Senior Women Web

Author: SeniorWomenWeb

  • Death Takes a Policy: How a Lawyer Exploited the Fine Print and Found Himself Facing Federal Charges

    by Jake Bernstein, ProPublicaJoseph Caramadre

    Rhode Island financial planner and lawyer Joseph Caramadre is the subject of a 66-count federal indictment relating to investments in variable annuities and corporate bonds. (Matthew Healey for ProPublica)

    Joseph Caramadre has spent a lifetime scouring the fine print. He’s hardwired to seek the angle, an overlooked clause in a contract that allows him to transform a company’s carelessness into a personal windfall. He calls these insights his “creations,” and he numbers them. There have been about 19 in his lifetime, he says. For example, there was number four, which involved an office superstore coupon he parlayed into enough nearly free office furniture to fill a three-car garage. Number three consisted of a sure-fire but short-lived system for winning money at the local dog track. But the one that landed him on the evening news as a suspect in a criminal conspiracy was number 18, which promised investors a unique arrangement: You can keep your winnings and have someone else cover your losses.

    Caramadre portrays himself as a modern-day Robin Hood. He’s an Italian kid from Providence, R.I., who grew up modestly, became a certified public accountant and then put himself through night school to get a law degree. He has given millions to charities and the Catholic Church. As he tells his life story, his native ability helps him outsmart a phalanx of high-priced lawyers, actuaries and corporate suits. Number 18 came to fruition, he says, when a sizeable segment of the life insurance industry ignored centuries of experience and commonsense in a heated competition for market share.

    Federal prosecutors in Rhode Island and insurance companies paint a very different picture of Caramadre: They say he’s an unscrupulous con artist who engaged in identity theft, conspiracy and two different kinds of fraud. Prosecutors contend he deceived the terminally ill to make millions for himself and his clients. For them, Caramadre’s can’t-miss investment strategy was an illusion in which he preyed on the sick and vulnerable.

    ProPublica has taken a close look at the Caramadre case because it offers a window into a larger issue: The transformation of the life insurance industry away from its traditional business of insuring lives to peddling complex financial products. This shift has not been a smooth one. Particularly during the lead up to the financial crisis, companies wrote billions worth of contracts that now imperil their financial health.

    In a series of detailed interviews, Caramadre said the companies designed the rules; all he did was exploit them. Their hunger for profits in a period of dizzying growth and competition, he contends, left them vulnerable to someone with his unusual acumen. The companies have argued in court that Caramadre is a fraud artist who should return every last dime he made. In his rulings to date, the federal judge hearing the civil cases has agreed with Caramadre’s contention that he was doing what the fine print allowed.

    The secret to Caramadre’s scheme can be glimpsed in a 2006 brochure for the ING GoldenSelect Variable Annuity. On the cover is a photo of a youthful older couple. The woman sits next to a computer, sporting a stylish haircut and wire-framed glasses. A man with graying hair and an open collared shirt, presumably her husband, is draped over her in a casual loving way. Images of happy vibrant seniors enjoying their golden years together — frolicking on the beach, laughing in chinos next to a gleaming classic car, enjoying the company of grandkids — populate the sales material for life insurance’s hottest product — the variable annuity.

    As outlined in the brochure and in countless others like it, the contracts worked this way: The smiling couple gives money to ING in return for the promise of future payments. The consumer chooses how the money is invested, usually in mutual-like funds that have stocks, bonds or money market instruments. This is the “variable” part of the equation.

  • CultureWatch: A Debut Author – The Warmth of Other Suns; DVD Tip: The Forsyte Saga

    In This Issue: 

    The stories of these individual three lives involved in “The Great Migration” are brilliantly told in The Warmth of Other Suns  and serve to soften and humanize the long, carefully researched story Isabel Wilkerson has to tell.  The DVD Tip, The Forsyte Saga  reminds us just how compelling and sexy the Victorian and 1920 eras can be. Can a new production of  Trollope’s The Pallisers be far behind?

    Books

    THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS
    by Isabel Wilkerson
    Published by Vintage Books/A division of Random House; © 2010; Paperback: 538 ppMigration North

    This book is an ambitious undertaking, and as a bulky volume, its 538 pages may look a bit intimidating for those who are used to slimmer, more easily-handled paperbacks. I offered to loan my copy to a young black woman I know, but she took one look at its bulk and said:  “No thanks; it’s too long.” It took a good bit of persuasion to convince her to give it a try, but three days later, she called to say:  “Thank you. You were right. I have scarcely put it down. I’ve hardly even checked Facebook since I opened the cover.”

    I suspect that the bit about Facebook bit was hyperbole, but I know what she was trying to say. The Warmth of Other Suns is the kind of book that grabs you right at the start, and involves you so completely that you don’t want to put it down. It is, however, a good idea to do so, giving time for absorption and reflection before the next diving-in. Occasionally while I was reading it, I found myself on overload, and in need of a couple of days’ breather before dipping back in — but I was always eager to do so after a short break. “Information overload” may sound off-putting, but in this case, it was a matter of information processing, and what followed was always well worth my return to the story.

    The book is a study of a movement that Wilkerson calls “The Great Migration,” which occurred during the period from, roughly, 1915 to 1970. The migrants to whom she refers were American blacks who fled from the South, seeking relief from segregation and the Jim Crow laws. During those years, approximately 6 million people moved north and west, seeking better lives for themselves and their children.

    According to Wilkerson’s meticulous research, following the Civil War, Negroes were granted civil rights, and could vote, own land, and attend schools. It took until 1880 for the first Jim Crow laws to be passed, essentially wiping out all the gains that had been made for the freed slaves. Ms. Wilkerson’s description of those laws is hard for the modern sensibility to credit, but having briefly experienced southern Mississippi in 1958, this reviewer can attest to the author’s veracity. I remember being dumbfounded by the “Whites Only” signs and distressed by the sight of Negroes walking along country roads with their feet wrapped in rags.

    Painting: During World War I there was a great migration north by southern Negroes by Jacob Lawrence, 1917-2000. National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland

  • We Have Another Five Years? Underestimating Longevity and Working in Retirement

    With life expectancy rates on the rise, more than half of retirees and pre-retirees underestimate the age to which a person of his or her age and gender can expect to live, which can have significant implications on retirement planning, according to a new report from the Society of Actuaries (SOA). Of the respondents with financial concerns, many indicated they planned to work in retirement.white picket fence ideal in retirement

    Among the findings in the SOA report about working in retirement 35 percent of pre-retirees surveyed do not expect to retire, up from 29 percent in 2009. 

    This SOA highlights report illustrates findings on longevity from the “2011 Risks and Process of Retirement Survey Report,” such as approximately four in 10 underestimate their life expectancy by five or more years. 

    “Underestimation of life expectancy, combined with having too short of a planning horizon can result in inadequate funds for retirement needs,” said actuary and retirement expert Cindy Levering, ASA, MAAA, EA. “There is a general misunderstanding of what ‘average life expectancy’ means, and when people are told they will live to an age such as 80 or 85, they don’t realize that this means there is a 50 percent chance that they could live past that age.”

    Life spans continue to increase, according to the SOA report. In the past half-century, life expectancy for newborn American males improved by an average of almost two years each decade, from 66.6 years in 1960 to 75.7 years by 2010. For females, the average increase was about 1.5 years per decade, from 73.1 years in 1960 to 80.8 years by 2010.

    The SOA figures show that males have a 40 percent chance and females have more than a 50 percent chance of living to age 85 (if they reach age 65 and are in average health). 

    “Underestimation of life expectancy increases the chances that retirees and pre-retirees will exhaust all resources other than Social Security, while it may also discourage using life annuities,” Levering said. “While purchasing life annuities is not an absolute  guarantee, it is one strategy to reduce the risk of outliving financial resources.”

