stili veteris (O.S.) and stili novi (N.S.)

Jefferson's Grave Marker
"BORN APRIL 2 1743 O.S.
DIED JULY 4 1826"

We are for all things that give some trinket of information; tidbits for the water cooler if you will.

Years back, CNN (the network) circulated a calendar of what they called "factoids" - snatches of useless trivia.  It was on every advertising buyers desk.  I found a few pages of mine, circa 1994, in a box of old stuff with notes on the pages that now look like gibberish...but the factoid had to do with July 4, 1826 when two founders, Adams and Jefferson, died precisely half a century after the Declaration.

So here we are at factoid time; stili veretis and stili novi - old style and new style.  Jefferson was born on April 2, 1743 in the "old style". The "new style" pushes the date to April 13.  Washington's birthday is or was celebrated on February 22 (1732) but at the time, it was February 11th. 

May 11/22, 1629

Western civilization started changing over from the Julien calendar in the last part of the 16th century so after (1582) and it has taken pretty much forever for there to be one day/date for everyone.

The Russians, for instance, waited until the revolution to make the change. England was still on the old until the time (and somewhat later) of Jefferson and Washington's birth.

I bring this up this fine rainy morning in the interest of accuracy (first) and trivia (second) but mostly because there simple, obvious facts that we don't know about; bringing us today's sermon.

The NSA's monitoring is big news and many of the right wing pundits and a few screamers from the left are

Hair on Fire

all agog that this could be happening.  It is as if this entire thing just happened last Tuesday morning.  Well hide the kids and bury the silver.  A lot of others are simply laughing at all the hand wringing because they read the Patriot Act in detail some dozen years back; when it seemed like a good idea at the time.

We should have known something was up just because it was named the "Patriot Act".  If you voted against it or rallied against it then you were "anti-patriotic". 9/11 is as relevant to the year 1582 as anything I can think of as we are clearly living in the N.S. and not the O.S.

Some around us at the water cooler just are slow to recognize it.

Written this day, 1st day of June (O.S.), 12th day of  June (N.S.)
Long Island, New York