Dr. Bill Thomas

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February 15, 2009

ChangingAging.org Redesign -- Please Bookmark!

Attention Readers! We are launching a new design for the blog that will be hosted directly at the URL www.changingaging.org. Please navigate to www.changingaging.org and reset your bookmarks and sign up for our new RSS Feed. In the coming days we will set up an automatic redirect to the new hosting site. See you there!

Web Master

Posted by Kavan Peterson on February 15, 2009 8:00 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

February 11, 2009

Blanchard WinsDays

Dishing Up More News on School Lunches

Last week I wrote about legislative blocks to creating sustainable school gardens and serving healthy lunches for children AND for elders living in the neighborhood. This Aging in Community strategy is greener, more efficient and more effective because it uses existing public infrastructure to address the nutritional needs of youth and elders alike, and equally important, it creates pathways to build intergenerational relationships and social capital at a very local level.

Perhaps this is not such a far-fetched idea. A reader informed me that William F. Benson, a Washington-based aging and public health consultant and former Deputy Assistant Director for the Administration on Aging during the Clinton Administration, wrote an amendment to the Older Americans Act in the 1990s that encouraged such innovation to ease the overburdened senior nutritional programs. Unfortunately, the amendment did not survive the Bush Administration.

But if the Obama's new chef Sam Kass has any influence, perhaps there is hope yet. According to a recent NYT story, Obama's New Chef Skewers School Lunches,
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/29/new-white-house-chef-skewers-school-lunches/?em , he is vocal with his disgust in what we serve our children in the National School Lunch Program and how politics influences that choice. Something tells me he would not be too impressed with what we are serving some of our frailest community members either. Indeed, slop is slop!

Kass has been serving as executive chef for the Jane Addams Hull House in an effort to re-invent the soup kitchen by using quality produce and shunning empty calories. A vocal advocate for community gardens that produce fresh, local and organic food, Kass would likely prefer a White House Kitchen Garden. Kass founded Inevitable Table, a private chef service that prepares meals with the following in mind:

We aim to promote a healthy lifestyle that focuses on the quality and flavor of food to encourage good eating habits. This philosophy provides consistency and balance to ensure you thoroughly enjoy your food experience. We believe that people have a stake in each other's health. This link is what binds us together as families, communities and a nation. Nowhere are we more powerfully bound together than in the daily cultivation and preparation of food.

Amen to that, Chef Kass!

Here's to Good, Healthy Eating for All Ages!

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on February 11, 2009 10:00 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

February 10, 2009

Kevin Frick writes...

in a note to me...

I heard you on the Marc Steiner show last week. Great show. I was
wondering if you collaborate with anyone here at the Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health. I have been working with SPH, SOM, and
SOn colleagues for several years on a project called Experience Corps that
changes the roles that we anticipate that older adults will play before
they need a nursing home.

So, I am definitely interested in changing the
life course at almost all points to facilitate better living later in
life.
I was also wondering if you have economists working directly with
you at UMBC? That is my original training. I look forward to hearing
more about your work over time.

What advice, dear readers, do you have for him?

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on February 10, 2009 8:45 AM |Permalink |Comments (3)

February 6, 2009

Blanchard WinsDays

Eating Good - How Can We Do it Better, Together?

So, when is the last time you ate in an elementary school cafeteria? How about a congregate meal site with older adults? How was the food and atmosphere? Was it wholesome, delicious, piping hot and artfully arranged to inspire your appetite? Or was it questionably nutritious, lukewarm and plopped on a Styrofoam plate and served at long rows of crowded tables? Hmmmm, I thought so.slop is slop, and so is most institutional food.

Here is the real kicker: in Denver last year we had 300 people on the Meals on Wheels waiting list at a time we were throwing out conservatively ten times that amount in school lunches. So as Director of the Denver Office on Aging I wanted to partner with Denver Public Schools to box up those extra school lunches and have older kids deliver them to homebound elders in the neighborhoods of the schools. While admittedly not the best cuisine, it seemed better than going hungry.

Of course, we couldn't do that. Why? Federal nutritional guidelines that allow our kids to eat fried, processed chickenetts, canned fruit and vegetables, and white bread, do not meet the nutritional guidelines for older adults - they need something nutritionally different, well, like pulled BBQ pork, potato salad and baked beans with white rolls.

So, what if we made food that met everyone's nutritional requirements, served it hot and served it to young and old alike in our school cafeterias (which of course we would seriously redecorate). And, what if we created Sustainable Gardens that grew the food right there in the school yard ---and made the gardens part of the children's education and classroom and invited the community elders to help tend those gardens?

Such innovation is beginning to take root for our children through fabulous programs like Slow Food (http://www.slowfoodusa.org/ ) and School Gardens
(http://www.schoolgardenwizard.org
but there are few, if any, equivalent programs for seniors. And why reinvent the wheel? Aging in community seeks to bridge this gap by thinking how can we make it better, by doing it together.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on February 6, 2009 11:43 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

January 31, 2009

Localism is Coming

Posted on the daily kos here

In West Philadelphia. My business is expanding in a shrinking economy and consumer spending. Why?

A bit about my bakery. I started this bakery in my house with 15 people on an email list. I just sent out a weekly email and said "this is what I'm baking; pre-order and pickup your order on Friday on my front porch." Hand-made sourdough breads, locally grown organic whole grains, milled at the bakery, local ingredients mostly.

Grass roots expansion. The word spread quickly taking on a life of it's own, seemingly totally beyond my control; and the bakery operation slowly crept into my basement with the addition of more ovens, sinks, refrigerators, etc. Seeing the writing on my bare basement walls, I began to look for a real commercial kitchen and spent 1 1/2 years planning and renovating a small space in an existing local cafe to put my bakery; I moved the bakery, got all the required permits and certifications.

Since moving into my own commercial kitchen, I have kept the same business model that I started with: direct sales to people through internet order forms; slow growth with the goal of building lasting connection and loyalty with a strong customer base; high margins (revenues minus costs) and low volume.

The pendulum is going to swing toward greater localism. This is often protrayed as an intrinsically bad thing. I think the consequences will be mixed.

This story highlights one of the bright sides of localism.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 31, 2009 3:54 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 30, 2009

Power Up Friday

The US Administration on Aging has released its annual Profile of Older Americans. Here’s where we stand:

Americans over 65:
- Numbered 38 million in 2007 (up 11% in a decade)
- Represent one in eight Americans
- Are 58% women
- Are 81% Caucasian
- Live alone 30% of the time, including half of women over 75
- Include 450,000 grandparents with primary child care responsibility
- Will increase to 72 million in 2030
- If 65 now, will live an average of 17.4 (men) to 20.3 (women) more years
- Have a median income of $24,000 for men and $14,000 for women
- Have a 9.7% poverty rate (up a significant 0.3% in one year)

Also:

- The current net increase in older Americans (new 65-year-olds minus deaths)
is over 630,000 per year
- A child born in 2006 will live an average of 78.1 years (still well behind many
other countries)
- The 85+ population will increase from 35 million (2000) to 40 Million (2010), to 55 million (2020)
- The 100+ population is nearly 81,000

The full report is here: http://www.aoa.gov/prof/Statistics/profile/2007/2007profile.pdf

We welcome your observations and comments.

Meanwhile, a woman in Uzbekistan may be the oldest elder ever documented, at 128: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 30, 2009 5:23 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 28, 2009

Blanchard WinsDays

Blanchard WinsDays: Grandmother’s Walking School Bus

It’s a really simple idea: Get some grown-ups, preferably those that got all morning, like grandma and grandpa. Add children of busy working parents within a square mile or so of school. Have grown-ups don yellow vests and safely walk the kids to school.

Voila! Getting to school is fun – you get to see all your friends and meet some new ones of all ages. We re-weave the social fabric of our communities, too often threadbare since women entered enmasse the workforce. The environmental footprint for the school grows a wee bit smaller and there is less traffic congestion around the school. Young and old alike get daily healthy exercise twice a day, reducing spiraling obesity rates. A walking school bus is a natural win-win --- and an excellent example of the social software that builds “aging in community.”

To find out how you can start a Grandmother’s Walking School Bus in your neighborhood (don’t forget to ask elders to join, better yet, lead the effort!), check out the Safe Routes to School Guide. Let me know if you start one – we are starting one here in Denver and I am interested to share information!
http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/guide/walking_school_bus/pdf/wsb_guide.pdf

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 28, 2009 9:43 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 26, 2009

Monkhouse Monday: Thinking Differently

The founder of the "Alternative Nobel Prize", Mr. Jakob von Uexkuell gives practical examples of how our thinking and acting needs to change in the face of the global challenges, in fact, is already changing. Some European commentators believe that the Obama era will "go green" without compromising, because there is no choice to do otherwise.

Uexkuell:
At a private dinner party, conversation (or thinking) might go like this:
"Oh, you still got this big SUV?"
"Strawberries for dessert in December, how outdated!"
"Oh my, your house is very warm"
"Did you know that cats in the Western world eat more meat than whole African states?"

or:
"Yes, I am cycling to work too"
"I installed solar panels"
"We turn all electrical appliances off after use"
"We rediscoverded seasonal foods such as red cabbage and lentils, delicious"

and (my addition)
"Let’s talk about how we can become good, old and wise people so we can consult with the young how to create our future together."

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 26, 2009 10:08 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 25, 2009

Growing Up is Hard to Do

The road from childhood to adulthood runs through adolescence. Oh what a road!

Much less familiar to our popular cultural imagination is the transition from adulthood to elderhood.

Here's a comedic trip down memory lane. But, let's not forget that teenagers are not the only people who have to face up to and embrace a new way of living.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 25, 2009 9:17 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 24, 2009

More on Age and Airline Pilots

This wonderful comment by "Jodi an Atlanta Realtor" is really what blogging is all about.

Her insights really added to my understanding of this issue.

Nice.

Very nice.

As the spouse of an airline pilot I couldn't agree with you more. My husband says that statistically there was never any real basis for the old FAA regulation requiring pilots to retire at 55. Just in the last year that was pushed back by the FAA to age 60. Most of the rest of the world had already gone to the "age 60 rule". Statistics show that generally as age increases airline pilots have fewer incidents and accidents. Another key to the successful ditching of flight 1549 is the fact that the captain has had glider experience. Although we still don't know who actually performed the landing. It very well could have been the first officer at the controls as it may have been his "leg". Many airlines encourage captains to give the flight controls to first officers when dealing with emergencies. First and foremost the captain is a manager and it is very difficult to manage and assess a situation if you are trying to run checklists, talk on the radio, make announcements to the passengers, and fly the airplane. It will be interesting to see what the crew has to say when they are released to the media.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 24, 2009 6:44 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

January 23, 2009

Too Gray (I mean Blonde)???

I have written on several occasions about the penalty that society enacts all too often against women who choose to keep their natural gray or silver hair color.

This kerfuffle from England gets at the question from a different angle.

What is the problem with being too blonde?

blondes

It would seem to me that enforcing arbitratry rules about the color of someone else's hair is a real waste of time.

To Gray or not to Gray

Too Blonde or not too Blonde

That should not be the question...

Full story here

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 23, 2009 12:36 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Power Up Friday

Last week, I promised to report on a new paradigm for approaching behavioral symptoms of dementia without using potentially harmful medications. The key for me has been to look at the paradigm shift brought about by the Eden Alternative to inform a new view of aging.

Eden teaches us that aging is not about decline. Rather, it represents a new developmental stage -- elderhood -- in which people assimilate life experience into wisdom and perspective. The Eden Alternative transforms nursing homes by expanding our values beyond the narrow focus of medical treatment to encompass attributes of well-being: identity, meaning, connectedness, autonomy, security, growth and joy.

We must now turn the lens to view dementia in the same manner. The biomedical model teaches us that dementia is a relentlessly progressive brain disease that brings about cognitive and functional decline. Behavioral symptoms are "problems" that must be "managed", and people with dementia need to be kept safe through a paternalistic environment that isolates and disempowers them, then medicates the predictable results.

As Dorothea Johnson reminded me recently, Viktor Frankl taught that "an abnormal response to an abnormal situation is normal". We can only see this if we step outside our own skin and enter that of the person with dementia, through an "experiential" approach.

This means that it's possible to have brain damage and continue to grow and develop. It is possible to make choices and engage with life. It is possible to live in a reality that is different than ours and have well-being. And every expression we call a "behavior" needs to be viewed from that reality. If there is discord, we need to understand that the problem may well be with us and our care environment, not the elder with the symptom.

There's more than I can summarize in one post. Your required homework is to stretch your worldview with my favorite Bugs Bunny cartoon, "High-Diving Hare": Note how Bugs foils our paradigm by making Yosemite Sam fall UP, instead of down, and toppling the tower while the diving board remains suspended. Watch to the end, have a good laugh, then apply Bugs' last words to the discussion above.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 23, 2009 8:13 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 21, 2009

It is done...

A new era begins for America...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 21, 2009 3:25 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Blanchard Winsdays: Crossing Deserts

After 8 years of bristling with hot humiliation by the audacious acts of the American federal government, yesterday’s inauguration of our 44th President, Barack Hussein Obama, witnessed by millions in Washington D.C. and billions around the world, felt like reaching a cool oasis – refreshing, uplifting, promising and inspiring. However, we still have a long, hot and dangerous desert to cross to get to the Promised Land.

For far too many years America has lacked strong, visionary and responsible leadership. Like children lacking supervision, we have run amok in our over-indulgence of goodies and our neglect of essentials. Collectively and individually we are in historic debt in pursuit of material happiness even as our souls cry out for that which money cannot buy – meaning, belonging and love for ourselves and one another. Clearly the time has come for Americans to grow up! Or, as President Obama more delicately put it, “The time has come, to set aside childish things."

Like previous generations that have faced their own winters of despair, the way out of this desolation will take not only strong leadership but our collective action and wisdom to work together at every level. I am inspired by the opportunities that can come out of this crisis to rethink how we care for our elders. I am curious about what you think: How can this national call to service be marshaled into action that can help more elders stay in their homes and connected to their communities?

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 21, 2009 11:29 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

January 20, 2009

A New America

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 20, 2009 10:11 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 19, 2009

Too Old to Ditch a Plane?

Here is a neat description of ageism offered up by Americablog...

In a story that is already extraordinary in every way, what it especially impressive is pilot Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III and his age. How often does the corporate world throw aside workers who are over 50? In France roughly 55% of those 55 and above are unemployed. My own father was forced into early retirement (at 59) and many friends and family tell me similar stories. Obviously there is an age when the abilities to think quickly start to decline, but the entire US Air team was well under such an age.

This amazing story shows that just because someone is over 55 or even over 50 doesn't mean that they're as useless as the corporate world thinks. It was precisely because of the crews age and experience that the plane made a successful (crash) landing and everyone survived. The co-pilot is 49 (nearing that "dangerous" age for employment) and the flight crew also had decades of experience. Could it be that the corporate world is wrong? Gasp! Maybe there's a lot more talent out there that could be providing even mini miracles or just making business run well but aren't given the chance. What a pity for all of us.

We are leaving for DC in a few hours...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 19, 2009 10:07 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

January 15, 2009

From Denmark

A wonderful conference, kicked off by comments by two profound Elders.
Presentations from Iceland, UK, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and
Germany. The work is beautiful. I feel great pride in what is
being
accomplished here.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 15, 2009 12:04 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 13, 2009

Denmark

Dinner in Copenhagen

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 13, 2009 2:55 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 12, 2009

Monkhouse Monday

Choir Singing and the Eden Alternative*

In 2007 the BBC put together a group of pensioners as part of a series of program called Power to the People. As part of the program they formed a choir and made a cover version of The Who’s My Generation that stayed in the top 40 for two weeks.

Eighteen months later they are actively touring the UK and abroad and have released a CD Lust for Life. The group currently has around 50 members with a combined age of 3,700. They are now one of the world’s most famous groups of old-age pensioners with the young@heart chorus from Northampton, Massachusetts coming a close second.

The original aim of the group was to ‘stick it back to the society that has cast them aside’. The act challenges a host of misconceptions of older people and was described by the Times (20 December 2008) as heart-warming, loud, brash and assertive. With the exception of the first these are not adjectives usually associated with the aged. The widespread publicity they have received has stimulated numerous other pensioner choirs as people realise the benefits of singing as a route to companionship, challenge, and self confidence. Singing in choir addresses all three of the Eden Alternative plagues – Loneliness, Helplessness and Boredom.

Christa Monkhouse
*This blog entry has been copied and pasted from the wonderful, concise and insightful Eden-blog written by Paul Bailey, Eden UK trainer and mentor. I liked it so much, so I asked for permission to post it on this blog. More from Eden-UK and Ireland:
http://eden-world.livejournal.com/4958.html

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 12, 2009 7:27 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 7, 2009

Good News about Ageing

The UK is becoming more "elder rich..."

In the space of a week, the writer and long-time editor, Diana Athill, has notched up a brace of distinctions. She received an OBE in the New Year Honours List for services to literature, and last night she won the Biography category of the Costa Book Awards with her memoir, Somewhere Near the End, which makes her a contender for the Book of the Year prize when the results are announced later this month.

Still more remarkable is that Ms Athill recently turned 91. Energetic, appreciative, and – it goes without saying – in possession of all her faculties, she is a one-woman advertisement for Britain's ageing society. A brave and highly regarded editor, she started late as a writer, publishing her first book at the age of 43. She has used her long life to maximum, and enviable, advantage.

In so doing, Ms Athill offers a timely antidote to the doom-mongering consensus that regards an ageing society only as a problem, and an expensive one at that. In the UK, there are now more over-60s in the population than there are under-18s. But I have never quite bought into the idea that longer life-expectancy need be the burden that will bankrupt the state. (You could even argue the opposite, given the mayhem created by a younger generation of risk-taking bankers left to its own devices.)

More Here

The Headline, "An ageing society isn't all bad news" irks me though. It's as if it was a great surprise that there could be value in aging...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 7, 2009 11:19 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Blanchard WinsDays

It Takes a Village

It takes a Village to raise a child, AND it takes a Village to care for our elders—so reasoned Susan McWhinney-Morse when she and a group of long-time neighbors in a downtown Boston neighborhood decided they wanted to remain in their own homes and in the neighborhood they loved as they aged, but realized they needed support. Together they created a non-profit organization in 2001, Beacon Hill Village, designed to help older adults stay in their own homes and stay connected to their community. Residents pay $600 a year for an individual or $850 for a couple join; those of modest means can join for a discounted rate.

Membership has multiple benefits, but the centerpiece of the Village plan is a “one call does it all” concierge service that helps residents quickly and safely find the support they want or need. Free services to resident members include transportation to and from the hospital; an advocate who will accompany the senior to medical appointments; someone to drive a member to the bank, the beauty parlor, church; group exercise classes; lectures on issues related to aging and people who will drop by for a visit. Other services such as home maintenance and repair and in-home health care are provided to members from vetted providers, often at a discounted rate.

Beacon Hill Village also provides residents with a number of activities to promote health and wellness among members and social activities to foster friendship and neighborliness. The model is taking off – the office has fielded hundreds of calls to replicate the model and their website now boasts 19 affiliate Villages around the country, with many more unaffiliated groups in formation.

Is there a Village model in your neighborhood?

Cheers,

Janice Blanchard

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 7, 2009 9:10 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

January 6, 2009

News Mashup

This is very good...

(H/T Al Power)

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 6, 2009 12:51 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 2, 2009

Blanchard WinsDays

Active Adult Communities: Legalized Age-Discrimination in Housing

The concept of a Never-Never Land of golf and leisure, inhabited exclusively by adults 50 and older is not new. It started in the 1950s, popularized by real estate developer and marketing genius Del Webb and his social experiment in Arizona, Sun City. Up until ten or so years ago, these retirement enclaves were predominately located in the sun-belt regions of the country, and although marketed to retirees, were not legally age-restricted.

Largely as a result of lobbying efforts from the home building industry, this all changed when age-segregation was codified under the Fair Housing Act with the passage of the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995, which allowed communities to restrict ownership of housing to persons 50 and older and to prohibit children from living there. In many communities children visiting beyond a certain number of days is a serious offense, which can result in one being forced to move out of the community.

Can you imagine applying such restrictions to any other population? A housing community only for families – anyone over 50 must move out? A housing community only legally inhabitable for Christians or Jews? It sounds –and is – ominous. Human beings do not have a good track record when it comes to segregating certain portions of the population.

“Age-segregated communities” or the more popular acronym “active-adult communities” have proliferated in recent years, far beyond the sun-belt regions. Municipalities are often eager to attract these low-crime and seemingly low-maintenance developments in favor of other types of housing communities. Notably, there have been few critiques from policymakers or aging professionals regarding the spread of these geritiopias and the social policy implications of an increasingly age-segregated society—or what happens when “active adults” become increasingly “less-active elders.”

For an insiders look around today’s age-segregated housing options, check out A Place Called Canterbury: Tales of the New Old Age in America by Dudley Clendinen and Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias by Andrew D. Blechman.

A Place Called Canterbury: Tales of the New Old Age in America Cover

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 2, 2009 8:37 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

December 27, 2008

Here We Go!

Allergan Inc., the company that makes Botox, announced on Friday that it has staked its claim in the eyelash enhancement market.

In a news release, the Irvine, Calif.-based company said it had received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's blessing to market Latisse, the first prescription medication that makes lashes grow longer, thicker and darker. Once it reaches the market in March, annual sales of Latisse are expected to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 million.

A daily treatment, Latisse is applied to the base of the upper eyelid and the full effect is seen in 16 weeks. Once treatment is stopped, lashes will slowly return to normal, the company said in the release. The primary ingredient in Latisse, bimatoprost, is a prostaglandin analog that is present in hair and is thought to help in the development and regrowth of hair follicles. The company did warn that the medication should not be applied to the lower eyelid, and that any other part of the body that was exposed to Latisse might show hair growth. Allergan also noted that the eyelashes on each lid might not grow the exact same way.

More Here

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 27, 2008 10:12 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

December 24, 2008

Tis the Season

I have a feeling we are all in for a change...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 24, 2008 2:31 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

December 22, 2008

Monkhouse Monday

Care assistants and mirror neurons – the science base for caring

I always enjoy teaching Eden to the so-called care assistants, women of all ages who are the most important caregivers in many nursing homes, often they have little status and struggle to sustain their families on their low pay. They are considered „untrained“, even the youngest nurse is a better „thinker“, so the assumption, better able to provide „good“ care.

This time – after re-reading the book* below, I was able to give the care assistants the neuroscientific evidence base for caring and the genuine concern they have for the old people they care for. A caring attitude and genuine caring are "contagious“. Mirror neurons, that is watching someone’s caring actions, recruits the same neural structure as actually giving care. Observing good care leads to good care, empathy and love activate regions in the right brain.
Good care can change the whole world for older people who receive it and it is a wonderful role model for newcomers into care.

The care assistants were very interested in hearing that there was a science base to their everyday work. Maybe the walked out a little bit prouder of what they are doing, into the cool winter afternoon, home to their loved ones, preparing for Christmas.

I wish all the readers to take time for feelings, love and empathy over Christmas. I will be back on this blog on January 12th, 2009.

Frohe Weihnachten und einen guten Rutsch ins Neue Jahr!

*Damasio, A.R. (1994) Descartes’ Error: Emotion,
Reason and the Human Brain, Putnam

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 22, 2008 8:48 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

December 19, 2008

Power Up Friday

Last Sunday's NY Times Magazine ran their annual "Year in Ideas" feature.

The cover showed the iconic photo of Einstein sticking his tongue out at the camera, suggesting that not all ideas are equally great. For example the Dog Feces DNA Test Squad can discover who isn't picking up after their pets, (assuming you have a DNA data base for the neighborhood dogs, and assuming you care enough to collect the various perpetrators' poop samples for testing...)

One that caught my eye was the latest in hip fracture prevention from the Japanese company Prop:

This vest / fanny pack unit has motion sensors that cause air bags to inflate in 1/10 second when a fall is detected, in an effort to protect the neck and hips.

Dr. Mary Tinetti was a neighbor of mine during our post-graduate years in Rochester, and no doubt used her observations of our house parties to become a leading expert in falls at Yale. She reminded the Times that many people have rejected hip pads in the past, due to their aesthetic appearance, (as in "Honey, does this inflatable vest make me look fat?"). She also cautioned that the resulting 'bounce' might be as harmful to frail bones as the fall itself.

Other concerns that occur to me are whether accidental mis-firings occur, if the airbags need to be "re-charged", and how practical that would be in a person who falls frequently. This contraption retails for $1400.

Keep working at it guys, but meanwhile, keep in mind that falls are usually a symptom of a variety of underlying factors. Identifying and treating these risk factors remains the key to prevention. Even more important is to convince all those young women who drink diet soda in the school cafeteria that they are in a critical phase of bone modeling. Otherwise, we'll need to buy millions of these suckers in the coming decades!

I'll close with the trailer for Woody Allen's "Sleeper", which devised the very first "fracture prevention outfit":

Happy Holidays!!

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 19, 2008 8:34 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

December 12, 2008

Power Up Friday

As we plan our first Green Houses at St. John's, we are looking very closely at the issue of light. As this paper makes abundantly clear, the lighting in most nursing homes is anything but! Most homes have insufficient lighting, both for general navigation and specific activities. Most also have severe problems with glare, due to improper light placement and poor color/surface choices.

Increased light is needed as people age, both in nursing homes and in the larger community. At 65, we need about three times the light of a young person; at 85, as much as five times the amount. Inadequate light is a major contributor to functional dependence and poor quality of life.

Unfortunately, State and Federal standards for lighting are inadequate to the task. In addition, lighting levels are monitored by surveyors and staff who are mostly younger adults, and do not see the environment "through the eyes of the elder".

