[CQ-Contest] CQ WPX SSB on Easter Weekend ?

[Michael Keane, K1MK]

At 02:04 PM 3/17/02, Bill Coleman wrote:

> >This is different because Easter is celebrated practically
> >everywhere in the world. IMO another stupid decision by the folks at
> >CQ....
>
>There are plenty of Muslims, Jews, Hindi, and others that do not
>celebrate Easter.

But there are plenty of locales, where as a vestigial artifact of 
colonialism the four day weekend is still a secular holiday even though it 
may not have any particular significance to a majority of the citizenry as 
a religious celebration.

As a consequence of the coincidence this year, participants will find 
either: (a) they have more time to devote to WPX than in other years; (b) 
they have less time to devote to WPX than in other years; (c) they have the 
same amount of time to devote to WPX as in other years.

It's going to help out some and hurts others; leaving things alone is not 
necessarily an unenlightened or uninformed decision.

73,
Mike K1MK

P.S. "practically everywhere in the world" may have been a poor choice of 
words; "in a heck of a lot more places than U.S. Thanksgiving" might have 
been a superior choice. According to http://www.holidayfestival.com/:

Good Friday is a holiday in Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda 
Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria (not all denominations), the 
Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Botswana, 
Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Cayman Islands, the Channel Islands, 
Chile, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican 
Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, the Faroes, the 
Federated States of Micronesia (Pohnpei only), Fiji, Finland, France 
(Alsace-Lorraine only), French Guyana, French Polynesia, Gambia, Germany, 
Ghana, Gibraltar, Greenland, Grenada, Guam, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong 
Kong, Iceland, India (closed), Indonesia, the Isle of Man, Jamaica, Kenya, 
Kiribati, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Macau, Malawi, Malaysia 
(Sabah & Sarawak only), Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Montserrat, 
Namibia, Nauru, the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antillies, New Zealand, 
Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norfolk Island, Norway, Pakistan (for Christians only), 
Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Pitcairn Island, 
Portugal, Puerto Rico, the Republic of Ireland, Saint Kitts and Nevis, 
Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 
San Marino, the Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, the Solomon 
Islands, South Africa, Spain (not banks), Sri Lanka, St. Martin's Island 
(both sides), Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and 
Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Kingdom of Great 
Britain and Northern Ireland, Uruguay, the USA (in California, Connecticut, 
Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, New 
Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, NY Mercantile Exchange, NY Stock 
Exchange, Pennsylvaniaand Texas only) Vanuatu, Venezuela, Virgin Islands, 
Western Samoa, Zambiaand Zimbabwe

Easter Monday is a holiday in Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda Aruba, 
Australia, Austria (not all denominations), the Bahamas, Bangladesh, 
Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Botswana, the British Virgin 
Islands, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Cayman Islands, the 
Channel Islands, Cook Islands, Croatia, Denmark, Dominica, the Faroes, 
Fiji, Finland, France (Alsace-Lorraine only), French Guyana, French 
Polynesia, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greenland, Grenada, 
Guyana, Hong Kong, Iceland, the Isle of Man, Jamaica, Kenya, Latvia, 
Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Monaco, 
Montserrat, Namibia, Nauru, the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antillies, New 
Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Norfolk Island, Norway, Pakistan (for Christians 
only), Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Island, Portugal, the Republic of 
Ireland, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, 
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, the Seychelles, Sierra Leone, 
Slovenia, the Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain (Basque National Day, 
not general), St. Martin's Island (both sides), Swaziland, Sweden, 
Switzerland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos 
Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern 
Ireland, Vanuatu, Virgin Islands, Western Samoa, Zambiaand Zimbabwe.


Michael Keane, K1MK
k1mk at alum.mit.edu