    Although the majority of retirees and pre-retirees believe they will live into their 80s, a comparison of respondents’ estimates of their own life expectancy and the life expectancy of the overall population shows:

    • 54 percent of retirees do not believe they will live as long as the average person their age and sex.
    • 31 percent of retirees cite a life expectancy that is longer than the population average.
    • 46 percent of pre-retirees think they will live below the population average, while
    • 41 percent of pre-retirees believe they will live longer than an average person of their age and sex.

    Despite the misconception surrounding personal life expectancy, most retirees (64 percent) and pre-retirees (72 percent) say they would be very or somewhat likely to reduce their expenditures significantly if they were to live five years longer than expected. 

    Retirees say they typically look five years (median) into the future, while pre-retirees typically look 10 years (median) ahead when making important financial decisions

    Although the majority of pre-retirees as well as retirees say the desire to stay active and engaged is a reason to work in retirement (with 89 percent of pre-retirees planning to work and 77 percent of retirees already working in retirement), financial concerns also play a critical role in the decision. In fact, more than four in 10 pre-retirees, who do not expect to retire, say it is because they are financially unable to do so (45 percent). 

    Photo by Ed Schipul, Wikimedia Commons: Point Judith, Rhode Island

  • The Century of the Child: Contributions of women as architects, designers, teachers, critics, and social activists

    “Our age cries for personality, but it will ask in vain, until we allow them to have their own will, think their own thoughts, work out their own knowledge, form their own judgements; or, to put the matter briefly, until we cease to suppress the raw material of personality in schools, vainly hoping later on in life to revive it again.”
    — Ellen Key, Century of the Child (1900, p. 232)Montessori materials

    The Museum of Modern Art presents Century of the Child: Growing by Design, 1900–2000, an ambitious survey of 20th-century design for children and the first large-scale overview of the modernist preoccupation with children and childhood as a paradigm for progressive design thinking, now to November 5, 2012.

    The exhibition brings together over 500 items, over half of which are on loan from institutions and individuals in the US and abroad, and many of which are on view for the first time in the US. Ranging from urban-planning projects to small design objects by celebrated designers and lesser-known figures, the exhibit brings together a number of areas underrepresented in design history: school architecture, playgrounds, toys and games, animation, clothing, safety equipment and therapeutic products, nurseries, furniture, and books.

    The exhibition additionally extends MoMA’s commitment to highlighting the contributions of women as architects, designers, teachers, critics, and social activists, a commitment which was also foregrounded in MoMA’s recent Modern Women’s Project, a series of exhibitions, events, and a publication that focused on the contributions of women throughout the Museum’s history. Century of the Child is organized by Juliet Kinchin, Curator, and Aidan O’Connor, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Architecture and Design, The Museum of Modern Art.

    In 1900, Swedish design reformer and social theorist Ellen Key published Century of the Child, a manifesto for change — social, political, aesthetic, and psychological — that presented the universal rights and well-being of children as the defining mission of the century to come. Taking inspiration from Key — and looking back through the 20th century 100 years later — this exhibition examines individual and collective visions for the material world of children, from utopian dreams for the “citizens of the future” to the dark realities of political conflict and exploitation. In this period children have been central to the concerns, ambitions, and activities of modern architects>and designers, and working specifically for children has often provided unique freedom and creativity to the avant-garde. 

    Century of the Child is organized in seven roughly chronological sections in MoMA’s sixthfloor exhibition gallery, exploring different themes through a mix of design type, material, scale, and geographical representation.Design for a Children's room

    The first section covers the period from 1900 through World War I. For many designers, writers, and reformers at the turn of the 20th century, children were the living symbol of the sweeping changes that ushered in the birth of the modern. Leading designers and intellectuals, many of them women, in emergent artistic centers in Europe and the United States — from Chicago to Glasgow, Rome, Vienna, and Budapest — took up the cause of children’s rights, welfare, and education.

    New visual languages informed by the Arts and Crafts movement and Art Nouveau — together known as the New Art — helped break down distinctions between design,  architecture, and art, catalyzing a reformed and integrated approach to all areas of children’s experience. These aesthetic roots coalesced with the kindergarten movement, in which a new emphasis was placed on the child’s enjoyment of the creative process and an intuitive investigation of materials and abstract form.

