The thing about the time-change debate in Indiana was this: The state was pretty much evenly divided over whether to adopt Daylight Saving Time with the rest of the country, or stay on Eastern Standard year-round, which was the status quo. And twice a year, we had to have the same fucking arguments over and over and over. It was like Groundhog Day, only Ned Ryerson would tell you about how hard it is to get little kids settled down for bed in June. Then someone else would pipe up about farmers. And so on.
So imagine my glee to realize we’ve now transferred this enervating, circular debate to the entire country.
Here’s my Ned Ryerson take:
I don’t mind changing the clocks twice a year. I don’t like it, nobody does, but honestly, it’s a very minor nuisance that I believe makes sense on a lot of levels. And I’m mystified why we did this for decades through the 20th century, and it was maybe the subject of a Carson monologue joke, maybe, and then suddenly it became this huge deal. Actually, I’m not mystified, because I blame social media, where every man and woman is a pundit and a tiny splinter-in-your-finger issue can take on the weight and importance of a Middle East conflict. To me, it’s simple: In warm weather, we like long, light evenings, so we can play golf and barbecue and ride bikes to get after-dinner ice cream. In winter, we need the daylight shifted back to mornings, because it’s scarce, and we don’t want children walking to school in inky darkness at the same time millions of commuters are getting into their cars and strapping on their work armor, trying to watch market indicators on their smart phones when…did you just hear something? Sort of a muffled thump under the car? Whatever, can’t be late to the office! Onward!
At my latitude, the winter solstice gave us 9 hours and 3 minutes of daylight. You take it where you can. And at my longitude, sunrise on that same day with Daylight Saving Time would come at 8:58 a.m. No thanks.
And now, it’s out of my hands.
Also, I need to get to work. Deadline newsletter day, one of my responsibilities. Gotta hop to it.
A little bloggage:
Where does the Michigan GOP find these freaks? Just the photo on this story is terrifying, and that’s before you get to the news this candidate for the gubernatorial nomination was sued for sending junk faxes. Remember those? Actually, think of all the technology, once wondrous, that was ruined by capitalism. When was the last time you picked up an unknown-number phone call and were pleasantly surprised to hear from the person on the other end? Cellular phones are now pocket computers, only used occasionally for speaking live to another person. Thanks, hands-off regulation!
This was a local tragedy, an 18-year-old who went to East Lansing for the MSU/Michigan football game last fall and disappeared. I think I wrote about it a while back, how it was becoming increasingly obvious that he’d fallen into the river and drowned, and sure enough, they found his corpse snagged on a logjam about a mile downstream sometime in January. The autopsy report came in this week, and to the surprise of approximately zero people, it turned out he was very drunk when he went in the water — .22, to be exact. A colleague compiled a collection of headlines about this news. They all got the word “drowned” or “drowning” in the headline, but the only one that also included “drunk” was written by? Anyone? Me.
OK, then. Work awaits, as does the rest of Wednesday. Have a good one.
Jeff Borden said on March 16, 2022 at 9:48 am
Michigan has no lock on Republican freak. Watching the Ohio QOP scrum to replace the wimpy Rob Portman as senator from afar is just appalling. I wouldn’t trust any of them to organize a two-car parade.
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Icarus said on March 16, 2022 at 10:19 am
I once used DST as an example of how divided this country is among party lines. If the Democrats wanted to get rid of DST, surely the Republicans would oppose it. But if you get into your Delorean and tell the Democrats to support DST, the Republicans would want to remove it at all costs.
I’m glad to see that they actually agreed on something, at least in the Senate.
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Deborah said on March 16, 2022 at 11:14 am
I’ve always loved daylight savings time especially before I retired. Changing the clock twice a year was nothing to me, I cross timezones a lot so I’m used to it. NM is mountain time and IL of course is central. I’m not thrilled with having dark mornings if they keep DST all year but it doesn’t really effect me since I’m retired. I worry about kids walking to school or waiting for the bus in the dark but not many kids walk to school these days that I can tell since I always see jillions of pick up/drop off cars lined up next to schools when I pass by at closing/opening times.
We watched an excellent movie last night called Mr. Jones, I highly recommend it, it’s available on Amazon Prime and maybe other places too. It’s about the Holodomor in Ukraine in 1932 when Stalin took almost all of the wheat from them to feed Russians. Millions died from starvation as I’m sure many of you know about this event already especially since the war there now. Mr. Jones was a Welsh reporter who wrote about the famine and told the world as the Soviets tried to keep it a secret. It’s a true story, directed by Agnieszka Holland and written and partly produced by Andrea Chalupa. Andrea Chalupa is one of the hosts of the podcast Gaslit Nation with Sara Kendzior.
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ROGirl said on March 16, 2022 at 11:58 am
Apparently, the senate had nothing better to do.
