From: Androcles on

"Mike Dworetsky" <platinum198(a)pants.btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:-NSdnVu2R_BdqhzWnZ2dnUVZ8n6dnZ2d(a)bt.com...
> Whatever happened to that good old American slogan, "If it ain't broke,
> don't fix it."?

It's appropriate if it isn't broke. What do you do if it is?
"IF it ain't broke don't fix it, ELSE do fix it"
The real problem is finding agreement on what the fix should be.
If I fix my calendar my way and you fix your calendar your way,
pretty soon we'll come to blows as Catholic and Protestant Xtians
do, as Shiite and Sunni Moslems do.

From: J. Clarke on
Androcles wrote:
> "Mike Dworetsky" <platinum198(a)pants.btinternet.com> wrote in message
> news:-NSdnVu2R_BdqhzWnZ2dnUVZ8n6dnZ2d(a)bt.com...
>> Whatever happened to that good old American slogan, "If it ain't
>> broke, don't fix it."?
>
> It's appropriate if it isn't broke. What do you do if it is?
> "IF it ain't broke don't fix it, ELSE do fix it"
> The real problem is finding agreement on what the fix should be.
> If I fix my calendar my way and you fix your calendar your way,
> pretty soon we'll come to blows as Catholic and Protestant Xtians
> do, as Shiite and Sunni Moslems do.

You seem to be the only one who thinks that the calendar requires fixing, so
maybe you should consider getting back under your bridge instead.

From: Brian M. Scott on
On Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:41:23 -0800 (PST), Andrew Usher
<k_over_hbarc(a)yahoo.com> wrote in
<news:1c85b2c1-4bd5-451c-9dd7-299e559dab60(a)f42g2000yqn.googlegroups.com>
in
sci.math,sci.physics,sci.astro,sci.lang,alt.usage.english:

> Brian M. Scott wrote:

>>>> And trying to come up with a new calendar fixating on
>>>> Christmas is about as logical as fixating on Waitangi
>>>> Day.

>>> This is just West-bashing.

>> Don't be silly: New Zealand is part of the cultural west.

> But what the day commemorates is not.

You should have checked to see what it actually does
commemorate before posting such nonsense.

Brian
From: Brian M. Scott on
On Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:42:12 -0800 (PST), Andrew Usher
<k_over_hbarc(a)yahoo.com> wrote in
<news:732e9ee5-5de8-42e1-9efb-5d5194689d7d(a)q29g2000yqn.googlegroups.com>
in
sci.math,sci.physics,sci.astro,sci.lang,alt.usage.english:

> Brian M. Scott wrote:

>>> And the first day of the week is Sunday, not Monday - that
>>> is an incontrovertible fact.

>> Don't be ridiculous: it's merely a convention. For many of
>> us Monday is unquestionably the first day of the week.

> It's historically true. No one questioned it before modern times.

Apparently you're not familiar with the Slavic and Baltic
day-names. For that matter, Sunday is the first day in
Jewish tradition for the same reason that Monday is the
first day for many of us today.

Brian
From: Peter T. Daniels on
On Feb 21, 10:59 am, Mike Barnes <mikebar...(a)bluebottle.com> wrote:
> Yusuf B Gursey <y...(a)theworld.com>:
> >On Feb 19, 11:25 am, Mike Barnes <mikebar...(a)bluebottle.com> wrote:

> >> But I thought that for most people the whole point of Easter is that
> >> they get time off work.
>
> >not in the US, at least not in my state.
>
> So I now understand. Here in England, Friday and Monday are holidays,
> and school terms fit around them. That's the problem with Easter. I
> think it's fair to say that many people here would be happy if they
> fixed the dates of the public holidays (e.g. second weekend in April)
> and allowed the holy day to shift as it will. I don't if or why
> disconnecting them would matter to anyone.

That's because you're stuck with a state religion.

In NYC, parking regulations are suspended for just about anyone's
religious holidays.