The Daylight Saving Time Conspiracy

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Saving daylight was first mentioned in 1784 by Benjamin Franklin in a humorous letter urging Parisians to save money by getting up earlier to use morning sunlight, thereby burning fewer candles in the evening. Franklin did not mention daylight saving time—he did not propose that clock time be changed. His letter was in the spirit of his earlier proverb "Early to bed and early to rise / Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."

-- Wikipedia

Ah-Ha! I am glad to learn that Ben Franklin is not at the bottom of this nefarious plot behind Daylight Saving Time.

Who is? I thought I caught the the scent of elitist conspiracy:

DST was first proposed in 1907 by William Willett. An avid golfer, he disliked cutting short his round at dusk.

Wikipedia's report also brings out how energy savings are actually quite questionable. So, who benefits and what is behind this extension of Daylight Savings Time:

Golf courses, convenience stores and other businesses benefit from extra afternoon sunlight. In the mid-1980s Clorox (parent of Kingsford Charcoal) and 7-Eleven, which both benefit from DST, provided the primary funding for the Daylight Saving Time Coalition that successfully lobbied to extend U.S. DST, and both Idaho senators voted to extend DST on the basis of fast-food restaurants selling more French fries made from Idaho potatoes.

I think it's time we put an end to this farce.

xXx

The Daylight Saving Time Conspiracy

♠
Saving daylight was first mentioned in 1784 by Benjamin Franklin in a humorous letter urging Parisians to save money by getting up earlier to use morning sunlight, thereby burning fewer candles in the evening. Franklin did not mention daylight saving time—he did not propose that clock time be changed. His letter was in the spirit of his earlier proverb "Early to bed and early to rise / Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."

-- Wikipedia

Ah-Ha! I am glad to learn that Ben Franklin is not at the bottom of this nefarious plot behind Daylight Saving Time.

Who is? I thought I caught the the scent of elitist conspiracy:

DST was first proposed in 1907 by William Willett. An avid golfer, he disliked cutting short his round at dusk.

Wikipedia's report also brings out how energy savings are actually quite questionable. So, who benefits and what is behind this extension of Daylight Savings Time:

Golf courses, convenience stores and other businesses benefit from extra afternoon sunlight. In the mid-1980s Clorox (parent of Kingsford Charcoal) and 7-Eleven, which both benefit from DST, provided the primary funding for the Daylight Saving Time Coalition that successfully lobbied to extend U.S. DST, and both Idaho senators voted to extend DST on the basis of fast-food restaurants selling more French fries made from Idaho potatoes.

I think it's time we put an end to this farce.

xXx

Benny Morris and Israeli History

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"Two states is the only solution with an element of justice," Morris says. "But there are two other realistic solutions -- one is that the Jews will kick out all the Arabs across the river, and the other is that the Arabs will throw the Jews into the sea. I'm not sure one of them won't happen."

-- Scott Wilson for The Washington Post

Mr. Wilson relates the interesting evolution of mind of Israeli historian Benny Morris. Back in the eighties, Mr. Morris was known as one of the "new historians" who laid much of the blame for the Palestinian problem on Israel. He has now had a change of perspective that is explained thus:

"My feeling during the first intifada was that they wanted us off their backs," he says of the Palestinians. "My sense of the second intifada was that they both wanted us off their backs and they wanted to destroy us. Something had changed within the Palestinians."

He has even gone to the position that Ben-Gurion should have taken a stronger course during the critical 1948 war for Israeli statehood and expelled more Palestinians. He also comes to the conclusion that Arab rejectionism of Israel is the source of the problem:

"The problem that existed here in 1947 remains today -- the Arabs don't accept Israel's presence," Morris says. "A major switch in mind-set must occur for peace to come. That is the sine qua non of any peace agreement. All the rest -- the road map, the peace process -- is just footwork."

xXx

Benny Morris and Israeli History

♠
"Two states is the only solution with an element of justice," Morris says. "But there are two other realistic solutions -- one is that the Jews will kick out all the Arabs across the river, and the other is that the Arabs will throw the Jews into the sea. I'm not sure one of them won't happen."

