More Geezers, Coming Up!

While no human is known to have lived more than 122 years, researchers envision a day in which 150 is not unreachable. The most ambitious microbiologists aren't satisfied with that; a few have whispered the belief that human cells - the building blocks of our bodies - can be coaxed and kept alive for, oh, maybe 500 years. The mind boggles.

Just for the record, the Congressional Budget Office recently issued a report telling us what everyone already knows: The federal budget is drifting into a future of unprecedented tax increases, huge deficits or both. This is no secret, because the great driving force of change is the impending retirement of 77 million baby boomers and their heavy claims on federal retirement programs. But in Washington, the CBO's irrefutable conclusion won't produce any noticeable reaction, because there's already a clear bipartisan policy concerning the future: Forget about it.