"Steve, I'm not so hot on it either, but I speculate that it was part of the huge ransom Patriot had to pay to achieve relative freedom. "

Sorry, I disagree. We "bought our freedom" by paying off the debentures, which of course was enabled by the licensing revenues. S&L received 7 million warrants as part of that transaction (I think it was that transaction) so they got more than they deserved at that point. Giving divs on the warrants was pure greed IMO. If it was part of a handshake deal between S&L and Pohl then I say it was even more egregious as that points to a certain amount of deceit on their behalf.