There’s no “Saving” in Daylight Saving Time. None. No daylight is saved. Cutting off the bottom of the blanket and sewing it to the top doesn’t make the blanket any longer.
Time Zones were established in 1883 mostly for the Transcontinental Railroads. At that time there were four, Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific.
In 1918, the Interstate Commerce Commission was given responsibility over time coordination for transportation and the five time zones we use today were established, Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, and Alaska. Hawai’i time is one hour behind Alaska Standard Time. It’s the same as Alaska Daylight Time because Hawai’i doesn’t participate in Daylight Time. Arizona switches between Pacific and Mountain Time because it too doesn’t participate in Daylight Time.
Daylight time was implemented at this time (March 19, 1918) to save fuel during WWI for War Industries and to extend the working day. The Daylight time part of the law was repealed on August 20, 1919.
Daylight time was brought back during WWII (February 1942) with a sunset of six months after the end of the war -or- such time as designated by a concurring resolution. It actually took Congress to pass a bill. Congress passed H.R. 3974 which became the law “To provide for the termination of daylight saving time, ” 59 Stat. 537.
In 1966 Congress passed the Uniform Time Act resetting the time zones and setting Daylight Time from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October.
In 1973, in a misguided attempt to “save energy” Congress passed the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act of 1973. It was set to enact Permanent Daylight time from January 6, 1973 to October 26, 1975, It was so unpopular that HR 16102 amended it on October 2nd, 1974 to resume the last Sunday in February of 1975 to October 26, 1975 and continue normally thereafter.
The dates that Daylight Time have started and ended have changed, mostly starting earlier and earlier, from the last Sunday in April to now the first Sunday in March. The end of Daylight Saving only just changed this century from the last Sunday in October to the first Sunday in November, leaving Halloween with a little more light after school for trick-or-treaters.
Daylight time has gone from six months of the year to eight months of the year.
But Standard time is the time of the Earth. It’s when the sun is overhead at noon.
Changing time twice a year is disruptive to schedules, both human and animal. It’s disruptive for children. The more light in the evenings, while many adults may find it welcome, can make it hard for children to get to sleep.
If Daylight time were to be made permanent sunrise wouldn’t be until 9:00 or nearly so in December when many children are trying to get to school, either walking or at bus stops.
Sure the days get shorter, but they get longer too. The Spring and Fall Equinoxes are when the day and night are equal in length. The Winter and Summer Solistices are when we have the Longest Night and the Longest Day. It happens every year and no amount of fiddling with the clocks will change anything.
Keep Standard Time permanent like Hawai’i, Arizona, and Puerto Rico.
International Eat a Tasty Animal for PETA Day is coming up and I’ll be posting and linking to recipes from now until then. Here’s the sixth.
IEATAPETA (March 15) Recipe 6
This one is from Anthony O’Shaughnessey via X.
I don’t have resolutions for 2025.
I’ve decided to have intentions.
I intend to do more drawing and painting in 2025.
I intend to do more writing in 2025.
I intend to do more crafting in 2025.
I intend to do more baking in 2025.
I intend to be happy in what I’m doing in 2025.
I can work up to doing more. I can back off if it gets too much.
I can try to document what I’m doing as well.
Those are my intentions as of now for 2025.
Early on a beautiful Sunday morning 83 years ago, the world changed.
At 7:55 a.m local. on December 7, 1941, the attack begins.
Pearl Harbor Attack
The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor to remove what it saw as a threat to the empire’s southern expansion. The Pearl Harbor attack hurt us badly, but it also hardened our resolve and brought us fully into WWII.
Snopes has some photos that were purported to be found in an old Brownie camera years after the attack. The story was untrue, but the photos are archival and genuine.
The U.S. Navy has a Pearl Harbor site with more photos.
Chris at A Large Regular has linked to this National Geographic Pearl Harbor site in the past. It has a multimedia timeline, survivor stories, a kid’s section, and more.
Someday we’ll get to see the Arizona Memorial.
Our old cordless vacuum with integrated handheld reached the end of its life 5-1/2 years after we bought it so it’s time for a new one.
Amazon Cyber Monday has a great deal on the Shark Clean & Empty Cordless Vacuum and we’ve had great luck with the Shark family of appliances so we’ve ordered one and we’ll receive it on Friday!
Affiliate link – may receive a commission.
Mom would have been 85 today. She died 11 days before her 79th, six years ago this past September 19th. Dad preceded her in 2002.
Since then two of her sisters have joined her and one of Dad’s sisters. They’re all leaving us.
But they all live on in our hearts and memories.
So happy birthday Mom!
We started watching Those About to Die on Peacock. All ten episodes have dropped. It stars Anthony Hopkins as the Emperor Vespasian. As yet, we’ve only watched the first episode but we’ll be continuing on.
One line, in particular, struck me and I thought it needed some wider distribution.
Hopkins was speaking to one son about the other son. The son asked if he was going to punish the other and Hopkins said, “Praise in public, discipline in private.”
This reminded me of a situation when I was working at a University bookstore and the manager came up to me in the middle of the floor in front of both co-workers and customers and yelled at me about something. I asked her to follow me to the back room and said, “First of all, NEVER speak to anyone like that in front of co-workers or especially customers again. And secondly, I didn’t do what you just yelled at me about.” She was suddenly extremely apologetic. I think more about what she’d done out on the floor than accusing me of something I hadn’t done.
But these are words to live by…
It was on Monday, but I was busy at DragonCon and frankly, it slipped my mind.
Twenty years.
We saw Deadpool and Wolverine today. Totally irreverent, tons of foul language, pretty good story, lots of cameos and easter eggs, the audience was laughing out loud. A good time was had by all.
Kamala Harris was speaking to the American Federation of Teachers in Houston today.
It was supposed to be a White House speech but it was a campaign speech.
“People should have a right to join a union” means “People should be forced to join unions”
People have never been barred from joining unions. Union formation isn’t a snap of the fingers, but it isn’t banned or barred. People have been forced to join unions to gain employment in certain states in certain fields. If you want to work there, you join the union the union. It’s a union shop.
“Unions helped build the middle class” – “Unions have helped destroy the middle class” Only approximately 7% of the private workforce is in unions. Compared to 36% of the public workforce. Union wages are predicated on some multiple of the Federal minimum wage and as that rises some people gain, but others lose.
Employers don’t only have the rise in wages to account for, they have the rises in FICA taxes, unemployment taxes, workers’ compensation, and other benefits. For every dollar in minimum wage rise the employer has anywhere from $1.17 to $1.27 or more. For each dollar for each hour for each employee.
Prices have to rise or employees have to be let go. Overheads remain the same. Rents, inventories, lights, heat, etc. Fixed costs. Labor is a variable cost. If the employer has to let too many people go and can’t do the work him or herself, they go out of business. And then there are no jobs. Minimum wage: Zero.
“extremists attack our freedom to vote”
“extremists refuse ‘common-sense’ gun laws”
So everyone who isn’t thinking like she is is an extremist.
“We want to ban assault weapons” – there is no such thing.
“We are in a fight for the future”
Yes, we most certainly are.