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LAMary said on March 16, 2022 at 1:37 pm
That’s what I thought, ROGirl. Nothing else going on. Let’s vote on DST.
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Colleen said on March 16, 2022 at 2:58 pm
Love DST, don’t mind changing the clocks, and can’t believe people still argue about this twice a year……
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tajalli said on March 16, 2022 at 3:59 pm
Here’s the social media answer
https://xkcd.com/2594/
So we can vote constantly and have our vote count, unless the AI bots take over.
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Sherri said on March 16, 2022 at 4:22 pm
Two book recommendations:
I’m currently listening to the audiobook of Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution, by Elie Mystal, read by the author, and it’s great. Yes, he has a point of view, but it’s one that needs to be heard over the din of all the Federalist Society types.
I’m reading Watergate: A New History, by Garrett Graff, and while you might think is there anything more to say about Watergate, I’ve already learned things I didn’t know, and I’m barely into Nixon’s first term.
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Jim said on March 16, 2022 at 4:35 pm
When I was growing up in Indiana (late fifties early sixties) it was CST all year. THAT was great. In the summer we played outside at night, mostly hide and seek, kick the can and flashlight tag. Could walk down the street a block and plat basketball under lights, or when older get driven to a larger park and play full court under the lights. You could see the stars, and fireflies, something my kids and grandkids could seldom do. I think that was far superior to DST in any form.
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Jeff Borden said on March 16, 2022 at 5:01 pm
Putin is starting to slip his moorings. He’s declared the need to “purify” Russia of “fifth columnists” who are tools of the West. We know what happens when dictators look to purify their nations.
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Deborah said on March 16, 2022 at 5:24 pm
I love Eli Mystal, I haven’t got his book yet, but I will. I’m reading Wajahat Ali’s book now, “Go Back to Where You Came From”.
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David C said on March 16, 2022 at 5:54 pm
I’d be willing to trade Russia’s fifth columnists for ours. See ya Tulsi, Greenwald, Tuckyo Rose, Greene, Boebert, Jill Stein, RoJo and the gang of eight July 4th bootlickers, anyone who ever wore an “I’d rather be Russian and a Democrat” shirt. Give me enough time, I could think of others.
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Ann said on March 16, 2022 at 8:10 pm
Up here in the U.P., at the northwestern corner of the Eastern time zone, sunrise would come at 9:38 in December if we did year around DST. That’s insane.
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basset said on March 16, 2022 at 9:24 pm
Back to the drowned student for a minute… “The first semester of freshman year is considered one of the highest-risk times for alcohol-related injuries.”
Don’t doubt that a bit, the amount of general dumbassery I got away with at that point and later proves it for me.
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Charlie Zone said on March 16, 2022 at 10:44 pm
I think I would like DST year round but every where it is tried folks seem to want to switchback after a few years. Iwouldlike a bit more darkness to sleep in in the cold months and a bit more light in the evening and to not switch twice a year. But most people seem to disagree, so I am not looking forward to the confusion over the next few years.
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Dexter Friend said on March 17, 2022 at 5:21 am
I lost a boyhood friend to drowning. He was drafted into the US Army and was riding in a Jeep during monsoon season when the Vietnam rivers rage. His backpack was loaded with heavy radios and all the other stuff a soldier carries. The Jeep hit a landmine and was blown into the river and with the current and the load he carried, he had no chance. HONORED ON PANEL 43W, LINE 66 OF THE WALL
STEVEN GLEN SHIRK
WALL NAME
STEVEN G SHIRK
PANEL / LINE
43W/66
DATE OF BIRTH
10/07/1947
CASUALTY PROVINCE
QUANG TRI
DATE OF CASUALTY
09/22/1968
HOME OF RECORD
AUBURN
COUNTY OF RECORD
DeKalb County
STATE
IN
BRANCH OF SERVICE
ARMY
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Jeff Gill said on March 17, 2022 at 7:45 am
Blessings on his memory, Dexter. Thank you for the reminder.
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Bitter Scribe said on March 17, 2022 at 9:41 am
If this Perry Johnson’s opponents have any brains, they will never let the electorate forget about how he flooded the offices of America with junk faxes. No one who worked in an office for so much as one week in the late 1980s or early 1990s would vote for the guy.
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Julie Robinson said on March 17, 2022 at 10:14 am
Yesterday, while Ukraine was being torn apart and Japan suffering another earthquake, we had a golden day, the kind we haven’t had these last two years. We had an unexpected visit from some dear college friends, courtesy of airline mishaps and rerouting to Orlando for a nine hour layover.
The call came to D while I was at the doctor with Mom, very hesitant, we’re here for the day, is there any way we could see you? This is the beauty of being retired–there was absolutely nothing we couldn’t postpone for another day, so he ran over to the airport and we spent a magical day together. We explored and talked, talked, and talked. These friends are among those we planned on seeing during our planned magical mystery tour of the midwest before we moved, the one that didn’t happen due to Covid. We missed so much.
