Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

What a fig is.

andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–88 of 88 posts

Re: What a fig is.

#81

Post by euccastro »

SwellJoe wrote: post #54
sbierwagen wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Time to quibble! 1.) Wasps as man's greatest enemy? Really? If we were being poetic, here, then I'd say that Man's greatest enemy is Man themselves, but this is HN, so I won't. For a runner up, I would at least choose an animal that can actually kill a healthy human, rather than one that and annoy a healthy human and kill a subset with allergic reactions of venom. 2.) There are a lot of species of wasp. According to…

If we were being poetic, here, then I'd say that Man's greatest enemy is Man themselves, but this is HN, so I won't. For a runner up, I would at least choose an animal that can actually kill a healthy human, rather than one that and annoy a healthy human and kill a subset with allergic reactions of venom. How about one that kills one to three million humans, mostly very young children, every year? The mosquito is man…

Mosquitoes are not wasps, and I'm pretty sure fig wasps don't carry malaria.

Re: What a fig is.

#82

Post by RickHull »

kujawa wrote: post #24

Take a fig. Okay, take about 8 of them. And take 8 strips of thick-cut, maple-smoked, peppered organic bacon, the best you can find. Wrap the fig in the bacon, secure with a toothpick, and place on a pan. Roast at 425F for about 25 minutes, checking after about 15 minutes. I assure you, you will not be disappointed.

Quite similar to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devils_on_horseback

Re: What a fig is.

#84

Post by jbeda »

dboyd wrote: post #51
kujawa wrote: post #24

Take a fig. Okay, take about 8 of them. And take 8 strips of thick-cut, maple-smoked, peppered organic bacon, the best you can find. Wrap the fig in the bacon, secure with a toothpick, and place on a pan. Roast at 425F for about 25 minutes, checking after about 15 minutes. I assure you, you will not be disappointed.

You forgot to first make a small lengthwise cut in the fig, and fill it with blue cheese. Then wrap it with bacon, secure with a toothpick, and put it on the bbq.

Don't forget to also drizzle with honey and cracked black pepper.

Re: What a fig is.

#85

Post by lostbit »

The man came in the restaurant, pointed to a meal looking like meat and asked: "What it that?" The attentand replied: "that's our special: cow tongue!" And the man said: "Argh, I won't eat something that comes from the mouth of that animal... Just give me an egg, please."

Re: What a fig is.

#86

Post by rikthevik »

geuis wrote: post #12
sliverstorm wrote: post #5

Hence why I stopped eating figs.

Do you eat hot dogs? I don't. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhwXPsTaRgc

I don't eat too many grocery story hot dogs (they taste too much like the salt and phone books they're made of) but I do love the sausages at the German deli. So delicious. And I feel like I'm doing something good eating the not-so-visually-appealing parts that otherwise might go to waste. There's a lot more to a pig than tenderloin.

Re: What a fig is.

#87

Post by SwellJoe »

CWuestefeld wrote: post #75
simonsquiff wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely it is the malaria parasite that is the killer, rather than the mosquito?

And the guy sitting in jail isn't the killer, but his gun? No, strike that. It's not the gun, but the bullet.

One could view it as an accidental death. The mosquito didn't intend to transmit malaria, or to kill the child, it was just a side effect of what it does every day. Though, mosquitoes being parasitic by nature, they aren't very respectful of human right to property (they steal people's blood for a living, after all). Maybe more like an alcoholic who drives drunk.

Anyway, I like your analogy as an answer to the mosquito vs. malaria blame game, but it may be impossible to directly compare a mosquito-inflicted death to one caused by a human in any fashion.

In short, blame is irrelevant...human rights trump mosquito (or malaria) rights, IMNSHO, so if we could somehow destroy mosquitoes (and/or malaria) entirely in the sub-Saharan region, that'd be entirely alright with me, to hell with the consequences (some argue it would impact other wildlife, as mosquitoes are a food source for birds, as well as a pollinator for some plants, and those birds and plants are a food source for bigger animals, etc.).

Post reply on HN