-- Scott Wilson for The Washington Post

Mr. Wilson relates the interesting evolution of mind of Israeli historian Benny Morris. Back in the eighties, Mr. Morris was known as one of the "new historians" who laid much of the blame for the Palestinian problem on Israel. He has now had a change of perspective that is explained thus:

"My feeling during the first intifada was that they wanted us off their backs," he says of the Palestinians. "My sense of the second intifada was that they both wanted us off their backs and they wanted to destroy us. Something had changed within the Palestinians."

He has even gone to the position that Ben-Gurion should have taken a stronger course during the critical 1948 war for Israeli statehood and expelled more Palestinians. He also comes to the conclusion that Arab rejectionism of Israel is the source of the problem:

"The problem that existed here in 1947 remains today -- the Arabs don't accept Israel's presence," Morris says. "A major switch in mind-set must occur for peace to come. That is the sine qua non of any peace agreement. All the rest -- the road map, the peace process -- is just footwork."

xXx

A Good Weekend Getaway

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A fast-running spy novel was the jump this reading life needed. That hunger to turn the pages and find out what happens. The day goes by more briskly. To be hungrily interested in something is a sort of riches.

"Magic Mountain" is a rereadable, and Monk does lose himself in it, but it is also a heavy and long haul. The story is not very juicy. After Joachim dies, Monk was wise in taking a break for a page-turner.

xXx

A Good Weekend Getaway

♠
A fast-running spy novel was the jump this reading life needed. That hunger to turn the pages and find out what happens. The day goes by more briskly. To be hungrily interested in something is a sort of riches.

"Magic Mountain" is a rereadable, and Monk does lose himself in it, but it is also a heavy and long haul. The story is not very juicy. After Joachim dies, Monk was wise in taking a break for a page-turner.

xXx

Green Sex

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I noticed in one of those commendable articles on Canada.com, this week, which made Drudge, that the green people have discovered “environmentally-aware sex”. It was overdue. The Italian Communist Party took much less time to discover ideologically-aware sex, and by the 1960s had a manual instructing party members that, “Sex, without class-consciousness, cannot give satisfaction, even if repeated to infinity.”

But once again, we find that the Communists were a little deeper than their “environmentalcase” successors. For the “green sex” that Greenpeace is currently selling rejects only stuff like, “sex toys containing phthalates, controversial chemical plasticizers believed by some to be hazardous to humans and the environment alike.”

Make a note of that, gentle reader: no more phthalates in your sex toys. And a shopping hint: Babeland.com now offers vibrators, soy massage candles, natural lubricants, and condoms that not only do not contain phthalates, but have never been tested on animals. Also, Greenpeace recommends S&M paddles made from sustainably-harvested timber. Some of their other suggestions are more dubious, for instance, “shower together”. For what if it takes twice as much time?

-- David Warren at RealClearPolitics.com

I suppose our Christianists can boast that, once again, abstinence is the best answer. At least for the environment. Judging by Monk, I don't think it does much for your mental health - better to live dangerously and fuck the envirnoment.

xXx

Green Sex

♠
I noticed in one of those commendable articles on Canada.com, this week, which made Drudge, that the green people have discovered “environmentally-aware sex”. It was overdue. The Italian Communist Party took much less time to discover ideologically-aware sex, and by the 1960s had a manual instructing party members that, “Sex, without class-consciousness, cannot give satisfaction, even if repeated to infinity.”

But once again, we find that the Communists were a little deeper than their “environmentalcase” successors. For the “green sex” that Greenpeace is currently selling rejects only stuff like, “sex toys containing phthalates, controversial chemical plasticizers believed by some to be hazardous to humans and the environment alike.”

Make a note of that, gentle reader: no more phthalates in your sex toys. And a shopping hint: Babeland.com now offers vibrators, soy massage candles, natural lubricants, and condoms that not only do not contain phthalates, but have never been tested on animals. Also, Greenpeace recommends S&M paddles made from sustainably-harvested timber. Some of their other suggestions are more dubious, for instance, “shower together”. For what if it takes twice as much time?

-- David Warren at RealClearPolitics.com

I suppose our Christianists can boast that, once again, abstinence is the best answer. At least for the environment. Judging by Monk, I don't think it does much for your mental health - better to live dangerously and fuck the envirnoment.

xXx