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DST-Hating Reps in Washington State Vote To 'Ditch the Switch' (komonews.com)
In the state of Washington, the House has voted 89 to 7 to "ditch the switch, bring the light, and defeat the dark night," says one representative. KOMO reports:
Changing the clocks twice a year impacts the body's natural rhythms and is associated with a spike in heart attacks, strokes, and traffic collisions each year, according to the Washington State Department of Health's impact review. Extended daylight in the evening is also better for kids who play sports or who are active outside, Riccelli said. The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.... The federal government would have the final say.
And meanwhile, one Pennsylvania newspaper has published a state representative's op-ed calling for Pennsylvania to help lead the resistance in America's Eastern Standard Time zone, complaining that "This weekend, we again will be forced to comply with an archaic tradition, one that offers no benefits." There is no national crisis that changing clocks helps to alleviate. In fact, there are more negative side effects from changing clocks than benefits. Studies have shown that automobile accidents, workplace injuries, heart attacks, strokes, cluster headaches, miscarriages, depression, and suicides all increase in the weeks following clock changes.
This government-mandated interruption of natural biological rhythms and sleep cycles can wreak havoc on job performance, academic results, and overall physical/mental health. Clock changes require farmers to make needless adjustments, as crops and animals live by the sunlight... During this legislative session, I will be working to advance this commonsense legislation that will not only end the antiquated ritual of changing clocks, but will also help preserve the health, safety, well-being, productivity, and lives of Pennsylvanians.
And meanwhile, one Pennsylvania newspaper has published a state representative's op-ed calling for Pennsylvania to help lead the resistance in America's Eastern Standard Time zone, complaining that "This weekend, we again will be forced to comply with an archaic tradition, one that offers no benefits." There is no national crisis that changing clocks helps to alleviate. In fact, there are more negative side effects from changing clocks than benefits. Studies have shown that automobile accidents, workplace injuries, heart attacks, strokes, cluster headaches, miscarriages, depression, and suicides all increase in the weeks following clock changes.
This government-mandated interruption of natural biological rhythms and sleep cycles can wreak havoc on job performance, academic results, and overall physical/mental health. Clock changes require farmers to make needless adjustments, as crops and animals live by the sunlight... During this legislative session, I will be working to advance this commonsense legislation that will not only end the antiquated ritual of changing clocks, but will also help preserve the health, safety, well-being, productivity, and lives of Pennsylvanians.
If this ever comes up for a vote I'll be first in line to abolish DST and the pointless back-and-forth with the clocks.
It's stupid and serves no purpose except to fuck up everyone's schedule twice a year.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
The only source of potential pushback I'm aware on this is parents who don't want their kids waiting for the bus in the dark (that happens with the DST-all-year option)
That's not nearly enough of a reason to keep playing this twice-a-year circle jerk with the clocks. It's just not.
Those parents will just have to grit their teeth and stop imagining every bad thing in the world that could possibly happen to their children. Maybe teach them not to stand next to the road in the dark (which they really should already be teaching them).
Seriously, I don't care what time they pick as long as they pick one and stick to it.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
so change the time your school starts if it means so much in your district. leave the rest of us out of this mass mental retardation invented to save candle tallow
Whether DST results in waiting for the bus in the dark depends on location. Time zone borders are drawn in very strange ways, and sunrise for one person can be over an hour different from another person in the same time zone.
And in winter when there's no DST, there just aren't enough daylight hours anyway to cover both waiting for the bus going to school or walking home from the bus after school.
" parents who don't want their kids waiting for the bus in the dark"
A way around that is to have schools closed in the winter, and open all summer. (instead of them being open all winter and closed in the summer) It would also save the kids from waiting for the bus outside when its -20f (-40f windchill) or having to close schools when thr roads are blocked with snow.
Those of us who rise before sunrise (which is most people I know) understand that daylight is not saved. It is robbed from the morning daylight. Only an ignorant Congressman who has never seen a sunrise could possibly call it Daylight *Saving* Time. By the way, DST in the US is so long now that it practically coincides with the school year. If we went back to year-round standard time, any school district that wanted to could simply change their hours. Then nearly everyone could get the schedule that they want. Problem solved!
COE