The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

At last: Obama administration offers proposals to stop gun violence

After 12 people were killed and 58 wounded at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., on July 20, 2012, I wrote an article about how America needs to figure out why these mass killings are occurring and stop them.

It was heartbreaking that at a very violent Batman movie, a gunman killed and wounded so many innocent people. I called for action on gun control, mental health programs, violent images aimed at children, and hatemongering.

Not much discussion on these issues was occurring then. However, that all changed when 20 students and six teachers were murdered by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012.

Yesterday, President Obama issued a list of items that his administration or the Congress can do to curb gun violence. I applaud the president for finally acting on this issue, and I support most of the suggested options.

Among those that I think are most needed that Congress must approve:

• Require universal background checks for all firearm sales.

• Reinstate and strengthen the ban on assault weapons.

• Limit ammunition magazines to 10 rounds.

• Provide $10 million to CDC for additional research on relationship between video games, media images and violence.

• Give $150 million to school districts and law enforcement agencies to hire school resource officers, school psychologists, social workers and counselors.

• Provide $50 million to help 8,000 more schools train their teachers and staff to create safer and more nurturing environments.

• Provide $55 million for new initiative (Project AWARE) to make sure students get treatment for mental health issues.

• Provide $25 million for state-based strategies supporting individuals ages 16-25 with mental health or substance abuse issues.

• Provide $25 million to offer students mental health services for trauma or anxiety.

• Provide $50 million to train 5,000 additional mental health professionals serving children and young adults.

Action the Obama administration can take without congressional approval:

• Direct the Centers for Disease Control and scientific agencies to conduct research into the causes and prevention of gun violence.

• Launch a national campaign to promote common-sense gun safety measures.

• Review and enhance safety standards for gun locks and gun safes.

• Direct attorney general to review gun safety technologies.

• Launch a national dialogue about mental illness.

• Finalize requirements for private health insurance plans to cover mental health services.

• Ensure that Medicaid recipients get quality mental health coverage.

With Congress deadlocked on so many issues, it’s discouraging to see that the most important items on the list require congressional approval.

See The Washington Post article, “Obama’s Gun Control Proposals,” for the entire list of the president’s proposals.

Copyright 2013, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Fiscal cliff deal largely disappointing for consumers

Despite the significant hype, I wasn’t very worried that Congress and the president wouldn’t reach a deal on the so called fiscal cliff. What I was concerned about was how the deal would affect consumers, particularly older Americans.

The fiscal cliff deal has a number of items that will benefit consumers. They include:

• All income below $450,000 for families and $400,000 for individuals will permanently be taxed at Bush-era rates.

• The 2009 expansion of tax breaks for low-income Americans – the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit, and the American Opportunity Tax Credit – will be extended for five years.

• Federal unemployment insurance will be extended for another year, benefiting those unemployed for longer than 26 weeks.

• The Alternative Minimum Tax will be permanently patched to avoid raising taxes on the middle-class.

• Medicare and Social Security weren’t slashed.

However, Congress missed a big opportunity to truly pass positive measures to help consumers with these missteps:

• The deal doesn’t address the debt-ceiling.

• The payroll tax holiday will be allowed to expire, which means taxes will go up for consumers.

• A full package of temporary business tax breaks will be extended for another year, including breaks for race-car track owners, electric scooters, Goldman Sachs office space, coal produced on Indian lands, and Hollywood films. 

• Funding is cut for the Affordable Care Act’s consumer oriented and operated plans – non-profit, customer-owned and operated plans that could test out new ways to deliver health care – by about $1.9 billion.

• The sequester will be delayed for two months. Half of the delay will be offset by discretionary cuts, split between defense and non-defense. The other half will be offset by revenue raised by the voluntary transfer of traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs, which would tax retirement savings when they’re moved over.
  

The upcoming budget cuts required by the fiscal cliff deal will be part of discussions on the budget on Capitol Hill, and no one knows what agencies and programs they’ll affect. That’s a problem for consumers because vital programs may be slashed, especially with heavy lobbying from the military industrial complex not to cut military spending.

