Are aging hippie academics becoming "irrelevant"?

"At a time when conservatives dominate all three branches of government and hold an increasingly large share of the Fourth Estate, the academy remains the last liberal stronghold. You would think, then, that liberal intellectuals would offer some thoughtful and productive critiques of conservative policies. But instead, argues one leading liberal intellectual, the academic left is making itself irrelevant by embracing ideological extremism and trying to purge its ranks of those who are not politically correct." "The Collapse of Reason" Boston Globe

Pious boomer-con blunders 10 Commandments

"Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R - GA) has a very personal reason for co-sponsoring a bill that would require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in both houses of the U.S. Congress: He needs help remembering more than three of them." Hit and Run Video here

Hippies lament closing of renowned Berkeley bookstore

"Other merchants say there has also been a demographic shift as baby boomers and free-lovers abandon the 1960's and head into their actual 60's... "There's all kind of factors, including the extent to which the entire community has changed over the last 10 years," said Marc Weinstein, a co-owner of Amoeba Music, a store across the street from Cody's that has lost a third of its business in recent years. "I mean, you can't buy a house for less than $1 million near the university. And if you're rich, you don't want to be on Telegraph." "In Berkley, A Store's End Clouds A Street's Future" New York Times

For the boomer who has it all...

"General Electric is offering a Monogram wine vault that can catalog, store and locate 1,000 bottles, and tell you which are at their peak for drinking. The catch? It costs $30,000. [...]Apparently, G.E. has awakened to a demographic and cultural truth: the first wave of baby boomers has sent the children through college and now has a lot of discretionary income to spend on the house. So G.E.'s appliance unit is pumping out expensive but stylish items aimed squarely at consumers who have traditionally gravitated to brands like Viking and SubZero." "G.E.'s Bland Appliances Grow Sexier and Pricier" New York Times

Doctor shortage on the horizon as boomers age

"A looming doctor shortage threatens to create a national healthcare crisis by further limiting access to physicians, jeopardizing quality, and accelerating cost increases. [...]Over the next 15 years, aging baby boomers will push urologists, geriatricians, and other physicians into overdrive. Their cloudy eyes alone, one study found, could boost the demand for cataract surgery by 47 percent." "A Doctor Shortage Threatens to Set Off Healthcare Crisis" Boston.com Boston Globe

First jogging, now this...

"As the first of the baby boomers celebrate their 60th birthdays, many are starting to worry about preserving not only their physical health but their mental agility, too. "We're seeing a sort of memory-fitness movement," says Dr. Gary Small, director of the University of California, Los Angeles Center on Aging and author of The Longevity Bible: 8 Essential Strategies for Keeping Your Mind Sharp and Your Body Young, which hit bookstores last week. "The fact is that we're living longer, but what's the good of making it to 110 if you don't have your mental faculties?"' "Boomers Look at Memory Fitness" BaltimoreSun.com

Study: Gen-X Dads "more involved" than boomer predecessors

"When Reach Advisors surveyed 3,000 parents, Gen X dads spent twice as much time with children as baby-boomer dads, Chung said. Part of that can be attributed to GenXers having younger kids, but even when boomers had the same age children, Gen X dads spent 'significantly' more time." "Gen X Dads: Many Young Fathers More Involved Than Baby Boomers Before Them" Seattle Times

Middle-aged church employee accused of fondling toddler

"A worker at an Alexandria church who is a registered sex offender with felony convictions dating back to the 1970s has been charged with fondling a girl who said she had been inappropriately touched, police said Friday. Bryan Goodwin, 49, a groundskeeper at All Nations Church of God, was arrested after the girl told her mother, who also works at the church, that he had touched her inappropriately, police spokesman Capt. John Crawford said." "Church Worker Charged with Fondling Girl, 3" Daily Press (Virginia)

Economist: by 2018, Boomer retirement costs could swallow 18% of GDP

"With each passing year, those Social Security and Medicare payouts will multiply greatly so that by about 2030, they will be gobbling some 18% of the country's gross domestic product. That would amount to just about all -- that's right, all -- the tax revenues collected by the government, according to economist Rudy Penner, a deficits expert at the Urban Institute in Washington D.C. " "The Budget Deficit: Hopeless but not Serious...Yet" Marketwatch

