Brian Gongol
![Computers and the Internet](http://gongol.com/assets/icons/2005icons/comp.png)
![Threats and Hazards](http://gongol.com/assets/icons/2005icons/threats.png)
We know disasters can happen -- like the Icelandic volcano. So why do we put our essential systems at risk?
![News](http://gongol.com/assets/icons/2005icons/news.png)
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.
![Iowa](http://gongol.com/assets/icons/2005icons/iowa.png)
They've had enough time to kill the grass on public property
![Humor and Good News](http://gongol.com/assets/icons/2005icons/haha.png)
Smoking enough pot -- inside a hospital -- to set off a smoke detector is a real act of idiocy
![News](http://gongol.com/assets/icons/2005icons/news.png)
Just 236 years after the United States
![Iowa](http://gongol.com/assets/icons/2005icons/iowa.png)
In addition to constructing its own
![Business and Finance](http://gongol.com/assets/icons/2005icons/biz.png)
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.
![Threats and Hazards](http://gongol.com/assets/icons/2005icons/threats.png)
Always worry about a government that wants to clamp down on its people's ability to communicate
![News](http://gongol.com/assets/icons/2005icons/news.png)
The crash led to a fire and a chemical spill. Chicago is a very serious choke point along America's east-west transportation routes.
![Business and Finance](http://gongol.com/assets/icons/2005icons/biz.png)