Aww. I can't show off my sexy abdomen, stinger, and legs on the beaches?

"In moy cuntry, zer iz a bug we call d'eh Fox-Bug. It is about yah big, and it seets on z'eh skin, biting at one's arm. It sucks d'eh blood from i'z victim like leech. It is true d'at if one flexes one's muscle as it sucks, the constreected muscle traps ze bug, squeezing one's pores upon i'z stinger. Thus sending the trapped blood it was feeding shooting into ze bug'z body and causing it to explode. ...I believe you call it mosquito."

We don't swim in the ocean here in Cairns, where this was filmed, until stinger season is officially over. That gives us a gap of about 3-4 months in winter to swim, sadly.

Oh, and don't swim in the creeks or rivers either, unless you want to be a croc's dinner.

As an aside, I know Jamie. I had to buy a tin of Milo for the cafe especially for him!

I'm sure aliens would be plenty interested in studying us, regardless of our inferiority. None of us care too much about bees, but they've been studied extensively by science, and they are very common terrestrial insects. Imagine how exited we'd be if we discovered space bees - perhaps giant space bees with projectile plasma stingers.

Unless - of course - the aliens made us in the first place, and have already moved on to more advanced projects.

The ISI are not supporters of the Taliban in the classical sense, they merely facilitated the CIA's transmission of funds and stinger missiles to help defeat the Russians in the 80s.

After that they pushed for a Pashtun government via support of Taliban and religious Islamic schools, bankrolled for a while by Saudi Arabia (which subsequently pulled out when the Taliban clarified that they don't take orders from anybody).

The ISI still supported the taliban, as a trade route that connected it with Central Asia was too lucrative not to mention a Pashtun majority government in general (comparative advantage given a possible India/Pakistan war). Their games got ahead of themselves as alot of ISI got involved in the illegal activities.

Real first name: Stinger Assassin Palin

NetRunner: Stinger Assassin Palin

Apparently when naming me, she wouldn't blink, or second guess it.

Who knew that scorpians would be so reluctant to use their stinger? If that was me, I would have been stabbing the shit out of that lobster thing!

>> ^xxovercastxx:
Thank you, Zonbie, for being a voice of reason in this thread. The European hornet is not aggressive unless defending a nest and the males are not even equipped with a stinger.
Spoco, the European wasp and hornet are not the same animal. The wasp is as you describe: aggressive, frail and interested in human food. The hornet is none of these.
Excluding those with allergies, I don't get the terror people have of bees/wasps/hornets/etc. Being stung is really not a big deal. Certainly no reason to call for a hunt to extinction.


Thanks for the clarification overcast, that does clear things up a bit. I don't dislike bees at all, they leave us alone, it's the aggressiveness of the European wasps I hate, they damn well chase you around (and the kids, I predominantly am trying to keep them from the kids, I'd rather not have a screaming kid on my hands). If they just left us alone I'd be fine with them, but they really are aggressive bastards, and their sting hurts enough that I'd rather them not be around.

Plus they're introduced to this country, so we should be able to eradicate them with impunity... (ok, don't extend that too far else all people in this country other than Aboriginals fit in the same basket)

Thank you, Zonbie, for being a voice of reason in this thread. The European hornet is not aggressive unless defending a nest and the males are not even equipped with a stinger.

Spoco, the European wasp and hornet are not the same animal. The wasp is as you describe: aggressive, frail and interested in human food. The hornet is none of these.

Excluding those with allergies, I don't get the terror people have of bees/wasps/hornets/etc. Being stung is really not a big deal. Certainly no reason to call for a hunt to extinction.

>> ^WilloTheWisp:
Argh! The "bees sting once" myth! Bees can, and do, sting repeatedly. Only a small number of bee species die upon stinging. Myth myth myth.

Erm... ok, except that you are wrong when it comes to STINGING PEOPLE. From our source of all knowledge that is so very correct that you can't possibly argue against it ( ), wikipedia:

Although it is widely believed that a worker honey bee can sting only once, this is a partial misconception: although the stinger is in fact barbed so that it lodges in the victim's skin, tearing loose from the bee's abdomen and leading to its death in minutes, this only happens if the victim is a mammal (or bird).

So, we, being mammals and all, get stung and the bee dies.

It goes on to say that this is with honey bees only, but you know what? The VAST majority of bees we come across here are HONEY Bees, and the ones I was talking about, as I stated, the imported bees are all honey bees. They imported HONEY bees for their HONEY. We have native bees as well, but I wasn't talking about them.

So it is NOT a 'myth myth myth', for most of us, the vast majority of bees that we come across in day to day life are honey bees, we are mammals, if a honey bee stings a mammal its arse rips off and it dies... end of story, no myth.

Geeze.

^I still remember that video - "Crazy Mary". I might have to resurrect that one tomorrow. Sunday's a good day for resurrections.

Thanks for your kind words, snoozie. And thank you to everyone else here too. I'd buy you all a beer right now if you were here. And if I wasn't in prison. Out of nowhere the MAN threw the book at me after I sold a few measly Stinger missiles to the Russian mafia. Go figure.

>> ^xxovercastxx:
My uncle was a driver... M60, I believe. He was stationed in Europe and I do remember him stating that the tanks would mangle the old cobblestone roads a bit.
arsenault, I thought the BFV was a hybrid of sorts. It carries a small group of infantry, doesn't it? But still provides a bit more firepower than the average APC?

Well the M60 is no longer in use by the active military. I believe, however, that a small amount of Reserve or Guard Armor units may still be using them, though i doubt it. Anyways, The M60 was BEAST. It is one of the few, if not the only MBT (main battle tank - hey MGR most civvies don't know these acronyms) that had a secondary INDEPENDENT turret on it. The top of the tracks on that sucker were about 5 or 6 feet. I still don't think its any bigger than the M88 though.

