Brian Gongol
More Iowans have chosen "independent" than any party
And it's by a big margin: About 752,000 independents, versus 700,000 Democrats and 645,000 Republicans. The odd thing here is that so many people still choose to be unaffiliated, thinking that it registers a protest against the two major parties. But in a first-past-the-post voting system such as ours, a two-party system is the only one that remains mathematically stable (met any Whigs lately?). There aren't even 2,000 "other" party members. But those non-aligned voters give up the right to influence the parties from the inside, and pass up the right to participate in both primaries and the hugely influential Iowa caucuses. It's really quite irrational to be an independent in Iowa. Pick the party that bothers you the least, then get inside and start pushing them where you want them to go.
Researcher de Grey thinks there's a 30% to 40% chance someone alive today will live to age 1,000
It's odd that we take death as a certainty, like people once took the concept of a flat Earth -- some organisms live for thousands of years already, and none of them have the human capacities for science
Iowa may have a low state debt, but we're still not spending wisely
A Moody's report says Iowa has the second-lowest per-capita state debt burden in the nation. But the problem is that we've been achieving that lack of debt by taking unsustainably from trust funds and other accounting shenanigans that can't go on forever
Several ways in which Iowa's recent weather has been remarkable
The third-wettest June/July period, the fifth-wettest year to date, and the second-most days in June and July with measurable rainfall. Plus, the third-warmest average overnight lows for June and July. So, we haven't all gone crazy -- it's just really warm and humid and rainy all the time. Like it was this morning.
Ten ridiculous accessories for the iPhone
