THE OFFAL GERMAN LANGUAGE: I suppose there's a lot to be said about reforming German spelling, but I think the main problem with German spelling is that this spelling is, boldly and unashamedly, in German. I could say more, but why say it when Mark Twain has already has, and much better than I ever could. Now, if we could only get someone to reform English spelling, that would really be something. The clever bastard who figures out how to do that will dream of riches beyond the dreams of avarice and will wind up dirt poor and probably in the nuthouse as well. English orthography will never be reformed, simply because we've all too much invested in the way things are spelled now.

Just as a sidelight: a government commission ordered the changes in German spelling. Can anyone imagine a government commission in an English speaking country doing the same thing and expecting the citizenry to take the ordered changes seriously?