Anyone heard about Bushco extending Daylight Saving Time?

[Contrary1]

News to me, but then the government has a way of sneaking changes in quietly.

"Congress is quietly about to extend daylight-saving time by two months. If President Bush signs on - and, after all, it is his energy bill - DST will end the last Sunday of this November and resume on the first Sunday in March.

<snip>

Congress bills extended DST as a way of saving energy, although the potential savings are somewhat in doubt. What's interesting about extending DST, however, is how little attention it has drawn. We suspect many Americans would have wanted to voice their opinions - and would have, too - had they known it was buried in this monstrosity of a bill."

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/opinion/article/0,1299,DRMN_38_3938992,00.html

[asjr]

1. OMG, now he is trying to control the sun!

[quiet.american]

3. Damn, you read my mind. What a control freak. n/t

[Fiona]

2. Hrm...

what're they gonna do with all the extra daylight?

[RC]

5. Put it in the bank for when the sun goes out.

[skids]

4. Personally I support it.

As far as I know, daylight savings time was just there so farmers could get some work out of their kids before they had to send them off to school. Or something like that. Being a late riser, daylight savings time has always just pissed me off. All it does is ensure that it is dark by the time I get off of work in the winter.

[FloridaPat]

8. When I was in school it was because the farmers needed the extra daylight.

Time to get rid of some lies.

I'll start with yours. Kids back then didn't got to school during the summer - like now.

As for mine - I've met some farmers. It does nothing for them. The milk farmers still milk the cows at the exact same time. They can't switch the cows to daylight savings time. Farmers that plant work from sun-up to sun-down. Doesn't make a bit of difference to them either.

Found a neat site that has the history of time. Seems we went to a standard time because of railroad schedules. We and the world started daylight savings time during WW1 to save energy. It was repealed after the war and then reinstituted during WW2. So we were lied to in school. Again. Why does just about everyone in power lie to the people? Actually, can anyone think on anyone in power who don't lie to the people?

Anyway, neat site:
http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/index.html

[FloridaPat]

6. Congress actually. It was on the news last night. They've just started

the bill process.

[AllegroRondo]

7. Ive heard candy manufacturers are the major lobby against changing

seriously - because the extra hour of daylight on Haloween means more candy sales for them.

[quaoar]

18. True

http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/k.html

Also, for decades, candy manufacturers have lobbied for a daylight saving time extension to Halloween, as many of the young trick-or-treaters gathering candy are not allowed out after dark, and thus an added hour of light could mean a big holiday treat for the candy industry.

[newswolf56]

9. The hidden issue here -- as is often the case with Bush -- is...

Fundamentalist bigotry. The original Daylight Savings Time (not including War Time c. 1941-1945) ran from 31 April to 31 October or the Sundays closest thereto. Coincidentally, these were pagan high holidays: May Eve, or Beltane -- on the old calendar of Celtic paganism, the first day of Summer; and Samhain or Hallowe'en -- on that same calendar, the night the year dies and the first day of winter. The other significant seasonal dates were Lugnasadh, July 31 or August 1 -- the first day of autumn; and Imbolg, January 31 or February 1 -- the first day of Spring. (Anyone familiar with the environmental and/or agricultural year will immediately recognize that all of these days are more biologically accurate than the dates we use today.) The Fundamentalists fear that MayDay to Hallowe'en daylight saving time might re-emphasize the old pagan calendar, which was an expression of the intimate connection between pagan metaphysics and the biophysics of nature. The Fundamentalists are even more terrified that public knowledge of such connections might re-validate (and thus revitalize) paganism itself. Regarding daylight savings time dates as a potential near occasion of "heresy," the Fundamentalists protested accordingly. Hence the changes in dates, first imposed by the Reaganoids, now by der Bushler.

Edit: for clarity (details added).

[OneTwentyoNine]

10. LOL,just like Nixon did??

It was so damn dark all the time when kids were going to school that it was finally cancelled. Didn't save a fucking dime in energy,just moved it an hour.

[applegrove]

11. How will it play with the Religious Right: " Let there be light".

[OneTwentyoNine]

12. And when its dark up till 9:30 AM no one will use lights? Bawhahaha

Jesus what a fool,the same energy will be used regardless of whether its rolled back or not.

DST is merely for an extra hour for outdoor sports and recreation,it hasn't got SHIT to do with reducing energy use,the day is STILL 24 hours.

Gawd.....

[GracieM]

13. Who's idea was it?

Guarantee Bush wouldn't have thought of it...

[mikelewis]

14. Benjamin Franklin's, I believe

[GracieM]

15. Sorry, I meant the extension

I'm not funny...

[mikelewis]

19. I know, I'm not funny either but here's a good one that is funny

TEST YOUR MORALS:

This test only has one question, but it's a very important one. By
giving an honest answer, you will discover where you stand morally. The
test features an unlikely, completely fictional situation in which you
will have to make a decision. Remember that your answer needs to be
honest -- and spontaneous. Please scroll down slowly and give due
consideration to each line.

You are in Florida, Miami to be specific. There is chaos all around you
caused by a hurricane with severe flooding. This is a flood of biblical
proportions.

You are a photojournalist working for a major newspaper, and you're
caught in the middle of this epic disaster. The situation is nearly
hopeless.

You're trying to shoot career-making photos. There are houses and
people swirling around you, some disappearing under the water. Nature
is unleashing all of its destructive fury.

Suddenly you see a man floundering in the water. He is fighting for his
life, trying not to be taken down with the debris. You move closer . .
.

Somehow the man looks familiar. You suddenly realize who it is.

It's George W. Bush!

At the same time you notice that the raging waters are about to take
him under... forever. You have two options: you can save the life of
G.W. Bush or you can shoot a dramatic Pulitzer Prize winning photo,
documenting the death of one of the world's most powerful men.

So here's the question, and please give an honest answer:












Would you select high contrast color film, or would you go with the classic simplicity of black and white?

[quaoar]

16. From the linked article:

Benjamin Franklin is credited with the idea for DST. It was the province of cranks and visionaries until World War I, when Europe and, for a year, the United States adopted it to get more work out of the war workers. It lapsed here, was reinstated during World War II and then lapsed again into an issue of local option. Each time it was the subject of heated national debate, pitting country folk against city folk. Now it's mostly parents of children who have to get up for school in the dark who object.

[Piperay]

17. Why don't they just set the time either

back or ahead by one half hour and then leave it that way all year??? :think: I think that would be a good compromise and we wouldn't have to be fooling around resetting clocks and timers.

[djg21]

20. I'd love to see permanent, year-round DST.

I hate it when it's dark by 4:00 p.m. in the winter. I'd much rather have an extra hour to be outdoors in the evening then in the early morning, when the temperatures here remain in the single-digits. In fact I'd support two hour switch!