Once again, Boomers sit quietly by as Bush begins oil drilling in National Parks, expands logging operations in National Forests and relaxes rules that govern power plant emissions. Couple that with two court appointments that bypass Senate confirmation hearings and a war on less-than-solid justification and it's clear Bush Jr. is capable quietly shaping environmental and national policy with backroom deals and end-run tactics.

Now, he wants us to believe he's some kind of environmental savior by protecting 3 million wetland acres when in January of 2003, he issued new rule changes to the Clean Water Act that could adversely affect 20 million acres of isolated wetlands.

The Clean Air and Clean Water acts were passed in the 70's as the result of many Baby Boomers and their broad-based concern for the environment. It was clear then (and still clear today) that corporations will act in their own self-interest with regard to the environment. Without protective rules and government actions to enforce them, corporate polluters and environmentally insensitive companies continue to profitably pollute with the blessing and assistance of the Bush Administration. In less than three years, Bush has systematically dismantled much of what we worked for, but Baby Boomers seem content to deny their roots by peering out at the world through rose-colord SUV windshields.

I was born at night, George, but not last night.

Update: May 8, 2004. I found this it's certainly not as entertaining as a Letterman top ten, but it's right up there.

Subtitled "Because one day they'll all be dead"

See, now here's an example of what I've been talking about. Not only do they hate us, now they want to kill us. We're all just fat, balding and in the way.

I frankly like the invitation to comment:"...if you're in any way offended by the content or message of Boomer Deathwatch , sorry, but we really don't care. Seriously. We'll probably just post your pissy e-mail and make fun of it, so don't bother."

Oh, don't worry, I never get in a pissing contest with a skunk.

We're not sure this is what the original promoters had in mind when they dreamed up Woodstock back in 1969, but apparently, the sweet tooth that we had back then can be relived at this web site.

The Woodstock Candy Company

See if you remember any of the yummie retro candies available. Get me a carton of those candy cigarettes. I can't light them up, but at least I can flaunt them in a Bar in New York City.

Is there no depth to which George Jr will not sink? Millions of fans tuned in to see the latest installment of American Idol tonight but instead got one sour note called George Bush. Oh those crazy Republicans!

Yes I'm a self-absorbed, social security hogging, out-of-touch fat old man who hasn't had a political thought in over a decade. But when Bush pre-empts American Idol, I get hoppin' mad! I hope he has an unfortunate wardrobe accident and the FCC punches his bullshit ticket and makes him cough up the millions it would take to actually buy this political advertising.

Better yet, why can't we have "American Political Idol"? In this suspense-filled competition, three judges would pick the candidates who sing and dance their way to the White House... oops, I guess that sounds a little too much like the current political process. Maybe instead of having the public vote, we can just turn the decision over to the judges... oops, sounds a little like the way it worked out last time.

Can we at least make the candidates eat handfuls of live mosquito larvae while dangling upside down from a helicopter? Sure would be better than what we have.

This is going to take some time, so bear with me.

A friend/associate of mine operates a very successful sales training business. I credit his success to the creative and insightful way he communicates complex material. Recently, I received his monthly newsletter that had this interesting bit of information...

""DON'T SPILL YOUR CANDY IN THE LOBBY"

"Imagine - you spend five dollars today on a box of candy at the movies! You can't wait until you get in, so you fumble to open the box and spill most of the candy on the lobby floor before you even get through the doors to your seat. It ends up that you have only a few pieces of candy left to get you through the picture.î Don't you just hate it?"

OK, compelling enough to get my attention and make me keep reading, but what about the 5-second rule? It appears to be my day for dispelling/proving myths (see this post from earlier today) and I found this interesting article which apparently proves that in many instances, the 5-second rule is not a myth but has some grain of truth. Frankly, it looks like a job for Mythbusters

Unfortunately, I think the rule should be applied with descretion... 'cuz, if I drop something on the theater floor, it's going to be there a heck of a lot longer than 5 seconds... which in fact, seems to explain where that primordial goo comes from on cinema floors.

I feel better now.

Your mother was right! There seems to be some emperical evidence that Baby Boomers are indeed (ahem)a "self-serving" bunch. According to this article, we're going blind at an alarming rate.

And you thought you could stop when you needed glasses!

USA Today "Studies foresee increased vision loss among boomers."

Perhaps if we'd had WebMD when we were teenagers, we wouldn't be going blind now. Note, they dispell the hairy palms myth, but not a word about going blind. I think this is a confirmation by ommission!

Found this article in The Age, from Australia, the other country as obsessed with baby boomers as the US. So--for all you Gen-whatevers and 'I-couldn't-possibly-be-a-baby-boomers' out there, let's remember that the genesis for all this labelling is the the commercial world's need to pigeonhole all of us into neat market segments.

I'm particularly disturbed by the Dean Martin hand puppet. I always thought it was Jack Daniels was controlling his every move; now I know the truth.

Disturbing Auctions is a pallette of the auction absurd.

Here's the site description:

"A lot of people have discovered that they can make a little extra money by auctioning off on the internet those extra knick-knacks they have lying around. After all, as the saying goes, one person's trash is another's treasure.

But sometimes, trash is just trash.

This site is dedicated to the research and study of the most bizarre items found for sale on internet auction sites. Not the obviously fake auctions, like the infamous human kidney, but truly tacky stuff that people really, honestly, believed that someone would (and in some cases did) buy."

Well, aren't we lucky, at least those Boomers who live in the Albany, New York area. According to The Business Review, you are about to get Boom, a new 'feature-oriented monthly newspaper' aimed at baby boomers. According to the article, the magazine will be taking a 'how to age gracefully approach.' Are we supposed to want to age gracefully? Looking forward to hearing from those of you in the capitol New York area about the usefulness (or lack of) of Boom.

While I'm on the subject, apparently a Chicago-based company is about to launch a 24-hour national comedy cable network targeting baby boomers. According to The Indianapolis Star Online, the programming will be a mix of live shows from around the country and vintage shows, movies, and stand-up routines.

Pardon my cynicism, but are we looking at just two more ways to separate us from our paychecks? What's next? Boomer cable news that only runs news stories from the 60's and 70's?