Why? I like the news.

Sorry, your little quality of life index thingy is invalid... it didn't have Texas on it.

Now wait just a gosh-darn tootin' minute here. I disagree 180-degrees. Who can guess what is going to be significant in 100 years? I am not an expert on anything, but I say that an encyclopedia is there to educate on a specific topic or subject, regardless of its triviality. IMHO, a really good one should include all subjects known to man regardless of their notoriety. I don't even mind if the information is 100% accurate if the article wants to offer some conjecture, as long as it is advertised as conjecture. I personally read the wikipedia articles because I generally know nothing about the subject at hand and need a starting point to do my own research.

That is damn interesting.

You seem to equate being paid salary with more hours means working for free. You probably already know, but just because you're paid salary does not mean you can't be paid overtime. So if this looks like a move to get "free work" simply because you're salary, don't let that fly. It's likely illegal if that is the case, and if you do let it fly, then you are really causing detriment to the entire IT industry since if I balk at working for free, and you don't balk at working for free, it weakens my position.

I just wanted to respond to your post. I don't want to argue, and I really have no agenda: believe what you will. But let me ask a few questions: Do you believe that there is any afterlife at all? Or does our consciousness vanish into nothingness? Do you believe that you have a soul or a spirit? Is this human body you occupy just a vessel? A kind of avatar with a connection to somewhere else? Or is this just an elaborate biological mechanism that has somehow created for itself a sense of "you"-ness?

There is something I have noticed and wrestle with personally. I see evidence for an afterlife. I have been told too many stories and heard too many accounts of people with near-death experiences, and the strange thing about it is that they are pretty much consistent among those that have them at all. In other words, I don't hear that this person had an awakening to a 7th dimension where we eat colors and see sounds, and then this person over here has an experience where they awaken in a world of spaghetti. No, they all involve waking up, seeing themselves from out of their body, usually floating above the room and describing what others are doing in the room, there's usually a tunnel of some type, there is usually a feeling of engulfing surrounding love and belonging, bright light that seems to be God or some deity, and there is a sense of familiarity and welcomeness. They all seem to say that when this happens, it as if they are awakening from a dream: as if this life we are in was the dream and they are now awake and in the true life; it seems that clear to them.

Now, when I say I've been told stories, I mean to me personally. These have been people I knew, trusted, who I don't believe have an agenda, and in many cases these experiences defy or contradict what they know from the bible. This is over the course of 30 years, between people of different walks of life and whom have never met each other and certainly never corroborated their stories.

Well this bothers me a little bit. To be atheist, one would technically have to believe in no greater power, no afterlife. But yet, here sits this evidence staring me in the face.

What do you make of it? Your thoughts.

After I read that part of his comment, I figured you could take it either way. But what I really thought was, "What an elitist prick."

Hm. Thank you for educating me. I wasn't aware Stalin wasn't genocidal.

I apologize for calling you a moron. Especially since you're not from the U.S. Sorry -- I carelessly assumed I was talking to one of our own.

No, English is not just a social custom and it's not really open to change. Unless you mean the complete dismantling and destruction of American society as we know it. I suppose I'll grant you that scenario.

So which country is EU exactly?

And if you violate a law in a language you don't understand, how does that play out?

Or are all "EUians" just taught and expected to know 4 languages?

There was an English-only movement:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-only_movement

It's not the official language of the federal government, but it IS the official language of these states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.

My state is Texas, and English is apparently not the official language here... but I still point out that English is required in all 13 years of school, as well as most state-accredited college programs. And as of yet there are no laws in Spanish (the 2nd most popular language here). (Which is totally different from Spain Spanish.) (It's more like "Tex-Mex" or possibly "Spanglish.") Also, all courts (federal also) operate in English only. (I've never heard of a court proceeding in Spanish.) Also, all of our road signs are in English, and never in dual languages (I'm talking about road signs the government puts up, not billboards). All of our laws and regulations are in English, and if you're ever arrested you're read your rights only in English. I'd say that's pretty strong evidence for an "official language" any way you want to slice it, even if its unspoken or there's no explicit law that says so. (Semantics aside.)

But it's easy to see why no law could ever possibly be in Cantonese; if it ever were, that would be a strong indication that the United States would effectively be something else entirely anyway, thus making the whole problem moot.

Hm. Really.

Then maybe you can educate me on why all the federal laws are written in English? (I mean authored and penned in English, not simply translated to other languages.)

OMFG. I can't pick which freakin' idiot to respond to.

English is the language of the USA. If you think otherwise, just TRY to get a law passed in any other.

Moron.

There isn't room for two languages. There must only be one national language. It's hard enough to govern with the English set of laws we already have. Can you imagine valid laws in another language (and not just a translation, I mean a law that was authored and penned in the other language) as being the de facto rule? It's a completely asinine idea.

You're clearly an idiot.

Wordnik.com (that you linked to) shows a single dictionary that has that as a definition: Wiktionary. Ooooh, credible.

Actually, I take it back: I think I will let you quote the Urban Dictionary:

1. virii

buy virii mugs, tshirts and magnets
Virii is in fact an INCORRECT pluralization of "virus", however, some retard keeps resubmitting it as the plural form.

My dictionary has cactus and cacti. It has syllabus, syllabuses and syllabi. It has virus, and viruses. But no virii.

If none of my dictionaries have the word "virii" it means it doesn't exist and you made it up. So if you want it to be a real word, then go write Merriam Webster and ask them to add it.

Otherwise, I suggest you make a citation to one (and the Urban Dictionary doesn't count).

Oh shut up already. We don't give a crap about your Latin skills. My dictionary says:

World English Dictionary
virus (vars)

— n , pl -ruses

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/virus