Tokers or Jokers: Baby boomers taciturn on drug issue

Some of these hippies still indulge, but fear of stigma born of the state's construction of deviancy, forces many responsible users to take a vow of silence about their indulgences. There are very few boomers who speak out against the laws they flouted in their youth. They've become the very hypocrites they rebelled against. "Wanted: Tokers In Suits" Now Magazine (Toronto)

Senior: The new bad word

Welcome to your friendly neighborhood "Boomer Center"? Franklin and Northborough are considering renaming their new senior centers and dropping the word "senior" entirely, although neither community has decided on a new name. The town of Medfield's new senior center, currently under construction, will be known instead as the town's "Adult Community Center." "Talking 'bout their generation" The Boston Globe

Boomer-con: we "failed" conservatism

[L]et's not kid ourselves: Bush has failed conservatives, yes, but we have also failed ourselves. It doesn't take much courage to stand up for conservative principle to a president as weak as this one has become. It would have taken real courage to stand up for conservative principle in 2002, 2003, 2004, even early 2005. How many did? I know I didn't -- not until Katrina and Miers, which came late in 2005. If we're looking to blame someone for the failure of Republican government and the conservative crack-up, look to the White House, yes, and look to the late, unlamented Republican Congress. But also look to the conservative talk show hosts, the conservative columnists, and finally, in the mirror. The only way we're going to rebuild after the present and coming political shattering is through honest reckoning, and taking responsibility for what we've done. It is tempting to blame Bush for everything. But it's not fair, and it's not honest. Bush is today who he always was. The difference is we conservatives pretty much loved the guy -- when he was a winner. "Noonan To Bush: It's Over" Belief.net

Insightful new blog targets "worst generation ever"

This blog is for those of us living in the shadow of the Worst Generation Ever. This is a group of people that took the hard work of their parents and squandered it by spending and borrowing against it. This generation continues to borrow without regard to their own future (maybe in the hopes that we will take care of them). The mess they will leave behind will haunt the world for several generations. "Introduction" The Worst Generation Ever

America's lament: on hating Hillary Clinton

Is there any way she could have packed more loathsome disingenuousness into thirty seconds? Every single word except the senator from New York part could have come out of George Bush's mouth. It's like she's studied all his talking points and boiled them down to their essentials. "Dear God Almighty I Hate Hillary Clinton" A Tiny Revolution

Boozing boomers set sales record in Canada

No longer satisfied with drinking beer, these baby boomers are trying new products, trading up to premium drinks and entertaining more, according to president and CEO Bob Peter of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. The LCBO is reporting a record $3.9 billion in net sales for the fiscal year ended March 31, up by $235 million, or 6.4 per cent, from the previous year. "Baby boomers drink LCBO to record sales" The Star

Boomer prison population rising

In New York, for instance, in the mid 1980s, inmates 50 and older comprised 3% of the prison population; in 2006, they made up 11%. In response, the correctional unit in Fishkill, NY now houses inmates suffering from some degree of dementia in this special unit, which offers, among other activities, Bingo every Friday. Across the nation, the number of prisoners over age 50 in state and federal prisons is rising at about 8% a year, according to sociologist Ronald Aday, author of "Aging Prisoners: Crisis in American Corrections", as reported by the Associated Press. "Baby Boomers Behind Bars" DMI Blog

Ron Paul vs. the boomer-cons

Bill Bennett, author of "The Book of Virtues" and video poker fame, also wants Paul out of the picture, as does Hugh Hewitt, executive editor of Townhall.com. The calls to excommunicate the heretic in their midst came after Paul, a longtime campaigner for a less interventionist U.S. foreign policy, was asked if the attacks of Sept. 11 had altered his view. Paul replied: "Have you ever read the reasons they attacked us? They attacked us because we've been over there. We've been bombing Iraq for 10 years. We've been in the Middle East -- I think Reagan was right. We don't understand the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics. Right now, we're building an embassy in Iraq that is bigger than the Vatican. We're building 14 permanent bases. What would we say here if China was doing this in our country or in the Gulf of Mexico? We would be objecting. We need to look at what we do from the perspective of what would happen if somebody else did it to us." "Why Pummel Ron Paul?" Pittsburgh Tribune Review

Pushy boomer parents having trouble letting go

Shortly after one Emory University student was rejected for an internship at a prestigious Wall Street firm, the student's mother called Emory's career center: Could someone there get the firm to reconsider? Never mind that the student had missed a sit-down session and canceled a phone interview with the company. "Her mother got into full swing," said Tariq Shakoor, director of the career center. "She felt we should do more to get her daughter this internship." "Boomer Parents Hover Even In Kids' Job Hunts" Wichita Eagle (Kansas)

Hippie Mecca invaded by 'gutter punks'

Residents of a San Francisco neighborhood famous for being a hippie haven in the 1960s are complaining that the area is attracting a less friendly crowd. People living near the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets, many former hippies themselves, say the so-called gutter punks who live on the streets selling, buying and using drugs are trouble for the neighborhood, The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday. "Ex-Hippie Area Attracts Gutter Punks" ImediNews

Anti-boomer tirade strikes a nerve

Some boomers think I want them to die. That's not what I meant by "move along." I meant, stop thinking you are the beginning and end of all that is good or selfless or revolutionary. Maybe I should have said that. That column brought in more than 200 reader responses, broken almost evenly over agreement and disagreement. Well, more like agreement and fury. Some of those who agreed were, in fact, boomers. "Bornstein: Bruised Boomers Bite Back" Rocky Mountain News Editorial is here.