Michael D Brown

From True Slant comes this timely argument.  Considering all of the problems in the country right now, this is minor, but aren't we really sick of changing the clocks twice a year?  

This weekend is the end of Daylight Saving Time. Technically, that’s at 2 a.m. Sunday morning — you set your clock back (or, more likely these days, your clock sets itself back) and “gain” an hour of sleep. Until spring, when you “lose” that hour of sleep. Unless you’re lucky and live in Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam or the Northern Marianas and get to avoid all this nonsense.

Aside from the fact that it’s a giant pain in the ass and that it makes winter that much more godawful (sunsets at 3 p.m. in the afternoon), there are justso many reasons to dump Daylight Saving Time — or, at least, to dump the twice-a-year-time-change (we probably want to leave the clocks where they are during the summer).

Here are 10 of them — hint: Daylight Saving Time might kill you:

1) Daylight Saving Time (DST) was sold as an energy-saving measure. But it doesn’t save energy. The results of a natural experiment in Indiana (where the state was moved onto DST by a change in the law in 2006) showed that DST actually increased residential energy demand by 1% overall — and by 2%-4% in October.

2) You think DST is something we do for farmers? From the same paper: “A common misperception is that DST is an agricultural policy. Farmers have historically been one of the most organized groups against the practice of DST, as it requires them to work in morning darkness for an extra hour in order to coordinate with the timing of markets.”

3) Here’s an easy one: time wasted setting clocks backward and forward.

4) Another easy one: appointments missed because of time-change confusion.

5) When the clocks are set ahead in the Spring, it causes more car accidents.

6) Also due to the shift back to DST, workplace injuries rise, likely due to employees’ lack of sleep. According to one study of the number of injuries reported to the Mine Safety and Health Administration from 1983 to 2006: “there were 3.6 more injuries on the Mondays following the switch to daylight saving time compared to other days, and 2,649 more days of work were lost as a result of those injuries.”

7) The clocks being set ahead in Spring also interrupts our natural adjustment to changing sunrises, with possible impact on our long-term health.

 It sucks.

9) DST really doesn’t save energy.

10) When Ben Franklin proposed the idea, he was frickin’ kidding.

Below the fold, one way DST is good…

Getting more light in the morning reduces winter depression. But we could combat the morning darkness with some simple tricks, such as using a “dawn simulator” or setting a bedside lamp on a timer for 20 minutes before our alarm clocks.

 

One of the greatest pleasures I had serving as Under Secretary of Homeland Security was the opportunity to speak at swearing-in ceremonies for new citizens, similar to that shown above. I remember one ceremony in particular where an individual was so proud that even though he was by himself, he turned his video camera on himself and videotaped himself taking the Oath of Citizenship. I always admired those who became U.S. citizens the right and legal way.

But enough reminiscing. I have a few questions I would like to ask you. See how many of the following questions you can answer correctly. No cheating or scrolling down for the answers.

1. What is the supreme law of the land?

2. What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution?

3. What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?

4. How many Justices are on the Supreme Court?

5. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

6. What ocean is on the East Coast of the United States?

7. What are the two major political parties in the United States?

8. We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years?

9. Who was the first President?

10. Who is in charge of the executive branch?

This is not a segment from Jay Leno's The Tonight Show comedy sketch "Jaywalking."

These are actual questions from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) naturalization examination for new citizens. There are more questions and a few different versions of the test (which you can find here at the USCIS website).

When the Constitutional Convention was over, Benjamin Franklin is supposedly asked by someone what sort of government had been created by the Founding Fathers. Legend has it that Franklin responded, "A republic, if you can keep it."

What did Franklin mean by that answer?

Simply this. A republican form of government requires an involved citizenry. It is the antithesis of a monarchy, or a dictatorship or an elitist form of government. The survival of liberty in this country is dependent upon an informed citizenry who recognizes that we have rights, but with those rights come responsibilities. Without an understanding of our government, how it works, the words and meaning of the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the separation of powers, the Bill of Rights and so on and so forth, we are doomed to fail as a free society.

An ill-informed citizenry, a lazy citizenry, a citizenry that allows elitists to take over and run the government, will get just that - a government that can take away your liberty and freedom, stifle innovation, restrict free speech, ownership of land, the essentials to a thriving, market-driving, capitalist, freedom-based government to a statist form of government.

So how do we measure whether or not we can keep the republic, as Franklin admonished?

One way is to look at the knowledge of students attending public schools. I was fortunate in that I had a most oustanding civics and history teach, Coach Tuttle. Yes, a coach. So forget about all those stereotypes of coaches filling in for classes. Coach Tuttle was the consummate teacher. He made civics and history come alive and instilled in all of us in that small classroom in Guymon, Oklahoma, an innate understanding of the importance of our form of government - and the responsibilities which came with that citizenship.

Apparently there are very few Coach Tuttle's any more.

Consider this from the Goldwater Institute:

Only 3.5 percent of Arizona high school students attending public schools passed the citizenship test. The passing rate for charter school students was about twice as high as for public school students. Private school students passed at a rate almost four times higher than public school students.

Now in case you're a graduate of an Arizona high school, let me tell you what the preceding paragraph says. Of those tested in Arizona high schools, only 3.5% were able to pass the test to become a U.S. citizen. Are you paying attention? If those results are accurate; and if those results can be construed to reflect the country as a whole, we are doomed.

We will not be able to remain a free country, a republic, with a market-based economic system of capitalism, if only 96.5% of students graduating from high school do not understand the basic principles on which this country was founded.

Coach Tuttle's of the world, where are you?

Here is the Goldwater Institute's conclusion. Sit down before you read it:

Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1789 that “Whenever the people are well-informed,
they can be trusted with their own government.” Years later, Jefferson wrote, “Enlighten
the people generally and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will
vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.”

The promotion of knowledge of American government and history represents
a core mission of Arizona public schools. They are failing miserably to fulfill that
mission. Arizona high school students display a profound level of ignorance regarding
American history, government and geography.

The results of this survey are deeply troubling. Despite billions of taxpayer dollars
and a set of academic standards that cover all of the material, Arizona high
school students display an overwhelming ignorance of the institutions that undergird
political freedom.

The students in this survey have taken multiple classes in social studies and history.
If they had failed these courses, chances are good that they would not have
made it into high school, and thus into the survey sample. Of course, the vast
majority of these students never failed, but were simply passed on to the next grade
whether they actually mastered any material or not.

How is your state doing?  Better yet, if you have school-aged children, how are they doing?  If we want to keep this country, you're going to have to get involved and make certain future generations can not only answer the questions, but understand the meaning behind the questions, too.  This is not hyperbole.  This is a real and present danger for our Nation.

The answers?  Go find them yourself if you don't know.