I subscribe to the Dave Barry theory that there is no good reason for daylight savings time.

Paul,
You obviously do not understand the power of the deomcrats. Yea they can make the sun shine or withold its blessed rays. The deign to provide yet another hour of sunlight to be added to the end of the day so that the workers may rebuild the monument of New Orleans to them. All they ask in return is to add one hour of darkness to the morning, so the laborer can sleep after they have toiled so mightly.
If Pelosi can think the supreme court is god, surely ths council can think they are god also.

What about those who have to work. By not participating in DST, there will still be light when people get off of work.

Unless they can issue an executive order that stops the Earth from moving along its sidereal plane, fussing with daylight savings time will only buy you a matter of weeks.

I could be wrong - Katrina may have moved New Orleans significantly closer to the equator, in which case, forget I said anything.

This reminds me of the old Justin Wilson joke:

Three Cajuns went to the Game Warden and asked him for another month to hunt ducks. The Game Warden replied, "What are you gonna name it?" The Cajuns were confused by his question and asked what he meant. The Game warden replied, "You already hunt them 12 months a year. You get another month, you have to have aname for it."

Being a Cajun myself, I can make fun of my own people, but you other people better not try it or I will get offended.

J/k of course.

Steve, I live in Louisiana too and love Justin Wilson or "Cyprienne Robespierre".
I am embarassed to admit we had a petitiion in the local newspapaer to end Daylight Savings Time because the extra hour of light was burning up everyones' yards. There is just a different way of thinking down here!!

"...asking Gov. Kathleen Blanco to issue an executive order extending daylight-saving time in Orleans Parish "until further notice."

OK, so what about the surrounding parishes? What do they do? Observe standard time? That's really going to mess with cell phone companies whose free long distance calling hours begin at 9pm. Good luck sorting out those bills there, Sprint! LOL

Oh, and they'll screw up a perfectly good mnemonic, too: 'Spring Forward, Fall Back' will now be 'Spring Foward, Fall Forward'. It's a perpetual state of forwardness. LOL

Sorry on this one you folks are dense.

Getting up early does not mean the stores like Home Depot are open, and you cannot start pounding nails at 5am in the neighborhood, and less energy is used by utilizing daylight for work, and rush hour traffic runs smoother in daylight, and those working daytime jobs gain an extra hour of daylight to work outside when they get home and ........

If they'd only fix that darn law of gravity. We wouldn't have to lean over to pick up things we dropped.

And they should round pi off, too.

What they'll actually get is an extra hour to party every night since they can't get up and start working in the dark.

Paul -

I have spoken with more than one person - functioning adults in our society - who appeared to believe that daylight savings time actually provided an additional hour of daylight.

They did not seem to be joking.

To their credit, they did seem to understand my explanation of why that is not the case.

I avoid the subject now - such memories are painful...

I still think we should split the difference, set the clocks 30 minutes ahead in the spring and just leave them there. The only downside to that is nobody would remember to change the batteries in their smoke detectors.

Paul, from time to time we get reminders that some people are just as stupid as trees.

I remember a poll during the Clinton period that 80% thought that Clinton had lied about Monica - all this somewhat after Clinton had admitted it. So I asked myself, "self, what about those 20%? What could they be thinking?"

So if we can use this as a rough benchmark, as much as 20 % could have tree-level abilities.

I believe your story because I can recall listening to a morning talk show years back. The subject was Daylight Savings Time. A lady called in and said she was against it because her grass was already getting too much light and was burning up.

Paul, from time to time we get reminders that some people are just as stupid as trees.

[...]

...as much as 20% could have tree-level abilities.

I'm thinking more like 15% -- the other 5% are dumber than trees.

It's worse than you know. I don't have the numbers, but I recall that there is an unexplained correlation to daylight savings and people spending more money. I think it is the only real reason to do it any more. All the rest is smoke and mirrors.

Why dont they just end daylight savings time altogether and quit wasting our time on this nonsense

Farmer: "So, what's this Daylight Saving Time?"

City-dweller: "It's when we change the clocks to give ourselves an extra hour of daylight."

Farmer: "Oh, I don't know if my crops can take an extra hour of daylight. They get the right amount right now."

"Sorry on this one you folks are dense."

Sorry, but you are the dense one. It's immensely easier for society to simply alter their hours to adjust to the daylight. If everyone got up at 5, yes, Home Depot would be open in order to do business. Businesses will happily adjust hours to make money. Hell, look at any holiday sale for proof.

DST is a joke. Hell Indiana has 4 time zones because at least two areas figured out it was stupid. It's time for the rest of the country to do away with this stupid, idiotic concept that has zero effect or benefit.

Robert, it is interesting you mention that poll.

I remember that poll and MANY like it from that era. I've often been tempted to make a post about the "loony 20%" as I have called them for years.

Hillary could be caught on video killing baby kittens and 20% of the people would defend her. I personally consider that the core whack job lefty base. No matter the poll, the first 20 points are free. (see also: the lefty loon who bought the impeachblanco domain name just protect her while our gov killed people.)

I don't know if the republicans have that solid an unswayable core. I've looked for the "right wing 20% " and have never found it. Perhaps it is because I'm not looking hard enough but I don't think it exists - or not in the same form at least.

But yet 20% of the people are dumb (or dumber) than trees.

I totally agree with Charles. His points are 100%
valid and right on the money. There is nothing to
add. Daylight Savings Time does work.

By the way, the concept of Daylight Savings Time is
attributed to Benjaming Franklin, one of our founding
fathers. How can you argue with him?

I remember that poll and MANY like it from that era. I've often been tempted to make a post about the "loony 20%" as I have called them for years.

I remember thay did a poll here in downtown Columbus, OH about 10 yr ago. Had the usual questions- "who's your- Senator, Governor, state Rep, etc.", but also had a few 'general knowledge' questions.

46% did not know that the time it takes the earth to orbit the sun is called a 'year'...

Actually, when Benjamin Franklin suggested daylight savings time, he was joking.

Certainly such a ludicrous suggestion would never be adopted....

They have had the very same argument in Indiana since DST was instituted, their reason was that it screws up the cows (WTF?), now most of those farmers are republican, I suppose that they are dumbasses too.

Also the president proposed the very same thing to save energy, extending DST, I suppose he is a dumbass as well (actually you would get little argument from me on that score, but not over the DST proposal).

They realize they are not "extending" daylight, just setting the clock to have the daylight hours fall where they are most efficient. But you all know that. What is dumb about this post is the mental gymnastics you all will go though to make anyone not a republican seem "dumb".

While I have no real love for the democrats, this whole post is insipid.