latest rise should come as no surprise anyways. Medicare premiums have skyrocketed ever since Bush took office. They rose by 8.7% in 2003, and 13.5% in 2004.
In addition to the rise in premiums, the deductible for Medicare Part A will also rise to $912 in 2005, up from $876; and the deductible for Part B will rise to $110.
Bush chose an odd time to release this news. According to the NYTs, "In years past, the premium increases have been announced in October at the same time that cost-of-living increases to Social Security checks are announced. The twin announcements allow the elderly to calculate how much they will be receiving the following year."
I wonder why Bush didn't wait until October to make this announcement? Or better yet, why didn't he give senior citizens the good news during his convention speech while he was bragging about his efforts to help the elderly cope with increased medical costs?
True to form, Bush released the bad news in his usual manner, on a Friday afternoon, and this time with the added benefit of a holiday weekend and a news cycle dominated by stories about a hurricane. "This is a cynical attempt to bury bad news by leaking it out when you hope no one is watching," said Rep Pete Stark, D-Calif. "This administration has had four years to improve Medicare and instead have made it worse. Today's news reflects the reality, not rhetoric, of this administration's bad record on Medicare."
Robert Hayes, president of Medicare Rights Center, called the increase "a body blow to millions of older Americans living on fixed incomes," and said the increase will be especially painful because Social Security payments are expected to rise by less than 3%.
Every dime counts for people on fixed incomes. The median annual income for senior citizens aged 65 and older was only $23,048 in 2003, or less than $2,000 a month, according to an August 26, 2004 report by the US Census Bureau.
According to the Washington Post, when the new Medicare law is fully implemented in 2006, the typical retiree who purchases traditional Medicare coverage and the drug benefit will pay more than $115 in monthly premiums, a $110 annual deductible for outpatient care, and co-payments for physician visits and medications.
McClellan claims that most of the increase will cover the program's new prescription drug coverage and preventive services, including an initial physical exam and other tests. And Bush spokesman, Scott Stanzel said "President Bush has worked to increase health care access and affordability, including guaranteeing Medicare recipients prescription drugs."
Wait a minute here. If the money is going to pay for the new prescription drug benefit, how are seniors saving any money? Let me get this straight, seniors are supposed to get a discount on drugs, but now Bush says that Medicare will pay for the discount with a rise in their monthly premiums.
Will somebody please explain the new "prescription drug benefit" to me because just like with so many of Bush's helpful policies, I don't get it.
On Top Of Rising Prescription Drugs Prices
The 17% increase in premiums comes on top of the escalating cost of prescription drugs. Experts say the elderly cannot withstand such a large increase on top of rising drug costs.
According to President of Medicare Rights Center, Robert Hayes, "Older Americans already are staggering under the relentless increases in the cost of prescription drugs," he said. "More older Americans will face harsh choices in meeting basic human needs--health, food and housing."
The Kerry campaign is blasting Bush. "After doing nothing about the record increases in the cost of healthcare over the last four years, George Bush is presiding over a Medicare system that is socking seniors with the largest premium hike in the program's 40-year history," said spokesman Phil Singer.
In the Salt Lake Tribune, Darrell Butler, manager with Salt Lake County Aging Services, said "if it was a 5 to 8% rise, it wouldn't have surprised me as much," he said. "But 17% is overwhelming. What it will end up doing is force a lot more people into making tough decisions about whether to buy food or spend their money on prescription drugs.
"They'll take their medications every other day or cut them in half to try to make ends meet," Butler said. "This is terrible news."
Kerry spokesman Singer says, "When it comes to helping seniors, George Bush has proven that he's taking us in the wrong direction by giving billions to the drug industry while keeping seniors from accessing cheaper prescription drugs."
Astronomical Increases In Prescription Drug Prices
Seniors will not see cheaper prescription prices when the full bill goes into effect in 2006, because it does nothing to control the rising cost of drugs. In fact, according to Consumers Union, "most beneficiaries will face higher out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs after full implementation, despite the benefit." (Consumers Union, 11/17/03)
In June 2004, the advocacy group, "Families USA" released the results of a study that tracked price changes for the top 30 brand name drugs prescribed to seniors, in a report called: "Sticker Shock: Rising Prescription Drug Prices For Seniors. The study concluded that, "Like used car buyers drawn by the promise of a rebate—only to find that the base price has risen dramatically—seniors purchasing a new drug discount card may succumb to “sticker shock.”
In determining the most frequently used drugs, the study used data from the Pennsylvania Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly (PACE) program, the largest prescription drug program for senior citizens in the country. Price histories were obtained from MDDB Select, a Medi-Span database.
Since 1999, Families has continuously monitored price increases of the 50 most popular drugs used by seniors. All of the 30 brand-name drugs selected for its Sticker Shock study were in the top 50. Its report provides a framework for determining whether the discounts cards make prescription drugs more affordable.
According to the report, between January 2001 and January 2004, the prices of the top 30 drugs increased by nearly 22%. On average, the cost of the drugs increased by 6.5%, while the overall rate of inflation, excluding energy, was only 1.5% for the same period.
Of these 30 drugs, 28 increased in price by 2 or more times the rate of inflation; 21 increased by three or more times the rate, and 14 increased in price by more than 5 times the rate of inflation.
With some drugs the rate of increase was even higher. For instance, the cost of Combivent, used to treat respiratory conditions, increased by 13.2 times the rate of inflation. Alphagan P, used to treat glaucoma, and Evista, an osteoporosis treatment, each increased by 10.3 times the rate. Diovan, used to treat high blood pressure, increased by 8.6 times the rate. Detrol LA, a treatment for overactive bladder, increased in price by 8.5 times the rate. Xalatan, used to treat glaucoma, increased in price by 6.8 times the rate.
