Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Guest Article: “Pope” Benoît Refuses to Recognise Reformation Day 2017!

Photos: From the UIMP ceremony where Benoît Battistelli, allegedly owing to EPO connections, was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2014.

Benoît Battistelli at UIMP



Summary: Benoît Battistelli, the EPO's President, again shows his general attitude towards staff and staff's rights

According to tradition 31 October 1517 is the day on which the German monk Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses to the door of the All Saints' Church in Wittenberg. Although there are doubts about the accuracy of the various historical accounts relating to this event it has been verified that Luther sent a copy of his work to the Archbishop of Mainz on the same date.



Benoît Battistelli at UIMPThe day which is regarded as the start of the Reformation is a significant one for many Protestant communities, in particular Lutherans. It is a statutory holiday in parts of continental Europe, in particular Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

Although it is normally only celebrated on a regional basis, it was decided in Germany that in 2017 the 31 October should be declared a nationwide public holiday in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.

In the meantime reports are circulating in Munich that the self-proclaimed Pontifex Maximus of Eponia does not want to commemorate the recalcitrant German monk's defiant act of insubordination towards the Papal autocracy of sixteenth century Europe.

According to reliable sources Battistelli has announced that the EPO offices in Munich and Berlin will not be closing their doors on 31 October in recognition of Reformation Day 2017.

Benoît Battistelli at UIMPApart from being perceived as an arrogant affront to the historical and cultural traditions of the main EPO host state this announcement has apparently annoyed contract staff employed by the EPO who are reported to have put in a claim for double pay in line with the normal supplement they get when they are required to work on a day which is a statutory public holiday.

Although Battistelli will no doubt succeed in his plans to prevent his Eponian vassals from commemorating Reformation Day the supplementary payments for contract staff are likely to cost the EPO a pretty penny. But since it's "other people's money" why should he care about that?

It remains to be seen whether or not anybody will risk excommunication by trying to trigger off a modern-day Reformation at the EPO by nailing a set of theses to the door of its headquarters on 31 October.

While it is tempting to speculate about this, inside sources say that the increased security and surveillance measures which have been put in place at the EPO headquarters during recent months are likely to act as a deterrant to any aspiring latter-day Martin Luthers in the land of Eponia.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Why We're Reporting Brett Wilson LLP for Apparently Misusing Their Licence to Protect American Microsofters Who Attack Women
For those who have not been keeping abreast
Stefano Maffulli and His Microsoft-Funded OSI Staff Are Killing the OSI and Killing "Open Source" (All for Money!)
This is far from over
Techrights Headlines as Semaphore
"If you are hearing this, thank you"
 
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: Games and More
Links for the day
Links 01/04/2025: Apple Fined $162M for Privacy Abuses, Disinformation Online a Growing Concern
Links for the day
Newer Press Reports Confirm That Microsoft Shuts Down 'Hey Hi' (AI) Labs Despite All the Hype
The "hey hi" (AI) bubble is not sustainable
Links 01/04/2025: Mass Layoffs at Eidos and "Microsoft Pulls Back on Data Centers" (Demand Lacking); "Racist and Sexist" Slop From Microsoft
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: XKCDpunk and worldclock.py
Links for the day
50 Years of Sabotage and a Gut Punch to Computer Science (and Science in General)
Will we get back to science-based computing rather than cult-like following?
3 Months in 2025, 4 Waves of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft, Now Offices Shut Down Permanently
"A recent visit by the South China Morning Post confirmed that the office was dark, unoccupied, and had its logo removed."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 31, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, March 31, 2025
Links 31/03/2025: China Tensions, Bombs Falling in Myanmar After Earthquake
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/03/2025: Falling Out of Love With Tech, Sunsetting openSNP
Links for the day
R.T.O. at IBM in Texas and Atlanta (State of Georgia) Expected as "Soft Layoffs" Catalyst This Coming Year
It also sounds like more IBM layoffs are in the making
Law Firms Can Also Lose Their Licence for Clearly Misusing It
The bottom line is, never made the false assumption that because you can pile up SLAPPs in a docket you will not suffer from bad reputation or even get disbarred
Link between institutional abuse, Swiss jurists, Debianism and FSFE
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
LLM Slop Piggybacking News About GNU/Linux and Distorting It
new examples
Links 31/03/2025: Press and Democracy Under Further Attacks in the US, Attitudes Towards Slop Sour
Links for the day
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: The OSI Does Not Respect Anybody's Privacy
The surveillance mafia that bans dissent or key people (even co-founders) with dissenting views
Gemini Links 31/03/2025: More X-Filesposting and Dreaming in Emacs
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 30, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, March 30, 2025
Links 30/03/2025: Security Breaches, Crackdowns on Dissent/Rival Politicians
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/03/2025: London Soundtrack Festival, Superbloom, gmiCAPTCHA
Links for the day
Phasing Out Vista 10 in Nations Where ~90% of Windows Users Still Rely on It
Recipe for another Microsoft disaster
The Cost of Pursuing the Much-Needed Reform/Shield Against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs)
“It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.”
The LLM Bubble is About to Implode, Gimmicks and Financial Shell Games Cannot Prevent That, Only Delay It
To inflate the bubble MElon is now doing the classic trick of buying from oneself for a fictional value
Links 30/03/2025: Contagious Ideas, Signal Leak, and Squashing Lousy Patents
Links for the day
Links 30/03/2025: "Quantum Randomness" and "F-1 Visa Revoked" in US
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/03/2025: US as a Threat, Returning to the WWW
Links for the day
Links 30/03/2025: Judge Blocks Dismantling Of VOA, Turkey Arrested Many Journalists
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 29, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, March 29, 2025