An American Lion - An American Lion

Entries in Aging (17)

Sunday

Aug152010

Those Bumbling Bureaucrats and Their Missing Centenarians

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Japan has issues, just like any other nation on Earth. The problem is, Japan tends to boast of its accomplishments and then run from the truth when those accomplishments are proved to be less than stellar. Japan's economic prowess has been one of the most overhyped and misunderstood phenomenons of my lifetime. Would you want their economy? If you're Sudan, Botswana or Serbia, absolutely. If you're the United States, no way.

This is yet another example of how Japan's boasting has gotten in the way of reality:

Japan has long boasted of having many of the world’s oldest people — testament, many here say, to a society with a superior diet and a commitment to its elderly that is unrivaled in the West.

That was before the police found the body of a man thought to be one of Japan’s oldest, at 111 years, mummified in his bed, dead for more than three decades. His daughter, now 81, hid his death to continue collecting his monthly pension payments, the police said.

Alarmed, local governments began sending teams to check on other elderly residents. What they found so far has been anything but encouraging.

A woman thought to be Tokyo’s oldest, who would be 113, was last seen in the 1980s. Another woman, who would be the oldest in the world at 125, is also missing, and probably has been for a long time. When city officials tried to visit her at her registered address, they discovered that the site had been turned into a city park, in 1981.

To date, the authorities have been unable to find more than 281 Japanese who had been listed in records as 100 years old or older. Facing a growing public outcry, the country’s health minister, Akira Nagatsuma, said officials would meet with every person listed as 110 or older to verify that they are alive; Tokyo officials made the same promise for the 3,000 or so residents listed as 100 and up.

The national hand-wringing over the revelations has reached such proportions that the rising toll of people missing has merited daily, and mournful, media coverage. “Is this the reality of a longevity nation?” lamented an editorial last week in The Mainichi newspaper, one of Japan’s biggest dailies.

This goes on everywhere; it's not a Japanese problem. But mummified since 1978? What the hell is that about?

Norman Rogers | tagged

Aging,

Commentary,

Foreign Policy,

Government,

Health Care,

International Affairs,

News,

Opinion | in

Aggregation,

Assorted Musings,

Correcting The Public Record,

In the Long Long Ago,

My Brilliant Observation,

Print Article |

Saturday

Jul312010

Plunging the Knife

Saturday, July 31, 2010

My other headline for this was:

There Will Now Be a Permanent Split Between the New Yorkers and the Chicagoans in the Democrat Party

And that's really the crux of this:

President Barack Obama has kept mum on the fate of Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) for days -- but he tells CBS News that it's time for the embattled 80-year-old former Ways and Means Chairman to end his career "with dignity."

"I think Charlie Rangel served a very long time and served-- his constituents very well. But these-- allegations are very troubling," Obama told Harry Smith in an interview to be aired on the "Early Show." and first broadcast on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.

"And he'll-- he's somebody who's at the end of his career. Eighty years old. I'm sure that-- what he wants is to be able to-- end his career with dignity. And my hope is that-- it happens. "

Since when is eighty too old? This is the same President who has single-handedly propped up Arlen Specter (age? 80, of course) and who bid farewell to Robert Byrd. Eighty is not old in any caucus. Eighty is where statesmen appear before the microphones, hugging the "kids" who are fifty or sixty.

With one plunging of the knife into the back of Charlie Rangel, the split between Chicago and the Northeast is now complete. If you need to know where the new fault line in the Democrat Party resides, it is between those factions. Rangel looks as if he will survive the charges and get re-elected. What if he's part of a new coalition in a few years that removes Nancy Pelosi? He could make Obama's second term look like an exercise in frustration and obstructionism.

Norman Rogers | tagged

Aging,

Politics | in

Congressional Issues,

Here's My Take,

Norman Rogers,

That's a Kick in the Nuts

Email Article

Print Article |

Permalink

Post a Comment

Tuesday

Jun292010

Anything to Stay Afloat

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

I don't think these claims of "age bias" have any merit, really. In a down economy, companies are going to be more selective about who they choose to hire. That's just how the business cycles work.

The recent recession has amplified concerns that older workers are facing a tougher time getting — or keeping — jobs because of stereotypes about everything from the salaries they may demand to their ability to learn new skills.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission saw a 33 percent increase in the number of age discrimination complaints that were filed during its past two fiscal years combined, as compared to the prior two fiscal years. That translates into 47,360 complaints filed between October 2007, two months before the nation went into recession, and September of 2009.

Over the same two-year period, total discrimination complaints to the EEOC rose 19 percent, to 188,679. Discrimination complaints in general tend to rise during economic downturns, when people are more likely to lose a job and have more trouble finding new work.

