The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

World loses two baby boomer entertainers on the same day

Michael Jackson, who died Thursday at age 50, was an extremely talented baby boomer entertainer, selling hit after hit on the pop charts.

The “King of Pop,” Jackson was an icon whose music became important to younger boomers during the 1970s and 80s. His music touched people’s souls. Kids felt they grew up with him.

The strength of Jackson’s work is evident as the TV shows clip after clip of his singing and dancing and hit songs.

Although Jackson experienced great fame and wealth, he also gained media attention for his bizarre behavior, style of dress, and the changes he made to his appearance.

It was sad to watch the TV coverage and see clips of Jackson describing how hard he worked as a child and how his relationship with his father, including being beaten, affected him. And the allegations of child abuse against him are troubling.

Why was Jackson rushed to the hospital in cardiac arrest?

Like many Americans, I’ll be watching with interest to find out the cause his death.

Farrah Fawcett died Thursday at age 62 of anal cancer.

After appearing in TV ads, Fawcett was tapped in 1976 to star in “Charlie’s Angels,” a TV-series about three sexy private investigators.

With layered blond hair, good looks, and stunning smile, Fawcett set a style that was admired and copied by young boomer women throughout the country. She became an international star.

Fawcett left the show after the first season, looking for more challenging roles. To develop her dramatic skills, she starred in a number of TV movies and miniseries.

Diagnosed with anal cancer, Fawcett made a documentary, “Farrah’s Story.” She was a leader in talking openly about anal cancer, which can be triggered by the human papillomavirus and is considered a sex cancer.

So today is a sobering day for baby boomers. Losing two boomer icons makes you think about whether you’re living your life fully and how you should be spending the time you have left.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

A tribute to my dad on Father’s Day

My dad Minor H. Slingsby was an important figure in my life.

Two of my main passions in life came from him: an interest in consumerism and newspapers.

My dad enjoyed reading the newspaper, and he’d read articles to us. When he found something he thought was humorous, he’d read it aloud and laugh uproariously.

Carefully watching every penny, my dad taught me to be an informed, alert consumer.

I’m a consumer journalist because of him.

My dad was a stern man. My mom said when they were first married she’d argue with him. After a while, she gave up. Mom said she decided he could be in charge. He made the decisions in the family.

My two sisters and I worked hard at following his rules and keeping out of trouble.

Born in 1910 in Williston, N.D., my dad and his family experienced hard times as a farm family.

One of the main crops they grew was flax, a plant used to produce fiber.

My dad’s father drank heavily and gambled, so little money was left for the family.

At one time, my grandmother and some of the seven children tried to obtain property by homesteading. Huddled under buffalo blankets when they ran out of fuel and food, one of the boys had to go to town for help.

My grandfather died in 1914 at age 58. My dad was 4 years old.

It was difficult for the family to earn money after that.

When my dad was about 8, his family moved West. Mable Bailey Kinyon, my grandmother’s sister, helped the family. She and her husband Harry Kinyon owned an apple ranch in Cashmere, Wash.

My dad lived with his sister Mable Taylor and attended Cashmere High School where he played basketball. He was 6 foot 4 inches.

Although my dad worked mostly in apple orchard jobs, he met my mom in the Ritzville, Wash., area when he went to get a job in the wheat harvest.

My dad married Ruth L. Telecky in 1933 in Cashmere.
 
During the Great Depression, he was able to get a job working for the Works Progress Administration as a timekeeper. The skills he learned were helpful to him later in life.

My parents worked hard, saved their money, and bought a seven-acre apple orchard in Orondo, Wash. It’s 13 miles up the Columbia River from Wenatchee.

One thing that happened to my father, which affected him profoundly, was the loss of the orchard. Apple prices were low in the recession of 1948, and we had to sell our ranch.

My dad was upset about it for years. He complained about capitalism. He criticized the government, saying apple farmers should be able to receive the same subsidies as wheat farmers.

We moved up the river to the Wenatchee Beebe Orchard Company where my dad obtained a job as the field manager.

