Generation

Because January is the month when we resolve to do better, I am proposing some manners resolutions for 2013. However, because I am 58 years old, I realize that what I consider ill-mannered might be acceptable behavior among the always-wired generation. For example, I would not have broadcast the birth of my children on Facebook, as I think that detracts from the enjoyment of personal family moments. But for younger people, that is perfectly appropriate. Therefore, I am giving my 20-year-old son, Matt, a college sophomore, the chance to respond to my resolutions.

Exelon Generation plans to retire its 58-year-old Schuylkill Generating Station in Grays Ferry at the end of the year, the latest Eisenhower-era power plant to bow out in response to a changing energy environment. Increasingly, the oil-burning plant at 2800 Christian St. has been little used, said Tim Wirth, a spokesman for Exelon's power-generation unit in Kennett Square. "It's older, it's not used very frequently, and it no longer makes economic sense," Wirth said. In the last year, the plant's 166-megawatt main unit was fired up only once to serve the regional power grid.

"NEW NORMAL" is the catchphrase du jour that essentially means that in the recovery from the recession of 2008, we have to expect slow growth and high unemployment for a number of years. It also reflects the everyday acceptance Americans face of economic burdens that are more difficult than just a few years ago. This new normal and the acceptance of individuals is most intense with millennials, those 18 to 34 years of age. I recently did my weekly TV show on the issue of debt and millennials.

Two sisters are dead in Trenton. So are an elderly woman in Upper Merion and a grandfather in the Lehigh Valley. The rest of his family was taken for emergency treatment to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the children's hospital next door. The culprit in these deaths - and hospitalizations too numerous to count - is carbon-monoxide poisoning from home generators whose use mushrooms during power outages. "There is a real public-health emergency going on," said Fred Henretig, senior toxicologist at the regional Poison Control Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

OCEAN CITY, N.J. - Forget the sand, muck, and flotsam that now covers the Jersey Shore barrier islands thanks to Sandy. The new pollution around here may be the noise and exhaust fumes from a cacophony of gasoline-powered generators lining streets and driveways up and down the coast. And the curbside mountains of ruined flooring, sofas, chairs, bedding, and other trash. On Thursday, the generator hum outside and in many homes, stores, offices, churches, and other buildings reached such a peak that people sought refuge in vehicles to take phone calls, conduct business meetings, or just to take a break from the din. Some said they were losing their voices trying to shout over the machines they now depend on to run electrical devices as power has not been fully restored.

Debbie Golden had power after a 15-hour failure at her Merion Station home, but no Internet access or phone service from Comcast for more than 36 hours. I know this because she sent an e-mail on her cellphone. Score points for cellphones and the wireless net. Tracy Houston lost power at 2 a.m. Tuesday in West Oak Lane, and was still waiting Wednesday after Peco postponed his "estimated restore time" until almost midnight. Meanwhile, he was running his car for hours just to recharge his iPhone.

Rich Morin did a virtual double take, and so should you. Because what he and a colleague at Pew Research Center discovered about wealth and retirement is what I've been sounding alarms over for three years, a lone wolf in a media and political pack that blissfully ignores this scary reality. Hard data are starting to pile up, most recently in a new report by Pew, that the most financially fragile group in America doesn't include Grandma or that guy in his early 60s or even the twentysomethings who entered the workforce during a doozy of a recession.

At Brown Betty Dessert Boutique, they're selling cakes, of course, but there's something more: It's a story of family, and you can see the names on the products in the display cases of the Northern Liberties-based bakery. There's "To Miss Mary," a sweet-potato cheesecake named after an aunt who ran a beauty shop at 48th and Fairmount. And a sweet-potato cake called "Only for Eliza," after a country woman from Virginia with a soft touch for anyone needing a meal. And a chocolate sour-cream cake called "Dear Ruth," in honor of a woman who died young but is remembered for her fashion sense.

CARACOL, Haiti - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton encouraged foreigners to invest in Haiti as she and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, led a star-studded delegation gathered Monday to inaugurate a new industrial park at the center of U.S. efforts to help the country rebuild after the 2010 earthquake. Actors Sean Penn and Ben Stiller, fashion designer Donna Karan, and British business magnate Richard Branson were among the luminaries at the opening of the new Caracol Industrial Park, projected to create thousands of jobs more than 100 miles from the quake-ravaged capital of Port-au-Prince.

PORTLAND, Ore. - A website with files showing the Boy Scouts of America's cover-up of decades of sexual abuse is generating interest from people wanting to know who the alleged abusers are and whether people who molested them as Scouts are in the files. Release of the files has also prompted a debate on the Boy Scouts' Facebook page. Some people said they'd never allow their children to be involved in the organization and criticized the secrecy of the files. Others described positive experiences in the Scouts for themselves or their children, saying the organization's efforts to prevent abuse have improved significantly.