Anyone who can win on an age bias claim has to have a preponderance of evidence lined up in their favor. Companies are getting better and better about getting rid of dead wood and at finding new and improved ways to flush expensive older employees down the crapper. Gone are the days of permanent careers and employment for all. A new kind of social Darwinism will take over--a society decided by looks, degrees, brawn and the return of the barter system.

I'm retired. What do I care? I have a lot of stuff. I'll last at least until I'm dead.

Norman Rogers | tagged

Aging,

Culture,

Ethics,

Justice,

Law,

Legal,

Society,

Work | in

Bring Back the Barter System,

Growing Up and Getting Old,

Print Article |

Friday

Jun252010

The Hillbilly Drinks Budweiser?

Friday, June 25, 2010

Bill Clinton drinks Budweiser next to a shirtless manBudweiser? My God, man. If that's all they're serving, then pull a greenie out of the special cooler in your limo and tell everyone you don't know where it came from.

Norman Rogers | tagged

Aging,

Beer,

Life,

Sports | in

A Professional Blogger Like Me,

Print Article |

Thursday

May062010

There is No Peace Movement in the United States

Thursday, May 6, 2010

This idea that there is a "peace movement" of any kind is ridiculous. Oh, there are people who demonstrate and call for peace; there are certainly people who feel like that is noble work, and it is. That's not my point. The reality is, the peace movement in the United States has no influence or power; it certainly doesn't concern the Obama White House.

When Tom Hayden talks like this, you know it has to be wistfulness and hubris, wrapped around a dream and a conceit entirely of his own invention:

The need for greater linkages between the environmental, peace and Wall Street reform movements grow by the day in the face of the epic oil spill caused by British Petroleum, a multinational firm tied to Goldman Sachs and Halliburton in oil wars from the Gulf of Mexico to the Persian Gulf.

Peter Sutherland, chairman of BP’s board for the past decade, had headed Goldman Sachs International and, in the 1990s, was a director of the World Trade Organization.

Last year Sutherland touted BP’s founders as the “cream of Edwardian society” who organized the Anglo-Persian oil company in 1909 with a concession from the Shah of Persia.

Kicked out of Iraq by former president Saddam Hussein in the 1960s, BP recently has been rewarded with the concession to exploit what “could be one of the largest expansions of crude-oil production ever achieved anywhere”, according to the Wall Street Journal.

If your conspiracy theories find you hearkening back to 1909, and some deal struck between the British and what used to be called Persia, then I'm not sure if a discussion or a debate are really in order. Who cares? So much has changed, geopolitically, culturally, or otherwise since then that I don't know what relevance it has. There was a company, yes, nominally called British Petroleum, in 1909. Since then, a few things have happened, and the company has changed just a smidge, you see.

I love my crazed liberal peaceniks to be wild-eyed and armed with conspiracy theories. Tom Hayden, bless you, someone still publishes your stuff. Ariana Huffington has made a small fortune off of the fact that there are still enough brain-damaged hipsters who refused to grow up who will click on your avatar and get their Daily Kos diary cranked out, praising you in voluminous tones, all in time for the next cocktail party.

Everyone needs a gig, and your gig is to be the crazy hippie of yore, tie-dyed, smirking and Twittering, your Apple, your childish T-shirt and your hash pipe right there for all those kids to admire. Now, have a seat, drink something exotic, and let the adults go back to ignoring you.

Norman Rogers | tagged

Aging,

Energy,

Opinion | in

A Professional Blogger Like Me,

Always Keeping My Composure,

Crazier Than a Shithouse Rat,

Democrat Party Nuttiness,

Here's My Take,

Historical Revisionism,

I Refute Your Bullshit,

Liberals Are a Big Pantload,

Norman Rogers,

Phony Nostalgia,

Phony Outrage,

Sell Crazy Somewhere Else,

Shooting Past the Obvious

Email Article

Print Article |

Permalink

Post a Comment

Monday

Mar012010

Jim Bunning is a Man After My Own Heart

Monday, March 1, 2010

Jim Bunning, former Major League Pitcher and now Senator

If you had been reading my blog over a year ago,and I don’t know why you weren’t, then you would already know that I admire Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky. He is mean and doesn’t like anyone or anything. He’s as tough as an old shoe that will never be worn again. He’s as mean as a dog that no one ever petted. He’s like a weasel that inherited scabies and perpetually bleeding rump sores, and has never had sex or a reasonably clean den to sleep in. He’s like a cop who has never been called “officer” and can’t fit into his fat pants anymore who just crashed his cruiser into you because you were driving the speed limit in front of a lot of reliable witnesses.

He’s an American treasure, in other words:

An angry Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Kentucky, refused to answer questions from CNN and ABC News Monday afternoon about his decision to block a bill that would extend unemployment benefits to millions of jobless Americans. An ABC News producer who was there says Bunning gave him the middle finger in response to a question.

