Last Grateful Dead keyboardist dead from apparent suicide

"...[Vince]Welnick's death is the latest in a string of recent tragedies for the Dead. Three other members of the band's extended family have died since May 17 -- crew member Lawrence 'Ram Rod' Shurtliff, drummer Hamza El-Din and road manager Jonathan Riester." "Grateful Dead's Last Keyboardist, Vince Welnick, Dies at 55" San Francisco Chronicle

In Canada: confront boomer corruption

"[I]t's about time our western world baby boomers, who traded flower power for Jaguars and country club memberships, finally woke up to question of what the hell is going on. You know what I'm talking about: Widespread greed and corruption, which threatens the very fibre of our free, democratic world and makes victims out of hard-working families. On Wall Street, in corporate boardrooms, and in the halls of the Great Political Machine, corruption has reached new heights. And if we don't revolt to snuff it out, it will be us -- living and working in the free world -- who will be responsible for our own downfall. This is neither left nor right. Just plain common sense." "Time To Fight The Rot" Toronto Sun

Author alleges Michael Moore owns stock in Halliburton

"In a fast-paced, humorous monologue, Schweizer unleashed brutal criticism of liberal filmmaker Michael Moore, who according to Schweizer owns stock in Halliburton and Pfizer..." "Speaker: Liberals Hypocrites" The Athens News

Are Boomers and immigrants on a collision course?

"...On the one side will be older baby boomers demanding all their federal retirement benefits. On the other will be an expanding population of younger and poorer Hispanics -- immigrants, their children and grandchildren -- increasingly resentful of their rising taxes that subsidize often-wealthier and unrelated baby boomers." "Still Dodging Immigration's Truths" Washington Post

Middle-aged killer demands taxpayer funding for sex change

"Not satisfied with his taxpayer-funded female hormones and laser hair removal, a convicted killer-turned-transsexual is again asking the state to pony up to complete his transformation into a woman. Robert Kosilek, formerly of Mansfield who is serving life in prison for strangling his wife, was back in federal court yesterday, again demanding that the state Department of Correction pay for his sex-change operation." "Murderer Seeks Sex-Change" Boston Herald

(Not so) Easy Rider: Boomers face "biggest risk" on motorcyles

"...[T]rainers say the biggest number of fatalities is actually among baby boomers, specifically men ages 40-60. These riders may fail to maneuver in lanes correctly, drive bikes they can't handle, and fail to wear gloves, boots, and safety suits." "Baby Boomers: The Biggest Risk On Motorcycles" WKRC TV (Video) Cincinnati

Boomer economics: interns or indentured servants?

"In this way, unpaid interns are like illegal immigrants. They create an oversupply of people willing to work for low wages, or in the case of interns, literally nothing. Moreover, a recent survey by Britain's National Union of Journalists found that an influx of unpaid graduates kept wages down and patched up the gaps left by job cuts." "Take This Internship and Shove It" New York Times

Boomer Michael Moore gets sued

"A Massachusetts national guardsman filed an $85 million lawsuit against Michael Moore in Suffolk Superior Court last week, accusing the filmmaker of distorting a TV interview to portray the soldier as anti-war in his scathing 2004 documentary about the Bush administration post-Sept. 11, 2001." "Michael Moore Sued by Iraq War Vet" Yahoo News

Poll: Bush considered "worst" American leader in 61 years, Clinton not far behind

"President Bush has been named as the worst president since the end of the World War II in a new national poll. Mr. Bush was chosen by 37 percent of the voters who participated in the the Quinnipiac Unversity survey. Richard Nixon finished second with 17 percent -- just ahead of Bill Clinton with 16 percent." "Poll: Bush Worst President Since 1945" CBS News

Ominous parallels: is Iraq the Boomer Vietnam?

