[Discuss] This year's Beowulf Bash is not for the lily-livered

[Bill Ricker]

On Sun, Nov 21, 2021 at 7:57 PM Kurt L Keville <kkeville at mit.edu> wrote:

> Sen Markey is trying to outlaw Daylight Savings Time... a rare bipartisan
> issue apparently...
>
IIRC, the US was on permanent DST during The War. (Some areas may have had
Double Summer Time ? I'd have to poke the Olson File to see where.)

Mass Legislature has discussed this separately as well.
They might as well just legislate Boston's latitude to 30°N ?

Doing it nationally makes a lot more sense than state by state or even
regionally.

The reality is there just isn't enough daylight mid-winter here to work a
full shift and commute, let alone shovel, no matter whether you call it
7.15am-4.30pm or 8.15am-5.30pm .
What we REALLY need (especially from 40°N and up) is FLEX TIME so that
people can do what they can in the dark and do what they must in what
little light there is.
Being half the year on the same TZ offset as Canadian Maritimes and half
the year on the same TZ offset as NYC would be f***ing awkward.
This only makes sense if NY does the same as we do.
If Boston and NYC (and Boston exchange, NY exchange, AMEX, TV network HQs)
declare a new normal *together,* as with i95 touchless tolling the rest of
New England and NJ will fall in line for convenience whether they
theoretically agree or not. But going it alone would be insane without our
neigbors.

Does it really count as Bipartisan if you've got a handful of senators &
reps from both parties grandstanding to populists at home on this issue
while it dies in committee for a third time
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Protection_Act>? OTOH, if this
issue can get SENs Rubio and Markey working across the aisle, maybe it'll
be catching.