Another happy boomer marriage

"Alofa Time's violence tore two families apart, police say. The 50-year-old Nampa, Idaho, man is accused of beheading his estranged wife Thursday and hours later killing a mother and daughter in a horrific early morning car crash." "Man Charged After Wife's Head Is Found at Accident Scene" Charlotte Observer

Road fatalities expected to rise as boomers become seniors

"A study co-authored by a University of Virginia professor suggests that seniors citizens will die in car accidents at a higher rate in the years ahead as America's 75 million baby boomers age, grow more frail and continue to drive." "Car Crash Death Rate for Seniors, Already High, Expected to Rise" Insurance Journal

Boomer politico charged in sex case

"A Southborough man who was voted off the Massachusetts town's select board last week was arrested in Rhode Island for allegedly soliciting sex from a detective he thought was a 15-year-old girl. State police say 59-year-old William Christensen was arrested yesterday at the East Providence apartment complex where he thought the girl lived." "Former Mass. Town Official Netted in Internet Sex Sting" Eyewitness News (WPRI 12-Providence, RI)

Creep Show: Stephen King as Boomer spokesman

"Yes, I loved Stephen King. I felt bad when he got run over. I lamented his decision to stop cranking out novels every six months. Then, he started to write for Entertainment Weekly and decided to become 'a voice for his generation.' And you know the generation about which I am writing. The Boomers." "A Readership Milestone / Stephen King" Doughba's World

Boomer director divorces wife after 30-day marriage

"After a month of marriage, director David Lynch has filed for divorce from the mother of his 14-year-old son. Lynch cited irreconcilable differences for the split with film editor and producer Mary Sweeney, according to court papers filed Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. [...]Lynch, 60, also has a grown son and daughter from two previous marriages." Associated Press via Toronto Star

Baby boomers spend $2 trillion a year!

"Every day in the U.S., 10,000 baby boomers celebrate their 50th birthdays. Their generation spends $2 trillion a year. Mindful of that spending, every marketer worth his or her MBA is pitching to them -- everything from new makeup lines for women who burned their bras, to age-friendly technology, to "active adult" communities, to sex." "American Boomers Now a $2 Trillion Market" MSNBC.com

In the UK: "Age War" about to erupt

"Young people face a nasty choice between paying high rents for crummy accommodation, commuting life-sapping distances or living with their parents for much longer. This is in danger of becoming the Sorry generation, named after the sitcom in which the sad Ronnie Corbett character still lives with his mother into his own middle age. Forced to delay making homes of their own, the Ben generation are marrying later with the obvious consequence that they have fewer children. That is creating a vicious downward spiral." "The Age War is Here - And the Young Are Losing It to the Old" Guardian Unlimited (UK)

Youth-obsessed Boomers confront their mortality

"Those who provided the soundtrack of our youth are - mostly - no longer in the arena. Some are dead, some are retired, some are shunned by the marketplace that celebrates youth - the youth they used to have, the youth their lives and music used to embody. A few are still on the road, heading for another joint, playing new music or flogging their oldies. These are the artists who made the music of our odd generation - in many ways we are selfless and altruistic, in other ways narcissistic and coddled. How will we handle aging? I suspect it won't be pretty. Vanity, thy name is boomer." "Perspective: Too Old to Die Young" St. Petersburg Times

Younger employees challenge Boomer work obsession

"In an age when surveys show that many Americans routinely forgo some or all of their allotted vacation, either by choice or necessity...Some see signs that a pervasive all-work-and-no-play mentality may be shifting." "Nice Job! Now Get Outta Town." Christian Science Monitor

Boomers demand policy changes in healthcare, finance and housing

"Boomers are having an impact on medical research, medical care, housing, and financial services, to name a few. [...]89 percent [of baby boomers] felt that promising Alzheimer's drugs deserve the same priority status and fast-track review that the FDA uses for drugs for other serious diseases. [...]Boomers spend about twice as much on goods and services annually than the next generation, and some ads reflect the nostalgic approach by employing pictures of the vibrant aging hippy." "Boomers Having Big Impact On Medicine, Housing" AzCentral.com Phoenix, Arizona

Editorial: send the boomers to Mexico!

