Brian Gongol
The big snowstorm in Denver is backing up travel across the country -- almost 5,000 people are stuck at O'Hare in Chicago just trying to get to Denver. That's causing a travel mess around the country, including delays and cancellations here in Des Moines.
It's against the rules for some Iowa City-area junior high students to do anything but shake hands -- hugs are off the list. While they might've had what seemed like a good reason to prohibit hugs at one time or another, the rule institutionalizes distance between people. Meanwhile, a couple of kids in southeast Iowa almost carried out a school shooting this week.
It's possible that all those Christmas cookies that seem to be attracted to the waistline might be due to the chemistry of your stomach. The unfortunate part for some people: The more of you there is to love, the worse the chemistry gets.
Here's a contrast in rich people's behavior: Donald Trump and Rosie O'Donnell are acting like a couple of petulant 7-year-olds this holiday season, arguing at approximately the level of "You're fat / You're ugly." And yet they get the world's attention, while Tim and Kelly Guderian, who won $67 million in the Powerball lottery, are turning around and giving $2 million to a community group.
SDSU is looking for a new mascot, figuring that their old cartoon jackrabbit is too, well, unaggressive. The students don't seem to mind. While the whole affair will cost them $6,000, that's a whole lot cheaper than what we're spending here in Iowa to find a new president for the U of I: $215,000 and counting, by the way.