A New Virtual Market For eBay…
According to the NPR radio news show I listened to on the way to work this morning, Pakistan and India “traded words” yesterday, each blaming the other for the current conflict between the two countries.
How does one “trade words” exactly?
Pakistan: I have the word “terrorists”. It’s in good condition, although it’s been withstanding some abuse lately. A bit torn in places and moderately soiled, it has recently suffered some scrapes, dings, and a few of the parts are missing, but it has retained its effectiveness and the damage is only superficial. To increase its trading value, we also offer the word “nuke”. It’s in mint condition, never removed from the box (NRFB), and other similar forms have only been used once in the past few years. It’s been around for decades, but still packs a wallop when used correctly.
India: Well, we already have the word “nuke” and have possessed it for a while, even though we publicly state that we don’t believe in its use. Along with “terrorists”, we’re interested in your “militants”, assuming that the word has remained in good condition, suffering only minor cracks and fractures. We’d like to offer you “nonviolence”. It’s in poor condition as it’s suffered substantial abuse and no longer works, but it has some useful parts that may be salvaged for upgrading other words. To sweeten the deal, we’ll throw in 500,000 occurrences of the word “troop” which we already have stationed along our shared border.
Afghanistan: Anyone interested in “anthrax”?
I’d offer “madness” but the supply has just exploded so I doubt I could get much for it anymore.