"Here's a proposal that would allow the United States to solve its immigration crisis, control sky-high health-care costs and rebuild ties with Latin America in one stroke: Make it easier for millions of Americans to retire in style and pay lower medical bills south of the border. Over the next 30 years, more than 100 million U.S. citizens will reach retirement age, and very few of them will be able to afford good housing, top-of-the-line medical services or -- much less -- personal care. Mexico, Central and South America could offer all of that and much more. Doing so would catapult their economies and reduce their people's need to emigrate." "Help U.S. retirees -- and Mexico, too" Orlando Sentinel

In the UK: Doctor predicts boomers will embrace Euthanasia

"The progression is mostly led not by doctors or ethicists, but - as it should be - by the people. Why not euthanasia, many think...This view is becoming particularly strong as the 'baby boomers' confront their deaths. We've had much more privileged lives - and much more choice - than our parents, and we'd like to keep it that way to the end." "Euthanasia Will Become as Routine as Abortion" The Guardian (UK)

Boomers in Ireland: S&P warns of coming economic doom

"S&P said Ireland needed to put into effect concerted policy and fiscal reforms to avoid a deterioration of its public finances stemming from rises in age-related spending. Without them, Ireland’s credit rating could head into the “junk” or sub-investment grade in the next couple of decades." "Ireland Rating at Risk from Ageing Population" FT.com Financial Times

Paint it Drunk: Rehab for Rolling Stone guitarist

"Rolling Stones legend Ronnie Wood has been forced to check into an alcohol rehab clinic, plunging the veteran group's world tour into crisis once again. The 59-year-old guitarist has long battled alcoholism but last night admitted defeat and checked himself into The Priory in Roehampton, South London, for a second spell of rehab." "Rolling Stones Halt as Ronnie Stumbles" In The News (UK)

In Australia: Boomer retirement will improve job market, birth rates

"The attrition of baby boomers from the workforce would benefit younger workers - and fertility rates." "More Jobs a Boost to Birth Rates" Adelaide Advertiser

AARP to Boomers: don't expect inheritance to cover retirement

"...[A] new study by AARP has bad news for those who expect inheritances to cover for a lack of savings: It's not happening. AARP, the Washington-based seniors advocacy group, found that as of 2004, just 20% of Americans reported receiving any inheritance. The percentage was higher for those born before 1946, at nearly 30%; for boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, the percentage was 19.2%. " "Inheritances Won't Bail Out Boomers, AARP Says" Los Angeles Times

Senior Editorial: Boomers have "vested interest" in immigration debate

"Baby boomers have a special vested interest in the outcome of the immigration reform battle. They will soon be reaching retirement age -- the big flood starting about 2010 -- and, like it or not, they will be dependent on immigrant workers for a lot of their everyday needs. I cited the health-care and home-care industries only as examples because they will be so obviously affected by the aging of the boomer generation. But other essential industries -- including food production and food service -- might be even more dependent on immigrant labor. About 15 percent of today's workers -- 20 percent in farm crop production jobs -- are immigrants, including millions of illegals." "Boomers & Immigrants" Tulsa World

Expert: US should fear boomers more than terrorists

"The United States has more to fear from its own baby boomers than from foreign terrorists, [Michael]Mandelbaum said. 'Our biggest challenge is making the inevitable Society Security and Medicare adjustments in the next decade -- and that means cuts."' "Needs of Aging Boomers Influence Global Economies" The Saginaw News Saginaw, Michigan

Let them eat dog food

"Baby boomers who have lived through some of the best of times in American history are about to live through some of the worst of times. Forget living the kind of lifestyle you have now, this program says. Most people won't be able to pay for their housing, utilities, food and the part of their medical care that Medicare doesn't. Regardless what you've heard about inflation being under control, many prices are rapidly rising. Look at the price hikes for heating, cooling and gasoline in the past year." 'Frontline' Provides a Sobering Look at Boomers', Retirement" Courier-Journal.com Louisville, Kentuky

Poll: Boomer Congress still widely disliked

"As we get closer to the November mid-term elections, both Democrats and Republicans have much work to do to repair their image in the public's eye. Only one-quarter of U.S. adults have a positive view of the job Republicans in Congress are doing while 26 percent have a positive view of the job Democrats are doing. Seven in ten U.S. adults view the job Democrats are doing negatively while 72 percent feel the same about the job the Republicans in Congress are doing." "President Bush's Approval Rating Rises Slighty From All Time Low" Lincoln Tribune

Standard and Poor's: boomer spending turning US into Third World country

"If the United States doesn't start exercising fiscal restraint and address the looming problem of paying for Medicare and Social Security, its sterling credit rating could fall to levels associated with Third World nations. That's the sobering warning raised by Standard & Poor's, a firm that rates corporations and countries on the ability to pay their bills." "US Headed Towards Poorhouse" Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Woodstock Inc.

