I'm no longer elderly, I'm an older adult

 English is flexible and has more words than any other European language. Remember, "The sun never sets on the Union Jack," and the Brits borrowed a lot of words from those they conquered. But government and academe make speech and writing very difficult between going woke and demanding political correctness, plus the old words don't really go away. We still have "handicapped parking" instead of "differently abled parking."  In the 1970s when we visited the Ohio Penitentiary (a term invented by Quakers for penance and reflection about crimes) with our church group we were told that "convict" or "ex-con" or "inmate" were not acceptable. And I'm sure no matter what was OK then, it isn't now.

The CDC doesn't just tackle diseases any more, it polices our language. The trend of adding Person with/of, and twisting words and phrases to say something unpopular less directly, is being carried to the extreme. In 21st century English we must be reminded that everyone is a person (except an unborn child) and groups of persons are people or communities. This has the effect of returning English quickly to its Germanic roots--5-10 words to say something that could be accomplished by adding a prefix or suffix or a simple adjective to a noun. So that garbled phrase must then be shortened to an acronym. Like BIPOC--Black, Indigenous and People of Color, a phrase that includes many who aren't any of those.

Today sexually undecided people don't have "reassignment surgery," but instead it's "affirmation surgery" or "confirmation surgery" or "gender congruence surgery." (And if done on children, I call it sexual abuse, but that's another essay.) Just when I was getting used to being elderly or a senior, I'm now just an "older adult," which is what I'd been calling anyone over 50!

You may no longer be a smoker (wasn't that easy?), but a "person who smokes."

CDC's 'woke' new language guide proposes replacing 'dehumanizing' words like ELDERLY  | Daily Mail Online

Sit to Stand Challenge

This challenge (which I passed) appeared in the Silver Sneakers nenwsletter.  Can you pass?

 https://www.silversneakers.com/blog/find-your-place-the-sit-to-stand-test-for-seniors/

How many times can you sit and stand from a chair in 30 seconds? In this video, SilverSneakers fitness expert David Jack explains how this quick—but important—test can give you clues about your lower-body strength and endurance.

You’ll need a regular, sturdy chair with a seat that’s about 17 inches high. Try the test now, then see what your results mean below. If you’re not able to sit and stand on your own power safely, skip the test, but check out the tips below. . . .

To squat or not

I receive e-mails from someone called Taylor, but they are usually just teasers to buy more stuff.  Today he was recommending sumo squats, so I looked that up.  Everyone (at exercise web sites) seem to rave about them, and that every athlete (that’s not me) or regular gym goer (that’s me) should incorporate them.

First, proper form. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUT0f9P7GpQ&feature=youtu.be

“The squat has been crowned as ‘the king of all exercises’ by many because of its undeniable ability to make your muscles grow faster and stronger in less time than other popular compound movements, and this is why it’s a part of the training routines of pro athletes and average gym-goers alike. In fact, athletes from every sport and discipline use some version of this exercise to tone their legs and abs, strengthen their core and improve their overall performance. “

http://www.fitnessandpower.com/training/workout-routines/sumo-squat-vs-regular-squat
Video showing the difference between a regular squat and a sumo squat.

https://www.livestrong.com/article/437557-sumo-squat-vs-regular-squat/  It’s all in the feet.
“Once you've mastered proper form for a standard squat, you can move on to other variations like the sumo squat. To perform a sumo squat, stand with your feet significantly wider than hip-distance apart (about three to four feet), turn your toes out 45 degrees and hold your hands by your sides. Lower yourself down by bending your knees and hips, raising your hands to meet under your chin. Keep your abs tight, back straight and do not let your knees move past your toes when lowering. Once your thighs parallel the floor, root through your heels and rise back up steadily for one rep. Again, depending on your fitness level and goals, start out with three sets of eight reps and building from there once you get more comfortable with them.”
 https://www.strengthauthority.com/sumo-squat-benefits/
And what elderly person doesn’t need more mobility, flexibility, balance and stability?