Like most men of his era, my dad didn’t talk about his feelings. He never talked about his childhood. The information I learned was from my Uncle Harry and my aunts.

My dad was proud of my accomplishments and me. We were able form a good relationship in his later years and enjoy and appreciate each other.

My dad died in 1990 at age 80 from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a lymphatic system cancer. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is linked to pesticide exposure.

I miss my dad very much. I’ll be thinking about him on Father’s Day and the contributions he made to my life.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Super Bowl's best, worst ads

If baby boomers were one of the target audiences for the Super Bowl ads this year, it must have been the baby boomer male companies and ad makers were pitching to. Ads for beer and cars seemed to predominate.

Of course, upcoming movies and NBC shows were also heavily advertised.
 
Steve Johnson rated the ads as follows for his blog on the Chicago Tribune:

• The Best – Monster.com, with an Honorable Mention to Career Builder.

• The Worse – Teleflora, with an Honorable Mention to Doritos.

• Best Proof That 3D Is Not Advertising’s Future – “Monsters vs. Aliens” movie ad.

• Best Animal Ad -- Budweiser’s Clydesdales.

• Should Have Been in 3D – Coke.

• Best Deadpan in Super Bowl Ad (Ever) – Hulu.com.

• Most Cringe Inducing – Cash$Gold.com.

• Nice Try, But… – H&R Block.

USA Today rated these ads for how they matched recessionary times:

• Bud Light: Corporate bean counter proposes no Bud Light at meetings to cut budget – 7.49

• Career Builder.com: When you know it’s time to get a new job – 7.37.

• E-Trade: Babies discuss "brutal" economy and E-Trade -- 7.27.

• Monster.com: Old job gets the wrong end of the moose – 6.95.

• Denny’s: Tweaks rival’s fancy pancakes, offers everyone free Grand Slam breakfast – 6.62.

• Cash4Gold: Ed McMahon and M.C. Hammer trade gold mementos for added cash – 5.58.

• Hyundai: Assurance program lets buyers return car without credit penalty if they lose job – 4.68.

I thought the Super Bowl ads were often too violent. Bill Swain, writing for Associated Content, agrees:

Super Bowl commercials have become as much a part of the celebrated game as the actual game itself. Super Bowl XLIII was no exception to the rule; although the year 2009 might go down as the year of violent commercials and lame remakes. Almost every commercial, from Cheeto's with the attack of the birds, to Doritos with their crystal ball and the Diet Pepsi commercial with the lightning had violent overtones mixed in with bad comedy.

A recent study by Common Sense Media – a group that provides ratings and reviews of TV shows, movies, and video games to parents – reported half of the commercial breaks during NFL telecasts show at least one advertisement featuring sex, drugs, or alcohol,

Almost 500 of the ads from showed an increased form of violence, including murders, explosions, and gunfights. The CSM staff watched 50 NFL games this season and logged more than 5,000 commercials.

Among the study’s findings:

• 40 percent of games showed ads for erectile dysfunction drugs.

• 46.5 percent of the sexual or violent advertisements were promotions by the broadcast networks for their own programs.

CSM wants ads of this type to be shown when children aren’t watching.

Meredith Lopez, blogging on the Huntington Post.com in the article “Super Bowl? Yes Please! Sexist Ads, No Thank You!” wants football ads cleaned up so kids who watch football will receive a better image of women.

What bothers me is the prevalence of sexism in football ads. In the 21st century, how can anyone be O.K. with this? How do these ad companies – and the companies they represent – even do it? Sexism in ads, to me, is not only offensive, it's beyond outdated to the point of being pathetic. Do we really still need half-naked women in bikinis to increase beer sales? Or dancing supermodels in mini-dresses to sell some vitamin drink?

I agree. 

I’d like to see better quality ads on TV that are less violent and sexist.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

25 things coming back in 2009 are familiar to baby boomers

Ironing, mashed potatoes, recreational fishing and camping, and Amway are among the 25 things WalletPop.com, the AOL Money and Finance site, thinks will make a big comeback in 2009. Baby boomers will remember many of them, such as the meat product Spam, well.