Another critical consideration is to give every person an opportunity to experience natural light on a daily basis. The quality and intensity of natural light is a key factor in setting our biorhythms, and studies have shown a significant decrease in sleep quality when elders move into a nursing home. Sunlight also increases serotonin, (one of the "feel good" brain chemicals), and is important for vitamin D production for healthy bones.

A Japanese study showed that elders who had direct sun on their face and hands for 15 minutes a day, on an average of 236 clear days per year, had 84% fewer fractures than the control group.

Let there be light!

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 12, 2008 5:42 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

December 10, 2008

Smoke Signals

Janice Blanchard writes...

Emi Kiyota’s Monday post on the Yellow Flag experiment is a wonderful example of a simple “social software” solution to aging in community. We call this informal communication between neighbors “smoke signals” one of the oldest forms of non-verbal communication to transmit information. Smoke signals can be pre-arranged, as in the case of the yellow flag, but often are based on neighbors observing each others daily habits and responding when the patterns are interrupted. For example, turning on the porch light at night and turning it off in the morning, taking out the trash or bringing in the daily paper by a certain time are all ways neighbors informally watch out for each other. In neighborhoods where neighborliness is not a natural occurrence or people simply are at a lost of how to be helpful without being intrusive, more formalized systems such as the yellow flag can be a great way to invite caring for one another and to begin building social capital. For example, in a Denver high rise apartment building, within a short period of time two elders died in their apartments and it was days before anyone knew. In one of the cases, the elder may have lived had he received care within 24 hours. For other elders living alone, this was one of their greatest fears. The resident council came up with the idea of hanging door hangers on the outside of the door at night and taking them in the next morning. If by 10:00 am the door hanger is still there, neighbors knock on the door and contact management if the door is not answered. This (re)creates a system by which neighbors can help neighbors without feeling meddling, while empowering elders to let others know when they need help.

What are your smoke signals?
Cheers – Janice Blanchard

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 10, 2008 5:52 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

How I Look 10 Years Younger For Under 10 Bucks

I understand that the burden of ageism falls far more heavily on women than men.
I understand that rational people want to avoid exposure to age-related bigotry.
I understand that taking steps to maintain healthy looking skin is a good thing.

My comments below should not be seen as criticism of people (men and women alike) who want to "look better." That's cool.

Not so cool are the hucksters who want to make a quick buck off of other people's fears.

Now, on to a real life testimonial!

I decided to share my story because I know there are tons of people out there who want to look younger and can't afford cosmetic surgery. There are tons of bogus products out there, and I found two that actually work. You can read my story below.

Dr. T: This is a fake blog. It is actually an extended online advertisement. Buy my product or pay for expensive cosmetic surgery--- Classic Either Or Fallacy! "Tons of Bogus products?" True. Including these products.

How Everything Started

It is not something that I really feel comfortable talking about, but I went through a bout of depression right after I hit my mid-40s.

Dr. T: Yeah not too comfortable. The person (I think it was written be a middle aged male advertising copy writer) is obviously comfortable enough to publish it on the INTERNETS!

I don't really know how to explain how I felt, but I became very self-concious [sic] about how I was aging. It seemed like every morning I woke up and saw a new line in my face. I even went through a period of contemplating cosmetic surgery, botox, restalyne, I looked into all of it. It [sic] just couldn't afford it.

Dr. T: Wow. Cue the violins.

So once I decided that cosmetic surgery was not for me, I went on a mission to find the best possible wrinkle cream without spending hundreds of dollars. My hopes were not high. Lol.

Dr. T: lol? OK maybe it was written by a 14 year old.

I stumbled upon the "anti-wrinkle" holy grail two months ago. I found a couple of companies called Lift SP and Ageless Skin Cream. I found that a lot of people have gotten good results from these products individually, but I didn't find anyone who had decided to combine them in a daily regiment. I always wanted to be a groundbreaker.
Here's how I decided on these 2 products.

Dr. T: If this kind of "evidence" persuades you, dear reader, I have a bridge you really ought to consider buying from me.

I choose to try Lift SP first because:

- A Board-Certified plastic surgeon created it.
- There is no chemical peels or abrasive techniques.
- You get a whole kit for a 4 dollar shipping charge.
- It is a natural and healthy solution.

Dr. T: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

And I settled on the Ageless Skin Serum because:

- It was awarded the #1 Skin Product.
- It helps reduce fine lines and prevent deepening wrinkles.
- It contains moisturizers to prevent dry skin.
- They also offer a free kit ...I'm a sucker for freebies lol!

Dr. T: OK now my brain is starting to hurt.

What Happened Next.

The Ageless stuff arrived first, the LiftSP package actually came 3 days later. I was actually impressed with the packaging, I was expecting to get some kinda repackaged lotion or something. Before I used either of the kits, I decided to take a before picture, so I could really measure my results.

This is Before Photoshopping

This is After Photoshopping

Dr. T: This is the person who just a couple of paragraphs ago was ashamed to even mention her "problem" now she's conducting "clinical research" and posting a photo of her pruney old wrinkled face on the internet! Ummm. No.

Everything was in place. I had chosen my wrinkle products carefully, I took my before picture - I was ready to go.

I put the LiftSp on for the first time on a Monday night. I applied it only my problem areas - my laugh lines, my crows feet. I can say for sure that there was a definite tingling feeling after I let it soak in. I decided to go to sleep and let it work its wonders while I slumbered.

Dr. T: She slumbered, slumbered I tell you!

I woke up early the next morning and practically ran to the mirror. I was almost positive that my wrinkles would have melted away overnight. Then I looked in the mirror.

Nothing had changed.

Dr. T: OK, that last sentence is true.

But I didn't give up....

Despite my epic first night failure, I didn't give up. I decided to keep using the LiftSP every night and use the Ageless Skin kit every morning. It took about 3 days of using both kits before I noticed results. But, boy did I get some results.

You saw the before and after pictures above, I look at least 10 years younger. Well...maybe I am a little biased, but I definitely got rid of a ton of lines and wrinkles! I kept using both of the kits until every single drop of cream was gone. And I'll let you in on a secret, I actually ordered another free trial of each in my husbands name!! No rules against that....shhhh. ;)

Dr. T: My question is why the "husband" isn't using the stuff to get rid of his "laugh lines."

I really hope that everyone that reads my little wrinkle blog is able to achieve results at least half as good as mine. I think anyone would be happy with that. Thanks to everyone for all the support, and remember you are never too old to feel young.

Dr. T: JSM--- "Just Shoot Me." That's how I'm feeling. Gotta take a shower after reading this dreck. Or, in the Immortal phrasing of actor James Carey...

"Laaaa Hewwww. Zaaaaa. Haaaar."

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 10, 2008 12:17 PM |Permalink |Comments (2)

December 9, 2008

The African Violet Queen

The power of suggestion, when used as a force for good, can change the world for the better.

This video deals with hypnosis but hypnosis is based on an intensified understanding of the power of suggestion.

Small changes can generate huge rewards.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 9, 2008 5:45 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

December 8, 2008

Yellow Flag

Emi Kiyota writes...

A small town in Miyazaki, Japan started a “Yellow handkerchief campaign,” to watch over elders in their community.
This approach is quite simple and very low cost. Yellow handkerchiefs on a bamboo stick were distributed to 120 households where elders live alone in this town. When elders get up in the morning, they display a yellow handkerchief at the entrance. Then, bring it into their houses in the evening. If the handkerchief is not displayed outside in the morning, neighbors visit the house and check on the elder.

A 78 year old woman who lives by herself commented that “I feel safe and protected by neighbors who constantly check to see whether or not my yellow handkerchief is displayed at my entrance. Their kindness motivates me to wake up in the morning everyday.”

This simple system is working well and it has now expanded to 810 households. Moreover, many towns are considering introducing this system.

Japan has been known as a “high-tech” country, but technologies can be confusing and sometime costly to implement a “surveillance system” for elders. It may even raise an ethical concern about violating privacy of individuals. I was so glad to find this human scale social support system that helps, not only, to enable elders to remain in their home safely, but also, to naturally connect elders with neighbors with such a simple solution.

This is also quite an effective way to give elders a sense of control to regulate the boundary of privacy, because neighbors would simply respect their privacy in the house when the handkerchief is displayed outside. Moreover, the yellow handkerchief gives opportunities for neighbors to start conversations with elders in non-threatening ways.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 8, 2008 3:48 PM |Permalink |Comments (5)

December 1, 2008

A Week At Work

Among the reasons I value the aging of America (and the world) is that Elderhood provides a useful, and critical, vantage point from which to view the doings of adults. The video below offers an "elders' eye view" of a workweek. The busyness of business is highlighted by the time lapse photography. Below the video I have posted some of the comments that viewers of this video have left on its Youtube page.

Comments posted about this video...

Questions:

1)Why is there no cleaning crew after hours?

2) What's up with the white, open shirt down to your navel on (I presume) Wednesday? Are you an Englishman? Because the unbuttoned-shirt-to-your-navel is so very English. (No offense.)

3) Why are you so coy about what it is you do? It's not like you work for MI5.

Kind regards,

imh0

3 outfits in 5 days? For the sake of the people sitting around you I hope you shower.

Brilliant. I have Aids and am unemployed, but my life is richer than this.

haha! brilliant.

I especially like the segments (there's one about 35 seconds in) where you appear to be eating paper. Very greedily.

Is that a big part of the role?

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 1, 2008 5:41 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

November 25, 2008

Kodokushi: tragedy of elder care in Japan

As mentioned in the previous post regarding the robot care in Japan, I have a concern about the concept of aging in place in relation to socialization. There was a newspaper article about “Kodokushi” a solitary death where one dies completely alone without being taken care of or accompanied by anybody. They are often found several days after, in some cases even over a month after one's death.

The living arrangements among family in Japan has changed dramatically in the last few decades. The number of elders who live alone has increased rapidly over the past 20 years. Males living alone has grown from approximately 190,000 in 1980 to 1.05 million in 2005. In the same period, females living alone has grown from approximately 690,000 to 2.81 million.

Japanese elders, as elders in other countries, would like to stay at home as long as they can, and avoid moving into senior care facilities. However, this creates a problem of social isolation for them. Due to the collapse of the conventional family system and the weakened networks to their local community, it may have caused the serious social problem of Kodokushi.

Based on the results of the World Value Surveys conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) which asked respondents about their contact with other people in their normal daily lives, Japan was one of the most “lonely” countries. People in Japan had the least communication with friends, work colleagues and other acquaintances in places of worship, and in sports and cultural associations in their everyday life.

It is important to ensure that elders can age in place at their own houses, however, our society should re-visit this concept and ask ourselves “why do people like to remain their own homes when they age? ” I believe that the answer is not just the attachment to their houses, but to maintain casual and continuum socializations within their familiar community. The social phenomenon of “Kodokushi” may be teaching us to challenge a shift in our thinking from individual focused to a community based approach.

We need a society where every elder can feel connected to someone who cares about them.

--- Emi Kiyota

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on November 25, 2008 12:53 PM |Permalink |Comments (4)

Belief-O-Matic

What do you believe?

Belief :

the mental act, condition, or habit of placing trust or confidence in another.
mental acceptance and conviction in the truth, actuality, or validity of something.
'belief' vs. 'faith' :

Even if YOU don't know what faith you are, Belief-O-MaticTM knows. Answer 20 questions about your concept of God, the afterlife, human nature, and more, and Belief-O-Matic™ will tell you what religion (if any) you practice...or ought to consider practicing.

Belief-O-Matic

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on November 25, 2008 9:07 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

November 24, 2008

Monkhouse Monday

Oma* - The MIP (Most important person)

I stopped by on my Eden mission travels through Europe in winter wonderland Eastern Austria, where my family lives. Last night we went out for Schnitzel, Knödel, Sauerkraut and Eispalatschinken (Dessert of sweet thin pancakes with chocolate and icecream). We had a good time, my two sisters, my brother in law, their three children (aged between 20 and 25), me, and last, but not in the least least, my mother (78,5), called Oma.
The point I am making is, without Oma, just being there, being with us, things would have been less meaningful and pleasurable, actually somehow incomplete. Something would have been missing, for all of us.

Christa Monkhouse

* Oma is a loving term for grandmother in German

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on November 24, 2008 10:56 AM |Permalink |Comments (5)

November 20, 2008

WoW Election Preview

OK.

So there is something called Machinima. Here is the Wiki...

Machinima (pronounced /məˈʃiːnəmə/ or /məˈʃɪnəmə/),

is an example of emergent gameplay, a process of putting game tools to unexpected ends, and of artistic computer game modification. The real-time nature of machinima means that established techniques from traditional film-making can be reapplied in a virtual environment. As a result, production tends to be cheaper and more rapid than in keyframed CGI animation.

As machinima begins to break out of the underground community of gamers and becomes more widely recognized by mainstream audiences, tools are being developed to allow for faster and easier creation of machinima productions. A number of upcoming machinima products are expected to provide machinimators with original assets, as well as advanced features such as a timeline, gesture and sound creation, and precise camera tools.

This mashup combines

World of Warcraft.
Machinima
Presidential Politics

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on November 20, 2008 6:14 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

November 19, 2008

Blanchard WinsDays: Swinging and Thinking

Bill and I have been collaborating the past couple weeks on an article for Generations, the quarterly publication for American Society on Aging.

Truth be told, the research and writing has been going on for 2 years. In the summer of 2006, with my 6-year-old twins Ben and Hannah in tow, we flew to upstate New York to Bill and Jude’s Summer Hill Retreat. With the kids off to day camp, I spent the day teasing out the concepts of “Aging in Community” a phrase to describe the grassroots movement of people creating new communities to intentionally nurture and support growing old, together. To describe and document in quasi-academic terms a new social phenomenon blossoming out of complex demographic, economic and social changes in 3000 words is not an easy task. Especially with Dr. Bill!

When writing about a new idea, one may find books and articles that define one aspect or another. But to describe the whole, requires something that one may or may not find in writing. In this case, it was in talking about community with Bill, Jude, and other colleagues that the principles and elements of this paradigm shift began to emerge. I found the most insightful conversations were not the scheduled times to hash out ideas in the office, rather the impromptu chats on the big porch swing.

It is a beautiful thing when two or more people gather informally together to articulate a new way of being in the world – and it needs no referencing!

Cheers – Janice Blanchard

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on November 19, 2008 7:42 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

November 15, 2008

Twittering

Here is what I am thinking. I know thousands of people all over the world with whom I share the passion for making life better for elders and elders in the making.

The trouble is that it can be hard to stay in touch, to stay connected.

The best answer to this dilemma that I have found is something called Twitter.

The irony is that we are all too busy (and too stressed) to read long e-mails and articles. We do, however, have time to stay in touch with short messages that are rooted in the moment.

That is what Twitter is all about. It is fun and funny and useful in a kind of strange way.

Right now there are 10 people who follow my twitter feed. My goal is to increase that to 100 people by New Year's Eve.

Do you think we can do it?

*Update 11/11*We now have 11 followers!

*Update 11/12* We now have 28 followers and counting!

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on November 15, 2008 11:16 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

November 12, 2008

Robotic Care

A Japanese research group consisting of University of Tokyo and Toyota Motor Company invented a robot that can perform household tasks at home. This robot can complete daily tasks including laundry, carrying dishes on the tray, or cleaning.

According to the researchers, they developed this robot to help elders who live alone. Users can program this robot to perform certain tasks in advance, so that necessary daily household tasks can be completed for them.
It is projected that this robot will be available for commercial use in ten years with more sophisticated functions, and the price will be about $10,000.
When I saw this press release, I was a bit worried about the future prospects of elder care in Japan.
Although we need help to complete our daily tasks in order to age in place, we need much more than that to feel our life is worth living. What we need can be as simple as having a cup of coffee with others once in a while. This robot can serve a cup of coffee for me, but it cannot replace the person who sits in front of me and chats with me. (I do not think that I would enjoy talking to a robot every day…)
This robot is a great invention from a functional point of view, yet we should also be mindful about meeting elders’ “emotional needs.”
Can anyone develop a “meaningful relationship” with a robot?

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on November 12, 2008 6:00 AM |Permalink |Comments (4)

November 11, 2008

Time and Time Enough

This is a very good mashup. Please consider investing the 6.5 minutes it takes to watch it to the end.

We are storytelling animals and we make eager use of whatever elements we find available to us.

Thoughts?

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on November 11, 2008 6:35 AM |Permalink |Comments (4)

November 7, 2008

Power Up Friday

Tuesday's election was certainly evolutionary. Was it also revolutionary? This group thinks so:

Here's another great video of the 106 year-old Obama voter.

-- Al Power

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on November 7, 2008 5:30 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

November 5, 2008

Obama in Japan

Emi Kiyota is a brilliant young researcher (we won't hold her age against her) with a bright career ahead of her. She did some of the foundational design investigations on the Green House model and now I can announce that she will be guest blogging with us.

Her main interests are aging and design and she has a strong background in Asia and Sri Lanka.

Here is her report on Japan's reaction to Obama's election...

In Japan, the reaction to Obama’s victory is mixed. Some are concerned about the uncertainty of posture toward Japanese politics, others are welcoming the change and hope he is bringing to the world.

Prime Minister Aso commented:

‘Working together with President-elect Obama, I will strive to further
strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance and to resolve various challenges the international community faces when addressing issues such as the international economy, terrorism and the environment,’’

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) commented:

"There's the chance for Mr. Obama to tackle President Bush's regressive stance on global warming and disarmament. On these issues, we can look forward to a new strengthening of Japan-U.S. ties."

Among the various comments stated by the Japanese leaders, Mr. Hatoyama's (Democratic Party of Japan) stood out.

“American people have made a great history by overcoming racism and elected an African American president. This victory reminded Japanese people that true democracy still strongly stays alive in America. “

I could not agree more on his comment.

While I was watching Obama’s speech and looking at tears of my husband who is from the Ivory Coast, I was reminded that “this is the America I always imagined when I was growing up in Japan.” Overcoming obstacles and bring about positive changes for freedom and democracy was always the image of American society. I was pleased to witness this American value last night.

This historical event gave me a hope to bring about the change in elder care in the world.

I have attached the image of the “Obama victory party” by residents in Obama city, Fukui, Japan

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on November 5, 2008 8:08 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Obama in Japan

Her main interests are aging and design and she has a strong background in Asia and Sri Lanka.

Here is her report on Japan's reaction to Obama's election...

In Japan, the reaction to Obama’s victory is mixed. Some are concerned about the uncertainty of posture toward Japanese politics, others are welcoming the change and hope he is bringing to the world.

Prime Minister Aso commented:

‘Working together with President-elect Obama, I will strive to further strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance and to resolve various challenges the international community faces when addressing issues such as the international economy, terrorism and the environment,’’

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) commented:

"There's the chance for Mr. Obama to tackle President Bush's regressive stance on global warming and disarmament. On these issues, we can look forward to a new strengthening of Japan-U.S. ties."

Among the various comments stated by the Japanese leaders, Mr. Hatoyama's (Democratic Party of Japan) stood out.

“American people have made a great history by overcoming racism and elected an African American president. This victory reminded Japanese people that true democracy still strongly stays alive in America. “

I could not agree more on his comment.

While I was watching Obama’s speech and looking at tears of my husband who is from the Ivory Coast, I was reminded that “this is the America I always imagined when I was growing up in Japan.” Overcoming obstacles and bring about positive changes for freedom and democracy was always the image of American society. I was pleased to witness this American value last night.

This historical event gave me a hope to bring about the change in elder care in the world.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on November 5, 2008 8:08 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

The Morning After

Janice Blanchard offers her deeply heartfelt thoughts on the new direction our nation took on Election night 2008. I share her sentiments completely...

All of my life, I have felt ten years behind the rest of my generation– the 76-million-strong Baby Boom Generation.

In November 1963, when John F. Kennedy was tragically murdered in Dallas, Texas, I was three and a half years old – and vaguely remember my mother crying during the middle of the day. In 1965, during the peak of the Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King’s March into Selma, I was in an all-white kindergarten in Wilmington, Delaware mostly oblivious to racial tensions and the vast prejudices and inequality that made up America. In 1968, through Walter Cronkite, I remember sitting with my father during the six o’clock news, scared but outraged by the unspeakable horror of the Vietnam War and moved by the anti-war protests that rocked our country – and deeply saddened by the deaths of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy Jr. In the summer of 1969, caught up in pre-adolescence and a popular culture on steroids, I distinctly remember wanting to go to Woodstock and wear halter tops and Yardley lipstick. In the early 1970s, during the peak of the Women’s Movement, I wanted to join Gloria Steinem and my sisters that were finding their voices and fighting for the equal rights of women.

But as each social justice movement came along that struck a chord deep within my soul, I was always just a few years too late. By the late 1970s, when I finally came of age, it was the” jaded age” – the Boomer Generation that had done so much to try and create positive change in the world in the 1960s had hit a collective wall, and turned to wrestle the demons within. We emerged in the 1980s into the World of the Yuppies and Reaganomics. In the 1990s, during the “Dem-Light” years of Clinton’s middle-of-the road ideals and politics, I finally got married, started a family, and turned to my career to find meaning -- forgetting and forsaking that deep yearning to be part of the collective conscious of creating deep and meaningful social change.

This past winter, at Denver University, I heard Barack Obama speak during the primaries. Within moments, I knew that all my life I had waited for this moment to arrive – that finally I was at the right place, at the right time and that my soul’s desire to align with others that want to make a positive difference in this world had finally come. Finally, it all somehow seemed to make sense. I would do whatever it would take to see this man to the Oval Office.

Tonight, as I watched state after state pledge their audacity of hope in Obama and the future of our tattered and threadbare nation, I feel deep gratitude to be given this opportunity to be part of a collective movement galvanized to create positive change in America and the world. Within every fiber of my being, I feel renewed and hopeful – and so very excited to be part of the change we have been waiting for.

Peace and Love, JB

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on November 5, 2008 11:00 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

November 4, 2008

American Pie

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on November 4, 2008 3:14 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

November 3, 2008

"If it's unemotional, is it Art?"

A Google image search for "unemotional art" turned up this image...

In general, I am willing to believe art "without emotion" can possess aesthetic merit.

Others may disagree.

(H/T EL)

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on November 3, 2008 2:25 PM |Permalink |Comments (2)

Monkhouse Monday

Tiedoli, Italy: A mountain village comes back to life

In Switzerland, like anywhere in the Alps, there is lots of tourism but little „local life“, some of the mountain villages look abandoned and lonely between the seasons. Not so in northern Italy, in the village of Tiedoli. An almost abandoned stone-house village is now the home for elders, yes, very frail elders, but also the fertile field of human, animal and nature relationships, and now, of course, new jobs, tourism and small businesses. Read the full story here: http:/http://www.lecaseditiedoli.it/index.php?langsito=eng

Strem, Austria: A wine-growing village at the Austro-Hungarian border is growing

A similar story can be reported from Austria, the village of Strem has built a small nursing home and is now expanding it to an intergenerational village. The same here; new jobs, no away-migration, new housing for young families, more revenue. What cannot be quantified is how the souls of elders returning to the village enrich all generations. Read the CEO’s, Mr. Peter Kalmans presentation at the 2008 Iahsa Vienna conference here:
Both projects have been a long and continuing struggle, involved lots of courage and resilience, the initiators deserve public recognition and praise. Anybody aware of a suitable medal which can be pinned to their chests?

What else is there to say other than: be inspired and copy!

Christa Monkhouse

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on November 3, 2008 11:05 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Tourism as Everyday Life

This just in from Janice Blanchard...

HUGH BARTLING Public Policy Studies Program, DePaul University, Illinois, USA While tourist spaces are most traditionally associated with decidedly transitory and commercial enterprises like amusement parks or resort districts, the logic of tourism is permeating into other arenas of socio-spatial design. One of the more intriguing aspects of this trend is evident in the development of themed planned communities. Unlike the theme park where visitors are implicitly asked to ‘exit reality’ to take part in a collective fantasy, the themed planned community is a heterotopia with a much more pronounced ‘permanent’ quality. In a housing market driven by private capital, theming strategies associated with tourism are being increasingly utilized by developers for distinguishing their properties.

Poet Frederick Mercury had this to say on the subject...

Is this the real life-
Is this just fantasy-
Caught in a landslide-
No escape from reality-
Open your eyes
Look up to the skies and see-
Im just a poor boy, i need no sympathy-
Because Im easy come,easy go,
A little high, little low,
Anyway the wind blows,doesnt really matter to me,
To me

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on November 3, 2008 10:43 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 31, 2008

Power Up Friday

As promised, I’m back to report on John Barth’s newest book, The Development. The 78-year old author has turned his attention to a slice of America, by constructing and deconstructing life in an upscale gated community in the Maryland coastal region.

Barth is known as a writer of humor, but his books cover the gamut from comedy to tragedy, albeit with a certain sense of playfulness in the use of language, autobiographical insertions, stories within stories, and a conscious manner of toying with the reader. His little-known book, The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor is one of my all-time favorite novels.

The Development is a collection of short stories with several common characters and the events that tie them together. Life in the development is full of mundane activities, planned social engagements, and people grappling with life issues large and small. The overall tone is remarkably restrained and one might conclude it’s rather lightweight in sections. But looks can be deceiving.

The overall feeling I get from the book is one of happy, smiling people leading lives of quiet desperation. There is great love within couples and families, but when those lives are disrupted by loss, the greater community provides little true support or solace. They are more concerned with whom is let in or let out of their world. It is clear that “aging in gated-community” is not the same as “aging in community”.

As one who works on transforming nursing homes, it fascinates me how many of the institutional features -- superficial relationships, programmed generic activities and lack of true reciprocity -- have been incorporated into our community living areas as well. It is not just nursing homes that need to be reformed. The frailty of this social structure is laid bare, meteorologically and metaphorically, by the destructive storm that strikes toward the end of the book.

This book is an important commentary on how we age in America. Like most of Barth’s works, it is funny, sad and challenging.

