On 17 February 2016 at 10:36, Richard Aiken <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote:
On Tue, Feb 16, 2016 at 2:53 PM, Greg Chalik <mrg3105@gmail.com> wrote:

Synchronise planetary orbits also?


The Imperium ignores individual planetary time, clocking everything on Sylean (e.g. Imperial) time. This drives the locals crazy, of course.

​Drives them crazy literally

Greg

 
Particularly because it's merely a legal fiction (since there is something in quantum mechanics - ask somebody with the math exactly what - which makes keeping accurate time on an interstellar scale impossible).

But the Imperium doesn't care about that. In fact, there is a bit of canon which makes local compliance with the Imperial calendar for all official uses connected with the Empire one of the signs of whether or not a particular world is successfully integrating into the Imperium. There is also a tradition among many grognards (I don't *think* it's actually canon) that given with it's authority to investigate all official interactions between Imperial and local bodies, the Imperial Office of Calendar Compliance is one of the more effective of the various clandestine internal Imperial spy agencies. 

--
Richard Aiken

"Never insult anyone by accident."  Robert A. Heinlein
"I studied the Koran a great deal. I came away from that study with the conviction there have been few religions in the world as deadly to men as Muhammed." Alexis de Tocqueville (1843)
"We know a little about a lot of things; just enough to make us dangerous." Dean Winchester
"It has been my experience that a gun doesn't care who pulls its trigger." Newton Knight (as portrayed by Matthew McConaughey), to a scoffing Confederate tax collector facing the weapons held by Knight's young children and wife.
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