I think the ACLU might be behind this.

Proposition 2 - Standards for Confining Farm Animals. Initiative Statute Summary Requires that calves raised for veal, egg-laying hens and pregnant pigs be confined only in ways that allow these animals to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs and turn around freely. Exceptions made for transportation, rodeos, fairs, 4-H programs, lawful slaughter, research and veterinary purposes. Provides misdemeanor penalties, including a fine not to exceed $1,000 and/or imprisonment in jail for up to 180 days. Fiscal Impact: Potential unknown decrease in state and local tax revenues from farm businesses, possibly in the range of several million dollars annually. Fiscal Impact: Potential minor local and state enforcement and prosecution costs, partly offset by increased fine revenue. What a Yes or No Vote Means YES: A “YES” vote on this measure means: Beginning in 2015, state law would prohibit, with certain exceptions, the confinement on a farm of pregnant pigs, calves raised for veal, and egg-laying hens in a manner that does not allow them to turn around freely, lie down, stand up, and fully extend their limbs. NO: A “NO” vote on this measure means: State law would not contain prohibitions specifically concerning the confinement of pregnant pigs, calves raised for veal, and egg-laying hens.

I can't believe that we have to vote on this. I think this is a good cause, but I am openly going to vote no, and here is why:

If I were a farm animal, by the time I am pregnant, I will have accepted that the purpose of my life was to be killed and eaten. I might have even realized that the purpose of my race (be it pig, chicken, etc.) was to be eaten by humans.

Really. We've all seen Charlotte's Web. And even though I didn't realize it when I watched it as a kid, there are a lot of pigs that die in that movie. It might be arguable that they aren't intelligent enough to make those observations. But then I might argue that nobody knows if a pig is sore because he doesn't have enough space to move. When was the last time that you were a pig and your feet hurt?

As for me, I will let Alex get us a pet pig. And we will give it all the room a little pig wants to move around. Even if it is pregnant.

And one day, I might have bacon for breakfast.

BYU Football (in general, and a review of the New Mexico game)

Alex, roommates, and 64,000 people yelling within 500 feet of me. Now really, does life get any better than this? I suggest that it cannot.

So before I was a BYU student, I was a pretty hardcore BYU football fan. I would get a friend (usually Ashley Hunt) and go to Calvin Branson's house a couple blocks away to eat all his food and watch the game on satellite. On top of that, I will never forget my first game at LaVell Edwards Stadium. I was a freshman, and it was fall of 2004. We played Notre Dame, and it was our season/home opener. I have never seen a place so loud in all my life (and I've been exposed to some playoff 49ers crowds, and don't forget the Mexicans in the outfield pavilion at Dodgers Stadium). My bones tingled of such awesomeness. I think that to this day, a little bit of that crowd tingles in my bones every time I think of BYU football. I get that high every time BYU scores, every time I sing the fight song, every time I see the team play.

With that aside, I think I'm going to start posting my comments on every BYU game here. Since I am 16 rows up every home game, we have a pretty good view. I also have noted that my take on the games is usually different than what most people think. But I am pretty observative.

The first half of the game could be characterized by saying that we were experimenting on offense. Sure, we gave up our first points in a few home games, but I think we learned a lot. I was able to see how our offense works. Usually our receivers will run long routes, long outs, or just streaks. That is why we had so many big plays at the beginning of the season.

The letdown to many Cougar fans at the beginning of the game wasn't that we weren't playing well, but that we were opening up our playbook. We ran our short crosses and our quick slants five times more than I've seen in any other game. As we did this, there was one big drawback: inconsistency. Since we haven't run those plays as frequently, we were more prone to come up short. We weren't having 3rd and 10 plays, we were having 4th and 2 plays. In other words, those plays were coming up just barely short.

There was also one big difference, and now it fits together for me. Dennis Pitta. He's is too fast for linebackers, yet too big for a team's secondary to take on. Dennis was placed as a slot receiver most of the game. He didn't have any great plays, which is a little unexpected. Theoretically, the move to slot receiver puts the defense in a hard position. They either have to sacrifice a linebacker to struggle to keep up with him, and cover him short, or they have to dedicate a safety to him, and risk him getting deeper and getting away. Either way, its a risk for the defense. But honestly, New Mexico did a great job of covering him. They did not, however, manage to realize that while Pitta was at a Slot WR/TE spot, the Cougars were sporting their second TE, Andrew George. And he had two touchdown receptions. And he got the extra blocking up front to get Harvey Unga some rushing yards.

So all in all, I'd say that the New Mexico coaches did their homework very well. They managed to hold us in many aspects. They sacked us once, which was amazing. They really pulled some tricky plays on us, and helped us discover some big holes in our rushing defense.

Hehe... I love it when the opposing team has 4th and 34. And they go for it.

Only at BYU

Posted from an email I received 9:38am this morning:

University Police would like the campus community to know that the helicopter buzzing our campus is not a threat.

The university has hired the helicopter to help with a film that is being prepared. Filming is scheduled to continue through today and Saturday.

We apologize for the disturbance.

Man. Good thing they told us that. Otherwise some sheltered person would have definitely thought that terrorists were attacking BYU. With a helicopter circling around campus. That would have made the Police Beat for sure.

Hospital Patient for the first time in 12 years

Yep, its for reals. The last time I was signed in at a hospital was when I broke my leg the day of Trevor's baptism when I was 10 years old.

So on Sunday at 2am I woke up with a bad allergic reaction. Hives started erupting over my entire body. I tried to ignore it and I slept horribly that night. That whole day I watched General Conference with a severe itch all over me. I had hives from my shoulders to my ankles. I want to hope it has something to do with my clothes, but I was wearing sandles and shorts all day.

Lucky for me that I have Alex, who accompanied me to Utah Valley Medical Center. We went to the Emergency Room. They asked if I had been a patient there. I told them my name, and my date of birth, and they found me. They definitely tracked me down to the address of 400 N 250 E. The names on the apartment... Todd Evan Jones and Connie Lee Roberts Jones. I was definitely a patient there the day that I was born.

I spoke with a doctor, and guess what he told me? "Well I know this is a textbook allergic reaction. But I can't figure out what caused it. I can make it go away, but I can't tell you what you are allergic to." So he told me to take Benadryl, and he prescribed me 4 days of oral steroids. In the words of my dad, "[I] should go to the gym this week and take advantage of the opportunity." But really, I can testify that steroids can help do good things. Like make my hives go away.

To this day I don't know what is causing the allergic reaction, but I am hoping that it doesn't affect me much more. I don't want to think of what I would have to go through to see an allergist. Alex bought me the special allergist recommended laundry detergent today. She really is the best.

Website fun: FailBlog.org

I don't know if everyone has been here, but one site that I have been checking out lately is FailBlog.org. This site dedicates itself to making fun of our shortfalls, in logic, common sense, spelling, writing, speaking, sitting, wearing, and just about everything that we can do.

To me it is like naming your child Bathsheba. Yesterday during conference Alex, BG and I couldn't help but notice the associated shortfalls. Wouldn't you feel a little reluctant to take her to the pool? Or what would you say if she had invited her friend David over to eat?