4.  Mobility and Flexibility
Sumo squats are also a fantastic exercise for improving both mobility and flexibility.
And because squatting is a motion that people use every day–whether it’s sitting or rising from a chair or squatting down to pick up a heavy object–the gains you will make from doing regular sumo squats should be easy to both see and feel.
Additionally, because the muscles in your legs and core have to act in unison during sumo squats, they learn to work together, and that can lead to significantly better mobility. . .
Sumo squats are also useful as a dynamic stretch. While you lower yourself and then rise back up, your muscles alternate between contracting and lengthening, which ultimately warms them, reduces any tension that has built up, and stretches them out.

5. Balance and stability
Your core muscles have a lot to do with maintaining balance in all kinds of activities, but sumo squats demand a lot from them, especially when your body is first learning to adapt to the new motion.

They not only help to keep you from toppling over backwards when you are lowering yourself, but they are also crucial for keeping your back straight and ensuring that you don’t lean too far forward.
https://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/butt/exercises/30-day-squat-challenge/ Video on proper form beginning with regular squats.

Two exercises for back pain.  One involves squats. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq0zyjVo6Jc

Downsizing for seniors

Everyone I know has this problem.  Stuff.  Except maybe my cousin.  She moves too often to accumulate much. Today I stopped at Half-Price Books and bought. . . are you ready for this. . . .Bill and Hillary paper dolls.  At $2.00 it was such a bargain.  I also bought yet another How to draw book.  We must have at least 5.  If books could tell you how to draw or paint, I'd be a famous artist.

We actually thought we were downsizing when we bought this condo in 2001.  And we were, sort of. The problem is it actually has an attic over the garage and storage space in the basement, two storage areas we didn't have in our home on Abington.

Here's advice from AARP on what to get rid of.

Know anyone who collects paper dolls?

Leg Exercises for Older Adults for gait speed

JAMA  May 28,2014, vol 311 no 20—diagnosis gait problems in the elderly

http://www.eldergym.com/leg-exercises.html  with videos

1. Ankle Circles
This exercise improves your ankle flexibility and ability to  move your ankle upward and downward.
This is a great warm up exercise for the lower leg and feet.

2. Hip Marching
This exercise will strengthen your hip flexor and thighs.
With correct seated posture it will also help your abdominal muscles.
3. Knee Extension
Strengthening your knees width knee strengthening exercises will improve your ability to stand and balance.
This exercise will improve your available knee range of motion.
4. Calf Raises
Strengthening your calf muscles with calf exercises will give your more power to step forward on level surfaces or carry you up hills on uneven terrain.
Helps pump blood up from your legs to your upper-body and brain.
5. Standing Knee Flexion
These knee exercises strengthens your hamstring muscles.
Also helps with your standing balance.
6. Side Hip Raise
Safely strengthens your side hip muscles to help with hip arthritis.
Helps maintain your lower body endurance to better walk and side step around objects.
7.Sit to Stand
Excellent hip exercises to maintain your leg and hip strength.
One of the most important exercises used daily to keep your independence and confidence.
8. Heel Stand
Strengthens the front part of the lower leg with ankle stretches.
You will become better able to raise your toes to avoid tripping.
9. Lunges
To strengthen your quadriceps and hips with leg toning exercises.
Improve your ability to get out of a chair and balance.
Help you with lifting chores around the house.
10. Straight Leg Raise
To increase your quadriceps and hip flexor strength with this leg workout.
To strengthen your abdominal muscles.
Allow you to advance your leg during walking with greater ease.
11. Partial Squats
Increase your hip flexibility, quadriceps strength and hip flexor strength.
Improve your ability to get up from a chair and walk.
Steady your body for better balance and safety.
12. Hip Extension
This exercise will help with strengthening the hip joint and muscles.
This will improve the ability to walk and propel yourself forward or up stairs.

