Free Republic

The phrase “pension benefits” may come up a lot in the next several days as negotiations between the United Auto Workers union and the Big Three automakers go down to the wire to avert a strike. But for most private-sector US workers, pensions disappeared long ago. In a traditional pension, employers contribute, invest and manage retirement funds for their workers, who then receive guaranteed monthly checks for life after they retire. But over the past several decades, employers have either closed or frozen their pensions and turned instead to retirement savings vehicles like the 401(k), which put much more of...

Valeriy Fedorovych allegedly shot down Russian Su-34 jet flying over Chernihiv He collected debris from the exploded jet and keeps it in his garage Pensioner was awarded a medal by the State Border Service of Ukraine A Ukrainian pensioner shot down a Russian Su-34 jet with a rifle, sending it spiralling to the ground, a government agency has said.Valeriy Fedorovych opened fire when the enemy aircraft flew overhead in Chernhiv, according to the State Border Service of Ukraine.It is claimed he picked off the jet, which costs an estimated £74million, and footage circulating at the time showed it careening back...

Pensioner, 87, drilled holes through his neighbour's garden wall claiming it jutted onto his land by 'TWO INCHES' and put up signs warning, 'You and your cowboy builders are thieves' Ewen Taylor, of Cardiff, launched his campaign after neighbours built extension The 87-year-old claims the new wall encroaches onto his property by two inches After being fined by police, he began putting up accusatory signs in his garden Family, who deny it encroaches on his land, say his actions have been distressing A pensioner drilled holes in his neighbour's garden wall claiming it encroaches on his land by two inches...

German pensioners are being sent to care homes in Eastern Europe and Asia in what has been described as an ‘inhumane deportation’. Rising numbers of the elderly and sick are moved overseas for long-term care because of sky-high costs at home. Some private healthcare providers are even building homes overseas, while state insurers are also investigating whether they can care for their clients abroad. Experts describe a time bomb’ of increasing numbers unable to afford the growing costs of retirement homes.

"What government touches, government ruins" stands as apodictic a law as any in nature.  To say "touch" is to be magnanimous, because government rarely touches, it inserts -- an iron fist mostly. And where intromission occurs, distortion, inefficiency, moral hazard, expense, corruption, and a lot of pain follow.  The examples are so numerous -- in commerce, in finance, in education, in ecology, in welfare, and in the law -- they appear on a whim to anyone conversant in Austrian- or Chicago-school economics.  Retirement requires a little more vetting. Sure, there is the obvious: Social Security, which even a few...

Pensioner, 86, Dies After Being Raped By Teenager Who Dragged Her From Bed In Care Home DAILY MAIL REPORTER 13th November 2009 An 86-year-old woman who was kidnapped and raped at a care home has died. The frail victim was dragged from her bed and raped in the garden of the Springfield residential care home in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The pensioner was discovered at about 1am on September 15 after staff, who checked on her hourly because of her medical condition, found she was missing from her room. Dale Gary Boocock, 19, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty in October...

LONDON (AFP) - A 77-year-old pensioner has been ordered out of his local social club for breaking wind too loudly, which "disgusted" fellow members, press reports said Wednesday. Maurice Fox, received a letter from Kirkham Street Sports and Social Club in Paignton, Devon about his overly-audible flatulence, asking him to go outside when necessary. "It's only a little bit of wind -- it doesn't really hurt anyone. I sit by the door anyway and try to get out when I can. But sometimes it takes me by surprise and just pops out," he was quoted as saying by The Guardian....

An armed robber has fled from a McDonald's restaurant empty-handed after a pensioner attacked him with plastic trays. The man left the take-away in Bloomington, Illinois, after he was set upon by 71-year-old customer Donald Sacry. Mr Sacry was having a coffee when he saw the man enter the restaurant with his hat pulled down low and a mask over his face. He said the man produced a gun and ordered an employee to give him money. Mr Sacry said he then decided to intervene and approached the gunman whom he initially just verbally abused. "I used a lot of...

Monday, 15 April, 2002, 19:08 GMT 20:08 UKWoman dies after robbery A 77-year-old woman who was badly beaten by a robber as he stole her fish supper has died. A murder inquiry is under way after the attack on Marie Watson in Newcastle upon Tyne. The pensioner suffered a broken right shoulder and extensive bruising to her face during the attack in the Heaton area. Detective Superintendent Derek Storey, leading the murder investigation, said: "This was an appalling unprovoked attack upon an elderly defenceless woman." Marie Watson died 11 days after the attack Mrs Watson's family issued a statement through...