In today's not-so-shocking news: One in Seven Scientists Say Colleagues Fake Data

Fox has a report One in seven scientists says that they are aware of colleagues having seriously breached acceptable conduct by inventing results.

 "Around 46 percent say that they have observed fellow scientists engage in "questionable practices," such as presenting data selectively or changing the conclusions of a study in response to pressure from a funding source."

Would pressure from funding sources be behind the Green movement?  How dare I say that!


source of article: Times Online

Prop 8 and understanding Rome and Greece

I've been having a fun little debate with my neighbor regarding Prop 8 in California and how homosexuals aren't "given their rights." (A subject for another day).

He brought up the Roman and Greek empire and how they allowed homosexuality marriages early and so should we.  I wasn't prepared at the time, but I thought that homosexuality was part of the downfall of both empires.

IN a book I'm looking forward to reading, Family and Civilization, Dr. Carle Zimmermon lists these 8 common threads to the downfall of both the Greek and Roman empires:

1. The breakdown of marriage and rise of divorce.

2. The loss of the traditional meaning of the marriage ceremony.

3. The rise of Feminism.

4. Increased public disrespect for parents and authority in general.

5. Acceleration of juvenile delinquency, promiscuity and rebellion.

6. Refusal of people with traditional marriages to accept their  family responsibilities.

7. A growing desire for and acceptance of adultery.

8. Increasing interest in and spread of sexual perversions (homosexuality) and sex-related crimes.

Interesting that the US of A is on the same path.  Add that to the fact that we've enabled socialism light (taking over the banks and auto industry to name a few) and we have a lot to worry about regarding our personal freedoms.

Utah's Tea Party

I think it is time I document today, April 15, 2009.

The day is a cold, wet, sometimes snowy day. My boss, who just had an angiogram, has told me I am to represent him at Utah’s tax day rally downtown. The plan was to go anyway, but now I’m officially going.

I am on trax at 11:00 am with a copy of "the forgotten man" with me. Every stop a couple more people step onto TRAX with signs. We are all heading in the same direction.

This isn't about taxes. This isn't about conservative or liberal. This isn't about democrats or liberals.

This is about the constitution. This is about individuals. This is a signal to the federal government that enough is enough. No more spending!

As I type this, my family is now on the hook for at least, at least $60,000 of new government spending.

This started growing with Pres. Bush and now with Pres. Obama.

11:36
Got off trax with 20 or so individuals. 1 block away from the rally. More and more people, Americans, arrive every minute.

I see a couple of news reporters. I am eager to see how they cover this

12:00, the rally starts

SEND IT BACK is the common theme of the first speaker. She managed to pick out politicians from both parties. Both parties are to blame for this mess.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, “We need to stop running this country on a credit card.” That was probably the best line of the whole party.

The organizers start having the attendees start talking. That’s my cue to exit. We still have jobs; some of us do any way.

Some other thoughts: the snow started down pretty hard at 12:00. Shurtliff needs to run against Hatch or Bennett, both who were no shows.

I found it odd Rep. Bishop spoke after seeing an earmark story about him today.

 

  

  

 

Of Testimony and Wings

I was going to try and write a nice story that contained Palmyra, buffalo wings, guns and babies but I’ll make do with just writing about Palmyra and the world’s best buffalo wings.

The first week of January (that’s how far behind I am in my blogging right now) I was able to fly into Buffalo for a work meeting.

The meetings went well.  The guy who was in charge of making sure we were entertained was himself an entertaining fellow.  It wasn’t the fact that he like to mention woman anatomy with us as much as he could, but it was the fact he was willing and really wanting to take us to the Canadian Ballet.

“The Canadian Ballet?  How nice,” you might be telling yourself.  To our guide, the Canadian Ballet was really Canadian strip clubs.  They call it the ballet so people could put that on their expense reports and not “feel bad.”

So…. We respectfully declined his invitation because we were only 90 minutes away from Palmyra.  My coworker and I are both members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and Palmyra to us is a special place.  We both realized we might not get this chance again so we cruised on over.

Palmyra, NY is a small town but it just seems like an amazing place.  The “downtown” area has this amazing intersection with a church on each corner.  Very interesting.

We went to the Smith home and the Sacred Grove for our first stop.  Walking through the grove, even in 2 degree weather, warmed my heart and simply confirmed that on a spring day in 1820, a young boy received an answer to his simple prayer in that grove of trees.  

 

Niagra Falls..... freezing in 2 degree weather

Outside the Smith Home

The Sacred Grove

Our second stop took us to where the Book of Mormon was first published.  We went through a quick tour because we were running out of light and still wanted to visit Cummorah.

 

The publishing house

We got to Cummorah as the final light was going down the western mountains and my Brazilian co-worker wasn’t going to let us leave without climbing the snow covered hill in the dark.  We made it up the hill, took some photos and safely made it back to our cars.

 

Climbing up the snow covered hill in business shoes, nice.

Over all, the place is amazing and I want to take my wife and kids there when the kids are old enough to appreciate it.

The last portion of the trip I wanted to share is the amazing wings of Buffalo.  Anchor Bar in Buffalo is the birthplace of buffalo wings and I’ll tell you, they are amazing.  First off, the wings are huge.  My first night there I ordered 20 thinking it would be the wings I was accustomed to. 

I got to 12 and felt bad because I was going to have eat the other 8 because I didn’t want to take them back to our hotel.

The sauce was delicious and I could eat there every night if it was possible.

Over all the trip was a testimony and stomach growing experience.   

 

 

The status of our country

I really need to keep this thing updated better especially considering the extreme fast pace our country is changing before our eyes. It is crazy what is going on.

Since the election, 3 giant changes have been made:

1. SCHIP: the "downpayment" for Universal Health Care, it provides added coverage for children (defined as can being in their 30s).
   
2. The Stimulus Package: this 1,400 page bill was filled with so many spending projects and given so little debate before it passed that it will be interesting to see the long term affects of the bill will be.
   
3. The Omnibus bill, with more earmarks. The President even had one (after telling congress he was against them) but had his name removed from the bill. The earmark, however, stayed.
   

President Obama has also discussed a plan in saving $600 billion for Universal Health care. Where will the money come from? The plan is to increase the taxes on the rich, letting the Bush tax cuts expire and reducing the amount you can deduct on your taxes due to charitable spending and home interest.

The times, they are a changing.

Helaman 6:39 (talking about the Gadianton Robbers: And thus they did obtain the sole management of the government, insomuch that they did trample under their feet and smite and rend and turn their backs upon the poor and the meek, and the humble followers of God.

Upcoming posts: Palmyra, goals, wings, guns, babies

Getting involved, one phone call at a time

I know I owe a couple of posts regarding issues I wanted to discuss in the past, but I just wanted to say that getting involved starts with a simple phone call.

I called Sen. Orrin Hatch's office and Sen. Bob Bennett to let them know that I was against this currant "stimulus" package that is being debated in the senate. This bill is far from being a stimulus bill and is more a way to spend us into some serious trouble. If this bill passes, it adds $6,000 of debt per person. Why? To fund sex education programs, the arts, etc? This will not stimulate the economy.

I called, voiced my opinion.

I will say this, the person I spoke with at Sen. Bennett's office was much nicer than the one from Sen. Hatch's office. Just sayin.

Disneyland!

The Enger clan finished the year at the “Happiest Place on Earth.”  It was quite an experience.  I haven’t ever been there during the week between Christmas and New Years and can honestly say I have never seen it that busy. 

However, as I said, it was a blast.

We flew out Sunday afternoon and picked up the rental car at the Long Beach Airport.  By the time we got there, our kids’ hungry stomachs caused them so much pain that we hurried ourselves to our favorite California eating place, The California Pizza Kitchen and ate dinner.

When we got to the hotel, we had just enough time to check in, visit with my mom and step dad and get ready for the next day.

The time in Disneyland was a gift package from my mom and it included some pretty fun events like early entry into the park as well as ToonTowne and we wanted to take advantage of these events.  We also used a program called RideMax which helped us navigate the park and get the most out of being there.

The most useful hints of Disneyland:

1.       1. Get to the gate a half hour before the gates open

2.       2. If your kids want to ride it, get to Peter Pan’s ride first or you will be in line for an hour.

3.       3. Go to Fantasy land first and get on all the rides.

When I have been to Disneyland with the in-laws we usually go to Fantasyland during the middle of the day and end up waiting in lines for a couple of hours.  Peter Pan usually has an hour long line (it is the most deceptively long line anywhere).

On Monday morning, we got to the park and on and off Peter Pan in the first 15 minutes of the park being open.  We went on several others and completed Fantasy land in an hour and 15 minutes.  I asked my wife what we were supposed to do the rest of the day due to the lack of excitement our kids tend to show for the “older” rides.

Along the path leading away to Fantasyland into Frontierland, we were presented with “Dream Passes.”  These passes are fast passes to every fast pass ride in Disneyland.  Had it just been Mitzi and I and she wasn’t 8 months pregnant, this would have been an extreme treat.  We, however, ended up giving our 4 passes to my brother after using the rides my kids liked: Buzz Lightyear, Autopia, Splash Mountain and Soaring California.

The day was a lot of fun, and my personal highlight was enjoying Splash Mountain with my 3 year-old.  The low point of the day was doing the Teacups 3 times in a row.  I don’t do circles well and that was pretty bad.  I tried to keep my field of view low so I wouldn’t see any of the motion around me, but I lifted my head too early and , was hit with motion sickness pretty rapidly.

Day 2 was a little different.  We got to the theme park at 6:30 for the early entry day.  We again completed the Fantasyland rides in record time and I told my wife that I would get in line at 8:00 am for the Princess Faire thinking my daughter wanted to see the princesses again.  So I get in line and the attraction doesn’t open until 9:00 am.  I came prepared with a book and read while I waited.

9:00 rolls around and we walk in only to see my daughter not wanting to be there and she played coy the whole time.  We were in and out being in the front of the line and I got a little frustrated.  My wife, however, enjoyed her time with the princesses.

My daughter then tells me she wants to go on the Materhorn.  I get pretty excited because, frankly, sometimes I want to go on a ride that doesn’t just go in circles and make me sick.  So we are just about ready to get on the ride and my daughter informs me that she doesn’t want to go on the ride.  Strike 2 against the kids.

After Fantasyland, we proceed to California Adventure, specifically the Bugs Life area and enjoy the park to ourselves.  We set the record for consecutive times on the Caterpillar Ride, followed by many travels on the fun rides that go in circles. 

 

 

One area we went to that I never knew existed was the Animation Studio where Disney animators demonstrate how to draw some Disney Characters.  I could honestly sit there all day long and learn.  For some reason I really enjoy that type of venue.  The animators taught us how to draw Tigger and Piglet.  I told my wife that if we ever went to Disneyland by ourselves that we would go there for a couple of hours.  We both loved it.

 

 

I finally blew a fuse, as most parents do in the happiest place on earth, when we went back to Bugs Life land and saw the Bugs Life 3-D movie.  I feel bad that I won’t be winner of the prestigious “Parent of the Year” award, but I was in a state of frustration and I had run 6 miles in the morning, so I was tired as well.

I should understand though that kids do get scared and having giant arachnids drop from the ceiling would be cause for their immediate concern while interrupting my enjoyment.  “It isn’t real, nothing in this place is real and everything is pretty much safe,” was my plea to my kids.  After a day of hearing them tell me they didn’t want to go on such-and-such ride, or see princesses, or it was scary, I was done hearing it.  . 

We did manage to survive that day and enjoyed our third day.

The third day started by me waiting in line so we could be the first to see Mickey Mouse after ToonTowne’s Mickey Mouse Mayor presentation.  We were the first in lines and enjoyed the early morning in ToonTowne.

The "getting wet" rides seem to be pretty popular at Disneyland, but has anyone been wet on Small World?  Has anyone been stuck on the ride?  We can say, we did!  For some reason when we got on the boat, all the men got on last and when we noticed it, we decided to have a little fun by all leaning to the side of the boat we were on.  

Nothing else spectacular happened the third day other than the Christmas Parade they have in place of the other evening parade.  If you sat by us, my family was pretty much the highlight of the show because we interacted with the characters instead of just sitting there.  Anytime a “cast member” comes and does communicates with you in character, you know you’re having a good time.

Overall the trip was really amazing.  In my family, we have some sort dysfunctional when we get together and even though we never really stayed together throughout the park, when we did get together, it was fun.  I really enjoy the company of my mom, step dad, brothers and their wives.

My mom was the real trooper throughout.  All she wanted to do is make sure everyone had fun, and we all did.  She even waited 10 hours on a park bench on New Year’s Eve so we could see the parade as a family.  Thanks Mom!

Next post:  ‘09 Goals, Palmyra, Buffalo Wings and Canadian Ballet

Go Utes! And The Diet… er Lifestyle change starts again!

With the new year always begins everyone's diet. As did mine and so far I am doing well. The key is substituting pudding for my ice cream addiction and it is working quite well. I am already down 4 pounds. Yippeeeee. Here's to 200 pounds by the end of the year.

I'll make another post with more resolutions for the year.

Did anyone see my beloved Utah Utes dismantle the Alabama Crimson Tide? What a game. What a season.

Truth be told, I never thought after 2004 that I would see another season where the Utes would go undefeated and play in a BCS bowl game. Crap, after the TCU game, I thought the Utes would get beat pretty soundly in a BCS bowl game.

When I saw that they landed SEC powerhouse, Alabama, I was pretty worried. You know what. I suck. Utah stood toe to toe with Alabama and punched them in the mouth and kept punching. No gimmicks, just speed, power and finesse. It was outstanding. I am still in a "Uphoria" over the season. Wow.

Now, it just makes me hate the BCS system that much more because the Utes still won't win the national championship, but at least a lot of national reporters are giving the Utes their due. I want to make special mention to Jim Rome who has had Coach Whittingham on his radio show twice and his TV show once, had Eric Weddle on both his TV and radio shows as well as Jordon Gross. He has never discredited Utah throughout the season as well. It's refreshing when there is so much information available that one guy will actually be as prepared as Jim Rome was/is. That preparation is nowhere to be found at ESPN.

I am also in the middle of reading an amazing book about the framers of the constitution and some of their beliefs behind the framing of the constitution. It is an amazing book that makes me completely frustrated because the more I read it, the more I know we are far from the country the framers intended. The book is called The 5000 Year Leap and I highly recommend it.

Right now I am reading in Helaman about the Gadianton robbers. It is so much fun (sigh) seeing the parralales between that government and what is currently going on with our government today. Good times are ahead! (groan).

I also just completed a concealed weapon class to get my concealed weapons permit. I don't have a weapon, but at least the government cannot take that right away from me in the future.

Next post we'll discuss Disneyland and goals for '09. Good stuff.

Under Armour shoes especially for Utah

Look at what Under Armour did for the Utes for the Sugar Bowl! Amazing set of shoes, don't you think.

And... oh yeah. CONGRATS to the Sugar Bowl Champion Utah Utes. The ONLY undefeated team in the nation and deserving of the National championship!

Happy Holidays

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