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Ontario to Match U.S. DST Change
Devastator writes "CBC is reporting that Ontario will be the first Canadian province to change daylight savings rules to reflect the changes happening in the U.S in 2007. Attorney General Michael Bryant says 'the province's economy was the deciding factor and that if Ontario isn't on the same time as the United States, it will be hurt financially.'"
Last time I checked, both Canada and the US did trade with countries other than each other. Some of these are in other time zones. Hell, there's a 3h discepancy between here (BC) and Ontario, and I live in the same country.
I hope that a lot of people come out very vocally to demonstrate what a stupid idea this is, and how it's just a case of nose-to-ass following without justification.
they can change time itself.
Woe.
How we know is more important than what we know.
This seems to be a typical Canada/US relation. It's like the old saying goes:
"When you sleep with an elephant, if it rolls, you roll."
An exploration of mixology, spirits and bartending.
****NEWS FLASH*****
Today the EU has pledged before the UN to create a new UN controlled Daylight Saving Time system. Emperor Bono of the EU declared this pre-emtive strike a hit back at US hegemony over Savings time.
"God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
Wish the australian government would do the same, so that don't have to wake up stupidly early to make conference calls to the US East coast.
bash$
That messes _this_ up:
:)
http://www.stemhaus.com/firefox/foxclocks/
But at least it gives me the opportunity for a shameless plug
Actually I'll add that as an Ontario resident, and a despiser of the current US regime, I think Ontario's move is entirely pragmatic: the US accounts for perhaps 80% of Canada's exports, and presumably a large portion of that comes overland from Ontario to the Eastern US. Having said that, I'll confess to the knee-jerk reaction that I don't want _my_ clocks set by a man who can't even set his own.
Andy
Something about Canada prime minister 'Jean Putin' and Bush LOL.
Mayor of Bangalore says "that if Bangalore isn't on the same time as the United States, it will be hurt financially"
You have it backwards. Daylight savings time is what gives more sunlight later in the day. The children getting on the bus argument is against making DST a larger percentage of the year or shifting the time more than just one hour.
You mean we have to wait until 2007 for this paltry half-assed extension of DST?
Ugh! Government moves real slow, doesn't it? Come the bird flu we are doomed.
We should adopt Double DST - as done in Europe in WWII. I don't mind geting up in the dark - hey, in the winter it happens whatever the clock says - but having lived in more northern latitudes I have to say that it is a PITA when it gets dark at 3:30 p.m. or so.
Yes, I know you guys in Alaska get nearly 24h dark in the winter. Sorry! Can't buck nature..
Then EU kicked in and harmonized the rules for changing to and from DST, and this had made everything a lot easier. Even EU countries in different time zones have the same rules, so you know the time difference is always the same.
To me it really makes sense that nearby countries want to have the same rules for changing to/from DST.
The entire practice of Daylight Savings time is inane and utterly ridiculous.
The primary reason for changing it yet again is to reduce overall fuel consumption. So, instead of mandating higher fuel economy (the average being lower than it was two decades ago) we choose to change time.
Just stop and think about that for a moment. The insanity of it threatens to collapse in on itself and tear a hole in the universe.
George H.W. Bush once said in response to calls for conservation that "The American way of life is not negotiable." We want what we want, when we want it, without having to deal with the realities and consequences of acquiring it. It's too inconvenient to consider that we might be taking the wrong road. We Americans get viciously defensive when anyone questions our habits and have to largely be forced into making any changes that will benefit us in the long-term. What pleases us this instant is usually the only concern we have.
We assume that any problems can be glossed over and this stands as a prime example of glossing over a major one at our own peril. When gas prices rise, legions demand that the president "Do something about it". Just wave the magic wand, make the problem go away, let us go back to living the way we want to, even if it isn't sustainable, simply because we desire it. There is nothing wrong with desiring something, but having unrealistic expectations for receiving it is pure greed. I could stand up and demand that the local bank hand over a large sum of cash just because, but my desire alone does not validate my demand. We act as if we deserve low gas prices simply because we want them to be low and cannot reconcile the demand/price relationship whatsoever.
If you choose to drive a vehicle that gets 12mpg, you really have no leg to stand on when you bitch about rising gas prices. You are part of the problem. You cannot, and should not be protected from the widespread impact of your choice. You are not a child. Grow up.
When you buy into sprawl by moving into the latest subdivision on the edge of the city to escape the last subdivision you lived in on the old edge of the city, you do not generate much sympathy when you complain about your traffic woes, lack of greenspace or rising taxes. You are making the decision to encourage the kind of development which is unsustainable and lowers your quality of life. (Note: I know in some areas, there is little choice about the kind of neighborhood you live in - sprawl is the only option, but many, many people continue to move further and further out to the same kind of development they already live in expecting the process not to repeat and that they will somehow escape the sprawl, and become indignant when they have to deal with the consequences I mentioned above. This example referred to the active supporters of the lifestyle and not the helpless participants who have no other choice.)