    (1) Teaching materials commissioned by Maria Montessori. 1920s;  Wood. Manufactured by Baroni e Marangon, Gonzaga, Italy (est. 1911). Collection of Maurizio Marzadori , Bologna

    (2) Mariska Undi (Hungarian, 1877–1959). Design for children’s room, 1903; Lithograph. Published by the Hungarian Ministry of Culture in Mintalapok (1903), New folio 1 (IX), no. 1, sheet 2. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase

  • One Woman’s Reaction: US Representative Todd Akin on Rape and Pregnancy

    by Julia Sneden

     “It seems to be, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, it’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down.”

    —   US Rep. Todd Akin

     Missouri House Representative Akin made his now-infamous remarks about the connection between rape and pregnancy while insisting on banning abortion at any stage and for any reason. He has since offered the explanation that he simply “misspoke,” using the wrong word. He has not changed his opinion at all about the heart of the issue. Given his record, one would not expect him to do so. Herewith, one woman’s reaction to the brouhaha:

                                        —————————————————-

    When, for heaven’s sake, is rape ever “legitimate?” It is an illegal act.

    If the female body in question fails in its efforts “to shut the whole thing down” as Akin so blithely remarks, does this imply (a) that there has been a catastrophic failure on the part of that body (oh, let’s blame the female)? Or does it mean that the woman secretly enjoyed the rape? Or, worse yet, perhaps she was “asking for it” in the first place, and therefore the body went along with the idea even if she didn’t want a child? Oh, please!

    Mr. Akin’s obvious lack of knowledge about the workings of the female reproductive system is pathetic. Did he never take a biology class?  

    According to a study that has been cited by the US Centers for Disease Control, 5% of women who have been raped become pregnant. This possibility occurs only during the two or three days a month when they are fertile. For 9/10 of the month, they can be raped and NOT conceive. Talk about slight comfort… 

    Think about the fact that 5% statistic comes from the number of reported rapes. It’s anyone’s guess how many rapes with resultant pregnancies go unreported, whether because of the effectiveness of the “morning after” pill, or simply from fear and shame. Five per cent of  pregnancies reported from rape sounds relatively small, until one considers that 5% of raped women equals a staggering 32,000 women per year who are faced with the decision of whether or not to carry and bear the child of a rapist.

    Considering his ineptitude with the English language, it is tempting to question Mr. Akin’s education altogether, although he is listed as having graduated from both high school and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.  He certainly does not speak like an educated man.

    He announced, via Twitter, that he “felt deep empathy” for the victims of rape. Empathy means feeling with. I can only assume he meant sympathy, which means feeling sorry for or about — but even that connotes at least being able to understand another’s feelings. Unless he becomes female, he cannot possibly feel WITH a raped woman, whether or not she then becomes pregnant.

  • Entering College Class of 2016: They have never needed an actual airline “ticket,” a set of bound encyclopedias, or Romper Room

    This year’s entering college class of 2016 was born into cyberspace and they have therefore measured their output in the fundamental particles of life: bits, bytes, and bauds. They have come to political consciousness during a time of increasing doubts about America’s future, and are entering college bombarded by questions about jobs and the value of a college degree. They have never needed an actual airline “ticket,” a set of bound encyclopedias, or Romper Room.

    Members of this year’s freshman class, most of them born in 1994, are probably the most tribal generation in history and they despise being separated from contact with friends. They prefer to watch television everywhere except on a television, have seen a woman lead the US State Department for most of their lives, and can carry school books — those that are not on their e-Readers — in backpacks that roll. 

    The class of 2016 was born the year of the professional baseball strike and the last year for NFL football in Los Angeles. They have spent much of their lives helping their parents understand that you don’t take pictures on “film” and that CDs and DVDs are not “tapes.” Those parents have been able to review the crime statistics for the colleges their children have applied to and then pop an Aleve as needed. In these students’ lifetimes, with MP3 players and iPods, they seldom listen to the car radio. A quarter of the entering students already have suffered some hearing loss. Since they’ve been born, the United States has measured progress by a 2 percent jump in unemployment and a 16-cent rise in the price of a first class postage stamp.