So today it’s back to the real world, with the reminder and promise that better days must surely, surely be ahead. It was almost as good as another booster shot!
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Jim said on March 17, 2022 at 10:33 am
David C @12
I have no good name play, but I do have some must haves in the trade.
Cawthorn, Gohmert, Gosar, Chip Roy, and the Jim’s, Banks and Jordan.
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Sherri said on March 17, 2022 at 12:55 pm
Hey, QAnon crazies, this is human trafficking, not your made up fever dreams.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/former-wa-rep-matt-shea-accused-of-domestic-terrorism-working-to-secure-adoptions-for-ukrainian-children-in-poland/
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Sherri said on March 17, 2022 at 1:05 pm
Let me add, Spokane has more than its share of far right nutters. The county prosecutor is married to an avowed white supremacist. The sheriff regularly let the TV show Cops film his deputies, even after the show was cancelled in the US.
Even these right wing nutters hate Matt Shea.
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Sherri said on March 17, 2022 at 1:48 pm
This is the most sensible thing I’ve read about what to do about Putin and Ukraine: firstly, avoid nuclear war!
https://the.ink/p/how-to-do-whats-right-without-starting?s=r
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Scout said on March 17, 2022 at 5:01 pm
Sherri @23 – thank you for that article, it’s quite a comprehensive yet brief and understandable view of the moving parts that comprise the Ukraine/Russia situation and the world’s role in helping to resolve it without bringing about the end times.
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Jeff Borden said on March 17, 2022 at 6:20 pm
One of the consequences of the Russian invasion is the view of nuclear weapons by other nations. Remember, Ukraine voluntarily disarmed itself of nukes when the USSR collapsed. Would Putin have invaded if his neighbor still had a nuclear arsenal? Any nation lacking them has to be thinking what kind of a deterrent they offer.
What we’ve witnessed so far is that the fearsome and formidable Russian military isn’t as fearsome and formidable as once thought. More than 7,000 troops killed including four generals; terrible logistical support that has led Russian soldiers to loot stores and homes for food; the outnumbered Ukrainian Air Force continues to fly; poor morale and evidence of sabotage of their own weapons by Russian soldiers; and Ukrainian ground forces are reportedly recapturing territory held by the Russkies.
If not for the fear of nukes, NATO forces could crush the Russian military like ants. No doubt North Korea, Iran and other nations are eyeing the prospect of nuclear weapons. So, too, are our old friends ISIS, al Queda, etc.
Meanwhile, if you are interested in helping Ukraine financially, my wife’s former employer, KPMG, is matching donations 100% up to $1 million. The link follows below.
https://www.globalgiving.org/kpmgusfoundation/
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Jeff Borden said on March 17, 2022 at 7:20 pm
Motherfucking Republicans. I invite you to read the attacks on Biden not doing enough for Ukraine by motherfucking Republican senators who voted against the bill to help Ukraine last week. May they be bedeviled by painful rectal itch for the remainder of their lives.
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Sherri said on March 17, 2022 at 7:40 pm
Not to mention the Republicans who voted not to impeach Trump (the first time) after he tried to extort Zelezny for dirt on Hunter Biden in exchange for arms, or how Republicans said, okay, fine, no problem when Trump’s people removed the plank in the GOP platform about supporting Ukraine.
Republicans hate America.
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Deborah said on March 18, 2022 at 12:12 pm
Here’s an interesting Twitter thread by someone who knows what he’s talking about https://twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/1502674536193568769 He explains why the Russian military is so inept. Incredible power struggles in Russia, the powers that be are afraid of the military and sabotage them at every step. Crazy.
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Sherri said on March 18, 2022 at 12:42 pm
This is an interesting article, with a lot to unpack, but a couple of things strike me. One of the sayings I heard often from my sponsor was, you can save face or you can save your ass, which are you going to choose? Elliot Schneiderman is still trying to save face. And two, too many men still don’t grasp the fundamental truth that women are people.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katiejmbaker/eric-schneiderman-after-me-too
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Sherri said on March 18, 2022 at 1:50 pm
The NYTimes Editorial Board seems to think there is a fundamental right to free speech without any criticism, and you shouldn’t ever have to self-censor, unless of course, it’s to restrain yourself from criticizing your betters like the NYTimes on social media.
It’s that odd combination of denying power while refusing to share power that can be so frustrating to deal with.
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alex said on March 19, 2022 at 8:50 am
So I woke up this morning with the natural light, which is my body’s inclination, riven with curiosity about what’s the difference between Permanent Standard Time and Permanent Daylight Saving Time.
