You know, I learned something today."Nu, domnule, nu iti vei expune cepele in delicatesa mea!"A Romanian pal of mine kindly provided me with the Romanian translation of the phrase "No sir, I will NOT display your onions in my delicatessen!"So, I've been thinking.If the universe has an estimated age, 11, 12 billion years or whatever, then it obviously has a beginning. And if it has a beginning, then it has an end, by which I mean an end-point, not an end in terms of time.Suggesting that the universe is a finite and contained body. So, what exists outside the confines of the universe? Nothing? For it truly to be nothing, the universe would have to cease to exist as soon as its boundaries are breached.So is it therefore infinite?If so, it has no need for a beginning. No Big Bang. Speaking of which, if energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but can only change form, then where did the initial matter or energy that created the big bang come from? Did it spontaneously appear from nothing?Any answer containing some an allusion to the supernatural in the form of an anthropromorphic God/God's is a very lazy waste of my time, and will result in my seeking the perpretrator out and shagging them up the nose with the raggedy end of a pineapple. And yes, I do mean BOTH ends.