The current state of the economy plays a big role in the list, which follows:

1. The Sharper Image
2. Amway
3. Three-piece suits for men
4. '9 to 5' as a musical on Broadway
5. Brown bag lunches
6. The Camaro
7. Cheap foods
8. Classic cocktails
9. Glass baby bottles
10. Music stars
11. Home hair coloring
12. Hungry Hungry Hippos and G.I. Joe
13. Ironing
14. Line drying clothes
15. Mashed potato variations
16. Non-profits
17. Paying with cash
18. Recreational fishing and camping
19. Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
20. Savings accounts
21. Sewing and DIY fashions
22. Spam, the meat product
23. Movie franchises
24. Thick shoes, fringe hairstyles, and Uggs
25. Lance Armstrong

See the article "Top 25 Comebacks in 2009" for details.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

What did you think of the Oscar nominations?

I haven’t seen as many movies this year as I usually do because I’ve been busy blogging.

I liked “WALL-E” a lot, as did my five-year-old twin grandchildren. I thought it was a good movie, but not great. I heard one movie reviewer call it one of the 10 best movies of 2008. I think Hollywood has the resources to be able to make movies of this quality all the time. However, it doesn’t. Time after time after time, I go to the movie theater and see mediocre, violent movies.

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is an enjoyable movie also. But again, I wouldn’t call it great.

“Changeling” is an average movie, I thought. The whole movie seemed to be centered on Angelina Jolie pursing her famous lips.

I enjoyed “The Duchess” because, being of English ancestry, I like stories about England.

I didn’t like “Tropic Thunder” at all. Neither did my daughter, who saw it with me. Too violent, too farfetched. I learned in my scriptwriting class that when you write movies, you should make them “over the top.” “Tropic Thunder” was way, way, way too over the top.

I’ll try to see more of the movies nominated and post about this again. However, I won’t be seeing “The Dark Knight.” As you can tell, I don’t like violent movies.

What are your opinions on the nominations?

See “2009 Oscar Nominations” in USA Today for a listing of the Oscar nominations.

Here are some posts about the movies nominated.

“Taking Shots at the 2009 Oscar Nominations” – Rolling Stone

“Let’s Talk Oscars” – Slate.com

“Stars React to 2009 Oscar Nominations” – Hollyscoop

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

I won’t be watching the vice presidential debate

Watching the news and reading the newspaper can increase your daily stress.

That’s why I’m not watching the candidates for vice president debate Thursday. I didn’t watch the first presidential debate either. Watching a few of the clips later will be enough.

I made up my mind months ago on who's going to get my presidential vote. The cutting remarks and deep criticisms that pour forth in the debates bother me. It doesn’t make me feel like the country is coming together to solve its significant and historic problems.

Andrew Weil, M.D., alternative health practitioner, recommends skipping the daily news because it ups a person’s stress level. He contends news is just about the latest murder and the latest war.

As a journalist, I found that difficult to swallow when I first read it. However, I think he has a good point.

When I had cable television installed early this year after years of going without it, I would turn on CNN and listen throughout the day. Hour after hour of "We're in the Situation Room..." was too much. I could feel my anxiety level go up.

Then they'd have dramatic news about what one candidate said, then the other's response.

That's why I'm sitting out the debates.

For you swing voters, I hope you find something helpful in the debates. They're aimed at you.

Copyright 2008, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Religious leader asks people of all faiths to join efforts to stop global warming

Bishop Steven Charleston, president and dean of the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., issued a call to action at Seattle's Green Festival Sunday for people of all faiths to join together to stop global warming.

“Never before in the history of the human race have we faced a need as great as this,” Charleston said, “to stop global warming and in doing so to begin an international movement to address all environmental and ecological problems that threaten the planet and the future of our children and our children’s children.”

We are the ones to do it, now is the time, and the way to do it is for religious communities to cooperate, he said.

Charleston cautioned against getting distracted from solving environmental challenges by the endless destruction of warfare based on religious differences and fear.

He called for a revolutionary movement where people of faith can move forward together. “We can do something wonderful and dramatic.”

Charleston and other religious leaders have formed the Genesis Covenant, a group different than other environmental organizations.

People who join the Genesis Covenant work through their religious communities on issues related to global warming. The communities can take a pledge to reduce greenhouse emissions 50 percent or more in 10 years.

Educators, writers, communicators, scientists, and others can use their skills to help reduce global warming, working with members of their faith community, he said.

“This is our moment, people of faith,” Charleston said. “This is our time for leadership. Do not sit by idly by as if your faith is a comfortable cushion. Stand up and put your faith to work.”

Tomorrow's post on The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide will offer information on green Web sites to help you green your life.

Copyright 2008, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Goodman blasts Bush; praises those who stand up

Amy Goodman, host of the independent news media program Democracy Now!, wowed her fans at the Green Festival in Seattle Sunday.

They began pouring into the Ballroom at the Seattle Convention Center even before Frances Moore Lappe had finished her talk.

Amy gave examples from her book, “Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times,” written with her brother David Goodman. She and David described grassroots activists who have challenged the government and succeeded. They include:

• Jim Hansen, NASA’s top climate scientist, who spoke out about censorship of his materials and speeches.

• Bill McKibben, author, educator, climate activist, and cofounder of Step It Up, a group that organized the highly successful Step It Up Day in April of 2007 at which thousands of people gathered at 1,400 iconic places across the nation to help stop global warming pollution.

• U.S. Army Lt. Ehren Watada, who said nothing was worse than fighting a war he thought was immoral and illegal.

• Dr. Steve Reisner, a candidate for president of the American Psychological Association, who advocates exclusion of psychologists from any role in interrogations.

• Rosa Parks, an activist, who helped launch the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the work of Martin Luther King Jr.

Pressing problems that continue in America that need to be addressed, according to Amy and David, include:

• The oil, gas, and coal industry efforts to open oil and natural gas drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, deregulate the energy market, subsidize the building of nuclear power plants, and dumb down the fuel economy of SUVs and light trucks.

• The telecommunications industry efforts to lobby Congress for immunity so companies can’t be sued or tried for turning over information on U.S. citizens to the government.

• Federal agencies that continue to use racial profiling, such as the Seattle case in which the FBI asked local media to broadcast and print photos of two dark-skinned men they observed on a ferry asking questions about the workings of the boat.

• The continuation of the War in Iraq, which would end, Amy said, if the American people were allowed to see the photos of the horrors of the war for one week.

Amy closed the presenting by urging the audience to participate in government and run for office at all levels so that the will of the people would "trickle up."

It was Amy's 51st birthday, and her mom Dorrie Goodman, had a bouquet of flowers presented as the crowd sang Happy Birthday.

Tomorrow's Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide will report on Bishop Steven Charleston's talk at the festival, "A Call to Action for People of Faith."

Copyright 2008, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Lappe fears for the future; urges a living democracy

Frances Moore Lappe is a great thinker and a fantastic speaker.

At Seattle's Green Festival Sunday, Lappe called the American’s exploitation of resources, a failed, dangerous experiment, pointing out that we’ve used twice as much of the earth’s resources since 1944 as in all of history.

There are ideas in our society that need to be shed, she said, then she offered new ways of thinking and actions that are needed:

The party’s over; we need to power down. It’s scary to think about watching the world’s institutions shut down because we have to give up fossil fuel. Fossil fuels haven’t freed us, they’ve constructed us. We can get 1,500 times the energy from the sun that we’ve received from fossil fuels.

Waste is the norm. Our society is generating waste and destruction. It runs on a system of waste-making economics. The highest returns go to the wealthiest people, which leads to a concentration of political power. In 1938, President Franklin Roosevelt said if private power is stronger than government, you have fascism. The concentration of power unleashes cruelty. We need to talk about the goodness of nature. People like to cooperate and share with others. Fairness and justice aren’t options. Fairness is just another piece of us. We can get much, much better.

Regulations are bad. We need rules, if they make sense. Corporations need charters to look out for the common good. The need for risk should be one part of rule making. This is done in Germany and several other countries. In San Francisco, plastic bags are banned. This has cut the use of plastic bags by millions. It has sparked a “wildfire of common sense” in other cities. 

We have no time. In the last 10 years, we’ve seen the most dangerous degradation of the environment. The environmental crisis is a democratic crisis. We need a living democracy. We can begin with small actions we can take that make a difference and inspire others to do the same. We can educate children about environmental practices and support companies supporting sustainable living and fair market practices.

Lappe’s latest book is “Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity, and Courage in a World Gone Mad.” She’s written 16 books, including her 1971 three-million-copy best seller “Diet for a Small Planet.” Lappe and her daughter Anna Lappe lead the Small Planet Institute, a network for research and education on democracy.

Tomorrow's Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide will report on Amy Goodman's talk at Seattle's Green Festival, "Bush and the Media."

Copyright 2008, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Moving from empires to life-centered, egalitarian, sustainable societies

The audience at Seattle's Green Festival cheered David Korten as he explained that it's possible to live in a cooperative, supportive society where the armies of empires are disbanded.

Korten is author of the book, “The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community.”

Tinkering at the margins of society’s dilemmas isn’t going to get us where we want to go, Korten said. We need to undertake a great, grassroots social movement to create the world we really want.

When attending a conference in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, which was chaotic and contentious at times, Korten realized everyone wanted the same things: healthy children, healthy communities, and living in peace and cooperation.

“We have a shared dream,” he said, “of living in a cooperative and balanced society."

Korten said he has lived in many places.  Although people tend to focus on their differences, people are more alike than they generally realize.

The current “red” and “blue” state split that the media dwells on doesn’t present an accurate state of the nation, he said. America is more “purple” than a red-blue divide.

Korten described a recent poll in which 83 percent of those surveyed said the country’s leaders are focused on the wrong priorities. Big companies have too much power, he said. People should be ahead of profits.

The biggest problem is corporations are selecting ethically challenged leaders, Korten said. It’s not that the people or the institutions are bad. They’ve been working from a bad "story."

In an endless loop, we’ve been taught to be fearful and violent in a competitive, capitalist society, he said.  We’ve been told it’s in our nature. If we obey those who rule, we’re told we'll have peace in eternal bliss. Pain is all for the good, it builds character.

“We’ve been told the world we long for isn’t possible,” Korten said, adding we've also been told our dreams are a naive fantasy.

He calls this the empire story, a story that’s been dominate for 5,000 years. It’s nature is hierarchical, violent, and abusive. Economists, scientists, preachers, and the media promote adherence to the empire model.

“In the empire model, one empire vanquishes another,” he said.

The United States is collapsing economically, Korten said. We should work for a society that is caring and giving, adding Jesus Christ preached for this. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi also worked for a nonviolent, cooperative society.

Throughout history, the story has been challenged and exposed. Women and colored people fought for and won the right to vote. The environmental movement has changed how we think about the earth.

Korten said we are undertaking an enormous societal shift, a great turning. He calls it earth community, where partnerships, community, and justice prevail.

“In earth communities, our authentic stories trump the empire story,” he said. “It resonates with what’s deep in our hearts, our world of dreams.”

People are gathering in living rooms and sharing their personal stories, ending their isolation. They’re changing their story and embracing voluntary simplicity.

“People are increasing the quality of their lives,” Korten said. They’re reducing consumption, working for environmental quality, and participating in community.

“Our stories are trumping those of empire,” he said.

Korten is cofounder and board chair of the Positive Futures Network, which publishes “Yes! A Journal of Positive Futures.” He is founder and president of the People-Centered Development Forum. Korten has also written “When Corporations Rule the World.”

Tommorrow's Survive and Thrive Boomer guide will discuss Frances Moore Lappe's talk at the Seattle Green Festival, "Living Democracy: Feeding Hope."

Copyright 2008, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist