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SDsalsaguy
06-08-2004, 03:24 PM
At New York Kennedy airport today, an individual later discovered to
be a public school teacher, was arrested trying to board a flight while
in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a setsquare, a slide rule and a
calculator.

Attorney general John Ashcroft believes the man is a member of the
notorious al-gebra movement. He is being charged with carrying weapons
of math instruction.

"Al-gebra is a very fearsome cult, indeed", Ashcroft said. "They
desire average solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off
on a tangent in a search of absolute value. They consist of quite shadowy
figures, with names like "x" and "y", and, although they are frequently
referred to as "unknowns", we know they really belong to a common
denominator and are part of the axis of medieval with coordinates in
every country.

As the great Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, "There are 3
sides to every triangle."

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, "If G-d had
wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have
given us more fingers and toes.

dr daffy
06-08-2004, 03:48 PM
hahaha... that's great, lol

LauraB
06-08-2004, 04:20 PM
Hee-hee! I like that one.

squirrel
06-09-2004, 10:05 AM
nice one, SD... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Swing Kitten
06-10-2004, 04:19 AM
ugh!

SDsalsaguy
06-10-2004, 04:33 AM
ugh!
I love you too SK! :wink:

Swing Kitten
06-10-2004, 04:34 AM
that's ok, you'll get over it :D

SDsalsaguy
06-10-2004, 04:37 AM
:doh: :tongue:

Swing Kitten
06-10-2004, 04:40 AM
:kissme:

SDsalsaguy
06-10-2004, 05:06 AM
Right back at you SK...

Flat Shoes
06-12-2004, 03:58 AM
Btw: algebra has an arabic origin like many other words beginning with 'al', where 'al' I think means something like the english wird 'the'. The arabs has contributed a lot to modern mathematics. So al-gebra is not so far fetched.

The arabs also gave us the number zero. Well, thanks for nothing.

pygmalion
06-12-2004, 09:07 AM
I looked up the etymology of the word algebra, and it clears up absolutely nothing for me. LOL. From the American Heritage Dictionary, 2000 Edition.

Middle English, bone-setting, and Italian, algebra, both from Medieval Latin, from Arabic al-jabr (wa-l-muqbala), the restoration (and the compensation), addition (and subtraction) : al-, the + jabr, bone-setting, restoration (from jabara, to set (bones), force, restore; see gpr in Appendix II).

Bone-setting? Huh? Restore, I get. Setting bones? :?