“It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.”
Mark Twain, the great American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer, is credited with authoring this wise quote. The quote speaks to tenacity, perseverance, and resilience, and how these qualities are not a matter of size, but rather attitude.
Even if you weren’t around to experience it on the big screen, most of you are probably familiar with the 1984 hit movie Terminator that immortalized the promise, “I’ll be back.” The sci-fi flick depicts Arnold Schwarzenegger as a deadly cyborg sent back in time to eliminate a woman whose yet-to-be-conceived son will lead the charge to kill the robot’s nefarious creators.
Cyborgs, as portrayed in movies, are virtually computerized versions of walking, talking humans. Right now, they are still a product of the future – mostly. Digital therapeutics are not. Digital therapeutics are computerized variations of manual health therapies.
Smart inhalers. Artificial irises. Heart failure sensor implants and wireless brain sensors. Surgery robotics, artificial organs, papyrus covered coronary stints – this is just a sampling of the most recent and advanced medical devices in use or soon to be.
These and other medical devices possess the power to detect distress, monitor conditions, and improve patients’ lives and ability to manage their health. They allow doctors and caregivers to diagnose and address ailments with greater accuracy and speed. Never before has technology been so grafted to healthcare.
When the first “motorized carriages” rolled onto the road, safety and luxury features were not included - the motorized vehicle itself was the luxury...and safety?
But my, how far we’ve come. We’ve gone from no side or rearview mirrors to backup cameras and blind-spot alerts, from no seat belts to three-point harnesses and airbags, no windows to shatterproof glass. We now ride safely with anti-lock and automatic brakes, crash impact zones, padded dashboards, lane departure warnings, etc.
I have a friend who is quite enchanted by technology. Her home and life are loaded with Smart Things. She conducts all her banking on her cell phone and adores wiling away an afternoon in a café as she shops online – with an unsecured network.
Back in 1953 when Swanson added its then-avant-garde TV dinners to America’s collective menu, consumers were unaware – and most undoubtedly unconcerned – about the heart-stopping sodium levels concealed in its partitioned plate. Case in point: customers grabbed ten million of the trayed dinners in the product’s first full year of production in 1954.
What images come to mind when you think of Texas? Probably things such as tangy barbeque, bucking broncos, dusty cowboys, boot-scootin' cowgirls, longhorn cattle, slick oil tycoons, and Sam Elliot’s voice.
All of it Texas-big.
Approximately 97 percent of fish and shellfish consumed in the U.S. are sourced from other countries. Along with 50 percent of fresh fruit and 20 percent of vegetables, totaling 19 percent of all food eaten in this country.1
We’re obtaining more and more food outside our country. One reason is that consumers have broadened their palettes and crave sustenance that cannot be grown in the U.S.
Our world turns on an axis of trends: music trends, technology trends, movies trends, trends in clothing, housing, automobiles…and food. Rotating, shifting, never stopping.
And food trends have graced our collective plate pretty much since our choices broadened beyond what berries grew along our migration path or which woolly mammoth was within spear range. New discoveries in science, technology, cultures, and newly available food and resources, have all influenced our turning tastes.
Products infused with CBD derived from the hemp plant seem to be cropping up everywhere. And not just as stand-alone tinctures and salves, but in your coffee, cookies, cereal, tea, jellybeans…even your liquid Happy Hour libations. Farmers are growing it in their fields, and food and beverage manufacturers are fortifying their products with it.