PS – Don’t forget to vote next week. Democracy is very much a “use it or lose it” deal.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 31, 2008 7:19 AM |Permalink |Comments (3)

October 30, 2008

Tabassum Live Blogs!

Today, Dr. Thomas is speaking about King Lear and asked me to live blog - I thought the reading was very literature-based, so we'll see how this lecture relates to aging!

[2:35]
Of course, Dr. Thomas introduces more vocabulary that means two different kinds of conflict, like Intergenerational - conflict across time, between generations and intragenerational - conflict across the same generation (between siblings)

King Lear has weird Shakespearean clothes on... who says he can rule a kingdom? His conflict in dividing his kingdom up amongst his daughters parallels the conflict with another character with a weird name and his sons.

Aging is a universal phenomenon... it even goes back to Shakespeare's time!
Apparently, sociological imagination is everywhere, making private problems public issues even in a strangely clothed old King Lear....

I love British accents, we are watching a puppet show of King Lear, it's cute! :)

[2:50]
Identity conflict - a sensitive issue in the play because King Lear is trying to be monarch and elder together, it didn't work out!

I love when we get bits and pieces of advice in class that we can use in our daily lives.

Today we'll get three main topics:

First, we define dementia - gradual process that includes a loss of previously attained cognitive function, leads to irreversible damage

Telling someone about Alzheimer's and dementia is like telling someone about cancer.
A chronic condition with two deaths:
diagnosis lasts forever & psychosocial death (everyone forgets you exist)
A nursing home and cemetery are not the same thing - you are alive in a nursing home, don't write them off!! In a cemetery is when you are dead. Remember that.

Now we are traveling to India and learning about a guy who changed his identity to Ram Das, talking about living in the present - because it is important. So true!

In Native Alaskan culture, Alzheimer's Disease is a gift - because an elder then has one foot in the spiritual world and one in the physical world... I've never thought about it that way, that's really cool - wish I knew that when I was caring for grandma!

We are re-diagnosing King Lear - he wasn't living in the moment, he was occupied with the past and future all the time... that seems pretty normal to me...

[3:05]
King Lear was experiencing delerium, topic number 2.
delirium - usually has sudden onset, diminishes people's ability to process sensory function normally

We are always getting suggestions for books to add to our book list on aging...
Fact: The band The Doors were named after a collection of poems by Huxley!
You really do learn something new everyday. In this class, though, it's every minute.

In the 1960's, lots of drugs were being used to mess with sensory processing... what a naughty and rebellious generation... they even had a group called the pranksters!

Back to understanding delerium, which is usually reversible, and messes with our points of reference. There are weird sounds behind Dr. Thomas that are messing with my points of reference...spooky.

1950's were full of conformity and 1960's did not have trouble experimenting and being non-conformist... total opposites.

Was King Lear depressed? Apparently not... anhedonia means without pleasure, which does not describe him well, although Dr. House recognized it! Anyhow, King Lear in the play had plans and very noticeable feelings, he was delirious, which is NOT dementia!

Often, these two are mixed up - depression and dementia are NOT the same.
Dementia can mimic depression, delirium is not the same either - too many D-words!

Uh oh, here comes a prediction: The boomer generation as they age may rediscover an appetite for mind-altering substances; oh man, here comes the marijuana...
Except we need to make sure that we can be here now, because being is more important than doing - what a phrase - full of trait transformation for the boomers!

[3:20]
King Lear on one hand and Star Wars on the other - intergenerational conflict!
Both films portray generations fighting against each other... father, son, brother...
Now these scenes make me sad...

And now I'm confused - a voice over with King Lear and a musical?!
Okay, back to the movie with King Lear now he's screaming lots and lots because his daughter is dead. He doesn't seem insane to me, just heartbroken. :(

King Lear dies; soon after, his banished daughter comes back because she had hoped to save him before he died.... creepy but very pretty flute music plays...
Music IS connective tissue, THAT is for sure, it doesn't matter what the occasion!

I think we had some Halloween undertones today, full of delirium... but neat!

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 30, 2008 2:30 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

Did Eskimos put Elders on ice floes to die?

Get the straight dope from the Straight Dope...

...it bugs me when questions about strange Eskimo customs are phrased in the present tense, as if nothing could have changed since the eighteenth century. But yes, in the past some Eskimos did kill old people when circumstances were sufficiently desperate. Pressure from missionaries and national authorities, improving economic conditions, and no doubt evolving notions of acceptable behavior among native peoples eventually brought an end to the practice. The last reported case was in 1939, but the custom was a rarity long before that. In any case, the common perception of taking Granny out to the nearest ice floe and setting her adrift is wrong. I can't prove it never happened, but it wasn't the usual method.

Senilicide (the killing of old people) was never universal among Eskimos. It was common in some parts of their range but more so among the Inuit (Greenland to Northern Alaska) than the Yuit (western and southwestern Alaska). Even among the Inuit, some groups found the custom repugnant.

Where it was practiced, senilicide was rare except during famines. As long as there was enough food to go around, everyone got their share, including the relatively unproductive. Given that the usual diet consisted of fairly dependable catches of caribou, fish, and sea mammals, many years could pass between episodes of scarcity. Considering the dangers of hunting, the old and infirm who weren't expected to hunt could outlive a hunter in his prime.

On the other hand, when food did run short, the old and sick were looked upon as drains on the community's resources. Sometimes they were killed - thrown into the sea, buried alive, locked out in the cold, or starved to death. Far more commonly they were simply abandoned to die. The victim might be taken out in the wilderness and left there, or the whole village might pick up and move away while the old person slept. If the villagers were unexpectedly restored to prosperity, they might go back to rescue those left behind. An abandoned person would also be welcomed back as a full member of the community if he could manage to make his way back to the village on his own. But usually he couldn't.

More Here

Now for another pressing question...

Do Europeans cause rat-borne plagues by killing cats? After all, everyone knows that cats are demon spawn!

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 30, 2008 5:19 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 28, 2008

Baby Boomers Beware

Attention Baby Boomers! Your children are growing up, and they want their future back:

The movement begins here.

Hat-tip to Andrew Sullivan.

Posted by Kavan Peterson on October 28, 2008 9:57 PM |Permalink |Comments (5)

Aboriginal Elders

Story teller is memory brought to life....

The stories laid down by the ancestors set both the framework and the laws for the contemporary community. The practice of ‘remembering’ in the daily lives of Aboriginal peoples reaffirms their place in the social and physical world. For example, it confirms who they are, what they are to do, and, more importantly, what their relationship is to other beings and objects: animate and inanimate. Social remembrance retains both the ceremonial acts that we would call spirituality and the norms that we would call law. The result is circular. Oral history is the crucial element in the ongoing transmission of identity but it also stems from that identity.

Oral history can be a way of showing the consequences of certain acts that are or would be extremely unlikely to occur, and by doing so set standards for the good, in tune and in balance with the ‘natural’ order. Should the teaching be broken, the result will have a tremendous consequence, usually of the kind we would associate with the supernatural. This kind of "teaching" component sets Aboriginal law apart from other ways of presenting law. Oral history provides access to the unusual for everyone who hears such stories. These special cases of encountering reality are not regarded as extraordinary—they are merely experiences accorded to the gifted; however, everyone potentially can experience them in dreams or in other culturally-acceptable ways.

Though many of these stories and story types are found almost everywhere in the world, what is so significant for Native North Americans is that their stories indicate who and what they are. Storytelling is not just the act of retelling a favourite tale with passive listeners. To say that it is a group sitting around the fire while an Elder or the societal authority relates a story of the ancestors is, in effect, stereotypical and narrow. Oral history is a re-connection to the unimaginable act that occurred in the ancestral past. The language within the stories told is laden with meanings. By extension, language is a creative arena within human life that can be directly linked to oral traditions.

More here

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 28, 2008 5:17 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

October 27, 2008

Monkhouse Monday

Elderspeak – continued

I would like to supplement some of the ideas about “elderspeak” already discussed on this blog.
Last weekend I had the privilege to be at a seminar presented by a eminent founder and researcher of gender inequalities in everyday language, Senta Trömel-Plötz (she had to emigrate to the United States three decades ago because German universities closed the doors in her face, she now lives and works in Lancaster, Pennsylvania). A group of fifteen women worked on everyday examples and we analysed a videotape of a talk show on Swiss television from 1983 where the status of the participating women (she was the most accomplished among them professionally and academically) was already constructed as “low” by the introduction alone by omitting her title, her publications and her positions. We were left to judge if things have changed since then. The intention behind this “status construction” became clear very quickly once pointed out and thus “readable”.

Professor Trömel-Plötz (1) drew our attention to speech-act theory (2), explaining illocutionary force. This is the “very act of speaking (or writing) which rhetorically presupposes an intention.....”. If the recipient understands our intention….we can say we have communicated”. And as any action, this can have a profound impact on the recipient. So what are the intentions behind speech act such as:

* Using a singsong voice, changing pitch and tone, exaggerating words.
* Simplifying the length and complexity of sentences.
* Speaking more slowly.
* Using limited vocabulary.
* Repeating or paraphrasing what has just been said.
* Using terms like "honey" or "dear."
* Using statements that sound like questions.

…and others committed by “Elderspeak”?
And shouldn’t we rename “Elderspeak” into “Ageist Jargon?”

Christa Monkhouse

1). Find a small excerpt of her work in English here:

2) Speech Acts, 1969: An Essay in the Philosophy of Language
Searle, J
Cambridge University Press
212 pages

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 27, 2008 5:12 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

"Toots"

Senator Obama refers to his grandmother as "Toots." This is a slang version of the Hawaiian word "tutu" which means grandmother.

Tutu and Me is a wonderful community based service organization that seeks to "spread the wealth" of wise elders.

More Here

Tūtū and Me provides learning opportunities for children's social, linguistic, cognitive, physical and emotional development, and meets the needs of anyone directly involved with them and their development. The program emphasizes activities that promote growth in the following areas:
* Cognitive: to assure/develop average intelligence as measured by standard tests
* Social: to develop social temperaments that bring positive responses from others
* Language/literacy skills: to give children a strong start to assure that effective reading skills will be attained by fourth grade

The Tūtū and Me program is free, is conducted in public places and provide entry points into needed health or social services for families who otherwise might not know where or how to get help. The program will also be a point of identification for children with special learning needs.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 27, 2008 6:26 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 26, 2008

Elias Cohen: My Last Election? My Grandchildren’s First.

Elias S. Cohen is a legendary figure in the history of our culture's struggle to understand the importance of self-determination for all people.

He reflects on the past the, the present and our shared future and offers us the insights of a true Elder.

In November two of my four grandchildren will vote for President of the U.S. and members of Congress for the first time. And I, and some of my friends and relatives may cast our votes for the last time. As Dr. Samuel Johnson said, “Depend on it, Sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”

Voting in what Ithink may well be my last election certainly concentrates my mind. It feels. like making out a will---what is the bounty I leave to my grandchildren? For me, my vote will shape my legacy, the kind of country I want to leave to my grandchildren.

I want to leave them a country that is not governed by ideologues and theologically based ideas, but rather by those who believe in civil rights, self-determination, respect for the widest range of belief systems, ethical principles, and evolving Constitutional law in this nation of immigrants and native born, drawn from the races and ethnic groups from around the world.

I want my vote to re-establish credible and even inspiring leadership from the Office of the President as a hallmark of the most powerful position in the world. I want my grandchildren to look to the President with pride in his commitment to science and knowledge, ethical precepts, and the spirit of the law that has served us so well in the past.

I want my grandchildren to live in a country whose national treasure and national conscience is devoted to preserving our countryside, our environment, and our rich variety of communities, services, and utilities. I want them to live in a country that does not squander our natural and economic resources and our unique American spirit on destructive wars, present and future.

I want to leave my grandchildren a country whose government is at its best when it strikes poverty, disease, homelessness, unemployment and despair rater than a government that believes it should get out of the way of rampant and wanton economic exploitation of our markets, our environment, and the consuming public---an irrational belief in the magical hand of a free and unfettered market.

And I want my grandchildren, when they to travel the world to know that they are representatives of a country viewed as a champion of human rights, equality, and opportunity rather than a country whose government’s blunders devastate countries, killing tens of thousands of civilians and causing the emigration of thousands from their homes.

I want them to inherit a country whose leaders eschew “wars of choice” based upon unfounded speculations and blind strategies---a leaders who will spare them from other wars in which they and their children will be called upon to fight and pay for.
Let them live in a country where they can afford to send their children to a post-high school education demanded by a technologically advanced society. Let them live in a country in which they can achieve a decent income, acquire sufficient resources capable of protecting them from unanticipated economic failure or erosion of monetary value, and protection from the economic assault of disease, disability, or chronic ailments.

I want to leave them a country that will assure them a country better protected from assaults on civil liberties than the one I will die in.

Next year more than five and half million of my age peers---those 75 and over will die. And over the following three years most of the rest of them will leave the voter registration rolls. For us, for them, this is the last opportunity to shape the legacy we would leave our grandchildren.

This may well be my last vote for a President and Vice President of this remarkable country. In casting it, I will have my children and their children in the forefront of my thought and prayers.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 26, 2008 5:55 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

October 24, 2008

LEGO Movies

Caleb Thomas is a LEGO Maniac, he loves to watch LEGO movies. Here is a LEGO movie Love Story that we think the readers of the ChangingAging blog will enjoy.

Art is Art.

Love is Love.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 24, 2008 6:28 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

October 23, 2008

Attempted Live Blogging

The Aging 100 class starts in about ten minutes. I am going to recruit a student to "liveblog" the lecture.

The topic is "Lamaze, Childbirth and the Boomers..."

Hope it works...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 23, 2008 2:19 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 22, 2008

Blanchard WinsDays: An Aging in Community Hero

Imagine a Center that would provide a spiritual setting for older adults...an ElderSpirit Center, resonating with traditional associations of "elder" with wisdom, leadership, dignity, and ritual."
-- Drew Leder (1996) Spiritual Community in Later Life

Meet Dene Peterson—one of my aging in community heroes.

Undaunted by the challenges of becoming a real estate developer at the age of 71, Dene co-created the place of her dreams to retire – a community of mutual support and late-life spirituality. It took ten years, but Dene along with a core team of former nuns and other true believers raised over 3 million dollars to build the 29 unit, mixed-income elder cohousing community that sits along the beautiful 35 mile Virginia Creeper Trail on the outskirts of Abingdon, a small Appalachian mountain town in southwestern Virginia.

One of three elder cohousing communities in the country, Dene is a pioneer in re-imagining what elderhood can be – and the great places we can create to grow elder.

The past couple days I have spent with Dene and others in Virginia to discuss plans for a second Elderspirit Community in the Shenandoah Valley. Interested readers can go here to learn more about the values and mission of Elderspirit or contact Dene directly for more information dpetersonATelderspiritDOTnet.

Namaste’ – Janice Blanchard

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 22, 2008 10:32 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 21, 2008

Grandfather/Grandson

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 21, 2008 9:27 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

October 9, 2008

Mrs. Teller On Mashups

The Ultimate How To!

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 9, 2008 3:13 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

Mash Ups

I am a big fan of the practice of combining existing media with new ideas and interpretations. These creations are called "mashups." It is actually a very old idea. Every generation of Old Timey and Folk artists puts its own stamp on existing works which they inherited from those who came before. It's worked this way for thousands of years.

This video is a reworking of a fun but silly 1980's song, "Take On Me."

You might or might not remember the song. It doesn't really matter. The point is that a group of artists took the images and reworked the lyrics making them a very literal and "kind of goofy" narration of what is being depicted in the images.

Play the video and read along with the new (on-screen) lyrics.

This is just the tip of the tip of the iceberg of mashups that are coming our way...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 9, 2008 12:11 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 8, 2008

Blanchard WinsDays: Honoring our Veterans

In Washington D.C., one of the big engines pulling out of the Administration on Aging (AoA) station is the “nursing home diversion program.” I saw that Bill blogged on the NYT article about Elderspeak and find it interesting that the program designed to help elders to remain in their homes, and stay out of institutional long term care, borrows a term (Diversion Programs) more commonly associated with the criminal justice system.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced $36 million in new grant programs to 28 states to help older Americans and veterans remain independent and to support people with Alzheimer’s disease to remain in their homes and communities.

Sure it's a baby step, but it is step in the right direction.

The press release can be found here.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 8, 2008 10:26 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

October 6, 2008

McCain Plans Federal Health Cuts

This should be popular...

John McCain would pay for his health plan with major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid, a top aide said, in a move that independent analysts estimate could result in cuts of $1.3 trillion over 10 years to the government programs.
The Republican presidential nominee has said little about the proposed cuts, but they are needed to keep his health-care plan "budget neutral," as he has promised. The McCain campaign hasn't given a specific figure for the cuts, but didn't dispute the analysts' estimate.

More details from the Wall Street Journal here

Honestly, the 60+ demographic was his the REpublican candidate's last firewall. Now this?

Stunning.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 6, 2008 2:58 PM |Permalink |Comments (3)

October 5, 2008

Aspens in the Autumn

It's funny how easily the change of seasons can slip past us.

This photo from Nancy Fox really hit me.

Wow.

Change is Life.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 5, 2008 6:17 PM |Permalink |Comments (2)

And Aging Too...

Witold Rybczynski makes the case for smaller homes:

Smaller houses on smaller lots are the logical solution to the problem of affordability, yet density— and less affluent neighbors— are precisely what most communities fear most. In the name of fighting sprawl, local zoning boards enact regulations that either require larger lots or restrict development, or both. These strategies decrease the supply— hence, increase the cost— of developable land. Since builders pass the cost of lots on to buyers, they justify the higher land prices by building larger and more expensive houses—McMansions. This produces more community resistance, and calls for yet more restrictive regulations. In the process, housing affordability becomes an even more distant chimera.

The post WWII suburban housing development is a sterile, social capital poor environment within which to strive for a vibrant old age.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 5, 2008 4:15 PM |Permalink |Comments (2)

October 2, 2008

Work and Rest

Boo Lunt passes along this wonderfully evocative poem by Bob Arnold

The Poet in Question

No Tool or Rope or Pail

It hardly mattered what time of year
We passed by their farmhouse,
They never waved,
This old farm couple
Usually bent over in the vegetable garden
Or walking the muddy dooryard
Between house and red-weathered barn.
They would look up, see who was passing,
Then look back down, ignorant to the event.
We would always wave nonetheless,
Before you dropped me off at work
Further up on the hill,
Toolbox rattling in the backseat,
And then again on the way home
Later in the day, the pale sunlight
High up in their pasture,
Our arms out the window,
Cooling ourselves.
And it was that one midsummer evening
We drove past and caught them sitting
Together on the front porch
At ease, chores done,
The tangle of cats and kittens
Cleaning themselves of fresh spilled milk
On the barn door ramp;
We drove by and they looked up--
The first time I've ever seen their
Hands free of any work,
No tool or rope or pail--
And they waved.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 2, 2008 5:28 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 1, 2008

Gratitude

From Rick Moody's excellent e-mail magazine...

Brother David Steindl-Rast, who works in the tradition
of Thomas Merton, has said that "It is not happiness
that makes us grateful but gratefulness that makes us happy."

For more on his approach to the contemplative life visit:

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 1, 2008 12:25 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Hannah Thomas

Hannah had a better night last night. Her breathing has improved and their is a chance that she will be moved to the step down unit today. Jude and I are frazzled but our family and friends have offered us the kindest and most hopeful expressions of love and support.

Cannot say thank you enough.

Here is a photo of Hannah and her big brother taken in happier times.

One last note. People who have read Learning from Hannah and In the Arms of Elders know that Hannah plays the role of teacher in those books. Well, in the ICU the professor asked if students could listen to her lung sounds because she had something called tubular breath sounds. We said sure. It was good to see Hannah teaching those medical students something important and useful.

One more last note. What is it with girls these days. They love to show the belly button--- Dad does not approve!!!!

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 1, 2008 9:07 AM |Permalink |Comments (11)

September 24, 2008

Chipmunk Economics

I've been watching the SCHIP tragi-rama and, for me it least, it has all of the overtones of the recent Social Security brouhaha. Its the same story with Medicare, Medicaid, WIC, SSI...etc., etc. etc.

Here is that story:

"Despite all evidence to the contrary, there is no such thing as the common good. It turns out that we are all alone in this world, rich and poor alike--- well not exactly alike. Anyway, again despite all evidence to the contrary, it is best if we learn not to rely on each other. We are, it seems, a race of chipmunks each of us racing alone to toward the creation of our own, individual, pile of nuts. If your stash is big and well-hidden, then congratulations, you deserve to make it through the winter. If your stash is small or not so well hidden, or stolen or ruined, well then that's just too bad. You can't expect any other chipmunks to give a damn about you.
"It's every chipmunk for himself and the devil take the hindmost."
---- Richard Dawkins

Interestingly, the story told above collides with everything we know about morality, ethics, theology and, especially, human nature. We are not chipmunks, and never have been.

It is said, by those who know, that before the invention of the freezer, the best place to store surplus meat was in a neighbor's stomach. In other words, sharing the surplus in good times with the expectation that we will be helped by others in hard times is woven into the fabric of our species. Social insurance programs (like Social Security) take this principle one step further and create a situation where members of a nation make a promise to each other and then work to keep that promise, generation after generation.

Efforts to lead us away from the promises that, we, as a people, have made are, when you get down to it --- inhuman.

We are not chipmunks, never have been, never will be.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on September 24, 2008 6:26 AM |Permalink |Comments (5)

September 22, 2008

Financial Mess

This is a superb explanation of how we got where we are today.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on September 22, 2008 10:09 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

September 21, 2008

Number 500

Wow.

Just wow.

It does not seem possible that Blogmeister Kavan threw the switch and changingaging.org went live just a year ago. This is the 500th post since that day. Special thanks to guest posters Al Power and Christa Monkhouse for their insightful additions to this blog.

Over the past couple of months the readership has increased significantly. I'm not sure why this has happened but I am very happy about it. Because we have so many new readers, I thought that I would celebrate year one with a "Greatest Hits" post a day from the Changingaging.org archives.

Not to worry! We will also have current material.

One last thought, the epic tsunami of spam that washes over the internet can be kept away from our comments section if we limit participation to people who have a TypeKey ID. It is simple it is free and it stops spam from clogging our comments.

Best to all our readers and here's to a fantastic year two.

Bill

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on September 21, 2008 9:09 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

September 19, 2008

Sri Lankans for Obama

Emi Kiyota writes....

My Japanese friend who works in Sri Lanka sent me the attached picture. The man in the picutre visited a temple in Sri Lanka with lotus flowers to pray for electing Obama for the next president in the USA. I was quite impressed by his devotion to supporting Obama from Sri Lanka!!

Yes%20we%20can.jpg

Look for more from Emi Kiyota in the future...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on September 19, 2008 6:26 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

September 17, 2008

CREEPY!

Nancy Fox, former executive director of the Eden Alternative sent along this note and link...

I write about this sort of thing-- the Adultification of Chidlhood-- in the book What Are Old People For?

The extreme! High heels for babies!

Some people are getting a big kick out of an emerging fashion trend for babies — high heel crib shoes for girls too young to walk. Others are certain it’s yet another sign that the republic really is going to perdition in a handbasket.

The latest rage for the preverbal set is the creation of two Seattle moms, Britta Bacon and Hayden Porter. Friends since childhood, the two were taking Bacon’s daughter, Kayla, to a party for her fourth birthday when they started reminiscing about when Kayla was an infant.

Porter, who admits to being obsessed with shoes, found herself thinking how hilarious it would have been if Kayla had had high heels as an infant

How much, how much farther can it go???

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on September 17, 2008 6:01 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

September 6, 2008

Not Going To Deny It

This made me laugh...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on September 6, 2008 9:24 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

September 5, 2008

Cultural Creatives

Brent Green has a nice write up on the driving force behind the concept of the

"Cultural Creative"

I think I fit the description.

Take the quiz to see where you stand.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on September 5, 2008 6:23 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

September 4, 2008

Mental Age

Alex M forwarded this fascinating little piece written by Douglas Copeland. He talks about how men view aging. Copeland is a well known writer and he was born in 1961. Here are two even more famous people who werre born in 1961.

gandolfini-clooney-1p.hmedium.jpg

Below are some snips from the article along with my comments in bold.

Copeland writes...

A few days ago, I had a business lunch with a guy I thought was about 10 years older than I am. I'm 46, and he looked to be 55 and resembled every English teacher you've ever had. At the end of lunch he said, "You know, I was born the same week as you..." and went on to discuss all the same music we listened to in high school. Meanwhile, it was all I could do to compose myself while looking around for a reflective surface — a knife blade, the hologram on my Visa card — to convince myself I didn't look 55 like this guy did. I felt as if I had progeria, that disease in which you age half a century in five years. That's what growing older does to a guy.

Progeria is a strange, terrible and fascinating birth defect that accelerates the aging process in children.

Ashley is doing really well for someone aged 14, most kids with this syndrome do not live to see their teen aged years.

We've all bumped into friends who look like hell. Our first thought is always divorce, booze, or one of those other wicked speed bumps on the road of life. What's really happening, of course, is that your friend is in the middle of a progerial plunge. Time passes, and more time passes, and then you see that friend in the checkout line of a Safeway one afternoon, and you realize he's not drinking or having troubles. He's just aging. The kicker: So I must be too. That's when you head to the produce department and check yourself out in the mirrors above the lettuce and celery.

This is an interesting and terribly fearful position. We all begin normal aging near the end of our 20's. It is a sign of how deep our cultural denial is that this absolutely universal phenomenon (aging) is offered up as something so alien that it can only be recognized in others.