Life tips

• Life tips for my friends and readers who are 45-ish.
• Put away about 15% in your retirement account, above what your employer or government is contributing.
• Take good care of your relationships--they are like gold.
• Ignore all the food fads and scares; eat all the colors, eat less and move more. Just like mom said.
• Everything in moderation; especially alcohol and coffee and just pitch the cigarettes. They've never been found to benefit anything in your body.
• Don't be a pot head even if it is legal--you need every brain cell you have working at full capacity.
• Take care of your ears--turn down the music--and your teeth. Don't become a deaf senior citizen with ugly teeth--it's not pleasant. Take out the ear buds and see a dentist twice a year.
• Go to church. There are thousands of denominations as a result of squabbles that happened years ago. One should meet your needs. The world is actually more religious now than ever before--don't lose out on the benefits.
• Enjoy the many pleasures of owning a pet, but they are not family--don't kid yourself.
• Think about the benefits and responsibilities of being a citizen of the United States. It's not perfect, but it's the only one ever created with idea that the state/monarch/king/president doesn't own the people.

Discounts for seniors

RESTAURANTS:
Applebee's: 15% off with Golden Apple Card (60+)
Arby's: 10% off ( 55 +)
Ben & Jerry's: 10% off (60+)
Bennigan's: discount varies by location (60+)
Bob's Big Boy: discount varies by location (60+)
Boston Market: 10% off (65+)
Burger King: 10% off (60+)
Chick-Fil-A: 10% off or free small drink or coffee ( 55+)
Chili's: 10% off ( 55+)
CiCi's Pizza: 10% off (60+)
Denny's: 10% off, 20% off for AARP members ( 55 +)
Dunkin' Donuts: 10% off or free coffee ( 55+)
Einstein's Bagels: 10% off baker's dozen of bagels (60+)
Fuddrucker's: 10% off any senior platter ( 55+)
Gatti's Pizza: 10% off (60+)
Golden Corral: 10% off (60+)
Hardee's: $0.33 beverages everyday (65+)
IHOP: 10% off ( 55+)
Jack in the Box: up to 20% off ( 55+)
KFC: free small drink with any meal ( 55+)
Krispy Kreme: 10% off ( 50+)
Long John Silver's: various discounts at locations ( 55+)
McDonald's: discounts on coffee everyday ( 55+)
Mrs. Fields: 10% off at participating locations (60+)
Shoney's: 10% off
Sonic: 10% off or free beverage (60+)
Steak 'n Shake: 10% off every Monday & Tuesday ( 50+)
Subway: 10% off (60+)
Sweet Tomatoes: 10% off (62+)
Taco Bell : 5% off; free beverages for seniors (65+)
TCBY: 10% off ( 55+)
Tea Room Cafe: 10% off ( 50+)
Village Inn: 10% off (60+)
Waffle House: 10% off every Monday (60+)
Wendy's: 10% off ( 55 +)
Whataburger: 10% off (62+)
White Castle: 10% off (62+) This is for me ... if I ever see one again.

RETAIL & APPAREL :
Banana Republic: 30% off ( 50 +)
Bealls: 20% off first Tuesday of each month ( 50 +)
Belk's: 15% off first Tuesday of every month ( 55 +)
Big Lots: 30% off
Bon-Ton Department Stores: 15% off on senior discount days ( 55 +)
C.J. Banks: 10% off every Wednesday (50+)
Clarks : 10% off (62+)
Dress Barn: 20% off ( 55+)
Goodwill: 10% off one day a week (date varies by location)
Hallmark: 10% off one day a week (date varies by location)
Kmart: 40% off (Wednesdays only) ( 50+)
Kohl's: 15% off (60+)Modell's Sporting Goods: 30% off
Rite Aid: 10% off on Tuesdays & 10% off prescriptions
Ross Stores: 10% off every Tuesday ( 55+)
The Salvation Army Thrift Stores: up to 50% off ( 55+)
Stein Mart: 20% off red dot/clearance items first Monday of every month ( 55 +)

