Brian Gongol
A more complete view of the economic platforms of the 2008 Presidential candidates
John Cox and Sam Brownback have both bowed out of the race, and some of the others have spoken up about issues they'd previously been mum about. And now we're down to four candidates who have any real substantive experience working in the private sector.
President designates parts of Iranian military "supporters of terrorism"
And that may very well be a step towards laying the groundwork for military conflict with that country. One problem is that there are lots of moderates in Iran whom we might really dis-serve by escalating things militarily.
Facebook "addiction"? Really?
Facebook just happens to be the mass phenomenon of the hour (it's only been around since 2004). Before that, it was PlayStation...or poker...or PacMan. There's always going to be something that college students spend their time on instead of studying. Related: ISU is introducing a financial literacy class for at least one of its colleges. At least it's a start.
Chicago high-rises growing higher and higher
They've started construction on the Chicago Spire, which is supposed to be 2000 feet tall when finished in 2011
"1776" in the style of "300"
(Video) But it's a good idea to see the original "1776", too
Links to the job pages at the biggest employers in Des Moines
British researchers figure out the key differentiation between higher and lower vertebrates in embryonic state
It turns out that around week three of gestation, an embryo either builds a sort of centerline of cells or it doesn't...and that's what allows higher or lower levels of development
China launches satellite into moon orbit
Wildfires hit Indian reservations hard
Auto sales fall in a sign we think too much about housing prices
Given how infrequently Americans buy new cars with cash, it seems peculiar that falling home prices should in turn scare so many people off from buying new autos...but that's apparently what's going on. If every car purchase came out of a person's existing cash reserves, then maybe it would make sense that there would be a high correlation between a deflated estimate of one's net worth (pushed downward by falling home prices) and one's willingness to deploy those savings on new fast-depreciating assets like cars. Since most cars end up rapidly depreciating, then they should really be purchased only as the buyer can finance out of free cash. The car isn't an investment, it's more a necessary tool that loses value over time while requiring cash expenditures over its useful life.