I have this theory about men and aging. We have two ages: the age we really are, and the age we are in our heads. Most men are almost always about 31 or 32 in their heads — just ask them. Even Mr. Burns from “The Simpsons” is 31 in his head. One of the most universal adult male experiences is of standing before a mirror and saying, "I'm sorry, but there's been a horrible mistake. You see, that's not really me in the mirror there. The real me is tanned, throws Frisbees, and kayaks the Columbia River estuary without cracking a sweat."

I find it useful to remember that when writers (myself included) make "universal" statements about the experiences of others, they are really talking about themselves. The appeal to universality is a fig leaf that protects the writer's tender ego. Anyway, I see that in myself and I suppose it might be true for other writers as well.

In myself I've come to notice that aging comes in spurts. I've asked others, and they pretty much agree. I'll look the exact same way for a decade, and then — wham! — God hits the progeria switch and for two years the downhill plunge begins anew.
And then it stops again.

He would be more accurate if he had written "In myself I've come to notice that my awareness of my own aging comes in spurts.

My body will plateau for another decade, until the next time it decides to collapse a bit more. Which is funny, because in a weird plot twist, I'm probably in better shape now than I was at 20. Many reasons: I quit smoking in 1988 (though I could start again right now), I stopped eating crap two years ago, and last year, I finally found a gym that doesn't allow music: no John Cougar Mellencamp blasting at maximum volume while circus freaks in harem pants and the thong equivalent of a T-shirt make those embarrassing orgasm noises while bench-pressing the mathematical squares of their IQs. Instead, I can think and enjoy my time working out without a massive sonic brain invasion. It makes all the difference. And what do I think about in the gym? Muscle tissue breaking. And then I try to decide whether to rebuild or pack it in. My ligaments are iffy about whether they should snap or strengthen. My body tries to decide whether to age or become more powerful. And as a control freak, it bugs me so much that a lot of this stuff is beyond my control. Exercise, sure, but at the end of it, instead of looking thinner, I may merely look gaunt. Or haggard. Or — ironically — my age.

Strangely, for a writer so obviously concerned with avoiding the stereotypical markers of age, the paragraph is the linguistic equivalent of "And those damn kids better stay off my lawn!!!!!!!"

[snip]

Lately, I've begun to have this heretical thought that people were never supposed to live to be old enough to age in the first place. We forget that until the 1950s or 1960s, senior citizens were extraordinarily rare, and the seniors one did see were begoitered, often-limbless, shrunken-apple-head people who wheezed and cackled.

This is terribly bigoted, mean spirited and false. Imagine commenting on the relative "invisibility" (within the dominant culture) of African Americans being rendered in similarly charged language. Nasty.

A hundred years ago, if you hit 70, you deserved every shred of respect you got. These days... well, does one deserve respect for wanting to look 55 at 70? Does wanting to appear younger in any form deserve any respect at all? In the 1990s, I helped design a plausible future for the film "Minority Report." One of the things I came up with was "young old people." Tom Cruise's character in the movie was actually 70 years old, even though he looked 35. Now that I think of it, maybe Tom Cruise really is 70. If that turned out to be the truth, would you be surprised? Be honest.

How about this?

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on September 4, 2008 6:38 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

September 3, 2008

Yep

The Crabby Old Lady throws it down...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on September 3, 2008 6:28 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

August 29, 2008

Power-Up Friday: End of Summer Reading

I'm reading the new travel narrative, "Ghost Train to the Eastern Star", by Paul
Theroux. Here's a provocative quote from the book, which I will submit for this
week's post:

"As a young man I regarded the earth as a fixed and trustworthy thing that would
see me into my old age; but older, I began to understand transformation as a
natural law, something emotional in an undependable world that was visibly
spoiled. It is only with age that you acquire the gift to evaluate decay, the
epiphany of Wordsworth, the wisdom of 'wabi-sabi': nothing is perfect, nothing is
complete, nothing lasts."

-- Al Power

Posted by Kavan Peterson on August 29, 2008 4:44 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

August 18, 2008

Chillaxin

I will be Chillaxin with the family for the next two weeks.

Chill.

Very Chill.

See you in September.

I suspect that the ChangingAging.org bloggermeisters will be around while I am out.

I look forward to reading their posts when I return.

Later...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on August 18, 2008 5:56 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

August 15, 2008

Excellent Post

This post from Timegoesby really grabbed me.

“She had learned, in her life, that time lives inside you. You are time, you breathe time. When she’d been young, she’d had an insatiable hunger for more of it, though she hadn’t understood why. Now she held inside her a cacophony of times and lately it drowned out the world. The apple tree was still nice to lie near. The peony, for its scent, also fine. When she walked through the woods (infrequently now) she picked her way along the path, making way for the boy inside to run along before her. It could be hard to choose the time outside over the time within.”

- David Wroblewski, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on August 15, 2008 11:03 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Obama Worldwide

Emi Kiyota, recently returned from Sri Lanka, sends this picture...

Obama%20sticker%20in%20Sri%20Lanka.JPG

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on August 15, 2008 9:55 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Power-Up Friday: Reader Challenge

In an effort to solicit more comments from readers, I'd like to offer a little challenge: What are some of the unexpected ways that the aging of our population might change societal conventions and standards over time? Positive and negative ideas both count.

For example: Will we have different views about the economic value of sports stars and entertainers? Will charitable donations and volunteerism increase or decrease? Will roadways or traffic patterns be constructed differently? What will TV look like? In what ways will the frontiers of technology change?

I have no idea. I'm just asking. Send us your thoughts - let's have a conversation.

I will close with the Quote of the Week, courtesy of Mimi Bommelje: "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man." -- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

-- Al Power

Posted by Kavan Peterson on August 15, 2008 8:08 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

This Blows Me Away

From an Op Ed in the NYT...

WHAT is the secretary of Veterans Affairs thinking? On May 5, the department led by James B. Peake issued a directive that bans nonpartisan voter registration drives at federally financed nursing homes, rehabilitation centers and shelters for homeless veterans. As a result, too many of our most patriotic American citizens — our injured and ill military veterans — may not be able to vote this November.

I have witnessed the enforcement of this policy. On June 30, I visited the Veterans Affairs Hospital in West Haven, Conn., to distribute information on the state’s new voting machines and to register veterans to vote. I was not allowed inside the hospital.

Outside on the sidewalk, I met Martin O’Nieal, a 92-year-old man who lost a leg while fighting the Nazis in the mountains of Northern Italy during the harsh winter of 1944. Mr. O’Nieal has been a resident of the hospital since 2007. He wanted to vote last year, but he told me that there was no information about how to register to vote at the hospital and the nurses could not answer his questions about how or where to cast a ballot.

I carry around hundreds of blank voter registration cards in the trunk of my car for just such occasions, so I was able to register Mr. O’Nieal in November. I also registered a few more veterans — whoever I could find outside on the hospital’s sidewalk.

There are thousands of veterans of wars in Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf and the current campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan who are isolated behind the walls of V.A. hospitals and nursing homes across the country. We have an obligation to make sure that every veteran has the opportunity to make his or her voice heard at the ballot box.

Connecticut’s attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, and I wrote to Secretary Peake in July to request that elections officials be let inside the department’s facilities to conduct voter education and registration. Our request was denied.

The department offers two reasons to justify its decision. First, it claims that voter registration drives are disruptive to the care of its patients. This is nonsense. Veterans can fill out a voter registration card in about 90 seconds.

Second, the department claims that its employees cannot help patients register to vote because the Hatch Act forbids federal workers from engaging in partisan political activities. But this interpretation of the Hatch Act is erroneous. Registering people to vote is not partisan activity.

If the department does not want to burden its staff, there are several national organizations with a long history of nonpartisan advocacy for veterans and their right to vote that are eager to help, as are elected officials like me.

Wow, that's cold.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on August 15, 2008 5:36 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

August 12, 2008

C Wright Mills

C Wright Mills...

One of my favorite thinkers.

One my favorite quotes...

Do not allow public issues as they are officially formulated, or troubles as they are privately felt, to determine the problems that you take up for study.

Above all, do not give up your moral and political autonomy by accepting in somebody else's terms the illiberal practicality of the bureaucratic ethos or the liberal practicality of the moral scatter.

Know that many personal troubles cannot be solved merely as troubles, but must be understood in terms of public issues - and in terms of the problems of history making.

Know that the human meaning of public issues must be revealed by relating them to personal troubles - and to the problems of the individual life.

Know that the problems of social science, when adequately formulated, must include both troubles and issues, both biography and history, and the range of their intricate relations.

Within that range the life of the individual and the making of societies occur; and within that range the sociological imagination has its chance to make a difference in the quality of human life in our time.

(Mills 1959: 226)

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on August 12, 2008 2:19 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

August 8, 2008

Power Rant

This just in from Al Power...

First, a rant. I was giving a Keynote at a conference a few weeks back, and got to ranting about the common concern that the aging of our population is going to bankrupt our country.
It went something like this: "We have 50 million people without health insurance and an equal number are underinsured, gas is $4 a gallon and we have no coherent energy policy, we're slipping into recession, the housing and banking industries are crumbling under the subprime mortgage fiasco, Iowa is underwater and we're fighting two wars overseas -- do you really think old people are going to be main cause of our economic collapse??"

Now, two raves: First, from our local daily, kudos to Nicholas Gatto!
Gatto is a partner of Legacies of Life, a Rochester company that writes elder histories. He wrote an op-ed expressing the need for a community "Board of Elders", who could bring their wisdom and experience as a valued resource for the community. In addition, it "would enable our children to see that engaging Grandma and Grandpa's wisdom is essential to securing a bright future for all". Yes!
Second, my daughter Caitlin passed me a copy of the remarkable novel "Where River Turns to Sky", by Gregg Kleiner (Harper Perennials, 1999). This story is told, in alternating chapters, through the eyes of two elders - George Castor, a prickly gentleman with unresolved guilt over the death of his best friend Ralph; and Clara Paulson, victim of a stroke which has left her virtually speechless.
George has issues with the nursing home where Ralph died, and where Clara lives. So he devises a unique "aging in community" solution for Clara and a few of her neighbors. That's all I'll say about the plot.
Kleiner has a unique style and an original approach to words and images that kept me riveted. Even more, this apparently young first-time novelist has told the stories of elders with a remarkable authenticity of spirit and perspective. (This isn't just my opinion - my 81 year-old mother felt the same way.)
Kleiner has been an exchange student in Thailand, on retreat in a Buddhist monastery, a goat herder, a wildlife biologist and a journalist. I can't wait to see what he comes out with next!

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on August 8, 2008 12:22 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

August 4, 2008

Word Clouds

This is an interesting method for comparing the web sites of the two major party candidates for president. See if you can guess whose is whose before you read the short article that accompanies the images. Word Clouds Here

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on August 4, 2008 11:47 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Power-Up Monday: More Dementia News

[Editor's Note: Al Power is filling-in for Christa "Monkhouse Mondays" while she's on vacation.]

I'll follow up Wednesday's "Pre-Dementia" post with three more items that have popped up in the past two days:

(1) On July 28th, our local newspaper described a new study from the University of Kansas, to be published this fall in the American Journal of Alzheimer's Diesase and Other Dementias. In this study, it was found that people with dementia take great offense to being talked down to with demeaning names or infantile language. Many people reacted with increased agitation and physical aggression. Even people with fairly advanced dementia can tell when they are being demeaned or patronized.

This lends support to those of us who feel that interpersonal interactions are an important factor in the genesis of behavioral symptomatology. I only have one complaint: The article states that this method of address is so common that "researchers have coined a word to describe it - 'elderspeak'".

Now wait just a minute here! That isn't elder-talk - it's baby-talk! Let's not besmirch a title of honor and respect by associating it with infantilizing language.

(2) The UK has a new drug that claims to "halt the decline of dementia", something no other drug has succeeded in doing. The media has descended like vultures on the report of this trial drug named Rember (get it?). The study claims that there was no significant decline in cognitive function after 19 months on the drug, compared with an 81% relative decrease in those not taking it.

The drug appears to work by attacking the "tau protein" that forms the damaged nerve tangles of Alzheimer's. This is an industry-sponsored study, and hasn't been put to intense scrutiny or replication yet. However, it was enough to impress Clive Ballard, a prominent researcher in the UK. Others cite the evidence that the drug decreases blood supply to some brain areas as an indication to proceed with caution into further trials.

So we'll keep our fingers crossed and see what happens here...

(3) Finally, back on the topic of social capital, the BBC also reports that single people have three times the risk of dementia that married people have. This was reported by the Karolinska institute, after a study of 1449 Finns. It is theorized that the "intense social and intellectual stimulation" of marriage has a protective effect. Those who were widowed at a young age and never remarried had six times the risk.

This certainly adds to recent evidence about the beneficial effects of social interaction on cognition and other health indicators, (though a few of my formerly married friends might take issue with the hypothesis!).

I would comment that the article does not tell if cognitive testing was done on these people, or just an interview and health history. The latter would not rule out the effects of an ongoing relationship in helping to "cover" for mild deficits. There is also evidence that untreated depression can be neurotoxic - this might also be an issue in cases of divorce and bereavement. Finally, there may be lifestyle differences associated with stable marriages (diet, exercise, etc) which contribute.

Keep an eye on this blog for the latest developments!

-- Al Power

Posted by Kavan Peterson on August 4, 2008 11:20 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

Best New Blog

Emi Kiyota has just returned from Sri Lanka. She is working to develop culturally appropriate designs and systems for aging there. This is the best new blog I have seen in a long time.

A sample from Sri Lanka...

I discovered the magical power of "cheap plastic chairs" in long term care facilities in Sri Lanka. Most of the elder care homes had a front porch with several light weight plastic chairs. It seemed to be the most frequently utilized space by elders, staff members, and visitors.

Normally, chairs were neatly placed along the wall. When people came out to the front porch, they slightly adjust the location of the chairs and sat. I have observed that people were constantly adjusting their chairs to maintain their comfortable distance among others. The distance and configuration were also adjusted in different social functions. Because these chairs were light enough for elders with limited strength to move easily, everybody was able to find their most comfortable location in the area.

William Whyte found that providing movable chairs increases the peoples' usage of public open space in NYC. This time, I have witnessed that simple movable chairs gave a magical power to draw people into gathering space in rural Sri Lanka. It was quite amazing to learn that simple and inexpensive furniture like plastic chairs could help elders to make their own place.

"Place making..." can be a meaningful concept only when users are fully involved, which has been over-done by designers so far.

We have a lot more to learn...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on August 4, 2008 9:05 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

August 1, 2008

Low Road Campaigning

This made me laugh.

The joke will make sense only if you have seen both Obama's speech on American race relations and the movie "The Matrix."

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on August 1, 2008 7:02 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

July 30, 2008

On Blogging

If you are reading this blog then you have already discovered and decided to make use of blogs.

This video explains the phenomenon in an interesting way.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on July 30, 2008 2:21 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

July 25, 2008

Cell Phone Cancer Concerns

From the New York Times

Prominent Cancer Doctor Warns About Cellphones

The head of a prominent cancer research institute has warned his faculty and staff to limit cellphone use because of a possible cancer risk, The Associated Press reports.

Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, the director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, notes that while the evidence about a cellphone-cancer link remains unclear, people should take precautions, particularly for children.

“Really at the heart of my concern is that we shouldn’t wait for a definitive study to come out, but err on the side of being safe rather than sorry later,” Dr. Herberman told The Associated Press.

Earlier this year, three prominent brain surgeons raised similar concerns while speaking on “The Larry King Show.” Their concerns were largely based on observational studies that showed only an association between cellphone use and cancer, not a causal relationship. The most important of these studies is called Interphone, a vast research effort in 13 countries, including Canada, Israel and several in Europe.

Some of the research suggests a link between cellphone use and three types of tumors: glioma; cancer of the parotid, a salivary gland near the ear; and acoustic neuroma, a tumor that essentially occurs where the ear meets the brain. All these tumors are rare, so even if cellphone use does increase risk, the risk is still very low.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on July 25, 2008 1:00 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

July 24, 2008

Old Women Know Better...

I am sure that some readers will be able to file this under, "Been There Done That."

Advice on walking in high heels offered by a future podiatry patient...

There are few more pleasurable feelings than walking gracefully in high heels and also few less pathetic sights than some one stumbling along in obvious pain.
The most important consideration is balance, especially when wearing stiletto heels. These have two balance aspects to them. Firstly, the small scale issue of transverse balance (side to side movement of the heel) which is adjusted by small movements in your calves and ankles to keep the heel vertical. Secondly, there is the larger issue of longitudinal weight distribution - that is adjusting your body weight back and forth with the larger muscles in your hips and back. This has a fundamental effect on your walking style. With more chunky, stable, heels, only the second of these aspects is really present, transverse rocking not really being a problem because of the larger heel area. You may decide to start with a chunky heel - its certainly easier - but on the other hand you will then lack confidence in the thinner heels. Its better master the balance exercises in section four previously - then you can concentrate on the distribution of weight and wear any type of heel.

As you walk, you must continuously adjust your center of weight to maintain your balance. The correct position when standing is a slight backwards lean and relaxed position so that the weight is evenly split between your heel and sole. Try to imagine your center of weight coming down your legs in line with the heels, but just forward (1-2in) of them. Another way to think of this, is the first movement up on tip toe puts all the weight on your toes, but then you just shift it back slightly, settling half of it onto the heel. A common fault is leaning too far forward which causes small mincing steps in order to prevent over-balancing. The remedy is to lean back. Of course, leaning back too far will have disastrous consequences too. You should try to imagine your weight settled into your hips and a smooth even stride leading from your hip and pelvic region which are more prominent than when walking in flats. Try not to exaggerate this movement and keep your bottom still - unless you particularly want to project a sexy image.

You will find that the way that your leading foot makes contact with the ground is related to your posture and stride length. I have seen it suggested in quite a number of places that the sole of the foot should come down first or perhaps together with the heel - this is pretty crap advice. In practice, this leads to you leaning too far forward and taking short steps. It can also be a strain to try and twist your foot further forward so that the sole comes down first, not to mention being uncomfortably off balance in the process. The best way is to make sure that your heel contacts the ground first, but the sole follows through very shortly afterward. Try not to put too much weight on the heel as it contacts the ground and make sure that sole follows through quickly and smoothly. If you lean too far back, then you will develop a large swanking stride and will tend to land fairly heavily on the heel, which is a good way to bend or break it.

And what about the foot?

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on July 24, 2008 5:07 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

July 23, 2008

Use it or Lose it...

Martial arts expert Keiko Wakabayshi, nicknamed the "Samurai Granny", has been hired by the country's military to train recruits in hand-to-hand combat.

Miss Wakabayshi, who stands exactly 5ft tall, looks tiny compared to her charges who are mostly over 6ft.

But the pensioner is a trained master in an array of martial arts disciplines including jujitsu, jojitso, kenjitso, judo, kendo and karate.

She wipes the floor with soldiers of the Folgore brigade at their barracks in Livorno on a daily basis.

Miss Wakabayshi was born in Japan but now lives in Northern Italy.

She tells her students to look at her and believe that nothing is impossible.

After flooring an opponent she tells them: "Don't think it's unbelievable. The physique doesn't matter."

Sparring is regarded as the most effective method of teaching martial arts and senior Italian military officers hope the experience of being humiliated by Miss Wakabayshi will toughen up their soldiers.

Miss Wakabayshi trained for many years to achieve her level of expertise and believes she can carry on defeating brawny soldiers for years to come.

The term martial arts is synonymous with the Far East, but actually derives from Mars, the Roman god of war and literally means the "arts of war".

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on July 23, 2008 6:58 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

July 22, 2008

Old Age Gaffe Gaffe

From Politico...

Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) said “Iraq” when he apparently meant “Afghanistan” on Monday, adding to a string of mixed-up word choices that is giving ammunition to the opposition.

Just in the past three weeks, McCain has also mistaken "Somalia" for "Sudan," and even football’s Green Bay Packers for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Ironically, the errors have been concentrated in what should be his area of expertise – foreign affairs.

McCain will turn 72 the day after Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) accepts his party’s nomination for president, calling new attention to the sensitive issue of McCain’s advanced age, three days before the start of his own convention.

The McCain campaign says Obama has had plenty of flubs of his own, including a reference to "57 states" and a string of misstated place names during the primaries that Republicans gleefully sent around as YouTubes.

McCain aides point out that he spends much more time than Obama talking extemporaneously, taking questions from voters and reporters. "Being human and tripping over your tongue occasionally doesn't mean a thing," a top McCain official said.

But McCain's mistakes raise a serious, if uncomfortable question: Are the gaffes the result of his age? And what could that mean in the Oval Office?

Gaffes are not the result of age, they may be the result of...

fatigue
stress
loss of focus

Laying them on the doorstep of age and age alone is wrong.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on July 22, 2008 9:43 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

Be Happy...

The happiness parade.

America has too few such parades.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on July 22, 2008 6:01 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

July 21, 2008

"Old Person" is the Ultimate Other

[Editor's Note: below is a post by the editor]

I like this -- a blog post about old bodies from the Poetry Foundation's blog Harriet:

It’s scary to think about what your body is going to look like in forty years
At the swimming pool, I am an honorary old person—I get to swim with the senior citizens, who play volleyball in the shallow end and use the deep end for water exercise.
--snip--
Though at first I felt estranged from (let’s face it: scared of) my swimming partners, I’ve come to treasure being part of the group and making friends across a wide swath of life. The lifeguards sometimes play big band music, which annoys me because most of these people came of age with the early Beatles and Stones.

What I like best is the chance to see bodies. The girls on the synchronized swimming team are in the locker room when we leave, and though they are beautiful their bodies are not as compelling as old bodies, on which you can read the story of childbirth and illness and simply age, which lends interesting variegations and falling-(or-not-)ness to the flesh.

It seems to me that "old person" is the ultimate Other. Old person=not me.

Which, I imagine, is why it's so damn hard to embrace getting old.
(h/t to El Lewis)

--Kavan

Posted by Kavan Peterson on July 21, 2008 2:31 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

July 15, 2008

Hats Off

This is good advice...

Hats%20off.JPG

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on July 15, 2008 11:51 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Race versus Age

Which is more likely to make a candidate less effective if elected president?

Obama's Race

McCain's Age

The answer should be that neither age nor race can be viewed as disqualifying characteristics per se, but...

More than 8 out of 10 Americans say Obama's race would make no difference in terms of his effectiveness in the White House. Of the rest, just as many say his being black would make him more effective as president as say it would make him less effective. Thus, as far the public is concerned, Obama's race appears to be a wash in terms of perceptions about his ability to serve effectively as president.

Now, in interest of fairness, there are probably some who answer this way but feel differently. Race, after all, is a sensitive subject. But I suspect the numbers wouldn't change that much.

John McCain's age, however, is a different story:

There is more expressed concerned about McCain's age. As is the case with Obama's race, the majority of Americans say that McCain's being 72 next January would not make any difference in terms of his effectiveness in the White House. But 23% say McCain would be less effective as a result of his age, while 11% say he would be more effective. The net result is a slightly negative view of the impact of McCain's advanced age.

This could be a guess, but I think that 23% number is going to increase in the fall when people start paying attention. I'm not trying to be an ageist about this, but as someone with an elderly parent, I do have my questions about someone taking on the toughest job in the world in his 70s...but that's just me. And at least 23% of the American population.

The whole post, with a nice graph is here.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on July 15, 2008 6:41 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Eldercare Learnings

This is an interesting and useful site. It is like a seedling and will grow over time.

Eldercare Learnings

The Eldercare Learnings website is dedicated to people who are committed to providing intensive care to their aging parents.

This site has been launched to encourage the sharing of eldercare stories. Share your stories---if you have lots of experience or if you are just getting started and feel somewhat overwhelmed. This community needs you!

The focus is on stories and stories have the power to change everything.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on July 15, 2008 6:03 AM |Permalink |Comments (5)

July 14, 2008

Monkhouse Mondays: Timeless Beauty

[Editor's Note: Eden Alternative Europe Coordinator Christa Monkhouse guest-posts on a weekly basis from across the Big Pond. Christa helped introduce the Eden Alternative to Europe, first in the UK, then Denmark, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and soon in Sweden, Finland and other European nations. Stay-tuned for regular updates on 'Monkhouse Mondays'.]

In Zürich the European soccer championship has just ended and with it the endless (female) celebrity photos in the newspapers. At a function recently, I was with some of them and noticed that I felt uncomfortable. They are my age (over fifty) and look thirty-something due to botox and surgery. I asked myself some questions: “If I am irritated, how do other people feel about this? What are we doing to the clues our looks reveal about our experience, worldliness and seniority? Do we compete with younger woman for looks? While they need guidance, admiration and support from us older women, do they need more “rivals” which are probably abound in their own generation? "

After this experience I decided to age gracefully. I want to look old, wise and warm. I don’t want to leave any doubt about who I am. I hope that I will be able to offer a warm smile and share wisdom gained from my rich life in gratitude. I want to become a timeless (not ageless) beauty like Mrs. Lydia R. from Switzerland, pictured here at age 94, intently listening to a lecture.

-- Christa Monkhouse

Lydia%20R.jpg

Posted by Kavan Peterson on July 14, 2008 3:30 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

July 10, 2008

Gribbin on McCain

The Erickson School's Dr. Joe Gribbin has commented on my post on McCain's comments regarding Social Security.

Dr. Gribbin offers a generous interpretation of what McCain might have meant to say.

While it is possible that this is just a flubbed line, it is definitely true that McCain supports the same kind of privatization schemes that the Bush Administration wanted but did not get.

Here's Dr. Gribbin's comment...

Having studied closely the comments made and the positions taken by both candidates for president I can say with absolute certainty that what McCain meant to say (and he fumbled it) was that it is a disgrace that young people are supporting older generations without the certainty that the program will pay them 100% of promised benefits.
I strongly disagree with Dr. Thomas' characterization of McCain's position. While I think that the positions taken by both McCain and Obama are seriously lacking in addressing issues in such a way to equitably share the pain of resolving the financial issues with the program while preserving its core principles of social adequacy and social equity, it is patently unfair to state or imply that McCain is against Social Security. Ideology can be a dangerous and counter-productive thing when trying to heal this program.