GROCERY :
Albertson's: 10% off first Wednesday of each month ( 55 +)
American Discount Stores: 10% off every Monday ( 50 +)
Compare Foods Supermarket: 10% off every Wednesday (60+)
DeCicco Family Markets: 5% off every Wednesday (60+)
Food Lion: 60% off every Monday (60+)
Fry's Supermarket: free Fry's VIP Club Membership & 10% off every Monday ( 55 +)
Great Valu Food Store: 5% off every Tuesday (60+)
Gristedes Supermarket: 10% off every Tuesday (60+)
Harris Teeter: 5% off every Tuesday (60+)
Hy-Vee: 5% off one day a week (date varies by location)
Kroger: 10% off (date varies by location)
Morton Williams Supermarket: 5% off every Tuesday (60+)
The Plant Shed: 10% off every Tuesday ( 50 +)
Publix: 15% off every Wednesday ( 55 +)
Rogers Marketplace: 5% off every Thursday (60+)
Uncle Guiseppe's Marketplace: 15% off (62+)

TRAVEL :
Airlines:
Alaska Airlines: 50% off (65+)
American Airlines: various discounts for 50% off non-peak periods (Tuesdays - Thursdays) (62+)and up (call before booking for discount)
Continental Airlines: no initiation fee for Continental Presidents Club & special fares for select destinations
Southwest Airlines: various discounts for ages 65 and up (call before booking for discount)
United Airlines: various discounts for ages 65 and up (call before booking for discount)
U.S. Airways: various discounts for ages 65 and up (call before booking for discount)
Rail:
Amtrak: 15% off (62+)
Bus:
Greyhound: 15% off (62+)
Trailways Transportation System: various discounts for ages 50+
Car Rental:
Alamo Car Rental: up to 25% off for AARP members
Avis: up to 25% off for AARP members
Budget Rental Cars: 40% off; up to 50% off for AARP members ( 50+)
Dollar Rent-A-Car: 10% off ( 50+) Enterprise Rent-A-Car: 5% off for AARP members Hertz: up to 25% off for AARP members
National Rent-A-Car: up to 30% off for AARP members

Overnight Accommodations:
Holiday Inn: 20-40% off depending on location (62+)
Best Western: 40% off (55+)
Cambria Suites: 20%-30% off (60+)
Waldorf Astoria - NYC $5,000 off nightly rate for Presidential Suite (55 +)
Clarion Motels: 20%-30% off (60+)
Comfort Inn: 20%-30% off (60+)
Comfort Suites: 20%-30% off (60+)
Econo Lodge: 40% off (60+)
Hampton Inns & Suites: 40% off when booked 72 hours in advance
Hyatt Hotels: 25%-50% off (62+)
InterContinental Hotels Group: various discounts at all hotels (65+)
Mainstay Suites: 10% off with Mature Traveler's Discount (50+); 20%-30% off (60+)
Marriott Hotels: 25% off (62+)
Motel 6: Stay Free Sunday nights (60+)
Myrtle Beach Resort: 30% off ( 55 +)
Quality Inn: 40%-50% off (60+)
Rodeway Inn: 20%-30% off (60+)
Sleep Inn: 40% off (60+)

ACTIVITIES & ENTERTAINMENT ;:
AMC Theaters: up to 30% off ( 55 +)
Bally Total Fitness: $100 off memberships (62+)
Busch Gardens Tampa, FL: $13 off one-day tickets ( 50 +)
Carmike Cinemas: 35% off (65+)
Cinemark/Century Theaters: up to 35% off
Massage Envy - NYC 20% off all "Happy Endings" (62 +)
U.S. National Parks: $10 lifetime pass; 50% off additional services including camping (62+)
Regal Cinemas: 50% off Ripley's Believe it or Not: @ off one-day ticket ( 55 +)
SeaWorld, Orlando , FL : $3 off one-day tickets ( 50 +)
CELL PHONE DISCOUNTS :
AT&T: Special Senior Nation 200 Plan $19.99/month (65+)
Jitterbug: $10/month cell phone service ( 50 +)
Verizon Wireless: Verizon Nationwide 65 Plus Plan $29.99/month (65+).

MISCELLANEOUS:
Great Clips: $8 off hair cuts (60+)
Supercuts: $8 off haircuts (60+)

YOU must ASK for discount ---- no ask, no discount.

http://www.lifecarefunding.com/blog/senior-discounts/

http://www.bradsdeals.com/blog/senior-discounts

Seniors encouraged to take college loans in 2010, and blamed in 2012 for doing so

One could get whip lash reading about senior citizens and college loans.  Is is a good idea or not?

In August 2010, this article appeared in USAToday. "There are more opportunities than in the past for senior citizens to take college classes and get help paying for them," says financial aid expert Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid.org and Fastweb.com.

Many community colleges and some four-year colleges allow seniors to audit classes for free and significantly reduce tuition for those who take them for credit. The financial arrangements vary widely by school and so do the age requirements — generally 60, 62, or 65 and over.”

Yes, in 2010, before the news about the next bubble burst, people were being encouraged to borrow money for college.  But in today’s USAToday, Washington Post and other sources buying the boilerplate from the NY Federal Reserve research, there’s a different story, although much overblown, since the small print says 5.8% of the college loan debt is for seniors, and 10% are in arrears.  That’s a pretty small portion of college debt.

“New research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that Americans 60 and older still owe about $36 billion in student loans, providing a rare window into the dynamics of student debt. More than 10 percent of those loans are delinquent. As a result, consumer advocates say, it is not uncommon for Social Security checks to be garnished or for debt collectors to harass borrowers in their 80s over student loans that are decades old.

The fact that even seniors remain saddled with student loans highlights what a growing chorus of lawmakers, economists and financial experts say has become a central conflict in the nation's higher education system: The long-touted benefits of a college degree are being diluted by rising tuition rates and the longevity of debt.”

Think Progress, a leftist bloggity news/opinion site, uses the phrase “crushing America’s Senior citizens.”  Anything to avoid talking about what a bad job this administration has done with the economy, and to suck more people into a mentality of victimhood to be saved by BO. Obama is taking credit for an economy that could have rebounded in spite of the him, faster and healthier, by dragging us further trillions into debt.

Defaulted Loans May Haunt Seniors

According to an article in the WSJ this morning by Ellen E. Schultz, Congress (that would be Democrats, btw, who won Congress in 2006 in case you've forgotten) tacked on a nasty little thing to the 2008 Farm Bill. I've read quickly through the highlights of the bill, and can't find the specific provision, so I'll take her word for it.

"A provision in the 2008 Farm Bill lifted the ten-year statute of limitations on the government's ability to withhold Social Security benefits in collecting debts other than student loans—for which the statute of limitations was lifted in 1997—and income taxes, where the limit remains 10 years.

This means that a person who defaulted on a small-business loan in 1995, for example, and who is receiving Social Security could be notified that his benefits may be reduced each month until the debt, with interest, fees, and penalties, is paid. The Treasury can withhold 15% of the benefit, though it can't be reduced to below $750. Tax debts have no floor.

The change will add more than $6 billion to the $75 billion in delinquent debt individuals owe the government, according to the Financial Management Service, the Treasury's debt collection unit. Defaulted Loans May Haunt Seniors - WSJ.com

Imagine the interest, fees and penalties the Treasury will tack onto that loan you defaulted on 15-20 years ago, and then see your Social Security check go "poof" right before your eyes! Wow. Even if you challenge the validity of the government's claim, you can spend thousands and thousands fighting the claim and still be impoverished by using up your savings. And you folks trust the government with health care? This is a change in the law--and how many people were paying attention to a farm bill? This will impoverish God knows how many seniors. But not to worry. Obama will tax the rest of us for some new program so he can claim to rescue them from the impoverishment the Democrats bestowed on them!

Also, lookout if you are defaulting on a government backed loan right now. Especially, if retirement is coming up. If they can take your social security to pay it off, they can take your government pension too.

My solution for the health care dilemma

I haven't crunched the numbers, but just knowing how the government pads everything and costs go up everywhere when their sticky fingers go into the pie, I think my plan would not only be better, please everyone but would also be cheaper.

First, it would only be for U.S. citizens, native or naturalized.

Second, it would be clear and easy for anyone to understand; changes would have to fit into 10 pages or less.

Third, it would be the best health care found anywhere in the world based on the life expectancy and useful working years of a 40 year old.

Fourth, it would be completely portable and not dependent on an employer or a union.

Fifth, the federal government, not the states, would be responsible for the poor, and no pork would be allowed in determining those benefits, and children would need to be under age 18. The states, however, would have the task to getting the poor into the proper, competitive, market-driven program.

Sixth, Medicare is such a mess, I haven't figured that one out, because my generation has become accustomed to socialized medicine and don't want any claw backs. But then, neither has your esteemed and brilliant Congress. Whatever I come up with couldn't be worse than the current overpriced and easily scammed system.

So what is it?

The current health care system for federal employees.

"The Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program can help you and your family meet your health care needs. Federal employees, retirees and their survivors enjoy the widest selection of health plans in the country. You can choose from among Consumer-Driven and High Deductible plans that offer catastrophic risk protection with higher deductibles, health savings/reimbursable accounts and lower premiums, or Fee-for-Service (FFS) plans, and their Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO), or Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO) if you live (or sometimes if you work) within the area serviced by the plan."

Just the choices and options and the number of companies providing the services would bring costs down drastically. If a federal worker moves from HHS to HUD, she doesn't lose her insurance--it's portable. If he's unmarried and has no risky behavior, why shouldn't he take a high deductible and save oodles? If she wants tattoo removal and lasix surgery, she'd be able to buy it with her health savings plan (that's going away under the new take over). If genetic testing shows there's a problem down the road, she'll have plenty of notice.

Murray's going to Washington!

Murray from Illinois has e-mailed his group:

"OK THAT'S IT, I'VE HAD IT!!! I've written to my legislators and received no satisfactory response. Plus Senator Durbin refuses to even acknowledge I exist. He refuses to hold any town meetings and professes that he'll not be "suckered punched" by a bunch of crazies like me. So I'll be off to DC to join the thousands of other crazies on 9/12 to protest the destruction of our great country. You know... the one Obama calls the greatest country in the world that he wants to change??

Anyway, just in case I run into one of your senators, tell me their name and what you would like me to say to them. Just so you don't ask me to tell him/her to keep up the good work!"

Dear Fellow Seniors

Yes you, the classes of 1946 or 1957 or 1965 plus those earlier or later to the release from high school. What are you thinking?

First, conservatives. Some of you don't seem to realize that Medicare and Medicaid ARE socialized, government run medicine, so you sound a bit foolish with that rallying cry. You need to go back and re-read your high school text books, especially the part about the New Deal and the Great Society. It's all there in black and white.

Second, liberals. Yes, Medicare costs are out of sight, and Medicaid is bankrupt. And whose fault is that? Congress has had the power ever since the 1960s to ask the tough questions and stop the fraud and abuse, but it didn't. Guess why doctors won't take new Medicare patients? Take a look at the cash for clunkers program. How hard was it to get bottled water to Katrina victims? Hello! Once the federal government gets past clean water, quarantines and vaccines, and purple marks on beef, it's chaos in helping large numbers--like 300 million clients. State and local government agencies or non-profits or large businesses are more flexible and efficient.

