Nobrainer’s Think Tank

“I will present undeniable scientific proof that God exists.” Sure you will Mr. Comfort. Comfort and Kirk Cameron are going to appear on a to-be-televised-on-ABC debate.

For Mr. Comfort’s sake, I hope his undeniable scientific proof isn’t a jar of peanut butter or a banana.

What’s funnier, or really, sadder, is Kirk Cameron. I give him credit for avoiding the childhood-actor-turned-petty-criminal-who-dies-in-the-gutter path of life. But his religious exploits are just way too far over the top. Let’s look at some of what he said in the article:

Atheism has become very popular in universities–where it’s taught that we evolved from animals and that there are no moral absolutes. So we shouldn’t be surprised when there are school shootings.

Just let that thought marinate for a while.

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If there’s a bruise on my forehead later today, you’ll know why:

Waiting in a winding line for autographs from his favorite NBA player, 15-year-old Brian Cox lifted the lid of a shoebox to show off his synthetic leather high-top sneakers with black sides and blue-and-orange soles.

At a price his mother doesn’t mind — $14.98 — he got his fourth pair of Starburys this week, a sneaker created by New York Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury. Joanne Cox brought her two teenage sons to Steve & Barry’s University Sportswear after church Sunday for the launch of Marbury’s spring line.

The NBA star “grew up in a poor neighborhood just like we did,” said Cox, who is raising the boys on her own. She says it is not easy on the wages she earns as a city traffic officer, and she has spent thousands on her sons’ shoes over the years. “Now that we got a price of $15, we’re not going higher than that.”

Just so you know, Starburys have only been on sale since September ‘06. The math works out to indicate that Brian gets new shoes every 10 weeks. That leads me to conclude that either the shoes are pieces of crap that don’t last at all (sounds like the British Knights I had about 16 years ago), or the Coxes still need lessons on stretching their dollar.

And, as a footnote, Starburys are apparently all the rage at UVA law.

• Whereas last year I began my container gardening of peppers and tomatoes from seeds, this year I opted to buy plants at Lowe’s. Hopefully my bell pepper and jalapeño plants enjoy their new home.
• I’m enjoying the fruits of some home brewing labors I undertook a few months ago. The first batch, as with many of forays into brewing with Mr. Beer, was flat and somewhat cidery. The 2nd batch, which is a Nut Brown Ale type beer is crisp and bubbly. Unfortunately it kinda tastes like club soda. Further brewing will commence after my move to DC. It will also include better brewing equipment and glass, instead of plastic, bottles.
• I’ve been enjoying some new music. Hank Williams III’s Straight to Hell is exceptionally good.
• The full length songs of Spinal Tap are not as enjoyable as the clips played throughout the movie.
• I’m reading several books concurrently. One is a PHP Cookbook. I’m just starting, but some hardcore coding education seems pretty exciting.
• I’m also working on Power System Economics. It’s an interesting read. Suffice it to say that I’ll know more about the subject that any of you within 6 months.
• I’m also reading Sowell’s A Conflict of Visions. It’s a good reminder that some people — wrongly in my opinion — simply view the world in different terms. However, juxtaposed upon current American politics, both parties pick and choose from the two visions in whichever way fits their interests.

That’s enough for now.

Nobody likes it when bad things happen to good people. Certainly bad things happen to almost everyone. But why is it when big, bad things happen, suddenly everyone it happened to was a “great guy” a “hard worker” and/or someone who “played by the rules?”

I read a similar such comment this morning about Circuit City’s plan to layoff 3,400 employees. To be clear, I don’t consider layoffs to be good news. Nor am I brutally certain that Circuit City’s plan is a good one. But I replied with this:

We are talking about Circuit City employees, right? The people who will try everything in their power to sell you an expensive and almost completely unnecessary extended warranty? Two days ago, how many Loungers would have said, “man, I just LOVE the staff at Circuit City. They are just the best, friendliest, nicest people who always make sure that I get a great deal!”

Apparently the initial comment was really about loyalty. Being the cynical person I am, I can conclude that their “loyalty” was mostly tied to their paychecks being well above market value.

After the Great Comcast Disaster of ‘06, I gave my old, extra router to my girlfriend. It’s been running just fine for months and now her roommate wants to plug into it. And she wants the installation software for the router. I told her something along the lines of, “I probably have it, but you totally don’t need it to connect. I’ve never used it.”

She insisted that computers can’t connect through a router unless that router’s software is installed.

Had she not been so insistent, I might have suggested that she just needed to restart the router. But who am I to keep her from the fun of looking up the router manufacturer; finding, downloading, and installing the software; and then rewiring everything… and then restarting the router.

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