In Point of Fact, Not Much Good Comes of Losing An Hour

... like we did last night when we "sprang forward" at 2 am. The most interesting item in this John J. Miller column of six years ago is that re-setting clocks one hour ahead every year is not beneficial even to the party commonly cited as its impetus: farmers.

... but when the first DST law was making its way through Congress, farmers actually lobbied against it. Dairy farmers were especially upset because their cows refused to accept humanity’s tinkering with the hands of time. The obstinate cud-chewers wanted to be milked every twelve hours, and had absolutely no interest in resetting their biological clocks–even if the local creameries suddenly wanted their milk an hour earlier.

Upon reflection, this bovine indifference to our attempt to artificially redefine the day is perfectly understandable.

Miller also cites a study which found an increase in traffic accidents as a result of daylight savings-related sleep lose. All in all, perhaps its time to reconsider our semi-annual tinkering with time.

And while we're on the subject of pointless rituals which may or may not be vaguely related to nature, it's never too early to start getting psyched for Earth Hour, which this year falls on March 26. Please plan to participate fully by turning on all of the lights and appliances in your house at 8:30 pm in this global effort to drive out evil carbon spirits. (Tip: by turning on both heat and air conditioning, you can get the maximum effect with the minimum of discomfort.)

... Or possibly I am misinformed as to what constitutes officially sanctioned Earth Hour activity.