Today is Leap Day, and since I started writing in the first week of March in 2008 it’s the first Leap Day for Weakonomics. I’m not sure how I want to treat today but since Leap Day itself is quite fascinating let’s try learning more about it.

Most everyone knows from elementary school that Leap Day is a catch-up day because they year is not actually exactly 365 days. The planet takes just a little bit longer to go around the Sun. This is most often reported as taking 365.25 days. This is why every 4 years we have a catch-up day on February 29th. Leap Day always takes places on years divisible by 4 (2004, 2008, 2012…).

For kids this explanation is good enough. Actually for most everyone alive today except babies this explanation is sufficient. But those that live to the year 2100 will be confused when they don’t have a leap day.

That’s because the Earth’s orbit isn’t so mathematically sound as to actually result in 365.25 days. It’s actually 365.2425 days which is 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, and 12 seconds. That’s difficult to keep up with but fortunately there is a solution to make sure we come out even. Every year divisible by 4 is a leap year except for years ending in 00 that aren’t divisible by 400. Examples include 1900, 2100, and 2200. We are special to have seen a leap year at the turn of the century because it won’t happen again until a period of time that goes beyond the time of Star Trek. For those that follow the best sci-fi franchise those events have only gone so far as 2387.

But Leap Day has more up its sleeve. Leap Day was initially designed to keep Easter aligned to a certain lunar period, that wasn’t the point of the new calendar but that was kept in mind. In the UK and Hong Kong someone born on a Leap Day legally turns 18 on March 1. But in New Zealand they get February 28.

Sadly, there aren’t many interesting events that occurred on 2/29 throughout history. The cartoon Family Circus debuted in 1960, so perhaps we’ll get lucky and today will be the last day of it too. There aren’t even that many interesting birthdays. The rapper Ja Rule does but he’s in prison so I doubt he’s going to get to celebrate much.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about February 29th is the fact that’s its not interesting at all. It’s more boring than most days.

But the Gregorian Calendar, which is what we use, isn’t the only calendar out there. In some form or another they all have to make adjustments. Many aren’t driven by Earth’s orbit and rotation but by seasons or lunar/astrological alignment. The Chinese and Hebrew calendars for instance have extra months in their adjustment years.

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It hasn’t worked.

Now we honor vets for going to die for anything our government wants to send them to fight for.  The expectation is not that the dying is over, but that it will continue.  That is an absolutely terrible thought.

This is why I think Veteran’s day this year should really be recognized.  In case you’ve forgotten, one of our wars is ending this year.  More veterans will come home, and as of right now most of them won’t have to go back somewhere.  Less lives will be in danger than have been in close to a decade.

Of course this doesn’t downplay the other wars in history, but the recency effect is strong, especially among us younger generations.  Veteran’s Day does honor the bravery and sacrifice of millions.  Millions that deserve whatever benefits our government and my tax dollars can throw at them.  And whatever appreciation our citizens can show.

But it should also serve its original intent.  We should celebrate our veterans, but we should also celebrate the hope that in the future we won’t have any wars, and therefore no veterans.

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What people commonly forget is that the Revolutionary War had already been going on for about a year.  It started as protests against taxation.  Any chance of compromise was thrown out when the Declaration was signed.  At that point we weren’t just fighting for reform, but freedom.

Of course we eventually got that freedom, and now we celebrate it with fireworks.  In the 21st century, we’re also obsessed with trying to photograph fireworks.  Why are people trying to do this?  There is no point and shoot camera, operated by an amateur, that can actually take a picture of them.  And even if you could, why bother?  Fireworks are beautiful, but must be experienced.  A picture doesn’t do it justice.

For me, the 4th is all about enjoying the freedoms we have in this country.  Right this second, you are enjoying the freedom of the press.  I can say and write anything I want so long as I’m not lying.  Even then I don’t think I could go to jail for doing that.  This is a freedom still not enjoyed in many parts of the world.  And the right to free speech is just one of many such freedoms.

So, very few of you are going to be at work today.  Even if you are you can still take advantage of our freedoms in this country.  We bicker and fight over politics, but that is the nature of democracy.  We’ve always prevailed and I doubt we’re going anywhere anytime soon.  Happy 4th everyone.

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Without their sacrifice, I couldn’t exercise my right to free speech or my freedom of the press. Without them, I may not have any of my freedoms, and I may not even be alive.

I used to think that Memorial Day sales were ridiculous and spat in the name of what should be a sacred holiday. But I’m starting to think now that the best way to celebrate this holiday is to do the things that we may not be able to do without their sacrifice.

To me, that means making sure I publish something. But it also means that I can go out and spend my money when I want and on what I want. I have no restrictions (other than my bank balance). This is perhaps the best way to honor those that have done things I can only imagine and lost their lives so that I don’t even have to imagine it.

But I will be sure to do it with those fallen in my mind. Today is for you, America is as sweet as this pile of patriotic berries.

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1. According to Harold Camping, the number five equals “atonement”, the number ten equals “completeness”, and the number seventeen equals “heaven”.
2. Christ is said to have hung on the cross on April 1, 33 AD. The time between April 1, 33 AD and April 1, 2011 is 1,978 years.
3. If 1,978 is multiplied by 365.2422 days (the number of days in a solar year, not to be confused with the lunar year), the result is 722,449.
4. The time between April 1 and May 21 is 51 days.
5. 51 added to 722,449 is 722,500.
6. (5 × 10 × 17)² or (atonement × completeness × heaven)² also equals 722,500.

Thus, Camping concludes that 5 × 10 × 17 is telling us a “story from the time Christ made payment for our sins until we’re completely saved.

I saw some of Camping’s followers when I was in New York and I have to say that most of them were respectful and trying to do what is right by them.  I refuse to say that nothing will happen, but there is a history of people calling for raptures and to my knowledge it hasn’t happened yet.  So long as these people are respectful I wish them the best, but trying to assign math and science to a religion has never produced good results.

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• Wikileaks started the uprising in Tunisia, which has sparked the Egyptian protests. And now, Wikileaks is getting no media love. Spotlight whore Assange must be hating this.

• I’m tired of TV dramas showing scenes where everything is dandy and then the sound goes out, time slows down, and something big happens. Find a new delivery method for a cliffhanger.

• In 6 of the 9 completed American Idol seasons, more people watched the first episode than the last. More people are interested in seeing this year’s “William Hung” than who actually wins.

• Is there a bubble in China? If so, when it pops, will that be good or bad for the US?  I’m going to be masticating on this for a while.

Thoughts on any and all are encouraged.

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