Tony's Blog

I'm a happy guy, today. Actually, I'm a happy guy pretty much everyday. It's just my nature. OK, I guess that means that today, I'm really happy.

Want to know why? Well, it wasn't until I hit my 30's that I became a vegetarian, and soon thereafter a vegan. Yes, it's got my Italian mother in church even more often than usual (and that's a lot) praying to be forgiven for her failure (an Italian and no veal!?) and praying especially for her son to come home, both figuratively and literally, I might add.

I have to laugh at the use of the word "became." I don't think I anymore became a vegetarian, than I became an entrepreneur --- it was always in there, it just took some time to come out.

Just as I left TV news to start my company in 1999, I left meat behind just a year later. My path was always leading me to this place. I just hadn't arrived, yet.

OK --- now that I've got you just straning to know why I'm feeling so good today, here goes. Today, 50PlusPrime.com is happy to welcome People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), to our online space for baby boomers.

PETA's commitment to animal rights will expand to Prime Living, our articles center about boomer lifestyles, resources and services. PETAPrime.org bloggers will be regular contributors to Prime Living, publishing articles on the interrelationship between the humane treatment of animals, healthy eating and a clean environment.

“We are very excited about our new partnership with 50PlusPrime.com. It will be a great way to share the compassionate, humane and healthy ideas we feature every day on PETAPrime.org with a new audience," said Karen Taggart, Manager of Fundraising Innovations at the PETA Foundation.

As for me, I not only support PETA's work on behalf of the millions of animals who are abused and slaughtered for human consumption each year, I place my corporation firmly behind promoting PETA's mission. I'm thrilled that PETA will be publishing its content on our site, to further sensitize boomers to the ties between our health, animal cruelty and global warming."

From PETA's website:

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), with more than 2.0 million members and supporters, is the largest animal rights organization in the world. PETA focuses its attention on the four areas in which the largest numbers of animals suffer the most intensely for the longest periods of time: on factory farms, in laboratories, in the clothing trade, and in the entertainment industry. It also works on a variety of other issues, including the cruel killing of beavers, birds and other "pests," and the abuse of backyard dogs.

PETA works through public education, cruelty investigations, research, animal rescue, legislation, special events, celebrity involvement, and protest campaigns.

PETA and 50PlusPrime.com --- it was always in there, it just took some time to come out.

Tony Fama, a former TV news anchor and investigative reporter, is president and founder of Maria Madeline Project, Inc., parent company of 50 Plus Prime TV and www.50plusprime.com, a social networking site for baby boomers. Tony can be reached at tony.fama@50plusprime.com.

Just in time for the holidays --- It’s a new service for baby boomers, and it combines freshly baked cakes and cookies, diabetic treats, and a commitment to helping kids develop culinary skills.

Here's what Valena Cade, whose Baby Boomer Bakery is now open and ready to serve, said about her new online store.

I’m a native of Chicago, and a baby boomer myself. My fondest memories are baking with my grandmother, helping her make cakes, pies, icings and ice cream with a traditional southern flair from scratch, at her home and in her restaurant.

I also remember making desserts in my very own EASY-BAKE Oven for my three brothers, who loved my creations. I’ve been passionate about baking since. I would always say ‘when I grew up I wanted to be in business like my grandmother,’ and I did it.

Since 1993, my wonderful husband Gregory and I have mentored hundreds of students, teaching life skills such as responsibility, entrepreneurship and commitment. We’ve partnered with Detroit Public Schools, to help students cultivate their culinary and pastry talents while encouraging creativity. We hire and pay the kids, as part of our commitment to developing tomorrow’s head chefs and restaurateurs.

Our signature desserts, Red Velvet Cupcakes and 7UP pound cake, are served at Michigan’s largest festival and restaurants. And now, our new Baby Boomer Bakery has afforded us a vehicle to distribute our exquisite, made from scratch desserts nationwide.

Our mission is to consistently provide the highest quality pastries, using the finest ingredients, made to order and delivered to your door in a timely manner, while helping our young people achieve their dreams, as my grandmother helped me achieve mine.

Got your sweet tooth interested? Visit Baby Boomer Bakery.

Barack Obama will be our third baby boomer president (Obama was born on August 4, 1961). Bill Clinton was our first (August 19, 1946). George W. Bush was number two (July 6, 1946).

76 million Americans were born between 1946 and 1964, the post-World War II period dubbed the "baby boom."  Clinton, Bush and Obama share a place in history as members of a generation born to an America which fought for and won the peace, a prosperous America whose suburban areas saw vacant land morph into a place to call home.

Ohio History Central does a nice job describing Americans' migration from cities to the suburbs, during this period.  "This process increased following World War II. Thanks to the G.I. Bill, many Americans of all races, for the first time, had the ability to attend college and, thus, to earn better salaries. Americans, especially white ones, prospered during World War II, as both men and women found employment to aid the United States' war effort. With the war's conclusion, many workers, especially women, found their positions terminated, but families had accumulated enough wealth to leave the inner cities to move to suburbs. Improvements in transportation, the development of interstates during the 1950s, and the increasing accessibility of cars, all spurred this movement from the cities to outlying neighborhoods. Americans wanted their own homes with green grass. They were increasingly unsatisfied with apartment living, paying their wages to live in someone else's building."

But notice these three presidents were born at the opposite ends of the baby boom. Here's my point, and my question. The baby boom years are not monolithic in their influence. Boomers born at the beginning of this period in the mid-40's and early-50's (Clinton and Bush) were shaped, in part, by a national pride that the U.S. had won the war, and was admired internationally as a super power with a moral core.

For boomers, like Obama, born near the end of this period, early childhood influences were soon to be borne out of the fight, often ugly, and sometimes fatal, for civil rights and an end to U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

So, here's what I'm wondering. How was each man's world view shaped by a set of different circumstances that marked the beginning and end of what's considered the same generation?

Jim Cramer's a smart guy. He's host of CNBC's Mad Money, commentator for TheStreet.com, "Bottom Line" columnist for New York Magazine, a graduate of Harvard, an attorney, and former founder and owner of Cramer Berkowitz, a hedge fund that made him more money than God. And, at 53, he's a boomer whose got a lot left in the tank.

He's pretty hard not to like. He's passionate, entertaining, and amid all the bluster when he's guiding viewers in what to buy and what to sell --- you get the sense that he's not in it to take the money and run. I mean, the guy really seems to care.

But, with Wall Street having a great time seeing to it that investors pop an ever increasing amount of Prozac, Cramer's had a bad couple of weeks.

Newsweek slammed Cramer for, in its words, "four months after advising viewers to "buy buy buy," hysterical CNBC stock picker Jim Cramer says oops, it's time to pull your money out the market." And, in a self-serving advertising campaign, Fox pulled no punches in attacking Cramer. "The last thing you need is bad advice," Fox concluded. "The last thing you need is CNBC's Jim Cramer."

These attacks are unfair and irresponsible, and stir up even greater fear at a time when investors are frightened enough. Right now, we need calm, measured guidance, not hyperbole. In my opinion, Cramer's advise last week on NBC's Today Show (the root of this criticism) to sell ahead of the market's worst week since the depression was, well, sound advice.

What do you think?

If you were born between 1946 and 1964, you're not alone. You're one of 76 million Americans born in the post-World War II period, during what's called the "baby boom."

That would make 47-year-old Barack Obama, born on August 4, 1961, a baby boomer. So, would you like to vote early --- for fun? If you're looking for an unscientific read on how your fellow boomers are leaning as we approach Election Day on November 4th, check out "Aging Hipsters" online, a website chock full of baby boomer information, including a spot where you can cast your vote for president.

The question: If the Presidential election of 2008 were held today, who would you vote for? Click the campaign button on the home page to vote.