Phi for All

It reminds me of one of my favorite Monty Python quotes: "There is no cannibalism in the British navy, absolutely none, and when I say none, I mean there is a certain amount." What is a throw away phrase to one nation holds great meaning in others. And the US is famous for some of the British-type sayings that mean the opposite of what they sound like. "I mean no disrespect" is synonymous with "I just want to say you're a big fat horse's a$$!" I would assume the "up to a point" refers to a point being very small, or in math where the numbers behind the point or decimal refer to fractionally small numbers, so when someone says, "I agree with you, up to a point," they are saying there is a tiny amount of validity in what you say.

Since Thales has been so kind as to illuminate me on several occasions as to the current foreign view of the US and Americans, I will return the favor by saying that "dull" is not the word generally used in the US to describe Australia and Australians.

You can load a custom avatar from the User Control Panel. 75 x 75 pixels or less. I agree about Britney.

So this is a diet formula rather than a travel method! It would work that way also. 1 cu ft of helium should make anything weigh 1 oz less if it is attached so as to lift it. So a 150# balloon vendor carrying 2399 16" balloons (approx 1 cu ft helium per balloon) would weigh 1 ounce.

The second one reminds me of The Rat Patrol TV series from the 60's!

Mainly because I've never seen anyone ask if anyone objected before they put up pictures in a thread before. Logic told me they weren't going to be Iraqi porn, so violent or unpopular became my next two choices. Do you really look that gruesome in a thong?

I wouldn't mind, unless you're in a thong or something. Do you ask because they are gruesome and graphic or just because they are from an unpopular war?

Torn between two loves; I learn more from science threads, but GD is fun!

No, the German had the fish. See post #26 for the right order.

"But all in all, it's been a fabulous year for Laura and me." -George W. Bush, summing up his first year in office, Washington, D.C., Dec. 20, 2001 It was a dark and stormy night. President Bush sat in the Oval Office, enjoying the texture of silk against his skin. The red lace teddy had once belonged to J. Edgar Hoover, former FBI director and notorious cross-dresser. Dubya had worn the underwear under his blue suit all day long with no one the wiser. Now, at 2 a.m., his suit in a puddle on the floor, he finally gave in to the privacy of the moment and stood up, a little wobbly in the stiletto heels. As he paraded around his office, he thought of how well the attack on Afghanistan had gone. The CIA had found Osama bin Laden easily, whisking him stateside where he would spend the next three years in hiding, kept alive by the finest doctors in covert service, awaiting the time for his more public "capture". Dubya figured one month before the 2004 election would be the perfect time to deliver bin Laden to the American people. He would have to be killed first, of course, even though no one would believe him when he claimed to have nothing to do with training the 9/11 terrorists. Dubya didn't want anything to mar the moment. He had the same plan in mind for Saddam Hussein and Iraq. Better to find Saddam sooner though, and throw him like a pork chop to the hounds. Someone was bound to question why Cheney's former company was getting all the choice bids. Saddam had played the pork chop role once before when Neil Bush, Dubya's other brother, was caught with his hand in the bank vault. The American people were so gullible. As if on cue, Dick Cheney flew in through an open window, his leathery wings becoming a flowing black cape as he transformed from bat to human form again. Moonlight reflected off his long canine teeth, dripping fresh blood onto the White House carpet. Dubya chuckled as he watched the Vice President take a tissue from the desk and gently dab the red smear at the corner of his mouth. "Soon, Dickey-boy, you'll be able to sink your teeth into Iraq. The people will know it as Operation Iraqi Freedom, but you and I will call it "Smorgas-burton". Won't that be sweet?" Cheney grinned evilly and started to wheeze when he looked down at what the President was wearing. "Hoover lingerie again? If you're going to wear that while you dream of re-election, pick one that's not crotchless. That's disgusting!" Next installment--No Child Left Behind; Underfunding Education or Zombie Manufacturing?

I don't think we can win the war on terrorism!Unless we can, in which case we will! But it will be hard, so we probably won't. But we could if we wanted to. If there was any money in peace. Which there isn't. So we won't. Right Dick?

I'm not a complete idiot!Some of my parts are missing!

I remember when spoilers (rear wings) became popular in the 70s. Several magazine articles came out saying that for production cars, your everyday-driving-around-town sort, they were strictly superficial. You have to be going 80+ mph in order for the downward force to create significant negative lift, affecting traction and rear wheel stability. I don't know what a flash bumper is, but if it is the front-type spoiler that keeps airflow from going under the car, then this is actually effective. Besides channeling the airflow through the engine for greater cooling efficiency, it creates a low-pressure pocket under the car which increases gas mileage. Most of the add-on crap that's supposed to improve aerodynamics is flash and ego. The cars are usually designed for fuel efficiency in the first place. If a few extra wings and swoopy-things improved mileage, if would be standard so they'd get the best ratings.