"Signatures will develop Woodstock as a lifestyle brand that extends to apparel, accessories, home decor and other categories. While the original concert was a cultural milestone for baby boomers, Woodstock's licensed brand will be geared to all generations, particularly young people who've embraced recent retro '60s fashion trends, such as mod and peasant/boho looks." "The Biz: Woodstock Licensors: We Are Stardust, We Are Clothing" Brandweek

Poll: Bush mendacity makes Clinton seem honest

"Clinton, who admitted to perjuring himself about an extramarital affair, was rated as honest and trustworthy by 46% of Americans. Bush, whose popularity continues to decline, was rated honest by just 41% of Americans..." "Former President Clinton Bests Bush in Honesty Poll" Raw Story

Boomer Vietnam "obsession" overshadows Iraq war

"Our culture fixates on the sixties and early seventies. It’s our fetish, our tic, like a thrilling and doomed love affair we can’t quite get over...And so when it comes to thinking about Iraq, the Vietnam template inevitably hovers: Media memories of Saigon flicker like pentimento ghost images behind the dispatches and videos from Baghdad. IEDs are the new claymore mines, and the battle for Fallujah was the battle for Hue redux..." "The Vietnam Obsession" New York

Boomer congress: oldest in history and ripe for change

"The collective age of the U.S. Congress is one of the oldest in history because voters want seniority, but is setting the stage for a youth coup, experts say. The average age in the U.S. Senate is 60.4 years old, the oldest ever, and the average age of 55 in the House sets records dating back to at least the first half of the 20th century, USA Today reports." "Oldest Congress ever may be 'youthenized'" United Press International

Menopause: The Musical on major US tour

"The once-taboo subject has been transformed into a hilarious revue, filled with parodies of 28 tunes from the '60s and '70s, songs like Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools" ("change, change, change..." as sung in the show), "Heat Wave" and "Don't Make Me Over." Launched in 2001 in a small theater in Orlando, Fla., Menopause The Musical is now running in major cities across the country, with a couple of international venues planned." "Women on the Brink" Packet Online Princeton and Central New Jersey

Surge of boomer suicides expected in Oregon

"With the advancing years of baby boomers steadily creeping, the state is anticipating a rise in suicides. State lawmakers are initiating plans to raise awareness of the vulnerability of older citizens. Currently, The Oregon Department of Human Services has received $100,000 in federal funding for the program." "Oregon Attempting To Prevent A Wave Of Baby Boomer Suicides" All Headline News

Boomers seek career boost with cosmetic procedures

"Older professionals who might shy away from extensive surgeries with lengthy recovery times are turning to minimally invasive or nonsurgical procedures to lift sagging skin, remove under-eye bags, and plump up laugh lines to help them hunt for jobs or compete at work. The American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery reports that in 2005, the number of male patients seeking nonsurgical or minimally invasive procedures had risen 60 percent since 2000. The number of female patients rose 30 percent." "A New Wrinkle in the Rat Race" Boston Globe

Dean snubs Gen-X

"This is not an individual effort: this is the handoff between the baby boomers and the millennial generation. This is a movement that is not so different from the movement in the 60’s. In the 60’s we fought for a bunch of things, but we lost our way in the 1980’s when the Me Party Took it Away from the We Party. They are the party of big government, of secrecy in government, and of the largest national debt in the history of the world." "Liveblogging the Y2K Dean Speech---and Onward" (scroll down) Daily Kos Related: 13th Gen: the irrelevant generation? "What about generation X, the core of the workforce? Don't we thirteeners get our chance at power? There are tens of millions of voters between the ages of 25 and 45, many of us parents, homeowners, and workers. Ignoring us is not a wise political strategy. Power cannot simply be handed off (like a baton in a relay) from the middle aged to the very young. This race cannot be won without us." "Does Power Skip a Generation?" Into Future

Utopia redux: "disaffected" boomers reconsider communal living

"...After decades of contraction, the American commune movement has been expanding since the mid-1990's, spurred by the growth of settlements that seek to marry the utopian-minded commune of the 1960's with the American predilection for privacy and capital appreciation. " "Extreme Makeover, Commune Edition" New York Times