Danny, I don't disagree with your conclusions, nor even most of your individual points. Except...(you knew this was coming, right?)..."something that has been of the earth for millions of years" is no way to pick your supplements. Anthrax, coral snake venom, and guinea worms are all completely natural too.

Not at all a big point, just a pet peeve of mine. "Naturally occurring" =/= "good for you". Just leave it at something like "millions of people from many generations have suffered little to no apparent harm".

At least there's no problem milking him for his itch venom.

good viagra alternative "...the venom of the spider can also cause priapism in humans. Erections resulting from the bite are uncomfortable, can last for many hours and can lead to impotence. A component of the venom is being studied for use in erectile dysfunction treatments"

Nope, its a little bit worse....huntsman spiders dont have venom that can harm humans all that much.

This little fucker however can kill you dead.

Brazillian Wandering Spider.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_wandering_spider

Those things are kind of awesome, when exposed to fire ant venom, they can detoxify themselves using a specialized butt gland full of soothing formic acid. (which is only really soothing when you're covered in alkaloid fire ant venom).

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140213142233.htm

Ornery lil' bugga.

Oh, and...
"Lionfish are not native to the Atlantic Ocean. The venomous, fast reproducing fish are aggressive eaters and will consume anything and everything, gorging so much they are actually getting liver disease. With no known predators -- except human beings -- they can wipe out 90% of a reef." -http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/18/tech/innovation/lionfish-infestation-atlantic-linendoll/

'antagonistic, vitriolic style' newtboy???...That's rich, considering my motivation for letting the dogs out on the most recent foray into realms thought so sacred and impenetrable is directed at the very mirror image you look at every day but are still unable to see with repeated blows to the skull with a blunt instrument.

You "have to" ignore perhaps because you are unable to see the log-jam of compacted waste material that has shaped your world-view and has rendered you incapable of dealing with anyone who doesn't smell OK to you, or who walks and talks like yourself, or who ascribes to the same Kool-Aid ® drink you have so frequently injected into your throat-snatch to offer you the relief from thinking critically about the world you inhabit, the bed made for docile herd animals with the shit you've paid in blood for to tell you what to think to get along in the paradigm you find comfortable. Get yer college-money back, recant on your commitment to university loans, it's a huge, sinking boat yer on.

I don't have to imagine the foes of freedom of thought. They simply have to spew enough venom in my purview to be able to be recognized as the same old song-and-dance then FUCK with me, and they get my attention.

Beautiful sea creature, my arse. They're venomous little bastards.

I'd sooner swim with a bunch of great whites than one of those.

I hate jellyfish. They freak me out

Hey Margaret, fuck your arthritis. Find a damn needle and poke yourself with it instead of killing 5000 bees a year. You shithead.

*related=http://videosift.com/video/VICE-Getting-High-Injecting-Snake-Venom

Apparently they use venom while mating, so you better not give them any ideas with skimpy swimware.

Aren't they venomous or something?

This is actually how they hunt. They overwhelm their prey with cute noises to make hugging them irresitible... then they deploy their venomous spines and start eating your paralysed body.

You have been warned.

My absolute favorite clip of Steve Irwin:
He's out in the Australian Outback and he starts showing the camera a non-venomous snake when he gets bit. He carries on for a bit, then suddenly looks into the camera and yells "Croiky!" and bolts over to his truck. He digs out a book from the glove box, thumbs through it rapidly, and with a sigh of relief says "Yep, non-venomous. For a second there, I thought I was holding a (snake name) and we're about 200 miles from the nearest hospital!"

There is the other daddy-long-legs ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opiliones ) I'm more familiar with. It's also known as a harvestman and is not a spider and has no venom whatsoever. Kangaroos do fart and other birds can see blue. Indeed, some bowerbirds specifically use blue objects to decorate their bowers.