Miles to Go Before I Sleep

[purejuice]

I just wanted to say I am shocked at how little people lay in stores for forty years of old age. It is a serious problem, and not just for us as individuals

Comments

Impeachment

[bobby1933]

I think somebody in the U.S. Senate (Barry Sanders, maybe) would have to initiate a Bill of Impeachment, and then the House of Representatives would have to have a trial. (Or maybe it is the other way around.)

Re: Impeachment

[purejuice]

keep me posted, thank you.

Re: Impeachment

[bobby1933]

Roberts is, i think, a member of the Federalist Society. It sounds good, all about "freedom" and such, but actually it is a device to try to reverse any laws that might inhibit the wealthy from increasing their wealth. The "citizens united" decision, which endorses the right of the wealthy to buy elections does seem to me to be an act of treason. Roberts decided the case in a way that would benefit him and his rich friends rather than the United States. His colleagues Thomas, Alioto, and Scalia could possibly be charged with the same offense. Kennedy also voted with the majority (created the majority, actually) but i think that he honestly tries to decide cases on their merits. What happened this time? I don't know.

Re: Impeachment

[purejuice]

i am flashing on the federalist society as a kind of professional fraternity young cons must join to receive any kind of federal juridical appointment. you present papers, as i recall, and are judged and Seen by those in a position to recommend you for federal judgeships.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/01/politics/politicsspecial1/01federalist.html?hp&ex=1122955200&en=ff469c745ac0f1a4&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[bobby1933]

It is the other way around. Only the House can impeach, and the trial is in the Senate. You could not impeach the court, but only its individual members. You would first have to determine what crimes each individual has committed. treason being the most serious. Was the "Citizens United" decision an act of treason? I think so. I think that was a five to four decision split exactly as one might expect. So i would start with one of the five. Roberts. i think.

[purejuice]

i don't know what the legal def of treason is, but if it is stealing the government from the people and turning it over to private oligarchs, the roberts court qualifies.

[villagecharm]

We should have let Roosevelt smash the court when we had the chance. Now nine magical priests get to determine the laws for 300 million people, because of their ability to necromantically communicate with the authors of the Constitution.

Did you read the NY Times Magazine story on the agonies of having a mentally ill 69-year-old father and essentially no infrastructure outside of jail to take care of him? I can't believe that anyone looks at the health care system in this country and says, "That is exactly how things are supposed to work."

[purejuice]

yeah i did. these stories are getting increasingly difficult for me to read. the only way i got thru my own inferno was by strictly not thinking about it.

[villagecharm]

It was chilling, because everything about it reminded me of the situation for people with mental illness in West Virginia. I had assumed a large part of that was lack of resources - depending on how you measure it, West Virginia is the poorest state in the country, but by any measure among the poorest - but to see the exact same situation in New Jersey is incredibly depressing.

[purejuice]

i have been pondering, since a nurse i was working with on clinic defense (sorry) told me about it, that beginning in 1981, saint elizabeth's, the mega public mental health hosp in d.c., home of ezra pound and the reagan assassin, reduced its number of beds from 27,000 to 3,000.
one reason for the plethora of homeless people, one third of whom (according to ancient stats whose source was reliable at the time) are former fulltime mental patients.
it is unconscionable, that with or without resources (per NJ vs. WVA), our most vulnerable citizens are completely not cared for.
i remember your collection of empty victorian asylums.

"I just wanted to say I am shocked at how little people lay in stores for forty years of old age."

[franklanguage]

I take it you mean people should be preparing for the inevitable by investing and saving? Or trying to change a system that's clearly broken?

I realized a few years ago I'd have to take care of myself-simply because I was bound to end up living longer than I want to. (Having escaped death at 19, I saw I wasn't getting off the hook that easy.) About ten years ago, I quit all dairy, and a few weeks after that, all meat. Although I still consider it an experiment, it seems to be one of the best decisions I ever made. I still eat too much sugar, and I still have health problems, but all in all I'm not unhappy with how things are going.

I have no money to fall back on, so this is of critical importance; the longer I can maintain my independence, the better. And I still mark my 30 years of living in New York as being the only true measure of success I have.

Re: "I just wanted to say I am shocked at how little people lay in stores for forty years of old age

[purejuice]

money as well as resilience, of which you seem to have quite a store.

[auntysocial]

The other crazy thing is how people over 50 have such a hard time finding employment these days. It would make more sense to keep people employed longer, but at a slower pace.

[purejuice]

people over 35 are having trouble. but the over 50 problem is terrible.