Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Out with the Old, In with the Crazies

Recently eaten: chicken with cashew nuts
Recent annoyance: that froggy thing in your throat in the morning

Last night during the State of the Union, President Bush addressed two of the most dangerous problems looming over the United States in 2006: baby boomers and unemployed people. He pinpointed social security reform, and the continued health of the U.S. economy as vital to the success America as a whole. Either side of the aisle would stand up for that. Check out this evidence to convince you that the unemployed and old people are gumming up the works...especially unemployed old people.

NY subways hit more people when economy is bad
"In bad economic times, more people in New York City get hit by subway trains.

The unemployed and mentally impaired are the most likely to be struck, a new study reveals, and the number of incidents depends on how well the city is doing economically.

Researchers from the New York University Medical Center reviewed the cases of 208 patients who were treated at New York City's Bellevue Hospital from 1990 to 2003 after being struck by subways.

Perhaps surprisingly, most of the patients suffered relatively minor injuries, such as bruises and scratches or the loss of a finger or toe.

"About half the patients went home right away," said study leader Amber Guth, a professor of surgery at the center.

But a quarter of the patients had at least one arm or leg amputated and one person lost all four limbs. The limbs were either severed by the train itself or were so mangled that they had to be amputated. About 10 percent of the patients died in the hospital from their injuries.

Eighty percent of the patients were male and the average age was about 39 years old.

Most at risk

The study found that subway injuries were associated with the city's rates of unemployment and homelessness.

The highest number of subway injuries occurred during the early and late years of the study when the city's economy was weak. From 2000 to 2003, 25 of 56 patients treated were unemployed, and one quarter of the injuries came from suicide attempts.

Between 1994 and 2000, a period of economic improvement, accident rates declined.

The study also indicates that a high percentage of those involved in subway injuries were mentally impaired. Of the surviving patients, about 35 percent of them were discharged to psychiatric or rehabilitation services.

"People who are injured often are very marginal people, with less economic resources and a lot of psychiatric issues," Guth said."

Hasn't New York suffered from enough terrorism? Now the aimless and despondent must impose their dark suffering on regular, hard-working employed citizens. It's enough to want to jump off a subway platform.

When grannies turn evil
"Crimes committed by elderly people in Japan have risen sharply in the past 15 years, a trend that has officials worried as the population ages rapidly due to longer lifespans and a falling birth rate.

Police data shows that people aged 65 and older accounted for more than 10 percent of those arrested or taken into custody for crimes other than traffic violations in Japan in 2005, compared with just 2.2 percent in 1990, the Asahi newspaper said, citing National Police Agency data.

Theft topped the list of crimes committed by the elderly in 2005, while 141 elderly people were arrested for murder - more than three times the number in 1990, the newspaper said.

Nearly one-third of the victims of crimes committed by the elderly in 2005 were spouses, it added.

Agency officials would not confirm the report, which also said the Justice Ministry was seeking funds to research the problem.

In March, an 81-year-old man arrested on suspicion of strangling his 73-year-old wife said he had killed her after a quarrel over food she had prepared, Asahi said.

Nearly one in five Japanese is aged 65 or older, and the ratio is expected to rise to one in four over the next decade as policy makers struggle to deal with a demographic shift that could deal a heavy blow to the economy."

Maybe we should send all our unemployed people to watch over the elderly Japanese before I'm fighting off a little grampa-san wielding a rusty samurai sword. I mean, I thought they would all be happy traveling in packs around the world in those giant tour buses?

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