CNN screws up again with "palindrome date"


Vort
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https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/02/world/palindrome-day-february-2-2020-intl-scli/index.html

Today's date is a numeric palindrome, 02/02/2020 (using either mm/dd/yyyy format, as we do in the US, or dd/mm/yyyy format, as is done in Europe and most other places on the planet). According to CNN, this is the first time his has happened in 909 years, since 11/11/1111, and the last time until 12/12/2121.

This is not just a matter of scientific ignorance. This is a matter of sheer journalistic ineptitude, the absolute refusal to do even the least little bit of mental work. it's not like they had to go find a Gregorian calendar expert at Cornell to show them they were wrong. They just had to sit and think for a minute or two, pen in hand. But that's asking too much.

Consider the following palindromic dates:

  • 10/02/2001: 2 October 2001 (US date style) or 10 February 2001 (European date style)
  • 20/02/2002: 20 February 2002 (European date style)
  • 01/02/2010: 2 January 2010 (US date style) or 1 February 2010 (European date style)
  • 11/02/2011: 2 November 2011 (US date style) or 11 February 2011 (European date style)
  • 21/02/2012: 21 February 2012 (European date style)
  • 12/02/2021: 2 December 2021 (US date style) or 12 February 2021 (European date style)
  • 22/02/2022: 22 February 2022 (European date style)

This is not in any way unique to this century. For example:

  • 03/31/1330: 31 March 1330 (US date style)

UPSHOT: The clowns at CNN appear to use the same standard of careful journalistic scrutiny for a puff piece like this as they do for a political analysis.

So what did CNN mean? How could even such a clown convention as CNN mess this up so badly? Well, an utter lack of numericy is essential, and CNN has that in spades (along with most other "news" outlets; as a rule, math is not the political left's thing). But I think what the unfortunates at CNN who proposed this laughable train wreck of an article were thinking was that 02/02/2020 is the same palindrome date in US and European date format. Sadly, I'm here to tell you that that is not a big deal of any sort. Date formats come and date formats go, and the current date format popular in the US today (mm/dd/yyyy) is silly. Its usage will die out before the end of this century.

This article managed to garner three strikes on a single pitch. I suppose for that reason, it is a noteworthy article. Let this article stand as a proxy for most of CNN's articles. It's actually a wonderful encapsulation of the mainstream media.

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42 minutes ago, Vort said:

...Sadly, I'm here to tell you that that is not a big deal of any sort. Date formats come and date formats go, and the current date format popular in the US today (mm/dd/yyyy) is silly....

If this is so silly, then what made you take the time to create a thread about it?

M.

Edited by Maureen
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I guess I'm missing your point.  It seems that the article is correct in that this is the only date in 909 years where ISO, IS, and European dates will all be palindromic on the same date.   In you examples they are palindromic on different dates, not the same ones.

The only error I see in the article is that they use the word "global".  This is not correct because there are other date formats such as the Islamic and Hebrew calendars, which are still used today.

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12 minutes ago, Vort said:

If you think I shouldn't have created the thread, why did you comment?

Answering a question with a question, how original.

You spent all that effort to create a thread on a subject you think is silly. I can only guess that CNN frustrates you so much, that they've mesmerized you into wasting your time.

M.

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39 minutes ago, Maureen said:

You spent all that effort to create a thread on a subject you think is silly. I can only guess that CNN frustrates you so much, that they've mesmerized you into wasting your time.

Watching the train wreck of unnecessary idiocy can be quite entertaining.

CNN might not have upset the current champion, Verizon.

 

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