Author Archives: Editor (Retired)

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About Editor (Retired)

Newsman, blogger, editor, writer (and no longer young).

Princess Lola

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I hear that you can get rich quick by simply posting photos of cats on your blog. With that in mind, please welcome Lola, the nocturnal wonder-cat. Can you believe those long, white whiskers?

It can be frustrating, trying to get a good photo of a black cat or dog, and Lola doesn’t help. I think she is a little bit camera shy. Lola is black as ink, with four white paws and a white belly, and green eyes. With the help of iPhoto, these photos have been digitally enhanced so you can actually see her against that blue dog blanket. (She doesn’t know I got the blanket for a dog, so please don’t tell her.)

What Lola does best is sleep. She is a world-class sleeper, and I’m not talking catnaps. She’s practicing to be a consultant on sleep disorders. Lola gets up in the morning when I do. After eating breakfast, she curls up and goes right to sleep, and snoozes through most of the day. Late at night (or more likely, early morning), when I’m trying to fall asleep, Lola is prowling around in the dark. My apartment is small, but she never tires of exploring. There are even small spaces here that she hasn’t gotten around to trying out. Small spaces are one of Lola’s favorite things.

Sleeping, eating, and small spaces. That about exhausts the list of Lola’s interests. If she has a hobby, it’s going out on the screened porch to listen to the birds, or swat at the moths. I really have to get her on an exercise program. She’s age four, in the prime of life, and if I can persuade her to shed a few pounds, she will easily live another 10 years, or more. Right this moment, Lola is perched precariously but serenely on a narrow window sill, listening to the summer rain. It’s kinda hard to tell if she’s awake or asleep.

One more thing about Lola. She is a talker, with a vocabulary for all occasions. Lola has a word for “Hey, you!” and others for greeting, contentment, surprise, curiosity. Lola’s favorite subject is food. I believe she can say “Feed me,” in five languages, including French and Chinese.

After an hour or so of late-night exploring, Lola settles down at the foot of my bed. (Lola sleeps wherever she wants. During the day, my favorite chair. At night, on the bed. Only thing I ask is that she avoid walking across my stomach more than twice a night.) Lola sleeps sporadically, at night. Mostly, she lies awake, with her head up, meditating on the middle distance. Either that, or she’s working complicated mathematics problems in her head.

Politics, 2010

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If you’re puzzling out the political trends for the 2010 election season, you could watch today’s primary results. But perhaps more telling as a leading political indicator is the recent election result in Iceland.

Jon Taplin, an astute observer of what he calls the “political interregnum,” takes note of the unexpected turn elections can take, when voters are just plain fed up.

“What is so interesting about Iceland, . . .  is the spirit of renewal in the air . . .   They have suffered from the excesses of the boom, just like we did, but they are determined to get on with the future and not just argue about the past.”

You can read Jon’s post here. It’s a short post, but must reading for U.S. politicians and engaged voters.

Hmm. I wonder what the cost of living is in Iceland.

Oil, Water, Sin

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What has gone wrong with the world? Good grief, where did we fail? How did we fall so far?

If I’m going to blog, I may as well try to tell the truth. There’s oil gushing from a hole in the bottom of the ocean floor. It’s a horror movie come true.

The mob screamed for government to get out of the way, free corporate capitalism to give us unimagined wealth. Now, the mob screams for government to do something. How ironic that the same people who fumed that Obama’s health care reform put us on the road to socialized medicine are now furious because Obama  won’t nationalize BP. Seems to me that Obama is doing a good job by keeping his head when all about him other people are losing their’s.

 

No oil in the water at my part of the Atlantic Ocean. Yet.

 

Oil keeps gushing, more and more every day. It’s washing up on the beaches. Government, save us. David Broder writes that the BP oil spill will be Barack Obama’s Iranian hostage crisis.  The President! Why doesn’t the president do something? Why won’t he send in the military? “Give us Barrabas!” This could come straight from the Bible, or from “Lord of the Flies.”  Get the president! He’s smart, he looks different, he doesn’t care.  He won’t stop the oil leak! “Crucify him!”

The nuns used to say that trouble in the world is the result of sinfulness, the cumulative worldwide weight of our small sins of omission and commission. Maybe the nuns were on to something. If so, I would trace our predicament to all our cumulative sins of greed. Or perhaps worship of false idols.

Now, it is common to talk of corruption, not sin. Corruption in government, corruption in business, corruption in bureaucracy. Government, business and bureaucracy, of course, are made up of individual human beings. Right now, the blame police are examining every omission and commission associated with the oil spill, in an effort to name the sins, or to expose a culture of corruption in BP and government agencies.

(While we ponder corruption and sin, I think we should also remember that possibly it is not sin or corruption, but human mistakes, unintended errors of omission and commission. I would even suggest one last, unlikely possibility, that the oil spill is an accident or an act of nature that was unpreventable.)

In the case of government dysfunction, my neighbor at Lost On The Shore suggests we are all responsible:

“You see, we either want things that are opposite of each other, or things that are impossible or we don’t know what we want . . .

Our politicians can’t solve our problems for us because we want it both ways and we don’t want to compromise.”

I agree with his analysis. We want too much, or we want what we cannot have.  I hope  we repent and change. We can reform our values. We can change the way we live. We can, if we have the will, refuse to tolerate corruption. We should do it for ourselves, and for our children and grandchildren.

— John Hayden

Memorial Day Thoughts, 2010

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SOLDIER AT ATTENTION ON THE BOARDWALK AT OCEAN CITY, MD, MEMORIAL DAY, 2010.

Faith Of Our Fathers

My father was born in 1920. He was a teenager in the Depression, and a young adult at the start of World War II. He was a skinny young man, to tell the truth.  All of 5-foot-7, maybe 120 pounds, and one arm shorter than the other, believed to have been stunted by polio as an infant. He called it, “My bum arm.”

A CLOSER VIEW OF THE SOLDIER. HE IS A REAL LIVE MAN, STANDING IN THE SUN, WITH SKIN AND UNIFORM PAINTED GOLD.

My father’s name is Bernard John Hayden, Sr.  He was drafted and went for the Army physical. Hundreds of young men lined up, buck naked, in an armory, and went from doctor to doctor around the floor. One doc made sure their heart was beating, another made sure they could see, and so on, like an assembly line. The nation was on wartime footing, and government in those days was efficient.

Last stop on the assembly line was the doctor who made the final decisions. He looked at the reports from the other docs, and looked my father up and down. It must have been painfully obvious that this young man with the bum arm was not promising soldier material.

The head doctor said to my father: “So what’ll it be? In or out?” He was letting the draftee make the decision.

Everyone was going into the Army, and my father didn’t want to be exempted from service.The one-word answer was “In,” and just that fast the choice was made.

In due time, my father was stationed at the Panama Canal. It was possibly the most strategic transportation target in the world. Perhaps surprisingly, the Germans and the Japanese never attacked. Probably they were otherwise occupied in Europe and the Pacific. But I like to think that my father and his friends, on guard in the tropical heat of the Canal Zone, prevented an enemy attack by their willingness to serve. They were America’s “Greatest Generation.”

I CALL THIS LADY IN SILVER “MS. LIBERTY.” SHE IS STANDING ON THE BOARDWALK, SOMETIMES GRACIOUSLY GIVING HER HAND TO PASSERS-BY.

At Holy Savior Church Saturday afternoon, the priest dispensed with his normal homily, but spoke for a few minutes about Memorial Day.  We would not be free this weekend, the priest said, except for God and America’s veterans.

At the end of Mass, the priest asked all veterans present to stand and be recognized.  I have to report that fewer than 20 percent of the congregation stood, and they were mostly older men and women. Times have changed, and in the America of 2010, military service is no longer a universal duty. I don’t know if that is a step forward or a step back, if the goal is peace.

Two widely quoted, relevant statements by great men:

“He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples.  They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.”

— Isaiah chapter 2; verse 4 (written about 742-735 B.C.)

“I am tired of fighting . . . Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.”

— Chief Joseph, Nez Perce Indians, Oct. 5, 1877, at Bears Paw, Montana

So many questions, blowin’ in the wind . . .

— John Hayden

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Social Security at 62, Because You Never Know What Might Happen Next

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I didn’t wake up yesterday knowing I’d have the opportunity to take a picture of a Studebaker pickup truck. I didn’t even know that Studebaker MADE pickup trucks.