The cost of the following 8 drugs went up by more than 5 times the rate of inflation: Lipitor, used to lower cholesterol; Plavix, used to prevent blood clots; Norvasc, used to treat high blood pressure; Celebrex, used for arthritis and joint pain; Protonix, used for gastric reflux; Cozaar, used for high blood pressure; and Celexa, used to treat depression.
Prices of the drugs also increased often. Fifteen of the 30 had more than one price increase in the 1 year period from January 2003 to January 2004. Two-thirds of the drugs increased in price more than 3 times. The price of Toprol XL increased 7 times, Combivent 6 times; and Celexa 5 times.
Bush claims that by using Medicare's new prescription discount cards, seniors would receive a discount of 10 to 25%. That's bull. The truth is that after combining the 22% increase in drug costs over the past 3 years with the steady rise in premiums (8.7% in 2003, 13.5% in 2004, and 17% in 2005), seniors will get a minus % discount.
0% Discount - Card Prices Verses Non-Card Prices
Because the new Medicare bill contains provisions that bar the importation of drugs from other countries and bans Medicare from negotiating lower prices like the Veteran's Administration does for vets, seniors who use a prescription drug discount card will save little, if any, money on the cost of drugs.
In April 2004, the minority staff of the House Government Reform Committee, released a study that compared prices available to seniors who would pay the $30 to buy a card, against prices available to seniors who did not.
The study used prices from 3 card providers, ExpressScripts, Advance (Advance is owned by Bush-buddy Halbert who was allowed to craft major portions of the bill), and Walgreens. Prices of these companies were similar to all others. The drugs used in the study represent a month's supply of the top 10 brand-name drugs used by seniors.
The study compared the card prices to (1) prices in Canada; (2) prices negotiated by the Department of Veterans Affairs; and (3) prices charged by internet outlets Drugstore.com and Costco.com.
The study found card prices much higher than prices in Canada. A month's supply of the 10 drugs in Canada cost $596, while prices were $972 with Walgreens, $1,046 with Advance, and $1,061 with Express. The average card price was 72% higher than in Canada.
The Committee found that the difference for some drugs exceeded 100%. For instance, Celebrex, costs $81.28 at Walgreens, but only $38.69 in Canada; Prevacid was $129.68 with Express, but only $56.54 in Canada.
The comparison to drugs purchased by the VA, also found card prices much higher. With the VA the10 drugs cost $587, while the average price with the cards was $1,026, more than 75% higher.
A month's supply of the drugs even costs less on internet sights Drugstore.com and Costco.com. While the average card price is $1,026, the drugs would only cost $959 at Drugstore.com. Specific drugs like Lipitor, show Walgreens at $67.44, and Drugstore.com at $62.99; Prevacid costs $129.68 with Express, but only $122.57 at Costco.com.
Prices for generic prices were also spiked. The Wall Street Journal found pharmacies buying generic drugs for a few cents and marking them up nearly 200%. For example, a 90-day supply of generic Prozac costs only $4, and is sold for $14.94 at Costco.com. Yet the Medicare website showed one card sponsor charging $84.15.
The cold hard truth is that senior citizens were conned into believing that Bush wanted to help them, when in reality the much touted prescription discount card program is nothing but a scam. Why do I say this? For starters, multiply the $30 price per card by Medicare's 43 million members and see how much it comes to.
Seniors Forced To Pick Up Tab For Advertising
Increased spending for advertising is driving up drug costs and seniors are being forced to pick up the tab. AARP has been tracking how much drug companies spend advertising the drugs most used by seniors. It found dramatic increases in the price of drugs being advertised, a fact that ARRP says, "begs the question of who’s picking up the tab."
For a quick answer to that question, check out how much advertising was done right before the card program went into effect in June. In the first 5 months of 2004, Bristol-Myers Squibb spent about $35 million advertising the blood thinner Plavix, and the price for Plavix rose by 7.9%. Bristol-Myers also spent about $7.2 million to advertise the cholesterol drug Pravachol; its price rose 7%. Merck spent $42 million to advertise Zocor, another cholesterol drug, and the price to wholesalers rose 25.8%.
The drug Nexium (used to treat heartburn), is a good example of how well advertising pays off. Last year the drugmaker AstraZeneca spent $411 million promoting it. In return, Nexium sales reached $3.3 billion, making it the 7th largest selling brand name drug in the US, according to the trade publication Pharmaceutical Executive. Democratic Rep Henry Waxman recently released a study that showed that in one month between May 3 and June 3, 2004, the price of Nexium increased by 13%.
Make no mistake, the elderly are paying the advertising bills for drugmakers.
WAKE-UP CALL
The Kerry campaign is blasting Bush. "After doing nothing about the record increases in the cost of healthcare over the last four years, George Bush is presiding over a Medicare system that is socking seniors with the largest premium hike in the program's 40-year history," said Kerry spokesman Singer.
Bloomberg.com says Medicare patients have already paid $720 million more in out of pocket expenses for premium and deductible increases this year than in 2003, according to the annual report by Medicare's trustees. Enough is enough!
Seniors need a Wake-Up call before they head to the polls on November 2, 2004. If Bush gets reelected they better prepare for more assaults on their retirement nest eggs. Look at what his cronies in the health care industry managed pull off even while Bush was facing reelection. Who knows what new scams they have planned for the next 4 years.
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