Brian Gongol
Observations on how to pick a smartphone
How the just-in-time delivery model could put entire economies at risk
We know disasters can happen -- like the Icelandic volcano. So why do we put our essential systems at risk?
Why everyone should know self-defense: Case study #9
Three guys got assaulted outside a West Des Moines bar on New Year's Eve. You never know when there's a violent thug around the corner.
City of Des Moines sets wheels in motion to send Occupy protesters home
They've had enough time to kill the grass on public property
Early candidate for 2012 idiot of the year
Smoking enough pot -- inside a hospital -- to set off a smoke detector is a real act of idiocy
Jamaica and Australia are on track to dump the monarchy
Just 236 years after the United States
MidAmerican Energy is buying up wind farms
In addition to constructing its own
More Americans are going back to work
The unemployment rate is falling nationally, and the number of discouraged workers is declining. A large number of people (194,000) also left the workforce between November and December. The unemployment rate is extremely closely-tied to education; those with bachelor's degrees and higher have a 4.1% unemployment rate, compared with 13.8% for those without a high school diploma. In related news, Iowa's governor has proposed some reforms to the educational system here.
Iran's government is cracking down on Internet access
Always worry about a government that wants to clamp down on its people's ability to communicate
Three freight trains crash near Chicago
The crash led to a fire and a chemical spill. Chicago is a very serious choke point along America's east-west transportation routes.
"[A]nybody would be crazy to think that there would not be wicked corrections [in China] from time to time"