Anyways, cobblestone roads are nothing more than bricks in the dirt, and are usually very old, and were not built to withstand heavy traffic loads.

As far as the BFV begin a hybrid.. well your right and wrong. The BFV as itself could carry troops in the back, but was also capable of independently fighting. MOST are outfitted with a 7.62 coaxial machine gun, capable of 900 rounds a minute, and as a primary weapon, the 25MM (MM = millimeter) Bushmaster. AHhhhhhh what a beautiful thing that was... Oh, whats that? You want pictures? No problem. On the left is the 7.62 and on the right, the 25MM on the left. These are training rounds, as there are many different types of ammo, all far to expensive to train with.

Anywho, the version I was on was a BSFV (Bradley Stinger Fighting Vehicle) We had room in back for 2 soldiers (the reload / Stinger Missile team) the driver, Track Commander, and the Gunner. The infantry version carries the basic operation crew of three (driver TC and gunner) plus 6 troops in back. (that one is of My Bradley - you'll notice the other seat behind this slacker. Thats he only other seat back there. The other side is occupied by a Stinger missile rack.)

There is also what we call a fister. Don't ask me what the real acronym is, i couldn't tell you. It was a BFV outfitted with a slew of gadgetry for use by forward observers for people like my brother here^, (what we affectionately call cannon-cockers) the artillery.


Ok heres the M88 Lifting my Bradley as promised.

I just don't get it. This administration HAS to have something on the democrats in office. There's NO WAY that there can be this many spineless wonders in office at the same time.

It's never been explained to my satisfaction exactly why they need to get rid of warrants for this kind of surveillance. I mean, under FISA law can't they get these things retroactively approved (within a certain time frame)? And hasn't only a handful of these things been denied over the last 30 years?

If the claim is that the warrant slows down the process or they have trouble getting things approved before they have to shut things down wouldn't it be just as effective to extend the period in which actions may be retroactively approved rather than do away with the oversight all together.

Unless of course, that was the whole point all along. Hmmmm (cue stinger)

Oh, and would someone that agrees with this act PLEASE post so I can know what the hell you're thinking? Full disclosure of all pharmaceuticals you're on would also be helpful...

oh, it's got a desert stinger, much neurotoxin/tissue damage- ow and itchy for you , paralytic juice-draining goodness for others.....

I found a source.

October 16, 2001 - New York Times

U.S. Sent Guns to bin Laden in 1980s

WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than a decade ago, the U.S. government sent 25 high-powered
sniper rifles to a group of Muslim fighters in Afghanistan that included Osama bin Laden, according to
court testimony and the guns' maker.

The rifles, made by Barrett Firearms Manufacturing Inc. of Murfreesboro, Tenn., and paid for by the
government, were shipped during the collaboration between the United States and Muslims then
fighting to drive the Soviet Union from Afghanistan.

Experts doubt the weapons could still be used, but the transaction further accentuates how Americans
are fighting an enemy that U.S. officials once supported and liberally armed.

In a trial early this year of suspects in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa, Essam Al-Ridi,
identified as a former pilot for bin Laden, said he shipped the weapons in 1989 to Sheik Abdallah
Azzam, bin Laden's ideological mentor. The weapons had range-finding equipment and night-vision
scopes.

During the late 1980s, the United States supplied arms worth $500 million a year to anti-Soviet
fighters including Afghanistan's current Taliban rulers, bin Laden and others. The supplies included a
range of weapons from small arms to shoulder-fired Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.

Al-Ridi, an American citizen born in Egypt, testified that Azzam liked the rifles because they could be
``carried by individuals so it's made in such a way where you could have a heavy cannon but mobile
by an individual.''

While in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Al-Ridi said he saw bin Laden several times with Azzam.

Ronnie Barrett, president of Barrett Firearms, likened sale of the .50-caliber armor-piercing rifles to
the supply of the Stinger surface-to-air missiles given to anti-Soviet guerrillas in Afghanistan.

``Barrett rifles were picked up by U.S. government trucks, shipped to U.S. government bases and
shipped to those Afghan freedom fighters,'' Barrett said.

The sale was publicized by the Violence Policy Center, gun-control advocates who want for more
restrictions on the sale of high-powered weapons such as the specialized Barrett exports.

``These .50-caliber sniper rifles are ideal tools for terror and assassination,'' VPC analyst Tom Diaz said.

Firearms expert Charles Cutshaw of Jane's Information Group said he was more worried about the
Stingers than long-range sniper rifles.

``It seems to me that there are easier ways for a terrorist to get at a high-value target than this,''
Cutshaw said. ``If they wanted to bring down an aircraft, the best way would be to bring it down with
a Stinger.'' Guerrillas using Stingers were credited with shooting down more than 270 Soviet aircraft.

Cutshaw said the sniper rifles are ``sort of overkill'' for shooting people; more appropriate targets
would be vehicles or fuel tanks. But the Irish Republican Army used the weapon to kill 10 British
soldiers and policemen patrolling the Northern Ireland border in the 1990s.

The rifles could be used only with U.S.-made ammunition, but such ammunition can be obtained in
neighboring Pakistan, Cutshaw said.

The Barrett rifles sold for $5,000 to $6,000 each, and both Barrett and Cutshaw had doubts they
would still work due to dust and a lack of spare parts.

But the rifles could be functional if they have been kept in storage since the purchase, Barrett said.
The Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan months after the rifles were sold.

``If it's not used, it could work,'' Barrett said. ``Age will not bother the gun, just usage.''

---

So Bin laden may have received weapons from the CIA in 1989. But his first attack on US targets was in 1992. He was hardly notorious in 1989.