"Military psychiatrists who have studied what makes a soldier's moral compass go haywire in battle look first for a weak chain of command. That was a factor in the March 1968 My Lai massacre in Vietnam, when U.S. soldiers, including members of an Army platoon led by Lieut. William Calley, killed some 500 Vietnamese. Says a retired Army Green Beret colonel who fought in Vietnam: 'Somebody has failed to say, "No, that's not right." 'No one, apparently, was delivering that message last November in Haditha."' "The Shame of Kilo Company" Time .com Related Story: Twilight of the "War President" "But the common thread from the bloody invasion of Iraq in 2003 through Abu Ghraib to Haditha is that Bush cavalierly sent young Americans into a complex and frightening conflict with false and alarmist rhetoric ringing in their ears. Through clever juxtaposition, Bush’s speeches linked Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and later blurred the distinctions between Iraq’s home-grown insurgency and the relatively small number of al-Qaeda terrorists operating in Iraq." "Bush's My Lai" Consortium News

Majority of college grads held back by debt

"The overall amount of student loan debt soared in the mid-1990s but has been relatively flat in recent years. King said she expects it to rise again after Congress voted to increase the limits on student borrowing from the federal government. According to the College Board, private lending for student loans has exploded in the last decade, jumping from $1.3 billion in 1993-1994 to $10.6 billion in 2003-2004. Government lending for that year was $56.8 billion." "2 of Three College Grads Go Into Debt" Associated Press

Often-divorced Boomers now question marriage

"Baby boomers think more like their kids than their parents on love and marriage, a Gallup Poll reports Tuesday." "Poll: Boomers Go Easy on Marriage" USA Today

Is America a "gerontocracy"?

"[T]he 27 percent of the population older than age 50 commands a disproportionate share of the nation's wealth. Generations expert Ken Dychtwald, author of 'Age Power,' found that medical and technological advances, lengthening lifespans and pensions and entitlement programs have fostered a gerontocracy. This 50-Plus group controls: (1) about 70 percent of all wealth held by individuals; (2) nearly 80 percent of all financial assets; (3) more than 40 percent of all mutual funds; (4) approximately 60 percent of all annuities and retirement funds; and (5) more than three-quarters own their own homes." "Hey Baby Boomers: You're Still Relevant So Claim Your Power" Chicago Tribune

Boomers "failed to improve the world"

"While my generation, the 'Baby Boomers,' have achieved unprecedented prosperity, I sincerely feel we have failed to improve the world to a state better than it was when we received it from our parents. In fact, I fear the world is in worse shape now. If this continues, we will be the first generation in memory to fail in such an important endeavor." "An Urgent Need to Find Our Center" St. Paul Pioneer Press

"Time Magazine": Boomer political ideas "rutted" and "irrelevant"

"In fact, most of the arguments that have dominated baby-boom politics are rutted and irrelevant. The perpetual culture wars between Republican and Democrats, the legacy of Vietnam and racial, gender, sexual-preference and religious militancy have all become poisonous diversions from the very serious national conversation that needs to take place. We baby boomers have not proved very adept at running the show. It may well be time for a new generation of leadership." "Barack Obama Isn't Not Running for President" Time Magazine

"American Idol" victor gives hope to age-conscious boomers

"For baby boomers, whose fights against gravity, graying hair and growing waistlines have been chronicled relentlessly, it's gotta be refreshing to see an older (looking) guy conquer the aggressively youthful 'American Idol' stage. " "OK To Be Gray" Los Angeles Times

In Canada: Clinton comments "uniquely offensive"

"There is, however, something uniquely offensive about baby boomers lecturing any subsequent generation - i.e., those born about or after 1970 - about hard work. The baby boomers really did grow up in a remarkable time: the '30 glorious years' of Keynesian economic expansion. It's fair to say that no generation has ever had such wealth created in advance for them to take a share when they reached adulthood." "Kids These Days" Dymaxion World Related Story: Hillary Clinton 'wrong' about Gen Y

Boomers buying second homes while many Americans can't afford their first

"If you’re thinking about buying a second home, you’re part of a major transformation under way in the real estate market. New research by economist Keunwon Chung of the National Association of Realtors shows the number of second homes Americans buy each year doubled between 2000 and 2004 [...] He believes baby boomers cashing out equity from primary homes are buying second places as vacation, retirement or investment properties." "Research: Boomers feed second-home boom" Boston Herald

Nothing says "I love you" like a fax

"Presto Services Inc., a Mountain View, California-based startup, plans to announce details Tuesday of a service that allows baby boomers and their parents to stay digitally connected without both needing a computer. Instead, the less-tech savvy recipient would only need a special inkjet printer designed to receive and print out the sender's e-mails of text or photos -- similar to a fax machine. The printer would have to be hooked up to a phone line but would not need a special Internet connection. It only receives e-mail and cannot send anything back." "Startup tackles challenge of sharing photos with grandma" Post-Gazette Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania