Welcome! Boomers! Run your own blog for free!

This is the main face onto the world for the Boomer Blogs site. This site is intended for Boomers, but everyone is welcome to visit and read. I want this site to be where Baby Boomers can come and run their own blogs. Use the "Contact" button at the upper left of the main page if you want to request adding your blog to our site. If you simply want to post without running a blog, please register on our Guest Blog.
 

It seems to be human nature, when arguing or discussing something, to resist changing one’s mind or altering an opinion. Being wrong about something simply means that we have the wrong information or are missing some information. No one ever purposely holds an opinion that they know is incorrect. To deceive, someone may say they hold an opinion that they know is incorrect, but part of the deception is that they do not really hold the opinion. An argument or discussion should not be about making the other person agree with you, but rather about sharing information and getting new information so that both parties to the argument can discover the truth and come to agreement.

But it seems that most people are reluctant to give up their position, and feel defeated in some manner if new information is revealed that invalidates their position. Instead, one should rejoice in the gained knowledge, and be happy that they are no longer going around defending a false position. Of course, some subjects are emotional, and those subjects are usually things that really have different desired outcomes, so the facts do not matter as much. If the differences involve what should be, as opposed as to what is the way to get to what should be, then mere facts about getting there will not be relevant. Discussions about religion and morals and values are usually like that.

 

The massive assault on on lives that are political ads during an election has begun.  I’m sitting here writing this morning and I had to get up and shut the TV off.  Nearly 100% of the commercials during the local news broadcast were political ads.  In the space of 30 minutes, I heard the same commercial five times!

There is so much wrong with how this is done that it is insane.  First and foremost, there are no validity rules being applied.  “Truth in advertising” does not extend to political ads, especially those paid for by private organizations and individuals.  And now that the US Supreme Joke (court) has perverted Freedom of Speech by giving it to corporations (thus removing limits on spending for political campaigns), the flood gates are wide open.  Voters are besieged by lies and deceptions and mud-slinging of the worst kind.  It is almost impossible for voters to become informed without doing a whole lot of research and investigation themselves.  That is something most voters do not have the time and resources to do, and something they should not have to do.

I believe that most Americans hold the right to vote as a sacred right.  It is correct to say that the right to vote comes with a obligation to become informed, but the ability of all Americans to become informed is being subverted, blocked, twisted, and manipulated on a massive scale by massive, deceptive and outright false ad campaigns, backed by big money.  There is no doubt that this is a violation of our right to vote.  The act of voting is not what this right is about.  It is about our right as Americans to choose those by whom we will be governed so that we can choose those who will better our lives.  You can take away that right either by not letting us vote, OR by deceiving us into voting against our best interests instead of for our best interests.  Freedom of speech should not, and can not, be extended to the point where it violates our right to vote.

There are several ways to fix this problem.  Some of these are practical and some are radical, but something has to be done!  First, how about changing campaign finance laws so that all private or corporate political campaign donations are designated to the race, not to the candidates?  In that way, the donations can be divided equally between the candidates, and no single candidate has the ability to lie more than the other?

Second, why can’t “truth in advertising” regulations be extended to political advertisements?  If someone trying to sell us a product or service, they cannot make claims that are blatantly false, why can politicians who are trying to sell us their services lie through their teeth?  Also, if one candidate is smeared with lies and deceptions from the other candidate, thus ruining his or her reputation and chances to be elected, why cannot that candidate sue the other for libel and/or slander?

On a more radical note, we could stop the lies and make all our television lives much better during elections if it were illegal for any candidate to talk about opposing candidates.  Simply limit their talking to be about the issues and themselves.  No more mud-slinging!  No more endless accusations and scare-tactics!  Life would be sweet!

 

4060men.com is a site that hopes to inspire and connect the millions of men in North America and around the world who find themselves single, in midlife and charting a new course for the future.

 

This is a commercial site for baby boomer T-shirts and gifts.  I found it interesting enough to include it in my blogroll.

 

I never thought much about dentists, having lost several teeth when I was young because I never went to the dentist.  I soon realized I should be going, and started regular visits in my mid-20′s.  But over the last 10 years or so, I’ve had occasion to move quite often (4 dentists in as many years), and I began to wonder about something.

Every time I go to a new dentist for the first time, during the initial examination, they seem to find a lot of work that needs to be done.  These are things that were not mentioned by my previous dentist, even if my last examination was less than 6 months in the past.  So, what does this mean?

Either my previous dentist was incompetent, or the new dentist is prescribing work that is not necessary.  I wonder how many people go to a new dentist for the first time and are NOT told they need work to be done?  Also, after I have been with the same dentist for few years, they always find something that needs to be done, even if I have not noticed anything different.

Is this standard operating procedure for dentists?  Is it a scam?

BB


 

I have been watching the television show “Fringe.” It involves an alternate universe, similar to ours, but with some differences. This got me thinking about alternate universes and time. I came to the conclusion that, if there are alternate universes, they either have to be exactly the same, or very, very different. It is highly unlikely, maybe even impossible, for two universes to be similar but not exact.

Why? Because of time. Any difference, no matter how small, will start a new time line that will multiply the differences. The more time goes by, the more the differences spread and multiply. So, in order for an alternate universe to be similar to ours (but not exact), one of two possibilities would have to exist – both of which are extremely unlikely. The first possibility is that both universes are brand new. This is obviously not the case with our universe. The other possibility is that the two universes have been identical until very recently. In other words, we just happen to live at the single point in time when the very first difference between the universes appeared. As you can see, this is also very unlikely.

BB


 

Another great boomer site!

“A web site for baby boomers with articles, resources and information tailored to health, aging, finance and retirement. We’ve been online since 1997 and have created thousands of articles written by experts in their respective fields.”

 

 

I have always worn a lot of T-shirts, mostly those with some kind of logo or design.  They seem to last a long time.  I am still wearing T-shirts that I have had for years.  I have T-shirts that represent places I have visited, places I have worked, clubs and organizations I belong to, and just randomly chosen T-shirts in near-by stores.  I have an entire collection that I used to wear under my shirt when I was working.  This collection does not have any design or logo T-shirts, but there are many different colors.

But, T-shirts in my possession have a complete 2nd life.  After they become too old, worn, or faded, they go into my rag box.  Their 2nd life is for cleaning, for wiping, and for wrapping around my head to soak up the sweat when I am working in the yard.  So, these T-shirts have an even longer life than expected.  They have a long life as a garment, and a long 2nd life as a rag.  I sure get my money’s worth!

When I pull one of these rag T-shirts out of the rag box to wrap around my head, or to use as a a cleaning cloth, often I will notice the design or logo on the shirt.  This brings back the memory of the place where I bought it, the place that I worked, or the club or organization I was a member of.  This is yet another purpose fulfilled by these garments.  In addition to clothing and cleaning rags, they are also holders of memories.  Pretty good for the lowly T-Shirt!

BB


 

I have a frozen shoulder.  This is a recurrence of a condition I had several years ago.  I know that it sounds like some kind of cut of meat for the table, but it is actually a problem where you have a lot of pain in your shoulder and arm, and you lose a lot of your range of motion.  It is also called an Encapsulated Shoulder.

The last time I had this, a month or two of physical therapy, along with nightly exercises, eventually made it go away.  So, I guess I will be repeating that experience.  There is also a possibility that a shot of cortisone would relieve the problem, by my orthopedic surgeon and I have agreed to try the therapy first.  I always lean to the side of no drugs if I can.

This does not seem to be a structural problem, or something you catch.  It has something to do with inflammation.  It is as if your shoulder just gives up and becomes lazy.  Moving your arm beyond the limited range of motion causes substantial pain, and moving within the limited range of motion, but moving too rapidly can cause the pain as well.

Evidently, moving to a warmer climate will not thaw out a frozen shoulder.

BB


 

Another nice Boomer site.

THE BABY BOOMER ERA

REDISCOVERING
Love, Intimacy, Relationships & Sex

Are You A Boomer Looking For Passionate Experiences In The Second Half Of YOUR Life?

© 2011 The Boomer Blogs Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha