Tennessee bloke quits job over satanic wage slip

A Tennessee born-again Christian has quit his job after receiving a wage slip marked "666" despite previously warning his employers of a serious aversion to the Number of the Beast. Walter Slonopas, 52, toiled as a maintenance worker at Contech Casting in Clarksville until bosses issued him a Form W-2 bearing the satanic …

[Da Weezil]

The scary thing is that they allow people like that to breed.

[g e]

Yup

Keeping it in the family, too

[Armando 123]

Truth be told ...

... crap like this is why my grandfather moved north of the Ohio River back in the 20s.

[AlbertH]

Next Door

I live at number 667. Does that make me the neighbour of the beast?

[Dodgy Geezer]

Re: Next Door

No - you live across the road from him...

(Hellfire for obvious reasons...)

[beep54]

Re: Next Door

Yes. Yes it does. Your gonna die up there...er, wait....

[beep54]

I truly fear for my country. I'm in Texas, which would be more scarey if I weren't in Austin. Pswhew.

[Anonymous Coward]

No big deal. Change his wage slip number.

[jake]

@AC 10:36

"No big deal. Change his wage slip number."

Why? Just fire the ignorant idiot. He's a hazard to the corporation.

Been there, done that. Never regretted it.

[JohnG]

Re: @AC 10:36

"Just fire the ignorant idiot. He's a hazard to the corporation."

The bloke may be a bit weird in his religious belief but there was no suggestion that his employers were dissatisfied with his performance and I fail to see how requesting a different payslip number makes him "a hazard to the corporation". That the number in question was restored to him twice suggests that some at the company were engaging in deliberate provocation, which is probably a hazard to the corporation. What happens when someone thinks it would be funny to give black employees references containing the initials "KKK" or "SS" for the jewish?

[Miffo]

Re: @AC 10:36

The counterargument to saying it's like giving out "SS" or "KKK" is that the SS and the KKK actually exist.

[Marcelo Rodrigues]

Re: @AC 10:36

Because "666" was just a serial number. It wasn't picked to make fun of him.

If the system spits out a code, like a verification digit, and it happens to be "kkk something" he wold have to be extremely stupid to think "oh, my! Not the KKK! Not them!"

It is just a bloody serial number! Get over it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: @AC 10:36

« "No big deal. Change his wage slip number."

Why? Just fire the ignorant idiot. He's a hazard to the corporation. »

Perchance you might have missed the in-joke involving the late Mr. Jobs' missive to an iPhone application developer?

[ different AC, btw ]

[Johan Bastiaansen]

Re: @AC 10:36

If you fire all the ignorant idiots, who will be sitting in the fancy offices, driving the big cars, taking home the big paychecks. I can't guarantee he's the sharpest knife in the drawer, but if a company is unable to NOT give him that number then perhaps he is.

[John Hawkins]

Agree. Bound to upset a bean counter or two if they have to change a number.

He might be a nutter, but he should be entitled to be one if he wants. We could get into some circular (ish?) reasoning here by noting that by forcing the chap to use a standardised number, the wage system in question really is showing signs of becoming the Beast (or Skynet or EU or whatever).

Definitely a subject be discussed after an evening at the pub; more fun that way.

[Robert E A Harvey]

No big deal

A really good manager could handle it.

"Mr Slonopas, we need you. This is going to keep happening to people, and you are obviously a good and prayerful god-fearing person. I would far rather it happened to you, because the armour of your faith means that it cannot harm you at all. Please stay, and be part of our fight against Satan and all his deciepts. Just imagine, once you quit this must happen to someone with far less faith than you, and how awful that might be."

[AlbertH]

No big deal. Change his wage slip number.

Anyone stupid enough to have that kind of superstition is too stupid to employ. Just get rid of him and hope he starves before he breeds.

[Anonymous Coward]

Should I be worried

My employee number is 097666 should I be concerned that I'm a tool of the lord of the underworld? Oh wait that's my boss anyway...

[Shasta McNasty]

FFS

They need to remove people like him from the gene pool.

FFS it's a NUMBER and it's only meaning is to mark the increment between 665 and 667.

13 is also a number that people have an issue with - although not scorn upon by random religions (at least none that I know of).

Strangely, people seem to have the opposite opinion of 69...

[VinceH]

Re: FFS

"13 is also a number that people have an issue with - although not scorn upon by random religions (at least none that I know of)."

Given the reason the number is considered bad luck lies in a Christianity story, I've always assumed it's predominantly in Christian societies that people treat it as such - although not necessarily by followers of that religion, IYSWIM.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: FFS it's a NUMBER

If his wage slip code was FUCKER and he complained you could also say FFS it's a WORD.

[Shasta McNasty]

Re: FFS it's a NUMBER

Your comparison is flawed. FUCKER is a word with a meaning that is understood and generally accepted as being offensive. 666 is a number which has no meaning other than it being a number.

[Johan Bastiaansen]

Re: FFS it's a NUMBER

I think you completely fail to understand the meaning of the words "understand" and "meaning". It implies an acknowledgement of other people. If 666 is just a number to you, but very important to him, than it would be a no-brainer to accommodate him on it.

You're a manager aren't you?

[Euripides Pants]

Re: FFS it's a NUMBER

666 is a number with a meaning that is understood and generally accepted as being offensive.

[Tom 38]

Re: FFS

FFS it's a NUMBER

In most American skyscrapers, there is no floor 13.

In most Chinese skyscrapers, there is no floor 4, 13, 14, 24, 34, 40, 41, 42…

Different strokes for different folks.

[Andy Fletcher]

Re: FFS

I never understood that. Are the people on the 14th floor really fooled into believing that they aren't actually on the 13th? I suppose they must be.

[Christoph]

Re: FFS

No, they're actually on the 12th floor :)

(US floor numbering doesn't have a ground floor, they start at 1)

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: FFS

"Are the people on the 14th floor really fooled into believing that they aren't actually on the 13th?"

Hehe. Good observation. Next time I see a superstitious looking type on the not-really-14th floor of a building or seat row on a plane (some also lack a row 13), I'm taking a mental note to make a comment to the effect out loud. :)

[VinceH]

Re: FFS

"Next time I see a superstitious looking type on the not-really-14th floor of a building or seat row on a plane (some also lack a row 13), I'm taking a mental note to make a comment to the effect out loud. :)"

Have a thumbs up from me, because that's now officially on my list of things to do just to annoy others. :)

[Oninoshiko]

Re: FFS

I had made the note around here, that someone had decided to skip hosts 0013 and 0666. I added in such hosts, they now sit on my desk (makes it easy to remember, too).

[Alan Newbury]

Re: FFS

Actually, in a couple of buildings where I have worked, there has been a 13th floor, but it was designed and used for utilities (air-con, telecoms, power distribution etc) so couldn't have been let out even if the owner wanted to.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: FFS

Airplanes without row 13, Many softwares skip release 13. Canon went from Powershot G12 to G15 to avoid G13 and G14 because the former looks bad in the Western world, the latter in the Asian area. There are still too many silly people thinking "bad numbers" exist and could harm them.

[Dana W]

Re: FFS

The floor 13 thing is old news. The newest building I've seen with no 13 was built in 1971.

Then again I live in the at least moderaltly sane north.

[Daniel B.]

Reminds me ...

Plaza Carso, which can be basically described as "Slim Enterprises Plaza" (yes, *that* Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world) has some buildings with a 13th floor. The plaza was built recently. A certain company from that group has the 13th floor unoccupied ... because most people are superstitious.

OTOH, another company has a 13th floor elsewhere, and they do occupy it. Nobody cares about the superstition stupidity.

[Ian Yates]

Re: FFS

Except that 666 isn't the only possible "Number of the Beast", and no one can even agree as to what (a) the Beast is, or (b) what is represents...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: FFS

I always thought "the beast" was Nero. I mean, it seems he was a bit of a party guy all right.

[142]

reminds me...

Reminds me of my brother logging into a Starseige Tribes server many years ago with the number 666 after his player name... and getting kicked because it made the admin uncomfortable! Once he switched it to 13 he was ok!!

[Anonymous Coward]

"He said: "If you accept that number, you sell your soul to the devil.""

And I say it’s a number, between 665 and 667. THAT’S IT!

Anything else attributed to it is entirely social, made up fantasy by the SMALL human mind.

Thats more like it.

[Anonymous Coward]

helldesk

True story : the guy in the IT department who scored the phone extension 666 is envied by all. Right now helpdesk is being reorganised, and he'll have to give up his extension... all calls for the support will have to made to the number of the beast. So people like this might be able to procreate, but they sure as hell won't be getting any IT support in our part of the world.

[Kobus Botes]

Re: helldesk

Man! I could have done that!. I had a user who was forever complaining about her number ending on 666. Every time something untoward happened to her (like contracting 'flu, stubbing her toe, getting a parking ticket, etc.) I got a call to have her number changed, as she was being punished/attracted bad luck because of that devillish number.

I managed to avoid changing her number, as we had used all our allotted numbers and changing it would incur all sorts of unmerited expenses (changing business cards and other printed matter, changing fax numbers, et cetera).

Swopping her number for mine would have had all sorts of positive consequences, looking back. (Can I go back into the past?).

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: helldesk

Didn't ISP Demon have a helpline number with lots of consecutive sixes? It was several years ago though.

[jjk]

Re: helldesk

"Your new number will be 4444, have a nice day!"

[Peter Simpson 1]

Re: helldesk

I can top that. In uni, my phone number (Centrex exchange, 5 digit numbers) was 6-6666. By the end of the first semester, we had removed the bells due to the large number of drunk-dialled night-time calls.

And anyway, Revelation says the Mark is supposed to be on the forehead or right arm, IIRC. So a literal interpretation (isn't that what these chaps are demanding?) would mean that phone numbers, W-2 forms, employee and student ID badges should be quite acceptable.

//what else?

[Vlad The Impugner]

It was a mistranslation anyway - the actual number of the beast/whatever was 616.

[Kevin Johnston]

really?

The story I heard was that it was (6 to the power of 6) to the power of 6

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: really?

"The story I heard was that it was (6 to the power of 6) to the power of 6"

You are correct. It is a story. "The Number of the Beast" by Robert Anson Heinlein.

Icon, because I'm a FreeBSD user ;-)

[Lee Dowling]

616 has a good claim, being on contemporary documents at the time specifically as the number of the beast.

Anything "to the power", that's probably just nonsense. The history of basic exponentiation goes back to the Babylonians, but there's little evidence of it being common knowledge or used in the way we think (i.e. they probably only used it for "square" or "cubic" powers) until the 1500's. And you can sort of see why - there's no need to use it when it's just a short-hand for repeated multiplication, and the ones you're most likely to do if you're applying practical maths are squares and cubes, which have real, physical meanings, and they barely need a shorthand. Hell, throughout my maths degree I barely used higher powers than that for 99% of the time - there's really no need to.

But it's all a load of tosh anyway because nobody can agree on the number and so, short of just blacklisting all numbers, we're stuck with it. If your number is 666 and you resign, it says more about you than your boss's automated system. I also think the same about anyone who makes a fuss about 13 and similar numbers. Life's too short. How the hell does your God expect to do maths if you can't use half the numbers?

And even if you DO believe that, surely fear of the number is just the result of terrorism - being told not to do something because they are associated with something bad. And fear of an abstract concept, like a swastika (an ancient religious symbol, which I still say should have been used as the official symbol to demark toilets if you REALLY wanted to kill its use by right-wing sects), or a number is surely something that's "to be overcome" or whatever if you're a stout religious person.

I honestly see no difference between this and Ron Weasley not being able to say Voldemort. And that's a kids book, for goodness sakes.

[Sir Runcible Spoon]

Sir

"How the hell does your God expect to do maths if you can't use half the numbers?"

If only the almighty one had said that 0 was the number of the beast - he could kept science at bay for a lot longer

[Znort666]

I'm sure I remember...

a story somewhere about a guy that wouldn't take the 666 because of the religious meaning, so took the 616 instead...oops!

As for the article, good let him go, one less zealot...

[frank ly]

Re: I'm sure I remember...

I once read that the number was in fact 66.6, which happened to be my weight in kilograms. I made an effort to eat more and now I don't feel cursed.

[Z-Eden]

Sounds like he has a case of Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia

[John Colman]

And a phobia of that...

... is Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobiaphobia

AKA common sense

[JimmyPage]

668

The neighbour of the beast

[Velv]

Re: 668

DCLXVI Roman numeral of the Beast

666.0000 Number of the High Precision Beast

Route 666 Way of the Beast

666k Retirement plan of the Beast

666i BMW of the Beast

NO! Stop it! NOW! No more. Go google them yourself.

[g e]

Re: 668

999 the ermergency service of the beast

(turn your monitor upside down, it works!)

[Darryl]

Re: 668

I thought 999 was the number of the beast's girlfriend?

[Wyrdness]

Re: 668

333 - The number of Eric the half-a-beast.

[Anonymous Coward]

0.666

The number of the milliBeast...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: 0.666

11001100110 - the number of the binary beast

[Sorry, "Sorry that handle is already taken" is already taken.]

"11001100110 - the number of the binary beast"

1010011010, surely?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: 0.666

1232 - the number of the octal beast, just for completeness.

[Daniel B.]

Re: 0.666

0x029A - The Hexadecimal Number of the Beast.

[Sorry, "Sorry that handle is already taken" is already taken.]

Re: 668

0.0.2.154 - the dotted decimal of the beast.

[Martin Budden]

Re: 668

6.66 - Hear the song!

[S4qFBxkFFg]

Obviously, the solution is for the employer to move to a senary number base system for all purposes.

Thus, 666 becomes 3030.

[Lupus]

Brave Starr?

I knew that robot horse was hiding something!

[Anonymous Coward]

667

beware 667, the neighbor of the beast

[Cave Dweller]

Re: 667

667 lives on the other side of the road

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "667 lives on the other side of the road"

Not if The Beast is another bloody foreign benefits scrounger occupying yet another flat in a Hackney tower block whist decent middle class white kids from the home counties studying to become chartered accountants can't even get onto the council waiting list! The Daily Mail will be all over the story tomorrow, and how...

Ooh, it makes you want to shake your fist at the wall and grimace.

[Gerry Doyle 1]

Re: 664

A friend of mine lives in a number 664 and is indeed the neighbour of the beast - not only is the house number 666, but the house is occupied by the parish priest and named St. Anne, which is pretty much a neighbour of an anagram for your man...

The reg on the car my other half drives ends with 30666, which is pretty cool.

[Bassey]

new god required

How pathetically inadequate must his god be if it can't protect him from a number printed on a wage slip? He should really consider upgrading his god to a better/more powerful model

[Jay Holmes]

Re: new god required

Coming soon GOD V2.0

This upgrade replaces GOD V1.0/1.3.0 and V1.65

Unfortunately due to the way religion works, you will have to unistall your current GOD version and install the newest version (GOD V2.0). Don't forget to upgrade your associated software S.A.T.A.N. (Security Agent Transfer And Networking)

As this version is currently untested and unproven in the real world, there are likely to be numerous bugs that we havent identified as yet.

To report a suspected bug, please adopt a kneeling position with your hands clasped firmly together, close your eyes and explain your problem starting with "Dear GOD..."

I assure you someone is listening and as long as your problem doesnt interfere with any current dogmatic process and isnt to do with personal gain (lottery wins, ex wife death etc etc) then it should be fixed in time for your funeral

Regards

A. Ngel

Heaven/Hell Support Desk

Contact: [e-mail]

[smudge]

Re: new god required

> To report a suspected bug, please adopt a kneeling position with your hands clasped firmly together, close your eyes and explain your problem starting with "Dear GOD..."

This is because GOD V2.0 features the new Metro UI....

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: new god required

Most religions just upgrade by incorporating the best features of the new god. A sort of accumulative patch - until no-one is quite sure how it all fits together any more.

[Elmer Phud]

Re: new god required

Ah, that explains the duality of God/Devil if it's all in UNIX.

[Christoph]

Re: new god required

"To report a suspected bug, please adopt a kneeling position"

In front of the Big White Telephone

[jake]

@Jay Holmes (was: Re: new god required)

"Don't forget to upgrade your associated software S.A.T.A.N. (Security Agent Transfer And Networking)"

Actually, SATAN is short for "Security Administrator Tool for Analyzing Networks". Was/is an interesting kludge, back in the day. I still use bits & pieces of it as part of my tool-kit.

