Blowin' In The Wind: Bits and Pieces from the News of the Day
The First Refugees from the Global Warming Phenomena?
Last week, I caught an article in the newspaper that reported that the United States may be witnessing the first wave of refugees from the effects of global warming. According to the stats, about 20% of the those who fled the states along the Gulf Coast during Hurricane Katrina have chosen not to return to their old homes. Apparently, the conditions to which they would return would be almost as bad as the conditions from which they fled and now they would prefer to remain in their newly adopted cities of residence. Additonally, the journalist who wrote the piece also suggested that those who are not returning view what happened during Hurricane Katrina as a portent of even more devastating things to come for the Gulf Coast in the years to come.
It is hard to tell if this is not just a bit of journalistic hype to grab the very fickle attention of the reading public. However, what if it isn't? What if this particular journalist has seen this situation exactly for what it is? Sometimes there are visionary people who have the capacity to see seemingly random events as something that represents the beginnings of major developments in our world. Is this writer correct in his conclusions? Maybe yes. Maybe no. But we will certainly find out if he is, as time goes on.
Monopoly Evolves in the 21st Century
The British company which produces the popular board game, Monopoly, recently announced that it no longer made sense to use play money as the currency for the game. Since so many people use cash cards these days, they will replace the play money with electronic devices that will keep track of how much money each player has. Now that development is a sign of our times.
It wasn't so very long ago that the op-ed pages carried speculative stories about how banks in the northeast United States were looking at ways to promote cashless transactions. The cash card was something very experimental at that time and no one was very sure about how well the American public would take to this new concept. Now, cash cards are about as ubiquitous as cell phones or computers. Certainly, it won't be very long before the American version of the game will be similarly equipped.
My grandaughter is three years old now. When she grows up and she is playing Monopoly with her own children, I fully expect her children to ask her quite incredulously, "Mommy, you mean that people actually had to use pieces of paper to buy things a long time ago?" That sort of of response should not be of any surprise to us. Hey, you and I now look back in time and we find it incredible that people in the past could live without air conditioning, cell phones or television. Time is always marching on and transforming the latest technology into the antiquated relics of the past. Ah well, as always, the times, they are a'changing.
Last week, I caught an article in the newspaper that reported that the United States may be witnessing the first wave of refugees from the effects of global warming. According to the stats, about 20% of the those who fled the states along the Gulf Coast during Hurricane Katrina have chosen not to return to their old homes. Apparently, the conditions to which they would return would be almost as bad as the conditions from which they fled and now they would prefer to remain in their newly adopted cities of residence. Additonally, the journalist who wrote the piece also suggested that those who are not returning view what happened during Hurricane Katrina as a portent of even more devastating things to come for the Gulf Coast in the years to come.
It is hard to tell if this is not just a bit of journalistic hype to grab the very fickle attention of the reading public. However, what if it isn't? What if this particular journalist has seen this situation exactly for what it is? Sometimes there are visionary people who have the capacity to see seemingly random events as something that represents the beginnings of major developments in our world. Is this writer correct in his conclusions? Maybe yes. Maybe no. But we will certainly find out if he is, as time goes on.
Monopoly Evolves in the 21st Century
The British company which produces the popular board game, Monopoly, recently announced that it no longer made sense to use play money as the currency for the game. Since so many people use cash cards these days, they will replace the play money with electronic devices that will keep track of how much money each player has. Now that development is a sign of our times.
It wasn't so very long ago that the op-ed pages carried speculative stories about how banks in the northeast United States were looking at ways to promote cashless transactions. The cash card was something very experimental at that time and no one was very sure about how well the American public would take to this new concept. Now, cash cards are about as ubiquitous as cell phones or computers. Certainly, it won't be very long before the American version of the game will be similarly equipped.
My grandaughter is three years old now. When she grows up and she is playing Monopoly with her own children, I fully expect her children to ask her quite incredulously, "Mommy, you mean that people actually had to use pieces of paper to buy things a long time ago?" That sort of of response should not be of any surprise to us. Hey, you and I now look back in time and we find it incredible that people in the past could live without air conditioning, cell phones or television. Time is always marching on and transforming the latest technology into the antiquated relics of the past. Ah well, as always, the times, they are a'changing.
posted by hfireman | 2:35 AM
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