Comment Re:Why do we need Spanish? (Score 0, Redundant) 794
Sadly, English proficiency is not required for citizenship, and the United States does not have an official language (some states do, but not the country as a whole).
I agree that Facebook is a good tool, but we had friends before Facebook advent, and we will have friends after it will be forgotten. The point is that we should not rely only on Facebook, taking in account its flaws, and we should avoid addiction. BTW, a face-to-face conversation, or a phone call, when possible, is much more effective than a Facebook message.
Yes, we had friends before and Facebook may well become irrelevant one day, but social networking is here to stay. Email is here to stay. So are newsgroups and online fora and relay chat. Forms of communication, once invented, cannot be un-invented. Some of them do fill niches better than any did before. Face-to-face is charming and telephones are polite, but inviting a hundred people at once is much better on Facebook. Efficacy is sometimes not the point; efficiency is.
I really hope the militant atheist faction on Slashdot takes note of this. Crazy people look for an ideology to justify their actions and prejudices. Sometimes they find one ready made in the form of Christianity, Islam, environmentalism, or the FSF. Other times they invent one. Similarly, all of these ideologies have a lot of mostly rational members (I've never met a completely rational human - and neither have you). Blaming the ideology for the crazy person is a lazy cop-out.
Atheists aren't the ones with a book telling them to slaughter people who believe differently, nor do are they the ones who insist eternal damnation awaits those people. They are certainly not trying to take away anyone's right to believe in any hokum they like. See the (many) differences?
"2190 - First contact with aliens (Star Trek: First Contact)"
First Contact happens on 5 April, 2063.
b) The British Commonwealth equates to 'the English-speaking world' more legitimately than the United States alone
Are you bloody kidding? The US, has, by far, the greatest number of primary and first language English speakers than the rest of the world combined. KTHXBIBI.
The rest of the world covers more ground than the United States alone. America is not 'the English-speaking world' (related: it is not 'the world'.) America is one country, and unlike military or economic power, size alone does not dictate legitimacy in such matters. Millions use English for commerce or education at a first-language level and aren't counted as primary speakers merely because they have a different mother tongue.
I did not mean to imply the United States is still part of the Commonwealth.
I talk in English myself.
The entire British Commonwealth uses Celsius.
So... you meant to imply that we don't speak English in the US? Or what?
I meant to imply that 'talking in English' doesn't necessarily oblige one to use the Fahrenheit scale. Or any of the hideous Imperial units Americans seem to be so fond of.
I think you'll find it is true that the US 'left' the Commonwealth some time ago.
I did not mean to imply the United States is still part of the Commonwealth.
The entire British Commonwealth uses Celsius.
Language wise, English equals British about as much as Spanish equals Spain.
In other words, lots of countries were subjugated many hundreds of years ago by the two empires. English is simply a footprint from that period of time, as is Spanish. Since most of the countries are now separate entities and disparate, logic would dictate that the ousted countries' activities would hold no bearing on said countries' activities.
a) The British Commonwealth includes the United Kingdom.
b) The British Commonwealth equates to 'the English-speaking world' more legitimately than the United States alone.
I talk in English myself.
The entire British Commonwealth uses Celsius.
So you think that money is the root of all evil. Have you ever asked what is the root of money? -- Ayn Rand
