Seems that nearly 4 in 10 “Research” papers (paid for mostly with Government grants) are…..bullshit. These include “Peer Reviewed” studies….

And note that the remaining 62 % include those that “show an effect in the same direction as the original studies.”…not that can be fully replicated, but just kinda can be sorta almost maybe…if you squint hard….might sorta kinda show sorta similar results….

It’s become a profitable industry, where scheming researchers get taxpayer-funded grants to find specific conclusions, then those manipulated and fake conclusions are reported back to the public as if they are real, and then policies and recommendations are made that further cost people money.

This used to be the claim when industry paid for research..especially when they wanted research to show that their products were safe….But now it is pretty much ALL “research”….ESPECIALLY anything to do with Global Warming Climate Change…(isn’t it interesting how, once the “warming” failed to show up the researchers and climatologists and the media switched to “Climate Change” and the believers just ate it up?)

And there is no downside to publishing a “research” paper full of bullshit either….it’s not like you have to pay the money back or worry about being charged with fraud or anything…

I remember reading Scientific American 45 years ago as a kid….My Dad gave me articles to read and explained them if I had questions….and researchers back then published articles which were clear on the methods used and made their research fairly easy for anyone to duplicate….So their peers could easily check their methods….Those days in that publication are long gone, however….

Remember this when you read or are told by the Media that eating food kept in plastic containers increases your chance of getting some exotic cancer that only occurs in white rats that are exposed to extremely high levels of Cell phone radiation while growing up or something….It has a 1 in three chance that the whole research is bullshit. 

Yes, they are a Gun Rights advocacy group…and the largest one, if not the most effective one.

And yes, they are a bureaucracy that exists more for itself than for the members. I’ve run into that part before.

And, it would seem, it is an organization that now exists to enrich the higher level members of that organization. (WSJ article, and currently paywalled, but probably worth reading….). Millions of dollars…monies given by members either through donations or dues, are spent on firms that have ties to, or are owned by, directors, presidents, managers or other parts of the organization. Profits given to the members of the organizations management….in addition to salaries.  Is it unethical? Maybe. Is it illegal? Probably not. Is it right? I dunno.

A snippet: New filings from the National Rifle Association reveal that the gun-rights group directed millions of dollars over several years to people with close ties to the group, including former top officials.
A separate review of the NRA’s vendor relationships found other business arrangements that similarly benefit insiders.

It looks bad though. Especially when it isn’t disclosed. Were those contracts put up for competitive bids? We don’t know.

But cronyism looks pretty bad. Much like nepotism in city politics. I don’t like it….it smells. Especially when they call me weekly and email me even more often, asking for money.

I’m no fan of the NRA. Having said that, they are useful. And they have done some good. But the optics on this are not pretty.

Thanks to Dad for the heads up.

And likely, it is true.

HERE

9 of them.

The wind was good, and, for once the ceilings were high enough for some pattern work (2300ft…the weather has been terrible for flying recently).

So I went and did some pattern work.

Worked on approach speeds…with one person and half fuel, it likes 72 knots (The POH lists from 65-80) with 20 degrees of flaps.

80 is WAY too fast. It wants to porpoise at touchdown. 65 is too slow, control is difficult, although doable. I’m gonna have to practice some short field./40 degree stuff another time.

72 to 75 is Just Right with 20 degrees of flaps.

I did try the advice of another 182 owner….I put 40 pounds of water in the baggage department at the aft end. Really made a big difference in the roundout. 2.5 gallon jugs are cheap and can be removed if needed, but they make a great difference in the landing when lightly loaded.

With fairly cool weather, climb rates were in excess of 1200FPM. easy to overshoot target altitudes in the pattern when one is used to less powerful airplanes.

I’m not sure the fuel gauges are accurate though. Both showed about 5/8 full, but I put 22 gallons in each side……and the bladders are only supposed to hold 37.5 gallons each (35 usable)…the math doesn’t add up. I’m gonna run one empty at altitude and see what it takes to fill it…then, if need be, get the gauges fixed. It is possible that the bladders were replaced with larger ones and the  placard is incorrect. I dunno.

If the weather ever gets nicer I’m gonna do me some $100 hamburgers and get some cross country time.