Grocery Stores in Iowa

How can any store carry hummus but not pita bread! They even had the extra garlic type of hummus.

Well, I guess that is Iowa for you. Sigh.

Farewell, Norman Borlaug

Norman Borlaug has died:

Norman E. Borlaug, the plant scientist who did more than anyone else in the 20th century to teach the world to feed itself and whose work was credited with saving hundreds of millions of lives, died Saturday night. He was 95 and lived in Dallas.

In high school biology class, we had a population unit that included articles on Borlaug. As a fellow Iowan, Norman Borlaug was the center of several important discussions, especially his premonition that "If the world population continues to increase at the same rate, we will destroy the species."

There are a lot of slow, dangerous effects that we hear about every now and then - I think that people, myself included, don't think enough about the drastic increases in population that will come with better health-care and nourishment in every part of the world.

Life vs Securing Property

I'd never heard of Katko vs Briney, but the ruling is fascinating.

Near small-town Oskaloosa, Iowa, owners of an unused property created unmanned traps with shotguns to shoot any trespassers. The gun was aimed to injure the legs, but not kill. It was well known by neighbors, and also apparent on the property, that the property was unused.

A burglar who had previously broken into the house for antique jars came back to look for more antique jars. When the gun shot off part of his leg, he sued...and *won*. Apparently the right to life is more fundamental than the right to property; the court thought only defending the safety of an individual gave the right to risk another person's life.

I kid you not about the antique jars. Iowans are taught to use jars for everything, from jam to sinaasappelsap. Mmmmm, sinaasappelsap.

...where I don't write about government...

I was going to write about government for my regular Friday post, but with all the politics lately I decided this would be a bad idea. So instead I'm going to share a lighter subject, which is a little family history about how my two paternal grandparents met. I know I've told a few "Oog Robot" readers this story, but this is my favorite family story and deserves a repeat or two.

My grandmother was a city girl from Pennsylvania. She was a chemical engineer who applied to the Heinz company for an internship over one of her summers. The Heinz company decided she was some combo of awesome and fearsome, because they decided to send her to be a chemical engineer in one of their ketchup factories. If she didn't like the acid levels in the ketchup, the plant's ketchup wasn't going out the door. Except the ketchup factory was in Muscatine, Iowa (i.e. middle-of-nowhere-small-town, middle-of-nowhere-state).

My grandpa was home for a summer from the University of Iowa. He met my grandma and worked up the courage to ask her to a movie, but she turned him down with something like, "I've got to wash my hair." Anyways, my grandpa decided to go to the movies anyways with a few of his buddies...and he ran into my future grandmother, with another boy of course.

After the movie, things must not have gone too well with the other boy because my grandma was waiting for the bus or a taxi when my grandpa ran into her. He offered her a ride home, and the rest is history. I don't know how my grandpa convinced her to move from Pennsylvania to Muscatine, IA. But I appreciate this now.

Grandpa and Grandma were two of the coolest people I know. My grandpa was a farmer and a lawyer! He'd get up before dawn, feed some cows, and then go work out some intricate legal arguments at work. He believed people should always have two jobs, in case one didn't work out. My grandma is probably responsible for sending me to MIT. She gave me a subscription to MIT's Technology Review, which sparked my interest in the school. I might have discovered MIT later, but who knows? I think I probably would have ended up at Iowa State University if she had not given me the TR subscription, and I would be a very different person.

Anyways, my grandpa passed away when I was in 5th grade, and my grandma died when I was a freshmen in high school. I wish I'd been able to get to know them better.

Small-town Iowa in the News

It is pretty rare when I come across an article about a small town in Iowa, but within the last day I've seen three. Probably just coincidence.

A Class Divided - with the increasing focus on race in the current presidential campaign, PBS hopes to teach people with the anecdotal evidence of a 1970 discrimination experiment in Riceville, IA.

Immigration Problems - Still angry at the recent raids on a meat packer in Postville, IA, politicians blame the gov't for the increase in crime and drop in business. Meanwhile in the US, there still is no immigration path for unskilled workers.

The Oxford Project - 20 years later, a new book focuses on the residents of Oxford, IA. Probably just a PR article.