[Jay Holmes]

Re: @Jay Holmes (was: new god required)

Yeah I know, but I was thinking more along of the double meaning of Secure transfer as in if you are a bad boy you get a nice agent of the devil to help you with your secure transfer to do some networking in everlasting torture!!!!

See just because I dont pay attention in class, doesnt mean I cant make shit up on the fly lol

[al7]

Good riddance.

I wouldn't want someone like that to work at my company anyway.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hex, anyone?

29A

But there again, there's that word....HEX!

[Blue eyed boy]

Re: Hex, anyone?

Explains why Cardiff Bus use the number 29B for their one and only variant of the 29 route.

http://www.cardiffbus.com/english/route28-29-29B.shtml

[John G Imrie]

Re: Hex, anyone?

29A The flat of the beast ?

[cortland]

Re: Hex, anyone?

Only a problem in blit space.

[Velv]

Number of the beast = sell your soul to the devil

Pay your tax = sell your soul to the government

Tax = Evil

[Destroy All Monsters]

The Three Stigmata of Contech Casting in Clarksville

"Contech Casting in Clarksville", eh?

If you take the first letters, you already get 333 ... yet another sign, but I don't know of what?

[Frank Bitterlich]

Want to make this guy go mad?

Anybody want to mail him this URL?

http://www.google.com/search?q=Slonopas+666

He'll probably sue Google afterwards.

[Mr Larrington]

Moreover...

25.806975801127880315188420605149 = the root of all evil.

[markw:]

665 — Fax number of The Beast

That is all...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: 665 — Fax number of The Beast

9-665 surely as he'd need to dial for an outside line?

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps

He IS the the antichrist, which is why 'his' number keeps popping up?

[g e]

Born Again'ers

Used to work with a BAC. Radio 1 in the UK also had a daytime show in which there was a 'thing' they did called 'Praise the Lard' which was probably something to do with fatties or diets or god knows what.

Anyway one day BAC guy hears (mis-hears) 'Praise the Lard' coming out of the radio and spontaneously cries out 'HALLELUJAH!'

Thank you BAC guy, for providing a moment which, for the rest of my life, will roundly confirm Atheism as the path for me.

[Armando 123]

Re: Born Again'ers

What gets me is how europe looks down on all the born-agains in America (and quite right, too, I do as well), but they all got here because Europe dumped them on us. Heck, even the wankers at Plymouth Rock were kicked out of Holland because the Dutch couldn't stand them (the Dutch, mind you!) and were dumped at the cod fishing grounds to the north because the people at Jamestown, Virginia, didn't want them around.

Not that you'll read that in an official public school history book.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Born Again'ers

The puritans left England because they wanted to persecute - they wanted to live somewhere where they could have absolute control over the way people lived and worshipped.

And the first place they went to try this was Amsterdam ????

If that was the IQ they started with - I think America has done rather well!

[Irony Deficient]

Puritan emigration: a favourite national myth?

Verily I say unto you, Yet Another Anonymous coward, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

Should the real reason for Puritan emigration ever be of interest to you, you could begin your investigation from this comment.

[Anonymous Coward]

Diddums

Sorry to hear his faith in Jesus was too weak to deal with this trauma and doubt the protection his lord was providing, not to mention St Christopher, whose image was probably present oh his medallion...

I recommend he prays harder so that next time he's confronted by something like this, he can do his god proud and finally prove his faith.

And if he can't, why not convert to Islam and not worry about that particular number any more? Simples.

[Anonymous Coward]

Get my behind Satan?

Funny about that - poor old imaginary Satan gets told to get behind thee (gotta say the middle english latanistic biblical words - or he won't understand) , and the fucker just won't stay put....

Better grovel them words profusely and non stop...

Speaking of stupidity fuelled by bullshit.

LOST WORLDS: THE HISTORY OF THE DEVIL

Broadcast Date: Sunday 9 September 2007

Channel: Free to Air / SBS

Broadcast Time: 7.30 pm

Classifications: Drama, PG (CC) WS

Timeslot Duration: 60 mins

LOST WORLDS: THE HISTORY OF THE DEVIL

The notion of the devil does not originate in the Bible, as many may think. In the Old Testament, Satan is just another one of God's servants.

It is in Iran that the religious teacher Zarathustra simplified things, ending up with only two - a God of the Good and a God of Evil. This belief then spread throughout the Middle East.

In the Jewish world, Satan, God's obedient servant, was gradually replaced by Saden, God's eternal enemy.

The Greeks had an underworld called Hades. It didn't have fire, but the valley outside Jerusalem, called Hell, did. In Hebrew it was known as Gehenna, a smouldering rubbish heap to which fire was regularly set. That is where bodies of executed criminals were burned.

Gehenna was the inspiration for the Christian hell. (From Ireland, in English) (Documentary)

Satan: "You mean I am completely FAKE? Oh fuck it - I was having such a good time too."

[jai]

wrong number

wasn't there a bit on QI where they explained that 666 isn't actually the right number and that technically it's something like 616 or something that's the real number of the beast, according to the original texts?

so not only is this guy a doofus, he's also completely wrong in his facts

[Armando 123]

Re: wrong number

Yes, and IIRC, that is an Area Code in Michigan ... Write your own punchline.

[Sorry, "Sorry that handle is already taken" is already taken.]

Change his slip number to:

616.

That'll sort it. :D

[Spotthelemon]

wrong number?

some of the earliest surviving revalation manuscripts (Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus & Papyrus 115) have the number as 616.

One of the most common interpretations of the number is that it is a reference to Nero, emperor at the time revelations was written. Nero Caesar translated from Greek to Hebrew enumerates to 666 however when translated from Latin to Hebrew it enumerates as 616

either way, I don't think Nero is a major threat to christianity these days

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: wrong number?

"however when translated from Latin to Hebrew it enumerates as 616"

Reminds me of a guide in Israel explaining that his name "David" looks like TIT in Hebrew letters. In Hebrew spelling you have mostly to guess at the vowel sounds - unless it is a dictionary which then includes lots of scattered dots to indicate what the vowel sound should be.

[Jediben]

Re: wrong number?

The MAFIAA and chums would disagree.

All true God-fearing Americans who love capitalism and the persuit of $$$ would suggest that Nero (Burning ROM) would be directly opposed to their ideals, allowing heathens to make EVIL ILLEGAL CURSED COMMIE COPIES of their intellectual property.

Ergo, Nero is still a huge threat to Christianity!

[Arachnoid]

Ooh, it makes you want to shake your fist at the wall and grimace.

Shirley if he believes in such things he should think that its a test of his faith........

Anyhow AC dont be banging on my wall, I might hear you and take a fence then ther would be Hell to pay.......and it wouldnt be just two obols either.

[delaneya]

Idiot

[Anonymous Coward]

My religion forbids me to pay taxes!!!

So the government must accept it and let me respect my deep belief that paying taxes will send me to the worst hell you could imagine and I do not want to damn my soul!

[Winkypop]

He should move to New Zealand

His number could be: Sex Sex Sex.

But no, the xstain fundies don't like that word either!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: He should move to New Zealand

In Swedish six is spelled "sex". My girlfriend used it as a reminder to take her P-Pill at a regular time of day - 6pm.

[cortland]

Re: He should move to New Zealand

There are no sex in heaven, right?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's Tennessee

He could be the CEO of the company.

[Esskay]

I believe some compensation is in order

$666 ought to cover it.

[TeeCee]

How to improve the world.

1) Build a very large asylum.

2) Ask Christians; "Do you really believe any of the rabid, ficticious waffle in the Book of Revelations?"

3) Anyone who answers "yes" gets a rubber room all to themselves.

There are probably quite a few other bits that should be taken with a pinch of salt, but anyone who actually believes that bollocks really is away with the fairies and should be forced to have others do their thinking for them.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: How to improve the world.

It's called the Christian "Heaven" - as no-one else will be allowed there. I seem to remember Terry Pratchett made a neat word sketch of the nature of all the variants of Heaven.

[Peter Simpson 1]

Re: How to improve the world.

My personal opinion of the Book of Revelations is that it supports the hypothesis that recreational chemicals were in common use in those times...

//beer, because no LSD icon

[DJO]

Re: How to improve the world.

My personal opinion of the Book of Revelations is that it supports the hypothesis that recreational chemicals were in common use in those times...

Let's see, 40 days and nights wandering a desert with nothing to eat except the occasional cactus or mushroom. Draw your own conclusions.

