Speaker For The Diodes - March 9th, 2014

05:24 am - QotD

"Feed the babies
Who don't have enough to eat
Shoe the children
With no shoes on their feet
House the people
Livin' in the street
Oh, oh, there's a solution
[...]
Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'
Into the future
Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'
Into the future"
-- Steve Miller and Steve McCarty, "Fly Like an Eagle", 1976 (from the album Fly Like an Eagle, The Steve Miller Band)

[Folks in places that start Daylight Spending Time^[1] terribly early^[2], such as most of the US: I hope y'all remembered to adjust your clocks this morning.]

[1] Well, in what way is time "saved"? And some of the arguments in favour of using it deal with merchants' hopes consumers will take more time to shop, so ...

[2] As I've stated before, I'm in the "I don't care how many hours away from Universal Time we are, but pick one offset and stick with it year-round" camp. So starting early is just one more detail piled on top.

10:17 am - QotD

"[Penance] does not mean sacrifice and self denial in the first place, but a 'change of heart,' a victory over sin and a triving for holiness. The sacrifices of fasting and self-denial are only means and signs of this spiritual penance. If people understand this well, they will not put the main effort in Lent on technical feats of abstaining from pleasures (which sometimes make them proud or vain), but in sincere contrition, prayer and humble fight against their faults." -- Fr. Francis X. Weiser S.J.

Today is: Gregorian: 2014 March 05 (Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent in Western Christianity)
Julian: 2014 February 20 (third day of Great Lent in Orthodox Christianity)
Hebrew: 5774 Veadar 03 (or 5774 Adar II 03)
Islamic: 1435 Jumada I-Ula 03
Persian: 1392 Esfand 14
Mayan: 0.0.0.13.9.1.3.9
Indian: 1935 Phalguna 14
(Western Easter and Orthodox Easter fall on the same day this year -- 2014-04-20 in the Gregorian calendar)