Even though the Democrats won big in November, Congress is gridlocked due to faulty policies supported by Republicans, the conservative media, including Fox News, and American corporations. It’s frustrating when so much needs to be done in this country, but special interest groups squash progress and the ability of the government to move forward positively.

Instead of adequately funding needed programs for consumers, Congress will be bogged down with what to cut, then we’ll have another fiscal cliff debate and – oh, yes – another debt ceiling debacle.

Copyright 2013, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Oscar-nominated movies less violent, dark this year

By Rita R. Robison

In the last three years that I’ve been writing about the Academy Award nominated movies on this blog, I’ve had to watch a lot of violent and/or dark movies.

I sat through “Slumdog Millionaire,” “The Dark Knight,” “District 9,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “A Serious Man,” “Black Swan,” “Winter’s Bone,” “The Town,” “True Grit,” “Animal Kingdom,” “How to Train Your Dragon,” “Toy Story 3,” “Inception,” “Iron Man 2,” “Salt,” and “127 Hours.”

I’ve complained about how Hollywood misses a real opportunity to tell meaningful stories about things that matter to people rather than throwing new violent terrible things on the big screen.

This year’s movies are better. Here are my picks:

Best Picture: “Hugo.” A fantastic story, although 3D wasn’t needed. It’s a movie you can take your kids to.

Actor in a Leading Role: George Clooney in “The Descendants” and Brad Pitt in “Moneyball.” Although we’ve seen these two actors many times, they both gave excellent performances in these two great movies, which were actually about something interesting. However, I did wonder during the movie about Clooney playing a man of Hawaiian descent.

Actress in a Leading Role: Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady.” Strep gave in outstanding performance in this movie about the controversial political figure, Margaret Thatcher.

Actor in a Supporting Role: Jonah Hill in “Moneyball.” Hill was convincing in the role of an economic whiz who pioneered applying money strategy to baseball. Christopher Plummer in “Beginners” also was nominated, but I thought the movie was disjointed.

Actress in a Supporting Role: Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer, both in “The Help.” This movie about how black maids were treated in the 1960s was top notch.

Cinematography: “Hugo.” “The Tree of Life” also was nominated. I didn’t get its plot. I had to read a summary on Wikipedia to get the main plot points. It’s interesting that Brad Pitt, who I didn’t recognize with his 1950s haircut until a quarter of the way through the movie, and Sean Penn were involved in this abstract offering.

Directing. Alexander Payne for “The Descendants” and Martin Scorsese for “Hugo.” Both super films.

Film Editing. Thelma Schoonmaker for “Hugo.” I didn’t like “The Artist” at all. A silent film today just doesn’t do it for me.

Makeup. Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland for “The Iron Lady.” I thought the makeup artists did a good job making Meryl Strep look like Margaret Thatcher.

Music (Original Score). Alberto Iglesias for “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.” I liked the movie. It was slow in the beginning, which I thought was a more accurate portrayal of what it’s like to be a spy rather than the car chases and explosions so often offered by today’s movies. My friend, who saw the original with Alex Guinness, said it was better. I plan to get it from the library.

Visual Effects. “Hugo.” A period film set in a historical train, the visual effects were stunning.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay). Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin for “Moneyball.” The economics of baseball were vividly presented.

Writing (Original Screenplay). No pick. “Bridesmaids” was a terrible movie. It had jokes about bodily functions, which you see usually in male-oriented movies. About the events in one firm leading up to the stock market crash in 2008, “Margin Call” was a very slow movie. I kept watching it to see something exciting. It didn’t happen. I liked Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris.” It’s a cute story about a writer who goes back in time and meets famous authors. However, I don’t think the movie warrants an Academy Award for the best screenplay of the year. Then there’s “The Artist.” How can a silent film win the award for the best written screenplay?

All in all, the movies I saw were a better offering than those in the last few years.

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Getting my Mac to work is this week’s best consumer experience, while paying extra for a 3D movie disappoints

By Rita R. Robison

I was lucky to get my Mac working again. However, I wasn’t pleased about paying more for a 3D movie.

My best consumer experience: Figuring how to get my Mac running again

When I turned on my Mac Thursday morning, neither my mouse nor keyboard would work. Since I couldn’t Google for ideas or type anything in, I took the mouse and keyboard over to Best Buy.