[jake]

@DJO (was: Re: How to improve the world.)

If the wandering around in the desert actually happened, it was many centuries before Revelations was first transcribed. If you're going to pooh-pooh this (probably historical) shit, at least try get to within a thousand years or so. Ta.

[jake]

@Peter Simpson 1 (was: Re: How to improve the world.)

Both might be the results of "recreation", but Syphilis, not drugs, is what was destroying the mind of the poor bastard who laid down the roots of what we now call "The Book of Revelation".

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: How to improve the world.

Cheaper solution

1, Build very small health spa

2, ask: Do you really believe any of the rabid, ficticious waffle in the Book of Revelations?

3, anyone who answers no is allowed in.

(With apologies to wonko the sane)

[GitMeMyShootinIrons]

Playing Devils advocate...

Lets say his rampant belief in fairy tales is rational and assume that these deities are at work.

Rather than assuming that this is the devils work him being given the magic number for the Australian fuzz, perhaps it is Satan's opposite number trying to either send a message or prank the poor sod.

After all, we know his holiest has a great sense of humour (e.g. earthquakes, tsunamis, promoting religious fundamentalism, the X Factor etc...)

[Elmer Phud]

numbers game

But how comfortable is he using numerals that were brought to us by Moslems who called it the 'Indian Numbers'.

He ought to be using Roman numerals.

(spell checker queries 'moslems' and returns with 'mosley') -- I'll leave it as it is)

[Scarborough Dave]

Just start the numbering from 1000 or 10000 for Payroll

I have seen this issue a few times in the UK with Christians (666,333) and religious and non religious people with number 13 and people from Asia (basically any number with a 4, 12, 6).

So anything that tracks an employee I generally start from 1000 or 10000 - I know some of the phobia's to certain numbers seem silly and illogical to some of us - but some of these people are genuinely scared as though the system or someone is hexing them - it is easier and cheaper to just adapt deployment settings in the long run.

I can remember installing a phone system where the owner wanted the internal phone system starting with a 6 - and yes you guessed it he wanted 666 (because people would think twice about the need to call him with a trivial matter before they could solve it themselves - I have to say it did work.)

[davefb]

But he got this number supposedly randomly, twice?

Maybe there's more to this... Needs more exorcism.

[McWibble]

Re: But he got this number supposedly randomly, twice?

If he got the number twice, I suspect it would be because if you were to list all the employees, he'd be 666th on the list. Basically, even if he does get a different employee number, he's still the 666th.

The same applies to anyone who has an irrational fear of the number 13. If you've ever stayed on the 14th floor of a hotel, you're really on the 13th floor.

[El Presidente]

"God is worth more than money,"

Specious argument based on fiat deity versus fiat currency.

Murica.

[sisk]

Funny thing is....

Biblically, 666 is also the number of man.

[Swarthy]

Re: Funny thing is....

Man is 5, according to the Pixies, an authoritative source.

if man is 5

then the devil is 6

then god is 7

this monkey's gone to heaven

[James O'Shea]

useful idiocy

One of my cousins used to live at an address where the number '36' was quite prominent. It was also just down the street from the local Watchtowerite (or Mormon, or possibly some other brain-dead collection of misfits, it's been a while and I forget exactly which group) infestation. He'd get lots and lots and lots of them attempting to peddle their nonsense, right up until the day when he pointed to the address number and asked 'Does three sixes have any significance for you?' That sonic boom you may have heard was the idiots departing, never to return. Ah, bliss.

[bearded bear can]

Good riddance?

In most countries in the civilized world discriminating against religion would incur law suits and recompense. Fuck that! I work for a medium sized software company. What we do requires a certain level of intelligence. A person showing up at a job interview and stating that he believes that a book written quite some time ago is the words of God, simply does not qualify as intelligent. Therefor he is unhireable. He should seek happiness and fulfillment elswhere.

Am I right or am I right?

[Crisp]

Re: Good riddance?

You'd be in breach of the Equality Act of 2006.

Don't downvote me. I don't make the rules.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Good riddance?

> A person showing up at a job interview and stating that he believes that a book written quite some time ago is the words of God, simply does not qualify as intelligent.

Surely the Holy book of K&R should still be revered? - even if you do use C++

[bearded bear can]

Re: Good riddance?

