Brian Gongol
Etching-like ink drawings
Better schools vastly trump "economic development" incentives
Another reason to think differently about economic development
When you start to get a bad feeling about something, get out
Kids who held a mocking "MLK Day" party should've used better judgment. Now that cameras are everywhere, other people (including potential employers) know that they're thoughtless and racially insensitive at best -- or downright stupidly racist at worst.
The state of spam: It's getting worse
What happens when downtowns die
Man spends 30 years campaigning for a highway bypass and gets to be first to crash on it
National Research Council says inducement prizes work
The council says the National Science Foundation should offer big prizes for answers to big questions in order to accelerate the pace of scientific research. That's exactly what we should do in order to reduce energy consumption, too: Offer big prizes for the answers to questions that would help us reduce energy use painlessly. Inducement prizes are a market-friendly, highly efficient way to improve the quality of life. People clearly enjoy going after prizes (otherwise no one would've introduced Iowa HF 86 to limit withdrawals at ATMs inside casinos to $500 a day), so why shouldn't we leverage that psychological reaction for the good?
Minimum-wage hike goes into law
HF 1 -- a minimum-wage increase for Iowa -- has been signed by the Governor. $7.25 an hour by January 1, 2008. It's still not an efficient way to help poor families.
Former mayor says he wants West Des Moines to elect new mayor
Should the city fill the position through a $24,000 special election or an appointment? The appointment process is already underway. Curiously, the job only pays $14,000 a year, even though the city is one of the ten largest in Iowa.
Iowa HF 98 would change rules on manure handling for open feedlots
There are no idiots in Iowa
Which is why HSB 47 proposes to change the terminology to "mentally incompetent" in the state's Constitution. But we could have a lot more "mentally incompetent" citizens in the future if SSB 1119 goes anywhere. It would establish a statewide pre-school program for 4-year-olds. It's destined to turn into nothing more than a state-funded day-care program for little kids who would probably be better off at home.
Graphic of the day: Super Hero
Also worth a look is a hilarious rendition of a superhero caught in the tub