I forgot about altitude as well. I'm at 5200+ feet above sea level. Would that affect it?

You can usually go by 1 cubic foot of helium to 1 ounce of payload, including the balloon. You're not going to pull a Larry Walters, are you jordan?

A man goes to the Patent Office with some of his new designs. He says to the clerk, "I'd like to register my new invention. It's a folding bottle." "OK," says the clerk. "What do you call it?" "The Fottle," replies the inventor. "Fottle? Not a very catchy name! Can't you think of something else?" "I'll try. I've got something else though. It's a folding carton." "And what do you call that?" asks the clerk. "The Farton", replies the inventor. "That's rude. You can't possibly call it that!" "In that case," says the inventor, "You're really going to hate the name of my folding bucket."

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A female student was shocked when the biology professor asked her, "What part of the human anatomy enlarges to about 10 times its normal size during periods of emotion or excitement?" "I - I - I refuse to answer that question," the girl stammered and blushingly turned her face away. Another student was asked the same question and answered correctly, "The pupil of the eye." "Miss Fenster," said the professor, "your refusal to answer the question leads me to three conclusions: One: You didn't study last night's assignment. Two: You have a dirty mind Three: Your marriage will be a tremendous disappointment."

Most of the eyewitness accounts put the plane anywhere from 25 feet to a couple hundred yards in altitude shortly before impact. You're right, there could have been a considerable angle on the plane when it went in. But your campfire cans were all of one piece, not shattered like a plane would have been. There should have been something that survived. The part that bothers me most is, after all the questions and doubt, why hasn't the FBI released the video camera footage from the various sources where they confiscated surveillance tapes? A highway cam, a gas station and a hotel were mentioned as having cameras positioned that would have caught the jet going in, even if the Pentagon's own security cams somehow missed it. If it was AA F77, why don't they just cough up the tapes that show it?

I heard this as a kid and it took me a couple of days to remember the answer! I waited three more days for anyone else to guess. The man had not eyes, but he had one eye. He saw plums plural, so if he didn't take plums plural he only took one. He didn't leave plums plural so there must have been only two to begin with, leaving one after he took one!

A guy is rushed into the emergency room with two badly burned ears. After the doctor fixes him up with gauze and salve, he asks how it happened. The guy says, ''I was ironing my shirt and the phone rang. By accident, instead of the phone, I picked up the iron and burned my ear.'' ''But how the heck did you burn the other ear?'' The doctor asked. The guy grins sheepishly and says, ''I tried to call for an ambulance!''

A busload of politicians were driving down a country road when the bus suddenly ran off the road and crashed into an old farmer's field. The old farmer heard the tragic crash so he rushed over to investigate. He then began digging a large grave to bury the politicians. A few hours later, the local sheriff was driving past the farmer's field and noticed the bus wreck. He approached the old farmer and asked where all the politicians had gone. The old farmer explained that he'd gone ahead and buried all of them. "Were they ALL dead?" asked the puzzled sheriff. "Well, some of them said they weren't," said the old farmer, "but you can't trust politicians!"

As part of the 90% left over, I'm not real happy about it. The one that really steamed me was when he sent us all tax refunds in 2001. I got a check for $600 with propoganda that made it sound like it was from Dubya himself. What most people didn't realize was that the following year we had to give that money back in taxes as part of the whole underhanded scheme (plus being taxed for the refund!). And rather than just letting his announcements over television carry the message, every taxpayer was sent a first class letter informing us of Dubya's generosity. A second letter informed us that the checks would be sent out imminently. Then of course, the checks themselves were cut and mailed first class, rather than simply credited to our taxes. A huge amount of money spent so he could look like a saint. His dad pulled the same deferred tax crap but was smart enough not to spend millions mailing actual checks with redundant notices.

Americans, imho, view themselves as the good guys who want to show everyone else how to do things right. Our intentions are good, but we fail to realize that if everyone in the world consumed resources at the irresponsible rate we do, the world would be stripped bare in a few generations. I think the main fault (besides our lack of awareness) lies with how huge we've let our corporations get. They have the capital resources of some small governments without the oversight, checks and balances we require from government. Now that they also control television, newspapers and radio, we hear what the corporations want us to hear. Even our entertainment is geared towards making us even better little shoppers. We're rampant consumers instead of concerned citizens and I think this blinds us to the agendas our leaders keep hidden in their back pocket along with their wallets.

Did you feel this way 5 years ago? I'd really like an honest answer from all the non-US folks here.