I have noticed this on PBS documentaries, History channel, and Discovery channel.
This is all just a move to criminalize thought.
big mother loves you.
big mother knows all
Yes, the college level text I use for a Humanities course I teach has that demarcation ... I tell the students to ignore it because it is silly, but all the new texts are sadly swinging in that direction. &;-)
I've noticed it and it p!$$es me off, too. But how do you get "after common era" from the initials ADE? Where's the "D?"