[Vhfcn-l] Monday musings

[Gary Thewlis]

Today's public figures can no longer write their own speeches or books, and
there is some evidence that they can't read them either.

Gore Vidal

 

Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first woman she
meets and then teams up with three complete strangers to kill again.

Rick Polito, Marin Independent Journal's TV listing for "The Wizard of Oz"

 

It's congenital really. We're an aspiring species that doesn't have wings.
What else would we dream of?

Mark Vanhoenacker

 

To err is dysfunctional, to forgive co-dependent.

Berton Averre

 

Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine
are still greater.

Albert Einstein 

 

The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think.

Edwin Schlossberg

 

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10 Fascinating Facts About Daylight Saving Time

 

1. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN WAS HALF-JOKING WHEN HE SUGGESTED DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME.

More than a century before Daylight Saving Time (DST) was adopted by any
major country, Benjamin Franklin proposed a similar concept in a satirical
essay. In the piece, published in 1784, he argued:

 

"All the difficulty will be in the first two or three days; after which the
reformation will be as natural and easy as the present irregularity [...]
Oblige a man to rise at four in the morning, and it is more than probable he
will go willingly to bed at eight in the evening; and, having had eight
hours sleep, he will rise more willingly at four in the morning following."

 

In one prophetic passage, he pitched the idea as a money-saver (though at
the time people would have been conserving candle wax rather than
electricity). To enforce the out-there plan Franklin suggested taxing
shutters, rationing candles, banning non-emergency coach travel after dark,
and firing cannons at sunrise to rouse late-sleepers. While his essay
clearly brought up some practical points, Franklin may have originally
written it as an excuse to poke fun at the French for being lazy. He wrote
that the amount of sunlight that goes wasted each morning would likely come
as a shock to readers who "have never seen any signs of sunshine before
noon."

 

2. OFFICIAL CREDIT FOR THE DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME IDEA GOES TO A BUG
COLLECTOR.

The first serious case for DST came from a peculiar place. While working at
a post office by day, an entomologist who did most of his bug hunting at
night soon became frustrated by how early the sun set during the summer
months. He reasoned that springing the clocks forward would allow more
daylight for bug collecting-along with other evening activities. The clocks
could be switched back in the winter when people (and bugs) were less likely
to be found outdoors.

 

When the idea was proposed to a scientific society in New Zealand in 1895 it
was panned for being pointless and overly complicated. Just two decades
later, Daylight Saving Time would begin its spread across the developed
world.

 

3. WORLD WAR I PUSHED DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME INTO LAW.

In 1916, Germany became the first country to officially adopt Daylight
Saving Time. It was born out of an effort to conserve coal during World War
I, and Britain, along with many other European nations, was quick to follow
the Germans' lead. It wasn't until 1918 that the time change spread to the
U.S. A year after entering the war, America began practicing DST as an
electricity-saving measure. Most countries, including the U.S., ceased
official observation of the switch following wartime. 

 

4. DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME GAINED RENEWED POPULARITY DURING THE ENERGY CRISIS.

The U.S. reconsidered DST in the 1970s, when, once again, the argument
pivoted back to energy conservation. The oil embargo of 1973 had kicked off
a nationwide energy crisis and the government was looking for ways to reduce
public consumption. Daylight Saving Time was imposed in the beginning of
1974 to save energy in the winter months. Not everyone was enthusiastic
about the change: Some of the harshest critics were parents suddenly forced
to send their children to school before sunrise.

 

5. DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME MAY ACTUALLY BE AN ENERGY WASTER.

Despite Daylight Saving Time's origins as an energy-saving strategy,
research suggests it might actually be hurting the cause. One 2008 study
conducted in Indiana found that the statewide implementation of DST two
years earlier had boosted overall energy consumption by 1 percent. While
it's true that changing the clocks can save residents money on lighting, the
cost of heating and air conditioning tends to go up. That extra hour of
daylight is only beneficial when people are willing to go outside to enjoy
it.

 

6. DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME IS ALSO A HEALTH HAZARD.

Even if DST was good for your energy bill, that wouldn't negate the adverse
impact it can have on human health. Numerous studies show that the extra
hour of sleep we lose by springing ahead can affect us in dangerous ways. An
increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and susceptibility to illness have
all been linked to the time change.

 

7. BUT THERE ARE SOME BENEFITS TO DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME.

Though people love to complain about it, Daylight Saving Time isn't all bad
news. One notable benefit of the change is a decrease in crime. According to
one study published in 2015, daily incidents of robbery dropped by seven
percent following the start of DST in the spring. This number was heavily
skewed by a 27 percent dip in robberies during the well-lit evening hours.

 

8. DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME IS NOT OBSERVED NATIONWIDE.

DST has been widely accepted across the country, but it's still not mandated
by federal law. U.S. residents resistant to springing forward and falling
back each year might consider moving to Arizona. The state isn't exactly
desperate for extra sunlight, so every spring they skip the time jump. This
leaves the Navajo Nation, which does observe the change, in a peculiar
situation. The reservation is fully located within Arizona, and the smaller
Hopi reservation is fully located within the Navajo Nation. The Hopi ignore
DST like the rest of Arizona, making the Navajo Nation a Daylight Saving
donut of sorts, suspended one hour in the future for half the year.

 

9. DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME STARTS AT 2 A.M. FOR A REASON.

Daylight Saving Time doesn't begin at the stroke of midnight like you might
expect it to. Rather, the time change is delayed until most people
(hopefully) aren't awake to notice it. By waiting until two in the morning
to give or take an hour, the idea is that most workers with early shifts
will still be in bed and most bars and restaurants will already be closed.

 

10. THE CANDY INDUSTRY LOBBIED FOR AN EXTENSION OF DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME.

Until recently, losing an hour of daylight in the fall presented a problem
for the candy industry. That's because Daylight Saving Time traditionally
ended on the last Sunday in October, a.k.a. before Halloween night. Intense
lobbying to push back the date went on for decades. According to one report,
candy lobbyists even went so far as to place tiny candy pumpkins on the
seats of everyone in the Senate in 1986. A law extending DST into November
finally went into effect in 2007.

 

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The total number of Americans killed in the Civil War is greater than the
combined total of Americans killed in all other wars. 

 

The Union ironclad, Monitor, was the first U.S. ship to have a flush toilet.


 

The USSR set off the largest nuclear explosion in history, detonating a 50
megaton bomb (2600 times the Hiroshima bomb) in an atmospheric test over the
Novaya Zemla Islands, October 30 1961. 

 

The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin during World War II
killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo. 

 

The White House, in Washington DC, was originally gray, the color of the
sandstone it was built out of. After the War of 1812, during which it had
been burned by Canadian troops, the outside walls were painted white to hide
the smoke stains. 

 

The worldwide "Spanish Flu" epidemic which broke out in 1918 killed more
than 30 million people in less than a year's time. 

 

There are more statues of Sacajewa, Lewis & Clark's female Indian guide, in
the United States than any other person.