Next, unhappy members of AARP. Where have you been? This is an organization formed, not to protect or represent seniors, but to sell products, particularly insurance. They don't represent you in Congress; they are a powerful lobbyist for their investors. Your elected Congressperson is supposed to represent you. I have no problem with people earning a few carefully disguised dollars, but really, I had this one figured out in their first mailing when I turned 50. And I was a Democrat who always had worked for the state.

Finally, about life expectancy and all the lies you're hearing whether Republican, Democrat, Independent or Libertarian. No, we don't have terrible health care, but we do have expensive drugs. We wouldn't have them being developed under socialism, even though the "drug programs" are. Seniors are now the cash cow for drug developers. When you get to a certain point in economic and social development, and the big killers like infant diarrhea, plague, malaria and leprosy are under control, you go after the diseases that affect people who make it through early adulthood. If you reduce auto accidents, something else jumps to the top. If you conquer cancer, another disease makes it to the nightly alarms called the broadcast news. That's why we have more years of life expectancy at age 40 or 50 than all those socialist countries. Our infant mortality rate is high because of poor, unmarried and immigrant women having babies--Europe aborts theirs, and illegal immigration is tough in Ireland, Italy and Finland. We are a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural country--this ain't no Finland or Sweden, in case you missed it. "Access" or "insurance" are just two tiny factors in what a long life or good health means. It's life style, it's genes, it's gender, it's education, it's religion, it's accidents and disasters, unforeseen.

Come on, you guys, bring those brain cells out of retirement and let's hear it for the team!

Seniors and the viability question

The e-mails of alarm about the Obamacare intention and HR 3200 just keep coming. Baby-boomer seniors need to take a deep breath and reexamine what they really believe about life and viability, because although rationed care is a concern in this bill, and should be, many are outraged by the thought of "counseling" for end of life care. Oh, they may point out its other failures and Bogey man features, like the huge increase in the bureaucracy that will be making decisions about their lives, but that periodic counseling feature is a real stick in the craw feature. It's not a huge stretch from rotator cuff surgery at 65 so you can continue playing golf to a new heart valve at age 90 so you can continue walking around the block and enjoying the great-grand babies. But think about it. Even those who didn't vote for the most anti-life President we've ever elected, who never wrote their congressman or carried a poster at a pro-choice rally, may have gone squishy along the continuum of aborting a fetus with Down Syndrome to removing the feeding tube from Grandpa because "he wouldn't want to live this way."

Well, now it's our turn isn't it? Now we're the ones about which someone unknown and nameless is debating--our viability and life-worthiness. Doesn't feel so good, right? In case you've never thought of it, none of us is "viable" without the help and care of others--our family, our friends, our employer, our drug companies, our truckers, our farmers, our merchants, etc. We're all just as much "parasites" as that developing fetus in the womb. If for some reason you were dropped on Mouse Island on Lake Erie without clothing, food, water, matches, or tools of any kind, you'd soon find out just how "viable" you are, whether 20 years old or 80. Oh, maybe you'd survive August or September on berries or an occasional dead fish that floats past--it is after all a fresh water lake--but January and February, if you lived that long, would be a bit chilly as the Civil War prisoners on Johnson's Island discovered looking at near-by Sandusky across the bay.

Also, it's past time for a lot of seniors to remember Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, WIC etc. are socialized medicine. They are out of control precisely because they are government programs, and what the government gives it can take away at the stroke of a pen, or smack of a gavel. Seniors need to be careful what they ask for or destroy. You didn't vote for tort reform, you didn't object when the government began limiting what it would pay doctors and hospitals, you didn't cry foul over regulation of certain professions or industries that drove good people out, you didn't look through those itemized invoices in the thousands for a day or two of care that dropped in your mail box 6 months later, you didn't ask questions when technology and drug research outran the bioethics arguments, so now it's time to pay the piper. I fear the price is more than you'll want to pay.