21 Feb 2011
Monopoly, Milton Friedman’s Way

Life imitates game ...

Monopoly was taken seriously in Shorey House at the University of Chicago in the late 1970s. A room was set aside as “The Monopoly Room.” But in that post-Vietnam, pre-Reagan era, all assumptions were questioned and a game our parents played was no exception. Rules were meant to be altered. The house even convened a “constitution convention” to change the official rules of the game to allow a person to build a hotel on a property without first having to own four houses.

(link) [New York Times]

13:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

MGM Grand No Longer Charging To Get A Non-Smoking Room

This one really deserved an irony meter graphic, but it exploded when I tried to attach it. It was beyond pegged by a country mile. Why? Here's how the MGM Grand explained their change in policy:

Some have accused our Company of encouraging unhealthy behavior through this policy. That was not our intent. We regret if this policy sent the wrong message to anyone. MGM Resorts International encourages healthy living practices for its guests and employees.

Mind you, this is in "Sin City" - prostitution is legal, gambling and drinking are encouraged, if not required. Banquets are laid out 24 hours a day, and food is served in portions practically guaranteed to turn an anorexic morbidly obese. Any manner of vice ever invented by humanity is available here, if not within the hotel itself then certainly a within a short walk. If the MGM Grand really wanted to encourage "healthy living practices" they'd have to tear themselves down and revert to desert, where no sane human wants to live in any case...

A couple weeks ago, we told you about how the MGM Grand Las Vegas had begun charging $20 per night to guarantee non-smoking rooms to guests. That didn't go over well with the general public and now the resort tells Consumerist that it's rescinded the policy.

(link) [The Consumerist]

12:57 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link

Sheep in the News: Sheep as smart as humans

Don't believe it? Come on over at feeding time ...

A Cambridge Uni prof has provocatively suggested that sheep aren't actually as thick as a Fair Isle woollen sweater, and can match humans in the tricky task of identifying food amid a confusion of buckets.

(link) [The Register]

12:45 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link