Phi for All

He tasks me and I shall have him. --Khan Noonian Singh A custom title would mean he could change it himself later. This is better.

Firstly, Dave does so many hoopy, froody things behind the scenes here at SFN that it was inevitable he be made an admin (it also helped to have compromising photos involving blike, a Hollywood starlet, rubber sheets and a large can of creamed corn). Secondly, the changes to the Religion sub-forum will all be explained to you... when you die. And third, Dak if you ever post in pink again, you're going to get your own custom user title, and odds are you won't like it. <insert evil, non-constipated smiley>

Be careful what you wish for... over and over and over.

If swansont gets to use his quantum Heisenbugs. You may know how fast they fly, but then you you'll never see 'em coming.

They'll never be made legal, because it's not only the drugs that are profitable, it's laundering the hundreds of billions annually in drug money as well. Many US banks have been caught, but realistically, if they keep books like Enron did, the paper trail is a labyrinth. What better way to capitalize any business than with the cheapest money there is! How's that for "pop"?

If you win a cage match between you and Dr. Swanson.

It is an economic problem, or will soon lead to one. As more large corporations consolidate through merger, they create unfair advantages that can't be stopped by normal market means. Government regulation are the only way to curb this, but the mega-corporations can afford to throw millions at lobbying, disinformation, propoganda and other tactics to derail legislation. Add media ownership into the mix and the voter voice gets pretty hard to hear.

I think they squash competition while disguised as a down-sizing method. What I meant was Church & State-like problem, not type. My bad. Mega-corporations have so much money and such specific interests that they are able to unfairly influence political endeavors.

Oh, now you're just sucking up to Pangloss. I would love to have someone go through the White House with no corporate agenda, owing no one for getting elected, and put a stop to some of these mega-mergers.

Did you hear that on Randi Rhodes? Your fundamentalistas just had too many syllables to make a good sound bite. Too ethnic for mainstream as well. Fristians are people who do business in church right after the sermon.

In the hopes that you'll stop playing Quiddage ( ), let me ask you this: Many US companies have been merging to form huge conglomerates that wield immense political clout and also tend to stifle free enterprise and competition. How can we keep big business from creating another Church vs State-type problem when they have more resources and political cohesiveness?

Freeing all those former opium warlords to help us fight the Taliban and find Bin Laden turned out to be a pretty smart move then I guess. Sorry, cynical mood today.

Now I'm paranoid as well. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the amount of land (in hectares) devoted to opium (heroin) production in Afghanistan in 2000 was aprox. 82,000. In 2001, the Taliban burned most of the poppy fields and declared war on the opium trade since they are fundamentalists and drugs are not permitted by Islamic law. The land devoted to opium growth plummeted to less than 8000 hectares. The US invaded in November 2001 (opium planting season) and by 2002 the amount of opium land jumped to 74,000 hectares. Shouldn't the US military have been a bit more anti-drug minded? I guess not since the figures jumped to 80,000 hectares in 2003 and a whopping 131,000 hectares in 2004. Drug money laundering, it turns out, is a trillion-dollar business worldwide. UNODC Afghanistan Poppy Fields Report 2004

The desire to be the ones holding the last reserves of oil may be leading US industries to manipulate our democracy into totalitarian leanings, but I don't think it's inherent in the system of capitalism. If the voters let the worst happen, then it will happen.

Someone had a nice birthday.

Neither shot really shows the underside of the head. I think it can tuck up under a bit when not in use. I think that's one of the things that distinguishes them. Most bugs that small that digest externally have one tube for the corrosive juices and another tube for feeding.

Have you seen him feed? If he injects prey for external digestion, he could be an assassin bug. Assassin bugs usually have one combo injection/feeding tube to do this instead of two seperate ones. There's over 3000 species of them.

Sorry you don't trust me not to participate it if I did. I know a lot of these yes or no riddles, i.e. the man with the pack on his back, the man who asks for a glass of water, the man in the elevator, the dead man and the bicycles, etc, so I know how they work. This was a new one for me. In the future, leave out the emaciation, it tipped me off.

Okay, I think I've got it. My next question is a spoiler if I'm right, so I'll hide it. I'm going to sleep, so I'll check in the morning. Uncool is the only one who should check the highlight. [hide]Was there at least one other person on the island with the two men?[/hide]

Had the man who went to the restaurant ever eaten seagull before?

Them being "emaciated" gives that part away. They had to be stranded somewhere with not much food, either on the boat or on an island. Had the men been eating nothing but seagull while they were on the island?

Had they been stranded on small island before finding the boat?

Perhaps as the hereditary hunters/protectors of the human species, it is our role to delay danger while females lead the children to safety. Chatha, can you suggest a direction that would give this thread a reason to stay in Philosophy & Religion instead of Ecology/Populations/Habitats/Environment?

Were the men emaciated from having been adrift at sea for quite a while?

Cool, one of these yes or no types I've never heard. Did you mean a boat instead of a ship (a ship is anything over 100 tons, which I would assume would have facilities for keeping passengers from emaciation)?