    Each August since 1998, Beloit College has released the Beloit College Mindset List, providing a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall. The list  was originally created as a reminder to faculty to be aware of dated references. 

    The Mindset List for the Class of 2016Hillary Clinton

    For this generation of entering college students, born in 1994, Kurt Cobain, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Richard Nixon and John Wayne Gacy have always been dead.

    1. They should keep their eyes open for Justin Bieber or Dakota Fanning at freshman orientation.
    2. They have always lived in cyberspace, addicted to a new generation of “electronic narcotics.”
    3. The Biblical sources of terms such as “Forbidden Fruit,” “The writing on the wall,” “Good Samaritan,” and “The Promised Land” are unknown to most of them.
    4. Michael Jackson’s family, not the Kennedys, constitutes “American Royalty.”
    5. If they miss The Daily Show, they can always get their news on YouTube. 
    6. Their lives have been measured in the fundamental particles of life: bits, bytes, and bauds.
    7. Robert De Niro is thought of as Greg Focker’s long-suffering father-in-law, not as Vito Corleone or Jimmy Conway.
    8. Bill Clinton is a senior statesman of whose presidency they have little knowledge.
    9. They have never seen an airplane “ticket.”
    10. On TV and in films, the ditzy dumb blonde female generally has been replaced by a couple of Dumb and Dumber males. 
    11. The paradox “too big to fail” has been, for their generation, what “we had to destroy the village in order to save it” was for their grandparents’.
    12. For most of their lives, maintaining relations between the US and the rest of the world has been a woman’s job in the State Department.
    13. They can’t picture people actually carrying luggage through airports rather than rolling it.
    14. There has always been football in Jacksonville but never in Los Angeles.

  • Shopping With The Irresistibles: Spoon Sisters and One King’s Lane

    We discovered One King’s Lane not long ago and although we’ve sworn off daily emails from any shopping sources, we have to admit that we lost our resolve with this site.

    The Vintage and Market Finds category fell into that irresistible category because it saved us time from attending flea markets and antique stores. And, the prices seem reasonable. The site also gives you a time limit of a few days when prices hold or items are available. With one-of-a-kind items, however, in the case of vintage selections, hesitating is perhaps not the best of all shopping techniques. ‘Sold’ tags or those indicating that the item that could be  in multiples — is in another browser’s basket — are informative and interesting. The Pantry, a Sunday tradition, features hand-selected gourmet foods and wines. All sales last 72 hours. The Live, Love, Home page reminds me of the Domino Book of Decorating.

    Unlike many other shopping sites, One King’s Lane carries illustrations and prints for the decorating field, which clearly are in demand, if you note how many are Sold.  It also gave us some ideas for selling some of our vintage finds, now that our living space is smaller than in previous years (and will get even smaller, eventually).

    We also noted that copy vintage books and art books are plentiful (and Sold) which again leads us to recommend the book stores that are ‘Friends of’ companion shops in our wonderful public libraries. We found one on a trip to Sarasota, Florida’s Selby Library Friends shop  that not only yielded inexpensive and fascinating editions, but for my husband, a replacement watch band that, for $18, was a find.

    Years ago we added the Spoon Sisters to our shopping pages.  We know they sound like a singing duo, but they’re dedicated instead to quirky, useful, colorful, unique shopping. Addatoos

    For back-to-school for the child or grandchild, a hoodie protective cover for your phone? Or a way to hide your tablet with a undercover sleeve? And to dress up those unadorned (and hopefully, less expensive) sneakers, Addatoos temporary tattoos, in this case Body Parts.

    And for the SeniorSet (read Rose Mula’s article, Losing It: Where Is That Electronic Gadget Hiding?), an eye-glass holder on a strap. I’ve been wearing sunglasses on a ‘leash’ for decades, why not keeping the regular glasses close by, too? 

