AARP... Take your card and shove it!
- Thread starter NCTexan
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BarbC
Member
AARP may be changing their tune with the changing times. From a recent article in the AARP Bulletin:
Some area residents feel threatened in their homes
Source: The Bradenton Herald | May 18, 2009
Beth Burger
May 18, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) --
MANATEE -- The house stays locked.
The lights stay on.
The new home alarm security system is activated.
"My safety habits have changed dramatically," the woman says. "I'm not happy about it because it's a stressful way to live."
This woman is afraid after three of her neighbors in the Riverview Boulevard area were attacked.
A man clad in dark clothes with a ski mask has broken into homes and beaten mostly women in upper-middle-class neighborhoods in Sarasota and Manatee counties. Local law enforcement agencies have linked 10 attacks with similarities.
The attacker is still out there. No arrests have been made.
This woman, like many of her neighbors, has changed her habits.
She no longer takes walks with her small dog.
"My poor dog has learned to go in the backyard," said the woman, who asked her name not be used.
Most of the victims are women older than 50. Several of the victims had to be hospitalized. One woman was found dead in her home in Sarasota.
There have been no new attacks since Manatee County Sheriff's Office released a composite sketch April 22.
But the residents in those neighborhoods have not forgotten.
Instead, they are learning how to protect themselves.
Women in their 80s are picking up a gun for the first time.
People are going out to animal shelters to adopt larger dogs.
Alarm companies are receiving more calls to install systems in homes.
People are taking self-defense classes in case they have to fight an attacker.
Residents are becoming more aware of their surroundings and working with local law enforcement to form neighborhood watches.
Packing heat
Gerald Colbert teaches introductory National Rifle Association gun safety classes in Sarasota. Since the attacks, half of the participants enrolled in his classes are women. Before, classes of about 15 people had only one or two women. Some of the new students are in their 80s, he says.
"I don't question why they are there. When I first started, the people were younger, and now as we get into this year, they are older. I'm seeing more women and more senior citizens," Colbert said. "They actually do pretty good, and some of them are very afraid. They are frightened from the noise, but they want to learn to fire a gun."
Florida's conceal-and-carry law allows citizens to defend themselves with a handgun, electronic weapon, tear-gas gun or knife. They must get a license, which is valid for seven years provided they receive training and have a minimal criminal history.
A struggling economy and rumors that the Obama administration will target gun owners are other reasons the class sizes have increased, Colbert notes.
And, he stresses, "some are worried about the crime because there's some nut running around beating up women."
Some area residents feel threatened in their homes
Some area residents feel threatened in their homes
Source: The Bradenton Herald | May 18, 2009
Beth Burger
May 18, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) --
MANATEE -- The house stays locked.
The lights stay on.
The new home alarm security system is activated.
"My safety habits have changed dramatically," the woman says. "I'm not happy about it because it's a stressful way to live."
This woman is afraid after three of her neighbors in the Riverview Boulevard area were attacked.
A man clad in dark clothes with a ski mask has broken into homes and beaten mostly women in upper-middle-class neighborhoods in Sarasota and Manatee counties. Local law enforcement agencies have linked 10 attacks with similarities.
The attacker is still out there. No arrests have been made.
This woman, like many of her neighbors, has changed her habits.
She no longer takes walks with her small dog.
"My poor dog has learned to go in the backyard," said the woman, who asked her name not be used.
Most of the victims are women older than 50. Several of the victims had to be hospitalized. One woman was found dead in her home in Sarasota.
There have been no new attacks since Manatee County Sheriff's Office released a composite sketch April 22.
But the residents in those neighborhoods have not forgotten.
Instead, they are learning how to protect themselves.
Women in their 80s are picking up a gun for the first time.
People are going out to animal shelters to adopt larger dogs.
Alarm companies are receiving more calls to install systems in homes.
People are taking self-defense classes in case they have to fight an attacker.
Residents are becoming more aware of their surroundings and working with local law enforcement to form neighborhood watches.
Packing heat
Gerald Colbert teaches introductory National Rifle Association gun safety classes in Sarasota. Since the attacks, half of the participants enrolled in his classes are women. Before, classes of about 15 people had only one or two women. Some of the new students are in their 80s, he says.
"I don't question why they are there. When I first started, the people were younger, and now as we get into this year, they are older. I'm seeing more women and more senior citizens," Colbert said. "They actually do pretty good, and some of them are very afraid. They are frightened from the noise, but they want to learn to fire a gun."
Florida's conceal-and-carry law allows citizens to defend themselves with a handgun, electronic weapon, tear-gas gun or knife. They must get a license, which is valid for seven years provided they receive training and have a minimal criminal history.
A struggling economy and rumors that the Obama administration will target gun owners are other reasons the class sizes have increased, Colbert notes.
And, he stresses, "some are worried about the crime because there's some nut running around beating up women."
Some area residents feel threatened in their homes
clubleaf206
Member
I think they (AARP) are changing their tune because Bill Novelli is no longer CEO, you can lay much, if not all of the blame for AARP members canceling their memberships on the actions taken by Mr. Novelli, when he became CEO back in 2001. He started supporting programs (such as Medicare Part D) and political idealogies (very anti 2A, for example) that the rank and file members did not believe in, nor support. He simply ignored any complaints lodged by members, nor did he seem to see the writing on the wall when those self same members dropped their memberships in droves. Novelli stepped down as CEO back on April 1st of this year, maybe the latest CEO understands his constituent base better and is taking the organisation back in the direction that the membership wants.
DeathGrip
US Veteran
I send empty envelopes.
Just doing my part to help the USPS.
Just doing my part to help the USPS.
red14
US Veteran
animalmother
Member
The hell with the AARP. One group I will not ever join.
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