SWC’s Fast Five
We’re losing our social cues mojo with the return of cargo pants and emoji parsing but you know what we can depend on? That housing is impossible and here’s the latest reason. And our veterans, who took care of America and now America will be stepping up to take care of them for a few trillion dollars over the next 30 or so years. It’s crazy times but, have a Girl Scout cookie, a new one is coming out and it will be the comfort we all need.
So, here’s this week’s Fast Five:
1 Sending smiley emojis? They now mean different things to different people
The ubiquitous emoji means happy, good job or any number of other positive sentiments to most people over about age 30. But for many teens and 20-somethings, a smiley face popping up in a text or email is seen as patronizing or passive-aggressive.
2 It’s time to bring back cargo pants
There are few more potent symbols of the cultural backwardness of the late 1990s and early 2000s than cargo pants. But what if cargoes are not an outdated relic but rather a technology ahead of its time? Everyone is walking around with a giant phone and nowhere to put it. Cargo pants solve the problem. We just need to embrace them.
3 Cost of caring for veterans of post-9/11 wars could reach $2.5T by 2050
The total cost of caring for U.S. veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan could reach $2.5 trillion by 2050. The estimate includes the costs of disability benefits and medical care already incurred along with projected future costs and is double that of previous projections made by the project in 2011 and 2013.
4 So, this just gets worse – housing construction falls as housing demand continues to rise
Home construction was down in every part of the country except the South where housing starts rose 2.1 percent. The biggest decline was in the Northeast, a drop of 49.3 percent, followed by declines of 11.3 percent in the West and 6.9 percent in the Midwest. However, high materials prices, a limited supply of workers and limited land availability will constrain activity.
5 Move over Thin Mints, this new Girl Scout cookie is coming in hot!
The brownie-inspired Adventurefuls combines chocolate and caramel flavors and will be ready for the next start of the cookie season in January 2022.
