Not for the Faint of Heart
Someone found a fish off the British Jersey coast which sported a particularly nasty parasite. The parasite enters through the fish’s gills and latches on to the base of the tongue, living off the fish’s blood and mucus. The tongue eventually atrophies and falls off, and the parasite takes the place of the fish’s tongue. The parasite is like something out of an Alien movie, looking like a cross between the worst parts of an insect and a prawn, complete with more claw/legs than any creature should have.
For a completely disgusting gross-out picture of the parasite residing in a fish’s mouth, click through to this link. Via Pharyngula.
This is not unlike mercenaries.
Thanks to the GOP, we now outsource all food prep for the troops. Then we hired the likes of Black Water. Now there are more ‘private contractors’ in Afghanistan than American military.
The private contractors pay more for the same roll. Soldiers, instead of re-enlisting, join black water. The military atrophies.
The thing about mercenaries: they fight for pay, but they will not die for your cause.