Giving away more of our freedom in exchange for security ... but that started just after the twin towers were removed from that spider man game ...

HealthCare for dummies books :)

I was hoping that education would be next big thing.

Joe, how does security factor into neighborhood nuke power plants? I would think this is something that would be a bad-guys dream.

fuel cells are way cool!

As for security probably not that much more than the chlorine tanker trucks running through your average city ;)

So, in the US, it will be all about education on Healthcare. (good point, btw) After all, we have 2700+ pages of new HC law, and that's before the "fix" and the huge administration practices are written-up for it all.

With all of the new HC law, taxation, and regulation, I wonder if future generations will know that chicken soup helps with a common cold. --"learn the bureaucracy first" will be the new motto. .. . but at least it will be expensive.

Yep. Esp on the nano tech --although really small is already really big .

Direct electronic voting on all issues, individualized credit and monetary valuation based on future projected worth, or the second coming?
How about a lobotomy proceedure which allows one half to drive the freeking car while the other half watches progected movies, sorts tax docs, and tells betty sue all about last weekend.

Global Cooling ... and I am being dead freaking serious.

Did we have that in the 70s already?

I predict broken records are going to make a comeback. Oh wait, they're here already.

Religion

Ack!

'On the Cheap' - thrift will be the new black..err...30...err...well you know what I mean. People will start looking to do more at their homes like grow their own food, have more yard sales / buy more at yard sales, see a bunch more folks trying to make their cars and trucks last longer with DIY and roving mechanics, for go nights out with having friends over and having visitng entertainers come over for staged readings of famous plays, musicians playing sets in your living room, church is going to get real big as well - may even see more bible study parties popping up.

Maybe this is all just wishful thinking on my part...

No wishful thinking there, Lube. I'm just watching the stuff my wife buys: it's gone from a focus in name brand stuff to magazines with headings like "Do more with less," "10 shopping secrets to save your family money on groceries," and the like. Real Simple magazine, Budget Travel magazine, seriously.

But I think it's mostly just capitalizing on the recession, rather than a serious trend.

The effects of this recession aren't going to be cyclical. They'll last well into the next cyclical downturn, if not longer. In other words, they're permanent and I actually see a lot of that as a good thing.

Yes time to invest in mother earth news stock now. So we will all be like the Walton's but with good health care.

Genetically engineered plants that glow...

* the US converting to the metric system :)
* harnesses that finally use a similar color code for all wires
* figuring out how to pay for all these social services that people want for free

Frickin' POPUP ads on TV... just to tick you off... while you're watching a race or a one-hour drama, two people pop up from the bottom of the screen wearing tights and start spinning across... taking up about 2/5ths of the screen with text asking you if you think you can dance.

Oh, wait... they're already doing that.

1. Should have done that years ago, now doubt that it will ever happen.

2. Good luck!

3. Use "Obama money" .... you know, the money that appears from the sky for no reason. After the country is bankrupt and owned by the Chinese you can use it to wipe instead of using TP.