A guy on the Geek Squad got the mouse working and said it looked like I’d dropped the keyboard, damaging the area around the switch. I told him to try to pry the bent part up, because if the keyboard was ruined, he couldn’t ruin it any further. He was able to make the repair.

I went to the library to write my blogs in case I couldn’t get my Mac to work.

Sure enough, despite the fact that the geek at Best Buy said the mouse and keyboard were working, I couldn’t get them to operate.

All along, I thought that something might be wrong with my Bluetooth. After stewing around for a while, I unplugged my computer. When it came back on, it said there was a problem with the Bluetooth. I held down the switch on the keyboard and both the keyboard and the mouse started operating.

I was relieved. I got my Mac back and didn’t have to pay a lot of money.

My worst experience: Paying extra to see a 3D movie

This weekend, I’m on a movie marathon to the Academy Award nominated movies so I can write about them before the big day.

One of the movies I saw Friday was “Hugo.” It was a good movie, but I had to pay $4.50 extra to see it in 3D. Disappointing. I didn’t really think 3D added that much to the movie.

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Winning videos show how kids, adults can add more fruits, vegetables to their diets

By Rita R. Robison

The winners of the MyPlate Fruits and Veggies Video Challenge show consumers of all ages innovative ways to "make half your plate fruits and vegetables."

Tips for Kids

1st Place: On the Go Snack Boxes – You can have a healthy option by creating easy to make snack boxes to put in your backpack. A busy student shares how she and her mom wash and cut up a variety of fruits and veggies and store them in individual snack boxes.

2nd Place: Let's Get Involved – A fun way to get your children excited about fruits and vegetables is let them select the fruits and vegetables they eat.

Popular Choice: The Fruit and Veggie Pokey! – These students share their tips for eating more fruits and vegetables while they dance to the "Hokey, Pokey Song."

Tips When Eating at Home

1st Place: Wrap Rap – A delicious and nutritious wrap is a great way to get more fruits and vegetables. A rapper provides us with an easy to remember "wrap" song to encourage us to make half our plates fruits and vegetables.

2nd Place: Eating fruits and veggies without straining your budget – Seasonal, local, and grow-your-own options are good ways to eat more fruits and veggies. This student provides some creative ways to stretch your dollar.

Popular Choice: My Tip: "Think Vegetables First" – A mom shares how she changed the meals for her family. Think vegetables first when planning a meal and add the rest of the foods to complement the vegetables.

Tips When Eating Away From Home

1st Place: Substitution and Replace...A story of Give and Take – A mom discovers her sons have been hiding junk food and avoiding more nutritional fruits and veggies. Through substitution and replacement her sons discover a healthier way to eat.

2nd Place: Pack Your Lunch Bag with Fruits and Veggies! – Here are some tips for workers/students on the go who want to make sure they fill half their plate – or lunch bag – with fruits and veggies. It saves money and calories.

Popular Choice: Richmond Avenue Café – Kids can make "make half your plate fruits and vegetables" when they eat out, too. A young student applies what he learned in health class at the Richmond Avenue School about healthy eating.

In September, U.S. Department of Agriculture asked individuals and teams to submit videos that provide innovative, easy, and practical tips on how to "make half your plate fruits and vegetables." The winners will divide $9,000 in prize money.

The videos are featured on ChooseMyPlate.gov. MyPlate is the USDA’s new icon that illustrates the five food groups, which are the building blocks for a healthy diet.  

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

What’s your favorite Christmas movie?

By Rita R. Robison

Do you have a Christmas movie that you like best?

I don’t. And the Christmas movies I’ve been watching, since the programs I usually enjoy have gone on vacation, have been mostly terrible.

I did an Internet search to find lists of the top Christmas movies of all time. I was shocked. “Elf” and “Home Alone” appeared on many of the lists. These are awful movies, in my opinion.