From my location in the western Eastern time zone I don’t see that it would make a whole lot of difference. Here’s an interactive chart where you can see how PDST might fuck up your day:
https://savestandardtime.com/chart/
I suspect Indiana and perhaps Michigan too will want to join the Central time zone if PDST goes into effect.
No doubt that my circadian rhythm gets fucked by the present system and will still suffer under the proposed one. I always feel better in the spring and summer months and dread winter, when I have a helluva time waking up on time. I even took a ribbing from one of my bosses this week when I asked him to pay for a seminar I want to attend in late April. “It starts at 9:00 AM. You really think you’re gonna make it?” I’m pretty sure by then I’ll be waking up all chipper and on time.
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Connie said on March 19, 2022 at 9:35 am
I have been meaning to share with you how happy I have been with my BCBSMi Advantage plan so far, esp the excellent customer service. This week will tell as I have had two outpatient surgeries in two day.
Tuesday I had a MOHS procedure on a basal cell carcinoma on my eyelid. The incision was left open, simply patched.
Early Wednesday, at a different surgery center, under general anesthesia, a plastic surgeon stitched up my eyelid. It is a beautiful shade of purple and appears to have eight stitches in a U shape. Stitches come out Tuesday. I am far too beautiful to go out in public.
The surgery center copay in each case was $125.
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susan said on March 19, 2022 at 10:02 am
I wonder what the co-pay would be under an Advantage Plan for bilateral knee replacement, out-of-network?
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Julie Robinson said on March 19, 2022 at 11:42 am
Alex, I grew up in Illinois and always felt Indiana belonged in the central time zone. Not just for sunlight; we were more in tune with the midwest than the east, yet pols were always saying we had to be one with New York. Didn’t they realize we were flyover country? Aligning with Chicago would’ve been much smarter.
I like waking up to the sun too. I feel more rested that way.
So it turns out you can ask and ask and ask if you are getting in-network care but you can’t get the truth. My bone density test now has a $5 bill for an out-of-network doctor. Yes, it’s only $5 but what if it was $500.
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Deborah said on March 19, 2022 at 1:36 pm
Speaking of lovely faces, I had a return of a sunspot on the left side of my nose, so I’m using my chemo cream on it and it’s at the scabby scaly stage. Thank goodness for mask wearing, I use my mask mainly for covid protection but it comes in handy for nose hiding too. I’ve got one more week before I can stop using the cream and then I go through the healing which takes a while.
I’m resting for a bit from deep cleaning the place in Chicago. It’s filthy when we come back from having been away for nearly 4 months, which is weird because the windows have been closed the whole time and nobody has been in here cooking or anything. We should be covering the furniture with old sheets, but I never think of that when we leave. It’s another rainy, gloomy day here so I don’t feel the need to be outside, a good time to get this done.
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Jim said on March 19, 2022 at 3:18 pm
I’m stunned. Will send an image in a minute:Read the comments. https://wdwnt.com/2022/03/indianettes-marching-band-drill-team-not-allowed-to-wear-war-bonnet-during-disney-performance/
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Jim said on March 19, 2022 at 3:19 pm
Link looks wonky, but it works: https://www.google.com/search?q=port%20neches-groves%20indianettes&tbm=isch&tbs=rimg:CXOEUFawtQkFYaDGzZe5J33ZsgIMCgIIABAAOgQIARAA&client=safari&hl=en-US&sa=X&ved=0CBwQuIIBahcKEwjIyJSc7dL2AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQCw&biw=1431&bih=752#imgrc=5cUP5aj1OWF6tM
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Deborah said on March 19, 2022 at 8:05 pm
It’s getting close to Chicagohenge. I took a photo of the setting sun directly west up Delaware and it’s about there.
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Sherri said on March 19, 2022 at 8:13 pm
Jim, the “but only the girls who *earned* the headdresses wear them!” comments are my favorite.
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FDChief said on March 20, 2022 at 8:42 pm
As a soils engineer I work in construction, and those guys need sunlight to work; putting grading jobs on hold for dawn at 8:30 will mean that I and people like me (as well as people in the construction business) will spend those long evening daylight hours at work instead of lolling by the barrail…
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Julie Robinson said on March 20, 2022 at 9:04 pm
Clarence Thomas is in the hospital with an infection. I’m sure everyone here will join me in keeping him in my thoughts and prayers.
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Deborah said on March 20, 2022 at 9:49 pm
Today was the vernal equinox, I had no idea, I thought it was tomorrow.
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Sherri said on March 20, 2022 at 9:55 pm
I pray Justice Thomas has a life-changing experience in the hospital.
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Diane said on March 20, 2022 at 9:57 pm
I join in Sherri’s prayer.
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alex said on March 21, 2022 at 6:31 am
Amen hallelujah.
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ROGirl said on March 21, 2022 at 9:01 am
Or you could just pray directly to St. Jude.
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