--Dr. Joseph Gribbin
Former Associate Commissioner, Social Security Administration and currently Professor at the Erickson School of Aging Studies.

Dr. Gribbin feels that "it is patently unfair to state or imply that McCain is against Social Security"

Here are the key Social Security votes of the last 10 years...

McCain Voted for Bush’s 2006 Social Security Privatization Plan. In 2006, McCain voted for the Social Security Reserve Fund. The proposal would shift Social Security’s annual surpluses into a reserve account that would be converted into risky private accounts. [SCR 83, Vote #68, 3/16/06; SCR 83, Vote #68, 3/16/06]

In 2000 McCain Wanted to Divert Social Security Money to Private Accounts. The Wall Street Journal reported that “[a] centerpiece of a McCain presidential bid in 2000 was a plan to divert a portion of Social Security payroll taxes to fund private accounts, much as President Bush proposed unsuccessfully.” The plan would put workers’ retirement money into the risky market and reduce the amount of Social Security payments they would receive from the government. The plan would undermine the Social Security system. [Wall Street Journal, 3/3/08]

McCain STILL Proposes Privatizing Social Security—Despite What His Website Says. McCain told the Wall Street Journal he still backs a system of private retirement accounts that he supported in 2000 and President Bush pushed unsuccessfully. The Journal reported he “disowned” details of a proposal on his 2008 campaign website that says he would “supplement” the existing Social Security system with personally managed accounts. But when asked about the position change he denied it and promised to change the website to reflect his true position. “I’m totally in favor of personal savings accounts… As part of Social Security reform, I believe that private savings accounts are a part of it—along the lines that President Bush proposed,” McCain told the Journal.[Wall Street Journal, 3/3/08; Campaign Website, accessed 3/3/08]

McCain Might Raise the Retirement Age and Reduce Cost-of-Living Adjustments. “[T]he McCain campaign says the candidate intends to keep Social Security solvent by reducing the growth in benefits over the coming decades to match projected growth in payroll tax revenues. Among the options are extending the retirement age to 68 and reducing cost-of-living adjustments, but the campaign hasn’t made any final decisions. ‘You can’t keep promises made to retirees,’ said Mr. Holtz-Eakin, McCain’s chief economic aide.” [Wall Street Journal, 3/3/08]

McCain Supported Deep Cuts That Put Social Security Benefits at Risk. In 2005, McCain supported a Social Security plan that would require deep benefit cuts or a massive increase in debt. That same year, McCain voted against prioritizing Social Security solvency over tax cuts for the wealthy. [SCR 18, Vote #49, 3/15/05; S. Amdt. 144 to SCR 18, Vote #47, 3/15/05]

McCain Voted to Use Social Security Money to Pay Off National Debt. In 2003, McCain voted to use Social Security funds to pay off federal debt. [HJR 51, Vote #201, 5/23/03]

McCain Voted Against Protecting Social Security Solvency with a Strategic Reserve. In 2001, McCain opposed reducing tax cuts for the wealthy to create a strategic reserve for Social Security. In the same year, McCain voted against a proposal to create “lockboxes” to protect Social Security and Medicare. [H.R. 1836, Senate RPC, Vote #145, 5/22/01; S. Amdt. 29, Vote #22, 3/13/01]

McCain Voted to Replace Social Security with Risk-Based Investments. In 1998, McCain voted twice to replace Social Security’s guaranteed benefits with income from risk-based private investments. [SCR 86, Vote #56, 4/1/98; SCR 86, Vote #77, 4/1/98]

Are these the votes of a supporter of Social Security?

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on July 10, 2008 2:39 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

July 9, 2008

Leisureville

The author digs into a little understood dimension of aging:

How does the segregation of Elders change the lives of the young?

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Most people see retirement communities as places where older people can keep busy while feeling safe, but a 39-year-old author says these "geritopias" have serious consequences for the rest of society.
In his new book "Leisureville," Andrew D. Blechman explores this issue, which piqued his interest when his neighbors decided to move to the world's largest gated community for the 55-and-older set.

Blechman, who has a young daughter, wondered why the couple was leaving a charming town in rural Massachusetts for a place where children can visit for no more than 30 days a year. But he later found that the "active adult" sector had become the fastest-growing part of the U.S. housing market.

During his own one-month stay at his former neighbors' new home in central Florida's The Villages, Blechman threw himself into the lifestyle of golf carts, a myriad of social activities, and bars where last call is at 9:45 p.m.

The author, whose previous book was about pigeons, says he enjoyed himself sometimes, but was disturbed by the insularity of such developments and their influence on local governments.

He spoke to Reuters about segregated living and the future of retirement communities.

Read the full interview here..

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on July 9, 2008 10:36 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

July 2, 2008

European "Baby Bust"

[Editor's Note: The following is a guest-post from ChangingAging blogger Al Power]

Before I share my promised post about social capital and dementia, I’d like to point out a fascinating article in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, and hopefully get some comments from our community “across the pond."

This article concerns the current “Baby Bust” in Europe, where birth rates have dropped to record lows. A birth rate of 2.1 babies per woman is considered the number needed to maintain a country’s population. This is currently our number in the US. In Europe, however, the level has dropped significantly, and is only 1.3 in southern and Eastern Europe.

There is an interesting contrast between these countries and northern Europe, where the rate is relatively higher at 1.8. The southern countries have more women who stay home after childbirth, yet the birth rate is lower. Social scientists suggest the reason is that although these countries have more traditional views about childrearing, they have fewer social supports.

By contrast, the Scandinavian countries have more social welfare in the form of maternity and paternity leave, childcare coverage, etc. It is felt that these social supports actually encourage women to have more children.

There is also an attitudinal change occurring, especially in Germany and Austria, where greater than 1 in 8 young women feel the ideal number of children to have is “none”.

Rates are also dropping significantly in Japan, Korea and Thailand, and to a lesser extent worldwide. It is felt that the higher US level is due to (1) a more conservative, religious-based view on family size, and (2) greater flexibility with work hours and return to work after long absences offsetting the fewer social supports available here.

With the population aging, this fans the flames of concern about the inability of the workforce to support our elders. Many countries are encouraging people not to retire as early as people do in much of Europe. Incentives, financial and otherwise, are also being given to have more kids.

Of course, many people do not see this trend as a bad thing, especially in terms of environmental impact. And those of us who blog on these pages would look at the last quote, “You can’t have a country where everyone lives in a nursing home”, as further evidence of the need to change aging and raise social capital.

-- Al Power

Posted by Kavan Peterson on July 2, 2008 8:09 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

July 1, 2008

Co-Housing Explained

Here is a sharp short video that does a good job of explaining Co-housing-- what it is and how it works...

Click Here to Watch'

(h/t Alex M)

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on July 1, 2008 6:14 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

June 30, 2008

Monkhouse Mondays: Normal or deficient – a matter of perspective!

My husband Lowell (Canadian) told me this story over breakfast (Sunday, summer morning, sitting outside, in sunny Switzerland near Lake Zürich).

During the early 1970’s he was working with a Canadian provincial government and they were attempting to implement the ideas of the Syracuse University Professor Wolf Wolfensberger who had written the book Normalization. They were developing the requisite services so that people with disabilities could live in the community and not in institutions. Once when visiting a Hutterite Colony with his boss, they saw a young man with Down-Syndrome. At that time this young man would have quite likely been living in an institution if not living on the commune. The boss asked the colony’s headman to tell him about “the young man over there”. The headman responded by saying "who, John the cattle herder?" That, in a nutshell, described the solution.

I drew immediate parallels to how we should treat our Elders today. Readers are invited to respond with their ideas and impressions.

-- Christa Monkhouse

Posted by Kavan Peterson on June 30, 2008 9:29 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

June 26, 2008

New Canterbury Tales

Heart is here...

In "A Place Called Canterbury," author Dudley Clendinen writes about the 400 days he spent at his mother's senior citizen apartment building/nursing home in Tampa, Fla., where the average age of its residents is 86. Clendinen became intimately involved with the lives of its residents and staff and weaved what has been described as a delightful soap opera.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on June 26, 2008 6:53 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

June 25, 2008

Wired Elders

There is a new old age waiting to be born...

As a student at Columbia in the turbulent late 1960s, Bill Reed played a role in in the legendary occupation of campus buildings. Weeks later, he dressed as a cavalry officer and staged what he calls a "takeover of the campus sundial" - a protest against the protests. The proud descendant of an English horse thief who came to America on the Mayflower, Reed was, to take liberties with Jack Kerouac's description of the first hippies, the rucksack revolutionary's rucksack revolutionary.

These days, the 53-year-old entrepreneur ranks among Portland, Oregon's business elite. He has a restaurant, Billy Reed's American Grill, that dispenses roadhouse fare along with free Net access; an upscale residence with remote-controlled utilities and security; and, a few miles south in the suburb of Milwaukee, a $16 million rest home, Oatfield Estates.

As befits an aging rebel, Reed remains doggedly committed to socially and environmentally responsible projects. The walls of his eatery are cooled by well water and the tables topped with tropical hardwood scavenged from local shipyards. His house has solar heating, the garden is organic. And at Oatfield he's rallying his peers once again, this time in defiance of their biological destiny.

Oatfield, which opened in September 2000, is the country's first wired rest home. Perched on a hilltop in the shadow of the spectacular Mt. Hood, the facility comprises three (eventually to become eight) Swiss chalet-style residences, each including a kitchen, common areas, and fifteen apartment suites. Living spaces are outfitted with touchscreen-equipped PCs for surfing the Web, monitoring vital signs, and recalling names (tap a photo and up pops a personal profile). Computers are connected via Ethernet, and everything from lighting dimmers to ceiling fans can be remote-controlled. Caregivers, their families, and residents all live together and make decisions democratically about food and activities. It's a high tech commune for oldsters.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on June 25, 2008 6:50 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

June 24, 2008

Old Old Age

This is crazy...

Professor Gloria Gutman has the kind of credentials that should guarantee a long, fruitful stay at the peak of her profession. She developed and directs the highly regarded Gerontology Research Centre at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. She's written or edited 20 books and more than 100 scholarly articles on such issues as housing for the elderly, dementia and long-term care. Her work is recognized beyond Canada's borders -- she's president of the International Association of Gerontology, representing organizations in 63 countries.

But last summer she faced a problem. On July 17 she turned 65. At Simon Fraser, as at many institutions and workplaces across Canada, that's the age of mandatory retirement. Happy birthday! Here's your watch, there's the door. One day you're 64, an internationally respected member of the faculty. The next, you're too old to be employed as an expert on aging.

How weird!

"I find it odious," Gutman says. "At whatever age we are, we should be judged on the basis of our competency."

In her view, Canada is tossing away a valuable part of its labour force. "It's insane when you figure what life expectancy is today," she says. "And look at demographics -- fertility rates are dropping. We need everybody to work who can work."

Increasingly, opinion leaders share that view. Mandatory retirement, once a hallmark of a prosperous and civilized society, now seems doomed by demographics. With too many old people and too few young, something's got to give. Even Canada's 66-year-old Prime Minister wants an end to mandatory retirement. It's a notion, however, that sends chills down the aching backs of some labourers bent over factory assembly lines, or office workers trapped in cubicleland, counting the months until their pension kicks in.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on June 24, 2008 6:48 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

June 23, 2008

What's Up in Tokyo?

Elder Porn

Besides his glowing complexion, Shigeo Tokuda looks like any other 74-year-old man in Japan. Despite suffering a heart attack three years ago, the lifelong salaryman now feels healthier, and lives happily with his wife and a daughter in downtown Tokyo. He is, of course, more physically active than most retirees, but that's because he's kept his part-time job — as a porn star.

Shigeo Tokuda is, in fact, his screen name — he prefers not to disclose his real name because, he insists, his wife and daughter have no idea that he has appeared in about 350 films over the past 14 years. And in his double life, Tokuda arguably embodies the contemporary state of Japan's sexuality: In surveys conducted by organizations ranging from the World Health Organization (WHO) to the condom-maker Durex, Japan is repeatedly found to be one of the most sexless societies in the industrialized world. A WHO report released in March found that one in four married couples in Japan had not made love in the previous year, while 38% of couples in their 50s no longer have sex at all. These figures were attributed to the stresses of Japanese working life. Yet, at the same time, the country has seen a surge in demand for pornography that has turned adult videos into a billion-dollar industry, with "elder porn" one of its fastest-growing genres.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on June 23, 2008 7:01 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

June 21, 2008

Home

My wife's sisters are visiting.
We sat on the back porch and talked.
A summer thunderstorm blew in from the west.
We retreated to the inside of the house.
It is good to be alive.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on June 21, 2008 5:37 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

June 18, 2008

Proud of Our Son

Our son, Zachary Thomas, graduated from high school last summer. After graduation, he decided to enlist in the United States Coast Guard. He is stationed on Lake Erie at Ashtabula. We are very proud of him.

Recently, the Commandant of the USCG stopped in at Station Ashtabula. The photo below was taken on that day.

Zachary is kneeling second from the left.

Their USCG's motto is Semper Paratus --- "Always Ready"

This is a video of some of the USCG's rescues.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on June 18, 2008 6:46 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Ummmm... Wow.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on June 18, 2008 11:24 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Future Elders

These are the Elders of 2075...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on June 18, 2008 6:09 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

June 16, 2008

Monkhouse Monday: Ageing Potential

Last week I received a much treasured present from a friend in South Africa, a bottle of red wine (2005 Shiraz DeGrendel Tijgerberg, Capetown) with two golden stickers indicating it is an award winner. Taking it out of its box and reading the enclosed leaflet, one phrase caught my attention: “Ageing potential 10 years”.

Being a discerning wine-enjoyer, not a wine expert, I looked up the phrase "ageing potential“ on the internet and found that it is a (somewhat artistic) prediction of how the wine will taste in a couple of years time based on the grape, the climate and soil conditions (intrinsic components), production, filling and storage conditions (extrinsic components). The assumption is that there are certain wines which improve with age, reaching their peak taste after a few or even many years.

Thinking about human ageing, I wonder if we replaced the declinist and ageist notion of ageing (extrinsic factors) with the ageing potential of wine, describing it as the synthesis of all human traits, talents and experiences (intrinsic value) and a new appreciation of them (extrinsic value), would we be able to describe a person of 55 or 60 not as old, but as a person with an “ageing potential of 25 to 35 years” and young people of twenty as having an aging potential of 65 to 75 years”?

-- Christa Monkhouse

Posted by Kavan Peterson on June 16, 2008 3:25 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

June 14, 2008

Big Changes Coming

Reuters surveys American's new interest in the bicycle...

U.S. cities that have long promoted bicycle use by commuters are now seeing a steady rise in the popularity of pedal power as gasoline prices soar.
Campaigns originally designed to cut down on traffic and pollution are now paying off for people looking for an option to driving with national gas prices averaging a record $4 per gallon.

People in cities such as Chicago, Washington and Portland, Oregon, can take advantage of bicycle lanes, bike-friendly transit systems and bike-parking locations built in recent years.

"Twelve years ago, I would bike down to City Hall and often it was a lonely ride," said Ben Gomberg, Chicago's bicycle program coordinator. "Today, there are often 17 or 18 riders stopped at the intersections."

Unlike Europeans, Americans use bikes for transport sparingly, even though 40 percent of personal trips in the United States are two miles or less, according to bicycle advocates.

In a country famous for its love of cars and driving, less than 1 percent of personal trips are by bike compared with up to 30 percent in some parts of Europe, campaigners say.

But rates of bike use in some U.S. cities are significantly higher thanks to recognition by urban planners of the environmental, economic and health benefits.

In Portland, widely regarded as America's most bike-friendly city, 5.4 percent of people said in a 2006 survey that the bicycle was their primary means of getting to work.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on June 14, 2008 6:33 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

June 13, 2008

Aging Well: Volunteers help preserve wilderness

Friends of Wilderness

A group of Routt County volunteers have found a way to indulge their love of wild places while helping protect those areas. Their organization, Friends of the Wilderness, assists the U.S. Forest Service by maintaining trails and educating the public about respecting local wilderness areas.
“Our volunteers axre so, so dedicated,” said Suzanne Munn, volunteer coordinator. “They just take personal responsibility for our wilderness out there — after all, it’s our land.”

The organization started about 10 years ago with a group of active retirees volunteering for the Forest Service. In 2001, the volunteers formed Friends of the Wilderness and established a formal partnership with the agency.

The group, which attained nonprofit status in 2007, has grown to more than 30 volunteers. Together, they put in about 2,000 volunteer hours in the Mount Zirkel, Sarvis Creek and Flat Tops Wilderness areas last year.

Current volunteers’ ages range from 50 to 73, though they welcome members of all ages.

“Every year it gets bigger and better, and we see more results and accomplishments,” Munn said. “We’d love to have more people come on board.”

Rest of Article Here

Aging Well? Yeah that's a division of Northwest Colorado Visiting Nurse Association. I know these nurses and I can assure you that they are off the wall--- in a totally good way. I love the work they are doing. Keep an eye out for them-- more good stuff is coming our way.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on June 13, 2008 6:51 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

June 10, 2008

Food and Energy

You are going to be hearing from me about the concept of...

Diachronic Competition

and its cousin

Diachronic Cooperation

This relates to competition and cooperation across time.

Here is an interview that places oil production into a cross generational context.

"When you think about how unique oil is in terms of its chemistry, its energy density...to think that what we're doing with it is simply pulling it out of the ground and burning it as fast as we possibly can seems utterly outrageous. This is the most unintelligent thing we could possibly do with this amazing stuff.

Possibly, future generations will be able to think of interesting things to do with this stuff, but they probably won't have the chance because there won't be any left.

You could call this diachronic competition. We who are alive today are in competition with our own descendents. We are actively reducing the survival opportunities of our own children and grandchildren."

More here.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on June 10, 2008 6:37 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

June 6, 2008

Power-Up Friday: Changing Aging

The 4th Eden Alternative International Conference will be winding down today. It may take me a while to digest all of the wonderful things I’m experiencing. However, one story from the past came to mind today:

It was six or seven years ago and I was at a Pioneer Network Gathering in Rochester. I found myself sitting in a conference room late at night, conversing with Bill Thomas and renowned elder advocate Carter Williams. Bill was regaling us with tales of his recent Eden bus tour across America.

All of a sudden, Bill paused and said, “You know what’s occurred to me? I’ve realized that it’s not enough to change nursing homes. We have to change society’s view of aging.”

My initial response was mild exasperation, and I thought to myself, “Just as we’re starting to make some noise with the Eden Alternative, leave it to Bill to push things to an impossible level!”

Fast forward to 6/5/08. I sat in the general session yesterday morning and listened to the stories and looked at the faces around me.

And I remembered that night. And I thought, “Damned if we aren’t doing just that! We really are changing aging in our society!”

Sometimes you don’t know where you’re going until you can look back and see where you’ve been.

-- Al Power

Posted by Kavan Peterson on June 6, 2008 7:56 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

June 2, 2008

Monkhouse Mondays: Social Climate Change

[Editor's Note: Dr. Thomas has invited Eden Alternative's Europe Coordinator Christa Monkhouse to guest-post on a weekly basis from across the Big Pond. Christa is personally responsible for introducing the Eden Alternative to Europe, first in the UK, then Denmark, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and soon in Sweden, Finland and other European nations. Stay-tuned for regular updates on 'Monkhouse Mondays'.]

The social climate change (cooling, not warming)......and it’s solution

I spent the last week in Vienna, Austria, springtime – lilac at it’s peak, roses budding – teaching Eden and attending the Iahsa European conference, listening and learning.

I had the privilege to meet with Prof. Ernst Gehmacher (82). He is member of the Austrian chapter of the Club of Rome for global sustainability and the most prominent person in Europe to measure social capital*. He is convinced that investment into building, nurturing and sustaining human relationships is more profitable (in Dollars and Euros) than "pure“ money investment. As a biologist and sociologist he has accumulated a wide database which clearly indicates that social capital is related to happiness, better health and lower health care costs.

The younger generation, who we confine to grow up in social isolation, their companion pieces of technology such as computers and the internet, is impoverished in terms of social capital, their social climate is getting colder, not warmer. Therefore we should start looking at our elders as providers and deservers of social capital, not just as cost and burden to society and bring the generations back together. And in the end, it will "pay off“ in human warmth and economic growth.

I agreed with him to measure the Eden-Alternative impact with his social capital measurement tools. I keep you posted on this.

*(defined as the sum of social relations at the micro-level such as friends and families, at the meso-level such as membership of clubs, parties and other associations and at the macro-level represented by culture, belief-systems, world- and spiritual views).

-- Christa Monkhouse at info@eden-europe.net

Posted by Kavan Peterson on June 2, 2008 7:11 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

May 30, 2008

Political Reverse Ageism

From the New York Times

by Micheal Luo

Now who’s making age an issue?

Senator John McCain mocked Senator Barack Obama here today at an airport rally, repeatedly calling him a “young man” with “very little experience.”

Mr. McCain, 71, who would become, if he is elected, the oldest first-term president in history, has been laying out a case against Mr. Obama based upon judgment and experience.

But this time he introduced a new moniker for Mr. Obama, repeatedly calling him “young man.”

“I admire and respect Senator Obama,” Mr. McCain said, his voice full of sarcasm. “For a young man with very little experience, he’s done very well.”

It is true that that ageism operates in both directions. I remember once meeting a very talented and highly professional who happened to be a woman and who also happened to appear younger than her sated age. She struggled constantly against the unfair bias people held against people who looked as young as she did. Some might say that "looking too young" is nothing to complain about but that fact is that her youthful appearance caused others to judge her via a stereotype rather than by her performance.

And that's never a good thing.

McCain is playing with fire here. Near the end of May, his campaign lashed out at Obama after Obama wondered if McCain was "losing his bearings." They objected to injecting age into the campaign.

So now we have...

“I admire and respect Senator Obama,” Mr. McCain said, his voice full of sarcasm. “For a young man with very little experience, he’s done very well.”

This might just be McCain attempting a classical Rovian political maneuver by attacking his opponent's greatest strength with his own greatest weakness. The classic example of this came in 2004 when George (Where was he during Viet Nam?) Bush questioned John (Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart) Kerry's patriotism.

I don't think age should be an issue in the campaign. We have much more important things to argue about. However, if McCain succeeds in making age a campaign issue he will be very sorry that he did so. It is not right, it is not wise but the truth is that America's presidential elections are about the future not the past.

John McCain was born during FDR's first term in office.
Barack Obama was born when JFK was president.

Here is a sample of the world of hurt that McCain can expect if age becomes central to the campaign.

Things Younger than John McCain...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on May 30, 2008 8:53 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Elder Co-Housing

Caring.com reports on Co-Housing

Researchers -- and the rest of us -- know a couple of things about older folks: They need community, and they fiercely want to hold on to a sense of control.

The problem is, many seniors see these two values as on a collision course. By moving to a retirement community, they fear they'll give up control over basic decisions about where and how they live.

One innovative solution is elder co-housing. Communities such Boulder's Silver Sage Village or Virginia's ElderSpirit are conceived, planned, and run by the seniors who live in them, offering all the community -- and many of the amenities -- of traditional retirement communities but with a greater sense of dignity and control.

These communities are one part '60s commune flashback (Silver Sage has a meditation room) and two parts future-forward. Wildflower Village, still on the drawing board in Texas, is being designed 100 percent eco-friendly, because the group of retirees planning the community value growing old with a light carbon footprint.

(h/t Alex M)

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on May 30, 2008 6:02 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

May 28, 2008

Why I Blog: Reason 229,495,832

A little while back I did a post about how I had outgrown the desire to own a flying car.

I posted a video of a prototype vehicle trying to ----fly.

The commenter known as hypotheek offered this gem in response...

Very cool thing... but in 2003, the SEC sued Moller for civil fraud for making unsubstantiated claims about the performance of the Skycar. Moller settled by agreeing to a LIFETIME! injunction and paying $50,000. In the words of the SEC complaint, "As of late 2002, MI's approximately 40 years' of development has resulted in a prototype Skycar capable of hovering about fifteen feet above the ground. Maybe the "insurance company required" cable provides electric power, because the device is has no battery or alternator
to bad to bad... but still, cool movie and idea!

hypotheek's comment led me to the SEC filing...

1 This matter involves a fraudulent, unregistered offering and the filing of a fraudulent Form 10-SB by Moller International, Inc. ("MI" or "the company"), a California company engaged in the development of a personal aircraft known as "the Skycar."

2 From at least 1997 until October 2001, Paul S. Moller ("Moller"), a university professor and inventor, sold unregistered shares of MI stock directly to the public, raising approximately $5.1 million from more than 500 investors.

3 MI fueled investor interest through materially false and misleading statements about the company's imminent listing on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") and the Nasdaq Stock Market, the projected value of MI shares after such listing and the prospect for product sales and revenue.

4 Later, in September 2001, MI filed with the Commission a Form 10-SB registration statement, which contained misleading claims about patents held by the company relating to Skycar technology.

Paul S. Moller

Wikipedia adds...

Moller has been claiming to be attempting to build a flying car since 1974, constantly promising delivery dates that are just "around the corner". [9] Each time the deadline approaches, Moller has postponed it.

The only demonstrations approaching flight have been hover tests performed by a Skycar prototype that for insurance reasons was tethered to a crane.[10]

Why blog? One reason is that it allows me to communicate with smart people like hypotheek. His comment offered me a new perspective and led me to take another look. I like things that lead me toward a more complete understanding of the world in which I live.

Thanks hypotheek!

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on May 28, 2008 5:57 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

May 27, 2008

Utah Phillips

Utah Phillips caught the westbound....

Obituary here.

(h/t Al Power)

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on May 27, 2008 11:09 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

May 26, 2008

Aging in Community

This competition was organized by the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and I think it really hit the mark.

Take a look at the web summary.

More universities should be doing community-based collaborations like this.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on May 26, 2008 1:42 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

May 24, 2008

Gray Male

Brent Green keeps a terrific blog on Boomers and marketing.

Watch and wonder as he deconstructs then explains an advert for male hair coloring.

Full Post Here.

This ad is a perfect example of generational pandering. The creators probably assume that their brazen appeals to nostalgic feelings will function more or less like the ringing bell that causes the operantly trained dog to salivate. Very Pavlovian.

Requisite peace gestures, the traditional victory V using the index and middle fingers, provide further caricature of the generation's culture. (How many Boomers have flashed you the "peace sign" recently?)

The ad also communicates an underlying message that Boomer men haven't grown up ... by choice. We're living an extended adolescence in the summer of our lives, even though most of us are actually in the autumn of our lives.

Good stuff. I encourage you to read the whole thing.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on May 24, 2008 8:42 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

May 23, 2008

Power-Up Friday: BE all that you can BE

This week, I’m reporting from Rochester’s Oak Hill Country Club and the Senior PGA Championship, where being 50 makes you a “senior”. My brother’s old high school classmate, Jeff Sluman, made the roster this year. My YOUNGER brother…

Elsewhere, the sports world was rocked by the retirement announcements of two of the greatest women in modern sports history – Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam and Belgium’s Justine Henin.

Sorenstam is the dominant woman golfer of the last quarter century. Although plagued with neck problems last year and bumped out of the #1 ranking by Mexican superstar Lorena Ochoa, Sorenstam has already won three times this year. Her 72-win total puts her one behind Jack Nicklaus, a mark she could easily beat before year’s end. She stands ahead of Palmer, Hogan and Woods in victories, and since Annika’s only
37, Kathy Whitworth’s all-time record of 88 was well within reach.

Henin, who has been #1 on the tennis circuit for 18 months, pulled out right before this week’s French Open, which she has won three straight times. She won 10 tournaments last year and is only 25 years old. She alluded to the fact that she had “hit the wall”.

All of us must deal with some decline in our physical abilities as we age. It must be incredibly difficult to maintain the competitive edge required to compete at such an elite level.

Readers of Bill Thomas will know that the move from adulthood to elderhood involves a gradual transition from a life rich in “doing” to one rich in “being”. But long before we start collecting Social Security checks, many of us make adjustments in this dynamic of our lives, in little or big ways. Elders are the best mentors helping us to navigate
these waters.

Somewhere in the recent past, a voice of experience may have told these women that, while it’s great to make a “run for the roses”, it’s important at some point to stop and smell them too.

We could all learn a lesson here. It’s a good time to reflect on our lives, see if the balance is getting off-kilter, and find ways to readjust our priorities. We could take a tip from the US Army, who might have coined the slogan, “Do all that you can do”, but instead opted for “Be all that you can be”.

Good luck, Annika and Justine, in the next phase of your lives!

-- Al Power

Posted by Kavan Peterson on May 23, 2008 10:00 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Beating Old Age in the UK

Gillain McKeith's offers her readers insights into "How to Beat Old Age."

"The problem is I think we are fixated with age in this country." says Gillian, "I think we need to get away from age and deciding we should be a certain way by a certain age. So what I've done in my new book is I've written a whole section on age and I've made the point that you need to do about your health when you get to a certain age rather than do less."

What she has to say is pretty good common sense stuff.

My problem is the wrapper she puts it into.

The war (battle, military) metaphor is unhelpful and points us away from the real challenge--- how do we make peace with old age.

By the way, here is a picture of Gillain McKeith.

She does have her critics...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on May 23, 2008 5:40 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

May 22, 2008

Pathetic

The following quotes were pulled from a mass e-mail that goes out to primary care doctors. There are no attributions and (I hope!) these statements were just made up by some marketing person...

Drug Reps - To See or Not To See "Unlike some doctors, I actually like seeing pharmaceutical reps in my office. After all, they do leave free samples for my patients, occasionally take me out to lunch, and may be the last group to show us some respect."
Testosterone - The New Wonder Drug?
"I read in Medscape Family News than low testosterone levels are linked with a higher risk of depression in older men. There are many limitations in the study, but their bottom line seems to be that having a low "free" testosterone level is associated with the higher risk, not the total testosterone. So does this mean that a free testosterone should be part of our depression screening in the senior citizen set?"

Mid-Levels Playing Doctor
"Is it my imagination or is the line between mid-levels and physicians in office based practice becoming non-existent? FNPs can practice without a doctor on-site as long as one is available to back them up and sign their charts. In my community, some list themselves with physicians in the yellow pages under Family Medicine…have we lost our turf for good, or can we get it back?"

The last group to show us some respect?
The senior citizen set?
Have we lost our turf for good, or can we get it back?

This is just amazingly inept, stupid and misguided.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on May 22, 2008 6:21 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

May 20, 2008

No Predictions

No predictions this week, though I did pretty well last week. The race is over.

Obama will face McCain in the fall.

So here is a nice photo and caption from Reuters.

Myrtle Strong Enemy, 101, waits for US Democratic presidential candidate and US Senator Barack Obama, (D-IL), to speak in Crow Agency, Montana May 19, 2008. Strong Enemy is the oldest woman in the Crow Nation. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on May 20, 2008 9:24 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

May 19, 2008

Growing Bolder

This is new to me.

Thoughts?

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on May 19, 2008 6:33 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

May 17, 2008

Why I Blog

I sat down this morning and read this blog. I really liked it. That sounds funny but it's true. I love the insights that Christa Monkhouse (reporting from Europe), Al Power (reporting from America, mostly) and thirty something blog master Kavan Peterson (reporting from the first half of adulthood) offer me when I read their posts..

Thank you Al. Thank you Christa. Thank you Kavan.

I'll also admit that I like my posts as well.

Here's why...

Aging, questions related to aging, and the reality of human longevity have suffered from an age related intellectual apartheid

Over here, ladies and gentleman, we have mainstream media, the conventional wisdom and the status quo. Each of these entities perceives the world through the lens of youth, each interprets age as a falling apart, the loss of all that is good and right.

Over there, are all those strange people who are older or interested in the lives that older people are living. You know the drill. People make jokes about getting an AARP card in the mail, people say things about age that are both unthinking and unkind.

What I enjoy most is reconnecting aging with the whole of life. For example, look at my recent post on flying cars. What the heck do flying cars have to do with aging?

1) When I was a boy I loved space travel, astronauts and rocket science.

2) As I grew up I became less worshipful of technology and developed a better appreciation for what it can and can not do to improve our lives.

3) I can now freely admit that some of my childhood dreams were wildly impractical. I enjoy the video of the "flying car" because it helps me understand how I have changed, how I have grown. The machine looks silly to me, it is loud, clumsy and entirely impractical. I wouldn't want one even if the inventor gave it to me for free. I know better.

4) I have reached a point in life that allows me to value the things that technology and industry have gotten right and reject the things it has gotten wrong. Blogging -related technology is an example of something good. I like it because it connects me to others, makes it possible for me to communicate with tens of thousands of people who share my interests. It allows my readers to communicate with me.

Aging isn't about aging, aging is about everything.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on May 17, 2008 6:21 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

May 16, 2008

Old Man

This clip of Neil Young performing "Old Man" begins with a great explanation of how the song was written...

Don't we all...

"Need someone to love me the whole night through..."

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on May 16, 2008 6:55 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

May 15, 2008

Melatonin Nonsense

This book is misleading and, when you think about it, very very sad...

The discovery of our body's aging clock and melatonin's role as its regulator is a revolutionary medical breakthrough-- one that can give you the power to reverse the effects of aging and lead a longer, healthier life. Written by two key scientists at the forefront of this groundbreaking research. The Melatonin Miracle is the first book to reveal these remarkable findings to the public. Here the experts explain clearly and simply what you should know about the natural hormone that everybody has-- and everybody wants to know more about. Find out how melatonin works, and how to use it, and what to expect when you begin to reset your aging clock. Research suggests that melatonin can: guarantee a good night's sleep as a natural, nonaddictive sleeping agent; overcome jet lag; boost the immune system; increase resistance to cancer and other diseases; lower cholesterol; prolong sexual vitality; ease stress, and more. Melatonin is readily available as a supplement in heath food stores. Discover how easy it is to restore your youthful levels of melatonin--and not just look younger, but grow younger.

The Melatonin Miracle
Nature's Age-Reversing, Disease-Fighting, Sex-Enhancing Hormone
By Walter Pierpaoli

This Edition: Mass Market Paperback
Publication Date: March 1, 1996

Please note that it was published in 1996

Here is a recent photo of the author...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on May 15, 2008 6:48 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

May 14, 2008

Age Progression Portraits

This a cool fusion of art and aging.

The text below was written by the artist, stop by and take a look.

HOW I DO AGE PROGRESSION PORTRAITS by D'Lynn Waldron ©07
There is no software that will age-progress a photo in either a scientifically accurate or artistically realistic way.
I am a classically trained portrait artist who has studied the medical forensics of aging.
I have been a developer of computer technology for the arts since the 1984 Mac.
I use a high end Mac, 30-inch cinema displays and most important a Wacom pressure sensitive tablet with a digital stylus that is used like a traditional brush
I now prefer digital technology to conventional media for most artwork.
( I also use my computer to edit my videos of symphony orchestras using Final Cut Pro and that in finitely superior to a Moviola and opticals for effects)

I am a third-generation conventionally trained artist. My portraits were first published in a book when I was 22 in 1959.
During my travels to such then remote places as the Cambodian jungle, the Himalaya Mountains and the Congo River, I worked in fine line pen & ink and watercolor (examples of this work are on my Web site.) I originally gave away all my watercolor portraits to the subjects until The Chenya Lama signed his portrait and handed it back to me advising I must keep some of my artwork. He was right and that watercolor portrait is in the British edition of my book.
I later became principally a photographer and I was one of the first photographers with the worldwide agency, The Image Bank.

I began doing age-progressed portraits when an advertising agency asked if I could do such a thing for a cosmetics company, because I had already done some medical illustrations related to effects of aging on the skin.

In doing age progressed portraits, I begin with the bone structure and then build the muscles over it using highlight and shadow in much the same way I would build up volume with clay in sculpting. Then I do the eyes, skin and hair.

The appearance of aging is determined by many factors including:
Genetics ~ Lifestyle ~ Health ~ Personality ~ Environment ~ Gravity's cumulative effects

Whenever I can, I work from as much information as possible about the person, family and ancestors.
I try to show in the eyes and the set of the mouth, the personality and perhaps just bit of the soul.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on May 14, 2008 6:42 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

May 13, 2008

Political Predictions

Last week I made the following predictions about the NC and IN primary elections...

NC
Obama 55
Clinton 45

IN

Obama 52
Clinton 48

The actual results were...

Obama 56
Clinton 42

Obama 49.5
Clinton 50.5

I did very well in NC, the differences are due mostly to the fact that I did not account for the other (very minor) candidates on the ballot. They took a couple points out of the total.

In IN, I knew it would be tight but thought that a late surge by Obama would carry the day. It did not.

So now it is on to WV.

My prediction...

Clinton 65
Obama 35

Obama loses by thirty-- maybe even more.

Does it matter?

No. The nomination has already been decided. Obama will face McCain in the fall.

Clinton gets a late in the game touchdown that doesn't even come close to changing the outcome.

Let's see how it goes!

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on May 13, 2008 6:23 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

May 12, 2008

Age and Ageism

Senator Obama's recent suggestion that Senator McCain was "losing his bearings" offers an interesting window into age and ageism in American society.

From the Times

"Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Thursday that Republican John McCain was "losing his bearings" for repeatedly suggesting the Islamic terrorist group Hamas preferred Obama for president.

That brought an angry response from McCain's campaign, which accused Obama of trying to make an issue of McCain's age.

Age is a touchy subject for McCain, who turns 72 in August and would be the oldest person to be sworn in as president if elected.

The two senators have focused more intently on one another in recent weeks as Obama has moved closer to becoming the Democratic nominee. Thursday's back and forth between Obama and surrogates for both candidates foreshadowed a likely argument for the fall campaign."

The McCain campaign realizes that age is their "third rail."

A recent ABC poll found that...

"Age continues to look like a major hurdle for McCain. Thirty-nine percent of Americans say they'd be uncomfortable with a president first taking office at age 72, far more than say they'd be uncomfortable with a woman (16 percent) or African-American (12 percent) as president."

McCain's campaign's angry response accused Obama of trying to divert attention from a legitimate question by raising McCain's age.

"He used the words 'losing his bearings' intentionally, a not-particularly-clever way of raising John McCain's age as an issue," McCain adviser Mark Salter said. "It is more than fair to raise this quote about Senator Obama, because it speaks to the policy implications of his judgment."

Obama campaign's fired back...

"Clearly, losing one's bearings has no relation to age."

Here is my take on the issue...

1) Age will play more of a role than race in this election.

2) While people can find real reasons to oppose McCain's election, his age is not one of them. It is just not correct or accurate to say that McCain's-- by itself-- should disqualify him as a candidate.

3) Our language and culture are LOADED with negative ageist stereotypes. Obama promises that he will not talk about age. He will find this an easy promise to keep. Deeply embedded ageist stereotypes will allow him to raise the issue obliquely. The "lost bearings" flap is just the beginning.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on May 12, 2008 6:04 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

May 8, 2008

World of Warcraft

This is the person thought to be the oldest elite World of Warcraft player, he started off with Dungeons and Dragons.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on May 8, 2008 6:44 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

May 7, 2008

A Double Edged Sword

Ageism cuts both ways...

This video features Dan Schawbel, find "Personal Branding" blog HERE

On his personal blog he notes...

Dan Schawbel is the leading expert on personal branding for the Generation-Y audience. He is also the first Social Media Specialist at EMC Corporation and has accumulated almost 7 years in marketing at the age of 24.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on May 7, 2008 6:34 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

May 6, 2008

Monkhouse Monday: Dementia, Diversity and Eldercare

[Editor's Note: (Below is this week's edition of 'Monkhouse Mondays', accidentally postponed to Tuesday -- Sorry Christa!)
Dr. Thomas has invited Eden Alternative's Europe Coordinator Christa Monkhouse to guest-post on a weekly basis from across the Big Pond. Christa is personally responsible for introducing the Eden Alternative to Europe, first in the UK, then Denmark, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and soon in Sweden, Finland and other European nations. Stay-tuned for regular updates on 'Monkhouse Mondays'.]

Persons with Dementia (PwD), do they need "Special Care“ or simply to be part of our "Cultural Diversity?“

Presenting the Eden Philosophy to varied audiences of professionals I am often asked: "Which model of care do you use for people with dementia?“, implying that surely they must be treated "specially“, given the proliferation of "special care units“.

My answer, informed by experience is: "Intentional and informed diversity-management.“

What do I mean by this? Some context: We know that people with dementia are overmedicated (see Al Power’s post on Antipsychotic Restraints), at conferences we hear about solutions for "wandering“, "aggression“, "unrest“ and "violence“. We keep PwD in "secure“ or "special care“ units. Research has shown that overmedication causes more deaths, that wandering is a normal and purposeful reaction to "feeling out of place“ in an institution, so are aggression, restlessness and violence. Secure units and chemical restraints keep people with dementia away from mainstream society. In Swiss law and medical ethical guidelines (www.samw.ch, english version/ethics/guidelines = coercive measures in medicine) a person can only be "secured“ for a short time if she is a danger to herself or others. Anecdotal evidence shows that people with dementia are actually very cautious, perceiving different colour flooring as "gaps“ and stopping in front of them. The question arises if "secure units“ are a severe infringement of human rights?

The answer? Why not educate the general public, schoolchildren in how to deal with PwD? How to serve them with attention and compassion at the supermarket checkout, the bus, the train, the cafe? If a person has "eloped“ from a care home, educated police will know what to do, normal, everyday business, calm, professional, warm. As there will be more and more people with dementia, they have the potential to add to the diversity of our society, visible at parties, restaurants, parks, hairdressers, beauty parlours, banks and hotels. They should not be marginalized, segregated and hidden. No, they can remind us how being, not just doing, is valuable in our lives and that tenderness and compassion can be practiced every day. This would be a true recovery approach to dementia care as outlined in Dr. T. Adams’ insightful and practical new book on Dementia care(p. 283). PwD would so re-cover the ground they have lost through the socially constructed segregation from mainstream society.

An empathic, practical and useful approach to dementia recovery on a personal level is the Spark of Life program developed by J. Verity, Eden Mentor for Scandinavia and Dementia-care pioneer from Australia. Watch the Demo-Video on YouTube and be moved (I was) to tears

--
Christa Monkhouse, www.eden-europe.net

Posted by Kavan Peterson on May 6, 2008 11:10 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

Political Predictions

I was off by ten points when I attempted to predict the outcome of the PA Democratic Primary. I said Clinton would lose by one, instead she won by nine.

If at first you don't succeed...

Obama 55
Clinton 45

Obama 52
Clinton 48

You read it here first!

Actually, it will be fun seeing what the actual numbers turn out to be.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on May 6, 2008 6:29 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

May 2, 2008

13 Grandmothers

WE, THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF THIRTEEN INDIGENOUS GRANDMOTHERS, represent a global alliance of prayer, education and healing for our Mother Earth, all Her inhabitants, all the children, and for the next seven generations to come. We are deeply concerned with the unprecedented destruction of our Mother Earth and the destruction of indigenous ways of life. We believe the teachings of our ancestors will light our way through an uncertain future. We look to further our vision through the realization of projects that protect our diverse cultures: lands, medicines, language and ceremonial ways of prayer and through projects that educate and nurture our children.

Their work meshes with my most recent thinking on neo-tribalism as an alternative social organizing principle.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on May 2, 2008 11:09 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

May 1, 2008

Ancient Elders

Liam Keene sends along this quote from Eckhart Tolle

AWAKENING AND THE RETURN MOVEMENT

In most ancient cultures, there must have been an intuitive understanding of this process (onset of the spiritual dimension), which is why old people were respected and revered. They were the repositories of wisdom and pro vided the dimension of depth without which no civilization can survive for long.

In our civilization, which is totally identified with the outer and ignorant of the inner dimension of spirit, the word old has mainly negative con notations. It equals useless and so we regard it as almost
an insult to refer to someone as old. To avoid the word, we use euphemisms such as elderly and senior.

The First Nation's "grandmother" is a figure of great dignity. Today's "granny" is at best cute. Why is old considered useless? Be cause in old age, the emphasis shifts from doing to Being, and our civilization, which is lost in doing, knows nothing of Being.

It asks: Being? What do you do with it?

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on May 1, 2008 6:42 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

April 30, 2008

Campaign Advice

From an elder...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on April 30, 2008 6:29 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

April 29, 2008

Four Years Older

This is how it looks...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on April 29, 2008 6:15 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

April 28, 2008

Generational Politics

This blog post from DailyKos deals, by neccessity with generalizations but offers a fascinating take on the coming realignment of American Politics.

America stands on the verge of a new political realignment. The baby boomers who used the overwhelming numbers of what been until now the largest American generation in history, ushered in the previous Idealist Realignment that flipped the Dixiecrat, racist southern white vote toward the Republicans, while making the Democratic Party the bastion of civil rights, equality and personal freedoms. This Idealist boomer generation, like Idealist generations before it that engaged in the Temperance and Suffragist movements, was marked by an obsession with social issues such as substance abuse, cultural issues, race, and the role of women in society. Like other Idealist generations, it was also marked by a distrust of government, a pattern of decreasing voter turnout, a marked preference for divided government, and rising numbers of Independents and split-ticket voters.

Boomers beware, the picture painted of our generation will surprise you.

Read it here.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on April 28, 2008 6:07 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

April 24, 2008

You Can't Hear This...

But you used to.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on April 24, 2008 9:39 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Now and Then

Okay, this is cool.

Here is a website where people post on picture of themselves as children paired with a second picture of them as adults--- recreating the earlier photo.

There is something strangely fascinating about this.

Thinking it over, I would like to see some paired photos of Elders recreating photos of their adulthood. That would, I think, take the concept one step further over the edge--- that is a good thing.

Take a look and tell me what you think.

For example...

Now

Then

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on April 24, 2008 2:04 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Naming the Baby Boom

David Wolfe covers some interesting ground...

Surely the boomer generation, if not the greatest generation, is the most mythologized generation in history.
Interestingly the boomer generation was not named until former People magazine editor Landon Jones did so in his 1981 book Great Expectations: America and the Baby Boom Generation. By then, the oldest boomer was 35-years-old – well past his or her hell-raising years of youthhood.

The term “boomer” has been a buzzword bigtime in marketing circles since the first boomers turned 60 in January of 2006. It seems that almost everyone in business is trying to figure out how to make oodles of money in boomer markets as its constituents head into their sunset years.

Excellent Post

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on April 24, 2008 5:46 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

April 23, 2008

Ten Percent

Looks like the margin is going to be 10 percent (or maybe a tiny bit less)

That's all folks...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on April 23, 2008 1:09 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

April 22, 2008

Penn Dem Primary

With 33 percent in Clinton is up by eight.

It's not looking too good for my earlier prediction of an Obama win by 2.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on April 22, 2008 9:50 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Political Prediction

My prediction for the popular vote in today's Pennsylvania Democratic Presidential Primary Election.

Obama 51 percent
Clinton 49 percent

I'll post the actual results as soon as I have them.

No matter which candidate you prefer, if you are a registered Democrat in Pennsylvania--- Get Out and VOTE!

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on April 22, 2008 6:42 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

April 21, 2008

Obi Wan Kenobi...

buys a used car.

Noticed we haven't had a fun post in a little while...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on April 21, 2008 10:29 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

April 16, 2008

Christa Monkhouse, Culture and Design

Christa Monkhouse is a leader in the Eden Alternative movement in Europe and a good friend.

Here is her reaction to the post "Eden and CMS"

In Europe many nursing home buildings are old and need to be replaced. While Nancy is making a valid point, it is not the environment alone, which makes home, belonging, peace of mind and growth. This is in line with what Al Power has said about attitude, a few posts ago. However, if institutions need to be replaced, newly built, extended or renovated, why not use all the creativity, knowledge and experience of the same people, who use these talents to adjust to the built dismal environments (frozen tundra), to create new, diverse and integrating homes for our Elders. And let's be bold, let's forget about buildings or attitudes, the starting points are relationships and services. With this understanding, Architects will unleash their creativity and produce diverse ideas, not cookie-cutter models. After all, it is the blend of people, program (attitude, philosophie) and building what makes the place (experience), not only for the old, for all of us.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on April 16, 2008 11:32 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

April 9, 2008

Deadheads Say Wave that Flag

Millennials may be coming on strong (see post below) but the Boomers, at least the Deadhead Boomers are also waving that flag high and wide.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on April 9, 2008 11:00 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

The Rest Step

I am going to be writing more about the slow life over the next couple of weeks.

Here is a a great story that ran on NPR a couple of years ago.

Phil Powers is the executive director of the American Alpine Club

I believe in the importance of pace. I grew up in a frenetic household, both parents working jobs that demanded their attention 24/7. I was little and fast and rushed around, and I still have that person inside me, always at risk of moving too quickly, missing the connection, making mistakes.

The forest behind our house offered a peaceful respite. My passion for the vertical world took me from tall trees in my backyard to climbing steep cliffs and crags. As a teen, I was moving easily over the landscapes of the American West and was drawn to higher summits. When I was 19, I learned something called the "rest step" from an old mountain climber named Paul Petzoldt...

Read the rest of the story here.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on April 9, 2008 9:17 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

April 4, 2008

Power Up Friday: Attitude Matters, Dude

There is no doubt that the Eden Alternative has been a major force in the movement to transform long-term care in our society. (That's a fact - I'm not just "kissing up" to the Blogmeister here.)

But even Bill Thomas will tell you that the Eden movement has caused a lot of people to pay too much attention to the superficial aspects of the new habitat - the dogs, cats, birds - what we call the "fur and feathers" of Eden. These are tools to help create a human habitat; but simply bringing a cat or a bird into a nursing home without embarking on deeper aspects of interpersonal and organizational transformation will yield poor results, (as many people have found when they have tried to "short-cut' the process).

Now the Green House Project (TM) has spawned a new movement to complete the physical transformation of long-term care through the construction of small homes that house only 8-10 elders. The media and society at large are paying attention. In addition to Green Houses, many other small house models are in development, and a new movement is born.

But every new trend has potential pitfalls for those who rush to adopt the concept without a deep understanding of its origins. So what do we need to watch out for next? What are the "fur and feathers" of these small house models?

Quite simply, it's the house itself. These homes are such a radical departure from any nursing home we've seen, that they cannot help but astound people who view them for the first time. What a great idea! Why haven't we thought of building these before?

There's an excellent reason why. If the building was all there was to it, we'd have built them a long time ago. However, our ATTITUDES about aged care have created the physical features of traditional nursing homes. Our society's view of aging as decline and our paternalistic approach to elder care have informed the institutions we have built over the past half century. You don't erase those biases simply by putting people in a small house.

I believe that small homes like the Green House are the future of aged care. The best ones, however, realize that the physical structure will not solve the plagues of institutionalization unless it embodies more than walls and windows. It must also reflect a new attitude toward aging and the aged, toward well-being and illness, toward risk and reward, toward autonomy, and toward collaborative approaches to care.

In short, we must build Green Houses in our minds, in our interpersonal relationships and in our operational design, before we lay that first cornerstone. Otherwise, it'll just be a 10-bed institution.