Here’s a list of “Top 10 Christmas Movies” by Collider.com:

• “A Christmas Story” – 1983
• “It’s a Wonderful Life” – 1946
• “The Muppet Christmas Carol” – 1992
• “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” – 1987
• “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” – 1989
• “The Polar Express” – 2001
• “Home Alone” – 1990
• “Elf” – 2003
• Miracle on 34^th Street” – 1947
• “Scrooged” – 1988

Do you like any of these movies? Others?

I find the TV offerings before Christmas extremely lacking, including the movies. Even the Food Network is showing more reruns than usual.

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Mad at Netflix? Try these seven alternatives

By Rita R. Robison

Two months after announcing it would split its mail-order DVD and video streaming into two services and charge for each separately, Netflix announced another change on its blog on Sunday. The DVD-by-mail service will now be named Qwikster. Thousands have already commented, calling it a mistake.

Looking for an alternative to Netflix? Kiplinger’s Personal Finance names 7 options to choose from, including:

• Vudu: This streaming service has a wide variety of HD movies available the day they’re released on Blu-ray. The cost? Only $2 to “rent” a movie for two nights.

• Amazon Instant Video: This library includes 50,000 movies and TV shows to choose from and the cost to rent is $3.99 for a 48-hour rental.

• Apple TV: Although you’ll need to investment $99 for a device, Apple TV streams thousands of movies and TV shows directly to your television. The cost to “rent” is a low as 99 cents.

• Red Box: Even though it’s not as convenient as streaming online, Red Box more than 27,000 kiosks nationwide, including one inside the Empire State Building. You can choose from 200 titles for a $1, one-day rental.

Of the seven alternatives, I’ve tried Red Box. It comes handy when I want to see a lot of Academy Awards nominated movies so I write about them before the awards are presented. It works well, although I had to pay a late charge once -- $2 for being late a day with two movies. Not bad.

For more information, see "Seven Alternatives to Netflix."

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

What were your best and worst consumer experiences this week?

By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Which consumer happenings cheered you this week and which ones made you want to scream or weep?

Here are my best and worst consumer experiences this week:

My best: Getting two free movie tickets

Several times, I’ve written about offers from Honda and Nissan to win big prizes or "gold" coins.

Each time, I went to the dealership. After not winning the big prizes, I received one to three copper clad coins.

Recently, I received an offer from Honda for a fantastic prize or two free movie tickets. Again, when I went to the dealership, I didn’t win the super prize. However, I was happy to accept two free movie tickets.

I enjoyed "Water for Elephants," and I’m looking forward to another movie.

My worst: Being super sized when I went to a movie

When I took advantage of getting a free movie at a Regal Cinema theater, I bought popcorn. The sales associate asked me if I wanted to double the amount of popcorn for a $1 more, and I said yes.

The popcorn cost $6, up $1 from what I’ve paid in the past. So I spent $7 for a bigger bag of terrible popcorn.

Regal Cinemas super sized me – again. Although Morgan Spurlock’s "Super Size Me" was in the back of my mind, I took the bait. Spurlock wrote about eating McDonald’s food and drinks for 30 days and accepting supersizes every time it was offered.

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Elizabeth Taylor memorabilia sold at premium prices likely to decrease in value

By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Be extremely careful if you’re going to buy Elizabeth Taylor memorabilia and commemorative items following the death of American movie star icon, warns the Better Business Bureau.

For more information, see my article on AOL’s Consumer Ally “Planning to Buy Elizabeth Taylor Memorabilia? Don’t Do It for Investment.”

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Top 2010 movies for baby boomers

Last week, I received an e-mail from Mark, who blogs at Baby Boomer Talk Online, saying he was polling the top 50 baby boomer bloggers about their picks for best movie from the list of those nominated for Academy Awards in that category.

I submitted my favorites, “The King’s Speech” and “The Social Network.”

Mark later listed the responses he received from 15 bloggers. The most often mentioned movies were:

1. “The King’s Speech”
2. “True Grit”
3.  “The Social Network”
4. “Inception”

Tied for a distant fifth were "The Fighter" and "Black Swan."

Is your favorite on the list? Let me know in the Comment section below.

That’s me in the photo with an Oscar. No I didn’t win one, but had the opportunity to be photographed with one at an Academy Awards party a few years ago.

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist