Nobrainer’s Think Tank

The Wall Street Journal today has an interesting article on the increasing availability of prime beef. I haven’t actually seen any of it yet, but Mr. Bingley had scoop two weeks ago.

A recent Southwest flight experienced some damage and had to make an emergency landing.

Fortunately a keen passenger was able to speak to the press.

John Benson of Knoxville was on Flight 2294 with his two sons. Benson was planning on taking his sons to New York by way of Baltimore. What was supposed to be a nice family trip, quickly turned into one of the most frightening experiences of his life.

“Literally the whole top of the plane ripped off,” Benson said.

Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said a football-sized hole was located mid-cabin, near the top of the aircraft.

How to Use an LCD Monitor as a TV Without a Computer.

That sounds like a potentially good idea, although one drawback might be the refresh rates of cheaper LCD monitors.

If everything goes well, I’ll know about my new living situation first thing Monday morning. Then I’ll have to shift into high gear to get all the utilities turned on. While I don’t have any choice in most matters, I do have a choice in cable/internet provider. Cox is pretty good as far as cable companies go. In the two years that I’ve been using their service, I can’t say that I have really found a reason to change. However, Verizon FiOS does sound quite nice.

Any of you have any input?

Update: According to Verizon, the download speed compared to cable is only 20% faster. I was expecting more. Although the upload speed is 90% faster… I doubt I upload enough stuff for that to matter.

Don’t worry, the same company that just months ago said that bankruptcy was not an option, has now emerged from bankruptcy. Of course now we’re being told that all the government loans will be paid back in full and ahead of schedule. In addition, “[The new CEO] said the U.S. government, which owns a majority stake in GM, has vowed that it would not get involved in day-to-day decisions.” It seems that Congress isn’t aware of that pledge.

A majority of House members have signed onto a bill to reverse the closing of 789 Chrysler dealerships and block General Motors Corp. from closing more than 1,300, while the full House could vote on the bill as early as next week….

“A majority of the U.S. House of Representatives, an astonishing 222 members, and a quickly growing number in the Senate, from both parties, now fully recognize what is clear to the American people: The leadership of GM and Chrysler made a horrible mistake by their arbitrary termination of profitable dealerships,” the statement said. “Detroit and the (White House’s) auto task force’s flawed business plan will lead to the direct loss of more than 169,000 good jobs and cripple the U.S. auto industry’s ability to come back from bankruptcy.”

Here’s a question, have any of you actually thought to yourself how sorry you feel for these dealerships? I know I sure as shit have not.

Anyway, the executive branch is making business decisions for GM and Chrysler and Congress has decided they have veto power over the executive branch. Perhaps the government isn’t involved in “day-to-day” decisions, but they’re most certainly involved in the biggest decisions facing the companies.

Coming soon to a dealer near you:

Sometime, maybe a year ago, I heard Lenny Dykstra on a local radio station talking the local radio station talking about Lenny Dykstra’s transformation into an uber-successful stock picking/investing guru. He apparently appears on TV regularly, has until recently been making picks for thestreet.com, and maybe even publishing other newsletters. He even had Jim Cramer in his corner, “He is one of the great ones in this business. Lenny Dykstra.” It all sounded a bit sketchy to me. Well guess who’s just filed for bankruptcy?

The 46-year-old has no more than $50,000 of assets and between $10 million and $50 million of liabilities, according to a petition filed Tuesday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Central District of California.

Dykstra’s filing comes in the wake of more than 20 lawsuits he faces tied to his activities as a financial entrepreneur, including The Players Club, a glossy magazine for athletes he had helped launch in 2008.

According to an April article on ESPN.com, Dykstra put his net worth at $60 million, and also owned a black Rolls Royce Phantom and Gulfstream II jet.

Thanks to Fark for the heads up.

Update: Here’s the audio I heard from 3/17/2008. The guys on the radio were really just talking about Dykstra’s appearance on HBO’s Real Sports.

Update 2: For more Lenny goodness, try reading this GQ article from a photographer who worked for him, or this ESPN article, or this DeadSpin post with some video from a more recent HBO Real Sports segment.