Hey O F.....you said;

....." This ends up being a stupid form of special pleading, IMHO."

...I disagree.....language and words are immensely important. You chose to use the word 'stupid' in your above quote. You could have chosen.....'uninformed', or 'biased' or many other words. But in choosing 'stupid' you get your little unwarrented dig in at the writer(me).

.....in such ways words are very important, and this applies to the 'merger' vs 'hostile takeover' issue. It means far more than you are giving it credit for.

....cheers....sambone