studio1009: Illuminated S (Default)
Here is my biannual Daylight Saving Time rant.

I do not like it. If ever there was a cause to get upset about government regulations intruding into my personal life: Daylight Saving Time is it. The government is forcing me to change the time on my personal time display devices twice a year just so first-shift working people can have more sunlight at the end of their day in the summer. Whoopie!

Yes, the computers and phones change automatically, but clock radios, stove, microwave, and a couple other clocks in the house do not. I even have an "atomic clock" which is supposed to sync to the national standard time. It takes a day or so for it to catch the signal since we are in somewhat of a river valley. I probably have a clock that has automatic DST, but it wrong for 3 weeks because the DST start used to be April 1.

There are other ways to achieve the dubious goals of DST. Allow businesses to set summer hours. There would still be the issue with circadian shift, but only for the people who work set hours. I realize there would be the mental load of remembering that now the bank closes at 4 PM instead of 5.

DST also causes confusion because some states or even parts of states don't switch. Also different countries have "summer time" start and end on different dates.

There are no clear advantages to DST. We aren't growing Victory Gardens after our shift in the factory anymore. There is no clear benefit as far as energy consumption.

I did try not changing the clock in my car (because it is a PITA) So I was always adding an hour to the time during DST.

I'd be content with staying in DST except for my belief that noon is when the sun is highest in the sky during the day. I am willing to give in a little pedantry in exchange for forgoing the biannual "did I change the all clocks" dance and the week long malaise getting used to the change.

Using UTC all the time may be my solution.
studio1009: Illuminated S (Default)
These are my raw reactions about the insurrection that occurred at the Capitol Building on Wednesday, 1/6/2021. This was written Thursday morning. The timeline is not exact. When I say "I saw" that means photos and reports from various news sites and Twitter.

There had been pro-Trump demonstrators in DC for a couple of days to protest the formal electoral vote count. Trump spoke at a rally at 11 on Wednesday, the day of the count. Whatever he said set the crowd off toward the Capitol. They entered the building pushing back barricades and attacking the police in some instances. In other places, it looked like the guards let them in. They also broke in through a window. 

The vote count was interrupted. 
While the police failed to stop entry, they did manage to keep all the lawmakers, staff, and press safe. They did use gas and fire live rounds at the invaders. I shudder to think of what would have happened to them if the rioters had gotten ahold of them. There were reports of the insurrectionists searching the offices and calling out “Where are they?” We don’t know yet how much damage they did. They entered the Senate chambers after it was evacuated. Posing on the dais. Some weirdo wearing a buffalo headdress. 

My feelings were similar to those I had after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I felt they had violated my country. These people had attempted to take away MY vote.

Now I am substituting  “terrorist” when I see headlines about “protestors”.

Also like 9/11, I thought “someone didn’t do their job” They had National Guard out for the unarmed police brutality protests. Why weren’t they guarding the Capitol and other buildings? How could the authorities NOT anticipate that armed protestors could be a threat when Congress was in session?


After the invasion, the DC Mayor and Pelosi called for the DC National Guard to be activated. Trump’s DoD REFUSED! By then, other federal LEO were involved and the Maryland and Virginia Guard had activated units. The mayor called for a 6PM to 6AM curfew.

I see photos of a confederate flag and Trump flags in the Capitol. So this is really a white supremacy uprising. I did see photos of some of the terrorists face down with hands up in a hallway amid armed police. If can’t help thinking that if they had been black they would be dead.

The media (except for Fox News) began referring to the invaders as a pro-Trump mob instead of protestors. Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram suspended Trump’s accounts. (Better late than never.)

One friend pointed out that all the computers and information in the offices are now compromised. This is a national security incident and makes us vulnerable to foreign exploitation.  So don't you DARE call them patriots. 

Seeing that grinning fool in Pelosi’s office makes my blood boil. Yet he made it out again to brag. I feel the terrorists desecrated the Capitol building. There was a lot of trash. They destroyed TV cameras, expressing distain for the media like good little Trump puppets.

The terrorists were cleared from the Capitol building around 5:30. Only 50 or so people were arrested. One invader was shot by Capitol Police and died of her wound, and 3 others died due to medical issues (one tasered himself?) 

I did not see any firearms on the rioters in the Capitol, just lots of flag staffs. I only saw photos of the handguns held by Capitol police.

After the curfew started, the police did not seem to be in a hurry to arrest the remaining protestors. They kettled them. I wanted to see them lined up on the ground hands in zipties behind their back.

News stories and tweets about invoking the 25th amendment or another impeachment. It may not seem worth it for another 12 days, but he has the NUCLEAR CODES.  Trump needs to be charged with inciting a riot. Guillani too.

Once the Capitol was declared safe, the vote count resumed. I hope Pelosi has her office deep cleaned. Who knows what those yahoos left behind.

I began watching CSPAN. Republicans had planned to object to the votes from several states. Now many of the objections were dropped. I like to think some of them were frightened that their posturing had incited the attack on the Capitol. Maybe they just didn’t want to stay up all night. For every objection, there would be 2 hours of debate in the House. So some of the objections were dismissed due to lack of sponsors. Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania objections remained. I am glad I saw some of the speeches. Especially Conor Lamb from Pennsylvania calling out the lies in the other PA congressman’s speeches as the same lies that incited the attackers. That man objected vocally and Pelosi shut him down and eventually told him to leave when he wouldn’t stay quiet. Conor was able to finish his speech. Maryland’s Andy Harris also put his 2 cents worth in. They need to get rid of him. What an embarrassment.

I wanted to watch until the vote was certified, but I gave up at 2:15 AM because they were still blathering in the House about PA even after the Senate rejected the objection. The count was completed around 4:30. Joseph R. Biden was elected president of the United States.

I am still outraged about this event. It will be in history books.

 


Profile

studio1009: Illuminated S (Default)
studio1009

April 2025

S M T W T F S
  12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
27282930   

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Dec. 28th, 2025 11:09 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios