Geezers Are Still Alive in 2015

One Geezer's  New Year's hope:  May these two, and everything they
stand for, vanish from the earth for all time. 

The Geezers were brought to tears of emotion recently, as a few people have said they've actually missed seeing the ramblings of various Geezers on these pages over the last month or two. The reality is that we've been dealing with other things— family illnesses, work disruptions, business travel, etc—that have caused us to shirk our duty to the 4.65 million rabid regular readers of Old Geezers Out to Lunch. It's not that we've been jailed, or fallen ill, or have any other excuse other than middle-aged laziness.

We apologize, and want to reassure you that all Geezers are alive and well. And over the holidays we were also in frequent discussion with one another on a variety of subjects of critical social and psychological concern. While none of these discussions have yet yielded a fully conceived essay, rest assured that we haven't yet slipped into mental decrepitude and that we do continue to consider the important issues of our time with the unparalleled wisdom of the sages.

So for today, we'll simply give you a hodge-podge of recent topics one or more of the Geezers have been noodling on recently. Sooner or later, we'll get off the dime and actually discuss one or more of these at some length.

• So what gives with radical Islam?  Do they indeed have a death wish?  It's one thing to fight the good fight within the geographic boundaries of an Islamic nation—on some level, many of us can even sympathize with some of that anti-imperial sentiment.  But initiating attacks in London, Paris, Toronto etc.,  etc. seems like it only will ensure that genuine global anti-Islam xenophobia ensues. The strategy seems most likely to bring the utter downfall of Islam, not its triumph or even its survival. And while I really don't feel all that fond of French satirists (generally they're not very funny), in this case I actually find myself in philosophical support.  "Mohammed, Mohammed, Mohammed, Mohammed, Mohammed...."

Father Time: the original Geezer

• What is the reason that time seems to accelerate as we get older?  This has been a source of lengthy discussion recently among the core Geezers in recent days. We all seem to agree that the years seem to zip by with increasing speed the older we get...but why the hell is this so? Theories abound, certainty is nowhere at hand.

• What the heck is with all the wearable, self-absorbed technology?  Fit-Bits, Google Glasses, Apple Watches. Selfie photos produced and distributed by just about everybody under the sun. Is this another manifestation of our narcissistic times, or a necessary step along the road to becoming a man/machine cyborg species?

• How will the GOP pull themselves together? Yeah, they've retaken Congress, lock-stock and barrel. But they are still led by the orange-skinned John Boehner, who seems pretty unpopular even among fellow Republicans. And a recent NY Times discussed the fact that the presidential frontrunners—Jeb Bush and Mike Huckabee, who have genuine reasonableness in their characters—are already in the process of re-selling their souls in order to get nominated. Do we really need another quivery Democrat in office? 'Cause that's where the GOP is taking us.  Not even I'm excited about that possibility, pinko liberal though I am.

• Will the Supreme Court show some intelligence this year?  At issue is the question of the rights of gay couples, and the attitude of states like Louisiana which still, despite all logic and evidence,  believe in their rights to hold modern-day Jim Crow laws now directed at gay people.  Honestly:  in the relatively short time that many states  have now changed their laws 180-degrees, absolutely no social catastrophe has befallen us, anywhere. This is not the most courageous Supreme Court though, so stay tuned for more creative spinelessness—if not on this issue, then on the various questions regarding reproductive rights in places like Texas.

• Will Congress continue to stick its collective nose up the rear-end of Big Money?  About the only good thing to come out of the 2008-2009 economic recession was the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Since then, Congress has pretty steadily offered its bare butt whenever the investment community has whined and asked for repeal of laws requiring it to behave, well, ethically. 2008 saw us pretty damned close to complete global meltdown, and another failure to heed the lessons won't just affect huge corporations. If you have any money at all tucked away in a 401k or other investment location, can you really afford to see 40-60% of it evaporate again because Big Money returns to its greedy ways?  This is why we need people like Elizabeth Warren. Very few people in Congress have the courage to hold Wall Street accountable to the people who actually support it.

That, and more, in the weeks and months to come.