    And, specifically for those who use a cane occasionally or all the time, there’s the Table Rest that clips onto the cane allowing it to rest easily on, or under a table, or counter top. It prevents having to put the cane on the floor and then reaching down to try and retrieve it or resting it on a restaurant table and it slipping off.

    Kitchen implements that we’re thinking of for ourselves are a can strainer — don’t you hate those errant peas slipping around the bottom of the sink? — and another similar tool, the straining ladle. 

    For the bikers (not motorcycle riders), consider  Twist Lit LED lights: Grooves on each side of the light hold sturdy, flexible rubber Gear Ties in place, with ends to wrap through, over, around, or under bicycle handle bars, seat posts or racks of nearly any size.  For further illuminating your bike (or that of a child’s), there’s Bike Glow, that doesn’t hide or obscure its light.  

    —  T. G.

  • Todd Akin’s “Forcible rapes hardly ever result in pregnancy”: A 1996 Study About Rape-related Pregnancies

     

    Original Source: 

    Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425-2233, USA. (Editor’s Note: This is a 1996 study— Rape-related pregnancy: estimates and descriptive characteristics from a national sample of women.)

    Abstract

    OBJECTIVE:

    We attempted to determine the national rape-related pregnancy rate and provide descriptive characteristics of pregnancies that result from rape.

    STUDY DESIGN:

    A national probability sample of 4008 adult American women took part in a 3-year longitudinal survey that assessed the prevalence and incidence of rape and related physical and mental health outcomes.

    RESULTS:

    The national rape-related pregnancy rate is 5.0% per rape among victims of reproductive age (aged 12 to 45); among adult women an estimated 32,101 pregnancies result from rape each year. Among 34 cases of rape-related pregnancy, the majority occurred among adolescents and resulted from assault by a known, often related perpetrator. Only 11.7% of these victims received immediate medical attention after the assault, and 47.1% received no medical attention related to the rape. A total 32.4% of these victims did not discover they were pregnant until they had already entered the second trimester; 32.2% opted to keep the infant whereas 50% underwent abortion and 5.9% placed the infant for adoption; an additional 11.8% had spontaneous abortion.

    CONCLUSIONS:

    Rape-related pregnancy occurs with significant frequency. It is a cause of many unwanted pregnancies and is closely linked with family and domestic violence. As we address the epidemic of unintended pregnancies in the United States, greater attention and effort should be aimed at preventing and identifying unwanted pregnancies that result from sexual victimization.

     Holmes MM, Resnick HS, Kilpatrick DG, Best CL.

    LinkOut – more resources

    Editor’s Personal Note: After giving birth to our third daughter in Summit, New Jersey, I was walking the halls of the maternity and nursery wards several days later. I noticed a pre-teen girl in robe and slippers on the ward and was surprised she was there. Thinking she was wandering from a pediatric floor to ours, I asked a nurse if she knew why she was there. She replied that she was a victim of incest and had given birth. 

    She was 12. 

    I would wave to her in her room and call out over the next few days, never seeing a family visitor.  

  • Why Don’t They Vote: Who Are the Unlikelies?

    suffragettes marching, 1915

    Pre-election suffrage parade, New York City, October 23, 1915. 20,000 women marched. 

    Nearly 40 percent of adult US citizens will stay away from the polls this coming November, but if these Americans were to vote, President Barack Obama would coast to a second term in office, according to a Suffolk University-USA TODAY nationwide survey of unregistered and unlikely voters.

    Obama was the choice of 43 percent of unregistered Americans, while 23 percent said they would choose a third-party candidate over Republican Mitt Romney (14 percent). The Democratic president also pulled 43 percent of registered voters who said they are less likely to cast a ballot, while 20 percent chose Romney, and 18 percent would prefer a third-party candidate, according to the poll.

    Unique survey model

    The survey is an unusual sampling of people whose voices otherwise would not be heard during the 2012 election cycle.

    “This is a poll of the ‘Other America,’” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston. “There is a huge block of Americans who are never asked their opinions because they are immediately screened out once they’ve indicated that they are not registered or unlikely to vote. It is the first poll taken this year that exclusively looks at this segment of the population.”

