Daylight Saving Time Is America's Greatest Shame

The Atlantic ^ | November 1, 2014 | Alexander Abad-Santos

[C19fan]

Daylight Saving Time is the greatest continuing fraud ever perpetuated on American people. And this weekend, the effect of this cruel monster will rear its ugly head again. On Sunday morning, Americans across the country will have to set their clocks back one hour, and next week, the sun will begin its ambling lurch to eventually setting at 4:30 in the afternoon.

Technically-speaking, this sleep cycle-wrecking practice of setting our clocks back is because we will be going back to Standard Time after our flirty summer with DST. And the unsettling shift back to these hours, and the hour "we gain," is the back-end of the time-bargain we have to pay for setting our clocks forward in March to "maximize daylight"—a phrase probably better suited to organisms that rely on photosynthesis—during the spring and summer hours.

[qam1]

Sadly DST was the last positive thing passed by congress

[Lazamataz]

Nothing pleases me.

NOTHING.

[Lazamataz]

These measurements piss me off.

[HereInTheHeartland]

“Daylight Saving Time Is America’s Greatest Shame”

FDR and Obama are much higher on the “Greatest Shame” list than DST.

[jonno]

DST?

I’m fine either way - this is much ado about nothing...

[dragnet2]

Daylight Saving Time is the greatest continuing fraud ever perpetuated on American people.

It pales in comparison to our borders, fed reserve, banking mobsters and the IRS...It's even below the national cable TV epic fraud...

But you can bet the rent, certain people/government are benefiting daylight savings $ham.

[thackney]

That makes it easier to list.

[TomGuy]

Get a grip, Alex!

I don’t care for the resetting of clocks twice a year either, but it took me a whole 5 minutes to accomplish the task.

I do wish Congress would simply end it, but I don’t lose much sleep over it.

[Sans-Culotte]

I’d like to see DST go away as well. But “greatest shame”? The writer needs to learn the proper use of hyperbole.

[cripplecreek]

Well it is Boomtime, The Aftermath 15, Year of Our Lady of Discord 3180. You’re supposed to be pissed off.

Anybody know what the stardate is?

[Mrs. Don-o]

Got that right, Brothah. I mean, Fathah.

[jy8z]

Daylight Saving Time Is America's Greatest Shame

An hour shift twice a year? I'll never understand why people get so upset over an hour.

[camle]

aw geesz! don’t they whine about this every year?

[Timber Rattler]

Well, the original DST was a supposed energy saving measure dating from 1918 when America was fighting World War I.

But yeah, you're right, the two-month extension was part of that GOP-E/Upton/Bush crap sandwich that banned incandescent light bulbs to fight global warming.

I hope that "Lightbulb" Fred Upton is really proud of himself.

[JaguarXKE]

I think they mean “sham” not “shame.”

[Flick Lives]

What’s the Stardate?

[chrisser]

Anybody know what the stardate is?

Some info here: http://trekguide.com/Stardates.htm

Definitely more info than I wanted to know...

"Expressing Contemporary Dates as Stardates

Find the fictional Stardate that corresponds to "today's" date

Since the Stardate systems used in various Star Trek episodes are meant to measure time in the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Centuries, the same Stardate system cannot be used to express contemporary dates (i.e., in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries).

However, for those who would like to create Stardates to represent contemporary dates, there are three methods that can be used:

Represent the current date in YYMM.DD format, where "YY" is the current year minus 1900, MM is the current month (01-12), and DD is the current day of the month (01-31).

For example, September 08, 1966, would be written as "Stardate 6609.08" in the YYMM.DD format. Another digit must be added for years after 1999, such that September 11, 2001, would be written as "Stardate 10109.11" in the YYMM.DD format. This system can be used to express any year after 1900 in Stardate format.

This system also roughly corresponds to the Stardates used in the first six Star Trek motion pictures, such that if a new movie were made today in The Original Series continuity, then its Stardate would be close to the YYMM.DD format.

Using the new Stardate format in Star Trek XI, dates may be expressed in YYYY.xx format, where YYYY is the actual four-digit year, and .xx represents the fraction of the year to two decimal places (i.e., hundredths of a year). For example, January 1, 1999, would correspond to Stardate 1999.00, while July 2, 1999, would correspond to Stardate 1999.50 (half-way through the year 1999).

For any given date, simply calculate the number of days it has been since January 1, then express that as a percentage of the year (the number of days since January 1 divided by 365 should give the number to follow the decimal in the Stardate).

Use the Stardate of the current Star Trek episode or movie to represent today's Stardate. Today is Stardate 68306.1, using The Next Generation Stardate system (i.e., that would be the Stardate of this week's episode if The Next Generation and its spinoffs were still in production).

... "

[scouter]

I know I’m in the minority, but I look forward to DST every spring. But either way... I think the hyperbole this issue causes is hysterically funny. Wow, people! Get a life!

[don-o]

But seeing near vitriolic screeds against it in the usual leftist publications makes me think maybe it is a good thing.

It is a fool who looks for logic in the liberal mind.

[GizzyGirl]

The switch to and from DST for me every year is a non-event.

For me as well, but I love the switch TO DST in the spring. That said, I have to say... it's a pain in the neck from a work perspective, planning for 3 hrs difference, then to 2, then back to 3... I look at it as strictly for the safety of the kids at the bus stops in the dark dark mornings, with appreciation of the farmers, and I can handle it. But for sure, I like Spring Ahead better than Fall Back!