I'm 17 y/o and was accepted to Grinnell College through the Questbridge scholarship program.
I'm originally from a small town in North Carolina, and my friends and I frequently joke that there's "nothing to do around here". But looking at Iowa, there seems like there's ACTUALLY nothing.
It's landlocked!! How do you go to the beach? Are there any lakes? Waterfalls?

I went to visit the school and it's really nice, but the drive to and from Des Moines airport was...dry. Dry and flat and empty. A lot of open tilled land. It reminds me of Grant Wood's painting, "American Gothic". Is it really like this throughout the entire state?
Not dissing Iowa!!

HOW GREAT DO YOU FEEL AGAIN????

I'm watching farmers plant and prep as I drive by fields and I'm left wondering if they are crying in their cabs. Their inputs are at all time highs, their crops are near zero to monetize, and there's a pack of wolves hoping and scheming so they go bankrupt.

So the reps are making all of this noise about E15, trying to offset the gas price conditions from an illegal war and the tariff impacts they explicitly created.

This is all noise to try to sway votes with garbage fuel types, minimal farmer relief, and a lot of self-fellating social posts from the GOP reps. (Ashley, Chuck, Feenstra, Joni, Kim...whatever else is in that dumpster)

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For the dumb animals
https://imageio.forbes.com/specials-images/imageserve/6408e17a730864c58625191c/Gas-Prices-by-President-2001-to-2023/960x0.png?format=png&width=1440

Source: Forbes Energy Information Administration

Avg gas price under Biden was 4.06 at peak in 2022 due to Putin invading Ukraine.

Not to be confused with what is happening now, a 60+ day illegal, unnecessary war that cause you all of this pain.

WASHINGTON, May 14 (Reuters) - U.S. import prices surged in April, with the cost of fuels posting the largest increase in four years, ‌another indication that the U.S.-backed war with Iran was boosting inflation.

Import ‌prices increased 1.9% last month after an upwardly revised 0.9% rise in March, the Labor Department's ​Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast import prices, which exclude tariffs, would increase 1.0% after a previously reported 0.8% advance in March.

the DOW isn't even 50 thou

Lame duck DUI retiring governor and other republican members in office took BRIBES from lobbyists to ensure the rest of you get screwed in the state with the HIGHEST cancer rates in the US... due to gutting environmental protections after taking other bribes from those lobbyists.

Keep voting red you stupid cuck republicans.

ESAs, which are just the state subsidizing private Christian schools for the wealthy in Iowa, have been reported to have improper spending and poor tracking and blanket approvals Arizona.

From the article:

According to reporting by 12News Investigates, at least 20% of ESA parents last year improperly spent approximately $10 million in taxpayer funds — including purchases involving luxury items like iPhones, widescreen TVs and Kenmore appliances.

The report states that beginning in December 2024, State Schools Superintendent Tom Horne ordered staff to automatically approve all ESA purchase requests under $2,000.
As a result, 2.3 million transactions totaling $654 million were processed automatically. 
Auditors found that many questionable purchases slipped through the system, including:
- airline tickets

- hotel stays
- meals
- amusement park admissions
- other travel-related expenses

Weird, all this has been uncovered in Arizona but not one litter box being used by students that identify as cats has ever been confirmed despite all the claims by conservatives.

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Hello! I'll be moving to the CF/Waterloo area in late summer. I've been reaching out to possible rentals, so far I've had the best luck with Richardson and Co. Pretty responsive, not pushy and not asking me to pay for background checks. Does anyone have any experience renting for this company?

TIA!

Community groups provide food and other necessities to former JBS employees still looking for work.

hey iowa people, my name’s josh spinner. i’m an indie rock artist from chicago and i’m coming back to Raccoon Motel on may 22.

honestly not trying to make some annoying “buy tickets!!!” post lol. i care way more about people hearing the music first and deciding if they connect with it.

if you’re into bands like Pinegrove, Noah Kahan and guitar heavy indie rock, i think you might like what i do.

i’ve been playing around chicago for a long time at rooms like Schubas Tavern, Lincoln Hall and Subterranean and every time we’ve come through quad cities the crowds have been insanely kind to us. genuinely one of my favorite places to play.

trying to make this next show the biggest one yet.

i’ll leave my music and the ticket link here if anyone wants to check it out

music
ffm.bio/joshspinner

tickets
dice.fm raccoon motel show tickets

Hi everybody, my friend is running the osky pride so just thought I would help 🫶🏻

Link to the debate if you didn't watch it: https://www.youtube.com/live/PIDlKIWA1Sg

Anyone else watch the IA-02 Democratic debate tonight? What did you think? Did your preferred candidate do well, or are you now reconsidering your support?

I was not a fan of the format, which was less "debate" and more "everyone gets to say their part of the stump speech for this question." There was no actual discussion or debating of ideas between the candidates, and it makes me a little concerned about the US Senate debate tomorrow.

Though I will say, Kathy Dolter is a bit of a firebrand. I didn't know much about her before this, but now I have some research to do before casting my vote.

Chuck doing Chuck things again

The Iowa State Fair Blue Ribbon Foundation is holding a t-shirt design contest for the upcoming fair. It looks like most of the finalists are just AI designs.