    In 2008, the Democratic ticket of Obama and Joe Biden won about 70 million votes, while Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin secured about 60 million votes. Yet 80 million, or 38 percent, of eligible adults — all of them US citizens — did not vote because they were either unregistered or were registered and chose not to go to the polls that day. It is estimated that the non-voter total will be even higher this November.

    Why they don’t vote

    Survey respondents acknowledged that politics does make a difference in their lives (58 percent), and a majority (64 percent) said they keep abreast of what’s going on in government most or some of the time – whether or not it’s an election season. However, 61 percent could not correctly name the current vice president, and 59 percent said the reason they don’t pay attention is that nothing ever gets done – that it’s a bunch of empty promises.

    The reasons given for choosing not to vote varied, topped by “no time/busy” (26 percent) and “vote doesn’t count/matter” (12 percent) for those who aren’t registered. For registered voters who began the survey not intending to vote, 14 percent said they were “now thinking about it,” and 13 percent pointed out that they have the “right to vote or not to vote.”

    On the whole, the respondents described themselves as moderate (34 percent), with liberals and conservatives falling fairly evenly on either side of the scale.

    Less than a third (32 percent) said that the Democratic and Republican parties do a good job of representing Americans’ political views, while 53 percent said a third party or multiple parties are necessary.

    Untapped votes for Obama

    “This poll is a good-news bad news story for Barack Obama,” said Paleologos. “The good news is that there is a treasure chest of voters he doesn’t even have to persuade – they already like him and dislike Mitt Romney. He just needs to unlock the chest and get them out to vote. The bad news is that these people won’t vote because they feel beaten down by empty promises, a bad economy and the negativity of both parties. Obama has lost time – and the key – to open that treasure chest.”

  • What Is In That Lipstick and Other Beautiful Questions

    Editor’s Note: In case you hadn’t read the stories prompted by Johnson and Johnson’s announcement, we thought we would include the press release by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a coalition of groups including the Environmental Working Group. This coalition has been advocating for a change of practices by companies that make personal products for women and babies, among others. 

    It’s high time. SeniorWomen.com has run other articles previously about this concern.*

    What's Going On

    Prompted by growing concerns raised by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), makers of Aveeno, Neutrogena, Johnson andJohnson’s Baby Shampoo, announced today that it will be removing carcinogens and other toxic chemicals from its baby and adult products globally. 

    “This is a major victory for public health,” said Lisa Archer, director of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics at the Breast Cancer Fund, a co-founder of the campaign. “We applaud Johnson & Johnson for its leadership in committing to remove cancer-causing chemicals from its products. We will be vigilant in making sure it meets its commitments and will continue to encourage it to remove other ingredients of concern. And we call on other cosmetics giants — Avon, Estee Lauder, L’Oreal, Procter & Gamble and Unilever— to meet or beat J&J’s commitments and signal they take consumer safety as seriously as th eir competitor. As always, we encourage consumers to seek out the safest products for their families and support companies that are avoiding chemicals of concern.” 

    The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a national coalition of more than 175 nonprofit organizations working to protect the health of consumers and workers by eliminating dangerous chemicals from cosmetics and led by the Breast Cancer Fund, Clean Water Action, Commonweal, Environmental Working Group, Friends of the Earth and Women’s Voices for the Earth, will launch a national campaign this week challenging L’Oreal (Maybelline, Garnier, Kiehl’s, The Body Shop, Softsheen-Carson), Procter & Gamble (CoverGirl, Pantene, Secret, Old Spice), Estee Lauder (Clinique, MAC, Prescriptives), Avon, and Unilever (Dove, Ponds, St. Ives, Axe) to follow J&J’s lead and commit to removing carcinogens and other harmful chemicals from cosmetics and specify a timeline for removal.

    Johnson & Johnson, one of the largest companies in the world, told the Campaign it will reformulate its hundreds of cosmetics and personal care products in all the markets it serves in 57 countries around the world. J&J has confirmed to the Campaign that it has set an internal target date of reformulating adult products by the end of 2015, and it will use safe alternatives when reformulating. It will: