Something readers should be aware of

Readers of this blog (all two of them) should be aware that I am not the worlds greatest communicator. There are many unsaid assumptions in my posts.

If you read any of my posts you should be aware that I believe the world can be and should be a better place than it is. We need to work to make it a better place. We need to plan and fight to make it a better place. When I point out something that I feel is wrong with the world it isn't just to complain, it part of my attempt to understand. The first part of fixing a problem is to recognize that there is a problem. My posts are both an attempt to make people realize there is a problem and to help myself understand the problem. We cannot fix the problems as individuals, but if we all do what we can we will make progress in the right direction. Even if all you can do is not to make things worse it is a move in the right direction.

Scientific studies

I just finished reading another news article based on a seriously flawed scientific study. The supposed scientists found that their study proved exactly what they were expecting. Well duh. When you start a study with expectations you skew the study to match what you expect. True scientists don't start a study with expectations of what the results might be.

Part of the reason for the flawed study is that the people who sponsor these things pretty much dictate the results. Shame on the supposed scientists for using their positions to promote a lie. Another part of the reason is that universities reward their faculty for getting into the news. Shame on the universities for rewarding bad science.

The companies that provide our news are of course at fault because they pounce on anything that they can print to get readership, flawed or not. Their motivation is money and at least they (more or less) honestly admit that. They are at fault for promoting bad science, but they are not the originators of the garbage they print.

I really with one of the scientific groups would start tracking and publishing scorecards for individuals that participate in the creation of this psuedo-science. Then we would have some way of knowing who the major producers of garbage are.

Ignoring problems

People have a habit of not solving problems until they have to. This is rarely a good idea because when the pressure is on the best possible solution is rarely chosen, and yet people continually put problems off to the future. I have never understood why.

Some problems can't be solved until they happen because some factors will be unknown or uncertain until the problem occurs. Some problems are best left without a final solution until they happen because there is a possibility some new fact or solution may occur before the problem happens. But in both cases at least some thought and decisions can be arrived at well before the problem occurs. By totally ignoring a problem until it happens you have given up your chance to do that forward thinking that may mean the difference between a bad solution and a good one.

Sometimes I think peoples desire to ignore problems is simple laziness, other times I think it is because they fear confrontation. I am sure they are many opinions including some that think that ignoring problems is the most efficient way to handle them. I myself disagree. I solve or at least try to solve problems before they happen. Forward thinking has saved me a lot of grief, I don't understand why others have not chosen the same route I have.

Macaroni Grill review

I have eaten at the Macaroni Grill a dozen times, with less and less frequency lately. They have always been pretentious, but the food was good. That has changed in the last year though. Now they are both pretentious and have bad food. The service is still decent, but service isn't a reason to go to a restaurant.

I like good Italian food, even moderately okay Italian food. The food at Macaroni Grill lately isn't either of those. I don't know why they have changed, but the food I have been served lately is poorly cooked.

Recently I thought I would give them one more try. I ordered Chicken Parmesan, a dish that I though nobody could screw up. They screwed it up. The chicken breast was overcooked, dry on the inside and actually burnt on the edges. The spaghetti sauce contained pieces of garlic so raw I think it was added after the sauce was cooked. They even managed to screw up the appetizer, although that is easier to do.

I will have to try to find a decent Italian place now. Someplace that understands the concept that a restaurant is about food.