Stormbringer's Thunder

Edited 5 August 2011 Buona sera. Do you know that old group of Clapton's and Winwood's called "Blind Faith"? Well, this has nothing to do with it. I have a lesson, with some illustrations from my recent experiences in Trollsville. Sounds like a new game from Zynga, doesn't it? Well, my game was unpleasant, and yet, there were laughable experiences. Here is the point, then I will explain it: You can become so blinded by hate that you miss out on some good things. If your criteria for whether someone is "acceptable" to you is based on qualifiers, be careful. People have chosen to hate me because I am a Christian, because I am not (denomination), because I am a Conservative, because I work for — waitaminnit, you almost got me there. Can't tell you that. But what good is it to have such severe limiting factors? "You Xtians are all stupid and worthless, neener neener!" That guy is missing out on valuable information. Just today, I...

Buona sera. Hey, what do you get when you cross an atheist with a Jehovah's Witness? Someone who knocks on your door for no apparent reason. Ha! Love that one. (Insert Larry the Cable Guy voice): I don't care who ya are, that's funny! You're not going to believe this. With the merging of technology and magic, the United States Air Force has made a holy relic in my waffle! Are you ready? OK, here's the Nighthawk: Even though it's officially retired, I still think it's cool. OK, now dig this. The USAF has made it happen that an image of the Nighthawk has appeared in my waffle! Get a load of this: What will happen next? I love miracles of technology! They send a tingle down my leg, just like Obama does to Keith "Leftist Nutcase" Olbermann. Do more than ten people watch that show anymore? Now I have something a bit more serious. It's another area where I agree with disbelievers, and that's when religious people act like pagans worshiping idol...

Excuse me. I am very, very sad right now. Just found out that I lost a friend. Well, I considered Dana Key, the lead singer and guitarist of the Christian band DeGarmo and Key a kind of friend. Met him after concerts (and once before) about three times. Great show. (Greg Morrow was drumming for them, look for him on the credits of Van Zant's latest albums.) He's gone now, dead on June 6, 2010 at age 56 from a blood clot. Some people say that people do not grow spiritually when they're into any kind of rock music. Well, Dana was another one that became a pastor. He was one of those people that you could see it in his eyes, felt like he was looking into me. Startling the first time it happened. These guys meant what they said, and had the courage to sing about Jesus. For that matter, I remember when they released a 2-for-1 deal — buy the tape, there is a second one inside the package for you to give to "an unsaved friend". That has always impressed me. I came...

Buon giorno. Been getting myself in trouble with the crew. Grousing to Lela, Hal the Hacker, Tommy the Knocker, Billy the Baptist, Rowdy Ralph, Tommy the Knocker, Nicky and the others... they told me to put it into writing so they don't have to hear me. I'm in the mood for a little grumbling, making the sound of a distant thunder. Most are small. Sure, I have plenty of things that I can rant about, such as people who use bad reasoning but cannot see it, double standards of the Hollyweird leftists (sure, complain about Bush at every turn, not a peep about B. Hussein Obama's failings in dealing with the BP situation), the way PayPal is letting finances for terrorist lovers go through but shuts down their account with Atlas Shrugs and other anti-jihad sites — but I want to let other people handle those so I can go after must less important things. Except one brief comment of something bigger. Can the criticism of Elton John for playing at the Limbaugh wedding, willya? Peopl...

Slightly edited January 1, 2018. Buona sera, wherever you are. Uncle Bob is really burned up about something. No, that's wrong. I want to say that today's topic is about bad science. First, I'm going to talk about what makes things burn. Naturally, you're going to say oxygen, or combustion process, or maybe an independent fuel source. Well, we do know about what makes things burn today. Way back when, it was a different story. It was a mystery. Johann J. Becher put out (ha!) his theory of phlogiston in 1667. (Surprisingly, Wikipedia has a very good article on the subject.) Basically, stuff burned because it contained this ingredient. No phlogiston, no burning. You may be tempted to laugh at it today because science has left the theory behind over a hundred years ago, but it was an attempt to work through and explain the observed phenomenon of burning. It was also used to explain rusting, but there is no need to make this discussi...