> Surely the Holy book of K&R should still be revered? - even if you do use C++

Indeed. That is the old testament though. When I first joined the order of the Jedi, Bjarne Stroustrup made me place my hand in The C++ Language, by himself, and swear that I would delete everything created with new, as free releases the mallocs of old.

[Another Eldo]

Re: Good riddance?

Yes all people of religious faith are complete mornons. None of us ever struggles to think beyond the myopic strawmen that you create to define us. Obviously, discrimination on the grounds of a personal belief system is utterly reasonable and you aren't a halfwit without the ability to empathise with people of slightly differeing viewpoints.

Whether anyone who would want to work with someone who is so obviously inflexible and unable to empathise with other people is another matter...

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Good riddance?

> a halfwit without the ability to empathise with people of slightly differeing viewpoints.

Indeed there is no right and wrong answer and always two sides to every arguement.

My point of view was that Li-ion batteries were too unreliable to fit to a 787 but my colleagues assured me that they had prayed and truly had faith that they would be safe - so in a spirit of ecumenical tolerance I went along with their plans.

Now I hope to battle those people in health and safety who believe in this dis-proven "theory" of gravity and insist on safety railing.

[RealBigAl]

Didn't the QI elves dig out evidence that the actual number of the beast was 665 or 667 but never 666? I probably shouldn't have typed that....

[Dropper]

666

The most hilarious thing about this is the number is completely made up by the author of Omen. There is no reference to '666' whatsoever in the Bible.

[Sorry, "Sorry that handle is already taken" is already taken.]

Re: 666

Revelation 13:18 - "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six."

The wording differs slightly in different versions of the Bible (King James, New International, etc), but it's there.

Or have I missed some very subtle trolling here? ;-)

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: 666

>Or have I missed some very subtle trolling here? ;-)

It's not in the original - only the "cash-in" sequel (The one with the upbeat happy ending and all the violence removed)

[PassiveSmoking]

If an integer can make you crap your pants and quit your job then I question your mental stability.

[Velv]

Jesus promised to rid us of evil.

Odin promised to rid us of Ice Giants.

Now I don't know about you, but I haven't seen many Ice Giants around these days.

[James O'Shea]

ice giants

here's one: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Andrei_Kirilenko_in_2011.jpg>

looks as though Odin needs to get back to work.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: ice giants

You know who I pray to? Joe Pesci. ...

he looks like a guy who can get things done. Joe Pesci doesn't fuck around. In fact, Joe Pesci came through on a couple of things that God was having trouble with.

George Carlin

[Anonymous Coward]

1010011010 ...

666 that's 29A in hex or 1010011010 in binary ...

[Dana W]

Welcome to why I, and most sane people live as for north as possible. The red state people are quite mad.

[asdf]

sigh

The merkin bashing has been pretty harsh this week on the site. Almost all the stories can be explained because the US made the mistake of not letting the south leave and become another 3rd world state to the south of us.

[Herby]

Simple solution...

Put a '$' in front of it. When the guy says something like "I can't accept a payment like that", then you will know if he is REAL stupid.

So, quitting was the best solution for everyone. Let's hope he doesn't sue the company for some reason. Given that lawyers exist, I won't hold my breath.

[Anonymous Coward]

What a dumbarse

Some people are clueless.

[William Boyle]

Well, that's one way...

How to get rid of an idiot that you can't fire without paying through the nose in unemployment benefits - just get them to quit! Brilliant!

[bag o' spanners]

The devil made him pull an extended sickie, the devious swine.

Is he getting stress leave sickpay for washing his car?

[Richard Pennington 1]

07xxx xxx666

I claim to have the Mobile of the Beast

[Nick666]

I am monitoring this thread ...

... and taking names.

[Anonymous Coward]

OK there is a solution

Find a padded cell for the poor soul.

[Henry Wertz 1]

What a nutter...

Nothing much more to say. Especially refusing to file his taxes until his W2 form number is changed. Oh well.

[Dodgy Geezer]

My phone number had 007 in it....

... so I asked management for a martini, a Beretta and three half-naked gorgeous women....

[Lamont Cranston]

"The company ought to find a way to cut him some slack."

The company have clearly found a way to make him go away. Good for them.