I think we should all go back to the system that used to prevail in Saudi Arabia: skip all this time-zone stuff and go for solar time!
In Arizona, they do not follow the rest of the country to change to daylight savings time. That's okay, except the Hopis do switch to DST -- and the Navajos do not. That's confusing -- and the confusion may have led me to switch the two tribes' behaviors. On 8/23/07, Anthony D'Costa <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > From NYT: > > "But what if there's a trend under way here? The list of countries who use the > half-hour system does not inspire much confidence. There's Burma. And > Afghanistan. And then there's Nepal. When the countries around it are at 3 > p.m., Nepal believes it to be 3:45. This may have something to do with the > altitude." > > It has less to do with altitude and more to do with differentiating > themselves from other countries. Remember India is also half an hour plus > from whatever the GMT+ time, possibly distinguishing itself from Pakistan, > and Nepal from India (which is just north above India, along the Himalayan > foothills and beyond). And true India isn't inspiring but then the western > press is falling head over heels over India so they ignore it or else the > author is not quite well-informed either:) > > Anthony > > xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > Anthony P. D'Costa, Professor Currently > Comparative International Development Senior Visiting Research Fellow > University of Washington Asia Research Institute > 1900 Commerce Street National University of Singapore > Tacoma, WA 98402, USA 469 A Tower Block > Phone: (253) 692-4462 Bukit Timah Road #10-01 > Fax : (253) 692-5718 Singapore 259770 > http://tinyurl.com/yhjzrm Ph: (65) 6516 8785 > xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > > On Thu, 23 Aug 2007, Louis Proyect wrote: > > > Eugene Coyle wrote: > >> The Financial Times, I;m told (haven't been able to find it) reports > >> that Venezuela is going to the six hour day of work. > >> > >> Can someone tell us about that? > >> > >> Gene Coyle > >> > >> > > > > For what it's worth: > > > > NY Times, August 23, 2007 > > Op-Ed Columnist > > The Great Clock Plot > > By GAIL COLLINS > > > > This week, The Times reported that President Hugo Chávez is planning to move > > Venezuela's clocks ahead by half an hour. The story created one of those > > wonderful moments of newspaper community, as readers around the nation > > suddenly > > shared an identical thought: > > > > Say what? > > > > Chávez unveiled his plans on his regular Sunday television show, in what > > several other news reports referred to as a "rambling" address. Reaction > > was swift, with many people recalling the scene in Woody Allen's "Bananas" > > when a revolutionary hero becomes president of a Latin American country and > > announces that from now on, "underwear will be worn on the outside." > > > > The other popular comment was that Americans are in no position to make fun > > of > > countries whose leaders make incoherent speeches. > > > > Chávez has always been strong on the grand leftist gesture. (Remember the > > day > > that he called George W. Bush "the devil" at the United Nations?) But > > it's hard to quite grasp the populist appeal of having to use a calculator > > to > > figure out when the next plane arrives from Bogotá. > > > > In his speech, Chávez connected the time change to his plan to reduce the > > Venezuelan work day in 2008. His administration believes that: > > > > 1) Cutting everyone's work day to six hours will increase national > > productivity; and 2) That if you change 7 a.m. to 6:30, it will create a > > "metabolic effect, where the human brain is conditioned by sunlight." > > > > Now I know all this sounds extremely silly, but in the name of fairness, > > remember that: > > > > 1) You live in a country where the administration believes that cutting > > taxes > > for the heirs to billion-dollar estates will lead to increased prosperity > > for > > unemployed steel workers. > > > > 2) Every year, most Americans spring forward and fall back so that the Sun > > God > > will send extra rays to we who honor him with the ceremony of the changing > > of > > the clocks. > > > > 3) So far, Hugo Chávez hasn't invaded anybody. > > > > Inquiring minds still want to know about that half-hour. The Venezuelan > > science > > minister says the government wants to return the country to the system it > > used > > before 1965. > > > > When it was changed. For convenience. > > > > Perhaps President Chávez just isn't a clock-watching kind of guy. His weekly > > TV program is six hours of him talking, which is an extremely long time to > > ramble on unless you're Fidel Castro or an American sports commentator. > > > > But what if there's a trend under way here? The list of countries who use > > the > > half-hour system does not inspire much confidence. There's Burma. And > > Afghanistan. And then there's Nepal. When the countries around it are at 3 > > p.m., Nepal believes it to be 3:45. This may have something to do with the > > altitude. > > > > Newfoundland is on the half-hour system, defying the rest of Canada to do > > anything about it. The reason, as Premier Danny Williams once explained, is > > that Newfoundlanders "like to be different." Their country is mainly about > > cod — very important, historically speaking, but not frequently in the > > headlines these days. > > > > So people there like a little attention. They like having a Newfoundland > > Time > > Zone. They like the fact that the national broadcasters always have to say: > > "Stay tuned for the news on the hour. On the half-hour in Newfoundland." > > > > We may be on to something here. How many countries do you think would feel > > better about the world if they just got mentioned once in a while? Probably > > won't work for Afghanistan at this point, but we could try getting the > > networks to say things like: "News is up next, and let's hope it's a nice > > day in Surinam." > > > > Sooner or later, somebody in the White House will notice that the one other > > country whose clocks are running to the tune of a different drummer is Iran. > > Chávez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are extremely cozy, always > > pinning medals on one another and sending anti-Bush jokes back and forth. At > > this very minute, Vice President Dick Cheney is somewhere in his basement, > > working up a new theory about the Evil Axis of Half Hours. > > > > Let's just not go there. Riordan Roett, the director of the Western > > Hemisphere studies program at Johns Hopkins University, says that the fact > > that > > the president of Venezuela announces something does not necessarily mean > > it's > > a done deal. "See if Chávez repeats it," he advised. "If it's just a > > one-time thing, the rational people who are still in the government will > > just > > ignore it." > > > > If only we had a similar system in the United States, imagine all the > > things we > > might have avoided over the last six years. > > > -- Jim Devine / "In every [stock-dealing] swindle every one knows that some time or other the crash must come, but every one hopes that it may fall on the head of his neighbor, after he himself has caught the shower of gold and placed it in safety. Après moi le déluge! is the watchword of every capitalist ... " -- K. Marx