I may want to eat ice cream all day, but if I choose to do that (which I do not) I cannot demand to be thin. Most people would laugh at me if I did. Yet, when we are greedy and selfish in other ways, we act as if some Constitutional amendment has been violated if we actually have to face up to the effects our actions produce.
Time to take out the pacifier and deal with matters properly.
Straight from the mighty wikipedia:
Rationales for DST
One of the major reasons given for observing DST in the United States is energy conservation. Theoretically, the amount of residential electricity needed in the evening hours is dependent both on when the sun sets and when people go to bed. Because people tend to observe the same bedtime year-round, by artificially moving sunset one hour later, the amount of energy used is theoretically reduced. United States Department of Transportation studies showed that DST reduces the country's electricity usage by one percent during each day DST is in effect.
Part of the reason that it is normally observed in the late spring, summer, and early autumn is because during the winter months the amount of energy saved by moving sunset one hour later is negated by the increased need for morning lighting by moving sunrise by the same amount. During the summer most people would wake up after the sun rises, regardless of whether daylight saving time is in effect or not, so there is no increased need for morning lighting to offset the afternoon energy savings.
Another perceived benefit of DST is increased opportunities for outdoor activities. Most people plan outdoor activities during the increased hours of sunlight. Other benefits cited include prevention of traffic injuries (by allowing more people to return home from work or school in daylight), and crime reduction (by reducing people's risk of being targets of crimes that are more common in dark areas).
When the U.S. went on extended DST in 1974 and 1975 in response to the 1973 energy crisis, Department of Transportation studies found that observing DST in March and April saved 10,000 barrels of oil a day, and prevented about 2,000 traffic injuries and 50 fatalities saving about U.S. $28 million in traffic costs.
It would make things simple and just go by UTC. So when we mean we are going to have a meeting in New York at 15:00, we mean we are going to have a meeting in California at 15:00.
You make the time different based on what you are and work around the time... No the other way around. I wake up at 13:00 and you can wake up at 18:00 whever you may be. It would save the trouble of having to talk with other people in other time zones and always manually adjust the time.
"I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
-Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
Please.
When you can drive across the border, and time loads to arrive at particular locations at particular times, then time matters. The less weirdness, the better.
HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
This is funny... Because a few days ago Quebec announced that it had decided to follow the US and that the gov of Qc was trying to convince Ontario and New Brunswick (that are also in EST). Radio-canada reported it (in French)
Why is this great news? Because of all the software maintenance effort that will be required to upgrade the systems to comply. The additional workload will mean more money and maybe even a recovery in the job market after the tech bubble a few years back.
This is the one thing GWB has done that will benefit me. Thanks George!
Of course, the easy, cheap answer is to just encourage people to work different hours, with things like tax credits, etc. Save a lot of money, save a lot of fuel, everybody wins. Changing your clock is just silly.
Marxism is the opiate of dumbasses
It's linked in another thread, hidden deep in conversation, and I though it worthwhile, so here's a graph of DST in Toronto, Canada. One of the few informative things I've read in this.
While you're at it, have it last year-round. Not like it hasn't been done before:
/ daylight050728.html?print
The last time the United States and Canada observed different winter time systems was during the 1974-75 oil crisis. The U.S. did not turn its clocks back at all that fall in an attempt to conserve energy.
From http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/07/28
Better to have to change once and get it over with than replay the same drama every decade when someone wants to avoid problems like having hundreds of thousands of people driving huge vans and SUVs to work with no passengers. By the way, why is gas so much more expensive in other countries when we seem to waste it? From time to time I hear about equivalent prices of over $10/gallon.
--
"Extra Anus Kills Four-Legged Chick" -- Headline
Daylight saving time has no bearing on what time the sun rises or sets in the winter.
Patrick Doyle
I mod down every jackass who puts his moderation policy in his sig. Oh, wait a sec....
Wanna save energy? Why don't you shutdown or at least dim all those fscking lamp posts after the rush hour? Do we really need to light up the streets so bright that at in any large enough city (and you know its not that large) the night sky looks like dawn all night long. Just try it, stop reading /. and go
outside. Mars is in opposition and we are in the peak of the
Orionids meteor shower. There is quite a show going on and its
not too cold yet to stay hours laying on the ground.
Anyone else find it a bit unusual that "Standard Time" will now only be observed for 3 months of the year, while "Daylight Savings Time" will be observed for 9 months?
Maybe they should change the names, so we have "Standard Time" in the summer... and "Night Savings Time" in the winter?
And anyway, ten thousand?! Ten measly fscking thousand? Take a look at this, even Canada uses 1.7 MILLION barrels a day. For some reason the US isn't on there, but I bet it uses significantly more. 10,000 a day is chickenfeed. Is that worth the hassle and lost productivity in the economy that DST causes?
== Jez ==
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