Don Sailorman,
The reason for my suggestion is based upon my experience. The volume of digestable information in the halls of Gov't is less than that actually consumed. The point paper, white paper, power point briefing material are examples of documents that consolidate information to the consumable and digestable level. Imagine the mass of reading material that comes across the desk of a congressman.
I do not however disagree with your suggestion that a book is in order. This is a great suggestion and one that must be persued! I've of course read Kunstler and Simmons and use them as constant sources of reference and fact checking esp. Simmons. I have considerable knowledge about the Intelligence community and find that analysts in particular long for more data and are loath to submit findings ....always waiting for more information. However, I find the Oil Drum opinion and analysis quite mature and ready to approach the main. Decision makers and the analysts that support them would be hard pressed to wade through the stream of information on this august site. As I am not a frequent contributer to the Oil Drum but prefer to let the tempest rage my comments are given with hesitation. Moreover, the time may be right. Shall we "strike while the iron is hot" as it were? My successes were always limited by timing. My own desires were limited by the desires of the collective and decision makers who had other priorites the merit of the idea notwithstanding.
Regards TG80 sends

Very good post.

I met a friend at the library yesterday, who is a bit older than me, maybe 10 years, and they asked me if I was cold, since I was just wearing a t-shirt. I said no, actually it's quite nice. Then I observed to him that if I exercise, the general temperature of my body goes up, and that when I moved recently, the long days of intense exercise that entailed meant I was walking around in a t-shirt at night when it was really rather cold and most people were bundled up. So, since I've been exercising lately, I reasoned that this is why I was OK in a t-shirt.

Good point about the older folks dying more often in the old days, but it was not necessarily THAT bad, remember the Bible gives us 3-score and ten, and a fair number made it that far circa 1900.

This is nonsense. That's pretty pathetic if you think that biking and walking somehow is ended after your thirties. I still run, bike, hike, snowshoe, ski, etc. and I am 60. And I am hardly what you would call a naturally gifted athlete. I'd hate to think what sort of shape I would be in if I had quitted exercising in my 40s. If those who bike and walk are in a minority, that is simply a function of being lazy, not a function of age.

Most of Californians live on or near the coast where the climate is quite mild, so walking and biking would be a perfect solution for most of California.

As long as we are talking about infrastructure, let's make sure the infrastructure for walking and biking is available everywhere, for those days, even in the hotter areas, where biking and walking is feasible.

Snow shoveling is hazardous mostly for people who are out of shape. Yeh, if you sit on your ass all year and then go out and try to shovel snow, you are a candidate for a heart attack. But if you stay in good shape, which you should be able to do for your whole life, barring serious illness, you shouldn't have any problem with a reasonable amount of shoveling.

If you are older and out of shape, it is primarily a function of inactivity, not your age.