CNN’s Dana Bash and a CNN camera crew tried to get Bunning to comment more extensively on the controversy on Monday. But the senator “got very angry,” she said.

“Excuse me,” the agitated senator told Bash while entering a Senate elevator. “I need to get to the (Senate) floor.”

Moments earlier, and ABC News reporter and crew also attempted to question Bunning as he was getting on the Senate elevator.

A posting on the ABC News website details the exchange: “Excuse me! This is a Senator’s only elevator!” Bunning responded as he was asked a question by ABC’s Jonathan Karl.

“Excuse me!” Bunning yelled. “I’ve got to go to the floor!”

ABC News producer Z. Bryon Wolf spotted Bunning as he exited his office. When Wolf asked Bunning to stay and talk to cameras, Wolf says Bunning walked away and shot his middle finger over his head.

Senator Bunning isn’t there to do anything for working people, the American people as a whole, the people who are out of work in his home state, or the media. He’s there to do whatever his clenched fists and horribly stopped-up and compacted bowels tell him to do. He’s there to put on the brakes and stop things from happening. The founders knew that such men would always exist; they are the sand that makes everyone appreciate a greased wheel. Were it not for Senator Bunning, you wouldn’t know what America is supposed to be like, which is mean, slow, confusing, and irritating to the touch.

Jim Bunning is America’s greatest Senator, in other words. Were it not for him, you’d be living in fantasyland and eating cupcakes with both hands.

Norman Rogers | tagged

Aging,

Life,

People,

Work | in

A Professional Blogger Like Me,

American History,

American Politics,

Assorted Musings,

My Brilliant Observation,

Norman Rogers,

Personal Problems,

Republican Party,

Republican Politicians,

That's a Kick in the Nuts

Email Article

Print Article |

Permalink

Post a Comment

Monday

Feb012010

Listen to Frank Buckles

Monday, February 1, 2010

Frank Buckles, age 16

The man is 109. Listen to him:

The last surviving U.S. veteran of World War I, former Cpl. Frank Buckles, turns 109 on Monday and is still hoping for a national memorial in Washington for his comrades.

Buckles is expected to deliver remarks during a quiet celebration Monday afternoon at his home in Charles Town, West Virginia.

But the old “Doughboy” — as World War I American infantry troops were called — has already been outspoken in recent years, urging congressional lawmakers to give federal recognition and a facelift to a run-down District of Columbia memorial in an overgrown, wooded area along the National Mall.

In December, at 108, Buckles testified on Capitol Hill as lawmakers considered whether to fund renovation and give the site “national” monument status. But rival legislation seeks the “national” designation for a 1920s-era memorial located in Kansas City, Missouri.

Congress has not yet decided on the legislation.

In 2008, the old soldier came to Washington and visited that 1930s-vintage District memorial. In his wheelchair, helped along by a military aide, he slowly crossed the cracks in the flagstone walkway, and saw the cracks in the marble gazebo.

Now, given that we do have pressing issues, and that our spending is out of control, let’s not expect a Federal solution. Let’s try to find a way to raise funds privately after some recognition is given to the site. If the Federal Government can ease or recognize the site and free it up for a privately-raised facelift, all the better.

It doesn’t do any good to complain about the deficit and then turn around and fill out a wish list. In this case, a private organization could raise the funds and carry out the repairs or the upgrade. Who’d complain about that?

Norman Rogers | tagged

Aging,

Money,

News,

Observation,

Reflections,

Wall Street Journal,

War,

World War I | in

A Man of War,

A Professional Blogger Like Me,

American History,

American Politics,

Complete Mastery of All Things,

Print Article |

Tuesday

Dec222009

The NHL Winter Classic Looks Like a Winner

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Fenway Park

I love the NHL Winter Classic. If we lived near where we could go see this perennial fan favorite, we would go see them play outdoors.

This year, they’re playing at Fenway Park, and, as many of my longtime readers know, I am banned for life from Fenway Park. I’m a bit of a pest when it comes to baseball games. I feel that I need to help manage, and I like to sit on the third base line and confuse the third base coach. This inevitably leads to hard feelings, especially when I hurt the home team.

After setting up the rink, the old timers from the Boston Bruins took the ice:

Terry O’Reilly and Cam Neely

Look at Bobby Orr. What a classy gentleman.

Bobby Orr

Can’t wait to see it.

Norman Rogers | tagged

Aging,

Current Affairs,

History,

Hockey,

Life,

News,

People,

Sports | in

Growing Up and Getting Old,

I Do Say Nice Things Sometimes,

Talking Smack About Sports

Email Article

Print Article |

Permalink

Post a Comment

Friday

Dec042009

Crazy Old Man Pounds Sand, Uses Twitter

Friday, December 4, 2009

The Bear Went Over the Mountain and Tweeted About It

Is it any wonder that the Republican Party is foundering?

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Thursday rebuked the AARP for opposing his amendment to rollback many of the Medicare changes Democrats included in their healthcare bill.

Tweeted McCain shortly after his proposal was defeated on a 58-42 vote:

“I call on seniors to cut up their AARP cards and send them back to them!”

In effect, McCain’s measure, first proposed on Tuesday, would have killed the Senate’s healthcare bill. The amendment would have sent the proposal back to the Senate Finance Committee with instructions that lawmakers remove its Medicare provisions.

That measure, however, quickly earned the AARP’s scorn. Its CEO announced in a statement on Wednesday that the lobby opposed McCain’s amendment out of fear it could derail healthcare reform writ large.

“The legislation before the Senate properly focuses on provider reimbursement reforms to achieve these important policy objectives,” CEO A. Barry Rand said Wednesday. “Most importantly, the legislation does not reduce any guaranteed Medicare benefits.”

Essentially, then, McCain’s attempt at introducing a poison pill failed. His hamfisted lack of finesse at legislating blew up in his face (how long had he been planning this attack? Five minutes?) and before one of his aides could slap the BlackBerry out of his hands and sit on him in the cloak room, he flew into a rage and used Twitter. That’s always a recipe for a blog post.

What I don’t understand about our current political situation is this: few, if any, seniors are going to do what John McCain tells them to do. Sure, you have the feeble and the confused, but if I went on television and told them that wearing a crown made out of beef jerky and corn bread would cure arthritis, fifty thousand seniors would give up their credit card numbers to me in five minutes.

The man has no influence whatsoever. The fact that he got a few Democrats to vote for his amendment, but couldn’t get it passed, should indicate that he maybe got some sympathy votes but had no shot at accomplishing what he wanted to accomplish, which was to make himself a relevant player on an issue that he has *zero* presence, experience, or credibility talking or legislating about. I mean, John McCain is going to tackle health care reform in the Senate? Really? And he’s been doing the heavy lifting on this subject since when?

My problem is this: Democrats are afraid of John McCain? They’re afraid of what he might say? Really? That doesn’t necessarily make McCain the joke. It makes a joke out of anyone who might curry his favor.

Norman Rogers | tagged

Aging,

News,

Twitter | in

A Professional Blogger Like Me,

Don't Serve Me That Weak Tea,

Drop to One Knee and Weep,

Republican Party,

Republican Politicians,

Sell Crazy Somewhere Else

Email Article

Print Article |

Permalink

Post a Comment

Wednesday

Nov042009

Letting Old Pilots Fly Might Not Be a Bad Idea

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Some young hotshot pilot crashed this plane, I think…

You can’t quibble with the statistics:

The Fair Treatment for Experienced Pilots Act (the act) extended the federal age standard for pilots of large commercial aircraft from 60 to 65 years of age. The act also requires us to report—no later than 24 months after its enactment—on the effect, if any, of this change on aviation safety. This report responds to that requirement.

Our review of FAA’s accident and incident data and NTSB’s accident data from December 2007, when the act was enacted, through September 2009 showed that no accidents or incidents resulted from the health conditions of pilots 60 years or older.However, for a more definitive assessment, a longer period of time would be required to collect data for similar groups—both pilots 60 years or older and younger pilots— to determine if the act’s change in the age standard for commercial pilots has any effect on aviation safety. Such a study is not yet feasible because the act is too recent for flight records to be available for a sufficient number of pilots 60 years or older.

Chalk one up for age and professionalism. Being 65 is no great shakes, but if I were an airline pilot, you can bet that I would be a swaggering badass of an airline pilot. I would wear a scarf, mirrored shades, and I wouldn’t talk to anyone except to give that smile and nod that NASCAR drivers learn to give people when they’re hustling past them to get away from the hoi polloi.

Father wanted me to be a pilot, but I guess I let him down when I dedicated myself to not doing much of anything at all after college. I sold riot control vehicles here and there, but, mostly, I played golf and waited for a chance to try and crash a brand new sports car into something. My inability to do that would have made me a pretty good pilot—I was rather good at not crashing into things. I have an uncanny knack for not hitting other cars as I swerve blindly in traffic. It’s like I always tell the children, always find a way to be lucky rather than smart. If you have to be smart, be the lucky kind of smart, not the booky kind of smart. No one respects booky smart people.

Now, ghost riding the whip? When I’m ghost riding the whip, I often crash the rental car. That’s a given though—I’m not behind the wheel, silly.

Norman Rogers | tagged

Aging,

Autobiography,

Aviation,

Cars,

NASCAR,

News,

People,

Transportation | in

A Professional Blogger Like Me,

Advice For My Children,