-- Al Power

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on April 4, 2008 10:19 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

April 3, 2008

Pumping Iron the Old Fashioned Way

[Guest post from UMBC's Kavan Peterson]

Interesting story from today's New York Times featuring a local (if you live in Baltimore): 60-Plus, Ripped, and Natural Competitors

UNTIL nine years ago, Dr. Neal Grossman didn’t make a habit of parading around his bedroom in his skivvies and admiring his physique in the mirror. Nor did he ever imagine that his oldest son, then a teenager, would take one look at his father midflex and cry out, “Dad, put your clothes back on!”
But now that Dr. Grossman, a 60-year-old Baltimore dentist, is a competitive amateur bodybuilder, an extra ounce of flab makes the difference between a sizable trophy and going home empty-handed. “The minute you start winning, that’s all the validation people need to accept what you do as legitimate and something to be appreciated,” said Dr. Grossman, who is 5-foot-2 and a chiseled 121 pounds.

He is one of a small but growing number of 60- and 70-year-old bodybuilders stripping down to Speedos, slathering on bronzer, and strutting their stuff onstage in natural, or drug-free, competitions. The season for amateur and pro-level events begins this month.

Here's the best of quote of the story:

“Age is a statistic, not a burden and there is no reason a man or woman can’t get into and maintain the best shape of their lives at any age,” said Scott Hults, 64, who has competed in 26 shows since 2005 and last year won an age-group title.

The story goes on to say that the number of men and women in their 60’s and 70’s competing in bodybuilding competitions has doubled in the past five years. It also claims that "Older bodybuilders tend to be disciplined purists," who are not as likely to be seduced into taking steroids or other illegal enhancements. I hope that's true... but the story also acknowledges that increasingly popular controversial medical treatments such as human growth hormone and testosterone replacement therapy are being abused by older body builders:

Still, antidoping experts wonder just how natural “natural” bodybuilding is.
Neither the World Natural Sports Organization nor the International Natural Bodybuilding Federation perform blood tests, which is the only way to test for human growth hormone, said Dr. Gary Wadler, an internist and a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

[Photo courtesy of The New York Times]

Posted by Kavan Peterson on April 3, 2008 4:30 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

March 22, 2008

The Answer is... No.

Is this the end of old age?

The existence of exceptional individuals who can "still" do things that younger people do is not proof of a future that "turns back the clock on aging."

Sorry about that.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on March 22, 2008 6:16 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

March 21, 2008

Spring Flowers

My good friend Liam Keene sends along this link.

Flower Garden

Go there and feel a little digital springtime.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on March 21, 2008 6:22 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

March 19, 2008

A More Perfect Union

I started this week talking about the serious weaknesses that are inflicting our house of credit card, debt-based economic system. I'm still watching that story unfold and will have more on it over the next few days.

Yesterday, I took time to watch the speech Presidential candidate Barack Obama delivered in Philadelphia. "A More Perfect Union," addressed the question of race relations in America directly, in a thoughtful and ultimately very useful way. As a nation we need to hear more of this kind of talk. We are, truly, "many out of one" and we need to be reminded of this more often.

Here is the speech. I urge you to watch it, think about it, talk about it with the people you live with, work with and care about.

There is a deeper message here and it has to do with aging and the possibility of a savage and ongoing intergenerational conflict. White versus Black versus White versus Black? Yes, the history is there for all who care to read it. There is also the growing possibility of another cultural fracture, Old versus Young versus Old versus Young. Candidate Obama makes the point that powerful interests have worked relentlessly to enlarge and deepen the racial divide -- all in pursuit of their own narrow self-interests.

When I was writing about the collapse of the Bear Stearns investment house, I made the point that the Bush Administration had argued strenuously in favor of "privatizing" Social Security and placing the financial security of America's elders into the hands of men like Bear Stearns' Jimmy Cayne.

In support of its drive to privatize Social Security, the Administration did its best to open a rift between young and old. It sought to enlarge our differences and make us alien to each other. This strategy is at the root of so many of our social problems and it is what makes those problems seem so intractable.

Narrowing the gap, bringing Black and White together, Young and Old and Men and Women together is the essence of true leadership and true leadership is the life blood of any healthy human community.

The differences are real but we do not have to let others use them to divide us and deny us a better future.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on March 19, 2008 11:29 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

March 17, 2008

Wall Street Melt Down

Look out for a wild ride on Wall Street this week...

For starters, from cnn.com

JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Sunday that it would acquire troubled Wall Street firm Bear Stearns amid deepening fears that Bear's demise could have sent shockwaves across the already shaky financial markets.

The deal values Bear Stearns at $236 million, or just $2 a share. The company's stock closed at $30 on Friday, down a staggering 47% for the day.

The Federal Reserve and other regulators support the deal: With the global credit crisis worsening, the Fed has been taking dramatic action to help banks and prevent widespread panic through the financial markets.

Over the past three days, roughly 200 JPMorgan staffers were working on the deal, assessing the strengths of Bear Stearns' different businesses and its exposure to toxic mortgage securities, JPMorgan executives said in a conference call Sunday night.

Bear Stearns has a book value of $84 per share. Executives said the sharp discount in the purchase price provides a cushion to protect JPMorgan in turbulent times and would provide the company "margin for error."

We will be covering this this week. Let's also remember that these are the geniuses into whose hands were encouraged to place Social Security.

Right.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on March 17, 2008 5:33 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

March 14, 2008

More Age-Bashing McCain

[Guest-post by UMBC's Kavan Peterson]

Following-up on Bill's post "Age Bashing McCain", The New York Times explores how "codger jokes" have become a mainstay of late-night-comedy in contrast to taboos over gender and race jokes:

“Mr. Leno and his counterparts have been merciless with Mr. McCain, peppering their monologues with digs about dementia, pills, prostates and Miracle Ears. In a nightly schtick, David Letterman compares Mr. McCain to ‘the old guy in the barbershop,’ ‘a mall-walker,’ ‘a Wal-Mart greeter’ and more. Conan O’Brien said recently, ‘After John McCain swept yesterday’s primaries, he purposely stole a line Barack Obama’s been using: I’m fired up and ready to go. When Obama heard this, he stole a line McCain’s been using: I’m old and not sure where I am.’”

Hat-tip to Ronni Bennett for dissecting this story.

Posted by Kavan Peterson on March 14, 2008 10:23 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

March 11, 2008

Intergenerational Equity

Wow, Brent Green really nails this issue, it's pretty in depth and worth a look.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on March 11, 2008 2:46 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

March 6, 2008

Age Bashing McCain

Regular readers are likely to know that John McCain is not my preferred Presidential candidate but, still, I am annoyed at the "he's too old to be president" line of attack.

The goal is a society that does not judge people by their skin color, their religion (or lack thereof), their reproductive organs or their chronologic age. The goal is a society that seeks, to the greatest degree possible, to judge people according to their individual merits and weaknesses.

Older Person
African-American
Woman

One way or another, America is going to have a "first" as the next president.

I would like a campaign that is less concerned about "firsts" and more concerned about the issues that face all Americans.

I'm just sayin'...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on March 6, 2008 2:01 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

March 2, 2008

Best Hey Jude Ever...

Janet S. sends news that a star is born, or was born not too long ago.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on March 2, 2008 10:54 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

February 27, 2008

Elder Wisdom Circle

Ben makes an excellent point....

It's inspiring to see so many elders getting credit for "valuable" societal roles that have been going on without credit for generations. I hope that I, too, can find a way to share my gifts in some productive way in my elderhood. I often wonder about all the unnoticed gifts that are contributed to the backbone of our world culture and think about the tragedy that would ensue should this ever come to a sudden halt. I came across a clever leverage of technology linking up the gifts of 600+ elders from across North America--Elder Wisdom Circle. "The mission of our association is to promote and share elder know-how and accumulated wisdom. We also have a goal of elevating the perceived value and worth of our senior community." It's another great highlight of inspirational content valuing the contribution of elders . . . find them at www.elderwisdomcircle.org

Elder Wisdom Circle

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on February 27, 2008 10:55 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Garfield Minus Garfield

I find this strangely compelling.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on February 27, 2008 12:52 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

February 25, 2008

What the World Needs Now...

Is more of this...

and less of

this

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on February 25, 2008 2:13 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

February 22, 2008

Age Games

I caught this comment on a right of center political blog a while ago and have been meaning to blog about it...

"Romney is certainly my choice;however,I do not live in a primary state. Come November I will vote for McCain---never Hillary. Romney is still a young man. Why not Romney for Veep?

Mitt Romney is "still a young man."

How interesting. When was Mitt Romney born?

Our friend the Wikipedia tells us that...

Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American businessman and politician. Formerly the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Romney unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination in the 2008 United States presidential election.

There is another presidential candidate who is just about Mitt's age. Guess who.

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (born October 26, 1947) is the junior United States Senator from New York, and a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 presidential election. She is married to Bill Clinton—the 42nd President of the United States—and was the First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001.

So Mitt "still a young man" Romney is six month older than Hillary Clinton.

A comment from a different right of center blog tells the tale...

Running in 2012 is not an option. First she’s getting too old and secondly she would be fighting an uphill battle against an incumbent president, be it McCain or Obama, eevn if she won the nomination the 2nd time around. Losing to Obama in 2008 when she was considered to be at the top of her game would doom her, even if Obama loses the general election.

The point I am making has nothing to do with the candidates or their relative merits as politicians. Instead, I think this is an example of how much more difficult our culture makes things for older women, compared with older men. Status, wealth, prestige, honors--- none of those things offer older women any real protection against ageist bigotry.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on February 22, 2008 6:19 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

February 14, 2008

I Like This Book

Crones Don't Whine

by Jean Shinoda Bolen

“ The outer path we take is public knowledge, but the path with heart is an inner one. The two come together when who we are that is seen in the world coincides with who we deeply are. “

Jean Shinoda Bolen

A review...

With her new release, Crones Don't Whine, Jean Shinoda Bolen has given a much-needed boost to old ladies. We've been much maligned over the years, stuck in the rocking chair by the fire (or the heater) with our knitting needles, our socially responsible activities limited to baking cookies for church bazaars. But as Bolen points out, the women's revolution has redefined our roles, and it's now time to elevate the older woman to the status of "crone."

Crone is an old word which, along with hag, has been associated with the image of an ugly shriveled old woman. But the word has been redeemed by feminists now growing old, with a cheerful re-reading of the old stories, beginning with Clarissa Pinkola Estes' Women Who Run With the Wolves, where the archetype of the old woman appears as guide and teacher, and Barbara Walker's book Crone. Menopause is now rightly seen as a cathartic process from which we emerge with a gritty character imbued with self-knowledge, and the word crone is now bestowed as a kind of honorary life credential which implies the many good qualities that do come with satisfied aging.

The whole review is here...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on February 14, 2008 5:21 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

February 11, 2008

The Audacity of Gloom

Not long ago, I pointed ChangingAging readers to the Yes We Can Song video. I put it forward as an example of the power of ideals, of hope, clearly expressed and shared with others. The story behind that video revolved around a small group of talented people who got together and "mashed up" music, oratory by Barack Obama and images.

Well, one of the things I love about the ability of the internet to put intellectual content creation and distribution into the hands of people is that it begins to counteract the power that is currently held by the vast media conglomerates.

So.

The Yes We Can Song video inspired a group of comedians to create the "audacity of gloom" video and here it is. If you have not seen the original video watch it first, it will make the second video even more funny.

And how about this?

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on February 11, 2008 1:47 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

February 10, 2008

What is a Meme?

The ever reliable and interesting Alex M leads us all to an interesting site that explores the value of "intentional community."

The page delivers a nice summary of the core issues.

Spend some time in the Hypertext Bazaar, you'll be glad you did.

I especially liked the video (from TED) posted 1.31.08-- the story about the grandfather really helps explain what elders are all about...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on February 10, 2008 5:45 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

February 6, 2008

111 Shirtless Men

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on February 6, 2008 5:56 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

February 5, 2008

Now There is No Doubt...

Double dipping is bad...

Keep an eye on the salsa this Super Bowl Sunday: A researcher inspired by a famous "Seinfeld" episode has concluded that double dipping is just plain gross.
Double dipping "is like putting your whole mouth right in the dip," a Clemson University researcher says.

"That's like putting your whole mouth right in the dip!" George Costanza was admonished on the show after he dipped a chip twice at a wake. That's not too far off, said Clemson University professor Paul L. Dawson.

Last year the food microbiologist's undergraduate students examined the effects of double dipping using volunteers, wheat crackers and several sample dips. They found that three to six double dips transferred about 10,000 bacteria from an eater's mouth to the remaining dip sample.

"I was very surprised by the results," Dawson said in a telephone interview Thursday. "I thought there would be very minimal transfer. I didn't think we would be able to detect it."

The professor said the students' research didn't get into the risk behind such a bacteria transfer, but they got the idea.

"I like to say it's like kissing everybody at the party -- if you're double dipping, you're putting some of your bacteria in that dip," Dawson said.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on February 5, 2008 4:02 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

February 4, 2008

Yes We Can

From Bill and Jude Thomas...

In all of our time traveling the country, meeting and working with people who want to make a difference in the lives of elders and those who care for elders, we have known that there was a larger need, so far unmet.

Our nation needs to remember how and why we came to be as a people, what ideas inspired us and united us.

We saw this short video over the weekend and knew instantly that it was about that larger conversation.

It is the political statement that is most like the philosophy of change that Jude and I hold dear.

www.yeswecansong.com

Please watch it and consider voting for Obama on election day in your state.

The Democratic Party has two strong candidates running for president this year but we think Obama is best suited to meeting the needs of this moment in the shared history of this great nation.

If after you watch the clip you feel moved by the shared promise of its message please consider sending the link to people you know and care about.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on February 4, 2008 10:36 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 30, 2008

Bizzaro!

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 30, 2008 6:06 AM |Permalink |Comments (3)

January 29, 2008

Green Co-Housing

(h/t to Alex M)

New Housing Development Features Shared Renewable Energy

by Jennifer Runyon, Managing Editor

In a small town in southwestern New Hampshire a big idea is emerging. It's a concept called cohousing and it's beginning to break ground across America. Here, twenty-nine families live in a neighborhood of single-, double-, and quadruple-family homes that are clustered on a small portion of 113 acres of pasture, ponds and open land. The families will live independently of each other but share some important aspects of life including a farm, entertainment space and energy.

Seven central pellet boilers that use locally produced biomass fuel from New England Wood Pellet will provide heat and hot water to all the homes. According to Hulbert, the array of boilers is the largest residential pellet heat system in the country.

Nubanusit Neighborhood and Farm, located in Peterborough, New Hampshire, is made up of quality-built, environmentally-designed homes, a common house, professional office space, a working farm and woodlands with walking trails. The homes are clustered together to encourage interaction between neighbors and foster a real sense of community.

The concept of cohousing was attractive to Shelly and Robin Hulbert, founding partners, from early on.

"My husband and I had lived in an in-town neighborhood in Peterborough, when our children were young, that happened to be an inter-generational friendly group of folks where we had kind of a cohousing experience but we didn't have a name to put on it," says Hulbert, "and it was fabulous." A desire to farm, however, moved the couple two miles out of town. But farming in isolation can be difficult, they realized.

"It's hard to find someone to milk your cows when you go away," Hulbert says with a grin. They also missed the community they had lost. So when they first learned about cohousing, people living together in a tight neighborhood, sharing the land, a farm, and common space, the idea was very intriguing.

The idea moved from concept to reality when the couple discovered that what was then called "The Salisberg Inn," was going on the market. It was a beautiful old home with 113 acres of land bordering the Nubanusit river. Having once functioned as a farm, the land was rich in agricultural resources and history: in the mid-1800s it was the home of John Steele, who was Governor of New Hampshire from 1848-1849.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 29, 2008 6:55 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

January 28, 2008

Role of the Next Generation of Culture Change Advocates

[Note from Dr. Bill] Best part of my new job as a university professor is, hands down, the students. Below is a guest post from one of UMBC's best and brightest grad students. I'd like to extend an open invitation to all UMBC students, faculty and staff interested in Changing Aging to join our conversation. Enjoy --

Hello All!!!

First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Thomas for letting me guest post today. I am honored to have the opportunity to make my first post on such an active and important blog.

While my blogging name is JazzRespect&Heart my real name is Patrick Doyle. I am a first year doctoral gerontology student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). My interests are in researching quality of care in long-term care and through this, furthering the progress we have already made in the culture change movement.

The goal of this post is to start an active dialogue on the future directions of the culture change movement and the role of beginning and aspiring gerontologists in this vision. So please don’t just read this post, take a second to comment with ideas and suggestions.

While the concept of culture change is relatively new, the history is rich. In the initial meetings discussing culture change, scholars in the field of gerontology gathered and shared revolutionary ideas about elder care. These ideas laid the foundation for a new and dignified elderhood. These scholars came away from the meetings determined to move from institutional care to a home-like care setting focused on the needs of the elder NOT the institution.

The pioneers of this movement were active advocates for change, which, I would argue has triggered a paradigm shift. This change in zeitgeist was difficult for many people used to the old system as it required a complete alteration in their weltanschauung (I figured I would add to the intrigue of the post by incorporating a few German philosophical terms). What sets new gerontologists apart is that for the most part, we were not taught that old method of care. Due to the efforts of innovators of culture change, the ideals now being taught closely align with the once revolutionary principles they advocated. From these teachings, students are molding their “world views” which leads to a greater adoption of the culture change philosophies.

I am not saying that all new gerontologists accept or are even aware of these concepts but that now more than ever there is a growing following in this movement. The bottom line is that in order to further culture change these students must become entrenched in the movement.

Here is the X factor:

As I see it, we have two generations in this movement – the innovators and the student supporters. For the culture change movement to maintain momentum in the upcoming years these students need to be dedicated, well-trained and knowledgeable in gerontology/culture change. They need to know what has been done, what has not; what works, what does not; what we have tried and where we are going….

Who can teach this better than the innovators themselves? I say no one. That is why I feel the most important thing for this movement is to form a close collaboration between the innovators and the students. Here is the million dollar question for everyone:

How do we accomplish this?

I have some thoughts but I want to hear yours!

(Commentary on specific roles of new gerontologists and the future of culture change would also be greatly appreciated!)

[Patrick can be reached at pdoyle1ATumbcDOTedu]

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 28, 2008 8:00 AM |Permalink |Comments (3)

January 24, 2008

January 13, 2008

The Number One Movie in the Land?

Cancer comedy "Bucket List" rules movie box office...

Comedies mining the unlikely topics of terminal cancer and a church robbery led the North American box office on Sunday, sending ticket sales higher for a fifth consecutive weekend.

"The Bucket List," starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as patients boldly facing their demise, sold $19.5 million worth of tickets during the three days beginning on Friday. The Warner Bros. release, which had played in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto the prior two weekends, drew an older audience, the Time Warner Inc-owned studio said.

Gotta admit, I did not see that coming. But I do like the fact that the top movie appeals to GROWN-UPS...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 13, 2008 7:10 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 11, 2008

Like Medieval Peasants, Boomers Will Demand Choices

[Guest post from Kavan at UMBC]

That last post about witches was silly, absolutely silly. I'd like to elevate the discourse on this blog with a real discussion about age, ageism, sexism, classism, feudalism, communism, marxism, imperialism and anarchocommunalsyndicalism.

Posted by Kavan Peterson on January 11, 2008 3:22 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Which Witch Again?

Some ChangingAging readers remember when I went on a witch rampage a couple of months ago.

See here, and here and here...

Well I now confess that I omitted the key historical document which (smile) explains the whole fear of witches thing fully, responsibly and with the utmost accuracy.

Enjoy...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 11, 2008 2:54 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 10, 2008

Embodied Aging: Gets the Call

Embodied Aging shares the people, images and ideas which add meaning and joy to my life. Thanks for visiting. ~ Sharry Teague

Here is a taste...

At Costco I flipped through The Daring Book for Girls parked right there beside The Dangerous Book for Boys. These books are all about knowing how to do stuff - using a compass, sewing on buttons - things like that. They invite kids to an acoustic life. Hands on. And they must have got me thinking.

I made the SoulCollage card (pictured below) just before the Winter Solstice. It’s entitled The Call. "Called to what?" I’ve wondered. This morning I woke with the sense that I was called to a year of living dangerously*, but I doubt I’ll be heading off to Indonesia. I think my dangerous life includes a component described in the books above, a willingness to engage with life, not as a consumer, but as a learner, with all the floundering and failure learning implies.

Failure makes me very nervous. I was never angrier with my sister, Barrie, than when she entered a swim meet at The Club and came in dead last. Buying a book and reading it is safe. Working on a project that matters could be a real mess. A friend once hurt my feelings. I told him I was scared to write, and he said, “You are afraid to find out you aren’t as good as you think you are.” Blunt, maybe, but accurate.

So I’m ready to live dangerously. Just being myself (in whatever floundering way that can happen). Risking that I will be accepted and loved anyway. Risking that wobbling and a few falls are worth it to learn to write a story or bake bread or whatever else Life calls me to. The Velveteen Rabbit had it right, being Real is not for sissies.

The%20call.jpg

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 10, 2008 5:12 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 9, 2008

Age Changes Us All

Plenty of people are aware of, think about and talk about religious, ethnic, and racial diversity in American society.

Scott E. Page, a professor of complex systems, political science and economics at the University of Michigan, is suggesting that diversity is one of the mainsprings of productivity in the business world. NY Times article here.

I'm good with that but what bothers me is that the VALUE of aging as a source of diversity is routinely discounted.

The myth is that "all old people are alike."

Not.

My hero, T. Franklin Williams tells doctors in training...

"When you've seen one old person, you've seen one old person..."

In other words, age is the most distinctive, diverse, part of the entire life cycle.

Put another way...

Infants are the group of people in America who are the most like each other. Despite what their mothers might believe, any given newborn is very very like all other newborns.

People in their 80's, however, are very very different from each other.

So if diversity is good and contributes in a healthy way to the overall diversity of our society...

We need to make sure that a diversity of ages is a part of the mix.

This is why I am generally opposed to the standard and unthinking practice of segregating older people from people of other generations.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 9, 2008 5:41 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

January 7, 2008

In What Year Was This Man Born?

How old was he in---- say 1970?

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 7, 2008 5:03 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

January 4, 2008

The Savvy Boomer Likes...

Here is the Savvy Boomer's take on the new movie, "The Bucket List."

I definitely recommend stopping by the blog, it's a great fusion of techno-generational savvy and news you can use.

I watched the new movie, The Bucket List, last night. I won't give you any spoilers but I'm sure you know how a flick about 2 guys dying from cancer is going to turn out eventually. The story is somewhat contrived as it is about 2 men who would never associate in their normal lives, that are brought together in a hospital by their common denominator of cancer. One of them is mega-rich and finances their no-limits last fling at life comprised of a list they made of things to do before they kick the bucket. Nicholson and Freeman are 2 pros that could hold your attention watching grass grow so needless to say, their performances live up to expectations.
I get the feeling that "Bucket List" is going to become one of those coined phrases like "at the end of the day" that you are going to hear people using over and over. I think most of us have a kind of mental bucket list that we started thinking about when we reached a birthday that had a zero in it. After all, every time we change a decade, there are a number of stereotyped variables that go along with that decade. I think I started my mental bucket list when I hit 40 but I keep modifying it as I age. That's not necessarily because I have completed some items on the list but because as my values change, some things lose importance and others gain.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 4, 2008 6:47 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 3, 2008

Things Change: And That's OK

John Dawson is one of the founders of "The New Riders of the Purple Sage."

Here he is in Central Park...

Jown%20Dawson%20Young.jpg

Here he is in Albuquerque...

John%20Dawson%20Old.jpg

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 3, 2008 6:19 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

December 31, 2007

2008

It is going to be a good year....

I'm glad I'm going to get to share it with ChangingAging readers!

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 31, 2007 11:47 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

December 29, 2007

The Onion's Year in Review

The Onion is satire, fake news, very funny and worth a look.

Here is the 2007 Year-End Update

Often more truth than fiction...

Secretary Of Defense Humiliated As U.S. Credit Card Rejected

ST. LOUIS—An attempt to build international goodwill backfired horribly for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Monday, when he was unable to pick up the tab for Australian Defense Minister Sen. Robert Hill's order of 11 Apache AH-64 helicopters using the U.S.'s credit card.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 29, 2007 9:52 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

December 28, 2007

Boomer Elders

A couple of thoughts...

As Boomers creep toward old age, some peer into the future, seeking to understand, what comes next. They sense the possibility of a new life, freed from youth’s fevered illusions. They are our Elders-in-the-Making, seeds of the last, and greatest, counter-cultural movement the Boomers will ever know.

Elderhood awaits them like an undiscovered continent. This new old age lies beyond adulthood, beyond the boundaries of the world we know today. Soon, there will be crones and sages among us, much more than half a million strong.

Joni Mitchell said…

But you know life is for learning
We are stardust
We are golden
And we’ve got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

Old age is not failure. It grows within us, the last frontier of human possibility. The Boomer’s greatest journey is just beginning.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 28, 2007 3:05 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

December 24, 2007

Shaka Santa

I love me some Shaka Santa

Merry Christmas to all of my friends in the Island Paradise...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 24, 2007 2:17 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

December 18, 2007

We Owe Money

America is sitting on a pile of debt of almost unimaginable proportions.

That matters for young and old alike. It matters, even more, for those yet to be born.

The dead--- they really don't care.

Andy Sullivan has more...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 18, 2007 4:38 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

News You Can Use...

It doesn't take much time traveling outside of these United States to realize that the world has it's own, highly variable, take on this great nation of ours.

In a global village it pays to pay attention to what the other villagers have to say...

Watching America offers a news and opinion roundup that gives readers a unique outside looking in perspective...

(H/T* Cab Drollery)

H/T is short for Hat Tip which is an expression of polite thanks for leading me to something good and useful.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 18, 2007 1:38 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Bloggy Goodness

I suspect that some portion of the ChangingAging readership is new to the blogosphere. I know that we have some veteran blogospherians out there as well but, in the holiday spirit and just for the plain old bloggy goodness of it all, I declare this to be ChangingAging's first ever "Let's Visit the Blogosphere Week."

