sangiro

That's it! I've had it.... Now you've done it! Safe swoops Sangiro

I'm warning you... I'll color you purple...or...or pink or something! Safe swoops Sangiro

So I was supposed to be in the US yesterday. My working visa has been approved but you still need to get that stupid little sticker applied to your passport. Well, that's turning out to be a very complicated process. I guess there are several layers of paranoia running amuck in US embassies at this time... which I guess is understandable. I just received my passport back - turned down! Need to go in for "further processing which may include fingerprinting" on Thursday next week. I guess my past has finally caught up with me! If you guys don't want me over there just say so - I need to start planning for Christmas! Will keep you posted. Safe swoops Sangiro

Hey... I said btfu! Don't touch my beer.... Safe swoops Sangiro

OK - you owe me a beer! Bwaahahahaha!! Moderators... and other types who can post to locked threads... back the fuck up! The beer is mine! Mine! All mine! Safe swoops Sangiro

Welcome Skratch! Good to see you got the techie stuff figured out. Let me know if there's anything I can help with.

No it's not. Personally I'd love for people to add their comments to the Gear Reviews. They are also welcome to post here of course. You are both "right".... You're right, you can only wonder. Then only clutter I saw yesterday was the two of you going on about what belongs where on the site. Can we get back to discussing Wings Customer Service? Safe swoops Sangiro

Bygones.

Nathan, You try a stunt like that again and I'll lock your account and ban your username. I asked Roy not to advertise in the forums and you actually respond to the post that I changed (so you did see it) by simply posting it again. I even linked the rules again from my post! PM rhino if you want to let him know about a good deal. I really don't have time to sit around and police these forums for people who simply try to make work for me by blatantly breaking the rules. Not cool. Safe swoops Sangiro

Good! It's working exactly as I had hoped! Hopefully people will now update their profiles and read the rules!! Actually... the Forums link at the top was redundant and I wanted to move the rules to the top as new people are joining pretty rapidly here. Safe swoops Sangiro

Yes - to at least 2 of the questions above! Safe swoops Sangiro

Byatch! Safe swoops Sangiro

Been smoking some of that funky stuff again Jess? Oooh... look... I can post to a locked thread! Mwahahahaa! Safe swoops Sangiro

That's hilarious! I guess Homer's version is probably a bit more like CP Snow's take on the Laws of Thermodynamics: You cannot win (that is, you cannot get something for nothing, because matter and energy are conserved). You cannot break even (you cannot return to the same energy state, because there is always an increase in disorder; entropy always increases). You cannot get out of the game (because absolute zero is unattainable). Safe swoops Sangiro

Actually... did you see The Crying Game... Safe swoops Sangiro

There once was this guy called Erno who posted on Dropzone.com. He did a post about how mean his instructor was in the millitary. He didn't ask whom of us had seen the movie "Seven" yet, he just told this story that ended with: "At the end of the movie, the head of the detective's wife is found in a cardboard box. Good night. Dismissed!" I hadn't seen the movie yet. That was just mean! And then he went back and added warning: contains a spoiler about the movie "seven" afterwards... that was just rubbing salt in the wounds! Safe swoops Sangiro

...or a rabbit! Safe swoops Sangiro

Yeah, I'm sure. He was recently caught by the paparazzi "working out".... I atttached the photo. (Nathan: We're just yanking your chain.. so to speak... ) Safe swoops Sangiro

Let's take bets on how long it takes Nathan to reply to this after he woke up! Safe swoops Sangiro

I guess we could sit here and spam the boards with a little sweet-nothing every now and then and you'll have a great evening! Are you gonna be OK dear? Safe swoops Sangiro

Yes, that's the big win right there. Safe swoops Sangiro

Me too. As I stated in my post I understand that there are layers of complexity around IP and patents. I know the cost of drug development is enormous. I'm not making the case for generic drugs to replace all brand-names. I do think there are a few diseases, of which AIDS is one, that have reached such proportions and threaten the lives of so many people that we should tackle it with the same passion, and more importantly the same budget, as the war on terrorism. The case I made was about what seemed to be hypocrisy. Different rules for different situations. If the economics doesn't make sense for generic AIDS drugs in Africa, then surely it shouldn't make sense for anthrax drugs in the US either? Still in the latter case the economics of research and development was quickly forgotten. As for R&D costs - they are enormous!! A report from last November suggested the current cost of "drug discovery" is $802 million. Also, only five out of every 5,000 potential new drugs tested on animals (a different debate!) reach clinical trials, and only one out of 5,000 ultimately wins approval by the FDA. Another fact about the cost accrued by pharmaceutical companies however is that they still spend more on marketing than on R&D. This is partly due to increased competition in niche markets, as drug companies increasingly launch drugs that are really derivatives of proven commodities. How many headache brands are out there? What do you think the R&D spending was for the last 20 brands who decided to enter that market? Can you imagine how much they are spending trying to get you to choose their brand? I look at pharmaceutical giants and the wealth of their executives and for all the noises I hear about the cost of development I'm not convinced it's a "low margin" business. I do think there's a lot of them out there who bets the farm on a single drug, fails and folds. But you're right... the answers are not clear nor simple.

Exactly the same government. Give credit where credit is due, and apply the mustard lavishly when they screw up. I didn't build my argument on the issues above. My argument certainly is not that the SA government = good and solid on the issue of AIDS. That would be the topic of a post much longer than this one! As for not throwing out the baby with the bath water - I will explain this logic using an example: Hypothetically, if someone exits a plane without checking the spot, let say miles away from the DZ by accident because he thought someone tapped him on the back. Does this mean that so far as skydiving in general is concerned this person can not do anything right, nor teach, lead or even set an example? Let's give credit when credit is due! Safe swoops Sangiro

You mean you would have blown a rhino as well? Safe swoops Sangiro

Thanks Erno, I'll take a look at this. I suspect this is something on the server side.... I think every now and then, fortunately not often the server gets interrupted before it has delivered the full page. I'll look into it anyway. This will certainly help. Safe swoops Sangiro