FALL BEHIND
Daylight Savings Time Ends
Every year, near the beginning of spring, billions of people everywhere, all around the world, deprive themselves of one hour of sleep as they adjust their clocks ahead one hour. The hour is just gone, as you have now left Standard Time and have entered Daylight Savings Time. And if the loss of an hour's worth of sleep isn't enough, DST also complicates timekeeping and can disrupt meetings, travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, and heavy equipment.
But what you may not know is that DST also increases residential electricity consumption by 1% to 4%, primarily due to extra afternoon cooling. Several studies have suggested that DST increases motor fuel consumption. Just ask Exxon, U.S. gasoline demand grew an extra 1% during the newly introduced Indiana DST in March 2007. Retailers, sporting goods makers, and other businesses benefit from extra afternoon sunlight, but DST adversely affect farmers and others whose hours are set by the sun. DST also hurts prime-time broadcast ratings, restaurants, and theaters. Clock shifts correlate with decreased economic efficiency. In 2000 the daylight-saving effect implied an estimated one-day loss of $31 billion on U.S. stock exchanges.
Unfortunately, neither Senator John McCain nor the next President, Barack Obama, voices any opinion on DST, so I guess it is here to stay.
But there are plenty of other issues that the Republican and Democratic nominees do speak of, and you can find them at YOUR VOTE '08: WHERE THEY STAND, brought to us by the wonderful people at MSNBC. Check out where each candidate stand on issues that are important to you. Also, I found this wonderful Presidential Quiz that matches you to what candidates fit you best. The quiz is on the Glassbooth website. Glassbooth is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that helps people connect with political information. Weirdly enough, two candidates placed higher than Obama on my survey, although only by 4% points. Those candidates were Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney and Independent Ralph Nader.
Glassbooth is a nonprofit organization that is creating innovative ways to access political information. An informed and interested democracy is a powerful thing. As an organization acting in the public’s interest, we are very serious about our core principles. - http://glassbooth.org/about
No one may ever stand with me to repeal the DST time change, but now I have a little more information on where they stand on other important issues. I hope you get to know where the candidates stand and vote based on that information.
Vote on Tuesday, but set your clocks back now!
This is a statement of opinion by Dennis Melancon, Jr. If you disagree, I invite your reply.All 'Boomers' are encouraged to go to the group site and join 'BABY BOOMERS FOR OBAMA' now and help to put America on the right course again!