Here is how it works. I will start with the blog roll on the left-hand side of the page, I'll follow that link and then use what I find there to follow another link etc. and so forth until I get tired or whatever.

Ready for something new?

Buckle up Intrepid Bloggonauts, here we go!

First stop...

Ageless Marketing

Marketeer David Wolfe's journal about ideas, people and events in the Marketing Revolution.

I'm guessing that this is a snapshot of David with his Trusty Horse Named Dusty

Anyway David pops off on "Lessons for Prospering When the Economy Isn’t" so we take a gander at his "blogroll" we find...

Boomers which is the creation of Brent Green who weighs in on the tragic death of Boomer Acoustic Music Legend Dan Fogelberg

Brent%20Thin%20Ice%204.jpg

But hey, what's this?? He links to Dr. Bill Thomas so here we are right back home again.

See all you blogonauts tomorrow when we take "A Little Red Hen" out for a spin!

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 18, 2007 6:22 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

December 16, 2007

Free Rice

Here's another creative way to lend a helping hand--- and you might even learn something in the process.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 16, 2007 9:57 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

December 13, 2007

Senior Theater

The 2008 Senior Theatre USA Festival will be held in Baltimore on the UMBC Campus from June 10 - 15.

Like the previous festivals, it will bring together hundreds of performers, professionals and other Senior Theatre lovers. There will be shows from many different types of Senior Theatre companies from across the nation, plus workshops and social events.

There will be a couple celebrity highlights this year: John%20Astin.jpg Keynote speaker John Astin (who currently teaches at Johns Hopkins but is perhaps best-known as the mustachioed comedic actor Gomez Adams) will appear as Baltimore’s own Edgar Allen Poe, performing excerpts from the one-man show Once Upon a Midnight.

Stuart%20Harris.jpg New York playwright Stuart Harris will premiere his comedic one-act play Spindrift Way.

For more information.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 13, 2007 6:16 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

December 12, 2007

Time Goes By Comes Back

Ronni is in the house!

Wooooo. Hooooooo!!!

Love the Elderish Wisdom that permeates her return to the blogosphere post.

She is one of the greats.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 12, 2007 11:25 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

Serenbe

People often ask me what I think the new old age is going to be like.

The first and best answer is---- diverse.

Here is one example of the creativity that is beginning to illuminate this new diversity of community and built environment.

Serenbe

The most common answer I get is an insistence, always politely phrased, that there must be some single best way to encounter aging in the 21st Century.

There isn't.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 12, 2007 11:04 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Malleus Maleficarum

Real Witchhunts...

"At Baldshut, on the Rhine, in the diocese of Constance, a witch confessed, that offended at not having been invited to the wedding of an acquaintance, she had caused herself to be carried through the air in open daylight to the top of a neighbouring mountain, and there, having made a hole with her hands and filled it with water, she had, by stirring the water with certain incantations caused a heavy storm to burst forth on the heads of the wedding-party; and there were witnesses at the trial who swore they had seen her carried through the air.

"The inquisitors, however, confess that the witches were sometimes carried away, as they term it, in the spirit; and they give the instance of one woman who was watched by her husband; she appeared as if asleep, and was insensible, but he perceived a kind of cloudy vapour arise out of her mouth, and vanish from the room in which she lay—this after a time returned, and she then awoke, and gave an account of her adventures, as though she had been carried bodily to the assembly….

"The witches of the Malleus Maleficarum appear to have been more injurious to horses and cattle than to mankind. A witch at Ravenspurg confessed that she had killed twenty-three horses by sorcery. We are led to wonder most at the ease with which people are brought to bear witness to things utterly beyond the limits of belief. A man of the name of Stauff in the territory of Berne, declared that when pursued by the agents of justice, he escaped by taking the form of a mouse; and persons were found to testify that they had seen him perform this trans-mutation.

"The latter part of the work of the two inquisitors gives minute directions for the mode in which the prisoners are to be treated, the means to be used to force them to a confession, the degree of evidence required for conviction of those who would not confess, and the whole process of the trials. These show sufficiently that the unfortunate wretch who was once brought before the inquisitors of the holy see on the suspicion of sorcery, however slight might be the grounds of the charge, had very small chance of escaping out of their claws.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 12, 2007 6:50 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

December 11, 2007

Fear of Witches?

Help is on the way...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 11, 2007 8:33 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

December 10, 2007

The Blogosphere Gets Better

Judith Shapiro has entered the blogosphere with Remembering Matters and it looks and reads great. She runs with Nobel laureate Wislawa Szymborska's poem on the joy of writing. I am in the final stages of writing a new novel so I found the following lines to be an inspiration....

Is there then a world
where I rule absolutely on fate?
A time I bind with chains of signs?
An existence become endless at my bidding?

The joy of writing.
The power of preserving.
Revenge of a mortal hand.

By Wislawa Szymborska
From "No End of Fun", 1967
Translated by S. Baranczak & C. Cavanagh

This is the poet, not the blogger--- just so you know...

Amazon adds some perspective here.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 10, 2007 9:39 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

December 7, 2007

Power Up Friday: Moon River Edition

Dr. Al Power offers the quote of the week:

"People, more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived,
reclaimed and redeemed; never throw out anyone."
- Audrey Hepburn

Had she lived, Audrey Hepburn would be approaching her 80th year. I think she would have become a fine elder.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 7, 2007 6:22 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

December 4, 2007

Small Houses

Very cool...

Take a look.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 4, 2007 6:01 AM |Permalink |Comments (5)

December 3, 2007

Fashion Statement

And really did love this post ...

This one too...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 3, 2007 8:33 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Time Goes By Goes Bye Bye

Man this is sad.

I accept it. I honor it and, in some ways I understand it. But still, it's a sad day for the elder blogosphere.

As of this post, Time Goes By is over.
The decision to do so has been building for the reasons below and other related ones, but response to today’s post – and it’s only 11AM here - tipped me over the edge. Isn’t it odd how often decisions are made on small events.

I can’t tell you which of half a dozen emails telling me that 60 isn’t old or you’re only as old as you feel or age is relative or whatever other excuse did it. It’s all bullshit. Old is old. The Crabby Old Lady in me is finished arguing that, along with all her versions of old-is-as-worthy-as-every-other-age.

Too many people want to slice and dice the language and proclaim their youthfulness in other ways unto the grave and if that is your position, this or any blog is unlikely to change your mind.

But all this age denial (the negative ones never publish publicly; they just rant in emails to me) before noon has made the decision for me. I’m out of energy to move forward with this.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 3, 2007 8:28 PM |Permalink |Comments (3)

Wealth and Age: Notes

Dorothea hits the ground running...

I just finished reading the msnbc.com article posted on the 12-2-07 blog comment about preparing for retirement. The website had a calculator where you can plug in certain numbers (some requiring an incredible amount of foresight, i.e., "how long do you project to live?")and calculate the amount of money you need to retire comfortably. Well, I was thinking, what would this same calculator look like if we find the answer to Dr. Bill's question? The universal truth about wealth and aging and retirement? Would the calculator ask you questions like "are you happy today?", "whose life have you touched this year?", "how many new friendships have you made this month?", "were you able to vote this year?". OK, maybe I am getting ahead of myself. But as I read this blog, I feel so excited to be a part of the team who will be searching for these answers and creating a meaning out of them.

I am excited too. The point she makes here is that the "retirement calculator" has a built in and unacknowledged bias. It assumes that the needs of older people can be reduced, in their entirety, to financial needs and that the prudent investor must salt away enough financial capital to meet all of those needs. This is the essence of retirement planning, as it is known today.

Dorothea's hypothesis is that planning for late life should embrace explicit strategies for building both financial and social capital. I think this is very wise.

Of course the people who publish "retirement calculators" make nothing on accrued social capital and, in a bizarre way, suffer when ordinary people (investors) find that they social capital can often function effectively as a replacement for financial capital.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 3, 2007 11:29 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

The Bickersons

This reminds me of the old radio serial--- "The Bickersons" the whole deal was that they were a married couple who argued all the time and the show consisted almost entirely of their arguments...

The Beethoven symphony is what makes it...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on December 3, 2007 8:59 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

November 26, 2007

Thought Crime Bill

Ronni at Time Goes By nails this issue with a definitive post

Please go read it.

This snip is good, the whole thing is great...

When I attended the first Blogher conference in the summer of 2005, Jay Rosen, who runs the excellent media blog, PressThink, spoke to the 300 of us gathered for the final session. I don’t remember what else he said - only these six words:

“Blogs are little First Amendment machines.”

As soon as I got home, I posted a little badge linking to the Electronic Frontier Foundation with Jay’s quote. It’s been sitting at the bottom of the left sidebar, but I’ve promoted it today to the top and linked it to the Thought Crime Index page listing all posts on this topic. It will remain there until this bill is defeated. If you copy and save the image, you can post it on your blog too.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on November 26, 2007 2:11 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

November 16, 2007

Ripple

This is how I spent my Friday night.

The song, not the wine...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on November 16, 2007 7:20 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Co-Housing

Zev and Naomi know from Co-Housing. Take a look at their website ELDERCOHOUSING.ORG here.

Any co-housers out there?

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on November 16, 2007 1:56 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

November 15, 2007

Would You Believe?

It's getting crazy out there. For a completely random look at the puzzle of unintended coincidence. Look at this blog post.

Trust me. I don't understand it either.

UPDATE: Aha! This is Ian Power the (semi) adult son of the legendary Al Power, author of the "Power Up Friday" series of ChangingAging posts.

Father

Son

Way to go Ian!

I wouldn't mention this to your dad if I were you...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on November 15, 2007 3:35 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

November 1, 2007

"They Die First..."

Last week I blogged about the incredibly stupid and racist comments of the Department of Justice's Voting rights section chief John Tanner. ("minorities don't become elderly the way white people do: They die first.") I thought at the time that this insult would be lost in the fog of information that surrounds us all.

I was wrong.

First off, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) publicly called for Tanner to be sacked based on those remarks.

Now comes the "please don't fire me!" Mea Sorta Culpa...

I want to apologize for the comments I made at the recent meeting of the National Latino Congreso about the impact of voter identification laws on elderly and minority voters. I understand that my explanation of the data came across in a hurtful way which I deeply regret. The reports of my comments do not in any way accurately reflect my career of devotion to enforcing federal laws designed to assure fair and equal access to the ballot. I am honored to have the opportunity to do this work, and I am honored to serve with the dedicated employees of the Voting Section who, day in and day out, work hard to protect the rights of all Americans under the Voting Rights Act.

It's worth noting that Tanner does not actually retract his conclusion that voter ID laws discriminate against whites, he just sort of wishes people had not gotten so worked up about it-- that's all.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on November 1, 2007 10:28 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

October 31, 2007

Turtle Lodge

Picking up on the theme of "elder influence" it si good to remember that there is nothing new under the sun. The idea that elders form a kind of human bridge that spans both time and the human generations is well known to the people of many cultures.

The Turtle Lodge represents this bridge of influence in action, it's worth a look. Excerpts below.

The protocol of elder influence was reflected in the gathering, as it had been in the old days. As the elders led the gathering, we felt at ease, knowing and feeling that things would run the way they were meant to be. To the elders, the beginning of the day was always most important and that was giving thanks and gratitude to the Great Spirit and the Grandfathers.

During the four days, little baby turtles kept appearing; this would happen on each day. Each day they would be taken to the river, and released. This one day, a little turtle was found and it seemed that it was not alive, so it was decided it would be taken back to the shore of the river. This was when the evening healing ceremony was about to begin. As the little turtle was about to be laid on the shore, the sound of the drums beating began in the Elder's Lodge. Suddenly, one eye of the turtle opened. It was alive, but it seemed barely alive. As it was laid on the ground, and the drums were beating in the lodge, the baby turtle immediately came alive and ran towards the sound of the drums. This again offered a sign to the people. The little turtle represented the child, and we were all being shown that somehow we are destroying the spirit of our children. When the little turtle came alive and went towards the sound of the drum, what this meant, the elders said, was that the drum represented the awakening to a way of life that could nurture and help build the spirit of the children. The drum was calling for everyone to return to the sacred lodges, and sacred sites of our people.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 31, 2007 6:19 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 26, 2007

Endless Tales of Woe

nursing%20home.jpg
Those who know me and my work know I'm an insufferable optimist and am whole-heartedly dedicated to reversing the most intractably pessimistic aspect of our culture -- how we feel about AGING.

But, even my cheerful demeanor blanches every morning when I open my Google-New-Alerts for the two most unfortunate words in the LTC lexicon -- "Nursing Home."

Here is a sample of today's news:

Man Dies Trying To Escape Nursing Home CHICAGO -- A 66-year-old man died after falling from a second-story window at a Northwest Side nursing home Wednesday morning.
Kiril Kirilov, who may have suffered from mental disabilities, attempted to exit Harmony Nursing and Rehabilitation Center from a second floor window via bedsheets he tied together, according to an Albany Park District police officer.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

But wait -- it gets worse:

Seniors Fear Losing Independence, Moving Into Nursing Home More Than DEATH
Senior citizens fear moving into a nursing home and losing their independence more than death, according to a new research study, “Aging in Place in America,” commissioned by Clarity and The EAR Foundation.

Tragic, and painfully true. I will write more about this terrible reality soon. Click here to read the full study posted at MyHearingHealth.com.

However, there was one gem out of more than a dozen articles today on abuse, neglect and fraud:

'Home Again' will aid seniors who wish to move out of nursing home
TERRE HAUTE — A new program called “Home Again” will provide rental assistance to seniors on Medicaid who desire to move from a nursing home back into a more independent and affordable community setting.

If you're looking for another ray of hope, go to www.edenalt.org

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 26, 2007 10:24 AM |Permalink |Comments (6)

October 18, 2007

Pop-culture Bonanza

So media mega-giant Viacom is allowing Comedy Central to launch a new web site for The Daily Show With Jon Stewart that will provide free access to video clips covering the entire output of the show since it began in 1999.

Our good friends at the UMBC ebiquity blog make some keen observations on this development, notably that this is a "response to the presence of many Stewart clips on Youtube and the related $1B copyright-infringement suit." Both the lawsuit and Viacom's bold move to provide this content free-of-charge (apparently confident they can support the web site through advertisements) are a testament to the impact "fake news" shows such as the Daily Show are having on our popular culture.

The LA Times reports:

“The database is searchable by both date and topic, making it a potential bonanza for students of American pop culture. If you want to see what host Jon Stewart has had to say about former First Lady Barbara Bush or ill-fated Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, you can find the clips and put them in context by seeing what else was featured on the same day.

…

Going forward, however, Comedy Central plans to tap into the collective intelligence of its fans by allowing them to contribute to the process, a la Wikipedia, the user-created Internet encyclopedia.”

Check out the culture bonanza here: The Daily Show Videos 1999 to Now.

John Stewart explains Social (In)Security:

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 18, 2007 5:17 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 17, 2007

Child Free

The Child Free blog passes this along...

NY Times: Increasing Childlessness and the Backlash Against "Family Friendly" Workplaces.

The Revolt of the Childless

HR magazine recently published a cover story entitled “Are You Too Family Friendly?”

It’s an issue because of the changing nature of the population in the United States.

“Slightly more than one in four households, 26 percent, consisted of a person living alone in 2006, up from 17 percent in 1970,” Susan J. Wells writes. “Unmarried and single U.S. residents numbered 92 million in 2006, making up 42 percent of all people 18 and older.” That’s up from 89 million in 2005.
. . .

Above, the cover of a book that describes the no kids lifestyle Down Under...

Millions of people are going "child free" and that will, in time, change the landscape of aging. I'm not saying it is better or worse, just different. Not mentioned, but also a major factor, are those who have biological children but do not have a care-giving relationship with them and have no expectation of such a relationship ever forming. This functional childlessness in the context of late life.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 17, 2007 3:17 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

October 16, 2007

Brothers...

Life is short, and fragile. It is a good thing when art plucks the chord of our mortality..

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 16, 2007 3:46 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

October 13, 2007

Pro-Aging: Bare Skin Edition

YOUTH=BEAUTY
AGE= UGLY

These are the equations that drive ALMOST all of our media, advertising and (too often) art.

Dove deserves kudos for challenging these assumptions and doing so with flair and style.

How AdFormula sees it...

Six, over-50 gorgeous women do their best 'calender girl' homage in this controversial campaign titled pro age campaign ,designed and executed by their time tested agency O&M,posing buck naked in the ad, which was banned from airing( see the tvc here) and landed Dove in all the mess,because it "showed too much skin". The positive side as I see it, is that it was the first time, that a brand, that took on skin care, was talking to women about aging in a positive tone...Dove, the global beauty brand, boldly challenged the “only young-is-beautiful” stereotype with this Campaign which aimed to sell pro aging (and not anti aging) products . Designed to expose what our anti-aging society has been hiding, proage celebrates women of 50+ by showing their honest, real beauty.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 13, 2007 7:48 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

October 12, 2007

Boundless Playgrounds

Re-careering is an important part of the the second half of life. So what about becoming the new CEO of Boundless Playgrounds?

Founding Executive Director of Boundless Playgrounds, Amy Jaffe Barzach writes...

With my encouragement and whole-hearted endorsement, Boundless Playgrounds' Board of Directors has contracted with a division of the National Executive Service Corps to begin a search for Boundless Playgrounds' first Chief Executive Officer. Once on board (ideally before February 2008), this person will provide leadership and direct oversight of the internal management of operations, staff and all fundraising and development activities that support the success and growth of Boundless Playgrounds. Your thoughts on this position and the search process are appreciated as are referrals related to specific people. Referrals will be forwarded to the search firm. Please send any you may have to Steve Shaw, a long time board trustee, chair/emcee of our 10th anniversary gala event featuring Bob Newhart and member of our search committee (sshaw@visualconceptsinc.com ).

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 12, 2007 7:37 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 11, 2007

McArdle Care

Megan McArdle--currently blogging at the Atlantic-- continues to defend a post, which she initially posted at her previous bloggy home.

...as a class, the old and sick have some culpability in their ill health. They didn't eat right or excercise; they smoked; they didn't go to the doctor as often as they ought; they drank to much, or took drugs, or sped, or engaged in dangerous sports. Again, in individual cases this will not be true; but as a class, the old and sick bear some of the responsibility for their own ill health, while younger, healthier people have almost no causal role in the ill-health of others.
Perhaps they deserve it by virtue of suffering? But again, most of them are suffering because they have gotten old, often in high style. The young of today have two possible outcomes:

1) They will be old and sick too, in which case they are no less deserving of our concern than today's old and sick

2) They won't ever get to be old and sick, which is even worse than being old and sick.

As a class, the old and sick are already luckier than the young and healthy. Again, for individuals within that class--those with desperate congenital conditions, for example--this is not the case. But I'm not sure it's terribly compelling to argue that we should massively disadvantage a large group of people in order to massively advantage another, equally large group of people, all to help out the few who are needy, or deserving, or unlucky.

Emphasis added.

Translation: The old and sick are mostly to blame for their oldness and sickness so why should the young and healthy have to carry their burden when they are not to blame?

Left unasked (and unanswered) is the question, "Who helped the youth and healthy grow up young and healthy? Or did they simply spring from the Earth with no help from any other living beings?

Can anyone guess Ms. McArdle's age? Maybe this photo will help.

Will we still need her? Will we still feed her, when she's 64?

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 11, 2007 8:12 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

October 9, 2007

Age Does Not Discriminate

New York Times reporter Jane Gross fronts a fascinating look at "the plight of the gay elderly:"

"[A] generation of gay men and lesbians, concerned about their own futures, have begun a national drive to educate care providers about the social isolation, even outright discrimination, that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender clients face."

[snip]

"In the Boston suburbs, the Chelsea Jewish Nursing Home will break ground in December for a complex that includes a unit for the gay and lesbian elderly. And Stonewall Communities in Boston has begun selling homes designed for older gay people with support services similar to assisted-living centers. There are also openly gay geriatric case managers who can guide clients to compassionate services."

Here is a nice article that explores the background of the issue.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 9, 2007 9:09 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

The Blue Screen of Death

I am not sure how I feel about the makers of Windows TM becoming the holders of America's health information.* Here is a quick summary. The company toots its own horn here.

* This blog is written on a Mac G5. I'm just sayin'.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 9, 2007 6:45 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 8, 2007

Smack Down

The Gimp Parade lays a smack down on private, for-profit investors who are, increasingly speculating in the nursing home real estate market. Blogger Kay Olsen highlights the following from the recent New York Times article that covered this issue.

"The typical nursing home acquired by a large investment company before 2006 scored worse than national rates in 12 of 14 indicators that regulators use to track ailments of long-term residents. Those ailments include bedsores and easily preventable infections, as well as the need to be restrained. Before they were acquired by private investors, many of those homes scored at or above national averages in similar measurements."

What does she want to do about this?

"One of the demands of ADAPT at the recent sit-in at the Chicago headquarters of the American Medical Association [see the AMA's policy on the use of restraints in nursing homes here-- WHT] was that doctors divest themselves of financial interest in the nursing homes they recommend to their clients."

I agree with and support ADAPT's position on the divestment issue.

"While there is a movement by aging Boomers gaining steam to make nursing and assisted living institutions into communities where people can go to live happily instead of going there to wither of neglect and die, a key factor in the injustices visited upon the people who end up in these homes is that continued institutionalization with minimal service and minimal care financially benefits someone else."

When you get down to it, the paragraph above is the core of a moral argument against health care as a purely profit-driven "marketplace" and for the enlargement and preservation of human dignity and freedom of choice as a fundamental human right.

When the profits of corporations in the medical-industrial sector come to take precedence over the life and death needs of ordinary citizens we have a prescription for disaster.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 8, 2007 2:40 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 5, 2007

Sedated

ChangingAging reader/commenter Margie Buck writes:

Thanks for the update on the new blog site. I loved the youtube Ramones "sedated". Will share it with many. look forward to seeing you all in Columbus OHIO (The Eden Alternative International Conference will be held in Columbus in June of 2008-- WHT)

So without further ado, here is the thoroughly up-to-date remake of the Ramone's classic "I Wanna Be Sedated."

Enjoy.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 5, 2007 1:11 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

September 18, 2007

King Lear

The first ever Erickson School Masters of Aging Services class kicks into gear next week and I am team teaching the Aging 600 class with Judah Ronch. Our course looks at issues and controversies in aging and uses Shakespeare's tragedy "King Lear" as an central element of the course. I am going to be blogging on my experience with the class all semester and wanted to kick off the topic with a nice online illustrated story version of the play. You can also listen to me discuss Lear on NPR by clicking here.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on September 18, 2007 1:02 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

September 10, 2007

Time Gets it Wrong

A report on national service by one of our national news magazines is a good thing but what message do Time's editors choose to emphasize with the cover art?

National Service is, or could be, a good thing. (Full disclosure, I never served in the military, Peace Corp, Vista or any other kind of National Service myself.) The problem is that the magazine slants its National Service coverage toward the issue of youth and service and away from what elders are already doing to advance the common good. This framing is consistent with the dominant cultural theme which says: "Old Age Equals Decline." If that was true (and it is not) then the only hope for our society would lie with the young. In fact, we live in a time when there is an unprecedented opportunity for young and old to be together, work together and make change together.

The model who sat as Rockwell's model is now an 83 year old grandmother. The iconic image of the original "Rosie the Riveter" remains powerful image because, even six decades after it was made, it retains the capacity to remind us that some things are worth struggling for and sometimes the struggle for the good can be found close to home-- in our own neighborhoods and communities.

So- in the spirit of Time's Rosie Remix, I have a challenge for UMBC's Visual Arts/Graphics Majors--- Make me a remix of the Time cover that gives that poor woman on the cover a mighty mane of Gray Hair and some wrinkles. Send your Remixes to me at wthomas@umbc.edu and be sure to put "Remix" in the Subject line. I will post the best of them on this blog.

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February 15, 2009

ChangingAging.org Redesign -- Please Bookmark!

Posted by Kavan Peterson on February 15, 2009 8:00 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

February 11, 2009

Blanchard WinsDays

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on February 11, 2009 10:00 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

February 10, 2009

Kevin Frick writes...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on February 10, 2009 8:45 AM |Permalink |Comments (3)

February 6, 2009

Blanchard WinsDays

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on February 6, 2009 11:43 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

January 31, 2009

Localism is Coming

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 31, 2009 3:54 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 30, 2009

Power Up Friday

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 30, 2009 5:23 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 28, 2009

Blanchard WinsDays

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 28, 2009 9:43 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 26, 2009

Monkhouse Monday: Thinking Differently

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 26, 2009 10:08 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 25, 2009

Growing Up is Hard to Do

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 25, 2009 9:17 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 24, 2009

More on Age and Airline Pilots

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 24, 2009 6:44 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

January 23, 2009

Too Gray (I mean Blonde)???

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 23, 2009 12:36 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Power Up Friday

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 23, 2009 8:13 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 21, 2009

It is done...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 21, 2009 3:25 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Blanchard Winsdays: Crossing Deserts

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 21, 2009 11:29 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

January 20, 2009

A New America

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 20, 2009 10:11 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 19, 2009

Too Old to Ditch a Plane?

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 19, 2009 10:07 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

January 15, 2009

From Denmark

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 15, 2009 12:04 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 13, 2009

Denmark

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 13, 2009 2:55 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 12, 2009

Monkhouse Monday

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 12, 2009 7:27 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 7, 2009

Good News about Ageing

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 7, 2009 11:19 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Blanchard WinsDays

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 7, 2009 9:10 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

January 6, 2009

News Mashup

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 6, 2009 12:51 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

January 2, 2009

Blanchard WinsDays

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on January 2, 2009 8:37 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)