See, you never know what you might learn on any given day, and you never know what might happen next. Expect the unexpected. So here’s this shiny burgundy Studebaker pickup waiting for me in the church parking lot.

Which leads to the point of this post. Life is too short to waste it writing only serious blog posts. Going forward, I will give priority to posts and photos that make me smile. Or that surprise me with the unexpected. If there’s any time left over, I might write something serious.

Perhaps this editorial policy will make Life After 60 a more interesting blog, while not losing sight of the reality that ordinary Americans might still be making an unscheduled crash landing in a storm of economic change.

I see this concept of writing the fun posts first as a sign of maturity. Delayed gratification has its place. But since I’m an over-sixty Baby Boomer, and I’m not flying as high as I used to, it seems like a perfectly mature and logical decision to eat dessert first.

To put it another way, since I’m losing altitude, it makes perfect sense to start collecting Social Security at age 62. The economy being what it is, and with age discrimination being a fact of life, it’s not surprising that Social Security at 62 is a trend among my generation (folks who are old enough to remember, with a smile, the Studebaker, the Edsel, and the Rambler.)

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT FOR THE AUTUMN OF LIFE -- EAT DESSERT FIRST.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT FOR THE AUTUMN OF LIFE — EAT DESSERT FIRST.

A Good Week: A New Cell Phone, and A New Cat

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Some weeks are better than others, and the week just ending was one of the good ones.

I finally traded in my antique cell phone for a modern phone that takes pictures. (No, I have not advanced to an iPhone. The entry price and the monthly charges are not in my austerity budget. Besides, I’m not ready for a phone that’s smarter than I am.)  The old phone goes to the Smithsonian.

Much more importantly this week, I rescued a cat! Doesn’t that sound noble? Or maybe the cat rescued me? To be truthful, the actual rescue was accomplished by a neighbor. I was merely the beneficiary of serendipity.

I’d been wanting to add a dog or cat to my small household, but was  too lazy or too indecisive to get around to it.  I’d postponed it to the fall, after the busy season at this seaside resort, where I rent low-cost year-round housing. Long story short, had I gone  to the animal shelter, I would have found dozens of worthy cats, and been wracked by indecision and guilt. Also, the shelters charge a fee to cover vet expenses. My neighbor is much more generous. My homeless cat was delivered free, with a starter kit of food and cat litter. (And as they say in this rural area where felines are plentiful and popular: “Who BUYS a cat??”)

There were two sister cats, four years old. The goal was to keep them together, but how many people are looking to adopt TWO extra cats. So Lola, the quiet, timid one, came to live with me. We are getting along famously.

Where’s the picture? As you may know, black cats and black dogs are difficult to photograph. And as you may have suspected, I haven’t quite mastered the cell-phone camera.

You’ll have to take my word for it that Lola is the kind of black cat with green eyes that usually gets named “Midnight.” Good thing the previous owner had already selected “Lola.” She is pretty and sweet, though slightly overweight. She’s all black, except for long, white whiskers, a white patch on her throat, and one white foot.

This post is what TV and radio news people call a “teaser.”  If you come back tomorrow, or the next day, you might find a picture of lovely Lola. — John Hayden

American Values: Who Could Sing It Better Than Mary Travers

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Public Television broadcast a classic concert by “Peter, Paul, and Mommy” (aka Peter, Paul, and Mary) over the weekend.

PP&M topped off the concert with their three all-time-favorite American folk songs:

  • “If I Had A Hammer”
  • “Blowing In The Wind”
  • “This Land Is Your Land”

As the last notes echoed, Mary Travers delivered the trio’s classic statement of American values:

“The answer is still Peace, Justice, and Equality, and all of us working for those things together.”

That was the signature close at the grand finale of PP&M concerts.

It would also be a good rallying cry for the Baby Boomer generation, to keep us focused and centered on core American values during the crazy 2010 election year, and all the unsettled years ahead.

— John Hayden

BP Offshore Oil Disaster Is A Game-Changing Event

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The mile-deep gusher at BP’s offshore oil well in the Gulf of Mexico has ended President Barack Obama’s proposal for new offshore oil drilling, just as surely as the collapse of the stock market, and the housing and credit bubbles, snuffed out President George W. Bush’s plan to invest Social Security funds in the stock market.

In the wake of the BP oil disaster, thousands of people chanting “Drill baby, drill,” would seem surreal.

Thus are presidential policy options narrowed by unpredictable forces.  Leaders deal with the world as it is, not as they wish it to be.

Events not only narrow a president’s choices; events can change the direction of a president’s attention, like a river cutting a new channel. Events can force a president’s hand, as war forces a choice between guns and butter.

It is left to great men to answer the question: “What do we do now?” And then to do it well.

Great men affect history by choosing wisely among limited options. Even more, perhaps, great men affect history by thoroughness of planning and excellence of implementation. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower became great because he thoroughly planned and successfully implemented the invasion of Normandy.

George W. Bush became a bungler because he made the wrong military decision, war in Iraq.  Then he compounded the error by failing to plan and implement the war.

Abraham Lincoln made the right choices, but would he be considered a great president if he had lost the Civil War?

Now President Obama’s policy initiatives at home appear increasingly limited by political and economic realities.  I hope that events do not force the president to turn his attention to war.

— John Hayden

Fear and Anger: Walk Away From It

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Thursday, there was a whiff of panic in the air, as the Dow went through a 1,000-point intraday swing.

Friday, American eyes were locked, with a sense of “deja vu,” on the financial train wreck in Europe. The credit engine in Europe may be on the verge of seizing up, like it did in America in 2008.

This week, Greece; next week, the Continent?  Germany and France are rushing to avert crisis, but probably too late. It doesn’t help one bit that Britain woke up Friday morning with a fractured Parliament. Can the new Parliament possibly be more dysfunctional than the American Congress? And next week, strikes are scheduled in Europe.

For the average human being, this would be a good time to be far away from and fully independent of free markets; out of debt; and growing your own vegetables in dirt and fresh air. In other words, simplicity never looked so good.

Next time someone flies into a rage over a parking space or a line at the supermarket, give them plenty of room to vent. And don’t take it personally. It’s not about the parking space or the line. People are angry about events not under their control.

This would be a good weekend to go fishing, in a quiet place, far from the maddening crowd. Take along someone you like. Eat comfort food. Read a good, long book, or two short books, and call me in the morning.

— John Hayden

CAUTION: World Economic Crisis Phase II, Political and Social Upheaval

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[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=greece&iid=8708516″ src=”c/8/c/e/General_Strike_Paralyses_12da.jpg?adImageId=12763080&imageId=8708516″ width=”380″ height=”253″ /]
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Inhabitants of Spaceship Earth are suffering through an ongoing economic crisis. I say “crisis,” only because my mind cannot grasp the enormity of total worldwide economic “collapse.” Whatever you call it, we are living in a period of  economic change and dislocation.

Now begins Phase II of the crisis, in which the pain from economic dislocation begets social and political unrest. Some obvious symptoms:

  • Failure of the United States political system to compromise on universal health care, or on immigration policy.
  • Rise of the Tea Party protest movement in the U.S.
  • States in the U.S., and nations in Europe, on the brink of insolvency.
  • Rioting in Greece against government austerity measures.
  • Demonstrations in Arizona against a state crackdown on Mexican immigrants.

Unpredictable acts of nature — such as Hurricane Katrina and the volcano in Iceland — or manmade disasters — such as an offshore oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico — send shock waves through the unstable economy.

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On all sides, people remain in determined denial and resist acknowledging or sharing culpability for economic damage.  Wall Street arrogantly resists financial restrictions. Voters everywhere reject tax increases.

Social cohesion breaks down as elites withdraw, militias form, terrorism spreads. Groups and individuals protect self-interest, rather than support community interest. Social and political divisions harden, willingness to cooperate or compromise evaporates, battle lines are drawn. The governing emotions are anger, and fear.

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Economic fear could turn into panic on any given day. But perhaps the economic crisis will subside over time, and lead to needed reforms. Meanwhile, the ride will be bumpy. We may be seeing only the beginning of protests and riots. Social and political unrest might continue and intensify for a long time, possibly leading to localized violence, chaos, or anarchy.

No one can predict the future. Fasten your seatbelt and hope for the best.

— John Hayden

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